Into The Forest Of Tranquillity
Hey guys, So a new story! I had this idea while at work - The smell of rain inspired me to think about camping and so on - so regards to the weather for this inspiration! It's a little different, but I hope you enjoy it! I have quite a few ideas for the next chapters, so hopefully you'll like it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach
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"So, do you fancy it?" Ichigo asked, pondering whether camping would be something a Shinigami would ever consider 'normal'.
"So we live in a little material house for a few days, with each other, eating off a fire and enjoying each others' company?"
"I can understand if it doesn't sound that appealing"
"No no, it sounds rather interesting" She pondered, a finger to her mouth
"I'll ask captain, he owes me a few days off anyway" She responded with a smile
"Cool, you can ask Renji too if you like, though I can't see Byakuya allowing him"
"Hey, it's Kuchiki-Sama to you, but I think you're right, not after what happened with the duck"
"Duck?"
"Nothing. So who else is going? I'm guessing it's not just the two of us" She grinned. Ichigo had to hide a blush
"Well, it was Keigo's idea, but he said we could invite whoever. From what I know, it's me, him, Chad, Inoue, Tatsuki and I believe he also invited Ishida - something about him saving him form a hollow and owing him back I think" He replied to Rukia's quizzical expression.
She thought for a moment
"Isn't his friend Mizuiro going? I thought they were attached at the hip?"
Ichigo laughed
"No, not quite. But apparently he's off on a date with an older woman, so can't make it"
"Ahh, yes, I remember he had a thing for older women" She coughed, not meeting Ichigo's eyes. He was confused for a moment before his face split into a huge grin
"Hahaha! He asked you out didn't he?"
Rukia's face grimaced as she tried to hide her rosy cheeks
"He's very blunt, I can't deny I'm a bit relieved he's not going"
Ichigo's laughter faded into the distance.
He grinned at the memory. Ukitake had only been too happy to give his lieutenant the week off, glad that she was finally 'taking a break'. They were right about Renji however. Apparently nearly beheading one of the Kuchiki's rarest ducks was enough to implement a year's worth of punishment for the poor redhead. Ichigo grimaced, feeling sorry for the poor guy who now, along with his lieutenant duties, had to be a personal house-maid and cook for the clan. He couldn't help but feel a slight sense of relief though
'No competition, eh?'
'Shut up!'
'What, just admitting what you already know'
'Piss off, Zangetsu'
He heard a chuckle before his mind went silent once again.
'Stupid hollow-zanpakto-quincy-hybrid' he cursed to himself, before taking in his surroundings.
They'd arrived at possibly the most beautiful place he'd ever seen
'Christ, looks like the old man was actually right about something' He pondered, looking at the scenery out of the car window. They were in the mountains, to his right was a huge expansive forest, stretching further than he could see, to his left was the same, reaching all the way to the top of the mountains through the clouds. Directly in front of him was the valley and he could see other mountains scattered across the scenery, some still covered in snow.
"This place is amazing" He heard to his left. Turning, he found Rukia aghast at the sight, taking in all her surroundings, mouth slightly open. Before his face could turn red he heard another voice to her left.
"It is, but where do we set up camp? It's all uphill"
Tatsuki had decided to come in their car too, being not far from the Kurosaki's house. He heard his father respond from the front seat
"Don't worry, Tatsuki-chan, it's just a bit of a climb, you can't get there in the car. We'll get the stuff out of the cars and then I'll walk you all to it" He grinned through the mirror. Ichigo frowned. Was that mischief he saw in his fathers' eyes?
'Your fathers always been mischievous, what makes this any different?'
'Well Dad's mischievous is different from this mischievous, that mischievous is more like Urahara-mischievous.'
'You really need to stop saying 'mischievous'
'Mischievous'
Zangetsu groaned at the reply.
'Seriously though, you're probably just imagining things'
'Yeah, maybe'
"Well come-on then, sitting in the car staring aint gonna be very useful is it?" He heard from his father. The three of them unclipped their seatbelts and shuffled out of the car. Standing by it, they got the full effect of the place they were going to stay.
