"Come on, you big baby, hurry up!"

"S-Sydney! We're not supposed to be in here at this time! It's late! We could get caught!"

"It's your fault, Ichigo. You're the one who claimed you could swim much better than me, the fastest swimmer on the Karakura Varsity Swim Team."

"B-but it was just joke, Sydney! Renji and I were just kidding around!"

"No one kids around with my sport. Now either we do this or I'll go to school tomorrow and tell everyone about you chickened out of a little friendly competition with the Sydney Leviticus, the greatest swimmer in Karakura Town!"

"Alright, alright! Don't go getting your bikini in a twist! Just keep it down, okay? I don't wanna get caught!"

"Alright, fine. Now go get ready before I push you into the water with your clothes on."

With those words spoken, Ichigo began grumbling to himself, words that I missed, as I unzipped my hoodie. A triumphant and overconfident smirk plastered against my face as my mind reeled for what was about to happen. The pool area - the home of the Karakura High School swim team, as I liked to call it - was eerily silent at midnight when no one was around using it. The waters remained calm and untouched by anyone or anything; it was just the way I liked it before jumping in and tainting its beauty with multitudes of ripples. The smell of chlorine water filled my nostrils as I took in a deep breath and closed my blue eyes, memories of all the times I leapt into it and embraced the crisp warmth entering my mind instantly. It was a familiar, yet intoxicating scent for me, since I was here almost every day and night practicing for the Varsity Swimming Competition that was coming up in a few months. It was the biggest event for all swim teams in Japan, and since I was the best swimmer on the team, I knew for sure Karakura was going to take the title home this year. It was just a simply fact that I knew too well.

Letting my long brown hair out of its usual tight ponytail, I began to take off the rest of my clothes save for the camouflage colored bikini underneath it. I could not help but keep thinking about the recent events of today, which involved a certain orange haired teenager that left moments ago to change. Apparently, Ichigo Kurosaki, my good friend of a few years, had claimed he could beat me at my own game during lunch. He claimed the only reason I was fast in the water was because I was on "drugs" or something along those lines; I did not really catch it since I was too busy focusing on the fact that he was talking all big. To him, it saw it as a simple witty joke, but to me, I saw it as a challenge. No one would even dare to speak those words in my presence unless they were asking for a death wish, or this case a challenge. Swimming was my life and there was no way I would ever cheat my way to the top. However, according to Ichigo, he thought it would be funny to start telling everyone he could beat me if he tried. Little did he know, I planned to find that out very soon.

"So you think you can beat me at my own game, huh, Ichigo?" I asked him, crossing my arms over my chest.

He looked at me smirked playfully.

"Of course I can," he teased, though I noticed his eyes shift a little. "I bet you're only winning because you're out back behind the school filling yourself up with drugs or something."

I laughed heartily and with confidence.

"Drugs, really, Ichigo? That's the best you can come up with to a champion" I questioned. "Please. That's the oldest comeback in the book. In fact," I smirked evilly, "ridiculous comebacks like that sound like a challenge to me."

At my words, Ichigo's face turned pale. Either he did not think his whole teasing act through or he did not expect me to start challenging him so soon in our mini argument.

"H-hey, Sydney, it was a joke," he tried to explain. "I-I mean it."

I raised an eyebrow at him; it was funny to see him cower when stuff like this comes up.

"Oh, so you're backing down from a challenge because you're acting like a little chicken!" Now it was my turn to tease him, but just enough to accept my challenge - well, for the most part. He did not say anything in response for a moment, but I quickly spoke up before he could think of something to say to me. "Alright then, since you think I cheated my way to the championships two years in a row, I say we have a little 'friendly' competition."

He started to pale at my words.

"C-c-competition?" He exclaimed. "But Sydney, it was just a joke! I swear! I didn't mean it!"

I shook my head and said, "You think you can go around telling everyone that you could beat me without even trying once in your entire life?" I smirked, watching him squirm under my gaze. "Well, that's all about to change. Starting tonight. Midnight. At the high school swimming pool."

He looked around, looking scared for his life in case a teacher came around.

"S-Sydney! We can't! We could get in trouble!" He tried to explain, but I refused to listen to him.

"Either you accept the challenge, or I'll tell everyone about how you chickened out of a little race between me and my 'drugs'," I told him.

