A Bleach Beach Trip
Disclaimer: I own Bleach, I use it on my laundry every week. Oh, we're talking about the Anime/Manga? Never mind then. I do not own Bleach, even though I do have a bottle of it in my laundry room.
A/N: I know, I know, this is way overdue. I apologize for that. It will be a while before I am able to get settled down and in front of a computer, but I promise that I'll get the next chapter up as soon as possible. I'm hoping it won't take longer than two weeks. If I get lucky I'll be done sooner. I have a plan on where this is going, and I think you will all like it. So far I'm satisfied with how this is turning out, considering I wasn't very enthusiastic about the idea when I started this. Hope you all enjoy, this one is extra long just for you. I hope the longer chapter makes up for the lack of update.
Chapter 3
The guys had finished unpacking, which in most cases just involved tossing their bags on a bed. With nothing better to do Ichigo was getting a head start on the relaxing that he came to do. He didn't know what any of the others were doing and he really didn't care. Keigo was being uncharacteristically quiet, and he wasn't going to let the opportunity go to waste. He didn't expect that Keigo would stay quiet for much of the trip, so he was going to enjoy it when he could.
"Hey, guys?"
So it was true. All good things do come to an end.
"What, is it?" Mizuiro answered when no one else did. Even though the moment of peace was over, there was no way that Ichigo was going to contribute.
"So what are we going to do now?" In true Keigo fashion, he demonstrated that he was unable to remain still or silent for longer than a few minutes. Ichigo wondered if he had an undiscovered strain of ADHD.
Mizuiro shrugged. "I kind of figured we would probably just take it easy tonight and get settled in."
Ichigo indulged in a rare inner smile. Mizuiro had just skyrocketed in his estimation.
"There's a festival later this evening, if you want something to do." Mizuiro's cousin on the other hand would have a rough time going anywhere but down in Ichigo's opinion of him. Walking into the room, he handed his cousin a set of keys. "Here are the keys to the place; if any of you need anything just give me a call. Talk to you later." And with that he left.
"PERFECT!" Keigo declared.
"A festival does sound like fun," said Mizuiro.
"I suppose…" Said Uryu.
"Mmmh," said Chad.
"Whatever," said Ichigo.
"Well, now that that's settled, I think I'll go see what the girls think." Mizuiro got up to leave the room, but Keigo beat him to it.
"Don't worry about it, I'll go tell them." And with that he left the room.
Barely a moment later they heard the sound of a door opening, followed by screaming and the sound of heavy objects making contact with the wall, floor and, more often than not, Keigo. Then there was silence.
Five minutes later a bruised and beaten Keigo dragged himself back into the room.
"Hey, I forgot to…What happened to him?" Mizuiro's cousin said, coming through the front door.
"B-boobies…so big…" And Keigo collapsed for good.
"Something that he probably deserved," said Ichigo.
"Harsh."
Orihime was trembling in the middle of the room, her arms clutched protectively around her chest. She looked like she was about to cry.
Tatsuki was standing between her best friend and the door, a stool clutched in her shaking hands. She was breathing heavily, her eyes focused and deadly, though the threat was no longer present. "That pervert," she snarled. "Hasn't he ever heard of knocking?" Worried she turned to her friend. "Orihime?"
As fast as she could, which turned out to be pretty fast, Orihime changed out of the remainder of the bikini into her normal clothes. Ripping open the drawer, she stuffed the Bikini in as deep as she could. "I am not wearing this thing." She said, with more heat than was usual for her.
Tatsuki decided to let it go. For now.
"It looked like he wanted to ask us something," said Ryo. "We should probably see what the guys want."
The girls found the guys lounging around the front room, with the exception of Keigo who was more collapsed than lounging. As if by an instinctive sense of survival Keigo woke up the moment Tatsuki entered the room. He scrambled to put several articles of furniture between him and the still angry girl, even though it would obviously do him no good. Tatsuki glared at him, but otherwise let it go.
"So what's up?" Mahana asked the guys.
"There's a festival later this evening. We were thinking of going." Mizuiro said, not looking up from his book.
"Sounds good," said Tatsuki, still glaring at Keigo, and walked out onto the balcony. Orihime followed her.
The cabin had a view of the ocean. The setting sun painted the waves a dreamy color of orange. It was a sight that was best described as perfect.
"The water looks so beautiful with the sun reflecting off it like that." Orihime commented dreamily, the shock of her nigh exposure beginning to wear off. "It's almost as if…"
"You're right, it sure is." Tatsuki cut that thought off before it could go anywhere.
Most of the people at the festival looked like they were tourists. And most of those were High School and College aged kids. The group had split up into smaller groups, and Ichigo had found himself with Uryu and Chad. None of them had anything to say, and so they didn't say anything.
