Bleach 1. A Vasto Lorde Appears

Disclaimer: Oh dear god, I wish I owned Bleach. Sadly, I do not. You wouldn't want me to own it anyway - EVERYONE WOULD BE SLASHED. It would be IchigoxHitsugaya and Byaren and IkkakuxYumichika and UlquiorraxGrimmjow EVERYWHERE! Wait... what's bad about that again? :3

So uh... I realized that uh... I really, really enjoy IchigoxToushiro, even more than I enjoy IkkakuxYumichika! Isn't that weird? :3 So I had this idea and I wrote it down a long time ago. I'm finally getting around to writing it now. I hope its somewhere close to as good as I envisioned it ^.^; This is my first time writing both Ichigo and Hitsugaya, so I hope they remain true to their characters. I had a hard time referring to Hitsugaya as "Toushiro" since I usually call him by his family name xD;

I decided that this is taking place right after the first group of Arrancars attack but right before Orihime is captured and taken to Hueco Mundo. Very specific timeline indeed xD I didn't want it to be in the later chapters of the series because then it would... ruin... the whole thing xD; As always, reviews are appreciated and are the reason I update (the more I get, the more inspiration I get to update!), so don't hold them back! :) I hope you enjoy this first chapter :)

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><p><strong>Living Human<strong>  
><em>chapter one<em>

Somehow, whenever a Hollow appeared in Karakura, a structure of any sort was bound to get destroyed. It didn't matter if it was hit by an attack or a body slamming against it – it was sure to crumble. Ichigo would always catch a side glance to be sure there were no victims inside. Usually, he just saw people running around in a well-deserved panic. It's not as if they could see the battle going on around them. They would probably chalk it up to shoddy construction and possible get a pretty hefty settlement for it. They had no idea of the fate they had narrowly avoided. No idea of what was going on outside their home even at this very moment.

And it wasn't pretty. Ichigo had not encountered a Hollow of this power before. It was incredibly strong and large, nimble on its feet despite its size. The substitute soul reaper was having a hard time just defending himself against the creature – he didn't even have time to counter attack it.

With Aizen's betrayal and his plot in motion, the appearance of Hollows had only increased recently. Ichigo was not naïve enough to ignore the numbers – they were likely sent as a distraction to keep the attention off of him. With the increasing numbers came increasing power, and they were even becoming more organized. He was more than suspicious of the sheer number of Hollows that had appeared on this night. Even the extra shinigami posted in the town were all off fighting their own individual battles – which was likely the plan of their enemy.

He took a precious moment to wipe the blood and sweat from his eyes before he shielded himself once more with his zanpakutou. The blow was immense, pushing him back several yards in spite of his own incredible strength. It was hard for him to sneak a glance at the body of the Hollow attacking him, but he was sure it had to be an Adjuchas. It was certainly no Arrancar because it didn't have that same sense of individuality they had – but it was just as strong, perhaps stronger even.

Another building had a corner ripped off of it. Ichigo swore loudly and recklessly let loose a getsuga tenshou in the Hollow's direction. The attack merely grazed off of its impenetrable skin as it lunged forward at him. It was the first time he actually saw what it really looked like.

It's main body was humanoid to some extent, though proportionally it was a bit too large. It was white and grey, its entire body comprising of what appeared to be bone, though the shapes of it were similar to a tree more than anything else. Its legs had been replaced with appendages closely resembling the trunk and roots of a tree, and its head was a mess of upward facing branch-like horns. These branches continued to trail down the path of its spine. Its facial features looked as though they were carved cruelly out of bone to form a mask. When it attacked, it would stomp its feet through the pavement and the roots would shoot out of the ground at him. Its arms, which too resembled branches, would extend at its will. Ichigo had yet to find a limit to the distance they could go because the creature was constantly right on top of him – fast no matter how clumsy it appeared to be.

The substitute shinigami barely deflected another attack when he felt the presence of one of the other enemy Hollows disappear. He grinned, glad that the others weren't having as difficult a time as he was. He felt as the reiatsu of one of his companions started to approach him and he was glad for it – as much as he hated to admit it, he needed the help.

It appeared the Hollow sensed the approach as well, because it increased its speed and caught Ichigo off guard, sending him flying into a stone wall surrounding someone's home. The impact forced the breath right out of his lungs, and he coughed and wheezed as he peeled himself out of the wall and waited for the dust to clear.

The ground beneath him rumbled and he swore loudly once more, quickly jumping to avoid the well-placed attack. He had a moment to scowl when he felt the grip on his ankle before it threw him once more into a different part of the same wall. He groaned as he got to his feet the second time, spitting blood out onto the pavement. He had no choice – he wasn't fully trained to release his Hollow state, so he would have to make the counter attack swift and lethal.

He reached toward his head and pulled on his own Hollow mask and lunged at the creature without hesitation. For the first time, it went on the defensive and created a barricade of bone-like branches from the ground, attempting to keep the suddenly more powerful shinigami away from it. Ichigo laughed as the branches shattered beneath his blade, shouting, "Not so impenetrable now, are you!"

The Hollow was silent, only backing up and creating more as the shinigami swiftly approached it. But it was not enough to keep Ichigo at bay for more than a second, and he wrenched his sword up into the Hollow's abdomen. For the first time, it screeched in an unearthly, ear-shattering voice.

Ichigo's mask shattered and he pulled away from it quickly as it writhed in its pain. He heard the soft sound of his comrade's footsteps as they landed upon the pavement next to him, and he turned to grin at Toushiro as if to show him that he handled it on his own. The much smaller boy only frowned as he kept his eyes on the creature in front of them. It shrieked and slammed its branch-like arms into the paved road before it quickly disappeared underground. "Shit!" Ichigo shouted, running toward where it was only to find Hyourinmaru blocking his path.

"Let it go for now," the captain said, his eyes set in a deeper glare than usual. "I must report this to the Soul Society immediately."

Ichigo glanced down at the shinigami – a spirit with the appearance of a child and the mind of an adult. He saw the blood staining the side of his captain's robe and rolled his eyes. "First, let's find the others and have Orihime heal you."

The captain looked at him with that same glare on his face and scoffed. "It is superficial. Besides, out of the two of us, you are the one who appears to need the most healing."

The substitute shinigami took that moment to glance down at his own body. Toushiro was correct in his observation – he looked like he had been through hell. He had been able to dodge the most lethal of the creature's blows, but his clothes were torn and his body cut in several places on his arms, legs, and torso. He was covered in blood that he hadn't noticed at all during his battle. The pain was insignificant in comparison to many of his other battles, so he shrugged them off a surface wounds before turning and grinning at his comrade. "Toushiro, I didn't know you cared!"

