Chapter Twenty-One

Hueco Mundo; Las Noches

"Welcome back, Barragan."

The kingly Arrancar thundered into the room, his wounded men quietly following him, nursing their grievous wounds. Along the walls above the pit were the many Arrancars of Aizen's army, all of them taking the sight of the wounded Espada and his men with glee.

And sitting on what used to be Barragan's throne was the man himself, Souske Aizen.

"Well, Barragan," Aizen spoke in his smooth, low voice while the old man looked up at him, the hatred in his eye ever present, "Give us your full report."

"What report is there?!" said a mocking voice from the side of the pit. Barragan turned to see Grimmjow sitting against the wall with two of his Fraccións. The blue-haired man took the sight of the wounded Barragan and couldn't help but feel smug. "It's clear that he failed miserably. Kinda pathetic for our number two!"

"Don't push your luck, Grimmjow…" Barragan growled.

Standing up, Grimmjow glowered at his comrade. "You were supposed to bring Halibel back here! How hard could it be when she's got a bun in her oven?"

"Shut your mouth, Grimmjow!" Ggio Vega shouted, angry that the man would try to mock his liege. "It was Ichigo Kurosaki who thwarted-"

Ggio was knocked to the floor by a backhand from Barragan. "Quiet, you!" Barragan growled in fury before stepping on Ggio's hand, crushing it between his boot. "A loser like you has not right to make excuses."

Another voice made itself known. "For once, I'm in agreement with Grimmjow." Barragan turned to see the number four Espada, Ulquiorra, look down at him. "You outnumbered your targets and the boy was clearly no match for you. And yet you still returned in failure."

"Hmph! Halibel tried to put up a fight but her condition made her easy to break," Barragan said confidently. "And I crushed Ichigo Kurosaki like an ant between my thumbs. It was only because of his Hollow power that he was able to wound me."

"Wound?!" Grimmjow spat. "More like he wrecked your shit!"

Sitting beside Ulquiorra, the number ten Espada, Yammy, chirped in. "He's right, you know. You said you had him beat. Then how come you're a wreck and came back empty-handed?"

"Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, Yammy," Aizen cut in, silencing his men with his calm voice. "I believe we should let Barragan tell us what happened in full."

The room became silent as Barragan gave them an account of what happened, not leaving out a detail. All of his men stared at the floor in shame when Barragan told Aizen of their crushing defeat, knowing full well that their master's punishment would be severe. When Barragan told them of Halibel and her declaration to break ties to Aizen, many of the Arrancars bristled in anger. "Are you fucking serious?!" Grimmjow seethed. "She feels human? What garbage is that?!"

Again, Ulquiorra was in agreement with Grimmjow, an odd occurrence to happen twice in so many minutes. "She is deluded. Halibel has clearly let her pregnancy affect her mind. She is a Hollow. No matter how much she looks Human she is clearly not."

Barragan continued his story. Aizen's eyebrow rose when he mentioned Ichigo's Inner Hollow taking over and the tremendous power boost he got. Yammy smashed his fist into the ground, crushing the black tile. "Are you kidding me?" he shouted at Barragan. "You had the brat dead to rights and you still left?! Some king you are!" he mocked. "More like the king of cowards!"

In an instant Barragan vanished. Yammy's eyes widened when a hand grabbed his throat and hauled him up. "You wish to repeat that sentence?" Barragan said with murder in his eye. "I retreated because to prolong the battle would end in Karakura Town's destruction. All of our plans would have become meaningless," he said, squeezing his grip. Yammy gurgled as Barragan strangled him. Ulquiorra stood motionless beside them, not caring if Barragan killed Yammy or not.

"Barragan, please release Yammy."

Hearing Aizen's command, Barragan reluctantly dropped Yammy. "Trash…" he spat before turning around and returning to the pit.

"On the contrary, Yammy, I find Barragan's actions acceptable. More so, Kisuke Urahara would have gotten involved. While I am confident in Barragan's strength, Kisuke is not to be trifled with." Aizen turned back to Barragan and gave him a nod, although Barragan despised him for it. "I do not consider this a failure, Barragan. If anything, things happened better than I prepared."

Barragan narrowed his eye as he stared at his leader. 'He sounds as if he expected me to return empty-handed. He couldn't have predicted everything that happened, could he?'

"Now then…" Aizen rested his head on his hand and thought about the present situation for a minute. "Since Halibel and Ichigo will not join us by force, I believe I shall take a more direct approach…"

Two days later…Karakura Town

Ichigo opened his eyes, his body aching in places he didn't even knew he had. "Ughhh…" he groaned as he tried to sit up before a hand touched his shoulder.

"Keep still, Ichigo. You haven't fully recovered yet."

