Author's Note: Did you think I died? It's been a while, and sadly, my family situation didn't get any better. But here I am, update this story finally!
Mayuri Kurotsuchi Part 2-
Nozomi was walking around her new lab, mouth slightly parted in awe. Mayuri had ensured she had gotten everything she might have needed, and then some. The place was sterile, all tools and instruments clean and new. She ran her hand over a scalpel, and then walked to the microscopes and smiled softly.
She could begin working on a cure immediately. For whatever she wished. And with the staff Mayuri had sent her, she could work on several things.
She turned and faced them ten men and women assembled. "I'm going to split you into two teams. One team will be working on a project with me, and the other will be working on something else. I'm going to get you guys started tomorrow. Right now though, I want you all to take stock of what we have, see if you think maybe we are lacking in anything, and make a list for me. Go."
The team got to work, while she walked back to the office set up in the back corner. She left the door opened as she walked in, surprised to see all her research notes stacked neatly on her desk.
She took a seat in the plush leather chair before grabbing her oldest notebook, and pulling out the lose notes in it. She had been making notes about cures for a genetic disease for a while; One that caused headaches, sometimes loss of sight, and, after a time- death. Her mother had died from it, her older sister, and now she had been having symptoms for going on five years. So far, it had just been headaches, the occasional slightly blurred sight. It had started that way with her mother and sister too. She knew that within three years, she ran a risk of being blind.
This was her only chance. If she failed, then she would have at least have laid the ground work for Mayuri. If their children had the disease, then he could cure it. Of that, she had no doubt.
She rubbed her head, feeling a headache already forming.
Mayuri watched the screens as Nozomi walked around her lab. Yeah, she might be mad to figure out he had cameras everywhere, but he couldn't see anything as far as what they were really working on. It was just to keep an eye on the girl. . . At least, that was what he was telling himself.
He watched her progress around the lab, watched her give orders to the staff, and then disappear into her office.
She picked out some notes and glanced over them, all the while, rubbing at her head with a pained expression.
Mayuri cocked his head to the side. She did that a lot, rubbed her head, especially around the temple area. He wondered if she even realized she did it as much as she did. Not even married for a full twenty-four hours, and he had picked up on it.
He leaned back in his chair, sliding his eyes to Nemu who stood silently beside him. "Befriend her. I don't want to know what she is working on- but I do want to know why she is getting these. . .stress headaches."
"Of course, Mayuri-sama." Nemu said, bowing, and then walking out.
Mayuri turned his attention back to the screen, watching as Nozomi began to dig through her other notebooks, pulling out more notes.
Things would be interesting with her around, he decided. He was more interested in seeing what she would do for the scientific and medical community.
Nozomi pulled out some other notes for the second team. It was a simple little idea to help people with food allergies. She believed she could find a serum that could cure most people of their allergies. The more deadly ones, that is. A few sniffle and sneezes people could live with- not that she wouldn't eventually get around to helping those with that problem too. People who could die though. . .they deserved to be helped first.
She had so many ideas for medicines and procedures that could save lives. . .First though, she needed hers saved. It was selfish of her. . .But she couldn't help it. She didn't want to be like her mother and sister. She didn't want to die, laid up in bed, blind, and in so much pain that could couldn't even move. Her family had wasted away, soiled themselves and their beds, not eaten, and eventually, died in horrible agony.
She had researched so much into it- but without a lab, she couldn't do anything.
After her sister's death, she had examined her sister. She had hated doing it, but she needed to see if there was a logical explanation. A tumor perhaps, something cancerous? In the end, the answer was no. Further tests have proven it might be in the blood. Using the schools medical life and mediocre supplies, she determined that it was in fact- genetic.
Nozomi reached up and pushed hard on her temples as a wave a pain washed though her head, causing her eyes sight to blur. She was entering the next stages. She had known for months- being laid up in bed for three days with a blinding migraine would do that. . .She stumbled up, knocking back her chair and trying to reach the door before her eyes sight completely blurred out.
She stumbled and fell, her shoulder slamming painfully into the door jam.
