A/N: Can't wait to see what happens next, huh? Well, I can certainly understand that feeling! So let's find out together!

Disclaimer: I've come to the conclusion that I shall never own Bleach….

Soul Mates

Chapter 15: Strength of Will

She was going to be the death of him, Ichigo decided as he walked down the hall, away from his girlfriend's apartment. It was late Thursday evening, and though dinner had ended a couple of hours before, he was only just beginning his way home. He had one hand shoved deep into his jeans pocket, and his other arm hung at his side, carrying the small bag of leftovers that she had insisted on sending him back with.

His body was tingling from their latest kiss as he descended the stairs casually.

They had been dating for roughly a week now, and he had managed (somehow) to keep at least most of his clothes on when they were alone together. But that feat got harder every time. And it certainly didn't help that she seemed just as eager to fall into bed as he was.

But, despite the nearly overwhelming temptation, he had a plan, and he was going to stick with it.

The upcoming weekend was their last weekend before the start of the new semester, and then they would be swamped with homework as it piled on top of their bound-to-be-hectic work schedules. They probably wouldn't be able to go on a date every other day. And his father would probably start harping on him about his curfew again.

So, the way Ichigo saw it, this was their last weekend of true freedom before December. And December was several months away.

But school wasn't the only important thing coming up very soon.

Orihime's birthday was on Monday, too.

He already knew that they had both been scheduled to work after school on that day, and so he wouldn't be able to help her celebrate the way he wanted to in a perfect world. But he'd gotten permission to stay out a little later than usual, so he was going to take her to dinner after she got off work, even if it had to be a later dinner.

And he had toyed with the clichéd idea of making love to her for the first time after dinner on her birthday, but that hadn't lasted long. He would be expected home at some point that night, and he suspected his nosy father would wait up for him, too. And that just wasn't something he wanted in the back of his mind while he was with her.

It was this decision – and a nearly-forgotten promise – that had led to the rest of his plan.

Orihime's boss, fearing that she was still recovering from her non-existent illness, had only scheduled her for a few shifts since her doctor's note had expired. As a result of this, she only had one shift to worry about for the weekend, and it was a Friday afternoon shift. So, after Ichigo dropped her off at the bakery, he would have the bulk of the day to set up everything he'd need for Saturday.

But, as he walked away from her apartment building, he had to admit that, though Saturday was only two days away (one day, really), it was still too far. If she kissed him goodnight the next day like she had half an hour ago, he was pretty sure his resolve would crumble.

He could still remember the way her hands had felt on his skin as they slipped beneath his shirt and ran along his abdomen.

Ichigo grinned, just a little, as he reflected on the first time her hands had wandered beneath his shirt. It had been Monday, and they had been spending the afternoon at the riverside, eating ice-cream and trying not to melt in the heat. Apparently he had had a drop of ice-cream left on the side of his lips, and Orihime's way of telling him about it had been to lean in and lick it off with the tip of her tongue.

Only the knowledge that they were out in the open, where anyone could see them, had kept him from taking her then and there.

But ever since that afternoon, when her hands had 'accidentally' slipped beneath his shirt, she had taken to touching him every time they kissed. She would always let the tips of her fingers run along the grooves of his muscles, sometimes slow and light, other times lingering and sensual. Whether it was just her fingertips or the whole flat of her palm against his chest seemed to depend on her angle as they kissed – although, if his shirt managed to find its way to the floor, then her hand would always press solidly against his searing flesh.

And he was hardly blameless in his own right. It had been easier to refrain from touching her when she hadn't been touching him. But she wasn't the only one who'd crossed that invisible line Monday afternoon at the riverside.

When her hands had found his skin, and before that sense of decency had woken up in the back of his mind, Ichigo had followed her lead all too eagerly. His own hands had trailed down her spine until they'd found the hem of her shirt, and when the smooth, untouched skin of her torso met with his calloused palms he'd nearly growled against her lips.

There were very few places that his hands hadn't roamed since that day.

He'd already memorized the ridges of her spine, and he knew without having to think about it just how high his hands could go before his knuckles would be brushing the underside of her bra. He knew exactly where to rub his thumb on her lower back to make her arch into him, and he had, on multiple occasions, run his hands up and down her legs.

