Hey everyone, I'm back with another chapter.

Once again, I do not own Bleach or its characters; nor do I make money from this fan-made fiction.

The Quadruple Date

Mizuki was going through her locker, preparing to go home as Senna approached. "So, how'd the date at the zoo go?"

"Amazingly!" Senna cheered as she opened her own locker. "And we're official!"

"Wow, I didn't know it was that bad."

"Not this time, Mizuki. Your teasing won't work."

"Hmm... I don't know if the world can handle a Senna who can't be teased." Mizuki began to grin as she placed a textbook into her backpack. "So, did something else good happen? You're glowing."

"Just my date."

"No, I meant something 'good'."

Senna felt her cheeks heat up. "M-Mizuki!"

Mizuki turned to Senna, revealing her now smug grin. "What? It's natural, isn't it?"

"N-No, that's just you teasing me again."

"You bet; you're fun to tease."

Senna quickly put a notebook and USB stick into her backpack and closed it up. "You've said that before."

"And I'll say it again. So, has anyone gotten sick and cancelled the quadruple-date?"

Senna sighed. "No, we were hoping, but that doesn't seem to be the case."

"Bummer. Well, at least Ichigo's paying for a nice dinner at a nicer restaurant. He's even paying for my older brother."

"Oh, Satoshi isn't coming?"

"Nah, he didn't want to risk a repeat of our double-date."

"I still feel bad about that."

"Don't be, he was over it after all those glasses of water you and Ichigo had to drink."

"Huh... I did wonder about that." Then she remembered something and opened her backpack again, digging deep to pull out something wrapped in paper. "This is for Kira, but don't tell him yet."

"Is... is that a mug?"

"Yes, me and Ichigo each got one to thank the Kiras who got us together."

"Ooh, does it say something funny?"

"You'll find out when your Kira opens it at the date."

Mizuki narrowed her eyes. "Hmm... I think you're being too generous," she said sarcastically. "I do like the idea, though."

Senna laughed. "Anyway, make sure Kira isn't late this time."

Mizuki's grin turned into a relaxed, lopsided smile. "Will do; see you in a bit."

"Later," Senna called out, already rushing towards the exit.

Tatsuki Arisawa was nervous. It had taken her the better part of a month to get the first double date planned using Ichigo's classmate as a pawn—considering she didn't even attend Tokyo University and had to travel by train for an hour to get there from Karakura, then tail Ichigo, then find someone who was willing... it was a process and threats may or may not have been involved—but Kira's girlfriend had gotten sick and foiled that date.

Worse yet, the double-date had become a quadruple-date over the past few days. And if that wasn't enough, earlier today, Kira's girlfriend had dumped him, forcing Tatsuki to substitute for the woman last-minute. Tatsuki didn't even own a dress until an hour ago. Nothing was going to plan except for the venue, and that almost didn't pan out thanks to a power outage five minutes ago that was, thankfully, fixed quickly.

She, Orihime, and Kira had been the first to show up, but they were early on purpose to review the general plan. The good news was the restaurant was a nicer place with dim lighting and hardwood floors. The atmosphere was cozy. The booths were much bigger, too, capable of holding five people comfortably on each side. Overall, Tatsuki was glad Kira negotiated the date take place near the university in Tokyo instead of that restaurant in Karakura.

Not long after, three of the people had showed up: a different Kira, his girlfriend Mizuki, and Mizuki's older brother Yasuhiro. That left only Ichigo and a girl named Senna, according to Mizuki.

A few minutes later, Ichigo showed up with three other people, and the group split up as Ichigo and a girl with purple hair and orange eyes approached them. She and Ichigo were dressed up a bit more than everyone else, and each had small gift bags in hand. But before Tatsuki or Orihime could think about it, everyone who had already sat down got up to greet the pair.

"So," Mizuki asked, approaching Senna "your parents came along?"

"Yeah... they didn't trust me and Ichigo being this far away from home."

Mizuki snorted. "With the kind of atmosphere you two bring? Who can blame them?"

"It's not that obvious... is it?"

"Were you planning to do something inappropriate?"

"No, Ichigo and I know restraint."

Ichigo couldn't believe he was seeing Tatsuki and Orihime. "What the..." he mumbled at first. "Hey Tatsuki, Orihime, what a coincidence; how's it going?"

"It's good," Orihime said. "Uh... yeah, it's a real surprise you showed up. Who would have, uh, guessed" Orihime couldn't help the nervous giggle. She knew what to say to feign ignorance, but being around Ichigo on a date was causing her to slip up.

