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A New Window	By : Platinumsabr Category: Bleach > Het - Male/Female Views: 13905 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. Any Original Characters are mine however, as is the story itself, and if you see it or any part of it posted elsewhere please report it

Chapter List
- 22
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- 24
Ghost
Of The Past

Kaien�s eyes opened groggily
to see an unfamiliar ceiling of an unfamiliar setting. His vision was still
unfocused, and when he looked over he saw a woman with a white cloth wrapped
around her hair wringing a rag out with her one hand before turning back to him
and stopping short upon seeing his eyes open.

�So you�re finally awake eh? Took you long enough.� She said as she dabbed the cold cloth
on his forehead to wipe away the sweat. It was the sight of one very blurry�to
him that is�very pregnant, Kuukaku Shiba.

His throat was parched, but
the words escaped him before he knew what he was saying. �Kuu�chan�?�

Her hand froze in place and
her skin lost all of its color as her now wide eyes stared at him in confusion.
There had only been one person in her entire life that had ever called her
that, correction: there had only been one person in her entire life that had
ever DARED call her that�and he had left the world of the living long ago.

Darkness consumed Kaien�s
world again and his head lulled to the side, once more unconscious.

Kuukaku slumped into a cushion
heavily as she continued to stare at the now unconscious man.

�What the hell�?�

She was going to have to give
Seireitei a call. Why hadn�t she noticed the resemblance sooner?

