A whole year has passed since the final fight with Yhwach, and ever since things seemed to have returned to normal for everybody in the Soul Society and the World of the Living. Ichigo Kurosaki carried out his normal routine, surveying the city, making sure Karakura Town was safe from any imminent danger. There was something different about today, something just felt off to him. As he was travelling along his daily route, which consisted of starting by the school to check on his sisters, and ending by checking up on one of the most important people to him, Orihime,

Ichigo was all of the sudden stopped by a familiar voice. "Hey, Ichigo, we need you to come to the soul society right away."

He turned around in shock to find Head Captain Shunsui Kyoraku waiting for his response. "What for?" Ichigo replied.

"We don't have enough time, we need to head back right away, I've sent Rukia to tell your family so they aren't worried."

Ichigo felt relieved that Rukia was involved in whatever was going on in the soul society. The only problem was Rukia wasn't going to tell his friends and family that he was going to be gone for a while, she was going to tell everyone that they will never get to see Ichigo again.

Rukia figured the correct place to start was Ichigo's house. She approached the door and before she was able to get there, she was surprised to see Isshin open the door. "Hi Mr Kuro-" "What's going on?"

Isshin interrupted. "I felt Kyoraku and your spiritual pressures and now Kyoraku and my sons' spiritual pressures have left meaning they headed to the Soul Society."

Rukia kinda felt puzzled, it just hit her now, the moment she got to the door, how heartbreaking this is going to be to tell everyone that Ichigo will not be coming back to the World of the Living.

"I don't really know how to say this…" Rukia added "The Head Captain has stated that hollows are going to start returning at an alarming rate, which will prove hazardous to both the Soul Society and the World of the Living. If there is an enormous presence in the World of the Living, there is no way the Soul Society can ever keep up and protect the World of the Living, so in order to prevent this Central 46 has ordered Ichigo to go back to the Soul Society and stay there permanently."

As soon as she finished explaining everything to Isshin, the look on his face said it all. Isshin knew deep down that his son has become way stronger than anyone he has ever seen. In fact, Isshin believes that there is no one left in the Soul Society that is as strong as Ichigo.

"So, this is it? Central 46 thinks they have the right to take my son's future away just like that? After all Ichigo has done for them? He can't live in peace?"

Rukia felt heartbroken. Isshin is someone who rarely shows this type of emotion. "Mr Kurosaki, I will do everything I can to make sure he can come back home and live his life the way he wants to, I promise you this." Isshin hugged Rukia and said something that will stay with Rukia forever, "bring me my son back." She nodded and knew the next place she should head is to see Urahara.

The reason why she wanted to go to Urahara's next was quite simple. One reason was that he frequently sees Chad and Uryu and can give them the news for her and the other reason being that maybe there is some way that he can figure something out that will let Ichigo come back to the World of the Living. She arrived at Urahara's and was greeted by Kisuke himself.

"Hey Rukia, what brings you here?"

"Kisuke we have a problem. Central 46 has ordered Ichigo to stay in the Soul Society due to the fact that his spiritual pressure will attract way too many hollows to the point that the Soul Society will not be able to protect the World of the Living."

Kisuke doesn't have a shocked look on his face. It makes Rukia start to think that maybe he knew this was a possibility already? It is Urahara after all. She patiently awaits his response.

Finally he responds "I was afraid this would happen, ever since Ichigo defeated Yhwach and the Quincy war ended, it was only a matter of time Central 46 wanted to keep their eyes on him the easiest way possible."

Kisuke assured her that he would be figuring out a way to solve this problem. Before she left however he said "Don't forget to tell goodbye to the one person who means the most to Ichigo!"

She knew instantly that this was gonna be the hardest one. She had to go say goodbye to Orihime, something she saved for last because it wasn't going to be easy to do.

Rukia then headed towards Orihime's house. She did notice that Orihime's spiritual pressure was not there but a different place. She headed towards where she sensed Orihime, and it seemed she was headed back to a place very familiar to Rukia, Ichigo's house. Orihime noticed Rukia before Rukia even had a chance to talk.