"Yeah, it is." Thankfully Ichigo seemed as dense as he normally was. "How do you and Tatsuki know Kira?"

Having seen how nervous Orihime was, Tatsuki decided to step in. "We met at the college, actually. I was visiting Orihime."

"I see," Ichigo replied. He turned to Kira. "You better treat Orihime well."

"A-actually, I'm his date," Tatsuki said just a bit too quickly and loudly.

Ichigo eyed her critically.

She glared back. "What?"

"Doesn't seem like the type of guy you'd go for. Uh, no offence, Kira."

"Screw you," she said, giving Ichigo a light jab in the arm; he was right, but this was all for Orihime. She'd pretend to be a docile housewife if necessary.

"None taken," was Kira's response. Tatsuki wasn't his kind of girl, either. "Anyway, what's with the fancy tux? You seem a lot more direct and down to earth in class."

"Oh, well, once Senna's parents heard where the date was, they insisted we dress up a bit." Senna soon appeared at his side and Ichigo put his arm around her. "Senna, this is Kira, my classmate. And these two girls are Tatsuki and Orihime, the same friends I've told you about. Orihime, Tatsuki, this is my girlfriend Senna."

Senna's jaw hung for a second as she processed the information, before energetically approaching Tatsuki and nervously shaking her hands as well as Orihime's and Kira's. "Wow, I didn't think I'd meet you both this soon!" She rounded a playful glare at Ichigo. "Ichigo, is there something you forgot to tell me?"

Ichigo raised his hands in surrender. "Nope, I'm as surprised as you are." He looked back at Tatsuki and Orihime. "Anyway, it's nice that you two are here instead of some strangers."

Tatsuki's brain was stuck in a loop. 'No, no, no, no, no, no; no!' All that effort and somehow, Ichigo, the densest person to exist outside of a Shōnen Jump protagonist, already had a girlfriend? In what world?

"Yeah, who would have guessed?" Tatsuki said. "Uh, how did you and Senna meet?"

Tatsuki's jaw was one muscle movement away from hitting the floor as Ichigo quickly briefed her and Orihime about showing up on the wrong double date and both sides not realizing it until they had already been on it. She silently cursed Kira's ex, both for getting sick then and now for breaking up with Kira... maybe she wasn't actually sick back then? Regardless, it didn't matter: the damage had been done. When Orihime excused herself, Tatsuki followed her to the bathroom to help console her. Maybe they could also plan something to subtly get Ichigo and Senna apart. If only any ideas would come.

Senna was enjoying the evening as she sat next to Ichigo, though she felt bad for Orihime who seemed to be on her period... not that she or anyone else would ask something that personal to confirm it, but several bathroom trips and obvious discomfort were reasonable tells. Still, Orihime proved to be every bit as nice as Ichigo led Senna to believe. Even more exciting for Senna was being able to talk to Tatsuki, because the strongest female martial artist in Japan was a celebrity in the martial arts world. She had been looking forward to this since Ichigo first confirmed that the Tatsuki he knew was the one she had watched win the Japanese championship last year. The only downside was it was a little too much like meeting a celebrity because Tatsuki seemed to be a bit standoffish.

Truth or Dare was proposed after they all ate—both Ichigo and Senna were starting to wonder if this was a normal thing for shared dates—and after a few ground rules were set, water started flowing down throats as people refused some of the more outrageous questions and dares.

"Tatsuki," Mazuki called out, "Name everyone here you do or did have a crush on."

Tatsuki stared at Mizuki and gave her a sharp glare. "Back in middle school, Ichigo." Senna, Orihime and Ichigo looked at her in disbelief.

"Not Kira?" Mizuki asked, very surprised.

"I said dare, not truth." She crossed her arms. "Now, Senna, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

Tatsuki took some time to think of a question. "How many guys have you dated?"

"Just Ichigo."

She lightly slapped the table. "What? No way!"

"Way!" Senna smirked. "Now, Kira," she pointed to Ichigo's classmate.

Kira didn't even wait for the rest of the question as he answered "Dare" with gusto. He had found this date he was threatened into more fun than he expected, even if he was still hurting from the day's earlier breakup. Furthermore, with any luck, maybe Ichigo could give him some tips later on now that he knew the guy was, somehow, a certified chick magnet.

Senna hummed to herself as she thought up a challenge. "Go to the bathroom and attach a trail of toilet paper to your shoe. Ignore anyone who says anything about it."

