Laryngitis?
Chapter 1: Diagnosis
Okay. This hit me when I was at a raceway and had earplugs in. I was thinking about Toshiro at the time because I saw a small white legend car. I was wondering, what if he was deaf for a while? I answered myself, nah to boring. Then it hit me. What if he couldn't speak for a while? And the outcome was this story. I don't own Bleach!
—-
7:32 a.m.
"MATSUMOTO!" yelled the captain of the tenth. Once again, she was drunk on his couch.
"Who? What?" asked a surprised Matsumoto.
"Oh, captain," she sighed, "it's just you."
"Get up and do some work." He said, walking to his desk.
"But captaaain." she whined, "I haven't had breakfast yeeet."
"Neither have I, but that's not stopping me." He said as he picked up his pen.
"Captain! You need to eat! They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day!"
"I don't have time."
"I'll go get you some then!" She said as she ran out.
"MATSUMOTO!"
9:38 a.m.
"I'm baaack!" Shouted the cheery lutenient.
"Matsumoto, you do realize you left about two hours ago?"
"There was a long line for the food." She stated simply as she set said food down.
"I got you some omelets and bacon Captain! Come and eat!"
"Not now Matsumoto." He mumbled, busy with the paperwork.
"Captain... you need to eat..."
"I said not now Matsumoto." Matsumoto sighed, hoping she didn't have to play the triumph card.
"Do I have to bring Captain Unohana into this?" He looked up.
"You wouldn't." He hissed.
"Try me." She stated. She then proceeded to get up and walk out of the office.
When she was halfway down the hallway, she heard, "FINE! FINE! JUST DON'T DRAG HER INTO THIS!" She went back and saw her captain sitting on the couch, grouchy.
"I'll go get you some milk."
"I don't want and or need any."
"Should I get you orange juice than?"
"Whatever..." he growled, biting his omelet. She came back in and walked to her captain, when she slipped on a piece of paperwork she hid earlier. She held onto the pitcher, but the orange juice went flying out onto her small captain.
"I— I'm so sorry Captain! I'll clean it up!" She went to get the supplies and heard, "MATSUMOTO!"
10:05 a.m.
Toshiro was back at his desk after taking a shower from the juice. Matsumoto was doing some of her work too though.
"Matsumoto, go get me more ink." He said when his ink well thing ran dry.
"Right away." When she came back though, she tripped on that same piece of paperwork again. The ink went flying onto her Captain' desk, paperwork, and himself. His hair and haori were black now.
"MATSUMOTO!"
11:28 a.m.
It took him an hour and a half to get the ink out of his hair and haori. Matsumoto cleaned up the desk and threw away the already finished, ink stained paperwork. He sighed; he'd be here late tonight. He sat down and continued his paperwork. Matsumoto came back from wherever and plopped on the couch. A half hour later he went over to her and saw she was asleep.
"Matsumoto." He tried. She didn't budge.
"Matsumoto!" Nothing.
"MATSUMOTO!" She shifted but didn't wake.
"MATSUMOTO!" She was out cold. This time he gathered all the air he could into his lunges, and screamed at the top of his voice, "MATSUMOTOOOOOOOOOOO!" He felt a weird sensation in his throat but didn't pay much mind to it. She sat right up.
"Captain! You don't have to scream!" She said slightly offended.
"You didn't wake up the first four times I yelled." He stated mater of factly.
"Really? Huh." She just plopped back down on the couch.
"Get up Matsumoto!"
"But Captain..." she whined.
"Now Matsumoto!"
"Fine, fine... You don't have to be such a grumpy pants." She mumbled.
"Just do your work Matsumoto."
2:02 p.m.
Matsumoto looked at the clock. "Captain, I have to go." She said as she stood.
"Where?"
"To a Shinigami Women's Association meeting."
"Stay and do your work Matsumoto." He grumbled.
"Sorry Captain. This one is suuuper important." She said as she flash stepped out.
"MATSUMOTO!"
3:57 p.m.
When Matsumoto got back, she saw that most of the paperwork was done, and that her small captain was taking a nap on the couch. She put a blanket over him and whispered, "Sweet dreams, Captain."
4:44 p.m.
Toshiro took about a roughly three hour nap. He woke to find a blanket on him. Something didn't feel right though. He got up and looked around. Everything was in order. Something still didn't feel right though. He saw Matsumoto finishing the paperwork, sure it was off, but it wasn't what was wrong.
