Chapter Text
"Damn it, I'm going crazy!" Ichigo whined, throwing himself on the bed. He hadn't been able to calm down for the past two days. He felt hot deep inside and didn't know how to cool himself down. He had tried everything. Cold baths, showers, ice-cold drinks, which had made his vocal cords cold and for a few days he had been wheezing as if someone had strangled him. He had walked around the house in only a tank top and shorts, and even then, he could feel the sweat on his forehead. And now, frustrated, he lay on his bed, wondering what to do next. He couldn't concentrate. He couldn't sleep. He could do nothing but pity himself.
There was one thing, though. He felt the need to see a certain white-haired captain with whom he had been spending a suspiciously large amount of time. Inoue would give him curious looks whenever he mentioned his name. She could see right through him. Of that he was sure.Toushirou was getting under his skin with every day they spent together. The icy blue looks he gave him, the fleeting smiles he had been coaxing out of him with his stories over the past few days, the relaxed attitude and the closeness that had been warming him suspiciously inside. He was doomed. He sat down resignedly and put his head in his hands. He wasn't an idiot. It had to be somehow related. Otherwise, he might have been ill, but he would have been lying in bed with a fever.
"Damn." he cursed softly and rubbed his tired eyes. And he opened them immediately. He felt a pleasant coolness flowing from the window. He turned his head to see a familiar face.
"Why aren't you sleeping, Kurosaki?" came the quiet question. The captain raised his eyebrows in question and was staring at him with a curious look. He was sitting leaning against the window frame with his arms folded across his chest. Like the time he had come with his group to fight the Arrancars. Ichigo felt a stab of deja vu.
"I can't sleep. For two days now. I feel unnaturally hot and I don't know why." he admitted quietly. It was a few minutes past twelve and he didn't want to wake anyone up. The captain frowned and scanned him for a moment, then tensed like a string and his cheeks turned pink. Ichigo tilted his head to the side.
"I might know how to help you." Toushirou began carefully. He chose his words carefully. He seemed to be talking to his zanpakuto. He sighed heavily.
"What would you say to joining me for a quick tour of the city?" " he offered with some tension in his voice. Ichigo nodded. Maybe the fresh air would do him good. The young captain swallowed a pill and waited in his black Shihakushou for the substitute to join him. Ichigo grabbed his badge, pressed it to his chest and let his body fall onto the bed. At that moment, Toushirou tensed up and covered his face with his hand. A stream of hot spirit pressure poured out of Ichigo's body. The substitute staggered slightly, as he had not expected it. Fortunately, he found his balance.
"We can go." he said and without hesitation jumped out of the window onto the opposite roof. He felt relief at the pleasant night breeze that caressed his face. However, what caused him to feel a pleasant chill and raised the hairs on his body was the freezing spirit pressure of his companion. The captain stood by his side, his body radiating the coldness that the substitute literally craved. He sighed involuntarily as his body temperature dropped to an acceptable level. The captain glanced at him and moved forward. They walked from place to place in silence for a while. They only destroyed a few smaller hollows. Otherwise, the city was plunged into darkness and silence. Ichigo enjoyed the walk. He felt much better. They spent two hours outside before returning to the house.
"Thanks, that helped a lot." Ichigo smiled gratefully at the captain. The captain's cheeks turned pink and he turned his head away.
"It was nothing. You should go to sleep." The substitute nodded, entered the room and stopped in front of the bed. He shivered as he looked at his body. For some unknown reason, he didn't want to go back. The heat was starting to return. He felt it flowing from his core towards his limbs.
"Toushirou." he whined. The captain stopped moving. He was on his way out. A wave of heat swept over him again and he turned around, wide-eyed. The substitute had a pained expression on his face and was frowning at the bed. He was crushing the front of his Shihakusho in his palm.
"It's back. What's going on? I don't understand." Ichigo was starting to get desperate. Was something wrong with him? Was it some kind of mental illness that only affects the gods of death? He raised his desperate puppy eyes and stared into the widened turquoise ones. Toushirou was fighting with himself. He knew what was happening to the young substitute. It was his fault. But it wasn't his intention. He had no idea that something like this could happen. Resignedly, he jumped down from the window frame and inside.
"Looks like I'll have to spend the night here." Ichigo blinked.
"Um.." speechless, he watched the little captain walk over to the table and sit down on a chair.
"I'll stay all night and monitor you."
"But why?"
"Because your condition is my fault." he blurted out, lowering his guilty eyes to the ground. Ichigo sat down on the bed.
