A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update today, I was really busy and I was all over the place this weekend.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, all rights go to Tite Kubo.

Ichigo walked across the room and picked up the phone.

"Aizen! What do you what?"

Ichigo had no doubt it was him when his voice slithered through the receiver. "You shouldn't be so rude to a former client... I might have some serious issues that need to be discussed. You don't want me to be turned off."

Ichigo clenched his teeth, a habit that his wife suggested that he should ease up on. "Cut to the fucking chase."

Aizen's resonate chuckled wafted through his ear. "Meet me at Kyōka Suigetsu tomorrow at ten. I don't want you to miss the opening."

The orange haired man scowled. "Why-"

Click.

Ichigo slowly lowered the phone into its base.

"Well, what did he say?"

Ichigo looked at Ishida. "He wants me to meet him at his club opening in two days."

Ishida fiddled with the sides of his glasses. "What do you think he wants?"

"You really want me to go?" Ichigo shook his head. "Unbelievable…"

"What do we have to lose?" Lisa stepped forward. Her voice stern and clam, as always. "Aizen is a dangerous man, we all know that. But he wouldn't have called you unless he really needed you."

Ishida rubbed the side of his face. "Do if for Ori-"

"Don't you dare bring her up in this situation." Ichigo straightened out his jacket and exited the room. "Give me a moment."

…

Orihime nibbled on a piece of toast and jam just to keep the baby going. Anything and everything about food at the moment was disgusting… except for chocolate.

"Is that better?" Orihime whispered to her belly. "I'm sorry that all of this is happening… I just want to let you know that I love you. And I can't wait to meet you, my beautiful, beautiful, baby…"

It kicked back in response.

Orihime smiled at her reply. "I think we should give you a name now… How's about Fuu…? I think it means wind…"

No response.

The woman harrumphed. "Well little miss sassy… I didn't like it that much either." Orihime taped her bottom lip with her forefinger in thought. "Hmm… How about the name Mui?! That's cute!"

The baby gave a tiny squirm.

Orihime rubbed the spot gently. The baby was so picky. "Okay, I got the point."

The phone rang beside her and Orihime reached out to pick it up.

She took another bite out of the toast. "Hello, Kurosaki residence."

"I'm so glad you picked up…" said a recognizable voice.

Damn. She should have checked the caller ID first…

"Don't hang up!" he shouted.

Orihime sighed. "What do you want, Ichigo?"

"I want to talk to you, to hear your voice…" He was breathing hard.

The woman rubbed her shoulder uncomfortably. "I don't want to talk right now…"

Ichigo slid a heavy hand down the side of his face. "Can I at least speak to Tamotsu then?"

Orihime contemplated his request. It couldn't hurt. By law, Tamotsu was his adoptive son.

The woman placed her hand over the receiver. "Tamotsu, come here Monkey."

Tamotsu looked up from his Sudoku booklet. He ran over to the other side of the room and up the couch and plopped down next to his mother.

Orihime pressed the speakerphone icon and told Tamotsu that his father was on the phone.

"Hi daddy!"

"Hey champ." His breath was shaky. "Have you been a good boy?"

Tamotsu gave his wide grin. "The greatest!"

Ichigo inhaled sharply. He leaned against his desk and smiled. He loved hearing his son's voice. It squeezed his heart to know that he wouldn't be seeing him for a while. "What about mommy? Is she doing okay?"

Tamotsu turned around and looked at his mother sitting on the couch. She looked alright to him with the exception of her stomach. "Did you know that mommy has a baby in her belly?"

Ichigo chuckled a little. "Yes. Yes, I did."

Tamotsu went on. "Mommy's stomach is big!"

Ichigo's voice lodged itself in his throat. "Is it?"

"Mmhm!" Tamotsu stood on the couch and bounced up and down. "Guess what! I went on an adventure in the yard! I was fighting a big, big dragon that went like aaarg! And he was throwing fire at me! Then I took the dragon pushed it down the hill and I saved Kon from the high, high tower!"

"Really?" He raked his hand through his hair.

