Chapter 10: Answers
Ichigo sighed heavily and closed his eyes. "Don't think about things like that Ichigo, it can't happen." He turned around and crawled back into his bed, nuzzling his head into the soft pillow, falling asleep almost instantly.
The next morning he was woken by Yoruichi shaking his shoulder. "Ichigo?"
"Mmm, five minutes."
"Now Ichigo, your father wants you downstairs and ready to train in the training grounds in half an hour."
"No."
"Sorry Ichigo, time to get up."
She pulled the covers off and he groaned. "Don't."
"What's wrong?"
Ichigo opened his eyes blearily and frowned at the woman. "I had a nightmare."
Yoruichi frowned at the bitterness in his voice and sat down next to him. "About?"
Ichigo sat up and looked to the side. "I was asleep and woke up, went out to the balcony and saw Grimmjow in the gardens. So I went down to see him and do you know what he said?"
"What?"
"'You need to look after the baby.'"
"What baby?"
"I don't know, but when I looked down..." Ichigo sighed softly and placed a hand on his stomach. "... I was pregnant."
Yoruichi pulled the young man against her side. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine." Ichigo pulled away and smiled bitterly. "It just made me realise, me and Grimmjow will never have that."
"You can still have children."
"But they won't be ours."
"You say that now, but when you're a bit older, you may consider adoption."
Ichigo sighed heavily. "Maybe." He stood up and rolled his shoulders. "But I'm not thinking about that now. Thank you for waking me, I'll go down to my father in a minute once I'm changed."
"Ok." Yoruichi stood and left the room, glancing back at Ichigo to see him look in the mirror and place a hand on his stomach and she smiled sadly, closing the door with a soft click.
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...
Ichigo scowled as his father tried to attack him around the corner, he grabbed the older man's arm and threw him over his shoulder.
"Don't you ever learn?! That never works."
"I'm going to keep doing it until the day I prove you wrong!"
Ichigo rolled his eyes and stood up straight. "You're an idiot."
"Don't you love me my son?"
"Not when you're acting like an idiot."
"You're so cruel."
"Shut up, what did you want anyway?"
Isshin wriggled like an excited puppy dog and dragged him inside the training grounds. "We haven't sparred in months, I thought we could bond."
"If you insist." A small smile tugged at Ichigo's lips as he grabbed his sword, turning to face his father. "You're going to regret this." He lunged forward and their swords clashed together, a maniac grin forming on Ichigo's face. "Can't keep up old man?"
"You have a lot to learn yet Ichigo." Isshin pushed Ichigo back, forcing him to block his next moves quickly, effectively backing him into the wall. Ichigo's grin faded and he paled, stumbling slightly. Isshin stopped attacking and frowned. "Ichigo are you ok?"
Ichigo's sword dropped to the floor as he lent against the wall. "S-shit."
"Ichigo!"
Isshin watched in horror as his son went limp and slid down the wall. Hurrying forward he touched Ichigo's head and it fell to the side, Isshin picked him up and ran to the medical room. The door banged open and Kisuke, looked up alarmed to see the king carrying his son's limp form.
"What happened?"
Kisuke jumped up and cleared a bed for Isshin to lay Ichigo go. "I don't know, one moment he was fine and then the next he just collapsed."
"Ok, lay him down and I'll hook him up to an IV drip, then run some tests."
...
...
...
Ichigo's eyes opened slowly and he blinked several times to clear his vision. He groaned and went to rub his head, when a tugging sensation in his wrist stopped him. Looking down he saw the needle in his wrist and followed the tube to the IV drip.
"What happened?"
"Ichigo you're awake!"
He glanced around confused until he found his parents sat next to him. "What happened?" He asked again, his voice rough with lack of use.
Isshin lent forward and grasped his hand gently. "You collapsed."
"Collapsed? When?"
"Whilst we were training."
"For how long?"
"Two days."
Ichigo groaned and closed his eyes. "Why?"
Masaki smiled softly and handed him a glass of water. "We don't know, Kisuke is running tests now."
Ichigo sighed and lent back, drinking the cool liquid to soothe his throat. "I knew something was wrong. People don't get sick and have weak spells for no reason."
"I thought you weren't sick anymore."
"It stopped about a week ago, but the weak spells keep getting more common."
"I think I know the reason why." The three glanced at the door as Kisuke walked in, a grim smile set on his face as he pulled up another chair and sat on Ichigo's other side. "The results came back."
"And?"
He sighed and lent back, observing Ichigo. "There's no easy way to tell you this."
His grip tightened on the sheets. "What is it? How serious? Am I going to die?"
Kisuke leaned forward with a serious expression. "I don't know, this has never happened before."
"What?"
"You're pregnant."
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Ichigo laughed nervously. "C'mon Kisuke don't joke around like that."
"I'm not joking."
"I can't be pregnant, I'm a male."
"I know, this is why I can't give you statistics, this has never happened before."
Ichigo shook his head and started shaking. "I can't be... There's no way... A baby?"
"Yes."
The panic showed clearly in his brown eyes as he ripped the IV out his arm and stumbled to the door, grabbing some bandages from the table.
"Ichigo!"
"I need to be alone! Please."
