Chapter 11:
Causes, Awareness, Narrow spaces and Chocolate.

Kuchiki Byakuya had to admit to himself, that he felt somewhat triumphant. Kurosaki Ichigo had been treating him with even more coldness than was usual between them for the past few days. But today the boy's attention seemed to keep coming back to him no matter how hard he tried not to let that happen.

Not that Byakuya wanted or cared for Kurosaki Ichigo's attention, of course. It was simply amusing to watch the brat struggle.

The students of Karakura High School were out of uniform today. They were all donning a special tee-shirt which was being sold as a part of fundraising for a charitable cause that the school was promoting.

Ichigo had gotten himself and Byakuya the same size of the tee-shirt, which in Byakuya's opinion was a bit tight. Also, in Byakuya's opinion he looked preposterous in this clothing. But he appreciated the method of fundraising for such a noble purpose, and was considering introducing such concepts in Soul Society as well.

Of course, it was apparent that Ichigo did not think Byakuya looked preposterous. His eyes kept wandering to the Shinigami dressed in the white tee-shirt and dark blue jeans. Byakuya was aware that Ichigo was not the only one giving appreciative glances in his direction. This sort of clothing must be considered very attractive among high school students. Byakuya had to admit, Ichigo himself looked quite good in it.

Most of the boys kept staring at that annoying Inoue Orihime girl, whose curvaceous figure was flattered by her tee-shirt. All her attention though was focused on Ichigo, as usual. Byakuya had initially thought that Ichigo knew about her feelings but ignored her because she was annoying. But it soon became clear to Byakuya that this was not the case. Ichigo was actually clueless to how besotted the girl was with him! And he did not seem particularly attracted to her either. Byakuya smugly wondered if it would have been different if he wasn't here.

Ichigo scowled and leaned back in his seat. This was torture. He was more than glad to buy the tee-shirts for the charity, but why did they have to wear them to school? Why did Byakuya have to look so good in his tee-shirt and jeans? He's a Shinigami for God's sake, he's supposed to look absurd and out of place in these clothes!

Ichigo wondered if there was anything Byakuya would not look good in. He was surely the only person in the entire classroom who looked so elegant in such casual clothes. The poise of his perfectly shaped lean body made him even more attractive. These clothes, on that body... Ichigo forgot about concentrating on the class. He could not even remember if it was chemistry class or maths or biology. He was noticing the way Byakuya's silky long black hair fell to his strong graceful shoulders. The way the white of the material looked against his pale skin. The way those chilling grey eyes were looking at him...Shit! He caught me staring at him!

Ichigo hurriedly lowered his gaze to his book, hoping no one else had noticed what he had been doing or the blush that was spreading across his face. He started thinking of all the rude names he could call that arrogant noble in his head. Why him? It had never been so difficult dealing with other Shinigami thrown into my life! Stupid stuck up noble who looks beautiful but has a stick up his ass!

"Kurosaki, I believe I just asked you a question, do you plan to answer it?" The teacher's voice reached Ichigo's ears, and he jumped up.

What question? The teacher was glaring at him while tapping impatiently on her table. The class was looking at him with expressions ranging from amusement to confusion – and of course, from Byakuya, disapproval.

Byakuya, you idiot, this is all your fault. Ichigo hung his head and stared at the ground.

"No response," huffed the teacher, "Alright, Kuchiki could you please tell the class, especially Kurosaki what the answer to my question is."

Byakuya, of course, responded correctly. "Well done, Kuchiki. It's no wonder that you've become the top performer in this class in such a short time, even outdoing Ishida in the last exam. Keep it up!"

On any other day, the look of resentment and frustration on Ishida's face would have given Ichigo plenty of satisfaction. But he was currently too pissed off at Byakuya to enjoy even that!

