Author's Notes: This chapter is co-authored by my friend Rain-and-Thunder. Thanks to the use of , was able to turn on 'control' with and allow my friend to actually write from her computer onto mine in areas of the chapter.

New House Guest

Orihime was bustling around in her home, getting things ready for when Tatsuki would arrive. It was Christmas morning and her friend was going to spend part of the day with her. With it being such a momentous occasion, this gave Orihime a chance to forget about all her troubles for the time being and be happy. She was always excited when Christmas came around and would always spend it with Tatsuki. Donning on a Santa hat, Orihime strolled around the house, humming Christmas carols to herself while waiting.

Since returning back from the Soul Society, there was a lot she had to discuss with Ichigo. He had lost the ability to be a Soul Reaper, but that didn't stop Orihime or the others from seeing random Soul Reapers and Hollows. Orihime felt bad for Ichigo and wanted to help him but he became distant. But she wasn't the only one he was getting distant with. It was also happening with Chad and Uryu as well. But she felt she was getting most of it, but couldn't figure out why.

Soon there was a knock at her door. Grinning, she snapped her head around to the door. "Coming!" Luckily for her she wasn't far from the door and she rushed towards it to answer.

"Merry Christmas Tatsuki. You're a bit…" she stopped, feeling a strange presence. Her eyes shot open before suddenly widening. "Gin…" she breathed, stunned.

"Well hello Orihime," he greeted with a large grin. "It's been awhile."

For several seconds she stared at him, mouth dry, not sure what to say. What was he doing there? She opened her mouth to speak but no noise came out and then closed it again.

"You know, I thought it was always rude to leave your guests standing at the door?" he inquired, teasing her.

"Oh…" Getting over the shock. "Right, come in!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. Unfortunately she had no idea he had no spirit energy. His eyes widened, revealing the blue orbs as he nearly fell into the house and on top of her.

Fortunately for him though, his experience allowed him swift reaction to side step slightly so he wouldn't fully lose his balance and knock her over to the floor. Of course if she had fallen, he would have crashed on top of her, causing a very awkward moment between the two.

"Careful now!" he teased. He was taken off guard, but he didn't want her to know that.

"Wow!" she gasped. "I didn't know I got that strong!"

He shook his head. "Actually, no. This is part of my punishment."

She blinked. "Part of your punishment?" She was confused.

Gin took a look around the room. "You have a nice place." He wasn't yet in the mood to explain that part of the details of why he was there.

Orihime looked around and then shyly smiled. "Thank you." She watched him walk around the room before taking a seat on the couch, pulling off his jacket. She walked over to the couch, taking a seat beside him. "I've never seen you dressed like this before."

"One could say the same thing about that on your head," he replied, pointing to her Santa hat. "What is that?"

Her eyes rolled up, remembering she was wearing the festive hat. "Oh that! It's called a Santa hat."

"Santa hat?"

"Yeah. See today is Christmas Day and…" she trailed off. "Oh…" The realization hit her suddenly. The Soul Society probably had no idea what Christmas was. "Guess you don't know about Christmas." She watched him shake his head. "It's a day where people get together that really care about one another." She paused. "Oh and they give each other presents too!"

"Presents?" His eyes narrowed into slits once again as his wide grin returned. "So then, where is my present? I suppose I'm yours."

Orihime blushed as she turned away. "Well…I…I wasn't expecting you."

He shrugged. "I like having that effect on people."

She frowned. "So I've noticed," she replied seriously. "Seriously, what are you doing here? And quit with the teasing. I know your secret as well. You like to make people fear you."

"You are as smart as they say," he smirked. "Yes, you could say I'm here for a reason…actually several but the main reason is because…" he paused. "I'm permanently trapped in this gigai with no spirit energy."

"No spirit energy?" she blinked.

"No. Also I'm to live the remainder of my life here in the World of the Living."

"That's terrible!" she squeaked.

"No, not really. At least I'm alive and I'm not being held in confinement like someone else we know."

"Aizen?"

Gin never said anything, only gave her a grin. "Oh by the way, when you answered your door, I take it you were expecting someone else?"

"Yeah, sorry about that." She stood up and walked over to a window to watch the snowfall. "Tatsuki is supposed to be coming over for a few hours. It's something we've been doing since we met. She should be here soon."

