The first half of this chapter is dedicated to Chuain, who inspired me to spend a little time letting Ichigo put someone in her place. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I know it was controversial, but a few of you gave reviews (those of you who logged in know who you are) that made me giddy – you have such great insight! For those of you who hated the last chapter, I appreciate your passion, and think you'll find some redemption in this one. Remember, I'm not writing the main characters as perfect beings, I'm writing them as flawed kids who are just trying to do their best.

Chapter 18: Reconciliation

Ichigo and Orihime had decided to have some tea and get a bite to eat before going to Urahara's to allow them both the chance collect their emotions after their first real fight. They were surprised when Urahara himself answered the door, looking tired and stressed.

"Long time no see, Kurosaki-san, Inoue-san. How did you know I was back?" he asked, clearly distracted.

"Um, we didn't, Urahara-san. We were hoping to talk to you but we didn't expect to see you here in person. Did you just get back?" Orihime asked.

"Yes, just now, in fact. So much to tell you about! But not today, I'm sorry to say. I have a lot on my plate at the moment. Is what you need to discuss terribly urgent?"

"Yes, it is," Ichigo said with a hard look.

"Ah, I see," Urahara replied, finally observing Ichigo properly. "Your reiatsu is quite improved."

"Yes, Urahara-san, I have been using my rejection technique to somehow restore it, little by little. I suggested we ask you if it might be beneficial for Kurosaki-kun to start training; I think it's important so that he would be able to control his hollow if it tried to manifest again," Orihime added, giving Urahara a loaded look.

Urahara didn't miss it. "I see. Well, I think you may be near a point where it might be of use to train you, but I need a few days to prepare and think about how to best go about that. I also would like you to stop in after school every day this week, Kurosaki-kun, so I can measure your reiatsu. In the meantime, Inoue-san, I would like you to use your rejection technique to restore Kurosaki-san's reiatsu for a set amount of time each day, so I can measure the increase. Would thirty minutes per day be too much, Inoue-san?"

Orihime sighed, not liking what she was being asked to do, as it undermined the compromise she and Ichigo had come to earlier. The more she thought about it though, the more she realized that set sessions that were limited in duration were exactly what she had in mind, even though she had hoped not to do it every day. She nodded in agreement.

Both men smiled, and Urahara started to back up into the shop, then paused, "Oh, and Kurosaki-san, please come to get measured in the evenings. I am working on a project that is going to take up most of my time during the day for a while. Goodbye!" With that, he slipped back inside his shop and slammed the door behind him.

Orihime and Ichigo stood staring at the closed door in shock for a moment, completely thrown by the shopkeeper's exceptionally bizarre behavior. Ichigo was first to shake it off.

"Come on, Orihime, let's go, we have school tomorrow."

"Yes," she answered, her focus still far away. Suddenly she snapped back to attention. "Oh, yes, but you have to stop over at my apartment so I can restore you like Urahara said.'

"We don't have to do it tonight, Orihime. I'm sure you're tired."

Orihime sighed softly. "It was never about that, Ichigo."

He looked down at her and gave her a small smile at her use of his given name. She caught a glimpse of it and smiled herself, feeling encouraged.

"We just had a misunderstanding that needed to be cleared up, that's all. I can restore you today," she answered, looking forward and picking up her pace.

"Hey, wait up!" Ichigo laughed as he jogged to catch up to her.

December 2nd

Ichigo stood outside the Handicrafts Club room after school, about three-quarters of the way through the latest Bad Shield volume, waiting for Orihime to come out, when he picked up whiff of sour reiatsu. He looked up to see Tatsuki standing across the hall from him with her arms crossed, glaring at him.

When she saw that she had is attention, she spat, "What are you doing here?"

Ichigo had had enough of Tatsuki. She was meddlesome with Orihime and abusive toward him. "Waiting to walk my girlfriend home, what are you doing here?"

"Hmf, shows how much you know. She's coming home with me," Tatsuki answered in haughty tone. "Oh, wait, she probably didn't tell you because she didn't want you to know."

"What the hell is your problem, Tatsuki? I understand being worried about your friends, but you crossed way over the line yesterday and you are dangerously close to crossing it now. My relationship with Orihime is fine, thank you. We worked things out yesterday, if you must know, not that it's any of your business," Ichigo replied, dishing out a superior tone to rival Tatsuki's, before levelling an icy stare at her and adding, "Oh, and by the way, try any of that shit again with me like you did last night and you will regret it."

