2. Library Research
A soft knocking sound announced Isane's presence at Unohana's office door.
"Come on in Isane."
The fuku-taicho entered very hesitantly and slowly. She had no idea, why her taicho-sama had ordered her into her office during the middle of the day. Normally, she would only be called after difficult cases, if there were mistakes made during treatment or if Unohana had to discuss some ideas for improving her medical team's performance.
But none of these reasons applied to today's situation: there had been no special cases since the menos grande attack three weeks ago. Also, given that squad four had to deal only with the usual injuries, no mistakes were made by herself or reported at all. And lastly, Unhana-taicho had just announced this morning at the monthly staff meeting that she was very pleased with everybody's work performance. So why did Isane had to come to her?
"You wanted to see me, taicho-sama?", Isane bowed her head, standing otherwise very rigid in front of Unohana.
"Yes Isane. There is a matter I need to discuss with you and I thought we could talk about it while having some tea together. "
At these words Isane looked up to her taicho, a fleeting anxious look on her face before she pulled herself together. Unahana Retsu, being one of the most observant shinigami and knowing her fuku-taicho very well, however saw it.
"There is no reason to worry, Isane. No treatment errors have been done and I am very satisfied with your work here at the squad."
Seeing some relief on her assistant's face, Unohana pointed to a low table, where already two cups and a tea can had been prepared. They both took their seats and Isane relaxed slightly. It couldn't such a bad situation. After all, she had always enjoyed drinking a cup of tea with Unohana together. There just hadn't been enough time during the past three weeks, because she had spent literally every free minute in the main library, searching for books to improve her kido healing skills.
When starting her little research project, Isane quickly realized that it would take a lot of time. First of all, there were thousands of books about healing techniques, herbal remedies, human medicine and shinigami medicine and their effective combination. So the question was, where to start? What would help her taicho the most?
It was just yesterday evening that Isane found a very promising book about old kido healing spells. It looked like, when mastered, these spells were not only able to heal up even the most troublesome injuries of a shinigami, but they would do so instantaneous. That would be a great advantage as there were many shinigami in Seireitei, who hated being stuck in the squad's care unit for no obvious reason.
"We haven't had tea together for quite a while my dear Isane. Every time I wanted to ask you after work, you were already gone. It almost looks like you are trying to avoid me. And if that is the case I would like to know the reason for it."
Isane was horror-stricken by her taicho-sama's words. How could she think, that she would avoid her on purpose? The only reason, she could not spent so much time with her drinking tea, was, to be of better help in the future und thus spending a lot of time learning. Of course her taicho did not know about her late research activity. And for some reason Isane had decided not to talk about it - not yet. Besides, it never occurred to her, that drinking tea with the fuku-taicho was of such an important matter to Unohana.
"I am sorry to have given such an impression, Unohana-taicho. It was never my intention to avoid you. I was just catching up on some reading about old case files."
That wasn't all lied, but close enough to sound true, Isane thought. Reading about old healing techniques automatically involved reading about old cases. She just hoped, Unohana would believe her and drop this topic.
"Why would you read about old cases?", Unohana asked curiously.
Certainly, there were times when she herself read about old cases, especially when confronted with a very difficult case or at a loss for new ideas. Given that the main library had such files in abundance, she was almost always bound to find a solution for her problem. However, she did not need to do that for several month now, so why did her fuku-taicho find it necessary?
"Well, I thought it would be a good idea. See, we had so many different cases and I learned a lot while watching you. But sometimes I find it hard to remember all the things you showed me. So I thought, I would review the cases. If a similar case turns up, I do not have to ask you about it and you could focus on the more difficult and new cases", Isane responded with an odd smile.
It was true, that in the past she had done exactly that. But that was at the beginning of her time in squad four. Since she became the fuku-taicho, she had never to do that again, because she found herself being a quick study for medical techniques and learned everything Unhana taught her instantly.
"I see. Well Isane, while your intentions and actions are admirable, I also want to remind you to take some time to relax - your body and mind. I noticed over the past weeks, that you look very jaded. Almost like you get only a minimum of sleep and doing nothing else but work."
