Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

Oh wow, chapter nine, basically the last chapter. Rukia's birth and everything. I think this might be the longest chapter, or pretty close. Sorry it took a little longer to update. I was going to do it on Friday or Saturday, but I've been sick. I'm still sick right now, but I'm all drugged up. Hopefully that won't effect the quality is of this chapter!!

Unprepared Battles

IX The Delivery

Ichigo was pretty pissed off, which wasn't too abnormal.

Work at his division had been ridiculously crazy, and he was stressed and tired. Ichigo could handle a lot, but still, having Rukia, just a breath away from having their child, and he, having to work all the time, really made him angry.

Soul Society could really suck sometimes.

Taking a deep breath, Ichigo wrapped his hands around his sword again.

"Now remember, don't ever hesitate. Just go with what feels natural. If you hesitate, then you'll get hit, and getting hit is costly." Ichigo explained to the new shinigami as he swung his large zanpaktou as an example. They all nodded, most of them looking nervous. There was always a constant uproar of shinigami coming into his division, and it was driving him up the wall. He knew that he was very new to Soul Society too, but training and releasing his zanpaktou had never been an issue.

"Get with your partners again, and when you guys begin to fight, I want you to put your all into it. You won't win otherwise." Ichigo said. It was true. He had come so far in his life because of it.

Instinct.

That adrenaline-filled instinct that took over his reflects, the chilled feeling of being able to swing up his sword so fast, and slashing it against the enemy, the screams that escaped his mouth when he charged for the final attack, giving everything he got, and it was to protect.

To protect his family, to protect his friends, and to protect her. He wouldn't have come so far if he hadn't met her. She was what created his fate. She was his fate.

The shoji door sliding open with such force snapped him out of his thoughts. Ichigo was completely surprised to see Ukitake in front of him.

"Come quick, it's Rukia-san!" Ukitake shouted.

It took a split second for Ichigo to repeat the fast words in his head, and when he realized what the words meant, he began to panic. His instincts were already filling up inside of him as his worry increased. Ichigo quickly turned to Izuru. "Take it from here." Ichigo said as fast as possible, and dashed out the door with Ukitake.

They strutted out the building, and Ichigo began the questions.

"What's wrong? Is she ok?" Ichigo asked urgently, his face staring at Ukitake's.

"She went into labor about fifteen minutes ago." Ukitake explained.

Ichigo's eyes widened. Labor? ALREADY?

"15 MINUTES AGO?" Ichigo screamed. He couldn't help it. But still…labor?

Several things had been decided just a few weeks ago.

One, because Rukia's pregnancy was going better than planned, having a natural child birth would be safer than a c-section, or so Unohana told them. Rukia's body had grown because of the pregnancy and what not, so it was no longer a threat to go into labor.

Two, Rukia at that point, only had a few weeks until the baby would be born. Just a few weeks.

But it didn't matter any more, the time had come. Ichigo was so close to being a father.

"They're at the fourth of course." Ukitake told him, his voice still sounding very calm. How did he find out before Ichigo? Who else knew already?

Getting to the fourth division only took a matter of two minutes, a long and wasteful two minutes.

"Where is Rukia?" Ichigo demanded as he stepped into the doorway. He didn't even know if Ukitake was still there or not, and at the moment, he didn't care. Two nervous shinigami spoke up, since it was so busy. There were a lot of other injured patients, which wasn't too surprising. Unohana was no where to be seen.

"She's in a room with Unohana-taichou, so come with us." One of them said softly. Ichigo just followed them, and stiffened when he heard a gasp that sounded like Rukia.

"Ichigo-san," Ichigo heard Ukitake say from behind him. "I have to take care of something at the division, but I'll be back as soon as I can. Byakuya is coming as well."

Ichigo cringed, but nodded. He didn't wait for Ukitake to leave, and headed to Rukia's room.

He opened the door without second thought, and saw Rukia on the bed, a pained expression on her face, Unohana pulling out some sort of needle, and two other shinigami sitting next to Rukia trying to calm her down.

