AN: Hello readers, and welcome to the re-post of SB.

I decided to re-post because I'm made MAJOR improvements to the story.

Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of Tite Kubo's characters, logos/clothing labels, or vehicles. I am not promoting the use of any type of illicit or prescribed drug use nor do I condone underage drinking, sex, adultery and the use of false I.D. All aspects of this story are pure fiction and are intended for the enjoyment of mature audiences only.

Prologue

What's really so great about summer?

Aside from the fact that the weather gets warmer.

Skin tans.

Hair gets darker.

Nights get longer.

Clothes get shorter.

And there's also the fact that Ichigo is finally leaving Karakura Town for the summer in order to join the Okinawa Surf Team.

Yeah, life definitely gets better.

Ichigo Kurosaki. The tall fifteen year old Japanese red head with freckles, chocolate-brown eyes, a permanent scowl, a crazy doctor for a dad, and two younger twin sisters?

That's him.

Oh and lets not forget his natural sun-kissed tan, flat washboard abs, toned biceps, and those perfectly sculpted buns, thighs and calves. He was not an ugly teenager, but then again most teenagers don't surf all their lives.

There's only one question now...

What exactly is this "Okinawa Surf Team?"

Well, it's the only Olympic certified all male-surfers unit in all of Asia.

So, it is sort of a big deal.

The youngest one can be on the team is fifteen and the eldest is thirty five.

Being on that team was a huge commitment in itself as well when the lifestyle was considered.

Traveling constantly to compete.

Getting endorsements and sponsorships.

Not to mention all the mandatory parties, mixers, and bonfires to meet and mingle with fans.

It sounded like the life, and honestly when Ichigo was given the opportunity to try out he took it.

The team had a program, where a rookie was taken out to a secluded beach island to learn much more about being an OST surfer. It wasn't every novice surfer, but rather a specially chosen one.

Ichigo was chosen this time; he only tried out and with that little bit of skill, charisma, and his own flavor they chose him to receive further training.

Kisuke Urahara and his mother were the ones to thank for his surfing skills, and even his charismatic demeanor.

Ichigo's mother, Masaki Kurosaki was as an adept surfer just as Ichigo grew up to be. The woman was just as beautiful as she was talented on the surfboard; she had fair skin despite all the time spent in the sun, a typical height, light wavy, chestnut brown hair that flowed down to her back with chin length bangs, deep honey brown eyes. It was no wonder Ichigo was so attached to her as she was a release from the bullying the young head received at school. When Ichigo was just elementary school his mother would often take him to the beach, and they would just spend the time alone succumbing to the call of the calming waters.

Alas, there was a tragedy.

An eight year old Ichigo was just learning how to stand on his surfboard without the help of mother. Masaki was changing from her normal clothes and into her surfing gear. Masaki did make a tragic mistake, and left alone as he had already changed beforehand.

Ichigo wanted to show his mom just how much he learned, and began to surf paddling out into deeper waters. Soon enough he was out too far in the waters, and he began screaming for his moms help. The young boy didn't know how to swim very well in deep waters, and sure enough he began to panic. The waves were heavy and the tides were high, and Ichigo was quickly knocked off his little board. Masaki ran out instantly when she heard Ichigo's frail voice. Then in a split second she grabbed her surf board and did what any mother would do; she was going to protect her young no matter the consequence.

She paddled out deep into the water then cried out for her small son, and upon surfing out far enough to him Masaki jumped off her board and dove into the ice cool, deep water.

Ichigo wasn't one to give up even in the situation he was in; he fought for his life trying his damnedest to swim to the surface, but it would only prove that his energy was wasted. Masaki found him in the water and grabbed him just in the nick of time.

The tides were too strong for her to just swim to shore, especially with Ichigo in her arms and her strength was already leaving her; she only had enough energy to bring them to the surface of the water. To make things worst, Ichigo wasn't opening his eyes and he wasn't breathing right either.

Masaki looked around for his small surfboard, but was only able to find her own; she quickly grabbed it with her free hand and laid the unconscious child onto it. Masaki wasn't strong enough to surf back to the shore, the crippling icy water was already starting to numb her as she hadn't even managed to get her wetsuit on, and Ichigo's breathing was slowing down even further.

