Goodbye..., Kurosaki

 is the one hundred and forty-first episode of the Bleach anime.

Orihime Inoue says goodbye to Ichigo Kurosaki before leaving for Hueco Mundo.

Summary
In her apartment in Karakura Town, Orihime Inoue finishes writing a set of instructions covering laundry, garbage, and food for 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto so they do not make a mess and looks at the bracelet on her left wrist as she recalls Ulquiorra Cifer's explanation of how wearing it envelops her in a special spiritual membrane so only Arrancar can see her, which will also allow her to pass through solid objects and which she can never take off.

After remembering Ulquiorra granting her permission to say goodbye to just one person before she leaves without violating their agreement by making that person aware of her presence, which she has until midnight to take care of along with her other preparations. Standing up from her dinner table, Orihime leaves behind the instructions on her dining room table with a small note on the bottom of the other page. Meanwhile, in the Study Chamber of the Urahara Shop, 11th Division 3rd Seat Ikkaku Madarame struggles to keep Tessai Tsukabishi away since he is not hurt badly enough to require the latter's form of treatment.

Suddenly, Ururu Tsumugiya puts Ikkaku in a headlock from behind and begin choking him so he will stop struggling and resume, to Tessai's approval, prompting a heavily bandaged 11th Division 5th Seat Yumichika Ayasegawa to protest this as Ririn, Kurōdo, and Noba pull on his bandages to prevent him from intervening. With Tessai telling Yumichika that he is also injured, Ririn declares that he should not move and yanks on her bandage she is holding, resulting in Yumichika losing his balance and falling on his back. When Kurōdo admonishes her for not being more gentle with the injured, Ririn counters that this is Yumichika's fault for not listening to her.

A bemused Kurōdo wonders if Yumichika is alright, and as Noba claims that he is fine, to Ririn's disbelief, a furious Yumichika glows with red Reiatsu and begins chasing the screaming Mod-Souls in a circle around Ikkaku, Tessai, and Ururu. Nearby, an unimpressed 10th Division Captain Tōshirō Hitsugaya wonders if they ever shut up and notices Kisuke Urahara standing silently and looking into the distance on top of a rock formation nearby, which Hitsugaya observes he has been doing in deep thought ever since the Arrancar left after mentally admitting that Urahara is still a mystery to him regardless of what he has been told.

Ruminating on how the Shinigami Strike Force got off easy considering the number of Espada who came to Karakura Town and how the Gotei 13 made a grave miscalculation due to the Arrancar being fully operational and ready to battle, Hitsugaya concludes that they have to prepare for battle immediately and hope it is not too late already. When Hitsugaya asks her if she was able to contact Soul Society, his lieutenant, Rangiku Matsumoto, reveals with concern that she has not been able to and holds up her Denreishinki, which is emitting static. Back above ground, as the sun begins to set, Orihime walks down a crowded street.

Upon accidentally bumping into another student, Orihime immediately apologizes, but the student is left confused and tells his friend that it felt like he bumped into something just now, though the friend points out that there is nothing to bump into and walks away with him. As she looks around, Orihime sees a store window and approaches it, only to discover that she cannot see her reflection in the glass and recall Ulquiorra's description of the bracelet's effects prior to lifting her hand and pushing her fingers through the glass, which causes her to withdraw them just as quickly and step back in shock.

Some time later, at Karakura High School, Orihime stands behind Ichigo Kurosaki's desk in their homeroom and recalls seeing him bloodied during his first battle against Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. Suddenly, Orihime hears Keigo Asano and Mizuiro Kojima bickering with each other while approaching and moves to hide herself from view, but is startled when she inadvertently knocks over Ichigo's chair in the process. Once Orihime hides herself under Misato Ochi's desk, Keigo bursts into the room and begins searching through his own desk, and as Mizuiro tells him to stop singing about it, Orihime remembers that they cannot see her.

