A/N: I SWEAR I'M NOT DEAD AND I HAVEN'T ABANDONED THIS FIC! It's just been REALLY slow going because I let myself down by not continuing to make chapter art for it... But I've decided the story is more important than the art, so I'm going back and deleting the pics from here. I'll put links to them on my DA page in the notes at the end of the chapters, but I don't think I'll be making any other full illustrations for this. Maybe some doodles, or sketches, but I just don't have time for full colored pieces, even as slowly as I'm working on the chapters themselves.
Anyway, I'm really, REALLY, sorry this took so long to update. I wish I could say I had an idea of when Chap 8 was going to be up, but... I don't wanna lie to you guys.
Un-beta'd, so pardon my mistakes and enjoy, minna!
7 – Pregnant
"You need to see someone about this, Ichigo. It's not normal." Rukia frowned at him and sighed.
The exhausted ginger dragged himself out of the bathroom, pulling his shitagi back on. He barely glared at her for the shadows under his eyes, and said nothing as he made his way back out of her Division building. She didn't know anything. He would be fine. All he needed was to hang on until nightfall, then everything would be fine. This was all part of the process.
And a Shinigami like her simply couldn't understand.
"Look, it's been two weeks this has been going on, and you look horrible."
That time his glare almost reached normal scowl-levels, "Gee, thanks, Midget."
"I mean it!" She waved off his disgruntled tone, and followed him out onto the street heading towards his home. They were a few minutes before the end of the day bell, but Ukitake-taicho wouldn't care, and Ichigo's captain, whoever they were, obviously didn't need him to report back either. She reached out and put a hand on his arm, "Listen, I know I always sound like I think you know nothing, but this time, I really do think you're out of your depth here! Shinigami don't get sick like this. We just don't. Viruses can't bind to the… don't give me that look, Ukitake-taicho is different!"
Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Just trust me, Midget, I'm fine. This is normal."
"It is not! There's only one reason Shinigami get sick like this, and that's impossible! You don't even have a partner!" Rukia huffed, but the scrunch of her mouth added concern over her exasperation.
"Listen…" The younger of the two sighed heavily, betraying his exhaustion, "go check in with Renji and Byakuya, and then meet me for dinner. I'll try to explain it, okay?"
Seeming mollified, she gave a nod, but her scowl stayed in place, "No ducking out this time!"
"No ducking out. Promise."
"Alright then."
At the corner between the road to home and the Sixth, she broke away from him to collect her wayward brothers, and Ichigo wasted precious energy on a flash step to the sanctity of his territory. He had the crawling feeling of eyes on the back of his neck again. Though he appreciated her concern, he was dreading having to explain it, because he knew she couldn't understand. His memory of the confrontation a month ago was spotty at best, but he did remember the way she'd pushed into their sacred space.
Maybe… talking about it would help…
When Rukia arrived at Ichigo's cabin, instead of just barging in she actually took Byakuya's advice and knocked on the door.
And knocked.
And knocked…
Then let herself in as usual with the beginnings of a rant about him trying to avoid her again on top of shirking responsibilities, and why couldn't he take being a Shinigami more seriously, because really Ichigo! It was about damn time he got his act together!
But the words died on her lips when she crossed into the living room after removing her shoes. She found him laid out on the couch, his head pillowed on his arm, fast asleep. He hadn't even changed out of his shihakusho. From the looks of things he didn't seem to have done anything after coming home except take his shoes off and lay down.
She sighed fondly, reminded of the nights when he was still in high school and studying until all hours of the morning because of Shinigami duties getting in the way of his homework. As she had then, she slipped silently through the room to pull the blanket from the back of the couch over him, and exited again to cook something for when he woke up. She wasn't as good as Yuzu, but even living with servants hadn't dulled her survival skills.
Thus, when Ichigo roused about an hour later, the first thing he noticed was the scent of stir-fried vegetables and steamed rice. He blinked at the blanket for a moment before getting up, and he entered the kitchen with a yawn and a stretch.
"Oh!" He seemed confused and surprised, "I was gonna cook. Sorry."
"It's fine." She sounded too… he wasn't sure… nice? Like she was dismissing that he'd inadvertently made her fix their dinner? Or something like that. He shook his head, stepping in to take the finished dishes to the table without needing to be asked.
They didn't talk at all while they ate, Ichigo too focused on suddenly being starving, and Rukia lost in thought about how to broach the topic of his changes.
When the scrape of his chopsticks against the bowl ended, the woman leaned forward, her hands folded on the table. "So…"
Ichigo blinked. "So…?"
"You said you would explain."