Luck, however, was not on his side that day. With the entire school still scared of Byakuya, Ichigo found himself paired with him when they were volunteering for the rest of the fundraising events after school. The work was simple enough, they were to sit at a little makeshift stall in the busiest shopping mall in town, explain to the passing shoppers how they were raising funds for kids who lost their families and homes in last year's tsunami and earthquake, and look over the boxes where they were collecting donations. The previous group they were taking over from explained this to Ichigo, who sighed knowing this meant he would be doing all the talking while Byakuya sat next to him acting like a marble statue.

If nothing else, the strange combination of two attractive schoolboys, one orange haired and the other with long black hair, soon drew a lot of attention to their stall. Ichigo started explaining about the fundraising with enthusiasm, but got slightly nervous when he realized most of the people at the mall were women of various ages and were taking a great deal of interest in him and Byakuya.

"...so, high schools students all over the country have decided to spend this week raising funds this way. We've found that the residents of Karakura town are very generous when it comes to helping out the kids, and we can gladly say the fundraising is going well. Please keep up that spirit, your donation will make a world of difference to those kids..." Ichigo was suddenly aware that he did not have much more to say, but the girls and women around their stall, now quite a large crowd, still stood expectantly. All of them were looking at him. Feeling awkward, he started to blush and he helplessly looked at Byakuya – who was sitting absolutely straight with a look of detached tranquillity on his face, as though he was sitting in the gardens of the Kuchiki manor and not in a crowded noisy shopping mall in Karakura town. Ichigo looked back at the crowd, and smiled clumsily.

"..how cute!" He heard someone whispering in the crowd. He blushed again. Still lost on what to do, he threw a desperation filled look at Byakuya.

This time, Byakuya noticed. He stood up. Ichigo wondered if he was going to say something. The women around took a new interest in the stunning young man.

Byakuya held forward one of the donation boxes, and finally spoke. "Please donate for the cause."

That's it? Ichigo now wanted to face-palm. Of course it had been ridiculous to expect Kuchiki Byakuya to fill in an awkward silence.

Strangely enough, those words seemed to work like a charm. The crowd around them finally got that the speech was over, and now eagerly came forward to leave their donations in the box.

Relieved, Ichigo looked at Byakuya again, and was taken aback to see his face. It took him a while to realize what was so different. Byakuya was not glaring, for a change. On the contrary, his grey eyes were more wide open and less cold than usual. And he kept very good eye contact with everyone around.

What was the most disturbing part however, was that the women around seemed to find him endearing and irresistible. Ichigo realized this was probably the closest Kuchiki Byakuya got to a puppy-dog eyed look!

He would have started cursing Byakuya in his mind again, but the way the donation box was filling up fast made him refrain from doing that. They later found out that their shift at the stall was the most successful one of the week.

After that successful stint at the mall, Ichigo was looking forward to going back home in peace. But he was reminded of how this was not his day, when Byakuya's hollow sensor started vibrating.

"Hollow?" Ichigo asked Byakuya.

Byakuya took out the device and looked at the screen with a frown on his face. "No, there's some strange reiatsu activity. I'm going to check on it." With that, Byakuya turned and walked in the opposite direction.

"Wait, aren't you going to get out of your gigai?"

"It does not seem necessary yet."

"Where are you heading?"

"It seems to be near the school. Why are you following me?"

"I want to see what's going on. Especially if it's near my school."

By the time they reached the school, now empty long after school hours, Byakuya's hollow sensor had picked up a few on and off signals on the strange reiatsu pattern. They were walking through the deserted halls, trying to locate the possible source.

They turned a corner, and suddenly heard voices coming from one of the rooms.

"Are there supposed to be people here now?" asked Byakuya.

"No, even we aren't supposed to be here without permission after school hours. I wonder what's going on. Stay quiet." Ichigo briefly wondered why he had just asked the ice prince of silence to stay quiet, as he inched towards the door beyond which the voices were talking.

He caught some of the words they were saying. "..the council suggests." "a raise does not seem likely..." "hiring new members for the staff..."

