A/N: Well, things get interesting in this chapter. Kioshi keeps getting more out there and Rukia get's a bit flustered.

Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach.

Everybody'd Fooled

The wind blew without any remorse as it attacked anyone and anything in its way. The trees swayed as if they were going to depart from their mother root that stayed planted firmly on the ground. Water pounding, trees thrashing, but even as this all went on; none of this mattered to Kuchiki Byakuya as he stayed concentrated on the young girl in his arms who was covered up with his haori.

As the Taichou stayed kneeling on the ground, he contemplated what he should do and decided that he should head to Urahara's shop. At first he wanted to use his shunpo to make it quicker to the shop but seeing as the young girl in his arms had completely forgotten everything, he decided against that. Now Byakuya walked in a fast pace that was still a bit inhumanly but not too quick.

Rukia held tightly to Byakuya's haori as she closed her eyes from the water dropping from the sky. She didn't know who the man was but felt like she could trust him; it was better him than someone who would try to get touchy with her. Although she didn't completely trust the man, for all she knew, he could be taking her to some secluded area or his home and try to have his way with her. This frightened Rukia and began to pull away from the man so he could let her down.

Byakuya wasn't paying much attention to anything except that he was feeling a bit light due to the realization that Rukia could not remember him at all. That was the most piercing blow than all the strikes he had received from his life as a Taichou of the Gotei Thirteen. He was soon pulled out of his pondering moments to feel Rukia pushing him away, or at least struggling from his grasp to be let down.

"Please, let me down."

He remained quiet and decided to pick up his pace, trying to make less time on his travel so that he could see what he could do to try to help her. But apparently, the only thing she wanted right now was to be let go. Byakuya would not release his hold on her and tightened his hands to make her understand that she wasn't going anywhere. Thant man, when I find that man I will personally make him regret what he did.

Seeing as Rukia wasn't getting what she wanted, she tried a new tactic. She leaned her head close to Byakuya's neck and bit him with all her might until she felt the man stop so he could check his wound.

Feeling an immense pain at his neck, Byakuya's eyes widen and stopped—which was a big mistake as Rukia pushed away from him and began to run. Byakuya grabbed at his wounded neck but quickly diverted his gaze towards the jogging Rukia and shunpoed to try to reach her. When he grabbed her hand, Rukia tried to pull away.

"Ah, let me go!" Rukia pulled but the strange man's hold only tightened which in return made her cringe at the pain. "Stop! You're hurting me!"

When Byakuya heard those words, his hold loosened, giving Rukia enough time to push his arm away and once again begin to run from him. I am not her enemy but yet she does not know that. She doesn't know anything. Seeing her act like this makes me feel like I am the enemy. Hm, it can't be helped.

Turning around to see if the strange man was still following her, Rukia stopped when she couldn't see him anymore. Maybe he gave up. But before she knew it, she was falling into darkness as she dropped to the floor but did not make contact as she was at the last moment caught with long, slender hands.

"Forgive me, Rukia, but I do not have the time to explain anything to you." Byakuya brought Rukia up into his arms and began using shunpo to reach Urahara. It would be best to just head there and see if anything could be done about this. His eyes narrowed. Whoever that man was, his plan was to take Rukia out. But why? Whatever his reasons are, I will not hesitate to cut him down the next time I see him.

Stretching his arms over his head, Urahara popped his neck as he stayed sitting down on the floor with a tired expression on his face. He soon perked up when he saw Tessai enter the room. "Oh, good morning, Tessai-san," he let out a soft chuckle, "or should I say, goodnight?"

Tessai acknowledged Urahara and sat down across from him. "It would be more likely goodnight, Urahara-san. But on to other matters, I have secured the children to a more hidden location like you asked."

Urahara looked to the side with a sincere smile hidden by his hat, arms crossed over his chest. "Good, I figured that Kurosaki, and Ishida-kun would be coming by soon so I didn't want to take any risks with them. One bickering pair is enough as it is."

"Hm," Tessai looked out to the outside of the shop as it continued to rain. "Did you feel Kuchiki-Taichou reiatsu flare up? I wonder what he was doing; there wasn't another reiatsu with him when it happened."

