The cell phone rang. Kazui laid in his bed, propped up with the support of his elbows, reading his manga. He looks over to the caller ID, smiling at the name. If it wasn't his good friend, she must have been back in town for the summer. He picks up the phone, sliding the answer button.
"Hey, you're back?" He says, adjusting his position on the bed. He smiles at the sound of her voice once she replies. It sounded so good to hear her cheerful melodious voice again. It sounded like music to his ears.
"Ohhh. So you want me to meet you at Giku's Smoothies? Bring Ichika and Nemu too? Oh, I see. Heh, okay!" He smirks at the end of the conversation. The two say their goodbyes and hang up.
"Come out, Ichika! I know you're here. You too, Nemu. Don't you guys know I can sense you?" Kazui smirked as he opened his door, getting ready to leave the room. Nemu popped out from under his bed while Ichika stuck her head out from his closet.
"Ugh! Why can't you get scared for once?" Ichika says, jumping out from the closet, she follows Kazui out the bedroom door, while Nemu came out next.
"Well, he is a Kurosaki. Fear is not in their vocabulary." Nemu says, following the two out the room. She's the last one to leave the room so she closes the door.
Kazui chuckled, the three walked down the stairs. The fresh aroma of curry filled the air. Kazui licks his lips at the thought of eating. He sees his mother setting the food on the table, she smiles once she sees him.
"Hey guys!" Orihime sings. Her voice travels through the room as she sets her apron on the hook. Ichika and Nemu smile heading to the dinner table, how could you not eat before going out?
"Dinner's ready! We're having curry and rice!" Orihime says, she washes her hands and sits at the table. Ichigo walks from the living room to the dinner table, sitting down. Pretty much the only one standing up is Kazui.
Orihime looks over to him, "Aren't you going to sit and eat?" She asks, Ichigo happened to look over at him too.
"See mom, I would love to eat, but guess who's back! Himawari! She's waiting for us at Giku's Smoothies. Is it okay if I could have dinner when I come back?" Kazui says, he was definitely ready for his parents to say no. Therefore he put on his best face; the puppy face.
Ichigo and Orihime look at each other, smirking. They both knew what game Kazui was playing. They were used to him and his puppy face! Orihime giggles, nodding her head.
"Alright, but get home safe! Remember, if you ever need help, CALL US." Orihime says.
"Oh Kazui, you should invite Himawari and her friends over! They're all here, right?" Ichigo asked, sneaking a piece of curry into his mouth.
"Yep, they're all here! So instead I'll just bring them here! Dinner could wait until I get back then! Come on Ichika, come on Nemu!" Kazui says, heading out the door. Ichika and Nemu groaned, they already dug into their food.
Nemu stood up, sneaking a piece of curry into her mouth and follows Kazui. Ichika sighs, and then leaves.
Once out the door, the three began walking down Karakura. Nemu hummed, she was pretty excited to see her returning friend again.
"So, Kazui, what are you going to do when you see Himawari again?" Nemu smirked, she loved to see the expression on his face when Himawari was mentioned. Ichika chuckles, nudging Kazui in the side playfully.
Kazui blushed, he looks away. "Gah! Why do you a-ask?" Both Nemu and Ichika knew about the orange haired boy felt about their friend.
"Jeez, have you told her how you felt, Kazui?" Ichika asks, looking at the taller boy. He mumbled something that she couldn't even hear.
"What?" Ichika says, leaning in closer. Kazui mumbled once again. She couldn't even hear, now she was getting irritated.
"Speak up, kid!" She yells, yeah, Ichika got annoyed easily. Nemu stifles a laugh by covering her mouth.
"Ichika, I think it's clear he hasn't. You know, I don't ever want to be bothered with the feelings you guys feel. What's this about love? What is that? It seems like a drag." Nemu sighs, out of the trio, she weren't up to date with emotions and what they were. Not even a book could tell her how your heart felt. Ichika always told her the classic, 'You'll know what love is when you meet that person or people! You start to smile and you can be yourself around them.' line but.. Nemu didn't understand. She smiled all the time around Ichika and Kazui but the feeling of love never came to her. Maybe it did and she just didn't realize it.
Once at the Smoothie Shack, Kazui looks around trying to see his returning friend. Nemu pats his shoulder and points over to the back, there she was. He grins. He grabs Nemu and Ichika and drags them over to Himawari and the people she brought with her.
Kazui walks over to the table, only to feel a large weight pounce on his body. He looks down to see his friend, Himawari Uzumaki. She's hugging him tightly with her arms wrapped around him. He smiles, holding her tightly.