The captain's eyes narrowed and he turned his back to the substitute shinigami. "That's Captain  
>Hitsugaya to you. Don't forget your place."<p>

Before Ichigo even had the time to react, Toushiro had already set off in the direction of his lieutenant. The shinigami took a moment to scowl at the captain's back before activating shunpo in pursuit.

In spite of the large numbers of enemies during the attack, many of their companion's wounds had been external and required little effort on Orihime's part to heal. They gathered in the small back room of Urahara's shop to discuss the events that had transpired that night. Toushiro was currently in the other room making a concise report to Captain-Commander Yamamoto while Orihime tended to everyone's wounds.

The orange-haired girl turned to Yumichika and smiled. "Do you have any wounds that need healing, Yumichika-san?"

He brushed his hair from his eyes in his exaggeratedly graceful movement before turning to his companion pointedly. "Thank you for your kindness, but I did not participate in any battle tonight. Ikkaku monopolized the enemy yet again."

The bald shinigami crudely grinned at him before continuing to argue with Renji and Rangiku over who's battle was more intense. "Ah, but I would rather not get my hands dirty. After all, beauty such as mine is better left untainted, don't you agree?" He said, smiling at the human girl. She just smiled back nervously before finding another person to heal.

The sound of the door sliding open and closed caught their attention and managed to quiet the room. Toushiro stood with his arms crossed, his scowl ever present. Ichigo vaguely wondered if he had any other facial expressions before the captain began to speak.

"It was likely an organized attack," he began stoically, though his glare was thoughtful. "Designed to separate us so we could be killed one by one. We were underestimated, it seems, when it came to the rest of our opponents." His teal eyes landed on the substitute shinigami as he spoke. "Kurosaki's foe, however, was the real threat."

This news came as no surprise to Ichigo. He knew very well how he had only managed to stay out of the creature's way. "What was it?" He asked, curious to find out how to fight it.

"It is called Strangler Fig," the captain explained. "It is as it sounds – it is a powerful Hollow that kills its enemies by constriction. It appears to absorb their energy as it does so, much like the strangler fig that steals the nutrients from the tree it is wrapped around. It also has an unusually high regeneration rate, so it won't be down for long."

"It appears to absorb energy, Captain?" Rangiku asked, all traces of her previous kidding aside. "We don't know for sure?"

Toushiro shook his head, leaning back against the wall behind him. "It has never left an opponent alive," he said, and the shinigami all exchanged looks. "It is likely that it will return to finish what it started," another glance in Ichigo's direction.

"And what is its classification?" Yumichika asked, flicking his hair over his shoulder nonchalantly, as if he was asking what kind of tea was brewing.

"That is also unknown. It is believed to be an Adjuchas, but it may very well be a Vasto Lorde based on its strength and skill." These words were delivered carefully, as if in skepticism. The Vasto Lorde was one of the most powerful ranks of Hollows, after all, that is even stronger than a Soul Society captain.

"Captain, we should-" Rangiku started, but Toushiro raised his hand to quiet her.

"I have already filed the necessary applications, lieutenant," he said before sighing and going deeper into thought.

"Necessary applications for what?" Orihime asked out of curiosity. The captain ignored this question so Rukia chose to offer up the information. "To remove the seals on their reiatsu. The captain and lieutenants Rangiku and Renji are only at twenty percent of their power right now, and we will probably need all of our strength to dispatch this enemy."

"You will have to stay in groups of two or more at all times," the captain said, pushing himself off of the wall and crossing the room to the other sliding door. "Do not leave each other's sides – you will need someone at your back."

"And what will you do, Captain?" Rangiku asked, moving to get up and follow him.

He opened the door and glanced over his shoulder. "I will be on patrol. You need to work out your groups – while you do that, I'll be on watch. You know how to find me when you are finished."

The door closed behind him before anyone could say anything in response. Rangiku sighed and sat back down. "I don't know why he always does that," she said softly.

"Does what?" Orihime asked again. As good-natured as she was, she was sometimes quite clueless.

Rangiku looked at her and smiled sadly. "He shuts us out."

"No time for that," Ikkaku cut in. "Yumichika and I will head out too. Can't leave all the fun to the Captain, after all!"

"Be careful," Rangiku told them as they exited the room, though she knew it really wasn't likely of Ikkaku to take her up on the advice. She could only hope that Yumichika would be the brains between the two of them.

Renji got up as well, making his way to the door. "Guess I'll be going too. I'm not going to sit around here and let everyone else steal the show!" He ran out the door before anyone could tell him he had forgotten to take a partner.

"Renji!" Rukia called after him, but he was already gone. She looked back at Ichigo and Rangiku before opening the door for herself. "I guess I'll go with him. Safety in numbers," she said before exiting herself.

The lieutenant stood and stepped over to the substitute shinigami. "I guess we'll be-" she started, but someone cleared their throat. The two shinigami turned to the single human in the room.

"If I may, I would like to go with you," Orihime said timidly. "I can't just sit around while you are in danger. I would like to do what I can to help."

Rangiku smiled and knelt by her. "Of course you can come! Who knows, we'll probably need you by the end of the night anyway. All right, Ichigo?"

He looked at his friend uncomfortably. He was never happy when she put herself in danger like this, but he knew her well enough to conclude that she wouldn't back down easily. But if the Hollow were to come back that night, it would probably be for him. To "finish what it started" as Toushiro had said. He wasn't going to let her be around if that prediction was to come true.

He smiled at her. "You do whatever you want, Orihime." She smiled back at him before getting to her feet. "But I'm going to find Toushiro. I'm not happy with him going off by himself, even if he is a Captain."

"You know he won't be pleased," Rangiku said, but Orihime wasn't the only stubborn person in the room.

"I'm not the kind of guy who follows orders he doesn't like," Ichigo said, and it was true. If Toushiro had acknowledged that they would find greater strength in groups, he should be in one as well – especially when he is only at twenty percent of his strength. He walked to the door and looked back at the girls, smiling once more. "You two be careful, all right?"

They smiled back. "If Orihime is with me," Rangiku said, beaming at her temporary partner, "I'll be able to handle anything that comes my way."

"That's good to know," the substitute shinigami said, and left the room. He exited to the streets before sighing and heading off in the direction of the captain. The night was quiet again, but he of all people knew how deceiving it could be. It was times like this the enemy would be regrouping for another attack, and he knew it would come to him.

