#also i had to make a list of what injuries/traumas getsu has and in which order

[getsusun]

The tea is cold, but your soul is warm

Timeline: uhhh... eight hundred and ten-ish years before main bleach plot? Ukitake and Keoraku are still in Academy, Naumi is still alive and has Getsu as his zanpakuto. But the latter finds this to be less and less of a good things.

Juushiro was having one of his ill-a-little-more-than-usual weeks. Since childhood theses were happening occasionally, more and more rarely as he was growing up, but they never fully stopped. At least this time the doctor’s did not put him into infirmary, Juushiro silently tried to reassure himself. Just banned him from lessons and training, restricted his access to library, and, in general, strictly recommended him not to leave his room. Well. Not leave his bed, actually, but it was the line where Juushiro stopped listening even to the best-meaning healers. If he was awake, he was not laying in the bed. Point made, point held.

While spending all day long in his room was not Juushiro’s favorite pastime, it did have its advantages. Such as – there were no sounds from the window, but Sogyo no Kotowari perked up inside Juushiro’s mind, and this was enough of a hint – friends coming for a tea.

- You know, there is a door right here. Not going to restrict you from using alternatives, though – brings variety into the life.

This greeting had long become usual, but this time one of the strangest Juushiro’s friends does not answer even with a faint smirk. Just slowly blinks and limps to kotatsu. Juushiro busies himself with pouring another cup of tea, but his mind is uneasy. Kuro – despite reaching some degree of trust, Juushiro still didn’t know real name of his friend – usually shows next to nothing in terms of being physically unwell. Juushiro knows that Kuro’s life is not easy. There are a lot of scars scattered over usually pale gray skin, even if lately most of them are covered with black clothes, much more closed now than when Juushiro first saw Kuro.

It is painful to think that Juushiro noticed new injuries in more of meetings with Kuro than Juushiro would liked too. Barely focused eyes, not ice blue anymore, but dim yellow now. A new habit of taking things with both hands or using right one, while Juushiro is sure that Kuro is left-handed. Prominent limping. A nasty burn on the left side of his face, almost healed now, but still visible.

And now Kuro was sitting in front of Juushiro, not drinking – and may be not really seeing – the tea, with perfectly straightened back and unhealthy blush on all visible skin. Well. Juushiro thinks that it is blush, because Kuro’s skin is not exactly human-colored, sometimes reflecting light like a metal would. But Kuro definitely looks very not okay in Juushiro’s opinion.

- Kuro? Kuro, is everything alright?

No effect. Juushiro was not heard, and, if slow shifting of eyelids over the amber irises was any hint, Kuro was as good as half-asleep. Now that was strange. Juushiro raised his hand, slowly and making sure that it was in Kuro’s field of view – they already had a couple of mishaps with unexpected touches – and put his palm to Kuro’s forehead.

So, good news – Juushiro’s guess was right. Bad news – Kuro was burning with fever. Just news – after a couple of moments Kuro briefly shivered and looked at Juushiro with at least some awareness in now a little too bright eyes. Were they glowing a little? The room was full of light, so Juushiro could not be sure.

- Are you with me?

Jushiro forced the worry out of his voice to not startle Kuro. It was a little like taming a feral cat or dog, with addition that stray animals usually did not care about your well-being. Well. Kuro was not a stray, technically. Juushiro had read a lot – really, almost everything that was available to him in Academy’s library, in Ukitake’s Clan library, everywhere where Juushiro could without attracting too much of attention. So Juushiro was sure that Kuro was not just any strange spirit, or yokai. Juushiro was sure that Kuro was someone’s zanpakuto spirit, and that this someone had a very specific course of action for (or instead) bonding with his sword by usual means.

- Don’t want to dive.

