Drabble 3:

Title: The New and Improved Gigai Version 4.0! Now Adjustable!

Item: a can of soda

Words: 941

Authors: Mizu and The Rose Society

Gigai were once touted as one of the most innovative products of the century. They were a shinigami's best friend in the real world, particularly when one needed to blend in with humans. They fit well and generated decent 'adhesion' between soul and gigai so you wouldn't accidentally walk away from your gigai without realizing it was in an unmoving crumpled heap behind your soul form. Urahara was often fond of this particular invention when it was first introduced, and took every chance to make adjustments to further improve the base model.

Anatomically correct gigai, untraceable gigai, and easy-to-wear gigai were all accredited to his name, for which he was immensely proud of. He figured he knew everything there was to know about gigai until a rather irate petite woman dragged her disgruntled husband into his store.

"URAHARA!" Rukia bellowed unnecessarily. She could sense Ichigo cringe as he quietly took another sip out of a can of soda. It was the only thing Ichigo managed to grab for breakfast when Rukia had hauled him out of bed at dawn to rampage down to Urahara's store.

Both Jinta and Ururu were eyeing the young couple curiously, wondering what all the commotion was about. One look at Rukia's disgruntled face had convinced Tessai to get the manager even before she had started bellowing. WIth a yawn hidden behind his fan, the blonde lazily made his way to his geta. But before he could so much as inquire what Rukia was interested in this fine morning, the dark-haired shinigami had already fisted the back of Urahara's collar and dragged him to an examination room.

Ichigo didn't even raise an eyebrow at his wife's antics. Rubbing a hand through his messy orange hair, Ichigo sat on a nearby box of goods and frowned even more at the early morning sunshine. Yesterday, he had spent a lot of the day taking finals and was finally looking forward to enjoying a meal with his wife. However, even though Rukia had prepared something rather tasty, Ichigo felt he was eating dinner with (God forbid) Byakuya; there was no conversation, no eye contact, nothing.

Bedtime had been an entirely silent affair as well, with Rukia slipping into her usagi-themed pajamas and nodding off without even a goodnight kiss. Ichigo frowned even more at that (Jinta snickered and whispered to Ururu that Ichigo was pouting like a baby). The sounds of a foot meeting a rear end were the only thing heard until finally, the door hiding the interior of the store from the storage room slid open, revealing the geta-boushi. Urahara didn't even bat an eye as to why Jinta was busy rubbing his rear or why Ichigo had a foot raised to the air even as the orange haired man was taking another swig from his soda can. Grinning madly, the blonde began to pound Ichigo's back as he loudly proclaimed, "CONGRATULATIONS, KUROSAKI-SAN! YOU ARE GOING TO BE A FATHER!"

A cloud of soda spittle flew at Jinta's flabbergasted face as Ururu ducked quietly next to him. "NANI????" Came Ichigo's only coherent reply.

Rukia scowled. "COULD YOU LOOK A LITTLE HAPPIER?!" Rukia kicked Ichigo in the head, looking anything but happy.

"How did this happen?" Ichigo said carefully, rubbing the side of his head. He would be sporting a bruise from this one. Love, particularly from Rukia, hurt. Rukia gave him a venomous look in response, and pulled out her sketchpad from an oversized tote bag.

"Ichigo, dear," she said, suddenly sweet as honey, attempting to hide the malice in her voice in response to his bewilderment. "You remember when we went to soul society a month ago? Well we got a little bored, and it was cold for a summer night so…" She lifted a pastel coloured drawing of a beige coloured barn that Ichigo could only assume was a representation of Byakuya's guest house. In the dead centre however, was an image that made Ichigo blush down to his neck.

"Oh god…" He muttered, "Is that?"

"Mmhmm."

He raised an eyebrow at the level of detail Rukia had decided to include. "And is that…?"

"Yes, dear."

"Oh… Hey, wait a minute, don't you think that looks a little smaller than it— !"

"Please Kurosaki-san! There are children here!" Exclaimed Urahara, covering Ururu's ears. "However, I am rather appalled that you had the nerve to do it on Kuchiki-san's property."

Rukia softened a little at the dazed expression on her husband's face. She took his hand in her own and in a gentle voice said, "The bad news is that my gigai is having issues adjusting to my pregnancy. Even Shirayuki is complaining…Ichigo?"

She knew that he'd stopped listening to her. She opened her mouth to reprimand him but the telltale gleam in his eyes told her that it wasn't the wisest course of action at present.

"I'm going to be a daddy," Ichigo said quietly. Rukia didn't miss the wide grin spread across his face and decided that it was one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen. "Rukia, I'm going to be a daddy!" He picked her up in a tight hug, burying his nose into her hair. "I'm going to be a daddy!" He repeated over and over, until even Rukia's eyes were gleaming with unshed tears.

Urahara smiled, quietly herding his group away to give the couple a moment of privacy. 'A few modifications to the anatomically correct gigai model should do the trick', he thought, fanning himself as he walked toward the kitchen for a cup of tea. 'I wonder if there would be a market for a multi-functional adjustable gigai…'

To be continued.