Bleach: The Captain Part Two & Three, Toshiro Hitsugaya x OC

Chapter 9: The Insufferable Oxfords

Bits of sunlight peaked through the openings of the cellar doors, rousing me from my sleep. Every inch of my body turned into a block of ice overnight; my fingers refused to warm up and my legs didn't feel like my own. Even if it was possible to get any closer to Kensei, it wouldn't provide the warmth I needed at this moment. I'd never fantasized about jumping into a fire before now, but I guess there's a first time for everything.

Kensei breathed quietly next to me, having not awoken by my constant fidgeting with the blankets. He'd used extra linens to form an almost cocoon around us during the night, it seemed to work at first, but now it felt like it was insulting the cold more than providing warmth. How we managed to sleep all night was a real mystery to me.

Now that I had the proper lighting, I pulled the metal rod out of my pocket and looked it over once again.

It wasn't much longer than my hand and there was indeed a rounded knob at one end. A tiny arrow marked the surface, pointing the direction of the knob. To my dismay, it displayed nothing else. Instructions would have been nice Keisuke, I grumbled internally. I slipped it back inside my jacket for safe keeping and realized something was wrong. Running my hand down the side of my shirt, I detected wetness. 

"Shit," I breathed, looking at my hand in the sunlight. I must have tore a few stitches last because now I was bleeding through my dressing. The backpack at my feet contained extra wound care, but I didn't want to chance changing it in such a filthy place. 

My cursing must have roused Kensei from his sleep because I could feel his shoulder bump mine as he stretched. I wiped my hand quickly on the back of a sheet and zipped my jacket before he could see it.

"Morning." he moaned, wrapping the sheets around him tighter. "When did it get so damned cold in here? I'm like a popsicle right now." He shivered.

I extracted myself from the tangle of old linens and perched myself on a crate. "It'll get warmer once we're up and moving around." I said.

Before I could even think of us heading out, I needed food. Badly. With my wound opening unexpectedly, my hunger had taken on a life of its own. Riffling through my bag, I found an apple and devoured it. Still not satisfied, I pulled out a snack bar and made quick work of it too. 

Kensei watched me in awed silence as I ate two more snack bars and started sifting through his bag for more. He folded his arms and shook his head in disbelief. 

"You doing okay?" he cocked an eyebrow when I tossed a third apple core over my shoulder.

"Yeah, my wounds been bugging me. Must really be affecting my rashi levels because I can't seem to satisfy my hunger." I sighed into his backpack which was now devoid of food. "No matter, we'll just grab something on our way into the Rukon District." I tossed the bag at him and hopped off the crate, wincing as a searing pain shot through my side.

Kensei was up in an instant, holding his hands as if I was going to collapse at any minute. I waved him off and nudged the cellar door open with my shoulder. I guarded my eyes with a free hand from the sun and slung my bag over my shoulders.

"Do you want me to carry you?" he offered.

I snorted and shoved him playfully, but his expression told me he wasn't joking. I shrugged off his offer by walking away. "Kensei, I'm fine. We'll just take it slow and get to where we need to be. Five kilometres shouldn't take us more than an hour if we just walk instead of run."

Whether he believed me or not he didn't argue with me, but he kept himself within arms reach at all times. We pulled the socks off our shoes, gauging that we didn't need to conceal our movements any longer. It seemed that the Second Division was convinced by Yoruichi's performance last night which was a bonus for us. That meant we could take things slower today.