Chapter Three
Kisuke's POV
I had followed Yoruichi through the other divisions. When she had told me that this concerned the intruder from last night I was more than enticed to learn about her. Apparently, this woman had claimed that she was from another dimension that was in the future. That was the information that got me almost dragging my longtime friend out of the lab. This intruder woman was the break of a lifetime. As we made it to the door, I could hear part of the conversation that was going on inside. "You know of Byakuya?"Ginrei questioned and a foreign voice vaguely replied, "He's destined to make you proud."
Yoruichi had opened the door to reveal the room's occupants. This woman, Heather, if I was correct, did not look like anything remotely threatening, but there was something odd about the energy that was coming off of her. It wasn't normal but it seemed fairly unstable. I smiled at the woman's overall reaction to me, as if she had seen a ghost, she might be fun to mess with, just to see what happens. "So you're the one that caused the entire ruckus last night?" I stated more than questioned the woman then turned to the older captain, "Hello, Captain Kuchiki." He nodded in return but stayed silent and returned my attention to the young woman, "I know who you are and I take it if you know these two, you know about me as well?" I asked seriously while sitting down. She nodded, Heather seemed as interested in me as I was her, her eyes never stopped searching my face as if trying to find a kink in it as she answered my question, "Yeah, your Kisuke Urahara. You're the guy who thought up the Department of Research and Development. I don't know if it's already together or what. I also know where you dug up your Vice-president from."
Oh-ho! This girl wanted to test her limits with me, or so it may seem. "Oh, sharp as a tack, are we?" I replied playfully with a light smile set in place. "I try." She replied standoffishly. Heather's responses must have just come natural, her playful answers were strained, it seemed as if she wasn't interested in fun despite the egging. "From what Yoruichi told me, you travelled by accident through dimension and time, is that correct?" I asked, getting straight to the point. I didn't see much reason in trying to frazzle her; she was under enough stress right now. "I don't know how else to say it." The young woman looked so lost when she talked to me about it. There was no real way to describe what she was going through.
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, "I don't know how to tell you this any nicer but according to theory, what you're telling me is extremely dangerous. If you're still human you are very lucky." "Am I?" She asked with concern as she looked herself over, slightly panicked that I would say such a thing. "Well, I want to find that out." I replied, pulling a black leather bag out from under my haori. I might as well get down to business; I couldn't do or say much to amend what was said. She looked at the bag as if it were a deadly weapon and inquired almost fearfully, "What's that?"
I smiled albeit sheepishly at her reaction, "It's a scientist's habit to do this, but I want to run a few tests on you so can I request a few samples?" "Of—of what exactly?" Heather asked waiting for a bizarre answer. "Basics things: blood, skin, hair, saliva." I answered mentally rolling my eyes and continued, "Stuff that could be done here if Captain Kuchiki doesn't want you to go anywhere."All three of us turned to the older captain; I had my suspicions that old Ginrei Kuchiki would not want her to go as far as my division. Captain Kuchiki shook his head, confirming my thoughts.
After about a half hour of humane testing on the stranded woman, I could honestly say, I may have been a little overzealous. I took quite a lot of blood, making her seem woozy and out of sorts. The skin samples were basic scratch tests that now took over her arms. She threw a hissy fit about my cutting her hair and asked for a fine tooth comb and ran it through her hair and handed me whatever hair was on it. Being able to have the free strands and access to the roots would actually make my work easier. The saliva samples resulted in cotton-mouth and had effectively kept her silent. Her odd energy was on the rise since I drew the last bit of blood I could without killing her. I felt strange when I'd come into contact with her, like my spirit energy was being drained out of my body through my hands. Throughout the rest of the time, I noticed then change and by the time I was done collecting the data I needed my hands appeared bony and the veins had jutted out under my skin which was withered to make them appear much older. Thankfully, my hands were slowly reverting back to their original form.
"Everything looks just about in order." I reported as I started packing up the equipment and the samples. "What kind results will you get out of that stuff again?" Heather asked if anything, regretting why I was allowed near her. "If all goes well, we can figure out if you're still human, what kind of spirit energy you have (if any), and what kind of damage this kind of travel did to you." I replied simply and looked over in her direction, she looked really pale, I guess I did overdo it a little. "Oh." Heather stated tiredly while setting her head on the hand that was perched on Kuchiki's desk. "I think you may have overdone it, Kisuke." Yoruichi observed the younger woman with concern and commented, "She looks pretty pale." "Yeah, you're going to be groggy for a while, Heather, but it's all worth it in the end." I informed, poor kid was not going to want to move once she laid down next. "Next batch will cost ya." Heather remarked in a haze. I couldn't help but to chuckle at the comment while Yoruichi smirked, what a smart ass. "Even when you're down and out, you seem to find something to say." I pointed out and told her what I had gotten from her so far, "The good news is: that I think you made it here by chance. You'll be here for good if your human form didn't make it. If it did, we may just as well kill you here because you won't survive on your own until I find a way to send you back."
All three faces looked at me with interest. "What would happen if I am still human?" Heather asked fearfully. "From what I understand, you'll need someone to absorb their energy for the rest of your natural born life." I replied flexing my hands as they seemingly regained their strength. "I did that?!" she exclaimed shakily getting to her feet and made her way to me then hesitated and backed away from me, staring at me guiltily. "Relax. It started when I was drawing the last tube of blood. It took a while before they turned into how you see them. If you are one of us or something close; this condition will stabilize over time." I tried my best to console her; she just seemed so miserable right now and I was one of the root causes. "I'm sorry." Heather apologized; she looked downright terrible from the rampant emotions that must have been flowing through her and the testing, I didn't have the heart to prod fun at her. "Forget it," I dismissed the apology I should have been the one saying 'sorry' but pride got in the way as I said, "How could have you known?" I grabbed her arm and led her to the couch; Heather tried her damnedest to sit up and forced her eyes to stay open.