Snow crunched underfoot as Ichigo made his way up the winding path, the heavy snowfall from the night before made his trek harder than it needed to be, he had to be cautious not to slip on some hidden ice or the snow itself, and yet he persevered with cautious step after cautious step. His eyes scanned around him looking for potential hazards, that didn't stop him however from taking note of the scenery around him. Trees laden with so much snow their bare branches sagged under the weight, occasionally the howling wind was interrupted by the soft thud of a branch relieving itself of its load. It was grim, lonely, depressing, and yet peaceful, lovely, and if this wasn't a graveyard an argument could be made for romantic.

Ichigo though, well as of late had neither the time nor the inclination for romance. So as he continued to climb his thoughts strayed as far as they could from anything one would deem romantic instead focusing on the bitter cold of winter and cursing it with every fibre of his being.

Nearing the summit the trees thinned giving him a partially obscured view of the city below. When he was a child he had often wondered why his father had picked this plot for his mother, his father had told him that he wanted his mother to have the best view. Back then he didn't understand his reasoning, now though, he understood a bit better. "Hey mom" he greeted her gravestone. This had always been difficult for him he always felt silly talking to a headstone, Yuzu and Karin never seemed to have a problem and his father was, well his father. "I'm sorry I haven't visited in a while" he began "life, well it's been a rollercoaster, things though seem to be finally getting better. I've got a new job as a teacher at my old high school and I start in a couple months, I know dad always wanted me to follow in his footsteps but I think I've finally found my calling."

"The girls are about to start high school, dad's been acting somewhere between overly proud and overly worried, mostly about them ending up as teenage mothers, it's driving Karin mad to the point she's even asked to move in to escape him. Honestly I would've taken his speeches on safe sex over waking up to him attacking me" he couldn't help but find himself laughing a little at the memories, sure he hated it then, still hated it now in fact, but it had helped him with all the fights he'd gotten himself in over the years. "They're more like you than dad though so he should know he's got nothing to worry about." The wind howled around him as he stared at her stone, he had nothing more to say. With the cold beginning to work its way through his jacket he chose to say goodbye, leaving with a promise to come around often.

The biting wind picked up as he made his way down the path forcing him to further zip up his coat in an attempt to shield his neck from the cold while shoving his gloved hands into his pockets. Weirdly though the cold wasn't bothering him the way it had during his assent, just as weird was the smile that found itself gracing his lips, strange as it was talking to his mother's grave had left him, for the moment at least, with a sense of peace within himself.

Though he was lost in his own musings he found himself being drawn to attention by a flash of colour permeating his vision. Normally he would've paid it no mind but it was followed shortly by another, with his curiosity peaked he began looking around for its source and coming across flowers rolling softly atop the snow that covered the ground. He noted that they were missing a few petals as he picked them up, it was likely they were the source that drew him from his thoughts. Besides a touch of snow they seemed untouched by the cold, most likely that meant that they came from nearby and were probably recently left, returning them probably wouldn't take too much time out of his day, though it wasn't like he had other plans to begin with.

Heading off into the surrounding areas he looked for any trace of where the flowers belonged, it helped that he managed to come across a couple others leading him to a grave with an overturned vase with a sole flower that threatened to blow away like the others. Kneeling down he placed the flowers back into the vase and packed some snow around the base to keep it from tipping again. Standing he brushed the snow from his pants and began making his way back to the main path "excuse me" a soft voice called out to him. Turning he saw a girl in a long snow white coat and bright red scarf carrying some flowers like the ones he'd just returned standing by the grave he'd returned the flowers too.

"What were you doing at my sister's grave?" "I ugh, I found some flowers on the path and I wanted to return them, did they not belong to you?" "Who returns flowers?" "I guess I do" he replied "look I just wanted to return the flowers that's it, now if you'll excuse me I'll be on my way." "Wait!" She shouted after him "I'm sorry, I just… there's a lot going on" he sighed "it's fine, I get it" "thank you" she said approaching him "what you did, it means a lot to me" "it's nothing, I'm glad I could help you."

"I'm Rukia" she told him offering her hand, slipping off a glove he grasped her hand firmly "Ichigo" he replied. Her hand felt like ice in his "do you have gloves?" He abruptly asked her "no but…" "here" he cut her off taking off his other glove and trying to hand her the pair "I can't accept them, I have no way of returning them and I'm fine" she told him. There was a look in her eyes that said she wasn't going to give ground on this and he was never one to back down "alright" he said making his way past her "what are you doing?" She asked as he approached her sister's grave, he placed his gloves on the gravestone before turning around and walking away "Ichigo!" She shouted after him "We'll see each other again eventually!" He shouted back at her, whether that was true or not remained to be determined but he wasn't going to lose sleep over a pair of gloves.