"Are you okay Kurotsuchi-san?" She heard as one of the lab staff ran to her. She could hear them all approaching now.
Change of plans." She gasped as a new wave settled over her. "There are some notes on my desk. Find the ones about the genetic headaches. Begin work immediately, all of you. Someone get me-"
"What's going on here?" Mayuri's voice cut in.
Nozomi swung her head to where she heard his voice. His blurry figure approached and knelt before her.
"You aren't supposed to be here." She murmured.
"Well, when someone comes running to my lab to tell me my wife has collapsed and isn't tracking where they are. . .It seemed worth checking out."
He shined a light into her right eye, and stars exploded. She blacked out.
Mayuri caught Nozomi and lifted her off the ground. With a glance around he snarled, "Don't you have something better to be doing?"
The lab staff ran around for a moment, before gathering around a bunch of notes that Nozomi had probably gave them.
He carried her out of the lab and to their bedroom. He immediately drew the blinds, making the room pitch black.
"Nemu!" He yelled, immediately regretting it when Nozomi let out a pained whimper even in her passed out state.
His second-in-command appeared only moments later. "I need a full medical history on her entire family. And I want to know what she's working on, promise or not. Something is wrong, and if it affects her ability to have children, that old man will be riding me until I find another. This current situation suits me just fine."
Nemu bowed and disappeared.
Mayuri watched her thoughtfully for a few moments before disappearing into the bathroom and coming back with a cool rag. He laid it on her forehead then began to carefully undo her clothing, making her more comfortable.
He was about to leave her, when he turned back, pulled out a syringe, and took a blood sample from her.
"Tch. You seem like you are going to be more trouble than you are worth." Mayuri muttered, capping the needle and placing in a hidden pocket of his robe.
It took Nozomi two days to make it out of bed. The first thing she did was shower. It took only five minutes of standing under the hot spray before Mayuri joined her.
"What are you doing?" Nozomi asked, attempting to cover herself.
"Tch, I've seen it all already and more so with my monitoring of your vital signs these past two days." Mayuri muttered, pulling her hands down. "As for what I am doing, we haven't had the chance to attempt to reproduce in two days, as you've been unconscious. I've could have done my part of it, but Nemu seems to think that would have been wrong."
"She is right. It would have been wrong. And why do you have to make it sound so clinical and like a chore?" Nozomi snapped, trying to fight against his tight grip.
"Would you prefer I just walk up and say that I'm going to fuck you?" Mayuri asked, pushing her back against the cool tile wall, sliding forcing one of his legs between hers.
Nozomi sighed when he buried his face in her neck, nipping at her skin, and sucking on it lightly in other places.
She gave up fighting, and his hands released her arms to cup the back of her neck, and a breast. He moved his thumb back and forth slowly, bringing her nipple to a hard peak. His mouth trailed down, taking it into his mouth.
Nozomi let out a soft keening moan, as he released her neck and down trailed that hand, cupping her womanhood.
He released her nipple with a wet pop. "You are already getting wet." A finger slid into her just barely; Teasing and nothing more.
Nozomi felt head flush up her face at his words, but couldn't bring herself to stop the slow torture he was putting her through.
She clutched at his shoulders as he continued his assault, slowly preparing her body for his. Her legs shook badly, feeling weak from the two days of sleep and lack of food. But she wouldn't . . . no, she couldn't stop this. Not for anything.
"Of course I am." She panted. "You seem to know your way around my body already."
Mayuri simply glanced up at her and resumed his ministrations. "I need only to do something once to know all of its secrets,"
His mouth brushed over her stomach, then navel, and finally, found its way down to her secret place. His tongue replaces his fingers and Nozomi could do little but thread her fingers through his hair and hold on. In no time, he had her panting and begging for release.
He stopped, and smirked at her, before moving up her body and sheathing himself in once solid thrust. Nozomi felt her breath leave her in a rush as he filled her so completely. As he withdrew, sweat already beginning to form at his temples, she managed to gasp in a breath. She felt like she'd never get used to the sex. She'd always feel sore the next day, deliciously so, but still sore. She'd never stretch to accommodate him the way some girls did after a while. She'd always need preparation, always need time. There would never be a quickie for them. Well, unless she wanted to bleed and cry in pain.
