I'm back! School is over and I'm home again. Here is the next chapter, I hope you like it!

Thank you gmsephiroth for the beta!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach

Orihime opened her eyes, and yawned.

Ichigo was still asleep, his face buried in the pillow. He had flipped over onto his chest, but his left hand was still holding onto hers. Even when he was asleep it seemed he did not want to let go of her.

She smiled, kissing the side of his face. He groaned and buried further into the pillows.

"Good morning." she smiled, kissing his cheek once more.

"Morning." he murmured, "Too early."

Orihime giggled, he looked absolutely adorable fast asleep with his face smashed into a pillow. Pulling the covers closer to him, she slide out of the large bed and ruffled through the closet for some clothes. Managing to find a pair of his shorts and a t-shirt, she headed down the hallway to take a shower.

The shorts fell past her knees as she needed a belt to keep them on, and the t-shirt fell well past her waist. Wandering around the apartment, she gathered up their wet clothes from last night, as well as some other clothes and towels from around the other rooms, and put them in the washer. She could not really wear his clothes outside the apartment, it would be too embarrassing.

Moving onto the kitchen, she found the supplies on the shelves, and heated a pan on the stove.

Ichigo sniffed, something smelled really good. He sat up, finally noticing that Orihime was already up. Yawning widely, he slipped on a pair of shorts and disappeared in the shower. It was earlier than normal for him to get up on summer vacation. Usually, he would sleep in and not get up until Yuzu called him about getting breakfast.

When he emerged from the shower, got dressed, and as he was still drying his hair he found her standing at the stove making scrambled eggs. Humming to herself, there was an apron tied around the clothes she was wearing, or rather his clothes. Orihime was completely oblivious to the fact that Ichigo was standing in the doorway to the kitchen with a large grin on his face.

He could get used to this.

She started slightly when his arms slipped around her, feeling him leaned his head on her shoulder.

"Morning." he told her, pressing a kiss to her neck.

"Good morning."

"You're making me breakfast."

She laughed, "Yup, I missed cooking and I thought this would be the perfect occasion for bacon and eggs."

"Sounds good." he nodded, leaning on her as he reached over to steal a piece of bacon. Orihime was a great cook. Ever since he had known her, she had been able to cook a whole variety of dishes. Ones that made sense, and at times, dishes that he was sure no one else would eat but her.

"Um...Ichigo?" she blushed.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Uh...um...be careful. My back is a little sore."

His cheeks instantly turned scarlet, and he buried his face in her hair, taking a little weight off her. Her back hurt...

"Sorry." he murmured into her neck, "I wasn't...paying attention." he was not referring to that present moment.

She laughed out loud then, "It's not big deal." she turned her head and pecked him on the lips, "It was well worth it."

His cheeks were more bright than his hair.

"You hungry?" she held up the frying pan.

Ichigo smiled, sitting at the table, "Yeah."

She sat at the table, dressed in his clothes, eating breakfast. For some reason, he could not stop himself from glancing at her once in a while. Orihime was smiling to herself, completely and utterly content at the moment.

"Um, Orihime?"

"Hn?"

She had just returned from Hueco Mundo. Despite the fact that her old apartment was now back, and she had plenty of other places that she could stay, he wanted her to live with him. It was a lot to think about, considering the fact that she had only been back for a short time, but he genuinely wanted her to stay.

Orihime watched him curiously.

He blushed again, his eyes straying towards the window, "I...uh...wanted to ask you something."

Come on, Majesty, you can do it.

Zangetsu had remained pretty quiet until then, something that Ichigo was glad of. He mentally glared at the alter ego in his mind.

"Yes?" Orihime asked.

"I-"

Open your mouth and tell her, dumbass.

"I want you to stay with me!"

He said it really fast and practically yelled it in her face. Orihime blinked a few moments, and then she beamed at him.

"Okay."

That was that.

A limo pulled in front of the Kurosaki residence.

It was rare in these parts of the city that someone of high social status would appear. Except for the Golden Week festival, and some other cultural events, generally those who were more wealthy stayed up in the higher-class part of the town.

Stepping out of the limo, after the door was opened by the driver, was a tall business woman. She was dressed in an expensive black suit, with matching black pumps, with a leather purse hanging from her shoulder. She could not help but smile brightly at the Kurosaki Clinic as she knocked on the door.

It opened, and Karin frowned, "Yeah?"

"Is Hirako Shinji-san here?"

Karin glared at her, and then turned around, "Hirako-san!"

Shinji had not seen Yadomaru Risa in a while, but he was aware of her success. Risa smiled as he marched over to her, "Hurry up."

Karin and Risa exchanged looks. Shinji was not in a good mood.

Hansei greeted her when she came in, "So, how is the pervert business going?"

