Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. It's property of Tite Kubo.

Author's Note: Hi, guys! So sorry for not updating yesterday but I took a second day off. Also, I'm back to classes so I'm not sure if I'll get to update next Monday on schedule as today's a particularly busy day for me. Still, I was able to come up with this one-shot. It's another fluffy story that you hope you like after all the past drama.

I thank you all for reading and reviewing! I'm glad you've been liking this collection so far.

Even though I'm now two days behind, bare with me.

I'm sure I'll finish all prompts of IR Month this time.

See ya!

every day (a brand new day)

Prompt: surprise

Summary: Rukia decides she wants to surprise Ichigo, not realizing she does that every day.

Rukia wants to surprise Ichigo.

That is the decision she makes one day out of the blue.

Although her thought process might not make much sense to an outside observer, it is very clear in her mind.

Ichigo does a lot for her.

Every time she visits him, he shows her something new.

Which is a surprise, basically.

So the logical conclusion is that if Rukia wants to show appreciation for the things Ichigo does for her, she must surprise him in return.

Yes.

There is no other way.

Or at least that's how she sees it.

However, the real question is how she is going to surprise him.

Ichigo is not really a guy that can be surprised often.

First of all, he has quick reflexes (a result of Isshin's good morning fighting routine) and can be very intuitive.

He can easily sniff out if something's out of the ordinary.

If he bothers paying attention, of course.

Sadly for Rukia, he pays a lot of attention when it comes to her.

So it would be nearly impossible to plan a long-term surprise for Ichigo.

Which means that, basically, she must be spontaneous.

And that is an even bigger problem.

Because there are not a lot of things out there that could, potentially, surprise Ichigo.

By now he has a deep understanding of how the Soul Society works.

As he had explained it, for him is like feudal Japan.

A society reminiscent of how humans lived hundreds of years ago.

This means that the most interesting part of the Soul Society for him is Seireitei.

And he has already seen most of it.

He has personally met the most influential Shinigami.

He even hangs out with them.

Quite frequently, might she add.

He knows several nobles, including the Kuchiki elders!

(And that's as influential as one can get)

The fact of the matter is that, outside of fighting, life in the Soul Society is not very thrilling.

It can be very depressing, actually.

And Rukia wishes her home were as exciting as Karakura is for her.

That there were newer things to see or places to visit.

That there were more things that she could show Ichigo.

She wants to give back to him everything he's given her.

She wishes to amaze him.

To watch his eyes brighten up and a grin spread across his face.

But this dream seems impossible with the way things are.

That is, until she catches wind of a new event.

"The moon festival?" Rukia says out loud.

"Yes! It's a new festival being organized on the first district!"

Kiyone tells her excitedly one day.

"And what is it about?"

"I have no idea, but word's on the street that there will be lots of food and performances! It's going to be great!"

On that Rukia can agree.

There are seldom any festivals in the Soul Society.

With the exception of the New Year's Festival and other seasonal festivities.

But after going to the same event for decades, they do get a tad boring.

And Ichigo has already experienced them.

Now, a Moon Festival, on the other hand, is not something Rukia had ever heard of before.

The idea of trying something new is enticing.

Yet it doesn't compare to the feeling it would give her to finally surprise Ichigo with something new.

Something that could be as fun as everything he shows her constantly.

She's now got a plan.

Thankfully Kiyone gives her all the details she needs.

The date and place and time.

All that is now needed is for Ichigo to agree to come.

Asking him to come to the Soul Society is easy.

It was his turn to visit her anyway.

Tricking him into thinking there's nothing going on turns out to be more difficult.

Rukia has to insist several times that they've got no plans that day.

While simultaneously making sure he doesn't make plans with anybody else.

Thankfully it doesn't occur to him to go out with his other friends or anything.

That Saturday morning he simply goes to train as always, giving Rukia enough time to set her plans into motion.

She lays out a new kimono for him in his room at the Kuchiki Manor and leaves him a note telling him to meet her by the gate at 7 pm.

Ichigo does as he is asked and goes to the gate wearing deep blue robes, which coincidentally match her own kimono.

"Rukia, what's going on? Where are we going?" He questions.

"You'll see."

That's her cryptic reply.

He is clearly intrigued but she doesn't say anything else.

And so, she guides him till they reach the festival.

When they get there, it's not what Rukia expected at all.

For starters, there is a lot of yelling but not the kind you would expect from a festival.

This is angry yelling.

There's trash everywhere.

The food vendors are trying to scam passersby.

The audience is booing the actors and dancers trying to perform.

There are hungry children asking for food, but getting ignored.

Some people even kick the poor away so they don't ask them for money.

