Hey there! I think you're probably surprised. This fic, that got its chapter 5 after 3 months, got a chapter 6 update!? Miracle, right? I feel awfully inspired today so I have things up my sleeve! To be honest, this isn't the real chapter 6. I already had one at around 8k+ words but it was bad writing when I reread it and you guys don't deserve it. So, I made a new one.

Responses to reviews:
Kyoukuchiki - You're welcome and here's another update!
Fenix Fuego- I hope he does too but yknow these two are pretty stubborn.
Dalia2 - Well, neither of them has the guts yet. Thanks for the suggestion! I was actually thinking of that and that was the first chapter 6 I made and I wasn't satisfied at all. I hope you enjoy this!

Yoshito22- I'll make sure to go through with this story of course!

GUEST- Luckily, I didn't was just a bit in a bind there but I'm quite okay now.

Okay, I hope y'all enjoy this chapter!


A cough broke the long morning silence in the office of the 6th. Red eyes looked up at his captain worriedly as he saw the man cough into his elbow once more. Satoshi frowned and set his pen down.

"Taichou?"

Slate gray eyes met his, "Yes, Takashi-fukutaichou?"

Before Satoshi could reply, he was cut off by another round of coughing from the captain.

The lieutenant's frown deepened, "Are you alright, taichou?"

Byakuya waved his hand dismissively, "I just have this cough these past days. I wasn't able to contain it today."

"Shouldn't you have a check up with Unohana-taichou? It sounded serious."

"I am fine-" Byakuya felt betrayed when he had another coughing fit. The noble inwardly groaned as he ignored the throbbing feeling in his head.

Satoshi pressed his lips into a thin line when he felt Byakuya's aura warning him not to press the matter further and he didn't. He resumed with the paperwork that was sent to them on that day. After a few more hours, Byakuya coughed again.

"Okay, taichou. I think you should really get that checked."

"I said I am fine, Takashi. Go back to work."

The lieutenant noticed how Byakuya's eyebrows furrowed, face almost twisting in pain. The captain's eyes looked almost distant. This made Satoshi stand up from his seat and walked towards the man's desk.

Byakuya felt the worried reiatsu from Satoshi but he decided to ignore it. He felt the heat rushing up his head as his eyes were starting to blur, eyebrows furrowing as he tried to read the words on the paper at hand. Byakuya felt his throbbing even harder than earlier as Satoshi approached him.

The noble suddenly felt weakened as he could only see was black. His head suddenly hit on the desk with a thud. Satoshi immediately went beside his captain and shook him. The only thing Byakuya could hear was his lieutenant screaming his name before his world went black.


It wasn't a surprising sight to see the orange haired shinigami in the 4th Division barracks. What surprised most of the shinigamis there was he bursted through the large doors, almost breaking the doors and the walls.

Worry was evident in the man's eyes as he walked inside the building. Ichigo approached a shinigami who was standing nearby and placed his heavy hands on the shinigami's shoulders,

"Where is Unohana-san?"

The shinigami gulped, "U-Unohana-taichou is-"

"I'm right here, Ichigo-kun," A soothing voice said to Ichigo's right.

Ichigo looked towards the direction and dropped his arms to his side. The shivering shinigami immediately ran away from the scene. Ichigo wasn't even doing anything drastic yet, it feared him.

Ichigo approached the calm captain, "How is he?"

Unohana noticed how the orange head sounded nervous, "He's fine, Ichigo-kun. He has a flu that seems to be for days already."

The orange head's tensed shoulders eased only a bit but cursed himself, "Fuck. Why didn't I notice it when I'm just with him?"

The captain sighed, "It's not your fault. We both know how stubborn Kuchiki-taichou could be. He hid it from you pretty well."

"That hard-headed asshole," Ichigo muttered.

Unohana raised her eyebrow in amusement, "I must admit, Ichigo-kun. You two are similar in a way."

Ichigo scoffed, "Yeah, right."

"Would you like to see him?"

Ichigo nodded wordlessly which made Unohana turn around. She nudged her head as a signal for the orange head to follow her and started walking. He followed the captain in the corridor. They walked pretty long, passing empty rooms and some were occupied by previously injured shinigami that just got back from their missions.

Unohana stopped by a closed door and knocked on it three times before entering. Ichigo was right behind the woman when he saw the view of Satoshi sitting on a chair at the end of the bed where Byakuya was sitting, silently talking to his lieutenant. He was still wearing his shihakusho but his haori was hanging on the chair to prevent it from wrinkling.

