Chapter 4 people. Sorry for the Delay there has been some glitches with the site lately and I Couldn't edit the story. (For those who are having problems as well just replace the word property with content in the URL, it should work as well). Thanks to all the reviewers and even those who just put this story on alerts and such, it was really encouraging.

Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter as well and I hope to dear god that I did Ichigo justice, it's my first time writing for him.

Edit: 04/07/13

"What do you mean I have to spend the night here?!" That would be me yelling my head off. I was blasted fine. Okay, I had woken up only two hours ago, but that did not mean anything. I was perfectly healthy, aside from a slight discomfort in my chest, but who was paying attention to that anyway?

I turned to my sister. Surely she wouldn't force me to stay here for the night.

"Don't give me that face, Hyōka," she folded her arms across her chest, "You're staying here."

"But why? There's nothing wrong with me!"

She raised an eyebrow, "Nothing wrong with you? Oh so we can just forget the fact that you were unconscious and coughing up blood for the entire day."

"... I don't remember any of that. But I'm fine now! Let me go home!" I was honest to god begging now. I had spent enough time in the hospital to know that I hated it. Even when I wasn't a patient the entire atmosphere was off-putting. They just gave me the chills; even this clinic was making me feel uneasy. I don't know how anybody could stand being a doctor.

"Trust me; I want you home as much as you want to be home, but we can't do that; not with what happened last night."

"But I'm feeling fine right now."

"Yeah but it's just a precaution; we don't want it happening again. "

"But Mikami!"

"No buts, Hyōka. If you were able to come home then you would; just deal with it."

"I don't want to!" I folded my arms across my chest. Okay, I knew that I was being childish, but they were forcing me to stay in a hospital like I was diseased or something. I was going to take offense and make this as difficult for them as possible.

Mikami blew a lock of hair from in front of her face. "I'll be back with your pyjamas and stuff-"

"That won't be necessary because I'm not staying here."

"Hyōka-"

"What's going on here?" We both turned to see Ichigo enter the room.

Great now there were two of them. I rolled my eyes. Doctors making my life hell one day at a time. Of course he was going to say I had to stay there. It was because of him that I was still in a bed for crying out loud. I don't know who the hell had put him in charge.

"Trying to convince Hyōka that he has to stay here for the night." Mikami mumbled.

For some reason that caused Ichigo to burst out laughing.

"What the hell are you on?" I deadpanned.

"Hyōka!" Mikami admonished. She was obviously embarrassed as she sent me a death glare. I guess having her little brother insulting her boss didn't lie in her good books. I raised an eyebrow like I said I was going to make this as difficult as possible for them.

"No, Mikami, it's alright. He just reminds me of someone, that's all. If we didn't sedate him the entire time he was in the hospital he would have run off. Don't get any ideas, Hyōka; I will sedate you if I have to." He smiled at me.

I rolled my eyes, but was quiet otherwise. I don't know, there was something about this Ichigo person. I had this feeling that I knew him but I had never met him in my life before. And he was as exasperating as hell. I felt a mild annoyance every time he opened his mouth and the smile he constantly wore looked fake like he was forcing it. Like behind that smile he was really stressed out and wanted to kill somebody; it was probably me at the moment, though. However, that aside he sure was amusing; if he wasn't a doctor I might have liked him. More so if he wasn't forcing me to stay here against my will.

"So are you going to be a good boy, Hyōka?" He raised an orange eyebrow.

Okay scratch that. There was no way I was going to like him if he kept on talking to me like I was a five year old.

"That's depends are you going to let me go home?"

I heard Mikami growl softly.

"I have to say no to that one." He scratched the back of his neck.

I folded my arms across my chest. "Then you have the answer to your question as well."

Ichigo's smile dropped a little. He sighed turning to Mikami. "This kid, how do you deal with him?"

"And I'm not a freaking kid!"

He looked at me out of the corner of his eyes. I swear I saw something that looked like utter shock. Oh and that wasn't one of the worst words I knew. I glared back at him.

"Language, Hyōka, watch it." Mikami warned, "As you can see with much trouble."

