Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters as they belong to Tite Kubo, but I do sorta own my Original Character in this story, Ume Mikashin.

Her hair was tinted purple, like the plum blossoms she was named after.

Her favorite color was red, even though she saw that color far too often.

Her eyes were always sad, like she had seen so much – yet nothing at all.

Her heart had slowly rotted away in the very prison she had sworn to save.

She faded away, leaving hardly any memories of her in the world.

Only Kurotsuchi Mayuri knew the truth.

She was his obsession.

She was his love.

She was his.

Ch. 1: Waking Up

The Nest of Maggots was where no shinigami wanted to end up. The Nest of Maggots was the home of Seireitei's worst criminals. It was where all the scum ended up – both literally and figuratively. Located to the Northwest of the Second Division's grounds lied the facility. It was surrounded by a giant moat. It was an impenetrable fortress. And it took courage, bravery, strength, intelligence and cunning to work there.

Mikashin Ume, fourth seat of Second Division, spent day after day there. She was the number two person in charge of the Nest of Maggots, behind Urahara Kisuke, who was the third seat of Second Division at the time. While Urahara spent his time collecting data on shinigami, personally collecting the shinigami that were deemed "unsafe" and making his rounds of the detention center occasionally, Ume made it her purpose to always be there in the facility. She served the daily meals, she interacted with the imprisoned shinigami, and she always had a light smile on her face. That wasn't to say she never got attacked. She got attacked at least once a day and every time it happened she brought her attacker down with ease. She could tell when a shinigami wanted to escape and she would make sure to stop the shinigami before they even got a chance. She didn't let anyone talk down to her, nor did she talk down to anybody.

She was the only part of the Nest of Maggots that Kurotsuchi Mayuri liked and he was content with that.

She would always serve him his meal last. It was, after all, a detour from the rest of the detention center. Everyone else was allowed to roam free, except him. He spent constant moments wondering why, too. He would wonder why everyone else could roam free, even though he didn't feel the slightest urge to attack anyone. He merely wanted to toy with everyone. He just was curious about the world around him. Was there any crime in that?

He could hear her footsteps. Slowly, quietly she walked toward his cell – his meal in hand. Eventually her footsteps became so loud that they would echo and then she would slip his daily meal of pike fish into his cell. He would stare at her. Her pale skin, her purple-tinted hair that was tightly tied into a long braid with a few strands of hair framing her face along with her bangs, her distinctive green eyes that always seemed to have a bit of melancholy hidden in them and the red choker that she wore around her neck with matching red sash tied around her waist – he studied everything about her. She looked to be around 5'6" and around 115 lbs. She was rather tall and thin, but with large breasts. He didn't know her exact weight or height but he could tell all this simply from conjecture.

"Pike fish again, Mikashin-san? It's become one of my favorites. I wouldn't suppose you knew that, though?" Mayuri inquired.

Ume's light smile grew larger as she poised to speak, "Of course I do, Kurotsuchi. It's one of the only meals I serve to you that you completely eat. And I don't want you starving yourself..."

A large grin. This meeting was really the only reason he tolerated confinement here. The head of the detention unit, Urahara Kisuke, didn't even bother coming to see him when he made his rounds around the center. Ume was his only source of interaction. She was his only source of conversation. She was the only thing in the vicinity, besides why he was locked up in a prison cell to begin with, that he didn't understand.

He slowly got up, walking as far as the restraint around his ankle would allow him, to pick up his dinner. He looked at the fish, then back at Ume, "Why do you continue to work here? Wouldn't your gifts be much better used some place else? Mikashin-san, your kindness and strength are confined to an institute which prohibits you from being free."

Her eyes held even more sadness at that moment.

"If you stay on good behavior, Kurotsuchi, I'll tell you why. Stay on good behavior for exactly one week and I'll tell you why I never leave this place," She quietly said then turned around. Every footstep she took echoed even more than when she entered.

Good behavior was an easy task and one week went by as if it was only one day as he pondered the answer he would receive. Over and over, more and more, he wondered why a woman like her was content to spending all of her time surrounded by crazy shinigami.

A week ended and she came to deliver his meal. Pike fish again. He smiled.

"You want me to answer your question, Kurotsuchi?" She said as she slid his meal into his cell.

Mayuri got up, slowly, walking as far as the restraint around his ankle would allow him, to pick up his dinner. "But of course, Mikashin-san. I've been waiting all week."

He didn't expect the reaction he got from her. A light blush. A feint hint of embarrassment.

"The shinigami here have never done anything wrong, but are treated as criminal. Therefore, all of them assume they are criminals even if they aren't. Without someone to interact with, without someone always there – even they begin to feel lonely. Loneliness is the worst feeling known to man. It is the type of pain that never feels good, ever. If I wasn't around then the shinigami here would really become the monsters everyone assumes they are. Loneliness would consume them," She paused for a moment and then looked Mayuri in the eye. "You are a strange one, Mayuri. You never thought of yourself as criminal. You never thought of yourself as crazy and that was exactly why you were locked up. You were the craziest one of them all because you think yourself completely sane."

Mayuri began to ponder her words. Loneliness. Yes, if he had felt any of the human things called emotions then loneliness would be there at the top. It would be right next to self-satisfaction and intrigue. And as for the reason he was locked up, it made complete sense, yet no sense at all. It made as much sense as the use of his first name escaping from her lips.

He pursed his lips before developing a response, "That diagnosis. Is it official or your own theory? Either way, I applaud whoever came up with it. I am in no way a criminal and I know this. I don't have the urge to kill anyone without just reason. I merely just want to know more. I want more knowledge. Whether or not someone lives or dies while I'm on my quest for knowledge is besides the point. Perhaps, I am the only one locked up because I am too smart for my own good? As for loneliness, you fail to see the big picture. If you look around at all the shinigami imprisoned here one would see that you're the most lonely of them all. Despite that smile you always wear, your eyes cannot hide whatever sadness lies within you, Ume."

