Breath of Life
Feverish Nights~

Isshin first pulled off Kaien's wet clothes and hung them over the curtain rod in the room. As he did this, he carefully examined his brother's body for any possibly injuries that may need to be treated. He then proceeded to dry the young male off, before pulling him over to the other bed and dressing him in dry clothing.

After pulling the sheets up to Kaien's chin, Isshin stripped the other bed of the sheets and headed to the laundry room with the wet clothing his brother had been wearing and his set of dry clothes. He tossed the clothing in and then changed himself, before starting up the wash so he could eventually put it into the dryer.

His footsteps couldn't be heard as he headed back to the room with some equipment. He sat down on the black stool and took out his stethoscope. Upon hearing that Kaien's heart beat and breathing were fine, he pulled out a thermometer. Upon hearing the beeping sound, he removed it from the mouth and flicked it a few times.

"Damn it." A frown spread across Isshin's face. "You have a fever, not to mention her shivering slightly. I wish you would wake up and talk to me."

The clock ticked away the minutes as Isshin placed an extra blanket over Kaien. Eventually Isshin glanced up and noted that it would be dinner time. He stood up and headed to the kitchen in order to get his dinner. Upon arriving he spoke to Yuzu.. "I'm going to be pulling an all nighter."

Ichigo game him aloof of surprise while Yuzu's lip stuck out in a pout."All right."

The eldest member of the Kurosaki family took out a can of broth and began to heat it up. As he stood at the stove, he happened to glance up in time to see Karin's look of indifference. Unlike the other two she was still staring at him, almost as if she were trying to figure out what he was up to. "Is something the matter Karin?" Isshin suddenly felt tired.

"Normally you use the clinic supplies and the kitchen in the clinic."

Isshin at first started at the small female, having forgotten that Karin tended to notice things he normally expected and hoped would go unnoticed. "She's the one most likely to figure things out." The man let out a deep sigh. "This patient is different."

Ichigo paused in eating his own meal. He looked right at his father, his eyes darkening. "How so?"

"I'll explain later."

"I've heard that one before," Ichigo said, referencing the fact Isshin had yet to explain why he happened to be a shinigami.

Isshin ignored the comment and went to place the broth on the tray. Yuzu gave the man a stern look. "Be sure to eat your food before it gets cold. Your patient isn't the only person who needs to eat."

"Thank you sweet heart. I'll try to remember that."

M

Secrets seemed to be what the Kurosaki family was built upon. The only person who didn't hve a secret was Yuzu and that was because it wasn't in her personality to keep things from people. Karin could still remember some of the stories her sister had told classmates in the past about things that should have been kept within the family. It was possibly a good thing that she didn't know as much as her twin did.

Karin grabbed her walking shoes from her footlocker and slipped them onto her feat. As she was slopping the shoes on she suddenly felt an unfamiliar reiatsu hit her. She knew right away that the spiritual pressure wasn't a hollow, but she also knew it wasn't any of the shinigami she knew. She brushed it off as a non-hazard.

She began to walk home with her sister. Yuzu spoke up with a smile on her face, completely oblivious to the fact things she couldn't see were going on in Karakura Town. "I need to stop by the grocery store to pick up some groceries. Do you want to come with me?"

"I'm not playing soccer today, so that is fine." The dark hair twin and Yuzu walked a bit when it began to drizzle. Instinctively they pulled out their umbrellas just in time before the rain began to pour down. The two arrived as the small market store and Yuzu handed Karin a basket to carry. The two girls began to walk around the place.

Since Yuzu knew what she was doing and honestly didn't need Karin's help the dark haired twin focused on the stranger's reiatsu. She knew better then to get involved with levels that were to far above her own range. Thing were fine, until she felt the reiatsu suddenly change course and head towards her house, meaning they were likely to have a quest.

However, as soon as the reiatsu got to the house, it also quickly disappeared. If someone was visiting her brother they wouldn't be hiding their reiatsu. Her attention however became distracted when Yuzu spoke up. "Karin... should we have pork or beef for dinner. They happen to be the same price tonight."

