AN: This is just a really fun little idea I came up with this morning, I thought it was cute and cool, so I decided to write it up. Anyways, remember Hanataro? That really cute harmless soul reaper with the healing powers? Well I decided to explore his potential.

"Wait! I'm sorry!" The small figure shouted, her voice fearful.

"You better be sorry! Next time you bring us tea, make sure it's hot, idiot!"

Hanataro watched as the musclebound soul reaper chased his teammate down the alley. He sighed. The other teams had always treated the squad four members like this. Hanataro wondered why. Was it because they were weak? No, he couldn't believe that; soul reapers were supposed to be all about protecting and helping weak people. Was it because they used kido? Well, maybe that would be enough for squad eleven to hate them, but squad eleven hated most kido users, thinking them weaklings. No, Hanataro decided. It must be because they didn't view squad four as fighters. Certainly, they saw his captain, Retsu Unohana, as a dangerous and respected fighter, because she was as strong as Kenpachi. But as much as she might try to protect them, the fact was that her reputation was not enough to protect the whole of her squad.

Watching the larger soul reaper chase his companion down the alleyway, Hanataro made up his mind. Squad four needed a reputation for fighting. He would do what he must. Hanataro went back to the barracks to pick up his zanpakuto.

It was early in the day, and the squad eleven members were eating a hearty breakfast together in the barracks, readying themselves for another day's grueling training. Ikkaku Madarame sat near the head of the first table, devouring his second portion of grilled fish on rice, when a knock came at the door. A few reapers looked up from their food in mild curiosity; most simply continued to eat, uncaring.

"Enter" Ikkaku shouted. Normally, the right to let people in was the property of the captain or lieutenant only, but he, the third seat, was the highest seat currently present. The door opened and a minuscule, black haired figure entered. Rukia? No, even she had more muscle mass than that. Then Ikkaku noticed the emblem on their shoulder. Squad four. So this runt was one of them, huh? "What are you doing here, pipsqueak?" He asked quietly. He didn't hold the dislike of the fourth squad that some of his teammates did. He just didn't see the point of healers who couldn't fight their own battles. What was the point? A few heads turned towards the door, a few voices letting out evil little chuckles.

"U-ummm," The runt said quietly, eyes downcast. "I uhh… I c-came here to…"

"Spit it out, soldier," Ikkaku cut him off, annoyed. "Do you have a message for us? A mission perhaps?"

The tiny soul reaper shook his head, a motion that seemed to require his whole body to perform, before looking Ikkaku in the eye.

"I… I want to make a bet!" He cried out, squeezing his eyes shut.

The room went quiet. If anything united squad eleven besides a mutual love of combat, it was gambling. What few reapers had been ignoring the boy before turned their heads to him now, their interest piqued.

"A bet, huh?" Ikkaku murmured genially. "What kind of bet, kid?"

The boy opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He closed it again, gulped heavily, and tried a second time.

"I… I want to fight the strongest person in this room," Hanataro said, the trembling in his voice clearly audible in the quiet. "If I win, your whole squad needs to stop picking on squad four and treat them with respect!"

The room was utterly silent for a few seconds; then came the laughter. It was everywhere. Almost every man seated in there was laughing at the boy. He quailed. Next to Ikkaku, Yumichika turned one eye towards him.

"Well? Are you going to take the boy up on it?"

Ikkaku grinned. Whoever this kid was, he had spunk.

"You know what kid? Sure, sounds like fun." The laughter died away immediately.

"B-but third seat! Fighting a wimp like this kid's a waste of time!" Shouted a squad member from his seat at the table.

Ikkaku nodded.

"That's why I have my own part of the bet. Hey kid, if I win, you have to come back here every day for a year, and face whatever humiliation my squad can throw at you." Some of his teammates laughed a little too hard at that. "Within reason," he cautioned them, his eyes turning to a few who had laughed the hardest. "I will not allow you to go too far." A few faces fell.

The boy went pale, but nodded.

"Y-yes, sir. I accept those terms, third seat Ikkaku!"

Ikkaku grinned again.

"What's your name, kid?"

"H-Hanataro Yamada, sir," the boy said, squaring his shoulders. "Seventh seat of squad four."

"Good," Ikkaku replied with a smile. "I always prefer to know my enemy's name. Follow me." He stood and, as one, every other soul reaper in the room stood with him. Ikkaku stepped around his table, and strode forward, taking the dark haired boy by the shoulder and steering him along as the rest of squad eleven followed.