It had come to him first, after all. Maybe he had been the target from the beginning. It wouldn't surprise him that Aizen and his group would want him dead – a lot of other creatures would also like to see the same thing happen. He was becoming used to being a target.

He had running for a while, closing the distance between himself and Toushiro while widening the gap between them and their other companions. The captain must have gone to the very outskirts of the town. Ichigo surmised that it must have made sense to work his way inward while he searched. Or perhaps he was trying to lure the Hollow away from the rest of them. The substitute shinigami knew that the latter was more likely the case. He can't say that he hadn't already thought of doing the same exact thing.

Ichigo wasn't surprised when he felt the ground beneath his feet begin to rumble, and he quickly jumped out of the way as roots shot up into the air. He landed some distance away, on the top of someone's fence rather than the ground. He watched as the Strangler Fig unearthed itself, sporting an already well-healed abdomen. He swore for what felt like the millionth time that night. He hadn't expected it to regenerate so quickly.

He felt Toushiro's reiatsu coming nearer to him as his comrade realized who the Hollow was attacking. The captain was the closest one to him and would probably reach him long before the rest of the group would. Not that it mattered – Ichigo planned to finish the creature off before it had the chance to hurt any of his friends.

Without hesitating, he activated his bankai. He didn't waste any time – he rushed to meet the Hollow head-on in combat. "I've cut you once, I can do it again!" he shouted at it as his sword met the creature's armored body. It was as if his blade had struck diamond and it bounced off, not even scratching the enemy. He knew the only way to hurt it was to again trigger his own hollowification – it was the only time he had been able to graze it.

He reached up to materialize his mask when the creature lashed out, catching him in the gut with its branches and sending him into the side of someone's house. Before he could compose himself, the roots shot out of the ground and pinned him to the wall. He coughed up blood as one of them stabbed him directly through his side.

The branches were closing in on him, readying themselves to constrict and kill him. But their movements became slow, and Ichigo saw the frost as it formed on them and then became ice. He swung his zanpakutou at the now frozen appendages and they shattered like glass all around him.

Toushiro was already engaged in combat with the creature. He certainly didn't waste any time in attacking – he had previously readied his own bankai and was going for the swift kill. It was always surprising to the substitute shinigami to see how merciless such a small person could be. It was easy to forget that Toushiro was not the child he appeared to be.

Ichigo quickly jumped into the fray – he wouldn't leave all of the fighting to the captain. "You freeze it, I'll cut it!" he shouted over the sound of metal hitting bone armor. Toushiro glanced at him and nodded before stepping back to command his zanpakutou. The roots that followed him and pierced through the ground were the first to be destroyed. The creature was on the defensive again, having met the pair that could potentially destroy it.

The substitute shinigami slashed through its protective barrier of branches at rushed toward its main body as Toushiro worked to freeze it. The Hollow was desperately trying to attack the captain, aware that if it stopped the source of the ice, its limbs would be unstoppable once more. The smaller shinigami didn't miss a beat and froze every appendage as it came his way. Ice began to form up to the Hollow's torso and Ichigo struck, shattering it at its core. At least, he thought he had. But the only thing that shattered was the ice he had hit. The Hollow remained intact.

It was then he sensed Toushiro's rapidly diminishing reiatsu. He quickly turned and ran toward the captain who was now covered in the creature's roots. He had been caught off guard – the edges of the branches they had shattered had already regenerated and struck him. He was elevated in the air by the appendages wrapped around him, tightening their hold on his small body. Ichigo could see the blood pooling beneath him, dripping down the white of the roots that had stabbed through him.

The captain was trying to freeze the branches around him, unable to swing his zanpakutou, but the roots were absorbing his reiatsu – taking away his strength as they were suffocating him. Ichigo could feel the monster behind him grow from the power it was taking, but he had to free Toushiro. He pulled his hollow mask on and slashed the base of the branches, cutting them cleanly through. He grabbed the captain's feather light body before he could hit the ground and held him under one arm while he faced the Hollow.

He shouted the name of the attack as he swung his zanpakutou with impeccable aim – the power of the move was so intense that it blew a hole through the wall of the house behind where the Hollow had been – right after it stole away under the ground to escape. Ichigo ran to the hole and shot one more getsuga tenshou down in one last futile attack before his mask shattered once more.

He felt the blood soaking through his robes and he placed Toushiro on the ground, assessing his wounds. He grimaced at the sight – the captain had become incredibly pale from his injuries. He wasn't conscious, but he was still breathing. Shallow, pained breath but breath nonetheless. Ichigo quickly scooped him up in his arms and ran off in the direction of Orihime.

As he ran in his urgency, he tried not to notice that despite Toushiro's close proximity he didn't feel his reiatsu at all. It had completely disappeared.


	2. His Fraying Soul

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. Unfortunately for me and all of the Bleach slash fans out there. Fortunately for those vehemently opposed to such horrible slash atrocities, however :)

Hi everyone! I'm sorry it took a while to finish this chapter. It sat for a quite a while half-written until I finally found the notebook I had written it in. Searching for that book caused me much grievance indeed, and then I just stumble on it when I'm not looking for it anymore, naturally. Anyway, this chapter is rather explanatory and absolutely vital for the coming chapters. I apologize if the story seems to be moving too slowly, but I would much prefer everything to happen naturally. I don't want to force it, as real relationships take time to form, especially in adverse situations. And there is going to be a lot to this story aside from just the relationship between Ichigo and Hitsugaya, though it will obviously be a prominent part. Also, as a side note, I've started spelling Hitsugaya's given name as Toshiro rather than with the extra "u"s. There are a few different ways to spell it, and I decided on this one since it's the shortest xD

Thank you so much for your patience in waiting for this chapter, and for all of your favorites, watches, and your kind and inspiring words in your reviews. That encouragement is what keeps me motivated to work on my fanfiction and is absolutely irreplaceable. Thank you again, and I hope you enjoy the second chapter :)

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><p><strong>Living Human<strong>  
><em>chapter two<br>_

They could always tell when someone was in need of help. Rangiku and Orihime were, without any discussion, already on the path to meeting Ichigo halfway – which he was more than glad for considering the circumstances. Rangiku had felt it and strongly. It was likely she was thinking her captain was dead. When they were in each others' sights, the way he was running toward them probably did not indicate anything good either. She was borderline frantic and she had every right to be, but she was still running at Orihime's pace as if she would rather not see if Toshiro really was gone. Ichigo had to admit, he would have had the same thoughts as her if he wasn't holding the boy in his arms – his ragged breathing in his ear and his lungs expanding beneath his chest pressing against his torso. It was as if he wasn't there even though he very clearly was – though the time of which he would remain so was questionable.

