Chocolate Fondue

Summary: All Ichigo wanted was a snack, but Rukia seemed to be enjoying the chocolate far too much to share. Warning: Fluff ahead. IchiRuki

When Ichigo found out that Rukia had never tasted real chocolate before he was shocked. How could someone as old as her have never tasted the drug that was cocoa? It seemed utterly ridiculous.

She had first asked the ridiculous question two weeks ago. They were enjoying a rare peaceful moment when Rukia asked him out of nowhere.

"Ichigo, what's chocolate?"

"Hm," he asked absently, busy with his homework. "What do you mean?"

"Like I said, what's chocolate? I heard some of the girls talking about a sale on all chocolates at the candy factory and I was…confused."

He paused in his writing and turned around to look at her incredulously. "You're kidding me."

She frowned at his reaction. "Why would I be kidding, it's just a simple question."

He continued gaping at her until she got annoyed enough to throw a large textbook at him.

"Uh…chocolate is…a food."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm aware of that fool," she snapped. "I want to know how it tastes and why people seem to like it so much."

He hesitated before turning back to his work. "I can't explain properly, I'll just buy you some one day"

And as was the nature of Rukia, she annoyed him about it every day until he bought a chocolate bar from a vending machine, ripped it open and jammed it in her mouth as he screamed 'SHUT UP!'

After the initial choking of having something stuffed in your unknowing mouth, she did as he 'asked' and ate it silently. Ichigo should have known by the widening of her eyes and twitching of her shoulders that he would regret this moment for the rest of his life.

She, as any sane woman would, loved it immensely and did everything in her power to obtain more. After spending all of her and Keigo's money, she had come to Ichigo.

"Ichigo, give me money."

"Hell no."

"But it's an emergency!"

"What?" He swiveled to see her large, pouting eyes.

"I haven't had chocolate for four whole hours!!"

When he still refused to give her money, she punched him so hard in the head, his face hit the cabinet and his nose started bleeding. She swore in a low, menacing voice that she would get the chocolate somehow and that Ichigo would pay for his cruelty.

Because simply breaking his nose wasn't enough for Rukia.

And again, Ichigo knew by the sharp glint in Rukia's eyes that she could and most certainly would follow through on her threat. She glared at him more often than usual and Ichigo felt an underlying sense of dread that something bad was going to happen.

"Hey Rukia," Ichigo called out when school was dismissed. Rukia had started walking home alone ever since he refused to give her money. For some reason, Ichigo was more annoyed that he should have been. Probably because now that he wasn't there anymore, boys had thought it okay to gape at Rukia when she passed.

He shook the thought out of his head and called again, slightly louder. "OY! RUKIA!!"

She wheeled around and glared at him with those beautiful, angry violet eyes.

Wait, beautiful? No. NO! Rukia was not beautiful. EW! This was Rukia for God's sake! The short, skinny, demonic, she-man!!

"What?" she snarled.

"Um…" he blushed as he fumbled for the right words that would keep his reputation intact. "Remember when you asked me for money…a while ago?"

Judging by the glower, she hadn't forgotten.

"I just wanted to say…… screw you, you addicted little midget!!"

Damn. That came out wrong.

Rukia kicked him between his legs and left him slumped on the sidewalk.

Ichigo twitched at the memory and instinctively pulled his knees together. He had been in pain for hours after that, considering Rukia's strength. When Isshin had come home to see his son holding a bag of ice to his…area, well……

You can't really blame Ichigo for knocking his dad into a two day coma, can you?

Three days after that painful incident, Rukia came home with a large, snowflake shaped chocolate figurine.

"Who the hell gave you that?" Ichigo growled at her, still angry for what she did the last time. Rukia ignored him easily and pulled off one of the spikes of the snowflake. She nibbled it gracefully as she plopped on his bed.

Ichigo's eye twitched in annoyance. "If you're not gonna answer me, get the hell off my bed."

Finally she looked at him with narrowed eyes and regarded him coldly. "Yes, Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichigo winced at the sickly sweet tone, but his pride wouldn't let him back down. "Where did you get that from?"

Rukia sniffed and turned her head away as she swallowed the last piece. "Not that it's any of your business, but it was a gift from my boyfriend."