When he finally returned home he heated himself with a soothing cup of jasmine tea and dived headfirst into a good book, and he found himself doing the same thing the next day till he was interrupted by an urgent knocking on his door. "I'm coming" he grumbled as the knocking failed to cease "what?" He asked as he yanked open the door, clearly irritated by the incessant knocking. "We need to talk" Uryu told him as he stepped into Ichigo's apartment, while he would love to complain about how Uryu was behaving it was very uncharacteristic of him. Shelving his snide comments for now Ichigo took a seat on his couch beside his friend the silence was palpable and there was a tension in the air that rarely existed between the two of them "you didn't get anyone pregnant did you?" He joked trying to break said tension "what the fuck are you talking about?" "Nothing, now what brought you over here and had you banging on my door like a madman?" "Orihime called, told me she got offered a job, at our school" "well shit that would do it" Ichigo said letting himself sink into his couch.

"Do you think she knows I'll be there as well?" "Well, if she didn't when she called me she does now, she's probably going to call you about it you know." "You think so?" "Please, you two may have divorced but that doesn't mean she doesn't care about you" "she's a much better person than I am" he mused "it's not hard to be" "oh fuck off" Ichigo said feigning anger, though after a moment the two of them shared a laugh at the joke.

"You want a drink?" Ichigo asked "sure, I'm done marking for today" as he made his way to the fridge Uryu kept talking "you should go out and try to meet someone new" "are you sure you want a beer, cause talking about my love life is not how you get one" "Ichigo look, it's been two years put yourself out there, despite your terrible personality women seem to like you." "Your skill at both complimenting me and insulting me is unparalleled, now can you please drop this?" Uryu sighed at him "Ichigo, she's been on dates, she's trying to move on, I don't want you to become some crusty old man unable to leave the past where it lies, you're my friend and I want you to be happy."

"I think you've gone soft on me" Ichigo said disturbing the silence "Ichigo I" but he cut Uryu off "I'll call up Mizuiro and Keigo, he manages a club now doesn't he?" "Yeah, feels like a far cry from when we were in high school, hard to believe that someone gave him responsibilities." "Maybe he's finally moved on from trying to convince us to spy on the girls locker room" "Remember how Tatsuki would wail on him anytime he decided to bring it up" both of them laughing softly at the memory "why were we even friends with him?" Uryu asked while laughing "he was a good bass player, and an even better punching bag." The pair continued reminiscing late into the evening, eventually Uryu had to leave and Ichigo was left alone thinking about what his friend had said to him earlier.

The sun had long since set, his apartment now only lit by the soft yellow glow of the lone floor lamp beside his couch and the wisps of moonlight that came through the balcony door. "So… she's been on dates" he said to himself as if just having the words leave his lips would make it more real to him. He'd expected her to after all, they would each have to move on at some point, and she'd have her pick from the lot, after all she was beautiful, sweet, funny, and caring, terrible cook though. All those meals he'd pretended to like over the years they'd been together, guess that was going to be someone else's job at some point, maybe she'd find someone who liked her cooking. There was a pang of jealously that would linger longer than he wanted it to. Heeding Uryu's advice he looked to his phone hesitating before finally deciding to pick it up and dial his friend "ICHIGO!" Keigo yelled over the line, this was probably a terrible idea.

The next night he found himself standing outside of a seedy looking club going by The Seireitei. "Is this seriously the place?" He asked Mizuiro "guess so" he answered shrugging his shoulders "should we even bother?" "Now now Ichigo you've come this far, besides Uryu made me promise to show you a good time and I intend to deliver" phrasing aside he was glad to have friends that cared this much about him, though he would give Uryu an earful later for inserting himself this much into his personal life.

Feeling like leaving wasn't an option Ichigo decided to just go along with it, "it couldn't be that bad right?" "That's the Idea Ichigo" Mizuiro said slapping his back. It was a good thing he hadn't eaten dinner yet because currently he was busy eating his own words. The place reeked of sweat and desperation, neon lights lined the walls and stage and were the only lights on, all that plus the smoke machines that pumped out smoke at an alarming rate gave the place a dingy and disgusting feel "I feel like this was something we should've foreseen, this is Keigo after all" "I'm not staying, let's go find a bar" "fine by me" Mizuiro agreed "I'd rather not have to pay to hang out with a woman."