He stood there for a long moment, contemplating my words, before becoming serious.

"You're on," was all he had to say to me.

A smirk appeared on my lips as I reminisced the events that took place that morning, recalling it as if it were a funny scene from a movie. It was pretty fun to watch Ichigo squirm under the pressure of being challenged, complaining about how he did not want to be caught swimming around the high school pool at midnight. I even found it a bit…cute to see him like that, all flustered, scared and unable to defend himself. I blinked a few times at the thought, going back a moment to see what I just thought. Cute? Since when had I ever thought someone was cute? That was when my eyes narrowed a bit, feeling my face flush. Oh yeah, that was right; I had always thought Ichigo was cute sometimes. Even though we had been friends for a couple of years, I had always thought he looked attractive in some way or another. However, I was too busy with my swimming to actually think about guys, for fear it would distract me during the swimming competition and ruin my "focus." Guys will have to wait for a long while, I told myself once. Besides, guys only created problems. With how close the swim team was to reaching the championship (again), I did not want to worry about guy problems when I was out swimming for the title. I had to remain focused and at the top of my game, not worrying about the people my man was talking to.

A sigh escaped my lips as I slipped on my swimming cap, pushing the last strands of my long brown hair into it before adjusting it to fit better. Men and their problems…

"Ichigo, hurry the Hell up!" I shouted as I put my goggles on my head. "If you're chickening out again, I'm gonna go in there and kick your ass!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" I heard his just as he came out of the locker room. I blinked a few times as I looked him over. He wore nothing but bathing suit and I noticed his abs, which happened to be really toned. I felt another blush creeping up the back of my neck, before looking away and clearing my throat. When I looked back at him, I noticed something was missing.

"Where's your swimming cap," I asked.

He did not reply for a few seconds, clearly distracted by something, but snapped out of his daze when he realized I was talking to him.

"That stupid looking hat thing? I didn't bring it," he responded. "It looked ridiculous."

My blue eyes turned into a glare.

"Damn it, Ichigo, I gave it to you so you can wear it! You have to!" I snapped, placing my hands on my hips.

He shook his head.

"Thanks but no thanks," he said nonchalantly. "I think I'll be fine without it. And plus…" He pointed to his head, but was referencing me, "you look stupid with it on."

I growled at him.

"It's necessary for swimmers to wear this!" I told him. "Excuse me if I look like a freak with it on."

"You don't look like a freak, Sydney," he stated as he walked to the water's edge. "The hat just makes you look stupid is all." My glare hardened as he smirked at me. "Hey, I'm just getting you back for this morning."

"You brought it upon yourself, Ichigo, so don't go blaming me for something I felt needed to be done," I told him as I moved to stand next to him.

I glanced at him again, giving him a light glare, but soon began staring at his well-toned body once again. A blush began to form on my face as I attempted to pry my eyes off him, but I could not seem to resist. I never actually noticed how…hot he looked without a shirt on, and hat was saying something for a girl like me - so competitive and ready for a challenge. Everyone knew I was not the type to go running around looking for guys like some of the other girls, unlike most girls in the school. It was one of the reasons why I never really got along with other girls in the high school to begin with. However, I was friends with most of the guys, Ichigo included, since they found my tomboyish attitude to be quite hilarious. They knew I was not the type to throw myself out there for a guy, but for some reason, there were times when I felt attracted to Ichigo. Although we had been good friends for a good couple of years now, I never actually saw myself being with him. Was it because I was such good friends with him that made me so out of place I was when it came to being in a relationship with him? I was not sure at all, but racking my brain was not going to do much help.

I did not notice Ichigo look down at me and find me staring at him until he spoke.

"What's up, Sydney?" He asked, curiosity filling his voice.

I blinked a few times before looking away. Luckily, only the light of the moon was seen throughout the pool area, since I was trying to hide a blush from him.

"N-nothing," I responded before looking out at the pool. "Let's just get this over with…"

"Before we get caught?"

I sent him a glare.

"Who the Hell is going to come to a pool at midnight?" I questioned. He gave me a blank stare for a long moment before realization clicked in my mind. "Oh yeah, me!"

He sighed and shook his head.

"Sometimes, I wonder about you," he said as we got onto the side of the pool.

