A/N: Knock yourself out, guys!

The Debut

Ichigo waited impatiently at the base of the stairs, pacing with his phone in hand. He flipped it open and looked at the display screen anxiously. Six-forty. They weren't going to make it to the ferry on time as it was unless they sprinted.

"Oi Rukia! Hurry up, wouldja?!" he yelled, but even as his voice urged her to come down the stairs, his body was tight with anxiety. What should he expect? She had been up there far longer than he'd anticipated. He couldn't imagine Rukia wearing anything but his sister's jumpers and that outfit she had worn to Miyajima had put a lump in Ichigo's throat, despite his denial. On the other hand, he couldn't say he hadn't cleaned up, wearing a crisp pair of black slacks and a casual white dress shirt, the sleeves rolled lazily up his forearms, neck unbuttoned stylishly. He tried to convince himself that the only reason he'd worn the outfit was to look convincing for Keigo. No matter how much he didn't want to face the gossip once school started back up, he'd prefer that over Rukia being left unprotected. "Fresh meat," he'd heard some kid call her in the hallway…

Ichigo shoved his phone deep into his pocket, unwilling to worry about it anymore. The little bell on his phone trinket jingled merrily as he walked the entrance way nervously. A faint click as his door slowly eased away from the doorframe caught his attention and he stopped his anxious footing. His heart quickened to an almost dizzying pace and his stomach whirled while he desperately tried to calm himself down. It was just Rukia after all.

Ichigo's lips parted in silent surprise. It was not just Rukia. A small, black dress hung elegantly from her shoulders and hips, hugging her figure in all the right places. The neck like was like a basin, showcasing her delicate collarbones and sitting on her shoulders at just the point before falling down her arms, but still retained an almost dangerously low curve upon her chest. Her breasts seemed modestly teasing, voluptuous, but unwilling to divulge any of her body's secrets. The skirt, which was short by Rukia's normal standards, flowed like water as her hips swayed, manipulating an admirer like the mesmerizing rhythm of a snake guru's wooden flute.

As she majestically descended the stairs, Ichigo tried his best to close his lips and force a scowl upon them, but found it was no use. She'd be able to see right through it.

"Sorry that took so long," Rukia began, her usual self, "I couldn't figure out which color went where." She flailed her arms in the air with frustration and Ichigo smirked, biting back the snide comment wanting to escape his throat. He didn't want to ruin the moment. She smiled at him with a look of confusion. That smile, framed with glistening pink lips, made his heart skip a beat as he tried to excavate words from the tip of his dry tongue.

"We won't be able to get to the ferry now," he said with some difficulty. "But no big deal, ne. I doubt it would have been very fun to spend the night with Keigo sulking in the corner," he mused quickly, avoiding her reprimands. She smirked and nodded, walking toward the door. Ichigo watched her make for the entrance, her black heels in hand. Tendrils of hair fell from a French twist securely held with a beautiful, deep-sea blue and silver clip. The rocking of her hips was absolutely intoxicating…

Ichigo shook his head and gathered up his best scowl, choosing to ignore the way she stumbled, mumbling to herself cutely about how difficult fastening her heels could be while she was standing. He slipped on his shoes and held open the door for her. As she passed, a draft of night breeze perfume teased his senses. He was glad for the cover of the darkened streets, for fear she would see his nervous blush as they strolled wordlessly through the subdivision.

"We match pretty well, huh?" Rukia said after a long silence. Ichigo's chest tightened. She inspected his outfit with a casual eye, her thoughts lingering on how smooth his silhouette was.

"Aa."

Silence. Rukia mulled over the feel of wearing heels and weighed pros and cons. It was nice to feel her posture become more confident, but she could feel that they'd become sore after a while…

"When did you get that dress?" Ichigo asked, trying desperately to sound only casually interested. Rukia smirked. Megumi-san was right. Men in the real world were far easier to control under their current circumstances. You'll have him wrapped around your finger. The words echoed through her head and she found herself blushing, understanding finally what that meant.

