Hi guys! Yes it's been ages and this late for valentines but I did it regardless. So, here you go. This is a piece for the server challenge and I ought to try despite being dead and having almost 0 motivation. This was supposed to be a one-shot but I decided to chop it up in parts.

Prompt: Memories, the rest of the prompts may appear

Warning: character death, angst

A pair of slate gray eyes opened very slowly and tried to look around him. When the sudden light filled his vision, he closed his eyes shut as he felt like his eyes were burning.

For a brief moment, he noticed the white ceiling and the white walls. A sudden chill went up his spine as he tried to take the information in. It was something unfamiliar at first and then he realized.

White walls.

He hated them.

A groan escaped his lips and it seemed like it alerted something beside him as he heard a chair squeak and body heat radiating closer to him.

"Nii-sama?"

Ah, Rukia. He then tried to turn his head to his left with great difficulty. He cracked one of his eyes open and was in eye contact with fiery purple eyes that was filled with concern.

"Ru...kia?"

Kuchiki Rukia nodded furiously and held his cold hand briefly, "Please wait, nii-sama. I'll notify the doctor that you have woken up."

Before he could even protest, his sister left his side already. It felt cold again. He closed his eyes once more and felt tired just calling out the woman's name. What happened to him?

After a few moments, Rukia entered the room with a doctor in tow and this made him open his eyes again with less difficulty this time. He observed the newly entered doctor. He was tall compared to Rukia's small frame and was quite muscular as his uniform clung to him. He had spiky yet soft raven hair and his unnatural blood red eyes were looking down at the clipboard for a brief moment.

He closed the door and his eyes looked directly at the other man, "Kuchiki Byakuya-san?"

Byakuya tried to nod and that made the doctor approach him, "I'm Satoshi, your doctor. How are you feeling?"

"Fine," came the strained answer.

An amused look came from the doctor and wrote something down at the clipboard, "You can't lie through your teeth here, Kuchiki-san. You've been asleep for three days."

Three days?

Byakuya never replied as he felt the wandering eyes of the doctor that examined his body and his surroundings. He could hear the beeping sounds to his right and it quite annoyed him.

He was at the hospital and he hated it.

Satoshi lowered his clipboard and eyed the man on the bed again, "You're very lucky, Kuchiki-san. You've been caught between an accident and I have to say it was quite a miracle you survived."

"Are there any more casualties?" Rukia asked.

The doctor pondered for a moment, "The driver that caused it was injured. The rest just had small scratches."

The woman frowned, "I shall find out what their name is and sue them."

Byakuya was glad he still had strength and said, "Don't."

Both Satoshi and Rukia looked at him. One with curiosity and one with an incredulous look.

"Why, nii-sama? I believe they should be punished."

"It is alright."

"But-"

"Rukia," Byakuya managed to say before quietly groaning in pain.

"Alright, alright. That's enough," the doctor said, "You don't want to strain your brother too much, do you?"

Rukia fell silent at that and Satoshi sighed, "I'll leave you two for now. I'll make sure to check on Kuchiki-san again in a few hours."

The woman bowed in thanks to the doctor and the man simply nodded it off and left the room with a silent click of the door. Silence fell upon the room the moment he left and Rukia just simply walked back to the chair beside the man's bed with a small sigh.

After a few minutes, Byakuya asked, "How long do I have to stay here?"

"A month or two," the woman replied, "Satoshi-san said it will depend on how fast your body recovers."

The man sighed. Recovering takes so long and that's why he hated it. He avoided going to any hospital or getting sick so it wouldn't be a pain but luck wasn't on his side. He could feel the pain throughout his body and he just really thought how did he actually survive the accident?

He might be cursed at some point.

"I see," he then let out. He was having less pain when talking than earlier.

"I was really worried when they called," Rukia said in a whisper, "It sounded bad and I thought…"

Byakuya frowned upon hearing his sister's tone, "... I'm sorry that I have caused you trouble."

