Dearest Readers,

I do not own Bleach. This includes characters and any related material.

Warmest wishes and happy reading,

Ms. Suvarian

CHAPTER 04: Of Kids and Heirs

"Damn you," cursed the young boy kneeling before Byakuya. He was nursing a wound on his cheek with a shaky hand. The girl breathing hard on the ground behind him tended to the one on her shoulder. Both had their brown eyes locked in anger on the shinigami Captain before them.

"I warned you. If you wish to curse someone, curse your own fate."

Byakuya, who had yet to draw his sword on the two youths before him, reached for the blade. He had planned on leaving the them for someone else to exterminate once he felt Ichigo's presence, but he had yet to feel even a sliver of her unique energy. What he could feel was the transportation grid steadily heading towards the small group.

"Oh? Gonna fight seriously? Good! We're just getting warmed up, bastard!" The boy stood on trembling legs before his raised blade. "You won't get Kurosaki! We'll-"

The boy cut off as light started to envelope the area. The girl behind him lunged forward to wrap her arms around his waist in a tight embrace. The boy teetered backwards from the odd sensation pulsing in the air around them.

"It's too late. We're already taking her." Byakuya's blade fell as the light began to die. His cold eyes pierced into the shocked brown eyes staring up at him.

"NO!"

A fierce wave of something he couldn't hope to describe drowned Byakuya at the command. The paralyzing weight making his response slow as the blade fell. He willed his body to stop, but it was a moment too late. The shriek of utter terror shattered his heart and startled away all sense. There was no way he wouldn't have recognized the voice that commanded him to not move. Even if the others around the execution grounds weren't calling out her name, he would have recognized the voice that used to follow his steps tauntingly all those years ago.

"BYAKUYA, PLEASE!"

That stilled him. The plea. Never had he heard that voice despair. Never had he heard it cry out in such agony. Never - not one memory could ever recall such a happening - had he heard her beg him for anything. Not to save Rukia. Not to stop his blade in any other battle. She had always forced him to comply with brute force. But this time, she was begging. It was the way her husky voice called his name so tearfully that had his blade falling away from the children.

Though he stopped his attack, he turned his gaze a moment too late. The shock of seeing orange hair had froze his movements, but the body that fiercely tackled him had thrown the full force built from weight and speed at the sword. Byakuya fell as an arc of red painted the sky. Feeling the unmistakable curves of a woman pressed heavily into his front, the nobleman released his hold on his zanpakuto to cradle the familiar yet so different form pressed tightly against him.

The deafening silence rang in his ears after he smacked into the ground. The first sound to be heard was his zanpakuto clattering against the earth. He could hear the spirit within crying out in despair. That alone burned away the splinter of denial stubbornly refusing to acknowledge what had just happened. His blade had pierced the very woman he had been trying to protect.

"Thank heavens I got to you in time."

Byakuya's eyes widened at the shaky breath against his throat. Though he feared to move, he curved himself forward so he was sitting rather than sprawled out on the ground. He was careful to not jostle the woman he knew had to be in pain. With a steadying breath of his own, he looked down at the woman in his lap.

"You've gotten slow. I thought you would have stopped long before. Idiot. Who stops a hair away? Stupid. I threw myself at your blade for no reason. Jerk."

Byakuya could only stare as she continued to rant and throw insults his way. The young woman who used to taunt him so mercilessly in battle was smirking up at him as if nothing had happened. The rapid force of her heart hammering through the thin material separating their chests calmed him. The fingers that had coiled tightly into his robes loosened. He could feel the sting of her nails that had broken the skin on his shoulder as her small hand fell.

"Damn," she cursed quietly. The hand that had clung to him desperately now held the wound on her side. Offering a warm grin to the man staring down at her in shock, she sighed. Her head fell into Byakuya's chest a moment later. Her orange hair licking about the man's noble frame as the wind finally began to settle. "At least your blade is still sharp. It would be such a sad crime to have you slow and dulled."

The comment brought a frown from the Captain. Before he could reply, a cry rang out from ahead. The two youths he had been fighting rushed forward. Hugging the woman protectively to his chest, Byakuya raised his hand. His palm faced outward in preparation of the spell he planned to use to blast the two if they stepped any closer.