"When you took me shopping the other day. Megumi-san said I should get the whole outfit, including the heels, the hairclip and the lingeri–"

"It fits you well. Much better than what you wore yesterday. I swear if you ever wear that skirt again in public I'll pummel you," he interrupted quickly, trying to cover for the compliment. His face was a bright red. Oh gods, if she had matching lingerie…

"What, so I'm only allowed to wear it around you?" she asked sarcastically. Ichigo's expression froze as he dug his hole deeper and deeper.

"Wha –no! You can't wear it at all!"

"Why?!"

"Because people look at you, baka!" he retorted, thinking of the foreign couple in the ropeway cabin the day before. He hadn't been sure what they talked about, but he was certain they said something about them.

"Cheh," Rukia snorted, crossed her arms and looked away. The gentle slop of her neck and the deep valley of her breasts glowed in the yellow light of the streetlamps. Ichigo swallowed and looked at the canal framing the road they strolled upon. The tide was coming in, it seemed.

"The sound of a bike's tires behind them caught Ichigo's attention and he turned his gaze lazily over the collar of his shirt. A small light in the distance was coming closer, wobbling slightly as the bike took the shock of the uneven asphalt. He glanced back as it drew near and grabbed Rukia's hand, pulling her out of the biker's way. The old man smiled and nodded his head as he passed, the back tire squeaking rhythmically as he furthered the distance between himself and the couple.

Rukia looked down at her hand entwined gently with Ichigo's fingers and blushed brilliantly. His skin was warm and inviting. She felt his eyes shift towards her and noticing her attention to their hands, slowly let his fingers slide away from hers.
"Sorry, I just didn't want you to get run over. It would be hard to see you wearing black and all," he said quietly, biting down a short joke. Rukia nodded as they passed under another streetlight and rounded the corner towards the ferry. A group of people waited expectantly for the next ferry to arrive as its sister ship drifted off across the channel towards the other side of the city, undoubtedly carrying a group of his disappointed friends. Ichigo let go a relieved breath. He wasn't ready to face the questions from his classmates yet, nor the scrutinizing glare Rukia would surely grace him with once she found out that he had told Keigo he was taking her to Hanabi Matsuri. A large piece of coal dropped with a dead thud in the pit of his stomach as he thought of their dreaded return to school.

As they joined the small crowd waiting with money in hand, Ichigo noticed several pairs of appreciative eyes whispering and pointing at Rukia from the sides of his vision. He nearly growled and stood closer while she craned her neck to see the busy festival streets across the way, oblivious to the threats. When a boat vender came by asking for the passage fare, Rukia expected Ichigo to hand her the change she needed, but found that he didn't even glance at her. As the lanky old man came over to them, he smiled a nearly-toothless grin and held out his hand. Ichigo handed him a crisp one thousand yen bill (ten dollars). The man pointed to Rukia.

"For you and the lady, sir?" he asked. Ichigo nodded, putting a hand on Rukia's bare shoulder. The feeling sent shivers down the shinigami's neck. No one had ever touched her bare skin before, save her hands and arms. His palm felt electric.

"Yes," Ichigo said protectively and waited for the man to hand him his change. He heard several men whine and turn away, looking for new eye candy. A grin pulled at the edge of his mouth as he tallied himself a point of victory for the night. He let the coins the man dropped in his hand cascade with a metallic clink to the bottom of his pocket and withdrew his hand from Rukia's shoulder.

The sea breeze ruffled Ichigo's shirt gently as the ferry carried them from the smaller island to the main part of the city. Rukia found great interest in the way her calves fell while wearing her high shoes and Ichigo chanced a look at her face. It was powdered with an innocent, delicate pink, her eyes dusted with a silvery shimmer. He surveyed the rest of the deck and caught several curious men quickly averting their eyes. His scowl deepened. The attention would bother him all night, though he guilted himself silently for the sense of pride it brought him.

