Can you believe that we finally made it?! I really can't except that I'm… well, done! Well, as promised it's out on the sixteenth and I (sort of) met my deadline. But, anyway… for the students of Karakura High, it's finally Christmas day and they get to spend it in their lodges! If this chapter is a little longer than the others, feel happy, because this chapter as a right to be longer! I wonder if anyone can guess what Rukia's present for Ichigo is. *raises hand* I know what it is! (Of course I do… I thought of it!) Well, enough of my random talking, it's out last day…


Day Twelve: 12/25/09

"Rukia…! Rukia…!" Ichigo called the next morning as he knocked hard on her room's door. "We're not gonna open our presents till you're out there with us, so hurry up!"

He tried the door knob and, surprisingly, the door slowly creaked open. "You didn't lock your door last night…?" Ichigo asked as he stepped inside the room.

He immediately saw her slumped over her desk, fast asleep. He rolled his eyes and laughed as he walked over to her. "Hey… Hey Rukia, c'mon, get up…"

He nudged her a little more and the sleeping girl's body moved slightly to the side. "Man, what time did you sleep anyway?" Ichigo remarked as he looked down at the desk to see what she was doing.

His eyes widened as he looked down at the piece of paper that Rukia had 'worked all night on'; but it looked nothing like what it did when she had started. It was completely filled with sketches that Ichigo had to smile at and, "strangely enough," he thought, "they weren't as weird, random, or bunny-filled as usual."

In one corner was a picture of a sleeping Rukia on Ichigo's back, walking down a mountain of snow. In another was Ichigo when he had come to her rescue before she hit the tree. There were others of Ichigo giving her snowboarding lessons and them taking a walk. But, the two that stood out right in the middle of the page were one of Ichigo and Rukia holding hands while skating; and the other, Ichigo was taken aback by. It was a drawing that could only be described as incredibly beautiful; it was a drawing of Ichigo coming to Rukia's rescue in the Soul Society. And, in the top corner was Rukia's handwriting: "Merry Christmas Ichigo… Thanks for absolutely everything! From your shinigami team-mate: Rukia Kuchiki"

Ichigo smiled softly as he bent down and muttered in her ear, "Hey Rukia…" he put his hand on her shoulder and lightly shook her awake, "C'mon Rukia, time to get up…"

Rukia's eyes slowly opened and she blinked a couple of times; but the first thing she saw was Ichigo smiling back at her.

Her face turned red as Ichigo put his forehead to hers and muttered, "Thanks Rukia… Merry Christmas…"

"I-Ichigo…" Rukia gasped. "O-oh… y-you're welcome!"

"Well," Ichigo nodded as he stood up straight and stretched a little before offering his hand to her, "C'mon, everyone's waiting in the living room."

Rukia took his hand and the two intertwined their fingers as he pulled her out of the chair and the two walked together towards the living room.

"Wow Rukia, you really slept in!" Renji remarked.

"Yeah," Tatsuki laughed, "You were out longer than Abarai usually is!"

"What were you doing last night Kuchiki-san?" Orihime wondered.

"It was…" Rukia nodded, "something really important…"

"Well," Ichigo began as he rested his hand on her head, "let's start opening some gifts!"

The whole room was aglow as the group of five opened each others' gifts and celebrated together.

"Thanks for the awesome headphones Ichigo!" Tatsuki exclaimed, holding the skull-designed headphones in her hands.

"Yeah, and thanks for the shirt Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime smiled as she unfolded the pink shirt.

"The same goes to you Inoue," Renji added, looking at the rock band on his present, "This shirt is pretty awesome!"

"How are we going to get Yasutora and Ishida's gifts to them…?" Rukia remarked.

"Oh yeah," Ichigo nodded, "We should go bring them later… much later, right?" he laughed.

"Don't say that man," Renji joked, "They still have our presents too, remember?"

"Oh, true…" Tatsuki agreed, thinking about how Uryuu would react to the sewing kit.

Ichigo held Rukia's present in his hands and stared down at it. Compared to Rukia's gift for him, this wasn't much. He wondered what he could do to make this entirely better.

But, Ichigo wasn't aware of how Rukia actually felt about his 'gift'. To her, Ichigo's gift was teaching her how to snowboard, saving her from an extremely painful impact, holding hands while skating with her, and, most importantly, giving her a reason to have fun on this trip. That was more than enough for Rukia, who, in turn, felt that her gift was inferior to everything he had done for her.

"Hey Ichigo, who's that gift is that?" Tatsuki asked, pointing at Rukia's gift in Ichigo's hands.

