Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters.Thanks to CrystalRaindrop007 for Beta'ing!
Shadows In The Night — XI
Ichigo panicked.
Quickly setting Raye down, he picked up Michio in his arms and ran out of the room at top speed, the tiny baby in his arms not moving.
"Unohana! Help!" Ichigo skidded to a halt beside Rukia's room, where Unohana was currently residing. "Michio's not breathing!"
Unohana quickly took the baby from Ichigo, gently setting him down and frantically checking him over to make sure Ichigo was right.
He was.
"Isane!" she yelled.
The younger woman soon entered the room, too, running over to Unohana's side. The older woman whispered something to her, and Isane nodded, running out of the room. Ichigo hadn't noticed until seconds before, but Byakuya was there as well, now worriedly standing beside Unohana and his nephew.
"Where did Isane go?" Ichigo asked, trying to elbow Byakuya out of the way so he could see his son.
"She needs to go hide Raye's spirit power; you were doing it until a second ago, but you left," Unohana said, pressing two small fingers to the baby's chest as she began CPR.
"Is Michio gonna be OK?" Ichigo asked worriedly, fighting the tears that threatened his vision. Unohana didn't answer as she continued to work on the tiny boy.
"Everyone out! I need room!" Unohana yelled, turning to Byakuya and Ichigo. "Please, wait outside."
Byakuya had to forcefully haul Ichigo out of the room. Once they were standing outside, Ichigo collapsed to the ground, dropping his head into his hands. Byakuya simply stood by the door that had been slammed in their faces by a frantic Unohana.
Byakuya was watching Ichigo carefully, wondering what he should do. His thoughts, however, were cut off by a sudden rush of reiatsu. It had come from Ichigo.
"Kurosaki! Concentrate on hiding your reiatsu!" Byakuya growled. There was no move from Ichigo, but the blast was gone. Byakuya breathed a sigh of relief and hoped desperately that no one had noticed it. But Central 49 had everyone keeping a close eye out for foreign reiatsu, so it was very possible that someone had recognized it.
Just then, Isane appeared beside them, holding Raye in her arms. The baby was awake, and crying very loudly. Ichigo looked up at the small cry and held out his arms.
Isane passed him the baby and smiled when Raye went totally silent once she was being held in Ichigo's arms.
Everyone waited for information from Unohana, but none came for ten minutes. Soon, ten turned into twenty and then twenty into forty.
Then, she came out of the room, a grim look on her face. Ichigo jumped to his feet and ran over to her, still clasping Raye in his arms.
"Is he OK?" he asked worriedly, trying to see past her into the small room that the baby was in.
Unohana shook her head.
"He's breathing now, but he's very sick, I'm sad to say. I don't know what it is, but he nearly died twice and stopped breathing many, many times," she reported, letting Ichigo inside.
He ran over to where the baby lay on the small make-shift bed that Unohana had laid out for him. He was sleeping again. The only movement he made was the slow, shaky rise and fall of his chest. Ichigo reached out and gently placed a hand on the baby's chest. Michio jerked away from his hand, turning around onto his stomach.
Ichigo smiled a little, turning to Unohana.
"Why can't you just heal him?" he asked.
Unohana sighed.
"Well, I could try again, but I already did. There are several sicknesses that I cannot heal, and I believe this is one of them. I would, however, like to keep him away from Raye, as I don't want her getting sick, too," Unohana said, wincing as Raye reached out her hand to touch Michio. She was spreading out her tiny fingers out on his back.
As she did this, Unohana frowned. Ichigo noticed.
"What's wrong?"
"It's just . . Raye . . ."
"What's wrong with Raye?" Ichigo asked, worry clouding his features as Unohana took the baby from him. Raye began screaming and thrashing around, trying to get back to Ichigo.
"Nothing. It's just . . . she's acting much older than a premature baby. She's a lot stronger than Michio was, and she seems very lively . . ."
Unohana trailed off again and haded Raye back to Ichigo.
As Ichigo continued asking what Unohana meant, Ray reached a hand down back to Michio's back and placed her hand on his soft skin.
Ichigo stopped talking to Unohana the second he saw the bright, blinding white light flowing into the room. Raye didn't make a move as she continued to touch Michio. The white light continued to grow, and everyone was nearly thrown off balance as the unbearable amount of spirit pressure filled the room.
Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.
"What the hell was that?" Ichigo asked, holding Raye close to him as she began to cry. Rukia, who was sleeping the influence of drugs, had awoken from the spirit pressure.
Unohana didn't answer Ichigo's question as she ran over to Michio.
"I think . . ."
Quickly, she began checking Michio over, only to find him completely healthy.
"She healed him. My God, she healed him . . . That must be why she's so strong. God, she healed herself, too!"