With Keigo tearfully requesting that Mizuiro stop addressing him formally, Mizuiro dismisses this and looks away, only to notice Ichigo's chair on its side and wonder if Ichigo came back to school. Denying this as unlikely, Keigo brings up how strange it is that Orihime, Rukia Kuchiki, Yasutora Sado, and even Uryū Ishida all took time off from school and tearfully assumes that they are doing something fun together, which has left both him and Mizuiro out once again, though Mizuiro refuses to be grouped with Keigo and points out how they are not the only ones who have been left out of this group, to Keigo's confusion.

After Mizuiro mentions Tatsuki Arisawa as another person who has been left out of this, Orihime sits solemnly underneath a tree in the recreational area outside and recalls her interactions with Tatsuki prior to leaving for Soul Society, which prompts her to get up and run over to the gym where the karate team is heading inside. Upon seeing Tatsuki in the line, Orihime attempts to walk over to her, but is interrupted when one of the players on the soccer field kicks the ball into the air and toward her, resulting in the ball phasing through Orihime's head and bouncing onto the ground behind her while Tatsuki looks over in surprise.

Before Orihime can take advantage of her pause, Tatsuki is called over by her coach and runs off, leaving Orihime to remember Ulquiorra specifying that she can only say goodbye to one person. That night, Orihime stands on the riverbank, ponders her choice, and walks away silently. Around the same time, in the Kurosaki Clinic, Rukia Kuchiki experiences interference with her Denreishinki when she attempts to call Orihime in Soul Society while sitting in Ichigo's room and wonders if there is some sort of spirit wave interference prior to looking over at a heavily bandaged Ichigo, who is sleeping on his bed.

In the past, Hachigen Ushōda holds an unconscious Ichigo in front of the other Visored as he explains that his power is closer to a regression of space than outright healing, which requires him to actively identify the subject he is regressing in order to activate it, and that the Reiatsu of both Ichigo and Grimmjow are currently mingling in Ichigo's wounds, meaning that he will need to stay far away from the Visored with their Hollow-like Reiatsu in order to make a full recovery, before telling Rukia that taking Ichigo home and putting him to bed is the best treatment he can recommend right now, which Rukia confirms she understands.

In the present, Rukia questions who the Visored were, what kind of power Ichigo is about to gain, and why the Arrancar suddenly stopped their attack and withdrew because she does not understand any of it, only to determine after a moment's pause that she should stop by Orihime's apartment later. However, Rukia is interrupted when Karin Kurosaki and Yuzu Kurosaki begin arguing over whether or not to come into Ichigo's room outside his bedroom door, and when Rukia opens the door to meet them, Yuzu meekly asks if she can eat dinner in Ichigo's room, which a smiling Rukia assures her that Ichigo would certainly like.

However, Rukia is startled when Yuzu reveals that she has made dinner for her as well, complete with a ketchup drawing of Rukia's face on top, and when she politely attempts to explain that she cannot eat since she needs to get going, her stomach growls loudly, leading Yuzu to proclaim that she is hungry after all and forcing an embarrassed Rukia to decide to eat it since Yuzu already made it, with Karin assisting by bringing in the tray. Later that night, Rukia finishes washing the dishes in the kitchen sink and walks through the door to the hallway to find Isshin Kurosaki standing in front of her, having just gotten out of the shower.

Learning from Rukia that Ichigo has been sleeping all day, Isshin tells her to not worry and criticizes Ichigo as having a long way to go if he is getting beaten up by students from a different school as he gets a beer from the refrigerator. When Rukia apologizes for causing this by getting mixed up with delinquents, Isshin dismisses this and assures her that he is just glad she is safe prior to lamenting when the beer explodes into foam upon being opened. While a smiling Rukia begins to leave, Isshin calls out to her and cautions her to not catch a cold if she goes out tonight due to how low the temperature is, which Rukia agrees to.