"Are you threatening me, Kurosaki?" Tatsuki hissed, fuming.

"It's not a threat, Arisawa. I am just making that line I referenced before crystal clear for you, since you seem to lack the ability to sense it yourself. Oh, and by the way, Orihime can and does handle herself, despite whatever you think. She doesn't need you fighting her battles for her anymore." A small part of Ichigo regretting pointing that out to her, knowing it would hurt, but on the other hand, he reasoned, Tatsuki really needed to be put in her place. She had become somewhat of a tyrant.

Just then, the clubroom door opened and Orihime came out. "Ichigo-kun! Tatsuki-chan! What are you both doing here?" she asked with a smile until she picked up on the tense atmosphere. It was then that she remembered promising Tatsuki to study again that afternoon. "Oh! I'm so sorry I forgot, Ichigo, but I promised Tatsuki we would finish studying today. We didn't get to finish yesterday…"

Ichigo played it cool. "No worries, Orihime. Let me know when you're done and I'll walk you home," he said, wrapping an arm around his smiling girlfriend's shoulders and giving her an affectionate squeeze as she nodded, while throwing a triumphant glance toward Tatsuki.

"Tch, whatever. Let's go, Orihime," Tatsuki demanded, giving him a look that promised retaliation, grabbing Orihime by the elbow, and dragging her toward the exit.

"See you later!" Orihime called and waved over her shoulder.

When they were out of sight, Ichigo released a long sigh and dropped his head to his chest, feeling like the world was against him.

"Something wrong, Kurosaki?" a familiar voice asked in an unexpectedly gentle tone. Ichigo had forgotten that Uryuu had been standing there since Orihime came out. Ichigo looked up at Uryuu, and was about to tell him that everything was fine, until he remembered what Orihime had said about Uryuu and his superior listening abilities.

"Actually, yeah," Ichigo started, feeling uncharacteristically vulnerable. "If you have some time right now, would you mind lending me an ear for a bit? I could use another person's take on it."

Uryuu was deeply surprised, but also quite pleased that Ichigo would ask him for help. "I'm free; do you want to talk here or…?"

"Er, how about we go somewhere where we can get a drink and sit down, this might take a while," Ichigo answered, starting toward the exit.

The boys decided on a small coffee and tea place near school that only had a few tables and wasn't typically busy in the afternoon. As expected, they were the only customers, so they sat down and ordered a drink and after they were situated, Uryuu looked at Ichigo and simply said, "Go ahead."

Ichigo started a long monologue, starting with his difficulties with Tatsuki and his father, and then, carefully, explaining the tension between himself and Orihime. Ichigo expected at that point that Uryuu would jump in to defend Orihime, but to his surprise, Uryuu said nothing, but kept his focus, nodding along and allowing Ichigo to get everything out that he needed to say. Ichigo continued, explaining how he didn't mean to upset Orihime, and that he still cares for her very much and wants to be together, but that his focus right now is on leveling up. After he had spoken for what felt like a long time, he stopped, and added, "I know you and Orihime are pretty close, Ishida, so I know you'll probably take her side, but thanks anyway for letting me get this off my chest."

"Actually, Kurosaki, I think you are right."

"Um, what?" Ichigo was stunned.

"You said your focus is on leveling up your power right now. I can relate to that, and I think that it's the right thing to do. I understand that Inoue-san is unhappy with the change in your relationship, but I think she is being a bit naïve and will understand in time that it's not to slight her. Besides, it's not like you intended for this to happen; neither of you expected for her power to be the source of you regaining yours. You certainly could have reacted to her better last night, I mean, your anger was definitely uncalled-for, but I think your position was correct.

Before this happened, you were able to focus on your relationship with her like she was the center of your world; she was the goal. That was easy to do then; you had nothing else to work toward besides each other. But now, there is the possibility to have your powers back. You have another worthy goal, and I think you should do your best to achieve it."

He paused to sip his tea and continued, "Inoue-san sees it through a completely different lens – she has always seen you as her hero, with or without power. Honestly, you as a powerless human is no worse than you in bankai as far as she's concerned. So the focus that you are putting on your self-improvement is unnecessary to her. It sounds like you started to explain to her how you felt last night, but I think you can do better to get her to understand why this is important to you. I think once you do, she will be a lot more supportive."