I readied myself in my usual position before diving into the water, slipping the goggles over my eyes. I glanced at him for a moment.

"I hope you remember how to dive," I teased, earning a glare from his chocolate brown eyes. "Cause I'm not teaching you now."

"Shut up, I know how to dive," he said.

I giggled in response before looking ahead once again.

"Ready?"

"Not really…"

"GO!"

Within seconds, the feeling of the cold crisp water crashed against my skin as I dove into the pool; I forgot that they never left the heat on when it was not in use, but it did not distract me from this race. On instinct, my arms started to drive me forward, pushing me across the water and toward the other side. I could not see Ichigo anymore, but at the moment, I did not care about where he was. My mind was too set on winning this little race and proving myself the victor in this. I imagined myself reaching the "finish line" before him and jumping out of the water, cheering at my victory over Ichigo, as he exited the water and just watched me. Suddenly, I started to imagine what he would look like after he got out. He would look completely soaked and his hair would fall again his face. Under the moonlight, the water on his body would probably glisten, giving him a somewhat glowing appearance. I felt myself slowing down a bit, nearly giving myself a heart attack at the thought of losing, before picking up the pace. Stupid Ichigo and his hot body, I thought. He's trying to distract me, that son of a gun.

When I reached the end of the pool, I turned myself around and kicked myself outward, allowing my arms to help lead me forward once more. As I did that, images of Ichigo came to mind a few more times, causing me to become distracted and slow down a bit more than I should have. However, it did not last long as I quickly pushed the thoughts out of my mind and attempted to swam faster. My heart pounded against my chest both from the work I was putting into the race and from embarrassment, but I did my best to ignore both as I tirelessly continued to move. I was not going to allow him to beat me just because I was because I was becoming distracted by something as petty as the body of a guy. This was not supposed to happen, especially to someone like me. I was always focused, on my toes and at the top of my game; I allowed nothing to distract me before practices or before competitions. I even forced myself not to become thrown off in this little race against Ichigo, but somehow, it was not working in my favor but against it. I would have cursed under my breath, but I was too busy worrying about winning the race than about my distractions.

The "finish line," as I called it on numerous occasions, quickly came into view despite my effort in trying to reach it. My arms began working harder than before as I swiftly made my way toward the wall, ready to claim victory and beat my opponent in my game. As it quickly began approaching me, my heart started racing with adrenaline and excitement. I'm going to win this, I told myself. I'm going to beat him! I'm going to show him what it means to be a true champion! There was no way I was going to allow him to win and get away with his excuses of me using drugs; it could ruin my reputation as both a swimmer and as a person. I had to prove myself. I had to show him who was the top dog in this sport. As I thought those words, I felt my hand suddenly touch the wall of the pool, pulling my head up and out of the water to breath. I held onto the side of the pool at that point, catching my breath and giving my arms a well needed and well deserved break. One thing I did not realize was that it was oddly quiet instead of it sounding like he was still coming up from behind me, yet I was too focused on the matter that I had won this race.

"I did it," I called out as I removed my goggles and swimming cap, allowing my hair to fall against the top of the water without much care. "I totally…I totally beat you, Ichigo. Now...what do you say to that?"

"I say what took you so long?" My eyes shot open as I looked over and paled. Ichigo Kurosaki, with a smirk written against his face, was all ready in the same position as me, but his breath was slowly returning to normal. For a moment, I thought my heart just stopped itself as realization hit me as if a brick was thrown at my head. He had beaten me at my own game. Ichigo was the very first person to beat me at my own game.

My fists clenched as I glared at him.

"You bastard! You fucking distracted me!"

He blinked at my words.

"What?" He questioned. "How the Hell did I distract you when I was swimming the whole time?"

"You distracted me with your hot body, Ichigo!" I blurted out unconsciously. He stared at me as I continued ranting, "You had your damn shirt off and I was getting really distracted because I was imagining what you would look like outside of the water! Believe me, you would look really hot, but because of that, I started to slow down and I lost!" I growled. "Damn it, you were distracting me the whole time and made me lose for the first time in my life!"

