Szayel huffed as he searched tirelessly under the tables and behind boxes…any area it could possibly hide. He recalled receiving the projects back from Lord Ichimaru…however they had escaped the box in which he’d placed them in. He remembered the hole…burnt around the edges…as though…
“No No NO, it’s not possible. They were not fully developed yet…” Szayel muttered. “Besides, Lord Aizen would be furious…should he ever find out I…heh…forget all that. I have to find it.” He continued to search, crawling on his hands and knees...irritation quickly growing from lack of results.
Suki walked down the hallway past Szayel's lab. She heard quite the commotion coming from inside. "I hope nobody has snuck inside. Perhaps I should check on it!" she said to herself as she poked her head inside the door very cautiously, not wanting to lose it.
"GRRR!!" Szayel grumbled. "COME OUT, YOU NASTY LITTLE FURBALL!"
"Who ME?" Suki startled, her stomach jumping.
Szayel jolted up, smacking his head on the table he was under and grimacing as he rubbed his head. "What are you doing in my la----" He started, yet stopped. "Get in here, girl."
"Y-y-y-yessir,"the pink hair girl stuttered out, afraid of what he might do to her now. She remembered how Szayel had told her to never come near his lab, let alone come inside. Suki gulped and nervously stepped forward trembling.
"Come come...closer..." He beckoned, adjusting the frames of his glasses and still on his knees. "I don't have all day...hurry!"
Hearing him she sprinted forward only to slip and fall forward into him. "I'm sorry!" she yelped, trying to regain her balance, only making matters worse.
While normally he would've been insanely agitated by such a clumsy move, he didn't have the patience to lecture her for it, and so he helped her regain her balance and stand up, then dusted himself off and adjusted his gloves. "You will assist me. I'm sure you'll have no objections. Correct?" He smirked, with that sadistic grin he often wore.
Nodding her head vigorously, lips sealed tightly, she had no objections in the least. Terrified, she thought, "What is he smiling about?" Her mind was racing.
Reaching up onto the table, he pulled down the box that it had escaped from, showing her the hole. "It would've fit through there...as you can see, it's rather small. Fast...and able to hide itself VERY WELL..." He sneered, gritting his teeth, then regaining his composure, he ran his hand through his hair after returning the box. "YOU will help me find it."
Wide-eyed and confused, Suki wrung her hands and whimpered, "What exactly is IT?"
Szayel heaved a sigh. "....I can't recall the name in your terms...known as Mesocricetus auratus...." He stated, tapping his temple. "It's small...furry...a rodent..."
Suki thought for a moment, wrinkling her nose as her little mind wheels spun. She looked up at Szayel, raising an eyebrow in disbelief, "Are you talking about a hamster?" Suki rocked back and forth waiting for his answer, hoping above all hopes, it was something that cute and cuddly!
A wide smile took to his lips. "That's right....hamster...." He snickered a bit, then cleared his throat. Whispering to himself, he added, "At least that's what it used to be..." Looking at her with an intense fire in his eyes he declared, "FIND IT!" Then turned to go back to searching.
"Yesssss SIR!" Suki almost screamed in fear. Dashing away obediently, she ran as fast as she could to the nearest cabinet. Flinging open the cabinet, she flew back in horror, pointing at something. "T-t-those jars! W-what is floating in therrrre," she whimpered yet again, covering her eyes with her hands.
"...." Szayel looked. "I don't recall...." He admitted, then shrugged. "Don't concern yourself with those. Probably something I kept around for Novena....which I could discard now..." Knocking over a beaker, he caught it before it could smash to the ground, only to hear a test tube break on the table opposite. "THERE!" He jumped up.
"WHAT? WHERE?" Suki jumped, flying to his side for protection.
"Didn't you hear that?!" He cried...the hamster was starting to drive him insane. "A test tube! That direction!" He pointed.
"Is it the cute hamster?!" she giggled as she ran in the direction Szayel had pointed. If it was, she wanted to see it. Perhaps even name it, if he would let her!
"Cute?" He raised a brow. "It's a RODENT..." he insisted, shortly after another tube fell from the table in which Suki was heading for.
Suddenly, Suki halted. After stepping in the liquid stemming from a broken test tube. Foot stuck firm, Suki waved her hand, "S-Szayel-sama... My shoe - my shoe is melting. Is this supposed to happen? I can't move. I can't move...."
Szayel facepalmed and grabbed another solution. Walking over, he poured it over her foot and the solution on the floor, nullifying it. "Watch where you step..."
She looked at him admiringly," Okay. I will. Wow! Thank you. You are so smart!" Immediately recalling her hunt, she pulled her foot free and scurried to find the hamster. "We have to find Fredrick! He was just here! I know it!" She started digging through the piles of material.
"Fredrick?" Szayel sighed. Seeing a quick dash of a shadow from the area she was searching, he sonidoed forward and snatched it in his hands. "THERE YOU ARE YOU LITTLE PEST!" He sneered, holding it up before him and glaring at it. The hamster's fur was a golden color, and yet the face had a hollow mask...clearly making it a hollow or....otherwise...
