Chapter 8

"Alright Akihiko. Where is this brat that I need to check up on?"

He looked at Kirinji who stood there in his office doorway then to where Ichigo was sitting on the floor with Kameko. Kirinji followed his gazed and looked to where the orange haired male was. Ichigo wore a neutral expression on his face as he attempted to look at Kirinji, but was off by about half a foot. Kirinji gave a feral smile and moved over to Ichigo. This could be bad.

"Sleeping beauty decided to finally awaken huh?" Kirinji's comment made Ichigo scowl shortly before returning to his original neutral expression. It was going to take a lot of work to get him to open up.

Ichigo stood up and handed Kameko to Ran. Kameko gave a little fuss, but quickly quieted down. Kirinji moved closer the male, who tensed up but made no move otherwise.

"Relax kid. I'm just going to see how your wounds have healed." Ichigo gave a nod of ascent. Remaining where he was, Ichigo pulled the top half of his yukata off so it hung down at his waist. Kirinji removed the bandages and revealed the injuries underneath. He almost gasped in shock. Ran did. She was staring at Ichigo's back in horror. What he could see was horrendous. So many scars. There were stab and slash marks, burns and torture marks. He also saw the branding that were on both of his upper ams and shoulders. He moved closer to get a better look. Lithe muscles tensed even more as he approached. Ichigo's hand twitched closer to his black blade. Kirinji gently moved over the more recent injuries and applied healing kido when it was needed. He stared at the brands on Ichigo's left arm. It was so familiar to him. Then he recognized them. They were the great noble house's emblems. On his left arm was the Shihonin and Kuchiki clan emblems.

He glanced quickly over to Kirinji, who continued his work. Looking back at the brands, he knew that something was going on. This was a conflict he did not need right now. He needed to know, but he promised not to ask until Ichigo was ready. If he was ever ready.

"Ran, once Kirinji is done looking over Ichigo, would you please show him the gardens. I have many things to discuss with Kirinji in private." Ran dipped her head.

"Of course, Akihiko-san." Kirinji finished up his check over Ichigo.

"Alright. It looks like your wounds have healed nicely so far, but you need to take it easy for a couple weeks. Doctor's orders." Ichigo gave another nod as he put his yukata back into it's proper place. Ran stood up and moved to stand beside Ichigo.

"Let's go Ichigo-sama. I'll describe what the gardens look like for you." Ichigo seemed to sense that he was not wanted and that they were going to be discussing him. His sightless eyes would flit back and forth between him and Kirinji as best as he could. He then looked to Ran and held out his left elbow for her to take. She maneuvered Kameko, so she was carrying her with one arm as she took Ichigo's elbow and lead him into the gardens. Once they were out of sight and earshot, his assistant Sora came in. He smiled.

"Sora would you mind accompanying Ichigo and Ran as they walk through the gardens?"

"Of course Akihiko-san." Sora spoke as he made his way out through the garden doors. Then he slipped away out of sight. He turned back to Kirinji. His arms crossed over his chest.

"You did not tell me it was this bad." Kirinji shook his head.

"I told you he was tortured in the most cruelest ways and he went through multiple wars. There will be many scars." Kirinji sighed. "I just wish I could do more for him. Being blind will hurt him a lot. He's a warrior. He won't like being helpless." He ran a hand through his short black hair.

"Yeah… at least he seems okay with being lead around. Once he knows the layout of the house better, he should be able to get around fine. Did you notice the brands on his arms?" Kirinji raised an eyebrow.

"You really ask me that? I am a doctor you know. So yes I did notice the brands."

"That's not what I mean. Have you noticed what the designs of the brands are?" Kirinji stood there for a minute. Then it dawned on him.

"I may not be the most knowledgable about this, but those are the symbols for the great noble clans, right?" He nodded his head grimly.

"Unfortunately yes. They are the same symbols. I want to know how he got them, but I promised him that I would not pry." He shrugged. "Maybe I can find something out at the clan gathering. Ichigo is going too." Kirinji's eyebrows shot up into his hairline.

