Title: Fatherly Duties
Author: vendettadays
Fandom: Bleach
Characters: Zaraki Kenpachi, Yachiru Kusajishi
Rating: K+
Length: 1071
Summary: There were some things that Kenpachi Zaraki had learned in the last thirteen years, like making the perfect lunch box for his daughter and not using too much strength when flipping the eggs. But even thirteen years were not enough to prepare him for the beginning of Yachiru's teenage years.
A/N: I found this hidden away in a folder of my old, unfinished Bleach fics from 2009, so decided to rewrite/tidy it up, because I've always wanted to write Kenpachi as a parent in the human world.
Kenpachi yawned loudly; his mouth stretched open and eyes closed slightly as he carefully flipped the eggs in the frying pan. Thirteen years and he still burnt the toast, but at least he learned early on that a slight flick of his wrist could send their breakfast in the air. The oil stains on the ceiling said it all.
Nobody would ever believe that Kenpachi Zaraki, Head of the Eleventh Dojo, would know the in and outs of making a lunch box with a cat face on the rice or that he cooked with a frilly, pink apron on. Only two of his men from the dojo had ever seen him dressed like this, but it was something that Madarame and Ayasegawa denied fervently. It wasn't like he wanted to wear the apron if he didn't have to, but it was a bitch to get the oil stains out of his clothes.
He switched off the cooker and with the spatula he lifted the eggs onto two plates. One had a mountain of eggs, bacon, and sausages on, while the other had a portion more suitable for a normal person. He took the plates and placed them on the table, next to the charred stack of toast and sat his massive frame down onto a chair.
'Oi! Yachiru, breakfast!'
Kenpachi shovelled several rashers of bacon into his mouth as he poked at his phone's screen delicately, so that he could read the morning news. The thing is too damn small, he thought, frowning when his finger pressed the camera app as well as the news app. He was already halfway through his breakfast by the time Yachiru shuffled into the kitchen with downcast eyes. She was unusually quiet this morning, a fact that did not go unnoticed by him, but he carried on eating instead of commenting on it.
'Eat your food, it's getting cold,' said Kenpachi, as Yachiru sat down opposite him.
Mornings in their house were loud and the neighbours had always complained until they saw how he towered over them. Although, they had stopped complaining after he had punched the guy who washed their neighbourhood's windows for peeping into Yachiru's room. But today's silence grated on his nerves as he watched Yachiru take small bites of her food. There was something wrong, but he had never been good with words. Most of the time it was Yachiru who did the talking.
'You done your homework, Kid?'
Yachiru nodded without looking up.
He grunted and took a huge bite from his toast. He tried to think of reasons why Yachiru was like this. It had been a month since she started Junior High. Maybe she was having trouble at school? But that didn't seem like it. As far as he was aware, Yachiru loved it and even if she did have trouble he knew she could hold her own in a fight. Hell, she was a better fighter than three-quarters of the men and women at the dojo. As he gulped his coffee down, he remembered something that that Inoue woman at the bakery had said to him last week.
'Wow, Yachiru is in Junior High already? They grow up so quickly; I remember having my first crush back then. I confessed to him, but got rejected straight away. I was so embarrassed!'
He choked on his drink and coughed, spluttering coffee everywhere. Irritation simmered inside him and his mug cracked when he clenched onto it too tightly. If some punk thought that he could reject his Yachiru like that, then he had another thing coming. He loosened his hold on his mug when a voice, disturbingly like Ayasegawa's, floated through his mind. Who said it was a guy? Kenpachi shook his head, because guy or gal, he was going to teach them a lesson for breaking his kid's heart. He was about to ask for their name and address when Yachiru spoke first.
'Daddy?'
Shit, thought Kenpachi. Yachiru never called him Daddy unless there was something she wanted, but that wasn't it, not with the way Yachiru's shoulders were hunched and the worrying of her teeth against her bottom lip. The only other time that she called him Daddy was when she was scared and that was not often.
'Yeah?'
'I… This morning.' Yachiru paused and her face reddened, but Kenpachi waited for her to sort out her words. 'I think I need to see a doctor.'
The mug shattered in his large hand. He clenched his jaw and breathed deeply, but Yachiru carried on, seemingly unaware of the broken mug and the coffee that covered the table. He was going to murder the kid himself!
'I was using the toilet this morning and I found blood on my underwear,' mumbled Yachiru, bringing her gaze up to look at Kenpachi.
Kenpachi's mind stilled and all thoughts of calling his dojo to join in on the massacre disappeared. His body deflated as relief filled him and the fight in him left when he breathed out.
'You don't need to see a doctor.'
'I don't?'
'No, you don't.' He shrugged his shoulders, a little uncomfortable about having to talk about this stuff, but it was better than what he had thought earlier. He barrelled on anyway. 'You're having your… monthly thing. Y'know, only girls get it and it's normal.'
'It is?'
'Yeah, it is. Didn't they teach you this at school? I swear I sighed that permission clip for health class?' he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
'It got cancelled 'cause some parents complained,' said Yachiru, who looked a lot better now that she knew that she didn't need to see a doctor. 'Ken-chan, your hand is bleeding.'
Kenpachi scoffed at the blood on his right hand from when he broke his mug. It was a gift from Yachiru as well. He grabbed a tea towel and wiped the blood away before putting their dishes in the sink.
'Come on, we're going shopping now.'
'But I've got school.'
'I'll call in to say you're sick.' Kenpachi walked out of the room with Yachiru following behind him. Maybe he could get the woman from the bakery to explain all this to Yachiru? 'We need to get you some stuff for your… thing.'
'Okay, can we go get ice cream as well?' asked Yachiru as she slipped her shoes on.
'Yeah, whatever, Kid,' replied Kenpachi, holding the door for Yachiru.