"Okay guys, don't forget to continue solving the rest of the problems on that page," the teacher announced, "I'm going to give you guys a pop quiz so make sure you understand them."
A groan of disappointment arose from the class.
Ding ding ding!
Yes! Ichigo cheered mentally as the teacher left and everyone rose to pack up their bags and leave. He joined them and quickly shoved his notes into his bag.
"Hey Ichigo."
He turned around to see Tatsuki and Orihime walking up to him. "What's up?"
"We were just wondering how Kuchiki-san's doing," Tatsuki said, "Takeshi is due in three more months."
At the mentioning about the birth, Ichigo's shoulders slumped and he sighed. "Yeah, and she's becoming even more of a bitch because of it."
"Hehe," Orihime giggled, "That's just her hormones so don't worry about it."
"Anyways, we were planning on going with you to see her. We promised to go shopping for baby supplies today," Tatsuki told him before smacking him upside the head.
"OW! What the fuck was that for?" Ichigo glared at her.
"For not realizing how big of an issue this is!" she glared back. "The baby's due soon but you guys did nothing to prepare for him! Kuchiki-san told me how your father brought out your old baby crib but that's all! Do you have any idea how much clothes and supplies the baby's going to need once he's here? And I heard that that crib isn't stable anymore so she might have to buy a new one!"
Ichigo caressed the bump on his head as he frowned. "No…I've been so busy with school that we haven't gone shopping yet."
"Well, that's why we're here!" Orihime smiled, "We're taking Kuchiki-san to the mall right now. Matsumoto-san, Madarame-san, and Yumichika-san are going to meet us back at your place after they finish up with detention. Wanna join us?"
Ichigo looked at the two girls before shaking his head. "I'm sure me and Rukia would only end up fighting when we get there. She's stressed out enough as it is."
Tatsuki shrugged her shoulders. "Suit yourself. Just don't blame us if she ends up buying the entire baby store today…not to mention all the Chappy related stuff she's been eyeing these days." She was about to walk away when a hand gripped her shoulder and stopped her. She looked over her shoulder with a smirk. "What?"
Ichigo glared at her before grabbing his packed bag and heading towards the door. "On second thought, I'm going with you guys."
"Che, you should have just said that from the beginning," she smirked.
"Ne, Uryuu! Want to join us?" Orihime asked her boyfriend.
Uryuu pushed up his glasses and smiled. "Sure, why not? It'd be nice to know what they buy so I know what kind of clothes I shouldn't make for them."
"Hey, can I come too?" Renji suddenly appeared before them with a big grin.
Tatsuki raised an eyebrow. "This isn't a party."
"I know. I just want to see Ichigo's mortified face when Rukia buys all the stuff with his money."
At the mentioning of that, Tatsuki started to laugh. "Haha! You're right. This is so going to be worth it."
"Then Sado-kun should come too!" Orihime smiled.
The big man just nodded his head in understanding.
"Do you two want to come too?" Renji asked Hinamori and Hitsugaya.
The white head shook his head. "We have class duty today so we can't."
"Just tell us what you guys buy later," she smiled sweetly at them. "I don't want to buy anything they already have."
Renji saluted at her with a smile. "Roger."
"WILL YOU BASTARDS HURRY UP?" Ichigo yelled at them.
The others quickly grabbed their stuff and followed the orange head as he led them out of the school and towards his house. He was hoping to drown out their annoying conversation but it was impossible not to listen to them rattling off about what they wanted to get his kid.
"What do you think we need to buy?"
"Definitely a better baby crib. Ichigo's old one will only make the baby an idiot. Look at what happened to this guy."
"I want to buy a lot of clothes for the baby!"
"But I can make better ones."
"I'm going to buy him a big toy sword!"
"Rukia will kill you."
"Should we get Rukia something too?"
"Lingerie?"
"Shut up!" Ichigo shouted as soon as they got to the front porch.
"Geez, someone's PMSing," Renji snickered.
He glared at him as he grabbed the handle and held it. "You're going to regret that."
"Make me," Renji challenged.
But Ichigo just nodded as he swung open the door and shouted inside, "I'm home!" before quickly stepping off to the side.
"What the—"
"OKAERIIIII ICHIGOOOOOOOOOO!"
"AWWW!" Renji screamed when all of a sudden Isshin's tornado spin came directly at his face, connected with his face and send the two flying off into the fence.
