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Orihime sighed as she allowed her body to slip further in to the welcoming heat of the hot spring. She had won a Grand Prize entry at the local grocery store: a trip for ten to the Hot Springs Resort for a weekend. She immersed herself until the comforting waters just barely brushed the bottom of her nose and it was practically all she could do to keep from squealing. 'Ah, this is wonderful!' She moved her arms in front of her body, making her slowly float backwards until she felt the side of the hot spring resting against her back. She took and deep breath and closed her eyes, relishing in the soothing water.
"This is really great, Orihime." The busty young woman looked over to see her raven-haired friend Rukia step in to the spring waters and wade over to the other side. "Thank you for inviting me."
"Of course!" She said, letting her mouth speak clearly above water before resuming her position.
"Whoo-hoo!"
Orihime and Rukia had little time to brace themselves as two small figures leapt into the middle of the spring, fully emerging themselves underwater and popping back up with a hoot and a holler. "This is awesome!" A little raven exclaimed.
A little blonde agreed. "We haven't been to a hot spring in ages!"
Rukia felt a tick in her jaw, her face completely soaked and dripping with water, as she lashed out. "There are other people in here you know!"
"Just you two." The little figure stuck her tongue out at the elder woman before floating on her back, her arms behind her head. "And we're here to have fun. So stop being an old hag."
"Karin!" Yuzu scolded and twirled around, grateful that the hot spring was plenty big enough, being the size of a small pool and four feet deep, it was excellent. "Be nice to Ichigo's friend!"
"Yeah, yeah." Karin said in a monotone voice, slightly kicking her feet and traveling around in circles.
Orihime held up her hands. "Please, let's not argue this weekend, ok?"
"Yuzu! Karin! Behave or I'll come over there and beat the snot out of you!" Ichigo's voice called from the other side of the tall wooden fence.
The little raven moved from her position and stood up, scowling at her brother through the fence. "Oh yeah?! You and what ar—" She didn't finish her sentence as a large, wet, cold towel smacked her clean in the face, knocking her backwards into the water. She stood up, spewing the hot water and growled out in frustration. "You better watch it Ichigo!" All she could hear in response was her older brother's snickering. 'Oooh! I'll get you yet, jerk!' She crossed her arms and went back to floating, ignoring her twin sister's light laughing.
Ichigo rolled his eyes as his sister's empty threats. He would never ever harm her even with his own threats but it would've been great to see the look on her face. He stretched and leaned against the side of the spring, closing his eyes only to soon find himself underwater. Flailing his arms and shoving away his attacker, the orange-haired kid stood up to see the redheaded Shinigami laughing and slowly backing away. "What the hell Renji!?"
"Pfft!" He could barely contain his laughter as the orange-haired male stalked towards him, his tan fingers twitching. Renji threw up his hands in defense. "Don't get mad at me! I was forced!"
Ichigo gave him a blank stare, looking around to see everyone else against the outside of the hot spring, no one near the redhead. "Forced? Since when do you let other people force you around?"
"Yeah!" Renji rapidly shook his head. "You sister is very convincing!"
The substitute Shinigami cracked his knuckles. Oh how Renji was mistaken if he thought Ichigo would let it slide just like that. He saw the slight horror don on his friend's face before he smirk and tackled the redhead, dunking him underwater. "Take that you moron!" He let up after a few seconds as he had no intention of hurting his friend, but fully knowing the redhead could take pretty much anything Ichigo dished out to him. And besides, Renji was already dead, so a little water couldn't hurt.
"My soooooooooooooooooon!" Isshin Kurosaki exclaimed as he leapt from the edge of the hot springs, his large form forming a shadow over the wide eyed orange-haired child of his only to get a foot in the face and a mouth full of dirt.
"Stay the hell away from me!" Ichigo announced. "I'm here to relax! Not get clobbered by your fat ass!"
Fake tears lined Isshin's face. "That hurts, Ichigo…really hurts." He sniffed before he shook his head; his tears mysteriously disappeared as he climbed into the hot spring.
'Why did Orihime invite him of all people?' He pondered. 'Why not Tatsuki instead?' But Ichigo knew better. Tatsuki had one of her important karate competition this weekend that she absolutely could not miss. 'I'd even settle for Rangiku-san.'
"You should be nicer to your father Ichigo." Ishida scorn his friend.
The orange-haired kid scowled. "Like you're nice to your dad."
Ishida's facial expression flashed shock but it was quickly contained before a slim finger rose and pushed at his glasses.
'That's what I thou—" He was cut short when a large wooden bucket slammed down on top of his head, breaking and soaking the upper half of his body with icy cold water. "S-s-s-s-shit!" He cried out, wrapping his arms around his torso and practically jumping into the hot springs water. Letting some air escape, he held himself underwater until he felt the cold get washed away before he stood up, the anger clearly on his face. Fist clenched and waving around he looked between his father and his redheaded friend. "Alright...who did that?!"
Renji snickered again before he burst out laughing. "You've got goosebumps!"
