AN: This is a bit longer of a chapter, I haven't slept for a few days, sorry if this chapter is lacking or weird! Let me know if there are any major mistakes that I missed and didn't fix. Oh my god there is so much wrong with this chapter ): I'm so tired, I'm going to sleep for a couple days, and I'll get the next chapter out as soon as I'm not being tortured with lack of sleep. probably later next week.
I'm not great with romantic stuff, but I did my best! Enjoy!
"Karin! Dad! Breakfast is ready!" Yuzu chirped loudly to get the attention of the rest of her family. Suddenly she heard the sound of someone falling down the stairs. "Dad are you alright?" she asked sounding very concerned, to which he just grunted. Karin just stepped over him and sat at the table. Just as the three of them were sitting at the table, there was knocking at the door
"I'll get it!" said Yuzu in her normal upbeat tone. As she made her way to the door, the knocking continued louder. "I'm coming!" she opened the door and stood shocked as to what she saw.
"Yuzu? Who is it?"
"Ichi-nii! Oh my god! You're back! And you brought Orihime!" she said as she jumped up to greet them with a hug.
"What!?" the other two at the table jumped up at the same time and ran to the door. After a minute of greeting they were let inside, and everyone's eyes went to the petite girl in a blue shirt with a red flower on the left side and a pair of black jeans, who followed Ichigo closely inside. And Isshin just jumped with joy.
"Ichigo! You make your father proud! Look at you bringing home two girls, one of which being Orihime!" He said loudly as Ichigo punched him square in the face, knocking him to the floor
"Shut up dammit! We came to visit if that's okay?" He asked already knowing the answer.
"Of course sit down, tell us what you've been up to, we're about to eat, join us." Isshin said, rubbing his face. Urahara had explained to them about Ichigo and his 'hobby'. "That is, if you aren't too busy trying to go rescue someone or save the world." Isshin chuckled as he moved out of the way. "I have somewhere to be later so if you want, you can stay here tonight."
"We'll see, but there is something I need to talk to you about. Would you come upstairs for a moment?" Ichigo looked at his father who just nodded, stood up and the two of them went up the stairs and into his father's room.
"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" Isshin raised an eyebrow as he sat down into the bed.
"Well, That girl who was with us, she is my daughter, I adopted her, she never had parents and is very attached to me, I don't want her to grow up without a mother…Dad, I'm going to propose to Inoue soon, and I was wondering if I can give her mom's ring?" He said this with a straight face, staring his father in the eyes.
"Of course, son." Isshin said with a small smile. "As long as you include Yuzu as the flower girl." He chuckled as he started digging in one of his drawers. After a couple of seconds he pulled out a simple white ring box and opened it. The ring was a simple gold band with a large black diamond in the center and with two smaller pink diamonds on either side. He closed the small box and handed it over to Ichigo. "You have my approval, son." He pulled Ichigo in and whispered in his ear. "I knew you weren't gay." And he found himself lying on the floor with a sore head; Ichigo punched him in the face and walked out.
"Thanks dad. Thanks for everything." He said with a face that showed his gratefulness. He put the small box into his pocket as he walked down the stairs.
"I don't think so Yuzu, your brother is a captain, and he doesn't get that much time to come back." Orihime was answering Yuzu's question which was probably asking for them to visit more.
"Don't worry we'll be back very soon." Ichigo called from stairs.
"We will? why, is it an order, we don't get to come here often." Orihime seemed puzzled
"More or less a favor. But never mind that now." He turned to go get Koko from the other room, she was looking at the giant poster of Masaki. "That's my mother, she died a long time ago protecting me from a hollow. Come with me." He spoke softly as he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the other room
"Karin, Yuzu, what do you think of my daughter? Her name is Koko Kurosaki." As he said this the two twins eyes widened in shock and were speechless. Then Koko had a great smile on her face, because she knew Ichigo felt a great pride calling her his daughter, and she loved it.
"Really? She's so cute, are you sure she's yours? She has black hair, and neither of her eyes are yours or Orihime's color." Karin asked as she looked at the petite girl in front of her.
"I adopted her, and…Oh right, you can see spirits, can't you Karin?" he questioned his sister as he got an idea
"Yeah and Yuzu can too now, she had latent abilities, and they awakened shortly after your problems with that Ginjo person." Karin stated in a 'matter of fact' tone as Isshin went tumbling down the stairs and sat next to his daughters.
"That's great, Koko, get up, out of your gigai I want them to see what you look like normally." He rubbed her head as he spoke, it didn't bother her that much anymore, but it was still irritating.