That was actually nailing the truth. Finding herself overwhelmed with the amount of available literature, Isane had worked out a very tough working schedule for herself. After her shift, she would go straight to the library for five hours. She would have spent more time there, but the library closes after midnight. So then, she would go home and do some more review on her day's discoveries before allowing herself four to five hours of sleep.
She figured, she needed to sleep as much at least. Otherwise Unohana may find out, what she was up to. Or, even worse, she would make a mistake and thus increase her taicho's workload. And now Unohana was on the very verge of finding out about her activities. Isane was sure, that Unohana Retsu would not approve her actions, if finding out what her current work schedule looked like.
Did she really look so tired? True, she hasn't been as energetic as before, but she thought, she was the only one to notice. Then again, one should never underestimate the fourth taicho's observant eyes. Some of Isane's thoughts must have shown themselves on her face, because suddenly her taicho continued with noticeable suspicion in her voice.
"Isane, how many hours have you been sleeping recently? And how much time did you spent relaxing besides that?"
Oh oh, now she was in trouble. Isane couldn't lie straight into Unhana's face. She decided to admit half the truth and hope for the best.
"Well, I find these cases so interesting, that I almost always forget the time. So I guess, I did not get as much sleep during the past days as usual", Isane responded with the most candid looking face she could muster.
"I am sorry, if I worried you. But I swear, I am fine and everything is alright."
Unohana sighed silently at these words. It was obvious, that Isane was not telling the full truth but she did not want to drive her fuku-taicho into a more difficult position right now. So she opted for the second best solution - supporting her in her efforts and thus hopefully diminish some of Isane's exertion.
"That is alright, Isane. So why don't you let me help you?"
"What do you mean, taicho-sama?" This was definitely not good.
"Well, if you are reviewing some of our old cases, who better to review them with than me? We talk about them and you can ask me any questions about them, or even exchange ideas with me on how to improve the treatment even further. Thus we both would gain something out of it."
Isane felt her inside crunch painfully at this suggestion. This was not only not good, this was terrible. She wanted to decrease her taicho's workload, not increase it. Besides, she was convinced, that the knowledge gain out of such conversations would not be mutual. And she certainly did not want to burden her captain with her own incompetence. No way, never! Just, how to tell her that?
"Unohana-taicho, I thank you for your kind offer, but that is not necessary. Besides, you have so much to do, how could I demand even more of your time just for my selfish reasons?" Isane heard herself pleading at this point.
"You do not demand more of my time. Besides, how could I let you work so hard and refuse you any support?"
"But taicho, I ..."
"Isane." And suddenly there was this well reserved and dangerous smile again, indicating that the topic was not up for discussion anymore.
"I really wish to help you in your efforts. I am also aware, that such conversations need to be prepared. So I suggest, that we meet twice a week, say Tuesday and Friday after work for an hour. We will have tee and you can tell me, what cases you are working on and what thoughts you have about it. Does that sound reasonable enough?"
Isane felt that was a question not to be answered by anything but yes.
"Hai Unohana-taicho. Thank you very much for your help. I will make sure to make good use of it." Isane responded in a humble voice, lowering her head once more.
"Very well Isane. Now drink you tea, it's getting cold."
Isane did as told while thinking about solutions to get out of this mess. She certainly did not want to have too many of such "research talks", because that would cost her captain way too much time. But she couldn't tell her captain she had stopped her research too soon, either.
So what was the solution? Well, she would spend every Monday and Thursday evening looking up difficult or new cases. That would usually mean reading files, in which taichos were injured. Given their strength and fighting abilities, such fighting injuries were bound to be very severe and the following treatment quite complicated.
Yes, she would do that for about a month. And then she could tell Unohana, that thanks to her great help, she feels on top of the medical treatment subject again, so that she did not need her help anymore but could continue without her. That sounded like a good plan. That was a great plan!
"Isane, why are you suddenly smiling?"
"I am just enjoying my time here with you, taicho-sama."