Ahh, I really have to thank someone. This person got me thinking about where this story is going and I came up with a much more interesting plan then I had before. This person is Jerkess. Thanks soooo much! I never would have thought about doing this if it weren't for you! So yes, my new plan will take place either in this chapter or the next. Read on!
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Chapter Four
The next morning was beautiful. It always was after a storm. Ichigo and Rukia didn't get much sleep. He was trying to calm Rukia down throughout the whole night. He knew she hated storms and he let her follow him outside in the middle of one. But it's not like he meant to. That guy was standing in their backyard, staring in their window watching them. Sure he did it from a distance but it was still freaky.
Ichigo's eyes fell on the woman sleeping beside him. Finally she had calmed down. He looked at the clock next to him and found it unfocused. He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear them. He tried again but his vision was still blurry. He decided, judging by the light pouring in the room that it had to be at least one in the afternoon.
He could hear the twins playing downstairs noisily. He heard a loud crash and the noise instantly stopped. He knew they had dropped something breakable. Rubbing his hand in his hair he called down to them,
"Guys," but he was surprised when it came out as an inaudible, raspy whisper. Shit, how did I lose my voice?
He let out a hard sigh. Cringing, he didn't realize before how much his throat hurt. He went to get up but the room began to spin violently. He dropped back down on the bed. The impact woke Rukia up.
"Hey, what was that for?" she asked irritated, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
Ichigo didn't respond. He held his head in his hands, waiting for the room to stop spinning. Rukia crawled over to him. Putting a hand under his chin, she lifted his head to meet her eye level. He was sweating quite a bit and his eyes seemed out of focus.
Touching a delicate hand to his forehead, she felt it for a fever. Oh yeah. He had a fever. His face was flushed and dark bags were present underneath each eye. She assumed he had stayed up all last night during the storm, comforting her. He must have caught a cold when he was out in the rain before dinner. He changed her out of her wet, clingy clothing before he had done himself. The room was awfully cold too.
He had started to shiver slightly, making her worry. Hearing the kids downstairs, being dead silent she called down, "What are you two up to down there?"
"Nothing mommy!" they called back instantly.
"You better not have broken something," she called knowingly. They made no sound in response. She knew then that they indeed had broken something. She prayed that it wasn't something valuable.
Walking out into the hall, she opened the closet containing all the medicine. She grabbed a thermometer and some cold medication. About to walk away she grabbed some painkillers. She remembered back when they were only a few months into their relationship; Ichigo had caught a bad flu.
He had a fever of 104.5 and didn't move from the bad in two days. He didn't even speak to anyone. He just slept. It was horrible to see him clutching his stomach. Here was this tough man, sitting there grasping his stomach like he used to when he was a kid. She knew it took a lot for something to hurt him so it must have really hurt.
She prayed once again that he didn't have to go through that again. A pair of footsteps were heard running up the stairs. They both ran into the room.
"Don't bother daddy!" she yelled forcefully.
"Daddy!" she heard them yell. The springs on the bed cried in protest as they jumped on the bed.
Shaking her head, she walked in to see them glancing curiously down into Ichigo's face. Yuuki poked his cheek while Mikomi just stared.
"Mommy, there's something wrong with daddy!" Mikomi yelled, tears already making their way down her face.
"Mommy knows, sweetie. He's--" she began to explain but Mikomi interrupted.
"Is daddy dying?!" she wailed. She flopped herself childishly down on his chest making him inhale deeper.
"No, no, no. He's just got a little cold," she informed.
"Well, I'm staying right here," she said sitting cross legged beside him, "until he feels all better!"
"That's sweet," Rukia said sitting softly down beside her family. She put the thermometer in Ichigo's mouth.
Yuuki looked at it like it was an alien, "What's that?" he said pointing to it.
"It's called a thermometer," she told them. "It's going to tell me if daddy has a fever."
A look of fake understanding came to their faces. Rukia laughed a little bit. Her attention was switched back to the thermometer when it beeped. She removed it and read the numbers on the little screen. It read 102.3. Yup, he had a fever.
She asked Mikomi to get a few more blankets for the shivering Ichigo, but she refused to leave his side so she ended up having to ask Yuuki. He ran out of the room and came back in with two more blankets. She placed them gently over her husband's body.
"Thanks," she heard him rasp out. Mikomi let out a shriek causing his already ringing ears to scream in protest. She hugged him tightly, "Daddy, you're alive! I thought you were going to die!"
"You won't get..." he paused a moment for a cough, "rid of me that easily."
"Yay!" Mikomi squealed. She resumed her position, rubbing her father's head as if it would make him feel better. Actually it made him relax, doze off.
"You like that daddy?" she asked seeing the semi-content look on his face.
He smiled lightly and nodded.
"Okay," she said continuing. "I'll make you feel better. Don't worry!"
