Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is Bleach Related
Authors Note
For those who've been waiting since.. Forever?, I'm sorry for the slight delay.. Here's the next chapter, Enjoy!.
Chapter 2: The Beach
Today was the day, the day Ichigo and the crew went to Goza Shirahama Beach for their Summer Vacation. Ichigo began to pack his things into a bag that he could easily carry. It was more of a sports bag that allowed him to carry a lot of things inside such as essentials like personal hygiene materials, pairs of clothes, extra shoes, a gaming device, and a few books in case he got bored.
"Man, why did I agree to this!?. No, I'm crazy for even doing this!" Ichigo complaint while he continued to stuff his bag. It was five in the morning, he was tired and obviously pissed, but he had to keep his promise and show up on the damn rendezvous point at six along with the others.
The door to his room creaked as a man peeked into his room to check what he was doing. "Gotcha!!" The assailant shouted as his foot missed Ichigo's face and flew across his room to outside his window. Ichigo sighed as the sound of something crashing into the ground was heard from outside.
He grabbed his bag and walked downstairs into the living room. He twisted the door knob and walked out. "I'll see you in a few days, old man" Ichigo said with a slight wave. "O..Okay my boy!" Ishin responded while giving him a thumbs up of approval.
It was still dark outside, the light's outside illuminated the sidewalks for him to see where he was going. He didn't bother to wear a sweater since he already knew of today's weather, 85 degrees today with tomorrow being at its high 90's.
He looked at his watch to see how long he took walking. It was 5:40 A.M. He still had plenty of time left, he was also close, around 5 minutes to where Renji lives.
"I hope I'm not the first one to be there, I don't like to wait too much for the others.." Ichigo continued to complaint to himself, feeling that this was a drag already.
"Are you talking with yourself again?" Toshiro said.
"W..what!!, Don't startle me dammit!!" Ichigo shouted when he saw Toshiro walking besides him, he was small and very silent, that's why Ichigo didn't noticed him at first.
"Shut up, your barbaric screams will wake the whole neighborhood up" Toshiro responded coldly. He was always a brat, arrogant and conceited to the core.
"Don't be a smart ass with me you shrimp!" Ichigo looked pissed and power walked towards Renji's in an attempt to ignore him completely before he bad talked to him again.
"Idiot" Toshiro quietly said with a straight face.
"Ah!, Toshiro!!" Matsumoto shouted from a distance as she ran up to him and embraced him.
"Y..your breast are.. suffocating me.." Toshiro struggled to let a word out while Matsumoto continued to press his tiny head against her chest.
"M..Matsumoto-Chan!, you're going to hurt him!!" Hinamori said who had acompanied Matsumoto.
"Oi!, Ichigo!!, you made it!" Renji shouted while opening the sliding doors to his house for everyone to go inside when he heard Matsumoto's and Hinamori's voice.
"Hey, Renji" Ichigo responded like usual while letting himself in.
"Yay!, Now we'll wait for the others to come and we'll be on our way to fun!" Matsumoto said with excitement while clapping both hands together to show her enthusiasm.
After everyone went inside, Renji closed the sliding doors. Everyone so far rested in his living room. "Alright!, we have Myself, Matsumoto, Ichigo, Hinamori, and Toshiro accounted for!. Now we'll wait till 6:15 A.M. for the rest since the first train for Goza will arrive at 6:45" Renji explained.
"Aww, I want to go now!" Matsumoto whined while making an innocent school girl face.
"Man.. Shu-" Ichigo said but paused when the sliding doors opened. "Are.. we late?" Inoue along with Tatsuki, Sado, and Ishida said as they let themselves in. "No!, Not at all!, glad you guys could make it!" Renji welcomed.
The four found room to rest as they waited for time to continue. "Ugh!, How long do we have to wait for everyone else!?" Tatsuki said after they waited a while for the others to show up.
"Oh, crap!. Its 6:30!, we have to be at the train station and buy our tickets in 15 minutes before the train departs!!" Renji exclaimed.
"What!?, weren't you keeping track of time?!!" Matsumoto shouted.
"Man, you idiot" Ichigo said while getting his things ready as the others did the same.