Well, that was not disconcerting and disturbing at all. Juushiro wanted to remove his hand from Kuro’s forehead, but Kuro shifted to preserve the point of contact, and Juushiro stilled. It. It would have been probably a good thing usually, because sometimes Kuro really looked simultaneously touch-starved and touch-aversed, and there was not a big progress in this area during the time Ukitake knew him.

- There is not a lot of water around. Not enough for diving, I am sure.

Juushiro waited, while Kuro slightly frowned and roamed the room with his eyes. The spirit looked lost, and distressed, and Juushiro did not liked it one bit. Finally, it seemed like Kuro focused on Juushiro again, this time with more awareness.

- Where… Am I?

Kuro shuddered and grabbed the edge of the table, but stayed upright. His breathing, previously slow and steady, was now labored and shallow. He was also blinking fast, and Juushiro could feel the faint touches of reitsu sprawling across the room.

- You are in my room, in Shinigami Academy. Can you say who I am, please?

Juushiro felt the flows of Kuro’s reitsu shifting and carefully probing his own. It was strange feeling of a good kind, not like when another students or shinigami scanned the areas for hollows. Much more soft and careful.

- Juushiro. - Kuro frowned again. - I thought… A lake?

Juushiro slowly moved his free hand to gently put it on top of Kuro’s, since as far touch seemed to ground him. Kuro’s hands were also disturbingly warm to touch, and if Juushiro was dealing with another student he would have assumed an illness, but could zanpakuto spirits even get ill? Wounded, sure, but ill?

- What lake?

- Cold. Deep. Needed to dive... But… Not cold now. Hot. - Kuro shuddered again, and this time Juushiro noticed painful wince briefly crossing his face. The alarming realization crossed Juushiro’s mind, placing the separate pieces of current events into right combination.

- Kuro? Did you get any major wounds wounds recently? Because if you did, I think you may have an infection. That’s why you feel hot.

It was astonishing how Kuro’s face was at the same time almost emotionless for inattentive glance and giving away for a experienced attention. Well, actually Juushiro felt like during the time he had known Kuro the zanpakuto had became much better in hiding his emotions. He would have been hard to understand if Juushiro didn’t witness all the intermediate stages. Juushiro was not sure if this was a good thing, confirming Kuro’s adaptation to being an independent person (which, to be honest, still sometimes baffled Juushiro a lot from the point on how in the world someone’s zanpakuto spirit would start to move in this direction) or a bad thing, a result of accumulating negative experiences with being too easy to read.

Now Kuro was clearly contemplating Juushiro’s words, and, judging by the slight curl of bony shoulders, Juushiro had hit the right answer. Well. Good thing that Juushiro has a plenty of first-aid supplies in his room, courtesy of Academy Infirmary and overprotection tendencies of Shunsui. The tricky part is actually to convince Kuro to use them, or, which is even harder, to let Juushiro help him. Rarely much luck with the last one, but also Kuro was in better state even when he appeared with one hand certainly badly broken.

- Can I help? Please, Kuro. I don’t like seeing you hurt.

Juushiro moved to stand, and this time Kuro stilled and retracted his reitsu.

- ...I can go away.

Not the conclusion Juushiro hoped for, but the one he anticipated.

- And then I will be panicking over you fainting somewhere in the middle of the woods. And doctors forbid me from worrying, so please, let me at least see.

And Juushiro feels very, very proud of himself when Kuro, after a minute more of silent pondering, slowly stands and starts to unbutton his cloak. And also really, really worried despite his previous statement, because Kuro’s movements are painfully slow and careful. And also zanpakuto spirit is still shuddering a little, which is much more prominent when he is standing.

Before removing the cloak Kuro hesitates, and Juushiro averts his eyes to manage some privacy. He did not actually seen Kuro without clothes before. Just caught a glimpses here and there, when there were yet no black fabric hiding wiry arms and thin neck. Juushiro is actually a little afraid of what he can see. It is one thing to abstractly know that some shinigami mistreats their zanpakuto to the degree of scars remaining. The other for this zanpakuto to be your reluctant friend. The third – to not be able to do a thing to stop all this nightmare.

