• • •
"Finally; took you long enough, didn't it?" I heard a voice ask, causing me to jump at its close sounding proximity.
"Gah! You scared me!" I exclaimed, glaring at Ichigo. He only rolled his eyes as he looked down at me and I felt my glare melt away. "What're you doing out here anyway?"
"Inoue and Tatsuki went off to the river and Mizuiro, Keigo, and Chad left with my Dad and sisters to wait for the fireworks to start." Ichigo explained, and then averted his eyes. "Besides, you shouldn't be alone at a festival anyways."
"Thanks," I grinned up at him, slightly chuckling at his flushed face. I could tell this was a new side to him. "But you know I could easily find you guys."
"Che," Ichigo scoffed, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he refused to meet my gaze. "You'd probably get lost. That or attract no good guys like Keigo."
I found myself laughing at his logic. "Ah, I wouldn't get lost. I'd track you guys down by tracing your reiatsu. You're the monster, not me. I can feel it right now."
Ichigo just rolled his eyes, a smirk tugging at his lips. Perhaps he remembered our conversation weeks ago when he called me the monster. Obviously, Ichigo was the reiatsu monster. Not me.
"And if there's anyone to blame for the last part of your response, then blame Yuzu." I said, smirking up at the confused strawberry. "She's the one that picked out this yukata."
"Yuzu did?" Ichigo asked, eyes wide as his cinnamon orbs trailed over my yukata once more. "When did she do that?"
"Hm," I mused, wondering that myself. "It was sometime during the days that we spent training. I gave her one of Urahara's credit cards and told her to charge it. For doing that for me, I let her buy new yukata's for her and Karin, too. I bet you didn't even notice that they were wearing new yukata's."
"I didn't think that I recognized those yukata's…" Ichigo hedged, before smirking down at me. "And you gave her one of Urahara's credit cards? Won't he be pissed once he finds out?"
"Aha! That's the genius of my plan! He won't find out until we're in Soul Society rescuing Rukia..!"
"What about when we come back?" Ichigo questioned.
"Well," I blinked, not thinking about that flaw. "Then I guess I'll be the one that needs rescuing next!"
We both laughed at my statement, grinning at each other.
"So," I asked, "Where are we meeting the others?"
"Dad saved a spot on the opposite river bank. Supposedly, it's the best place to see the fireworks." Ichigo answered.
"Hm, it'd be better if we were on a boat to watch them!" I happily exclaimed, only to have Ichigo turn and look at me with a deadpan expression. "What?"
"That's just what Dad said earlier…" Ichigo muttered, shaking his head and sighing.
I laughed, "Great minds think alike, right?"
"Che, more like deranged minds think alike."
"Hey!" I exclaimed, punching his arm as I mock glared at him. "That's not nice..!"
"The truth isn't always nice." He taunted, making me roll my eyes.
"Whatever." I replied, crossing my arms as I looked around us.
There were still tons of vendors with their booths on the side of the streets. Food was still being sold, as well as snacks like snow cones. There were also tons of gaming booths.
"Ah, what's this?" I asked, looking up at a sign above the booth closest to me. "Kingyo Sukui?"
Ichigo noticed that I had stopped walking and was staring at the booth. "It's a goldfish scooping game."
"Goldfish scooping?" I echoed, looking up at the strawberry with furrowed eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"Watch," Ichigo answered, grabbing my arm and steering me closer to the booth.
There was a huge tub filled with water and multiple goldfish. There was a small girl with her Father, trying to play the game to win a goldfish.
"You get to keep however many fish that you can scoop up into your bowl," Ichigo explained. "But, the net that they give you is made out of paper. It's very thin, and easily breaks once it gets wet."
"That sounds hopelessly impossible." I said, watching in sympathy as the young girls net broke and the fish fell back into the tub of water.
"The trick is to do it slowly." Ichigo reasoned. "It's not that difficult."
Nodding, I grinned as I looked down into the giant tub of goldfish. They were all so pretty.
"We have some time to kill, right?" I asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"Oji-San," I called, taking some money from my small drawstring purse that matched my yukata. "I'd like to play, please."
"Sure thing!" The owner nodded, taking my money and handing me a small bowl and a paper net.
Ichigo sighed, but still smiled at me as I excitedly motioned him closer. I wanted him to watch and try and help me out a bit; especially since he didn't think it was that hard.
"Put some water in your bowl," Ichigo advised. "You want the fish to survive if you get one."