"W-where are we going?" Hanataro asked. Ikkaku could feel the boy shaking under his grip.

"Squad eleven combat room," Ikkaku replied. "It's where the squad goes to watch when its members fight."

After a short walk, they arrived at the combat room; a large, stone built place with a thick straw mat along the floor. Ikkaku guided the runt to his spot on the training mat as the rest of the squad filed in, sitting on the benches that lined one wall. Some of them were already betting on how long Ikkaku planned to let the boy last. Ikkaku moved to a rack of wooden swords, glancing over at the boy.

"What kind of training blade would you prefer? Hard or light?"

Hanataro shook his head.

"N-neither. I want to fight you with my zanpakuto."

In that moment, the room went very quiet, a few squad members scowling angrily down at the boy.

"Kid…" Ikkaku began. "I ain't gonna kill you, so if you want to die, find some other way."

The dark haired boy shook his head.

"S-sir... I want to fight with my full power against a foe using his own strength. Otherwise... this proves nothing."

Ikkaku sighed. He was pretty sure he could avoid killing the kid if he had to, and he had to admit, he admired the boy's resolve.

"Fine, Yamada. But if you make me kill you, I will not forgive. Are we clear?"

The boy hesitated, but nodded.

Hanataro stood facing his foe, trying his hardest not to regret the choices that had led him here. He gripped his zanpakuto by the hilt, drawing the blade free of its sheath, which he tossed to the side. He stood with his blade raised, pointing it at Ikkaku. The man was huge, nearly three times his size, although it didn't help that Hanataro was tiny. The man was, in all honesty, probably only slightly larger than a regular person; but in the here and now, he seemed huge. Ikkaku drew his blade.

"Well then kid, feel free to take the first strike." Ikkaku said, smiling a smile that exposed a little too much of his teeth. The man reminded him of a wolf, or a hungry beast. Not for the first time, he had to remind himself not to run.

Hanataro shook his head, laying his left palm flat along the back of his blade, gripping its handle with his right.

"I already have." He said quietly. "Your turn."

Ikkaku scowled angrily at him.

"If this is just a way for you to die," he growled. "I will take it out on your teammates. You get that, right, kid?"

Hanataro nodded.

"Yeah, I get it. But I intend to win here, sir."

Ikkaku sighed, then nodded. What happened next occurred too fast for the boy to fully understand. The bald man disappeared in a blur, and Hanataro felt pain. Looking down, he saw the blade protruding from his gut. He gagged at the sensation, the weapon sending white lines of pain through places he hadn't even known could feel. He fell to his knees, the sword wrenching at his insides as he moved. It took everything he had not to pass out then and there. From behind him, he heard Ikkaku mutter quietly:

"Really kid? Can't even keep your feet. You are disappointing as hell, Yamada." The blade withdrew from Hanataro's midsection, and Ikkaku stepped away. "Report to the barracks tomorrow morning for your punishment, kid."

A little part of Hanataro rebelled at that, the tiny shard of resolve unbroken by the pain. He forced himself to stand.

"W-wait, this isn't over yet, sir… I'm not down yet."

Ikkaku turned his head, looking over his shoulder at the boy. A flash of anger crossed his features.

"How many times do I have to tell you kid? I ain't gonna kill you here!"

Hanataro took a moment to steady himself. The pain was beginning to recede, slower than he might have liked, his hand against the back of Hisagomaru allowing its healing properties to transfer through to him, making short work of the wound to his gut. He glanced down at the blade, the charge meter still only one third full. He couldn't allow Ikkaku to call this match yet, not when he was so close. The boy mustered everything he had and charged, letting out a fierce cry that, to the surrounding reapers, may as well have been the mewl a kitten. Ikkaku was caught off guard. He swung his sword at Hanataro, cutting the young reaper from shoulder to waist. Hanataro fell back onto the floor. His mind felt looser, the pain separating him from himself with a frightening lightness. Hanataro fought with all his might to do the one thing that he knew he had to keep doing. Hanataro kept holding Hisagomaru's blade. Ikkaku was shouting at him.

"Why kid?!" He yelled, his face twisting in fury and confusion. "What do you think you're proving here!?"

