Ichigo glanced at his watch as he skidded around yet another corner. 2:53. He was still 4 blocks from the Shoten, and was becoming quite fatigued. The fact that the sidewalks were slippery as ice wasn't helping either.
2:57. The large "Urahara Shoten" sign came into view. As Ichigo crossed the empty lot in front of the derelict shoten, he removed his jacket and cast his umbrella aside. He threw the sliding door open, and proclaimed his arrival simply.
"Is she here yet?" His greeting was a stifled laugh from a blonde man, sitting cross-legged on a raised section of floor across from the entrance.
"My, my. So impatient, just like always, young Ichigo." Urahara chuckled from behind his fan.
"Is she here or not, Geta-boshi?" Ichigo barked. He was not in the for mood Urahara either, but he would have to suffer.
"She is not. There's no saying when she will be, either." Urahara answered in a suddenly serious tone. "What? What the Hell do you mean 'there's no saying when'?" Ichigo was practically seething. His fists were clenched, teeth gritted, and he was almost foaming at the mouth. Ichigo was prepared to rip Kisuke Urahara limb from limb when another familiar voice entered the room.
"Come on Kisuke, don't tease him like that." Yoruichi spoke as she entered from one of the back rooms of the Shoten. "He hasn't seen his little girlfriend in four months, he's obviously wound up. Don't wind him up more or you'll have to answer to the both of us, understand?" Yoruichi threatened, reiatsu flaring up.
"Yes, Ma'am..." Urahara replied, defeated and downtrodden. This was not helping Ichigo's mood. "Dammit! Why won't anyone listen? RUKIA. IS. NOT. MY. GIRLFRIEND!"
"Yeah, yeah, Ichigo, and I'm really a penguin in a cat suit. My point is, you haven't seen her in 4 months, you should be happy that you'll see her soon."
"It's been three months, not fou..." Ichigo's voice trailed off. "Crap." He muttered.
"AHA! Counting the days, are we?" Yoruichi mocked.
"Shut. Up." Ichigo said coldly. "Can we just do this?"
"Fine, fine..." Yoruichi motioned at Kisuke, who quickly lifted the panel that led to his clandestine, subterranean training grounds. Yoruichi and Kisuke both made their way down, but Ichigo had one thing to do first. He reached into his pocket and pulled outside something he hadn't even looked at in the past 8 months. He smiled and spoke,
"Hello, old friend..." Ichigo used the object from his pocket and quickly grabbed the gift bag from the table he had set it down on, not noticing that, due to an unseen visitor who had arrived and departed during the argument, it was just a little bit heavier...
(A/N: Part 3 of 6. I don't like this one too much, but, I digress. Geta-Boshi= Sandal Hat/Hat-and-Clogs, Shoten= shop/store. Enjoy. Review to make me a happy IchiRuki fanboy! That is, if you want me to contiue...)