"Ha, every time," Ichigo smirked as he quickly stepped into the house before either of his life's unnecessary people gain back their conscious.
"Okaeri!"
Ichigo looked up and smiled at seeing Rukia standing in front of him with her usual big smile. This image always brought a sense of warmth in his body. "Tadaima," he greeted back as he leaned down to lightly kiss her cheek. "How were things today? Did Takeshi bother you too much with his kicking again?" he asked as he placed a hand on her huge stomach to feel his son's hand reaching out almost as if to grab his hand. His eyes immediately soften at the thought.
Rukia shrugged her shoulders. "Not really. It was more your father who made this day crazy. He introduced me to all of his patients as his third-daughter who's carrying his son's child…again."
Ichigo groaned, "Great, another reason for this town to hate us."
"Kuchiki-san!"
Rukia looked up and smiled when she saw her friends entering the house. "Hi! Are you guys ready to go?"
"Yup!" Orihime nodded, "We just want to change into more comfortable clothes. Where's the bathroom?" she asked.
"Down the hall," she pointed. Orihime and Tatsuki quickly made their way inside to change.
"Where are the others?" Ichigo asked as he made his way to the stairs.
"In their room!" Rukia yelled back from the bottom of the stairs as Ichigo ascended it.
At that moment Karin and Yuzu poked their heads out from their room. "Okaeri!" they both greeted, although the only visible parts were their heads since the door was still mostly closed against them.
An orange brow went up. "What are you two doing?"
"Nooothing," Karin smirked.
"I'm not buying it," Ichigo glared, "What are you two doing in there?"
"Shh, oniichan!" Yuzu shushed him, "We need to keep this a secret!"
"Keep what a secret?"
"Great, now he's going to want to know!" Karin snapped at her sister who just slapped her own mouth.
"What is it?" Ichigo asked more sternly.
But Karin held her ground. "We're not telling. Just wait until it's done. So are you going to go with Rukia-nee? We shouldn't keep you up."
"Oh, don't think you can pull that shit on me, Kurosaki Karin," Ichigo glared at her as he reached to grab the door, "Open up and tell me what you two are hiding."
"No!" they both yelled as they grabbed the other end of the handle and pulled back.
"Karin! Yuzu!" Ichigo yelled as he tried pulling.
"I said 'no'!"
"Ara, what's going on here?"
The three quickly looked up to see Yume standing in the hall, staring at them. Seeing how this was their chance, Karin quickly released the door and Ichigo fell back from the rebound of the force. The twins and old lady started laughing when they saw him rubbing his bottom from pain.
"Ha ha ha, laugh at my misery," Ichigo glared, "I want you two to quickly tell me what's going on in there!"
"Now now, Ichigo-kun, don't these girls get some privacy?" Yume asked.
"When they're my sisters, no," Ichigo answered.
"That's not fair! It's not like we wanted to become your sisters!" Karin glared.
"Well too bad but you are!"
"Enough!" Yume shouted over their loud voices while keeping her sweet composure, "I think you should get going now. Rukia is waiting for you, isn't she?"
"She can wait—"
"ICHIGO! HURRY UP!" Rukia yelled from downstairs.
The orange head, who was rudely interrupted, just dropped his head in defeat. "Fine," he sighed as he got up to go to his room and change. The remaining three snickered at his retreating form.
"This is the first time I've seen oniichan give up so easily," Yuzu confessed.
"Me too. It's all thanks to Rukia-nee," Karin said.
Yume nodded. "I think they're both doing each other good. And it's all thanks to that little baby."
"This is so cute! Ichigo!"
"NO!" he screamed for the nth time. "Rukia, we're having a boy! That means NO Chappy!"
"How can you deny my son this cute creature?" Rukia shouted back.
Ichigo stepped closer and glared straight down at her like a giant. "First of all, he's our son, which means I have the right to say what he can and cannot get. SECOND!—" he shouted before Rukia could cut him, "—Chappy is NOT cute! It's an ugly thing that I don't want around OUR son!"
Rukia gasped as she smacked him across the head with the big white bunny doll. "How dare you say that about Chappy?"
"Fucking midget," Ichigo groaned.
"And stop cursing! I don't want 'fuck' to be my son's first word," she glared.
Ichigo just glared back as they stood in a standstill, sparks of pure hatred sizzling between them as employees and other customers stared in complete horror.
