Ch 3: Restless Souls

Unohana quickly made her way through the halls, answering an alert from Ichigo and Shiro's room. Reaching her destination, she stepped inside to find Shiro starting to stir, slowly waking up.

'It has been two days already. I had hoped they both would have woken by now, but at least having one is a start.' Unohana stepped over to Shiro's side, observing him. He finally opened his eyes, staring unseeing at the ceiling.

"Shiro?" She prompted. He turned to her, glazed eyes making it difficult to focus. Slowly they cleared, and he could see the Captain standing next to him.

"Uno...hana?" Shiro questioned.

"Yes. How are you feeling, Shiro?"

"I'm tired, and I hurt."

"What hurts?" She lit a Kaido in her palm, scanning it over him while she listened.

"My head. My chest."

"Anything else?"

"Not really..." He yawned, and she lost his attention.

"Shiro, can you listen to me?" She brought his focus back to her, though she could tell he didn't have much energy left. He gave a tired nod and she continued.

"You lost too much of your spirit energy and we had to give you more. Your body doesn't know how to handle it, which is why you're sore. It will take some time for you to recover, now that you're stable again."

"What about Ichi-nii? Where's Ichi-nii!" He sat up, searching for him. Tears sprung to his eyes when the pain flared, and Unohana gently laid him back down.

"Ichigo is in the other bed. See? He's right there." She moved aside so he could see Ichigo behind her, but instead of reassuring him as she had hoped it had the opposite effect.

"Ichi-nii!" Shiro tried to get up once more, getting to Ichigo more important than the pain he was in. Unohana caught him before he could even get out of the bed, keeping him from falling over and hurting himself. From what she was seeing, she didn't think he could stand if he wanted to. Determined as he was, his body simply couldn't keep up.

"Careful, Shiro. You might hurt yourself."

"Ichigo!" Shiro weakly struggled against her hold, desperately wanting to get free. His brother was right there, and she wouldn't let him go! "Ichigo!"

His voice had risen to a scream, and he was now freely crying from frustration and the pain his struggling had created.

Just when Unohana was about to use a Kaido to calm him, she heard Ichigo speak. The commotion must have made enough noise to have woken him up.

"Give him to me." She glanced over at Ichigo, who made no move to get up, then back to the child she was restraining.

"Shiro, that's enough." Ichigo gained Shiro's full attention with those few words. "You have to calm down before she can let you go."

Shiro's shouting died down, but he couldn't stop crying; the pain was too much and he was too worked up. Picking the child up Unohana sat by Ichigo with Shiro, letting him reach out and hold Ichigo's hand while she rubbed circles on his back. The crying settled down until it was just short hiccups and ragged breathing, and Unohana decided she could let him down next to Ichigo. He immediately latched onto Ichigo, having crawled onto him and wrapped his arms around his neck.

They stayed like that for several minutes, Ichigo holding the child laying on his chest while he finished his tantrum. Eventually he stopped altogether, having cried himself to sleep.

"How are you doing?" Unohana broke the silence that had fallen.

"Tired. Sore. My chest and head kinda hurt."

"Perhaps Shiro shouldn't be laying on you then."

"No, it's okay. He's already sleeping, and I'm actually feeling better with him here. The pain in my chest isn't as bad as it was before."

"I suppose it's alright then. Can you tell me what happened before you passed out? Rukia told me you went to your inner world, and were there for an unusually long time. Then you collapsed, and both you and Shiro were rushed here for emergency treatment."

"I was looking for- Kuso! I was looking for Kurogetsu, but I wasn't able to get to him before I was pushed out. I saw him though, he was passed out in there. I have to go back and help him!"

"I cannot allow you-"

"Unohana, please! Where is Shiro's sword, I have to go back!"

"Ichigo." He paused at her firm tone, allowing her to speak. "I cannot allow you to return so soon. But, seeing as this is an extreme and unusual situation, there may be another option."

"What?"

"There is a way I can enter another's Inner World. I could enter yours, and heal Kurogetsu once I've found him."

"If I can't go, then you do it. I can't just do nothing knowing he's hurt and alone."

