Straitjacket Feeling

 

He had always remarked that close contact wasn't entirely something he was a fan of.

Close-combat itself was something he had tried to avoid, so anything within a few feet of that turned him off. Although, there were certain close-contact activities that he didn't entirely turn away from.

Talking to someone in the hallway was completely different from talking to someone in bed.

And yet, he absolutely loved the way she settled herself against his chest; her palms pressed loosely against his heated skin. Her usually strictly-tied hair was messy and pulled completely loose from it's braided pattern; allowing for her slightly curled locks to spread easily across the white bed sheets. Warm breath escaped from her lips and spread across the empty dip of his collarbones; every soft exhale reminded him that she was still there and present. They rarely had the chance to linger like this. He was almost certain he had never entirely been able to hold her so calmly before for an extended period of time; it had always been a few minutes at most but now... now there was this lingering sense of never wanting to let go.

She carefully moved her fingers to touch at the strands of hair that lightly fell over his shoulders; tangling in the soft curls. "If you wanted, I could cut your hair for you."

"I don't know, I kind of like the longer look." he replied with a light chuckle. "Although it is a bit harder to manage and I don't really appreciate it when people grab a hold of it; I don't know, I'll have to think on it."

"I think it looks nice." she started.

He sighed and stretched his arms out before he pulled her in towards him once more. "Well in that case... I think I just might keep it."

"Are you going to keep it just because I like it?"

"You're a difficult woman to keep happy, if there's anything that'll help that cause I see no harm in doing so."

She buried herself a bit closer into his chest. "And what if I said I wanted you to cut them?"

"I never really liked them that much anyways."

"You are a difficult person to keep up with."

"I took that from you."

Shaking her head, she pushed herself up onto her arms and looked down at him; watching as he rolled over onto his back and stretched out a bit more. "How much longer do you think we have?"

He shrugged briefly before he brought his hands up to cup the curve of her ribcage. "Who knows, it could be minutes or a few more hours. Why? Are you trying to instigate something more?"

"I just didn't want someone to walk in on our indecency." she replied.

"I've been in far too many of those kind of situations to really be bothered by them anymore, but I suppose I wouldn't want to damage your reputation anymore than I already have. Or have to share that split-second of embarrassment with your fellow members, right?" he remarked as he pushed himself up onto his arms just enough to catch her lips again. "What do you say we share a bit more privacy elsewhere?"

It didn't take her long to catch onto what he meant as she leaned back just slightly to keep their contact minimum. "I don't know... I think it might defeat the purpose of trying to clean up."

"I'll try to keep my hands decent."

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Cursing to herself, she practically stormed through the narrow corridors of the Division facility and did her best to ignore the few Division members who occupied the area. She had always considered herself a calm, collective person but right now... right now she just really wanted to blow off some steam; she was non-combative though so that feeling had to be reserved for now until a later time.

She had her duties to return to anyways.

Stopping in front of the bedroom door, Isane let a long sigh escape her as one hand moved to push through her silver-locks. Her energy levels were probably present from a mile away with how agitated she got so... she assumed the Twelfth Lieutenant was very aware of her approach. "Captain Unohana, Officer Akon, I apologize for my absence, I didn't expect to be gone for so... long...." she started as she pushed the door open only to realize there was no one around. "... Captain Unohana?"

Where did her Captain go off to?

"Isane?" she glanced up at the call before she noticed the dark-haired woman as she stepped around the corner that lead off into another section of her bedroom; hands carefully cradling her dark locks in a white towel. "I wasn't expecting you back so soon?"

Back so soon? She was gone for... an hour? Maybe two?

"Where is everyone? I thought Captain Unohana and Officer Akon were staying in here?" Isane questioned.

"They both left an hour or so ago to speak with Captain Mayuri; they didn't say what it was about though..."

That wasn't like the woman to just... up and leave like that, unless there was something that absolutely bothered her. Letting out another sigh, she pushed the door closed behind her and looked around the place once more, like the walls were going to given her answers to her questions. "So... what? They just left the two of you in here... alone? Isn't that dangerous?"

Nemu glanced up at the question as she seated herself on the edge of her bed; slowly beginning the process of re-braiding her hair. "I see no reason why it would be. There's no reason why we would suddenly turn violent upon each other."

"I know, I just... I don't know, it seems odd that they would do that."

"Rest assured, we have no ill will towards one another." she continued as she carefully worked her fingers down the long strands and folded them under and over one another. "In fact... I believe it may have been part of Captain Unohana's plan to have the two of us left alone for awhile."

"... You know what, I don't even want to imagine what you two did when no one was looking."

"But you're missing out on all the good parts."