Hanataro clung to his blade for all he was worth, feeling the deep pain slowly recede once more. He felt Hisagomaru shift in his hand, becoming smaller, more compact. He pushed himself to his feet, panting and sweating from the recent pain. Dear god, he hoped this worked. Ikkaku stared at him. He forced a smile he was not feeling, and it came out looking weak and sad. It would do.

"Y-you did quite well, third seat, sir," He mumbled quietly. "Well enough to impress me a little; but you see-" he shrugged his shoulders free of his kimono, revealing his unmuscled chest, his injuries gone. "-I'm a little harder to hurt than that."

Ikkaku turned, his blade raised as he watched Hanataro with interest.

"I definitely cut you," he murmured, something approaching excitement entering his tone. "Is this kido? No. Most healing kido takes way longer than this. You're definitely not hard enough to shrug off my attacks. How are you standing, kid?"

Hanataro didn't answer, lifting his hands to free them from his sleeves, letting his kimono hang around his waist. He raised Hisagomaru's scalpel form in front of himself.

"This is my shikai, Hisagomaru." He said. "I thought someone like you deserved to be dealt a proper finishing blow."

Ikkaku chuckled.

"Kid, you're ballsy, I'll give you that." Ikaku once more drew his blade from it's sheath, but before he had time to strike, Hanataro flicked the scalpel towards him ever so slightly. Immedieately, the room was filled with an intense, blinding red light, the collected damage stored by Hisagomaru as energy and released in a cero like blast of pure, furious force. Ikkaku raised his blade to block, just in time, before the impact drove him through the training room wall. The larger man landed in a heap on the tiles that lined the sereitei walkways. He pushed himself to his feet with some effort, his clothing torn, his body cut and bruised, and limped forwards, back towards the combat room.

Everyone was looking at Hanataro now with the same blank eyed stare, mouths hanging open wide. Hanataro felt Hisagomaru return to its katana form in his hand. He returned his left hand to grip the back of the blade once more, directing its healing properties towards himself once more.

"Do you wish to continue, sir?" Hanataro asked politely, trying to inject a confidence he did not feel into his words.

Ikkaku rolled his neck with a series of audible clicks.

"Well, kid, I ain't gonna pretend I understand how you did that, but I can admit, I'm impressed. You're a fit match for anyone in this room." He flashed the boy a grin. "I'd even say you deserve to be finished off by MY shikai. Extend, Hozukimaru!" He swept his blade out to the side and, with a flash of light, it reshaped itself into a long spear. Hanataro braced himself. This was going to hurt.

The first strike had been too fast for Hanataro to comprehend. This third one, by comparison, was too fast for him to even see. All he knew was that one moment, Ikkaku had stood across from him, and the next, that spear was being forced straight through his thigh. He let out a strangled cry of pain, falling forwards onto the mat. As he fell, the injury pulled at the weapon in his leg, redoubling the pain. He could feel it as individual strands of muscle scraped against the blade, slicing his hamstrings to ribbons against its razor edge. Ikkaku withdrew the blade, this time gazing intently at the injury, watching as it closed itself, allowing Hanataro to pull himself to his knees.

"So you are healing yourself, huh, kid."

Hanataro pushed himself up on shaking legs, making it to his feet and staggering backwards, a few tears streaking down his face at the memory of the pain.

"Yeah… I am." He admitted. There was no sense trying to hide it anymore.

"And the more you heal yourself, the more red stuff goes into your zanpakuto there." Ikkaku summarized, pointing at Hisagomaru's partially-filled meter. Hanataro nodded. Again, there was no use hiding it if his enemy knew already. Ikkaku smiled. "Well then, kid, sorry to say this, but the fight's over. I can't risk taking another hit like that, so I'm ending this barehanded. You can't heal yourself if I don't injure you badly enough.

Hanataro had been afraid of this. He had also, however, planned for it. He drew a deep breath to steel himself as Ikkaku dismissed his shikai and sheathed his blade. In those few moments, he reached into the medical pouch he kept at his waist, shifting his grip on Hisagomaru so that he was holding it only by the blade, without a hand on the handle. He let out a ragged scream as he drew his medical scalpel up across his chest, cutting a deep red line of agony into his flesh. Ikkaku's eyes went wide with shock as Hanataro's shaking hand dropped the scalpel to the floor, stained a deep, dark red. Somehow, the dark haired youth remained on his feet. As the wound slowly began to knit itself back together, a red mist rose from the cut, filling the remainder of Hisagomaru's meter. The blade shifted once more in his hand, entering it's shikai.

