Chapter 7: Injury

"These accidents of faith and nature,
They tend to stick in the spokes of you,
But every now and then the trend bucks
And you're repaired by more than glue."
-Snow Patrol "The Lightning Strike, Part II"

Nina awoke the following morning and quickly discovered that the injuries she had sustained seemed to have gotten worse. The muscles of her acid-burned arm and her damaged leg were tender, stiff, and the tissues around the affected areas were more bruised than ever. Nina slowly flexed her arm, hissing in pain as she slowly brought it into her body and then out. But her leg – now that was the injury that nearly brought tears to her eyes every time she moved it.

I hadn't expected it to grow worse overnight, she thought.

In the back of her mind, she knew she should probably report her injury to Division Four, but the problem was how she would do that without Captain Aizen or Lieutenant Hinamori finding out. She had no intention of bothering them with this, and she assumed that the injuries were only sore because they were healing. She sat on the floor of her room to clean her wounds, apply new herbs, and wrap the damaged areas with fresh bandages. She decided that if the pain continued to antagonize her, then she would simply swallow her pride and seek proper medical attention from Division Four.

Nina managed to loosen her muscles enough in her apartment to walk somewhat normally, and she swung Kiyohime a few times to regain use in her arm for the day before setting off to the division training grounds to meet with her colleagues. Nina knew for sure that she would be a little slower than usual, but she hoped could just pass it off as simple muscle tension from her encounter with the Hollow yesterday.

The others were warming up as she arrived on the expanse, and to her dismay, Aizen would be overseeing the training session today so that Hinamori could join in and help those who were struggling. Nina stretched and swung a scabbard-clad Kiyohime around. She glanced over at Aizen, and at the moment, he did not seem to notice anything on her part.

Maybe I can pull this off and go see Division Four on my own, she thought as she paired up with Keitaro.

They were dismissed from their training session for the day, and Nina began to head off the field behind the others. She managed to get through the training, but even the slightest hit from her partner shot searing pain through her body, and she could not help wincing in pain, and it had been hard to suppress a painful scream. As Nina passed through the door of the training compound, she hoped that she would be able to leave unnoticed.

"Seito-san," called Captain Aizen in his kind, soft tone. "May I have a word with you, please?"

He smiled at her kindly, and Nina paused, frowning. The way he called to her elicited a feeling of dread, and nervous butterflies began flitting in her stomach. Slowly she turned around and faced her captain. "Yes, Captain?"

"You should have been able to react to most of the attacks thrown at you with speed, yet you were off by a few seconds each time getting slower. I also noticed your facial expressions each time Keitaro-kun would strike you. Is something wrong?"

"N-no," she responded. "I'm sure Hinamori told you about my encounter with the Hollow yesterday. I'm just sore."

"I can't help but wonder if you're much worse than you're allowing me to believe, Seito-san."

"It's nothing serious enough to concern yourself with, Captain," Nina responded, wishing that he would just let her leave. "I will be fine."

He noted the odd way in which she favored her leg. "You can hardly stand properly, Seito-kun. Why should I not be concerned when one of my officers is injured?"

"I'll be fine," Nina assured him. "It's just that I wasn't initially injured badly, but it might have gotten worse overnight. I would not trouble yourself with it."

"It's no trouble for me rather to the rest of your squad. A wounded member is no use on the battlefield." He gave Nina a hard, concerned stare. "I do not like it when people hide things from me, especially when it concern's one's personal well-being."

"If you're ordering me in a roundabout way to go to Division Four for treatment, I will comply," she said, meeting his stare equally. "I had intention of doing so anyway."

"No, there's no need to make them work more than they already do," he replied in a calm tone. "I can treat your wounds just the same."

Nina's face suddenly pinkened. "I...uh...Captain...I can simply go next door..." She shuffled and dropped her gaze to the ground. "It looks really bad, and while I respect your ability and the offer, I do not think this is something even you can treat."

"How so?" Aizen questioned. "It's just a simple kidou spell." His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Are you too embarrassed to ask for help, Seito-kun?"

Nina offered no response to Captain Aizen. In fact, she did not even look him in the eyes. She looked at the ground and chewed her lip instead.

"I see..." he said, noting her inability to answer him. That told him that she really was afraid to ask for help. "You have a strange way of thinking, Seito-kun. People eventually need help from one another, and there should never be any shame in asking for it. You do yourself a disservice by not acknowledging that you need help, and you do me a dishonor by not placing your trust in me, your captain." He crossed the grassy plain and took her by the arm, carefully supporting her as she hobbled over to a large shady tree. "Have a seat."

Nina looked at him. "What will you do, Captain?"

Sousuke merely smiled, and took her hand gently. Slowly he extended her arm, trying not to hurt her, and he pushed back her sleeve to reveal her bandaged arm. He raised his free hand over her arm and a light green glow radiated from it. "You'll see soon enough. Just try to hold still, and I'll do the rest."

Nina blinked as she felt the sting from the acid burn drain from the area, and a gentle, caressing feeling rushed over the affected flesh. She lifted her light blue eyes to her captain's, silently observing the concentration written on his features and held within his focused dark brown eyes.

"Is that better, Seito-kun?" he suddenly asked, his gaze matching her own.

She blushed. "Yes. It's much better, Captain. Thank you."

Aizen nodded again, and then looked down at her legs. The left leg appeared to be stiff and sore seeing as the she had not moved it at all while he healed her arm.

"May I?"

Nina swallowed. "Of course." She adjusted herself and tried to scoot a little closer to Aizen.

