Well, the good news is my back stopped hurting (mostly).

The bad news is I've been off my game for a while now. Thankfully, I'm getting over it and have started writing again. I've managed to flesh out a few gems for later on, but for now you'll just have to be satisfied with this longer-than-normal chapter.

And as to the reason why it took so long… well…

I kinda… might have… sorta… started another project.

And happy it is not.

It's another Bleach Fanfic, and much shorter than this one (which isn't saying much, but around 20 chapters) There's a lot of build-up that all culminates in the last few chapters, but the plot is a little complicated so it'll be hard to write. I'm actually kinda proud of the concept though, because I think it fits well with the way Bleach deals with tragedy in the storytelling.

I'm thinking of calling it His Wish, Fulfilled.

So, keep an eye out for it.

On an unrelated note, I read the new Dresden Files book, Changes, and I have one thing to say.

Jim Butcher is officially treading on very thin ice.

The next book better fix it. Period.

If you've read it, you know what I'm talking about.

That ending was total BS.

And for anyone that cares:

Master File Word Count: 38,273

Master File Page Count: 95

Again, without author's notes.

And I still don't own anything

Ichigo's eyes shot open, and were quickly covered by his hands as they tried to ignore the thundering beat of his pulse in his ears and rub the unpleasant memories away. Being brought back down to earth by Zangetsu was always a harrowing experience, but for some reason this time it was different. Before, the Zanpaktou spirit had only called his master when there was a fight going on; where immediate action was needed in order to save his life. This was the first time his sword had spoken to him when battle had been neither joined nor expected.

The truth was that Ichigo just didn't understand Zangetsu very well. Sure they got along, and the substitute trusted his sword completely, but there were some things that Ichigo just didn't get. Zangetsu was enigmatic and never said any more than he felt was absolutely necessary. For some reason the melancholy spirit always refused to tell Ichigo what the problem was directly, instead forcibly nudging him along until the teen figured it out himself. He didn't know if all Zanpaktou were that cryptic, or if it was just his, but it was an annoying habit that the substitute wasn't quite sure how to deal with.

As Ichigo pondered the nature of his moody Zanpaktou, his body began to quiver mildly with unspent adrenalin as he forcibly brought his heart rate back down to a manageable level. It was around this time that Ichigo noticed how his shirt was sticking to his skin as he felt the bite of his own sweat cooling in the chill air. He didn't need to look to know that he was probably a few teaspoons shy of drenched, especially after both the Nightmare and his little chat. The teen went through the familiar motion of plunging his fingers into his hair, half of habit and half just to see how dirty it felt since he didn't know how long it had been since the gigai he was in had last taken a shower. A groan of irritation filled the quiet room as Ichigo realized that the sweat had soaked itself into the orange strands that were quickly on their way to becoming grungy. The teen rubbed his hairline one more time before habitually letting his fingers slip their way through the rest of his locks.

Or, at least, he tried to.

At about the point where his hair would normally end and his hands come free, there was instead a sharp pain in his scalp as his fingers got caught in a few of the larger knots that had managed to tangled the orange strands as he slept. The gender-bent teen quickly removed his hands from the strangling mass, and the previous groan was elevated to a full blown growl. His hair, which was nearly four times as long as it should be, was hopelessly matted.

This was just not his day.

To make matters worse Ichigo suddenly felt a familiar pang in his abdomen, one normally associated with a quick trip to the bathroom. With a disgruntled grunt, Ichigo tossed off his blanket and sat up. Lying about in bed didn't seem quite as luxurious as it had a few minutes ago, and now that he was moving he realized that he really needed to relieve himself. The teen quickly extracted his new frame from the futon and meandered towards the nearest toilet, both his mind and muscles sluggish and barely responsive. Once there Ichigo endured only a moment of aprehension before taking care of business. He quickly realized that going to the bathroom wasn't nearly as different or strange as he thought it was going to be. He just had to sit down and his body and gravity did the rest.

Once he finished his business and washed his hands Ichigo wandered back into the living room. As he ambled by, the house-guest noticed some clothes on the table and a piece of paper that wasn't there the night before. Curious, the teen scooped up the paper and read it as he wandered aimlessly through the apartment.

It was a note from Orihime.

Dear Kurosaki-kun:

Sorry for not waking you this morning, but you seemed really tired last night, so I figured you should sleep in since you don't have to go to school today. There's food in the kitchen, so feel free to make yourself whatever you want. If you want to cook there are clean pots and pans in the cupboard next to the sink, or if you don't I think there are some instant noodles in the pantry.