Himawari Uzumaki, the absolute sunflower princess, as he thought. Himawari definitely didn't change much from the last time he saw her. Her straight dark-blue hair was now wavy. Her hair was longer, she still had the hime-cut and she still had that one strand of hair that stood up at the top of her head like a leaf. She still had the cute whisker marks on both of her cheeks, and her eyes were more blue than her father's. Kazui still found her beautiful. Her light blue overalls with her yellow crop top under them. She smelled sweet like candy and he could just imagine her scent all over his sweater.
"Kazui! I missed you so much!" She says, her face was buried into his chest and her arms were gripping onto him. She wasn't letting go anytime soon. Kazui looked over to the people at the table. Yep, she brought her brother Bolt and his friends Sarada and Mitsuki with her. He could see Bolt just glaring him down while Mitsuki was chuckling.
"Alright, Kurosaki, you can let go now!" Bolt stood up, walking over to the two. He pulled Himawari away from Kazui, causing Himawari to give him a glare.
"Haha... Sorry.." Kazui says, scratching his head and smiling. Him and Bolt were pretty good friends actually. They always gamed together and played pranks on people. Bolt was just overprotective of his little sister!
"Bolt, I can hug my friends. Stop being so overprotective! Anyways, Ichika! Nemu!" Himawari rolls her eyes but shouts when she sees Ichika and Nemu. She runs over to them, pulling them both into a hug.
"I missed you guys! You know, all Bolt ever did on the way here was talk you, Ichika." Himawari whispered, Ichika's eyes widened in surprise, following a blush on her face. Ichika couldn't deny that her and Bolt did flirt sometimes.. But a relationship would never take place since both weren't good with sappy stuff. Neither were good with feelings. How did a relationship work exactly? They never knew.
Ichika looks over to Bolt, who happened to be chatting with Kazui and Sarada. She smiles softly and shakes her head, Such an idiot. She smirks.
After everyone has hugged each other and greeted each other, they stood outside the smoothie shack. Kazui and Himawari stood next to each other while everyone else were goofing off.
"So, how was your summer so far?" Himawari smiles, her hands were behind her back as if she had some sort of gift. She's dancing on her tip toes, seeming pretty excited about something. The two were already walking ahead from everyone else. Kazui looks at the girl and then at the sky.
"My summer so far? Hmmm. I've been spending it at the smoothie shack with Ichika and Nemu! What else... I went to the beach recently with my family.. But nothing really. Summer just started so I've yet to do things! I'm sure we'll start having fun soon!" Kazui says, he smiles and puts a thumbs up in the air.
The summer night chill breezes passes by Himawari. She shudders, rubbing her exposed arms for warmth. She chuckles, she still wasn't used to the weather here in Karakura. It was different from Konoha, so she thought. Kazui looks at the shorter girl and takes a look at himself. He pulls off his sweater and passes it to Himawari. She's looks at him, confused.
"You're cold so... put on my sweater!" Kazui says, he wraps his red sweater around her. Himawari looks at the sweater, smiling.
"Are you sure? I-I don't want you to get cold.." Himawari tilts her head, looking at him. She hears him laugh and she sees him smile.
"Himawari, I'm not going to get cold! Yes, you can wear it." Kazui reassures her. He places his hands on her shoulders, looking at her. They stop walking for a second, staring at each other.
"Kazui...?" Himawari blushes, her heart flutters when she sees him getting closer. His face just inches away from hers. She hitches her breath, and stands up straight.
"You know, your eyes are a pretty blue." Kazui says, pulling back from her face. He smiles and continues walking. She stares at him, blushing.
"W-Well... your eyes are a pretty brown.." Himawari stutters. She then picks up the pace and walks beside him.
"My mom made a good dinner tonight, you'll love it. After dinner, do you want to go for a walk?" Kazui asks, as they walk closer to the Kurosaki house.
Himawari nods, Is this his way of a date? She links her arms with him and smiles.
"Sounds good to me! What did she make?" She asks, gripping the sweater with every breeze that passed.
"She made curry! My favorite! But we should hurry, they might think something's happened to us. But the others are taking their sweet time." Kazui chuckles as he looks back to see Ichika and Sarada yelling at Bolt while Mitsuki and Nemu were talking to each other.
Himawari looks back and giggles. Her and Kazui stop walking, waiting for the others to hurry up.
"Hurry up, you slow pokes! Dinner's getting cold!" Himawari yelled. The others stopped what they were doing and began to fasten their pace a bit.
Once at the Kurosaki house, Kazui opens the door. He sees his parents on the couch, watching tv.
"I'm home!" Kazui yells, taking off his shoes and places them in the shoe rack beside the door. He looks at everyone else, gesturing for them to come inside. He heads over to the living room, kissing his mother's cheek and pats his father's shoulder.
