Hi there! By now, it has been years since I wrote this story. And now, FINALLY, I figured out I needed to clarify something (oops): the Aoyama-hate is strong in this one, and most of it comes from Ichigo, which may seem WAY out of character. This 'hate' comes from pain. She doesn't really think he's this much a bad person, she simply demonizes him to be able to deal with the pain. It's her own kind of denial: she can't accept that he would simply stop loving her like this, so she pretends he never really loved her at all, even though deep down inside she knows that's not true. If this seems out of character too: I'm sorry! Feel free to search on for more in-character fics of her and have a nice day! Thank you for reading!

He dumped her over the phone. Harshly. Unexpectedly. Revealing his inner arsehole that has lived inside of him ever since the very beginning. Breaking her heart into tiny little pieces, spreading those pieces like dust in the wind until there was a part that could never be put together again.

Someone else. He had met someone else. Someone taller and more beautiful and older and, above all, more mature. Someone he could talk with about things he had never been able to talk about with her.

It has an easy explanation: the things that once attracted him to her were now the things that repelled him. He literally said to her, that night over the phone: "I have no future with you in it. You're just a child, Ichigo. I need someone who is more at my own level. I'm sorry."

His own level. She wasn't good enough for him. That was what he told her, wasn't it?

She doesn't remember the following night. Only the dark. The black abyss his announcements had thrown her into. The pain. The murdering, all-consuming pain that had eaten her from the inside. That's all she remembers.

She got depressed. If she thinks back to that time right now she still shivers. Horrible, it was. Absolutely horrible. Never had she felt anything comparable to that. She'd never been depressed before. It was an experience she had rather never had. Nevertheless, it had been there. And the only reason she had been able to put it aside, to move on, to climb up from the black abyss was She.

She.

She found out about her after five weeks, three days and fourteen hours. She used a normal test, she was feeling so strange and she had to be sure what it was. The test was positive. She lived. Inside of her depressed body with the black heart She lived.

That had made her wake up.

She loved her from the first moment on. Every little bit of her. As time passed by she could feel her growing, feel the energy and warmth She radiated. That was what helped her to climb up from the black abyss and live again. Her friends were a great help too, because she couldn't handle things on her own at that moment. It was too heavy, too much. Nevertheless, she chose to be alone on the moment She actually came out. Her friends respected that choice.

And now it's time. Now She, the angel inside of her, has decided to come out. Finally. Ichigo can't wait until the moment she can look her in the eyes, feel the texture of her skin on her own.

There's just one fear living inside of her heart:

What if her perfect little angel looks like him?

It had been obvious from the start who the father was. She hasn't slept with anyone else in her entire life. She wasn't surprised that when she told him he refused to take more responsibility than necessary: he'd pay, but that would be all. In a strange way she was happy about it. She didn't want her sweetie to be ruined by that massive mistake of the earth. Because when climbing out of the black abyss she had realised that he was nothing less than that. She doesn't hate him, but only because she thinks he isn't worth the energy and time. She can use her time better. She has someone more important to think about.

Someone that is killing her at the moment.

O, never, never, never, never again. This pain… This enormous pain… It seems to last forever. "Make it stop," she moans.

Someone wipes away the sweat from her forehead. "Just a little more, miss Momomiya. You're doing great."

"I don't care! Get her out!"

"She's trying her hardest, miss, just a little more."

Why, why does she have to endure this enormous suffering? How can something she loves so much do this to her, for Gods sake?

It seems to take centuries. But after only four hours the end is in sight.

"There she comes! Come on, miss, it's up to you now!"

Ichigo cries out in pain, tears screaming over her face. The pain gets worse and worse and worse and… then just stops. Gone. Over. Away. Forever. She has gotten through it. It's over. The tears turn in tears of relief. Praise the Lord…

She moves her eyes away from the ceiling she's been staring at for the past hours and searches her with her eyes. "Where is she?" she mumbles "Where is she? Give her to me…"

Then one of the doctors turns around with an enormous smile on her face. "It indeed is a girl, miss Momomiya."

"I know that..."

Yes. Although she hasn't done any test of that kind she's known all along that it is a girl. "Can I hold her now? Can you give her to me?"

"Of course." The doctor walks towards her and the few seconds seem to be ages. Then she finally sees her.

