Nanao didn't doubt she was pregnant as her stomach was already starting to round and while she was inactive, she wasn't getting enough food to fatten her up. It was easier to think she was getting fat from inactivity though as it kept the panic at bay. If Starrk was right she would only be pregnant for two months, and two out of six weeks were already down, making her a quarter of the way through. Exactly two weeks after they had agreed to mate to Starrk and Grimmjow, two guards showed up outside her cell door, exactly as Harunobo had promised.
"Step into the safety cage," one of them ordered gruffly.
"Why?" Starrk demanded, rising to his paws and moving to stand before the cage so his bulk was between her and the guards. His lips were curled back slightly to show his fangs and his hackles were slightly up, indicating his displeasure. Nanao gave the guards credit for being professionals, for they didn't flinch and addressed Starrk directly instead of trying to arise his ire by baiting him.
"We are taking her to be examined and to confirm the pregnancy. Someone will come to give you instruction to the viewing cell once pregnancy is confirmed and the image is pulled up."
Starrk's ears perked up at that and he dropped into a less aggressive stance. "Very well." He moved over to stand by her side while she rose to her feet and stepped into the safety cage.
"You come too. Considering the gestation rates, you should both be showing signs by now," the second guard ordered. "I think we can trust you two not to scrap if you are brought to the viewing cage together, eh?"
"Starrk's too lazy to pick a fight even if we didn't get along," Grimmjow snorted from his own cell.
"I am not certain if I am hopeful or not," Karin grunted as her fellow prisoner joined her in the hallway. "We going to the medical room again?"
"Yes."
"We know the way," Karin brushed passed the surprised guards and took the lead.
Nanao fell in beside her, but not before holding back a chuckle at the shocked looks on the guards faces. No doubt most of the women they are accustomed to escorting are quivering messes, she thought sadly, her amusement taking a sudden dip into depression.
They walked leisurely down the hallways to the medical room Yhwach had confronted them in. This time it was staffed by two slaves, both from the 4th. The guards stood by the door at attention, but otherwise left them to their own devices. As a military officer, she was impressed with their performance. The two women presented them with a pitcher of water to drink before going about the room and getting things prepared for the examination.
"They don't seem too worried about us trying to escape," Karin muttered, using her cup of water to indicate the guards.
"Escape where?" Nanao questioned. "We are in Hueco Mundo. Where would we escape to except a dessert upon which we have no idea how to survive? We need food and water, and we wouldn't know where to find either. I am not certain it would be healthy for us to eat hollow."
"True enough," Karin admitted. They finished the pitcher of water they had been provided before Karin spoke again. "So, who is going first?"
"I might as well. I think it's obvious Starrk and I were successful," she sighed, indicating her less than toned stomach after shifting her uniform aside. It definitely had a bump to it, no matter how much she wanted to deny it.
She approached the two patiently waiting women while Karin made herself comfortable nearby and discreetly observed the guards and the room. There was a lot of trust being shown here considering both women had access to their reiatsu, but Nanao knew she was right. It would be suicidal to try and escape into Hueco Mundo, more so while being pregnant. If it wasn't for Starrk and Grimmjow with the knowledge they had of this world, it would be almost impossible to survive. They had no way to leave the realm after all and they had no idea where in Hueco Mundo they were in relation to Las Noches; the only safe harbour in this giant ocean of white sand.
Maybe we should start storing portions of our meals and hiding them somewhere. Once we escape there will be no food for us at all. Water is the big catcher, we can go weeks without food if need be. The pickled vegetables would hold well.
"Please lie down on the table," she was instructed as she approached the two women.
She got up onto the table and laid down. She found her stomach was starting to get knotted up in worry now that she was laying here at the moment of truth. Was she truly pregnant and not just gaining weight? How many children was she going to have? Will she be put on trial if they did escape for being forced to breed with a hollow? Would Starrk be hunted down for being the one to sire the young, a charge that would most likely be led by Shunsui? What would her few friends think? If everything did somehow turn out, how was she supposed to raise a brood?
One nurse asked her questions while examining her body, the other wrote the answers down. Most of it was medical history for herself and her family once it was established she was a born soul and not a plus soul. They took a bunch of measurements as well and felt up her breasts. She couldn't remember the last time she had a PAP test, but it was just as uncomfortable now as ever. She thought she caught Karin wince and wondered if the young woman had ever had such a test done. She was rather young after all. They took blood samples and set a cup aside for a urine sample once the examination was done.
Nanao eyed the machine they rolled over to her suspiciously as they set it up over her stomach and covered her tummy in some sort of warm gel. She'd never seen such a contraption before and felt her apprehension rise. What could such a thing possible be and why would they need it?
"Is that an ultrasound?" Karin asked curiously.
"It is," one of the two women responded. "Now we can see how many, if any, of the eggs fertilized."
"Never seen one designed like this. Does it read reiatsu or something?" Karin inquired.
"It does, although I am not honestly sure how it truly works. It's a Quincy device and they only taught us how to use it. I wish we had something like this in soul society," one of the nurses sighed, eyeing the machine fondly.