"Jackass." Risa sat on the edge of the table, legs crossed, "I am not a pervert."

"Having a multi-million dollar company that sells women's lingerie makes you a pervert."

This was the regular conversation that Hansei and Risa generally had. Risa, who had already married four years ago and had three children, was the CEO of one of the wealthiest lingerie companies in the world. She had started out as a model when she graduated high school, and gone on to start her own companies that sold cosmetics and various clothes.

"Watch it Hansei." Rose entered the room, "She's quite the little firecracker at the negotiation table. You probably don't want to piss her off."

"Well spoken." Risa smiled.

Rove and Rose had interesting lives as well. Rose ran his own model agency, and Rove was a drummer in one of the top rock bands in the nation. Mashiro ran her own clothes designing buisness as well.

Shinji was somewhat glad to see his old friends again. He had already sent messages out to the other Vizards around the word, in hopes to get their promise to help. There was a good chance that they would be alone in their mission, but it was probable that other members of the organization would want a chance for victory against the Arancars.

Hachi was upstairs speaking to Hiyori, who was currently not speaking to Shinji. He did not have time to go in and suck up to Hiyori. There was no way that he was going to let her fight in her condition no matter how upset she was with him.

"So, Detective-" Risa leaned over, "-who is this girl that Shinji was telling me about?"

"Eh?"

Shinji suddenly smirked, Risa was not one to keep secrets, and neither was he.

"What's her name..." Hirako flopped in the chair, "...Arisawa Tatsuki?"

Hansei glared at his commander, "Screw you, Hirako."

Everyone laughed as a light shade of pink rest on the detective's cheeks.

"Okay, people, we got to focus." Shinji waved a hand, silencing everyone, "We have a set date for the invasion of Hueco Mundo. We're shipping out tomorrow."

There was a silence in the room.

"Ichigo will be fighting with us, and the Seireitei has promised to defend from their front. We'll use our powers to break through the gates of Las Noches. The Soul Society will be putting together a force that will be backing us up."

"So-" Hansei leaned back into his chair, "-what do we have to do to pay them back for that generous off?"

"We will be the ones facing the Espada." Shinji replied, "A few of the captains may lend aid, but we are essentially facing the more powerful Arancar on our own."

Everyone glanced at each other. There was nothing they could really do about it. The whole deal was already shaky as it was, and it was generally true that the Vizards were stronger than the Shinigami.

"Deal." Risa said, swinging her legs on the table, "I don't see a way around it anyway."

"Good." Shinji stood, "Meet here at noon tomorrow."

Everyone dispersed, and after they left, Hachigen stood in the doorway. Shinji was once again staring out of the window.

"Her Hollow powers are under control. The energy you gave her saved her life." Hachi told him.

"I know."

"Go talk to her. You'll regret it if you don't."

"No."

Hachi sighed, everyone he knew was too stubborn for his own good. Shinji brushed the curtains aside, gazing outside. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately, but for some reason he just found the sky very interesting to look at.

"Shinji-kun?" Hachi frowned, "Are you prehaps...feeling guilty about what happened to Hiyori-san?"

There was a muffled thump as Hirako's head rested on the window. He could not stop thinking about it, and it was starting to cloud his judgment. Rushing half-cocked into this war would be deadly, even for him, and would get his entire squadron slaughtered.

"Hiyori and I come from wealthy families and we were arranged into a marriage pact when we were young children, did you know that, Hachi?" Shinji replied, "At first I hated her."

Hachi continued to watch grimly.

"That was back when my powers started to wake. It was horrible, facing it by myself. The constant nightmares, breaking glasses in my hands without meaning too...I even broke a chair once by touching it." Shinji chuckled, "Then when I saved her that night, I found out that she had the same powers as me, and I didn't feel as insecure about it."

Shinji turned around, and there was a sad smile on his face, "After getting drafted into the Seireitei, and all the mess we had with them, she was really the only person I had keeping me sane. That's why I was willing to live in that apartment over a cafe for the rest of my life, because she was there."

"Why are you telling me this and not telling it to her?"

"Everyone's getting someone these days, it seems." Shinji laughed, "Hansei even managed to find someone that was willing to put up with that jackass-brash attitude of his."

"With all that energy you gave Hiyori-san, you will not be as strong as you are at full power."

That was the main point that was worrying Hirako. After giving up so much reiatsu that is not easily reclaimed in the first place, he would only be able to face up to a three or four level Espada instead of being able to go all the way to the top. That made Aizen out of the question, as well as the other Shinigami traitors.

"I will make it work. I always do." Shinji sighed, rubbing his head, "I'm going to go take a nap. I didn't sleep at all last night."

