Y'all are in for a BIG surprise this chapter. What is it, you ask? You'll just have to read. This chapter is going to be my Christmas present for those who enjoy the story. Thanks for all of the cool reviews, by the way. Reviews are to me as coffee is to adults. Reviews are my "Go Juice." You get the picture, I'm sure. Oh, and by the way, I'm doing a poll. If you watch the English version of Bleach, do you approve or disapprove of Renji's English VA? And I'm knda making a big jump in the time period. In this chapter, it's going to be August.
My best wishes to all for 2007!
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Ichigo promptly woke as the sound of vomitingresounded throughout his room. He groggily rubbed his eyes and yawned. He felt an empty space next to him in the bed. "Rukia?" Ichigo swung out of his bed and started towards the bathroom. The door was closed, but a line of yellow light seeped out through the opening under the door.
Ichigo opened the door to the bathroom and squinted as he stepped into the light. "Rukia, are you al-" he stopped when he saw Rukia kneeling on the ground, her head over the toilet. Her hair was disheveled and her pajamas were full of wrinkles. She gripped the rim of the toilet as another wave of nausea came over her.
Ichgio quickly rushed to Rukia's side. "Rukia, what's wrong?"
"I-I don't know. S-Something's w-wrong." Rukia's voice was weak.
Ichigo placed his hand over her forehead. She didn't have a fever. "I'm going to take you to Urahara's. He might know what's wrong. Just hang in until then." He helped Rukia up and guided her to the bed, where she gently laid down. Ichigo walked over to his closet and put on a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He then pulled out his cell phone and dialed a 10 digit number.
"Hello." Renji's voice came from the phone.
"Renji, this is Ichigo. Do know if Urahara is there?"
"How would I know?" Renji replied.
"What do you mean?"
"Dude, I went back to Soul Society a week ago. What's wrong?"
"I don't know, Rukia's been throwing up, and I don't know if she's sick or not. Call Urahara and tell him that we'll be there in a few minutes." Ichigo ordered.
"Okay. Take care of Rukia, alright?"
"Got it." Ichigo hung up the phone. He walked over to his bed, where Rukia was laying. "Rukia, I'm going to take you to Urahara's now. Can you still walk?"
"Yeah, I-I think." Rukia slowly rose from the bed, and with Ichigo's help, made it to the car. After he had out her in the car, Ichigo ran back into the house and grabbed a blanket and a bottle of water. He ran back to the car, draped the blanket over Rukia, hopped into the car and drove to Urahara's shop.
Ichigo parked the car in front of the store and jumped out. He ran to the passenger side of the car and gently helped Rukia out of the car. Urahara opened the door to his shop before they got to the front steps. "Bring her inside." Urahara comanded.
After settling Rukia on a futon in the back, Urahara took her temperature. "Well, she doesn't seem to have a fever. Her eyes aren't blood shot, either. Could it have been something she ate?"
"Well, for dinner she had some chicken and rice with a glass of water." Ichigo replied.
"Nothing else?" Urahara questioned.
"No."
"What was in the food?" Urahara continued.
"Nothing. It was just plain chicken and rice. She's not allergic to any of that." Ichigo confirmed.
"Well, I'll just take some blood tests. Maybe then we can see what's wrong." Urahara grabbed a syringe and took a quick blood sample from Rukia's arm. "I'll be back in about an hour with the results."
Ichigo sat down next to Rukia on the futon. "Hey, how're you feeling?"
"Sick." Rukia mumbled and turned to Ichigo, snuggling into his shirt. Ichigo wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Rukia wiped her forehead with Ichigo's t-shirt. Her face was sweaty.
"Just try and get some sleep, 'kay?" Ichigo rubbed her arm. He felt her nod into his chest, and after a few moments, she fell asleep. Ichigo protectively tightened his grip around Rukia. He hoped that whatever this was that was making her throw up would go away by tomorrow.
Just before Ichigo fell asleep, Urahara walked into the room. "Kurosaki, could I see you outside for a moment?" His tone was dangerously serious. Ichigo gently laid Rukia back down on the futon and followed Urahara into the main room.
"Have you figured out why she's been throwing up?" Ichigo anxiously asked.
"Yes, I have. She was throwing up because she has morning sickness." Urahara stated.
Ichigo was confused. "What's that?" Ichigo had never heard of morning sickness before. She was throwing up at 2:00 AM, not in the morning.
