Another morning and another stiff and sore wake up.
This time though there was something cold and wet dripping onto his face.
Wondering if it would be worth satisfying his curiosity by opening his throbbing eyes to let the sunny knives have at his brain, he stretched.
He was impeded by more limbs than he was accustomed to. Blinking his eyes open he saw a tuft of shiny white hair.
Hanataro felt that this was an entirely unfair turn of events as he seemed to be cuddling the captain of the 10th division.
It felt absolutely too good and he could feel a panic attack slithering its way up his spine.
This was so bad. No it was WORSE! He was going to be frozen into an ice block only to be thawed out when proper punishment had been found.
He was double dead.
"Would you please stop shaking the bed, I'm getting seasick." Came a musical voice from his chest.
Hanataro squeaked and almost suffocated because hyperventilation was not conductive to sound making.
Closing his eyes again, he focused on the situation. He saw many pretty pictures of himself losing dearly loved fingers and toes.
His heart tried to brutally beat itself out of his chest. 'Okay, being logical about this doesn't work' he thought. Instead he tried to figure out why it was hard to move.
He was lying on his back and captain Hitsugaya was more or less draped over him. There was a head on his chest and an arm was slung over his waist and their legs tangled up.
Again, this was nice but not worth dying twice over nice.
Hanataro gulped and asked shakily "you must be wondering why I'm in your bed ne?"
His arm tightened around Hitsugaya in pure terror.
Hitsugaya tilted his head up slightly "not really."
Hanataro relaxed his hold a bit to look down in confusion and arched one eyebrow in a question.
Hitsugaya sighed "Hyorinmaru told me what happened."
There was a low, deep rumble.
"And that I shouldn't mutilate or cause you undo death unless necessary" Hitsugaya added sounding petulant.
Hanataro perked up at that "oh good, that's very nice. Are you hungry? The super secret ninja guards probably snuck some food in."
Hanataro was having issues.
His main one stemmed from the fact that his brain seemed to have disengaged. Which meant that his mouth was on auto-pilot, anything could pop out at any moment.
That led to his second issue, he was still so shell shocked that he couldn't even begin to reign in control. His mind was supplying a helpful litany of 'nonononono, OH GOD NO. Nonono' which wasn't very helpful at all.
It felt slightly better to be in a self induced denial than be sure of his own death but he couldn't quite muster up the strength to get to that place yet.
Hitsugaya was frowning "super secret ninja guards?" he asked.
Hanataro giggled 'oh boy this hysteria thing was getting worse' but managed a croaked " erm yea the 2nd division suicide guards, I wonder why no one thought to assign homicide squad as well..." he trailed off.
A snort came from under his chin "because murdering you would effectively kill me, thus suicide" Hitsugaya offered.
Hanataro had to agree to the logic of that so he went on "but we're still cuddling".
The panic was receding but wrestling any coherency out of his fear addled mind was still difficult.
Hitsugaya stiffened, he had no idea how that was pertinent to the topic at hand however true it might be. He also completely failed to come up with an answer.
Hanataro lifted his head a fraction, looking around the room "see there's a tray for you on the end table...and a basket full of candy and toys. Must be what captain Ukitake brought yesterday."
Hitsugaya growled. He felt it was bad enough to look like a child, there was no need for his peers to treat him like one. Despite his irritation he could feel a need for a good cup of strong tea.
Lifting himself to a sitting position, he could feel how stiff and weak he was. It would take some time to train back to his usual form.
Hanataro shot up off the bed as soon as Hitsugaya freed him. He strode to the tray to get things set up "where would you like to eat captain Hitsugaya?" he asked without looking up.
Hitsugaya studied his 'for now soul companion' for a moment, the poor thing looked scared out of its wits. Not really knowing how to set the boy at ease, he looked around the room "how about by the window? You will be joining me yes?" the last coming out as a command.
A high pitched yelp escaped Hanataro's lips in surprise "I can't, you're a superior officer and from another division and you're my patient." He wondered how much punishment his nerves could take.
Hitsugaya huffed, "we are also at present closer than any married couple." Then he frowned, thinking "except Shunshui Kyoraku and Jyuushiro Ukitake." He shivered "I don't ever want to be like those two."