She knew exactly what she had to do.

She pinched her son's nose closed, drew his head back slightly and began to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Masaki shared breath after breath and afterward began to push at Ichigo's abdomen; with each repetition Masaki grew weaker and her breathing was growing shallow as her body heat was slowly decreasing.

With the fourth and final repetition the mother was triumphant to see Ichigo spitting up water and moving around weakly. The tide was starting to pull her back in, and she honestly couldn't fight back; she gave a strong kick against the edge of her board along with a final 'I love you' to her son as he drifted back out of the tides strong pull. The water swept over her enervated form as she slowly drowned, but even so a smile never left her face and her eyes never left her boy until he managed to glide back to the safe, shallow waters.

Since that eventful day, Ichigo promised to live on his mother's legend by continuing to surf and by especially joining the Okinawa Surf Team.

Kisuke Urahara was a legend when it came to surfing in Karakura Town. Ichigo spent all his free time working in his small curio in order to pay for his surf lessons from Kisuke Urahara. Ichigo liked to call him, "Hat 'n' Clogs due to his ridiculous attire of a sun hat, with wooden clogs on his feet wherever he went, and as strange as it sounded it included surfing as well.

His father Isshin wanted no part of it, but he understood his son's reasons behind doing it so he didn't exactly forbid Ichigo from doing it. The family did drift apart primarily because Masaki was the glue that held them together, but also because the constant fighting that would happen between Ichigo and Isshin. but it didn't much matter to Ichigo; he was going to prove to everyone that he could do it.

He will conquer the surfboard.

But first he needed to make it to Okinawa in order to meet up with his mentor for the summer.

His mentor was raised in Okinawa and spent his entire life surfing. It was in his blood as it was in Ichigo's, and that man of course was the famous Grimmjow Jaegerjaques.

The man was built to surf and it looked like he could do just about any and every sport one could think of. Bulky biceps for baseball, a strong back for wrestling, broad chest for American football, toned core for swimming, and toned legs specifically for soccer. He sported bright cobalt hair, insane blue eyes with green speckles scattered about, and his own trademark grin he always wore Grimmjow was known for his body.

His folks moved out there from Germany just to pursue Grimmjow's father's career as a surfer. His mother was simply the quiet housewife while his father went out and lived his dreams. Though Grimmjow was an only child it didn't mean he was lonely at all. He liked to surf with the other kids. His parents split town leaving Grimmjow to keep the legacy going when he was only fifteen.

Having lived in Okinawa all his life, everyone knew him for his father and vice-verse. He had the reputation as the best surfer on the team, considering he was only eighteen.

Did that give him a reason to be arrogant, cocky, and much too prideful?

No. But that doesn't mean he wasn't all of the above. The captain of the team decided to nominate the modest Grimmjow to teach the new guy on the team how it all goes down in just one summer.

It was a tradition for the mentor to take their only protégé to the Shirahama Beach for that summer where they would train with no distractions, no fans, and no outside resources aside from the occasional help from their Vice President Gin Ichimaru.

Having an all male, Olympic team of old fashioned surfers led to complete immunity from any type of criminal activity; drug use, underage drinking, sexual based offenses, and importantly hate crimes. The only ones who had to worry about crime were the closeted homosexuals on the team.

That was also one small thing Grimmjow couldn't keep out of his head.

When he was only eight years old his father took him and his adopted younger brother Nnoitra Jiruga, to see something he was just too innocent to see. Two of the surfers were accused of being gay simply because they were housemates on beachfront property, and had plans to quit the team to start their own business. The men of OST were expected to have decent girlfriends and especially to live with them after a certain period of time, so when these two men decided to bunk together it definitely raised a few red flags.

Grimmjow didn't know if they were gay or not, but all he knew as they laid on the beach they had been castrated of their manhood to symbolize that they were no longer men. As the two men squirmed, shouted, and bled to death each of the surfers took their time in attacking the injured men, making sure that every single moment they spent alive was spent in a great deal of pain.

The younger blunet wouldn't dare shed a tear or even look away from the gut wrenching sight to behold, just for the simple fact that his father was not a man to tolerate weakness. All Grimmjow could do was watch with absolute horror, especially when Nnoitra ran into the pit, and began to join in the assault as if it were natural.