His pace was picking up, announcing that he would soon come within her. She knew her peak was close too. She angled her hips and met his thrusts. Moments later, he grunted, spilling inside of her, and triggering her own release.
She cried out his name, shuddering, and clinging to him.
By the time she stopped shaking, the water had cooled some. Mayuri released her then, and left. Nozomi stared at the place he had been moments before, and wrapped her arms around herself. Without even trying, the man could make you realize how alone you were in the world. No soft spoken words and no professions of love- Clinical; that was Mayuri.
She shook herself and resumed her shower, getting out just as the water had turned icy. She wrapped herself in a towel and returned to the bedroom. Mayuri had already dressed and vacated it too. Huffing softly to herself, she dropped her towel and walked to the dresser for a change of clothes. Dressing quickly, she returned to the bathroom, picking up the towel on the way, and put it in the dirty clothes hamper. There, she ran a brush through her wet locks and did a quick and efficient bun.
She had lazed about enough. It was time to get back to work and find a cure for herself. With a glance around the bedroom one last time, she shut the door and headed down for her lap. Hopefully her scientists had found something to occupy her time.
Mayuri scanned over the notes he had copied from Nozomi's science journals. Detailed very carefully was a disease he himself had yet to come across. And if he had a good guess, and face it, he was never wrong- His wife suffered from it. Crippling headaches that would eventually lead to her going blind, being unable to eat, function, and she would waste away to nothing.
Nozomi had detailed every stage of the disease from watching her mother and sister waste away from it. She had talked to every person that attended her family during that time, and listed every cure that had been tried. Some had helped a little, and she made notations on those, others did nothing, and in one case, caused bleeding. Nozomi was methodical in everything she did, it seemed. She had a path she was attempting to take, but until she got into his squad, had no ways of pursuing it.
Mayuri sobered with the realization that if Nozomi had never written that letter to him, she would have wasted away in that little dingy apartment he had found her in. That might have been . . . unfortunate. All those brilliant ideas he had found in her journals while she had slept the better of two days away. She had built on ideas of him, improved some, or even had questions about how you could make completely new components by changing only one ingredient. His brilliant little wife . . . And if she hadn't angered him, she might be alone and dying.
Mayuri snarled silently and slammed the thick folder shut, and shoved the notes in his desk, out of sight. His interlaced his fingers and stared into the dim darkness that surrounded his desk. One small light illuminated a small area on his desk. In that small circle, set a picture he had taken out of her personal file. Nozomi was slightly younger in the picture, not wearing her glasses, and her hair was only shoulder length. In her academy uniform, she seemed nearly like a stranger. But that familiar intelligent spark was there in her eyes, and it was enough for him. He would never demean himself by asking for a picture of her.
A knock on his office door had him raising his eyes to it, but he was uninterested in talking to anyone. The knock came again, but he ignored it, instead letting his eyes slide down back to the photo of Nozomi. Maybe he could get Nemu to get a photo of her somehow. Not like she hadn't tried snapping pictures of other Captain's in her club she was in.
The door opened suddenly, causing Mayuri's head to snap up, snarl in place to tell off whoever dared enter his office. The insult died on his lips as he took in his wives form.
"Did you need something?" He asked, instead.
"My scientists said that you've been keeping them busy and on task. They also told me that you apparently have some of my notes copied. I'd like them back. Otherwise, you are breaking your word to me. You are not supposed to have any knowledge or inkling as to what I'm working on." Nozomi said- her shoulders tense as she met his gaze steadily.
Mayuri let his eyes slip down to her lips for just a moment before he went back to gazing at her photo on his desk. "No."
His eyes slipped back up in time to take her lips parting in surprise and her eyes widening behind her glasses frames. He cocked his head at her, knowing he was being just a dick, but not caring. It might be breaking a promise he made to her, but she also went into this marriage without telling him how unwell she was. That was a problem.
"You gave your word!" Nozomi sputtered, staring to come a little further into the office. She stopped when Mayuri raised a hand, signaling for her to do so.
