Hey all!
So this fan fiction is written to keep the final pairings hidden and to keep you guessing who will end up with who. As we go through the fic, it might start to become a little clearer. If any of the final pairings mentioned in the tags aren't your cup of tea at all, I don't recommend reading to save disappointment.
Also this story contains some mild Momo bashing, so if Hinamori is a character you like, then maybe best not to read this.
As the fan fiction goes on, you'll be able to vote on genders of the babies and offer up suggestions of names etc as well as guessing who the final pairings might be!
The summoning wasn't entirely unusual, but it still made Rukia's skin prickle with anxiety. Despite her internal struggles, her outward composure remained. The soft padding of her feet was echoed around the wooden hallways as she made her way toward the large mahogany doors of the 1st Division.
The guards outside emitted her with a bow, and she heard the doors close behind her. The chamber was lit with the faint light of the setting sun and cast vivid orange shadows across the ancient wood. Large crimson pillars to the left supported the ceiling as the walls fell way toward a balcony looking out across the vastness of the Seireitei. The air cooled the clammy sweat that had begun to dew on her palms. Rukia's fingers found the hilt of Sode No Shirayuki in a bid to ground herself.
Across the stretch of the room stood several figures; Head Captain Kyoraku, who was only member seated behind the desk, was shadowed by his Lieutenant, Nanao Ise. The women had the same composed expression she always wore when her Captain was sober, but it was the other figures who stole Rukia's focus.
It was eclectic gathering. Captain Hitsugaya stood closest to one of the large red pillars to the left, his white brow ticked in obvious annoyance. Lieutenant Hinamori stood close beside him, chatting soft words that Rukia could not hear. Third Seat Kiyone Kotetsu and her sister Captain Kotetsu stood beside each other speaking with Renji and then there was…
'Ichigo!' Rukia couldn't help but laugh as her tall strawberry friend swept her up into his arms in a bone crushing hug. The tension in the room seemed to break and Rukia had to hide her smile in the shoulder of her friend's shihakusho.
'It's good to see you,' Ichigo lowered Rukia back to the floor, clearly not caring at all that he'd just man handled a Lieutenant of the Gotei 13 and beamed triumphantly down at her. His familiar scent made the Head Captain's office feel less intimidating and served to relax Rukia further.
On the verge of asking her tall friend what he was doing in the Seireitei, the Head Captain called out to her.
'Ah Rukia!' Head Captain Kyoraku said, using her first name to emphasise that this wasn't an entirely formal meeting. 'Glad you could join us, this means we're only waiting on two more.'
'What is this all about?' Rukia whispered to Ichigo as they walked back toward the gathered group. Renji shot Rukia a grin which she returned as she took up waiting beside the gathered souls.
'Beats me,' Ichigo said shrugging with his finger twisting in his ear, 'but he said it was important so here I am.'
'Sorry I'm late,' another familiar voice called from the door and Rukia turned to see that Lieutenant Matsumoto had arrived. She looked dishevelled, as if she'd just woken from a dee sleep or had run quickly to try and make the meeting on time.
'You're not as late as you could be Rangiku,' Head Captain Kyoraku chuckled and Lieutenant Matsumoto beamed at her drinking buddy. Ichigo elbowed Rukia and nodded in the direction of Captain Hitsugaya who was now scowling at his Lieutenant. Clearly he would have preferred her to be more punctual.
'The summoning did come out of the blue,' Rukia spoke quietly to Ichigo and now Renji who was listening too.
'Yeah, but whatever it is it seems Urahara and Yoruichi are in on it because I was practically kidnaped from my house and brought here.' Ichigo shrugged and Rukia pursed her lips.
'They didn't give you any information?' she asked curiously. The notes of stress in her voice caught his attention easily. Ichigo had always been incredibly protective of her, he'd learned to interpret every shift in her syllables and every change in her scent from their time together in the world of the living. Rukia in turn, had learned the same of him.
'No, but it will be fine, it's probably going to be something dumb,' Ichigo said.
'Look around the room,' Rukia sighed patiently, 'we've only got Lieutenant and Captain level souls here… whatever it is, it isn't dumb.'
'Kiyone isn't a Lieutenant,' Ichigo pointed out.
'No, true, but she's still a third seat,' Rukia glanced over at the tiny Omega. Kiyone Kotetsu seemed to be just as apprehensive as Rukia was, but was showing the stress. Her pale blue eyes were glancing nervously back toward the Head Captain and her gloved hands twisted themselves into her uniform. Captain Kotetsu seemed to be trying to keep her sister calm, a hand squeezing her shoulder in a familiar show of affection.
Rukia took another closer look around the room, at the various souls gathered and she noticed something else, something that they did all seem to have in common.