It could've been Grimmjow's father who emasculated the men as no one truly stepped up to the blame, but that didn't mean the young surfer ever doubted it anyway. If anything it only scared Grimmjow into being straighter than a ruler.

It also put the fear of his father in him, as well as his fellow surfers; if they could do this to someone just because they were gay, Grimmjow wouldn't want to be anything like that.

As the two men finally died and the surfers threw their lifeless bodies into the ocean, Grimmjow's father spoke five words that to this very day haunts him.

'This is what happens to gays.'

That day Grimmjow's innocence died, but it brought a fear and a deep hatred of anything or anyone remotely homosexual; he feared ever becoming 'one of them' so he opted to hate them.

We learn to hate and fear what we do not understand.

And to think, it all started at the beach. What's so great about summer anyway? At the end of the summer the heat only brings bad sun burn, and broken hearts.

As for Grimmjow and Ichigo after this fateful summer, neither of their lives were never going to be the same again.

Chapter One:

Hellos & Goodbyes

June 16, 2005

6:00 AM

It was the first chapter in the new life of Ichigo Kurosaki;he was finally leaving his home to pursue what he loved. He killed the try out, nailed the interview, and when he finally got confirmation that he was officially on the team just a couple weeks ago he knew his life would never be the same.

His sisters wished him luck about a thousand times each, his friends all promised to text him every single night, and his boss even slipped him a hundred thousand yen in his final paycheck for enjoying himself over the summer and for good luck as well.

Nothing was going to fuck with his vibe; not today.

Ichigo was confident that he would be able to show his skills to his mentor over the summer with mastery and even show him a few tricks. He had just the right amounts of luck and talent for him to excel in the art of surfing, but what gave him that special edge had to have been his mom's surfboard.

It was about seven feet of red, white, and black faded out paint with a pointed horn at the tip of it. Ichigo nicknamed his board Tensa for the reason that it was his only connection to his mother since she passed away.

His family took her death in their own seperate ways which practically broke the family apart. His father Isshin began to chain smoke cigarettes just because Masaki liked it. Ichigo's little sister Yuzu began cooking and cleaning as she tried to take her mother's place. Yuzu's twin sister Karin completely withdrew from them all and devoted her life to soccer. And finally all Ichigo had was his mother's surfboard, the memories of his mother and their happy family all were symbolized by Tensa.

Everything seemed so much easier when he used Tensa; it was like his mother was guiding him on the it, and was protecting him as he shredded the waves. It gave him that extra bit of confidence he desperately needed, and he sort of grew to depend on it.

The dependency proved to be Ichigo Kurosaki's one and only mistake that morning.

"What do you mean I can't take her board? Dad come on! need it and you're totally being unfair!"

"I've been fair enough to let you go splash around in the water like she did. But as for you taking her board out of Karakura for some team? No way, you must be out of your damn mind." Isshin replied calmly, but affirmatively.

"But Dad, what if I can't do it without that board. Please, I don't want to mess up the only opportunity I have to do this!" He spoke, damn near begged to his dad.

"I don't know why you think you can do this. You're going to end up killing yourself like my dear Masaki did. Now I've been kind enough to let you do this, but if you so much as utter another word about it, you will not be able to join that team Ichigo."

Ichigo opened his mouth to fight back, but he held his tongue; his dad was serious. He nodded his head and went back into the house to grab the remainder of his things to throw them in the trunk of the family car.

All of his confidence waned because without his mother's board he wouldn't have even made it this far. His dad didn't seem to have a problem with him using her board at the try outs. Why was he being so difficult right then?

It was like Isshin wanted him to fail.

The trip to his new home for the summer was dead silent with his father driving, because simply put Ichigo was a mess.

He was nervous, pissed, afraid, and he was even having second thoughts with going through with joining the team. All of which was because his father wouldn't let him use his mother's board; he was letting the negativity get to him and the worst part was he knew he was doing it.

The sedan finally came to a slow halt, Ichigo looked up from his lap and looked out the window to see that they were literally in the middle of nowhere. The only signs of civilization was a small shack that was just a few yards from the beach itself.

