Straitjacket Feeling

A/N: Didn't get that message until later but yes I did catch up on my rest and luckily didn't do anything to embarass myself in class; I still managed to make project turn in as well, with a few hours to spare might I add. Now I've got a class that gives me a lot more free time and the assurance that I passed my class from last month as well. Hopefully I'll be able to use my time wisely, although balancing a few stories is a bit difficult as always but doing my best to do so. Kind of proud of my quicker updates lately although I had never imagined the story going this far.

"Can I ask you something?"

"That is a terrifying question in itself."

She glanced over at the remark and watched as he seemed to keep almost what appeared to have been a tense expression on his face; something seemed to be bothering him but she knew well enough about him that he wouldn't easily spill his worries. He was a secretive man, although she supposed in the face of this kind of situation and his overall condition throughout the years he had learned to separate different mental parts of him; creating multiple identities for different occasions and only allowing for specific ones to surface when they were needed. Such as now, he seemed to be battling between two different personas; each one struggling to get a grasp on something that seemed far out of his reach.

Given the chance, she would've liked to sit down and try out conversations with him but the current situation called for a lot of her time and focus- and his just the same; maybe another time perhaps.

"What are the chances that her child is half Hollow?"

Even though she had asked permission before asking her initial question, he still found himself slightly off-guard for her response. As far as he could tell, the other female Captain kept a tight hold on that kind of information... it was odd for the other woman to know of it- although her position as Fourth Division rank probably had a greater reason for it. "As far as I know or could tell with having only words to go off of, there's a low chance." he started. "Because both parental figures were Shinigamis first before the ultimate change took over, sometimes its difficult to tell the purity of the genes after that. In my personal opinion, I'd say even given the chance that there's a hint of Hollow in the offspring, it's in low, barely fitting amounts; however, it would be near impossible to tell without a direct observation."

"The only way to get a direct observation would be to go directly to her secluded lodging in the mountainsides and see if you can get past the hidden traps that have claimed a dozen or so unfortunate people." she replied. "But seeing how this situation is coming along, I don't think they'll really enjoy it if you stepped out for a leisurely walk; and I already know for a fact she wouldn't dare bring her here- too much of a risk and I don't believe the child would go with her anyways."

"Does anyone here really know about it?"

"No, in fact I would've gotten by without knowing myself if someone hadn't called me in on it." Unohana explained. "But she's an adorable little girl, she really does look just like her father. She can be terribly shy though, I think her constant isolation from the world makes her hesitant of strangers. She'll only let her mother around her and sometimes the working maids but that's about it; it's... kind of a strange sight to see really. We all know Captain Soifon as being a strict and solitary character, and yet everything changes when you see that little girl run up to her. She used to complain about how when her daughter was just a baby through that first year, she wouldn't let anyone else hold her; she'd scream and cry if her mother wasn't around and the only way to make her stop was to get the Captain herself."

"I would think all that separation between them would distance them from one another."

"I thought the same thing but the last time I checked in on her there didn't seem to be any difference; it's like she doesn't even recognize the amount of time that passes on between each visit."

He took note of the slight smile that seemed to come to the woman; as though the faint recollection of both memories and images lightened her day. "When does she visit her?"

"Once a month at least; no one here dares to directly question her about the frequent leaves but there are always those who like to talk in quiet whispers about it." she answered. "I don't get in on it and I don't leave suspicion on what's going on; it's her own right to keep it a secret as she wishes, there's no one else here who can change that."

"Will she always keep her a secret?"

"... That I do not know. I always had the fond suspicion that she'll wait for her to mature to the right age and slowly introduce her into the Society, but... she's always been on alert for risks and danger. Eventually someone's going to notice how similar she looks to our previous Captain; how her energy may work in the same way that his did; how some of her attacks function like his did... but who knows. I try not to question myself on it, it's not my place of argument after all."

That was a good point, perhaps he should learn his own place and keep the questions to himself or at least wait if the other Captain was to return and ask her himself. Okay, maybe just one more question. "What's her name?"

She paused slightly in their trail before she turned to face him; watching as he caught fairly quickly onto her change of pace and stopped along with her. She wasn't entirely sure why he was asking so many questions about the woman or about her daughter for that fact... but she was almost certain it had something to do with yet another persona of his. Another faint smile seemed to come to her lips unexpectantly. "Ninel."

He let the name run through his mind for a bit before a brief smile seemed to slip through his grasp. "It's fitting for her."

