Chapter Three
Captain Meeting
Retsu sat; her fragile hand folded patiently upon her lap, and was staring at the wall before her. It had been a long time since she had seen the sick bay walls from a bed. Somehow though, it made her want to cry. As she buried her head in her hands, she could hear faint steps approaching her door.
"Are you feeling well enough to see my Captain Unohana?" asked an old voice.
Lifting her stiff neck she replied, "Yes Captain Yamamoto. I was just resting my head for a moment."
The captain of squad one nodded his head in understanding. "I have heard that the Quincy were harder than anticipated, even for Kenpachi."
"Yes sir, I was planning to make a report," Retsu moaned in horror that she had forgotten.
"Take your time captain," the general stated. "Captain Kurotsuchi was reported to have dissolved most of the Quincy single handed. That is quite impressive for being a scientist. And he handed in a report of the matter from the time that he had aided in the matter."
"Yes, he seemed to take on the Quincy with ease, though he had to have the help of his Banki for the last two, after he was nearly torn to bits from all of the arrows," Retsu reported.
"He stated in his report that the Quincy destroy Hallows altogether. They don't purify the soul. He thinks that they should all be destroyed before the balance is disturbed. It seems to me that he's deviled into this Quincy business far more than anyone else has." The general enquired.
"Indeed it seems that he has given this much thought. What if I ask to have a meeting between the Quincy and ourselves to make a compromise upon the Hallows, they might not know what they are doing," Retsu asked.
"That seems better than Captain Kurotsuchi's request, though he thinks a compromise will fail, I would for now agree with you in hopes that the Quincy will stop their ways." Captain Yamamoto agreed. He then slowly stood and continued, "I hope you feel well soon Captain. It's always nice to have kind words upon our force and in our meetings."
Retsu smiled and nodded knowing that the old man always hated arguments which happened all to often in the meetings.
Mayuri sat upon his dark red chair before his computer typing in information. He had been quite busy these past days. While he was operating and testing with the Quincy, his potential lieutenant lay sprawled upon the table with little improvement. His remaining squad members were skittish to enter his domain to offer him food, which he refused if one was so bold as to enter.
Once in a great while, he came forth from his dark room into the large network area to give a bundle of reports to an attendant, or to gather more information from a stored computer. One soul was so bold as to approach him with food saying, "You look too think C-captain . You must eat."
"I don't require food you insolent brat!" Mayuri growled, making the squad member flee quickly.
Now it had been three weeks since he had seen a soul approach him. He typed madly suddenly stopping hearing the door open. "Aren't people supposed to knock before they enter?" Mayuri growled looking upon the person who dared to enter his study.
"Are you Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi of Squad 12?" the young man asked.
"And what do you want? Be quick boy, I don't have all day. I'm a rather busy man." Mayuri frowned.
"It's so awesome to finally meet you in person!" the boy replied with a smile on his face. "I've transferred from Squad 8, because I really feel that I could help you in your fields of research."
"What is your name?" Mayuri asked.
"Akon." The boy replied.
"I've read your resume. Now then, you could put your actions to your mirth. Start over there," Mayuri pointed to a group of elderly Quincy who seemed beaten to a pulp. "I want them in a healthy condition before the week is over."
"Yes sir," the boy named Akon replied, and then hurriedly paced around the room excitedly.
Mayuri sighed wondering how long this one would last. His last assistant had died along with most of his division due to the attack of the Quincy. He had been surprised at how dangerous they had been. Yet he couldn't find one that could use the Ranso Tenijui which he had read about. This was the key fact of how he had defeated them with such ease. If they had been able to do that of which he had read, then it would have been harder to defeat them. If he even had then, he would have been able to study it, learning everything there was bout it so he could modify everything that needed to be for the next encounter with a Quincy.
Picking up a pile of paper, he threw it across the room startling his new assistant. Oh how he wanted to experience that power of the Ranso Tenijui!
He sighed and bent to pick up a piece of parchment. Grabbing the blank piece of paper he continued his further experimented reports.
'The Quincy have not developed the Ranso Tenijui Technique even though they are old enough to have been able to develop the Technique. I am disappointed that we still didn't have the ability to harness this power in order to defeat the possible upcoming attacks that this group might offer, however, I've found many things about the Quincy that can be avoided. Besides their babbling about Quincy Pride, there is the Hearin Kaku Technique that the Quincy use to achieve high speed by gathering spirit energy into a current beneath their feet'
"Captain sir?" the pestering boy asked making Mayuri pause his handwritten report.
"What?" Mayuri scowled.
"The General has summoned you." Akon stammered, holding a butterfly upon his hand.
"Why is it always in a middle of a report," Mayuri grumbled.
He threw his pen down and stood. Fixing his Kamoto, he left. Just when he thought that he would have some time to work on his future lieutenant.
Retsu stood in the straight line her head bowed but her black eyes staring at the door intently. Her hands were held together, and she winced with disgust as a bead of sweat rolled down the palm. Every captain was accounted for except one, and that was why her eyes were gazing at the door. The last spot in the line was empty.
"Mayuri-san," Retsu whispered under her breath.
She got minimum gazes from the captains next to her, but she didn't care. She had been worried about him since the fight with the Quincy. Even though he had that medicine, he still had lost a large amount of blood.
She watched, listening intently for the sound of footsteps, but none came. It was time to start the meeting, as squad captain 1 started to speak, his old voice interrupting Retsu's worried thoughts.
"The Quincy would like to propose a deal with us. As well as I ask from all of you a vote of a deal as you well know that they do pose a risk to the balance that we maintain." The captain started, "So my proposition to them would be that we protect the remaining Quincy and in return we will give them the freedom to live and teach their teachings in the earth realm alone. Not here or anywhere else."
