eleven

Kisuke held his hand out for Ivy who grabbed it and let him pull her out of the hole onto the floor of his shop. "So," Ivy started to say, "If you're not a soul reaper anymore what do yo..." Her voice trailed off as her eyes widened. She looked around at the shelves and register them to him questioningly. He lifted the hand he still held to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "I'm just a humble candy store owner ma'am." That earned a small laugh from her causing his grin to widen. "I may also have a secret lab where I do insanely brilliant experiments." He said proudly. "I could give you a private tour." He said in a husky voice as he pulled her close. "Aunt Ivy?" Renji's questioning voice said from the living room and Kisuke frowned. He kissed her nose quickly then pulled out his fan. "Later." Her eyes darted from his sleeve to his hand. "Where?"

They walked into the sitting area where Renji and Rukia stood holding a box. Renji glanced between the two then settled on his aunt. "Captain Unahona told us to bring your stuff to Urahara's. She didn't really say why." Kisuke closed his fan with a grin. "Because she's staying with us." He said proudly. Renji looked back at Ivy who was watching Rukia with curiosity. "But I thought you were going to join one of the squads. If not 4 then 13 with Rukia." The girl beside him smiled at Ivy but Kisuke could see the worry in her eyes. He assumed it may have to do with Renji's new family member and how she was to approach the situation. She had nothing to worry about, he thought, Ivy was one of the kindest people he knew. He had never seen her mean to anyone. Even back at the Seireitei with Aizen she had just thought he was creepy.

Ivy opened her mouth to speak but Jinta interrupted. "Like for good staying here?" Kisuke snapped his fan shut and smacked the boy in the head. "If it's alright " His sweet healer said unsurely. Jinta scolded at him rubbing the sore spot on his head until Ivy came over and placed a glowing palm over it. He froze then his angry expression softened a bit and he mumbled a thanks. Tessai stood and cleared his throat. "Perhaps Ururu could take Miss Abarai to her room." Kisuke smiled down at Ururu. The young girl stood with a nod and turned to the hallway. Ivy took the box from Renji and followed after. He was glad she was staying. Not only for his sake but for Ururu's as well. She had gone so long without a woman around and if he was honest Yoruichi wasn't the best influence when she came around.

Kisuke watched the two girls leave the room followed quickly by Rukia. The other men in the sitting room watched her follow with bewilderment. Kisuke snapped his fan open catching everyone's attention. "Now moocher," His cheery tone made the lieutenant wince, "Is there anything else? Problems with the seals?" He didn't hate the guy, it was just fun to pick on him besides he was family after all. If you can't pick on your family then who could you pick on? Renji's stuttered for a moment then seemed to come to some kind of conclusion. "My aunt is staying with you?" Kisuke nodded and Renji continued. "Could I ask why? You offered me and Ivy a place to stay but not Rukia?" Kisuke nodded and looked to Tessai. "I'll make some tea." The large man said as Kisuke gestured to the table.

"Those rooms at that end of the hall are mine and Jinta's." Ururu said pointing to the left. They had walked up a flight of stairs to a plain hallway. There were four sliding doors down the left hallway and four down the right with one in the center. The two rooms at the very end of the hall had signs on them and were different colors than any other they had come across. "This one," She said, her meek voice getting Ivy and Rukia's attention. She was pointing to the one at the very beginning of the hallway to the left. The corner door was closed but it was easy to see shadows through the thin screen. "Is Tessai's and this one," She pointed to the large door in the center of the intersection. "Is the boss's. The ones on the right are all free. We use them when people get hurt sometimes and Miss Yoruichi stays in them from time to time."

Ivy and Rukia looked at the doors then to eachother. Ivy shrugged and stepped forward. "So any on the right?" She watched the little girl nod. She was a sweet girl, Ivy thought, though she called Kisuke boss. Ivy had initially thought that the two children were his but now she wasn't sure. Ururu looked more like Tessai and the boy had an attitude unlike both of the men. Ururu pointed to the room at the end of the hall. "That one is across from the bathroom." Ivy squinted, nodded and made a popping sound. "Lead the way."

