Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ A Happy Hollow-een Indeed ❯ One-Shot

[Disclaimer: Bleach and all of its characters are the work of Kubo Tite, an amazing maestro of a mangaka to whom I could never compare.]

 

[Notes: I haven't had this beta'ed, so I'd greatly appreciate being alerted to typos, grammatical mistakes, etc. Thanks in advance!]

 

"I can't go outside in this."

 

Ichigo winced in disgust at the gaudily colored pirate costume whose cheap fabric he was carefully suspending from his fingertips a healthy two feet away from him. He'd never been one for festivals, and he was far more preoccupied with tomorrow morning's exams than this silly imported Western holiday of Halloween. Why couldn't Karin and Yuzu just go banging down the neighbors' doors for candy on their own? They were already in junior high, for heaven's sake. And if he had to accompany them, why did he have to wear *this*?

 

Sighing, he tossed the costume onto the bed beside its accompanying flimsy silver-painted plastic sword. Zangetsu would be mortified to see him wielding that. Besides that, the costume came with a cheap black vinyl eyepatch too, which reminded him a bit too much of Kenpachi, the thought of whom always made him uncomfortable.

 

And what of his image, the one he'd been trying desperately to correct lately? The strange gossip spurred by Rukia's arrival last year at Karakura High already had him in damage control mode, and the last thing he needed was to provide more grist for the rumor mill by making a highly visible fool of himself.

 

A few quick raps sounded on his door. He sighed. “What is it?”

 

"Ichigo! Are you done changing yet?" To his surprise it was Rukia's voice on the other side, sounding oddly excited.

 

"I'm staying in my normal clothes! Geez, Rukia, don't tell me they dragged you into this too. This is a kiddie---"

 

Rukia flung his door wide open and burst into his room, a triumphant look on her face.

 

Ichigo swore that someone must've just turned the radiator up full blast. Yes. The radiator. There was no other good explanation for why his face was so darn hot now. Yes, it must be the radiator.

 

Rukia was standing before him, eyes shining, cheeks faintly flushed - in nothing other than a Playboy bunny suit.

 

Ichigo gulped.

 

"Your dad is AMAZING! He remembered how much I love Chappy, so he surprised me with a Chappy costume! Chappy!" and she twirled lightly on one heel, head over her shoulder, the better to admire the cottontail perched high on her rear.

 

The only thing Ichigo hated more than a grouchy Rukia was a naively exuberant one, and this was as bad as it could get. But for some strange reason he couldn't quite talk. Something was gurgling oddly in his throat like his breath had just been cut off, and he felt like he was rooted to the floor, eyes transfixed on her, helplessly listening to her gushing.

 

"I would've preferred if it covered a bit more, but your dad said the store only had this one kind of Chappy suit. But I don't mind, as long as it's Chappy!" She caught her reflection in his mirror then, and became utterly captivated by the sight of the bunny ears perched on her head.

 

Oh, Isshin, that damned old liar, taking advantage of her innocence. Ichigo was already thinking of which punches he'd land on Isshin's goateed face. Finding that anger had restored normal respiration, he seized Rukia by the wrist and dragged her into the room, slamming the door behind him.

 

"Rukia! You honestly don't think you'll go outside in that? Aren't you worried what people will say? And more practically, you'll freeze to death! Think about comfort at least!"

 

"Well, it does sag a little over here" - and here she reached for her petite bosom, at which he temporarily lost all powers of speech again - "but otherwise it's perfect, since it's Chappy! I'm Chappy!" He swore he could see tears of joy welling up in her eyes.

 

"No, you're not Chappy, you're an idiot. We don't have Chappy here; that's a Soul Society thing. What you're wearing is..."

 

Before he could finish explaining, his sixth sense prickled.

 

He stormed over to the doorway and threw the door wide open, and just as he expected, there they were, kneeling at the entrance, drinking glasses held to their ears, the better to listen in on him through the solid wood, with Karin looking on from a few feet away in obvious disdain. He never understood why his father and Yuzu chose to snoop on him so obviously, since he always carried out his conversations with Rukia at shouting volume anyway.

