Worth the Wait

Disclaimers: I do now own Bleach, Bleach rightfully belongs to its creator and network.

This is an AU story. There are some original characters that I created for the story.

The fight with Aizen didn't happen in the winter it actually takes him years…

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Chapter One – The Chance Meeting

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Ichigo Kurosaki sighed, a man in his mid-twenties looked over at his paperwork piling on his desk. He sighed, he felt like it was a mountain of paper that would only grow taller. Sure it had gotten higher but he leaned back in his office chair as he thought over his life, he had become a substitute soul reaper after his family had gotten attacked when he was still in high school. Then he went to rescue the same soul reaper that had granted him his powers. That same soul reaper he went to go rescue from a false execution that is after he regained his powers with the help of this close inner circle. He then became a Visored to help control the hollow within him and still trained with them on occasion. However his battles were far from finished they had been waiting on years for a certain villain to show his ugly face but there had been nothing for years.

Ichigo groaned, life couldn't be complicated but he was able to move on with life. They were still on edge waiting for this battle to happen but thought how Rukia Kuchiki had changed his destiny to what it he is now. He didn't know if he should be grateful or resentful…at least that's what he thought as a teen but he was grateful…he really was. He was able to protect his friends and because of Rukia he found new friends that were human with spiritual abilities and those that were not human so to say…like soul reapers and visoreds.

There was Uryu Ishida, a fellow doctor at Karakura General Hospital, he was a Quincy and they had formed an unlikely alliance since Quincy were known to despise soul reapers. It all worked out in the end but even in their mid-twenties they still bantered like high school boys. Yasutora "Chad" Sado, he was a fullbringer that packed a punch and introduced him to a group known as Xcution. He had become a well-known business man that helped out children that needed to overcome their differences and created shelters for those that still needed protecting. The shelters for children t warmed everyone's heart and got him a lot of publicity, granted Chad did have a soft spot for children and all things cute. Then there was Keigo Asano…he didn't have spiritual powers per say but he was a well-known accountant…he could see the spiritual beings but he didn't have powers to fight them back. Mizuiro Kojima was in the same boat as Keigo but he was a journalist working on interviewing all of the people that were famous. He was still into dating older women, that part hadn't changed in years. Tatsuki Arisawa, well known female fighter of all of japan and owner of the best karate dojo in all of Japan in their hometown.

Tonight would be the first time they all had been together since high school. Since all of their journeys began they finally got some of their friends from Soul Society to visit after such a long time apart. He was grateful to have a break from both of his jobs. Hollow hunting had settled down thanks to their rotating schedule between the Soul Reaper stationed, himself, Uryu, and Chad… it had become easier. They all had gone to the same college but what was interesting is that Ichigo was being left behind at least according to his father when it came to relationships.

All of his friends were dating or married by now, Ichigo didn't see the interest in it for his excuse was that he was far too busy and had no time for such things. Uryu was dating Tatsuki which still baffled him and Chad had a special lady. She was a tall woman and it scared him at first that a woman could be that tall and beautiful. She was a complete match for him and she had a similar background as far as heritage as Chad. Estella Sado was a lovely lady, she was an amazon for crying out loud. His own little sister Karin was dating Toshiro Hitsugaya, a captain from Soul Society, and it irked him that his sister would be interested in that silver haired punk of a captain…at least he grew in height and no longer looked like an elementary school kid. He sighed Yuzu was dating a boy, but then again she was always dating someone, and he scowled. His sisters were dating some characters and it bugged him. He took in some deep breaths and looked out the window.

He sighed deeply as his father taunted him when he went home to dinner just the other night. He was so glad that he had his own place to eat now or he would've been miserable living there with his father's taunting. He sat back in his chair as his cell phone went off, "Hello?"

"Hey, Ichigo…"

"What do you want, Renji…"

"Is it ok, if Rukia and I crash at your place?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes, Great more couples… "That's fine; you know where the spare key is hidden?"

"Yeah, I do stupid…we're already here!"

"Then why did you ask me if you could stay there if you were already bargaining into my house dumbass!" Ichigo hung up the phone. He was not happy to say the least. He didn't like the fact that his home was being invaded. "I don't know why that idiot even asked…stupid pineapple head."

"Something bothering you, Kurosaki," Uryu was in his office with his usual smirk on his lips.

"What do you want Ishida?"

