I do not own Bleach or any of the characters.

Decision

Kurai opened his eye and groaned. He and Nemu were in beds beside each other in a gymnasium-sized room filled with wounded. He had only a few bandages over the wound in his abdomen and Nemu with an IV, a large portion of her body bandaged heavily, and a heart monitor. Aside from that, they were both fine. Kurai sat up, groaning, and Hanataro hurried over, trying to tell him to lay back down but he simply shook his head just before Uryu walked in with Yoshino.

"Yoshino, when did you get here?" Kurai asked.

"Just a little while ago," Yoshino smiled. "I heard you were wounded, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," Kurai smiled. "How are things going out there Uryu?"

"Not well," Uryu stated. "Kariya found a crest called the Jokai Crest, a Crest with immeasurable power that will destroy the Soul Society when used. And apparently it's not the only one. But when that one's power is unleashed, the others will all explode in a chain reaction. Fortunately, we have a full day to find him before he can use the crest."

"How will we kill him if he can absorb Reishi?" Kurai asked.

"Ran'Tao, the person who created the Bounts, is looking into it," Uryu stated. "Coincidentally, Ran'Tao is the person that Yoshino's artificial soul was cloned from, allowing them to look exactly alike. But there are only two left. Mabashi was killed by Soi-fon, the one with the whale-like Doll was killed by Mayuri, and the girl found me. Hope you don't mind me stealing yours."

"Not at all," Kurai laughed. "The others are all yours if you want. I can't exactly go anywhere."

"Your wound doesn't look that bad," Uryu stated.

"It's not his he's concerned about," Yoshino smiled. "It's hers."

She nodded at Nemu and Uryu grinned then nodded.

"Alright," Uryu nodded. "Yoshino and I are going back out to look for the Bounts. Join us as soon as you can."

"I will," Kurai nodded and his two visitors turned and left.

"You're not going to look for the Bounts?" Nemu spoke up and Kurai turned to her, smiling.

"Not much point," Kurai stated. "Ichigo can handle Kariya, but I can't touch him. As for the others, they'll all die too, whether before or after Ichigo kills Kariya, or fails to do so."

"What do you mean?" Nemu asked.

"If he succeeds in killing Kariya, just that the others will handle them," Kurai stated. "If Ichigo fails, Kariya is going to destroy the Soul Society and everything in it. He'll detonate something called the Jokai Crest and begin a chain reaction of other Jokai exploding around the Soul Society."

"I see," Nemu nodded. "What happened?"

"Kariya blasted the door and a piece of it nearly crushed you, probably what knocked you out too," Kurai stated. "I tried to fight him but it didn't work out well. He broke my last syringe and I only had enough left to get us here before it wore off and I was unable to stand. Luckily Hanataro found us within a few seconds."

"You saved me?" Nemu asked.

"Yeah," Kurai nodded.

"Thank you," Nemu smiled just before the door slammed open and Mayuri stormed in, making everyone stop and watch.

"I leave you in charge for two hours and you destroy the entire building, then you have the gall to lay around and do nothing?" Mayuri nearly screamed.

Kurai didn't have his zanpakuto, as he had left it behind at Research and Development when escaping with Nemu. Instead, he looked around, seeing one of the wounded Squad Eleven member's leaning against the head of his bed.

"Get up you worthless, lazy, piece of garbage," Mayuri spat, standing at the foot of her bed.

"No," Kurai spoke up. "If she goes anywhere, she'll die. She's not going anywhere until she's healed."

"Was I talking to you?" Mayuri growled. "Get up Nemu. Now!"

"She can't leave," Kurai growled picking up and drawing the zanpakuto. "And if you try to force her, you'll die."

"That's not even your zanpakuto," Mayuri snorted. "You can't fight me with that."

"Rukia fought a bount with a normal sword," Kurai stated. "If she can do that, I can kill you with someone else's zanpakuto."

Mayuri stared at him for a moment then turned back to Nemu.

"Nemu, get out of that bed and come follow me like a good girl," Mayuri ordered turning and walking away.

"No," Nemu whispered after a moment, voice barely loud enough to hear but everyone knew what she had said, especially when Mayuri froze before slowly turning around to give her a death glare.

"What did you just say to me?" Mayuri snarled. "I don't think I heard you right."

"I said no," Nemu repeated, a little louder but her voice shaking.

"That's what I thought you said," Mayuri growled.

Then, he spun, reaching for her throat but Kurai caught his wrist then twisted, breaking it. He shoved Mayuri backward and Mayuri swore loudly as Kurai stepped between him and Nemu, holding the point of the blade to his throat.

"You got your answer," Kurai stated coldly. "Now get the fuck out."

"I would, but it seems that my wrist is broken," Mayuri growled. "I may need to have it looked at."

He held it up and the hand dangled a good inch from where it had been connected to the wrist a moment ago.

"Looks find to me," Kurai shrugged.

Mayuri glared at him then turned and walked out of the building, leaving everyone in stunned silence. Kurai returned the zanpakuto to its sheath then its previous spot and sat down, grinning to himself.

"What made you say no?" Kurai asked. "You clearly have never done that before."

"I don't know," Nemu admitted. "Partially that I didn't want to die but...there was something else. And I'm not sure why."

"What was it?" Kurai asked.

"I didn't want...to let you down," Nemu said, barely whispering the last part and blushing but Kurai still heard, being the only person to.

He smiled and moved over to sit on the bed beside her then slipped his hand into hers.

"In that case, thank you," He smiled. "It means a lot."

Nemu smiled and nodded and he looked around just as Ichigo walked in, carrying Haruko.

"There's my baby," Kurai smirked standing up and walking over. "Thank you."

"Figured you wouldn't appreciate it being left with Kariya," Ichigo smirked. "How is she?"

"She'll live," Kurai sighed. "Had to chase Mayuri off with a borrowed Zanpakuto but that was kinda fun, and I got to break his wrist. Oh, and the best part, she said no to him for the first time ever."

"Impressive," Ichigo grinned. "You're the world's worst example."

"I agree," Kurai grinned. "No, do me a favor. Go find Kariya, and kill him."

Ichigo nodded and turned around, leaving. Kurai sat in a chair beside Nemu's bed and took her hand again.

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