16. Hiding

"Unohana-taicho, Hitsugaya-taicho told me to come here while he would keep the hollows in check that might want to attack here. What can I do for ... What happened to Kotetsu-fuku-taicho? She looks like she is dead!"

"She is not dead yet Hanataro-kun. And you are going to help me, to keep it that way", Unohana responded briskly.

"Hanataro-kun, do you have any energy pills on you?"

"Hai, taicho. I thought they might come in useful in case the fight prolongs itself."

"I need two of them. One I will take right now, the other I am going to need as soon as Kotetsu Isane awakes again. Do you understand me?"

"Hai, Unohana-taicho. Here is the first one."

Unohana took the offered pill and swallowed it as fast as possible. Leave it to Hanataro Yamada to have the strongest energy pills in his pockets. The effect took place immediately. Unohana felt her body filled to the brim with her reiatsu. She then focused on Isane, searching for the small left trace of her reiatsu. It was faint and almost gone, but of course the best healer in Seireitei found it. She concentrated her own reitsu in her hands and manipulated it to match Isane's.

"From fire to ice, from water to air, from heaven to earth and from life to death. I call forth the power of eternity: kido 113 - Phoenix of Hell."

Hanataro Yamada had never heard such a strange incantation before. And certainly not one with a number above 100. As soon as his taicho had finished the spell, he saw how both his taicho and fuku-taicho were suddenly engulfed in a strangely crimson lit aura. But as fast as the light had come as fast it was gone again. And what he saw now made his heart jump in joy.

"Kotetsu-fuku-taicho, you are awake. I am so glad. You looked like you were dead."

"What happened?" a very confused but otherwise splendid feeling Isane asked.

"I do not know. Unohana-taicho just used a very strange kido spell. Something about a phoenix of hell and then..."

"What?"

Isane turned her face into the other direction and sure enough right beside her was Unohana Retsu, pale as a ghost, panting and sweating like she had been running for days with a fever and swaying slightly as if to pass out any moment.

"Hanataro-kun, the second pill if you please", she barely managed to say.

Hanataro Yamada gave it to her as ordered. The taicho took it, before Isane could say or do anything. Unohana felt better immediately. Not good - her energy had been almost completely depleted, but the pill took away the feeling of dying any moment. And that was all that mattered right now. Unohana Retsu took another moment to close her eyes and assess her own condition. She was very tired and had a fever as well as a headache. Normally, she would send anyone with such symptoms straight to bed and keep him there for at least a week. Right now however, it was she herself who suffered of these symptoms and there was a severe fight going on with many casualties. She had no time to call in sick.

"Now Kotetsu-fuku-taicho, you and Hanataro Yamada will return to the treatment side and do whatever you can to help the injured there. I will continue to aid the other taichos in their fights."

"Unohana-taicho, you cannot ...", Isane tried to interrupt but Unohana simply raised one hand to make her quiet and listen.

"However, before you leave, you will promise me to never use that kido again, Isane."

Looking into the determined and strict face of Unohana Retsu, Isane suddenly felt very foolish, guilty and most of all scared. Her taicho was not only angry but mad at her. The only reason Unohana did not let her feel that anger right away was the circumstance of all healers being needed right now. So she gulped down very hard, lowered her head and said in the most humble voice: "Hai, taicho-sama. I promise I will never use that kido spell again."

"Good. Now, we have work to do. Go!" Unohana ordered with as much authority as her current state allowed her to muster before jumping on Minazuki and returning to the other taichos.

The fighting continued for another hour until the members of squad twelve arrived, telling everyone that they had found a way to seal the constantly new forming breaches for good and that everyone was required to leave the fighting sight instantly. When asked why, they only responded citing Kurotsuchi-taicho's original words: "If we activate this device, every single particle will melt for 10 seconds before reforming itself. Aside from being most likely painful and deadly there shouldn't be any side effects. So, everyone who would like to stay is very welcome as I ran out of test subjects yesterday."

These words were enough for everyone to leave the place as fast as possible. Everyone knew, the only reason why they had gotten that warning was due to a complaint about to many deaths and a subsequent order to Kurotsuchi Mayuri to prevent "deathly trials" as much as possible.

Being as efficient as ever the shinigami of squad four had cleared the area within 30 minutes, their patients either being carried on stretchers to the medical facilities or transported and partly healed within Minazuki's mouth. From an outside view it looked like the taicho and fuku-taicho coordinated everything and worked flawlessly together without the need to even talk to each other. In truth Isane was avoiding to face Unohana at all costs.

Not because the feared the punishment or her taicho's anger. She deserved that - no doubt about it. No, she avoided her because she felt so bad and ashamed, because of what she had done. She had learned a kido spell. That in itself was not bad, but she had constantly been lying because of it over the past month. Then she had used it without knowing everything about it or taking some further precautions for possible harmful side effects , which resulted in almost losing her own life. And to top it all, her beloved taicho-sama was now literally sick, because she had saved her.

It came to no surprise that Unohana did know that particular kido spell. Thinking about it, who had Isane tried to fool with the notion that there could be such a potent kido spell that Unohana would not know about?

The only thing that kept Isane from hiding in her own quarters and banging her head against the next wall until sweet darkness would take her, were the many patients that needed her right now as well as the shinigami of squad four who needed some guidance. Unohana herself was working tirelessly on the severely injured, even though everyone could see by now that the main healer was very sick herself.

Several of her faithful subordinates had tried to point that out to her and that she should better take a break, but Unohana did not want to hear any of it. Every time she sensed that someone tried to relieve her of her work, she would smile them out of the room. And thus after another hour, everyone had given up to convince her of some needed rest. Instead they all tried to work as fast as possible around her in the hope, that the injuries would heal faster that way and she herself could take a break then.

When evening came, all shinigami and taichos who fought at the academy were healed as much as possible and either send to their respective squads or to bed within squad four. Unohana took a look at the clock hanging in main treatment room one - it read 8.30 pm. She sighed deeply, feeling utterly drained and exhausted. She knew, her fever must have gone up over the past hours. All she wanted to do now was to get into her own bed and sleep. But before she could do so, she had to check with her fuku-taicho, if everything was alright within the squad and with her subordinates.

Entering the main hall, she met Hanataro Yamada, who was busy cleaning the floors. He looked very energetic and Unohana suspected he had taken an energy pill recently. Approaching him, she addressed him with her usual calm and polite voice:

"Hanataro-kun, do you happen to know where my fuku-taicho has gone to?"

"Well...", Hanataro suddenly looked very nervous, like he was unsure how to proceed.

"Seventh seat Hanataro Yamada, do you know where Kotetsu Isane fuku-taicho is right now?" she asked again, this time with a plain scary smile on her face.

"Sh.., she has asked me to tell you that all of today's administrative work has been done, all shinigami of this squad got their respective working schedules and all the patients within the medical facility have been taken care of. Then the fuku-taicho gave orders not to disturb you under any circumstances unless another taicho was demanding to see you. After that she had returned to her office and no one has seen her since then."

"I see. Thank you."

With these new information in mind, Unohana went to her quarters. Obviously her fuku-taicho had decided to go into hiding for now and not to talk about the incident yet. The taicho decided not to press the matter tonight. After all, she was far from feeling good and maybe both of them would feel more in the mood of talking about it tomorrow. And with this thought in mind, Unohana finally got into bed and let exhaustion and sleep overwhelm her. Yes, tomorrow she would have a very long and serious conversation with her Isane, she would make sure of that.