Mayuri looked over at the woman who sat across from him and studied the way she was eating her meal. He had made the decision to bring her into the private eating area that he and Nemuri used on a regular basis. He found it more comfortable for him and his creation to sit in private as they eat, that way he was not bombarded by questions from the lower ranked officers and could use the silent time to decompress his mind.

He watched as Ayumi sat with her left arm in her lap, her right hand grasping the pair of chopsticks as she carefully lifted the bite sized pieces of steamed fish to her mouth. He never realized just watching a woman eat could bring about such an erotic thought process, but the feminine way she carried herself and the fullness of her lips did more than catch his attention.

He suspected that the woman was still nervous around him and was not eating in the manner she normally would. This made him question his current predicament. If he were to entertain the thoughts in his mind, would Ayumi be willing? He had to admit the possible outcome of her rejection did not sit well with him and this made him hesitant.

"Is something wrong?" Ayumi asked him.

"No. Why do you ask?" He replied.

"You're not eating, a…and the way you're looking at me made me wonder if I was doing something to upset you?"

Mayuri tilted his head to the side as he thought about his response.

"I'm afraid I have a lot on my mind at the moment, and you would know if you did something to upset me." He replied.

Ayumi nodded as she reached out for the clay cup next to her bowl and lifted it to her lips. He forced himself to look away as he adjusted the way he was sitting. He made a mental note not to allow himself to be closed in a room with the woman in the future. Whatever was causing this immense attraction to her could be seen as nothing less than a total distraction. He was the head of a very important department that dealt with very sensitive situations. He simply did not have the time to entertain himself no matter how curious Ayumi Otsuka made him.

He forced himself to focus on the remainder of his own meal in order to give himself enough energy to keep operating throughout the night. He planned on doing more investigating with the current blood samples obtained from the sick women while watching over Ayumi as her eyes regenerated.

Ayumi finished up the last bits of her rice and fish and decided to wait in silence for her captain to finish. The uncomfortable ache from her hunger had been replaced with another assault of butterflies when she had caught him blatantly watching her eat. She couldn't ignore the way her body had tensed under his scrutiny as his exotic gaze had followed her movements.

The anxiety of possibly doing something that upset him was the only thing that had forced her to ask her question. While he had been quite direct with her earlier on her inability to hold herself in a confident manner, she knew that old habits wouldn't be broken so easily. If she were being honest with herself it was his own sense of confidence that she found so appealing…not to mention the brilliant mind behind those golden eyes that seemed to hold her captive.

All the man had to do was look at her and her heart rate would rise, sending not only her mind but the rest of her body into overdrive. Twice she had almost acted rashly while under his spell. The first when she almost kissed him during her examination, and the second when she had tried to press her hand on his back earlier. Still, she wondered just what his reaction would be. What exactly was she seeing inside those hypnotic pools of gold?

Mayuri sat the pair of chopsticks down into the now empty bowl that sat on the table. He took the last drink from his own clay cup before he stood from his chair. Ayumi looked up at him and figured it was time to head back to the lab, so she too stood up. She reached out for the tray that held the dirty dishes, intending to drop them off herself to be cleaned.

"Leave them. Someone else will come in and pick them up." Mayuri demanded.

Ayumi lifted her head to see him standing with the door already open.

"Yes, Sir." She replied, pulling her hands away from the tray and walking over to him.

Mayuri and Ayumi both stepped out of the small private room back out into the main cafeteria, where third shift squad members were enjoying their breakfast. She turned and looked up at the giant digital clock that hung on the wall above the doorway as she followed Mayuri out into the main hallway. In another ten minutes it would already be eleven o'clock. Now that she had a full stomach, her body was focused on the one other thing it needed in order to function properly…Sleep.

She continued to follow him into the main hallway. Her mind began to wonder as it tried to process the day's events. She had only been awake for seventeen hours, but so much had happened in such a short time, that she felt as if days had merged together. Her fatigue was making her feel a bit fuzzy.

"Ayumi, come and walk next to me." She heard him order.

"Uh…Yes, Sir." She replied as she hurried forward and took her spot next to him on his right side.

"My, my, it seems I'm going to have a hard time breaking you of your habits." He commented.