"This is your fault?" he asked cautiously. The heat subsided slightly. Could it have been related to his presence?
"What did you do Toushirou?" sharp caramel brown eyes followed every twitch of muscle on the pale face. The captain sighed.
"I'm not entirely sure why this happened, but it seems like our energies have gotten used to each other. We spend almost all our time together. I feel restless too when I'm separated from you for a long time." The tiny hand swept over tired eyes. Toushirou was also restless. He just masked it better.
"Okay. I'll sleep in this form. I feel like I wouldn't sleep at all in my body." Ichigo grumbled thoughtfully and placed his body on the floor next to the bed. He landed heavily on the bed and exhaled the air he had been holding in for a long time. Toushirou watched him desperately. What he didn't tell the young substitute was the essence of it all. He should have been stronger and stayed away from him. But he couldn't. He didn't want to. He couldn't look at the pain in those warm and tender eyes. He fell into an abyss from which there was no escape. He could only hope that the bond would stabilize by morning.
"I'm still weak." he muttered to himself. He closed his eyes and tried to meditate. He held the position for only ten minutes before a rustling sound reached his ears. Ichigo rolled over. And after a while again. And again. It took an hour before Ichigo sat up on the bed, full of frustration, and reached out to the surprised captain.
"Come here." he growled, his eyes full of fatigue and anger. Toushirou slowly got up and walked over to the bed. The substitute grabbed his waist and pulled him into bed with him. He let out a yelp of surprise, as he hadn't expected it.
"Kurosaki!" he growled and tried to break free. Strong hands loosened slightly but didn't let go. Ichigo grunted contentedly and finally relaxed. The cold radiating from the small body literally seeped into him, calming the hot storm inside him. He buried his face in the white hair.
"Please stay like that. I finally feel at peace." he asked, and the captain stopped moving. Large palms stroked his hair and back, causing pleasant shivers. The heat radiating from Ichigo's body seeped into him, but it wasn't the crazy heat he hated. That didn't do him any good and forced him to hide. This heat was different. Pleasant and soothing. Against his will, he sighed happily and buried his head in the firm chest. He wrapped his arms around the large body and relaxed. He was doomed. There was a fear in the back of his head that he wouldn't let pass forward. Maybe this time it would be different. Maybe he would finally have someone he could call his.
XxX
"Get up, little one." The urgent tone of Hyorinmaru's voice forced him to open his tired eyes. He stared ahead for a while before he managed to focus and look around. He was in a cave filled with ice. Hyorinmaru was wrapped around his body and watched him with worried eyes.
"Thank God. I thought you wouldn’t wake up." A cool nose brushed his cheeks affectionately. He had to smile.
"Hyorinmaru, what happened?" he croaked. His voice was almost gone. Sweat was running down his cheeks. And the pain was coming back to him like a boomerang. He hissed when he tried to move. The ice dragon didn't take his eyes off him.
"We fought. We managed to injure the enemy and escape. But you can't fight anymore. You have a high fever, deep burns on your hands and arms, and one of the claws hit you in the leg. I'm trying to cool the wounds, so the infection doesn't get worse, but I don't know how long you'll last." Hyorinmaru sounded unhappy. Toushirou just nodded.
"How long have I been unconscious?"
"Twelve hours." he gasped. How much longer would he have to stay in this hell? The dragon curled closer around him.
"Help is on the way, little one." Dull eyes looked up at him.
"Ichigo?" he whispered exhaustedly.
"Yes. I can feel it through the bond. Hes coming." Relief washed over his small body like a wave. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"You know, it would be good to finally tell him about it." the ice dragon glared at him. The captain sighed.
"He's a fool. I'm surprised he hasn't noticed anything yet."
"But he did. When I contacted him through the bond, I got an answer. An uncertain one, but one indeed. He'll have questions." The long body tightened more. The dragon was restless. The sight of the half-dead master frightened him. The captain became sad.
"I couldn't tell him then. I didn't want to feel another blow. I don't want to experience the pain of a broken bond again. Once was enough." both remembered it well. The pain of losing a close partner. A deep hole from a broken bond that had been healing for decades. The cool head rested on his lap.
"I'm sure our choice was right this time. We must believe in him." he tried to encourage him. Toushirou couldn't do more than nod.
"You're right, we must believe." he closed his eyes and stroked the dragon between the ears with his palm. And suddenly he opened them when he heard a loud blow. The bond inside trembled.
"He's here." Hyorinmaru purred softly. Toushirou smiled. Now he just had to wait for them to find him. He longed to look into those eyes again. And he had a feeling he wouldn't be alone.