"Right," I nodded, dipping my bowl into the water and watching as I filled it up halfway. It was quite a site to see all the fish scurrying away from the motion. Maybe this was harder than Ichigo let on? "So, now I just pick a fish and try to get it?"
"You can." Ichigo nodded, squatting down and leaning next to me. "But it's probably better if you just target the slowest moving fish."
"Aw, but I already found the fish that I want." I whined, my eyes locking onto my target. "I wanted that one; see? It's colored differently than the others. It's more of a peach color instead of deep red."
"I see the one you're talking about." Ichigo nodded, "Go for it."
"Okay!" I cheered, my eyes burning with determination. Ichigo snickered at me, but I didn't care. "I'm gonna catch that goldfish! Momo will be mine!"
"Momo?" Ichigo questioned.
"Yes; that'll be his name if I get him. After all, he reminds me of a peach."
"How do you know if it's a guy? Besides, isn't Momo a girl's name?"
"Hm," I grinned up at him. "Ichigo's a girl name too, right?"
Cue glare.
Laughing, I shrugged. "Boys can be called Momo, too! I mean, isn't the name 'Momoshiro' for boys? For short I can just call him Momo!"
"I guess." Ichigo sighed, shrugging his shoulders. Maybe he was finally seeing my logic.
Now, to the game! I maneuvered my bowl near where Momo was at, as I slowly lowered my net into the water. Now! Move the net up, and I've got him!
Only, he jerked away and my net split right down the center.
The man that owned the stall took pity on me and handed me an extra net free of charge. I tried again, trying to be more careful this time, but I still managed to break the paper net.
"Aw!" I sighed, sadly looking at my broken net. "I guess Momo won't be mine after all."
"Scoot over." Ichigo ordered, causing me to look up at him in confusion.
Ichigo lightly shoved me over, taking my previous spot. In his hand was a net; a new, unbroken net.
"Are you going to try?" I asked, watching as he dunked his own bowl into the water. The strawberry's only answer was a curt nod as he tried to find Momo amongst all of the other fish.
I watched as he zeroed in on the peach colored goldfish, smirking at it. He followed its movements with his eyes for a few seconds, before he nodded to himself. He held the bowl above the water with one hand. In his other hand was the net. Slowly, he carefully submerged it. I was surprised by his slow and steady movements; the water hardly rippled. Before I knew it, Ichigo's paper net was directly under the peach colored fish. Slowly, it began to rise to the surface.
"There; it wasn't that hard." Ichigo smirked, putting the peach colored fish safely in the bowl.
"That was amazing!" I exclaimed, grinning at Ichigo. "How did you do that?!"
"I told you to take it slow and steady. Well, that and you need to know how the fish moves before you attack." Ichigo explained, smirking down at me.
The owner of the stall smiled at us, and retrieved a small plastic bag. He took Ichigo's bowl, and slowly poured the water and the fish in it. Then, he tied it off and handed it to me. "Thank you for playing and enjoy the fish."
"Ah, thank you." I replied, bowing my head at him and smiling.
I grinned up at Ichigo, latching onto his arm as my grin slowly turned into a real smile. "And thank you, Ichigo! That was so nice of you to win me Momo!"
Ichigo flushed, immediately turning his head away. "I-It was nothing."
"No, it was something. Thank you!" I said, my smile growing as I looked down at the cute fish that was floating around in the clear plastic bag. "I've never had a pet fish before! Hm, if it wasn't peach colored then I'd definitely name it 'Strawberry.'"
Ichigo's face flushed even more, causing me to snicker.
"We still have a little bit of time left to kill, right?" I asked, "I still have more money left. Why don't we try some other games?"
"If you want to." Ichigo eventually said, shrugging his shoulder as he still looked away from me; I don't blame him. I was still latched onto his arm.
I could feel my smile turn into an evil grin as I nodded.
"'Course I want to! Come on, let's go!" I exclaimed, trailing my hands down his arm until I reached his hand. I pried it from his pocket and started to pull him with me. I looked back and up at his face, grinning once I saw how wide his eyes were. "Come on, you slow poke~!"
• • •
"It looks like the sun's about to set." Ichigo pointed out, looking up at the sky. "We should get going; they'll be starting the fireworks soon."
"Ah, right." I nodded, looking up at the sky as well. The sun was just about ready to set. Already the sky looked like it was a fiery red color.
Time sure had flown by.
