Italics=Flashback
Bold Italics=Hyōrinmaru talking to Toshiro
Bold=Toshiro talking to Hyōrinmaru
Toshiro flew as quickly and as smoothly as he could in his bankai form towards the direction he knew the Kurosaki family's house was located. He knew their father was a doctor so he would be able to help the young teenage girl in his arms. He glanced down at her bloodless face that with her black hair framing her face, made her look like that Snow White woman he heard about.
Toshiro's mouth, which was usually a frown, turned into a straight line as his eyes closed tight in pain. It was his fault, his fault that his friend Karin ended up this way. It would be his fault if she dies, and then Ichigo would end his life, and he wouldn't blame the boy at all.
Once he got to the Kurosaki residence, he quickly released his bankai and entered his gigai, for this is where he was when he felt the hollow and this is where he told his gikongan to wait for him. He wasn't sure of Kurosaki's dad could see Shinigami and he didn't want to scare the man into fainting by seeing his daughter levitating when injured.
He didn't even bother knocking on the door to the infirmary and burst in, "Kurosaki-san, there's an emerga..." He was stunned when he saw the doctor turn in surprise and saw his former taichou. "Shiba Taichou?"
In typical fashion, he raised one hand up in greeting and said enthusiastically, "Yo, Toshiro-kun. How's it go.." Then he seemed to see who was in his arms and scrambled to him, "Karin-chan, what happened?"
Toshiro was still so stunned he didn't quite register that the man had taken her from his arms in an instant and rushed into one of the sterile rooms leading from the hallway.
He recovered from his shock and followed them into the room, "I'm sorry Shiba Taichou, it was my fault. There was a hollow and..."
"I very much doubt it was your fault Toshiro-kun. You were a very capable 3rd seat when I was captain, and if I know you, you've only gotten a lot stronger in the last 20 years." His former captain was doing something medically arcane to Karin, supposedly helping to stabilize her and make her better.
He knew that any other time he would be happy to hear his taichou's confidence in him, but right now he just couldn't work up the energy to be proud. Karin was hurt, possibly dying, and it really was his fault. No matter what his former taichou said. He sat down in the chair that was located in the corner of the room and waited on the edge of his seat, determined not to move from there till he heard what the diagnosis was.
After a few hours of silent working, Isshin pulled away from his daughter. "There, that's all I can do for now."
Toshiro stood up abruptly, "What do you mean all you can do? She's not..." He couldn't bring himself to say it.
"No, she's out of danger of dying, and her body will fully heal without any kind of lasting problems. But the problem isn't her body, it's her mind. She's in a coma."
Toshiro gasped as his mind blanked for a few seconds. The image of Momo on his blade that had resulted in a coma during the fight with Aizen flashed through his memory, and it had been his fault then too.
His legs gave way and he fell back onto the chair that he had been sitting on. Then with a groan, leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and supporting his head with his fists.
Not again, he did this to another dear friend of his, again. Friends were few and far in between for him, so he treasured the ones he had. He hadn't been able to come to the human world very often, but he came when he could, and he would always visit Karin while he was here. Sometimes she was the reason he came in the first place, but he never let her know that.
At that time he looked up and noticed that his former taichou had left while he was out of it and that he and Karin were alone. He looked at her form from across the room and noticed that she was clean, and the blood was gone. But from this distance that's about all he could tell.
He pulled the chair next to her because he didn't think that he would be able to stand all that long. He looked at her face and noticed that while she did have more color to her, she was still rather pale. Another testament of the physical trauma that her body had gone through. The blanket was pulled up to her chest with her arms stretched out over it so that a needle with a plastic tube connected to it could be seen. He supposed that the needle and tube that was also connected to a pouch with a clear liquid in it helped somehow, he didn't know what because he wasn't familiar with human medicine. But knowing that was the only reason he refrained from pulling it out of her arm. How dare that needle mar the skin of this girl when she had already gone through so much. He couldn't see the damage because the blanket covered most of it, and what wasn't covered by the blanket was covered by white bandages. But he knew that the damage was there.