Hanataro giggled, everyone knew about the two old captains 'relationship' with Kyoraku drunk and flirting most of the time while Ukitake tried his best to mother the whole world. They weren't exclusive either but maybe that was a simple side effect of being together for hundreds of years. The trust between them must be nothing short of absolute.
"I don't know the protocol for this situation" Hanataro said in a way of apology.
After setting the table he went to Hitsugaya's side fully prepared for unused muscles to falter before they got properly going again.
To his surprise the captain took a firm grip on his arm as pale legs swung over the side. Trying not to let his surprise show he went into work mode and supported the shorter body as Hitsugaya endeavoured to stand.
Hitsugaya felt weak and shaky but found that standing was not impossible. Looking up at his caretaker as a signal to move he took a small step forward.
Encouraged by the fact that the floor stayed the same distance from his face, he took another tentative step and stumbled.
"Damn it!" he spat out thoroughly embarrassed.
Without missing a beat Hanataro switched his hold on the captain, putting an arm around his waist for a better support.
Letting Hitsugaya set the pace, it took a while to cross the floor where Hanataro set his patient gently down on a pillow.
He'd thought it'd be a bit too much to offer a backrest so he instead set the captain down by the wall.
Hitsugaya felt grateful for the tact and let his head slide back to lean against the cool surface. He relaxed and recovered his breath with his eyes closed and listened to porcelain clink as Hanataro arranged their plates.
For some reason the tray had been set for two and Hanataro wondered if captain Unohana had anything to do with it. She truly was frightening sometimes, or nosey.
As he was pouring the tea out, Hitsugaya sat up and took his bowl of sweetly spiced rice porridge. It didn't look especially appetizing but it smelled wonderfully of fruits and cinnamon.
Slowly the spoon started its trek from bowl to mouth. Hanataro meanwhile slurped happily, glad for the warmth in his hands.
They were silent as they ate with no pressure to fill it up with nonsensical things or fake courtesy. Both adrift in their own thoughts.
It wasn't until both bowls were stacked empty on the table and cups of nutty black tea replaced them that Hitsugaya spoke. "This has been quite a wake up after everything that's happened." his tone was thoughtful.
Hanataro could only imagine, "I can only imagine" it really was the only thing he could think to say.
Hitsugaya frowned "I thought imagining would be useless since you can feel every emotion I have." It was hard for him to think about this part let alone talk about it.
His most private place had been infiltrated and there wasn't anything he could do to protect himself. Yes he was used to share with Hyorinmaru but that was sharing with a part of himself, the other half of his soul.
This was an unknown entity spying on his inner most workings. It was beyond unnerving.
Hanataro shook his head "I have to look for them, to go through the bond to find them. It's only been in circumstances like last night where they overflow out of you that I get them without effort." His face was impassive like they were talking about an assignment. "I haven't gone looking for them unless there's a reason, like you turning the room into a winter wonderland."
Hitsugaya relaxed a fraction, there wasn't really anything he could say to counter that statement and only time could tell if Hanataro was the prying type.
"Hyorinmaru chose well, like always" he said with a small smile quirking his lips. "I take it you can hear him?" he asked in a small voice, it was hard to share his soul.
Hanataro nodded "that was the purpose of melding us together so my blunder didn't harm you" he sounded contrite and guilty.
Hitsugaya stared tilting his head to one side "that's not what I heard. To my understanding you reacted out of instinct, not intent to inflict harm."
Hanataro shrunk in on himself feeling ashamed "it was cowardice sir, it was...is my responsibility to set your health above anything." It was clear he had more thoughts and feelings about this matter but he kept his eyes on the floor and bit the sour words back.
Hitsugaya studied the reflection in his cup pondering how to translate the jumbled up thoughts into coherent words.
Giving up on coherency he blurted "in battle it is instinct that guides us to either victory or demise and only by training and experience can we hone those instincts to be..." What? Sharper? Useful? He wasn't sure how to explain.
"To be the edge needed to not die" Hanataro finished for him, leaving the 'and fail those you were sworn to protect' unsaid.