"All right, dad, one second than." And she stood up, closed her eyes, and her gigai fell limp on the floor, which Ichigo picked up and set on the couch. She was the same girl, because her gigai looked like her, except now she had that abnormal chain and her blue sash on her shihakusho.
"She's a fine girl Ichigo, make sure you treat her well, and don't hurt her." Isshin said in a fatherly tone which his goofy demeanor disagreed with.
"Yeah, I know, she's like my shadow most of the time, and I don't ever seriously hurt her but she usually gets a broken bone or a burnt hand during training. I want her to have a mother…" Ichigo explained as he looked over to Orihime who slightly blushed and nodded. "…Inoue. " When he said her name the twins' eyes lit up and they in unison started laughing.
"Ichi-nii, you better be nice to Orihime. She is a princess and should be treated like one." Yuzu happily said. "You two should go see your friends; I'm sure they miss you and will have tons of questions!"
"Yeah I guess, we will come back later to stay for the night, Koko go back in your gigai, we're leaving, anyway," Ichigo stood up and walked over to his family and hugged them. "See you guys later." And the three of them were out the door. "Who do you want to go find first?" He asked Orihime as he took her hand.
"I miss Tatsuki-chan, let's go find her!"
"Alright let's go," As the three were walking, Orihime noticed Koko was abnormally quiet.
"Koko-chan, are you okay, you seem distracted." She said as she turned around to grab Koko's hand.
"I'm fine," she smiled as she looked up. "I'm just imagining what your wedding will be like. I've never been to one."
Orihime was about to speak when Ichigo spoke for her. "It will be beautiful, just like the bride." He smiled back at the two girls with a small smile. "That's all I'm going to tell you, though. Anyway, we're almost to Tatsuki's house Inoue, do you think she's home?"
"I hope she is, I can't wait to see her! I have so many stories, and I-" they were called to by a voice from down the street in the opposite direction of her house.
"Orihime, Ichigo?" The voice belonged to her best friend, Tatsuki Arisawa. "Oh my god, Orihime! What have you been up to? That perv in the hat told me you were with Ichigo in the Soul Society. If he knows what's good for him he'll be nice to you." She shot a glance to Ichigo who was holding hands with Koko. Her eyes met with the girl and she raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Oh who's this? She's so cute." Tatsuki smiled as she said it.
"This is Koko Kurosaki, my daughter, me and Inoue-" he was cut off by a swift kick to the stomach. "w-w-why is that the first thing you do when you haven't seen me in a year or so?" he was coughing trying to catch his breath will doubled over.
"You got Orihime pregnant!? When was the wedding? Why wasn't I told about this?" she screamed at Ichigo, only for Koko to speak up.
"I don't know what he does with Inoue when they're alone, but he adopted me, and they aren't married yet, but I hope it happens soon. They love each other so much, almost no one makes him smile like she does, and I would know, I follow him around most of the day." Koko spoke strongly while staring at Tatsuki with her odd eyes.
"I'm sorry… I lost my cool for a moment, but either way, I find that you do anything to Orihime without her consent, I will find my way into the soul society and kick your ass myself."
"I have no doubt, well anyway, we're here for a few days, you want to hang out today? Show my daughter around?" Ichigo said with a wince, because his stomach was still in pain from the professional kick he had just received.
"Yes, of course, let's go find Keigo, he doesn't have a job or anything and probably won't be busy, Ishida, chad and the others went off to college in Tokyo."
"Oh damn, I wanted to see them." Ichigo complained, and Tatsuki started walking away.
Tatsuki motioned for them to follow her. "I think he will have fun when he finds out you have a daughter, maybe you should leave out the part where you adopt her, see where he goes with it." She spoke to Ichigo with a grin; which usually meant that what was about to follow will end up hurting him.
…
The four of them walked for around twenty minutes before they came to Keigo's house.
"okay, Ichigo, remember don't mention that she is adopted"
"Are you sure this is a good idea? You know how he gets when I do anything with a girl he finds attractive."
"Shut up, go knock on the door." Tatsuki ordered with a quick glare at him.
"Kurosaki-kun, It sounds like a fun idea, I'll go knock with you" Orihime put her hand around his back and he did the same, and the two walked up to the door, leaving Tatsuki and Koko on the sidewalk.
Ichigo knocks a couple times and then the door opened.
"Hel- Ichigo! Orihime! Holy crap I haven't seen you in a year, and you brought Tatsuki, and…I don't know her, whatever come in, introduce us inside." The five of them went inside and sat in the living room, Koko was in a chair, Tatsuki and Keigo were on the couch, and Ichigo and Orihime were sitting on the floor in front of Koko, she was leaning on him.
