The Bet

   When Ichigo woke up from his normal Sunday nap, he saw his small, raven haired girlfriend sitting at his desk and laughing softly. He rose his eyebrow at the sight of her laughing harder than she ever had before.
'Did she find my notebook...?' he thought to himself.
   From the fear of embarrassment overwhelming him, he shot up from his bed and she jumped in shock from the sound his mattress made. She looked over her shoulder slowly and said, "You scared me! Don't move so suddenly like that!"
   "What are you laughing at?" he asked her.
   She took the notebook off the desk and sat on it before turning around again and saying, "Nothing at all. Don't worry about it."
   The orange haired boy stood up from his bed and lifted her up off the chair with ease. Fortunately for him, it wasn't the notebook that he'd been hiding from her for some time now. Unfortunately for her, it was the drawing of the two of them she had been working on.
   Because she was his girlfriend and they both liked each other very much, someone would think that Rukia drew something really cute and sweet if it had the two of them in it. But no, it was the exact opposite.
   "So, you wanna tell me why you drew a picture of you torturing me with a whip?!" Ichigo shouted.
   Rukia fidgeted in his grip to try and escape, but it was no use. So she simply lied, "It's not a whip, it's licorice."
   "Really? Then why am I dead?!" he asked.
   "You're not dead! You simply passed out from joy!" she lied again.
   "Last time I checked, I liked chocolate, not licorice!" he said angrily.
   She sighed, he obviously wasn't buying it. "Then maybe you shouldn't have thrown away my drawings! I was letting out my anger!"
   Ichigo didn't throw them away, he'd never do that. He knee thst drawing was something that she really liked to do it (though she wasn't good at it).
   He simply put them somewhere else other than on top of his desk since last time they were there he picked them up, thinking that was his homework, when he was in a hurry. Probably the worst grade he's ever gotten.
   "I didn't throw them away, and besides, your drawing sucks." he said as he put her on his bed.
   "You know what! You ALWAYS say that! But I've never seen you draw anything!" she said angrily.
   Ichigo turned to her and scoffed, "Doesn't matter, it's much better than your drawing."
   "Well I wanna see how much "better" you are at drawing than me!" she said. Then she got a really good idea and she continued to say, "Why don't we make a bet? If you really are better, then I'll admit it. Otherwise, you have to say I'm an awesome at drawing!" 
   He smirked and said, "Fine! It's a deal then!"
   Rukia laid back on his bed and laughed, "Good, wake me up when you want to face defeat!" She closed her eyes and drifted off into sleep.
'I agreed to the bet, but what am I supposed to draw?' he thought to himself.
   Then he turned to his drawer and sighed, he might as well use that. He sat down at his desk and glanced at Rukia to make sure she really was asleep. When he felt it was safe enough, he open a drawer that was near his desk and pulled out a notebook that he had for over a year now.
   He got it a week or so before Rukia went back to the soul society after he lost his powers. And ever since he's kept sketches of her in them.
   Thanks to his photographic memory and his previous drawing of her in the notebook he was able to continue while she was in the should society. He even made a few more after she came back.
   It got him through the loneliness that began to build up after she left. Whenever he'd think of her, he'd draw her or he'd look at those pictures.
   As "sweet" as may have been, Ichigo could never show her those pictures. Before they started dating, it was about the rejection of his feelings, but now it's about the embarrassment of her knowing something like that existed. He didn't care about other people's opinions, but he thought that her opinions were very important.
   He sighed and erased the date on his favorite sketch and put in July 29th instead. He pulled ripped the pat out and slipped the notebook back in the drawer before closing it again.
   Sure it was a picture of her but she told him to draw something and he was certain that it wouldn't be as bad as the seeing a notebook full of them.
   Sliding the chair over to his bed, he tapped on her shoulder and she opened her eyes.
   Rukia sat up and said, "You're finished?"
   Ichigo nodded and felt his cheeks begin to grow warm as he handed her the paper. She took it in her hands and smiled as her lavender eyes caught a glimpse of the picture.
   On the paper was a drawing of her on the day she gave Ichigo his powers, smiling while her short hair was drenched in rain.
   He hadn't missed a single detail on her face, it looked almost like a picture taken by a camera that was in black and white. It looked just like her.
   "Ichigo, didn't you get this from your notebook?" she asked after turning her attention back to him.
   He jumped in shock and said, "W-What notebook?!"
   "The notebook with pictures in it? Don't tell me you forgot about it." she said.
   He looked down at his lap and asked, "How did you find it?!"
   "I was looking for my drawings a few weeks ago, and I opened the drawer. I saw that the notebook was open to this same drawing." she said happily.
   He peered at her through his orange fringe and saw that there was a smile on her face. "You don't think it's weird or anything?"
   "No way! It's a really nice gesture. Especially knowing that most of them were done while I was gone. Why would I think it was weird?" she asked him.
   Ichigo let out a sigh of relief, hearing that made him feel a little better about his secret drawings. But he quickly realized something, "Wait! If you already saw that then why did you say that you've never seen my drawings before then?!"
   "Do you really think I was going to tell you about something that you were so obviously hiding from me? And besides, I wanted to see what you'd draw." she said as she put the picture on his bed.
   She stood up and said, "Did you draw anything else? Let me see!"
   He never pictured things happening this way, he always figured that she'd think it was weird or even stupid. But he never would've thought that it was okay, especially not something that she'd ask to see again.
   After he opened up the drawer and handed her the notebook and took it into her hands and flipped through the pages with a smile spread across her face and reddened cheeks.
   Seeing these pictures brought her more joy than she was letting on. A few days after Ichigo lost his powers, she would watch him and she'd hear him say things like "I don't miss Kuchiki-san." 
   He'd never call her that, the only time he did that was when his friend didn't know that the two of them were shinigami. But hearing him say that along with him saying that he didn't miss her made her feel as though it was true. 
   But seeing the notebook and the dates on all the pictures made her remember that he was just doing something that he so often liked to do in order to look tough. He was putting on a front.
   The reason he did this wasn't something she had figured out or even tried to figure out. She was just satisfied knowing that he lied to his friends when they asked if he missed her.
   Actually, if he would've told the truth, he would've said, "Of course I do! What kind of question is that?!"
   How could she have forgotten that he was the same person who saved her from getting executed? Whether it was a seventeen months or seventeen days, he'd never change.
   Rukia closed the notebook and looked up at Ichigo. "You're much better at drawing than I am. " she admitted with a smile.
   He smirked at her words and put his hand behind ear and said, "What??? I can't hear you over the sound of my ego boosting."
   She frowned and slammed the notebook against his ear as she said, "Don't push it, you fool!"
   Ichigo put his hand against his throbbing ear and said with a chuckle, "I'm officially satisfied." 
   "What am I gonna do with an idiot like you?" she asked before folding her arms over her chest.
   He patted her head and grinned, "What am I gonna do with a midget like you?"
   She swatted his hand away and he turned back to his desk with a smile. She wanted this moment to be locked inside her heart forever and never let it go. It's times like this that made her hope that their time together would never end.