Hitsugaya winced "yes, you said she was alive" he wasn't able to make the request any clearer.
Hanataro knew, having felt the immense guilt the captain harboured and only just lived through the experience. "Yes she is alive. Not awake yet though but last I heard she isn't...um stable, mentally."
There was nothing for it but to be honest in this. It was going to hurt no matter how the news was delivered.
Plus, holding out information now would be disasterous later.
Hitsugaya showed no signs of surprise but he looked beaten "I never liked Aizen, from the very first time I heard of him when Momo came home to visit from the Academy and told us everything that had happened, every second of every day it felt like" one corner of his lip tugged up in a sardonic smile. "She would continually talk about him, Aizen this or that. She always followed him blindly and adored him to no end, well to the bitter end really."
Normally Hitsugaya would have choked those words and sentiments down in a heartbeat but now, now there was no point. The healer could get his thoughts if he so wished.
He wasn't bitter or angry just resigned to the fact that this was happening. That was how he'd survived after all from wandering the rukongai in search for food and shelter to surviving the hard paced regiment at the Academy.
The Academy with all the snide, cutting comments and they just continued over to the Gotei 13 where those snarky remarks became so much worse.
There were many things Hitsugaya couldn't change and people were just one of them.
At least Hanataro hadn't pinched his cheeks or ruffled his hair. In fact Hanataro had washed him, fed him and generally cared for him in every regard without hesitation.
Hyorinmaru's report had been very detailed on what he'd missed even including that he apparently he liked being stroked over the forehead with a cold cloth.
Hitsugaya wasn't sure which of them had enjoyed the act but suspected it had been all three.
Trying to fight down a blush he desperately looked for another subject.
"Where is you Zanpaktou?" he asked sounding a lot harsher than he meant to.
Hanataro groaned "he's under my bed pretending I lost him again."
It was true that Hanataro hadn't lost him this time just stuffed him into the canvas bag wrapped in dirty towels and shoved him far under the bed.
Hitsugaya snorted "not good company then I take it."
Hyorinmaru slithered around the bond and grumbled "he's virtually useless, I had to nearly suffocate him to make him stop complaining."
Hanataro giggled "and I'm very grateful, Hisagomaru has a foul mouth on him when riled up."
"Is he mad about the bond?" Hitsugaya asked confused.
"Oh no, he just thinks I'm worthless" Hanataro answered happily.
Big teal eyes stared at him "how on earth can you be so jovial about a part of your own soul thinking you are worthless?"
Hanataro giggled again "the day he does any of the actual work is the day I take him seriously."
They heard muffled screaming in the back of their minds.
"Until then he stays gagged."
Hanataro seemed completely at ease about the whole thing but Hitsugaya was shaken. He couldn't imagine such a relationship between a shinigami and his/hers Zanpaktou.
"How do you work together?" he barely managed to ask.
Hanataro shrugged "with a lot of bribes and flattery" he shrugged again though this time in embarrassment "Hisagomaru really likes music and certain uhm kind of energy." He was blushing furiously and stared at the tabletop like it was the most fascinating thing in the world.
Hitsugaya stared, again utterly speechless but when Hyorinmaru snickered he lost it.
Hitsugaya was in danger of asphyxiation, sagging down to the floor his arms wrapped around his stomach with the merciless laughter.
Hyorinmaru's deep, gurgling chuckles could hardly be heard over the muffled indignant screams of Hisagomaru.
Poor Hanataro had taken the facial colour of a ripe apple.
Hitsugaya's gasps of laughter slowly changed to those of pain, his sides burning.
This could've easily translated into a very awkward situation seeing as he'd been laughing at the person who was suppose to take care of him.
Hanataro though got up, went over to the now crying captain and gently picked him up.
At any other time Hitsugaya would have frozen anyone who dared touch him in such a familiar way not to mention holding him like a small child.
This time however he felt tired gratitude towards his healer.
Hanataro let his burden down slowly and carefully on the bed, arranging him to lie on his side and tucking him in.
"Thank you Hanataro, for everything" came a mumbled voice from under the covers.
