A/N: Here is the long awaited sequel to The Reason! I know it took much longer than I said it would, but life has thrown me a lot of curveballs over the past year and a half. Thank you all for reading. Oh, and if you haven't, there is a spin-off of The Reason focusing on Karin and Yuzu Kurosaki. Some of the events that happened in that story might pop into this one. I am also planning on releasing a sequel for that spin-off as well. So a lot of Bleach content is coming your way!
June 26th
Bright orange hair was the first thing that came to his attention when he walked in front of the mirror. Ichigo's eyes moved to focus on the rest of the mirror, as he slipped on his shirt. He could see a bed with the comforter and sheets jumbled up. A couple of empty baby bottles on the bedside table, and a basket full of baby clothes that were only half folded. His eyes focused back on himself, and he stopped at the sight of a bandage on his right shoulder that came down onto his chest. Wincing a little when he moved that arm, he buttoned up the shirt. Hiding the bandage from view.
After straightening out the collar of his shirt, he turned and left the bedroom. As he walked down the stairs, he felt at home in this new house. After spending nearly two months there, everything finally found its spot, and had the homey feel. Once downstairs, he walked into the living room. Stopping as his eyes went to the back door. The sunlight brightening around the shadowed figure of his beautiful fiance.
Orihime seemed to have heard him come downstairs, as she turned to face him. Her longer curled orange hair floating around her as she did. Their one and a half month old daughter in her arms. Her grey eyes met his, and her smile seemed to light up the room. "Still mad at me?"
"I don't know." Ichigo replied after a moment, walking over and accepting Mina from her, as his eyes focused down on their daughter. Her eyes had finally settled to more of Orihime's grey than the blue/grey they were when she was born.
Orihime continued to smile at Ichigo, as she moved to slip her shoes on. Her green and white sundress on her. "It's not like it is THAT big of a deal."
"You lied to me," was Ichigo's reply, as he raised an eyebrow. "That's not a big deal to you?"
"I don't really see how I lied. I may have not exactly told you-" Orihime was interrupted when the back door was pushed open. There was a lot of pitter patter sound, as a slightly clumsy little golden retriever puppy shot past them. Yipping away while circling Orihime and Ichigo.
"You adopted a dog without telling me." Ichigo said, frowning as the excited puppy was circling Orihime.
Orihime laughed, as she knelt down to pet the energized puppy. "Ichigo, I already told you. I didn't plan on getting a dog. I just happened to be walking by the shelter with Mai and-"
"Left with a dog," Ichigo interrupted, sighing down at Orihime. "Mina's only a month and a half old, and she requires our 24/7 attention. Do you really think we need to add a puppy on top of that?"
"Yes," Orihime replied quickly, noticing how Ichigo didn't anticipate that to be her response, she laughed again. "Ichigo it'll be fine. Just think, Mina will have this little guy growing up with her. They can be best friends."
Silence filled the air for a long moment. The only sound being the puppy's paws tapping on the floor, and it's tail hitting the floor as well. Finally Ichigo sighed again, and moved to put Mina in her carrier. "I still can't believe you didn't tell me."
"Like you don't tell me stuff," Orihime replied, as she straightened up. Reaching over once he had finished putting Mina down, she pressed her hand down on his right shoulder, and raised an eyebrow at him visibly flinching. "Like how you've been going back to fighting hollows and training even though we both agreed to cool it for the first two months after Mina was born."
Ichigo's eyes went wide, he laughed, then rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh-"
"Yeah, I know about that." Orihime said as she smirked back at him. "Our two months aren't up until another two and a half weeks."
"I know we agreed to wait," Ichigo said, as he watched Orihime pick the puppy up to take him back to the laundry room. "But, to be one hundred percent honest… I really needed to go out and do something."
"I'm so sorry boy, but we'll be back home in a few hours. You have food, water, and a lot of comfy places to sleep," Orihime apologized to the little puppy who wanted to follow her back out of the laundry room. Finally closing the door, Orihime turned to walk with Ichigo to the front door. "I guess I can understand that. It feels like sometimes that staying in the house is all we've done the past few weeks. I think we're both at a point where we need to get out of the house more."
"That doesn't make us bad parents, does it?" Ichigo asked, once they were outside.
Pausing on the porch as Ichigo locked the door, Orihime moved up on her toes to kiss his cheek. "No, we're just a little stir crazy. I think it's time we re-consider our anti baby sitter stance. That way we can go out every once in a while."