The quiet rustle of fabric stops, and after a half of a minute Juushiro asks, trying to keep his voice calm and warm.

- Can I look?

At least a minute more passes before there is a quiet “yes”. Juushiro rises his eyes, and. And just looks, feeling the horror pooling in his chest.

It is easy to forget with all these loose clothing and the head held high that Kuro is physically not exactly a child, but an older teenager at max. Juushiro remembers it fully now, while looking at the narrow shoulders with prominent – from the back – ribs with the line of spine between them. Every reminder that this is zanpakuto spirit, being created for fight and to fight, the manifestation of the sword – the weapon – itself is buried deep into Juushiro’s mind under the terror of realization that what he is seeing is not a dream or an illusion.

These deep and thick lines, carved into pale gray skin, straight and smooth-edged, are real. This inflamed redness, taking almost all place from the bottom of the neck to the belt and hiding its ends under it – it is real.

Juushiro can’t quiet remember how he ended up standing behind Kuro, on the arm distance. Kuro is burning, radiating heat so strong that Juushiro is not sure if it is safe to touch him. He does not dare for now, anyway. Not while Kuro is as tensed as overtightened spring, ready to explode into action, into running and hiding and probably never returning.

So Juushiro starts speaking, about the last prank Shunsui made, which included two geese wandering over the main Academy building. The description of every teacher’s reaction that was witnessed by Shunsui or one of his friends and later colorfully described to Juushiro shifts to last topics on all subjects Juushiro attends, excluding zanjutsu, and improvised distraction actually works, because Kuro stands still, but not so tense anymore, and Juushiro slowly cleans his back from dry blood.

There is a lot, but not as much as Juushiro expected, so Kuro probably treated his wounds at least somehow, even if Juushiro suspects that this somehow included more cold and probably not very clean water and less healing salve than preferable. And also it must be pretty hard to do anything about wounds on your own back.

Juushiro makes a significant dent in his stocks of healing salve and clean bandages, and for once his chronic illness is good for something, even if Juushiro finds little to none logic in medics persistence on him having half the contents of infirmary in his room. It is not like bandages help with not coughing away his lungs.

At the end Juushiro is a little winded out, but Kuro’s back looks much better, and there is almost no blood bleeding through bandages for now, which should counts for something. It was hard to keep speaking about non-important matters while Juushiro would have liked to question dotted line on Kuro’s neck, colored with fading pink of healing skin, or how zanpakuto was keeping his arms in front of him, not letting Juushiro to take a look at the mess of scars around the left elbow or at the badly bandaged wrists. But, well. Juushiro has some experience with taming feral cats, and grabbing them, even to help, usually leads to many scratches and no cat at all.

But even with bandaged back Kuro is still too hot on touch, so after waiting while zanpakuto envelops himself back into all black Juushiro pointedly shifts the second cup of tea towards him. The tea has long gone cold, so Juushiro mostly admires the dance of tea leaves in his cup, but Kuro drinks, and it is another small win for Juushiro.

- You didn’t got these in a fight, am I right?

Juushiro speaks without thinking and fails to stop the words when they are already half-out. Fortunately, Kuro stays put, even if a little more silent then before. Which, considering that zanpakuto had not said a word in the last five minutes, is an uneasy achievement.

- ...Thank you.

Kuro is not looking at Juushiro, but his long fingers around the teacup are still and as lax as Juushiro has ever saw zanpakuto, so Juushiro manages to hold back the next sentence willing to burst out. It is strange to want to say zanpakuto spirit that his own wielder does not care about him. Strange, and Juushiro would have thought impossible before, but he would also thought impossible for shiningami to hurt their own sword, the part of their soul.

Unfortunately, Kuro seems to be a unique case in all meanings. From freely walking the Soul Society to bearing the scars of not protecting his master, but being wounded by him.