Throughout the day, Ichigo had spent time with Rukia. They read manga and watched some popular animes, even anime including a lot of romance (Ichigo had to oblige). Ichigo had also fixed some hot curry and sashimi for dinner, since Yuzu had not returned from her shopping trip.
  
   "I didn't know you could cook," Rukia exclaimed as Ichigo set a steaming plate in front of her. She shoved a few bites of curry into her mouth. Ichigo sat beside her and watched her as she gulped down the food. "Ah, this curry," Rukia mumbled through a mouthful of food," It's spicy." Tears began to form in Rukia's eyes from the spice. She grabbed a glass of water and chugged it down like her life depended on it.

   "Sorry, maybe I should have warned you about that..." Ichigo said as he scratched his chin fervently. Ichigo shoved a whole piece of sashimi into his mouth. Glancing over, he noticed Rukia doing the same. Ichigo found himself staring at her and he blushed.
  
   "How did you get these ingredients, Ichigo," Rukia asked after she had swallowed the food in her mouth," This must be high-grade or else you would have cooked the fish first." Ichigo smiled at her warmly.
  
   "I know a guy," he said slyly. Rukia placed a hand to his chest and shoved him with a giggle. "What?" Ichigo said," I'm serious! You don't believe me do you?"
  
   "I can tell when you're lying. Your ears get red and you don't scrunch up your eyebrows like normal," Rukia said as she imitated the face he was making.

   "No I don't," Ichigo said with the same expression on his face.

   "Yes, you do," Rukia said. In all honesty, she thought that Ichigo looked really cute when he did not have a scowl on his face, not that he did not look cute in the first place. "I think you look cute when you don't have a scowl on you face," Rukia blurted before she could stop herself. A red tint crept into Ichigo's face, slowly but surely.

   "T-Thanks, Rukia," he said awkwardly," Uh, I wanted to, um, ask you something." He silently cursed himself for being hopelessly awkward. Rukia turned towards him slowly.

   "What is it?" she asked.

   "I wanted to know if you," Ichigo swallowed dryly," If you, uh... Wanted to go for a walk." His face turned an even brighter shade of red.

   "S-Sure," she replied. A small sigh of relief escaped Ichigo's lips as she agreed to the offer. The only thing that would have made it worse was rejection. They finished up their dinner in silence. Finally, Ichigo broke the still air.

   "I'm gonna go get dressed," Ichigo said as he stood up from the table and started for the stairs," Be down in a second." He ran up to his room and shut the door behind him. Rukia waited for a minute or two until she heard a door open upstairs. Ichigo came down the stairs and Rukia gasped in surprise.

   "I-Ichigo... you look..." Rukia stammered. He wore a tight fitted greyish-blue shirt and a pair of khaki cargo pants. A red hoodie was pulled over his shirt, and he wore a pair of white Nikes. "You look good," Rukia said. Her mouth hung open and she stared at him as if she were in a daze.
  
   "I guess I should go get dressed too," Rukia said as Ichigo sat on the couch. He nodded and looked over at her, 'unscrunching' his eyebrows. She realized he was doing it on purpose, but it still made her head feel fuzzy and her heart beat faster.
  
   "I'll be waiting for you," he said in a low voice," Rukia." Her face blushed a deep shade of red, so she whipped around to hide it. Once she got to Ichigo's room, she had to decide something to wear, something that was kind of casual, but nice.
  
   "Found you," she whispered to herself as she picked up the clothing item.
  
   Meanwhile, Ichigo still sat on the couch downstairs. When he heard footsteps drumming against the stairs, he looked over to see Rukia. Her wore a cute blue dress that complimented her features well.
  
   "You look amazing," Ichigo said, his eyes widening. "You look amazing," he repeated. Ichigo felt dumbfounded. Slowly, he got to his feet (even though his legs felt a little weak). Rukia walked over to him.
  
   "This isn't the first time you have seen me in this dress. I don't know why you are freaking out," Rukia said with a laugh. She did not know why he was freaking out in the first place. "Come on, slowpoke," she said.
  
   "Oh, oh yeah," Ichigo said. He blinked and shook his head, and when he looked up, she was standing by the door. Automatically, he jumped up and dashed over towards the door to open it for her. When he did open it, he gestured for her to go ahead.
  
   "Well," Rukia added with a smile," aren't you just a lovely gentleman." Ichigo followed her and shut the door behind him. "Where are we going anyway," Rukia asked as they walked down the street," It will be dark in a few minutes."
  
   "That's the point."
  
   "But there's nothing towards the west of our house except for the river," Rukia said, frowning. Ichigo's breath caught in his throat when she said 'our house'. He pointed straight ahead, and they could see the gleaming water of the river.
  
   "That's where we're going," Ichigo managed.
  
   Once they had arrived, Rukia gasped. There were Sakura trees lining the river, and they were in full bloom. The sky glowed pink and gold from the sunset, and the light reflected off the water. Rukia gaped at the scenery.
  
   "It's beautiful," she said, awestruck. Ichigo came up beside her, and she leaned against him.
  
   "I wanted to show you this," he said gently," Because this is what I see, every time I look at you." Rukia blushed, but the red light from the sunset made it indistinguishable. They waked down to the river's edge and peered into the water. Rukia tried to take another step towards Ichigo.
  
   "Ichigo, I-," as soon as she took a step, her foot slipped and she fell into the river. She stood up and spit out a mouthful of water. She was soaked from head to toe.
  
