Hearts and strings

Saturday, February 12th. It should have been snowing or sunny or even partly cloudy. But no, it was raining, and the rain had been pouring down for days. Rukia Kuchiki had wanted to go out into the town and look for ideas on what to give her friend Ichigo for Valentine's Day, which was in two days. The Kurosaki's had let her live with them for months now, and she had grown much closer to the eldest child than she realized. Between herself and Ichigo, she had promised to make his life worth wild while he lived. Only . . . she never truly told him. Apparently Valentine's Day in the world of the living represented something special about love and affection. Caring for another and love was the main purpose—flowers and chocolates were just a bonus for women. It was a perfect day to show her affection towards him.

While the rain had been pouring for the third day straight, Rukia had decided to help Yuzu, Ichigo's youngest sister, clean around the kitchen and prepare dinner for the family in the evening. Yuzu was sweeping the floor while Rukia looked through the cabinets absentmindedly, told to clear random clutter from the teak shelves. Because she was short, actually shorter now than Yuzu was, Rukia stood on a chair and opened one of the last cabinets. It was filled with hardly used china on the top shelf, and many numerous cookbooks on the two below. Rukia looked at them surprised. Yuzu must really have a thing for cooking, she thought as she stared at the books. Rukia grabbed one of them randomly, pulling it out into full view. It was a recipe book for sweets and holiday desserts, but what caught Rukia's eye was what was sticking out of the book instead of the cover.

"What's this?" Rukia asked, pulling out an old folded, faded and torn piece of paper from the pages of the aged cookbook. The paper was pink, and covered with old stains and seemed like it had been used quite often.

The gentle sweep of Yuzu's eyes fell to the paper in Rukia's hand, and they brightened when she saw the color. "That's Mom's," she said in amazement, putting the broom aside. "I haven't seen it in years." She reached for the paper, and Rukia handed it to her. Rukia raised an eyebrow. Yuzu knew what it was automatically before Rukia had even gotten the chance to read it.

Rukia was confused. "What is it?"

"It's my mother's old Valentine's Day cake recipe," she said in such a tone of amour it almost made Rukia sad. "I haven't seen it in forever."

"It looks like it's been used very often though."

Yuzu snickered, "Yeah, when we were younger. Once Mom past away though, we forgot about things we used to do with her. I doubt it's been seen since the year she died."

Yuzu raised her eyebrows at a sudden thought. She turned her head towards her somewhat half-sister. "Didn't you mention you wanted to get something for Ichigo on Valentine's Day?"

"Well . . . ," Rukia didn't want to tell her, it felt awkward in a way. She caved. "I wanted to make something for Ichigo for Valentine's Day, but I don't know what to create. Since the rain's so bad, I can't get into town and buy anything. Do you think he likes flowers?"

Yuzu gave her a weird look. "Girl's are the one's supposed to get flowers. He likes chocolate though."

"He does?" Rukia said quite surprised. Ichigo had never seemed like one to be a big fan of chocolate before.

"Oh yeah." Another idea formulated in her mind. "Hold on!" Yuzu bolted out of the kitchen and left Rukia there dumbfounded. Ichigo's youngest sister came back several minutes later, a large book clutched close to her chest. She put the book on the table gingerly. It was their family photo album. Yuzu turned the pages quickly, looking for random images. She pointed to one in particular. The image was of a younger woman, pregnant yet still smiling beautifully at the camera. It was supposed to be her mother.

Rukia had never seen an actual photograph of Masaki until this day. Of course, she had seen Masaki's visage through the numerous and slightly obnoxious large posters that hung on numerous walls throughout the house, but never an actual picture. And she was just as beautiful as she had been described in words.

"This was taken before Ichigo was born," the twelve-year-old said. "Mom was making something for Valentine's Day in this picture too; at least that's what Dad said. He said that Mom had gotten this really weird craving to make a . . . red-velvet-white-chocolate-iced-cake," she said the last six words slowly, making sure they were how her father had said them. "Apparently Ichigo liked chocolate even before he was born."