A light nod left her before she moved to continue on with their walk; taking note that she seemed to almost be purposely slowing down their pace to elongate this open time together. He didn't seem to notice it all too much but he cut down the length of his gait to match her own. "May I ask something else of you?"

"I suppose there's no need to worry for such." he replied. "Go on."

"Were you actually starting to care for her?"

"What? No, I just-"

She glanced over at the answer and watched as he seemed to have lost his train of thought with the answer; even his expression seemed to be marked with confusion as his loss of words left him in an awkward position to answer from. "I just... noticed that you seemed to be showing signs of affection towards her; or maybe it's just your curious nature that's have you asked so many personal questions about her."

There was a slight struggle to figure out where he had been going with his answer; he didn't know how it happened but it just seemed like his mind completely cleaned itself after the question. Was he actually starting to care for her? Was that what was asked of him? How the fuck was he supposed to answer that? It's not like he was- aw shit... he couldn't even finish his own thoughts before it felt like it cleared out again. It was like some kind of kill switch or something... "I'll... get back to you on that one." he answered eventually as fingers moved to pinch the space between his eyes. "I just can't focus on that right now."

"I was only curious." she nodded. "I like to think I have more control in this situation than I actually do... but I do expect to be taking care of the other women coming along; I just... I'd like to know what your reaction would be to them, just in case."

"Unless you think I'm going to go insane and attempt harm on one of them, you'd be mistaken; I don't really plan on any kind of physical 'motions'- I'm not much of a fighter anyways and I rarely even got in physical altercations with women. Plus, any woman who's going to be stuck in here for the next nine months of her life deserves my sympathy, not my anger."

Well that was a breath of relief, not that she was really too worried for it anyways. He seemed to carry an air of solace and calmness with him. "Thank you."

"I wouldn't be thanking me just yet."

"... And why is that?"

A coarse sigh escaped him as he moved his fingers to push up on his glasses. "I still hold my previous statement on this entire situation. In my own personal opinion... there's no way for our two different genetics to cross over successfully in such a manner; the reason Lady Kurotsuchi and I were able to... well that's clearly evident for anyone who's heard the story."

Oh yes, everyone had heard the stories quite well... she was almost certain that officer Renji was still having nightmares over it. "Well we all have our theories on it... What about Captain Soifon and Kaname? How was that able to cross over successfully?"

"He was a Shinigami first, a powerful one at that; he wasn't complete Hollow in terms of pure blood. And maybe his transformation had only been partly complete but it crossed over because they still shared similar energy and blood; even with the taint of Hollow, any little bit can create that kind of success."

She nodded lightly with his words as they seemed to offer a brief standing point; he did hold his position on the theory and was remarkably firm on it- there seemed to be no reason for him to doubt himself on it. "But what if one does?"

"Then we'll move on from there." he answered before he slightly quickened his steps. "Now, if you don't mind me but... I'd much rather not further this discussion. I'd just like to speak with Lady Kurotsuchi right now."

"That's quite alright... I understand."

"You seem to have a lot of questions for me though." he remarked as he continued on his way, just a few steps ahead of her.

That was true. "How did you know?"

"Everyone has the same concentrated kind of look on their face when there's something they want to ask or if there's another discussion they want to take part in." he replied. "I've been around plenty of rather 'nosy' people to observe the facial features and body language when the nerve to ask a question comes up; it looks like you have quite a bit to say."

She nodded lightly but looked up just as they entered through one of the main corridors that would take them to the Lieutenant's room. "There is actually, in fact I feel as though there is much I'd like to speak to you about- however, I can't quite find that kind of time to spend just yet; hopefully you'll be able to hold a place for me when I do."

"I assure you, I don't think I'll be going anywhere all too soon and I certainly have plenty of time to spare." he commented as he followed the path of the corridor and could already feel the slight vibrations of her energy... something seemed odd about it but he tried not to make too big of a deal of it just yet. "If anything, I'm curious to hear what you want to talk about; what kind of conversations could bypass between us."

"Well, complicated matters at most." she nodded. "But important matters in the end, so I hope we'll be able to discuss them soon enough."

"I'll see how my time with Lady Kurotsuchi goes and if there's a moment where she needs her rest instead, then I'll see if I can't find you... and we can continue with these matters of yours."

"I appreciate the gesture." Unohana replied before she slowly stopped herself in her steps. "I must go check up on my Lieutenant now, feel free to continue on as you will."

