Ichigo Awakens

(Soul Society: Squad 4 Hospital, Maternity Wing)

"I'm starting to think you enjoy causing me problems." Sirzechs said as he and Ichigo sat in a waiting room as Serafall received a check up. It had been a few days since the Leviathan confirmed her pregnancy and did everything she could to avoid rousing any suspicions to expose it, a trial since the curiosity about her recent aversion to alcohol. Thankfully the other Satans were all in on helping her with this, wanting to keep the baby as safe as possible and that wouldn't be the case with the brewing civil war that the Devils were facing. That was something else that Sirzechs felt was Ichigo's fault.

With the images of Diodora's charred face had been appearing all over the Netherworld, OSF and GKF numbers had been steadily increasing and support for the current Satans had been in the decline. Diodora himself had appeared in a number of interviews, his face wrapped in bandages, an eye patch over his ruined eye, and a support mask on his ruined jaw, voicing his 'support' for his relative Ajuka to do something if the current government could against the 'barbaric Japanese'. The Beelzebub had not made any response because he's been focused on gathering intel from the bugged members of both factions, especially the OSF since he heard news of an upcoming coup attempt.

"A civil war is the last thing my people need and I feel like you've only made things worse." The Lucifer groaned out, thinking of the potential casualties that would result from it. "Ichigo, I can't keep this going in good conscious if this is the way things will turn out." He looked to the hybrid, not entirely hostile but lacking the friendly warmth of previous conversations. "I can't ignore these hits and losses if they keep costing me more than our alliance can give the Devils." The Shogun nodded, understanding the Lucifer's position.

"Later, we can tour the SRDI." He finally said. "We've been working on a few things that could help the Devils. Similar to the holy crystals for Heaven, but they're a tad more complicated than the crystals.

"If this can help my people, I'll be happy to assist in further such research." His smile returned to his more friendly one. "I'd prefer us to stay as allies." Ichigo nodded in agreement. "By the way, I've heard from Rias about this divine cuisine in Soul Society?" He started as Unohana and Serafall came into the waiting room.

"Everything looks good so far." The Squad 4 captain said with a gentle smile while Serafall went to her husband as she wrapped her arms around him, Ichigo returning the embrace. "It's quite fortunate that Devil biology is compatible, no need for specialized equipment. All the scans and test read normal and that you can expect a healthy child."

"Too bad this only complicates matters." Serafall admitted, letting go of the Shinigami Commander. "The easiest solution would be for me to spend the next nine months here in Soul Society and maybe Shadow Karakura, but the council would notice my absence and there are a few projects that I need to oversee personally." She let out a sigh and laid a hand on her belly. "And when I start showing, that's it and no lie can really help. I'm amazed we managed to keep it secret this long with how nosy those guys are." Ichigo placed his own hand over hers.

"We'll deal with it as it comes." He said, feeling out the budding soul of his newest child. "Picked a hell of a time to be made kiddo." The two parents smiled as they laid both hands over Serafall's core, the Devil feeling the presence of her baby from seemingly through Ichigo's sensory powers. "Grow up strong and healthy."

"Yeah, mommy can't wait to see you!" The Leviathan said before grimacing as she felt something dig into her skin. "What the hell?" She asked as they pulled their hands away, finding a series of small glowing tendrils connecting Ichigo's hand to her belly.

"Oh shit, that's why." The hybrid said in realization as everyone's eyes widened in shock.

"Ichigo whaaa-" Serafall started before growing more and more emaciated while her stomach and breasts started growing. The last thing she heard was Unohana yelling for someone to prep the Hell Springs before passing out in Ichigo's arms.

(Shadow Karakura: Tiamat's Nest)

A number of draconic beasts and mutations moved about as if in a symphony, tending to and building the home of the restored goddess; a second towering tree that stretched up to the heavens of the realm in shadows. Thanks to a mix of magic and a sapling grown by Kirio, the tree grew tall and strong under the power of Tiamat to be able to support her in her full draconic glory and whatever brood she would birth. Thoughts of motherhood and her children started coming to her more and more frequently in recent days, starting after she agreed to watch over Ichigo's own brood of children and their friends.

