A Bleach Beach Trip
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. One day I'll own my own series, just you watch.
Without warning, and without really waking up, Ichigo threw his covers into the air, cutting off visibility, and rolled off the side of his bed. He woke up when he hit the ground, and anyone watching would have laughed at his confused expression as his head poked up beside his bed, looking around as if he was trying to figure out what had happened.
"Figures," he muttered. "My reflexes finally get used to Goat Face's attacks, and he's not even here."
He climbed back into bed and pulled his covers off the ground back onto himself. As much as he tried there was too much adrenaline pumping in his system for him to fall back asleep. He checked his watch that was lying on the nightstand next to him. 7:30. Guess I might as well get up.
None of the other guys looked like they were getting up anytime soon. Judging by Keigo's anything-but-soft snores it was going to be longer for some than for others. Might as well get some breakfast.
All he could find in the fridge was; Cabbage, Squid, Chocolate Sauce and Red Bean Paste––lots of Red Bean Paste. With nothing edible in the fridge Ichigo decided to go and see if he could find something at a store. It was too early for vacationing high school students to be awake, but it wasn't too early for shops to be opening.
No one will ever really know what it is that Inoue Orihime dreams about at night. Fortunately, or unfortunately, it all depends on your point of view, she talks in her sleep, and it is possible to gather a vague idea about what it is she is dreaming about. It's usually the same thing every time anyway.
"Ah, Kurosaki-kun, don't, that tickles." Orihime murmured, rolling around in her blankets. "I told you I'm ticklish on my AAAAHHH."
Almost as suddenly as Ichigo had woken, Orihime sat straight up, throwing her covers off of herself. She was slightly disappointed when she realized she had been dreaming. Though a larger part of herself was relieved, she really was ticklish there.
Deciding to fix herself some breakfast she climbed out of bed and walked into the kitchen to find something to eat. Opening the fridge she found some Cabagge, Squid, Chocolate Sauce and Red Bean Paste––not nearly enough Red Bean Paste. Perfect.
Gathering her ingredients Orihime set about to prepare some breakfast. She was in luck, it looked like there would be enough to share with everyone.
It was at then that Ichigo came back, carrying a bag full of doughnuts. At first he'd only planned on getting some for himself, but in the end decided he might as well get some for everyone else.
Orihime noticed him coming in and smiled brightly. "Good morning, Kurosaki-kun."
Ichigo was certain that he'd never figure out how she could be so cheerful, even in the morning. "Good morning, Inoue." He noticed the food Orihime had laid out on the counter, and closer inspection revealed that, no, she had not found anything that he had missed earlier. "Ah, what are you making, Inoue?"
Orihime smiled again. "Fried cabbage and squid in chocolate and red bean paste sauce." She got a pan out of one of the cupboards. A very big pan. "I'm making breakfast for everyone."
Ah.
Ichigo could do nothing other than stare. When he snapped out of it he held up the bag of doughnuts. "Actually I bought doughnuts for everyone. So why not save what you're making for later?"
Orihime looked just a little disappointed, but then she smiled and put the other food away. "Of course, that sounds great." She took one out of the bag Ichigo was holding open. "Back home I always have my doughnuts with ice cream, and soy sauce."
Ichigo began to mentally make plans to keep Orihime out of the kitchen in the most polite way possible.
As they were eating their doughnuts the others began to wake up. Everyone appreciated the doughnuts, except for Keigo. But that probably had more to do with the fact that Ichigo decided to mess with his friend a little.
"Sweet, doughnuts," Keigo said, reaching for the bag.
"Get your own," Ichigo said, pulling the bag out of Keigo's reach. "The place is just down the street."
"Ah, Ichigo, you're so mean. You let everyone else have doughnuts, but you won't let me, your bosom friend partake of the sweet chewiness of the doughnuts?"
"It's because you keep saying stuff like that."
"But…"
At that point Tatsuki came into the room. "Sweet, doughnuts," she said reaching into the bag. Keigo, with a scandalized gasp, went to sulk in the corner. "What's up with him?"