He nodded back to her and watched as she turned back to leave before he continued on down the lingering corridor; taking in the refreshing sense of silence that flooded the air- it felt like the last few hours had been filled with nonstop talking. He only wished to keep things simple and quiet at times like these. Stress only made the talking seem worse. Fingertips touched lightly at the door between them before he eased it from its frame and stepped inside. The room was fairly cool and he enjoyed the way it felt against his skin; it seemed to be refreshing to her just the same seeing as she was curled up in the center of her bed. She never really was much of a sleeper herself- she always complained that he never slept enough but seemed to spend more time complaining than doing the same for herself. Hopefully now that would be different.

He slowly made his way over to her bedside and watched as she stretched out slightly before she rolled over onto her other side; facing with her back towards him now. Well at least she seemed peaceful enough. He gently moved to brush aside her black bangs and pull them away from her face; listening to the brief groan escape her as she turned away from him for a moment. Yeah, she was in that deep kind of slumber he had only seen a few times before- mostly from the Arrancar females but still. The mattress squeaked lightly with his added weight as he moved in next to her; arms gently wrapping themselves around her slender body as he pulled her in closer against him.

Something about her was off... he couldn't put his finger on it just yet.

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"She really did a number on those men."

"Well... we couldn't really expect much less, now could we?"

A thick sigh escaped her as she moved a hand to ruffle through her hair once more. It had taken some time but she eventually made her way through the group of Division members who had been injured and carefully tended to their wounds. Captain Soifon certainly meant business with the quick and clean stabs that pierced the chest of nearly every man; thank Gods the woman didn't use her Shikia or else they would've been needing body bags instead of gurneys. "She certainly did not like anything about this whole situation."

"No but we are handling it the best we can." Akon replied as he continued to hold an ice pack against the persistent swell of his previously shattered cheekbone.

"Well... she's a difficult person to please anyways." Isane sighed. "She wouldn't be happy with anything, regardless of how well it was handled." That wasn't to say she was the least bit pleased either.

"I see you have everyone healed back up to a healthy status."

She glanced back at the words and nodded as her Captain walked in to join them. "Yes ma'am, the injuries weren't too difficult but they were in large quantities; I suppose it would be foolish to wonder how she managed to injury so many in such a small time span."

"Captain Soifon does... have specific qualities to her that allow for such talent to occur." Unohana nodded in response as she moved in to examine the inside of the small room; looking over the currently bedridden Division members inside. At least this Division had plenty of space for momentary healing rooms... she had a feeling it wasn't the first time so many members had gotten injured at once by the power of a Captain. "Is this all that I asked you to do?"

"Yes-" Isane started before she stopped herself; remembering the second part of her request... the one that included burning reports. "Well, I haven't gone over specific... 'details' of the wounds quite yet but I will be doing so soon enough."

"Excellent, while you handle those details, there are a few things that I wish to speak to Officer Akon about; if you don't mind joining me that is."

He shook his head and moved to follow her as she stepped out of the room. "What is it? What else is there for us to speak of?"

"I do believe we have talked almost too much with one another in these past few hours but... there is a lot to speak of with such given situation." she replied as she continued to move along and further the distance between themselves and her Lieutenant; there wasn't all too much for her to speak on to the man but... she needed to buy the woman some time and this was the only way she could think to do it. "I apologize if it seems as though I'm just wasting your time, but I was wondering if there was anything else about this situation that you could share with me?"

"I've already told you everything I know and everything that I can without breaking Captain Mayuri's given permission; we've been trying to keep things under wraps with this so there's not all too much information that we wish to share right now."

"Is there anything you can tell me about him moving these women into another building- that is if there are others that are to accompany this 'experiment?' I'd like to know ahead of time so I can get my supplies ready for the final months; I'd also like to put in a request for a birthing room and a nursery- it seems as though your Captain ignored my last request for such."

It was a mix of interest as he pulled the ice pack away for a moment and took note of the blood that remained stained on the outer surface of it. As much as he'd like to help the other Captain, his own had left behind specific instructions and one of such was to restrict any and all loss of information between joining parties- meaning he wasn't initially supposed to be talking all too much with them. But again... he still wanted to help. "... He did tell me one thing before he left. It's not much but perhaps it may be beneficial to your questions."

"Do go on."

"Division Twelve has quite a bit of storage buildings that are scattered about in the local mountainsides; they're close enough for us to monitor but far away to provide a sense of isolation. We were currently renovating one when this situation arose, so we put aside our plans to turn it into another lab and chose to recreate it into a suitable living area instead. By next month it'll be done, which should give us plenty of time to add in additional rooms if needed; there was a small area that was planned to be used as a delivery wing... we weren't going to exactly supply it with a staff but since you've offered to do so yourself, we might be able to arrange something different."