'It's all Alpha's and Omega's,' Rukia said blinking quickly.
'Hm?' Ichigo asked, having zoned out.
'It's all Alpha's and Omega's that are here, look,' Rukia nodded around the room and Ichigo blinked and glanced around.
'You're right,' he replied as Renji came to stand beside them, now more invested in their conversation.
'I noticed that too,' Renji commented with a frown.
'You think that has something to do with it?' Ichigo asked, quirking a brow at Rukia.
'Possibly,' Rukia could feel the anxious pressure in her abdomen now as she tried not to overthink things.
'Could be a coincidence, but I don't think it is,' Renji shrugged.
'When is the meeting starting?' Ichigo asked with a sigh, checking a black watch on his wrist.
'I don't know, Head Captain said we're waiting for one more,' Renji replied, then the doors were thrown open and the sound of struggling reached their ears.
A small blond boy with a long black jacket was being manhandled into the room by two members of the stealth squad.
'Ah, my delivery is here,' Head Captain Kyoraku said pleasantly as the struggling blond was dumped unceremoniously onto the wooden floor.
'What the fuck is this?' he spat.
'Yukio?' Ichigo asked and Rukia realised why she recognised the boy. He scrambled to his feet and dusted his jacket down. Yukio turned to glare at Ichigo, the look made less intimidating by the fact they could only see one of his green eyes.
'What did you say to them?' Yukio asked Ichigo, 'I told ya, I ain't doing no more fighting.'
'I didn't say anything,' Ichigo retorted, his anger coming quickly to the surface as it usually did in the face of conflict. Rukia took a deep breath and sighed as the two boys began to argue, in times like this she was reminded how young Ichigo was.
'I summoned you Yukio,' the Head Captain said cheerfully, standing up and clapping his hands, 'and now that you're here the meeting can begin.'
Yukio looked like he wanted to protest more, but despite the cheerful tone of Captain Kyoraku there was an air of authority and power in his stance that the tiny fullbringer didn't dare argue back. Instead he simply scowled and crossed his arms.
'Welcome friends,' the Head Captain began with a beaming smile, 'would anyone like a drink?'
Matsumoto shifted to put her hand up but it was promptly grabbed by Captain Hitsugaya causing Hinamori to chuckle.
'No one?' he asked looking incredibly disappointed.
'Fuck it, I'll take one,' Renji said with a shrug. He stepped away from their side and toward the desk where the Head Captain was enthusiastically pouring.
'Ichigo?' the old man asked turning to grin at him.
'I'm too young to drink,' Ichigo frowned at him and the Head Captain waved it off, holding a drink out for him anyway. Ichigo took it with a sigh as Captain Kyoraku turned his gaze on Rukia.
'I don't drink,' Rukia said with an apologetic bow.
'Nonsense, I see you drinking tea all the time, it's basically the same thing,' he retorted. Rukia doubted that very much but she couldn't refuse her Head Captain so took the porcelain cup with resigned acceptance.
Once the Head Captain had bullied the entire room into taking a cup, they all drank at the same time. It felt like a toast and Rukia had no idea what exactly it was that they were toasting.
'As you all know,' the Head Captain started, his tone making them pay heed as this seemed to be the real reason they were summoned, 'we lost a lot of strong souls in the last war. The visored's have expressed no interest in wishing to re-join the Seireitei and I don't blame them. Thus new orders have come from Central 46.'
There was an uncomfortable shuffle of bodies around the room. Any orders from Central 46 usually ended poorly for the souls in the Gotei 13.
'These new orders are… a little unorthodox,' the Head Captain shared a look with his Lieutenant who gave him an encouraging nod. 'But they've expressed strong wishes for a minimal of two powerful souls to be born by the end of the year.'
He let the words sink in and for some of the more astute souls in the room there was instant shock. Rukia felt it in her whole body… that was why the room was only filled with Alpha and Omega souls, and of the uppermost rank with the highest spiritual pressure.
'You can't be serious?' Captain Kotetsu said finally, breaking the silence. Rukia could feel Ichigo's puzzled and naive stare boring into her, but she gave the squad four Captain her full attention as she challenged the older man.
'I wish I was,' Head Captain Kyoraku grimaced, 'however I do not wish for any of you to worry. Captain Ukitake was with me when I was summoned alongside my lovely Nanao, and together we made our voices heard.'
'I'm surprised they even listened to you,' Captain Hitsugaya stated coldly, the temperature in the room turning a few notches colder as he spoke. Everyone knew that the young Captain had terrible experiences at the hands of Central 46.
'So am I Shiro,' the Head Captain sighed, 'I made myself very clear that they would not impose unwanted pregnancies on any of the Omega's in the Gotei 13. We tossed around a few ideas and came up with a plan, if it isn't successful then we will simply ask for donations of sperm and eggs and the babies will be laboratory born.'
