Summary: Nemu leaves for the real world not knowing things have not gone well with Uryuu and his father.
Unohana knocked on the door. "Are you ready? She asked.
Nemu slid the door open in response. She was dressed in a loose blue maternity dress and a white cardigan. Her suitcase was in her hand.
"I am ready" She said stepping out into the hallway.
The actually decommissioning had taken days. Physically, most of the enhancements Nemu possessed would be lost in the transfer although Unohana had kept careful notes. Mentally, it was a different story. Mayuri had left more than one booby trap in her mind to prevent anyone from learning his secrets. There were things Uhohana had learned that thoroughly sickened her. It was small wonder Nemu had been coming to her for months to deal with her screaming nightmares. She wished she could keep Nemu longer. She had endured so much at Mayuri's hands, it was amazing she could function as well as she did. Unfortunately, there was no time left. Nemu had to leave for the real world today.
They walked down several staircases, headed for the lowest level of the fourth division compound. Once there, they entered a little used cellar. In the back was a large thick door reinforced with iron straps. Unohana used an ancient bronze key green with corrosion to unlock it. This revealed a tunnel crudely hacked through the bedrock. Following the captain for what seemed like a mile, Nemu was surprised to emerge into a deep cavern. She put her suitcase down and looked around in amazement.
"Here it is." Unohana said gesturing at a gigantic crude arch in the back wall with her hand. "The ancient portal of banishment. It took a lot of power to create. I'm not sure how the old ones did it."
She pointed to what appeared to be benches and seats built into the cavern's walls. She had a distant look in her eyes as if seeing something far away that made her sad.
"There used to be a ritual they would perform. The shinigami would gather and mock the unfortunate soul who disgraced his rank and was facing exile. They would usually bring the victim out confined with a heavy wooden yoke and force them to walk through a gauntlet of officers kicking and tripping them. They wanted to make an example of them to keep others from straying from the rules. I'm glad we live in a more enlightened time."
She turned to Nemu and smiled. "I have set the coordinates to Karakura town. Your man should be waiting for you when you arrive."
"What will it feel like?" Nemu asked. "Will it hurt?"
Unohana shook her head. "No. I understand it's sort of a prickly, electrical feeling, but no real pain."
Nemu put her hand on her stomach. "What about…?"
"No." Unohana said with a chuckle. "He won't be harmed. This has happened before and the babies always turned out fine."
Nemu stepped closer to the portal. "I walk through that gate and I won't be a shinigami anymore. We'll both be just regular humans."
"I wouldn't say that." Unohana said. "Remember, this may give you a human body and lifespan, but it cannot change your soul. Especially the little one. You may end up powerless and disconnected to the spiritual realm for as long as you live, but who knows what may happen with your child?"
"I should be happy." Nemu said. "I'm going to be with the man I love. I'm going to see my child growing up free. I am happy, but there's something else. I want to go, but I don't want to go as well. I'm confused."
Unohana put her arms around Nemu and drew her close. She wasn't surprised to feel her shaking.
"You're afraid." She said. "That's normal. You're taking a big step leaving everything you know. There's nothing wrong with being afraid."
Nemu hugged her back, squeezing tight. Uhohana rocked her back and forth.
"It's all right." she crooned. "It's all right."
After a minute, Nemu let go wiping her eyes. "I am ready now."
Unohana gave her a gentle smile and went to the side of the gate, activating the controls. Nemu picked up her suitcase and stood before the portal. A low hum filled the cavern building up from the floor, vibrating through the soles of her feet. A point of light formed in the center of the arc, growing and spreading until it filled the entire space.
"You may proceed." Unahana announced.
Nemu bowed to her. "My thanks to you Captain Unohana. Goodbye."
Unohana returned her bow. "Farewell Lieutenant Kurotsuchi. I wish you a long and happy life. And I want you to know, I am very proud of you."
Unohana's smile filled Nemu with warmth and hope. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the light. Unohana monitored her progress. When she saw Nemu had entered the real world, she shut the portal down. She paused for a moment to take a handkerchief from her haori to dry her eyes before leaving the cavern.