The boy turned to see Halibel sitting next to him, back in her Gigai. "Halibel…you're okay." He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks to you. If it had not been for your sacrifice I would be dead…" she put a hand over her stomach, "and so would our child."

Ichigo looked down only to gap in shock when he saw Halibel's large stomach. It looked like she'd swallowed a large watermelon whole. "You're…you're that far along? How long was I asleep?"

"Two days."

His eyes continued to stare at her stomach. Though she wore his mother's old maternity clothes, her stomach was quite prominent. "Yes, I'm afraid that we have Barragan to thank for our child's sudden growth. His Senesence power caused its gestation to accelerate. And after you saved me by giving me your energy, my body took it to continue to process."

"So when…"

"Any day now…" Halibel lamented.

"Halibel?"

Taking his hand, Halibel lifted her shirt and put it on her pregnant tummy. "Feel." As Ichigo's fingers spread out across her stretched skin, he felt something happen inside. "Oh!" she gasped. "See? She kicks."

"She?"

"Mother's intuition." She let go of Ichigo's hand and laid down on the bed next to him. Ichigo snuggled next to her and put his hand over her stomach to feel their baby's presence more. "Ichigo, I don't know what to say…" she said.

"You don't need to say anything. It was my choice to make, Halibel. All of it." He could see the pain in her eyes, the guilt of what Ichigo had endured because of her. "I chose to give you my spirit energy. Just like I chose to become your student and chose to love you as the mother of our child. I don't regret anything."

Once again Halibel could feel that warm sensation inside, the feeling of her heart melting from Ichigo's kind words. "You truly are something special." She kissed him sweetly on the lips before they heard the door open up.

"I see you're awake," Isshin Kurosaki said as he brought in a tray of food. "I was getting worried. After what that Arrancar did to you I was scared you'd never wake up."

Memory came back to Ichigo and he remembered that it was his father that saved him before Barragan crushed his skull. "Dad? You…"

Sitting down in a chair, Isshin crossed his arms and sighed. "I suppose there's no point hiding it now. Like your girlfriend said, I'm as responsible for this as Kisuke…" He looked down at the ground for a minute, gathering his courage before looking up. "Yes, Ichigo. I am a Soul Reaper."

The boy was silent as he processed this, staring down at the sheets. After a minute he finally spoke. "I…I know."

Isshin blinked. "You knew?"

Looking up, Ichigo scowled. "Dad, do you think I'm stupid? Zangetsu told me I had Soul Reapers powers of my own after I lost the powers Rukia gave me. They had to come from somewhere. And I remembered that you never really told me about yourself. It was kinda obvious."

The father could only chuckle. "Halibel was right. You are smarter than I gave you credit for." Giving another sigh, he sat back in his chair. "I'll tell you everything-"

"Don't."

Both Halibel and Isshin were shocked at Ichigo's refusal. Looking down at his bandaged hands, Ichigo balled them into fists. "You had your reasons. I know that you didn't tell me for a good reason. So I can wait," he looked back up at his father. "I'll wait until this is all over. Then you can tell me."

Father and son stared at each other, the elder shocked at the maturity of the younger. Smiling, Isshin nodded and got up. "Alright. I'll leave you two alone for now. Make sure you eat, Ichigo."

Halibel waited until Isshin left before speaking. "Are you sure, Ichigo?" she asked, confused at her lover's choice. "He was ready to spill everything."

"I know…but right now I've enough to deal with without adding more to the pile," Ichigo sighed as he lay back on the pillow. "I'll hear the truth when this is over. And then I'm gonna punch him."

Laughing, Halibel laid back down and cuddled with him, feeling their baby kick again…

The Next Day…Karakura Town; Park

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore. Everything still hurts."

The couple walked along the small path, making a trip through a nearby park. After Ichigo had recovered enough to walk, Halibel invited him to walk with her. He protested since Halibel could give birth at any time but she insisted, stating that she needed the exercise.

After some small talk Ichigo broke the ice. "That Arrancar who attacked us, Barragan. You knew him?"

"I did." The hand holding Ichigo's squeezed tightly as anger bubbled up inside her. "Before Lord Aizen came along he was the king of Hueco Mundo. His powers were so vast that he considered himself a god. Barragan brought countless Hollows under his command. He tried to make me and my friends submit to him as well."

"Did you?"

"Of course not. But Barragan would not tolerate my presence and told me to leave his sight."

Ichigo deadpanned. "That doesn't sound that bad."

Stopping, Halibel looked at him and scowled. "You underestimate his power and his vanity. He considered the whole of Hueco Mundo as his palace. To him, the sky was his palace's ceiling and everywhere that fell upon his gaze was a part of it. When he told me to leave his sight, he meant that I had to go someplace he couldn't see me."

"Was he that powerful?" Ichigo asked, feeling very afraid.