His body language made it clear he didn't wish for that to be the case but Rukia felt considerably lighter at the arrangement. No one was going to be forced into this, worst case scenario she'd maybe be asked to make a donation… even then if they were only looking for two new souls there were plenty of people in this room to make it happen.
'Central 46 know that souls born here usually have much higher spiritual pressure, it's easier to create and raise the next generation of powerful souls than it is to wait for the chance of another miracle soul to pass through these doors,' the Head Captain sighed, 'their ideas for how we went about this were significantly worse than mine. We reminded them where their poor decisions have led too in the past, who they've hurt in the past and they seemed to be ready to try and do things our way instead.'
'And what is your way?' Captain Isane asked.
'Well,' he seemed to perk up at the question, a large smile forming over his face, 'we call it "The Omega Project."'
'This already sounds like a terrible idea,' Renji mumbled under his breath but loud enough for Ichigo and Rukia to hear him. It wasn't often that Rukia agreed with her tattooed friend but the ball of anxious energy bubbling inside her was making her agree at this moment.
'We'd obviously love for the new souls to be born to proper parents and especially their Omega mother, so we decided to come up with a few match making tests… these will be done to try and match an Omega in this room with the Alpha they're most likely to produce the best offspring with.'
Captain Kyoraku looked incredibly proud of himself, 'but that's not all, we will also do a personality test so that maybe when the two souls come together they stand a chance of actually forming a bond.'
'This still sounds like a really terrible idea,' Renji sighed again and Rukia internally agreed.
'Even if the two souls decide not to pursue each other, they will not be forced to mate?' Captain Hitsugaya clarified with a scowl.
'Of course, I would never force anyone in this room to do something like that, but we may then require a small donation from each of you instead.' The older man replied.
'Well, that seems, fair…' Lieutenant Matsumoto commented, 'I have a question.'
'Ask away,' the Head Captain spread his arms in a wide fashion, as if opening the floor for all questions to be welcome.
'Say the Omega wants to go through with a natural pregnancy and raising the child but the Alpha doesn't?' she asked.
Head Captain Kyoraku gave her a soft smile, like he'd partly been expecting this question from her.
'Then we can absolutely do that. Artificial insemination will be an option here as long as the Alpha's are happy to pop it in a cup for us.'
Some of the Alpha's flinched around the room, but Renji laughed.
'I think you'd be hard done by to find an Alpha who wouldn't want to get Rangiku pregnant,' his obnoxious voice boomed and Rukia nearly hit him. His comment was, as always, incredibly uncalled for and Rukia had to count to five to ground herself. She noticed that Captain Hitsugaya was firing Renji a look of deep loathing, and Rukia was sure if Renji made any move toward Matsumoto in that time, he'd have been frozen solid.
'Like I said, we'd love the children to be raised with at least one or both parents to ensure that they grow up with our morals and surrounded by love to help guide them,' the Head Captain said, choosing to ignore Renji's comment. 'We really don't wish to go down the lab born option, but if we do we will ensure there are parents wishing to adopt and raise the child so it can grow in a loving environment. Jushiro was exceptionally critical of this point and Nanao and I agreed with him.'
Matsumoto seemed pleased with the answer and Rukia wondered, as she studied the taller woman's face, how long she'd wanted to be a mother for.
'Well I'm happy to go through with this for the sake of the Seireitei,' Lieutenant Hinamori said with a low bow.
'Aye, I'll take part,' Ichigo said which surprised Rukia. She raised a quizzical eyebrow at her friend but he just shrugged at her. Renji seemed to be on board, along with Rangiku and the rest seemed to only grudgingly accept their fate… all except-
'Why the fuck am I here then?' Yukio scowled, 'I aint got no spiritual pressure.'
'Ah yes, Yukio!' Captain Kyoraku beamed and clapped his hands together, 'we knew you were an Alpha and we knew your power was unique. We thought it could be interesting to see what your power combined with ours would produce.'
'I refuse,' he said, crossing his arms across his chest.
'Well see now, you're the only one in this room without a choice,' the Head Captain said still with the same cheerful tone. Rukia heard Renji laughing beside her but she shot the boy a sympathetic gaze. Yukio looked livid, his pale face breaking out in an angry red flush.
'W-what?' he stammered, 'but you said-'
'I said I wouldn't be forcing the Omegas, but since all we need from you is a tiny little sample, I'm pretty sure we can get that from you relatively pain free if you're not willing to cooperate-'
'Okay, okay!' he yelped as the Head Captain swept towards him.
'Marvellous,' Captain Kyoraku smiled.
