Disclaimer= I do not own Bleach.

A/N= This fic will not be from Ichigo's POV. This fic will be Rated M-ish in some parts.

It was as dark a moment as ever for Ichigo. First he lost his dad in a fire and his younger siblings due to smoke inhalation from that fire. He found comfort in isolating himself from everyone and trying to end his life because the grief was too much to deal with. Then Inoue came to prevent Ichigo from completing his "task." They were set to spend the rest of their lives together. They had a baby and lived together. Ichigo took the time to get as much training in as he could, mastering his bankai and becoming above average in kido. Tragedy struck again as Inoue died giving birth to their second child. The grief this time was way too much to overcome, so Ichigo tried slitting his wrist with a broken piece of glass, but was stopped by Tatsuki's kick while in the downward motion. She slapped him across the face for good measure, telling him to not do that anymore because "she would not appreciate it." This brings us to the present time, 4 years after Inoue and Haru's deaths. Ichigo wakes up and heads towards the fridge.

"Out of milk, got to head to the store for more," he says. Ichigo was nearing 30 and looks in great shape for someone isolating himself from everyone. During the past four years, if any thoughts about doctors, hollows or the like appeared, he would engage in very strenuous exercise with the equipment he bought with his dad's inheritance money. He stepped out of his home that morning cut like Rambo and wanting his calcium. Ichigo liked the smell of fresh produce as he stepped through the sliding doors of the Karakura Market. During the last four years, he would frequent the Market at night to avoid social contact, so it was rare that he was seen in the morning. To get to the dairy aisle, Ichigo had to pass through the meats. Since he was there in the morning, the market was buzzing with activity. Just as he was passing through the meats, Ichigo heard a girl behind the counter grounding the beef.

"What's up Tatsuki?" Tatsuki stopped grounding the beef and turned to look at Ichigo, who was wearing one of those fighting T-shirts.

"Ichigo, wow you look great. How have you been?"

"Good, good. I'm going to buy some milk right now."

"Cool, hows Kenshin?"

"He's doing great, spending the weekend at his uncle Kisuke's and aunt Yoruichi's house."

"Great. Listen, I have to get back to work now. I want to talk more with you sometime."

"You wanna have dinner tomorrow night at my house?"

"You won't mind if my hands smell like meat? I say that because I'll be coming over from work, making a stop at my place to change..."

"Oh no its okay, I'm sure you'll arrive smelling sweet."

"Hehe, I'll see ya Saturday Ichigo."

"Goodbye."

"Tatsuki-san, who was that hunk of sexiness?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo, he is one of my friends. We are going to have dinner tomorrow night at his house."

"That muscle god invited you over for dinner? I'm so jealous!"

"Its not like that."

"Could it get like that?"

"Lets get back to work." Tatsuki resumed grounding the meat while thinking about Ichigo. She blushed as she put the meat in the display case.

"Hey Tatsuki, you came."

"Of course I would come Ichigo, why wouldn't I?"

"I have absolutely no idea."

"You will let me in right?"

"Oh yeah, come in to my house."

"Its good to see that you are in good spirits." Ichigo and Tatsuki drank wine, had lobster and shrimp and talked well into the night.

"Its almost one in the morning Ichigo."

"Is it really?"

"Yeah, we are like past our curfew." Ichigo eyed Tatsuki, who was eyeing her wine glass.

"Tatsuki, are you drunk?"

"I'm not drunk, but I can't drive anymore. I've had 3 glasses."

"Alright then. You must be pretty tired right now huh?"

"I'm 30 years old Ichigo, I don't have any curfew."

"Well I kind of do, since I have Kenshin. He'll want to go play basketball or go to the amusement park and I need to be at full strength to keep up with him."

"I think it is really great that you are doing what you are doing for the sake of your child. The grief you went through must have hardened you up some I take it?"

"I couldn't wallow in self-pity forever. There was no other option then to move on. I'll always remember the good times, but it was time for me to move on She would've wanted me to."

"I know," Tatsuki said softly. They both stayed silent for a minute, not realizing that they were touching shoulders and holding hands while on the sofa in the living room where they had dinner. When they realized what they were doing, they blushed and scooted away from each other.