"So," Rukia said as they walked inside the room, "Are you planning to stay long or just until you figure out what you want to do?" Ivy sighed and set her box down beside the futon. "Why is everyone so concerned about where I want to go?" She glanced up and caught Rukia's guilty look. " Sorry," Ivy said giving her an apologetic smile. "It's just, I've been gone for a while. I get back and everyone has moved on and everything has changed. It feels like I don't belong there anymore. Like my spot was erased. Do you know how that feels? To feel like you don't belong somewhere?" There was a sadness in Rukia's eyes as she nodded and sat beside the door. "Yeah, when my brother took me in. There were so many rules and expectations. I was just a kid from hanging dog. That's exactly what it felt like. Like I didn't belong but eventually I did."

"I'm glad. The noble sect is a strict place. I used to have to do home visits there." Ivy shook a little remembering the looks she used to get walking through the cobblestone streets. She started to pull things out of her box smiling when Ururu sat beside her and took interest in certain things. "Well," she continued her reasoning, "I know a few Captain's have offered to squeeze me in places, which I appreciate but it doesn't feel right. Honestly since I woke up the only time I have felt right was.." She trailed off remembering Kisuke's arms sliding around her. Ururu picked up a small drawing and squinted at it. It was a drawing that someone did long ago of her and Hanna. Her stomach clenched at the sight of her sister. "Who is this?" Ururu's sweet voice asked bringing her out of her memories. "That is my sister Hanna and me." At the mention of Hanna's name Rukia crawled over and peered at the drawing. "She has Renji's smile." She said thoughtfully. Ivy chuckled and looked at her. "She would've liked you, I think." Rukia blushed then muttered a low "You think so?"

There was a light knocking behind them and the three girls turned to find Tessai standing in the door way, a gigai and a small pile of clothes in his hands. "Miss Rukia, Renji is ready to leave. This is for you Miss Ivy." He handed her the items. "I wasn't sure about your size but the boss said these would fit." Rukia gave Ivy a questioning look as Ivy rolled her eyes and whispered, "Of course." "Would it be alright if I came to visit, I mean me and Renji?" Rukia asked from the doorway. Ivy nodded and smiled at her. " Of course besides I'm going to be visiting Soi and Captain Unahona every now and then so I won't be a stranger."

After getting into the gigai and clothes she headed back to her new room. She slid the door open laughing to herself at the sleeveless top Kisuke had picked for her. The dark green cloth said Urahara's in small writing on the front and large writing on the back. Ururu and Jinta had the same kind of shirt though theirs were less form fitting. The jeans he had picked fit her curvy hips snuggly. It was a very different look from her uniform.

Upon entering her room she found Tessai and Ururu gone. Instead Kisuke was standing in the middle of the room looking down at her box of belongings. "Ururu seemed to think this was the best of all the options." She said as she entered. Kisuke hummed and began placing her things back into the box. "What are you doing?" She asked with a small laugh. He stood, the box sitting between his waist and arm. "I'm taking your things to your room." He said it so nonchalantly like he was telling her something so obvious. She scrutinized him as he touched the wall. "I mean this is a nice room but," He let his words hang in the air as he slowly walked toward her. "But?" She mimicked. "This room isn't sound proof." Kisuke said flashing a wicked smile. She gave a small breathless laugh, "Does it need to be?" She said jokingly. He took the last few steps till he was in front of her and tipped her chin up, their noses barely touching. "For what I plan to do to you, yes." He said, voice rough and low as he let his lips brush hers.

Someone cleared their throat pulling them apart once again. Kisuke was getting tired of these interruptions. Akon stood behind Tessai looking down uncomfortably. "He said Captain Kurotsuchi sent him with something for you." At Tessai's statement Kisuke's brows lifted in intrige. Mayuri sent something to him? That seemed unlikely. He wouldn't be asking for help with anything so what did he send down? "Akon? Little Akon?" Ivy's smile made the 3rd seat blush a little. "I'm glad you're alright lady Abarai. The Captain was ticked I didn't get him when they found you." They found, Kisuke wondered. He realized that he still didn't know what had happened or where she had been all this time. He had been so caught up on having her back that he had forgotten to ask. Whomever had found her had gone to Akon instead of Mayuri, smart move. No wonder the scientist was ticked.

