Ukitake was enjoying a nice, not-so-quiet lunch with Shunsui, while his two lieutenants' both hung back bickering loudly, over which of them could fulfill their captain's wishes for more tea/food faster.

In all honesty, he was growing somewhat tired of their constant screaming at one another, despite Shunsui's chuckles of amusement as he watched the two of them about to start trading blows with one another. And if it had been any other day, he might have simply sat back and let himself be entertained by the two's fighting.

After all, some of the things that they fought over were fairly entertaining and amusing. Even if a bit childish to him.

But not today though. No- today...had felt strangely off to him ever since he had gotten out of bed that morning. It's not like it was particularly a bad feeling or anything like that. It was simply intimidating in a strange way. As if something big and life altering were about to take place.

Tilting his head a bit as he reached over to lift his teacup to take a drink, he tried to once again place the feeling and figure out where it was originating from. But it was as if all he was picking up when he tried to pinpoint it was something akin to static or white noise.

Which was just...weird.

So maybe the world was going to end soon?

Humming softly to himself, he took a sip of his drink and then blinked in startlement when his phone began to ring. Automatically both of his lieutenant's both shut up and Shunsui looked over at him curiously as he fished the phone out of his robe and looked down at the screen to see who was calling.

He frowned a bit when he saw the name, Sullivan, flashing across the small screen.

Especially since he had no idea why Ichigo's grandfather would be calling him. Unless...something was wrong with Ichigo. Or something had happened to her.

Both options left a bad taste in his mouth as he flipped the cell phone open and pressed the green button. "Hello?" He said cautiously, his heart beating against his ribs frantically in dread.

"Ah, someone picked up!" The voice on the other end said excitedly before saying. "Hello, this is Lord Sullivan. Ichigo's grandpa. To whom am I speaking?"

He pulled the phone away from his ear to look at it quizzically before putting it back to his ear and replying, "This is Jushiro Ukitake, the Captain of squad thirteen. How are you sir? Is everything okay with Ichigo?"

"Ah, yes. I remember you now." The demon said jovially before then replying to his previous questions. "I'm doing well, sir. And Ichigo..." There was a second or so of silence before Jushiro heard. "To be honest, she collapsed four days ago-"

Jushiro's jaw dropped open in utter horror as concern slithered through his mind.

Ichigo had collapsed four days ago! And they were just being contacted about her wellbeing now?

He wasn't sure if he should be relieved that the girl's condition wasn't so bad that she had expired immediately for whatever reason. But he was fairly certain that he was upset regardless of that fact.

After all, it was pure madness to wait when one had access to immediate help.

"But she's being taken care of by Opera at the moment. So, I'm not terribly worried." Sullivan finally said. Causing Jushiro to make a slight choking sound. Idly wondering if the demon was even hearing himself at the moment.

After all, if he was being called then it wasn't entirely impossible that any of the medical treatments that the demons were using to try and nurse Ichigo back to health were ineffective due to the fact that she wasn't a full-blooded demon. And if that was the case...then it wasn't outside of the realm of possibility that Ichigo was probably in a very bad way.

Which was why Jushiro's voice adopted his most authoritative tone as he said. "I'll collect Unohana and one or two others and then we'll come to you. Make sure that you take us to Ichigo immediately once we're there."

"Huh?! B-but Ichigo will be fine. Opera is taking care of her!"

"Just the same, I will grab the others and-" Jushiro started to say again when the demon cut him off. Giving him a second to lock eyes with Shunsui who mouthed the words, What's going on?

Something has happened to Ichigo. Jushiro mouthed back his response, noting the way that Shunsui's normally cheerful expression shuttered, and his eyes turned cold like ice as he looked like he was about to snatch the phone from him. He glared at his friend in warning, though it was halfhearted.

"No! There's no need for any of you to come all this way. I promise, she will be fine. And having any of you come here right this moment would be a bad idea anyways since it could mean that you may have to fight Opera to get to her!"