Without glancing back he left the room. Stumbling down the corridors, he didn't notice where he was going until he ended up outside, in front of his favourite bench. With a sigh he sat down and slowly unravelled the bandage before wrapping it around his bleeding wrist.
Ichigo closed his eyes and lent back, a heavy sigh escaping him. One hand trailed down to rest on his stomach and he opened his eyes to look down. He gingerly lifted his top up and ran a hand down the flat area of his stomach. "I can't be pregnant."
Even after saying the words, he knew it was true. The sickness, the weak spells, the emotional states he'd gotten into recently, they all made sense now. Ichigo saw something wet hit his shirt and frowned, touching his face to find he was crying before he smiled, remembering his dream.
"Look after the baby."
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...
Isshin was pacing the room as Masaki looked out the window, both lost in worried thoughts about their son. Said man walked briskly back into the room, making them both jump.
"Where's Kisuke?"
"Ichigo are you ok?"
"I'm fine, I need to talk to Kisuke."
Ichigo turned as he walked into the room. "Yes?"
"What are the chances of the baby surviving?"
"I don't know."
"Give me your best guess."
Kisuke tapped his chin in thought. "I'd say your changes are roughly split in four; one, both of you survive, two, just you survives, three, the baby survives, or four, neither of you survive."
"Ok. What can I do to increase my chances of the first outcome?"
"No over working yourself, eat healthily, if you start feeling dizzy, drink some water and rest. Don't hesitate to ask for help when needed because you need to conserve your strength. Regular checkups are going to be needed and monitoring your progress."
"Ok."
"And one more thing."
"What?"
Kisuke held his shoulders and looked him in the eye. "If there's any pain, or you think something's wrong, call me straight away, no matter what time it is."
"Ok." Ichigo sighed and sat down, clasping his hands. "Do you know how far I am into this?"
"I'd say around fourteen to sixteen weeks."
"Right, so about a week before Grimmjow left?"
"Possibly."
"I'm going to kill that asshole when he gets here."
Masaki smiled at her son as his normal behaviour returned and stood up. "You can't blame him, he didn't know."
"He still knocked me up didn't he."
"Yes, but you are as much to blame as him."
"I suppose..."
"What will you tell him?"
"The truth."
"Him and his parents arrive tomorrow."
"I know. Gives me enough time to figure out what to say."
Ichigo stood again and headed to the door. "If you'll excuse me, I think I should go eat some food."
Masaki gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's almost lunch, are you going to join us?"
"Ok."
"What about your sisters?"
"I guess we should tell them too."
They walked to the main hall in silence and when he walked in, Ichigo was pulled into a group hug with his sisters.
"Ichi-nii are you ok?"
He looked down at Yuzu's worried face and smiled reassuringly before getting out of the hug. "I'm fine guys."
Karin eyed him and sat back down. "So what happened?"
"I collapsed during a weak spell."
"Why?"
Ichigo sighed and sat down, looking at his sisters in turn. "Kisuke ran some tests and they came back positive for pregnancy."
They sat in silence for a moment before Nel broke it. "You can't be pregnant."
"But I am." Ichigo looked down at his stomach and bit his lip. "I'm about three and a half months into it."
"So you're going to have a baby?" Orihime asked quietly.
"Maybe, the odds are split in four. Both of us surviving, the baby surviving, me surviving or both of us dying. Kisuke doesn't know anything better than that."
Rukia frowned and folded her arms. "Does Grimmjow know?"
"No. I'm telling him tomorrow."
"How do you think he'll take it?"
Ichigo sighed and closed his eyes. "Hopefully well. If he doesn't, I don't know what to do."
Masaki placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled warmly. "Of course he'll take it well. He loves you so he'll love your child too."
"I suppose..."
Isshin smiled and clapped his hands together. "Now that everyone knows, shall we eat?"
Ichigo sighed tiredly as he walked into his room that night. His sisters had followed him around all say, asking questions about the baby non-stop. Laying down on the bed, he placed on hand on his stomach and frowned down at it.
"I can't love you..." He murmured, looking up at the dark ceiling. "Because if I lose you, it will hurt too much."
"Talking to yourself again?"
Ichigo yelled out and jumped up, glaring at his grinning maid as she turned the light on. "What the hell Yoruichi?!"
"What?" She asked innocently. "You're the one talking to the ceiling. And may I ask, what would hurt too much?"
Ichigo sighed and sat down again. "If I lost the baby."
Her eyebrows rose in surprise as she stared at the young man. "Baby?"
He looked up and smiled softly. "I'm pregnant. I was telling the baby I can't love it because if it dies it would hurt too much."
She sighed and sat down next to him. "You won't lose the baby Ichigo."
"How do you know?"
"Because you don't deserve that. You have been a kind, generous man all your life since you were born. You're also in love and I can see you and Grimmjow are practically made for each other. No-one would do that to you, or Grimmjow, this baby is special."
"I'm not taking that chance."
"Ok." Yoruichi stood up again and smiled at him. "Do you want a bath?"
"Please."
She went into the bathroom and filled the bath, returning to the room to tell Ichigo before leaving. Ichigo sighed as he lay down in the warm water and smiled softly.
"I hope Yoruichi's right about you." He murmured. "Because I don't want you to die, I will gladly sacrifice my own life for yours." Ichigo smiled as he thought about Grimmjow. "I hope your father's going to be ok with this..."