"Seriously, they're embarrassing," Uryuu said as he continued walking towards the clothes section of the children's store.
"Maybe we shouldn't have invited Kurosaki-kun," Orihime said.
"No," Tatsuki dismissed the thought with the wave of her hand. "If we hadn't, then Rukia would have bought all those unnecessary Chappy stuff."
"I think she's trying to buy them for herself," Renji said as he snuck a small glance back only to see them still glaring at each other, waiting for the other person to give up first. "I hope their kid doesn't come out like either of them."
Uryuu scoffed. "Please. The spawn of those two will only be worse. I'm already planning on bringing Holy Water the day Kuchiki-san goes into labor."
"But I thought the hospital already cleans the baby. So why do you need to bring more water with you?" Orihime asked but her boyfriend just offered a smile as he grabbed her hand in case she decides to wander off on her own later.
"I think Ichigo won," Chad announced.
Everyone turned around and true enough Rukia was putting back the Chappy doll and making her way towards them with veins popping everywhere on her face.
"Um, you know, I don't think it's good for the baby to be so stressed," Orihime said.
Rukia, who was with them by now, snarled, "Tell that to the citrus head! He's the one causing all of it!"
"Geez, just blame your problems on somebody else. How kind of you," Ichigo rolled his eyes.
Rukia turned to look at him. "That's because—OW!" she gasped, suddenly grabbing her stomach when a sharp pain ran across it.
"Rukia!" Ichigo was immediately next to her, holding her up, as he placed his hand over her stomach. "You okay? Does something hurt? Is it merely stomach pains again or does it feel like contractions? I heard first pregnancy can go into early labor. Should I call the doctor and tell her we're coming? Is it coming again? Do you feel—"
"Shut up before I permanently close it for you!" Rukia growled as she clutched onto him. The others were surrounding her, not daring to move in case it was something serious. Rukia took in several deep breaths until she felt good enough to release her death grip on his arm. "I'm fine now," she smiled as she stood up straight like nothing happened.
Ichigo shook his head. "No, you're not. You suddenly turned pale and almost collapsed from pain. Thatis not normal Rukia."
"It's fine, really," she smacked his arm. "Takeshi was just kicking really hard, that's all. It's common."
"But Rukia, remember what the doctor said about your body being so small that you could go into labor early—"
"Ichigo," Rukia placed a hand on his cheek and gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm okay. The baby's okay. I'm not going into labor."
But it still did nothing to reassure him. Ichigo placed a hand over hers on his cheek and said, "I'm worried."
"I know, but don't be," she said.
"But—"
She immediately shook her head to stop him again. "Call it 'mother's intuition' or something, but I just know we're fine. Don't get your panties in a bunch."
Ichigo sighed as he pulled her in for a hug. "If you feel anything unusually, quickly tell me and I'll get us to the hospital," he kissed the top of her head.
Rukia smiled as she buried her nose into his chest. "I will."
"Well isn't this sweet?" Renji grunted, totally destroying the momentary peace between the two expecting-parents.
"You two are so cute together!" Orihime grinned, "I know the baby will be alright with parents like you two!"
Rukia pulled away to smile back. "Thanks."
"I still doubt you two and your sanity," Uryuu said, "I know Kuchiki-san's hormones are imbalanced so she should be jumping from one emotion to another, but why did you?" he looked at Ichigo who just glared at him.
"Father's share what the mother experiences," Chad said, "It's a form of connection."
"Not to mention Takeshi gave us quite a fright to stop his parents from their stupid fight," Tatsuki laughed, "I think I'm going to enjoy teaching the kid martial arts when he grows up. He can beat up both Ichigo and his father."
"Bitch," Ichigo snarled as he stepped away from Rukia. "Anyways, I'm going to go buy these stuff—" he pointed to their carts of baby supplies, "—so can you guys take Rukia out of here and help her relax? I want her to sit down before the stress of standing up too long takes a toll on her."
"For once I agree with you," Rukia nodded as she allowed Orihime and Tatsuki to wrap their arms around her shoulders to support her out of the store and towards a bench in the middle of the mall.
"That sure was scary," Renji exhaled a deep breath as he grabbed the handle of one cart to push, "I don't know how I would have handled it."
Chad nodded as he grabbed the big box of the new do-it-yourself baby crib.