 

"Why're you yelling at Daddy's third daughter? I got her something she likes so much and you have to ruin the fun!" Isshin protested, frowning through the thick red smile painted on his face.

 

Ichigo was ready to punch in the clown nose his dad was wearing. "Why the heck are you snooping again? And how could you let your 'third daughter' go outside in something like that?!"

 

"Well, I was going to let Yuzu wear it at first, but..."

 

“YUZU?!” Before Isshin could elaborate, Ichigo promptly kicked him in the face, which sent the older man tumbling heavily down the stairs.

 

"My sooonnnnnnn! Why are you so meeaaaa--" A loud thump ended Isshin's plaintive wailing.

 

Karin glanced cooly down at their father lying sprawled on the first floor. "The beardo's gonna be all right. Ichigo, are you ready yet?" She'd already changed into the uniform of her favorite baseball team, the Yomiuri Giants.

 

While Isshin had been making his fuss, Yuzu had gotten up from her crouching position by Ichigo's door, smoothed out the skirt of her pink tutu, and quietly recovered the pirate suit Ichigo had tossed aside earlier, which she now handed to him with pleading eyes. "Please come with us, Ichi-nii. It won't be fun without you, and you're away so often now ..."

 

Ichigo sighed heavily. Family was family, and she was right, he'd been gone too often lately. Studying for tomorrow could wait. "Why do you guys get to wear something normal-looking and I don't?" he muttered, collecting the flimsy costume fabric from her outstretched hands and backing into his room.

 

"Imagine you're in One Piece or something," Karin offered. "But it's getting late, so please be quick."

 

He closed the door and turned around, half pulling his shirt off when he suddenly caught a glimpse of something else in the room, something white and blurry that was emerging from his closet. He spun around in alarm.

 

"Hey, Ichigo! Do you think I can wear this with my costume? It's white and fluffy enough to be Chappy, right?" Rukia, perched in her old spot in his closet, was tugging something out from behind her and beaming madly.

 

"RUKIA! THAT'S MY BATHROBE! You can't wear that outdoors!"

 

"Why can't I? It's just right for Chappy. And if I'm going to be `practical' like you say, at least I won't be cold. It has pockets too, so I can carry my phone with me in case a Hollow alert arrives while we're outside."

 

Rukia. Always ready for Hollows. And she did have a point. "Fine, fine. But don't let that get dirty. Now get out of here so I can change.” He turned away to study the costume eyepatch - would this thing clash too much with his orange hair?

 

"Thank you, Ichigo." The sound of her voice startled him, both with its closeness and surprising gentleness, and he looked over his shoulder to see her standing right behind him, cocooned in soft terry whiteness, and beaming a beatific, tender smile in his direction.

 

Ahh, her smile.

 

Only that smile could drive all other thoughts from his mind, lift him out of a grouchy mood - inspire him to write, to sing, to risk his life, to defy even death itself just to see it again. Anything that life could throw at him - Keigo's nagging next morning, Isshin's silly attacks, even wearing an ill-fitting cheap pirate suit in public - anything was worth enduring just for him to be able to see Rukia smile like this again.

 

He wondered briefly if she had ever smiled this way for anyone else, if she knew anything of what it meant to him, or if anyone else had ever had such a powerful reaction to such a simple gesture from her. Within him he could feel Zangetsu sigh in relief at the blissfully warm golden sunlight breaking through the cloudy skies of his inner world.

 

Rukia, the light.

 

"Ah. It's nothing much," he said, as he gently guided her out of his room so that he could change. And Ichigo couldn't help but smile softly back at her too.

 

-----

 

Down on the first floor, Isshin lay in a crumpled heap, weeping before the portrait of his wonderful beautiful amazing Masaki. "Dearest... I'm nearly certain... our only son… is gay! How could he … NOT appreciate the sight … of the lovely Rukia-chan?!"

 

 

[Disclaimer: Gay people are cool. I'm just picking on Isshin's disappointment. :) ]