"My habits?" She replied.

She heard him let out a weary sigh.

"It should have been made clear to you before when I placed you at my side, that I would expect it from you later." He explained.

"I…I see. I'm sorry, Captain." She replied.

"Yes, that seems to be all I hear from you... Apologies." He continued.

Ayumi turned and looked up at his profile as they both walked. How was she supposed to answer him?

"Am I not supposed to apologize?" She asked.

"If you paid closer attention you wouldn't have anything to be sorry for." He countered.

Ayumi turned her head forward as she realized what he was trying to say.

"Yes, Sir. I…I will try and work on that." She replied.

"It is clear to me that you live inside your mind, much like I do, which is not a bad thing, really. You just need to pay attention to your surroundings. I would think that you had already learned that lesson." He continued.

Ayumi knew he was referring to the accident that had damaged her. What she couldn't understand was what made him so interested in how she chose to carry herself. It was almost as if he were trying to build her up into something more…like a woman worthy of walking by his side.

Akon paused and looked over at the clock that hung on the wall. The large digital red numbers indicated that it had almost been an hour since his captain had taken Ayumi to get something to eat. He turned his attention back to the medical bed that was kept in the lab for emergency purposes, and mentally went through his check list that had been given to him by his captain.

The bed was remade with freshly cleaned linens he had personally gone and collected from the laundry. A small metal side table stood next to the bed with the syringe and sedative ready to use. Akon turned to the small station just to the left of him, where Mayuri had spent most of his afternoon. A glass beaker containing a light blue liquid substance sat on the table, with a cork placed snuggly inside its top. Akon couldn't really classify it with a name himself. It was more than just a simple drug. In a sense it could be used for all matters of healing and regeneration.

Akon walked over to the small station, and with gloved hands, he carefully picked the beaker up and carried it over to the metal table, placing it next to the sedative. The procedure was going to be a fairly simple one. His captain would spend a span of twelve hours, dripping three drops in each of Ayumi's eyes every hour in order to give the condensed Reishi enough time to bond to the cellular structure of both of the woman's eyes, all the way down to the optic nerve itself. In theory, once the cells bonded with the Reishi, they would take on natural regenerative properties, hence dissolving the scar tissue and correcting any impairments to the eyes' function.

Akon turned to peek at the time once more and wondered what was taking them so long. Mayuri wasn't the type to lose track of the time. The 12th Division Lieutenant allowed himself another smile as he playfully thought- I would lose track of time in the company of a beautiful woman too, Captain.

He caught movement of white material in his peripheral vision and quickly cleared the smile from his lips as his captain, and the beauty herself, walked back into the lab. Akon's brows lifted when he saw the woman walking at his captain's side. Mayuri would normally never allow a lower ranked officer the privilege of walking at his side, and this only fueled Akon's amusement further.

"Is everything ready?" Mayuri asked.

Akon cleared his throat in an attempt to stifle the smile that threatened to return before he answered.

"Yes, Captain. I just finished setting up for you." Akon answered.

"Excellent, that will be all I need from you then. You may go." Mayuri replied.

Akon paused at his captain's dismissal. He had been under the impression he would be assisting him throughout the night.

"Are you sure, Captain? I will gladly stay and help." Akon replied sincerely.

"There is nothing for you to help with, Akon. This is a pretty standard procedure, and I have plenty of work to keep me occupied in-between. Besides, I would rather you be rested in order to help when she wakes back up." Mayuri countered.

"Ah. Yes, Sir." Akon replied as he pulled the latex gloves from his hands and tossed them into a nearby trash can.

If his captain wanted to take on the task on his own he would not argue with the man. Akon had a sneaking suspicion that Mayuri simply wanted to be alone with the woman. He was starting to notice an almost territorial air about him when it came to Ayumi. Akon shook his head and decided it was better not to overthink the situation. It was a simple procedure and Mayuri had spent many a sleepless night working on his research. It really shouldn't have come as a surprise, Akon thought, as he leaned down and signed off of his personal computer.

