The Urahara Shoten was nearly deserted, save for the orange-headed boy drinking at the bar. Since he knew the owner, he got away with drinking underage. Urahara tried speaking with him, but Ichigo just downed another drink. He let the lukewarm sake burn down his throat, and he barely held back tears.

"Urrraa-hharahhhh-" Ichigo groaned, as the alcohol began affecting his speech. Urahara, the shop-owner-sometimes-magician-bartender-as-well-as -candyman, sighed deeply. Ichigo was already wasted, and Urahara definitely didn't want to be the one to have to let Isshin know. The peace of the Shoten was disturbed by a loud group of judo students, meandering in. Urahara sighed deeper; it would be a long night.

A girl from the group hung back, and then approached Ichigo. Urahara opened his mouth to warn her, but before he could say a word, she slapped the back of his head!

"OI! Whhaa whuzz thhaaa for. Oh, iss juss you, Tasski." He nearly fell out of his chair in an awkward attempt to embrace the girl.

"What the hell are you doing, Ichigo?" She swatted his hand away from him. She turned swiftly to the shop owner. "And what are you doing, letting him drink like this?!" Urahara shrugged, not really wanting to be on the receiving end of her wrath.

Tatsuki looked at Ichigo's disheveled appearance, and had some pity for him. Even though she wanted to have the night off, her loyalties had always lain with her friends. She rolled her eyes, what a sap she was becoming. Tatsuki draped Ichigo's arm over her shoulders, sagging slightly under his weight. She muttered under her breath about what an idiot he was.

Tatsuki began the arduous task of walking Ichigo down the street to his house. She had hitched a ride from a friend to the bar, and had no car. She realized very quickly that it would take her 45 minutes to walk there, without a depressed drunk wobbling with every step. She felt like banging her head against a wall, when an idea struck. Her house was only a few blocks away, and she and Ichigo had been childhood friends. Perhaps Isshin would give her grace for taking him to her home without permission.

A half hour later, Tatsuki managed to wrestle Ichigo into her apartment, and onto the sofa. By that time, she was shaking and sweating with the effort. Oh well, she thought, I'll make him pay in the morning. She peeled off her sweat-soaked tee-shirt and grabbed the landline, to give Isshin a ring before taking a hot shower. On the third ring, Isshin answered, and sounded quite irritable. Tatsuki gulped.

"Isshin-san. It's Tatsuki. I have Ichigo with me," she began, awkwardly.

She heard Isshin's noncommittal grunt on the other end, and continued talking, "I found him in Urahara Shoten, raging drunk. He's passed out on my couch right now. Do you want to pick him up, or have him stay the night?" Isshin let out a deep sigh on the other end.

Tatsuki put the phone between her shoulder and ear, and glanced through her stack of bills while listening to Isshin.

"Listen, Tatsuki, I've got my girls asleep here. Would you mind if he stays there for the night? I'll make it up to you somehow." Tatsuki hummed her understanding, and Isshin continued. "I'm about to kill the boy if he comes back right now. He just made one of the biggest mistakes possible, and hurt Rukia-chan." Tatsuki nearly dropped the phone.
"Is Rukia alright?! What-" Tatsuki began, but shut her mouth. For a moment she saw red. Isshin clarified that Ichigo had failed to protect her, and then abandoned her when she needed him the most. Tatsuki was ready to kill him herself. She thanked Isshin and hung up the phone, deciding to take a shower before confronting the biggest idiot of all time.

Byakuya sat in the middle of yet another meeting, feigning rapt attention, but nearly asleep. He slightly shook himself awake, and stood, to confront the Kuchiki elders. His grandfather, Ginrei, sat at the head of the council. Byakuya bowed and waited for permission to speak.

Ginrei spoke softly, his voice full of authoritative command, "Speak, my grandson. You would not speak unless it is of great importance."

Byakuya rose from his bow, looked his grandfather in the eye, and spoke clearly, "I refuse the marriage proposal you have set for me."

Rukia sat, waiting on the couch. Byakuya had said that convincing the elders may take a while, so she might as well take some time to relax and figure out plans. She held her worn copy of Wuthering Heights, and curled up with hot cocoa as she began reading. A few minutes later; perhaps a few hours later, a knock resounded at the door. Rukia looked up, surprised. Who would be knocking at this time? Byakuya had his key.. Oh! Perhaps the Prenatal Doctor?