Realization dawned on Ichigo. He dragged Byakuya aside and told him quietly, "I just remembered there was a notice saying that the teacher's association had a meeting scheduled for today. We need to get out of here, we'll get in trouble if the teachers see us here now."

"Why?"

"I told you, there are rules about students being here after school hours." He said and started walking in hurried steps down the hallway. But before they could turn the corner, there was a sound from behind them of a door opening.

Before he knew what was happening, Byakuya found himself pulled into the nearest door which was immediately closed.

"What are you doing?" He asked Kurosaki Ichigo, who seemed to have pulled him into a very narrow, dark space and closed the door on them.

"Shhh. They were coming out of the meeting room." Ichigo wondered where they were. He thought they had ducked into a storage closet, but the space seemed too narrow even for that. He could barely move, there was hardly any distance between him and Byakuya. He reached around blindly looking for a light switch, but his fingers met something else.

"Why are you touching my face?" Byakuya asked in a menacing cold voice, slapping away Ichigo's hand.

"Shut up! I was looking for a light."

"...on my face?"

"Just be quiet!"

Fortunately, Ichigo found the light switch right next to the door. And now they could both see their predicament. It was a storage closet Ichigo had dragged them into but it was so full of stacks of boxes, only enough room for one person to move around was left just beyond the door. Ichigo and Byakuya were currently crowded into that space, facing each other as both their backs were against the stacks behind them.

"This is an uncomfortable arrangement." Byakuya glared at Ichigo, inches from his face. He was too close to the Substitute Shinigami for his liking, and he even had to lean forward a little and rest his arm on the stack in front of him and behind Ichigo, to fit in. He had to bend his legs a little too, as did Ichigo who was resting his knee against the stack behind Byakuya and had one arm awkwardly raised and leaning against the door.

"Oh, sorry that the storage closet does not meet your high standards, your majesty." Ichigo half-whispered as he rolled his eyes.

Byakuya continued to glare at him.

"It's better than trying to explain to a bunch of teachers why we're here. They should leave soon, we won't be here for long." Ichigo explained. There were a few footsteps outside, which disappeared. But noises from the meeting room could still be heard. So they kept as quiet and still as they could, cramped into the space in strange positions. Ichigo tried not to think of how close he was to Byakuya. Or that all he could smell was that intoxicating fragrance. He found himself inhaling deeply.

Byakuya raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"What, I'm feeling a bit breathless in this cramped space!" Ichigo explained hurriedly. He was also trying not to think of how he spent the entire day checking out Byakuya and observing how stunning he looked in that tee-shirt and dark jeans, and of how he somehow landed in dangerous proximity to the noble.

Although he was still acting calm on the outside, Byakuya was feeling angry inside. He could not recall ever having to hide in such an arrangement. There wasn't even room for him to stand straight. He was practically sandwiched between the stacks of boxes in a dusty room, with the orange haired brat between his arms. There was nothing to do but to look at each other.

And so they stood, starting to feel a little stiff from being bent in strange ways, uncomfortably close to each other between the stacks of boxes, and glared at each other.

Suddenly, a buzzing noise filled the storage closet.

Byakuya's phone was vibrating.

Cold grey eyes remained expressionless as wide brown ones looked at them questioningly.

Seeing that Byakuya was not moving as the phone continued to vibrate, Ichigo mumbled "Hey. You plan on answering that call, text, Hollow alert or whatever?"

There was silence for a few moments, except the annoying buzzing of the vibrating phone.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, take out my phone."

"What? It's your phone, answer it yourself!" Ichigo was annoyed and perplexed at the stuck-up noble's sudden demand.

Byakuya let out a low sigh. "I can't. There is no room to move my arms. The phone is in the pocket of my jeans."

Ichigo kept scowling at Byakuya. He had no intention of handling the noble's pants. With a small pause, the phone started vibrating again.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

"Make that freaking noise stop before it draws the entire world to the storage closet!" Ichigo hissed angrily.

