Free Talk- Well, I decided to start a new story. It's not totally planned out in my head, so I will have to make it up as I go along. I'm not sure what this means about how often I will update. In any case, I want to do a good job and not get wreckless because I am eager to finish (which I was a bit guilty of with my last story, "Bad Boy"). This story is mostly about the Aizen-Hinamori-Kira triangle, but Ichimaru and Rangiku will have roles to play in future chapters. Oh, and the rating is subject to change. I hope you enjoy it. Please tell me what you think.
In a Family Way
By Miss Angel Maxwell
Chapter 1: You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
"Please! Save Captain Aizen! You have to save him!" Momo heard the words leave her throat in a desperate croak. She tried her best not to let so much emotion come through in her voice, not to squeeze her hands into tight, quivering fists, but it couldn't be helped.
On the communication screen in front of her, Hitsugaya Toushirou shook his white head and curled his lip in disgust. "Hinamori…" he began.
But she cut him off, unable to bear any patronizing remark from him. "I know what Aizen is doing is bad, but he must have a reason! I bet Ichimaru is forcing him to do it!"
She sounded like a lunatic, she was sure, but she didn't care. Before she could express any more of her thoughts, however, General Yamamoto's large knobby hand shot out and covered her mouth and his lieutenant swooped down and began escorting her out of the room.
As she was being hastily scooted out the door, she could hear the General apologizing to her childhood friend over the communication screen. The door shut behind her before she could hear what excuse he offered for her behavior, but she assumed he would blame it on her ongoing recovery, having awoken from a coma just three days earlier.
"Will you be alright walking back to your home on your own?" the lieutenant asked in a very businesslike manner.
Momo nodded. "I'm not as fragile as everyone seems to think I am."
The lieutenant gave a noncommittal cough. "Very good, Lieutenant Hinamori. Oh," he added as he slid open the door to return to the General's side, "I believe Captain Unohana is going to stop by to see you this evening. Just to check up on you, I assume, nothing to worry about."
He stepped inside Yamamoto's office and closed the door again without even noticing the terrified look on the young woman's face.
She's coming already? I thought I had more time! Shit! Momo thought words that she never spoke out loud. In that instant, she wanted to be home so badly, even though she knew that was where the Captain of 4th Division would come looking for her. She took off running, pumping her legs furiously as she sailed through the streets of Soul Society towards her home, with no clue what she would do when she got there.
Only after she had hurtled into her apartment, shut the door, and sunk to the floor in a panting, shaking heap did she realize that her hand had been clutching her stomach the whole time.
She knew the real reason Captain Unohana was coming to see her. It was the same reason she had pleaded with Hitsugaya not to kill Captain Aizen. And it was something that she wasn't supposed to know.
Unohana Retsu had no idea that Momo had regained consciousness in that hospital bed hours before her eyes opened and her body was able to move.
The memory was still vivid. Paralyzed in her bed, chest throbbing vaguely, Momo overheard every word of the whispered conversation between Unohana and her lieutenant, Kotetsu Isane.
"Are these the results of her tests? This seems like some sort of mistake, Captain. It must be. She's not really… Is she?"
"She is," Unohana confirmed in a gentle, concerned voice. "There's no mistake. Hinamori Momo is pregnant. It's not a common occurrence within Soul Society, but it's certainly not unheard of."
"How did she not lose it, though? She was stabbed through the chest and almost died. With the trauma she suffered and all the blood she lost, how could her body sustain the pregnancy?"
"Ah," the Captain said knowingly. "Don't underestimate the uncanny ability the female body has for protecting the life of its unborn child. This is just as true for soul bodies as it is for human bodies. Although…" Her voice was suddenly heavy with worry. "It might have been better if she had lost the baby."
At that moment, Momo had wanted to leap up out of her hospital bed and strangle Captain Unohana, no matter how well-intended her statement was. She wanted to throttle her, but her body wouldn't move, still completely immobilized by whatever anesthesia they had her on.
Lieutenant Kotetsu gasped in shock. "How can you say such a thing?"