"Oh, easy." He did just that and, upon returning with a four foot trail that gave him many concerned, humoured or judgmental looks from the other guests, he sat down. He looked around the table and noticed Orihime hadn't really participated much. "Orihime, truth or dare?"

"Um... truth?"

"Alright..." a mischievous grin couldn't be helped as he thought up his question, "Who is the prettiest person here?" That was sure to cause a stir and make things a bit more fun.

"Oh, I..." Orihime looked around, "I don't know. I mean, Senna's dressed up really nicely, so her, I guess. Mizuki, truth or dare?"

Kira couldn't believe it; apparently Orihime genuinely was as nice as she appeared. He felt something for her he refused to acknowledge as long as Tatsuki was beside him and capable of sending him away in an ambulance.

"Dare," Mizuki said, confident the challenge wouldn't be that bad.

"I dare you to... kiss Kira as passionately as you can."

A long, saucy kiss ensued, causing everyone to watch with anticipation until, over twenty seconds later, the kiss ended; both participants satisfied and Yasuhiro looking away in disgust as appropriate of any single, older brother.

"Now I have the power," Mizuki smirked, going from person to person and intimidating each of them; even her own brother. "Yasuhiro, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Spoil sport."

"Yeah, right. I may be a coward, but I'm not stupid and I'm not thirsty."

"True, true... What happened to the lingerie I bought last month?"

Everyone in the vicinity, even the waitresses and guests who were secretly paying attention to the group's game, seemed to go silent or pause what they were doing as they waited for the answer.

"You're evil, sis."

She smirked. "Well, you are a coward. Say, that glass of water looks mi~ghty drinkable."

"Yeah, no. I'm not leaving that misunderstanding up to interpretation. My girlfriend at the time saw it on the kitchen counter in a bag and tried it on. I, uh... I think you can figure out the rest."

"That's not how this works. You can tell me or take a drink."

There was some hesitation before Yasuhiro spilled. "She looked amazing in it, but once she told me where she found it I realized it was yours; the thought disturbed me so much I burned the set and pretended not to know anything."

"Hah, so that's what happened. You owe me ten thousand yen."

"I know, I saw the receipt in the bag after. I can't believe underwear could cost so much. But aren't you too young for that kind of stuff?"

"There's nothing wrong with planning for my future as Kira's wife."

Yasuhiro seemed to look a little sick. "Fine, whatever, it's not my place to know. And for the record, you were going to get that money back... just not in a way that indicated my guilt."

"And now you know better. Your turn."

Yasuhiro sighed in defeat. "Alright, Ichigo, it's been a while since you were called out. Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"One-up my sister and her boyfriend."

Ichigo looked towards Senna as she looked up at him. They were both nervous, but as soon as their eyes locked Ichigo and Senna found a new courage as Ichigo dipped his head and Senna lifted hers. All thoughts of the dare left their minds as their lips touched; it was gentle, and light, and sloppy. It felt good.

Ichigo and Senna's lips drifted apart after only ten or so seconds, and Mizuki said something, though neither of them paid attention to it. Ichigo enjoyed the large smile on Senna's face and Senna enjoyed the large smile she got from Ichigo. Then the moment passed and their minds were back at the dining table. Ichigo put his arm around Senna as they prepared to continue the game.

"Wow," Yasuhiro said, "you're definitely amateurs, but that aura of innocent love... I can't decide. What do you all think? Better or not?"

Mizuki and Kira voted 'no', but they were the competition and didn't want to lose. The other Kira said 'nay' and so did Tatsuki. Orihime had gone to the bathroom again. "Well, you heard the vote. Drink up, Ichigo."

Ichigo did, and then found he needed to go to the washroom, so he asked everyone on his bench to make way. This movement caused Mizuki and Kira need to go to the washroom as well, and since so many people were now missing everyone else decided to preemptively empty their bladders, as they also were only a glass or so away.

After washing her hands, Senna approached Orihime, who had been sitting against the edge of the counter since she entered. "You know, if you're not having a good time, I don't think Yasuhiro would blame you for leaving." She had interacted on occasion with Mizuki's brother, and he didn't seem the type to be upset over having a good reason to leave.

"I'm fine," Orihime said.

"Are you sure? I mean, I could probably ask my parents to drop you off at your dorm. We came here by car."

"Don't worry about it, I'll go when Tatsuki's ready to go."

"Alright, I hope you feel better soon."