"It's alright captain Hitsugaya, you'll be fine" Hanataro answered and had to stop himself from crawling into bed with his patient.
Taking a step back he frowned at his own silly impulse. Shaking off the awkward he gathered up the breakfast tray and headed out.
Hanatarou managed to get to his room before the shaking started.
Sobs wracked his thin body as he threw himself onto the bed and let loose every emotion that had been building up inside him for the past few days.
It was fear mostly with a dash of unadulterated terror, sprinkles of pride and self assurance. It was conflicting and completely overwhelming.
The weight of the bloodshed and the pure brutality he had witnessed, been powerless against was crushing him inside. If he'd only been stronger, more capable, something! Maybe he could have saved someone some heartache.
He knew there was nothing he could have done differently and that was the problem.
He was a rotten coward and there wasn't really anything he could do about it. So he lay in bed and cried his brain into silence.
Soon it would be time for lunch and more patient care and said patient better be cooperative today.
Not that there was much Hanatarou could or wanted to do to a captain except put him to sleep. That was always an option Hanatarou felt comfortable with.
Sniffling, he got up and headed for a quick shower.
As he was getting dressed he felt a wave of stifling spiritual pressure. He took a second to make sure it wasn't coming through the link before hurtling himself at the door.
Very carefully, he slid his patients door open, not sure what horrors lay beyond this time.
There was nothing he could see with a quick scan of the room so cautiously he inched further inside.
The captain was still sleeping and didn't look as if he'd moved a muscle since Hanatarou left earlier.
Figuring since he was here already, they might as well get started and a tray had already been placed on a table at the foot of the bed.
The smell emanating from the food was divine and steam rose in lazy swirls from the containers. Mesmerized by his hunger, Hanatarou stood by the bed looking transfixed at the tray.
A tiny movement in his peripheral vision brought him out of his food induced trance and he looked back to the door.
"GAAH!" he screamed and fell back onto the bed.
"Oomph" was the sleeping captain's reply and Hanatarou gave off a similar noise when he landed butt first on the floor on the other side of the bed.
"What the hell do you think you are doing Hanatarou?" captain Hitsugaya snarled.
Hanatarou peeked over the mattress and pointed at the door, "sorry captain but that scared me."
Toushiro looked, "Kami fucking Sama!" he yelled as he noticed captain Kuchiki doing a very good imitation of a walking corpse.
The stoic captain wasn't wearing his captain's haori nor the kenseikan so he looked darker than usual. His face was ashen gray and his lips blue. The normally meticulously groomed hair stood up every which way in angry snarls.
The overall effect was superbly ominous, especially as he hadn't blinked once.
"D-do you think h-he's dead?" Hanatarou asked, not daring to move from his hiding place.
Toushiro snorted, "no, can't you feel the pressure emanating off him? And shouldn't you know when someone's dead?"
The oppressive energy rolling off of captain Kuchiki was positively homicidal.
It was making Hyorinmaru growl in response and a stifled giggle came from Hisagomaru.
Hanatarou frowned though only his eyes could be seen, "What do you suppose he's doing here? Is he angry at you or something?" he asked, too full of adrenalin to remember he was talking to a captain.
Toushiro scowled, "I don't know, maybe he's lost. Shouldn't you put him back in his room?" he asked innocently.
Predictably Hanatarou squealed, ducking his head further down behind the bed.
"I'm not suicidal enough to manhandle captain Kuchiki but I can go find someone who is" he offered ecstatically, eyes lighting up with hope.
They both looked to the unmoving body in the corner wondering who beside captain Zaraki would willingly sacrifice limbs and/or life to get Kuchiki back to bed where he obviously belonged.
Toushiro opened his mouth to ask if Hanatarou was going soon when the door slid open and an out of breath and neon green lieutenant Renji came in.
"Hey, have you seen captain Kuchiki?" he asked.
Two hands pointed behind him.
Turning around, Renji yelped and jerked back, "fuck, he's a scary sonofabitch!"
Toushiro quirked an eyebrow, "I thought you knew that already lieutenant. You know, he hasn't blinked since we found him." He said conversationally.
