Adult-FanFiction.org : Bleach

Prize of Victory 2
By : NovaAlexandria
Category: Bleach > General
Views: 56251 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make a profit from this story
Chapter List
- 23
- 24
- 25
Update 2/3. You may need to go back a chapter.

Shopping Spree

The next morning dawned bright, clear and beautiful as the birds outside twittered happily in the tree branches.

Rangiku wished her stomach felt as good.

She had woken up before Nnoitra and had taken a quick shower before hurrying downstairs to cook a large breakfast. She wanted to start this day out right, for it wouldn�t be the first time that he had forgotten a promise he had made before going to sleep the night before. Since it was impossible for her to lie to him, she usually managed to get her way but sometimes he had a change of heart. She did not want any changes of heart.

What she wanted was a new stomach. For some reason, the smell of cooking food seemed to twist her gut and it wasn�t until she�d helped herself to some of the morning�s miso that her tummy finally settled down. Some tea helped as well. She chalked it up to excitement, nerves and the potential for two days of relative freedom in a row.

By the time she finished loading up a large plate of food and brought it upstairs for him, he was just starting to stir himself.

�Good morning Nnoitra-sama,� she greeted him, setting the plate of food down on the small table beside him and rejoining him in bed.

Thankfully, all signs of that strange wave of nausea were gone. Maybe the eel at the restaurant last night hadn�t agreed with her as much as she�d agreed with its taste. She�d check with Tatsuki to see if the other woman had experienced anything similar. She�d hate to think she�d picked up anything nasty from the restaurant meal, since they�d raved about both it and the place between them.

�You sure seem perky today,� he noted as he sat up, pulled the tray over his lap and tucked into breakfast like a starved animal.

She knew he would be hungry, since casting Claims was hard work and he was always ravenous afterwards. Often, he hungered for more than just food and if he kept his promise from last night to her, she would happily give him that as well.

�You promised last night I could go to the market today,� she hesitantly reminded him.

�I did?� he asked suspiciously, chopsticks frozen above his rice bowl.

�Yes, so long as I brought Tesra-san with me,� she added. �Please don�t let him change his mind,� she silently begged, looking at him hopefully.

It wouldn�t be the first time and she felt both herself, and Haineko, staring at the slightly opened door of that proverbial kennel with apprehension, wondering if it would stay open or if it would slam shut in her face when she got close.

Nnoitra frowned, and then shrugged and resumed attacking the food on the tray with renewed gusto.

�Fine, Make sure you get some more of that sake I like,� he grunted, reaching over the side of the bed to drag a card out of his hakama pocket. �Just don�t spend more than 50,000 yen.�

Her eyes lit up in shock as she took the card from him with trembling fingers. She hadn�t expected that he would actually give her his card, let alone allow her such a high spending limit.

�Of course, Nnoitra-sama,� she stammered.

He finished eating while she put the card someplace safe before returning to bed and pressing her body against his. He was still tired from the night before, but that didn�t stop him from getting it up and in. They did pause long enough to get into the shower and he finished taking her in there with Rangiku pressed face-first against the shower wall while he pounded into her from behind.

She practically skipped about the house and spent a decent amount of time picking out something to wear after he�d left her to her own ablutions in the bathroom. She was just coming down to the main level, and paused to give an amused Nnoitra a kiss on his way out the door to do his assigned patrols, when Tesra and Tatsuki arrived to check in for any orders.

�You seem happy this morning,� Tatsuki commented as Nnoitra filled Tesra in on his duties for the day. If Rangiku had anything to say about it, Tesra would be holding a lot of shopping bags for the two of them.

�I have permission to go to the market, with a 50,000 yen limit!� she squealed in delight, pulling Tatsuki into the kitchen to share an enthusiastic hug.

�Hmm, your face does feel flushed.�

Tatsuki placed the back of her hand on Rangiku�s forehead.

�That�s because I just got out of the shower,� she said dryly, pulling her human friend�s fingers away and clasping them with both of her hands. �I am just going to double check for anything we might need, clean up the dishes and then we can leave.�

She quickly scoured the few dishes from breakfast and set them to dry on the counter, while Tatsuki put away the leftovers. The dark-haired woman made a face as she placed a small bowl of steamed rice and the leftover soup into the refrigerator and looked around for the teakettle. Wordlessly, she shut the door, found the cupboard with the tea tins and made herself a quick cup with the still-hot water.

