Aurora Whisperwind: This was written for the 'Be my Valentine' contest at Bleach Asylum. It's very long-winded, but I just couldn't stop typing... :P

---

He knew that she had been acting really strange for the past couple of days but this was bizarre. The small, dark-haired girl who was now living under his roof had cornered him in his room while he was changing, ten minutes after they had come back from school. Dressed in a strange white thing that was a cross between a one-piece and a night dress, the petite Shinigami stopped a few feet away from him and just looked up into his eyes. Arms frozen in the sleeves of his purple t-shirt, Ichigo watched her cautiously. Normally he'd have yelled at her for barging into his room unannounced, but the look in her clear blue eyes had stopped him. They, unmistakably, had the fire of battle.

"Ichigo" she announced after a pause "I want you to do something for me." He watched her for a second more, and then snarled (a little less sharply than usual) "What?" In reply, she merely smoothened out a newspaper clipping that was folded up in her hand and showed it to him. It was an advertisement of the somewhat new multiplexed mall. "What about it?" he asked, turning it over in his large hands "You want to go here or something?" To his surprise she smiled and said in her high, theatrically false voice "Oh will you? How about this Tuesday? I'll be looking forward to it" She paused for a instant, and continued in an even higher voice that shattered his eardrums "We will not be going to school on that day as well? That would be lovely!" And with that she marched out of the room, leaving him gaping like a goldfish at her, arms still halfway in the sleeves. That would be lovely?

---

Tuesday morning arrived and Ichigo had all but forgotten about their 'date' until impatient banging on his door at eight in the morning roused him from sleep. Cursing, he opened the door so violently it nearly broke. "What the hell do you want?" he growled at her. She frowned for a second, then seemed to recollect something and relaxed her face into an impassive mask. Ichigo noted that she was already dressed in a pale green skirt with a white stringy top and a matching jacket. Her hair was pulled back with small white rabbit clips and there was a simple bracelet on her right hand, with a little pearl-like thing on it. She had on small, delicate earrings and a simple necklace with a tiny pendant. On top of all that, she had a fluffy purse and white, low heeled shoes. He gaped at her, mentally trying to recall the last time she had dressed up so elaborately and drew a blank.

"Why are you not ready yet?" she asked, pushing past him. Without waiting for his reply, she opened his closet and scanned his clothes quickly before reaching deep into it, and picking out a crisp off-white shirt with short sleeves and dark, formal pants- something that he'd never worn before and never intended to, as it was a present from his father. "Here" she threw the clothes at him "have a shower fast and dress" she burrowed into his closet again, apparently looking for more stuff. He wanted to protest, kick her out of his room and curl back to sleep, but found that words had apparently died in his throat after this very strange behavior.

'WTF?' was the only thought of the orange haired boy as he buttoned the shirt up and walked into his room again, to find it empty. His wallet was laid helpfully on the unmade bed, along with his watch, a comb and a short dark blazer which he had never worn as well, as it was too prim and proper for his taste. He combed his hair, unsuccessfully trying to make it lie flat, took his wallet and watch, but left the jacket. No way in hell he was dressing up so formally for a date with her. She was waiting at the table as he descended, steaming hot breakfast on two plates. He stopped and scowled again, recollecting that he was apparently skipping school. In the last ten years, he had not missed a single day. Several people wondered why the local delinquent always had perfect attendance, but then they did not know his insane father well enough. "Did you make this? Where is everyone?" After a small, discomfited pause, she shook her head and muttered into her plate "Yuzu did. She and Karin just left and your dad is gone too, I don't know where"He stared at her, absorbing this.

"Eat" she said, looking up at him. He sat down abruptly; seriously disturbed now as he had no clue what the hell was wrong with her. Deciding to avoid further queries as they were clearly not helping him understand the situation any better, he drew his plate closer to him. They ate in silence.

She was gazing up at the sky with a frown by the time he locked up the house. It was an especially gloomy day, and he wondered vaguely if he should go back for an umbrella. Deciding against it he set off, Rukia stuffing a wad of paper into her purse as she fell into place beside him. The place was three stations away, not too far off, but it was a long walk to the station. A long silent walk.

Normally this would not have made any difference to Ichigo. Rukia was one of the few people in his life with whom he felt comfortable with- he could spend hours with her without feeling the necessity to utter a single word. But today, the atmosphere was a little stifling, maybe because she seemed edgy and restless, and had been glancing at him with growing irritation for the last twenty minutes. Finally he put his foot down. "Stop staring and spit it out will you!" he snarled, grabbing her arm. She frowned and shrugged it off, then looked away and mumbled a small "How do I look?"