Hachi watched the Vizard commander disappear up the stairs. He made a face and headed to the kitchen to get some of the good tea that Ichigo's younger sister was making.

Young people these days are so hard to figure out.

Shinji stood outside his room, and found his eyes looking at the door next to it. Hiyori was sleeping, he could tell by sensing her reiatsu. How come he could never stay angry with her? Maybe that was a good sign if they ever did end up having to go through that arranged marriage crap.

Before he knew it, his hand was turning the door knob, and he went in. She was turned at her side, facing towards him. When the door opened, her eyes cracked open. Seeing Shinji there, she frowned, "I don't feel like dealing with you right now-"

"I'm tired."

"Then go to sleep, idiot."

"Move over."

Hiyori glared at him, "What?"

Shinji shut the door and slipped off his jacket, setting it on the chair, "Move over."

Before she could protest, he pulled back the sheets and climbed in next to her. He tucked his arm under the pillow and yawned, "Turn around."

"So many god damn orders." she murmured, rolling over so her back was towards him, "I'm not your frickin' maid-"

She froze as his arms slipped around her, resting his head on the top of hers. Her back pressed up against his chest, and she could hear his slow breathing.

"I'm really tired." he murmured, "I'm going to take a nap for a while..."

He was asleep.

After being awake so many nights in a row to go to the Soul Society, to go to the treaty talks, to deal with the incident in Karakura, and to be up late getting everyone together, Hiyori began to feel a little sorry for him. Shinji Hirako was the person everyone relied on and looked up to when there was a problem. Being the strongest out of the Vizards, it was no surprise.

She took his hand that was draped on her waist, and slipped her fingers through his. He was exhausted, and the sleep would do him some good.

Maybe she would let him get away with it just this once.

Ichigo strolled down the street, heading in the direction of the Clinic. He had to check in with everyone and see what was going on, and Inoue was going to stop at the grocery store on the way back. Looking down as a hand grabbed onto his, and he smiled, "It's a really nice day out."

Orihime laughed, "You're in a good mood."

"Course." he said, "So what are we having for dinner?"

"I don't know yet." she made a face that told Ichigo that she was thinking, "I was thinking of a few things, but I couldn't decide."

"As long as its not peanut butter and leeks, I'll be fine with anything you make."

She laughed again. Glancing over at the river, she stared at it in surprise, "Wow, it's really high."

"It rained a lot last night." Ichigo replied, "The paper said there was flooding downstream."

Letting go of his hand, she ran towards the river, dipping her hand in it.

"It's cold." she shivered.

"Well, duh." he chuckled, "It's still spring too, so the water is cold from the winter."

"I really missed this place." she smiled, "As much as I always wanted to go do amazing things, I always loved it here."

"Yeah." he nodded, one of his hands resting on her head.

Ichigo was in a good mood even for him, but there was something that felt off. Since this morning he could have sworn there was another reiatsu in the area that he never felt before, but it had disappeared before he pinpoint where it was.

It was back again.

"What's wrong, Ichigo?" Orihime asked, looking up at him worriedly.

"I don't know, I just feel something...odd." he said, "Like-"

She felt it now too, and he could tell because all the color instantly drained from her face, and her hand was gripping tightly on his sleeve, "Its..."

"Orihime?" he frowned, looking around once more.

"It's a pity that it took you this long to sense me." a voice cackled, "I would have thought the great black-zanpakuto wielding Kurosaki would have noticed."

They both turned around to see the figure perched on top of the building, his scythe resting on his back. Noitora smirked at them, "Long time no see, Hime-chan."

"Noitora." Orihime took a step back, "We have to get out of here, Ichigo. We have to-"

"What the hell do you want?" Ichigo snapped, glaring at the Espada, "Get the hell out of my city."

"Tsk." he leapt down from his seat, landing gracefully in front of Ichigo, who was now standing in front of Orihime, "How quickly we forget, Hime, of whom you really belong too."

"Stay away from her." Ichigo took a step back, holding Orihime behind him, "And she doesn't belong to anyone."

"Such chivalry." Noitora chuckled, "Its a pity such virtues are now lost in the Universe. Come, Hime-chan, it is time to return."

Orihime glared at him, "I'm not going."

Silence.

Noitora stared at her a moment, and then smiled, "I was hoping you'd say that."

Ichigo watched as Noitora drew the large scythe and the blade sliced through the air straight towards Ichigo and Orihime.

Finals are over! This means I can concentrate on the story again. There aren't too many chapters left, but I can promise you the ending will be really good. :D

Lately, I've been slowly going threw chapters to correct name spelling mistakes and other things. It will take me a long time to go through all the chapters, but there won't be any revises to the actual story.

Send a review and tell me what you think.

Arigato

Lilith