Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters as they belong to Tite Kubo, but I do sorta own my Original Character in this story, Ume Mikashin.

Ch. 2: Morning Sickness

He spent most all of his time researching in his laboratory. He rarely went outside. When Mayuri did go outside, people would stare at him like the freak he was. He didn't care, but he didn't like when people made a huge fuss over something that really wasn't a big deal. It was on rare occasions he would step outside and usually it was for only one two reasons. Either he was following his Taichou, Urahara Kisuke, somewhere important or he would go out to the second division or a third seat gathering to meet Ume.

Ume also rarely made it out of her assigned place – the Nest of Maggots. After Urahara Kisuke became Taichou of division twelve, Ume had been promoted to third seat of division two and head of the detention unit. The promotion made complete sense. She was skilled in every form of battle, both mental and physical and seemed to devote her entire being to that very center. Promoting her to head of it made perfect sense.

Every once in a while, he would file a request to meet her. Usually he would cite that he had new "prison technology" to show her or inform her about. Or he would cite that he was there for a mental and emotional check-up, one of the many things he had complied to do in order to leave the Nest of Maggots to begin with. Shihouin Yoruichi never minded him returning to the Nest of Maggots, apparently. In fact, he had overheard her talk with Urahara Kisuke about how her third seat seemed to be even more lonely since Mayuri left. Urahara also commented that Ume seemed to act differently now that her favorite prisoner was no longer a prisoner at all.

Part of Mayuri regretted leaving her, but part of him rejoiced in the fact he could now see her with no restraint or cell separating them. He was her equal now. Both of them were third seats. Yet, even though he was no longer imprisoned, she was. She was imprisoned in the facility she lived to serve.

He was going to meet her again today. It had been two years since he had left. Two long years, and he had only formally talked to her twenty three times at the monthly third seat gatherings and personally talked to her six times after filing requests to visit her in the detention center. He missed her more than anything and was thankful he had his research to keep him at ease.

He took a few steps, the doors of the nest of Maggots opening and closing behind him in a blink of an eye. Ume stood before him, a smile on her face as she welcomed him back. He noticed a small difference in appearance from the last time he had saw her. She had a small scratch on her right cheek.

"What happened to your cheek?" Mayuri asked instinctively.

Ume sighed, turning to walk, "I was careless. I had my guard down and was attacked. I was able to stop the attacker, but he scratched me. It's no big deal, Mayuri..."

Mayuri took note of the fact Ume seemed eager to drop the topic of her cheek so he let it pass. He began to follow her to her office. It was a solemn walk. He passed by not only his former cell (which seemed uninhabited), but the main detention facility as well. He hated seeing the shinigami there because he knew they were the reason Ume was confined to this place.

Eventually, they got to her office. It was a small room. It had nothing, but a very small bed, two small chairs, desk and large computer in it. The computer was most likely the shinigami database. The room seemed cleaner than it used to be, which made it seem larger, but still small at the same time. Back when Urahara was head of the detention unit, Mayuri recalled the office being messy. When he left two years ago, this room was a pig's sty, but every paper in this room was now stacked neatly on her desk. The walls were a dark green, unchanged since Urahara had painted them four years ago. Making the room seem even darker was the cheap, black carpeting and the light that seemed like it was barely there.

"You filed a request to see me for a mental and emotional check-up. That is a lie, right? Why did you really come to see me, Mayuri?" Ume spoke, sitting down in the larger chair of the two.

Mayuri looked at the other chair, it was across from her desk which was somewhat cluttered due to its small size. He didn't want to sit there. He decided then to just stand until she asked him to sit and he decided not to answer her question either, "Have you ever been scared of me, Ume? Do you find me to be... a freak?"

He was never one to be self-conscious and in all honesty, he wasn't still. He was curious, though, if Ume found him to be attractive despite his numerous physical abnormalities and personality defects. He knew he was a freak, but he didn't care. He was quite happy with the way he looked, but he was unsure if she liked the way he looked at all.

Ume smiled, her green eyes glowing in the dim, fluorescent light that illuminated the dark room. She was so beautiful, the complete opposite of him in every way. That frightened him, yet intrigued him at the same time.