Her.

In the arms of the doctor lies a small creature, paler than she remembers from pictures of new-born babies, but so unbelievably beautiful it almost seems impossible. Ichigo gasps and stretches out her arms. As she feels the texture of her baby's skin on her own a new stream of tears find its way out of her eyes. "My baby… My little Hikari…" She stares at the perfect little being in her arms and cries. Then she concentrates on the feeling of Hikari's heartbeat, which she can feel through their skin, until she notices something strange.

She's not crying. Why isn't she crying?

"She's not crying…"

The doctor walks towards her and looks at the child in her arms. "Indeed, she isn't. That is strange. I'm afraid we'll have to run some tests because of this, miss Momomiya. You'll have to hand her over for another moment." Ichigo nods and looks down on her child another time to make sure she's alright.

That's when it happens.

The eyelids of the baby girl in her arms begin to tremble and slowly, o so slowly, the girl opens her eyes. For a single moment Ichigo is drowning in the love she feels while looking into the surprisingly intelligent and o so innocent eyes of her child.

But then she sees it. Then she notices.

Ichigo freezes.

"Miss Momomiya? Miss Momomiya, are you alright?"

Gold. Her eyes are gold. She can even see the little spark in the right corner of her eyes and she knows exactly how that spark can turn from anger into mischief into happiness into love into despair in one tiny second. She's stared into those eyes so many times before. She's hated those eyes so many times before. She's cared for those eyes so many times before. And now she finds those eyes she had thought to never see again in her baby girl.

Which can only mean one thing.

Ichigo's mouth falls open.

But… how? How is this possible? She never… She never even let the guy kiss her, let alone…! This… this… "This is impossible…" she whispers.

"Miss Momomiya?" The doctor looks down on her in concern.

She gives her a glassy look. "Yes. I'm sorry." With a pang of pain in her heart she hands over her child to the doctor.

No wonder she's so pale. If she's… if she's… his…

She can't continue that thought. She's being smothered by a wave of things that suddenly come back to her.

That night. That night after Masaya broke up with her.

It all comes back.

She hadn't been alone.

Ichigo lays back on the hospital bed while being overwhelmed by memories of that night. His arms around her… comforting words… soft lips… love, love, love… lots and lots and lots of love… she cried… he held her…

"I love you, Ichigo… I love you…"

Ichigo blinks. Then blinks again. And again. And again.

That bastard!

He has taken advantage of her! How dares he take advantage of her?! And now… now she's given birth to… his child…

Which means Masaya is not the father. Her little angel is safe. Her beautiful DNA isn't tainted with that sick bastard's DNA.

Relief. A sudden pang of relief. Thank God. She's not his. Masaya is not her father.

Not that having an alien assaulter as a father is much better.

But at least it's better than having that irresponsible jerk as your father!

"Miss Momomiya?"

Ichigo startles from her thoughts and looks up to the smiling doctor. "Yes?"

The doctor shows her the baby in her arms and gives her back to Ichigo. "She's fine. There's nothing wrong. She just… doesn't cry."

"Yes, I think she'll have more unusual traits…" With an alien as father there have to be some peculiar things about her, right?

"Well, for now it seems like your baby is in a perfect health condition. Nevertheless, we do want to run some extra tests on her."

"That's alright. I'm very curious about the outcome. Please inform me."

Let's see what life has still in store for her.

Eventually it takes three weeks until she's allowed to go home. In those three weeks her friends visit her and she is forced to tell them what has happened. Not that she particularly minds, they are, after all, her friends and this is something she really has to talk about, otherwise she'll end up with a shrink again. She's been there, done that and it wasn't exactly her thing. She'd rather not do it again. Her friends are all absolutely shocked when she tells them and shows them by letting them look Hikari in the eye. But after looking at Hikari no one doubts it any longer. O yes, those eyes can only belong to one person. Because Ichigo is still in the hospital and can't exactly contact him she asks Retasu and Ryou to do it for her. They accept this and after a week Retasu confirms that they have successfully contacted him and asked him to immediately come to earth for a very urgent matter with reference to Ichigo. He said he'd come as fast as possible, so when Ichigo is finally allowed to leave the hospital she is certain that he has already arrived on earth and is waiting for the sign of her friends to go visit her. Therefore when she has arrived home and brought Hikari to her bed she calls her friends to send him to her and waits.