   "C-C-Cold," she shivered.
  
   "Let's get you home," Ichigo chuckled as they began the trek back to their house.

   When Ichigo and Rukia arrived at the Kurosaki Clinic, Karin, Yuzu, and Isshin walked through the front door. Ichigo sighed and rolled his eyes.

   "T-They n-not that b-b-bad," Rukia said, shivering. She had her arms crossed across her chest and rubbed her arms. Ichigo opened the door for her, and he followed her inside. Eyes turned on them, especially since Rukia was soaking wet and shivering.

   "IIIIICCCCHHHHIIIIGGGGOOOO!" Isshin shouted as he tried to land a kick to Ichigo's face. With a scowl, Ichigo dodged and let his father run into the wall. "Nice move, son, I have taught you well," Isshin said as he lie face first on the ground.

   "Come on," Ichigo whispered as he tugged on Rukia's arm," Let's go to my room." Rukia nodded shakily and started towards the Ichigo's room.

   "Why is Rukia-chan soaked?" Yuzu asked with concern in her eyes. Ichigo started speeding up the stair, and ushered Rukia into his room.
   "It's none of your concern," Ichigo yelled before he shut his bedroom door, and locked it. "Sorry about that," Ichigo turned to Rukia," And the whole falling-in-the-river incident."

   "I-It's okay," Rukia said.
"Speaking of that, you must be freezing. Here, I will get you something," Ichigo said. He slid open his dresser drawer and sifted through the clothes and grabbed a t-shirt and some shorts. "Here," Ichigo tossed the clothes to her," Put these on." Rukia caught the clothes and blinked in surprise. She wondered if he was kidding. After looking in his eyes, she could tell that he was being sincere.

   "O-Okay," she said. Ichigo nodded and turned around, clasping two hands over his face. Rukia blushed and glanced down at the clothes, but did not make a move to put them on. She had no idea why he would stay in the room while she changed, she knew he was not that kind of guy.

   "Well," Ichigo mumbled," Go ahead. I'm not gonna look." Rukia quickly changed into Ichigo's clothes, which turned out to be extremely loose on her small frame. The shorts were halfway between her knees and her ankles and the shirt hung down to her thighs. She hung the blue dress in the closet, right above her bed, to dry it out.

   "I'm done," Rukia said.

   "Okay," Ichigo mumbled. He reluctantly uncovered his face, which was flushed. "You should get to bed," Ichigo said. Rukia was about to lay down in her bed, but Ichigo gripped her shoulder," Aren't you gonna sleep in my bed?"

   "Well, I wasn't planning on sleeping with you-" before she could finish, Ichigo had swept her into his arms. He set her down gently on his bed. He sat down beside her and kissed her forehead.

   "Let me rephrase that," Ichigo smiled," You're gonna sleep in my bed tonight." Rukia felt her face turn such a deep shade of red that she thought she might combust at any second. "I will be right back," Ichigo said as he withdrew and exited the room. He flipped off the lights and closed the door behind him. After he had left the room, Rukia snuggled up under Ichigo's blankets and took in a deep breath. A deep, sweet scent wafted around her, and the scent belonged distinctly to Ichigo, and him alone. The comforting feeling that surrounded her pulled her into a sound sleep.

   Rukia woke to the sound of Ichigo closing the door, but she could not see a thing in the dark room. Once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw that Ichigo had no shirt on. Rukia had seen Ichigo shirtless on a few occasions, but never like this. He wore a pair of blue shorts that trailed down to his knees, but there was no clothing above that. His chest and abdomen was heavily toned, each muscle was clearly defined in the scant light within the room.

   "You awake, Rukia?" Ichigo asked.

   "Yeah, I'm awake," Rukia said, her voice dreary with sleep. Ichigo stood over the bed as she made room for him. When there was enough room on the bed, he lie down beside her. Ichigo pulled himself closer to Rukia. His skin was warm and steamy, probably because he just got out of the shower, against her own. Reluctantly, Rukia placed her hands against his bare chest. The muscles beneath her fingers tensed up at her touch, but slowly loosened. She moved her hands down to his waist and let her fingers brush over his toned abs.

   "Rukia..." Ichigo sighed into her ear. Rukia blushed with embarrassment and began to draw her hands away. Ichigo's steady fingers wrapped around her wrist and pulled her hands back against his waist. "May I?" He asked as he bent his forehead to her's.

   "Yes," Rukia whispered. Ichigo leaned in closer and kissed her lips softly, but quickly drew away. Rukia kissed him back a little harder, and gripped his waist tighter. Their next kiss was much slower, and Rukia noticed Ichigo's lips tasted sweet like before. He tasted strong and sweet, and she realized that the taste was uniquely him. For a second, they broke away and took in gulps of air, gasping for breath.

   "Am I going too fast?" Ichigo asked between breaths. Rukia took in another deep breath.

   "No," Rukia replied. She sat up and swung a leg over him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pulled him upward and kissed him passionately. Ichigo felt Rukia's soft, warm fingers run through his damp hair.

   "I-Ichigo," she sighed against his mouth. He kissed her back harder, and a few minutes passed before they pulled away. Rukia panted and looked up at Ichigo. His face was so red that she could even see it in the darkness.

   Rukia collapsed against Ichigo's chest as he lie down again. To her, he smelled like home, and his body was warm and welcoming. She nuzzled his neck softly and kissed him, right under his jaw.

   "Good night, my guardian angel," she whispered against his neck, and before long, she had fallen asleep.