"You have a disease. One that is unmapped except for what you have written down in your notes. It has killed members of your family, and you suffer as well. It cripples for you at days at a time, and might possibly pose a problem in our trying to get your pregnant. You are sick, and I am also having my team look for a cure. Both teams will actively seek out a cure. But even if mine finds one before yours, if you find it, or I find it, you get all the glory. All your research has led to this. You should be happy for the help, not getting angry at me for helping my wife! I have taken a few of your ideas and put them into tests. I have added a few more of my ideas to the notes I have. You should be grateful." Mayuri spoke softly, but by the end, his voice had picked up a little volume.
He watched Nozomi take a step back, leaning her back against the frame of his office door. She was shaken slightly, obviously a little off put by his small speech. She reached up and removed her glasses, letting her hand fall back down to her side.
"So, if I give you some ideas I have not written down, will you let me pick at that genius brain of yours?" She said it casually, but the spark in her eyes told him a different story suddenly. She wasn't shaking in fear . . . She was aroused. He watched as her tongue darted out to wet her lips.
He knew that sex could be had for just pleasure, not just a means to reproduce. Suddenly, he found himself thinking that sex wasn't such a bad thing after all. Not a chore. And as much as he wanted to take his wife on his office floor, he reined himself in and met her gaze. "Of course you can. We will discuss it all later tonight. Until then, I'm sure you have things you can be working on, as I have things I need to work on. Nozomi."
Nozomi knew a dismissal when she heard one. She gave a curt nod to Mayuri and left. Whatever he had been thinking about must have been big. She had no doubt that he knew what she would have wanted . . . Well, had he permitted it to happen. But Mayuri was clinical- she had to keep reminding herself that.
She gave herself a good shake and made her way back down to her lab. Her team was busy at work, pouring over notes, batches of medicine that had helped relieve some of the symptoms of her mom and sister. Until a cure was found, she could at least buy herself some time. Even if she didn't cure herself, no one else would hopefully have to suffer. And, with the medicines that had helped thus far, she might live long enough to give Mayuri his two required heirs. Then, he'd be free of it all. They couldn't force him to re-marry. And he'd have plenty of time to find cures for their children if they ended up with the disease.
She began to walk around, talking to the scientists, giving them tips if she thought they needed it, or asked for it, and overall, she just checked up on progress. Things were going well. With such a well assembled team, she had hope for the first time, in a long time.
She made her way to her office and sat down, opening one of her journals and pouring over her notes. She jotted some new ideas down for her team to work on, some possible leads. Then, she took another piece of paper and tore it out, writing down some things to discuss with Mayuri. He was the only one she'd trust with such risky things or ideas. Anyone else would try and talk her down. He would be willing to attempt something more dangerous. More importantly, he knew most medicines better than anyone else. He'd be able to tell her the success rate before they even tried it. Might cut out precious time, and possibly keep her from hospitalizing herself.
The day seemed to drag on, and Nozomi waited for Mayuri in their bedroom. In her lap, she had her book of notes, waiting for him to arrive so they could discuss a few things. She nervously scanned over her notes, making sure everything was in a neat, precise order, and she hadn't made any mistakes. He might very well tear her apart for a mistake. Mostly because she suspected he was the vindictive sort, and he really hadn't paid her back for the letter she sent him. A smirk tugged its way to her lips just as her husband walked in.
"What are you smiling at?" He snarled, shoving off his clothes and heading to the shower.
Nozomi let the small smirk drop from her lips as she took a deep breath through her nose and let it out via mouth. That, she wasn't expecting. Whatever happened between the time she left his office and now? She pursed her lips as the shower started up. Her fingers picked at the edges of her notes, bending the edges slightly.
A few minutes later, and trying to fruitlessly smooth back out the bent edges of her notebook, Mayuri stepped out of the bathroom naked.
Nozomi tongue slid over her lips in response, and Mayuri's lip curled up slightly in response. "You wanted to pick my brain?"