Rukia smiled, a light chuckle almost falling out of her throat.  

She flipped a few more pages inward, stopping on one particular memory. "This is my favorite."

Rukia looked at the picture carefully. The photograph was of Masaki, a much younger Ichigo along with Yuzu and Karin, who were also extremely young. The photo had been taken while they were making something in a large bowl. The table was covered with a cloth of flour and other darker powders. Masaki was smiling at her children like she always was, watching the scene below her. Ichigo was on the table grinning exuberantly with wide eyes into the bowl as he held a whisk with his entire hand, the picture stilled to him stirring the concoction while Karin watched the bowl with just as large of a smile as he had on the opposite side of him.

Yuzu's young face was hidden from behind the table, only her eyes and hair visible because of the table's height. She was looking off to the side away from the clatter, looking rather uncomfortable about the situation.

Rukia did give a light laugh this time. The situation in the photograph was amusing, and Ichigo's hair was just as bright then as it was now.

"This was taken before Mom died that year. Ichigo was nine and we were four." Yuzu closed the photo album after that. "We haven't really gotten into Valentine's Day since then. Of course, me and Karin get valentines at school, but we don't normally do anything besides that. As for my brother, I don't know what goes on in his mind."

Yuzu picked up the book and was just about to leave, but before returning the photo album to its former place, she turned back to look at Rukia. "He won't admit it, but he absolutely loves it, or at least he used to. And he's not a chocoholic, but he likes anything with that rich taste."

Yuzu walked out of the kitchen leaving Rukia pondering. Her thumb and index finger cradled her chin as she thought. "Chocolate, huh?" She thought back to the picture, a smile lighting upon her face.

~ ~ ~

Ichigo had been beat, and he was annoyed that indoor soccer practice had lasted longer than it should have. He liked the sport, getting into it in his senior year of high school, but being at the school any longer than necessary was a burden in his mind. It was almost 7 o'clock, and his dad would give him his usual beating and berating for being late for dinner. He groaned, itching at his school uniform. Before showering in the locker room, the boys had been given new suits to wear when they had to represent their school upon traveling. They were tan, cream colored suits including pants, a white dress shirt and red tie. While he was in the shower, someone thought it would be funny to hide his clothes to wear home and basically left him alone in the locker room with nothing to wear except the new uniform. He was naturally pissed, but had no choice. It didn't look bad on him either, he thought, but he was going to kill whoever snatched his clothing at the next meeting.

Luckily, it wasn't raining anymore, stopping last night, and the sky was fading with purple and highlights of yellow in the clouds. He would be home shortly.

Once entering the house, he announced his arrival. "I'm home!" His voice reverberated throughout the corridors of the house, which seemed empty, unsure of why he wasn't getting a response, especially from his father. It was dark, and he was a little suspicious. This house was never dark unless no one was home. But it was a Monday night, so where would they be? And what about—

He saw a dim light in the kitchen. The halo surrounding it was blurry, but he wasn't a coward. He dropped his bag on the floor and walked into the house, a look of curious determination on his face.

When he entered the kitchen something struck his brown eyes with an intensely strange feeling in his chest; a reminder of his past.

"What . . . ," he started in awed shock. A perfectly simple, yet perfectly perfect red iced cake sat on the kitchen table all alone, shaped like a heart. Detail had been etched on the top, a strip of light pink placed carefully in the center, mimicking the larger heart's shape, beads of white icing surrounding a darker pink heart in the middle.

"Oh, you are here."

Ichigo turned around to face the feminine voice that was speaking to him and froze. Even in the dim light, Rukia's form was stunning. She appeared out of thin air across from him, a good distance away from him, wearing a beautiful red dress. It hung just past her knees, was slightly off the shoulder and cut just to where her bust started, revealing nothing yet everything at the same time. He was left breathless by her beauty. Her ocean eyes had been darkened by a rim of eye liner and mascara, Ichigo unable to pull away from them if his life depended on it. She smiled sweetly.

