*That Summer*
Eh, my chapter endings get worse and worse you guys. Sorry about all that. Anyway, here is a kinda… redemption chapter… Redemption for the ending of the last chapter that is. Not for what I did in the last one… Yeah… I'll stop talking so you guys can read now…
If we can express our sadness in words, someone can come and try to comfort us. But there is sadness that we cannot express that we must overcome on our own.
~Suiseiseki, the 3rd Rozen Maiden Doll (Rozen Maiden)
*S*
Chapter 4:
Momo let out a huge breath of relief as she and Aizen walked down the sidewalk in the direction of the hotel. She'd hated the club that Rangiku had chosen, and was extremely glad that Aizen had suggested they leave. As they walked, Momo snuck looks out of the corner of her eye at the man she had just met. Rangiku was friends with his cousin, and they had set them up to meet that night. His hair was dark brown and wavy. He wore dark green glasses over his wide brown eyes. Brown eyes that were currently pointed at her. She felt a blush creep up on her cheeks and she looked away.
"Eh, sorry," she laughed nervously.
"It's quite alright," Aizen said. "Not every day I have a pretty girl staring at me." Momo felt her face grow even more heated.
"Ah, you think I'm pretty?" She asked.
"Very, though your brother doesn't seem to like me much," he said. It was true, with the lie that Rangiku told, Toshiro was now Momo's brother. And Toshiro didn't like Aizen one bit.
"My brother doesn't like anyone very much," Momo said slowly. How would she get through this lie?
"Well, shall we just ignore everything he says then?" Aizen asked laughing. She nodded quickly, smiling. Up ahead she saw their hotel.
"This is where I'm staying," she said nodding at it.
"Ah, of course," he said pulling his hands from his pockets. "It was a pleasure to meet you Momo. Would it be to forward of me to ask for your phone number?" He smiled at her. Momo felt her heart jump and she nodded quickly.
"Of course," She said. "Oh I mean. No, um. Here," Momo felt her face heat up as she took his phone from him gently and put her number in it. "Sorry, I'm a ditz."
"I don't mind it at all. I think it's cute," Aizen slipped his phone back in his pocket and smiled again. "Good night Momo, I'll see you later then?"
"Yeah!" She said watching as he turned and started walking back the way they came. He lifted a hand to wave and she waved slowly back. She turned and walked to her room with a wide smile. She opened the door to see Ichigo laying face down on the bed; she assumed Renji was still out with Rukia doing who knows what. She moved quietly around the room getting ready for bed. When she exited the bathroom in her pajamas, she found Ichigo sitting up and looking at her.
"Hey Momo," he said with a yawn. "I see you left as well."
"Yeah," she said. "Not really my scene ya know." She plopped down on her bed and pulled a pillow into her lap.
"Well Renji is staying with Rukia tonight in her room, so I expect some room rearrangements," Ichigo said.
"Oh yay," Momo said sarcastically. She flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling. Aizen had been nice. He definitely wasn't what she'd expected. But… Did she really want to have a relationship with someone right now? Even a short summer fling? She glanced over to the side to see Ichigo laying face down again. She sighed slightly and got in bed, curling up in a ball, deciding to get some sleep while she could.
*S*
The next morning she was woken up when someone slammed the door to their room. She woke up to see Orihime lying next to her. She blinked and assumed it was Ichigo who had slammed the door. Soon she heard yelling from a few doors down. Orihime bolted up and the two girls looked at each other before running from the room, not caring about pajamas or hair. The door to room 101 was open and Ichigo was standing in the doorway looking furious.
"How dare you! That's my sister," he was yelling when Momo and Orihime neared the small group that had clustered around the door. Momo stood on her tiptoes and peeked over Ichigo's shoulder. She saw Toshiro standing in front of the orange haired boy wearing only boxers. Behind him Karin was red faced and wrapped in a blanket. Momo felt her face grow hot and she dropped down.
"Your sister can make her own decisions," Karin yelled back at Ichigo, her face was just about as red as Renji's hair, probably a mix of anger and embarrassment.
"Not while I'm here," Ichigo growled. "Get dressed and grab your things."
"I'm not leaving!" Karin yelled. Rangiku slipped up and grabbed Momo and Orihime before dragging them away. Momo looked over her shoulder to see Rukia dragging Toshiro behind her and Renji was shutting the door to the room, muffled yelling could still be heard behind them.
"Best to let the Kurosaki siblings work it out themselves!" Rangiku sang. Gin joined them and laughed.
"Yare, yare," he chuckled. "An eventful morning ne?" He elbowed Momo gently and grinned. "Did you have fun last night?"
"Ah… Not really," Momo muttered, her brain still trying to wrap around what she had witnessed. She looked down and realized she was still in her pajamas. "Oh no!" She cried, her face growing red. No wonder people were staring at them. "We forgot to change!" She said to Orihime who looked down and giggled. The two of them ran back towards the rooms and dashed inside theirs to change. Momo grabbed her clothes and sighed.
