Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Sunshine and Sand (are making me sick) ❯ I dont belong here...yet ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

AN: ((I actually started this in June, but never finished it until now XP))

It was hot...VERY hot.

Rukia tried to shield her eyes for the glaring sun with her small hand.

She wasn't even sure why she was walking down this stupid path behind these 2 guys and an idiot.

The new sandals that she had purchased today where completely unlike her shinigami ones. They were made of this `foam' material and plastic and they didn't even have a strap in the back. These were not only stupid, but impractical and uncomfortable.

She had a towel draped over her arm and she continued to follow the bunch to god-knows-where.

One of the boys, the tallest, bright-haired one, looked back at her as she struggled to keep pace in her new shoes.

“You okay back there, Rukia?” He raised an eyebrow and slowed down so she could catch up to him.

Her blue eyes darted up to his and she snarled.

“I'm fine, Ichigo. I'm just trying to get used to this poor excuse for a pair of shoes.”

Keigo and Mizuiro were still walking and talking amongst each other. Well, actually, Keigo was doing most of the talking. Mizuiro was just daydreaming and nodding at the right points like always.

Ichigo shrugged and continued to follow behind the other two, Rukia falling behind once more.

She sighed and pushed her black hair out of her eyes. Strands were starting to cling to her forehead in the intense heat.

They better get where they were going soon.

A good amount of time had already passed since they had left the house, and they were well away from the outskirts of Karakura town.

Rukia stumbled and almost lost her footing as her right sandal managed to catch on a tree root.

She quickly caught herself, and snatched up her sandal in a huff, not bothering to put it back on this time.

That damn Ichigo...

If he didn't need constant watching over, I wouldn't have had to tag along.

She remembered how she got into this situation quite clearly.

~~~

“Ichigo! Phone!” Karin yelled up the stairs.

“Got it!” Ichigo picked up the cordless phone in his room, pressed the green button and brought it up to his ear.

“Hello?” Almost instantly, Ichigo jerked the phone away from his ear, gritting his teeth as a shrill voice rang over the line.

“ICHIGOOOO! MY MAN!”

“Keigo...what do you want?” Ichigo said flatly, irritation underlining his voice.

“Mizuiro and I are going to the beach today to catch some rays and check out the hot chicks! Wanna go?!” Keigo asked, just as overly-enthusiastic as always.

“I dunno...” Ichigo rubbed his head. The beach would be nice....it was scorching outside, and the water would probably be refreshing.

“C'mon man! We have to hang out! All you ever do is stay home! Get out for once!”

Ichigo sighed.

“We can ask Rukia to go too. I'm sure we can find her number somewhere in the phone book...” Keigo sounded even more excited at his new idea.

Ichigo pondered it for a second.

Rukia had probably never been to a beach before. She might enjoy it.

“Fine. But just give me a while. I'll invite Rukia for you and then I'll call you back when I'm ready.”

“Sweet! I'll talk to you then! Don't forget your sunscreen!”

“Yah, bye.”

He pressed another button on the phone, and dropped it back on the charger.

“Hey, Rukia! Get dressed, we're going somewhere!”

She heard him call and opened the door, putting down her book.

“What? Where are we going?”

Ichigo grabbed his wallet off of his desk and stuffed it into his pocket.

“Shopping, now put your shoes on.”

~~~

“TA- DAH!!”

Rukia quickly looked up.

Keigo had his arm spread wide, presenting what lie before all of them.

Rukia's eyes were wide. She had never seen so many people packed in one spot before! At least, not since the Don Kanonji incident. And so many umbrellas! But there was no rain...

“Packed as always...” Ichigo didn't look amused by the crowd of people gathered around the great body of water.

“C'mon! I see a spot!” Keigo started to sprint toward a small patch of tan among the mass of bodies.

The two others went after, and Rukia walked alongside Ichigo.

She took off her other sandal because she decided it would be useless walking in the mass of sand around them.

After a moment or two it hit her. The sand was HOT.

She shrieked and tried to jump onto the nearest thing she could.

Ichigo almost lost his balance when Rukia's feet suddenly landed on his and she grabbed his arms with a death grip.