"It's not your fault."

Right. But it felt like it was his in the beginning.

"What of the company?"

Rukia let out a soft relieved laugh, "Even when bedridden, you're still thinking of the company. Father has put me in charge for the time being. Renji has been helping me with it as well."

Byakuya weakly nodded, "I am the head, Rukia. Of course that's what I'll think. Knowing that you and Abarai are handling it for now, however, has made me less stressed."

"That's good," the woman replied as she slowly stood up, "You should rest up, nii-sama. I'll get food for the both of us."

The man just agreed silently and closed his eyes once more. His ears picked up the beeping sounds to his right once more, the soft footsteps of his sister and the silent click of the door. He doesn't recognize anything else as he felt like the darkness consuming him to sleep once more.

A month has passed and Byakuya is getting sick of the same scenery in his plain room. The white walls were sickening as usual and he stared at the window with a small frown. It was covered with light blue curtains but he could see the sun shining just outside.

He looked down at himself as he was sitting down on the bed with his back leaning on the headboard of the bed. He was still a mess with one arm in a cast but he was glad that he was mostly healed to the point he could walk at a slow pace.

He then looked up and saw the clock reading 9:30AM. It was still early and Rukia was at work as of now, working as the head of the company in his stead for now. He still sometimes cursed his condition but he wasn't some superhuman to do anything about it.

A knock made Byakuya snap out of his negative thoughts once more and his attention was diverted to the door as it opened slowly. His doctor peeked in for a bit before letting out a small grin as he entered the room.

"Good morning, Kuchiki-san."

"Good morning, Satoshi-san," Byakuya responded. He felt weird calling the man by his first name but the doctor insisted.

With the familiar clipboard clutched in the doctor's hand, he asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Better."

"Any pain?"

"No… Not yet."

An amused sound came from the doctor, "I see."

The doctor did his usual checks as Byakuya looked out the window again. Satoshi noticed this and asked if he wanted the curtains open where the man nodded in response.

"Can you walk?" came the sudden question from the doctor.

Byakuya with a raised brow, responded, "I believe so, why?"

Satoshi faced him and a grin was now present, "Want me to show you a place?"

The man eyed him with a confused look. He didn't know what the doctor meant but he grabbed the man's curiosity for sure. He slowly nodded with a hesitant energy clearly radiating off of him.

"Good! Want me to help you?"

Byakuya shook his head as he slowly slid off his bed. He spoke a sudden question, "Are you really a doctor?"

Satoshi blinked but then laughed, "Of course, I am. You're getting better, right?"

He has a point, Byakuya immediately thought. The man figured that the doctor was indeed real, he was just not as uptight or just plain boring like the others. He was nice or perhaps weird. It didn't exactly matter to the man.

With Satoshi's help, they made it out of the room because the man surely felt like his legs were jello. It has been awhile since he walked so he felt very weak.

As they passed through the corridor, Satoshi greeted at least 2 nurses and a few patients that walked around as well.

"Where are we going?" Byakuya managed to ask. He felt impatient due to their slow pace, no thanks to him.

"You'll see when you get there," Satoshi said with a smile.

A few more steps or incredibly long steps for Byakuya, they have finally arrived in front of a room with an already open sliding door. The man peeked in a bit and was surprised to see lines of bookshelves that were filled with books at both sides and tables at the center of the seemingly large room.

"The library?"

Satoshi chuckled, "I guess you could say that. People rarely use it nowadays but it's open to patients and visitors."

Byakuya eyed him with a silent question and the doctor shrugged, "You seemed like a guy who likes reading books in a quiet space." He then grinned, "Besides, I'm sure you're getting sick of your room."

The doctor was right yet again. It was quite scary how much the guy could read him and honestly he was glad. The dark brown bookshelves, wooden like floor and lighter brown walls were refreshing in a way. He then looked further from the tables and he noticed another open sliding door that was slightly covered with white curtains.