This�was going to be
interesting.

~~~~~~~~~

The more she looked, the more she
was disturbed.

Everything about him was
different. He didn�t have regular skin; he had skin whiter than snow, and hair
just as pallid. The white strands lay limply around his head in his sweat, but
the singular bang of iridescent blue gave it the illusion that it was
constantly flowing, even though both he and it remained motionless. As she
watched, the blue flowed outwards like a wave, in perfect clockwork to the one
just completed, just like the ripple of a pond. She had been too unnerved at
the time to remember his eyes, but she was still cognitive enough to remember they
weren�t black.

He was nothing like him�yet
everything else�.

The structure of his face, the
messy hair, the size of his body�the more she looked the more she saw her deceased
brother, and frankly it frightened her. She had been shaken enough when she had
first seen Ichigo with her old friend all those years ago, but this man, this
person lying prone on one of her extra futons, had called her a name that had
stayed a strict secret even within the Shiba house.
There was no-one that knew that name, not even the pink-haired little ball of
energy had chosen that particular descriptive for her pet-name. She had never
seen him before in her life, she was sure she would recognize someone with such
a unique appearance, and yet the first time he laid eyes on her he had breathed
a name past his lips that hadn�t graced the atmosphere in close to a century.

A jolt from her belly brought her
back to her senses and she smiled warmly as she put her only hand on the large
ball her stomach had become, something she only did when she was sure she was
alone with her unborn child. Surprisingly, she wasn�t as scared of motherhood
as she had thought she would be, and the cravings kept her life interesting
that was for sure. Thinking back, she was constantly amused at the sight of Ganju�s face when she listed off her craving of the day. At
the time she had simply wanted her food, and no matter what it was, her little
brother was going to go get it.

Never piss off a hormonal woman,
especially when their tempers are scary enough to begin with.

�You better get outta there soon brat, Mommy�s really missing her booze
because of you!� It was said with her usual spunk, but she found she couldn�t add
any kind of condemning edge to it. Sarcasm didn�t suit her after all. She had
decided that if she was going to bring a child into the world she certainly
wasn�t going to screw it up. Giving up her smokes and sake for a whole nine
months was killing her, and consequently her cravings hadn�t been the most�normal,
even for regular pregnancy. Thankfully, there should only be a couple of weeks
left.

�Any longer than that and you�re gettin� it, ya hear me?�

�Boomy-chan!!!!�

And she was promptly knocked to
the floor from her cushions by a blur of pink. She groaned even though the blow
had done nothing to her, in fact she had become quite adept at making sure her
body felt no force was she to ever trip up. This time was no different. She
knew the voice, as well as the name. She sighed in mock frustration as she
reached down to pat the girl�s head. Honestly, she didn�t mind her nickname; it
was true things always went boom around her anyways. She was only
thankful the pint-sized Lieutenant hadn�t met her before Orihime, because God
only knew there was just as much reason for that �m� to be a �b� in her
nickname as it was on the klutzy fairy wielder.

She tried to hide her
anticipation, because she knew where this little person went, one other was
always close behind. It also saved her from the problem of informing Seireitei
about her newest arrival. She never had liked the communication Kidou.

�We were looking for someone and
we got lost!� Yachiru announced proudly with her usual grin. �Luckily I
remembered how to get here!!�

�Tch!�
a gruff male voice voiced irately as the door opened once again. �Like hell! It
took us twice as long to get here as it did to get lost in the first place!�
The one uncovered grey eye met her green ones and he smiled wickedly at her,
something she did right back. �Hey babe, how you holdin� up?�

The wicked grin turned gentle
even though she didn�t want it to. �You were just here at Christmas. Think
something terrible s�gonna happen in a week?�

He snorted and cocked his head
higher, but she knew people like Kenpachi Zaraki
weren�t prone to showing embarrassment in any conventional way. He was
surprisingly shy, almost laughably so when it came to open displays of
affection. Battle
was his one true love, and he wasn�t used to having that high spot of favor
fought over.

It didn�t help that the woman
could give as good as she got any day of the week. He
didn�t care about gender, strength was strength, but he was put in an odd
position as of late, because he had never dealt with a pregnant woman
before, especially one of his own making. She was so fun to provoke in this
state though, and he could put up with any pain she dealt him just to see her
comical expressions, ranging from red outrage to even redder embarrassment.
Nonetheless, it was still a learning experience, one about to get a whole lot
harder when the baby was born.

Kenpachi Zaraki�a father. What had the worlds done to deserve
that?

Nevertheless, he was here now, so
he might as well make the trip worthwhile. With large strokes of his long legs
he was in front of her and pulling her up until her lips were
trapped against his in a rough tangle that she both fought and loved at the
same time. This man was probably the only one in existence that could have made
her fall in love. It was always interesting that was for sure, and she always
craved excitement. He was a loose cannon with a soft side only shown to her and
