ruyu
in
wax_rabbit
You Are My Sunshine Chapter 8
Title: You Are My Sunshine Chapter 8
Fandom: Bleach
Rating: PG-13 (higher for later chapters)
Word Count: 2400
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Ichigo/Shiro, Isshin, Grimmjow, OC
Summary: An AU story in which Ichigo works at the local hospital and comes across a coma patient that seems to be his twin. Who is this man and how did he get in a coma?
Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach or it's characters.
A/N: LOOONG ass time since this was updated. I'm slightly ashamed, but that's life.
All previous chapters can be found HERE on fanfiction.net.
Chapter 8
Back in grade school, Ichigo had a few good friends, but they were just that - friends. He was never the type to get attached to people. Ichigo knew how to let people go. On some occasions, he even knew how to make people let go of him. A quick remark here, a cold shoulder there and one icy look from Ichigo Kurosaki and suddenly there was space to breath again. He didn't like doing it, but it always seemed like the wrong kind of people were trying to get close to him. Call him picky or whatever, he just knew what kind of people he liked. Like Chad, whom he'd known since he was too small to kick anyone's ass or even know what it meant to want to hurt someone that much. Chad got close enough and Ichigo let him because it felt right, felt like they matched up on some level.
Ichigo wondered if maybe growing up that way set him up for this kind of life, this lonely ass life he was currently living. Being too picky, too selective about his company. It wasn't that he was above everyone else's company, Ichigo just didn't like fake, inconsiderate people.
Sadly, that left Ichigo with few friends. He had Grimmjow and he was most definitely not fake.
Now he had a brother who didn't feel like a brother. Ichigo had placed Shiro in a category all his own when he'd first seen him. He wasn't 'brother' then and he wasn't 'brother' now, no matter how hard Ichigo tried to change how he felt about it. It just wasn't happening.
"Ichigo..."
He sometimes wished he'd never seen Shiro. Then he wouldn't be so confused.
"Ichigo!"
If Shiro ever woke then maybe Ichigo would learn to see him as a brother. Maybe it would take time.
"ICHIGO KUROSAKI!"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Ichigo nearly flipped his chair as he heard his name screamed across the hall of clinic. Jesus Christ on tortilla!
"WHAT!" Ichigo yelled back, equally annoyed.
It was only Grimmjow, but there was something different, his expressions was strange. Then a long arm rose in the air, clutching a photograph. Ichigo recognized the photo as the one from his locker. The thieving bastard! Ichigo thought as he looked at the picture, but before he could voice it he saw Grimmjow's lips move. He's awake.
Awake.
He felt himself move in slow motion, like those cheesy Indy films where the light flickered through the trees and some chick's hair was floating in the breeze, or the moment just before a kiss when you swear you could feel the breath pass from one mouth to another.
Yeah. It was that slow.
He was suddenly in front of Grimmjow and the photo was between his fingers because this was it. The moment he'd been dreaming of, waiting for, praying for. There would be life in those golden eyes, just like in the picture. Shiro's lips would curve up in a smile and fingers would curl around his own as they shook hands.
Oh, but to hear you speak.
~~~~~~~~~~
Grimmjow told him that Shiro was awake, had been for a few hours but Ichigo hadn't been contacted since the family information wasn't updated yet. Shiro had met with the doctors and he was fully conscious and aware. He showed no signs of memory loss, aside from the actual accident. He'd be expected to pass a physical to determine whether or not physical therapy would be needed. Grimmjow assured him he would be fine.
Ichigo just needed to see him. To meet him. To say something to him.
He convinced Grimmjow to let him go alone, saying that this was a private moment. Grimmjow more than understood and said that he'd be wandering around the Ward (not looking like a stalker), just in case.
He stopped by the gift shop and picked up the brightest flowers he could find - yellow ones. It was only after he'd bought them did he realize how utterly sad they looked.
The Ward was quiet, which surprised Ichigo, even though there was no real reason why it shouldn't be quiet. Shiro's door was closed and no one seemed to be in a rush and life was going on like it should be and Ichigo wondered why he felt so disappointed that the world hadn't stopped turning because Shiro was awake.
No one paid him any attention as he walked up to the door and the click of the doorknob turning may have only seems horrendously loud to him.
But everything was quiet because...
Shiro was asleep. Not 'coma' asleep, but really asleep and Ichigo could see that. His pale face was slack with sleep but he looked content. Before he had looked dead, gone and still, chest rising and falling without purpose.
