Disclaimer: Oh...I don't own it


Chapter 13 – An Unfriendly Reunion

Ichigo leaned against the door-frame of Rukia' s room, smiling at her. It was just past eight in the morning. Yuzu and Karin had left for school, and Isshin was in his office, going over some records. Ichigo was currently out of a car (it was in the garage getting repaired), which meant he couldn't go to work. It was okay though, really; he'd have rather been with Rukia.

A soft groan brought Ichigo back to reality, and he looked around. Rukia was stirring. "Hey, Dad!" he called down the hall, "She's waking up!"

He walked into the room fully now. In his opinion, Rukia'd seen better days; she was still too pale for his comfort, and she simply looked too small, even for her. Plus she was still wearing the oxygen mask, all though Isshin had said they'd probably be able to take it off today. "Hey," Ichigo leaned over slightly as Rukia's eyes drifted open, "How ya feelin'?"

"Mm, fine," she muttered, attempting to push herself up. Ichigo quickly helped her into a sitting position.

"Ah, Rukia!" Isshin beamed as he walked in, "Good to see you awake, how do you feel?"

"Okay," she said, attempting a smile as she pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes.

"That's good," he walked over to the bed, "You look a lot better-" that's a matter of opinion, Ichigo thought, though he wasn't dumb enough to say that aloud. "We're going to try and take the oxygen mask off," Isshin had veered off on another topic, "You look like you're breathing a lot easier now, don't worry though, we'll put it right back if something goes wrong. Is that okay?"

She nodded, but Ichigo saw the look of fear in her eyes, and knew that she was thinking about last night. Isshin, however, missed it. "All right then, take one more deep breath, hold it, that's it now..."

Ichigo wrapped his arm around her shoulder, holding her tightly as she closed her eyes. Isshin carefully slipped the mask off, then said, "All right, you can let out the breath now...just try breathing normally..."

Rukia took a couple of breaths. They sounded kind of shaky, but it was better than nothing. "Still feel okay?"

"Y-Yeah," she opened her eyes, and again, Ichigo knew she was just trying to be brave, but he didn't say anything. She seemed to be breathing easy enough, so he supposed it didn't matter.

"Good," Isshin smiled, then winked at Ichigo and said, "I'll be in my office if you need anything"

Ichigo rolled his eyes as he watched his father leave. "So..."

"Can I see my baby now?" Ichigo smiled, remembering his promise to her last night.

"Yeah, of course," he quickly went over to the next room, where Kaien was still sleeping in his plastic crib. "Hey kid," Ichigo whispered as he picked up the small baby. Kaien stirred and his eyes opened. He looked up at his father with a look of utmost curiosity, as if Ichigo was the most fascinating thing he'd ever laid eyes on. "We're gonna go see Mommy now," Ichigo said, "And Mommy's awake too. She's gonna love you..."

He quickly brought Kaien back to Rukia's room. Her eyes lit up when Ichigo placed the baby in her arms. "Oh," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "He's beautiful..."

"Yeah," Ichigo sat down and put his arm over Rukia's shoulder. It'd been three days since Kaien was born, he realized. And this was the first time Rukia had been able to see him. Ichigo couldn't help but smile as he watched Rukia. She was wearing a look on her face similar the one she'd always worn when she'd figured out something new about the living world. It was a look that used to fill Ichigo with unexplainable pity; but when he saw it on her face now, all he felt was happiness.

Kaien was looking up at his mother as if she were the best thing he'd ever seen. His violet eyes were wide with curiosity, and he reached on of his tiny hands up, trying to touch her face. Rukia smiled as she watched Ichigo reach over and start playing with Kaien's hand. "He's small..."

"Yeah," Rukia agreed, "But he'll get bigger"

"Not if he's really like you, he won't," Rukia elbowed Ichigo in the side. He yelped and jumped up.

"Hey, you wanna teach our kid that?!"

"Sure. Why not?" Ichigo scowled as he sat back on the bed.

"Ichigo?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened?" Ichigo's scowl disappeared. He didn't have to ask what she was talking about. Slowly, he recalled everything his dad had said before. She listened, no longer smiling. Kaien yawned and his eyes closed. He was more interested in sleeping then he was his parents.

