Rukia Kuchiki tapped her foot impatiently.

She was annoyed. She was mad. She was irritated. She was freaking pissed!

And whose fault was it?

That good for nothing, more-trouble-than-he's-worth carrot top.

That's right. As usual, Rukia's anger was caused by none other than Ichigo Kurosaki.

Why? Well, it just so happened that she was currently standing on the sidewalk outside of the nice, warm restaurant where she had been having a nice dinner up until a few minutes ago, when she got a call telling her to come outside. It was late winter, and the weather wasn't exactly sunny just yet, and it was specially bad if all you had to cover yourself with was a thin old jacket that had suffered at least five years worth of deterioration.

No, Rukia Kuchiki was not in a good mood.

She crossed her arms and glared at the ground for ten solid seconds, before angrily kicking at the puddle of water near her feet, left over from the rain earlier that day, creating a small splash. Exactly one second later, a car zoomed by on the street a few feet from her, running over a much bigger puddle, which splashed just like her puddle had splashed when she kicked it, only in a much bigger scale, and towards her.

Now she was angry, cold and wet.

What a perfect way to spend her first Valentine's Day.

This was not how she had planned to spend it when she found out about it…

***

"Hey Kuchiki-san!" she looked up from the new manga she had been reading behind the cover of a Math book.

"I know it's a bit early, but…" Keigo started in his usual, loud voice. "Will you be my valentine?!" he practically shouted in her ear.

She laughed nervously, trying to hold up her infamous school girl smile. "Err…Be your what?"

"My valentine!!!!!" he shouted happily.

Rukia's face was that of pure confusion.

Thankfully, Ichigo and the others chose that moment to sweep into the conversation.

"What the hell are you going on about now, Keigo?" Ichigo asked in a bored tone. Behind him, Chad, Inoue, Mizuiro and Ishida waited expectantly.

Keigo seemed to shrink were he stood. "Hehehe… Well, you see… I was…"

"Spit it out already." Ichigo ordered, inching closer to Keigo. His tone had gained a dangerous edge.

"I was just asking Kuchiki-san to be my valentine don'tkillmeplease!" he shouted the last part so fast the words melded together, and he put up his hands over his face in an attempt of protection.

"Oh?" Ichigo asked, starting to smile in that dangerous way he had that said you were totally screwed. "Last I recall, Rukia wasn't your girlfriend, was she? In fact, I have a hard time remembering anyone ever being your girlfriend, Keigo…"

Keigo was on the verge of tears. "GYAAAAAH!!!! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN! SHE IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND NOT MINE! AAAAH! I WANT TO LIIIVE!" He screamed off the top of his longs as he tried to run away from Ichigo.

Yes, as Keigo had so openly announced, Rukia was in fact Ichigo's girlfriend. It had happened barely over a year ago, three years after the Winter War. It had been when Ichigo had just started college, and Rukia had somehow managed to get in too. Up until then, Rukia had been juggling Real World visits with Soul Society duties, and precisely that day, she and Ichigo had been having a particularly intense fight, more than their usual bickering, because of Rukia's recently decreasing time with him. Between one thing and the other, they had gotten into a pretty compromising position, and well… They kissed. They'd been together since then, Rukia had managed to obtain permission for a more permanent stay in the Real World. No one had seemed surprised when they finally announced they were together, much to their annoyance.

It was a while later that Rukia finally found herself alone with Ichigo, so she could ask him about what was on her mind. "Ichigo, what's a 'valentine'?"

"Eh? Oh, right, Keigo told you about that. Shouldn't you already know about it? You've spent a lot of time in this world the past few years. You think you'd have heard about Valentine's Day."

"I was probably busy with Soul Society things!" she said, annoyed at his mocking. "Valentine's Day, you say?"

Ichigo groaned. "Yeah… It's just this stupid day that comes around every year, and people give each other gifts."

"You mean, like the 'Christmas'?" Rukia liked Christmas. A lot. It was always great to exchange gifts with Ichigo's friends and family, and she loved helping to decorate the pine trees. And it was a beautiful time of year, where it almost always snowed. It was one of her favorite things at the World of the Living.

"Not exactly. Christmas is more of a family thing… Valentine's Day is a more…" he couldn't find the right word. "Couple thing." he settled at last.

"Oh. You mean like you and me." Her words made Ichigo's face turn the color of strawberries. She loved how even after a year together, any mention of the two of them as anything remotely romantic still made him act like a little boy.

"I guess." He grumbled, not meeting her eyes.

"So what are we doing for Valentine's Day, then?" she asked excitedly.