Ichigo walked over to the bed, sitting down the flowers beside the bed and just watching, seeing how Shiro's fingers twitched and curled, how his lips parted as he breathed deep lungfuls of sun-warmed air. In and out, with more purpose than Ichigo could ever remember having.
Those lips, moistened by Shiro's own tongue and not the cherry lip balm. Hair tousled by his own fingers, running through his white locks in frustration and relief.
Ichigo took in a ragged breath and it was all Shiro; sunshine and liquid blue light, cherry flavored lips and pale, silky skin.
He pulled Shiro's photo from his pocket and sat it beneath the vase of flowers. "How can you be my brother when I feel like this?"
The Ward was still silent as he left and maybe the world had stopped turning just for a second.
~~~~~~~~~~
Shiro tried to stay awake for Grimmjow and his friend, he really did, but the lure of sleep and the heat from the morning sun were too hard to resist. A person might think that someone who'd woken from a coma wouldn't want to sleep as much has he did, but oh well. He had a feeling that whatever had gone on in his head during the coma, it wasn't resting; wasn't peaceful. So when Shiro let his eyes slip shut, smooth and heavy, he knew that it was the beginning of a restful sleep.
He dreamt of ruby sunsets, wildflowers that never died and days that washed by like waves, crashing against the beaches of his mind. The foam from the waves flew into the wild sunset and became clouds on the horizon. They were meaningless dreams - normal dreams, thank God. And so what if he could still taste cherry on his lips, it was only a dream.
There were flowers in his room when he woke up. Just sitting there like normal flowers, except, Shiro couldn't think of who have would even give him flowers. Yellow daffodils spilled out of their vase, drooping stems letting the golden head of each flower hang longingly, sadly, desperate for attention. Caught beneath the bottom edge of the vase was a photo of him. It was a fairly recent photo that his neighbor had taken. The crimson coat he wore made his pale skin shine like fresh snow, like he'd drifted down from the sky as a special snowflake. Shiro picked up the photo and turned it over - nothing was written there. Who would have left him a photo of himself?
Weird.
"Shiro?" A nurse peeked into the room with a warm smile on her face. "You've got a visitor?"
Very weird. "Okay, I guess," Shiro said, perplexed and curious.
The nurse retreated and allowed a tall, imposing man into the room. Their eyes met and something shifted inside Shiro, like a door snapping open after years of being locked. He was tall with neatly cropped hair and a strong, stubbled chin. Shiro blinked as he took in the bright Hawaiian shirt he wore, but it seemed fitting somehow.
His eyes, though - windows to the soul and all that. Shiro could see right into them and far beyond. Each step that the man took closer to the bed allowed Shiro to look deeper. Ochre eyes swallowed him up and left him at peace and calm.
"Shiro."
They each blinked and the hospital room was back and the daffodils still looked melancholy and Shiro was still wondering what the hell he was going to say to this dude.
"Um. Hi," was all that he could really come up with.
"Hi," the man said with a goofy smile and that moment was special because Shiro felt like meeting this man was something remarkable; something profound.
"Do I know you?" Shiro asked.
The man gave a soft sigh, letting his shoulders slump despondently. "I... umm..." After a scratch to the back of his head, he finally just sat on the bottom corner of Shiro's bed and looked him straight in they eye. Steadfast. "I'm not sure if you're mother ever told you, but, I'm your father, Shiro."
Holy shit.
His father.
When Shiro didn't speak (another brain trauma, perhaps?), the man carried on without encouragement.
"I'm Isshin Kurosaki. I'm a doctor and I live in the next town over. I didn't know you existed until a few days ago and I can honestly it's one of the most unexpected and..." he babbled excitedly, "awesome surprises of my life!"
Okay. He was an awesome surprise. That was good. Wasn't it?
"Shiro, you okay?" Isshin asked cautiously.
"I'm..." and there were no other words because everything became heavy and just, "I'm..."
"Are you mad at me? I wouldn't blame you if you were."
That snapped Shiro out of his meltdown. "No! It's just... a lot to take in. I didn't know you existed either. I'm mean, yeah, I obliviously had a father, but this, you being here, saying this stuff. I've never even dreamed of this happening, and now it is and God, it's... pretty awesome."
"So, you're mother..."
"Like I said, you never existed," Shiro explained with a hint of regret. "I wasn't told you were dead, or married to someone else or just a goddam bum who got her knocked up and couldn't pay. You were no one, nothing, unmentioned."