"Rukia!" Ichigo cried out as he took steps towards her. She opened her eyes, though she was still squinting.

"Ichigo." Rukia replied, sounding extremely tired. He took her hand that was resting next to her, and stared into her eyes for a long time.

It felt like he hadn't seen her in years, and it scared him.

"I'm sorry you couldn't come sooner Kurosaki-san." Unohana suddenly spoke with a soft voice. Ichigo wanted to yell or scream, or at least appear angry, but seeing Rukia really calmed him down, even if she was in pain.

"It's ok." He replied shortly.

"Rukia's delivery is a little bit before the due date, but that is normal. Most deliveries are not always exactly on time." Unohana said with a little smile. He could see that she was trying to light up the tense mood, but it didn't help all too much.

"I'll be ok Ichigo; Unohana-san knows what she's doing. I'm glad you're here now." Rukia replied with a weak smile. The smile quickly vanished on her face as she squinted her face up in pain. Ichigo held her hand, leaning close to her.

Unohana had explained the whole labor process to them, since Rukia was no longer getting a C-section. As it got closer and closer to the time of delivery, Rukia would begin to feel cramps, and the cramps would increase the closer the labor got.

It was a good thing Ichigo knew why Rukia was in such pain, otherwise he would have been screaming at Unohana. There was a sudden knock on the door.

"Come in Inoue-san." Unohana finished. Ichigo lifted his head up as the door opened. Sure enough, Inoue stood in the doorway with an anxious and excited look on her face.

"Rukia-san! I can't believe it's time already!" Inoue cried as she moved next to Ichigo. Rukia smiled weakly again.

"For now Rukia-san, we can only wait for your cervix to dilate to 10 centimeters, and that is going to take some time. The pain and cramps you are feeling are going to increase as time approaches, but you still have a long way to go. If you want, you are free to walk around and relax as best you can." Unohana said with a sweet smile.

Rukia didn't look to be in any condition to want to walk, but then again, he did want to know how everything had happened. Maybe it would distract her from the pain…

"C'mon Rukia-san, lets walk around the halls." Inoue suggested, grinning at Rukia.

"They're right. Let's do it." Ichigo replied. Rukia looked ready to fight against it, but after a second, she began to slowly sit up. Ichigo helped her up slowly, and pulled the blankets off of her.

"We aren't going far." Rukia muttered. Ichigo smirked at his wife, glad she still had her attitude in tack.

It was official.

Labor sucked.

Rukia had faced a lot of things throughout her pregnancy: nausea, exhaustion, mood swings, and food cravings.

But she was pretty sure that the pain she was feeling at the moment beat all of those horrible feelings. It would shoot down her stomach sharply, and Rukia couldn't stand it.

Ichigo squeezed her hand again, and she looked up at him. She knew he was trying to stay calm, but she could read through him. He was not calm. Hell, if he was calm, she would probably be mad anyways.

How can a person stay calm when their about to have a child?

Walking in the hallway did not help one bit, especially with people looking at Rukia as she passed. Did she really look that bad? Why were people from the fourth staring at her anyway? Weren't the fourth supposed to be trained in this type of thing?

"What are you staring at?" Rukia muttered to a guy who had his eyes locked on Rukia's stomach. Hadn't they ever seen a pregnant woman before?

"Rukia, calm down." Ichigo whispered to her.

Oh no he did not just tell her to calm down.

"Ok Ichigo, you try carrying a really heavy baby, and deal with sharp pains every few minutes." Rukia barked back. Her pissed off mood was in full bloom, and Rukia didn't care.

Ichigo, trying his best to keep his cool from what Rukia could see, grinded his teeth together. "So, Rukia-san, how did it happen? Where were you and Ichigo-san when everything began?" Inoue asked.

The question caught her attention, and they sat down on a bench that was right outside the fourth. Good thing it was absolutely gorgeous outside. Oh wait, never mind, since Rukia would be inside, screaming in pain as she pushed a baby out of her.

