A/N: Konnichiwa, minna! I have returned triumphant from surgery. It was a little more complicated than we thought it would be going in, but overall a great success, and I am home and free, able to eat normally again. So, to celebrate, here is the beginning of Part 3! Warning, there is mention of birth in this chapter but it's not graphic, and of course, the birth comes from mpreg, but you guys should be expecting that by now. Since we left Gin expecting at the end of Part 2. Anyway, enjoy! Ja ne!
Part 3 - Lost in Conquest
Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. The gentle caress of the spring breeze, the scent of the flowering trees, the warmth of the sun returning to a world previously wrapped in cold and ice, and the sound of...the sound of...the...sound...
"AUGH!"
Whipping around in his seat, Ichigo stared frustrated at the whimpering kitsune, floating inches above the ground. Rounded hugely in the last days of his pregnancy, Gin bit his lip, acutely aware that his noises had disturbed the King. He tried to smile but the raised orange eyebrow made him duck his head apologetically, ears falling down. Ichigo rolled his eyes and tilted his head so he looked up at the sky. That was all the invitation the silver-haired male needed. With more grace than should have been possible in that stage of fecundity, Gin pounced on the King's right arm, clutching it tightly.
"Happy now?" He asked, and Gin nodded purring and cooing. "C'mon. Let's go see if Shiro has that book translated yet."
They made their way to the library of the Shrine. The Horsemen had settled in with their mates, but due to the long millennia of neglect, they had a lot of work to make up. Death especially; with so many humans dying every moment, every second, there were innumerable souls sitting around needing to be collected and ferried around, not to mention those with unnaturally extended lives he needed to take. War was on in the west, famine in the Middle East and other third world countries overtaken and abused by larger powers. And now, with Gin so close to kitting, as they had set up before Renji had come home from the conflict and Grimmjow had gone in his place. War always led to Conquest one way or another after all, and that was enough for the Magic to accept Grimmjow taking over until Renji could come back.
So, when the King entered the peaceful place of knowledge with the kitsune literally on his arm, he sought out the vibrant red-haired tiger, where he was filling out damage reports and organizing the last intelligence sent to him. Just because he wasn't on the front line didn't mean he could afford to be out of touch with how things were going. As soon as the kits were born and Gin was settled with them, he'd be right back to work. It would take some doing, but somehow he had to curb humanity's insatiable lust for conflict. Hopefully this would be like the last great war he'd been a part of and would satisfy the egotistical primates for a while.
"War, I've a bit of a problem..." Ichigo gestured to where Gin was rubbing his head against the orangette's shoulder, purring and wagging his tails.
Shiro looked up from a tome thick enough that he needed to sit on two others to read the center of it, and large enough that it had its own table. He laughed, his reading glasses sliding down his nose, "Again, Gin?"
The kitsune merely purred harder and Ichigo sighed.
Renji immediately abandoned the reports to rise to his feet and go to his mate. "Gin, love, darling, you know Ichi's circulation gets cut off much faster'n mine," he coaxed. "He ain't s'thick as I am," he added with a little grin, sidling up to his mate and kissing his temple.
Aizen watched with amusement from his spot on the ceiling. He was Cocooning. Literally encased in an actual caterpillar cocoon and hung from the library ceiling. Nobody had really wanted to know, and he was disturbingly comfortable right where he was, often using magic to bring a book up for him to read. As he had been the only Horseman alive and Awake, there was little backlog for him to attend to. Thus, he was preparing for something much larger, and more complicated. The time wasn't quite right yet, but soon.
Ulquiorra, slumped into a white-and-black ball of curled limbs and wings, was under his mate's chair. He couldn't sleep at night, the dark still frightened him, and he refused to sleep if his mate wasn't near. He often woke from nightmares, the content of which he refused to speak about, but always caused him to seek comfort from his mate with a terrified desperation. His long tail curled around Shiro's wrist and twitching occasionally was sometimes the only sign he was alive, especially during quiet times like this.
