Warning: Contains Yaoi

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters. I own nothing.

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He awoke gradually, the weight of his body becoming apparent over the course of a few minutes. His eyes took their time to focus on his surroundings as he tried to sit up, pressing a bandaged palm against his throbbing forehead. The tension in his chest was almost unbearable, he felt as though he'd been struck by a fairly large truck.

Ichigo gazed around the room that he could now quite clearly see. Judging by the amount of light coming in through the partially covered windows, he decided it must have been close to mid-day. The bed he had been sleeping in was very comfortable in a familiar sense, but it wasn't his own. The shinigami didn't know just exactly where he was- he'd never been to this place before and yet there was something he felt he.. recognized about it. The calm grey walls and rich wooden floors gave off a sense of warmth, which was accompanied by the large amount of mismatched blankets that surrounded the teen on all sides. How had he gotten here?

A sudden shuffling noise in the corner of the room made Ichigo shift suddenly, causing him to wince at the pain shooting from his side. Pulling the robe that clothed his damaged body down slightly, his eyes met with the thick mass of bandages that covered his entire torso. They weren't professionally applied, and they weren't very tight, but they had apparently stopped his bleeding, and probably saved his life. The shinigami leaned back, attempting to relieve the pain that he now noticed rather prominently as his eyes trailed to the corner where the noise had come from. Uryuu Ishida was there, sleeping in an uncomfortable position against the wall and clenching a small, thin blanket. Ichigo felt a clench of guilt as he took in how restless and worn out Ishida appeared. It was his fault of course- he'd let his guard down like a fool and had been attacked from behind by a hallow. He should have died, and he most definitely would have if it wasn't for Uryuu. He owed the Quincy his life.

Ishida's eyes shot open as he realized that he'd fallen asleep again, but he was shocked to see Ichigo staring back at him from the bed, fully awake. A horrible mixture of emotions raged inside him as he pushed himself up out of the corner and threw the blanket from his long sprawled out legs. Unbelievable relief rushed through him at seeing that Ichigo was going to be alright, but at the same time he felt pain, spite, and resentment for the shinigami. Uryuu hadn't slept for the past 5 days while he'd been caring for Ichigo, desperately trying to keep him alive without having to involve real doctors and normal people- too many questions would be asked, it had to be kept a secret. But now as the Quincy saw Ichigo's continuously emotionless gaze anger flooded over his relief and replaced it with a sudden rage. A small smile of gratitude began to form on Ichigo's lips as Uryuu approached the bed but was wiped away when the back of the pale teen's hand struck Ichigo, hard, across the face.

"You," Ishida seemed to radiate anger as he stared fiercely down at Ichigo, who was still taken aback by the sudden strike he'd recieved from the Quincy. Uryuu continued as the shinigami recovered, "You could have died. How could you let your guard down like that? How the hell could you let something like this happen? I... I thought you were dead. I thought... " Uryuu pressed his palm against his head as his thoughts all exploded from his mouth. "... I thought you were going to die and I... would have to watch... I would have to watch you... watch you DIE!"

"Uryuu... I-" Another surprisingly strong strike across his face ceased Ichigo's mumbles of apologies. Tears began to form in Uryuu's eyes as he dropped his head, slightly ashamed of the way he was acting toward Ichigo when he was so injured. The pale teen clenched his fist against the shinigami's bandaged chest, the loosely wrapped material showing the spots where his tears had fallen.

"Just what do you want from me Ichigo?... What do you want?" Uryuu's dark eyes looked up into the red-head's, begging for the answer, for the truth. Ichigo, however, surprised the Quincy with the smallest of smiles. Ishida didn't understand- he'd never seen Ichigo smile, ever. But as a bandaged hand was placed gently on the back of his head, Uryuu knew. He stood and quietly moved to the other side of the bed, carefully settling himself next to Ichigo, resting a thin arm across the other's damaged chest. Ichigo turned and pulled the back of Ishida's head towards his own, connecting their lips and kissing him passionately. A warm sense of appreciation flowed between them as the embrace continued on for what could have been a lifetime. Tears began to stream down Uryuu's face as his eyelids descended and he clung lightly to the back of the strong teen's head, not wanting to hurt him in any way by accident. As the need for air became apparent, they separated, but kept their foreheads connected to each other's. Ichigo's covered hand brushed away Ishida's tears as they looked into each other's eyes. Finally he got out what he'd wanted to say the entire time.

"I want you to.. forgive me. Please just forgive me." With that Uryuu's tears re-appeared as he leaned into the next kiss, which lasted, if possible, longer than the first.

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