Ichigo's eyes were wide as he said, "Wow, Orihime wasn't kidding, you are a good listener," quietly with a tinge of awe in his voice.

Uryuu blushed and pushed up his glasses, flustered at the unexpected praise. "In any case, Kurosaki, I would be happy to help you however I can toward getting your powers back. I lost my Quincy powers too, once, if you'll remember, so I know how this feels."

Ichigo was really touched, and finally understood why Orihime held their bespectacled friend in such high personal regard. He looked across the table at him, and didn't see his irritating, prissy, know-it-all classmate anymore. He saw a young man; mature for his age, intelligent, caring, articulate, athletic, well put-together, and a true friend. He wondered if this was the Uryuu that Orihime always saw. A tentative feeling of envy washed over him, followed by a small, nagging suspicion. "You're not just saying all this to drive a wedge between us, right? I know you had feelings for her before," he asked carefully, trying not to be disrespectful after the kindness he had received.

"No, I would never do that to my friends." Uryuu answered cautiously.

"It's not like I blame you, Ishida. You'd have to be blind to not be attracted to her."

"It's not that, Kurosaki, although I admit I find her quite beautiful. But foremost, she is my dear friend; I would never intentionally do anything to make her unhappy. And, as much as it irritated me at first, she has chosen you as the one to be by her side and make her happy, so I will respect her choice as long as you are good to her. Besides, before you were ever interested in her I had decided not to pursue her or anyone else while I focused on improving myself as a Quincy."

Ichigo was once again deeply impressed by his friend's unexpected maturity and openness. He was starting to feel overwhelmed by gratitude. He suddenly stood up from the table and bowed formally at the waist, barking, "Ishida, thank you very much for listening to me," before quickly straightening back up, red-faced and embarrassed by his outburst. It wasn't lost on him that it was something Orihime would have done, and part of him was amused by how much she had rubbed off on him.

Uryuu couldn't help but laugh, and a rare, carefree smile swept across his handsome face. "Careful, Kurosaki, you don't want to ruin your reputation with that display of humility," he teased in good faith.

Ichigo relaxed and smiled in return as his phone buzzed with a message from Orihime letting him know she was almost done at Tatsuki's. "Well, that's Orihime, I've got to go pick her up from Tatsuki's. Thanks again, Uryuu. I may take you up on helping me train soon," he said, putting on his coat.

Uryuu stood and started to get ready to leave as well. "Anytime, Kurosaki. See you tomorrow." He smiled to himself all the way home.

Hoping to avoid Tatsuki, Ichigo texted when he arrived instead of knocking at the door, and Orihime met him outside soon afterward. It was a cold night, and although they were dressed appropriately for the weather, the air still bit at their exposed cheeks, giving both of them a rosy glow.

"So, it turns out, you were right about Ishida." Ichigo started when she approached him, his elevated mood being clearly expressed through his tone of voice.

"Oh yeah, how so?" Orihime asked, amused.

"After you and Tatsuki left, I asked him to listen to me, like you suggested a while back. You were right. He is a great listener. He is open. And he does give really good advice."

Orihime was so pleased she could barely contain a giggle. "Oh, I'm so happy! I bet Ishida-kun is really happy too, now."

"I think he is," Ichigo admitted, before narrowing his eyes, putting an arm around her waist and pulling her close as they continued walking, "be careful though, when we talked about you he admitted that he thinks you are 'quite beautiful'. I don't want him falling in love with you and stealing my girl," he teased, tickling her side.

Orihime went serious, and suddenly stopped walking. She looked up at Ichigo wide-eyed, and asked, "Did he really say that?"

"…Yes?"

"No!" she laughed self-consciously. "Ichigo is being silly. No one would ever say that about me!" she added and continued walking.

It was Ichigo's turn to be serious as he took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. "You most certainly are beautiful," he told her, before kissing her full on the lips.

Orihime's knees went weak. Ichigo's kiss was not aggressive, but it was brimming with intensity, as if he meant to communicate all his feelings toward her through it. When he finally pulled back, they were both out of breath, and stood for a moment just looking into one another's eyes.

It was as if someone had flipped a switch. Both of them were suddenly desperate to get back to Orihime's apartment. Ichigo took Orihime's hand and began to lead the way at a brisk pace, and she was more than willing to keep up. They said nothing else for the duration of their walk.