"I understand. I'm afraid I will have to put you back to sleep for this though." Ichigo nodded his consent, and Unohana pressed her fingers to his forehead, green light shining from them. His eyes closed and head lolled to the side, once more asleep. She called Isane in, informing her of what she was doing and what needed to be done.

With Isane now monitoring the whole group, Unohana sat cross legged on the bed that had recently opened, Shiro's sword in her lap. It took a great deal of focus to synchronize with someone else's reiatsu, it was a technique that was very difficult even for Captains who specialised in Kido and Reiatsu skills. Only Yamamoto, Aizen, Kisuke, and herself were known to be able to perform such a feat. Muramasa was a special case that was not counted, as it was a Zanpakuto and not a Shinigami intruding on another's soul.

At last locking in on his reiryoku, she forced her conscious into it. It reacted to her, pushing at her to keep her out. It was a battle of wills, her reiryoku against his own, struggling against each other. At last it slipped and she pushed through, falling through a void as her mind left reality and entered another world. The black faded to blue and sideways clouds disoriented her, nearly causing her to miss her landing on the side of a large skyscraper.

The sideways city posed an interesting sight, but there was no time to stop and study it. The inner world was filled with lingering spirit energy, making it difficult to pinpoint any new traces. Not wasting any time she materialized spirit ribbons, a red and a black reaching to the sky, and a blue stretching into the distance.

Following the blue ribbon, it only took a few minutes to locate the lost spirit. She found him collapsed, the teenaged spirit's reiryoku as dangerously low as Ichigo's had been only a few days ago. Settling beside him and moving him to his back, she discovered a reddish stain where he had been laying. She ran a hand through his hair, easily finding where he had hit his head and split the skin. It was an old wound, already closing on its own.

Deeming the small wound unimportant, she performed a quick scan that revealed while he was suffering from reiryoku depletion, he was not losing any more. He was still generating reiryoku, all he needed was a boost. Green light filled her hands, hovering over his chest as she began to restore his power. She sat in silence for some time as she worked; she was bringing him back from almost nothing after all.

Eventually he woke, tired mind not fully functional at first. Then he jolted awake, realising the person above him shouldn't be there.

"Wha- you!" He jolted, grabbing his head as the jarring motion made his headache known. "Captain, what are you doing here!?"

"Hello to you too, Kurogetsu. Ichigo was concerned about you, but unable to come himself. I am here both on his behalf, and to heal you should you need it, which proved to be true."

"How is Ichigo? And Shirogetsu?" He asked.

"Both are fine for now. You are the only one still in need of attention."

"What do you mean fine? Why can I not connect to either of them? What happen-"

"Kurogetsu." She cut him off before he could get himself worked up. "Both are safe. They are in my care, and I assure you they are in no danger. Now, Ichigo was worried enough about you to let me come here. I need to know what happened that you were to be found unconscious with almost no reiryoku."

"... When I felt Ichigo losing too much power, I started giving him mine. I had hoped it would be fixed soon enough it wouldn't be an issue, but at that point I could no longer communicate with them and had no idea what was happening. Some time later Ichigo came here, I assume looking for me. I had given too much though, and was too weakened to go to him or help him find me. My power ran dry shortly after he came, and then I don't know what happened after that."

"According to what he and others have told me, he was forced from the inner world, and collapsed in the real world. It sounds as though he was using your power without knowing, and when you ran out he only had a limited time before what he had left ran dry as well. When he ran out completely, he was forced from the Inner Word, and collapsed in the real world as well. They were rushed to the fourth, and have been undergoing treatment since then to stabilize them and bring their reiryoku levels back up.

"Since they have been getting regular reiatsu transfers from others, they no longer need to draw on your power. However, you gave enough that you nearly killed yourself in the process. If Ichigo had not allowed me here you would not have been healed, and may have never woken up. I know as a Zanpakuto you were trying your best to protect Ichigo, but what would it have done to him if he lost you? What would it do to Shirogetsu, your other half?"

"I..."

"This is not a scolding, I simply want you to think about it."

"I do not regret what I did."

"I don't expect you to. I know how important he is to you after all." The light in her hands went out, and she finally let Kurogetsu move away. "You should be fine now as long as you don't do this again. I wouldn't recommend trying to manifest though, give yourself a little longer before you try to do that. I'm sure you're anxious about Ichigo, but it would be best to wait until he can return here himself."