"You're awake Captain!" Hitsugaya opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"Captain?" He tried again. Nothing came out but some strangled noises. He furrowed his eyebrows and looked at his desk. There was still a bit of paperwork. He just went over to finish it.
"Captain? Are you okay?" His lutenient asked. He shook his head yes.
5:45 p.m.
An hour later, a butterfly came in to deliver a message. There was a Captains meeting in 10 minutes. The paperwork was done, so he stood up, and shunpoed to the meeting. He was the sixth one there, after Yamamoto, Soi fon, Unohana, Komomuru, and Byakuya. He took his spot. Eventually everyone came in. It was the same boring meeting. All they talked about was budgets. Everyone had to say an idea to raise money for the Gotei 13. Everyone said random things that compensated their personalities or divisions. When it got to Hitsugaya though...
"Captain Hitsugaya. Your input, please." said Old Man Yama. Toshiro tried to say something, but he couldn't.
"We are waiting, Captain Hitsugaya."
Toshiro tried with all his might to say something, anything, but all the came out were a few coughs, and strangled noises.
"Cat got your tongue?" joked Zaraki. Hitsugaya glared at the man and pointed to his throught. No one got the message though. So he managed to rasp out, "Can't" and a few coughs. Unohana got the message.
"I see." she started. "You can't talk. I told you to stop yelling at your lutenient." She sighed.
The small captain blushed a bright red and looked down.
"Hmm. Captain Zaraki, your input."
The meeting continued without incident. After the meeting was adjourned, Hitsugaya trudged behind Captain Unohana to see what was wrong with his voice.
After conducting some tests, Unohana had the results.
"Well, Captain Hitsugaya, it seems as though you have laryngitis and an infection in your upper respiratory." She stated. The boy raised an eyebrow as if asking, "What is that?" Just then though, Matsumoto burst into the room.
"Captain! I heard what happened! What's wrong?"
"He has laryngitis and an upper respiratory infection, Lutenient Matsumoto. Laryngitis is swelling and irritation of the voice box. It is usually associated with hoarseness or loss of voice. Don't worry though, it's only temporary." She said as she handed the luntenient a small humidifier, and some decongestants and pain medicine.
"Captain Hitsugaya," said the female captain as she turned to him. "You may not under any circumstances use your voice. It is best for it to rest. You might as well rest too, so please don't work until it is gone." She stated kindly. Toshiro shook his head no though. He had to work. He had to run his division. Who would run it if he wasn't? Surely not Matsumoto. The squad would fall into shambles! The female captain frowned, knowing his thoughts.
"I am certain that Lutenient Matsumoto will be able to run your squad in your absence." Toshiro still shook his head no.
"Captain! Do you have so little faith in me?" gasped the slightly offended lutenient. The boy shook his head yes and started to get off the examination table. Unohana gently pushed him back down though.
"I'm afraid, Captain Hitsugaya, that if you won't voluntarily rest in your own division, I'll have no choice but to keep you here." At hearing that, Hitsugaya's eyes went wide and he struggled frantically, indicating he absolutely didn't want to stay there.
"So, you will rest in your own division?" inquired Unohana. The smallest member of the room shook his head yes.
"Very well," she turned to Matsumoto. "Try to keep him in his room. Just plug in the humidifier and it will do its job. Have him take this much decongestant," she gestured to an amount on a syringe thing, "every twelve hours. (Don't listen to me. I'm just making up how much to give him and how often. I am NOT a doctor). And this much painkiller every six hours. Now, Captain Hitsugaya, I know it may be hard, but you must relax and LISTEN to your lutenient. That includes no paperwork. Right now she is taking care of you. She knows what's best for you at the moment, so please do as she says. If you refuse to relax or take your medicine, you'll be spending time here in the fourth. Understand?" Shiro nodded, not listening at all and just wanting get out of the fourth division.
"Alright," she sighed. "Off you go." She said her goodbyes and escorted them to the entrance of the fourth.
Matsumoto ended up outside her captain's bedroom. She didn't see her captain, so she decided to go in. Unbeknownst to her, her captain was doing paperwork.
Toshiro just arrived in his office, knowing he had lost Matsumoto.