After they arrived at Orihime's and took off their shoes, there was no stopping them. They clawed off each other's jackets and left them on the floor as they made their way to Orihime's living room, hands searching each other's bodies as their lips met once more. Orihime's cold fingers made their way to Ichigo's collar, letting them warm up against the skin around the base of his neck, causing him to shudder. Ichigo mimicked her, getting rid of her uniform's bow and opening the top few buttons of her blouse to allow his little fingers to go under her collar as he cupped her face and dove in for a deeper kiss than before. Orihime whimpered under Ichigo's mouth at the touch of his frigid digits.

Something about that sound shifted Ichigo's desire into overdrive. Ichigo pulled away from her mouth to find the next button of her blouse, then went in for another breath-stealing kiss, only to pull away, dragging Orihime's upper lip with him a bit as he did, as his fingers found the next button. He continued this way, teasing her upper and bottom lip in turn as he managed to undo all the buttons on Orihime's blouse.

Orihime was entranced by the give and take of Ichigo's kisses, and didn't really realize her shirt was all the way undone until she felt his hands drag across her shoulders, pushing her sleeves and bra straps down to her elbows in unison. Orihime gasped as he felt his warm, soft lips on her clavicle, and cooed his name. Her own hands found the hem of his shirt and began to push it up, sliding her hands against his sculpted abdomen as his lips made their way down toward her right shoulder.

"Are you ok with this?" his husky whisper crawled into her ear like a drug.

"Yes," she whispered back as he pulled off his t-shirt, her arms encircling his bare torso and pulling their bodies together tightly, leaving no space between them. She brought her own lips to his neck and inhaled his warm, woodsy scent before latching onto his pulse point.

Ichigo pulled Orihime to his chest even tighter, and held on as she suckled his neck for a moment, before creeping his fingers under the bit of shirt still covering her back and finding her bra clasp. He fiddled with it for only a few moments before getting it to open and brought his hands back to her front to free her from the remaining garments on her upper body.

Ichigo took a step back to take a look at her naked breasts for the first time, salivating at their perfection, before gathering her back into his arms and squeezing her topless body to his, allowing her softness to fill each one of his hard crevices. His skin began to hum with sensation, and it almost felt that any part of his body that wasn't in contact with hers didn't exist. He wanted to get closer. He tucked his face into her neck. He still wanted to get closer. He picked her up with ease and laid himself down on her sofa, settling her on top of him. He squeezed her body tighter, kissing her cheek, nuzzling her neck, breathing her soft, feminine scent, until his breath began to hitch. He didn't notice, but Orihime did, and when she did, she pulled her face back to look at him. He was crying.

"Ichigo?" she asked tenderly, worried about him.

He looked at her, confused, until the first tear rolled down the side of his face into his ear. Then another one. Then another from the other eye. Then a hiccup, a sputter, and several more tears, until he had to let go of her and press the heels of his thumbs into his eyes in an attempt to stop his tears. "I don't know…" he choked, bewildered.

Orihime propped herself up on one forearm and stoked his cheek. "It's alright, Ichigo," she whispered, tears starting to roll down her own cheeks. Despite not knowing the cause of his unexpected display of emotion, she was overwhelmed with sympathy and was focused on finding a way to soothe him. She wiped away the tears that escaped his palms and kissed the trails they left on his temples. She placed petal soft kisses on his lips again before rolling off to the side and pulling his head under her chin and holding his shoulders in a warm embrace. She pulled the throw blanket she kept on the sofa over them and let him release whatever it was he had bottled up.

After his breathing started to even out, he lifted his head, only to see that she had begun restoring him, even as she held him. He squeezed her around the waist a little tighter and allowed himself to melt into her, and was soon lulled to sleep.

Orihime kept an eye on the clock across the room. Exactly thirty minutes after she had begun, she pulled back her power and crept away from Ichigo, trying not to disturb him. She gathered her clothes off the floor and went to the bathroom to dress, fix her hair and splash some water on her face. When she came back out she found Ichigo sitting up on the sofa, reaching for his t-shirt.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" she asked as he pulled his shirt back on and before he had a chance to answer she added, "Well, I suppose you have to get going to Urahara's shop soon anyway before it gets too late."

"Yeah," he replied groggily. "Sorry about before, I don't know what came over me," he added, surprisingly back to normal.

"It's ok," she assured him, "if you want to talk about it I'd be happy to listen."