"I'm sure Karin and Yuzu would love to when they come back home in a couple days," Ichigo replied, taking Orihime's hand, and holding Mina's carrier with the other. They started down the steps, then the walkway. "And you know that Tatsuki practically wants to adopt her, so she'll be available too."
Laughing along with Ichigo, Orihime's laughter settled as they got to the car. Watching Ichigo put Mina into the car, she smiled at him when he finished up, and looked to her. "You look nice today."
Ichigo raised an eyebrow at Orihime's smile, the sweet look in her eyes, and her holding his hand. Finally, realizing why exactly she was doing it, a smile of his own broke out on his face. "I guess it is okay that we have the dog-"
"Yay!" Orihime exclaimed, as she moved to sit down in the passenger seat of the car after Ichigo opened the door for her. "We have to give him a name now that you have agreed to him staying here forever."
Ichigo paused before he could shut her door. "Should we stop by the store and get some sticky notes?"
That had made them both start laughing. Reminding them both back to the time just a few months before Mina was born when they were trying to pick her name. Time certainly has flown by.
A half hour later
Walking out onto the patio of Fair Garden, a popular brunch place with a large outdoor patio. It had a lot of plants and fountains around the tables, and white table cloths and flower center pieces.
"Are you sure this is where a four-year-old's birthday party is?"
"Yes Ichigo," Orihime said, laughing at his raised eyebrow. "This is apparently what Raya asked Rin for. She wanted to have everyone dress up for it too."
"A fancy tea party for a four-year-old," Ichigo replied, then he chuckled. "I was expecting fairy tail or princess themed."
"Well that was last year," Orihime replied, just as her eyes moved forward to see a tiny human with long brown curled hair, and darker grey eyes running towards her. Smiling as the little girl got to her, she hugged the girl to her. "Happy birthday sweet girl."
"Orihime!" Raya exclaimed, as she jumped up and down. "I'm so excited to see you."
Smiling at how Raya jumped around, Orihime wished she had that much energy to do the same. "Me too, this is going to be so much fun."
Raya giggled happily, as she settled down. Looking into Mina's carrier, she smiled big. "She is so much bigger than the last time I saw her."
"She must have had a growth spurt since last weekend," Ichigo said, laughing along with Raya. Ever since Orihime met Raya at their graduation party almost a month ago, the two seemed to click instantly. After a few more meetings over the last month, Raya finally got to come over and spend one night with them last weekend. Where she got to see Mina a lot, and apparently they were now best friends according to the four-year-old.
"Hi, I'm glad you two could make it," Rin greeted them, hugging them both, and taking Raya's hand. "She's been so excited for you two and Mina to show up, that has been all she has talked about since we got here to set up."
"Well this has been all I have been thinking about too," Orihime said, smiling down at Raya, then her eyes met Rin's. "Ichigo, on the other hand, has been more focused on being mad about me about the puppy.
Rin raised an eyebrow "When did you-"
"You have a puppy!" Raya exclaimed, then she brought a hand to her mouth as her eyes went to Mina. "I'm sorry, that was loud."
Orihime smiled, as Mina didn't seem the slightest bit bothered as she continued sleeping. "It's okay, she seems to be a heavy sleeper," she said, then looked back to Rin. "Yeah, long story short, I adopted a puppy yesterday, and it was apparently a big deal that I didn't consult with Ichigo first."
"That's a pretty big decision," Ichigo said, then he shook his head at her raised eyebrow. "But we've already discussed it, and I'm not mad anymore."
Orihime grinned at Rin, as she crossed her arms. "I'm pretty sure that's only because he's lied to me about going back to training, so we're even now."
Raya tugging on Rin's hand kept Rin from replying back. Raya's eyes focused up on her mom. "Can we go sit down? I want to eat cake."
"How about we have lunch first, then you can have your cake?"
"Okay," Raya said, nodding in agreement, as her eyes went to Orihime next. "Will you sit next to me?"
"Of course." Orihime replied with a smile.
An hour later
Watching as Raya played around with some cousins from Rin's side of the family, Orihime's eyes then moved to Akira who had shown up a little late to the party. "So you and Tatsuki finally got back from all of your travels?"
"Yeah, we had a lot of stops that weren't originally planned for, but it was fun. Even though it extended our travels for an extra week," Akira said, shrugging as she picked up her class of champagne on the table. "That's also why I was a bit late. I had to shower and find something clean to wear."
