Straitjacket Feeling

A/N: One more... chapter before... class tomorrow. What the lucky joys of having to repeat a class because of technical issues (thanks again computer, you are o'so reliable). I managed to fit in one more chapter before the shit hits the fan again with this class, which I'll have to take with more caution now due to my computer. And to answer questions, I am definitely going to do the whole other Espada thing and I have it almost perfectly planned out but... it's not until much later. Like, a few months at least- storyline wise. I might do a few time skips here or there to get things on pace again.

"I don't get out all too often anymore these days... how is the Society holding up outside of these boundaries?"

A brief sigh escaped him as Ukitake moved to continue to follow the Twelfth Division member down the winding corridor in front of them; he didn't entirely know where they were going but the massive lab-based Division House always seemed to be set up like a maze... he wondered if they had been done so on purpose. "Well, on some days it's together and on others... not so much. I'm sure with this recent positive report that there's going to be more objections to this ordeal. Captain Shunsui has offered to drop in later on, possibly by the end of the week but it's really quite a surprise to try and figure out when he's going to show again."

"Since the first batch of subjects have returned successfully, we'll be moving them to the secondary holding house in the mountains sometime soon. If Captain Shunsui wishes to offer his assistance then, then it will be greatly appreciated." Akon started. "I have a feeling this whole experiment will be vulnerable at that given moment since we'll have all the subjects in one gathered area; it would be an easy target should they wish to follow that kind of path."

"I don't believe either Captain Byakuya or Captain Kenpachi would do something like that deliberately but... it's still possible to be an accident." Ukitake answered. "Both are vocal and there's a possibility that the stress could cause some kind of harm... I really don't believe they would do something purposely; they're both respectful figures and... it's just difficult to say anything at this point. I can understand their positions on this matter but there's no reason to attack the women in this situation. But I will admit that separating them from the general Society sounds like the best plan of action right now. Let's say there was an attack though... what would your Division do?"

"Without a standing Captain, there's not all too much I have in power to do against a rivaling Division. Until Captain Mayuri returns, Division Twelve is in a rather limbo of power. We have a staff trained to keep unwelcome visitors from becoming too hassling to the experiment but I don't believe they'll be resisting to a Captain- especially not Captain Byakuya." Akon remarked; pausing slightly as they came to a crossing between four corridors before he chose the one to their left- it would take them back out to the front of the labs. "Usually, the standing Lieutenant would take over and be given temporary holding of a Captain- unfortunately Lieutenant Kurotsuchi is out of commission right now and I doubt that Captain Byakuya will give my words a second take. And because of the separation of Divisions, neither you nor Captain Unohana will have much power either since Captain Mayuri did not consult with you either of you before his departure. Hence why I believe this upcoming situation is going to leave us vulnerable for an extended period of time."

"I wish there was more we could do." Ukitake replied. "... But what of the Espada, do you believe he might react outwardly towards the Captains? Because, when I arrived a few moments before he was... not the least bit pleased with my appearance and made certain that I knew I wasn't welcomed entirely; somehow I managed to get on his good side, not that I know what I did exactly but... I believe there's a chance he'll do the same. In which case, I'm don't believe Captain Byakuya will take all too kind to it... and we may have a minor situation on our hands following."

"Yes, the Espada is quite outspoken when he chooses to be- he's been more so as of recently with the addition of all the women. I suppose he's evidently setting up boundaries around them and will be... irritated if an unknown male tries to provoke them. Which means, your prediction of a minor conflict may come true; we'll have to keep a tight eye on him when the moving occurs."

He briefly nodded with the man's words and watched as a few things around them began to seem a bit more familiar; hopefully they were moving back towards the front of the Division, where he actually knew where he was and wasn't surrounded by... all the scientific horror stories. "I have another thing I want to ask and you can choose to avoid it if you wish but... what was the point of keeping one of the Espadas alive for so long?"

"It was an important study for us; we had a living, biological sample of a high-level Hollow- which no one had captured before. Most of us weren't expecting for him to live for such an extended period of time though. I mean, we had separated him from his natural habitat, he was cut off from other beings who shared his same energy signals and... Hollows exist purely by absorbing the energy from their victims but he's been isolated from humans and a credible source of energy... in all honesty, I'm not even sure myself how he's been alive for so long and this wasn't meant to be an extended study."