Byakuya closed his eyes to rein in his frustration. "How will I make it stop if it's inside my pocket?"

Ichigo turned his head, well as much as was possible, to see that there really was no room for Byakuya to maneuvre his arm to reach for his own pocket. He realized he should not have made the effort to observe, because now he was very much aware of how he was pinned to the stack behind him, with one of Byakuya's arms supported against the boxes next to his face, and the other supported in a similar way but at his waist level. On the other side, Ichigo's knee was pushed up against the stack behind Byakuya at his waist level. Definitely no way for the Shinigami to move.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

"Okay, fine!" Ichigo gave up, exasperated. "I swear I'm going to kill whoever's calling you!"

So he reached for Byakuya's pocket on the side where his own knee was right next to the Shinigami's side. While the buzzing noise continued, he felt nothing moving under his hand (only what felt like a well nourished wallet). Now, he grabbed the pockets on both sides with his hands, quite violently.

Byakuya's eyes flew wide open and the sudden rough handling on his person.

"...You could have just asked which pocket it was in!"

"Never mind, I found out." Ichigo whispered back. He had successfully located the phone in Byakuya's left pocket. Now, he would take it out. And they could put that God forsaken vibrating to rest.

That is, if he managed to pry it out. From his position, and limited range of movement, Ichigo could barely get his fingers to move into the pocket.

"Byakuya, your pants are too tight!"

"No they aren't, you are wearing a tighter pair. Can you not do anything right?" Byakuya stated coldly. The Substitute Shinigami fumbling around his thighs was starting to get rather annoying. It was taking a lot of effort to stay calm.

"Shut..." Ichigo frowned in concentration, trying to figure out how to make his fingers enter the slit where the pocket opened, "...up!" Success! His fingers were now inside.

But his fingers, much like him, had no room to move. The vibrating phone was at his fingertips, but it was not easy getting a grip on the phone to pull it out. Byakuya might deny it, but his pants really are too tight!

Ichigo changed his strategy, and took out all his fingers but two, trying to extract the phone by using them as pincers. Glad that it was working, he gave a sudden pull on the phone.

"Oh sorry I dropped something!" Ichigo had managed to get half the phone out, but in doing so, something else that was in the pocket fell out. Reflexly, Ichigo's hand shot out and he bent forwards to retrieve the falling object. Once it was secure in his hands, he was about to bend back to his previous position but his head collided with Byakuya's arm.

"Ow!" He stood up rubbing his head, his eyes watering from the sudden impact between it and Byakuya's strong arm. "Here, I almost dropped your...condoms?"

Ichigo started blushing when he finally realized what he had in his hands was a string of condom packets (and from what little knowledge he had on the subject, the packaging looked like a fancy expensive type). In his surprise and embarrassment, he was still staring at the contents of his hand unable to face Byakuya.

"I believe you were supposed to be taking out my phone," Byakuya said in his ice-cold monotone. He was at first annoyed, but seeing Ichigo's reaction amused him somewhat.

"I was taking out your phone, damn it!" Ichigo could sense the sarcasm in the noble's voice and he did not want to be ridiculed by him. "Why on earth are these in your pocket?" He tried to make his annoyance mask his sudden embarrassment.

"Where else would I keep them?"

"I don't know – how about not with your phone," Ichigo was getting even more annoyed at Byakuya's cold voice discussing such an unexpected topic. "What do you need them for anyway?" It was after those last words left his mouth that Ichigo realized what he had just asked. "Never mind! I really don't want to know!" He said loudly, trying to look somewhere other than Byakuya's face, but there was not much option really.

What was making it worse was that Byakuya's face held neither irritation nor anger, it was absolutely expressionless although Ichigo suspected that the glint in his eyes was something akin to mischief if such a thing was possible in Kuchiki Byakuya.