She tried to relax, since it would probably be the only time she would get to stay out of the fourth for the next…who knows how long.

"Actually, Ichigo wasn't there. He had to work today. You got to the division about five seconds after he did." Rukia stated. Ichigo looked a little upset by her choice of words, but Rukia hadn't meant her words to sound rude.

"It all started this morning after Ichigo had left. Hinamori and Matsumoto came to visit, and after they left, I decided I would go and take my usual nap since the cramps were hurting painfully. A maid has been staying with me to help out since Ichigo can't be home, and because Nii-sama is a little overprotective of me, so I asked her to get some medicine. When she came back, she gasped, looking down at my legs…" Rukia paused.

"My water broke at that exact moment," Rukia continued on. "So, as she began to panic, she sent a message to Nii-sama, who tried to get a hold of Ichigo or anyone close by. Ukitake-taichou was the closest, so he helped me to the fourth, and then went to retrieve Ichigo."

"Wow, so just like that, you were in labor?" Inoue questioned. Rukia nodded slowly, but paused as pain surged down again. Ichigo's hand rubbed her back, and she felt a little guilty suddenly for snapping at him earlier.

Inoue looked at the two, and suddenly stood. "I'm suddenly craving lunch, so I'll be back in a little while, ok?" Inoue asked. Rukia and Ichigo nodded at her, and watched as the bubbly woman disappeared.

Rukia was in a pretty fowl mood, but that was to be expected. It still aggravated him when she would get angry at him, and say things like "It's not my fault I carry the child". Ichigo knew she didn't mean them after all.

He was grateful that Inoue had decided to come. She would be good for Rukia, and any awkward things Rukia might need, though Ichigo didn't know what. He was also glad Inoue had decided to step back into the fourth division, Ichigo wanted to spend a little time with Rukia before they got to real business.

Rukia leaned her head against his shoulder, placing her arm on his chest. She sighed deeply.

"You ok?" Ichigo asked.

"Of course I'm not ok." Rukia replied. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean."

Rukia didn't speak for a long time. "Just scared."

It was strange to hear Rukia fearing anything. She could fight plenty of hollows, and stay strong, but having a baby? No way.

He was scared too.

"It'll be alright Rukia. We're so close to be parents." Ichigo whispered to her. He was being extra sensitive, just to calm her down. It was obviously working.

Rukia chuckled against him, and lifted her head to look at him. "It's crazy, isn't it? I wonder what our son's zanpaktou will look like."

Only Rukia would think of something so far in the future when their child wasn't even born yet.

"Yah, um, me too." Ichigo finished. He cradled her head with his hands, and kissed her softly for a few moments, trying to get it all out of his system before everything really began. She kissed him back eagerly, and suddenly, Ichigo knew he was ready for parenthood.

Coming back inside was a sight for sore eyes. Not only was Byakuya and Ukitake sitting outside of Rukia's delivery room, but Renji, Matsumoto, Hinamori, Isane, Yachiru, and…Kenpachi, sat along with them.

"I'm so excited for you!" Matsumoto cried, hugging Rukia.

"I want to read the reiatsu of the child when he's born, so I'll know if he'll be a good fighting opponent when he grows up like you." Kenpachi muttered, a smirk on his face.

Ichigo just gave him a puzzled look, and turned to the doorway.

"Are you two ready?" Isane asked. Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other and nodded.

Nine hours later…

"This SUCKS!" Rukia screamed, holding onto the sheets and Ichigo's hand tightly. If she thought the pain had been bad before, then she was way wrong.

It felt like she was being stabbed over and over again, and there was nothing she could do about it. Unohana had given an epidural to her, but nothing felt any different.

"Just keep taking deep breaths." Isane instructed. Unohana had stepped out of the room for a moment, leaving Ichigo and Inoue with Rukia.

"You're doing great Rukia-san!" Inoue said in a bubbly. Rukia gasped again in pain. When would it be done.

