Emergency Room

The chains that coiled around Jurobei added to the illusion of being crushed as he sunk deeper into the ocean abyss of his dreams, and the new medicine that Setsuna injected felt like poison.

There was another odd sensation Jurobei felt, a light vibration as though a constant electrical charge ran through his system, and bright lights. Jurobei's mind had converted the harsh green on its own, and it moved farther away as he heard Setsuna's words. They seemed unreal, and were drowning out as Jurobei continued to sink. The lights were now multicolored and exploding and Setsuna's words and humming became tribal music because of Jurobei's rampant imagination. He thought that maybe it was the other shinigami celebrating his death. It was a suitable dream, even though he didn't have the chance to put his plan his action, and never will. He had been defeated long before; he just failed to recognize that.

His mind suddenly started to drift to... flowers, subconsciously trigged by Miruki's words. He lay on the bottom of the ocean now, and although his breathing slowed and his lungs were slowly crushed, he thought about the beauty and complexity of those small precious things. Their function was pollen, their purpose was beauty. What was his function? What was his purpose?! There was so much left unexplored. He was a dreamer, but his dreams were coming to an end.

It was time for the last step in his journey.

The Kenpachi pushes herself from her bed, growling a bit and waving away any attempts to stop her. The chains had done their job, so she'd be perfectly fine. She crosses the room over to Jurobei, moving, resting her hands upon the edge of his bed and leaning in to glare at his closed eyelids, barely inches from them.

"Alright. I'll say this once, and only once. If you go and die on me before I can get a real fight out of you, I'm gonna be right pissed at you. Got it? I did not decide that you'd be a pretty fun enemy just to have you up and decide to die on me. You're better than this. I saw it, back there. You had every disadvantage I could throw at you, were wounded, and didn't have enough time to actually use your fuckin' kidou. You didn't even unseal your fuckin' sword. You made me use mine. So if you've gotten all fuckin' depressed, all woe-is-me for losing, then get some FUCKING perspective, man! In a straight fight, if I hadn't taken that first shot at you, I don't know who of us would fuckin' win. And that's amazing. And on top of that, your squad needs you. They need their goddamn leader. You gonna leave them all alone to figure out which one of their worthless asses gets to take over? You gonna just wallow in your own self-pity and die? Or are ya gonna be a man and decide that really, fuck death. I died once. It fuckin' sucked. Really. Fucking. Sucked. You don't deserve it. Not now. You deserve to die like a fuckin' warrior, surrounded by dead enemies, with more wounds than you can fuckin' count! Not like some coward, in a fuckin' bed!"

Lakshmi felt helpless. Here was someone she couldn't help, other than heal his body. She poured more power into him, knowing her reserves would soon start draining from the force she was using. If she could let him heal slower, it'd be fine. Even over the course of a few hours would be much better than this rapid healing.

She was still recovering from her Bankai practice, was the main problem. Soon she'd be captain officially, but she needed to recover from the ordeal that was Bankai attempts. At this point the others were much more use in getting Jurobei back, as Lakshmi barely knew the man.

"Jurobei, if you die on my watch it will ruin my record. Bring yourself back, listen to those around you. No matter how bad it seems, they obviously care. Even the angry Kenpachi cares."

Setsuna looked at the young squad 12 captain. Such a sweet and helpful girl. Setsuna gave her a warm smile and glanced back at Jurobei. He was in the weeds, and he needed to find his way out.

"That my dear isn't my call. I am not in charge of this squad, that would be Vice Captain Lakshmi's call."

Setsuna got closer to Jurobei again. She began to stroke his hair line with the back of her hand. Oh Jurobei.

"We've been friends for a long time Jurobei. We met all those years ago. If you die Jurobei, I will miss you. Please don't die old friend. I don't know if my sanity can handle Norma alone."

Setsuna said the last bit with a chuckle.

Feeling the weight of the words the Sotaicho spoke, Lakshmi tried to comport herself. She needed to be calm, she needed to act like she knew what she was doing even if she was lost. She needed to do this properly. A deep breath and a look around the room at the others there and Lakshmi decided with a swiftness she normally avoided.

"Taicho of the Twelfth Division, I give you permission to give Jurobei the pill if you feel it will work. I will trust you on this one, as you seem to know a bit more about this than I do."

It felt wrong to say that, but is the Eighth Taicho needed it... She would do anything. No one could die on her watch.

Rage

The familiar old leather feeling he had been comfortable in for so long. Rage slowly pumped through his heart like smoldering oil as Rin yelled inches from his face. Jurobei wanted to kill her, now more than ever. If he hadn't been coughing bone shards and wiping his own blood that was blinding his eyes right at the beginning, the fight might have ended differently. She had been brutish, but effective.

Nobody should have been so brazen as to attack him. He would make them know how dangerous he was. He would make all those who insulted him pay in blood! If only he could live. If only he wasn't deep in a crushing ocean that passively killed him every passing second.

He could see a large iceberg slowly move overhead, covering him in darkness, as though a seal for a burial tomb. No, I will not die.

The pill was administered. Jurobei's body started to convulse chaotically, shaking Lakshmi's tight metal chains coiling around him, his own reitsu fighting back against his bindings. With one final convulsion his chest lurched the highest it could go before Jurobei's body collapsed back onto the bed. The ocean of his dreams was boiling, also boiling himself alive like a newly forged sword.

A steady beep indicted a flat line in his vital reading for the briefest of moments, before Jurobei's mouth look a large, greedy gasp for air, and his heart returned to a steady beat. Jurobei's mind went into a stable coma state, but would come to a full recovery just in time for the coming of the Arrancar.

Lakshmi gave a short gasp but it was quickly muffled. Holding her hand on Jurobei's forehead she delved into the energy and couldn't help smiling in a relieved way. "He's stable enough now. Thank you Taicho."

Smiling at the other female Captain, Lakshmi then waved her hands lightly. "If you all wouldn't mind, I believe I can tend to him now. Thank you Sotaicho and you as well, Kenpachi, for your assistance."

Setsuna was so happy that Jurobei had become stable. That meant that he'd soon be back on his feet and would be ready to go. Setsuna smiled and clasped her hands together in excitement.

"Marvelous!"

Setsuna walked over to Lakshmi and gave her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek. Setsuan began to make her way out of the ER, but then stopped and turned to face Lakshmi again.

"Do you want me to take the Kenpachi with me, or do you have plans for her?"