Chapter 11
Forward in Time, A Glimpse Ahead
Kyouraku flash stepped from roof to roof, honed in on Nanao's spiritual pressure, following her trail to her eventual destination. Grimacing in pain, he clutched his side, the sticky wet blood of a deep wound soaking through his clothing, running over his fingers. His focus faded in and out from the blood loss, using Nanao's recent presence as a beacon for his path was the only way he stayed on course.
She had a significant head start on him, but he was able to maintain enough speed to at least be aware of her direction. He was led to the back of the Research and Development compound, to set of a external unconnected laboratory buildings. Pausing to scan each, he struggled to find the one she had actually entered, his vision fazing in and out, his head pounding. Removing his swords from his waist band, his released them without the command, gripping them tightly both in preparation and to steady himself.
Finally able to concentrate, he managed to locate which door Nanao had walked through. Flash stepping off the roof he'd paused on, swords in hand, he no longer held his torn side. Mid-air, feeling an intense stab of pain, he was knocked off balance and began tumbling towards the ground. Dropping his swords to free his hands to brace for the fall, he was only able to turn his body enough to prevent him from landing directly on the wound.
With a thud and the wind knocked from his chest, he momentarily lost consciousness. After a few seconds, waking up to an increased level of throbbing in his head, Kyouraku looked around on the ground surrounding him, attempting to locate his weapons. Seeing one off in the distance, he moved to stand, but upon feeling his wound tear, he was crippled by pain and fear that further movement would render him unable to function.
Laying back down, compressing his side with his left hand, he took a deep breath and then forced himself to gingerly assume a sitting position on the cold concrete, driven on by his will to find Nanao. It was his singular purpose for still being able to move around at this stage, and the only fuel his mind had left to run his body towards the goal of the building in front of him.
Removing his haori, his pink over jacket long discarded, he let go of his side only long enough to tear the coat, stopping short of ripping it all the way in half. Making himself sit up completely straight, wincing, closing his eyes in response to the pulsing spasms his lacerated internal organs were enduring, he wrapped the coat around his chest, around and around, as tight as he could, knotting it off, using it as a bandage to hold together the wound.
Aware this had only bought him a short extension on time, he drew himself to his feet slowly, limping in the direction of the sword he spotted. Finding it, and the other a short distance beyond it, he used one to lean on, crouching and dragging his body along towards the door of the building, leaving a blood smeared wake on the polished stones of the path. Finally at the door, he willed himself to his feet, his legs wobbly. Leaning forward to open the door, he was surprised to see it slide open in front of his face, with Nanao standing inches away.
Without anything to support himself after the door had opened, he crumpled to his knees in front of Nanao, his drenched haori testament to the ultimate ineffectiveness of his solution for the wound. But here she was, in front of him, unharmed. Tangible. She said nothing to him, made no move to help. Finally reaching his goal, his mind flipped in and out of anemia caused delusion. "Nanao-chan," he whispered, his hand snaking out towards her, grabbing her ankle, the only part of her he could locate from his pathetic position on the ground.
She shook his hand free, scoffing at the bloody fingerprint left on her sock.
"Sir, he's at the door, seems unable to move." Turning her head towards the other person in the room, Nanao stepped back to allow the other individual access to Kyouraku.
"I'll bring him inside."
The sound of the voice snapped Kyouraku back into the moment, causing him to tighten the grip on his swords, and he attempted to stand up quickly before the other person could reach him.
It was Inaba, his green and yellow hair plastered to his head in oily strands. Walking forward, he used his cane to knock out Kyouraku's knees, once again bringing him to the ground. Kyouraku tried to respond by flipping out his wrist, stabbing wildly trying to move Inaba back far enough so he could stand. It was no use, his aim was shot, and the other Shinigami dodged easily.
"You do yourself no favors flailing about like that. You would be best served lying still, allowing me to move you inside."
Without any other option, Kyouraku let himself go limp. Inaba grabbed him by the collar, dragging him in, letting the door lock and slide shut behind him, Leaving Kyouraku right inside the door, Inaba moved back into the interior of the dark laboratory. Nanao stood in a corner, her face expressionless, and her body rigid. Shunsui called out to her, starred in her direction. She did not even acknowledge the sound, let alone make eye contact.