"I'm not. I know you'll make me all better."
Mikomi smiled. She continued again. Somewhere along the line, Ichigo had fallen asleep.
At some point she had fallen asleep beside him. After waking up, he called to Rukia the best he could. His weak voice couldn't manage loud enough so she could hear him from the kitchen. Yuuki ran by so he called to him, "Yuuki!"
His head popped back into view, "Yes daddy?"
"Can you get mommy? I need her to take Mimi out of here so she doesn't catch my cold," he explained.
"Okay," he said before flying down the stairs. Ichigo could hear his whole side of the conversation. He was talking rather loudly. He heard Rukia laugh before coming up the stairs.
She walked in and picked up the sleeping Mikomi gently. She pecked Ichigo on the cheek and put her in her own room. She came back in, "Ichigo. I just finished talking to Inoue. She's coming over here with the triplets. It's gonna get loud so I was thinking of bringing them to the park."
"Okay," he nodded, head still spinning lightly.
He sat up slowly. Rukia approached the bed. Ichigo stopped her. He glanced at the clock, finally being able to see the numbers clearly; 4:56pm. He got up slowly and began to walk out of the room.
"And where do you think your going, mister?" Rukia demanded, hands on hips.
"I'm going to take a piss. And I'm starving," he explained sarcastically. "You do know sitting in a bed all night and half the day, at some point your going to have to take a bathroom break?"
"Okay then," she said turning to fix the blankets on the bed. She knew he wouldn't be returning. The toilet was heard flushing and the tap turned on. He walked out and stumbled his way to the kitchen.
"Hey dad," Yuuki said casually as he walked in. He had a newspaper in hand.
Ichigo chuckled at the sight of his five-almost-six-year-old son acting all mature. "Someone's acting all grown up."
His mature stance crumbled when he nodded his head wildly, "Uh-huh!"
The doorbell rang, startling Ichigo momentarily. It didn't stop; ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong. It rang quickly so he knew that it was either Inoue and the triplets or his father at his door. He walked up and opened the door.
"Oh, you're up," Inoue said surprised. "Rukia told me that you were sick."
"Nah, I'm good," he responded, shrugging his shoulders. His attention was turned to the three kids looking up at him. "S'up kids?"
"Uncle Strawberry!" they screeched. Ichigo rolled at his eyes. Ever since Rukia had 'accidentally' let it slip that his name could mean strawberry, they had taken to calling him that. Sure he didn't like it and would usually yell if someone called him that, but he was used to it.
He was tackled and tried desperately to keep his balance as they hung off his arms. He heard Rukia laugh from behind him. He looked back and mouthed, 'Help me!' All she did was walk up and start to small talk with Inoue.
"Traitor," he mumbled coldly, frowning momentarily.
He heard a pair of footsteps running up behind him. His own kids, officially sending him falling toward the ground tackled him from behind. He tried not to fall on any of the kids. They screeched and ran away throughout the house. They began to play hide-and-seek. Inoue and Rukia, both laughing, helped Ichigo up.
"You really have a way with kids, don't you?" Inoue pointed out. She still loved Ichigo, but as more of a friend than anything. She would do anything to see him happy, even if it meant being with Rukia. She had Ishida and she was happier than she had ever been. He loved her and she loved him. She walked into the house, following Ichigo and Rukia.
The three adults sat down at the kitchen table talking about different things.
"Where's Ishida? I'm sure the kids would love to see him," Rukia stated.
"Oh, the library's getting a new shipment of books today and he had to go in early to start to label them and everything," she explained.
"Ahh, I see," Rukia nodded, "maybe next time then."
"I don't care what he's doing, I will drag him here," she vowed.
"I'll help," Rukia added, winking.
Ichigo sat there watching the two women talk about some things he didn't even understand. When their conversation turned to 'their time of the month' he got up.
With a hand to his head in a salute, he said, "I'm outta here."
"No, Ichigo," Inoue said getting his attention.
"Yeah," he said turning back.
"Are you feeling well enough to be coming with us to the park?" she asked, worried.
"Yeah, yeah," he said waving a dismissive finger. "I'm plenty fine. I'll be coming."
"Okay," she said cheerfully. She got up her eyes closed in content. She hummed as she walked toward the kitchen exit; eyes still closed.
Bam!
Ichigo and Rukia cringed as the walked straight into the wall. It didn't seem to faze her though. She continued on like nothing happened.
"How can she have nothing on her? No bruises or anything," Rukia whispered. Ichigo shrugged still looking at Inoue who had walked into another wall.
"Uh, Inoue?" he called out. She turned around instantly, a big smile plastered on her face.
"Uh-huh?" she replied.
"I think you should walk with your eyes open," he suggested.
"Why?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.
They both sweatdropped. "Uh, never mind..."
"Oh, okay," she said turning back around. She smacked her face on the wall behind her, the one she had already walked into.
