10. Cat and Mouse II
"Itegumo, where are you? Itegumo?"
Kotetsu Isane, fuku-taicho of the fourth squad was getting very impatient by now. After Unohana had left, she immediately had begun to meditate. For her plan to work, she had to talk to her Zanpakuto at first. And now, Itegumo took her sweet time to come out. Damn it.
Of course, Isane knew the reason for that. She barely took the time to talk to her soul friend and when she did, she was always in need of something. It wasn't like the fuku-taicho didn't enjoy her stay in this part of her mind, she was just too busy with work and learning and work and helping others and work and getting better to help Unohana.
Finally, Isane saw her surroundings change: what formerly appeared to be an empty white vast space, was now changing into a wild forest scenery. The leaves were of golden color and many had already fallen to the ground. Isane couldn't help but smile, when a little wind was picking up some leaves, forming a moving pillar right in front of her.
"Hello Itegumo."
"Hello Isane-san. You haven't been here for a long while. And why do I get the feeling, that you just dropped by to ask me for help? Again?", Itegumo retorted immediatly.
That was so typical of her - coming straight to the point. The fuku-taicho knew, she had no chance of deceiving her sword. After all, Itegumo has very sharp in regard to its blade and its intelligence. In a real battle, when being in Shikai, it would cut most materials. However, its true strength was, that it could amplify Isane's reiatsu and thus her kido spells.
"Well, because I do need your help. And that rather urgently. See, Unohana thinks I am too sick to work - which I am not. And she has ordered me to stay in bed for another two days. Can you imagine the amount of paperwork, that is going to pile up during that time? I have to do something about it and for that I need your help."
"And why should I help you? You never visit. And instead of spending some time with me, after you have been ordered to rest for a least two days, you want me to work and help you to evade that order. What would I gain out of this deal?"
"Well, I believe that you will find my plan very amusing. And even more, if it fails and Unohana has my head for it. So pure entertainment for you", Isane spoke through gritted teeth.
"What's your plan?", Itegumo asked excitedly.
"I need to get out of this room, without taicho-sama noticing. And that is the point where I need your help. I want you to copy my reiatsu, because I believe Unohana-sama is constantly checking, if it is in this room. I will mask my own of course. So in the end, as long as no one sees me on my way to the office and no one is getting inside this room while I am gone, it should work out."
"I understand the plan, but do you think you are strong enough for it? This kind of kido will cost you a lot of energy and ..."
"I will be fine! Are you going to help me or not?"
"Yes, I will. Though I admit, I cannot wait to see Unohana's reaction if she catches you red-handed."
"Thank you for your trust in my abilities. Now, I will go back and prepare everything. Thanks for your cooperation, Itegumo."
"It's nothing at all."
And with these words, the surroundings changed back into the white space before Isane's eyes before the slowly woke up out of her meditative state. Looking around, she realized, she was still alone. The fuku-taicho concentrated to find Hanataro Yamada's reiatsu. After she found it, she used a very simple kido spell to establish a communication link to him and asked him to come by as soon as it would be convenient for him. Sure enough, three minutes later, the young officer entered the room.
"Fuku-taicho, what can I do for you?", Hanataro asked in his usual friendly manner and bowed.
"Yes Hanataro-kun. Thank you for coming so quickly. My headache just got a little worse again and I wondered if you could bring me a sleeping pill, so that I can sleep it off for the next hours."
Immediately taken by concern, Hanataro rushed over to her side, peering into her eyes, taking her pulse and checking her temperature.
"Isane-san, are you alright? You never ask for medication or admit, that you are sick."
"Well, Unohana-sama has made it very clear to me, that I am indeed sick and need to stay in bed. Certainly, I want to get back to work as soon as possible, so I figured, I get as much rest as possible. It is just, that this pain is keeping me from sleeping. Can you help me?"
"Sure, I can get you the medicine, but shouldn't we inform taicho-sama of your condition?"