"Shut up!, we have to time to waste, everyone run!!" Everyone exited with their luggage while Renji locked the door. Everyone ran as fast as they could while the morning sun was slowly brightening the sky.
"This is so stupid!, I knew I should of stayed home!" Ichigo said while thinking to himself that he must look really stupid running for the train in the morning.
"Heh, you're just slow" Renji mocked as he ran past him.
"What's this?, you think you're faster then me or something?" Ichigo glared at him when he caught up to him when he picked up speed.
"You bet your ass!" Renji replied as the two exchanged glares and increased speed while leaving the others behind. They were unseperable.
"Whoa!, look at those two go!" Yachiru said while she skipped besides the others who were running for the train station.
"Yachiru!, you made it!" Hinamori said with relief.
"Yup!, I also had to drag those other two idiots with me!" She pointed back to reveal both Ikakku and Kira following while carrying most of Yachiru's luggage. They looked worned out and tired, they questioned what stuff Yachiru was taking for this trip.
A few minutes later and everyone arrived at the station in time. Both Ichigo and Renji were panting harshly with all the energy exhausted when running to the train station.
"Renji, Ichigo, are you two alright?" Hinamori asked with a bit of concern. "We.. we're alright!" Both gave her a thumbs up while they continued to pant. "W..well okay" she said with a forced smile knowing that they didn't look too well to her.
Everyone paid for their ticket except Ikakku who didn't bring any money. "What!?, I have to pay!?, that's stupid!" Ikakku said loudly thinking that the train didn't have any fees, in fact this is his very first time boarding a train which is extremely rare since Japan needs their train for serious transportation.
"Yeah.. this is the twenty first century you idiot" Toshiro insulted.
"You, the shorty with the hair, step right up" he said while popping his knuckles, getting ready to brawl.
"Tch, I have no time to waste on simple minded fools!, I'm getting on the train already" Toshiro walked towards the checking point and inserted his ticket on a slot to verify his approval to board the train.
The others did the same as they left Ikakku behind. "Fine!, I'll find something to do!" Ikakku said as he turned around but Yachiru pulled his shirt and gave him a ticket.
"Here you go, its your ticket!" She said with a smile.
"What?.. You.. bought me a ticket?" He said as he was touched by her kindness and gentle smile.
She nodded "Yep!, I knew that you were going to be stupid enough to forget something so simple like bringing money!, don't worry, I have some things for you to do to pay me back, now carry my luggage!" she said enthusiastically.
Ikakku's short fuze was getting to him, he somehow knew that something was up when she gave him the ticket, getting something for free was too good to be true. But he had no choice but to follow her orders. Everyone boarded the train before it departed.
Three hours and a lot of complaints and arguments later, they finally arrived at Goza Shirahama. All twelve exited the train station, they were chatting until they were caught by surprise by the sight of a certain someone, someone everyone knew very well.
"Rukia!!" Renji shouted while waving at her but Matsumoto pushed his head down to take a closer look "It really is Rukia!, hey!!" She said out loud while giving a long wave.
"Hello everyone!, its good to see you guys again" She said with a smile. She was wearing a thin light blue dress that was fit for the temperature along with a straw hat to protect her from the sun rays.
"Hello, Rukia-Chan, its been a while since we last saw each other" Hinamori said when she got close to her.
"Ah, hello, Hinamori. Wow, a lot of you came to have fun at the beach. I might have to call for another car since all twelve of us can't really fit inside a limousine. Hold on just a bit" She said while dialing a number.
Matsumoto leaned towards Toshiro and whispered "Psst!, Rukia ignored the fact that Ichigo is here with us!.. What could this mean?"
"Why should I care?" Toshiro bluntly responded knowing that he would get dragged into whatever Matsumoto might be thinking of doing to figure out the reason behind what she said.
Ichigo scratched the back of his head and looked around to get familiar with his surroundings. "Ichigo" Inoue said while gently tapping into his shoulder.
"Nngh?, what is it?" He said almost serious like.
"Is it alright if we cou-" She began to say but was interrupted with Ikakku shouting out to a guy who bumped into him without giving him a word of apology.
