Glitch
Guilt Trip

"I feel guilty."

Kaien let out a deep breath as he looked out at the blackness. "I know that you feel guilty Isshin."

The man twisted his head around to look in the direction the voice was speaking in. His aqua colored eyes didn't see his brother, but instead saw a white head of hair. The white haired child had his back to him. "I feel guilty."

The younger twin took another breath. "Toshiro... what is there for you to feel guilty about?"

The former fukutaicho of the thirteenth division reached out to touch the child's shoulder. The brief touch caused a flash of light to pass Kaien's line of vision. He quickly gripped the shoulder of the child causing him to see more flashes. One of the flashes saw a blade piercing the shoulder of Madarame Ikkaku. Another flash caused him to feel like he had sent his knee flying into the stomach of Ayasegawa Yumichika. Outside of these images he couldn't make anything out.

"Toshiro..." The flashes suddenly shifted and he saw flashes of what he saw the night Miyako died. The memories of attacking Ukitake Taicho and Rukia were clear in his mind. Then came the blackness again.

"I feel guilty."

Kaien turned around again and saw that the white haired child was in the same position as before. Two aqua eyes narrowed as the man looked at the boy. The corners of his mouth twisted down and he finally let out a sigh. "Toshiro... I actually know how you feel."

He watched as Toshiro's shadow spread out backwards to touch his feet and watched as the boy morphed into his brother. He still looked at the back of the man and could see a younger Isshin turned to give him one of those cocky looks saying everything would be all right. The thought that everything wasn't all right quickly crossed his mind and he let out a sigh. Looking at his feet he saw them fading into Isshin's shadow. "I didn't mind things the way they were. I didn't mind being your shadow."

M

"I need to see how Toshiro is doing."

Isshin's eyes widened as his brother tried avoiding the subject. "Why? This is something we need to talk about. Seriously... I was an idiot when we were younger not to notice these quirks of his." He followed after his brother and found the door to Ryuken's office almost closing almost in his face. He then headed to the place that he knew Kaien would be going. He opened the door to Toshiro's room as his frustration grew. "Look..."

The man watched as Kaien reached out to touch the boy's forehead as his brother brushed him off. He watched as his brother touched the boy's forehead only to suddenly recoil. The younger of the two twins staggered slightly backward before his body crumbled to his knees. "Kaien!"

The former head of the tenth division hurried over and grabbed his brother's arm and gave a slight tug. He began to pull his twin up so that he could support him on his shoulder. Isshin let out a groan as he had to drag his brother out of the room. Opening the doors leading out of Toshiro's room and the one that led into Ryuken's office wasn't easy either. When he finally arrived in the room he lowered Kaien onto the bed.

Isshin headed then to the small bathroom that Kaien had come out of. He wet down some of the paper towels and brought them back. He placed them on top of his twin's forehead before letting out a sigh. He sat down in Ryuken's chair and leaned back. "This was exactly what I was trying to avoid."

The man leaned up against the desk as he waited for his brother to wake up. His fingers tapped the desk until he heard the door open. Ryuken's tone of voice indicated he was far from amused with the situation. "Let me guess? You decked your brother?"

"Of course not! While it is true that the male members of the Shiba clan do tend to get into brawls we are very hard headed. Plus... I've matured since then."

Ryuken glared at Isshin as he held the styrofoam cup of coffee in his hand. "Then what happened?"

Isshin looked back at his brother and took a deep breath. "He blanked out when he touched Toshiro."

"What? This isn't a negative effect caused by the fact they're both suffering from the same condition?"

The former taicho of the tenth division turned to glare at the white haired doctor. "Ryuken... this has nothing to do with that. It has to do with what Kaien and Karin have in common with each other."

One of Ryuken's white eyebrows rose up as his mouth twisted up from wondering what Isshin meant.

"I've told you that Karin has the ability to empathize with people and tell what they're feeling. I've told you that it has had negative effects on her."

"What does..." Ryuken stopped speaking and instead looked at Kaien.

"Doesn't mean I don't want to slug him though right now." Isshin folded his arms across his chest.

"Real mature Isshin." The pencil in the white haired man's head pointed at Isshin. "My question for you is if this is like Karin's problem like you say it is... how did you never notice. Wasn't her problem accompanied by headaches."

"I thought I was the cause for those headaches we had when we were younger." The words came out of Isshin's mouth with ease, but no smile was on his face.

Ryuken let out a sigh as he headed to the door. "I'm glad that you're not smiling despite the fact I know this is something you would normally find amusing."

Isshin let out a sigh of relief as the door clicked shut then waited patiently. The sound of the bed moving caused his head to turn to look at Kaien. His twin brother's left hand reached up to try and brush away the paper towel. The older twin swallowed. "Are you ready to listen to what I have to say."

The paper towel lifted up off Kaien's eyes as he brushed it away. He then turned his head to scowl at his brother. "I have the feeling I don't have a choice."

Isshin took a deep breath. "I wish that he wasn't listening to me because he doesn't have the will to fight me anymore on this." A hand reached back nervously to rub his head. "As I was trying to tell you... before I met Masaki my world revolved around you."

Kaien's aqua colored eyes narrowed. "Yes. That statement bothers me." The younger twin sat up and leaned forward in an attempt to not look his brother in the eye. "I hope you realize how creepy that sounds."

"I'm not sure why your mind is going in that direction." Isshin took another sigh. "It honestly didn't revolve around you the same way it did her." The former taicho of the tenth division tapped his fingers on the desk. "I'm talking about the fact you were my strength back then."

Kaien's head twisted around as the corners of his mouth twisted down. "Isshin..."

The older twin held up his hand. "Can you let me finish?" He watched as his twin let out a sigh of frustration. "I took for granted the fact you were my twin. I took for granted the fact you were always there. When you were no longer there I realized how much I relied on you, but also how much I didn't let you rely on me. Our relationship was rather one-sided."

The younger twin twisted around so that his back was against the wall, and one leg crossed his lap. His hands gripped the bedding while his eyes looked at Isshin, and the corners of his mouth twisted down. After a few minutes he pushed himself up and moved towards his brother. One hand rested on Isshin's shoulder while the other rested on top of his head as Kaien touched his forehead to his brother's. "You're not running a fever."

"Of course not." Isshin watched as his brother pulled away and folded his legs up to sulk on the bed. "What ever is the matter with you?"

Kaien let out a sigh as his head titled down. "Nothing." Another silence came over the room. Isshin reached up to scratch his head. "What would be a good stimulus for Toshiro?"

The older twin blinked a couple of times before leaning back in the chair. Isshin's arms crossed his chest and one side of his mouth turned down. "A good stimulus for him. Let me think."

"You're bothered by the fact he brushed you off."

"Well... I thought he would be happy. I mean... he's admitted quite a few times he was always cleaning up my messes. That wasn't right of me."

"No. You don't know how he really feels about that."

Isshin took a deep breath. "I wasn't exactly finished speaking you know." He watched as his brother flinched. "You passed out."

Kaien took a deep breath. "Yes... I did. It's not that big of a deal."

"Don't push him."

Isshin swallowed. "Look. I'm not going to push you to talk about this subject today. As for stimulus for Toshiro... read to him. He was always filching books from one of our libraries. Or you could read something new that his age group is into."

"Yes, but what..."

A sudden buzzing caused Isshin's hand to shoot to his pocket. He pulled out his phone and held up a finger. "I need to step out for a second." He listened to the other side of the phone call and stepped back into the room. "I'm sorry. I've got some things I need to attend to."

"Don't worry. I'll figure it out on my own."