Child 14

Critical Condition?

The captain of the tenth division made his way to the fourth division, forgoing shunpo for a "liesurely" walk. He stared at his feet as he walked, arms crossed over his chest and a frown on his face.

'Why did he have to go and piss off the captain of not only the second division, but also the leader of the punishment force! Does he want to be thrown in the maggots' nest or even executed?! That man is an idiot!' Toshiro thought to himself, rietsu fluctuating slightly. Most of the shinigami he passed sped up their walking, sensing he was in a bad mood.

'Ichimaru has, as you so eloquently put it, pissed off many people includng the majority, if not all, of the captains. What is so different about this time?' Hyorinmaru inquired.

'I don't know what is different, it's just- Ugh, I don't know! But he was given a pardon and this is his punishment! Why can't he accept it and just be docile for once in his life?! It would make all of this end faster!' Toshiro yelled in his head, a light frost left behind in his path.

'Would you be docile if you were in his position?' Hyorinmaru asked.

Toshiro didn't answer and instead continued fuming to himself as he made his way to the fourth, stopping right before the entrance. At this time he took notice of the frost and let out a sound of frustration before he took a few deep breaths to regain control over his rietsu. He let out one final deep breath before entering the compound. No one seemed to take notice of him as he walked through the division all the way to where he remembered Ichimaru's room to be. Just as he was about to open the door, he saw Unohana stepping out of a room a few doors down from where he stood.

"Unohana" he called, hand falling back to his side. The woman turned to face him, looking none too pleased. Toshiro felt his adams apple bob as he went stalk still, not even daring to move.

"Hitsugaya-taicho. You are here earlier than I expected." she trailed off, forcing a smile back onto her face. Toshiro nodded stiffly, eyes slightly larger than normal.

"Yes, I..." Toshiro sarted, only to take a deep breath and start again. "Matsumoto actually finished all the paperwork last night, oddly enough, so I do not have that much to do. She wasn't doing too well this morning so I suggested that we see how Ichimaru is doing. I'll still need to go back to the office at some point to finish off the small amount left but..." Silence befell the two captains in the hallway as they stared at eachother. Toshiro cleared his throught, shifting his eyes to look to where Unohana had come from.

"Did I... get the room wrong?" he asked quietly. Unohana followed his line of sight and let out a little sigh, a genuine smile reaching her features.

"No, you have the right room. The one I just came out of is my quarters actually." she told the young captain.

"Oh." was his only response to the woman. After another minute of standing in silence he spoke up again.

"So, why is Ichimaru all the way back here near your room?" he asked innocently, brow scrunched slightly with a gleam in his eyes. Unohana let out a small chuckle.

"The room Gin-kun is staying in is the room I usually use for either critical or long time patients that I would like to keep an eye on, epecially over night."

"Is Ichimaru in critical condition?" Toshiro asked, his chest feeling tight all of a sudden.

"Critical condition?" Toshiro heard behind him. The boy genius turned and found his lieutenant behind him, looking more put together than earlier.

"No, no, no. Gin-kun is not in critical condition as far as I know. I am still waiting on Urahara-san to call me back about getting him seen by someone in the World of the Living though." Unohana explained.

"You're saying it could be serious though." Matsumoto clarified, brushing past her captain to speak to the other female more closely, arms crossed under her chest. Unohana let out a small sigh.

"Yes, it could be serious. I am already quite concerned. I periodicly checked on him throughout the night, waking him once every hour. He shows the majority of the signs of a concussion, both for an adult and a child." Unohana explained.

'There's a difference?' the young captain wondered.

"What do you mean, signs of a concussion for both an adult and a child?" Toshiro piped up, stepping closer to the two.

"I was looking into one of my books on pediatrics and found that children as young as Ichimaru is now usually are not able to tell us how they are feeling in the same manner that adults do. That's how he was for much of night, reacting as though he was a small child instead of a fully grown man in a child's body. There are some things that he said that I am a bit concerned about too." Unohana continued. Toshiro gave her a confused look before glancing briefly back to the door, then back to her.

"Why do you have a pediatrics book?" he asked skeptically.

"It's for Yachiru-chan." Unohana explained simply.

"Uh huh. I see." Toshiro replied, turning back to the door when he heard a loud noise come from inside. Unohana let out a sigh before brushing past the two tenth division members and entering the room. She headed directly over to the chair by the window, kneeling down on the floor beside it. Both tenth division members followed her. Peering over her shoulders, they saw one Ichimaru Gin curled up in a blanket on the floor.

"Why must you keep going back to the chair?" Unohana asked aloud. Ichimaru did not respond though, seeming to decide that he'd much rather curl further into the blanket.

'Why would he sleep in a chair? I know I would rather sleep in a bed.' Toshiro unconsiously peered further over the fourth divison captain's shoulder. Rangiku knealt down on one leg beside Unohana and ran a hand through the small boy's hair.

"I see that you managed to get the blood out of his hair." the lieutenant remarked. Unohana let out a little chuckle.

"Yes, but it took me a little over an hour to do so. He would either fall asleep or complain that he wanted to go back to sleep. He even tried to up and leave the bathroom a couple of times while I was washing his hair. It was understandable though, as I had to wash his head four seperate times to get all of the blood out. Hitsugaya-taicho?" Unohana turned her head to the other captain in the room, taking note of how he stared at the ex-captain.

"Y-yes?" he startled, taking a step away from the captain.

'I was in her personal space.' he chastised himself.

"I would recommend trying your best not to get anything in your hair either. It would probably be a hassle to get out." Unohana remarked, giving him a kind smile.

"Y-yes..." Toshiro trailed off, face slightly scrunched with a frown adorning his face.

'It's not like I usually get things in my hair.' Toshiro fidgeted with his hakama slightly.

"Would you mind going to my quarters and retrieving the sewing basket off of my desk, Hitsugaya-taicho?" she requested. Toshiro nodded slowly before exiting the room. He shut the door behind him and gently leaned back against the door, one of his hands finding its way up to his hair. He brought a lock of his hair to the side of his head and glanced at it. He pressed his lips together into a thin line before letting his hand drop back to his side.

'Why? Why do I have to be compared to that man?' He pushed off from the wall and made his way the few doors down to the room where he recalled seeing the older captain come out of.

'You know as well as I that she was not trying to compare you two, young master.' Hyorinmaru spoke up. Toshiro let out a hum in response, placing a hand on the handle to the door.

"Pardon the intrusion." he exclaimed, sliding the door open. He hesitantly stepped into the room, looking around as he entered. The room was basicly what he expected, a tidy traditional bedroom. He walked over to the desk pushed up against the wall and grabbed the woven basket by it's handle. Lifting it up, he took note of a folder underneath it. He turned to return to Ichimaru's room when the writing on the folder caught his eye.

"Ichimaru Gin?" he read. The hand not holding the basket of sewing supplies reached out to open it before he pulled it back. Toshiro closed his eyes and shook his head.

"What am I doing? I can't just go through people's files. It's an invasion of privacy." Toshiro couldn't help but stare at the folder though. He shook his head again and gave one last look of apprehension at the folder before exiting the room and walking back down the hall to Ichimaru's room.

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