Even worse, Rukia can see Shinigami acting haughty towards other souls.

In short, it is a mess.

It is definitely not the delightful scenery she was hoping for.

It displays out in the open all the terrible things about the Soul Society.

All the inequality.

The discrimination.

It tastes bitter in her mouth.

And she suddenly remembers.

What it felt like being poor and unable to get a meal.

How it felt when adults mistreated you.

And how scary Shinigami can be for young souls.

On her right, Ichigo looks as disgusted as she feels.

He furrows his brow and glares at all the Shinigami trying to intimidate other souls.

This is not a festival.

It is barely an event.

It is a travesty.

A demonstration of how down in the dumps is everything outside of Seireitei.

A reminder about the inner workings of the Soul Society.

And this is just the first district.

Where life is mostly good.

Rukia doesn't want to imagine how a festival may go down in Inuzuri.

But she has seen enough.

"Let's go, Ichigo."

She tells her companion and the two walk away.

She is not sure where she's going yet she cannot go back to Seireitei after this.

Eventually, they reach a lake.

It is peaceful out here.

There's no one else around.

It is idyllic, even.

The perfect place to rest.

She drops to the ground and keeps her gaze set on the lake.

Ichigo follows suit and the two stare into the lake for a while.

"I'm so sorry for today." Rukia eventually says.

She feels like an idiot.

But mostly she feels terrible for disappointing Ichigo.

"Hey, it wasn't your fault."

He quickly tells her.

"But it kinda is." She retorts. "I wanted to surprise you and take you some place fun. Instead we just witnessed how horrid the Soul Society can be."

Ichigo contemplates her words in silence.

Finally, he speaks again.

"The Soul Society is not unlike the Human World, though. I know you enjoy it there, but it can be just as bad as the Soul Society. Even worse. So, don't beat yourself too much about it. It's not your fault there are shitty souls here."

In truth, the situation outside of Seireitei isn't just because there are shitty souls in the districts.

One could argue souls act according to their necessities.

And that the way the nobles and Shinigami treat other souls is the root of the problem.

But now is not the time for that conversation.

"I just wanted us to have fun."

Rukia says and her tone is so pitiful Ichigo double takes.

"I know there's more than that bothering you."

And of course this is when his intuition kicks in.

He can easily tell the real reason behind her discontentment.

It is probably written all over her face.

So she sighs and decides to come clean.

"I wanted to surprise you with a fun activity. Whenever I visit you, you always show me something new, something exciting. While, when you come here, there's never any surprises. It's all just the same as it's always been. And I just… I guess I just wanted you to find my world as fun as yours is to me."

Ichigo blinks and then smiles at her.

"Rukia, I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't think the Soul Society is dull. Every time I come here, something happens. Whether that is Kenpachi looking for a fight, drinking with the guys, running away from Kurotsuchi, arguing with the Kuchiki elders, or even training with Zangetsu, there's always something to do. Things I can't experience in Karakura.

And even if there weren't, you still surprise me every day."

He admits sheepishly.

"I surprise you?"

Rukia turns to look at him, dumbfounded.

"Yeah. With your reactions and comments, and the things you say and do. You even surprise me by just being here, next to me."

He blurts out this last bit and his cheeks turn red for a reason unknown to her.

"My point is that it doesn't matter if today didn't turn out exactly like you wanted, because I have fun just by being here with you."

And for the first time in all evening, it feels as if the festival wasn't such a waste of time after all.

"Thank you."

Rukia replies earnestly.

"So, if you still want to hang out after this, I promise to surprise you in other ways."

"I'm counting on it."

Ichigo tells her as the light from the moon reflects on him.

So that night Rukia ends up realizing two things.

1. That somehow she already surprises Ichigo enough.

2. He looks particularly good under the moonlight.

(Now she does have a reason to call it the Moon Festival)

A/N: So this is basically Rukia asks Ichigo out on a date and it doesn't go as planned.

Though the date did include matching outfits lmao.

But seriously, there are a lot of injustices in the SS and I feel that after the SS Arc, Kubo just glossed over them when it would have been interesting how those dynamics played out in the grand scheme of things. And since Ichigo wants to protect many people, and there are characters like Rukia and Renji who come from this background of poverty, it would have been great to see them changing the SS as a whole, especially Rukia who has now a medium to make some change as a member of the Kuchiki Clan.

I'm also glossing over this issue, but I wanted to awknowledge how wrong many things are in the SS and that they pain Rukia.

I guess I eventually could write more about this if there are people interested in reading about this sort of thing.

I also hope you liked the fluff at the end.

Ichigo's a sap and Rukia's definitely in love, but what else is new?

Hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you next time!