I got out some clothes that you can borrow for today and set them on the table next to this note. Feel free to use the bath if you want to get cleaned up. There are clean towels in the laundry room and the shampoo and conditioner are under the bathroom sink. If I might make a suggestion, it's easier to get the knots out if you brush your hair while the conditioner is still in. There's a hairbrush on the sink in the bathroom that you can use if you want.

I'm going to ask Tatsuki to come shopping with us today like we discussed. I'm going to go with Urahara's idea from yesterday and tell her that you're my cousin. The only problem is that since we're supposed to be related now we have to have the same last name, so I think we should call each other by our first names for now, since I can't exactly call you Inoue-kun, now can I?

Bye, and have a good day!

Orihime Inoue

After finishing the letter the teen paused for a moment, thoughts trying to congeal in the murk that was his mind at the moment. He turned his head to the side to look at the clothes Orihime had left out for him, and suddenly came to an embarrassing conclusion. He was covered in quickly drying sweat, dirty, and not in any shape to even entertain friends, let alone go out in public.

He needed to get clean.

The more he thought about it, the more disturbed he became. His body was undeniably female, but on the inside he was still male, and still himself. The mere thought of seeing herself naked made his modest mind recoil and his face flush. Sure, he'd seen a woman naked before, but that wasn't really by choice. And even then, it had only been for a few seconds. This would be something entirely different. He was going to have to clean this female body of his. That meant not only would he have to look at it, he would have to touch it, and while it was wet no less.

The longer he thought about it, the more of a problem he realized this was going to be. He couldn't spend the next month completely avoiding it. Last night he had tried to confront the issue, but chickened out. Ichigo knew he didn't have that luxury today. He had to be able to look at himself long enough to get clean and dressed. The moment he realized this, a horrible little thought snuck into his mind.

I'm alone.

The teen irrationally looked around the room, almost checking to make sure that he really was by himself before making a decision. Once he had, he quickly gathered up the clothes, retrieved a towel and retreated to the bathroom. He knew what he had to do. The mere idea had his stomach twitching in a horrible way.

He had to desensitize himself.

He wasn't a pervert, but he just couldn't function like this. From the first moment that he realized he had been turned into a girl Ichigo had been every shade of pink he could think of, and a whole day hadn't even passed yet. And this was only the beginning. He had to go shopping for clothes later on today. He had to go to school later on this week. He couldn't afford to be so damn shy.

He had to deal with it, now.

It was the perfect opportunity, really. Orihime was at school, so he was alone in the apartment. If he did this right he could start getting used to his new anatomy now, while she was gone, and his friend wouldn't have to know. The last thing he wanted was to bother the girl more. Dealing with him like this was bad enough.

It was with this mindset that Ichigo locked himself in the bathroom. He took a look at the tub and thought. Orihime had a removable shower head, so if he wanted he could take a shower, but the ache in his muscles begged him not to. He didn't normally indulge in baths, mostly because the bathroom at home was not safe. The last time he tried to take a leisurely soak his father had come in and dumped a bucket of cold water on his head. Needless to say, the teen was not happy with the old man that day.

As Ichigo continued debating, that same little, horrible idea came back.

I'm alone.

Bath it was, then.

The gender-bent teen quickly set everything down before searching through the bathroom for the various items from Orihime's letter. He found them quickly enough, sparing only a moment to scowl at the pink hairbrush before placing it and the bottles within easy reach from the tub. After that was done, the teen quickly found the plunger and started the water. Once it started warming he plugged up the hole and stood back, taking a deep, steadying breath before doing what he couldn't do the night before.

He gently, deliberately, lifted his borrowed shirt up and off, letting the sweat-soaked garment pool on the floor. Despite himself, Ichigo had instinctively snapped his eyes closed. After a few moments of rationalization and steady breathing, the gender-bent teen allowed his eyelids to slowly lift.

His reaction surprised himself.

The substitute expected his face to flame up, his nose to start bleeding, to faint on the spot, or any number of other clichés that usually go hand in hand with this sort of thing. Instead Ichigo found himself considering things a little more analytically. Sure he was still embarrassed, and definitely blushing, but being alone and in a controlled setting made it easier. He was careful to keep his back to the bathroom's mirror, rationalizing that seeing himself in a mirror would be no different than seeing a real woman naked, which was more than his fragile male mind could handle at the moment.