"Shut up, Ikakku!" Yachiru said while jumping up to his head level and slapping the back of his shaved head.
"Yes mam.." He said while sobbing himself.
"Check it out, Ikakku is being ordered around by Yachiru" Kira said with a slight laugh.
"Yeah, that's sad man" Renji agreed.
"Alright you two, please step forward" Ikakku said with a threatening sneer while he took out a wooden sword out of his bag.
"Whoa man!, you're going to hurt someone with that!, Wait, you were carrying something like that this whole time!?" Renji said while hiding behind Kira
"Please!, stop fighting you guys!" Hinamori said while trying to stop Ikakku before he went masacre on them.
"Don't stop me, Hinamori!, A man has to fight a bloody battle to defend his honor!. Kira, step forward and face me like a man!"
"A man?, you're threatening two armless guys with a wooden sword!" Kira said with slight fear.
"Alright everyone, the ride's here. Everyone get on!" Rukia said.
Kira sighed with relief as both he and Renji were the first to get on the Limo before the rest. Eight got on the limo along with Rukia while Ichigo, Tatsuki, Inoue and Sado got on another motor vehicle.
Ichigo didn't wanted to join the others because of what happened between him and Rukia. He felt stupid for thinking about that. What happened between them is all in the past, but he couldn't help to bring that back.
"Ichigo... What are you thinking?" Sado said from behind since Ichigo took the passenger seat up front. "N.. nothing, why?" Ichigo stuttered. "... Its nothing" Sado replied with his usual deep tone.
After a few minutes of driving, they made it to the Goza grand hotel in which they were going to stay for a few days.
Everyone was amazed at the scenery and luxury of the hotel as they all got off the vehicles to walk towards the counter to check in.
"My brother has everyone covered now, although since there are twelve of you, you guys will be sharing a room, two per room to be exact.
"Two per room, eh?" Matsumoto said while moving towards Toshiro. "Want to share a room with me.. little Toshiro?" She said with a sexy tone while throwing a sexy pose for him.
"Who would want to room with you!?, I rather be stuck with Ikakku for all I care" Toshiro responded with a slight blush.
"Sorry, but uh.. I have to room with Yachiru.." Ikakku said with disappointment thinking that she was going to use him to do more of her bidding.
"No thanks!, your job is all done now, I want to room with Kira!" She said with a giggle while throwing a wink at him.
"W..wah!?" Kira was speechless as Yachiru forced him away from the group as she grabbed the keys to their room and continued to drag him to their luggage for him to carry for her.
"I'm rooming with Ichigo!, we have things to talk about!" Renji said while embracing Ichigo with his right arm to signal their approval. Ichigo didn't seem to mind, wait he did because he was hell of annoying. He could room with Sado or Ishida, Especially Sado since they've been friends since Jr. High, but it seems that Renji wouldn't of have let him no matter what, he was also kind of curious to know what he wanted to talk about.
"Inoue and I will be roomates then" Tatsuki said obviously since they're always a pair.
"I guess I'll be rooming with, Sado" Ishida said since the two have known each other for a while and he didn't have anyone else in mind to room with since he wasn't well accuainted with most of the ones in this trip.
"Ok then, I'll room with Ikakku like we agreed earlier" Toshiro said as he walked towards him but Hinamori stopped him.
"Wait!, can't we room with each other instead?, we've been friends since we were little!, I would feel more comfortable with you instead!" She plead.
"What does that suppose to mean!?" Matsumoto said when she overheard their conversation.
".. Whatever" Toshiro responded while Hinamori let out a small 'yay'.
"What!?, so I'm going to room with baldy here!?" She complaint but everyone else were gone.
"Damn those bastard.. leaving me with this troublesome woman" Ikakku said while shaking his fist.
".. Okay then, if you're going to be my roommate then take my stuff to our room, now!" She said with an upset tone as she walked towards the elevator.
"Arrgh!, what am I?, some kind of transportation mule or something!?" He said while grabbing both their things and followed her to the elevator.
