Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Minutes to Midnight ❯ The Other Half ( Chapter 34 )

Title: The Other Half

Characters: Aizen, Urahara

Rating: T

Warning: Fluff sorta. As fluffy as these two can get anyway.

Words: 1710

Description: Aizen Sousuke had never wanted the weakness of attachment, and this had only reminded him of how dangerous it could be.

 

 

It was taking longer than it should have. Too much longer. Sousuke didn't understand it. Ichigo had woken almost immediately, barely an hour after he had injected the cure. And yet, half a day later, Sousuke was still sitting here by Kisuke's side, waiting for the shopkeeper to waken.

 

There had been little change to Sousuke's knowledge. His breathing was still even, though his face had gained a little color. He didn't appear to be wasting away anymore, but that didn't mean anything because Kisuke still hadn't woken.

 

On the next bed over, Ichigo and Gin were asleep, curled together like lost kittens. Ichigo was still weak, unable to rise from the bed. And Gin was exhausted after having sat by his lover's side without pause since Ichigo was poisoned. They deserved their rest, so Sousuke allowed them to have it. Ichigo needed it, after all. But at least he'd regained consciousness.

 

The machine beeped in a steady rhythm. Kisuke was alive. Sousuke could feel him and his reiatsu, which had been fading recently, sinking lower and lower into the blond's body. Not for the first time, he cursed Kisuke's ability to hide himself, to put his senses into a sort of stasis.

 

What if he didn't awaken? What if Sousuke had cured the body, but couldn't pull Kisuke's mind out of its - No. He was not going to think like that.

 

He was lord and master of Hueco Mundo. Soon, he would be king of Soul Society. He did not need to second guess himself.

 

Sighing, he shifted position in his seat and rubbed fingers over his forehead. The silence of the laboratory was unnerving, the sound of things burbling only made it that much more disconcerting. He watched Kisuke carefully, his chest rising and falling in steadying rhythms. No change. There was simply no change.

 

Sousuke thought of the anger that would burn through his veins if his friend died. His war against Seireitei shouldn't have been for such personal reasons, but Sousuke was not so righteous that he could abandon his anger entirely. He had already lost Shigure to those bastards. He was not going to lose another. He refused.

 

The steady beeping in the background, a constant litany that Sousuke had almost managed to tune out, suddenly changed its cadence. He nearly jerked at the alarming occurrence, as it jarred him out of his thoughts. He glanced at the monitor, which was now showing a much quicker pace. In fact, it was more resembling that of an active individual.

 

Sousuke dropped his gaze to Kisuke and caught sight of fingers twitching. The shopkeeper's breath hitched, sucking in air sharply before letting out another breath, accompanied by a long and breathy groan. Anticipation caught itself in Sousuke's throat, along with a hefty sense of relief. Damn Kisuke, always worrying him just to be aggravating. Why he continued to put up with the other man, Sousuke didn't know.

 

After what seemed like a ridiculous time waiting, Kisuke's eyes finally opened and fluttered weakly. He groaned, lifting a hand to cover his face as he turned away from the brightness of the lighting.

 

“My head is pounding,” Kisuke rasped, throat no doubt dry from the stasis. “Did you get the name of the Hollow that trampled me?”

 

Working his jaw soundlessly for a moment, Sousuke contemplated hurting the man in front of him. But it went against his principle to kick a person while he was down. Or in this case, strangle Kisuke when he was already injured. He settled for bristling, trying to hide emotion from his voice and only marginally succeeding.

 

“You idiot,” Sousuke grated out the words. “How could you let something like a poison take you down?”

 

Gray-green eyes shifted to him, shadowed by the protection of his palm. “Aw, Sou-kun, were you worried about me?” Kisuke hacked, a sound that attempted to be a sort of coo but came out hoarse and rough.

 

For a moment, Sousuke could only look at him with a stunned sort of silence. All of the concern that had been riding on his shoulders, the fear and the trepidation, crashed over him. And this idiot could only call it “worry?” As if it was something so simple!

 

“Worried?” Sousuke repeated, and his voice rose in volume of its own accord. He hurried to lower it, not wishing to wake Ichigo and Gin. “You almost died.”

 

And really that said it all. Worry wasn't nearly enough to describe what he had been going through.

 

“But I didn't,” Kisuke returned, tone still cheery but now sufficiently guarded as he watched his companion, gaze unrelenting despite his fatigue. “You found the antidote. Just like I knew you would.” He leaned back against the pillow and licked his dry lips with a tongue that was equally dry. “Ah, but I wanted to research it, too.”