Shortly afterward, Rukia exits the Kurosaki Clinic, looks up at the moon, and begins running down the road with determination. Back inside Ichigo's room, with Karin and Yuzu having finished their dinner and fallen asleep next to Ichigo's bed, Orihime passes through the curtains while intangible and sheepishly apologizes to a still-sleeping Ichigo. As she begins to detail how she would like to say goodbye to lots of people like Tatsuki, Sado, Uryū, and Rukia, Orihime is startled when she hears a noise and peers over Ichigo's bed to see Karin and Yuzu sleeping on the other side, which leads her to infer that they ate dinner in here tonight.

Suddenly, while deducing that they did this because they missed Ichigo, a blushing Orihime realizes that she is in Ichigo's room for the first time and that it smells like him. After taking hold of Ichigo's hand in her own, Orihime leans down and attempts to kiss Ichigo while recalling all her interactions with him from Acidwire attacking her through her discussion with him about Sōsuke Aizen's plan a month prior, but stops at the last second and begins crying as she admits that she cannot do it. With her tears falling on Ichigo's face, Orihime wipes her eyes and wonders what she is doing before clenching her mouth.

Orihime tells Ichigo that there were so many things she wanted to do, like becoming a teacher or an astronaut, opening a pastry shop, going to a donut shop and asking for one of each type, or going to an ice cream parlor and asking for one of each flavor, which makes her wish that there were five of her so she could be born in five different towns, eat five different meals, have five different jobs, and fall in love with Ichigo five different times. After thanking Ichigo, Orihime bids him farewell, and as the next day begins, the dawning light passes through the skylight in Orihime's apartment and illuminates the phrase "good bye, halcyon days" that she left in her notebook.

Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book
At Karakura High School, Keigo Asano tells Mizuiro Kojima that the loud noises in town the other day must have been 11th Division 3rd Seat Ikkaku Madarame and his allies fighting again, which Mizuiro largely ignores in favor of texting on his phone. Wondering who exactly Ikkaku and his allies are, Keigo theorizes that he is a spy with a license to kill or the former attendant of a shogun who fights evil, prompting Mizuiro to note that he might one day be Keigo's brother-in-law, to Keigo's immense distress.

Powers and Techniques Used
Zanpakutō Techniques:
 * (flashback)

Arrancar Techniques:
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Other Techniques:
 * (flashback)

Zanpakutō released:

Shikai:


 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Bankai:


 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Resurrección released:
 * (flashback)

Other Powers:
 * (flashback)

Anime Notes
Added/Expanded Content= Changes=
 * Orihime Inoue fully listing the instructions she left for Tōshirō Hitsugaya and Rangiku Matsumoto.
 * A flashback to the omake of episode 135 as Orihime is noting that Hitsugaya and Rangiku will make a mess without her instructions.
 * Yumichika Ayasegawa attempting to assist Ikkaku Madarame and being restrained by Ririn, Kurōdo, and Noba, whom he angrily chases around.
 * Orihime being reminded of the bracelet's effects by a student who bumped into her not being able to perceive her and testing it out by phasing her fingers through a glass window.
 * Orihime visiting her classroom and hiding under the desk while Keigo Asano and Mizuiro Kojima discuss her and her friends' recent absence from Karakura High School.
 * Orihime attempting to approach Tatsuki Arisawa, but losing her opportunity due to a soccer ball being kicked over to her area and changing her mind about who she wants to say goodbye to.
 * Rukia being offered food by Yuzu Kurosaki and being forced to accept out of embarrassment when her stomach growls.
 * Rukia encountering Isshin Kurosaki after washing the dishes and discussing Ichigo's condition with him before departing for Orihime's apartment.
 * The next day dawning in Karakura Town and shining light on Orihime's notebook in her apartment.
 * In the manga, only one other person is present when Hachigen Ushōda is explaining why he cannot fully heal Ichigo's wounds to Rukia; here, he is instead accompanied by the rest of the Visored.
 * In the manga, after ruminating on Ichigo's situation and her inability to contact Orihime, Rukia decides to go outside and cool off; here, she instead decides to go to Orihime's apartment.