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The battle had been rough. Every once and a while, a formidable enemy popped up and caused enough trouble to warrant intervention from the Gotei 13. Very seldom were the captains ever needed, for the most part the seated officers and vice captains were able to take care of most issues. On incredibly rare occasions, Jūshirō and Shunsui were pulled into battles. They were among some of the strongest individuals in the Gotei 13, and it was uncommon for Yamamoto to pull them into active battle – for most occasions that was just an excessive use of power.
This battle had been one of those occasions. They’d fought alongside many other captains, and as usual Kyōraku had made light of the situation. It had been in the middle of Jūshirō berating Kyōraku over his lack of maturity in the situation when the attack had happened.
One moment they’d been talking to each other, and in the next Shunsui had been falling out of the sky. Jūshirō had nearly avoided being hit himself, and he’d had no time to look for Shunsui until after the battle had ended. When Jūshirō had arrived at the Fourth division, the chaos had been overwhelming; which was to be expecting following such a battle. It had taken him a couple of hours to finally get a hold of a member of the Fourth to try and find out Shunsui’s condition.
It wasn’t good, but he was going to be okay if his body was allowed time to heal. Jūshirō had spent enough time within various medical facilities to understand the majority of the injuries that Shunsui had, and although they sounded serious, they’d both suffered worse in the past.
Nanao was sitting at the bedside when Jūshirō got to the room. As soon as he entered the room her back went rigid, and her composure became one of ultimate professionalism. Jūshirō knew better than to tell her that the professionalism and seriousness wasn’t needed around him, especially given the circumstances, it would have been futile. They briefly acknowledged each other before Jūshirō wordlessly took a seat at the other side of Shunsui’s bed; he hadn’t seen Shunsui that pale in a long time, but his vital signs and breathing were good, which was encouraging. As it progressed late into the evening and into the night Jūshirō tried multiple times to get Nanao to leave the bedside, but it soon became apparent that she had no plans of leaving her captain’s side anytime soon.
The next morning when Jūshirō returned to the Fourth division Shunsui was looking much better. He hadn’t woken up yet, which was a little concerning, but the nurses he’d spoken to had assured him that it was the body’s way of healing. Unlike the previous night, Jūshirō was able to convince Nanao to leave the bedside and go and get something to eat. It was mere moments after Nanao had left that Shunsui groaned softly, and his fingers twitched.
“Kyōraku?” Jūshirō asked softly.
Jūshirō watched Shunsui’s eyes flutter open; momentary confusion flashing across his face before he realized where he was.
“Ukitake?” Shunsui’s voice was hoarse.
Jūshirō reached out to steady his friend as Shunsui attempted to sit up. Jūshirō could see the exact moment when Shunsui regretted his decision to sit up, the pain that appeared on his face even made Jūshirō wince.
“Yare, yare. That’s sore,” Shunsui said after he’d finally been propped up with some pillows and was able to relax again.
“It’s an impressive slash,” Jūshirō confirmed.
Shunsui nodded slowly, before looking around the room and then back to Jūshirō. “Where’s my Nanao-chan? I thought she’d be here.”
Jūshirō chuckled at Shunsui’s pouting, “She’s gone to eat. She sat at your bedside for the entire night…but when she comes back we tell her that you woke up right before she got back, and not as soon as she left.”
Shunsui inclined his head, “Agreed.”
Before they could continue their conversation, one of the nurses who happened to walk by rushed into the room. The look on her face as she glanced between Shunsui and Jūshirō was one of confusion and slight astonishment.
“When did you wake up?” She asked Shunsui before turning her attention to Jūshirō. “You should have called me!” she chided.
Shunsui and Jūshirō both apologized meekly, it had been a long time since someone had chastised them, and it was amusing to them both. The nurse did a quick assessment on Shunsui before disappearing and coming back moment later with Unohana, whose ever-peaceful expression managed to unsettle both Jūshirō and Shunsui. Almost as soon as Unohana had finished talking to them Nanao returned, and Jūshirō found it amazing that her expression went from one of relief, to one of absolute annoyance almost instantaneously. Jūshirō wasn’t sure how Shunsui was going to make it up to her, but it was going to be a long and arduous process.
Much to his discontent, Shunsui was held at the Fourth division for another night. Even thought he was chomping at the bit, Jūshirō was certain that Shunsui was partly relived at the prospect of another night’s rest; it looked too painful for him to move much anyways.
“I’m sure it won’t look so bad once it’s healed,” Jūshirō assured his friend when Shunsui mentioned the unsightly aspect of such a scar.
“I hope so. I need to stay attractive so that my Nanao-chan doesn’t leave me!”
The pillow Nanao threw hit him square in the chest, and Shunsui’s answering grin was salacious.
Jūshirō took the ensuing banter as his cue to leave. He’d sat at Shunsui’s bedside on a number of occasions, and it was an unspoken rule that he left once he was sure his friend was okay. Shunsui did the same thing to him when injuries or his illness granted him admission to the Fourth; they’d never spoken of it and yet it was something they both understood. They had other responsibilities, and once the threat of imminent harm had passed it was time to go. Jūshirō was just grateful that Shunsui was okay – he could be reckless at times and Jūshirō feared the day when that caught up with him. It would happen eventually, Jūshirō was sure of that. But that day was hopefully far off and out of mind.
When that day did finally come they’d face it. Together.