Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or have any rights to it.

Ichigo reclined under a tree in the forest below Sokyoku hill. Recovery at the fourth division had been a rough ordeal for him with squad eleven around.

He was glad that he could finally have a peaceful summer. His friends had decided to stay in the soul society for a few weeks. They didn't have anything better to do when they got back, seeing as how they had all finished their summer projects early.

He heard a rustle of leaves in the trees before a figure dropped to the ground in front of him.

He sat up and looked at the figure carefully before registering who she was.

"Soi Fong?" He was confused as to why the 2nd division captain would pay him a visit.

"It's captain Soi Fong to you Ryoka. I've been meaning to speak with you for a while."

"Why?"

"For starters, I want to know how you were able to defeat Byakuya Kuchiki. He was one of the strongest captains of the 13 squads. How could you defeat him?"

"I used my Bankai."

Soi Fong raised an eyebrow. "As if you could know Bankai. I'll bet it was nothing more than luck."

Ichigo stood up with a smug look on his face. "Want me to prove it?"

The moment he finished that sentence, Ichigo was sent flying by a roundhouse kick to the face.

Soi Fong stood over him with a smirk. "You're not used to hand to hand combat are you Ryoka?"

Growling, Ichigo stood up and dusted himself off. "What the fu-"

He was sent flying again by another kick.

"Show it to me Ryoka. Show me this Bankai of yours…if it even exists."

Ichigo drew Zangetsu and prepared for battle. "If you wanted to fight you could've just asked. But I'm not using my Bankai unless I need to."

"Your zanpakuto is always in its shikai form. I doubt someone with that lack of control could even hope to attain Bankai. Care to prove me wrong."

Ichigo charged forward and started swinging at Soi Fong. The captain was easily able to evade his cumbersome blade and countered with a few punches that caused Ichigo to double over.

Ichigo used Zangetsu to support himself as he straightened himself out. "Is that all you got?"

"You're more stubborn than I thought Ryoka. I guess I'll turn up the heat to coax out this so-called Bankai of yours. Sting Suzumebache!"

The katana she had shrank to a stinger-like blade that fit onto her finger.

Ichigo smirked, "what are you going to do with that tiny thing?"

Soi Fong grinned at his ignorance. "You'll see soon enough Ryoka."

Ichigo leapt at Soi Fong and swung at her with Zangetsu. Soi Fong easily dodged that attack and stung Ichigo's shoulder, placing a butterfly mark on it.

Ichigo examined his shoulder with a shocked expression. "What the?"

"That's Suzumebache's power. If I can sting you there again, you'll die for sure."

Ichigo frowned at the captain. "So you actually intend to kill me?" He then smiled at her. "Then I guess I could show you my Bankai."

Soi Fong smirked. "I've been patient long enough. Let's see this Bankai of yours."

Ichigo pointed Zangetsu at Soi Fong. "Bankai!" He was enveloped in a dark aura as his clothing changed to a long, black jacket and his sword shrank down to a regular Katana size. It was now black, and had a black chain at the end of it.

Soi Fong looked him up and down. "Impressive Ryoka. That Bankai reminds me of my own."

"Is that so? Then why don't you show it to me?"

"No. I won't need my Bankai to defeat yours. I know exactly how it works. The small size increases your speed to beyond that of the flash steps, but I doubt you even know how to control it properly."

Ichigo growled. "I'll show you!" He charged at Soi Fong at high speed and stabbed at her with Zangetsu.

Soi Fong was barely able to dodge the attack and got a cut on her exposed shoulder. She ignored the pain and countered.

"Flash cry!" The attack blasted Ichigo back into a tree.

As he Ichigo tried to get up he found Soi Fong on top of him with Suzumebache pointed at the butterfly mark on his shoulder.

"You caught Byakuya off guard, but if this were a fight to the death, you'd be dead."

Soi Fong got off a confused Ichigo and made his butterfly mark disappear.

As he stood up Ichigo reverted to his normal state. "Why'd you spare me? I thought you wanted me dead."

"I wanted to see your Bankai and convincing you that you would die unless I saw it was the best way to draw it out. I would never upset lady Yoruichi by killing you."

"So, is there anything you wanted to gain or prove by coming here?"

"Not particularly. I jut wanted to put you in your place; by showing you how lucky you got with Kuchiki and Zaraki." Soi Fong saw him pout at her, and couldn't help but smile. "You're a strong man Ryoka. With the proper training you could've won this fight."

Ichigo didn't know how to respond to that statement. "So what now? Are you satisfied?"

"Yes…although it would be interesting to see how you turn out when trained by a master soul reaper."

"Is that an offer to train me?"

Soi Fong smirked. "If you're willing to accept it."

Ichigo smirked back. "I would, I mean its not like I have any plans while I'm here. Although I don't know why you'd want to train me."

"Call it curiosity, but I find you intriguing. You're a human, who's been able to defeat a captain less than a year after becoming a soul reaper. You were even able to fend off a Menos Grande."

Ichigo noticed a slight change in her voice as she spoke. Her tone wasn't as harsh as it normally was.

"So Ryoka, are you satisfied?"

"Yes, but call me Ichigo."

"Alright Ichigo."

"So where are we going to meet up and train. Am I going to join your squad for drills or something?"

"No. We'll meet up in this forest. I'll train you privately. Oh, and don't tell anyone about this. My lieutenant can be quite jealous if he learns that I'm giving special attention to someone else."

"Why, does he have a crush on you or something?"

Soi Fong cringed at the thought, earning a light chuckle from Ichigo. "No, it's just that he got his position due to his family's wealth. He's strong, but there were others who were better suited for the job. All he does is stuff his face. I'm sure he'll feel like his job is in jeopardy if he learns about this."

