Seven fucking weeks have passed since that incident and Rukia hadn't been talking to him for the last few of them.
No matter what Ichigo did she would just glare at him and walk away. Which was confusing him even more! Didn't they agree that it wasn't either of their faults but the fucking bastard who spiked the punch? So why was she acting like he took advantage of her?
So yeah, there were some flashback moments when Ichigo clearly remembered hitting on Rukia…but she was hitting him back!
The orange head bit the inside of his lip to stop himself from groaning as his eyes peered over at the empty desk next to him. It was starting to bother him even more now that Rukia hadn't been at school for the past few days.
Her grandmother called in about her having some bad stomach flu that wasn't leaving her system easily. But that was just making their situation worse. Since Rukia was sick, she was probably even angrier at him since her emotion was all fucked up. And what's more, since they can't talk, Ichigo just ends up being the bad guy.
But I'm innocent!
The minute hand on the clock slowly ticked as it moved, deducting another minute away before school was out.
Only five minutes to go, he thought to himself as he blankly stared at the board. His teacher was going on about some war during the Tokogawa period but it just wasn't interesting for him. His mind was completely overtaken by an annoying midget.
And thinking of Rukia brought back short flashbacks of their night together. A blush formed on his cheeks as Ichigo smoothly moved his hand to cover his face as he pretended to hide a yawn. Luckily, it seemed nobody had noticed.
He glared at the clock, trying to force it to go faster but the damn bastard wouldn't listen to him. In the end, he could only move around in his seat in order to keep his mind off of Rukia.
"Now, don't forget to read chapter ten by tomorrow," the teacher said, "The test is next week—"
Ding ding ding!
Before he even had a chance to finish announcing his assignments, the students were already running out the door. "I'll be assigning more work tomorrow!" he shouted after the fleeing students.
But Ichigo was already out the front gates and slowly walking further away from school. He waved his farewells to his friends as he turned the corner. He had already decided to go to Rukia, determined to figure things out between them.
As he made his way to the familiar house, Ichigo practiced over and over again in his head what he was going to say to her.
I'm not at fault.
Let's not ruin our friendship because of this.
Hey! That hurt midget!
Yes, he had all the possible reactions ready to use when the time comes. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of the house that will either become a battlefield or a place that takes loads off his shoulders in the next few minutes. He just stared at the front door for several minutes, contemplating whether or not to actually go inside and do what he was planning to do since school got out.
Time continued to tick away as Ichigo battled it out in his mind. To go in or not to go in. That was the question…But to save his dignity and save their friendship, he will go IN!
Taking in a deep breath, Ichgo stepped forward and slowly rung the door bell.
DING DOOOONG!
For some reason the bell sounded a lot louder than it usually was and a lot longer too. He was kind of hoping nobody would hear the bell, but sadly he heard the locks being undone from the inside.
Ichigo gulped as the door slowly opened. He prepared for the inevitable bashing he would get once Rukia saw him—
"Ara, who might this be?"
When he noticed it was Yume greeting him at the door. "Yume-san, is Rukia home?" he asked after clearing his throat.
The old woman opened her door to let him in as she answered. "She had gone out to get something from the store. She'll be back in a few minutes."
Ichigo frowned. "Should she be outside when she's sick with the flu?" He expected the old woman to answer but instead she started laughing out loud. "Um, am I missing something?"
"Come sit down first," she told him as she went to the kitchen to grab some refreshment for her guest. "Would you like some juice or yea?"
"Juice is fine," he said as he sat down in their living room. As Yume prepared the drinks, he looked around where he was. Last time he was here—which was the night of the incident—he hadn't had the time to look around because they were running late for the party.
He noticed pictures of Yume and her husband, both of them in black-and-white from when they were young, and the colorful pictures of them, older, with little Rukia standing in between them. All three of them were smiling widely in each picture and it looked like nothing could get in their way of their happiness.
However, there were some pictures of Rukia, older than the previous pictures, with a fake smile. Ichigo knew these were pictures she had sent to Yume after getting adopted. For some reason he felt a sharp tug on his chest.
"Here we are," Yume announced as she sat down and handed him a glass of orange juice. She sat across from him with her cup of tea and smiled. "So, why do you need to talk to Rukia?"
Ichigo almost coughed out his drink. "Um, well…it's a bit of a private matter between her and me."
Yume smiled as she said, "I'm guessing it has something to do with the party seven weeks ago?"
This time Ichigo did spit out the juice. He coughed as he tried to clear his throat. "H-how dddid you know?"
Yume kept her smile as she sipped her tea. "Because she's pregnant."
"…"
Dead silence.
Then…
"W-what?"
Yume nodded. "She's pregnant. Seven weeks now."
