Chapter 7: The Caravan
(Two weeks later…)
The sounds of heavy furniture and equipment being dragged across rock ground, mixed with the echoes of masculine and feminine voices as the shinigamis tasked with moving the Kuchiki family and their guests back to the partially rebuilt estates, loaded the family's belongings onto carts positioned at the cave entrance. Clan wives herded the children into groups, imparting stern warnings for them to remain close to the caravan at all times.
"There are still some quincies causing trouble, here and there," one mother warned her wide-eyed boys, "so don't run off."
"We won't Mommy!"
The voices of the children floated into the small quarters where Kisuke was packing the last of his belongings. A little smile touched his lips at the sound, but his pale grey eyes reflected hints of sadness.
I hope that I get to hear the sounds of my own kids' voices. I'm doing pretty well, especially with Hachi and Tetsuya both attacking this. I'm pretty sure to make it until Ichigo's due date. It's just not clear how much farther I might go on. I've been poring over all of the information that Tenjiro sent. The best healers in the Seireitei and royal realm have all taken a crack at it.
I just don't know what the answer could be…if there is an answer.
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud, rough and amusingly familiar male voice shouting outside the cave.
"Put your damned swords away! I'm not a fucking quincy! Yeah, I'm wearing white! Arrancars wear white. Yes, I'm an Espada…a former Espada, but I'm sure my buddy, Urahara fucking Kisuke will tell you I'm an ally, not a damned enemy!"
Kisuke left his quarters and walked hastily out to where two armed guards were holding their weapons ready, refusing to let the tall, blue-haired hollow into the cave.
"Hey, it's okay boys. This guy's all right. He was a big help in the war, so let him through."
"Thank you," the hollow said sarcastically.
"Just be careful to watch your valuables," Kisuke joked.
"Fuck you, Urahara," the hollow chuckled through still half-bared teeth.
"Hey Grimmjow, I thought you went back to get Harribel taken care of."
"She's safe," Grimmjow said, falling in with him and following as Kisuke led him back to the shopkeeper's quarters, "Nel and her two idiot fraccìon are taking care of her."
"Good. Glad to hear she's in good hands," Kisuke said approvingly, "Ywach really messed her up bad."
"Yeah, well we made sure the big bad fucker paid for it, didn't we?"
"We did," Kisuke chuckled, "By the way, I never got to properly thank you for the assist with Askin Nakk Le Vaar."
Grimmjow gave him a little, off-handed shrug.
"We had a contract."
The hollow's head tilted and his ice blue eyes narrowed.
"Speaking of which, there's the matter of my payment," Grimmjow reminded him.
Kisuke gave a little anxious laugh and the hollow's lips turned downward.
"You're not backing out of our deal now?" he demanded, "You fucking promised me that I would be able to…"
"Yeah," Kisuke said, putting a hand over the hollow's mouth, "yeah, I remember what I promised you. Just, the delivery is gonna be a little delayed. See, unfortunately…"
"No!" Grimmjow snapped, his blue eyes flaring, "You do not get to back out of our goddamned deal! We have a contract that I already fulfilled. I'll make it easy for you. I did something for you, now you deliver on your promise, or maybe I'll just eat you as compensation! How'd you like that?"
"Actually, I wouldn't recommend it," Kisuke said, smirking, "seeing as how your meal would be tainted with something you don't want to ingest."
"What? Shinigami blood? No problem!" Grimmjow snarled, "Bring it on!"
He read the weary look that overtook the shopkeeper's usually unfailingly pleasant expression, and his eyes darkened.
"So, the rumors are true?" he asked, "You were poisoned by another one of those creepy bastards?"
"Yeah," Kisuke confirmed.
"Doesn't sound like you to be so careless," Grimmjow observed, eyeing him more closely, "Don't tell me. You were protecting fucking Kurosaki, even though the bastard has more lives than you, me and the kitchen sink?"
"Naw, Ichigo didn't need my protection," Kisuke answered, looking out the doorway, into the main chamber, where Tetsuya stood, holding one of his babies in his arms, with Renji hugging him from behind and kissing him on the side of his graceful white neck, while Byakuya held another baby at Tetsuya's other side, "Someone else did."
Grimmjow followed his gaze to the young, blue-eyed noble and his smiling husbands.
"What the…?" the hollow sputtered, "You get yourself fatally poisoned for a guy who's not only taken, but has babies with not one, but two other guys? Someone tell me what that little cupcake has that I don't, because I take baths, I dress sharp and I don't have guys falling all over themselves to make babies with me!"
"W-well, Tetsuya's kinda special…"
"Shit, I guess he is…" Grimmjow muttered.
"And it wasn't because I wanted him for myself," Kisuke said, looking wistfully at the happy family, "It's because he was carrying those babies inside him, and that family you're looking at was about to be blown to smithereens."
"Huh…" Grimmjow huffed, shaking his head, "If you had a lick of sense, you woulda said the hell with'em and protected yourself. Now, look at you! All fucked up and nowhere to go but six feet under. Do you have any idea how many people could die because you're not gonna be here to save'em?"