"Thank you."

-C-S-

Checking in on Ichigo and Shiro the next day, she found Ichigo teaching Shiro how to fold origami. Judging by the numerous paper animals scattered around, they had been at it for a while. Hearing the door open, they looked up from where they were sitting on the floor.

"Captain Unohana." Ichigo greeted as he stood.

"How are you doing?" She returned.

"Ah, we're doing better. Right, Shiro?" Ichigo looked down at Shiro who had also stood and latched onto his sleeve.

"Yeah!" Shiro smiled at Unohana, a little more comfortable than before.

"Can I see?" She knelt down to his level, and he hesitantly walked over to her. A brief once over still showed a slight fever, but overall he seemed much better. Suddenly he flinched, then reached out to grab onto her.

"What do you have!" He demanded. Both Unohana and Ichigo were surprised by the sudden change, but Unohana replied before Ichigo could scold him.

"You mean this?" Unohana pulled out the plastic bag she had brought and held it out to Shiro, who immediately snatched it away.

"Shiro!" Ichigo scolded, then turned back to Unohana. "Sorry about that. You went to the SRDI?"

"Yes. To get information. I also paid a visit to Soi-Fon to get this for you." Unohana said. "This is yours isn't it, Shiro?" At the prompting Shiro snapped out of it, and returned his attention to her.

"Ah, yeah…"

"Then it is for you to keep." She closed his hands around the bag, and rose from the floor.

"Um… Captain?" Shiro spoke quietly, looking at the floor.

"Yes?" She prompted.

"I'm sorry. Thank you." Unohana gave him a small smile.

"It's alright. Just try to mind yourself." Now she turned to Ichigo. "Now, I do believe it is your turn. Let's take a look, shall we?"

-C-S-

Staying still and doing nothing never was Ichigo's strong point. Even when bedridden with fever it was only a matter of time before he would force himself to sit up and look out of the window, or - when he felt less shitty - grab a book and read for as long as his vision stayed clear. Shirogetsu was no different. The Hollowfied zanpakuto was more than willing to wake his wielder up in the middle of the night if that meant it would drive away his boredom.

So it went without saying, both Ichigo and Shiro were tired of being cooped up at the Fourth and couldn't wait to leave. They had exhausted everything that had been given to them to keep them busy, and were restless.

In the several days they have been cooped up in the private patient rooms of the Fourth they had used up several packs of origami paper (which Isane had given them from Yachiru's stock in the SWA's supplies closet), the pencils they got from Rukia had become too small to be used for drawing, and the string they had played games with and made shapes from had snapped from overuse.

Unfortunately Unohana hadn't made it to them on her morning rounds yet, so they were left to wait a little longer.

Shiro retrieved the bag Unohana had returned to him a few days earlier, and spread the pieces out on the bed, Ichigo sitting next to him to watch. Every day they since then they had done this, and the pieces were slightly different every day. The edges had become rougher, and fine dust covered the pieces.

Shiro ran his finger through the dust and both watched in fascination as it turned into black energy that absorbed into his skin. There was a slight influx of reiatsu that settled down again as soon as the energy vanished. They hadn't figured out yet if it was disintegrating because he couldn't sustain it, or if he was subconsciously trying to absorb it and take the energy back. Soon there was a knock on the door, then said door opened to reveal Unohana.

"Good morning." Her greeting was met with a 'good morning' from Ichigo, and an enthusiastic Shiro running over to reach up to her.

"How are you doing, little Shiro?" She knelt down to his level to give a quick examination.

"I'm fine. I'm ready to go!" He was bouncing up and down as he spoke, clearly full of energy that needed to be burned.

"Everything looks good, you're free to leave." Unohana finished her examination, giving the two of them an all clear. "However, I would recommend you stay in Soul Society for the time being."

"Yeah, I thought about that. We can't really go back to the Living World right now because he's a spirit, and I have no idea if he could even use a gigai." Ichigo replied.

"Not only that, but you will be able to recover lost reiryoku better with the high concentration of reishi here." She glanced at Shiro when she spoke, and Ichigo took the hint.

"Even with Mayuri dealt with, I don't know how I feel about hanging around Soul Society. But it seems like we don't really have much of a choice, with our current condition and all. If we stay here though, I should be getting back to the Squad. I'm sure Aizen will have work for me to do."

