Happy Valentine's Day! I made a Valentine's Day card for my twin brother, who lives a couple states away from me. It reads, "Choose me or your pyre...Be Mine or you will BURN!" And if you don't understand, you missed out on life and should really rewatch The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Specifically the song, "Hellfire." Classic Disney films: A guilty pleasure.

The Awesome God Apollo:

"I admit you're good.

That took a lot of effort.

Sigh. I think you win."

I concede because unless I write a whole chapter in haiku, I can't top your review. Congrats. This guy/girl? wrote a whole review as a string of haiku. You should read it.

I have this little pocket puzzle where you have to get several interlocking rings apart. It's a little difficult to describe, but I carry it around in my purse and try to solve it while I'm just waiting around. I finally solved it! But now I just can't figure out how to put it back together. Damn it.

Oh, and forgive the titles. This chapter doesn't have a singular theme. I love Billy Joel and Stephen King, so I took titles off of their respective works. Anyway, enjoy.

The Experiment

Chapter 11: A Matter of Trust/Children of the Corn

Day 20(Yes, I went back in time)

Soi Fon had stopped going to work for the past week now that she had "Kitty" to spend time with her. She didn't seem to recognize Yoruichi's cat form; to her, she was just a playmate. Yoruichi didn't dare be human around her. Soi Fon would recognize her then. She would probably be angry, and then she'd know not to trust Kitty. So Yoruichi had spent the past few days doing her best to entertain Soi Fon as a cat by day, and take care of Soi Fon's basic needs by night. Soi Fon didn't seem to care who prepared her food, or laid out her clothes for her every day. If she did, she didn't question it.

Yoruichi was happy. Because her little bee was happy. It was lucky that Soi Fon had a camera lying around. Endless snapshots of Soi Fon sleeping, stuffed animals clutched to her chest populated the memory on it. She'd even left it lying around so that Soi Fon would find it and take clumsy pictures of herself and Kitty. She'd eventually have to make copies for herself, and then delete almost everything off of it so Soi Fon wouldn't know who had been taking care of her. Still, everything was going great.

A couple Second Division shinigami came around the first few days. After finding Soi Fon happy and in good health (with Yoruichi hiding), they would leave, probably praising whatever god for their good fortune and chalking it all up to some Fourth divisioner taking matters into their own hands.

But now Soi Fon was sick. Yoruichi could tell that she had a fever, but from what was beyond her basic healing skills. So last night, Yoruichi had crept through the Seiretei to find Isane, the only person she could trust here. Well… there was Kukaku Shiba, but she was in Rukongai and she didn't have healing experience. It was strep throat, Isane had decided. She gave Yoruichi some antibiotics for Soi Fon.

The infection was a human one. Yoruichi had probably carried it with her when she came from the World of the Living. Yoruichi had already had it, so she was just a carrier. It made sense that Soi Fon would be infected.

The antibiotics would help clear the disease in a matter of days. In the meanwhile, Soi Fon was so delirious with fever that she couldn't get out of bed. So Yoruichi had to take care of her. She could have found a way to get a Second Division shinigami to do it. She was very afraid, though, of being seen, or worse, recognized. Though it'd been over a century since she left, there were still a few who might remember her.

She wasn't worried about Soi Fon seeing her anymore. Her fever was probably making everything one big blur. At worst, she'd probably just remember Yoruichi as being a part of a dream. So Yoruichi spent most of her time as a human. She bathed Soi Fon and changed her sheets twice a day. Mostly, the girl slept, but when she was awake she smiled at Yoruichi. Yoruichi fed her broth and read her books. She didn't tell Soi Fon anything of substance until the last night before Soi Fon's fever broke.

In the dim lamplight, Yoruichi looked worn and grave. Soi Fon slept restlessly. Yoruichi reached a hand out to Soi Fon's hair.

"Little bee, I don't know if your normal self is awake in there…" Yoruichi began, but hesitated for a moment. "But I need to tell you a few things that I hope that you will remember…"

"Maybe you know this, but I didn't leave because I was a traitor. There was this…situation involving Kisuke and Aizen, and…" Yoruichi didn't want to get into it.

