Enchanted
by Her Pretty Smile

Synopsis: A mysterious aroma floods Seireitei and Karakura Town in the middle of the night, but it only affects at least vice-captain-level shinigamis who are awake. It's just four certain people's luck that they have their eyes open at that time. IchiRuki, HitsuHina.

Warning: Unbeta-ed; may contain mistakes or any of the sort. MANGA SPOILERS alert. (Don't worry, not really the recent ones.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. Kubo Tite owns it.

Authoress' Note: I've read a question in a site which is: "If you ship IchiRuki, then you also ship HitsuKarin?" And then I was like: "Oh no, no, no, you did NOT just say that." So, with the fire of determination burning inside me, I wrote this fic. I will not stand for that. IchiRuki and HitsuHina BOTH rock. :P

Important Note: This is set after the anime.

Enchanted

—

"Can I stay here forever?"

—

Prologue

Part One
Ichigo

THERE WAS A GREAT storm tonight in Karakura Town.

The rain poured down the streets angrily along with a roaring thunder in the skies. Most of the people were fast asleep, the rest working up to the early hours in the morning.

Ichigo, however, was wide awake. It was the night after he had regained back his powers, and because he'd dozed off most of the day, he couldn't sleep again.

Not in this storm, anyway.

For a moment, he wondered about Rukia. Byakuya must have laid off of his overprotectiveness on her a bit after the war so that she could become a vice-captain, the very position she deserved a long time ago.

Then he thought about Renji and the others. Were they doing well? Had they gotten a lot stronger than he thought they were?

Ichigo sighed. Thinking wasn't going to help. He needed to sleep.

He was about to lie back down on his bed when he suddenly smelled something strong and dark.

It still lingered in his senses even when his eyes slowly closed.

Part Two
Rukia

IT WAS A PEACEFUL night in Seireitei; the moon shone brightly in the sky along with the twinkling, sparkling stars.

There wasn't even a single cloud in sight.

Rukia walked around aimlessly, having found herself unable to sleep due to the excitement that was occurring. Apparently, the news of Ichigo's return to being the Substitute Shinigami spread around like wildfire.

It was no question that he was famous. He defeated Aizen and saved the world. He helped greatly in the Winter War, and the great contributions he made to Soul Society did not go unnoticed.

He was a hero now.

She smiled. I'm proud of you, Ichigo.

However, while basking in the comfortable silence of her surroundings, she suddenly smelled something.

What is this...?

She started to feel drowsy.

It smells like...

Her eyes slowly closed in fatigue.

...ice.

Part Three
Toushirou

IT WAS GOING TO be another one of those sleepless nights where one had to take care of the rest of the paperwork.

Toushirou sighed. He was going to yell at his vice-captain for slacking off on her work again and making him, her captain, finish it for the nth time.

"Darn that Matsumoto..." he muttered. "She didn't do even a single one."

As he was about to reach for a pen, though, a strong, distinctive aroma wafted through his nostrils.

What the... he thought as sleep started to overwhelm him. I... can't doze off yet...

Wait... Why can I smell... ice...?

Within seconds, his head fell on his desk.

Part Four
Momo

HER CAPTAIN HAD TOLD her to rest tonight, but she couldn't bring herself to. She had seen the mountain of paperwork on Shinji's desk and she couldn't just let it be.

So she snuck out of bed and finished more than a half of them.

Afterwards, she went towards her quarters.

I'm glad that's settled... she thought, satisfied. Now Hirako-taichou won't have any problems finishing the rest in the morning.

But then before she could close her eyes, a familiar scent invaded her room.

Eh?

Plums...?

She couldn't dwell on it further. She felt so tired suddenly.

She slept.

A/N: The prologue isn't as interesting as chapter one, I think. :)