4. Calm before the storm
Isane followed her taicho silently, thoughts spinning in her mind. What was going on? Why did Unohana-sama demand to talk to her right now, when there were so many patients that needed their attention?
It couldn't have anything to do with her sleeping habits. After all, Unohana had asked her several times during their scientific discussions, whether everything was alright and Isane had always managed to convince her superior, that everything was indeed. Besides, this alone would not justify keeping them both from tending to their patients.
It neither could have anything to do with their tea meetings as well. First of all, there would be one tonight - so no need to rush. Second, after realizing that Unohana was very serious about these talks, Isane had put in every possible effort to make them a success for both of them. Meaning, she had reduced her maximum sleeping hours from five to four every night, in order to manage the extra workload besides reading about the old kido spells, she had found a couple of weeks ago.
Of course, that also meant, that her plan of getting out of these talks after a month time went down the drain. How could she have convinced her taicho, that she had gained enough knowledge out of their conversations, when she indeed had a thousand new questions coming up every time a meeting came to an end? On the one hand, Isane was very impressed by the knowledge and skills of Unohana-taicho - as always. On the other hand, she then felt even more inapt to help her in a sufficing manner, being made aware of the big gab in knowledge every single time.
So what was it, that Unohana wanted to talk about? It was really confusing. After all, she could not know about Isane beginning to have any flu symptoms. No, that was impossible. They just started to show up this morning and neither a sore throat nor a headache are clearly visible symptoms. And, thanks to the energy pill, she took an hour ago, Isane looked fresh like an early morning in spring right now.
Indubitably, Unohana did not know anything about her being on drugs. Otherwise that would totally explain her behavior. Or did she? At that moment it hit Isane with full force. Hanataro Yamada had seen her in the storage holding on the energy pills in her hand! Was it possible, that he did not believe her story of necessary refills after all? Yes, seeing that it was usually him in charge of these matters. Though, why would he bring such a comparatively small matter to taicho-sama's attention right away? That did not make any sense in Isane's eyes at all, leaving her in a confused and frustrated state, while following Unohana.
Suddenly Unohana came to a halt. Looking around Isane realized where they had been heading - right to Unohana-taicho's main office. Unohana opened the door and stepping aside, let Isane enter first. Reluctantly the fuku-taicho did, still feeling at a lost, what the whole situation was about.
While passing her, Unohana scrutinized her assistant. She did not like at all, what she was seeing. Isane's steps were shaky, almost like walking on ice, her shoulders were bended -all in all she was rather slouching than going. Her brow was coated with a fine film of sweat. And her eyes were frantically moving around, as if in fear of something, while missing the bright light that usually dwelled within them.
A stranger might have thought, Kotetsu Isane must be in perfect shape. Unohana was only able to see those signs, because she knew her Isane so well. And because she knew, that her fuku-taicho had taken a very powerful energy pill, thus concealing any indications for tiredness and stress. For a short moment Unohana's face was marked by sorrow. However, she could not let Isane see her worries so discernibly. She sighed inwardly, closed the door and walked over to her desk.
"Isane, please take a seat."
"Hai, taicho-sama."
Both woman took their respective places, feeling the tension in the air. While Unohana made every effort to take a good look into Isane's face, the fuku-taicho did everything to prevent that. After a minute of this silent battle, Unohana asked in a very calm voice:
"Isane, do you know, why I have brought you here?"
"No, Unohana-taicho. I do not. As far as I know, everything is in order. There are no problems with treating the patients, every member of your staff works at peak proficiency, we have enough medical supplies and there have been no complains made by the other squads", Isana answered in a serious tone.
She really did not know, why she was here. She was just getting the feeling, that something was awfully off and that something terrible was about to happen. Her insides had tightened painfully together, her head was throbbing, chills were running over her skin and Isane had a very hard time fighting the urge to simply run out of the room. Only the knowledge of her taicho not allowing such behavior kept her from doing so. Thus, biting her lips, she waited impatiently for what Unhana had to say.
Unohana saw that Isane was feeling very indisposed, wondering what is was, that made the fuku-taicho feel that way. Usually, Isane felt quite secure in her presence. Not today though. She decided not to confront Isane right from the start, hoping that her assistant would be more forthcoming during this conversation.
"True Isane, I did not bring you here, because of any negative reports. Thanks to your hard work, there haven't been any complains for the last six month and all shinigami of this squad are constantly improving their skills", Unohana responded, sounding very proud at this point.
Isane couldn't help, but blush a little at these words. Getting praise from her taicho was not something very common. Besides, it was not deserved. Unohana was the one, making suggestion about improving the squad's work. Isane was just supervising the implementations of those. Not more.
"Actually, I wondered how you have been doing lately. Have there been any problems, you have not talked to me about?"
Something in Unohana's tone made Isane very suspicious. Her voice was calm and collected, as always. But there was something lingering, almost as if she knew something and would not accept anything but the full and only truth. Isane visibly shivered at this thought. There was no way in hell, she would tell her taicho about her beginning cold or her lack of sleep. There was too much work to do and she could not afford to be send to bed.
"No, Unohana-sama. Everything is fine", Isane answered while trying to look unconcerned about her taicho's sudden interest in her.
"Isane, I noticed over the past ten weeks, that you looked constantly very tired and exhausted. Yet today, you look bright and full of energy - please explain, how that is possible."
"Well taicho, that can happen when getting a full night's sleep!", Isane replied with a big fake smile.
"So that is it? You just got enough rest last night, to make up for the constant lack of sleep over the past two month?"
Isane knew it. She just knew, there had to be a catch in her taicho's question and now she was trapped. She had to think quickly to get out of this situation without raising anymore suspicion, she saw reflecting in Unohana-sama's face. A task, she found tremendously difficult, with her aching head and shivering like a leaf.
Isane, you have to calm down, she thought for herself while trying to slow down her increased breathing, which, she had not realized before, had picked up in tempo significantly at her taicho's last question. Taking one last deep breath, she looked Unohana straight into the eye.
"No, of course not Unohana-taicho. Even though, I slept very well last night, I felt slightly exhausted after my 20th patient today. So I decided to take an energy pill."
"Why did you not simply come to me and ask for a break? I certainly would have given it to you."
"Yes, I know. Just, there were so many patients that needed both our attentions, that I thought it best to continue working and not to disturb you", Isane responded truthfully for a change.
"You know, you could never disturb me, don't you Isane?"
Actually, Isane had heard that sentence before from her taicho. She just never believed it to be true. Of course she could disturb her. For example, asking her for a little break, while Unohana had to see after more important patients.
"Yes, of course I do."
At this point, Isane decided to become a little daring. She had to get out of this situation. Now!
"Taicho-sama, I apologize for taking some medication without consulting you first. I did not think of it as such a big deal. I am sorry. Nonetheless, there are many patients still waiting for us outside. May I suggest, that we both return to them? Otherwise I am afraid, we cannot finish our work early enough to sit down this evening together for a cup of tea, discussion another case file."
While saying these words, Isane positively beamed at her taicho. She was confident she had just done the trick to convince her to end this conversation here and now. Undeniably, there was much more important work waiting outside. And at the same time she had assured her taicho, that she would not run away but return this evening, just in case there was still a pressing matter to discuss.
"You are right, Isane. There are many patients right now within these walls, who need to be taken care of. And one is just sitting right in front of me", Unohana affirmed.
At these words, Isane's eyes went wide in shock and her face paled. This was not good. How did the situation get so out of her hands?