Akon could hear Mayuri instructing Ayumi to climb up onto the medical bed and he let out the smile he had been forced to hold back. He couldn't help but steal another glance at the pair before he decided to head to his room for the night. His smile faded and his jaw fell as he witnessed the man extend his hand to the woman in an effort to help her up onto the bed. This act of thoughtfulness came as a shock to Akon. His captain was not known for his compassionate bedside manner…he was usually more cold and analytical, always focused on the outcome of his goal and not necessarily the subject themselves.

Akon decided it was best not to get caught staring at the pair and turned away before Mayuri could see his expression. He walked out of the main lab and stepped into the hallway. He never thought he would see the day that Mayuri Kurotsuchi would allow himself to act upon his emotions. It wasn't that Akon couldn't see that the woman's presence had an effect on him, but now he was beginning to wonder just how deep of an effect it really was.

Ayumi hesitated for a split second before she accepted Mayuri's hand. He guided her as she hopped up onto the side of the bed and pushed herself back, staying in a seated position, not sure if he wanted her to lie down yet or not. She had to admit, the thought of sleeping in the open lab made her feel as if she really was some sort of science experiment being put on display for anyone who walked into the room.

Mayuri walked over to the end of the bed and, without saying a word, he reached out and took hold of her right ankle. She felt the warmth from his touch shoot up her calf as his left hand pulled her sandal from her foot, leaving it bare. Her breath hitched as his hands moved over to her left ankle, repeating the process and sending another hot wave of awareness throughout her body. She never knew just a simple touch from a man could make her heart race in such a way- I mean really, he was only removing her sandals, but it felt so much more intimate coming from a man like him.

She watched him as he stepped to his left and that's when she noticed the syringe that sat on the table, its blue cap still secured over the needle. Her body broke out in goose bumps and she couldn't hide the fact that she hated needles. She hated pain in general, having been through so much during her recovery from the accident. It may have been years ago, but the memory of the horrible stinging sensation filling her eye and covering the right side of her face was something she could never fully shake.

Mayuri tossed her sandals down to the floor and kicked them under the table out of his way. He turned away, giving her his back as he stepped over to a small wall sink next to another small but elaborate work station. His foot lifted and pressed down over a small pedal and water sprang from the sinks tap. He lifted his hand to a mechanical soap dispenser and began to thoroughly wash his hands.

Ayumi turned her head and let her gaze fall to her lap. She was nervous, but deep down Ayumi knew she was in the most capable of hands. She heard the sound of his footsteps as he walked back over to the side of the bed. She didn't look up as he lifted the syringe off the table and removed the blue cap from the needle. He tucked the small vile of sedative into the palm of his left hand and filled the syringe a little less than half way.

"Hold out your right arm." He instructed her.

Ayumi did as he instructed, unfolding her arm from around her middle. She could feel the way she was shaking as her arm outstretched. Mayuri watched her as the she extended her arm for him, and he noticed the way she was trembling. His brow tightened at the sight of the woman's fear. If she didn't trust him enough to perform such a simple procedure, then would she ever trust him enough to be comfortable in another way?

He sat the filled syringe back down and lifted a sterile cleansing pad, ripping the package down the middle and exposing the square piece of cotton. He reached out and lifted the sleeve to her top, gripping her elbow with his left hand as he wiped the area where he would be inserting the needle.

Ayumi felt the cold sensation of the alcohol on her skin and she closed her eyes, trying to brace herself for the pain of the needle that was still to come. She knew she was acting rather stupid- It was just a needle! She was taken aback when she felt his palm cup her chin, forcing her to tilt her head back. She opened her eyes and met his gaze. For a moment she thought she could see something that resembled sympathy coming from behind his eyes, but it hadn't lasted for more than a second.

"Do you not trust me?" he asked her flat out.

Ayumi's lips parted as she understood how she must look to him.

"No, it's not that at all. I…I don't do well with pain." She admitted.

"Ah, I see. Well it's not like I'm going to just jab you. I will at least try to make it as painless as possible." He replied with a straight face.

"I'm sorry, Captain." She whispered.

"More apologizes, I swear." He replied as he lifted the syringe from the table with his right hand and firmly gripped her elbow with his left.

Ayumi squeezed her eyes shut preparing for the sting that never came. She opened her eyes and looked down, seeing that the needle had already been skillfully inserted into her skin. He pressed the plunger with his thumb slowly, and she could feel the gentle flood of liquid as it filled her veins.