"Welcome home, Kazui!" Orihime smiles. She stands up, heading to the kitchen, she pulls out the curry from earlier and sets it on the stove to reheat it.
Ichika, Nemu, Himawari, Bolt, Sarada, and Mitsuki all take a seat at the dinner table. Ichigo heads to the kitchen, waving his hello to them.
" !" Bolt's face lights up when he sees the orange haired adult. He always found him cool. But not cooler than Uncle Sasuke, of course. Sarada pushes her glasses up, smirking.
"So, do you find cool aswell, Bolt?" Sarada folds her arms, a sound of sarcasm travelled from her voice.
"He is! He practically saved the world from colliding with death. Did you not hear the stories about him?" Bolt says, causing Ichigo to chuckle.
"Remember Bolt, it wasn't just me. I had the help from my friends. We all saved the world." Ichigo scratches his head, he sneaks behind Orihime and smiles.
"It's true! But Bolt, you have your parents to thank too. They also saved the world from going in an eternal sleep! We're all heroes." Orihime smiles, once the curry is hot again, she kisses Ichigo's cheek and looks through the cabinets, searching for dinner plates.
"Don't worry Bolt, we'll be cool just like our parents, maybe even cooler." Ichika grins.
"Dinner's ready! Ichigo, you mind passing the plates out?" Orihime smiles, she then looks around the house, counting the teenagers. She stops when she sees Himawari and Kazui joking with each other. More importantly, she notices that Himawari's wearing his sweater. She smiles, nudging Ichigo in the side softly.
"Sure-" Ichigo says, he notices Orihime's nudge and looks at Himawari and Kazui. He smiles. So, he's got a girlfriend already, heh?
After dinner, Kazui and Himawari stayed behind to clean up. It took a lot of convincing, but Bolt, Sarada, and Mitsuki went back to Aunt Hanabi's house. Ichika and Nemu went back to the Soul Society through the senkaimon and Ichigo and Orihime had gone to bed.
"Well, I should walk you now." Kazui smiles, him and Himawari had stood outside of Kazui's house. Himawari smiles softly, looking up at Kazui.
"Yeah." She says, linking her arms with Kazui, the two begin to walk.
"You know, I'm pretty excited for the rest of our summer together." Himawari smiles, she rests her head on Kazui's arm since she's too short to reach his shoulder. Kazui blushes. Our summer? He thinks to himself, he liked the sound of that.
"Me too. Do you remember last summer at the beach when your bikini bra fell off and I had to cover you?" Kazui chuckled, he looks over to the blushing Himawari who covers her face.
"Yeah! I remember that! It was so embarrassing! But, it's pretty funny once you think about it." Himawari laughs. She shakes her head and she looks at Kazui, who's laughing himself off right now.
"Well, I'm not the only one with an embarrassing moment! Remember that time you tripped over a rock that was literally there in your face? You twisted your ankle and I had to help you to your house! Tsubaki didn't want to help you since you deserved it." Himawari and Kazui laugh together.
The two continue to walk the streets and laugh together. But they stop in their tracks once they get a block away from Hanabi's house.
"Why'd you stop?" Kazui says, looking at Himawari. She happened to be staring at him, in silence. His heart pounds. He's nervous. He's slowly sweating but he wouldn't mention that to her. He's wondering why she's staring at him like this. Did he say something wrong? Oh, she's on her tip toes now. What's she doing? Why is she getting close? Why does she have this affect on him? What's it about her that gets him so excited to see her, satisfied to hear her voice, and be put at ease when she's smiling? He's only known her for a year, but damn, she's got a spell on him. The feelings he has for this girl is definitely a crush. But would she feel that way too? Would she like him back? It's all he could think about.
But what Kazui doesn't know is she does like him. Butterflies play around in the pit of her stomach, her heart is pounding like crazy, she can't think straight. To hear his voice over the phone for the first time this summer made her happy. To see him for the first time this summer back at Giku's Smoothies made her nervous. She had to suck up enough courage to go and hug him. But to touch him and wrap her arms around him for the first time this summer put her as ease. To wear his sweater that she's still wearing this moment gives her a calm and soothing feel. She didn't say anything, but she loves when he gives her his sweaters. The soft feel it has against her exposed skin from her crop top, the warmth she gets from it when the summer breeze passes by, the sweet smell of vanilla and baby powder she gets from it, and the way it fit on her. She loved it. There were lots of things she loved about Kazui, but she couldn't name them all. Maybe it's safe to say that she loves everything about him?
She's getting on her tip-toes. She's leaning in closer to his face. She closes her eyes, softly cupping his face and pulling him in gently towards her. She tilts her head slowly and presses her lips against his. The touch of their lips against each other felt so smooth.