Watching Inaba, aware that he'd been left with his swords for some reason, perhaps only the other man's arrogance, he thought there might still be hope. Gritting his teeth, Kyroraku opened his mouth to speak and instead only coughed up blood. Taking a second for that to subside, he finally found his words, his voice deep with pain.
"I should have known, the injections...What did you do to her?" He trailed off, the quickness of his speech causing another coughing fit, the wound in his side feeling like it had been freshly torn apart.
"The injections?" Inaba looked at him incredulously. Cocking his eyebrow at Kyouraku in mock seriousness, he threw his head back, laughing loudly. "I expected more out of you, Captain Kyouraku. Your prior reputation had painted you as a diagnostic problem solver, yet you've ignored all the events and evidence."
As Inaba spoke, he began to pace around the back of laboratory, the area lit only by one small lamp on a desk and the soft glare of several computer screens. Shunsui took note of a another larger lamp that sat in an empty corner, throwing out a circle of light in its immediate radius and casting shadows, several meters away from the mostly dark area where Inaba moved.
"I told you my area of expertise the day you asked my name. Precipice World Studies. Nanao's experience started there, did it not? And yet you think it was the shots? You witnessed them restore her memory before your very eyes. I was not insincere with the injections, Captain. They did give her memories, I'm actually quite proud of their success. However, I'm much prouder of what happened in the precipice world, despite a few setbacks."
He continued to move around the room, his pacing path now making a wider circle. Shunsui kept his eyes directly on him, watching his feet with interest, using them as a focal point to keep eyes open.
"You see, what happened to Nanao was actually not how it should have gone. It was a test run, if you will, for my experiment, with the real intention being to snag all Shinigami present in the precipice world that day. Alas, I failed. At first, I thought I failed completely. But thanks to the unwitting assistance of my esteemed Captain Mayuri and some planning on my part, I soon had Nanao back in my hands. She become my prototype, for the fun that's yet to come."
"I don't think you'll be seeing that unfold though, Captain. My apologies for keeping you in pain to hear me out, I thought you deserved an explanation, at the very least. I have to thank you, by the way, for grooming such a fine first officer. She's served me well in helping to complete the next stage of my experiment."
Inaba's movement while he spoke had finally taken to him to the other corner, where he stood in the radius of the larger lamp, a point not missed by Shunsui. Holding out his cane and preparing to attack, Inaba transformed it into his sword. "Go Mad, Raiku."
Seizing the first instant Inaba's profile cast a shadow from the illumination of the corner lamp, Shunsui found his last ounce of strength and merged with the shadow, using his sword's ability to transport himself across the room, disappearing briefly into the darkness. His hoarse voice gasped one word as he emerged about a foot behind Inaba, "Kageoni."
Pulling back his sword to inflict maximum damage, aware he only had the engery for minimal strikes, Shunsui swiftly moved to skewer Inaba before he had a chance to reel around, dodge, or change location. His eyes were water filled as result of the pain he was forcing himself to move through, and his vision was full of spots, as he lunged forward, stabbing forcibly with his sword, twisting it deep as he felt it meet flesh.
In the same moment, having also been watching the shadow, acutely aware of her Captain's abilities and of the possibilities he could have been planning, Nanao had flash stepped forward, placing herself between Inaba's back and Kyouraku, forming a shield for the scientist she was blindly compelled to protect.
Kyouraku shook his vision clear, still holding the sword he believed to be impaled in his opponent. Awe struck, his eyes opened wide when he realized he had actually stabbed Nanao directly in her chest. Facing him, she held on to the length of his sword with both hands, still blank of expression, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. Stunned, Shunsui dropped his other sword, and it clanged loudly as it fell to the tile floor.
Shunsui's senses turned themselves off, he might as well have been in a sound proof black box. Phasing in and out of grip with reality in the seconds that followed, somehow he was able to tenderly take Nanao's shoulder, guide her to sitting down with her back against the wall. Afraid of further injury or blood loss, he left his sword in her chest for now. The wound looked large, and the blood began to pool out around her as she slumped lifelessly to the side.
"Yes, a very well trained first officer indeed."
Before he could turn to face Inaba, he realized he'd been too slow, his pause for Nanao had cost him any hope or chance. Inaba stuck his sword in Kyouraku's back, violently taking the blade and slicing along, opening his flesh towards his original wound, bringing him to ground, his face hitting the floor, Kyroraku finally blacking out completely.