"Sounds interesting. I hope I'm not imposing," he replied. Something from the corner of his eye caught his attention. Getting up from the couch, he walked over to a shelf where stood a picture of a guy. He looked at it for a few moments. "Is this your brother?"

Orihime turned to see what Gin was looking at. "Yeah, that's Sora. He's the one I said who died in a car accident."

"I'm sorry you've been alone," he responded.

Orihime got ready to open her mouth when there was a knock at the door. She glanced up suddenly. That was probably Tatsuki for sure this time. She snapped her head from the door to the man still looking at her brother's picture. What was she to do? Tatsuki now knew everything about the Soul Society, since the teen forced it out of her. Including the two days Orihime spent in Heuco Mundo.

"You may want to get that," Gin stated without turning.

"Oh… yeah…" Orihime made her way to the door, forcing herself to put on a smile once again. How was she to explain this? How was she to explain an once evil man who had her kidnapped was now in her living room, stranded in the World of the Living?

"Hey Orihime," Tatsuki greeted when Orihime opened the door.

Orihime grinned. "Hi Tatsuki," she greeted back in her usual over cheery voice, partially blocking the door, preventing her friend from seeing the former Soul Reaper for the moment.

Tatsuki tilted her head a little, feeling it was a little odd for Orihime not to have her door full. "I'm sorry to do this, Orihime. But something has come up and I can't spend Christmas with you."

Orihime's heart dropped into her stomach. Taking a quivery breath, she covered her disappointment with a grin. "Well that's ok, Tatsuki. We can't always be together all the time. Why don't we hook up in a couple days then?"

Tatsuki smiled. "Not much brings you down, does it? Thanks Orihime. Well you have a Merry Christmas then. Bye." The teen turned away and ran off towards a group of people wearing kimonos who then waved to Orihime and walked off.

Orihime's smile faded as tears came to her eyes. She slowly closed the door as she leaned against it with her forehead. "Tatsuki…" she whispered, tears splashing to the floor.

"Is something the matter?" Gin came from behind her.

Orihime jerked her head up, remembering Gin was there in the room. Forcefully rubbing her tears away, she turned, giving him her best fake grin. "Wh…what makes you say that? I'm perfectly fine! See! Tatsuki is just not able to come, is all."

Gin stared at her with a frown. He leaned against the wall near the shelf, folding his arms across his chest. "Didn't sound like to me that you're fine. You're eyes are a little red."

She moved away from the door, making her way towards the kitchen but stopped. "No. I'm fine really. Tatsuki just showed me something really cool she got for Christmas and made me want to have one too."

Gin knew without a shadow of a doubt she was lying to him. But he could see she was doing it to protect herself. He knew she was like that. Always putting others in front of her own well being. It was that very reason why she willingly went to Heuco Mundo in the first place with Ulquiorra. With a sigh, he decided to let it slide for now.

"Well if that's all it is, who am I to argue," he remarked.

She gave him a smile and left the room, making her way to her room. She had pulled off the Santa hat as she passed Gin. She had to recollect herself before facing Gin again. But for the moment, she couldn't deal with his problems. She now felt her Christmas was ruined and she was completely alone for once on Christmas.

After spending some time in her room, crying, she made her way to the bathroom to wash her face and then went back to the living room. To her surprise Gin was still there. She never forgot she left him there before, but she figured he would have let himself out.

"Oh, you're still here?" she blinked.

Gin, who was sitting on her couch, reading the local paper, looked up. "Sorry. I didn't have a chance to say it earlier but where would I go?" He could clearly see the confused look on her face. "I have no place to go. I was knocked unconscious and woke on the ground here in Karakura Town, wearing this gigai. It's now up to me to find lodgings and a way to be able to eat."

"Oh…" Now that was something she wasn't expecting. He was actually homeless. Without so much in thinking of it, she suddenly blurted, "Stay here!"

Both went quiet, blinking at one another for a few moments.

Realizing what she just said, a blush formed on her cheeks. "I…I mean… at least-until-you-can-find-something-better," she blurted out really fast, nearly impossible for him to understand.

He jerked his head back a bit. "Are you sure? I don't want to impose." He wasn't sure what surprised him more; he actually understood her sudden garble or actually agreeing to him staying there.

"N-no, it's ok." Again her arms went flapping like a mad chicken. "I mean, with you being here I have someone to share my food with and if I were to hurt myself I could easily bleed to death at least you being here I won't get hurt too badly and you'd be able to help me if I had to go to the hospital." She went on a non stop nonsense garble.