"Really, daddy, really!"

"And what color was the dragon?"

"It had purple scales and a green tail and…" Tamotsu tugged at his head. "Red hair!"

"He sounds scary…" Ichigo pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hey, champ, can you put mommy back on the phone?"

"Mmhm!" Tamotsu looked at his mom and jumped off the couch.

"Ichigo?"

"Orihime?"

"I'm here…" she whispered.

He smiled at her voice but his heart still panged with hurt. "God, I love you."

Orihime wasn't impressed. "If you love me, why do you do the things you do…?"

Ichigo sat down in his chair and closed his eyes. "I don't want to settle this over the phone. I don't know when I'll get the free time, but when I do, I'm coming straight down and I'm going to see you."

She wanted to say that she wanted to see him too but, instead, Orihime looked down at her son. "Tamotsu, do you miss daddy?"

He looked up at her and smiled. "Yes mommy. I miss daddy very much."

She sighed again. "Well, Ichigo." She said towards the base. "We'll be here…"

"I love you." He whispered once more in one last effort.

Orihime clicked the button "end" without a response. She looked back down at Tamotsu. "Want to go to the playground?"

Tamotsu nodded vigorously.

When they got there, it was empty with the exception of a two jogging woman and a teenager reading on one of the benches.

"Mommy, can I go on the slide?" Tamotsu looked up at her longingly.

"Um…" Orihime looked around the playground again. "Sure, but don't wander…"

Tamotsu nodded in understanding. "Yes mommy." He slipped his hand out of her grip and ran to the rock wall and rope.

Orihime sat down at the bench were the young girl was reading a book. She had dark hair and dark skin and she smiled politely when she caught Orihime staring at her son.

"How old is he?"

"Huh?" Orihime looked at the girl next to her.

"How old is he?" she asked again. She was a pretty, not beautiful but pretty. Her face was extended and she had a long body. All arms and legs.

"Oh… four."

Tamotsu stood at the top of the jungle gym and played with the plastic wheel and pressed invisible buttons. "Look mommy! I'm driving!"

"That's my Monkey!" Orihime cheered half heartedly. She backed up and relaxed some more, her eyes trained on Tamotsu's every movement.

The teen watched the exchange. She took in Orihime's pregnant body and the look on her face. "So he's yours…?"

Orihime nodded tiredly. "Yes, he's mine."

"Oh." The girl shrugged. "He must look like his dad."

Tamotsu took his time going up the small steps and sat down on the platform. He pushed off and disappeared for a second in the tunnel and went shooting out of the bottom of the slide.

He hopped up and down in place, his hair bouncing with him. "Did you see that mommy?"

Orihime nodded and smiled. He needed a haircut badly but she couldn't bring herself to cutting off his brown locks. They hung down over the sides of his face and neck, his hair natural parted over his right eye.

…

…She wanted to try something, needed to try something. "Monkey, come here!"

Tamotsu turned around and ran over to her. He stopped in front of her knees and placed his hands on top of them. "Yes mommy?"

Orihime hesitantly lifted her hand to his forehead. She pushed his hair back and smoothed it down until she saw his face clearly. Orihime gasped.

"…Is something the matter mommy?" he asked politely.

"You…" She took a hollow, shaky breath. "…you… you look just like your…" she swallowed. "Your father…"

Tamotsu shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny but he didn't protest.

…He had his eyes and his nose… he had his hair color and his lips…

Aizen was there, he was always there and he would always be there. And that was the moment when Orihime realized that she would never escape him…

Later that night.

Orihime opened the door to Ichigo's old bedroom and watched Tamotsu walk inside. "Up you go!"

Tamotsu scrambled up the bed and pulled the blue covers up to his chin. "I'm ready!" he shouted.

Orihime sat down on the side of the bed and tickled Tamotsu through the blanket. "I'll decide what's what! Did you wash your face?"

He nodded.

Orihime's eyes widened. "How about those toes?!" She chose the right moment to strike on his feet and he yelped from the tickles.

