Title: At the Beach

Warnings: Fluff; Shonen-ai

Pairing: IchiIshi

Rating: K+

Declaimer: If I owned Bleach… Orihime would be gone, Rukia would be with Renji and IchiIshi would be the main couple…

This is NOT good, not good at all.

It was a nice sunny day out, perfect for relaxing, for having a vacation…

Damn that substitute Shinigami, I specifically told him that I didn't want to go.

ALONE…

I told him countless times, he asked the whole week and I kept saying no, and yet am still right here. He somehow dragged me to go with him—no with THEM. Meaning with the whole Kurosaki family, did I mention Sado-kun, Inoue-san, and Kuchiki-san are also coming?

How long until we get there? We've been riding Kurosaki-san's van for hours. Haven't I told you? Ichi—KUROSAKI, had a brilliant idea to go to the beach resort, like a summer home. Yes, THE BEACH, of all places. I would rather stay at home and finish my sewing project for my club but NO, Kurosaki somehow found my apartment and knocked my door down, not to mention dragged me; literally; out the comfort of my own home with a bag of my stuff into his van and drove off. Can you believe him? And I, I don't even… as embarrassing as it sounds... I don't… know how to… swim… Yes, you heard me right. I don't know how to swim, I wasn't able to go anywhere near any body of water when I was a child. Sure, sensei taught me by the river but that's as far as I have been. I never thought of swimming before because I am either at school or with my sensei to train.

Oh, cruel fate, no, cruel Kurosaki… why the beach…? He doesn't know that I don't know how to swim doesn't he? AH! We are finally here… wait, NO! WE ARE HERE ALREADY? NO! This is bad, no one knows that I cant swim. Erk, I-I'll just stay by the shore.

"YOSH! We are finally here!" boomed Kurosaki-san. "It took us quite a while to get here!"

"IT'S BECAUSE WE KEEP STOPPING FOR YOUR BATHROOM BREAKS!" barked Kurosaki, Ichigo this time.

"But I wasn't the only one with the bathroom breaks, Karin also needs to-"

"SHUT UP!" Kurosaki Karin-chan smacked him upside the head. "YOU DON'T NEED TO SAY IT AS IF AM NOT HERE!" ah, I see where she got that attitude from.

"Waaaaaah! My children are so mean to me! And I keep working hard just for them as well!"

"MOU! Karin-chan! Ichi-nii! Please stop it! We're here to enjoy!" scolded Kurosaki Yuzu-chan. "Tou-san! You also need to stop teasing them! You know theres nothing to be gained if you keep doing that."

"UWAH! Amazing! This place is so beautiful!" both Inoue-san and Kuchiki-san cooed. And as usual Sado-kun is quiet, helping Kurosaki-san bring the luggage out and into the summer house, eh? Then, what am I supposed to do? Maybe I should tell Kurosaki that I cant—ah! NO! He'll laugh at me! Eh? Where is he anyway?

"OI! Ishida!" owh, there he is. "Don't you want to change or something?"

"A-AH! Am coming!" This is bad… I reluctantly went into the summer house to get ready.

We're back by the seashore; this is bad, very bad. And again I am the only one not doing anything.

"Anou, Ishida-san?" Kurosaki Yuzu-chan confronted me, the youngest of the Kurosaki siblings.

"What is it Kurosaki-chan?" It's weird to say Kurosaki and then –chan.

"Could you please help me sent up the umbrella?"

Yes! Something that could keep me from going near the water! "Of course! I can do it myself Kurosaki-chan, you can go help set up the picnic."

"Ah! Really? I hope it's not much of a trouble, Ishida-san…!"

"No not at all." I grinned at her; you'll be saving me from a horrible fate.

"Alright then, I'll ask Ichi-nii to help you." And then she was off. Wait no, Kurosaki?

"Ah, Kurosaki-chan? I can do it myself really."

"Hmm, ok if you say so." She smiled at me and went on her way.

I finished setting up and took a seat under one of the umbrellas; there is no way I will go near that water. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, playing the ocean. Ah! That's right I brought my book with me. I might as well read something if I'm not going swimming.

I was half trough a chapter when Inoue-san came to talk to me.

"Ne, Ishida-kun?" She sat down beside me.

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Oh no, nothing is wrong, ahaha! Why don't you come join us in the water? Isnt that why we're here?"

Oh sh- "Erk, uhm, uhh… I don't think I should. And uh, ahahah! Maybe later." I smiled nervously, hoping that she wouldn't notice.