“Geez! What are you doing!?” He snapped, swaying a little to keep his balance.

“The ground is burning me! What do you want me to do?!” Rukia snapped right back.

“That why you keep your shoes on, idiot! We bought them for a reason.”

“Like I can wear these! I can't even walk in them!”

Ichigo let out a puff of air.

“Fine.”

He wrapped his arm around her waist and hoisted her up over his shoulder.

“W-What are you doing?!” Rukia started to wiggle and kick.

“You said you couldn't walk, so I'm carrying you.” He stated flatly, walking towards the large blanket Keigo had already laid down under the umbrella Mizuiro was just pitching into the sand.

“I don't need you to carry me! Put me down!!!” Rukia started to kick her legs harder, hitting his back with her small fists.

People were starting to stare.

“Have it your way.” Ichigo dropped Rukia in the sand just a foot short of the blanket.

“Ah! You ass!-” More insults would have come spilling out if Rukia hadn't been interrupted by the burning sensation on her legs where she was touching the sand. She quickly scrambled onto the blanket and began dusting herself off, mumbling profanities under her breath.

Ichigo shook his head and dropped a bag that had been hanging off of his other shoulder.

Keigo snuck over to Rukia's side, holding a pink and white bottle.

“Hey Rukia, d'ya need me to get your back for you?” He tried to say it as smoothly as possible as he squirted some thick white substance onto his hand.

She blinked.

“What?”

“Sun block.” He pointed at the bottle.

She just gave him a perplexed look.

“You know...for your skin...so you don't get burnt. Geez, do they not have that where you used to live? Where did you used to live anyway?”

Rukia ignored both questions and tried to fake a look of recognition.

“Oh yes, of course! How silly of me, I forgot.”

She took the bottle, and slowly squeezed some into her hand, hoping she would be able to do it right.

She glanced over at Ichigo for help, but he was still busy rummaging through his bag.

Keigo had already whipped his shirt off, since he was wearing his swim trunks the whole time, and when about wiping himself down with the stuff.

Oh...right.

She had forgotten to take off the clothes that were over her swimming outfit. Her and Ichigo had bought one this morning, along with her new sandals.

~~~

“Well, you've got to pick one of them.” Ichigo said, leaning on a rack of women's bathing suits.

“You expect me to wear one of these in front of people?!” She held up the closest bikini, pointing at the scant material that was supposed to cover her.

“That's what people do at the beach. It's for swimming in.”

It bugged her that he didn't seem to see the problem with her wearing it at all.

She held it away from her as if it were going to bite any minute. “I can't wear this in front of people!”

“Then you'll be the only one not wearing one. Do you want to stand out?”

“I'll sure as hell stand out if I'm wearing this!” She waved the skimpy pink suit in front of his face.

“You don't have to wear exactly that one.” He started to flick through the racks. “Really, I'll help you find one you like, but you have to pick at least one of them.”

~~~

After much argument and flared tempers, Rukia had decided, with the help of Ichigo, on a teal bikini with navy blue spaghetti straps, little wooden beads on the ends and a little wooden loop holding the front together. She was still disgusted with the fact that she had to wear one, but once she saw all the people at the beach she decided Ichigo had been right about everyone wearing one.

Well...here it goes...

She started to lift her shirt off, slowly and reluctantly. This was embarrassing beyond any reason.

When she had finally removed all her outer clothes, she immediately crossed her legs and arms, to try and cover herself up a little more.

“Lookin' good, Rukia!” Keigo whistled. Mizuiro was looking at Rukia also.

Ichigo glanced over at her.

A dark blush had washed over her face, and she looked like she was going to pass out any second.

He chuckled a little to himself, and began to tug his own shirt off.

Rukia's eyes wandered over to Ichigo, when he began to undress. She couldn't help but notice how his muscles flexed under his tan skin when he pulled the material over his bright orange head. Her sight was fixed on him, watching his sculpted body move in what might had been a little more than admiration.

Of course she wasn't the only one watching; a group of girls, maybe even a little older than Ichigo, were watching him giddily and giggling amongst themselves.

In fact, when Rukia looked around, quite a few girls had their attention on him.