Ishida shook his head, "Tatsuki wanted me to remind you we are meeting for dinner at seven at our house and don't be late."

Ichigo sighed, "I still don't get how you two ended up together."

"At least I'm with someone unlike a certain carrot top doctor," Ishida turned on his heels and walked out of the door. Ichigo grumbled as he grabbed his paper work and figured he would finish at home. There was no point in being there if all of his appointments were done for the day.

Ichigo took off his doctor's coat and placed it on the hanger in his office. His father had been boasting how his son would take over the family which he did until his house was destroyed and he took the practice to the General Hospital. All of their patients had followed him there and he was fine with it. His father still continued here in the hospital but he didn't work all the paperwork he just passed it to his son, saying it was good for his son and it will help build his character. He put on his suit jacket and grabbed his briefcase. He made his way out the office and heart several nurses, "Farewell Dr. Kurosaki!"

"Have a nice evening, Dr. Kurosaki!"

"See you on Monday, Dr. Kurosaki!"

He quickened his pace so that he would get out of their quickly. More often than not some of the nurses gave him their love struck eyes. He sighed; his father had been talking to them giving them false hope…his father's matchmaking was on his top ten most annoying things his father could do to him. He didn't know why his father was so interested in getting him to date. He finally made his way to his car. He quickly placed all of his things into the passenger side of his car and then something caught his eye.

He saw long auburn tresses walking by the opening of the parking lot. He slowly made his way over there when he felt a strange spiritual pressure. He had slowly gotten better at detecting spiritual pressures however Uryu kept on teasing him on how he was slow on his development. He cursed his friend for a moment as he went to go observe the scene before him.

"I told you no," the woman told a man chasing after her. "Please leave me alone, I don't even know you!"

"But baby, don't you want a good time? I could show you a good time, I mean a lovely lady like you has to want to…"

"You're a jerk, let me go!" He grabbed the woman's wrist and Ichigo groaned. He grabbed the guy's arm and pushed him off the woman. He looked over the guy and he seemed pretty simple enough. There was nothing special about him until he noticed a wedding band on the guy and it made Ichigo growl. He hated scum that gave the men a bad name.

"I think the lady wants to be left alone," Ichigo informed him as he placed his hands into his pockets standing in front of the woman carefully.

"What are you, some kind of body guard?" The guy huffed tried to walk past Ichigo. "Out of the way, my wife and I were just having an argument."

"I highly doubt that," Ichigo looked over at the woman and noticed no rings on her fingers. "Considering she said she didn't know you just a little while ago."

"Punk," the man threw a punch his way. Ichigo quickly dodged it and punched the guy in the stomach. He doubled over and Ichigo turned to face the woman looking at him confused. Most women would have run off from the scene and yet the auburn haired woman was staring at him. "Bastard…I'll kick your ass…"

"I highly doubt that," Ichigo kicked him and the guy was on the ground. "Bug off." He gently grabbed the woman's arm and walked her towards his car. He stopped for a second when he felt something, This spiritual presence…it's coming from her…and it's strong too…is that why she didn't leave…can she sense mine. "I know you don't know me, but ummm I could drive you to wherever you were going…"

Auburn haired woman looked up at him and he saw trusting hazel gray eyes looking up at him. He took in her features, her face was much more feminine then the women he knew. She was a rare beauty that even caused the stiff Ichigo's heart to beat a little faster. She just smiled at him as he opened the passenger side door and she sat down. He was confused but he almost felt like he knew the woman but didn't think much of it. He got on the driver's side and started up the car. He started driving and looked over at the woman in his car. "Are you alright?"

"Thank you for what you did back there," she told him warmly. "You really didn't have to but … um…thank you."

"Uh, yeah…it was no problem, I hate guys like that think every woman is some kind of conquest," Ichigo informed her. "So where am I driving you to?"

"I was actually on my way to work, please drop me off at Princess Kitchen."

Ichigo looked over at her shocked, "Wow, you work there. My friends and I have tried to get in there before but it's always busy. I heard the food is great."

The woman laughed, "Yes it has its perks I guess."

"It's difficult to get a table or even a reservation, you have to reserve a seat months ahead of time," Ichigo chuckled. "I heard the food is worth it and all of the critics praise it in almost every review."

"I didn't picture you as a food fan," the woman said warmly. "You seem to be a burger and fry kind of guy."