"Mr. Kurosaki, morning sickness is a symptom of pregnancy. In other words, Rukia is pregnant. And from the looks of the blood tests, you're the father." Urahara began to smile. "Congratulations, Mr. Kurosaki. You're going to be a daddy."
Ichigo could feel his heart stop and his blood freeze. "WHAT?! How can I be a dad? How can I raise a kid? I'm practically is still a kid!"
"Oh, on the contrary, Mr. Kurosaki. You're 19 years old, and you'll turn 20 in June, correct?"
"That's besides the point! I'm not even old enough to drink yet! And I'm the father of a baby!" Ichigo could not believe this at all. He was about to say something else when Urahara interrupted him, his tone turning serious again.
"Ichigo, perhaps you should tell Rukia."
"Yeah." Ichigo uneasily walked back into the back room. Rukia was awake, sitting up, and could read the worry on Ichigo's face. "Ichigo, wh-what's wrong?" She asked weakly, attempting to sit up even more.
Ichigo walked over to the futon and sat down next to Rukia, trying to figure out how he was going to explain this to her. "Well, uh, you, uh, you're, um." Ichigo swallowed his fear. "Rukia, you're pregnant, and I'm the father." He was waiting for some negative response, for her to hit him across the head. Instead, he felt her snuggle into his chest and begin crying.
"R-Rukia, what's wrong?" Ichigo mentally kicked himself. Great, Kurosaki. Real smart question.
"I-It's just that, I'm so happy." Ichigo couldn't believe what he had just heard. He had gotten her pregnant and she was happy. She was happy. Now that he gave it some thought, he was happy too. He and Rukia were going to have a baby.
Ichigo gave a quick sigh of relief. "So am I, Rukia. So am I." They both sat in scilence for a few moments before Ichigo spoke. "So, we're gonna be parents." That comment was real obvious, and Ichigo gave himself another mental kick.
"My brother's probably gonna kill you for this, you know." Rukia smiled. Ichigo shuddered at the thought of what Rukia's older brother would do to him. Probably rip out his beating heart. Probably. "I am so dead." Ichigo whined. Rukia laughed and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Chances are." She laughed lightly before laying her head onto Ichigo's shoulder.
"You're gonna want to get some sleep, 'cause we're gonna have a whole bunch to look forward to." Ichigo sighed, completely exhausted.
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The next day, Ichigo took Rukia back home. He had cooked her breakfast, eggs and sausage, and had gone to the book store. He had been is search of a book called What To Expect When You're Expecting, a book Urahara had recommended that he get it for Rukia. The search for the book was completely normal until he got to the Family & Parenting section. There, standing in plain daylight, was Renji.
"Renji! What're doing here?!" Ichigo practically screamed in the man's face.
"Oh, hi Ichigo!" Renji grinned. "I came here to get some books for Rukia. Urahara called me last night and told me that you got her pregnant." How on earth could he make that sound so normal?
"I did not get her pregnant!" Ichigo yelled.
"Oh, then why is Rukia pregnant again?" Renji smirked at his friend. When you put it like that, it made perfect sense.
"I- You- Wh- Agh! Fine, maybe I did get Rukia pregnant. Why say it like it's a negetive thing?" Ichigo complained.
"You think I'm being negative, wait until Byakuya finds out. He is going to be pissed. And you're going to be dead." Renji was on the verge of breaking into a laughing fit. Byakuya was going to make Ichigo suffer BIG TIME.
"I'll deal with you latter." Ichigo growled while walking up to the cash register. "Stupid, tattooed, dork-wad…"
"Ah, hello, Kurosaki-san! How are you doing today?"
Ichigo's head shot up when he heard the familiar voice. "Hanataro?! What're you doing here? I thought you worked at that burger joint near my house."
"I only work there part time. Oh, is that book for Rukia?" Hanataro pointed out the pregnancy book that Ichigo was carrying.
Ichigo sighed deeply before replying. "Yes, Hanataro. It is. How do you know?"
"Well, Abarai-san told me that you got Kuchiki-san pregnant, so I just made an educated guess!"
Ichigo turned a deep shade of red. "Well, why don't we just tell the whole world!?" Ichigo looked back at Renji, who was grinning madly and waving like an idiot. "That's it! I'm going home!" And with that, Ichigo Kurosaki stormed out of the book store, forgetting to pay for Rukia's book.
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"That stupid, pig-headed, tattooed, arrogant dumb ass!" Ichigo howled as he stomped into the house. He ripped of his jacket and threw it onto the couch. "I cannot believe him. What right does he have telling the whole fricking world that Rukia's pregnant!?"