Jushiro frowned, unable to comprehend why Ichigo's grandfather had called if the young woman wasn't in need of something from them when he finally heard the demon say, "To be honest, I merely called because we have some questions about her biology. Things like...what do expecting human females smell like? Do they smell at all? What about their behavior? How early do humans begin to show signs of being pregnant? Those things."

Jushiro took the phone away from his ear again and took a full five minutes to stare at it with a scowl as he tried to think of how to respond to the demon's query. After all, how would he know those things? He was a very happy bachelor.

But finally, he made a decision and simply said.

"I'll grab the others and come to you. You can ask your questions once we're there and Unohana can even examine Ichigo if it helps." And then before the demon could argue with him anymore, he hung up and then looked at Shunsui and said jovially, "Shunsui, road trip!"

"Yay! I like road trips." The brunette said loudly as he slowly got to his feet and then walked over to Ukitake's side and asked in a much more hushed tone, "What's our young friend gotten herself into now? Should we be concerned?"

Ukirake leveled him with a worried frown before saying, "I'm not sure. Lord Sullivan wasn't very forthcoming with any real information." Shunsui arched a brow at him. "But he did ask how one could tell if a human woman was...pregnant."

"Ohhh." Shunsui said as he lifted a hand to scratch at the underside of his chin. "So, we're going on a road trip to...educate our new demon buddies?"

"As well as check on Ichigo's wellbeing."

"Retsu's going to have to go with us." It wasn't a question. Merely a simple fact.

"Yes, she will since she's treated Ichigo's injuries and knows her biology very well as a healer. If there's anything unusual about her, Retsu would pick up on it immediately." Ukitake said as he put his phone away and turned and started walking towards the squad four barracks.

Shunsui hummed thoughtfully as he imagined their favorite ginger haired Substitute Soul Reaper being in the family way. Ichigo was going to need them to help her. He was sure of at least that much. And while many of them would be fairly useless to her- Retsu could at least deliver the baby safely. Which he already knew that Ichigo, and her new family would appreciate greatly.

Everything else that the girl needed help with would have to wait a while since even he wasn't sure what she may need.

"Let's go grab Retsu then," Shunsui suddenly said as a happy smile curved his lips as he fell into step beside his best friend. "I already want to get to Ichigo and congratulate her."

Ukitake's frown eased up a bit and he sighed. He sort of wanted to congratulate Ichigo too. But only once Retsu confirmed that there was something to congratulate her for.

"Oh dear, that isn't good." Sullivan said as he looked at his cell in vague alarm. Several feet away from him, Shichiro was all but glaring at him.

The younger demon seemed rather unamused by the fact that they were supposed to be learning important stuff about his soon-to-be-mate's biology and the only help that they could get had just essentially hung up on him.

Needless to say, Shichiro looked positively murderous to the elderly demon. So much so that Sullivan could barely suppress the shiver of fear that shot down his spine.

There was a reason why Shichiro was feared by many as the White Gargoyle of Babyls, after all. And it had very little to do with the fact that Kalego was his closest friend and ally. And was more because he tended to teeter between deceptively calm and friendly in one breath and utterly vicious and unhinged the next. Couple that with the younger demon's capacity for ruthlessness, and bloodlust and one could only imagine how totally fucked a person would be to oppose him.

So naturally, Sullivan wasn't in a hurry to wind up on the other demon's shit list anytime soon.

"What did they say?" Shichiro asked in a tone that had Sullivan sweating bullets, as he narrowed his eyes at him.

He couldn't help himself. He hesitated for a moment before replying, "T-They...hung up after saying that they would come here in person and examine Ichigo in person."

Shichiro fell silent, though Sullivan was well aware of the fact that the gargoyle was thinking about something before saying. "Ichigo is on her reproductive cycle and can't be examined at the moment. Opera wouldn't allow it."

