Understanding II: School Daze (Bleach Fanfic)

Unexpected

When Ichigo left the school he found himself in a good mood due to the good news he would be able to give Toshiro once he got home. He arrived at home and saw Yuzu in the kitchen working on the preparations for dinner. She looked up at her brother and smiled at him. "Just to let you know Ichi-nii, Toshiro-kun came home from school today because he had a headache.

The teens brown wrinkled up from worry before he headed up the stairs to see how the small shinigami was doing. He figured the good news would possibly ease the pain and frustration the while haired preteen was feeling about the situation he was stuck in. A smirk spread across his face and he headed through the open doorway. "Toshiro. I have something to tell..."

Ichigo found the corner of his mouth twitch at what he saw in front of him. The small boy was on his stomach and his sister Karin of all people was on top of him trying to get Toshiro's shirt off. Both preteens heard him speak and turned their heads. The small shinigami's cheeks flushed while his eyes went wide with horror. The dark haired twin's face was emotionless. "Karin, what the hell are you doing?"

His mind went at first to the idea that Karin was actually picking on Toshiro again. His eyes glanced around and caught site of the first aide kit on the desk along with the after school snacks that were arranged on a plate by none other then Yuzu. He then got a good look at the right shoulder of the male preteen. Obviously Toshiro had somehow gotten injured.

"Ichi-nii." Karin got off the family house guest. "Could you help me? Toshiro isn't cooperating."

The corner of his mouth twitched again and he set his backpack down before heading over to where the boy was now sitting up. "Please. She won't listen to me when I told her just to take care of my shoulder. She wants to take care of all my injuries."

"I don't see what is wrong with that." Ichigo shook his head wondering where this situation would go. Hands down the relationship between the two preteens that were right now on his bed was precarious and had the chance to turn volatile particularly from the side of his own sister.

"You don't see what is wrong with that?" Toshiro suddenly moved quickly which caused him to flinch and grab his side.

"I need him to remove his shirt so I can bandage up his ribs and make sure none of them are broken." Karin pointed her finger at the boy.

"What the hell did you do to get injured like that?" Ichigo folded his arms across his chest. He watched as Toshiro's mouth simply dropped open and his face paled. The substitute shinigami let out a deep sigh . "Didn't Karin tell you my family can't trust me when it comes to first aid stuff Toshiro?"

"Duh." The girl got up to get the first aide kit.

"As for you..." The teen turned towards his sister. "Let me make this very clear to you Karin. You could have handled this situation a lot better then you did. Can't you tell that Toshiro is uncomfortable about something?"

"He's already lectured me about the fact I should have just let him use healing kido and that I shouldn't have shoved him back into his body." The girl let out a sigh as she sat down on the bed. "Or are you referring to the fact I should have gone to dad about this? May I remind you about the fact dad can't see ghosts Ichi-nii."

Ichigo blinked a couple of times and then scratched his head. "I was talking about the fact Toshiro is uncomfortable about something and the fact you didn't even try to figure out what that was. Actually, you should have known from the incident yesterday with the shower. He isn't comfortable being any level of undressed in front of people. And don't you call him a narcissist. He isn't one."

"That doesn't change the fact I need to do something about his ribs." Karin pointed her finger again.

"I know that. Getting on top of him though Karin... really? Couldn't you have thought of another solution?" Ichigo gave the male preteen a look that said he was honestly sorry about the situation. "You know that we don't have much choice. I can't contact Orihime outside of school."

Toshiro looked down as his cheeks flushed red. He reluctantly began to pull his shirt over his head. "I understand that..."

The preteens skin suddenly paled further and his eyes suddenly became distant. On top of the fact his words stopped coming out he also let go of his shirt and tilted towards the bed. The substitute shinigami reached down to support the boy's body only to find it was shaking violently. The oldest Kurosaki looked at the dark haired twin. "Karin, what the hell is going on?"

"He might be going through shock because of his injuries?" The girl looked at her brother with dark eyes. "Could you get his shirt off?"

Reluctantly Ichigo complied. As he pulled the shirt over the white head of hair he head Toshiro let out a whimper of pain. When the clothing was pulled away he saw that the boy's eyes were squeezed shut. Karin prodded the boy's ribs carefully and then began to bandage Toshiro's side so that he couldn't move easily.

"Are any of his ribs broken?" Ichigo asked.

"His ribs have a few fractures in them and I think there is a problem with his lung." The girl spoke up before she went to patching up Toshiro's arm and stitched it back together. "We need to deal with the shock he's in."

"It isn't shock." The words came out of the white haired preteens mouth. "My reiatsu's tanked."

"That means?" Karin looked at him with a confused look on her face.

"My energy level has dropped."

"So like diabetes." The girl got up while Ichigo helped Toshiro put the shirt back on. She brought the plate of food over and pushed some into the boy's mouth. "I really goofed up today. I'm sorry for not listening to you. Are you going to be able to go to school with that injury?"

"I think it is time that we go get dad." Ichigo stood up letting out a deep sigh. "I know you are good at first aide but these are some pretty serious injuries. Why didn't you go and get his help in the first place?"

"Why didn't you tell me anything about being a shinigami? Obviously it was because you didn't think I could see them. So it goes without saying that I shouldn't tell dad about something he won't even begin to understand."

"Dad's never asked questions about my injuries before. He was more concerned about getting me patched up. I know that you are stubborn about your own injuries when you play soccer but this honestly isn't one of those times it is a good idea."

"Well, what would you have done Toshiro?" Karin turned towards the boy.

"I was thinking that going to your father wouldn't be a bad idea." The boy's head drooped. "You mean that I didn't have to?" The boy lay down though due to the fact his body felt weak. There was a distant look in his eyes.