So, it's been a while since I've done this so please forgive me if I'm a bit rusty. I started this a few months ago and I have never really done this with Bleach, so we'll see how it goes… Don't own, of course.

Title: Hanabi

Date: July 23, 2013

"Hey, Rukia-chan!"

A short, raven haired teenager turned to see an orange haired, busty, grey eyed girl run up to her.

"Oh, hi, Inoue-san."

"Hey, are you going to the firework show tonight? Everyon'es gonna be there."

Rukia looked at her friend, Inoue Orihime, and gave a smile. "I don't know. With the moving going on, I don't think I'll have much time to spare…"

"Oh, but you have to go! Itwill be the last time you see us for a while!" Orihime replied, starting to walk with Rukia. Rukia looked at the hem of her own dress and smiled sadly.

"It's weird to hear people say that…"

"O-oh! I… I didn't…"

"No, it's no problem. America is long distance away. It's true that I won't be back for a while."

"When do you move officially?"

"Two weeks. So, it's just around the corner…"

"Oh wow… How did Abarai-kun take it?"

"Honestly, better than I thought. I mean, he was upset, but he said he would start saving money to visit us in New York."

Orihime gave a smile. "That sounds like him. Well, you know we'll all miss you. It won't be the same without you…"

"Thanks." Rukia said with a smile. She watched as Orihime made her way down a break off the main road they had been walking on towards their mutual friend's house. She couldn't tell her the real reason she didn't want to go to the fireworks display. She and a certain carrot top… they hadn't really had a chance to talk about her departure. And she had been too busy with the moving that this walk was the most she had gotten out in a month. She wanted to talk to him. After all, he was one of her closest friends, even closer than her childhood friend, Abarai Renji, in some respects. She had even thought they coud be more than that.

Rukia laughed humorlessly at herself. She had waited too long…

"Rukia?"

Said person looked up to find the carrot top she had just been thinking of. Kurosaki Ichigo.

"Hi, Ichigo…" She replied with a somewhat sadder tone than she had meant to. And the problem was that he could always tell when something was wrong.

"You okay?"

"I am. I'm just… thinking about things I guess."

Ichigo tilted his head. "In a good way, or a bad way?"

"I dunno… I guess in a different way."

Ichigo heaved. "Leave it to a Kuchiki to confuse the hell outta me…"

Rukia cut her eyes. "What was that?"

"You and your brother always complicate things…"

"We do not complicate! We think things through! That's different!"

"Says you. Normal people on the other hand…"

"I'm more normal than you are!" Rukia yelled, which made Ichigo start to chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"You're back to normal now."

Rukia blinked a few times, then gave a small smile. "Thanks."

"So… how is moving going?"

"It's going, I guess… We're almost done with it, so that's good."

"When are you leaving?"

"Two weeks…"

"Wow… that's soon… And you're moving to New York, right?"

"Yeah… I kinda don't want to leave though…"

Ichigo stared at her for a second. "Let me treat you to some cake."

"W-what?"

"You're upset, and sugar always helps. At least that's what Yuzu says."

Giving a smile, Rukia nodded. "Well, I can't very well argue with Yuzu."

Ichigo nodded and in about ten minutes they had reached a café on the edge of town.

"It's so hot today… Can I order an iced tea?"

"Sure, I don't care."

The waitress came and went, taking their orders with her.

"So, are you coming to the fireworks show tonight at the river? Everyone said they're going to be there."

"I dunno… I wasn't planning on it, to be honest."

"Too hard to say goodye?"

To that, Rukia nodded.

"Well, you know it's going to happen one way or another. If you don't everyone would just jump on a plane and track you down in New York. So it would just be easier to come and say goodbye in person."

"I guess you have a point."

"Of course I do. Anyways, you should just come. Make it your last hurrah with us."

The waitress came back with two ice teas and a slice of Angel Food cake with white icing. They thanked her before she left.

Rukia took a sip of her tea. "I guess I'll come, then."

"Great. I'll pick you up at eight."

"Pick me up? I can make it there by myself."

"Yeah, but I got you a going away present and I wanted to give it to you."

"Is that so? What is it?"

"A surprise."

"Hmph. That's no fun."