He gaped at her. Was she insane? He was about to voice that thought when the look in her eyes stopped him. It was an interesting look- something a scientist gives a wriggling specimen he's about to dissect. There was a long pause as he tried to think of the right thing to say while she continued to stare at him with that funny look. Giving up, he shrugged "Okay, I guess..." She nodded curtly and walked off, making a small note on a paper which she pulled out of her purse.

---

Luckily, the walk to the multiplex from the other station was very short and Ichigo was almost glad when they walked in along with a multitude of other people, mostly couples. It was odd that the place should be this crowded on a weekday morning, he wondered as he surveyed the movie listings. Rukia did not give him much of a chance though, declaring to him "This one. I want to see this" and jabbing her finger at the big poster that said 'Whisper of the heart'. It looked like one of those typical, mindless romance movies that involved a plain girl lusting after the most desirable guy in school/college/at work, trying to attract his attention, failing and then some miraculous happenings bringing them together. It would be a dead bore, but he bought the tickets anyway.

"We have an hour before the start of this one" he said, putting the change along with the tickets in his wallet and slipping it into his pocket. "Let's look around" she suggested. Having no better idea, he agreed. Awful lot of people he mused again, as they strolled along at a leisurely pace until they reached the arcade and general kid's sections. Rukia seemed fascinated by all the noise and life around her as children and teens sat absorbed playing video games, screeching at hysterical pitches.

Ears aching, he had just grabbed her hand to try and lead her in the opposite direction before she spotted something and hauled him with superhuman strength to a claw vending machine. It was filled with fluffy toys. "Win one for me, ne?" she recited in a falsely sweet voice. He scowled at her, but paid an outrageous amount to the oily man standing next to the machine for a coin. Putting it in, he glanced at her and said "You do realize that most of these machines are set so that it is near impossible to win", the remark earning him an expression of hot denial from the owner. She ignored him and merely chirped "Good luck! Please win!"

He didn't. She was all for trying again, but there was no way he was wasting money on nonsense. Saying as much to her, he dragged her away to the more harmless parts of the multiplex where his wallet was less likely to be abused. There was nothing much else to do, and all the walking had made him thirsty so he left her briefly to get them both a drink. Handing one to her, he sat contentedly sipping his own until it was time for them to go.

The movie was an absolute waste of time and money. It took him incredible effort to just keep his eyes open. The story was crappier than he had imagined, the actors plastic and the music (if it could be called that) was just noise which prevented him to at least nap while the horrid thing was going on. By the time it was over, he was in a terrible mood. There were a lot of other things he could have done with the day, even staying at home curled up under the sheets would have been better. He was even madder when his stomach gave an insistent growl- more money wasted.

Cursing, he led Rukia to a thankfully empty table near the window of a serve-yourself food court and left her to get the cheapest things on the menu. When he returned eons later, after standing for ages in a never ending queue, with a woefully empty tray, she was staring moodily out of the window at the pouring rain outside. Hearing him approach, she glanced at him- and then at the tray in his hands and glared "What is that? It looks awful. I want to eat something else" Something snapped inside him. It had been an absolutely wretched day- and it was all her damned fault.

"It's not for you. No, I'm not getting you anything. And hope you had fun, because this is the last time I'm taking you anywhere. I've never had a more boring or a more irritating day" he snarled, while swallowing some insipid rubbish. He hated it all, the noise, the crowd, the kissing couples everywhere. He met her gaze with righteous anger burning in his, and for a minute they glared at each other in silence. Then the storm burst. "Well it damn well is not MY fault, you idiot!" she snapped loudly "I tried to stick to all the steps of this stupid human ritual-" He clapped his hand over her mouth hastily, she was beginning to attract attention.

But she evidently did not care about what they thought. Shrugging his hand off, she continued "But you didn't do anything! I thought it would be a nice thing to do for you, but I really shouldn't have bothered knowing what a BIG idiot you are!" The conversation around them lulled, and Ichigo wished he could go hide somewhere, or sew her mouth shut. She had not stopped "I wasted so much time planning this ridiculous thing and nothing has gone right! Forget it, I'm going home!" she was struggling with her purse as she yelled, and finally managed to open it to reveal a small box tied ornately with a ribbon.