"I see. That's fine with me. So when do we start?"

"Tomorrow morning, you think you'll be able to handle it?"

"I've never encountered anything I couldn't eventually conquer."

"You're arrogant," said Soi Fong teasingly.

"And you're stubborn," replied Ichigo.

The two of them then noticed that it was dark. The sun must have set during their battle, though they didn't really care much for it.

"I better get going Soi Fong. My friends would be worried about me." Ichigo turned around to leave, but felt Soi Fong grab his wrist.

Before he could react he felt her lips against his. The kiss lasted about half a minute.

When they broke, Soi Fong looked away. "Sorry Ichigo, I was just curious."

After a short awkward moment Soi Fong ran off, leaving a stunned Ichigo.

Ichigo blinked a few times before leaving to find his friends.

When Ichigo arrived at the Shiba household where they were all staying he was still focused on what had happened with Soi Fong.

She kissed me…

"Hey Ichigo."

…But why?

"Earth to Ichigo."

Doe she…like me?

"Get your butt out of the clouds Ichigo!"

Ichigo saw an annoyed Ganju standing in front of him. "Oh hey."

Ganju's jaw dropped as Ichigo just walked by him. "That's it? That's all you're going to say?"

Ichigo then saw Chad standing in front of him, as he was about to enter. '

"Oh, hey Chad."

"You look distracted Ichigo. Did something happen?"

"Oh…no… I'm fine. Just a bit tired or lazy I guess. I mean it is supposed to be summer vacation."

"You sure about that Ichigo?" asked a concerned Ganju. "You would usually yell back at me if I interrupted your thoughts."

"Sorry Ganju. I'm just not in the mood for that."

Ganju gave Ichigo a confused look as he walked inside.

"Dinner's ready," said Kukaku.

Every resident except one immediately surrounded the dinner table.

Noticing a missing carrot top, Kukaku decided to find him.

Kukaku found Ichigo sitting in his sleeping quarters in deep thought. "Hey kid, I said dinner was ready."

"Sorry. I'm just not hungry right now."

Normally Kukaku would have waved him off and left to eat, but Ichigo resembled her brother too much, and a wave of concern washed of her.

"What's wrong kid? Last I checked you ate a lot. You've been out of it since you got back today."

"It's nothing to worry about. I'll be fine."

Kukaku raised an eyebrow, but her grumbling stomach caused her to give up. "Fine, have it your way." She walked out of the room, leaving Ichigo to his thoughts.

"Where's Ichigo?" asked Yoruichi as Kukaku sat down next to her.

"He's in his room. He said he's not hungry. Something's wrong with him."

"I see, did he tell you anything?"

"He said he was fine and left it at that."

"I guess I'll talk to him later. He might tell me more."

Soi Fong sat at her desk, finishing off her paperwork for the month. With a sigh, she sat back in her chair and relaxed.

Her encounter with Ichigo was running through her mind. She remembered how good he tasted as she kissed him.

She said she was curious, but she couldn't help but wonder why. Was it because his informal attitude reminded her of Yoruichi?

She brushed such thoughts aside as her lieutenant, Marechiyo Omaeda, came in.

"What do you want?" Soi Fong's attitude concealed her emotional confusion.

"I um…well…" Omaeda started fidgeting as if he was nervous.

Soi Fong became annoyed, she didn't want to sit in front of his ugly face all day. "Spit it out already! I haven't got all day!"

The outburst caused the lieutenant to panic. "Will you go out with me?" he blurted out.

Soi Fong's eyes widened briefly. She hadn't expected that. She had no idea that her lieutenant felt that way and did not want to know what he thought about her.

Soi Fong then remembered her kiss with Ichigo. After that, she would never go out with someone like Marechiyo, who keeps stuffing his face.

"No," she answered firmly and her tone told him that she never wanted to hear anything like this again.

With a sigh, the lieutenant left the room. His head held low.

Soi Fong shook her head to clear it of the disturbing series of events that had occurred just now.

She thought about dinner, but decided against it. She wasn't particularly hungry.

Ichigo noticed his door opening and looked up as Yoruichi walked in.

"Kukaku told me that you weren't hungry."

"I'm not."

"Care to talk about what's bugging you?"

Ichigo feigned annoyance. "I'm not in need of counseling. I'm fine, I just don't have an appetite right now."

"You were gone most of the day. I even sensed you go into Bankai for a short while. What happened?"

Ichigo could see that she was concerned, but was reluctant to let her know what happened. "I was training."

"Then shouldn't you be hungry?"

"I know I should be, but if I'm not, I'm not."

Yoruichi sighed. "Okay, fine, but if you want to tell me, feel free."

When she left the room Ichigo went to bed. He wanted to be well rested for training tomorrow.

When the coast was clear Orihime peered into Ichigo's room. She watched as he slipped under the covers and fell asleep.

She had been worried about him when she sensed his Bankai. She was even more worried by the fact that he hadn't come to dinner.

She jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong Orihime?"

It was Chad.

"Oh, its nothing Chad. I…I was just worried about Ichigo."

"Ichigo will be fine. He might be upset about Rukia staying in the Soul Society."

Orihime felt a pang of jealousy, but ignored it. "Oh…you're probably right Chad."

"Let's leave Ichigo alone. He probably needs that now."

Orihime reluctantly nodded before following Chad away. Oh Ichigo…if only you could see how I truly feel.

This is only my second Bleach fanfic so I'm a bit unsure. I decided to give Omaeda a crush on Soi Fong because I want someone to feel jealous of Ichigo. Any sort of feedback would be helpful.