"Heh, but what do you care, right?" Kisuke teased him, "You don't care about those people, do you?"
"I know I'm worth more to the three worlds alive than dead," the blue-haired hollow snorted, "You need to stop worrying about the little things and think about the big ones."
Kisuke's eyes caught Ichigo arriving, carrying one of Tetsuya's babies and smiling brightly.
"Sometimes the little things are more important," he sighed wistfully.
Grimmjow scowled and glared at Ichigo.
"He looks fine," he commented, "so why can't we…?"
"Look closer…lower," Kisuke said, nodding.
Grimmjow's gaze ran down the Shiba heir's long torso, catching at the sight of the noticeable bump on his abdomen.
"Fuck me…" he groaned, "No goddamned way! He's carrying kits too? Geez! I got wrecked by the monster quincy, not once, but twice so you could set me up to fight a girly boy who's having babies? Are you out of your fucking mind, Urahara? YOU PROMISED ME A GODDAMNED BRAWL!"
"Hey! Keep it down," Kisuke chided him, turning slightly to block Ichigo from seeing the hollow as he turned in their direction, "It's not like he was pregnant when we made the deal, and besides, he'll only be pregnant for another five months."
"FIVE MONTHS?" Grimmjow roared.
"SHH!" Kisuke hushed him.
"You shush!" the irascible hollow snapped, "I'm not gonna shush. You promised me a fight and you're gonna deliver!"
"Hiya Grimmjow," Ichigo said cheerfully, walking into the room, still carrying one of the babies, "When did you get here? It's good to see ya!"
"Good to see me," the hollow repeated, giving him a stymied look, "Since when?"
"I'm glad you got back safely. I heard you and Nel were looking after Harribel She doing better now?"
"Eh," the blue-haired hollow said, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck, "yeah, she's doin' all right now. Nel's throwing up on her about three times a day. It's gross, but it works."
"Who've they got running Las Noches now?" the Shiba heir asked conversationally.
"Ah, well, after we shit-kicked the last of the quincies out, the Kuchiki leader and some other nobles came and helped us locate some descendants of the old king's family from a few hundred years ago. Seems there's an heir to the throne, some little blondie guy with magical hair or something."
"Magical hair?" Ichigo laughed, "Seriously?"
"Yeah, like a thousand years ago, there was a family called Kurobarai that ran Hueco Mundo. They got mostly killed off in the first quincy war, but someone hid a few royal kits somewhere, and now we've got us an heir to the throne. The noble shinigamis are actually helping him to get set up in the original palace. Las Noches was razed…burned and beaten to nothing. No one wants to remember that shit, right?"
"Right," Ichigo agreed, "So, uh, what're you doing here now?"
Grimmjow shot Kisuke a disgusted look.
"Nothing much," he sighed, "I heard some rumors about Urahara dying or something and came to see…if I could help."
"What?" Kiusuke quipped, "You wanna help me die? No thanks, I got that covered."
"Stop that!" Ichigo said, giving him an offended look.
He gave Grimmjow a look of appreciation.
"Thanks," he answered gratefully, "We need all the help we can get."
"I can see that," the hollow said, his eyes betraying a hint of sadness as he studied Ichigo's small baby bump, "So, you're carrying for this guy, huh?"
Ichigo blushed.
"Well, yeah. Kisuke and I are married now."
"No shit, really?" the hollow said, smirking, "I was pretty sure he was sweet on you, the way he's always dragging your ass out of the fire and giving you a second shot at winning."
"Yeah, he does that a lot, I guess."
"Good of you to give him something special like that."
Ichigo gave him a surprised look.
"Didn't think you were the family type," he commented, "Did I read you wrong?"
"Nah, I wasn't," Grimmjow snickered, "but after your buddy, Zaraki Kenpachi laid waste to Nnoitra, I scooped up what was left of his fraccìon, Tesla, and he's my fraccìon now. Got a nice little cave in the good area, near the new palace, running water, all the extras. We're pretty comfortable. But uh…huh."
"What's up?" Kisuke asked, "You looking to uh, renegotiate our deal?" he asked.
Grimmjow arched an eyebrow curiously.
"If I give you the notes on how I got Ichigo pregnant, you'll…?"
Grimmjow gave him a wicked smile.
"You tell me how to fill up my little warthog with kits, like you did with Ichigo, I'll not only count our debt paid, I'll even personally help you see if there's any information in Hueco Mundo that can help you beat that quincy poison. After all, hollow reiatsu is real destructive to quincies, right? So…maybe there's an answer somewhere…"
Kisuke's eyes widened.
"The palace!" he exclaimed, "You said that they're setting the new royal family up in the original palace? They found the ruins?"
"Yeah, we're still digging it all out, but we just found the area where the old archive was, and we're going to open that up next. I'm thinking that maybe there will be a clue in there that could help you."
"Yeah!" Kisuke said excitedly, "given the fact that hollow reiatsu is so destructive to quincies, it's a really good chance we could find something."
