Chapter 04

On Edge

Now—

"Your hair looks really cute when it's not spike!" Yuzu giggled, rustling the white strands. "You could almost be mistaken for a girl though because your hair is a little long around your face!" The captain put up with the harassment. "I really appreciate you going shopping with me Shirou-chan! It really helps!"

"A-Ah," he was cautious around her. She was so giddy that he worried if she had feelings for him. "I do apologize for not carrying the groceries for you. Your brother would have a fit if he saw me with bags."
"Oh—it's no trouble! They're not heavy at all!" To prove it, she flexed her arms happily. "But we should hurry, it's getting late, and the sidewalk might get a little slippery soon if we keep dawdling around!"
"I'm in no hurry to soak in a bath, eat more than usual, and sleep on the futon in your brother's room." It was only the nights of sexual intercourse that he could lie on Ichigo's bed. "Can Kurosaki cook tonight?"
The high school girl grinned from ear to ear. "You want Onii-chan's beef teriyaki again!" Immediately, this had Toushirou turn his head away in embarrassment. "You've wanted it every day this month!"

His head nodded to the statement; there were only two things that was craving right now: Ichigo's hot beef teriyaki… and strawberry pocky with soy sauce. It was Yuzu's fault that he was introduced to pocky in the first place where as Ichigo accidentally knocked over some soy sauce over the opened pack. This was a curse from Hell, he hated being pregnant, and he had been taking those pills that made him feel like a girl as well. After they returned from their visit to Soul Society two months ago, Ichigo made sure that no one upset the 'cranky pregnant male' as he called himself. Karin once approached him because she did her schooling at home while Toushirou would do paperwork for his squad; they were often alone, together, in the house. Both of them were particularly big, but Ichigo warned them that they were going to become even bigger in the future. If Ichigo had not stopped by during his lunch break, chaos would have appeared in the house, and everything to do with unborn babies.

The lump that was once a nice, flat, pale stomach, was the devil itself impersonating as a fetus that wanted to be born and raised. Every time he was on a walk, he would get looks, and the looks created pain to his entire being—fetus included, but he did not tell Ichigo. It was attracted to Ichigo no matter how much Toushirou would do his best to ignore the many odd signs of this fact. When the Strawberry was not home, the fetus thinks it is amusing to make him feel sick to the stomach that would lead him to the bathroom to either puke, or urinate for an hour. However, when he was home from school and work, everything would be at a tolerating level where it was as if it wanted Ichigo to carry it.

The fetus did not need him, it needed Ichigo.

"Shiro-chan!"

His foot suddenly slipped behind him and he fell on his side, wincing in pain while cursing the slow reflexes to protect the womb. Eyes widened in horror at the thought of causing harm to the uterus that was protecting the baby in progress… did he harm it? He quickly placed his hands over the pooch, trying to do his best so find a way to figure out if the small one was okay. Everything other than this unborn child did not exist to him; not even Yuzu who took his phone to call her brother for help.

"Kurosaki's going to kill me." With an idiotic mistake like this, who would not? "Oh God, he'll kill me."
"Shirou-chan, Onii-chan is on his way, he says not to move from your spot!" Yuzu cried in worry.
Though he heard her, he was still worried about seeing Ichigo's angry look. "He's going to kill me…"
"Just hang on! Home is two blocks away!" She looked up and saw him. "Look! Here comes Onii-chan!"
'Shit…' Toushirou tried to get up on his own, but Yuzu made sure to keep him in place. 'I'm dead…'

Ichigo approached the two, panting heavily from running over with his focus solely pinned on the little captain lying on the ground. Every day before a walk or before going out for errands with Yuzu without him, Ichigo would always tell him to be careful wherever he would go. Now he managed to slip up and fall due to the one thing that he was best at manipulating; how ridiculous could things possibly get?

"…okay?"

Toushirou looked up at the man kneeling in front of him. "What?"
"I asked, are you okay?" He checked his forehead to be on the safe side.
"Y-Yes…" His eyes widened in worry. "Kurosaki, the baby… is it okay? If—"
"Don't panic, I'll check when we get home." The Strawberry picked him up slowly.
"K-Kurosaki—what are you doing!" What were they, a new wedding couple?

"Stop whining, I'll carry you home to one of the clinic rooms to test and see if everything is okay with the fetus." It was all that he had to say to have the little captain quiet down. "I'm sure its fine. It is just as resilient as its parents, I don't think anything would harm it easily." A few minutes later, they were home. "Yuzu, can you put the food away while I check on Toushirou?" When she nodded, he left quietly.