She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

Ichigo had actually noticed too. He always noticed it, but he chose to ignore the giggling hordes. That was one downside to the beach. He always seemed to have unrelenting (and unwanted) female attention. Sure, it was nice to have once in a while, but it got really old pretty fast.

He grabbed the slim blue bottle he had dug out of his pack, and started to coat himself in that sun block also.

The buzzing from the hordes of girls grew at this point.

Rukia ignored them and took up the bottle of sunscreen that Keigo had put beside her, mimicking what Ichigo was doing and hoping she was doing it right. After a couple moments of careful lathering, Ichigo tossed the bottle down and stretched.

“Alright, I'm gonna hit the water.” He glanced over at Rukia, who was fiddling with the cap to the lotion.

“You coming, Rukia?”

She looked around. Keigo was already in the water, flailing around with a vibrant yellow raft, and Mizuiro was already making a move on two girls that had been eyeing him from their beach towels.

“Helloooo?”

“I heard you!” She snapped.

So damn impatient...

“Well, then answer me next time.” Ichigo folded his arms. “So, are you coming or what?”

“Well...I don't know....” Rukia eyed the water warily. Ichigo didn't really wait for her to finish mumbling. He turned around and headed for the water.

“Well, I'll see ya when you make up your mind,” He called over his shoulder.

“Tch,” Rukia glared at his back as he walked away from the blanket.

The nerve of that guy...

She looked around the beach again, at the ever-shifting mass of bodies packed on the sand. It was actually sort of nauseating. How could Ichigo ever enjoy coming to a place like this? She knew he hated crowds.

The black haired shinigami tucked her knees under her chin and looked up at the sky. The sun was still beating down as hot as ever. The large umbrella was shading her from the light, but it didn't change that fact that even the air was scalding.

Ichigo was already waist deep in the ocean water, preparing to dive in.

She wondered if she really should go in. Maybe it would feel good. But somehow she felt scared. Rukia was afraid to leave her temporary fortress on the sand.

Keigo was still having the time of his life, and Mizuiro was completely out of sight now, having gone off with two bikini donning ladies.

She sighed again, still battling with herself about leaving for the water.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sun was getting lower. It wouldn't be too long now until evening. The beach had actually cleared up quite a bit. Only a few remaining towels and bodies specked the sand.

Rukia had barely moved in the last couple hours. She had been alone most of the time. Two boys had come and asked if she wanted to play volleyball, which she had politely declined. She had no clue what the heck volleyball was anyway. She drew small rabbits in the sand with his fingers, until the hot sand started to burn her again. She also fed a few noisy seagulls with the crusts of the sandwich Ichigo had prepared for her this morning.

Ichigo had only returned to the blanketed area twice during those hours; once to reapply his sun block, and another to eat his sandwich. The rest of the time he was swimming, making elaborate sand sculptures, or burying Keigo neck deep in sand.

Keigo had actually just left when his sister came, screeching about some laundry not being done, and proceeding to drag him home, floaty rafts and all. Mizuiro had shown up as well, just to declare he was taking the umbrella and disappearing again with two different girls this time.

Rukia wanted to know when they were going home. She had grown tired of the beach ages ago. She lay on her stomach with her eyes closed.

“You awake down there?”

“Hm?” Her eyes opened and she craned her neck to see Ichigo standing beside her, still rocking the blue swim trunk look.

“Of course I am.”

“Good, help me pick up this stuff...”

She rolled over on her back, relieved that they were going to be leaving.

Ichigo rolled up the blanket and slung his bag over his shoulder. Rukia then fell in step behind him. After only a matter of a few minutes, Rukia realized they weren't going the same way they had come.

He better not be lost.

She sped up to walk beside him.

“Hey, Christopher Columbus, where are you going?” Rukia was sort of proud with her reference to a human she read about in one of the history books she was assigned at school.

“I want to show you something...” Ichigo had a slight smile on his face, a rare moment, Rukia noted. However she was far too tired and slightly annoyed to admire it for too long.

“This better not take long...”

They walked until the beach turned into a sort of rocky cliff at the edge of a wooded area, which looked like it went around the side of a mountain. It looked slightly treacherous.

