Me: Well, i sure got some interesting reviews!
Rukia: Interesting is ONE word.
Me: Firstly, i would like to say that unfortunately, i do NOT live in Florida. However, i AM single and i AM more-or-less enjoying summer. Secondly, i would like to stress to Syco's Path and their Best(Chick)Friend to NOT kill each other. You're too funny!
Rukia: (sweatdrops) You're just saying that because Syco called you a goddess of filling-fiction!
Me: AM NOT! (hands cake) And i shall give you BOTH cake. And it's Ichigo's i stole, so that's like a twofer, it's hard to get! Urahara sure likes it, so i assume it's good.
Rukia: You gave Kisuke ICHIGO'S CAKE? (pales at the thought of the battle that could ensue)
Me: (totally oblivious) Yep!
Rukia: (shake of the head) He's gonna maul you for that.
Me: (shrugs) His fault for being AWOL so long for the pre-and-post-chapp discussions! And thanks to all other reviewers, you're all so great and im glad you like my fic and take the time to read and review it! and i would also like to give Syco's Path credit for the second half of this chapp, because their review for the 9th chapter inspired the perverted hilarity. So thanks for the FANSERVICED ENCOUNTER! Hope you like it!
Rukia: Enjoy!
"Wow, sucks to be you right now," Renji informed the samurai, burnt more-or-less to a crisp. Peyton's head felt really heavy, but she lifted it anyway to see everyone taking in all the ninjas and the samurai with wide eyes.
Senna stood with a smug smirk. "A little more than half of those ninjas were mine!"
Toshiro was the last to come into view, followed by Ichigo.
He was yelling about something to do with Soul Reaper technology, and her temple throbbed. "STOP SHOUTING, YOU JERK, MY HEAD'S KILLING ME!" She shouted.
Really, that shouting made her head feel ten times worse, but at least she got his attention. "Peyton! See, I knew you'd- holy shit, that poor douchebag," he said suddenly as he saw the samurai.
"He's still alive," Byakuya informed them. Everyone, the Nobles included, hissed in breaths and went "Ouccchhh."
Peyton then grinned smugly. "See? I can take care of myself just fine." Ichigo wiped some stray hair and blood off her forehead with a smirk. "Really? Then why do I end up saving your ass nine times out of ten?"
"Well, I don't wanna show you and your magic sword up."
"Uh-huh."
"Really!"
"Of course."
"Don't make me bite you," she warned. He just laughed and pulled her to him, and she huffed. "So much for being intimidating..."
Byakuya quite openly rolled his eyes as they kissed, which NATURALLY made them kiss some more to piss him off.
"Public display of affection is so crude."
"Only when it's ugly people," Matsumoto argued.
Everyone turned to look at her, and she shrugged. "What? It's true. Would YOU watch two ugly people 'display affection'?"
Her question was answered with silence. Finally, Peyton raised her hand confidently. "I can honestly say that no, I wouldn't."
Matsumoto pointed at her enthusiastically. "See? At least SOMEONE else is honest!"
Ichigo shrugged. "I thought it was pretty obvious what MY answer would be."
"True, true."
THE NEXT MORNING...
"Chiyoko, I'm gonna miss you too, but not as much as I'm starting to miss oxygen," Peyton managed to get out as she was nearly hugged to death.
She reluctantly let go. "Forgive me, it's just...I'M GONNA MISS YOU SOOO MUCH, PEYTON-CHAN!" She wailed before hugging her waist again.
Peyton watched with a grin as Ichigo held out a hand to Senna, who smacked it away and bombarded him with a hug. "You better come back to see me someday, you big bastard!"
Arisu gently pried her sister off Peyton, then bowed respectfully. "Many thanks and blessings, Cullen-san. Without you, I am confident neither I nor my siblings would be alive, and my whole family's legacy would be lost."
She waved her off. "No bowing necessary, really. I'm sure there's a noble way to at least gimme a handshake."
"Hand...shake?"
Peyton nodded and held out her hand. "It's where you shake hands. Here, hold your hand out like this. Uh, no, your other hand. Okay, good, and then you shake them up and down, like this..."