She peered through the peephole in the door, and saw a man, with bright blue hair (dyed? She thought). He had a smile that was slightly off, but she opened the door nonetheless. Rukia smiled politely and quipped, "How can I help you?" The man's brow rose, and he chuckled a laugh that sent terrifying shivers down Rukia's spine. He clarified, "I am a prenatal doctor, and Kuchiki Byakuya informed me that you were to have the best care possible. Unfortunately, the other prenatal doctor fell ill yesterday, so I've had to take over for a bit. If, ah, you could let me in? I'll get started on your vitals."

The man slipped through the door before Rukia could say a word. He steered her towards the couch in the main room, before setting down his medical bag and pulling out a medical chart. "First of all, my name is Grimmjow. Grimmjow Jeagerjaques. You can call me Grimm, Grimmjow, whatever makes you feel comfortable." He stood and reached into his bag, as Rukia spoke.

"Thank you, Grimmjow-san. I have been so on edge recently; I'm not sure if it's because of the hormones or the attack. It's as if I'm paranoid that everyone is out to get my baby and I."

Grimmjow smirked, "That may be because it's true."

Rukia's eyes opened wide, "No. You.."

Grimmjow threw back his head and howled a terrible laughter, and Rukia stood and backed away from him as quickly as possible. She looked for a weapon among Byakuya's possessions on the mantle, but found nothing except for the cell phone he had leant to her.

As Grimmjow glanced into his bag, Rukia snatched the cell phone and hit speed dial #1.

Byakuya sat silently and solemnly as the debate of his future raged over his head. Finally, Ginrei yelled, "Enough! Byakuya is the next heir, and although I do not understand exactly what he is planning, I understand that he has many people's best interests at heart." Byakuya bowed deeply but remained quiet. Silence fell upon the council.

At that moment, Byakuya's phone rang.

Rukia froze as Grimmjow pulled out a dagger from his "medical bag". He turned it over in his latex-covered hands, gripping the steely handle with one calloused hand. Rukia held the phone behind her back with one hand, the other, protecting her belly. She spoke loudly, "So, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, you've come here to kill me?"

Grimmjow smirked and nodded.

"Since I'm going to die, please at least tell me why? I deserve to know why I have to die," Rukia's voice cracked, and she made sure that her façade didn't break any more.

Byakuya could hear Rukia's frightened voice, albeit warbled, with the poor connection on his cell phone. From what he heard, Rukia was in trouble. And I promised to protect her too! I shouldn't have left her, not without making sure that Isane arrived safely. I'll never forgive myself if that happens.

With his phone still held to his ear, Byakuya heard a bone-chilling voice tell Rukia, "Well, of course! Ruki-chan."

Rukia shivered, but held her ground. Grimmjow continued, "My leader wants you dead. I'm not sure exactly what the reason is, but I know that it has something to do with Hisana, your dear sister." Rukia glared.

"How the heck do you know about my sister? Where is she? What have you done to her?!" Grimmjow purred.

"Hush now, little kitten, I'm getting to that." Rukia's mouth snapped shut.

"Your sister and you were both exposed to a drug when you were both young. It was a mistake on Gin's part, actually. Neither of you were supposed to be there, but you ended up there, wrong place at the wrong time. Hisana agreed to be a research subject until the day she died, in exchange for your safety and wellbeing."

Rukia gasped for air, "No! Hisana, no no no!" She felt dizzy, and slowly sank to her knees, trying to retain all this new information.

Grimmjow smirked, "Well, I suppose now that you know, it's time for you to leave this world. Since you have inside of you the only cure for our drug, Holloi. Goodbye, Rukia-san."

Byakuya flew down the road at ever-increasing speed, not caring that he was over 30 mph over the speed limit, as he heard Grimmjow's words to Rukia. "NO! Rukia, can you hear me? Rukia, talk to me. Tell me you're okay! RUKIA!"

I'm so, so sorry for leaving this story for such a long time! Long story short, I was in a car wreck, started school, and dealt with troubling family issues within the week that I was going to post this.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy, and my updates should hopefully become more regular. Thank you so much to all who have PM'ed me, written reviews, faved, and followed. Please continue reviewing, and I will crank out the next chapter ASAP!

Afterthought: I realized that one of my reviewers asked why Byakuya didn't just make her take the morning-after pill. I completely left out a scene! I shall leave it up to the readers imagination as to why Rukia didn't take the pill, and why she was willing to risk getting pregnant. Anyways, thanks again! :)

-jewelprincess7