"He's alive!" Ichigo shouted to them, and he watched the emotions in Rangiku's face light up ever so slightly. "He needs you!" With one last burst of shunpo, he came to a halt directly in front of the two women. He placed Toshiro's small body gently but quickly on the ground as Orihime immediately began her treatment.

It was only then that he allowed himself to really assess the situation. The Hollow had done quite a bit of damage in such a small amount of time – particularly to his upper body. The branches had skewered him nearly all the way through, probably hitting vital organs like his lung or his liver or something equally as unpleasant. He had lacerations and freshly forming bruises from the constriction, visible beneath the tears in his clothing. Ichigo hadn't realized how lucky he had been until he saw this – the creature didn't waste any time once its opponent was in its grip.

The substitute shinigami couldn't help but notice just how small and fragile the captain looked at that moment – like an injured child in a hospital bed. It made him even more worried for him, watching intently as Orihime concentrated to reverse the injuries. He knew he should worry about whether or not Toshiro would survive before he could begin to worry about his lack of reiatsu, but the feeling was disturbing and he was having a hard time shaking it from the edge of his mind. Judging by the look on Rangiku's face, she was feeling exactly the same.

"What happened?" She asked him, though she never took her eyes away from her captain.

"It was a challenge, even for the two of us," Ichigo explained, frustrated that all he could do at that moment was talk. He liked the battle portion of his line of work – he didn't have time to worry about anything other than preserving his own life. He would constantly be in motion, continuously able to do something and feel like it was in his control, even if only partially. But this, this feeling of waiting and this feeling of uselessness, was something entirely different. Ichigo was a creature of action and it killed him to be stationary like this, unable to help.

He shook his head, concentrating on the only thing he could do. "It regenerated almost instantly… it got him with the parts we already destroyed."

"It's hard to believe that the captain was caught off guard," she said quietly, but in honest disbelief. It was eerie how she was holding a conversation with him while looking in a different direction.

"I think it must have been a Vasto Lorde, or at least close to it. It attacked him because he was freezing it… it was just faster than us," Ichigo said, glancing down at Toshiro. His wounds were healing over, but his reiatsu just wasn't there. Even humans gave off some amount of reiatsu, but the captain's had entirely disappeared.

"… you went with him because you didn't want him by himself. You were supposed to have his back," Rangiku said, her voice quiet and shaking with strain. She never turned to look at him, but the words hit him hard, like a punch to the gut. He looked at her with a mixture of incredulity and guilt in his eyes.

"Lieutenant!" a voice said sternly, as if scolding her. Rukia appeared, Renji right behind her. She stepped in front of the shinigami, forcing her to tear her eyes away from her fallen captain. They knew, no matter how strong she was trying to appear, that she was dangerously close to breaking. Since Aizen and consequently Gin's betrayal, the tenth squad and its captain were all she had.

"…you're right, Rukia," she said, turning her face to Ichigo and softening her gaze. "I'm sorry, Ichigo. I'm just…"

"We all are," he said hastily, cutting her off with a quick nod. He didn't want an apology from her because as harsh as her words were, they were true. If he had paid more attention – if he hadn't underestimated his opponent, this might not have happened. The Hollow had been after him in the first place – he should have lured it away from his comrades, not toward them. He was supposed to have been there to protect Toshiro, but the captain was still lying there on the ground, giving off no reiatsu and only minimal signs of life. She was absolutely right.

"Why can't I feel him?" Rangiku asked soulfully, her voice full of the emotion she was trying to hide.

"I… I think Strangler Fig took it," Ichigo said as he heard Ikkaku and Yumichika land behind them. "I think it took his reiatsu."

"He's unstable," Orihime said, in a way that showed she was paying more attention to the job at hand rather than her words. "It's like part of his soul is torn – not gone, but… ripped. I can't…" She furrowed her brow and Ichigo could see the little beads of sweat begin to form there. "I can't reverse it. I can't reject it."

"Don't overwork yourself," Rukia said to her calmly, leaning down and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"There has to be more I can do," Orihime said, concentrating to the point where it seemed painful. Ichigo watched her with shame and sympathy – she was the kind of person that tried her hardest even if it was futile. Toshiro's physical wounds appeared to be completely healed, but she still held her barrier up. "He's still broken. I… I have to heal him!" she cried out, but Rukia pushed her hands down. The shield fell and Rangiku rushed to her captain's side, as if she wanted to make sure that he really was alive because of his lack of reiatsu. Orihime was crying softly, and Ichigo felt guilt for the burden he had unwillingly placed upon her as well – it all came back to his failure. Rukia held her friend's hands, stroking them gently with her thumbs. She exchanged an unreadable glance with Ichigo before she continued in her attempts to comfort her human friend.

The substitute shinigami looked at Renji, Ikkaku, and Yumichika who were all uncharacteristically quiet. They all stared at the scene before them as if they were at a loss of what to do or say. Ichigo sympathized with them in that regard. He could do nothing but look on as well, even though he felt that it was his fault. What could he do to fix it? There had to be something. He looked again toward the young captain. His face was still pale and set in a pained look, as if he were still suffering. He probably was, based on Orihime's reaction.

"We should get back to Urahara's," Ichigo suggested, needing to do something. "Maybe he'll know what to do." He stepped over to the unconscious captain and lifted his nearly weightless body once again into his arms. Ichigo tried to keep his thoughts positive, but it was exceptionally hard to do when he looked at Toshiro.

There were several disheartened murmurs of agreement. Nobody knew how to react to this kind of situation, and it was weird how quiet and thoughtful they were. That just propelled him to want to go faster. Rukia helped Orihime, who reached to wipe tears from her eyes, to her feet and the group set off in a strange silence.

When they arrived, Urahara was waiting just inside the door. He must have felt the difference as well, his face uncharacteristically serious. Ichigo was instantly aware that the exiled shinigami knew of this Hollow, and he likely knew just what the problem was. When Tessai walked in carrying Toshiro's gigai, the substitute shinigami's suspicions were confirmed.

The group, minus Ikkaku and Yumichika who were presently escorting Orihime home, followed Urahara wordlessly into the larger meeting room. Ichigo set the captain down next to where his false human body now lay and looked up at Urahara expectantly. The man sighed and sat down in front of the two bodies on the floor.