one other�the pink haired girl currently squealing at the display in front of
her�and as masochistic as it may seem, he was also stronger than her. She
wasn�t about to settle for any man weaker than her, no way in hell. Therefore
the strongest only seemed logical. Plus, he put up with Ganju
the same way she did.

A match made in hell it may be,
but somehow they made it work.

That in itself was frightening.

�What�cha doin� in here all alone
anyway? Usually you�ve got those two fruits running around like headless
chickens!�

She chuckled throatily at his
very realistic observation. �Koganuhiko�s off getting
some food and fresh water and Siroganuhiko�s
organizing the fireworks I haven�t finished lately. I would usually leave
things like this to them but I thought I might as well try my hand at it. Hell
if I know how to be a mother!�

One of his black eyebrows arched
questioningly. �What�dya mean?� His eye closed in on
the bowl of water beside her and the rag on the side. �You�re not cleanin� or anything are ya?�

She kicked him in the gut.

He just laughed it off even
though he had been bent over her foot. She could put a lot of force into her
limbs, regardless of their position. That he knew quite well.

�No ya
moron, my idiot brother and his gang brought this weird guy over here yesterday
and he�s only woke up long enough to faint again! It�s obvious he hasn�t eaten
in a few days but I can�t do anything about that until he wakes up! I hate this
waiting game! I was gonna call Seireitei �cause those
ratty hakama definitely looked like part of a
shihakushou, but the guy�s got no sword on him and no Soul Reaper I know is
stupid enough to go around the districts the four stooges said they found him
in without a sword.� She tapped the hilt of the one strapped to the remains of
her right arm for emphasis as she sighed angrily. �I don�t even know why
I�m takin� care of him! The guy�s obviously a few sentences
short of a spell if ya catch my drift.� She motioned
over to the bed on the side wall and Yachiru instantly bounded over to the
unconscious male and poked his cheek happily.

�Ken-chan, Ken-chan! We found
him, we found him!!!�

The captain snorted unbelievingly
before he strode over and looked down on the comatose person. With a disgusted huff
he scratched his neck before walking back to the middle of the room and
flopping down onto one of the cushions. �Un-freakin-believable! We spend the time to search for
the freak and he was here all along!�

Yachiru laughed cheerily and
launched herself onto his shoulder. �Nu-uh
Ken-chan! We were looking for here most of the
time!�

Kuukaku laughed and she swore she
could see faint traces of color dusted on her lover�s face, but whether that
was from embarrassment, anger, or both was uncertain. Only a week had gone by
and he had already forgotten how to get to her house. Strength he had, a sense
of direction�nonexistent. Since she was pregnant that had put a severe damper
on her moving habits, so he couldn�t even use that excuse anymore.

�Icchy
owes us now! Yay! Fight fight fight!!�

The Shiba
woman was a bit confused by that statement. �You mean Ichigo? He hasn�t been back here for�well damn, when was the last time he�s
been here?�

Kenpachi responded with another
uncaring tch. �Too long, but I don�t
really care. Seen him and his brats lots over the
years.�

Kuukaku smiled almost sadly at
that. �Yeah, you were telling me about them before, weren�t you? A boy and two
girls, right?�

�Yup yup!!� Yachiru announced proudly. �Glowy went bonkers fighting Captain Creepy a few days ago
and Icchy asked us to look for him! He and some more
guys are in the other districts!�

Now only a quizzical look was
directed towards the tank-like Captain. �Glowy? Does
she mean that guy?� She asked as she thumbed over to her patient.

He nodded. �Yeah, his eyes glow,
so you can pretty-much figure out the rest. He didn�t use to look like that,
but from what we saw during the fight he and the rest of them had with
Kurotsuchi, some freaky shit happened and all of a sudden he looked like that.
He was in pretty bad shape before that too, but Kaien�s a tough nut to crack.
Got his dad to thank for that, I stabbed the guy in the chest and he wouldn�t
even die!� He noticed quite quickly that his pregnant lover had gone a shade of
white comparable only to the man lying on the bed to her right.

�K-Kaien?
Did you say Kaien?�

�Well yeah,� he responded simply.
�Kaien Kurosaki, Ichigo�s oldest kid. Couldn�t ya see
the resemblance?�

She laughed uneasily, but the
weight in her heart was getting lighter. No wonder. Of course he would look
like Kaien then. Quit it girl, don�t go making rash conclusions right away!
She wiped her forehead with the cloth now back in her hand.

�You alright?�

�Fine!
I�m f-fine! I was just a bit disconcerted, that�s all. He looks so much like my
brother��

This was computed rather easily,
even with Kenpachi�s terrible memory. �Right, right! The Lieutenant of Squad Thirteen was a Shiba a while ago! Died fighting if I remember right, no
better way to go!� It was only after Kuukaku�s hurt
glare that he realized his mistake. His love of fighting often collided with
his love of�love. �Sorry, I didn�t mean it like�ah damn it!�

She smiled reluctantly. Watching
the giant of a man practically sculpted from pure muscle stumble over his words
was too entertaining to not laugh. �I know what you mean. His name was
Kaien too��

The spiky-haired man scratched a
particularly annoying spike. �Well damn, I forgot all about that.�

�The resemblance is uncanny, I
don�t really know how to ex��

This time Kaien awoke with a
coughing fit, and startled her out of finishing her words. As if on cue, Koganuhiko showed up with the food�a moderate amount of
fruit, some rice, and a bit of fish�and the pitcher of water she had requested.
