Summary
They all get the fright of their lives when they find out she's not well...
A/N: Time for another chapter! I'm really excited about this one! Part 2! On a side note, yes, I know Ukitake's eyes are brown in the anime, but they're green in the manga. Go look. I'm totally serious. As Kagome's eyes are blue in the manga, I'm sticking with mostly manga colors. I'll let you guys know if I decide differently.
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"You didn't have to come with me, Miroku," Kagome murmured, sending the monk a small grin anyway. Said monk merely shrugged and shouldered his shakujo.
"I wish to support you in your endeavors, Kagome." At her blank look, he sighed and added sullenly, "also, your Captain is performing room inspections today."
"I see. It wasn't actually to wish me luck."
"I wish you the best of luck. Captain Unohana scares me," the dark-haired man bowed slightly to the annoyed priestess before spinning around and booking it down the hall. "Make sure to tell her that if something happens to let me or your Captain know!" He was gone before she could answer.
"... That goof," Kagome sighed, shaking her head and putting her hand on the door. She slid it open and bumped into someone leaving the room at the same time. "Oh! I'm sorry!"
"No no! It's all right!" the man waved his hands in reassurance, smiling gently as he stepped aside and shut the door, "I was actually just leaving. Excuse me, miss!" Inwardly, the priestess drooled. It was so hard nowadays to find a nice guy. The color of his hair, though, caught her off guard, and she raised her hand to touch one long strand that hung over his shoulder.
"Your hair... That's not your natural color, is it?" she asked before she could stop herself, slapping a hand to her mouth in horror and gazing up at him in mortification. He laughed and shook his head, green eyes dancing in amusement. The girl was sharp.
"No, it's not. I got sick when I was much younger and it turned my hair white." He tilted his head and gave her a questioning look. "But, not many people pick up on that. How did you know?"
"Umm..." she couldn't tell him it was because his aura was laced with sickness; one that she was sure was affecting him even now. Her heart clenched. She wanted to help this man! "I just... know..." Raising her hand, she laid it on his chest as her eyes glazed over in pain. "Does... does it hurt all the time?"
"Miss?"
"... I could... make it go away... for a little while," she offered shyly, looking up at him in absolute determination.
"I... How?" Instead of talking, Kagome simply called forth those healing powers she'd been capable of so long ago and closed her eyes. It was so simple, and yet, she was already tired. Knowing that she wouldn't have very long, she immediately delved into this unknown man's spirit and started purging the sickness at its' roots.
'She's... glowing. What is she doing?' A brilliant flash of light and he felt at ease, completely warm, and breathless. This girl... she was healing him!
A few moments later, he was breathing easier and the unknown shinigami was slumped into him. "It's not... a lot... but I... did what I could... with what I had."
"... Why? You don't even know my name," the man asked, dark brows lowered in concern at the girl's heavy breathing.
"I can't... stand to see someone hurting," Kagome replied quietly, trying to take a breath but doubling over in pain as the effects started to take hold. Her lungs were on fire! "If you... want... tell me your name?"
"... Jushiro Ukitake." The priestess nodded, her vision blackening as she coughed harshly. This was what he had to go through every day? His pain tolerance had to be inredible!
"Kagome..." she couldn't finish her sentence as she finally passed out, exhausted and unable to breathe properly. The last thing she saw was the unmistakable flutter of a white Captain's cloak and concerned green eyes as he shouted for someone to help him.
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Jushiro Ukitake was in shock, but not enough to automatically react and catch the small shinigami that fainted in his arms. How had she been able to heal him to the extent she had? Not even Captain Unohana's various treatments had been able to alieviate the pain so thoroughly! At first, he hoped that she'd just run out of reishi, but when her body convulsed harshly and she started coughing the same way he did, he knew that she'd done something far different than merely healing him.
She'd replaced the strength of his lungs with hers and took on part of his illness.
"Retsu! Help!" The door cracked open and the Captain of Squad 4 rushed out, calm expression in place, but eyes bright with worry.
"Captain Ukitake! What-!"
"I'm not really sure, but this young lady used a form of healing on me that dulled the pain," Ukitake summarized, carrying the girl, 'Kagome', into the clinic and following the older woman's rapid pace towards the ICU wing. They had to do something! "I think she literally pulled part of it out of me and took it into herself to purge it."
