Chapter 7

'Rukia!' Ichigo gently shook her. 'Rukia, come on, wake up!'

Rukia had fallen asleep two hours ago, and had barely moved. Hell, she hadn't even flinched when Ichigo shook her. She really was tired. She had been for quite some time, and Ichigo wasn't exactly sure if he understood why... 'Please wake up, Rukia...'

'Leave her be, Ichigo...'

Ichigo whirled around to find the Captain of Squad 4, Retsu Unohana standing over him.

'She needs all the rest she can get...' Unohana continued.

Ichigo was shocked. 'Captain Unohana? How'd you, I mean, why-'

'Shh!' Unohana hissed as she knelt down beside Rukia and placed a hand to her stomach. 'Do not wake her... She recuperates while she is asleep.'

Ichigo stared at Unohana quizzically.

'Her Spirit Energy is dwindling, much faster than we anticipated; the baby is absorbing it too quickly... When she is awake, her Spiritual Pressure drops even faster.' Unohana clarified. 'At this rate the baby will absorb all of her Spirit Energy and kill Rukia before she can deliver...'

Ichigo nodded. 'Yeah, that's what Byakuya said... Is there anything we can do? Please Unohana, there must be some way.' He pleaded.

Unohana shook her head gravely. 'We will monitor her regularly, as will you... If she is strong enough in three months, we will have to induce her labor, there is no possible way she will carry the child full term... And even during labor there is still a chance that she will die... If she gets too much worse, bring her to the Soul Society, and we will do all we can.' Unohana handed Ichigo a small monitor, which was used to measure a person's Spiritual Pressure, in this case, Rukia's.

Ichigo hardly understood anything that Unohana had said, but he nodded dumbfoundedly as he looked towards Rukia's body on the bed. When he looked back to Unohana, she was gone, and a Hell Butterfly floated out of the lone window of the apartment.

Ichigo was confused. He had no idea how he could help Rukia, and it hurt him to know that... Whenever Rukia was in trouble, he always stormed in and saved her, but this time, he knew he was powerless to help her. But even if he couldn't save her, he vowed that, while she was alive, and even if she lived, he would be her shoulder to lean on...

Ichigo sat down beside her. It hurt him to think that the peaceful figure of the girl lying next to him was possibly fighting for her life as she slept.

Ichigo pulled the blanket over her and sighed. What if she didn't live? Where would that leave him? He knew he loved her, and that he couldn't go on without her. Ichigo pushed those thoughts from his mind just as he pushed the tears that were forming in his eyes away.

Rukia shifted in her sleep and Ichigo bit his lip. He really didn't want to tell her what Unohana had told him during her brief visit. He didn't want to tell her that she would die. He knew that for her, hearing it from her brother was still a jagged wound.

Rukia ground her teeth and whimpered in her sleep. Her hands clenched into fists as she curled into a tiny ball. Ichigo knew she was in pain, but was unsure of the cause.

Ichigo began to stroke her hair, but she continued to whimper. A small tear squeezed through her shut eyelids. Ichigo was worried... What now? He wasn't supposed to wake her, but should he? If she was in pain, at least she could tell him why.

'Hey Rukia?' Ichigo held her hand gently. 'I need you to wake up for me...'

Rukia, who was still asleep, snatched her hand away, then mumbled something pained in her sleep.

'Rukia, please wake up.' Ichigo continued to gently shake her, didn't want to get rough.

Rukia continued to whimper, but she wasn't getting worse, so Ichigo decided that he would leave her alone for the time being, he had to get ready for bed soon anyway...

He enjoyed his paper route, but getting up at 4 o'clock in the morning for four months straight was killing him... But he did it for Rukia, and that seemed to allay his regrets.

Ichigo went to brush his teeth, and hopefully brush his worries from his head. No sooner than he had squeezed toothpaste onto his brush and began the monotonous chore of brushing, he heard Rukia scream in anguish from the main room.

Ichigo dropped his toothbrush and ran to her side where she was still groaning, not bothering to wipe the toothpaste off of his face.

Rukia was awake, and doubled over in pain, sweat streaming down her face. Her breath came in heaves, and she clutched at her stomach, continually fighting back groans. Ichigo felt Spiritual Pressure in the air, the baby's, no doubt.

'Rukia! Are you okay? What can I do?' Ichigo asked, urgently.

Rukia's only reply was stifled groans; she was in too much pain to talk. Ichigo continued to watch, as Rukia rode out her pain.

Minutes later, her pain subsided briefly. But, she continued to heave, and kept her eyes locked on Ichigo.

'Ichigo-' She winced weakly again, 'It moved, and it hurt... It hurt badly.'

'Rukia, I need you to tell me... Is there anything I can do for you?'

Rukia sat back gingerly and held her stomach, still trying to steady her erratic breathing. 'Ichigo,' she began quietly. 'Do you think there's any chance you'd be able to get me some pineapple?'

Ichigo felt his mouth drop. Pineapple? Rukia wanted pineapple? He wasn't sure what day of the week it was, but he knew for sure it was October... Where the hell was he going to find a pineapple in the middle of autumn?

'Rukia...' He felt his mouth dry, 'You want some pineapple?'

Rukia nodded, obviously wondering what the big deal was.

'Where am I gonna-?' Ichigo stopped talking, because he noticed that Rukia wasn't going to change her mind. If she wanted pineapple, she was going to get her pineapple, one way or another.

Ichigo stood up and grabbed his jacket. 'Anything else you want?' No sooner had the words escaped his mouth, he mentally slapped himself. He knew she was going to want something else.