He knew that her thighs were the perfect size for his hands. Her calves were tight and strong, her thighs soft and smooth, and the backs of her knees were ticklish. And most of the discoveries he'd made on her legs had happened Wednesday morning, when he'd shown up nearly two hours too early to walk her to work, and they had ended up making out on her sofa.

She landed in his lap somehow, and then she'd been straddling him and his hands had been wandering, exploring, and helping them both to forget about the clock.

If it hadn't been for that ticklish spot he was pretty sure she'd have missed work that day.

Ichigo shook his head as he rounded another corner. These are not the kinds of thoughts I need to be having when I walk through my front door, he reminded himself.

But distracting his brain from its favorite train of thought was easier said than done. Especially when he still had several blocks to go before he got home, and his blood was still burning through his veins.

Orihime stood, hands on hips, in front of her bathroom mirror on Saturday morning. Ichigo would be over soon, picking her up for their mystery date, and she wasn't sure what she should wear. He had told her to dress 'actively,' but she wasn't entirely sure what that meant.

Her lips scrunched as she studied her reflection. She was currently donning a pair of dark gray cut-off shorts and a light pink halter top. Her hairpins were clipped securely to her left front pocket and her hair was loose around her shoulders in its usual style.

"Is this right?" she wondered aloud, her hands moving to smooth away an invisible wrinkle from the front of her shirt. "Is this what he meant?"

A part of her that she had only recently discovered couldn't help but wonder if he hadn't meant an entirely different kind of 'active' – and she would have been lying if she'd said she was opposed to the idea. But, if he had meant it that way, then she would definitely need to change.

Her contemplation was cut short when someone began knocking on her door, and Orihime squeaked in surprise. It's later than I thought! she realized as she glanced down at her watch. Forgetting about her wardrobe dilemma, Orihime spun around and darted out of the bathroom, barely remembering to snatch her phone off the counter in the process.

And then she was pulling the door open and looking up, into the warm, smiling brown eyes of her boyfriend.

"Hey, Hime," Ichigo greeted softly as he leaned down and captured her lips in a lingering kiss.

She was breathless when he pulled away, barely managing to return his greeting as her eyes fluttered open.

He couldn't help but smirk at the expression on her face, and he stepped slightly to the side so that he wasn't crowding her entryway before asking, "Are you ready to go?"

Orihime took a deep breath to steady her racing heart and nodded rapidly. "Yes!" She paused, however, and gestured to her outfit before asking, "Um, that is, unless you think I should change first?"

Ichigo let his eyes rove over her figure, noting the way the deliberately-tattered denim hugged her thighs and hips, and the way the light-weight shirt somehow managed to emphasize the flat plane of her stomach instead of the curves of her large breasts. And, for a moment, he had to fight the urge to invite himself inside and shut the door.

Instead he swallowed and met her gaze again, offering her an encouraging smile and saying, "Not necessary."

Her resulting smile was worth every ounce of self-restraint, and she turned only long enough to snatch her purse from the coat-rack that she kept beside her door before returning and stepping into the hall.

It wasn't until she had locked her door and they were approaching the stairwell, their fingers laced together between them, that Orihime thought to ask, "So, what are we doing today? You've been awfully secretive about it."

Ichigo grinned without looking over at her and replied, "You'll figure it out soon enough."

Orihime mock-pouted as they descended the stairs, crying, "Ah! Ichigo, why won't you tell me?"

This time he did turn the grin toward her as he teased, "Because it's a surprise, silly."

She scrunched up her face for a beat before releasing a breath and smiling at him. "Alright, fine, I'll let you surprise me."

Chuckling now, Ichigo said, "Don't act like you don't enjoy surprises."

Orihime giggled and deliberately bumped into his shoulder as they walked, one flight above the ground floor now. "Will you at least tell me if this is an all-day kind of thing?"

"Oh, it is," Ichigo assured her, squeezing her hand slightly. "But don't worry; I've got it all covered."

"How are you doing that, anyway?" Orihime asked as they finally stepped onto the ground floor of her apartment building. "You haven't gone back to work yet! You're not depleting your 'move out' fund for me, are you?"

He chuckled again at her choice of words as he led her down the street. "No, I'm not," he promised. "And it's not like I haven't let you pay for anything."

