Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Naruto. Only the OC is my idea, her backstory, abilities, appearance, etc. I do not make any money from this story.
The girl was in and out of consciousness sporadically and what she caught when she'd briefly regain consciousness didn't make any sense. The first time she opened her e yes, someone with long black hair, pulled back into a high pony tail was carrying her on their back and moving as fast as a shinigami. Her head was swimming and there was burning sensation in her stomach. She realized too late what it meant and vomited on the person's shirt. That let her know it was a boy carrying her as he'd screamed out, "That's disgusting!"
'Yeah, sorry,' she thought to herself, not chancing opening her mouth again, she shifted her head on his back, trying to avoid pressing her vomit into the fabric of his shirt. Her eyes were once more too heavy to keep open.
The boy's scowl quickly turned to concern and concentration when he felt the girl go limp against his back again. He noted that she had shifted herself slightly to avoid the vomit.
'Probably just trying to keep from smelling like the stuff herself,' he thought to himself bitterly. He continued moving towards the fourth squad barracks, but stopped when he encountered the lieutenant. 'He may hold the same rank as Father—but it would be lying to say he doesn't give me the creeps,' the boy thought to himself. To his dismay the man was already dawning some sterile gloves and approaching them. Okay, yes, that annoying Rukon brat puked down his shirt and that's horribly disgusting, however his family was rich. They could just burn this shirt and buy a new one, at the end of the day not a big deal—other than the fact that he currently smelt of vomit and could feel the slimy chunks sliding down his skin. His own stomach began to churn and he quickly shook his head, trying to refocus his thoughts elsewhere.
"What do we have, Byakuya?"
"A rukongai native injured in a hollow attack, I'm taking her to Unohana," the boy answered, as he evaded the fourth squad lieutenant and with a final effort flash stepped inside the barracks.
"Cap-Captain U-Uno-Unohana," he loudly panted out as he knelt down, still keeping a firm grip under the girl's knees. There was no way he was letting Seinosuke Yamada anywhere near her without Unohana present. He just didn't have a good feeling about him, but he knew that the fourth squad Lieutenant respected his Captain and as such would behave himself in her presence.
A youthful woman with long black hair approached Byakuya and lightly grasped the girl under her arms. "My, my! You're a mess dear girl. Let's get you looked after hmm? Let's see about clearing that toxin from you," she soothed the unconscious girl as she carried her to an exam room.
Byakuya was grateful that her added weight was lifted from his body, but admittedly he wasn't too thrilled because now without the distraction of keeping her upright on his back, his mind went to the one place he really didn't want it to, and he dry heaved as a result.
"Isane, get Byakuya a clean shirt and a cloth to clean himself off? Poor thing was probably trying to expel the poison herself," Unohana called after a tall white haired girl. The white haired teenage girl nodded, approaching Byakuya with a standard grey kosode and a damp cloth. He readily accepted both and she helped him out of the shirt so the vomit wouldn't get caught up in his hair.
"The hollow's fang pierced her arm just above her left elbow," Byakuya relayed, loud enough for Unohana to hear.
"I can see that," Unohana replied as she laid the girl on the cot, and that's when he saw it. The puncture wound had turned black, had vein like protrusions extending from the center and it seemed to be spreading up her arm.
' I hope she keeps her arm and her life,' Byakuya thought to himself. The vomit covered shirt now seemingly the most petty thing he could've ever cared about. Vomit can be washed clean, and as he rationalized before the Kuchiki family was so wealthy they could just burn this shirt and buy another. Once he was cleaned up he dawned the grey kosode that Isane had offered him.
"Thank you," he addressed Isane as he took a seat in the waiting area. Isane blinked, had she just received a 'thank you' from the spoiled noble Prince of the Kuchiki clan?
It did seem that way, but she could scarcely believe her ears. He seemed to be pensive, although he had proper sitting posture, and kept his face stoic, his eyes seemed distant. He sat like that until the sixth squad Lieutenant entered the fourth, hunched over and coughing violently.
Immediately Byakuya was up to his feet, his arms wrapping around his father to brace him up, as the older version of himself continued to hack up his lungs. Isane moved behind Lieutenant Kuchiki and placed her hands over his lungs. A faint green glow emitted from them as she began casting kaido on him. Within a minute the coughing had settled down. Soujun relaxed as he finally took a deep breath without struggling.
"You must keep up with your herbal teas, Soujun. This will only worsen if you don't," Isane lightly scolded.
He nodded, wiping a little bit of sweat from his brow with a small piece of cloth from inside his kosode, he then wiped his mouth as he replied, "I'm aware. I didn't miss a dose intentionally. Defeating that hollow took longer than I anticipated. I won't make the same mistake going forward."
Isane nodded her head in acknowledgement. She then went to wash his shirt for him while Seinosuke entered the room the girl and Unohana were in.
Soujun glanced to his son and inquired, "what happened to your shirt, Byakuya?"
"She threw up while I was carrying her here. I don't think she got any in my hair though," the boy answered. Soujun did a quick examination of his son and confirmed, "I don't see any, but let's get you in a bath once we're home."
Byakuya nodded in agreement, and looked to the curtain that he knew the girl was behind. "What's going to happen to her, Father? Are we going to take her back to her village?"
"That's up to her," Soujun answered.
"Send her back," came a commanding voice. The two glanced over to see the sixth squad Captain, Ginrei Kuchiki. He looked to his son and grandson as he concluded, "we do not take in Rukongai citizens. It is against the rules."
Soujun's indigo eyes closed momentarily before reopening as he challenged, "That's been thrown at me since I was younger than Byakuya. It doesn't account for any variables. As an example, this young woman was incredibly brave. She put herself in harm's way to protect another villager whom I'm guessing she didn't even know. She just saw someone younger than herself was at risk. Based on that she acted to attempt mitigating that risk, but ultimately her injury is my fault. I was too slow to get there. As noblemen, don't the rules say that we must make amends to those whom we've harmed? If she goes back home straight away and relapses, she'll die. How can I make amends then?"
"Hmm- that does present a conflict," Ginrei agreed. He heaved a heavy sigh as he conceded, "Alright. Until Unohana deems she's no longer at risk of a relapse relating to this attack she may stay in the stables with our horses."
Byakuya's face scrunched up, his nose wrinkling as he objected, "there's no way I'm staying in the stables to make sure she's not getting sick again. Give her the smaller room next to mine. We use it for storage anyway."
"No! She will lie about her health in order to remain in the Seireitei," Ginrei objected.
"It would be better if she stayed in the house to prevent any further infections, Father. No matter how clean we scrape those stables, there's always going to be something laying around that's likely to cause a worsening infection," Soujun objected.
Ginrei shook his head as he grumbled, "Why am I surrounded by bleeding hearts?"
"It's evident to me that you will do as you please, Soujun. With any luck, Byakuya will not inherit his father's willful spirit," Ginrei relented.
'With any luck, he will,' Soujun thought to himself as he looked to Byakuya with a smile and asked, "You don't mind her being in the room adjacent to yours?"
Byakuya shook his head 'no', "it's not like it's really being used for much of anything right now in any event."