Ichigo climbed the rocks easily, obviously seeing some invisible path that she did not. She could tell he knew where he was going, but where the heck was it.

Suddenly, her foot slipped out from underneath her as she stepped on a seaweed covered stone. She let out a small cry as she back to fall backwards to what was a long drop to jagged rocks.

Ichigo strong hand wrapped around her arm, pulling her back hard. In fact, he had pulled her back with just enough force to actually lift her up to the rock he was stationed on.

“Y'okay?”

Rukia's heart was racing. She didn't feel okay; she had nearly been scared out of her wits.

“Y-yeah. I'm fine.” Ichigo released her arm and continued up the rocky path.

Was he out of his mind?! Where in god's name could he possibly be taking her that including a hike through a rocky cliff face?!

Several minutes passed. She continued climbing without incident for a while, until they reached a completely wooded area.

“Almost there...” Ichigo said it more like he was assuring himself of it, which slightly irked Rukia for some reason.

They started to weave through trees and a few more rocks.

“Exactly where is `there',” Rukia frowned, speaking flatly.

“You'll see...” the mischievous tone he had made her feel a bit uneasy.

“Well, I'd better be impressed, because if I'm not, you're-” She was cut off by Ichigo stopping abruptly and turning to look at her, a small smile still plastered on his face.

“Then, by all means, tell me what ya think...” He pulled some branches and shrubbery out of the way to let Rukia see clearly what he had been leading her too this entire time.

It was a beach again, but this time it was different.

It was a small beach, with nearly pure white sand and smooth white driftwood logs here and there. Little shells were also nestled in the sand, uncovered just enough so they could be spotted. The sun setting in a way so that the water was reflecting the brilliant oranges and pinks spilled across the sky. Not a soul was to be seen; the beach seemed completely untouched by human hands.

“So, Whaddya think?”

Rukia was nearly startled to hear Ichigo's voice behind her, though she did not take her gaze away from the spectacle.

“Ichigo...it's beautiful...”

His smile widened even more.

“I knew you'd think so...” He stepped out of the woods onto the sand.

“This used to be my mom's favorite place in the world. My grandmother found it when she was a kid, and passed the secret on to her. She passed it on to me and my sisters when we were little too.” He continued to make his way across the glittering terrain.

He unraveled the blanket and set it down once more.

“Shall we try a day at the beach one more time?” He cocked a smile at her.

She grinned, planting her hands on her hips.

“As long as I don't have to put on anymore of that damn sun block, I suppose I'll play along.”

“Alright, but you have to get in the water this time.” Ichigo grabbed her hand and started to pull her to the water like a small child.

“W-wait! Ichigo!” She started to resist.

“No excuses this time, Rukia!” He was grinning like an idiot.

Her feet hit the water, which felt like ice.

For the second time that day, Rukia jumped onto Ichigo to save herself from the elements. This time, she was latched onto his back like a koala.

“What? Afraid of a little water?” Ichigo started to pull her hands away from his middle.

“Don't you dare, Ichigo!”

He successfully peeled her off of his back and turned around, grabbing her around the middle this time, his grin widening even more if it were ever possible.

“Plug your nose!”

Rukia wasn't going to stand for it. She slammed her foot into his stomach, harder than she originally meant too.

Unfortunately, the results were basically the same. Ichigo staggered and lost his balance, but he didn't lose grip of the tiny shinigami. No, instead he pulled her body against his own as they both teetered and fell back into the cold water.

Rukia was the first one to surface.

“YOU MORON, ARE YOU TRYING TO DROWN ME?!” Her yells however, were in vain. She looked down to where she knew he had fallen, but didn't see him at all, only sand glittering back at her from under the water.

She looked around, across the surface of the water.

He wasn't in sight.

Suddenly, two hands wrapped around her ankles, making her blood run cold.

“WOAAA!” She felt herself being lifted out of the water, her legs supported by two strong shoulders.

She suddenly found herself dripping wet, feet above the water, sitting atop Ichigo's shoulders.

She didn't have to see his face to know that his big goofy grin was still there.

That was the most she had ever seen in smile in one day, come to think of it. However, his silliness was becoming somewhat of an annoyance.