"It's so . . . tranquil" He heard Rukia whisper from his left.
"Well it is called 'The Forest Of Tranquillity' after all" He felt a dig in his arm
"Hey, what was that for?"
"Being a smart-arse, now come on, we need to get all the gear out of the boot" She replied with a grunt. He grinned. He always knew how to piss her off
'And that's a good thing, because?'
He ignored his Zanpakto, taking in the place once again. Despite his comment, Rukia was right. The mountains had a strange feeling to them, as if they uplifted your soul, all the while being deadly silent. It would have been creepy if not for the occasional rustles, tweets and squeaks of the forest animals.
"It's certainly a breath of fresh air after that town"
He turned to his right, watching as his father gazed into the trees, his eyes seemingly far away
"How did you know about this place?" His son queried
"Your mother and I found it once, back before you were born. She was still at Universtiy and I'd just opened the clinic. It was where we first admitted our love for each other"
Ichigo's faced turned somewhat sour
"That's just cheesy"
Isshin turned and grinned to his son, pulling his neck to his side and rubbing his fist in his hair
"Of course it is! I couldn't just admit it in any old place"
Ichigo struggled to get out of his grip
"Get OFF old man!"
"Hehehe, not until you admit it was a beautiful idea!"
"NEVER!"
Isshin pressed his knuckles into his son's skull more fervently
"You sure?"
"I GIVE, I GIVE! It's the perfect place!" Ichigo squirmed, his arms flailing.
Isshin finally let go of him, causing Ichigo to stumble as he stood up, face beet-red from being upside down. Straightening himself up
"Still cheesy."
Isshin was about to jump his son again before a small figure interrupted him
"If you two have had quite enough, me and Tatsuki would like to explore the area" She said sternly, eyeing both of the men with a silencing look. Both bowed their heads
"Sorry, Rukia"
"Good. Now, are we ready?"
"Yes."
They both replied, looking to her with obedience
As the men walked past her, grabbing the rest of the bags, she turned to Tatsuki, who was staring at her admirably
"How did you do that?"
Rukia grinned
"Practice. Besides, they're both weak to a stern look." She replied, wiggling her eyebrows as both girls laughed. Turning to the men, she switched her stern-face back on
"Now, lead the way" she indicated to Isshin. He nodded, turning to Ichigo motioning for him to walk next to him. As time passed the girls had come to realise the path they were walking was pretty much straight, and he overtaken the men. Upon realising something, Rukia halted in her progress
"What's up?" Tatsuki said to her side. She turned around to Ichigo, who had been walking silently next to his father
"Ichigo, what about the others?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, how are they going to find this place? They have no idea where it is!"
Ichigo sighed
"Don't you remember? You made me write down the directions from dad and I stuck it on our car so they could find it."
"Oh yeah . . . Never mind then!" she grinned, turning back and carrying on walking
Ichigo heard a small snigger from his father. Ichigo turned to him, furious
"WHAT?!" He shout-whispered, not wanting Rukia to find another reason to beat him up. His father just grinned, motioning to him with his hands.
"I am NOT wrapped round her little finger!"
His father's grin grew
"I am NO-"
"What's going on back there?!" He heard from above. Looking up he found Rukia staring down at them with scrutiny
"N-nothing!" He shouted back, before Isshin threw a crushing arm around his neck
"Yeah, don't worry, we're just talking about man-stuff!"
Ichigo blanched
'No. Don't ask, please don-'
"Man-stuff? Like what?" Rukia pondered, scrutiny replaced by genuine curiosity
"Oh, nothing you need to worry your little head about, Rukia-chan. Ichigo's just having a little problem keeping 'it' down and all that!"
It felt like something just smashed inside Ichigo's mind
'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooo!'
Oh yeah, it was his dignity.
Rukia's face blushed red and she turned back to the mountain
"A-ah, right. O-of course. Man-stuff . . ."
Isshin was trying his best not to let out his cackling, clutching Ichigo's shoulder as he silently laughed into the ground.