Akon stepped around Tessai and held out a thumb drive. "All the data from the lab concerning Ivy is on there. The Captain didn't want to give it to you at first but Captain Unahona was sure she would stay here instead of in the Seireitei and there may be side effects from her time in the chamber." Kisuke's eyes narrowed as he took the drive. Side effects from the chamber? He watched her from the corner of his eye as she wandered off with Tessai. She seemed the same, as if a day hadn't passed. She had been in a chamber? Like the ones that he remembered? The large glass tubes full of experiments flashed in his mind causing him to grit his teeth. For the whole time? How had they kept her there? What had been done to her? Had they experimented on her like Mayuri would have? Had she been infected like the vizards or was it different. He was shaken out of his questioning when Akon placed his hand on Kisuke's shoulder. "She's fine, I checked the computers before we got her out. Nothing they tried seemed to stick. Mayuri's got a copy of the information too. If he finds something I'm sure he'll," He trailed off when Kisuke's flat expression turned to him and he seemed to realize what he was saying. "I have a copy as well. I also have the original hard drive. I'll look it over and if you need anything from it just ask."

As Akon turned to leave Kisuke stopped him with a question. "You were with the team that found her?" Akon turned back to him and shook his head. "No Isane came and got me after her, Unahona and a few others found her in Aizen's lab. She said she went to get Captain Kurotsuchi but he brushed her off and said he was busy with the espada's lab." Kisuke nodded and watched him go. No wonder he could never find her. He never looked in Hueco Mundo. He headed for his lab to check the USB, stopping by his room first to drop off her things. If she thought she was going to stay anywhere but his room she was mistaken.

Ivy sat at the table in the living room and watched Tessai pour some tea for the both of them. She fiddled with her fingers and wondered if it would be rude to ask about the kids parents. It wasn't a horrible question she mused just one she was scared to know the answer too. "So," Tessai's deep voice broke her from her worries. "You're going to stay with us? Permanently?" She hadn't thought about it at the time but what if Kisuke was the only one that wanted her here. They had been living like this for a while it seemed and then she just appears. She studdered out a reply, "Well, I mean, I, um, if it's ok. Kisuke asked me to but I don't want impose on everyone." The large man smiled down at her and the knot in her gut relaxed. "You are most welcome Miss Ivy for as long as you like. If not for the bosses sake then Ururu's. She needs a woman's presence in her life." Ivy gave him a questioning look. "What about her mother?" At her inquiry Tessai smiled. "She has no mother. They are artificial souls Kisuke developed." Ivy's eyes widened as she leaned forward. "That's amazing." He chuckled at her response. "I remember him working on something like that before," She trailed off a sad look in her eyes. Tessai reached out and placed his hand on her wrist. "I wonder if," She paused as if she couldn't find the right words.

Before she could finish her sentence Akon entered the room. He looked at them, pausing in Ivy. "I'm glad you're alright." She gave him a warm smile back and he disappeared through the front of the shop. Tessai's watch beeped and his eyes widened when he looked at it. "I've got to run some errands before the children get home from school. You can come with me if you would like." She shook her head and looked down at her cup. "Maybe next time. I'm kinda tired." Tessai placed his large hand on her shoulder. "Next time of course. Get some rest. Perhaps you would like to help me with dinner later?" She gave him a tired smile and nodded. "I would love to."

Kisuke sat infront of his computer and scrolled through the new data. Vitals, dates of hollow injections, times when the virus was destroyed, experiments with blood samples, and other random things. Nothing out of the ordinary except for the amount of time it took her to reject the hollowfication. Sometimes it was a few minutes others it was an hour or so but never over 3 hours. They had strengthened the strain and tried again multiple times and it always had the same result. Even on the narcotics they had dosed her with she still seemed to be mostly in control. He rubbed his face and blinked a few times before continuing to scroll.

He didn't hear the door to the lab slide open or the soft hiss of it closing. He froze when he felt a presence behind him. "Hey," Ivy said as she sat a cup of tea on the table beside him. He caught her hand before it could disappear behind him and brought it to his lips. "Hey," He said back, kissing the inside of her wrist. She leaned down so she could look over his shoulder. "What's that?" She asked pointing at the screen. "It's the data from the computer you were hooked up to." Her eyes narrowed, "No, what's that?" She said again tapping the screen. He chuckled, of course she didn't know what the moniter was. Before she was taken when she would visit the lab he mainly delt with paper and a hardrive. The machines they had were far less advanced. "It's a computer monitor." He said and pointed to the hardrive connected to it. She narrowed her eyes and nodded.