Ichigo just sighed as they neared the cashier with the other cart. "To be honest, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I mean, it's still three months early."
"But you remained somewhat calm and asked the right questions," Uryuu said as he pushed up his glasses, "You asked about how close the pain seemed to be and even ready to call the doctor. I think it's safe to say you're ready for the birth."
Ichigo smiled as the thought of holding his son in his arms went through his mind. And the excitement only heightened as he placed each item on the counter.
The clothes Rukia and he would dress their son in. The monitor that would help keep an eye on him while he slept. The baby blanket he would be using every night to cuddle up in. The baby bottles that he will have to get used to once Rukia stops breastfeeding him. The teething rings he will come to love when the pain of teething becomes too unbearable. The pictures Ichigo would take and that Rukia would organize into a scrap book.
It was all that came with raising a baby.
Oh yeah, he was ready to be a father.
"This all comes up to be 120,000 yen!*"
Okay, never mind.
"I seriously don't know what this is," Renji scratched his head as he held up an odd shaped object.
Ichigo leaned over and frowned when he saw what Renji is holding. "Where did you get that?"
"From the box, dumbass."
Ichigo quickly smacked the back of his head. "I know, idiot. It was a rhetorical question."
"You two are both idiots," Uryuu rolled his eyes as he handed Chad a screwdriver. The strawberry and the pineapple quickly glared at him but he just ignored them.
"Kuchiki-san, why did you paint the room yellow? Wouldn't blue be better since you're having a boy?" Orihime asked.
Rukia shook her head as she placed a stack of baby clothes into the drawer. "Kurosaki-san wanted yellow to remind him of when Masaki-san had Ichigo. It's to brighten his personality."
"I don't think it's going to work. Look at the affect it had on him," Renji pointed at Ichigo.
"Agreed," Tatsuki nodded, "You should just paint it blue."
"We definitely don't want another 'Ichigo,'" Uryuu added.
"Arugh, can't you guys just shut the hell up!" Ichigo yelled at them. "What's so wrong about being like me—" he abruptly stopped when suddenly everyone in the baby room stared at him. He sighed in defeat. "Okay, I get it."
Rukia lightly laughed as she returned to her task. She then rummaged through one of the bags and lifted three different small wallpaper rolls she was planning on gluing to the bottom of the walls. "Hmm," she pouted as she held them up one by one against the wall. "I'm not sure which one to use."
Ichigo walked over and placed an arm around her shoulders. "What is this for?" he asked.
"I wanted to put some designs in the room," she told him as she held them out for him. "Obaachan saw them in one of my motherhood magazines and recommended me to put it in the room, something about it making the atmosphere more playful or something. So, which one?"
"What are we going to do with the other two once we pick one?" he asked her.
She smirked at him. "Return it of course."
"Of course," he sighed as he examined the three wallpapers. "This one is out," he immediately responded once he saw the Chappy rabbit smiling at him. He ignored Rukia's pout as he examined the other two. "I'm not sure what's different between these two."
Rukia rolled her eyes. "This one has ducks," she lifted one before lifting the other one, "While this one has blue ducks."
"Why blue?" Renji suddenly asked.
She shrugged. "At least it would contrast with the yellow walls." She then looked back at Ichigo and lightly jabbed his ribs. "Hurry up and just pick one. This is for your son."
Ichigo scowled at her before randomly picking one. "That one," he pointed to the former.
"Okay, this one it is!" Rukia pointed the opposite paper that he picked.
"Oi!"
The others laughed out loud as Rukia opened the package to start plastering them onto the wall. Tatsuki came over with the glue all ready and they started to brush it on the back side of the wallpaper. "I can't wait to see this room all done."
"Me neither," Ichigo smiled at her, getting the same reaction back from her.
Knock knock.
Everyone in the room looked up to see the twins standing by the door. "What's up?" Ichigo asked.
The two grinned as they looked at Rukia. "We have a present for you." Before anyone could ask, the two stepped aside to reveal something big behind them.
Upon seeing their present, Ichigo's eyes widened as he slowly stood up. "Where…where did you get that?"
"From otousan," Yuzu said, "He said you would really like it if we fixed it for you."
"Yeah, and this was what we were doing in our room for the past few hours," Karin told him, "We decided to redo the paint job and fix anything loose."
"And I added a new cushion for the seat!" Yuzu happily squealed.
