Might be getting a little bit dark today.
…
Nightmare
Light was starting to creep back through the barracks as Isshin wandered through them.
Great. Morning again.
The captain sighed, glancing at the large and ancient clock that hung over the quad as he passed through it. It had just gone four o'clock in morning, and Isshin was only now getting back to his quarters.
He'd have to be back up in just a few hours. Though, realistically, he could start in the office a little later since Toshiro was handling all the paperwork now and the boy generally preferred the peace and quiet he got early in the morning to get through it.
Still, four in the morning was way too late for Isshin to be returning from the annual Captain's and Lieutenant's Formal Dinner. The event itself was a stuffy old dinner in the First Division Meeting Hall and was Central Forty-Six's idea of putting a Band-Aid over some of the growing unrest. After all, how could the captains and lieutenants be upset about the injustice in the Rukongai and harsh punishments for those who tried to help when Central Forty-Six had put on this lovely and grand dinner party for them? Honestly, the whole event was a sham but of course, their attendance was required. Yamamoto's attempt at a rousing and inspiring speech had fallen on deaf ears as it usually did, but hey, the salmon had been to die for.
The only redeeming thing that the formal dinner had going for it, and the only thing that did work to raise morale and perhaps cover up the problems for a while longer, was the after party. This year, and in fact most years, Captain Kyoraku had hosted at the Eighth. It was the after party that had Isshin returning so late – it was always such a wild and exciting night.
As per usual, Rangiku had passed out sometime after two o'clock and Isshin had left her in the capable hands of Lieutenant Ise. Not as per usual, Isshin found that he didn't really want to be there, and he didn't even drink that much. This was unusual compared to previous years in which Isshin would get blind drunk and take home any woman who would have him.
He must have been getting old now, or maybe it was the slow transition from captain to parental figure over his third seat that made him more sensible. Isshin had to believe it was the latter, since he had spent most of the night bragging to anyone who would listen about Toshiro's abilities and achievements, and had called the Tenth between the main meal and dessert to make sure the kid was going to bed on time.
"I'm just finishing this report," Toshiro had told him through the phone. "I'm trying to read your notes but your handwriting is difficult to decipher."
Isshin had to smirk at that – he had been told on many occasions that he had 'doctor's handwriting'. Unohana hated that saying, but her handwriting was the worst of all.
"Read what you can to me?" Isshin suggested. "I'll help with the words you're stuck on."
"I'd love to read it to you," Toshiro's tone was dry, "but it's all the words I'm stuck on."
The captain laughed heartily down the Soul Phone.
"Leave it for tomorrow when I can look at it again," Isshin chuckled. "For now, go to bed."
He couldn't see the pout, but he knew Toshiro was sporting one.
"Fine," he grumbled. "Good night, Sir."
"Good night, Toshiro," Isshin returned, a grin he couldn't stop on his lips. "Sleep well."
The temptation to check on the kid now was pulling at Isshin's mind but the captain kept on walking towards his quarters – Toshiro slept in a shared dormitory so Isshin couldn't really be going in there just to check on the kid.
The captain reached his quarters at last, and fumbled with his keys tiredly. He entered, closing the door behind him with a tired exhale, before he kicked off his shoes and wandered into the lonely dwelling. The floorboards creaked a little beneath his feet as he made his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
It was walking through the living room that Isshin spotted his guest.
Toshiro was asleep on his couch; the book he had been reading had fallen to the floor and the blanket Isshin always left out for him was tangled around his legs, half of it falling to the floor beside the book. He had obviously had one of his bad nights, where he was either plagued by bad dreams or insomnia. Isshin had given him a key a long time ago, so he could come to the captain's quarters and hopefully sleep better.
The captain started to smile just as the sight, but then he clocked the boy's frown. Isshin had seen the boy sleeping many times in the office or on his couch, and he knew that when Toshiro was in a peaceful sleep, his face was relaxed, making him look even younger than he was. Now though, the boy was frowning deeply, and as Isshin got closer, he noticed the boy's erratically moving eyes under his eyelids, and the rapid and shallow breathing.
He was dreaming.
Not good dreams, if the frown and clenching fists were any indication. Then Toshiro whimpered, and he sounded terrified.
Isshin reached out, intending to card his hand through the boy's snowy hair, knowing Toshiro usually found it comforting, but he had barely touched the kid when Toshiro jerked awake with a strangled scream. His hand wrapped tightly around Isshin's wrist and became colder than the captain had ever felt it, pushing away from his body. Toshiro was instinctively blocking an attack and those teal eyes were wide with fear and filling with tears. His other hand clutched his side, like he had been wounded.
"Woah, Kid!" Isshin held up his free hand in defence, not daring to move his other hand trapped in the icy grasp. "It's just me."
This was why they shouldn't wake sleeping soldiers who were trained to fight and kill – their reflexes were instinctive and they were almost too quick, too deadly.
Toshiro's eyes darted over him, his breathing laboured, before it seemed to click. He let go of Isshin's wrist and pulled back quickly.
