Standard disclaimer applies.
Author's notes: Hello! I'm finally back. I had fun on my vacations, especially since I got to buy lots of paperback books and manga tanks, ehe. And I went to the zoo! It's been a long time since I visited one, so I enjoyed it very much. But anyway, what you want is to read the next shot, right? I wrote this after watching an episode of 'Friends'... If you guys can find the oneline that inspired this fic, you get cookies! ((wink)) (hint hint: Joey said it). This is about someone's special day, too, but I won't wait till January to post it... It's rather strange, I admit, bordering on crack... But even crack is good every once in a while, ne? Thank you for your reviews; see you soon!

Ichigo
26.05.2006

Ichigo sat on his chair, placing the squared-box on his desk and lifting the lid. He looked over at Rukia, who was staring at him with big, impatient blue eyes. It was a big surprise she hadn't launched at him as soon as he returned from the 24-7 convenience store, he thought, as a little smirk found its way to his face. Maybe she was just tired, considering it was pretty late. No, scratch that, it was the beginning of a new day already.

Now Ichigo pondered why he had accepted to go out at an ungodly hour upon her silly demands without much protest. Granted, he wasn't one to abide by Rukia's every whim and normally wouldn't sneak out of his house after it was dark just to buy her something, but this once he'd let it go. After all, it was not everyday that Kuchiki Rukia had a birthday.

He'd been surprised she even had one…

With a help of a knife and a fork, he served two slices of the pie he'd bought for her as a special request. "Here," he offered one of them to Rukia, who was sitting eagerly on his bed.

He was turning back to the desk to pick his own dessert when he heard a tiny grunt. Rukia was looking at her plate, more precisely at her slice of cheesecake pie as though it was the bringer of the next Armageddon.

"What is this red crap on my cheesecake?" The girl asked with a curious tone about her voice. She pushed the red fruit with her fork, making a face of disapproval.

"That's a strawberry cheesecake. And that 'red crap' on top are the strawberries," he explained rather calmly, too calmly, the smirk was creeping back to his face as he looked away and avoided her glare.

"I know that these are strawberries, Ichigo." She narrowed her eyes at him, sensing the tone of mockery in his voice almost instantly.

He glanced lazily at her before returning to his slice of pie and eating another bite with nonchalance. He seemed undisturbed about the fact that she was aiming the fork at him. "Then, why are you asking?"

"I asked you to get me a cheesecake not a strawberry cheesecake. A plain one," she huffed. She was back to playing with the big red strawberry atop of her pie, "Geez, I even said 'please' and you couldn't get me the right thing." She knew she was making a big deal about it and yet felt like complaining. "So much for your birthday gifts..."

"Well, excuse me, but that was the only type of cheesecake left at this hour. If you want to complain, go preach to somebody else." Ichigo's frown became impossibly darker. So was his mood.

Rukia pouted, but Ichigo was unfazed. He was used to this kind of blackmail by now. She went on, however. "I just wanted a simple cheesecake, not some strange concoction."

"Oh, come on," he grunted, looking squarely at her, "Don't be such a prick. You've never had it before, have you? Maybe if you try it you'll like it. Besides, it's pretty good; the cheesecake by itself is too sweet and the strawberries balance the dessert. They… complete each other."

The black-haired woman raised an eyebrow at him. Her remark then came at him dripping with sarcasm, "Oh, so now you all… sentimental over a pie."

"Ah, just shut up. I was trying to be positive for once!"

He ate his own dessert unworriedly, not bothering to look at her anymore, but then he glanced at her through the corner of his eye when he noticed she hadn't spoken up yet. He sighed inaudibly, knowing way beforehand that something like this would happen. Rukia had a very close mind when it came to things different to what she was used to.

He was still frowning, boring holes into the wall in front of him, and shifting in his chair, when he muttered, "Look, just try it and if you don't want to eat it, then don't."

"Hmph…" She was pouting again, but this time the gesture came naturally, "You didn't even consider if I liked strawberries or not."

There was a pause of uncomfortable silence until Ichigo chose to speak.

"Oh, don't you?" He replied with a sly tone, eyebrows rising incredulously when he turned to look at her.

Her head and her gaze hastily rose to meet his twinkling, amber-colored eyes and Rukia almost fell from the bed as his cunning statement sunk into her. Ichigo kept staring unwaveringly at her while bearing the grandest smirk she had ever seen. She looked away, flustered, and instead glared at the pie before her.

"Baka." She mumbled as she reluctantly held her fork, grabbed a small bite from the pie, and introduced it in her mouth. Her eyes grew large. The sweet flavor blended with the acid taste of the red fruit, which had some sort of sweetness itself. It was like something had turned off in her head that very moment, the delicacy before her was surprisingly tasty. She swallowed, her taste buds asking for more. "Yu...yummy..."

Ichigo grinned. "You are welcome."