A/N: The idea for this story randomly hit me while I was re-reading the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, so I decided to try and write it out. It was hard to place it because of all the plotholes in Bleach, but I did what I could with the information we have.
This tells the first encounter of Unohana and Kenpachi when he first joined the Gotei 13. Bear with me, since this is my first actual oneshot, so I'm not used to writing them. Also, I can't stress this enough: this is filled with spoilers for some of the latest chapters in Bleach, so don't read if you don't want anything to be spoiled. Thank you!
Demonic Elegance
"I have called you all to this meeting for an important announcement," an older man with a long, flowing beard spoke. His name was Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni. He stood in front of two rows of people, ten all together, each of them wearing black robes underneath a white haori with symbols of numbers on their back. They stood in two rows, facing the other, aside from one spot towards the end that was vacant. The man speaking was very old, and looked frail, but his voice was strong and booming. His long white beard was wrapped up in a purple ribbon, and he held a wooden cane in his right hand, though it was resting against his leg at his chair.
"As I'm sure you are all aware, there have been rumors going around that the jūichibantai taicho, Kiganjō Kenpachi, has been killed by another man," he began, then gestured to the empty spot in between a dark-skinned man wearing a thin white visor over his eyes and a pale man with long white hair. "I am here to confirm that these rumors are indeed true." Some of the more active Captains looked up while others chose to stay quiet.
"Someone managed 'ta beat big ole' Kiganjō-taicho, huh?" a thin Shinigami with short lilac-colored hair and a fox-like face, Ichimaru Gin, muttered, his face showing amusement.
"Well, it was his own fault," a man with long, curly brown hair pulled back into a ponytail underneath a large straw hat, Kyōraku Shunsui, said. Before sticking his hands into the sleeves of his robes, he fixed the position of the flowery pink kimono he wore over his haori. "He really slacked after he got the position of Kenpachi."
"It was only a matter of time anyways," the dark-skinned captain, Tōsen Kaname, responded, keeping his face to the floor as he spoke in a low, calm voice. "After all, he walked the path of a twisted version of justice, choosing to fight with anyone who had a difference in opinion."
"Tōsen-taicho, it isn't right to talk about the deceased in such a manner," Ukitake scolded lightly, then looked at Yamamoto. "Sotaicho, who is the man who defeated Kiganjō?" The older man nodded, then looked at the door. "As per the 3rd Captain Qualification trial, the title of Kenpachi, as well as the title of jūichibantai taicho, has been passed down to the slayer of the last. Please enter... Kenpachi Zaraki!" Everyone's eyes looked up and watched as the large doors opened slowly, and a muscular man with floppy dark brown hair falling all around his face walked in. He wore a tattered haori over his shoulders, and many of the people recognized it as Kiganjō's old haori. Everyone looked at the man, but one woman's eyes widened at the sight of him. It was him.
Quickly getting rid of the surprised look and replacing it with her poker face, the woman's blue-gray eyes stayed on the new captain's face. Her hair was long, but braided down in front of her body. Her name was Unohana Retsu. Was this the same boy she had fought so long ago? Her pupils hovered to his face, and she could see a vertical scar etched down over his left eye. The wound she had inflicted. In silent surprise, she noted that he had grown much since she had last seen him. Beneath her braid, her only scar at the base of her neck shivered, a chill of pain throbbing up and down it for the first time in many years. The would he had inflicted.
She watched as his beady black eyes scanned over each of them. But, she said nothing. She just simply looked towards the floor. "Welcome!" a young, dark-haired captain, spoke up, waving at him. "The name's Shiba Isshin. We should get used to each other, since you'll be standing across from me during the meetings," he joked, and laughed, rubbing the back of his head.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Zaraki-taicho," Ukitake greeted as well, smiling that charming smile at the new Captain. However, the new Kenpachi wasn't quite as warming.
"Tch, so this is the great Gotei jūsantai that is home to the thirteen strongest Shinigami in the Seireitei?" Kenpachi asked, his voice gruff and hard. "I'm not impressed. You all look like a bunch of weaklings to me." He continued to look over the thirteen people in front of him, and as his eyes passed by Unohana, they locked eyes, and Kenpachi's eyes widened slightly, but broke the contact and looked away.
