Ayumi forced her shaking legs forward as she kept eye contact with her Captain. His smile widened into a full grin exposing his teeth and the brick lodged in her stomach exploded into a fluttering kaleidoscope of butterflies. She willed herself not to do something stupid like trip herself on the baggy pants of her new Shihakusho. Just once she hoped that she wouldn't come across as someone who was hopelessly insecure. She managed to make it across the room to the exam chair and was thankful she was able to push herself up onto the high seat without making an ass out of herself by falling off the side.
Mayuri turned his body and faced her. She clasped her clammy hands together in her lap as he reached up and without asking he pulled the purple framed glasses from her face. Her vision blurred and she couldn't help but blink rapidly. He carefully folded the glasses and his chest brushed against her arm when he leaned to the side. The simple brush of his body against a part of hers sent a shiver of awareness up her spine and she hoped he wouldn't notice the reaction to his presence. He placed her glasses on top of a metal side table that sat next to the exam chair before he stood straight and leaned his body in for a closer look.
She was forced to spread her legs open a little so her knees wouldn't dig into his abdomen. The chair was raised so high up it made her feel as if she were almost being put on display for his personal viewing pleasure and in a way she guessed she was.
"If my memory serves me right, you mentioned it has been twenty years since the damage was first inflicted, correct?" He asked.
Ayumi didn't trust herself to speak so she simply nodded.
"And the glasses, do they also correct another flaw?" he continued.
She nodded her head once more.
"Are you just going to continue nodding your head at me? Have you lost your ability to speak?" he asked.
Ayumi allowed her eyes to close briefly before she forced herself to answer.
"I'm sorry, Captain. I developed a stigmatism in both eyes about a year after the incident." She replied softly.
Mayuri reached his hand out and took a hold of her chin and used it to tilt her head back.
"Stop squinting and look straight at me." He demanded, seeming to sound as if she were making him agitated.
"I'm sorry." She reiterated as she complied with his demand and opened her eyes wider.
"Ah, Much better. Now I can see what I have to work with." He replied.
The view of his face was clearer for her with him being in such close proximity and she relaxed a little when his smile returned.
He used the grip he had on her chin to turn her head to the left and she didn't complain about the treatment. He wasn't being harsh with her by any means, his touch was surprisingly quite gentle.
"What form of substance was it exactly that caused such damage?" He asked.
"I'm afraid I don't know the name of what it was, but it was a liquid chemical." She answered.
"I thought you said that this was an accident, please, do tell, how would having a chemical thrown in your face be any such thing?" He countered.
Ayumi let out a small sigh and her shoulders slumped.
"I walked in front of an attack meant for someone else." She admitted.
"I see, so it was also a case of you not paying attention to your surroundings." He continued.
Ayumi nodded again and she could tell by the way his hold on her chin tightened that he found the habit exasperating.
"The good news is the scar tissue does not seem to be as thick as I had originally thought. The damage to your vision is probably nothing more than a simple case of it building up along the surface of the cornea." He explained.
"Does that mean you think you can fix it?" She asked feeling a bud of hope bloom in her chest.
She had lived for many years feeling inadequate. Even though she had learned to cope with the minor disability, the thought of once again being able to see as if nothing had ever happened sounded like a dream.
"As long as everything goes correctly. I should not only be able to fix the damage inflicted by the chemical, but also free you of the stigmatism in both of your eyes." He answered.
Ayumi turned her head and looked at him as her lips lifted into a smile. His face was only inches from hers now with the way he had been leaning in to look at her. She had the high ground with her being raised up above him and the insane urge to lean in and press her smiling lips against his filled her mind but she knew better than to give in to her heart's mad reasoning. This was a man of science who stood in front of her, not some Casanova who wanted to sweep her off her feet and live happily ever after.
She felt the hold he had on her chin lessen as he let his hand fall. She could see by the way his gaze had wondered that he either didn't notice the effect he had on her or he was choosing to ignore it. Her smile fell as she tucked her bottom lip between her teeth and let her gaze drop to her lap. She felt as if her Captain had somehow just managed to give her the world and yet she couldn't even bring herself to open her mouth long enough to say thank you.
She lifted her head intending to force herself to at least say the words when she was caught off guard by the soft touch of his fingertips brushing her hair back from the right side of her temple. Her lips parted and she didn't have to ask him what had caught his attention. The simple fact that he had spotted the feint scaring told her just how observant the man really was. His touch was gentle as his slim fingers brushed over her skin.
"It would seem that your eye was not the only part of you to be afflicted." He commented.
"No. It wasn't." She replied.