Everyone went to their rooms to unload their things and rest after a long trip. Ichigo looked at their bedroom and was shocked to find the most horrible thing anyone would think when rooming with a person of the same sex as he is, something that he was completely against of. He wanted to run and leave this hotel for good, this was like torture, there was no way that he could have fun while sharing a room like this. It was complete agony compressed into pure anger for agreeing to this.
"One bed.. that sucks man" Renji said with a straight face.
"You're sleeping on the floor!" Ichigo said as he let himself drop on the bed to rest himself.
"Its a twin bed!, we can share this!" Renji said as he tried to find room to rest in but Ichigo quickly countered and tried to kick him away.
"Hell no!, that's gross!" Ichigo said as he struggled to push him away.
"Its a twin bed dammit!, there's plenty of room for two!, and what's so gross about it, huh!?, are you having some perverted fantasy about me!?" Renji said.
"Shut up stupid!, what gave you the idea that I was!?" Ichigo yelled as he pushed Renji's face with his foot but he retaliated and countered by locking his arms and legs.
"Umm.. Ichigo.." Rukia let herself in and noticed Renji and Ichigo wrestling on the bed. Their position would make anyone get the wrong idea immediately "Umm.. Did I come at a bad time?" She said with a forced laugh.
"Wah!?, Rukia, why are you here?" Renji said as Ichigo finally kicked him on the face and forced him off the bed. "Rukia, its not what it looks like!" Ichigo exclaimed.
Rukia looked serious as she crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow.
"I'm not lying!" Ichigo said with embarrassment knowing that Rukia was getting the wrong idea of what she saw.
"Relax, I was just teasing.. Anyways I'm here to talk to you about something, Ichigo" Rukia said cheerfully.
Ichigo looked at her and noticed that look in her eyes. She wanted to talk about something important that only involved the two of them "Renji, can we be alone for a bit?" Ichigo asked.
Renji observed the two for a moment before noticing that they were serious. "Alright then, don't do anything dirty while I'm gone!" He said jokingly as he rushed out the door before Rukia smacked him on the head.
Rukia sighed and walked towards Ichigo who was sitting on the twin sized bed. "Its been a while since we last saw each other" Rukia started.
"Yeah" Ichigo replied. "Have... you been doing well?" She continued almost like if she was nervous to ask him questions.
"I guess" He bluntly replied. "I see" She sat down next to Ichigo while playing with her fingers like if she was in deep thought of what to say next. "(Why am I so nervous?.. Is it because I haven't seen him for so long?..)"
"Rukia" Ichigo said which startled Rukia but at the same time, it brought back a nostalgic feeling when Ichigo used to call her by her name with that calm tone of his back when they were dating. "What is it?" She said almost quietly while her heart began to steadily beat.
"Lets forget about the past" Ichigo said before getting up. "Its stupid to let something like that bother us you know?" He said while scratching his head, he was trying to find the right words that might not upset her or make her sad.
"How could you say that!?" Rukia said while getting up to look at him on the eyes. Ichigo turned and waited to hear more of what she wanted to say but she hesitated "Nevermind.."
"What is it, Rukia?" Ichigo wanted to know what was on her mind, Rukia continued to hesitate while looking down on the ground. "Ichigo.. I" She paused as someone began to knock on the door.
"What is it?" Ichigo said while walking towards the door.
"Ichigo, Its me, hurry up and open the door"
"Ishida?" Ichigo said before opening the door. "Ishida, what do you want?"
"I hate being the messenger, but both Inoue and Tatsuki want to talk with you. Don't let them wait any longer, hurry up" Ishida said before walking away.
"Arrgh, alright, fine!" Ichigo walked back to his sports bag and quickly changed his shirt. "Sorry, but I have to go" Ichigo said without even looking at her as he walked back to the exit and left.
Rukia sighed and closed her eyes "Idiot.."
"Ichigo walked out of the elevator and rushed towards Ishida who was with Sado, Inoue and Tatsuki. "Oi, whats up" Ichigo said before stopping next to them.
"Ichigo!, lets go to the beach!" Tatsuki said while grabbing Inoue by the shoulders to signal just the three of them.
"Umm, sure" Ichigo turned to look at both Sado and Ishida "Are you guys coming or what?"
