Ichigo woke up, stiff and sore. This was not a good feeling. What he noticed when he tried to sit up in bed, was that his shirt was off, and he was covered in bandages. Who had put them on him? He looked over to his chair, seeing a sleeping prodigy in the middle of math homework. Ichigo wasn't sure who's math homework it was, but he knew by the bags under the taichou's eyes that they both wouldn't be going to school; he himself was too injured, and Toushiro…well, he was exhausted, and would probably sleep the day away. Ichigo couldn't help but notice how thin the taichou was, but remembering yesterday's sight, Ichigo knew that he was a force to be reckoned with, despite his small stature. Ichigo felt a little weird around him, a strange feeling twisting and weaving its way into him, and he was nearly overcome by the urge to wrap his arms around the boy as he slept, maybe bury his face in the fluffy-looking white hair. But Ichigo told himself, " What the hell is wrong with you? You're a guy! You can't have feelings for that shrimp! He's not even you're height yet!"
And he shook those strange thoughts away and tried again to sit up, but wasn't strong enough yet.
Hitsugaya woke up, blinking a few times, before noticing that he had been doing Ichigo's math homework before he fell asleep.
" Oi, Toushiro."
" Good morning, Kurosaki."
" Was anybody in here last night? "
" No, why? "
" It's these bandages…who?"
Hitsugaya gave him a guilty look, and returned to scowling. Ichigo smiled, and sighed. Suddenly, there was a pain in his chest.
" Looks like we both won't be going to school today, Toushiro."
" Why? "
" You're too tired, and I'm injured."
" I'm not tired."
" Then why are there bags under your eyes?"
"Drop it, Kurosaki."
At Orihime's house that morning, Orihime decided to skip school, due to that Matsumoto and Yumichika forced her to stay home and play Matchmaker with them.
" So, why exactly are we doing this?"
" To make our little taichou and your substitute happier! Especially now since they have to live together under the same roof. I know better than anyone how irritable taichou can be"
" Then why are you here?" Orihime asked, pointing at Yumichika.
" I am here to see if the person you two pair them up with makes them a beautiful couple!" Yumichika said, overjoyed at the experience at playing this game.
" Oh, okay!" Orihime said, pleased.
" Alrighty then, who does Ichigo-kun like the most in the world?, Orihime?"
" Umm…Rukia…I guess."
" Then we gotta make them love each other!"
" Uhhh…how?"
"You're lucky the mistress of love came to town, Orihime. Without me, it's be a disaster!"
"But…" Orhime bit her tongue. She didn't ask for this. She hoped that she'd be paired with Ichigo. That was the only reason she joined. That, and Rangiku said that she's hurt her if she didn't join. Little did the three matchmakers know that pairing their strawberry with their adopted sister of the Kuchiki clan would be a disaster indeed.
Back at Ichigo's room, Hitsugaya and Ichigo were bickering about something. They were close to yelling at each other, when the 'dropped it'. Then the orange strawberry had a 'great idea'.
" Hey, Toushiro. Why were you hanging out with Kei, Fujita, and Botan?"
" I have my reasons."
" But they're the school bullies."
" So? I can hang out with anyone I wish to. Plus, what went on between the four of us was none of your concern, Kurosaki."
" Oh yeah, I think it is my concern, Toushiro."
" Why is that so?"
" I'm pretty sure I heard them poking fun at you."
" They weren't doing no such thing."
" You sure? I heard them. And their mouths were moving, too."
" Stay out of my business."
" I thought we already went through this, Toushiro. With that Kusaka incident. You weren't made to be a coy person, so stop trying to be. Loosen up a little. "
" Don't bring that up." Grumbled the taichou, who turned his back to the teen.
" Now you're acting like a kid."
" Nani?"
" You heard me, Toushiro."
"…I'm not acting like a child."
" Yeah, you are. You're acting like a bratty child who can't have his own way."
" Kurosaki?"
" Yeah?"
"Shut up."
And with that, they dropped the subject. Hitsugaya turned around to look at the injured teen lying in his bed. The slightest bit of pity was felt, along with something else mixed in. Strangeness. Something he had never experienced before, even around Momo. He guessed what it was. Even in a small amount, he could tell that he was starting to have feelings for the orange-haired idiot. He shook the feelings away, but they didn't leave. They just sat there at the back of his mind.
" You can't have feelings for him, idiot. Think about other things. Watermelon." He thought, but when his mouth started to water, he pushed watermelon to the back of his mind, too. He searched through his mind for something. Something else. He stopped when the hauting image of Kusaka came to mind. And suddenly, he figured out that he had long since forgotten the alien feeling when Kusaka had been killed. So he had felt it around his old classmate, too. But that was so long ago, and only recently had he been finally put to rest. His face grew a little sad, unintentionally.
" Hey, Toushiro…if what I said brought up bad memories…then I won't bring it up again. Just don't look like that. "
Hitsugaya noticed what he had done. He had to make up for it, and his head shot up from looking at the carpet beneath his feet, and he growled,
" I don't need your sympathy, Kurosaki. You need to rest. So get to it."
Ichigo decided to listen to the prodigy, and in minutes, was asleep. Hitsugaya looked over at him from his shoulder, and decided to go for a nap. He crawled into the sleeping bag on the floor and closed his aqua eyes. The picture of Kusaka burned into his eyelids, forcing him to see it whenever he blinked. Suddenly, the picture came to life, and his eyelids replayed the memory of when Kusaka first died.
There was a long stretch of land, further than he ever imagined. Covered with ice. He had been here before. Many times in dreams like this, where a mighty dragon, made completely of ice, landed before him. But in this dream, there was no dragon. Instead, there was Kusaka. And Ichigo. Both of them had their swords in hand, and were taking a fighting stance, ready to slash at each other. Their words echoed through the plain, reaching his ears.
" Why can't you just leave Toushiro alone? If he wants to move on and leave you behind let him do so!"
" Stay out of this, kid! I know him best, and I know he'll keep on missing me!"
" I'm only here because I care about what happens to him! He's a friend, and you should care too, not torture him with painful memories!"
" If he doesn't want to be tortured, than he should forget me!"
" Well he can't do that if you keep reminding him about you!"
" What are you going to do about it , huh?"
" Just leave him alone and I'll leave you alone!"
" You have no right to tell me what to do!"
Then Kusaka ran at Ichigo, who kept his guard up, and used his large sword to shield himself from the attack. The swords clashed, and the rest became blurry. Hitsugaya felt some pain in his chest. This was too real to be a dream. But Kusaka was dead, and Ichigo wasn't healed. Was this a dream? Suddenly, there was a numbness that slowly crept through him, and he fell. The tuft of silver hair that always hung over on of his eye drooped and touched the cold ice below. That was when Ichigo pushed Kusaka away and ran toward Hitsugaya. He kneeled down and saw that Hitsugaya had fainted. How, he wasn't sure. But Ichigo knew that this wasn't good. He picked up the prodigy, and turned to face Kusaka, who clearly didn't care. Kusaka just turned his back and walked away, in defeat. Ichigo watched the dead soul disintegrate, and kept on walking.