"Wh-! That's impossible!" Unohana murmured, sharp eyes narrowing on the deathly pale thing cradled against the other Captain's chest. No, it was impossible for a normal shinigami to accomplish, but she'd noticed, when the girl had come by for a visit, that her well of power wasn't normal by any standard. This Kagome... She was a mystery to all of them.
"I know. But that's exactly what happened," the white-haired man countered, shaking his head and he gently deposited Kagome on the hospital bed. "I know what I saw, and I know what I felt."
"Captain Ukitake, I can take care of her from here. I will need you to inform her Captain immediately, though." The medical expert started to shoo the worried man away with a perfectly calm expression, "Let Captain Kuchiki know that he needs to come here. Also, there is a civilian man that Miss Higurashi is particularly close to. He will want to know what has transpired here. His name is Miroku and he dresses as a monk."
"A monk, and Captain Kuchiki. Right." Nodding, Ukitake swirled out of the room and started down the hall. He may not have liked the situation, but there wasn't much else he could really do either. He would, however, keep an eye on the girl and give her some advice on how to take care of herself until the effects faded.
'Kagome Higurashi... I suppose I owe you, young lady.'
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She was swimming in a sea of pain. Everything ached and burned! She couldn't take a breath without excruciating agony overwhelming her body. What the hell had she been thinking!
'Right, help the nice guy and make the hurt go away for him. Smart, Kagome. Real smart,' the priestess thought groggily, overcome by a racking set of coughs that made her want to throw up. The taste of copper hit her tongue and she vaguely realized that she was coughing up blood!
"I can't imagine why you would willingingly do this to yourself, Miss Higurashi, but I won't let you die today. You're going to feel a cooling sensation in a moment, so don't be alarmed," a soft voice spoke above her, and Kagome cracked her eyes open. A blurry image manifested itself above her.
"... Mama?" A slight breathless laugh informed her she was wrong, but the warm clean aura soothing her was overriding any sense of embarrassment.
"Not quite, Miss Higurashi, but I suppose I don't really mind it either," Captain Unohana's face came into sharp relief, and the younger woman could make out the worry swimming in her eyes.
"I'm... sorry, Captain."
"... Don't be. You have a big heart, young lady, but you don't have the reishi to heal on such an intircate level." Though she was smiling, the stern sense of a reprimand was clearly there. "Please don't do it again until you get your abilities sorted out."
"... used to be fine..." Kagome murmured, already starting to slip back to unconsciousness, "stupid... seal..." She was asleep before Unohana could make heads or tails of that excuse.
'... If there's a seal on you, is it really a good idea to let you stretch yourself?' the Captain thought, brows furrowing as she called forth her healing energy.
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Byakuya almost twitched. The moment Miroku had appeared in his office, he'd restrained himself from strangling the 'civillian' man. Instead, he'd allowed the monk to pace and wait quietly in the room as he continued to ignore him valiently and work on his paperwork.
"You know your sister and Lieutenant are outside your door, Lord Kuchiki," the dark-haired man murmured, jingling his staff absently as he took a seat in one of the chairs sprawled out in the room. The nobleman nodded and pinned the door with a look.
"If you are lacking in work, Renji, I can give you something to do." The door slid open and the red head shuffled in sheepishly followed closely by an equally contrite Rukia.
"It's not that, Captain," he replied, scratching the back of his head and cracking an awkward grin. He didn't get to finish explaining because the door cracked open again and a visibly upset Jushiro Ukitake stepped into the room.
"Captain Ukitake? What are you doing here?" Rukia asked in surprise. It was unusual for the white-haired man to visit her brother out of no where.
"Rukia? What-!" Ukitake shook his head rapidly, "Nevermind! Byakuya, you need to come with me to Squad 4. A Miss Higurashi-!" He stopped because everyone in the room was suddenly paying a lot more attention to the conversation.
"Where's Kagome? Is everything all right?" a man he didn't recognize dressed in dark clothes asked sharply, "Did she do something insanely stupid again?" That earned the man the Captain had to assume was Miroku an elbow to the gut from Rukia and a smack across the back of the head from an annoyed Renji. Byakuya's gray eyes burned furiously at the monk before he let it go and nodded as he addressed the white-haired man.
"I refuse to wait for you, Ukitake. What ward is it?"
"ICU."
"... Very well." The younger Captain was whirling out of the room in a blur, putting his speed to good use. If Higuarshi had done something stupid...
'Not until I see her.'