They smiled at each other as they shook hands, and Peyton suddenly remembered something. "Oh! And that man you have your eyes on? Go after him, alright? No matter what."
Arisu's cheeks turned a lovely tinge of pink, and she nodded timidly. "No matter what. As you wish."
As soon as the Noble moved to talk to Rukia, Senna nearly ran Peyton over as she hugged her tightly. "I'm gonna miss you so much!"
"Same, Senna, same," she replied, hugging her back.
"You were the best competition ever, you know that?"
"So I've heard."
Senna laughed and pulled away, grinning. "Ya know, to be honest...I'm glad Ichigo has you. You might keep that dumbass alive a little longer."
"And it's a good thing Shiro has you. He NEEDS a battle-scarred kick-ass shinigami like you around."
"Hell yeah he does!"
They laughed, and Senna patted her non-bandaged shoulder before running after Toshiro. "HEY, COME BACK HERE, CAPTAIN HITSUGAYA! I have a bone to pick with you!"
Byakuya gave Renji a nod, who nodded back and drew his zanpakuto, summoning the Senkaimon.
Tetsuo bowed to the Captain at the waist, and Byakuya returned it. "I cannot thank you enough, Captain Kuchiki. The King will definitely hear tales of you and the amusing squad that saved our lives."
"Awesome," Peyton and Renji muttered at almost exactly the same time, making Byakuya resist the urge to sigh at their immaturity.
"After you, Captain," Renji said with a nervous laugh at the look he was being given. Senna abruptly stopped scolding Toshiro for "running away from not only ME but the hot-piece-of-ass Lieutenant of yours" and sighed heavily.
"I guess this is it. Goodbye, everyone! I'm glad you let me tag along."
Peyton waved goodbye before following everyone else through the wooden sliding-door.
LATER...
"Hat-And-Clogs, you are a goddamn genius," was Ichigo's thoughtful greeting as they reached his shop.
Urahara was standing by the entrance, and tipped his hat with a smirk. "About time you realized that, Ichigo."
Ururu smiled at them as she finished sweeping and led them inside. "How did it go?"
"Well, we're in one piece, but everyone's a little banged-up," Rukia replied matter-of-factly. Peyton just grinned. "It was AWESOME."
Yoruichi was there, in human form, with her cool clothes that Peyton was always so jealous of. She looked at them all and her gaze stopped on Peyton and Ichigo, who had the most bruises and scrapes. "Looks like you had fun," she commented, looking pointedly at their bandages and cuts.
"Oh, I have more if you wanna see!" She said excitedly, making Toshiro and Ichigo sweatdrop.
"...She's happy?"
Matsumoto chuckled as Yoruichi dragged her out of sight, saying "You could use a bath, kid."
"Bath? Oh, no way! I hate baths!"
"WHAT?"
Their conversation trailed off as they went down the hall, leaving tons of sweatdrops in their wake.
Matsumoto then helped herself to a mysterious-looking cake on Urahara's table. "Of course she is. Her first official battle scars."
"I doubt those'll leave any scars."
"Figure of speech," she replied to Toshiro, making Ichigo snicker.
"I knew that," he snapped at Ichigo, who just shook his head.
Rukia cocked an eyebrow. "Did she just say she hated baths?"
Yoruichi continued to drag her to what Peyton assumed was one of the bathrooms, glancing at her in disbelief. "You don't like baths."
"Hell no! It's like stewing in your own filth. I haven't taken an actual bath since I was six. I've been taking showers for...forever!"
The former Captain laughed and shook her head. "No shit? You're so entertainingly odd, even by human standards."
"I think bath-takers are the odd ones."
She waved her off. "Nah. Once you take a steaming hot bath with tons of bubbles, your hair tied up in a messy little bun-slash-ponytail, you never go back. It's almost as good as eating chocolate on your period, it makes me happy just thinking about it!"
Peyton sweatdropped. "...That's almost unhealthy, Yoruichi. I thought cats hated water?"