"I'm sorry," he apologised quickly, voice wavering as he swallowed down his pants.
"It's okay, Son," Isshin murmured, reaching out to brush Toshiro's hair away from his slightly sweaty forehead. He had never seen the boy so distressed, and it made his heart clench.
Immediately the kid's face crumpled, a sob escaping.
The captain watched as Toshiro brought his knees up to his chest, his breathing no less controlled, as his Spiritual Pressure wavered anxiously and his eyes drifted away, looking unfocused as his mind seemed to go somewhere else. His whole body trembled.
Isshin knew Toshiro had nightmares, most Soul Reapers did, but he hadn't seen it before. This reaction was worse than he had expected and he hated it, the idea of his kid suffering in his sleep.
Sighing, Isshin lowered himself onto the couch and carefully brought the small boy into his arms. Instantly Toshiro was curling into him, gripping Isshin's haori and burying his face in his chest.
"What happened, Toshiro?" the captain asked, his concern only growing. Toshiro was awake now but Isshin could see he was still very much mentally caught up in whatever he had been dreaming about.
"St-stabbed," Toshiro gasped out, tears in his voice.
Stabbed?
Toshiro had never been stabbed, and Isshin prayed every day that he never would know that pain. The boy had taken some hits over the years, certainly deep slash cuts and miscellaneous battle injuries, but he had never been stabbed before.
Maybe he was scared he would be eventually?
It was a real risk in their line of work.
Isshin hugged the boy tighter. Nope, he didn't like that idea, but it explained the way Toshiro had been holding his side when he woke, as if applying pressure to a wound.
"It was just a dream," the captain assured him, rubbing his back.
Toshiro's form continued to shake against Isshin, his body not relaxing into the hold like it normally would.
"It was r-real," the boy managed, his voice thick and full of tremors. "He st-stabbed me, again and again."
"Who did?" Isshin asked, frown dipping deeper as he squeezed the boy.
It was then that Toshiro stopped shaking, his whole body stilling but no less tense. Isshin waited patiently, continuing to rub the boy's back in an effort to soothe him.
Abruptly, Toshiro pulled away from Isshin slipped off the couch as the captain frowned. He wiped the wetness in his eyes and smudged down his cheeks with the back of his hand before he straightened his yukata and made for the door.
"Toshiro?" the captain called after him, following him into the hallway.
"I don't want to talk about it," Toshiro answered at last, his words quick.
"Talking about it is healthy," Isshin told the boy, reaching the boy's shoulder and spinning him back around.
"It's in the past now," the boy sighed, brushing Isshin off again. "I want to leave it there."
Isshin frowned. Was the dream in the past? Or were the contents of the dream a past memory? They couldn't be – Toshiro had never been stabbed. Not as far as Isshin knew.
Toshiro didn't say, twisting out of Isshin's hold and reaching the door.
"It's light now," Toshiro turned away. "I should get to work."
"It's four in morning," Isshin informed him, shutting back the door as the kid tried to open it. "You are not going to work at this time."
Toshiro turned back to him, an argument clearly on his tongue but the captain held up a hand to silence him. For goodness sake, the boy still had tears on cheeks and his face was now whiter than his hair.
Isshin steered him back into the living room before he moved to the kitchen to get two glasses of water. He gave one to Toshiro when he returned and he noticed the boy's hands shaking as he accepted the glass. Sighing, the captain placed a hand on Toshiro's shoulder and guided him to the bedroom.
"If you're not going to talk to me about it, then you at least need a few more hours of good sleep," Isshin informed the boy.
It wasn't the first time Toshiro had slept in a bed with either him or Rangiku, so Isshin knew he would be comfortable with it.
The kid seemed to hesitate a moment, but eventually the call of a warm bed must have been too tempting for him, or perhaps it was not wanting to disobey a captain's order, and Toshiro climbed up onto the mattress, placing his water on the nightstand.
The bedroom was dark, thanks to the heavy curtains, and Isshin gave the boy space but he didn't seem to want it.
Toshiro settled close to him, but not touching him at first, obviously too shy for a cuddle that Isshin was fairly certain he wanted. Still, he would let the boy make that call, and soon enough, he felt Toshiro rest his head against Isshin's bicep.
"It was scary," Toshiro murmured after a few moments, voice small.
"You're okay," Isshin murmured to the boy, and he lifted his arm so Toshiro could curl against his chest, which he did immediately. "You're safe here with me."
Isshin wasn't really thinking when did it, of whether it was appropriate or not to hug his third seat in his bed and settle down with him again, but if he did think about it, he'd laugh off the concern. This wasn't his third seat right now, this was his kid – and his kid needed his dad right now.
The boy nodded against him, seemingly settled with that, and soon enough he was falling asleep again.
Isshin laid awake, staring at the dark ceiling. He was no longer tired.
Stabbed?
…
Am I hinting at something? You tell me.
Hope you're all having good weekends :)