"Surely, you know what it is for." Byakuya continued in his expressionless deep icy tone. "I thought young people in the world of the living have high levels of awareness on such topics. Or have you been unfortunate to not be educated on it?"

"Byakuya, shut up or I'll punch a hole in your face." Ichigo said, completely red now.

Byakuya was feeling extremely amused, though his poker face was almost unfailingly on. Surely, even my vice captain's hair is not such a vibrant shade of red.

"It is not something to feel so embarrassed about. As a responsible adult, I should tell you that any grown male should carry them with his person at all times. From your reaction, I can deduce that you don't. You may keep some of mine for that purpose."

Ichigo wished the ground would open up and swallow him alive. The anger and embarrassment were too much.

"Shut up! I don't need sex education from a five hundred year old from the world of dead souls!" Ichigo yelled loudly.

"You are making too much noise." Byakuya stated calmly, looking straight into Ichigo's eyes which were currently ablaze.

"You – you're enjoying this aren't you? You're making fun of me, you bastard!"

"Watch your language. I was merely making sure you were aware."

"Byakuya!"

"Be quiet."

But before the noble finished his short sentence, the door of the storage closet flew open, and on the other side Ichigo's class teacher and the school principal stood bewildered, looking at the two boys crowded into the cramped narrow space, practically in each others arms, with Ichigo blushing a deep shade of red and holding condom packets in front of Byakuya's expressionless face.

Oh shit. Oh shit! This time, Ichigo wished for something more than the ground opening and swallowing him alive. This was bad. This was very, very bad.

"What do you two think you're doing?" The teacher bellowed. The principal had still not been able to retrieve his jaw which had dropped at the sight.

Ichigo's tongue felt tied. The horrors of being seen with Byakuya in such a compromising position, the shame of what interpretations the teachers had of it, and the fear of getting expelled from school for his behaviour were flashing through his mind.

"...I...can explain. It's not what it looks like ma'm!" He stuttered.

"You two get out of that storage closet now!" The principal yelled. "I have never, in all my years at this school seen such a shameful display of inappropriate behaviour!"

Once in the hallway, Ichigo could not lift his gaze from the floor. Byakuya still stood expressionlessly, looking almost bored.

The teachers gathered around them were whispering to each other, expressions of outrage all around.

"Well Kurosaki, you said something about an explanation!" His teacher threatened.

"...umm...it's not...we were..."

"Enough! Stop trying to come up with an excuse. This is so shameful Kurosaki. I did not expect this from you. You are one of the top students in my class! You may not be the friendliest boy around and I've heard you've been in a fight or two – but this? What is this absolutely appalling display of behaviour?"

The teacher paused in her yelling for a breath, and then continued, "What about you, Kuchiki? You are supposed to be the model student of your school! You've always acted with such perfect sophistication like an ideal gentleman. What is the meaning of this misconduct from you?"

While Ichigo had continued staring at the floor in shame when the teacher yelled at him, Byakuya promptly replied, his deep calm smooth voice clearly heard by everyone in the hallway.

"I am new to this place. I do not know the customs and culture here. I was merely doing as Kurosaki Ichigo said I should."

Incredulous, Ichigo finally lifted his eyes from the floor, to look at Byakuya. What he saw proved him wrong – the expression Byakuya had worn at the shopping mall was not his closest to a puppy-dog eyed look. This was.

A few seconds of stunned silence followed, and then the teacher's voice ripped through the hallway.

"Kurosaki, what were you teaching Kuchiki about the cultures and customs of our home?"

Her anger was making her seem like a dragon, and Ichigo was sure he would be fried by the fire.

Ichigo threw a dirty glare at Byakuya, who was standing there with a placid serene face with his eyes half closed. He looked like he was standing at a Captain's meeting in Soul Society, not in the middle of a hallway full of outraged schoolteachers ready to pass judgement on him and Ichigo.

Byakuya, as soon as I get out of this, I'm going to kill you.

