AN: Sorry about the long wait! All I can say is that real life has been toying with me a good deal. I have moved 3 or 4 times in the interim (I can no longer keep track) been working overtime just about every week and on the weekends to the point of physical exhaustion. Been going through crazy situations with family both on my side and my husband's side. And to top all of that off I am now expecting my own little one come January! :D But we have since gotten everything under control and barring moving one more time in a few months, I am settled and ready to write again. This story considers the anime and manga up to the same chapter I mentioned in chapter one of this book. So if you are keeping up with the manga some of the recent crazy has just not happened in terms of this story b/c being a psychic is not one of my talents and I didn't know that would happen when I started this. So without further ado, here is your chapter.

Oh, and I don't own it.

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Chapter 5: Reveal

It wasn't even a week before Uryuu had found a job working at a Tanaka's Tailors shop in town. It paid well and worked very nicely with his schedule. He went straight to his job after school starting at 2 pm and working until 5, which gave him enough time to come home and help with dinner and do his homework. He spent all of Saturday at the shop, and had the rest of the weekend off. There was something satisfying about earning his own living and for the first time in his life Uryuu didn't feel like he was catering other peoples' happiness instead of his own.

All in all, Uryuu was doing great since his move, and it seemed Inoue was doing well too. Ever since he moved in, he had begun to stay in Inoue's room until she fell asleep. And since they had started this ritual, she was able to sleep through the night. Uryuu started telling her stories to help her fall asleep. Though all the stories he could remember were about the first Quincies and their life choices. He had apologized more than once about his lack of bed-time-story material, but Inoue insisted she liked hearing the tales of the great Quincies who awoke the power sleeping within them.

Now that Inoue was sleeping, she seemed much healthier in general and Uryuu was pleased at her progress. One day about two weeks after starting his job, Mr. Tanaka let him leave early so Uryuu stopped by the store to pick up some ice cream.

"I'm home!" he called as he opened the door—even though Inoue had insisted on making him a key he still sometimes felt strange, like he was letting himself into her house.

"Over here!" she called from what he could only assume was her bedroom. Stopping to put the ice cream in the freezer, he made his way across the house.

"What are you doing hiding out over here? Oh!" as he turned the corner into her room, he realized that her shirt was tied up around her rib cage and her whole belly was exposed. He blushed crimson and turned around. "Inoue, what are you doing?"

A small hand grabbed his elbow and turned him around. "Oh stop being silly, look!"

She was very insistent and so he looked. Now that he stopped to study her midsection, he realized what all her excitement was about: her small stomach now protruded in a gradual round arch. His eyes lingered over her abdomen for a long while before trailing up to catch the infectious smile on her face. "Look how big I am!" she beamed.

,

Inspiration had stuck him and he exclaimed "Oh! I have and idea," and rushed off to his room before Inoue even had time to ask him what he meant. He returned moments later, with a shiny silver camera in his hands. "I never really used this much, but maybe now's a good time to start. We can take pictures as you grow, and see how big you are getting."

Inoue loved the idea and she came up with many amusing poses to show off her rounded belly while Uryuu snapped pictures off.

"Hey, now your arching your back and trying to make it look bigger!" Uryuu laughed between clicks.

"No you don't understand I am big now! Pretty soon I'm going to need you to sew elastic into my pants!" she stretched her arms way out in front of her and puffed her cheeks up to show how big she would get and the combination sent Uryuu into more fits of laughter.

When his laughter calmed down with a sigh and he caught his breath, Uryuu righted himself and nodded. "That reminds me, I have something for you." Once more he disappeared only to return again later with something in his arms. He handed Inoue a red box.

"What's this?" she asked and he made a gesture that she should open it. She set it on the bed so she could pull off the lid. As soon as the lid lay on the bed and she pushed aside the tissue paper hiding the gift she gasped. Her hands went inside the box and lifted out an intricately decorated baby blanket. It was a pale blue and had been embroidered with a pattern of small blue flowers as well as fairies that looked like bees and butterflies at first. "Ishida, did you make this?"

Her big grey eyes fixed on him causing him to blues. Mr. Tanaka wanted me to get used to the machines and I thought I might make something for your son. I know what the flowers look like, but I've only seen a suggestion of the fairies, I hope it's all right. But I thought it would be nice for him to have something that represents his mother. I…"

His rambling was cut off by Inoue flinging her arms around him and burying her face in his neck. "It's beautiful, Ishida! I love it!" The tone of her voice told Uryuu that his friend had tears in her eyes, but it seemed that these tears were good ones. For a moment he allowed himself to relax into her warmth and he brought his arms around her.

"I'm glad you like it," he whispered into her hair, his arms tightening around her of their own accord. He had spent a long time embroidering the blanket; the design he chose was a representation of Inoue's powers. There had been no real plan about when to give it to her, but the moment had seemed right. Knowing that she liked it made him feel good. He wasn't used to the feeling of making those close to him happy.

