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There might be some spoilers if you haven't read the manga.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor any of the Bleach characters. There are a few OC (like the whole Kurayami family), but the rest of the characters are works of the mangaka of Bleach.

For the next couple of weeks, neither Ukitake nor Kurayami showed up for classes, and everybody, particularly the girls, was worried. Hiroshima, as the teachers said, had been suspended for a week and then transferred to a different class. During the time of Hiroshima's suspension, countless rumors regarding Ukitake, Kurayami, and Hiroshima himself went around the academy.

"I heard Ukitake actually faked his cough, including the blood, to get Hiroshima out of this class, and Kurayami offered to help him."

"Aren't Ukitake and Kurayami from really wealthy families? I mean, I wouldn't be surprised since they were acting so highly in front of the others and they treated Hiroshima like trash."

"Actually, Ukitake is super wealthy, and Kurayami is part of one of the Four Noble families of Soul Society."

"I understand Ukitake missing class, but what about Kurayami? It's not like she's sick too!"

"Kurayami is probably just skipping class because she doesn't want to be here."

Those in the First class knew that none of it was true: they knew what had really happened, but no one said a word to stop these rumors. Except Kyoraku. Many people knew that he was close to Ukitake, so they would come to him and ask him about Ukitake. Then, naturally, they would start insulting Kurayami because of that one incident.

"Don't judge her if you don't know her," is what Kyoraku would tell them, in a very serious tone even after joking around with them. "She's doing her best to make Ukitake feel better. You can believe whatever you want, but don't come to me to insult my friend."

Thanks to Kyoraku, some of the rumors quieted down a little bit, but there were still some people who had negative thoughts about Ukitake and Kurayami. When Kurayami came back to class, those who weren't in the First class glared at her and stayed away from her, and those from the First class were afraid to get near her, as if they were ashamed of themselves.

"Thank you for your work," said the teacher when he saw Kurayami.

"Thank you," she replied and went to her seat, next to Kyoraku.

"How's Ukitake?" Kyoraku asked her in a whisper.

"He's okay," she answered in a whisper too. "I told him to stay home for a couple more days until his strength comes back completely."

"And he agreed?" Kyoraku raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. He knows he has to."

"Okay," said Kyoraku in relief. "Good. And I can go see him today, right?"

"Yeah," she said. "Unless his family decides you can't." She smiled.

"Quiet everyone," said the teacher. "We're starting now."

During the whole day of class, Kyoraku and Kurayami were together but didn't say much to each other. When classes were over for the day, Kyoraku approached Kurayami, who was about to leave.

"Do you wanna come with me?" he asked.

"To see Ukitake?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Sure," she replied. "I have to go anyways." She looked at him for a few seconds, as if trying to remember something. "Can we stop by my house? I need to get something before we go see him."

And with that, they both went to the Kurayami house.

"Welcome home, Ojou-sama," said the group of servants.

"I'm leaving again," she replied. "I just stopped by to get something from Onii-chan. Where is he?"

"In the Second room attending a Shinigami who suffered some injuries from hollows," replied one of the servants.

"Thank you."

When they got to the Second room, Kyoraku saw a row of at least ten beds on each side of the room, and every single bed was occupied by the Shinigami in bandages, mostly around the arms and legs. Nothing major. Hayato was tending a Shinigami with a big cut on her arm.

"Sheesh. I told you to be careful," said Hayato to the female Shinigami.

"What was I supposed to do?" she complained. "A hollow attacked my subordinates. I couldn't just stand there doing nothing!"

"Alright, alright," Hayato said. "Just be more careful next time, okay? I don't want you getting hurt too much." He smiled, and she blushed.

"Onii-chan," said Kurayami. She walked to the end of the room where her brother was and turned to the Shinigami. "Hi, Yumi-chan. That's a really deep cut. How did you get hurt?"

"This is no big deal," the Shinigami named Yumi answered. "I just got careless and it scratched me. That's all."

That's not a scratch, thought Kyoraku to himself.

"That's not just a 'scratch,' you know?" said Hayato, shaking his head. "Anyways," he continued, looking at his sister. "You're going to—" he stopped talking suddenly. "Ohh, I didn't see you here," he said, while looking at Kyoraku, who was standing a few feet behind the trio. "Kyoraku Shunsui, right?"

