Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 7 – Aftermath
Ichigo watched Rukia from the door of her small room in the clinic. She was fast asleep, her hands resting over her stomach. She was wearing a hospital gown, and Ichigo could see a bandage wrapped around her right shoulder.
"She'll be okay, right?" Ichigo asked his father, who nodded.
"The wound was deep, if it had hit her chest, she'd probably be dead right now. But as it stands, she'll be fine," Ichigo felt slightly more reassured. But not enough to completely put his mind at ease. Instead, he moved to his next question
"And the baby..."
"Is also fine," Isshin smiled, "I'd say the combined shock and fear of seeing Yukio again, added to the injury just overstressed her body. She's still trying to recover from before, after all. But she's going to be okay"
Ichigo nodded. He understood. "And there's no lasting damage, right?"
Isshin shook his head. "Nope. You're still going to be a father," and Ichigo finally allowed himself to smile.
"That's really scary," Yuzu whimpered. She and Karin had been there when Ichigo had brought Rukia in. "I'm glad she's okay"
"We all are, but you don't have to cry about it," Karin said boredly.
"I am not crying!" Yuzu protested. She'd grown a bit of a backbone in the last five years.
"All right, all right," Isshin shooed everyone away from the door to Rukia's room. "Let her rest. She had a big, stressful day, she doesn't need us crowding around outside her door..."
Ichigo allowed himself to be pushed away, but couldn't resist looking over his shoulder at Rukia's sleeping form. She looked so peaceful...
Yukio was back in jail. Ichigo had called the police while speeding towards the clinic, rattling off his address and what had happened (he'd gotten strained details from Rukia while he carried her out to the car; even though he'd told her to shut up, she insisted on talking). Ichigo had gotten a call from the police a little while later, assuring him that Yukio was back in custody, and would be going away for a long, long time. And this time he was going to be under surveillance every second of the day. So it was alls well that ends well, really.
When they'd gotten to the clinic, Rukia had said her stomach didn't hurt as much anymore. Ichigo, unsure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, hadn't commented at all, but his eyes were drawn to her shoulder. He'd done a makeshift wrapping job before hurrying out of the apartment. The poor quality was already showing, as blood was starting to seep through. When he'd carried her into the clinic, everyone had panicked, understandably enough, but Isshin was quick to take charge. He had Ichigo bring Rukia into one of the rooms, then, when she was settled, he'd pushed his orange-haired son out.
Once Ichigo was sure he wasn't going to be allowed back into the room, he'd called work and told them he wasn't coming back for the day. He had to explain the situation to assure he wouldn't lose his job, after all.
And after that he had waited. And waited. It had been nearly two hours before Isshin finally came out again, and happily reassured his son and daughters that both Rukia and the baby would be just fine. His words had been greeted by sighs of relief.
Ichigo tucked his hands under his head and stared at his ceiling. He was back in his old room again. Isshin said he'd given Rukia a drug to keep her out most likely for the rest of the day. Ichigo absolutely refused to leave her, and had taken his room back again. It was past midnight, but he wasn't remotely tired. He was kicking himself for not telling Rukia about Yukio sooner. It could have made all the difference if he had.
He didn't fall asleep until almost four a.m. By the time he woke up it was almost noon. The time didn't really register in his mind at first. "Wait, what time is it?!" he bolted out of bed and charged downstairs. "Why didn't someone wake me up?!"
Yuzu poked her head out of the clinic. "Ichigo, sssshhh"
"Why'd you let me sleep?!"
"We figured we'd let the dead rest," Karin looked out from behind Yuzu, "Now shut up, would you? Dad's in with a patient, he doesn't need you shouting out here"
Ichigo sighed, annoyed. "Is Rukia awake?"
"Yeah, she woke up about an hour ago," great, even the girl who was on a sleeping drug had woken up before him. He pushed past Yuzu and Karin and down the small hall to Rukia's room. She looked up when he walked in and smiled.
"I thought I heard you yelling out there"
Ichigo smirked and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Heh, yeah, well..."
She cocked her head as she watched her. "Ichigo? What's wrong? You look upset about something"
"Well, I..." he shifted his feet uncomfortably. How was he supposed to tell her that he had known about Yukio all along? She was going to be upset, very upset. Whether it was because he could have protected her, or because he had kept a secret from her, it didn't matter. She'd be furious.
"So tell me, how are things in your world?" he looked up at her, and saw a small smile on her face. "Come on, I don't bite"
"Much," Ichigo rubbed his arm self-consciously, remembering about a year back when she'd gotten mad at him while they were in bed. She laughed, realizing what he was talking about. After a second he shuffled across the room towards her, and carefully sat down in the chair next to her bed.
"Look, Rukia...I have to tell you something," the smile on her face faltered slightly.
"What is it?" she sounded worried.
