Inspired by the 2010 Calendar spread by Kubo Tite.
Warning: No action, hollows or fighting. 100% fluff.
"I'm heading out." Ichigo announced as he put on his coat.
If he didn't get out of the house soon, he'd have to kill somebody. It had been snowing in Karakura all week, the snow piled high on the sidewalks from the plows trying to keep the streets clear. After several days, Ichigo was beginning to feel restless and shut in. It was bad enough on a school day, but now that it was the weekend, his family was beginning to get on his nerves. Hardly more than an hour after breakfast and already Karin and Isshin were going back and forth, that is when his Dad wasn't trying to "bond" with him in his own unique way.
"Where are you going, my boy?" Isshin asked.
Ichigo didn't really have a destination in mind. Looking around, he spotted the stack of DVDs on the coffee table.
I'm going to return the videos." He said as he scooped them up.
Yuzu took one out of his hand. "You can't take that one, Ichigo. We haven't seen 'Young Vampires in Love' yet."
"I didn't want to see that crap anyway." He replied.
Rukia took another one. "You can't take 'Chappy Saves the Chocolate Kingdom' either. I want to see it again."
Ichigo protested. "You've already seen it five times!"
She glared at him, saying with a frown, "I said I want to see it again!"
"It's due back today!" Ichigo growled back.
"So we'll rent it again, today!" she said through clenched teeth.
Ichigo locked eyes in a battle of wills with the diminutive soul reaper. Rukia had to learn she could not always get her way. One blink and he would be victorious!
He blinked first.
"Tch. Fine, we'll rent it again." He said with bad grace as he put the disks into his backpack.
"I'm going too. " Rukia said.
Ichigo threw his hands in the air. "Don't you trust me?" he asked.
"Of course I do," Rukia replied. "I just want to see if 'Chappy and the Fluffy Rainbow Island' is out yet."
Ichigo rolled his eyes at her reason for coming. Her obsession with that damned rabbit was getting ridiculous.
"It's too cold." He said. "You'll freeze to death in that old coat of yours."
He really was concerned about Rukia. Her coat had been fine most of the year, but yesterday had been unusually cold. He was shocked to notice she was shivering by the time they got home from school. Today was just as cold.
"No need to worry son." Isshin said. "I think I should give my third daughter her Christmas present early!"
Reaching into the hallway closet, he pulled out a large, colorfully wrapped box tied with a bow.
"A present Uncle? For me!" excited, Rukia took the box from Isshin and gazed at it in wonder.
"Go ahead, open it." Isshin said.
Being careful not to rip the paper, she opened the box and pulled out the contents.
"A new coat!" She bounced over to Isshin and gave him a big hug. "Thank you Uncle! I love it!" She stood on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek.
Isshin blushed slightly as he puffed up his chest. " Well, I couldn't let my precious third daughter get sick, especially since my ill-mannered son ignores how much you suffer from the elements."
Ichigo didn't notice his father's criticism. He was too busy watching Rukia as she tried on the coat and hugged it against her body. It was a white coat. It matched his coat. Exactly.
"Where did you get that coat old man?" he snarled.
"Does it matter?" Isshin replied. "The important thing is Rukia can go outside now without catching pneumonia."
The cut, the buttons, the location of the pockets. It was all exactly like his coat except somehow re-styled to flatter a woman's form. He could have sworn they sold coats like that only in the men's section. He was willing to bet somewhere on that coat was a Quincy cross.
"Is this some kind of joke?" Ichigo demanded.
"What's the big deal Ichigo?" His father asked. "Oh, I get it. You're jealous! Well don't worry my boy. I love all of my children equally. Here's your present!"
Again going to the hallway closet, Isshin pulled out a large gift bag. Instead of giving it to Ichigo, he pulled the contents out himself. "Ta-da!"
It was a scarf. A very large, wide, white scarf.
"There's no way I'm wearing that." Ichigo said.
"Why not?" His father asked. "It's 100% merino wool!"
"It's gotta be at least four meters long!" Ichigo exclaimed. "Who in their right mind would want to wear something like that?"
"It's all in how you wear it." Isshin said. "Here, let me demonstrate."