"You don't scare me, Mayuri. You're attractive in your own freakish, but likable way," She lightly giggled. "You never set out to scare me, did you? If you did, I never noticed. You're smart, easy to talk to and all you want is to know more about the world. You think highly of yourself, even when people think lowly of you. And you don't look like the freak you assume you look like – at least to me. Underneath all that face and body paint, that helmet-hat thing, and the fact you have no ears is a gorgeous man. Your gold eyes, blue hair and all the scars that keep you together are extremely attractive. All of your defects and abnormalities make you even more attractive."

Her face was almost completely red. His face was also feeling very hot. She had just admitted that she found him attractive? Impossible. But she would never lie to him. She was telling the truth.

This was the first time in his life that the truth scared him.

"I can hardly believe a woman as perfect as you finds me attractive," Mayuri looked away, thankful that this room was dark.

Ume began to tap her fingers on her desk, giving a large sigh,"Perfect? I am in no way perfect. There is no such thing as perfect in the world. That may be cliché, but it is the truth. There is no point in achieving perfection. Nope. Nothing. Not a single thing. If something is perfect, then there is nothing left. There's no imagination. There's no room to grow. I'm not perfect. If I was perfect then a scientist such as yourself would have no interest in me."

Mayuri was stunned. He had to completely agree. He had to find a fault with her somewhere. He stepped closer to her and then he saw it in her eyes – loneliness. Despite everything she had and everything she was, she was lonely and miserable. Perfection, last time Mayuri checked, meant happiness, didn't it? Or did perfection only bring unhappiness to those who were so close to obtaining it?

"Perfection only brings despair, right? For a scientist especially. We create and create, but we only create what is best – not what is perfect. A scientist has to... A scientist has to find pleasure while suffering from that paradox," Mayuri paused deeply, then poised to speak again, "I was incorrect in assuming you were perfect. I see it now. Even a woman such as yourself has many flaws. You're sad and you like things to go your way, but things never seem to. You're...beautiful, but you don't know it. There are things about you that I do not comprehend whatsoever."

Beauty. Attraction. Perfection. Flaws. Had both of them just confessed to being attracted to one another?

Ume and Mayuri were silent for a minute until Ume got up out of her seat.

"Why are you here, Mayuri? You never answered my question. Perhaps you don't have an answer?" The purple-haired woman stared, her green eyes leering into his mind.

It wasn't that he had no answer. He always had an answer. He just didn't want to say why he had come. He didn't want to tell her that he had come just to speak with her like they were doing now. He didn't want to say he had come just because he felt like he needed to.

He grinned, "Ever since that day, you haven't addressed me as 'Mayuri-sama'... Why is that. Ume?"

Mayuri was fond of changing the subject around her. He loved the feeling of controlling the conversation so she would tell him her deepest feelings.

"You seem to be fond of changing topics, Mayuri. I'll answer your question, though," Ume took a deep breath as she took a step closer to him, "You had won that day. You had bested me. You made me feel defeat... And I thought it would be the last time I would see you so I decided to give you something to remember me by. I never thought that you would come back to the Nest of Maggots to see me once you were released. You did come back, though, but when you came back you came back as a fellow third seat. You were my equal."

Mayuri closed his eyes, sighing, "I've bested you again, though. You comply to me and I have gotten you to admit your feelings once again. The truth is, I came here to just see you. Nothing more, nothing less. I enjoy talking to you. You seem to be the only person who can adequately satisfy my conversational needs. What was this about you knowing I was going to leave, though?"

Ume began to smile after hearing that. She began to smile so much that she almost cried – almost.

"They had made an announcement a week in advance that Hikifune Taichou of Division Twelve was being promoted. Therefore, they needed a new Taichou and fast. There were two obvious prospects: Urahara Kisuke, Third Seat of Division two and head of the detention unit, or Aizen Sosuke, Fukutaichou of Division five. I figured they would pick Urahara and they did. Even before he was chosen to be the next Taichou of Twelfth division, he had asked about you and the personal records I had kept on you. After he was chosen he said that Soul Society should have some sort of institute of research and that you would fit in well there since you were such an inquisitive person. That final night I served you dinner, I knew would be my last time doing so..." Ume spoke, not even able to look Mayuri in the eye.

