Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. It's property of Tite Kubo.

Summary: You might be wondering why I'm here with yet another fanfiction when I have already many unfinished ones. Well, for the span of almost a year I realized I have many, many unfulfilled IchiRuki plot bunnies that I haven't written either for lack of time or for not knowing how to continue the story. I decided that I could effectively turn most into one-shots, so the ideas won't be just sitting in my head and then I can focus on other stuff. I also needed a place to put my entries for the IchiRuki month. Most of these one-shots will be AUs or maybe even semi AUs, but I don't think I'll be writing canon compliant one-shots. After the IR month, I'll open up requests for ideas you guys have. You can send them through a review or on Tumblr.

I really hope you enjoy this one-shot, and will wait for more.

Until next time!

Stranded

Summary: What could be worse than getting lost in the woods? Oh, that's right. Getting lost in the woods with your ex.

"This is all your fault." The woman on his right huffed angrily, and crossed her arms.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "You've been saying that for the best part of the last two hours."

"Because I'm right, and you know it." She added.

Bitch. "Yeah, fine! Let's suppose it's my fault that we're lost−"

"It's no supposition. We're lost! And it's your fault!" The woman interrupted him, angrily pointing an accusing finger at him.

"I wasn't the one who couldn't read a goddamn map!" Ichigo yelled right back at her.

"Well, I wasn't the one who brought a clearly outdated map!"

"I didn't bring it! Ishida gave it to me!"

"Sure, bring Ishida into this!"

Ichigo let out a loud scream, and then slapped a hand on his forehead. He couldn't do this anymore. The past two hours had been filled with nothing but yelling. He was tired, and all he wanted to do was lie down on his comfy bed, and have a night of rest, thinking nice thoughts, not stuck here with the she-devil next to him.

"You know what, I'm sick of this. I don't want to fight anymore." He said, still covering half his face with his hand.

"Fine." She said, turning her face to look at the window. She was visibly fuming.

"Fine." Ichigo added as an after-thought, making her glare at him. He always had to have the upper hand.

Once they both had grown quite, Ichigo sighed. How on Earth had he gotten to this point? Oh yeah. Like most things that had gone wrong in his life, it all started with Ishida. The camping trip had been Ishida's idea after all. About two weeks ago, they all had gone to Chad's apartment to play videogames and eat pizza. It was a casual get-together between them, which had been a tradition since high school.

"Man, I'm glad we're all here! I really needed this, guys!" Keigo said happily, in the middle of munching on his slice of pizza. "I've been pretty bummed lately. I failed one of my exams, and then I had to hand in two essays on the same day! Two!" The brunet complained loudly.

"Stop whining, Asano-san." Mizuiro said, his eyes not straying from his cell phone.

"As if you were so smart, Mizuiro! I'm sure you've failed at least one of your exams!"

"I assure you my lowest grade has been an 85." The other boy said, finally looking at his friend.

"What? You're kidding me!" Keigo exclaimed frantically, before being forcefully shut up by a soda can, which hit him right on his face.

"Shut up, Asano!" Tatsuki said, her arm still raised from when she had thrown the can. "Your voice is irritating me!"

"Well excuse me for trying to share my pain with my friends." Keigo said, his hand rubbing his nose. "I just need a distraction from my daily routine."

"Keigo's right. We need a break from studying so much." Ichigo agreed with his friend, making Keigo shed tears of joy.

"Oh, Ichigo! I knew you were my true friend!" He exclaimed, trying to hug Ichigo.

"Please, don't touch me." Ichigo said, pushing Keigo away from him.

"We should do something fun!" Inoue Orihime, the second girl of the group, said enthusiastically, even clapping her hands. "Like go on a trip somewhere for the weekend!"

"I've got you covered." Ishida said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "My family owns two cabins on the woods, right next to each other. We can all go camping one weekend."

"That's an amazing idea, Ishida-kun!" Orihime beamed at the boy with glasses, making him blush. "We can go in two weeks, when finals will be over. It'd be a great way to celebrate the end of the semester!"

"Ah. That's a good plan." Chad, who had remained silent throughout the conversation, finally said.

"So, let's start planning." They all cheered.

It was decided they would all go on Chad's van, and that they would leave early to explore a bit of the woods before it got dark. At night, they would set a fire outside the cabins, and cook sausages and toast marshmallows, while drinking beer. It sounded like a dream come true, especially for someone as outdoorsy as Ichigo. Everyone was pretty excited, and Keigo even had a countdown for when the event would take place. They couldn't wait.