She looked over to see the pink-haired Espada step out from around the same corner; a white towel draped over the back of his neck and hung down over his shoulders. His vibrant hair was fairly shorter, it seemed, from the last time she remembered it. Most of her frustration towards the man had settled down so she figured she was in no position to insult him if she so willed it. "No thanks."

"You know... I know it's none of my business, not that that's ever really stopped me before, but how tall are you?" he questioned; watching as the woman frowned at the remark.

"I don't like discussing it." Isane replied quickly.

"That's a shame, I was going to throw out a guess and say somewhere close to six foot or more? That's about as tall as I am." he continued regardless; watching as the topic only seemed to irritate the woman. "I take it you don't seem to appreciate it as much? Although I suppose some people of the male species would see height as a kind of... intimidating feature for a woman."

"I don't know, Officer Yumichika seems to enjoy it."

"Nemu!"

"I was just simply curious about it, there was no mean for harm." he started. "I rather enjoy collecting useless observations about new faces around here; you just happened to be one that caught my eye."

She could only shake her head in response. "I think I can finally see why you two deserve each other."

Her tone was mostly almost bitter but there was a sense of exhaustion and frustration in it as well; he decided not to push it. "So I'm guessing you'll be staying here till someone else comes along to relieve you of that duty?"

"... Yeah I guess so. My original order was to stay here with you two and seeing as everyone else left... I guess that means I have to stay behind and 'observe' you two or whatever it was I had to do in the first place."

"Well now, this is going to be fun."

XXXX

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"That is absolutely ridiculous."

Frowning lightly at the words, she maintained her collective and cool posture as she watched her fellow Captain not even bother to turn away from his computer; she had no idea what he was up to but it certainly couldn't have been more important than what she had to say. "It's only a suggestion but if you so much as have a sliver of respect to her, you would give more thought to it; she is your Lieutenant and you are liable for her safety and comfort."

"No, you see, Captain Unohana... she is my 'creation.' There's a difference."

"Then I fail to see what this 'difference' of yours is." she countered easily. "As much as I hate to give in to this little 'experimentation' of yours... if you want this child to be born healthy, then she must be in fit condition first- that includes emotionally stable and I firmly believe that is what he gives her. You've rarely even taken the time out for yourself to witness this; if you had even caught so much of a glimpse of it, you would understand."

He merely waved a hand back to her. "Officer Akon, do you have any evidence that would make these ridiculous claims... efficient?"

The man froze for a moment under the change of circumstances; he hadn't exactly expected to be put on stage as such... in fact he was more braced for the Captain's outburst for leaving his station. "In all honesty, Captain Mayuri... there is a change in her energy levels and overall demeanor when she is in the present of the Espada. He keeps her active and I believe that would... be useful later on in this experiment, such as with later months. As well, he could provide some-"

"She'll carry out the experiment regardless of his presence or not... hell, I should've killed him a long time ago."

Unohana frowned once more at the statement but decided to set the matter aside for now; it would need heavy visitation later on, and if she so much had to fight tooth and nail for improvement... then so be it. "As well, I would like to know of these plans of yours about recreating an isolation area for her; you spoke about it earlier and said that it would greatly reduce the risk of outside factors. For once, I agree with your logic, however I wish to be more involved with this matter. I want to know the location and I want to be a part of the overall blueprints of this place. If we wish to keep this whole operation as healthy as possible, I want my team to have their own observation room and we're going to need a birthing room as well."

An irritated sigh left the man as he rubbed at the empty space between his eyes. "You know, for a 'volunteer' of this operation, you're certainly getting far more involved than needed; in fact, I'm beginning to question why I even agreed to this."

"It's been said before... you know why." she replied. "I'm almost certain my involvement in this is the only reason this entire operation has been allowed to continue. To be quite honest... it's probably one of very few reasons why Captain Yamamoto himself hasn't gotten involved; or why Captain Byakuya hasn't completely blown up over this whole thing. The Society is divided but by some form of luck, no one is willing to approach the matter as long as I'm involved. Now, I'm not here to swing the balance in your favor; I'm here to make sure she's treated properly and everything is taken care of. Her health is my priority right now and if I must add once more, I still believe he will play a part in it. I only ask that you allow for them to stay for these next few days; check her stats, her energy, whatever it is that you're checking for... look at the differences. If you're not convinced by it... then you can have this operation back."

A thick silence followed in answer.

Slowly, he pushed himself from his computer and turned back to the black-haired Captain. "You have two days."

She nodded in return. "Yes, well thank you, now if you'll excuse me, Captain Mayuri, I have to speak with my Lieutenant; I'm sure she's returned from her visit now."

"Akon, escort Captain Unohana back to wherever it is that she's going; when you're done, I'd like to discuss some matters with you."

"... Yes sir."

