Snow crunched underfoot as Ichigo made his way up the winding path, the heavy snowfall from the night before made his climb harder than it needed to be. He had to be cautious not to slip on a piece of hidden ice or the snow itself, and yet he persevered with cautious step after cautious step. Eyes scanning around him looking for potential hazards; it didn't however stop him however from taking in 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 perhaps romantic.

As he continued to climb he pushed thoughts as far as they could from anything one would deem romantic, after his latest run of bad luck it was decided he had neither the time nor the inclination for romance. Instead he focused 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 mom, 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 stone. This had always been a bit difficult, he 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 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 ventured down the path forcing him to further zip up the already tight leather 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 warmth within himself.

Thoroughly 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 curiosity peaked he began looking around for its source and coming across flowers rolling softly atop the snow. As one came to rest against his foot he could see it was missing a few petals, likely it was that which drew him from his thoughts.

Besides a dash of snow they seemed untouched by the cold, most likely that meant they'd come from somewhere nearby and were probably recently left. Returning them probably wouldn't take too much time from 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 still burdened with a sole flower that threatened to blow away like the others before. Kneeling down he placed the flowers back into the container 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. A small girl stood nearby clad in a long, snow white coat with a bright red scarf. In her hands were some flowers like the ones he'd just returned.

"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?" The way she looked at him, like he'd grown a second head wasn't the most thankful of looks. "I guess I do" he replied with a shrug.

"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" "it's fine kid, I get it" "kid… KID!" She approached with the ferocity of a tiger, each step echoing through the trees and overpowering the wind.

"Who the hell do you think you are calling me a kid?" Her words were accentuated by a pale and delicate looking finger roughly poking his chest. There was something about her that made him push back "you don't like kid. Pint-sized suits you, dwarf would also work" then it came to him "midget."

The wind up wasn't clear till too late and his poor shin was throbbing in pain "what the fuck midget?" Evidently he'd triggered her yet again and soon his ass was firmly planted in the snow.

Her cackling at his misfortune was enough to make him just as mad as she'd been seconds ago; the mature option it was not but the snowball he sent her way did provide him with a high level of satisfaction as it connected with her face. Unbothered by the snow Ichigo lay back howling with laughter as the girl aggressively brushed away what remained of the projectile.

"Jackass" she cursed, stomping back to the stone and started arranging the flowers. "Do you have gloves?" Not a normal question to ask a stranger but it had to be fifteen below and she was working away without any sort of protection. "No" she responded, not taking eyes away from her current task.

Her skin was unnaturally pale, almost like the snow around them. No matter if she tried to or not there was no hiding the river of red slowly flowing through the cracks on the back of her hand.

"Oi midget" once again he earned her ire "the hell do you want, can't you see I'm-" the words cut off when he sent gloves sailing through the air. "Take them" "no" her pushback was immediate. "Just take them, I can see the state of your hands from here" his reasoning was solid and any sane person would just thank him, course this was some crazy midget he was dealing with.

"I don't need your charity" "oh for the love of" he groaned. Could the girl just take them, did this really have to be a fight. "It's not charity, I just want to help" "that sounds an awful lot like charity to me." He could feel the scowl growing by the second "keep them leave them I don't care." With his hands shoved firmly in his pants' pockets and back to the tiny girl one would think that was the end of it; this girl seemed to defy every social convention.

One… then two; looking back the gloves lay on the ground and she was still locked in place after tossing the second one. An exasperated snort escaped him "see you around midget!"

Back on the path and he could still hear her cursing him. It was so dumb, fighting him over a pair of gloves like that and yet, he couldn't stop the smile that had reformed, it had been kinda fun.

When he finally returned home he heated a hand, wrapping it around a soothing cup of jasmine tea while the other held a good book in place, that was how he found himself the next day as well till he was interrupted by an urgent knocking on his door. "I'm coming" he grumbled as it failed to end "what?" He asked yanking open the door, clearly irritated by the incessant knocking.

"We need to talk" Uryu said as he took a step around him and into the apartment, while he would love to complain about how Uryu was behaving it was rather uncharacteristic of him. Shelving his snide comments for now Ichigo took a seat on his couch beside his friend and discarded book, the silence was palpable and there was a tension in the air that had existed only once before "you're not here to confess to me are you?" the joke was meant to break the tension, it didn't work "what the fuck are you talking about?"

"Nothing, now what brought you over here and had you banging on my door like a madman?" His friends looked towards a window before speaking "Orihime called, told me she got offered a job, at our school" "well shit that would do it" Ichigo said letting himself sink into the 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 too." "You think so?" It had been a long time since they spoke, more or less that was his fault; she wanted him to stay and he wanted to be anywhere but by her side.

"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 five years put yourself out there, despite your terrible personality women seem to like you."

"Your skill at complimenting and insulting me at the same time is unparalleled, now can you please drop this?" Uryu sighed at him "Ichigo, she's been on dates, she's trying to move on." "What makes you thinks I haven't?" It was rare for him to catch his friend off guard, the look on Uryu's faces said this was one of those times "there was a girl in America, then one when I got back."