It was as Unohana said. The feeling was uncomfortable, but not painful. Nemu rushed through the strange tunnel of light focusing on the painfully bright exit. It seemed to take both a long time and no time at all before she stumbled out into the real world. The first sensation she felt as a human was the cold wet shock of a downpour. She held up her palm and looked up at the dark sky. She had made it.
"Nemu!" Uryuu called. He was standing under a streetlight holding an umbrella. With a happy cry, she dropped her suitcase and ran to him. She eagerly threw her arms around his neck and joyously kissed him. Breaking free, her smile quickly faded as she got a good look at his face.
"Uryuu, you're hurt!" She cried. He had a bruise on the left side of his face. She held out her hand to heal him…then realized she couldn't. She stared at her hand for a moment, stunned. Uryuu gently took it and gave it a squeeze.
"Ryuuken and I got into an argument." Uryu explained. "It didn't end well."
Nemu noticed that Uryuu was carrying a backpack. Something in his face said they would not be going back to his old house.
"What are we going to do now?" she asked.
Uryuu smiled. "I'm not entirely without resources you know." He handed her the umbrella and went to go pick up her suitcase. "Let's get something to eat, then I'll take you to see a friend of mine."
Doing her best to keep him dry, Nemu walked by his side holding the umbrella as he led the way.
The shot glass made a hollow thunk as Ryuuken put it down on the bar.
"Another." He ordered.
The bartender obliged, filling the glass with another shot of whiskey. Ryuuken picked it up, contemplating its warm brown color, light shining off its liquid surface. His throat still felt the burn of the last one. He was going to keep this up until he couldn't feel that burn anymore. He looked at his left hand lying palm up on the bar. It was like he had never seen it before. Like it wasn't even a part of his body. The hand of a stranger. He was a doctor. His hands were instruments of healing, tools he used to treat wounds, to save life. How could he have used this hand to strike his only son? Uryuu's angry words still echoed in his ears.
"I will not abandon her Ryuuken!" Uryuu shouted.
"She is not your concern. You shouldn't have been dealing with the shinigami in the first place."He replied
"She's carrying my child!"
"If you had listened to me in the first place, this wouldn't have happened. She's the shinigami's problem, not ours. Let her deal with whatever punishment she receives and stay out of it."
"Don't you care about your own grandchild?"
"I care about my child, Uryuu. I care about you throwing your future away. I didn't work hard all of my life raising you just to see you waste yours."
"It's my life to live and I will spend it with the woman I love."
"Love? You're still a child yourself. What do you know about love?"
"A lot more than you do apparently. No wonder mother left you!"
That's when it happened. Without even thinking, his hand seemed to float across his field of vision, striking Uryuu across his face, knocking him to the ground. His son looked up at him, hate and rage in his eyes. He got up slowly.
"I'm leaving." He announced. "I'll come back for the rest of my things later."
He stalked off to his room quickly filling a backpack with clothes and necessities. Ryuuken stayed frozen in place. Uryuu didn't look at him as he half ran from the house. Ryuuken wanted to stop him. One word would have done it. If he could get Uryuu to stop, get him to talk, they may still sort things out. One word. He couldn't do it. He could do nothing but watch as his only son angrily slammed the door behind him. The image of the door slamming played over and over in his head.
This wasn't how it was supposed to be, he thought. Uryuu was supposed to be free of this madness. He was supposed to grow up normal, go to school, become a doctor, have a real life. He did everything he could to steer his son away from the insanity of dealing with the spiritual world. How could he not resent the boy's defiance? First he learned the quincy arts behind his back, then he became friends with the shinigami, getting tangled up in all their affairs, and now? Now he was actually going to father a child with one? He slammed the whiskey down his throat, put the glass back on the bar and closed his eyes. His hand clenched into a fist. This wasn't how it was supposed to be!
An arm wrapped itself around his shoulders.