The shopkeeper's expression was serious with many thoughts flowing through his head. "That is true, no matter how much I try to concentrate on someone that could be fighting with Kuchiki-Taichou, nothing comes up. It's almost as if he was fighting against wind, nothing there but you could still feel it as it uses its force upon you."

"Well, we could ask him when he gets here."

Smiling, Urahara looked over to Byakuya as he landed outside his shop. "Right on time."

Byakuya walked into the shop as he still carried a knocked out Rukia in his arms. He placed Rukia down and removed the haori from her wet form. "I see you could tell something was happening."

Giving him a single nod, Urahara stood up and walked over to Rukia. "I could sense something, but it was only you I could sense. The other force you must have been fighting must have hidden his reiatsu very well if he was able to pull one over us. If you were fighting this outer force then you must have sensed his reiatsu, correct?"

Closing his eyes, the Taichou tried to remember if he could sense the reiatsu, but the more he tried to grasp the feel of it, the more it slipped away. "Forgive me, but I could not pick up the source of his reiatsu."

"Huh?" Urahara was shocked that even as Byakuya fought an enemy who is able to suppress his reiatsu, the enemy is still able to keep it hidden when in the heat of battle. "Well, this is problematic. I never heard of someone being able to completely cover up his attacks during battle."

Byakuya gave Urahara a stern look. "No, from what I could tell, the man did not use any sort of attack nor did he wield a weapon. He was more into using his adequacy more than anything else. The way the man fought was almost as if he was toying with me. He seemed to have one goal and one goal only; whatever else he had left for me was just to be barely satisfactory since his attention was directed at someone else."

Urahara took his attention from Byakuya and looked down at the drenched Rukia. "Let me guess, his goal was to go after Kuchiki-san from the beginning. Now why would he be after someone who opposed no threat?"

Keeping his gaze on Rukia, Byakuya began to ponder on something. "The man also did something to her."

"Something to her, like what?"

Clenching his fist until they turned white, the Taichou narrowed his eyes. "Somehow, Rukia has forgotten everything."

Both Urahara and Tessai were shocked to hear this as it showed in their faces. Urahara looked over to Rukia and didn't notice anything different nor did he sense her reiatsu abnormal in anyway. This is really strange.

Byakuya looked up and looked over to a room. "Is Kurosaki here? I can sense his reiatsu coming from that room."

Moving his gaze from Rukia, Urahara followed Byakuya's gaze. "Oh, yes, well he had a mild inconvenience and is staying here for a while. Is there a problem, Kuchiki-Taichou?"

"It's better if we keep this from Kurosaki, I wouldn't want to intervene in his personal life more than I have to. I am still not certain if these effects are permanent or not, it's better not to jump to conclusions, yet."

Urahara nodded. Especially if Kurosaki has his own problems to worry about, this would only add more fuel to the fire. I should also remain quiet about Ishida-kun's condition, for now. "Yes, I understand, Kuchiki-Taichou. It's better if you take Kuchiki-san home and see how she reacts when she wakes up. If things get worse I suggest you bring her back immediately."

Byakuya nodded and accepted a towel that Tessai brought him to cover up Rukia from the rain. "Thank you for your time." He then placed the towel around Rukia's small form and carried her in his arms. Heading out of the shop, Byakuya used shunpo and disappeared from sight.

Tessai looked over to Urahara who looked exhausted. "Why did you not mention Kurosaki's and Ishida's stay here?"

"Because it's not my place to tell," he moved his gaze towards the Shinigami and Quincy resting room. "Besides, those two are probably tuckered out; it's not every day you realize you're expecting twins in a young male body—and a Quincy to boot. They need to worry about themselves for the mean time, let them figure it out. If worse comes to worse then everything is just going to have to come into the light."

Uryū woke up with a start. He took in a sharp breathe and heard that thunder began making a racket outside. He calmed himself back down and brought his body closer to Ichigo's shirtless form. Why in the world would Kurosaki even think that it was okay to sleep without a shirt, it's practically freezing! He moved his hand onto Ichigo's chest and felt warmth emit from that single touch. Wow, he is warm.