Renji who was inching closer to his captain looked at Toushiro over his shoulder, "yeah it's the pain meds, they zonk him out but he still manages to escape the manor.
He was now standing in front of the noble, "come on now captain, Rukia will kill me if she finds out you got away again." He said in a soothing tone as he reached behind the still body to get a better grip.
Captain Kuchiki growled menacingly when he felt the touch and the lieutenant paled.
"Now, now captain, Yamamoto told you not to murder your underlings anymore remember?"
The growls intensity lessened and sounded almost petulant.
"That's right, can't be efficient with an empty division now can we?" Renji said in as a light hearted manner he could.
"We just have to get you home before Rukia wakes up for lunch, she expects you to be there like always and I think she might be scarier than you when she's angry." He gulped, thinking about the carnage Rukia would bring to his mind, body and alcohol allowance if she ever found out her brother was wondering around the city while injured.
"Well, we'll be off then, thanks for taking care of him until I got here." Renji called out behind him as he steered the noble out the door.
Hanatarou waved goodbye but stayed put while Toushiro rolled his eyes in annoyance, "keep better watch over him from now on Renji, it can't be good for him to wander around if he's so injured he needs to be so heavily medicated he can't speak." He said testily.
As the door slid shut he added "or maybe animal noises is the only thing his lieutenant understands."
Hanatarou stood up and walked over to the tray, "want some lunch? It's getting cold but it still smells really good." He offered perkily.
Toushiro glanced at the window where they had eaten earlier not wanting to trek over there again.
When he looked back to answer he saw Hanatarou already placing the tray on the bedside table.
Without a word, Toushiro was helped to sit up and pillows stacked behind him for support. Once he was secured to not fall over or slide in any direction, the tray was placed in his lap and he wasted no time before digging in.
Hanatarou shifted nervously for a moment before speaking, "err sir, did you want me to stay?"
Toushiro looked up still chewing and swallowed, "yes" he said simply and tucked his legs under him, making space.
Hanatarou blushed, got his bowl and climbed onto the bed.
They ate for a while in an easy silence before Hanatarou asked, "would you like a bath or a shower today captain?"
Toushiro choked. Thinking how much help he needed just to walk across the floor, a shower would be infinitely worse.
"I can always clean you here if you're not up for it" Hanatarou added hastily.
Toushiro's ears turned an angry red at the awkwardness he was feeling.
"This is going to be a very uncomfortable few days isn't it?" he said more as a statement than a question.
Hanatarou smiled ruefully, "not too bad, I've been doing this for a while now. Bathing and bodily functions are actually among the easiest for patients to deal with. It's pain that most struggle through. In a society of warriors, the simple act of showing weakness to others can be difficult."
Toushiro felt like a heel.
Of course the embarrassment of going to the bathroom had nothing on the indignity of having your innards on display.
Shame was not something Toushiro was used to feeling and he really didn't like it.
Steeling himself he looked at his caretaker and said "I apologize, I meant no offence with my ignorance."
Hanatarou stopped breathing, his eyes widened until they looked like they would pop out of his head.
"I-I didn't m-mean it as a rebuke captain" he stammered feeling self conscious. He only meant to put his patient at ease, to minimize the awkwardness.
"I'm sorry, I wanted you to feel better not worse" he said looking down abashed.
Toushiro snorted, "you did both, I do feel better about the bath, though I am impressed how you have any empathy left after dealing with embarrassed 11th and 12th division members."
Hanatarou grinned wickedly; it looked about an 8 on the cuteness scale.
"Sleeping kidoh" he said simply.
Toushiro felt conflicted.
On one hand Hanatarou was the epitome of adorable but on the other he had intimate knowledge of the human body and had an arsenal of tricks to make it do what he wanted.
Perhaps this wasn't the time to be his usual annoying, people hating self.
"That reminds me, has Matsumoto been by? Is my division still standing?" he asked more to change the subject than out of actual worry.
"Yes, she came in yesterday, you froze the room while she was here" Hanatarou answered not sure how the captain would react.
"Was she drunk?" Toushiro asked confused.
"Hung over."
Toushiro nodded, that made sense.