"I'm so sorry Kurosaki, I was lost in thought, and was upset." Why did he confess this? Were these pills that Kisuke gave him turning him into a real woman? They knew it was for 'maternal' purposes—for his body to understand that it was mothering an offspring, but it made him so girly. "Tell me its okay K—"

"Toushirou," said captain flinched at the emotionless tone as he was set down on the parked gurney in the room in the medical wing. "Undo your pants while I set up some of the things." He walked to the counter in order to grab a few little things. "I told you, the fetus inside you is very resilient to harm."

After Toushirou did as told, Ichigo came over and checked him over to see if there were any sore spots and if he was leaking in the slightest. Everything seemed fine for the most part, so then he brought out the machinery to check the inside the uterus to find out if there were any damages he could not see. As the captain continued burning holes through Ichigo's face for any negative signs from the fall, it allowed the other to smirk. Never had he seen him so worried about something that did not involves Hinamori Momo; he was finally acting like a real parent now.

"There's some good news, and bad news." Ichigo placed the machine back in place. "The good news, you and the fetus are just fine." He watched the wave of relief flow over the now drained captain. "The bad news," he watched the other hold his breath in worry, "you're grounded for one week. The only time you're allowed to leave the house is for your morning walk with someone." Toushirou's head threw back against the pillow, exhaling heavily. "I'm proud of you. You're finally showing concern for your baby."

"Our baby." As soon as he corrected him, Toushirou looked away nervously. "It's… our baby… Kurosaki."
A simple smile crossed his lips. "My mistake." The Strawberry tried again. "You're finally showing your concern for our baby. For that, I am proud of you." His hand came up, rustling his hair softly. "Hungry?"
The indication of food had him perk with high hopes. "Beef teriyaki?" This had the other stare at him.
"Yes, I suppose that I can cook some beef teriyaki for you." With a head shake and a chuckle, he added. "Go clean up for dinner upstairs and rest until I bring dinner to you, understand?" Toushirou ran off.

Food cravings, the carrot top mused at the terrible part of pregnancy.

"Did you want fourths now?" Ichigo asked the pregnant male who just finished his third round. "Because if you do, you know you have to have a little more watermelon to balance it out." He saw him groan.

"No more… I'm full…" Hands came up to his large stomach, examining it. "This is all the baby, right? I'm not getting bigger because I'm eating more than usual… right?" He looked at the carrot top.
Brown hues looked away. "Well, you should gain about twenty pounds in the least. But don't let weight discourage you to eat, you are eating for two right now, and for another five or six months, okay?"
"At least twenty? No wonder why my feet have been killing me!" Toushirou snarled before setting the bowl on the desk before getting up slowly to look at himself in the full mirror that the other brought in.

The Strawberry would watch him turn to the side and lift his large shirt to inspect the growing belly with concern hidden in his turquoise hues. Normally, he would stare at the bulge with distaste and hatred for all the trouble that it had been causing him every day since the beginning. Now it was as if he was willing to look at the fetus in a new light after nearly endangering it earlier in the day for being careless. He watched him examine the growing belly a little longer before walking around to be unseen in the mirror until it was too late. Callused hands slid sneakily between two pale arms, pressing up against the small hands that were embracing the fetus from the outside. Toushirou gave a sharp gasp in surprise to the foreign touches that snaked from behind him in a soft, gentle manner.

"What would you have done if you had lost this little one today?" Ichigo whispered quietly. "Would you have been upset, or would you have been relieved that this would be done with?" Unhappy turquoise hues looked up at the calm, serious brown ones. "I am asking, if you wanted to lose the baby, no harm."
No foul, he mentally finished. "For the longest time, I wanted to just get this over with. Get pregnant, have the baby, and that would be the end." His gaze came down to look at the mirror, looking at the reflection. "It was a burden at first, but now… it's… a gift. It's something that you and I have created."
"You have to realize that, the labor will not be the end of everything. The baby will be born, and it will be raised by parents. It will grow as we have over our years." He turned the captain to him. "You must understand that this is a lifelong commitment. Karin is ready to face this, but, are you ready for that?"

Toushirou tried to think about it, only to close his eyes. "I have no choice."

"If you wish to terminate your pregnancy, I will not stop you." With that, Ichigo walked over to sit on the chair at his desk. "You now understand what Karin has to go through, however, you suffer ridiculing and worse because you are a man who is pregnant." He saw the captain slowly turn to look at him with a sad expression. "These hardships will not lessen for a long time, and miscarriage is still plausible for you if you wish to end this now. Are you ready to become a parent, Toushirou?"

