Surrender

Shadow of an Echo

A/N His friends' reactions will be in the next chapter.

Chapter Two

Lightning Strikes

He had been feeling downright odd for awhile now. It was nothing too horrible, the occasional dizzy spell, a bit of nausea if he was around a particularly strong smell, and he was hungrier than usual. He was able to easily ignore it, that was, until it just didn't go away. The weeks dragged on like that, with him stubbornly refusing to say anything about it to anyone remotely close to the medical profession. When the weeks turned into months, and his stomach started looking funny, even he had to notice something.

Denial thy name is Ichigo.

Isshin Kurosaki was having a normal day at his clinic. His daughters were at school, and his son was off at the shop Urahara had deeded to him when Ichigo had graduated and the ex-Captain had returned to the Soul Society. He hadn't had many patients that day, which Isshin counted as a good thing, that meant few people were injured or sick.

Right now, he was reclined back in his office chair, waiting for someone to walk in needing help, or to get a call from Karakura's hospital needing back up.

The last thing he was expecting was to be knocked out of his chair by a blast of his son's well aimed spiritual pressure, Ichigo had learned long ago to strike first if he wanted to be around his father without getting tackled. "My darling son, you've come home to visit your daddy!" He was on his feet and attempting to fly towards Ichigo, receiving another wave of Spirit Pressure for his enthusiasm.

"Don't you ever get tired of that Goat Face?" Ichigo asked shaking his head, knowing full well his father wouldn't be changing at all.

Isshin pulled himself out of the heap he had landed in, realizing his son had come in his Shinigami form, "What's going on Ichigo?" He finally asked, figuring if it just turned out to be a visit he could continue to try to tackle him later.

Ichigo had to run a hand through his hair in frustration, not sure he could even make himself say it, but he had to. His dad was the only one who might be able to explain what he had managed to get himself into this time. "Ah, damn it, Dad I'm either having a nervous breakdown, or I'm going to make you a grandfather, mind telling me how in the Hell that is possible?"

"You think you're pregnant?" Well at least Isshin wasn't laughing in his face or calling the psychiatric ward, that was a plus; he did have little hearts in his eyes though.

Putting an arm around his stomach, where he could feel the changes that forced him into this confession, "Yeah, I think so."

"Come on, let's get you checked out, it's very possible for Shinigami." Isshin ordered, marching Ichigo into one of the examining rooms at the clinic. "Take your shirt off and lay down."

Eyeing the table like it was going to bite him, Ichigo slowly obeyed. As soon as he was laying flat with his stomach exposed, Isshin knew his son was most likely right, but he was still going to check to make sure there wasn't something more serious going on. Pressing down on his son's abdomen Isshin quickly found something that made him grin widely, "Well hello baby, you certainly hid from us for awhile didn't you?"

"So I really am…?" He still couldn't say it.

Isshin nodded, the grin plastered to his face, "You are, and not just a little bit. I'd say at least three months, probably closer to four. You should have come to me sooner if you were feeling odd." He chastised.

"I was feeling weird, but it wasn't really that bad," Ichigo protested, "I didn't know it was possible! Are you at least going to tell me that much now that I know I'm not going crazy?"

Isshin chuckled, "Well I guess I can't really fault you for this one. First thing is, obviously Shinigami are spirits, and they don't have physical bodies, so when we have children it doesn't work the same as it would for a human. I had to have a specialized gigai so that Masaki and I could have you three."

"So how does it work?" Ichigo was getting impatient now, but hey, could you blame him?

Isshin pressed down again to further check on his grandbaby as he replied, "When souls first cross into the gates of death, their state of health is measured. If the soul is from a person who was healthy and strong in life, that spirit passes directly to the Soul Society, and wakes in the Rukon with their memory intact looking exactly as they did in life. I believe you know of a soul like this, a young boy trapped in the body of a parakeet?"

Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, Chad helped him out when the whole situation with Rukia started." He confirmed.

"Well if the soul is from a damaged or unhealthy soul, the memories are wiped clean, and the soul is brought to a kind of zeroed out form. It no longer has a past, or the ability to take the form of the human it once was. This blank slate stays within the gates of death, and they are drawn together as certain atoms are in physics. As they compound, the amount of blank souls included in them grows, but they remain the same size, forcing their Spiritual Pressure to rise." Isshin saw Ichigo perk up at the explanation, following the logic behind it.

Ichigo had to comment there to make sure he was understanding, "You are describing an immature Shinigami, aren't you?"

"Yes, but they are incomplete." Isshin confirmed. "If they remained in that state they would be nothing but a little ball of energy, that's where their parents come in. When a pair of Shinigami share an intimate moment, and this is the important part, they have to entwine their spiritual pressures. That mixture between two Soul Reapers that trust each other can attract one of these incomplete souls from the gate. The parent's combined power is what shapes and forms the blank soul into the beginnings of a child, where it attaches to the soul of the receptive partner. Because all this happens on a spiritual level and not a biological one, a male Shinigami can have a baby as easily as a female. At this point your soul and power has done most of the ground work adapting itself to carry the baby, but there are still some changes that need to happen over the next few months before the child is ready to be born."

Ichigo's eyes widened comically hearing that, "…Born?"

Here Isshin was laughing like a maniac at his son's panicked expression, "Ah Ichigo, you're pregnant, naturally, without any experimentation or outside interference; you will be having the baby the same way."

The panic only got worse. "Wait, you can't be serious!" He protested quickly. "I can't really argue with you about the whole baby thing, I mean look at me, but a male isn't built to give birth; our hips are too narrow and there is nowhere for the baby to come from."

Isshin was proud Ichigo was in decent enough shape to think that clearly at this point, "Remember those changes I mentioned? Most are internal, and just as your body has adjusted to give you everything you need to carry your baby, it will adjust to give birth. Your hips will soften and loosen, it won't hurt, but it might be a little hard to walk the last month or so. By the time you reach the end, there will be a place for the baby to be born from, and once this is over your spirit will go back to normal. It isn't a permanent change."

Ichigo had to let himself collapse into the examining table, his head spinning, "Shinigami are freaking weird." He commented, and it wasn't the first time the thought had run across his mind.

"Hey at least you aren't the only one!" Isshin comforted cheerfully.

He lifted one eye open to stare balefully at his father, "If this is so common, how come I haven't seen it happen before while I was visiting the Soul Society?"

"You are smarter than that Ichigo," Isshin teased, "Tell me this, ever seen a pregnant female Shinigami?"

Ichigo had to think about it, "…No."

"That's because when you visit the Seireitei you are seeing the Squad barracks and the patrolling Shinigami, in other words, all active duty Soul Reapers, none of which are going to be far enough along to be visibly pregnant." Isshin explained. "Also, homosexuality isn't a big deal in Soul Society, with all the eccentric people around two men or two women together is nothing to get worked up about, but that doesn't make it overly common. Females do most of the child bearing, even though it is just as possible for males."

Ichigo went quiet for a little while, his thoughts swirling once again. Slowly his hands crept towards his stomach, a place he had avoided touching without clothes or a washcloth between his skin and his hands. His baby, oh hell, he was pregnant, "If this baby is made up of a bunch of other souls, is it really mine?"

"Oh Ichigo," Isshin smoothed back his son's hair, not wanting to displace the fingers that were clutching at his stomach protectively. "Stop thinking that way right now. This little one growing inside you right now is every bit yours, and your partners. Humans have spent countless centuries trying to figure out where their souls come from, endless religions have grown from the question, and there is no way of knowing who is right. Even though patient research and lots of time has answered the question of how Shinigami, who have no seed, even our women do not have cycles like humans, can have children; we still do not know what force is within the gates of death. We know there has to be something there, but what it is, we simply do not know. In the place of seed, we have Spiritual Pressure that shapes our children into one half us, and the other half into our partner. Take you and your sisters. Your mother was human, and I am a Shinigami, my gigai allowed me to produce you three, but what kind of soul you would have was a toss up between human and Shinigami. You and Karin ended up attracting a blank Shinigami soul in a living human body, while Yuzu had both soul and body of a human. You are my son, and Karin is my daughter, just as much as Yuzu is."