Ichigo shrugged.
"Kurosaki-kun, don't be mean."
Ichigo grinned and tossed a doughnut at Keigo, who caught it. "Ah sweet wonderful savor that is doughnuts, how I shall cherish thee…"
"Don't make me take that away from you," Ichigo threatened.
With a subdued look Keigo stuffed the rest of the doughnut in his mouth, and looked for an opportunity to sneak another.
"So what's up for today?" Tatsuki asked no one in specific.
Shrugs from everyone else in the room were her only answer.
"It doesn't look like there is anything edible her," Uryu said from the fridge. Ichigo fought back a grin upon hearing Orihime's scandalized gasp. "Maybe we should go grocery shopping sometime later?"
"Thanks for volunteering," Tatsuki said, grabbing another doughnut. "I feel like having Teriyaki chicken tonight. So make sure you pick up stuff for that."
Uryu frowned, pushing his glasses up with his fingers, the light reflecting off the lenses hid his eyes from view "Very well," he said. "I will go. But I will need a list of what everyone wants, along with the money for it."
Orihime got up and found a pen and some paper, though she was the only one bothering to make a list. Once she was finished writing she handed Uryu her list.
"Inoue-san," Uryu said, after looking over the list. "You only wrote down pocky and wasabi."
"I like to dip the pocky into the wasabi." She said this as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Everyone, except for Tatsuki, stared at her; the later was just shaking her head. "What?" Orihime asked, looking around at everyone.
"Don't worry about it," Tatsuki told her confused friend. "You'll figure it out one of these days."
"But Rangiku-san agrees with me that it tastes good."
"Who's Rangiku-san?" Michiru asked.
"She was with those guys that showed up at school a few months ago." Ichigo answered.
"Oh, right."
"The similarities in taste might have something to do with a similarity in their metabolism." Ryo volunteered, peering up from her ever-present book.
Uryu frowned at the girl. "What does that have to do with…"
"Don't worry," Ryo replied. "Its kind of an inside joke." Michiru nodded, giggling softly.
It was later in the morning that Ichigo realized how fascinating setting up a beach umbrella could be. Or so one would think if they saw the intensity with which he focused his gaze on the pole he was driving into the sand. He even had a red face from the effort he was putting into it.
As most people know, sand isn't very hard, and hence it isn't very hard to stick a beach umbrella into it. Which means it really shouldn't take much effort to set up said umbrella, or very much concentration for that matter. Which suggests that there might be another reason for Ichigo focusing so much of his attention on such a simple task, as well as his red face.
The last time Ichigo had been at the beach had been with his family. That had been a few years ago by now. So Ichigo by any means wouldn't have ever considered himself much of a 'beach bum'. As it turned out he was quite ignorant of what exactly happened at a beach. Of course he was well aware of the basics, sun, sand, water and bikinis. The problem was that the later of that list hadn't quite registered in his mind until they were there. Relatively seen Ichigo was quite inexperienced when it came to the female body, most of his experience came from Yoruichi's games of 'Mess with Ichigo', or from Rangiku trying to sway his opinion.
The girls had worn T-shirts on the way to the beach. Which was why the moment they got to the beach, and he saw other women there wearing swimsuits ranging from relatively modest one piece suits to skimpy bikini's that would put most Idols to shame, was the moment that he realized this trip was going to be awkward for him.
He really should have figured that seeing his female classmates, who he saw on a regular basis, and never saw wearing anything less than their gym clothes, in swimsuits just might be something he wasn't necessarily prepared for. Ichigo was by no means a pervert, especially if compared to someone like Keigo––who was having a field day, by the way. But he was still a teenager, no matter how repressed his sex drive might be.
Which is what brings us to Ichigo's current study of the beach umbrella. He was hoping that nobody would notice his red face. At the very least he was thankful that only Tatsuki and Mahana were wearing bikinis. It didn't make it any easier, but the less he stressed his system with for now, the better. Orihime had been the last of the girls to take off the t-shirt she was wearing over her swimsuit, by which point Ichigo was already feeling flustered. For some reason he couldn't explain he'd found he was slightly disappointed when it turned out that she was wearing a one piece suit.