"Let me clean up."

"No its okay." Ichigo hurriedly put plates in the sink and swept the floor. He nervously returned to the sofa, sitting at a distance from Tatsuki.

"My house has 2 bedrooms, 1 room in which I have all of my stuff in. You can stay in the master bedroom while I sleep on the couch."

"Thank you for your hospitality Ichigo." Tatsuki squeezes Ichigo's shoulder and disappears into the master bedroom. Ichigo stared at the ceiling and remembered his dad and all of his crazy antics.

If dad were alive right now, he would be incognito, hearing my conversation with Tatsuki through the cup. I sure miss his "GOOD MOOOORNING ICHIGOOOOO!" even though it pissed me off. Wait, why am I thinking about this? I guess someone put this in my thoughts to loosen me up.

Ichigo didn't finish his thoughts because Tatsuki was calling for him.

"Ichigo, can you show me how to work this remote control?"

"Oh, uh, sure."

"This is the latest TV that came out, complete with a control with eleventy eleven buttons on it."

"Huh?"

"Basically you can do a lot of stuff with the control. Its now more than press play."

"Tatsuki, there isn't many things to watch right now other than infomercials, you know if thats your thing..."

"Does this controller have a guide button?"

"Yeah, let me show you." Ichigo was flipping through the channels when he found a movie that was playing.

"Hey what do you know Tatsuki, there's a movie... Oh man, this my favorite one!"

"What a coincidence Ichigo, mine too."

"Would it be too much trouble to watch it with you Tatsuki?"

"Of course not, its your house."

"I don't have any chairs in here, so lemme go grab - -"

"No need. We can sit on your bed."

"...But my bed is small. Long, but small."

"We can manage."

"If you say so..." For some reason, Ichigo has a double twin bed, which is VERY small for someone of his size.

"Ichigo, you get on first and then I will nestle in your arms next." Tatsuki looked at Ichigo and both of them blushed.

"I- I'm sorry, if you don't want to do this, I'll get the chair for you - -"

"I want to, it will be good for us." They each blushed a darker red as Tatsuki carefully nestled in Ichigo's arms. The movie played on, but both Tatsuki and Ichigo paid little attention. They were verbally flirting and cooing at each other.

"This isn't like you Tatsuki. Back in high school, you were rough-edged. You scared everyone in class."

"That was over 10 years ago Ichigo, people change."

"Thats true."

"You remember that one day where you came through the window?"

"I don't recall that, no."

"Sure you do, you grabbed Orihime's hand and were all like, "beautiful girl, will you tell me your name?" When you kissed her hand, all of the girls in our class fell in love with you."

"Uh, I'm sorry Tatsuki, but I really don't remember any of that..."

"I asked you why you were doing all of that while holding you back from touching Orihime further, and you looked at me and said," come to think of it, you're pretty cute yourself." Then I got all embarrassed and started throwing all of the chairs around, cursing at you and whatnot."

"I'm really glad I do not remember that, hehe."

"I understand if you don't, but I'll never forget it."

"Why is that?" Tatsuki blushed again.

"Well, I uh, my girls forced me outside and we convened in the girls room to calm me down and to talk about boys. It was lunchtime by the time order was restored."

"I know what you are thinking... 'Tatsuki gush about boys? Really?' They wouldn't let me leave unless we did."

"Wow thats really interesting." Ichigo quickly lost interest. Tatsuki sensed his boredom, so she snuggled a little bit closer and cut to the chase."

"Long story short, they asked me about the kiss you gave me and I eventually confessed."

"Confessed what?"

"They were dying to know whether or not I liked it because they thought it was cute."

"What did you tell them?"

"I told them that I didn't like it."

"Okay."

"I loved it." Tatsuki looked at Ichigo and she stared at him wit dem sensual lips and eyes, wanting to return the kiss. She was near lip lock when Ichigo killed the mood... sort of.

"Want to have a bedroom kendo fight Tatsuki? When I beat you AGAIN, I'll be 100-0." Tatsuki jumped out of her bed, raring to go in her stance.