"This is a pretty powerful sedative I am giving you. It will help you sleep for the amount of time I will need you to. When you awake, you may feel as if you are intoxicated." He explained to her.

Ayumi felt her eyes start to grow heavy as she listened to his explanation. She was finding it difficult to stay in an upright position already. She turned her glossy eyes over to him and saw that he had pulled the needle from her arm already…Again, she hadn't felt anything. Her head began to swim as her body swayed.

Mayuri noticed her immediate reaction to the sedative, as he had expected, and reached his arms out to keep her from falling off the bed onto the floor. He gently guided her down on her back, careful to lift her long brown hair from under her so it wouldn't pull uncomfortably. Her eyes fluttered and she seemed to be fighting against the drug. He leaned in just as she was able to force her eyes back open.

"You are fighting a battle you cannot win. Give into it now and when you wake up, you'll be seeing me." Mayuri smiled.

Ayumi's lips lifted into a soft smile and she allowed her body to relax into the waves she was riding on. Her eyes fluttered open one more time, catching the view of his profile as he uncorked the beaker full of blue liquid and filled a small dropper by pushing the rubber top. Her last thought, before sleep took her over, was how handsome he was to her…even with the paint on his face.

Mayuri sat the glass beaker down on the side table and looked up at the clock on the wall above him to note the time. He needed to be sure to administer the drops to each eye precisely every hour. It was now ten minutes past midnight. He picked up a small silver gadget that was a timer and set it to go off at eleven minutes passed one in the morning, then sat it back down next to the glass beaker. Mayuri leaned in and, as a test to see if she had successfully been sedated, he pinched her forearm.

When she didn't respond he felt it was safe to continue. He removed her purple framed glasses from her face and sat them on the steel table before lifting the dropper from the beaker and leaning in above her. Using his left hand he pulled her eyelid open, revealing the white of her eye. He pressed the rubber top to the dropper and carefully took count of each drop that hit its target. He saw the blue liquid spread out across her eye before he let the lid slide back closed. Leaning in further, he repeated the process with her left eye.

Mayuri stood straight and placed the dropper down onto a sterile towel and pressed the cork back into the top of the beaker, as an effort to keep the air from diluting the serum he had spent so much time creating. He allowed himself to pause and looked down at the sleeping woman. Her breathing was soft and he could see the slow rhythm of her chest as it rose and then fell again.

"Such beauty." He whispered right before he let out a deep sigh.

He walked down to the foot of the bed and tucked her bare feet into a white blanket that had been laying at the end of the bed. He didn't understand his urges, but he wanted to take care of this woman and didn't see any real harm in allowing himself to do so. He pulled the soft blanket over her body and tucked it up around her shoulders. He knew that the sedative he gave her would most likely prevent her from moving too much while she slept, but he figured he would also make sure she didn't feel cold.

Mayuri allowed himself one more look at her before he turned away. He walked over to his set up of multiple computer screens, pulled his chair aside, and stood in front of the controls. The long blue nail on the middle finger of his right hand tapped against the keys as he typed in his access code. The file containing the blood work for the sick students popped up on the middle screen. To the left, the database of any and all known viruses was open. He typed in another formation of symbols, transferring the information from the first screen over to the database on the left screen.

If the virus was in fact something completely new to them there would be no matches within the database, but if it had in fact mutated like Ayumi had suggested, the baseline bacteria could give him an answer as how to treat it. Mayuri glared at the screen in front of him when four similar matches appeared. It would seem this nasty bug had been around for quite some time, and the sleeping beauty that laid only a few feet away from him had, in fact, been correct.

He tilted his head to the side as he clicked on the file of the four matches and sent microscopic images to the blank screen on his right side. Each bacterial structure seemed to be different, but his eyes narrowed in to the top of each photo. All four specimens seemed to have the same hooked bend at the top indicating its similarity. Mayuri stepped back and allowed the information to sink in. He turned his attention to the samples and where they had come from, what Souls had been infected by the lesser bacteria, and what treatments had taken place.

