A/N:- This story was written entirely because QuinnAstaire loves Mayuri and I love Ukitake. I own nothing...yet...

The Mad Scientist's Experiment

Ukitake Jyuushiro forced himself to keep smiling as he thrust the basket of wrapped candies into Hitsugaya's arms; he could see already the smile on the young captain's face was false and he wished the ground would swallow him whole.

Hitsugaya Toushiro desperately wondered why the older captain continually pushed gifts onto him, he didn't want or need them and it was frankly embarrassing to be treated as a tiny child when he held the same rank and status. But for politeness sake he smiled and accepted the basket with a word of thanks, his eyes as icy as his Zanpaktou.

Kyouraku Shunsui watched the exchange with a heavy heart, only he knew the pain his oldest friend felt every day. He knew the reasons behind the endless gifts of candy and chocolate, if only the young captain hadn't looked so similar to Ukitake this might not have happened. But Shunsui knew just how badly Ukitake's heart ached for a child of his own, how much he knew it could never happen.

Once Ukitake had walked away, smiling cheerfully the entire time, he dropped down beneath a nearby tree and put his head in his hands. He wished constantly that it was different, he would suffer the pain and indignity of his condition a thousand years happily if he could only have had a child, but he couldn't risk passing on the condition.

He had been to Unohana at least a hundred times to see if there weren't any measures that could be taken, any form of defence so he could have a child without fear – but there were none. He knew, had always known, that there was one last person he could ask, but his moral compass simply wouldn't allow him to consider it.

However, after today and the look of weary resignation in Hitsugaya's eyes that sliced through Ukitake like a knife, he couldn't bear the loneliness any longer and damned his morals to hell. Having decided on a course of action he moved swiftly, almost running down the streets of Seretei, only slowing when his breath caught in his chest.

Banging open the door to his destination he discarded formalities and didn't stop until he was stood before his quarry.

Kurotsuchi Mayuri looked up into the flushed face of the white haired captain and, under his mask, he smiled – he knew this day would come….