"No, no. I do not want to bother her over such a small matter. Really. Otherwise I am fine. I only need some hours of peace and quiet, without anyone coming in and without this pain."
"Alright, I get it for you right away, fuku-taicho."
True to his word, ten minutes later, Yamada returned with the sleeping juice and a glass of water in his hands. He left everything on the bedside table and then left the room after assuring his superior, that no one would bother her for the next two hours at least.
When Isane was finally alone again, she got of her bed, flushing the medicine down the drain and changed into her shinigami robes. That being done, she took her Zanpakuto, concentrated her reiatsu and spoke the kido incantation to project her spiritual energy signature on Itegumo. The spell indeed took a lot out of her. That's why the fuku-taicho needed to sit down after it for a couple of minutes, to get rid of the sudden dizzy spell she got.
Having found her balance again, Isane very slowly made her way to the door. Being the fuku-taicho, she was well able to identify every squad member's reiatsu and their respective positions inside the building. Most importantly right now of course was the location of Unohana. Apparently, she was in her office.
After making sure, that nobody was near the passage way to the white bedroom, Isane silently left the room and got inside the core of the care unit's building complex. Now the whole procedure was getting more complicated by every step she took. She had to make sure, not to be seen and unfortunately her fellow shinigami did not remain still on their spots but were moving around the entire building. It took Isane, almost 30 minutes to get near her office right beside the main hall, when she suddenly felt Unohana's reiatsu very near her.
Concentrating, the fuku-taicho felt, that Unohana was going straight for her position. She was not near enough to her office to hide in there yet. Taking a look around, Isane stepped inside a nearby niche, eagerly praying that her taicho would not notice her.
Unohana had just been called to a new patient. Usually her fuku-taicho would make the first assessment, but that of course that was not an option today. She walked by her fuku-taicho's office and was almost inside the main hall, where all walls had slots cut out, for people to better get out of the way for emergency personal rushing through, when suddenly a young officer called after her.
"Unohana-taicho! The new patient was brought into treatment room ten, because he did not want to be seen by the whole squad. Please follow me."
At this Unohana immediately turned around, not noticing that her fuku-taicho was mere inches away from her. At that moment Isane let out a sigh in great relieve. Uff, that was close, way to close for her liking. Pulling her nerves together she resumed her course to the office. After 45 minutes, she finally reached her goal. She quickly grabbed an ink pot, her ink brush and of course the folder with the actual paperwork. It was completely filled.
Having put her loot in a bag, it took Kotetsu Isane almost another 45 minutes to get back to her room. She had to hurry up. Hanataro-kun promised her two hours and thus she only had another 15 minutes left. She had just changed back into her sleeping attire, hidden her stuff inside the bedside cabinet and got herself back into bed when she sensed Unohana-taicho coming near her. She just released the kido spell from Itegumo when the door to her room was opened.
"Hello Isane, how are you feeling?", Unohana asked in her motherly tone.
"I am feeling fine, taicho-sama", Isane replied a note to quickly.
Unohana gazed at her fuku-taicho. Something was wrong here. Isane's cheeks were flushed, her breathing was increased and overall she looked very exhausted and not rested at all. What had happened? She almost looked like someone, who had just run a full round around Seireitei.
"Isane, did you not agree to be a good patient and to tell me the truth about your health?"
Of course Isane remembered her promise. And it certainly had not been her intention to lie to her taicho-sama in such a foolish and obvious way. Everything had just happened too quickly, she simply hadn't have enough time to assess her own condition. Thus the untruthfulness. Taking in a deep breath, calming down, Isane concentrated and calmly answered:
"No taicho-sama. I am sorry. It seems like my fever has gone up a little again. Otherwise I am fine."
"And have you done anything to cause the rising of your fever?" Unohana inquired.
"No, I didn't."
"My dear Isane, did I not tell you, that you should not lie to me anymore?"
At these words every single hair on Isane's body stood on end. The scary smile on her taicho's face just got even more scarier than it was before. She was in so much trouble now.