"I suppose I did choose Kisuke over you," Yoruichi said, smiling sadly. She remembered how much Soi Fon had hated Kisuke, and how much Yoruichi had teased her for it. "But that doesn't matter. Kisuke and Tessai…and all of the others… in one moment, I chose to help them. Lives depended on me. But I didn't know who I would hurt. You, the girl who was my student, and my friend. The girl I'd promised to look out for if she'd do the same for me. I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry for every ounce of pain I've caused you."

"As long as I've known you, I've always trusted you. There was something about you that told me that you'd follow me anywhere. I… let you into my life, taught you and let you rely on me, and then left you without a thought. I'd never imagined that you would close your heart off to everyone else. It was only natural, I suppose, but I guess I just wanted to believe that you'd be all right. I wanted to believe so hard, that I thought it to be true. I don't know if or when we may speak as equals, but I want…need you to know that I…"

"I never, ever, meant for it to turn out like this."

A tear ran down Yoruichi's face as she sat back. Soi Fon slept peacefully now. Yoruichi reached out a hand to Soi Fon's cheek. Good, the fever had broken. It was time for Yoruichi to return to her cat form.

But not yet. Standing, she leaned over Soi Fon's tiny form and brushed her hair out of her face. She whispered,

"I'll always love you, Soi Fon. Whether you ever return the favor or not, try to at least believe this: Trust Sosuke Aizen and you'll regret it with your life."

Day 17(And even further back...)

Isane didn't want to get up. It was dawn. She knew she had to get up, but she couldn't find the strength just now. She'd have to actually do her job, something she previously enjoyed but now couldn't because Unohana wasn't around to do her own job.

That's right. Unohana. Isane finally found a reason to face the day. It was breakfast time for her captain.

Isane rolled out of bed. Standing, she stretched her aching muscles. She walked over to her wardrobe. She selected a normal shihakusho and began to dress in her usual uniform. She frowned.

Her shirt sleeves were several inches too short.

Did one of her subordinates mess up her laundry and shrink her clothes? She disrobed and grabbed another shihakusho, one that she didn't include in her latest wash.

This one was small, too. What was going on? She couldn't have…

She screamed. How is this possible? That she could grow overnight? Or had it happened so slowly that she hadn't realized it because she was so preoccupied and oh my God oh my God…

Isane realized that her mind was rambling and wasn't making sense. She was vaguely aware that she was hyperventilating.

There was pounding on the door. "Lieutenant! Lieutenant!"

Isane couldn't think about this right now. So she collected herself.

"I'm fine!" She called through the door. Silence on the other end. They were probably waiting for her to come out. She didn't hear any retreating footsteps. She finished dressing with fumbling fingers.

She jammed her shoes on her feet. They, at least, were the same size…

Isane stifled a sob. She stood from her seat on her bed and quickly moved through to the door.

As her hand touched the door, she paused. She'd heard something.

She turned around and faced the window. There was nothing there. Frowning, she moved toward the window to look outside. There was a sudden rustling.

She quickly threw open the windows. Nothing there. Wait…she could have sworn she saw a flash of pink. Yachiru? Could she have done this?

Kira had come to her yesterday, asking for something to help his anxiety. He mentioned that Gin Ichimaru and Yachiru had been up to something.

Isane suppressed the urge to swear. Those brats…

Day 18(Next update it'll be back to Day 21. Promise.)

"Soon."

It was the only word that was written on an anonymous note. It had been delivered to the Fifth Division in the early morning, but it'd gotten buried under incoming paperwork and she hadn't been able to read it until late morning. Momo looked for any identifying traits about the note's writer. None. The letters themselves were just cutouts of the typed print of the Seireitei Communication. Captain Aizen didn't know anything, either.

She'd asked other people about it at lunch, when she and the captain had gone to the cafeteria to get something to eat. No one knew anything, until she'd spoken to Renji Abarai, who was stopping by on his way to carry a message to the Fourth division.