"We have an agreement then?" Grimmjow asked, "You help me knock up my mate and I help you find your antidote?"
"Deal!" Kisuke and Ichigo said together.
"Well, I'll need you to come to the palace with me. I warn you, though, we've also had our share of quincies, hiding out and attacking here or there. It's not a place you should be taking your knocked up mate, if you know what I mean."
"Hey!" Ichigo objected, "I'm not exactly helpless, you know!"
"Yeah, well, you're in no shape to be facing off with quincies, so shut it! I'll take your hubby, here, with me, and you can stay here and let the pansy nobles look after you. They've got all the comforts, right?"
"I'm not leaving Kisuke!" Ichigo snapped angrily, reaching down to rub his belly, "He's the father of my baby, and I need him to give me reiatsu infusions to keep my energies and the baby's balanced. If he leaves, it's harder for the healers to do it. It should really be the father."
"Well, I need Mr. Know-it-all, here, to help me search the archive, and we have to travel through dangerous territory to get to the palace," Grimmjow said, scowling, "I don't think he wants to be looking after you, while trying to find what he needs. You'll just be in the way."
"Shut up!" Ichigo answered heatedly, rubbing his belly harder and glaring at the hollow, "Where he goes, I go!"
Kisuke looked from one to the other uncertainly.
"I'm tempted to agree with Grimmjow," he told his angry partner, "but at the same time, you have a point. But…we also have to remember that I need both Tetsuya and Hachi to continue my treatments, so anywhere I go, they have to go to. I need to talk to a couple of people before we can do this. So…tell you what. We'll head back to Kuchiki Manor, and I'll meet you and Tesla there. I'll help you with making your mate pregnant, and while we're at it, I'll also try to work out how I can go to the palace and still manage to get the infusions I need. We'll probably need to bring a unit of fighters to guard us. I'm sure Byakuya will be willing, if he thinks that we could find something helpful in saving my life."
"You'd better hope," Grimmjow sighed, "Oh, and one more thing we can do as we head to the palace. I have the coordinates on the ruins of Szayel Aporro's old lab. I don't know if you'll find anything there. It was ransacked by that crazy fuck, Mayuri already."
"Yeah, he gave us what he found there," Kisuke sighed, so there's probably not gonna be anything that helpful."
"Don't be so sure," Grimmjow said encouragingly, "After all, I happen to have a mate who was the subject of a number of that batshit crazy guy's experiments. Tesla will go with us. If anyone can find some nooks and crannies that your deranged comrade missed, Tesla can."
"Wow," Ichigo said, giving the blue-haired hollow a look of deep gratitude, "Grimmjow, how can we…"
"Don't thank me," Grimmjow said brusquely, "We haven't found anything yet."
He eyed Ichigo closely.
"But uh, if you wanna sweeten the deal for me, you and I could make a little arrangement."
"Grimmjow…" Kisuke began.
"No, it's okay," Ichigo assured him, "Whaddya want for helping us so much? I mean, besides help in getting Tesla pregnant?"
"Ichigo, this is…"
"Okay, here it is," Grimmjow said, ignoring the sputtering shopkeeper, "After you're done popping out this guys muffins? You come to me and I'll get you back up to fighting strength. I'll do that, then you and me will have it out in the desert, one more time. One on one. What do you say, Kurosaki?"
Ichigo gave him a stymied look.
"You wanna train me and then…"
"And then," Grimmjow sneered, "I'm gonna kick your ass from here to your fucking royal realm!"
"You wanna fight me?" Ichigo mused, "Why? We're friends now, aren't we?"
"No, you idiot! We're not friends!" Grimmjow said scathingly, "We're enemies with a few common interests, so there are agreements. I give you what you want and you give me the fight I want. Easy as pie, right?"
"I'm not gonna fight you," Ichigo laughed.
"What're you fucking laughing for? I'm serious, here!" Grimmjow snarled.
"No way," the ginger-haired youth insisted.
"Well then, you don't get my help!"
"Yeah, we do," Ichigo said, crossing his arms.
"Huh? How do you figure? I'm not doing shit for you if you don't…"
"You wanna enjoy the good life with your mate, don't you?" Ichigo asked, smirking, "You know…happy home, good food, all the extras, and a horde of little hollows, calling you Daddy?"
"What the…? I don't care if…"
"Yeah, you do," Ichigo said smugly, "I saw the way you were looking at me before. You want kids."
"What would a guy like me do with kids?" Grimmjow scoffed, "Pain in the ass. I was really just asking for Tesla, not me."
"Liar," Kisuke laughed, "I think my little strawberry has you figured out."
"Think so, huh?" Grimmjow said, scowling, "All right, fine! I'll help you and you help me, but I'm still training your ass back up to snuff when you drop those kits! I'll just make sure we do a lot of sparring!"
"I can live with that," Ichigo said, nodding.
"Me too," Kisuke agreed.
"All right. I'm going back to bring Tesla. I'll see you at Kuchiki Manor."