Ichigo rolled his eyes and Gin launched himself at Renji with a grin. The King stepped to the side to peer over the reports, and let his bangs fall over his face. Grimmjow had been gone for seven weeks, as Gin was due any day now, but the orangette missed him terribly. His meditation exercises were the only thing that kept him from wishing the war finished and bringing his Consort home. Of course, this was the real reason the kitsune kept latching on to him. Gin was the Jester, designed specifically to keep the King entertained so he wouldn't give into the petty human desires that would unravel all of reality, like wishing a conflict over just so he could cuddle his husband.
He fingered the edge of a paper. Seven weeks...and not a single word from the blue-haired panther with whom he shared everything. Gathering his courage he smiled at the pair, and then at his brother.
"I'll be in my room if any of you need me. Someone," he slid an only half-irritated look over to Gin, "interrupted my concentration in the courtyard."
The King left, and Shiro sighed. If only he could figure out a way to make his twin happy again without destroying the fabric of time and space by creating a duplicate Grimmjow. He sat back in his chair and let his hand dangle to rest on Ulquiorra's head. About to say something to his other half, he opened his mouth, when Gin let out a terrified squeak, and everyone froze.
Holding onto his tiger's arm, the kitsune's tails were all three stuck out straight as liquid of some kind ran down his legs, soaking his hakama. The traditional fabric, worn because they were easier to adjust around his constantly growing belly and better protection than his fur after the incident mid-summer where he'd fainted, stuck to his legs, darkening. For once, his ice blue eyes were wide open, or at least as wide as they usually got, and fear crossed his features.
"Eh...Tora..."
Renji was instantly scooping him into his arms and running for the infirmary, bellowing for the midwives with all the power in his considerable, magic-reinforced, booming voice. Actually, he was more screaming for midwives, healers, and pretty much anyone who could help his mate with the birth. Like most first-time fathers, he didn't handle the knowledge that the birth was imminent well and was panicking.
Ulquiorra squawked in alarm and jolted up so fast he hit his head on the bottom of Shiro's seat, horns shattering the wood as they slammed into it, tail tightening around his wrist. Shiro fell off the chair as the thing tipped over in a shower of splinters in a crash. Landing on his elbow, his hand gripping Ulquiorra's tail by reflex, the albino laughed, pulling the monochromatic demon down on top of him across the broken furniture.
"Guess we should go help 'im calm War down, ne?"
Aizen sighed and his magic flashed out as he used it to prepare the not-closet where Gin had made his nest. He smirked in amusement. "Gin will be fine, he is made to give birth with little to no trouble, but Renji, of course, panics."
Ulquiorra blinked owlishly. "I...yesh, I shuppose-" he cleared his throat, a spark of leaf green flashing between his teeth as his regeneration fixed his bitten tongue. "Still, I suppose we should calm him. His panic will only stress his mate."
"Indeed," Aizen said with a chuckle. "You may need to bodily subdue him. He will want to be with his mate, but Vixen kitsune tend to get...very, very violent when a Reynard is near their Birthing Den. They fear him killing the cubs, which is usually ridiculous since he is usually the sire, but instinct still typically will not tolerate any Reynards. Mind, Gin is rather unique, so he may have a completely unexpected reaction."
"Wait…Vixen? Inn't that th' word fer a female fox?" Shiro shook his head with a confused frown.
His mate chuckled. "Because kitsune can change gender at will, they use the terms Vixen and Reynard to describe the dam and sire of a litter of kits. Gin is carrying the litter, so he is a Vixen. Renji sired them, so—"
"He's my Reynard!" A cheerful voice from the hall cut the bat off.
Gin, in all his soggy glory, had shifted around to be riding his mate's considerable shoulder, using his mist cloud to support his belly and legs as he directed the redhead to run back past the library. Birthing was easy, and the running like a psychotic headless chicken was entertaining him while labor progressed. He also figured that if he kept Renji going the tiger would eventually tire out and then the kitsune could get down to business. Just because his water broke was no reason to panic, but he knew better than to try and reason with his terrified mate. So he giggled.
