ANGSTY NEMU CHALLENGEby dosetsu
"Mayuri-sama..."
Kurotsuchi Mayuri did not look up from the operating table. A wet, gurgling cough bubbled past the lips of the prone form he was working on. Nemu could see the pins holding flaps of skin open and down--the subject's body was vivisected, split from groin to collar. In its battered state, it was impossible to determine whether or not it was male or female.
Nemu's expression remained unchanged. She waited, hands folded in front of herself, clutching a folded document and a sheathed sword.
"Out," Mayuri eventually ordered in his scarred rasp of a voice. "Or you're next."
Nemu left the operating room. There was a chair outside, but she chose to stand, remaining on her feet for the two hours it took Mayuri to finish. The subject left first, wheeled out on a gurney by Mayuri's assistants. It was an indistinct pile of flesh now, bearing no resemblance to the damaged humanoid form it had been when Nemu had seen it on the table.
Mayuri's first action upon leaving the operating room, after wiping his hands of blood and a few shards of bone, was to lay a backhanded strike across Nemu's jaw that sent her head whipping to one side, twisting her neck and nearly knocking her off her feet. She stumbled, wincing as turning her head to face him again merely made it hurt worse. "What did I tell you about bothering me during operations?"
The idea of insisting that it had been important didn't even cross Nemu's mind. She lowered her head, answering, "I apologize, Mayuri-sama."
"And what's all this?" Mayuri demanded, scowling as he saw what Nemu was holding. "A Zanpaku sword? And what's in that letter?"
A faint smile made its way to Nemu's lips as she handed Mayuri the document. "I've been formally accepted as your Vice Captain," she explained as he scanned quickly over the letter.
"Bah. Bureaucratic nonsense," he said dismissively, tossing the letter away. "And that?" He pointed to the sword.
"Ah...this is..." She smiled a little wider, lifting the sword to hold it to herself. "This is my Zanpa--"
She was interrupted by Mayuri lunging at her, wrenching the sword from her grip. "Those bloody idiots! Didn't I tell them!" He shook the sword at her, glaring furiously. "These are not for things like you! I told them that, and they still...bah!" He tore the blade free of its sheath, examining it, while Nemu watched with slightly widened eyes, trying to fight the emotion snaking its way up from within her, struggling to keep it from showing on her face. "A fine weapon." His voice was calmer, quieter, and yet no less angry. "Just what I'd expect from a creation of mine. But." He thrust it, point-first, into the floor. "It's not for you."
Mayuri drew his sword, and one of Nemu's lips trembled. She could sense what he was doing. She could feel the shifts in his aura as he focused, drawing up his strength and focusing it into his arms as he lifted Ashisogi Jizou above his head, hilt gripped firmly in both hands.When his arms fell, when the blow landed, her sword was not cut. It shattered like glass, shards of metal scattering and hitting the ground at just the same moment Nemu's knees hit. In that horrible instant, a scream had ripped its way through her mind, forcing her to her knees.
"Feh. It's not as though you could feel that." Mayuri tsked, carefully gathering the pieces of sword. "I'm going to contain this. I have a device...really quite amazing. The process by which it works was derived from the ability of a Hollow. Anyway, it will keep these from regenerating. Better to avoid tempting you, the sword would call to you if I were to allow it to become whole again..."
Nemu couldn't even hear him. After that sound had died, it was like a piece of her had been scrubbed away, made blank. The voice was gone. The voice had been female, low, warm. Motherly had been a word that had popped into her mind, though she wasn't sure how she'd come up with it.
Her attention was returned to the present by a swift, hard kick that caught her in the ribs. "Are you going to just sit there all day? Get on your feet, idiot, I've got work for you to do."
After the wince in response to the kick, Nemu's face settled back into its usual passive expression. The blank spot in her mind where her sword's voice had been made her stomach turn, but she pushed herself slowly to her feet. "Yes, Mayuri-sama. I apologize," she said, falling into step behind Mayuri as he strode away.
