A/N-This is a continuation from the previous chapter I wrote for Rukia's birthday, please enjoy!

My Strawberry Valentine

Rukia really regrets that making sweets isn't her strong point. She is really talented when it comes to grilling or cooking over a simple fire due to her rough childhood, but her experience was sorely lacking when it came to knowledge on how to make really good homemade chocolates for a Valentine's Day present.

She had completely failed. She hadn't wanted to ask anybody's help, or accepted any offers to make chocolates with Inoue, because she didn't want Ichigo to be aware of her failing ability to make chocolates…and when the day before Valentine's Day came, she still didn't have any clue what she was going to do, until she came across a brilliant idea.

Rukia spent the evening in a dessert shop in her Shinigami form in the neighboring town to get some insight on what she might be doing wrong. Yuzu seems to be aware that Rukia has been experimenting with her ability to make sweets late at night, but has been kind enough not to remark upon it.

Finally, after "borrowing" a secret recipe from the dessert shop she peeked in on, she manages to make something she thinks is really spectacular. A small chocolate cake with strawberries outlining the top of it. The batter had tasted wonderful, so Rukia has confidence that the final product also tastes great. At least she hopes so. She puts the cake on a pretty plate, and then covers it before taking it to Ichigo's bedroom. She sets it on the dresser, with a little note that she had made a full week earlier.

For My Strawberry Valentine

There are little drawings of her trademark rabbits and hearts on the note, and she wants Ichigo to see it first thing in the morning. She stumbles her way to the closet, and passes out until she's suddenly woken up by a huge crash.

"Good morning, Ichigo!" Isshin has crashed into the room as is his usual routine. Rukia hears a second crashing sound immediately after she opens her eyes.

"Get out of my room!" Ichigo is practically screaming, and Isshin is gasping for air.

"Ichigo! You came so close to kicking me right into this lovely Valentine's Day gift that was left here for you!" Isshin yells, and Rukia feels her face heat up.

"What?" Ichigo sounds shocked, but then she hears the sound of him jumping out of bed.

"Oh how cute!" Isshin says with a teasing tone, and she hears Isshin grunt from being hit.

"Give that to me!"

"You're going to ruin it!" Isshin yells, with the pain evident in his tone.

"You're the one who's got your sticky hands all over my present!" Ichigo yells before Rukia hears one final crash.

Then she hears the footsteps come over to the closet and stop. Ichigo decides to slide open the door without a warning, and when he does, he sees Rukia sitting on her shelf staring at him wide eyed.

"It's never a boring morning around here, is it?" Rukia asks, and Ichigo just gives her a goofy look while holding his cake.

"Thanks for the present Rukia." Ichigo looks more serious than he typically does first thing in the morning so Rukia grins at him.

"It's the least I could do after you arranged such a fun birthday party." Rukia says, and Ichigo smiles at her.

"Your Strawberry Valentine, eh?" Ichigo asks, but the conversation is cut when he hears Karin screaming his name, but what she yells after is what really bothers him.

"Orihime-chan is here to see you!"

"Inoue is here? What is she doing here?" Ichigo asks, and Rukia shrugs.

"Maybe she has a Valentine's Day gift for you." Rukia says, and Ichigo gawks at her for a second before he responds.

"Why would she?" Ichigo asks, and Rukia raises an eyebrow causing him to curse under his breath and head down the stairs with as much enthusiasm as one might walk a plank.

Rukia stays upstairs just incase her guess is right, and she doesn't really want to see Ichigo receive a Valentine's Day gift from any other girl. The realization of this fact is a bit startling to her too. She walks over to his bed and sinks down into it.

"I'm in deep."

Meanwhile, downstairs, Ichigo is looking at Inoue who is holding out a small bag.

"This is obligatory chocolate right?" Ichigo asks, hoping fiercely that it is, but Inoue blushes bright red.

"No…Kurosaki-kun…" She can't seem to say anymore than that. If it isn't obligatory then it can only be one other kind.

"Sorry Inoue…I can't accept it." Ichigo says, feeling bad since she looks so hurt by his words.

"But…I spent all night working on it!" Inoue says, and that causes Ichigo to imagine what kind of warped candy might even be in the bag she's presenting him.

Even if I did want to accept it, there is no way I'd be able to eat it…

"I can't accept them because I don't want to lead you on." Ichigo says firmly, and Inoue's eye twitches.

"Did Kuchiki-san…" Inoue trails off but it's obvious she wants to know if Rukia gave Ichigo anything for Valentine's Day.

"Yes…Rukia made me a chocolate cake." Ichigo admits honestly, and Inoue takes a deep breath.

"She did?" Inoue asks, shocked since her friend hadn't said anything about it to her, even when she'd asked if Rukia wanted to make candy with her.

"She did…and I accepted it." Ichigo tells Inoue, with his tone doing more explaining than his words themselves.

"Oh…"

"And I can only accept those kinds of feelings from one girl. I wouldn't want to hurt Rukia's feelings by accepting anything that's not only obligatory from any other girl." Ichigo says, feeling better with each word he speaks.