All Ichigo had wanted was to have a fun weekend with his friends, away from the stress university gave him. But that dream ended the moment he saw her, standing right next to Inoue. And if you're asking who it was, it was none other than freaking Kuchiki Rukia, the only sister of the mogul Kuchiki Byakuya, who also happened to be Ichigo's ex-girlfriend.

It's not that Ichigo wasn't aware that Inoue and Rukia were close friends. In fact, after the breakup, he had assured Orihime that he didn't mind if she still talked to Rukia. He knew they were friends, and he also knew they spent time together. What Ichigo hadn't expected was for Inoue to invite Rukia to their camping trip, making him face his ex after seventeen long months of avoiding each other. He had almost screamed the moment his eyes had zeroed on her. Rukia turned away from him.

"I invited Kuchiki-san to come along. Her brother is out of town, and I didn't want her to be lonely." Inoue explained. Of course. Ichigo thought. Give it to Inoue to be a saint. "I hope you don't mind."

"Of course we don't mind!" Keigo exclaimed. "We're more than happy to have Rukia-chan back!" He said with familiarity and rushed to hug the girl, but was interrupted by Tatsuki.

"Don't scare Kuchiki before we're off!" She barked at him, making the boy cower in fear.

"We don't mind, but this poses a problem in logistics. Chad's van only has space for six people, plus luggage, and we're eight." Ishida explained. "Six of us will ride on Chad's van, and the other two can take my car."

Ichigo nodded. "I can go in your car with you, Ishida." He said, thinking Ishida was giving him an excuse to avoid Rukia. You're truly a good friend, Ishida.

"Well, you see, Kurosaki," Ishida started saying, "Sado-kun doesn't have a good sense of direction, so I'd like to go with him, in case he gets lost. But, other than Sado-kun and I, you're the only one who knows how to drive, so you're going to take my car."

"Fine, I'll take it. Just explain me the directions."

"Of course."

"So who am I taking with me?" Ichigo asked, and instantly regretted it.

"Kuchiki-san can go with you. She'd be more comfortable in my car." Ishida answered smugly.

On second thought, fuck you, Ishida.

"Wait…" Rukia tried to say, but was ignored.

"Don't worry, Kuchiki-san. We know how you hate crowded spaces, it's for the best." Inoue said innocently.

"Yeah, besides Ichigo needs a good copilot, and you're the best choice." Tatsuki said, the rest agreeing with her.

"Well, then, let's get going!" Ishida said and they started walking towards the van, leaving the other two behind. "We need to pick up some stuff, so go ahead!"

Ichigo knew what was going on. They had set them up. For what purpose exactly, he wasn't sure. But now he was stuck with the last person he wanted to be around. Well, maybe not the last, her brother was the last person actually, but Rukia was a close second. So armed with nothing but a map and the instructions Ishida gave them –"There's no way you can get lost"− they set out on their journey. At the beginning the ride was silent, neither said anything and they tried really hard not to look at each other. They were forced to speak when the road split into two.

"Did Ishida say turn right or left?" Ichigo addressed her for the first time. She looked mildly startled, before pondering for a few moments.

"To the right, I believe."

After that, the complications started. The way wasn't as easy as Ishida had made it seem. The road continuously split, and sometimes they had even lost the road altogether. The map was complicated to read, and neither could make sense of it. To make matters worse, their phones didn't have a signal, and calling their friends was out of the question.

"You're reading it wrong, fool!"

"No, there's no way it's pointing there, idiot!"

"That's not the North!"

Each time they hit a dead end, or got more lost, they would start fighting, until, eventually, they went too deep into the woods, and neither could remember the way back. Ichigo had decided to park the car, calm down, and either wait for Ishida and the rest to find them, or try to remember exactly where they were before, and retrace their steps. This led them to their current situation of blaming each other. Fortunately, after their last fight they had gone silent. Ichigo massaged his forehead. This couldn't get any worse. He turned to look at his unwilling companion. She was still looking out of the window, seeming deep in thought. Ichigo took the time to really look at her. She had cut her hair short. It now barely reached below her cheeks, when the last time he saw her it had reached past her shoulders. She was wearing a cozy white sweater, jeans, and black boots and a jacket. He noticed Rukia wasn't wearing any makeup. In that aspect she had remained the same, keeping it casual. He was partially glad about it. Maybe she wasn't a total stranger after all.

"I still have no signal." Rukia announced after a period of time.

Ichigo sighed. "Me neither."

"What are we going to do?" She asked, and Ichigo noticed that, despite trying to appear calm, she was scared. He still could read her very well.

