8. Living nightmare
Kotetsu Isane was swimming in a wide sea. She couldn't remember, when she got into the water nor where she actually was. The water was also very strange. First of all, it was very warm, too hot for her liking. She had the feeling of being cooked alive. Then there was its strange color, it had some brownish-yellowish tint. The intense smell coming out of it, made the fuku-taicho almost throw up. How did she got here?
The fuku-taicho could not see any familiar landmarks to help her orientate herself. Knowing, that she could not swim for an endless amount of time, she took a closer look at her surroundings. To her right hand, she saw some large long object floating in the water, while to her left some indefinable smaller items could be seen. Needing something to hold onto, Isane turned to her right. Getting closer, she saw that this thing was orange and very flat.
Finally reaching it, Isane pushed herself up out of the water and sat down on this weird plank. Now, that the immediate danger of drowning was gone, she decided to gather all available information and figure out, where she was. Obviously, it must have been daytime, because it was very bright. But for some reason, she couldn't see the sun, though there were no clouds in the sky.
Isane made a full turn around - wherever she looked, there was a high wall surrounding these waters. The wall was white and looked very smooth, and nowhere some kind of entrance or even a fissure could be seen. How did she get here? This was becoming more and more confusing. Suddenly some very loud slurping sounds were heard.
Searching for the noise's source Isane looked up again - and screamed her lungs out. She was staring right into two humongous eyes. A second later, the fuku-taicho realized that these eyes must belong to an even larger kind of face, because suddenly a dark plane mouth with very sharp looking teeth opened up to her.
"Hmmh, what is this deliciously looking thing, swimming in my miso soup?"
Miso soup?! Suddenly, realization hit Isane. She was actually standing on a large piece of carrot. The water was no water at all but sardine dashi. And apparently right now, she was in some monster's meal. Looking up to it again, she saw that it was a giant fishcake.
"Help! Somebody help me, please!"
Isane was frantic and in full panic mode right now. She could feel the monster picking up the bowl, lifting it to its ugly wide open mouth. Trying to escape the inevitable, she jumped right into the soup, fighting against the new current, which would only lead to certain death.
"No! I don't want to be eaten by you, you ugly fish cake. No!", Isane was calling out while rowing wildly in the surrounding liquid.
"Isane, wake up.", a soft warm voice was heard suddenly from above.
"Isane!"
With a jolt, Isane woke up. Sitting upright in her bed, panting and sweating madly, the fuku-taicho had a very hard time to get a grip on herself at first. Still her eyes closed, she didn't know what to do next.
"Isane. Calm down. It was just a nightmare. Nothing is going to happen to you. Just take some deep breaths. Everything will be alright."
This voice sounded so nice and trustworthy. Like a mother's comforting her scared child. It was so nice. And somehow it sounded so familiar. Isane had heard that voice somewhere before. Suddenly she felt two hands on her shoulders, gently pushing her down on the bed again. As soon as her head hit the pillow, the fuku-taicho felt a gentle warm hand moving up to her brow, stroking some stray hair out of her face.
"You still have a high fever. Do you think you can get back to sleep or shall I give you something?"
"Unohana-taicho, is that you?", Isane asked timidly into the dark, recognizing finally the kind voice's owner.
"Yes, it's me. Now, do you think you can go back to sleep?"
"Hai."
Isane felt dead tired. Every muscle hurt, her arms and legs felt heavy as lead and her lungs were still not fully able to take in air at a normal pace. On the other hand, she now felt so secure and well cared for. Her beloved taicho was here: taking care of her, making sure she would not suffer any more nightmares. Easing her pains. Not letting her alone. Everything just felt warm and cozy. She would not go away, even though it must be in the middle of night. WAIT A MOMENT!
And again Isane was sitting upright in her bed. Just this time with her eyes opened wide in shock, staring at Unohana.
"Taicho-sama! What in Seireitei and earth are you doing here? It's in the middle of the night! You shouldn't be here!" an agitated Isane screeched at the top of her lungs.
Sensing her fuku-taicho riling and getting stressed out again, Unohana quickly released some of her reiatsu. Feeling the pressure weighting heavily on her, Isane had no choice but to stop her babble and looking down. Catching her breath again, she slowly rose her head. Trying to keep her voice even and steady, she tried again:
"Unohana-sama. May I ask what you are doing here?"
"Isn't that obvious? I am taking care of you", Unohana responded with a serene and kind smile.
"But it must be past midnight. And you also need to sleep."
"Yes it is. As for my need to sleep, I simply have decided to sleep here with you in this room."
At these words, Isane took a look around. With her eyes now accustomed to the dark, she saw a futon laying on the floor. She couldn't believe it. Unohana-sama, taicho of the fourth squad, was sleeping on the hard floor, while Isane, a mere fuku-taicho, could rest in a comfortable bed. This was just wrong.
Seeing her assistant's eyes staring at her sleeping place, Unohana elaborated.
"Isane, as long as I haven't figured out the cause for your past month's insomnia, I will stay here with you during the night. This way I can also make sure, that you get the rest your body so desperately needs right now."
"Taicho-sama. I assure you, I do not have a sleeping problem. I just worked a little too much, helping other shinigami out and finishing the paperwork on time. That's all."
"No Isana, it is not. Helping other shinigami and the amount of your paperwork cannot sufficiently explain your constant lack of sleep. And until I know, why you haven't been sleeping, I will stay here.
"But taicho-sama!"
"Isane!"
And there was the scary smile again. Isane knew, she had lost the fight for tonight. But not every battle was forlorn yet. Tomorrow, she would make her taicho see reason again.
While Isane debated with her inner thoughts, Unohana scrutinized her fuku-taicho once more. Isane looked worse for the wear. Her fever was still up high, her breathing somewhat heavy. And even though it was dark, she could clearly see Isane's ghostly white skin, her body shivering and shaking endlessly.
"You need to sleep Isane. I promise, we will talk about everything that is on your mind tomorrow. You just need some rest first", Unohana softly spoke to her sick friend.
Exhaling loudly, Isane nodded her head and started slowly to lay down again. Smiling, Unohana helped her, tucking her in once more, making sure that her dear Isane was comfy and warm.
"Sleep well, Isane."