"It's Fredrick!" she yelled skipping forward to have a closer look. "A mask. Is it a hollow hamster?" Suki inquisitively asked. Then, she pouted thinking,” Is that possible?"
Szayel smiled. "An arrancar, actually...though a fairly weak one. He is still in the basic stages of his transformation...yet apparently he can cero..." He glared, squeezing the hamster tightly in his grasp.
Covering her head, Suki exclaimed, "Please! Don't aim arrancar Fredrick at me! He'll shoot my eye out!"
Szayel broke into full on laughter. "That's very true!" He points the hamster at her for a moment, then walks past and throws it into a jar, closing the lid securely. Tossing it into her hands, he says, "Dispose of it.." In a rather non-chalant tone.
"So, you mean you want me to kill it?" Suki asked dismayed, sadness filling her big eyes. "I know what you've see me do. That wasn't really me. Szayel-sama, I don't really like to kill things."
He waved his hand carelessly. "I don't really care what you do with it...just get rid of it. I never want to see that thing again..."
Suki's thought light bulb popped on. She thought, "He never wants to SEE it again. I bet Lord Ichimaru will let me keep Fredrick." Knowing not to smile in front of Szayel, the little girl, standing straight as a soldier saluted and burst out,” Understood, sir! I hope I was of some assistance...," then mumbled," I hope I am worth something when I'm not crazy."
"I suppose you were of...some assistance..." He stated flatly. "Now go....OH GIRL!" He stopped her before she could leave. "Say...NOTHING...about any of this..." He warned, a slight fright in his tone.
Suki smiled back, "You were quiet for me, even when I was so rude to you. Its the least I can do after that."
"Hmph...Indeed." He scoffed, then looked around the room at the mess and sighed deeply.
Suki followed Szayel's gaze about the messy room. "Would you like me to clean up in here?" she asked humbly.
"If it doesn't take you long to dispose of that, then I suppose I could use some assistance..." Szayel stated, adjusting his frames and looking away.
"I will get my cart," she declared heading for the hallway. After a long wait she was finally allowed to clean the eighth espada's lab! She was proud inside, of what she had accomplished that day.
Szayel began to gather all of the miscellaneous items that he didn't want her to touch. Then methodically cleared away what was moved on the countertops by the hamster's rampage..
Returning with her cart, Suki entered. She had safely stashed Fredrick in her office for the time being, and was ready for her next job. Mop in hand she began to clean up the fluid that had melted her shoe.
"Don’t worry, I'll be careful," she chirped.
Szayel nodded. He tended to be a bit OCD about anyone touching anything in his lab...and yet he didn't want to clean it all up himself, nor did he want his Fraccion touching anything. "You had better. Failure to do so will be the death of you..."
"D-death of me. Understood." She replied, her voice shaking slightly. She was also calculating when she did her work, it was the only time she could manage to not knock into things. "I cant mess this up," she whimpered inside once again.
"I can see now..." Szayel started, his voice a bit quieter than normal. "Why Ichimaru has you as an assistant. You are rather helpful."
The child looked up, surprised at the Espada's unusual tone. "Thank you very much, I try to work my hardest at everything I do. I make mistakes often, but its the silly way I learn." She responded with a small sad smile, picturing her house in pieces.
"Well I won't argue with the fact that you are a blubbering clumsy child...yet...helpful you remain." He stated with little interest. "I am quite curious about that other side of yours..." He said more to himself.
Hearing his comment she stated,” I am curious about it too. I know nothing about what causes me to change." The girl whispered to herself,” and it frightens me."
"I could run some tests..." He smirked
"N-no thank you!" She started, but then paused. "What would you do? How much pain would it cause?"
"You wouldn't feel a thing." He said, turning and leaning against the counter. "That is, if I choose so..."
"What would you try to find out? Is there a possibility it might help me control myself?" She asked in an uncharacteristically serious tone, as she turned to face him. Pain was nothing if it would help her regain control.
"Perhaps, if I found an interest in the subject." He adjusted his glasses, his palm on his elbow as he held his arm up. "Though if it bored me, I would just get rid of it..."
" 'It' meaning me?" she inquired staring at the man before her.
"Yes. If you are a subject, then I do not distinguish you as any different. Problem?"
"No. I have no issue with that." She answered, her face set in a look of resolution.
A sadistic smile crossed his lips. "Very well...I will consider it. Though I have yet to see if this should be kept between us, or if I should be granted permission..."
Suki whipped up the last of the fluid and said quietly, in disbelief of what she had just agreed to, "I will wait. Thank you for allowing me into your lab without punishment."
"You are only not allowed if I do not request it. There is no need for gratitude."
Suki bowed and faked a smile, her stomach churning. She had done her work for the day, and now she must prepare herself for what she had done. "Goodbye sir."
"Yes yes, now go..." He shooed her off, heading into his quarters to change his uniform, which now felt dirty...
