After spending a good amount of the afternoon studying for the captaincy exams, Rukia decides to stop by her brother's division to spend time with him, Hisana and her best friend Renji. Captain Isshin has elected himself to escort her around the seireitei in his son's place, despite the fact that Rukia is several magnitudes stronger than him. "Isshin? If you don't mind me asking, what was Masaki's pregnancy with Ichigo like?" She asks, seeing as the first trimester would be the best time to learn about what to expect with her own pregnancy. The black haired man smiles reminiscing on what it was like with his own wife so long ago.

"Well, it wasn't easy, I'll tell you that much. Granted Ichigo has never made things easy for himself or anyone else." He begins before chuckling to himself. "He was born almost a month late and had to be a c-section baby." This statement causes Rukia to lift an eyebrow at her father in law.

"What's a c-section?" She asks as the two stoll through the small roads of the seireitei.

"It's a procedure that has to be done when the baby isn't in the right position for birth. Usually babies will situate themselves upside down in the last trimester to be born head first. Ichigo didn't bother moving to that position. The c-section itself is a simple procedure, a small incision is made at the base of your stomach and into the womb, from there the amniotic sack is pierced, the muscle is pulled away with retractors and the doctor removes the baby through the incision. If you end up having to have the same thing happen you'll be medicated so there won't be any pain if that's what you're worried about." Isshin explains.

"No, but I don't think they would be able to cut through my Hierro since I became an Espada. Not even Aizen could cut my skin. Not to mention it might just regenerate before they could finish it." She says, "I was more wondering what to expect with my baby, did she have any complications or anything like that?"

"No, but while she was pregnant with him, we were attacked by a lesser hollow. She killed it rather easily but other than that it's the usual pregnancy. Remember every pregnancy is unique for the woman experiencing it. Masaki never had cravings through hers with the twins but with Ichigo she had intense cravings for mayonnaise, strawberries, plums, kimchi and lobster." He continues.

"I think I can figure out why you named him Ichigo then." She jokes. "But... the reason I asked is because I'm... kinda hungry..." She says timidly causing him to stop in his tracks before giving her a questioning look.

"Well we probably can get Renji or Shiro-chan to take care of you. Toshiro is in the human world right now anyway making sure the realm transition went smoothly." Isshin says as they arrive at the captain's quarters of the sixth squad. With a light knock on the shoji door, Byakuya beckons for them to enter.

"Yo." Renji greets casually as he sits on a couch facing a television on the far side of the office. "Captain Kuchiki says that you're gonna be a captain here soon." Renji says as Rukia enters the office followed by Isshin.

"I'm taking the captain's exam in a couple months," She begins before her stomach growls again her face turns red slightly as it happens before she takes a seat beside her sister. "B-byakuya... can you contact Captain Hitsugaya?"

"Of course, what do you need of him?" He asks as he picks up his solid black soul pager and prepares to call him. She blushes when he asks this, unable to find the confidence to ask for what she's craving.

"Rukia-chan is experiencing some... pregnancy cravings so it might be a little peculiar." Renji arches an eyebrow at her.

"Didn't think you and Carrot top would get busy so quickly. Congrats," He says before smirking and stifling a laugh. "The brat's gonna have his ridiculous hair and power. How much you wanna bet that the kid's reiatsu is gonna knock out half the fourth division."

"Just the fourth division? I think you're underestimating Ichigo's genes Renji. I'm willing to bet it'd be half the seireitei. Hell, I don't think you can even withstand it."

"Gentlemen please, my sister is wishing to get something to eat to satiate the baby. I'm sure this is embarrassing for her without the two of you taking bets on how powerful her child will be." Hisana pipes up which silences the Kurosaki patriarch and the red headed lieutenant.

"Can you ask him to get me some: french fries, scallops, spicy mustard, lemon lime soda, peanut butter... and strawberries." She says timidly, the request for strawberries almost makes Byakuya chuckle but Renji and Isshin both start laughing. With a look to his wife, Hisana nods at Byakuya's unspoken message before getting up from her seat and grabbing a large fan from the side of the desk. With the form of a MLB all star batter she smacks both the captain and the lieutenant across the faces.