"No, we're going to look around to get familiar with the place, you three have fun at the beach. Lets go, Sado" Ishida said. "Later.." Sado said before following Ishida.
"Come on, Ichigo!, lets go!" Tatsuki said while grabbing hold of his right arm and pulled him along with Inoue to the beach.
The three were starting to enjoy their time on the beach, just the three of them like the good old days. They went swimming with Ichigo being challenged to a race against Tatsuki. He lost. They made sand structures with Inoue making the most unique one. They played with a beach ball and went to explore areas of the beach. Ichigo actually smiled after so long, it was proof that he was having fun with this. Eventually the hours went by fast when they were having fun, it was already late.
"We're heading back!, we'll see you tomorrow, Ichigo!" Inoue mustered her strength to say it to Ichigo. "Alright, bye Inoue" Ichigo waved back as they departed. He stayed behind to take a walk on the beach as the waves pressed against his feet gently. He sighed and only stared at the full moon off into the stars. There were no clouds in sight, just the radiant moon that gave lighting into the setting.
After a moment of peace he decided to head back "Man.. What was I thinking staying here for anyways?" Ichigo said to himself while leaving his foot prints on the sand just for them to be washed away by the waves.
On that moment, before he reached the steps that would take him up to the hotel, he saw a person who was walking alone on the beach this late at night. He wondered why she was still out, normally he didn't give a damn and likewise he walked up the stairs. He was then thinking if he should ask what she was doing and was suddenly trapped in his own inner conflict.
"Ah, dammit" Ichigo turned back to talk to the person and ask him or her to head back because it was getting late. "Wait.. What am I doing?, am I some sort of watch dog or something!?".
"Wha!?.. Who's there!?" The person who happened to have a young female voice said as she turned, startled by his voice when he talked to himself. "Oh.. I.. Uh..(What do I say now?)" Ichigo thought to himself as the girl slowly walked towards him. "Are you stalking me or something!?, if so I'm going to scream!" She threatened.
"Why you!, I was going to ask you to head back to the Hotel because it was late!.. Damn" Ichigo said as he turned back but the girl stopped him before he continued. "Tell me to head back?, what are you some kind of watch dog or something!?". Ichigo placed his right hand on his face while having the most irritated expression he's ever mustered "(My.. Thought exactly)".
"So, Mr. watchdog.. Why did you really come here for?"
"Stop calling me that!, I'm not a watchdog!" Ichigo denied as he continued his way back.
"Hold on!, why are you leaving me alone for!?"
"Ugh.. Why am I even talking to this girl?.. Look, I'm heading back, just forget that you ever saw me"
"Then at least tell me your name!" She inquired as she slightly ran towards him.
".. Ichigo Kurosaki"
"..Strawberry?, that's a weird name for a guy, hahaha!" The girl said bursting with laughter.
"No!, Ichigo means 'One who protects', don't get it confused with something lame and cheesy, geez.." Ichigo brushed her off.
"You have no manners!, how dare you leave without asking for MY name!?"
"Ehhh" Ichigo said lazily while he continued up the steps. "Fine!, at least hear it, its Senna!, Senna Fon"
Ichigo turned to look at her as she wore an upset look on her face. He was in thought again to either leaver her there or let her accompany him "Alright, Senna.. Lets go to the hotel together then"
"Eh?, are you picking me up or something?" She asked quizically.
Ichigo has never been more pissed in his life "Go to hell!"
After that, the two made it to the Hotel's entrance where they departed. She waved goodbye before running off to the elevator. Ichigo sighed thinking that his fun had been interrupted by that annoying girl he happened to come cross with. "I need some sleep"
"Yo.. Ichigo.. Who was that girl?" Renji inquired while he rested his arm on his shoulder. Ichigo chocked on his saliva, he should get used to Renji's random appearances by now, but he just scares the hell out of him when he least expects him. "What is it now?" Ichigo asked.
"I just told you, man you're dense.. Did anything happen between you and that girl?".
"Nothing happened, I'm going to sleep" With that Ichigo brushed him off and entered the elevator without Renji. He entered his room after arriving at the floor where his room was located and let himself fall into the bed. He was thinking of how today went before his eyes gave up on him as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
To be Continued...