Hello there! This will be my first IchiRuki multichaptered fic; I'm so excited! I imagine it will be about 20-25 chapters long and over half is already written so you don't have to worry about Summer Girl being discontinued before it's finished. Updates will be posted on a weekly basis (probably every Friday/Saturday.)

I hope you enjoy this first chapter and please review!

Summer girls come and summer girls go
Some are worthwhile and some are so-so
Summertime girls got it going on
Shake and wiggle to a hip hop song

Summertime girls are the kind I like

Summer Girls - LFO

Chapter 1: Disappointment and Hope

-Ichigo-

It was a Monday morning, before the first class of the day, when Keigo broke the news.

"So… The trip is canceled?" Orihime's delicate eyebrows furrowed in a heartbroken expression. Tatsuki rolled her eyes and hit the brunette boy over the head.

"You idiot! Everyone was looking forward to this! How could you go and ruin-" Keigo's wails overpowered her insults.

"But guuuys! It wasn't even my fault! The test was rigged!"

Uryuu sighed and adjusted his glasses in irritation.

"The end-of-year exams were not "rigged," Keigo. Perhaps if you had accepted my offer to tutor you, this would not have happened." Keigo's eyes filled with tears as he met his friend's icy stare.

Orihime pulled the sobbing boy into a hug and assured him that things would be okay and that no one really blamed him.

Frustrated, Ichigo finally interrupted.

"Look, Keigo screwed up and we can't go to the beach anymore and it sucks. But there's nothing we can do about it. Unless someone else has a rich relative with a beach house they can call on, we'll just have to stay here."

Chad nodded silently in agreement, disappointment in his eyes, and Tatsuki exhaled loudly in annoyance.

"Fine."

Orihime chimed in, smiling brightly. "We can have just as much fun here! We can go to the park or have a cook-out or go to the pool!" She counted her list off on her fingers, struggling to think of a fourth activity.

"Those are good ideas, Orihime." Tatsuki smiled earnestly at her friend's suggestions before glaring again at Keigo. "Besides, it's not like this was our annual summer trip that we go on every single year." Tatsuki emphasized her irritation again, running a hand through her short hair.

Keigo continued his sniffling, reaching towards Orihime for another embrace. The redhead artfully avoided the duty of consoling the boy by taking her seat in front of Uryuu and pointing out that their teacher had arrived.

The sobbing boy's cries quieted until Ichigo could only make out short phrases like "can't believe I'm grounded forever" and "so not fair! What about the hotties" and "everyone hates me now."

Ichigo smirked slightly. What makes him think we didn't hate him before?

-Rukia-

That obnoxious cry-baby really was getting annoying. She considered turning to glare at him but decided he would be too wrapped up in himself to notice.

So what if he couldn't go on his stupid summer vacation? He shouldn't have flunked the final exams. Some people really had no discipline…

Then, the grumpy carrot-head said something that caught her attention.

"Look, Keigo screwed up and we can't go to the beach anymore and it sucks. But there's nothing we can do about it. Unless someone else has a rich relative with a beach house they can call on, we'll just have to stay here."

She knew the beach they were talking about. Emerald Beach was about a 5-6 hour drive from Karakura and well-known for having a number of more secluded swimming and residential areas and, a special favorite of Rukia's, the Churaumi Aquarium.

While the teacher read through a list of books and other school items that students needed to return before graduating, Rukia toyed with the thought of asking her brother to vacation at their old cabin on the beach instead of France like they had planned.

If you can call meeting all of Byakuya's boring business friends a vacation…

Rukia sighed. After graduating second in her class, but not first, as her brother often reminded her, she was expected to attend Tokyo University in the fall and begin taking on responsibilities at Kuchiki Inc. By the time she finished school, she'd be next-in-line to head one of the biggest business corporations in the world.

She'd be important, powerful, and independent, just as she had always wanted.

Still… it might be nice to take a short break and try to be normal… Rukia chewed on the eraser of her pencil as she looked over her sketch. Chappy was wearing the newest designer swimsuit and looked eager to join her other bunny friends in the water.

Sighing in resignation, Rukia made up her mind to talk to this Ichigo.

After all, these people would be her clients in the future. She'd have to learn how to deal with them at some point, maybe even make friends.

Assuring herself that this was her true motivation, she scribbled a note on a clean page of her sketchbook. Glancing behind herself quickly to take aim, she waited a moment for her teacher to look away and then tossed the note so that it hit her target square on top of his head, apparently waking him from an intense nap.

Rukia turned back around quickly to hide her snicker and began preparing an explanation for when she told her brother of her decision.

-Ichigo-

What the hell?

Ichigo looked around menacingly, trying to find the brave soul that had dared wake him. His foot stepped on something, making a crunching noise, and he reached down to retrieve the piece of paper.

This had better be damn important. He opened the note up and smoothed it out on his desk.

I think I can help with your "problem." Meet me on the roof during lunch.

-R

Ichigo frowned at the note. What problem?

He scanned the room, trying to find someone whose name began with the letter "R."

Ryo? Ichigo knew she was a distant friend of Tatsuki and Orihime.

Maybe she wanted a date? Ichigo cringed slightly. He knew her life in high school had basically revolved around studying and competing on the track team but she wasn't exactly unattractive.

Ichigo figured, since school would be over next week, she was finally deciding to have a social life. She sat in front of Orihime, first row, in the middle of the room. He studied her for a minute and decided he wasn't interested. He'd be sure to let her down gently though, otherwise Tatsuki would probably beat him into the ground, claiming that he was an insensitive jerk, as she did quite often.

Satisfied that he had found the answer, he crossed his arms over his desk and rested his head on his forearms.

45 minutes 'til lunch? Just enough time to finish that nap…

Future chapters will generally be a bit longer but, as this was just an introduction, I didn't want to overwhelm anyone ;) What do you think of the cast so far? Any specific character you want me to introduce later in the story?

Let me know in a review!