That hit Ichigo like a ton of bricks. Rukia had a boyfriend? She had a boyfriend and he didn't know…that wasn't him?

Not that he cared or anything, he assured himself. Just, if Rukia was ever going to go out with someone, he assumed it would be him. After all, in the entire school, he was the only one who really hung around her. And he didn't really give other boys a chance to approach, often scaring them away with a well defined scowl.

"Who is he?" Ichigo managed to hiss out between clenched teeth. He'd find the bastard and kill him. Zangetsu would skin the boy first and then he'd dip him into a vat of salt water and then—

"Ichigo!"

"Huh?"

Rukia scoffed. "I've been calling you for almost 5 minutes. Are you okay?"

Ichigo blinked for a second and nodded. "Who's the guy?" he repeated tersely.

"Nobody," Rukia said nonchalantly. "I was kidding."

What a bitch.

He watched as she grabbed another stalk from the snowflake and explained that she had got a job at a local bakery and bought it herself.

"That's better…" Ichigo grunted, slightly worried about her working in a bakery alone. Then another thought occurred to him. "You should cut back on the chocolate though, it's not healthy."

He turned back to the History project and didn't notice the look of contemplation on Rukia's face.

He hadn't seen Rukia eating anymore chocolate after that and was slightly surprised. Had she really taken his advice to heart?

He sighed. It was good if she did. She was beginning to turn hyper and then suffer the knockout gorging on chocolate provided.

But still…

"Ichigo!" A familiar voice stopped his ascent on the stairs and he turned back around. His sisters and his father were away on some school conference so he and Rukia were alone.

"Ichigo, Ichigo!!" Rukia shot into his view, sock clad feet sliding on the slick floor. She had a look of utter joy on her face as she gazed at him and Ichigo felt his heart tightening.

"What the hell do you want?"

"I thought about what you said a couple days ago," she said breathlessly. "And I figured out a way to enjoy chocolate but still eat healthy!"

He yawned. "And?"

"I wanted to show you!" She snatched his hand, unaware of the electric shock that shot through both of them and dragged him to the kitchen.

"It's called Fun-doo!"

He coughed. "It's called Fondue."

"Whatever, come look!"

He was well aware of the concept of fondue but he decided to entertain her and allowed her to show him the perfectly melted chocolate, fondue forks and white box of fruit.

"Congratulations," he deadpanned.

Rukia beamed, grabbed a fondue fork and speared a strawberry from the box and dipped it.

Ichigo watched in unbridled fascination as she bought the chocolate covered strawberry to her plump lips and slowly bite off the top. Her eyes closed in pleasure and to make things worse,

She moaned.

Ichigo broke out in a cold sweat as he found himself growing hungry. She ate the rest of the strawberry and grabbed another. This time, she opened an amused eye as she bit into it and Ichigo found it very hot in the room suddenly.

"I know what you're thinking," she said softly.

Oh, god, please no.

"And no, you can't have any!!" She laughed as she grabbed another one and ate it with the same naïve seductiveness as the other two, except this time, she left a smear of her lip.

She didn't notice it so it remained there while she closed the box and put the contents in the fridge.

Something in Ichigo broke when she tried to push the hair out of her eyes.

The next thing he knew he was in front of her, staring down impassively. Rukia bumped into his chest and steadied herself as he watched.

"Move Ichigo!" She commanded.

Instead of obeying, he found himself unconsciously grabbing her hand. She looked up in shock, the dot of brown sweetness still on her lip. Gulping to give himself more courage he leaned down slowly, giving her plenty of time to pull back.

She didn't.

He smirked at this and bent lower, a breath away from her lips. But he hesitated as she opened them and he remained there, unmoving. Until, that is, Rukia got impatient and craned her head up, meeting his lips.

It wasn't anything passionate or full of lust. Just a simple, chaste touch of the lips before both pulled back, blushing madly.

Ichigo licked his lips, tasting the chocolate.

She was right, it was addictive.

(A/N) Behold the fluff. Pure, unashamed fluff!! I understand if you must go and brush your teeth to be rid of the sap of my cheesy story, but PLEASE review first.

P.S I have no idea if Rukia has tasted chocolate before, the idea just popped up to me as I was writing my other fic.

Can you spare a review, friend?