Snowman
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor am I making profit off this.

Even though he had only just woken up, Hanatarou felt oddly drained. Very much so, and part of him was telling him it would be alright this one time if he fell to sleep, he was sick. The other part argued that Tatsuki was bringing hot chocolate and it would be rude to have her carry it up, just to find him asleep. In the end, the latter side won and Hanatarou patiently waited for the hot chocolate.

However, the problem was that his throat felt very raw, and he'd much prefer something cool and soft as opposed to something hot. But should he say such a thing? Once more, he argued with himself, whether he should (rudely) ask for a "milk-shake" (what an odd, but delicious, thing that was) even after she went to make him hot chocolate, or to just bear with the hot chocolate and (maybe) ask for a cooler refreshment later.

Well, in all his arguing with himself, Hanatarou hadn't realized he was falling asleep until he heard Tatsuki walked into the room and set something down.

"Huh? Maybe he's a lot sicker than I thought…" murmured the girl. As Hanatarou was trying to force himself wake, she sighed. "Well, I wonder if Orihime has some medicine that would work or… Something."

Hanatarou's eyes managed to open just as Tatsuki closed the door. On the desk next to the door, was a tray, with hot chocolate, a large plate of cookies, and two glasses of milk. Hanatarou's stomach rumbled. But his gigai, his body until he was better or needed for battle, was too tired to get up and get the food. And he would never ask for Tatsuki to come back, even if it was in his ability to do so.

Sighing, Hanatarou closed his eyes as the smell of cookies drifted over to him. It was keeping him awake. Which meant, despite how tired he was, he couldn't get to sleep. He groaned and began coughing, before turning over in bed and sighing. He was tired… Much more so than a few moments ago… Slowly, Hanatarou felt himself begin to drift across an endless ocean of comfort. He felt himself just lie there, and was unsure of whether or not he was asleep. He didn't feel sick, but he didn't feel asleep…

Hanatarou sat up and looked around. Where was he? He was on a bed, but... It was floating on a large mass of water. Why was it floating on a large mass of water? Where exactly was he? There looked like an island in the distance, with a snowy mountain in the center.

"Can you hear me?"

Hanatarou looked around, yet saw nothing. Well, of course he saw nothing, there was nothing to see in the first place. But it would be rude to not answer the voice.

"Yes I can… Who are you? Where am I?" asked Hanatarou.

"This is your-."

Hanatarou interrupted the voice as a pain began growing in his chest, an unbearable pain. Hanatarou began to cough, but these coughs were worse than before. He soon began clutching his throat and sides due to the pain.

"Hanatarou!"

Hanatarou sat up once more, not recognizing where he was. But he couldn't stop coughing, and then suddenly he heard yelling in the haze of just waking up. He couldn't decipher it, and for a minute, it looked like he was still on the floating bed in that strange world.

"Hanatarou! Hanatarou!" As his coughs died down, Hanatarou realized someone was thumping him on the back and holding him steady, a glass of water in front of him. Not knowing, and frankly, not caring who it was, Hanatarou took the glass and drank it down as fast as he could. The coughs were still there, but at least he could hold them down now…

"Thanks…" murmured Hanatarou, looking up at his savior. Tatsuki grinned weakly.

"You okay? I found some cough drops that might help, but other than that…" Tatsuki trailed off and Hanatarou sleepily rubbed his eyes.

"What's a cough drop?" asked the sleepy shinigami, before realized he wasn't as tired as he was before… Before he went to that strange world. A dream, that's what it was. But quite an interesting one…

"It's something that helps coughs…" replied Tatsuki, standing up and stretching, Hanatarou looking at her in a haze. Directly behind Tatsuki, was an open window; the light only showing the girl's silhouette, and all in all, a very beautiful sight. Blushing, Hanatarou looking at his lap while Tatsuki closed the shades.

"So… Your throat good for breakfast?" asked Tatsuki. Hanatarou swallowed some saliva, eyes closed, and then took a breath and nodded. "Can you get up?"

Hanatarou looked at his arms, lifting them. They moved fine, if a bit shaky. So, Hanatarou moved the blankets to the side and stood, both hands on the desk next to the bed. His legs felt like thy would collapse any moment, however, Hanatarou wanted to see if he had any strength at all, and if the strength he did have would last.

"Do you… Want some help?" asked Tatsuki. Hanatarou took a breath.

"We'll see…" replied the medic shinigami. He pushed off the desk, and stumbled, before regaining himself and shakily standing up. However, it only lasted a moment, before he fell to the ground, shaking and unable to get back up. Desperately, Hanatarou reached for the desk and once again pulled himself up. Just as he was moving back to the bed, Tatsuki walked over, took his arm, and wrapped it behind her neck.