Toshiro stared at her expressionless face for a few minutes, then he gently took her cold hand in his, trying to let her know that he was here for her. If that would still mean something to her.
A loud bang made him jump, and then he turned around to see a frantic Ichigo in the doorway with his father behind him.
"Karin!" he yelled and ran to her bedside. During that time Toshiro got up and went to the wall to give him some room. He knew Ichigo cared a great deal for his family, especially his little sisters.
Ichigo took his sister's lifeless hand, as Toshiro had done and stroked it tenderly. "It'll be alright Karin, I'm here for you. I know you'll come through." He turned to Isshin, "How bad is it really dad? Don't sugar coat it for me."
Isshin sighed a little, "Physically she'll be alright. I've stitched her up, and all that is necessary. But as I was trying to tell you before you rushed here, she's in a coma. Who knows when she'll wake up, if she ever does."
Ichigo stared blankly at his father then turned and glared at Toshiro, "This is your fault isn't it Toshiro."
Toshiro lowered his head, not even bothering to tell the teenager to address him as Hitsugaya Taichou. But since he wasn't looking at Ichigo, he couldn't prepare himself for the punch that hit him in his jaw with a force that flung his head back against the wall. He fell to the floor seeing stars for a few seconds.
After his vision cleared, he looked back up at the teen rubbing the back of his head where he bumped the wall and saw that his former taichou had grabbed his son's arm, preventing him from hitting Toshiro again.
"That's enough Ichigo."
"You let this happen, didn't you, you little bastard. And you call yourself a taichou."
Hearing those words Shiba Taichou pulled another one of his hundred eighty degrees personality switches and smiled happily down at him, "So you did make taichou after all huh, my little Toshiro-kun? I knew you had it in you."
Ichigo choked a little and looked up at his dad in surprise, "You know Toshiro?"
"Oh yeah, he was my third seat when I was taichou of the tenth division. Let me guess, Rangiku-chan hasn't worked hard enough to achieve bankai and that's why you're taichou and not her right?"
Toshiro looked up at his taichou a little dazed, he couldn't believe that he was talking like that when his own daughter was lying in a coma. But then he looked down a little again and nodded.
"Anyways Ichigo," he said in a much more serious tone, "I know Toshiro-kun wouldn't just sit idly by and watch someone get hurt. If there had been any way he could have prevented this, then he would have. No use blaming him."
Toshiro looked up in surprise, he didn't blame him? Why not, Toshiro blamed himself. He hadn't been strong enough, or fast enough to prevent this disaster. What was all that extra training he put himself through after the Winter War worth if he couldn't protect his friends?
As Ichigo lowered his arm and walked back to Karin's bedside, Toshiro stood up a little unsteadily.
"You alright Toshiro-kun? You want me to look at your head for you?"
"No, thank you Shiba Taichou, but I'll be fine. I just need to sit down."
As Isshin left, presumably to take care of other patients, Toshiro sat back down in the chair again, not wanting to leave Karin. Ichigo must have thought the same thing because he sat down on the floor, even though Toshiro knew it must not be that comfortable.
After about 15 minutes of silence Ichigo spoke up softly, not looking at him, "I'm sorry Toshiro, I shouldn't have hit you like that. I was just scared and angry that I was just looking for someone to blame."
Toshiro looked at Ichigo, a little surprised. He had never heard the teenager apologize before. "It's alright Kurosaki, it was my fault. No matter what your dad says. I wouldn't blame you at all if you had tried to kill me."
Toshiro looked down at the floor again, so he didn't see Ichigo look up at him in surprise. Ichigo knew the young captain's reputation for being cold hearted and not caring for most anyone, and yet he seemed to regret what happened to Karin in a very personal way. Just how close were they?