"It's really..." Ichigo sighed and a ran a hand through his hair. "It's my fault. You could have died...and it was my fault. I should have listened to you, I just wanted to get here, I wasn't paying attention...I'm really, really sorry Rukia"

She looked up at him for a second, then closed her eyes and laid her head on his arm, Kaien still cradled in her arms. "You apologize for a lot of nothing," Ichigo recognized his words being thrown back at him, and smiled, reaching up a hand and running it through Rukia's hair.

"Just one of the things we have in common, huh?"

Kaien stirred in Rukia's arms but stayed asleep. The two new parents gazed fondly at the small boy, then exchanged smiles.


The latest events earned Rukia her longest stay ever in the clinic. While Isshin said that she was okay, he also said he didn't want to take the chance of something going wrong, and kept her for close to three weeks. Ichigo went home once in that time, and that was just to get some clothes for him and Rukia and Kaien. It took about a week for the car to get repaired, and once it was there was nothing keeping him from not going back to work. He knew Rukia was okay in the clinic with his father, but that didn't stop him from worrying, and he did his best to get off of work early so he could get back to her.

Finally, though, Isshin said she was allowed to leave. Rukia thanked him several times for everything he'd done, but all Isshin said was, "Oh don't worry about it, that's what family's for!"

"Bye-bye Kai-Kai!" Yuzu chirped, playing with Kaien's hands (the baby was strapped in his carrier), "You be a good boy now, you hear?"

Kaien stared at his aunt as if she were crazy. Of course, she was. After many hugs and a little more baby talk, Ichigo and Rukia were in the car, Kaien in his seat in the back, driving home. The sun had already set, and white stars dotted the night sky. Ichigo smiled as he watched Rukia out of the corner of his eye. She was gazing up at the stars with a far off, dreamy look. "It's nice, isn't it?" she asked, her voice taking on a most strange tone. It wasn't like Rukia to act like this.

"You sure there wasn't any brain damage?"

She slapped him in the arm. Hard. "I was just thinking...with everything that's happened lately...I never really stopped to appreciate this world, you know? I guess I just kind of...took it for granted that it would all be here," she laughed, "I'm becoming more like a human every day"

Ichigo wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He settled for merely being confused, and wondering why the hell Rukia was talking the way she was. Before he could ask though, she twisted around in her seat and looked back at Kaien, who'd been rocked to sleep by the gentle motion of the car. "It's so weird, but he hardly ever cries"

"You noticed that too, huh?" Ichigo asked, "I guess that's another way he's like you; doesn't want to show if he's in any pain"

"Are you sure he's not like you in that sense?"

"No, definitely you"

"Oh I dunno Ichigo..."

The debate continued all the way back to the apartment. Rukia unhooked the carrier from it's base and they started upstairs. Ichigo fumbled with the keys (it was dark in the hallway) and right as he managed to get them into the lock, Rukia's free hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. "Ow! Rukia, what-"

"Don't," her voice sounded odd, though no longer in a good way. "Don't open the door"

"Why?" Ichigo squinted through the darkness to look at her.

"I dunno Ichigo, but please-"

Ichigo looked back at the door. Obviously she sensed something, but what? He couldn't feel anything, not that it made a difference; he'd never been good at that kind of stuff.

"Ichigo?" he now recognized the tone in her voice; it was fear. Ichigo hesitated. He didn't like to think about Rukia being afraid.

"Is it someone from the Soul Society?"

"I think so"

Ichigo turned the key in the lock. "Don't worry. It'll be okay"

He pushed open the door

The living room light was already on. And standing in the middle of the room were: Byakuya and Renji; the Squad Twelve Captain, Mayuri Kurotshuchi; and the Squad Thirteen Captain, Jyuushiro Ukitake.

Ichigo reached behind him and drew Rukia closer to his body, holding her arm. With his free hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out his Substitute Soul Reaper badge. "Now come on," Kurotshuchi when he saw what Ichigo had grabbed, "Do you really think we're going to fight you?"

"Captain," Rukia was gazing at her own captain, a mixture of fear and pleading in her eyes, "Captain, please don't-"

"I'm sorry Rukia," Ukitake certainly did sound it too, "But orders are orders"

"Oh yeah?" Ichigo raised the badge to his chest. There was a blur of white, and Kurotshuchi was in front of Ichigo. The Soul Reaper Captain slapped Ichigo's hand, knocking the badge away and under the couch.