"Rukia, where's Ichigo? I sensed his spiritual pressure one minute and then it was gone the next. I'm worried something might have happened to Ichigo!"

The worried face of Orihime really made Rukia's stomach turn. Rukia thought to herself how is she doing to be able to tell Orihime that she will never get to see Ichigo again, and the fact that she couldn't say goodbye to Ichigo herself. Rukia decided that being honest was the best for them both right now.

"Orihime, Central 46 has ordered Ichigo to return to the Soul Society permanently."

Rukia then told Orihime the same explanation she told Isshin and Urahara. Orihime hearing this news, immediately shed a tear.

"That's it? Ichigo is gone just like that? No… NO I CAN'T ACCEPT THIS RUKIA" Orihime cried. "How is this okay? Ichigo has done so much for them. He's the reason all of us are still alive right now, he deserves to be able to make his own decisions!"

Rukia had no idea what to say. She has never seen Orihime this upset before. It's obvious that Ichigo means so much to Orihime, after all the things the two have been through, but she didn't know it was at this high of a level. These weren't tears over losing a best friend, or someone close to her, these were tears over losing someone that was her everything. Rukia thought to herself that she has never seen this level of sadness before.

"Orihime, I'm going to do everything I can to get him back, you have my word. I will not let you down."

She was hoping that would calm Orihime down and suddenly Orihime added "Then I'm going with you. Ichigo has done so much for me, it's time I do something for him."

Rukia knew where these feelings were coming from, and knew that there was no way she was going to talk Orihime out of going with her. Rukia nodded and then the two headed back to the Soul Society.

As Ichigo entered the Soul Society with Head Captain Kyoraku, he had no idea what he was about to be told. All the goodbyes he would have been able to give, were all done by Rukia. Central 46 thought it was best to keep it this way and Kyoraku agreed. The fact of the matter is he knows Ichigo, he knows that if he had been given a choice he would never willingly come to the Soul Society. All the people he cared about have been taken from him, and Kyoraku knows this is going to be a difficult thing to tell Ichigo. Kyoraku planned ahead and had it disguised as a captains meeting with a special guest.

They finally approached the headquarters. Ichigo looked around and saw a gallery of familiar faces. This comforted him, but also worried him because some of them didn't seem too relaxed, they looked more like they were expecting something bad to happen at any moment. Head Captain Kyoraku commenced the meeting of the Captains of the 13 Court Guard Squads.
"Hello, everyone. We all know why we are here today. I brought my good friend Ichigo with me from the World of the Living."

As Kyoraku said all this, Ichigo took a minute to gather his thoughts. He figured whatever this mission he was going to be a part of, he knew it was something big if it involved all the captains.

"Ichigo, there is no reason to tell you this but I was unable to tell you the real reason why I brought you here. Central 46 made the decision that we have to keep you here permanently due to your overwhelming reiatsu. There's no way they can keep the World of the Living safe with the projections that Captain Kurosutchi has given us. If you were to remain in Karakura Town, the World of the Living's balance would be thrown off. There will be no way you could save anyone; your family, your friends, no one Ichigo."

Ichigo's heart dropped when he heard the news. He couldn't believe what he just heard. He wanted to cry and yell at the same time.

"What… what do you mean there's no going back. WHAT THE HELL IS THE MEANING OF ALL THIS!" "Ichigo calm dow-" "DON'T TELL ME HOW TO REACT, YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME. I HELPED YOU DEFEAT AIZEN, I HELPED YOU DEFEAT YHWACH AND THIS IS WHAT CENTRAL 46 DOES TO ME?"

"Look Ichigo, I know this won't mean much, but me and the rest of the captains included do not agree with this. But since we are the 13 court guard squads and have no control over it, we have to do this. I hope you can understand at some point. We will give your friends and family a soul ticket so they will be able to visit you whenever they want."

"It's not the same Shunsui, I can't help but think of the things I'm going to miss, all because of this... "

"Ichigo" Byakuya added. Byakuya usually would have stayed quiet during times like these. Byakuya has always had a deep admiration for Ichigo ever since they first met each other and Ichigo stood up to him.

