Demon's Blood

Demon's Blood


Ichigo lay in bed letting the events of the previous night catch up to him, he smiled at the ceiling then remembered what Byakuya had said about everyone knowing. Ichigo could already tell that his scent was different and others will notice the change as well, growling the demon got up and dressed for the day, he paused at the knock on his door then shook his head.

"The demon lords are gathering, you should hurry." Ichigo gave a slight growl, then sighed as he heard the servant continue about his duties.

"Yo Ichigo! You awake!" Ichigo snorted.

"Yea! What do you want Grimm?" Ichigo smiled at the demon as he opened the door.

"First I have a question."

"What?" The demon prince paused in tying his shoes.

"How do you feel?"

"Not as different as the elders say..."

"Well that's interesting, the old ones are always right."

"Yea, that's what I thought, I don't feel different, I mean I know my scent is different... But that's about it."

"Hell yea you're scent is different I almost thought there was someone else in here." Grimmjow smiled then looked at the watch strapped around his wrist. "We should get going, it's almost time for the meeting, there's going to be a whole room of demons that will know you've been claimed. So be prepared to defend yourself." The older demon laughed and led the way towards the meeting room, the dull chatter in the meeting room lessened to the point of silence, a few whispers were heard before the room went completely silent. Ichigo looked at the demon standing next to him, Grimmjow shrugged then grinned. The two stood in front of the doors to the meeting room, Ichigo readying himself for the fight that was on the horizon, Grimmjow trying to show his support. "Ready? Then here goes everything." Grimmjow muttered opening the doors, the effect was instantaneous, the demon lords were yelling over each other to be heard. The Demon King glared directly at his youngest son, Ichigo sighed from where he stood at the door, then moved towards his seat.

"Silence!" Isshin growled, within a few moments the entire room was silent. "The first order of business is the rebel situation that has been escala-"

"Wait a minute!" The demon court looked at the demon that had spoken, interrupting the King. "The Demon Prince comes in after having been missing for a month, he has had no hand in what's been going on recently and above all else comes in smelling like the vampire lord!"

"It will be dealt with at the end of the meeting Kurostuchi." The Demon King glared at the demons in the room. "Is that understood?" They all nodded in unison. "Good, now I left the rebel situation in Ichigo's hands, how has it been handled?"

"I assigned Grimmjow and a handful of other demons to round up known rebels, with the help of Kisuke Urahara we have most of them gathered and are questioning now." Ichigo paused looking at the different stares he was getting.

"Who did you put in charge of questioning?"

"Kenpachi Zaraki, I allowed him to question and torture if the need arose but no killing."

"How can you be sure that he hasn't already killed everyone down there?" Kurostuchi asked smugly.

"Kenpachi gave me his word that he wouldn't kill them."

"That's all it took to convince you? You're an idiot."

"I believe in my brother, he will honor his word." Ichigo glared at Kurostuchi, daring him to say another word.

"I guess that's just the way you are." Before Ichigo could react three swords were pressed against the other demon's neck. "What?!"

"Apologize for what you just said." Three voices growled in unison, all the demon's paused as they looked at the sight before them, all expected Grimmjow and Ikkaku to react but none expected the swords master to react to something so trivial. Kurostuchi was frozen as he looked up at the swords master, the man growled before pushing his blade harder against the demon's neck. "Apologize!"

"I apologize to the demon prince for my rude accusations." The demon sighed in relief as the three blades were pulled from his neck.

"Moving on to the next matter at hand, which will also bring my son's new scent into account: The Peace negotiations between the demons and vampires. Ichigo, the floor is yours again." Sighing the demon prince stood up again.

"I know that I broke several of our laws but, the point is that now we are united, I had not meant to go against the laws but that was what happened."

"Yet you allowed this to happen?" Ichigo looked at the demon and smiled.

"I couldn't take the heat any longer, lame explanation but it's the truth."

"You're right that is a lame explanation, it leaves many questions unanswered." Kukaku stated from where she sat.

"But we all have to remember what the heat was like for us, how we just wanted it to end, Ichigo couldn't have been completely in control of his emotions." Apache spoke up from her place between Sun-Sun and Lillinette, the women on either side of her agreeing with her.

