The next day, Yamasaki was the first to wake. Yawning, he slowly sat up and surveyed his surroundings. The waves crashed lightly in the background. The seagulls squawked as they glided above the sea. He crawled out of his sleeping bag, reaching high into the air to fully stretch out his still sleepy body. As his arms fell to his side, he walked out of the gazebo letting out another yawn. He made his way towards the wooded area, to relieve himself as most do when they first wake up.
After he was finished, he headed out to the beach and sat in the sand. Burying his toes in the sand, he sat there quietly staring out onto the ocean. After a long quiet moment, he slowly rose to his feet letting out last yawn, accentuated by a loud exhale of air. Instead of making his way back to that gazebo, he disappeared and suddenly reappeared at the top of the cliff. THere a familiar character was waiting, a giant grin upon the only visible part of his face. A green and white striped hat covered the rest of his facial features.
"Such a beautiful morning." Kisuke Urahara said, still grinning. His fan in one hand and his cane in the other, he stood there a few yards away from Yamasaki.
"That it is," Yamasaki began. He looked up at the bright sky, a few clouds drifting about. "Are you going to catch up on your tan?" He smiled as he turned his attention back to Urahara, who chuckled lightly.
"I'll have to pass. Last time, I forgot to use suntan lotion and everyone did all they could to make me regret that decision." He shivered lightly as he thought back to that time. Yoruichi was the major culprit, taking any chance she could to slap Urahara on all the sunspots on his body.
"Please stop by my shop tonight." He spoke, quickly turning the light-hearted moment into something more severe. "It seems we may be expecting some extra guests coming soon. We have to roll out the welcome mat when they arrive."
"So soon?" Yamasaki asked. "You would think that they at least wait a little longer to gather more intel on..."
"They know it's Tatsuki." Urahara interrupted. "Based on what Yoruichi was able to find out, it looks like they fortifying their defenses in Soul Society."
"What are they thinking? If she unleashes her power, she's not going to go to Soul Society."
"It's not against her." Urahara sternly spoke. "It's against Ichigo." Eyes staring directly into Yamasaki's, Urahara continued. "They know the two are in a deep relationship and realize that they need to act quickly before Ichigo can react." Yamasaki clenched his fists, his limiter started to glow sending a sharp pain through Yamasaki's body. He winced a little as he lowered his reiatsu, stopping the limiter from glowing.
"So what do you think they are going to do?" Yamasaki calmly asked.
"Well," Urahara simply began. "I think what they will try to do is take Tatsuki and bring her to Soul Society. Because of the danger she poses, should her power be unleashed, they will try one of two approaches. If they can control her power from unleashing, they will probably lock her up inside a detainment facility similar to what they currently have for Aizen."
"And if they feel that doesn't work?" He trailed off near the end of his question, realizing he already knew the answer. The look in Urahara's eyes said it all. Yamasaki looked back towards the ocean, a mixed look of anger and sadness in his eyes. He looked down at his left wrist, the bracelet limiter wrapped around it.
"Looks like things will be getting real interesting very soon." Yamasaki said. Again his limiter began to glow, as his clenched his fists and began to raise his reiatsu. With his eyes never leaving Yamasaki, Urahara stood there with the same look on his face. He could feel the reiatsu emanating from Yamasaki. A sense of fear began to creep in him. He knew the power Yamasaki held, and understood if he were to ever use it all it could lead to unforeseen consequences.
"Well I better get back to my shop." Urahara spoke, after the brief moment of silence. "I need to get prepared to welcome our guests. I wonder what type of chips I should get." And with that Urahara disappeared. Yamasaki appreciated the attempt at humour to try and ease the tension building within him. He released one big spurt of reiatsu, sending an excruciating amount of pain throughout his body. He fell to one knee, breathing hard. Suddenly he coughed up blood, the limiter no longer glowing. He stared at the small pool of spit and blood for a second before standing up and running his arm across his mouth to wipe the blood.
He looked back down towards the gazebo, a single pair of eyes staring directly back into his. The short spiky hair, slightly messier as she had just woken up, easily distinguishable from the rest. A look of concern on his face as he stood there for a moment before disappearing. She waited for a moment, wondering if he was going to reappear somewhere on the beach.
A small high-pitched squeal escaped from behind her as she let out a small sigh of relief. She covered her nose as the result of her actions hit her senses quickly. She walked away from that pocket of hot air, trying to escape its cloud of death. A slight breeze flew by, thankfully blowing the hot pocket of air away from her. Taking advantage of the situation, another small squeak escaped from her again, this time the breeze carried it so she didn't have to suffer from the horrible smell.