Inoue nods her head feeling really numb as she stares at the object of her desires. She had always thought she would lose to Kuchiki-san, but now that she's staring it in the face she just doesn't want to accept it.

"But…I did make them for you. Please take them so that I don't have to leave here still holding them." Inoue begs, and Ichigo shakes his head again.

"Why don't you give them to Sado or Ishida? I'm sure one of them would be really happy to receive them. I can't take them." Ichigo says before he simply turns his back on her and heads back up the stairs.

She'll find her way out…

Inoue's mouth drops open at his rude dismissal of her, particularly since she hadn't expected him to be so cold after risking his neck to save her in the past. She turns bright red as she is still standing in the Kurosaki residence, so she turns to the door, slips back into her shoes, and runs out.


Rukia feels a lot of relief when Ichigo returns without any additional Valentine's Day gift in his hands.

"Ichigo?" Rukia asks, but his eyes land on the cake she made for him.

"Want to eat it together?" He asks her suddenly and Rukia feels her face get a bit warm.

"Together?" She utters, and Ichigo smirks at her.

"Afraid to eat your own cake?" He asks, and Rukia jumps to her feet.

"You idiot! Are you saying the only reason you offered was because you wanted to see if I was brave enough to eat my own cooking!?" She's so mad and she pulls back to punch him causing Ichigo's eyes to widen in shock.

"No! Rukia, I thought it would be romantic! I was just teasing you!" Rukia's fist stops just a millimeter in front of his right eye, and she looks very embarrassed by what he just said.

"Romantic?" Her eyes narrow at him. "Are you teasing me again?" She demands, and Ichigo takes a quick step back in case she decides to still push her fist forward.

Even at close range she could be dangerous…

"No I'm not teasing you now." Ichigo says hastily, and she drops her arm to her side looking a bit confused.

"You want me to feed it to you?" She asks, still looking like she's unsure of how to share a small cake.

"I do now." Ichigo says, nodding his head in appreciation of her idea.

"Ichigo!" A female voice makes both Ichigo and Rukia lose their train of thought.

The near romantic moment is completely spoiled when Neliel in adult form comes flying through the window. She goes straight into Ichigo's arms and begins to hug the life out of him.

"Nel!? What are you doing here?!" Ichigo manages to ask even though she's making it difficult to breathe.

"It's Valentine's Day! I'm here to see you!" Nel's announcement makes Rukia's eyes go wide and then the green haired Arrancar finally releases Ichigo and yanks out a shiny box from behind her back.

"You…" Ichigo is flabbergasted.

"I got you chocolate!" Nel says proudly, and Ichigo nearly groans.

"Is it obligatory?" He asks, and Nel frowns at him.

"Of course not! A girl in love does not give obligatory chocolate!" Nel spits out at him, and Ichigo gives her a regretful look.

"I'm sorry Nel…but I can't accept them. I've already accepted Rukia's gift, and I can only accept one of that nature." Ichigo tells her, and Nel doesn't like that at all.

Before Ichigo can stop her, she's torn open the box and is shoving chocolates down his throat while pinching his nose with her free hand.

"Accept my feelings! Eat it! Isn't it good Ichigo!?" Nel asks, and Rukia puts her hand over her mouth.

"Ichigo…" Rukia isn't getting involved in this. She knows Ichigo will handle it in his own idiotic way.

Ichigo can't really think straight at the moment despite Rukia's beliefs in him, because he's beginning to choke from Nel's brutal treatment. In the middle of gagging he realizes dealing with this will be more difficult than dealing with Inoue.

Nel finally stops when she realizes he's about to throw up and she jumps away from him.

"You're so mean, idiot Ichigo!" Nel shouts, with tears welling up in her eyes.

Somehow Ichigo manages to keep from spewing all over the bedroom floor, but his throat feels tight as he starts to talk.

"I'm sorry Nel, I don't mean to be mean to you. I do like you, but only as a friend." Ichigo tells her, but then the bottom of Nel's foot connects with his jaw knocking him flat onto his bedroom floor.

"You're impotent aren't you!?" Nel demands and Ichigo jumps to his feet even if he is feeling a bit dazed.

"I am not impotent!" Ichigo shouts, and Rukia sighs in aggravation.

This is getting absurd…

"Idiot!" Nel shrieks again before disappearing the same way she came, and Ichigo scowls after her.

"That crazy bitch…" Ichigo says, and Rukia shakes her head at him.

"I guess you aren't in the mood to eat now, huh?" She asks him, and Ichigo looks a bit green at the suggestion.

"Maybe a bit later." Ichigo says, and Rukia nods.

Either way, she's really happy that Ichigo has refused to accept chocolates from any other girl, because it means he knows she was serious about it when she decided to give him the gift.

"Sure thing." Rukia says, before she grabs the back of his head and pulls it down to her level.

Ichigo's eyes widen as Rukia places a kiss as light as a butterfly on his left cheek and then she lets go to go take a shower. Ichigo touches his cheek where she kissed him, and he doesn't move for a good two minutes until after she's disappeared.