While he was training for Bankai, Yoruichi had accused him of being disappointed when she got into the hot springs as a cat instead of as a human. It had pissed him off that she kept messing with his mind like that. What pissed him off even more was that now she could have accuse him of the exact same thing, and it would be true. Recently he found himself growing more and more curious. When Matsumoto had tried to convince him to let her stay at his house by starting to strip, even though he had covered his face, he couldn't help but peek a little bit. He only prayed that he would never be as bad as Keigo. He'd kill himself, in his Shinigami form, if that ever happened.
Ichigo shuddered at the thought of ever being like Keigo, and plopped himself down on his towel, determined to take a nap, or something. Anything to get his mind back where it belonged.
Orihime and Tatsuki were building a sand castle, while a water fight had broken out between the others. Ichigo raised an eyebrow when he saw Chad throw Keigo further out into the water. He got some pretty good distance out of him too. When he later asked Chad about it, his answer was, "He asked for it." Ichigo, thinking it unusual of Chad to be annoyed enough by Keigo to do anything about it, further questioned Chad about it. To which Chad replied, "No, he really asked me to throw him out there. I think he hit the water a little hard though, he didn't ask me to do it again."
His gaze drifted back to Orihime and Tatsuki and their sand castle. Orihime was wearing a pink one piece swimsuit, which while not very revealing at all, was still the most revealing thing he had ever seen this girl that he'd gotten to know a little better over the past few months wear. He felt the blush coming back and shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking about one of his friends like that, especially not one that had done so much for him already.
Tatsuki, looking up from their sand castle, and noticed Ichigo's lingering gaze on her busty friend, a tinge of red on his cheeks. "Enjoying the view Ichigo?" She called to him. Ichigo jumped slightly and, after glaring at Tatsuki, looked away. Tatsuki smirked, and decided to tease him just a little more. "Orihime, could you go grab that bucket over by the towels?"
Orihime jumped up and ran to where Ichigo was laying. She was focused on looking for the bucket, so she didn't notice Ichigo's eyes follow her for a moment, or the blush that graced his face again when he looked away. Tatsuki noticed it though, she also saw how his eyes flicked back towards Orihime as she was running back with the bucket. As the forces that governed Orihime's life would have it, she tripped and landed face first in the sand. Ichigo started to get up, but settled back down as Tatsuki helped her friend up. The blush still on his face Ichigo turned around, and settled on his stomache, facing away from them. Awww, Tatsuki thought, He's shy. Now the question was, whether it was just Orihime, or if it was other girls as well.
Mahana walked past them, her hair wet from playing in the water. "Man, the sun's really bright today." She said, rubbing her shoulders that were turning red. "I don't think I put enough sun screen on." She kept walking towards where they had left their bags and towels, where Ichigo was trying to nap. Suddenly Tatsuki had an idea about how to get some answers.
"Here, I'll help you put some more sun screen on if you help me." She stood up and followed the other girl to the shade, while Orihime kept working on the sand castle.
"Sounds good to me." Mahana said, as she dug through her bag, looking for the sunscreen. When she found it she turned to Tatsuki. "I'll do your back first."
Tatsuki laid down where she could get a good view of Ichigo's face. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be sleeping. "Here," she said. "Let me undo my top, it'll make it easier to spread." Ichigo's eye twitched slightly.
When Mahana had finished with Tatsuki's back she leaned back. "My turn now," the brunette said. Tatsuki sat up, pulling her top up and fastening the straps. Mahana laid down where Tatsuki had been laying.
"You can go ahead and undo your top too," said Tatsuki. Ichigo's eye twitched again, and his face started to turn red again. Tatsuki decided for one last push. "Orihime, your back is going to burn if you don't put some more sunscreen on. Come over here." Tatsuki had to force her face to stay straight as her friend ran over to join them. "Hey Ichigo?" She asked. Ichigo grunted, but kept his eyes closed. "Do you mind helping Orihime with the sunscreen?"