"You should not be worrying about Squad duties right now. Your Captain even stopped by and specifically said I was not to allow you to return to work right away. He is handling things just fine, and can manage for a while longer while you recover." Ichigo was about to reply when there was a knock on the door. Then it opened to reveal Rukia, dressed in layers with snow in her hair and a bundle of cloth in her arms.

"Hey Rukia." Ichigo greeted.

"I heard Unohana planned on releasing you today, so I came to pick you up."

"They are free to go, I shall leave them to you." Unohana dismissed herself from the room.

"Captain Ukitake was asking about you." Rukia stated. "He wanted me to bring you two back so he could see you."

"Really?"

"Yes. You do know he thinks of you as one of his own, he's really come to care for you."

"Ah, no. I didn't realize."

"Ichi-nii~, can we go yet?" Shiro whined. He pulled away from Ichigo and latched onto Rukia's sleeve instead, impatiently bouncing up and down.

"We can go, right after you bundle up. It's snowing pretty hard out there." Rukia replied. "I don't suppose either of you have coats, do you?"

"No." Ichigo replied, handing Shiro his tiny version of Zangetsu before proceeding to tidy up the room.

Rukia sighed, unfolding the cloth in her arms. "Captain Ukitake thought you wouldn't, so he had me bring one for you. Problem is I only have this one, and I didn't know where I could borrow one small enough for Shiro."

"Oh, that's not a problem at all. We can use this for now, and I know who he can borrow one from." He finished straightening up the room then turned back to Rukia and Shiro.

"Hey Shiro, come here." Ichigo knelt down on the floor, allowing Shiro to climb on his back. He lifted Shiro up high enough to hold onto his shoulder, then stood up. "Were doing this Yachiru style. Put the coat over both of us, and we'll see how it works."

Rukia shook out the unfolded the coat and draped it over their backs, before coming around front to adjust it so it would stay.

"That should do. The snow was getting heavier when I got here, we should leave before it gets much worse. It may not bother me, but I don't want you turning into a popsicle out there."

"I'd be more concerned about you turning me into a popsicle than the snow." Ichigo muttered.

"We should get going." Rukia led the way out of the barracks, and they were met at the entrance by an icy blast of wind. Stepping out into the storm, they began to push through the abusive weather to make it to their next destination. It only took a few minutes before Shiro decided to pull the coat over his head and hide under the warm material.

When Ichigo's face started to turn red from the cold, Rukia took off her hat and pulled him down to force the pink hat onto his head despite his protests. The rest of the walk was spent in a comfortable silence, all three of them too cold to talk. The gates of the Thirteenth eventually came into view, and they could see Jushiro coming out to meet them.

"Welcome back Rukia. Good morning, Ichigo!" He greeted. Shiro popped his head out from under the coat and Jushiro looked mildly startled, before smiling again.

"And you would be?" Jushiro took the child from Ichigo's back as they entered the warm building, freeing Ichigo to remove his hat and extra layers.

"Shiro. You're a Shiro too, right?" He replied.

"Yes, I'm Jushiro Ukitake. It's nice to meet you, little one." Jushiro set Shiro on the ground and brushed his hair out of his face, tangled from hiding under the coat.

"No work this morning, Captain?" Rukia inquiried.

"Only a few reports, hardly any at all. Everything's been quiet lately, something I appreciate very much." Jushiro lead them to a common room where they could sit and talk. There were a few other Shinigami there, talking or playing games together, but other than the initial greeting made no further acknowledgment of their presence. Sitting in a relatively empty corner, Shiro allowed Jushiro to pull him into his lap and start smoothing out his tangled hair as they talked.

"I didn't believe what I had been told. Even now, with the evidence right in front of me, I'm having a hard time believing it. As it was though, it seems the report was accurate enough." Jushiro sighed as he ran his fingers through Shiro's hair, working out the knots.

"I never expected something like this to happen. Although, we should have been more careful. We knew Kurotsuchi had taken an interest in you, but I suppose none of us expected him to try anything with the rest of us here. That was an arrogant assumption to make."

"Hey, I already knew about Captain Creepy. I usually try to avoid him, but I got careless. It's my own fault for getting caught."