"Ah… yeah… um…" He looked at the table, frowning.
Rukia jumped up, "You promised no ducking out!"
"I'm not!" Ichigo brought his hands up, "I was thinking!"
She didn't seem convinced, but she sat back down anyway.
"Honest." He sighed. "It's hard to put into words, alright? And it's kind of embarrassing. I… there's this fever, it started the year I died. I think it might have been why I died. Shin seems to think so anyway… but it's like cramping and hot and…" he trailed off, going red in the face.
"And?"
"And other stuff! Personal stuff!"
"Ichigo, I lived in your closet, there is nothing about you I don't know intimately! Do you know how many times your blankets slipped off while you were sleeping?! Trust me, nothing you could say could surprise me." She crossed her arms over her chest and snorted.
"I DIDN'T NEED TO KNOW THAT!"
"IT WAS YOUR BODY!"
"YOU WERE SNOOPING ON IT!"
"I WAS NOT! YOU WERE JUST THERE!"
He glared at her. She glared at him. And he huffed, sitting back in his chair with his own arms crossed and looking off to the side so he didn't have to see her face when he spoke. "Fine. It's like… needing to have sex. Like all the time. And not just a hard-on that won't go away I mean like… I was compelled to do it, I couldn't help it."
"Ichigo, that's called getting horny, and everybody does it. I don't know why you think you're special." She raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes at the same time.
"I KNOW THAT! But this isn't THAT!" He could feel how red in the face he was. "I don't… get like that. You know that! Inoue and Rangiku and Yoruichi… Always throwing themselves at me…" he shuddered, "Ugh!"
"So you're gay. So?"
"I'm not gay either! I just don't."
"Okay okay! Fine, whatever, Mr. Special Snowflake. You don't get horny, fine. So what was this then? Like you were in heat or something?"
"Yes. I was."
She gave him a deadpan look.
And he scowled, "I mean it!"
"Only animals go into heat, dumbass."
"Midget, we are animals."
"Oh you!" She huffed, "I mean like cats and dogs and stuff. Not people. People don't go into heat." Then something seemed to click in her head almost audibly, "Wait a minute! So, assuming I buy into this 'going into heat' nonsense, are you telling me that you aren't in heat anymore?"
"Yes."
"Okay, fine. So if that's not making you sick then what… Oh my God, you have to see Unohana! It's dangerous and extremely difficult for male Shinigami to nurture a reiatsu chamber like that! You could die! And that's without.. Ahhhh! Y-you had… that means that you're… with the HOLLOW!? Ichigo, you have to get rid of it! It's going to eat you alive from the inside out!"
She was on her feet and stalking towards him, terror plain on her face. Her eyes wide, wringing her hands, and her skin more pale than usual.
"Please, Ichigo! Tell me it's not true! Tell me you'll be okay! Tell me you haven't been knocked up by an Arrancar!" Her breathing was picking up, and the desperation in her voice made him shrink back against the cabinets.
When he'd moved, and why, he wasn't entirely sure, but something about her panic unsettled a part of him that he usually associated with Shiro. Unconsciously a low rattling hiss escaped his teeth, and white began to creep up from his fingers.
CRRACK!
The counter behind him broke in his grip, startling them both, and they jumped to opposite sides of the room, staring at the place where a chunk of wood had been torn away. Ichigo blinked down at his hand, where the red fur had appeared at his wrist and his nails dug into the missing counter piece like talons.
"I… think you'd better go…" He said, shakily, and looked up at her pleadingly, "Please don't say anything to anyone?"
Rukia shook her head, not speaking, slowly backing towards the door. By the time she reached it, she found her voice enough to say, "You need help, Ichigo. This isn't safe."
Then she was gone, and an emptiness chilled him from the core.
It felt like hours before he could move from the kitchen, and when he had it was only to curl up on the bed, wrapped up in blankets with the pillows between himself and the door. Logically that would do nothing against intruders, and it wasn't like there were actual intruders to worry about anyway. But Shiro said it was a normal response to stress and fear, and Ichigo was mature enough to admit he was terrified of what Rukia was going to do…
And who she was going to tell…
He had a contingency plan, but he really didn't want to execute it. He would if he had no choice, but… if he didn't have to…
When he dozed off he wasn't sure but the next thing he knew strong arms were holding him and a heavy purr vibrated against his back. The scent of minty pine trees washed over him a second before cerulean flooded his mindscape. He smiled, stretching his arms and legs out to their fullest extension, and a warm palm slid into his shihakusho, across his stomach with gentle possessiveness. It warmed him from the inside out, drawing a chirr from his throat.