Instead he took a few steps towards the tub and slowly looked down. The first thing that caught the teen's attention was, of course, the breasts. He felt his mouth go dry as he noted how they were the same uniform tan as the rest of his upper body and seemed to wiggle every time he moved. The blush on his face stayed a mid to deep red as he curiously poked the side of the left breast, idly noting that it wiggled back into place rather quickly. Modesty got the better of the teen, however, as he disturbingly noted that what he was doing right now could be considered the equivalent of prodding one of his testicles were he his proper gender.

The thought sent a shiver of disgust through the teen's body, forcing him to quickly look away and observe other things. He noted that he was still tall, and after some minor consideration concluded that he had an athletic build like Tatsuki, if a little more heavily muscled. That was probably a good thing. If he was clever he could pass himself off as a martial arts buff, like her. That way, people might not mind if he acted more masculine, and it would give him an excuse for being a little rough around the edges when it came to… girly things.

At around that thought, Ichigo checked the tub and decided that the water had reached a suitable level for taking a bath. He quickly shut the faucet off before removing the rest of his clothes, adamantly telling himself that his waist was as far south as he was going to examine. Getting used to the breasts was a necessity, but the nether region absolutely was not.

Pushing the thought aside, Ichigo climbed into the tub and was instantly glad he had decided to take a bath over a shower. The teen couldn't suppress the groan of relief that filled the room as the heat from the water began to seep into his stiff muscles. He had to bend his knees to slip all the way down into the water, but his shoulders surely appreciated the effort as his tense body finally began to relax.

Ichigo allowed himself a few moments to enjoy the bath, letting much of what had happened earlier slip into the back of his mind. In his current state there was little if anything he could do about his nightmare or Zangetsu's ever cryptic advice. The Substitute decided that rather than worrying about something he had no way of dealing with yet, he should instead concentrate on the problems he could manage right now.

Like his hair.

Ichigo did as Orihime's note suggested. He first used the shampoo, which was really just an inexpensive brand with a vanilla scent. Vanilla really wasn't his style, but then again neither was hair long enough to have knots. As the teen cleaned his now offensively long locks, Ichigo started to wonder if maybe he was just making the problem worse as his fingers continued to get caught in the tangled strands.

Feeling like he'd done enough damage, the gender-bent teen rinsed out the fragrant suds before reaching for the conditioner. He rolled the bottle over in his hands, slightly apprehensive about what to do next. Shampoo he understood, but Ichigo had never needed to use conditioner before, and wasn't quite sure how it was supposed to help. When wracking his brain got him nowhere, the teen turned the bottle over one more time before doing something that he would probably be laughed at for if anyone found out.

He read the instructions.

Apparently, conditioner was pretty straightforward. Apply, lather, wait a few minutes, then rinse. After a slight pause, the teen merely shrugged his shoulders and began following instructions. How in the world this stuff was supposed to make untangling the mop on his head currently posing as hair any easier he didn't know, but when Ichigo reached the waiting phase he took the hairbrush he'd found and got to work anyways.

Evidentially, Orihime knew what she was talking about, because in a few minutes Ichigo had his hair obeying him again, and with far less pain than he thought there would be. Only three strands were knotted beyond all redemption and had to be broken. Other than that the rest of his hair came free easily, although his scalp was tingling from the effort.

Ichigo quickly finished scrubbing himself, careful to avoid any sensitive areas, before rinsing out the conditioner. Once he was satisfied with his cleanliness, and the water had cooled to a less than ideal temperature, the gender-bent teen pulled the plug and let the murky water drain away as he himself exited the bath. While patting himself dry with the towel, careful not to knot his hair again, Ichigo realized with mild disgust that he didn't have a clean pair of underwear. After a sigh the teen shrugged it off and started getting dressed. He would just have to deal with dirty undies today since there was no way in hell he was borrowing them. Orihime was a great friend, but that was asking way too much of her. Wearing someone else's panties is just… wrong.

As Ichigo finished dressing himself his stomach made its opinion known rather vocally for the second time in as many days. The teen sent a scathing scowl down to his abdomen before abandoning the bathroom in favor of the kitchen. He didn't want to cook. God, he didn't want to cook, but if he could locate the instant noodles mentioned in the note then he wouldn't have to. All he had to do was find them. After about five minutes and some ravenous ransacking Ichigo managed to find a few individual serving instant noodle cups and immediately set a teakettle to boiling.

In a few minutes the apartment was filled with a shrill whistle that was quickly joined by a second, yet equally annoying sound.

A telephone ring.