Well that certainly made sense. Nanao felt her apprehension rise again as they positioned the arm of the machine over her stomach and switched it on. How many was it going to show? Karin moved over to stand by her side with her face glued to the monitor with clear interest. She shifted uncomfortably, and was admonished for moving as the woman manning the machine set the curved panel over her stomach flush with the gel. Karin's face lit up with interest, then slowly started to pale as the machine continued to work and the two nurses wrote things down on her chart and pressed buttons on the machine.
"Well?" she asked when she couldn't take it anymore.
"Still counting and measuring," Karin answered.
"How many are there so far?" she asked worriedly.
"Five. No wait, six confirmed so far. Not going to lie," a small look of pleasure crossed Karin's face, "they look kind of cute already. Can you print images?" she asked the two nurses.
"No. But we will pause the screen and bring up the sire so he can see. Most don't want to, but we can move the monitor over if you want," the nurse offered.
"I want to see," Nanao declared quickly. If Karin said they looked cute, she wanted to see. If anything, it would help to know she wasn't going to give birth to monsters.
More buttons were pressed and things were written down. Karin winced twice more, but otherwise said nothing. Finally, the nurses stopped their tapping and writing and the sound of grating mettle brought both woman's attention to the cage they had noticed on their first trip here. You never realized how much bigger Grimmjow was over Starrk until you saw the two of them side by side. Starrk's back was level with Grimmjow's stomach as they stood together.
The smaller monitor was turned to face her way while a larger one was flicked on by the cage. She had no idea what she was looking for at first on the coloured screen, but slowly the image resolved itself into what looked like a litter of half formed puppies. They were kind of cute, but as she looked at the numbers beside each one she felt herself blanch in horror.
"Karin…" she whispered.
"I know. At least they are cute and likely to be adorable."
"Still… that many?" she whimpered, looking at the image on her screen. "We only mated four times, how can there be that many?" she demanded on the brink of hysteria.
"Starrk must be rather prolific. If you think about how strong he is, it should be no surprise that he has strong swimmers. Still, just how many eggs do the Quincy seed?" Karin asked the nurses.
"Ten to twelve to insure at least a few get fertilized," one of the nurses answered.
"Holy shit Starrk, you ain't ever going to be lonely again," Grimmjow laughed. "You got enough there to form a fair size pack, even if half don't make it."
"Eight, you mangy mutt," Nanao snarled at him as she sent a glare towards the cell holding the two hollows. "I am going to be fatter than a cow with three calves inside of her!" she almost wailed.
"They are beautiful," he sighed, tail wagging excitedly and ears perked up as he gazed longingly at the screen.
"I am glad one of us is happy," she grunted.
"They might not all make it to term," he pointed out sadly, tail and ears dropping a little.
Nanao couldn't stay mad at him with that dejected look. He looked far too much like a kicked puppy and she took a moment to be thankful Shunsui had never been able to pull off such a look or she would never have been able to remain stern at him.
"I am sure they well make it," she sighed. "The females in my family tend to be prolific too."
"Are you ready for your turn?" one of the nurses asked Karin.
"Ready or not, it's got to be done," Karin shrugged.
Karin took her place to be poked, prodded, and interrogated. Nanao hopped down from the table, filled her pee cup, then took over Karin's original lounging spot. She sneaked a look over at the guards, who seemed to be bored with most of their focus on the two hollows in the cage. They were not paying attention to the woman. With the nurses focused on Karin, she took the opportunity to work on knitting her kido gloves and setting them over her hands. She did so slowly, not wanting to draw attention to herself as she worked. She was done by the time it was Karin's turn under the machine. She watched the monitor as the two nurses worked and started recording the information on their sheets.
"Okay, I don't get it," Nanao frowned. "I know they messed around with me, so it makes sense as to why I got so many inside, but I didn't think they played with you."
"They didn't, at least insofar as I know. Why? Is there more than one? Twins run in the family so it honestly wouldn't surprise me to see two."
"More like six," Nanao answered honestly.
"What! Sonofabitch! Did those fuckers play with me when I wasn't paying attention?" she scowled. Nanao had a feeling the only reason Karin hadn't moved in her rage was because she was pinned down under the machine. "They had to know I was in heat because every hollow in the bloody pit was acting fishy, and they did drug both of us. They could have played around while I was down without my noticing." The glare Karin levelled at the two guards made one of them twitch slightly, but otherwise they didn't move or respond to the accusations.
"Six?" Grimmjow's ears were fully erect and he had a feline grin on his face. "That will really stick in Kurosaki's craw," he laughed.
"Yes, it does, thank you ever so much for reminding me," Karin snapped angrily at him.
"Huh? We are mates, you have my name now," he snorted.
A look of contemplation crossed Karin's face. "Karin Jagerjaques. Doesn't sound too bad," she mused. "Alright, but only because I want to see the look on Ichi-nii's face when we tell him," she chuckled.
