Chapter 21

**Tokyo**

Rukia called Tatsuki and Inoue the night before to give them the latest news. They told Rukia not to worry because they would do everything humanly possible to free their schedules and be at Ichigo's condo tomorrow morning.

-The next morning-

Rukia was getting ready for her day out with the girls. She was standing in front of the closet wearing a towel trying to decide what to wear when the doorbell rang.

"Ichigo can you please get the door? I'm not ready yet." Rukia said as she continued to rummage through the clothes.

Ichigo was still lying down taking in the lovely view of Rukia wearing only a towel. He didn't really want to get out of the comfort of his bed but he'd rather do what he was told instead of dealing with a grumpy Rukia. He sat up, pulled the blankets off his body and headed to the door.

"Good morning Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue said with her usual high pitched voice.

"Good morning you lucky dog!" Tatsuki said as she threw herself at Ichigo and went to wrestle him.

"Congratulations! I can't believe you're going to be a father and you're getting married in a few days. Oh I can't wait until Uryuu is done with school so that we can get married and have lots of little babies running around too!" Inoue said happily.

"Thanks." Ichigo said as he unhooked from Tatsuki's hold.

"Good morning!" Rukia said walking towards the group. She was wearing jeans with her brown boots and a violet sweater.

"Good morning Kuchiki-san!" Inoue said dashing to hug her and then to rub her belly, "And good morning to you too little one!" She said.

"You're ready to go? It's going to be a long day!" Tatsuki said with a smile. Rukia nodded and they said goodbye to Ichigo.

-Shopping district-

The three friends were at a clothing store browsing through the racks.

"So I gotta say I'm surprised you guys are having a baby. That Ichigo was always hasty when it came to you!" Tatsuki said with a grin.

"Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime said.

Rukia blushed. Although she was good friends with the two girls, she wasn't used to talking about such personal stuff with anyone.

"So since Ichigo and the guys are hanging out later I took the liberty to invite Chizuru and some other girls over tonight so we can have some fun too." Tatsuki said winking at Rukia.

After shopping around for most of the day the girls went to get something to eat before heading back to Ichigo's condo. Inoue and Tatsuki were surprised at the amounts of food such a tiny girl could eat. Tatsuki was also surprised that anyone could surpass Inoue at eating sweets.

-Ichigo's condo-

Ichigo was getting ready to leave when Rukia, Tatsuki and Inoue arrived carrying a ridiculous amount of bags.

"Hey!" He greeted them but instead was handed all the bags.

"Can you please put the bags in the bedroom?" Rukia asked.

"Are these all yours! ? " Ichigo asked in disbelief. He figured at least some would be Tatsuki's or Inoue's.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rukia asked and put her hands on her hips.

"Nothing!" Ichigo laughed nervously and headed to the bedroom.

"What a jerk!" Tatsuki was heard mumbling.

"Alright I'll see you later tonight." Ichigo said and went to give Rukia a goodbye hug. He was about to give her a kiss as well until he noticed he was being watched by the other two. He pulled away leaving Rukia waiting. Rukia looked at him offended. Tatsuki shook her head and Inoue gave him a disapproving look. Ichigo's head turned to see Rukia, the nosy girls, and then Rukia again. There was no way out of this. He gave Rukia her kiss and left the place as fast as his legs could carry him. Dealing with a pregnant Rukia and two instigators was not easy.

The girls made themselves comfortable at Ichigo's place as they waited for the rest of their guests. An hour later they started arriving and the place started livening up.

"So you liked him after all!" Natsui said to Rukia. She was the one who had asked her about Ichigo so many years ago. She didn't keep in touch with Ichigo and the rest so she was happy to hear the news. Rukia laughed nervously.

"So Kuchiki-san…were you guys getting busy back then too?" Chizuru asked with a mischievous smile.

"W-w-what?" Rukia said and stopped eating the treat she was enjoying.

"Ichigo was too much of a prude to do anything remotely close to that." Tatsuki said matter-of-factly.

"So who was the one to initiate things?" Chizuru asked as perverted thoughts of Rukia flooded her mind.

"Umm...it kind of just happened." Rukia said nervously.