Throwing a section over Ichigo's neck, his father started to quickly loop and tuck the scarf in a series of moves too fast for the eyes to follow. In less time than it takes to tell, he was done.
"There you go! All set for a cold winter's day."
Looking down, Ichigo saw his father had tied the long scarf into an elaborate decorative knot that covered his chest down to the beltline.
"How did you do this old man?" Ichigo said. He began to tug at the huge knot. "And how do I get it off?" It wouldn't slip over his head either.
"No time to worry about that now." Isshin said. He thrust Ichigo's backpack into his hands. "You two go and have a good time. Do some shopping. Have lunch at the café. Just be home in time for supper OK?"
As he spoke, Isshin pushed the protesting and furious Ichigo out the door.
"Goodbye Uncle." Rukia said.
"Goodbye. Have a good time you two!" Isshin waved merrily as Rukia pulled Ichigo away towards the train station.
"Otosan, did you get us presents too?" Yuzu asked.
"Oh sweetheart, you know Santa-san is the one who brings you presents for Christmas." He replied.
"We're too old to believe in Santa-san anymore you old goat!" Karin yelled, then she kicked him in the head. He flew across the room and crashed next to the huge picture of his departed wife. Instantly he was on his feet.
" Oh Masaki! Have pity on me! Our poor lovely daughters are growing cynical and losing their childish trust!"
Karin stomped up the stairs to her room. "Oh knock it off already old man!"
All the way to the store, Ichigo tried in vain to unravel the knotted scarf around his neck. He drew lot of stares and giggles from people on the sidewalk and on the train. Whenever somebody looked his way, he tried to stand tall and look cool, like he wanted the huge white knot on his chest. As soon as no one was looking, he went back to work. He couldn't see how the thing was tied! No matter what, he couldn't even get a good start on getting it untied. Rukia walked next to him seemingly oblivious to his problem. She was very pleased with her new coat. As they walked up to the store, Ichigo though he'd finally figured it out.
"OK," he mumbled, "I grab this here, tuck it under there and then I pull and, …ack… AACCCKK!"
Rukia looked up to see why he was making that terrible noise. Already his face was turning purple as the knot tightened around his neck. She slapped his hands away.
"Stop that, stop that you fool! You're strangling yourself!" She gently pulled the scarf away from his body. "Look Ichigo, it's really very simple. You loop it under here, tuck it there, then tug, tug, tug, you're done."
Sure enough, with the last tug, the knot fell away and it was just a regular scarf again.
Ichigo was flabbergasted. "How did you do that?" He said.
"Knots are a basic shinigami skill." Rukia replied. "I got top marks on the subject at the academy."
She looked more than a little smug, Ichigo thought. On the other hand, was that a shinigami knot his father used? If so, how did his father know it? He stared down at the now untied scarf. "Hey, Rukia…" he started to ask. He never got to finish.
"KYAAAHHH!" She screamed.
"What, what, where!" Ichigo dropped into a crouch as he did a 360° scan for threats. Rukia continued to scream.
"KYAAAHHH! LOOK! LOOK!"
Following her pointing finger, he saw a movie poster in the rental shop's window. "You're kidding me?" he said disgustedly.
"No, it's true!" She squealed, "They DO have Chappy and the Fluffy Rainbow Island'! C'mon Ichigo. Let's get a copy before they're sold out!"
Dragging the disgusted Ichigo, she entered the store.
"Good morning Mr. Kurosaki." The clerk said. "It's good to see you again."
Ichigo mumbled a reply as he placed the stack of DVDs on the counter. The clerk cheerfully began to ring them up.
"If you don't mind my asking, are your sisters babysitting or something? You seem to be checking out a lot of children's movies lately."
Rukia came running up and threw another DVD on the pile. "Check it out Ichigo, they even have the one where Chappy teams up with Yuki and Pupples! Get it! Get it!"
Ichigo did not look at her. Instead he maintained eye contact with the clerk. His face was completely deadpan. "Babysitting. Yeah. Something like that."
Rukia also looked at the clerk with a wide smile, oblivious to Ichigo's remarks.
Ichigo tried to cope with the scarf constantly unraveling and getting wrapped around his feet as they walked through the park. After rewinding it for what seemed like the eleventyth million time, it finally occurred to him to stuff it in his back pack.