Then the fake smile was back into place. For some strange reason I hated it; it made me angry. "And you can drop that goody-doctor act; I know you're faking it."

He raised an eyebrow in my direction. "What act?"

"You damn well know what I mean, Kurosaki."

So I guess that came as a surprise also. Yeah, I could be rude when I wanted to. A total brat as Teito often put it. There it was again the brief flicker of shock across his face as he stared at me. I've been stared at before, but this time it honestly unnerved me. He looked at me so intently that I felt like I was butt naked under his gaze. I reluctantly looked away, that was the first time I had ever lost a staring competition. But what the hell was with that look?

"Is there something on my face?" I sneered, enough of the staring already. It wasn't as if he hadn't seen someone with white hair or whatever before. And he definitely wasn't one to talk about weird colouring.

Mikami shot me a death glare. Actually, it was best that I wasn't going home that night; Mikami was going to kill me for what I just did. Okay, I didn't think through this plan thoroughly enough. I admit it; it was flawed.

"I'm so sorry, Kurosaki-san." She said, drawing his attention away from me. "I have no idea what's got into him; he normally isn't this rude."

He waved a hand passively. "No, no it's okay; I've dealt with much worse brats before." He glanced over at me on the word brat.

So he was looking for some trouble. "How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not a kid?!"

He chuckled, but even I could tell that it was forced, and a little uneasy. "Um, will you two excuse me, for a moment, I have to answer this call." He left the room suddenly.

"Lies." I muttered, "His phone didn't ring; it didn't even vibrate."

Mikami slapped her forehead, "Why do you always have to embarrass me in front of my bosses? If you weren't sick right now, Hyōka..." she let the threat hang.

"But I'm not sic..." I cut my self off shutting my mouth with a pop. Okay, I won't argue this time; it would be smart not to. And I liked to think of myself as being smart.

She shook her head. "Well, I'll go to get your stuff now. Do you need anything in particular?"

I sighed, resigning myself to my fate, "Just don't forget Hyourinmaru."

"Okay, Teito said that he was going to come visit you after work."

I sighed again. Mikami rolled her eyes and pulled me into a brief hug. "Don't worry, Hyōka, tomorrow will be here soon and you'll be out of this place. Behave yourself, okay?"

...

After Teito and Mikami had left (for the second time) Ichigo pulled up a chair next to my bed.

"I guess this means you want to talk right?" I sighed.

He ignored my question, "Is that you're brother? He's huge!" He asked, his brown eyes going wide. "Mikami said that he was big, but I didn't know she meant that big! How often does he work out?!"

I couldn't hold back the chuckle. Teito was intimidating; I felt sorry for those who got on his bad side. Maybe that's why he had so many friends.

"On the police force back in Tokyo, that was pretty standard. It's your suckish force here that makes him stand out like that."

Ichigo shrugged, "I guess you're right; the police here are a bit soft, but you're brother... wow."

"You're pretty buff as well." I noted. I could see his muscles through his doctors' coat when he stretched. "Do you work out too; I can't really imagine a doctor getting much exercise at work."

He paused, "... Yeah, I work out... well something like that."

I leaned back into my pillow, "So you wanted to talk?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Well you pulled up a chair and everything and I can't use it at the moment. So, I'm going to assume that you wanted to ask me something."

"Yeah, I did want to ask you a couple questions."

I sighed, "Are they the standard medical questions because I thought you asked me all of those when I woke up."

"No getting around you is there? A few of them are for my own curiosity."

I snorted. He was interested in me? Yeah right. I had no idea what he was playing at right now but he was acting strange. Might as well go along with it, for now at least.

"It's the hair isn't it? I don't bleach it if that's what you were getting at."

He paused before laughing this time running a hand through his own outrageously coloured hair. "I honestly wasn't going to ask you about that. I mean come on look at me; why would I ask anyone else about their hair? Plus, I can't imagine any seven year old bleaching their hair."

"Seven year old... hold on a second, how old do you think I am?"

"I just said so didn't I?"