"I'll help you." said Tatsuki brightly, not at all effected by the added weight of Hanatarou as she led the two of them out of the room, in an odd limp-like walk, and over to the stairs. She moved slightly to the side, allowing Hanatarou to grasp the railing and steady himself. She pulled away, albeit somewhat reluctantly and somewhat worried. "Think you can make it down yourself?"

Somewhere, the part of him that had been beat down for years by almost everyone he knew in the Soul Society, the part of him that had been sparked back to life by Kuchiki Rukia, Kurosaki Ichigo, and Shiba Ganjyu; woke once more. It told him that he should be able to take care of himself, no matter how sick he was. He was the one supposed to take care of people, not the other way around.

"I'll try…" was all that Hanatarou managed to say. And try he did, very hard in fact. Tatsuki, who knew exactly what was wrong with Hanatarou, thanks to Ukitake, gained a bit of respect for the shinigami, but just a bit, and even she didn't know it then. Because after four steps, he tumbled down the rest and she was too mad at him for trying to do it himself, and worried he might have broken a bone or something. According to Ukitake, gigai weren't very strong, especially when they had the problem Hanatarou's did.

"You alright? Hanatarou?" sliding down the railing and hopping off at the end, Tatsuki crouched down and then Hanatarou began coughing again. Setting him upright, Tatsuki looked at him, frowned and began walking to the kitchen. "Look, I'm going to get you some more water, I'll be right back!"

Hanatarou didn't notice her, once again clutching his chest, and now holding onto the stairs for support as to not collapse. Saliva, and even a few droplets of blood, came out as he coughed, feeling ready to collapse. Just as he lost grip and was about to crash into the hardwood floor, two warm arms encircled him and sat him up.

"Drink this, hurry." said Tatsuki, a tone of almost urgence in her voice. Of course there was, Ukitake hadn't mentioned anything about his coughs being bad enough for there to be blood. All he had said after the basic explanation was that it should only last four days, at most. But those four days would be hellish, and Tatsuki was starting to think he hadn't been exaggerating, even if he said he had been.

Hanatarou's coughs weren't stopping as easily as they had been, instead he coughed into the glass of water, some of it's contents splashing out onto his face and some of it going down his throat. Still being held up by Tatsuki, Hanatarou continued to drink, until the cup was drained. However, the coughs weren't stopping.

"I'll be right back." Taking the glass and propping Hanatarou up on the wall, Tatsuki got up and wondered if someone else should have stayed, because honestly, she wasn't trained or equipped to help him, especially if it started to get worse. There was a possibility of a real blizzard, and Tatsuki didn't want to think about what would happen if they lost power.

Hanatarou's coughs slowly began to die down, but in his hazy mind, he wondered where the warmth had gone. Where was the warmth? Why had it left him? What was the warmth, anyway? Hanatarou's coughs soon were gone, but his breathing was still very heavy and his throat and lungs were aching and stinging like nothing he'd ever felt before.

But then, the warmth came back. The warmth, Hanatarou now recognized it as Tatsuki once again and began to remember where he was, handed him a glass of water. Taking the glass, Hanatarou drained it with ease and shakily wiped his mouth with the back of his hands, his eyes giving an apologetic look.

"Sorry I'm such a burden to you, Tatsuki-san…" murmured Hanatarou sleepily. "I'm sorry…"

Tatsuki would have hit him, she really would have, if he didn't look so sad and pathetic, if he had been in better health. Not a hit meant to hurt, a playful one… Maybe. And she'd yell too. This wasn't his fault, he had been planning to go inside and then she told him she wanted a snow family, and being the nice guy he was, he had made it, fantastically so too, at the cost of his health and vacation.

And he was apologizing for being a burden. Here she was worrying she wasn't good enough to keep him okay for these four days, and he goes and does that. It really pushed her buttons. It wasn't buttons for anger though, it was something else, something she couldn't quite identify. Sighing, Tatsuki stood up and looked down at him.

"Well, something tells me you'd rather have something cold than hot chocolate, so you stay here and I'll bring over a milk shake along with breakfast. We'll eat right here…" Nodding at this plan of action, Tatsuki ran a hand through her hair, gave a last lingering at Hanatarou and smiled weakly. "I'll be right back… Try not to fall asleep this time, unless you have to, okay?"

Tatsuki walked off, looking back at Hanatarou once, before leaving his sight. And Hanatarou smiled weakly, because the warmth was still there.

End