'I'll do the paperwork and then relax.' He thought. He sat down at his desk and started. Sadly for him, Matsumoto caught onto his little scheme quickly. No more than twenty minutes later, she barged into the office.
"Taicho! What do you think you're doing?!" She demanded, stomping right up to him.
Hitsugaya opened his mouth to speak; all that came out were some coughs.
"Unohana taicho said you needed to relax."
The boy just pointed at the paperwork.
"Paperwork is not relaxing. Captain Unohana even said that. I'll do the paperwork once you're in bed."
The boy raised an eyebrow. He didn't believe her one bit. He just turned around and went to work.
Matsumoto just sighed. She then grabbed her captain's pen out of his hand. Toshiro stuck out his hand, wanting the pen. She shook her head no.
"Mat—" was all he got out before he started to cough again.
"You shouldn't be using your voice either." she chastised.
"Mats—" Again, his coughing started. He promptly stood up and made a grab for the pen. His lutenient just held it high above her head though. Toshiro didn't like that. He tried to jump and grab it, but he couldn't jump that much, or high for that matter, before he started coughing.
"Do I have to bring Captain Unohana into this?" inquired the female. Toshiro shook his head no, trying to jump for the pen again.
"Then you have to go to bed and not talk."
The boy sighed and glanced at the paperwork. He pointed at her, then the paperwork with a quizzical look.
"Yes captain, I am perfectly capable of doing paperwork. Now, are you going to walk to your room, or do I have to carry you?" She asked, one hundred percent serious. Hitsugaya just sat down, not believing her, and refusing to move.
"You don't like doing things the easy way do you?" She sighed as she got closer to her captain. Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. She was getting closer.
'Is she serious?' Wondered Hitsugaya, as he started to get a little worried that she was. While he was pondering this, Matsumoto swooped down, and picked up her young captain, tossing him over her shoulder. Toshiro squeaked when he was picked up. He didn't like it. She was making him seem like a child. He WASN'T a child! To show his protest, he tried to yell at her again. When that didn't work, he started to kick and punch. She just walked out of the office though. He turned as red as Renji's hair. All of his subordinates were staring at him being carried by his lutenient. Some of the females were slightly giggling. He tried even more franticly to try escape from Matsumoto. He added a bit of spiritual pressure to one of his kicks to her gut. She let go of him and he shunpoed away. He ended up outside the thirteenth division. It just so happens, that Ukitake was just coming out of his division.
"Shiro-chan! What a surprise. How are you feeling?" asked the older captain. Toshiro just pointed to his face and shook his head no.
"Ah... So you have laryngitis. Well, the best thing to help a sore throat is by sucking on something. Come inside and I'll get you some hard candy." He offered. Toshiro was about to decline, when he felt Matsumoto approaching. He nodded his head yes vigorously. He went inside with Ukitake, and sat down at a table in his office. Ukitake walked over to a large filing cabinet, and opened a drawer. He rustled around in there for a few minutes, before brandishing a large bag of jolly ranchers. Toshiro stood up and took the bag.
"Oh. I also have a recipe for a special tea when I start coughing or get a sore throat. Would you also like that?" Toshiro nodded yes just as Matsumoto barged into the room.
"There you are captain! Why did you run away from me?!" She pouted, clearly upset with her captain.
"Shiro-chan ran away from you?" Asked a disbelieving Ukitake.
"Yeah! I was just carrying him over my shoulder to his bedroom because I caught him doing paperwork and not resting like Unohana told him to do, and he kicked me right in the gut with some reitsu!"
"Did you really kick Matsumoto-san, Shiro-chan?"
Toshiro shook his head no, denying that he did indeed kick her.
"It's not nice to lie Shiro-chan."
Toshiro still shook his head no, he wasn't lying.
"Here Matsumoto-san. It's a recipe for some tea to help with Shiro-chan's throught."
"Why thank you, Ukitake-taicho. I better be getting my captain back to bed." She glanced over at Toshiro. "And you and I are going to have a good talk about lying and running away." She stated firmly.
Toshiro just huffed, showing he didn't want to.
"We can do things the easy way or the hard way, taicho." She sighed once again.
Toshiro just sighed. Not wanting to go through that again, he begrudgingly followed Matsumoto back to his room.
I personally thought this was pretty good. This was originally going to be a one-shot, but I guess my mind had other ideas. I'm open to ideas and criticism! On a five star scale, rate this chapter. Thanks!
