six

Kisuke stood at the foot of his bed and watched the lieutenant from squad 4 look over Ivy. After Hiyori had come running to the barracks yelling Captain, he had sprung into action. He hadn't known why she was upset but the fact that she hadn't called him an idiot or flown feet first at his face had meant it was bad. When he had slid around the corner and seen Ivy's body crumpled on the ground by the wall his stomach had twisted in knots. He had ordered Hiyori to get Unahona as he scooped up the unconscious redhead and rushed her to his room. Hiyori had shown up about a minute later with squad 4's stoic lieutenant.

Seinosuke Yamaha always seemed too serious and sometimes a little too cold for a healer but he was good at his job and at the moment that was all that mattered to Kisuke. He slid the cold compress between the pillow and Ivy's neck and asked Hiyori if she could get some water. Kisuke cleared his throat getting the doctors attention. "Is she going to be alright?" Seinosuke's thin black brow rose in suspicion. He seemed to scrutinize Kisuke before he tuned back to Ivy. He took another cold compress from his bag and put it on her forehead. "She'll be fine." His voice was cool and calm as he turned back toward to Kisuke. "She does this sometimes. She gets so busy that she forgets to drink anything and before she realizes it she becomes severely dehydrated. You did well lying her down."

As he spoke Ivy's eyes cracked open. As her warm brown eyes met Kisuke's cool grey ones he smiled warmly at her. Seniosuke cleared his throat and Ivy froze. "Lieutenant," She turned to look at him and a pained look crossed her features, "I'm sorry." She said in a defeated tone. He raised the glass Hiyori had brought in his elegant fingers. "You're lucky Hiyori found me and not the Captain. Her lecture would have been quite brutal this time." Ivy sat up and took a sip of the offered cup and coughed. Kisuke moved to sit at the end of the bed. "How many times has this happened?" He asked. She gave him a sheepish look and took another sip of water.

Seniosuke picked his bag up form the floor and stood. "She was getting better but she has had a lot on her plate between work and her sister. I'll look over your work schedule and see if I can lighten the load. I think that new girl Isane was looking for some more clinic work." He turned his stern eyes to Kisuke. "I assume since you're the one who put her here that it's alright for her to stay in this bed for a bit?" The Captain nodded and he continued, "Good, she needs to rest for a few hours. Cold compresses and water until she's feeling better. Take it easy for the rest of the night and tommorow. I won't tell the Captain about it this time but don't let it happen again." She nodded eyes downcast.

After he had left Kisuke and Ivy sat in silence and he wondered how he should tell her it was alright, he forgot to eat all the time. He slid his hand on top of hers and opened his mouth to comfort her but stopped when a black cat jumped on the blankets beside her. Ivy smiled and reached out, "Hey sweet baby." The cat nuzzled her hand and made herself comfortable on the girls lap. "I see your not the only forgetful one in the room." Yoruichi's deep voice said in a cheeky tone. Ivy's hand froze. Kisuke shrugged, "When you get caught up in work it happens. Nothing to be ashamed of." He reached out to touch Ivy's face but froze when he saw her expression. "Are you alright?" She looked confused and a bit frightened, her eyes never leaving the ball of furr on her lap. "You talk?" Her voice was almost too quiet to hear. Kisuke sighed and looked down at his long time friend."Could you not scare her Yoruichi, she just woke up from loosing consciousness."

The black cat stood and stretched before it jumped off the bed and transformed into the Captain of squad two. Her hand settled on her bare hip. "Sorry I forgot you didn't know."She said with a smile. Ivy's eyes were as wide as saucers and she kept opening her mouth like she meant to say something. Kisuke pulled his white coat off and threw it at the dark skinned woman. "Put something on before you steal her away from me." He almost missed Ivy's blush as she quickly pulled his blanket over her head. "I'm sorry, gods I'm so sorry." She mumbled under the fabric. Yoruichi laughed and he chuckled pulling the blanket down.