Mayuri dropped his hand from the woman's soft skin and took a step back. For reasons he could not place he felt the urge to put some distance between himself and the young woman currently occupying his exam chair. It was almost as if his mind could not concentrate fully on the process of simply conducting an examination. His hands had lifted to touch her on their own not once, but twice. The uncontrollable urges and the foreign feelings that flooded him left him feeling a bit wary.
"I think that will be all for today." He replied as he put even more distance between them by stepping to the side of the chair.
He watched as the woman nodded her head at him, again. Why she couldn't just simply open her mouth and communicate verbally was beyond him. She seemed like she had such an intelligent mind behind those green eyes of hers and yet she had absolutely no backbone. Did he make her nervous?
He had to admit it wasn't a secret that his personality tended to be too much for the average layman to handle, but Ayumi Otsuka was far from a simple layman. He knew just from a simple glance at her transcripts and the scores she had received while in the Academy why Yoruichi had recommended her for his squad. She was not one honed for the battlefield and it wasn't very difficult to see that she lived inside her own mind, much like he did.
He kept his gaze on her as she slid forward on the exam chair and hopped down back to her feet. She grabbed her glasses from the small table and put them back on. He noted that the new Shihakusho she was wearing had a much looser fit then the previous one and while he found it more appropriate for her to work in he also felt a bit of disappointment. He sighed as he shoved the thoughts to the back of his mind, he didn't have time to stand there like a neanderthal wishing for another view of the woman's curves.
"Thank you, Captain Kurotsuchi." He heard her soft voice speak and he allowed himself to look at her once more.
"Yes. Well, I will be sure to have you notified once I am ready to perform the procedure. You may go." He stated.
"Yes, Sir." She replied.
He noticed the way her arms wrapped around the middle of her body as she walked down the small hallway back into the main lab. He hadn't the slightest clue as to why it bothered him to see her in such a state, but he couldn't deny that it did. The smile she had given him after he had told her about his plans to fix her need to wear glasses had caught him off guard. It was very rare for him to get such a reaction from anyone and he had chosen not to comment or give it any form of reaction. When her smile had faded and she tucked her pert bottom lip between her teeth he had almost lost all sense of reason, even now he wondered what it would be like to take her lip between his own teeth.
Mayuri snorted at himself in pure disgust, if he kept carrying on this way he would be no better than the brutish Captain of Squad 11 strutting around with his arm dangling around the shoulder of his woman. He simply could not allow such a silly chemical reaction in the mind to cause so much havoc for him. Attraction and love was nothing more than that and he refused to be brought down to such a simple base level. He would heal the woman and be done with her. It was that simple.
Ayumi managed to make it back to the small cubical that her and Rin shared and she saw him leaning into the computer screen. A small black earpiece was lodged to the side of his left ear and he was busy speaking into the microphone.
"That is correct. You are to stay within the confines of the yellow zone. Your Captain's report has stated under no circumstances are you to enter into any other Soul Reapers jurisdiction." Rin stated with a bit of edge behind his youthful sounding voice.
He caught a glimpse of her as he lifted his head and his lips lifted into a half smile. She smiled back as he lifted his hand to the ear piece and rolled his eyes indicating that the Soul on the other side was being stupid. She had to hold back the giggle that got caught in her chest. She didn't need anyone hearing her laugh on the other end of the line.
Rin paused and his brow furrowed. She could make out the faint sound of a male talking on the other end of the line seeming to not be happy with his Captains newest orders that were being relayed to him.
He shook his head and began to speak again.
"I understand what you are implying. I myself am not the one who has written your current instructions. If this is something that you have an issue with I suggest you place yourself under a Code Red and come speak to Captain Hitsugaya on your own time." Rin snapped back into the ear piece.
She heard the static from the other end as the voice replied back but she couldn't make out the words.
"Alright then. I am glad you have finally decided to understand the situation, 14th seat of Squad 10. You will be notified of any further instructions next week and as a reminder, please remember to send in your daily reports before seven pm." Rin replied before he leaned forward and pressed the space bar on his keyboard ending the connection.
"Having a rough morning?" She asked him.
He smiled halfheartedly at her as he reached into his pocket and grabbed a piece of candy.
"Some of these guys will try and test you. I don't understand what is so difficult for them to understand - I am merrily the messenger." He replied as he popped a dark pink hard candy inside his mouth.
"I take it your meeting with Captain Kurotsuchi went well?" He asked as he slid his small frame from his chair and stood up.
Ayumi smiled.
"Yes, I think it did." She answered as she turned her body and slid into the cubicle taking her seat.
Rin sat back down next to her and leaned his body back into his chair.
