Okay, so I'm back with chapter five already! :D
Hope you enjoy! :P
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Renji's POV:
Stepping out of Yamamoto's office, I sighed, thankful to be done with our awkward meeting. He had called me in to tell me there was some problem in my division and the lieutenant felt she couldn't handle it. He asked me to stay and help her out, forcing me to tell him about my situation with Mina.
He practically lectured me the whole time about being responsible. I honestly didn't expect it. He told me it was just like when I told Mina about Soul Society; it didn't just effect me. It effected the whole squad because I would have to stay on Earth for so long. He managed to make the lecture last a good forty-five minutes, but it was finally over. As I headed back to my division I noticed Rangiku leading a large group toward me, causing me to sigh.
"Hey, Renji! Where are you going?" she asked, grinning at me as she came to a stop right in front of me.
"I was just heading to my division. Apparently there was some issue they need my help wi-" I began before she cut me off.
"No, no, don't worry about that. It'll be there tomorrow, you need to come have some sake with us!" Rangiku exclaimed, pushing the subject aside. As much as I wanted to forget about it, I shook my head.
"I might as well deal with it while I'm here," I objected.
"It's just a paper work thing, nothing huge. Come on," she continued, her voice now whiney. "Come with us."
Sighing, I asked, "How long do you think it'll take?"
"All you have to do is find the mistake your lieutenant made and show her how to fix it, then she will. A few minutes, probably. Besides, she's probably already getting ready to leave. Come on."
"Fine," I answered, shrugging.
"Yay!" Rangiku exclaimed turning back to the group she was leading. "Okay, Shuuhei, Renji said yes. Anyone else?" she questioned.
Shaking his head, Hisagi said, "Nope."
"Come on, Rangiku," Yumichika interrupted. "Five people is plenty, let's just go."
"Hold your horses, Yumichika," she returned. "Fine, let's go!" Heading toward her division, Rangiku was obviously pleased with how many people agreed to drink with her.
I allowed her to continue leading and fell into step next to Hisagi. Ikkaku stood on my other side and looked over at me. "You're back early, something wrong?"
"Yamamoto called me back because of the situation in my squad," I answered, not returning his gaze.
Nodding, he continued. "How long are you here this time?"
"Just until I fix what Shirogane messed up, then I'll go back," I stated.
He nodded and we all continued toward Rangiku's office. As we entered I noticed a bottle of unopened sake sitting on the table next to a stack of glasses. We all sat down at the table, facing each other as Rangiku poured us all a glass. After she handed me one, I took a long pull and sat it back on the table, leaning back in my chair.
"Something bothering you, Renji?" Rangiku asked, smiling at me from across the table.
"Just...tired," I stated, my exhaustion sinking in suddenly.
"You look worried," she continued, her lips pursed noticeably.
Shaking my head slightly, I dismissed it. She allowed it and turned to Hisagi, starting a conversation with him.
During the next ten minutes Rangiku poured drink after drink, and almost every time she tried to fill mine I declined. Before they all got too hammered to remember what I had to say I decided to tell them what was bothering me. I waited, knowing Rangiku would ask again like she had a couple of minutes before.
"Come on Renji, what's wrong?" she questioned while filling Ikkaku's glass to the rim. "You've been quiet all night and you've only had a few glasses of sake. What's the matter?" As she finished her question the other three turned to look at me also.
I sighed quietly before sitting up in my chair, resting my elbows on the table, and leaning forward. Before I could explain Rangiku started. "I knew something was wrong!"
Nodding, I ignored her and said, "Mina's pregnant."
First they looked surprised, their eyebrows raising as they stared at me. After a second they all had grins on their faces, I assumed from being buzzed.
"Congrats, Renji!" Ikkaku exclaimed, raising his glass.
"Shut up, it's not a good thing!" I responded. "She's only seventeen, she's not even done with high school. Plus, do you honestly think me having a kid is a good thing?" They grew quiet at my words and continued to stare at me. I laid my head in my hands, frustrated.
Suddenly a small hand was on my shoulder, obviously Rangiku. I sighed before looking up at her, seeing her grinning face tilt closer to mine as she leaned across the table. The scent of alcohol flooded her breath. "Renji, there's nothing to worry about. You'll be a great father!" her comment caused me to roll my eyes. "Besides, this gives you reason to marry the girl already!"
"I don't want to marry her, idiot!" I exclaimed, regretting telling them at all.
"But I thought you loved her," she continued, her face falling as she blinked in confusion.
"Yeah, but I don't want to be married. Especially if she's seventeen," I answered.
"Well," she started again, changing the subject, "how long are you going to be in the World of the Living?"
"Yamamoto told me I could stay for the next seven months," I stated.
