Decision (Bleach Oneshots)

Child I - Watching

The small boy lay prone on the forth division bed, his breathing shallow and rhythmical. His chest went up and down. His skin paled in the dim light, reflecting that he wasn't well. A man came into the room, and sat there for awhile, reaching out every now and then, almost as if they were tempted to take the child's small hand into their own bony one.

The man stayed there for a few hours, watching the comotose preteen. Soft footsteps were audible in the hall, however, the man payed them no mind. However, the voice drew his head to look at the person. "Gin?" His head turned back to the small child, remaining silent, and the person walked over to the bed. "What are you doing here?"

"Hoping that chibi taicho will wake up," the man stated firmly. His mouth clamped shut.

"Ichimaru... you stabbed me. What do you have to say for that?" Matsumoto asked, her voice filled with slight iritation.

"You were in the way," came the direct reply.

"Gin... that isn't an awnser," Matsumoto stated.

"You wanted me to awnser questions, and wouldn't have given me the chances I needed to distract Aizen, until Ichigo got there," Ichimaru stated firmly. "You wondered why I followed him, right? That's it... to make it so that he wouldn't be able to suceed."

"Am I to believe that?" Rangiku asked, her voice cold.

"Believe what you want," Ichimaru stated, his voice lacking the normal pep that his words were known for.

"Gin... what is the matter?" Matsumoto sighed.

"He wasn't supposed to get hurt like this. He is supposed to be awake, yelling at you, lecturing Hinamori Fukutaicho about calling him Shiro-chan." The man suddenly found himself flinching, as Rangiku stuck her face in front of his.

"This is odd. You tend to not act like you care about anyone but yourself, and messing with people's minds," Rangiku stated.

"I care about you," Gin stated.

"Uh-huh..." Ran shook her head.

"I know I stabbed you, but if you had followed me, Aizen would have killed you," the man let his sliver head dropped to his hand.

"Gin... why are you so worried about taicho?" Ran asked.

"I'm sorry, Ran. I took him from you as an infant, so Aizen wouldn't get him. But... this happened..."

"You know, normally this would be the time to punch you... but..." Two arms wrapped his arms around his neck. "I don't think this is the right time. He's strong. He'll get better."