Ukitake blinked and motioned for the other three occupants in the room to follow him quickly. "She's not dying, but she is in bad shape."
"Explain exactly what happened, if you would," Miroku demanded quietly as he kept pace with the rest of them. The Captain was surprised. For being a civillian, the man was quick!
"Well... I met her when I opened the door and almost literally ran into her at the Medical Ward..."
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When Kagome woke next, it was the sound to several low voices trying to stay quiet. She must have made some kind of noise because they all stopped before a single face came into her line of vision. It was Miroku, and he looked severely disappointed. Breathing a quiet sigh, and glad that it didn't make tendrils of pain shoot through her, she locked pleading blue eyes with the monk and tried to tell him without words about how sorry he was.
"You, young lady, don't know how to say no, do you?" he asked, a grumpy look filtering onto his face as he shook his head.
"Sorry... I just... couldn't let him suffer. You know how I am," the priestess replied, her throat raw from all the coughing she'd done earlier. A glass of water was presented to her line of vision and she followed it up the arm to the concerned face of Rukia. That fire in her eyes, though, made the other woman sure she was going to get a lecture.
"As much as Captain Ukitake appreciates the help, you can't overextend yourself like that again." Miroku caught her attention again, and Kagome slowly sat up. Reaching out for the glass, she was surprised by how shaky her fingers were and cupped it with both hands carefully.
"Take small sips, Miss Higurashi. I'll let the others know you're awake now," a feminine voce floated above them and the small shinigami nodded to Lieutenant Kotetsu.
"Thank you, Lieutenant." Before the tall woman left, though, she turned to regard her with a slightly terrified look.
"I don't think I've ever seen Captain Kuchiki so upset. You put him through a lot of worry, so I think you should apologize. To him, your Lieutenant, and Captain Ukitake." Left in a stunned silence, Kagome could only nod in agreement as she took another small sip of her water.
"... Guys, I'm really sorry. I never meant to scare anyone," she murmured, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. She was enveloped in a two-way hug from Miroku and Rukia.
"I will always forgive you, Kagome. As long as you remain alive, I will never abandon you," Miroku answered, smiling kindly down at the priestess when she sent him a small smile of thanks.
"Just... don't do it again, okay? You're one of the few people I like around here, Kagome," Rukia replied, huffing when the monk's hands went around her shoulders as well, but letting it slide because the moment was too right...
She shouldn't have let her guard down.
Byakuya chose that moment to waltz in with Renji and Ukitake in tow. The three men ducked rather swiftly when Rukia let out an inhuman shriek and tossed Miroku out the door with startling accuracy after she slapped him. "You damn lecher! Don't touch me there when we're all having a sentimental moment!" Kagome swallowed, sure that her friend had just shortened his life-span dramtically. Renji merely gave the bed-ridden woman a look that screamed 'Don't scare people like that again' before he was off after the monk, hollaring at the top of his lungs in the process of drawing his Zanpakuto.
"YOU OBVIOUSLY DIDN'T LEARN THE LAST TIME I WAILED ON YOU, DID YOU, YOU GUTLESS BASTARD!"
"No! Lieutenant! I beg you! It was entirely an accident!"
"ROAR ZABIMARU!"
"AIGHHHHH!"
Ukitake twitched and restrained the urge to join in. That was his subordinate the monk had just groped! Byakuya surprisingly stopped him with a hand and tilted his head in the direction of the noise before nodding. "Renji will take care of it this time. I won't be so lenient on the man, though, if it ever happens again." An icy cold aura swept the room, dousing the others in its' wake. If anything, the Kuchiki head was a man of his word. Ukitake finally agreed and made his way over to Kagome's bedside before taking a seat next to her and reaching for her wrist to check her pulse.
"N-Nii-sama. Is it really a good idea to let Renji handle it?" Rukia stuttered. She'd only ever felt that cold aura one other time, and that was when the nobleman had fought against Ichigo. It was rather terrifying. Byakuya took a breath and let his anger go at the same time he released it. Striding up to the hospital bed, he watched as the other Captain rested his palm against the priestess's forehead, and suppressed an annoyed noise when she suddenly flushed from the close proximity. She didn't... like Ukitake? Did she?
"No fever. That's good. Your pulse is normal as well, so I don't think you'll have all the same side effects as I do. How do you feel sitting up right now, Kagome-san?"
