Chapter 6:

Hitsugaya hoped Hisagi had taken what he said to heart but couldn't be sure. To be on the safe side, he went to pay Hisagi a visit during lunch.

Along the way, he overheard some Soul Reapers taking about Ikkaku being found unconscious in the dojo last night and taken to the sickbay. As soon as he heard the word 'anemia,' Hitsugaya grew concerned. The same thing happened in his dream. Though it seemed to him that things were occurring faster than in his dream. He was sure Ikkaku wasn't attacked this soon, but perhaps by changing things, Ikkaku became the victim instead of Hisagi.

Worried, Hitsugaya hurried to find Hisagi.

He found him heading towards the Sixth Division and quickly stopped him.

"I'm just dropping off these papers for him to sign," Hisagi told him.

"I told you to stay away from him."

"When?"

"Last night," Hitsugaya told him. "Remember?"

Hisagi thought back to last night and shook his head. "I don't think we spoke last night. I went straight to bed after leaving the office."

"I didn't mean speaking 'in person,'" he said, doing air quotes with his fingers.

"Then I have no idea what you're talking about." Hisagi tried to enter the building but Hitsugaya wouldn't let him leave.

"Stay away from Byakuya. He's dangerous."

Hisagi chuckled. "Funny. You said the same thing to me last night in a dream I had."

Hitsugaya was taken aback by the comment. "A dream?"

"Yeah. It's so weird. I dreamed we were both wolves for some reason."

"That wasn't a dream," he said.

Hisagi paused then laughed nervously. "Uh, yes, it was."

Hitsugaya held Hisagi by the arm since he couldn't reach his shoulder. "Hisagi, listen to me. You and I are both werewolves. When I bit you, I made you a werewolf, too. What happened last night wasn't a dream. It was real."

Hisagi shook his arm free. "No, it wasn't," he said defensively. He tried again to enter the building.

"Last night I told you to use a stress ball or go for a walk if you ever felt stressed or overwhelmed," Hitsugaya told him.

Hisagi paused, steps from the entrance.

"I told you I'd show you tricks to move through the trees. I warned you of the full moon and to never…"

"… Bite someone," Hisagi finished, mystified. Hitsugaya just recited everything he told him in the dream. Details he had not shared with him or anyone.

He turned and looked at Hitsugaya in shock. Hitsugaya just nodded.

"No way…"

"We were in the forest. You bumped into me while running. You said you loved being a wolf."

Hisagi's jaw dropped. "So… So I'm really a…"

Two ears popped up on top of Hisagi's head.

Hitsugaya looked at them, commenting, "Boy, this feels familiar…"

Ikkaku felt really strange after waking up in the sickbay the next morning. Yumichika was there to blubber about how he was concerned and not worried about him at the same time, but that was normal. He tried to sit up but a nurse pushed him back down, telling him he wasn't well enough to try doing that yet. "You've lost a lot of blood, Ikkaku. We had to give you a transfusion."

Was that why he felt so strange? He felt dizzy and out of it but that was to be expected. It was the distant feeling he was curious about. He didn't care that he was in the sickbay and he didn't care that his best friend was there to comfort him. He and the nurse may as well have been strangers passing him by on the street. Being in the sickbay wasn't important either.

He felt like there was something he wanted but he didn't know what. He felt strangely incomplete.

Ikkaku rubbed his neck.

What was he longing for? What was he supposed to do?

It almost felt like he was searching for someone. Someone with whom he could feel complete. Important. Needed.

He couldn't place this feeling but it ached. He needed to find it, whatever it was.

"Oh, man. Oh, man, oh, man, oh, man, oh, man." Hisagi kept repeating this as he paced the floor of Hitsugaya's office. Once he relished being a wolf and now that he knew it was real, he was in full panic mode. Hitsugaya tried to hand him a paper bag to breathe into but Hisagi didn't stop pacing long enough for him to hand it to him.

Hitsugaya understood the shock, but he really needed Hisagi to focus right now.

"And Byakuya's a vampire?! That's real, too?!"

"Not so loud," Hitsugaya warned. "We need to keep all of this a secret. Byakuya can acquire minions by biting them and then there'll be spies all over the place. We need to be careful about who we tell. If you get bitten by him, you'll become his slave and be willing to tell him everything he wants to know and more. We can't have that."

"Ahh! Now I have to worry about that, too?!" Hisagi snatched the paper bag Hitsugaya offered him and started breathing into it rapidly.

"Slow deep breaths, Lieutenant," Hitsugaya advised.

"How are you not panicking?!"

"Because I've been through this and know what needs to get done. Freaking out won't solve anything. I've already started taking precautions."

"Such as?"

"Since we know those bones work, and that vampires are far more dangerous, Akon's already gotten started on a cure. The first time this happened, we got into it a bit late. Thankfully, Akon's already done research so little study is needed. I also offered my advice."

