A/N: Hi! This is a crossover between House, M.D. and Bleach. I know that crossovers have a reputation of being badly written and not well thought out, but this one isn't cracky at all. It's pretty much an episode of House with Juushiro Ukitake from Bleach as the patient. Soul Society doesn't exist and yes, it is ShunUki! I wrote this to a variety of songs: Bells For Her, Yes, Anastasia and Icicle by Tori Amos, Sweet Sacrifice by Evanescence, Points of Authority by Linkin Park, Fallen Embers by Enya, Remember the Name by Fort Minor ft. Styles of Beyond, So Cold and Here We Are by Breaking Benjamin, What About Now, Feels Like Tonight and There And Back Again by Daughtry. If you really want to know which parts go with which songs, message me and I'll tell you. Not all of them quite make sense with the plotline, but they were my muses. Enjoy, and please review! n.n

House propped his feet up on the desk of the nurse's station, surveying the open pages of People's latest issue with unhealthy interest. The ER bustled around him, nurses and doctors hurrying from patient to patient; calling instructions to each other as they diagnosed and treated. The voices of calm physicians, pained patients and anxious relatives mingled with one patients' harsh cough. The amount of noise was annoying, but here House could hide from Cuddy and his impending clinic hours. If only he had thought to bring earplugs. Maybe he could mooch some from Wilson later. All things considered, the ER was becoming a convenient place to hide; because Cuddy would never expect him to be around so many patients.

House looked over the top of his magazine surreptitiously, keeping a sharp eye out for his persistent boss. But as he scanned the beds, one patient caught his eye. A young man who couldn't have been over thirty, with a long ponytail of startling white hair. He had a nasty cough, which was boring; but there was blood on his shirt, possibly from the coughs. That made it more interesting. The doctor heaved his feet from the counter and stood, leaning his cane. He limped across the momentarily clear aisle to the young man's bed.

"Are you being treated?" House asked bluntly.

"Not yet. But I can see you're very busy." The man smiled. House raised an eyebrow.

"You're not impatient to be helped?"

"There are others here who can benefit more than I. I'm willing to let them come first."

The small prick of curiosity that had sparked was growing rapidly. "Well. What seems to be the problem?" House asked sardonically.

"I used to have TB," the young man explained, "I took the medication for it and that seemed to cure it. But a few days ago I started relapsing. So I thought I should come in."

House studied him silently for a minute, turning the symptoms and the patient's strange demeanor over in his brilliant mind. "How long ago did you stop taking the drugs?"

The young man thought for a minute. "A few months ago."

"When were you diagnosed?"

"Hm... I must have been five, maybe six."

"And how old are you?"

"Twenty-four."

"You've lived with tuberculosis for 19 years?" House asked incredulously.

"Yes, I guess it has been that long... Is that unusual?" The young man asked, genuine curiosity in his face.

"Someone who's lived with TB for most of his life should not be this happy."

The young man laughed softly. "I accepted long ago that my life might end prematurely. I'm not afraid of it anymore."

House said nothing, studying the youth with doubled interest. "Interesting..." he muttered after a minute. "Let's get you upstairs."

*~*~*~*

House strode into the diagnostics office, tossing copies of the new patient's chart onto the table. Chase, Cameron and Foreman picked them up with varying degrees of interest. As they scanned the information, House uncapped a fresh black marker and wrote the symptoms on the white board:

Hemoptsys

Chest pain

Fever

Emaciated

White hair

"Juushiro Ukitake, twenty-four year old male presenting with these symptoms. Go." House said, leaning on the top of the board.

"It's just a relapse of the TB," Cameron said, scanning the chart.

"Tuberculosis doesn't explain the hair." House countered.

"Maybe it's natural. He could be an albino." Foreman suggested.

"If you had looked at his admission photo, you would have seen that his eyebrows are black," House argued, "So either he dyes his eyebrows, or something is causing a melanin deficiency. Which is more likely?"

"Him dying his eyebrows," Chase muttered.

"Come on, people!" House said in exasperation. "That's not interesting. What causes melanin deficiency?"

Foreman sighed. "Hypopigmentation? He's pretty pale."

"That doesn't explain the hair." House reiterated.

"Could be malnutrition." Chase suggested.

"Werner syndrome and pernicious anemia cause premature aging." Cameron put in.

"Good, test him for all those." House ordered.

"What about his tuberculosis? If we don't treat it, he's going to die." Foreman reminded his boss.

"Hm. See which drugs he was taking for it. We'll try whatever his previous doctors didn't." House said.

The team departed to do their tests and House limped into his office to think.

*~*~*~*

While Chase and Foreman went to test a sample of the patient's DNA for the aging disorders, Cameron went to Juushiro's room to ask about the TB medicines. She found him sitting up in bed, with two dinners in front of him. The patient was rapidly consuming the food.

"Do you always eat that much?" Cameron asked, walking over to stand beside the bed.

The young man swallowed his mouthful and smiled rather sheepishly. "I have since I started showing symptoms. If I'm eating too much..." He half-offered rather guiltily.

"No, it's fine. We always have extra meals anyway." Cameron reassured him. Cutting to the chase, she asked; "Mr. Ukitake, we need to know what medicines you've taken for your TB."

"Juushiro, please. Mr. Ukitake makes me feel old."

Cameron laughed. "Okay. Juushiro, then."

Juushiro sighed slightly and scratched the back of his head. "I'm afraid I don't remember what I was taking," he confessed apologetically, "I could give you my doctor's phone number, she would know..."

"Okay. I can call her."

Juushiro gave her a slip of paper with the name Dr. Retsu Unohana written above a phone number in narrow, neat handwriting.

"Thanks," Cameron said, "We'll get back to you when..." She glanced down at the paper. "Dr. Unohana gets here."

"I'll be here." Juushiro joked.

Cameron nodded and left, making her way to the Diagnostics office where she could call this Dr. Unohana.