This girl was smart. She knew how things would unfold before anybody else did. She knew exactly what was going to happen just after hearing one announcement.

"I hope you aren't mad, Mayuri. I knew what was going to happen and I didn't tell you. It-It makes me really happy, though, to know you came here just to see me. It seems like you always find a way to come out on top over me and make me admit what I'm really feeling. If you want me to, I don't mind addressing you as 'Mayuri-sama' in private," A light smile played her lips.

Mayuri-sama. It sounded good. Mayuri-sama. It sounded really good coming from her.

He wanted to hear his name coming from her lips again.

"Please. I'd like you to address me as that and nothing more from now on, Ume," Mayuri said. He moved over to Ume, his hand coming up to touch her hair. It felt silky and smooth, amazing to the touch.

Ume blushed again, her green eyes meeting his gold.

She began to bite her lip in anticipation, "What do we do now, Mayuri-sama?"

Mayuri took a moment to think. He had no answer. He had no answer at all?

"Honestly, I have no idea. I'm not good at these kinds of things." He continued to touch her hair, which caused the girl to blush even more that she already was.

This was a strange meeting – completely unlike any of the meetings they had in the past.

Neither of them knew what to do now that they confessed their mutual attraction to each other and tied up a few loose ends. Mayuri cleared his throat, determined to make the situation less awkward, "How would you assess my mental and emotional state now?"

Ume laughed at the statement as she turned and wrote something down on a piece of paper.

"Your mental state is fine. Your emotional state, however, is a little confused. Perhaps, you are in love with someone?" the purple-haired woman smiled.

Mayuri froze. Love. Love? Love. What was the definition of love again?1. A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness. 2. A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair; the emotion of sex and romance. 3. An intense emotional attachment, as for a pet or treasured object. 4. A person who is the object of deep or intense affection or attraction; beloved. Often used as a term of endearment. or 5. Sports. A zero score in tennis.

Out of all those definitions, Mayuri definitely felt a combination of both one and two. However, although he knew the definition of the word love, he was unsure of how to practice it.

Ume sighed, looking at Mayuri's puzzled face, "I'm sorry. Perhaps I assumed too quickly. It seemed to me like you were–"

"I need to do research. I need to do research... I'm sorry, but I have to go. Goodbye, Ume," Mayuri quickly scurried out the door.

Ume began to giggle. So, he was in love with her, but he had no idea what to do? She smiled, "Goodbye... Mayuri-sama..."

Mayuri leaned his head against her door, being able to pick up her last words.

He needed to do research. He needed to research what couples do.

He needed to talk to an expert on the subject.

He needed to talk to Urahara.

To be continued.

A/N: QUICK UPDATE FTW. I want to get this story out like clockwork. Unfortunately, I just realized that I need to do a history project and memorize my lines for my theatre class or else face really bad consequences. Eh. I'm going to do it, though. I'll strike while the iron is hot. Let's see... I wanted this chapter to be romantic, yet Mayuri-like at the same time. I was planning for them to kiss, but then I realized that both of them had no idea what to do. Mayuri needs to do some research. He's going to ask Urahara. Haha, Mayuri's like a little kid basically. Thanks a lot for the reviews so far, by the way. Five in one day? That reminds me of my good, ol' Flowers and Petals days. BTW, I'd like to touch upon the reason as to why I excluded Hiyori out of the first chapter. Personally, I wanted to exclude Urahara out, too, but I couldn't do that. I want to include as little characters as possible in this story besides Mayuri, Ume and eventually Nemu. At least, while building Ume and Mayuri's relationship up, I want them to interact mainly with each other and those that they need to. BTW, notice how I quoted from Mayuri in his fight with Szayel? Yep. I went there. I got some ideas for a few more chapters so don't leave me yet. Reviews please? I love reviews. :)