Ichigo looked down at Karin again, deciding to leave it alone for now.
Toshiro kept looking down at the featureless gray tiled floor as his mind played the horrible memory over and over.
Toshiro and Karin were sitting on the roof of the girl's house talking when his denreishinki went off a second before his senses told him a mass of hollows had appeared. He took out his phone like device to see where exactly the hollows were. It was to the west and he stood up and turned in that direction to find Karin looking intently toward the hollows too. She hadn't even needed the denreishinki to tell where the hollows were.
"Karin, you stay here. This is a big one."
He took the pill for his gikongan and had jumped off the roof as he heard Karin call out to him, "Hey wait you..."
He didn't even stay long enough to hear what she was going to call him. He just knew that these many hollows were extremely dangerous and that he was the closest Shinigami.
So he shunpoed as fast as he could to the location of the hollows, which of course just had to be a very busy business area, a mall if he remembered the term correctly.
Luckily the hollows hadn't had time to cause too much damage and very few injuries so far.
As he arrived at the mall, he saw one that was reaching for a human woman that was lying unconscious with her leg bleeding, and called out his shikai.
"Sōten ni zase, Hyōrinmaru!"
He instantly threw his chain around the hollow's arm and froze it. Before the hollow had much of a chance to register that it's arm had fallen off, Toshiro sliced threw his mask. He didn't even stop to watch it turn to ice and then disintegrate before he was after another hollow with his ice dragons.
Sometime later found him facing off with the last one, panting and trembling a little in exhaustion. He hadn't even had time to call out his bankai during the fight, and lacked the energy to do so now to help him. This hollow was a crafty one, as well as a fast one. He had never been the fastest at shunpo, but he was still very fast, faster than the majority of hollows, but this one seemed to be almost on the level of Kuchiki Taichou, or maybe even the former Shihōin Taichou. In addition, he was tired and so wasn't at his best.
"Ha ha ha," the hollow cackled. "What's the matter little Shinigami? 50 of us too much for ya?"
Is that how many of them there were? He had lost track after the first 20. He didn't even know how long he's been fighting that hoard. Where was Kurosaki? Or even Ishida? He wasn't even going to ask about the Shinigami stationed here, but the other two were usually pretty reliable when it came to hollows.
He was jolted out of his reverie by the hollow briefly disappearing, he knew that the hollow was coming in for a frontal attack and raised Hyōrinmaru in front of him and blocked just in time for the hollow to reappear with its claws in conflict with his zanpakuto.
The hollow smiled widely as it noticed that Hyōrinmaru shook with Toshiro's effort, while its claws held steady. That was all the warning he had before the hollow disappeared again, and since he was blocking with all his effort his momentum forced him to fall flat on his front, panting.
He gulped a little as he felt the tip of the hollow's sharp claws on his back. "Well, little Shinigami, I think this is the end for you."
The claws were removed from his back as the hollow raised his arm back for a strike.
If he was going to die, it wouldn't be lying down. He was going to be on his feet like a man.
He was able to raise himself up to his hands and knees when he heard an eerily familiar voice.
"Toshiro! No!" And before he was able to register who it was he was pushed off to the side.
After he rolled to a stop, he was able to wearily look up. And when his vision cleared, he was horrified to see the hollow grinning wickedly, holding someone up by its claws through that person's stomach, and that the person was Karin.
"Stupid human, I knew you'd do that. Your energy is almost as strong and delicious as his is. You'll both make a fine meal and dessert." With that heartless comment, it pushed her away and she fell off his claws to the ground in a growing pool of her own blood.
At that moment, something in him snapped. Red starting tinting his vision as he felt power rising within him.
Master, I removed the Spiritual Limiter on you myself. Let's take down that bastard.
Then he realized that at first the power raising was Hyōrinmaru's wrath raging, then the Limiter being removed. He didn't know that his zanpakuto could do that, but he'd talk to him about that later.