'Some chocolate covered pretzels if you can find them.' Rukia said with a teasing smile. The pain had mostly subsided, with the exception of an odd twitch now and again.

Exasperated, Ichigo nodded and went in search of the requested food.

Once Ichigo had gotten into town, he realized that he had completely forgotten one complication... Before he left, he glanced at the clock, it had read, 9:30, by now it was at least 10:00. As if finding pineapple and chocolate covered pretzels was hard enough, what store was going to be open at ten o'clock at night?

Ichigo sighed and trudged to the nearest all-night convenience store and prayed that they would have some form of pineapple.

Thirty minutes later, after finding the elusive can of pineapple, (he hoped Rukia would survive with canned) and fighting another teenage man, looking equally tired and confused, for the last bag of chocolate covered pretzels, Ichigo was on his way back to the apartment, hoping Rukia was still awake and okay...

Ichigo opened the door to the apartment quietly, and looked at the clock. 11:19. Damn, and he had to get up in five hours.

Rukia was still sitting in the same position Ichigo had left her in, with her hands on her stomach. Her head was cocked to the side and her eyes looked deep in thought; she seemed to be listening intently.

'Hey Rukia-'

'Shh!' She hissed, listening harder.

Ichigo sighed and sat down beside her. After a few moments of silence: 'What do want first?' He asked as he held up both the pineapple and the coated pretzels.

Rukia eyed both treats greedily. 'Gimme the chocolate!'

Ichigo obediently handed her the pretzels and set the pineapple down on the nightstand.

As Rukia sat nibbling happily on her chocolate pretzels, Ichigo couldn't help but stare at her. For being very pregnant-looking at only four and a half months, she looked absolutely beautiful. She always had...

Rukia caught sight of Ichigo staring and smiled around the pretzel half in her mouth. Ichigo continued to stare wistfully at her. Rukia was beginning to feel the awkwardness, and in an attempt to rouse Ichigo from his 'trance' waved a chocolate pretzel in front of him, but Ichigo hardly noticed. He took the pretzel and began to eat it, but never once removed his eyes from her.

'Ichigo isn't it time you went to bed?' She asked. She was about fed up with his staring.

Ichigo blinked twice and shook his head. Then he looked at the clock and nearly choked on the pretzel still in his mouth when he saw what time it was, which was much later than he remembered. Ichigo began scuttling around the apartment, changing his clothes, locking the door, shutting the blinds, and such, all while muttering to himself.

Rukia chuckled at the sight, but soon became still as she felt the baby shift inside her. It stopped abruptly and Rukia felt all over her stomach, as if willing it to start moving again. After five minutes of constant poking, the baby did start moving again, to Rukia's delight. Rukia was surprised, because up till now, all of the baby's movements had hurt, if only slightly.

Ichigo was still running around, and Rukia couldn't concentrate anymore. 'Ichigo, you loud-mouth! Shut up and go to bed.' She scolded. The baby had stopped moving, and Rukia was rather disappointed.

In his surprise, Ichigo stubbed his toe and muttered something under his breath, before hopping into bed beside Rukia, who was still fiddling with her stomach.

Ichigo felt his eyelids slam shut, and no sooner than he drifted off to sleep, he felt Rukia shaking him.

'Ichigo! Wake up!' She whispered urgently.

Ichigo rolled over to find Rukia still in her sitting position.

'Give me your hand.' She pleaded.

Ichigo groaned and shut his eyes, drawing his pillow up over his head.

'Rukia, I have to get up in four hours, and I would like to sleep before then...' He groaned, still under his pillow.

'Please?' She whimpered.

'No...' he said firmly

Rukia sighed exasperatedly and grabbed Ichigo's hand from under his pillow. He tried to hold it back, but Rukia was stronger, so she was finally able to press his hand firmly to his stomach.

Ichigo groaned, but the movement of his child caused him to sit up sharply.

Ichigo stared at Rukia in unbelief and she smiled back. Ichigo was genuinely fascinated, so he pressed his hand more firmly on Rukia's stomach. Faint traces of Spiritual Pressure were present, but not like the surges they had felt before. As Ichigo felt his child move, he couldn't help but feel a smile spread across his face. He looked back up at Rukia excitedly, but found that she had just fallen asleep. Her head was slumped over and her breathing was deep and steady, but her hand was still on top of his. She was out cold...

Ichigo, suddenly somber, realized just how exhausted she was each day. He gently helped her lay back down and kissed her goodnight. And though she was deep in sleep, he felt her kiss him back.

Ichigo never realized how much he loved her, and how much he loved his unborn child.

AN: I hope this chapter describing the seriousness of Rukia's condition made sense. I wanted to keep Unohana in it more, but the story moved forward better this way... We will get to more of the characters later in the story, I promise. Well? Like it? Hate it? Let me know! I gratefully accept criticism, good or bad... Thanks for reading!

PS: To the reviewer EJ: This chapter had been written for a while before you left your review. Don't worry, I KNOW Rukia needed a doctor. Also, I have written up to chapter 14 by now, there might be a baby shower, there might not. It depends on how long I have Orihime visit in the coming chapters. That may end up being 'The baby shower'. Thanks for the Feedback/suggestions. You seemed to be able to 'read' ahead.

Thanks again everyone!

Also I'm taking a vote, since I have the story practically done by now, would everyone one me to upload it faster, or continue uploading at my current pace? Faster or stay at the same pace? LET ME KNOW!