"Hmmmm, ok Ishida-kun. But you better hurry! The water isnt going to you!" I laughed weakly at her attempted joke, back to reading.

"OI! I-SHI-DA!" So much for reading. Kurosaki was running towards my spot, waving like an idiot. "Why wont you join us? Isnt that why we're here?" Everyone keeps saying that, I adjusted my glasses and a glint of sunlight was reflected onto them.

"I know that's the reason we're here, Kurosaki bu-"

"Ah!" he snapped his fingers, "I know! You're afraid you'll get tanned!" he grinned. Why the nerve of- he removed my glasses and grabbed my arm. "Don't worry Ishida! It's not that bad, you'll get your color back!"

"Wait! Ah-! Kurosaki! No that's not what I-!" No, this is bad! I can't… I can't swim! Kurosaki kept pulling my arm, dragging me towards the body of water. I can feel my heartbeat racing, pounding through my ears.

"Don't be such a baby! It's just a little water!"

"But, I still have my shirt on!"

"Doesn't matter! At least you won't get much of a tan!"

"Idiot! Even if I did get tanned it'll be the ugliest tan I would ever get!"

"Jeez." He stopped and turned to me, "We'll just have to fix it." Eh? It's like he shunpo-ed behind me, grabbed my shirt and pulled it off over my head then threw it back under the umbrella I was previously sitting under.

"K-KUROSAKI!"

"That fixes that problem!" he grinned, I may be seeing things but is that a blush? I was fuming at him, how dare he do that!

"Just because you took my shirt off and my glasses doesn't mean I am willing to go swimming." I crossed my arms, squinting, god am blind. He scowled at me and grabbed my arm again; pulling me towards the sea.

"Kurosaki!" He started picking up speed. Wait! My foot started to touch the water; I went farther until the water was up to my waist. Kurosaki finally let go of my arm, he looked at me and said.

"See? This isn't so bad." He smiled but I was too scared to say anything, he might have thought I was mad at him because his smile disappeared.

"Kurosaki-kun! Ishida-kun! Over here! Let's play beach volleyball!" Said Inoue-san as she was holding a beach ball in her other hand. Kurosaki agreed to her and the groups were divided into two.

"W-Wait a minute, we're still in the water." I choked out, willing to calm my heartbeat.

"That's half the fun!" cheered Kuchiki-san. H-half the fun!

I stayed as close as possible to the shore to keep the water from going higher than my waist. The game started with Kuchiki-san, Kurosaki Karin caught the ball and sent it flying back to the other side. Inoue-san hit it and sent it flying to me, I did the best I can and hit it back. That wasn't so bad. I thought to myself. I decided to stay in the water a little longer, as long as it I don't go further than where am already am.

A few turns later and I didn't even notice that I was already far from where I was before, Sado-kun passed the ball and I dived to hit it back. Horrible idea. I plunged into the water as I hear laughter at the surface; no this is not a laughing matter! I really have gone farther than I supposed to be, I feel my feet drift from the ocean floor as the current carried me. I tried to scream for help but the water caught up to my face, I waved my arms frantically. Help! Please! My lungs burned for air as I sunk farther and farther away from the surface. I cant-! My lungs gave out and my body went limp, I watched as the last bubble of oxygen from my mouth went up the surface. What a crappy way to die. I stayed there underwater and as my vision started to darken I see a figure, swimming towards me. It was hard to tell who it was, my eyes fluttered close.

I lay in the darkness, wondering where I was. Oh yeah, I drowned. I thought to myself.

-da-kun!

-shida!

I hear voices calling me.

Ishida!

I could feel a presence, it was beside me. Something was on my chest, it felt warm.

"Ishida! Oi! Get a hold of yourself!" I let my eyes flutter open, it was a blur but I can see faces looking down on me. A mandarin colored head was the closest, Kurosaki. His hand was on my chest, I coughed up water and he removed his hand. So, his hand was the warm thing on my chest. I slowly sit up feeling a little light headed.

"Ishida-kun, are you ok?" asked Inoue-san. Then Kuchiki-san followed up the question, so did Karin-chan. I wasn't exactly fine, but I wasn't really hurt either. I ran a hand through my hair. What should I tell them?

"Why didn't you tell us you couldn't swim?" I looked at Kuchiki-san. Such a straight-forward question. I could feel the blood rush to my face; everyone was looking at me all silent, waiting for my answer. I was about to answer when a booming voice was heard.