"You must be a very special girl to have been able to get to Ichigo the way you did…he looked so scary back in high school." Michiru said recalling the hot-headed Ichigo.

"You say that like he's changed! He still looks the same except now he has Rukia to keep him in place!" Tatsuki said.

"Yeah…Kurosaki-kun always needed a strong woman like Kuchiki-san to bring out the best in him." Inoue said nostalgically as she recalled the painful time she thought she was in love with Ichigo.

Tatsuki noticed Inoue's slightly sad mood. "Well enough about that, let's rock this place!" She said changing the subject.

"But we can't drink! It wouldn't be fun for Kuchiki-san." Chizuru said.

"I can bake some treats and we can watch some movies! It can be like a sleepover minus the sleep over part!" Inoue said excited.

"That's actually a great idea Inoue…I was starting to get a little hungry for some snacks." Rukia said.

The girls continued gossiping, watching movies and enjoying their snacks. Rukia smiled happily as she enjoyed her time with the girls and was showered with attention.

-A trendy bar in Tokyo-

"Whaaat? ? ? ! !" Keigo yelled earning some eye rolling and annoyed looks from people sitting in the nearby tables.

"That's not surprising at all especially since it's you we're talking about." Mizuiro said of the news.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ichigo asked.

"Well we all knew that you and Kuchiki-san were doing certain things because of our last conversation." Mizuiro said. Ichigo scowled and Keigo frowned. "So with your luck it was only a matter of time before something like that happened."

"But I am surprised that Kuchiki-san didn't take precautions. She's the one with the brains in the relationship after all." Ishida chimed in and a few veins popped on Ichigo's head at the insult.

"So how is Kuchiki handling the pregnancy anyway?" Chad asked.

"As expected." Ichigo said in an unenthusiastic tone and took a long sip of his drink.

That's all everyone needed to hear to sympathize with their poor friend.

"HA! That's what you get for getting my beautiful Kuchiki-san pregnant!" Keigo said pointing a finger at Ichigo.

"You can stop calling her your Kuchiki-san you moron. Their wedding is a few days away." Ishida said.

"With that note let's party and enjoy the rest of our guys' night out!" Mizuiro said and gave Ichigo an evil smile.

A few hours later everyone was feeling the effects of the alcohol but Ichigo and Ishida more than the rest since they never really drank.

"Kurosaki…*hiccup*…there's something I want you to *hiccup* know." Ishida said drunk in between hiccups. "I consider you… *hiccup* a great friend…even if *hiccup* you are a *hiccup* shinigami…"

"Thaaank you Ishida!" Ichigo said in an uncharacteristic happy tone and darted towards Ishida to give him a bear hug. Ishida hugged him back happily.

"Lightweights" Keigo said of the pair of friends. Chad and Mizuiro sweat dropped at the irony of Keigo making fun of anyone for their ridiculous behavior.

-Later that night-

Everyone had already left. They had told Rukia to come visit again and to make sure to send them pictures of her bundle of joy.

*ding dong*

The door bell rang and Rukia got up from the bed groggily to open the door. She was greeted by the sight of a very drunk Ichigo being held up by Keigo and Mizuiro. Ishida was being held up on Chad's shoulder.

"Kuchukiii-saaan, sorry for the late *hiccup* night disturbance." Ishida apologized from above.

"N-n-no problem." Rukia sweat dropped at the scene.

Keigo went to greet Rukia but he froze and started drooling because of what she was wearing. She was only wearing one of Ichigo's t-shirts and perhaps a pair of very tiny shorts. He immediately let go of Ichigo and went to "greet her" properly. Ichigo fell on the floor.

"Kuchiki-san!" He wrapped his arms around her and got to her so fast you would think he could shunpo, "Congratulations on your upcoming wedding to that good-for-nothing Ichigo! Even with a baby on the way just remember that my arms will always be open for you!" He said with waterfall tears.

"Oi! Let go of my Rukia!" Ichigo said as he wobbled drowsily towards the pair.

"I'm just giving her my best!" Keigo said.

"Well…you can do that from far away. She's mine!" Ichigo said in a whiny tone and wrapped his arms protectively around Rukia as he glared at Keigo.

"Ichigo you stink!" Rukia said of the inebriated orange-head.

