A/N: This was written as part of the deviantART Ichiruki-club's Calender project. It is a collaboration with ManekiNeko11, who drew the art accompanying this story. The link to it can be found in my profile.

When Ichigo went to sleep that night, it was after a long day of school, chatting with his friends about nothing, and pounding cocky morons into the dirt when they tried to pick a fight with him. Going home, he dodged several 'surprise' attacks by his dumbass of a father, ate a delicious meal prepared by Yuzu, and spent the rest of the night buried under an oppressive mountain of homework.

In short, it was business as usual. His daily routine ever since the day Aizen was defeated. After the first month or so, he'd been bored to tears.

As he laid there on his bed, not bothering to get under the covers, he missed it more than ever. The Soul Society, Gotei 13, Rukia.

Rukia…

Ichigo closed his eyes, easily calling up the image of Rukia's smiling face. The last time he ever saw her, she'd looked so sad. He didn't want to remember her like that. He wanted to only see the tough, short tempered midget he'd had dozens of fights with. Many of those fights having ended with physical altercations no one ever seemed to win.

Ah, those were the days.

Taking a deep, strong breath, Ichigo turned on his side. He didn't open his eyes again, wanting to just drift off to sleep and forget about everything, even if only for an instant. His mind was filled with Rukia's face as his eyes became heavy and he dozed off…

A sudden loud crash sent a jolt through his system like an electric shock. Ichigo's eyes flew open and he was out of bed barely a second later. He looked all around the room for what might have caused the disturbance. He noted that his room looked a lot darker than it had a few seconds ago… wait, had it been a few seconds ago?

Ichigo glanced at his digital clock, and his suspicions were confirmed by it's reading of 3 o'clock in the morning. Groaning, Ichigo stalked slowly to the center of the room, reaching blindly for the flashlight located on his desk.

"Hello?" he called out. "Anyone there?"

'If there is, and you're not Karin or Yuzu, I swear I will kick your ass and throw you out the window.'

A soft chuckle broke Ichigo from his vaguely homicidal thoughts. It had come from behind him, and so he whirled around, once again facing his bed. He froze.

A figure sat there, covered by a black shadow. Their stance was relaxed, almost as if they were supposed to be there and not an intruder. When the shock wore off, Ichigo went right back into 'fight' mode, lowering slightly to the ground and balling his fists.

"Whoever you are," he said calmly. "Please leave. I won't ask again, next time, I'll just knock your head off."

To his surprise, the figure wasn't intimidated in the least. Rather they gave a long, low laugh, and the voice struck a chord in Ichigo's mind. He'd heard it before.

"Calm down, Ichigo. Did you really get that paranoid while I was gone?"

As she spoke, the figure got to her feet and approached him. The moonlight illuminated a certain area on his floor, and when she stepped into it, her familiar face was clear in his vision. She hadn't changed a bit, aside from a shorter hairstyle and the fact that her Shinigami uniform seemed more elaborate. Ichigo's mouth fell open, and his dumbstruck expression must've been greatly amusing to her, as she laughed again.

"You seem surprised," she observed. "I guess you never expected to see me again."

"Rukia…" Ichigo's voice failed him. Her name was the only coherent thought his mind could create.

Because this made no sense. This wasn't supposed to happen. How could it be that Rukia was visible to him again? She wasn't in a gigai, that much was clear. So how…?

"I… I don't understand."

Rukia smiled. There was something odd about it that made Ichigo a bit uneasy. Actually, now that he thought about it, there was something odd about Rukia in general.

Had she always been this pale?

Were her eyes always so piercing?

Had she ever stared at him like this before? With this look of hunger?

"There's nothing to understand," Rukia answered following a long pause, during which time she had closed the gap between them by a fraction of a margin. From this close up, Ichigo could see that she wasn't just pale, her skin was pure white! "Don't be nervous, Ichigo. I've been waiting a long time for this day, and I think you have too."

"What?" Ichigo said between heavy breathing and forcing himself to maintain eye contact. This was becoming increasingly difficult, as looking directly into Rukia's eyes caused him to become a bizarre combination of terrified and excited. "What are you… How are you even here right now? Why can I see you again? How-"

"Shhhh…"

Rukia brought a single finger to his lips, instantly silencing him. Ichigo felt something strange now in the air around them, like a gravitation pull keeping him firmly in place and allowing Rukia to run her finger down his lips and towards the nape of his neck. Her touch made him shudder in the best possible way, but he knew he couldn't let this continue, not without some answers.