 

Arguing with himself for several moments, Sousuke covered the action by reaching for a small glass of water and cheerful pink straw - courtesy of Szayel, of course. He held it to Kisuke's lips, helping the weakened man take a long drink.

 

It was just like the blond to be so flippant, and he warred with a mixture of anger and relief and exasperation on the inside. Kisuke would never show just how terrified he had been for himself.

 

Brown eyes narrowed as the cup was returned to the bedside table. “Sometimes, Kisuke, I find in me the ability to hate you.”

 

The shopkeeper furrowed his brow, and all sense of teasing smoothed out into something more serious. “Sousuke?”

 

He fought with himself for several long moments, glancing down at his hands that were clenching and unclenching; when had he developed such a nervous tic? Really, it was intolerable.

 

“I have trampled over many to get to this point, and I will likely trample over more to find the king's throne,” Sousuke began, searching for the right words and finding them more difficult than they should have been. “And yet, I find myself with these... weaknesses.”

 

There was no other way to call it.

 

He could feel his friend studying him, even as the bed creaked as he attempted to sit up but couldn't quite make it.

 

“Caring for others is not a weakness. In fact, it's rather admirable.”

 

He didn't look at Kisuke and honestly wasn't sure why. “In the beginning, when I first began to plot, I tried to throw away anything that would hold me back. Associations. Emotions. Anything that would bring regret.”

 

“Why?”

 

“It was easier that way.”

 

Kisuke snorted, though it came out less disbelieving and more sickly. “Somehow, I find that difficult to believe.”

 

Finally lifting his eyes, he tossed the shopkeeper an annoyed look.

 

Kisuke shrugged. “But it's your story. Not mine. I don't claim to know all the details.” He paused and tilted his head to the side as he finally lowered his hand, able to withstand the bright lights of the laboratory. “I always suspected something deeper than a desire to cleanse Seireitei drove you. It's not my place to ask.”

 

Sousuke's response was noncommittal as he considered Kisuke's words. It bothered him, this weakness, in as much as it made him angry. Once again, Soul Society had proven just how honorless it was. Would they take every opportunity to attempt to steal what was precious to him? Not that he would admit aloud to Kisuke how much he treasured the man's friendship.

 

Rubbing a hand over his forehead again, Sousuke rose to his feet. He tried not to make his chair clatter behind him and wake the practically newlyweds behind him.

 

“Do me a favor,” he stated perhaps a bit too aggressively. “Try not to get yourself poisoned or at least on the edge of death the next time we see battle.”

 

Kisuke's lips twitched, eyes glinting with a mysterious sort of understanding. And then he was grinning, like the utter fool he was.

 

“Why, Sou-kun, you do care after all! I think my heart just skipped a beat.” His response was upbeat, but it was clear he was fighting back a yawn, real exhaustion cresting over him rather than that tepid stasis.

 

He rolled his eyes, preferring this Kisuke to the serious one he had so narrowly escaped. “That was probably just the growling of your stomach. You haven't eaten anything in several days.”

 

He appeared to consider this for a moment. “Nope. Pretty sure it was my heart.” One hand fluttered out, patting the empty space on the bed beside him. “You could join me,” he hinted strongly with his usual tease. “I want someone to snuggle with like Ichi-chan.”

 

Sousuke couldn't help it; his lips twitched into a smile. “I'll see if Gin is free later then,” he replied dryly unable to resist the barb. The look he received in return was amusing in itself.

 

Kisuke waved a hand weakly at him as he sniffed in disappointment. “No offense, but I'd rather not find myself on the pointy end of Zangetsu. I guess I'll just sleep alone. As boring as that sounds.”

 

“You do that,” Sousuke replied as the blonde appeared to settle back, the dark circles under his eyes suddenly that much more apparent.

 

He watched Kisuke for a moment more just to make certain that the shopkeeper was actually going to sleep before he turned away. He did, after all, have work that needed to be done. Plans needed to be made, repercussions to plot. Soul Society could not be allowed to get away with this.

 

The worry that he had been feeling, the trepidation, finally eased itself out of his tense muscles. And Sousuke felt he could breathe deeply again. He hadn't failed as he had suspected. Kisuke would live to be his annoying self once again. He should have known better than to doubt himself. As future king, he should have had no doubt.

 

“You better not start the battle without me.”

 

The voice floated out from behind him, causing Sousuke to pause for a moment. His lips curved into a smile before he continued to the door, footsteps whisper soft against the floor. As if he could do such a thing.

 

“I wouldn't dare dream of it.”

 

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