"Look Ichigo." Rukia said, "It's snowing again."
Ichigo looked up with a sour expression. "Great." He said "just what we needed."
Rukia caught a flake in her hand admiring the crystalline pattern before it melted away. " So beautiful. I love winter." She said.
"You do?" Ichigo asked. "Why? It's cold and wet and uncomfortable."
"Look around you." Rukia said. "Don't you like how the snowflakes float on the breeze like a million dancing pixies? The snow covers everything making it look clean and new. It's like the word has just been created brand new for us."
"It's also cold." Ichigo said.
Rukia ignored his churlish response. "You know, on snowy days like this, everything is so quiet and still. It's like you can see the earth sleeping as it dreams of the spring. It lets you know there's something to look forward to. That the promise of life is resting just below the blanket of white."
"Of course it's under a blanket." Ichigo said. "Its way too damn cold out here."
Rukia frowned and stopped walking. Really, Ichigo was just too grouchy sometimes! That thought sparked an idea. With a mischievous grin, she stooped down to the ground.
In her most innocent tone of voice, she asked. "Hey Ichigo, you know what else is cold?"
He turned around to face her. "What?" he said. He was perfectly positioned for the incoming snowball.
He clawed snow out of his eyes. "Oh you rotten little…!"
Rukia began to run backwards. "Now Ichigo, don't get excited!"
He stooped down to scoop up some snow. "You're gonna pay for that!"
She turned to run faster. "It was just a joke!" His snowball hit her right on her back.
She spun on her heels and quickly made another snowball. They ran onto the field and threw snowballs back and forth at each other, sometimes missing, sometimes not. With Rukia laughing and shouting, Ichigo was surprised to find himself laughing as well. Round and round the snowy park they ran until finally Ichigo spotted an opening.
"Aha!" he cried as he grabbed Rukia by the collar.
"Ichigo, you better not do what I think you're going to do!" She squeaked. But it was too late. He had already scooped up a huge handful of snow and was rubbing it into her hair! "Oh, I am SO going to get you!" She yelled.
Ichigo was immobilized by laughter at this point. Rukia got as much snow as she could handle in one hand and grabbed his collar. By jumping and pulling herself up, she was just able to smash the handful of snow into his hair. Ichigo lost his balance and fell backwards. As Rukia was holding on to his collar and was in mid-jump, she fell down on top of him. The both roared with laughter. It seemed to go on and on. Every time they looked at each other, it just kicked off a fresh gale of laughing. At last, they slowed down and Rukia got up on her elbows. Ichigo looked up at her, her face framed by the grey snowing sky. Her laughing slowed but her mouth was still upturned in a happy smile. With her cheeks rosy with the cold and exertion, her eyes large and bright, and bits of snow in her hair it occurred to Ichigo she looked like…she looked…
Suddenly he was very conscious of her weight on top of him. He wasn't sure when they had both stopped laughing. It seemed they had been looking into each other's eyes a long time.
She patted him on the chest and broke the spell. "Come on." She said. "We probably should be going."
Her elbows dug into his ribs sharply as she used him to get up off the ground. He didn't complain. She held out her hand, offering to pull him up. He was surprised as always how strong she was for a small woman.
"Um, let me get this snow out of your collar." He said as he got to his feet.
"Oh, thanks." She said.
She pulled her hair away exposing her neck. Once again, Ichigo was struck by how elegant and graceful Rukia looked even when it came to her neck. They were together so much these days, he forgot that sometimes. He carefully removed all the snow, trying not to touch her skin as much as he could. The wind picked up and Rukia hunched her shoulders up as she shivered. He supposed that was his fault. Her neck was pretty wet from the snow he rubbed in her hair getting caught in her collar.
"Here." He said. "I have an idea. Why don't you wear this?"
He pulled the scarf from his backpack and put it around her neck.
Rukia smiled. "Ichigo, it it's too long for you, it's definitely too long for me. Tell you what. Let's try this."
She wrapped the last meter of the scarf around her neck, then wrapped the excess around Ichigo's.
"There. Now we're all set." She said.
Ichigo frowned. "And what's to stop you from taking off and choking me?" he asked.