"The struggle," Orihime said jokingly, laughing along with Akira. "Champagne at a four-year-old's birthday party?"
Akira smirked after she took a sip. "Relax, I told her that it was juice," she replied, taking another sip, then her eyes went to Ichigo. "So have you talked to Yuzu or Karin recently?"
Ichigo raised an eyebrow at his sister's being brought up. "No, why?"
"No reason." Was all Akira said, as she shrugged and once again took a sip of champagne.
Mina starting to cry had Ichigo standing up before Orihime could even look over. "You just fed her so she probably needs to be changed. I'll take care of it."
"Thank you," Orihime said, smiling at Ichigo as he took Mina and her diaper bag and walked away. Her eyes moved to Akira. "Didn't you and Tatsuki stay in a place not far from Moss Tree where Yuzu's art program was?"
Akira noticeably froze, as her eyes met Orihime's. Recovering after a moment, she coughed, and straightened up. "Yeah we did. We were super busy, and I'm sure Yuzu was too. So we didn't really have time to cross paths I guess."
"That's true..." Orihime trailed off as her eyes went to her phone. Toshiro texting her back that he'd be back in Karakura Town in a couple days. What a coincidence. That's the same day Karin and Yuzu are coming home too. "I wonder where Toshiro's been. He's been gone for over two weeks. I mean he's been texting me, but he hasn't been around."
"No idea," Akira replied, offering a smile as she sipped her champagne. "Maybe he is just busy on a mission, or assignment, or something..."
"Maybe he is… On another note, I get to start training next week." Orihime started to change the subject, as she felt excited at the thought of finally getting to really test out her powers.
A few hours later
"Chicken is done."
"So is everything else," Orihime replied, setting their plates with their side items down on the kitchen and table. "I think it's a good idea that we started planning our meals out at the beginning of the week. It makes it easier to get dinner done quicker at the end of the day."
"Agreed," Ichigo said, sitting down at the table with her, then they started to eat. As they were eating, he began to watch Orihime closely. Her focus went from Mina who was asleep in her rocker sleeper on the floor beside the table, then to the puppy who was going around the table and slipping under their chairs in hopes of getting food. "You know, I figured out why it takes you so long to finish eating."
Orihime looked up to meet his eyes. "Why?"
Ichigo laughed, as he motioned to Mina then the puppy. "It has mostly been Mina, but it seems the new puppy is just adding to your distraction."
"What can I say?" Orihime countered after a moment, focusing back on her food finally. "The puppy is adorable, and we made a pretty cute baby. It's hard not to look."
"I can agree with the second half of that," Ichigo replied, shaking his head at Orihime's frown. "I'm trying here, okay? It may take a few more days before I finally can fully accept the fact that we now own a dog."
"I don't think it'll take you that long. I guarantee he is going to be your new best friend." Orihime shot back, a confident smirk on her face.
"Yeah because it's not like I don't have Chad, Tatsuki, or Uryu anymore." Ichigo replied sarcastically, smirking at her laughter.
"Well to be fair, Tatsuki has been doing a lot of traveling the past few weeks, and Chad and Uryu both train a lot-" Orihime broke off when her phone buzzed. She smiled as she opened up the message.
"What?"
Orihime turned her phone for him to look. "The rest of our graduation pictures."
"I feel like that was forever ago." Ichigo replied, squinting his eyes, then he turned the brightness up on her screen. Swiping through the photos, he stopped on the last one, and smiled as it was of Mina. "She's certainly has got bigger over the past few weeks."
"That means we're doing something right," Orihime joked, as he passed her phone back to her. Switching back to one of them, her smile widened. "The photographer is going to send me the physical copies so I can put them around the house."
"Orihime, we already have the other two rounds of graduation pictures hanging up. I don't think we need anymore-"
"Well I won't do all of them, I think I'll put one in Mina's scrapbook, and maybe give a some to Isshin- Oh, and then your aunt wanted some-"
"We should just have the photographer make ten copies of each photo then." Ichigo mumbled, as he picked his fork back up.
"Good idea." Orihime replied, starting to text the photographer back.
Ichigo shook his head quickly. "I was just joking-"
"I know," Orihime said, finishing the text, and going back to her food. "But I wasn't."
Ichigo laughed, as she stuck out her tongue. "I love you."
Orihime finally broke and laughed along with him. Leaning over to kiss him. "I love you too- Ow!" She exclaimed, as she felt the puppy's sharp little teeth getting her toe. "We need to get you some toys. My toes are not for you to bite."
