Title: Fair Trade
Author: Willow Bark Tea
Summary: The Winter War was full of unexpected happenings, but no one in their wildest dreams could have imagined this, and now, Hitsugaya will always mourn this loss...
Note: Dedicated to FuriousDeragonmaji
Prompt: EyesIf there was anything about the Winter War that the Shinigami and their allies (human or otherwise) had never expected, it was for the war to drag on for as long as it had. Another unexpected situation that arose from the Winter War was the relationship between Hitsugaya Toushirou and Kurosaki Ichigo. But the one thing that no one truly expected, was for Tousen Kaname to somehow get it into his head that Ichigo was responsible for the bloodshed that came with the War, and attack the teen while he was in the human world. Alone and unable to reach his Substitute License quickly enough, Ichigo had been literally defenseless, and had it not been for Byakuya's timely arrival, the teen would have been killed. As it was, the teen had almost died or blood loss before the Kuchiki could drive the renegade former captain away. Even less expected had been for Tousen, stern, honorable Tousen, who had apparently coated his blade in some corrosive material, which ate away at Ichigo's flesh and nerve endings, causing damage so extensive that not even Inoue Orihime's Shun Shun Rikka could undo it all. Comatose, half paralyzed and completely blind, Ichigo was even more defenseless, and so he was moved into Soul Society while the Fourth Division and Inoue labored to return to the teen some mobility. Hitsugaya didn't mind so much when Ichigo finally woke from his coma several months after the attack, and eventually regained his mobility, but what the diminutive captain of the Tenth Division really missed, were the sight of all of Ichigo's love and emotions boiling in those chocolate covered eyes. The scarring was so intense that Ichigo would never be able to see again, and it was doubtful if the damage would be undone by his death.
"Oi, Toushiro," Ichigo sat down on the grass next to the white haired captain. "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing."
"Liar. You're thinking about my eyes again."
"You'll never be able to see again much less open your eyes. I miss them, miss the color, miss the life..."
"Oi, at least I'm still alive, right?"
Toushiro felt a pang of regret as he saw how the orange haired teen had turned his face in his direction, despite having no functioning eyes to see with.
"Yeah, I'll always be thankful for that."
Ichigo smiled and stood up. "Well come on. There's an Arrancar on its way into Karakura."
Toushiro stood up and as the pair shunpoed toward the Senkaimon, he could not help but watch how the redhead moved as surely as he ever had. A good thing that had come out of this, was that Ichigo's ability with controlling his reiryouku had increased. It had been a necessity for Ichigo if he wanted to move about freely, not only in Seireitei, but also in Karakura.
Despite this, Hitsugaya Toushirou knew that he would always mourn the loss of Ichigo's eyes. In his own opinion, the red head's eyes were his best feature. Hitsugaya Toushirou would always mourn the loss of his lover's eyes, but he also knew that he would always be grateful that his lover survived. Ichigo's eyes for Ichigo's life. It seemed a fair enough trade. Well, not really, but eyes or no, Ichigo was Ichigo, but Toushirou would never stop mourning their loss.
Owari