Ichigo didn't know why his chest stirred. He wanted to slap himself.

Satoshi immediately noticed the 4th Division captain and stood up. He bowed, "Unohana-taichou."

Unohana nodded and stepped inside, urging the orange haired shinigami to come in. Ichigo stepped inside as well and closed the door.

The orange head noticed the way Satoshi's face relaxed in relief, "Ah, Ichigo-san. I'm glad you received my message." He looked over his captain and gave a slight nod, "I should head back to the division, taichou. I'll handle things while you're gone."

"Takashi-"

Byakuya was cut off with a wave of dismissal from his lieutenant, "Taichou, you should really rest. You overworked yourself these past weeks. Besides," Satoshi looked at Ichigo with a knowing look, "You'll be taken care of at your home. Let me handle the division for you."

Byakuya looked at him suspiciously but slowly nodded, "Alright, then. Make sure to contact me as soon as you encounter a problem."

Satoshi gave a salute, "Understood. Well, I'll be on my way now." He slowly walked towards Ichigo and gave a small pat on his shoulder. He not-so-hiddenly winked at the orange head, "Take care of him." With a shunpo, the raven left.

Unohana watched the scene unfold with an amused look on her face. She felt the way Ichigo's reiatsu stirred when he saw the two together and how Satoshi looked worried over his captain. If she was anyone else, she would've snorted at how Ichigo was still immature in a way.

"Well, Takashi-fukutaichou is right. It is better that you rest and do as I prescribed," Unohana said, "Furthermore, the medicine I will give to you will take in full effect if you actually rest, Kuchiki-taichou."

"I see," Byakuya said, "I shall follow the doctor's orders, then."

Unohana nodded in approval, "Since I know you don't like staying here, I would allow you to rest at home if you allow Ichigo-kun here to take care of you."

The woman could feel the disbelief radiating from the younger man beside her. It was like he was saying that there is no way that Byakuya would let him take care of him in such a way. Unohana inwardly sighed. If it's a push that Rukia, Renji, and even Satoshi wanted, that was what Unohana had in mind.

It wasn't like she wanted to see her co-captain stay alone forever.

"Very well," the noble slowly said.

Unohana gave a smile, "Excellent! Well, I shall leave you two here for a while while I prepare the things needed for your recovery. If you would excuse me," She nodded at the both of them and quietly left the room.

Ichigo gathered up the courage to look Byakuya in the eye, "Are you sure you want me to take care of you?"

"Why are you asking? Are you unable to?"

Ichigo shook his head and folded his arms, "It's not that, Byakuya. Of course I could take care of someone." He pursed his lips, "What I mean is, do you trust me?"

Byakuya looked at the younger from head to toe, as if searching for something. He wondered why Ichigo would ask that. They have fought in the war together side by side. He trusted Ichigo that he'd even save Soul Society when Byakuya himself couldn't. It was weird that he felt that the orange head's words meant something else.

The noble sighed softly and nodded, "What an absurd question, Kurosaki."

Ichigo closed his eyes, bracing himself to an answer that might be a shot to his heart.

"I have always trusted you."

The orange head's eyes opened and widened in surprise. He heard the sincerity in the noble's words and what shocked him the most was how Byakuya's lips were ghosted with a faint smile accompanying such words.

Ichigo felt his heart skip once more.

The trance was cut off when they heard the door slide open. Both men's eyes darted over the door and saw Unohana entering the room with a paper bag in hand. She smiled as she felt something has changed in the air while she was gone for a brief moment.

"I have the instructions and medicine here in this bag, Ichigo-kun," Unohana said as she gave the bag to the orange head, "Read those once you get home."

Ichigo took the bag and nodded, "Sure thing, Unohana-san."

"Can you walk home, Kuchiki-taichou?"

Byakuya nodded slowly, "I could."

Ichigo smirked, "You know, I could carry you home, Byakuya. All you gotta do is ask."

The orange head merely laughed when the noble sent icy daggers at him, obviously unamused at the younger's suggestion.

"What? I was just suggesting."

The captain sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance, "I am starting to regret this decision."

Ichigo gave a cheeky smile, "Now, now. You can't get rid of me now, Byakuya. I'll stick with you until you actually try to force me to go."

Byakuya looked at him and arched an eyebrow, "Persistent, are we?"

Ichigo shrugged, "It's in my blood."


