Ngoc Chau does not own Bleach.
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Prompt: Cold
He was always cold.
There was something about his skin that made him all the more sensitive to the air; his face demanded paint over it to fill the pores and eased him into knowing that nothing could leak through the surface, the mask and hat to make sure he was well covered. Even one accident involving his ears convinced him to cover more of himself.
He was always cold, he could feel it even in the summer when some of the shinigami had to roll up their sleeves when going outside, he would tighten the scarf around his neck even more. Even now, he was trying to develop a serum for himself that could render his skin as invulnerable to the cold as to pain. He damned himself for going out of his laboratory. What was so special about this one specimen that he was braving snow and frost to go out to look for it when he simply could've sent one of his subordinates or even sent in a request to the Soutaichou to have one of the divisions go after the specimen for him?
Oh right… It was a hollow.
Obviously, the Gotei 13 wouldn't take to his experimenting on hollows well, but this one was special, he knew it. It had a most fascinating ability to imitate shinigami, how ingenious, and had already devoured three shinigami. He wanted to know how its abilities could allow it such a trait: some hollows could cast a glamour or lure, but to actually imitate? He wanted to cut it into pieces to know what differentiated is from the other hollow.
Perhaps he could find the cause and use it to create a sort of technology that would have shinigami imitate hollows without hollowfication in order to make it easier to catch and slay hollows. Could that Urahara Kisuke have thought of something like that?
A sudden harsh wind blew his way and Mayuri brought his arms closer to himself, his teeth chattering. Though everyone in the division was bundled up, the cold still felt extremely unforgiving.
He yelled, pointing in the direction of where a strong source of spiritual energy was coming from, "Hurry up and catch it! We're wasting precious time just standing out here!" That and it was fucking cold, to boot.
As his division went forward, Mayuri halted in his tracks for a few moments. He took off the gloves he wore and tried to breathe life into those frozen hands of his. A few of the members and scientists looked back at him.
He waved his alabaster hand towards them, "Just go!"
He didn't want them to think he was so weak in the snow, but it was just too cold to bear. He honestly wanted to give this up and go home, wait perhaps until it was warmer. But the temptation of how this new hollow suddenly came from nowhere and its conquest of three shinigami as well as its ability to evade and disguise itself was too tempting. There had been another case where some thug-like Hollow like that had simply evaded the Seireitei for three months before he was killed by the Ryoka, Kurosaki. He was not going to risk losing a valuable specimen like that to that Ryoka!
He tried to breathe into his hands, but the modifications he made to his body to aid him in camoflauge had hindered the strength of his breath when he blew.
Then there was a small voice behind him, "Mayuri-sama."
He didn't bother looking back, still breathing heavily into his hands, trying to warm them up at least. Nemu came around, standing in front of him.
"Nemu. What do you want?" he asked harshly with his hands still over his mouth.
She took off her gloves and put them into her pockets, then blew into her own hands as he was doing. With some hesitation, she took his hands in hers and kneaded them. He noticed that her hands were warm, burning almost. He made a mental note to himself to conduct more tests when they go back to the Seireitei. He had never noticed that she could be this warm. Enjoying the feeling of his skin rubbing over his bones and nerves, he breathed out long and deep.
Nemu brought his hands to her mouth and she began blowing hot air as she rubbed. With warm breaths, she asked him to just unzip a few inches of her coat so that she could aid him as efficiently as possible.
He felt to be in no position of yelling and did as she asked.
She moved his hands to encircle around her neck and that was simply bliss for him. It was a captivating warmth like water surrounding his hands. Goodness, he wondered why she was so warm. He felt her heart beat under his hand and she began rubbing her hands over his wrists too. Almost romantic, he composed in his head a brief word about how he had in his hands his daughter's, his creation's, life.
Difficult almost to resists, he removed his hands from her neck as soon as he felt that he could perhaps endure the cold a bit longer for the pursuit of the specimen.
She asked him as she zipped up her coat and helped him in putting on his gloves before she put on hers, "Are your hands warmer, Mayuri-sama?"
He said nothing to answer her, but moved past her to see if his division had at least found the Hollow.
She followed two steps behind him.
How was that? If you have any ideas for prompts, please leave it in a review or send it in a PM to me please.