The Quincy rested his head on the chest and closed his eyes. He tried to concentrate on Ichigo instead of the pounding outside, and took notice of Ichigo's heartbeat and breath coming out of his body. Nuzzling closer, Uryū could perfectly hear every single beat of his heart and feel every single exhale after the inhale as it blew some of his dark locks. So calm, I never thought I would see the day Kurosaki was at peace. Even his face lost that scowl making him look younger. I have a feeling that Kurosaki would be an amazing dad to the twins, because I would be the father and he the dad. Yeah, that works. Opening his eyes, Uryū paid close attention to the redhead's lips.

Even though I have kissed those sinful lips, I still yearn to have them once again. Maybe if I… Uryū leaned closer to the redhead's lips until he was only a breath away from taking them in his own pale ones. When his lips covered Ichigo's bottom lip he felt a jolt go through his body and that made him want more of the man lying beside him. Uryū pulled back by a centimeter and dived back in, more pressure this time around as he captured the sweet taste of Nirvana on his lips. This feeling is inexplicable.

Ichigo didn't need to open his eyes to know that the person who woke him up—due to lip contact—was Uryū. He could feel and sense the Quincy all around him: taste, smell, touch, it was all there. And he loved every moment of it. Bringing a hand up to run through the dark locks of the Quincy, Ichigo began responding to the feverish kisses with his own fiery passion. It was a battle of lips and neither was unsatisfied with the end result, because in the end, they both win.

Slightly pulling away, Ichigo opened his eyes and watched as Uryū opened his pools of deep sapphire mixed with the hint of lust. The both of them then locked eyes and just watched as their chest heaved up and down, trying to reclaim their breathing. Ichigo leaned in and placed a soft kiss on the Quincy's forehead, lingering more than it had to. Uryū had closed his eyes and just sucked in the feeling of having Ichigo's lips upon his skin. It was all breathtaking, for the both of them.

Leaning back so that his back was on the mattress, Ichigo looked down at Uryū who was lying on his chest. "What was that about?" the question was floating in the open, waiting for the haughty insult to come moments after. But to Ichigo's surprise, it never came. "Hey are—"

"Shut up, Kurosaki." His voice cool and calm, as he hid his head in the crook of the Shinigami's neck. These feelings are really nerve-raking. I think the damn hormones are starting to kick in. Or maybe… I just like being held like this, nothing to worry about and just basking in the hold that Kurosaki has placed on me. If there was a place that existed beyond Soul Society, this would be it. "Kurosaki?"

"Hm," Ichigo's tired voice responded as he had his eyes closed with a relaxed look on his face.

"Wear a shirt next time."

Making himself comfortable on the high tree branch, Kioshi closed his eyes and tried to fall into a deep slumber until he heard a familiar voice in the distance.

"K-Kioshi-san?" asked an unsure voice from an open window across from the tree.

Kioshi opened his eyes and looked to where the voice was coming from. He saw the young redhead girl looking through the partly opened window with a look that could be described as concern mixed with uncertainty. "Yes?"

"Y-you're getting wet."

"I can see that. And?"

Orihime looked as if she just asked a stupid question and was just bothering the man. "Aren't you uncomfortable in the rain?"

The man took in a moment to let it sink in before he replied. Closing his eyes, he let out a soft breathe. "No, my body is immune to any type of weather condition. I find this to be quiet soothing, actually." He then looked over to Orihime. "Go to sleep, you don't need to concern yourself with me."

"R-right," she closed the window and then let the curtains cover up the world beyond the trapped little room.

Kioshi tilted his head up and closed his eyes. Fool, you should not concern yourself with others well-being. Especially me, I don't deserve to have any sort of sympathy from anyone. That is an insult to me, an insult that I highly never over look, but since I'm feeling a bit light, I'll let it pass… just this once.

"Kuchiki Byakuya, I wonder what you are going to do with an empty shell of a girl. You will soon realize that she will start seeking for her soul, which only I have. She will come looking for me and once she does, she will be nothing more than a marionette in the hands of her puppeteer." Yes, she will be played as my marionette, and she will belong to me to control. And she will make everyone fooled.