With a cry of rage he charged at hollow, whose triumphant smile transformed to a gape of astonishment. A hollow didn't have a very expressive mask, but some emotions you can see in it. And it was ever so satisfying to see the shock play across its face right before he slashed its mask.
He stood there panting a few seconds when he realized he was in his bankai state, without calling upon it.
That was me master, I didn't want that hollow to get away after hurting Karin just as much as you did.
Really? He didn't realize that Hyōrinmaru felt so strongly for Karin. Well, he'd think about that later, right now he needed to get her some help. He wasn't sure about where the hospital was, but he knew that Karin's dad was a doctor, plus that's where his gigai was.
So he gently picked her up in his arms and took off into the sky towards her home.
It was his fault, he should have known that she wouldn't just stay safe at her house, that's not the type of person she was. He also should have been stronger so he could have defeated the hollows faster and so that when she did arrive, the battle would have been over and she wouldn't have been in any danger.
He tried hard not to cry, but one tear fell. Freezing as it rolled down his cheek and crashed to a dozen pieces as it hit the floor.
XxXxXxXxX
"Really taichou, it's alright. Go to the human world, I'll finish up here."
"But Matsumoto, you've done more than your share of the paperwork for two months now."
"Yes, and it's almost killing me. But you need to go and see Karin, be there for her if she should wake up."
Toshiro gaped at her for a while. Is that why she was doing it? At first he hadn't really paid attention to the whys of Rangikui's unusual behavior, he just really appreciated it since he wanted to be in the human world as much as he could for Karin. But he recently he felt he should at least try to do at least his share of the paperwork, since Rangiku seemed to be taking responsibility for once, and didn't want to set a bad example.
Rangiku chuckled at her taichou's expression, "Go on taichou, I can hold things down here."
Toshiro gave her one of his rare small smiles and then gently kissed her on the cheek, "Thanks Matsumoto." Blushing a little, he shunpoed to the gate to the human world.
Toshiro knocked on the Kurosaki's front door, and was shortly greeted by Karin's twin sister Yuzu.
"Oh Toshiro-kun it's you, I was wondering if you'd be able to visit today. Come on in."
Toshiro never ceased to marvel at Yuzu's constant cheerful attitude. Except for the first week following Karin's injury he never saw her without a smile, even though it seemed to be a little forced half the time.
"Go on up to see Karin-chan, I'll bring you some tea and something to eat in a little bit."
"Thanks Kurosaki-chan, thanks for everything."
"Oh Toshiro-kun, you can call me Yuzu by now."
Toshiro was taken aback by that comment, today has been just full of surprises. Then he smiled warmly, "Alright Yuzu-chan, I will."
She smiled happily at him, then turned to the kitchen as he turned to go upstairs.
He opened to the door to the room the Kurosaki twins shared and entered in.
About a month after the fight, the Kurosaki's moved Karin from the clinic to her room, taking her life support with her.
He sat down on the chair beside the girl's bed and looked at her.
She did look a lot better than she did before, her face was no longer pale, but a healthy shade of peach, tinged with a light pink. He knew the bandages were also gone, but he couldn't see that under the blanket covering her. Yuzu also always took care of Karin's personal hygiene, so her hair was brushed, nail's trimmed, and smelled faintly of roses. He smiled slightly as he saw that Yuzu went the extra mile today and added a little make up. That took her from simply herself, to breath taking. Karin wasn't beautiful in the traditional sense of the word, but had a subtle beauty that you usually didn't notice, but the makeup brought it to the forefront and she simply glowed.
At least she would have if her eyes were open. Toshiro smiled sadly as he picked up her inanimate hand.
"Karin, please come back. Your family needs you here. I...I need you here. I've been tearing myself up inside about this. And I'm sure Hyōrinmaru is rather irritated about it by now."
You got that right.
Hush you.
There was silence in the room, and between master and zanpakuto for a few minutes.
I have a thought master.
What is it?