"I. . .uh, yeah. I did say that, didn't I?" Nozomi glanced down at her notes, trying to make sense of the words. "I have some stuff written down if you'd like to read over them and tell me what you think?"
Mayuri joined her up on the bed, but tossed her notes aside. "You are aroused." He hissed into her ear, running his tongue along the line of her neck. "I can see it. I can smell it."
"I was under the impression that you felt that sex was only for procreation." Nozomi murmured her hand reaching up to cut his cheek as he nibbled at her neck.
"We are still procreating. You are not yet pregnant." Mayuri pointed out.
"But we really should go over my notes. I'll be no good to you if I get another headache." Nozomi attempted to protest.
"With both teams working toward a cure, you will get your cure. And we must get you with child as soon as possible." Mayuri told her simply, his hands beginning to remove her clothing. "The sooner you are pregnant, the sooner I can devote myself fully back to my research."
"Have you ever heard of a mood killer? Because it just happened." Nozomi stated, leaning away from him. "So you might as well retrieve my notes, because that's the only interaction you are going to get from me tonight."
"I think not. You are at your prime for getting pregnant right now. You do it willingly or well. . ." Mayuri trailed off with a sneer.
Nozomi rolled her eyes. "You are so charming; you should right a romance novel. It would be a best seller! 'Rape- it's not just for strangers!' Best title ever!"
"Your glibness does you no credit." Mayuri sneered, his hand moving down and under her underwear. "And despite your 'no longer being' in the mood, you are wet still."
Nozomi sighed and relaxed. Might as well enjoy herself.
Nozomi rubbed at her eyes again, groaning softly.
"You suffer from these headaches often?" Captain Unohana asked.
"Yes, and it is nothing you need to worry about. My husband and I are actively looking for a cure for my problem. They aren't common headaches. And no, I will not go into details. Please, take no offense." Nozomi muttered.
Captain Unohana laughed surprisingly. "You and your husband are alike. Worry not." She wrote a few things down on your clipboard. "I am surprised that you are here. Mayuri told me that he could take care of his wife."
"So he told me." Nozomi said with a smirk crossing her lips. "And sometimes, women just need to talk to another woman. Or that's what he claimed you said. 'Girl talk.'"
Captain Unohana smirked at her and scribbled a few more things down on her clipboard. "You are surprisingly healthy despite whatever ails you. You keep your body in good shape, eat healthy. That's good for you and the baby."
Nozomi's hands immediately dropped down to her lower stomach. "I'm pregnant? How? When? I mean, we haven't been actively checking, but Mayuri has been actively trying to get me pregnant."
"You are further along than most of the girls who come and see me. About two and a half months. If you are normally nauseous from your headaches, you probably didn't even realize you might be having morning sickness. Well, not that everyone woman has been known to get it." Captain Unohana explained. "And while I know you said that you are looking for a cure, it might be safer for you to abstain taking it until after the child is born. We don't know what the cure would do to the child, rather it would hurt it. Mayuri's cures have been . . . controversial at times."
"I understand." Nozomi murmured. "If you don't mind, I think I'd like to return to my squad now. I want to tell Mayuri the news."
"Of course. Would you like one of my squad members to escort you back?" Captain Unohana asked.
"I think I would actually." Nozomi answered with a soft smile. "My mind is wondering. I would probably end up somewhere really bad. The last thing I need is for my husband to lecture me about something . . . again."
"Somehow, I feel like you get along with Captain Kurotsuchi just fine." Captain Unohana mused; as she slid open the door to the examining room. "Would someone please escort Kurotsuchi-san back to her barracks?"
As the squad member nodded and turned to her, Nozomi found herself thinking about how Mayuri would react to the news of her being pregnant. Would he be excited? Or would it just be a task he completed, like an experiment. Maybe he already knew and just didn't tell her? He hadn't actively tested her, but he slept less than she did. He could have taken a blood sample, or used some other invention that he had. Hell, he may have created it while she slept.
While they were all still actively looking for a cure for her crippling headaches, and had a few promising looking breakthroughs, nothing had yet led to a cure. And time was running out. She had only a few years left until she was at her sister's age. Worse, she was progressing worse than her sister was. Her sister progressed faster than their mother did. As time went on, the disease was getting faster. It was taking victims faster and faster as time continued.
