Chapter 8
What Happened to Him

The silence that followed the young captain's idea was unsettling. All occupants of the room-with Karin as the only exception- wondered back to previous events that led the small captain to act on his own for the sake of others. Each weary individual could easily recall multiple times where the Squad Ten Captain had been injured or had fallen ill because of his worst characteristic-stubbornness. Every person that has ever gotten to know the small captain was made well-aware of this-his constant decisions to carry all burdens thrown his way by himself.

He, the young captain, knew too why no one has spoken up. He knows that they all worry for him because he is smaller than most; however, he knows that he proved himself by making it to a Captain's position. He believes- no he is sure- that he can handle this mysterious figure that is plaguing his dear friend. He made a promise- a promise to protect her, and he plans on holding onto his word. No matter what.

"Toshiro."

The small captain was brought back from his thoughts by a low voice tinged with anger. He shifted his eyes to the tall, orange-haired boy leaning against the wall opposite him. He opened his mouth to correct the disrespectful boy but decided against it. There was something in the taller boy's voice that put the young captain on edge- not sure if he should be concerned or annoyed.

"Ichigo." The young captain responded, matching said boy's tone.

"Why…?" Ichigo kept his head directed towards the ground, allowing his bright bangs to hood his eyes. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets out of fear that someone may notice them trembling. He sighed, tensing his body to stop the shaking anger that was building from his hands to his shoulders.

"Why," he began again. "Why do you want to fight alone?"

Toshiro expected this from Ichigo. This knowledge provided him with the opportunity to consider each reaction from each answer. Sadly, most of his imagined reactions resulted in Ichigo yelling at him-something he was aware his pounding headache could not handle. He bit his lip as he carefully selected the words that would soon anger the taller boy. However, Ichigo began again before he could get a word in.

"Are you not going to answer me, Toshiro?"

"There he goes again." Toshiro thought to himself, eyebrows twitching in annoyance. "How many times must I tell that boy to call me Captain Hitsugaya before he obeys?" He sighed and ran his hands through his white hair, ignoring the worried glances from the others. The soft sound of a creaking floorboard caused him to stir. He glanced up to see Ichigo walking towards him-each step coming down with more force than the last.

"Ichigo," Urahara stood from his spot and clasped his hand down on the tall boy's shoulder. "Take it outside, will you?"

Ichigo turned his head to look behind his shoulder at the older man. He watched as Urahara nodded towards Karin-silently warning him that an outburst might upset her. He gave Urahara one small nod before turning to walk past Toshiro, hoping that the captain will understand and follow him outside.

Before exiting, Toshiro took a moment to give Karin a reassuring smile with hopes to erase the worry etched on her face. That finished, he turned on his heel and stumbled after Ichigo.

The two boys walked silently for a while- Ichigo remaining a few steps ahead. The younger captain took advantage of this, wrapping his arms around his trembling shoulders. "I'm cold…?" He quickly dropped his arms when he noticed Ichigo's head turning slightly. The last thing he wanted was to look fragile during this confrontation.

After what felt like hours to the weakening captain, Ichigo finally stopped walking. He turned around and locked eyes with his superior- his angered brown eyes piercing Toshiro's hazy turquoise one's.

"Well," Toshiro finally spoke, annoyed at how raspy his voice sounded. "Go on and relieve your anger."

"The plan is stupid." Ichigo quickly began. "You will get yourself and my sister killed." He waited for an interruption from the captain but was greeted with silence-aside from the light sniffling coming from the smaller boy. Ichigo ignored this and continued. "Please let us help you." But still, he received no reaction from the captain.

By now, Ichigo was beginning to get annoyed at how unresponsive his friend was being. "Fine," he thought to himself, preparing to get aggressive. "How many times have you been hurt from working alone?"

Toshiro scowled and looked away.

"You can't go at this alone. I'm not going to let you just run away with my sister!"