"I'd just feel safer if someone medically trained was to take care of this whole thing; no offense but... science cannot handle the human body as well as medicine can."

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This was crazy.

She couldn't believe she was doing this.... sneaking around in another Division's office and snooping through their filing cabinets. What if she got caught by someone? What was her excuse supposed to be? 'Oh sorry, must've taken a wrong turn somewhere and ended up halfway through this filing cabinet. It won't happen again.'

Because people believed that all the time.

She kept glancing over her shoulder at the closed door behind her before she continued on through the thick collection of folders that had been shoved into the narrow drawer. How the hell could anyone find anything in this mess was beyond her. Still, she minded fingertips as she hurried through every folder and glanced at every paper to check for any name listing Captain Soifon... it was a bit harder than what she was originally thinking but she had to have been getting close.

Fingertips pulled back a folder that had a list of familiar names on it and pulled it out for quicker searching; this seemed like it. She had barely started to flip through the folder before she stopped as a list of names caught her attention instead; she shouldn't be looking at it but... her eyes had already landed on it for too long. The list of names was all too familiar to her, hell all of them were people she hung out with on a daily basis. There was Nanao and Hinamori, there was Kiyone's name and Matsumoto's... but what was this- oh no. They didn't... they weren't... oh Gods they were. They got themselves involved in this mess... didn't they? It felt like her stomach dropped lower than it should have as a flood of some cold mess seemed to invade her entire body. But why? Why would they put themselves through this kind of wreck of an experiment? It was... it was above them at least. Shit.

Shaking her head, she tried not to concentrate on it and moved back to her first focus of finding just Captain Soifon's name and not get distracted again. She tried to hurry her way through the thick pack of paper while also trying to avoid a nasty paper cut that could abuse her sensitive fingertips. Not to say that she wouldn't be able to heal it easily but... well she just didn't want the experience of it first. Brushing past papers, she was really trying to just pick out one name and yet... another paper regarding Kiyone pulled her attention away from it.

Just some scribbled notes about her positive ranking and the insecurities it hindered the experiment with.

'Inconclusive Results.'

Inconclusive Results? Inconclusive resu- what part of it was inconclusive? Probably the part where everyone seemed to refuse to accept that she was pregnant with Sentaro's child- there was no doubting that- shit, she just defended that motion, didn't she? What was she getting herself in to? How desperate was she getting in this mess? Ugh, she just didn't want to mess with it anymore, she really needed to find those papers and get out before someone found her screwing around in here.

Still, she folded up the report and stuffed it into one of her pockets before she continued to rummage through the mess.

Wait, wait... here it was.

Test results regarding Captain Soifon's condition have come back positive.

Notes: It should be taken into consideration that she is highly irritable and easy to anger, take precaution when approaching her and relaying the news; as well, don't keep your back to her after the news has been delivered... we don't want to suffer any more causalities in the matter- especially not by her hands.

This was probably something that she needed to dispose of as she stuffed that report into her pocket as well before she merely grabbed a few sheets afterwards that continued to print the woman's name. The brief echo of footsteps outside nearly stopped her heart in her chest as scrambled to get things back in place before she shoved the folder into its resting place- carefully sliding the drawer close after it. Shit, shit, shit, she signed up to burn papers not have to treat this as some kind of mercenary mission.

How was she going to get out of this one?

Come on, Isane, think.

Okay wait... they didn't know she was in here just yet, so there wasn't anything to worry about. She could just wait for the footsteps to pass and then continue on her way like nothing was wrong. After that she would need to find a suitable place to burn these papers. Maybe fake a stomach ache and head back to her own Division. Simple enough, right?

Simple enough for her to do.

For once, her patience seemed to be on edge as she waited for the footsteps to slowly move on by before they continued on to the next corridor; leaving this one open for her escape, which she took quickly yet casually. As long as no one suspected a thing then this whole mess could be deemed successful. Hopefully Captain Unohana wouldn't criticize her for such a sloppy job but it wasn't like she had any experience in things like this.

She was a healer, not a thief. Or bandit... or whatever the hell this made her.

Running a hand through her hair once more, she casually passed off her short stroll back down the corridor and headed towards where she had last seen Captain Unohana walking. Actually, on second thought, she was probably going to skip over to her Division place instead- that way she wasn't walking around the Division with important documents that they probably needed and would be enraged if they knew she had them.

Suddenly that stomach ache was making a honest person out of her.