Ichigo looked over at his father to pronounce his second thoughts, but was beat to the punch once he heard his dad say, "Are you sure you want to do this my beautiful son? I mean an entire three months away from home, that's an awful long time away from the clinic."

Ichigo sighed softly then opened his mouth to reply before once again being beaten to the punch by his overly zealous father, "I know that sigh when I hear it. Let us go back to Karakura Town, and forget this silly surfing nonsense." There was slight humor in his voice, but Ichigo wouldn't dare laugh or even smile as he realized just what he was about to give up.

Isshin turned the key to start the vehicle once again, but Ichigo was already out of the car. He wasn't going to give up his dream, with or without Masaki's surfboard he was going to make it happen.

"No dad, I'm going to do this...pop the trunk so I can get my things. I'll see you when my training is over."

The goat-faced man looked as if he had been shot, but the strange look was soon replaced with defeat as he opened the trunk. Ichigo walked to the rear of the car and grabbed his duffel bag, and few suitcases; once he slammed the trunk shut he began walking toward the shack.

Isshin rolled down his window and yelled out, "Just call me whenever you are ready to come home my beautiful son! I love you and be safe!"

"Shinjimae.." The teen muttered beneath his voice as he continued walking toward the office, luckily after calling out of his window Isshin soon drove off leaving him alone.

He dropped his few things down and stood in front of the shack, he took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. The fight's with his dad, the long hours of practice, working for Hat & Clogs for all those years, and of course a few bad sun-burns built up to this moment. After this he wasn't going to be just another kid, he was going to be on an Olympic surf team. He was going to carry on the legacy of his mom and prove his dad wrong, otherwise everything that he worked for and all that he had lost would've been in vain. With or without Tensa he was going to do it.

There's no turning back now.

Ichigo pressed his lips together and then began to walk up the very miniscule flight of stairs to reach the door of the shack. He shakily reached his hand over to the knob of the door and stepped in. Sitting behind a desk signing off a rather large stack of paperwork sat rather tall man with silver hair cut into a short pixie type cut, and an idle grin. "Can I help you?"

Ichigo docilely scratched the back of his neck and stumbled out, "I-I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, a new addition to the O-Okinawa all male Surf Team? A-am I in the right place?"

"Ah, you're Kurosaki? Yes, you are in the right place. Your mentor should have been here already, though I guess it's okay to start without him. Please come in and shut the door."

Ichigo nodded his head and stepped into the small shack then reached his hand back to close the light door behind him.

"I have a few things you just need to sign off on, so if you would please, come to my desk so I can give you your proper paperwork Kurosaki-san."

Ichigo rubbed his arm uncomfortably and took a few steps forward to begin signing the paperwork, but before picking up the pen he asked, "May I ask what exactly I'm signing? I mean...could you please explain what you want me to agree to?"

"You are a very intelligent boy, asking before signing away. You are signing two forms, two of which are agreements, one is your contract, and a waiver. Of the two agreements one is acknowledging you are not, homosexual, you have never engaged in sexual activity with another male, and so on. Dishonesty can cause you expulsion from the team, and further punishment that is decided amongst the other surfers."

"Okay...what about the rest?"

"The second agreement applies only to this summer. You are required to live on Shirahama Beach and do everything your mentor says without a doubt. It is up to your mentor whether you stay on the team, or not and your actions decide that. To prohibit any type of unhealthy relationship to form between you two, your mentor is required to sleep out on the beach, while you Kurosaki are to sleep inside the provided cabin. I will sporadically check on you whenever I feel necessary, and twice a month I will come by to pick up your grocery list, in which you are only allowed 10 items each."

Ichigo nodded his head.

"The final two papers are your work contract stating that you are officially on the team, and you agree to the payment discussed during the initial interview. You are free to resign your position on the team once your mandatory time discussed on the team is up. And your waiver which denies the fault of any injuries, diseases, arrests or deaths that occur whilst on the team. If anything is to happen while you are surfing, or outside of surfing we at OST will not be held accountable for hospital fees, funeral expenses, or anything of the sort."

Ichigo knew that the man behind the desk had to have been keeping a few things to himself, but he didn't really find it necessary to read any of the paperwork. He grabbed the pen and blindly signed and initialed where he was signaled to, then afterward he took a few steps back and sat down in the chair provided near the door.