He'd lost count ages ago of how many times he'd frozen his office while irritated at his lieutenant.
Pets were an endangered species in the 10th and that included unseated members.
"She was crying" Hanatarou said in a small voice, "I don't know why but Hyorinmaru said you didn't like to see her upset and that it pushed you out of your inner world."
The captain's face went cold and the temperature dropped.
"She's known Gin Ichimaru since they were kids." He said in a harsh tone.
Hanatarou swallowed, "Oh dear, I'm sorry. She was laughing when she left though."
That made little sense to Toushiro, sure Matsumoto was genially a happy person but she didn't usually display such blatant mood swings.
"Do I dare ask why?" he still asked, one eyebrow cocked.
Hanatarou blushed "Hyorinmaru told me to calm you down with happy thoughts and I didn't know how so I may have recited passages from interesting books..." he trailed off looking miserable.
Toushiro resisted groaning, he had a bad feeling that he'd never live down whatever it was Hanatarou had used to soothe him while he was unconscious.
Just the fact that he had been soothed made a light flush spread over his cheeks.
"I don't want to know." It was the safest course of action for now. Undoubtedly Matsumoto would fill him in later whether he wanted or not.
Hanatarou shrugged apologetically and got up.
OoOoO
Bathtime wasn't nearly as horrible as Toushiro had imagined.
There were bubbles in it.
Hanatarou chose oils that melted Toushiro's stiff and sore muscles and gave of a relaxing vanilla scent.
The medic had also slid the door to the outside open as it was a beautiful day. Then he sat just outside the door, close enough to help if needed and far enough away to give Toushiro his privacy.
Both were quiet as they enjoyed the restful atmosphere.
The shower was less painful than Toushiro had thought it would be and Hanatarou explained the wonders of warmed up and pliable muscles. The medic then went on to outline the physical therapy that would be starting soon for the young captain.
Toushiro couldn't help but feel angry at his treacherous body, it would not move like it always used to. Every step took more out of him than a 3 hour training session and by the time Hanatarou lugged him back to bed, he was just about snoring already.
He slept like a dead baby after that exertion, having depleted what little energy he'd managed to recover.
Hanatarou used the time to write up the reports for his captain, one on his patient's recovery and the other on their freakish bond's development.
It was a funny feeling being welded to another person, even though nothing came through the link when the captain was awake.
Hanatarou could only hope that his own emotional control was as good. He felt shame and awkwardness at the thought that the prodigious captain had to deal with his emotional overflow.
With filled out reports, Hanatarou checked on his patient and headed out towards captain Unohana's office.
He didn't get very far before he started to feel a little strange. His spine seemed determined to wriggle free in effort to stay behind.
Then Hyorinmaru growled, "You cannot leave yet Hanatarou, you still possess a piece of our soul."
Stopping in his tracks, Hanatarou closed his eyes and concentrated. No, captain Hitsugaya was still sleeping peacefully.
Confused, he directed his attention to the dragon, "I'm not leaving Hyorinmaru, I'm just delivering reports to my captain as ordered."
His spine relented on abandoning him but Hyorinmaru was still not happy. "Don't stray too far young one lest we all perish." He said gravely.
Hanatarou rolled his eyes 'honestly, couldn't I have gotten stuck with a slightly less melodramatic lizard'.
There was nothing for it but to carry on and with an irritated huff he continued on his way.
The captain was not in her office and as Hanatarou scanned for her signature pressure, he found she was not too far off. Probably on her rounds tending to some of the more grievously injured.
Not long into his quest of finding his superior, his navel began to tug inwards. The medic stopped again and checked on his patient. The captain was still blissfully slumbering in his bed.
Annoyed by now, he started walking again.
The tugging steadily became worse the further he went.
By the time he could see the door of the room his captain was in, he was in a hell of a lot of pain. Sweat beaded down his neck, knees trembling and he could hardly see straight.
He vaguely wondered if there was actually someone very determined trying to murder him with a knitting needle.
He looked down at his legs to see if there was any blood but the movement of his head was too much for his already shaky balance and fell face first to the floor.
Lying there didn't feel any better than standing up but he was sure he wouldn't be able to get back up.