Ichigo gaped.
"But you said even you couldn't heal him! How the hell did Raye . . . "
"Ichigo . . ."
Ichigo turned around as he heard Rukia's voice. She was trying to sit up in her bed, working around the tubes and IV's hooked to her. Ichigo walked over and gently pushed her back down, not wanting her to sit up.
"Rukia, please, stay down."
"Ichigo . . . what's happening?" Rukia asked, both worry and exhaustion clear in her voice.
"Michio was sick . . . Raye healed him."
"I want to see my baby girl," Rukia said, trying to get a look at the baby in Ichigo's arms. She hadn't seen Raye after her birth, because the drugs had completely knocked her out.
Ichigo nodded and laid the tiny baby in Rukia's arms.
"She's beautiful . . ."
"Kurosaki, come with me. Raye's healing alerted everyone to our presence. They know you're here. Help me hold them off. Captain Unohana, please bring Rukia and the children to a safe place," Byakuya said, taking out his Zanpaktou. Ichigo followed, casting a worried glance back at everyone before pulling out his own Zanpaktou and running out the door, close on Byakuya's heels.
As they ran through the halls, Ichigo, too, noticed that several new reiatsu's had joined those of the people that were usually milling around the house.
Among them, he could feel Hitsugaya, Renji and Hinamori. He didn't recognize any of the others, but he was sure that the massive reiatsu belonged to Kenpachi and the smaller one close by the first was that pink-haired little brat that Ichigo could never remember the name of.
"What's gonna happen?" Ichigo asked, stopping beside Byakuya as they reached the door of the house.
"I do not know," Byakuya replied simply, which served to irritate Ichigo even more.
"Well, who all is coming?"
"I do not know that either. But in the confusion you let your reiatsu slip, also, so they know you are in Soul Society. And in saving Michio, Unohana was unable to hide Rukia's reiatsu so they know she is here, too."
"Aw, crap."
Byakuya just nodded.
Soon, Ichigo could feel the reiatsu's coming closer. There were a lot of them; he was sure of that.
"Where will Unohana be taking Rukia and the babies for safety?" Ichigo asked, gripping the handle of his Zanpaktou harder, his knuckles going white.
"She will take them into the human world where Urahara-kun and Yoruichi-san will help hide their Reiatsu until we can solve this problem."
Ichigo nodded again, taking a deep breath as the door suddenly flew open.
Rukia felt helpless as they ran. Unohana was nearly carrying her, as she could barely walk. Isane was holding the babies in her arms and was doing her best not to rattle them. But it was hard, as she was having to hold two children at one time.
Turning a corner, Unohana stopped in her tracks, surprised to see Renji standing before them.
"Renji . . ."
No one spoke for a few minutes, and finally Renji said, quietly, "Follow me."
Unohana nodded and then said,
"Renji, will you please take Rukia? She cannot walk after giving birth, and I do not think it is a good idea for Isane to be holding both children."
Renji was surprised as he lifted Rukia into his arms.
"Huh? Both?"
Rukia smiled up at him and nodded.
"Twins. Michio Renji and Raye Anyame Kurosaki," she said happily. Renji was surprised.
"You named him after me?" he asked in a whisper.
Rukia nodded.
"You're my best friend, Renji. And I wanted to honor that."
"Yeah . . ." Renji sighed in acceptance. Best friend . . . that was all he would ever be to her, but if that was all, that was enough.
No one spoke for the longest time. They just ran. At one point, they entered the underground sewage tunnels and altered their path. Raye began crying, and Isane was trying desperately to calm the baby down, but it wasn't working. Rukia said tiredly that she probably wanted Ichigo, as he seemed to be the only one that could calm her down.
As she said such, Renji could feel the familiar tug of pain at his heart, but he ignored it and continued running, his grip on Rukia tight and secure.
"I'm so tired . . ." she said, leaning her head against Renji's chest and sighing deeply. He smiled and held her closer.
"Get some sleep then, Rukia."
She nodded and smiled, slowly drifting off to sleep, but the cry of Raye keeping her at the edge of the peace she yearned to much for. She said,
"Try holding her gently against your chest and rubbing her back. That was what Ichigo was doing."
Isane nodded and tried the suggestion. The baby stopped crying and gripped Isane's shirt loosely in her tiny hand, yawning loudly. Isane smiled at her.
"She really is beautiful."
Rukia just smiled and let the darkness wash over her, wishing that the drugs that Unohana had given her weren't making her so damn sleepy. She wanted to stay awake with Michio and Raye and Renji. But she couldn't keep her eyes open, and the darkness freed her from the pain in her stomach where a few of the stitches had ripped out.
So, instead of fighting against it, she welcomed the darkness, letting it completely consume her.
Sorry it took so long to get out.
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