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A day early for you all, I'm going to be busy tomorrow so it has to be today!
Second, HESRSSTD chapter one is up on the site in honor of Turtle-chan. So read it!
Sometimes I get the feeling that if I ask you a question at the end of the chapter, you feel more inclined to review… does anyone else get that?
As our review replies come to a close, I'm realizing that I'm not going to make my 5-10 chapter or my 2-month deadline. I think it's already past the time deadline.
Disclaimer: Alas, nothing has changed since the chapter before this one, so I still own nothing.
Enjoy!
Halfway to the local hospital, Toshiro realizes that no one will be able to see Karin in Shinigami form, so he changes direction and heads to the Kurosaki clinic instead.
He shifts Karin's weight to one side, carefully balancing her on one arm as he continues to run. He pulls out his cell phone and dials in Rangiku's number.
Ring Ring
"Yes?" asks Rangiku groggily, already knowing who was on the other end.
"I need you to meet me at Ichigo Kurosaki's house, if you beat me there then wake up Isshin," orders Toshiro, his voice firm despite the emotions running through him.
"Hai Taicho, I'll get there as soon as possible."
Toshiro hears shuffling in the background of the phone and can faintly hear Orihime's voice.
Rangiku replies to Orihime, probably telling her that nothing is wrong. Orihime's voice fades away and the background noise stops.
"Can I ask what happened?" Rangiku's voice is soft, making her sound more like a sister and less like a subordinate.
"I'll explain everything later," replies Toshiro as he once again shifts Karin around in his arms. He traps his phone between his ear and his shoulder in order to get a better grip on the girl.
He can almost feel Rangiku nodding through the phone. "Are you hurt?" she asks, even though she probably knows that he isn't.
"No… it's just…" For the first time in a while the white haired prodigy is lost for the right words. He clears his throat and tries again. "I wandered on someone who is hurt, and they need medical attention. I figured that the hospitals around here wouldn't be good enough, so it's on the Kurosaki's. I'll tell you how it happened later on."
"Have it your way Taicho. I'm almost to the Kurosaki's. See you in a few."
"See ya." Toshiro frees one of his hands and re pockets his phone. He is only about a minute away from the Kurosaki's now, and falls silent, lost in his own thoughts.
What if I had shown up a little earlier? Karin would be safe and I still would have beaten that stupid hollow.
Why would Karin even go out to fight the hollow in the first place?
That's an easy one… she probably wanted to prove her strength. Defeating an Adjucha would definitely accomplish that.
Argh… if only I showed up a little sooner.
Toshiro tucks his thoughts back into the subconscious of his mind as he reaches his destination. The Kurosaki house looks as if it is half asleep. The upstairs lights are completely out, but the downstairs lights are all lit up.
Rangiku must already be here.
Toshiro climbs up to the front door and kicks the door gently, like a knock.
The door swings open, Isshin's worried face appearing before Toshiro.
Isshin sighs and pulls the door open the rest of the way, making room for Toshiro to come inside.
Toshiro complies and is surprised by the room's occupants. Rangiku is sitting at the dinner table, accompanied by Ichigo, Rukia, Urahara, and Tessai. The last two on this list had probably just been called in; they are amazing healers after all. Isshin shuts the door and turns to face Toshiro. He puts his arms out and gently picks Karin up out of Toshiro's hands.
He nods towards the table, motioning for Toshiro to sit. As Toshiro settles into a chair, Urahara and Tessai rise from their own seats. Isshin walks out of the room, closely followed by Urahara and Tessai.
Toshiro looks down at the table, not wanting to meet any of their gazes. He can feel Ichigo's intense stare but chooses not to meet his gaze.
"Toshiro," Rangiku says his name cautiously, gently placing one of her hands onto his shoulder.
He looks up and makes eye contact with his Vice-Captain. "What?" he grumbles.
"We have to know what happened," she replies, trying to be as comforting as possible.
"Fine," Toshiro huffs out a large breath, and retells what happened that night. (You don't need me to repeat it do you?)…..
"…Basically, I wasn't strong enough to protect her, I wasn't fast enough to get to her in time. I failed…" Toshiro looks down once again, his story finished.
Rukia shakes her head, "That's not true Toshiro, you beat the hollow and got Karin back here in one piece. We couldn't ask for anything more than that. I'm sure she'll be fine."
Ichigo's stare has resided and now he has a thoughtful look on his face. "I know your upset Toshiro, but you're over reacting. Karin is safe. She'll probably need these next few days to rest, but she'll be fine. She never should have gone out on her own anyway, you couldn't have controled that."
Toshiro nods slightly, "She definitely needs to rest."
"You should probably stay away for a little, just so she doesn't have any distractions." Ichigo adds, hoping for the best.
He winces slightly as Rukia's gaze turns on him. Her worried look turning into an angry glare in mere moments.
Toshiro is so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he misses this humorous interaction. "I don't think that's necessary Ichigo. I'm not a huge distraction, plus," Toshiro pauses for a moment before continuing, "I have to apologize for what happened."
The table falls silent and Ichigo heads up to bed. After a little while, Rangiku leaves as well. Only Rukia and Toshiro remain. Rukia rests her chin in her hands, watching Toshiro curiously. Toshiro is sitting at the table calmly, his head facing towards the hallway that Isshin and the others went down, waiting for any news about Karin.
"Your really worried about her aren't you?" asks Rukia.
Toshiro nods, not even bothering to face Rukia.
Rukia glances over at the spot that Toshiro is so intensely gazing at. "I know how you feel…"
Toshiro nods again, but this time turns to face her as he answers, "Yea, I'm sure you feel this way whenever Ichigo gets hurt."
