Snow fell heavy upon the roof of the school buildings, blanketing the court yard, the track, the trees...everything. Everyone was cuddling up to each other, couples mostly, discussing Valentine's day activities and what not. Ichigo sluggishly walked down the hallway, looking straight ahead to avoid eye contact with anyone for anything. Just turning the corner he could see people kissing and hugging. He became annoyed. And for some reason, began thinking about Rukia. Wondering where she was.
"Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime laughed, jogging up to him. He turned around to greet her.
"Hey, Inoue." he said politely.
She came to a halt in front of him, twirling her fingers behind her back.
"Um. I was wondering. Kurosaki-kun. Do you...have a Valentine?" she choked out.
Silence.
Ichigo hadn't really thought about that. He would assume that technically he did considering he was going to get something for Rukia, though they hadn't really asked each other. But before he could answer, the bell rang, causing everyone to break up and scramble to their classes.
"Oh! I've got to leave now, I'll talk to you later!" Orihime smiled as she ran back down the hall to her classroom.
Ichigo sighed, saved by the bell.
"Hey Ichigo."
Ichigo turned around again, this time, facing Rukia instead. In her hand she held a a sheet of paper with black print.
"Is that a new schedule?" Ichigo asked, snatching it from her hand.
"Yeah. I was just about to ask you where..."
"We have first period together," Ichigo raised an eyebrow, "and gym. And fifth period."
Rukia rolled her eyes, "Great." she scoffed snatching her paper back.
Ichigo threw his arm around her neck, yanking her close to his side.
"You know you wanna be classmates!" he said tightening his headlock.
She slapped him on the stomach, making him loosen his hold a bit.
"Who's in there with you?" Rukia asked.
Ichigo paused in thought.
"Uryuu, Chad, Chizuru, Tatsuki...Keigo, Mizuiro. Everyone we know really. Except Inoue, she got her classes switched. Oh, and that asshole Renji..."
Rukia stopped listening after a certain point, looking around the hallway. Althought Ichigo continued to talk and name names.
"Alright, alright, shut up." Rukia groaned, pulling away from his grip as they entered the classroom together.
It was the same scene as in the hallway, except less people. Classmates sat on desks, stood on walls, and just scattered all over talking and flirting with one another. Man this holiday really did have an effect on people. Rukia sighed, walking deeper into the classroom before someone caught her attention.
"Hey! Rukia!" Renji called for her from across the room, walking up on her seconds after.
"Hello Renji." Rukia smiled.
"I didn't know you were in this class..."
"I'm not, usually. But I just got my schedule changed a little."
"That's awesome," he rubbed the back of his head in thought, "listen. Tomorrow's Valentine's day and all and, you wanna go out of something?"
Rukia blinked. She stared at Renji, speechless. Thoughtless. Looking around the room for a second as if he had vanished, then looked back at him.
"Um. That sounds great and all, Renji but..."
Ichigo, stricken by jealousy, slid into the situation making it ten times more awkward.
"Yeah, no." he said, stepping in between the two and guiding Rukia away.
Her mouth dropped open in shock, but Ichigo kept pushing. She turned around slapping him in the chest with her mittens.
"Hey!" she exclaimed placing her hands on her hips, "What if I was gonna say yes?"
"You would've said it before I stepped in." Ichigo said.
Rukia paused, pouting her lips.
"You were getting jealous."
"I was not!"
A huge smile stretched across her face.
"You were jealous! Oh my God, that's so funny!"
"Shut uuuup! Go say yes to your little boyfriend then!" Ichigo blurted, blushing bright red. Rukia just laughed, covering her mouth to try and hold off from hysterical cackling. She inhaled deeply, and exhaled calmly.
"But, you're my Valentine."
Silence. Ichigo's eyes lightened from their hard glare, and his face flushed back to it's normal colour. He blinked, staring down at her. Something like that was unexpected coming from her. It was cute.
"You just gonna stand there with your mouth wide open Ichigo?" Rukia asked him, jokingly.
Ichigo was so far gone he didn't even realize his jaw was nearly hanging off the hinges. He clamped his mouth shut, clearing his throat.
"Oh." he choked up, patting her delicately on the head.
"Oh? Oh what?" she asked, slapping his hand away from petting her like a dog.
"Oh, nothing. I just thought Renji would've gotten to you first." he teased. Rukia's face burned bright red and she quickly turned away.
"I could say the same for Orihime..." she mumbled.
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" Rukia erupted, causing the whole class to fade into a stage of silence and look at the two. Ichigo's eyes widened at her sudden out burst. She crossed her arms over her chest grunting. Mayuri's diabolical laughter emerged from the silence, as he pushed through the thickness of students. His creepy and haunting appearance made even Rukia get the chills.