Ichigo quickly looked up. "Nothing. It's just a stupid commercial holiday designed to rip us off of our money. It's not like we need to buy each other stuff to know how we feel." He said scowling, sounding a little awkward at the last part.

"But everyone else is doing something!" she complained, remembering how she heard Ishida and Inoue making plans for a special day this weekend. She'd thought they were having some sort of anniversary, but now she realized they were talking about Valentine's Day. "And besides, it sounds fun!"

"Well it's not. And we're not doing anything for it so deal with it."

"Fine." she said after a moment. Ichigo immediately turned to look at her. She never caved in first. Never.

Rukia started to take out her cell phone from her pocket. "I'll just call Inoue and Ishida and make plans with them."

"Wha-? Oh come on, Rukia."

She dialed and put the phone to her ear.

"You're not really calling them…?"

"It's ringing."

"Stop it. Just let it go."

She ignored him and continued to listen to the ringing phone.

"Rukia, hang up. This is stupid-"

"Hello Inoue! How are you doing?"

***

And that was how Rukia had wound up having dinner at a fancy restaurant with Ishida, Inoue and Chad for Valentine's Day. She hadn't spoken a word to Ichigo since the day before, until she had received his call, telling her to meet him outside.

"Rukia!" she heard the familiar voice call her immediately. She didn't turn to meet him, though. She was still pissed.

"Hey, Rukia," he said, coming up to her, panting slightly like he had been running before. "…You're wet."

"Shut up you idiot!" she snapped easily. "What the heck did you want me to meet you out here for anyway?"

"Well you don't have to be so hostile about it."

She glared dumbfounded. "It's freezing cold, I am soaked through, I'm hungry since you interrupted my dinner, and I am having the worst Valentine's Day ever! All thanks to you! So I have every right to be hostile about it!" she shouted, letting all her anger show.

"Well excuse me for taking too long after running all the way to meet you out here from our apartment one mile away! Since you decided to act all immature and make plans to go celebrate with Inoue! And all that after not even talking to me for an entire day! How horrible of me!"

"I wouldn't have had to do any of that if you had just agreed to spend the day with me like every other couple is doing!"

"Sorry for thinking we weren't like every other couple and I thought we didn't need to publicly manifest our love with stupid chocolates and stuffed toys!"

"We're not like every other couple! But sometimes it's just nice to show some affection in front of other people!" she countered, her anger flaring.

"And I guess it doesn't count that I came all the way over here to freaking propose to you in front of everyone!" he shouted.

It took both of them a long moment to realize what he had just said. It was only then that Rukia noticed the group of people standing discreetly in the background. Inoue, Ishida, Chad, Mizuiro -even Keigo- Ichigo's dad and his sisters, all gathered there, hanging back and watching the spectacle unfold.

"Oh." she said stupidly, too shocked to form any other coherent phrase.

"Oh? I just asked you to marry me and all you can say is 'Oh'?!"

"Err…" How was she supposed to respond to that? They had gone from yelling at each other to… proposing?

"I get it." Ichigo said, when she didn't say anything. He hung his head low and Rukia could see his mortified face as he started to turn. He put his hand in his jacket pocket and then back out, this time he had a small delicate white rose in it. "Here, keep it." He said roughly as he shoved it in her hands. Rukia took it just as a slender silver band started to slip off the flower's stem. She caught it in one hand and examined it with a small gasp.

It was a ring.

"I-Ichigo!" she called, he had already started walking away. The people walking were looking between him and Rukia, trying to decide which one they should go to.

"Wait!" Rukia called and ran up behind him, turning him around with one hand. She locked eyes with him.

Brown gazed into violet.

"I have one condition."

"W-what is it?" he looked like the world had fallen on top of him and was suddenly being lifted up again.

"We get a bunny."

His eyes widened for a second before he split into a smirk and pulled her in. "I'll get you a goldfish and we'll call it even." he said, his face inching closer to hers.

He was about to close the distance when she pulled back slightly. "I'm not good with that." she said, but the smile on her lips gave her away.

"Shut up and kiss me."

With that, their lips met in a deep kiss that seemed to melt the world away, leaving just the two of them in each other's arms.

They finally pulled away to catch their breaths.

"Oh and, happy Valentine's Day, Rukia."

"Happy Valentine's Day."

It really was.

***

A/N: It's Valentine's Day so I'm entitled to some fluff XD I hope it was to everyone's enjoyment, I know I definitely liked writing it^^

Well, please share your love with a review! And Happy Valentine's Day to you all!