"Guys!" Keigo yelled before they had the chance to leave "we're going somewhere else" Ichigo told him "what why?" "Because this is a strip club" Ichigo told him "um yeah, I thought you guys knew, I mean it's me what other kind of club would I run, this does explain why you wanted to come here though" "you didn't think that Ichigo wanting to come to a strip club was suspicious?" Mizuiro asked "honestly I thought he'd just finally stopped being so prudish" "fuck you" Ichigo responded "look there's a bar not too far down the street, you guys head over there and I'll meet you when I'm done here okay" "sounds like a plan" Mizuiro said, Ichigo nodded in agreeance.

By the time Keigo joined them Mizuiro was already a couple beers in and Ichigo was on his third coffee, the pair locked deep in conversation, there was something about bars that always made him more talkative. "What did I miss?" Keigo asked as he took a seat "Ichigo met a cute girl in the cemetery" Mizuiro answered before he could "WHAT!?" Keigo yelled "Ichigo you're picking up girls at the cemetery, you're the real pervert." "Are you sure about that?" He asked as he leaned closer to Keigo while staring him dead in the eye "no, no I'm not, I'm the real pervert" Keigo fearfully back pedaled. Subtle insinuations of violence, that was the way to go. "She's cute though?" "I guess" he answered Keigo "it doesn't matter though it's not like the chances of us running into each other again are high." "Not with that attitude" Keigo stated, punctuating it by slamming his hand down on the table, Mizuiro nodded along with Keigo "what are you expecting me to do just stalk this girl or hang out in the cemetery till she shows up again?" "No, but it's not weird to routinely visit your mother" Mizuiro pointed out "I'm not using my mother as an excuse to try and pick up a girl, now can we drop this and talk about something else please."

...

The Previous Day

What kind of man just gives a stranger their gloves? She asked herself as she watched him disappear down the pathway. Looking to her sister's grave and the gloves that sat on her stone Rukia eyed them with indecision. She didn't need handouts or pity, however her hands were freezing and it would be not only rude to leave them, but also a waste. Swallowing her pride she slipped them onto her hands, they were a few sizes too big for her but they didn't feel like they'd slip off. The fabric inside seemed to cradle her hands providing her with plenty of comfort, the residual heat from his hands helped to warm hers quicker and it wasn't long before they no longer felt like they would fall off.

Saying her goodbyes to her sister she started down the same path Ichigo had taken not long ago. The snow had already covered up his tracks; she wished she could go straight home and make herself something warm, but obligations were obligations and she made her way to a nearby coffee shop where she was to meet Ran and Momo.

It was like a wall the way the smell of freshly brewed coffee hit her as she stepped into the shop. The soft murmur of customers clashed with the metallic rumble of coffee grinders working away; a general feeling of ease washed over her as she began searching for her friends "Rukia, over here!" Rangiku's voice cut through the sounds around her drawing her gaze to her friend who was frantically waving at her. She could feel eyes on her as she made her way to the booth her friends occupied "do you have to do that every time?" She asked Rangiku as she slid into the booth beside Momo, doing her best to find a comfortable spot on the torn cushion "yes, it's my favourite way to annoy you" Rangiku answered smiling the whole time.

Rolling her eyes at Ran she pulled off her scarf and gloves "where did you get those?" Ran asked grabbing the gloves "these are really nice, leather and wool" she commented as she checked them out "they're a bit big though and don't match your outfit, at the very least you should've at least gotten a smaller pair." "I didn't buy them" Rukia told her snatching them back "this guy at the cemetery gave me his when he noticed I didn't have any." By the looks on her friend's faces she knew what was coming "was he handsome?" Momo asked surprising Rukia as Ran was usually the one to take a vested interest in these matters "I guess" she answered shrugging her shoulders. Both the girls looked at her expectantly "well" Momo started "what did he look like?" Rangiku finished, with a sigh she gave in to her friends "he seemed fit, a bit taller than Renji and had wild orange hair." "Sounds dreamy" Rangiku said fanning herself with her hand in an overly dramatic display.

"How you get dreamy from that I'll never know" Rukia said shaking her head at her friend's antics. "Come now Rukia, the only time I've ever heard you describe a guy as handsome was that tutor you had when we were thirteen, it's taken you a whole five years to describe another guy as handsome, he must be dreamy." That was surprisingly good reasoning on Ran's part Rukia admitted to herself "be that as it may I didn't need his pity" she said sourly "not everyone trying to help you is doing it out of pity, some people are just nice" Momo told her. "You're probably right" Rukia responded not fully believing her words but not wanting to be dismissive of Momo.

