Hi! It's been a while since I posted something, and this has been swirling around in my head for some time, so I thought I would put it up here. I haven't given up on Wings of a Butterfly, so you can expect an update soon. I apologize if the wait seems long, but I've had finals over the last week and this week my dad has become the King of Sadistic Slavedrivers, which, in layman's terms, means I've had MILLIONS of chores to do since summer started. But, because it is now very hot, I've decided to write a chilly fanfic. This'll be the fluffy fic that I wanted to write, but never got around to. If you are confused about "Hichigo's" name, remember that he technically doesn't have one, so I can name him whatever I want, though the explanation of why is in my other story, 'Kichigo' basically means 'raspberry' which Ichigo says are worse that strawberries, so that's why Ichigo named Kichigo Kichigo (Nyaa, what a long explanation!). - And if you are offended by yaoi or boy love, don't read. Simple as that. (Though I do sometimes wonder why you would look up Character: Ichigo/Dark Ichigo; Category: Romance, if you didn't like this kind of thing . . .)
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. "Duh."
"Get up, Kichigo," the albino cracked open an eye. He scowled at his shinigami counterpart. Why did he have to? It was Winter Break, and he could sleep in, instead of waking up to help Yuzu make breakfast or do homework that he neglected last night. Yes, Kichigo went to school. Honestly, what some people think about him . . .
"No."
Kichigo suddenly found himself without blanket, and he screeched, trying in vain to recover his comforter as cool air slammed into his body. Goosebumps blossomed all over his skin as he scrambled around. "Gah! You fucker! Give me back my blankets!"
"No. I told you to get up. We're going on vacation."
"But we're already on vacation! And on vacation we're supposed to rest! Now let me fulfill that requirement!"
Ichigo frowned. He threw some clothes at the hollow, and walked out the door – covers in his arms. Just to spite the white one, he tossed them in the washing machine, poured in some soap, and started the machine. He smirked. Now Kichigo wouldn't be able to steal his blankets and go run back to bed. Turning on his heel, he found himself walking towards to kitchen to grab some breakfast. Karin was in the living room, watching the news. Isshin was checking up on some patient who had arrived yesterday evening with a badly sprained knee. Nibbling on a bit of toast that his sister handed him, he moved to the phone and dialed Orihime's number.
It took three rings before a groggy voice answered. "Moshi Mo-"here a yawn interjected the greeting,"-shi."
"Ohaiyo, Grimmjow. Inoue there?"
"Yeah . . ." Ichigo waited a few seconds.
". . . Can you get her for me?"
"Sure . . ." he heard Grimmjow shout 'Oi, Hime! Strawberry's on the phone! He wants to ask ya somethin'!' before Orihime picked up. Ichigo winced at the teal-haired arrancars loud voice. He certainly didn't bother to cover up the receiver.
"Ohaiyo?"
"Yo, Inoue. I was wondering if you and the others were planning on anything this week. Since it's break and all, I wanted to know if you guys wanted to come to the mountains with Kichi and I for a ski trip?" He glanced over briefly to see Kichigo descending the stairs and flopping himself down next to Karin.
"Ski Trip . . . um . . ." the orange-head heard her put the phone down. Seventeen seconds later, she came back, "Nobody has any plans, so we'll go!"
Ichigo smiled a bit, "Great. I'll meet you at your place at eleven, and then we'll go hit the trains to Hokkaido." And with that out of the way, he hung up. Going over to the couch, he sat next to the pale twin of his, and Kichigo snuck an arm around his waist.
"Kichi-kun, how do you feel about going to Hokkaido for a Ski Trip?"
"I wouldn' care. Anywhere ya are, I'm wit ya," Karin rolled her eyes at the fluffiness of her brothers boyfriend. It had taken her a while to start to trust the hollow, as she had always thought of them as evil. Sure, Kichigo was Onee-san's hollow, but he was still a hollow. Oh well. He was living with them now, and eventually, they all got used to the albino.
-
The couple was knocking on Orihime's door at eleven sharp. One the first rap, Ulquiorra opened it, startling the pair. He stared at them, noting their suitcases. He opened the door wider, and moved aside, murmuring, "Come in."