Rukia stepped away from her task as she approached them. In front of her was a rocking chair that seemed old but newly fixed. There were some blotches of blue paint that wasn't fully dry yet, and white bunnies stamped all around the chair. A huge smile came across Rukia's lips as she hugged the twins to her. "Thank you so much! I've wanted one for so long!"
While Rukia went on and on about how thankful she was, Ichigo approached the chair and ran his fingers across the top of the chair. Fond memories swept through his mind. He remembered his mother sitting on this exact chair with him on her laps, as they rocked back and forth reading all kinds of stories. Then there was the time she would sit on the chair with the twins in each arm, singing them a lullaby while Ichigo watched in fascination from the side. He remained dazed, staring at the image of his mother sitting there while smiling that bright smile of hers.
"Ichigo?"
"Huh?" Ichigo was suddenly shaken out of his daze when a pair of arms wrapped around his waist from behind. He looked down to see Rukia looking up at him by his arm.
She smiled as their eyes met. "You okay?"
He continued staring at her before smiling back. He took her arms off of him and brought her forward to hug her from the side. "Yeah, I am." He then looked up at his two sisters and said, "Thanks for doing this you guys. I'm sure 'kachan would have liked it."
The twins grinned in their brother's complement.
"Aw! This is so cute!" Matsumoto squealed. "Hurry up and help them bring it in!" she ordered the guys. She grabbed the back of the heads of Ikkaku and Yumichika, pushing them forward to do the job.
"Bitch," they both cursed under their breath as they walked up to the chair and carried it into the room.
"Now this place is looking more like a nursery," Tatsuki remarked as she looked around. While Rukia and Ichigo were busy with the sudden present, the others continued working on the room. The yellow walls were now designed with the wallpapers of blue ducks and the crib was almost done.
"Only three more months," Orihime giggled as she stepped up to rub Rukia's swollen stomach.
"I can't wait to see these two lovebirds try and handle a baby," Uryuu smirked.
"We should tape it and send it in to that 'funny-video-show' thing," Renji laughed.
"And I bet it won't be long before these two have another kid," Ikkaku added, "Especially with Ichigo's raging hormones."
"Oi!" the said man shouted over all the snickers, "Stop talking shit about us. And we're not 'lovebirds,'" he glared at Uryuu.
"You could have fooled me with all the sex you two have," Matsumoto said.
"Eugh," Karin stuck out her tongue in disgust as she grabbed oblivious-Yuzu's hand. "We're getting out of here. I don't want to hear any of your disgusting teenage/hormone topics."
As they walked out, Matsumoto shouted after them, "In time you two will find out how fun this topic really is!"
"Shut up Matsumoto," Ichigo groaned, not wanting to think about his little sisters talking about sex.
"Geez, someone's moody," she pouted before gasping in realization. She crawled over to Ichigo with an amused look. "Has Kuchiki-san been leaving you hanging these days?"
Ichigo's face immediately reddened. "Wha-no! She hasn't—I mean, she and I—um, that's not what we—"
"Aw, somebody's blushing?" she teased as she looked over to see Rukia blushing as well. "So then, how often do you guys do it?"
"Matsumoto!" the two screamed together.
Renji grabbed his stomach in amusement at their mortified expression. "The way you two are acting, it almost seems like it's true!"
"It would be fucking funny if they're really having sex," Ikkaku joined him, "Then again, they already slept together once so what's there to stop them."
"Exactly," Matsumoto nodded. "And I bet they're in love but won't admit it! If we continue this, I'm sure they'll crack sooner or later!"
"This is stupid," Tatsuki rolled her eyes as she started to help Chad and Uryuu finish up the crib. But when she looked up, she noticed everyone else was crowding around the two soon-to-be-parents, following Matsumoto's argument as they continued their joke.
"So, who's the dominate one?"
"Where do you guys do it? In Ichigo's room or the bathroom?"
"Yeah. You wouldn't want anyone to find out."
"Is that good for the baby?"
"When was the last time you guys did it?"
"Where did—"
"ENOUGH!" Ichigo shouted over the noise. He glared at everyone as he gathered them by the door and started to push them out. "Out! NOW!"
"Eh!"
"LEAVE!" he ordered.
But not ones to give up so quickly, the others started to push back against him. "Not until you answer us!"