"I've been trying to retrace our steps, but with so many turns, I'm at a blank. I think we should wait for Ishida. At this point, they probably figured out we got lost." It had been almost two hours since they set off.

Rukia groaned. "Guess that's the best plan for now."

"I'm gonna murder Ishida when I see him." Ichigo commented out of the blue.

"I'll help you with that." Rukia smirked. Then they fell into a comfortable silence.

Ichigo took out his phone, checked to see if he had signal ─he didn't─, and then started playing with his phone to pass the time. Fifteen minutes went by like this, until his stomach started grumbling. Fuck. He hadn't eaten much for breakfast thinking he'd get to eat once they were in the cabins, and he hadn't brought snacks with him, for he left the food he had bought in his backpack in Chad's van. He really had rotten luck.

"Hungry?" Rukia asked him.

Ichigo felt himself blush. "Kinda."

The girl chuckled. "I'd say more than that. Do you want a sandwich? I brought extra ones." She said, taking out two sandwiches from her bag.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Inoue told me she was bringing snacks, but thought it'd be for our best interest if I brought normal food." She said, alluding to Orihime's peculiar habit of making the strangest combinations that, more often than not, weren't edible.

Ichigo laughed for the first time since the trip started. "You're a life saver. And now the rest are stuck with Inoue's snacks."

"Karma's a bitch."

"Ain't it."

While they munched on their sandwiches, they made small talk. They asked each other about their families. Rukia's brother was on a business trip on Hong Kong, and would be back in two weeks. Karin and Yuzu were already in high school, and apparently were pretty popular with the male population, much to their brother's and father's dismay. And speaking about their father, good ol' Kurosaki Isshin was doing well, crazy as ever, and with more energy that a man his age ought to have. Then they talked about their classes. Ichigo had almost failed one of his law classes, but managed to pass it after many cramming sessions. Rukia had had problems with some of her classmates on her business classes due to her family, which didn't sit well with Ichigo.

"Don't worry, I already solved everything." She said, calmly.

"If you say so." He said, not at all convinced. Rukia had a tendency to keep things to herself and suffer in silence.

A whole hour went by with them catching up. Ichigo felt as if he had missed a lot, but that, at the same time, nothing had changed. Rukia was the same as she had always been. Seventeen months hadn't transformed her into the idea he had had of her in his mind. He thought she might have become more ambitious, perhaps colder or more frivolous, enough to fit into the ideal her family wanted of her. He was pleasantly surprised to find she was still kind, warm, and silly. She wasn't the Kuchiki Ice Princess everyone expected her to be. She was still the Rukia he fell in love with, and that hurt, because she remained an amazing person, one that wasn't in his life anymore.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo." She said at length.

He raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

"I shouldn't have come. You probably were expecting to have fun with your friends, and now you're stuck with me." She apologized, not meeting his searching eyes.

"That's true. But you wanted to have fun too, right? That's why you came."

"When Inoue asked me to come, she told me she had asked you and you were okay with it. Promise." Rukia continued saying, evading his question.

"I believe you. They probably set us up." His friends were a piece of work. Of course they had tried to make him happy in the worst way possible. Reminding him of what he used to have, and didn't anymore.

"If I had known…"

"What? You would've kept hiding?" Ichigo said harsher than he intended. But suddenly everything was too much. He hadn't seen Rukia in seventeen months! And when he did, it was because of his friends' plan not because she had actively searched him.

"Ichigo…" She whispered. "I'm sorry for coming and being an inconvenience."

"Why are you apologizing for? Did you or didn't you want to come?"

"I… I wasn't… I mean, I didn't…" Rukia stammered, at a loss for words.

"Then why did you come?"

"I wanted to see you." Rukia blurted out, surprising them both.

"What?" Had he heard correctly?

"I wanted to see you." She said louder this time. "I wanted to see you, and be around you even for a bit. All this time, I've missed you. I wanted to talk to you before, but I didn't have the guts. And I know you probably don't want to listen to all this, not after what I did, but I had to say it. I've missed you, and I wanted to see how you're doing. I wanted to hear your voice, hear your laughter. This seventeen months have been hell for me. And I know I don't have the right to complain, or demand anything from you. I'm being selfish, but I might as well just say it. I regret breaking up with you, and if you don't mind I'd like for us to be friends again, because I not only lost my boyfriend, I also lost my best friend." At the end of her speech, Rukia was breathless, and her cheeks had turned red either because of embarrassment or lack of breath.