The Kurosaki's walked up the steps and set their stuff by the closet, before removing their shoes and continuing in to Inoue's living room. Ichigo could honestly say he was surprised by the new furniture and TV that the girl now possessed. Grimmjow and Nell had both gotten jobs, and thus with a more flexible and expendable income, she and her roommates were able to afford more nice things, like a replacement coffee table. Her old one had been broken when her brother's hollow had tried to attack her. Orihime walked in with a tray of tea. She smiled at them.
"Ohaiyo, Kurosaki-kun, Kichigo-kun! I made you some tea." Ichigo nodded his thanks, and took the tea. Ulquiorra took a glass, as well as Nell. However, Grimmjow had a juice box, of all things. As he started to ask Orihime how to open one, Nell started to ask questions.
"So! What is 'Skiing'? Is it some kind of swordplay that can only be held in the mountains? Is that why we were packing our heavy winter gear? Or is it some kind of weird human ritual that takes place on the tops of mountains in order to raise reiatsu?"
"Ano, you've got it wrong. It's a sport in which you ride down on a pair of slats using a pair of spiked poles to propel yourself down the snow. It's kind of a workout, though, so don't be surprised if you're tired afterwards."
"Oh, okay."
Grimmjow stood up suddenly. "Yosh, everyone! Let's go skiing! I'm so gonna beat you, Ulquiorra!" Said melancholic arrancar just closed his eyes and sighed.
Orihime looked concerned, "Are you sure you'll be able to ski, though? My brother, Sora, couldn't ski very well, and I'm not the greatest, so it might be a talent or-"
"Calm yourself, Inoue-san. He'll calm down once we board the train," said Ulquiorra.
-
Ulquiorra's prediction rang true once they were riding the tram to Hokkaido. Ulquiorra was reading a book, Orihime was drawing on her pad, and Nell was playing with one of those hand-held games. Grimmjow was asleep, his head on the green-haired woman's lap. Ichigo mimicked Grimmjow, but he was only leaning on Kichigo's shoulder. The hollow himself was reading a comic. Ichigo grunted, and shifted in his sleep. Orihime looked up and smiled.
"I've never seen Kurosaki-kun look so relaxed with so many other people around. I'm glad you're there with him, Kichigo-kun. He's happier," she commented, before returning to her drawing of a chibi sugar hero about to fall into a cup of coffee. On the other hand, Kichigo was really touched by Inoue's statement. Nobody ever told him about the effects that he had on Ichigo's life. Well, only Zangetsu, as he could talk to the sword still, but that didn't count. All the zanpakutou said anyways was that it didn't rain often anymore.
They were arriving at the station now, anyways. He would have to wake up the relaxed strawberry now. He nudged Ichigo, and the orange-head slowly opened his eyes in his forced awakening. He just smiled sleepily, stood, stretching next to Grimmjow –who was doing the same –and grabbed his luggage.
They filed out of the train and surveyed the station. It was packed with people (urk! I hate crowded places) who were all meandering around, looking like a flock of chickens who had just seen grain spread about the exit of their pen. Kichigo's nose scrunched up in disgust. He really hated most of the general living populace. Everything in the mortal world was so much more loud and dirty, and it disturbed the hollow. After living in Ichigo's mind for years, without anyone noticing, and then coming out (giggle), he could easily notice the differences. It was quiet and clean in Ichigo's inner world. Peaceful. But not out here, oh no.
As the group ascended the stair, Nell ran ahead, waving her hand in an attempt to hail a taxi. Of course, just about eight taxis all lined up, each one of them with some sort of seedy, oily, hentai driver. Kichigo blamed her boobs. However, they did end up with a decent ride into the mountains. As they went farther and farther away from town, the air got cleaner and everything became quieter. Finally, by the time they had got to the resort, things were nearly as quiet as in Ichigo's head, the air had become almost pristine, yet it had become noticeably thinner. Both Grimmjow and Orihime were panting by the time they walked up short path to the entrance, Ichigo's breathing was heavier, but Kichigo, Nell, and Ulquiorra were having no problems.