"I will take full responsibility for what has happened, but for the moment we should be concerned about other matters." Ichigo looked to his father pleadingly.

"Understood." Isshin continued down the line of things that needed to be attended. "Now... Something new that isn't on our list of things to discuss, Zangetsu, when did you come back? It's a pleasant surprise."

"I returned just last night, heard there was a meeting and decided to attend, I would also like to introduce my mate." The woman that sat next to him stood and smiled at everyone.

"I am Esperanza Soňar, Princess of the South-Western Clans." The demon bowed low towards the King and Prince.

"Es un placer tenerle aquí, princesa." The Demon King smiled at the surprised look on the princess's face.

"Oh! Hablas español? Bien, es un placer estar aquí, su alteza." -1- The Princess bowed again then gave Zangetsu an anxious look.

"Well, that concludes our meeting, thank you for coming and I hope you have a safe trip home." The King stood and everyone followed suit, Ikkaku and Grimmjow smiled as they moved towards Zangetsu.

"Ikkaku Madarame and Grimmjow Jeagerjaques! You two look great, I hope you can still use those swords and they aren't just for show." Zangetsu embracing the two younger demons.

"We still know how to use them, we just don't, they're just for show." Ikkaku laughed then looked at the woman standing near his master. "I never thought the old man would have a mate."

"Ikkaku show some respect to our master." Grimmjow growled. "It's great to meet you." The blue-haired demon smiled towards Esperanza, the two bowed and smiled.

"Prince Ichigo, how are you?" The swordsmaster turned.

"Doing good..." Ichigo smiled at the elder demon.

"So the vampire lord?" Zangetsu raised a dark brow.

"Lucky! I hear he is handsome." Esperanza giggled at the growl that came from her mate then hugged him. "Of course no man is as handsome as you are." The two kissed and Ichigo shook his head turning to the other two.

"I get like that... Put me out of my misery okay?" Ichigo looked at his two best friends, then a thought hit him. "Okay so put me out of my misery now... I know I'm gonna get like that."

"How do you know that Ichigo?"

"Ikkaku and Yumichika." Grimmjow laughed as Ikkaku snorted in indignation. "I'm sorry Ikkaku, but I remember you before Yumichika and now... You're just kinda... I can't say anything else without offending you even further, although, it might be nice to have a family of my own..."

"It's the best, having a mate and a child."

"Indeed." Esperanza smiled running her hand over her stomach. "I am a few months into my third pregnancy."

"Third?" Ikkaku and Grimmjow looked at their mentor, who smiled.

"Boy and girl, six and three, thankfully they both look like their mother."

"This one will look like you, I know he will."

"I already told you that this one is a girl and she will look like you."

"Hm, I think you're right, it will be a girl, but she isn't going to look like me." Ichigo watched with a smile.

"So stubborn, I hope this one is like you at least." He murmured leaning towards her.

"Master Zangetsu." Grimmjow spoke up after he had glanced at Ichigo, when he had the older demon's attention he looked at Ichigo again. "I think Ichigo has something to ask you."

"I do, Master Zangetsu, would you train me with the sword?" Ichigo asked looking at Grimmjow then Zangetsu.

"Why now?"

"I just need to learn to protect myself, if I didn't have Grimmjow or Ikkaku around then I would be in serious trouble, I don't want to have to rely on others to protect me." He saw Zangetsu smile.

"I see, then I will train you. Esparanza, do you want to continue home with out me? Or stay here? If you stay here you'll have to send for the children."

"I will return home, if you aren't back in a month I'm coming back with the children."

"Ichigo is a quick learner, he'll catch on quickly, it shouldn't take to long to teach him at least the basics. Then when he has that down I will return, Ikkaku and Grimmjow can take over from there." Zangetsu looked to his two former students who both nodded.