"And your nose?" Orihime tapped his nose twice with her finger. He wrinkled it and gave her his wonderful gift of laughter.

"What about those choppers?!" Tamotsu nodded and grinned. "They are pearly-white!" Orihime tapped his lip and he made to bite her but she pulled back before he could.

"So I think we are all ready now!" Orihime bent down and gave him an Eskimo kiss.

Orihime got up and turned off the lamp.

She was closing the door when Tamotsu called out to her.

She turned to look at him. "Yes Monkey?"

Tamotsu sat up. "When can we go home?"

Orihime's smile died down. "You want to go home?"

"…I want to see daddy."

Orihime walked back over and crawled into bed with him. "We'll go back soon…"

Tamotsu looked up at her, his large brown eyes shining and visible in the dark of the room. "When?"

"I don't know yet. But when I do, you'll be the first to know."

…

Ichigo stood out of the car and walked up to the tall, bright building. You could already hear the music inside playing loudly.

The line was already wrapping around the block, people, pre-buzzed and happy, waiting for their turn to get inside.

Ichigo and his men walked to the front of the line and showed the bouncer, a scary looking man with red tattoos on his cheek bones and a long black ponytail, the pass that was given to him.

The brawny man let Ichigo and his men pass.

Ichigo had been to clubs before, many times, but those days were over.

He maneuvered through the crowd like a pro, dodging the grinding girls and drunken men with drinks in their hands.

"Well where the fuck is he?" Ichigo looked over the crowd heads.

"Ichigo Kurosaki?"

Ichigo turned around and saw a tall, tanned, blond haired woman. She had on long white boots, a short white skirt that went up to high, and a shirt that barely covered anything.

Her long blond lashes lowered over green eyes. "Aizen-sama will see you now."

…

Orihime sat up in the bed then leaned back on her elbows. She looked around Ichigo's old bedroom.

Careful not to wake Tamotsu, Orihime scooted off bed and onto the wooden floors.

He had the same desk and lamp by the bed and sliding closet. Old textbooks piled in the corner. His old clock read about eleven o'clock at night.

Orihime smiled. She loved getting tiny pieces of Ichigo's past, not matter how small.

The pregnant woman made her way down the steps and into the kitchen. She screamed when she heard a rumbling coming from the refrigerator.

Isshin looked over the white door and smiled. "Hey!"

The woman held her chest and took a deep breath. "Hi." Orihime sat down at the table. "Why are you up so late?"

Isshin sniffed food that was in a container but placed it back inside the refrigerator. "When the kids were younger they would have nightmares about ghosts or monsters, so it became routine for me to wake up at this time." Isshin pulled out a chair for her at the kitchen table and walked over to the cabinets.

Orihime was intrigued. "Ichigo had nightmares?"

"The worst!" Isshin brought out two cups and a carton. "Of course I could never fix them. It would take me hours to calm him down. With Masaki it only took moments." Isshin walked back over to the table and poured apple juice in both cups and handed one to Orihime.

"Can you tell me more about Masaki?" The woman grinned. "Tell me what she looked like, again."

"She had long wavy light brown hair that went down her back. It was the softest, shiniest hair in I've ever seen. And Masaki had these huge amber eyes, just like Ichigo's. They were really wide and understanding." Isshin lifted his hands to his face to exaggerate his point. "She was always smiling and laughing. There was never a moment where she wasn't smiling or laughing."

Orihime watched Isshin glow. She could tell he liked talking about her. "What was she like?"

"Well, she was the regular adjectives… loving, caring, sweet, kind, all that good stuff. But there was more to her than that. She was truly something else…" Isshin smirked. Did you know that she only complimented me on my looks once?" Orihime smiled and shook her head, he went on. "The only compliment she gave was that I looked cool when I smoked."

Orihime didn't know that he was a smoker. The house had never smelled like cigarettes. "Smoked?"

"I stopped, but on her special day, I go to her grave and smoke a cigarette just for her to see."

"That's… that's beautiful." Orihime hoped that she and Ichigo could have a love that strong. "…Um…." Orihime taped on her glass. "…Why did you and Ichigo stop talking…?"