"Beef of course. That goes without saying." Two dark eyes glanced back out at the rain pouring down outside until it was time to go. By the time they got home, the two girls were relatively dry except for their socks, which had become wet from the puddles they had to walk through. Karin went into the living room to watch television while Yuzu set about making dinner.

Isshin was the last person to arrive for dinner and the first words out of his mouth was that he was going to be pulling an all nighter. Karin watched her father carefully and noticed how serious he was, not to mention how unusually tense he was. Finally though, the man looked up and looked her straight in the eye. "Is something the matter Karin?"

The female teen then noted that he tended to get what he needed for his patients from the clinic. She was surprised to hear him say that the patient was different and remembered that she had felt spiritual pressure coming from the direction of the house. Karin frowned, knowing her father supposedly wasn't able to see spirits. She noted the fact her brother himself became suspicious of thier father.

After dinner she headed up to her room and got her homework done. She changed into her pajamas and got into bed, falling to sleep as if something heavy weighed upon her. She found herself moving through a forest with two others near her. The place wasn't familiar making Karin quite sure she was having one of those dreams.

Upon coming to a clearing she found herself looking at a Hollow and she could feel her anger rising quickly despite the fact she didn't understand the situation. The Hollow said something about a woman and how her life wasn't worth anything. The next thing Karin knew, she had drawn a blade and was attacking the Hollow.

What surprised her however was the fact the blade she held disappeared to the hilt. The next thing she knew, she was being attacked by worms and she could feel something getting inside of her and everything had a strange orange haze and she wasn't in control of her movements. "No, I'm never in control of my movements in this dream, but this sensation of not being able to control the movements is different."

She heard the words of the hollow in her head. "I'm of course going to take you over your body and use it to kill the others who are here. Just like I did with that woman."

Worms were coming out of her hands and her mouth and Karin felt like she would be physically ill. She found herself jumping up and down at a rate that wasn't normal even for a shinigami. She found herself suddenly attacking a man with a cloak similar to Toshiro's. The man had long white hair and was a tough fight, but she found herself suddenly escaping when he began to cough.

She found herself rushing through the forest, injured and as a monster, not at all in control of her mind as she moved. She found herself chasing someone, and then she suddenly felt a blade piercing her chest. For a few seconds she saw Rukia's face with a look of utter horror on her face before she slumped onto the shinigami's shoulder.

This was when Karin woke up in a cold sweat. She felt a nasty taste coming to her mouth and she clapped a hand to her mouth. Instinctively she got up despite the fact she couldn't feel any form of reiatsu. Something told her this may have to do with the patient her father was caring for. She slipped down the stairs and into the clinic.

After crossing a certain point in the hall she found herself being hit by the reiatsu she felt during the day. She found herself hurrying forward to the room she knew it was coming too. She turned around the doorway just in time to see her father trying to calm a young man down. Isshin glanced up, a startled look on his face. "Karin, what are you doing here?"

"I had a nightmare." The small female moved forward, her dark eyes looking at the man. She blinked a couple of times. The shape of the man's face reminded her of something. Her eyes blinked a couple of times once it clicked. "He looks like Ichigo. I mean, Ichigo and he would look like each other if they had the same hair color."

Isshin suddenly froze. "Karin, I kind of need you to go to bed."

"I can help you know." She then found herself blurting something aloud to her father due to her tiredness. "How does he know Rukia nee-chan? And who is he?"

"What do you mean, how does he know Rukia?" Her father choose to ignore her other question.

"I saw a dream... so I assumed." Karin frowned, suddenly realizing she had passed into territory she shouldn't have. "I had a really weird nightmare, so I am likely wrong. However, who is he?"

"As I said, I need you to go to bed. You have school in the morning. I promise I'll tell you who he is tomorrow." Isshin let go of the man's shoulders as he finally calmed down.

"Are you sure?"

"I think I don't have much choice." Isshin walked over to his daughter and placed a hand on her head. "Please try to get some sleep."

Karin let out a deep sigh and glanced around the room one last time. She saw that her father's dinner was sitting on the side table, only half eaten. Biting slightly on her lip, she spoke up. "All right." She then headed up the stairs and buried her head into her arms. "As if I can sleep after seeing that. That was a horrible dream."