"There we go!" Kurumu said as she laid Ichigo down on the couch. She looked at him, and couldn't help but giggle when saw the ever-present scowl on Ichigo's face. Even when asleep, Ichigo still held that angry look. But she kinda liked it. It made him look rough, like he had been through a lot and still managed to push on. Oh if she only knew how true that was.

She took one last look at Ichigo's form before heading to the kitchen. She opened one of the cabinets, wondering what she should make for Ichigo. She hummed a light, happy tune as she did so. Her head tilted to one side as she pondered her choices, but then her eyes lit up as realization came to her: Why decide when you can have all of them? So, taking out multiple pots… she got to work!

---

This definitely was the softest pillow Ichigo had ever slept on. He couldn't explain it, but it seemed to cradle his head in a way that reminded him of when he was little and slept on his mom's lap. He felt so comfortable and safe. And the pillow was warm which was an added bonus… wait, pillows aren't supposed to be warm…

Ichigo's eyes snapped and he tried to get up, but was pushed backed down by someone's hand on his head. Once his head was back in its previous position, he saw Kurumu staring down at him. Ichigo blinked as Kurumu smiled at him. He wanted to ask what she was doing, but somehow, no words could come out of his mouth.

"Nice of you to wake up sleepyhead." Kurumu's said in a gentle tone that deeply confused Ichigo. Not because it was strange that she was speaking like this, but because it caused something inside of him to stir. It was a strange sensation… but vaguely familiar at the same time. It felt like he wanted to stay in this position as long as he could, but he didn't know why.

Ichigo tried to get up once again, but once again was pushed down by Kurumu. "What are you doing Kurumu?" Ichigo asked, trying to sound annoyed. But it didn't work since Kurumu continued to smile at him. Ichigo was… perplexed and slightly scared. Kurumu's eyes shined with something that made him nervous, that made him want to bolt out of the room. But… at the same, it was attractive and he never realized the Kurumu's eyes were actually violet. He always thought they would be blue since her hair was blue. But his thoughts were cut off as she spoke.

"Oh nothing." She replied before gently running one hand through Ichigo's hair, the other resting on Ichigo's chest gently. Ichigo wouldn't admit it, but he really liked it. Then he figured that Kurumu wasn't really doing anything wrong so why not enjoy it? And with that thought, his muscles relaxed as he let the sensations run freely through his body. Everything seemed to fade away as his mind detached from the real world. A comfortable haze filled his mind as he began reminiscing the times of when his mom used to do the same thing. He remembered her smile and the comfort she brought him when he simply looked at her. He felt like laughing when he remembered the time when his mom used to tickle him. He would be all relaxed and then his mom would start tickling his belly and he would be helpless to stop her.

But it was after they tuckered themselves out that he remembered the most. She would hold him close to her, expressing her love freely with kisses planted on his head and cheek. Then she would giggle… and Ichigo would laugh. It was contagious and neither of them would stop laughing for ten minutes straight until their stomachs hurt. Those memories caused Ichigo to chuckle as a couple of tears slid down his cheek, surprising Kurumu who until had been looking at him with a gentle fondness.

"Are you alright Ichigo?" Kurumu asked as she stopped her actions, looking down worriedly at Ichigo. Despite the fact that he was chuckling, it did nothing to ease the fact that he had tears rolling down his cheek.

Ichigo opened his eyes and looked into Kurumu's violet irises, though he still hadn't fully awakened. All he could see was his mom smiling at him. "I'm alright mom." He replied, confusing the blue-haired girl.

"Mom?" Kurumu asked, sensing something was off here. Confusion turned to even more worry as she saw Ichigo's eyes widen in slight panic. His mouth opened as if to say something, but no words came out. Then before she could stop him, Ichigo got up and headed straight for the door.

"Wait Ichigo!" She yelled out to the substitute shinigami. Thankfully, Ichigo paused at the door and looked at her from over his shoulder even if he was a bit hesitant to do so.

"Y-Yea?" Ichigo replied, unsure of what to say after this little outburst. He saw Kurumu fidget around, almost as if she were hesitant to say what was on her mind.

Kurumu really wanted to ask what that whole 'mom' business had been about, but she figured that now wouldn't be the best time. So, she asked a simple question. "Would you like to have dinner with me? I… made lots of food when you were unconscious. So…" She looked up at Ichigo with pleading eyes, hoping he'd say yes.

By this time Ichigo's nerves had calmed down a bit. Why he panicked earlier, he had no idea, but he was glad she wasn't asking about it. The least he could do was accept her offer after that little incident. With a sigh, he agreed.

"That's great! Umm… you can sit on the couch while I set the table? Food will be ready in a minute!" And before Ichigo could reply Kurumu had disappeared into the kitchen. Ichigo noted there was a slight tension in the air. It wasn't much, but it bugged him.