"You can't be serious? What are you going to tell the other clans? What about Yamamoto? He's going to be there too." He scratched the back of his neck and sheepishly looked away from Kirinji.

"Actually I wanted to adopt him into the family. But only if he wants too. I won't push him. I also decided that if he wants to leave, he can leave after the clan gathering that's happening in two months." Kirinji gave an exasperated smile. He smiled too. He had won this battle.

"Fine. If that is what you had decided to do, then I won't question it. Now I have to head back to my division before Yamamoto gets anymore suspicious. And you need to come see your division also. Your poor lieutenant is dying over there without you." He closed his eyes and smiled.

"Yeah, I'll be back in a few days. After all this is just some emergency clan matters, right?" Kirinji smirked.

"Right." Kirinji waved and flash stepped away. He then flash stepped himself, going to check up on Ichigo and the others.


He and Ran slowly walked through the garden. He had taken Kameko from her, so she could guide him better. Looking at her, he confirmed what he had noticed in Akihiko's study. He then felt Sora approach them.

"If you don't mind me asking Ran-san, but who's the father?" She stumbled to a stop. He stood there staring at her. Kameko gave a little babble. Sora also stopped within hearing range, but he was still probably out of sight. Akihiko then appeared beside Sora. His reiatsu oozing curiosity.

"W-what m-m-makes you t-think that!?" Her voice had increased dramatically. He could imagine her blushing bright red. It brought a small smile to his face. She reminded him of a certain redheaded girl he knew.

"I can sense something inside you. It is really small and feels a lot like you. I assume you are going to have a baby, right?" She had grown quiet. He felt her hand trembling on his elbow. "Are you okay Ran? I'm sorry if I had offended you."

"No you didn't offend me. I'm surprised that you noticed. Kirinji-san confirmed it when he first came here to heal you five days ago. He said that he could only tell because he had so much practice, that's shows that I'm not that far along." Her grip on his elbow tightened. "Please Ichigo-sama, don't tell Sora or Akihiko-san. Akihiko-san will surly send me away if he finds out. I don't even know what Sora would think when he finds about his child. Sora has so many duties right now. I don't want to burden him with the responsibility of being a father also, because I know that he will take responsibility. That's the kind of person Sora is."

"Do you love him?"

"Of course I do. I am happy that I am carrying his child, but I do not know if he loves me back."

"He probably loves you more than you think."

"Why do you think that Ichigo-sama?" He gave a small reassuring smile.

"Because he would have ran away when he found out if he did not love you." He turned towards the two hidden males. Ran shifted to look where he was. "Isn't that right Sora?" Ran gasped as Sora flash stepped in front of them. Sora's reiatsu whipping around and surrounding Ran happily and protectively.

"Yes, of course I love you Ran. I know that we may have not been together for very long, but I love you so much I can't even begin to describe it." There was a whoosh of air and Ran squealed. He must have spun her around in happiness. Akihiko flash stepped out into the open.

"Sora you'll make her sick." The atmosphere became tense as the others had a silent stare off. Ran then began sobbing.

"I'm so sorry Akihiko-sama. Please don't send me away. I did not mean to shame the Shiba family. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She continued to repeat her sorries. Akihiko moved to stand in front of her. Sora who was standing beside her tried to sooth her.

"Ran." Akihiko spoke softly. "It's fine. You are not in any trouble. I am happy for you and Sora. Yes it is terrible to have a child out of wedlock, but if Sora is willing to marry you then I can over look that." Sora's reiatsu quivered in barely contained happiness. Akihiko's swirled around in amusement.

"Yes Akihiko-sama, I would love to marry Ran." Sora seemed to turn to Ran. "Ran, I promise to make you the most happiest woman alive. You are my joy and I am proud that you will be bearing my child. Thank you so much Ran. You are the greatest gift in my life." Ran burst into tears again.