He couldn't really consider her a date, could he? He'd never gone on one, but he knew she was dressed for one. He had seen plenty of his classmates dressed similarly, for concerts or nights on the town, but it was Rukia sitting next to him, dressed so enchantingly. He felt dizzy and weak-kneed thinking that she had put so much time into this night. He could see her doing such a thing for no one else…and he smiled knowing that was true.

"Be careful," he said as they stood, waiting for the ramp to thump against the dock like the lazy tail of a beast. She held onto his arm as the boat jostled about in the tide, afraid of falling in her difficult shoes. He led her off the dock and onto the street where several brightly lit stalls were erected, all with different games, foods, and candies. Sellers yelled for people to come try their carnival trickery and taste their festival treats. Ichigo inspected Rukia's face as she watched a young child bounce a colorfully decorated balloon on a string, the small amount of water inside sloshing with a playful sound. He smirked and pulled her to where they could buy one for one hundred yen (one dollar). She bounced the small thing like a yo-yo and looked indecisively at all the choices surrounding her.

"Come on, Rukia! I'll buy you another drink to try and figure out," he said cryptically, pulling her towards a man on the back of a pint-sized work truck, handing out dried squid and Ramune (carbonated lemonade-like drink) in the yard of one of the city's small, urban temples. She looked at the curious top and tapped on the ball stuck in the bottleneck. Ichigo grinned and popped the glass marble down into the drink, laughing sincerely when Rukia shrieked with excitement. She demanded to try opening his and ended up spraying a large irritable man on the back of the neck. Both shinigami shared a moment of fear before running off into the crowd, Ichigo pulling Rukia by the hand as they laughed.

"The look on his face was priceless. Drink cleared!" Rukia said with a twinkle in her eyes. She sipped her Ramune with a proud expression and Ichigo finished his off, throwing it into a glass recyclables bin along the side of a takoyaki (fried octopus in a thick, sweet batter) vender's stall.

A few men from the ferry walked passed the shinigami couple and Ichigo glared viciously at them. One, red faced with a small bottle of warmed sake in his hands, whistled, his friends laughing hysterically as they held him up. Ichigo pulled Rukia close to him and held her waist with his broad hand. She blushed and tried to make herself small, blending in with his black slacks. Perhaps they had been making fun of her. Had she put the wrong powders on the wrong places?

"I don't want to stay with all these people if they're going to act like idiots," Ichigo said angrily as he guided her through the crowds, gradually becoming a little rowdy with the firework show close at hand. The men were beginning to make him nervous. Though he was more than willing to exterminate Hollows, he was hesitant to hurt someone acting foolish because of a holiday. He was even less willing to risk Rukia being hurt or taunted.

"What do you mean? We aren't leaving the festival, are we?" Rukia asked, sadness and disappointment lacing her words. She'd barely gotten to enjoy it…

"No, we're just going somewhere less…less drunk," he said as they walked down the street toward the edge of the festivities, the bright yellow and red lights of lanterns fading into the regularity of the city on a warm, summer night.

A/N: Ooo, wonder what's next! Hope you enjoyed, fellas. TGK

Cultural Notsies!

Money – The smallest bill in Japanese yen is the one thousand yen (ten dollar) bill. The coins are 500y, 100y, 50y, 10y, 5y, and 1y.

Hanabi Matsuri is translated as "Flower Fire Festival" (Fireworks Festival) and is HUGE in Japan. In canal cities, barges come full of fireworks and set them off from the channel or ocean (In Tokyo's case, from the bay) and most people go in traditional dress (kimono or yukata). The streets are just like a Japanese carnival. Lots of fun and BIG fireworks!

Takoyaki is yummy and pish posh if you won't eat it just because it's octopus.

Lots of old men ride rickety old bikes and smile a lot. Some even wear funky straw hats. Ah, what a life!