After a grilling session for what felt like hours by the entire teacher's association including the principal who looked set to have a heart attack, Ichigo and Byakuya were finally on their way home. Ichigo was rather relieved that he had gotten off with only a few months of detention involving cleaning the school grounds, a threat of immediate expulsion should there be another incidence of bad behaviour, and a long series of lectures on how shameful this incident was, what a bad example he was setting, and how he needs to learn to control his raging teenage hormones in appropriate ways other boys his age do – at which there was also a decision to arrange a special session for him with the school nurse and school counselor.

As painfully embarrassing and unfair as all this was, considering he had done nothing of the sort they were imagining, Ichigo was glad he had not been expelled. It would have been big trouble if he had gotten himself expelled.

But the principal was going to send a letter to this father notifying him of his son's misconduct. Ichigo could not imagine facing his dad over a letter informing him of his antics with another boy in a storage closet.

He let out a howl of frustration, drawing strange looks from the passersby on the street, and no response from Byakuya.

"Byakuya! This is all your fault! Why couldn't you just zap their memories with that device Shinigami have for modifying human memories?" Ichigo screamed at the noble, infuriated at why he kept so calm through this mortifying incident.

"There are rules about using the Kikanshinki. I can only use them to replace human memories if my activities as a Shinigami or the attacks of hollows create situations which cannot be easily explained to humans. What happened today does not fall under any of those categories" Byakuya explained in his monotone.

"Yes it does, your activities got us into trouble!"

"It was your decision, and not any of the activities that are part of my job, that got us in that predicament."

"Whatever, Rukia or Renji would have used it to help me out in this situation! My reputation is about to be ruined."

"I am not Rukia or Renji." Byakuya said coldly before walking off. "And there is no damage to your reputation other than that you were caught in a storage closet with me, which was a consequence of your decision. I will not bend rules to get you out of the consequence of your poorly planned actions."

"Screw your rules!" Ichigo yelled, half out of pure anger and half out of a need to infuriate Byakuya.

Byakuya shot him a cold glare over his shoulder, and continued to walk home.

Back home, when Byakuya came to the bedroom after his shower, he found Kurosaki Ichigo sitting on the bed with a box of chocolates in his hand, and chocolate smeared around his mouth and on his fingers.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like, you idiot? I'm eating chocolates."

Byakuya looked perplexed. "Now? Why are you having sweets when it's nearly time for dinner?"

Ichigo stuffed another piece of chocolate into his mouth. "I eat chocolates when I'm upset. It makes me feel better."

Byakuya stood looking at him, confused and shocked. "Chocolates...make you feel better when you're upset?" He said slowly and quietly, watching Ichigo as he swallowed and then licked the molten chocolate on his own fingers. Byakuya felt a strange wave of astonishment, but he wasn't sure if it was at the terrible lack of manners or at the way Ichigo seemed to find ecstasy in the chocolates.

Ichigo picked up another piece of chocolate, only half aware of the noble staring at him, and bit into it. "Mmm, strawberry cream filling!" He licked at the stray cream filling and took another bite, unknowingly moaning at how delicious the chocolate was.

Then, he finally noticed the Byakuya standing in front of him, watching him with a vague expression that could be anything from confusion to envy to disgust. Ichigo figured Byakuya had never seen anyone eat with such complete disregard for manners, but right now he could not care less. Ichigo was in a very bad mood, and chocolates always lifted his spirits. Byakuya can go shove his manners and his rules up his...No, the chocolate was definitely working, Ichigo did not even feel like completing that thought. Although if his lack of manners annoyed Byakuya, he planned to continue eating messily.

He licked the chocolate around his lips with a smacking noise. Byakuya was still watching him, and Ichigo realized it wasn't nice to be savoring the chocolate without offering any.

"Want some?" He asked, holding the box forward.

Had Byakuya been a less composed man, a chocolate covered Ichigo purring "want some" would have drawn a reaction from him. But he was Kuchiki Byakuya. He was not going to lose his composure. And he's not chocolate covered, he only has chocolate on his face and hands. Get a hold of yourself!