Ichigo's eyes flew open and he sat bolt upright. "What!?" He almost yelped, a look of panic entering his eyes. Mahana watched his reaction with mildly confused curiosity. Tatsuki on the other hand was grinning broadly.
"I'm busy right now, and you're not doing anything, so just help her out." By this point Orihime was blushing as profusely as Ichigo was.
"That's all right," she said. "I can take care of it myself, Kurosaki-kun doesn't have to bother himself. See?" Orihime took the bottle from Tatsuki, but she squeezed too hard, and a large spray hit Ichigo in the face. "Eeep. I'm sorry Kurosaki-kun."
"That's all right," he said, wiping some of it off his face. He looked at his hand for just a moment. "Might as well not waste it." If possible his blush would have colored the rest of the sunscreen on his face pink. "Turn around."
Awkward wouldn't really describe the moment. While he almost gingerly spread the sunscreen over Orihime's shoulder, avoiding the straps of her swimsuit, he was busy trying to figure out what was possessing him, while at the same time wondering why it bothered him. When he had finished there was an awkward pause. Finally Orihime simply said, "Thank you."
And that was it. Except that Ichigo did go into the water afterwards. The water was cold. It felt good.
As Tatsuki watched Ichigo walk down to the water she found herself mentally smirking to herself. Well, well, looks like we're going to have some unexpected fun here.
She'd have to make a few arrangements first though.
It was decided that they would play a game of beach volleyball. Ichigo hadn't ever really played much, but he figured that knocking a ball over a net shouldn't be too hard. He was playing on the same team as Orihime, and was able to notice that she was really good. He'd heard from Tatsuki that Orihime liked to invent her own sports, but he'd never really thought much about it. She really was pretty good.
The reason that Ichigo was so busy noticing how well she played, was because he was doing his best not to notice other things. In fact he was so busy noticing how well she played, that he wasn't doing very well himself. Every once in a while he would be just a little too focused on Orihime's volleyball skills that he would miss the ball himself.
"Eyes on the ball Ichigo. Eyes on the ball," Tatsuki shouted from the other side of the net, a smirk on her face. Ichigo snarled to himself and ignored her.
After about an hour of playing Keigo ended up spiking Chad in the face, and everyone decided it was time to take a break. Chad wasn't hurt; they just wanted to take a break.
Ryo and Michiro hadn't been playing with the others, Ryo wanted to finish her book, and Michiru was taking a break from having been in the sun most of the day.
Kunieda Ryo liked to keep to herself, even when she was with her group of friends she would be reading, half listening to the conversation and only contributing when it was important, or if she was directly addressed. She wasn't the type for small talk, or flirting for that matter. She simply did not like saying things that did not need to be said. So it was with a degree of annoyance that she noticed the two guys that were headed in her direction.
They were good looking, she admitted to herself, but she really just didn't care. She was also getting a vibe, even from a distance, from the two guys that told her it really wouldn't be worth to listen to whatever they had to offer.
"Hey Babe. How about you put that book away and we can show you a real good time." Ryo frowned slightly as her assessment of the two boys was confirmed, but otherwise showed no reaction.
"No thank you. I'm fine here." She did not look up from her book. The two guys stared at her for just a moment, before the one who had not spoken recovered enough to speak again.
"Aww, come on, you can even bring your little sister if you want." Michiru, who at first had been looking interested at two guys coming up to talk to them, and then started to look nervous when she started noticing their questionable attitudes, was suddenly very offended.
Ryo's expression did not change. "I already told you that I'm not interested. And she's not my little sister."
"Come on Babe, we promise to treat you right." The first guy said.
"No."
"Listen, Babe, when we tell you to do something, then you're supposed to do it. That's how things work around here." The second guy made to grab her arm, but found his arm trapped in a vice-like grip.
"We're not from around here," a voice behind them said. "And I wouldn't want to be around here right now if I were you."