"What's going on? It sounds like there's a tornado in the house." Rukia walked down the stairs, still in her pajamas. She sleepily rubbed her eyes.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" Ichigo immediately lowered his voice. "Do you know who I just saw at the book store?"
"Ichigo, I've been here the whole day. How would I know who you saw?"
"I saw Renji. He has probably told everybody from here to Soul Society that you're pregnant!" Ichigo began shouting, trying to come up with some way to make his antagonist suffer.
"Ichigo, Renji has not told everybody that I'm pregnant, he only told Hanataro." Rukia sat down on the couch and wrapped a blanket around herself.
"How do you know this?"
"Because I told Renji to tell Hanataro." Rukia turned on the television set, flipping through the many channels.
"Why'd you do that?"
"Ichigo, you should know more than anyone how Hanataro gets when he's left out of big news." Ichigo had to agree with that statement. When Hanataro wasn't told that the company Ichigo was in in Soul Society went on patrol, he went crazy. He had thought that Ichigo and the entire 13th Company had disappeared. One could only imagine what would happen if a baby appeared out of nowhere. "As for Renji, he's just excited. He can act like such a two-year old sometimes."
"Yeah. Tell me about it." Ichigo fell back onto the couch, completely wiped out. "Were you feeling better this morning?" He could remember vividly how she had upchucked all over his toilet the previous night. She had been puking like she had the motherload of all hangovers.
"Yeah. I took those pills that Urahara gave me. They really do work, even though they have a scull and crossbones on the bottle."
"Well, I'm glad you're feeling better." Ichigo smiled and put an arm around Rukia's shoulders. He almost jumped when his phone began ringing (It has Green Day's Pop rocks & Coke ringtone). Ichigo looked at the caller ID on his phone. "Oh, God. What does he want?" He growled when he saw who was calling. "Renji, what the hell do you want?"
"Hey, Hey, Kurosaki! Cool down, I don't mean any harm! I just called to give you a heads up. It seems that you're impending doom maybe be coming sooner than you thought. Renji's muffled voice floated out of the phone.
"What?" Ichigo immediately froze. "Oh, hell no! You don't mean-"
"Dude, that's exactly what I mean. I just got off the phone with Byakuya and he's gonna be popping in at my place for a little visit in three months, and he's really looking forward to seeing you two."
"What did you tell him?"
"Well, uh, the truth." He could hear Ichigo's teeth grinding. "But I only did it so he had some time to cool down. You know how he is. He'll need some time to regain his composure, so I gave you three months."
"Well, I- Hold on a sec, man. I've got somebody on trying to call me."
"Aright. I'll catch you later, man." Renji hung up his phone as Ichigo switch to whoever was calling. "Hello?"
"KUROSAKI!" A booming voice irrupted from the phone. Ichigo winced, pulling the phone from his ear. Oh, crap. "KUSROSAKI, WHAT IS THE MEANING OF GETTING MY SISTER PREGNANT?!?!" Byakuya howled from the other line, his question followed by a torrent of obscenities.
"I didn't get her pregnant." Ichigo hoped that maybe Byakuya's fit of rage would make him stupid, or at least stupid enough not to counter with Renji's line.
"Then why exactly is she pregnant?" Byakuya snarled.
"Okay, okay, I did get her pregnant. But she's taking it well…" Ichigo looked hopefully at Rukia. She mouthed out 'hang up.'
"TAKING IT WELL?! I'LL SHOW YOU TAKING IT WELL! WHEN I GET DOWN THERE, I'M GONNA KICK YOUR A-"
"Okay, he's very mad." Ichigo abruptly hung up his phone before Byakuya could finish his threat against his well being. He blinked and shook his head. "I think my ear drum popped." He shook it off and turned back to Rukia. "Well, your brother says hi." The grin on his face quickly disappeared. "Oh, man, I am so dead!"
"Ichigo, he's not coming for three months."
Ichigo rested his back against the couch and took a deep breath. "What did Hat-and-Clogs say about you going to the doctor's?"
"Not much. He said that I'm going to be having morning sickness for a while. He said I'll start getting cravings for weird foods, too. I'll need to go to the doctor's in about four months to get an ultrasound. Urahara said that by then the doctors should be able to tell the gender of the baby." Rukia responded, leaning on Ichigo's side.
"So, weird cravings, more puking, doctor's appointment in four months. We'll be pretty busy, I guess." Ichigo sighed.
"Oh yeah."