-
As the Ichigo approached the front desk the hollows and Orihime admired the lodge. It was built to resemble a log cabin, and everything was made of wood. Even the furniture and reception desk. Large, warm, deep red and gold carpets covered much of the floors. A stone hearth lie along one wall, multiple seats and couches, as well as a coffee table were situated around it. It was a warm room.
Ichigo checked in with his reserved rooms. Initially, he had planned to take his family up here, but with Isshin busy and Karin and Yuzu still in school, he had to improvise. His next choices would have been Rukia and Renji, and lastly the vaizards. So, after he had to cancel for his family, sans Kichigo, he picked the next most available options. Besides, he figured that the 'Hime' gang hadn't been planning on anything for the holidays anyways.
They made their way up to their rooms, which were more modernized than those of the lobby. They had white painted walls and plush blue carpeting. A mini-fridge and a TV accompanied each room, as well as an adjoining bathroom. All the rooms came with two full-size beds, with the staple sheets that are put on all hotel beds. You know, the green, with the dull red and blue flowers.
Kichigo dropped his suitcase and flung himself onto the bed, sighing. "Ahh . . . Now I can get some sleep!"
Ichigo rolled his eyes at his counterpart's antics. "Fine then, sleep all you want. We're going to be busy tomorrow anyways."
"What!? But we were busy today!"
"Hai, hai. I know, but there are things I want to do while we have the week to ourselves, so stop complaining. You can nap, if you want, but I'm going to the lobby for some dinner. Do you want me to bring you anything?"
"Iya (no). I'll be fine. Go feed yourself."
Ichigo gave a small smile, "See you in a few."
-
Ichigo and Orihime could only stare as Grimmjow practically shoveled food into his mouth. Nell continued with her meal as if this was a daily occurrence. Ulquiorra ignored him completely, in favor of sipping his tea and munching on his onigiri quietly. Finally, as Grimmjow stood up to go and get some another burger, Ichigo yanked him back into his seat by his shirttail. Glaring, he shook his head 'no'. He wined pathetically, but when Orihime offered her food, Grimmjow suddenly lost his appetite.
Ichigo got up, "Well, see ya later. I'll be waking you up at the crack of dawn to go skiing, so be ready and get a good night's rest." And with that, he picked up a tray with ichigo daifuku loaded up onto it, and strode up the stairs to his own room. He popped open the door, and smiled at the sight. His white doppelganger was sprawled out all over the bed, quietly snoring.
Creeping over, Ichigo placed the tray on the table by the bed. He reached over and gently shook his boyfriend awake. Kichigo shifted and popped open his eyes half-way. He gave a lazy smirk to the shinigami, "I smell something nice. Is it you or did you bring something up?"
Ichigo rolled his eyes, "It might be the cafeteria. But, yes, I did bring you the chicken ramen and daifuku for dessert."
"Ahh, thanks, baby," he said, smirking. Ichigo blushed.
"Don't call me that."
-
Later that night, everyone went to bed, though Ichigo stayed up later than most. Kichigo sure seemed to be sleeping a lot more than usual. It made the substitute shinigami worry. Usually, Kichigo was so full of energy he was annoying, as he usually couldn't find some sort of productive outlet. This meant that the hollow wound up destroying something or pushing Kon to the brink of tears. Though the latter wasn't a bid problem really . . . Moving on, he hadn't ticked off Ichigo off once today. Not even when he had woken him up, that was only mildly annoying. Oh well, he thought, I can figure out what's wrong later. Ichigo then went to sleep.
-
I've thought up this story after reading another fanfic about a group of friends going to a ski lodge and then there's this big love triangle issue and lots of other drama. I can't remember the title of it, but you'll find it under the Games/Pokemon section of . Anyways, this won't be a triangle as everyone already has a love interest with them. They should be blatantly obvious. I've already got the whole thing thought out, so now I just need to write it. Oh, yes, and please revies, but no flames. I shouldn't have to deal with that. Ja ne!