"Hey, why didn't you tell me it was boy's night out?" Isshin said as he gave Ryuuken a squeeze and shook him around. "Bartender! I'll have what he's having."
"What the hell are you doing here Kurosaki and how did you find me?" Ryuuken demanded.
"I heard congratulations were in order grandpa." He replied with a wink. "And as to how I found you, well, I had a little help."
"Good evening Ishida-kun." Urahara said with a grin, dressed for once in a suit, his tie loose and his collar unbuttoned. He looked at the whiskey Isshin held with interest.
"I'll have one to those too."He pointed at Ryuuken. "Put it on his bill."
"To the next generation!" Isshin shouted holding his glass high.
"To the next generation!" Urahara echoed as he clinked his glass with Isshins. They both downed their drinks and set the glasses on the bar gasping at the strong drink made its way down. Ryuuken sat in silence fuming.
"So, Uryuu-kun told me you're going to be a grandfather soon." Urahara said. "I know it's a little sudden, but it's not really a bad thing. Don't you agree Isshin?"
"If you ask me, it kinda nostalgic." Isshin said with a knowing smirk. "Remember the last time this happened?"
"If either one of you says 'Like father, like son', I'll kill you both." Ryuuken warned. "And it's not the same. I was just finishing up my degree when that happened. He isn't even done with high school."
"Still, you were pretty happy when you found out." Urahara asserted. "And after all your talk about never having children."
"I should never have had children." Ryuuken said, his voice beginning to slur. "I was supposed to be the last Quincy. The line was supposed to end with me! Uryuu was a mistake."
"Hey, take it easy." Ishhin said, his eye widening in alarm. "This is your son we're talking about. You can say he was unplanned, but it's a little harsh calling him a mistake, isn't it?"
"I should have had more control." Ryuuken insisted. "I was resigned to living my life alone forever. I wanted the Quincy to end."
"But you were so much in love." Urahara said with a nostalgic smile. "It was like something out of a fairy tale when you two met."
It certainly had been, Ryuuken thought. He never believed in love at first sight, but that's exactly what happened. One look and he was dumbfounded by her beauty, lost in her dancing eyes and yearning for the merest touch of her hand. His courtship had been earnest and sincere. When he was with her, the world was paradise. He missed her so much.
"Did you ever tell Uryuu the truth?" Isshin asked.
"What does it matter?" Ryuuken said bitterly. "He never knew her. Why bring it up that he killed her."
"Ryuuken!" Urahara rebuked. "A woman dying in childbirth is not the same as a child killing their mother."
Ryuuken knew that was wrong, even as he had said it. He wished he didn't feel that way and most of the time he didn't. Sometimes though, he couldn't help it. Uryuu's coming into the world had taken away the woman he loved. Worse, he had stood there watching as her chain of fate stretched and broke, her spirit roaming free around the operating room, terrified and confused. She begged and pleaded with him to help her. With Isshin powerless and Urahara forced to hide from Soul Society, there was nothing he could do. All he could do was keep her safe from hollows while he waited for the town shinigami to show up and perform konso. He didn't show up for days. All the while she wailed in grief and loss. She told him just before she left that she wished she had lived long enough to hold Uryuu in her arms. She made him promise to take care of him. He'd done his best. He took another wife to care for Uryuu, although he did not love her. He would ever allow another into his heart. That's why she left. Despite all the material comfort he provided, she couldn't take it anymore and left while Uryuu was very young. He never knew that was not his real mother.
"You're right." He admitted. "I'm sorry."
"So what are you going to do now?" Isshin asked.
"Uryuu-kun was pretty upset when he called" Urahara said. "Are you going to make thing up with him?"
"He made his bed, he can lie in it." Ryuuken answered.
Urahara shook his head. "I offered to help him you know, and he turned me down flat."
"Typical Quincy stubbornness." Isshin said gesturing to the bartender for another round.
"I don't want to tell you how to be a father..."Urahara began.
"Then don't!" Ryuuken interrupted. "Not either one of you! You let your son wander around getting into trouble and he dragged my son into it. And you, you were too much of a coward to even start a family. Don't you dare stand there and presume to lecture me on how to raise my son!"