And waits. And waits.

After three hours of non-stop waiting she's so frustrated she can't take it anymore.

"Alright, Kish," she says to the air "If you don't get your arse out here like a real man would immediately, I promise you, I will find you and kick you so hard in the guts you don't deserve you'll eventually commit suicide just so you'll be freed from the pain."

"You called for me?"

She shivers when hearing his voice, but, not showing this, immediately turns around to face him.

He stands in front of her on about seven feet distance, hands hanging next to his body and golden eyes piercing their way into her very soul. On first sight he hasn't changed a bit. He still wears the same type of clothing, his hair in two pigtails and an enormous smirk around his face. But when looking closely you can notice he's grown a bit taller, his muscles have grown a bit stronger and his face has sharpened. He's most definitely become older.

And he's handsome. My Lord, he's handsome. Abnormally handsome. An alien thing, most probably. Because she's never seen anyone this handsome before.

"Kish…"

"Ichigo. How have you been?"

Mischief. There's still mischief in his golden eyes, making him look like a brat. He's still him. He's most certainly still him. Which means she has to be careful. This guy always manages to play smart games on her. She doesn't believe he won't try anything on her.

"Why, you're so silent." Kisshu closes in with a smirk. "Have you missed me so bad, kitten? Ah, I missed you too!"

Ichigo shakes her head to reorder her thoughts. "No, you're wrong, that's not it!"

"So you never missed me? Ah, that's a cruel thing to say, kitty-cat."

"No, that's not what I meant, I-"

"So you did miss me? Well, well, that sure is pleasant… Then have you taken an interest in me, kitten?"

"No! Well, I mean, you, I…"

"And we're back to cruelty… Why are you always like that, kitten? I did nothing wrong, did I? I've even been a good boy and came when you called for me!"

"Why do you always do this? Stop playing games, Kish!"

"But kitten-". Kisshu's hand shoots out to cup her cheek and suddenly his fanged smirk is very, very close "-I love games."

Ichigo shivers and wrenches herself from his grip. "Shut up, Kisshu, and get serious."

"Fine," Kisshu says annoyed. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "What's up? Why did you call me out here?"

"I…" Ichigo says carefully "I want you to meet someone."

One of Kisshu's eyebrows shoots up. "To meet someone? Who?"

Ichigo turns to Hikari's cradle and carefully takes her out. "This," she says while walking towards Kisshu "Is Hikari."

Kisshu stares down at the baby girl in surprise. Even though her hair is still very dark, it's easy for him to recognise his beloved kitten's red hair in it. He looks up to Ichigo in disbelief. "You have a baby?"

Ichigo remains silent.

Kisshu shakes his head and places his hands in his sides. "That bastard… Has he never heard of contraceptives?" Kisshu stares at Ichigo in surprise when she doesn't shout at him like he had expected her to. She just remains silent and stares at him. What the hell is going on here?

"Actually, Kish…" Ichigo begins while looking down at the baby, who now wakes up and yawns.

Then she opens her golden eyes and stares straight into the ones of Kisshu.

"We have a baby…" Ichigo continues softly.

Silence.

"Holy crap…" Kisshu stammers. Hikari smiles happily at him while hearing his voice, as if instinctively recognising her father.

Ichigo sniggers nervously. "Yeah... Exactly…"

"I'm a… I'm a…"

"Father, Kish. You're a father."

After a few moments Kisshu's expression of pure perplexity starts to change. Within a second he suddenly looks blissfully happy. He looks up to Ichigo in pure ecstasy. "I have a baby… with you…"

Now that's one she hadn't seen coming.

Sure, she'd expected him to grow to love the baby like she did. Sure, she'd expected him to take at least a little bit of responsibility, like Masaya did. But not… this. Not this pure happiness, not this love that flowed from his eyes like a waterfall and burned its way to her heart.

"What is she like?" Kisshu asks curiously, looking back down on the girl in Ichigo's arms. He stretches his arms out and begs Ichigo with his eyes to hand Hikari over, so Ichigo, absolutely stunned, does so.

"She's… amazing."