However, trying to stop Rukia was proving harder than he could've imagined. When she tried to pushing her hand away, she resisted, holding it firmly in place. Try as he might, Ichigo couldn't make her budge. She was either far stronger than he remembered, or he was just growing weaker. He found he had a much easier time believing the former.

"Just relax," Rukia said, barely above a whisper as her hand traveled lower and bunched up the fabric of Ichigo's nightshirt.

He was in the air before it fully hit him that she'd thrown in. Ichigo's mouth opened in a silent scream as he landed, mostly unharmed, on the bed. He lay sprawled out on his back, bent in an uncomfortable position that he was unable to from. Rukia was upon him, literally within the blink of an eye. Ichigo stared up at her in shock, he knew for sure she'd been across the room a split second ago, recoiling from her attack on him.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded, now more confused and terrified than ever.

Nothing about this made any sense. Being able to see Rukia again, the changes in her appearance, the feats of strength and speed she was performing…

Ichigo couldn't for the life of him figure it out, and then Rukia grinned. By the light of the moon, he could just make out the elongated canines, pure white and glistening. A strangle gasp escaped his throat, and he knew that he should be fighting her off and trying to run. Instead, he lay still. It was all he could do under the hypnotizing shine of her eyes. He was putty in her hands, unable to do a thing as she leaned down, gently pushing his head to one side and leaving the pulsing veins in his neck exposed.

Ichigo didn't feel it at first when her fangs punctured the skin. His body was numb, everything focus on the feel of her body against his. She was ice cold, and yet he didn't mind. When the pain finally came, it was excruciating. Ichigo cried out, but was cut short by Rukia shoving a hand in his face. Desperately, he stuck to breathing through his nose, but every second that went by, even that became too hard for him.

He felt his body weaken, his muscles going slack. Rukia was unrelenting in her thirst for his blood. She would have every drop, it seemed. All that he had and then some. Ichigo's fingers twitched, as if making a pathetic attempt at becoming a fist. It wasn't like that would help him. The room grew darker, like the moon had been blotted out. Ichigo couldn't see a thing anymore, and all he could hear was the sound of Rukia sucking out all that was left.

The next thing Ichigo knew, he was floating. His body was light at a feather, like it didn't even exist anymore. His eyes still saw nothing, and he could no longer hear either. Alone in the pitch black silence, he could do nothing except wait, but for what, he didn't know.

Something assaulted his sense of smell, which was apparently still in perfect working order. It wasn't anything he'd smelled before, but it was highly alluring. He willed himself to get closer, wanting to take in as much of it as he possibly could. Inch by inch, the wonderful smell strengthened, to the point where he could almost taste it.

And then he could taste it.

Warm, thick liquid entered his mouth, the taste making him want to cry from how incredible it was. Ichigo swallowed huge mouthfuls with all the greed and hunger of a starving man, and with every bit he drank, his strength returned little by little.

Suddenly, the room around him became clear again. He could see the door to the closet Rukia had once inhabited. His desk on one end of the room, his wardrobe on the other. They were perfectly visible in spite of the dark. His hearing had returned as well, better than it ever had been before. He could hear Yuzu's soft snores from her and Karin's room two doors away. The few cars on the road sounded as they would if he were only a foot away from them.

Ichigo took a breath, even though something deep inside told him he didn't need to anymore. He reluctantly pulled away from the source of his rejuvenation, taking in the small holes he had left behind. He ran his tongue across his top row of teeth, revealing long and sharp fangs, exactly the length and size those holes suggested. Rukia edged away from him, if only to get into a more comfortable position. She was back on him in an instant, but with a different kind of hunger evident in her smile.

"That's much better," she said, and pulled him to her, crushing their lips together.

Ichigo tasted blood in her mouth, his blood. It mixed together with hers, creating and strange, but not undesirable taste. A low growl caught in Ichigo's throat, and he casually flipped Rukia onto her back, never once breaking the kiss.

Their tongues battled in a never ending war, at least until Ichigo came back to his senses and pulled away. He did not, however, get off of her.

"This is good," Rukia said airily. "It is, isn't it?"

"This… this can't be real," Ichigo shook his head furiously. "I'm dreaming…"

Rukia smiled wider, her fangs on full display.

"You may be right," she admitted, lifting herself onto her elbows so their faces were almost touching. "So let's enjoy this while we can, shall we?"

They leaned in at the same time.

A/N: So it ends on a rather ambiguous note. Was Ichigo dreaming or was it all real?

Well, that's for you all to decide. ;)