"What's going on? Why the gigai?" Ichigo asked, his words casual but the sound of his voice seemed to betray his feelings somewhat. Rukia looked over at him, her brow furrowed, with what appeared to be concern in her eyes.

"Take a look," Urahara said, removing his hand from his sleeve to wave it at the real Toshiro. Ichigo approached and sat on the mat beside the unconscious captain, but he couldn't see anything wrong. Orihime had done a flawless job at healing his physical injuries.

Rangiku, however, saw something he had not. She got to her knees beside him and gently reached out to her captain, lifting his hand in hers. She laid his smaller hand out flat on her palm so the rest of the onlookers could see what she had. The tips of his fingers appeared as though they were fraying at the edges, like a piece of cloth that was cut that had not been hemmed.

"What the hell..." Ichigo muttered under his breath, leaning in closer to see. It was bizarre, and completely unnatural. The substitute shinigami had seen many things, but this was not one of them.

"His very soul is damaged," Urahara said. "It has become fragile. It's tearing at the edges, and it will keep doing so until his soul is completely gone."

"Can't you fix this?" Ichigo asked, annoyed that a hint of the desperation he was feeling had shown in his voice. He certainly wasn't the greatest at hiding his emotions, but he had to at this point. For Rangiku, who he knew was doing the same.

"A soul isn't something you can sew back together," Urahara said, holding his hands in the air as if in defeat. "All we can do for now is slow the fraying of his soul down," at this he motioned to the gigai. "And hope that the damage isn't too severe."

"And the gigai?" Rukia asked before Ichigo got the chance to. "It will help to slow it down?"

"Yes," the shop owner said with a smile. "It's one of my own inventions, the soul binding gigai. Once his soul is in it, only a special gikongan in my possession can free him of it. But because it holds onto his soul so strongly, it will significantly slow down the rate that his soul is dissipating."

"This will give us more time to figure out how to fix him, then," Rukia said, offering a supportive smile to Rangiku, who made a weak attempt to do so back.

The captain's second in command wasn't convincing anyone that this news was reassuring her of his wellbeing. As an independent contractor of sorts, Ichigo had never been a part of any squad, had never been a vice-captain or a captain. He could only imagine how she was feeling, seeing her captain lying on the floor with no discernible reiatsu to indicate that he was alive and well. Even to Ichigo, the movement of Toshiro's chest as he breathed still wasn't quite enough to convince him. "When will he wake up?" Rangiku asked, staring down at him.

Urahara sighed and crossed his arms again, hiding his hands in his sleeves once more. "I can't answer that. Could be tonight, next week. There is also the chance that he may not awaken at all the entire time we're looking for a way to fix him up."

There was no way of sugar-coating that last sentence, and it came as a blow to the shinigami in the room. Rangiku said nothing, but Ichigo saw her shoulders slump ever so slightly, as if in defeat.

"Now," Urahara said, getting to his feet. "I have to place his soul in the gigai. In the mean time, as his Vice-Captain, you should report to Commander Yamamoto, should you not?"

As if she felt a sudden surge of energy, Rangiku got to her feet as well. Some kind of purpose, any at all, would be better than sitting there depressed. And as the Vice-Captain, Toshiro's responsibilities now fell on her. Ichigo could guess her thought process right now – her Captain would scold her if she shirked in her duties. She and Rukia entered into the next room, and Urahara looked over at Ichigo.

"I thought it would be best not to say this in front of her," he said, sitting back down at the head of the bodies once more in a cross-legged position. He sighed, "I have to force his soul into this gigai. I may damage it even further."

Ichigo's brow furrowed in both concern and annoyance – hadn't he been through enough already? "But if you don't, his soul will disappear anyway, and we'll have no chance at bringing him back to normal." He didn't like either option, but at least the second one provided some amount of hope.

"Yes," the shop owner answered simply, and placed his hands on the real Toshiro's temples, closing his eyes. At that point, Rukia opened the sliding door separating the rooms just enough to stick her head through. "Captain-Commander Yamamoto wishes to speak with you," she said softly, mindful of the concentration Urahara undoubtedly needed to do his task.

Ichigo was less than curious today, and would have preferred not to watch a soul being forced into a gigai anyway. Especially not the now fragile soul of someone he had become acquainted with. And if Ichigo was anything, it was protective of his friends, even the ones he hadn't known for very long. He entered the adjoining room without hesitation.

He was greeted by a rather large screen that now held the bearded, serious face of Captain-Commander Yamamoto. He stepped forward, his hands in fists at his sides. Yamamoto's face was much larger on the screen, and he stared down at the substitute shinigami. "Why is it that every time you are around, there is always some kind of trouble?"

Ichigo sighed, instantly getting defensive, and shrugged. "I don't know. My teachers always ask me the same question."

The Captain-Commander grunted in response, though Ichigo wasn't sure if it was a positive or negative reply. More than likely the latter. "So tell me what happened," Yamamoto ordered gruffly, and Ichigo went into a long and detailed explanation of the events that had occurred. Yamamoto listened quietly, nodding every so often. At the end of the story, he was silent for quite a while before he began to administer his orders.

"Vice-Captain Matsumoto," he said, and Rangiku's eyes snapped up and gave him her full attention. "You are to report back to the Soul Society immediately." As if in expectation of the protests forming on her lips, he said, "I don't need to remind you that as acting Vice-Captain, it is now your responsibility to care for the affairs of your squad."

Her eyes searched around for nothing in particular, as if she was arguing with herself internally, before she bowed and said, "Yes, Captain-Commander."

"Kuchiki, you will remain the world of the living until we have arranged for you to transfer Hitsugaya Toshiro back to the Soul Society," he said, authority in his voice.

"Yes, Captain-Commander," she said, bowing.

However, something about the way Yamamoto spoke about Toshiro had instantly set something off in Ichigo. He hadn't referred to the shinigami by his title of Captain, as if his predicament, which might be reversible, had instantly stripped him of his authority before the situation had even been assessed.

"Wait," he said, before the Captain-Commander had the chance to end the conversation. "Don't you think it would be best if he stayed here? Toshiro, I mean."

With no discernible emotion or thought in his expression, Yamamoto asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Well..." the substitute shinigami paused, frantically searching his brain for a plausible reason. It came to him, luckily, within a reasonable amount of time. "If he stays here, he's more likely to encounter Strangler Fig again. The secret to returning him back to how he was more than likely lies with that Hollow. If he stays here, isn't there a better chance of his situation being reversed?"

