Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or any of its characters.
Normality
It was supposed to be a normal day.
It had started out as one. They were doing the usual drills while their captain watched. He was looking better, cheeks not so shallow, skin not so sickly, eyes not so somber. He looked healthy for once, looked normal for once.
His two ever faithful third seats hovered over him, fussing over him like a mother hen would. They insisted that he didn't have to worry about the paperwork. They would do it for him. They would do anything for him. They tried to usher him back to his rooms to rest with no avail.
With a smile that would (and could) brighten the skies in all its glorious radiance and light, he shook his head. He wanted to stay outdoors for as long as he could. It had been days since he had felt a cool breeze on his skin, felt the warm sunshine on his face, felt alive and well enough to do something like this.
Finally, they relented. They could not disobey a captain's order. Or his puppy-eye gaze for long.
For some time, they sat there in peace. The trainees worked harder, quietly pleased to have him overseeing their training.
But as brief as it was, all it took was a cough and everything went downhill from there.
One of the third seats quickly handed him a glass of water. He accepted it gratefully, but the coughing would not stop. It merely amplified.
In their mindless panic, the third seats ran to get his medicine. The remaining shinigami did what they could to comfort their captain. Even the most hardened warriors flinched at the glazed look in his eyes, pained and suffering. The hoarse rattling in his chest made them cringe. The way his frail body shook horribly at each jarring cough gave them the need to look away.
His eyes were squeezed tightly as he rasped for breath, coughing, hacking, wheezing. By now, half of his Division watched in mounting fear and worry.
When he removed his hand from his mouth, he wasn't surprised (though someone behind him gasped in horror) at the splotches of crimson running from his fingers, dribbling down his palm, staining into his nails.
It did not matter that they had seen this many, many times during their service and duty to the Thirteenth Division. Seeing their captain like this, unable to do anything but silently watch, was just as hard as a blow any Hollow could have dealt to them.
The third seats returned, babbling and wailing tearfully that they couldn't find the medicine.
Almost immediately, widespread chaos broke from the Thirteenth Division. Several sprinted off to find the medicine. Others demanded that they took him the Fourth Division now. Some asserted he shouldn't be moved, while they'll go and bring Captain Unohana here.
Surprisingly, in the midst of their alarm, no one noticed that Captain Kyouraku had appeared, suddenly and abruptly, expression severe for once. Raising his head slowly, he looked up at his old friend and tried to smile through red teeth and pale lips.
" You're early," he remarked, as casually as if he was speaking of the weather.
Wordlessly, Shunsui picked up him up and within seconds, disappeared, already running towards the Fourth Division, leaving the rest of the Division standing and staring in awe. Until the third seats snapped out of their reverie and raced to catch up.
He would recover. He always did.
That was a "normal" day to him.