"Hey, Kitten." Grimmjow rumbled, mouthing his ear.
"Grrrm." He answered, without articulating.
The feline's nose tucked behind his ear and his teeth guided his lips to suck on the skin. Like a line of flowers, Ichigo's chakras opened to his Alpha's reiatsu.
"So hungry."
Huffing slightly at the laugh in his mate's tone, the ginger pressed closer, "It's been days, Grimm. We're starving!"
Grimmjow chuckled, slipping his other hand under his Beta's waist to untie his hakama, kosode, and shitagi. "Then I'd best get right to it, hm?"
Ichigo's hands flew to his Alpha's wrists. "Wait!"
"What is is, Kitten?" That was when the tension in the shorter man's body registered. "Something's spooked you. What? I'll tear it limb from limb, just name it!"
"It's just…" He hesitated. "...Rukia…"
Grimm hissed, "I knew that bitch was trouble. Where's she at, Kitten? I'll bring you her Soul Name to devour!"
"NO! N-no. She just…" The Beta shuddered, "She knows."
At some point, he couldn't pinpoint when, his instincts had stopped registering her as a pack member. Just that she knew he was carrying was anxiety inducing, but that didn't mean he wanted her to be removed from the Cycle of Rebirth. He couldn't say he wasn't tempted by the idea of siccing Grimmjow on her anyway though.
So to soothe his own bloodthirsty desires and his mate's confusion, Ichigo supplied, "If you went after her, the whole of Soul Society would know you were here. And then where would we be?"
Grimmjow grumbled but conceded the point by pulling his Beta even closer, and burying his nose in the soft orange spikes on the top of his head. "So what can I do?"
"Let me suck you off?"
A rolling laugh burbled up from somewhere around the Alpha's diaphragm until he was cackling over Ichigo's head with it, teeth bare and eyes closed. "Yer killin' me, Kitten!"
The ginger snickered, twisting around to face him, coy smile on his mouth that meant the influx of reiatsu was having its intended effect. He snaked his arms around Grimmjow's neck and rolled his hips. A low chirr, enticing and primal, accompanied the application of teeth and lips against the underside of Grimm's chin.
"Told ya…" he mumbled, "we're starving!"
Another laugh preceded the Alpha rolling them both so that his mate was on top of him, and kneaded his hips, answering the slow grind. "Just don't bite off more than you can take, Kitten."
Ichigo growled in response, tearing the muscle shirt that was both visual camouflage over his signature scar, and a reiatsu suppressor. Once it was broken, it felt like the floodgates opened. The cerulean in Ichigo's mind became a deluge of cleansing rain, cooling and nourishing. So unlike the storms of the Beta's emotions. His internal half bathed in it, holding the tiny ball of energy that was their precious cargo out to get drenched.
Externally, Ichigo latched onto the gnarled scar tissue, sucking bruises into it. Grimm arched into the drain, groaning deeply, and palming his Beta's ass with both hands as their dicks rubbed together in alignment. Slowly the ginger moved down, working his way towards his prize by pulling on each of his Alpha's chakras in order. The lower he dipped the higher Grimm grew. Until Ichigo was sucking on the V-line of the feline's hips, and a keening moan accompanied his claws digging into the skin of Ichigo's shoulders.
By then he was straining for friction.
Amber-gold eyes flicked up to take in the splayed out desperate sight as the Beta wrapped his hand around his dick. For a suspended moment, they matched wills. Beta, stronger by far and allowing the dominance, and Alpha, falling farther and farther into something akin to love for the opportunity to have control over someone that far above his station.
Then it was broken and Ichigo devoured the entirety of Grimmjow's length in a single long pull. The Alpha yowled, arching into the heat and tearing the blanket beneath his claws. The rhythm the Beta set up was entirely built on the way he'd worked through opening his mate's chakras. So the pleasure was a single connected line from crown to dick through the feline's inner world. Like sucking on a milkshake, Ichigo drained his mate's reiatsu, aiming the draw to go deeper as Grimmjow's body grew tight with impending climax. He took him to the root and hummed.
Then, making eye contact, he swallowed!
The Arrancar's eyes rolled back into his head and orgasm rippled through him with a gush of semen and reiatsu in pulsing waves.
Once Ichigo had taken it all, he sat back, licking his lips and purring. He sighed, sated. Then he crawled up his Alpha's body, slinking slowly until they were in alignment again, and nuzzled up under his chin. He knew the other man was on verge of passing out, but happily he had enough presence of mind left to wrap his Beta up in his arms and purr to him, deep and content.
