Kaito dragged Ishida up the first flight of steps he found, relieved to escape the roiling mist that covered the entire first floor of the castle. He didn’t want to know what the lower levels looked like if the mist reached everywhere in the castle.

Every step above the mist felt like a step closer to safety, and Kaito only breathed easy once they reached the first landing with no trace of mist to be seen. He didn’t trust something so laden with power, especially not something that attempted to entrap him.

He set off down one of the long hallways, eyeing the closed doors thoughtfully; being right next to a stairway was a bit dangerous but he didn’t want to drag Ishida too far. Ishida’s Shiro was barely clinging to front — and consciousness! — as it was, there was no reason to needlessly stress him further.

The first door he opened led to a dusty sitting room with no other exits. The second was some sort of washroom. The third was empty.

Door after door, each one proving that they were absolutely on the wrong floor: sitting rooms, studies, empty rooms, music rooms, but not a single bedroom that he could spot. Climbing up to the third floor yielded better results, but the first three rooms he tried were a mess, the windows blown open and signs of animals all over.

It was the first evidence that the castle wasn’t entirely trapped in time, and the first bit of evidence that maybe they weren’t intruding in someone’s home. Which was all well and good, but—

“I ain’t layin’ down on that,” Shiro protested at the sight of the dust-covered bed in room number four.

“I’m not going to make you.” Kaito hauled Shiro over to an old wooden chair and nudged the other until he gave up and sat down. “Stay here and I’ll try to make this at least acceptable.”

Shiro scoffed and fidgeted on the chair, making it creak in protest. “Take an army t’make this place clean ‘gain,” he said with a tired smirk, scanning the room.

“Well, I’m not an army and I don’t plan on trying to be one,” Kaito said, turning around slowly to take everything in so he could plan.

Dust sheets were draped over the largest pieces of furniture and a handful of leaves had migrated into the room through one of the broken panes of glass on the window. Kaito couldn’t spot much evidence of wild animals though, which was already a step up; he’d just have to do his best about the rest.

Kaito pried open the window for some fresh air and turned to strip the high, Western-style bed of its dust cover. The bed underneath was bare, just an old mattress and box-spring situated on a solid wood frame. There weren’t even any pillows left on the mattress. Whether there were any sheets or pillows left in the castle, he had no idea and didn’t have time to look for them anyway.

He stepped to one side and reached out with his senses, snagging the free-flowing wind power that lingered over everything and giving it a nudge.

“Th’fuck?!” Shiro shouted over the sudden roar of wind, curled in on himself to protect his arm and chest as best he could. “Th’fuck you do?!”

“Overpowered yet another kido,” Kaito said dryly as soon as the wind died down. “I do that.”

Not that he’d done anything this time that should have resulted in a gale. He’d just… attempted to direct some of the wind-based power and gotten a storm instead.

At least it had done what he wanted, which was to sweep most of the dust and light debris out the window.

(*Maybe we should hold off on experimenting for now,*) Ichigo said in amusement.

Kaito’s Shiro cackled and began to reach out, brushing their senses across the heavy crush of power that surrounded them. There was so much, all linked together and reaching out-out-out beyond sight, beyond any of their senses, that it was almost overwhelming. (*But jes think what we could do wit’ all this behind us!*)

“That was a lil’ more’n overpowerin’ another kido!” Ishida’s Shiro spoke up. “Yeesh.”

“I don’t see you offering another solution to cleaning the room out,” Kaito said with a playful sniff, then moved back to the bed and dropped his satchel on it. He rifled through the bag and pulled two blankets and two spare kimonos from it, then tossed one of the kimonos to Ishida’s Shiro. “Here, put something clean on while I make the bed.”

Shiro caught the outfit and gave it a sidelong look. “Yer certainly prepared,” he muttered, starting to painfully pull the last of Ishida’s white shirt from his body.

“I’ve been wandering for… a while now.” Kaito dropped his satchel to the floor then shook out one of the blankets and tossed it over the bare mattress. The kimono he carefully rolled up and set at the head of the bed as a makeshift pillow. It would do for now. “You adapt.”

“Yeah…”

Kaito unfolded the second blanket and set it aside, then drifted over to Shiro and helped his past self stand up and slip into the kimono. “We certainly aren’t trapped here. We’ll figure something out together,” he reassured the other, nudging him closer to the bed. “But not until you’re rested and healed up.”

Shiro huffed and crawled onto the bed, grimacing at the way the mattress dipped under his weight. “Guess it’s better’n sand,” he said as he flopped down and clumsily hauled the second blanket over him. He fixed Kaito with a burning, golden gaze and asked, “What about you?!”

“I’m uninjured and fully rested. It was morning when I activated the device to bring me here, and the travel itself takes very little out of me.”

“Tch, whatever.”

“I’ll be here when you wake,” Kaito said gently, hand reaching out to comb through Shiro’s spiky, dual-color hair in reassurance. He knew he enjoyed the feeling and—yes, there. Shiro’s eyes were already slipping closed, his breathing evening out as their body finally gave in to exhaustion.

He spread the blanket out over Shiro properly and tucked him in, hands slow and thoughts spiraling as he plucked Ishida’s glasses off and set them aside. He could bring his past self with him, but… that wouldn’t be good for the other. Ishida needed — they all needed — stability that couldn’t be found in Kaito’s current lifestyle; he’d bring Ishida back with him to his father, but he had no idea when he’d find his world again.

He would, he knew he would, but until that moment…

Until that moment, he was just as lost as Ishida was.