Ichigo remained silent for a long minute. At first he had been utterly surprised. All this time he had thought Rukia hadn't wanted to have anything to do with him, that he had disgusted her in some way. "You and I don't belong together!" She had shouted at him when she left him, and those words had haunted him ever since. He had lay awake countless nights thinking about it, wondering when he went wrong. "Why?" He blurted out before he could stop himself.

"I'm sorry?" Rukia asked him, clearly confused.

He hadn't wanted to speak about it, but it seemed as if this would be the only time he'd be able to get some answers. It's now or never. "Why did you break up with me? And don't you dare lie to me, Rukia!"

"I… I did it for you…" She mumbled, trying to hide her face with her bangs, but failing miserably since they were too short.

"What?! That doesn't make any sense!"

"I thought you'd be better off without me. Promise!" She yelled. "I'm always going to be a Kuchiki. I'm always going to be a noble, and I will have to meet certain expectations all my life. Whoever is with me, will be tied down to the same world. And I know you hate nobles, Ichigo! That you hate that world for what they did to your father. I didn't want to tie you down to that world, and take your freedom away. So I, quite foolishly actually, thought the best way for you to be happy was to break up with you. I thought you'd realize it was better this way. Then, I understood you weren't happy at all every time I saw you from afar, or when I talked to Inoue. That I had, in fact, broken you with all the shit I told you. I had hurt us both by being an idiot, and I'm sorry, I really am."

"You moron." Ichigo said, but he wasn't angry. "You're so stupid, Rukia. Yeah, I hate them. I hate them for what they did to my father, and I hate them for what they put you through. But I wouldn't have chosen my hatred for them over what I had with you. And if you didn't know that, then I failed at showing my feelings." He said dejectedly.

"Hey, you didn't fail." She said, gently taking his hands in hers. "I'm just insecure, Ichigo. I'm sorry."

He sighed. "I can't say it's alright. I was hurt. Still am. But I sorta get where you're coming from, and I can say that you're truly sorry. So, I forgive you."

Rukia beamed at him with that smile which never failed to make his heart beat faster. "Does this mean we can be friends again?"

Ichigo stopped and pondered for a moment. What did this really mean for them? Then he remembered something that had been nagging him for a while. More specifically, a red-headed man. "What about Renji?"

Rukia blinked at him. "What about him?"

"Won't he get mad?" He tried again.

Understanding dawned on Rukia. "Renji and I have never been together. Those were just rumors." She dismissed it. Ichigo's heart skipped a beat. "If that's your only reservation, does this mean we can be friends again?" She asked with hope in her voice.

"No." Ichigo said fast. The girl instantly froze, her eyes glazing with tears. "I will never be able to be just friends with you, Rukia." He said earnestly, and then threw caution to the wind by shortening the distance between them and kissing her.

Rukia's eyes went wide, but then started kissing him just as fervently, her arms grabbing his neck and pulling him closer. The kiss soon turned heated, their hands exploring the bodies they knew so well, as they tasted each other. Ichigo pulled her to his lap, and started kissing her neck and shoulders, while his hands roamed her sides, pausing slowly right next to her breasts. Rukia was moaning and gasping. They were in cloud 9, but soon came crashing down when they heard a tapping on the window. They immediately separated and looked at the driver's window. Ishida had tapped the window, and next to him Orihime, Tatsuki and Keigo were peering down, while Mizuiro and Chad stood at a safe distance. The couple turned red.

Ichigo rolled down the window. "What the hell?!" He yelled.

Ishida cleared his throat. "Sorry to interrupt, but we've been searching for you for the past hour."

Inoue looked sheepish. "Sorry, Kurosaki-kun, but when you didn't appear we thought something bad had happened to you."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Don't think I don't know this was a trap, and it had the intended purposes. But I'll let it slide. Ishida, guide the way already."

Rukia giggled a bit, and went back to her own seat. Ichigo shook his head. Of course Ishida must have been the mastermind, with help from the rest. The traitors. As he watched the others go to Chad's van, an idea hit him.

"After you, Ishida-kun." Orihime said gently.

"N-no, after you, Inoue-san." Ishida stuttered, blushing.

Ah, there it was. He was going to get back at him for the awkwardness and embarrassment.

"What are you thinking?" Rukia said knowingly.

"Nothing." He answered, smirking.

"Well, this was unexpected." Rukia said as they followed the van. "I honestly didn't think this would happen."

"Really?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "There was honestly one expected outcome."

Rukia smiled. "I should've known."

"You won't get rid of me that easily, girlfriend."

"Right back at ya, boyfriend."

Then, they laced their fingers together, as they drove to the cabin.

It was the perfect weekend.