"Hey!" yelled Renji. "Unohana wants to see ya tomorrow, so you'd better not hurt yourself in the meantime, or I'll be in trouble!"

His words were directed at a certain dark-haired Soul Reaper who was trying to escape the hospital through a third-story window, without notice.

"Shh!" Rukia jumped down and landed feet-first square on his face, flattening Renji to the ground. "That's exactly why I'm getting out of here!" Renji twitched, trying not to cry from the pain of his crushed nose. "Oh, sorry."

He say up and rubbed his head, then joined her walking furtively around the back of the building.

"Anyways, I've been healed for ages. I can't believe they kept me in there for all those months. If Momo could handle the war, I could handle it twice as well!" She made sweeping motions with her hands as she talked rapidly, not really waiting for a response.

"And so, how have things been with y-" Her sentence cut off at the sudden appearance of Captain Ukitake heading towards the hospital's entrance.

"Rukia," he began, obviously surprised. "I thought you were getting out tomorrow?" His sentence was left hanging at the end- What are you doing out today?

"Captain!" Rukia bowed quickly. "Unohana-sama let me out early," she lied. "What brings you here?"

"I… had a meeting." Ukitake continued to look at her oddly, then smiled in his regular manner. "Well, you must be pleased to be outta this place-" he jerked a thumb at the hospital- "So, I won't keep you guys any longer. See ya!" He lifted his hand in a brief wave, then disappeared into the building.

Renji frowned at the closing door. "Well, that was weird," he said, turning on his heel and walking quickly away from the hospital.

"Hey, wait!"Rukia jogged a few steps after him and punched him in the shoulder. "Whaddya mean, weird? That's my captain, you know!"

"Well, you know, he was all...silent and things. Creepy, like."

"Just because everyone else doesn't talk as much as you doesn't mean they're creepy, you know. It's possible that you're just annoying."

"I," Renji pointed at himself, "am not annoying. I'm just the only one who faces the facts."

"Ooh, the facts no one else bothers with. How noble of you." Something was seriously wrong. What...is it…? Why can't I figure it out? Her eyebrow twitched forward in a scowl.

"I didn't...annoy you that much, did I? With the captain comment?" Renji looked at her, and she quickly rearranged her features.

"It wasn't that annoying, surprisingly." She responded, still trying to pinpoint what was different. I'm fine. I am, right? Maybe I should've stayed in the hospital for the final- No, no it's okay, I'm doing well. Unohana said so herself last week. A lot can change in a week…..But I would have noticed. So it can't be me that has changed. Is it Renji? Rukia glanced up at the red-head striding alongside her. No, it's certainly not him.

"So, how come you're not on patrol?" she asked him. "Are you skipping work?" Every week the companies switched out patrolling Hueco Mundo searching the human world for stray Arrancars. They couldn't stop until they had completely eradicated the threat.

"I'm not on duty today," he replied shortly.

"Okay, then." And then, "Do you know where your captain is? I want to thank him."

Renji looked away, but Rukia was too busy talking to notice. "No, I...don't know where he is. What do you want to thank him for?"

"Unohana said he saved my life. Hah. Imagine Byakuya doing something so...so selfless." But why? How would he save you? You were dead. And the dead don't come back when they are killed. Surely you know that. She pushed the little whispering voice to the back of her head without a second thought. It would go away in a little, as it always had. "I can't wait to see his face when I thank him. He'll just say 'I was only acting in the best interests of the Sereitei. It would be detrimental to lose a trained Shinigami, especially now.' Or something like that. But I'm not surprised. Want to help me look for him?" She looked at him expectantly.

"Uh, I guess. I got nothing else to do."

"Okay, good, because I was going to make you come with me anyways." She turned and started walking briskly down the street.

"Wait, Rukia!" The red-head dashed after her. "Captain Byakuya has been missing since you returned from Hueco Mundo. Nobody's telling me anything, so…" He trailed off.

"He must be in the hospital," Rukia finished, spinning around again. "Hah! He cannot escape me!"

"Pfft. What are you gonna do, throw flowers at him?"

"Perhaps."

"I don't think that'll work, sorry. He's pretty much the master of flower power himself. Senbonzakura and all."

She stopped for a moment to consider, tapping her chin. "Ah, yes. Hmm...maybe I'll get him a pink unicorn plushie? From the human world? I could get Ichigo to purchase it, and embarrass him and Byakuya at the same time!" She pounded her palm with her fist. "All right, plan is perfect! Now to actually find him…"

Before Rukia even touched the doors, the hospital entrance swung open and Ukitake and Unohana strode out. Rukia quickly stuck her hand behind her back from where it had been outstretched to pull open the handle.

"Ukitake-taichou, Unohana-sama." She bowed. "I was just...on my way back to my room."

Renji straightened after being smacked with one of the heavy doors. "Ouch."

Unohana regarded Rukia carefully, then turned to Ukitake, obviously asking him a question of sorts. He shook his head, and she dipped hers in a brief nod before turning back to Rukia.

"Rukia, I am not pleased that you left your room. If I said you were to stay, then I obviously did not think you were fully recovered. Please pay attention to that next time, though I sincerely hope you will not be coming back to the hospital any time soon after this."

Rukia was bewildered. I thought she'd at least pull that creepy smile threat thing. She seems more distracted than anything.

Hey, noticing a pattern? Curious, isn't it? How today you're so paranoid? Something's up, isn't it?

"Um, yes, Unohana-san. My apologies. I'll just…. go back to my room now." She made to go upstairs.