"I do not like sweets," came a cool reply belying the actual thoughts inside the noble's head.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Wait, you can have this one in the corner of the box. It's dark chocolate."

The blank expression on Byakuya's face told Ichigo that he did not know what dark chocolate was.

"Dark chocolate is unsweetened. So it's not sweet like the others and all you get is the flavour of the chocolate – rich, smooth and deep." Like your voice. Wait, where did that thought come from? Ichigo wondered why he was thinking this way when he was supposed to be pissed off at Byakuya. The chocolate really must be working.

Byakuya was now observing the contents of the box, unsure of what to do. Seeing his hesitation, Ichigo picked the dark chocolate from the box and handed it to him. The refinement in Byakuya cringed at the thought that those fingers that were handing him the chocolate were the same ones the boy had been licking.

He took the square shaped melting chocolate and cautiously took a bite. He was pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted. Like the boy had said, it was full of a deep, rich flavour. It was bitter, strong yet delicious. One bite, and he knew he wanted more.

Ichigo was watching his face for a reaction.

"If chocolate can be made unsweetened, then why is there a need for sweet chocolates?" asked Byakuya.

Ichigo chuckled, "Just say you like it, like normal people would. You're so weird, Byakuya. Besides, I like both dark and sweet chocolates." He then picked another chocolate from the box and ate it with glee.

He had devoured all of it, while Byakuya had just swallowed his one bite. Observing Byakuya's face closely, Ichigo started to realize what was happening. To test this, he slowly licked off the chocolate on one of his fingers.

It was almost imperceptible, but Ichigo could catch something in Byakuya's eyes. Entertained, Ichigo sucked the next finger, sighing contentedly as he said, "Mmm, this is really good!"

Byakuya kept very still, watching Ichigo and trying to keep his face unreadable, almost forgetting about the chocolate melting in his hand.

Ichigo now looked at him, mischief written all over his face, and in an innocent voice asked, "Are you going to finish that?" Then he stepped closer, lowered his voice to a near whisper and added, "It's not good to waste chocolate."

Saying that, Ichigo reached out with his thumb to wipe some stray chocolate from just below Byakuya's bottom lip. Then he licked it off his thumb.

Byakuya was dumbfounded. And dismayed at the blush threatening to creep up his face. This act of boldness from the boy was completely unexpected, and the smile on his face along with the fact that he had not stepped away from him, showed that it was purely intentional.

The boy was challenging him. It was in his eyes and his smile.

Byakuya looked down at the chocolate in his hands. He hated being challenged. He knew he could make much more of a tempting show right now, by licking that chocolate in a provocative way.

But it would be so improper, for Kuchiki Byakuya to lick food off his hands to respond to a challenge from the Substitute Shinigami.

As though he knew exactly what was on Byakuya's mind, Ichigo's smile widened. His eyes stayed fixed on Byakuya.

Yes, Ichigo was enjoying this. Byakuya knew exactly what he was doing. He could see the dilemma inside the noble. Go on, prissy ice prince. Are you too perfect to lick chocolate? Will you be able to lower yourself to prove that you're better than me?

Byakuya looked at Ichigo's face and then back at the chocolate. He decided he would not make a show of himself licking it. Instead, he did the next best thing and ate it slowly, in his own civilized and beautiful way.

Ichigo smirked victoriously. He should have known Byakuya couldn't do it. He looked into the noble's grey eyes, continuing to smirk, knowing there was more to Byakuya's reaction than his expressionless face.

Ichigo could not help thinking, Sometimes, revenge really is sweet.

A/N: Ichigo liking chocolate is canon! Although no mentions were made of liking it this much.

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, so it became kind of long. Hope you had fun reading it too!

Review and let me know your feelings on it!

The next three chapters will focus on the school festival, lead up to a climax and then a twist.