"Senna." Orihime waited for Senna to stop and turn around. "If you don't mind me asking, what made you want to keep dating Ichigo?"

Senna couldn't help a the smile as she reminisced. "At first it was the connection we just seemed to have... like I'd known him weeks instead of hours. He seemed to just get things about me, too. I wanted to know more about him, and I could tell he was just as interested in me. Then we had a couple more dates and here we are. Official boyfriend and girlfriend."

"I see."

Senna frowned a bit, seeing Orihime's reaction just then had helped her start putting things together. "Orihime... do you have feelings for Ichigo, by any chance?"

Orihime's eyes opened wider in surprise; she had hoped she hid it better. "Oh, uh..." Finding the words was a bit difficult, but they did come. "What would you do if I said 'yes'?"

Senna thought about it for a while. "Well, that would be awkward, wouldn't it? And—"

"Not just awkward," came Tatsuki's voice. She began to wash her hands, having just left a bathroom stall. "Senna, I'm going to level with you. The original double date that got cancelled, and this one... I set it up for Orihime and Ichigo. Orihime's had a crush on him since before high school. She's been through a lot, and she's even saved his life a few times. And maybe it's mean of me to say this, but I don't think you deserve Ichigo. Would you consider breaking up with him?"

"Tatsuki..." Orihime sighed. "I've made a real mess of things, haven't I? Senna, I apologize for Tatsuki, she was only looking out for me. I don't know you enough to say you don't deserve him, but I'm also going to warn you: I won't let Ichigo go without a fight. So," she said, extending a hand in peace, "whoever gets Ichigo, no hard feelings?"

Senna didn't know what to say; her brows furrowed and her lips a scowl as she tried to come up with a snappy reply. She didn't even notice Orihime's extended hand, nor would she have accepted it had she known. It was impossible for her not to feel deeply in several ways for Ichigo, after all.

A slow clap stole all the girls' attention as they looked to see Mizuki walk out of her bathroom stall and head for the sink. "You know, Orihime, you're a better person than me. I know I'd be doing exactly what Tatsuki did. In fact, I'll go ahead and do just that: You've had all that time to woo Ichigo, and you have the boobs of a goddess. Yet nothing came of it. Isn't that a sign or something? Would you consider giving Ichigo up?"

Something had changed once the girls returned from the bathroom: Orihime was far more outspoken and Senna seemed a bit down. Tatsuki and Mizuki seemed to have become rivals. Still, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary to Ichigo, though the way Senna had further leaned into him said something. And when Mizuki and Tatsuki exchanged particularly passive-aggressive words, Senna squeezed him as she winced. As Ichigo looked down at Senna, he could tell she didn't want to be there.

"Care to go for a walk?" Ichigo quietly asked into her ear.

Senna nodded and Ichigo asked the others to let them out from the table. He said they would be back later, and soon the outside air hit her like a wall and so did reality. The surprisingly empty streets with plenty of shadows masked something unpleasant, and the bright and colourful lights and signs were wrong. A lone car driving by but never slowing made the area feel like the end of the world. Only Ichigo's presence warmed her, and suddenly and briefly she was terrified of a future without it.

Ichigo watched Senna walk ahead of him by a few steps, wanting to comfort her but not knowing how, and that scared him. Senna had opened him up several times, but what had he done for her? Would he be able to support her if something really brought her down? Still, running wasn't in his blood, and Senna enjoyed physical contact, so he hugged her from behind.

Senna looked up at him. "Hey, Ichigo?"

"Yeah?"

"Can we find a high place?"

Ichigo took a second to think. "Yeah, stand on my feet."

It was a strange request, but Senna did so without hesitation. A very disorienting jolt of movement later and she found herself on top of the edge of the closest skyscraper, staring out at the city. Once she realized just where she was a giggle escaped from her. "This is amazing!"

Ichigo let out a breath in relief. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. Let me know when you're feeling down, I'll... do something about it."

"I will," Senna said, hugging the arms around her more tightly. "Say," she said in a low, conspiratorial tone, "since we're up here and there's no one to bother us, wanna do some necking?"

"What's necking?"

Senna fluidly turned around in Ichigo's arms to face him and reached an arm around his neck and lightly tugged, encouraging Ichigo to lean down as she pushed herself onto her toes and captured his lips. She couldn't help the grin as they parted. "We need to beat Mizuki and Kira next time."

Kai loved seeing his daughter happy enough to glow, but he didn't like that Ichigo had been the reason. Whatever they did between leaving and returning to the restaurant had put her in a much better mood and that was suspicious. He originally wanted to tail them, but his wife insisted on leaving them alone.

