Okay, lots of feedback really fast. To those reviewers who were surprised Isshin could be a good father, allow me to be the one to point out that Isshin Kurosaki runs his own clinic, thus making him a doctor, and remind you that he's a family man. I don't think it much of a surprise that if one of his children were sick he'd start to take care of them. Crazy as the man may be, his protective nature is still similar to his son's. Plus, what type of parent wouldn't go and help their kid at seeing them in the position Ichigo was in last chapter?

Sorry, had to rant a bit. Now, on with the story!

Sickness

Chapter Two

The first thing Ichigo registered when consciousness began to resurface was the pain. His body was sore and cold. His throat ached and his stomach was doing cartwheels, flips and other tricks that warned the carrot-top of certain vomiting should he do much. His head still pounded, his throat was dry, but not as much as before, not to mention his chest felt tight for some weird reason.

The teen opened his eyes slowly so that they could focus right. He was in his bed; the lights off and the afternoon sun shining through his window. Ichigo turned his head to see a water basin on his nightstand and a trash can right by his bed that wreaked of puke. Putting a hand to his forehead, he noticed something else; a wash cloth resting there to cool down his hot face.

It took the teen awhile but he soon remembered it. Waking up early in the morning, puking before fainting in his own room and waking up to his father over him. He didn't understand it then and he especially didn't now. Disorientation was like that, and unfortunately- much like earlier that morning, Ichigo had wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep but his body wouldn't let him.

His door opened slowly, and he turned to face the person. There stood his father; a water bottle in one hand and medicine in the other. Seeing his son was awake, Isshin couldn't help the small smile forming on his lips. "Good to see you're up." He said in a hushed tone. The man walked further into the room; placing the objects in his hand beside the water basin before turning to the sick teen.

The cloth was removed from Ichigo's forehead and was replaced with his father's hand. The boy had relaxed into it, feeling relief when the he felt his father's warm palm. Said man's face shifted into a scowl, something that never sat well with Ichigo- especially when the man was serious. "Dad?" The teen croaked out, a bit confused.

Isshin faced the boy; a sad smile gracing his features as he began to wring the cloth out again. He sat down on the boy's bed, folding the fabric before beginning to dab the boy's face once more. "You're sick," he informed the teenager, waiting to see what would happen while he tried to cool the boy's fever. His son had woken up a couple times already but he was so sick, consciousness never stayed with him long. And by the expression Isshin saw earlier that morning, it was probably a good thing.

Ichigo let the words sink into his foggy mind before nodding briefly; finding said action only worsened his head pain. Squinting his eyes shut, he tried to focus on the cold water that was being soaked into his skin as he breathed in large gasps of air. Unfortunately, the action proved to be just as painful as a few daring deep breaths proved to be.

The teen bolted right as loud, wet coughs escaped his mouth making it more difficult to breathe than it already was. His father remained where he was, holding his son and rubbing his back as he waited for the fit to pass. It lasted for at least ten minutes, but it felt like hours to the two of them. Each cough was more painful on his already sore throat and it also made his chest tighten more.

Finally, the fit seemed to have stopped, making Ichigo stop and breathe. Isshin didn't move from his position, waiting for his son to calm before doing anything else. Once Ichigo caught his breath, his father went for the medicine and water bottle. The boy hardly noticed the spoon in his mouth and he didn't even registered the taste of the medicine, let alone the fact that he swallowed it. Hell, he didn't really notice much of anything until his father began to help him drink some water. The teen only swallowed the liquid; he was too tired to tell his father to stop babying him and considering how shitty he felt, he didn't believe he had the energy to do much by himself.

His father helped him back into a lying position; pulling the covers over his shoulder and placing the cold, wet rag back on his forehead. "You've been sleeping most of the day," his father informed him, "Yuzu's making soup for you downstairs. Think you can handle it?" Ichigo blinked a few times before mouthing a 'yes' to his father, seeing as how movement wasn't his best idea.

Isshin nodded, leaving his son with a smile on his face. The fact his boy hadn't lost his appetite was a good sign to him. He had taken Ichigo's temperature shortly after his girls left for school, and it was at 39.6 Celsius (103.3 Fahrenheit). He could proudly say from taking his temperature an hour before that it lowered to 38.94 Celsius (102.1 Fahrenheit), but the fever was still too high for his liking. Much higher, Isshin would have to bring Ichigo to the hospital. With the temperature drop and the fact Ichigo was in the mood for food, it gave the man a sense of relief.

While waiting for his food, Ichigo began to wonder how the fuck it was that he got sick? Sick enough to collapse, anyways. The past few days hadn't been something he couldn't handle. There were the occasional hollows he had to fight, but really, they were weaklings and Ichigo hadn't had anything else to worry about except homework. Seriously, how the fuck did he get sick?

"Karin, you shouldn't go around saying that?" Yuzu's voice chimed through, making Ichigo cringe. Was it him, or was she louder than normal?

"MASAKI!" Yelled his goat-faced father, making the teen pull his hands to his ears. He was used to his father yelling like that, but since when was the old man that loud? !

The entourage of voices lasted for only a few minutes, but they were agonizingly long to Ichigo. The volume downstairs was quiet; limited to a calm, murmuring voice he suspected to be Karin herself. He couldn't make out what she was saying, which he was thankful for. He removed his hands, taking in small breaths in order to relax again. His ears were buzzing so much, he couldn't hear the quiet footsteps heading up the stairs towards his room. His head had started feeling like he had been hit with a hammer, and throbbing immensely.

A hand on his arm got his attention; making him open his eyes to see the face of his ebony-haired sister, Karin. She had a sympathetic smile on her face and a bowl of leek soup in her hands. "Sorry about that," she said in the same hushed tone, "Goat-face said your hearing's sensitive, but it seems as though he and Yuzu forgot that for a few minutes." She informed him, placing the soup down on the nightstand.

Karin had to help Ichigo sit up before giving him the tray. Yuzu had prepared him leek soup, as expected, as well as some tea and left a pitcher of ice water and a glass for him. His sister then handed him his cell phone. "If your throat still hurts, you shouldn't be using your voice to call us. Just text one of us, alright?" Ichigo typed up an 'OK' on his phone; showing it to Karin who smiled at being understood.

The ebony left her brother to eat in peace; leaving the door open a bit so they could hear if anything went wrong from downstairs.