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"The only thing on the top of my mind right now...what if Orihime lived here for a while? Until you can afford to go out on your own. It would be easier, because me and your sisters will always be around to help. How does that sound?".

"Sounds like that would work, I'll see what she thinks to it...but it's a good idea, yes. I'm sure she'd agree. But I don't know how we'll afford baby furniture...I guess it would be expensive" Ichigo frowned.

"I'm happy to help out if I can, you're welcome to borrow money when you need it."

"Thanks a lot, Dad."

"Oh, one more thing," he said as Ichigo turned to leave. "Yeah?" his face was met with a fist as he turned around again.

He lay paralysed on the floor, his nose bleeding and his body sprawled out.

"That's what you get for knocking up an innocent young girl!" he smirked before walking away.

No Regrets

Chapter 3: The Word is Out

"Kurosaki, you're looking a lot happier today!".

Everyone in the room looked at him curiously, they hadn't really noticed before.

Miss Ochi winked for just him to see, she knew he was back to normal, that Orihime had returned. However, she wasn't in class.

This did make Ichigo worry a little, hoping the previous day hadn't been another dream. But no, every moment of seeing her again was too good to be a dream.

At the back, he could see another classmate who was very worried about her, almost as much as he had been. Tatsuki Arisawa.

"Well, class. I have good news! Orihime Inoue is back in town at last!" Tatsuki's attention suddenly turned fully to the teacher. "I'm...not sure why she isn't here yet, but I'm sure she'll be with us again soon!".

Ichigo smiled as he saw the look on Tatsuki's face. She seemed ready to run around every place her best friend could be right then, even if it were one hundred miles away.

Theirs was the most loyal friendship anybody had ever seen. They fought to protect each other, not a single tear could fall without consequences to the reason.

Half way through third period lesson, Tatsuki finally began to relax. Orihime struggled through the door.

"What time is this, Miss Inoue?".

"I'm so sorry Miss Ochi, I overslept..." she blushed.

Ichigo was sure happy to see her. It seemed almost like a normal day, though of course never could it be the same as those days before. The bump didn't show under her cardigan, but the marks under her eyes shows the stress, luckily not a noticeable feature to use as evidence to guess at anything.

She took her seat, fairly close to Ichigo, she looked over and winked at him.

The Maths lesson drew to it's end before long, it went quite quickly for them in fact. Everybody was happy to have Orihime back, but Tatsuki never said anything.

As the class was dismissed, most people ran out for lunch break, however the couple and the unusually calm Tatsuki wandered over to the pair.

"Hey, Tatsuki..." Hime decided to face whatever wrath was coming for her.

"Would you mind telling me what the hell had been going on in the past 2 months? Did you get abducted by aliens?" she asked, a little anger showing in her voice.

Orihime paused, before stepping forward and hugging her friend. "I'm so sorry, Tatsuki...". Her embrace calmed her a lot, the normal Orihime was back for her, too.

"Just...why? Why didn't you say anything before you left? I would've gone with you...".

"It's...not important right now, but come with me, I'll tell you...". They left Ichigo and descended to the Girls' bathroom.

"So...will you tell me yet?" Tatsuki yawned, leaning back against the tiled wall.

"I think it would be better if I showed you..." Orihime murmured.

"What? Did you go away to practise magic tricks or something? If you did, I'm going to punch you for making me worry over nothing."

"No...not quite."

What they weren't aware of were the two girls slowly peeking around the toilet stalls, listening in on their conversation.

"Okay, should I expect you to tell me today or next week?".

"Here," she picked up her hand, rolling up the bottom of her cardigan with her blouse still underneath. It wasn't visible with any more than just the thin fabric, so she left it as that and pressed her friend's hand against the bump. "Here's the big secret, Tatsuki...".

For a while the karate master studied what was going on, then she looked up. "No way...are...are you really?" the hint of anger was there, voiced in the question.

"I am..." she said quietly, waiting for the next, probably dangerous response.

To her surprise, Tatsuki dropped her bag and knelt down, feeling her stomach with both hands. She laughed, "Really? You're serious?".

"Sure! It's too late to make any changes now, no regrets! Me and Ichigo...we're actually having a baby!" she cried the recently familiar happy tears.

"I'm happy for you guys!" she smiled, "But I think I'm going to have to punch Ichigo, just for doing this to you in the first place..." she started to ponder.