"I trust," the deep voice of Yoruichi's cat form oozed into her ears like soothing music, "that you won't reveal my secret." When Ivy cracked her eyes open she saw Kisuke's coat draped over his head and the cat back on her lap. She reached to pet her then hesitanted. "Come now, I'm still your sweet baby." That voice coupled with the nickname she had been using for the feline made Ivy laugh and pull Yoruichi closer to scratch under her chin. "Besides," the stealth ninja continued through the low rumble of purrs, "Maybe I AM trying to steal her away. And now I know she finds me attractive." Kisuke glared at his friend. "I don't see how anyone wouldn't find you attractive." Ivy said, her tone a bit melancholy. Kisuke stood and hung his white coat beside the lab coat on the wall. "If you two keep that up I'll have to make amends with Soi Fon so we can be bitter and jealous together."

Yoruichi stood and stretched, her tail twitching with the muscle spasms. "Speaking of, I'm sure she's probably looking for me. I have three meetings that I am supposed to atrend." She trotted to the door but stopped when Ivy cleared her throat. "Could you," she looked down at the sheet on her lap, "Not tell her about this?" Kisuke frowned, he knew her friend didn't like him but he didn't want to hide their relationship. His tension eased as she continued. "She'll be pissed if she finds out I forgot to drink anything today and I really don't want one of her lectures. They're worse than Captain Unahona's." The cat nodded, "You keep my secret and I will keep yours." Ivy sighed in relief as the cat disappeared.

He picked up her now empty cup and went to the bathroom sink to refill it. "Hey Kisuke?" He hummed and looked around the door frame. He loved it when she looked confused almost as much as he loved when she smiled at him. "How come you want to, I mean," She jestered to the doorway, "She's gorgeous. Why are you settling for me?" He turned the tap off and made his way to the bed setting her drink on the small bedside table. Instead of taking the spot at the end of the mattress again he sat on the other side of the large bed, crossing his legs and sliding his hand around her waist till it rested on her hip. "You're right she is beautiful. She's also my best friend and honestly after a certain amount of time I came to see her as a sister. We were together for a bit but it felt awkward." He leaned toward her and brushed her loose hair from her face. "You are beautiful too you know." She gave him a shy smile. "And you're sweet and caring and actually interested in what I do. Which is something she never was."

"Will whoever's room this is be mad I'm in their bed?" She asked changing the subject. When she finally started to take in her surroundings she was amazed at how little there was in it.. Besides the desk under the window cluttered with papers, the dresser in the corner by the bathroom and the bed with a small table on either side there wasn't anything really in here. It wasn't personal at all it was almost like it was just a random vacent room. "A beautiful woman in my bed? No I don't mind at all." He said nonchalantly as he pulled his folded hat from his robes. "Why are you keeping it in there? You dont have to wear it if you don't want to, it won't hurt my feelings." She said with a smile. Kisuke opened the hat and placed it on the small bedside table. "I was wearing it until both of my lieutenant's told me that I looked ridiculous then Hiyori tried to steal it. I was keeping it safe." She chuckled as she took another sip of water.

He stretched and lay back on his seldom used pillows. He fell asleep at his desk so often he forgot the last time he was in here. The bed was soft and now that he was thinking about it he couldn't remember the last time he had slept. "I say we take a nap." He yawned. She shrugged and after putting the glass on the side table she lay beside him. The door burst open and they both shot up. Hiyori stood in the door glaring at the two of them. "She just regains consciousness and you're already making moves on her ya pervert." She yelled into the room. Kisuke scratched his head and laughed. "He wasn't making a move." Ivy said in his defense. "Not yet." He added under his breath so that Hiyori couldn't hear. Ivy smacked his leg but he didn't miss the pink to her cheeks or the quirk of her lips.

"That psycho is looking for her. Wants to do experiments or something. I told him to back off." Kisuke squinted at the darkness behind his lieutenant and could see a shadow just by the railing. He stood quietly and very still but his silhouette was hard to mistake for anyone else. "Experiments?" Kisuke questioned loud enough for Mayuri to hear and Hiyori huffed. "Something bout her being able to heal him. I don't know, wasn't making any sense." Kisuke stood and looked down at Ivy. He wanted nothing more that to curl up beside her and sleep, maybe nuzzle his face I to her long sweet smelling hair. Well if he was honest with himself he wanted to do a lot more than that to her. He licked his lips thinking how soft she was and he wondered if her skin tasted as good as her mouth. He wondered what kind of sweet noises she would make as she slid inside her.