"Wow, that's a long time to be on Earth," she said, leaning back in her chair. "Well, I still don't think you should worry 'bout it, Renji. I know you think I'm just drunk, and maybe I am, but you really are going to be a pretty good father," Rangiku said, flinging her glass around carelessly. "I have faith that you'll do great."
I nodded, resting my head in my hand. "Thanks," I said absently, her words not appeasing me at all. They continued talking, changing the subject from me and to something I didn't bother paying attention to. They continued to drink while I continued to focus on what I was going to do about my situation.
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Mina's POV:
After coming home from my doctors appointment I had a quick lunch and called Rukia. She told me that her and Ichigo be over in a few minutes, so I sat on the couch and waited. I held the picture of the baby in my hand, looking down at it, smiling. I was so surprised how happy knowing what the baby was made me. Of course by now I had gotten attached to the baby, I knew there was no way I could give her away. But hearing that I was having a girl just showed me how much I loved her. I couldn't explain why I suddenly felt so strongly toward her other than I was her mother and that just sort of hit me.
A moment later the door was opening and Rukia and Ichigo came into view, hand in hand. Rukia smiled down at me and noticed the picture in my hand. "Hey, is that the sonogram photo?" she asked, pointing with her free hand.
Nodding, I said, "Yep. Wanna see?"
She nodded also, and pulled away from Ichigo to approach me. As I handed the picture to her, her smile grew wider. "Wow, Mina...This is so cute," she said, returning her gaze to me. "Did you find out what the baby is?"
"Yep, it's a girl!" I said excitedly, grinning back up at her.
"That's great!" she returned, glancing over at Ichigo before returning her attention to me. "You and Renji are gonna have the cutest baby girl!"
Laughing quietly, I thanked her. "So, are you guys ready to go see that movie?"
"Yep, whenever you are," she answered, handing the picture back to me before returning to Ichigo's side.
After sitting the picture onto the coffee table, I stood and cupped my mouth with my hands, shouting, "I'll be back later, Mom."
"Alright, be careful, Sweety!" she returned from her bedroom.
We left and headed toward the cinema, our walk filled with comfortable conversation. As we stood in line to buy the tickets Rukia turned to me and asked, "Do you know when Renji's coming back? Have you heard from him?"
Shaking my head, I said, "Nope. He hasn't called. He left a note saying it should only be a few days, but I'm not sure. He's supposed to tell Yamamoto what's going on so he can stay here the rest of the time."
She nodded and said, "That's good. I'm glad he's taking care of things."
I nodded also, not as relieved with what he was doing. Rukia seemed to notice.
"Look, Mina, I know you're worried about Renji's ability to take care of you and your baby, but you shouldn't. He's a really responsible guy, I'm sure you've noticed that over the last two years. And he loves you. This whole situation obviously freaks him out, but he's dealing with it for you and her," she stated, pointing at my stomach. "Don't doubt him. He'll be able to tell and that's only going to make things harder on him. You can trust Renji, you know that."
I was surprised by her words, but she was right. Renji had taken care of me ever since we met two and a half years ago. And I knew he'd be just as responsible with the baby. "You're right," I said, smiling back at her slightly. "Thanks."
"No problem," she answered after looking at me skeptically, like she could tell there was something still bothering me. She seemed to ignore her guess and we all headed into the theater. We took seats at the top, Ichigo sitting between Rukia and I. I wasn't sure what we were watching, but I was too distracted by what Rukia had said to really pay attention.
About halfway through the movie I tried to pay attention and found out it was the new gory movie Rukia had been dying to see. Right as I began to focus a woman screamed, causing me to jump and lean closer to Ichigo. He noticed and laughed quietly.
"You okay?" he asked, leaning close enough to whisper in my ear.
"Yeah, sorry," I responded, still pulling myself closer to him while my eyes were glued to the screen.
As the movie ended and the credits started rolling along the screen my thoughts returned to what Rukia had said. My initial worry began playing along my features, I knew. I was worried and my face told everyone. Rukia and Ichigo both noticed as we headed out the cinema's doors. "You okay?" Ichigo asked, nudging me with his elbow lightly.
"Yeah, thanks, I'm fi-" I began before Rukia interrupted.
"What's the matter, Mina? Are you still worried about Renji?" she questioned.
"No, you're right. He's taking care of it, I'm not worried," I answered, trying to get the uncertainty off my face.
"Well, then what's bothering you? Something is," she stated, sure of it.
I slowly nodded and looked away from them. "It's stupid, really. Nothing for you guys to-"
"Mina, tell us," Rukia demanded softly.
I sighed quietly, nodding again. "I'm just...I know Renji's going to take care of us, but..."
"But what?" she asked again, her voice level dropping.