Kazui's mouth twitches. He smiles into the kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist. He loves this feeling, this moment, everything. He's kissing the sunflower princess, he reminds himself. She must be taken care of and to never wilt or die. He's going to protect this flower, definitely. He feels a splatter of wetness on his arms. Is it raining? He thinks to himself. Sadly, he's the one to pull away. Why'd it have to rain now? He wanted to have a personal talk with mother nature for ruining such a moment.
Now, they're standing front of each other. Blushing. They just kissed each other and they don't know what to say. They both know if one of them were to talk now, their words would simply be jumbled and the sentence wouldn't make sense. Together, they stand in the pouring rain.
"I-It's raining.." Kazui managed to say. He was praying that she wouldn't be mad since that's what he could come up with.
"Yeah, it is. W-We should hurry." Himawari says, she tucks a piece of wet hair behind her ear. Kazui takes a step closer, he places the hoodie over her head to keep her hair safe. She gives him a puzzled look but he smiles softly.
"I'm putting the hoodie on your head, duh. Your hair can't get wet!" He says, taking his hand in hers and they begin to walk again.
"Wait! Can we try something?" Himawari stops walking again, she zips up the sweater and tightens the drawstrings to the hoodie.
"Hmm?" Kazui says, he was pretty much soaking wet now but he didn't care. If he ever got sick, he had his mother to heal him. The power of rejection never felt so good!
"Can you carry me on your back? A piggy back ride!" Himawari grins innocently. God, she looked so cute. Her whisker marks stretched out whenever she smiled and her cute eyes closed. He found her adorable. Kazui chuckles, he then gets in the position where Himawari can climb on his back.
She giggles, jumping on his back. He wraps his arms around her legs tightly. He begins to run down the street in the pouring rain. She's bouncing his back, laughing.
Once they're in front of Hanabi's house, Kazui sets her back down on the ground. The two stare at each other for a few seconds, pondering of what to say. Himawari's hit with a realization, she still has his sweater. She then unzips the sweater and pulls the hoodie off. She pulls the sweater halfway down only to be stopped by Kazui.
"What? I still have your sweater.. You can't go home without it! Besides, you need it!" Himawari says, she takes off the sweater, passing it to Kazui.
Kazui shakes his head, chuckling. "No. You can keep the sweater, If anything, you need it more. Besides, my mom could easily heal me if I ever got sick. I-I want you to keep the sweater, Himawari." He blushes. Himawari smirks, looking up at him.
"You're so sweet. And just for this awesome day, I'm going to repay you." Himawari says, she gets on her tip-toes and leans closer to his cheek. She plants a peck on his cheek and she leans towards his lips, giving them a sweet soft peck.
"Goodnight, Kazui." She waves goodbye to Kazui, turning around and heads inside her aunt's house.
"Goodnight, Sunflower Princess!" Kazui chuckles, he hasn't actually called her that in a long time. Probably since last year. She's loved that nickname for her. She absolutely adored sunflowers.
Himawari stops in her tracks, looking back at him, blushing. She widens her eyes, hit with another realization. She runs to him, he gives her a puzzled look.
"I almost forgot to give you this." Himawari pulls out from her pocket a glass case. Inside the case was a ring that had sunflower being protected by a golden shield on it. She smiles, looking up at him.
"W-What's this?" He asks. Smiling as he takes the case from her, he says his thanks to her.
"The brave one protecting the sunflower." Himawari answers.
"W-Wait, what made you make this?"
"Well, last summer, you called me the 'Sunflower Princess' and I called you the 'Brave One' since that's what our names mean! So, I thought of the 'brave one protecting the sunflower' while I was on the train coming here. It's cute, isn't it? I got myself one! We could both wear this!" Himawari smiles.
Kazui blushes and smiles. He chuckles, pulling her into a hug. She smiles, hugging him tightly.
"It is cute. You're cute." Kazui says softly. He pulls away, stepping back.
"Well, I should go now." Himawari waves, running back up the steps and towards the front door of Hanabi's house.
"Well, goodbye again, Sunflower Princess!" Kazui waves, walking back to the direction of his house.
"Goodbye, Brave One!" Himawari yells, heading inside the house.
Kazui smiles, looking at the ring as he walks. It's so beautiful.. He thinks to himself.
You did good, Kazui. You did good.
And that, was the beginning to another beautiful summer. Kazui and Himawari continued to hang out. This time, he had asked her out. A start to beautiful summer and relationship. Being 16 never felt so good, as they all said. It was the Sunflower Princess and the Brave One. Together, they had adventured all through Karakura all summer. Sure, a few troubles here and there, but it was worth it. So worth it, if you got to spend it with your crush.
The End.