Protector and The Hornet

A Date

It had been a few days since their last meeting. Suì-Fēng had told Ichigo that she wouldn't be meeting him for a few days. She wanted to make sure her lieutenant wasn't just pretending to pick up the slack while she was around, so she had increased the pressure by keeping her vigilance. She also had some paperwork to do.

When Ichigo woke up, he saw a hell butterfly on his nose. Huh? What's this about? Picking it up, he held it to his ear to receive the message.

"Ichigo.... its Suì-Fēng. There's this...nice...place that I want to show you. Please meet me where I showed you my Bankai around noon."

After letting the butterfly go, Ichigo paused, blinking in surprise. Did she just ask me out...on a date?

"Hey Ichigo." The door opened to reveal Ganju. "Orihime and the others agreed to heal you."

Ichigo winced as he pinched himself. "So this isn't a dream."

"Off course not," replied Ganju in an awkward tone. "So are you coming to get healed or not?"

"Right," said Ichigo as he jumped out of bed and ran past a stunned Ganju. All right! I'm getting my powers back. This'll be great!

Staring at the spot where Ichigo had been, Ganju, blinked himself out of his daze. Wow...didn't know it meant that much to him.

When Ichigo arrived in the living room, he saw Orihime, Uryu, and Chad waiting for him.

"Good morning Ichigo," said Orihime. "I guess Ganju told you the news."

"He did, so can you heal me right now?"

"What's the rush?" asked Uryu.

"Is it so wrong for me to want to get healed?" asked Ichigo.

"That's okay," replied Orihime. "If he's in a hurry, it's his business."

"Fine Orihime," replied Uryu. He didn't want to cause any more trouble in front of her.

Ichigo sat on the couch and remained still as Orihime started healing him. The process only took a minute since he had already recovered some of his strength.

"There; all done," said Orihime with a smile. "So are you going to run off again?"

Ichigo shook his head. "No, I think I'll stay here for a little and go out later."

"Are you at least going to have breakfast here?" asked Orihime. She seemed happy enough on the outside, but inside, her mind was racing. I hope he says yes. I worry about him when he goes off like that.

He shrugged casually. "Sure. I'll stay, but I'll leave when I have to."

"Sounds good enough for me," replied Chad.

Uryu simply nodded. I know he still has a secret. Orihime is worrying about him, yet he won't even tell us why he's been disappearing off for so long. What could he be so secretive about and why won't he tell any of us?

They went over to the table and started eating. After that, they talked about leaving the soul society and returning home.