There really wasn't much that attracted their attention, though they did loose Chad at a throwing stand that gave away plushies as a prize for knocking down the cans. Not really interested in plushies, and realizing that Chad wasn't going anywhere until he had cleaned out the store, Ichigo and Uryu decided to wander some more. After a few minutes of finding nothing interesting they came across Orihime and Tatsuki at a Goldfish Scooping stall. Tatsuki was watching her friend, whose whole attention was focused on her task of trying to catch the elusive goldfish.
"Hey," Ichigo said in way of greeting.
"Hey," Tatsuki glanced away from her friend for a moment.
Orihime broke another net. "Ittai! Another net please."
"What try is this?" Ichigo asked Tatsuki.
"I dunno. I lost count after eight."
As they continued to watch Orihime, Tatsuki began to formulate a plan in her mind.
"Why don't you give it a shot, Ichigo?" Tatsuki suggested.
Ichigo grunted and bent down, grabbing one of the nets. Orihime scooted over to give him some space, but remained crouched down.
Tatsuki turned to Ishida, and lowered her voice slightly. "Could you come with me to look at that stall over there, Ishida-kun?" Neither Ichigo nor Orihime seemed to notice the other two leaving.
After a while Ichigo asked, "What were you going to do with the fish once you caught one anyway?"
Orihime shrugged. "I don't know. I've never been able to catch one in these games, and I wanted to finally catch one."
Ichigo wasn't having any luck catching the fish either. Frustrated, he stood up. "Ah, let's go find something else. C'mon Ishida." No answer. It was then that Ichigo and Orihime noticed that the other two were gone.
"Huh? Where'd they go?" Ichigo looked around, confused.
Orihime was just as confused. Suddenly, her woman's intuition kicked in again for the second time in her life. "Ah! Kurosaki-kun, you don't suppose that they left so they could be alone together?"
"What? Ishida and Tatsuki?" He considered this. "Nah! That couldn't be it. He really isn't her type. And I have no idea what kind of girls Ishida likes."
"But then where did they go? And why together? Without telling us?"
"I dunno. Let's see if we can find them." Ichigo turned to leave, Orihime following him.
It was then that she realized that she was alone with Kurosaki-kun, at a festival. She also realized that she was hungry. She would have ignored her hunger, but her stomach made a very vocal argument. Orihime tried to hide her blush and her embarrassment, stealing a glance at Ichigo to see if he had noticed.
He had, but he tried to pretend he hadn't. He knew how easily embarrassed Orihime could get at times, and didn't want to make the situation any more awkward than it had to be. He noticed a nearby takoyaki stand, and decided to be tactful.
"You know," he said, scratching the back of his head. "I'm kind of hungry. Do you mind if we grab some takoyaki from that stand over there?"
Orihime mutely nodded her approval, and followed him to the stand. Had she not been walking a little behind him, he would have noticed the faint blush that colored Orihime's cheeks. But he still wouldn't have been able to tell what she was thinking.
Kurosaki-kun is so kind.
It was a small, trivial moment. But it was during those small, trivial moments that she found herself falling more in love with him.
Ichigo ordered two servings of takoyaki, and paid for them. He handed the second one to Orihime. "Here."
"Ah, Kurosaki-kun, you didn't have to pay for me!" Orihime protested as she accepted her snack.
"Don't worry about it. I've got money to spend, so I might as well spend it on my friends."
Orihime smiled. "Okay, but you have to let me buy the next treat, alright?"
Ichigo nodded, with a very, very faint smile. "Sounds fair to me." And they kept walking.
He smiled!…Well, he sort of did. A little.
But still, it was progress compared to when she had first met him. They continued to walk in silence.
"So, Kurosaki-kun," she decided to start a conversation. "What is it that you want to do when you're older?"
Ichigo thought for a moment. "Well, I'm not really sure. I've considered going into medicine, but I've never really been interested enough."
"I think you'd make a really good doctor, Kurosaki-kun. And when people die you could send them to Soul Society right away."
Ichigo chuckled at the thought. "It would be convenient. How about you? What is it that you want to do after school?"
Orihime smiled. "I haven't been able to decide. There's so many things that I would like to do. I would like to own a bakery, or maybe work at a kindergarten."
"Huh. Sounds like something you'd be good at."
"Thank you."
Ichigo frowned to himself, as he realized that he really didn't know much about this girl that was one of his closest friends. "You know," he said. "This is the most we've ever talked together, isn't it?"
Orihime considered this for a moment, and then smiled. "You're right, it is."
Chad had finished his quest for all things cute. He had failed to clean out the booth, due to lack of funding. Next time he would have to bring more money. As he walked around looking for his friends he was well aware of the stares that he was getting. After all it wasn't often that people saw a giant walking around with a bunch of plushies in his arms.
He spotted Ichigo, and what appeared to be Orihime walking together. He wondered what the two of them were doing together, and was about to join them, when he heard a noise directed at him.
"Psssst! Sado, over here."
He turned to find Tatsuki and Uryu hiding next to a stall. Uryu looked decidedly uncomfortable, and Chad noticed that Tatsuki's attention was focused on Ichigo and Orihime.
