A few words from the author: Thank you all who read, double thanks for all who review. Loads of thanks to Motoko Aoyama, who beta-read my chapter and helped me make it better.

FIGHT TERRORISM: REVIEW MY FIC (if you don't review, the terrorists have already won. . . he he he)

Enjoy

January 14, 1970; 1495 local time; Tacoma, Washington

Ichigo stood in front of Tatsuki, both of them dressed in white gi. They exchanged bows before assuming their fighting stances. The two slowly made their way along the edge of the mat, each waiting for an opening.

"Whenever you're ready," Ichigo said.

"What, you scared?" Tatsuki said playfully before lunging at him.

Ichigo ducked and tumbled to the side as Tatsuki aimed a back kick at him. He caught her leg and twisted it. Tatsuki winced, but nevertheless managed to place both hands on the mat and kick him in the jaw with her other leg. The force of the blow sent him reeling onto his back, but Ichigo still sprung back up and aimed a roundhouse kick, intending to take Tatsuki's legs out from under her. She jumped in evasion and leaped at him, hitting him in the chest with full force and knocking the wind out of him, causing him to fall onto the mat. She then pinned his arms to the mat and straddled his waist.

As Ichigo pondered his position, the "Hey. . . somebody want to play" signal went off in the back of his mind and his body responded accordingly.

Ichigo was suddenly very thankful that he was wearing loose-fitting robes as he felt a certain member of his body respond to the nerve impulses from his brain (1). This thankfulness lasted until Tatsuki noticed his "response".

"So, you like it when I play rough, eh?" She said in a tone that contained just a hint of sensuality.

"Erm, where do you want to go for dinner?" Ichigo asked, abruptly changing the subject.

-------------------------

January 14, 1970; 1804 local time; Tacoma, Washington

Knapp's restaurant and lounge was an old part of Tacoma's Proctor district. The restaurant was dimly lit and hushed conversations could be heard wafting through the air. The two of them sat at opposite ends of a small table which had two plates on top of it; the one in front of Ichigo had the remains of a steak while the one in front of Tatsuki had a few uneaten pasta noodles. The candle in the middle flickered as they started talking again.

"So, Ichigo, you promised to tell me what you've been doing. . ."

"Where do you want me to start? From the beginning or two months ago?"

When Tatsuki made no reply, Ichigo decided to ramble on.

"Well, you see, after high school my dad wanted me to go to medical school. You know, to be a doctor like him. I didn't want to, we had a huge argument and he kicked me out." he said, taking a drink from his glass.

"That's terrible." Tatsuki said with a sympathetic look.

"Well, I got a job and I've been living in an apartment ever since."

Tatsuki gave him a skeptical stare before saying, "So where did you get those scars?"

"What scars?"

"I say scars on your chest when you were changing into your gi, I know for a fact that no surgery could make those."

Ichigo sighed before starting over, "I was kicked out for not attending med school, that much is true. Well, I had nowhere else to go and I found myself in an army recruiting office."

"You're kidding, right?"

Ichigo closed his eyes and shook his head. "They sent me to Vietnam and I spent my first three months at some backwater shithole called Boun Ma Thout."

"When was this?"

"The last few months of '67, until February of '68. Then we got transferred to Saigon. We spent three more months there before moving back to Boun Ma Thout where I spent the rest of my tour."

"What did you do when you got back?"

"I got an apartment here in Tacoma and a job at the port. . ." Ichigo exhaled slowly and looked down.

"You don't have to say any more. . ." Tatsuki said, giving him a caring look and putting her hand on his.

"I've gotten this far, I might as well finish it. . ." Ichigo said, turning his hand over and caressing the back of her hand with his thumb. "I found it really hard to get back into the swing of civilian life. . . but the worst part are these damn anti-war hippies. . . the nerve, calling me a baby killer. . . What do they know about war?"

"You didn't kill any babies. . . did you?"

Ichigo went quiet before asking Tatsuki, "Would you believe me if I said no?"

"Why, why would you do such a thing?"

"I didn't. . . Thank God, but I almost did."

"What do you mean by almost, Ichigo?"

Ichigo took another drink from his glass before starting his tale. "It happened during my time in Saigon. We were patrolling the streets when we got ambushed. We lost one man right off the bat, and one of my buddies was wounded in the leg. One of my other buddies, Urahara, and I were in the process of dragging him off when he got shot again, this time in the chest. We got him to safety. . . I tried to patch him up, but he died. . . he died. . . right there in my arms. . ." Ichigo gazed into the flickering candlelight, its small flame reflecting off his unshed tears. "It frustrated me, I just wanted to go out there and blow every one of their heads off. . . We charged into the building where the enemy was and I. . . I went on a rampage. . . I couldn't stop killing. . ."

"Get to the point." Tatsuki said, slightly annoyed.

Ichigo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I had just finished blowing someone's brains out when I saw a woman and her daughter huddled in the corner of a room. At that point, I was so crazy from the fighting that I tried to shoot them. . . but I was out of bullets. . . so I pulled my knife. . . I would have killed them both if it wasn't for Chad. . ."

"Who's he?"

"He was part of my squad, he was a pretty quiet guy, kept to himself mostly. But man, he was strong as an ox and was always looking out for everyone else. . . Saved my ass more than once. . . Anyways, he grabbed my arm and stopped me." Ichigo sighed and put his face in his other hand. "If you want to leave now, I won't blame you. . . I mean who would want to sit here and listen to some washed up nobody talk about death?"

"I would, especially if this washed-up nobody was someone I cared about." Tatsuki said.

Ichigo looked into Tatsuki's eyes and gave a grateful smile as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Thank you" Ichigo murmured as they got up and left.

-------------------------

January 14, 1970; 1938 local time; Tacoma Washington

Tatsuki stood with Ichigo at the door to his apartment, the soft electric lights casting shadows all around.

"Well, I had a great time tonight. I hope we can do it again sometime." Tatsuki said.

"How about next week? Same time, same place?" Ichigo said as he put his arms around her.

Tatsuki put her arms around his shoulders before kissing him. "I'd like that."

The two of them stayed in that position for a little while longer before Tatsuki let go and headed back to her car. Ichigo felt a strange feeling of peace that night. For the first time since high school, he felt loved, he felt wanted, he felt. . .

Happy. . .

(1) Ichigo was experiencing what those in the medical profession refer to as an "erection", commonly known as a "raging boner".