Her eyes fluttered open as she woke slowly from her dreamless sleep. The moon had moved to the other side of the window. The white light now illuminating the bottom half of the blanket. She tried to focus, mumbling about the late hour. Her eyes began to adjust and she could make out someone sitting at the window, looking out. She lifted her head and propped herself up with her right arm. She blinked several times trying to focus with the bright light coming in. He turned his head away from the window. With a voice just above a whisper, he spoke.

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"I'm not sure. What are you doing here at this hour?" She immediately regretted asking him such a thing and making it sound like she didn't want him around. "S..sorry."

"I was waiting for you to wake up so I could tell you we'll need to go today by the end of the day. Urahara said the concoction he made for me will be wearing off and it'll be harder for me to stay here."

Orihime's eyes were still half open, but she shifted herself up to a sitting position.

"What about training?"

"I'll be taking back a shell gigai and Mod Soul to practice on. Urahara will be making the real gigai in the meantime."

Orihime smiled. "That's good. I'm glad you can practice where you feel better."

Ichigo looked back out the window. "I also wanted to, you know, get to know you better. You've done so much for me and I wanted us to at least know more about each other so I don't feel like I'm forcing you into this."

Orihime looked down at her hands, which were partly lit up by the moon. "You're not forcing me into anything. I chose this path, and I'm glad I took it. My life was pretty average before all this."

Ichigo looked back at her. "So, I'm not sure where to start." Orihime pondered for a moment, then finally gave a loud "Oh" and continued.

"What's your favorite color? Food? Animal? Plant? Brand of bread? Favorite type of bean paste?" She began to chuckle. "I guess I'm getting hungry!" They both laughed.

Their conversation went on for a few hours as they discussed their favorite items, their hobbies, likes, dislikes, anything they can think of. The sun began to fill the darkness the setting moon left behind. Orihime was surprised they had talked this long. She had stayed on the futon the whole time and Ichigo had never left his spot by the window. She had asked him a question that she wasn't sure if she was supposed to. She had asked what happens to most people when they die and what it feels like. Ichigo said he wasn't really sure what happens to other people when they die. When he did, he didn't feel anything since the crash happened so fast. When he could see his body, that was when he knew it was over. He said he doesn't feel anything except a deep need to be human again. That was all he felt from the beginning. He said most of the other spirits feel some kind of need or pull to do something or be able to communicate with someone. Beyond that, they don't feel anything, except when they go back to a dark place to recharge. He said it was similar to being in an empty room with the door shut and no lights on. You can hear what's going on "outside" and feel like around you can go on forever, yet you feel confined. This is where he waits for his energy to return. When he hears and feels someone nearby, most times they can't even sense he's there, much less speak to him. He said there are a few spirits near Orihime's house that still think it's the time period that they died in. These seem to be the spirits that have unfinished business, which more than likely will never be fulfilled. No matter what the other spirits say to them, they still think it's that other time. Orihime was fascinated that Ichigo didn't know much about the afterlife, yet had a lot of experience in knowing about the different spirits. She finally excused herself for yawning and Ichigo said he would head back so she could sleep a little longer. She was happy to be able to sleep again, but still wanted to know more. As she was drifting off to sleep, she wondered what would happen next.

There came a knock at the door some time later and Urahara announced breakfast was ready. Orihime lifted her sleep deprived body up and groaned a reply. She shuffled towards the smell of food and plopped herself down and took a drink of the much needed coffee. She looked up and saw Ichigo leaned up against the wall. They smiled at each other and Orihime wanted to ask Ichigo to sit by her, but she didn't know if she should. As she was pondering, the door slid open and Urahara came in with a very obvious sense of accomplishment.

"Oh ho, you both are here! That's great! I have someone I'd like you to meet."

Orihime finished shoveling the food in her mouth and turned to face the door. Urahara stepped aside and a very familiar face stood behind him. Orihime almost choked on her food when she saw the gigai. It looked just like Ichigo, and was moving around like nothing! Urahara smiled at her reaction, then looked at Ichigo, who seemed to also be in a state of shock. Urahara waved his arm over towards the gigai. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the shell gigai that you can take back with you to train. There are no organs or anything else inside, so he's pretty light." Urahara smacked the gigai in the back of the head, "See, nothing in there!"

Finally the gigai spoke. "Hey, I got plenty in there!" Urahara chuckled and walked away. The gigai looked away in annoyance and looked towards Ichigo. "The name's Kon! Nice ta meecha Ichigo." Kon turned towards Orihime, who still had crumbs on her face, and her mouth slightly open. Kon suddenly drifted his look down towards her chest and gave a hearty yell before racing towards Orihime. Ichigo's arms were crossed the whole time, but Kon's movements sent Ichigo into protective mode and he appeared in between Kon and Orihime in a fraction of a second. Orihime looked around Ichigo to see Kon waving behind. Orihime giggled.

"Kurosaki-kun, you don't have to do that, I'm sure Kon-san is very nice. He is in your body after all." She leaned more and waved back to Kon. "Nice to meet you Kon-san, I'm Inoue Orihime. We will be taking you back to my house today so that Kurosaki-san can train with you." Kon looked to Ichigo, who was still in between them, giving one of his signature scowls. Kon chuckled and put his hand on Ichigo's shoulder, or tried, as the hand went right through. Kon took his hand back and almost looked embarrassed.