The silverette did his part in checking over everything and signing off which was necessary for him to sign. He felt something tingling in his pocket, so he reached into it to see that a blocked number was calling him.

"Excuse me, I'll be just a second."

Gin waved his hand granting the boy permission to leave, and with that he left the shack to answer his phone. The beach was still pretty close, so he decided to just walk to it and just smell the ocean air; it'd calm his nerves a bit.

As soon as Ichigo pressed the phone to his ear, and frowned a bit once he realized whom it was.

"Shirosaki?"

"Tha' one an' only." he responded.

"I thought I got rid of you a long time ago."

"Oh King, ya can ne'er get rid'a me 'specially when somethin's wrong witcha."

"Shiro nothing is wrong. I'm just really nervous about this whole thing, I really don't want to fuck up."

"Yer tha' King'a surfin' in my world Ichigo. There's no reason ta' be nervous when ya got me, "

"Thanks Shiro...you never let me down." he said softly feeling just a bit better.

"What're best friend's fer King? 'Sides can't really sleep when it's rainin'. Now that it ain't I'm out."

Ichigo chuckled softly and nodded his head, as if Shiro where there with him then replied, "Okay."

He brought his phone down to hang up, but as strange as it sounded his phone was completely shut off; instead of questioning it he sighed softly and slipped the phone into the pocket of his slim jeans.

Even though he was a surfer he was still very modest of himself, as he dressed conservatively mixed with goth -like undertones; it was his signature style. He didn't believe in wearing shorts unless he was surfing, nor did he believe in wearing anything that showed his chest or shoulders. In fact black was his absolute favorite color and he wore it with almost every outfit.

Ichigo sat down on the soft, warm sand and peeled off his slip-on black Vans along with his ankle socks and rolled up his black colored jeans up to his knees. He tucked his socks into his shoes and then walked forward into the naturally heated sand; a low hum left him as the sand sunk between his toes and massaged the bottoms of his feet.

He took a few slow steps into the low tide water just to get his feet wet; as the ice cold water hit his skin a soft shudder left him as his troubles left him for just an instant. The sounds of the seagulls mixed with the waves crashing against each other were just enough to take Ichigo away. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in; the salty ocean mist was damn near intoxicating.

I got this.

No matter what dad says, I got this.

Ichigo took a deep breath and opened his eyes he noticed a truck parked in the parking lot of the shack. He stepped out of the water, and then put his shoes back on without bothering to roll down his pants once more. The walk to the office was short, but he felt like everything was practically in slow motion. He was getting very nervous again; his mentor was probably in that very room.

Ichigo hadn't paid any special thought to the whole mentor concept until he actually right then.

What if his mentor didn't deem him worthy of his training?

What if Ichigo was unteachable?

What if he got kicked off the team because he didn't bring his board?

The last question rattled around in his head for a while; he didn't even notice that he made his way towards the door of the office. He tripped on his own footing and not even a second later he was on top of a man with electric charged blue hair, and eyes as blue as the ocean itself.

FUCK!

Ichigo was frozen in place; the myriad mix of blues and light greens in the male's eyes were distracting. The fact that they hadn't blinked, and just stared up at him is what caused fear to strike him. His hands were on the male's chest which was nothing like his own; the blunet's was broad, and so firm. He could feel the muscles spasming at his palms.

Could things get anymore awkward?

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June 16, 2005

6:19 AM

Grimmjow didn't really understand why he had to be up at the crack of dawn just to meet the boy he was supposed to be teaching for the summer.

The sea blue eyed surfer gave a soft sigh and eventually left his new '05 cobalt Ford F-650 pick-up truck. He shut the door, then gave himself a simple look over through the side-view mirror of his truck.

There was no point he always looked great; even though he wasn't paying attention when he got dressed he still looked rather decent.

He wore a lime green tank top with the word "Aero" stitched across it in white, khaki cargo shorts, with a pair of light brown sandals at his feet, and a sandy brown baseball cap on his head which he wore backwards letting only his azure bangs sway on his forehead, and to complete it a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes.

It wasn't like he was going to speak to anyone important.

Grimmjow walked into Gin's office which wasn't too far from the beach itself and leaned against the door-frame.