"This cat sure as hell doesn't. Trust me, you're gonna love me for this. You don't know what you've been missing."
"I highly doubt that..."
FIVE MINUTES LATER...
"...Of course, I've been wrong before," Peyton commented, eyes closed lazily.
"Told you. You don't know what you've been missing, Yankee," Yoruichi replied in her manly voice, having switched into cat form, stretched out on the sink.
She nodded with a content sigh. "I'm so mellow right now, I'll even let 'Yankee' slide this time."
"So, how pissed did you make Little Byakuya?"
"Moderate. I was a bit disappointed. I think Renji got on his nerves more than anything."
"Ah, so it's true. He IS fooling around with Rukia."
Peyton opened one eye. "Ha! He wishes. Renji kissed ass by giving Byakuya a banana. MY banana," she huffed.
Yoruichi cocked one cat eyebrow. "If you really want a banana, there's about a hundred lying around here."
"Really?"
"Bananas and limes."
"Awesomesauce!"
The cat sweatdropped. "...Did you just say 'awesomesauce'?"
Peyton nodded, blowing some bubbles out of a piece of bang that had fallen out of her bun-slash-ponytail and was currently dangling in front of her eyes.
"My new word. For when awesome just isn't enough."
The feline nodded thoughtfully before doing one of those intense cat stretches. "Awesomesauce...I like it."
Peyton grinned. "Hard not to with such an epic word."
Yoruichi hopped off the sink, eyeing the bath longingly. "I'm getting in, too."
"WHAT?"
"Oh, please. What's the problem?"
"I'm NAKED."
"So? I'm a woman, it's nothing I haven't seen before. I don't bite," she replied, flashing her cat teeth as if to emphasize her words.
Peyton paused, then huffed. "Fine. But stay on THAT SIDE," she demanded, pointing to the opposite end of the huge bathtub.
"Yay!" She exclaimed, which was rather...what did Ichigo call it again? ...OOC! THAT'S IT!
As if on cue, none other than Ichigo walked in. "Hey, wait, this isn't a secret kitchen. Hat-And-Clogs is SO full of- HOLY SHIT, YORUICHI!" He shouted as, with an impish cat grin, she changed form with a POOF!
Peyton sweatdropped as Ichigo spazzed, ramming into the door. "PUT SOME DAMN CLOTHES ON!"
"But, Ichigo, I'm taking a bath. I usually bathe naked," She replied innocently.
Peyton slid a little lower, never having been so grateful for the invention of soap bubbles as she was now.
"Then hurry up and get in, but dammit, don't get so close to me when you do that!"
"What, it's not like this is the first time you've seen me naked or anything."
Peyton's temple throbbed at that; she turned her head up to look at him. "Oh REALLY?"
"It's not like that, it's- Wait...You're BOTH taking a bath? As in TOGETHER? AT THE SAME TIME?"
"Do you need a thesaurus to find more words for 'both'?" Peyton asked dully.
While he was trying to process the whole perverted situation, Yoruichi inched towards the door and locked it. Ichigo, having been THIS CLOSE to touching a specific area on her body, had spazzed out and was currently standing on the toilet, poised to defend himself.
She simply smiled. "Now it's a party!"
Peyton sighed and rubbed her non-bruised temple tiredly. "My perverted mind just can NOT grasp this."
"Hey Peyton?"
"Yes, Ichigo."
"I thought you hated baths."
"I did, but I was starting to change my mind-" She cut off as Yoruichi hopped in, making water go everywhere.
Ichigo sweatdropped as Peyton briefly closed her eyes in annoyance before finishing her sentence.
"...But I'm starting to stand by my previous belief."
Ichigo turned even redder. "You're awfully...wet."
"Oh, not this again. And under these bubbles, I'm NAKED. That's right, I bathe naked. Shh, don't tell anyone," Peyton replied in annoyance. She had a brief flashback on that one morning in Disney World, the hot bathroom situation, but shook her head quickly to get rid of it.
She didn't want to start blushing.
Yoruichi splashed some water onto her dark face, totally oblivious. "This is AWESOMESAUCE!"