Ichigo looked at the couch… and decided to stand. At the moment, he and the couch weren't exactly good friends so he'd rather stay as far away from it as he could. And while he was waiting, he began to wonder why his mom had made her way into his thoughts. Sure Kurumu's running her hand through his hair reminded him of his mom, but that was it. There should've been no reason why those other memories should've been brought up.

Giving up on that train of thought, Ichigo sighed before he heard Kurumu call him from the other room. Looks like dinner was ready. Slowly, he trudged to the other room, a knot forming in his stomach as he felt nervous beyond belief.

'I'm sorry about this Ichigo, but I had to do this. You need to learn to give your heart to someone else or you will never be happy.'

---

"Wow…" Ichigo said as he marveled at the feast before him. Somehow, despite the fact that the table was meant for two people, an assortment of food was displayed. Steamed rice, Teriyaki, Domburi, Onigiri, and even curry rice. This was a meal fit for a king… and somehow, he could almost hear his inner hollow laughing at the inside joke.

Kurumu saw Ichigo's surprised look and was incredibly pleased. Her mom told her that some men were not swayed by sensuality, but simply by food. And judging from the way Ichigo was staring at the food it looked like Ichigo might be one of these men. She held her breath, hoping Ichigo would like it as he tentatively tried the curry rice using chopsticks.

Oh how Kurumu could see it now! Ichigo's eyes would widen as his senses would be overwhelmed by the deliciousness of her food! He would get up dramatically, pick her up and hold her close to himself while whispering in her ear, 'Your food is delicious, marry me Kurono Kurumu!'

Kurumu sighed as she woke up from her daydream, only to find Ichigo giving her a funny look. "W-What?"

"Umm… nothing." Ichigo said as he took a bite out of his Onigiri. "You're food tastes good by the way."

"That's it?" Kurumu asked with an indignant look on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, isn't it the best food you've ever tasted? I tried really hard you know." Kurumu said as she crossed her arms over… on top of her chest. Ichigo swallowed as he fought back a blush. Were her breasts really that big? Setting that fact aside, he had somehow succeeded in hiding his thoughts with his usual scowl.

"What? Do you want me to apologize or something?" Ichigo asked, his eyebrows furrowing as his face took on an unpleasant look. But Kurumu knew not to take this personally… Ichigo looked funny liked that.

So instead, she smiled as she gave Ichigo a seductive look, batting her eyelashes as she surprised the young shinigami. "Yes, I want you to apologize by kissing me." She replied, her voice filled with mirth at Ichigo's surprised look. Then she shook her head and laughed, "I'm just kidding Ichigo! You don't need to take everything so seriously!"

"Tch." Was all Ichigo could say. Right now, he could actually feel his ears were red. At least his face hadn't blushed and it's not like Kurumu would notice that his ears were red.

"Are your ears red?" Kurumu asked as she leaned over table to get a better look at Ichigo's ears. So much for that idea.

"No!" Ichigo denied as he covered his ears.

"Yes they are! I can see the tips and they're all red!" Kurumu giggled as she pointed at Ichigo.

"Shut up!"

"Ichigo is blu-shing!" Kurumu sang as she laughed at Ichigo's plight.

Ichigo merely slammed his head against the table and covered his head. Only… his face didn't hit the table. Instead, his face was now an inch deep in curry rice. Well, that wasn't too bad. Not only was that the best face slam he had ever done, but the tension from earlier seemed to have disappeared.

And the sound of Kurumu laughing wasn't so bad either… besides the fact that she was making fun of him since he had curry sauce all over his face. Her voice was pleasant to Ichigo's ears and it didn't get on his nerves like most girls' voices. As Ichigo continued laying there, Kurumu decided to help poor Ichigo. So she grabbed a cloth and decided to wipe away sauce from his face.

Ichigo felt his head being lifted and asked, "What are you doing?" As he tried pushing Kurumu away, but was failing since he couldn't really see anything.

"Eh?! Calm down Ichigo! I'm just trying to clean you up!" Kurumu tried reasoning as she battled the shinigami as if he were a displeased six-year old.

"I can do it myself!" Ichigo yelled back as he now tried to take away the rag from Kurumu's hand, but instead caught her by the wrist. "Aha! Got you!"

"No so fast!" Kurumu countered as she tossed the rag into her other hand. "Now hold still! This wouldn't be taking so long if you'd just be still!"

"I don't wanna!" Was Ichigo's childish reply and he proceeded to grab Kurumu's other wrist. She tried dodging, but failed to evade Ichigo's swift grab.