This correlated internally as fine-boned hands, cupped the inner Hollow's cheeks. The Old Man gathered the ball of reiatsu into his cloak, and left the white-haired Beta to his mate. Pantera, in all her glory, drew Shiro into her arms, kissing him gently, and running her fingers through his hair. With the reiatsu ball formed between King and Sexta, there was no rush for the internal counterparts to consummate their own bond. They had time to explore each other, and with Grimmjow spending most of his time pouring his reiatsu into it, the sword spirit didn't have the energy for the sort of frenzied mating that was required to seal the connection anyway. Which, to Shiro, was just fine, as he spent most of his own turning the firestorm that was his King's reiatsu into a gentle trickle for the delicate ball.
So, Shiro curled into her shoulder, lazily nuzzling her ear and long, sky blue hair. Idly, he traced the pattern of her leopard spots. She purred to him, grooming his hair with her tongue, and ticking the end of her tail to the beat of his heart. Sapphire eyes glanced at the Old Man for a moment, and she smiled.
It was an unusual arrangement compared to how things like this had gone in the past for the feline sword spirit, but if one asked, she couldn't say she didn't like it. Having a third spirit to keep an eye on the reiatsu ball in this transitional phase of development was priceless. It gave her more of a chance to really get to know her Master's Beta, and the spirits that lived in his mindscape.
On one paw, she felt it made her a little bit lazy. But on the other…
Shiro was nuzzling up to her ear and sucking on it, grabbing at her hips possessively, if still languid with the work of collecting Grimmjow's reiatsu. He drew them down into one of the buildings so they could cuddle on a surface that wasn't made of steel and glass. Especially as nowadays the cityscape was quite a bit more wild, with random patches of jungle, and sharp, jagged buildings instead of symmetrical skyscrapers that had always been. Exciting and new, maybe, but not so good for curling up in the wake of an excellent orgasm.
So he took her to his nest. Deep within the buildings, and piled high with blankets, pillows, and other soft things. As soon as they landed, the Old Man was there with the reiatsu ball to tuck it into a corner, well-protected, but still in sight. Then he left them to their bonding. Someone had to keep an eye on the King after all. Shiro and Pantera appreciated it, but were far more interested in enjoying each other.
For the moment, life was good.
On the other side of Seireitei, in a shadowed room lined with computer monitors, someone was listening in on a conversation between Rukia and her captain. The diminutive fukutaicho was on her knees, a handkerchief clutched between her hands, and tears poured down her face as she spoke about what had happened in the clearing six weeks ago.
"And I have reason to think he's still sneaking in to see Ichigo! Taicho! What if he ends up like Kaien-sama!?"
"I'm glad you came to me, Rukia, but I have to say I think you're overreacting. Even if the Arrancar is still breaking into Soul Society, it's doubtful he would be able to overpower, Kurosaki-san." Ukitake frowned, not quite as sure of his words as he wanted to be. "I will discuss it with Unohana-taicho and the Sotaicho. I think, in the meantime, you should go home. Talk to your brother about this. Lately, of all of us, Byakuya has had the most luck in getting Kurosaki-san to listen to reason."
"But! What the preg—"
"Rukia!" Something flashed across the white-haired captain's face. "Go home. Everything will be fine."
She stilled, biting her lip, and nodded stiffly. She seemed to be deliberately avoiding looking up, and as she stood, she bowed so her hair covered her mouth, whispering to her captain.
He nodded and smoothed the fabric of his haori over his lap.
Then she disappeared off camera, hurrying back to the Kuchiki Estate.
The figure watching the computer folded their hands, their nails clicking together. "Well now, Ukitake, who'd have thought you would be somewhat intelligent. No matter. I've learned enough." They clicked off the screen, plunging the room into absolute darkness again. "So, an Arrancar in Seireitei. Fufufufufufufufufu. That should make things quite interesting! And if there is one here, there are sure to be more there. Fascinating!"
A door opened on the other side of the room and a man's voice called softly, "Taicho. That footage you asked for from the surveillance of the Fifth is ready."
"EXCELLENT!" The captain crowed, surging to their feet. "The Central 36 will be quite… interested to see what our 'allies' are up to when they aren't watching!"
As the pair left their division, neither noticed the black cat scamper from tree branch to tree branch over the wall and down the street, tail high and whiskers set. Kisuke wouldn't be pleased with how fast things were moving. They had all hoped they had a few more weeks, another month at least. Hachi had to be warned. Was the warehouse even ready? Had anyone briefed Isshin? She didn't think so. They hadn't had enough time…
