This came to me while shoe shopping for my siblings. Mom was at work, so I had to do it. For baby Dusty, too. He's finally wearing shoes! Yeah! When he was born, there were no shoes that would fit him because he was premature. We're all happy that he can wear them now!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or their characters. Sad, huh? Imagine what I could do . . .
Shoe Shopping
"Ichigo, I need shoes."
Rukia sat on the bed inside her open closet, already dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt and a pink mini-skirt that went nearly to her knees. The shirt was open for an inch and a half down the top, held together by a tie-string, and the skirt had darker pink flower patterns in the bottom left corner. Her hair was held back by a pink hair clip, something she had never done before.
She was smiling and kicking her bare feet back and forth.
"Then get some," Ichigo said, glancing over for a brief second. Then, he said, "Are those clothes my sisters? I don't think I've ever seen the before."
"No, I went shopping with Inoue-San a few days ago. And I need shoes."
"I said go get some." Ichigo turned back to his book, having to look up to read it, for he held it in his hands so he could use his elbows to hold down the pillow he was currently smothering Kon with.
"My other shoes don't fit me anymore. And your sister's are too big."
Ichigo looked at Rukia with his eyes wide.
"God, you have small feet."
This earned him a book in the face, which threw him off balance. This made him lose his grip on his pillow, which let Kon out. The fluffy, orange lion jumped up and down in from of Ichigo, gasping for breath and yelling cuss words that Rukia had never heard before.
"Ichigo, I. Need. Shoes," Rukia said forcefully, not too keen on walking around in the cold, November air without shoes.
"Fine, baka. Later," Ichigo said quickly, trying to wrestle Kon back under the pillow. Kon, who desperately wanted to stay away, was kicking his soft, fluffy feet into Ichigo's face.
"Now!"
Ichigo was startled as Rukia yelled at him. He dropped the pillow and accidentally fell off the bed. He sighed, looking up into Rukia's face, which was currently upside down. And he was getting a good look up her skirt . . .
His face turned pinker than her skirt as he flipped his body to the right angle.
"Fine."
Ten minutes later, Rukia found herself wearing a pair of Yuzu's shoes, which were indeed too big for her. Ichigo was still surprised, and was still rubbing his head where Rukia had pounded him with yet another book when he fell onto the floor laughing at how small her feet were.
They walked into the shoe department of the mall. Ichigo looked around at the shoes and shook his head.
"We have to go to the children's and teen's department."
"What size, exactly, do I wear?" Rukia asked, her eyes going wide as she stared at the large shoes that surrounded them.
"Um . . . Yuzu and Karin wear fives, so I'm thinking fours or four and a half," Ichigo replied, walking with Rukia down the rows of women's shoes, just to make sure there was nothing there they could use. Ichigo really didn't want to walk half across the huge mall just to get to the teens department. Finally, as he was about to give up, he spotted something.
"What about these?" he asked, holding up a pair of shoes. They were size five and a half, but they looked smaller than they were. Rukia frowned.
"I am not going to wear those in a million years," Rukia said, crossing her arms over her chest, glaring at the bright yellow shoes. Very bright yellow. And there were flowers on them!
"Can I help you?"
The loud, shrill voice made Ichigo go stiff and drop the pair of shoes. He quickly picked them up again, and turned to the store clerk.
"Yeah. We're looking for shoes for her," Ichigo said, pointing to Rukia, who was just standing there, her face fixed in a pout as she stared at the shoes. Ichigo almost laughed. She looked so cute like that. Her hair was pulled back on the right side with a hair clip, but the left side hung down in her face a little.
The lady clerk smiled. Apparently, from Rukia's small body and pink clothes, she thought Rukia looked younger.
"Is she your daughter?"
Ichigo coughed. Rukia's pout turned into a gape, and the clerk was sure she had guessed wrong.
"I'm sorry. She must be your girlfriend, then." The clerk had made up her mind. "So, what can I do to help?"
"Um . . . I think we've got it," Ichigo replied. The clerk nodded and skipped off. She seemed to be just out of high-school. Ichigo turned to Rukia.
"What's wrong with these shoes?"