Gin gawked at her confused with a sweat drop. This was a side to her he never knew of before. He began to wonder if this was a good idea.

"Oh, I have an idea," Orihime continued in her fast voice. "Why don't we go into the kitchen? I whipped up a really nice beef strips gravy with apple cider and lemons."

"Excuse me?"

"Well I do have rice too," she added. "But I always love putting sweet things in my food. It tastes a whole lot better that way."

Knowing he was trapped, he couldn't actually refuse her invitation. She had just opened her one-bedroom home to him and now was offering him weird food. He couldn't very well say no. Not after he already witnessed her being upset about Tatsuki not able to spend the day with her.

Ignoring his shocked look, she started her way towards the kitchen. "Oh, I forgot to mention, since you're friends with Rangiku. She actually loves my cooking. Thought it was the best she ever had. Though Toshiro wasn't so peculiarly fond of it. Not sure why."

He blinked. "This is a surprise." Now he really had to try her food. His long time friend liked her food. Now he couldn't let Rangiku show him up for liking her food. "Knowing Rangiku tried your food is typical of her to do. As for the Captain prodigy, that is quite typical of him to react that way."

With a shrug, he followed her into the kitchen and waited while she went and pulled out her food and got it heated up. While the food was heating up, she looked over to Gin. "Can you do me a favor? Can you go back into the living room and pull down my table?"

"Oh alright then." Grin in place, he left Orihime to do her thing. The table wasn't difficult to find, he'd noticed it earlier while looking around her small place. Pulling it down he brought it to the center of the room and began to look for a few cushions. "Where are your cushions?"

"In the closet." Orihime called from the kitchen. "But you might want to-" there was a loud crash, followed by a few muttered curses. "Be careful, I have a few things pilled up in there."

"Well I did find them…and hey a pink teddy bear. Why does is have a rip across the face with the stuffing coming out?"

Orihime stepped out of the kitchen with a bowl of rice and made her way over to the table, setting it down. She looked at the bear. "Sora gave that to me but after he was turned into a hollow…" she trailed off.

He looked from the bear to her, pushing himself out of the way from the junk that fell on top of him. He was glad Orihime was in the kitchen and no one else was a around when the stuff fell on him. He could imagine Rangiku's expression if she had seen what happened. She would have probably fallen to the ground laughing.

"He attacked, damaging the bear he gave you," he finished for her.

She slowly nodded. "Since then, I just haven't been able to bare looking at it. I know Sora is in the Soul Society now since Ichigo healed his troubled soul, but…"

Gin stood and stepped over to her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to explain things to me." He looked at the table. "Isn't there more food to come out?" he asked, grinning once again, changing the subject.

"Oh right!" Shaking her saddened thoughts, she rushed back into the kitchen to bring out two more bowls. "Can you get a couple plates?"

"Are the cupboards going to attack me like the closet?" he asked, teasing.

Orihime chuckled. "No, just the closet. I'm really sorry about that."

With a wide grin, he left for the kitchen and returned with the plates and chopsticks for them to eat. Between the two they soon had everything on the small table. Gin had made sure there were two cushions for himself and her to sit on the floor. The foods she had brought out were all a little strange looking, but then again this was his first time since he died eating food of the living world. There was something he was sure was chocolate drizzled on noodles, and sweet syrup on something else.

At Orihime's urging he slowly picked up his chopsticks and helped himself to a few items, keeping the proportions small.

"It's really good." Orihime urged.

He brought the food to his mouth, and stealing his nerves quickly shoved the food inside. It appeared to be some sort of sweet bean paste with a distinctly sour flavour. His eyes widened, the blue's showing bright and clear. "This is…"

"You don't like it?" Orihime pouted.

"Really good," he finished.

The girl smiled. "I knew you'd like it!" she clapped her hands together joyfully. She then started eating. She was still upset Tatsuki wasn't there for Christmas but at least she was spending it with someone and that someone actually liked her food, which was not often. Not even Tatsuki liked her food and would bring some 'normal' food for her.

The two ate quietly of their holiday meal, silently enjoying each other's company. When their meal was done, Orihime started to clear the table. She went to reach for the nearly empty bowl of rice at the same time as Gin. Their hands collided together, causing both to look up at the same time. Their fingers softly brushed together, nearly intertwining.