"If you two clowns are done making fun of Rukia's pregnancy cravings, I'd like you two to leave. Abarai you and I are going to spar later, I wish to test your new abilities with your hollowfication." Byakuya says before calling Toshiro.

"Captain Kuchiki?" Rukia hear's Toshiro's voice on the other end of the line.

"Greetings Captain, I apologize for the inconvenience however I have a request for you since you are in the human world." Byakuya begins, "I need you to pick up the list of ingredients that I am about to send you. I know the list seems random but I am not at liberty to explain the reasoning behind my need for these items." He explains before taking a picture of the list he had written down when Rukia had asked for it.

"Alright, sure. I'll get what you need. I'm in the middle of training Kurosaki Karin at the moment so I'll send Matsumoto to go and get them." Toshiro responds before they hear the sounds of two blades crashing against each other. "Karin. Take five, I gotta handle something." He says though slightly muffled for a moment. "I'll probably have to send Orihime as well because Matsumoto will get distracted."

"That would be wise, and thank you. Send me the receipts and I will reimburse you." Byakuya says before hanging up the phone. "I hope they don't take too long." he responds. "The twelfth division should be getting the results back to us by tonight. Once we deal with the perpetrators then we get you and Kurosaki sized for your wedding attire and finish setting up everything."

"Thank you, Byakuya." Rukia says, less sheepishly than before.

"Don't listen to Renji and Isshin, I'm sure everything will be fine when the baby is born. I can't sense yours or Ichigo's spiritual pressure so she shouldnt have too much right?" Hisana questions.

"Hisana my dear. If you cannot sense their reiatsu it means they're so powerful that your senses cannot comprehend them anymore. I can sense Rukia's power and it's thousands of times my own, but I cannot sense Ichigo's whatsoever." Hisana's eyes widen in awe at the power her sister has accrued over the years.

"You can't sense Ichi? I can feel his reiatsu just like normal." Rukia says, causing Byakuya to furrow his eyebrows at this statement. "Thing is... I can't sense a limit to it."

"I was skeptical when Captain Yamamoto said that he had stolen Aizen's godhood and power and to be honest it's still hard to believe. To think, the Ryoka who I thought stole your powers instead would steal Aizen's and turn himself into a god."

"Ichigo doesn't like to be called that, he isn't omnipotent and he doesn't want to become one. All he wants is to be strong enough to protect his family, his friends and everything he loves." Rukia responds with a loving tone. "From what I know of his new powers, he can heal people with just a thought, read people's minds and has a degree of foresight but he only gets feelings of what will happen he doesn't get visions or anything."

In the Human World.

Toshiro closes the soul pager before putting it in his pocket. Across from him seated on one of the rocks within Kisuke's training facility is Karin who is waiting impatiently for him to continue their sparring match. In her left hand is a short wakizashi blade and in her right is a full length katana. Her black shinigami robes sloped lazily around her body. "Looks like we're gonna have to put an end to today's training session." Toshiro says as he sheathes his sword behind his back. "Captain Kuchiki needs me to get some things for him and it's a strange combination of food." He says causing Karin to arch an eyebrow at this

"He sent you a shopping list?" She asks as she hops off the rock and sheethes the blades. "What does he want?" She asks, walking over to the white haired soul reaper. He pulls the soul pager back out from his pocket and shows her the image that Byakuya had sent him. "Oh... Rukia-nee is getting cravings."

"Cravings?" Toshiro asks as the two walk up the stairs into the candy shop. He walks into a side room and gets into his gigai before ushering Karin to get back into her own body.

"Rukia-nee is pregnant." Karin responds as she merges back with her body, she takes a deep breath as she returns to life before opening her eyes. "From what Dad said, Ichigo's in the soul king's realm so it's up to us to go and get what she wants."

"Sounds fun." Toshiro grumbles as the two head upstairs. "We're done for today Gin, let Ururu and Jinta know they don't have much to take care of in the training grounds." He says as the two make their way towards the door.