Yamamoto took some time to seriously consider this suggestion, and eventually grunted in what seemed like an agreement. "Kuchiki, you are to return to the Soul Society immediately to report your knowledge to the twelfth division so that they may better understand what they are searching for." She bowed once more, and the Captain-Commander turned back to Ichigo. "If anything happens at all, even the smallest of setbacks, he is to be returned to the Soul Society at once. Is this understood?"

Ichigo tried to keep his smile to himself, and nodded in affirmation before the screen went blank. He felt even more confident in his decision now that the twelfth division had been mentioned. There was no way he felt comfortable placing Toshiro's fate in the hands of Kurotsuchi Mayuri. The man was a nut job. He would prefer the research to be done by Urahara, the lesser of two evils.

Rukia smiled at him reassuringly before lightly punching his arm, and the three of them exited back to the room where they had left Urahara to his work. The substitute shinigami was relieved when he saw that only one body lay on the floor – at least Urahara had gotten it finished before Rangiku could see him force her Captain's soul into the gigai.

"His soul is safely inside the gigai," Urahara said, his words jovial, but his eyes serious as they landed on Ichigo's. He nodded once, and Ichigo let out a quiet sigh of relief. If there had been any further damage in the transference, it was minimal at worst. At least there was that.

"The Captain-Commander has decided that he will remain here, in the Human World," Rukia reported to the shop owner. "Vice-Captain Matsumoto and I are to return to the Soul Society immediately."

"Of course," Urahara said, his smile full of mischief. Ichigo did not like the look on his face.

Rangiku had been silent for the longest time, but now she turned to Ichigo. "You will let me know when he wakes up?" she said, her voice not as strong as she likely intended it to sound.

"Yeah, no problem," the substitute shinigami said with a grin. "I'll take care of him, he's in good hands."

She nodded wordlessly, an indescribable look in her eyes, before she and Rukia stepped through the Senkaimon into the Dangai, heading back to the Soul Society. When the door closed and disappeared after them, Ichigo let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. He could feel the headache that had been forming behind his eyes start to get stronger with each passing minute now, and he wanted nothing more than to throw himself onto his futon back home and go to sleep.

But Urahara had been looking at him, uncharacteristically silent, with that same mischievous smile on his face. "So... now what?"

Ichigo groaned.


	3. The Waiting Game

Disclaimer: Still not mine, unfortunately. I'm not sure Bleach would have the same fanbase if I was the one that owned the series xD

Hello again! Sorry for the wait. Lots of disasters over here, as usual. Hurricanes, parents being hospitalized, etcetera etcetera. But for now, things seem to be going smoothly, and I was finally able to churn out chapter three. Again, I apologize if you guys think things are moving a bit slow. I just want things to progress realistically. But don't worry, things are starting to happen :) I find it very easy to write Ichigo and his thoughts. I thought he was going to be difficult, but he really isn't :)

Thank you so much, as always, for your patience. And thank you again for all of your favorites, watches, and your kind and inspiring words in your reviews. I have to admit that its the reviews that keep me writing - I like to know your thoughts and your opinions on the story. Without you reading and telling me, this story would just sit as an idea written down in my little floral yellow notebook where it began. Thank you so much, and enjoy the read :)

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><p><strong>Living Human<strong>  
><em>chapter three<em>

"What do you mean 'what now?' Isn't he staying here? Don't you have to study how to fix him or something?" The headache that had been forming had suddenly increased in strength. Ichigo groaned once more and rubbed the area above the bridge of his nose.

"I will need to analyze him, naturally," Urahara said, that annoying smile still plastered on his face. "But you promised to keep him safe. Shouldn't he stay with you when I'm not assessing his condition? You did promise to protect him, didn't you?"

Ichigo sighed. He had made that promise only moments before. And Urahara's thought process was sound – he would be far more capable of protecting Toshiro if the Hollow returned for him if he stayed at his side. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more the shop owner's suggestion made sense.

He looked down at the gigai containing the soul of Toshiro. Ichigo was still confident in his decision to convince Captain-Commander Yamamoto to keep the damaged shinigami here. His quick excuse as to why was also very reasonable. They might not know the particulars yet, but Toshiro would be more likely to recover himself if he stayed where the Hollow was. The substitute shinigami wasn't sure why, but the thought of him returning to the Soul Society in his state was leaving a bad taste in his mouth. He would be somewhere far away, where Ichigo couldn't protect him or help him. And if Ichigo had anything to say about it, he would die before he let that creature hurt the small shinigami again. If Ichigo was anything, it was protective of those he had come to view as valuable friends. But did he feel this way because he had come to see Toshiro that way? Because he felt guilty, like it was his fault that this all had happened? Or was it something else?

There was a feeling in his chest that he couldn't quite place, so for the moment he chose to ignore it and act instead. He knelt down beside the small captain, still somewhat disturbed by his lack of reiatsu, but his face had become softer in his sleep, as if he wasn't suffering so much anymore. He scooped him into his arms – honestly, Toshiro had to be around the same size as his sisters – and began to head out. It would be far easier to transport a body visible to humans in the darkness of the night. And he had a feeling that night wasn't going to last much longer.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow night then," the substitute shinigami said over his shoulder to Urahara, who smiled and waved his hand with a flick of his wrist.

Ichigo sighed and stepped outside. How the hell was he going to explain this to his family?

The streets were poorly lit and the moon was far from full. There was no one around that needed an explanation as to why there was a floating unconscious human body drifting down the streets. Ichigo, in his shinigami form, was invisible to nearly all humans, but Toshiro's gigai was not. Though he had to admit, it would certainly be interesting to try to explain that one.

There was so many things on his mind that were as yet unanswered. He walked silently down the streets, using the time in an attempt to organize his tumultuous thoughts. Was this a random attack or a targeted one? If it was the latter, who was that mastermind that had orchestrated it? Would the Hollow come back to finish the job? Urahara had been incredibly quick to prepare for this situation – what did he know about it? When would Toshiro wake up? Would he wake up at all? When and if he did, what kind of condition would he be in? How would he react to whatever that condition was? And most importantly, how were they going to restore him to what he was previously?

All of them were questions with unknown answers. Some of them would come in time. Some of them would have to be forced out of Urahara. No matter how much and how hard he thought about them, aggravating the headache further, he had no answers just yet. With a great sigh, he decided just to stop bothering. He was, after all, a man of action – and deep thinking wasn't exactly his specialty. Despite everything going on in his head, Ichigo kept a vigilant watch as he made his way home. There were no signs of either humans or Hollows, but he was taking no chances. Enough had happened for one night already.