"Let go of me!" Kurumu said in an exasperated tone. For having such a serious look on his face, Ichigo was being so childish. He was fighting back so hard too, of course, not at full power or else he'd be hurting Kurumu. This of course, was his undoing as Kurumu pushed forward, determined to get Ichigo clean. As the battle waged on, Ichigo noticed something…

"Hey wait! Stop!" Ichigo said as he felt the chair tilt backwards.

"I'm not falling for it Ichigo! I'm going to clean you up whether you like it or not!" Kurumu replied as she pushed harder against Ichigo. "Now quit being so childish!"

"No, that's not what I me—"

WHAM!

"Ouch…" Ichigo said as his eyes swarmed. Ichigo closed his eyes for a moment, trying to let the pain subside. He reached with on hand to rub by the back of his head, but noticed it was touching something soft. Slowly, he opened his eyes as he regained focus.

When his focus sharpened, he noticed he was face-to-face with one Kurono Kurumu and his hands were on her waist. Ichigo blinked, and then realized a split second later the position they were in. It was awkward, and not just the situation. Ichigo was still technically still 'sitting' in his chair while Kurumu 'sat' in his lap. Currently, she was supporting herself using her elbows, but her face was still dangerously close to Ichigo's.

Ichigo then began to get nervous. She wasn't saying anything. They had after all fallen… and yet she wasn't saying anything. She wasn't yelling or accusing him of anything. She simply stared into his eyes and Ichigo felt like he was being consumed by those violet orbs of hers. They shimmered with an emotion that Ichigo couldn't fathom. It was at this moment that Ichigo's nervousness begun to take the better of him and he began to struggle a bit… bad idea.

"Ichigo…" Kurumu closed her eyes and gave a light moan as he tried sliding from beneath her. The friction had been… pleasurable, much to the embarrassment of the horrified shinigami.

"W-What!" Ichigo's high-pitched voice came. But that was the least of his worries. When she had opened her eyes, she had given him a small smile that made his heart faster. Then, she proceeded to lean in closer to Ichigo.

"What are you doing?" Ichigo asked once again, his heart beating loudly against his chest.

She was mere inches away from his face. Her lips shimmered and Ichigo could just imagine how soft they would be. But then panic struck him… he needed to get out this instant. But it was too late as Kurumu… hugged him?

"Thank you for the tonight Ichigo. It was wonderful." She said pleasantly as she spoke into his ear, sending shivers down Ichigo's spine. Then, she kissed him on the cheek, causing both of them to blush at the contact.

"Thank you… even if you were acting like such a child at the end." Kurumu said, a smirk in her voice. Ichigo looked up, his eyes widened slightly as he looked at Kurumu. Somehow, though he couldn't quite place it, something was different about her. And because of that, Ichigo was looking at her in a new light though he hadn't figured out what that change was.

"Well don't say embarrassing things next time." Ichigo replied softly. Kurumu nodded and gave him one last smile before she decided to get up, pulling up Ichigo when he accepted her extended hand. They stood there for a moment, taking in each other's face, memorizing all the features and curves unconsciously. Though Ichigo wouldn't admit it, that kiss had made him happy. And how could one tell? Simply by knowing that his bored face meant he was happy and his scowl was his normal face. After a few seconds ticked by, Ichigo decided to break the silence when he noticed neither of them was going to speaking up.

"So uh… I should be heading out now?" Ichigo said as he scratched the back of his head.

"I guess… but you don't really have to…."

"What!"

Kurumu shook her head as she clarified. "I mean you could sleep on the couch… if you'd like." She replied timidly, showing a side to Ichigo that perplexed him.

But he simply offered a small smile as he shook his head. "No, I think I have to get going now. But I'll see you tomorrow Kurumu."

At sound of her name, Kurumu's heart leapt. The way he had said it… it held so much affection. She wanted to hear him say it one more time, but she knew he had to leave. Grudgingly, she nodded as she replied, "Yea, I'll see you tomorrow then Ichigo. You better come back soon though!"

Ichigo chuckled as he nodded. "Sure, but I'm wiping my face next time."

"Deal!" Kurumu replied before embracing Ichigo once again. The sudden hug surprised Ichigo a bit, but he hugged her back… with both hands this time. Kurumu did not fail to notice this and squeezed Ichigo just a little bit harder as she inhaled his scent. This had to be the happiest moment in her life!

The embrace ended and Ichigo waved Kurumu goodbye before leaving out the door, feeling oddly satisfied. It must've been the good food, Ichigo figured. But behind those doors, Kurumu still stood there, looking at the door with a faraway gaze in her eyes.

"Ichigo…"

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Don't look at me like that _ I'd continue with the next chapter of the manga… but I don't think it would flow. Rest assured, I'm not going to stop writing less than 5k words per chapter, this was just an exception.

Wow… I haven't written fluff in forever. How'd it go?