Ichigo and I had played tons of other games. I now had a small collection of cute stuffed animals in my arms, along with my fish, and a couple of water yo-yos. That was fun; I had actually managed to get one on my own! First attempt too! I also had a mask on the corner of my head; I'd seen people walking around with them all day long, so I caved and bought one as well.
The mask that I bought was white with deep red vertical lines that trailed down the center, and one flanking on each side. The eye sockets were triangle shaped. I bought it because it reminded me of a Hollow mask, which I thought was kind of cool.
"JUN~!"
Before I knew it, Yuzu had come running at me and practically threw herself towards me. I was glad that I had good enough reflexes to keep my balance and not topple over. A fall wouldn't have been good for poor little Momo.
"Hey, Yuzu!" I sang, smiling down at the youngest Kurosaki sibling.
Yuzu grinned up at me, "You look so good in that yukata! I'm so glad that I found the perfect one~!"
"Mhm, I love it. You really did a nice job." I nodded, "By the way, I like your yukata, too."
"JUN~!" Karin yelled as well, latching herself on me as well.
"It's nice to see you too, Karin." I laughed a bit. This was strangely out of character for both of the girls; I don't remember them ever being this loud.
"They're drunk." Ichigo stated, prying Yuzu off of me and throwing her over his shoulder. Yuzu cheered and wrapped her arm around his neck and grinned.
"D-Drunk?" I stuttered, eyes widening in surprise. "How did they get drunk?!"
"Dad let them drink some juice that had been spiked by one of the vendors." Ichigo explained, rolling his eyes as Yuzu began poking his cheek and giggling. "He should have been paying more attention to what they drank!"
"Well, Yuzu and Karin are small. They probably only had a little bit of alcohol." I reasoned, staring down at Karin and taking in her partially flushed cheeks. I was used to seeing drunken people. Back in Soul Society, they'd regularly drink; just hanging out and having a nice time with each other.
"Yeah, well, that's still too much for them." Ichigo shook his head, grabbing Yuzu's hand and prying it away from his face. "They're too little to have any kind of alcohol."
"I agree." I laughed, watching as Karin took to happily spinning around. I knew she'd never do that sober, which made the sight all the more hilarious.
"Junko~!" Isshin, Ichigo's Father, called my name as he came tottering over. He had a bottle of sake in his hand and a big grin on his face. He was also dressed traditionally; I could even see the geta sandals that reminded me of Urahara.
"Good evening, Kurosaki-San." I answered, grinning up at him.
"Nonsense!" He exclaimed, shaking his head rapidly from side to side. "You can call me Isshin! Or you can call me Papa Kurosaki*~!"
"You don't have to call him that," Ichigo muttered, glaring at his crazy father.
I just laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Good~!" Isshin grinned, and then noticed all of the plushies, water yo-yos, and fish in my arms. "I take it you had a good time at the festival?"
"Yes, I had an amazing time!" I exclaimed, grinning. "Ichigo and I played tons of games. I sucked at most of them, but Ichigo was a pro at like all of them. He even won me Momo!" I explained, tugging the bag of water that contained Momo up so Isshin could see him. "He's the first pet that I've ever had myself!"
"I'm proud of you son!" Isshin exclaimed, roughly clapping Ichigo on the shoulder as tears flowed down his face. Ichigo and I sweat-dropped at this, while I meekly laughed.
"Nii-San won you a fish?!" Yuzu asked, eyes sparking as she climbed down off of her brother. "I also got a pet! He's a balloon animal!"
Yuzu grinned as she pulled out her balloon animal, showing it to me. It was twisted into the form of a dog. Karin had a regular balloon, tied onto a string on her wrist.
"It's a very nice dog." I said, nodding as she shoved it in my face.
"Come on and sit down with us! The fireworks are about to start." Karin interrupted, grabbing my hand and tugging me over to the large blanket that was spread across the ground.
I grinned, softly sitting Momo's plastic bag down. I surrounded him with my plushies so he wouldn't fall over or roll away.
"Ichi-Nii, you've gotta come over here too~!" Karin called once we sat down, wildly waving towards her older brother.
I could see Ichigo's mouth moving; he was probably mumbling something not too nice under his breath. However, the strawberry then sighed and made his way over to us.
Chad, Keigo, and Mizuiro were sitting nearby. They weren't on a blanket or anything; they were just sitting on the grass.
