Christmas Nightmare
~Christmas Devil~
Gin could feel the small body pressed against his back, holding on rather weakly as he attempted to catch up with the two figments of Toshiro's imagination. Even though the boy's body was weak, Gin could still feel some of the strength returning to it, so was a rather a bit comforting, that the boy had the chance of recovering.
Suddenly, something green appeared in the distance, that was fast approaching as Gin continued to walk. What he saw, appeared to be a group of trees, with a rather large one in the middle. The silver haired man let out a sigh, and quickened his step, rather hoping that the two companions had in fact perhaps stopped in that small grove.
The pine smell was in truth intoxicating, and Ichimaru felt the small boy move on his shoulders, and lift himself up a bit. "Ne… Ichimaru… I smell pine… there isn't pine in Japan, is there…"
"Ahh… the main ones are the black, red and white, but I think that these aren't native to Japan, Shiro-chan…" Gin muttered to the half-groggy boy, having the idea that if Toshiro were able to think on his own, he would know that the three were used in bonsais.
"What do you mean, not likely native to Japan?" the boy asked, still holding on.
"Because, they are very pointy, from top to bottom," Gin stated. "And the fact that one of them is decorated with ornaments, I think they are supposed to be Christmas trees."
"Yay…" came the muffled reply as Toshiro buried his mouth into the back of Ichimaru's shoulder, indicating his displeasure at having found this bit of information out.
"Toshiro-kun! There you are! We thought we had lost you, and might have to go back and rescue you!" came a sudden, very chipper voice. Both of the light haired males turned their heads towards the voice, to find that the Orihime had spotted them. And at that point, she also noticed that Toshiro was with Gin. "Goat beard person! Goat beard person! Toshiro-kun's been kidnapped!"
"Gin! Put me down! Quick!" Toshiro stated, though he really didn't wait to let the man allow him down, and instead, he ended up pushing away from his body. This was an unfortunate mistake, as Ichimaru couldn't hold on much longer, and Toshiro felt his body crash to the ground as Gin was unable to adjust to stop the small boy.
"Owe!"
"Serves you right for being stupid…" Gin muttered, reaching down to give the boy yet another hand up. The boy's body was shaking a bit, from the shock and the pain that he had felt. However, to both male shingami's dismay, Orihime at that very moment decided to tackle the former third division taicho, causing him to crash and land on top of the small boy.
"That… hurts… get off…" Toshiro muttered, his voice rather muffled, not to mention panicking.
"I would… but…" Gin had somehow managed to push himself part way up, only to find that he was being beaten up, by the small pint sized girl… well, pint sized except for her chest size. Her fists were rather light, but the rapid succession of them amounted to something painful, and he could also only push himself so far up.
"Now, now angel lady," came Isshin's voice, as he suddenly plucked the girl up and off of Gin. "He's actually here to help…"
"No way! He's got that really scary mask on," Orihime fussed, as Gin managed to finally get off the boy.
"It isn't that scary…" the small taicho retorted. "It is more of something one might see in one of those stupid, childish cartoons."
"You don't need to be that way, Shiro-chan," the boy's former taicho sighed. "I mean, would it really hurt you to enjoy something that is silly."
"I just want to go home, and not have to deal with all this silliness…" came the muttered reply.
"Are you hurt?" came Orihime's sudden question, as Toshiro leaned up against the tree, trying his best to pretend that the three were in fact, not there. His mind didn't want to even begin to fathom what was going on. And he glanced at the ceiling, or more of, tree grove, the pain coursing through his body, from when Gin had fallen on him.
Sure, the man hadn't meant to, but it was a dream, so his subconscious self must be trying to torture him. For why else would the treacherous man show up in the first place. The one that now sat in front of him, cross-legged and looking like a fool, with that wide smile on his face. It wasn't as if the man cared at all, even though… it seemed that the corners were turned differently.
He could see the overly large ornaments above him, and he had to wonder who in their right mind would decorate a tree in such a way. Perhaps Matsumoto, but there was in fact, no sign of Matsumoto being there at that period in time, which was perhaps good, because he could just imagine her beating up Gin, or suffocating her small taicho in that chest of hers.
The tree began to shake suddenly, when the ornaments began to wobble, and fall off. Suddenly, one of the big ones came falling down, strait for him, and he really had no strength to move. His two teal eyes suddenly went wide, his mind distracted by the whole problem of getting away, however, just as suddenly, someone was pulling him away.
He blinked a couple of times, feeling the arms that had wrapped around his chest, taking in the shattered glass that lay in front of him. Instinctively, his small arms wrapped around whoever had grabbed him away, his shock still rather evident. It was only when it clicked that the two people still standing in front of him were Isshin and Orihime, that he glanced up, only to confirm his suspicions.
The face that he was looking into, was that of Ichimaru's, and he could feel the man's breath from behind him, as he was pressed that close to his chest. For some reason the breathing was rather heavy, and thick, and Gin's body was also shaking for some reason or another. The man had lost that smirk of his, and his eyes had opened up, revealing the cold teal colored eyes. "Ne… you all right, Toshiro?"
Toshiro couldn't help, but fight back a lump in his throat, as things were not going as he had expected. His idea would have been that it would have been one of the other two that would have pulled him out of that situation, not the man that he had come to loath, and hate. Simply for the reason that he had that small fear, about why Gin had brought up the pictures in the locket.
Isshin was staring at the top of the tree. "Something is around here, we need to figure out what it is…"
Gin at that point let the small taicho go, and set him under a tree without anything decorations on it, and then nodded his head in agreement. "We'll go look, Shiro-chan…"
"So all three of you are going to leave me again!" came the small boys reply, his face contorted from the fact that he didn't want to be left alone in a place like this, not in this condition.