"Is that why your Division went from a scientific study to something that... resembles something more of a butcher project? I mean, pardon my label of such and perhaps I don't have the whole story but... that's just what it seems like." Ukitake questioned; watching as the blue-haired man seemed to stiffen slightly. "I've only spoken to the Espada himself about it and while he seemed easy to tell the story, he showed really no sense of... anything about it."

"The art of that lingering project is a Division matter and is only to be explained to those of the Twelfth Division." Akon answered. "I apologize if that doesn't answer your question but I'm under specific instructions from Captain Mayuri to keep that project classified." The white-haired Captain seemed understanding and nodded lightly with the matter. "As for the Espada's odd behavior at times... he's gain the ability to shut off parts of his mind and isolate himself from certain factors, such as emotions and strenuous reactions; he's also held the ability to cut off nerves going into his nervous system and render himself unable to feel pain- which could also be another factor as to why he doesn't react to the retelling of specific stories. He's an odd subject, one we've never encountered and I believe it's because he's been hosting his own kind of observations on us as well... I don't know what exactly he's figured out on us but he's had a long time to collect his own data."

"How exactly did he get involved with Lieutenant Kurotsuchi?"

"Ah well that in itself is... really quite unknown to most of us." Akon replied. "No one really knows the details except for those two. All I can tell you is that when he wasn't under the supervision of the lab staff or Captain Mayuri himself, he was with her; she was given the task to keep an eye on him and perform her own sense observation if she so wished. Captain Mayuri explained that it was a bit of a deeper experiment rather than just keeping her busy and out of his way; she was the cause of the Espada's downfall really and what lead up to his ultimate capture, he in return left her with severe physical and mental scars that had left her incapacitated for a few months. It seemed like she overcame it overnight though and while her scars were easy to take care of, we were still unsure of the mental ones... hence why he put her to the task of overseeing the same Espada; I suppose you could say it was like an observation of her watching him and Captain Mayuri watching the both of them. Either way, things went downhill from there."

"I wouldn't exactly say 'downhill'... after all, he does show a strong sense of protection for her." Ukitake continued. "Like I mentioned before, he didn't seem the least bit happy with me even looking in her general direction and made a clear note to put himself between anyone else and her."

"I will admit, a lot of us here are surprised by that reaction... I'm sure there's some kind of underlining motive for it."

"It seems as though everyone here is acting more along the lines of an conspiracy theorist with this whole matter."

"You must understand, Captain Ukitake, we've experience a lot more than you have... we've all had our own times to formulate hypothesis and theories; you've merely just arrived, there's not much that you really understand of this whole matter."

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Humming lightly to herself, Captain Unohana guided herself down the following corridor towards the other end of the Division. She had managed to run into one of the Division members earlier who informed her of the newest arrival- another reporting of a successful conception. While she had said she was going to try and find Captain Ukitake before... this seemed to take priority over that, at least for now.

While she was heading over towards the momentary rooms for now, she supposed it wouldn't hurt to check in on Lieutenants Hinamori and Nanao. She knew the two showed a great dislike for the environment and overall situation... well Hinamori did her best to seem more optimistic while Nanao outright showed her hatred for it, and didn't care who overheard her. She would want to keep a closer eye on her for now... just in case; she didn't think she'd try to harm herself in anyway, the woman was far too smart for that but she wanted to keep everyone in check regardless- that was the reason she was here after all. She wondered if she could bring in a few things for the woman just to keep her preoccupied before Officer Akon gave a concrete date to have everyone move into the secondary housing; that is, hoping the woman would be more comfortable in the other location... which, she probably won't. But it was worth trying.

The light sound of laughter coming out around the next corner caused her to take a small pause in her steps; waiting a moment, she wanted to see if the noise would repeat itself... which it did just a few seconds later. Well now, what exactly was going on down here? She was pretty certain Officer Akon had ordered for the short corridor to be somewhat isolated with minimal Division activity passing through, although right now she wasn't entirely sure if that was being followed correctly. Continuing on her path, she stepped around the corner and peeked out to see what was going on.

If there was anything to be surprised by... this was probably one of them. Here she was just talking about the Eighth Lieutenant's unhappiness... and yet, here was the woman seemingly laughing; then again, she supposed with how the Espada's arms were wrapped around her, that had something to do with it.

"Well now, I hope I'm not interrupting something..." Unohana started as she stepped into a more visible position; watching as the two paused slightly in their... 'moment' to see who was speaking. "I was actually just dropping by to make sure everyone was doing okay."