Feeling relieved, she decided to go for a swim. Every day, shortly after Tatsuki wakes up, she goes out for a jog to wake her body up and get the blood flowing and to stay in shape. Since it would be too much of a hassle to get her shoes on and head back to the city for a quick run, she decided to replace her morning workout with a quick dip into the sea and swim for awhile. She went into the changing booth and changed into her bikini then headed out into the sea.
Ishida was the next to wake, he opened his eyes and was greeted to the cute sleeping face of Orihime who was snoring lightly. He grinned lightly as he could see a small trail of drool from her mouth to a small puddle directly under her mouth. He slowly crept out of the sleeping bag so as not to wake her up.
As he slowly made his way outside of the gazebo he noticed Tatsuki was not in her sleeping bag. Placing his right hand just above his eyes, he covered them to combat the sudden exposure to light from the bright sun. He looked around. When he didn't see Tatsuki anywhere on the sand, he looked out into the water. A few waves came rolling towards the shore. He could barely see a head moving around in the waters. As he focused his groggy eyes, he barely made out Arisawa swimming in the water.
A wave of relief came over him as he watched her swim in the cove. Tatsuki, glancing over, could barely see Ishida standing there watching her. She waved, and he waved back as she started swimming back to shore. As she made her way out of the water, Ishida walked up to greet her holding a towel he had just gotten for her. She thanked him as she gladly took the towel and began to wipe her body dry.
"I noticed you weren't in your sleeping bag, I was curious where ya went when I didn't see you laying out on the beach." He calmly said. She smiled as she dried out her hair.
"Yeah, I usually go for a run each morning before I do anything. But, since it looked like it was going to be a hassle just to go for a run, I figured a swim would be just as good." She answered as she continued to dry herself.
"I noticed Yamasaki is also gone, you wouldn't happen to have seen him before you went for a swim?" Ishida asked as he looked around again as to verify his claim.
"I thought I saw him up on that cliff you mentioned yesterday. I'm pretty sure he just look at me and then ran off for whatever reason, I don't know." She pointed up to the cliffs in the distance. Ishida glanced over then back at her.
"Eh, whatever. That guy doesn't need anyone to be worrying about him. He's a big boy, he can take care of himself." Tatsuki said as she headed back to the gazebo. Suddenly a loud rumble came from behind Ishida. Eyes widened, he turned around only to see Sado stumbling like only a sleepy giant can out of the gazebo and clumsily make his way over to the wooded areas. Tatsuki let out a small chuckle as she walked in the gazebo and to her bag. She grabbed her bag and headed out to the changing booth.
As Sado made his way back, Ishida started heading back to the gazebo. As soon as Sado had gotten close enough to Ishida, a loud and deep rumble rang through their ears. Ishida looked over to Sado, who grabbed his stomach in embarrassment.
"I'm hungry. You didn't happen to cook breakfast now did you?" Sado asked with a light red tint in his cheeks. Ishida chuckled as he shook his head. "No. I'm sorry big guy. Truthfully, I'm a little hungry too. I don't think any of us really thought about what we would eat the morning after." Ishida sadly responded. Now, his stomach too had started to growl lightly.
As if on cue, they suddenly felt Yamasaki's presence. Ishida and Sado looked towards the city as Yamasaki grew closer. When he arrived, they quickly noticed the two bags labeled "McDaniels" that he held which were giving off the mouth watering scent of delicious hot food. Tatsuki, who had been changing, came out of the changing booth and over to the guys.
"Morning fellas." Yamasaki said with a smile. "Hey Tatsuki!" He yelled with a smile. He placed the bags down and began rummaging through them. He pulled out two plate sized containers and handed one to Ishida and one to Sado. Then he pulled out two sporks wrapped in plastic and handed it to them. He repeat the same for Tatsuki and then pulled out one which he designated for himself.
"I could sense the three of ya were the only ones awake, so I got us all the good breakfast for being up so early." He proudly proclaimed. They sat down in the sand and began opening their containers. It was loaded with scrambled eggs, pancakes, and a breakfast sandwich. Their eyes marveled at all the food and their nose enjoyed the delicious aroma coming from the food. They quickly thanked Yamasaki before they happily dug into their breakfast.
"Hey Yamasaki, I was wondering." Ishida began. "Where do you work? I mean everything you brought here must have cost a fortune!" He exclaimed as he pointed out to the changing booth as well as the gazebo. Yamasaki took a moment to chew and swallow his food before he answered.
"Nowhere." He simply answered before taking another bite into his sandwich.
"Are you saying you are a thief!?" Ishida answered, slightly surprised by Yamasaki's nonchalant answer. Yamasaki took a moment again, mouth still filled with food.
"Kind of. Let's just say I'm glad Soul Society has an abundance in money. It would suck if my only source of income were to run dry." He winked as he finished that sentence.
"Are you saying that you steal from Soul Society's bank account? How long have you been doing this?" Now it was Sado's turn to be surprised.