"But captain sir," Kenpachi growled, "They don't want protection. They only want to threaten us for believing differently from them."
"And there you are wrong Kenpachi." Yamamoto continued holding his hand up. "The number one threat to the Quincy are Hallows which they fight on a daily basis, and they lose many by us both. If we protect them from this threat and in return ask them to never enter the Soul Society unless they are dead so that we can keep the balance, we get more out of it."
"I see," Kenpachi replied.
"And if the deal is ever broken?" Gin asked slyly.
"It will never be broken," Yamamoto enforced.
Retsu's eyes widened as she saw a pair of sandals approach the corner of the open door. Looking up, she could see the white captain's coat, no blemish of red. His masked face as tilted as he came in and Retsu quickly glanced away as her black eyes were met with his golden yellow.
"And it was the institutes fault in the first place for this war. Since their newest president has taken to studying live victims." Kenpachi growled as soon as he spotted Mayuri.
"It is Captain Kurotsuchi's responsibility as the President of the Shinigami Research Institute to develop tactical experiments to broaden the search of enemies so that we are better prepared if they attack again." Retsu expertly inquired.
"This is true," the general replied as Mayuri joined the line taking his place, "And I must commend him on his work thus far, but ask to stop your research on the Quincy when and if this new agreement takes place."
Mayuri stood furious, his hand curled into a fist as he seethed through his teeth, "But sir, I need to experiment for any upcoming attacks on the Seriate. Would you like to be completely clueless on the enemy?!"
"You weren't here for the ideas on the proposal and agreement with the Quincy." The general stated. "You will be filled in by one of the captains if you wish after the meeting. Now for the vote…"
Hands rose in the air in agreement for the proposal, and a few against it including Mayuri's blue finger tipped hand.
"The majority votes in agreement," the general wheezed then continued, "Meeting adjourned."
Turning with anger boiling in his eyes, he quickly pushed past the others and threw the double door fist. Retsu broke her place from the line, and attempted to catch up with the pounding steps of the furious captain ahead of her. His tall thin almost sickly form worried her. She couldn't believe how this man could even stand in the presence of such power. The man hardly slept or ate! Retsu would take her nightly walks; she would see some lights on in the institution. Once in a great while, she would see a single thin form pace about, bending over files and passing across the windows.
"Captain Kurotsuchi?" Retsu asked, her side burning in pain.
The black mask turned to face her, the look of impatience hinting his angry eyes as he said, "Yes?"
"I am sorry Captain, but I can't ignore this matter anymore. You look so, thin," Retsu began attempting to hide her rosy cheeks and smile.
"And you shouldn't be out of bed, with all of your injuries yet," Mayuri interrupted, his smile distracting her.
"Well, yes, but all that I'm saying is that you should eat. It isn't healthy to go without. And as Captain over squad 4 and also leader of the medical group, I'm ordering you to eat a meal," Retsu commanded attempting to sound powerful.
This made the man laugh. His high-pitched abnormal voice making chills travel down the spine of all who was nearby. "My, my, and they call you a captain! You know just as well as I that once in the Seriate the physical body doesn't require food."
"Not all the time, yes," Retsu replied, "But starving yourself can result in lack of energy, and I have worries that you might one day fall in battle if you do not eat properly."
"My welfare should be none of your concern," Mayuri frowned as though in thought. "Is it because you want to thank me for the other day?"
Retsu instantly looked away, her thoughts scrambled, and the warmth that was creeping into her cheeks reminded her of the schoolgirls in the courtyard flirting with the boys. Of course she had wanted to thank him, but the thought of a date with him had been only in her dreams. "Over dinner, yes, that would be nice," Retsu found herself speaking. "Will tonight be alright?"
Mayuri's smile shinned in her face, and it seemed that his eyes held a brief spark of a young man once again when he replied, "Oh my, I'm sure that I could squeeze a small snack between my busy schedule. 8:00 tonight then?"
Retsu smiled and nodded her reply, "Then it's a date."
Mayuri watched as the woman left, baffled at the idea of a date. Of course in all his life, he wasn't much of a person to date, or to show romance. And he couldn't believe his own voice when he had agreed to Captain Unohana for the late dinner. But back to business, he thought as he began to walk away. He didn't have long until the preservatives he had injected into the girls system would wear off.
His anger soon returned once his light steps echoed across the wooden walkway that led to the institute. He had solved the conversation that was spoken when he wasn't present for the captain's meeting. And what was worse was the fact that everyone thought that he was so dull witted as to need briefing. And that captain, making him have dinner with her. He didn't even know what to wear!
Closing his door to the lab, he started to laugh madly, sputtering to himself, "And why am I worrying about this! She is after all only a woman."
But she wasn't just a woman to him. He had for some time wanted to test upon the dear captain. She was a mystery to him. Throughout his time in Soul Society, he had watched her closely, wondering what for one her Banki was and how she healed people so quickly and without medicine like he used. It had sparked his curiosity, but he never made a move as to ask her if she would be a test subject. Knowing that it was against most of the Captains belief to test upon their own.
Slamming his fist upon the cold table, he watched as the naked girl upon the cool metal shook gently from the tremor. Grabbing a scalpel, he cut deep into her leg, but it didn't help his anger. It was like hurting a stuffed animal, it didn't squeal or cry. He smiled sadly, realizing that he now had more work on his hands.
Taking the blade out of the smooth skin, he went to grab a needle and tread. Opening up the drawer, he could see all of his tools in order. Looking up, he spotted that everything was in order. His files that needed to be transferred to the computer were all gone, the basket empty. Someone had been in here. Grabbing the spool of thread and a small needle from his large selection, he shut the door, and walked over to where he had spotted the shiny scissors. Grabbing one off the wall, he continued to the almost beautiful naked body.