"Do you need to shower Momo-chan?" Orihime asked. "I can go use Rukia's shower." Momo nodded and hurried into the bathroom to shower and change. When she turned the water off she heard Ichigo and Karin's voices in the room. Momo quickly pulled on her navy and white striped sundress and peeked out of the bathroom. Karin was sulking on one of the beds and Ichigo stilled looked mad. He turned around when he heard the bathroom door open.
"Hey Momo, sorry I woke you up," Ichigo said smiling apologetically.
"Its alright, I needed to get up anyway," she said smiling at him, she glanced at Karin and Ichigo sighed slightly.
"Karin will be staying in our room with us for the rest of the trip," he said.
"Welcome to the room," Momo said pulling on her white sandals. She straightened up and looked at the two siblings. "Rangiku and the others were waiting in the lobby; I think we're going shopping again." She shuddered and Ichigo laughed.
"I'm gonna pass on that," he said shaking his head.
"Chicken," Momo said as she left the room. She walked down the hall before she realized, she didn't feel like going and hanging out with Rangiku and the others. They would all be happy, and the boys would be teasing Toshiro about getting caught in doing whatever he and Karin had been doing. Momo opened up the door to the staircase and stepped inside. She waited for a while before finally coming out. She checked her room and found it empty much to her relief.
She sighed and sat down in the middle of her bed before taking her shoes off. She flopped out on her back and stared at the ceiling. Her chest ached and she knew, at some point during this vacation she had to make the decision on whether to keep trying to gain Toshiro's attention or give up completely. She stared at the ceiling until she heard the door open. She shot up and stared guilty, expecting it to be Rangiku or Rukia looking for her.
"Now who's the chicken," Ichigo said as he entered the room. He shut the door behind him and flopped out on the other bed. "Some vacation huh?" He asked her. Momo fell back and nodded. "I don't like the fact that Toshiro and my sister are together." He growled lowly. "He just uses girls and then throws them away." He sat up and moved over to where he was sitting on the edge of Momo's bed. "Momo please tell me you know that he just uses girls," he asked. Momo looked up at him and sighed.
"I know…" She said softly. She sat up and scooted over and patted the spot next to her. Ichigo complied and moved closer. "I know exactly how he is, but… I can't stop my heart from wanting him." She looked at her hands and wrung them together. "I've like him since we were little kids, we grew up together, and he used to be so sweet." She felt a drop of water hit her hand and she realized she was crying. "It's like… It's like I don't even know the Shiro-chan who hangs out with us now." She sniffed.
Ichigo slid closer to Momo and wrapped his arms around her. She stiffened for a moment before relaxing into the hug and let him comfort her. Ichigo let one of his hands trail up and down her back and then he started tracing patterns idly with his fingers. Eventually he pulled back and tilted her face up. He shook his head and wiped the tears from her face.
"This is what he does to girls," Ichigo said softly. "He breaks their hearts without meaning to or with all intentions of it." He stroked her cheek with his thumb and took a deep breath; he opened his mouth to say something then thought better of it. He let his hand drop and he sighed. "Momo, don't let him do this to you, show him what he's missing." He started to scoot off the bed and then turned back to the brown haired girl beside him. Before Momo could react, he kissed her.
Momo felt her eyes close and kissed him back for a moment until she realized what she was doing. She jerked back and looked at the hurt in Ichigo's eyes.
"I-i…" Momo stammered before leaping up and running out the door. "I'm sorry." She called. Ichigo groaned and fell back into the pillows. He just blew any chances he had and he knew it.
*S*
*Shimmerz Review Corner:
JustFabulous: Why yes, it does spell trouble, but not until later ;)
Ephemeralism: Nah, my best friend likes HitsuKarin and I like Karin as her own character, so I shall keep bashing to a minimum.
Saxophone: Isn't it though! Hahaha, thanks for sticking with me!
NaoyukiAkanbune: Thank you! Hope you enjoy as this goes on!
Jay: Updated finally, hope you keep on reading.
Proud Vegetable: I too am a die hard Hitsuhina fan, though I don't mind Momo being paired with Kira either. And the more I think on it, the more I like the IchiHina pairing I've created. But only in the context of this story I believe. In stories that aren't AU I don't think it would work as well. I'm glad you like the story so far and I hope you continue to read!
Gamma2015: And now it's been even longer. I do plan on finishing this story. Things just got in the way, and writers block killed me, but I think I've blasted it back for now. But after this update, I'm not updating until after the New Year, so that I have time to work on this and my other story. Please be patient.
I would also like to thank everyone who stuck with this as I went through a crap phase and for giving their opinion on pairing and chapter length. It's your opinions that keep me rolling here guys.
*S*
Whoo… So. I finally updated. I know, it's been forever, I'm sorry loves. But hopefully now that I'm somewhat back on track this will just fall into place and keep going. However, until I finish up my other story, this one will be on an official hiatus. Anyway, as always, any questions, concerns, or comments just leave a review or pop me a PM.
*Shimmerz*