Hi! Here is the second part, I hope you like it.
Chocolate Heart
White Day
After Rukia left the room, Ichigo stared at the box she had given him. He knew that there was a chocolate inside and that Rukia had made it for him, and that generated a tidal wave of feelings in him.
Ichigo had waited all day for that gift, and even though he knew it was unlikely to happen because Rukia had a lot of work and from Renji's words before the final battle, it had happened.
Rukia was wearing a pretty kimono and had gone all the way to Karakura to deliver a box of chocolate that she had handmade for him.
Ichigo sat on the bed and, with the emotion for that gift running through every part of his body, he carefully opened that box. Inside there was a heart made of chocolate, it was a simple but beautiful design, and drawn by hand on the inside of the lid there were a couple of bunnies that represented the two of them.
Ichigo lost himself for a moment in that drawing, which before he would have said was horrible but which he had gotten used to and missed like hell when he was without his powers, and smiled. Both bunnies were holding hands and there was a heart between them.
Rukia would never say that with words, she was too stubborn to admit a feeling that would make her feel ashamed, but she had made that drawing and that chocolate for him, and that said more than a thousand words.
Ichigo took a bite of the chocolate and found it to be delicious.
He liked chocolate, and he liked that one even better.
On Friday, after leaving his last class at Karakura University, Ichigo headed over to Urahara's store as he had been doing every week since he returned from Soul Society.
He greeted the shopkeeper, who was waiting for him with his usual good humor, and went down to the basement that had been prepared for him. Isshin in his Shinigami form was waiting for him downstairs, and Ichigo took his Substitute Shinigami Badge to leave his own body and prepare to train.
It was assumed that he would not return to the human world, that he would stay in the Soul Society because of the immense power he had and which could easily harm people; but thanks to the Captain of the 12th division, Urahara and Rukia, he had been able to return to his life with certain conditions.
One of those conditions was that he would be monitored by Rukia, because he belonged to the 13th squad, and by Mayuri, who wanted to dissect and study him.
Another of those conditions was that he had to learn to control his powers, and his father along with Urahara took care of that.
When the training ended, both he and Isshin were covered in wounds, sweat, and blood from how intense this confrontation between them was. Urahara asked for the barrier they used in the basement to be removed and Ichigo was able to see that Orihime was there, how she had been every time he had training.
Urahara always called her to heal his and Isshin's injuries before they returned to their bodies, but this time Ichigo felt uncomfortable in front of her.
Orihime looked nervous too and they both looked away, each one for a different reason but in the end, it ended up being for the same thing: Valentine's chocolate.
Orihime had visited him when she left the bakery that day and handed him a box of chocolates. It was the first time she'd ever done this and Ichigo had been a bit taken aback, as Orihime was out of there quickly before he could say anything more than "thank you".
When he opened the box in the privacy of his room, he could see that inside was Orihime's confession: "Please, Kurosaki-kun, accept my feelings."
It took Ichigo a war and a box of chocolates to realize that Orihime had feelings for him, but he didn't feel the same way about her.
At the end of the healing, everything became awkward because Orihime seemed to be about to ask something, but Ichigo left to find his own body. This time he didn't offer to accompany her, as he did all those times, but he asked his dad to take Orihime to her house because he had a lot of homework to do.
Since that day, Ichigo had avoided talking to Orihime despite the fact that Urahara seemed to insist on having the girl present at training. Even when he asked his father to teach him healing kido, Urahara told them that it would take a long time and that Orihime would do better with the Shun Shun Rikka.
On White Day, Ichigo gave his sisters their gifts at breakfast, stopped by the dojo where Tatsuki worked and handed over the white chocolate he bought for her, and then went to Orihime's house.
It wasn't long between his knocking on the door and her answering it, still dressed in her pajamas but with a clean face. She was surprised to see him and flustered before inviting him in, but Ichigo declined the offer.
— I'm sorry. Let's be friends.
That sentence was enough to make Orihime feel a lump in her throat and tears well up in her eyes. Ichigo handed her the box of cookies, apologized to her again, and left.
In the afternoon, when he left the university, Ichigo went to Urahara's store with a gift bag, which he had bought on the way, and asked Urahara to allow him to use the senkaimon.