The pregnant woman was up in a flash and already grabbing for the water as she
ran past him and to the unconscious man she had taken to caring for. Taking the
opportunity of his at least half-conscious state, she quickly drained a cup of
water into his mouth and though he sputtered at first, thankfully he
reflexively swallowed and the coughs settled almost immediately. She could tell
he was malnourished before, but from the sounds of his coughs he was definitely
dehydrated too. No wonder he hadn�t been waking up.

His eyes weren�t open, but he
seemed to be regaining consciousness. As such, Kuukaku wasted no time in
getting him to drink more should the worst happen and he fade off again. �Damn
brat, hurry and wake up! I�m gonna start forcing food
down your throat if you don�t do it soon!� A hoarse cough that resembled a
laugh came from the pale white body and one of his hands reached up to rub his
eyes, the most movement she had seen since he had been brought to her. �About time!�

His eyes opened tentatively, hurt
even by the meager light of the room after being closed for so long. The eldest
Shiba restrained a gasp when she saw his bi-colored
eyes. Each hue was absolutely breathtaking, and she saw her lover hadn�t been
kidding; his eyes really did glow. The crystal-blue and numbing yellow
both had an almost fluorescent quality to them that made them astonishing,
though they were clearly trying to focus in on the world around them.

�Where�am I?�

Again, she was struck by his
uniqueness. His voice had an unearthly quality to it, almost like listening to
flowing water make words, though not quite to that level. As fitting as a
descriptive can go, it was almost like the watery edge had been diluted.
Underneath that though was a bass voice as deep as the ocean it resembled, even
if it was still slightly coarse from the lack of moisture. �My
house. I�m Kuukaku Shiba, and if I was told
right you�re�Kaien Kurosaki, right?�

He went still after that, like a
shock had jolted through his system. He laughed sickly and she could see him
raise an arm in front of his face, like he was checking something. �Waking up from
a nightmare�is only worse when you wake up to realize it was reality�� He
turned his head weakly to look over at her. �Did I say anything�strange�in my
sleep?�

Again, Kuukaku found her eyebrow
inching upwards again. From the way he said it, it almost sounded like he was
afraid that he had. What made that all the more confusing was that he actually
had, and it had been a pet-name from a brother long dead. �You might�ve.� She
left it at that. �How are you feeling?�

A weak laugh.
�Like I spent three days and nights fighting Hollows in the Eightieth District!
Oh wait, that�s what I did!� Even if they were meant to be exclaimed with more
fervor, he just didn�t have the energy. He wasn�t as tired as he had been
before, but he was hungrier and thirstier than he had ever remembered himself
being.

Gruff laughter erupted off to the
side and he looked over to see Kenpachi Zaraki and
Yachiru lounging on one of the cushions to Kuukaku�s
left. �Three days fighting without eating, drinking, or sleeping? You�re
welcome in the Eleventh Division any day! Most of the pussies in my squad can
barely last a day on sweeping duty, let alone three of straight fighting! I
hope my kid turns out like you boy!�

Only then did it dawn on Kaien
that his sister from a previous life was very, very pregnant. It wasn�t
a month or two in either, from what he could tell she was a good eight months
along, mere weeks from giving birth. He looked back at her, too weak to even
voice the question, though she could tell from the look on his face alone. �Yeah,
a couple more weeks and Yachiru�ll have a little
brother.�

Kaien fought the sudden urge to
return to unconsciousness. When, more like how, in the hell had that
happened??

God have mercy.

�C-Congratulations,� he said
instead. �May I please�have some food? A little water would�be nice too.� It
was said through gulps to wet his dry throat, otherwise he wouldn�t have been
able to speak at all.

�Lucky for you we�ve got the
freeloader special on right now. Didn�t know how well you�d be feeling after
you woke up so there�s mostly fruit, but I can get Koganuhiko
to go get more of the rice and fish if it�s needed.�

He struggled to get himself
upright and amazingly, she helped him until he could sit up under his own
strength. �Sorry to intrude like this.�

She sat down in her usual pile of
cushions as she pushed the tray towards him. �Consider it a repayment. Last
time your dad was here I didn�t give him supper!�

He chuckled lightly. You
haven�t changed a bit Kuu-chan. He was careful
not to voice his thoughts however; he already had a sinking feeling he had done
something to pique her already high sense of uneasiness. He had promised
himself if he ever met Kuukaku and Ganju again he
would do it as Kaien Kurosaki, not their brother. It was harder than he had thought
it would be, more so since he didn�t have Nejibana with him anymore to stop him should he slip up.
That remainder brought a painful pang to his heart, even if he had come to
terms with it.

He took a large gulp of the water
to make his speech understandable. �Thank you.� He looked down at the sheet
covering his lower half and gulped. �I don�t suppose I need to ask why you
removed my hakama do I?� He
was a medical candidate, of course he didn�t need to, it
was still a bit unnerving that it had been done.

�I�ll get you some new ones.
Those reeked of blood, and I don�t know if they could even be called hakama anymore with the amount of tears in �em!�

He sighed. He was safe in at
least one thing. Kenpachi and Kuukaku were having a kid, and they were both in
the room with him. What was he safe in?

Things couldn�t possibly get any worse
than they already were.

And hey, at least he had food.