"Everything!" Rukia protested, her pout returning, hiding the light blush on her face from the clerks idea that she was Ichigo's girlfriend.
"But they light up!" Ichigo said in attempt to make her opinion waver. It didn't work. The pout just turned into a glare.
"Fine," Ichigo growled, putting the pair of shoes back in place. So, they headed over to the children's and teens shoe section. When they got there, Ichigo dropped down on a chair that was used for people trying on shoes and sighed. "Find something you like so we can go."
"Uh . . . how?" Rukia asked, her eyes wide at the rows and rows of shoes she was looking at. Ichigo had led her to the teen section because everything in the kids section, though the right size, had silly designs on them. So, now, he was sitting in front of a billion pairs of girls shoes.
Ichigo sighed again and got up, motioning for Rukia to sit down. She did.
"Take off your shoes so you can try some different ones on," Ichigo said, scanning the shelves for some shoes that Rukia would like. He found a pair of pink sneakers that matched her skirt and handed them to her. Then, he remembered that the only shoes Rukia had ever worn were the ones for school, and sandals. Even in the Soul Society, it was always sandals.
"Let me help."
Ichigo sat down on the ground below Rukia and set to unlacing the shoes. He then took one of her feet and tried the shoe on, tying the laces once again. He repeated the action on the second foot.
"Now, stand up and walk around. Do they feel right?"
"What are they supposed to feel like?" Rukia asked, walking around the aisle, looking down at her feet.
"Baka," Ichigo mumbled, though too low for Rukia to hear. "Are they tight? Loose?" Ichigo asked, slightly annoyed, but slightly amused at the scene of Rukia walking in circles, her eyes glued on her feet.
"Hmmm . . . ."
Ichigo watched her for a second more, jumping up and gently taking her by the shoulders to stop her before she hit into the shelves. She was slightly off balance for a second. Then said,
"They're too loose, I think."
"OK, smaller pair," Ichigo said, wincing and hoping she didn't take that as an insult. Though he doubted she could find a heavy pair of shoes that would match up to the book she had hit him with earlier. Remembering, he rubbed the small lump that still remained.
"Does that still hurt?" Rukia asked.
"Huh?" Ichigo looked up, and, seeing the concern in Rukia's eyes, quickly replied, "Uh, no."
"Well, you deserved it."
Ichigo snorted and pulled a pair of white sneakers off the shelf.
"No white."
"Why not?" Ichigo asked, still holding the shoes in his hands.
"I've seen your white shoes," Rukia replied simply. "They're brown now."
"It's called mud. And a washer can clean that out."
Rukia didn't budge.
"Fine," Ichigo growled, looking around. "Do you see anything you like?"
Rukia's eyes scanned the shelves as she rocked back and forth on her feet. Most of the shoes were sandals, which wouldn't work in winter.
"Your looking for tennis shoes," Ichigo said, leading her over to where he was standing. In front of him, the shoes ranged from plain white to having colors striped all around them. Some had skates built into the bottom, and some had air pumpers for more comfort. Some were small, and some were big. He never did understand why people had such big selections. He preferred plain white or black. Or anything that fit.
"I like these," Rukia finally said. She pulled out a pair of sneakers that were mostly a special material of gray that seemed as though it had been wrinkled on purpose. There were blue pink strips on the top and bottom, going in a wavy motion down to the toe. The laces were a darker pink, with gray stripes in the middle, going from top to bottom. Ichigo looked at the size.
"These are size seven, idiot," Ichigo said, smirking. "You need four."
"Shut up," Rukia growled, going in search of a smaller pair. She really liked those shoes. Suddenly, another clerk walked up to them.
"Can I help you find anything?"
Rukia brightened.
"Yes, please. I'm looking for a size . . ." She cut herself off and looked up at Ichigo.
"Four."
"Four in these shoes." Rukia held up the shoes. The clerk looked at the shoes and scanned the shelves.
"We don't have any here. But would you like me to look in the back?"
Before Ichigo could politely refuse and say they would find something else, Rukia had nodded happily. The clerk walked away, saying she would be back in a minute. Rukia dropped into the chair and Ichigo down on the ground opposite of her.
Suddenly, as he accidentally got another good look up her skirt, he really wished she would take to wearing pants. Blushing madly, he turned away and looked up toward the lights in the ceiling.
