This was originally written for ichirukimonth '18, day 7 (AU of your choice). I never did an AU with them before and actually didn't really like AUs in general, but well here you have my take on your not so ordinary coffee shop AU, inspired by Alexandros' songs for the Bleach live action movie and because I was wondering why the hell they are singing about milk...
It was an ordinary day in his ordinary life, an ordinary morning at his ordinary part-time job at your ordinary coffee shop just around the corner…
…until she stepped into his world.
"Strawberry Milk Latte with soy milk." she said without looking up from her phone, vigorously typing.
"Name?" he replied, not really taking notice of her at first. He was just doing his job and apart from some regular customers he didn't really pay too much attention to the people ordering their drinks.
"Huh? That's none of your business." the young woman retorted, equally confused and offended but at least distracted enough to ignore her phone for a moment and look at him directly.
Ichigo used the already opened marker to point at the paper cup in his other hand: "What shall I write on your cup?" She eyed him, still baffled before looking at the cup being waved in front of her: "Oh." The raven haired woman averted her gaze, probably feeling a little embarrassed. Right in that moment a muffled ringtone could be heard, making her face the flashy screen in her hands again.
He watched her, starting to get really pissed.
"Your name." he gave it a third try.
She didn't react, just mumbled to herself, probably reading the new message out aloud: "…can't believe that. Why are you like that... shinigami…?"
"Shi-ni-gami, alright." Ichigo scribbled onto the paper cup. "That's 584 Yen."
"Huh?" she looked up, finally back in the real world. "Yeah, sure…" Placing the exact amount of coins in front of her she left to make way for the other customers, waiting for her drink at the corner of the counter.
"Strawberry Milk Latte with soy milk for Shinigami!" it was called out after two minutes or so.
Rukia looked back to the young orange haired man behind the counter taking the orders. She shook her head as she remembered she'd probably read out that message not only to herself and left the store.
"Oh, you again? The same as yesterday?"
She blinked at him: "You remember?"
"It's hard to forget someone acting as overly stupid as you did." Ichigo replied wearing a provoking smirk.
Rukia crossed her arms in front of her chest: "Well then, same as yesterday. " She declared challengingly. He fetched for a paper cup, his voice filled with irony: "Alright, so it's a Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino with extra cream. And your name is sh…" he started writing on the cup.
"It's not Shinigami." Rukia insisted.
"Yeah, yeah. That's 584 Yen."
She eyed him suspiciously, taking her change.
"Strawberry Milk Latte with soy milk for Shorty!" it was called out.
A vein on her forehead popped. How dare he…? Her phone beeped – she'd have to scold him tomorrow.
"The usual."
She was late today, no time for stupid conversations with this stupid idiot, who'd called her…
"Well, good morning, Miss. Why are we already pissed so early?" he said with mocking politeness.
She leaned forward, hands placed on the counter: "Listen, I don't have time for your insults, just take my order, I'm in a hurry." Rukia placed 600 Yen in front of him: "You can keep the rest."
"Strawberry Milk Latte with soy milk for the bitchy girl who doesn't tell me her real name!" one of the employees shouted through the store.
Ok, that was enough!
She snatched her drink and stomped to the front of the counter – to him.
"Are you serious?!"
He looked at her, pretending to be clueless: "What? What's your problem? You got the right order… right?" Ichigo asked, just to be sure. Seemingly with her you could never be sure…
"It's not about the order!" She pointed at the cup. "I am not bitchy! And I am not short! So…"
"Compared to me, you are pretty short." he remarked completely calm. "And… you still didn't tell me your name, Shinigami."
Her eyes narrowed: "It's not Shinigami, it's Kuchiki Rukia."
"Kurosaki Ichigo, pleased to meet you." he declared with sincerity.
Rukia looked at him, taken aback, searching his face for any sign that he might just be making fun of her again. She couldn't think of anything to retort, getting lost in the firmness of his eyes somehow.
It felt as if minutes passed as they were staring into each other's eyes.
She'd never felt that exposed – but not necessarily in a bad way. Rukia pressed her lips together before uttering a simple "Bye".
Ichigo watched her leaving the shop.
"Hi… The… the same as usual." She muttered without looking up, being too embarrassed after their intense staring contest the day before.
"Do you mind looking me in the eye?" Ichigo felt a little offended. What was it this time? What did he do? Hell, he thought their daily interactions would go smoother following yesterday. He didn't know why, but she had drawn his attention somehow. There was something about her that he just couldn't get her out of his mind.
"Rukia?" he tried again.
"Huh?" Her head shot up when she heard her name – when he said her name. Concern resounded in his voice.
"Who called you a Shinigami the other day?"
He wasn't earnestly worried about her, was he?
"Oh, that… was just a friend." She waved her hand as if it was nothing special, but the expression on her face told him otherwise.
"A friend shouldn't say something like that."
She sighed. She knew that but…
"Sounds like he needs a punch to the face."
Rukia wasn't sure if she should take him serious.
Ichigo pointed at himself, his demeanor giving off an unwavering vibe: "I am pretty good at punching people."
She looked at him incredulously before bursting into a short laughter: "What? Are you stupid? You don't even know me."
"So you are able to smile." He seemed relieved.
Rukia paused, thinking about what had just happened. When had she started to feel that comfortable around him? She shook her head internally, not really grasping how this was even possible. Strangely she felt as if he was someone she could trust.
"You know, people often get the wrong impression of me. They think I am cold and arrogant… indifferent. But I am not." Her smile became a sad one.
"I know how you feel. People tend to think I am rude and selfish although I'm not, so… I can relate." He wrote her real name on the cup this time making sure she was able to see it and passed it over to a colleague.
Her honest smile came back: "See you tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow."
"Morning, Ichigo."
The way she said his name sounded surprisingly familiar.
"Good morning… Rukia."
He liked this newly found routine – it had just been a few days but something would be missing without her showing up every morning.
"I'll take the same as…" she began to place her order only to be cut off by him halfway through.
"…the same as usual and my number, that's 600 Yen total." he confidently completed her sentence.
"Y-your number?" Rukia asked, a little insecure suddenly. Was he flirting with her?
"If you don't want it, it's just 584 Yen – as usual."
She blinked at him completely at a loss for words.
"Just kidding, you get it for free of course."
"Why would I want your number?" Rukia attempted to sound self-assured.
"You seem to be lonely." Again his voice revealed that he was a little worried.
"Lonely? Just because I moved here three weeks ago and barely have any friends doesn't mean I am lonely." She confessed without realizing the sadness in her tone and on her face – but he noticed.
"I could be your friend, you know." He fetched for the marker. "Just think about it. I'm writing my number on the cup in advance."
"Thank you."
Their eyes met once again.
"Do you think we might have met before?" he suddenly asked with all sincerity without breaking their eye contact.
"You believe in that destiny crap?" The smile on her lips also resounded in her voice. She knew what he meant, she was feeling the same. But something like that couldn't really happen, right?
Her phone beeped, breaking the moment.
"Sorry, I gotta go." She gave him another smile and left to grab her drink.
After taking a sip she noticed his messy handwriting on the cup:
'I'm working till 5pm. Meet me in front of the shop. See you there.'
She turned around to look at him from a distance.
"Yeah, see you there."