The monitor was turned Karin's way and the big one flicked on. It didn't take Karin long to scan the image and she let out a groan as she stared at the six forms on the screen. They were not as developed as Nanao's young, which made sense since the development difference between them was an entire month. After a good, long look at Karin's cubs, the floor to the cage dropped, removing the sires from the room.
"I suppose it could be worse," Karin sighed as she was let up from the table to fill her own pee cup and get dressed.
"Thanks for the reminder," Nanao groaned as she looked at her own stomach. She couldn't help the shiver at the reminder of what the woman who gave birth had looked like, and she'd only had six offspring. "I am starting to think this was a really bad idea," she groaned.
"Tell me about it," Karin grouched. "At least they should be small, but I definitely don't look forward to feeding that many babies. Dear lord, they well be at our breast twenty-four, seven."
The two of them walked back towards the exit, the two guards falling in behind them as they entered the corridor and headed towards their cells.
"I am honestly wondering how comfortable a coyote skin rug might be," she mused. She thought she heard one of the guards hold back a choke, but didn't bother to look over her shoulder to see if she was right.
"Not a bad idea. Too bad Grimmjow doesn't have spots," Karin hummed.
They chuckled and took the last corner leading them back to the pit and the cells. Starrk was waiting for her in their nest with tongue lolling in a puppy grin and tail thumping heartedly against the floor. She must have had quite the look on her face for his head fell to his paws, his ears went down, his tail ceased all movement, and she swore she heard a whimper as she was let into the safety cage.
"Eight," she snarled at him as she entered the cell. "You had to get me knocked up with eight, you mangy mutt," she growled. "I am going to be fatter than a cow with three calves inside of her!"
A loud, pain-filled 'merrow' from the other cell suggest Karin had done something painful to Grimmjow and Starrk huddled in on himself; tail tucked under him and looking like a kicked puppy as she glared at him. Damn it all he looked so pathetic she couldn't stay mad at him as it wasn't really his fault, or at least, most of it wasn't his fault.
She took a deep breath and moved to sit beside him. His hunched posture relaxed as she pulled his head into her lap and scratched behind his ears. His tail started to wag slowly once it was clear she wasn't going to kill him. "The upside is I managed to craft my 'gloves,' so let's see if I can safely access your power now. If we are going to escape, we had better do it before Karin and I are too fat to move, or while burdened down with eight to fourteen offspring. When we first thought up this harebrained scheme, we hadn't even considered having more than one baby each."
"That's a good idea," he agreed. "Do you not want our pups?" he asked mournfully. It was as if the very idea that she didn't want his cubs was alien to him.
Did she? Would she be upset if she lost them? She looked at her stomach and rested her free hand on it. They were her children, even if they were not in a human shape. They were made with her DNA, came from her eggs, and were a part of her. But could she love them? What if they turned out to be aggressive hollows as they grew up?
"I don't know," she admitted, "but I am willing to try and love them."
That seemed to be enough, for his tail wagged a little harder and his ear were perked up again. She shook her head at how easy he was to please and closed her eyes. She had gotten so use to delving into him that it took barely a breath to make it to his centre. There it was, Starrk's pool of power was right before her and she cautiously dipped her kido covered 'hands' into the imaginary pool. The spell lasted for about a minute before his strength ate through it and she had to pull back before she got burned.
"They worked, sort of. I didn't get a lot of time before they dissolved but I think it will be enough time to charge and get a blast off. I will need to wait until the next check-up before I can reform the gloves. I think I can make them stronger. How did you get into the cage anyhow?" she questioned curiously.
"The floors of our cages can be lowered into a series of connecting tunnels. The walls there are laced with whatever is in the walls here, and so were the bars of the cage. We could not access our abilities," he reported.
"Pity. I was thinking, when we do make a run for it, Karin and I are going to need food. The pickled vegetables will hold if we can find a container of some sort to store and hide them in."
"Wait a few more days. Cleaning day is coming up and they inspect the cells. If they find such things it might draw suspicion," Starrk warned her.
Further escape plans were delayed as dinner arrived. It wasn't that she didn't trust Harunobo not to snitch on them, but it was better to leave him innocent. She would feel bad if he was tossed into the pit to feed a hollow because the quincy discovered he had a hand in their escape or hadn't reported their plans to his overseers.
"Nanao, I would be pleased if you would take my name as well, now that we are mates." He had a very hopeful look on his face.
"Nanao Starrk?" She lowered her eyes as she glanced at him. "Starrk-san, I didn't think you were so vindictive," she accused.
He shrugged his shoulders and looked at her, "everyone has a vindictive side to them. It would be petty payback, but I feel it would be fitting for me to claim his adjacent after he took mine."
That felt like hollow thinking to her, but she did feel for him. It was clear Starrk had loved his other half very much, and her death clearly still pained him. It was strange to see a hollow with such a deep connection and she wouldn't have believed it if Nel hadn't shown her high-level hollows were capable of it.
"With eight brats, one of them is bound to be a girl. We can name one Lilynette," she offered tentatively. It was a pretty name after all.
His ears perked up and his tail wagged happily, "I would like that."