"Well...it's about Yukio," as always, when Ichigo said that scumbag's name, Rukia's body tensed. "It's not that!" Ichigo added quickly, "It's not...don't worry, the police got him, he had to go to the hospital for a concussion - guess he hit the wall pretty good - but he'll be back in jail in no time. No, it's something else," she relaxed at his words, and nodded, encouraging him to go on. "Well, you see...I kind of knew he escaped. The day you found out you were pregnant...it was on the news, I saw right after I helped you back to bed. I'm really sorry, Rukia," he couldn't look at her now, and was staring intently at his hands, which were resting in his lap. "I should have told you about it. But I didn't want to scare you, especially after what happened in the first weeks. I guess I was just hoping he would get caught"
There was a moment of silence. Ichigo supposed Rukia was just trying to figure out the best way to yell at him. He was surprised when, a second later, a small, pale hand reached over and rested itself on top of his own, larger ones. He looked up in surprise and saw Rukia watching him intently. "I..."
"Ichigo," her voice was firm, "One, don't ever be afraid to tell me something, no matter what the circumstance is. Okay? And two, don't be afraid to admit that you were wrong. Especially when it comes to me, you know I love hearing that you're wrong"
He smiled despite himself. "So...you're not going to hit me?"
She smiled back, then reached over her other hand and slapped him upside the head. He fell back in surprise, and nearly tipped the chair over. "What the hell was that for?!"
"Well, I get the feeling that's what you wanted me to do"
Ichigo couldn't help it. He laughed. "All right, all right. So you're not mad at me?"
"No, I'm not," somehow, he could tell she wasn't lying.
"Okay," he relaxed now, "So how's your shoulder doing?"
"Fine," she ran her left hand over her right shoulder. "It stings a little, Isshin doesn't want to give me any painkillers though, because of the baby, but he said it shouldn't hurt for too long anyway"
"That's good," Ichigo ran a hand through his unruly hair, "Your stomach feels fine too?"
"Yeah," she rested her hand over her stomach, "Your dad explained what might have caused the pain, and he said there was no lasting damage, so I guess it's all okay, huh?"
Ichigo nodded and looked out the window. The sun was shining in, the sky was bright, bright, blue, and the clouds were fluffy white. It was so stereotypical it was almost sick. "So"
"So"
"What about names?"
Ichigo laughed, and they started speculating about different names for the baby. Rukia remained loyal to the name Kaien, and nothing Ichigo said changed that (not that it mattered, he'd already agreed to let her name it if it was a boy). "You haven't talked much about girls names," she commented, "Don't you have any ideas at all?"
"I do. I just have a feeling that it's going to be a boy"
"You should still try and come up with names"
"Well, I do have one..."
"Then spit it out"
"Well...I'd kind of like Masaki for a girl," he'd thought about it for quite awhile, and finally decided that he wanted his first daughter to be named after his mother. Rukia nodded, understanding. "So why do you like the name Kaien so much?"
Rukia winced slightly. "Well...it's the name of my former lieutanant. He was...important to me, you see. He made me feel like I really belonged in the division. Everyone else kind of shunned me, because I was a Kuchiki. But Kaien was...well, he made feel really, truly good about myself"
Ichigo cocked his head. He had taken note of all the past tense words, and he could tell that this story didn't have a happy ending. "What happened to him?"
"He...died," she gulped, gripping the blankets tightly, "Actually, he was killed. By...me"
Ichigo didn't even bother to try and not be shocked. "Do you remember Ganju?" Ichigo nodded. It as hard to forget someone like Ganju Shiba and his sister. "Kaien was their brother. I'm surprised he never told you. It's a long story, I'm sure you don't-"
"I wanna hear it," she looked up, surprised.
"Well, I'll keep it short. A hollow took control of him and he tried to kill Captain Ukitake and I. I...when he attacked I did the first thing that made sense. I raised my sword...and when he dove at me it went right through him," she was shaking slightly now, and Ichigo could tell it was from suppressed tears. He reached over and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"Kaien sounds like a good name"
Author's Note: Ichigo, apparently, sucks at comfort XD Oh well. Anyways, yes, this chapter was the official end of Yukio Ryuichi in the lives of Rukia and Ichigo. He will now just be a passing memory. Oh, and I know you wanted to see Ichigo kick the crap out of Yukio, but between beating up an idiot and making sure his girlfriend and baby are both okay, I get the feeling Ichigo would choose the second choice. If I'd done things differently in the last chapter, I might have been able to work in a beating. But I didn't, so I couldn't. So put away the damn knives already /waits for knife people to put sit down/ Okay, thank you. Now, I know most of you are probably saying, "Where the f#$ is the Soul Society?!" Well never fear, they shall come in the next chapter. Oh, if you review, don't say something like "nothing happened, what a stupid chapter". I know nothing happened, you don't need to tell me that. Kay? So...Do you think it's at all possible this chapter could bring me up to 180 reviews? I'd love you for life if it did... - Sam