Standing behind them was Ichigo, looking as if his only wish was to have an excuse to inflict pain. Normally he would have pounded first and made a memo to ask questions later, but with the levels that his strength had reached, he no longer really thought it worth the effort to waste his time beating up punks. His killing intent was very low at that moment, but it was enough to send chills down the spine of the two guys. They decided that it was in their best interest to leave, and that Ryo wasn't worth it to them. Besides there was a hot orange haired girl just down the beach with a nice rack that would be a much better focus for their energies.
The second guy scoffed, and pulled his arm away from Ichigo. The two guys left and headed down the beach to where Orihime, Tatsuki and Mahana were playing in the water. Ichigo noticed the direction in which they were headed, and the only reason that he didn't do anything was because he knew it would be too much fun to watch.
"Thank you, Kurosaki," Ryo said, looking up from her book.
"Don't mention it," Ichigo said, picking up a towel and toweling his hair dry.
"They thought I…her little sister…they thought I was just a little girl." Michiru said this with a cute little pout on her face. Ichigo looked at her with a kind of detached curiosity. He found himself wanting to grin, but kept his face blank. He rarely smiled, and recently he'd found himself frowning less and less. He always had a straight face, but the frown was only there when there was a real reason for it.
"I wouldn't worry what guys like that think. It's only worth caring about what those that actually mean something to you think." Michiru looked up at Ichigo, noticing how his lips were almost forming a smile. She realized that this was the first time that she'd seen him where his expression didn't scare her. For reasons she couldn't understand she felt her face heating just a little as he walked over to watch Chad build his sand castle, which had begun to take on epic proportions.
Ryo looked over at her friends face, and how her gaze followed the orange hair boy. She sighed to herself and returned to her reading.
Down by the water Tatsuki was stomping back towards their towels with Orihime in tow, and Mahana following behind, while casting an almost regretful glance behind them. Behind them, lying in fetal positions where the water would brush against them when the waves came in, were the two guys who had apparently thought that the chick with the short black hair was a safer bet than the freak with the orange hair.
It was later in the evening and they had just finished their dinner. After all the dishes had been rinsed and put away, Tatsuki had declared that the girls were going to have a 'girls only party' in their room. And if they knew what was good for them, the guys would stay away. The meaningful glare she threw at Keigo said it all.
Once they were in the room, with the door closed, Mahana let out an appreciative whistle. "Wow, I've never seen so much eye candy in my life. Was it just me or did it seem like every hot guy in Japan decided to come to the beach today?"
"It was probably just you." Tatsuki said, opening a box of poki from the pile of snacks they had brought into the room.
"Those two guys weren't too bad either, until you beat them up." Mahana snipped back at Tatsuki.
"They were jerks and deserved what ever it was that she did to them." Ryo said, turning a page in her ever-present book. Michiru nodded emphatically from her spot next to Ryo.
Mahana stared at her, before shrugging. "Whatever. You know, I had no idea that Kurosaki and the other guys were so well built. Heck, even Ishida and Asano aren't that bad."
Tatsuki glanced over at Orihime, who had a vague look on her face to accompany her spreading blush. Suddenly she yelped and jumped, causing all the other girls to jump.
"LOOK OUT BONTA-KUN, HE'S GOT A BANANA."
Tatsuki thought that she would probably never get used to this, and the other girls, who didn't spend as much time around Orihime, looked at her like she was crazy. After a few moments of frantic yelling and waving of hands, Orihime calmed down and looked like nothing had ever happened.
Mahana, who was the first to recover of the other three, shrugged again. "Hey, did anyone else notice those scars that Kurosaki has? Any idea where they came from?"
"Probably just from fights," Tatsuki shrugged.
"But what kind of fights? He has this one on his chest that looked like it was a really large cut."
"Maybe it was from a surgery," Tatsuki suggested.
"Nah, it wasn't neat enough for that. It was long, and looked like someone had taken a huge knife to him. And there was another one, on his chest, it was faint, but it looked like someone had punched a hole through him."