Stepping out of the darkly lit room, she almost found the rush of light refreshing even when it blurred her vision just slightly. "Well I suppose that went smoother than I had expected. I'm not entirely happy with the results but it's better than nothing I suppose. There will be time for later negotiations further along in this. But... until then, I will simply have to fight it day by day. It's far too big of a risk for either of us to simply drop our arguments."

"Ah yes well, until then... I suppose we'll just have to stand aside and see what happens."

"Which is unfortunate."

The long walk back across the Division facility was made mostly in silence as she took to her own thoughts for the journey. If the end of the two days came with no change from the Captain... she just risked her entire involvement in this case. She had a fear that the Captain would purposely avoid seeing any difference and go about his old ways, which meant she lost what little, stable bit of control she had; which also meant anything could happen and she couldn't do much about it. For all she knew, he would make truth of his words about getting rid of the Espada but... she also knew he wasn't stupid; he wouldn't risk getting rid of the only one remaining.

She also knew that, even if he so much as despised her, he wouldn't dare cross her incorrectly.

However, she wasn't one for panic or worry.

Things were going to work out...

"I know it is not my place to make promises but... if I find out something more about this isolated location business." Akon started as the two entered the long corridor that would take them straight to the Lieutenant's bedroom. "I'll try to pass on the information."

"Under any other circumstances, I'm sure I would've viewed that as a minor betrayal of your Captain's trust... however, in this instance I believe you're doing more good than bad." she remarked. "Although I must confess... I am curious as to your reasoning for this."

A silent sigh left him at the question; he had been partly hoping that the woman wouldn't ask for such an explanation. "To be quite honest with you, Captain Unohana, I'm not entirely sure myself. I would like to think it's on a level of sympathy but I'm not entirely sure if anyone here is able to function with that kind of thinking. Perhaps I'm merely curious to see where this goes, should she choose to allow for it to evolve on its own. No one here entirely understands how the two are able to function around one another or why they even do so; I believe no one here actually wants to understand it, they just want to disbelieve it and set it aside with some hope that it'll solve itself. It's apparent at this point that it's not but... we haven't come to terms with it yet. He's not one of us; there's no way he could possibly be able to understand us."

"I don't think he really cares for anyone else... as long as he understands her, that's all he wishes." she replied as they slowly approached the door. She found herself pausing for a moment just before it; fingertips almost hesitant to touch the doorknob before she forced herself to pull the door free of its frame.

"Captain Unohana?" Isane questioned as she turned at the creak of the door. "Where did you go?"

"Ah, Isane, I wasn't expecting you to be here so soon after. How's Kiyone doing?"

She frowned quickly at the question before she simply shook it aside. "About as fine as I'm going to let her be for now."

"Well now, Isane, you must admit that she is capable of taking care of herself; you can't baby her forever." Unohana chuckled lightly.

"Where did you go off to?"

"Ah well... I had some business I had to deal with, with Captain Mayuri." she answered briefly. "That can be discussed later though; how are our patients doing?"

"Considering they were left unattended for two or more hours, I'm sure they're fine."

"Were we really gone for that long?" Akon questioned.

"I'm assuming that you were; no one was here when I got back." Isane shrugged.

A light chuckle left his lips as he listened in on the bickering; rather enjoying the scene unfold from their mixed placement on the bed. He leaned towards her; resting his head in the curve of her neck. "It's rather humorous to watch them. They act like we're completely incapable of handling ourselves."

"Hmm, I think it has something more to do with what we manage to get ourselves into when no one's looking." she replied as fingertips played on the curve of his jawline; she watching as the other three only seemed to be grossly involved in some discussion of some sort. For once... she wasn't the least bit curious about it. She tilted her head in towards his own and felt the wet strands press against her cheek; feeling the sense of warmth come from the simple way he draped his arm over her body. Fingertips lightly ran along her sides to trace the fleshy curves and every now and again, he'd let his touch drift a little and skim over her stomach. She had allowed for him to do the act alone for awhile before she rested her hand over his own. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing really." he started. "I'm trying to run through a list of statistics and imagine what it's going to look like. It spoils things a bit but... it's relatively harmless and simple to do."

She humored him lightly and slid her fingers between his own. "You want it to have green eyes... like mine."

"I think they would be fitting."

"What if I want it to have pink hair like yours?"

He chuckled once more. "Nah, compared to your black hair, it'll be an incredibly recessive gene, barely even noticeable. Plus... pink hair and green eyes would be a horrible combination."

"You say that like pink and amber are even better."

"That was hurtful."

She moved to lightly curl her fingers in his hair. "What else?"

"She'll probably be an above average height, maybe five foot seven or nine inches; I'm thinking she would more than likely inherit your body structure and close-combative skills while maintaining a higher-level of thinking that would put her above her opponents."

"... She?"

"It's really a fifty-fifty chance but... who knows."