"Idiot! I'm twelve!"

"Twelve! But aren't you a little small for your age?"

"Aren't you a little stupid for yours?"

He chuckled, "So I take it size is a touchy subject with you huh?" I glared at him, "But we're getting off the topic here. What's a... twelve year old like you doing with an anxiety disorder?"

I shrugged, "I've had it since I was little."

"Interesting, I've never met someone so young with this kind of problem."

"Yeah I'm famous for stumping doctors with my problems." I muttered snidely.

"What do you mean by that?" He frowned.

"The Anxiety disorders, I have no reason to have them, I just do. Then there's my hair – a birth defect; my mother was nearly fifty when I came along."

His frowned deepened and I sighed inwardly with relief. He seemed more familiar with the scowl. Wait... he was not familiar at all; I had never seen him in my life before, what was I thinking?

"Wow, kid, anything else I should know about?"

"I'm afraid of heights if that counts for anything. And stop calling me a kid!" I spat. Again with the kid comments. I was nearly thirteen damn it, how was that childish?!

"Sorry but I find that a little hard to do since your snuggling with a stuffed dragon."

I glanced down at Hyourinmaru in my arms he looked innocently back up at me. I glared back up at Ichigo. "Don't make fun, Kurosaki. His name is Hyourinmaru."

I think Ichigo froze in time for a minute. If I had thought he looked shocked before, well I was wrong. Heh, that seemed to be happening a lot lately, I needed to work on that. His jaw actually dropped and he blinked stupidly a couple of times.

"Close your mouth, your brain's in danger of falling out. Heaven knows it could fit."

His reaction to my jab was somewhat not expected. Instead of defending himself or laughing like he usually did he stood up abruptly and uneasily.

"Um excuse me for a second, I think I hear the phone ringing." With that he left the room.

He really needed a new excuse. Once again the phone had not rung. I stared after him. What the hell was that about? Did I say something? The last time I checked Hyourinmaru was not a scary name or anything. Kasai had near wet herself laughing when she had found out about him. Though, that might not have been because of his name. But whatever, why had he just up and left like that? Did I smell or something?

"I'm telling you he's sitting right in front of me!"

I heard Ichigo's voice echo back into the room. He must have been standing right outside the door. So, naturally I had to listen.

"Of course it's him... what do you mean that's impossible... look I have my proof okay, why should you doubt me... I wouldn't lie about something like this... "

So something fishy was up and it definitely involved me. I narrowed me eyes. Once again I had never met the man before in my life I didn't see why he should be so interested. And now this random phone call? Was he planning to abduct me or something? You see, this was precisely why I hated hospitals. Doctors were all creeps, Mikami included. And I had to spend an entire night with him? I don't think so; I would rather die.

With that thought I swung my legs over the side of the bed, picked up my dragon, and was about to high tail it out of there.

"Just where to do think you're going?"

I spun to see the red headed doctor re-enter the room with his arms across his chest and a scowl on his face.

"Bathroom."

"You're going the wrong way then."

We stared at each other for what seemed like an hour and then finally he looked away with an odd expression on his face. It was a cross between disbelief and confusion. I won that round. But my celebrations were short lived.

"Get back in bed, Hyōka," he sighed, "you shouldn't be up anyway. As fine as you may feel we cannot forget the fact that you were unwell for most of the day."

I relented, "Do you know what was wrong with me?" it couldn't hurt to ask.

He shrugged, "You probably managed to rip something in your lung; it's kind of confusing seeing as your fine now. And where did you get that scar?" As an afterthought he added, "If you don't mind me asking."

One word; tactless. As a doctor he should at least have an ounce of bedside manner. I shuffled back to my bed, "It's not a scar," I told him over my shoulder, "I was born with it; it's a birthmark."

"..Oh, can you excuse me for a seco-"

"Sure go answer your phantom phone, Kurosaki. I'm on to you."

He chuckled and scratched the back of his neck before rushing out of the room again. I sighed; he was a peculiar man that was for sure.

"Is that the best you can do? The gotei 13 is getting softer as we speak."