Orihime could remember that one. She'd been able to save him from death, but Ulquiorra's reiatsu had been too powerful for her to heal it without leaving a scar. She would never think that it made him look any less handsome than he already was. It was now part of who he was, an outward symbol of his determination to protect his friends and those close to him. She wished that she could say that he thought of her as more than a friend, but the truth was that even though she could sense his presence and moods more than anyone else, his thoughts were still a mystery to her. It was a mystery that she wanted to solve more than anything else, but she couldn't find her special hat, or her magnifying glass. She'd never be able to understand Kurosaki-kun if she did not have those tools. Maybe Kuchiki-san knew where they were.
Kuchiki-san. There was another mystery that she couldn't understand. It was obvious that her and Kurosaki-kun were close, but how deep were their feelings for each other? Orihime knew what Rangiku-san had said about Ichigo not being ready to decide between the two of them, but even though she could feel somewhat satisfied with the way things were, she wanted so much to know who he would choose. Once he realized that there was a need for a choice, and that she was really even an option. That was what scared her the most, to never be able to confess her feelings for him. Yet at the same time, nothing scared her as much as the thought of confessing her feelings for him.
A smile came to her face as she thought of his courage, and how, no matter what happened, he would always be an important person to her.
"Maybe," she said, her smile brightening. "He got them trying to rescue a princess, no two princesses, from an evil Shogun? And while he was fighting to save them, one of the princesses called her fairy guardians to heal his wounds, but they weren't able to find him in time to heal all his wounds, and then…"
Mahana looked at her appraisingly. "You know, you should consider becoming an author for children's books. You've got a great imagination."
"Really? You think so." Orihime considered this. She'd never really thought of it like that. Mostly people would say that she was just strange.
Orihime yawned as she leaned back from her laptop, while stretching her arms above her head before bringing them back down to rub her expanding belly. She looked at the clock. Seven after five. He should be home soon. Saving the word document that contained her latest book she pulled herself up to find something to munch on in the kitchen. She wasn't making dinner tonight. Since she was eight months pregnant, Ichigo had decided to pick something up for dinner on his way home.
While munching on a carrot and some ketchup she thought about the book that she was working on. It was turning out to be her best book yet. She decided that was because this was the first one that she had an audience for while she was writing it. One kick meant it was good, two kicks meant it wasn't good.
She had just finished her carrot when she heard the front door open and close. "I'm home," her husband's voice rang out in their apartment.
"Welcome home, honey," she said. "How was your day?"
"Better now," Ichigo said, taking her in his arms. Orihime snuggled up against her husband's muscular chest. She sighed contentedly as she thought of how lucky she was to be married to the love of her life. "What are you thinking about?" Ichigo asked her.
"I was just thinking about how lucky I am to be married to such a wonderful man." She said.
"Really? Who is he?" Orihime playfully hit Ichigo on the shoulder. She jerked when she felt a particularly strong kick from the baby. "Are you alright?" Ichigo asked her, the concern obvious in his voice.
"I'm fine, the baby kicked a little harder than normal."
Ichigo smiled, and placed the bag with the takeout that he was carrying on the table. With his hands free he scooped his wife into his arms and carried her to the couch, where he laid her down and sat by her side, his head resting against her belly. They sat like that for a moment, Orihime stroking his hair that was only a few shades brighter than her own, and Ichigo listening to the sounds of their child moving in his wife's womb.
"I'm surprised you can still lift me," Orihime joked. "I'm so heavy lately."
"Don't worry, you're not as heavy as I thought you'd be."
Orihime couldn't hold in her laughter as Ichigo instinctively shifting his legs so that they were guarding his lower area. He looked up at her after he realized what he had done and smirked. "Hey, even a powerful shinigami can be seriously injured down there."
Orihime went back to strocking his hair, wondering whether their child would inherit it's father's hair. Though if it didn't, it wasn't like it would make all that much difference if the child inherited her hair color. The funny thing was that while people looked at Ichigo's hair and thought he was a no-good punk, they looked at her hair and thought it was hot. Or at least that was what she had been told. She never really thought of herself that way.
