Title: Strawberry Parfait

Authors: dolioslethe and uskohakuchan (The Many Faces of Doris)

Summary: After "the incident", Grimmjow is forced to work at Urahara's Bakery, Strawberry Parfait, where he meets closet sugar addict, Ichigo Kurosaki.

Warnings: Crack! fic. Mild bad language. Possible offensive content. Maybe even lemons. Oh, yes, this is yaoi. You no like, you no read.

Author's Note: No Grimmichi in this episode (tear tear) but there will be plenty in the next one. This grimmichi-less episode was needed to get to the next one, so we hope it will suffice until the next one is written.

Byakuya was… uncomfortable, to say the least. Rukia and he were currently sitting at a small table, in a rather unrefined bakery. He would've preferred to stay home and just had Rukia's birthday sweets catered to him, but Renji, being the rude and insubordinate boy that he was, told him that doing that would be undignified.

As if Byakuya needed to be told by someone like him what was dignified and what wasn't. And if that wasn't bad enough, Ukitake and Kyouraku had agreed with Renji. Kyouraku had even gone on to say that not going to the bakery would be "sinful" as it was Rukia's birthday and since all girls loved sweets and cute things, what better way to treat her than to take her to the "absurdly cute sweet-shop".

Byakuya had really had no choice in the matter.

He shifted his gaze from the cupcake-patterned walls, back to the menu. He wished Rukia would order soon; he didn't know how long he could take in this shop. Ignoring the fact that it was unclean, he could almost tolerate it, but the feeling that he was being watched would not leave him, and thus, he suffered.

Not to say that Byakuya was afraid of being watched, or paranoid for that matter.

No, not at all. It was just that he got the feeling that the look he was being sent, from which direction it was impossible to ascertain, was more than just curious. It felt all-consuming, and maybe even a bit hostile.

Byakuya was afraid.

He shifted his gaze towards the counter, trying to find the source of the look. Rukia had better order soon…

Rukia wasn't faring much better. She'd been excited when she heard "Nii-sama" would be taking her to ultra cute bakery that she passed everyday on the way home from school and had longed to go into since the first day she saw it. But then, as she realized what that news meant, she blanched. She'd be having a meal with "Nii-sama". In Public. They barely said two words to each other in a private meal at home, and she shuddered, imagining what a public meal would be like. And she was sad to say that she'd been right in her imaginings. Byakuya had looked at her twice the entire time and, both times, she'd found herself reddening in the face while trying to look as dignified as possible. In her expert opinion, it wasn't a good combination.

She glanced at Byakuya under the guise of looking at her menu and watched as he glanced back and forth between his menu and the shop. She frowned unhappily. "Nii-sama" obviously didn't want to be here. He probably expected an "unsavory lowlife" to jump out at them at any moment. She might as well tell him what she wanted before he freaked out (in a dignified manner, of course) and demanded they leave.

In the next five minutes that passed, Rukia opened her mouth twice to tell him what she wanted and closed it twice, as she realized that he might not approve of her choice in sweets.



She looked through the menu once again, trying to figure out what sweet he would approve of.

She really wanted a banana split. Covered in chocolate syrup. And strawberries.

But that would be messy, and in "Nii-sama's" opinion, undignified. So, she continued to look through the menu.

At last, Rukia realized that there was nothing else she wanted. She stared at the wall, as the uncomfortable silence enveloped them more and more.

Today was supposed to be her birthday, and yet she was stuck in a bakery with Nii-sama.

"Happy, happy love. Happy, happy love," the man's voice cheered, announcing the arrival of another customer.

Rukia turned to look. And stared. Blinked. And stared again.

"Chappy?"

--

Next Episode: In Which Chappy Is Chappy (AKA "In Which Your Arm Goes Break")