"Don't worry about me Ichigo, I won't go after anyone. I don't have any fillings." Orihime giggled and Ichigo sighed, stepping out of the way and returning to his lean up against the wall.

"Come and sit with me Kon." Kon smiled and sat down, of course close to Orihime. Orihime didn't mind. In fact, her cheeks blushed a bit, but she snapped back and continued eating. "So Kon, you're a Mod Soul, right?" Kon nodded. "So when Ichigo is in the body, you're just one of those balls?" Kon nodded again. Orihime pondered for a moment, then wondered aloud. "I wonder if a Mod Soul can go into other objects and bring them to life. I'd love to have a talking toaster!"

Kon flinched. "Please don't put me in the toaster."

Orihime laughed. "Oh don't worry Kon-san, I'll just try to put you in a stuffed animal. That way you can still walk and talk." Kon sighed and agreed.

Some time had passed and everyone was sitting around chatting. Urahara was telling everyone the best tricks for making a good gigai, which went over everyone's head. Suddenly, Ichigo grunted and hunched over. Orihime shot up and ran towards him. She looked with worry towards Urahara. Urahara stood up. "It appears it is time for you to go, but before you go, did you buy two plane tickets or one?"

"One."

"That is a concern then. Ichigo can make it through no problem, but Kon is still solid and will still need a ticket."

Orihime looked down. "Oh, well I don't know if I have the money for it. Can he just be, I don't know folded up or something so that I can take him on the plane?"

"That's a great idea Inoue-san! I do happen to have an old suitcase that might work."

Kon looked stunned towards Urahara. "Oh no! You're not putting me in some ratty old suitcase! I'm going to be..." Just then, Urahara hit Kon in the back of the head and the ball popped out, sending the gigai tumbling down. Urahara grabbed it and announced he'd be right back. Orihime was still next to Ichigo and watched as he struggled to stay visible. With a soft voice, she placed her hand on his cheek.

"You don't have to stay visible for us. Just rest as long as you can." Ichigo placed his hand over hers and nodded, disappearing from her hand. Urahara returned moments later with the suitcase, saying the gigai was inside and the ball was in the mouth. He said if it were to accidentally slip down the throat and Kon could move again, he would be rather surprised that he made it inside the suitcase. Urahara had an almost evil grin on his face, which Orihime seemed oblivious to. They walked outside and Orihime turned back to Urahara.

"Thank you Urahara-san for everything. I will keep you updated on the progress and let you know when Ichigo is ready."

"Thank you Inoue-san. Now you better catch that flight. Good luck."

Orihime ran down the road, turning to wave back at Urahara. She continued running until she made it to the station. She pushed the suitcase through, nearly getting it stuck in the doors. She once again made sure Ichigo was still around. She threw the suitcase onto the conveyor belt once at the airport and was surprised at how light it was. She made it the terminal just in time. She got to her seat and took deep breaths to calm herself down. She was finally going back. It seemed like she had been gone for weeks. She called Tatsuki quick and let her know they were leaving. Tatsuki was going to meet her at the airport. Orihime was happy Tatsuki was able to get her on such short notice. She finally was able to sit back and relax.

The flight landed at Chitose Airport in Sapporo, and Orihime rushed out of the plane and nearly forgot the bag. Ichigo had to remind her as she was almost out the door. She found Tatsuki near the entrance. "I didn't know you had enough money to go on a shopping trip Orihime." Tatsuki said as they greeted each other.

Orihime gave a quick chuckle. "Oh no Tatsuki-chan, I didn't go shopping. There's a body in here!" Tatsuki's eyes widened and she looked around to see that a few other people noticed.

"What are you talking about Orihime?!"

Orihime looked confused. "I have the gigai in here. It's not alive or anything. Well it was until Urahara-san knocked it in the back of the head and then he stuffed him into the suitcase."

Tatsuki was getting nervous how and patted Orihime on the shoulder, announcing loudly. "Oh Orihime and your stories. They are so funny." Tatsuki gave some fake laughs and pulled Orihime towards the door, causing the suitcase to jerk quickly. Just then, they could hear noises from the suitcase.

"What the...hey! Get me out of here!" Kon began clawing at the suitcase.

Tatsuki shrieked and pulled Orihime's hand. "Ok, time to go...now!" They ran towards the car in record time, all while Kon was yelling to get out. Finally when they reached the car, Tatsuki kicked the suitcase. "Will you quiet down already! We'll take you out when we are in a safe spot. Got it?" Kon said ow, but remained quiet for the rest of the trip home. When the car passed back into Ichigo's area, everyone could hear a huge sigh. Ichigo then appeared and looked to almost be panting.

Orihime looked behind her. "Are you ok now Kurosaki-kun?" Still trying to absorb as much energy as he could, he was only able to nod. Orihme smiled and turned back around. They arrived at Orihime's house in good time and Orihime was so excited to be home that she nearly fell out of the car.

"Hang in there Orihime. We need to unpack, Kon was it?"

Ichigo answered for her. "Yeah, his name's Kon." They placed the suitcase in the driveway and unzipped it. Kon burst out and shook his arms and legs to get back to normal.

"That was not fun." He looked around. "Oh hey, nice place."

Orihime turned towards the house for a moment, then back. "Thanks! Welcome home everyone!"