Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, but as far as I know, I was the first one to write a fic about Ulquiorra and Toshiro being brothers. I also decided that Ukitake would have pretended to be their "uncle" as part of a mission from Soul Society. This follows that same storyline. Again, you don't need to read Like Brothers or Like Strangers to understand it. Just know that in my little universe, Ulquiorra's name used to be Katashi Hitsugaya when he was human.

…

Rain, Rain, Here to Stay

…

A cold drop of water splashed across his nose and into his eyes. It was no different from the rest of the rain that poured all around him, soaking him to the core. He felt his pitch-black hair being pressed to his tiny face.

"Toshiro!"

The strict voice of his older brother called to him from the door.

"Toshiro, come inside before you get sick."

The boy scurried along into the small abode. He stood at the door, making a small puddle, while Katashi went to go get a towel.

"You're drenched," his mother noted. "You must be freezing."

As if his body reacted to the statement, he shivered. "I wish it was snowing instead."

"But then you would be twice as cold," Katashi reprimanded, throwing the cloth to his younger brother. Toshiro caught it with his stiff fingers and wrapped the warm, dry fabric around himself. Across the room, his older brother slid his hands back into his pockets.

"Must you always do that?" Ukitake reprimanded. "Let me see."

Katashi scowled as Ukitake tugged his arm. As soon as the appendage was free, the older man examined his palms. He sighed. "Katashi…you're all scraped up again."

The preteen yanked his hand back and looked away. Ashamed, Toshiro thought. He knew his big brother only had cuts and scrapes on his palms because the other boys pushed him down. He saw it once, but he knew it happened more often than that because by the time the old marks healed, new ones would take their places and Katashi's hands would retreat to his pockets once more.

"I just tripped," he mumbled, shoulders hunching. Toshiro had never understood why the preteen was so uneasy around their "uncle." Ukitake had always been so kind to them and he'd been around for almost as long as Toshiro could remember.

Long enough to know that Katashi was lying.

And that he couldn't do anything about it.

Toshiro wandered over to their mother, Midori, tired of his older brother's antics already. She mussed his sopping hair with one hand, causing it to stick up at odd angles. Wide blue-green eyes stared at her from under the mess and she couldn't help but giggle. Oh, her sweet, innocent little child.

"When is it going to stop raining?" Toshiro wondered.

"I don't know," she responded.

"Is it going to thunder?"

She picked up on the hint of concern. "It might, but remember, the thunder can't hurt you."

"Okay," he whispered, grimacing. Suddenly, a very strange feeling overtook his stomach. He made a face. "Mom, I think I'm getting sick like Katashi said I would. My tummy feels funny."

Frowning, she placed her wrist against his forehead. "I don't feel a fever…"

In his peripheral vision, Toshiro caught Uncle Ukitake staring outside, one hand on Katashi's shoulder. His older brother was also looking in the same direction, a veil of confusion dulling his eyes. Toshiro's nausea increased with a lurch. He tried not to let it make him whimper.

"Toshiro?" his mother called. She pulled him closer to her. "Toshiro?"

His glazed eyes focused on what was now in front of him. He couldn't quite make sense of it. Uncle Ukitake looked really worried about something far away. The white-haired man then startled as his attention was brought back inside the house. He was talking to Katashi, but Katashi…

His eyes rolled back into his head and he fell.

Ukitake caught the preteen just in time. He lowered the boy slowly to the floor.

"Katashi!" Midori shouted, launching herself out from behind Toshiro to focus on her oldest.

Meanwhile, Toshiro stood in the corner, simply watching. Ukitake left to "go get some water." The icky feeling disappeared not long after he did. By the time he came back, Katashi was just waking up.

Their mother was fussing over the older boy. "Honey, you fainted," she informed him.

"Dropped like a rock," Ukitake added.

Katashi mumbled something and Toshiro knew without hearing that it was some grunted assurance that he was fine. He was always fine, Toshiro thought. Nothing could hurt Katashi ever because he possessed a strength that Toshiro admired and failed to mimic on many occasions. The little boy shivered in relief. The scare was over now.