"It doesn't count if I have to beg or spring it on you," Orihime insisted immediately.

"Sure it does," Ichigo argued teasingly.

Their light conversation continued, giving way to talk of the upcoming semester and the strange dreams that tended to occur if one ate too much wasabi-covered ice-cream before bed, until Orihime finally realized where they were heading.

She trailed off, interrupting the tale of her dream, and her eyes went wide for a beat with realization and confusion before she asked, "Ichigo…are we going to the Vizards' old hideout?"

Ichigo refrained – though only barely – from chuckling again, but he never broke stride as he said, "Yep."

Entirely curious now, Orihime's head tilted until it was bumping into his shoulder as they entered the once-familiar district of warehouses, and she asked, "Why?"

"Because I have a promise to keep," he replied casually as they approached the building in question.

The Vizards had abandoned the warehouse shortly after the War, having left for parts unknown, but they had left it intact. Ichigo had woken one morning with a note on his desk telling him to feel free to 'borrow' their warehouse if he wanted to continue his training on his own. He hadn't used it more than a couple of times since then, but he checked up on it from time to time, to make sure that no one else had decided to move in.

"Promise?" Orihime repeated curiously even as she lifted her head from his shoulder. She turned equally-curious eyes up to him as their pace slowed, letting the rest of her question hang silently in the air.

Ichigo returned her curious gaze with a grin and paused to press a kiss to her temple before murmuring, "Just trust me, Hime. I'll explain in a minute."

Orihime nodded in acceptance, and she managed not to pout when he pulled his hand free and led the way into the building. She followed him fearlessly into the darkened space, letting the door shut behind her as Ichigo continued toward the staircase.

What are we doing here? she wondered as she kept pace behind him. She hadn't been back to the warehouse since the War, when Hachi had restored Tsubaki for her, though she knew that Ichigo had visited it occasionally. She had always considered this warehouse a place strictly for Vizard training.

Ichigo led the way down the steps that descended to the basement area where he had once learned to control his hollow, knowing Orihime would follow him.

He had considered taking over Urahara's basement for the day, but ultimately he had opted to go with something a little more private. The shopkeeper had managed to become even nosier in the past week or so, and he always gave the couple a strange, knowing smile when they were together around him. And Ichigo just didn't want to have to worry about wondering if the older man – or anyone else, for that matter – was spying on them.

Once they were standing several paces beyond the staircase, in the barren area that passed for the warehouse's basement, Ichigo turned back to face Orihime with a lopsided grin. "So," he began lightly, "are you ready for a date that only a punk like me could think up?"

Orihime giggled and stepped up to him, letting her hands rest flat against his chest as she leaned up and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips. His hands had already found their way to her hips when she pulled back and, still smiling, said, "I already know for a fact that you have good ideas, Mr. Punk. So, yes, I'm ready."

His grin broadened and his hands tightened over her hips, tugging her against him so that he could claim her lips one more time. He kept the kiss chaste, knowing how easy it would be for him to lose control if he didn't, and then he pulled back enough to murmur, "You should probably not agree before you know what we're doing, Hime."

"Maybe I just trust you," she breathed easily.

His grip loosened, then, and Orihime fell back to her feet as he asked, "Remember when I told you I'd let you test your shield against my bankai?"

Orihime blinked up at him, for a moment thrown by the question. But she did remember, though she'd thought for sure that he had forgotten, so she nodded and said, "Yes."

"Well, I gave it some thought," Ichigo continued, his hands lingering over her sides. "It's one thing to just test the strength of your shields, and it's another thing to build their strength."

Her eyes widened as she began to suspect where he was taking this, but she remained quiet.

He held her gaze solidly as he said, "So, I was thinking that's what we should do. I know it's kind of an off idea for a date, but I also know it's important to you to be stronger, and it's important to me that I know you can handle whatever might come up in the future. The way I figure it, if you can stand up to me, then we'll both be happy."

Orihime stared at him for a beat, barely daring to believe that he was offering to train with her. But, as she looked into his eyes, she realized that she recognized the shine in them. He meant what he'd said.

A smile split her face for an instant, and then Orihime's arms were wrapped around his neck and shoulders and her lips were covering his firmly. She had pressed herself flush against him in the space of a heartbeat, her fingers already buried in his hair and her tongue immediately plunging past his lips.

