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A Shadow of What Was	By : katami Category: Bleach > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 49594 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 35
- 36
- 37
Author's Notes: I probably shouldn't be doing this since chapter 38 is giving me grief and chapter 39 only just came unstuck in my head (and my beta does get busy during the week) but I sort of have a schedule and I like sticking to it. Pressure is good for the creative process, right?

Anyway, thanks for reading and many thanks to all the people who have reviewed.

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He should have expected it. Should have known the sort of idiots he worked with. Hitsugaya chalked his lapse up to too little sleep, having endured one Kurosaki catastrophe already and delayed shock from finding Ishida and Abarai together - again.

And really, what was so damn wrong with their bedroom?! He and Karin stayed in the bedroom... Well, there had been that time in his office and that time watching fireworks on the rooftop, and.... All right, so they didn't! But they didn't get caught!

He growled as he added his signature to the first of the preliminary reports for the incident in the park, finishing it. That was preliminaries done. Just the actual report, the recommendations report, and the post write-up report left to go. That, and to finally track down the idiot who had decided they needed all these reports and crush him under all his stupid paperwork.

"You're supposed to be resting - in the medical ward, no less," came an amused voice from the door of his office.

Hitsugaya glanced up and stared. Karin stood there leaning against the frame of the door, the light from the hall casting her face slightly in shadow but silhouetting her clearly through the thin silk of her robe. The dark color highlighted the pallor of her skin, making it glow like fresh snow and stealing his breath. She was so beautiful.

"Toushirou?" she asked softly when he didn't respond.

Hitsugaya stared at her and wondered if he could steal a few moments just to be with her. He saw her so little and yet every moment stood out, because having her near made it better, brighter, more vibrant. Surely he could have a few moments that were just for him, a few moments to drink in the comfort and warmth she brought to him. He had nearly died - well, not really. The wound Ichimaru had given him was painful as hell but hardly fatal, one of the reasons he had fled the medical ward for the safety of his office once the healers had finished their initial treatment. "It's nothing, love. Just daydreaming for a moment," he told her softly, grateful when she came further into the room, smiling knowingly at him.

"That's because you're an idiot who should be in bed. I know the healers told you to rest, not do paperwork, dummy," she told him, gently slapping the back of his head before kissing the corner of his mouth. She perched on his desk, crossing her legs, her robe sliding temptingly open to show him pale, smooth legs. For a moment he wanted to reach out and tug her into his lap, but he knew his midsection would be unable to take the strain. He would tear open his wound and Karin would berate him for hurting himself and demand he return to the Fourth, where she would keep watch over him until she deemed him well.

His love was a tigress when angry.

"I just wanted to finish this report," he murmured, letting a hand steal out to caress her thigh.

Karin smiled at him, that tender, wistful one she sometimes got. The one that made him want to forget his duties, forget Soul Society, forget everything but her and just wrap her in his arms and never let go. "You always say that. Come to bed, love," she coaxed softly, her hand carding through his hair. "I know where Rangiku is and I can fetch her," she threatened playfully.

"I'm quaking, I assure you," he told her with a smile. "Is she alright? After what happened..." he murmured, worried for his vice captain despite the fact that he would never admit it to anyone but Karin.

"Last I saw her, she was passed out after far too much sake. Shuuhei and Izuru were with her. She was worried about you, love." The last was reported softly, quietly, and Toushirou could read the subtext - I was worried about you.

He took her hand, drawing it to his lips and kissing it before holding it close to his heart, letting her feel the warmth of this skin and the beating of his heart as he savored the feel of her hand in his. "I was...I love you ," he said, abandoning his apologies and excuses, nothing mattered beyond that. He was alive and he loved her. From the smile she cast at him, Toushirou knew he had said the right thing.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, staring at her with some dopey smile that Matsumoto would have been sure to blackmail him over had she seen it, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was her, this wonderful woman that he loved.

Her smile softened further when she sighed, and Toushirou knew the moment was over. "Everything settled?" he asked.

"Rukia, Ishida, and I got our visitors settled. Ukitate and Kyouraku are in the largest room I could secure. Shihouin is next to them. Kurotshuchi is in his room after removing himself from the care of the Fourth. There was a minor incident between him and Ishida coming in - he claims Ishida-san shot him during the incident in the park. Abarai broke it up and claimed Ishida was covering him. I made sure Kurotshuchi's room was as far from theirs as possible." He nodded. That was one worry down. Having the captain of the Twelfth and Ishida in the same place was always tricky, a fact that was made worse by Renji wanting to kill the man for upsetting his lover. God save them all from Abarai in love!

"The Arrancar Ulquiorra is in the suite next to Kuchiki-san. The other is in the medical wing with Mizuno, seventy-five percent mobile according to the healers. Mizuno is immobile for at least forty hours. And you should still be in bed according to the report I received," she pointed out, tapping him on the end of the nose with a smile. "But otherwise, all present and accounted for. The patrols report it's quiet."

"The meeting between Ichigo and Mizuno?" he asked, already knowing the answer. He could feel the black depression in his almost-brother-in-law's reiatsu.

"Could have gone better from what I've heard. Could have gone worse too. Ichi-nii's working it out with Renji and Uryuu. I also found out who removed the inhibitor."

"Who?" he growled, eager to find out who he was going to kill in the morning.

"Yuzu. She found Ichi-nii distraught and begging for Urahara."

"Fuck!" he growled vehemently, knowing he wouldn't even be able to chew out his almost-sister-in-law. Not that he blamed her for giving in to Ichigo. He had seen Ichigo when Urahara died and each year on the anniversary of Urahara's death. The man was a mess. He probably would have given in to try and ease the sort of heartache that poured off Ichigo when he was in the depths of his grief. He just wished Yuzu had given her brother a hug rather than setting him loose on an unsuspecting city.

"Goat Face and the elder Ishida are also gone and Rukia-chan is spending the night outside of base. Avoiding Ichi-nii and her brother, if you believe the gossip. Everything's fine, Toushirou, come to bed. Please?" she entreated softly.

He sighed and nodded, letting her help him to his feet and using the chance to steal a kiss. "I love you more than anything, Karin," he whispered softly.

"With all the work I do around here you better," she teased, skillfully sliding under his arm and pulling him close, taking most of his weight before he had even realized what she was doing. She really was too good to him, he thought with a sigh. "Everything's fine, love. Come to bed."

They made it halfway down the hall before everything wasn't fine. Hanatarou's second came trotting up to them, looking pale and fearful, like he thought Hitsugaya might flay him alive. A foolish hope, thought the young captain, he was too tired to flay anyone. Karin might rip him to shreds though. She didn't look pleased and a displeased Karin was far scarier than Ichigo at his most fearsome - at least in Hitsugaya's experience.

"Hitsugaya-taichou...we...there's....um..." Karin glared darkly at the young man. "Urharasanismissing!"

"What did you say?" growled Toushirou, not wanting to believe he'd heard what he thought he'd heard.

"We can't find Urahara-san," whispered the healer, cringing as he and Karin stared at him.

"Goddamnit!" snarled Hitsugaya.
- 35
- 36
- 37
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A Shadow of What Was