�That was odd. I just had miso this morning and for a second��

The taller woman paused to drain the sink and frowned. Looking at Tatsuki she saw a similar, �green around the gills� look to what she�d experienced this morning while cooking.

�You too? Maybe it was the eel last night. I didn�t feel all that great when I got up until I�d drunk some miso soup and had some tea.�

Tatsuki made a face and sipped on the hot tea, staring at a point on the wall as if she was pondering something.

�I hope it wasn�t the eel. Really, it tasted just fine when I wolfed it down. I really like that place too. This helps though.�

Rangiku made an �hmmph� sound and crossed her arms.

�Well, I refuse to let something like a touchy gut or some dubious eel ruin a perfectly wonderful day at the market! I feel fine now.�

�Maybe your brain just likes the idea of all of those pretty kimonos and jewellery better than it likes dwelling on an upset stomach.�

She laughed at Tatsuki�s observation, giggling a little as she pulled a package of pork from the freezer and set it in the refrigerator to thaw for their evening meal.

�Perhaps you�re right,� she replied, taking the teacup from Tatsuki when she�d finished and placing it near the sink.

Tesra joined them a moment later.

�How much time do I get?� Rangiku asked him immediately.

�Nnoitra-sama didn�t say. He just informed me of the limit and that any necessary supplies, such as food, don�t count towards that limit� he answered dutifully.

�Excellent!� she exclaimed, finishing off the list of things they needed. �Well, what are we waiting for? There are hordes of vendors, deprived of my company for ages now, just waiting to show me their newest wares! We simply can�t keep them waiting!�

Rangiku plucked Haineko from the stand by the door (one never knew when a battle might occur) as she marched out, pausing only to unhook herself from the thrice-cursed chain and hanging the clip on the end on its hook by the door. Then she let her excitement and anticipation take control of both her feet and her heart and let them propel her to the market.

Most of the morning proved to be an excellent time, sublime even. The sun warmed up the streets quickly, a sign that winter was slowly losing its grip on the Soul Society and Rangiku planned on enjoying every second of her freedom lest some unwelcome development, such as a Swarm incursion, interrupt it. She lost track of how many kimono and silk shops she dragged Tatsuki into and revelled in the chance to try on some lovely things. She�d put all that effort into earning this time and she vowed to make the most of it, even if Tatsuki was ready for a break a little before noon and Tesra had to resort to consolidating bags to free up more space in his arms for their purchases. His mate had finally given into Rangiku�s demands that she purchase a new spring kimono, though she chose a much more conservative cut, color and pattern than the taller woman thought she should wear.

�You can�t dress like an old granny, Tatsuki!�

�This is perfectly acceptable, for my age and marital status,� the younger woman replied archly as Rangiku tied the garment�s matching obi. �And the peony pattern is fine for spring!�

�But� dark gray, Tatsuki?�

�The butterflies make up for it.�

�You�re utterly hopeless!�

�No, I�m just not sixteen anymore.�

Unfortunately, things turned unpleasant after lunch and Rangiku�s hoped-for day of marathon clothes shopping came to a sudden, screeching stop.

�Ugh,� Tatsuki complained, pausing in the middle of the street. �I feel terrible. Lunch is just not sitting right.�

The human woman, to Rangiku�s consternation, looked sweaty and greener than she had in the kitchen this morning. For that matter, she wasn�t feeling particularly stellar either. A much stronger version of the nausea that had plagued her while cooking breakfast was doing its best to put a damper on her spirits.

�Maybe it was the food,� Rangiku agreed, a hand on her own belly, feeling a little clammy. �Did that vendor seem suspicious to you?�

�Not at first, but I am starting to wonder if maybe that fish wasn�t a little off,� Tatsuki returned, truly not looking well now.

Tesra, for the most part, seemed perfectly fine, but that didn�t mean anything, as Rangiku assumed that his Arrancar stomach could handle anything he chose to throw into it. Presently, he trailed behind the two women, loaded down with four baskets full of their morning purchases and to a lesser extent, the household necessities.

�Are you feeling alright?� he asked hesitantly, looking from Tatsuki to Rangiku and back again with growing alarm.

�I think I�ll be��

Tatsuki never finished what she was going to say. Instead, she choked, gagged and then rushed off into the space between two stalls. Seeing that seemed to trigger some involuntary reaction deep within the blonde�s gut, as if Tatsuki�s actions gave Rangiku�s innards permission to rebel.