The shopkeeper gave him a sly look as he hid behind his fan, but allowed him to use the senkaimon after making him promise to help out in the shop the following weekend.
Rukia's squad was so big that it was easy to get lost there, but Ichigo had been there so many times that he almost knew it by heart; also because the way to Rukia's office was the only place he could reach with his eyes closed.
As he walked through the corridors of the squadron, several of the officers greeted him with a respect that made him feel strange, it was as if they saw him as their savior although he never considered himself that way. It didn't matter how many times he told them that it wasn't necessary or how many times he heard them speak to him with such overwhelming respect, Ichigo would never get used to that treatment.
He entered Rukia's office the same way she entered her room, without asking for permission, and found her hidden behind a mountain of papers.
— If they are more reports, leave them on the table. — Rukia said without looking up, still concentrating on what she was doing.
Ichigo turned to look at the table, and saw more papers that had been there since who knows when. Rukia always had a lot of work, she was only a lieutenant but she was in charge of the whole squad.
She was amazing.
— God save me from having to do so much paperwork one day! — Ichigo commented, causing Rukia to look up from the papers she was working on.
— Ichigo! What are you doing here? Are you coming for your checkup? It can't be! I forgot it!
Rukia quickly got up from her seat and started looking through the files on a shelf, but Ichigo quickly walked over to her and took her hand to calm her down. The effect was immediate and they both looked into each other's eyes in a second that was eternal.
— I'm not here for my checkup. I came to bring you something.
Ichigo showed her the gift bag in his hand, the one that possibly the whole squad had seen because it was too big to hide between his clothes and which Rukia hadn't seen.
— A gift?
Rukia took the bag but didn't open it, instead looking at Ichigo waiting for an answer. Ichigo couldn't blame her for not remembering the day, she was immersed in work.
— Today is White Day, it's when we return the gifts we get on Valentine's Day. I hope you like it.
After those words, Rukia's cheeks turned red and she focused her gaze on the gift she was holding in both hands. Ichigo watched as she opened the gift bag and took out a huge white plush rabbit with a red bow at its neck.
Rukia's smile and emotion were immediate, she looked like a little girl who receives the best gift in the world, and that was worth all the embarrassment he went through buying that stuffed animal.
— Wait, I thought you had to give me chocolates. I expected you to give me chocolates.
Rukia was holding that rabbit tightly to her chest when she made that claim to him, and Ichigo felt the blush come to his cheeks.
— There are chocolates in the bag. That you haven't seen them is not my problem.
— Hey! More respect to your superior!
Rukia scolded him for that answer, but Ichigo just shrugged, brushing off the scolding. She was his superior but she never treated him like that.
— What will you do? You'll put me in training until I beg for mercy? — Ichigo's question brought a wicked look to cross Rukia's face, and he knew she could do it.
— Yes, I'll put you...
Rukia was about to say everything that would possibly make him train for the rest of the day, when Ichigo walked up to her and kissed her.
It was a kiss that he had wanted to give her many times, in many different situations and in many different ways, but his imagination had never prepared him for the overwhelming reality.
The kiss was incredibly much better than all his fantasies put together.
Rukia was silent, embarrassed by that kiss, and Ichigo didn't know what to say because he wasn't good with words either, until he said the first thing that came to mind.
— This is also for White Day.
— Fool! Who do you think you are to kiss me like that?
Ichigo smiled seeing her blushing and embarrassed, and took a step away from her for fear of being hit even though he was blushing too.
— The only one who can kiss you?
— And who told you that you can kiss me? Huh? — Rukia's question came out with a slight stutter as she shook her fist at him and continued to hug the plush rabbit.
— You don't want me to do it?
Rukia looked away and stammered something like "yes... I want to", and Ichigo moved closer to her only to kiss her again.
And after that kiss, she hit him and complained to him for not having done it sooner.
You liked it, I hope you did.
See ya!
Glossary:
1) Healing Kido: Kaido. Technique of the shinigami that are used to heal.
2) Shun Shun Rikka: Orihime's power that manifests from the flower-shaped hairpins she uses.