Ichigo glanced at the phone as he removed the kettle from the fire and started filling one of the cups, wondering if he should answer. As far as he knew the only people aware of him staying here were Urahara, Yoruichi, and Orihime herself. Urahara might call, but normally he'd just send Yoruichi to come get him if it was actually important. Yoruichi herself would probably just show up as a cat if she wanted to chat, so that left Orihime, but she should be in class.

As the teen finished and set the kettle back on the stove the phone kept ringing, and Ichigo realized that whoever was calling either had to know that someone was home or was really desperate to talk if they stayed on the line that long. Ichigo walked over to the receiver and stared at it for a few moments before lifting it off the hook and answering. He couldn't be sure who was on the other line, but if he just acted like he belonged there it should be fine, right?

"Uh, I-Inoue Residence?"

"H-hi, I-Ichigo!"

He knew that voice…

"I-Ino… ah, O-Orihime?"

"Yes! You got it right on the first guess!"

"Uh, well you're kind of the only person that knows I'm here…"

"Oh, right! I forgot…"

"So… Is something wrong?"

"Ah, no! Well, not exactly. You see, Tatsuki-chan came in late today, so the teacher is making her stay afterschool to make up for the time she missed. It isn't that long, so I thought I'd stay here with her so we could pick you up from the apartment together. I-Is that alright?"

"Huh? Sure, I mean… If that's what you want to do then that's fine. I'll survive on my own for a little while longer."

"A-are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Alright, as long as you'll be okay. Did you get my note?"

"Heh, yeah."

"Did you find the food okay?"

"Yeah. I found some instant noodles. I'm actually making some right now."

"Oh, good! I was a little worried…"

"Orihime, I'm a big boy. I can manage on my own if I have to."

"Right!"

Ichigo heard Orihime's giggle, and couldn't help but indulge in a little twinge of a smile. Say what you will about the girl's taste in food or extravagant imagination, but there is no denying that her joy was infectious. After they finished their chat and said their goodbyes Ichigo hung up the phone, and found himself in a slightly better mood than he was a few minutes ago.

The teen wandered back to the kitchen, where his noodles had finished cooking. He rummaged through a few drawers until he managed to find a pair of chop sticks, and then took his meal and utensils to the table. He was hungry, and there was food to be eaten. The meal vanished quickly, although Ichigo did force himself to slow down and eat like a normal person rather than wolf it down like he had last night. Once he was finished, the teen looked around and realized that the room was a bit of a mess.

Responsibility laced with a bit of guilt got the better of him as Ichigo decided to straighten up. Mostly he just cleaned up after himself. He picked up after his lunch, folded his blanket and futon, gathered the pajamas he'd borrowed as well as the towel and moved them to the laundry basket, and put various things back where he had found them. Once that was done and his conscience satiated, Ichigo sat back down to take a break, and after checking the clock he'd noticed while cleaning up he realized that it wasn't even 1 PM.

As Ichigo sat back and wondered what he should do with the next few hours, his gaze eventually found its way to the textbook he'd been given the night before. It was on the table where he'd left it, although he only vaguely remembered putting it there. The cover was just a generic light brown, but he noticed that there were no words on the binding to indicate what the book contained.

Sitting forward, Ichigo picked the text up, noticing the unnatural bulge between the pages and remembering the wallet he had stuck inside. The teen gingerly opened the book and removed the foreign object, wondering whether he should start reading the book, or count the money he'd been given. As he glanced between the two distractions in his hands, Ichigo looked up at the clock one more time before shrugging his shoulders and setting the book down.

After all, it shouldn't take that long to count all of the bills.

He could study after.

*sigh*… I enjoy doing this too much.

… Which reminds me…

*SPOILERS*

Did anyone else get giddy with excitement when the saw chAngE, the new opening for the Anime? I sure did. I liked the Zanpaktuo arc as much as the next person, but it's about time they got back to the meat and potatoes of the series. I can not wait to see how they handle Ichigo's fight with Ulquiorra. God, I hope they don't censor it. Seriously, it just wouldn't be the same without Ichigo getting pwned followed by Hollow Ichigo returning said pwnage ten-fold. They can pull that crap with Rangiku and Allon, but this is a major plot point. If they screw with it, I'm gonna be pissed.

*END SPIOLERS*

Well, now that my little fangirl rant is over I think I'm gonna try to go to bed.

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, and the interesting imagery I left you with. Remember, I'm trying to keep this as tasteful as possible.

Later ~