�Ugh, me too!�

Rangiku, rapidly losing control of her upper digestive system, followed closely behind her friend. One alley and one startled, screeching tomcat later saw both women purging the grilled fish they had eaten for lunch from their bodies in a most undignified way, leaving a sour taste in their mouths and distress on their faces.

�I am going to go back and kill him for trying to poison us!� Tatsuki hissed, before doubling over and adding the noodles she�d eaten before the fish to the pool of vomit on the ground.

�Not if I��

Rangiku�s gut decided to turn itself upside down without asking so much as a �by your leave� before she too emptied the remainder of her last meal onto the paving stones.

��kill him first,� she finished blearily.

�I think I should bring you two to the 4th Division,� Tesra spoke up hesitantly. �Nnoitra-sama would be displeased if he found out I let you contract something from a vendor of questionable foodstuffs.�

�Yeah, you�re probably right. Some forms of food poisoning can be dangerous�� Tatsuki reluctantly mentioned with a very non-dainty �urp!� Fortunately, Tesra was the sort of mate that kept handkerchiefs on his person, and more than one at that. It wasn�t the first time Rangiku thought Tatsuki had won some sort of lottery when it came to men as she took the thing from him and wiped her mouth. �I hope we didn�t pick up some awful parasite!�

��and I would do anything to get rid of this nausea,� Rangiku agreed, belly still roiling.

The walk to the 4th Division was slow and uncomfortable, and both women stopped six times along the way, puking a little less at each stop they made. Tatsuki insisted that they force down some water after each retching session, as they were out of food to hurl and purging water was much better than undiluted stomach acid.

Rangiku was the veteran of more than her share of hangovers and some less-than-intelligent dietary habits, prior to the War. To the best of her knowledge, she�d never, ever felt this bad after she rid her system of whatever excessive toxin she�d taken in, intended or not. By the time they reached the 4th Division�s doors, both she and Tatsuki began to worry that whatever might be wrong with them was due to more than just bad fish or food poisoning. She wanted to cry at the spoiling of her afternoon plans and her composure.

The nurse at the front desk admitted them almost at once and, since Rangiku belonged to one of Aizen�s precious Espada, Unohana herself saw to them. Both women curled up in misery on their cots in their shared room so Tesra could keep an eye on them. Rangiku was grateful to her for that; it meant he�d be spared the torment of deciding whether to stand guard over his mate, or over his master�s pet as Nnoitra ordered.

Unohana checked them both, asked a dozen questions, including what they had eaten, where and when and if they�d experienced any other episodes of being unwell in the last week or so. A staff member carefully pulled a small sample of blood from each of them, requested urine samples too, pointing towards a nearby, one-person lavatory and handing them a plastic jar each, as well as a thick black pen. With that task completed, Unohana called for a pitcher of water and two cups. Both women groaned unhappily, but took the sips of water Tesra poured for them. Unohana seemed pleased that Tatsuki had enough knowledge, thanks to her years in marital arts and the basic first aid training that went with it, to keep the two of them at least hydrated. When she�d collected what she thought were enough answers from the two women, she told them she was going to go see what the blood panels and the urine samples revealed, if anything, and said she�d return shortly. While Rangiku�s nausea hadn�t exactly abated, she didn�t think she�d need to dash like a madwoman for the closest toilet either. Tatsuki�s queasiness had wrung her out, but at least she wasn�t holding the room�s small trash bin beneath her chin.

Rangiku had no idea how long it took to determine if there was anything wrong with them, other than the obvious, but when Unohana returned, roughly fifteen minutes later, she looked at them both and let out a long sigh that contained equal amounts of depression and happiness. Her expression remained a bit guarded, however.

�Well, the good news is there is no sign of food poisoning in either of you,� she announced, drumming both sets of fingers on the back of the clipboard she held.

�I swear I haven�t had anything to drink in ages!�

Rangiku�s attempt at self-defence earned her a wan smile from Unohana-Taichou.

�I believe you, Matsumoto-san. Alcohol is certainly not the issue here, I�m afraid.�

�So� what�s wrong with us?� Tatsuki asked.

Unohana put on what Rangiku could only describe as a �brave� sort of smile, just as she felt a tiny amount of dread kindle in her heart at its appearance.