Momo made a note in her head right then to be very nice to Isane next time she saw her.
"I didn't mean that to sound malicious," Unohana explained, "but there is truth to it. If the rest of Soul Society found out, you know what they would say. Don't tell me you never noticed what a close relationship Lieutenant Hinamori had with her captain?"
"You mean… you think Aizen is the father?"
"I think it is possible. I'm not going to make any assumptions without thorough evidence. But most of Soul Society will. An eyewitness recounts seeing Hinamori enter Aizen's home on the night before he staged his murder, and another saw her exiting early the next morning, wearing the same clothes. That's enough for a lot of folks to go on."
"What do you think will happen to her if Aizen is the father?" Isane asked nervously.
"If Lieutenant Hinamori is carrying Aizen's child and he finds out about it, her life could be in grave danger. But…" She paused. "Once the Council finds out, their actions might be just as bad for her. If Hinamori becomes a target then Soul Society will become a target for harboring her. They know this."
"They wouldn't do anything cruel, would they?"
"That all depends on your definition of 'cruel.' The previous Council was entirely wiped out by Aizen and the new regime won't take any risks. I wouldn't put it past them to force Hinamori into exile, away from everyone who cares about her. There is no way she would be allowed to raise that man's child within Soul Society. They'd force her to give up her baby as soon as it's born, or worse, before. That is, only if Aizen is its father."
"And he might not be," said Isane hopefully.
"I pray that he isn't," Captain Unohana sighed. "I pray that young Momo does not have to face that kind of heartbreak. But, only she knows for sure. After she wakes up and is healthy again, I will have a private conversation with her. I will tell her that she is pregnant and I will ask her who the father is."
"And if it is Aizen?"
"We'll deal with that when we know. In the mean time, I want you to destroy any evidence of those test results. Nobody else can know about this."
Now Momo sat sprawled out on the floor of her home trembling, drawing in harsh, ragged breaths. She had spend the last three days in a state of numb shock, pretending that the conversation she had heard was all just a dream and that there was no baby growing in her belly.
She thought she had more time. That's why she had appealed to Hitsugaya to save Captain Aizen. If everything could just go back to the way it was and Aizen was redeemed, then nobody would see any threat from the child inside her.
Pressing her hand more firmly against her stomach, Momo thought about just running away. She could leave right now, before Captain Unohana showed up, exile herself in advance. As she contemplated the viability of this option, her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door.
With a nervous swallow, she rose to her feet, walked to the door and slid it open. Her eyes remained closed to avoid an immediate face-to-face confrontation.
"Momo," the visitor greeted. "Are you okay? You look like you're sleepwalking." It wasn't Unohana's voice.
Momo opened her eyes wide. "Izuru," she sighed in relief. "I'm awake. I'm fine. I… What brings you here?"
The blond shinigami smiled weakly. "I came to see you, of course. I heard you got out of the hospital a few days ago. Sorry I didn't come to see you sooner. I just thought I'd let you get settled back in your home. Is this an okay time?"
"Oh, um…" Momo was still a bit surprised by who her visitor was. "Yeah, you can come in. Not for too long, though, I…"
"Are you expecting company?" Izuru asked in his typical, awkward style. "I can come back another time if…" As his sentence trailed off he produced from behind his back a tied cloth bundle. "It's just some snacks and stuff, you know, for you while you're getting better."
Momo took the package, smiling. "Thanks, Izuru. Please, come in. I'm not expecting anyone," she lied.
He gave her what definitely seemed like a suspicious look as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "You look… terrible actually. I mean… not terrible. Tired. You look tired, Momo, and really anxious. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I've just got a lot on my mind right now."
"You mean… Aizen," Izuru said, avoiding Momo's eyes.
"Yeah," she said softly. Her hand had crept over her belly again, she realized, but she removed it before her friend noticed. "But that's not all it's about. Everyone is tense right now. I mean, we don't know what's going to happen. Renji and Toushirou and Rangiku, and those guys from 11th are all in the human world. It's just… scary."