"Ah! Rukia! Just the gal I was looking for!" he chuckled, reaching in his back pocket as he walked to her gradually. Her heart raced in her chest. Her breaths grew shallower. Ichigo was even confused as to what was happening at this very moment, right now. She closed her eyes preparing for the worst. Then, Mayuri took her wrist, dropping a delicate vial into her hand and curling her fingers around it. She opened her eyes in shock, looking at her hand enveloped in his.
"Happy Valentine's day...just an early gift for you two." he snickered, looking over at Ichigo as well. He twitched. Rukia uncurled her fingers staring at the small vial. It was glass, filled with soft pink liquid and had a bright red bow tied around the top. It had a spraying tip as well.
"Per...perfume?" she asked questioningly.
"Exactly!" he cackled, tilting his head in an abnormal angle. Rukia cringed at the odd looking man.
"Jee...thanks, Mayuri. This is very kind." she said, slipping it into her pocket.
Suddenly, Mayuri threw his face closely to hers so quickly she was sure he would've head-butted her into a coma. His beady eyes stared into hers, his expression completely serious. Rukia gulped.
"Be waaarned..." he whispered, putting his finger over his lips. "It has a special effect once sprayed on someone...only use it when ready."
Ready? Ready for what? Rukia thought.
His slightly curly violet locks curtained his face ever so much giving his bright amber eyes a really creepy sort of glow-in-the-dark look.
"Mayuri." Nemu came from out of the blue, hopefully to retrieve Mayuri away from Rukia.
He rolled her eyes in annoyance, turning to face her. "What!" he bellowed.
"We will be late remember...we have second period class in a few minutes." she spoke, calmly and softly. Odd that she'd be associated with someone as psychotic as Mayuri.
"You stupid girl! You bother me now to tell me what will happen in a few minutes!"
Ichigo twitched, he just remembered, he would also be late standing around here, him and Rukia both. Their next class was gym. Rukia turned to face Ichigo, still a little shaken up by Mayuri. He raised an eyebrow at her, heading out of the classroom. Rukia quickly scuttled up after him.
"C'mon! You girls can do better than that! Hustle, hustle hustle!" Yoruichi, captain of the volleyball team, demanded. She clapped her hands three loud times, bending forward slightly in the ready position. Her team consisted of 6 girls. Rangiku, Nemu, Yachiru, Orihime, herself, and now Rukia due to unexpected changes in some students schedules. Rukia panted violently, slouching over and supporting herself with her hands on her knees.
"Hey! Rukia! Pick up the pace will ya?" Yoruichi yelled at her.
"Relax, Yoruichi. It's not like you earned captain's spot by being the best volleyball player you know." she said smugly, her hand on her hip and her free one flipping her long golden orange hair.
"What was that?" Yoruichi scolded.
"You heard exactly what I said."
"Is that so? Well I'd like to see your fat ass do it." she growled.
Rangiku's face turned into something horrid after the words rolled off Yoruichi's tongue.
"Me! FAT! Please! You wouldn't know a perfect figure if it bit you in your fat ass!" Rangiku said caressing her body.
"Save it! You've got the figure of a cow and the tits to prove it!"
"You're just jealous!" Rangiku exploded.
"Me? Jealous of you! Ha! I'd love to see the day!" Yoruichi bursted out laughing.
"Yoruichi! Rangi! Please, don't start arguing again!" a worried Orihime popped in between the two.
The big breasted trio fussed and hollered at each other endlessly, leaving Rukia to catch her breath.
"Do they always fight like this?" Rukia coughed.
"Yep!" Yachiru exclaimed perky as ever, "Say Rukia! Those spandex shorts make you look like you have a butt!" she pointed.
Rukia blushed, flipping around and pulling her shirt down over her bottom, "That's so perverted!" she exclaimed.
Each one of the girls in the gym wore the same uniform, a white tshirt with coloured trims and tight spandex shorts. A dress code Rukia found cruel, but a dress code it was. Running the inside track she saw Ichigo, shooting around the whole gym aside many other men. He stood out most because of his hair.
"Yuck. How could they be sweating so much when it's so cold outside?"
"Its quite hot inside the gymnasium." Nemu said, monotone.
The boys stopped running, panting and catching their breath. Laughing about jokes, and conversing by the fountains. Ichigo peeled his sweat soaked tshirt off, revealing the skintight muscle shirt he wore underneath. Rukia's heart skipped a beat or two. He was so...
"Rukia!" Yoruichi cried.
The heavy blow of a violently spiked volleyball struck Rukia in the back of the head while she was eyeballing Ichigo. The impact was so great in fact that the sheer sound of the unwanted contact between the ball and her head just made their stomachs churn. She dropped to the ground, unconscious, but twitching. The girls quickly huddled around her their worried voices catching the attention of the boys on the other side of the gym.
"What's got them all worked up?" Keigo asked trying to find an opening in the crowd of girls to see who or what they were surrounding.
"Oh shit! Oh man, oh man, I'm really sorry Rukia! Rukia!" Yoruichi shook her unconscious body.