"I've had access for awhile now. I would take enough each day so that it was under the radar. And, they were never the same amount. I had it range from 25,000 to 30,000 yen a day for about 100 years or so." Yamasaki had been looking away trying to calculate the equations in his head. Had he not, he would have seen the three's jaws dropped to the sand, also trying to imagine just how much he had.
Suddenly they heard some rustling coming from where the rest were asleep. They glanced over and could see Orihime's sleeping bag moving around. Just then, her arm raised up out of her sleeping bag. She slowly sat up rubbing her eye with her other arm, before raising that to stretch out as well. She groggily looked around, before the voice of her best friend caught her attention. She turned her head and could barely make out a figure.
"Good morning blurry figure-kun!" She said aloud. Everyone looked at each confused before they broke out in laughter. Orihime slowly wiggled the rest of her body out of the sleeping bag before rising to her feet. She slowly made her way over to the group, plopping herself down next to Ishida. She rested her head on his shoulders letting out a little moan, which caused Ishida to go red in the face.
"Inoue, w-what are you doing?" Ishida stuttered lightly. Tatsuki, Sado, and Yamasaki were sitting back watching the scene unfold, secretly laughing inside watching Ishida squirm. Orihime put her hand on Ishida's and lightly squeezed on it. She began lifting his hand closer to her face. Then she took a bite of the eggs stuck on the fork before bringing his hand back down to spear some more.
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Ishida spoke, suddenly realizing her intentions. He applied some resistance trying to stop her from eating his food, and she fought back. She leaned her head in closer and was able to bite into the eggs on the fork before Ishida would pull it away from her. The three watching were trying to hold back their laughter as they watched the two fight over the food.
"Hey Orihime." Yamasaki called out as he reached into the bag. "I got you a breakfast sandwich." Her face lit up as she happily took the sandwich. She opened the wrapper and took a bite from it with a smile on her face.
"So what are we going to do with those three?" Yamasaki spoke as he looked over at the gazebo where the final three still lay sleeping heavily. Tatsuki shrugged her shoulders and went back to eating her food.
"We should really wake them up soon." Sado spoke.
"Eh. We can wait." Tatsuki said. "I don't want Ichigo waking up and stealing some of my food." She proclaimed as she took a bite of her pancakes. Ishida let out a small chuckle as he also took a bite from his food as Orihime continued to rest her head on his shoulder happily eating her sandwich.
Once they were all finished, they decided to relax a little on the beach before they packed up. After applying some suntan lotion, Tatsuki and Orihime laid out on the beach to relax and enjoy some of the sun. Sado as well decided to enjoy some of the relaxing sun, but laid out elsewhere in the sands. Ishida sat under an umbrella reading a book. Yamasaki began tearing down the part of the gazebo that housed the grill, carefully unhooking each part and placing them on the ground nearby.
It wasn't long before Mizuiro and Keigo woke up. Yamasaki gave them their breakfast sandwiches which they gratefully took. Yamasaki went back over and tied all the parts of the now disassembled grill gazebo. He disappeared along with the pile of parts and returned minutes later without them. He repeated said process with his grill.
When Yamasaki returned, he noticed Mizuiro and Keigo had started building a sandcastle. He made his way over to the gazebo. Once inside, he headed over to his bag and began rummaging through it. Ichigo still laid there in the same spot within his sleeping bag. Looking over, Yamasaki let out a small sigh as he shook his head.
"You got something you want to say?" Yamasaki said, as he pulled out a small pack of chewing gum. He opened the pack and took a piece out from the container. He never turned around as he opened the wrapper and took the piece of gum inside. No response. He placed the pack back into his bag and started closing it when he heard a response from over his shoulder.
"I heard everything from last night." Ichigo spoke quietly enough for only Yamasaki to hear. Yamasaki stopped for a second before he grinned slightly. He put the pack of gum back in his bag and closed his bag.
"Then I guess I better tell Urahara we'll be expecting one more guest tonight. Come as soon as the sun sets." He said as he stood up, his knees making the all too familiar popping sound. Ichigo slowly crawled out of his sleeping bag and rose to his feet.
He looked out onto the beach, Tatsuki and Orihime had switched from lying on their backs now onto their stomach. Ichigo watched on as they readjusted their towels and laid back down on them.
"What's going on tonight?" Ichigo asked, never taking his eyes off Tatsuki. Yamasaki stood next to Ichigo also watching over the girls as they let the sun bronze the backside of their bodies.
"Word is, Soul Society is planning on taking Tatsuki and locking her up so they can study her power and figure out what's going on with her." Yamasaki said. Ichigo, taken back by this, looked over at Yamasaki, eyes wide by Yamasaki's words.