"Chill out man." Isshin said making conciliatory gestures. "I know you're a better father than me, but he's your kid, not your puppet. He's going to follow his own path. That's the point of raising them anyway, so they can be their own person. Besides, have you considered that maybe this was meant to happen? Not just this, but Uryuu's birth too. It could be the Quincy are not fated to die yet."
"You shinigami and your constant prattling about 'fate'." Ryuuken sneered. "There is no fate! There are only the choices we make and their consequences. It's my fault all of this happened, not fate. I'm sick of hearing about it! Now if you both would be so kind as to go away and leave me alone, I would appreciate it."
Isshin and Urahara glanced at each other. Urahara shrugged.
"Well, we tried." He said downing his shot.
"Thanks for the drinks." Isshin said as he finished his whiskey. "You know you can call us if you feel like talking later."
"Go to hell." Ryuuken replied.
Shaking their heads, Urahara and Isshin made their exit, swiping the bowl of snacks from the bar on their way out. Ryuuken slugged down his whiskey.
"Another." He ordered.
"Are you sure about that sir?" the man asked. "You've already had quite a few."
"I said give me another." Ryuuken insisted.
The bartender obliged with a worried look on his face. Ryuuken had been behaving himself so far, but that could change at any minute. You never knew with those quiet types.
Ryuuken bowed his head over his drink, the weight of the world seeming to press down on his shoulders. This wasn't how it was supposed to be.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Morishita-san." Uryuu apologized.
"Nonsense." The old man said. "The grandson of Ishida Souken is always welcome here."
Morishita Hideki, owner and proprietor of the Karakura Inn, sat on a stool behind the counter in the lobby of his ancient hotel. The walls were dingy with age and the formica floor was yellow and curling at the edges. The furniture, decorations and construction were all decades out of fashion. Uryuu and Nemu stood before the counter, a puddle of rainwater collecting at their feet.
"Last time I saw you, you were still in short pants. So you need a place to stay?" Morishita asked. "That should be no problem. I have a room on the second floor available. The elevator is out though. Will that be a problem?"
Uryuu gratefully shook his head. "No Morishita-san, that won't be a problem."
"Did this young fella tell you what his grandfather did for me in the Korean War?" Morishita asked Nemu as he took a key from the board behind him. She shook her head.
"We were both sailors assigned to ScaJap for the Inchon landing. Have you ever heard of that?"
Again she shook her head. "I'm sorry. I don't remember anything like that."
Morishita sniffed. "I'm not surprised. Everybody seems to have forgotten about it." With a noticeable limp, he led them down the hallway as he talked. It was in worse shape than the lobby with peeling wallpaper and flickering overhead lights.
"ScaJap was short for the Shipping Control Administration Japan. We supplied the logistics for the United States Navy. Can you believe it? One day you're fighting somebody to the death, next day you're best buddies."
Uryuu and Nemu glanced at each other when he said that sharing a secret smile. Their situation was somewhat different, but they could relate.
Morishita continued. "Admiral Joy himself said we were essential to their success. We sailed LSTs the Americans gave us. You know what LSTs are?"
Again, she shook her head. Morishita rolled his eyes. "Modern education. LST stands for Landing Ship, Tank. You could sail it right up to the beach and drop off troops, tanks and supplies. No need for a dock, the front opened up and you offloaded directly. Me and Souken were helping take a load of tanks and marines into Inchon to cut the North Korean forces in two. Can you believe they took offense at that? They actually started shelling us! The nerve."
His eyes took on an unfocused look as he went back in time in his mind. "A shell hit amidships setting us on fire. It was the most terrifying thing you could ever see. We had the hoses out and were taking care of it as best we could when a Yak-3 strafed us. I didn't even see it. Souken told me later. The plane kicked up a lot of shrapnel. Some got me right in the leg. Next thing I know, I'm down and Souken is yelling at me to hold still. He actually sewed my leg shut right there on the deck. He saved my life that day. I would have bled to death without him. He saved a lot of other guys too."
