"What Best Friends are for."

A Bleach Fan Fiction.

Written by trekkiexb5.

Hitsugaya/K. Kurosaki friendship. Rated T for language.

Based on BLEACH THE MOVIE 2: DIAMOND DUST REBELLION.

SYNOPSIS: He wouldn't put it past a Kurosaki to blackmail him into putting them into danger: DDR.

DISCLAIMER: If Bleach was mine, I wouldn't have thought up Bleach 414 and 415…What a twist!

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

OOC on the part of Hitsugaya is due to the fact that he just got his world ripped out from underneath him. I would like to add that it is First Person POV, so what he says in his mind is not what he says out loud. Also, we will now deviate slightly from the movie.

flashback

CHAPTER ONE:

AND SO THE GREAT BLACKMAIL BEGINS

"We are friends, right?"

DAMN those Kurosakis. I swear the deities are actively plotting against me. But, honestly, I am grateful. The Onmitsukido would have widened their search far past the spatial barrier by now. What time is it? I finally see a battered alarm clock, its hands glowing dimly in the moonlight. The door opens to reveal Ichigo Kurosaki. This is his room then, and these are his sheets I am bleeding on. I know he will ask questions, and I will try not to answer, but, I should have known better. He knows that the Onmitsukido is looking for me. He must have talked to Soifon or her lieutenant at some point.

I can feel the fever starting to creep up on me. The strange seeping coldness emanating from my belly is distracting and annoying. I am drained, both mentally and spiritually. Perhaps that is why I told Ichigo that I wasn't going to tell him; that the Ouin wasn't any of his business. Then, on the next breath, told him about it. Telling him I was going to retrieve it. Or I could have spoken my thoughts out loud; my brain isn't functioning well at this point. After all, I must have said 'Kusaka' at some point, because he knows the name.

A white flash of pain reminded me that I was still hurt, and the stain that was slowly turning my obi to a red rust colour told me I was still bleeding.

The wound won't stop bleeding.

Maybe I should ask him to summon Orihime now… No. They are innocent human children. This isn't their fight. They shouldn't be caught in this mess. This is not anyone's fight but mine.

He leaves…finally and I try to sleep.

Another wave of agony assaulted me in the darkened room. Spots floated across my eyes as I made sure that my ironclad reiatsu cloak was still on. It was. They cannot know that I am here. Ichigo and his friends need to stay out of it.

I should sleep, but I cannot. I was exhausted beyond belief. I closed my eyes and tried to visualize a happy, soft place that reminded me of sleep. Ok, my tattered, smells like Rangiku's perfume and sake office couch. Not the best visualization, but it was my home. Remembering Granny's herb garden reminded me of… Regardless, it wasn't working. I heard that humans counted sheep to try to help overcome insomnia. I never had problems sleeping. In fact, I was famous for taking afternoon naps.

I will not get into Rangiku's excuse on why I did take naps.

However, my mind was racing. Between the events of today and planning my next move, I couldn't relax enough. And the pain wasn't helping. I had to leave tomorrow, early, while the house was asleep and…

Voices. They were coming from downstairs, muted but clear.

"Hey why are you up?"

"I had a nightmare. Just getting a glass of milk to settle things."

Oh…my…

KARIN.

I forgot! I forgot she was Kurosaki's sister! Damn! I felt her spiritual pressure, barely. She was far more adept than her older brother on controlling it. That's why I was surprised that she saw me a few weeks ago. When we played soccer together. When she tried to kill a Hollow with a ball.

Karin.

I recheck my reiatsu shield, it was leaking a little. It couldn't be helped. Fatigue was cracking my otherwise perfect control. Still, with Ichigo's broadcasting of his spiritual pressure, it would be extremely hard to find mine. Unless you were nearby…

And you knew me.

"So Ichigo," her voice spoke, cutting through my thoughts. "Why are you sleeping on the couch?"

"Uh… There's a movie I want to see on TV. It's on late." Sounds of a television being turned on could be heard below the voice.

"What movie, pray tell?"

Karin. She's a smart girl, too smart. She knows something is up.

I have to leave now. When she gets upstairs she will know I am here. But I found that I could not sit up, and when I tried, it felt like a thousand frozen knives punctured my gut. I muffled a groan and closed my eyes to call on my resolve to work through the pain.

In the mist of my terror that yet another Kurosaki found me, saw me in this state, and with the pain riding in my body, I must have blacked out for a bit. For the next sound I heard was the clicking of the bedroom door being opened and the diffused light from the hallway. Silhouetted in the light and gasping in surprise, was Karin.

"Tou…Toushirou?" She softy whispered.

"Yes." She saw me, why lie now? She must have heard something in that one word I uttered or something on my face, for expression went from surprise to concern.

She took two steps in and slowly closed the door behind her with near inaudible click. "Toushirou, what's wrong?"

In that moment, I nearly told her everything. My normal icy self control was eroded by the pain and the pressure of my recent choices. I was so tired of this. My soul, body, and mind were so weak. I wish I had an outlet, a battle, paperwork, anything to relieve the stress.

A friend.

Was she a friend, I wondered? I met with her only a couple of times before the recall order. We ate ice cream together and we played soccer. She was a pleasant companion who knew when not to talk and just watch the sunset.

No, not a friend. Dangerous to be a friend to a human. To inflict her to my world, even a little bit, could kill her. But if she was a Shinigami…

"Toushirou?" A hand touched my shoulder and gently shook it.

I belatedly refocused my blurred vision on her. "Sorry about that. I'm just tired."