She was quick to try and snap her hand away, but Gin in his surprise had tightened his hold, causing the two to now hold hands across from one another. If they had been a couple it would have been romantic, but as they were it came across as more awkward than anything. Looking up at the same time their eyes met, hers embarrassed, and his surprised and yet joking at the same time.

"Gin?" she asked with a blush. "You can…ah…let go now."

"Oh, I suppose so." He had no idea what possessed him to continue holding her hand after he tightened the hold. He knew he could have let go, since at first it surprised him, but he didn't.

Doing as asked, he finally released her hand, allowing her to fully sit back, her hand completely off and away from the table. Her hand now snug against her body Orihime was actually surprised by the strange tingles of pleasure she felt, her cheeks tinted a light pink. Their hands had only been touching maybe a minute at most, but that minute had seemed to stretch on for an eternity.

"I'll take the dishes back into the kitchen for you?" Gin offered pleasantly, as though none of this had bothered him at all. He began stacking plates and platters, into a nice little stack in his arm. "Is there anything you need while I'm up, Orihime?"

The orange haired girl simply shook her head, not trusting herself to speak at the moment. Once Gin was gone she slowly began to inspect her arm, still feeling chills where his fingers curled against her own. She could remember a time when this happened with Ichigo and though she felt a tingling sensation then, this one was actually more intense than with Ichigo. Looking at her hand, she lifted it to her face towards her nose, unconsciously inhaling Gin's scent left on the fingers. The aroma she smelt, smelled sweet and very masculine. Nothing like what she smelt on Ichigo, which was always sweat and dirt. Although when he wasn't knee deep in getting all cut up from fighting, she could always smell the scent of a sterile environment from the clinic his dad owned.

With winter break over, it was time for Orihime to return back to class. She had been given a week off from school and when Gin arrived; she had only been part way through the break. Since she only lived in a one-bedroom apartment, the only place Gin could sleep was either on the living room floor or the couch. He took it graciously, considering he had nowhere else to go. He knew no one would accept him after what he had done.

On the first day back to school, Orihime stepped out of her room, wearing her school uniform. She had on her uniform jacket as well. Like usual, she had her hairpins in her hair and gave Gin a smile as he sat up from the couch.

He gave her a look. "If I recall correctly on the times Aizen spied in on Ichigo, I think I recall seeing that type of uniform. Is that what the girls wear at your school?"

"Yeah. We have a few types of tops to wear, according to the time of year. Usually for warmer weather we wear short sleeves and during colder weather we wear a blazer and longer sleeves. I think I like shorter sleeves better because when it's summer everyone is so much more cheerful, and I can hang out with Tatsuki more, but when it's winter we do have snow and Christmas."

"You seem to enjoy Christmas," he remarked. "I'm not sure I care for the cold though."

"Aww, but it's a lot of fun when it snows. And Ichigo looks funny when snow falls down his back." Orihime seemed a little more cheerful then she had been. Gin, as it turned out was a blast to have around. He seemed to be able to make her laugh no matter how down she was feeling. "It's not too bad in my place is it?"

"Well it is a little chilly, especially at night?" Gin grinned.

"Well we really can't do much about that, the electricity is pretty high as it is." Orihime shook her head. "And it's not like we can both sleep in my bed, I could bring you a few more blankets."

"I'll manage." Gin suddenly put in quickly, a little too quickly. "You should probably go before you're late."

"Ahh! You're right! I'll be back a little later." Orihime waved. "I left you something in the fridge. Bye!"

Gin waved bye and watched her leave. He looked around the room, perhaps there was something he could do while waiting for her to return. He was living as a mortal now and he couldn't very well stay with Orihime all the time. He had to find some means of money and get his own place. It was only fair. But to get money, he would need a job. What sort of job could he do that could work for the requirements he had?

It wasn't like there were lots of job openings for a former Squad Captains from the Soul Society who graduated from the academy after one year when still around 12 years of age and then killed the Third Seat of his Squad, just to be promoted to that position. Then again, he did that to get closer to Aizen to watch his movements more closely.

Point was, what sort of job could he get in the World of the Living that he could do? Yes, there were lots of jobs, but were there anything for his talents to do without causing attention from the Soul Society? He was going to have to think long and hard on that subject.