He shook his head. "Well enough of my woolgathering. The room is up this way."
He continued to talk as they went up the stairs. "There's no furniture I'm afraid. I can get you some bedding out of storage for now."
"That's fine Morishita-san." Uryuu said.
"Here we are." Morishita declared. He turned the key in the lock. It squealed with rust and disuse. It was a simple studio style apartment, one large room with a separate bathroom. The kitchen was built into the back wall. There were two large windows on the right hand side.
"It hasn't been used in quite a while. I really should dust it first."
"That's OK." Uryuu said. "If you show me where your cleaning supplies are, I'll take care of it."
"OK." Morishita replied. "You know, you two are the only young people here. This place is mostly filled with retirees and people on a fixed income. It does me good to see a young couple in here. When did you get married?"
Uryuu and Nemu blushed as they avoided his eyes.
Morishita chuckled. "Well it's none of my business. I'll go get you that bedding"
"Morishita-san. About the rent?"
"We can work that out later." He replied. "For your Grandfather's sake, you can stay as long as you like."
"I appreciate that, but it wouldn't be right to stay here without paying." Uryuu insisted.
Morishita laughed. "Just like your Grandfather. Always worried about your pride. Don't worry. We'll work out a satisfactory arrangement I'm sure. For now, you just worry about getting your little family settled in."
Uryuu bowed as Morishita left the apartment. "Thank you sir."
He also gave thanks in his heart for Souken. He was still helping him out in his times of need. It made Uryuu feel like he was still there watching over him.
It didn't take long for them to clean the apartment. There was a lot of dust, but Uryuu quickly vacuumed while Nemu wiped down the surfaces. It wasn't perfect, but satisfactory. The bedding Morishita supplied was an old futon set with a duvet and pillows. Although it was clean, it smelled of mothballs. Nemu changed into her nightgown and joined Uryuu beneath the covers. The rain beats against the glass of the windows. Uryuu put his arms around her. She put her head on his shoulder.
"Well, here we go." Uryuu quietly said as he stroked her hair. "The beginning of our life together."
"Do you find it a little frightening?" Nemu asked.
Uryuu laughed a little. "I find it a lot frightening. I'm going to be a father soon. I'm going to have to take care of a family. That's pretty scary."
This made Nemu feel better. It was good to see she wasn't the only one. She lay there in his arms listening to his heart beat, listening to the patter of the rain, listening to the creaks and groans of the old building settling.
"It's so quiet." She said.
"Hmm?" Uryuu responded. "What do you mean?"
"I can't feel anything." She tried to explain. The words were inadequate. "I can't feel any background spiritual energy. I can't detect any hollows or plusses. I can't even detect you. Is this what it's like to be human?"
Uryuu frowned at the ceiling. "I don't know." He had been able to detect spirits for as long as he could remember. He had no idea what was normal for other humans.
"I don't like this." Nemu said clinging tighter.
Uryuu thought he could understand. Even when he lost his Quincy powers, he still could detect spiritual entities. He had never been completely cut off. He imagined it was similar to losing your sight or hearing.
"You can't detect anything at all?" He asked.
Nemu forced her mind to stillness. She remembered the mental reflexes it took to feel the environment around her. It seemed like they simply didn't respond, like a paralyzed limb. She did her best to relax. Force was not the answer here. She stretched out her senses desperate to feel even a hint of what used to come so easily to her. She felt nothing at first. The silence stretched on for endless moments. Then, she felt a flicker. It was familiar and close.
"I can feel something." Nemu announced. She put Uryuu's hand on her stomach. "I can feel him."
Uryuu smiled as he felt her body under the thin cloth of her nightgown. Her belly was starting to grow. It would be noticeable soon.
"How does he feel?" He asked.
Nemu closed her eyes in concentration for a moment.
"He feels happy." She said.
Author's Note: The manga will probably show my theory about Uryuu's mother is totally wrong, but oh well. The show must go on.