Kisshu knows exactly how to hold the girl, she doesn't even have to give him tips. He has a cute little smile around his lips and almost immediately a smile similar to his appears around Ichigo's lips. Kisshu looks up at her again, urging her to continue. It is obvious he wants to know everything there is to be known about his daughter. Ichigo's smile widens and she looks down on Hikari.

"Well, she's different from most humans, that's for sure. On the outside you can tell she's paler than a human and when investigating the doctors found out her skin is far more capable of taking hits. But she weighs as much as a normal baby and never showed any signs of being able to fly or teleport, thank God. If she had, she had probably gone on adventure all the time! She's that kind of girl." Ichigo laughs softly. "The delivery went very fast and she didn't cry. She hasn't cried at all ever since she was born. She only looks up to me in silence and murmurs these cute little things. But it seems like she understands me quite well, so I think she'll be able to talk before she's one years old. She's so unbelievably intelligent… And strong. She once pulled my hair and I had a headache for three days."

Kisshu now also laughs softly, on which Hikari lets out a tiny little laughter herself. Kisshu and Ichigo gasp in surprise and delight and look at each other for a moment, as if to say: "Did you hear that?"

"She sleeps a lot," Ichigo continues "More than normal babies. I love her for it, because it makes me able to have enough energy for her during the day. She never wakes up at night. She does eat very good, like a human would. Moreover, it seems like she really loves the milk I give her. When I'm late with giving it to her she always seems to beg with her eyes."

Kisshu sniggers.

"She loves to be touched. Her favourite sleeping spot is on my chest. If I don't hug her enough she begins to pout. It looks adorable."

"That's me…" Kisshu whispers, mischief back in his eyes.

Ichigo blushes and ignores him. "She's very clean. When she's dirty she always lets me know so I can clean her up. And everyone loves her. Everyone she meets loves her. She's very fond of my parents, by the way, and also of my friends. She's wrapped them all around that tiny little finger of hers… Charming little manipulator she is."

Kisshu sniggers again. "That's my girl."

"She laughs a lot. When I stumble or do something stupid she always laughs at me. But sometimes she looks sad and searches with her eyes for something… I think it's you she was looking for."

Kisshu looks up to her in surprise. "Me?"

"Yes," Ichigo nods "It's natural for a baby to have her father around, right?"

"Why did you never tell me she was coming?"

"Because I had no idea she was yours!"

Kisshu blinks. "O."

"Yes, o." Ichigo crosses her arms.

But Kisshu isn't done yet. "Tell me more," he begs her.

Ichigo sighs. "Well… she's very similar to you, actually. She even has a smirk!"

"She has?" Kisshu laughs.

"Yes, she has!" Ichigo joins him.

"But…" Kisshu says softly "She's also very similar to you…"

Ichigo looks at Hikari. "You think so?"

"Yes, definitely… The way she always laughs… the way everyone loves her…" Suddenly the mischief is back in his eyes and he bows over Hikari to softly kiss her forehead. That sight almost makes Ichigo's heart burst, although she doesn't quite understand why. Kisshu looks up at her again and smirks. "Well, she doesn't turn into a kitten when kissed, that's a good thing"

Ichigo blushes indignantly. "I don't change into a cat anymore either!"

"You don't? That sure is an advantage."

Ichigo blush grows deeper as she tries not to comprehend what he is saying.

"Now," she says while suddenly taking Hikari away from Kisshu's arms.

"Hey!" he protests indignantly.

But Ichigo just takes the pouting Hikari back to her cradle and tucks her in. "I have to talk to daddy for a while, so please be good and go back to sleep," she whispers to the baby. Hikari stops pouting and stares at her mother's face for a while. Then she yawns and closes her eyes while murmuring a little. Content Ichigo smiles and turns around to Kisshu, who is still standing in the middle of the room with a grumpy look on his face.

"Why did you do that?" he sulks.

Ichigo walks towards him and stops just in front of him, face expressionless.

"Ichigo?"

PATS!

"Ouch!" Indignantly Kisshu rubs over his cheek. "What the hell was that for?!"

"You bastard! You raped me!"

Kisshu blinks and then laughs sheepishly. "O. That."

"Yes," Ichigo hisses "That."

"Listen," Kisshu quickly tries to defend himself "Can you blame me?"

"Hell yeah I can!"

