"Ichigo…"

"WHAT?!"

Rukia snorted. "I just needed to get to the bathroom…"

Ichigo roused himself from his bed, giving her what he hoped was the most incredulous look he'd ever given anyone. "You woke me in the middle of the night, just to tell me that?" Gods, he was getting a headache…

She blushed slightly. "There's no more toilet paper…"

"So go get some!" he hissed, flopping over onto his mattress and burying his head into his pillow, hoping to drown out the aching thump inside his head and get this midget of burden out of his room and back to his little sisters' room.

"I… I don't know where you keep it…" she said quietly.

He rolled back over, and opened a single eye. Her face was flushed, (probably even more so than it looked since it was so dark in the room,) eyes glinting in the starlight and with her hands tightly gripping the edge of his bed.

She needed him, and if he had ANY chivalry at all in him, he would do something for her.

He closed his eyes and rolled over. "So use a tissue. It's 2 am, Rukia!"

"Dammit, Ichigo!" she hissed, pounding slightly on the bed. "Just tell me where it is!"

He flinched at the movement, turning towards the wall. "In the closet."

"Where?!" she was beginning to do the bathroom dance, and had it been any other time, he probably would have been laughing his ass off…

"Top shelf."

There was a silence, before she cursed. "You know I can't reach that!"

"So grab a stool."

"Ichigooooo!" she whined.

"Fine!" he snarled, rousing himself up from bed and trudging over to the closet.

He cursed her as he handed her the roll of toilet paper.

He cursed her as she didn't even give him a thank-you as she rushed away, nearly slamming the bathroom door and waking everyone in the building.

He cursed her as he shuffled back to bed, collapsing into his sheets with a deflated sigh and begging to be taken by sleep now.

"Ichigo?"

He growled in response.

"Th… thank you." She mutters, before beginning to close the door.

He gave a slight sigh. "Your welcome. Now get to bed… it's Christmas Eve, the last thing we need is to wake Yuzu and Karin before it's time for presents…"

"Yeah…" he saw her head fall, before the door began to close again.

He felt his eye twitch again. Great… now she had him feeling guilty before bed again. "Hold on, hold on…" he said, before gesturing for her to come over. "If you go about doing a mope thing I'll never get any sleep…" he half joked.

She didn't react, save for coming over with a slightly dead expression.

Great… another time he'd have to talk a problem out.

"Ichigo… does your…" she trailed off, sitting on his bed.

He gestured for her to continue, not saying anything. If he said anything, that would screw things up, and he didn't want to screw things up at the moment because he liked them they way they were and…

Whoa… he felt his head reel. He needed a serious dose of caffeine when they woke up later…

"Does your family think I'm imposing?" she suddenly blurted. He blinked in the darkness, but she didn't wait to respond. "I mean… I just burst in unannounced someday, and I know that your dad's weird about stuff like this, but I don't even have any Christmas gifts for you and…"

She paused, suddenly cursing. "And… you weren't supposed to hear that…" she gave a wry snort. "Shows how well I can blend into the real world, huh…" she gave a slight sigh.

"Er… Rukia?"

She seemed to snap out of her thoughts. "Eh?!"

"Well… to be honest… no one expects you to do that…" he said, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably.

"Why? I mean your dad said I was part of the family and…"

"He also thinks your homeless… he won't expect you to buy anything big. Besides…" Ichigo gave a slight chuckle. "You kinda suck at giving gifts."

Her pouty expression instantly vanished. "What?"

"I mean… you have Yuzu a screwdriver for her birthday… my dad a pink blanket, and…well…I know you like bunnies… but playboy bunny magazines? C'mon, Rukia!"

He suddenly felt her fist connect with his face. "I don't understand you, Ichigo!" she blurted, still hissing and keeping quiet, but was obviously at her limit. "I come in here, begging for some acceptance, and all I get is this… this… YOU!" She stood up, fuming in front of him.

"Why can't you just… ARGH!" She punched at him again, but was met with resistance.

He had caught her fist with a single hand. And quite easily too, by the look of it. She cursed, letting loose another first, but he deflected it, still keeping hold of the first fist, tightening his grip slightly.

She winced a little at the grip, but her eyes widened slightly.

The intensity in his eyes was disturbing.

"You are part of this family, Rukia." He stated, calmly and soothingly. "Now get to bed. We have Christmas gifts in the morning…"

"But what about my… you…" she babbled, still slightly dumbstruck. Any previous speechlessness was taken away, however, when he just smirked and leaned towards her.

After they pulled away, he gave her a gentle push out of the room, and then slammed the door.

He always cursed how she had turned his "normal" life upside down.

He had always complained about her behind her back, aggravating Ishida and the others (who knew about her residence in his home) to no extent.

But the one thing that he knew that he would NEVER curse or hate, was the taste of her lips upon his own…

That was a gift he'd be seeking again and again… that was for sure…

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

My apologies at not having updated this in the longest time and also at the quality of the work, however I FINALLY just got back from college and had a bit of a writing itch and decided to write a bit, and this is what I came up with!

Reviews appreciated, I hope to be back again soon!

Dak