He remained lost in the moment until Inoue sighed and shifted the position of her head, pushing her nose lightly against his neck. The movement brought him back to reality and he immediately pulled away and pushed the glassed back up on the bridge of his nose. As Inoue lightly traced over the patterns of the blanket with her finger she said, "Thank you, Ishida. You have no idea what this means to me."

And he really could guess just how much the blanket meant to her. For him, it had been about representing the connection of mother and child as well as their importance to him. But the wet glimmer in Inoue's eyes as well as the soft smile on her lips told him that it really touched her as well.

"It's no big deal," he said even though they both knew otherwise.

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From that point little things began to change between them almost imperceptibly at first. The changes were so small that neither could tell you when they began, but eventually they were closer than ever. Uryuu stopped being so tight lipped and learned to open up to Inoue without her having to pry. And they found a comfortable rhythm in their lives.

Uryuu had never imagined being close with someone like this before. As an introverted and shy child he had had many acquaintances but few true friends. Then his recent adventures had given him the true meaning of friend, but still he never felt comfortable confiding or being around someone so long. Inoue, he realized, had become his best friend even though a year ago he through the term silly. Now he found himself thinking of her during his day at school and at work. But he wasn't just worrying about her safety, but also wondering whether she would appreciate a funny story or amusing tale from his day.

They got on very well, and the only matter they seemed to disagree on was that of the nursery. Uryuu felt bad displacing Inoue's child from his room and wanted the room to still be converted to a nursery like Inoue had originally planned. Inoue said it was ridiculous to sleep on the couch when there was a perfectly good room in the house and the baby and crib could go in her own room (it would be easier for her that way anyway.) The conversation always ended the same way: with Inoue telling Uryuu that he could sleep on the couch if he pleased, but the baby was staying with her so no one would use the extra room. They were both quite stubborn on the issue, but as Inoue reminded him, they still had some time to figure it out.

Meanwhile, Inoue began to show more and more. Soon they were had to let out her school clothes. That was around the time that rumors started spreading around Karakura High. No one knew how it had happened, but everyone was talking about the changes in Inoue's body. At first the rumors were faint and spread out, but before long the whole school was talking about the princess of Karakura High and her compromising position. As much as everyone had seemed to love Inoue before, now the school found it much more amusing to talk about her, excepting of course her nicer friends who denied that there was something off about her.

All of this was distressing Inoue enough, but soon the rumors had a venom to them. And the kids stopped worrying whether she would hear them.

Uryuu got caught behind one noisy group of rumor spreaders one afternoon watching Inoue cross the campus. One boy looking at her whispered to his friend, "I heard she was with so many guys she doesn't even know who the father is." At the same time someone closer to Inoue said something rude and startled her causing her to drop her book bag. When her books hit the floor and went scattering and she bent to pick them up the kids only laughed harder. Uryuu had had about as much as he could take.

They had agreed to stay away from each other during school to stop anyone from guessing that he was living at her house, but these rumors were too ridiculous to ignore now. Striding across the lawn and knocking into the rude boy in front of him, Uryuu bent to help Inoue with her things. Once all her items were secure in her book bag, he gently took it from her and slung it over his own shoulder. Then he pulled her up to her feet.

Still in front of the whole school yard, as they seem to have gathered quite an audience, he used his thumbs to brush away the tears that had formed in the corner of her eyes. And then slowly, so no one could mistake the tenderness of the gesture, he lowered his lips to her cheek and planted a soft kiss there. Inoue clung to him as if her knees would give away if she didn't hold tightly and so he put his arm around her and they started to walk. "Lets go." He said.

They were down the street before the hush lifted from the school lawn and the teens began to talk about what they had just seen. When Uryuu and Inoue were far enough away that no one could hear them, Inoue finally speak. "Oh Ishida, you didn't have to do that. Not that I'm not grateful, but do you know what they'll say about you now?"

Uryuu shrugged, "I couldn't sit by and let them say those terrible things about you anymore. I don't know whether I've made it better now or just given them one more person to talk about, but at least all the focus isn't on you now."

Inoue nodded and nestled closer under Uryuu's arm which he kept there incase anyone happened to still be watching.

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As it turned out the next day was an entirely different story, Inoue went from town whore to being fawned over by all the girls. Apparently being able to identify the "father" was all it took to redeem the princess in the eyes of her followers. It also helped that several of the girls were jealous of her "capturing" the heart of the mysterious and broody Ishida. Now the girls told tales of their story book romance while asking Inoue if she needed a drink, telling her she should sit, or generally making a fuss over her. Uryuu rolled his eyes at the new rumors but was glad that public harassment of Inoue seemed to cease.

It seemed that the public was generally accepting of the idea, though the teacher had them set up an appointment with the school's guidance counselor for later that week. All in all it was a pretty good day. That's why it was so surprising that coming home form work that day he was decked squarely in the jaw. "What the?!" he shouted as he lost his balance.

"What the hell did you do to Orihime?!"

Uryuu knew that voice without even looking up. "Kurosaki," he started, "why don't you come inside and we'll explain everything to you."