Isshin grabbed his pale hand squeezed it hard. His hand was warm and strong and Shiro was suddenly so much more grateful for waking up and having this chance. But then...
"How did you even find me?" And shit, there were tears in his eyes. Happy fucking tears because this was just too fucking unreal.
Isshin gave his hand another reassuring squeeze and said, "Your mother and I remained friends after we'd broken up. After you're accident she called me from out of the country and asked if I could check up on someone in the hospital for her. I said I would. My son, Ichigo, was here when I came to see you and then we just... knew. I've talked with your mother and we've straightened everything out."
But all Shiro really heard was 'brother'. He had a brother. He had family. A real family. And if the rest of the Kurosaki's were anything like Isshin then Shiro wanted to know all of them.
This was too good, too fantastic...
"Shiro, it's alright," Isshin said soothingly, patting Shiro's thigh through the blanket like any normal father would do. "Everything will be alright."
And then Shiro cried.
Shiro was nearly sobbing and Isshin couldn't help but smile because clearly the boy was happy about what he'd told him and so relieved that he couldn't contain himself, hence the tears. Isshin didn't blame him, he was getting a bit teary eyed himself.
Another son. Wow. The twins would have another brother and Ichigo would...
Ichigo needed this, needed someone like Shiro. His son was clearly depressed and struggling with dealing with his new life. People didn't adjust to loneliness, not really, they avoided admitting it and made excuses as to why they were lonely, but no one really just dealt with it.
Ichigo was not dealing well. He'd seemed fine when he left for college and even when he moved into the city to live closer to the hospital, but after that, things went downhill. Isshin suspected it was because Ichigo had no one to care for. At home he'd taken care of the girls, hell, had taken care of Isshin. But now, Ichigo went home to nothing, to no one but himself and Isshin knew that one of the hardest people to live with was yourself; inner demons and regrets and all that.
He wanted Ichigo to be happy, wanted both of his boys to be happy.
"I see someone brought you flowers," he commented as Shiro dried his eyes.
"I don't know who they're from. There's no card or anything, just a picture of me."
Isshin picked up the photo and examined it. "Maybe it's from the hospital."
Shiro didn't look so sure. "Yeah, maybe."
tbc...
Fandom: Bleach
Rating: PG-13 (higher for later chapters)
Word Count: 2400
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Ichigo/Shiro, Isshin, Grimmjow, OC
Summary: An AU story in which Ichigo works at the local hospital and comes across a coma patient that seems to be his twin. Who is this man and how did he get in a coma?
Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach or it's characters.
A/N: LOOONG ass time since this was updated. I'm slightly ashamed, but that's life.
All previous chapters can be found HERE on fanfiction.net.
Chapter 8
Back in grade school, Ichigo had a few good friends, but they were just that - friends. He was never the type to get attached to people. Ichigo knew how to let people go. On some occasions, he even knew how to make people let go of him. A quick remark here, a cold shoulder there and one icy look from Ichigo Kurosaki and suddenly there was space to breath again. He didn't like doing it, but it always seemed like the wrong kind of people were trying to get close to him. Call him picky or whatever, he just knew what kind of people he liked. Like Chad, whom he'd known since he was too small to kick anyone's ass or even know what it meant to want to hurt someone that much. Chad got close enough and Ichigo let him because it felt right, felt like they matched up on some level.
Ichigo wondered if maybe growing up that way set him up for this kind of life, this lonely ass life he was currently living. Being too picky, too selective about his company. It wasn't that he was above everyone else's company, Ichigo just didn't like fake, inconsiderate people.
Sadly, that left Ichigo with few friends. He had Grimmjow and he was most definitely not fake.
Now he had a brother who didn't feel like a brother. Ichigo had placed Shiro in a category all his own when he'd first seen him. He wasn't 'brother' then and he wasn't 'brother' now, no matter how hard Ichigo tried to change how he felt about it. It just wasn't happening.
"Ichigo..."
He sometimes wished he'd never seen Shiro. Then he wouldn't be so confused.
"Ichigo!"
If Shiro ever woke then maybe Ichigo would learn to see him as a brother. Maybe it would take time.
"ICHIGO KUROSAKI!"
Snapping out of his thoughts, Ichigo nearly flipped his chair as he heard his name screamed across the hall of clinic. Jesus Christ on tortilla!
"WHAT!" Ichigo yelled back, equally annoyed.