Ichigo is sure his troubles have ended now that he's turned down both Nel and Inoue's chocolates, but he hadn't counted on six more girls from his class showing up throughout the course of the day to give him chocolates.

When Tatsuki shows up, Ichigo throws his arms into the air.

"Tatsuki…please don't tell me you're here to give me chocolate…" Ichigo says, and Tatsuki's eyes narrow at him.

"Of course not Ichigo! I'm here because you made Orihime cry! I think you're aware of what I do to people who make her cry! I have had her crying in my room for hours I hope you know!" Tatsuki says, and Ichigo holds up his hands.

"I didn't make her cry on purpose! I simply told her that if her chocolates weren't obligatory I couldn't accept them since I accepted Rukia's cake!" Ichigo explains, and Tatsuki bites her lip.

"It's true that you aren't exactly wrong here, but why did you have to be so mean to her?! You didn't even say goodbye, you just turned and walked away from her!" Tatsuki says with her fists balled up, and Ichigo shrugs at his friend.

"I probably could have handled it better, but I honestly was just trying to do the right thing." Ichigo says, and he's surprised when Tatsuki's fist pounds into his stomach causing him to double over in pain.

"Sorry Ichigo…I could have probably handled that better but I was just trying to do the right thing." Tatsuki says, and Ichigo glares at his friend.

"How was hitting me the right thing?" Ichigo demands, and Tatsuki crosses her arms.

"Don't tell me you didn't know! Anybody who makes Orihime cry gets their ass kicked by me!" Tatsuki says, and Ichigo rolls his eyes.

"Girls are insane on Valentines Day." Ichigo grumbles, thinking that Rukia is the only exception to that rule.

"Don't forget you owe Orihime an apology!" Tatsuki says, and Ichigo has had enough.

"I don't owe her a damn thing. She needs to get over it and so do you." Ichigo says unwisely, and Tatsuki's fist flies towards his face.

Ichigo is really shocked though when Tatsuki's fist doesn't land. Rukia has appeared and her hand has caught Tatsuki's fist before it could reach Ichigo's face.

"Ichigo, didn't you agree that we were going to eat the cake together?" Rukia asks, while keeping her eyes on Tatsuki, who looks shocked that Rukia was able to stop her in mid-punch.

"Yeah…" Ichigo says, and Rukia addresses Tatsuki next.

"I was really happy that Ichigo didn't accept any gifts from any other girls, and I don't think it's right for him to be hit for making that decision." Rukia says in a firm voice and Tatsuki's eyes widen.

"Kuchiki-san…"

"If you must fight someone, then your opponent is me." Rukia says, and Tatsuki pulls her hand away.

"Nah…I guess it was kind of nice of him to be so considerate of you." Tatsuki says slowly, and Rukia beams at her.

"Wasn't it?" Rukia asks, and Tatsuki gives Ichigo a look.

"I'm going to tell Orihime you apologized for your rude treatment to her, and I'll explain how serious you and Kuchiki-san have become." Tatsuki says, before leaving the couple to themselves.

"Thank goodness she's gone." Ichigo says quietly, and Rukia laughs at him.

"Are you finally ready for some cake?" Rukia asks, and Ichigo smirks at her.

"Yeah, come on." He tells her, before he grabs a spoon from the kitchen and hurries up to his room with Rukia.

He grabs the cake off his dresser, and heads over to his bed. Rukia walks over next to him, but he grabs her by the waist and pulls her into his lap.

"Ichigo?" Rukia says with a bright red face, but Ichigo just tightens his hold on her.

"This is how we're going to share." Ichigo tells her, before he unwraps the cake and hands her the spoon. Rukia blushes, but she digs into the cake with the spoon, and then holds it up in the air for him to taste the cake.

Rukia holds her breath while she's putting the cake in his mouth, but when his eyes light up with happiness, she's sure that she managed to make the cake without screwing up.

"Is it good?" Rukia asks, and Ichigo's eyes sparkle at her.

"Very good." Ichigo says before he takes the spoon from her, and gets some to feed her.

Rukia feels like there's some sort of sensational party going on in her mouth when she's eating the cake, and even she's impressed with how great it turned out. It's also an erotic experience to be on his lap, feeding him, and letting him feed her.

Together they eat the entire cake, and when the last spoonful is deposited into Ichigo's mouth, he pulls her close to him.

"Happy Valentine's Day Ichigo." Rukia says softly, as he's swallowing his bite of cake, and he shocks her by kissing her lips very lightly.

"I'll always be your Strawberry Valentine." Ichigo says huskily, and Rukia smiles at him.

"I'm expecting something really great for White's Day!" Rukia warns him, and Ichigo just hugs her tighter.

"I'm going to spoil you rotten." Ichigo promises her, and Rukia sighs as he lays her head on his shoulder, enjoying their closeness.

She really likes the idea that he plans to spoil her for White's Day.

Ichigo will always be my Strawberry Valentine!