"You look nice, Ichigo," Rukia said, bringing him back to reality.

His eyes had been so locked on her, he barely heard what she said to him. "Hmm?" When he realized she had complimented him, he began to flush, looking down quickly at his attire as if he had been shot. "Yeah, some jerk took my other clothes . . . ." Something else was on his mind once seeing Rukia dressed in red. It was a strange curiosity that picked at his scalp and bothered him more than the cake on the table had. "Why did you make this?" he started, indicating the heart, "And why are you—"

Realization shocked him. He couldn't believe it. "It's February 14th. It's Valentine's Day, isn't it?"

Rukia nodded.

Ichigo watched Rukia carefully under his bangs, wondering what she was thinking. Ichigo had been so caught up between school, his friends and soccer that he had lost track of time and was one-hundred percent oblivious to all the girls giggling around him and whispering about making valentines and chocolate for their boyfriends during school. His eyes flittered to the cake, and then to Rukia, and back to the cake again. "You didn't have to make me this," he started slowly, gesturing the heart on the table with his hand. But there was tenderness in his eyes as he looked back at her for the final time.

She stiffened, confused." . . . But I wanted to," Rukia said quietly. It was more to herself, but a light rosy color grazed her cheeks as she averted her eyes to the floor. She figured he didn't want this gift—her gift to him. Rukia was embarrassed that she had even gone to all the trouble making this cake for him, he must have thought her an idiot. What was the point of having this stupid holiday if it proved nothing to the person of interest in her heart?

She swallowed. "Anyway, it's like a representation of the love you had for your mother."

He smiled, eyes knowing. "And I still do love my mother. She just came back to me in a different form." His eyes turned to velvet as he looked at Rukia's confused and wondering face.

"My mom used to make me one of these every year," he started slowly, tender with the memories flowing back into his mind. He smiled. "And then when Yuzu and Karin were born we made it with them. Of course, it was a little messier, but it was still fun at the same time."

Rukia gave a soft sigh. She knew he was reliving the moments in his memory when Masaki was still alive, warm and pleasant and loving to her children. Rukia blushed, looking at her feet again. "Yuzu showed me some pictures of you making the cake when you were younger, and it gave me the idea. I thought bringing back the tradition would be nice. You were so happy in the pictures that I just wanted to see you smile and be as happy as you were back then. Besides the chocolate cake, that was my gift to you."

Ichigo stared at her awe-struck. That was one of the kindest things anyone had ever done for him before. In Japan, Valentine's Day was supposed to be the day girls gave chocolate made by themselves to boys that had their interest. But it was also a day where they could show their affection to the men who had special places in their heart. Rukia's gift had blossomed from her heart instead of being cheap and store-bought.

The sound of him stepping forward made her look up abruptly, and before she knew it she was swept up into a gentle embrace. It was so unexpected by her, Rukia's arms hung limp by her sides, pratically forgetting what to do with them, the blush on her face redder than her dress.

"Thank you." His voice was practically a whisper as it glided into her ear like a lullaby. "Thank you . . . for bringing my mom back to life, even if it was just for one day."

He was warm, and so wasn't his heart. Ichigo continued to hold Rukia for a long time, not caring one bit if any member of his family came home and caught them at the moment. One arm was around her shoulder while the other wrapped around her lithe waist, hugging her frame to his. Rukia could have died in these arms, they were so protective and overbearing—but in the most perfect way possible. Slowly raising her arms, Rukia breathed in his light scent, spiced and clean from his recent shower. They drew around his waist as she hugged him back, a tone of pure bliss in her voice.

"I'm happy I made you smile, Ichigo."

He smiled once more as he glanced back at the cake, the warmth from his heart spreading to the person he cared most about. "Happy Valentine's Day, Rukia."