"I know that I am not ready for a baby, or a child." He came over and sat on the bed next to the desk. "But I also know that you would not risk me caring for this person inside of me on my own, right?"
"There's more to it than that…" Ichigo looked away in heavy thoughts. "Even if you choose to keep this fetus or not, I will have to act fast when your baby with Karin is born. I have to live in Soul Society."
Confused by the sudden decision, the captain had to ask, "What do you mean? The baby she's carrying, is everything okay?" There was a brief nod. "Then what's the problem? Why do you have to live in—"
"Yuzu… she can't see the fetus well in the checkups that Dad gives Karin. Always saying he needs new equipment because she can't it well, but we can." His head shook. "I have to take her baby with me."
The thought of this for a moment before having to try understanding everything, it was hard to process. "Humans who can't see Spirits, can't see the baby?" Ichigo nodded. "Kurosaki… I'm sorry, I… I…"

"Do you know how frustrating it is, to be in this position? My little sister is raped by a boy that she had a crush on, and begs me not to kill you." The Strawberry paused, rubbing his forehead to ease the surge of pain in his head. "Yet said boy is pregnant now too, and with my child." His calm eyes were turning more than fierce. "To think that I would be stupid enough to listen to anything that he says to me, now I have to continue cleaning up messes and perform more than necessary. The only way the process could hurry up is if—" Ichigo caught himself before finishing off the sentence. "…don't be stupid Ichigo, jeez."

Unfortunately, Toushirou caught on, "the Precipice World…" He stood up slowly. "If that's what you want, then I will do it." The other looked at him curiously. "I'm not going to terminate this child!"

He stood up and looked at him. "No, if you intend to keep the baby, we'll go three days after whichever is last born. You had a four week jump, so you and Karin are at the same pace." With a finger, he gently pushed it against Toushirou's forehead for him to plop back on the bed, and to lie down. "We'll collect all the things needed to care for them after that, and then I will personally train you for twenty-four hours. That should lead us to about six years. Okay?" Carefully, he peeled off Toushirou's socks and began massaging his feet. "If ours is born first, I will have my old man take care of it for half a day, and I'll train you for three years in the Precipice World. However, you can't complain about having been pregnant."

"I won't." That sounded great. Stuck in this world, pregnant for almost a year, was making him rusty. Twelve hours in this world would be approximately three years in there. "If I'm given three days to recover from labor, then I'll be ready for any training you give me." His eyes slowly closed.

"Even parental training?" He chuckled.

Ichigo took a shower for over an hour because he was deep in thought about how this entire situation that he found himself in. If only he was not listening to the voices in his head that told him to allow the little captain to feel the pain that Karin was feeling. He was now stuck with Toushirou for a long, long time to come; one hundred years most likely—if not more for that matter. The aging pattern for those in Soul Society was too difficult for him to bother himself with before the baby was even born. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he walked to his room down the hall to see Toushirou getting ready to sleep…

"What are you doing." His voice startled the captain.

"G-Going to sleep?" He stood up straight, nervous if the other was in a bad mood.
"You're not going to sleep on the futon anymore." Ichigo glared. "Take my bed."
"What—but where would you sleep? Not on the futon, right? It gives you back pain."
"The couch is just fine downstairs." Once he was dressed, he turned to leave the room.
"Kuro—" Toushirou thought about it, and started over. "Ichigo." Said man looked. "Stay."
It was almost as if he did not believe that he heard the captain right. "What did you say?"

"I am not going to chase you out of your own bedroom, and we have had sex who knows how many times in order to conceive this boy or girl inside of me. If I sleep on my side, there should be enough room on the bed." Turquoise hues looked up at the man. "Please stay and sleep on the bed… Ichigo."

Sleeping in his bed was better than the floor or on the couch downstairs, so he got up on the bed and lied down against the wall side of the bed. Toushirou lied down to join him, only to immediately regret giving him the opportunity to sleep on the bed with him as a hand snuck under his shirt. As he was about to state his discomfort, another hand appeared to cover his mouth in order for him to be quiet.

"You're nipples are going crazy, aren't they?" Ichigo asked in a whisper. His finger and thumb tweaking it gently as it instantly began to erect. "You get more aroused during your second trimester. Now I am a little curious if you can produce milk yet. It's one of the many feminine traits that you were given by the pills that you take." He leaned over carefully to look at him. "Do you really want me to stop, Toushirou?"

"…no," he blushed.

