A Regular Check-Up [ Closed]

"The smell? Yes, it's rather nice, isn't it? I think it's cucumber and melon this time. I'm not sure what causes it, honestly. I think it's just part of Taroba's doing. When she feels a need to put me or those around me at ease she just..."

All of a sudden, Shio's eyes widened, the blood draining from his face as quickly as if he'd just been struck, or had watched someone he cared deeply for slaughtered. He stood there, just like that, for almost thirty seconds, before a mask of careful neutrality settled over his features, his stance turning textbook perfect; his eyes were now focused on a spot a few inches above Midori's left earlobe, and for all the world Shio looked like a soldier in the midst of a very important and very tedious duty.

"I should be going. I just got a division transfer, you know. It would be unbecoming if I were to slack on my duties so quickly after a change of scenery. I need to get back to the human world and..."

He trailed off at this point, sweat already forming on his brow, his hands glued to his sides as effectively as if by some bakudo. All he could do was keep cursing, over and over, in his own head, as he realized all of a sudden what had happened. He'd come so very close and stopped himself last time, and now he'd said her name. To a captain of the Gotei no less. That meant that there was no possible way he could walk out of this room without it becoming a matter of public record.

For a few fleeting seconds, Shio wondered if she'd intervene, were he to try and kill himself. What a foolish question, of course; this was the medical division. There was no way he'd leave here anything other than whole of body and mind. That meant his only hope was suicide by cop, then. He simply couldn't handle a repeat of the past, yet again.

"Sorry. I have to go."

"You'll know."

There was so much weariness in the words, so much agony and fatigue. He sounded like a man who had just lost a loved one, or knew he was about to be executed. There was nothing but a flat resignation in his tone now, a cold finality that seemed to imply emotion was now an irrelevance. He simply walked towards the nearest chair, sitting in it, and then staring at the wall. He seemed content to sit there the entire day; his hands slipped into his lap, his face as expressionless as wax as he spoke, in a tone that hung in the air like a lead weight.

"I don't want to discuss this anymore. Declare me unfit for duty. Have me court martialled. I've already accepted my fate. Just...let me have my peace, please. I don't want to answer any more questions, or come back here again."

One almost could've believed he'd become a statue, as he stared very quietly, without any motion whatsoever, at the wall in front of him.

Shio still couldn't find it in himself to look towards her, or even to offer a real answer. He simply stared at the wall with even greater intensity, hands clenching tightly and expressions of pain sliding across his face, over and over, as he seemed lost in his own little world. He closed his eyes for a few long moments, and the moment he did he could feel Taroba trying to reach out; for a second he could feel her hand gently caressing his cheek, cradling him as one would a crying child. And then, all at once, in a moment of absolute rage, he flung her, screaming in injustice, into the deepest pits of his mind. He could understand now, just how much she had manipulated him from the very moment he'd stepped into the room.

And now when his eyes opened, there was that same old, nameless plodding beast, something that needed no justification for itself, no explanation, behind his eyes. He still didn't make any move to vacate the seat, but he let out a derisive, almost mocking laugh, and then shook his head.

"You're the expert, Captain. If anyone's qualified to figure it out, it's you."