A/N: I shamelessly added my friends, sister and myself into this chapter. Oh well, we're pretty pointless... not to mention if I weren't here (as in on the computer here) you wouldn't have a chapter.

I've added my first AMV [Beta to youtube, in case anyone's interested. My user is Hearii and feedback would be appreciated. -hint, hint-

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Tenth Collected:

Rumors

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It was an extremely hot, humid day in the Seireitei; an unsettling type of weather that had the Shinigami residents of the area restless and discontent. Cicadas buzzed annoyingly from within the trees, pestering just about anyone outside. But, due to the intense heat and the required black uniform, the Death Gods opted to stay out of the indoors. Some Shinigami didn't even bother doing their assigned work and spent their day leaning against a tree trunk in the semi-satisfying shade.

Two Shinigami girls, one from the fourth and the other from the seventh devision, relaxed against the bark of a tree on the forest tree line. Or rather, the fourth devision girl was working away on paperwork while the seventh devision dozed off. Slowly, the black-haired shinigami cracked an eye open.

"Oi. Hikaru." She grumbled lazily. The brunette refused to take her eyes off her work but let out a small hum in acknowledgment. "'Heard somethin' pretty int'resting today."

The younger Shinigami pulled her brush along the paper as a signature while she said, "Now Amaya, I never expected you to be one for gossip."

Silence. "Fine then. I won't tell you."

Minutes ticked by before the one named Hikaru set down her brush and paper on the grass beside her. Closing her eyes in defeat she spoke. "Okay, okay. What is it?"

"Now Hikaru," The older Shinigami mocked. "I never expected you to be one for gossip."

With that said, the brunette almost reached out to wring her friends neck. But she knew that it was too hot out to commit any murders today, not to mention Amaya would probably slap her into the tree trunk in retaliation. So instead, she settled for glaring. Her friend smirked.

"Just get on with it."

"'Kay then," Amaya snorted. "It's about Kurosaki-taichou and Kuchiki-fukutaichou." The other girl's blue eyes darkened with curiosity. "Dunno, the details are sketchy but Abarai-fukutaichou said..."

"...Hinamori-kun heard strange noises coming from the ninth devision superior quarters two nights ago." Renji took a sip of his sake and Matsumoto, Hisagi and even Iba leaned in with interest. They waited for him to finish, but he sure was taking his sweet time.

"Hurry up already!" Matsumoto's whine burst through the room. Renji set down his glass and smirked.

He continued. "Well, it came from Ichigo's wing and apparently it sounded like moans of pleasure coming from a woman. Rukia, to be specific." The other three gasped lightly.

"No way," Hisagi grinned. "He actually got her?"

"Yea, I mean, we all knew they had a thing for each other but Kurosaki-taichou wouldn't even be done a third of his natural life by now. He's only been in the Soul Society for about five years, not to mention he's always got Kuchiki-taichou monitoring him." Iba said with a shake of his head. It was a wonder that Kurosaki-taichou was still around with the protective adoptive-sibling always on his tail because his sister was fukutaichou.

Matsumoto sighed and grinned evilly at the same time. "Imagine all the woman who will be crushed to hear this." Her smirk was mirrored by everyone at the thought of the chaos. The Shinigami Women's Association was going to have a lot to talk about... especially if Rukia was present.

"Tch. Don't bother even listening." A new voice spoke up. "It's not true." Hitsugaya leaned on the door frame of his office. "Matsumoto, why are you drinking at four in the afternoon when I just gave you paperwork to fill out an hour ago?"

The busty woman ignored the comment and avoided the bullet with her own question. "Ah, taichou! How would you know if it's true or not?"

Rolling his eyes the white-haired captain sat down with the four vice-captains and poured himself his own glass of sake. He was done today's work...

Now the fukutaichou hovered around him, waiting for information they could pass on later. Like Renji, he took a sip before saying, "I know because Hinamori-kun told me the story herself. The very night the 'event' happened, no less – she was on her way to the tenths superior quarters."

Curious glances were sent his way as the wheels in the Shinigami minds started formulating questions. Hitsugaya was taking another sip of his drink before the first question was asked by his fukutaichou... just not the question he expected.

"Hey wait; why would Hinamori-fukutaichou be on her way to the tenth sup--..." Iba trailed off. Hitsugaya choked on the sake he was drinking. Matsumoto and Hisagi exchanged sly glances while Renji patted the captain on the back either to help with the choking or to congratulate him.

"Taichou!" Matsumoto coos were cut off.

"Shut up!" The boy hissed, turning red. "That's not the point! What is the point is that Hinamori-kun actually..."

" ... saw shadows that looked like Kurosaki-taichou and Kuchiki-fukutaichou. I'm sure it's nothing though. They actually would have been arguing, you know. They seem to do that a lot!" Momo babbled nervously, hoping that she wouldn't be questioned about her late-night stroll like her childhood 'friend' was.

Ise Nanao pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she walked along the dirt path. "Maybe..."