"Ichigo, why is it that you are always around these cute girls, who is the girl behind you?" Keigo asked, raising an eyebrow. Ichigo pulled Orihime closer and they both smiled.
"Keigo, I would like you to meet Koko Kurosaki, my daughter." As Ichigo explained who she was Keigo's jaw dropped.
"Dammit Ichigo, that isn't fair! First you steal her from me and then you have a kid with her" Keigo complained, too fast for Ichigo to hear half of it. Keigo continued to rant about it until Tatsuki reached over and slapped the back of his head. "Ow, Tatsuki, why are you so mean to me all the time" he said in a childish tone.
"She's adopted Keigo, I haven't done anything to Orihime." Ichigo said with a sigh, then started leaning closer to her. "Except this." He put his finger on her chin turning her head to face his, and slowly moved his lips to meet hers, gently kissing her. After what felt like an hour but was only really 15 seconds he pulled away and stared into her eyes before turning back to the two on the couch, both of them eyes wide.
"well done Ichigo, well done" Tatsuki slapped Keigo for that comment. Orihime was smiling a wide smile; Koko was being quiet, probably still thinking about the future wedding. Ichigo put his arm around Orihime and rest his head on her shoulder, because now she was sitting on his lap. Koko started asking questions about what it was like going to school in the World of the Living, so the four friends started telling her about all the fun times they had at Karakura High.
"Hey guys, do you want to go get something to eat? I work at this little restaurant a couple minutes from here." Tatsuki asked. "I don't work today, but the food is great."
"I am a little hungry, and Tatsuki-san is so nice. I wish we could come here more often." Koko spoke out, and then stood up.
"Alright, Tatsuki-chan! Lead the way!" said a loud and happy Orihime.
…
After the five ate lunch, they went to a park and lied in the grass. Ichigo instead sat down next to Keigo and let Orihime lay her head in his lap. After a couple seconds she just closed her eyes and smiled.
"Ichigo, Orihime is one of a kind, you better treat her like she deserves, after all- OW! What the hell Koko?" Keigo's once in a blue moon serious tone was interrupted when Koko had thrown a rock at his head all while not breaking her stare from the clouds above, she scolded him when he asked why.
"You have to be pretty dense to think for even a second that he doesn't treat her like a queen."
"Yeah, I'm sorry, I know…" Keigo said apologetically.
Ichigo checked to see if the girl in his lap was asleep, he poked her gently as to not wake her if she was, and as it turns out, she had been asleep since they sat down.
"Tatsuki, I have a serious question to ask you." Ichigo's light expression, changed back to his ever so frequent scowl.
"Tatsuki, at my wedding, would you be my best man?" Ichigo found it hard to hold back his laughter as her eyes lit up with hatred. Keigo just started laughing hysterically. Then ran off saying he would be right back.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!? HUH? AM I NOT A WOMAN IN YOUR EYES?" Her roar of anger woke Orihime who sat up with a very confused look on her face.
"Tatsuki-chan? What happened, why are you so angry?" Orihime spoke loudly because she was so startled.
"You're boyfriend decided to-" the angry girl in front of her was silenced when Ichigo jumped up and put his hand over her mouth, and whispered in her ear.
"Calm down, I was joking, and she doesn't know I'm going to ask soon." And he pulled away from her, leaving her and standing behind Orihime.
"Oh, he said something that I didn't hear right, he said 'Now that you're a beautiful woman, watch out for keigo' I thought he meant that I was a boy before now, I may not act much like a girl, but I am one." She said running the back of her hair feigning a smile.
"Oh, that makes a little sense, but he is right Tatsuki, you are a beautiful woman, watch out for Keigo. Oh, also watch out for Urahara-san, he is a bit off his rocker. I know this sounds weird, but if his cat is with him he probably won't be as much as a creep as he normally is." Orihime said with a clueless smile.
"Dad, don't tease your friends like that." Said a Koko who had might as well not have been there for she was so quiet. "Where did Keigo go?" She asked as she sat up and looked around.
"I don't know…Oh there he is, but who is tha…Oh my god! He has Rukia with him!" Tatsuki ran off to meet them.
"Rukia!?" The three Shinigami said in unison and they ran off to meet her.
After the greeting that consisted of Orihime squeezing her and everyone else greeting like normal, or as normal can be for them, people. Keigo had already said hi, and got shot down after hitting on her not two minutes after seeing her, he ran off to go say hi to someone he knew.
"What are you doing here Rukia? If they sent you to patrol for hollows, they must not know that there is a captain, lieutenant and a third seat here, or did Ukitake send you on vacation?" Ichigo questioned.