"OI! What happened here! Is anyone hurt!" it was Kurosaki-san.

"BAKA OYAJI!" Karin-chan kicked him on the face. I'm amazed she could do such a thing. "You are SO late! Where were you when we were having a crisis here? I was calling for you! We really could have used your help, you know!"

Kurosaki-san held his bleeding nose. "I was with Yuzu, she said she needed something in the kitch-" he didn't even finish his excuse when another kick came, this time at the stomach. "Needed something in the kitchen, my butt! Yuzu would never ask you for something in the kitchen!"

"Anou, Karin-chan? Is he still alive?" asked Inoue-san, everyone just seemed to stare at the scene in front of us.

"Him? He'll be fine."

"Otou-san! Everyone!" Yuzu-chan was calling from the balcony of the summer house. "Come inside for a break!" she waved.

"Yeah! We'll be right there!"

"Ishida, will you be fine?"

I looked at the concerned face of Kuchiki-san and nodded, "yeah, I'm fine."

"That's great! Then let's go inside! You can rest fully in the summer house!" chirped Inoue-san. Everyone started to get up and walk towards the summer house. I stood up myself and walked towards the umbrellas to get my shirt and glasses, and then I made my way to the house.

I was about to open the door when someone pulled me to theside, it was Kurosaki. He had his head down, making it hard to make-out what expression he was wearing. I was thinking that it was because I burdened him again, I began to talk.

"Kurosaki, I apologize that you had to save me. It was inevitable, you-" he slammed his arm on the wall, startling me. I stared at him wide-eyed but his sudden action. It was odd that no one came out to check for us, I could have sworn that the wall shook. The sun was beginning to set. We stood there a little longer and I couldn't bare it, I was about to say something but then he asked.

"Why?" he lift his head and I stared into his eyes, they where shining, with anger? No, concern… and fear? But why? "Why didn't you tell me, that you couldn't swim?" I gulped as I looked to the side.

"It was none of your concern." I answered weakly.

"How was it not my concern! This wouldn't have happened if you just told me!" he raised his voice and his fists clenched.

"This wouldn't have happened if you had left me alone when I said I didn't want to come!" I snapped at him. He was taken aback and avoided my gaze. I was really beginning to get pissed at him. He began to shake a little, for moment I thought he was going to punch me but instead he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, resting his head on my shoulder.

"Kurosa-"

"Sorry."

Eh?

"I'm sorry I didn't listen," he hugged me tighter; as if he was thinking that I was going to slip away. "I was afraid, so afraid that you'll…" I held onto his shirt, we both were still wet. But neither one cared. "Kurosaki…" he started to loosen up and I could feel is heartbeat fast but not too much. "I couldn't imagine what it was like for you…"

I pushed him away slightly so I could see his face, to my surprise his cheeks where tinted with pink. I could snicker at how cute he looked when he was acting that way, but now was not the time. I could feel my own cheeks burning at the thought of calling him cute.

"I apologize for not saying so."

He smiled lightly, as if saying that just forget about everything. I couldn't help it, I smiled a little, but I don't think it was very visible.

"Do you know why I wanted you to come?" he asked a sudden question, I shook my head telling him that I have not got a clue as to why. He held me closer until our noses where touching. It was beginning to become dark out and as the sun sets in the horizon he kissed me. It was sweet, and shy. Our eyes fluttered close. I could tell that it was his first time to kiss; not that I have kissed anyone before him either. It wasn't sloppy, or hot, it wasn't even passionate. It was just a light, chaste touching of lips. It felt…nice…

Exactly as the sun has completely set, we both pulled away. Our eyes connecting as if sharing a secret message. His eyes were telling me the reason why he wanted me to come so badly to this vacation.

Because I like you…

And who was I fooling if I didn't say "I like you." back?

A/N: for those who have no idea why am posting this right now… is that yes I like Bleach… and Naruto… and Hetalia… but I still like xxxHOLiC it's just that sometimes I don't want to work on that fanfic., xD sorry… but I will continue "Feline" I promise… just having an author's block and I have so many catching up to do… ^-^;; there are other fanfics of a different fandom that I haven't posted here at all…! Am gonna start posting them.. so please don't be surprised if you guys see an update from me that's not for xxxHOLiC… :)

REVIEWS ARE WHOLEHEARTEDLY APPRECIATED! :D