"Stop it. All of you," Ichigo ordered. Her harsh voice caused both youths to flinch and halt.

"Kurosaki?" Byakuya allowed the reiatsu he had been building in his hand to simply fade away when her own palm pressed softly into his. He wouldn't risk it harming her. He'd just have to run with if an attack came.

"Inoue-san!" Sado's sudden appearance behind the two youths pulled startled cries from their throats. Those cries grew in panic when a familiar shield formed around the Captain and woman he held so carefully.

"Ichigo-chan!" Inoue was already running towards the group. In fact, everyone present was coming closer.

"It's alright," Ichigo said quietly. Her eyes moved to the small wounds on the youths with a frown. Her eyebrows furrowed as she watched them struggle against the tight hold Sado kept on them. "Oi, Orihime. Heal them first."

"EH?! No way! I'll heal you first, Ichigo-chan!" Inoue stood only feet away from the two held captive in her healing shield. Her eyes flowed heavily with tears as she took in the friend she hadn't seen in many years.

"That's right! Let her heal you if she can!" The girl clawing angrily and kicking her feet wildly in every direction in an attempt to break Sado's hold stared tearfully at Ichigo.

"Yeah! We're fine! These wounds are nothing! We're strong!" The boy was trying just as desperately as the girl to get out of the unbreakable hold.

Byakuya stared at the two in confusion. His hand finally fell away from what he deemed a threat with Ichigo's goading. Her sheepish expression as she peered up at him through her bangs caused a strange knot to form in his stomach. The feeling faded just as quickly as it came when the man noticed the way her eyes began to droop. Ichigo's body sagged fully into him. Her exhaustion was finally beginning to take over. Her consciousness quickly fading.

"That's enough out of you two. If he had been seriously wanting to kill you, the both of you would have been dead before even realizing he was near."

The children flinched at Ichigo's words. They looked to the ground angrily. Tears fell from their eyes in shame. They didn't want to believe they could be so easily taken by a shinigami of all things.

"Sorry, Byakuya. These brats aren't very fond of shinigami. They meant no harm," she said sleepily. A guilty smile stretched across her face as she turned her face upwards towards the Captain holding her. "I'm sure you'll forgive them, though. They're my kids, after all."

With that, Ichigo lost all sense of the world around her. The children cried out in fear when Ichigo's head fell backwards. Inoue's shield wavered for a moment from the shock of the orangette's words. All others were quiet. The truth of their companion's words weighing heavily in the air.

"K-kids?" Rukia blinked in shock. Her small form falling just outside of the shield. Her eyes bounced from the orange-haired beauty to the two youths held tightly in Sado's arms. Though the two had wide brown eyes like Ichigo's, the color was much darker than her honey orbs. The girl's hair was long with gentle waves. The boy's hair mirrored the spikes Ichigo once had when her hair was cut short, though it was significantly smoother. Neither had the striking strawberry color. Instead, both kids had an odd shade. Almost burnt sienna.

"S-sado-kun?" Inoue looked hesitantly at the man who held tightly to the thrashing kids. Uncertainty burned in her eyes. She was drawing the same conclusion as Rukia. Neither the boy or girl looked anything like Ichigo. It couldn't be that they were actually her children.

"Dad, please! Mom needs help!"

Both Rukia and Inoue gaped at Sado at the boy's words. They were just as shocked as the others to hear such a thing, but they couldn't deny that both children resembled Sado. They had the same brown eyes, strong bone structure, and dark skin. The only thing that didn't match was the eye shape. And that shape mirrored Ichigo's.

"...no...way..." Inoue promptly fainted after gripping her scarlet face. Rukia caught her just before she smashed into the ground. Sado sighed in annoyance.

"Hey! Wake that woman," the girl growled out in anger.

"Yeah! She needs to heal mom!"

"Inoue healed the major damage. Ichigo just needs rest," Sado said soothingly.

The two settled at his words, but he still didn't let them go. Instead, he looked directly to the familiar faces all around. Every face looked to him with a mixture of shock and disbelief. Only one face looked to him with a different emotion. Though he was curious about such an expression, he tucked the question on his lips away to focus on more important things.

