Friday arrived slower than she would have liked. Every day, sitting at home, polishing the woodwork for the third time, finding the right food from the canned goods, only to run back for a jar that didn't look as "old". Such trivial matters kept her brain elsewhere while her heart stayed strong in its anxious rythmn. Within her internal struggle, her mind happened to forget that her friend Tatsuki was dropping by on Friday as well. When the knock came, she was fixing her makeup again and didn't even notice the rythmic knocking enveloping the house. Finally, she jolted from her hypnotic application state to realize someone was knocking. She quickly finished her makeup and ran to the door. She tripped over her feet and landed at the door with a loud thud. Tatsuki's voice could be heard through the door.

"You ok in there?"

"T..Tatsuki-chan?" Her voice barely above a whisper.

She opened the door to find her confused friend staring back at her.

"He..hey Orihime. Long time no see. I brought those peaches you wanted."

Lifting up the bag revealed plenty of food for them to share, but instead of a drooling, excited expression, Orihime's was one of shock.

"No...no...no, not today Tatsuki-chan." She took Tatsuki's shoulders and started pushing her away.

"Whoa, whoa Orihime! What's up? I thought you'd be happy to see me."

The pushing stopped.

"I am. I am. It's just...I made plans tonight with someone."

Tatsuki now really looked confused.

"Seriously, who? Who would come all the way out into the absolute middle of nowhere to have dinner with you?"

Orihime let her arms fall and motioned for Tatsuki to come in.

"Who is it Orihime?"

"Just someone I met over the weeked. I helped him after he had a car accident and I wanted to cheer him up."

Tatsuki backed away from the door.

"Well if you'd rather be alone and not have me spend the weekend with you I guess I can try for a different day. See ya later."

Orihime's eyes grew wetter and her voice was shaky.

"No, stay! Please, I'm sorry. I really want you to stay. I just completely forgot you were coming over, so I was still in shock. We can all have dinner together."

Tatsuki smiled, nodded and walked through the door. She took her boots off and wiped the snow off her clothes. She gave Orihime the bag and took off her heavy coat and hung it near the door. Stretching and finally able to relax, she was looking forward to who this mystery man was. Orihime emerged with a cup of hot tea and they sat down on the couch. After a few minutes of catching up, Tatsuki finally asked when Orihime's guest was coming over. They decided that they should make the stew now so that by 7, the food would be ready. Orihime was excited to try out her new slow cooker that she had bought online. It would be the perfect way to make stew. Tatsuki was there to make sure only "normal" ingredients went into the stew. No red bean paste this time! They enjoyed their time in the kitchen, chatting away about old times and Tatsuki's many adventures as a teacher at a dojo. The next few hours flew by and it was finally almost 7. Orihime looked at her watch and couldn't seem to sit still. She finally excused herself to the bathroom and left Tatsuki wondering why she was so nervous if it was just some stranger she just met. She looked at the time, 6:58. Just then, a knock came. Tatsuki called to Orihime, but was met with silence. After waiting several moments, she decided to answer the door herself. She gave a few good punches to the air and psyched herself up to handle what was on the other side. To her surprise, what was on the other side, was nothing. She had opened the door to find no one. She looked around a bit and called out, but she could only hear the wind. When she was sure no one was there, she closed the door. As Tatsuki turned around, Orihime came back in to the living room.

"What is it Tatsuki-chan?"

Tatsuki shrugged. "Oh nothing. It must have been the wind."

As they were heading towards the couch, the door knocked again, this time a bit louder. Tatsuki motioned to Orihime.

"I'll let you get that one."

Orihime smiled and moved toward the door while Tatsuki moved towards the couch to sit. Orihime opened the door and her smile became larger as she saw who was on the other side. He wore a dark red dress shirt and black pants. He even held a few flowers, which he gave to her very eager hands. He smiled at her and looked into her eyes.

"Good evening Inoue."

"Good evening Kurosaki-kun. Glad you could make it. Please, come in."

Ichigo stepped through the door and met Tatsuki's eyes. She was trembling and her hands were in fists. Orihime hadn't noticed and offered Ichigo tea or coffee. He wanted coffee and Orihime dashed off to the kitchen to make it. Ichigo sat down on one side of the L shaped couch and introduced himself to Tatsuki. Tatsuki's mouth opened several times, but no words came out. Finally, she was able to speak in a soft tone.

"What are you?!"

Ichigo's scowl appeared. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

"I'm afraid I don't Miss, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"I didn't give it."

"It would be really impolite if Inoue had to introduce you."

Tatsuki was turning red now. "It's Arisawa Tatsuki, you bastard."

"Nice to meet you Arisawa."

Ichigo's expression remained tense, but gentle while Tatsuki's was about as far from calm as she could muster without causing a ruckus and alerting Orihime.

"You haven't answered my question. No matter how many times I blink or rub my eyes, the room around me is clear, but you...you are barely visible."

Ichigo shifted and Tatsuki scooted closer to him until they were arm's length away from each other. Her voice still low.

"I'm going to ask you one more time. What. , and what do you want with my friend!?"

Ichigo shifted away from Tatsuki and repositioned himself so he could look directly at her.

"She may be someone who can make my dream come true."

Tatsuki's brain filled with a thousand meanings for that sentance and was about to grab at his shirt when Orihime trumpeted her return to the room, causing Tatsuki to fall back. Her obvious perky state meant that she had not heard any part of the conversation, wihich pleased Tatsuki as she will have to pull Ichigo aside later to get more information out of him. For now, she was going to act like the good house guest she should be. Orihime sat down on the couch between the two and asked if they had introduced each other. When she confirmed they had, she started rambling on. Ichigo's face appeared calm while his thought were elsewhere. Tatsuki figured him out. This was going to be harder than he thought.

Note: Sorry to end it there. The next chapter will be a nice confrontation and will explain a lot more about what Ichigo is. Kudos to those of you who figured out that Ichigo wasn't exactly normal. This story is obviously not the normal Bleach world (though you will see more familiar faces in later chapters. It's still using themes from Bleach, so not too far off) and also ichigo has not met Orihime prior to him landing on her doorstep. Thanks again for reading. I tried to not make it all dialogue this time. On to the next!