Ichigo's eye twitched. 'Moron.'
"And there's more where that came from Ichigo!" His sister's proud voice drifted over the fence.
'That little—!' He yelled as he stormed over to the fence, fully set on beating her up. "You're dead Karin!"
"Wait a minute Kurosaki!" The blue-haired Quincy immediately blocked the orange-haired kid's path.
"Get out of my way Ishida!" His tan fingers itched to wrap around his sister's throat. "I'm gonna strangle her!"
Now the quiet man in the corner got himself involved, standing up and moving behind his friend, wrapping his arms underneath Ichigo's to hold him in place. "You can't do that."
Ichigo turned his head to glare. "Why the hell not?!"
"Because," Ishida's glasses glared, shielding his eyes as he lifted his hand, his middle finger pushing them back up on to his nose. "There are women over there. You don't know if they're wearing anything or not."
All the color drained from Ichigo's face. "Aw, that's just sick, Ishida!"
"Just stating the facts." He pushed his glasses up again.
Chad blinked as he looked at the dark blue-haired man, his arms still wrapped around Ichigo's, as he pondered one confusing fact. "Ishida..."
The raven turned his attention to the tall man. "Yes?"
The dark haired man blinked. "Where is the light of your glasses coming from? There's nothing but candlelight here and the moon is shadowed by the clouds."
It was Ishida's time to twitch.
"Now that I pay attention, yeah." Ichigo said as Chad set him down. "Kinda creepy Ishida."
"Thanks for the tip, Ichigo." The raven snapped back.
"You're welcome!" The orange-haired male gave out a huge grin as he stretched and settled himself back in to the warm water. He crossed his arms and tucked his legs up underneath himself as he willed his body to relax. It had been awhile since he could calm himself down like this, it was a nice feeling. 'I should do this more often.' He let himself drift around and decided to test something out. Closing his eyes, he thought about his reiatsu and as he drifted, he let it flare out a little, seeing how close he could get to someone before he gently pushed himself away. He also tried to think of ways to calm his reiatsu down a bit, so it wouldn't attract so many Hollows all the time. As he concentrated, he didn't notice how his body slid further into the water, the waterline just barely covering the top of his head. He pondered at what could happen if he tried to focus all of his spiritual power into a shape, like a sphere or a box.
"Ic...go?"
Was that his name he heard? Sounded distorted. Oh well, he didn't pay attention to it and went back to focusing.
"-hi...o!"
Ichigo's eyes snapped open as calloused hands gripped his shoulders and pulled him up from the water. He came face to face with the redheaded tattooed lieutenant and blinked rapidly at seeing Renji's face full of concern. "What?"
Dark brown eyes glared. "What the fuck are you doing?"
The orange-haired male raised an eyebrow.
"Are you trying to kill yourself?"
Ichigo scoffed and knocked the redhead's hands away. "What makes you think that?"
Renji stared at him in disbelief. "Your reiatsu disappeared! That's why!"
'It worked?' He blinked. "It did?"
"As soon as you went underwater."
"I did that on purpose." He grinned.
Now Renji blinked. "You...what?"
"I. did. that. on. purpose." Ichigo enlightened him. "I was thinking of ways to hide my reiatsu."
"Well, whatever you did," Ishida stated, a little impressed. "It worked pretty well."
"Until your concentration was broken." Chad said.
"I know that!" Ichigo huffed and sank back down into the water. 'Brr, it's cold.'
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There was a bright light behind his eyes. It felt great. As he inhaled he was able to catch a faint hint of salt on the wind while it blew through his hair and ruffled his clothes. The more he stood still in the warmth of the sun, he more Ichigo heard waves crashing upon the shore. 'The ocean?' He let his hazel eyes drift open, only to get the glare of the sun reflecting off the water into his eyes. Blinking a few times to clear his vision, he looked around. "How'd I get here?"
Ichigo looked around, trying to see if he could find anyone else. "Renji? Rukia? Orihime?" He put his hands in his pockets—'Pockets?! The hell? My clothes changed!' He looked down to find himself dressed in a pair of jeans and t-shirt. "Ishida? Karin? Yuzu? Dad?" This is ridiculous. Why the heck was he here in the first place? Shoving his hands into his new pockets, he decided to walk down the beach, looking for any sign of life.
The further he walked down the beach, the more he realized that he was completely alone. "This is crazy..." He scowled and sighed. What did he do to get himself in to this mess? He was about to call out for one of his friends when a sudden immense change in atmosphere froze him in his tracks. Literally.
Ichigo looked down to see his feet and half of his calves completely covered in ice. 'Where'd this ice come from?' He punched his legs out with his fists, breaking the ice into smaller pieces before he stepped away, his feet burning in the hot sand. "Ouch!" He hopped back onto the icy spot to get off the sand. "When did it get so hot?" Looking around for the source of the ice, he spotted a shadowed figure out on the water.
