Tatsuki put her hand to her temple and rubbed it. "Orihime, it's almost 20:00, you realize that if you take the train or drive there now, it would take you at least 6 hours to get there? I don't think this Urahara would be ok with someone dropping by in the middle of the night."

Orihime looked to be in deep contemplation. Her hand on her chin. "Oh! What about flying! You could do that, right Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichigo looked at her in confusion. "I don't know."

Orihime ran inside and sat down at her computer. Ichigo and Tatsuki slowly followed behind. After a few minutes, Orihime ran to her purse and took out her credit card. Tatsuki sighed deeply as she watched her friend. She was thinking that it would have been much easier living closer to town. Orihime's brother had bought the property for the beautiful yard and open space that Tokyo did not provide. After his death, Orihime couldn't leave the place. Finally, Orihime dashed over to the printer and grabbed the boarding pass that was printing off. She pulled it out and smiled joyfully. "I got a ticket to Narita Airport!"

Tatski smiled. "That's great Orihime. I'm surprised they still had a flight at Chitose. When does it leave?"

Orihime looked at the clock on the wall. "At 8:20! That's in 35 minutes! This was their last flight." Her eyes lowered. "Oh, I guess we probably won't make it there in time with the snow."

Tatsuki smiled wide. "You just leave the driving to me. I can get you there!"

Orihime's eyes glittered and she hugged and thanked Tatsuki. Meanwhile, Ichigo could feel the determination from Orihime, because he too felt like he could really get some answers tonight, even if they were far away. Orihime ran to get some items from the bathroom and ran out again in the blink of an eye. She grabbed Tatsuki's arm and they ran outside. Ichigo followed, turning off the lights on his way out. He smiled at Orihime."She really is something." He thought. Tatsuki cleared enough space for Orihime in the front seat and asked if Ichigo was also in the car. Orihime asked a question that was on her mind for a while.

"Kurosaki-kun, couldn't you just, I don't know, teleport or something to Urahara's?"

Tatsuki looked at Orihime and started the car. "I was wondering that too."

Ichigo nodded, which only Orihime could see. "I thought that too, but the farther I am away from this area, the harder it is for me. I heard that other spirits who are stuck try to teleport to a loved one's house and get sent right back. I didn't want to take that risk. When I was alive, I would've done it in the blink of an eye, but I know now that I need to do whatever is best, even if I have to wait."

The car was now down the road and Tatsuki took every turn with precision, even when the car slipped. Orihime felt safe with Tatsuki driving. She knew if she had driven tonight, they'd probably be in a snowbank in no time. The car ride was unremarkable. They barely spoke. As they left the area Ichigo could be in freely, he gave a grunt and crouched over. Orihime called out to Ichigo, but could not touch him. She focused and imagined giving him more energy, which seemed to work as he thanked her and said he was feeling better. They arrived at Chitose airport at 8:14. Tatsuki drove them right up to the front door and gave Orihime a quick hug and wished them good luck. She told Orihime to call when she was back and Orihime waved as she was running towards the door. Ichigo was now completely invisible, so Orihime had to ask if he was still there. She ran over to the terminal and saw that it was 8:17. They were just about to close the door when Orihime yelled and waved her boarding pass. They scanned it quickly and she was on board. She found her seat and plopped down with a heavy sigh of relief. She looked around. There were only 7 other people on the flight, and no one was within 3 rows of her. She liked that, since she would be talking to Ichigo and didn't want to look weird. She whispered to make sure Ichigo was still there. When she heard no reply, she panicked and looked around. She called to him again, and he finally spoke.

"Yeah...I'm here."

"Oh Kurosaki-kun I'm so sorry. I hope that once we are in the air, you will feel better."

"Me too." Ichigo replied with much effort.

Moments later, the flight took off and Orihime held the arms of the seat. She had flown before, but still got nervous. The flight took off normally and the pilot announced they would be in Narita by 10:00. She sat back and relaxed. As she was leaning back, she could feel Ichigo in the seat to her left. She opened one eye and asked if he was ok.

