Christmas Nightmare (Bleach Fanfic)

Unexpected Guest

As he lay in his inner world, resting, and enjoying the fact that it was a plain once again, and not a desert, he felt his body becoming less tiered, yet this was hard to go away. While it was no longer comprised of sand, his world definitely was still a tad warmer then he would have liked it to be. This caused him to curl up further into Hyorinmaru's coils.

Suddenly, the dragon nudged him. "It is time to wake up."

"I really don't want to," Toshiro stated, his tone quite calm. "It's nice and bright in here. Out there, the world is dim."

"That is because that is the way you choose to see it, not that is the way that the world is. You can't go and hide from things, that's what Hinamori-san did, remember?" the dragon nudged him again.

"All right, all right…" the boy stated, suddenly sitting up, his eyes opening to a world.

"Hey… kiddo. Good, you're awake. We're at our stop, and need to get off," Gin stated, his hand on his far shoulder, trying to wake the boy up. This caused the small taicho to sit up, realization hitting him, he had been curled up to the man's side, as he slept. This caused him to jerk away in shock, only to have Ichimaru stand up, and pull him after him, and off the bus.

The shock of just waking up, still wasn't lost on him, and he rubbed his eyes, trying to erase that dull feeling, and simply let Gin pull him all the way to Urahara's shop, and simply walk in. At this, he felt Jinta's eyes on him, as the red head was forced to sweep the floor. "What the hell…"

This caused Toshiro to try to turn towards the boy, only to find his left sleeve being held onto tightly by Gin, which he hadn't noticed before. However, the man's hands carefully turned him, and Ichimaru shook his head, indicating that a confrontation should be avoided. From the corner of his eye, he jaw Urahara's associate tense, only to have the shop owner speak up.

"Hitsugaya Taicho isn't feeling good. Ichimaru took him to get some medicine," the man stated, though the white haired boy couldn't see the man's face. "Let him rest… he needs it."

"Did you have a good nap on the bus ride?" Gin suddenly asked, causing Toshiro to tense up, and his face to flush, as the man slid the door open to the room that he had been in before. "Well?"

"I would rather not talk about that," Toshiro took a deep breath. He sat down on the floor, and pulled out one of the tubes and read the cardboard boxes instructions. Or, he tried to, only to have it grabbed by Ichimaru. The man then handed the whole thing back to him.

"I'll be right back. Don't put it on, until I get back," Ichimaru stated, causing Toshiro's eyes to go wide.

"You are kidding, right? What about privacy?" the boy stated. "I am not a little kid!"

"You still need to sponge bath the areas that the rash is on, before you apply that stuff," the man stated, heading out the door. "And before you argue that I should leave you completely alone, you'll need help with your back. Unfortunately, you also happen to have it all over your body, so you're also going to have to strip down to your underwear."

At this, Toshiro cursed his luck, pulling his shirt over his head. By the time that Gin had gotten back, he was down to his underwear, glaring at the rash spots. Some were a little bit pussy, where the thorn had dug in deep. He heard the bowl of water set down next to him. He made no move to start doing anything though, as his mind was still numb.

"Shiro-chan?" He felt Gin place a hand on his shoulder. As Toshiro absentmindedly reached up to itch, he grabbed the small hand. He then saw the man move to one side, and begin to wipe of the arm that he had grabbed with a soft, damp cloth. "If you don't do it, someone has to do it you know…"