It was only Grimmjow, but there was something different, his expressions was strange. Then a long arm rose in the air, clutching a photograph. Ichigo recognized the photo as the one from his locker. The thieving bastard! Ichigo thought as he looked at the picture, but before he could voice it he saw Grimmjow's lips move. He's awake.
Awake.
He felt himself move in slow motion, like those cheesy Indy films where the light flickered through the trees and some chick's hair was floating in the breeze, or the moment just before a kiss when you swear you could feel the breath pass from one mouth to another.
Yeah. It was that slow.
He was suddenly in front of Grimmjow and the photo was between his fingers because this was it. The moment he'd been dreaming of, waiting for, praying for. There would be life in those golden eyes, just like in the picture. Shiro's lips would curve up in a smile and fingers would curl around his own as they shook hands.
Oh, but to hear you speak.
~~~~~~~~~~
Grimmjow told him that Shiro was awake, had been for a few hours but Ichigo hadn't been contacted since the family information wasn't updated yet. Shiro had met with the doctors and he was fully conscious and aware. He showed no signs of memory loss, aside from the actual accident. He'd be expected to pass a physical to determine whether or not physical therapy would be needed. Grimmjow assured him he would be fine.
Ichigo just needed to see him. To meet him. To say something to him.
He convinced Grimmjow to let him go alone, saying that this was a private moment. Grimmjow more than understood and said that he'd be wandering around the Ward (not looking like a stalker), just in case.
He stopped by the gift shop and picked up the brightest flowers he could find - yellow ones. It was only after he'd bought them did he realize how utterly sad they looked.
The Ward was quiet, which surprised Ichigo, even though there was no real reason why it shouldn't be quiet. Shiro's door was closed and no one seemed to be in a rush and life was going on like it should be and Ichigo wondered why he felt so disappointed that the world hadn't stopped turning because Shiro was awake.
No one paid him any attention as he walked up to the door and the click of the doorknob turning may have only seems horrendously loud to him.
But everything was quiet because...
Shiro was asleep. Not 'coma' asleep, but really asleep and Ichigo could see that. His pale face was slack with sleep but he looked content. Before he had looked dead, gone and still, chest rising and falling without purpose.
Ichigo walked over to the bed, sitting down the flowers beside the bed and just watching, seeing how Shiro's fingers twitched and curled, how his lips parted as he breathed deep lungfuls of sun-warmed air. In and out, with more purpose than Ichigo could ever remember having.
Those lips, moistened by Shiro's own tongue and not the cherry lip balm. Hair tousled by his own fingers, running through his white locks in frustration and relief.
Ichigo took in a ragged breath and it was all Shiro; sunshine and liquid blue light, cherry flavored lips and pale, silky skin.
He pulled Shiro's photo from his pocket and sat it beneath the vase of flowers. "How can you be my brother when I feel like this?"
The Ward was still silent as he left and maybe the world had stopped turning just for a second.
~~~~~~~~~~
Shiro tried to stay awake for Grimmjow and his friend, he really did, but the lure of sleep and the heat from the morning sun were too hard to resist. A person might think that someone who'd woken from a coma wouldn't want to sleep as much has he did, but oh well. He had a feeling that whatever had gone on in his head during the coma, it wasn't resting; wasn't peaceful. So when Shiro let his eyes slip shut, smooth and heavy, he knew that it was the beginning of a restful sleep.
He dreamt of ruby sunsets, wildflowers that never died and days that washed by like waves, crashing against the beaches of his mind. The foam from the waves flew into the wild sunset and became clouds on the horizon. They were meaningless dreams - normal dreams, thank God. And so what if he could still taste cherry on his lips, it was only a dream.
There were flowers in his room when he woke up. Just sitting there like normal flowers, except, Shiro couldn't think of who have would even give him flowers. Yellow daffodils spilled out of their vase, drooping stems letting the golden head of each flower hang longingly, sadly, desperate for attention. Caught beneath the bottom edge of the vase was a photo of him. It was a fairly recent photo that his neighbor had taken. The crimson coat he wore made his pale skin shine like fresh snow, like he'd drifted down from the sky as a special snowflake. Shiro picked up the photo and turned it over - nothing was written there. Who would have left him a photo of himself?
Weird.
"Shiro?" A nurse peeked into the room with a warm smile on her face. "You've got a visitor?"
Very weird. "Okay, I guess," Shiro said, perplexed and curious.