Then it struck him. Valentine's day. Of course, that's why there were so many people today. And why his dad and sisters had been out of sight. Further revelations were saved when she hit him, hard, with the box. She kicked her chair back as he blinked rapidly in pain. "What the heck?" he snapped, trying to see with the eye that was not hit by a corner of the box "How the hell did you expect me to understand what you were doing? You were just acting weird! I did ask you what was wrong when we were coming here! All you did was ask me if you looked nice!" The entire food court was silent now, as the crowd around watched them breathlessly. She glared more fiercely and hit him again with the already mashed up box with stray bits of chocolate coming out "And you did not give the right answer! All you said was okay! (Ichigo heard the crowd gasp at this) I spent hours making this stupid chocolate and you... you weren't even trying to make our Valentine's day nice! It's been raining for hours as well!" she concluded and stormed off, as Ichigo sat there dazed and wondering what in the name of heaven the weather had to do with Valentine's day.

Smarting with pain, and conscious that everyone's attention was on him, he got up to leave as well, and decided to take the poor abused box with him. Her purse was lying next to it, and he grabbed it unthinkingly. How was he to remember that today was Valentine's day? It was not like he was one of the super-popular guys in school, who girls would line up to give chocolate to. He had never really bothered or cared either. But trust the stupid girl to misinterpret and misunderstand human traditions.

You weren't even trying to make our Valentine's day nice! The accusation kept repeating in his head. Our Valentine's day...

It was after he came out that he realized that neither of them had an umbrella. He didn't even know if she had money. He opened her purse to see if she had left her phone behind, and sure enough, there it was with a wad of paper and a pen. She must have been really upset if she forgot her phone. He was about to run into the rain after her, but stopped. Hadn't he seen this sheet in her hands in the morning? He smoothened it out. In big scraggly letters, the words 'Valentine's Day/ 10 steps to The Perfect date' was written. There were some horrible bunnies, masquerading as cupids with wings decorating the sides. Under the title, there was what looked like a checklist, with a big red cross near each point.

1. He asks you out to a place you've never been to and having been looking forward to go to.

2. When you two meet on the day, he'll look at you admiringly and tell you how amazing you look.

3. He'll hold your hand (almost) all day.

4. When you get there, he lets you pick what you want to do and looks happy about it. (There was a half tick mark which was crossed out next to this one)

5. You enjoy yourself thoroughly, talk, laugh and have fun. (There was a question mark here)

6. He wins/gets you anything you ask for, and then says "It was all because of you"

7. You have a nice lunch with lots of dessert.

8. After that, he takes your hands in his and thanks you for a lovely day.

9. You give him your chocolates and he accepts them gratefully, with a happy smile.

The next point was cut off, written again, then cut off again. He frowned as he read through the paper. Making a sudden decision, he stuffed the paper into his pocket and sprinted off into the rain. She was nowhere in sight. Probably already got into a train, he wondered as he bought a ticket and got into the next one. It was not like he did not feel... anything for her. How could he not, after all they had gone through? He was never big on the special days thing anyway. But she was trying in her own way to... to what? Stupid brat, when I see her I'll kick her, he swore as he got off and resumed his search.

He spotted the tiny figure walking in the pouring rain five minutes later. He caught up with her in a minute, grabbed her arm and whirled her roughly to face him. "You big idiot" he snapped before bending down and kissing her. She responded briefly before pushing him away and violently kicking his knees so that he collapsed on his back. Hissing with pain, he sat up and looked up at her. The expression in her eyes was unreadable as she whispered "Idiot.."

It took you long enough.

He smirked, grabbed her hands in his and pulled her to him. "One thing on your list went right ne?" She looked startled for a second, looking for her missing purse before reddening and kicking him. He had barely enough time to wince in pain as she threw her arms around him. Surprised at her sudden turnaround, he held her close, slowly running his fingers through her wet hair. It was not how he expected his first kiss to be, sitting in a puddle on the road. After a long silence, Ichigo withdrew, still holding her loosely with one arm, and looked into her eyes. "I've always hated it you know" he said, and gestured around them with his free hand "the rain"

"I know" she replied simply, in a low voice "I hate the rain too" After a moments pause, she leaned into him and continued "And I'm sick of hating it" He held her gaze for a moment, then kissed her again as a wave of emotion threatened to carry him off. After what seemed like eternity, but it could have been a minute, he broke the kiss and whispered "Thank you"

For a wonderful memory in the rain.

"Mmmm" she replied, her breathing slightly ragged. "The chocolate was nice" he said, "It's a pity they were ruined" She took a long time to answer "I made another batch" He drew back and smiled at her "Let's go home then"

10. Lastly, when the sun is setting around you a blaze of color, he declares he loves you and kisses you passionately.

---

Author's notes: Pardon me for rambling on and on. I'm not so good at fluff- I tried very hard, maybe too hard. If the characters were slightly OOC... I'm sorry.

Please read and review! Feedback is very much appreciated.