(Originally an FST ficlet - playlist and tracks not included!)
Rukia stared at the thin little white box that was lying on Ichigo's desk. A mobile phone? she thought. She picked it up and held it at arm's length in front of her. It didn't look like it was turned on. She shook it a bit.
Still not on.
She pressed the round button in the middle of the white circle.
Still not on.
She tried pressing every point in the white circle.
Still not on.
She scowled at it. By now she was losing her patience. She shook it again, harder this time.
Still not on.
Finally she threw the thing back on the desk and continued to draw deformed bunnies in her (his) Chemistry notebook.
"What is that," she asked later, ensconced in her closet, legs safely warm under the blankets. The door of the closet was still open and she could see Ichigo sitting cross-legged on his bed, fiddling with the mysterious white box.
"It's an iPod," he answered without looking at her.
"Ai-pou-dou? Is it that English language?"
He shot her a look now. "It plays music, okay? Come here and I'll show you."
She stared at him. The box in his hand was making clicking sounds as he moved his finger around its surface.
She pushed the blankets aside and padded across the room in barefeet. She sat next to him at the edge of the bed. "Show me."
He reached behind to take out a long white string with two black bulbs at the end and jabbed the other end, the pointy one, on top of the white box. He offered one of the black bulbs to her.
She stared at it like it was a Hollow that she didn't know how to kill.
A corner of his mouth moved and he moved his hand towards her right ear, fitting the contraption in her ear. "It's an earphone, alright? It goes to your ear so you can hear the music." He reached for the other earphone and put it in his own ear.
He hit a button on the box and loud, crashing noises screamed in her ear.
She hastily took the earphone out and pushed it back to him.
He raised his eyebrows. "Don't you have music in Soul Society?"
She stood up, ignoring his question, and walked back to her closet. "It sounded like Kon throwing a tantrum."
He snorted. "You have no sense of music, Rukia."
She climbed into her (his) closet and slid her legs neatly back inside the blankets. The last thing she saw before shutting the door close was Ichigo lying on his back, both earphones in his ears, eyes closed, one foot tapping against the air.
She was studiously writing on the low table when he came into the room. Her legs were neatly tucked under her, her back completely straight even as she bent down her head to write.
He plopped down at the other side of the table, cross-legged, and shoved the white musicbox in front of her.
She glanced at it without moving her head, the merest flicker of eyes. "No, thank you."
"I got you some songs you might like."
She raised her head now to give him a stare. She looked down back at the music box. "It says "Rukia" on the screen."
"Yeah, I made a playlist for you. Just press this button here and it will play."
She hesitated, but took the music box from him. "Thank you."
He shrugged, eyes averted. "Just don't drop it."
At night, in her closet, when she couldn't sleep and thought of pointless thoughts, she reached for it, saw her name brightly lit, and hit play.