"I love you too, Sora. I love you so much" She said and continued to cry tears of happiness. He listened to their tearful happiness and felt his own memories bubble up to the surface. Uryu marrying Orihime, them finding out that they were going to have a child. Then there was Renji and Rukia. His throat constricted as those happy memories turned into nightmares. Shiro and Zangetsu snapped at the intruding memories, wrenching them from his thoughts. Making his mind go foggy. Zangetsu consoling him the entire time.

Kameko gave a small giggle of happiness. He moved to gaze sightlessly at her. Kameko's giggle freeing him from his foggy mind. He glanced up as Akihiko moved to stand beside him. Akihiko gently took Kameko from his grasp. Akihiko greeted his daughter who babbled at him.

"A beautiful thing isn't it? The happiness of being together and bringing new life into this world."

"Yeah." He looked at Akihiko as he felt his somber reiatsu. "Did you have someone Akihiko-san?"

"Once. She was beautiful. Eyes as green as tree leaves and hair the color of auburn. She was so kind and caring, and she blessed me with two beautiful children. I miss her everyday."

"What happened?" He looked over to Akihiko, wishing that he could see the man.

"She died after giving birth to Kameko. That was eight years ago." His eyebrows nearly shot up in surprise.

"Eight years?" He looked at Kameko. He heard Akihiko chuckle.

"I know what you are thinking. If it was eight years ago then why is Kameko still so small? That's because we don't age the same a regular humans. About every 15 years or so we grow a year older physically. But you should know something about that right?" He shook his head, and remained quiet. Akihiko seemed to take that as a way to change the subject.

"Did you have someone too Ichigo?" He gave a small painful scowl. He didn't want to answer this, but he knew that Akihiko deserved answers on the ones he was willing to do.

"Yes and no. I never loved anyone romantically. I loved all of them as my friends and family." He felt Akihiko's confusion.

"Loved? As in the past? What happened to them all?" He scowled even further.

"They died." He spun around and tried to navigate his way back to the house since they didn't go too far into the gardens.

Going a little farther, he found the house by smacking his shins into the back walkway. Hissing silently at the pain, he got up onto the walkway and searched for a door. Finding one he tried to make his way to a quiet area for himself to think. To get away from the people who brought up his nightmarish memories.

"Ichigo-sama." He turned towards the voice. One he recognized. There were also the sounds of three others with the male.

"Hikaru-san." Hikaru began sputtering in embarrassment. Someone gave a little giggle.

"He called you Hikaru-san." Hikaru sputtered some more.

"Ichigo-sama, you don't have to call me that. Just Hikaru is fine. Is there anything that we can do for you?" He didn't think so. He shook his head.

"I am just trying to get some fresh air, but I'm not sure where to go."

"Ichigo-sama you are welcomed to join us. We are going to the market to pick up some supplies." Katsumi moved closer and whispered to him. "We can also take you to our secret hideout."

"Yeah, come with us." Akemi pleaded. A tug on the sleeve of his yukata caught his attention.

"You want me to come too, Shizuka?" His sleeve was pulled harder. "Alright I get it. I just need some shoes." Someone else entered.

"Absolutely not. Ichigo-sama needs to be prepared. He needs a clean yukata, socks, and a haori. Now you four wait here while I get Ichigo-sama ready." The male grabbed his wrist and pulled him along. "I am vey glad to meet you, Ichigo-sama. My name is Tadashi. Akihiko-sama has assigned me as your assistant." He heard a door open and he was pulled into a room.

His wrist was released as the other male ran about the room. Not sure if he should stay or not, he missed his chance when Tadashi came back.

"Here you go, Ichigo-sama. Would you like some assistance?" He shook his head and took the pile of clothes from the male.

"No thank you, Tadashi, but thank you for the clothes." He was a little relieved to be able to get clean clothes. He had found a clean yukata that morning, and put it on since he had woken up in a cold sweat that morning. He also wished to take a bath. But clean clothes would have to do for now. Tadashi left the room. Pulling of the yukata, he got into the clean one. He put on the socks and held onto the sandals that were included also. Slipping on the soft haori and securing Zangetsu back into his right place, he moved around looking for the door. Finding it, he slid open the door and found that Tadashi was standing attentively in front of the doorway.

