Read the A/N at the end, please.

Disclaimer: I do not own or claim Bleach as my own.

Free Hugs

"Okay, just stand here, Ichigo. We'll be in that café over there watching in case you get bombarded by girls so we can laugh," laughed Tatsuki, pointing to the café she and everyone else would be waiting in. "With your 'apparent good looks,' I'm sure you'll be dead in no time. Good luck!"

Ichigo frowned and glared at his so-called friends, who happened to be sticking out their tongues at him as they retreated to the safety of the café.

If this is what his father meant by "the college life," then he wasn't exactly feeling the thrill of "really living."

He sighed as he held up the "free hugs" sign, trying to ignore a group of giggling high school girls coming his way.

Why was he doing this again? Oh yeah, that's right, he lost a bet at that party yesterday.

Flashback…

"Who do you think will win? Hisagi or Rangiku-chan?" asked a slightly tipsy Keigo as he winked at two girls who were passing by.

Ichigo shrugged and sipped his beer, disinterest clearly written on his face.

"We're makin' bets over here, and we need your two cents," said Ikkaku from across the room.

"Why do you need my opinion? I don't really care," said Ichigo casually, leaning his arm on the couch's arm rest. All he wanted to do was go home, but everyone had begged him to stay, which he did out of the "kindness" of his heart. After all, someone needed to stay sober and get everyone out of trouble if anything came up. And normally like every other instance, it was either him or Toshiro who were left with the responsibility of taking care of the group of wasted overgrown children. He could just leave them be, but as a future doctor and friend, he couldn't just leave them hung over and practically dead. It was morally wrong.

Keigo inched dangerously into Ichigo's "space bubble" causing the orange haired man to narrow his eyes. "Come on Ichigo! It's not fun without everyone's two cents! Puh-lease?" he stuck out his bottom lip and pouted.

Ichigo rolled his eyes at the other man's stupidity, but agreed anyways. "Fine, whatever. I'll just go with Hisagi I guess."

"Good. Now that we have everyone's choices, whichever side loses has to stand in Tokyo with a free hugs sign for two or three hours! Each person stands by themselves," announced Yachiru post stealing the microphone from Ikkaku. "Now the contest begins, start drinking!"

Why an eight year old was allowed to go a college party, he didn't know, not that he really cared either. Ichigo watched as Hisagi and Rangiku downed the sake like monkeys. He yawned and stared at the clock, to which 2:45 AM stared back at him. "I guess I'll just wait till the contest is over before I leave," he mumbled to himself, downing his beer. He was pretty sober, just a little above the tipsy line, nothing that could kill him or give him a bad hangover though.

In the end, Rangiku had ended up winning and Ichigo was voted as the first one to have his "fair share of hugs," along with Kira, Iba, Hinamori and Ikkaku following in line.

Man, didn't he feel lucky?

End of flashback…

"Wow, you're so handsome!" squealed a high school girl as she hugged him tightly, with her two other bubbly friends following behind, much to his dismay. They all hugged him as if they were children hugging a man in a giant bear costume, except he swore one of them was touching his ass!

They reeked of perfume and nasty candy smelling lip balm. He tried really hard to not push them off, but his patience only went so far.

He then wondered, were the hugs supposed to be reciprocated? If they were, then he must have been doing it all wrong.

The next hug was from a little girl, and due to his soft spot for children, he hugged her back and even gave her a little smile. She then asked her mother if she could keep him 'cause he was cute, which was kind of weird, but luckily her mom said, "Maybe when you're older." That was equally as weird, but he let it slip.

Several more dozens of people came, hugged him, and went on their ways as casually as they came. It was strange to say the least. What compelled people to go and hug a complete stranger because he held a "Free hugs" sign? It didn't make sense, but he did remember that his mother used to always say, "A Hug is the best medicine there is." He used to believe her, but nowadays, he couldn't say as much. Maybe hugs just didn't work for him?

Ichigo watched as the group of girls walked away after hugging him. There were five girls in total and each one held on too long for comfort. He wouldn't be surprised if they had slipped their numbers into his pocket and giggled about it to their friends afterwards. Crazy girls…, he thought to himself, rolling his eyes.

He sighed as his saw another girl approach him. Except this girl was different from the usual giggly girls that came up to him. She looked about his age, despite her small size. She also looked fairly… sad. Her gaze was lowered down to the ground, and her eyes had a defeated look in them. He couldn't really tell, but her eyes flashed the colors cerulean and amethyst. They had pride and self-control written all over them, along with loneliness.

The girl stopped and stood in front of him, not looking up at him. He could tell she was distressed about something, considering her tightened fists and trembling shoulders. He couldn't tell if she was crying or was really angry, but whatever it was, he was sure it wasn't something good.

She was quite pale, but not sickly pale. She had a bunny scarf loosely wrapped around her neck and inner shoulders –even though it was summer. She was wearing a casual lilac sundress with a light cardigan, and pretty earrings. Despite looking fairly attractive –if he could say so himself- she herself, lacked "life." She looked downright depressed, which didn't suit her at all, he decided.

Before he even knew what he was doing, he opened his arms out for her, much to his surprise. Sure, he was pretty uptight and cranky according to his friends, but he definitely wasn't incapable of being sympathetic and kind. He wasn't as mean as some people thought he was due to his constant scowl. He actually had a big heart on the inside, not that he would admit it though, or he wouldn't hear the end of it from Grimmjow.

The girl stared at his open arms for a minute, before running into his arms, hiding her face in his chest. Her arms wrapped around his waist and her fists balled up his shirt.

Ichigo just blinked down at her, debating what he should do.