"Yoruichi," Sado called to the only one he was willing to speak to right then. "We have others who are injured. I'll explain after they're tended to. Ichigo needs to rest for now. She can tell what she's willing once she's awake."

Kids.

The thought kept going through Byakuya's mind. The word turned over again and again. He didn't know why his mind was fixated on that thought. The image of Ichigo with children spread warmth through his body, but the thought of her having children with Sado turned his blood cold. He couldn't even begin to imagine why. He was certain, however, that his zanpakuto spirit knew. The traces of amusement in his voice mocked him tirelessly when he retreated into his Inner World earlier for some answers. He left feeling more uncertain with no answers. Whatever his spirit knew, he wasn't willing to share.

Kids.

The noble shook his head tiredly. Knowing fully that Renji had been watching him like a hawk since they left the meeting held with Sado hours earlier, Byakuya held in a groan of frustration. Though he felt like staring off into the growing darkness outside the manor, he refrained. He wouldn't have time to puzzle out his thoughts under Renji's unrelenting gaze.

She has kids. Since when? How old? She's too young. Well, it has been years. Ichigo is an adult, now.

"What is it that you wish to ask?"

Renji hid his smirk. He had known the moment they were told the Kuchiki heir had came to retrieve Ichigo what was going to happen. It was rare for the man to lose his composure. Most would say he never did, but Renji wasn't most. He was always near Byakuya. So, those few times all those years ago when his mask slipped, Renji recalled each and every single rare happening. And every memory involved a spunky orangette in one way or another.

With the way he held Ichigo and carried her all the way here, I'm surprised nobody else noticed. Being an "elite host" and "noble older brother" my ass! Rukia is wrong this time. He doesn't see her as a sister, or an honored guest. He never did. Bitch is being stubborn about his feelings!

"What do you think about it?"

"About what?"

"What Sado said?"

"In regards?"

Renji rolled his eyes at the cold tone. "You know what I'm asking. About those kids! Did you forget what he said already?"

Byakuya sighed and resisted throwing the heavy scroll he had been reading over and over again at the redhead. Of course he didn't forget what Sado said. He had been very clear about the matter. The kids were Ichigo's. He had been adamant that the two children stay wherever Ichigo was at no matter what. Hearing the man confirm that the two children had in fact been born of Ichigo's own flesh and blood, there's no way he'd forget it.

"But he didn't say the kids were his."

Byakuya hid a flinch when the voice of his zanpakuto whispered his innermost thoughts aloud. He had been trying to overlook the lack of confirmation. He didn't want to get his hopes up.

Wait...hopes? What am I hoping for?

"I see no reason for him to lie on the matter."

With a frustrated sigh, Renji stalked forward to flop into one of the two chairs in front of Byakuya's desk. He glared at the look of disdain on his captain's face.

"That's not what I meant. That guy isn't the type to lie. He never has been. He's always pretty blunt when he speaks. So much so that you'd think he was messing with you."

"Hmm."

"Look," Renji growled in annoyance at being brushed off by someone he respected. "You never knew Sado. The only one from that group you ever got to know was Ichigo."

"I did not get to know her. Kurosaki just happened to stay here when training with Rukia."

"Or when she was training alone, recovering, doing research, waiting for someone, or just needing to get away from everyone. Face it. Ichigo spent more time here than she did anywhere else in all of Soul Society. Hell. She spent more time here than she did at Inoue's!"

"That-"

"Is true. Don't deny it. I can see you're going to. And don't even try to say it was all because Rukia wanted it. You would have kicked her out regardless if you didn't want her in the Kuchiki Manor."

Byakuya scowled at his lieutenant. His gaze shifted in anger and confusion back down to the work laid out on his desk. He had tried to hide the swirling emotions, but Renji caught a glimpse of them. A smirk stretched across his softening face.

Tch. I knew it. Ichigo still has the power to shake him. He's just trying to push it away...again. Stubborn ass.

"I do not see what point you're trying to make."

"My point is that you don't know Sado, so you have no idea how wrong it would be to think the two of them have kids together."

"Things change with time. Kurosaki has grown into an adult. She's a matured woman. Finding a partner and wanting children are common desires for humans of her age," Byakuya said dully. A frown tugged at the corner of his lips when he realized the implication Renji made. "And I'm not thinking about her having offspring with that man."