With the end of their important talk, they wandered out of the bathroom, little did they know the two eavesdroppers had heard everything.

"Wow, I never thought she'd be a slut..." one grinned.

"Hah, it's too late for her now! Her life's wrecked! But I think we should go and have some fun with this gossip..." the second giggled.

"I have to agree...".

Both of the girls laughed. Without stopping to consider how their planned actions would affect Orihime and her self-esteem, Rei and Takara scuttled out of the bathroom and to the ears of every friend they had in Karakura High School...

Meanwhile, outside by the trees, Ichigo was eating lunch with his friends.

Keigo was dancing around him, waving his arms and jumping about in a circle, "So, you finally have your girlfriend back, Ichi?" he sang.

"Could you please leave me alone?".

The most enthusiastic of the group hung his head and wandered to sit by the tree, his 'spot'. It seemed to be the best place to send him when he was acting in such moments.

"Ichigo!" an angry voice called.

Uryu Ishida walked over to them, quick paced and pushing the frame of his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. The frustrated expression matched his voice.

"What's up?" he frowned.

"Such a ridiculous question, you know what's up. However, I don't. That's why I need you to tell me. Tell me what's going on with Orihime!" he demanded.

"I have no idea what you're talking about..." Ichigo yawned, leaning back against the wall.

Before anything else could happen, Uryu grabbed Ichigo and yanked him away from the group, just around the corner.

"Don't think I'm stupid, I know there's something wrong. I started to notice it before she...disappeared. So don't you dare deny it!" he spoke through his teeth, the anger really showing in his speech. They were at school, he knew not to shout about it so that everybody could hear, his voice was just loud enough for the listener to hear him and his tone.

Ichigo sighed and looked at the ground, "Before I tell you anything...what did you notice?".

"It was an unusual change in her spiritual energy, it's like it grew bigger or something like that..." he re-positioned his glasses again before giving his 'enemy' a cold and curious look that could have physically pierced and shattered the glasses.

At that he wanted to laugh, Uryu was such a nerd. Now it had been proven that he could even detect a growing baby's spiritual pressure. By the end of these thoughts, Ichigo did actually laugh a little.

"I don't know what's so funny here."

"Right, sorry. There's a very good reason. I'm not sure if I should really tell you yet, only four people know about this so far..." his hesitant voice showed his uncertainty. Was it really a good idea telling him about this? But then, what harm could he really do with that information...?

"Spit it out, Kurosaki, I don't have all day," Uryu sighed, crossing his arms like an important workman, doing...important work.

"I...well, you see..." - the Quincy began to grow more and more impatient - "we are...as to say, um...".

"Are you serious?" he rolled his eyes in disgust, "Really, will you tell me or should I ask again later in front of everyone you don't want to let it out to? You're pathetic, do you know-".

"Orihime...is..." - Uryu made a 'yes?' gesture, urging him to hurry on before he forced him. Ichigo gulped, "Pregnant."

There was no immediate reaction, he stood there, clearly confused. The puzzled expression was probably just how Ichigo himself had looked, he thought.

"...What?" Uryu snapped.

"Me and Orihime...we're having a baby..." he repeated in a different sentence.

Again he paused, with an angry expression this time. It didn't take long for him to turn on again, his eyes closing and the corners of his mouth twitching.

"You really are an idiot, Kurosaki."

Ichigo never got in a chance to explain anything, the Quincy turned and walked away.

Well that was awkward.

"Ichigo!".

Orihime skipped along to where her love sat, the father of her baby and whatever other titles she could have given him. He was with Chad and Keigo still.

Lessons were nearly starting, so she hurried to find him. "Hey, Hime,". Ichigo said a quick 'see you in class' to his friends and followed her just away to a spot out of their hearing.

When there was a silence as Orihime looked up at him, smiling in an adorable way. When he finally smiled right back at her, she grinned and hugged him tightly.

Ichigo laughed and as she let go, his arm extended around her and they walked slowly back to their classroom. It was just like those times before, months before Orihime left.

But of course, now things had changed. They had changed much more than either of them had thought, and they expected a huge difference.

"Mmm!" Orihime squealed quietly, nonetheless high pitched. Her hands came up to cover her mouth and she stopped walking, holding her head down to try to let the moment pass.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo questioned quickly, taking his arm away to put his hand on her shoulder.

"I-I have to go! Could you please...- she gulped - "could you please tell Miss Ochi that I'll be a few minutes late?" her voice came muffled through her hands.

