Yukiko: Yeah, well, here is chapter 4! You guys make me so happy because after I posted chapter 3, I see the review numbers jump from 22 to like 42! What a BIG jump! It has inspired me to write more and more. I literally jumped in my seat and fell off of it because of you guys. Thank you so much! On with chapter 4!
Reviewers Response:
HotaruShizuma:Yukiko: I guess it's too late. My school has been piling on the work and my family just keeps showing up at my place. Thanks for your words!
SasuShiroEd:Yukiko:Hahaha, not sure if there is a lemon… or is there?
xTKx:Yukiko: I just hope they won't send sharks my way when I go to the beach or something.
Kuroshiro28:Toshiro: It's all that damn authoress fault! I'm just glad Yuzu is okay.
ToshirowithLove:Yukiko:Haha, I'm glad I can make you excited for the next chapter. I'm pretty sure the "real" is about to begin very soon.
EternalLoveHitsuHina: Toshiro: I can reassure you I will not die. Yukiko: Because Toshiro is one of the main characters in this story!
Namna-dono:Yukiko: Hahahahaha, I really love reading your reviews. Hehehe, Naruto reference… but remember, they are underwater, the pressure is much higher the lower you go and they are pretty far down in the ocean like a couple more feet than your average scuba diving range.
Nagoyaka:Yukiko:I'll give you a cookie anyways for you trying. *throws a cookie*
BBQKitten:Yukiko: Thanks! I'll do my best!
LadyQueria:Ichigo: Hey, we haven't seen you for a while now. Welcome back. I'm sure the authoress will be happy to see.. Yukiko: YOU'RE BACK!
IchigoandHichigoLover:Yukiko: Hehehe, I love your name, favorite pairing on par with HitsuIchi… I'm glad that you like my story!
Miribirdy:Yukiko: You can draw!.? It'll be so cool if you drew the characters of Under the Sea! I wish I can draw. Haha, I just love adding the suspense.
ScarlettFoxie: Toshiro: I too would like to show a piece of my mind to those who did that to me. *glares at Ichigo* Ichigo: Hey! Don't look at me!
PunkLolita23:Yukiko:Thank you so much. I always wanted to put Grimmjow and Ulquiorra as Ichigo's bodyguards after I read another story with them in similar jobs. It was so cool. That little reaction was inspired by another reader and reviewer and I just had to put it in there.
Kitsune97:Yukiko:Can't. Resist. Puppy. Eyes! GAH! I updated! Hehehe… Hope you'll enjoy it.
ShiroIchiHichi:Yukiko:Why what happened?.! Did I do something wrong?.! *panics* Ichigo:Idiot. *looks at Yukiko*
BadassAlec:Yukiko: Kinda like in the Little Mermaid movie or something.
LovePsycho:Ichigo&Toshiro: NO! DON'T GIVE HER COOKIES! Yukiko:COOKIES!Nom nomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnom! Ichigo: It was nice knowing you Toshiro. Toshiro: Stop over reacting, I'm sure everything is going to be fine… *shivers*
NimayTheAirbender:Yukiko:Thank you so much. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your reviews and don't worry about it.
HollowIchigo-Ichigo:Yukiko: Can it be? Are you… OH MY SNAPPLES! *faints* Ichigo: Please excuse her. Toshiro: She's just happy that her favorite author has come and read her story. Ichigo: I think there was an email she wanted to send to you, but never got the time *looks on laptop* It says… something about Broken and Bleeding Heart… whatever that is.
Ichigo glared at his family's personal guard as two of them held Toshiro by the arms to keep him from drifting away.
"What are you guys doing? Who gave you the authorization to do this? My father?" yelled Ichigo.
A dark skinned woman swam up to the prince and gave him a solemn expression, "I'm sorry Ichigo, but it is under the King's order that this human be put to trial."
Karin looked at the other mermaid, "Yoruichi, at what charges? He hasn't done anything to harm any of us! He helped rescue Yuzu."
The head of the stealth force of the merpeople spoke up, "He knows too much."
Ichigo glare harden, "Is that all? Just because he learned about our race it means that my father must go to such measures for one human? Look at him, he practically sent the entire task force! Let me speak with him, but release Toshiro, I'll be the one responsible and take the consequences."
The other mermen and mermaids of the task force all looked at their prince with shock and turned to their task force leader. Yoruichi just sighed and looked at the unconscious human,
"Release him, Ichigo I hope you know what your doing…"
The prince nodded and had Grimmjow and Ulquiorra take Toshiro back. At first the task force mermen that was holding Toshiro were reluctant to let the human go, but when they caught sight of Ichigo's eyes which shifted from brown to burning gold, they immediately handed him over to his personal guards.
"Thank you Yoruichi," said Ichigo with a smile.
Nodding, the task force leader ordered her teams to head back to where they came from. Ichigo ran his hand through his hair and swam over to his friends and sisters where Yuzu was checking Toshiro for any injuries.
"He is alright, he just have a big bruise on his neck."