'Who is that?' His eyebrows furrowed as he contemplating on who it was. He shielded his eyes from the sun as he squinted, trying to make out the figure in the distant. "Oi," He called out, hoping to get the attention of the-could it be a person?-standing out on the middle of the water. "Who are you?" He frowned as he didn't get a response. So trying another approach, he started walking through the water. "Hey, you!"
The shadowed figure slightly turned towards the orange-haired male's direction, although the shadow still concealed any chance of Ichigo trying to figure out who it was. Ichigo was about to call out again when suddenly the air temperature around his body dropped to the point to where he could see his breath exiting his body in puffs of hot air. 'What's going on?' The air was getting so thick; it became harder to breathe properly. Taking another step forward he found that he wasn't walking through the water anymore, but rather on top of it.
"More ice?" He stepped again, watching as he set his foot down and the ice instantly appeared underneath him. 'Ok...now I'm really confused.' He crossed his arms over his chest, to try and hold in the heat to his body as he walked further and further away from the shore. "Alright you! Tell me who the hell you are!" Ichigo growled then stopped as the shadowed figure turned even more his way, extending its arm. "What? I don't understand!" He clenched his fists and yelled out. "What do you want from me?!"
The ice suddenly shattered from underneath Ichigo, separating as if there wasn't a frozen path to begin with, completely submerging the orange-haired male underwater. The main problem being as the ice dissolved into the water, it made the liquid surrounding him extremely cold, making his muscles tense up and stiffen. It was near impossible to try and swim his way back up to the surface; it was just too damn cold! The last thing Ichigo saw was that shadowed figure through the water, its hand still outstretched towards him, and Ichigo tired raising his own arm, only to have his consciousness slip away from him.
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He stirred a bit as a slight jolt went through his body as he felt like he was being tossed up into the air and then caught again. Something tight was hooked under his knees and something warm was resting against his face as a slight wind brushed his bangs away from his face. Was he moving? Ichigo's eyes twitched as he gathered the strength to open them. Why was it difficult? His hazel eyes peeked from behind his eyelids as he heard the complaints of one of his friends.
"Man, sometimes you can be such a wuss."
That was Renji's voice.
"Why am I always stuck hauling your ass around?"
"Your stick is always shorter." Ichigo mumbled, smiling to himself at the double pun.
Renji's head snapped around, his red ponytail whipping the man on his back in the face. "The hell-you're awake?!"
"No." He slowly blinked as he brought himself back to consciousness. His arms were around the older male's neck and his legs were wrapped around his waist, he rotated his head, his chin leaving Renji's shoulder and letting his cheek rest on the tan covered skin, his nose buried in the back of the redhead's neck. How did he get back here? Ichigo closed his eyes again and tried to think of the last thing he remembered. 'I fell through the ice...' He scowled. Who was that person? And why were they constantly shrouded in shadows? If they wanted his help, then they should've made more of an effort. He opened his eyes again to see Renji's confused face. "What?"
"Nothin'." The redhead looked forward again and kept walking.
"Why are you carrying me anyways?"
Renji froze in mid-step. Why was he still carrying the idiot? "Hmm," He huffed and removed his arms from holding Ichigo's legs up. He grinned as the later yelped and cursed as Ichigo hit the hard wooden floor with a 'thud'. "Not too sure, but since you're obviously uncomfortable with it – how's the view?" He grinned and gave a small laugh, crossing his arms across his chest. "You look pretty good down there."
'Why's it so hard to move?' Ichigo lifted his arms, his elbows and wrists cracking to try and un-stiffen as he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to get rid of the pain of it snapping as he fell. "Bastard." Groaning, he pushed himself up and crossed his legs. "You didn't answer my question."
"Geez, you don't remember?" Renji's smile turned into a frown as he crouched down in front of the orange-haired male. "What's your deal lately?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, first we thought you were drowning because your reiatsu suddenly disappeared while you were underwater." He flicked Ichigo on his forehead. "Then, you stayed in the hot water too long, leading your weak, human body, to overheat and you fainted. At first we just thought you had fallen asleep, but when your body took on that sun-burnt look we all decided it was time for you to go back to your room." He stood up, his hands unfolding and resting on his hips. "Leading me to get stuck with you."
Ichigo didn't say anything. Instead he put his hands on the ground next to him and tried to push himself up. 'It's still hard to move.'
Renji rolled his eyes. "You're pathetic."
"What'd you say?!" The orange-haired male growled.
Instead of making the effort of continuing with arguing, the redheaded man turned around and crouched down, holding his hands backwards as he offered his back to the younger male. A frown appeared on his face and his eye twitched as he turned back to see what was taking the other male so long when he saw Ichigo just sitting there on the ground, starring at him. "C'mon, I don't have all night!" He was mildly surprised when Ichigo's arms slid back around his neck and his weight settled against his back. "Yosh! All set?" He ask as he hooked his arms underneath the legs around his waist and stood back up, jumping a little to make his back more comfortable as he walked back to their room.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Shaddap and be grateful."
Ichigo smiled.
"Thanks."
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