"So it says here you need to take this medicine," Ichigo raised a white bottle, "When you finished eating dinner. Guess we'll start with that since it's already in the afternoon."

The two were in Byakuya's room. The older man was already in his yukata and lying down on his bed while Ichigo was still wearing his shihakusho as he checked the contents of the bag. There were two bottles. A white one for the evening and an orange one for the morning. He picked up a small plastic that has a single pink pill in it.

"You should drink this, Byakuya," Ichigo said as he waved the small plastic.

The noble eyed it suspiciously, "That looks…"

"Evil? Yeah but Unohana-san said that you need to drink it. So, here," The orange head shoved the plastic on the noble's hand and the older man looked at it with reluctance. He took out the pill and swallowed it, a disdained face formed after he did.

"It also says here that you need to take these for a week," Ichigo continued.

Byakuya sighed softly, "It irks me that I couldn't work for a week."

Ichigo huffed and folded his arms, "What are you talking about? To me, a week is not even enough for you. You've been working too much. You need this. Well, the rest aspect technically."

Byakuya looked up at the ceiling and muttered, "Perhaps, I do."

The orange head snorted, "You do. Besides, Satoshi is there to do your work and stuff. If it eases you, I'll help him."

The noble slightly turned his head and eyed the younger man, "That is not your obligation, Kurosaki."

"It's not my obligation but if that eases you then I'll do it."

"You weren't really required to nurse me back to health."

Ichigo scowled, "So what? Don't make this sound like a job. I want to take care of you, you know. We're friends, right?"

"...We are."

The orange head nodded approvingly and stood up. He grabbed the bottles and put it back in the bag, "I should leave you for a while so you could rest. I'll ask Yusuke-san to wake you when you need to eat." He turned his back to leave but was stopped when he heard Byakuya.

"Kurosaki," the noble said with a low voice.

"Yeah?"

"...Thank you. For taking care of me."

Ichigo was caught off guard and his face slightly flushed. He was glad that the noble already had his eyes closed. He chuckled lightly,

"No problem."

He opened the door to Byakuya's room and closed it as he stepped out. He sighed as he clutched his shihakusho, trying to calm his chest. Ichigo felt like it was not healthy anymore that he kept feeling that way. It was just almost driving him crazy.

He was brought back from his thoughts when he saw Yusuke approach him. The servant bowed at Ichigo and said, "I sincerely give my thanks, Ichigo-dono."

"Huh?" Ichigo looked at him confusedly, "What for?"

"For taking care of Kuchiki-sama," Yusuke said, "He never showed that he was sick in the past and he would always fight it without resting. It was straining his body so I'm glad that he decided to rest."

Ichigo waved his hand dismissively, "It was Satoshi and Unohana-san that pushed him to stay."

"Yet, he only conceded when Unohana-taichou said that he would be taken care of by you, is it not?" Yusuke asked knowingly.

Ichigo nodded, unsure of where the conversation was going, "Uh, yeah. It is. Still though…"

Yusuke sighed and shook his head, "I should remind you, Ichigo-dono. You are someone important to Kuchiki-sama and I believe the both of you could not see it."

"What are you-"

Yusuke bowed, ignoring Ichigo's scowl in frustration and confusion, "Good day, Ichigo-dono. I shall prepare the other things to aid Kuchiki-sama's healing."

Ichigo was left dumbfounded outside Byakuya's room as he watched the servant slowly leaving his line of sight. The words spoken by the older man confused him even more. Was he implying something? Would it be safe to assume things just from a third person's perspective? Mostly, how did he know about it? The orange shook his head.

There was no way.


It was already quite late in the evening when Byakuya was woken up by Yusuke to announce that dinner shall be served shortly. The noble stood up from his position and dismissed the servant as he freshened up. After a few minutes, he finished fixing himself to make himself look at least quite presentable and left his room.

He was surprised to see the orange head was sitting down on his usual spot in the dining room. Eyes closed and arms folded as he sat down quietly, presumably waiting for the noble to arrive. The orange head's eyes opened when he heard the door slid shut.

"Oh, hey, Byakuya," Ichigo greeted.

The noble gracefully sat across the other and nodded, "Kurosaki."

Ichigo slightly leaned forward as he eyed the noble, "How are you?"

"I'm fine," As soon as Byakuya answered, he coughed.

"Right," Ichigo snorted, "You'll take your medicine once we finish eating."