Ichigo's throat suddenly went dry and he felt like he was about to black out.
Pregnant.
Seven weeks.
Pregnant.
Knocked up.
"FUCK!" he cursed as he buried his head into his hands. "I—Rukia…fuck! How did—shit!…That night—SEVEN WEEKS!"
Yume nodded again. "We found out for sure last week when we went to the hospital. But I must say you're taking this better than Rukia. The child fainted when she heard the news."
"I'm about to faint too," he groaned as he rubbed his face. "This cannot be happening." He sighed as he looked between his fingers to see Yume still sipping her tea as she stared at him. A whole bunch of things were going through his mind at the moment, and something unthinkable also came up. "Yume-san? Did Rukia say anything about whether or not she wanted to keep…it?" he asked.
Yume stilled with her cup half-way down, and her eyes hardened. "What do you mean by that?"
Noticing how wrong that might have been misinterpreted, Ichigo quickly waved his hands in front of him as he shook his head. "No no no no no no! I didn't mean—I mean, um…"
"Rukia said she's going to keep it," Yume said, "And I must say I'm proud to know she's going to take responsibility for her actions. But what I want to know is what you want to do? She told me you were the father and what happened at the party so I won't hold you at fault for what happened to my granddaughter. But that doesn't mean I'll let this go if you decide to back out."
As her words sunk in, 'guilt' sunk in with it. Ichigo's shoulders slumped down. "I'll take responsibility. I'm not a bastard who's going to leave a friend to take care of something that we're both not at fault with."
At his words, Yume's smile reappeared, bright as ever. "That's good to hear. I can't believe I get to hold my great-grandchild before I die."
"You're taking this really lightly," Ichigo groaned as he sat back into the couch. "I would have beaten me until I was a bloody pulp."
"I had ever intention to do that when I first found out you were the father. But Rukia calmed me down, saying you weren't at fault. She told me to kill the person who spiked the punch instead."
"When you find out who that is, tell me and I'll join you in the killing," Ichigo sighed. "So what do we do now?"
Yume shrugged her shoulders. "If you two don't decide to marry, then Rukia and I will take care of the baby ourselves."
Ichigo immediately shook his head. "I already said I'm going to take responsibility for the baby. I'm willing to marry her, but we might move in here since I don't want my old man near her or the baby."
Yume's face darkened. "Will your family not accept the baby?"
Again Ichigo shook his head. "More like they will be so ecstatic about the baby that they might throw a huge party and invite the whole town. The old goat will definitely ask for details in the conception process and hug Rukia to death."
She was a little taken aback by his reason. "Your family wants a baby that much?"
This time Ichigo nodded. "My dad's been begging me to knock up a girl ever since I hit puberty. If we were living back in the old days, I bet he would have married me off to someone before turning ten."
"Well, that's truly a funny family," she smiled, "But I don't think you can live here."
"Why not?" Ichigo frowned.
"We have to move soon," she announced.
Another round of silence. Ichigo leaned forward and frowned. "What?"
Yume nodded. "We're tight with money so we decided to leave this house for a much smaller one," she informed him, "We have to be out by the end of next week."
"And where are you guys planning to go?" Ichigo asked.
The old woman shrugged her delicate shoulders. "Wherever we can find the cheapest place. We have to move as soon as possible."
"And I'm guessing Rukia didn't want me to know about the baby because you guys might move far away from here."
"And you might end up ruining your future with an unexpected child coming," she added. "I tried to convince her to talk to you but she refused. If she wasn't out right now, I doubt you would have found out at all."
Ichigo sighed as he felt 'responsibility' land on his shoulders this time, increasing the weight. "There's no way I'm letting her or the baby leave me now that I know."
"But what can we do?" Yume asked, "She's been searching for an apartment far away from Karakura."
Ichigo was quiet as he went into deep thought. Then he pulled out his phone and started to press some numbers. "I have an idea. But let me call my dad first."
A long sigh came from Rukia as she walked down the street. She was out to buy her vitamins and before she knew it, it was dark outside. She wrapped her jacket closer around her, blocking out the spring wind. Her hand lightly went over her stomach and she stopped in her step.
The stomach was warm and Rukia slowly rubbed it up and down as she stared at it.
Pregnant.
She was pregnant with Ichigo's baby.
And he doesn't even know.
When a sharp pain came across her chest, Rukia shook her head and looked up to stop any tears from even forming. There was no way she was going to let her hormones get the best of her. She had already decided to keep Ichigo in the dark about the baby. She was giving up her life so he shouldn't have to too.
Not to mention that idiot might propose to her, thinking marriage is the only way to get out of this, she thought to herself with a smirk. She knew him too well.
