When Chad awoke in a hospital only to hear that everything was over, Seireitei had won and Aizen was dead, he couldn't
help but wonder what was wrong with him. He felt so... useless, like he hadn't done a thing to help in Aizen's defeat. And
really, he hadn't. One glimpse outside at the snow, pure and white and clear,
confirmed that. He was just as useless as he'd thought he was to begin with.
Every other word out of Inoue's mouth was still 'Kurosaki' rather than 'Sado', and sometimes it was even 'Ishida' now
too. Apparently, she'd had to repair his arm after he'd lost it. Chad was such a failure and Kurosaki was still the knight in shining armor.
"Sado-kun?"
Chad looked up, blinking. Inoue had come by for a visit it would seem. He motioned toward the chair beside his bed and sat up. She beamed at him and sat, nearly tripping in the process. "How
are you doing, Sado-kun?" she asked, pulling out some needles and beginning to stitch.
It looked like something a child had done so far.
"Fine," he answered, studying her as she sewed.
She began chatting about what had happened at school that day, about how Ichigo had beat Keigo up after he'd fondled
her and about how Izuru had started teaching her how to sew. Just the usual nonsense
things. He hadn't even realized she'd fallen silent until she reached out and
touched his shoulder, her gaze settled on his face as her brows furrowed worriedly.
He looked up at her and was struck by how beautiful she really was, despite how rather ignorant Ichigo appeared to
be on the matter. "Huh?" he asked, wondering if she'd asked him a question and
he'd somehow missed it.
"Sado-kun? Are you okay?" she asked.
She was genuinely worried for him but then that was just the way Inoue had always been.
He grunted an affirmative and looked out the window at the snow. He was
therefore surprised when she was suddenly hugging him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, and her body shaking with
the force of her sobs. His eyes widened as he automatically grabbed her to keep
her from falling.
"Inoue...?" he murmured, brows furrowing in confusion.
"Sado-kun's so brave all the time!" she murmured. "Sado-kun protects me
and then when he knows he can't protect me, he asks Kurosaki-kun to do it for him, because that's just the way Sado-kun is." Her grip tightened. "So... Could Sado-kun do me a favor and not be lonely anymore?"
His eyes widened. "Inoue... I..." His mouth shut and he embraced her back, letting her relax in his arms. It was the best answer he could give, after all.
"Thank you, Sado-kun," she whispered, curling up in his lap and staring out at the snow. "Thank you so much."
Chad nodded and couldn't help but think that for a time, this little world, here in this hospital, staring out at the
bright, pristine snow... It was all their's.
Their's and their's alone, and no one could enter. His eyes slid shut
and he recalled something his grandfather said once.
"See
this, Yasutora? This snow... It
creates a small Winter's world, just for us. Would you help me make the house?"
Chad smiled. "Inoue?"
"Hm?" she replied sleepily, one eye opening.
"Will you help me make a snow fort? After I get out of the hospital, of
course."
She beamed. "Of course, Sado-kun!
I haven't done that in ages!"
"Good."