"Rukia?" Ichigo mumbled, squinting as if he could see through the girls. There, lying helplessly on the ground was indeed Rukia. Out cold. Ichigo's heart sank, "Rukia!" he bellowed, sprinting to the circle of girls. He pushed through them, not caring if he had shoved them too hard or not, kneeling beside Rukia. His heart beat heavily in his chest. She looked so...vulnerable. He scooped her up into his arms, bridal style, and rose to his feet.
"What happened?" he grunted.
"Yoruichi's man arm spiked the ball to hard and it hit Rukia while she wasn't looking!" Rangiku bursted out, "Nice going dumbass!"
"You act like I did it on purpose you fat cow!" Yoruichi snapped. The two quickly resumed arguing. Orihime only stared as Ichigo cradled Rukia in his arms. So gentle. So caring. It was as if he were holding a precious child, pressing her close to him, staring down upon her "sleeping" face. She put her hand to her chest to muffle her pounding heart. A strange feeling quickly blanketed her as he turned and walked away with Rukia in his arms. She felt. Jealous.
By the time she came to, Rukia was lying in the clean pristine clinic cot, with an ice pack on her head. She leaned up, quickly feeling dizzy and falling back down into her pillow. Her head was killing her. She groaned loudly, getting the nurses's attention.
"There there, sweetheart. Don't get up too fast. You got quite the hit on the head, it's a small concussion but you should still be very careful. Just lie down some more." the nurses' caring voice warmed Rukia as she gently pulled the soft white sheet over her, placing the icepack back on the center of her forehead. The freezing cold of the ice felt good against the heat of her skin, but soon it became too cold to just leave there. She gently pulled it up from her forehead, wiping the tiny droplets of condensation off her head with her wrist.
"Rukia?" Ichigo pulled back the curtains that seperated Rukia from the rest of the large office.
"Huh...?" Rukia grumbled, pressing her hands tightly on the back of her head and groaning in pain, "Jeez... who tried to kill me?"
Ichigo chuckled, closing the curtains back as he walked in sitting next to her cot, "You got brutalized by a volleyball." he said.
Rukia blinked. She was lying in the nurses' office, with an ice pack, and a vicious headache, because of a volleyball?
"Wow." she exhaled, turning to face him, "You brought me here?"
"Yeah. I was really worried about you and...I came back to see if you were okay."
Her entire face turned pink at this, but he acted as if he didn't notice, handing her her neatly folded uniform.
"The day's nearly over. You were out for some time." he said.
She took the stack in her hands, placing them firmly on her lap. Something hard was poking her knee. Reaching into the pocket of her uniform skirt she pulled out a little glass vail.
"Oh yeah. This little, guy." she said, twisting the vail in between her fingers.
Ichigo raised an eyebrow, "What do you think it is?"
She shrugged.
"Who knows? Judging that it's from Mayuri it could be anything." She held it up into the light as if the "contents" of the fluid were written in tiny print on the vail.
"I could be holding the world's deadliest weapon in my hand, right now."
"Yikes." Ichigo tilted his head at the thought. That wouldn't be pretty for anyone.
The bell rang. Dismissal had arrived.
"Get dressed, it's time to go." Ichigo said, getting up from his chair to exit the confinement of the curtains. Rukia reached out grabbing him by his wrist.
"Wait!" she cried.
He turned around to look at her, his facial expression was so soft and gentle. She ended up blushing just from him looking at her.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Um." she stumbled on her thoughts, "I just wanted to um...thank...you." she said softly.
He turned all the way around, looking down at her small body. It saddened him to see such a beauty in so much pain. She was nothing but amazing to him. The sight of her being in a nurses' office with ice packs and pills was just...heart breaking. He leaned into her, caressing her soft rosey cheeks with her right hand. The tips of their noses kissed, their lips only centimeters apart. Rukia's heart beat heavy. She gulped, closing her eyes as he leaned in closer...and closer...
"Miss Kuchikiiii." The nurses' soft voice returned just before their lips met. Dammit. Ichigo jumped up quickly, falling into his chair just before the nurse opened the curtains. In her hand was a small tray, the contents on the tray being a small glass of water and a paper cup with two tiny pills in it.
"Just take these, they should make that headache go right away!" she smiled peacefully.
Rukia took the pills in one hand and the glass in the other, "What are these if you don't mind me asking?"
"Just some aspirin. I figured it was safe for you to take them since I didn't see anything about you having an allergy to them on your record. Just set the glass down on the table outside on your way out. Hope you feel better, dear."
Rukia smiled. This woman was awfully kind. It brought joy to her heart. She threw the pills back in her mouth and quickly gulped the water down behind them, the coolness of the liquid cooling her hot face. She looked into the empty cup, trying to find any way she could not to make direct eye contact with Ichigo. He caught on to this rather quickly, and stood up to leave again. "I'll wait for you outside." he said, closing the curtains behind him.