"Senna isn't some random child, and Ichigo has been an absolute gentleman when he's been at our house. Give them a little space."

He was about to disagree, but then she gave him 'the look', the one she would give him whenever a case was too heavy on his mind and he needed to relax. "You're right, Amaya. I just worry."

"Dear, why are you so hard on Ichigo?"

"It's my instinct. I've seen a lot of cases with people like Ichigo, and things never end well for them. The fighting never stops and it catches up to them... and sometimes their family."

"Med school students get into fights?"

"That education is the only reason I'm letting Ichigo near Senna."

Senna couldn't contain her joy as she and Ichigo returned to the date and they slid into the large dining booth. She saw that both Orihime and Tatsuki looked concerned and displeased, but that didn't matter.

"We're back! So, what did we miss?"

"Oh, not much," Mizuki said, "just a very cranky customer being served justice. So, what happened with you and Ichigo?"

"Not much," Senna said, though she couldn't keep eye contact with Mizuki, who smiled knowingly in response.

"Look at you, marking your territory."

Senna looked off to the side. "We didn't do that much."

Mizuki's Kira looked at Ichigo. "Before I forget, thanks for paying for us. And again for the mug."

"Don't mention it. It made this date a lot more fun and I think Senna would say the same thing."

"I would," Senna added.

"Ichigo," Orihime said, "would you care to go on another double date? W-with Yasuhiro, Kira and Tatsuki, of course. Even Mizuki and Kira. Oh, and Senna."

Ichigo looked to Senna, using his eyes to ask her. She shook her head. "I think I'd like to take Senna on some more dates for just the two of us first, sorry."

The rest of the date went by quickly and soon after paying, everyone was on their way home the way they came except Tatsuki who was staying over in Orihime's dorm.

Ichigo wanted to spend some time with Senna alone, but her father wanted to talk with her about something apparently important, so he left for his house. Using his abilities to sneak into his room on the second story through the window—no wonder every soul reaper he knew kept using it, it really was convenient—he quickly got back into casual clothes. That's when he heard a knock on his door and unlocked it, letting his sister, Karin, in.

"What's up?"

"That's what I wanna ask. Where were you?" The presence of his soul had been missing for hours and he left his room locked, which wasn't normal.

"That's... none of your business."

"Ichigo, you promised me, no more hiding soul reaper stuff."

That's when Ichigo realized what impression his disappearance may have left and laughed a bit. Karin looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "Strange, you don't feel like Kon... but you can't possibly be Ichigo." Kon was the perverted artificial soul—normally implanted in Yuzu's stuffed lion—Ichigo sometimes used when he didn't want his body to just drop dead in a public space.

Ichigo shook his head. "Sorry, Karin, I didn't mean to worry you. No, I wasn't dealing with hollows. You can keep a secret, right?"

Karin nodded.

"I was in Tokyo on a date."

Karin grinned smugly. "Oh-ho, finally got around to making trouble, eh? So, who's the unlucky girl: Orihime or Tatsuki?"

Ichigo looked at her in confusion. "Why would it be them? Though they were both there."

"Wait, what?" Karin's eyes nearly bugged out and none of what he said made any sense. "Explain."

Ichigo explained, about Senna and showing up at the wrong double date, their other dates, and about the night he just had. Karin was rapt as she listened to the story, before finally laughing hard enough to end up on the floor.

"Only you, dear brother, would end up accidentally picking up a girlfriend. Now, when were you planning to tell us?"

"You and Yuzu? After the next date. Dad? As late as possible."

"...Fair enough. I'll keep my lips zipped. Just remember this for when I get a boyfriend one day. No telling dad until I do."

"Deal." Besides, Ichigo knew he could easily knock on the skulls of any bad boyfriends Karin might encounter in place of his father.

A/N:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you find mistakes or know how I can improve please let me know in a review or PM. I'm all ears... or eyes, I guess.

Honestly, I had/have some reservations about this chapter. It was originally completely different, but I didn't like it because it unrealistically delayed Orihime and Tatsuki from finding out for like six months. It was silly. So, I rewrote the chapter and landed on this... a quadruple-date. Tatsuki setting everything up, including the initial botched double-date, was more of a 'happy'/coincidental possibility that I never thought about when writing the first nor the second chapter.

Honestly, even now, I don't know whether this is the best thing to have done... but I like it.