Her hand moved from my shoulder to my forehead. Odd. Normally people are warm to the touch. Her hand was cool, soothing. Like Hyorinmaru's voice against my soul…

Her mouth turned down into a frown, and a pensive look covered her face. "Look. You are more than tired. You are running a fever. Let me get some aspirin. We do have an attached clinic you know and I have more than the average elementary school knowledge of medicine. You guys can have aspirin, right?"

Before I could answer, she pulled back the blanket and saw the drying blood. Now alarm was the new expression she wore. "Toushirou!" She exclaimed in a whisper. "You are hurt! Let me get some bandages and…"

She turned to leave but I reached out and grabbed her arm. "Don't please…" My voice cracked on the final syllable.

She turned back. "But why?" Her concern for me etched on her face, her reiatsu wrapping me, like a cocoon. A warm friendly cocoon I wanted to curl up in to forever.

But I shook it off and concentrated on stopping her. "Look, you can't help me. You will get hurt if you try to help me. Trust me on this. I really shouldn't be here but your brother brought me here. I need to leave…"

"Why? What?"

I sighed. I had to remind myself that this wasn't Ichigo. Karin is smarter than her brother. And hopefully wiser. But she is just as stubborn as her older sibling. I know she will try to follow, like her brother. I desperately searched my fading mind for something, anything that could persuade her just to return to bed and forget I was here.

"Please Karin," My voice came out as a low painful moan. "Just go to bed, will you? A little rest and I will be better in the morning." My mind was shutting down. All I could come up with is the same excuse I told her brother.

She looked at me for a long moment, her face going through a variety of emotions. She looked at me intently, probably searching for any clues that I was lying in my body language. I hoped I wasn't showing. "Well…ok. If you don't accept my moronic brother's help in the morning, I swear I'll stuff my soccer ball down your throat."

I released her and nodded. "Thank you," was my simple reply.

A faint smile appeared on her face, returning to my side and tucking me in. "Ok. Now get some sleep, Toshiro. 'Night."

I was out before she left the room.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

Damnit!

Thrice bad luck. Why is my karma cashing in? First Kurosaki follows me, demanding I return to his house. Then those two strange Arracars show up demanding that he turn me over to them.

Odd. I watch them attack Kurosaki in the early dawn and I cannot wonder why this scheme? I want to go with them. All they had to do is ask. But they attack the human boy, hit him hard enough to drop to the ground and take off, leaving a faint but obvious trail after them.

Still, I cannot stand around and wonder. After a quick scan of Ichigo's reiryoku told me the boy was slipping into unconscious and would be fine, I followed the girls. Well attempted. I had enough energy to flash step to an alley about a block away. As I leaned against the building, heaving like I ran on foot across the Seireitei, who does appear but yet another Kurosaki.

What is up with these Kurosakis and their stubbornness? And their luck. I wish I had their luck. But there she was, dressed warmly for the autumn with a backpack on one shoulder and a tote and a net bag with three soccer balls on the other.

Karin.

"Morning Toushirou!" She happily greeted me, though her eyes said otherwise. "Out for a morning stroll? Or chasing those two weird hollow girls. Who, by the way, are really strong and probably hand your ass to you in your current condition. Or just finding it amusing to leave my brother face down in the middle of an empty lot so you can go slinking off to die in a darkened alleyway?"

"Go home Karin."

"Or what? You gunna swing your sword at me? Or do that funny running in air thing-ee? I was so impressed with the one you just did. I bet my Beckam jersey that you are not going to attempt that again."

Damn! I growled, frustrated and frankly unsure what to do. Oh no, I couldn't be a proper captain and report my findings. No, I had do go off on some half brained quest based on feelings and pride. Which, I may add, will probably end with my execution. Unohana said that the transition between adolescence and adulthood is fraught with stupid choices and clumsy, idiotic, and irrational behavior.

And here I was happy for maybe finally getting some height.

Well, my silence was an aquiesance because Karin crowed, "I was RIGHT! HA! And I bet you cannot even out run me!"

"Idiot! You saw those Arracar? They are planning something by leading me away from here, most likely a trap. They are destroying anyone who bothers to help on the way." I was shouting, my spiritual pressure spiking. She needs to ignore her genetics for once and listen to me. "They will KILL you. IF you follow me, and you pointed out I am in no condition to save you now…"

She looked at me, her eyes narrowing as she interrupts me. "Look, it's a risk I am willing to take. Friends help each other out, no matter what. You saved me from public humiliation in front of those middle schoolers and then saved my friends and I from that hollow, at the least I could support you." Her hand rummaged through her coat pocket and pulling out her phone.

"Besides," she added holding the phone up. "I can call for backup. Between my brother and Rukia, I bet one of them will come running to my location the minute you try to ditch me. You have no choice Toshiro! You can't run, you can't hide and I have the most annoying brother on the planet!"

I stared at her wide eyed in disbelief. "Are you insane? What part of dead did you not understand? Look. This isn't a game; this is the harsh reality that my world isn't safe. In fact, it is very dangerous. You are in no way prepared to enter it."

She straightened, looking very stubborn and resolute. "And you are not getting it! I understand! I am not afraid of death. My brother and a good friend of mine happen to be death gods. They are both very strong. But I am afraid of what could happen if I didn't get involved. And I cannot live with myself if I allow you to go without at least helping. So unless you want to knock me out, or want me to wake my brother up to kick your ass, you are stuck with me."

Damn! How did a Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads get out maneuvered by an 11-year-old?