Disclaimer: Bleach and its characters are not mine.
Special Cultural Note: In Japan, the third Monday of every July is celebrated as a national holiday called "Umi no Hi" ("Marine Day"; also known as "Ocean Day" or "Sea Day"). In 2013, the third Monday of July happened to fall on the 15th...
Morning, and the sun already up, flooding the room and its resident bed with warm golden light and illuminating a tousled orange head with an even brighter glow.
7:00, the digital clock at the head of the bed blinked. Instants before it began to beep its wakeup call, a hand shot out from under the covers and grabbed it, pulling it into the view of a sleepy face so that he could squint at it through bleary eyes.
"7:00," Ichigo mumbled, "I can still sleep." He buried his face in the pillow again.
A moment later he pushed himself back up, puzzlement crossing his face.
"Weird; that crazy beard-face hasn't attacked me yet." He glanced at the calendar hanging above his desk.
July 15. Ichigo's birthday.
"I was sure he would've busted in by now to give me some crazy wake-up shenanigan," he mused to himself, then grinned. "If he isn't coming, well, I can sleep until he does." And he burrowed once more under the covers.
But the suspense of waiting for the as-of-yet unforthcoming attack, as well as the unnatural stillness of the house in general, kept his ears perked and his nerves too alert for even a brief doze. Finally, he sat up with a curse.
"What's taking him so long?!"
Getting out of the covers, he quickly made his bed and changed into day clothes, always half-expecting the door to bang open and his wacko father to come flying in with some bizarre attack. But all was silence. Nothing from his father. Nothing from Karin. Nothing, even, from Yuzu, which was way strange. If anything, she should've called him down for breakfast.
It was unnerving.
But, and a small grin crossed his face at this thought as he finished tugging his shirt down over his head, maybe this silence marked a special surprise, and they were waiting for him to make his appearance on the scene. If that was the case…
He opened the door and stepped into the hall.
Nothing.
Ichigo's eyes darted from side to side in consternation. Where was everybody? Maybe they were waiting downstairs…?
He clattered down the stairs, loudly announcing his presence to the rest of the house. "I'm starved," he said a bit more loudly than necessary as he entered the kitchen.
Dead silence. Nobody was there.
This was definitely weird, and now he was starting to worry.
"Hello!?" he called out. "Yuzu? Karin!?" He waited for a long moment. Nothing. "Hello!?"
He began wandering around the house, calling out their names in a voice rapidly rising in volume as he still found nothing. "Ooo—iii!"
Now almost starting to panic, he nearly ran out into the hall again to search the house one more time, and just as quickly jumped back as Yuzu scurried past him, carrying a big picnic basket in her arms. "Yuzu!" he exclaimed in relief, but she'd already disappeared into the dining room/kitchen area.
He stared after her in surprise, before another patter of footsteps alerted him and he turned to see Karin hurrying past him with her arms full of beach towels.
What was going on?
Now, he heard pounding footsteps coming down the hall, and he turned to see a huge pile of beach toys and gear on hairy legs tromping towards him, almost in his face.
"Aughh!" Ichigo yelled in shock, and the pile of gear yelled back in return before a face peeked out from behind it and revealed itself to be Isshin.
"Oh, it's you," he said in surprise. "You're up early."
"Well, yeah!" Ichigo nearly said in reply. "It's my bi—"
"Hurry up and get out of the way, boy! Today's a special day, and we have no time to waste in getting ready!" his father cried, and resumed trooping down the hall.
"What? What's going on?" Ichigo asked, following him.
"You know better than anyone else, my son!" Isshin called back with a wink. "It's a very special day."
"What?" Ichigo repeated as they entered the kitchen.
"A day that only comes once a year," Isshin continued as he set his armload of beach stuff down, while Yuzu scurried around the kitchen, readying breakfast and food for making a huge picnic lunch. "A one-of-a-kind day that means the world to us because of its very special meaning and effect in our lives. A day that brings us all joy because of its wonderful subject and the deep regard and love we have towards it. In short, a day that we have anticipated and planned for for months in order to make it the most perfect day of the year."
Ichigo listened in a sort of happy half-daze as his father continued to extol the greatness of the day and of its special meaning and significance to the Kurosaki family's lives; an almost smile beginning to cross his face. He'd known that his family valued him, even cared for him, but he hadn't known he meant this much to them…
"In other words, my son," Isshin said seriously as he put his hand on Ichigo's shoulder, "it's—Umi no Hi!"
"WHAT!?"
"Yes, wonderful Umi no Hi, where we celebrate the importance of the ocean to us as natives of Japan, give thanks for the ocean's bounty, and take family trips to the beach so we can enjoy the beauty of our glorious oceans! It's the best day of the year! Ichigo, my son, we will be going to the beach to celebrate the joy of Umi no Hi, where we will romp around the sand and swim gloriously through the waves while your father chases after his children in a cloud of sparkles! Won't it be wonderful!?"
"Yeah, not!" Ichigo yelled, smacking his dad's hand off his shoulder. "Umi no Hi, huh?! On a way too-hot day, at a blindingly bright beach, surrounded by scratchy sand and smeared with icky sunscreen! No thanks!"
He stomped off and away up the stairs, into his room, slamming the door behind him as he flopped facedown onto the bed.
"Can't believe I thought for the slightest second that my stupid father was talking about my birthday," he muttered into his pillow. "I'm a moron, getting my expectations up like that."
Yuzu looked at Karin, packing the towels away, as they heard the door slam above them.
"He seems really upset," she worried. "Should we give him a hint?"
"Nah," Karin shrugged it off. "He'll be happy again after we get him to the beach and he finds out about his surprise birthday beach party."
.
.
Owari~
A/N: I wrote this in summer of 2013, after looking at my Japanese daily planner and noticing that "Umi no Hi" and July 15th were on the same day. It's a little late now, but I didn't want to wait until the next time July 15th happened to be the third Monday of July, so I went ahead and posted it. ^v^ I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!
I told my siblings about the plot of this story, and even though they aren't Bleach fans (though they know the basic plot and characters), they laughed. I only hope that my writing skill was good enough to keep the humor of the idea intact. ^v^
I know that the room view depicted isn't exactly according to the glimpse we got in chap. 424, but oh well. A little artistic license.
And have you ever experienced the phenomenon of a character running away with your pencil? Isshin was that kind of a character for me! He didn't want to stop talking!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story! I welcome your comments! ^v^