"I know," said Izuru, finally looking up at her. "But things are going to get better. We can't lose hope."
Momo forced a smile onto her face.
"I really am sorry I didn't come to see you sooner," Izuru continued, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I just… I thought maybe… you wouldn't want to see me… after what I did, I mean. I feel terrible over how I treated you." He clutched his uniform over his chest. "I put my loyalty in Captain Ichimaru over you, drew my sword against you."
"Izuru… don't," Momo said. "You don't have to. I know you didn't mean it. Ichimaru poisoned your mind."
Under other circumstances, Momo would have been very moved by her friend's apology and been eager to discuss the possibility that Ichimaru had poisoned Captain Aizen's mind as well. But her mind was too distracted this evening, squirming at the thought that any minute Unohana Retsu would knock on her door.
"You don't have to apologize about anything," she said hastily, hoping she could gently encourage him to leave without hurting his feelings or arousing any suspicion. "You know, um, I'm actually feeling a bit tired right now. Still recovering. I should probably go to bed soon. Thank you so much for the treats." She squeezed the bundle against her chest.
Kira eyed her seriously for a moment. "I'll let you get your rest. You sure you're going to be okay? Your eyes keep darting over to the door, and you seem scared somehow."
"Oh," Momo muttered. She was amazed that her friend had noticed eye movements that she herself hadn't. "I'll be fine, really. You can just…"
The inevitable, ominous knocking interrupted Momo's sentence, and even though she had been expecting it she still jolted at the sound. For a second or two she was paralyzed, sweating, and trembling on her feet.
"Are you going to get that?" Izuru asked.
"Yeah, I guess I should," she answered, her voice coming out much shakier than she intended.
Sliding open the door revealed Captain Unohana looking so serene that if Momo didn't already know what this visit was about she wouldn't have felt one bit nervous.
"Oh, hello Captain," Izuru greeted. "I guess you're probably here to check up on Momo's health. I'll just get going then. Momo, I'll talk to you later? Momo?"
She heard her friend's goodbye without processing it and gave no reply. Her eyes remained fixed in horror, staring right through Unohana's head, as Kira silently slipped out the door and closed it.
"Are you alright, Lieutenant?" the captain asked.
Momo blinked and looked at the older woman's face. "I hope so. Well, you tell me. You're the one who took care of me over the past few weeks."
"That's right," said Unohana. "Actually, I have come here tonight to talk about your physical condition. Could we maybe sit down?"
"I think I'd rather stand up," Momo said. "If that's alright with you. Is what you have to say really that shocking?"
"It might be, but I will get right to it. Lieutenant Hinamori, while treating your injury, I ran numerous diagnostic tests on your body. The results revealed that you are several weeks pregnant."
Momo did her best to appear shocked at hearing the news. "Pregnant? Are you sure?" she asked for added effect.
"Quite sure," Unohana answered. "Despite everything you went through, though, the baby appears to be healthy. Now I don't mean to be intrusive." She paused and looked at her patient very seriously. "But I feel it is my responsibility to ask you who the father is."
A voice inside Momo's head was screaming: Think up a lie! Think up a lie! But she knew that whatever name she dropped would be thoroughly investigated in order to confirm her story. With no way out of the conversation, she could feel tears start to gather on the rims of her eyelids but she couldn't speak an answer.
"Lieutenant, if this is an unwanted pregnancy, there are measures that can be taken."
Unohana's statement, spoken very gently, caused Momo to blink in surprise, spilling little rivulets down her cheeks. "What? No… It's not unwanted."
"Momo," Unohana continued, touching the young woman's shoulder. "Is Captain Aizen the father of your child?"
"I… I…" Momo stuttered helplessly.
"No, he's not," a voice spoke from the doorway.
Somehow neither Momo nor Captain Unohana had heard the door slide open. Kira Izuru stood there, framed in the entrance with a defiant look that was totally unlike his usual self.
"Aizen's not the father of Momo's baby," he reiterated, striding over to her and wrapping his arms protectively around her shaking frame. "I am."
To be continued…