Sullivan wasn't enough of a fool to think that Shichiro would allow anyone close enough to Ichigo to examine her either. Not right then anyways. He was far more likely to rip them limb from limb to protect his darling.

"Well, I did try to tell them that!" Sullivan said with a heavy sigh.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear- what am I supposed to do now? He wondered fretfully as he said. "Ichigo isn't going to like her friends being killed by Opera." Come to think of it the rest of the Soul Reapers aren't going to look at their friends being killed very favorably either. In fact, they may see it as some sort of direct attack on them!

Shichiro hummed as he tapped his mask with his fingertips thoughtfully for a moment before suddenly asking, "Chair demon, just who are the people that you called?"

"Hn?" Sullivan said unintelligibly as it suddenly dawned on him that Shichiro was in the dark about Ichigo's ties to the Soul Reapers. As well as other things like her job fighting against Hollows and other threats to the various worlds.

And of course, once he remembered this, he started sweating bullets because holy fuck he was going to have to clue the gargoyle in now- wasn't he?

He had no doubt that Shichiro would be upset with everyone for keeping him out of the loop. However, once he was told the reason for being kept in the dark, he was likely to forgive everyone. More specifically he was more likely to forgive Opera and Ichigo since they were his significant others.

Sullivan, however, would probably wind up on that shit list mentioned earlier. At least for a little while anyways.

Either way, this wasn't going to be a fun conversation to have with someone like Shichiro. Especially once the topic of Ichigo's job came up... Every protective instinct that the gargoyle possessed would likely cause him to slip into a wicked phase so utterly terrifying that Kalego himself would flee from the other demon in abject terror.

Which would certainly be a feat since Kalego wasn't normally afraid of anything or anyone.

Not to mention that Shichiro would be attaching himself to Ichigo for an unknown amount of time as well. Though he would bet that Opera would secretly be thrilled to murder and maim people on the gargoyle's order.

He sighed.

Nothing made Opera happier than destroying people whether it was unprovoked or not. The cat demon was simply too mean spirited for his own good sometimes.

I wonder if I have enough time to escape and flee to the farthest corner of the Netherworld? He wondered as he eyed the other demon warily.

Shichiro was staring a hole in him, waiting for him to reply to his query and Sullivan was honestly getting the feeling that the other demon wasn't going to let him get very far if he did try to run. His suspicions were validated when vines suddenly began snaking their way along his office windows. Barring both entry and exit from the room.

Sullivan let out a small squeak of fear that he hoped wasn't audible enough to clue Shichiro in on how scared he was at the moment, but the fact that the gargoyle suddenly smiled at him from behind his mask- his eyes crinkling at the corners- told him that the other knew.

"I can see the wheels in your head turning from here Chair demon. So, maybe instead of continuing to keeping me in the dark, you should answer me." Shichiro didn't have to say, Or else, though the words and the threat that they carried with them was heavily implied.

Sullivan would tell anyone that asked that he didn't fold immediately. But that would be a lie, and he knew it because in the next second or so after Shichiro had spoken, he squeaked out, "T-They're Soul Reapers! Ichigo is one of their friends!"

Shichiro went eerily still as he considered Sullivan's words. And yes, he had so many questions. But at the moment, none of them mattered much as he recalled that Soul Reapers- were supposed to be extinct just like humans were supposed to be.

And yet... the fact that Ichigo has made such a race her friends was...unprecedented to someone like him.

Especially since Soul Reapers were ancient beings that hadn't been seen for well over a several thousand years. The only reason that he even knew about them was because he had taken several trips around the Netherworld to explore ancient ruins of lost civilizations on more than one occasion.

And he had come across several ruins that had contained old, and damaged scrolls and texts that had mentioned the Soul Reapers by name more than once as well as named some of their more prominent roles in the world.

Maintaining the balance between worlds... He still didn't know what exactly those words meant.

But he had given more than his fair share of careful thought to what they could mean on a number of occasions.