"You don't trust me?" Toshiro kept his eyes locked on a tree to his right.

"I do," Ichigo lowered his voice slightly. "But, you can't honestly think that you can protect Karin in your current condition, can you?"

"I can because I'm fine." Toshiro cursed himself in his mind as his voice cracked.

"Oh?" Ichigo took a moment to examine the shorter boy. The longer he looked, the more concerned he grew. He watched the beads of sweat dripping down the smaller boy's head. He watched as the captain tensed when the cold wind brushed against him. Lastly, he noticed the normally pale boy's overly flushed cheeks.

"You look like shit to me," Ichigo stated bluntly, ignoring his concern for now.

Toshiro huffed before speaking. "Well, I'm fine. And, I'm sticking to my plan. I will keep my promise to protect Karin. I will do this alone because I do not want anyone else being troubled by this. Is that clear?"

"No," Ichigo began-his voice rising again. "She's my sister. How the hell am I not supposed to be troubled by it!?" He sighed as he watched Toshiro wince from his loud voice. "Listen," He began. "If you think that this is your fault-"

"It is." Toshiro looked down at his hands.

"Huh!?" Ichigo stumbled back.

"I was the one who told her how to control her spiritual pressure which ultimately put her into a meditative state."

"Yea, what's your point?" Ichigo crossed his arms and peered down at the troubled captain.

"Of course you wouldn't understand, Ichigo." Toshiro turned on his heel and began the long walk back to Urahara's, only to be jerked back around by a strong hand on his shoulder.

In the few seconds it took for his body to be completely turned around by Ichigo's grip, Toshiro felt his eyes dropping on the spinning world before him-collapsing into Ichigo's outstretched arms.

"To-Toshiro!?" Ichigo gaped at the fallen figure in his arms. He shifted the small boy so he could see his face. He quickly placed the back of his hand against Toshiro's forehead, hissing as he drew his hand away from the radiating heat. "Shit!"

Acting fast, Ichigo hopped up, cradling the shivering captain tightly against his chest-bridal style- as he began speed-walking back to Urahara's- mindful not to run because the wind had picked up drastically. He peered down as he heard an almost inaudible groan from the captain before said captain placed his trembling hand against his chest-the welt to be specific.

"That bastard…" Ichigo cursed as he thought back to the cloaked figure.

"What the hell did you do!?" Renji hollered as he raced to Ichigo.

Renji's booming voice caught Hyōrinmaru's attention-said man was sitting a short distance away. He too raced towards Ichigo and his fallen master.

"What happened to him?" Hyōrinmaru stepped forward to take the unconscious boy but pulled away at the sight of his shivering body.

"I…I don't know," Ichigo mumbled, pushing Toshiro closer to his chest to warm him. "But, I think it has something to do with the welt on his chest."

"Naturally," Urahara's voice interrupted the three worried boys. "That's a severe injury he has. He should have rested a lot longer than he did, but," He stopped to scratch his chin, letting out a light laugh. "This is Captain Hitsugaya we are talking about. He's a bit of a-"

"Workaholic," Yumichika finished, appearing beside Urahara with Ikkaku and Rangiku close behind him.

"Karin's asleep," Rangiku chimed in upon noticing Ichigo's confused expression. "She was exhausted."

Ichigo nodded then brought his eyes back to meet Urahara's. "What should we do? He needs treatment from the fourth squad."

"Bring him inside," Urahara stated, messy bangs masking his eyes. "I will see what Tessai can do for him."

Many apologies for this taking longer than usual! Also, I wanna note that the Ichigo/Toshiro parts were intended to just be friendship (bromance-y) parts (unless you wanna read it differently, it's up to you) and that the Karin/Toshiro romance parts will be coming, I promise!

Thank you sooo sooooooo much for all the reviews, favorites, and follows. They mean so much!

Sorry in advanced for any grammar errors I might have missed!

Hope everyone enjoys!