Of Birthdays and Siblings

Crashing Down

The feel underneath his feet when he touched the air in Karakura Town was nice and secure and he felt like he could take a deep breath. The breath was caught half way through as the pain in his head suddenly escalated in a manner that caused him to physically flinch. He could feel his hand letting go of Bambietta's as he began to topple to the ground.

"Toto-chan!" The small female called out to him as the air rushed by him. He suddenly felt his body smashing against the ground and knew that he had even more injuries then he did before. He found himself pushing himself up from the ground and trying to steady himself. He heard a set of small feet hit the ground near him. "You told me that you were all right!"

"I am all right," the boy took a deep breath, still trying to steady himself.

"No... you're lying to me." The girl helped him up into a sitting position. "You aren't all right at all."

Toshiro closed his eyes, not saying a word, only to feel a sudden tug on his sleeve. He turned his head to look at a pair of bright teal eyes. The worried look she gave him caused him to break down. "Fine, I'm not fine. I was supposed to be having bed rest in the forth division because of last night."

"I did that to you?"

The white haired boy glanced away, swallowing hard. "I'm the one who aggravated my condition by not obeying a direct order from Unohana Taicho. That's normal for me because I don't keep to being cooped up."

Toshiro glanced up at the sky and saw the clouds above them. A snow flake suddenly fell down from the sky above and landed upon the boy's face. Bambietta let out a deep sigh. "We need to find shelter."

The female helped Toshiro up to a standing position and he found himself leaning on her as they walked away from the place he crashed landed. The pace was slow, but eventually they came to a building that was run down. The door creaked open as Bambietta nudged it with her foot. She frowned at the filth but walked in.

Getting to the far wall of the small building that had been used as an old power station, she helped her other half to the ground, where he closed his eyes, letting out a shiver. Bambietta got up and closed the door, letting it snap shut. She then went and sat next to him, pulling her knees up to her chest. Toshiro continued to shiver. Cracking one eye open, he noticed the fact that she wasn't shivering.

"How come you're not cold?" The boy frowned at her.

"My element is fire based, so I am using it to help me keep warm. I've always done that." The girl titled her head to look at him.

"Kind of like how I try to use my element to prevent heat sickness. It only works to a certain degree though, so you should be having some problem with the cold." Toshiro leaned back, resting the painful lump on a cold surface. His feet ached, likely from them having been in the cold the night before.

"If we're going to be in the living world then we'll need some food and supplies. We can't survive without food. I'm going to go and get some things. Will you be fine until I get some things."

"Yeah. We could just ask Kurosaki for help. He may be a substitute shinigami, but he isn't tied with Soul Society. We could also ask his Quincy friend for help. If we don't get them to help, we'll end up having to..." Toshiro's eyes suddenly opened up. "Wait a second. You were going to steal food, weren't you?"

"It isn't as if people can see us, so even if I had money there is no way I can pay and get change. Don't act like I want to steal stuff."

"You came to Soul Society to smash some things up. I wouldn't put it past you." Toshiro stared straight at the door. "Do what you feel you have to do. In the lower districts there were stories about how people had to steal in order to survive. It isn't a concept I'm unfamiliar with. Do try to space out what you take so it doesn't negatively effect people."

"Yeah... uh huh." The girl stood up. "Why do I get the idea that you are just going to tell me that we should just go to this substitute shinigami. A shinigami is a shinigami no matter how you look at it."

"I trust Kurosaki. For some reason it feels like the best option."

"Well, I don't know this Kurosaki person." The female stood up and found himself heading towards the door. She glanced around and used her step to hurry towards a more populated part of town. She headed towards a small store and walked in. The person in charge glanced up, but didn't see anyone coming in.

She found herself going up and down the aisles, frowning at the fact she couldn't get a warm meal for herself and her brother. She instead found herself grabbing a few bags of snacks, some drinks and some medicine. She then headed towards the door, hiding behind an aisle so that no one could see her. When no one was looking, she slipped out the door again.

She carefully picked her steps and was planning on simply heading straight back, but someone called out to her.

"Why are you stealing?"

The girl blinked a couple of times before turning to look at the girl, frowning as she did. "What do you mean?"

"Your stuff isn't bagged up, which means you grabbed it from the shelf." The girl who was looking at her also had dark hair. The girls dark eyes were narrowed at her.

"No, I mean how can you see me."

"It is rather obvious that you aren't a shinigami, so what are you. Because you aren't an Arrancar or a spirit either."

Bambietta found herself grating her teeth, wondering what she should do about the situation.