"You NEVER beat me. I seem to recall making you cry every time we dueled."

"I remember it the other way around."

"OH?"

"Here... lets battle!"

"You are so on!" So Ichigo and Tatsuki go from near kissing to dueling with kendo sticks. They battle for a good hour to a mutually agreed draw. Exhausted, they throw their sticks against the wall.

"You still got it; you wore me out," Ichigo said while sitting on the corner of his bed.

"I'm surprised you lasted that long," countered Tatsuki, who sat next to him on the bed. They pretend fought with phantom kendo sticks. Ichigo made a phantom swipe with his hand, which was blocked by Tatsuki's hand so no damage was inflicted. See, Ichigo was tired of being alone. Kenshin was a bundle of joy for him; but when he went to spend the weekend at his uncle's house, he would just stay at home. Ichigo got signals from Tatsuki and so he decided to step up. Right now, he was playing a little mercy with Tatsuki. After a little bit, he loosened his grip and attempted to hold her hand, which she let him do. In the back of his mind, he was asking if he should do this. Sure it was a girl; however, it was his late wife's best friend. Ichigo couldn't control himself, and so he and Tatsuki started touching. The touching got to more touching and then kissing, more kissing and even more. They were going at it so hard that they both lost their minds.

Ichigo woke up 6 hours later in a cold sweat. Tatsuki was soundly sleeping next to him.

What the hell happened? I need to wake her up. Oh my God, I can't believe I did this. I'm going to let her sleep some more.

Ichigo kissed Tatsuki on the cheek and stroked her hair. She smiled as he smiled back. To him, the way she slept was angelic. To not wake her, he tiptoed out of the room in his slippers and sweats, shirtless, and looked to the kitchen to wash his face. He brought his toothbrush and paste to brush up. Tatsuki woke up an hour later to an assortment of fruits and fish.

"You ever had breakfast in bed," Ichigo asked, "I figured that after what happened earlier this morning, you would be tired as hell."

"I found it hard to breathe when you held me Ichigo because those arms... wow, just wow. No I'm kidding, thank you for that kendo duel and the, um, after fight."

"Thank you also for this breakfast in bed, you didn't have to - -"

"I wanted to. I mean, it just felt like the right thing to do." Tatsuki thanked Ichigo once again and they took care of the fruit platter. What had happened was tugging at Ichigo pretty good.

"Tatsuki what happened?"

"I just told you, we had a duel and - -"

"Did we really have an, um, after fight?"

"I felt you on top of me... and I felt you penetrating in between me."

"Oh so we did engage in that after - -"

"Yes Ichigo, we had sex. Thanks for breakfast." Tatsuki put on her shoes and coat to leave.

"Tatsuki I'm sorry. It just felt weird." Wrong choice of words, my friend.

"Weird? So it felt weird being with me?"

"You know thats not what I meant.."

"Whatever Ichigo, I'll see you some other time." Tatsuki slammed the door on Ichigo, who was face palming himself. He waited a couple of days to find Tatsuki and apologize. She forgave him and apologized for overreacting. They hung out more afterwards and Kenshin grew to like Tatsuki. She treated him like he was her own kid and Ichigo liked that. Several weeks later during the holiday season, all three walked along the beach shoreline.

"Can I fly my kite papa?"

"Sure son, go ahead."

"Don't get hurt kiddo. Fly the kite well."

"Sugoi! Arigatou papa, Tatsuki- okaasan." Kenshin was off with his kite.

"Is it appropriate for your son to add that suffix?"

"Its okay. You are around so often nowadays that its more than appropriate. He likes it and I like it." Ichigo smiles and blushes, as does Tatsuki. They head up some rocks and sit at the top in a spot where they have Kenshin in plain view. The wind starts to pick up.

"This is perfect. I never thought that like would end up like this. I thought that I would still be alone with my son, shunning the outside world."

"You don't need to think of that no more Ichigo," Tatsuki assured him, "You have your son to father and... you have me."

"I feel comforted now that you say that Tatsuki, I really do. I really love you."

"I love you too." They kiss and Tatsuki rests her head on Ichigo's shoulder. They could not hear Kenshin's screams.

