Perfect Imperfection (Mayuri Kurotsuchi)

Kisuke . . . to be the Man

I, again, sat outside of Dalia's room. Unohana had been nice enough to come over and give her another check-up since all of this happened; she even said she would cover for Dalia with Yamamoto. I was fuming from everything that had happened, but after she returned to normal all of the fires stopped and there weren't even any burn marks left.

". . . she witnessed something that she shouldn't have and got chased through the forest. Some kind of brother you are, "Captain"." I remembered Mayuri mocking me. Had I really missed something? I had felt the spike in her spiritual pressure, but it was so small that I thought nothing of it.

"I really am a bad brother." I muttered. The door slid up and I stood up quickly. In Unohana's hand was Dalia's sword, but instead of her usual smile she had a fine line across her face. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm sorry to say no. I found her sword sheathed deeply in her back, it would seem that she had to become one with her Zanpakto. Moreover, her heart has taken the permanent position in her stomach from being the phoenix for too long."

"I see, well at leas-."

"Also," she cut me off as her face got grimmer, "I believe that she is allowed to transform two more times, one of two things will happen. She'll die or she'll remain a phoenix forever."

My heart stopped." What?"

"I'm sorry, but her body when she transformed didn't actually become the full body. Her Zanpakto took over most of the transformation; there are burn marks on a large portion of her body that is the proof. But humans learned to adapt over time to the climate and her body will continue to adapt to fire and the form of the phoenix, if she transforms more." She held out Dalia's sword to me. "Her bankai... it can only be used if she is stabbed with it. There was a stab wound from her chest to her back, but the flames healed it over, making it impossible to tell where the sword entered from."

"Thank you... again Unohana-Taichou." I took the sword and bowed deeply.

"I'm going to have to go talk to Yamamoto, but I really doubt Dalia will come away from this unscathed."

"Thank you either way." I bowed again as she turned and left." Have a good night."

"Likewise."

When she disappeared, I turned toward Dalia's door and began to go in. "Whose fault is it really? Weren't you the one who left her alone? She ended up in a predicament where she could have been killed or did you choose to ignore the spike in her spiritual pressure?" I cringed and retreated from the door.

I wouldn't be able to face her like I wanted, not even her sleeping form. I turned and started to walk to my room. The brother and sister bond was sure to be broken after tonight. Seven years, gone in one night.

I sadly touched the hat on my head. This would probably be the last bit of sister love that I would receive and actually enjoy, because now I wanted her to see me as a man.