Ichigo clutched at his stomach again, trying to feel as much as he could of the baby, but there wasn't much to feel yet. "How much more could you tell me about the baby?"

"It's been awhile since I was in the Fourth, but I can try to see what I can find out," Isshin understood the need driving the question, and with the nature of the situation what equipment they had at the clinic wouldn't pick up on the spiritual body of the baby. That was one draw back to being in spiritual form; a lot of the more technical medical equipment didn't work unless it was specifically built for the spirit realm.

Isshin had to nudge Ichigo's hands out of the way, coating his hands in the same soft glow that Ichigo would later feel from Retsu. Almost instantly, Isshin snapped back into his playful attitude, as fake tears started pouring down his face, and he protested in his false injured voice, "Hey now, quit hitting your grandpa!"

"What's going on?" Ichigo demanded. He wasn't too scared with the dramatic way his dad was acting, if something was wrong, Isshin would be far more serious about the situation.

His father pouted, "You've got a fighter in there, every time I try to send any power it gets sent back, hard! About the only thing I can tell you is I'm getting beat up by my own grandson!" Isshin might be acting all wounded, but Ichigo knew better, he was just about ready to burst with pride.

A boy, oh he couldn't wait to tell Kenpachi they were going to have a little boy, wait, shit, Kenpachi! "If you think this little guy is a fighter, then you haven't met his father." He was about to work himself into a panic attack, that was until something hit him, a tiny pink something named Yachiru that always followed Kenpachi around. His lover already had a daughter, so Ichigo would just be adding on a son.

"I gotta ask, who is it?" Isshin was begging, as in down on his knees, hands clasped together and raised above his head with little stars in his eyes, full on begged. "You can tell me. I know they have taken good care of you, or my grandson wouldn't be here right about now. Mutual trust is one of the things that draws the soul to the couple."

Ichigo really didn't want to tell him, not because he had been treated poorly, but because he had kept it quiet for a reason. Isshin could be a bit, uh, overprotective, and damn it, he liked it when Kenpachi pushed the limits with him. He didn't like being treated like a treasure or a trophy, he was a fucking man, and a warrior; he had been fighting to protect himself and others since he was just a little kid. Okay so he had been pretty bad at it before his mom died, but he got better. Isshin thought nothing of waking his son up in the morning with a flying kick, but the first time Ichigo had come home with a black eye, he was pretty sure his father was going to break the other kid's arm if it wasn't for the fact Isshin needed to watch out for Karin and Yuzu.

Yet he was going to have a baby, so it wasn't like he could keep it from his father for much longer anyway. He was not ashamed of his lover, that was in no way the reason he had kept the relationship quiet, "Oh all right, but you probably won't like this, he is the Captain of the Eleventh Kenpachi Zaraki."

Isshin tackled his son, pulling him into a very disgruntled hug, "That maniac? You picked him, of all people?"

"Damn it Goat Face, let me go!" Ichigo growled, he could have used another blast of Spirit Pressure, but figured Isshin would get bored and let go on his own soon enough. "Yes him, at least you know no one is going to be stupid enough to mess with your grandson if he has both me and Kenpachi as his parents."

A couple rapid blinks as Isshin absorbed the information, "…You may have a point." He still hadn't let go, but he would, sooner or later.

"So what happens now?" Ichigo finally asked.