All four samples came from officers within a span of thirty years. The first case had not required much treatment. A simple dose of anti-nausea medication and two days bed rest had fought it off. Only two lower ranked Souls had come down with it. Stage two, however, affected more than ten Souls of varying ranks and took twice as long to treat. Mayuri could see the pattern forming. After about five to ten years in-between, the virus would mutate and return even stronger. It seemed now it had evolved into something strong enough to even possibly kill its host.

"My, my. You are one nasty little thing aren't you? Too bad for you, I am on your trail, and that means you have just met your match." Mayuri smiled.

He turned his head as the timer went off indicating that he had been reading through the files for an hour already. He quickly turned from his station, walked over to the side of the bed, and once again repeated the process from earlier: Set timer, administer eye drops, place cork back inside the beaker. He stepped back and allowed himself to look at her again.

"It would seem you have brains as well as beauty, woman." He spoke out loud as a new sensation crept up into the center of his chest.

He lifted his hand and placed is over the ache that seemed to be right above his heart.

"Well, this is unsettling." He stated to nobody as he rubbed his palm over the heaviness.

He turned away from her then, deciding that maybe the feeling would go away if he went back to his other research.

Mayuri sat leaning back in his chair waiting for the last hour to pass by. He rubbed his hands over his tired eyes and glanced up at the clock. In about twenty more minutes it would be almost noon, and then he could go and rest. Nemuri had arrived in the lab a little after eight in the morning and, in an effort to keep her out of the way, he had allowed her to have a day to herself. He even suggested that she go out and find her friend, Ichika. The two children had grown up playing together, and he didn't see the harm in allowing Nemuri some bonding time with a girl around the same age. It would help the child grow in ways he could not.

His Lieutenant had arrived only an hour later, asking him if he needed any assistance. Mayuri had shrugged him off, telling him to go and supervise those in the main lab in order to get him out of his hair. He wasn't in the mood to have people around him breaking his concentration from his current tasks. He had spent most of the night trying to figure out what was beneath the virus, and just what exactly gave it its ability to mutate. If he could find the source it would be much easier to come up with some form of treatment.

As the night wore on and his own fatigue started to take over, he simply decided it would be better to continue after he had enough time to sleep without the hourly interruptions from the timer going off. He allowed his eyes to close for a few moments as he tried to decompress his mind. The heavy ache in his chest had not left him once the whole night. As a man of science he had never had these kinds of reactions. While he would admit he felt for some, mainly Nemuri. In the way a creator looked at all of his successes, he enjoyed watching her grow and helping her learn. He guessed she was as close to a daughter as a man such as he would ever have.

Mayuri opened his eyes and sighed. Love was nothing more than a chemical reaction in the brain, he repeated, trying to fight back the uncomfortable sensations that had taken him over. It was one thing to be curious about the woman, lust he could even understand, but this need to shelter her from harm…This almost primal urge to take and keep her-why, he almost felt as barbaric as Captain Zaraki.

He turned his head towards the woman when the timer started to beep again, indicating that he had made it to the finish line. He pushed himself up from his chair and walked over to the bedside, unplugging the cork from the glass beaker just as he noticed her start to move. He paused as the woman lifted her arms up over her head stretching out her body. Her breasts lifted in the air causing the blanket he had tucked around her to shift and it gave him a whole new view of her generous curves.

Her eyes opened slowly and she blinked rapidly. He had not expected her to wake for another hour or so. He placed the cork down on the table and leaned in to take a look. Her vision seemed to come into focus and he couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. She looked up at him as her lips parted and her beautiful eyes widened.

The dark marbled scar that had once marred her beauty was gone. He felt the rush of success fill him as he decided to take a seat next to her on the bed.

Ayumi blinked and when she saw her captain's face come into perfect unobscured view she couldn't help the awe that filled her. He'd done it. She could see him perfectly. For the first time in twenty years she could see everything around her.

"Can you see me clearly?" she heard him ask after he took a seat next to her on the bed.

"Yes!" She whispered breathlessly.

He had expected her to have some kind of reaction to the success of the experiment but he'd never considered her to act emotional. He could see the fresh tears of what looked to be happiness filling her eyes.

"Don't cry. It will flush out the remaining serum." He instructed her.