"Orihime."
"Hmmm…?"
"I need to ask you something."
"What is it my love?"
"Truth or Dare?"
"Huh?"
"Orihime, I'm asking you if you pick 'Truth' or 'Dare'?" Tatsuki shook her friend out of her daydream.
"Oh, sorry, what were you saying, Tatsuki-chan?" Orihime shook her head clear. She had never been so disappointed to pulled out of one of her daydreams.
"Wow," Mahana commented. "You must have been really out of it. You didn't even noticed when we started to play 'Truth' or 'Dare'."
"So which one is it?" Tatsuki repeated. "Truth, or Dare?"
"Uh, Truth."
Disappointment flashed across Tatsuki's eyes so fleetingly that Orihime wondered if she had even seen it at all.
"All right then…Is there someone that you are in love with?"
Orihime's face burst out into a red she had never before reached. Even with all the times that Tatsuki had been bothering her about the bikini. Orihime knew that anything was fair game, but the thought of having to admit that she was in love with Kurosaki-kun, right here in front of everyone was more than she wanted to deal with right now. She didn't make any effort to hide the fact that she liked him, but this was completely different. Had she been her normal, cheerful self––which she was most of the time, but lately her moods had become tempered with an edge of sadness––she would have openly admitted to being in love with him.
Fortunately she was saved by a moment of inspiration, as she realized what exactly the wording of the question required.
"Yes," she mumbled, barely audible.
"Oooh, who is it? Is it one of the guys here?" Mahana said, excited.
Ryo rolled her eyes, as if it wasn't obvious enough. "She's already been asked her question. Wait till she chooses truth again to ask her."
"Aww, now she's never going to pick truth." Mahana complained.
"It's your turn to pick on someone, Orihime." Said Tatsuki.
"Okay. Michiru. Truth or Dare?"
"Dare."
"Umm…I dare you to spin around three times while barking like a dog in your loudest voice." Orihime's dare was as peculiar as could be expected from her. Nonetheless Michiru completed the dare, before sitting down and choosing the next victim.
"Ryo. Truth or Dare?"
"Truth."
"Have you ever cheated on a test?"
"No. Tatsuki, Truth or Dare?"
"Dare."
An uncharacteristic grin spread across Ryo's face. "I dare you to go out there and throw water on the guys."
Tatsuki's grin mirrored Ryo's, and one would almost think that she would have done it without being dared to. Tatsuki pulled the door open, and moments later they could hear Ichigo's voice.
"Why are you filling that bowl with water?" There was a pause. "No wai….AAAARRGH! WHAT THE HECK?"
"Oh grow up, it's only water." Tatsuki came back into the room, her grin even wider than before. The other girls burst out laughing, except for Orihime who looked torn between smiling and a distressed expression. "Mahana, Truth or Dare?"
"Truth."
"Umm…Have you ever seen a naked man, that wasn't from your family?"
"Yes."
"Oooh, when?"
"I'll tell you later. Orihime, Truth or Dare?"
Orihime remembered Tatsuki's question and how choosing truth would only end with her being forced to reveal her feelings for Kurosaki-kun. There was only one natural choice.
"Dare."
Mahana's grin made Orihime think that maybe she should have chosen truth instead.
"I dare you…to wear your bikini to the beach tomorrow!"
Orihime was speechless.
End Chapter 4
(Insert Author's evil laughter.)
Wow, this is the longest chapter yet. About twice as long as the last one. I'm satisfied with that. I was going to include a few more scenes, with the pushy guys showing up again, among other things. But all those scenes felt forced and didn't flow well. I think this turned out to be much better.
So what do you think? I hope I kept everyone in character, but I do think this chapter was a bit more stretched than others.