"Oh yeah," Ichigo smiled and laughed. "I guess I kinda look like that. I mean what guy doesn't like a good burger but I do like to try different things. My younger sister was my main cook when I use to live back at home, so I'm used to having a variety of food. She would always buy cook books and have us all try her new concoctions."

The woman returned his smile, "Well, I'm going to leave my card here. As a thank you, you can come by the restaurant and I'll make sure you can get a table. You can even bring friends if you like. The restaurant is extremely large and we have several private rooms, I'm sure I could get you in!"

"I don't want to impose on you, I'm sure your boss would not appreciate you saving a table…or having a private room used."

"Nonsense, just show the hostess this card and she'll call for me," the woman said as they reached the restaurant. "Thank you for the ride, stop by tonight with your friends and I promise you won't be disappointed." She waved and exited the car.

Ichigo watched her walk into the restaurant he saw the card she left in the cup holder. He pulled it up and his eyes grew wide, Orihime Inoue…Princess Kitchen Chef and Owner…No way…what was that spiritual pressure I felt though. I thought my family and my friends were the only one in this town with that high of spiritual pressure. Maybe, I can bring that idiot Ishida…he would be able to figure it out faster than I can.

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"So explain to me why we are at the most fancy and busiest place in Karakura town," Tatsuki complained as Ichigo had suggested they come there. Uryu looked around as Ichigo just walked up to the front door showing him something. His friends all tried to get a sneak peak and the door man let them in.

"So Kurosaki, do you have some kind of connection or something," Ishida asked as Ichigo walked up to the hostess.

"Wouldn't you like to know Ishida," Ichigo smirked. "Here, umm…she told me to show you this…" Ichigo showed the business card.

"Oh, this is her signature on the back of the card." The hostess smiled, "You're pretty good looking first time Ms. Inoue has let anyone into her Chef's corner of the restaurant."

"Ummm," Ichigo blushed and everyone turned to look at him.

"I'll go get her right away," the hostess winked and disappeared into the busy restaurant.

"So are you kidding me, we are really getting a table?" Keigo said looking at his friend. "How did you manage that?"

"I've got connections," Ichigo smirked finally gaining some composure or so he thought. The same woman he saw earlier today did not look the same…her hair was done up in a nice high tail in curls. Light makeup to give her natural beauty some accent and an off the shoulder dress that made everyone male in their group very aware of her body. She was definitely well endowed in womanly curves…she could compete with Rangiku Matsumoto's bust size. The cocktail dress stopped right at her knees but not hiding the curves of her waist to her hips, she was a woman in great shape.

Tatsuki smacked her boyfriend upside the head and Rukia moved to cover Renji's eyes after she pinched him. Chad was lucky that Estella wasn't there but then again she would probably be checking out the woman as well, Estella had studied art so looking at women was not a big deal for her. Keigo was drooling like a mad man and Mizuiro was trying to figure out if she was older than him. Ichigo swallowed as he was trying to keep his image together. He knew Rangiku would have a few words to tease him later if she could see his face. His sister was there with him since Toshiro was there with his group. Ikkaku Madarame was actually drooling the tough fighter from Soul Society was actually admiring the Restaurant Owner. Yumichika Ayasegawa had made a comment that she was a natural beauty but didn't compare to him.

"Here is the man that asked for you," the hostess said looking Ichigo over.

Orihime nodded, "So I see you decided to accept my gratitude for my rescue. I'm glad, you and your party follow me please."

"Orihime!" Orihime turned around and her face lit it up. She hugged the girl that was calling her, "It is you! I haven't seen you since Sora Nii-Chan took you off to Tokoyo! How have you been?"

"Tatsuki-chan, it's so great to see you again." Orihime smiled, "You even let your hair grow out! It's so long compared how it used to be!"

"Yeah but look at you, WOW! That body, girl…do you still eat a lot and have a hot figure!" Tatsuki said as she walked arm in arm with Orihime.

"Did you know she knew her," Ichigo asked Uryu who shook his head.

"I know I'm going to get my ass kicked later," Uryu grumbled as they followed the two chatting girls. "She did vaguely mention once she had a friend that was like her sister move away before high school."

"Here we are, this is the chef's room. This is usually reserved for my family but since my brother's death I haven't had anyone in here," Orihime said softly. "So I'm glad to share it with all of you."