"I am Inoue. I actually feel really good right now. It must be from being up so high."

"I'm glad. You're probably feeding off the energy in the atmosphere. That is so cool!" The last part went above a whisper and she put her hand over her mouth right away. She could hear Ichigo chuckle and she leaned back, smiling at everything that has happened thus far with this stranger that she now would like to call a friend.

She felt like she fell asleep, because the next thing she knew, the pilot announced they were going to be landing. She was relieved that she had fallen asleep. "Did you have a nice nap, Inoue?"

"Yes, thank you. Looks like we are here. Are you still ok?

"Yeah, I feel great."

Orihime smiled and could feel Ichigo's hand on hers. She smiled wider and let him know that they should still be able to get a train to Karakura at this time. The flight landed without incident and Orihime raced out of the airport and ran towards the train station. She only had to wait a few minutes for a train and rode it to Karakura. Several times throughout the trip, she kept asking if Ichigo was ok. He finally had to tell her that he would let her know if he wasn't feeling ok. She giggled and nodded. At about 10:35, they reached Urahara's house. At night it was harder to navigate, but Ichigo remembered the streets from when he lived there and was able to guide her to the place. As they approached, Ichigo ducked into an alley and formed. Their conversations were few and far between as they both were more focused on getting to Urahara's. They turned the corner and could see that there was someone outside the place, which looked to be a store. As they approached the man, he spoke.

"I've been waiting for you." They both looked at each other, then at Urahara and nodded to him. Urahara held up his fan and laughed. "Just kidding, just kidding! I didn't feel you until you were almost here. I was just standing outside to enjoy the crisp weather." They both looked at each other again and began laughing. This was going to be a long night. Orihime spoke first.

"Good evening, my name's Inoue Orihime. I assume you are Urahara Kisuke?"

His fan stayed in front of his face."I am." He looked at Ichigo. "I didn't get your name before."

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Nice to meet you both. Now, it looks like you've traveled a long way, let's go inside."

They both were led into a tatami lined room and Orihime was served tea. Ichigo was given a cup that looked like it was glowing. Orihime saw Ichigo's eyes light up and he chugged it down. He held the cup and within a moment, the cup began to crack. Orihime glanced at Ichigo, who almost looked like he could take down a few sumo wrestlers with how he looked.

"Um..Kurosaki-kun, are you..."

The cup broke into his hand and he shot up. "Oh yeah this feels amazing! What is it?"

Urahara sat back down on the mats. "Just a little concoction I made. It's rather hard to make, so I won't be able to give you anymore tonight. You should be able to make it back to Hokkaido with no problem."

Orihime fidgeted. "So, you know why we are here Urahara-san?"

"Why yes I do! You both are here because you would like to know more about what I said to Kurosaki-san. Well I can tell you right now that I can do part of the procedure tonight, but the rest is not ready yet."

Ichigo sat back down. "What do you mean?"

Urahara took a sip from his teacup and placed it slowly back down. His voice lowered."I specialized in a certain area at my former job that was more in the...scientific research area. You may have noticed Kurosaki-san and maybe even Inoue-san that every once in a while you see people dressed in black kimonos." They both nodded. "Well they are called shinigami and they normally take spirits to a place called Soul Society. Well, sometimes these shinigami want to or need to be visible in the human world, so I made something called a gigai. With this gigai, it allows the shinigami to put themselves in to a form that regular people can see. My theory is that if your soul is strong enough, Kurosaki-san, that we would be able to connect the gigai to your soul and allow you to stay in that form. We would need to experiment a bit, since I've never done it before, but the theory does seem like it could work."

Ichigo shifted and thought about what Urahara said. "So, would I age or would the gigai stay the same?"

Urahara lifted his cup again. "I can do either. I have made gigai that age, though that may take longer to perfect. My guess is that you would like to be given a gigai that can do anything a human can?"