He pulled out a mirror from his coat and watched as the reflection of himself turned into the reflection of one Kuchiki Rukia. A slight smile touched his lip as he looked down at his marionette. Perfect, she will do nicely. I will wait patiently until I begin my complete control of her. Kioshi pocketed his mirror in his coat and felt himself relax under the rain until his breath steadied and fell into darkness.

A/N: Alright! Chapter 26 completed! I hope you all enjoy it!

Review Response:

Gemini24: I kinda thought the womb part would be a bit weird but I really felt like it was something that could happen. I didn't want Urahara to just make some silly little pill; I wanted it to be a bit complex. I knew it was strange but I felt good about the chapter. Although my sister wouldn't stop giggling or blushing when she read that… And yes, Byakuya would probably go all out on Kioshi for what he did, and he should! I like where you hint at the names, I'm really considering that. As for Uryū helping Ichigo control his power, that would probably take time and Uryū would probably decline but they do need something to do when in the shop. And thank you so much for the compliment! I really don't see my writing being extraordinary or anything, I just like to write what helps the story flow. And I believe on Chapter 23 I wrote that Kenshin already knows about the twins, or I at least hinted on it. As for what they might do, well, Kioshi seems to have things already planning out. No female members… not for long!

Reina De La Noche: My sister feels the same way… but instead of her going after Kioshi, she went after me…

Substitute Quincy: Like I said, I didn't want the womb implant to be simple and went with a more out there theme. Even as I was looking it over I felt that it would be really weird for someone to read bit decided to take a chance on it. Thank you for reviewing, though!

GothLoner: Compliments really do make my day since it could become crappy sometimes, but just looking at my reviews really helps and makes me smile! My OC's really are strange people… but that's how I made them. I really don't want to say much about the OC's just that they harbor ill-feelings… can't say no more! I'm glad you reviewed!

Haddrell: I also enjoy their bickering, like in the new chapter! And yes, Uryū does welcome the support but I didn't want him to go complete mushy; he has his pride after all. Ichigo does seem to understand him more since he's the one that is helping him go through with this and has seen him in his worse, I don't want him to treat Uryū like a piece of fine china after all, probably until he's a bit more showing he will. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and how I incorporated the idea of the womb! Thank you for reviewing!

Cammy: I'm glad I was able to interest you in the chapter! Thank you for the review!

Lng De Jio' o: That's pretty much their personalities right there. And it would be interesting to see their twins inherit these personalities but I have yet to decide on how the kids will stand seeing as they are going to be kids of a Quincy and Shinigami. Thank you for the review!

shionch: No prob! I'm just a normal person who needs to relax and take his daily dose of video game hunger with the pain of daily exercise! You were only expressing yourself and that is understandable, heck, my sister expresses herself by things worse than words. Thank you for liking the IchiIshi moment they had when they were implanting the womb. And Kioshi is still being the schemer and making more plans to berate Byakuya with, although, I sometimes think he isn't that… bad… Sorcerers, fairies! I laughed as I imagined a fairy, like the one from Zelda, that was great! But for the mean time, they will remain a bit of a mystery, you just have to wait and see. Out of all of them, I would say that Mikio is the most different of them all seeing as he does seem to be the most put out of the group and his dedication only belongs to Kenshin, like if Kenshin asked something of him he would not hesitate to do it. Kenshin could be considered more than an ally to a point of friend. And thank you for understanding that I have other matters from time to time, I like writing so I don't like taking time to wait until I'm hit with an idea for the next chapter. Thank you for the compliment, it is much appreciated.

Nano: Thank you for liking the chapter! I try not to make you guys wait too long! Thanks for the review!

sindy: I'm sure Uryū will push through, he has Ichigo at his side! Thank you for the review, really appreciate it!

NoCo Forever: Thank you for the compliment. I really appreciate that you think my writing is beautiful, although I sometimes think I don't deserve it. Thank you for the review.

I want to sincerely thank you all and hope you enjoy this chapter. I can't wait to finish the next chapter when I have the time. I'm glad that many of you love this and that keeps me going, so thank you.

Please, review!