"Have a good day captain, and you too Karin-chan." Gin says with a wave as the two exit the shop.

"How do you think Ichigo's gonna react to me taking over his old job?" Karin asks as they begin walking through the snow covered sidewalks of Karakura town.

"In typical Kurosaki fashion, but someone has to do it. I've been stationed here for the next few weeks to make sure the dimension shift back to the human world went without issue. Problem is, I might end up being stuck here permanently because of that technique your brother used on Aizen." He responds as the two walk across an intersection heading to a local grocery store. "All that power those two were throwing about has been attracting some extremely powerful hollows."

"Like that discount giant plague doctor that you and my Mom killed a few days ago?" She asks.

"We call those Gillians or Menos Grande, they are giant hollows created by hundreds and hundreds of lesser hollows all merging with each other to gain power. Eventually one of the hollows that merged with the others devours the rest of them and the gillian transforms into the next stage, an Adjuchas." Toshiro explains as the automatic doors of the grocery store open allowing them to enter. "Adjuchas is the second most powerful type of normal hollow, and above them are the vasto lorde."

"What about those white robed swordsmen?" Karin asks as Toshiro grabs a shopping cart.

"They are the arrancar, they're hollows, usually gillains or adjuchas who have shed their masks and gained the powers of a soul reaper." He says, "Think of it like the opposite of a vizard, the soul reapers with masks."

"So Rukia is one of those then?" She asks, as she grabs a jar of peanut butter off the shelf and puts it into the cart.

"No, and to be honest I'm not sure what she is now or your brother for that matter." Toshiro responds as they grab a case of soda, the spicy mustard and a few packages of strawberries. "The pearl in Ichigo's chest was made to be able to destroy the boundaries between a plus soul, which is what you are, and a minus soul or hollow soul. I have an inner hollow and I can tap into his power whenever I need to, but it requires a transformation and full shift in my spirit energy. Lieutenant Kuchiki doesn't have to do that anymore. She can access all of her powers as a hollow and soul reaper at the same time."

"So if she's neither a plus soul or a minus soul what does that make her?" Karin asks as they meander through the frozen foods part of the store looking for the rest of what Rukia wants.

"That is the million yen question, and I have no idea." he says as he stops and grabs the package from the fridge and places it in the cart. "I can just barely sense Lieutenant Kuchiki's reiatsu much less Ichigo's. He is so strong that not even the captain commander can sense him anymore."

"I was able to feel Rukia's power when soul society froze over." Karin responds as they make their way to the seafood department. "Things just get weirder and weirder."

"You said it." Toshiro responds as they collect the last thing Rukia wants and then get some stuff for themselves. "You're not exactly normal either in terms of soul reapers. There's only a handful that have two swords. Rukia, Ichigo, Captain Ukitake, Lieutenant Hisagi and Captain Shunsui have dual zanpakutos." He says before pausing for a moment, "Well Ichigo has two when he was resurrected and fighting Aizen."

"You calling me weird? You're the one who looks like he's twelve." This statement causes a vein to bulge on his forehead out of anger.

"Well hello you two, did you have any issues finding anything? I'm Ikumi." A tall black haired woman with a brown hat and goggles with a white and purple shift that says Unagiya across her bust greets them as they get to the front.

"No ma'am. Just getting some things for my sister-in-inlaw. She's getting pregnancy cravings for the first time." Karin answers, the older woman coos hearing this.

"This seems more like a job for her husband, not her little sister and one of her little friends." Ikumi says as she begins scanning their things.

"Yeah, but my brother is stuck at work and asked me to help out since I was home with her." Karin responds, which is technically true.

"Well, it is rather kind of you to help out with everything." Ikumi responds as she finishes scanning their items. Toshiro hands her his card to pay and the two exit the store.

"You know, you got demoted from captain to errand boy for all this right?" Karin says with a laugh causing Toshiro to grumble at this.

"Let's just get this to Rukia, besides you still have a lot of training to do. Substitute Shinigami Karin." Toshiro responds as he opens a senkaimon and escorts her to soul society.