Rukia started her walk again and very soon arrived at her front door. She pulled out her keys and unlocked the door. "Tadaima," she called out as she stepped in.
"Okaeri!" Yume's voice came from upstairs. As Rukia shook off her jacket, the old woman came downstairs to meet her. "Did you get all your vitamins?"
"Yup," she answered as she moved to the kitchen to get something to drink. But after three steps, Rukai stopped in her place and only moved her eyes around their house. When her violet eyes landed on her grandmother, she noticed the big smile on her. "What's going on? Why are things missing from their spots?"
Yume kept smiling. "They're all packed up. We're moving tonight."
"What?" Rukia's eyes widened as she took a better look. And indeed most of items that were once in the kitchen, living room and hallway were now inside boxes of many different sizes. "Why are we moving tonight? What happened?"
"Why don't you answer me why you didn't tell me about the baby?"
Rukia's entire body stiffened and her face lost its color. She remained still as she heard an extra pair of footsteps coming down the stairs. Only her wide eyes looked at the direction the voice had came from, and they widened even more when she realized who it wa. "I-Ichigo," she whispered.
The orange head reached the bottom of the stairs with his scowl even deeper than ever before. "Rukia…Why?" he merely asked.
She continued to stare at him before looking down at her feet. "I didn't think you would have wanted to know."
"It's my baby," Ichigo started to glare, and at that point Yume silently turned around and went back upstairs to continue packing. "I think I have the right to know whether a child of mine exists in this world."
Rukia hid her eyes under her bangs. "I didn't want to take advantage of you with the baby. And I didn't want you to blame me for the baby."
"How can you be taking advantage of me?" he asked as he stepped forward to grab her shoulder, "Neither of us is at fault for this. It was the spiked punch's fault. But we're going to do the right thing and raise this baby."
"Ichi—" But before she could finish calling out his name, her eyes widened when Ichigo suddenly—and awkwardly—got down on one knee. "ICHIGO!" she gasped.
Ichigo rubbed the back of his head as he looked somewhere else. "I didn't prepare a ring since this is kind of last minute."
"Ichi—"
"But I'm taking full responsibility for you and the baby," he continued, again cutting her off. He grabbed her hand and held it tightly. "Rukia, marry me—"
"No," she quickly answered.
Ichigo frowned. "I wasn't finished."
"But I already answered," she glared as she squeezed his hand back, "And I don't want to get married."
"Why not?" he asked, "It would be the right thing to do."
Rukia rolled her eyes as she pulled him back on his feet. "It'd the right thing if only we're in love. I don't want the baby to be an excuse for an unhappy marriage."
"I promise I will take care of you—"
"I know you will," she cut him off again, "But that doesn't mean we'll be happy. If there's no love then we'll end up ripping each other throats out within a couple of months," she offered a smile.
Ichigo looked down at her, not liking her smile when she just turned down his marriage proposal. But he knew more than anyone else that there was nothing he could do to change her stubborn mind once she had decided on something. With a sigh, he squeezed her hand again. "If that's what you want then I'll do as you say."
Rukia's smile widened. "Thank you."
He nodded as he dropped her hand and turned around to grab an empty box on the ground. "Let's pack up the rest of the stuff."
Rukia suddenly remembered what was happening before he came down, and grabbed his arm to stop him. "Why are we all packing up anyways?"
"I heard from Yume-san that you guys are moving," he said, "So you two are moving somewhere new."
"Where?"
"To my place," he announced as he walked back upstairs to join Yume in packing.
Rukia remained rooted in her spot as his words sunk in. "WHAT?" she screamed as she ran up after him. "Are you serious?"
"Yup," he said as he turned to look at her, "And you shouldn't run. It's not good for you."
"I don't care about that right now." She grabbed his arm and stopped him from moving any further. "Why are you suddenly doing this?"
"What do you mean 'why'?" he frowned at her, "Since we're having a baby, it only makes sense you stay with us. And since I live at a clinic, you'll be watched after every second of the day."
"But—"
"Now Rukia dear," Yume popped out from a room and smiled at her granddaughter, "Ichigo here offered us a comfortable home in exchange of being there for you and the baby. So don't argue with him but thank him for his hospitality."
Rukia just gawked at her. "But how can we just move in like this? I doubt his family even knows about the baby!"
"I'll tell them when we get there," he said as he set down the box to look at her, "But they already know I'm bringing a friend and her grandmother to live with us. They already gave me their consent and are preparing your rooms back at my house."
"But—"
"Rukia," he stopped her this time, "That's enough. You won't marry me, but at least let me do this for you guys. I want to be there for my family." He grabbed her hands and held them in between them. "I can't promise what might happen in the future, but I want to take care of you. And if possible, love you. Please let me be there for you."