The nurse retreated and allowed a tall, imposing man into the room. Their eyes met and something shifted inside Shiro, like a door snapping open after years of being locked. He was tall with neatly cropped hair and a strong, stubbled chin. Shiro blinked as he took in the bright Hawaiian shirt he wore, but it seemed fitting somehow.
His eyes, though - windows to the soul and all that. Shiro could see right into them and far beyond. Each step that the man took closer to the bed allowed Shiro to look deeper. Ochre eyes swallowed him up and left him at peace and calm.
"Shiro."
They each blinked and the hospital room was back and the daffodils still looked melancholy and Shiro was still wondering what the hell he was going to say to this dude.
"Um. Hi," was all that he could really come up with.
"Hi," the man said with a goofy smile and that moment was special because Shiro felt like meeting this man was something remarkable; something profound.
"Do I know you?" Shiro asked.
The man gave a soft sigh, letting his shoulders slump despondently. "I... umm..." After a scratch to the back of his head, he finally just sat on the bottom corner of Shiro's bed and looked him straight in they eye. Steadfast. "I'm not sure if you're mother ever told you, but, I'm your father, Shiro."
Holy shit.
His father.
When Shiro didn't speak (another brain trauma, perhaps?), the man carried on without encouragement.
"I'm Isshin Kurosaki. I'm a doctor and I live in the next town over. I didn't know you existed until a few days ago and I can honestly it's one of the most unexpected and..." he babbled excitedly, "awesome surprises of my life!"
Okay. He was an awesome surprise. That was good. Wasn't it?
"Shiro, you okay?" Isshin asked cautiously.
"I'm..." and there were no other words because everything became heavy and just, "I'm..."
"Are you mad at me? I wouldn't blame you if you were."
That snapped Shiro out of his meltdown. "No! It's just... a lot to take in. I didn't know you existed either. I'm mean, yeah, I obliviously had a father, but this, you being here, saying this stuff. I've never even dreamed of this happening, and now it is and God, it's... pretty awesome."
"So, you're mother..."
"Like I said, you never existed," Shiro explained with a hint of regret. "I wasn't told you were dead, or married to someone else or just a goddam bum who got her knocked up and couldn't pay. You were no one, nothing, unmentioned."
Isshin grabbed his pale hand squeezed it hard. His hand was warm and strong and Shiro was suddenly so much more grateful for waking up and having this chance. But then...
"How did you even find me?" And shit, there were tears in his eyes. Happy fucking tears because this was just too fucking unreal.
Isshin gave his hand another reassuring squeeze and said, "Your mother and I remained friends after we'd broken up. After you're accident she called me from out of the country and asked if I could check up on someone in the hospital for her. I said I would. My son, Ichigo, was here when I came to see you and then we just... knew. I've talked with your mother and we've straightened everything out."
But all Shiro really heard was 'brother'. He had a brother. He had family. A real family. And if the rest of the Kurosaki's were anything like Isshin then Shiro wanted to know all of them.
This was too good, too fantastic...
"Shiro, it's alright," Isshin said soothingly, patting Shiro's thigh through the blanket like any normal father would do. "Everything will be alright."
And then Shiro cried.
Shiro was nearly sobbing and Isshin couldn't help but smile because clearly the boy was happy about what he'd told him and so relieved that he couldn't contain himself, hence the tears. Isshin didn't blame him, he was getting a bit teary eyed himself.
Another son. Wow. The twins would have another brother and Ichigo would...
Ichigo needed this, needed someone like Shiro. His son was clearly depressed and struggling with dealing with his new life. People didn't adjust to loneliness, not really, they avoided admitting it and made excuses as to why they were lonely, but no one really just dealt with it.
Ichigo was not dealing well. He'd seemed fine when he left for college and even when he moved into the city to live closer to the hospital, but after that, things went downhill. Isshin suspected it was because Ichigo had no one to care for. At home he'd taken care of the girls, hell, had taken care of Isshin. But now, Ichigo went home to nothing, to no one but himself and Isshin knew that one of the hardest people to live with was yourself; inner demons and regrets and all that.
He wanted Ichigo to be happy, wanted both of his boys to be happy.
"I see someone brought you flowers," he commented as Shiro dried his eyes.
"I don't know who they're from. There's no card or anything, just a picture of me."
Isshin picked up the photo and examined it. "Maybe it's from the hospital."
Shiro didn't look so sure. "Yeah, maybe."
tbc...