~~~~~~~~~

She had been fine,
at least she had convinced herself she had been fine for the first day at any
rate. Then day two rolled around, and day three after
that. She had thought she had had it bad when she had been away for her
Bankai training, but when she thought about it that was probably not as bad as
it could have been, since she had been the one to leave under her own decision.

It really bit to be on the other
end.

It didn�t help that he hadn�t
told anyone where he was going, but she hadn�t either really. The difference
between the two was she had had someone with her! Kaien was off on his
own now, in a body even she didn�t know was capable of doing! Her anger
was growing day by day, but worse than that still was the intense worry
that came with it.

It was positively amazing.
Before, she had been a perpetually even-tempered, calm, smart woman that could
take things in stride and make decisions rationally despite any situation
around her. Throw love into the mix and her jealousy, anxiety, temperament and
confidence went completely out-of-whack and she found herself on highs and lows
she hadn�t experienced before. His praise was like a drug and his silence like
a knife, and when he was away her negative thoughts and emotions played tricks
on her without regard for what she knew to be reality. She had never thought
she would be this pitiful, but this deceivingly powerful feeling known as Love
had reduced her to her knees�if not just in the figurative sense. She needed
him, and she knew he needed her, he had told her so himself.

Then why did you run off
without me!?!

Before, she had played around
with the thought of hitting him. Now, she was certain she was going to
hit him. Then she might kiss him, and maybe again, and again for safe measure. How
could he do this to me!? She thought as she made what must have been her
fourteenth comb around the district she had chosen to search. She had finally
managed to get Ichigo to start sending out people to look for him yesterday. No
matter what the parents said, she couldn�t bring herself to believe
disappearing for days at a time was a regular occurrence in Kaien�s life. If it
was, she was going to rectify that, and soon.

She could already visualize what
she was going to do to him. She knew Ierro was still
vulnerable to Kidou after all. This, and that, and maybe a bit of that and
this!! She thought sadistically as the imagined body went back and forth
under her blows. Then a bit of this�and�this�oh and this� She
stumbled and mumbled a curse when she realized the erotic turn her thoughts had
suddenly taken on her. She cursed louder when she also realized her body was
responding to those thoughts accordingly.

Winter Break is gonna be over soon dammit! I
wanted to spend more time with you before I had to go back to school!

Benitenchi found her host�s
situation pretty amusing to say the least.

�Oh shut up,� Kin muttered
embarrassedly. �What I don�t get, you don�t get!� Wow, should�ve used
that when I was training for Bankai!

The redhead within wasn�t
laughing.

Jeez, lighten up!

�Do you know what
happens in here when you start fantasizing!?� the crimson-eyed woman whimpered
embarrassedly directly into her head, and she could practically see the rosy
glow on her zanpakutou�s cheeks. Kin snickered; now
she really, really needed to find Kaien.

A sudden, giant rise in reiatsu
from way over in the West district of Rukon caught
her attention instantly. That had been the signal if anyone found him, and Kin
laughed joyfully, both in relief and merriment. Guess Kenpachi found him
first. Poor Dad, now he�s going to have to pay up on his promise! She
laughed again, and part of that was because she could actually start calling
Ichigo �dad�. And here Seireitei was finally getting peaceful again.