"That's not true! You shouldn't have to be on guard all the time!" Rukia protested.

"Not all the time," Ichigo agreed. "But with him, I definitely should be. Tell me no one else is on edge with him around."

"Well… yeah, I guess so. Most of the lower seats are terrified of him." Rukia said.

"He is a rather unpleasant person. He makes even some of the Lieutenants uncomfortable." Jushiro added.

"Well it's good to know it's not just me. But that doesn't help us with the current situation at all. Shiro can't stay like this, and I don't think I'll be able to take this for long either. As it is, he's pulling on my reiatsu to keep himself stable."

"That is indeed a problem. Neither of you will last long if both of you are drawing from a single source." Jushiro tugged the last knot from Shiro's hair, before wrapping his arms around the child in his lap. "Shiro?"

"Yeah?"

"How much do you recall from when you were at Kurotsuchi's lab?"

"He had Ichi-nii trapped and was hurting him. I tried to help, but got knocked out. I don't know what happened after that. But when I woke up I was home with Ichigo."

"What did you do when you intervened?"

Shiro shifted uncomfortably in Jushiro's lap, hesitant to reply. When he refused to answer, Jushiro gently pushed him off his lap, allowing Shiro to return to Ichigo. He sat between Ichigo and Rukia, quietly clinging to his older half.

"Shiro?" Ichigo prompted. "It's okay, you know. Jushiro's just curious, he's not gonna be mad or anything."

"Ichi-nii was hurt and couldn't fight, so I jumped in and grabbed his sword. I tried to fight the Captain, but he was to fast and broke my mask."

Jushiro looked at Ichigo, seeming to ask for something, before Ichigo nodded slightly.

"Do you know what happens when a mask gets broken?" He asked. Shiro shook his head.

"Normally, that being dies. However, there are rare exceptions where that does not happen. Instead, they are left severely weakened and their Reiatsu is dangerously unstable. The unstable energy leaks from the broken mask, and their body often shrinks in size to accommodate the small amount of energy that is left." Jushiro explained.

"Am I broken then?" Shiro asked quietly.

"You are not broken." Ichigo stated firmly. "You just need time to recover from Mayuri getting ahold of you."

"Oh." Shiro looked down at the floor, clearly debating something. They waited for him to continue, and were rewarded for their patience moments later. "Hey Ichi?"

"Yeah Shiro?"

"Why does no one else have masks? Am I the only one?" The table fell silent when nobody knew how to answer him.

"Shiro, would you go with Rukia while Ichigo and I have a talk? Ichigo will answer your question when he comes for you." Jushiro requested. Shiro nodded, taking Rukia's hand as both stood and walked away. When both were gone, Jushiro turned to Ichigo with a serious expression.

"He doesn't know anything, does he? That he's a Zanpakuto, you're his Shinigami, or anything else?"

"No. Right now he's a kid, he doesn't need to know he's a weapon."

"I understand you want to protect him, but that is not what he needs right now. What he needs is to understand who he is and the situation you are in. Being kept in the dark will not help him heal, and most certainly will not restore his memory."

"He's already in a strange situation, I don't want to cause him anymore worry."

"Shiro is not a child, he is only stuck in the body of one. And his mindset is the result of his confusion and distorted memory. If he remembers this when he recovers, I'm sure he would not appreciate being treated as helpless."

"I guess. But still. It's just… I have a hard time not seeing him as one."

"It's not going to be an easy task, but it needs to be done. But I do have one piece of advice for you, should you do this."

"What's that?"

"Don't tell him everything. Make him figure it out on his own, otherwise he may only listen to what you are saying, and not actually restore his memory."

"Yeah, I got it. I'll have to talk with him. I'm just not gonna be looking forward to it."

"Why not just get it done quickly then? Go find him, I doubt they went too far. Actually, I believe Rukia took him to her room here at the barracks." Jushiro stood, indicating the conversation was over. With a sigh Ichigo stood as well, silently searching for Shiro's reiatsu.

"Thanks, Jushiro. I'll see you later, I guess." Ichigo said. "This may be a long talk."

"Just do what has to be done." Jushiro gave an encouraging squeeze to his shoulder, then left him on his own.