�I need the two of you to visit Szayel once we address your nausea, so he can take a set of preliminary images with that ultrasound machine he is so proud of. I also want to run some more blood work to make sure all your blood sugar and vitamin levels are within the proper ranges.�

None of this made any sense to the blonde Shinigami, as Unohana�s assistant pressed a cup of something lukewarm that smelled like mint into her hands and then brought a similar cup to Tatsuki to drink. It helped settle her innards, whatever it was. Why send them to the Science and Research Division of all places? Did that mean that whatever was wrong with her was more serious than the 4th Division members could handle?

�If we aren�t poisoned, what is wrong with us?� Rangiku demanded as she handed back the cup after drinking the whole thing down.

Then she heard Tatsuki, on her side of the room, start to snicker as Tesra took his mate�s empty cup.

�Oh for the love of��

Then, to her confusion, her human friend began to laugh in earnest.

�One month, I told you �don�t think it will happen in the first month� and you just had to prove me wrong,� she said, wiping at the corners of her eyes as she turned to Tesra.

Tesra looked at Rangiku for clarification, and then to Unohana. Rangiku was perplexed. The only one who seemed to know what Unohana was talking about was Tatsuki and she was laughing too hard to fill the other two in on the secret.

�I see that at least you seem to understand,� Unohana noted with a faint smile.

�There is only one reason you would send us to Szayel for anything, and that would be if we were pregnant. So, are we?� she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Rangiku felt her body suddenly go cold with shock and her hand raced towards her chest, clutching at the front of her yukata. She barely heard Unohana�s confirmation, failed to notice Tesra�s cry of surprised delight as the mated couple hugged each other joyfully. Instead, her mind raced in panicked circles.

�Nnoitra said he didn�t want children. Oh Kami, what happens if he doesn�t want this child? What will I do if he blames me for getting pregnant? What will happen if he wants to get rid of it, like Barragan? Will he start treating me the way that rat bastard treats Soi Fon? Would he try to force a miscarriage?�

Rangiku was unaware that she had started to hyperventilate until she grew dizzy and Unohana clamped a hand over her mouth to force her to breathe through her nose.

�Rangiku!� Unohana called urgently.

She hardly heard her name spoken, even though Unohana was inches away. All she could hear was her blood rushing in her ears, her heart pounding and her rapid breaths. Terror and disbelief flooded her as a thousand awful thoughts descended on her. They included everything from Nnoitra wanting to kill her or the child or both, to the fear of bringing a baby that the father detested into the world. Her panic was such that she could hardly focus on the woman in front of her. Off to the side Tesra and Tatsuki didn�t even seem to notice her distress, caught up in their own excitement. Unohana stepped to the door, called out something to someone Rangiku couldn�t see and returned with her hands full of healing Kido.

�Matsumoto-san, please calm down,� Unohana softly insisted, her hands glowing as she placed her hands gently on the blonde-haired woman�s shoulders, with the intent to calm her down. A few moments later, one of the healer�s subordinates came into the room armed with a syringe and a determined look.

Unfortunately, at least for the subordinate, the needle never made it near Rangiku. The woman carrying it abruptly screamed in pain as a long-fingered hand grasped her wrist and shattered it. Unohana turned around to see her assistant on the floor, arm in the grip of a very pissed-off Espada. Nnoitra kicked the syringe out of his way, teeth bared and looking for some sort of fight.

�What the fuck is going on in here?� he roared, eyes fixed on Unohana.

Tesra leaped up in shock at seeing his master here, and almost had his head taken off as Santa Teresa whipped around his way, stopping with the blade cutting just deep enough into his neck to draw blood. Nnoitra didn�t release his grip on the poor assistant�s hand either and the woman cried out in agony, tears of pain streaming down her face.

�I thought I told you to watch her,� Nnoitra snarled at Tesra, glaring at his fraccion.

�Nnoitra-sama, please put your weapon down and please release my subordinate.�

Unohana stated the order calmly, seemingly unperturbed by the Fifth�s enraged appearance.

Rangiku looked up at his furious face and felt her fear intensify a hundred times over. He was angry. He was upset. She just knew he would force the child from her. He�d never wanted children, had told her as much to her face and now, here she was, pregnant with the very thing he had declared he didn�t want. Unohana had removed her hand from Rangiku�s mouth to stand up to stare down Nnoitra, letting Rangiku resume her hyperventilating, although at a lower rate thanks to whatever Kido Unohana used to regulate her breathing.