"Well, we are going to wait until your sisters get home from school, then we are going to have a nice dinner while you get gushed over more." Isshin easily decided, the girls deserved to know they would be aunts. "After that you need to start making the preparations to hand the shop over to your friends for the next couple months. I know you have things in place so you could just in case you were needed in Soul Society for an extended period of time again. Then you get to have a little fun, because you get to give a bunch of Captains heart attacks. You see when an active Shinigami gets pregnant it's handled by their Captain within their own squad, but you don't have a squad. You are a Substitute Shinigami, and your duties are to fill in for whatever Squad happens to need you, and that means all the Captains are going to need to know. You could just tell Yamamoto, but hey why do that, when you could get it out of the way at once?"

A slow smirk crossed Ichigo's face, "You know, that could be a lot of fun. They would find out about the baby and Kenpachi at the same time. I'm not going to hide who his father is, I'm not ashamed of him in any way, but it wasn't anyone's business who I was with. My son is going to have both his parents though, I will not push Kenpachi into the shadows like he is some dirty secret."

A statement like that got him glomped again, but he was expecting it, so he was braced. "Oh my wise son, you are growing up to make your daddy so proud!"

That was the memory Ichigo was thinking of that made him chuckle as he watched Kenpachi and Ikkaku beat up some of the braver squad members. Yumichika was lounging next to him, and the Fifth seat commented, "What's so funny? Other than these moron's pathetic belief that they could actually manage to hit either one of them?"

"Just remembering how I found out about my son, my dad had to tell me. He can be a little over the top, but he means well. He got overly emotional when I told him I wasn't going to hide who my son's father was, he approved of the decision." Ichigo explained.

"I remember your dad, he can be a little dramatic, yes." Yumichika agreed. "You wouldn't keep the Captain from his son, anymore than I would keep Ikkaku from our daughter."

"Ah, so you're having a girl?" The younger Shinigami shifted closer so they could keep their voices down, Yumichika hadn't told Ikkaku yet, so they were keeping it quiet.

Yumichika nodded, "Yes, I'm really excited. She will of course be beautiful, how could she not be? She's mine. Ikkaku will make her strong, and I will make her gorgeous. What a dangerous combination that is going to be."

"Sounds exciting," Ichigo agreed, "I'm sure my son and your daughter will be getting into plenty of trouble, especially with Yachiru to lead them into it."

"Ah yes, the Lieutenant is going to be the instigator in a lot of it. At least she can keep them safe though, that is somewhat comforting despite the mischief she will be leading them into. Where is she by the way?" He was looking around suspiciously, wondering why she wasn't attached to Ichigo like she had been ever since he had caved to her demand of being called mommy.

Kenpachi still sported the cracked lip and black eye from his angry lover, but he didn't regret the teasing in the slightest.

"She called an emergency meeting of the Shinigami Women's Association; I think I have about an hour before the entire Seireitei knows that I'm here, and why." Ichigo explained with an exasperated smile on his face at the little girl's antics. He hadn't really been expecting anything different.

Yumichika broke out laughing, "She is saving you from having to tell everyone yourself."

"That's what I was thinking," Ichigo responded with a shrug. "So how far are you? I don't see you keeping her secret from Ikkaku for that long."

"I'm only two months. I haven't known for very long, and I wanted to wait for the right time to tell him. I will soon." Yumichika was undeniably happy about the thought of telling Ikkaku about their daughter. The right moment would present itself, he was sure of it.

Looking out to the training ground where the two warriors were making mince meat out of the other squad members, Ichigo shook his head and laughed, "Ikkaku is a lot like Kenpachi, they are tough men, but they are going to be proud fathers. It's going to be hard to rein in their egos once they get going."

"I like Ikkaku's ego," Yumichika admitted.

"And I like Kenpachi's," Ichigo confessed. "The rest of the Seireitei is going to be in for it though."

"Been too quiet around here with all this peace, we need something to liven things up again, this should do the trick." Yumichika mused.