"Sorry, but we'd like to get through this with as little bloodshed as possible," Kurotshuchi said in a snake-like voice. "Now, if you'd be so kind as to hand over the baby-"

"Forget it," Ichigo and Rukia both tensed, ready to fight. Both were fully aware of the fact that neither of them had their Zanpakutous, and they were facing three captains and a lieutenant.

Kurotshuchi sighed. "Fine then, have it your way..."

Without warning he struck, swinging his fist around. It caught Ichigo in the side of the head and knocked him aside. "Ichigo!" Rukia moved quickly to check and see if he was all right. Her moment's distraction was all Kurotshuchi needed; his hand shot out and grabbed the handle of the baby carrier. Rukia jerked back, intent on stopping him; he jerked his foot sideways and hit her leg, causing her to stumble. Taking advantage of this, he hit her just as he had Ichigo. Of course, Rukia was much lighter than her orange-haired boyfriend; the impact of the hit sent her flying head-first into the wall. She slid down and onto the floor, unconscious.

Ichigo, furious now, tried to pull himself up, despite the fact it felt as if his head was ready to split right open. He heard footsteps behind him, and a second later felt a foot on his back, holding him down. There was no doubt in his mind that it was Renji.

"So sorry about that," Kurotshuchi said, looking over at Rukia, "I guess I got a little...carried away," he looked down at the baby, "No hard feelings, right Kuchiki?"

Byakuya just nodded. "Hey wait a sec!" Ichigo said angrily, "Just what exactly do you plan on doing?"

"And why should we tell you that?" Renji asked, leering down at Ichigo. He loved having the upper-hand.

"'Cause that's my son you're freakin' kidnapping!"

No one spoke for a moment, though Renji pushed his foot harder into Ichigo's back. Finally, Ukitake said, "We're taking him back to the Soul Society"

"What the hell for?!"

"Jeez Ichigo, you really are an idiot, aren't you?" Renji scoffed, "Maybe you didn't notice, but that doesn't mean we didn't; even during the pregnancy, that baby's spirit energy was strong, that's why Rukia always looked so pale and sick; it was working through her body and draining her energy. Now that the kid's born..."

"We're taking him back to the Soul Society to ah...run a few tests on him," Kurotshuchi picked up, "Nothing to dramatic, I assure you, your son will still be in one piece when we're done. But he's an interesting little boy; we wanna learn more"

Ichigo knew a lot about Kurotshuchi and his experiments; he'd heard a lot about them from Uryu. "Keep your fucking hands off my son!" Ichigo lost his head completely and tried to push himself up. Renji pushed his foot so hard into Ichigo's back, Ichigo was surprised the foot didn't go through.

"Oh be quiet," Kurotshuchi rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Didn't I just say we wouldn't hurt him?"

"You're not taking him to the Soul Society," Ichigo snapped, "No way in a cold hell. He's staying here with Rukia and I"

"Unfortunately, Kurosaki, you no longer have a choice in the matter," as usual, Byakuya spoke only a few words, but they left a cold, chilling note. "Consider yourself lucky; Rukia's allowed to stay. We could just bring them both back, but we're generous"

"Real fucking generous of you," Ichigo said angrily, glaring up into the cold, cruel eyes of Rukia's brother.

Ukitake shook his head. "Ichigo, you don't understand. You and Rukia will both be better off without this baby, honest-"

"After the hell we've been through the last few weeks?" Ichigo snarled, "After everything that's happened the last eight and a half months? You honestly expect me to just accept that?"

"It's like Captain Kuchiki said, Kurosaki," Renji said in a cold voice, "You don't have a choice"

"Let's go already," Kurotshuchi said impatiently, "I can't wait to get back to the lab..."

Ukitake gave Ichigo a pitying look. "It's for the best," then turned and drew his Zanpakutou, holding it out in the air in front of him. He turned it like a key in a lock, and a door appeared. Several Hell Butterflies fluttered out as the door opened. Renji pressed down a little tighter on Ichigo's back, watching the captains walk through the doors. Just as the doors were about to close, he sprang through them, getting in at the last second. The doors finished closing and disappeared.


Author's Note: And that's the end of Kaien Kurosaki /begins candle light memorial service/ esteemed people, we are gathered here today to.../looks down and sees a note on the desk/ Wait, wait, what's this...oh, well what do you know! /smiles/ This isn't the end of Kaien Kurosaki! /looks around and sees people with holding heavy-looking objects/ Now, now...no need to bash my head in...er...I'm gonna go now. Okay? Bye! Oh, and review please :) - Sam