He didn't even look up as Ichigo turned mechanically to face him, his eyes shadowed over, his mouth turned down
"You're dead, old man"
Isshin just proceeded to air-cackle, trying not to hyperventilate from the lack of Oxygen
Rukia heard a loud 'THWACK' and didn't even need to turn to see that Ichigo had proceeded to beat up his now openly-hooting father. She felt her mouth turn up into a grin
'Stupid idiot, get's wound up by the silliest of things'
"Rukia, are you smiling?" Tatsuki asked her, staring at her face. Rukia worked to put it straight again
"No, why would I be grinning?"
"Oh, I don't know . . . just seemed that you did that on pu- You know, never mind, just my imagination" She sighed, realising the oxygen must've gone thinner or something. Rukia had to work hard not to grin and snicker
'You're being mischievous again, Rukia.'
'It's not my fault the fool walks into it'
'You could've saved him a little embarrassment. He thinks his dignity's just been lost'
'He lost that a long time ago'
'Yes, but forgets how old you are.'
'Hey, I'm not that old. Besides, his father plays along with me!'
'Yes, but Ichigo thinks' your innocence of him is being tainted!'
'You know very well my 'innocence of him' was tainted the very night I chose to sleep in his closet.'
'He doesn't know that'
'Oh I'm just having a little fun, teasing him like that is just too easy! Especially when his father is there to help'
'One day, you'll both regret it'
'I'll just have to enjoy it until then, then.' She thought haughtily. Really, who was Sode no Shirayuki to tell her to stop being a tease, up until recently, she herself had been openly flirting with Zangetsu. It wasn't her fault Ichigo had become suspicious.
She heard a shuffle from her side, and found a bruised and battered Isshin facing her.
"We're here!" He grinned, motioning to an opening through the trees. As she waled through the last two trees to the opening, Rukia felt a strange sensation lift from her, as if a heavy weight had been taken off her. She grinned, liking the sensation, it just felt . . . right. It wasn't until she'd consciously decided to look did she realise where they had arrived. A gasp left her mouth, just as she heard two others.
The 'campsite' was like nothing she'd ever seen before. It was a small area, only really around the size of a large house, but what a house it was. To the left was a natural onsen, the water steaming in the crisp air. A natural rock formation had turned it into something that looked as if it should be straight out of a book. Rocks surrounded the pool, as the water trickled down a formation that went further into the forest. Little birds appeared to be plopping in and out, for a moment, while some lay in the water. A young fox pawed at the outer-rocks, seemingly cautious of their slipperiness. To the right of the spring was an area of flat ground that could occupy about two 8-man tents, in front of the space was a small pile of rcoks, obviously to be used for a fire. Rukia just stared. She heard Ichigo mumble, just as taken-aback as she
"Dad, what is this place?"
They heard his father chuckle, with a fairly serious expression on his face
"Let's just say only a few people can come here" He murmered cryptically. Before grinning
"Right, this is where I leave you, kids." He said cheerily, beginning to walk backwards
"And Ichigo, no taking advantage of my Rukia! I want yours and her first time to be under my roof!" He yelled, before running back, cackling like a madman. Ichigo was stiff and his face burned. Ironically, Rukia was just so, also being the butt of his joke for once.
"I'm gonna kill that man one day"
She heard Ichigo mutter. Still aghast, Rukia replied
"I might help you on that"
Ichigo grinned, holding out his hand
"Deal?"
She chuckled at him, grasping his palm
"Deal!" She grinned.
Neither realised how long they had stood smiling at each other, still holding hands, until Tatsuki awkwardly cleared her throat
"Uhm, yeah. So we should start putting up the tent now, if that's okay with you two?" Both flushed red and immediately offered themselves up, a little too eagerly. Tatsuki had to smile to herself, she'd never seen Ichigo act so easy around someone before, Rukia too.
'Maybe, this trip will give them a bit of a push' She thought, grinning to herself.
'That will be my mission! Operation; Get Ichigo and Rukia Together!' She almost cackled. Oh, this was going to be fun.
Okay, so that's Chapter 1! I hope those who read till here enjoyed it!