She turned in the direction of
the flaring energy and took off at full speed.

~~~~~~~~~

Kaien relaxed against the wall
that made up the one side of the futon he had been put on, sated after all the
food he had eaten and the rest he had gotten, even if it had been more of a
coma. Kuukaku hadn�t stopped gaping at him as he ate more and more and he
actually felt pretty bad for eating so much of her food. Kenpachi though just seemed
to be amusing himself with the facial expressions of his lover after Yachiru
had been appeased with a wide variety of candy.

Kuukaku was well prepared for the
little girl it would seem, but he knew very well that the woman had a weakness
for the sugary confection too.

It kind of bothered him that he
was only in his boxers around these people, but they didn�t seem to be affected
at all. �Thank you for the meal,� he said as he bowed appreciatively.

Kuukaku seemed torn between
embarrassment and frustration, though why she would be embarrassed he would
never know. If he had to make a guess, it would be because he looked so much
like her dead brother, and that wasn�t made any easier since essentially he was
her dead brother. The nostalgia in the air was almost palpable. �W-Well you�d
better be!!� she yelled back with an almost alarmingly cute fluster. �Y-You ate
enough!!�

Kenpachi laughed. �Four nights
and three days without food�ll do that ta a warrior! So boy, wanna
fight? My blade�s been itching ever since you turned into whatever you are!�

�No!�

Surprisingly, it had been Kuukaku
that had made that rather vehement statement.

�No fighting in or around this
house!! You hear me!?� she threatened angrily as she shook her fist at them.
One did not want to get on the bad side of Kuukaku Shiba,
and said side was even worse to get on in her child-bearing state. It was like
playing Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun on a
hair trigger, it just wasn�t done if one wanted to live.

After all, she was in no
condition to fix her house. Otherwise, she wouldn�t have cared.

Kaien grinned stupidly and rubbed
the back of his head. �Thanks for the save!�

That grin sparked so many
memories in the black-haired woman she felt tears stinging her eyes. She
couldn�t look at him anymore, even his gestures were
exactly like her Kaien�s! She ran out of the room holding her swollen stomach
for support. �I�m going to get you some clothes!!�

Kaien felt his chest constrict.
He knew what had happened, he�d have to be blind not to
know. It had been an instinctive reaction, one he had gained in this life just
like the last. True, that made him feel like a copy more than he would like,
but Nejibana and Kin had always reminded him of his
uniqueness, and he had already beat himself up enough to last him a lifetime.
He was Kaien Kurosaki, but it was obvious to others it wasn�t that simple.

�Dammit��
He sighed sadly. �Screw it, I need a shower, or bath, or something! If I�m
getting fresh clothes than I�m not staying in three days worth of crud!�

Yachiru squealed excitedly. � Bathroom�s way down the hall, Glowy!
Can we play later!?�

He resisted the urge to sweat.
When Yachiru said �play� he felt a chill go down his spine. To her, playing
probably meant something completely different than normal. �M-Maybe.�
It was the safest course of action. Walking around in his boxers in a
stranger�s�well, in someone else�s home wasn�t exactly sitting right with him
either, so he wrapped the sheet around his waist and walked out the side door,
trying to forget Yachiru�s excited cheering behind
him; something about �Bishounen bishounen!
So pretty�� and he didn�t want to think about it any further.

He didn�t exactly know this
particular house, but its layout was alarmingly similar to the one he had lived
in as a Shiba, so it wasn�t too much of a stretch to
find the bathroom even without Yachiru�s helpful
advice. He tried not to be too surprised when he saw even the bathroom was
almost identical to the one he had once known and he stopped dead when he
walked past the mirror and caught his reflection.

He had changed more than he had
previously realized. Far, far more.

The skin was easily seen, and he
had caught a few glimpses of the ends of his hair when it fell over his eyes,
but the hypnotic effect of his new hair was a lot to absorb, more so since that
strip of blue so out-of-place on his head was exactly like that of Nejibana�s. That his Grimmjow-like
tattoos were gone was shocking, as was the sudden appearance of the flaming
replacement that had taken residence around his left eye, but what had numbed
his very bones was the pale azure orb looking back at him where once his right
yellow eye had been.

She literally�she literally
became a part of me. A coarse, one-breath laugh choked itself out his lungs
and he steadied himself on the wall holding the mirror. So this�was what my
soul was really meant to look like? My Hollow blood and zanpakutou body united?
What a cruel joke�

He sighed as he removed the sheet
he had been using as a covering and his boxers as he looked over at the
miniature hot-springs the Shiba woman had somehow
recreated in her home. One last time he looked back at his reflection. �I�ll
never forget you. It almost seems like you�re watching me with this eye even
though I know that you�re gone. I�ll never be the same because of you, and yes,
I mean other than these changes!�

He laughed lightheartedly as he
walked over and sunk himself into the water. Now I�m talking to myself. I
guess it does feel good just to say it out loud every once in a while.

There was a large rise in Kenpachi�s reiatsu, but he shrugged it off after it ended
almost as soon as it began. It didn�t even cross his mind that that might have
been a signal.

The door slammed open and Kaien
sputtered around frantically until he simply dunked all but his eyes
underwater. �Got some clothes for you, kid! They�re
right by the door!� And he thought he heard the door closing.

He sighed in relief as he sat up
again. �Jeez, she still doesn�t knock. You�re in for a rude awakening when your
kid becomes a teenager, Kuu-chan!� He said to himself
with a snicker. He froze when he heard something crash near the door, and he
turned sharply to see that Kuukaku hadn�t left the room yet, and she was
staring at him like he was a ghost�or more accurately the ghost of a ghost.
Soul Society really made similes hard.

Not even a second later her
expression had hardened into one of pure hatred and she had unsheathed the
sword strapped to the remains of her right arm. Before even that could be seen
by regular eyes she had launched herself over the floor and behind the spring
he was in, the blade set tight against his throat from behind.

�Tell me,� she hissed through
tears, �tell me who the hell are you, or I swear to God I will kill you here
and now!�

He was confident in his steel
skin, but with enough force anything could be cut, and as she was right then
Kaien had no doubts that she could relieve his neck of his head rather easily. The
hand holding the blade was trembling against his throat, and his heart sunk. �I�m
Kaien Kurosaki.�

�DON�T BULLSHIT ME!! No-one knows
that name except me and Ganju! It�s been that way
ever since�!!� The trembling was stronger now, and the
infamously tough woman was crying openly even as the sword threatened to bite