"It's connected to the balcony," Satoshi mentioned when he eyed the man's line of sight, "There are some chairs there. You can read outside as well."

"That doesn't seem safe," Byakuya said airily but there were rails to actually prevent anyone from doing anything questionable.

"To those who want to jump, I guess," the doctor replied lightly, "Of course we ban people with suicidal tendencies there."

The man silently flinched. Of course the doctor doesn't want to sugarcoat words but it wasn't like he needed it to be mentioned that way. Straight answers were more preferable.

"Do you want to try?" Satoshi asked, "I could come back before lunch to help you back to your room."

A pause then a nod, "That would be great. Thank you."

Byakuya entered the room and it was surprisingly cool inside. Perhaps the wind from the balcony was cooling the whole room. He looked up and saw the air conditioner off but merely shrugged the thought away. He then sauntered to one of the bookshelves and let his eyes wander until something caught his interest.

A cough was heard and Byakuya's concentration of looking for a book was immediately broken. He frowned. He didn't notice anyone sitting on one of the chairs or felt any presence in the other shelves. Another cough was heard but he realized it was quite muffled.

It came from the balcony.

The man grabbed whatever book he got and made his way to the balcony. The doctor said there were chairs outside so he figured it was someone from outside. He hesitantly peeked outside and looked to his right. Something orange caught his eye.

He took a step closer and he could almost see the whole thing. Unnatural orange hair and sharp features. He had his eyes casted down on the book that was laid on his thin frame and he was focused on the book he was reading.

Byakuya tried to hide his awkwardness as he took another step to enter the balcony and sat on the available chair right at the other end of the other one present.

As soon as the man sat down, it alerted the other and his eyes were torn away from the book and looked at his direction.

Amber eyes.

It looked so tired.

The orange head blinked a few times and finally acknowledged Byakuya's presence, "Ah, I haven't seen you around here."

'Odd,' Byakuya thought.

The orange head then looked away and closed the book, "Well, it's not like anyone visits this place anymore."

It took a few moments before Byakuya finally responded, "I was only allowed to move around today."

The unnamed man looked back at him and scanned him from head to toe, "Accident?"

"Yes."

"Reckless driving?"

Byakuya sighed, "The other party was."

A hum escaped the man's lips as he leaned back on the chair. The raven couldn't help but observe him. He doesn't look remotely sick. No bandages or casts. The only thing that made him look sick is his thin body and tired eyes.

The man took a while before quietly asking, "How did you know?"

The orange head shrugged, "My dad was a doctor. I've seen the aftermath once or twice."

Byakuya left it at that. He didn't know why the man was saying it in past tense or why he is here when he looks almost normal. He thought it would've been best to just shut up.

"My name's Ichigo. Kurosaki Ichigo," the orange head said suddenly.

Byakuya then replied hesitantly, "Kuchiki Byakuya."

"Byakuya," Ichigo repeated with an unknown tone and then nodded, "Nice to meet you, Byakuya."

It felt weird for the raven to be called by his first name and he couldn't help but let his eyebrow twitch.

"It's Kuchiki-san to you," Byakuya said sternly.

Ichigo eyed him and laughed, "Damn, you're pretty uptight. I think the doctor has medicine for that."

The raven frowned at what seems like a joke, "You appear younger than me and we just met. Learn how to respect, boy."

Ichigo then furrowed his eyebrows at him and it greatly amused the other, "I'm 25, Byakuya. And we're friends now whether you like it or not."

"Why say that?" Byakuya asked, brushing off the disrespect in the other's tone. And he's only 3 years younger than me.

"We know each other's name now," Ichigo shrugged, "And it looks like you'll be visiting here often."

"Do you say that to everyone who comes here, then?"

"Only to the people who seem interesting."