"Yeah, I think this'll work," Ichigo agreed.

They went back to watching the fight in progress, more squad members coming in to try their luck, all meeting the same end.

Until one of the men fighting Kenpachi landed in the sand spat out his own death sentence, "Damn it when are you going to start going easier on us now that you have Ichigo!"

"Excuse me Yumichika, I need to go roast an idiot," Ichigo stated calmly as he heard the exclamation, and the Fifth seat waved him off dismissively.

Kenpachi was not surprised to see Ichigo stalk into the training yard, the others making a path for the irritated substitute. The Captain watched the play of muscles appreciatively as Ichigo moved like a jungle cat hunting his prey towards the moron pulling himself out of the crater Kenpachi had thrown him into.

The man had barely gotten stood up straight when he had a knee buried in his gut, a fist in his solar plexus, and he was once more down in the sand gasping for breath. Ichigo hadn't bothered with Zangetsu, wanting the direct approach, he wasn't so far he couldn't move. "What was this I heard about your Captain going easy on you? Because of me?" Ichigo asked crossly of the still gasping Shinigami.

"Love makes men soft." He grumbled, attempting to catch his breath, Ichigo could punch damn hard, just ask Kenpachi and his black eye.

This just added a sweeping kick to the list of his problems, Ichigo wanted him to stay conscious so he aimed for his body and not his head, but he would probably want to have those ribs checked by someone in the Fourth when Ichigo was done with him. "Oh really? Soft huh, then care to explain why I have been with your Captain for three years and no one has known about it until he gave me a son?"

He was too busy clutching his chest and groaning to answer, so Ichigo did it for him, "I fell in love with Kenpachi for being exactly the way he is; why in the Hell would I change him? He better not change because of me, or I will kick his ass."

Feeling he had made his point, Ichigo was ready to leave the chastised Shinigami to be carted away to the Fourth, when the man proved he simply did not know when to keep his mouth shut. "Real warriors never surrender." Not a comment against being with a man, just being on the receiving side, that was something Ichigo wasn't too shocked with in the Eleventh.

Doesn't mean it didn't piss him off. This time he did draw Zangetsu, and he thrust the gigantic sword into the sand so close to the now trembling Shinigami he pinned the terrified man to the ground by his Shihakusho. In the same instant he released the binding on his Spiritual Pressure and started pressing down on the dumbass, instantly seeing sweat break out on the weak man's brow. "A warrior doesn't surrender? Funny thing how you believe something you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, wanna know why I'm pregnant? It's because your Captain had the balls to fuck me without making me surrender." He raised the amount of power pressing down on the stupid man, beating him into the ground until he was barely hanging onto consciousness.

Until he felt familiar hands on his shoulders, spinning him around, and Kenpachi's lust filled gaze was on him, "Huh fuckin' wimp can't take half your strength."

They both looked down at the pathetic lump of Shinigami, "I bet he thinks that's all I can do." Ichigo commented.

"I'd say show him, but yu'd kill him." Kenpachi was disappointed, he wanted to see his Ichigo's power blasting the moron into pieces, but that was a hell of a lot of paperwork that he didn't feel like doing.

Ichigo noticed he wasn't the only one to get pissed off by the last comment the idiot had made, when one incredibly angry Fifth seat brushed past them on the way to the slowly reawakening Shinigami now that Ichigo wasn't focusing his Spiritual Pressure on him. "I think Yumichika would like to have a word with him."

Kenpachi hollered over to his subordinate, "Turn him tah mincemeat!"

"No problem Captain," The vain Officer responded, drawing his Zanpakuto, gaining Ikkaku's attention to the fact his partner was taking the situation personally. "Bloom Fuji Kujaku!" Yumichika called out, fanning out his blade, tearing into the man on the ground, after saying. "I'll show you warriors never surrender!"