Nnoitra tossed a deadly glare at the short, dark-haired woman, but Unohana stood her ground, undaunted by the fact she had an armed, angry Arrancar only a few feet away.

�Maybe I didn�t make myself clear the first damn time! What the fuck is going on here?!�

�She�s experiencing an unfortunate amount of shock. We intended no harm. The needle contained a sedative to help calm Matsumoto-san. She took the news much harder than I thought she would.�

Unohana gave the woman on the bed below her a worried frown, while Nnoitra continued to hold Tesra in place with the business edge of Santa Theresa. Tatsuki sat frozen, eyes huge, gripping the sides of the bed with white-knuckled hands.

Rangiku could feel nothing but fear. She literally shook with it, body trembling and her eyes firmly planted on the wall next to her. She didn�t dare look at him. Any minute now, he would start screaming and yelling at her for this catastrophe. Worse, poor Tesra had ended up caught between them. Clearly, the news of Tatsuki�s pregnancy had excited the fraccion and his mate so much that he hadn�t had a chance to notice Rangiku�s distress.

�I will inform you of the details regarding Matsumoto-san�s condition when you put away your weapon and release my 7th Seat.�

For a long minute, Nnoitra and Unohana regarded one another, he seething and she waiting for him to obey her command. Unohana�s tone had gone frosty now and Rangiku prayed to whatever god would listen that Nnoitra wouldn�t do anything rash around Aizen�s �wife,� especially when he found out.

A rush of jealousy unexpectedly hit her. She was jealous of Tatsuki for having an Arrancar master that actually cared for her and loved her. She almost, almost, hated the two of them for being so happy about the situation while her entire world was about to go to hell in short order.

Nnoitra finally released the poor attendant and the woman was quick to make a getaway, clutching her injured wrist to her chest. Unohana remained a pool of serenity, even though Santa Teresa was still pressed against Tesra�s jugular vein. The fraccion hadn�t so much as twitched from his spot. Once the 4th Division healer had scrambled to safety, Unohana gave Nnoitra a slight bow, a reward for rational behaviour.

�Thank you.�

She then smiled at the Espada, and turned to look at the other couple in the room. �Lindocruz-san, would you be kind enough to take Tatsuki-chan to Szayel-san? He will know what to do from here. Don�t worry, you�ll be treated quite well once he finds out why you�re there. Please see the front desk for a kit. They�ll know which one I mean when you tell them your next stop is at the Science and Research Division.�

No one in the room, certainly not Tesra, considered her words a request. He didn�t move a muscle though, at least not until Nnoitra grudgingly removed the blade from his throat and grunted at him to do as the accursed woman ordered. Tesra and Tatsuki sent Rangiku worried looks, but obediently and quickly left.

Once she was alone with Unohana and Nnoitra, her terror and violent shaking began anew.

�Please, sit down Nnoitra,� Unohana indicated the chair beside Rangiku�s bed, taking a few steps back to allow him room to get past her. �As you�ve stated, I am not in the habit of repeating myself either.�

Now that it was just the three of them, Rangiku saw Unohana pull a look from the metaphorical bag in which she kept her bedside manner, one that actually made Nnoitra�s livid expression falter. The Espada took a step back from the dark-haired woman as well and he eyed the chair next to the bed.

With no small amount of irritation, he impaled his overly large and odd-shaped Zanpakuto through the floor into the ground and rushed over to Rangiku, climbing onto the bed and pulling her against him, instantly checking her body over with his eyes and hands. She quivered at his touch and felt a new round of fright fill her as his hands roved over her stomach. She tried to force them away and he frowned down at her, catching her wrist with his fingers, though not hurting her the way he�d hurt the nurse.

�I am sorry she received the diagnosis this poorly. As I stated, I did not expect her to react thusly,� Unohana explained. �The sedative was a mild one, to calm her, given the degree of her panic.�

�What news are you talking about? What was so fucking bad that she�s like this?� Nnoitra snapped. His eyes never left Rangiku and she tried in vain to draw away from him, only for the Arrancar to hold her steady.

�Quite simply, you are going to be a father.�

Nnoitra�s body froze against hers and his own breathing stilled.

�Here it comes,� Rangiku mentally whimpered, bracing for a blow, a smack to her face, some kind of violence that told her he was unhappy with her.