"Sure, but where are you going?".

"The bathroom!" she ran away quickly.

Of course, I forgot about that part. Ichigo hadn't yet seen much to do with her pregnancy. So far all he'd gotten was the news, the time and he'd seen Orihime's tiny bump that had already started to form. She'd never mentioned morning sickness.

–

"Okay, thanks for telling me. Now please return to your seat."

The teacher had been informed, so he did as she said. He knew she'd return to class soon, there wasn't too much worry there.

Ichigo leaned back in his chair, waiting for the lesson to begin.

It was a Class Communication lesson. These happened every so often, but most people forgot about them. They just didn't seem so important.

Now didn't seem like a good time for this lesson, Ichigo didn't feel like talking to anybody. He knew they'd ask questions about Orihime, and no simple lies would keep them satisfied. Then he could of used the truth, but than was currently not to be spoken of. They'd probably see it for themselves before the end of the school year, just a couple of months away.

Rei and Takara, the girls from the bathroom, were in this classroom too. The two were average students, nothing was super special about them. Though one thing, they were gossipers. They had been the ones to hear that Orihime was pregnant, it wouldn't be long until everyone in school knew. Throughout the lesson, the giggled and stared at Ichigo, Rei had always liked him. That was one reason why she was so pleased to overhear his girlfriend's conversation, it could hurt her, maybe making her leave again.

It was like an unexpected plan had unfolded, unfortunately for the couple. But whatever happened, Orihime could never leave again. She needed Ichigo too much now, their baby needed them to be together.

Most of the class had heard the story from the girls, but they couldn't know for sure. Some of them were looking at Ichigo, just wondering about it. But because Rei and Takara never mentioned them raising the baby and the class knew Ichigo as a good guy, that fact ruined the intended effect of the rumour.

Uryu had kept quiet, though he was never a worry. At least with telling people, he was only expected to remain angry for a while.

Ten minutes into the lesson, Orihime opened the door and wobbled inside. Her legs shook, and her face was a little red again. But she seemed to be okay, it was finally over.

"Sorry I'm late, Miss Ochi! I wasn't feeling too good for a while...but I'm okay now!" she blushed, walking to her previously appointed Class Communication group.

"That's okay, Miss Inoue. If it comes back just let me know and you can go to the Nurse."

"T-thank you!" she dipped her head and sat down.

It did, to her misfortune, just so happen that Rei and Takara were both in her group. They smirked to each other and whispered, "Proof,", to the members of the group. The others blinked and looked down, decided not to confront her. That job would probably be saved for the two news-bringers.

"How are you, Orihime? It's been a while," Rei flashed a fake smile, in mock of her.

"Yeah, you really should have texted us while you were gone! We wanted to know...what was going on with you..." Takara grinned.

"I was fine...sorry if I worried you, " she looked down, very aware of these girls' feelings for her. It was as clear as the day that they were trying to intimidate her.

"Oh, I'm so relieved..." Rei muttered, flipping through the lesson's tasks. "Hey, this looks like a good one!".

She held up the 'Opening' task, mainly to Orihime. It was about opening up to your classmates, telling them things about you that they don't know. Lucky for the girls.

"So who should we start with?" Takara asked, raising her hand and pointing around in a circle. The three boys shook their heads, leaving only Orihime.

"Hime?" Rei grinned, "Would you care to start us off? Yes? Okay, then we'll ask you some questions. You're too...shy to think of anything by yourself."

"Good idea, Rei-san, I'll give some. So, do you have any parents? Do you have any siblings?". Both were questions that they knew the answers to, they knew they were sensitive questions to her. That was the whole point.

"What else...hmm, does your boyfriend really love you?" - Rei's questions were actually shouted, - "Will you just admit it to everyone that you're pregnant?".

–

Dun dun duuuun! Evil cliffhanger there!

I hope you like this chapter, it's been slowly progressing over several days and occasions! It's been a bit of a struggle, but I think it came out okay in the end. And by the way, is it weird that I hate Rei and Takara even though I made them? Haha~

Hopefully there's not too many mistakes in there...me and my stupid writing skills...but I'm not too worried, I eat diamonds, nails and fear for breakfast.

Also, thanks a lot for all of the reviews! This has only been up for a few days with two chapters, and I already got a couple of nice ones. I can't give you enough hugs to make up for it! ^_^

Please leave me a review here! They are much loved and appreciated!

~HellYus