"But...I'm worried he's not going to...love the baby. I keep imagining him thinking of her as another person to protect because he "has to". My father was really important to me, I don't want our daughter to realize something as horrible as her own father not loving her," I said, tears forming along the rim of my eyes.
"Mina...," Rukia began, smiling at me warmly. "Don't think that. I know Renji's not the nicest guy in the world, but he's not heartless. Besides, he's become quite the softy, and I think we have you to thank for that," she continued, her smile growing into a grin. "Honestly, Renji's really not good with kids at all. But trust me, it'll be a completely different story when he sees his own daughter. I promise."
Nodding, I felt a small smile tug at my lips. "Okay. Thanks again, Rukia. You're really good at dealing with my mood swings."
My comment caused her to laugh loudly. "Good, I'm glad I'm helpful," she said.
"But," I started again, looking up at Ichigo. "What about you? How would you personally, as a guy, feel about having a kid?" I asked, getting a surprised look back.
"Uh...," he began, obviously not sure what he should say. "That...depends. When?"
"Now. How would you feel about having a kid now? Do you think you'd be able to care about it and love it even though you're only seventeen?"
Rukia grinned up at him expectantly, causing him to shift nervously. He slowly nodded, ignoring Rukia's smirking face. "Yeah," he said.
I grinned up at him also, laughing quietly. "Okay. I just wanted to know how you felt," I stated, glancing at Rukia, who gave me a skeptical look.
"Why?" he questioned, looking down at Rukia, the idea sinking in. His eyes grew wide with worry. "Rukia are you p-"
"No!" she exclaimed, glaring up at him. "She was just asking, calm down!"
His posture loosened as his shoulders fell, obviously relieved. "Okay."
Laughing again, I placed a hand on his arm. "Sorry, Ichigo, I was just teasing you guys."
Shaking his head, he said, "It's fine."
We headed back to my apartment and they stayed for a few hours to keep me company. They stayed until dinner and then left for home. Even though I was alone, excluding my mother's presence, I felt pretty good. I wasn't worried about Renji's role as our baby's father anymore and I found myself missing him more than usual. I slept that night feeling confident about my future with Renji for the first time in a long time.
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Renji's POV:
The next day I headed toward my lieutenant's office and helped her fix the mistake she had made. She kept apologizing for making the error, obviously nervous to have me help her out. I told her it was fine and not to worry, but my words didn't seem to appease her at all. After I had found the mistake and showed her how to fix it, I headed toward Yamamoto's office to tell him I'd be returning to Earth.
On my way I spotted Hisagi and Ikkaku. As they headed toward me their hangovers became more noticeable. "Hey, Renji, you leaving already?" Ikkaku asked, stopping in front of me.
Nodding, I said, "Yep. Shirogane has the paperwork under control now, so I'll see you guys later." I stepped around them, eager to get away.
Of course they followed, and their choice of conversation just happen to be about Mina. "I can't believe you're gonna be a father," Hisagi said, a smile present in his voice.
"Yeah, I feel bad for the kid," Ikkaku added, causing a glare to make it's way into my expression. I ignored their jokes, telling myself they were still a little buzzed.
"Come on, Renji, we're just messing around," Hisagi stated, realizing how angry I was.
"Whatever," I said, ready to get away from them.
"What are you going to do about her?" Shuuhei continued, referring to Mina.
"What do you mean?" I asked, slightly cocking an eyebrow.
"You said you're not going to marry her. What are you going to do then?"
"Nothing," I answered, still a little confused.
"You're just going to keep dating her even though you have a child together?" Ikkaku asked.
"Yeah. Just because she's having our kid doesn't mean I have to marry her. I don't plan on marrying her," I said, even more annoyed.
"That's kind of horrible, Renji," he continued.
"How?" I questioned, my anger and impatience leaking into my voice.
"Because, she thinks it's serious. She thinks you're serious about her, but you never plan on marrying her. Ever? I know Mina, she seems like the type who wants one thing with her life: a family. And by getting her pregnant and not marrying her it's like you're dangling that in her face. It's pretty shitty of you." Hisagi's words surprisingly got he were talking about anyone other than Mina, I really wouldn't care that much. That sounds pretty bad, but it's true.
Sighing, I shook my head. "Look, I've got to go. I'll talk to you guys later," I said, happy to change the subject.
"Okay, see you later," Hisagi said, dismissing the lecture.
"See ya, Renji," Ikkaku said, raising a hand before leaving with Shuuhei.
"Bye," I stated absently, continuing toward my I had to go back to Earth, I had less time to deal with this stress. I had to regain my composure before getting back to Mina, the last thing I wanted to do was worry her more than she already was. I continued walking, sighing again, and forcing myself to be less pessimistic about what was going on.
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Okay, so I was going to make this chapter longer, but I have decided to cut it off right here. :) I hope you all like this chapter, please review! :D