�W...what?�

�Matsumoto-san and Tatsuki-chan are both pregnant. They spend a great deal of time together and it�s possible that their cycles and thus their fertility were synched as a result. It�s likely that they conceived around the same time.�

Nnoitra gaped at Unohana for a full minute, silent in his astonishment, before he reached down and turned Rangiku�s tear-stained face up to look at him. A slight tug on the Claim made her open her eyes, heedless of how much she wanted to hide from him.

�I didn�t mean to,� she whispered softly. �Are you going to try and get rid of it?� she asked brokenly, bracing herself for the screaming and possible beating she was certain would follow.

�What the fuck gave you that idea?� he demanded, though his voice wasn�t loud. In fact, he looked and sounded as if someone Yammy�s size had just punched him in the gut, knocked all of the air from his lungs and he was having some trouble replacing it with fresh oxygen.

Now it was her turn to freeze, more so at how shaken he sounded than his question.

�You said you didn�t want children�� Rangiku pointed out ��and Barragan��

She never got to finish.

�Don�t compare me to that walking corpse!� he growled before she saw understanding dawn, seeping into the almost pained look he gave her. �Is that why you are freaking out, because you think I am going treat you the way he treats his fraccion�s fuck toy?�

He asked this a little more quietly than before.

Slowly, she nodded her head, saltwater spilling from the corners of her red-rimmed eyes. The look of disgust on his face intensified and she flinched away, until he made her look at him again.

�Just because I ain�t interested in any brats doesn�t mean I am going to force you to get rid of this one, unless you don�t want it, and even then, Aizen will order that you carry the kid anyway. Tesra can raise the brat if need be,� he snorted.

�I� you mean it�s my choice? I can keep the child if I want?� she asked him hesitantly.

�If you want it, keep it. If not, Tesra can take it. But I ain�t going to kill it, or force you to kill it.�

Now that she was slowly calming down a bit, she realized just how stupid she was being. This was the same man who had adopted a cub that wasn�t even his own, who let Tesra follow him around and, despite his bluster, had never really actually intentionally harmed his fraccion until now. What he�d just given Tesra, in Arrancar terms, barely qualified as a scratch. In fact, if not for Nnoitra, Tesra would be dead, killed by Zaraki Kenpachi during the Winter War. Tatsuki had told her the tale during an afternoon when it had been just the two of them in the empty house, playing cards and having �girl time�.

�So, I can really keep the baby?�

�If you want it,� he grunted, sounding non-committal, though it seemed as if he was the one having a hard time meeting her gaze now.

The original crisis over, and no longer fearing for her life or for the child, she let herself think about her second greatest fear. Did she really want a child? Could she take care of one all by herself? When she�d first asked him about the subject, the night she�d found out that Nemu was pregnant with Szayel�s twins, Rangiku was certain that she hadn�t wanted children. However, now she was actually pregnant, and Tatsuki was as well. They were pregnant together, and they would be having children together.

Her mind conjured up various images of herself and Tatsuki going through everything together� shopping for baby clothes, both of them with round bellies, both of them sitting on the grass in one of the many 1st District parks with their respective children sitting in their laps.

Haineko, still tucked into her belt, was the one to whisper to her.

�Silly girl� it isn�t as if you�ll have to do this all alone, now will you? He may be useless, but the others around you aren�t. It�s just as much yours as it is his.�

�Yes, I want to keep it,� she said quickly, the words out of her mouth a second later.

A thought suddenly occurred to her and she looked up at him, meeting his eyes. He had come charging into the room and instantly attacked the poor nurse he had perceived as a threat. The young woman was lucky he hadn�t killed her.

�You came because you knew I was upset, and thought I was in danger,� she stated softly.

He grunted and untangled himself from her, taking greater care as he did so than he first had when he�d initially pulled her against him. Then he brushed off his uniform.

�No one fucks with my property is all,� he grunted, looked away with a nearly unreadable expression, and then resumed his gruff and aloof manner.

It was� heart-warming in a sense, she thought, even though she knew he didn�t exactly have one to warm.

Unohana chose that moment to clear her throat and pick up the clipboard from where she�d dropped it on the bed.