Kyoraku nodded while walking towards them. "Thank you for treating Ukitake," he said and bowed his head.

"We're doctors. That's what we're supposed to do, so there's no need to say thanks," Hayato put a hand on Kyoraku's shoulder. "As I was saying," he turned to his sister. "You're going to Ukitake's, right?"

"Yeah," Kurayami answered. "I stopped by to take the medicine."

"That's on my desk, in my room."

"Thanks!" she said, turning around. "Let's go, Kyoraku." Then, addressing her brother, she said, "I'll be home later."

"Don't be too late!" Hayato told her before turning to Yumi again. "How does your arm feel?"

"It's..." Yumi struggled to find the words, "stiff, but it should be fine in a couple of days."

"Oi," he poked her forehead. "I'm the doctor here, and I don't think it's going to be fine in just a couple of days. It will take at least two weeks to heal enough for you to move it freely."

"What!?" she exclaimed. "I thought you healed it with your kido!"

"All the external damage is healed," he said calmly, "but your nerves were damaged. I can't really do anything about that. You'll just have to wait until your body naturally reconstructs your nerves."

"That's not fair!" Yumi complained.

"That's why I told you to be more careful, you idiot," he said, closing his eyes and gently hitting her head. "You can go home now, but don't push your arm too hard."

"I get it, I get it," she said, rubbing her head where Hayato had hit her. "By the way, who was that guy that came with your sister? And who's Ukitake?"

"Both are Haruna's classmates, same age as her," Hayato replied. "The one that came with her today is Kyoraku Shunsui, good friend of Ukitake. And Ukitake was in the Fifth room for a week and then another week in the Third room for recuperation. He went home yesterday."

"Did they have a big accident in the Academy?" Yumi asked. "Why was a student in the Fifth room?"

"In the Academy," he explained, "they had a training session in which three students stood inside a circle and fought against each other with kido until only one was standing in the circle. My sister and Ukitake were called up in the same group with another guy, and after moving a little bit, Ukitake started coughing blood. That's what Haruna told me."

"After moving only a little bit?" she wondered. "That shouldn't have been a problem at all. Not at his age."

"His health," Hayato replied, "is in a really bad condition. To put it simple, he coughs so much that his throat is ripped, and therefore he coughs blood."

"But," Yumi said with a trembling voice and teary eyes, "he's so young."

"I know," Hayato looked down. "And we couldn't find the cause of the cough."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," he thought of a simple way to explain it. "We only found his throat damaged, but we didn't see anything that could cause such a harsh cough."

"Didn't he stay for two weeks?"

"Yes," he hesitated a bit before continuing. "But we need to do an extensive study of his body to find out exactly what's wrong."

"And what about Haruna? She couldn't find anything either?"

"No," he said shaking his head. "We had her stay here for the two weeks to take care of him as well as do some examinations, but she didn't find anything that we didn't already know."

"That's..." Yumi couldn't say anything else.

"He himself said he was okay, since his coughs had stopped for a few days, so we sent him home."

"Are you sure it's okay to just send him home?"

"I'm not entirely sure that it was a good idea," he replied with a little concern in his voice, "but Haruna also insisted on sending him home. She said she'll be responsible for him, since they'll see each other in the Academy and everything."

"She's so responsible even at a young age, huh," she said, smiling proudly, "unlike her brother." She winked.

"Hey," he gently hit her head again. "I'm not like that anymore. Not since Haruna was born." They both laughed.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" she had a more serious expression now.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," she said with concern. "This Ukitake guy... He's young yet so ill, and Kyoraku is his friend right? And also, Haruna seems to feel responsible and even guilty about this."

"You know Haruna," he replied with a gentle voice and facial expression. "She won't let such feelings as guild get on her way. She's strong. And from what little I've seen of the other two, I think they will go through this and become stronger and more mature."

"I hope you're right."

"They'll be fine, so don't worry about them too much," he comforted her. "Actually, you're in no position to worry about others." He pointed at her arm. "Worry about resting your arm so that it heals."

"Yessir," said Yumi with a teasing tone of voice.