"Ichigo, this is not going to be easy whatsoever, but I will try to make sure that you can return to the World of the Living. You are a human, just a substitute shinigami, someone that shouldn't be forced to live in the Soul Society just yet."

Ichigo felt comforted but still couldn't get over all this. What's going to happen now. He started to think of the people he was going to miss the most. The first person who popped in his head, who he was going to miss the most surprised him. The person who came to mind, Orihime Inoue.

He felt his heart break. Deep down he knew why he felt this much sadness, but it hit him just now. He was in love with Orihime. He never really took the time to think about it until just now, in this moment. He started to think of every little thing he was going to miss about her. Her smile, the way her eyes lit up whenever she was extremely happy, the way her eyes lit up when she looked at him.

All these moments, Ichigo started to process for the first time. He didn't know how to feel. He had never been in love before, he had never thought that he would never get to see the love of his life again. Of course he was depressed over the fact that he couldn't see the others, but the fact that he couldn't see Orihime was beyond that level of sadness. There isn't a word to describe it. He felt like he was lost, and for some reason, this was the saddest he had ever felt like in his life.

Even with all the difficulties he's faced, the fact that he wouldn't see her beautiful smile or hear her beautiful soothing voice made him freeze. No one in this moment could help nor understand Ichigo, so they decided to set him up in his new living quarters at the Kuchiki's and give him his space. He started to wonder what everyone was up to and if they had any clue what was going on, especially Orihime.

Little did Ichigo know Orihime took the news exactly like he would have. She instinctively wanted to go help him, how he has helped her and everyone else he cared about. There was no other option for her. She did it without thinking things through, the reason being how important Ichigo was to her.

They had no idea that at the same moment, they were both thinking of each other and how much they cared for each other. Deep down Orihime knew how Ichigo felt, but he never had expressed his emotions verbally to her. This thought never bothered her the slightest, because she knew that she was the only one that knew Ichigo the way she did. Not even Rukia, who was arguably a closer friend to Ichigo, could say that. She never needed to hear how he felt either, because at the end of the day none of that truly mattered. She knew Ichigo loved her, maybe not even in a romantic way, but she knew.

At the end of the day all Orihime wanted from Ichigo was for him to be happy. How could she ask for anything more?

Orihime and Rukia had a little bit of planning to do before they entered the Soul Society. Rukia knew that this is not something the two of them could accomplish on their own. They decided to go to someone who Rukia trusted and had already told the news to, Urahara.

He already said he was going to help so she decided to see if any progress had been made since she left. The time she spent telling Orihime what was happening seemed like days had passed. How were they going to pull this off, Rukia hoped that Urahara came up with something. When the girls arrived they were shocked to be greeted by Isshin Kurosaki.

He and Urahara were thinking of the possibilities of getting Ichigo out and if there was anything Urahara could make that would let Ichigo be able to come back with Central 46's consent. They thought about using some sort of gegai or maybe something that would suppress his powers, maybe something similar to the gentai kaijo the captains wear when they come to the World of the Living.

Urahara seems to be really focused, trying to come up with a solution to this problem. For once it had seemed that Urahara was stumped. Why was Central 46 doing this all of the sudden? Certainly there will be another solution to the problem. The last thing Urahara wanted to do was to just invade the Soul Society and grab Ichigo, he knows the consequences will be dire.

Seeing this in Urahara, Rukia and Orihime decided maybe they would head out to stay out of the way because they were both comforted by the fact that Urahara was really intuned into trying to find a way to fix this problem. Orihime still showed worry on her face and all Rukia wanted to do was comfort her somehow.

Deep down she knew Orihime just wanted to go to the Soul Society and save Ichigo by herself, but Rukia knew she would never get anywhere. What was she going to do? Barge into the Soul Society and demand Central 46 to release Ichigo at once?