Ichigo was nearly thrown off-balance by her reaction, but he caught her easily and wrapped his arms entirely around her. He hadn't expected her to react quite so strongly to his suggestion, but he decided to be proud of himself for this idea just as soon as he could think about anything beyond the taste of her. At the moment, though, the taste of her was incredibly distracting.

And then Orihime loosened her grip on him, pulling back and smiling brightly despite the slightly-ragged edge to her breathing. "That sounds like a great idea," she replied with silent laughter.

His grin returned and his hands dragged back to her hips. "Alright, then," he said. "Let me just ditch my body and we can get started."

Orihime released him with a nod and watched as he ambled back toward the stairs, dipping one hand into his back pocket as he moved.

He lifted his Combat Pass from his pocket, turned, slapped it against his chest, and leapt free of his body with practiced ease. And then, after pausing a moment to properly deposit his body over the stairs, he returned to her.

"So," Orihime began teasingly as she clasped her hands together behind her back, "are you ready to show me how it's done?"

Ichigo offered her a smirk and lifted one hand deliberately, wrapping it around Zangetsu's hilt. "Something like that, yeah," he replied.

She offered him another silently-laughing smile before spinning around and sprinting away, calling, "Catch me if you can!"

He paused, allowing himself a moment to appreciate the view of her short-shorts and toned legs as her hair swung from side to side over her back. But he took a deep breath, tightened his grip around his weapon, and vanished in a flash-step. He couldn't be taking it too easy on her, after all.

Ichigo reappeared in front of her, saying, "You'll have to be faster than that, Hime!"

But as he swung his still-wrapped blade forward he realized that she was prepared for his attack. And then the blade slammed into the solid surface of her Santen Kesshun.

Orihime stood on the other side of her shield, hands braced forward in a well-practiced stance, and teased, "You didn't really think I was running, did you?" Her eyes crinkled then, and before he could push back, she added, "Koten Zanshun!"

Tsubaki shot forth eagerly, curving around her shield and slamming sideways into Zangetsu.

Orihime took her chance and ducked around Ichigo as he was forced to parry the attack, keeping her shield between herself and her boyfriend as she raced for the nearest tall rock. "You won't stand a chance if you don't take this seriously!" she called back with a laugh as she ran.

Ichigo swung wide, forcing her attack-fairy to fall back, and he couldn't help but grin. If she was this much fun to spar with when the fight got serious, he'd make a point to spar with her regularly. Then again, he admitted silently, I might be biased.

Still, she was right. He'd tested her initial reflexes, and they were solid; it was time to actually get down to it.

"Alright, Hime," he called calmly, "I'm taking this seriously now." As he spoke he leapt into the air, high above the rock she was hiding behind, and the wrapping fell away from his blade.

It was against his every instinct to even risk sparring with her with an exposed sword, but he owed her that much. And, really, he knew she could handle it; he just had to let her.

Orihime looked up, knowing he was above her now, and smiled at him from her awkward angle. She was glad to see that the wrappings had fallen away from his sword; it meant that he really was going to make her earn her victory. And, in truth, she didn't know if she'd be victorious this time. But that was okay, because this was only the first time they would train together, and she knew she would win eventually.

Still, just because the training was supposed to be semi-serious didn't mean that she couldn't flirt with her own boyfriend. So, as he spun around in the air and prepared to lunge toward her, she pulled a corner of her lip between her teeth and asked, "Have I ever told you how sexy you are when you're fighting?"

She couldn't help but laugh when Zangetsu went plunging into the rock nearly a foot from where she'd been standing as she threw herself to the side and rolled back to her feet, keeping him in front of her.

"That's cheating," Ichigo admonished with a grin as he yanked his zanpakutou free, sending a landslide of rubble cascading behind him. He turned toward her, ignoring the partially-demolished rock, and pointed his sword at her. "You should be ashamed."

Undeterred by his teasing, Orihime took a half-step backwards and replied, "Isn't that what they mean when they say 'fighting dirty'?"

Ichigo didn't even try to stop the laughter as it bubbled up inside of his chest and he shook his head. "If I didn't know you were just trying to distract me, I'd have to be concerned, Hime."