"Just great. This one is even more barbaric than the other one..." a Shinigami with a face painted black and white, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, muttered, rolling his golden eyes. Though he muttered it, he had said it loud enough for the others to hear, and this captured the new Kenpachi's attention.
"Want to repeat that, you painted freak?" he questioned. "You want me to tear you apart?"
"Thank you for proving my point," Mayuri simply replied.
"Enough!" Yamamoto shouted, slamming the tip of his cane into the wooden boards below. "Zaraki Kenpachi, your skills may have defeated the previous Captain of the jūichibantai, but I will not allow fighting within the Seireitei, especially between two Captains. Understand?"
"Whatever..." Zaraki answered in reply, looking away.
"Zaraki-taicho, though you are new here, I recommend that you speak with respect to Genryūsai-dono," a Captain wearing a metal helmet over his head and gauntlets over his arms, Komamura Sajin, suggested, but as he stepped forward, Yamamoto held his hand out.
"This meeting was just so everyone could get to know Zaraki-taicho, nothing more," he said. "Zaraki Kenpachi, I expect you back in an hour so that we may familiarize you with the Seireitei's rules. Everyone is dismissed." Giving one last look at their new co-worker, everyone stepped out of the large room, aside from Yamamoto, who continued to sit. As Unohana walked out the door, she could feel Zaraki's eyes on her, though she kept hers closed to avoid eye contact. She didn't need everyone knowing that she knew this man, and had fought him before when he was a child.
She had only managed to walk down to the outside of the ichibantai headquarters before she felt eyes watching her, and she stopped in her tracks. "You know, staring is very impolite," she said, then turned and looked at the corner of the building where the new Captain of the jūichibantai was standing. He was leaning against the wall, and a malicious smile was etched upon his face.
"Unohana Yachiru..." he muttered, stepping forward. He was staring at her as if she was a dream of some sort, and that she'd disappear. "I almost didn't recognize 'ya. You've changed."
"I'm known as Unohana Retsu now, Zaraki-taicho,"she corrected. "And that's not the only thing that has changed about me."
"Yeah... yer right. You don't have that bloodthirsty look in your eyes anymore," he noted. "It's fuckin' boring." Unohana said nothing at this, and just simply stared at Zaraki with a plain look on her face. "I haven't had a fight like ours in a long ass time," he spoke up again, then reached down and wrapped his hand around the bandaged-wrapped hilt of his blade. "C'mon, let's fight!" Just hearing the edginess of his voice made her scar quiver, and she put a hand to her braid, feeling her ebony hair touch the only wound she had ever received. She turned away from him and took a few steps away from him.
"Fighting within the Seireitei grounds is forbidden outside a state of emergency," she informed him, her eyes closed as she tried to push down her past emotions. How badly she wanted to fight, as well. But she had to control herself. She was the captain of the yonbantai; her job was to stop the spill of blood, not cause it. Not anymore, at least.
"Fuck the rules! Don't you want to clash blades again? Feel what we felt all that time ago, when you gave me this?" He pointed to the scar going down his face, then pointed to her. "And I gave you that?" Once again, the scar throbbed, but she ignored it. Instead, she turned around and sent him a hardened look.
"Zaraki-taicho, I must ask that you do not insist this any longer. The Unohana you knew is no more. No longer am I Unohana Kenpachi, or Unohana Yachiru. I am Unohana Retsu, yonbantai taicho. My job is to heal, not to damage."
"Didn't you hear me before? I said that was fuckin' boring!" the new Kenpachi yelled, drawing his blade and charging forward. "Maybe I can force your other side to come out!" As he ran towards the previous Kenpachi, dark purple cherry petals started to fall from the sky all around, and his mind began to spin. Turning around, Unohana sent Kenpachi a dark glare as she activated her Hakufuku Kidō spell. Stopping in place, his head felt like it was on a tilt-a-whirl, and though he tried his best, he couldn't hold onto consciousness any longer, and fell to the ground with a crash. Staring down at the jūichibantai taicho with pity and sadness etched across her face, she let out a quiet sigh.
"Perhaps you will learn over time... that I cannot go back to the way I was," Unohana muttered, turning around. "I will send out a Hell Butterfly and have security bring you to your Division Barracks." She took a few steps forward to make her leave, then suddenly stopped and looked at him through the corner of his eyes. Closing them once again, words of sincerity left her lips in closing.
"It is good to see you again, Zaraki Kenpachi."