He must have zoned out because Hiyori smacked him on the back of his head. He blinked a few times and looked between the two women. Hiyori's scowl was becoming more menacing and the red head looked, well if he went back into that he would zone out again. He kissed her forehead and covered her with a large heavy blanket. "Get some rest, I'll be back." She nodded and he turned to Hiyori, "Thank you for letting me know. I'll go see what he's up to." The blonde nodded and hopped up to sit on the side of the bed. Apparently she intended to stay. He shrugged and left the room.

Mayuri stood not far from the door in the dark of the night. "Experiments?" Kisuke asked skeptically crossing his arms over his chest. The pale man held a comically large syringe which Kisuke was eyeing with suspicion. "Her power is quite unique." The scientist's raspy voice said, "I would assume not many have those kinds of abilities. Healing with reishi is rare." Kisuke nodded, while he did agree with that it didn't mean he was going to agree to let the mad man take Ivy from him and experiment on her. They stood frozen exchanging glares as the winds outside blew gently by. "I suppose," Mayuri gritted out, "a blood sample would suffice." Kisuke's brow rose in consideration. He shrugged and turned to walk back inside. "A vial of blood but I'll get it." Mayuri started to object but Kisuke held up a hand. "I'll get it and bring it to you or you don't get it at all." Kisuke watched as his lieutenant grumbled his objections as he walked back to his lab.

A shadowy figure moved slowly behind the trees in the distance, appearing from nothing. The dark haired man strolled throught the foliage calmly knowing his presence would not be seen. Rare power, healing with reishi, he wondered if it would help in his newest project. Of course he would have to keep an eye on this situation and see if it was worth his time. If he could add rapid healing to the hollowfication then it would be an incredible improvement. He could see a white coat ahead and judging by the sway of the long blonde hair he knew his Captain was most likely looking for him. Shinji could be quite nosy sometimes. Aizen pulled the illusion around him once more, disappearing from sight.

"He's not going to clone me or anything, is he?" Ivy asked unsure as Kisuke filled the vial with her blood. He smirked, "Well if he does then I'll just have two of you to enjoy." Hiyori smacked him with her shoe, "How could you agree to this. That guy is psycho who knows what he's going to do with that." Kisuke placed a bandage over the small puncture wound and placed a cap on the vial of blood. "He's going to research it and you're going to make sure that's all he does." Hiyori's mouth hung open in astonishment. "I'm sure it won't be bad." Ivy cut in uneasily trying to deescalate the situation. "I mean what can he do with it. I heal people. My zanpakto isn't even that deadly. It mainly detains or heals. The worst I can do is paralyze someone for a bit. He's not going to create an army from anything he gets from me. If he does it would be a good thing, though I think a lot of me would get annoying quickly." Kisuke stood with a chuckle and handed the vial to his lieutenant.

He settled back beside her on the bed and rolled to his side so he could wrap his arms around her. She was sitting up still so he nuzzled his face into her hip as she squirmed and laughed. "Oh," she said in a surprised tone catching his attention, "How's that thing you were telling me about, the cloak? You said you were almost done." He hummed and started to answer but he felt her fingers start to run through his hair and all thought left him. A muffled "Good" was her only answer. He slid his hand up her side and pulled his face away from her clothes to give her a sleepy, satisfied smile. "I could head back to squad 4 if you want to sleep." She said still scratching at his scalp gently. "If you move in anyway that isn't closer I'll have to punish you." He replied.

She smirked down at him. "Move so I can lay down." She said earning a pout from him in return. He complied and once she was settled he pulled her to him, guiding her head to his chest. He had intented to go back to work but when he had seen her, snuggled in his bed, and he knew that he wasn't going anywhere. She slid her arm across his stomach and sighed. "Thanks for taking care of me, even though you didn't have to." He shook his head as he ran his fingers through her long hair. "You need to look out for yourself. It may be your job to care for the sick but you can't do that if you're sick too." She hummed and nodded, rubbing her face on his clothed chest. He had to stop himself from laughing. The irony of it, he was telling her to make sure she took care of herself when he was just as bad. "Tell ya what beautiful, I'll make sure you don't overdue it if you do the same for me." She was quiet and he wondered if she was thinking it over. The small snore that he heard told him that he wouldn't get his answer tonight. He kissed the crown of her crimson hair and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. As he yawned and closed his eyes Yoruichi smiled down at them from the window before she jumped down and headed home.