"What are you doing?" He asked them.
"We're watching Orihime and Ichigo," said Tatsuki.
"You're stalking them?"
"No, we're just following and observing."
"Uh, Arisawa-san, I think that's what stalking is." Interjected Uryu.
"Quiet you!"
So far they hadn't been able to find any of their friends. If Ichigo didn't know any better he'd almost say that they were hiding from them. But that was just ridiculous. They came across the throwing stand that they'd left Chad at. He was no longer there, and Ichigo vaguely noticed that they still had some plushies left. Ichigo would have kept walking, but Orihime grabbed his arm and dragged him to the stand.
"Kurosaki-kun, can we try this game?" She asked, with pleading eyes. Ichigo had no choice but to give in.
He started pulling out his wallet, but Orihime stopped him. "Remember, I said I'd pay next time."
Ichigo shrugged and put his wallet back. Orihime bought ten balls, five for her, and five for him. She did better than she did at the Fish Scooping game, but she never quite managed to knock the entire stack of cans down. Ichigo on the other hand was able to knock down a whole pyramid with each ball. As his prize the stall owner reached up and handed Ichigo a strawberry shaped plushy.
"Here you go," said the stall owner. "One of our last prizes. This big guy was here earlier, won almost all my prizes. Put a hole through the back of my stand." He pointed at a hole in the back wall.
"Ah, Kurosaki-kun, you're so lucky to win that."
Ichigo was frowning at the plushy, his expression the exact opposite of the strawberry's smile. He looked up and offered it to Orihime. "Here, you can have it if you want."
Orihime backed away slightly. "No, I couldn't, you won it."
"And now I'm giving it to you. It was your money anyway."
Finally Orihime accepted the gift, and held it, smiling. Ichigo looked at her expression and shrugged. Huh? Guess she likes Strawberries.
Ichigo noticed a faint sound that was steadily growing louder. A very familiar sound. One that he never seemed to be able to get away from. He lifted his fist to about face level, and felt the slight impact as Keigo ran into it.
"IIIIIICCCCHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGOOOOOOOO…WHAM!"
"Hey Keigo."
Keigo stormed up from his prostrate position. "WHY!? WHY DO YOU INFLICT SUCH ABUSE ON ME? ONE OF YOURE CLOSEST FRIENDS!"
"I'm telling you," said Mizuiro, following a little further behind the other boy. "It's a conditioned reflex. He does it so often that he doesn't even think about it anymore."
"Whatever," said Ichigo.
Mizuiro notices Orihime standing next to Ichigo. "Ah, Inoue-san!" Keigo hones in on her almost instantly.
"WHAT! What are Ichigo and Inoue-san doing together? What is this unusual development?" WHAM!
Ichigo cracked his knuckles. "That one wasn't a conditioned reflex."
"By the way, where are Uryu, Chad, and Arisawa-san?" Mizuiro asked.
"We left Chad at a throwing stand, and Tatsuki and Uryu disappeared somewhere together."
Mizuiro considered this. "Really? They left together? That's strange."
Ichigo shrugged. "Whatever. I don't really care either way."
"Hey what's up guys?" Tatsuki, along with Uryu and Chad, joined the rest of the group.
"Where've you guys been?" Ichigo asked them.
"I saw a stall I wanted to look at, and asked Ishida to come with me. We ran into Sado a little bit later."
Orihime nudged up next to Tatsuki, and whispered. "Tatsuki-chan! I never knew!"
"Never knew what?" Tatsuki whispered back.
"That you and Ishida-kun were…You know…"
"What are you talking about? I just took him with me so that you and Ichigo could be alone during the festival. You're welcome, by the way."
Orihime was taken aback. "You what…?"
Tatsuki winked.
The other three girls had found the rest of the group. "We're pretty much done looking around," said Mahana. "How about everyone else?"
"I think we're all pretty much done. We can head back to the cabin." Mizuiro started leading the way back.
Mahana noticed Orihime holding the Strawberry plushy and Chad with his armful of plushies. "What happened?" She asked Orihime. "He beat you to all the other ones?"
Orihime smiled. "No," she said. "I like this one." She considered the plushy she was holding. There was just one thing that she needed to change.
Later that evening Tatsuki was reading a martial arts magazine on her bed, when she saw Orihime come into the room with the strawberry plushy she'd had at the festival in one hand and a sewing kit in the other hand.
"Where'd you get that?" Tatsuki asked her friend.
"Kurosaki-kun won it for me at the festival. I just need to make a small adjustment."
"Okay." Tatsuki turned back to her magazine.
A few minutes later Orihime had finished, and she held up her handiwork to admire it. She smiled at a job well done. Tatsuki glanced over from her bed to look at the strawberry. Orihime had redone the stitching on the mouth and eyebrows so that the strawberry was frowning. Chuckling to herself Tatsuki turned back to her magazine. After a moment Orihime put the sewing kit away, and climbed into bed, turning off the light on her night stand. She fell asleep, holding her new plushy.