"Ichigo?"
Ichigo looked back down as Rukia said his name.
"Huh?"
"Thanks for taking me to get shoes."
Ichigo was surprised she was thanking him for anything. She usually didn't do that.
"You're welcome. Of course I would, baka. Who else would endure hours of looking at pink shoes with you?" He meant it as a joke, but Rukia took it wrong.
She looked away, not meeting his eyes. Ichigo sighed and stood up, walking over and sitting beside her; it was getting insanely hard not to peek a glance under her skirt.
"Rukia, I didn't mean it that way," he said, looking up. He saw that she was blurry eyed. Must be PMS, he thought, but didn't dare say it aloud. He would be in trouble then, oh, boy would he be in for it.
"Then how did you mean it?" Rukia asked quietly.
"I don't know," Ichigo admitted.
Lately, she had been trying to get into less arguments with Ichigo. It was just a normal reaction when she was with him, but she didn't like to argue. Sometimes she wished that they got along better. She had rarely ever gotten along with someone like that, and it hurt her not to be able to carry on a conversation without name calling and yelling. Deciding to voice this allowed, she turned and met Ichigo's eyes. "How come we argue so much?"
"I don't know, honest. I've never met someone quite like you, who could always get onto my nerves like that. It seems that you know just which strings to pull."
Rukia had been in the living world long enough to pick up what he meant, even if she didn't fully understand it.
"Sorry." Rukia looked down again.
"What are you sorry for, baka?" Ichigo asked. "I . . . Well, I should probably be the one to be sorry. I guess I never really thought of what you felt about the arguments. It's just really how I got along. A normal reaction, I guess." Ichigo shrugged.
Their conversation was cut short as the clerk walked out, holding a small box.
"I found the shoes. Would you like to try them on?"
"Yes, please," Ichigo said, answering for Rukia. He stood up and took the box, handing it to her. The clerk walked away.
Rukia smiled slightly and took one of the shoes out, fitting it onto her foot. She then looked up at Ichigo.
"Um . . . how do I tie it?"
Ichigo bent beside Rukia and showed her how to do the lace. He suddenly became aware of how close he and Rukia were. After he finished tying the shoe, he let Rukia do the second one, sitting down beside her on the chair, which was more like a bench, because it fit two people.
After a minute, Rukia looked up at Ichigo questioningly. He laughed softly, reaching over and taking the lace out.
"No, like this . . . "
Again, he showed her how to tie the shoe. Rukia nodded and undid it, trying on her own again. As soon as she let go of the laces, the bow fell apart. Ichigo smiled at Rukia's frustration and stood up, walking behind her to get a better angle. Once he positioned himself, he took her hands in his own, guiding her hands to tie the laces. Rukia gasped as his warm, large hands covered her own, and had to fight a blush that rose to her cheeks. Soon, she had tied the shoe.
Rukia smiled brightly.
"I did it!"
Ichigo smiled along.
"Now, stand up and walk around. Do they feel alright?"
Rukia did as she was instructed. She nodded her head, saying they felt fine.
Ichigo helped her take them off and put the sandals back on her feet. They put the shoes back in the box and began walking out of the store. Ichigo trailed behind Rukia as she happily skipped along. He found himself grinning as he watched her. She looked a lot more happy than she had ten minutes ago, and he found that it made him happy, too.
Stopping in her tracks, Rukia looked back toward Ichigo.
"Come on, hurry up!"
Ichigo's smile grew as he quickened his pace to catch up with her. When he did, she took his hand and swung it back and forth in her own.
Ichigo was sure he was blushing from the contact. Who knew that shoe shopping could make one so happy?
Well, I had a lot of fun writing that. Of course, nothing like this happened while shoe shopping for my siblings, but I had quite an adventure shopping for a baby, a three and four-year-old and teenagers. It was madness! We must have walked around for five hours!
But I had fun, and I thought, what if Ichigo and Rukia went shoe shopping?
I'm thinking about Bleach a lot now, because I have to write a story a day. Prompts just keep jumping out of nowhere and biting me in the butt. I'll shut up now!
PLEASE REVIEW!