into his flesh. She couldn�t even bring herself to say the name of her dead
brother, not when this stranger had the same name.

His sighed and tried to adjust
his seating so the sword wouldn�t cut him any further if he spoke. �You can call
it an accident, a miracle, a freak of nature, a divine joke, or maybe something
that was fated to happen ever since Aizen started
creating the experimental Hollows. Call it what you will, but I was born with all
the memories of the Soul Reaper Kaien Shiba. I didn�t
know anything about it until I met Nejibana again
five years ago, and I�ve only been able to get some kind of hold over them a
few days ago. I never asked for this! I�m sorry that I can�t help certain
things or habits, but I�m Kaien Kurosaki now!�

The sword dropped from her
shaking fingers and she fell to the ground beside the smooth rock she had set
to be the wall for the manmade spring. �A reincarnation�with every memory�?
That�s�.that�s not possible��

He slumped against the wall he
had been so rigidly sitting against to keep the sword as far away from his
throat as possible and sighed in relief. �Like I said, I don�t know how it
happened, it just happened. I know I�ve got no right to know you like I do, but
sometimes the emotions he used to feel just slip out and I say things that I
shouldn�t know!� He heard the sobs from behind him and he winced. �I�m sorry. I�ll
leave right away.�

A pained cry from behind him shot
through his hypersensitive senses and he spun around in the water to see that
Kuukaku had collapsed onto the floor clutching her stomach. �My baby, my baby�!�

Kaien�s eyes widened in horror
before he quickly jumped out of the water and put on his boxers before making a
speedy exit out the bathroom with the pregnant woman in his arms. Dammit dammit dammit dammit! All the stress
must have triggered her contractions!

He set her down gently on the
futon he had been in previously and set to work setting the cushions under her
to make her the most comfortable before placing his hands on her abdomen. Her
breath was coming in short pants and she was crying out in pain as her face
warped in agony, something he had never before seen even as her older brother. �Breathe!
Come on start breathing Kuukaku!�

Her eyes squinted open to see his
serious face looking back at her, his odd eyes boring into her with the
conviction of the man she just met and the man she had known all of her early
life. It hurt, it really hurt, but she managed to start breathing at a normal,
if not extremely heavy, pace. �That�s good, that�s really good! Keep breathing
like that, try to calm down!�

Gotta be two weeks left at least! In the Living World this�d be no problem
but here we�re risking brain damage to the newborn if it comes out of the womb
too soon!! It�s not ready to live on it�s own yet!
He was vaguely aware of Kenpachi and Yachiru rushing into the room, but he
couldn�t waste valuable concentration on anything other than his ailing
patient.

�What the hell�s
goin� on in here!? I thought she wasn�t due
for another two weeks!?!!� It was gruff and loud, but there was definite
concern in his voice. He may not be the brightest of the bunch, but he knew
enough to figure out if something happened before it was meant to, that
probably wasn�t a good thing.

Kaien didn�t even hear him,
instead he was focusing on intricately melding his medically trained reiatsu where
she needed it, otherwise he wouldn�t be able to stop
the stress-induced labor.

�I asked you what was going on,
brat!!!� he roared as he slapped one of his large hands on the Kurosaki child�s
shoulder.

Kaien instantly whirled his head
over and glared without mercy at the Eleventh Division captain, regardless of
his reputation. �SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN!! If you want your kid to live than just
shut the hell up and let me work!!�

Kenpachi was so stunned at the response
of the healer that he actually responded to the words and not the threat inside
them. No father, not even Kenpachi Zaraki, would do
anything that would jeopardize the life of their child, or the mother of their
child. He sat down, speechless, and for once Yachiru just sat beside him
carrying a worried expression on her cute face. She had seen pain inflicted by
weapons before, but the pain she was witnessing crossing over the fireworks
expert�s face made even her quiet.

No pain medication, no anesthetic, no nothing! This has to be perfect
on my part or else she could really give birth right now! Kaien thought
desperately as he focused his reiatsu control into her spastic muscles. �Keep
breathing Kuukaku, don�t stop for a second! Focus only on your breathing!�

The demonic black reiatsu could
be seen radiating from his hands but right then color didn�t matter, only the
purpose. Little by little the color started returning to Kuukaku�s
face and her breathing got easier until the only remnant of what had just
happened was the sweat beading off her skin.

Kaien flopped back onto the
floor, still clad in only his boxers, and closed his eyes as he gasped for
breath. That had been the most nerve-wracking ordeal he had ever been in as
someone in the medical field. Kuukaku had fallen into a deep sleep on the spot
and thankfully it looked like everything had returned to normal.

He felt his arm being poked
cautiously and he opened an eye to see who it was. Yachiru looked back at him
with worry flooding her childlike features as she looked between him and the
sleeping woman. �Is Boomy-chan gonna
be alright Glowy?�

Slowly, he picked himself up off
the ground and sat down casually. �She�s fine now. Too much stress to her
system brought her into fake contractions that I needed to stop before they
actually induced labor. Everything�s going to be fine now.�

A shadow fell over them both and
he looked up to see the imposing figure of Kenpachi Zaraki
standing above them. His face was grave, and for a long time he didn�t say
anything, but when he turned his back and walked over to her bedside, he
stopped momentarily. �Thanks�kid.� And with that he sat down at her side.

The white-haired youth smiled
before pulling himself up and walking back to the bathroom. Since he was so
sweaty after exerting so much of his spirit force, he only dunked himself back
in for a second to get rid of the sweat before he finally got dressed. It was a
simple white kimono, yet he recognized it because of the Shiba
marking on the left arm, meaning it was one Kaien Shiba
had once owned. It was loose enough for maximum comfort and the material wasn�t
anything to laugh at, but that may have been because though it was in decline,
the Shiba house was still a family of nobles. It was
a big change from the crisp uniform he usually wore, but he wasn�t complaining.

He was refreshed and yet
exhausted, in fact it almost felt like he had returned to being a normal human
again. His power wasn�t overwhelming nor was it lacking, he just felt�normal.
It was a nice feeling. He hadn�t been out since he had gotten here, however
impossible that may have been at the time, and so he walked right past the room
the others were in and up the stairs to the exit. He walked out into the
afternoon sun and in just a blink he reopened his eyes to see Kin right in
front of him.

And from the looks of things she
was not happy.

�Oh shit.�

This�was gonna hurt.