Ichigo growled. "FINE!" he shouted, still pushing against them. "YES, we have sex often. I prefer to be more dominate. We do it in my room so nobody knows. Sex doesn't hurt the baby as long as it's not too intense. And the last time we had sex was last night. NOW GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" he yelled one last time. And the others were too shocked by his confession that they lost all their strength and were easily pushed out. Once they were out of the doorway, Ichigo slammed the door at their shocked face, his chest heaving up and down from his anger.
"Dumbass."
He turned around to see Rukia glaring at him with her arms crossed above her stomach. "What?"
She rolled her eyes as she went over to where Tatsuki, Chad and Uryuu were staring at him with wide eyes, their faces reddening by the second.
It finally caught on to him what just happened. "I—oh, shit."
After a moment of utter shock, Uryuu finally cleared his throat. "Well that was…" he didn't know how to finish his sentence.
"Unexpected," Chad finished for him.
"Yes, thank you," he nodded at the giant. He looked back at Ichigo who was rubbing his face in irritation. "Although, not completely unexpected."
"Huh?" Rukia raised a brow.
Tatsuki also cleared her throat as she went back to screwing in the last screw. "Well, we kind of guessed you two were…you know."
Ichigo sighed as he leaned against the wall. "But this doesn't mean anything so don't make a big deal out of it."
The three friends stilled before looking up at him. "What?" they asked simultaneously.
"What he means is that we're not in a 'love' relationship," Rukia added.
But it only furthered their confusion. "Hold on," Tatsuki snorted in disbelief, "What are you two talking about? That you're sex buddies?"
"You're making it sound like we whore ourselves around or something," Ichigo said. "But yeah, we're kinda like 'sex-buddies,' except it's only for now."
Rukia nodded at his comment. "With my hormones going up and down like crazy, I needed to relieve my sexual frustration somehow, and who else better than with the father of the baby? According to our doctor, this is a safe practice and it helps distracting me from the stress of being pregnant."
Uryuu gawked at them. "That still doesn't justify it."
"Yeah," Tatsuki stepped in, "I mean, I understand the hormones thing, but having sex? That's gotta be hard if you're not in love. I mean, is there absolutely none of that between you two?"
The two looked at each other both shrugging. "Not really," Ichigo said.
Somehow his words just sounded worse then he meant. "Fucking prick!" Tatsuki yelled as she lunged towards him. Ichigo didn't even have time to react before her fist collided against his cheek. The others didn't know how to respond so they did the only thing they could think of: Chad and Uryuu tried to hold Tatsuki back while Rukia went up to help Ichigo.
"Tatsuki!" he shouted at her, "What the fuck—"
She cut him off by grabbing the front of his shirt and bringing him up to her face. "For taking advantage of my friend! What is wrong with you? Don't just use her excuse to fuck her when you're not going to take responsibility! Having sex is something very special to a girl and the sensible ones like Kuchiki don't just allow fuckers like you to sleep with her for no reason!"
"I know that!" he growled at her. "I'm not just fucking her for a good time, so lay off it!"
"How can I when I know you're going to do it again!"
"WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE THAT OUT!" Rukia shouted over their screams, freezing them in their spots. When Tatsuki lowered the fist she was just about to send flying again, she looked over to see the petite woman looking at her. "We're trying to figure that out," she repeated, more softly this time.
Tatsuki frowned at her. "What?"
Ichigo shoved her hand to get rid of her grip on his shirt. "What she means is that we're still trying to figure out our relationship. At the moment we're not exactly in love—"
"But we know we do care about each other," Rukia continued, "Our feelings for each other are much deeper than that of friendship but not exactly love. We're hoping, after the baby's born, to sort this out."
Tatsuki quirked an eyebrow. "Wait, so…there's a chance?"
Rukia frowned. "Yeah…maybe."
"Oh, well that makes everything better," she threw her arms up in annoyance.
Ichigo sighed. "Look, I know this might not make sense, but this is really important to us," he said as he wrapped an arm around Rukia's shoulders. "At least it allows us to be more intimate so we can take our relationship a step further."
"And hopefully make things work," she added.
Tatsuki just looked back and forth between the two before sighing in defeat. She rubbed the bridge between her eyes, trying to keep her temper down. "If you two are sure you know what you're doing—"
"We do."
Uryuu pushed up his glasses. "Just don't get hurt because of this. We'd hate to see you two separate if things don't work out."