Silence enveloped the both of us as I placed my face in my arms and sighed frustratedly. He did not say anything at all to my words that I scolded at him, but I paid no mind to it for the time being. I felt so…ashamed; my dignity and pride sank down the drain in those few minutes of silence. I challenged someone, someone I knew I could beat in a little race, claimed I was on drugs just so I could win; only to become distracted by him and lose to him in the end. I felt like a complete and utter failure; to lose to someone I had never challenged before or even knew could swim showed me up the first time he goes up against me! My mind was in a complete haze and I lied there, waiting for Ichigo to say something, anything, to me about his victory over me or over what I had said to him. I was waiting for him to do the taunting and laughing as I had done to other people in the past. Now, I understood how the losers felt when they lost to someone as good a swimmer as I: horrible and down in the dumps. However, I did not hear Ichigo say a word to me. In fact, it sounded as if I could not hear him at all.

Slowly, I looked up over at Ichigo, only to find he was not there at all. My head shot up as I stared at the spot he was just at moments ago.

"Ichigo?" I spoke. No response. I looked around the pool area. The water seemed still other than the ripples coming from me. "Ichigo?" I called out, sounding worried. Once again, no response. My heart began pounding against my chest, worried that something might have happened to him while I had my head down. If so, I should have heard him if he got out of the pool, right? Then that meant he was still in the water, but where?

Suddenly, I felt something grab a hold of my hips, holding me firmly yet gently. I gasped out of shock as I felt myself being pulled down rather quickly. On instinct, I took in a huge breath of fresh air before going underwater completely. For a moment, I shut my eyes so the chlorine would not get in them, and immediately after started to panic. However, matters became worse as my eyes suddenly shot right back open when I felt something against my lips, something warm to the touch yet was enough to keep me from drowning. After a moment, I spotted a blur of orange appear before me, and it only took a few seconds to realize what was happening, causing my face to turn scarlet red. Ichigo was kissing me…underwater freakin' water! It was a complete shock to realize he actually went underwater, only to pull me under and kiss me without even letting me know what he was doing. He nearly scared the hell out of me when he vanished into thin air without any type of warning of what he was going to do. However, as much as it scared the hell out of me, I did not feel the need to slap him for doing it to me. Instead, something entirely different came over me.

Before I knew it, I felt my eyes close once more before wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling him deeper into the kiss. A few seconds later, I myself rose to the surface, but neither of us broke the kiss to catch a breath. Only one of Ichigo's arms wrapped around my waist, while the other held onto the side of the pool and kept us from going under again. Droplets of water dripped down our faces, but we did not care anymore. The only thing on our minds was one another and that was it. I jumped as I felt Ichigo lightly lick and nip on my lower lip, begging for entrance. Since I was still ticked off from losing to him, I decided to tease him by keeping my lips shut. In response, he decided to tease me by tugging on the top of my bikini, as if he were going to just pull it right off. I gasped, accidentally giving him what he wanted as he forced his tongue into my mouth. I growled as he began exploring all of the crevasses of my mouth, annoyed that he cheated his way into getting what he wanted. I should have guessed, I thought as I broke the kiss between us. We were both panting as we looked into one another's eyes, mine filled with slight annoyance while his was filled with something else.

"I knew you cheated," I said, sending him a playful glare. He just smiled and placed his forehead against mine.

"You said I distracted you," he responded. "I never cheated…"

"Not until now when you were kissing me."

He shrugged and responded with a small, "True."

I giggled, before becoming a bit serious again.

"So…why did you kiss me, anyway?" I inquired.

"I felt bad for beating you…and somehow distracting you without even trying," he explained. "Besides, I think I won something better than this stupid race."

I blinked.

"What?" I asked. His smile grew, but realization struck me. "Ooh…" I smiled back, before shaking my head. "You're so cheesy and cliché sometimes."

His eyebrows furrowed.

"How the hell am I cheesy?" He asked.

I giggled before kissing him again.

"Come on," I said as I broke the kiss. "Let's get out of here."

"Before we get caught?" Ichigo asked.

I rolled my eyes.

"I told you already," I said. "Who the hell is going to be here in the middle of the night?"

"Someone like me." We both turned our heads into the direction of the new voice. Immediately, we spotted a familiar red head, Renji Abarai, sitting in the bleachers with his hands behind his head and a smug look on his face. My face turned pale as I looked back at me. He gave me a light glare as he looked back at me.

"Told you…" He said.

My blush darkened before I slapped his shoulder, muttering a small, "Shut up…"