"But it's working, right?" she asked mischievously as she studied his stance. He was expecting to have to hold back, she was sure. And maybe he would need to in a power sense, at least for now, but there was one thing he was underestimating.

She had been watching him fight for years.

She always stood as close to the edge of the sidelines as he would let her, always kept her eyes glued to his battles from start to finish. In the past she had watched out of concern, knowing he would win but praying he wouldn't get hurt in the process.

And, in watching his fights, she had become incredibly familiar with his patterns. She knew what each stance meant, what he was thinking about doing when he shifted his weight, and whether or not he was getting ready to change up his fighting style by the grip he had on the hilt of his sword.

In contrast, he had almost never watched her fight. That was largely due to the fact that she so rarely had to fight, but also because usually, when she did, it was because he was locked in battle elsewhere. She had never really trained with him. So he wouldn't know what she was thinking by reading her stances, at least not at first.

Of course, she also knew he was an incredibly fast learner when it came to fighting. So she would only have one real chance to press her advantage.

"I recommend you start running," Ichigo suggested as he lifted Zangetsu high.

She knew what was coming next, and she had the strange urge to say it with him. But, instead, she waited, patiently timing her counter.

"Getsuga-"

"-Koushun!"

The blue-white surge of spiritual pressure slammed into the shimmering golden shield, but Orihime remained behind it, confident that it would hold. After all, Ichigo had already solved that curiosity for her back in Soul Society.

Ichigo, honestly impressed by her calm reflexes, smirked even as he flash-stepped out of the way of the backlash from her shield. And, as he'd expected, the backlash destroyed what was left of the rock formation she'd chosen to hide behind earlier.

Orihime turned her gaze skyward once more, not at all surprised to see Ichigo standing there, watching the rubble settle. "Ichigo? Don't take this personally, okay?" she called teasingly before she threw one hand forward.

Her shield dissolved and Tsubaki shot forth again, slicing through the air straight for him.

Ichigo looked down to her when she called to him, and he let the smirk remain on his face as he blocked the attack. "You already tried this move, Hime," he reminded her.

He looked down again as soon as he'd thrown Tsubaki off of him, but Orihime was nowhere in sight. She had used her attack to distract him while she found a new hiding place, and he'd fallen for it.

"She's sneakier than I thought she'd be," his hollow commented, sounding somewhere between proud and impressed.

Ichigo knew the feeling, so he opted to ignore the comment as he took a moment to find her. In truth, he was glad she was thinking to run from him. Her powers weren't suited for head-to-head fighting like his were, so a hide-and-defend strategy worked better for her. Especially since an enemy that wasn't familiar with her abilities would never expect a counterattack from a shield.

But hiding from him wasn't going to work too well for her, as it took him no effort at all to find her new location. And two flash-steps landed him on top of the rock she was ducking behind.

He crouched down and asked, "Taking a break, huh?"

Orihime looked up, clearly not at all startled by having been found, and blinked innocently up at him. "I was just waiting on you," she replied. She threw in a wink for good measure before sprinting away from the rock.

Ichigo shook his head. Sparring with her was confusing his hormones. The fighter in him wanted to trap her, get in close and hold her still so that he could win. But the boyfriend in him wanted to toss his sword aside and pin her against the next rock until she learned not to flirt with him while he was trying to teach her how to fight. Only, he was pretty sure that that plan would backfire, anyway.

A flash of gold above him caught his attention, snapping him out of his distracted frame of mind, and he looked up. His eyes widened slightly when he recognized one of her shields as it dropped toward him. She was actually trying to use her shield as a battering-ram.

He flash-stepped out of the way, reappearing in the air, and called, "That was a nice trick, but it's not gonna save you."

Orihime turned toward him, her back to another, larger, set of rocks, and her shield returned to her. "Save me from what?"

Holding her gaze to let her know that he was done with their warm-up, Ichigo replied, "Me." He paused, deliberately sweeping Zangetsu forward, and added, "Bankai."

To Be Continued…

A/N: I bet you didn't see me taking it here, did you? (Don't feel bad, I didn't, either, until it happened LOL!) But I do hope you're enjoying their flirty-sparring match so far! And, don't worry, there's more to come next time! You just have to wait a little for it…but that gives you plenty of time to review!