And then the first boom of thunder sounded.

…

"Katashi?" Toshiro called. It was so quiet and dark. Another night-piercing crack of lightning caused him to squeak. "K-Katashi?"

The younger boy crept up to his counterpart's futon. He was now close enough to realize that Katashi wasn't there.

"Look," he heard his brother's voice from the hall, "it's the middle of the night. Can't you bother me tomorrow morning?"

There was no sound in reply.

"What do you want me to do?" Katashi asked.

A faint mumbling.

"It's pouring out."

Toshiro thought he heard his brother growl low.

"Fine."

There were footsteps and then the sound of a door closing. Toshiro huddled up by Katashi's blanket. Who had his big brother been talking to? The question sat at the base of his being like lead. It refused to move while he waited in the blackness, twitching at every peal of thunder.

At last, Katashi entered the house again. He wasn't talking anymore. Toshiro waited for him to arrive.

Katashi let out a heavy sigh. Water was dripping onto the floor from his wet clothing and hair. His coat had not completely protected him from the wrath of the storm. Upon reaching his room, though, he froze. "Toshiro, what are you doing awake?"

"Who were you talking to?" Toshiro wondered.

The older boy's eyes widened. "No one. You must have been dreaming."

Toshiro shook his head. "I wasn't and you're lying. Lying is bad, Katashi. Mom and Uncle Ukitake said so. Dad did, too."

Katashi's frown deepened.

"You don't know what you're talking about," the older claimed.

"It was a ghost, wasn't it?"

At this, Katashi's eyes widened. He took a slow step forward. "Ghosts don't exist."

"I think I always knew, but never thought about it," Toshiro whispered, "why you saw things that weren't there to everyone else and why they were mean to you. Mom doesn't know, though."

"Toshiro…"

"You're never afraid of them," the young one noticed. "Ghosts are supposed to be scary."

At this, Katashi kneeled down in front of him. "You have to stop saying this nonsense."

"Why?"

"Because…" Katashi paused. "Because even if I did see ghosts, it would be nothing for you to worry about."

In punctuation to his answer, the thunder roared again. Toshiro's eyes flew open as big as they could go and he launched himself forward at his brother. Shock wrote itself across Katashi's face at the abrupt, shivering embrace.

"How come," Toshiro's little voice came, "I can't be as brave as you? I want to be strong, too."

A gentle hand found its way to his dark tufts of hair. Katashi had no reassurances; nothing to say. It would not have mattered because Toshiro couldn't hear him anyway. He was absorbed in his own thoughts. Why was it that Katashi could fearlessly face the lingering dead, but Toshiro couldn't even endure a thunderstorm without his mother or Katashi by his side?

The young boy was startled as the older nudged him away. Katashi led the boy to a stand before guiding him to the window. "Look outside," he said. "Why are you afraid?"

"Thunder is loud and can hurt people," Toshiro answered.

"No," Katashi corrected, "lightening can hurt people, but rarely does so. I'll ask again, why are you afraid?"

"I don't know."

"You know," Katashi informed, "I like the thunder and lightning."

Toshiro's face twisted into an odd sort of horror. "But it's so—"

"Powerful," Katashi cut him off. "You're afraid of it because it's powerful. It's a fact that people fear what's stronger than them."

"But you're not afraid of it."

"That's because I admire it," Katashi admitted. "I like it in the way you love the snow."

Toshiro blinked. "Really?"

"Yes," the older answered. "I want to be like the lightening. You, Toshiro, I think you would be more like a blizzard. So, when I see snow, I think of you. When you see lightening…"

"I'll think of you," Toshiro finished.

Katashi nodded. As he did so, white light flooded the room once more and Toshiro jumped at the sound that followed it, but forced himself to watch the storm rage. He tried to force thoughts of his older brother to his mind every time the electric jolts returned. He wasn't going to be afraid.

Never again.