Rukia thought back to the time Ichigo had saved her and how brave he was taking on all these captains and the Soul Society, but deep down she knew that Orihime, and even herself, don't have the character to do that. They aren't Ichigo, that was the problem. If it was anyone but him, they would have his help, but what are they to do now? The first time in years, they are without Ichigo.
They owed this to him after the countless times he has saved them. Rukia thought to herself maybe this time, they should think of something Ichigo wouldn't do? Rukia thought then that she should head to the Soul Society alone to investigate their diplomatic options in case Urahara can't come up with a solution.

As Rukia left, she told Orihime she would be back very soon, and to go back to Urahara's and relax. Orihime sighed but knew that Rukia would come back for her and had to eventually return to the Soul Society before they knew something was up.

Rukia then entered the Soul Society and went straight to the person who she turned to in times of comfort, her brother Byakuya. Byakuya had knowledge about Central 46, probably more so than any other captain besides Head Captain Kyoraku. When she entered the Kuchiki manor, she was greeted by a familiar face.

"ICHIGO!" she shouted. She instantly saw the despair on his face after she greeted him. She could tell he was a little happy to see her, but was still depressed at the fact that he was being forced to stay in the Soul Society.

She had never seen Ichigo like this. Even after he had lost his powers to Ginjo, he still wasn't this upset. She had actually only seen this expression one time before, on Orihime's face as she broke the news to her about Ichigo. Rukia felt helpless. Her friend is sitting there and there is nothing she can do to help. She is relying on other people like always and has to just play the waiting game as her friend is suffering.

This made her feel uneasy.

"Rukia… nice to see you.." but for some reason she felt like it wasn't much help. This time she wouldn't be able to help Ichigo cheer up.

Rukia then proceeded to look for Byakuya.

"Brother"

"Rukia, what brings you here? Are you here to see Ichigo?"

"I just saw him, I actually came here to talk to you. Is there any way Central 46 might change their mind?"

"Central 46 is never going to change their mind without a good reason. The only reason I could think of is there being a guaranteed way to stop the flow of hollows from getting out of control. Urahara will come up with something Rukia, I promise. In the meantime just be there for your friend." Rukia agreed and entered the room where Ichigo was, and tried to think of a way to comfort him.

While all this was happening, Orihime arrived at Urahara's shop.

"Mr. Urahara, can you get me to the Soul Society?"

"But Rukia-"

"Yeah I know, it's just I really need to make sure Ichigo is ok!"

Urahara noticed the worried look on Orihime's face and could not resist helping her.

"Sure Orihime, just promise me to take care of yourself. Ichigo would kill me if I let anything happen to you."

As Orihime entered the senkaimon, she really had only one thought on her mind. She wanted to see Ichigo. It didn't matter that Rukia had told her to stay, this is something Orihime needed to do.

As soon as she entered the Soul Society she somehow ended up heading towards the Kuchiki manor as if she knew Ichigo was there. She could sense his spiritual pressure, but she didn't need to, it was as if her heart led her straight to Ichigo. No one noticed that she had entered the Soul Society, so nobody had stopped her before she got there.

As Rukia and Ichigo were chatting the door had burst open and there stood a flustered Orihime. "ICHIGO!" She shouted in excitement.

As soon as Ichigo laid eyes on Orihime, Rukia noticed Ichigo's eyes light up. Just by the simple sight of Orihime, he was all of the sudden relieved, feeling better. Rukia decided she would leave the room to give them their privacy.

"Orihime, what are you doing here?"

"Ichigo, Rukia and Urahara told me that I should wait but I couldn't stand idly by and not know if you are okay or not! I needed to see you Ichigo!"

"I'm fine Orihime, really no need to worry" as he put his usual tough guy act on for her.

"Ichigo, I know you aren't and that's fine! Please just tell me what I could do to make you feel better! I'll do whatever it takes!"

Ichigo knew the answer to what she said. He wanted her and only her, that's all he ever needed. Of course, he loved his family and friends with all his heart, but the one thing he wanted the most is to be with Orihime.

It's sad to think that it had to take something this serious for his feelings for Orihime to unbury themselves. Why hasn't he noticed sooner? Why only now, when it is most likely impossible for them to be together, is he realizing how he truly feels about Orihime.