"You only got a taste of his power when he came here." Halibel looked at the ground sadly. "He considers himself a god for good reason. He's ranked higher than I among the Espada ranks, after all. The truth of the matter is that if your friends had not arrived when he did…" Halibel turned away and let the implication sink in.

The fear that had been building in Ichigo's heart spread. "Is there really no beating him?"

"Only two others I know are stronger, Aizen and the number one Espada, Starrk. I suggest we consult your shopkeeper friend on this. He might know of a way to best him."

Taking Halibel by the hand, Ichigo guided her over to the shade of several trees. He took a few steps away and sighed. "Halibel, I-"

"THERE HE IS!"

Halibel blinked as three blurs appeared from out of nowhere and barrled into Ichigo. The injured boy was assaulted from all sides as his attackers started to beak the crud out of him.

"KILL THIS BASTARD!"

"YOU'LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID!"

"TAKE THIS, YOU ASSHOLE!"

Halibel was alarmed but quickly recognized the three voices. "Apacci! Mila Rose! Sung-Sun!" she called out, standing up. "Enough!"

The three stopped pounding Ichigo and turned to face their master. Curled up in the fetal position, Ichigo looked up to see just who was attacking him.

It dind't surprise him that they were Arrancars, all women. Their appreances were as wild and exotic as their master. One had blue hair and heterochromia, wearing a shirt that exposed her midriff and had a horn fragment. The tallest of the three reminded Ichigo of Yoruichi with her dark skin and long hair. She was built and wore a revealing outfit which reminded Ichigo of an amazon, her mask fragment a hairpiece and necklace. The last of the three was the shortest, wearing a modest dress and had long, olive-green hair, complimented by her hairpiece mask fragment.

The three bent their knee in front of Halibel. "Master Halibel!" Apacci started. "We're so glad you're okay."

"Why are you here?" the Espada demanded. "I ordered you to hide."

"We did, Master Halibel." Mila Rose looked up before continuing. "But when we heard Barragan came here to take you back we had to come and make sure you were alright."

"Yes," Sung-Sun stood up and grabbed Ichigo by the hair, the boy busy reaching for his combat pass in his pocket. "And to make this boy pay for what he did to you."

Halibel scowled. "Ichigo did nothing to me. Release him," she ordered.

For the second time this week, Ichigo hit the ground with an "ow!" and sat up. "Halibel, these are your Fraccións?"

"Yes. Apacci, Mila Rose, Sung-Sun. Apologize to Ichigo."

The three turned and glared at Ichigo for a moment before they bowed in apology. "We're sorry," they said in unison. Standing up straight, Mila Rose turned back to Halibel. "Master, are you alright?" Her eyes went to Halibel's pregnant stomach. "Your baby…"

"We had a harrowing encounter with Barragan but we're fine. Both Ichigo and myself." She saw the curious stares and rolled her eyes. "Yes, you can feel."

Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief as the three admired their master's unborn child still within her. 'Well that's one crisis averted.'

"Master Halibel, may we stay with you?" Apacci begged. "We wish to protect you and your child."

"Wait," Ichigo protested. "We don't have enough room for three of you at my place."

"I wasn't asking you, you ass!" Apacci shouted. "It's your fault she's pregnant and had to flee Hueco Mundo!"

Halibel twisted her ear and silenced her. "All of you, listen to me. Ichigo is not at fault. Everything was my choice." She and her Fraccións sat down and she thought about it. "I don't want you to return to Hueco Mundo. Now that Aizen knows I'm pregnant and won't go back, he'll use whatever is necessary."

While Halibel and her friends pondered where the three could stay, Ichigo felt his phone buzz. Flipping it open he saw that he got a text from Kisuke.

"Come to the shop. Now."

Ichigo felt a wave of foreboding as he read the short text. Pocketing his phone, he turned to his girlfriends and her comrades. "I gotta go. Kisuke says he needs me. Will you be alright?"

"I'm fine. I'll take them home with me and talk to your father about where to give them shelter."

Knowing his father was going to lose it when Halibel brought three beautiful girls home, Ichigo groaned and turned away, heading for Kisuke's shop.

Reaching the candy shop, Ichigo stepped inside and saw Tessai manning the cash register. Before he could speak, Tessai pointed to the living room in the back. "In there. The boss needs to speak to you immediately."

Ichigo nodded and walked down the hallway. Reaching the door, he knocked. "Kisuke? Yoruichi?"

"Come in, Ichigo."

Opening the door, Ichigo stepped inside…and almost choked on his tongue in shock.

Kisuke and Yoruichi were indeed inside the living room. But sitting with them was every single captain of the Soul Society!

"Ichigo Kurosaki," Head-Captain Yamamoto addressed. His eyes stared at the youth with the same intensity as the rest of the captains. "You have much to explain…"

To be continued