Oh, by the way, the YouTuber JoshStrifeHayes, on the JoshStrifeSays side channel, posted a 3:33:33 long reaction video (the video he was reacting to being 20 minutes long) that turned into trolling his audience and going off topic much to the entertained chagrin of most of his viewers. I watched the full thing, and in it he talks about a date he had... where he had the name and picture of the girl and ended up on the wrong date anyways because his phone had died and he couldn't confirm.

For whatever reason, two couples—who shared the same names and similar looks—had planned a first date/meeting on the same day, in the same pub, and at the same time. I can't tell you how good it feels to see real life being stranger than the premise of my fiction. :D

Onto life stuff and reasons for the inconsistent update scheduling:

None of you know this, but a lot is happening right now in my life and it's caused me to think more deeply about myself. I had an MRI of my head recently, but it'll be the end of April before I can talk to a neurologist about it... assuming I don't end up in the emergency department at the local hospital sooner. Odd, relatively new (last few months out of over six years of constant dizziness) neurological-like symptoms have popped up and come and go in waves. It's frustrating and frightening, if I'm honest. And the healthcare system is so slow here (but it is free so I'm not entirely complaining).

I also went bankrupt due to not having a job for the past 6-7 years due to being dizzy all the time. At least I'll be debt free.

Anyway, a lot has happened, which is why my update schedule is a bit chaotic. But I've also had the opportunity to examine what I like and don't like about myself, and take my faith a little more seriously as a result. I'm not going to start preaching in the middle of these stories or try to force moral values on anyone, so don't worry about that. If you like what I've already written, you'll continue to get more of it in the same ways. And I'm not going to attack anyone, either. But you may find a paragraph or two at the very end of these author's notes where I say something about my faith (and I will say something this time). It will always be at the end, after my sign-off, so if you don't like it, just stop reading at that point and know you've already read my thoughts on the story and the process of writing.

Now, I'm not doing this because I'm scared of going to hell otherwise (that's not how it works, one cannot earn salvation). I've noticed how much time I've spent on writing fanfiction... it's a scary amount for a hobby. Scarier than 2200 hours of active play time in FFXIV in less than 2 years (I never idled the game, either). Heck, I've got over 53,000 words of second draft in an up-and-coming fanfic and I'm only just past half-way through the unfinished first draft. Then there's the 4 or so other first drafts waiting to be turned into second drafts. And four WIP first drafts. I feel it's too much if I do naught more than entertain and distract. So, I hope, in addition to providing entertainment and distraction, I can spread a little hope for those needing it without interrupting the reason anyone comes to read these stories in the first place. So, without further ado on the hope:

Have a great 'until next time' and may God bless you,

SomethingAncient

(That was my sign-off.)

Jesus has prevented me from doing things that would put me in prison, and has forgiven major wrongs and extremely dumb things I've done. He's prevented me from hurting people and being a manipulative tyrant. I've noticed the more I let Him be Lord in my life, the more grounded I am and the more clear things are. I'm grateful, and want to be of use to Him, so I'll take this opportunity to not only try to advance God's kingdom, but also to help show some light for anyone who is trapped in darkness (because that's an awful place to be). Jesus wants to save your eternal soul before you're left to your vises unchecked. Repent of your sins and ask for forgiveness, believe that Jesus died to pay for those sins in your place, and believe He rose from the dead and conquered sin and it's penalty: death. Then ask him into your life—to be Lord and saviour—and tell someone. That's all that's needed to be saved.

No killing sacred animals to only cover a few sins, no breathing in special smoke, no climbing mountains and slaying monsters, no cutting off limbs, and no requirement to 'get it all right and be perfect, or else'. It's impossible to earn salvation and God understands we aren't perfect, which is why the good news is that Jesus did all the hard work. We only have to believe and choose to invite Jesus into our lives.

Now, that doesn't mean life will become easy. If anything, it gets harder. Don't listen to the quacks who make it sound like there's only good or happy things that happen if you're faithful. And don't think that being saved will somehow make you rich and/or successful. Those are shallow views to hold. What you get, aside from salvation, is peace that comes from a place that doesn't make sense in troubled times, joy despite sorrow (joy and happiness are not the same, even if people often mistake one for the other), and provision even if your wallet is empty (and God does provide, even if it is in unexpected, underwhelming, and/or often counter-intuitive ways. I've seen a miracle in person in that regard... maybe I'll talk about it in the A/N in a later chapter; it's not long... certainly shorter than what I've written here; this one will likely be the longest one I write).

Later.