I let loose a growl and held my sword out at him. "Don't get cocky, Bastard; I'm going to hack you to pieces!"

He raised an eyebrow, "Oh really, how is that so when you can't even protect the ones you hold dear?"

"What?" My stomach sank as I spun around to see a girl with brown hair tied up in a bun, a ginger woman, a man with long white hair, and a number of other people. Their faces were all blurry but they all wore black kimonos and were all held captive by monsters in white clothes. What the hell? How did this happen.

"If you had been stronger then this wouldn't have happened," he taunted.

I felt anger flare up in my chest, "I'm going to murder you for doing this!" I paused. From the corner of my eye I saw a man... no teenager, with flaming orange hair. He was staring at the scene. I couldn't make out any other features from this distance, but I could tell that he was looking at him with just as much anger as I felt.

"You shouldn't look away in the middle of a battle."

I couldn't even register what happened next. I looked down and saw the cross gaud of his sword pressed against my chest, right above my heart -

"Toushiro, wake up!"

Someone was shaking me roughly. I woke up with a jolt and a searing pain in my chest. I sprung upright in the bed gasping for air like there was no tomorrow. Not that dream again. Why was it always that dream? I hated that dream. I closed my eyes for a second, but his face flashed in front of my eyes. The next thing I knew I was short of breath and cold sweat began to form on my body. I bit my lip as waves of terror began to sweep over me. So right after the dream I just had to have a panic attack. I curled up into a ball and waited for it to end. Angry colours swam before my eyes and I could feel my limbs trembling violently. Somewhere in the back of my mind I felt someone pull me into a hug and heavily muscled arms were wrapped around my shoulders. Teito? No, this person was much smaller. I couldn't even concentrate on the stranger who was trying to comfort me. It was like black froth was bubbling up in my stomach. I felt sick. Maybe it was because even though I was unaware of what was going on I knew that I was somewhere new, and that neither Teito nor Mikami were there with me, but the panic was more pronounced. I heard voices in my head. But they weren't talking. I heard shouts of pain, anger, and battle cries. I acknowledged the clang of metal against metal and quick footsteps and a whole lot of other things that I couldn't make out. It was complete chaos. And my mind stretched it out, turned it inside out and threatened to teat itself apart. I clutched my head and felt a few fat, hot tears leak out of the corners of my eyes. This was the worse headache I had ever had even worse than a migraine because it was coupled with all the other symptoms of a regular panic attack: the trembling, the cold sweat, the overwhelming terror, and the fact that I could do nothing about it.

Then when I thought things couldn't get any worse they stopped. And all of a sudden I was enveloped in... I don't know how to describe it; I just felt safe. There was this warm... pressure that surrounded me and blocked out everything else. But it wasn't like this gentle, I don't know, like a total benevolent pressure. It was sharp and strong and had physically chased off the bad feelings. I knew that it could be worse than the bad feelings; it had the potential to hurt more. But I felt safe around it, calm even. The terror I had felt earlier didn't slowly vanish; it had just disappeared.

Slowly as my breathing rate evened out and my heart beat slowed down, I opened my eyes. Everything was a bit hazy but I could make out Ichigo staring over me. So that's who had tried to comfort me. He was sitting on the bed right next to me and I was basically in his lap. Well this was embarrassing.

"You okay, kid?" He asked, his brown eyes, shone with concern in the dark.

"I am now. What was that?"

"You tell me. One minute you were sleeping fine, the next you started gasping for air and clutching your chest. I woke you up but the shock seemed to trigger a panic attack."

"Oh." I took a few deep breaths again, I still felt a bit shaky. "Kurosaki?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't let me fall asleep again."

It wasn't too bad was it? Anyone else notice Ichigo's big slip up?

If you didn't guess already, the pressure that Hyoka felt was Ichigo's reiatsu, I thought it was appropriate, idk why though.

I think it must be unnerving to have someone who was supposed to be dead suddenly sitting in front of you.

So reviews are welcome, I'd love to know what you people think.

-Mymomomo