"What?" Rukia hisses, surprised that Toshiro would make a comment like that. "Why does everyone make comments about Ichigo and myself? First Karin and now you, there's nothing between us!"
"Hmm..." Toshiro goes back to staring at the hallway. Frustrated, Rukia fumes silently at Toshiro.
She doesn't have to fume for long, as Urahara steps back into the room, wiping a bead of sweat off of his forehead tiredly.
Toshiro jumps up, "Well?" he demands.
Urahara sits down at the table and motions for Toshiro to do the same. Toshiro sits slowly and waits for Urahara to speak.
"She is out of critical condition, but is still unconscious. We healed up the large wound on her back and replenished her lost blood. It took so long because well… she lost a lot of blood. Speaking of, you should probably get changed Hitsugaya-Taicho. Or at least call your Gigai over here."
Toshiro looks down at his clothes, noticing for the first time that they are covered in blood.
Karin's blood….
Toshiro lets out a sigh of relief and allows himself to relax, letting the blood problem go for now. "When do you think she will be waking up?"
Urahara shrugs noncommittally, "Who knows…. She'll could wake up in a few hours; she could wake up in a few weeks. We'll just have to wait and see."
"Ok…" Toshiro grumbles, unhappy with the answer.
"Would you like to visit?" Urahara asks, standing up from the table, "That's one of the reasons I came out here. It's okay to go in now."
Toshiro jumps out of his seat for a second time, energy renewed. "Yes, I would like to," he replies hastily.
Rukia stands up as well. "Same for me." She answers, a small smile appearing on her face.
Urahara walks down the hall and beckons for them to follow. He leads them over to Karin's temporary room, pushing the door open slowly. Isshin and Tessai are still inside, but they exit quickly when Rukia and Toshiro go in. Urahara leaves them at the door, saying something about discussing some new sales techniques with Isshin before exiting.
Karin is sleeping peacefully, a heartbeat monitor clicking away next to her bed.
Toshiro sits down in one of the chairs and looks at his hands quietly while Rukia walks over to Karin's bed. She takes the girl's hand, says a few words, and turns to Toshiro.
"You know… I heard from Unohana-taicho that people recover faster if you talk to them." Rukia says kindly.
"I've heard that too," replies Toshiro.
Unohana wanted me to do that with Momo…
Would it have made a difference?
Should I try it now?
Rukia places Karin's hand down carefully at her side and makes her way towards the door. "I can see you need some time, I'll be around if you need anything." Rukia exits, probably to go shower and get some rest.
Toshiro stands up and drags the chair over to Karin's bed. He sits down and takes her hand in his, similar to what Rukia did.
"Karin… if you can hear me know. I sound kind of stupid don't I? You're asleep and I'm just babbling about nothing. Anyways… I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. It's my fault that you got hurt. Please wake up." Toshiro's voice fades away and he sits, listening. He can hear the blip of the heart monitor. He can hear the birds chirping outside of the window. He glances at the analog clock beside the bed. 6:00 AM. He groans and places his head down on the side of the bed, his hand never leaving Karin's.
I know what you're going to say,
"This isn't funny! It's all slow and Toshiro regretful ness."
I understand what your saying but no worries, Mistletoe is next!
Hip hip hurray for Mistletoe.
Review reply time!
Lunacat13- it's cool, that's why I made a note of it so people would know to go back. I do try not going overboard with things but sometimes it happens. I'm glad that it is staying under control in this story. I always mess up my nii-san and nee-san's though…
Gaming Girl- Nice to meet ya! I shall try.
oOoHKoOo- Thanks for going back to the last chapter even though you didn't have to. I agree with you, high school is a pain… I know about the whole hospital thing, I realized about two minutes after posting, but Flipomatic had already pointed it out. I just changed the beginning of this chapter to match it. P.S. Mistletoe is coming
SomeRandomPerson053- Honestly… the plot is there, but it is shallow. I'm just going with whatever I feel like, trying to add to their relationship as I go. The new story is up if you haven't seen it yet.
VanillaMostly- If I could draw, I would make a picture of Toshiro carrying Karin. Unfortunately, I have no skill whatsoever. Chapter one of the two-shot is up already, two is coming on Sunday I think.
KarinKurosakiHitsugaya913- I'm sorry; I know it's slow. It's going to be for a little longer here, but more exciting things are coming.
blacklightangel- I'm glad :)
Ziryx- … You are a strange cookie. It wasn't just any menos, it was an Adjucha. Karin's only been a soul reaper for a few years; an intelligent hollow could beat her.
meggie-moo s- I have a friend who is obsessed with shiny things, you guys would get along great. No, Karin isn't faking, she is actually hurt, although… I have no idea what she's dreaming about.
PunkRockHolly- right… no hospital. I fixed it in the first sentence of this chapter. Thanks for the heads up. That was almost bad…
tichtich2- What would I do without you? Your review really brightened my mood when I got it, so thank you. In order to jam as much as I can into one week, some stuff has to go on early and late in the day. One week can only take up so many chapters, or can it?
Lady Queria- Umm…. I don't know if I would call Karin "lasagna" but that is a funny way to put it. Newspaper headline, "Death By Ice Cream, Read All About It!"
Turtle-chan in Blue- sorry, you reviewed when it was an A/N, so I didn't… well I didn't think. Will you ever accept my apology?
xXBleachluverXx- No chemistry? I tried so hard….
flipomatic- Great job, you're my first reviewer. Thanks for the update about the hospital, next time though, just tell me in person so I can change it before everyone is commenting about it please!
I have another question for you:
Which chapter so far has been your favorite and why? Which chapter so far has been your least favorite and why?
I would appreciate it if you guys answered this, I'm always trying to improve my writing and this will help me greatly.
Thanks!