"So what's it say?" She sat her chin on his shoulder trying to figure out the vast amounts of numbers and lines of text. "What did they do to me?" He turned his head and nuzzled the side of her face. "It says you perfect and all their attempts to defile you were thwarted." She gave him a condescending look and squatted next to him. "No really, what does it say? Am I ok?" He brushed his fingers against her cheek and hit the download button on the screen. "You're fine. It basically says they tried a lot of experiments on you that didn't work. I would assume that has something to do with Uindokattā." She nodded and sighed. "Yeah I remember."

She was looking down at her hands, flexing them as if remembering something unpleasant. He stood catching her attention. "I believe I owe you a tour of my lab." He said motioning to the small room they were in. She took in the two tables that held their computers and a printer. When her eyes met his they were suspicious. "This isn't it?" He shook his head at her question and held his hand out to her. She slid hers into it and let him pull her up. "Did the kids make it off to school?" He asked offhandedly as he led her to the wall where the opening to the lab was. The lab was hidden behind a secret panel along the back wall. His hand stopped over the keypad when she answered. "Yeah, or at least that's what Tessai said before he headed out to run errands." Kisuke's brow arched in intrige. So everyone was gone. They were alone with no possible interruptions. Well Yoruichi and Soi Fon may still be in the training area but he was fairly sure they would be busy for a while.

"Maybe we should wait on the tour of the lab." He suggested. When he turned to look at her she was looking at their intertwined fingers, her brows knit in deep thought. Kisuke tilted her face to look up to him. "I'm sorry." She said voice just above a whisper. Her eyes were still on the screen and he wracked his brain as to why she felt the need to apologize. "Ivy?" He prodded lightly. She sighed and met his eyes. "I'm sorry I broke my promise." Promise, he thought then it dawned on him. He had made her promise not to go looking into the disappearances unless he took one of them, preferably himself.

He pulled her into his chest and wrapped his arms around her setting his chin on the top of her head. "Don't worry about it love. You thought there would be others there. You didn't know." Her arms slid under his cloak and around his waist. "I just keep thinking if I hadn't gone then maybe," She trailed off as he started to rub her back gently. "It may have changed when he took you from me but that would've been the only difference. Every event that took place after you disappeared would've happened regardless. You're safe now and that's what matters." He pulled back a bit to see her face. Her sad eyes urging him to forgive her for breaking the promise. He cupped her face in his hands. "I just didn't want you to go alone. As far as I can tell you didn't think you would be so no promises broken. No more thoughts on it alright?" She took a deep breath and nodded but he wasn't sure she was convinced. It was fine, he thought, he had plenty of time to convince her. "Now I've barely slept and you've been through a lot in the past few hours. How bout we get some rest."

When they went upstairs he watched her pull away and head toward the room he had taken her things from. He leaned his shoulder against the wall and watched as she opened the door and went in. "Uh, Kisuke? Where's my stuff?" She asked popping her head out and giving him a questioning look. "It's in your room." He said it as if it were so obvious. "No....." She said slowly and narrowed her eyes at him. He motioned for her to follow and turned to slide open his door. He had set her box right inside the doorway on his dresser. She peeked inside.

"This is your room," He said then cleared his throat and took her by the wrist pulling her inside then corrected himself. "Our room." Ivy looked around taking in Kisuke's room. The room was huge and a bit messy. There were random piles of clothes scattering the floor and papers piled on a table that sat under a window. A small thin grey box sat on the table and displayed a screen like the computer in his lab. There was a large futon in the center of the room with a small table on each side. Her box of belongings had been placed in the dresser right inside the door, a few drawers open with clothes hanging out. The closet door stood open showing his surprisingly neat jackets hung inside as well as extra blankets and pillows along the shelves. A door leading to a large bathroom stood open and she could see the dark grey tub inside. The enormous room seemed like it would take up the entirety of the upstairs if the building. She knew for a face there were other rooms up here. The inside of the house seemed to be like the training room. She had always been amazed at the things he had done and this was no exception.

She felt his hand slid around her as he pulled her closer and kissed her temple. "You think it's a good idea," she sighed, "having me in your room?" He hummed and turned her to face him. "You don't want to stay in my room?" He asked and pouted playfully. She scoffed and lightly smacked his chest. "I mean for the kids. Is it ok? I mean wouldn't it seem weird that I just show up and am suddenly staying in your room." He pulled her closer. "They both know that you mean alot to me so they won't think anything of it and besides," He moved his lips to her ear and whispered, "My walls are sound proof."