Ikkaku waited until the anger was worked out of his lovers system, he knew better than to approach before then, but once it was safe he went over to Yumichika and stroked his cheek. They had been together a heck of a lot longer then Kenpachi and Ichigo, they were more affectionate in public, even if they weren't the cuddly type. "Yumichika, what brought that on? You normally brush shit like that off; you know I don't think like that at all."

Yumichika lifted his hand to squeeze Ikkaku's, "It hit harder than usual now. I have made no secret about who I love, it's part of who I am, but in a few months time it's going to be obvious exactly which position I prefer."

Ikkaku's eyes widened, and his other hand came up to rest on Yumi's other cheek, "Are you pregnant?"

"You're going to be a father; our daughter is healthy and strong." Yumichika confirmed.

He was pulled in for an enthusiastic hug and kiss, Ikkaku letting out a loud whoop. Children hadn't happened for them before. Trust had to be involved, and well, one of them was hiding a large secret from the other. The Winter war had caused their largest fight ever, after the pillar feel and Yumichika had thought he lost Ikkaku, he had ripped into him for not using his Bankai and he was so mad at the Lieutenants for holding him back from going to Ikkaku to help.

His lover had asked the same damning question the other two had, only he couldn't lie or dodge the question anymore, what did he think he could do if Ikkaku had failed? After much fear and screaming, Yumichika had admitted to his true Shikai. He did not get the reaction he was expecting. Instead of hatred, he got respect for enduring so long in having such a power, but refusing to use it so he could stay with the Eleventh. Every once and awhile Ikkaku mentioned he might want to tell Kenpachi about it, but he wouldn't force him, he had told Renji and Ichigo though; they had all become close friends and he was tired of hiding from them.

"We are having a little girl?" Ikkaku asked curiously, holding onto him tightly.

"Are you sorry she isn't a boy?" That was the only worry Yumichika had about the situation.

Ikkaku had to laugh at him with the question, "Oh come on, you really asked me that? I'm fine with a daughter, maybe we can give her a brother later, but I think our daughter will be the terror of the Seireitei, in all the ways that count."

"Let's just see how this one goes before we start talking about more," Yumichika responded flatly, causing Ikkaku to laugh again, exuberant with the situation.

Ikkaku leaned over and kissed his forehead on the opposite side from the ornamental feathers, "You know you are going to be beautiful carrying her, right now, and right up until the very end."

A slow happy smile, "Keep talking." Yumichika ordered.

"…So do I wanna know?" Kenpachi asked Ichigo as his Third and Fifth seat engaged in a very public display of affection.

Ichigo chuckled, "You were going to find out anyway, Yumichika is going to need some time off, he's pregnant too."

"Ah, that explains attacking leftovers," He realized, glancing to the bloodstained sand, the injured Shinigami had already been taken to the Fourth Squad's healing rooms. He would need a lot of patching up, Ichigo idly wondered if Retsu had added those extra beds yet, oh well, it was only one man so far.

"Yachiru should be almost done with her meeting," Ichigo noted, realizing how late it was getting.

Kenpachi started to grin manically again, "Ready to face the mob?"

Ichigo had to sigh, "Not really, but it was bound to happen at some point. At least this way I don't have to do it all myself. There are some people I shudder at the thought of telling, I don't mind them knowing, I just don't think my eardrums can take the squealing."

"Who?" Kenpachi knew most of the people that Ichigo was close with, but not the ones who would be excited over a baby.

"Kisuke for one, that man can be just as overly dramatic as my father when he wants to be. Rukia is another, and Rangiku. That's just to name a few." Ichigo had made an impression on quite a few people in his time with the Soul Reapers, and quite a few of them would be very much taken with the idea of him having a baby. Shinji's reaction was only the beginning of the glomping/gushing.

"Yah already put one man in the healin' rooms, what's a few more? That story 'ill spread too." Kenpachi encouraged, but the encouragement would have far more impact if he wasn't still grinning and laughing his head off.