As much as the Strawberry wanted to ring this captain's neck, and choke out the remaining air supply he held, all for raping his little sister. During the day, he would try to forgive and forget what had happened four months ago, but at night it would fester more than he would like to admit. Too many times had he thought about killing him, but here he was, in bed with the rapist—then again, he was one now, too. It was all that he could think of now, however, he was distracted by the loud moans of the captain in arms.

What was he doing…?

"K-Ku—I-Ichi—" the pregnant male wriggled and arched at the touches. "N-N—" Ichigo finally stopped in order to hear him. "I don't… produce… milk yet…" He panted softly. "Urahara—says, two m—months."

"Even if you don't produce milk from your nipples, you still produce milk down here." As Ichigo's hand descended down to the male organ, he was amused. "My, my, someone's very excited by all of this." His hand slid under the boxers that he was given during the pregnancy because they stretched. Toushirou would wear a pair of boxers, and one of Ichigo's shirts that were too big on him. "Should I milk you?"

"Y—P-Please…"

'Damn you for making me think that you're remotely cute for that look.'

Ichigo glared at him; looking at his flushed face that glowed with pregnancy. He sat up slowly to lower the boxers down to the captain's knees with a watchful look to see what the partner would do—how he would react. Toushirou was good about adjusting to him over the past few months; knowing that he would probably get into serious trouble otherwise. His hand came down to the erection, slowly milking as one would with a cow, and the receiver was more than going crazy. Before he could realize what had happened, Toushirou released all his seeds all over himself, creating a bit of a mess.

The Strawberry somewhat growled. "That was one of my favorite shirts you brat."
"S—S—ry…" He panted heavily, tears were forming in his eyes. "P—Please… I'm… s—sorry—"
"You're lucky that you're pregnant, otherwise you'd be on the table right now."
"I… I don't—u—" From the corner of his teary eye, watching the other undo his pants. "W-Wait—"
"Quiet, otherwise you'll wake up the others." After fishing himself out, he entered the captain.
"N—a-ah!" His entrance was not prepared for the suddenly attack. "B-But the b—"

"The fetus is fine, it'll carry to term. Look," Ichigo brought a hand over to the captain's arm, scratching him hard enough to draw blood. It almost instantly healed. "It doesn't want you to get hurt, so it gives you its strength. But use it wisely." He went inside of him only half way for the safety of the unborn. "The more you rely on the fetus, the more endangered you become, and using its powers will kill it."

"You're… not going… all out…" This was all Toushirou could notice.
"Ah, and if you don't shut up, I'll use your mouth instead."
"—will…" He panted. Still going through bliss. "I'll do it…"
"I said shut up." His erection went in three quarters now.
"A-Ah!" Toushirou covered his mouth to hide the cry.

"I can't tell if I want to kill you, or not." Ichigo carefully went inside of him all the way now. "As much as I hate you for everything you did to Karin, she's also at fault, and I am stuck with you for a long time now. In return, you are stuck with me as well, if you choose to raise the baby of ours." He stayed still, waiting for his seeds to release against the disposable womb. "You are the carrier of this child, you decide this."

Toushirou looked at him through teary eyes still, trying to learn what he had to say to him… trying to learn what he had to explain to him. It was confusing to him; he was receiving the chances and options of what to do with their future child together. Could there be a chance that they could raise this baby together—could they continue this manner of neutral grounds between them? It was as Ichigo said; he was homosexual, he wanted attention, he wanted to be needed, and he did not want to be alone.

"I… w-want to…" the teas began to increase, "r-raise it… w-with you…"

After releasing inside of the pregnant male, it was accepted by the fetus that began to consume the reiatsu of the Strawberry. Because of this, the reiatsu that was taken had been absorbed into Toushirou, and redistributed to heal any pain that he had right now. Brown hues looked up to see that the young captain was now crying—sobbing even, causing him to sigh quietly before zipping his pants. Although it was troubling to have two over emotional wrecks in the house, the one carrying his offspring was Toushirou, who was lying on the bed in front of him. Ichigo hated having to be together with him while Karin did not, but the one in front of him had the more dangerous pregnancy.

"Come on," Ichigo lied back down at the captain's side, holding him to quiet him down. "It's time for you to sleep." Toushirou cuddled up next to him, sobbing against him. "We will raise the child… together…"

The sobs settled down, and the captain fell fast asleep.

IMPORTANT: Okay, so you can't really expect me to update any time soon. I am moving in 20 days, 1300 miles (2093 kilometers) away from where I'm currently living. It'll be a while for me to get back on my game!