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A slow sigh escaped her as she slowly turned herself around and moved to rest on her other side; balancing out her weight to give her sore side a rest. She didn't know how long she had been asleep but it just didn't feel like long enough. Her body was in the midst of twisting around before she felt the brief slide of hands against her as they slowly fell from her sides. No one else was supposed to be in here with her... not wait, she had made the request for him to be in here, she just didn't think anyone would go with it.

And yet the mess of his pink strands against her pillows said otherwise.

She watched as one hand moved to run down his face before he pushed up on his glasses; one eye cracked open slightly and took notice of her as a brief chuckle escaped him.

"Finally awake , sleepyhead?"

"How long have you been here?" she questioned; watching as he pushed himself over onto his back and brought his hands to his face once more.

"Not long."

She narrowed her eyes briefly at his answer. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"Why should I- wait, haven't we had this conversation before?" he remarked as he turned back to look at her; finding an almost humorous sight in her messy black locks and slightly wrinkled uniform. Fingertips reached out and lightly tucked away the same strand from before as he slowly traced down the curve of her cheek; watching as she seemed to press the subject before she thought better of it- merely tossing it away this time. "You've been sleeping for quite awhile now, or at least that's what the others have told me."

Well, there was a sense of truth in that... she wasn't completely aware of the change of sleeping habits herself but Isane had said that it was near impossible to wake her last time- and she hadn't even been aware she fell asleep; then again, this time was much like that one too. She couldn't remember the change between consciousness and unconsciousness; it was like a flip of a switch of some sort. "Yes... I don't know what's come over me lately."

"It's a normal side effect from what I've witnessed. Or at least in the Hollow females it had been. The long periods of sleep occurred during the early months to help settle out the changes of their body and to allow for the mother to become accustomed to the growing fetus. I've seen a few of them sleep through weeks and others went to months; it was kind of like being in a coma with the exception that someone could forcibly wake you up if needed be. But when they did finally come to and settle out a more reasonable sleeping schedule, they no longer had any difficulties with pregnancy from then on."

"Is that what's going on with me?" she questioned as she settled her hand over the curve of her stomach. "But I thought Isane said-"

"In all honesty... you can't really trust what anyone has to say about this situation." he interrupted before he moved his hand to cover her own. "You're nursing an offspring that shares both bloods; your body is probably trying to figure out how to deal with something it recognizes as half of itself and half as an enemy. When you're in that deep sleep of complete and utter unconsciousness, it gives your body time to readjust and figure itself out; it's already past the twelve week mark so it's already recognized it as mostly you but... there are still a few things it needs to settle out; things it can't do when you're constantly moving around. You're going to have to just trust it."

"And what if I don't?"

"... I don't have an answer for that." he shrugged as he moved his hand to cup the back of her head and pulled her down to his level; brushing his lips against the warm skin of her forehead. "You're going to have to find it yourself."

She sighed briefly and let herself fall into his touch. "I'd kiss you if I hadn't spent most of my morning throwing up."

"Look at that, that's something else we have in common." he replied with a slight chuckle; feeling the way she pulled away from him at the remark. "I probably still have the taste of blood in my mouth anyways."

"What are you talking about?" she questioned before eyeing the fading bruise that covered part of his jawline. Her arms moved to straddle his body slightly as she tried to get a better look at it only to have him turn away and block it from sight. "I'm serious-"

"It's okay, it was partly broken but its fixed now. That tall woman healed it... although I don't think my body is quite accustomed to your odd healing techniques; it seemed to have a rather violent reaction after the process was done. I don't believe I've seen a medic go that pale before in such a short amount of time."

Just as she figured. She knew her Captain wouldn't leave without having left just one more mark on him- it was probably after Akon had dragged her away, uh... just the thought of that man's name still twisted her; and this was a very define reason as to why. If he had just left her or minded his own business... it was far too complicated to think on right now and she was far too tired to focus on it. If anything, her frustration escaped as a brief sigh before she let herself fall against his chest. "I get tired of seeing you like this..."

He moved to lightly tease her hair with his fingers as he brushed them gently back and forth through her multiple layers and strands. "Like I haven't seen you in this same condition plenty times before?"

"That's different."

"I hardly see how."

She shifted slightly to better rest her head against his empty chest; listening to the throb of silence on the other side of his sternum. The gentle movement of his fingers through her hair was soothing as it seemed to be slowly coaxing her back to sleep. But he was with her now... and she didn't want to waste a moment of it. "When is the appropriate time to pick out a name?"

"Anytime really." he whispered as he watched her slowly drift her way back into another fit of slumber; it didn't take long before those green eyes were closed and her body was still once again. Picking out a name would be the fun part... but there was still a lot more they needed to go through first.