"Shouldn't angels have special healing abilities or something?" Gin suddenly turned his head to Orihime. "You could work on healing him, while we go look, right?"
"Oh… ahh, yes…" Orihime gave a weak smile, then went and sat down in front of the small taicho, and called out her healing abilities. Except, all six of her little friends were dressed rather Christmas like. The male that was known for giving Orihime her fighting abilities, shook a bell in her face.
"See this woman!" the small man stated. "Nothing! No sound! How long is it going to be until this bell can ring and you can get your stupid wings, so you can prove to that Ichigo angel person that you are the one to be his soul mate."
This caused Toshiro to place two fingers in his ears, as this had reminded him of the fact that he had, while in the living world, picked up on Orihime's crush on the substitute soul reaper. Because now, as Orihime was healing him, she has started to babble all about Ichigo. Normally, Hitsugaya didn't mind hearing about him, but this was completely romantic mush.
Suddenly, as Orihime smiled at him, a red blur came out of nowhere, and the girl suddenly fell unconscious to the ground. A small figure stood there, it's arms crossed across her rather flat chest. The white haired taicho, who had happened to have his ears plugged just stared at the girl, his eye suddenly twitching, completely not believing his poor luck.
"I, the Christmas Devil, have won against the Christmas Angel, and now I can take my official place on top of the Christmas Tree!" the female stated, dressed her red pointed tail, wagging back and forth, a sprig much like the Arrancar had in her hair, tied to the tip of her tail. Her clothing was also a pair of short shirts, and a sleeveless top that revealed her midriff.
Suddenly, she turned to Toshiro, who still had his eye twitching from the shock of the whole matter. She stomped one of her slightly heeled boots, and her gloved hands went to her hips. "What is your problem?"
"Karin-chan?" Toshiro's eye was still twitching, as he took in the devil horns in the raven hair. When he got out of this dream world, wherever he was, he was going to make it so that Matsumoto had a lot of paperwork, for placing ideas into his head about liking a certain someone when he didn't, because now his subconscious was acting upon it.
"Ehh… oh, it's you Toshiro," the girl smiled, placing her hands behind her head.
"You… didn't… recognize… me…" Toshiro's small eye twitched.
"Well, you're not wearing that captain's thing anymore… you're wearing a badge like Matsumoto. Did you get demoted?" the girl watched as he carefully stood up.
His eye twitched at her comment. "Did I get demoted! What the hell are you talking about?"
"Well, I wanted a rank up, so I took out a Christmas Angel…" Karin suddenly stated, glaring at Orihime.
"Because…" one teal eye twitched.
"Because , I'm a Christmas Devil! I want to be on top of the tree too!" Karin suddenly turned so that her back was facing him, and her tail suddenly wagged in his face, trying to emphasize the fact that she was a little devil, and Christmassy to boot. The tail tip was right under his nose, and caused his cheeks to suddenly flush, making him curse his mind.
"You still shouldn't have knocked her out…" Toshiro sighed."
"Ehh…" Karin suddenly turned, and stuck her face strait into his, causing the flush to grow. "I just noticed something, you have white hair and green eyes… that means that you're a demon too, right?"
"Ehh… hell no!" Toshiro stated, his chest suddenly feeling a twinge at her words, remembering some of the times back in his home in the rukongai when people would go and call him such things. "The real Karin wouldn't say such mean things, would she?"
His thoughts were suddenly startled out of, as Karin suddenly glomped him, and her face came close to his. "That must mean that we're soul mates, right?"
"She's fucking to close! In real life, she wouldn't act like this! My stupid, stupid head… I'm becoming a pervert like Kyoraku Taicho! I don't want that!" Toshiro's whole body shook, and his body tensed up.
"You might be shorter than me, but…" Karin's face was moving closer, but suddenly she found herself yanked away, and held up by the back of her top, clear of the ground.
"What do you think you're doing young lady?" Isshin grumbled as he looked at the little she devil in the face.
"I was going to kiss him, duh!" the girl stated firmly.
"I don't know who you are, but…"
Isshin was interrupted by her sticking out her tongue at him. "I'm his soul mate, duh! We're going to eventually get married.
"Is this true Shiro-chan?" Gin suddenly appeared out of nowhere, tilting his head to the side, shaking it with mirth.
For some reason, the small taicho lost it, and his face flushed a vivid coloring. He attempted to not look at Gin. "I'm not a pervert…"
"I didn't say you were…" Gin sighed, stepping a little closer to the small taicho.
Hitsugaya felt his nose suddenly itch, and his hand instinctively went up to wipe it, yet when he pulled it away, he suddenly saw blood on the back of his left hand, causing his eyes to go wide. "I am a pervert! I don't want to be like Kyoraku Taicho!"
This caused him suddenly to be yanked up by Gin, who glared at him, face to face, his aura growing dark. "Shiro-chan! Can't you control one point in this dream, and get it through your head about some of these things!"
"But…" Toshiro's eyes were rather wide, and he shivered as he was being forced to look the man straight in the face. A bit of fear welled up. But as soon as that had shown, he found himself being set down, and Gin pulling him close.
"Gomenasai… " the man stated, completely unexpected by the man.
Isshin scratched his head. "And, we had better also get going. We've got a mission to take care of."
Author's note - Poor Toshiro's mind… or subconscious, its playing with him. No, Karin wouldn't act like that. And if one hadn't noticed… Dream Isshin doesn't know Dream Karin, because Toshiro doesn't know that Isshin and Karin are even related, otherwise their conversation would have gone more along the lines of lecturing both of the two kids.