"I'll let you watch me a couple times and then I will put you online yourself. You will have to learn to be more forceful with some of these men and even some of the females. Do not allow them to goad you into an actual argument. Just tell them if they have an issue they have the right to be placed under a Code Red and head back through the Senkaimon. Most of them will back off once you use that term. It's the color code we place them under when they show insubordinate behavior." He explained.
Ayumi inhaled a deep breath and smiled over at her superior. She knew she had a lot to learn if she had any hopes of making it within this squad. She had told herself the night before she left the academy that things would be different for her here and she was starting to understand that she was the key to making that change a reality. She was Ayumi Otsuka, A Soul Reaper of the 12th Division, she repeated and even if it killed her she would find a way to push past her insecurities and make a name for herself.
Ayumi laughed as her and Rin enjoyed the fresh evening air as they walked together through the pathways of the Seireitei. He was still busy venting to her about the last call he had taken for the day. It seemed that one of the lower seated members of Squad 6 had not liked the orders given to him by his captain any more than the previous member of Squad 10.
Ayumi had been lucky only having taken six calls herself throughout the day, it seemed that Rin had decided to take it easy on her with it only being her second day. She had been grateful to him for showing her such kindness. Both of them had been more than ready for the day to come to an end. They still had about an hour before dinner would be served for their color code, so Rin had taken it upon himself to take her through the Seireitei and show her around. Although Ayumi had a sneaking suspicion he had an ulterior motive that involved a cake.
Rin turned down another pathway and Ayumi realized her suspicions were true when they came upon a row of buildings. The main house that was built away from the rest had the Squad 11 symbol etched into it and she smiled as her own excitement grew. She found herself hoping he would find the woman he was looking for, she was dying to meet both of the female substitute soul reapers.
Rin sighed before he walked up the small staircase to the main building and reached his hand out and knocked lightly.
"I hope Captain Zaraki doesn't answer." He whispered to her as she waited at the bottom of the staircase.
She had yet to see the notorious captain that everyone had talked about at the Academy and she was interested to see if the man was really as intimidating as everyone seemed to make him out to be. The door slowly slid open and she grinned as she saw a petite young woman with dark auburn hair come into view. Her dark blue eyes locked on Rin and she smiled sweetly at him.
"Hey, Rin." She greeted him.
"Hello, Mrs. Zaraki. I am sorry to show up unannounced, but I have a request I would like to speak to you about." He stated without wasting any time.
"What request would that be?" the woman replied before her gaze looked down.
She quickly bent in order to stop a toddler with a head full of jet black hair sticking up in all directions from crawling out onto the wooden porch. Ayumi's lips parted from the surprise of seeing the child. She hadn't known that the captain and his wife had conceived.
"Wow. Takeo is getting big!" She heard Rin comment as he bent down and pulled the toddler into this arms lifting him up from the ground.
"Yeah. He'll be two in the next couple months. I can't believe it really." Linake replied.
Ayumi's curiosity got the better of her and she walked up the small staircase and smiled wide as she got a better look at the child, his big blue eyes stared back at her as his chubby cheeks lifted when he smiled back.
"Oh, please excuse us. This is Ayumi Ostuka, she's a new recruit from the Academy." Rin introduced her.
"Hello, Ayumi. I am Linake Zaraki." The woman replied back with a friendly smile.
"It is very nice to meet you, Mrs. Zaraki." Ayumi replied a little too excitedly before she bowed.
"So, what was it that you wanted to ask me?" Lianke asked bringing the conversation back to its original topic of conversation.
"Oh, Yes. Do you know how to bake a cake?" He asked.
Linake let out a small laugh as she took in his question.
"A cake, huh? I'm surprised you even know what that is." She answered honestly.
"I haven't had one since I was stationed in the Human world years ago. I find them quite delicious." He replied.
Linake placed her palm over her stomach and Ayumi's eyes widened as she realized the woman looked to be expecting another child.
"I guess I could give it a shot. I have baked before in the past. I've been informed I am no longer allowed to train, so I'm about to have a lot of free time on my hands." She answered.
Rin smiled as his gaze lowered to Linake's stomach.
"Yes, I heard that you and Captain Zaraki are having another, Congratulations." He smiled.
"Aw, Thanks." She replied as she smiled back at him.
Ayumi kept silent not feeling comfortable enough to congratulate a woman she had just met. She turned her gaze as the bouncing little boy made a frustrated sound as he reached his chubby hands out to her. She wasn't sure what to do being a stranger to the boy's mother.
"You can hold him if you would like. He's stubborn just like his father, he won't stop until he gets what he wants anyway." Linake stated.