"Mayuri-sama..."
Kurotsuchi Mayuri did not look up from the operating table. A wet, gurgling cough bubbled past the lips of the prone form he was working on. Nemu could see the pins holding flaps of skin open and down--the subject's body was vivisected, split from groin to collar. In its battered state, it was impossible to determine whether or not it was male or female.
Nemu's expression remained unchanged. She waited, hands folded in front of herself, clutching a folded document and a sheathed sword.
"Out," Mayuri eventually ordered in his scarred rasp of a voice. "Or you're next."
Nemu left the operating room. There was a chair outside, but she chose to stand, remaining on her feet for the two hours it took Mayuri to finish. The subject left first, wheeled out on a gurney by Mayuri's assistants. It was an indistinct pile of flesh now, bearing no resemblance to the damaged humanoid form it had been when Nemu had seen it on the table.
Mayuri's first action upon leaving the operating room, after wiping his hands of blood and a few shards of bone, was to lay a backhanded strike across Nemu's jaw that sent her head whipping to one side, twisting her neck and nearly knocking her off her feet. She stumbled, wincing as turning her head to face him again merely made it hurt worse. "What did I tell you about bothering me during operations?"
The idea of insisting that it had been important didn't even cross Nemu's mind. She lowered her head, answering, "I apologize, Mayuri-sama."
"And what's all this?" Mayuri demanded, scowling as he saw what Nemu was holding. "A Zanpaku sword? And what's in that letter?"
A faint smile made its way to Nemu's lips as she handed Mayuri the document. "I've been formally accepted as your Vice Captain," she explained as he scanned quickly over the letter.
"Bah. Bureaucratic nonsense," he said dismissively, tossing the letter away. "And that?" He pointed to the sword.
"Ah...this is..." She smiled a little wider, lifting the sword to hold it to herself. "This is my Zanpa--"
She was interrupted by Mayuri lunging at her, wrenching the sword from her grip. "Those bloody idiots! Didn't I tell them!" He shook the sword at her, glaring furiously. "These are not for things like you! I told them that, and they still...bah!" He tore the blade free of its sheath, examining it, while Nemu watched with slightly widened eyes, trying to fight the emotion snaking its way up from within her, struggling to keep it from showing on her face. "A fine weapon." His voice was calmer, quieter, and yet no less angry. "Just what I'd expect from a creation of mine. But." He thrust it, point-first, into the floor. "It's not for you."
Mayuri drew his sword, and one of Nemu's lips trembled. She could sense what he was doing. She could feel the shifts in his aura as he focused, drawing up his strength and focusing it into his arms as he lifted Ashisogi Jizou above his head, hilt gripped firmly in both hands.When his arms fell, when the blow landed, her sword was not cut. It shattered like glass, shards of metal scattering and hitting the ground at just the same moment Nemu's knees hit. In that horrible instant, a scream had ripped its way through her mind, forcing her to her knees.
"Feh. It's not as though you could feel that." Mayuri tsked, carefully gathering the pieces of sword. "I'm going to contain this. I have a device...really quite amazing. The process by which it works was derived from the ability of a Hollow. Anyway, it will keep these from regenerating. Better to avoid tempting you, the sword would call to you if I were to allow it to become whole again..."
Nemu couldn't even hear him. After that sound had died, it was like a piece of her had been scrubbed away, made blank. The voice was gone. The voice had been female, low, warm. Motherly had been a word that had popped into her mind, though she wasn't sure how she'd come up with it.
Her attention was returned to the present by a swift, hard kick that caught her in the ribs. "Are you going to just sit there all day? Get on your feet, idiot, I've got work for you to do."
After the wince in response to the kick, Nemu's face settled back into its usual passive expression. The blank spot in her mind where her sword's voice had been made her stomach turn, but she pushed herself slowly to her feet. "Yes, Mayuri-sama. I apologize," she said, falling into step behind Mayuri as he strode away.