If I understand a coma patient correctly, the person's mind is there, just not in the forefront where we can see it and that's why they can come back sometime. Is that right?
I don't know anything specific like that, but it sounds logical to me.
Well, why not go get her?
Huh? What do you mean by that?
And you're supposed to be a genius. It'll be like entering your inner world for you, but since she's not a Shinigami, you'd be entering her mind instead. It has been done before, but it is extremely dangerous. It is possible to lose your connection to yourself and be lost to simply fade away in her mind. But I'm pretty sure I'd be able to hold onto you better than most other zanpakutos. So let me ask you this master, do you love her enough to take that risk and go after her?
Toshiro practically jumped at Hyōrinmaru's choice of words. Love? He didn't love her, she was just a dear friend.
He looked at her still face, and wondered if it was just friendship he felt towards her? He had told her he needed her back because he's been tearing himself up with guilt, and it was true. If she were to wake up, most of his guilt would go away because what really made him feel guilty is that he was the reason she ended up this way.
But then he thought of his behavior for the last two months. When Momo was in a coma, he was feeling equally as guilty, but he didn't spend every spare moment beside her, and he loved her dearly as a sister. And usually a sister means more to someone than a friend does right?
He remembered how he would continue to come to the human world whenever he could after the Winter War just to see her. They would play football together often, then would walk up to his hill and sit on the rail together talking while they watched the sky, they often stayed there till after the sun went down.
He'd never even thought about doing that with anyone else.
Images of their happy times flowed through his mind as he felt his eyes throb a little, threatening tears, but he wouldn't let them fall.
Yes, I do love her that much.
Well, it's about time you realized it. I just wish it was different circumstances that made you figure it out.
Me too. So what do I do.
You reach out like you would enter your inner world, but extend it out to her. It helps to have physical contact with her head. That makes the bond with your own body stronger.
He rested his head down on the bed since he wasn't sure if his body would stay up after he left and reached for her head reaching his consciousness out to her.
He found himself in complete darkness, he looked around himself and found not a speck of light. The only thing he could make out were what seemed to be black silhouettes against a blacker skyline. He could barely make out the shapes, but they appeared to be trees.
But he couldn't think about that right then. He needed to find Karin.
"Karin! Where are you!"
There was no answer, but he didn't expect one right away. It wouldn't be that easy.
He started walking in the darkness, but didn't feel any fear of losing his way, or of going in circles. He could feel his connection with Hyōrinmaru and his body in the direction he was walking away from..
He did expect to stumble over unseen obstacles, but did not. The ground felt a little soft and vaguely familiar. He reached down and felt grass. So was this was sort of like a grassland? If so, then the faint outline of trees would make sense. He hoped he wouldn't walk into a tree while he was here.
He didn't know how long he had been there searching, occasionally calling out her name before he felt a very small breath of wind against his face and faintly heard her despaired voice, "Toshiro, Ichi-nii, help me."
Toshiro gasped and started running straight ahead, the direction the wind was coming from.
It still took him some time to reach her, but he heard her voice on the wind and followed it. Each time she was calling out for help, she called out to him more often than Ichigo. Later he'd be pleased to know that she called out for him more than her brother, but right now he was just happy to hear her voice again.
He slowed down when he no longer needed the wind to carry her voice to him. He didn't want to run her over.
"Karin? Can you hear me?"
"Toshiro? Is that you?"
He continued walking toward her with his arms outstretched so that he could find her without bumping into her, "Yes, I'm here. I came to take you home."
At that time he felt his shins bump against something soft, and then felt arms wrap around his legs.
She had been crouched down on the ground.
He slowly lowered himself to get down to her as he heard her sob. Once he was down it was hard to get her to let go of his legs. He had to pry her fingers loose so that he could sit next to her. But as soon as he did she latched herself onto his chest. He wrapped his arms around her comfortingly a little surprised that she would cling to him with such desperation, she was usually such a strong independent person.
