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Shinji knew he wasn’t supposed to be here. He had his division, and enough people had alluded to leaving Ichigo alone on soul matters, but something ached and he just needs to check on the man if only to get the growling in the back of his head to shut up.
Three weeks after the last of Ichigo’s powers disappeared, he returned to Karakura, grabbed his gigai and started looking.
It was stalking, no two halves about it. He set foot in Karakura Town and had first thought to find Ichigo at the school, but he wasn’t there. It set his teeth on edge in the way Ichigo’s human friends only looked confused when he questioned them where Ichigo was; they hadn’t even noticed he wasn’t there.
Thinking about what he knew of the other, he checked the river, his house (his room creepily unlived in), then his sisters, harassed Kisuke about it, and about everything he could think of. Even stopping by his mother’s grave, and beyond some recent activity with flowers and incense.
Shinji couldn’t find Ichigo, and worse, no one knew where he was. It was like Ichigo turned into a ghost, which was ironic seeing as about everyone could see ghosts. Shinji made a mental note to beat Kisuke or Isshin’s face in because Shinji was now beyond concerned for his once student (and maybe a friend).
It took a few hours, and he only stumbled on Ichigo by chance. He had returned to the Vizard Warehouse to sleep so he could pick up in the morning.
He had recognized the shoes at the door as he walked in, blinking as his brain took in the way the place still looked lived in, and he bolted and began checking rooms.
He nearly tripped over himself when he opened his room, Ichigo was curled in his blankets wearing what looked like one of his shirts he had left. Then his brain jolted, and he noticed the I.V hanging at the bedside, and the way Ichigo was shivering. Discarded were a book to the side and a lamp, not his lit the room softly.
He didn’t even stir, which racked Shinji already high worry through the roof.
He scratched the beating Isshin or Kisuke and changed it to killing both of them.
“Ichigo?” He called softly, removing his jacket as he approached the side of the bed Ichigo was curled on. Not thinking about how that was where he usually slept.
“Shin-ji,” Ichigo murmured drowsily, his eyes opening, and Shinji could see they were foggy.
Shinji knelt beside the bed, “Hey, I have been looking for you all day.”
“Sorry,” Ichigo sighed as Shinji touched Ichigo burning forehead. Fever.
“Not your fault, but I am curious why you are here,” and not at your house under the watch of your doctor dad, Shinji prompted, as he examined the I.V. being relieved it was just for hydration, and not pain.
“I am dying, Shinji. I am not going to make my sisters watch that,” Ichigo sound hoarse, and the reason was obvious when he started coughing.
“You can’t know that,” Shinji denied out of hand, as he tried to help, rubbing circles in Ichigo’s back.
Ichigo grabbed the tissues off the side table and wiped the blood from his hands and lips.
“I lost two-thirds of my soul, and according to Ishida-sensei, my system is slowly shutting down in some kind of shock,” Ichigo explained.
“Why doesn’t anyone know,” because Shinji was sure if anyone knew they would be right here, trying to figure it out, and not letting Ichigo be alone.
Ichigo tiredly shrugged, “I tried at first, but something about losing part of my soul made my bonds disappear too, apparently. Ishida-sensei says the isolation, that pushed it to be lethal.”
Shinji was murdering Isshin and Kisuke, but he didn’t say that instead, he pulled Ichigo close.
“I am sorry, I wasn’t here. I am here now, and we will figure this out,” Shinji promised.
Which seemed to be more than a fevered Ichigo could handle, and he clutched Shinji’s shirt.
“I don’t want to die.”
“You won’t.”