"Maybe not," Nemu Kurotsuchi finished quietly. "They could have been--"

A high-pitched giggle broke out behind the group before a pink and black blur sped past the women. It skidded for ten feet before frolicking towards the sound of the gossip.

"They could have been making babies!" At the mere thought, Yachiru broke out into a fit of laughter.

Koutestu Kiyone gasped. "Kusajika-fukutaichou! Could you at least not yell out such things?"

"What?" She stared innocently at the group already worn out with the girl's antics. "Ken-chan told me to ask Bunny-Flower-chan about it when she came over and she told me all about it!"

"Unohana-taichou told you?" Koutestu Isane asked, baffled. She mussed on the idea. "I knew Zaraki-taichou wasn't much of a man for talking, but he couldn't have told you himself?"

"Nope!" The pink-haired girl chirped. "He had to keep me away from everyone in the devision so I wouldn't ask them before I asked Bunny-Flower-chan that night."

Nanao stopped for a moment, puzzled. "Wait. Why was Unohana-taichou even at the eleventh devision?"

Yachiru pressed a finger to her chin in thought. "Well..." she drawled cutely. "Unohana comes to the eleventh devision on her time off to take a headcount and see if everyone's still alive like they should be. Also, she has to give Ken-chan personal check-ups because she really, really, really likes Ken-chan!"

The members of the group either gave horrified or mystified expressions. Zaraki and... Unohana...?

Suddenly, Yachiru gasped. "Now that you mention it, Bunny-Flower-chan told me something really interesting about Ichii! She said..."

"...Kurosaki-taichou has become very paranoid lately." Unohana Retsu told Kenpachi calmly, as she finished cleaning off the last of her stitching kit. "I think it's because of Kuchiki-taichou."

Zaraki snorted from his place on the chair. "Of Byakuya? How? The guy's sword is made of flowers. It's such a pussy zanpakuto – you can tell because Yumichika's jealous."

Unohana frowned unhappily. "I'll ignore that you just insulted one of your own squad, but I don't suggest straining your arm too much today. It was cut fairly deep and I would not want to go through the trouble of you complaining if I had to redo the job."

Zaraki grunted as Unohana examined the slash on his chest. "This one was close, though. Any deeper and it may have punctured your right lung. You really shouldn't tease Kurosaki-taichou so much for a spar to come to this type of wound."

Kenpachi grinned down at the woman, checking his older wound. "Eh. Whatever. So, tell me, why he's scared of Kuchiki and not me?"

The petite woman looked up at the man's scarred face and gave him a dry look. "Everyone knows Kurosaki-taichou has a close relationship with his fukutaichou, who also happens to be Kuchiki-taichou's sister. If those two decide to progress their relationship any further they'll need Kuchiki-taichou's permission.

"We already know that Kurosaki-taichou isn't on the greatest of terms with the other captain, so chances are Kuchiki-taichou will not approve in the slightest bit. Though it may not seem so, Kuchiki-taichou is very protective of his sister."

"When he's not out to kill her, that is." Kenpachi rolled his eyes. Unohana frowned but decided protesting wouldn't change his mind. Kenpachi continued, "Besides, I wouldn't be surprised – in fact, I'm pretty much certain Ichigo's already fuckin' his lieutenant." Unohana made the greatest attempt of a disgusted face a woman such as herself could. Sometimes she wondered why Yachiru could be so crude at such a young age, but then it all came back to the man who raised her.

"And what makes you have that assumption?" The doctor asked, sitting down beside the giant man and leaning against his arm, which was the highest point she could reach.

Again, Kenpachi scoffed. "Well, first off, it's plainly obvious! Second, though I really don't care for socializing with weak idiots, I did here something from that wimpy third lieutenant What's-his-face."

"Kira," Unohana corrected.

"Right, right. Anyways, he was talking about his trip to the human world and came into contact with Ichigo's Old Man – hell, I wish I coulda battled the guy who made someone as strong as Ichigo! - and so What's-his-face was talkin' about how..."

"...the taichou's father was ecstatic, something about a child." Kira took a sip of his tea. The seventh seat who sat across from him gasped lightly.

After a minute of silence Akuya let out a small disbelieving laugh. "No way," she shook her head a bit before picking up her own cup of tea. She looked down at her reflection in the drink and asked, "Did Kurosaki-taichou and Kuchiki-fukutaichou actually tell him? Because I've heard his father wasn't all there, if you know what I mean."

Kira sighed and looked off the patio and into the third division recreational field. Yes... he had heard that too... "It seems that Kurosaki Isshin had been spouting off the news to everyone; he'd overheard the two talking when they came for a visit and, well... Rukia's pregnant. A smile broke out across both the third devision faces.

"This is too good, too good." Kira laughed. Just thinking about those two having a child... how much uproar it would cause in the Seireitei... it was nearly enough to pass off as unimaginable.

"Yea," Akuya chuckled, but suddenly stopped and expression turned serious. "What will Yamamoto-soitaichou do when he finds out, do you think?"

As if just thinking about this himself, which was probably true, Kira paused and mirrored Akuya.

"Maybe it would be best not to tell people, Akuya-san." He muttered. The both sighed with newly dampened moods.