"Wow, this room…its wow…" Tatsuki said as everyone took their seats. "I still can't believe you're a chef especially after some of foods you like to eat!"

"Well I did go to culinary school after High school," Orihime smiled. "It started off as a small restaurant and it completely took off in Tokyo but I wanted to have one here back in my hometown. So I closed that one down and reopened here. Oh, I still offer my silly toppings but they are options." She turned to Ichigo, "I haven't officially introduced myself to you and everyone. I'm Orihime Inoue…I'm the chef and owner of this restaurant…I'm so glad that you could make it out here."

They all waved as she bowed giving the boys a nice view of her cleavage. Ichigo bonked Keigo on the head as he could see that his friend was ready to pounce on her. It was bad enough he still tried to hit on Rangiku every time he saw her and he was with someone. She stood up right and held out her right hand to him, "Ichigo Kurosaki." He shook her hand gently but he could still sense such high spiritual power from her and he couldn't place how someone could have that much as a normal human. Granted he was no exception considering he was a human born from a human mother but a former soul reaper father. So his spiritual essence was through the roof.

"Nice to meet you, Kurosaki-san." She smiled and saw their server had entered the room, "If there is anything you need please let me know. I hope you have a great dinner! I need to make my rounds from the kitchen to the main floor." She had taken her leave and Ichigo sat down as several pairs of eyes were on him.

"Say, Nii-chan…by the way your blushing I can go home and tell dad that you're not an asexual plant," Karin got a cloth napkin in her face. She laughed, "Seriously how did you meet a hot babe like her?"

"Some guy was pestering her so I stopped him, offered her a ride to somewhere I could drop her off so the guy couldn't follow her," Ichigo said simply. "She said she wanted to thank me and left me her card. I thought it was kind of ironic that she told me to come tonight and bring my friends. We all have been talking about coming here so I thought why not."

"Oh, it seems that grumpy Ichigo had a soft spot for pretty ladies," Rangiku teased and Ichigo's eyebrow twitched.

"Her spiritual pressure is interesting though," Uryu mentioned. "She doesn't appear to have any kind of spiritual abilities and yet she has such a high presence."

"I thought so too," Ichigo informed his friend/rival. "Usually if I beat up some guy the girls usually flee the scene but she stood there almost battle ready. I am assuming she could sense mine and didn't feel scared. She just looked at me like nothing happened."

"She has a calming presence," Chad mentioned. "She seems familiar in a way like we've met her before."

Tatsuki sadly smiled, "You might have. She went to junior high with us. Sora nii-chan got a job in Tokyo and off she went. She graduated the same year as us, but a few years ago her brother was killed by a drunk driver on his way home."

"What about her parents," Rukia asked.

"Sora nii-chan had once mentioned that their parents were violent and that they looked as if they were going to kill Orihime, so he took toddler Orihime to Karakura to raise her on his own. He was the best big brother on the planet…he was mom and dad all roll into one. He did everything for her…to raise her…when he got the job in Tokyo off she went. She wrote and called me every day until college then it went to email," Tatsuki sighed. "I bet Sora nii-chan got special treatment when he was here. She never once mentioned about building this place…but I'm sure Sora nii-chan helped her make this place."

"Considering this place has only been here a couple years, I wonder why she didn't tell you she was living here considering you knew about her brother," Uryu pondered.

"Orihime isn't the type of girl to brag about her success, I'm sure the reason why she didn't contact me as much was because she was probably a mess trying to get this up and running," Tatsuki said warmly. "Orihime doesn't want to bother people if her life, she always want everyone not to worry about her even when she's hurting."

"She seems to be a very strong person," Renji stated. "She wears a smile on her face as if she doesn't have a care in the world but those are the people usually that are stronger than they want to admit."

Rukia nodded, "Wow, my knuckle head of a husband said something right for a change."

"Eh…what was that?" Laughter broke out at the table of friends. Ichigo's thoughts wondered off to the restaurant owner, he caught a glimpse of her from the opening of their private room. She was walking around greeting people and saw how elegant she was. She gracefully walked about and he smiled. He never felt like this for anyone before…something about her caught his curiosity.

"Say Tatsuki…"

"What is it," Tatsuki followed Ichigo's gaze. Watching Orihime walking around, "Say if you keep drooling I'm going to have the server to bring a bucket and mop."