Rukia just gapped at him and Yume back and forth. But when Ichigo's eyes looked down at her with complete sincerity she knew there was no way out of this. With a long sigh, she gripped his hands back. "Fine," she grumbled as she looked up at him.
Ichigo smiled back. "Thank you," he said before letting her go and grabbing the box again. "Now help us with packing."
"Go pack up your room," Yume said, "We haven't touched that room yet. Everything else is almost done."
Rukia nodded as she led—still rather reluctantly—Ichigo to her room. When they got there, she reached for her closet and started going through her clothes, sighing at how fast things were suddenly changing compared to only an hour ago. "So how are you going to tell your family about the baby?"
Ichigo walked over and stood behind her to receive whatever she handed to him. "I'll figure something out when we get there."
"Aren't you worried they might not accept it?" she frowned.
But Ichigo quickly shook his head. "Trust me. My old man will worship you."
A thin eyebrow went up as she looked up at him. "What? Why would he do that?"
"Because that bastard actually wants me to have a baby," he growled at the thought.
Rukia continued to frown at him. "But this early? I doubt he would want that."
"Trust me," he immediately responded, "He will love this baby."
Rukia snorted, still not believing him, as she started to pack up some stuff on her desk. "When are they expecting us by? We still need to pack up a lot of things."
"We're taking the essential stuff tonight and I'm going to have my old man pack up the rest tomorrow," he informed her, "And afterschool we can come by and help out."
"That reminds me, I have to go to school to submit the form to pull me out of school. I don't want to be expelled because of my long absence," she said as she grabbed some more boxes that were out in the hall.
Ichigo almost dropped her picture frames when her words hit him. "What?"
Rukia looked at him and almost laughed at his expression. "You didn't expect me to continue school now that I'm pregnant now did you?"
"Um, no but—" Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed even further when he noticed how calm her expression was. "Do you want to leave school?"
Rukia shrugged her shoulders. "It's sad but I'm willing to give it up for the baby," she smiled, "This is more important than school."
Ichigo silently watched as Rukia returned to packing. He suddenly felt the weights on his shoulders getting heavier. Now that Rukia wasn't going to school, it was up to him to support his new family. "Sorry," he whispered.
Rukia's head snapped up to him. "Huh? Why?"
"Just…just because," he sighed as he turned around to continue packing up her pictures.
It took a bit for Rukia to figure out his sudden change in disposition, but once she did she walked over and wrapped her arms around his abdomen from the back. She felt Ichigo stiffened against her. "Ichigo, you said it yourself: this baby is neither of our faults. So don't apologize and I won't either."
Ichigo sighed as his hand came up to play with her fingers in front of him. "I just don't want you to drop out of school like this. I know how much you've been studying in order to go to a good college but now that this happened, for some reason I feel at fault now."
"But you shouldn't," she told him, "You're doing the valiant thing and taking responsibility of the two of us. That's enough for me. Let's not think too much into this."
After a while Ichigo finally nodded before walking out of her embrace. He turned around and offered her a smile. "Let's hurry things up."
Rukia nodded as she also returned to work. For the next few hours the three of them went from one room to the other, packing up as much as they could in the small amount of time they had. Once everything was done, they all gathered downstairs with several packed boxes.
"Well, looks like we packed up things pretty quickly," Yume giggled behind her hand, "There are only a few things we need to pack up tomorrow."
Ichigo placed down the last box and stretched his back. "I called my house and they're all waiting for us."
"Did you call for a truck, obaachan?" Rukia asked as she followed after him.
"Ara, I thought I forgot something," Yume said as she quickly rushed to the kitchen. "I'll go call them right now!"
As Yume went to call for a pickup truck, Ichigo remained alone with Rukia by the front door. He slowly walked over and stood next to her. "You okay?" he asked.
She looked up at him and shook her head. "I'm worried," she said as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself. Noticing her face contorting into worry, he stepped forward and pulled her into his embrace. Rukia was startled when she felt his warmth from his chest. "I-Ichigo?"
"Rukia," he whispered into her hair, "We're going to be alright. I'll take care of you and our baby, and nothing will break us apart. I promise."
Rukia didn't say anything but only wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly.
A/N: I really like how I wrote the beginning of this chapter...but the ending isn't to my taste. I'm sure some of you guys noticed that the two are suddenly all touchy-feely too quickly, especially after the fateful night at Matsumoto's party. But I just wanted to push their relationship further and show how close they were even before then. And they are quick to return to their normal selves. Things are going to be crazy for both of them real soon so they're going to need each other a lot.
Anyways, thanks for reading!
And don't forget to REVIEW!
Preview for next chapter:
Rukia moves into Ichigo house.
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