The orange head could see the noble frowned at the mention of the medicine. His eyebrow arched in speculation, "What's wrong, Byakuya? Afraid of a little medicine?"

Byakuya glared at him, "I'm not afraid, Kurosaki. I merely find the medicine bitter. It is not exactly an exciting taste."

Ichigo chuckled, "You find this bitter? I'm surprised that you said that when you could even drink the bitter tea I hate."

"There's a difference," the captain said sarcastically.

"Right," Ichigo said and nudged towards the food, "C'mon, we should eat."

Byakuya nodded in agreement and picked up his chopsticks. Ichigo did the same and started eating. The two managed to focus on their dinner in silence. Although, the orange head couldn't help himself but give short glances at the noble as he ate. Once they were done eating, Ichigo rummaged through his shihakusho and revealed a white bottle.

He popped one open and tapped it on his palm until a single tablet managed to leave the container. He closed the bottle and hid it back in shihakusho. Ichigo gave the medicine with a look to Byakuya and the noble reluctantly took it.

Byakuya looked at the tablet with disdain. His focus went to Ichigo when he heard the younger man chuckled, "Go and take it, Byakuya."

The noble wordlessly glared at him and sighed. He brought his palm to his lips and swallowed the medicine. He could immediately feel the bitter taste covering his throat and he washed it with the more tasteful bitter tea. He sighed and looked at Ichigo who was grinning.

"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?"

Byakuya glared, "You are lucky that I could not kill the person who needs to take care of me."

Ichigo chuckled, "Or, you don't have the heart to kill me… for the fourth time."

Byakuya looked at him with an arched brow and wordlessly stood up. Ichigo followed suit and looked at him questioningly.

"Would you like to join me for tea?"

Ichigo's eyebrows furrowed at the abrupt question but nodded anyways, "Sure."

They walked towards the porch by Byakuya's room with Yusuke following suit with a tray in hand that was filled with two cups of tea, a teapot and Ichigo's favorite cookies. The pair sat down and Yusuke laid the tray between them.

"You are dismissed," Byakuya said.

Yusuke nodded towards them and left the two alone. Byakuya started pouring for the both of them and Ichigo grabbed a cookie as he looked up at the dark sky. The view was almost calming. Ichigo heard another cough coming from the noble and looked at him,

"Shouldn't you rest?"

"We just started," Byakuya reasoned, "I have all week to rest, anyways."

Ichigo snorted, "Fine. I'll let you enjoy this first. I never knew you were such a rebel."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Byakuya said nonchalantly and took a small, tentative sip of his tea, hiding a small smirk forming on his lips. The noble didn't want to say that the weather and the company of the shinigami with him right now makes him feel at ease. Ichigo grabbed his own cup and drank his tea to wash away the sweetness from the cookies that he just ate. It was a good pairing with the tea even if the cookies took on a weird shape.

After another hour of silence, they already finished the tea that was in the pot and Ichigo had already finished the cookies on the plate. He was certainly a glutton for things that were sweet even if the cookies were Wakame Taishi. Ichigo looked over to check on the noble. His lips almost broke into a grin when he saw Byakuya blinking away the sleepiness that was evident in his eyes.

He would never admit that he found it cute.

"You just did." Ichigo ignored the mocking tone of his hollow and looked back at the view in front of him.

"I believe I should rest now," Byakuya said and slowly stood up from his position.

Ichigo scrambled to his feet, preparing to catch the man if he ever fell from dizziness or whatnot, "Right, of course. You need help?"

Byakuya shook his head, "There is no need but thank you."

Ichigo stood awkwardly as he eyed the captain who was walking towards his room, "Well, good night then, Byakuya."

Byakuya looked at him with slightly sleepy eyes and nodded, "Good night, Ichigo."

The noble didn't manage to see the way Ichigo's mouth hung open as he already entered the room and closed the door shut. Ichigo had to close his mouth and gulped an invisible lump in his throat. He was taken aback at how the captain addressed him.

Was the man that sleepy? Did his sickness go to his head that fast? Ichigo inwardly groaned loudly and ruffled his hair in frustration. He always asked the noble to call him by his given name but why does it affect him that way when it was him who asked for it?

Ichigo once again ignored the way his heart skipped a bit for the nth time today.


Thanks a lot for taking your time to read! Please leave a review and follow/fave if you like it! If you want to check more ByaIchi, do check my one-shots: Cigarette and Protettore. There's another on-going series that will be updated the same time as this called Epiphany!