"Ouch! When did that wall get there?" she said poking it, seeing if it was some sort of apparition.
Rukia and Ichigo stared at her in wonder. What's up with this girl?
They brushed it off and called the kids.
"Mikomi, Yuuki!" Rukia called.
"Yume, Tsuki, Hono!" Inoue called her own kids.
They were all there in an instant, eyes shining brightly, showing their excitement. They knew going to the park meat they could crawl all over Daddy, or Uncle Strawberry. It was fun hassling him, and they knew that.
"Let's get going!" Inoue cried enthusiastically.
"Do we have everything?" Rukia asked, counting the kids and checking her bag.
"Of course!" Inoue said grabbing Rukia's hand. She began to pull her forcefully to the front entrance. The kid began to scream and run outside. Ichigo followed casually, hands in his pockets. A frown was placed on his face, as he thought of that creepy man he had met at the park last time and how he had followed them back to their house.
"Ichigo?" Rukia asked, coming to walk beside him. She placed her and in his and squeezed reassuringly.
His glanced at her, the frown never disappearing like it usually did when he looked at her.
"Something on your mind?" she asked curiously. He would only do this when something was bothering him.
"Yeah," he admitted, running his free hand through his hair showing his agitation.
"What is it?" she said peering into his face.
"You know the man from yesterday?" he asked her, his eyes locking onto hers. His eyes showed worry, fear, anger, and confusion. Something he had learned from Rukia, the day in the hospital.
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He went to say something, but the look in her eyes shut him up. Her violet eyes, tear-filled and guilty, looked angry but relieved. He didn't know someone could hold four different emotions at the same time.
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Rukia stared, a look of worried evident in her violet eyes. She hadn't seen him like this in months.
"I met him at the park," he told her. "Yuuki was trying to go in the forest so I went to get him. When I got back, he was talking to Mikomi. I gave him enough clues to tell him to stay away from my family and kids, but he still followed us home," he said angrily. "What the hell does he want?" he asked confused.
"I see," she said. "I don't know."
"And the way he was looking at you last night. The way he wouldn't look away," Ichigo said with worry.
"I'm sure it was nothing," she brushed off, "I probably looked like someone he knew."
"I don't know," he said with a sigh. "But if I see him around you guys again, he's going to get a piece of me," he growled protectively, a fist balled at his side.
Rukia patted his chest, "That's my Ichigo. Always willing to protect the ones he loves."
His frown seemed to fade away a little bit, but not completely. He glanced down at her, leaning on for a kiss when, "Ewww!" was once again heard from all five kids. He let out a frustrated sigh.
"Is there ever a time when we can kiss in peace?" he asked, a small amused smile playing on his features.
"I don't think so," Rukia said leaning into him.
"Come on you lovebirds!" they heard the happy voice of Inoue calling. "It'll be dark before we get there, then we'll have to go home."
Horrified gasps were heard from the group of children and they ran to the couple. Each grabbing one of their two free hands, they dragged them to walk faster. They laughed and walked faster, making the kids stop dragging them.
"Who can beat me there?" Ichigo challenged. He didn't want them to be hyper when they went home for lunch so he tried to get as much energy out of them now. He began at a slow paced jog, watching as the kids sped past him. They were almost there when he broke out in a run. He ultimately beat them, causing them to scream at him in protest. He ran around, dodging their attempts to catch him.
The two women sat at a bench watching him play with the kids.
"Who knew he could be so good with kids," Inoue remarked. "I mean, he was so cold when we first met him."
"I know," Rukia agreed, "but he's changed."
"Mmh-hmm," Inoue hummed out. She watched as Ichigo dodged one of Yume's attacks, only to be taken from the behind by the rest of them.
Rukia's eyes grew wide, "Ichigo!" she yelled.
Ichigo got the kids off of him, then looked at her. She looked scared. He followed her pointing finger and saw that man standing at a distance from them. He told the kids to go see their mothers as he ran up to the man. He grabbed the man's shirt, like he had the night before and growled threateningly, "What the fuck do you want?"
The man never spoke, just stared at Rukia, who had come up behind Ichigo carefully. Inoue, followed by the kids, watched curiously at the commotion.
"I told you to stay away from my family," he said throwing the guy to the ground.
"Uncle Strawberry is crazy!" Tsuki yelled pointing a finger at Ichigo. The other triplets laughed.
Yuuki and Mikomi huffed, "No he isn't! He's talking to the man from yesterday!"
"Umm, Ichigo?" Inoue asked carefully placing a hand on his shoulder. "Who are you talking to?"
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Oh, what's this? A cliffy! I love those! Ahaha! I really liked writing this chapter, since it was fairly easy to put a bit of humour in it. It's kinda a lot longer then I expected though. Hope it isn't too long...Well, here it is! R&R!!! Thanks!
Eva-miko