Nozomi started as the member of Squad Four touched her arm go get her attention. "Sorry, just thinking. Let's go."
"Mayuri," Nozomi called his name gently to rouse him from his experiment. "Can I talk to you a minute?"
Mayuri gazed at her over his shoulder for a minute before turning to give a few instructions to one of his team. Satisfied that they would continue on without him, he turned and took Nozomi gently by the arm and led her from the lab.
Once they reached his office, he closed the door and took a seat behind his desk. "You wanted to talk, so talk."
"I went and seen Captain Unohana today. Checkup and all of that." Nozomi murmured, crossing her arms just under her breasts.
"I am more than capable of giving you a checkup!" Mayuri snapped, lacing his fingers together, glaring.
"We've been so busy lately, I figured I'd take the initiative to go and get a checkup done." Nozomi explained. She took a tentative step closer to the desk. "Captain Unohana said that I am about two and a half months along. She thinks that the symptoms I had from the pregnancy were easily overlooked because of the headaches."
Mayuri gazed down at her stomach, and then his eyes narrowed. "Even more of a reason to find the cure you so desperately need."
"Captain Unohana thinks that even if we find a cure that we should wait until after the baby is born." Nozomi explained.
"We may not have that kind of time." Mayuri told her raising his eyes to meet hers.
"What are you talking about?" Nozomi asked, her veins filling with ice.
"I took the initiative to make sure I'd have test subjects to test possible cures on. I infected them with your blood. The disease has latched onto them and it accelerated to match the speed in which it attacks you. They aren't fighting it as well as you do. Even with the small attempts at cures you have done to yourself."
"You infected others with my disease?" Nozomi cried out. "What the hell gives you the right?"
"Most of them were going to die anyways. I pulled most of them out of prison."
"Most," Nozomi scoffed. "And where did the others come from?"
"Some are your team members who volunteered. They have taken quite a liking to you. Enough to infect themselves with your diseases, and test cures on themselves to try and cure you." Mayuri spoke softly.
"These people will die if a cure isn't found." Nozomi stated coldly. "These puts more stress and pressure than I need!? Don't you understand that this makes me worse? It will make them feel worse? Stress doesn't help us at all!"
"This is why as long as you are pregnant you will not be working." Mayuri told her. "The child is a lot more important at this point."
"Of course, because you only will need me to pop out one more. Who cares if I don't survive the second birth? You'll have your children. And if I am gone, you can do what you wish, right?" She couldn't stop the tear that leaked form her eye.
"Contrary to what you think or believe, I am trying to cure you. I find I do not mind your company. I am trying to cure you. I am ensuring that all my promises about our children are kept. The best way to do that is to keep you near me at all times. You are the reason that I am allowing Nemu to avidly look for herself a husband. You are the reason that moral within my own squad is up. Now tell me if I am being unreasonable. We both know that I hold no value to life; until you came along. I am working hard to cure you, my wife; because I have no plans on letting you escape me." Mayuri snarled softly.
Nozomi let her hand come up to her throat. "Let me help."
"No." Mayuri answered softly.
"How are you today Nozomi-chan?" Nemu asked as she walked into her bedroom with lunch.
"I am fine Nemu. How are you today? Any luck in your search?" Nozomi asked, sitting up and setting her book aside. "And, if you are able to, tell me what's going on in the lab. Mayuri has guards set up. I can't even walk in that direction without being escorted back to my room and tucked in like a child."
"I have been on a few dates. Not many men are as smart as me, Mayuri-sama, or you. So the pool to choose from is not very large. And I have an interest in seeing what potential children between the possible male and me will look like. I run their DNA and mine; choosing to see what possible looks can happen if a child is born between us."
"Nemu, you shouldn't do that. Love comes naturally and through similar likes. Not from what DNA can produce." Nozomi scolded gently. "That isn't the way to do things. You should try just talking to them. Don't ask for blood samples, or take a hair. Just talk to them. If you want to meet them again, do so. If you feel like nothing will come of it, just don't talk to them again. It's that simple."