Ichigo pointed at her, looking at Peyton. "What's awesomesauce?"
"For when awesome just isn't enough," she and Yoruichi said in unison, making the latter laugh. "We should do this more often!"
Peyton folded her arms, looking expectantly at Ichigo. "So. This isn't the first time? Care to elaborate?"
He laughed nervously. "Uhhh...Well, where to start, ehhh...IT WASN'T CONSENTUAL!" He blurted, making Yoruichi's temple throb.
"You make it sound like I forced myself onto you. All I did was change form, more than once." A slow grin spread onto her face. "Am I still the only woman you've seen naked lately, Kurosaki?"
They both turned spastic at that one.
"T-THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!"
"QUIT SAYING THAT, YOU DON'T KNOW THAT YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
"THAT'S a yes," was Yoruichi's reply, and Peyton looked at Ichigo. "Oh, so she's not the first. This bath is revealing more and more about us all, I really SHOULD do this more often."
Ichigo groaned, realizing there was just no way to get out of this with his dignity still intact. He then blinked innocently at her. "I love you!"
"Yeah, yeah."
During this, they didn't realize Yoruichi had gone underwater and just now resurfaced, a puzzled expression on her face.
"...What?" They asked her cautiously.
She waved them off. "Oh, nothing major. It's just...I thought Matsumoto said you were a definite B, but personally, I think you're dancing on the line between B and C. It's interesting; I thought Rangikyu was the expert on boobs."
Ichigo started laughing as Peyton turned bright red, and she flicked some bubbles at him. "Hey, I would keep those in the tub, unless you want me to give MY opinion on your boob size."
Her temple throbbed, and Yoruichi laughed as she threw a bar of soap at his head.
"OW, DAMMIT!"
"PERVERT!"
"I'M THE PERVERT? YOU'RE TAKING A BATH WITH A CAT-LADY!"
"YEAH, THE SAME ONE YOU'VE SEEN NAKED MORE THAN ONCE! NOW WHO'S THE PERVERT?"
Before more could be said, the door was busted down, making everyone yell in surprise. In ran Toshiro.
"We heard screaming, is everything alri- ...Oh."
Matsumoto was giggling, and they distinctly heard Urahara comment happily, "Who wants to place bets on how many minutes it takes the bubbles to run out?"
Renji suddenly ran into view. "AWWWW, NO FAIR! Can I come in?"
"NO!" Peyton and Ichigo shouted at the same time Yoruichi said "Sure, why not!"
"ICHIGO, YOU PERVERT! SPYING ON GIRLS LIKE THAT!" They heard Rukia shout. Ichigo paled, and he laughed nervously.
"Now Rukia, let's not be rash...PUT the mace DOWN!"
Peyton slid even LOWER into the bubbles until only the top of her head was visible, temple throbbing, and Yoruichi just grinned.
"This is the best bath ever."
Me: hahahahaha!
Rukia: (shakes head) You're so perverted.
Me: Oh, i could've made it MUCH worse, but i have self-control. Oh, by the way, i have two things to say, on the same subject: FAN ART.
Rukia: This should be interesting.
Me: (glares) AS I WAS SAYING...I've gotten a few PMs about fan art, and the answer is OF COURSE! Any fan art would be just plain awesome, and i'll put the link on future chapps so others can see it. For instance, i already know of one done by Jennifurball a long time ago, and i put the link on, but forgot to put spaces. So the link never showed up. If you wanna see hers, go to:
h t t p : / / j e n n i f u r b a l l . d e v i a n t a r t . n e t.
No spaces. It'll be in an old album , i'm sure, but look for the redhead! Also, my current avatar picture looks a lot like how i would imagine Peyton drawn in the Bleach universe. Not exactly, but a lot.
Rukia: Are you done now?
Me: Jeez, you're almost more annoying than Ichigo sometimes, you know that?
Rukia: Whatever. I'm just so happy!
Me: ...WHY?
Rukia: BECAUSE, according to Syco's Path, their best chick friend is shorter than me! This is...like...epic!
Me: (eye-twitch) ...Review.