"Here, here, in here." He pulled on the crimson ponytail and brought them right back to where they started, Shiro laughing again at the expectant father's lost expression.
"I…wha…yer no' givin' birth in 'ere!" Renji, poor man, sounded so lost, and still rather frightened for his mate.
Aizen and Ulquiorra both snickered, joining Shiro's mirth. "No, he's not," Death supplied, "but your panic amuses him, which is good by the way, so please do continue."
Shiro pounded the floor, still twisted in the mangled remains of the chair. He had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. "Oh Red! Th' look on yer face!"
Renji whined like a dog rather than the tiger he was. Was it so bad to worry for the love of his lives?
Gin also smiled, between contractions at the moment, and nuzzled his mate. "It's ok, we were having fun, weren't we? Wanna go to my nest now?"
Calmer in his confusion, War pouted. "Yes, Mate. I do."
"Okies." The kitsune sing-songed, and pulled on the ponytail still in his hand. "This way."
The two made their way to the East building, to the not-closet. It was dark, secluded and private. No windows, one door, and filled with so many blankets, pillows, towels and other soft materials, arranged just so. Upon arriving, Gin pulled Renji into the room, and slammed the door. The tiger may have been panicked about it, but he was all the sex demon needed to take care of this end of things. Of course, the silver-haired man swore up and down that it had nothing to do with retribution regarding the fact that he'd had to spend the last several months uncomfortable and emotional due to the voracity with which Renji mated him that first time. Of course it wasn't all the Horseman's fault, though outside the door Shiro winced when the whimpering sound of the vibrant redhead came around the cracks.
Ulquiorra mimicked his Mage. "I think...we'd best not intrude. Or we will be next, mate."
Shiro giggled and settled in the hallway to cuddle his mate and wait for the redhead to emerge again. "Yah, just wanted ta make sure he didn't kill 'im."
The next several hours were spent in patience, the ashen pair reading, or playing chess, or just enjoying each other's company. Once, Ichigo stopped by to check on the progress of things but he didn't stay long, only enough to bring drinks and a small meal for the waiting audience. Eventually as the sun was beginning to set, casting the entire hall in soft purple, pink and orange hues, the door finally opened again.
Renji had an alarming new collection of scars and was favoring his entire right arm, the hand bones reforming before their eyes though they had obviously been reduced to powder, and he was limping.
"War, are you—"
"I don' wanna talk 'bout it," he warbled before limping down the hall toward the kitchen in search of his own food. Gin had refused to eat until the kits were born and had nursed for the first time. That meant the tiger hadn't been allowed to eat either.
Ulquiorra blinked rapidly several times. "...oh dear."
Shiro whistled, then climbed to his feet. He pushed the door around gently, "Gin...?"
"Hai, hai!" The voice was entirely too cheerful for having gone through all of that, but the frame of the kitsune was more truthful than his voice. Hair limp, and a dull soft grey, his mist cloud hung on the floor in the corners, and he was laying heavily on the prop of pillows that shielded the nest from the door. "Ah, Shiro-kun. Come in an' see 'em!"
The albino entered and knelt next to the wall of blankets. Curled in balls of quickly drying fluff were three, almost entirely feral looking fox kits the size of the typical newborn human. They had tiny hands instead of paws, and their faces were more human than vulpine, but all three had tiny conical ears and each sported a single floofy fox tail. One was dark grey with blond tiger markings, one was maroon with white paws and tail tip and one, amazingly was white—all white. This one fidgeted as the albino watched, a glare coming across his tiny features, and opened serious turquoise eyes to glare at the newcomers disturbing his rest.
Ulquiorra peeked in the door, silently inquiring if he was allowed to come in and meet the kits. Being demonic in nature, and not kitsune, it was highly likely that the bat would be perceived as a threat by the newly delivered Vixen, and the last thing the Fourth wanted to do was cause undue stress to him.