She started doing this shortly after having her godhood restored and the nest was established, within the week of the Gremory/Sitri rating game, due to how busy everyone was becoming. She offered since, for the time, she still had very little to do aside from thinking about the future. With the children of the current generation around, she felt a sense of hope and calm about the future and that got her to thinking about her own children throughout the ages. She loved them dearly, but she was among the first parents and none of the primordials really knew how to deal with their children. Hers was a poor experience of essentially wars started because the kids were being loud and dad wanted a nap. One part of herself doubted that she could be the mother her children would deserve, but she wanted to be. Hence the babysitting and the hope she developed as they all played, climbing atop her draconic form like a living mountain.

She enjoyed their laughter and stayed within the confines of the nest, a canopy within the tree with a wall of thick leaves and a floor of interwoven branches that could support her full size as a dragon comfortably. It was refreshing, having children that actually listened to her and behaved instead of how her first children and grandchildren waged war simply because they wouldn't behave and consider others in their actions. A part of her feels some concern, seeing the young fox girl Kunou and boy Kazui basically being the leaders of the kids, but they were helping in keeping the rest behaved. This gave her hope, inspiration, and desire. She wanted to be a mother again.

"Excuse me, Lady Tiamat?" She heard a meek voice call to her from behind the leaf wall. She brought a claw up to push aside the foliage to reveal the 3rd seat of Squad 4, Hanataro Yamada. He was a short man with chin length blue hair framing his face. "Could you call Commander Ichigo's children over? He wants to introduce them to their new sister." This surprised the Goddess, but she acquiesced.

"Children. Come here please." She calmly called out, raising her serpentine head to the entire group and stopping their game before they flashed over to Tiamat in an instant.

(Squad 4 Restricted Medical Wing: Hell Springs)

The Leviathan was having a very odd day. She went to Soul Society for a check up on her pregnancy, work shopped some ideas on how to keep it a safe secret from those that would harm the baby, felt her child's life force within her, then felt her own life being drained from her body, and now... she's floating in a soup broth slurping on a noodle? She had to be dreaming for two reasons; one, no matter how much she sucked the noodle never seemed to move but it a hollow tube like a very long penne and it kept filling her mouth with the soup, and two, no way something so tasty exists in real life. She was dreaming and she was okay with it... until a wave of cold air hit her.

"Hnnnh!" She groaned out, feeling herself being pulled out of the soup and waking up. As she opened her eyes, she realized why she had that dream. She was in a pool of what looked like boiling red blood with a tube in her mouth pumping in some kind of soup directly into her mouth and coaxed her into drinking it, explaining the odd soup dream. There was something else that she was vaguely aware of, this weight on her boobs with what felt like a gentle suction. She didn't have much time to question it as a pair of arms with metallic skin gently carried her to another pool of clear steaming water.

"Lady Serafall, are you waking up?" The Devil heard Unohana ask, raising her head to see the woman in question wearing a cloth Fundoshi and wraps on her chest. "Looks like she still needs some time. Get her into White Bone Hell." That seemed to jar something in her, probably because it sounded like a type of torture. Her head snapped up immediately and managed to spit out the tube.

"WAIT! WHAT'S HAPPENING!?" She demanded, surprising the captain while the two metal people gently carried her to the clear hot spring. She also regretted spitting out that tube giving her the soup, from a large cauldron off to the side of the spring.

"Well, Lady Serafall, these are the Hell Springs, the most powerful healing procedure we have in Soul Society." Unohana explained as Serafall was lowered into the spring. "White Bone Hell and Blood Pond Hell, one washes away the damage while the other restores the blood you lose." The Devil nodded and looked down at herself, seeing her bandaged groin leaking out blood and her-

"Am I lactating?" She asked, noticing the pumps on her enlarged tits sucking out milk from brown nipples and areola, which led to a gallon canister. "I'm just over a week in, how are my boobs like this? What happened to me?" The Devil was starting to panic a little at all the unknowns she was facing.

"Well, long story short, you went through nine months in a minute and are recovering from having given birth." The Leviathan felt like her brain shut down while one of the metal figure put the food tube back into her mouth. "Commander Ichigo can explain when you finish healing. For now, focus on eating and let the hot spring attendant Reigai do their job. I'm going to go check on your daughter." Serafall just numbly did as she was told, absentmindedly drinking her soup while soaking in the spring.