"Yeah…" he scratched his head. "Soon, right?"

"Yes! So what do you think it means?"

"I don't know. I don't really care. Probably just someone trying to pull a stupid joke."

Then he'd left.

As Captain Aizen scarfed his food down like a typical boy, Momo pondered the note. It was then that Izuru Kira came in, spotted her, and made a beeline toward her. His eyes were wide, and he looked like he was trembling.

"I-I just, I got this message, and Renji said you knew something, and I'm really scared. Please-please tell me you know what's going on!" In reply, Momo handed him her own note.

"Soon."

Kira squeaked and twitched. He paled even further.

"Oh, God, it's them." Kira buried his face in his hands and sat down.

Momo patted him on the shoulder. "It's who?"

"M-my captain and Yachiru. They…they…" Kira seemed close to tears. He told her what they had put him through. Something called "Blood Tea", which Kira refused to explain. His robes he wore under his shihakusho had been dyed pink. He'd also been coated in honey and feathers… Not to mention that was being "stalked" by weird creaking noises.

Kira was shaking. "Once, I was walking out of the office, and Yachiru was standing right beside me and started screaming her head off!" Was he joking? Was that really the worst thing that they'd ever done? No, he was just hysterical.

Momo had to do something. Kira was close to snapping.

Kira twitched away, probably going back to work. She dropped Aizen off at the Eighth division, promising to be back in a few minutes. From there, she headed to the Third division. Intending to go to the office, she stopped suddenly when she heard some loud giggling.

She found Yachiru and Captain Ichimaru behind a nearby potted plant.

"Okay, you two. What are you going to do to Kira?" Momo said, frowning. She was actually shocked that Kira's paranoia was correct. It made sense, though. Now that she thought about it, it was weird that they hadn't teamed up sooner.

They straightened up.

"Nothing, actually." Gin whispered. "He knows that we're out here. We're just making some noise so that he'll freak out."

Momo crouched down with them. She subconciously lowered her voice so that she was whispering too. She pulled the note she'd received out of her shihakusho. "But…what about this? Soon? What does that mean?"

Yachiru giggled. "Nothing! We're just having some fun, and we thought it'd be fun to give other people notes too!"

Gin nodded knowingly. "The best prank isn't a prank at all. It's fear."

Momo understood. By giving her and Renji notes, too, it made the threats more likely and Kira would be more afraid of his impending doom. In reality, the notes were meaningless. The prank was just paranoia. She shook her head and stood. "Sorry, but I have to tell Kira."

Gin stepped forward, smiling. "If you do, we'll stop messing with Kira. And start with you."

Momo's blood turned cold. She was legitimately afraid of this child.

"But Kira…"

"In the long run, it will help him. Now, you didn't see anything, did you?" Gin said.

Momo weighed her options. Help Kira, and she'd face the evil children's wrath. Don't help Kira, he'll end up in a more twitchy mess, but might actually turn out for the better. Momo started to walk away. Then stopped.

"Wait. One thing. Kira said that he kept hearing phantom noises. What were they?"

Gin's grin grew wider. "Partially his imagination, but we also planted devices in the ceilings that play creaking noises and howling."(A/N I actually have a device that does this. It's called the "EvilTron.")

Momo now fully understood Kira's fear. These children were insane. She fled. Behind her she heard the cackles of the two children.

I didn't write the Yoru-Soi scene intending to pair them. But if it seems that way to you, go ahead and think it.

I also didn't intend for this chapter to be half full of nonsense. I was going to include the first part with Chapter 10 to give you guys a mega-chapter of like 3k words vs the normal 2k. But again, there were some pranks that I just didn't want to leave out. The Isane thing was pretty clever in my opinion. And yes, I am patting myself on the back.

Oh, and I was considering writing scenes detailing what exactly Gin and Yachiru did to Kira. I ultimately decided to leave it up to your imaginations. The next chapter will have more Kira humor and…the beginning of the end. Well, it's a really, really subtle beginning of the end, but whatever.