"Shut up," Ichigo turned to face her with a blush on his cheeks. "If she was in the same grade as us, doesn't that mean she was in our junior high class right before high school?"

"Yeah, she was…she was the quiet shy girl in the corner," Tatsuki said as she put a finger on her chin. "She hardly talked but she would smile all the time. She didn't have that body in junior high that's for sure…she must have got that once she got into high school."

"I still find it hard to believe she didn't tell you about this place," Ichigo commented. "I mean you would think she would have mentioned it to her best friend."

"From the looks of it, she looks busy now that I'm seeing her in action it wouldn't surprise me that the thought didn't cross her mind," Tatsuki shrugged. "People change as they grow older you know, like you aren't this stupid punk that beat up random people from high school."

"Don't forget him getting paid to help out the different clubs," Keigo added in. "I mean he would negotiate with the different clubs at different times of the year to help them out."

Mizuiro nodded, "Yes…and don't forget him running off to save Kuchiki-san when she was supposed to be executed!"

"His nonstop training he went through and is going through just in case of Aizen shows his ugly face," Rukia added. "Always needing the fourth division to heal his wounds…I mean he's such a pain."

"Shut up!" Ichigo barked and at that point Orihime had entered the room again. Everyone acted like they were on their best behavior.

She smiled, "You guys are so lively! Did you all get to order yet?"

"Yeah, we did." Ichigo nodded, "the drinks are really good by the way."

"I'm glad you are enjoying it," Orihime smiled. She rested her hand on the back of Ichigo's seat, What's with his spiritual pressure? I've never felt something like this before. I wonder…"Tatsuki, you should try this cocktail!" Orihime grabbed a drink off the tray the server had brought. "There is enough alcohol to give you a small kick but enough flavor to make you feel not guilty for drinking it!"

"Oh," Tatsuki took a sip and she smiled. "Rangiku, you need to try this!"

The blonde woman quickly made her way and took a sip, "This is heavenly…may I have one?"

"Of course," Orihime nodded. "I'm glad that you like it Rangiku-san!"

"It's absolutely delicious! I'm normally a sake type of woman but this…oh this is just heaven!" Rangiku grabbed the glass from Tastuki and was sipping away. Toshiro was getting irritated that his vice-captain was on her way to being drunk.

"Well if you excuse, time to make my rounds again!" Orihime left the room again and the others could only watch in wonders.

"She knows," Rangiku said simply.

"What makes you say that," Ichigo looked over at the blonde.

"A woman with that much spiritual awareness is bound to know who we are at least some of us." Rangiku shrugged, "I'm sure she puts that innocent façade up to keep people on their toes. I bet you anything that's she is extremely smart."

"Unlike a certain vice-captain that doesn't know how to stop drinking," Toshiro muttered. Toshiro got an elbow to the ribcage. "I wouldn't doubt that woman knows that some of us are soul reapers in this room…however she doesn't seem fazed by it."

"I agree," Uryu pushed his glasses up his face. "It would seem that she is aware of her surroundings…the question is she an ally or foe?"

"Only time will tell," Chad commented as he took a bite out of his food that arrived. "However, a woman that can cook well is hardly a foe…but I wouldn't quite say ally."

Everyone took a bite of their food and agreed that it tasted marvelous. All the special toppings were in the center of the table if they wished to add it on. They tried it with several of the special toppings and found they liked some and it wasn't so bad. Sure the idea of putting bean paste or wasabi on certain foods did sound farfetched but it wasn't a bad idea. Ichigo however got the answer he was looking for, That woman…something about her…like Ishida said is she friend or foe? Renji said she looks like a strong person…does she put on a meek appearance so no one suspects anything of her?

Everyone stopped eating when they sensed an ominous presence outside of the restaurant…so much for a calm dinner with friends. Ichigo, Uryu, and Chad quickly got up to check it out. So did the other soul reapers leaving Tatsuki, Karin, Keigo, and Mizuiro telling the server they just went to the restroom or stepped outside for a minute. The server didn't seemed bothered or fazed by it as he went on to refill their drinks that were half empty.

"Damn, I can't sense the hollow any more…" Ichigo grumbled as they went to where they had sensed it. Ichigo stopped in his tracks when he saw someone in the alley clutching their arm. He quickly went to help figure leaning against the wall and his eyes widen as his jaw dropped. "You…"

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See you next chapter!