"Tch." Renji rolled his eyes with a huff of exasperation.

The fact that he won't even say his name is proof enough that it's bothering him!

"Captain," Renji called after a calming breath. He knew there was no point in arguing. He'd just be drowned in paperwork if he tried. "What I'm trying to say is that there is no way Sado is the dad. It is impossible. He might be the father figure for the two, but not the biological one."

Surprise flashed in Renji's gaze at the dark flood of anger turning over in Byakuya's eyes. He hadn't been expecting such a reaction from the stoic man.

"Are you saying that the male who impregnated Kurosaki also abandoned her to raise his offspring alone?"

"Ah, well, no! That's not what I meant!" Renji held his hands up quickly to try and calm the growing anger rolling off his captain.

Damn! I should have worded that differently. Of course he'd get mad. The importance of an heir for nobles makes that kinda situation worth killing over.

"He could have been killed. Ichigo has been targeted for a long time, after all. But maybe it was a fling not meant to last? I mean, it's not all that uncommon for women to conceive a child with a man she's not seeing and may never return to. They support the child themselves. It's not like it is here. Human culture is much more accepting of it. That could be it. Ichigo might have had something with someone who isn't in her life anymore?"

Byakuya stared at the man with mild disgust. It would be a huge scandal for something like that to happen among nobles. Maybe it was common for humans, but Byakuya still didn't buy it.

"You're saying Kurosaki had a short affair that resulted in two children?"

Renji blinked at the tone. It was in times like this that he really wished the composed man would reveal a little more in his expression. He was having a hard enough time focusing on the minute changes in his eyes to figure out what was on his mind.

"I'm saying it is a possibility. It doesn't even matter!" Renji tossed his hands up in frustration at having been tricked once again by his captain into going off topic and nearly forgetting his original point.

Damn! He's sneaky. It's like a repeat from all those years ago. He just dodges anything to do with Ichigo and himself. Damn brat!

"Look. Sado isn't the father. That's what I'm saying. I'm telling you to not jump to that assumption. You should ask her for yourself if you want to know," Renji said pointedly. "Now back to what I was trying to ask from the start-"

"I don't care," Byakuya clipped. He really just wanted the meddling man to leave him alone. Trying to imagine just who Ichigo had a relationship with before was the last thing he wanted to do.

"You are lying to yourself. It's been on your mind this whole time. You want to know what type of man she formed a bond with. You're just avoiding it," Senbonzakura said calmly. Though he loved his master dearly, he would not overstep what he could handle by revealing anything to the man too early. That did not mean he wouldn't point him in the right direction when the time came.

"I avoid nothing. Who she was with does not matter."

"You are right. It does not matter who. Just as you have been with one other before should not matter where Lady Kurosaki stands."

"The hell you don't! I'm going to ask what I want, anyways!" Renji slammed his hands atop the man's desk in a rush of anger. The loud noise interrupting any argument the noble would have made against his spirit. "You heard Sado. He said those kids were Ichigo's by blood. Knowing that, what are you going to do about them?"

"...you, as usual, aren't making any sense."

"Argh!" Renji dragged his hands across his face just as a shadow moved closer to the door. "Stop being a stubborn ass! You know what I'm talking about! You said yourself this manor is not safe for children. On top of that, those kids hate shinigami. They won't let any of us near her. Hell, the only reason you were allowed to carry her here was because Sado restrained the kids. They'd have ripped your arms off to get her away from you. You know I'm right."

Renji stopped to take a calming breath. His shouting worked to hide the light shuffling just outside the office door. Neither man could feel the presence waiting there as Renji continued his interrogation.

"What will you do about the kids? You really going to let them stay here? When you said you'd never let kids live with you since you won't even consider having any yourself? What about the law your elders passed? I know you haven't forgotten about it. They slapped that law into place to make sure you wouldn't adopt anyone else into the family. That scroll you've been staring at for the last few hours was the first thing you went and grabbed when we got back. It's about that law, isn't it? You uphold the law above all things. It's the law of your family. You going to follow or fight it?"

