Being with You

XVII

This chapter is in Ichigo's perspective! Just because I thought we should hear his side of this story too ^^ Much much MUCH more fun Ichiruki action to come :3 what has Rukia spotted?? This chapter will be extra long! Yay~~
(^з^)-☆

"Let's go over there," Rukia said and took my wrist, dragging me towards that old man with the sign. I couldn't make out what the sign said or what the picture was but it seemed like any other advertisement.

"What is that?" I asked suspiciously.

The man smiled when he saw us and lifted the sign up higher: Water Sliding Contest! Atop the hot springs is a beautiful facility just for this annual event! Come by and join for special prizes!

"Are you two interested?" The man asked.

How could they even have room to put another facility up there... Was all I thought.

"Yes, we would like to join," Rukia blurted before I could even finish reading the poster.

"We would??"

"It sounds fun, and besides we get prizes," she teased and elbowed my side.

I gave a bored smile and held my side as it stung a bit. I studied the old man for a moment and saw him smile at me again.

"Please fill out the form," he said and gestured to the table behind him where a woman held the stack of sign-up forms.

"Hello! Please fill in: name, age, height, and time you have been dating~" the woman smiled and handed each of us a form. She was one of the workers here that dressed like a geisha, but her clothing and jewels weren't nearly as extravagant as Reina's.

"Are you sure you want to join the contest? And why do we have to put the amount of time we've dated..." I asked Rukia as I looked down at the form, whispering that last part.

Rukia nodded seriously and started filling the paper out.
I sighed and did the same.

Ever since this trip started, I've been getting closer and closer to Rukia than I ever have. It was actually nice to be able to spend time with her as a real couple, here at the hot springs. When I think about it, the days we spent together all seemed to be fresh in my mind. And I knew I would never forget them...

But this time...Rukia was planning something, not just for the sake of "strengthening our bond." This "water sliding contest" was suspicious and Rukia was the type to make a big deal of contests, especially since there would be some kind of prize for the winners.

"Thank you for signing up! The contest will be held tomorrow morning promptly at seven o'clock~" the woman smiled at us as we walked away.

"Why is it so early?" I asked in a sigh. Supposedly, "vacation" was something where you would get to sleep in...

"I don't know, but we'll definitely win, won't we?" Rukia looked up at me with a determined gleam in her eyes.
I forced a smile but that just got me a punch in the stomach.

"Well anyways," I started as we walked towards the hotel room, "We don't even have swim suits do we....and the hot springs only required towels..." I had just realized it as I spoke.

YES maybe we won't have to join the contest after all~

"Ichigo..." I turned and saw her glaring at me, "There's a convenience store right over there and I'm sure they sell swim suits,"

I stared at the store she was pointing at. It was a convenience store...everything we could ever need was in there. God damn it.

"Fine, lets just check," I sighed and followed her. She was already at the door when I finished saying that.

We had finally finished buying our swim suits and returned to the hotel room. Rukia bought more than we needed...but she HAD to get those Chappy key chains.

"Ah, these will be perfect to hang in our room," she said and plopped onto the futon, holding the pink rabbit up.

My ears perked up for a second...did she just say "our room"? I walked further into the room and saw her laying there with the stuffed rabbits.

"Our room," the words slipped from my lips. I saw her glance over at me from the bed, her cheeks were all red.

"Well, I mean..." She tried to say but I could tell she was embarrassed. In a way, it was cute since I've never seen her blush until we started dating.

"Heh, it's ok. We've been sharing that room since..." I couldn't even remember exactly how long ago it was when I met her. But I remembered everything that happened that night, "Jeez," I sighed and sat down next to her.

"Well...anyways, thanks for buying the bunnies," she gazed down at the stuffed rabbit she held in her lap. Probably hiding another blush. Now that I think about it, my face was heating up too...

I opened my eyes slowly, and saw nothing but shadows all over the room. Turning over to my side, I could see that the curtains were closed...and Rukia was beside me, still sleeping soundly. Shouldn't she have been awake before me? Since it was the day of the contest she so eagerly signed up for. I couldn't help but smile a bit at her peaceful breaths that caused her shoulder to move up, and down.

"Rukia?" I whispered, leaning over her a bit to see her face. Suddenly, she turned on her back and reached her arms out, grabbing anything that was there...which happened to be my neck.
Now I was about 5 centimeters away from her face and I could feel the heat escape my cheeks as her breaths glided across my nose. What the hell was I supposed to do then? If I moved, there could be a risk of waking her, but if I stayed there, I would've...

"Y-ourr so..so-ft" a faint murmur came from her lips, causing my cheeks to flush even more red, with her arms still wrapped around my neck. I tried desperately to keep myself propped up so I wouldn't fall on her, but she had a surprisingly strong grip.... Also, was she talking about me being soft? Or was it the rabbits...

"Rukia, wake up," I whispered hastily. Now her hair was in my face as she dragged me down even further...and closer to her.

Just then something screeched and I gave in, startled by the sound.

"Ichigo!" Rukia cried and released me as I fell onto her.

"Turn the alarm clock off first!!" I yelled over the continuous beeping that seemed to ring through my whole body. Then I realized she couldn't even move under me. I cringed in embarrassment and reached over her, slamming my hand on the clock. The silence before had returned like it never left. I found myself staring into her violet eyes as we lay there,
"Oh! Umm..sorry," I said quickly and started to sit up. But she stopped me.

"Ichigo..." She said, more tenderly.

I felt her arms around my neck again, this time much more gentle. It was like a force was making me lean in, closer and closer until I couldn't resist any longer. I brushed the hair on her face away with one hand and tilted my head a bit. Slowly, I leaned down and kissed her...
I was sure both of our eyes were closed and all I could think about was how soft her lips were, with the slight scent of cherry blossom.
I wasn't counting how long, but eventually, I broke away so we could both catch our breaths. She smiled lightly and touched my cheek with her small hand. I was reddening more and more excessively by the seconds until she let go.

"Wait! Today is the contest!" She said abruptly and turned to check the time. It was already 6:40 and I knew she wouldn't accept it if we were late.

"Yeah, yeah, lets goo," I smiled feeling slightly relived and got up, holding my hand out to help her. She took it and we went about to prepare for this "contest."

"Ichigo," I heard her say behind me.

"Yeah?"

"I love you," she said it so casually...