A/n: Hi. Another one for the fandom. Hope you enjoy it! Oh and the timeline for this story is somewhere in the far away future where Ichigo is a full shinigami stationed in Soul Society and they are not married yet though they have been together for years. There. Now go read!

Warnings: Mature situations. Please be mindful of rating.

I do not own Bleach

Special Occasions

Rukia had grown used to celebrating special occasions without Ichigo around. Ever since the orange-haired (now) shinigami had been called to fill the position as captain of the fifth division he was always out on missions or tending to paperwork that accumulated during his absence, the workload forcing him to leave his office much later than he normally would. She didn't mind it and she wondered whether that was okay. Renji stressed for weeks prior her nii-sama's birthday and for someone as shortsighted as she considered her childhood friend to be, he came up with wonderful ideas to celebrate the occasion with him. Inoue gushed over the present-opening moments she spent with Ishida on Christmas day and Ukitake-taicho's office was craftily decorated with mochibana for New Year's by Kyoraku-taicho. Hinamori gave Toushiro an assortment of candy and a small card containing words of love for Valentines and although they both lived very simple lifestyles back in the Living World, Urahara-san and Yourichi-san made to meet once every year to commemorate the day they had officially gone rogue from Soul Society and thus the day that their lives together had started.

Was it normal? To not celebrate together the days that everyone else considered special?

If she really thought about it, they weren't a normal couple to begin with. Public displays of affection were not a norm to them whereas arguing to the point she ended up hitting Ichigo upside the head was. They exchanged more insults than endearing words throughout the course of one day and they had sex more often than other couples in Seireitei did, based on the random hearsay that she gathered around though she wondered whether that last one was more of an end result to their constant fighting than anything else. It wasn't simple-mindedness. Ichigo paid great attention to details when he put his mind to it and Rukia showered him with loving gestures meant to show how much she cared and how grateful she was in return. They just...didn't need a special day for that. With everything that they had gone through, what really mattered to them in the end was that they were both still alive to spend one more day together.

But still...

"Yo," Renji called from the doorstep to her 13th division headquarters office. "You doin' somethin' tonight?" he asked, already aware that Ichigo had been assigned to a mission that had been set to depart early this morning.

"Not really," Rukia said, eyes never leaving the report she was currently working on, so strikingly like her brother.

Silence. Then, hesitatingly, "we could go out, ya' know. Hang out for a while. It's your birthday."

At this, Rukia looked up at him and gave him the most genuine fake smile she could muster. "It's okay. I still have a lot of work to do," she said absently.

Of course the red-haired shinigami didn't buy it, years of knowing her allowing him to detect when something was off. He walked over to her desk, plucked the calligraphy pen from in between her fingertips and waited for her to look up at him.

"What's wrong?" he asked authoritatively and Rukia sighed heavily before staring at a particular spot in front of her dejectedly.

"It's stupid," she tried to brush it off but Renji poked her right in the middle of her forehead with the end of the pen.

" 's not stupid. Nothin' wrong with wantin' to be with him today. Of all days," he said firmly, then added "baka," for good measure.

Rukia nursed the spot she had been poked in while she thought things over. She knew that no truer words had ever been spoken. She had gone as far as asking her brother to move the celebration party that the house held for family members on the day of their birthday to the next day because she had wanted to spend the day with Ichigo for a change, see what it was like to have events to gush about.

She locked eyes with Renji and the brotherly warmth in them made her confide in him like the closest friend she considered him to be. "I wish he was here. We don't usually celebrate stuff like this but..." she drifted off awkwardly, not used to voicing out how she felt on matters regarding her relationship with Ichigo.

"You should tell 'im," Renji propositioned, handing back the pen. " 's not like he'd be opposed to it, anyway. Ichigo's into that kinda stuff," he made his way back to the door, ready to empty the premises. "Let me know if you still wanna hang out after you're done," he said, parting soon after.

Rukia stared after him, a sad smile spreading on her lips. Renji was right about Ichigo on that last bit...

