Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach
A/N: Merry Christmas to everyone and I hope you enjoy the story.
Santa
Ichigo flopped down on the couch beside Rukia and let out a loud sigh of relief. It was nice to be home.
"So how did it go?" Rukia asked, turning her attention towards him, and away from the television show she had been watching.
"Awful." Ichigo said. He had just written a brutal organic chemistry exam and then on his way home the bus he was taking had broken down so he--and was that something burning he smelled?!
"Rukia are you cooking something?"
"Oh crap!" Rukia yelled before jumping off the couch and racing into the kitchen.
Ichigo followed close behind and arrived just in time to see a big cloud of smoke come out of the oven when Rukia opened it. Rukia pulled a tray out of the oven which had several black blobs on it that were now charred beyond recognition.
"Oh no! They're ruined!"
"What were you trying to make?" Ichigo asked.
"I was making cookies for Santa."
"For Santa?" Ichigo said, laughing hysterically.
"What's so funny? I need to leave cookies and milk out for Santa on Christmas Eve so he will bring me presents."
"Rukia, you do know that Santa isn't real, right?"
"What do you mean he isn't real? He left me a present under your Christmas tree last year, and he ate the cookies that Yuzu and I left out for him."
"Rukia, that was my Dad."
"Your Dad is Santa?!" Rukia said, looking at Ichigo in awe.
"No, my Dad is not Santa. What I'm trying to tell you is that Santa is not real. There is no fat man in a red suit who goes down chimneys and gives presents to good little kids. There was a Saint Nicholas many years ago who gave out gifts to children but he is dead and—"
"So Santa is a Shinagami?" Rukia exclaimed, interrupting Ichigo.
"No Santa is not a Shinagami. Santa is an embodiment of the spirit of Christmas--"
"So Santa is a ghost?"
"No Santa is not a ghost."
"Is he a hollow then?!"
Ichigo sighed. This might take a while.