"You are finished, Ichigo-sama?" He gave a nod.

"Here." He said offering his left elbow to the male. "I would prefer to not be dragged around." Tadashi took his elbow and steered him back to where they had meet the others. The four children were still waiting for them.

"Ichigo-sama." Akemi said in surprise. He tried to look in her direction.

"Is something wrong Akemi-san?"

"N-no. Just call me Akemi." Hikaru scoffed.

"She's just enchanted by how handsome you look." He looked to Hikaru.

"And what do you think?"

"You look the same and act the same to me. I don't care what you look like on the outside. It's what's on the inside that counts." He gave a small smile and went to ruffle the boys hair. The small protests alerted him that he was right.

"I agree. Now shall we be off." The three girls grabbed onto his hands or sleeves and pulled him along. Hikaru and Tadashi followed behind them.


He knew he should just leave Ichigo alone for a while, but he also knew that he shouldn't be left alone either. He said that all of his friends and family were dead. What happened? The pained look on his face. Ichigo was hurting so much. He had sent one of the staff to find Ichigo.

Sitting at his desk he tried to do the paperwork, but he couldn't concentrate. He was too worried about Ichigo, and he couldn't find him by sensing his reiatsu either. Cause the boy had no reiatsu at all. He tugged at his disheveled hair in anger and worry. That boy was going to be the death of him.

The door opened and the staff member gave a bow.

"Akihiko-san, we can not find Ichigo-san anywhere within the Shiba estate."

He shot up from his desk. Ichigo was gone? Where did he go? He can't go anywhere in his condition. How would he know where to go? How would he be able to take care of himself? He knew Ichigo could take care of himself just fine, but Ichigo couldn't see and if he has to fight it will be even harder for him to take care of himself. How could he go back to a place like that the way he is now? Ichigo would die. He gritted his teeth. He couldn't let that happen. Not after seeing how happy Kameko was, and that Ichigo was somewhat happy to be with Kameko. And he still had answers to his questions. Questions that needed to be answered.

He snatched his sheathed zanpaktou that was leaning against the desk. Strapping it on, he felt his spirit stir at his worried reiatsu.

"I want him found. Send the guards. Search the surrounding areas, the woods, the market place. Just find him."


A shout out to:

Y-T3cH: Thank you for thinking that this is a good story. It may seem slow to you now, but things will speed up in later chapters, and yes there will be time skips.

Mullkkkkkk: We are glad that it continues to increase your interest. Thank you for reading and giving us your thoughts on our story.We thought that Ichigo deserved a little break for now. That doesn't mean that there won't be attacks in the morning later on in the story though.

Guest #1: Thank you for enjoying this story and your continued support.You are correct that Shin doesn't like Ichigo and that he is overly protective of Kameko. We also enjoy overprotective zanpaktous. Kubo Tite made mentions of Ichigo's zanpakou being protective of him, but didn't go into very much depth, and that is what we wanted to do in this story. There will be more scenes like that later on.

amazinglion29: We are touched that our story makes you feel warm inside. Does it also make you feel fuzzy too? Here's a little gift for you. Enjoy!

Tantei-chan4869: Thank you for enjoying this story so much. We hope that you added this story to your account. Here's the next chapter. We hope you enjoy it.

jiubantai-taichoCameljaneJose: Thank you very much for the story idea. It was very nice of you to tell us. We won't be making this story into a harem, but that doesn't mean that Ichigo won't save his future friends if he can. If they do end up seeing him as a hero figure or possible love interest, Ichigo would only consider them friends. But thank you very much for your idea.

Guest #2 A.K.A Ongaku: Thank you for loving it. You don't have to wait for long for the next chapter because here it is.

Merry Christmas to all of our readers. Here is a little gift for all of you, an extra chapter. Thank you to all of those who reviewed and those who silently encourage us. We will still update on Wednesday, so don't worry that we give you this chapter now and don't give you one later. Let us know what you think.

- The Crew