"Officer Hinamori was taking a nap and Matsumoto just laid down to take one for herself." he explained; carefully setting the Eighth Lieutenant back on her feet after he had held her braced against his chest. "Miss. Ise here wasn't feeling well, so I decided to stay with her for awhile longer; we just finished our discussion over Eighteenth Century literary authors."

"It turns out he doesn't know all too many." Nanao remarked as she carefully smoothed out the wrinkles in her uniform.

"Science took priority over literature, I explained that to you."

"Yes, and just like literature, Science seems to be filled with quite a bit of fiction."

"You're dealing with a hard case when discussing literature with Lieutenant Nanao." Unohana chuckled lightly. "I'll leave you two alone if you wish, I just wanted to check in with Lieutenant Matsumoto and see how she was doing."

"It's quite alright, I think I'm going to lie down for a little while now and... read through those books you left me." Nanao spoke.

He nodded and brushed aside her dark bangs one more time before he let her eventually step back into her given room; closing the door behind her. "She's incredibly difficult to get a word out of when she's upset."

"Don't worry, Lieutenant Nanao has always been that way." Unohana assured. "Unless she's around Captain Shunsui, in which case she usually speaks in angry, mother-like tones... Now then, how were the other two fairing again?"

"Lieutenant Hinamori was asleep when I checked earlier. Lieutenant Matsumoto and I spoke for a little while but she said she was already exhausted and wanted to get some sleep; I said I'd stop by later if there was more for us to speak of."

"Ah, so they're showing the same sleeping habits Lieutenant Kurotsuchi has already?"

"No, these ones are different." he corrected lightly. "They're normal patterns, more aligned with the procedures of your species; Lady Kurotsuchi is exhibiting patterns more related to my species- which is not surprising. However, if you wish to believe otherwise, then go for it- I suppose you might believe it's suspicious that they'd all like to sleep at the same time."

She chose not to make a direct remark to that and only nodded. "Nanao mentioned something about you leaving her books, is that true?"

"She said she was bored and going out of her mind, and I saw no harm in borrowing a few collective essay books out of the nearby offices; they're mostly scientific base, so I don't think she'll enjoy them all too much but it gives her something to do at least. And it gives us a wider broad of topics to discuss that won't have her ridiculing me."

"Lieutenant Nanao is a scholar, sometimes it's just what she does." Unohana replied. "Now then, let's go back and check you in with Nemu; I'm sure she'll be glad to have you back... if she's awake that is. And I do hope that Captain Ukitake has returned as well, there were a few more matters we were going to go over. Where is he anyways? I thought he was with you."

"Akon chose to walk with him after my departure."

She nodded once more before she turned to head back towards the front labs; she would come back to check on Lieutenant Matsumoto later- after all, she didn't want to disturb her sleep for now, she needed it. Keeping the Espada close behind her, she carried on her way back through the winding corridors. "So, now that most of the women have reported back positive, Division Twelve will be looking to relocate this experiment further away from the Society. The location hasn't been dispersed but it's somewhere in the following mountainsides. I'm curious to know what your opinion on the matter is."

He took the question carefully and dissected it with ease before he chose his answer. "While I was hoping for an earlier peek at this place, I suppose I'll just have to be surprised by it with the rest of the cast. It would've been a lot less stressful to get an outline of the place and look it over first, maybe go ahead and pick out the rooms for the individual women and suit them ahead of time for their comfort. But, I will assist with the move if it's called for it and make sure they're at least comfortable for the trip there."

"I was hoping to get a earlier look at it myself but... alas, I do not wish to cross the boundaries Officer Akon has set out; I'll be patient on the matter for now, unless something dangerous arises." Unohana replied. "I must say, every time we speak with one another, you always find a new way of surprising me."

"Then you must not be on your guard at all times."

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"Are these the things you think of on a regular basis?"

"What? No, I was just asking Captain Unohana about it and I thought you were asleep." Isane defended as she stepped herself out into the opening of the front labs; glancing down beside her at the black-haired Lieutenant at her side. "It seemed reasonable to me..."

Nemu looked back towards the taller woman and gave a light shake of her head. "Biologically, that's not even possible; now there are some insects in the world that when reaching the last end of their pregnancy, will allow for their offsprings to devour them from the inside out but... we are not on that list."

"Yeah but what if the baby is some kind of insect like that?"

"... Isane, are you being serious or are you trying to make conversation?"

"Look, all I'm saying is that, as far as we know, this kind of thing has never happened before, so we don't know the consequences. I mean, we should cover every possibility, no matter how outrageous they seem... and yes, that includes the possibility of the baby just ripping itself free. So maybe, late at night, I watch those ridiculous B-rated movies but you know what... they're entertaining regardless."

