Ichigo and Rukia sat expectantly as the event was about to begin. Today was the day that their twin children would graduate from the Soul Reaper Academy. Kaien and his twin sister Orihime had entered the academy at the same time at age nine, and were considered to be geniuses. Kaien was a master of hand to hand combat and swordsmanship, no doubt learned from. Orihime on the other hand had top grades in all of her kido classes, just as her mother did before her.

"Ichigo…why are we here, this isn't actually a public event," she whispered to her husband. She was pregnant with their third child and looked as though the baby would come any day now. She had only grown in beauty since her and Ichigo had become a couple Eighteen years ago, at least in Ichigo's eyes.

"Come on, back in the human world this kind of thing is a big deal," he said pleadingly. "I want to see all the important events in my children's life." "Besides, would I be Number One Dad if I didn't," he said with a smile. Unfortunately, Ichigo had become exactly like his dad after becoming a father.

"You idiot why did you where that shirt here, you're going to embarrass them," she said fuming. "More importantly, where did you get that shirt from anyways?" "Getting back on subject, this isn't the human world you know, here the students are congratulated and are then sent to be tested for soul reaper duty."

"Embarrass them…what is so embarrassing about having the captain of the third squad and the assistant captain of the thirteenth squad come to see them graduate," he shot back, clearly not hearing the rest of what Rukia had said.

"Fine…just try not to make a scene," she replied back giving up on the conversation. She reached out and grabbed Ichigo's hand. The two gave each other a loving smile and kissed each other deeply. They watched as each student was congratulated and given a certificate of completion of the academy one by one until only a few remained.

They saw their son step forward first. Like his father he had brilliant orange hair, but had his mother's violet eyes. In the six years since he had joined the academy he had grown taller than his mother, but was still much shorter than his father. He had inherited Ichigo's bad attitude from his high school days and was known to be a stubborn as a mule. On the other hand, he had also inherited his father's determination and strength. Upon receiving his certificate he quickly returned to his friends. A girl in the group stopped him suddenly. It was too far away to hear, but she seemed to be congratulating him while blushingly furiously.

"Who's that?" Ichigo asked curiously.

"You can't be serious…You really do have a hard time remembering people," Rukia exclaimed quickly. "Look at that bright red hair, who else could it be," she said frustrated. She couldn't believe he was still having trouble remembering her. "Asuka Abarai," she said.

"That's Renji and Tatsuki's kid," he said skeptically. "Wow, she's really grown…I'm surprised she doesn't have tattoos all over her." "Then again, if that happened, Tatsuki would probably kick Renji's ass." It was hard to believe that the two of them had gotten together. Maybe both of them were just trying to fill the hole in their hearts. The only ones who knew the answer to that were the two of them.

Ichigo and Rukia then turned to watch their daughter step forward to accept her certificate. She had long brown hair, with the same color eyes as her father. She was also roughly the same height as her mother. Her personality was also similar to her father's, but was more reminiscent of the childhood Ichigo. She was always quick to tears, but would always light up whenever her mother and father were around. She was without equal when it came to kido spells, but was never the toughest person. Her and her brother were always at odds with each other and would bicker constantly. At the moment, she seemed to be glaring angrily back at the boy standing behind her while looking like she was about to cry.

"What's she so mad about?" Ichigo asked.

"She told me earlier today that that boy has been picking on her recently," Rukia replied. "She was upset with me after I laughed at the situation," she said.

"So why'd you laugh? He asked.

"Apparently, he has been calling her midget, idiot, and making fun of how bad her drawings are," she said. "Sound familiar to you?" she said with a smile.

"Sure does," Ichigo said with a smirk. He held Rukia's hand tightly and felt her smooth delicate skin. He felt as though his world would stop spinning without her in it. He couldn't believe how blind he was when they first met. As Orihime's certificate traded hands, Ichigo jumped up suddenly.

"YEAHHHHHH…WAY TO GO!!!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. Rukia tried to squirm away from as to not be associated with him. An impossible endeavor, all residents of the Soul Society knew of the Kurosaki clan by now, especially the famous Captain Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Captain Kurosaki please maintain your composure if you must attend this event," the head instructor said angrily.

"Oh…um….sorry," Ichigo said with an embarrassed laugh.

"Can we get a new dad, he's way too embarrassing," the twins said in unison.

After the ceremony the couple walked home with Orihime. Kaien had been dragged off by his friends before he had a chance to meet up with the family. After the initial embarrassment their father had caused the twins had gone back to being excited about their upcoming testing to join the Thirteen Court Guard.

"Now don't get to excited about tomorrow Orihime," Ichigo said sternly. "Several other captains and I will be administering the test and don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're my kids."

"Yeah right Dad whatever you say," she said clearly not paying attention.

"Oh yeah Orihime, I hear that some boy has been picking on you," he said. "If you ask me, it sounds like you in my opinion."

"Not you too Dad, that's exactly what Mom said," she said as blush began to appear across her face. "What kind of guy picks on a girl he likes?"

Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other and smiled. "Your mother and I started out that way, and now look at us," he said.

"Oh god please don't talk like that…that's the last thing I wanna hear about," Orihime said. There was a long pause before she said anything else. "Um…when did you two realize you had feelings for each other?" she asked quietly. She looked up at her parents and noticed that they had a sad expression on their faces. She wondered if she may have made a wrong move asking that question. Suddenly, Ichigo broke the silence.

'It was a year after a very close friend of ours died," he said sadly. "It all started eighteen years ago."…