He experimented with moving his hands, flexing the fingers and wiggling them around. That went well enough for him to try moving the whole arm, stretching it along the floor above his head.
'Going pretty good' he thought as he repeated the action with his other arm.
Now all he needed to do was bend his legs.
Which proved to be problematic, because he was laying face down on the floor and was still in so much pain that he occasionally went blind.
After much huffing and tactical thinking, he finally got one leg to bend outwards.
He used the position he'd worked so hard for to drag himself forward.
"What on earth are you doing Hanatarou?"
'Shit.'
"I'm" he breathed heavily, "onmyway" more breathing, "tohandin" wince, "thereports" painful gasping, "you asked for."
Everything went black.
OoOoO
He woke up in a bundle of blankets at the foot of captain Hitsugaya's bed, furiously hugging one pale foot.
'Oh for the love of... FUCK, why? Just how suicidal am I?'
This was all articulated into an oddly specific string of grunts, groans and whines.
"That's not very nice Hanatarou and watch that mouth of y ours unless you want to be moved to the 2nd division for observation."
'Shit.'
"I apolo...OW" He hurt everywhere.
How in the ever living hell did Jidanbou and his family get in here for the sole purpose of sitting the life out of him?
"Yes, I can imagine you are feeling some discomfort, it did take most of this division to get you back here after all." His captain's voice sounded too calm and amused.
Hanatarou thought that now might be a good time to pry his eyes open and hope that there was no sunshine left in the world that could reach his sore eyeballs.
Happily, only one sad little kidoh light hung in the air beside the bed, behind his captain. That left her face shadowed, making her look far too ominous for Hanatarou's abused nerves to handle.
"I am terribly sorry for anything, no everything I did. I'm so sorry, so very sorry I can't promise it won't happen again but I am so sorry anyway." He wailed as his brain disengaged leaving a twitching pile of defeated Hanatarou to fend for himself.
The foot still in his arms moved announcing that its owner was awake.
"Do you even know what it was that you actually did?" Toushiro asked fascinated. He was getting some of the turmoil Hanatarou was fighting through the link.
"It must have been bad because I feel like I fought a herd of feral elephants." Hanatarou answered un-expectantly logically.
There was silence for a while before Toushiro said "but you obviously don't remember and you're still not asking what it was that you did."
Hanatarou shifted on his end of the bed until he was more or less sitting upright. He looked like death warmed over, a greyish tint to his skin except for under the eyes where it was dark purple, exhaustion dragged his whole face downwards.
"Did I hurt anyone this time?" he asked dejectedly.
Toushiro frowned, "this time?"
Unohana stepped closer to the bed, "a few but they'll live." Her little smile was in place but a lot less menacing than Hanatarou had been expecting. "I think your fellow division members found a new wealth of respect for you today Hanatarou."
"How often do you go on a rampage?" a thoroughly enthralled Toushiro asked.
"Never until you came along" Hanatarou mumbled, not intending anyone to hear.
Unohana cleared her throat, "it looked as if you had passed out from pain when I found you crawling towards the room I was working in Hanatarou but when Lemura attempted to pick you up to carry you back here you physically and vocally objected. Quite adamantly too at that." Her amusement grew the more melancholy Hanatarou looked.
"He had been bound and gagged when they carried him in here, did they have to dump him on the floor and run out?" Toushiro wondered.
Hanatarou frowned, puzzled "how did I get up here?"
The short captain snorted, "I think you achieved flight once I got the restraints off you. The gag was harder because you got a hold of my arm and wouldn't let go."
He aimed the next question at Unohana, "Who or rather why does someone in your division carry around a ball gag?" The 4th was scary enough without adding bondage gear to the mix.
Her smile widened to a few levels below murderous, "it is a simple safety precaution captain Hitsugaya, many patients bite for one reason or other as shown by Hanatarou today, Lemura nearly lost an arm."
Toushiro stared at her dumbfounded.
Hanatarou whined and sank down in shame muttering a litany of "So very sorry."
"Why did you... err... lose control of yourself like that Hanatarou?" the young captain asked. He was feeling utterly befuddled as to how the timid medic, who showed such care and diligence in his work could cause this much mayhem.