When he arrived home, Ichigo carefully placed Toshiro in his bed and lay a light blanket over him. He had been pale after the attack, but a bit of color seemed to be returning to his face and he appeared to be resting peacefully. The substitute shinigami chose to take this as a good sign, smiling. "You're way too stubborn to let your soul go to pieces, aren't you?" he asked him quietly, in the darkness.

He popped the modsoul pill containing Kon back into the stuffed lion and quickly shoved him in a drawer before he could make too much noise before returning to his own body. Silently, he laid his own tired, spiritually and mentally rather than physically, form down upon his hastily constructed makeshift bed on the floor. Almost immediately, he fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

The sunlight had been streaming in through his window for quite some time before he found himself awakening to it. He felt as rested as if he had slept for a week and took his time to stretch his limbs out – it was a rare day indeed when he was able to wake up of his own accord. He rolled over onto his knees and stood up, grabbing an arm behind his head and stretching it as he glanced over at the shinigami in his bed. Now bathed in the daylight, Toshiro's face was very pale, and he was shivering despite the warmth of the air around him. Toshiro had always been followed by a cold chill in the air, but that was a consequence of his icy reiatsu, of Hyourinmaru. Without that, he was a normal person in need of a normal body temperature.

Ichigo sighed and opened the sliding door to his closet, pulling the blankets off of Rukia's hidden, makeshift bed that had been constructed within it. He turned back to the small figure in his bed and sighed, draping the thick blanket over him. He wasn't used to this, seeing Toshiro so vulnerable. He was nowhere near the largest of shinigami, but his confidence, his personality, and his pride always made him appear strong. He was strong. But right now, he was resting, fighting to pull himself back together, fighting to live. Worse yet, he was in pain. He had never seemed so small.

But Ichigo wouldn't let thoughts like that influence his belief in the shinigami. He knew that if anyone could pull through something like this, it would be Toshiro. He was far too strong, far too determined, to let his current situation drag him down. There were many, shinigami and hollow alike, that underestimated Toshiro because of his age and his stature. Ichigo was not one of them. And so, Ichigo chose to believe in him and in his strength wholeheartedly.

The substitute shinigami yawned, and looked at the clock beside his bed. He honestly wasn't too surprised when he saw that it was after noon already. That would explain both his feelings of being well-rested and the almost violent grumbling of his stomach. Ichigo sighed and grabbed his cell phone from it's place on the desk, stalking over to the door. He took one more look over his shoulder at the small shinigami lying beneath the thick covers, and another feeling seated itself firmly in the pit of his stomach, a feeling he couldn't even begin to explain or describe or think about at that moment. So instead, he chose to address the one that he understood – the hunger pains.

"You'll be okay," he said to Toshiro, though he knew he wouldn't be able to hear him. "I'll be right back," he announced before quietly closing the door behind him and making his way down the stairs.

"Where is everyone...?" Ichigo wondered aloud to himself as he proceeded to stuff his face with any of the food from inside of the refrigerator. It took him a moment to realize that today was still a school day, which was, as always, the last thing on his mind. He wondered why no one woke him up, but was glad that they didn't. He didn't think he had it in him to go to school and pretend that everything was perfectly fine when it was so very clearly not. And he still hadn't come up with a good way to explain what a comatose-looking boy was doing in their house and not in a hospital.

Even as he chewed absentmindedly on whatever was closest to him that was edible, he could only muster up the weakest of explanations. He dismissed them all the moment they entered his thoughts, waving them off with a flick of his hand. It's not like he could say he found a kid in the middle of the street and took him home. He wasn't a dog or a cat. And he would also have to answer the inevitable and perfectly valid question as to why he hadn't woken up his father – who was, after all, a doctor – once he arrived home.

He groaned loudly as he tried to come up with something at least half-decent, his face donning a rather displeased scowl, when his cell phone started ringing on the counter next to him. Glancing at the caller alert, he clicked answer. "Ah, hey Inoue," he said, his mind still trying to conjure up a story.

"Kurosaki-kun!" She shouted on the other end of the line. Ichigo had to stop himself from throwing the phone across the room in his surprise. "Kurosaki-kun, where are you!? Is everything okay!?"

"Calm down, Inoue," he said, slowly bringing the phone back to his ear. "I'm home. Everything's fine."

"Oh, I'm so glad!" She exclaimed. "I got worried that something happened when you didn't come to school today."

"No," he said, smiling to himself as he played with the straw poking out of his soda can. "I'm sorry, I just was sleeping. You know I'd call you if anything happened, good or bad."

"I know," she said, the volume of her voice decreasing. "But I was just worried."

"Everything's fine," he said, though his mind wandered back up the stairs and into his bedroom, where Toshiro lay silently in a deep sleep. He hoped everything was fine. "Hey, why are you calling me now? Aren't you in school?"

"I'm outside your house," Orihime said cheerfully, and Ichigo was silent for a long moment before he stood up and walked to the door, opening it with the phone still in his ear. Orihime beamed at him, also still holding her phone.

"...you could have just knocked, you know," he said, before hanging up his phone and shoving it into his pocket. She was an amazing and kind girl, but sometimes it was like she lived in another world. "Come on in."

Orihime stepped inside and, at Ichigo's insisting, seated herself on the couch. He brought her an unopened can and sat across from her. As she popped the top and took a sip of her drink, he noticed that she was in her uniform. "Did you skip school to come here?"

"Yes, I just left early," she said, smiling at him. "I'm glad everything's all right."

"You should probably go back before they notice you're gone," Ichigo said, leaning back in his chair. The school was used to Ichigo skipping class by now, but they were sure to miss Orihime. He didn't want her to get in trouble on his account.

"It's all right, I pretended that I was sick," she said, smiling before taking another sip. Ichigo could imagine what was surely the most unconvincing acting as Orihime tried to fake an illness. He could almost imagine flowers floating around as she energetically, healthily, tried to fake stomach pain. The nurse probably sent her home based on the level of amusement she provided rather than her convincing acting skills.

"...I see," he said, still imagining the scenario.

"And... I wanted to check on Hitsugaya-kun," she admitted, placing her can down on the small table before her. Her smile instantly fell at those words, and it was clear to Ichigo that she was worried out of her mind.

"Nothing's changed, really," he thought aloud. "It could be a while before we see anything."

Orihime's eyes fell to her hands, her fingers locked and resting on her lap. "I just wanted to see if there was anything more that I could do."