He didn't tell Hisagi that the details varied from his dream because he didn't want Hisagi to panic more. Akon still did research and relied on Hitsugaya's reports but other than that, everything was going at a comfortable pace.

"Aren't werewolves dangerous?" Hisagi asked, sporting both ears and a tail now. "In lore, they're always attacking people and getting out of control. I don't want to be a monster."

"That isn't the case here. We haven't attacked anyone."

Hisagi held up his forearm. "You bit me!"

Hitsugaya cringed at the remark. "Yes, and I apologized and feel bad about it. But I am trying to help you get through this. Besides, you didn't listen to me and I just reacted. I'm sorry."

"You didn't explain."

"I couldn't. For this reason."

Hisagi now knew why Hitsugaya couldn't tell him at the time without revealing everything he was trying to keep secret. He was also pretty stubborn and did allow things to escalate. He was fine saying that they shared blame on this one.

"And actually, wolves rarely attack people. It has to be provoked. When you think about it, wolves are just big dogs. They're very social creatures. I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Did you research this or did Akon tell you?"

"A little of both."

Hisagi was starting to calm down. His ears and tail eventually disappeared. He collapsed on the couch, energy spent after all that panic. "So now what?"

"I'm certain that Byakuya's a vampire and if it's anything like before, anyone he bites will become loyal to him. You can usually tell who's become his minion based on how highly they speak of him and rubbing their necks where he's most likely bitten them. They have this look of admiration in their eyes that's just not natural."

"And we're not going to isolate him?"

"I think he's already bitten Ikkaku, which means he's gathering his minions. If we isolate him now, those who have been bitten will come looking for him and will be very hostile. We cannot risk it."

"Why didn't you isolate him before?"

"First because we didn't have proof he was a vampire yet, and because we didn't want to provoke him. Besides, Mayuri was already planning on doing some experiments and we didn't want to put Byakuya through that."

"Fair enough." Hisagi slid down the couch until he was sitting on the floor. "But this can be reversed."

"Looks that way. Akon's very confident."

"Without killing us? In those stories, the monsters change back after they're killed."

"He said we'll be fine. The cure is nonfatal."

"Get that in writing?" Hisagi put a hand to his stomach. "I'm hungry. Why is it I want to eat so much as a wolf?"

"You burn a lot of energy and I guess because they're big creatures." Hisagi's bringing it up now made him feel hungry. He hadn't eaten lunch yet anyway, wanting to find Hisagi. "Come on, let's get something in our stomachs."

"Yeah, before we eat our friends."

"That's unlikely."

Despite the worry, Hisagi ate plenty of food at lunch. Mostly meat, of course. Although, he did wait for Hitsugaya to take the first bite before digging in. They didn't talk about the situation but when it was brought up later on, they spoke quietly. Very quietly, yet they could hear each other perfectly fine, thanks to their keen hearing.

It was decided that they would act normal until a cure was prepared and avoid Byakuya as much as possible, as well as anyone they suspected had been bitten.

Hitsugaya revealed to Hisagi that he was out in the forest last night for two reasons. One was to blow off some steam and the second was to look for wild garlic they could use. Hitsugaya had thought to use it late in his dream so he wanted to use it as quickly as possible in reality.

He worried this would make Byakuya desperate sooner, limiting his blood supply, but the sickbay hadn't increased security yet because no transfusion bags had gone missing, so Byakuya still had that resource. He was trying to make sure Byakuya didn't gain too many minions and make certain none of them were his close friends.

Ikkaku was told to rest after leaving the sickbay but he felt restless and distracted. He kept staring off into the distance as if he were waiting for someone.

"I said, are you alright?"

"Huh?" Ikkaku turned to the side.

"Thank goodness," said Yumichika, putting his hands on his hips. "I was beginning to wonder if you had lost your hearing." He didn't seem very concerned, judging from the smirk on his face, but Ikkaku didn't care.

He looked away lethargically.

Yumichika now looked concerned. "Is everything ok, Ikkaku? You don't seem like yourself."

"I'm alright," he said softly. "I just feel like I'm… missing something."

"Your blood, for starters. That's why you were told to rest."

"No, something else. Something… important."

"Blood isn't important?"

Ikkaku didn't respond. This was a very unfamiliar feeling and he didn't enjoy it. Even worse, he had no word for it. He couldn't even explain it.

"Let's head to the barracks and rest," suggested Yumichika. "A little nap and you'll be fine. Pointless to train if you can't focus. Plus, the nurse told you to take it easy."

That was it, Ikkaku realized. Purpose. He was lacking a sense of purpose.

He knew there was something he was supposed to do but didn't know what. He felt he was looking for someone but didn't know who. What he did know was that he wasn't going to feel complete until he found them.

Please review! ^-^