Ichigo looked at Grimmjow and Ulquiorra, "Take my sisters and Toshiro to my quarters, I'll handle my father."
His guards and sisters had a feeling of uneasiness bubbling inside them, but followed his request none the less.
Toshiro awoke to the throbbing pain at the back of his neck. Acting on instinct, he reached over to touch it but retracted quickly due to the pain. He opened his eyes and saw a chandelier that was made of coral. He sat up quickly and noticed that he was on a luxurious queen size bed with silky blue sheets and pillows. Crawling towards the edge of the bed, Toshiro's face hit what seems like a barrier. Curious, he touched the barrier with his hands and realized that it was some strong bubble substance. On the other side of the bubble, Toshiro can see everything was luxurious and made of colored coral from cabinets to chairs that stuck to the marble floor. Toshiro also noticed that he was actually breathing air not the water's oxygen and on the other side of the bubble was pure water.
"Oh no!" He remembered that Ichigo had said. "If the bubble is broken; I'll drown!"
Suddenly through the large coral double doors, Yuzu swam in with another mermaid, who was not Karin, towards the bubble. The other mermaid had orange hair like Ichigo but hers was darker and gray eyes and her bosom was as big as Rangiku!
Yuzu swam up to the bubble and placed her hand on it, "I'm so glad that you are alright. How do you feel?"
Toshiro smiled that the mermaid that he helped save was safe, "I'm feel fine, but there is still a pain in the back of my neck and I think there's a bruise, it's kinda of bothering me."
Yuzu looked at the other mermaid, "She will help you with that."
The orange haired mermaid swam forwards and had a sincere smile, "Hello, I am Orihime Inoue, I'm Prince Ichigo's personal medical doctor and guard. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Toshiro nodded, "I'm Toshiro Hitsugaya… um, how are you going to…"
Orihime let out a giggle, "My specialty is the use of magic for healing and defense. Here let me show you."
The human noticed that Orihime was going to pop the bubble, "Wait!"
But it was too late, the bubble let out a loud pop before the water hit Toshiro's body with full force. He immediately held his breath and prayed he wasn't going to drown. Yuzu and Orihime swam up to the human and grabbed his arms and smiled,
"It's okay, the water in this kingdom is different from sea water. You can breath," said Orihime calmly.
Toshiro released his breath and inhaled the breathable water, "Thank you. You could have informed me sooner."
The mermaids giggled, "We're sorry, come on let's get you fixed up."
Orihime touched the hairpins in her hair and suddenly Toshiro was engulfed by a strange, yet calming light. Little by little, the pain at the back of his head subsided and the glowing orange light vanished.
"What was that?" Toshiro asked as he suddenly floated to the ceiling. Yuzu saw this and grabbed his arm and pulled him back down onto the bed. Toshiro grabbed the ridiculously soft mattress so he would float away again.
"How is this bed so soft when underwater?" he thought out loud.
Orihime smiled, "It's because of the Ichigo's magic over this room. It's hard to explain, but it is how it is."
Toshiro nodded, "Where is Ichigo anyways?"
Both mermaids look rather grim which caught the human's attention. Yuzu looked at the double door, "He's in trial right now."
Teal eyes widen in shock, "T-Trial! What for?"
Yuzu looked sad, "He's in trial because he brought a human to our world to save me."
"So he's going to get punished because of me? Where are they now?" demanded Toshiro.
Orihime shook her head, "We cannot interrupt a trial unless we want to suffer severe consequences. Let us just wait for him, since he is the next heir to his kingdom, I'm sure his punishment will be light."
Toshiro looked at his hands on his lap, "I hope so."
Ichigo glared at the merman sitting comfortably at a large shell throne with a sword that held proudly by the throne. The merman had short, spiky black hair with a matching color goatee. His face was sort of childlike for a King, but in his eyes held wisdom and experience of combat. He too, had a golden tail that represented for royalty and he left his chest bare. The King faced his son with a playful expression that he always do to tease Ichigo.
"Dad! What the hell are you doing? Sending the Task Force after Toshiro; he has done nothing wrong."
Ichigo's father just looked at his son with a wary expression, "My son, please understand. Humans are not allowed to mingle with our kind; they should not even know we exist. Once they know of our existence, they will hunt us down and use us as experiments to further their greed for knowledge and use our abilities for themselves. Ichigo, there is a reason why our kinds were separated in the first place."
Ichigo swam a little closer to his father to emphasize his words, "But Toshiro is different! Once he found out about the merpeople…"
"How did he find out, Ichigo?"
This made Ichigo hesitate for a moment, "I revealed myself to him. Only for a good reason!"
The King's frown deepen, "And what would that reason be, Ichigo."
The Prince folded his arms and scowled, "Yuzu was trapped by one of the human caged not too long ago. I asked him for his help since his kind was the one that built it. He agreed and was we were able to get Yuzu out."
The King left his throne and grabbed his son by the shoulders, "Yuzu was captured! Why was I not informed of this!"