"Did you guys enjoy the festival?" I asked, turning to the three males as Ichigo busied himself by sitting next to me. Yuzu sat on his other side, while Karin sat next to me.
"Of course! There were so many pretty women in kimonos..!" Keigo exclaimed, happily sighing. "But, of course, none of them compared to you in your kimono, Jun-Kun~!"
One heated glare from the strawberry shut Keigo up after that.
"I had a nice time as well," Mizuiro said, smiling at me. "I got a lot of phone numbers from the older women!"
"Good for you, Mizuiro." I said, sheepishly grinning. "And what about you Chad?"
"Mm," He nodded. "It was good."
BOOM~!
"Ah! It's starting! Look~!" Karin exclaimed, grabbing my hand and pointing to the sky.
"Amazing!" I breathed out, watching as the fireworks shot into the sky.
The fireworks shot up into the air, winding and twirling before they finally exploded. Then, their true colors and light shone through. The dark sky was illuminated once more; however, this time hues of all the colors lit up the sky. Even when I blinked, I could still see the colors beneath my eyelids.
I laughed, cheering along with the twins as the fireworks continued to be shot up into the sky.
It really was a beautiful sight.
And I wasn't freezing my butt off in the middle of winter.
"Better than winter fireworks?" Ichigo asked, leaning closer to me so I could hear him over everyone's cheers.
Grinning, I fervently nodded. "Definitely! I was just thinking about how much better this is."
Ichigo's eyes stayed on me, I could feel it. But, I wasn't paying him any attention; my gaze was stuck on the shimmering fireworks going off before me.
Gasping, I smiled. "Look! That one matches the color of your hair, Ichigo!"
Everyone heard my statement and began laughing at my outburst. Even Ichigo chuckled a bit, causing me to smile up at him.
The strawberry rolled his eyes, before bringing his large hand up to playfully rub the top of my head.
"Hey," I whined, "Not the hair~!"
"You'll live." Ichigo laughed, tugging my mask over my face.
I growled; he messed up my hair even further!
"Hm, keep on sounding like that and I might actually think you're a Hollow." Ichigo whispered, smirking down at me.
"Haha, do you think you could actually take me?" I questioned, quirking an eyebrow as I took the mask off. I then took the flower hair pin out, and undid the bun. My hair lay splayed across my shoulders in kinky curls from being up in a messy bun almost all day long. "Cause I don't think you can~!"
"Oh yeah?" He questioned, smirking down at me.
"Mhm." I nodded, evilly grinning as I proceeded to shoot my hair tie at him. "Bulls eye!" I cheered, watching as it bounced off of his forehead.
"You'll pay for that!" Ichigo threatened.
"Go Jun~!" Karin cheered from my other side, "You can totally beat Ichi-Nii!"
"I know I can!" I exclaimed, nodding at the small dark haired Kurosaki twin. "See, just watch~!"
Laughing, I took off running at an incredible speed. I had gotten quite faster during my days spent training with Ankoku-Tatsu; even while I was still in my human body.
I heard everyone cheering me on as I nimbly escaped from Ichigo's lunges. I giggled every time I seemed to slip from his fingers.
"Hear that, Ichigo?" I teased, looking back at him from over my shoulder as I stuck my tongue out at him. "Everyone's cheering me on. They want me to win~!"
"Well, they'll soon be congratulating me on the win!" Ichigo announced smirking down at me as he dug his feet deeper into the ground and gained speed.
My eyes widened; how did he get so fast in his human body?!
Damn him! He has longer legs! And a longer reach from his arms!
This was one opportunity where being 'petite' didn't come in handy.
I squealed as Ichigo's hands wound themselves around my waist; he effortlessly slung me over his shoulder as he spun around and waved at our friends and his family.
Orihime and Tatsuki had just shown up and started laughing at seeing me slung over Ichigo's shoulder. I pouted when he wouldn't let me down when we made our way back to the others.
"You almost had him, Jun!" Yuzu exclaimed, grinning up at me still slung over Ichigo's shoulders.
"Almost," I nodded, playfully slapping Ichigo's shoulder. "It's not fair though; he has longer arms and legs. That means he has a bigger stride than I do. So, that's like cheating!"
Ichigo scoffed, softly sitting me down in my former spot. "That's not cheating."
Sighing, I hung my head in mock defeat. "I guess not. That's just another example of how unkind the universe is to short people."
Everyone laughed at this, smiling at me. I felt so at ease around all of these people. I knew that this is where I belonged.