And all that he managed to figure out was that they acted as something like an equalizer. Helping to maintain both law, and order between the realms. The closest that he had come to really understanding them and their role was to liken them to Border Patrol, but on a much grander scale.

Though he was still trying to figure out a lot about them, he could at least say that he knew that much.

So, he was both surprised and also not that his little darling had something to do with them. She was a hybrid after all. And while not accepted by many races, hybrids were known to walk the line between the many worlds.

So, it was fairly easy for him to conclude that maybe that was how Ichigo had met the Soul Reapers to begin with.

He also couldn't help but wonder just how close she was to them as a friend. Though it wasn't because of any feelings of jealousy on his part. No- he just couldn't help but wonder if Ichigo was wholly accepted by them regardless of being a hybrid. Or if maybe they were using her for something.

He hummed and began tapping his fingertips on his mask again as he tried to think of what questions he could get answered. As it was Sullivan was looking a little bit... green to him. So maybe asking him too much about them wasn't something that he should do right this second?

Especially when he could just hunt down Opera later and ask him everything instead. Besides, he could use all kinds of persuasion on Opera to get him talking. And to be honest, the cat demon would be much easier to get information from since he was likely sleep deprived and feeling out of sorts at the moment.

Yet even so...

"Tell me everything that you can." He demanded when he caught Sullivan trying to pry some of his vines from the windows so that he could run away.

The second that he spoke, the elder let out a startled 'eek' and tripped, falling to the floor in a heap behind his desk for a second before jumping back up and saying, "Oh, sure." And then started to tell him everything that he knew.

Which also included the reason why Shichiro hadn't been told anything much sooner. And by the time Sullivan finally finished speaking, several hours had passed and now the gargoyle had a much clearer picture of his darling mate-to-be's life before coming into the elderly demon's care.

Honestly, he couldn't think of any words to describe what he was feeling at the moment.

He wanted to be pissed- hell, he wanted to be downright furious that such secrets had been kept from him.

But at the same time, he also understood that Soul Reapers only made special allowance for others to know about them and their existence only under very specific circumstances and learning about them any other way could be dangerous. Or even deadly to others.

Ichigo would have spent much of her life very aware of this fact and trying her best to prevent others from knowing far too much for safety's sake.

Which was understandable.

He couldn't exactly be mad at or even fault her for simply doing as she was told when she was outranked. It was how all demons in the Netherworld were raised to be. And though Ichigo wasn't exactly a demon herself, he couldn't help but think that being outranked by others was simply a way of life for many people. Soul Reaper's included.

He could however be upset with Opera and Sullivan for not saying something sooner. Not just about the Soul Reapers, but also about the dangers of Ichigo's job.

He hadn't even known that she even had a job in the first place! How did she manage to balance her work, school life at Babyls, and being in a relationship with he and Opera? Did she do her work at night? Under the cloak of darkness so as not to be caught or found out?

I'll be doing some nighttime hunting for a while. He thought to himself, after all, if he did that then maybe it would help him better understand Ichigo and how she worked. He would especially be doing so now that she could be expecting.

He heaved a sigh, absently noting that there was a lot to sort through with his darling and Opera and then focused on Sullivan for a second. "Thank you for finally telling me."

"We would have sooner," Sullivan explained as he looked at his feet. "But weren't sure if we could for the time being."

"I understand. And I'll keep quiet for now to give the illusion of not knowing anything. At least for the time being so that no one gets into any trouble. But all of us are going to sit down as a family and have a long, long talk." Shichiro said as he gave the elder a pointed look to make sure that he understood that he would be sitting down with them and suffering through the same lectures and conversation as Ichigo and Opera.

Sullivan groaned, already wondering if a bunch of Nightmare-roaches could come and carry him off. At least then he'd have a legitimate excuse for not attending any 'family' talks.

Though he very much doubted that he would be so lucky.