Ayumi smiled and reached for the adorable boy and carefully scooped him up in her arms. He smiled at her revealing two small teeth that had popped threw on his bottom gum line as his tiny hand reached out for her glasses. She grabbed his hand and gave him her thumb to latch onto to prevent him from taking them off her face. His brow furrowed as he lowered his head and stared down at her hand with interest.
"He really is the most adorable baby." Ayumi spoke softly as she looked up at Linake.
"What's goin' on?" A low deep masculine voice growled behind Ayumi and she paused as she turned to investigate.
She was standing on the third step of the small porch yet she still had to crane her neck to look up at the massive beast who stood before her and all the breath in her lungs seemed to get stuck.
"Hello, Captain Zaraki." Rin greeted the giant.
Ayumi sucked in a breath as the child she held in her arms started to bounce excitedly as he saw his father. She noticed the intense glare on the man's face soften as he reached his large hands out and took a hold of his son. Ayumi let go of him and watched in complete astonishment as the fierce looking warrior tucked the small child into the crook of his neck and shoulder supporting him with his forearm.
"Rin just stopped by to ask me if I could make him a cake." Linake informed her husband.
Kenpachi lifted his brow at her.
"What the hell is a cake?" he asked.
Linake looked as if she were trying to hold back her laughter.
"It's a form of dessert we have in my world." She answered him.
"Oh. Whatever." He replied.
Ayumi realized that the Captain couldn't get by her with her standing on the stairs so she stepped down and cautiously stood to the side. Her mind reeled at the thought of Linake being intimate with such a monstrous man like Captain Zaraki but she pushed the thoughts away as she watched him climb the stairs and drape his long muscled arm around the woman's shoulder. She noticed the gentle way he laid his palm over her stomach in an almost protective gesture.
Witnessing the almost instinctual comfort between the couple made Ayumi think about her own situation. She knew that her captain wasn't against the idea of a family or he wouldn't have felt the need to create life on his own by creating Nemuri. Seeing the beautiful child that Captain Zaraki and Linake had created together made her wonder, maybe deep down inside the brilliant mind of Mayuri Kurotsuchi he longed for the same thing?
"I will see what I can do for you in the next couple days, Rin. It's actually time for us to head to dinner." Linake explained politely.
"Yes, of course and thank you." Rin replied before turning and walking back down the wooden porch to join Ayumi.
"Hold on a sec. I've never seen you before." Ayumi heard the rough voice of the Squad 11 Captain.
She paused and turned to face the man.
"I…I'm new here. I just graduated the Academy." She replied softly as she stared up at his scarred face.
"Tch. So you're Kurotsuchi's new recruit, eh? Good luck with that." He replied as his lips lifted into a slight grin.
Ayumi wasn't sure how to respond to the man but didn't want to seem rude. She knew she had to be coming across as simply ridiculous with the way she just stood there slacked jawed looking so unsure of herself.
"Have a nice night, Ayumi. It was nice to meet you." Linake spoke up seeming to understand her need of a rescue.
"T…Thank you. You as well." She replied with a bow before her and Rin both turned back in the direction of their Squad's barracks.
"Judging by your reaction nobody has bothered to warn any of you students about Captain Zaraki's size or appearance." Rin assumed.
Ayumi looked over at her superior with a bewildered expression and shook her head.
Rin smiled.
"He takes some getting used to but I can assure you as long as you stay on his good side, he's not all that bad." Rin explained as they continued walking.
"I'll be sure to remember that." She replied.
The pair continued to walk together in comfortable silence the rest of the way back to their Squad's barracks, giving Ayumi enough time to process everything she had just witnessed. Just as her mind had started to relax again she heard her name being called by another deep voice that she recognized as her Lieutenants. Rin and Ayumi both paused as Akon walked over to them from the doorway of the Research and Development Building.
"I've been looking for you. Lady Yoruichi has asked that you be brought to Squad 4 immediately. I have been instructed to escort you myself by the Captain." Akon informed her.
"Squad 4?" She asked knowing that the Squad in question was one that only dealt with medical issues.
"Yes, it would seem that a couple of the young women you used to live with have come down with an Illness, I'll explain more on the way." He informed her as he gestured for her to take her place next to him.
"I guess I will see you later on." She turned and spoke to Rin.
"Okay." He replied with a sympathetic look.
Ayumi stepped forward as she took her place next to her Lieutenant and her mind began to race. The only females she knew were her old roommates. Even though she really couldn't say she actually knew them, the thought of either of them being sick enough to be placed within the Squad 4 medical unit left her feeling concerned. Haru, Mikka and Rei had always been of perfect health the whole six years she had lived among them, for something like this to come out of the blue didn't sit well with Ayumi. In fact it did nothing but set off alarm bells inside her, just what had the other women gotten themselves into?