She slapped him lightly on the chest. "Don't you turst me? Stop being such a worry wart. Let's go."
They made their way back to the sidewalk. Rukia pretended to slip. "Whoa!"
Ichigo had to move to keep the scarf slack between them. "Stop that." He said.
She did it again. "WHOA!"
Ichigo scowled. "Rukia!"
She laughed and punched him on the arm. Then she moved much closer. They walked along for several minutes still huffing slightly from their running around. After a few minutes, Rukia asked to stop.
"I have to sit down for few minutes." She said.
"There's nowhere to sit." Ichigo replied.
"Sure there is." Rukia said. "Follow my lead."
She lined herself up facing away from a snow bank next to the path. She motioned for Ichigo to do the same.
"Since we're tied together, we'll have to do this at the same time. We fall backwards on three. Ready? One, two three!"
They both leaned backwards and hit the snow bank at the same time. The snow crunched underneath and formed itself around their bodies.
"See?" She said. "Instant park bench."
They were actually more lying down than sitting up, but Ichigo didn't feel like arguing about it.
"Isn't the snow going to melt and soak us? He asked.
"No. Our coats should keep us insulated." She said.
For a long time they lay there, watching as the snowflakes fell from the sky.
"Ichigo?" Rukia said.
"Yeah." He replied.
"You know what I really like about winter? When it's really cold like this, it can't rain. I don't like it when it rains. It always makes me sad. Winter takes the rain and turns it into beautiful white shapes that float and swirl in the sky and land on you gentle as a feather. Not hard like rain does. That's why I like it so much."
Ichigo turned his head to look at her. She was watching the sky with a dreamy expression on her face. He looked up at the sky again.
"You know, I never thought about it that way. You're right. "
The snow kept gently falling.
"It was real nice of you to treat us to lunch Ishida-san." Renji said as he walked behind him next to Chad.
"We don't have to go to a restaurant." Orihime said. "You don't get to come to the real world often Ababrai-kun. You should let me cook you a real home cooked meal!"
"NO!" All three men said at once.
"I mean, we wouldn't want you to go through so much trouble." Ishida said as he adjusted his glasses.
"It's no trouble. I have plenty of bean paste and canned sardines!" she replied.
"Sounds… interesting." Chad said.
"You really think so?" Orihime said. "I'll bring some for you to school next week."
Chad didn't respond to that. He stopped dead in his tracks. He frowned.
"Hmm." He said.
"What is if Chad?" Ishida asked. Following the big man's gaze, he was surprised by what he saw. "Is that Kurosaki and Kuchiki-san asleep in the snow?"
"A..a..and they're sharing a sc..sc..scarf." Orihime added.
"What the hell?" Renji said.
They walked up to the sleeping couple. Renji poked Ichigo with his toe. "Oi! Ichigo! Wake up!"
Ichigo awake with a start, reflexively flinging his arm towards Rukia in a protective gesture.
"Huh, what?"
"What are you doing sleeping in the snow, Kurosaki?" Ishida asked.
Rukia stirred a little from the voices and turned to her side. The scarf protected her face from the snow.
"We stopped to rest a little. I guess we fell asleep." Ichigo said.
"We're going to go eat." Chad rumbled. "You want to come along?"
"Sure, I guess." Ichigo said.
"I'll get this one up." Renji said, crouching down as he prepared to shout in Rukia's ear.
"Hey don't do that!" Ichigo whispered loudly.
"Well how you gonna follow us?' Renji said.
"Just tell me where you're going and we'll meet you there." Ichigo replied.
"OK." Ishida said. "We're going to the Red Panda next to the bowling alley."
"Fine," Ichigo said. "We'll be there soon."
"Alright, we'll see you there." Orihime said at they turned to leave "Um, don't take too long." She said.
"We won't." He replied. "I'll wake her up in a little bit."
As they walked away, Ishida couldn't help but to feel proud. His coat was both insulated and waterproof just as promised. It was apparently comfortable enough to sleep out in the snow!
Ichigo watched as his friends walked away. When he could no longer see them, he looked down at Rukia's sleeping face. She looked so at peace. He knew he'd have to wake her up soon if she didn't do so on her own. For now, he was content to let her sleep and dream in a world with no rain.