"Because we knew you would freak out and send every merman and mermaid to the area. But Toshiro got her out and you just had to repay him by knocking him out. Dad, he is a good person. Please you have to trust me."
The King released his grip on his son's shoulders and swam over to his throne once more, "I… I must apologize to the huma… I mean, Toshiro was it?"
"Yes, his name is Toshiro Hitsugaya."
"I must apologize… Ririn!"
A blue dolphin appeared from the massive door and swam lightheartedly towards the two mermen.
"I want you to go fetch Toshiro Hitsugaya and bring him here."
"He's at my bedchambers with Yuzu and Orihime," Ichigo added.
The blue dolphin nodded and swam away.
Toshiro, Yuzu and Orihime laughed loudly as they sat on the bed of Ichigo's room. They were exchanging life stories to one another and it was Toshiro's turn to tell his,
"I have a friend name Rukia. She is a really nice lady, even though she is really short, and she really likes bunnies."
Yuzu's face lit up at the word, "Bunnies? I always wanted to see an actual bunny! But as you can see I can't go to the surface and the bunnies are… from what I heard from the seagulls, more inland than on the seashore."
Toshiro smiled and patted his hand on the little mermaid's head, "When I go back to the surface, I'll be sure to show you a real bunny, a nice fluffy white one."
Yuzu turned to Toshiro with happiness, but it quickly turned to sadness, "But if it means for me to see a bunny for at least one time… I won't see it if it means that I won't be able to see you again Toshiro."
The white haired man's eyes widen, "Yuzu…"
Suddenly a blue dolphin appeared and swam up to the ceiling, did some twirls before coming face to face with the room occupants.
Orihime tapped the dolphin's bottlenose, "Hello Ririn! What are you doing here?"
Toshiro stared in amazement as Orihime and the dolphin conversed to each other like they knew what the other was saying. He never got this close to a real dolphin before, so he took the opportunity to touch the sea mammal's rubber and slippery skin. The dolphin looked at the human at the corner of its eye and opened its mouth,
"So you are the human everyone is talking about, I have to say, you are quite cute."
The said human looked around and noticed it wasn't Yuzu or Orihime speaking,
"It's me you dummy, the dolphin."
Toshiro stared at the dolphin for a while, "You can talk?"
The blue dolphin rolled its eyes, "I've been able to talk, you just couldn't understand my language, but now that you touched me skin you can understand my every word. I'm Ririn by the way."
"I'm Toshiro Hitsugaya."
The dolphin nodded, "I'm to take you to the King, Toshiro Hitsugaya. He wishes to speak with you."
The human visibly froze at the words and Ririn nudged the human with her nose, "Don't worry, when I left the King looked… just come with me."
Yuzu, Orihime and Ririn swam out of the room very quickly leaving Toshiro doing some weird movement. The underwater residents watched the human struggle against the water and took pity on him, "I never learned how to swim."
Yuzu took Toshiro's hand and placed it on Ririn's dorsal fin, "I'll have my brother teach you, but for now hold on to Ririn."
"Better hold on tight Toshiro."
With that, they swam to the throne room while Toshiro started to feel butterflies forming in his stomach."
Toshiro fidgeted under the gaze of the King who examined him with much concentration. Ichigo, Yuzu, Orihime, and Ririn were off to the side watching intently for what is going to happen. Ichigo looked as if he were ready to swim forward if his father were to do something. After a while, the King left his throne and swam around the human further examining him. Finally facing face to face with Toshiro, the King stared down at Toshiro with much intensity before breaking out to a full grin.
"I like you."
The other four observers released the breath they didn't know they held. Toshiro jumped slightly as the large hands clasped onto his shoulders and heard that the King was speaking to him,
"Forgive me, I did not mean to frighten you. I was curious to what human my son spoke of and you are far from what I expected."
Toshiro just nodded.
"I am Isshin, King of this part of the hemisphere of the world. My good friend rules the other; you humans might recognize the name Triton."
"I s-see, Your Majesty."
Isshin shook his head, "No no, none with the formality, just call me Isshin. I already know who you are and what you've done."
The King inclined his head slightly, "I am grateful for what you have done to save my daughter. And… I'm deeply sorry for my actions towards you earlier, for I sent out the order for your arrest without knowing what was going on."
The human was in shock that he was being asked for forgiveness by a King!
"It… it's all been forgiven. I know you were just worried for the secrecy of your kind, but I promise you, you're secret is safe with me."
Isshin looked into Toshiro's eyes and his breath was caught in his throat. In the human's eyes burned with the familiar determination to keep his memories of the underwater world.
Isshin smiled sincerely and gestured to his son and daughter, "Come, Ichigo, Yuzu, take Toshiro and give him a tour of our home. Toshiro Hitsugaya…"
The said man turned to face the King, "Welcome to Lorem Ipsum."
Yukiko: So I finished yet another chapter! Whoo! So the world that the merpeople live at is Lorem Ipsum, it's Latin for Water World… Sorry for the lack of creativity! So tell me how it is… WITH A REVIEW!
~Yukiko Shiroryuu~