*******************************

Byakuya sat up on his bed, it was still midday yet something wasn't right, he had to find out what was disturbing the peace of the vampire mansion. Getting up and moving towards the door he pauses before opening it, one of the servants passing by stopped.
"Lord Kuchiki, is there something you need?" He asked eager to please, Byakuya shielded his eyes at the sunlight filtering through the window a few feet down the hall.
"Have the drapes drawn around the mansion, I need to move about without having to worry about the sun." The servant gave a questioning glance before turning down the way he had come. "When you are done knock on the door." Byakuya closed the door and let the cold darkness wash over him, he hoped that it was nothing, that everything was okay and there was no real reason for him to be awake at midday. He sat back down on his bed and frowned at the darkness, a knock on the door a few moments later roused him from his thoughts.
"Lord Kuchiki, the drapes have been drawn in every room in the mansion."
"Thank you." He pulled open the door and moved quickly throughout the mansion, checking every room for the cause of his unease, he reached the parlor room and found it empty. Glaring at nothing he moved back towards his room, there was no unknown scent on the air, so there should have been no reason he was awake. He turned back to the servant that stood at his door with a fascinated look on his face. "You may have the drapes reopened, try not to to work to hard." He smiled and closed the door to his room, sighing he settled down to fall back into the vampire's sleep. The vampire lord woke a few hours later at dusk, then sighed as his second walked through the door, muttering about incompetant idiots. "Evening Nnoitra, who's on your annoyance list tonight?"
"Too many people to count, you may just end up on that list."
"What did I do?" Nnoitra shook his head.
"There are rituals that are supposed to be done before the actual mating."
"I am aware of that."
"Then why the hell would you go against the laws of both our people and the demons!"
"Calm yourself Nnoitra."
"No! Don't tell me to be calm! Just let me get this out." The vampire lord motioned for his friend to continue. "Every since we were younger you have always been by the books and I was the impulsive one, yet here I am doing the rituals of our people and the demons to claim my mate, and you just went ahead and claimed your's without so much as a word to the vampire elders or the demon lords."
"Your mate?" Nnoitra's eye widened and Byakuya smiled. "Is it who I think it is?"
"Grimmjow." Nnoitra hung his head.
"I figured as much."
"So both of you have found your mates, that's great, it really is." The two vampires looked at the door and smiled at the vampire who stood there. "Congratulations."
"Thank you Master Ukitake."
"Lord Kuchiki! A messenger is here from demon manor! He says that it's important!" The three looked at Illforte, Byakuya nodded and motioned the younger vampire to lead the way, they arrived at the entryway to find a white haired demon with a grim look spread across his features.
"King Isshin has told me to say 'don't shoot the messenger." The demon said in a equally grim voice.
"What news?"
"Prince Ichigo and his primary body guard have been taken, by whom and for what reason we do not know, all we know is that the person who took him is a vampire."
"How the hell do you know that?" Nnoitra asked from where he stood a few feet behind Byakuya.
"No one has seen or heard from the Prince in a few hours, the same for Lord Jeagerjaques." The demon took a step back at the feeling of rage from the vampire lord.
"Why was no one else watching him?" Byakuya asked in a barely controlled voice.
"We saw no reason to, he was with our sword master and Lord Jeagerjaques, so we thought that he would be perfectly safe." The small demon took another step back. "King Isshin will be wanting me back to help with the search, it would be a great help if the vampire's came as well, we've been searching for the past several hours and have yet to find them. Plus with Prince Ichigo's scent having changed due to the mating, some of us don't know his scent anymore."
"Damn." Byakuya swore under his breath, causing the demon to back into the door behind him. "Nnoitra gather as many vampires as you can, we're going to help search for them." Nnoitra nodded and headed farther into the mansion. "Master Ukitake, I'm sorry to ask but will you help search for my mate?" The older vampire nodded, then looked at the demon.
"I will accompany you back to demon manor." Ukitake gave a kind smile to the terrified demon, the demon nodded and pulled the door open and all but ran outside. "Apologize to him when we find Ichigo." Ukitake said to the vampire lord who nodded, Nnoitra returned with a small group of vampires, looking at each of them Byakuya smiled and shook his head.

"Are we ready?" When they all answered with the ready they turned and left the mansion, heading towards demon manor to speak with the demon king.

********************************

Side Note(s):

1: Spanish Translated:

"It is a pleasure to have you here, Princess."

"Oh! You speak Spanish? Well it is a pleasure to be here, your highness."