Byakuya doesn't know what the orange head implied but he decided to not ask at all as they fell into a comfortable silence. Ichigo returned his attention to his book that was almost falling down his lap while Byakuya simply looked out the view. It wasn't much with all the buildings around but the bright blue sky makes up for it.

A few hours later, both of them heard a knock from inside the room.

"Kuchiki-san?" Satoshi called out.

Ichigo looked at the raven who was simply reading the random book that he got and slowly raised his head to look back at him.

"Seems like someone's here to fetch you," Ichigo said.

"It appears so," Byakuya said as he closed his book. He slowly stood up from his seat with an unreadable look on his face.

Before he left the balcony, Ichigo managed to ask, "Let's meet tomorrow, okay?"

The raven looked down and saw the hope glinting in the orange head's eyes. Honestly, who could reject him at that point?

Byakuya slowly nodded, "Alright."

Ichigo's face broke into a grin and gave an enthusiastic mock salute towards the raven. The latter simply shook his head but couldn't stop a small smile forming on his lips as he entered the room to return the book.

When he met up with his doctor, Byakuya noticed a knowing grin on the man's face.

"What's with that look, doctor?" Byakuya asked.

"Nothing," Satoshi said as he stepped away to let the raven pass, "You just seem happier than usual."

"Is that so," Byakuya simply said before slowly walking away from the doctor who caught up to him in no time.

Byakuya sighed as he looked up at the clock. It read 11AM. He wondered if a certain orange head was there by now or perhaps he was already there and was simply waiting for him. Although he looked like he was actually camping in that area and not leaving it at least once but he doubted the doctors and nurses would let him.

The raven slowly slid down the bed once more. He has kept a silent promise, after all. He didn't even know why he agreed. Perhaps it was the lonely look on the man's face, the hope glinting in his eyes or even the well hidden sad tone in his voice when he asked.

Perhaps it was all of those factors that Byakuya gave in.

Satoshi checked up on him earlier and he reminded him that he was always welcome at the library if he decides to go again. He can just ask a nurse for help if needed. But Byakuya doesn't like depending on others so he slowly rose from his bed on his own.

He might get a nagging from his doctor after this.

Byakuya opened the door and checked if there was anyone in the corridor. There were one or two patients walking calmly, probably just to stretch their legs while nurses were tagging along with them as a guide.

The raven's eyebrow twitched when he felt a pain coming from his leg. He knew that his leg was healed but there might be some aftereffects which he decided to fully ignore as he tried to make his way towards the library.

The pain felt even stronger now but Byakuya kept ignoring it but even the passing nurse was eyeing him carefully as he passed by them.

Byakuya was confused when his line of sight was dropping, his body feeling light and with a confirmed thud as he dropped on the floor, he groaned in pain. The passing nurse was alerted immediately and ran towards his fragile frame as they checked for the source of the pain.

The nurse shouted for help and footsteps were already approaching them.

Byakuya didn't seem to pay attention when the nurse was calling out to him as he felt like passing out right at that moment. He felt fingers checking for his pulse and other points that might've gone wrong but he ignored all of that as darkness consumed him again.

(Same time)

Ichigo was reading another book that he had picked up on the same day on the balcony as he breathed in the fresh but not so fresh air outside.

'He's taking a while,' Ichigo sourly thought as he flipped another page.

He wasn't even paying attention to the book anymore to the point that the orange head considered checking it out again the next day with a clearer head. He was slightly disappointed but not surprised that his new… friend hasn't arrived in the room for the day.

He then shook his head vigorously. He wasn't about to let the man's absence ruin his whole day for him. He was used to it. He was used to being alone anyways so why would he bother now?

Ichigo then escaped his thoughts when he heard a cry for help from someone right outside the corridors. He got up out of reflex and wanted to help the person but he felt like as a patient, he wasn't allowed to.

He heard some footsteps as people came down in a rush as he walked towards the door of the room. He froze when a familiar doctor shouted a name.

"Kuchiki-san?!"

Thanks for reading! I hope y'all enjoyed.