"Oh… uhh, Rukia's…" he answered. He stood and walked carefully around the bits of torn wrapping paper, and sat down right beside Rukia as he handed her the gift.

"This isn't a lot but…" Ichigo began.

What he did next was a surprise to, not only himself, but everyone in the room. Ichigo leaned in and kissed Rukia on the cheek, "Merry Christmas… Rukia…"

Rukia gasped and she could feel her face flush red, like so many other times this trip. She looked down at the gift that lay in her hands as she tried to conceal her burning-red face. She slowly pulled the wrapping paper off of the gift and smiled at what she saw.

There sat a pair of black and red gloves and earmuffs with the same colour scheme.

"Like I said…" Ichigo sighed, "It's not really much…"

Rukia shook her head as she hugged him. "Thank you Ichigo… Really, thank you so much!"

"Aww…" Tatsuki smiled as she took a picture with the digital camera that Orihime got her. "Oh, that reminds me!" she started up again as Ichigo and Rukia turned to look at her.

"I didn't give you two my gift yet, did I?" Tatsuki asked.

"Huh…?" Ichigo questioned as he and Rukia held up the gifts that they had received from her.

"Yeah, these are from you, right Arisawa?" Rukia asked.

Tatsuki shook her head, "Well, yeah they are, but… I'm talking about my gift to both of you! It's uhh… at the hallway entrance."

Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other as the walked over and stood at the hallway entrance.

"This is kinda a gift from all of us…" Tatsuki nodded, "And, I'm glad Orihime got me a camera so we can always remember it!"

"W-well… what is it?" Rukia wondered.

"All you guys have to do is look up!" Orihime giggled as Rukia and Ichigo did what they were told.

The two's eyes widened; they were staring right at the mistletoe that hung from the entrance.

"I had a feeling you girls were planning something like this…" Renji sighed, "Ah well, Merry Christmas you two…"

"Uhh…" Ichigo began as he turned to Rukia. "So…"

"This can be… uhh, part of my gift to you too, Ichigo." Rukia nodded, still thinking that her original gift didn't match up with everything Ichigo had done for her.

"Oh, one more thing I just remembered." Tatsuki started quickly, "Since Ichigo kissed Kuchiki on the cheek… you have to do the other kind of kiss!"

"W-what?!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"Y-you didn't say anything about that!" Rukia went on.

Tatsuki waved the camera around playfully, "C'mon you two… hurry it up!"

Ichigo sighed, "Rukia… you don't have to if you don't…"

Rukia shook her head, "No… this still counts as my present Ichigo…" She smiled as she leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.

Click… Flash…

"Alright, that was perfect!" Tatsuki laughed.

Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other for a moment before hugging again.

"Merry Christmas Ichigo…"

"Merry Christmas Rukia…"

"Aww, so cute…!" Orihime bubbled.

Renji rolled his eyes as he came up to the two and put his arms around both of them, smiling, "Okay Ichigo, I'll give you the win, this time…"

"Shut up Renji…" Ichigo remarked.

Click… Flash…

"Awesome pictures guys!" Tatsuki beamed, "I'm gonna post them on the school's website!"

"Y-you're gonna… what?!" Ichigo exclaimed as the three broke the hug.

"Ahaha… forget I said anything!" Tatsuki smiled hesitantly.

"A-Arisawa, that's not fair…!" Rukia remarked as she, Ichigo, and Renji chased her around the room.

"S-sorry what, I can't hear you Kuchiki-san…" she laughed as she evaded the three. "Hey, when are we gonna give Ishida and Yasutora their gifts?"

"Stop trying to change the subject Tatsuki!" Ichigo yelled.

Tatsuki simply laughed; it was probably the best Christmas she ever witnessed and, though Ichigo and Rukia were preoccupied with chasing her right now, they had to agree. These were twelve days of Christmas that the two would never forget…


Whoa… no way! I'm… I'm actually done! I don't feel like I'm done but I am, right? Anyway (how many times have I used that word… I wonder), I'm happy I got Rukia and Ichigo to kiss twice! IchixRuki and all, you guys understand! I'm sorry for not making an Uryuu/Orihime moment, to the person that had asked for one; but I still hope this chapter had lived up to expectations. Maybe (if I get any really good ideas) I'll post a special "chapter 13" as, like an afterward chapter. You can tell me if you want one or not in a review or PM (preferably a review, thanks). Well, that's my story so I hope everyone enjoyed the ride! Thanks for reading, reviewing, story alerting, and adding it to your favourites! You're all awesome and the reason I kept writing, so thanks!

~Ryu-Takehshi