Soon they left the warmth of the coffee shop and ventured out into the unforgiving cold "do you think the guys are already there?" Momo asked no one in particular "probably" Rangiku chose to answer "Renji's been stepping up his game so he'll want to be there extra early, wait till he hears about the cute guy, he's going to blow his top." "Please don't say anything" Rukia asked of her friend "I don't need the added stress" "you're going to have to deal with his feelings at some point you know" "I know I know" she told Rangiku "just not today, please." "Fine fine fine, but if he starts touching you again all bets are off" sighing in defeat Rukia agreed even though she knew this was all but guaranteeing herself a stress induced headache.

Ran was proven right as they reached her apartment, the boys were indeed early and waiting patiently by her door. "Aren't you supposed to be here in half an hour?" Rukia asked the three of them, Ikkaku and Yumichika both jutted their thumbs towards Renji "what, I figured if we got here early we could get a head start on our work" "that's not a bad idea" Rukia admitted causing Renji to smile, looking real proud of himself "however I did tell you that I'd be out till about now" she informed him while checking the time on her phone. "Had you paid attention you would've know that" Renji to his credit tried his best to laugh it off, rubbing the back of his neck and smiling sheepishly while apologizing.

Shrugging her shoulders Rukia pulled her keys out of her coat and began to unlock her door, a shadow passed over her and the door and the presence of a body a mere inch or two behind her was hard to ignore. As it stood had it been anyone other than one of her friends she wouldn't be taking such an intrusion to her personal space, though most of them knew to give her some breathing room, key word being most. The hand that appeared on the small of her back and the warm breath on her neck, inwardly she groaned knowing what was to now come.

"Could you not?" She asked Renji hoping premature action would deter Ran from causing an even greater ruckus "oh, ugh sorry." The apology was half hearted, while she could no longer feel his breath the hand was still annoyingly there. Throwing open the door she stood to the side letting everyone enter before her and catching the smirk Rangiku flashed her way and for the second time that day she found herself rolling her eyes at her friend.

Her coat and scarf she hung on the coat rack by the door, casually throwing them over top of her friend's, the gloves though they need to go somewhere she would remember them without fail, somewhere she'd see them every day that way she wouldn't forget. "What're you doin' over there?" Ikkaku asked. Without thought she flashed the gloves and answered "got to remember I have these" "what's so special about those gloves that you need to remember you have them?" Renji asked her. She paused, trying to think of the best lie out of this situation "apparently a very handsome man gave them to her" well there was no point to that now as Ran answered for her.

"WHAT!?" Renji shouted jumping up from his seated position, this was more than what she expected from him and it showed in her eyes which were wide with shock. "Dude fucking relax" Ikkaku told Renji, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and pulling him down. Throwing the gloves on her counter she retreated to her room, partly because the books she needed were in there, partly because her store of Advil was there too.

Unceremoniously she plopped down between Rangiku and Momo, with her homework nestled neatly in her lap she quietly began working ignoring the silent stares coming from her friends. "Are you okay?" Momo finally asked her "I'm fine, just fine" she casually answered while working through a problem "Rukia I…" but a look from her shut Renji up real quick "I'm going to choose to ignore that little outburst of yours, but if you do something like that again I'll be less than thrilled, got it?" "Yes mam" he responded, his face one of terror. "Good, now can we just study, exams are coming up soon."

The Next Morning

The T.V. was playing Chappy the rabbit just a little too loud, her clothes the comfiest she owned a pair of white cotton boy shorts and an oversized 'Nice Vibes' T-shirt she'd found at a thrift store, which was beginning to show its age as it was covered in all manners of food stains and a big white spot on the back from a laundry accident involving some bleach.

In her lap rested a bowl of the sweetest cereal she could buy; no work, no plans, and thanks to all the help from her friends yesterday all her homework was done for once and today could be all about her. Though, just as she was settling in for a lazy morning the piercing sound of her phone's ringtone startled her causing her to spill a bit of milk on herself. Groaning through a mouthful of food she quickly swallowed before answering "moshi moshi" "ah Rukia, did I catch you at a bad time?" "No Asano-San I was just eating breakfast, is there something you need?" She nervously asked not wanting to lose her day off "there's a free spot tonight and I know you've been wanting some extra hours." Sighing in defeat she agreed "yeah I'll take it, thank you for the call Asano-San" "no problem Rukia, I'll see you at five" he said before hanging up. She really wanted this day off, defeated she did her best to enjoy the little time she did have to herself.