The anime/manga Bleach is not in my ownership.
Chapter 3: Happy Birthday
"Psst! Nozomi, wake up." Kon whispered from the other side of Nozomi's room. He obviously did not want to get kicked so early in the morning.
"What… Pervert, what are you doing over there? The girl said upon being woken up.
"Well… You'd kick me out of the window again if I entered your range." Kon replied, slightly tearing up at the thought of the physical abuse he's been receiving lately.
"Uh…"
"Anyway!" Kon returned to his usual demeanor on a whim. "Today's Ichigo's birthday!"
"Really?"
"… You do have a gift right?" Kon asked curiously.
"No."
"Huh? Then we should go buy one right away!" Kon said proudly.
"… why?" Nozomi said nonchalantly. Kon fell to the ground in an anime-esque way, but immediately got up a few seconds later.
"Well... if you ask me, I have no obligation to buy him a gift." Kon admitted.
"Then why should I get him one?"
"Because you like Ichigo!" Kon said, making Nozomi blush heavily.
"W-what? No I don't!" She yelled at Kon's face.
"Hey, keep it down! You'll wake him up!" Kon whispered while frantically shushing.
"Oh… sorry." Nozomi apologized while still blushing. "Well I guess I'm going to give him a gift as thanks for all he's done for me… but what should I get him?"
"… I don't know." Kon said while scratching the back of his head.
"Useless Pervert."
"You don't have to be so critical you know? That's why we go look for one now!"
"Alright. Get out, I'm going to change. I'll rip you apart if you peek." Nozomi ordered.
"Okay okay… sheesh." Kon complained and got out of the room.
It took a good 5 minutes before Nozomi got out of the room.
"All right, let's go."
…
Ichigo got up from bed and directly headed downstairs. Upon catching the attention of his family, he was immediately greeted by them.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ICHIGO/ICHI-NII!"
"Oh hey… thanks guys!" Ichigo thanked his family before looking around for a while. "Hey, you guys seen Nozomi? She wasn't in her room." "Kon's missing too. I wonder what's up."
"Um no, we haven't, have we?" Yuzu asked her dad and sister.
"Nope." Karin replied.
"Probably went out for a walk, I guess…" Ichigo said, with a slightly sad tone.
"Relax! You can spend time with Nozomi-chan later! Look what I've got!" Isshin said out loud, holding out four movie tickets.
"Yay! Movie day!" Yuzu cheered out while Karin only smiled.
"Alright then."
…
Nozomi and Kon, who was in her bag, were strolling down searching for a good gift for Ichigo, until a television caught Nozomi's attention.
"Oi, Nozomi, why are we stopping?" Kon complained although he was ignored.
The movie was about a poor family. The daughter wanted to give his father a gift for his birthday, but because she had no money, she was unable to buy one.
"Nozomi-san!"
Nozomi turned around to see Inoue running towards her, followed by Ishida and Chad.
"Inoue…"
"What are you doing here Nozomi-san?" Inoue asked Nozomi, who looked away and blushed slightly.
"Um…"
"Were you perhaps going to buy Kurosaki a birthday present?" Ishida said in a very straightforward manner, causing Nozomi to turn redder.
"Wha-" Nozomi attempted to talk but was interrupted by Kon.
"Yes she is!"
"Sh-shut up pervert!"
"Hey guys, we should hurry." Chad told his companions.
"Oh right, see you later, Kujou-san." Ishida said.
"Bye, Nozomi-san!" Inoue said before joining his companions to somewhere. Where they were going was beyond Nozomi.
"…Alright."
"Nozomi! Oi! Earth to Nozomi!" Kon called out.
"What?" Nozomi replied, after a while.
"We've wasted too much time!"
"Oh r-right, sorry."
"Anyway, you should really consider what you're going to buy. It can't be something too expensive. How much money do you have?"
"Let me check." Nozomi pulled out a purse from her pocket and checked it and pulled out a few coins.
"Uh… twelve yen."
"WHAT!? You can't buy anything with that!" Kon shouted out after finding out that Nozomi was practically broke.
"Well, that's not my fault!"
"So much for buying a present…" Kon said rather dejectedly.
…
Nozomi and Kon were headed home after failing to buy Ichigo a birthday present but stopped to window-shop at a cake shop on the way.
"…this one looks sweet…" Nozomi said while examining a strawberry cake.
"Hey… that's four eyes!" Kon whispered quietly, but loud enough for Nozomi to hear.
They went inside to check but the bells that rang upon the door's opening alerted Ishida, Chad, and Inoue of Nozomi's presence.
"Kujou-san? What are you doing here? Chad asked.
"I think we should be asking you that!" Kon countered but was forcibly stuffed back into the bag by Nozomi.
"Oh well, Secret's out." Ishida said while pushing up his glasses.
"Ehehe…" Inoue laughed awkwardly and explained the situation. "We were going to buy Kurosaki-kun a birthday cake while his dad takes him and his sisters to see the movies. And since you're practically living with him, we thought we should keep it a secret from you too, Sorry."
"No, it's alright." Nozomi smiled a bit. "So, have you picked one yet?"
"Well, not really. Hey, why don't you pick one Nozomi-san?" Inoue cheerfully declared.