Sousuke pushed back the cloth of her hakamawhere he could see the blood soaking through the bandage. He remembered that the Hollow that attacked her yesterday secreted acid in its saliva and poison in its claws that prevented blood from clotting properly, thus causing its prey to bleed to death. Extending his arm again, he placed his hand on her right leg. He had seen her grievous injury last night when he had unintentionally spied on her bathing out in the forest. His hands glowed green, and the cuts and bruises vanished along with the pain.

Nina sat quietly on the grass and let Captain Aizen attend her injuries. She folded her hands in her lap and chewed on her lower lip as the same sensation she had felt on her arm caressed her leg and soothed away the bruising and the gashes. She ventured to lift her eyes to him again to study his gentle face. She swallowed and looked down quickly, knowing that having the thoughts she was having were unhealthy. She chewed her lip and waited for Aizen to finish.

Instead of taking his time as he would have liked, Aizen finished treating her quickly. Removing his hand from her now healed left leg, his eyes met Nina's again. "I believe you should be back to normal now." He paused and continued to stare at her with warm brown eyes.

Nina could not stop the small smile from crossing her fair features. "Um...thank you. I'm sorry to have been a bother." She reluctantly pulled her gaze away from him and stared down at her lap. "I should have been truthful from the start, and for that I apologize. I'm not used to asking for help."

"You were not a bother at all, and please don't hesitate to ask for help. It's what I am here for," Aizen simply responded. "But I am curious. How do you know about healing herbs?"

She shrugged. "I have a friend in Fourth Division, actually."

"Your friend must have taught you much."

Nina nodded. "She did." She paused. "I should let you attend to your own duties now. I have to be on duty at the library this afternoon." She pulled in her legs, relieved by the flexibility and stood to her feet. The pain was completely gone, and she was relieved that she could walk normally again. Perhaps tonight, she would sleep better as well.

Sousuke glanced at her, smiled, and pulled himself to his feet. "Very well, Seito-san. Please take care."

Aizen watched Nina leave, and he could not keep himself from studying her as she passed through the gates and out of his sight. He found himself unable to stop thinking about the clarity of her eyes. Nina's eyes, he noticed from that innocent glance into them, were such a startling blue. Her pale eyes suited her pale skin, yet they contrasted strongly with her raven black hair. Nina's quiet, unassuming personality only added to her mysterious beauty, and Sousuke surmised that the waters into which he was about to tread could turn into very dangerous waters indeed.

He realized in those moments with Nina that he was becoming attracted to her, and he found himself wanting to learn more about this confounding girl. She spoke to him softly and respectfully, yet never offered much insight into her own world or her heart. She was an enigma, and Aizen enjoyed a good challenge. But why would he care to know her?

Sousuke clasped his hands behind his back and started toward his office. Manipulating Hinamori was one thing, but Nina, he felt, would not be so easy. She seemed far stronger willed than he had anticipated, and he was beginning to realize that unlike Hinamori, Nina was not the type to blindly eat out of his hand like a trusting baby bird. It would be a little more difficult because Nina was not open and naïve like Hinamori. Now he was afraid that his attraction toward her could get in the way if he allowed it to get out of control, and he began to wonder if being attracted to her would really be so bad.

No, I mustn't let it come to that. I must not get attached to that girl. She is nothing more than someone to use.

Nina sat at the central desk reading her book when a set of volumes were plopped down before her. She looked up to see that Yumichika was leaning against the wood smirking at her, and she allowed for a subdued smile.

"Hello, Ayasegawa-san."

"I found some books that got mixed in with mine," he told her. "Really, I don't know who works the evening shift on Wednesdays, but I wish they'd pull their head out of their ass!"

Nina laughed. "I'll leave a note to watch where they file returned books. That is quite a few to get mixed up."

"Well a few I can understand, but this is an everyday thing," he complained.

"I'll do my best to take care of it, Ayasegawa-san," she responded, taking the volumes and putting them on the proper cart. "I wonder if perhaps our mystery colleague is placing them on the wrong cart. They do seem to be reference books, after all, and it can be easy to confuse the references with the archived items."

"Hnn...perhaps," he said. The he smiled. "Hey, I heard that you took down a Hollow by yourself the other day. Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

Nina shook her head. "I'm fine. Thank you. And I did sustain a few injuries but it was nothing serious." She paused. "How did you hear about that anyway?"

"Ikkaku and I do have friends in Division Five. Gossip travels quickly in Seireitei, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Apparently," Nina agreed.

"Ikkaku's all hot to spar with you now."

Nina made a face. "I can't see why. It was only a Hollow."

Yumichika flashed a smile and fluffed his hair. "Well if you're not too busy this week, I'll take you over to my division, and the three of us will practice together."

Nina nodded. "That sounds fine." Then she smirked. "If you two can handle me."

"Oh, let's not get ahead of ourselves now!"

Nina laughed. "I assure you that I'm not. I was simply joking."

Yumichika paused a long moment. "Are you busy tonight? Like...after you get done here?"

"N-no, not really," Nina said, shaking her head.

"Well..." he rubbed the back of his head. "Ikkaku and I were supposed to go out and eat like we usually do, but Captain Zaraki sent him down to the Human Realm on some kind of short mission, so..."

Nina smiled. "I'd be glad to keep you company, Ayasegawa-san."

Yumichika blushed unexpectedly and rubbed the back of his head. "Great! I was hoping you would agree. And...one other thing..."

"Yes?"

"You don't have to be so formal with me, Seito-san."

She nodded. "Only if you insist."

"I do."

"Then I will call you Yumichika-san, and since we are apparently now on a first name basis, then perhaps I should ask you to do the same when addressing me."

He smirked. "I think I can handle that."