Ikkaku gazed down at the panting boy before him, torn now between confusion and surprise.

"Why, kid? Why do you want to win so badly?"

Hanataro raised his tiny blade, sweat and tears pouring down his face in equal measure, mixing with the residual blood soaking down his chest.

"I want to win for my teammates," he said in a small voice. "I won't let your squad hurt them any more." He flicked the blade at Ikkaku. The red beam sliced through the air just like the first, carving a second large hole in the packed stone wall. Ikkaku dodged, barely, one hand caught in the blast, the bones shattered.

Outside the building, people had begun to gather, two releases of powerful kido attracting the attention of several lieutenants and more than one captain.

Hanataro let out a desperate scream of frustration as he saw that Ikkaku was still standing. He dropped to his knees, picking up his medical scalpel and drawing it across his chest once more in ragged, random lines. It took everything he had not to black out from the pain. In his hand, Hisagomaru once more entered its shikai.

Ikkaku rose to his feet, his broken hand clenched to his side. He looked the weeping boy dead in the eye and charged, his strategy apparently forgotten, drawing his blade with a roar. Hanataro waited for the strike to hit him before he used his attack, the blade cutting straight through his heart. He felt the pain this time as though from far away, like it was happening to someone else's body. That was probably a bad sign. With numb fingers, he flicked Hisagomaru towards his opponent. Ikkaku, too close to dodge and rooted to the spot by his blade embedded in the boy's chest, took the blast full on. It sent him crashing through the wall once more.

Hanataro felt faint. Numbly, he knew that Hisagomaru had reformed into it's healing shape, but Ikkaku's sword remained stuck in his chest, unable to be healed. With a weak hand, he reached up and began to work the blade free, pushing it out of himself inch by inch, the sword hit the floor with a thump, and Hanataro felt darkness rushing up to take him; a darkness that, for some reason, seemed to stop just an inch or so short of him. The boy felt the wound in his chest begin to close as awareness gradually seeped back into his mind.

Hanataro let himself wretch, emptying his stomach out onto the bloodstained floor. His legs were numb, his every muscle hurt with either the exertion or the phantom memory of his pain. He knew he needed to stand, but he couldn't find it in himself anymore. He needed to show strength, or all of this was for nothing. He turned his gaze to where the ranks of squad eleven still sat, staring at him, dumbfounded.

"W-who's next?" He asked weakly, the tears still trickling down his cheeks. A few of the reapers went a few shades paler.

A dark haired man who Hanataro recognized as the fourth seat, Yumichika Ayasegawa, rose to his feet. Hanataro looked up at him with an exhausted determination. For some reason, however, Yumichika did not draw his blade. He walked forwards, placing a hand under Hanataro's arm to help lift him to his feet.

"We have our winner," he said to the room at large. "From now on, squad four is under the personal protection of squad eleven, as promised." Hanataro gazed up at the man, not quite comprehending. "Now then, Hanataro," said Yumichika. "I think we need to go tend to Ikkaku's injuries." He gestured to Ikkaku, laying in a still heap on the distant tiling.

Hanataro nodded, dimly, taking a few stumbling steps before feeling himself begin to fall. He felt an arm under his shoulder, steadying him. Yumichika helped Hanataro to Ikkaku's body and the boy gently pressed his blade against the bald man's form. Yumichika made to pull the boy away, before noticing as Ikkaku's wounds slowly began to fade.

Hisagomaru resumed its shikai state and Hanataro fired it off into the sky, letting it dissipate harmlessly in the open air.

"What is going on here?" Called the usually calm voice of Retsu Unohana as she approached, agitated. "Why is my subordinate covered in blood?"

"Bravery." Grunted Ikkaku, pushing himself stiffly upright. "The kid made a bet that if he could beat me in a fight, team eleven had to stop bullying team four. He won."

Unohana looked down at Hanataro with an expression of undisguised shock.

"But… how?" She asked, her voice faint.

"Never again." Was Hanataro's only reply. The boy was shaking, fresh tears still streaming down his face.

AN: Thank you for reading. Hope you liked it. I have no idea if this will become a multi chapter fic in the future. I kinda like the premise and I think it could go places, but I'm not sure. So, yeah. Thanks for reading, feel free to review.