"Jaegerjaques, I'm glad you could make it an entire twenty minutes late. You made your protégé wait. That was not very considerate." The silver haired male copped a grin as he spoke, with his eyes sewed shut.

No matter the circumstance Gin kept his eyes closed, and especially kept a grin on his face. No one could tell what he was feeling, nor what he was thinking; it was intimidating to most but Grimmjow found it creepy as hell.

"Save it boss. It's six in the morning. Just gimme my paycheck, and the kid I'm supposed to be teaching and lemme go." Grimmjow said with slight annoyance; to think of it Ichimaru and himself were the only one's in the office.

"Speakin' of the kid, where's he at?"

Literally a few seconds later, an orange haired boy stumbled into the room and tripped; being caught off guard Grimmjow fell onto his back, catching the mess of a red-head teenager. The baseball cap fell off his head exposing his wavy, messy, sky blue locks and with that his sunglasses slipped off showing his matching cyan eyes as well. He looked up to see a pair of big, innocent, maple-syrup brown eyes staring down at him.

Something was up.

The boy didn't move, he just laid there and stared down into Grimmjow's eyes; he didn't speak nor did he blink. And quite frankly Grimmjow couldn't do much either; there was just something in the red-head's eyes that Grimmjow couldn't stop staring at.

They reminded him of his fiancé's Nelliel's hazel eyes; they were almost too innocent. The blush that was building underneath the dark chocolate freckles that were sprinkled across the bridge of his nose and cheeks did no justice at all either.

"That is your student Jaegerjaques; he had an important phone call, so I let him leave for a brief moment. Now, if you two want to get paid then I suggest you stop laying around, so you can leave my office and get to work." The grinning silverette had a tinge of amusement in his voice as he spoke so suddenly.

"Ya gonna get offa me now?" Grimmjow grinned up at the boy staring down at him.

Ichigo nodded his head and immediately stood up to meekly reply, "Thanks for catching me." He reached a hand down, to help Grimmjow up.

The blunet shook his head, quickly grabbed his fallen items, then stood to his feet. "Don't worry about it dude."

After briefly speaking, Grimmjow turned to grab the two envelopes that sat on Gin's desks with their respective names printed on the front, then the two men made their way out.

Grimmjow stuck his own envelope into his pocket. Then before handing Ichigo his, he glanced at the name and gave an amused chuckle "Yer name's Ichigo? That's strawberry right?"

Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck and spoke once again, "Y-yeah? What of it?"

"It's just a funny name for a guy, though I've gotta admit its clever. With the red hair and the freckles. Yer kind've a strawberry. I think that's what I'll call ya."

"Yeah whatever you say...Can I have my check please?"

Grimmjow's light blue eyebrow perked up slightly. Why was the kid acting so shy? He wasn't being too hard on him right then and there.

"Yeah." He handed the red head his paycheck, and then spoke once again. "Put everything ya have in the bed of ma' truck. Then we can get outta here."

The red head didn't speak but nodded his head silently and did exactly as Grimmjow said. He went over and grabbed his few suitcases and tossed them in the back of the truck. There was one thing the boy was missing, and it was the most important thing a surfer needed.

"Where's yer board?" Grimmjow asked rather curiously.

"I wasn't allowed to bring it. But, I-I have the money to buy another one if I have to!" The strawberry looked as if he were going to cry; his face was to the ground and his voice was fearful and weak.

"Don't worry about it man. All new members on the team get customized boards. Even if ya did bring it, ya wouldn've been able to use it anyway. No reason to sweat not havin' it."

"Oh." Ichigo chinned up slightly, though Grimmjow could still tell something was itching at him.

"Come on, lets go to the beach. It's where we'll be stayin' all summer."

Once again there were no words from the red head just a curt nod. With that response they stepped into their respective spots in the truck, and Grimmjow backed out of the parking lot from his boss's office.

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June 16, 2005

6:45 AM

Ichigo was flustered.

When his mentor was so decent to him, instead of down right berating him for being so clumsy the flame haired teen grew even more nervous.

It wasn't like he liked guys or anything, in fact he just never really thought about it. He just knew for the longest time he was supposed to like girls, but there was something about Grimmjow.

