On The First Day of Christmas - Part 2
"See, Ichigo!" Out of the blue, an accusation came from Rukia – of what is anyone's guess.
"See what?" Ichigo groaned.
"See!" Rukia dragged her reluctant friend to a nearby shop window and pointed at the glass. "See, there's that name again! 'Christmas'!" She then promptly began reading the sign. "'Biggest Christmas sale ever… Fifty percent off everything'? What does that mean, Ichigo?" Ichigo groaned again.
The two of them were walking home from school, all bundled up for the cold weather but still enjoying the cool breeze. Ichigo hoisted his bag higher up on his shoulder and began to walk away.
"Hey, Ichigo! I'm talking to you!" Rukia reprimanded. She stuck her hand out to stop him. "Hey, will you slow down?"
"I explained Christmas already," Ichigo said as he came to a stop as calmly as possible. "Stores hold sales so that they can sell more gifts and junk like that for gift giving. Anything else?"
"Yes – Can I buy you something?" It wasn't the words that made Ichigo blush, it was more of the way Rukia said it so bluntly.
"Wel-I… No, I mean… Well, yeah you can," Ichigo muttered, pausing before continuing. But Rukia took advantage of that pause.
"Okay!" Rukia's face lit up as she dragged Ichigo to the nearest store. Freaking out, Ichigo quickly made up an excuse.
"Wait!" Rukia waited. "It's… tradition that the person you're giving the gift doesn't know what you're giving them…" Ichigo said rather lamely.
"Oh…" Rukia looked disappointed, making Ichigo regret his words.
"But… You can go out with Yuzu or Karin over the weekend…?" Ichigo ended the sentence with a question, deciding halfway through that that wasn't a good idea.
"Good idea!" Obviously, Rukia thought differently. "I'll go over the weekend to the mall or something. What do you want for Christmas?"
"Didn't I just say that I'm not supposed to know what you get for me?" Glad for the slight change of subject, Ichigo dropped all pretense of awkwardness and smirked.
"Well, I want a stuffed bunny for Christmas!" The smirk dropped.
"Uh…"