Rukia gave a solid whack to the side of that orange head of his. “Don't EVER do that again!”

“C'mon Rukia, lighten up.” Ichigo sniggered from below her.

“Just put me down...lunatic.”

“Alriiight,” He said it too sing-song for it to ever mean anything good. She felt his muscles bunch up like he was getting ready to launch her off his shoulders.

“On land, ON LAND!” She latched her arms around his head and her legs squeezed dangerously close to his neck to make sure he wouldn't dare toss her without choking himself in the process.

He merely laughed again and muttered something she could have sworn sounded like “clingy...”

Tch...

He started to wade back through the water towards the shore, taking his sweet time in the process.

Rukia huffed loudly, and loosened her grip on his head as soon as she was certain he wasn't going to pull another prank.

Actually...

It was quite beautiful up there, as she noticed. It wasn't scalding hot anymore. It was just right with a warm, salty breeze tickling her soaked body. The sky was beginning to fade into a deep navy blue as the sunset slowly melted away. A few seagulls cried as they swooped low to the water, stretching their wings in preparation for their landing.

It was so picturesque...

Her hands were resting atop Ichigo's head, his damp, spiky hair surprisingly soft under her fingers. He was so warm under her legs. His hands were still wrapped around her ankles, to ensure she wouldn't fall back.

She began to feel a fluttering in her stomach.

She had felt this only a few times before. One time she could clearly remember was when he had saved her from execution, holding her with one arm wrapped around her waist, the other holding his sword.

She shivered at the sensation, closing her eyes, and bringing her body closer to the back of the young man's head in attempt to rid herself of the chills prickling her skin.

“Cold?” His voice has lost its childish ring and returned it's regular tone.

She opened her eyes. Despite it being warm, the breeze was starting to cool the water on her skin, which wasn't the reason she had shivered, but it was half the reason she was beginning to get goose bumps.

“A-a little” She was sort of embarrassed to admit it.

When they had reached the blanket, Ichigo kneeled down so that Rukia could slide off of his shoulders. She was a little reluctant to depart from her human perch.

He began to rummage around the bag again. She rubbed herself down with the towel she had been carrying, but only had a chance to use now.

Rukia held her arms, running her hands up and down them quickly to warm herself up. She raised an eyebrow when she saw a strange expression cross his face.

“What's wrong?”

He looked up at her, a look of embarrassment on his face.

“Uh, well, heh...I think your shirt and my sun screen got into a fight or something.” He rubbed the back of his head.

“You didn't shut the cap before you put it into your bag...” She stated it quite flatly.

“Well, uh...er...here!” He tossed his own shirt at her, which had escaped the explosion of greasy white mess.

She caught it and blinked, not sure whether she should be disapproving of wearing a man's t-shirt, or thankful.

“I'm not cold anyway, just wear it for now.” He reclosed the bag and looked up at her.

She just sort of inspected the shirt for about a minute.

“What're you looking for, fleas?” Ichigo cocked an eyebrow at her. Rukia shook her head with a disgusted look on her face and quickly pulled the shirt over her head.

It smells like him...

The thought quickly danced across her brain as the fabric passed her nose.

“Pft, so what if it does....” She mumbled quietly. Ichigo gave her a perplexed look, but then shook his head.

“So how about a walk?” he motioned to the shoreline.

She cringed. There was no way she was going to get close to the water again. Ichigo smirked and began to walk.

“Don't worry, I'm not gonna push you in, or anything,” He said, reading her mind.

Reluctantly, she began to stride next to him.

Every time a wave came up towards their feet, Rukia would dance away from it as if it was going to melt her feet if she touched it. Ichigo, however, seemed unfazed, and continued, his bare feet disrupting the sheet of clear water as it moved in and out.

After several minutes of dodging, most of the time in vain, and Ichigo laughing at her performance, she finally gave up and walked through the water the same way. It actually wasn't that bad, now that she was used to it.

There was one thing that she noticed though, which gave her a pang of...perhaps nostalgia. She couldn't really place the feeling. She had been watching the footsteps Ichigo made in the sand, the way the waves completely erased them with one stroke, leaving no trace that they had ever been made...