"Thanks for bringing him home. Do you guys want to stay over tonight?" Rukia asked.

"Thank you for the offer Kuchiki-san but my place is not too far from here and I'd rather not impose. Who knows what ideas Keigo could get into his head with you being so close." Mizuiro said of his friend.

The three guys left leaving Rukia with a drunk Ichigo. She immediately ordered him to take a shower unless he was planning on sleeping on the couch.

A few minutes later after Ichigo's shower they cuddled in bed. Rukia was thinking about the nice day she had and couldn't help but smile. It was all thanks to Ichigo that she had been able to experience friendship, girl bonding time, and all the other new and exciting adventures she experienced in his world.

"Ichigo?" Rukia asked.

"Yeah…" Ichigo mumbled half-asleep.

"I love you." She said and brought herself closer to him.

"I…love you..." He said and dozed of back to sleep.

**Karakura Town**

Friday had arrived faster than they had imagined. Ichigo and Rukia walked hand in hand in the melancholic streets of Karakura. It was there where it had all started. When they got to Urahara's shop Ichigo stopped them before going in.

"You know you have a very gloomy face for someone who should be very happy." Ichigo said.

"I do not." Rukia retorted, "I was just thinking about all the things we went through and the time we spent together in this town…"

"You shouldn't be sad when looking back. You should be happy because we were able to meet and spend those moments together. Maybe you should think of our future instead. Tomorrow we're going to be getting married and making new memories together." He said as he leaned to kiss her tenderly.

"Would you look at that!" Urahara said opening the door, "I never knew you were a romantic at heart!"

"Awwww" Yuzu, Karin, Inoue, and Tatsuki said in unison.

"You're so sweet onii-chan!" Yuzu said.

"I never thought I'd say this but nicely put Kurosaki." Ishida said and fixed his glasses.

Chad, Keigo, and Mizuiro were also there. Their closest friends had gathered at Urahara's to bid the couple farewell.

"Rukia-chan!" Isshin yelled and went to bear hug the tiny girl. "I'm so happy my idiot son didn't manage to scare you away, thanks for putting up with him! I can't wait for my grandson!"

Ichigo swat dropped. Why did his father have to save his embarrassing antics to obnoxiously display them in public.

Urahara left the room and came back a few minutes later with a small pill.

"Kurosaki-kun, after long hours of work I was unable to find a way in which I could preserve your human body and keep it intact. Because of that I chose to go a different route and come up with a way to…" he cleared his throat, "take care of your body. The answer is this pill!" He held it happily in between his thumb and index finger. "Once you take this pill your body will disappear."

"What do you mean disappear?" Ichigo asked nervously.

"It will slowly fade away leaving you in your shinigami form." Urahara reassured him with a smile.

"W-will it hurt?" Ichigo asked. It sounded just as bad as before.

"Don't be silly! I wouldn't create such dangerous things!... But to answer your question no, it will not hurt. You will not feel a thing! Your soul is already a shinigami soul and technically it never needed a human body to begin with." Urahara said mysteriously.

"You don't have to go through this Ichigo…" Rukia said slightly worried.

"Don't you worry Rukia-chan, my son is just being a chicken." Isshin said trying to ease her worries. He trusted Urahara and wouldn't allow him to do anything harmful to his son either.

"Ok, give me the pill Urahara-san." Ichigo said.

Ichigo grabbed the pill and looked at it skeptically. He then closed his eyes and brought it to his mouth. When he swallowed it a bright yellow light engulfed him. Everyone was instantly blinded by it.

The feeling that was going through Ichigo's body wasn't painful. It felt like being under the warm sun. Rukia was the first to open her eyes and was surprised at how beautiful it looked. There was an ethereal glow all over Ichigo that made him look unreal. Everyone else started opening their eyes and taking in the supernatural sight. A few seconds later the light died out and Ichigo stood in his shinigami form

"Congratulations! You are officially a full-fledged shinigami with no human body to return to!" Urahara said and everyone sweat dropped. He could make the strangest jokes sometimes….

Hi everyone! Hope you liked the chapter, it was extra long!

Thanks for the reviews and for adding the story to your faves/alerts. :)