121Thanks to Kuroneko Hikage to starting this off :)
Maybe anything could become the most beautiful thing in the world if you gave in fully, let it take you over, and let it be all you had. Toushiro was waiting in a field of daffodils and Ichigo paused for a minute just to look. He was sitting among the flowers breaking the stems and weaving them into a chain, finely-boned fingers working in a way that Ichigo knew he wouldn't ever be able to. For once, or at least for the first time in months, he looked to be at peace, absorbed with his task. The dark smudges under his eyes didn't look so bad when the corners of his mouth were turned upwards slightly. A chilly, spring wind blew, causing Ichigo to pull the thin robe that The Fourth had given him tighter around his body.
He heard Toushiro sigh loudly. "How the hell did you sneak past Isane?" he asked.
Ichigo grinned and plopped down next to him, glad to finally be off his sprained ankle . "She let you out."
Toushiro shook his head. "You shouldn't be walking."
Ichigo stuck his tongue out. "I still have my legs attached; I'm fine."
Toushiro shot Ichigo an exasperated glare before snapping a fresh flower stalk and weaving it into his chain.
"You're really good at that."
Toushiro hummed, "Hinamori and I used to make these when we were children. It's... calming."
"Still can't sleep?"
Toushiro sighed again and shook his head. "The nightmares... aren't ... getting better."
Ichigo hummed sympathetically, plucking a daffodil from the grass near his foot and handing it to Toushiro. "They will eventually."
"Yes," Toushiro took the flower from him, letting their fingers brush.
They sat in silence for a while. The wind rustled the grass and the daffodils, on their long stems, swayed gently. Ichigo watched as Toushiro weaved together stem after stem then finally attached the last flower and looped the chain into a wreath. He held it up and his smile widened.
"We used to make these for Granny," he mumbled fondly.
"That's sweet. Are you going to wear this one?"
"No." He got to his knees and shuffled closer to Ichigo. "You are."
Ichigo chuckled, bowing his head to allow Toushiro to set the flower crown upon him. "Are you decorating me? Am I a knight now?"
Toushiro huffed in amusement snapping a fresh flower from its stalk and adding it to the crown. "I knight thee, Sir Ichigo Kurosaki, Lord of the daffodils."
His deadpan delivery had Ichigo snickering. "Does this mean I'm officially part of the Tenth Division now?"
Toushiro rolled his eyes. "No, it just means it's spring and this is the only flower around." He added yet another daffodil to the crown. Ichigo leaned forward to peck him gently on the forehead. Toushiro jumped back slightly and a light blush spread across his cheeks.
"What was that for?"
Ichigo shrugged. "Felt like it."
Toushiro shook his head, white locks falling into his face. He hadn't gotten his hair cut since before the war and he pushed it back in mild annoyance.
"What, nobody else is around..."
"That's... that's not," he huffed and picked another daffodil. He twisted the stem around his finger until it snapped, then reached up to twine it into Ichigo's crown. "This... we don't have to keep this a secret." He mumbled so quietly that Ichigo was sure that if they hadn't been so close that he wouldn't have heard him.
Ichigo smiled. "Of course not."
Toushiro stifled a yawn as he shuffled around Ichigo adding and arranging the flowers.
"Has Isane tried anything to get you to sleep?"
"I can sleep... it's just that it's hard to stay asleep."
"Your dreams aren't real; they can't hurt-"
"Don't you think I know that? I know it's not truly happening; I know that time can't repeat itself." He ended with a vicious sigh.
"You're exhausted though."
"I am."
Ichigo took a deep breath. "Here." he reached around to grab Toushiro's wrist, "Sleep now."
"Kurosaki..."
"I'll wake you up if you have another nightmare."
Toushiro shuffled back around and sat on his knees in front of Ichigo. "I don't know-"
"You're tired." Ichigo extended an arm, brushing a stubborn cowlick from his forehead. "How much sleep did you get last night?"
Toushiro slowly shook his head. "A few hours maybe."
"That's not good..."
He hunched forward, scrubbing a hand down his face. "I know... but I can't do anything about it."
Ichigo bit his bottom lip, tracing Toushiro's dark, swollen bags with his eyes. He hadn't gotten him to talk much about his nightmares: he hadn't talked with anyone about his nightmares. But Ichigo could only imagine what it must have been like being unable to control his body and being forced to attack his own. They hadn't thought that he had been aware through Giselle's 'zombification' but he had. And Mayuri's cure had been just short of torture; he had track marks from where he had been injected with some drug or other. It made Ichigo's skin crawl to think that Toushiro relived that moment every night.
"Why does it matter so much to you anyway," Toushiro muttered.
Ichigo almost scoffed. "I care about you. I more than care about you."
...
Ichigo snuck into Toushiro's room that night. It had not been difficult to get around Isane, or maybe she knew and didn't think that it was necessary to stop him. Either way he found himself into Toushiro's room sometime near midnight. He had been restless since they had returned from the field earlier that evening. His legs were itching to move, despite his healing ribs and sprained ankle, so he made his way to Toushiro's room, hoping that they could talk until one of them fell asleep.
Toushiro was already sleeping however. He was curled on his side, hands clutching his sheets tightly and a slight frown on his face. Ichigo hobbled to the bed leaning over to place a gentle hand against Toushiro's shoulder. Toushiro jumped, twitching violently, but didn't wake. Instead his frown deepened and his breathing became harsh and fast.
Ichigo clambered onto the bed, shaking Toushiro's shoulder before gathering him into his arms. Toushiro's eyes flew open, and he took a shuddering gasp. He was trembling slightly and breathing deeply.
"Ichigo?" he asked, voice soft, as he collapsed into Ichigo's hold.
"Yeah. I'm here; I'm not going to let you go. I'm never going to let you go."
So with my workload, if I want to get any writing done I realise that it's going to have to be in the form of short works. So, I've decided to start a new prompt based fic. This time I'm gonna do oneshots instead of drabbles, so if you'd like to donate prompts go right ahead. I'm going to try to post once a week, between Friday night and Saturday afternoon.
Rules: One prompt per review.
If you want something AU then please specify and give some direction.
If you want something M-rated again please specify and I will post it to my tumblr; only the clean versions will be posted here.
I'm still kinda shocked with all the responses to What Makes Us, so consider this a sort of sequel.
*Queue*
(up next is) Seijuku Ceremony
- Mymomomo