Upon feeling wetness on his shirt, he realized that she was crying. Not being able to stand watching a girl cry, he did what he usually did for his sisters when they would cry. He dropped the "Free hugs" sign and hesitantly wrapped his arms around her. Awkwardly, he patted her back affectionately, imagining his friends in the café laughing at him. Not that he cared though.

They stood like that for several minutes, just silent embracing and blushing from Ichigo's side.

She sniffled, and raised her head, looking up at him curiously. Realizing how awkward the situation must be for him, she let go, blushing. "Uh… sorry, about that!" she said, wiping her eyes. "This is so embarrassing."

Ichigo just stared at her like a gaping fish. Noticing his own staring, he shook his head, "Nah, it's okay. Obviously, you're sad about something. And my mom used to always say hugs are the best kind of medicine, and considering the sign I was holding…"

"That's cute, what your mom said, I mean." She smiled at him, and wiping the last of her tears from her face. "I have to say though, she's right. I really needed a hug… it kind of made me feel like someone was there to catch me after I fall, even if it lasted a short while. So, thank you and tell your mom thanks for me."

He scratched the back of his head, "Well, my mom's kind of gone, but I'll tell her anyways," he said, sending her a genuine smile.

She widened her eyes and bit her lip, "Oh, sorry. Forget I said that!"

"It's fine. And I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, by the way," he said, extending his hand out to her.

"I'm Kuchiki Rukia, nice to meet you… Ichigo, if I can call you that. You can call me Rukia. I'm not a big honorific person," said Rukia, shaking his hand and smiling.

"I'm not either, and it's nice to meet you too, Rukia."

Now that she was smiling, Ichigo could really see the beauty behind her eyes. She looked a lot prettier when she wasn't crying.

After a strange silence, Rukia started to play with her scarf. "It was nice… hugging you? So maybe we'll see each other around sometime. I go to Tokyo University, and if you go there too, maybe we'll see each other and we can talk," she said nervously, not knowing what to do. "Uh, well, I'll see you later," she waved to him and started to walk away, not expecting her wrist to be grabbed.

"Wait!" Ichigo honestly didn't know what he was doing at the moment. He was running purely on impulse, and it was probably making him look like an idiot. He didn't know why, but he wanted to learn more about this girl. As corny as it sounded, he felt like there will be many more times that they will cross paths in the future, like there was a reason why they met today. "How about we talk now? If you're not busy or anything. If you want, we could go to a restaurant or the park or something…," he said, slightly nervous.

He was never good with the ladies.

Rukia lifted one of her brows, and smirked, "Sure, but how about you ask me normally to go on a date, Mr. Smooth?"

Ichigo frowned, and made a sound similar to, "che." She chuckled and grabbed his arm, dragging him to follow her. "So I'm taking it's a 'yes?'" to which she nodded her head.

As they walked side by side, Rukia popped up a question. "Just wondering, why were you holding a 'Free hugs' sign anyways? That's not going to get you laid you know," she said teasing him as she poked him in the side playfully.

He glared at her and smacked lightly at her poking hand, "Lost a bet for some drinking game at a party yesterday. And how about you? Why were you crying?"

It suddenly felt like they had known each other for years. It was easy to talk to each other, and the atmosphere was as clear day.

Rukia was silent for a moment, "Just some family neglecting problems, which isn't new. And I had just lost my job and one of my friends, but that's life I guess." She shrugged and continued, "I had finally hit my limit, and just broke. I hate crying, and I've been crying for awhile now. When I was walking before, I had just calmed down. But once I saw you standing there with the stupid sign, I honestly didn't care, I knew I needed a hug, which led me to cry again once I hugged you. After that hug though, I suddenly felt at ease… It was really stupid," she finished, laughing at herself.

Ichigo's face softened and he smiled genuinely, "You know, it's not bad to cry. It doesn't make you weak, it makes you human."

Rukia smiled up at him, "You know, I feel like we were both at the right place at the right time."

"Why do you say that?"

"I think we were meant to meet. I'm glad I met you, and I'm happy you lost that bet. I wouldn't have wanted you to win anyways," she said sticking her tongue out at him. It was fun to poke fun at him even though she barely knew him.

"Bitch," he said. "I feel the same way though. I think we were connected even before we met, despite the cheese. As strange as the meetings might be, we will always meet."

"Yeah… do you know how corny we sound? And our meeting wasn't that weird; it was affectionate. At least I didn't stab you in the heart with a sword!"

"Where did that idea come from?" he raised one of his eyebrows, and smirked.

Rukia shrugged, "I don't know? It just popped into my head."

Ichigo's friends all stared, wide eyed and mouth agap. Did Ichigo just leave with a girl?

Keigo started crying hysterically as he watched his best friend walk away with a girl even before he did. "Ichigo, how could you? You friend betrayer!"

"How about that? I think I might try at this free hugs thing," said Shinji, smirking behind everyone. He didn't even go to the party yesterday, but hearing about Ichigo's predicament was too good to miss.

Before he knew it, Hiyori, from behind, smacked him hard over the head with one of her sandals, "No girl would want to touch you, baldy Shinji!"

A/N: This is a oneshot, but many people have insisted it should be an on-going series. If it were a multi-chaptered story, I feel the point of the story itself would be dragged on. At most, this story may get another chapter showing the after events.

And I hope you enjoyed it! It's kind of corny, but come on? Corny follows hugs!

Please check out my other stories! And for those of you who read my other stories, We Meet Again is being worked on write now. So I might update sometime soon. After that, I'll probably revise A Succubus's Requiem. I originally had it revised, but the file was deleted so... fuck me!

Tell me what you think!