"Oh, Rukia?" Unohana called, though she didn't actually raise her voice.

Sighing inaudibly, Rukia turned back. Whaddya think she- Shut up. "Yes, Unohana-san?"

"Don't sigh like that. Anyways, Ukitake-san and I are heading to a meeting with Captain Kurotsuchi. After that, I need to talk to you. Please do not leave before that, and I hope I do not need to stress the importance of that." With a smile, she swept out, Ukitake keeping up with her.

"That was… scary…" Rukia muttered to Renji. He nodded mutely. "Anyways, let's go."

"You're still gonna look for Byakuya?"

"What better time? She just said she's not going to be here for a while, so you just have to warn me when she comes back."

"Uh, and how am I supposed to do that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Stand here." She pointed at a spot in the hallway. "When she comes, just use Shunpo to come warn me."

He looked at her with a dead expression. "You say that like it's simple or something."

"It is simple. Do you think you can't handle it?"

"It's Unohana! You try and handle it!"

"Sounds like you're afraid….."

"Fffft….Fine!" He crossed his arms and glared at her. "But if she catches me, I told you so."

"Told me what?" she asked innocently.

"Just...go….."

There was a knock on the door of the main lab entry. "Nemu, go answer that!" Kurotsuchi yelled from one of the labs branching off the central area, as he added the finishing touches to his glorious project. Yes, he was a genius, wasn't he? That was a rhetorical question- of course he was a genius. Anyways.

He locked the lab door and exchanged his white coat for his captain's haori in the corridor, before striding into the main room, which actually didn't contain anything of use except a few chairs and some frivolous items there to make it look like a well-used lab. Everything of importance was either in the basement various labd throughout the building. Because he was crafty like that. Oh, was he crafty. Nobody really had to know what he was doing at all times.

"What do you want?" he snapped as he marched in. "I was in the middle of an important-" He stopped. Standing in the center of the room, lookin rather bored, was Captain Unohana. Captain Ukitake slouched in a chair nearby.

Groaning inwardly at the woman who had interrupted his wor, Kurotsuchi dropped into a chair and gestured to her is a way that could possibly be interpreted as maybe somwhat apologetic. If you were creative. Which Mayuri was quite certain Unohana wasn't. Creative, that was. Honestly, always enforcing the rules, never willing to look at something another way. Also, not allowing anything she deemed unethical, regardless of whether it was a breakthrough in modern science or not. That last bit referred to his experiments, by the way. They were all breakthroughs in modern science. Except maybe the small ones. Actually, no. Those were just small breakthroughs. But still critical! Probably.

Really, now. What a typical woman. Never looking at the bigger picture. It's always, don't do this and don't hurt that. I probably need a special permit to make someone sneeze around here. Has she never heard of sacrificing the lives of a few for the good of many? Even she must realize you can't save everyone. Unethical? Ethics mean nothing here. This is knowledge for the sake of improvement. Everything can be made better. Why stick to the tried and true when you can break new ground? And, for that, sacrifices must be made.

"What can I help you with?" he inquired, not directing apologies at anyone, or ask anyone to take a seat. Oh, how disrespectful! But I'm sure she'll never catch on. I'm very subtle, after all.

"There were reports of a reiatsu disturbance around here at around 1:00 in the morning," Unohana began. "I assume there is an explanation for this?"

Of course there's an explanation for all this, he thought venomously. Only the pinnacle of biological engineering. Only the greatest innovation of all time to be made in the study of all things reiatsu based! Only the most delicate, in-depth operation that anyone, much less you and Sick-boy there could have walked in on!

Outwardly, his smile widened. "Of course there is an explanation," he replied smoothly.

I just have to think of one.

"I was testing the new reiatsu meters I installed in the chemical storeroom, so I simulated a series of fluctuating reiatsu pressures to confirm they were functional. However, the equipment I was using malfunctioned after the initial test and created a greater disturbance than intended. Needless to say, I shut it off immediately for repair." All lies, of course, but what would she know about the workings of his lab?

"I see." She nodded briefly. "And why didn't you report this immediately?"

"I...uh...didn't want to disturb anyone's sleep. Surely you've heard of the study released last year showing that all Shinigami under the age 1,000 need at least 9 hours of sleep? Beauty rest and all."

"Clearly you don't get any, then," mumbled Ukitake.

Kurotsuchi spun around to look Sick-Boy in the eye. "Yes, of course I don't. Brains before Beauty, Aurora."

Before Ukitake could retaliate, Unohana stepped in. "I didn't come here to listen to you two trade meaningless insults. Kurotsuchi, you may not want to tell me what you were doing, but I need an explanation. Your reiatsu disturbance impacted 25 of my patients and sent one into critical condition."

That's certainly an interesting development. I didn't expect the spiritual pressure to be so powerful. I should look into this, see if there's any side effect of my procedure causing this. If it's an additional variable, I'll have to figure out a way to control it.

"Captain Kurotsuchi!" Unohana's strident voice snapped him away from his musings. "What happened?"

He heaved another mental sigh. Really, he hadn't been doing anything wrong. Just another experiment, to be honest. Not that they would understand...But there was no harm in showing them. he supposed. He didn't have to give them all the details, after all. They would leave, he wouldn't have to deal with them...it was a win-win. There was nothing wrong with that.

"If you insist on asking," he finally said, rather shortly, "Then follow me."

He turned through an open doorway, leading them deep into the winding labyrinth of his laboratory.

Maybe they would be able to grasp a small portion of his genius now.