She wouldn't exactly call it sadness that she felt...just....a feeling....

This however opened her eyes more to the little things around her. Like the little critters in the water...baby crabs and what not. There were quite a few things she had been missing once she started to focus. Once in a while she would lean down to scoop up shells and sea glass, inspecting them, and marveling over the beauty of the small objects.

Ichigo even bent down once in a while to share in the treasure hunt.

He found a tiny pink shell, completely smooth and glistening. He handed it to Rukia to add to her growing collection, which she had stored in a makeshift pouch in the front of the shirt.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They spent the two hours gathering shells, kicking water onto each others lags, and making tiny sand forts with twigs and shells as decoration.

Night had fallen, but the moon cast plenty of light to see by.

Ichigo threw himself down onto the blanket, Rukia sitting beside him.

“Phew, I'm wiped...” he stretched his arms, which were still bare, along with the rest of his upper half. Rukia couldn't imagine he was telling the truth about not being cold.

“This was fun.” She admitted with a smile. He tucked his arms under his head and looked up at the star specked sky.

“Y'know, my family and I, we would spend hours here...even just spend the night on our beach blanket until morning. My mom was always the one who insisted we stay...she loved it so much here...” A warm smile played across Ichigo lips.

Rukia watched his expression, taking in the rare sight of his smile. She didn't know why he hid that smile so often...it was the best smile she'd ever seen...

I can understand why his mother loved his smiles so much...

Ichigo sat up.

“I should take you to more places like these, Rukia... you really don't get to see much of the real world while you're here.”

“Ichigo...”

He looked over at Rukia, surprised with the serious tone she was using.

“..Thank you.”

He blinked at her for a minute, then forced a goofy look onto his face.

“What's that look for?”

“Just thank you...for sharing this with me...” Her blue eyes swept up to catch his chocolate ones. He looked at her again for a moment and then his sincere smile came back.

“C'mere, ya got sand on your cheek.” He pulled her closer to wipe the dry sand away from her face.

Her cheeks flushed red as he brought his face close to hers, brushing the sand away with his thumb. She watched his soft brown eyes as they focused on his little objective.

“You don't have to thank me, Rukia. I like to take you places.” His eyes shifted to meet hers. “I saved you for a reason you know...I had to pass this on to someone.” His mouth curled up into a slanted smile.

She didn't even think, it just happened.

Rukia suddenly closed the gap between them, pressing her lips against his own. She placed her hands on each side of his face.

Ichigo was a little shocked at first, but then responded by wrapping his strong arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

She melted right there and held him for all she was worth. She wasn't even sure how, or why, but some wall that had been blocking her emotions for so long seemed to just break. Truth could be told to say it was the same for him.

They clung to each other like they would never see each other again, and during this one moment, it didn't seem to matter. Nothing mattered...

Then reality sunk back in, and both pulled apart slowly. They looked into each others eyes for a second, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Ichigo was the first to turn red. Rukia noticed and quickly turned the same shade.

“Ah...heh...if that's the way you thank everyone...” Ichigo started awkwardly.

Rukia turned an even deeper red. She didn't really know what to say...had she just made a huge mistake?

“Well, then I suppose I'll have to give an equal thank you.” Ichigo smiled.

“Wha?-” But before she could really respond, Ichigo pulled her into one more kiss. This time, it wasn't as stressed and confusing...just soft and warm. That was all she felt.

That was all she needed to feel...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ichigo had already fallen asleep, his breathing deep and even.

Rukia was curled up against him, her head leaning on his chest as it rose and fell in a soft steady rythym. His arm circled her waist, making a warm little nest for her next to his body.

She was just listening.

To the waves, the seagulls, the bell buoy, his breath, his heart...

When she thought about it, she couldn't really believe this was actually happening; the situation at hand. Did this mean they were going to be a couple now?

The thought of it seemed at little baffling at first, even crazy, but now, it seemed alright.

Ichigo mumbled something, pulling her closer, snuggling his head against her neck, settling into the warmth, and subconsciously deciding it was a comfortable place to continue to sleep.

She smiled at how ridiculous and cute he was right now.

Well, as long as I get to see more of this side of him...this couple thing might work out...