Ichigo nodded in understanding. "Don't worry. We're not planning on going anywhere but forward."
"Mmph," Chad grunted in agreement.
Not really convinced but not willing to argue any further, Tatsuki went over to grab her bag by the door. "Well, I think we should get going then. We'll see you guys tomorrow to help with the rest of the stuff."
Rukia smiled in thank as she went to open the door. When it swung open, none of them were surprised to see the other five stumbling into the room, obviously trying to eavesdrop into their conversation.
"Ow," they grumbled at the sudden impact on the floor and each other.
"Ahem."
The five stopped their groaning to look up to see Rukia glaring at them, her tiny foot tapping against the floor.
"I told you we should have just left," Renji muttered.
"But then we wouldn't have heard anything," Matsumoto grumbled back as they all tried to scramble up. "Um, so are we ready to go?" she asked Tatsuki, trying to ignore the pregnant woman in front of them.
Uryuu shook his head as he stepped forward. "Com'on, let's go," he said as he grabbed Orihime's hand and led her out.
"Um, but…o-okay," she pouted as she reluctantly left.
"Well, that's our cue to go too!" Ikkaku quickly ran after them, followed by the other three.
The remaining occupants in the room just rolled their eyes. "Anyways, see ya," Tatsuki said as she left.
Chad patted Ichigo on the shoulder as he followed after her.
"Yeah, see ya," Ichigo said after them. They two remained quiet until they heard the distinctive sound of their friends leaving, the front door opening and closing after them.
Rukia let out a breath of relief. "Well that went horribly."
"Yeah," he scratched the back of his head, "I didn't want them to find out that much about us."
"It's your fault they found out."
"Stop rubbing it in. I already feel like shit for saying all that," Ichigo glared as he rubbed the cheek Tatsuki had punched. "Fucking bitch still carries a hard punch even after all these years.
Upon hearing him, Rukia walked over to him and placed a hand against the red cheek. "Does it hurt?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Nah, she didn't punch me that hard. It's not going to bruise."
"Well she should have," she smirked, "After all you took advantage of a pregnant woman."
"Oi!"
Rukia laughed out loud as she walked over to the giant pile of shopping bags while Ichigo went to position the crib against the wall. She started opening each one of them, taking out some stuff before coming across something she hadn't seen before. "What's this?"
Ichigo turned around and grinned when he saw the surprised look on Rukia's face as she discovered a big Chappy doll from one of the big bags. She immediately pulled it out and squealed as she hugged it. "You like it?" Ichigo asked.
She looked at him with her big eyes and grinned. "Of course I do! I love it! But when did you buy it?"
Ichigo moved to sit next to her as he said, "When you were outside with the girls and I was paying for these supplies, I quickly grabbed it and bought it."
Rukia laughed as she continued hugging the doll. She poked its nose with her own and her face brightened tremendously. "Thank you Ichigo!"
"No problem, midget," Ichigo smirked as he ruffled her hair. "Just don't scare me like that again."
Rukia looked up at him and nodded. "I promise," she said before leaning up to press her lips against his. He immediately welcomed the kiss as his arm wrapped around her waist and allowed his fingers to play around her stomach as it felt the movements of their living child inside it.
Rukia pulled back and grinned. "Now I have enough plush to fill up the new baby crib with Chappy."
Ichigo's face immediately paled.
A/N:... This chapter is kind of like a filler. I'm almost done with the next chapter but I needed something in between so I don't jump around in time too much. Only a few months have passed since the previous chapter, and next chapter the three months will have also passed, making it time for the birth of Takeshi (I am so excited)
I know it was awkward reading about Ichigo and Rukia's confession about their sexual relationship; believe me, it was a bit weird for me when I was writing it. But I have written in the sequel and I have mentioned it to some people who have PM'd me that these two were sexually active and their friends and family all knew about it. I had to add this confession somewhere to show that I'm still trying to make sure both stories and all my side notes relate to one another perfectly. So random information/plotlines will appear and won't make much sense (in matters as to why I have decided to write something in that specific moment) until you go to the sequel.
Hopefully that clears up any misunderstandings from this chapter, the previous chapters, and chapters to come.
Thanks for reading and please review!
*(A/N: equivalent to around $1,200. Yikes!)
Preview for next chapter:
Birth of Kurosaki Takeshi
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