A week later, Rukia received word that Ichigo's mission had been completed successfully and that the squad that had been put together for it was back in Soul Society grounds, uninjured and no worse for tear. She had wanted to be discreet about meeting with him, not give off the impression that she was longing to see him as bad as she really was so she waited for him to come to her first but the idiot remained as oblivious as ever in these sorts of matters and whereas the first thing that the members of his squad had done was go back to their spouses and partners to announce their arrival, Ichigo had gone to his private 5th division quarters without as much as a word to her. She could feel her blood boiling with anger.

Until she entered his room, that is.

Ichigo was fresh out of the shower, towel wrapped around his waist while he dried off his hair with another towel. He stepped out of the bathroom, saw her and stopped.

"Hey," he greeted but he doubted Rukia had listened, her eyes locked in the presents that he had bought for her and had arranged in a sort of organized pile in the middle of his bed: a chappy plush, chappy-patterned pj's, candy, a pastel green tea cup with her favorite tea flavored packets inside, at Yourichi's request a set of sexy underwear and at Urahara's request daises though he disliked the idea of both the underwear and the flowers.

Rukia looked taken aback and he stared off to the side, a faint blush brightening his cheeks. "Happy birthday," he muttered.

"This is..." she started, rendered entirely speechless by such a touching and unexpected gesture.

Ichigo frowned, letting out a sigh before he spoke. "Look, I know we don't usually celebrate birthdays or anything like that. I just...I wanted to be here, I wanted to take you some place nice and this mission sort of messed up my plans," he scratched the back of his head, a habit when he was nervous.

Rukia stared at him, then back at the presents then back at him, then back at the presents as if asking "is this all for me?"

Ichigo's scowl tightened. "Well say something, stupid."

They locked eyes and Rukia walked up to him completely drawn in. She loosened the towel around his waist and it falls in a heap around his feet. Then she kisses him, gently and familiarly, Ichigo quickly maneuvering her so she is pressed to him and she can wrap her legs around his hips. They fall into bed, him above her and the gifts are chucked aside momentarily. Rukia moves against him invitingly, making him moan softly. He pulls back a little, kisses her chin and down her jawline until he reaches her ear.

"I really wanna do you right now," he says in a strained whisper making her giggle like a blushing schoolgirl.

"I really want you to do me right now," she whispers back, rubbing her clothed crotch against his barren goods and he reaches down in between them to still her hips.

"If you keep doing that I'm gonna cream all over your pants."

Just the visual imagery of that is enough to make her a little moist between her legs. Ichigo liked to whisper dirty endearments in her ear using what she had secretly deemed as his bedroom voice (which was really sexy) just to get her in the mood. At this point she was more than ready and willing, the mood already set with his thoughtful deed earlier.

"Then you better take my pants off me," she smiles up at him and he wiggles his brows at her suggestively.

They kiss, Ichigo working on freeing her of her shukahusho and she is completely docile under his careful ministrations until he is done.

"I love you," he cups her cheek, caresses her cheekbone with his thumb and Rukia smiles up at him, conveying the same emotion with her eyes.

She suddenly realizes that they don't really need to spend special occasions together to love each other more.

It's what I gotta do

There's no place that I'd rather be than there with you

It's what I gotta do to take care of you

Make it right

And I never make it

But I have to hope you understand the circumstances

I'll be there the second that I get the chance

It's what I gotta do

- Macy Gray

End. Gah! IchiRuki is eating my brain alive, as you can see. I'm glad people are liking it. This last part up here is the chorus of the song that inspired me to write this story. It's got nothing to do with the idea of the story itself but it's a really sweet song, she wrote it for her babies (her three kids) but the words just seemed so fitting for what I wanted to write! Thank you so much for the continued support and of course, for reading my story. I hope you liked this one, it was kind of deeper, involving more characters, I tried to get the pairings as right as I could but I don't really know a whole lot of other pairings in Bleach. I usually get back to reviewers so I will be getting on that the second plot bunnies stop chasing after me! They're coming! They're coming!