�Are you still feeling nauseous after all of this, Matsumoto-san? I recommend that you drink a cup of strong mint tea when you arrive home and one every two hours until you regain your appetite. Please let me know if you have any further purging episodes, or any nausea upon waking that prevents you from eating breakfast. For now, I suggest you try taking one cup of weak green tea and dry, unflavoured crackers to settle your stomach in the morning if necessary. I�ll need you both to come in tomorrow morning for the blood work we discussed. If you could inform Tatsuki-chan, I would like to schedule your appointments together. I believe that would make things much easier on Tesra-san,� Unohana ordered, a note of amusement in her tone.

Rangiku nodded as she listened. Her stomach had stopped doing anything other than clenching once she�d begun to panic and for now, her nausea was much less, thanks to the tea she�d already had. She hoped it would stay that way. Of course, that explained this morning�s �under the weather� dyspepsia too. She hoped that the rest of her pregnancy, however long it lasted, didn�t include any more non-stop vomiting bouts like what happened after lunch.

�Well, now that everything is resolved, I will still require you to report in to Szayel-san this afternoon for an ultrasound. It will help us determine a due date and any anomalies that might exist, considering the child�s mixed heritage. In addition, I must inform my husband about your case. On your way out, please ask the desk staff for a pregnancy kit. Regardless of what Szayel-san may discover, some things never change.�

Unohana offered them both a friendly smile and Rangiku returned it.

�C�mon. We can catch up to Tesra and I can get back on patrol,� Nnoitra told her in a strangely subdued voice, helping her get to her feet.

�Alright,� Rangiku agreed.

Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand and not daring to look at any mirrors or any other reflective surfaces, she followed Unohana�s instructions. They caught up to Tatsuki and Tesra quickly. The two Arrancar males said nothing to one another after meeting one another�s eyes, but then, they seemed to have some sort of silent, �males-only� communication thing going that let each other know what was on their respective minds without a need to open their mouths. Despite all attempts by the long-gone Shinigami Woman�s Association, that eerie, wordless language between men had yet to be decoded.

Whatever the method, Nnoitra clearly delivered an unspoken command to his follower, because Tesra suddenly stood up a bit straighter as Nnoitra took off, presumably to return to his patrol.

�You know, for once, I am actually excited to be going to see Szayel,� Tatsuki chuckled, tucking her arm into his.

�It�s a weird feeling,� Rangiku agreed, wrapping her arms around her torso. Tatsuki stopped abruptly, turned to the taller woman and took her elbow, concern written all over her face. Now that Nnoitra was gone, the human probably felt free to express some of the worry she�d been unable to voice in the small examination room.

�Rangiku, are you really alright?� Tatsuki asked, and stepped away to look her friend up and down. �He didn�t��

�Yes, sorry, I went to pieces, more than I probably should have. I just remembered Nnoitra telling me he didn�t want kids at one point, and then I started thinking about what�s happening to poor Soi Fon�� she freely admitted to the two closest people in her life. �He was surprised, but he said I can keep the baby if I want.�

Looks of understanding crossed both of her companions� faces. Tatsuki pulled her into a quick hug and Rangiku felt the last of the tension within her drain away.

�No, that�s right. I�m not going to have to do this alone.�

�Nnoitra-sama might deny it but,� Tesra hesitated and looked all around to be sure no one was eavesdropping before continuing. �He was a good father,� he finished quietly, so quietly both women almost didn�t hear him. �I believe he�ll be such this time too.�

�Well, you turned out to be a complete gentleman, so he can�t be all that bad with children,� Tatsuki pointed out to her mate, and took the small kit Rangiku carried from her, adding it to the one in her arms. �He�ll have a small pack running around here soon if Szayel has anything to say about it, so it�s not as if he�s got much of a choice.�

Rangiku felt much better about things now. Her stomach still felt a little ill and she was a little tired from the adrenaline rush caused by her panic attack, but she no longer wanted to toss anything up either. Now if she really wanted something sickening, all she had to do was watch her two companions as Tatsuki sidled up to Tesra and kissed him soundly.

Then she did think of something that made her gasp in alarm, one hand going to her mouth. She�d almost forgotten the reason she�d been so looking forward to today, with her afternoon now booked up with an unexpected appointment with Szayel, an Espada that truly unnerved her. Tesra turned to her, instantly on alert and Tatsuki looked up at her, as if searching for what might have caused Rangiku�s eyes to go wide.

�Our shopping baskets! The kimonos! We left them at the 4th Division!�
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Prize of Victory 2	By : NovaAlexandria Category: Bleach > General Views: 56251 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make a profit from this story

Prize of Victory 2