"Orihime it means the world to me that you would go through all that to just see me. I'm sure there's something else you would rather be doing then staying here with me"

"Ichigo stop… there is no other place in the world I would rather be. As soon as Rukia told me you wouldn't be able to return to the World of the Living my heart broke. The thought of not being able to see you again is something I couldn't handle. What would my life be without you? Everyday whether you know it or not, you always cross my mind and I am always reminded of how special it is to have you a part of my life. There is something I have never had the courage to tell you… Ichigo, I'm in love with you. Everytime I see you my stomach gets butterflies and I always get super excited to see you. I want nothing but for you to be happy, even if you don't end up with me, that's fine I just want you to be happy. I just want to see you smile Ichigo. I just don't ever want to see you hurt Ichigo. You mean too much to me, I love you with all my heart. You hold a special place in my heart, even before you were a soul reaper, you've held a special place in my heart ever since we met. I-"

"Orihime, it's okay. I was just thinking to myself I care about you so much I don't want you to see me upset. Orihime, of course I feel the same way about you. The only reason I've been able to do what I have is because you've been there by my side. Just the simple fact that I know I have you here has made that possible. I haven't taken that for granted one second of knowing you Orihime. I never noticed it until I thought there was a chance of not seeing you again. I'm sorry it has taken me this long but I'm glad I noticed when I did. Orihime I just want you to be happy. Orihime I want you to return to the World of the Living, I want you to live a happy life for the both of us. It would break my heart if I knew I was the one holding you back. I'm not special, you deserve someone who will be better than me because the fact of the matter is I don't deserve you at all. You're too special, you deserve only the best and that's not me.

Orihime shed a tear. She started crying and instinctively ran to Ichigo.

His arms felt warm, warmer and more comfortable than anything before. For some reason this hug was different than any other hug before. Ichigo welcomed her with a warm embrace.

This felt like something she had been missing from her life. For the first time in her life, especially after the death of her brother, her life had felt complete, maybe even more so than even back then.

The boy she always loved, ever since the first time they had laid eyes on each other, has now told her that she wasn't the only one feelings these emotions.

"Ichigo, I don't want to ever hear these words from you ever again. You say I deserve the best? Well the best is you, I have never loved anyone the way I love you. The countless things you have done for me, all the times you have been there for me, and you always had my interests at heart. What's better than that? If that's not the best, then I don't want it. I want YOU. You have been the most important person in my life ever since we have been in each other's lives, and honestly I want to be with you Ichigo. So, I'm going to stay here with you, Rukia and the others can figure out how to get us back to the World of the Living. Ichigo from now on, I go wherever you go, wherever you are needed, even if you have to stay here, it would give me nothing but pure happiness to be by your side and grow old with you. I know you're going to tell me not to stay here and to go back when Rukia does, but I'm NOT going to and you cannot stop me. Ichigo-"

He kissed her on the lips.

She felt as if she couldn't stop blushing and instantly became warm. She felt as if that was the most pleasurable moment in her life, and the best one in fact. This is a kiss she was always going to remember.

"Orihime, thank you, you asked me earlier what you can do to make me feel better and I would have never asked you to, but you stayed here with me. Somehow having you here gives me hope that eventually I will be able to go back but even if we can't go back, being here with you is all I need. Orihime I'm happy you are staying here with me. I want the same thing as you. I want to grow old with you and have you by my side because it helps me get through it more than you know. Seeing that beautiful smile on your face and your eyes light up when you see something you like or love, that is my favorite sight in the world, nothing in nature is as beautiful as that. Orihime, you are my ray of sunshine in the darkness that is my world I love you more than anything. Thank you for being here."

Time passed and as time went on Orihime rested her head against Ichigo's shoulder for comfort. Even in the predicament they were in, none of that mattered. Urahara probably will find a way to get Ichigo back to the World of the Living, but that didn't matter to them right now. They were perfectly happy staying in the Soul Society.

Deep down the only thing Orihime and Ichigo wanted was to be with each other, and that is what they were together in that moment from then on for the rest of their lives. They were meant to be. They were soul mates. They were finally together, that's all the two ever needed to get past any hill, any trouble in life.

This is what true love looks like.