(Back with Ichigo inside the pediatric wing)

Ichigo was seated, splitting his focus between the crucial task of tending to the hungry baby wrapped in white cloths in his arms and explaining just what happened without exposing the full power of the Hogyoku. She was born a minute after Serafall stated her desire to see her child, thanks to the influence of the Hogyoku. This was something Ichigo was kicking himself for forgetting, since Serafall's power and closeness to Ichigo meant that the sphere would've responded to their desire. Which meant that the daughter they envisioned in their afterglow was now the one in his arms; thin black hair that was certain to be spiky as she grew older, the same blue eyes as Serafall's, and on her right arm was a blue birthmark in the form of flowing water that turned into jagged ice.

"I wonder if you'd be fine with wanting to grow up sooner." He idly said, holding a baby bottle full of Serafall's milk to his daughter's mouth. The Devil was still making liters of the stuff, enough to feed... pretty much all of his kids. Ichigo was grateful Sirzechs decided to give the new parents time to adjust while he went to the SRDI, being escorted by Squad 12's 3rd seat Akon, since this was a mess to try and figure out. That's when he felt his eight other children, Ichinose Ishida, and Yachiru Unohana, come through the Sun Gate from Shadow Karakura to the Seireitei with Tiamat and Hanataro. "Three... two... one." He counted off as all the whole group flashed to Squad 4 and made their way to him. So he preemptively used Rune Magic to separate noise from his daughter's ears, just in time for the door to burst open.

"Dad!/Uncle Ichigo!" Came the cries of the children as they began to swarm around the hybrid. "Is that the baby? She's so little! So cute! Can I hold her?" Were some of the requests as they all tried to get a look at the new child, except for one little raven standing a respectful distance away.

"Enough!" Qin calmly ordered, making the rest of the kids freeze. "Calm down and line up. Father-" Ichigo let out a loud 'ahem', causing Qin to flinch, "Dad, wanted to show us our new baby sister, but she's still a fragile baby. Don't cause any distress and wait for him to act."

"Alright Qin." The rest went as they backed up and lined up in front of Ichigo.

"Thank you my little raven." The Commander said as he manifested a few steps made of Reishi to let the kids get high enough to see without crawling all over him. "Everyone, this is your new baby sister, her name... we'll let your newest mother help with that. Whenever she-"

"MY WHAT!?" They heard Serafall scream out.

"recovers." Ichigo said as they looked over to where they heard the scream originate. Seconds after that came the sound of running footsteps, each one getting louder before Serafall came charging through the open door, barely dressed in a bathrobe that was opened to show her still bandaged groin and leaking tits. With a snap of his fingers, Ichigo used Rune magic to create a fog around Serafall's body while she became still at seeing the clothed bundle in her husband's arms. "Please take a moment to become decent Serafall. The kids are here." He asked, walking over to her while the children averted their gazes. They didn't want another lecture from Mama Tatsuki.

"Huh?" She asked, jolting herself out of her stupor and realizing what Ichigo meant. She readjusted the robe but there was no stopping her leaking chest, milk just kept pouring out of her boobs. "Is... is that-"

"Our girl." Ichigo answered, taking the bottle away and causing the baby to start crying. "Quite the set of lungs she's got. Here, take her." He held out their daughter for her to take. She held out her arms and took her baby into her arms. The moment she felt the full weight of her child, looked at her baby's face, seeing the flash of recognition in her child's eyes before she started squealing in joy, tears started falling from her eyes.

"This is real... this is my baby girl." She said, a smile breaking through on her face as she fell to her knees, hugging the child close to her. "Our baby Ichigo. It's our baby." She said, as if continuously reminding herself that this was reality, that she was now a mother. Ichigo wrapped his arms around his wife and child as the rest of the children once more crowded around and joined the embrace.

(Squad 12: Pharmaceutical Department)

"Man, my shoulders are sore." Serafall said as she and Ichigo made their way through the halls of the SRDI, stretching her back and shoulders as they walked while Ichigo carried their daughter. "I've gone up two whole cup sizes and I'm still leaking!" She whined out, feeling up her chest, now clad in a water themed yukata. "I'm surprised you managed to get a new bra collection specifically for this."

