A/N: yes, it's been ages since I updated, yes this chapter is really short again. I just haven't been able to come up with much lately. This story is not too far from completion, then I'll take a complete break from Bleach.
A Whole Twelve Months, Ch14: Troubles Ahead
June, 5 months to go
A six month pregnant Rukia lay back on her bed. She was waiting for Ichigo to come back from shopping. She was bored without him. At six months, she was showing a lot, and it was getting to the stage where she was having trouble doing some things for herself.
She rolled onto her side. She was still at school, but she was going to stop after the next week. Things were getting to the point of insanity, with Isshin running around madly to prepare for his grandson, and Ichigo out most of the time, since he got a part time job to help cover the cost of the baby. Rukia now spent most of her time just lying on the bed, waiting for something, whether it was dinner, Ichigo's return or time to sleep. She had absolutely nothing better to do.
'I wonder where Ichy is right now, I hope he's okay, and nobody tried to do anything to him again,' she was often worried about Ichigo's safety now, probably just her hormones telling her to fear every possible unfortunate, even if highly improbable, outcome.
She listened carefully when she heard the sound of the front door opening. She heard familiar footsteps coming up the stairs, and then the door was opened and she turned to see Ichigo smiling from the doorway. He walked over to her and sat on the edge of the bed, "Hey there, you okay?"
Rukia sat up and smiled back, "I'm fine, I was just a little lonely without you."
Ichigo wondered at this, normally Rukia would deny feeling lonely, or anything of the sort, maybe it was just her hormones making her act differently from normal, maybe she was just more open to him these days. They had been together for six months now, so it was hardly surprising. He put an arm round her, "Well I'm here now, so you don't have to feel lonely any more. Now how about we go down for some dinner?"
Rukia nodded her assent, and they stood to go down. Ichigo kept his arm around Rukia, and Rukia leaned slightly against him. She silently wished that times like this would last forever.
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"Is everything prepared?"
"Yes, we have the Arrancar prepared to complete their objective. They will commence their operation at 4 am tomorrow morning as instructed. I made sure to give them the relevant orders about who to do what to."
"Good," Aizen replied in his calm yet menacing voice, the one he always slipped into when discussing anything of the nature of the events he had planned. "Then let Hell be raised."
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Nanao sat in the Kurosaki's kitchen, waiting for her shift on night watch to end. She could not wait to give the watch over to her flowery superior and go to bed. She looked at the clock: 3:57. Another few minutes and she could get some sleep at last.
The seconds ticked past, and then the three minutes. Nanao sighed with relief, and stood to go to wake Shunsui, when a noise caught her attention. It was the sound of footsteps, walking slowly down the hallway towards the kitchen. 'Could it be that he actually got up on time for once?' Nanao walked to the door and opened it, then felt something hard colide with her head from in front. She was unconscious before she could see her attacker's face.
Grimmjow smirked at the woman on the floor, "If I had time, I'd do something else to you, but I'm busy right now," he turned on his heel and walked up the stairs, heading to where the targets of the operation lay sleeping, blissfully unaware of what was about to befall them.
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Bis Bald
BW