Heading to the kitchen, he decided to make himself useful by doing up her dishes from the night before. How she could handle living here by herself, he would never know. He had already learnt she lived off the government until she turned 18, but until then she had limited funds. He was amazed on how well she did for herself for her limit way of living. Perhaps he could help her someway.

The day progressed at an amazingly slow pace, and Orihime found herself wondering how Gin was, what he was doing all day in that small apartment of hers. She even disturbed her class a couple times by bursting into a fit of giggles, simply because she had imagined Gin trying to wash clothes and flooding the whole building, then of course they would have to turn it into an aquarium, and it would become Karakura Town's new landmark and people would come from miles around to see it, and then Gin would become the caretaker wearing a funny little hat and bearing that silly grin. Well suffice to say by the time lunch rolled around she'd been scolded by her teacher several times.

"Why are you so distracted today, Orihime?" Tatsuki questioned her seriously. "I haven't seen you this bad since Ichigo gave you a compliment. I mean you've been suddenly giggling in class for no reason. What gives?"

"Ah, it's nothing Tatsuki." Orihime waved it off. She pulled a small pastry type of bun from her bag and proceeded to smear something like green wasabi sauce into the sweet bun's icing. Tatsuki made a sour face. "Want some?" she held out another of the pastries to her friend.

"Well I guess you can't be feeling too bad then." Tatuki patted the orange haired girl on her head. "But I think I'll stick with my plain old chicken curry."

The two of them were sitting in the classroom, desks pressed against each other's. During warmer weather they would often eat outside but since it was cooler now they ate in the classroom like everyone else.

"Awww, you never want to try my dishes," Orihime complained. She stopped suddenly, blinking before looking up to see Chad beside her. "Oh, hey Chad!" she greeted cheerfully. "What's up?"

"I've been meaning to ask you if you've noticed how Ichigo's been acting," the tall teen started.

"Come to think of it, yeah I have noticed," Tatsuki answered. "He's always going off by himself when before he would always been around you guys a lot and Uryu too."

Orihime sighed, smile fading. "Yes, I have noticed. He seems so distant ever since returning from the Soul Society."

"You think it has anything to do with not being able to be a Soul Reaper anymore?" Chad asked.

"You guys know more about this than I do," Tatsuki remarked. "But if I were to wager a guess, I'd probably say yes. That day I saw Ichigo, he was so hollow of emotion, it almost didn't look like him. He didn't look the same."

"And knowing his dad is a Soul Reaper probably doesn't help matters," Orihime added.

"No, I suppose not," Tatsuki agreed. "I want to help him but he seems to be pulling away from everyone."

Orihime suddenly gripped her hands in determination. "I'm going to see him"

"Huh?" Tatsuki asked.

"After school." Orihime said determined. "I need to talk to him, and maybe I can find out what's wrong."

"Doesn't hurt to try," Chad responded.

"What are you three talking about?" asked Uryu as he stepped up to them, pushing up his glasses, lunch in his hands.

Orihime snapped her head to the Quincy. "I'm going to see Ichigo after school to find out why he's acting so distant from everyone. We think it's because of losing his powers."

The young Quincy nodded. "Well that stands to reason. Every time there's a Hollow attack, he knows what it is but can't do anything to help."

"Does anyone know where Ichigo is now?" asked Tatsuki.

"I saw him a few minutes ago, heading outside," Uryu replied.

Orihime gasped. "Outside in this weather!?" she squeaked. "It's cold out there!"

The three friends then went quiet, not sure what more to say. With the silence, they continued to eat their lunch until lunch was over and they were to clean up their mess and get prepared for the next class. Anyone who looked at Ichigo as the troubled teen walked into class, they could see he had spent his entire lunch outside. His cheeks were red from the cold.

When school was done for the day, Ichigo was the first to pack up his books and leave the class without so much of a bye to his friends. Everyone in the class had noticed his change of attitude right after Aizen's defeat, which only a select few knew about it. But no one, not even teachers, bothered him about it. To them they felt as long as he did his work and participated in class, why bother questioning. Of course they were asked by Ichigo's father not to hassle him, saying something bad happened and that it would take awhile for Ichigo to come out of it. Ichigo had no idea his father had spoken to all his teachers about his depressed attitude.

"I'll see you guys later," Orihime blurted suddenly as she quickly grabbed her stuff and ran out of the classroom, trying to catch up to Ichigo. "Ichigo!"