"No, really, I don't even know why that happened; it's so weird. Thank you, though. After you started restoring me it was like everything that was hurting just went away."

"Hurting?"

"Yeah, it was like all my emotions were hurting, which makes no sense." He gave a little chuckle and smiled as if he were genuinely carefree, making Orihime somewhat suspicious. He made his way to the door and picked up his jacket. While he put it on he added, "I guess I just missed you."

Orihime wasn't completely convinced, but she didn't want to send him off worrying about how she was feeling, so she smiled and put her arms around his neck and pecked him on the lips, saying, "Let me know when you get home."

Ichigo gave her a quick hug and another peck on the cheek and said, "Will do. See you tomorrow," and was gone.

Ulquiorra stood in the training grounds below Urahara's shop holding a strange white orb with red stitching.

"What is wrong with you? Throw it!"

"Where do you wish me throw it?"

"At me, you idiot moocher!"

"Very well." Ulquiorra drew his arm back and propelled the object toward the red-haired boy holding the strange, club-shaped weapon. For a reason unfathomable to Ulquiorra, the boy was not pleased with the orb struck him in the side of his body, blasting him backward into a rock.

"What the hell, moocher? Haven't you ever heard of baseball!?" Jinta shouted from within a cloud of dust.

"No." Ulquiorra answered without inflection.

"Now, now, boys, it's time for you to come back upstairs, Jinta, and for me to take Ulquiorra's measurements," Urahara's voice carried over the sandstorm created by Jinta's body as he entered the underground.

"Tch, whatever. Read a book or watch TV or something, you green-eyed weirdo." Jinta huffed as he hoisted himself up the ladder, while Urahara floated down.

The shopkeeper made his way to his confused guest and produced a gray box with a screen on it. He set it down and explained, "This is a TV, or rather, a device of my own design that allows you to watch television programs from the human world. Go ahead, try it," he prodded as he took out a wand that measured reiatsu, waving it around Ulquiorra's body like airport security.

Ulquiorra touched the power button and the box lit up, revealing a moving picture of a woman dressed in a business suit reporting the news of the day. Urahara passed Ulquiorra a small black rectangle and explained, "This is a remote control. You can control the volume of the sound of the program and which channel you are watching by pressing the buttons. Try it out."

Ulquiorra pressed a button labeled 'channel up' and saw another moving picture, this time with men in tight white uniforms throwing objects toward one another, and one of the men had a club like Jinta's, but slimmer. "Is this… baseball?" he asked.

"Quite astute," Urahara answered with a small chuckle as he continued taking measurements.

Ulquiorra studied the game for a bit and then pressed the 'channel up' button again, revealing a moving picture of people sitting on a sound stage laughing at each other. "Oh, this one is Inoue-san's favorite," Urahara mentioned innocuously.

Ulquiorra perked up instantly. "Why?" he demanded, before leaning in to study the program intensely.

"She likes to laugh, Cifer-san," Urahara answered simply.

Ulquiorra's eyebrows grew slightly closer together as he eyed Urahara dubiously. In all the time he knew Orihime, he had never seen her laugh. He went back to staring at the TV for answers after a beat.

"Ah, just on time," Urahara said as his eyes went back to the door. "Good night, Cifer-san. Don't hesitate to call if you need anything."

Ulquiorra nodded silently without looking up as Urahara went upstairs.

"All done, Kurosaki-san," the shopkeeper proclaimed after measuring Ichigo's reiatsu with the same wand he had used on Ulquiorra. "Your reiatsu is increasing. Inoue-san does good work."

"She sure does," Ichigo replied, somewhat distracted. "Is there someone here?"

"You mean someone besides the usual suspects?" Urahara asked, curious that Ichigo might be able to sense Ulquiorra despite the protections he had taken, until he realized that he hadn't had a chance to spiritually sanitize the reiatsu wand.

"Yes, it seems like there is someone else here that I know, but I can't quite place it…" Ichigo answered, wrinkling his brows.

"Oh, actually, I think your senses are being deceived; this wand has residual reiatsu all over it. I'd bet I've used it on someone you know – I had it with me in Soul Society up until yesterday," he lied smoothly.

"Oh, that makes sense," Ichigo answered and yawned, much less interested now. "Well, it's late. I'll see you tomorrow," he added, walking outside.

"Yes. Goodnight, Kurosaki-san!"