The next punch landed on the left side of Uryuu's face, which would surly blacken his eye. "Draw your bow Quincy! We'll settle this now."

Uryuu shook his head and finally took note of the fact that Kurosaki was in his Shinigami robes and had his large zanpakuto strapped to his back—he did look much more imposing that way.

The third punch stopped midair by a voice much more persuasive than Uryuu's own. "Ichigo! Please!" The tall boy looked over to the front door of the house. "Come inside we'll explain everything." He looked back and forth between Inoue and Uryuu and finally his shoulders sagged as his posture relaxed a bit. Kurosaki disappeared behind a bush and returned in his body.

"Alright, let's go," he said commanding Uryuu much like a prison guard and nodding toward the house.

Amused Uryuu followed pushing his glasses up on his nose and preparing for who even knew what.

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Ichigo's fist pounded into the coffee table. "I'll… I'm gonna…"

"Kurosaki! Calm down!" Uryuu braced himself on the table and stood slightly so that his eyes were even with the other boy's. The red head swallowed and looked over at Inoue and nodded before sitting down.

"So what are you going to do? Are you going to have this kid?"

Uryuu watched as Inoue's eyes got really big and a strange look came over her face. Reaching out to grab her hand where it rested on her lap, Uryuu interrupted, "Kurosaki." And in a pointedly low tone he added, "It's a little late for that."

Inoue looked away and the hand Uryuu wasn't holding rushed up to cup her face. A sob chocked out from behind her hand. Using his other hand to push up his glasses Uryuu spoke softly, comforting the distraught girl and trying to find out what was wrong.

It was a few moments before Inoue was ready to speak, and when she finally did she kept her face hidden and she squeezed Uryuu's hand. He encouragingly stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.

"I didn't ask for this. I never thought I'd be in a situation anywhere close to what I'm in now. But everything from early in my life to our recent trips into Soul Society and Hueco Mundo have taught me to never give up. This was not my plan, but if some strange fate has decided that this is my role in the scheme of things, then I will hold my head high and play my part."

It seemed that this speech cost the small woman a lot of nerve and after having made her point, she slightly slumped back against the chair hoping the boys would respect her reasons. Uryuu continued to hold her hand absent mindedly as he looked to the strawberry-haired boy across the room.

Kurosaki not only took in what Inoue said, but he watched the fire of determination burn behind her eyes as she spoke. He also noted Ishida's careful and consoling manner with her and knew that however she had gotten into this situation she was not alone now. Finally he nodded and the girl breathed audibly.

"What can I do?" he said after a while, "How can I help?"

Inoue shook her head, her soft hair falling over her shoulders as she did and she finally released Ishida's hand to brush it from her face. "You can't. Not really. There are too many other things you are obligated to do. You must find Aizen and his minions." A soft smile played at her lips. "Maybe you can help me by making sure they do not go free again and that the world will be safe for me to have this child."

Kurosaki didn't like the idea that he couldn't help. But what Inoue said made perfect sense. She was part of a larger picture and his job was to make sure that picture stayed safe. She already had a bodyguard it seemed; and knowing Ishida, he took the job very seriously. In the end he gave his nod of consent. "I don't like that there is nothing I can do for you personally, but I will train twice as hard and protect this world for you. And when I see Aizen and Ulquiorra…" here his brows drew down further and his eyes darkened, "they will answer to me."

Inoue rested a pale hand on Kurosaki's arm breaking the determined concentration he had fallen into. "Thank you, Kurosaki," she spoke softly, "I will let you know if there is anything else you can do."

A while later Kurosaki found himself walking home with his ands shoved deeply into his pockets and his head lowered in thought. He was frustrated enough to even wish a hollow would show up, just so he'd have an excuse to exercise. What was done to Inoue was wrong. She shouldn't have to deal with such a thing. But she was dealing and remarkably well. The whole ordeal had made her more mature somehow. Maybe it wasn't even this part. Maybe it was from the first moment she stepped into Soul Society.

Or maybe she just always hid this remarkable understanding deep under her childlike innocence. Considering her past, this last thought seemed likely. She was continually surprising her friends with moments of great reserve and reason. Which must have been her underlying character. That she chose to be happy and carefree in the face of such adversity that had befallen her, well that just showed the strength of her character.

A small smile broke the set concentration his lips had been pursed in. She certainly was something else. And Kurosaki was glad that someone was there to protect her. Someone who could devote his whole time and being into keeping her safe. She deserved that.

Looking up, Kurosaki realized that he had walked all the way home and could scarcely remember the trip. He stood outside just looking up at his house for a while. It was always in face of new situations that the most mundane objects take on a new light. Standing there looking up at the big sign on the front of his home as if he had never seen it before, Ichigo suddenly knew what he could do for Inoue! He practically knocked the door off it's hinges running inside to see if his idea could really work.

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AN: So that is the first chapter after a long break. What is Ichigo planning? You'll know soon! I hope to update by the middle of next week, next weekend the latest. As I now have the time to update this story should pick up speed now.