At first Ichigo ignored the call, not really paying attention someone called him. Soon though he was able to hear the name and he turned just in time to see Orihime run up to him. "Orihime?" he blinked.

She took a few breaths before looking up. "I've been worried Ichigo. Since Aizen's defeat, you've been quiet to everyone."

He sighed. "It's nothing to worry about Orihime." He turned to continue walking towards the exit of the school.

"Wait Ichigo!" Orihime grabbed his arm. "Ichigo, I miss you. Those two days I spent in Heuco Mundo, all I could think about were you. The night I healed your hand after you were badly beaten by Grimmjow, I wanted so much for you to wake to see me. But Ulquiorra said no one could see me."

Ichigo bit his tongue. He really didn't want to relive those moments. He just wanted to forget the memories that he lost just to protect his family and friends from Aizen. "Orihime, what is your point?" he asked, slightly annoyed.

"Everyone's been worried about you Ichigo." Orihime continued on. "It just feels like you've been drifting apart from us."

"Yea, maybe. I just have a lot going on right now. Orihime, I'm sure you've had times like that, haven't you?" Ichigo turned to leave again, just as Orihime gripped his arm fiercely. "What now?"

"Ichigo I…"Orihime felt a deep blush creep onto her cheeks as her next words tumbled out. "I really love you Ichigo!" she suddenly covered her mouth with her hand, releasing his arm, now that the words were out there was no taking them back. But it was true right? She had had a crush on him since she first met him.

"Really?" Ichigo never once turned her way, so it was impossible to see his expression. "I never would have guessed," he answered in a monotone voice. "I'm sorry, then. Because I don't feel anything like that for you…sorry."

Orihime allowed a silent gasp to escape her lips. Not only had she just revealed her feelings to the man she loved, but her feelings weren't returned. Ichigo didn't feel the same. She bit back her tears, plastering on another fake smile. "Oh Ichigo, you're so funny. Can't you even tell when someone is joking with you? I was just trying to cheer you up after all."

"Oh I see." Ichigo muttered, knowing she was lying to him. "Look Orihime, I really need to leave."

She watched him walk away, never turning back once as she clinched her fists so hard her knuckles turned white. "Ichigo…you idiot."

As students began to pour into the hallway, Orihime realized she needed to leave before anyone noticed she was about to bust into tears. Now she was going to have to go home and deal with Gin. Taking a deep breath, she walked forward, making her way out of the school before anyone paid attention.

She continued her way down the street, once leaving the school grounds to her apartment where Gin waited. What would she say to him when she got there? It was a good bet he probably would notice she was a bit upset. However, the way Ichigo said that to her, he never looked at her… so what if he didn't mean it? Yeah! That had to be it! He was hurting her feelings because he wasn't ready to be near his friends yet. That had to be it! With a renewed feeling in mind, she placed on her smiley face and continued back home.

"I'm home!" she called when she entered her apartment, not seeing Gin in the living room.

"That's good," Gin called from the kitchen. "I decided to make us supper tonight. I hope you don't mind."

Orihime grinned. "No, not at all. I would have just ate the leftovers in the fridge if you weren't here." She removed her shoes and coat, hanging it up. "Would you like me to get the cushions and table set?"

"That will be a great help."

Orihime was quick to pull the table to the middle of the living room and then went to the closet. Knowing about the junk inside she carefully opened the door a slight bit and began to feel for the cushions. To her surprise, she couldn't feel anything but air. What the heck…

She stuck her foot into the closet to try and find the junk and again found air. Finally, too confused. She pulled the door wide open to find a surprise.

"What the…"

"Surprise," a voice said from behind her. She slightly jumped, turning to finding Gin standing not even two feet away. His typical grin was in place. "I hope you don't mind. I took the liberty of straightening up the closet while you were gone. It can be a bit boring here."

"Oh…" she wasn't sure what else to say. She turned back to the closet and saw the cushions sitting on the floor neatly in the back corner of the small closet. Bending at the knees, as she was still in her uniform, she reached for the cushions and walked to the table where Gin was now waiting for her with their dinner.

With Gin's surprise, she had completely forgotten about Ichigo's harsh words to her. The man before her was quite generous. She was happy she gave him a second chance. And even was glad Central 46 had him sentenced to the World of the Living.

Edited May 23, 2015