About five minutes passed with little to no conversation.

"Maybe just a few people," Akuya burst suddenly.

"Yea, a few wouldn't hurt."

The halls of the ninth devision buzzed with liveliness and giggling by girls everywhere. There was nearly no where anymore where you couldn't hear about the newest rumors or take part in gossip. It didn't matter who you were... and this applied to all captains and vice captains, even Ichigo and Rukia.

While everyone was expected to be working away, a group of five or six girls huddled together in a bunch of hushed talking and light giggling. All of these girls were dressed in the typical shinigami uniform, ignoring the heat with chatter and gossip about a specific couple. Ironically, this couple decided to turn the corner and come into the hall where the girls were.

All the girl's froze as they spotted the two. Those two. Somehow, the way Kuchiki-fukutaichou fell a step behind Kurosaki-taichou wasn't like with every other captain and vice captain when you imaged what the two did behind closed doors.

"Of course it's true. It's gotta be! Hisagi-fukutaichou told me himself." A girl with jet-black hair finished a though from before.

"Che." A tall brunette scoffed. "It might not be! Why not go ask them yourself? They're coming this way!"

The other girl shook her head violently. "No, Hoshi! Why don't you?" She challenged, nose in the air.

Placing hands on her hips, Hoshi straightened up even more, looming over the smaller girl. "Fine," She sniffed. "I will!" With the last comment that left the other girls with raised eyebrows, Hoshi stalked off towards the pair who looked at her with mild interest. Suddenly, she felt her courage wear off... none the less, she continued on.

When the girl was about five feet away from her taichou she bowed at the waist. "Kurosaki-taichou, Kuchiki-fukutaichou," she greeted. Even before they could greet her back she fired off, "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions without sounding insolent or nosy." Hoshi blushed lightly. Curse her stubbornness not to back down... this was almost as reckless as something her older sister would do.

The captain and vice captain looked like they were about to start laughing at her, but nodded anyways. Raising herself from the bow, Hoshi stood up as straight as possible and kept a blank expression. In her subconscious she sucked in a deep breath.

"Is it true that you're pregnant, Kuchiki-fukutaichou? Or that you spent the night with your vice captain two nights ago, Kurosaki-taichou?" Her words came out all in a rushed, nearly jumbled mess.

Hoshi flinched, expecting a scolding or possible demotion for her words. Instead her superiors looked mildly interested!

"When would I have gotten her pregnant...?" Taichou murmured to himself.

Rukia hit her fist into her palm lightly. "You know, it could have been two weeks ago!" She turned to the man beside her. "That would be the most logical, considering that night..." she trailed off and the other girls deadpanned before they could completely register her words. About half the girls seemed to turn and walk away in a daze – which went unnoticed by Ichigo and Rukia who were, by now, in a deep conversation about a specific night.

People around them couldn't believe their ears as the two, who had a very closed relationship in front of other people, continued to talk rather loudly. Within a matter of minutes, all halls in the ninth devision were emptied out due to people flocking to gossip about the first-hand news.

When they were sure everyone was long gone Ichigo turned to look at Rukia with an uncharacteristically large grin. Rukia let a few giggles of her own bubble past her lips. "Remind me why we start these rumors again. People must think I'm a whore by now."

Ichigo slung his arm around her shoulders, seeming a bit awkward with the height difference (he seemed to have grown even more since he decided to become captain). "Ah, we both know why we do this. Otherwise, this place would be extremely dull without us."

Rukia's smirk grew more. "Amen to that."

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Word Count: 2556

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A/N: Wow, this was a long chapter! Sorry, I didn't get this beta-ed so excuse errors. Reason I didn't get it check is because I feel that you've all waited too long for this chapter and I've waited too long to write it. To be honest, I think this was the most fun chapter to write yet. Who knew that people like Ichigo and Rukia would form rumors about themselves?! Haha! Anyways, feel free to not read the following fan girl rant...

Anyone play the Bleach: Shattered Blade game yet? I did, and it was fun! - First of all, my friends and I picked random characters to battle with (all the while praying not to get Ganju vs. Ganju, because he's the crappiest character) and we got ironic battles – Hinamori vs. Aizen, Ichigo vs. Rukia, Yachiru vs. Kenpachi. Once Amaya got Kira vs. Kira (Haha, the show emo kills himself!) There were two things I was saddened in though – one, you couldn't be Unohana. Sure, I don't know how you'd attack, but I'm sure they could figure out something. The second was that Ulquiorra is really, really slow... and speed is kind of essential in the game. Another thing... his voice is pretty awful. They didn't even add him in the cast list when Hanatarou did! Made me very angry...

Hints for the game: When battling against a close range attack that may take a moment to use, use Aizen. He has this very, very annoying attack where he uses his zanpakuto to disappear just before the attack and then attack you from behind. Also, Yachiru can use cheap moves were she'll attack you so you get knocked down, and attack you when you stand up only to knock you down again and again and again! That's basically the only way my sister (who was Hoshi in the story) beat Amaya or I.