"We've got a good seamstress." Ichigo told her, thanking Senjumaru for doing a rush job. Big, supporting, and absorbent, that one was very important. She hopped in front of him and held out her arms, smiling and expectantly at sleeping babe, wanting to hold her child again. The transfer was gentle to not disturb her sleep before they continued on, heading to a conference room where Kisuke and Sirzechs were waiting for them. A few minutes later and they reached the room in question, opening it to find the two men already talking.

"-haven't perfected it yet." Kisuke said, going over a copy of the gathered data from the experiments. "The rate of the healing is still slower by comparison to the actual Phoenix Tears but that's only been on more human bodies. We've yet to really develop a Gigai for a Devil so we haven't done any tests on them."

"Honestly, I'm more surprised by your plans to improve it." Sirzechs admitted. "Accelerate blood production and even limb regeneration? We've... been disappointingly content." The Lucifer sighed as he put down the papers and leaned back. "I'll talk to Ajuka about assisting with gathering data regarding that." That's when Sirzechs noticed the pair's presence. "Ah! Welcome, and is that?" He said, trailing off while Serafall started beaming again.

"Celdia Sitri, our daughter." The Leviathan answered. Sirzechs's eyes shined, bowing his head and beaming his own smile.

"How joyous, a new member of the Devils. Though, I have to wonder, how is it that she was born so soon after she was conceived?" He asked, understandably confused by how everything regarding that happened. Ichigo's eyes met with Kisuke's and a silent understanding was reached. The Commander of the Gotei held out his right hand.

"This relic is to blame." The Hybrid said as he focused, pushing the Hogyoku to the surface of his palm. "This is the Hogyoku." The small glass like sphere turned black then gave a blue shine before going dull once more. "It's a divine relic of the Soul Society, capable of manipulating physical beings. Many sought its power to make themselves stronger or to cure some kind of ailment, but almost all of them died."

"The cost of actually using the Hogyoku is very severe." Kisuke started as he went along with Ichigo's story. "Anything less than a 'Satan class', to use your terms, is just food for the Hogyoku to devour."

"And even then, it remains ravenous." Ichigo continued. "Long story short, because I have the most Reiryoku out of anyone in the Gotei, it was agreed that I would seal it within my body. While I've been able to keep it dormant, occasionally my focus might slip or I'm too close to someone with adequate power to awaken it." This made Serafall's eyes widen in realization.

"So... after we-"

"It made you conceive the daughter we imagined." Ichigo said as she blushed and then blanched.

"And then..."

"It responded to our desire to see Celdia sooner, almost killing you in the process." Serafall paled while Sirzechs nodded in understanding.

"I see." The Lucifer stated. "It's like a Longinus Sacred Gear. I think a good comparison would be... I think it was 'Seraph Grail' or something like that?"

"Whatever the case Sirzechs, it is only to explain what happened that you're even hearing about this relic." Ichigo reiterated. "The Hogyoku is one of our most secret relics because of the havoc it could cause if it was misused. I hope I can trust your discretion in keeping that. If the OSF or GKF members tried getting their hands on it." The Hybrid said, letting the implications sink in.

"Understood my friend. Word of this will never reach the ears of the Devils." Sirzechs relented.

(Inside the Garganta)

"A part of me is annoyed that you've taken it upon yourself to 'improve' the Phoenix Tears." Sirzechs said as he and Ichigo walked along a path of Reishi, heading back to the Devils' Dimension. In the Lucifer possession was a case containing a dozen test samples and the current recipes for the Phoenix Tears that the SRDI made to that point so that they could gather more data. However, hidden among them was a special series of tags that Ajuka would need for another project the Gotei were working on. "I'm grateful for the help, but it's feeling like you don't trust us to solve our own problems. Even after you pointed it out to us."

"Think of the Phoenix Tears of another form of me apologizing for what I had done to Rias and her team." The Gotei Commander answered as he continued to lead the way. "She might claim to forgive me for taking her team to dinner, but I doubt you were ready to do the same without a decent present."

"You make me sound like a needy teen." The Devil said with a sigh. "But still, the most surprising thing was the full scale recreation of one of our cities."

"Everything points to an ambush to take place and the most likely culprit will be Diodora Astaroth. So we'll just switch out the city with a copy so no one has to worry about the collateral damage, give everyone a chance to cut loose."

"And the civilians?" Sirzechs asked as Ichigo pulled open a hole in space that revealed the Devil"s office.

"You focus on saving your people. Let me focus on destroying our enemies."