"Just another hour." Isane said.

"Another HOUR? I can't wait another SECOND!" Rukia cried.

"Rukia, it's gonna be ok —" Ichigo began, Rukia cut him off.

"I'd rather have a million hollows stab me then wait another hour!"

"Rukia, just —"

"I'd rather watch Chappy get killed over and over again!"

"Seriously, Ruki —"

"I'd rather Ichigo's manhood be cut off then —"

"RUKIA!" Ichigo screamed. Rukia stopped her yelling, and stared blankly at her husband.

"Try to hold on ok?" Ichigo asked, his voice much softer than before. He looked a little embarrassed. Maybe she shouldn't have said that last one with Inoue standing on her other side…

"Ok, I will." Rukia whispered out tensely.

Slowly yet surely, an hour went by. The pain did not die down, and Rukia couldn't help the sudden gasps, and even yells. Ichigo never left her side once, and she would have to remember to thank him once everything was over.

If it would ever end.

Inoue had been a big help too. Rukia had wanted her there in the case that Inoue could help with pain, but because Inoue could only heal, she wasn't able to do anything. That didn't matter too much in the end. Rukia was just glad to have a close friend by her side.

Unohana walked into the room with two shinigami and Isane by her side.

"Alright Rukia-san, your cervix is dilated to about 10 centimeters, which means its time to start pushing. Everything up to this point has been a success, so just keep up the hard work." Unohana said.

Rukia did not like that. "Everything up to this point."

Was this the worst part?

It was the most unbearable thing to watch.

There were tears in Rukia's eyes as she pushed with all her might. Ichigo had the feeling his hand would be sore for a long, long time due to Rukia's intense squeezing. He let her squeeze away. If all he could be was her pillow, then that's what he would be.

"Just a few more pushes Rukia-san! Remember to count to five!" Unohana said, concentrating.

Inoue was not in the room any longer. It was just him, Rukia, Unohana, Isane, and two other helpers. So far Rukia was doing well, but now, they were down to the last few pushes.

"Push as hard as you can." Unohana demanded. Rukia took several deep breaths, and pushed with everything she had.

"I see the head!" Isane yelled out happily.

The pushing continued, until it happened.

Childbirth.

Ichigo saw it all happen.

The baby had come.

He stared wide eyed at the small child Unohana had caught in a small blanket. It started crying.

The baby was…there.

"Congratulations, it's a boy." Unohana said.

Unohana wiped some stuff off of the baby's face, and moved to Ichigo.

"Do you want to cut the cord?" She asked sweetly. Ichigo slowly nodded, and did just that.

Unohana turned away and slowly handed the baby to Rukia.

The peaceful expression on Rukia's face made Ichigo smile. Her eyes were glued to the baby.

The baby had dark hair, like Rukia's. "So, what's his name?" Rukia asked weakly. Ichigo leaned down next to her, staring at their baby boy. He was crying a little bit, but it didn't bother Ichigo too much.

Rukia and Ichigo had fought over several names, but Ichigo could only think of one as he stared down at the small infant.

"Hajime." Ichigo said.

Hajime meant beginning, fitting perfectly to everything around them.

It was the beginning of something new. A different challenge, a different battle.

And they would fight and protect, as they always did.

Rukia smiled at the baby. "Yes, Hajime." She agreed.

"Excuse me! I think I deserve to see my own grandchild! I've waited a long time for this!" Ichigo heard outside the door.

Oh dear heavens.

The door busted open, and in front of him stood Kurosaki Isshin, the biggest effing grin Ichigo had ever seen plastered on his face.

"Finally Ichigo! You make me proud to be your father!" Isshin cried as he trudged further into the room.

"Shut up dad, and how the hell did you get here?" Ichigo asked.

"Ichigo! Don't cuss in front of the baby!" Rukia snapped at him. Ichigo looked at her surprised, but nodded. Rukia was going to be a tough mother, that was for sure.