Ichigo's gaze softened a little as he realized what was really going on in her head - she felt guilty. She felt guilty because she couldn't mend his soul. She felt guilty for something that was completely beyond her control. "Inoue, this isn't a stab wound or a missing arm. This isn't anything you can heal, and nobody is expecting you to be able to heal him," Ichigo said, honestly conveying his thoughts. She glanced at him for a second before returning her gaze to her hands. "You took care of his physical wounds. That's all we could ever ask."

He could see the hurt in her expression when she looked up at him. His words weren't enough to abate her guilt. "I'd like to try again," she said, imploring him with those large and sincere eyes.

"All right," Ichigo agreed, though he knew that Toshiro was beyond her help at this point. But he, of all people, understood her feeling of uselessness, of wishing she could do more to help, of hoping that there was some way to reverse what had happened. "He's in my room."

He led Orihime up the narrow staircase and quietly opened the door to his room. He half-expected, for just a split second, to see Toshiro sitting up in the bed looking at them. He wasn't surprised, however, when that wasn't the case. They walked over to him and Ichigo looked Toshiro over. He was still so pale, but at least he wasn't shivering anymore. Orihime knelt down at his side, summoning up her power with the whispered words, "Souten Kisshun."

The shield appeared over him, but after a while, Orihime let it disappear. "...there's nothing I can do for him. I was hoping..."

Ichigo looked at her dejected form in sympathy. They were both feeling much the same at this point. "It's all right," he said, smiling at her. She looked up at him, almost in tears. "He might be little, but he's tough. You and I both know that. He'll pull through."

She smiled back at him, wiping at the corners of her eyes. "Yeah, he'll be better in no time!" She said, and he was glad to see her normal energy return to her.

"Now," he said, a thought crossing his mind, "There is something else you could help me with..."

Some hours later, there were several drawings scattered across his bedroom floor. They spent the time passing several ideas of what to tell his family between each other, of which they kept getting more and more elaborate and unrealistic. Orihime proposed several ideas, including a robot from outerspace coming to Toshiro's house and abducting his parents, and he was just despairing over their loss and refusing to get out of bed. Or a large mutant cat appeared and destroyed his house in order to feast upon his goldfish, and now he needed a place to live and rest temporarily until they removed all of the allergens from the air, as he was deathly allergic to felines and the attack put him in ill health. After drawing many accompanying images, Orihime finally felt comfortable enough to leave for her own home.

Not once, during her excited imaginings and her exuberant shoutings, did Toshiro move in the slightest. Once she had gone, Ichigo felt as if all of his energy left the room too, and he hadn't realized how much he had been caught up in her happiness.

His sisters and his father arrived and they had what they considered to be a relatively normal dinner – Ichigo being scolded by his sisters for skipping school as his father explained, in an overly energetic manner, that grades meant nothing when it came to being a real man. He too, ended up being scolded by his daughters.

When it came time for Yuzu and Karin to go to sleep, Ichigo closed his bedroom door behind him and sighed. He still hadn't told them about Toshiro, and he still hadn't conjured up a good reason for his presence. But he decided not to dwell on the matter, he would think of something when he needed to. He just hoped that whatever excuse came out of his mouth was reasonable enough for them to accept when the time came.

He still had homework lying unfinished on his desk, and forced himself to sit down and attempt to work on it after he spent several minutes trying to come up with something better to do. Karakura was pretty uneventful on this clear night. While he should have been grateful for the chance to relax and be a normal human being, and he should have been glad that there was no danger to the people living in his town, Ichigo was antsy. He wasn't one to sit around and do nothing. Which is what Urahara told him to do when he called, letting him know that there wasn't anything they could really discuss that night so not to bother bringing Toshiro over.

Just as suspected, he wasn't able to focus on his homework – he hadn't been around frequently enough to answer many of the questions anyway. He kept finding himself looking to the side, checking for signs of life in the small form lying motionless on the bed beside him. Eventually, he just dropped his pen and groaned, throwing his arms behind his head and leaning back in his chair.

"You're a real pain in the ass, you know," he said, nodding his head to Toshiro. The shinigami was so thoroughly unconscious that there was no way he could hear anything he had to say, so he decided just to say it. "I mean, making everyone worry like this. You're stronger than this, Toshiro. You can beat it. So beat it already and wake the hell up. Show us that you're still alive and kicking. Show us that you're ready to get back to your normal, bratty self."

The only movement he got was the light breeze coming from the open window playing with white strands of hair. Ichigo groaned again. "Okay, just keep sleeping then," he said in his exasperation. Exasperation at what was currently unknown – it could have been the fact that Ichigo couldn't do his homework because he had no idea what the pages were talking about, or that there was no Hollows floating around to slice into two, or that Toshiro wasn't responding to his quips with the usual short-tempered correction of his name.

He looked at his face, still pale, still in pain, and that indescribable feeling made its way back into the pit of his stomach again, frustrating him even further. The waiting was killing him – Ichigo was not used to sitting around and waiting. His daily life was usually a lot more fast-paced than this. The more he looked at Toshiro, the more prominent the feeling became, and he finally decided in his annoyance to just go to sleep.

The next morning, his father decided to greet him with an affectionate foot to the face. "Good morning, Ichigoooooooo!" He exclaimed, the last part of his sentence exiting his mouth even as he went flying back into the hallway where he had come from.

"What the hell!?" Ichigo shouted as his father poked his head back in the doorway with a goofy smile and a fat lip.

"I know it's a day off of school, but that doesn't mean you can laze around the house! Your adorable little sister made you breakfast!" At this, he clasped his hands together and wiggled his body in an odd display of affection. Ichigo could swear he saw little hearts floating around him. "Your mother would be so proud of her!"

It was then that Isshin peered with wide eyes over Ichigo's shoulder. "And who is this?" He asked curiously, and panic instantly ran through Ichigo's mind as he desperately tried to imagine a scenario where it was socially acceptable to have a small boy unconscious in his bed.

But he was saved from having to think of what would likely have been a weak excuse when a voice came from behind him. "I apologize for not introducing myself earlier," came the familiar voice, and Ichigo's relief was immediate and overwhelming as he turned around. There he saw the shinigami out of bed, very much awake, and standing on his own two feet directly behind him. He was pale, and held the blanket that was draped around him closed in a fist held to his chest. Ichigo stepped to the side a little, looking the small shinigami over in order to attempt an assessment of his health.

Ignoring his gaze, the white-haired boy stepped forward. Toshiro bowed his head politely to Ichigo's father. "I am a classmate of Ichigo. My name is Hitsugaya Toshiro. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."


End file.