Ume gasped at the use of her first name and the nature of his response. She slowly turned around, her back facing him.

She took two steps, each with the loudest echo he had heard yet, "You're right. I am lonely. Maybe I really am the loneliest. As for the theory, it was my own conjecture, but I would say I'm most likely right." Her plum-colored braid swayed in the light breeze of the cave. She turned back around, her green eyes showing at least three different emotions in them, "It seems you have bested me. I came here to simply tell you the truth and have you agree, but it seems like you saw the real me. Goodbye, Mayuri-sama..."

And with that, she turned around and proceeded to walk down the dark tunnel that lead back to the main area of the detention center. Mayuri began to feel a new emotion and that emotion made him unable to stomach his pike fish.

Little did Mayuri know, that would be the last meal she would serve him. Urahara Kisuke made a special visit to his cell the following day. He was followed by a shorter girl, who Mayuri was completely unfamiliar with. He barely knew Urahara, but had talked to him on the extremely rare occasions he would visit and see how he was doing. He didn't care for him at all.

"Kurotsuchi Mayuri-san, would you care to accompany me out of this place?" Urahara spoke immediately upon reaching his cell. Mayuri didn't believe him, nor did he care.

The little girl that had traveled along with Urahara began to make a fuss over who Mayuri was, which Mayuri took upon himself to respond back with a caustic insult. She only fired back by calling him a demon. Urahara took it upon himself to introduce her as his Fukutaichou before Mayuri could respond.

That meant Urahara Kisuke was now a Taichou. What a surprise.

"Fukutaichou? Why, could you have been promoted? I suppose congratulations are in order," Mayuri said with not-too-subtle sarcasm.

Urahara smiled, as if taking him seriously, "Thanks. But what about my proposition? You haven't given me a reply yet..."

Mayuri stared at the man in front of him, his golden eyes fixated on his breathing patterns and hand gestures. He was such an infuriating man.

"And would you be referring to your mad suggestion that I accompany you out of this place?" Mayuri said, almost insulted by such an offer. Urahara began to smirk.

"That's right." Simple and blunt. Urahara didn't have any hidden motives and didn't seem like he wanted to force him out of his cell either.

Mayuri couldn't say yes to his offer, though, "I'll have to refuse."

Urahara's eyes locked tightly, focusing clearly on Mayuri as he uttered a simple, "Why?"

Mayuri took no pause in his response. He knew exactly why he didn't want to leave, "I'm quite satisfied with my life here. I see no reason to leave."

Ume. She was his reason that he kept on living. If he left, how often would he get to see her?

"Oh, come now! Don't be so silly! There's nothing for you to fiddle around with in there!" Urahara spoke. He was laughing at him. He was so bold as to laugh at him.

Mayuri was interested, though, in his tenacity, "Perhaps I should pose a question, why exactly would you be wanting me to leave this place?"

Urahara shrugged, "I have a need of your abilities."

Liar. If that was the case, why was he only being released now?

"I suggest you stop lying through your teeth. I can see through you right to the bones," The last word was used only to help in driving the other man away.

Urahara wasn't intimidated, though. He laughed again and began to scratch the back of his head, "Oh, dear...You really are on your guard around me, huh?"

He was such an unpleasant man. Mayuri didn't understand how Ume had tolerated serving under him.

"Yet I have difficulty understanding you. You truly are... an unpleasant sort of man," Mayuri spoke. He had gotten to the point that he didn't care about expressing his opinions if it meant Urahara would leave.

Urahara just plainly stared at him, eye to eye.

Mayuri gave a light sigh, causing Urahara to speak: "...I'm offering you a way out in return for your skills. That is the truth. In my capacity as the Taichou of twelfth division, I'm thinking of creating an organization within that division the likes of which Soul Society has never seen. The 'Research and Development Institute'. And I'd like you to serve as Vice-President if you would oblige."

The young girl apparently had no idea what her Taichou's plan was and Mayuri wasn't thrilled with the idea of working under such an unpleasant man. He made sure that this was known.

"It's not a bad deal, right? You're second only to me. In other words, if I were to die then it would be left under your control," Urahara emphasized his last sentence greatly.

It was what Mayuri always wanted: a chance to pursue his quest for knowledge. He wanted to stay, yet he wanted to leave. He decided to make a choice, though. If Ume found out he had turned this offer down because he wanted to stay behind for her, she would never forgive him. So he grinned, giving an insane chuckle, "You truly are... an unpleasant sort of man."

And he decided to leave the Nest of Maggots.

To be continued.

A/N: Oh, what. the. hell? Mayuri x OC who looks suspiciously like Nemu? Ok, breakdown of Ume's name: Ume means "Plum Blossom" and Miki means "Beautiful Tree" and Shin means "Heart". I wanted to do a study of how Mayuri became so twisted and abusive, especially toward Nemu. Then it hit me while looking at his past – the Nest of the Maggots. It was perfect. And thus, this story came to fruition. I'm quite proud of the first chapter. Ume and Mayuri are both fun to write. And the last bit of dialogue between Mayuri and Urahara would be directly from Bleach Manga chapters -106 and -105, AKA Turn Back the Pendulum chapters 3 and 4. Maybe the reason I'm finding it easy to write as both Mayuri and Ume is because I myself am feeling lonely? My mom passed away December 31, 2008 and I've begun to notice how lonely I feel now that she no longer is in my life. Loneliness really is a pain that never feels good and only gets worse over time and I think I'm going to touch upon this theme in the chapters to come. Hopefully, I finish this. I've lost my will to finish things lately. Anyways, reviews? I'd appreciate them, please.