A week had passed and Orihime was ready to throw in the towel. Kon had proved to be harder to handle than she had planned. She had thought Mod Souls just took on their bodies' personality, not have a personality of their own. On the first night, Ichigo had been recuperating and Kon waltzed over to the radio and played a nice station that played a lot of jazz music. As soon as an upbeat swing song came on, he asked Orihime if she wanted to dance. She had been quietly reading a book, and looked up to see Kon's desperate face. She smiled and declined, but he was persistent. Finally, she agreed and he pulled her right off the couch with such force, she slammed right into him. Kon smiled and took her other hand. They danced quickly to the swing music and Orihime got plenty of twirls in before the song was over. Just as the next song was about to start, Orihime felt Kon's hand be jerked away from hers. She looked up in time to see Ichigo's fist finish the punch to Kon's face, sending him flying into the couch and over it. Butt now in the air. Ichigo sighed and looked over at Orihime.
"Are you alright?" Her shocked look was still plastered on her face.
"Y..yes I'm fine." She frowned. "You didn't have to do that. We were just dancing."
Ichigo scowled. "I don't trust that pervert in my soon-to-be body. He needs to treat you with more respect and less affection." The silence sliced the air and Orihime finally coughed, causing Kon to roll off the couch. Kon stood and faced Ichigo. The duplicate scowls were almost amusing to Orihime. Kon grabbed Orihime's hand and Ichigo defensively put his over their hands, trying to pry them apart. Kon smirked and pulled his hand out and put Orihime's and Ichigo's hands together.
"Why don't you two give it a try?"
Orihime's heart fluttered. They both looked at each other with embarrassment. A new song came on the radio that was smooth jazz. Ichigo smiled and took her other hand. The flush came quickly to her cheeks as she was swept from her cloud and onto the dance floor. They danced slowly in her living room. She felt like she was still riding on a cloud. Not knowing where it was taking her, but knowing that somehow, it would still be alright. She didn't know why she was feeling this way still. She didn't know if she was pitying Ichigo, or if she was starting to actually feel something for him. One thing was for sure. She really liked dancing with him. Meanwhile in Ichigo's head, he was a wreck. The last dance he had ever had was with his mother years ago. Memories came crashing back to him and he didn't know if he should be happy or sad at the moment. Orihime seemed to notice and gave him a worried look. He looked back and snapped out of his daze once he looked into her eyes to see the concern that she was genuinely feeling for him. He knew that he should at least give her a nice dance, so that she could end the day a little less stressed. He gave her a wide smile and picked up the pace as the next song started. She smiled back, glad to see him appearing to be in a better mood. They continued for a few more songs until the final one came to an end and he gave her once last twirl. She twirled right into his arms as the song ended and ended up wrapped in his arms, mere inches from his face. She panted and licked her lips subconsciously. He let go slowly and she looked disappointed to be out of his arms. She breathed deep and exhaled a thank you before running into the bathroom. He watched her enter the bathroom and then looked back at Kon, who had placed himself on the couch. "I think she's starting to really like ya, man."
Still looking at the bathroom door, he replied. "I know. I can tell. I really want her and I to share more memories. I think we should practice outside for a while so she can have some alone time for now."
Kon nodded. "You're right. I'll let her know." Kon knocked on the door, hearing sniffs as he knocked. After she let out a soft response, he mentioned they were going outside and she agreed it may be good. Kon put his hands in his pockets and slowly walked out the side door to the driveway. Ichigo was already there. He looked more determined than ever to see how far he could get. Kon looked at him. "Use the energy you are feeling now. All the emotions of the dance, everything that you've felt the last few weeks and pool it into one ball of energy. Use this energy to push me out."
Ichigo nodded and stood behind Kon. His transparent self stepped into the body and he tried to focus. He imagined everything he could and tried to draw enough strength to push Kon out, but after 10 minutes, there was still nothing. Ichigo cursed and stepped out. Kon looked at him and then had an idea. "What if I found a new body to go into? Maybe for now just a stuffed animal or something that I could hold on and you could maybe focus also on getting me into the other body. That may help." Ichigo thought about it for a moment and shrugged in agreement. "I'll go in and get the stuffed animal Ichigo, I'll be baaacckk!" Kon half skipped half jogged to the door and ran inside. Once inside, he found Orihime sitting on the couch reading. "Hey Orihime, do you have a stuffed animal I could use as a holder for me once Ichigo gets in the gigai?"
She put the book down quickly. "Oh, that's right! Yeah I do have a few in storage. I'll be back." She came back a few minutes later with four animals. There was a lion, a bird, a turtle, and a rabbit that appeared to also be a purse. Kon decided that with the lack of options, he'd go with the lion. He thanked her and ran back outside. Ichigo appeared again and smirked at the lion.
"Hey! She had a limited supply. Let's try this again." Kon took the lion and put it in his left hand. Ichigo walked into position again and this time, focused on seeing Orihime's smile, her beautiful hair, and sparkling eyes. He then focused on putting the mod soul into the lion. He could feel a warmth, which for a spirit didn't exist. He panicked and lost the connection, but quickly shook it off and tried again. He faintly could see the mod soul and reached out for it. His hand went right through it. He frantically bat at it hoping that one time it would touch, but it wasn't. He then could hear Orihime laugh from inside the house. It startled him, but then he smiled and remembered all the things he was remembering earlier. He remembered her eyes as he held her during the dance. He reached again for the mod soul and just as he was about to reach it, he heard her call out his name from his memories. Kurosaki-kun, you can do it! He yelled and with one fluid motion, pushed out the mod soul and stuffed it into the lion. Kon coughed inside the lion and Ichigo, now in the gigai, fell to his knees. Kon dropped to the driveway, but recovered and jumped excitedly.
"You did it Ichigo! You did it! How do you feel?"
Ichigo could barely get his mouth moving. It was really hard to control anything. Finally he looked up towards Kon. "I feel cold." He looked back down and started shaking.
"Well get up! Let's go inside and show Orihime!"
Ichigo kept shaking and slowly fell to his side onto the driveway. Kon yelled for him, but he was not responding, so Kon ran towards the door, yelling for Orihime. Once he reached the door, he realized he couldn't open it. "Stupid lion hands! I have to find something to throw at the doorbell! Oh, this stick might do!" He grabbed the stick and got the bell after a few attempts. The ring startled Orihime and she ran over towards the door. She opened it and looked around. "Down here!" She looked down and saw her stuffed lion waving at her. "Orihime! Ichigo got in the gigai, but he's cold and fell over." Orihime shot her look towards the driveway, where Ichigo was laying motionless. She shrieked and ran over to him.
"Kurosaki-kun, are you ok!? Kurosaki-kun!" She lifted him up as best she could and moved him slowly to the house. It took some effort to get him inside, but she finally got him on the couch and put a blanket over him. A few minutes passed and Orihime had made some tea and left it on the table for when Ichigo would wake up. She sat next to him and ran he fingers through his hair. She leaned in towards him and put her head on his shoulder. Her eyes fluttered and she could feel sleep taking hold. She looked over and Kon had positioned himself on the other side of the couch.
"You should get some sleep Orihime. He may be asleep for a while to recover. You being there will probably help him. I'll let him know what happened when he wakes up." She gave a soft ok and was off to dreamland.