'I am guessing I am here from a medical point of view then, Captain Kyoraku, since I am not an Omega?' Captain Kotetsu asked.
'Yes, we will need you on board and ready to help us deliver children should the Omega's choose to go with a natural birth,' he nodded to the woman who bowed back.
Yukio could still be heard muttering sulkily under his breath but there was now an air of dismissal around them. Rukia wasn't sure exactly where she should go now, or what she should do with herself.
'Head Captain Kyoraku?' she asked bowing low for the interruption and making the older man smile in a fond and charmed sort of way, 'does my brother know?'
'Ah well,' the Head Captain rubbed the back of his neck, 'that's actually where your Captain went Rukia. Jushiro is off trying to talk Byakuya into this whole ordeal…'
'Good luck,' Renji muttered under his breath.
'I will go and visit my brother tonight then,' Rukia said, retaining her sigh as she fought against the anxious twisting sensation in her stomach.
'Good idea,' he nodded, 'in that case all the Omegas are dismissed, Alpha's may I ask you to stay behind for me please.'
There was shuffling as the Omega's moved toward the doors at the back. Lieutenant Ise walked beside them so that only the Alpha's would be left in the room. The large doors were pushed open and closed behind the party of people before a bubble of chatter broke out.
'This is so exciting,' Matsumoto commented, clasping the arm of Ise as she spoke.
'I knew you'd be fine with it,' the dark haired Lieutenant responded with a fond smile. Her hand came up to cover Matsumoto's. Omega's thrived on physical contact, especially from people they were close too. It was one of the only ways to know if you were charming an Omega or not, if they sought physical contact from you, it was usually a positive sign.
'Well of course I'm going to be fine,' Lieutenant Hinamori said with an air of girlish excitement, 'I have Toshiro.'
Matsumoto seemed to go rigid at the mention of her Captain and Rukia wondered what had caused it.
'Toshiro and I were practically made for each other,' the small Lieutenant went on, twirling around in a circle and hugging her arms into her body. Then her eyes fell on Rukia and a soft smile graced her lips. 'I bet you and Kurosaki-kun will end up together?'
There were a lot of things about that sentence that annoyed Rukia. The use of the honorific kun being used by someone who barely knew Ichigo and also the way she seemed determined that Rukia and Ichigo would end up together, as if it had been a topic she'd discussed with people several times before.
'Ichigo and I are friends,' Rukia defended with a shrug, 'so we'll see.'
'But you're also friends with Lieutenant Abari too right?' Kiyone Kotetsu asked timidly.
'Yeah I am,' Rukia flinched and some of the other women seemed to chuckle.
'You don't want it to be him?' the younger Kotetsu asked quietly.
'It would just make things awkward with my brother,' Rukia sighed, 'I get the sense he doesn't like Renji very much.'
It was true, her brother often had to tolerate Renji more than usual as he wasn't just his subordinate, he was also Rukia's friend. She dreaded to think how much extra Byakuya would have to put up with Renji if he were the father of her child.
'Nanao are you taking part then?' Matsumoto asked the woman.
'Captain Kyoraku doesn't want me taking part,' her black eyebrows pulled her features down into a scowl, 'I offered to take part. Said it was only fair if all of you are being asked to do it, but he was adamant I won't.'
Matsumoto seemed to smile fondly at her friend, kissing the knuckles of her hands before letting them go. She turned beaming to the other women.
'Well I think we should meet after the tests or during them, help each other out and offer a sort of support network,' the busty Lieutenant offered.
'I like that idea,' Kotetsu responded, 'it will make me feel like I'm not going through this alone.'
'Well, I'll have Toshiro but I suppose I tag along,' Hinamori said with a shrug and Rukia watched Matsumoto's eyes close and her nostrils flare at the comment.
'That's decided then, first meeting at your place, Ran?' Ise asked and Matsumoto grinned and nodded.
'Yes, I will send messages out once we know a bit more information and we can all meet for it,' she replied. The Omega's started to disperse, Hinamori walking ahead of them all with an air of arrogant superiority. Rukia didn't miss the middle finger that Matsumoto gave to the back of the other woman until Ise caught her hand and lowered it with a shake of her head. The younger Kotetsu giggled and Rukia had to wonder what drama had been unfolding in the 10th Division surrounding the Captain, his Lieutenant and Momo Hinamori.
The thought was quickly wiped from her mind as Rukia realised she had to go and speak with her brother.
And just like that the twisting ball of anxiety was back in her stomach again.
Please let me know your thoughts in a review.
Chapters will start to get longer and longer, they will be updated regularly about every 1 to 3 weeks as I write them!
If you want to try and guess final pairings this early on, feel free :) and at the end we can see who was right all along.