Ichigo smirked, as he took another bite of chicken. "We can stop by the pet store tomorrow while we are out to get Mina some more diapers."
"That sounds good to me." Orihime replied, shaking her head at Ichigo's smirk.
Later that evening
Smiling down at Mina, who was finally asleep, Orihime turned away from the crib, and tiptoed to the door. She grabbed the baby monitor and turned off the lights on her way out. Walking into the bathroom beside Mina's room, Orihime turned on the bath water. Sighing after grabbing the new dog shampoo out of the cabinet. "I'm sorry!"
Moments later, the sound of footsteps and a tiny puppy's barking was heard. Then Ichigo walked into the bathroom. A very muddy and squirmy puppy in his hands. "At least he didn't track the mud onto the carpet."
"I know, but it was still a lot to mop up on the wood floor," Orihime said, stopping the water after Ichigo put their puppy in the bath tub. She started getting him wet, and with a little bit of soap. "He was just so excited to go flop around in the grass after it rained. I just didn't realize how close he was getting to the dirt where my garden is."
"Well… he was having a lot of fun, and I think he felt bad for the mud on the kitchen floor." Ichigo replied after a moment, having to kneel down to help keep the puppy from escaping the bath tub, as Orihime focused more on washing him.
Raising an eyebrow at Ichigo's words, Orihime smirked. "You think he felt bad?"
At Orihime's question and raised eyebrow, Ichigo shrugged after a moment. "You were putting Mina to bed while I was cleaning up. I could just tell."
"Right." Orihime started laughing, as she focused back down on the puppy.
It was quiet for a moment as they had to focus on keeping the puppy from escaping the tub, and getting the mud off of him. Ichigo glanced over to Orihime and sighed. "Okay, so maybe after playing around with him after dinner changed my mind fully on the stance on having him here. It kinda feels like he adds something to our family."
Chuckling at his admission, Orihime tried to hold back on gloating. "I'm glad you like him-" She stopped when she noticed her engagement ring had gotten a little dirty in the process of washing the puppy.
Ichigo noticed her eying her ring. "So have you thought of a date yet?"
"No, not yet. It's hard to decide."
"I don't really mind when," was Ichigo's reply, as he smiled at her. "All that matters is that you agreed to marry me. Even if it is tomorrow or ten years from now, I will know that we both want to spend the rest of our lives together."
"Aw, that's so sweet." Orihime sighed happily, as she leaned over to kiss him. Their kiss was broken apart when the puppy splashed a lot of water in an attempt to escape the bathtub.
"Bingo."
"What about Bingo?"
"No," Ichigo started, laughing, as they settled the puppy back down. "I meant that is what we should name him."
Nodding her head after a moment, Orihime met his eyes. "I like it. What made you think of it?"
"To be honest? It just popped into my head after he tried to escape the bath tub," Ichigo laughed again, as he finally picked up the wet but now clean puppy to meet his eyes. "I think he sent it to me in a secret code through our minds."
Laughing at his reasoning, Orihime grabbed a towel and put it around the puppy to dry him up. He squirmed around a bit, but finally accepted the towel. She smiled after she put him down, and he started running around the bathroom with the towel over his head. "Bingo it is then."
Watching Orihime smile as she watched Bingo running around, Ichigo leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I love you. Even when you go and buy a puppy without talking to me first. Even when you make me sit through watching Grey's Anatomy re-runs. And even when we argue at two a.m. over ridiculous nonsense things because we're all sleep deprived and cranky. I love you so much."
That made Orihime's smile widen, as she felt a warm happy feeling inside. "I love you too, Ichigo."
A/N: Yay! First chapter of the sequel to The Reason is done! I am so super pumped to be back writing it, and I am really happy that I have the spin-off now as well. That way I have a lot of Bleach content to work with. My favorite scene was the opening one for sure. I loved introducing a little peek into how Orihime and Ichigo are after the few weeks that have went by since The Reason ended. I also hinted to stuff that happened in the spin-off "Summer Dreaming". You all should definitely go check out the spin-off!
Don't forget to review, favorite, and share this story with others. Also be sure to check out my other stories.
Be sure to like my page (Ruby1235 Fanfiction) on Facebook and follow me on twitter ( Ruby1235Fanfic) for updates, sneak peeks, and hints for current and new stories :)
Also be sure to check out my blog: ruby1235fanfiction. blogspot .com (no spaces)