"Oh Toshiro, I've been here for so long with no way out. And all alone, I hate being alone. Please don't leave me alone."
It was then that he realized that being alone must be one of her desperate hidden fears. It was probably triggered by the death of her mother. And even though she had her family, she probably felt terribly alone. And now that he thought about it, he had very rarely seen her all by herself, without her friends or family.
He gently stroked her head, "Shhhhhh, I'm here now. I'm not going to leave you alone. I promise."
"Really? You promise?"
"Yes, I promise." He gently pulled her onto his lap so he could hold her easier. Normally he wouldn't dare do something like that, she would probably hit him in the head. But he didn't think she'd mind too much right now.
And she didn't, it almost even seemed that she didn't realize it because she just curled up on his lap trembling. He just held her, rocking slightly murmuring comfortingly to her.
"Why am I here Toshiro? Why is it so dark?"
"I don't know why it's so dark, but you're here because you're in a coma. Right now your mind is trapped here in this darkness, and I'm here to take you back."
After some time and she seemed to mostly calm down, he asked her, "So you ready to head back now?"
"Yes, more than ready." Now she sounded more like herself.
"Then let's go." He set her on the ground and stood up keeping her hand in his.
"But how do we get back? I've searched all over the place, but I can't find anything."
"It's alright, I've got a connection back." He felt the connection and turned in that direction, and then it disappeared.
He gulped inwardly, but started walking in the direction he last felt it. He didn't want her to know he lost the life line.
What happened? Hyōrinmaru said the connection would be strong with both him and his hand on her head. Now he couldn't find it at all. He knew that Hyōrinmaru wouldn't desert him, so his physical connection with Karin's body must have been broken somehow.
Well, there wasn't much he could do about it now. The only thing he could do now is to keep a hold of Karin, and just try to keep in the same direction.
After an unknown amount of time, Karin spoke up a little nervously, "You sure we're going the right way Toshiro?"
"Yes, I told you I have a connection to follow." He hated lying to her, but he didn't want to send her to that despair she was in earlier. He just had to continue and hope and pray that he didn't fade away like Hyōrinmaru warned him of that possible event.
It was then that he actually did stumble on something. He had gone for such a long time without encountering something that he could stumble on that he actually fell over it, pulling Karin with him.
"Ouch, Toshiro. What did you do that for?"
"I didn't do that on purpose. I tripped over something."
It had felt like a cord of some sort, but he groped around for it to be sure. When he found it, he could tell it was a string of some sort. It was very strong to be able to have held up against him tripping over it, especially for how thin it was. He pulled on it and it still didn't give out.
About that time he felt a pulse through it, startling him into jumping. What was that? A little while longer he felt again, and it seemed to head towards one direction. Should he follow it? Well, there was nothing else to do really.
"Karin, where are you?" He kept one hand on the string, and searched for her hand with the other.
When he found her hand again she squeezed it a little painfully, but he didn't mind it all.
"Let's go Karin." He smiled as he stood up again. He was sure they'd make it out now, he wasn't sure on how he knew that, but he was as sure of it as anything he had been in his life. Somehow he knew that this string would lead them home.
He felt the way the pulse was running along the string and headed in that direction always keeping their lifeline in hand.
After a while, he saw a small speck of light in front of him.
"Karin, do you see that?"
"See what?"
"That light ahead of us."
"No, I can't see anything."
Well, that was interesting, why is it that he could see it clearly and she couldn't?
He continued to walk toward the light and as he came up to it, he could see it was a crystal of ice. Had he left this here when he first came? Is this how to get back?
"Toshiro? Why did you stop?"
He smiled, even though she couldn't see it. "Don't worry, the nightmare is over now Karin."
He looked at the string in his hand that he could now see was red and offered a silent thanks, then touched the crystal.
And as he did it blazed, it was so bright it overcame both him and Karin.