"PAPA! TATSUKI-OKAASAN!" It was too late. A big blast of wind hit the rocks, knocking both Ichigo and Tatsuki off balance. The rocks were all messed up. Ichigo watched in horror as Tatsuki fell down towards some rocks that could possibly impale her in all her fatal spots.

Not again. I'm not going to go through with this again. I lost my dad, my sisters, my late wife and my daughter. I WILL NOT LOSE THE GIRL THAT SAVED MY LIFE!

Ichigo pressed the badge and yelled at the top of his lungs:

"Bakudō no san-jū shichi: TSURIBOSHI!" A safety net appeared and saved Tatsuki in the neck of time. Ichigo flash stepped and saved Tatsuki, got her out of the net and took her to the beach sand.

"Tatsuki are you okay?"

"I like your new look Ichigo." Ichigo started to cry.

"I'm sorry for not telling you about what I do when you asked back during high school. I'm in this outfit because - -" Ichigo sensed hollow reiatsu.

"DAMN HOLLOWS! Hold on Tatsuki, KENSHIN!" Ichigo put both of them in a safe place. Urahara arrived and Ichigo barked at him to take both Tatsuki and Kenshin to his shop for safety.

"I don't have time to deal with these hollow idiots." Ichigo went bankai and busted out his Ichigonator. There were two arrancars waiting for him.

"I'm the Tres Espada and this guy to my right is the Octava Espada. We were sent by Aizen-sama to kill you." Ichigonator released so much reiatsu that it brought the Octava to his knees, while the Tres merely smirked.

"I'm going to kill you both. You messed up tender moment for me. Both of you are going to die, VERTICALLY." Ichigonator flashed stepped behind the Octava, grabbed his neck and bowed his head a bit.

"CERO CLARA!" The Octava had no time to react as Ichigonator blew his head off with his white cero. The Tres sacrificed his comrade in order to release and attempt to unleash a Cero Oscuras on Ichigonator, who merely stepped in front of him to slash him down towards the water.

"Foolish bastard, did you think that would work? Its time for you to die." Ichigo bowed his head and did another Cero Clara. The Tres sonidoed behind him.

"Foolish bastard, did you think that I would fall for that? You are going to die now."

"VIENTO- -"

"Hadōu no Nana-jū san: SOREN SOKATSUI!"

"Ru-Rukia?"

"Go to her Ichigo, leave this to me." Ichigonator went off, hearing in the distance Rukia doing her 3rd dance. He didn't sense the Tres's reiatsu after that.

Ichigo came to the Urahara Shop exhausted. Kenshin ran up and hugged his papa.

"Kenshin, I need to have a talk with Tatsuki-okaasan if you don't mind." Kenshin, Urahara, Tessai and Yoruichi left the store and Tatsuki was all alone with Ichigo.

"Where were we?" Ichigo collapsed, but Tatsuki caught him before he could fall down face first.

"Sorry about what happened at the beach, some dumb hollows wanted to fight me, and I offed both of them."

"I know."

"I'm sorry about not telling you about my second life. I'm a substitute shinigami, sworn to protect my friends and loved ones."

"I know. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I did not want to burden you. I went to Hueco Mundo to get Inoue back. I did not tell you because I did not want to worry you."

"Yoruichi-san told me everything, so I'm not mad at you. I'm just happy that you did not die." Ichigo touched foreheads with Tatsuki and then put his head on her chest.

"If I hadn't ran into you at the Market, I probably would not have lasted much longer. I had deja vu when you were falling, about to be impaled by those rocks. Thank God I learned some kido because that is what saved your life."

"Well lets not worry about that now. All of that is now in the past and since that is now in the past, we should look forward to the future with you, me, Kenshin, and - - excuse me." Tatsuki went to the sink to blow some chunks. Ichigo was instantly there at her aid.

"Tatsuki, are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm okay, its just that Kenshin's new sibling is quite the fighter..."

A/N= Tatsuki filled the mother role and later on the wife role. Ichigo is finally going to live tragedy-free. The fight scene was added spur of the moment. To conclude, I'm allowed to have a Freudian slip. /facepalm