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Dear diary,
Yet again, in your pages, my beloved, I seek refuge from cruel fate. The world thinks of me as nothing but an annoying joker and jester, but you, YOU alone know the sensitive poet's soul that lies within me, Asano Keigo! Alas, why is it that I must hide my true self???
Ahem.
Anyway, what I am about to relate to you may be shocking and incredulous, but believe me, it's true.
ICHIGO HAS A GIRLFRIEND.
Climaxes of horror!!!! It burns, even to think of it! And I never would have known if it weren't for today's ruined trip to the beach. I NEVER would have known! Can you believe the treachery? I am his best friend, but even that scheming four-eyed Ishida seems to know more about Ichigo's life than me. It's a conspiracy! I feel so left out. And who is that girl, you ask? None other than the reincarnated elven princess descended from heaven, Kuchiki Rukia-chan. That bastard. He doesn't deserve to be awarded with a beauty like her, that coarse, foul-mouthed devil!
I suppose you want to know what happened today. Sure you do, you just want to laugh at me, like all those other mean people! Well, I hope you'll be happy with this entry.
We had all planned to go to the beach for a day, seeing as its autumn and the weather's lovely. By we, I mean that Kurosaki-san had planned the trip with the family, and kindly asked some of Ichigo's friends to be present. And that is how I, Mizuiro, Sado, Four-eyes, the beautiful goddess Inoue-san, her bodyguard Arisawa, Chizuru-san and (it hurts to write her name) Rukia-chan ended up at the beach along with Kurosaki-san, Ichigo and his sisters.
Kurosaki-san managed to surprise all of us, though. He took us to a small, sheltered cove with absolutely nothing but a tiny shack in it. It was lonely, quiet and so romantic! Don't get too excited Diary- something has to always go wrong when we make plans, right? It was pelting with rain. It never rains at this time! Our lovely beach plans (and the golden chance of seeing Inoue-san in a bikini!) ruined, we retreated to the shack with our picnic baskets and other stuff. There we sat, (but not dispiritedly, for Kurosaki-san and I are fine entertainers) hoping for the rain to end soon. Everyone formed little groups of their own- Four-eyes with a fat book, Mizuiro on the phone, Chad playing with a bedraggled puppy, Kurosaki-san with his daughters playing tag, the girls in their own world and I, the wretched street clown, entertaining an invisible audience.
Oh, and Ichigo frowned. As always. He scowled on the way, before lunch, during lunch, after lunch, god! What was the point of coming all the way there if he was just going to mope as usual? Anyway, we had a lovely lunch cooked by Yuzu-chan and a loud game of charades (Kurosaki-san's team won. Woe is me) after. Even Chad played, which is why we lost. We had planned to play cards too, but Inoue-san fell asleep, adorably I may add, in Arisawa's lap depriving us of a very active and enthusiastic player. A quiet then settled, and everyone went back to what they were doing before lunch (except Four-eyes, who never had let go of his book) Ichigo had gone out into the rain sometime before, I think, I hardly noticed until Rukia-chan left silently. I wanted to bask in her presence, so I followed her. It was not because I was scared of Arisawa shooting daggers at me for staring at Inoue-san or anything.
So… where was I? Oh yes, following Rukia-chan. Imagine my horror when she walked rapidly in the pouring rain towards the trees a short distance away, and all to reach that Ichigo who was leaning on an old, broken wicket fence! He must have been crazy, sitting in the rain (though protected by the trees) for so long. Lucky it was raining though, because I wasn't noticed at all! By this time, I admit I was overwhelmed with curiosity. No one willingly seeks Ichigo out, except a select few, like Mizuiro and me.
"What's with you?" Rukia-chan asked, in a voice quite unlike her. It was so much deeper and ruder! Hidden in the itchy bushes behind them, I could catch every word. "Nothing" Ichigo shrugged. Typical. "Why did you take off after lunch like that? Is something wrong?" she persisted. She should know that he never answers sometimes, even though you maybe screaming your lungs out at him. "No reason, really. I just wanted to come out here." he said, giving no explanation.
"Come back inside" She said, "It's raining so hard". That concerned angel of a woman! He grunted in reply, but made no effort to move. She waited for a while, then touched his shoulder gently and said "Ichigo". Can you believe that? Ichigo! Proper, polite, Rukia-chan addressing a guy by his first name! I was going to die of a heart attack when Ichigo suddenly spoke. "We came here a long time ago, with mom. It was my first time seeing the ocean. I remember how awed I was… it was so blue and so big."
"It is pretty amazing." She said, her voice lighter. I was then in a state of shock as I had never heard Ichigo speak so wistfully about his past, and that too, to a GIRL!!! However, that was not all, as their exchange further was so much more shocking! "Oh yeah, that's right… this is your first time seeing the ocean too, right?" he asked her, and then continued, "I wish it wasn't raining though. The day we came here, the sun was shining on the water, the seagulls where hopping about everywhere, we had a fun picnic with lots of games… it was a great day"
"I was so scared of the water," he said, after a pause "Yuzu and Karin weren't. Dad and those two had fun splashing, and I wouldn't go at all. The old man tried to tease me into it, but I was frightened to death and miserable. So mom told those three to go ahead while she held me, wiped my tears and told me that it didn't matter that I was scared now. And that next year, I would actually swim here while she cheered me on"
I knew that next year probably didn't happen as his mother died. Rukia-chan seemed to know it too, as all she did was sidestep a little closer to him. Seriously though, I never thought that Ichigo could blab for so long without pause. "There's a strange sort of peace here. It's like time has no meaning… like nothing ever changes" she said, her voice so low I barely caught it "It's almost surreal."
"Next time, maybe…" he mused, and turned to look at her. Finally, he seemed to realise that she had no umbrella and was dripping wet. "You're all wet," he said, taking off his jacket and beckoned her to come closer. What a gentleman. Pah.
"I'm not nursing you if you get sick" he finished, sounding more like the snarling Ichigo I know. "Bah. I don't fall sick" she sneered "and even if I did, Yuzu would be a much better nurse than you. You'll probably make my illness worse… and maybe I'll die!!!" She's so sweet, that Rukia-chan. Knows just how to cheer people up.
"Shut up, will you. Stop being such a drama queen" he retorted, drawing her small form to his chest and wrapping the jacket around her with a care that was not reflected in his words. He kept his arms around her though, that sly bastard. "Next time, let's get Ishida to make cake for us. He's supposed to be a really good cook." she said, her voice all muffled. I couldn't even see her, just Ichigo's back. "Yeah right." he snorted. "Your baking is pretty good too though… the brownies last week were ugly, but tasted all right" And that was it. Silence, for the next twenty-nine minutes, until I recovered enough to make a dash to the shack and compose myself. Don't you see Diary? They are not only obviously going out, but also, THEY LIVE TOGETHER!!!!
Excuse me while I scream into my pillow so that my sister doesn't hear me.
Phew. I'm so glad that's out of my system. I feel much better now. And you know what, I'm even happy. Ichigo's been through a lot, and I'm really happy that he's found someone so wonderful. I should keep this secret of his, until he's ready. Goodbye then, Diary. Sleep well.
Ah, who am I kidding? Time to broadcast this scene along with tons of embellishments of my own to everyone within a three hundred mile radius! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!