Ichigo had not sensed Tatsuki for some reason. When she answered the door, he was not expecting it, and had not had the proper energy to be able to show himself to her. It took him almost 5 years to be able to have enough energy to appear solid and warm. After the door had closed, he had tried to gather enough energy to be visible to her. Sadly, he was not able to get enough in such a short time. He knew that he had to knock again or they would probably open the door again anyway. He never really liked surprises. For now, he was going to act normal around Tatsuki and hope that in time, he will gradually be solid to her as well. The only reason he was visible to Orihime was because he had plenty of time to see her outside and was able to get the right energy frequesncy for her so that he could finally make an appearance. For some reason, he could not sense someone's energy that well from inside that house. He always assumed her brother had something to do with it. Trying to protect his sister even after he had left this world. ichigo only had a small radius that he could freely travel without expelling too much energy. He knew that if his plan would to happen, he would have to leave the area, and that would be very draining. Hopefully, it could only be for short periods. This was Kurosaki Ichigo, the spirit.

Orihime excused herself from the couch and announced that it was time to eat. Ichigo and Tatsuki moved towards the table. Her eyes burning into him. When they sat down, Tatsuki finally spoke.

"How are you even going to eat? She'll notice if the entire bowl just up and leaves."

His scowl reformed. "I can eat Arisawa."

"So where does the food go? On the floor?"

"No."

"Then where?"

"In my mouth."

"Quit being an idiot."

Ichigo sighed. "Can we talk about this outside later?"

Tatsuki smiled. "I'd love to." Orihime came back with the bowls of steaming stew. Tatsuki looked with a glimer in her eyes. "Smells good, doesn't it Kurosaki?"

Ichigo smiled. "It sure does. Nice work Inoue."

Orihime smiled, turned and went back for her bowl. Tatsuki smirked and whispered.

"Be sure to pretend to blow on the food. If you just eat it right out of the bowl, she might start to question you."

Ichigo just grunted a response and began to "eat" the stew. To Tatsuki it looked normal, but she knew the food must be going to some other dimension. The meal was plesant for the most part and Tatsuki thought that Ichigo still acted like a normal person and was almost jealous at how he could still pull off so much when he was probably under a lot of stress to keep himself visible. She could see him clearly now, and almost felt bad for acting so harshly to him. She will make her final judgement after they meet. When everyone was finished, they all helped do the dishes and clean up. When they were almost finished, Tatsuki asked if she could go outside to show Ichigo some martial arts moves that she knows. Orihime said that would be nice since she wanted to clean up more. Tatsuki motioned to Ichigo and they went out the kitchen door to the driveway outside. It had cleared up and the moon was showing on the driveway, casting a shadow on Tatsuki only. Tatsuki turned and faced Ichigo. With one quick move, she had her leg to Ichigo's chest. Ichigo stepped back and smirked. This upset her more and she kicked a few more times, each time, Ichigo dodging without a problem. She was getting more annoyed and finally tried to punch him. Her hand went right through him and she stumbled to regain balance. She put her arm down and looked down the driveway and back to Ichigo.

"You know, if Orihime comes outside right now, she would see that."

"I know. I will make a shadow if I need to."

Tatsuki exhaled deeply and pulled up her scarf. "So it is true, you are dead, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Now do you mind telling me what your plan is? She's going to find out eventually and as her friend, it's my job to protect her. Be it from some pervert or a spirit. I will not let her get hurt."

"Neither will I."

"How am I supposed to know that? What's your plan Kurosaki?"

"My plan is to get to know her better and establish a good friendship with her."

"That's it? I doubt that's all you want."

Ichigo looked in the window and could see Orihime look towards the window. He stepped into a shadow and waved at her while she waved back. She then turned around and went away from teh window

"I'll be honest with you Tatsuki since I don't really have the energy to be hiding anymore. I was killed in a car accident 5 years ago. About a week before that night, I had a very vivid dream about running in a yard or somewhere. The sun was bright and it looked like there were kids behind me. I felt so happy and at peace. Slowly, I could see images of the accident that hadn't happened yet. It would jump back to the yard and the kids would be slowly fading, back to the accident, back to the yard, until the children were gone and I was left in the darkness. I had always wanted a family Arisawa. it was the only thing I felt I could do properly. Now I obviously can't do such a thing." Ichigo looked up at the moon and then back down to Tatsuki. He continued. "A short time after I died, I had a man stop me on the road and say something to me that seems very relevant now. He said, 'when the time comes that you are able to connect with someone so much that you feel your humanity returning, come see me and we will complete the process.' He gave me his card. He's back in Karakura and his name's Urahara. It's very hard for me to move beyond a certain area, but I think if I can get a good friendship going with Inoue, I may be able to get enough strength to go. I seem to get more energy from having the living acknowledge me."

Tatsuki was interested now. "What do you think he meant?"

"I found out that I am the only spirit in the area that can become solid and warm to the living. When I asked about it to other spirits in the area, one joked that maybe they could turn me human again. Everyone laughed, but hearing it made me wonder if what he said really meant that he had some way of turning me back."

Tatsuki looked down. "I'm sorry Kurosaki, I don't know what he meant by that, but I don't think it was that he could bring you back to life. That's impossible. Maybe he meant that you would have no more regrets and could finally pass on."

Ichigo looked at her in almost desperation. "When we are done here, I'm going to try to make it to Karakura tonight. If I can do that and get to his place, I can ask him myself."

Tatsuki sighed deeply and looked up at him with a smile that he hadn't seen. "Do whatever you want. It's your lif..I mean..your dea...no well whatever. You do what you don't bring Orihime into something she can't understand or handle."They nodded and moved towards the door.

Inside, Orihime was sitting on the floor, crying uncontrollably into her hands. Right after she had waved to them, she had opened the window on her back door. The first thing she heard was, 'I was killed in a car accident 5 years ago.' She had heard everything else. Knowing that someone was in such a state, knowing how much he had gone through, made her shiver in sorrow and drop to the floor. As she heard them walking towards the door, she scrambled up and opened the door, to the shock of both Ichigo and Tatsuki. Her makeup was running down her face and it took her a moment to straighten up before she finally spoke.

"I..I will help you Kurosaki-kun. I will help you..."

She began tearing up again. Tatsuki ran over to her and gave her a big hug. Orihime immediately began bawling into her arms and could barely control herself. Tatsuki was not at all surprised that she would get so emotional. Orihime cared for people deeply, and she knew that Orihime would do whatever she could to help. Ichigo stood back and watched them. He took off the shadow and waited for them to stop hugging before he spoke.

"Inoue, I plan on going to Karakura tonight to see what this Urahara really meant. I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away. I didn't know how to tell you."

Orihime wiped her eyes and walked over to him. "It's ok Kurosaki-kun. you must be going through so much." With the tears still fresh on her face, she leaned in and gave Ichigo a hug. She hugged him gently and could feel the warmth on him. She wondered how he could smell, but didn't think much of it. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. For several moments they were held together. She could feel the energy around her. It selt like static electricity and she began to focus and imagine herself sending waves of energy into him. This made her a little lightheaded, so she pulled away and looked at him.

"If you would feel better, you can become only partially visible to us. If it saves energy, you don't have to pretend with us anymore."

Ichigo nodded and stepped back, becoming only slightly visible to Tatsuki and more visible to Orihime, though still partially transparent. Ichigo looked at them.

"Thank you. I do feel much better. I should be going to Karakura tonight. I need to find out."

Tatsuki could hear the words come out of Orihime's mouth before she said them. "Then I'm going with you."