"Hey, it's not like I did anything you didn't want me to!"

"What are you talking about, jerk?! You raped me!"

"Well, actually, I didn't."

"What do you mean 'you didn't'? Like hell you did! The result is sleeping behind us! Have you never heard of contraceptives, for Gods sake?!"

"I never raped you, because you started it! I never denied having s-"

"I started it?!"

"Yes, you did!"

"I didn't!"

"You did!"

"I didn't!"

"You did, Ichigo, you did!"

Ichigo blinks and tries to recover her breath. She closes her eyes. "Did I?" she asks herself.

Memories of that night flow in again, more detailed now.

Darn. She did.

A blush any red rose would be jealous of runs over her cheeks and Kisshu smirks at her realisation. "Alright, I did!" Ichigo admits "But I was completely not accountable and you knew it!"

"So what?"

"So what?!"

"Yes, so what?! I came there to comfort you, for Gods sake, and you wanted more! Then who am I to complain?" He smirks. "I just enjoyed as much as I could. Can you blame me for that?"

"I… I…"

She can't. Of course she can't. This was the only way she could ever allow him to do anything. Of course he didn't turn that offer down. He'd be a fool if he had.

"Precisely," Kisshu says contentedly when seeing her realisation "You can't." Then he smirks again in a more perverted way than she's ever seen. "And I enjoyed."

Ichigo's head feels like it's going to burst and changes into a colour that's so red it can't be healthy. And when he slowly licks his lips as an addition to his words she can't take it anymore and slaps him in the face again.

Kisshu laughs and rubs over his cheek once more. "You're so predictable…"

"You… you… You're just playing with me!" she exclaims in pure anger while throwing her hands into the air "Again!"

"Yup," he nods "I am. I told you I love games."

"You bastard…" Ichigo hisses.

Suddenly Kisshu's expression changes, as if he's the one who realises something important. "You're not…" he starts in horror "You're not going to take her away from me, are you? I can stay, right? I can see her, right? Right?"

With these words and the look in his eyes that's so desperate Ichigo calms down again. She takes his hand. "Of course not," she assures him "Don't be silly. I won't take Hikari's father away from her and I won't take your daughter away from you."

Kisshu relaxes and smiles. "Thank you. I'll be good, I promise. We… we'll figure something out."

Out of nowhere Ichigo blushes again and lets go of his hand, staring at her own. "You… I mean… you can live… here."

Kisshu's face lights up.

"For Hikari," Ichigo quickly adds "That would be best for Hikari."

Kisshu nods heavily, he's not going to protest against this settlement where he can live in one house with the woman he loves and his daughter. "Fine, fine, I'll be good. I'll do exactly as you say, I promise."

Ichigo blinks and smiles.

Meanwhile Kisshu just continues to speak out his thoughts. "We'll be… we'll be a little bit of a strange family… but I guess that's alright! I mean, it's not that strange… You've got a father, a mother and a child. The only difference from a regular family is that the mother and the father aren't married, I mean, not even boyfriend and girlfriend," he says, his golden eyes on the future that unfolds itself before him. Ichigo's blush grows again.

She's thought about that a lot too, lately. And with a lot she means a lot. Eventually she'd come to the decision… that she will try things with Kisshu for a while… for Hikari. That's what she decided.

Now he's actually in front of her, being the way he is and saying the things he says, that task suddenly seems a lot easier than she had prepared herself for.

"We could… try," she says softly, without looking at him.

It takes one second for Kisshu to comprehend this. Another second for him to force himself to not dance around the room. Another one to widen his smirk. "What was that?" he asks, mischief dancing in his golden eyes "Could you repeat that for me, kitten?"

"We could try," Ichigo mumbles again "For Hikari. I mean, how bad can it be? We can at least… try. If you like."

"If… I… like…" he repeats slowly.

Then he closes in, on which Ichigo shoots backwards. "What are you doing?" Her blush deepens again.

Kisshu only smirks, rolls his eyes and before she knows it he's teleported, appeared in front of her and forced her into a corner, each of his hands next to a different side of her head. He leans towards her and smirks. "I like, Ichigo. I like."

And with that he kisses her. And she kisses back. And behind them Hikari has a beautiful dream, which causes her to smile in her cradle.

Their future looks rose-coloured.

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