"But it makes the surprise that much better, don't you think?"

Rukia simply put a small forkful of her cake in her mouth. Honestly, she was very happy that Ichigo had even thought of giving her a present. She felt butterflies start to form in her stomach and her heart started to race as she thought about what her present could be.

After Rukia was done eating, Ichigo paid, and they left. Ichigo had made it his goal for the day to get Rukia to forget about the fact that she was moving away, so he took her to the arcade, and was even nice enough to win her a prize from the crane machine. That would be part of the surprise later.

After a couple more hours of fun, Ichigo walked Rukia back to her house. He looked at his watch, which read 2:30.

"Okay, Rukia. I gotta head out. But I'll see you at eight. You better be ready."

"I will be. And don't forget my present either!"

"I won't."

Rukia gave a smile, and walked into her house. After she was sure he was gone, she rushed to her room, a smile painted on her face. All of a sudden, she looked forward to the firework show.

A few hours passed, and Ichigo game to the door and knocked loudly. Rukia rushed to the door before her brother could reach it, and found her carrot topped friend.

"Hi. Where is my present?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes, and handed her a wrapped, square looking item, with a Chappy the Rabbit doll on top of it. She smiled and quickly unwrapped the paper, and revealed a small photo album. She flipped through it and found pictures of past memories with different friends.

"I got everyone to give their best pictures with you to me to make a memory book. Yuzu and Karin helped mostly with it."

"Oh wow, Ichigo… This is so amazing. I love it so much."

"I'm glad. This way you won't forget us. Plus, I put everyone's webcam addresses in there so you can call us."

"The time zones though…."

"Eh, I'll pick up. I promise."

"Even during school?"

"You'll get me out of class so I won't mind."

Rukia gave a smile as she continued to look through the pictures in the photo album. She remembered every memory the picture held, and smiled at each one.

"We gotta get going, Rukia. Everyone's waiting."

"Oh yeah. You're right. I almost forgot." She ran up to her room to put her gift away and rushed back down. "Okay, let's go."

As the teenagers walked down the street in a comfortable silence, Ichigo glanced down at his companion. She caught him and gave a happy smile.

"You know, Ichigo, I've wanted to tell you something."

"Is it something I'll want to hear?"

"I hope so, but I don't know for sure." Rukia laughed nervously. "Honestly, I'm wondering what your response will be."

"You won't know unless you tell me."

"I know. It's just finding the words."

"Oh. A secret huh?"

"in a manner of speaking."

"Well, I am pretty good at keeping secrets. Lay it on me."

"If you say so… Okay, let's stop for just a second so I can tell you." With that, Ichigo slowed to a stop and looked at Rukia. She gave a smile after a deep breath.

"Well, I know it's a bit late in the game, seeing as how I'm moving in two weeks. But it'll make me feel a little better to tell you in person."

"Okay…"

"I really like you Ichigo. I mean, I like spending time with you, just being around you makes me happy. And I'll miss you the most, because I have such strong feelings for you." She ended with a nervous smile.

"Is that so? IT's a small world, huh?"

"How so?"

"I like you too. And I'll probably miss you the most out of our whole group. I just thought I was out of time because you were leaving. Plus, you and Renji have a history, so…"

"Oh… yeah… He confessed to me a little earlier this week. But when I told him no, he figured it out and he kept the secret."

"He kept quiet? What a surprise."

"He does have tact sometimes."

Ichigo smiled and stepped closer to Rukia, leaned down, and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm gonna miss you so much. I hope you know that."

Rukia smiled. "I'm gonna miss you a lot too…"

"Well, for the moment, let's not think about the move. Let's go see those fireworks."

Rukia nodded and walked beside Ichigo as they continued towards the river bed.

"Oh! You guys made it!" A spikey-haired raven topped girl smiled. "Took you long enough! It's just about to start! Come on!"

"Cool it, Tatsuki." Ichigo grumbled. Tatsuki stuck her tongue out at him before walking over to Orihime. About a minute later, the fireworks started. Rukia looked at Ichigo, tearing her gaze away for something even better.

"I'm glad I decided to come."

Ichigo smiled and took her hand. "Me too."

Okay, this was the first part. Stay tuned!