"M-me? Well…" Nozomi scanned around for a bit before spotting the cake she was observing earlier. "How about that one?"
"Strawberry? Sounds good. Any objections?" Ishida asked his companions.
"None." Chad and Inoue answered.
"Who's paying?" Nozomi asked, clearly remembering the thought that she has little to no money.
"Don't worry, Isshin-san gave us money for this. Well, it IS his plan." Ishida stated.
"That's great to hear." Nozomi sighed in relief.
"Well then, we should get going. The movie's probably going to end soon." Inoue said.
"Right."
…
Ichigo and his family have just finished the movie and were about to enter the house.
"Ichigo, Yuzu, Karin, wait here for a while." Isshin said and crouched down to Yuzu's level.
"Enter the house after a minute, no more, no less, got it?" He whispered to Yuzu.
"I can hear you perfectly you know?" Karin said.
"I didn't." Ichigo spoke up. "What was that about?"
"N-nothing!" Isshin panicked and then entered the house quickly. Noises can be clearly heard, weirding out Ichigo even more. After approximately a minute, the three entered the house and was met with darkness.
"What-" Ichigo attempted to speak but was interrupted by the lights suddenly turning on.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ICHIGO!" He was met by the greetings from his dad, Inoue, Chad, Ishida, and Nozomi.
"You guys!" Ichigo said surprised.
"You seriously didn't see this coming?" Ishida asked him.
"Well actually I did because of dad's actions but… It's still pretty surprising. Thanks guys." Ichigo was slightly embarrassed.
"Alright, bring out the cake!" Isshin said while Chad got the cake out.
"Strawberry?" Ichigo examined the cake.
"Nozomi-san was the one who chose that!" Inoue said proudly.
"Really? Thanks, Nozomi!"
"Uh yeah…" Nozomi answered before looking away and slightly blushed.
"Alright! Let's get started!" Isshin once again acted childishly.
They all sang a "Happy Birthday" for Ichigo and sliced the cake. Ichigo of course, was given two slices.
"Time for the gifts!" Yuzu spoke up after cleaning up the tables.
Everybody lined up to give Ichigo presents. First up was Yuzu and Karin. Ichigo opened up the box and pulled out a new sports sweater.
"Wow, thanks." Ichigo said while patting his sisters' heads.
Next up was Isshin. Ichigo opened his present to reveal a new watch.
"Woah! Thanks a lot dad!"
"Hehe, anything for my son!"
Next up was Inoue. Her present was elaborately wrapped so Ichigo took a while to open it. It was a silver bracelet with the letter I.
"Thanks, Inoue!" Inoue smiled at him and said. "You're welcome."
Chad's turn. Compared to Inoue's, his present's wrapping was much simpler. Inside was a new pair of sneakers.
"Hey, thanks buddy!" Chad gave him a thumbs-up and Ichigo did the same.
It was now Ishida's turn. His present was a necklace with a miniature replica of Tensa Zangetsu's sword guard, obviously custom made.
"Wow… This is… Thanks, Ishida."
"Yeah whatever. You're welcome."
"Daw, I'm touched.
Finally, it was Nozomi's turn. But after walking up to him, she only stood there and looked way blushing.
"Uh… Nozomi?" Ichigo called out to her.
"Nozomi-san? You do have a gift right?" A concerned Inoue asked.
"Y-yes…" Nozomi said before finally looking at Ichigo. "I-Ichigo…"
"Yes?"
"C-come closer." Nozomi blushed even harder. Ichigo came closer to Nozomi until their faces were only inches apart.
"What is it?" Ichigo asked with a tone of concern. Nozomi looked him straight in the eye.
"My gift." Nozomi drew her face closer to Ichigo's and kissed him on the cheek. Everybody present was speechless from shock. Even Ishida spat out the soda he was drinking.
"Wh-wha…" Ichigo was now blushing, but Nozomi was blushing much harder.
"Happy Birthday, Ichigo." She smiled at him, and he did the same.
"Thanks, Nozomi."
After that, the party continued until well past 7pm. Everybody went home after cleaning up the mess. Karin and Yuzu were now asleep from exhaustion, so Isshin had to carry them upstairs. Nozomi also returned to her room after bidding Ichigo a good night.
"Wild party eh?" Kon said, he was now safe from being discovered by Karin and Yuzu.
"Yeah, I guess." Ichigo replied.
"You guess? You got a kiss from Nozomi you lucky bastard! You should be rejoicing and praising the heavens now!"
"Sh-shut up! I'm going upstairs now, turn off the tv before you go up," Ichigo said before going to his room on the second floor.
"Listen to him acting like a boss because it's his birthday." Kon complained and picked up the remote but the show caught his attention.
"This is the show Nozomi was watching earlier…" Kon decided to watch for a while before turning it off.
In the end, the daughter gave her father a present, which was a kiss on the cheek.
"Huh? So that's why. How... sweet." Kon said, slightly smiling. He turned off the tv and went upstairs as well.
Belated Happy Birthday Ichigo!
Anyway, thanks for the review! I'll see what I can do. But I intend to cover Tale of the Lost Agent so yeah. Thanks for spending time to read my story! Mata ne.