Ayumi closed her eyes and willed herself to pull back the intense emotion she was feeling. She didn't know how to thank him. She wanted to thank him so badly, but she couldn't find the words.

"I had not expected you to wake so soon. I guess you must have a higher tolerance to sedation than I had calculated." He continued.

Ayumi slowly lifted herself up into a sitting position and she noticed the way he leaned back from her.

"Thank you so much." She whispered as she grabbed a hold of his forearm.

Mayuri's gaze dropped to her hand and debated on whether or not to pull away from her touch. When he lifted his gaze she had moved closer to him, her face just inches away from his own. He paused out of curiosity, it looked as if the woman was about to kiss him.

Ayumi could see the deep seated curiosity behind her captain's gaze as he looked at her. She still had a grip on his right forearm and all she had to do was lean in a few more inches. Just a few more inches, and she could thank him with the kiss she so desperately wanted to give him. She let go of his arm and tentatively lifted her hand to the side of his painted face. His brow lifted as he felt her touch, but he didn't pull away. She took that as the only permission she would ever get from him, and in one swift act of bravery she leaned in and pressed her lips over his.

Mayuri tensed as he felt the woman lean in and press her soft lips against his. He wasn't sure what would make the woman kiss him so suddenly. Was it her way of showing him gratitude? He felt her lips move over his slowly and his mind focused on the sensation. He felt her body lean back as if she were about to pull away from him, but he had yet to kiss her back. He lifted his hands and cupped both sides of her face as he leaned into the kiss. She tilted her head to the side and he felt her hot breath as her lips parted for him in further invitation.

He allowed himself to let go as he parted his own lips, allowing the tip of his tongue to taste her. He heard her gasp in reaction to the slight invasion, and it was all the encouragement he needed. He lowered his hand and wrapped his arm around her back, pressing her against him as he delved his tongue into her mouth completely. He felt her arms lock around his neck as her tongue met his, gently lapping against him. His body grew even tenser as he heard her soft moan come from the back of her throat, but his tension was of a whole different kind.

His body seemed to know exactly how to react as he felt her go soft against him, pressing her breasts against his chest. His palm twitched with the urge to caress her as her tongue kept meeting his…playfully mingling as their lips overlapped-deep open-mouthed kisses. He'd never expected it to feel so pleasant. He gave in to the base urge to grope her as he lifted his right hand and covered the side of her breast. Ayumi moaned deeper and he felt her lean back enough to allow him better access. His hand moved up and he filled his palm with the generous mound, feeling her nipple tighten through the fabric of her top in response.

Mayuri dropped his hand and gripped her by the shoulders before he pulled away from their kiss. She looked up at him with confusion at his abrupt stop, and that's when she heard the footsteps echoing in the hallway.

She looked up into his intense gaze as he stared back at her with a smirk on his face.

"Well, that was unexpected." He whispered.

Ayumi felt her body shutter at his words. His voice was a low rasp and she had no doubt that it was the tone he used when aroused. Before she could reply she heard the voice of her Lieutenant calling out.

"Was the procedure a success, Captain?" Akon asked as he begun to walk over.

Mayuri squeezed her arm before he reluctantly stood from the bed and turned to face his Lieutenant.

"Yes. It was. I think I will go and rest for now. Make sure she is taken care of for the next couple hours." Mayuri demanded.

"Yes, Sir." Akon replied.

Ayumi pressed the back of her hand to her lips and closed her eyes. She never knew just how good it felt to be kissed, let alone touched by a man, and a man like Mayuri, who was passionate in everything he felt was worth his time, seemed the perfect man to show her.

Akon walked over to her then, and with a straight face, seeming to have no clue of what he had interrupted, asked if she would like any breakfast. Ayumi looked up at him, and even though a part of her wanted to kick him, she simply nodded.

"Any requests?" He asked her thoughtfully.

"No, anything will do. Thank you, Akon." She answered.

"Right then. I will be right back." He replied.

She nodded to him as she watched him turn and leave the room. She knew it was just wishful thinking, but a part of her had hoped Mayuri would walk back in and demand her to accompany him back to his room. Her shoulders slumped before she fell back against the bed and pulled the white blanket over her face. Her first kiss had been amazing, and she hoped with all her heart that Mayuri would do it again soon.