~~~~~~~~~

Author�s Notes: Wow, sorry everyone. It took me twice as long to
churn out this chapter as it usually does. Between looking for work, reading,
and trying to get my parents off my back I�ve been a bit pressed for time. Even
if it seems like not much happened in this chapter, it was still fun for me to
write, even though most of that came from Kenpachi�s
actions, or what I imagined them to be. Oh the possibilities, I just couldn�t
use them all because I didn�t want to ruin the characterization or the
storyline.

Thanks everyone for reviewing and
I don�t want to ask for more again but I think I�m going to. Whenever I ask I usually
get them but when I don�t nothing ever happens, so I�m gonna
be a bit overbearing and politely ask for some feedback (okay, I�m a review
junkie too, but honestly, it�s hard to write without knowing what the audience
is looking for in later chapters).

One last note which I forgot to
put in last time: I read a review saying someone had a really hard time
imagining Asuka as something other than a blue-haired Asuka Langley from Evangelion and I thought that was funny, because I used the
name Asuka because I thought Asuka�s temper and
temperament in general on Evangelion were hilarious
(and because it reminded me of Tatsuki), so that�s how she got her name.
However, she looks nothing like her and was I a better drawer I would show you
all what she really looks like. I�m okay though so I might try my hand at it
(don�t get your hopes up though).

Thank you all for continuing to
read me story! More Shiba next time!

(And for those of you who don't read Shoujo manga, Bishounen basically means pretty-boy, or a male more beautiful than handsome if that makes much sense.)
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