I apologize for taking so long to get this chapter out, even though I had plenty of free time over the spring. I'll be honest. I'm a very lazy person, and when I have vacation time I use it to relax, which literally amounts to doing nothing. I hope that I haven't lost any readers because of this. I have been noticing though that each subsequent chapter gets fewer and few reviews, and fewer hits. From what I can tell this means that people are reading the first and possibly the second chapter, and realizing that my story sucks and giving up on it. I hope that's not the case, but that's what it looks like. I hope this chapter has been to your liking and that it is better than the previous two. Here we had the first day at the beach, and the introduction of something that just might be a plot. Watch for it in the coming chapter, but pay attention or you might miss it.
I realize that I haven't been replying to any of the reviews that people have left me. So I'm going to fix that right now and do that right here.
dark insanity 13: I'm glad you like it. I hope the story doesn't disappoint, since I'm trying to write a beach story, which doesn't really suggest any specific plot, while trying to keep things from getting cheesy.
Witko1: When I was thinking of plots for my first Bleach story, I wanted to do something out of the ordinary. So I figured a story about them just being teenagers would be worth a shot. To be honest, I hated the idea at first, but I hated my other ideas more. And now it's starting to grow on me and actually develop something that looks like a plot if you squint enough.
Story Weaver1: I think you won't be disappointed with the next chapter, when Orihime finally puts "it" on. I have fun writing Orihime. She's a character where you can throw in a little bit of angst, and then go off on a tangent that you'd think was inspired by a pot smoker, and then back to normal. As far as her sleeping with the real thing instead of the strawberry plushy, don't get your hopes up for that happening in this story.
Sweety8587: Sorry I had to disappoint with the door scene in the last chapter. I hope you still liked it.
I lyk Pie I lyk Chocolate m…: I like to try and keep the sleaze down in my stories. Mostly because I'd be too embarrassed to write it, especially if someone I actually know ended up reading it.
virtual-asshole: When I thought of the strawberry, I just couldn't resist. It seemed like something she would do.
Kage of Seireitei: I tried really hard not to make the innuendo in that part obvious. Glad you caught it.
Babykafka: I try hard to keep my fanfiction writing in character. I don't see much point for writing it if I do otherwise. With what's coming I'm a little worried, since I may have to deviate slightly from the character's normal behavior, to make the story work. I hope I can manage to tell the story without making any character changes though. I'm glad you like the story.
waiting4morning: There's not enough good Ichihime stories out there. Dialogue is one of the things I find hardest to do, but I find the extra effort is worth it. Lousy dialogue can ruin an otherwise good story.
Mystical-Dreamer57: Oh, he'll get a nosebleed. Just not the way you might think.
LuminousWeb: I'm actually surprised that you read the author's notes. Most people I know of don't. Glad you like the story, I try to do things as original as I possibly can. Though there is a limit to how original I can be while using someone else's characters. ;D
Just as a final note, most of the reviews I've been getting have commented about how I've been able to keep everyone in character. I'm glad that people think that, since it's what I try to focus on the most. I hope that I can keep providing in-character chapters, and if anyone notices anything that is out of character, please bring it up.
Also, I've noticed that I don't get very many reviews about something that people didn't like as much. Which is a good thing, if it means that people don't think there's much that isn't any good in my story. And not so good if it means that those that don't like my story think it's so worthless that they won't bother wasting their time to leave a review. But feel free to point out anything that you didn't necessarily like. Especially if you wouldn't have left a review otherwise. This is not an invitation to flame, though they do make me laugh. Unless you get too personal, then you just hurt my feelings.
It's funny, how I don't really ramble on like this in real life, but as soon as I type something up I can't stop. Maybe I should learn sign language, since my fingers obviously like to do more talking than my tongue does.
I'll see you all later, which hopefully won't take too long.
Here's a question though. What would you prefer? Longer chapters with a bit of a wait between updates, or shorter chapters with more frequent updates. Keep in mind that where I'm concerned frequent doesn't usually mean that much. Also, the faster I have to write a chapter, the more likely it is to be crap.
Oh and bonus points for anyone who can figure out where Bonta-kun is from.
On another note, has anyone read the most recent chapter of Bleach? I swear it's like a drug for me, a drug that I get a weekly fix of. Too bad the high wears off pretty quickly.