Rukia Baby

by

Mojo-licious

Chapter Nine

- Rain II -

Ichigo stood vigilantly outside the fourth division room that held both Rukia and Inoue. Chad leaned against the wall while Ishida was seated on one of the steps that led down to one of the gardens. They were near the entrance of the division building; with no space available the girls had been placed in the fourth division office. Unohana Retsu and Isane Kotetsu had personally gone inside to tend to the two. Renji had appeared to check on the situation and then had left reluctantly to attend a meeting.

Needing a distraction, Ichigo raised his head upwards and stared at the ancient architecture Seireitei adhered to. His eyes drifted to the thick beams and the rooftop that extended out above him, sheltering him and the others from the rain, creating a veranda of sorts. As he scrutinized the details of the design he found his mind drifting off.

- Flashback -

"The buildings are ancient though well maintained, but it still gets hot during the summer."

Ichigo and Rukia were sitting outside beneath a Sakura tree in the park. They were chatting amicably about the differences between both their worlds. Ichigo was dressed in a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt and Rukia wore one of Yuzu's dresses. It was pale blue with spaghetti straps, the length of the dress came up to her knees and sandals adorned her feet.

"Maybe if we could get a cold air blower thingy," she mumbled while he rolled his eyes at her definition of an Air Conditioner. He shook his head in amusement at how she saw the world. It was so refreshing and innocent.

'So very like Rukia,' he mused.

"Oye Rukia your ice cream's melting. I'm not getting you another one if you're not gonna eat it," the teen stated. Rukia muttered a few things about the size of his wallet before licking off the chocolate treat that dribbled down the side of her cone.

- End flashback -

Ichigo pushed back his hair, a small smile gracing his lips at the fond memory. He remembered how the dress had outlined her figure and accentuated her bust. In those moments he had turned away from her trying to control his blush while suppressing his own desires. Rukia never realized what effect she had on him. Even as he had watched her poised and thoughtful with her finger elegantly placed on her rosy lips, he had wondered how her lips would have tasted.

'Rukia,' Ichigo thought wistfully. The rains fell harder, the sounds drowning out everything.

'Just give me one more chance,' he thought.

'Please.' His eyes searched the skies for any signs but all was dark and grim.

Captains meeting chambers..

Yamamoto-Genryūsai Shigekuni stood stiffly in the meeting chamber as he contemplated his tenth division captain's report. Whispers filled the room as captains and vice-captains alike discussed the implications of Hitsugaya's findings. The elderly man's beady eyes fell onto the sixth division captain, noting as always that he stood poised to receive orders with an emotionless face. Looking at him, one would never think that Kuchiki Byakuya's sister was fighting for her life in the fourth division. His musings left the stiff captain and settled back onto the issue at hand. It seemed that things were certainly taking a turn for the worst. He had lived beyond the life spans of many generations and had seen captains come and go. The current turn of events was reminding him of a time in his youth, a time when he had borne witness to the atrocities committed by a single captain within their ranks, all in the name of power. The Red fever, the marked hollows all bespoke of this man, yet Yamamoto was sure that he had perished during his execution.

The elderly general stroked his beard; if somehow that man had survived then he would bring hell upon Seireitei. Despite the years that passed Yamamoto could hear the echoing promise the man had screamed as he perished.

His attention shifted, focusing on the conversations between his captains and their vice-captains, several of them were calling for Aizen's blood.

'If only it was Aizen, then we may have had a chance,' Yamamoto thought grimly, noting the absence of the fifth division vice-captain. Feeling the familiar reiatsu of his second division captain approaching the meeting chambers, he lifted his staff and pounded the grounds a few time. A hushed silence fell and soon the large doors opened, revealing Soi Fong. She approached and bowed slightly to the general before meeting his eyes. A slight nod was all that was needed to communicate her findings. She stood beside her vice-captain, Ōmaeda Marechiyo. Yamamoto stroked his beard, the situation had turned deadly.

"It seems that Aizen may not be the one responsible for the recent attacks," Yamamoto informed and waited for the information to sink in. Sighs, gasps and questioning looks met his solemn expression.

"I'm afraid it's much worse. Centuries before either of you came into your ranks there was an event that almost decimated Seireitei. In your textbooks it was referred to as the century of darkness. A myriad of diseases, hollow attacks and a powerful group of warriors led by the previous thirteenth division captain Atagawa Nori. In the end he was captured and executed, however it seems his ashes have been stolen."

"Are you saying that Aizen has somehow resurrected him?" Hitsugaya questioned his green eyes widening at the prospect.

"To do something like that," twelfth division captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri mumbled, wondering yet again if Aizen's genius surpassed his own.

"All we can do now is speculate, but what seems to hold true is that Atagawa is back is some form or other and unlike Aizen he'll stop at nothing to burn Seireitei to the ground."

Fourth division office..

Unohana Retsu had seen a lot of things during her time as fourth division captain, but there were always surprises in store for her line of work. Her dark brown eyes looked down at the small form buried beneath the covers. Tenderly she pushed back the soft bangs.

"Kawaii," Isane whispered unable to contain her excitement at seeing the baby version of the short shinigami noble.

While Inoue had been stabilized, Rukia had been teetering on the brink of death. The fourth division captain had focused all her energy on the small form trying to rekindle Rukia's spirit. After an hour the child's wounds seemed to be closing, her skin returning to its normal colour. The soft blue energy glow surrounding them both had fluxed and Unohana stopped as she had noticed a golden energy encompass the injured form. It covered Rukia hiding her from view for a few moments; soon light erupted and the energy disappeared in a flash leaving behind the now sleeping toddler.

As Unohana inspected the small form, her hands brushed up against Rukia's neck causing the toddler to whimper. Both women exchanged glances at the toddler's response. Carefully the fourth division captain pushed Rukia's soft hair aside and looked down, her eyes widened at the small image of a red dragon at the base of her skull.

"Isane," Unohana called wanting another pair of eyes to glimpse what she had seen. The taller woman approached and peered down at the tattoo.

"A dragon?"

Unohana frowned wondering what it meant. She refrained from making any conclusions but decided a visit to the Kuchiki mansion was necessary to clear up any doubts. Continuing her inspection she found the toddler to be in good health, a far cry from what she had witnessed moments ago.

"So she's alright then?" Isane questioned, wondering how that was even possible when she was the third worst case they had dealt with. The other two had died.

Unohana nodded, her mind was already formulating the possibilities behind the healing and the transformation. The substitute shinigami and his comrades had mentioned that Rukia's form had changed due to one of Urahara Kisuke's faulty items. There was no information on the details of the change as the man had skipped town. Unohana shook her head; Kisuke was still as elusive as ever.

'Old habits die hard,' she surmised before shifting her thoughts back to the sleeping toddler. If the information she gathered was correct then Rukia had just reverted back to her previous form before the fever, it definitely fit the description the others had given her; she theorized that Rukia's transformation back was probably a reaction to her healing powers. There were still things that the fourth division captain needed to look into to complete her analysis.

After double checking Rukia's vitals and checking Inoue, she finally decided to take her leave. Inoue was well on her way to recovering and Rukia was resting from her wounds. Unohana paused as her eyes shifted to the older girl. Normally the recovery process was much longer, yet the human girl was showing a much faster recovery rate than her other patients. The fourth division captain remembered seeing the girl display her healing abilities and had an inkling that it was the cause for her swift recovery. Casting one last glance at her patients, Unohana Retsu slid open the shoji and stepped out. Three anxious faces greeted her. She sighed realizing that her trip to the Kuchiki manor would have to wait.

To be Contd..

Another chappie.. Ahhh I had time to write a little bit..