"Umm... A little lightheaded, but I can follow conversations," she muttered, biting her lip and fighting hard against the heat trying to suffuse on her cheeks. She'd known the man was handsome, but this was just ridiculous! "Do you... Do you think I'll be able to leave soon?" He glanced at her and found liquid blue eyes watching him in slight unease. "I don't... really like hospitals."
'I am not developing a crush for a man I just saved!' she denied pitifully. Rukia watched the proceedings and almost winced. This... was not good. If Kagome's affections were swayed to someone else, where would that leave her brother? Sure, she thought Captain Ukitake was a great man, and had hings been different, she would be cheering her leader on valiently. But all of her plans involved her sibling and the shinigami girl in the bed being together and a happily ever after!
'I want blue-eyed nieces and nephews!'
"Well, Retsu... Captain Unohana will probably want to keep you overnight to monitor your health. After that, you'll probably be able to go," Ukitake replied, oblivious to the fact that the other Captain behind him was becoming increasingly irritated. "I have some tea at home that I'll bring by for you. It helps me on days where I'm not feeling my best. You shouldn't do anything really exhausting until the symptoms pass. Captain Unohana says that should be about a week or so."
"O-Oh! Thank-!"
"Should my subordinate require assistance, Jushiro, she need but ask for myself or Renji," Byakuya interrupted, catching Kagome's attention again. Not only was he upset with her, he was obviously furious with her too. Kagome swallowed and bowed her head contritely.
"Captain... I'm really sorry for worrying you... and the Lieutenant too! I never meant to be so careless," she started, lifting her face and letting those startlingly blue eyes lock with his for a second before she lowered her head again, "I don't like seeing people hurting, and Jushiro-san was-! I guess I should call you Captain," she veered off course, sending an apologetic glance at the white-haired man and bobbing her head in a bow, "Anyways! He was in a lot of pain, so I felt like if I could do something to aleviate that, maybe I could save him..." She trailed off at the sigh her superior let out and almost squeaked when a finger went underneath her chin and forced her to look up at him.
Gone was the annoyance, and the anxiety she had sensed in him had dwindled to almost nothing. Instead, the look in his gray eyes seemed almost... tender? Was she reading that right?
"The next time you decide you'd like to save someone, remember that you don't have to do it alone. There are others that would be willing to help you." Now, Ukitake may have pretended to be oblivious to the looks that women gave him, but he was not about to turn a blind eye at this. Byakuya, cool, quiet, calm Byakuya Kuchiki liked the young lady currently goggling up at him in a state of shock. A state that was slowly bringing a dark red color to her cheeks.
Glancing at Rukia, the other Captain had to suppress a smirk. The other Kuchiki looked like Christmas had come early for her. She was thrilled with the entire idea!
'I wonder... if there is a way I might be able to help Rukia get these two together?' The idea was definitely worth some merit. As it was, he hadn't seen the younger Captain crack any kind of smile since the death of his late wife. This, he surmised, would be good for him.
Catching his subordinate's eye, he glanced at the two and back at her. The gleeful smile she sent him informed him that she would tell all later.
"Thank you... Captain Kuchiki," Kagome answered after a moment of indecision. She didn't want to feel like she had to lean on the man, but it was nice every once in a while to not have to shoulder all of her burdens alone. He nodded, dropped his hand, and turned to leave the room.
"Apology accepted, by the way, Higurashi." The arrogant way he said it made the bed-ridden shinigami twitch murderously, and in a fit that she clearly didn't think through, she lobbed one of her pillows at him. It missed, but the triumphant smirk the nobleman sent over his shoulder made her reconsider firing another feathery missile at him. He'd probably just Flash Step out of the way anyways.
Instead, she crossed her arms and leaned petulantly back against the headboard as she muttered under her breath about "arrogant noble jerks". Her pillow came back and smacked her in the face.
"Don't sulk, Higurashi. It's unbecoming."
Kagome gaped.
Rukia stared.
Ukitake smiled.
This... was going to be interesting.
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A/N: Ahhhhh... all finished with that little series! Next time! Kagome meets... You'll have to find out! Also, as of today, I have officially started school back up. I wanted to let you guys know about this because updates are gonna be slow from now on. School's extremely important to me right now, so I have to focus on that. This does not mean that I'm not going to write anymore; just that I won't have nearly as much time as I used to. Anyways, until the next time then!
As always, I like those reviews!