A slightly longer chapter this time. I really like writing this story, and I've got several chapters down. But it seems like I write so much more! Two pages of writing on Microsoft Word turns out to be hardly enough to warrant scrolling when it actually gets put up here.

I don't own Bleach. I'm not sure if a disclamer is necessary, this being FANFICTION, but everyone else does it. So I'll just stay on the safe side. I don't want to get this taken down because of copyright laws or something.

The Experiment

Chapter 2: Return From Oblivion

Day 1

…

"Nemu, Nemu! He's stirring! Press the 'Record' button!"

Toshiro Hitsugaya was having a bad day. It was enough that his lieutenant came in, hungover, to work this morning. Nothing new, of course. She does it every day. That doesn't mean that Hitsugaya doesn't have the right to be angry at it. Right now, however, he was feeling good. When Kurotsuchi's device went off, it released a white explosion, quickly followed by darkness. Hitsugaya felt like he was floating. Sure, he was aware that Matsumoto was probably passed out in his office, but his anger was…gone. He was in a dream-like state, and that's where he wanted to stay.

But good things never last. Hitsugaya knew that he was supposed to be distressed about something. Maybe something to do with the pinching sensation in his forearm("Nemu, I have another blood sample for you…")? He didn't know. Kurotsuchi's voice was so distracting, too. Hitsugaya felt…

…

Kurotsuchi! Now he remembered. That bastard did something. With that thought, Hitsugaya's eyes snapped open. He was lying on his back in the dimly lit room of the Captain's Meeting Room.

"…eyes are open, and he shows some disorientation…" Kurotsuchi went on. Hitsugaya focused on him. Such a pest…If he did anything physical to him, he would…

"Hitsugaya, tell me how many fingers I am holding up," Kurotsuchi finally addressed him. Hitsugaya ignored him, pushing himself up despite Nemu's protests. A wave of nausea gripped him and, turning onto his side, vomited into Kurotsuchi's lap.

"Why, you-!" A hard blow struck Hitsugaya's face, and he descended back into the blessed darkness.

"Ukitake, can you tell me how many fingers I am holding up?" Jushiro Ukitake opened his eyes blearily. He felt…good, actually. Better than he had in many years.

"Three…Kurotsuchi…" Ukitake managed, his voice sounding off to his own ears.

"No voice imperfections, seems to be relatively focused…" Kurotsuchi had moved on to another, taking the strong smell of sick with him. Ukitake turned his head. Twelve bodies were spread around him, beginning to stir. But they were….Ukitake sat up carefully to get a better look. He couldn't believe it. Beside him was his fellow captain, Soi Fon. The resemblance was unmistakable…but he was looking at a child! No more than three or four years old, in a bundle of cloth too big for her, was Soi Fon.

"A surprising twist in this experiment, I have learned that Captain Komamura possesses canine features, probably unrelated to the drug... Ah, said captain has apparently awoken from his stupor long enough to scramble back into his helmet." Kurotsuchi's monologue interrupted him from his wonder. Ukitake looked around. All of his fellow captains save Yamamoto and Kurotsuchi, had been turned into children! Even Hitsugaya, and he didn't have much height to spare!

Ukitake at last remembered to look down at himself. Yes, even he was a part of this. He raised a tiny hand in front of him experimentally. This…won't be good. Wait, his hair was dark again and he couldn't remember the last time he'd been able to breathe this well! This was, at the very least, a nice twist in an otherwise uncomfortable story. He may even begin to like this change. Ukitake's rambling mind was cut short as all of the children began to move about. Confusion turned to exclamation, which turned to outrage at a surprising rate.

"Silence!" Yamamoto had gotten to his feet, helped by his lieutenant. They were, physically at least, unaffected by this strange turn of events. "Captain Kurotsuchi, fix this at once!" For once, Yamamoto's normally droning voice was sharp.

"Fix? After all the trouble I underwent to perform this experiment, you want me to fix this without even being able to properly examine my subjects?" Kurotsuchi began indignantly.

The silence was answer enough.

"'Fixing' them is not as simple as it seems. I would need at least a month-"

"A month? Why you-" Soi Fon had found her voice. Her signature braids had come undone. She launched herself at Kurotsuchi, only to be restrained by Nemu.

"Captain Soi Fon! Calm yourself!" Yamamoto commanded. "Captain Unohana, can you fix this?"

A small girl was slowly getting to her feet. "I don't believe so, Head Captain. Not without knowing, at the very least, what he did to cause this. And at any rate, I am not a researcher. I am a healer." Unohana answered slowly.

"This is a grave matter-" Yamamoto's voice had returned to its slow drone.

"Grave matter? Look at me! How am I thupposed to…" Clutching her now much-too-big clothes about herself, Soi Fon began to shriek. Her anger quickly rose to the point that she lost the ability to make coherent sentences. She clearly decided to cut diplomacy and go straight to...

"Thting all enemieth to death, Thuth…"

Soi Fon's anger dissipated in a second, replaced by confusion. Ukitake sympathized. He too had realized that he could no longer remember his zanpakuto's name.

"Ah, as expected, subjects have lost their ability to release their zanpakutos. Most likely, they have forgotten the names of their zanpakutos altogether." Kurotsuchi's glee was evident. "Subjects' reiatsu has greatly diminished as well. Truly, they are as powerful as five year olds…" Kurotsuchi paused. "Three year olds, in the case of Subject Soi Fon. Subject Soi Fon appears to have developed a speech impediment, and-"

"Kurotsuchi, that is enough!" Yamamoto cried, forgetting honorifics in his anger. His eyes were open. "Are you meaning to tell us that they are unable to even use shunpo?"

"Could any of you use shunpo when you were your current age?" Kurotsuchi asked them.

The silence was enough.

"Then, yes, Head Captain."

Yamamoto sighed. "You will set aside all other duties, and work solely on a solution to this problem. Until such a solution arrives," Yamamoto turned to the children. "Your respective lieutenants and lower seated officers will care for you and be Acting Captains." Grumbling protests all around. "You, of course, will make the final decisions. As for your punishment, Kurotsuchi," He said, returning his gaze to the Twelfth division captain. "We will decide your fate when you have cured your fellow captains. Pray that they are not needed in the next month."

"Yes, Head Captain." Kurotsuchi said meekly. Ukitake could see that he was merely acting demure. His best chance at staying a captain of the Gotei 13 was to stay on Yamamoto's good side. "Indeed, I have sent Hell Butterflies to their respective caretakers."

"Very good. Captains, you will continue along as best as you can. You are dismissed." With a bang of his staff, this…odd meeting was adjourned.