"Do you want to hold him Ichigo?" Rukia asked. Ichigo smiled down at her.

"Yah." He replied. Ichigo slowly took the small baby from Rukia's arms, being sure to cradle his head against his arms. He gave Rukia a kiss, and rose to his feet.

Isshin, and Yuzu and Karin who had popped up out of no where, came to his side.

"Karin! We're aunts! Can you believe it?" Yuzu said happily. Karin nodded and smiled.

"How are you Rukia-san?" Yuzu asked.

Rukia was out, unconscious, hopefully just sleeping though.

Ichigo chuckled, not surprised. He was used to seeing her sleep.

Unohana walked into the room again. "Rukia is going to be resting a lot for the next few days, so I suggest you let her sleep when she can. We'll also be monitoring her and the baby."

Ichigo nodded, and after seeing how impatient Isshin was to hold Hajime, he passed the baby along.

"So, Hajime? I'm going to be the best grandfather you ever had! We're going to go fishing together, watch movies, wash the car, go ice skating, read dirty magazines —"

Ichigo smacked Isshin in the back of the head, and snatched Hajime away.

"Hey!" Isshin whined. Ichigo rolled his eyes, and looked back at their small son. His fingers, his nose, his ears, everything, they were so small.

Ichigo looked around the room. "Is it ok if I take him to show everyone else?" Ichigo asked. Unohana smiled and nodded.

Everyone stood in awe when Ichigo walked out with the baby. Even Kenpachi looked a little sentimental.

Ichigo walked by all of them, and stopped in front of another family member.

"You want to hold him?" Ichigo asked Byakuya.

Byakuya stood at him blankly for a moment, the cold expression gone from his face. He finally nodded. He took the baby in his arms, and stared at the boy like he didn't know what to do. Byakuya probably didn't know what to do.

Ichigo decided to have Hajime on Byakuya's good side. Byakuya was a good guy after all.

A few seconds later, Byakuya passed Hajime back to Ichigo, and everyone took turns holding the baby, except Kenpachi.

An hour later, Unohana took the baby to sleep. Isshin and Ichigo's sisters decided to stay at the fourth along with Ichigo and Rukia, but everyone else left.

Finally, after the longest day of his life, Ichigo settled down in a chair next to Rukia's bed, watching her sleep. Only moments later did he hear some groaning.

"Ichi-go?" Rukia asked from next to him. He had his head resting up against her bed.

"You awake?" Ichigo asked.

"Is it over?" Rukia asked with hope. Ichigo smiled.

"Yah, it's over."

Rukia smiled and Ichigo took her hand in his. "We're parents now." Rukia said sleepily.

"I can't believe it's all over. It felt like such a long time." Ichigo whispered.

"It's not going to get any shorter Ichigo. Now we have to raise the child."

Ichigo chuckled.

"We've survived a lot of things, so I'm sure we'll get through this one too." Ichigo said.

Suddenly, Rukia slowly scooted over closer to the side of the bed, and patted her hand down weakly for Ichigo to join her. Ichigo did not argue, and carefully made his way next to her.

It was about two in the morning, so Ichigo was pretty tired too.

"I love you." Rukia whispered. Ichigo's lips suddenly found Rukia's, and he left them there for a long time. Who said that making out wasn't allowed after having a baby?

"I love you too." Ichigo replied after leaving Rukia breathless.

He soon heard the deep breathing of Rukia, and knew she was asleep.

The past nine months had been enduring, and at some points, painful, but it was done now, a chapter of their life.

He'd never forget this moment in his life. He'd never forget seeing their child for the first time, the beautiful look on Rukia's face, and the love he felt for the baby he had only seen for seconds.

A/N: AWW! Ichigo is going to be a great daddy right???? Well, I know that entertainment wise this wasn't the most thrilling of chapters, but I wanted to make it a little more dramatic, since it was the childbirth chapter. Please leave me your thoughts!

Love you!! Review!

Only one more chapter, and it's the epilogue!!