"Mayuri-sama had me break into your apartment and take a sample via a hair I found on your pillow. He was interested to see what your possible children might look like. That's why he went through with his plan to convince you to marry him." Nemu pointed out.
Nozomi managed to snap her mouth close and glare. "Then you won't mine telling Mayuri to come and see me . . . immediately."
"Nemu has no business telling you that." Mayuri snapped, pacing the length of their room. "And what does it matter. I chose you, you agreed to marry me, and we are having a child."
"But you profile me via DNA?" Nozomi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I was profiling you days before I got your DNA." Mayuri said smoothly. "Your DNA was just a plus. I had made my decision long before I got ahold of your DNA. Your picture alone helped me make my decision."
"Your words don't ease the fact that I feel like you used my DNA to choose me to make the perfect baby. Like a prize winning horse being paired with a mare of perfect breeding." Nozomi pointed out.
"If I was really concerned about that, I would have used your illness to abolish our marriage and select someone new." Mayuri snapped. "I would prefer to discuss this later! I am working hard on find a cure for you!"
As he swept out of the room, Nozomi sighed and dropped her hand down to her stomach. "Child, if you aren't aware, your father is a jerk. But he sometimes means well."
SIX MONTHS LATER
"Mayuri," Nozomi cried out, squeezing his hand harder. "Please, please get Captain Unohana!"
"My scientists are perfectly capable of helping you give birth to our child." Mayuri snapped.
"If you do not get me Captain Unohana, you will never touch me sexually again! I swear it! No amount of drugs, tying me down, or sweet talking will get me to have your next child!" Nozomi screamed in his face. "This is painful, and I want Captain Unohana here to help!"
Mayuri let out a 'tsk' and signaled something to one of his squad members.
Nozomi breathed through each contraction, squeezing her husband's hand as each one hit. He took the pain with a stoic face, every once in a while, reaching up with a cool cloth to wipe the sweat away from her brow.
Who knows how long it really was, but after what seemed like an eternity, Captain Unohana showed up with several of her squad members, and carting several bags of supplies. Upon seeing her, she immediately began issuing orders.
"Why wasn't I reached immediately? With Nozomi-san's health already at risk, this child might already be at a disadvantage!" She snapped at Mayuri. "Despite what you think Mayuri, you are not god. You can't do everything, and you don't know everything."
Mayuri stood, about to argue when Nozomi went into another contraction.
Unohana pushed him out of the way and knelt down between her legs. "This baby is coming fast. It's ready to crown. It's too late for any pain medication. Get ready."
Mayuri took up Nozomi's hand again, kneeling by her head.
"I can't do this!" She cried, squeezing his hand. "It hurts too much!"
"You are doing fine." Mayuri assured her, touching her brow. "You will be fine."
"Her blood pressure is too high!" One of the Squad Four members informed Captain Unohana. "She is at serious risk."
Unohana took a moment to glare at Mayuri before issuing more orders.
"Mayuri," Nozomi whispered. As he glanced down at his wife, a tear slid down her face. "I'm scared. I really don't think I can do this."
Mayuri glanced at Unohana, who had her mouth pressed into a thin line.
"Mayuri . . ." Nozomi whispered, before her eyes rolled back in her head.
"Cut the baby out!" Unohana ordered, moving up toward Nozomi's face. "Nozomi, can you hear me? Nozomi!"
The cries of a baby breathed the room and Mayuri barely glanced at it as he focused on his wives face. It was pale, and her sweat was already cooling.
"I don't have a pulse." A Squad Four member called out.
Mayuri reached inside of his jacket and pulled out a syringe. "Move."
Captain Unohana glanced at him, opening her mouth to argue but stopped. She moved aside as Mayuri plunged the syringe into his wives chest, pushing the plunge in.
"What is that?" Captain Unohana asked.
"Her cure, I found it a week ago." He stated as he pulled out another syringe, "And this is adrenaline." He shoved the needle into her arm and pushed the plunger in. Then, he raised up on her knees and began to do compressions on her chest.