"I think your insomnia is making you unstable." Nemu replied.

Shaking her head, Isane tried to let the conversation pass on by before she looked up to notice a third figure stepping into the same area. "Captain Ukitake... Captain Unohana was just looking for you, I guess she got sidetracked somewhere."

"Yes well, I do believe I did get a bit lost in this place after Officer Akon departed." he nodded as he eventually moved his way towards them. "I don't understand how you can navigate through this maze, Lieutenant Kurotsuchi, it's an absolute maze."

"I have the blueprints of the Division House memorized perfectly down to every corner and room." she answered. "It is not difficult when you've worked through every corridor and such, especially when certain chemicals have rapid decaying rates and you need to know specific shortcuts to make sure your sample is still useable."

"... Y-yes, I suppose that would do it." Ukitake replied slowly before he gave another look around the place. "Well, I'm sure Captain Unohana will be with us shortly. Oh, that does remind me, Lieutenant Isane, I was speaking with your sister the other day and she is in good health; I hear Officers Yasochika and Hanataro are keeping an eye on her during Captain Unohana's absence. Officer Sentaro has been difficult to handle ever since the news; he's been so erratic, I believed he may have popped a vessel or two in his brain during the excitement."

She braced a short smile and nodded back. "Well uh... that's good to hear, and I'm not surprised by Sentaro's behavior; he was always so erratic about Kiyone anyways... this whole thing is bound to send him over the edge."

"I would not be surprised by that." Ukitake chuckled before he turned back to the dark-haired Lieutenant. "And you seem to be coming along just lovely, Lieutenant Kurotsuchi. Just how far along are you?"

She felt the light way he moved his hands to her shoulders in an open, happy gesture; knowing the Thirteenth Captain, he was a fan of children and there was no doubt that, despite the overall details of the experiment, he would still be excited about it. "Thank you, Captain Ukitake and I'd have to give the estimate to be around thirteen weeks or so."

"I remember you and Captain Unohana said you two were going to try and listen for a heartbeat, was there one?" he questioned.

"Unfortunately no, but it could be because it's just too early to tell." Isane answered. "We were going to try again in a few more weeks and see if it's stronger by then; Captain Unohana was going to teach me the technique she used to listen for it so that I could perform the test next in the case that she's not present."

"I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of medical techniques she's going to have to share with you." he chuckled.

"Oh, I can't wait." Isane replied, half sarcastically before she spotted a bit of movement coming from the other end of the room. "And look at that, Captain Unohana herself is finally showing up again."

Ukitake looked up in the same direction and watched as the black-haired Captain walked into sight; being followed closely by the pink-haired Espada. "Excellent, now then I suppose we can finish our conversation from before. And perhaps we'll finally have a moment to finish it; this Division is a lot busier than I fully expected at first."

"Well, there's that man now." Unohana remarked with a light chuckle as she moved to approach the small group. "I do hope you didn't get lost for an all too long period of time, Ukitake."

"It depends on your definition of a long period of time." Ukitake replied as he removed his hands and turned to face the woman. "You'll have to excuse me for my brief moment of absence, it appears as though Officer Akon took me along the back corridors of the Division; it did give us quite a bit of time for conversation though."

"I had to drop by and check in on the other women and make sure they're doing well for now." Unohana nodded. "They all seem to be settled in for the night; I'll have to speak with Officer Akon and find out more on his plans for this move. I just don't wish to be caught blindsided by anything, seeing how delicate this situation is. Isane, could you go see if you can't fetch Officer Akon for me? I need a few moments to speak with Captain Ukitake here."

"Yes ma'am." Isane replied. "We'll continue this conversation later, Nemu; I swear I'll make sure proof of that possibility."

"It's a loss of a topic." she called back to her; watching as the woman hurried off across the room. She turned her attention back to her pink-haired Espada and lightly beckoned him over. "If you do not mind us, Captain Unohana, Captain Ukitake, I believe we're going to head back to my room now; it will allow for you two to have some space to yourselves."

"Carry on, I'm sure Isane will drop in later." Unohana nodded.

She stepped back slightly and moved to continue back to her room; it felt like she had been running back and forth between the places all day. She made sure that he was close behind her as the two of them disappeared around the next corner that would lead them back down the corridor to her bedroom. It was an almost unsettling feeling as she lead the way to her bedroom, wondering why he didn't bother to say even a single word to her... Did she do something wrong?