"Ah, Qio-san! Look, look! See! Otou-san came to us." Gin pointed tiredly at the blond and grey kit, who yawned and flopped over, a smile on his face.
The only female was the little maroon one, and she kept trying to climb awkwardly on top of the white one. Like their animal cousins, kitsune kits could move around almost immediately after birth. They would be mostly fox-like until they were about a year old, at which point their abilities as a kitsune would emerge and they'd begin learning things on the level of a human toddler, like speech, reading, and the social interactions that they'd need to exploit later to gain Essence from humans to fuel their powers and abilities.
Ichigo appeared behind Ulquiorra at that point and took a seat next to his twin. Gin purred at the three of them, one tail wagging limply, and the orangette asked, "How come they only have one tail?"
Both Gin and Shiro started to answer, but the exhaustion of labor gave the kitsune the incentive to let the Mage take over. "They won' get their second tail 'til they're at least a hundred years old."
"Does that mean Gin's over...?" The King asked.
"M three hundred an thirty, give er take a decade." Gin laughed as Ichigo's eyes went wide at the implications of just hold old their Uncle Kisuke had been.
Ulquiorra's tail lashed and he resisted the urge to snarl at the mention, as he made his way to kneel on Shiro's other side. The only reason the poor man had been forced to live so unnaturally long had been the curse he had been tricked into casting, a curse that tortured the caster just as much as the targets. But this was a happy occasion. He was not going to spoil it with dark thoughts, simply crooning to the kits as he petted them gently.
The female tumbled over backwards and looked up at the green eyes of the bat and cooed, hands waving in the air as if to claw at his fur. The white one made a growly type noise, kicking the female, who wailed and began to cry. The white one looked satisfied with himself, and the grey one blinked at his siblings confused, perfectly content to sit leaning against his momma. Ichigo picked up the little female, humming to her to quiet her, and rocking her gently. Shiro watched carefully for a little while, memorizing the appearance of his twin with the child. Then he turned and tickled the white boy, earning himself another growly noise, to which he laughed.
"What ya gonna call 'em?"
"The white one is Toshiro. The little girl is Rangiku, an' I'm gonna name Otousan's reincarnation Kisuke, after his grandpa, if nobody minds. Renji said it was ok, but that I should ask you guys first. I dun wanna upset anybody, but I'd really like ta name 'im after m' tou-san." The kitsune looked pleadingly at Ulquiorra, and the twins mimicked him, waiting for Death's response.
Ulquiorra gave him a soft smile. "I don't mind, and I'm sure the others won't either," he assured. "Kisuke was a kind, loving boy just a little too smart for his own good, tricked by an evil creature just as the rest of us were. The sins of past lives are forgiven, always."
Shiro grinned, soundly picking up Toshiro, and leaning into Ulquiorra's shoulder. "Mah, that's great. Check this little guy out, he's all scowls and grumpiness, like Blue in the morning. Look it!"
Said kitsune pup growled again, wiggling and trying to escape his 'uncle's' grasp unsuccessfully. Ichigo looked over and smiled softly, holding Rangiku closer, and petting her ears gently. Then he set her down next to her momma, where she immediately grabbed onto Kisuke with a yawn. The King stood, the same sad smile on his face.
"I think we should let Gin rest," He suggested as the tired silver fox yawned widely himself. "Congrats, Gin. They're adorable." He didn't wait for anyone else to answer before giving a small bow and leaving.
At the end of Gin's yawn, he smacked his lips a little and said, "Y'know, he looks pretty good with kits."
"Yeah, King's al'ays been good with kids. Musta been growin' up wi' our sisters an' Goat Face after Kaa-chan died." Shiro scratched his head, and shook it slightly. "I wish he could have a kid of his own, then maybe he wouldn't be so lonely."
No one in the nest room noticed as Magic leapt to answer its master's desire, eager to do him this service after waiting so long. But in the library, Aizen shuddered inside his cocoon, frowning. Such surges of magic were usually the result of a Royal Directive...and yet Ichigo's aura was...oh. Oh, dear. The little Mage had finally come into his power.