Isshin took a sip of his apple juice. "It just didn't stop when he moved out; it was way earlier than that…"

…

"Follow me." The blonde turned around and walked through the crowd with ease.

The three men and the woman came to a door with red curtains draped on the sides.

The woman knocked, seconds later the door was open.

Aizen took a sip of his red drink and smiled at his guest. "Welcome, Kurosaki and friends, to our gathering or discotheque if you will." The man pointed to the three chairs in front of him.

When they made no indication to move, two women, one with black pigtails, the other with short blonde hair, pushed them down in their seats.

"Thank you Loly, Menoly."

The women smiled and scurried off.

Aizen stood from his chair and walked over to the other side of the room.

Ichigo glowered. The room had Aizen written all over it. There was a minbar in the back, the room consisted of red, white, black and deep purple. Ichigo shook his head in disgust. "Why am I here?"

Aizen arched a brow. "Simple. I asked you to come."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "What do you want from me?"

The commanding man chuckled "We'll get to that, but first, do you like the club?"

The orange haired man frowned. "It's flashy and pretentious and I wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this… if it wasn't for the recent circumstances."

Aizen gave him a look of mock discontentment. "Kurosaki that hurts my feelings… I put a lot of effort into this place." He smiled again. "I could not have done it without you… That's why I need you."

…

"He was nine and there was an accident… It all happened too fast, no one knows what really happened… There was a man, he was soon caught, but he was targeting woman." Isshin sighed. "That night… he happened to come across my Masaki."

Orihime lowered her eyes. "Oh…"

Isshin scratched his hair. "Ichigo always thought it was his fault that she died, when it wasn't and it never would be. He wanted to protect her and he couldn't, so he blamed himself."

"That's why you stopped talking?"

"Over the years we became more detached." Isshin shrugged. "I could never, ever blame Ichigo for what happened. So he was mad at me because I wasn't mad at him."

Orihime knew Ichigo was hard-headed and stubborn but he couldn't have carried such a burden with him for so long. "Ichigo must have realized that you couldn't blame a child for something like that."

Isshin looked up at his daughter with solemn, brown eyes. "If I were to blame Masaki's death on Ichigo, Masaki would get mad at me. It's not anyone's fault that Masaki died. It's just that, the woman I fell in love with was a woman who could die protecting her son. And don't forget, Ichigo is the guy the woman that I loved gave her life to protect."

…

"…Need… me?"

Aizen stood. He walked over to a man standing in the back whom Ichigo didn't see. He had shoulder length black hair and pale skin. Ichigo couldn't completely see his face but he exchanged a few words with Aizen before leaving the room through a door in the back.

"…Yes. I need you. I want to work with you again."

"To hell with that! I'm not working with a prick like you ever again. You tried to take my son from me!" Ichigo was sick of this. He got up, followed by his advisers. Ichigo glared when two men stood in front of the door, blocking his way.

Aizen sighed. "I was afraid you'd do this." He strode over to the mini bar in the side of the room and a tall, bored looking man poured him another drink. "That's why I took some precautions." He took a sip and waited for Ichigo to look at him. "Do you remember the name Kensei Muguruma?"

The name had rung an immediate bell. "What's it to you?" he asked cautiously.

Aizen considered and leaned on the bar for a moment, soaking up the attention. "I found some interesting documents..."

"You don't know anything." Ichigo spat back.

"Me?" Aizen shook his head in laughter. "Oh, Kurosaki, do you know the meaning of the word fraud?"

Ichigo folded his arms. "Do you know the meaning of the word blackmail?"

Aizen smirked.

"…I think we can come to an agreement…"

Sorry, guys, for how raw and, well, empty this chapter was. I don't know if to classify this as a filler chapter. If it is, I'm apologizing again. I absolutely hate filler chapter, but they have to be done.

My head was really all over the place all this week but I think everyone should look forward to chapter 11. It will answer a lot of questions and it definitely should not be skipped.

Rocka.