Byakuya's jaw clenched in anger. He regretted Renji having been present the day the House Elders made an appearance to deliver that message. Of course he had never considered having kids of his own since the death of his wife. After she died, that option was gone. Hisana hadn't been able to carry a child due to her poor health. Though they tried, it wasn't meant to be. Byakuya knew her love for him didn't match his love for her. He didn't want to continue to put hope into having a child when she herself didn't want one. It was because of her feelings that he began to hate the idea of having any of his own. When she died, he didn't want the reminder of what he wasn't able to have. As long as no children were around him or the manor, not a soul would bring up the topic of a future heir from his own blood.

At least that was the case until after the war with Aizen was over. Several years after that tiresome battle, just when everything was finally peaceful and in order once more, his elders made an unexpected visit to his home. Had he known it wasn't just a congratulatory greeting he would have dismissed Renji. Instead, the Head of Kuchiki was forced to endure the questions about his lack of an heir and his thoughts on having any all while his most meddlesome subordinate gaped openly in shock at what he was being permitted to hear.

Byakuya had yet to figure out what spurred such a sudden law being put into place for the Kuchiki Household. Though they tried to hide it under not wanting him to bring anyone else into the family who wasn't of noble blood, he knew that was a lie. Rukia's adoption was just a cover. Byakuya knew firsthand how conniving the elders were. They had a goal in mind when they passed such an outrageous law among themselves. He just couldn't think of what they were trying to achieve.

The only logical reason would be to prevent me from passing the title to any future child of Rukia and Renji's when the time comes, but they hadn't made their engagement public knowledge at that time. Only a handful of people had been informed. But that only means one of two things.

"Captain?" Renji had grown concerned with the darkening expression on the man's face. He hadn't been trying to make the man angry. The last thing he needed was to be verbally lashed into by his Captain, and then physically smacked around by his wife.

Rukia will kill me if I upset her precious brother again. Thought my head was going to get blown off the last time!

"Renji," Byakuya began slowly after several tense minutes of silence, "you know my reasons. You were present when the elders in the Kuchiki family addressed me in regards to future children. They may want to continue to produce a powerful heir using the blood that flows in these veins, but fate isn't always kind. My wife has passed on. She left without having any children. The law was put in place to try and force my hand. They'll try to force me to marry again and have a child from a noble line. You know the details of that law. "

"Then the kids? Will you order them to be removed?" Renji looked a bit disappointed at hearing his captain's words. He had been hoping the man would say he had lied to the elders that day to get them off his back. But then again, as he thought about that line of thinking, he realized Byakuya wasn't the type of man to lie in any situation.

Could he really be so closed off about children? About producing an heir?

"No," Byakuya said quietly. "I won't have them leave. Kurosaki is staying here to recover. The law can't permit an injured woman from having her children with her during her recovery. It only prevents me from accepting them into the main house for an extended period of time."

"...but...if you don't accept them into the main house...but that means-"

"It means that they are welcome during Kurosaki's stay as the children of the guest I'm caring for. I am not disregarding the law by allowing this. My position here is not in danger. It means nothing more."

"Of course it means something more! If you can't accept Ichigo's children here, then-"

"Nii-sama!"

Renji felt his heart jump to his throat when the familiar voice of his wife sounded from down the hall. A second later the door slid open to reveal the short woman. Her eyes were wide with relief as she smiled brightly.

"Ichigo is awake! She's asked to see you."

"For what reason?"

Renji grinned down at the relief in Byakuya's eyes. Though he didn't get to say what he wanted, at least he got an answer on what he was most worried about.

He's not going to kick the kids out. It's a start. If he didn't care, he'd have refused her staying here from the start. The last thing Byakuya wants is to have those old bastards come down again. Had it been anyone else, he wouldn't risk it.

"I'm not sure. I think it has to do with the attack."

"Hmm," the Kuchiki Head hummed thoughtfully with a tired sigh. "Very well. It is already late into the night. I'll see her before we all retire."

"Right!" Rukia was gone before another word could be uttered.

"Cap-"

"Not a word," Byakuya interrupted with a cold glance as he stood to follow his sister. "You will not speak a word of this to Kurosaki."

"But-"

"It's an order."

Renji sighed and moved to follow his Captain. He knew better than to argue, but the icy fire burning in his gut told him not telling her would end badly.

Nothing I can do about it. Ichigo will find out herself. Her instincts are too good to ignore the smell of this shit.