"You mean they want to lock her up and turn her into an experiment!? But she hasn't even shown any signs of her power going crazy since that night we ran into. Why would they want to lock her up so quickly?" Ichigo, irritated, raised his voice as he spoke. Luckily the girls were far enough to where they couldn't hear the two speak. Sado, Keigo, and the rest were further away than the girls so they also couldn't hear them speak.
"That's what I'm asking as well." Yamasaki answered as he placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "It's such a quick and harsh punishment, that it doesn't make sense. That's why we're meeting at Urahara's tonight. Yoruichi is currently in Soul Society right now watching them and trying to figure out what their plan is." He lightly squeezed Ichigo's shoulder as to try and comfort him, knowing that the anger within him was rising.
"Well whatever they are planning, I'll make sure they don't succeed." Ichigo promised aloud to himself. He clenched his fists tightly as he spoke those words. "They won't take Tatsuki away from me. Even if I have to go to Soul Society myself and fight them all, I won't let them take her away from me." Yamasaki could tell from the determined tone of voice, that he used as he spoke, that Ichigo was willing to fight the whole Gotei 13 if he had to to keep them from taking Tatsuki away from him.
"Make sure you aren't late tonight when we go to Urahara's shop." Yamasaki said as he exited the gazebo. "You wouldn't want to miss all the fun." He flashed him a reassuring smile as headed towards Keigo and Mizuiro, who had completed what looked like an outer wall to their sand castle.
Ichigo took a step outside of the gazebo for the first time. He reacted just like the others as he shielded his eyes from the sun. By now everyone, aside from the girls, had noticed that he had awoken. He waved to them as they nodded back in acknowledgement. He headed over to Keigo, Mizuiro, and Yamasaki, who had decided to help them in their castle creation. Once Ichigo made his way over, he jumped in and started to help.
The girls woke up to the sound of laughter from the guys. Tatsuki was the first to peek her head up and looked over at their direction. By then the castle was almost complete. Keigo and Ichigo were finishing up the rooftops of the castle. She chuckled in amusement to see all the guys acting like little kids smiling and laughing over creating the giant castle. Even Ishida, of all people, had joined in on the action.
Orihime was the first of the two girls to speak out about the castle. "Wow that thing is gigantic!" She exclaimed pointing at the castle. It looked just like one of the medieval castles. It had a giant wall surrounding it, with pointy rooftops at the four corners.
"I'm going to get my camera I gotta take a picture of that!" Orihime said as she made her way over to the gazebo. Tatsuki stood up and headed over to the guys to observer and get a closer inspection of the castle. To her further amusement, none of the guys had really noticed her walk over to check out their work. They were all busy trying to make the sandcastle an amazing one. Sado was reinforcing the bottom of the castle by patching spots that looked weak. Mizuiro and Ishida were busy trying to draw window outlines in the outer walls of the castle. Keigo and Ichigo were both finishing up the rooftops, an upwards pointing cone shaped roofs.
As she further investigated their creation, she could really see all the detail and hard work that the boys had put into making this castle really good. Orihime finally arrived, camera in hand, and started looking over the castle as well. She made many "ohh" and "ahhs" sounds as she circled the castle admiring the work. She began taking pictures of the boys as they worked on the castle. When they finally finished the castle, they stepped out of it to admire their work. Ichigo wrapped an arm around Tatsuki's waist as he looked over the castle.
"We should take a group photo in front of the castle!" Orihime suggested happily. Yamasaki volunteered to take the picture for them. They lined up in front of the castle, from left to right, Mizuiro, Sado, Ichigo, Tatsuki, Orihime, Ishida, and Keigo. Yamasaki held the camera as he focused on the group. He signaled to them as he was about to take the picture. He took the shot, perfect it came out. As he handed back the camera to Orihime, she thanked him for taking the picture.
Soon after, they decided it was time to go back home. They packed up their belongings as Yamasaki used his kido to destroy the girls changing room as well as the gazebo. As the structures went up in smoke, they headed out. The day went on and when the sky grew dark, Ichigo snuck out of the house and made his way to Urahara's shop. Once he arrived, he was greeted by Tessai who nodded in silence as he let Ichigo in. When he arrived in the designated meeting room, he looked around to see who was already there, Ishida, Urahara, Yoruichi, and Yamasaki.
"Ishida?" Ichigo said, surprised that he was even there to begin with. "What are you doing here?" He asked.
"Tatsuki is my friend too and I care about what is going on with her. If what Urahara says is true, I also want to prevent them from taking her and locking her up." He frankly spoke. He sat there sipping his tea, eyes closed and legs crossed tucked under the table.
Ichigo took a seat at the table in between Ishida and Yoruichi. Yamasaki stood at the far end of the room across from Urahara who sat in front of the open window. A slight breezed rolled in as Urahara sat there also drinking some tea. After a brief moment of silence, Urahara spoke.
"Well now that we're all here. We can get down to business."