XxXxXxXxX
He came to himself sitting in the chair, but laying his chest on the bed, with his head supported by both arms. He also smelled some food as well as some tea. So it must have been Yuzu that had come to deliver his food that had moved him to make him more comfortable, probably assuming he was asleep.
He opened his eyes, sat up and looked at Karin.
At first there didn't seem to be any change. Did he do something wrong? Was she still in that awful darkness. Did he leave her alone like he promised he wouldn't?
But then her face scrunched up a little and he gasped. Then miracles of miracles, she slowly opened her eyes.
"Karin?"
She turned her head to look at him, "Toshiro, what are you doing here?"
What? Does she not remember what happened in the darkness? Oh well, it's not terribly important that she does.
"I'm here for you, you were in a coma for the last two months."
"What? Why? What happened?"
He looked down, ashamed to look at her as he confessed to her, "It was the fight with the hollows. I'm so sorry Karin, it was my fault you were hurt so badly. If only I had been stronger, I could have defeated them sooner and you wouldn't have been in any kind of danger."
He waited in silence, waited for her to start yelling at him, and for her to hate him.
But then he felt her hand gently rest over his. He gasped a little and looked up at her to see her smiling gently at him.
"It wasn't your fault Toshiro, it was no body's fault. Did you invite that hollow to come here?"
"Well, no."
"Did you ask it to attack right then?"
"No, but..."
"You did all you could to defeat them didn't you?"
"Yes, but..."
"Then it wasn't your fault. If you had answered yes to any of those questions besides the last one, then I would have said it was your fault, but you didn't. As I said it was no one's fault. Or if someone is at fault I am. I'm the one that chose to rush in and push you out of the way."
He stared at her in shock, then smiled as his eyes watered, feeling a great burden being lifted from his shoulders.
With a little effort she sat up, and he sat on the edge of the bed, keeping her hand in his. Then he leaned forward and kissed her deeply, and was shocked to feel her kiss him back.
He acted on impulse and didn't really expect her to do the same, much less feel anything for him besides friendship.
At that time he heard the door open, and he and Karin broke apart to see Yuzu poke her head through the doorway. "Hey Toshiro-kun, I was wondering if you were going to stay for dinn..."
At that time her eyes widened as she saw that Karin was awake. "Hey Yuzu."
Yuzu's face screwed up as tears came flowing freely down her face, "Oh Karin-chan!" she yelled and ran to the bed to throw her arms around Karin, who hugged her twin just as fiercely.
Toshiro smiled at them, he had gotten out of the way just in time and so he could hear footsteps come running up the stairs and realized that Yuzu's cry had been heard through the whole house and was probably misinterpreted as a cry of despair.
Ichigo first came through the open doorway, "Yuzu, what happened?"
Ichigo took a breath in shock as he saw Karin was hugging Yuzu and was looking at him. "Hello Ichi-nii."
In a move that was just as surprising as the teenager apologizing to Toshiro, he also started to cry and ran to the bed to join the embrace.
During that time Isshin had come up also, and Toshiro expected him to make some kind of elaborate show of his love for his daughter. But instead he just smiled and walked calmly to his family and joined in the group hug and cry session.
Toshiro stood apart from them smiling faintly. He was happy that the family was back together again, but he felt a little left out. He really didn't have a part in the family right now, so it really was appropriate, but still.
Then both Isshin and Ichigo looked at him and each opened an arm to him, inviting him to join them.
He stood there shocked for a few seconds, then smiled hesitantly and joined them. A tear gently rolling down his own face, and this time it didn't freeze.
XxXxXxXxX
Epilogue
In the frozen land that was Toshiro's inner world, Hyōrinmaru could be seen lounging comfortably on the ice smiling a smile that was even rarer than Toshiro's smiles.
He was thinking of a certain female wind dragon who's world was currently dark, but would soon open up revealing a windswept grass field that sported a few trees in the distance. He couldn't wait till they would be flying through the air together again.