Rukia Baby

by

Mojo-licious

Chapter Six

- Trouble -

The sun had already set as the group of sullen teenagers made their way back. Renji was ahead of the group and had his hands stuffed irately into his pockets. His mood had worsened considerably and Ichigo who lagged behind, was no better. Both were livid with a certain shopkeeper who had conveniently chosen to skip town for a few days. An old dusty box was left behind on the doorstep and upon opening it, they found Renji's phone alongside a note with the sentence 'Red is on the way.' The group had spent a good half hour trying to decipher the meaning behind the note before deciding to talk it out at Inoue's place.

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head and sighed, his brown eyes reverting to the small form cradled in Inoue's arms. Rukia was sleeping blissfully unaware of the dangers or worries that surrounded her. She was curled up against Inoue, dressed in cute beige overalls and a white t-shirt that his sisters had found. Without realizing it, his face softened and his lips turned upwards slightly.

"Kurosaki-kun?"

"Huh?" Ichigo looked at Inoue, while cursing himself for his mental lapses.

"Ano.. um..I was kinda wondering if Kuchiki-san could stay at my place?" she asked. She had felt so comfortable holding the small noble in her arms that she wanted Rukia to stay with her at least for the night. The group had stopped walking as all eyes turned to Inoue. It was obvious to most that despite Inoue's sunny deposition, she didn't know a thing about caring for a child and though she was willing, Ichigo was hesitant to allow Rukia to stay with her. Just imagining the food the toddler would have to eat caused his stomach to convulse. As he opened his mouth to reply, he caught Ishida's stern gaze which seemed to promise vast amounts of pain and retribution for denying Inoue her wish. Ichigo turned away for a few moments as he contemplated the issue further, making sure to factor in a potential near death experience courtesy of his Quincy comrade. Inoue's eyelids lowered wondering if she would be denied her request. Absently she clutched Rukia closer to her relishing the warmth from the toddler and feeling strangely comforted by her presence.

Unknown to the group, a menacing form stood in the shadows, its reitsu concealed as yellow eyes narrowed, taking in the sight of the small form snuggling against the sandy blonde girl. In silence it waited for its cue. Unlike its predecessors it possessed some capacity to think and an even greater capacity to follow orders.

The tense silence was broken by a shrill beeping which Ichigo was immensely grateful for. All eyes fell onto Renji, who swore as he pulled out his cell and noted two hollows located a few miles away. Just as he was about to let the others know that he could handle the situation, three more showed up on his radar, each pointing in different directions.

"Where are they Renji?" Ichigo asked, having assumed the shrill beeps signaled the presence of hollows.

"Tch... There's two a few miles from here. One's down that road, the other across the rooftops there and the last three in the direction I'm headed."
Ichigo swiftly looked at Chad and Ishida. It was clear to them what their roles were and they each nodded. Turning his head he offered Inoue a small smile.

"Gomen Orihime, but please stay with Rukia." Inoue nodded and watched as the group dispersed. Renji and Ichigo were heading off together, while Chad and Ishida split up in the opposite direction.

Inoue watched as they disappeared.

"Be careful," she whispered, wishing she could go with them. She was shaken out of her thoughts as something pushed against her lips. She opened her mouth to speak but was silenced with a pacifier.

'Kuchiki-san?' Inoue thought as her blue eyes looked down at bright violet eyes that seemed to be gauging her for something.

'Is this to cheer me up?' Inoue wondered but found herself caught up in the motion of sucking the pacifier.

'There's a slight taste to this, something like strawberry.. Ara... I wonder if they have different flavours,' Inoue was lost in her thoughts as she continued sucking the pacifier in an attempt to understand its secret joys. Glancing down, she noticed that Rukia's head was turned to the side, her violet eyes clearly intrigued by something. By now the streetlights had come on and the skies had darkened considerably. Inoue strained her eyes to see what had caught the toddler's attention but saw a plain white wall. She felt Rukia's pudgy fingers grip onto her shirt more tightly before leaning into her. The toddler buried her head against Inoue's chest in an attempt to hide from something. Blue eyes widened considerably as the tiny form trembled. Inoue pulled out the pacifier and rubbed her hand soothingly across Rukia's back.

"Kuchiki-san," she whispered as she tried to calm the tiny tot. The sandy blonde repositioned the toddler so that her face was buried in the crook of Inoue's neck. Violet eyes peered over Inoue's shoulder, watching as something materialized from the wall.

Several miles away on another street..

Renji and Ichigo had reached their destination in time to see the hollows disintegrate at the hands of a very capable Hitsugaya Toshiro and his vice-captain Matsumoto Rangiku.

"Hitsugaya taicho, Rangiku?" Renji called out. The white haired captain merely nodded to the sixth division vice-captain while Matsumoto greeted Renji and Ichigo with a wave.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" Ichigo shot out tersely wondering if they expected him to hold any more meetings at his house. The last time they had a shinigami meeting at his house they had bust his ceiling lights, broke his bed and cracked a window. The damages had sent his father careening into his room at odd hours of the day for two weeks in an attempt to catch Ichigo in one of his so called 'Sexcapades.' How his father had come to such an appalling conclusion was beyond him. What worried the teen was that any more damages to his room would raise his father's weird tendencies a hundredfold, sending his semi-normal life careening straight to hell.

"We were 'Ordered' to come here," Hitsugaya stated, making sure to stress that it was not his will to be in this place. Before any more rebuttals or statements could be made on the topic Hitsugaya spoke, his voice taking on a sharp edge as he directed his attention to the sixth division vice-captain.

"The twelfth division has discovered that the new hollows are targeting those specializing in Demon Arts."

"You understand what this means don't you?" Hitsugaya asked. Ichigo's eyes widened at the implication as he and Renji exchanged glances realizing their mistake.

"Kuso," Renji cursed as both shinigami sped back to the meeting point.

Ichigo berated himself for being so stupid. In his mind he could picture Rukia chastising him for not analyzing the situation further.

Hitsugaya and Matsumoto followed the two in silence realizing instantly that Kuchiki Rukia and Inoue Orihime's position had been compromised.

To be Contd..

I finally had enough time to write this chappie.. phew Thanx 4 all ur encouraging reviews..