Hanatarou looked up, "I have no idea. All I remember is that I was going to hand in the reports captain Unohana wanted when Hyorinmaru freaked out cause he thought I was leaving you. He calmed down after I told him where I was going and then the pain came... I think it was the bond trying to snap back..." he trailed off, thinking.
"You wanted to get back to captain Hitsugaya but you were unconscious and didn't or couldn't understand that you were being brought here. The screaming was due to the pain you were in, or that is my guess as it lessened in volume the closer to captain Hitsugaya you got." Unohana said and added, "I think it's best to have someone retrieve the reports from now on, we found those you had today a fair distance behind where you were found."
Hanatarou bowed his head, "Thank you captain and again I apologize for my conduct today," He felt wrung out both emotionally and physically.
He then bowed again, this time to Toushiro, "I apologize for the inconvenience you had to go through, are you alright? Did you feel anything?"
Toushiro tilted his head to the side thinking, "I woke up in pain, it was like my intestines were being ripped out through my navel. Hyorinmaru said it would go away soon and after a while it abated. After you came back I couldn't feel anything until you woke up and some of what you felt came through."
He looked worriedly at his caretaker, a dark bruise blossoming on the medic's cheek made him wonder if there were other injuries. No pain was coming through the link but restlessness was.
Unohana noticed where he'd been looking and stepped over to Hanatarou who cowered under their combined scrutiny.
"Let me have a look Hanatarou and I'll see if I can help." Unohana said gently, slipping into work mode.
Sighing he got stiffly up trying to hide a wince.
A slender hand was placed just above his cheek, a yellow glow appearing around it. After several minutes the hand left and Unohana frowned, "is Hyorinmaru blocking me?"
Both males stared at her, then at each other.
"Such behaviour is beneath me," the dragon rumbled irritably, "the reason she can't heal either of you is because she can't get through your combined spiritual pressure." He finished sounding indignant.
Hanatarou giggled at the lizard's antics while Toushiro watched Hanatarou curiously. He himself, though no wimp was vastly below Unohana in power.
"Hyorinmaru says you can't get through our meshed up pressures" he explained, not taking his eyes of his caretaker.
Unohana nodded, "well you both should eat to replenish your energy and then get more rest to heal."
That sounded absolutely wonderful to both of them and Hanatarou got up to get the ever ready tray and divvied up their meal.
Smiling at their familiarity, Unohana bid them goodnight and left.
They were ravenous and didn't speak until Hanatarou was gathering the empty plates.
"Where do you sleep?" Toushiro asked awkwardly.
"Oh, in a room on the other side of the bathroom. Captain Unohana assigned it to me when the bond formed." Hanatarou answered as he walked to the door to place the tray outside.
Toushiro nodded but didn't say anything more.
Hanatarou helped him lay down and removed the support pillows and tucked him in.
"It feels strange that you are leaving" Toushiro half whispered embarrassed. "Like a part of me is going away." He continued though he had no clue why but felt self conscious enough to avoid eye contact.
"I feel it too" Hanatarou admitted but then perked up, "I can get the cot if that's alright with you?" he asked like a hopeful puppy.
Toushiro chuckled "that would be fine but do not breathe a word of this to any lieutenant, especially Matsumoto."
Hanatarou nodded his head vigorously and ran to his room.
After setting his cot down beside the bed further away from the door and thus prying eyes, he got in under the sheets with a happy sigh.
Toushiro peaked over the edge with a solemn expression on his face and said in a serious tone, "thank you Hanatarou, for everything." Genuine gratitude flowed through the link.
Hanatarou stared, eyes huge in wonderment, "you don't have to thank me captain Hitsugaya, it is a privilege to assist and I feel very honoured that Hyorinmaru found me worthy enough to have you in my care."
Toushiro could hear the deference in the medic's words and with them came a surge of delight.
He lay back down staring at the ceiling and feeling awe towards his caretaker.
"You are a strange one" he mumbled before saying a sleepy goodnight.
This was the first trouble free night either of them had experienced in what felt like an eternity.