When the older teen made the points about Ichigo's hair, freckles, and the literally translation of his name Ichigo should've been all kinds of pissed off, but for some reason he couldn't stop himself from blushing.

The blunet had such an assured aura. The clothes he wore were bold and fearless. He didn't walk, he strode. He didn't smile, he grinned. Even his laugh seemed so hearty, and confident.

The blunet was definitely one to look up to.

When the orangette stepped into the truck and clicked his seat belt on he prayed to whomever was listening that, Grimmjow wouldn't try speaking to him again; he couldn't afford to screw anything else up.

"How old are ya?"

"Fifteen."

"Cool. Yer not too much younger than me. I'm eighteen. When didja start surfin'?"

"Eight."

"Nice, nice. I started around the same age too." Finally the man stopped talking for a decent five minutes before asking another question. "Yer hair naturally red?

"Yeah." Ichigo answered blankly once again, his eyes were out the window as he stared off into the distance of the ocean passing by.

"Mine's natural too. Its cool meetin' another person in Japan with odd colored hair. Not to many of us around ya know?" Grimmjow gave a soft laugh and then turned into a parking space.

Ichigo nodded in response.

"Alright Strawberry we're here." He said casually after parking his truck and turning off the engine.

He didn't say anything as he hopped out of the passengers seat of the truck and grabbed his few bags from the bed. For once Grimmjow kept silence as he went to the bed of the vehicle and snatched his own things as well.

When Ichigo saw the cabin he couldn't hold back the smile that tugged on his lips. It was built like something you would see in the movies; it was pretty small with a light sand like tan color.

With bags in hand he made his way to the door; he couldn't wait to see the inside. Grimmjow followed up behind him, and then advanced ahead to unlock the door. As Ichigo stepped inside his smile faltered, as he noticed that the entire interior was empty.

No furniture.

No pictures.

Absolutely nothing.

Ichigo dropped his bags, and began exploring the home; it was one story, one bedroom, and of course lacking just about everything. On the bright side there was running water, but there was no gas, air conditioning, or even electricity.

This was going to be far from a vacation.

"You seem surprised Strawberry." Grimmjow said out of no where.

"There's nothing here." the red head said with a bit of irritation.

"There's you an' me. That's all we really need."

Ichigo nodded his head. He understood just what Grimmjow meant.

He did have one question for his mentor. "Are we gonna surf?"

"It won't really be our main task, but yeah. For right now we need some kindling, and a few more logs. We gotta few chopped up ones out back, but that'll probably get us through a couple days. We need to make a fire so we have some way to stay warm, and eat. There's a forest a little to our east."

"What're eating?"

"Well, Bossman will only bring us instant ramen soup with vegetables, bread, eggs, milk and whiskey if we ask. Unless ya wanna hunt, that's all we can really feast on."

"Whiskey? I don't drink."

Ya might wanna consider it; it's Yamazaki Whiskey too so it's really not too bad. It'll but some hair on yer balls and some bass in yer voice, and it'll keep ya from killin' yerself bored."

The fifteen year old hadn't ever had alcohol before but he wasn't naive to it; his father owned a clinic and there were often cases of people who had alcohol poisoning. If drinking whiskey would help him to become a better surfer in Grimmjow's eyes then by all means he was doing it. Ichigo would have done just about anything to prove himself worthy to his mentor.

Well, almost anything...

Japanese-English Translations

Shinjimae. - Drop dead/Go to hell.

Ten – sky or heaven / Sa –chain so... Tensa – sky (heavenly) chain

The first thing you might notice about this is that it's much shorter than it was initially. The reason for that is for consistency and the flow of the story. I've gotten comments that the story seemed to flow too quickly, so I opted to break the chapters down to smaller bits so that their easier to read. I will be updating once or twice every couple weeks so stay tuned and keep on reading ^^.

My questions to you guys...

If you read the chapter before, what changes do you notice?

Do the changes give a better idea of what the fanfic is about?

Are shorter chapters better than longer ones?

Since there will be some huge changes in further chapters what do you guys think will happen over the summer with our two protagonists?

**Note** Answering of the questions will result in sooner updates.

Criticize, comment, question, favorite, & follow.

Thanks for reading,

~Shawn