"Were they serious?" The line of question Uryu had entered was disconcerting "they lasted a while" "but were they serious?" His friend asked again "they meant something to me" was the best answer he could give. "Why do you care so much about my love life anyway, you never used to." "Still don't, I just don't want to deal with you becoming a crusty old bitter man. You're already annoying enough as it is."

"I think you've gone soft on me" Ichigo said with a snort "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" both of them laughing softly at the memories of a youth that seemed so far gone.

"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.

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 finally 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 Day

Standing outside of a seedy looking club going by The Seireitei just made him feel dirty. "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 Uryu would be given 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 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, it is Keigo after all" unlike himself Mizuiro didn't seem to be fully disgusted by their surroundings "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" Keigo's smile fell at his words "what why?" "Because this is a strip club" Keigo only looked at him like he'd grown a second head "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 half-heartedly cursed "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 agreed, Ichigo just nodded already heading for the door.

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 leaning over the table and reaching for Keigo's collar all 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 never said she was, I said she was short, rude, and ungrateful" he answered Keigo, who proceeded to turn to Mizuiro "he noticed more than one thing about this girl!" "Is it really that hard to believe" Ichigo asked his friends "YES!" The simultaneous response was enough to get him to question himself.

"Whatever, she was annoying, and it's not like I'm going to see her again" he tried to be dismissive but his friends didn't seem to want to let this go. "Not with that attitude" Keigo stated "you gotta go get that cutie!" Keigo yelled, slamming his hands down on the table; it didn't go unnoticed to Ichigo that several of those at other tables gave the three of them terse glances.

"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 some annoying midget, now can we drop this and talk about something else please."

...

The Previous Day

What kind of man just gives a stranger their gloves? That was the question she was currently asking herself. The orange haired stranger had long since left and yet his gloves still lay in the snow, now with a light covering of the soft white substance.

She looked at them, then at her hands. Good gloves weren't cheap, and the last pair she'd had quickly fell apart. It would be a waste wouldn't it, to let them stay here being revenged by the winter winds, polluting the ground with bits of fabric as they were inevitably torn apart. That was the lie she would tell herself.

Swallowing her pride she slipped the discarded things onto her hands, they were more than a few sizes too big for herm but they didn't feel like they'd slip off. The fabric inside seemed to cradle her hands providing her with plenty of comfort, somehow even after being in the snow for so long the residual heat from his hands helped to warm hers. It wasn't long before feeling returned to her hands and she wasn't worried they'd fall off on her.

Saying a quick goodbye to her sister she started down the same path the stranger had taken not so 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 "god no! He had this wild orange hair, was freakishly tall, and just the ugliest scowl I've ever seen." Much to her dismay her answer had the opposite effect she was hoping for. Both the girls looked to her probably expecting more details.

"Well, was he fat?" Rangiku's obsessive need to know every detail of every man who entered her life was still old. "No, he seemed pretty fit" even if he was a jackass she had to hand it to the stranger, he did seem to take care of himself. "Probably could be handsome if he dropped the damn scowl."

That little sentence, tiny, insignificant words; that were not meant to be heard; meaningless to her, a toss away thought. To her friends it was an open invitation to speculate. "He must be dreamy" Momo cooed. "How you get dreamy from that I'll never know" Rukia said shaking her head at her friend's antics.

"It's strange for you to notice just one thing about a guy" Momo said raising a single finger "but you've told us his hair colour, that he's fit, and that if he dropped the scowl he could be handsome." Rangiku nodded in agreeance with their friend "seriously Rukia, Renji was cute, that tutor of yours Kaien was dreamy, you've even said that your brother is beautiful, but handsome. Rukia you've never called a man handsome before."

Rukia had to admit Rangiku's logic was solid, except for one fact "I still haven't" of course that didn't matter to her friends who just idly sipped their drinks while giving her suggestive looks.

"Looks aside, I didn't ask for his pity" her sour tone clearly stirring something within Momo "not everyone trying to help you is doing it out of pity, some people are just nice." "You're probably right" Rukia responded not fully believing her words but not wanting to be dismissive of her friend.

Soon the warmth and delightful smells of the coffee shop were left behind as they 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."

Rukia could only imagine the headache that would ensure if Rangiku brought up her strange encounter. "Please don't say anything" she wasn't asking, more or less pleading for mercy "I don't need the added stress" "you're going to have to deal with his feelings at some point you know" there was a time she'd though she had. However it shouldn't have been much of a surprise to have to deal with it all over again.

"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 not so patiently waiting 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.

Letting it go Rukia pulled her keys out of her coat and began to unlock her door, a shadow passed over her and the door; 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, an action she once would've adored now only caused her to inwardly groaned knowing the consequences that came from his actions .

"Could you not?" It was said with more aggression than normal and she could only hope her premature action would deter Ran from causing an even greater ruckus "oh, ugh sorry." His 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. 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; an instant transition from calm to a fiery rage, 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. It 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, but still it remained at the top of her drawer, a constant wear.

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.