Ichigo nodded. Orihime was still trying to wrap her brain around how someone can just make a functioning body. Orihime's cheeks went red as she thought about something she wouldn't know how to ask. Urahara noticed her obvious flush and smiled. "What is it Inoue-san?"

"I..I was just thinking if that means that these gigai could have children."

Orihime looked down in obvious embarrassment. Ichigo and Urahara both smirked and thought how cute it was that a grown woman was still so innocent. "I could do that as well Inoue-san, if that's what you'd want."

Orihime's hands shot up in a waving frenzy. "No, no, that decision is Kurosaki-kun's, not mine."

Urahara glanced over at Ichigo, who was still in some sort or trance from the drink. "Well Kurosaki-san, what do you think? Do you want to have children?"

Ichigo's eyes regained their sparkle and Ichigo shot a very sincere look to Urahara. "I would appreciate anything that you would be willing to do. If I am able to be a normal human again, I would be eternally grateful."

Orihime's hand slowly raised and both men looked at her. "So, you can make a gigai that can eat, sleep, breath, have children, age to be an old man, and die?"

Urahara's fan found its way to his face. "Why yes, I should be able to do all that. There will need to be a lot of training and you both may be gone for a few days, is that going to be ok?"

Ichigo chuckled. "Time means nothing to me right now, I have all the time in the world."

Orihime giggled and nodded. "Me too. Oh! I forgot to turn off the lights and lock the door!"

"I did that for you."

"Really?! Thank you very much!" Orihime's smile was bright and it made Ichigo lean forward and smile at her.

"No problem. Are you sure you will be ok being away for a few days?"

Orihime shoved Ichigo's arm. "Don't worry about me, worry about your training."

Ichigo smiled and looked back at Urahara, who was putting his phone away. "I just messaged some clients who are willing to stop over now and show you how to use a gigai by demonstrating on their own."

Orihime cheered and Ichigo gave an enthusiastic, "alright!" They waited for a few minutes and chatted about the trip and what some of the first things Ichigo would do as a human. The first he said was that he would go visit his family and eat the largest burger he could find. Urahara skipped over the family part for now and advised Ichigo that the gigai can still get sick and that he should always monitor what he eats and get plenty of exercise. Ichigo grunted in response, knowing that Urahara was right, but he still wanted to have some fun.

A knock came and Urahara announced they were here. He greeted them and they walked into the room. Urahara stepped to the side once in the room and motioned his arms towards the two. "Kurosaki-san, Inoue-san, I'd like you to meet Abarai Renji and Kuchiki Rukia. They are shimigami that will be showing you how to use a gigai."

Rukia bowed and Renji just stood there. Orihime stood up and bowed to them. "Nice to meet you both. I hope you can teach Kurosaki-san all he will need to know to live his life in the gigai."

Rukia looked over to Renji, who was looking at Ichigo with a scowl. She then looked at Ichigo, who had a similar situation going on. Ichigo stood up and pointed at Renji. "Like hell I'm going to be taking lessons from this guy!"

"Wha'd ya say?!"

"Ya heard me!"

"Enough!" Rukia's voice echoed through the room and both men stopped their bickering. Rukia sighed. "Please excuse us, it's been a long day. Orihime apologized for causing so much trouble. Urahara finally chimed in.

"I brought your gigais. I'll move the table." Ichigo turned around and was met with the gigais of Rukia and Renji. Rukia's had Chappy inside and she had decided to dress in a light blue dress with a big bunny face on the front. Ichigo gave one glance and held in a laugh. Chappy's eye twitched and she looked at Ichigo. He began laughing out loud now and Chappy had had enough. She took her bunny backpack and swung it at Ichigo, hitting him square in the face. They bagan bickering and Rukia sighed deeply. This was going to be a long night.

Note: I will probably be throwing in some RenRuki in future chapters since I love them so much. I actually researched when the last flight out of Chitose airport in Sapporo was, how long it took, if it was reasonably priced, and various other things. Thanks for reading.