"Well, it isn't hollows and it was Renji's Idea. He said I was working too hard and he suggested I come here and find you two, I didn't know you brought your third seat." Rukia stated as she looked at Koko who was only slightly shorter than she was.
"It's a long story, she's my daughter, I'll explain later, anyway, how are you and Ren-" Again Ichigo had a swift kick to the stomach hit him. "ADOPTED! I adopted her, just…enough with the kicking…"
"That's so nice of you, strawberry." Rukia said with a small smirk. Ichigo would have said something if he weren't trying to catch his breath. "Orihime, does he dump all his work on you? I'll have to set him straight if he does."
"Oh no, he does all the paperwork himself, even though he puts it off for a few days." Orihime explained.
"Ichigo, I assume you requested that gigai to completely hide your spiritual pressure, I can barely feel yours, but I can feel Orihime's and Koko's." as Rukia spoke Ichigo separated from his gigai leaving it with them and ran off, screaming back at the group that there was a hollow and he would be right back.
"All right than, Kuchiki-san, how are things with Renji?" Orihime asked.
"He's fine, but we haven't been together for more than a year and he's already talking about having kids. If he thinks I'm going to give myself up before marriage, he's got another thing coming." Rukia responded with a proud smirk. "What about you and Ichigo? Do you guys plan on getting married in the future, you guys have been together for almost two years."
"I really wish we can, soon too, I can't bring myself to ask him to propose, I don't want to propose, the man is supposed to ask the woman, I often think about what I said to him that night, the night when I went to Hueco Mundo…" Orihime smiled as she remembered that night, and she repeated what she said to him.
Orihime was sitting next to Ichigo as he slept, tears were forming in her eyes.
"Kurosaki-kun, you know I had a lot of things I wanted to do... I want to be a teacher... I also want to be an astronaut... and also make my own cake shop... I want to go to the sweets bakery and say 'I want one of everything'... Oh, I wish I could live life five times over. Then I'd be born in five different places, and I'd stuff myself with different food from around the world... I'd live five different lives with five different occupations... and then, for those five times... I'd fall in love with the same person..."
Orihime started to tear up and smile at the same time. "Obviously I can't go and do most of it, but I can fall in love with the same person, I did in one life, and I did in this one." Her attention was caught when a voice from behind started talking.
"Who said you can't go and do that, I will take you to a bakery, and let you get one of everything. I will help you own a cake shop. I will help you go to different places. I would fall in love with you one hundred times if you would let me. I love you, so, so much." It was Ichigo who had returned and was back in his gigai, he took a few steps forward as Orihime's eyes teared up at his confessions to her, he got down on one knee, pulled out the small white box, and opened it showing her his mother's ring. "Orihime Inoue, I will spend the next million years with you, if only to make you happy. Will you marry me?"
"YES! A thousand times yes! I'm so happy right now, I can hardly stand. Oh my god…" She couldn't continue because Ichigo had gotten up and pressed his lips to hers passionately. He held her tightly and so did she, he was stroking her beautiful long hair, after about a minute they pulled away, Ichigo slipped the ring onto her finger, he turned to the group who were just amazed with Ichigo's proposal.
"Koko, come here and hug your mom, I told you that she will be your mother, now get over here." Ichigo said as he held his hand out to the girl who was standing there with a huge smile, she leapt into their arms and embraced them tightly.
"Ichigo, Orihime that was beautiful." Rukia said, with a wide smile. "When is the wedding?"
"I swear to god, If you ask me to be the best man again, I will kill you" Tatsuki let out jokingly.
"I have no idea when it will happen, and Tatsuki, I won't, just calm down. As much as I'm going to regret it, I'll have Urahara help with planning." Ichigo replied, still holding his new family.
"My sisters and dad will want to know, so we should go tell them, Rukia, you're welcome to stay with us, I'm sure they missed you."
"All right, that sounds like a plan, although I won't be in your closet this time, I'll give you two your privacy." Rukia replied with a wink, which did not go unnoticed by Ichigo who just glared at her.
"We will not do anything like what I know you're suggesting, at least not before we get married." Ichigo shot down Rukia's suggestion as he put his arm around Orihime's waist.
"Hey Keigo! Get your ass over here, leave the dog alone! You just missed Ichigo proposing to Orihime!" Tatsuki yelled at Keigo who was off near a tree playing with his friend's dog.
"IIIIICHIIIIIGOOOOO!" Keigo came running but was met with Tatsuki's fist to his face.
"Shut up, you're loud…"
"Sorry…But really? I missed it!? Damn, I wish I saw…" Keigo went on rambling about how he wanted to see it, not noticing when everyone said their goodbyes, until he heard Ichigo call to him from a distance.
"Keigo, I'll see you later!" Ichigo was already gone before Keigo could respond, leaving him annoyed as he stood there alone.
"Damn…"
…
Ichigo, Orihime, Koko, and Rukia were walking back to Ichigo's house. Koko and Rukia were walking in front having a little conversation about the cute boys in squads five and thirteen which made Ichigo's stomach turn. He and his new fiancé were holding hands tightly. The four came to the Kurosaki Clinic at around five or six. They walked up to the door, and opened it announcing that they were back.
"We're back, and Rukia is here too!" Ichigo called into the house and heard movement of the two girls rushing to greet them.
"Rukia!" the twins screamed as they hugged her
Ichigo and Orihime walked in with Koko close behind, and left the three girls to catch up. They sat on the couch and waited for them to return and sit down. "Is dad going to be back tonight?" Ichigo questioned.
"I think he will be back in a cou…Ichigo…Is that mom's ring?" said Karin, her eyes shifting to Orihime's finger.
"Yuzu, Karin, I proposed to her earlier. Inoue and I are going to be getting married." Ichigo replied to his sister's question. "I don't know when it will be, but you will be the first to know." Ichigo was about to ask again when Isshin would be home, but the door opened and he walked in.
"Wonderful daughters, I'm home…Ichigo! Orihime! And Rukia too!? Oh my day just keeps getting better!" Isshin's face was lit like a light bulb. His eyes met with Ichigo's and raised an eyebrow as if asking him something. To which Ichigo nodded and held up Orihime's hand.
"I'm proud of you, now, tell us the details." Isshin, demanded. Ichigo sighed, and asked Orihime to explain the beginning, because he wasn't there until the end. After explaining for about fifteen minutes, Yuzu got up to go get dinner ready, after a little bit of small conversation the food was ready and they ate a big meal of rice, teriyaki chicken, and some type of vegetables.
…
After dinner, Ichigo wanted to go to bed, that fight with the hollow had taken more than he thought, granted it was a Menos Grande.
"Rukia and Koko, you can sleep in my room if you want." Yuzu said with a smile. Koko simply yawned and nodded
"Alright, can I borrow one of your dresses? I want to change out of this." Rukia asked as she followed Yuzu up the stairs.
"Inoue, I'm going to bed, come up when you get tired." Ichigo kissed Orihime before slowly going upstairs. He got into his room, fell onto his bed, and turns to his side and closed his eyes. After ten minutes his door opened, to which he opened one eye. Orihime came in and shut the door, she walked over to the bed, she sat for a second, then eventually lay down. She had her back to him, so she didn't see him smile, he put his arm around her and spoke gently into her ear.
"I love you, Orihime." He used her first name because her name would soon change to Orihime Kurosaki
"I love you too, Ichigo." She moved herself closer to him, in his arms she felt safe and warm, she was the happiest she had been in either of her lives.
…
After a couple of days, Ichigo, Koko, Orihime, and Rukia, were ready to leave, they had said goodbye to Tatsuki and Keigo, Yuzu and Karin, and Isshin.
"I promise we will be back to get you for the wedding." Ichigo said as Rukia opened The Senkaimon and the four walked through.
After a bit of running, Rukia said goodbye, and went back to the Squad Thirteen barracks. The remaining three went back to squad five barracks, after greeting with the squad, the three of them went to Ichigo's office. When they opened the door, sitting at Ichigo's desk was Shunsui Kyoraku.
"There is a problem with Koko's spiritual pressure. I'm sure you remember your hollow's pressure feeling dark and heavy. Well...She had the exact same reading as you did, during your fight with Byakuya when you saved Rukia. I would think you didn't notice because it felt so familiar. Hell, I only know because Mayuri almost had a heart attack yelling at me for allowing another hollow in." Shunsui looked Ichigo dead in the eye. "I wan't you to help her control this power. We already had a hollowfied shinigami nearly kill a captain with a Bankai. we don't need another, you are to help her control it, by any means neccacary, but I advise you, do NOT use any of your hollowfied powers. They most likely will influence hers and cause it to take control of her. Also, you will probably need to learn how to seal your zanpakuto, for even if you aren't shackled by your hollow, it's spritual pressure is infused with yours which is flowing into Zangetsu. I will even help you if you need."
"That won't be necessary. I will do it myself. Koko I will warn you once, if you fail this, you will be taken over completely by your inner hollow. It isn't fun...trust me." Ichigo looked Koko in the eye with the most serious and powerful expression she had seen him make.
"When do we start?"
AN: I promise there will be some action within the next couple of chapters. Along with some RenRuki moments. Forgive me if this chapter was a bit weird!
Sorry about such a cliffhanger!
