I do not own Bleach or any of it's characters. This one shot can be read separately, but is from a scene in The Victorious Beauty, Chapter 9.
()()()()())(())()()()()()())()()(
Kenpachi was getting ready to retire for the night. He had stripped down to his fundoshi, making sure to hang up his hori and put the rest in the wash. Few expected such cleanliness from the 11th squad; but after decades with Yumichika in residence one learns to pick up after himself, or face the 5th seat's psychotic games. The lower seats had it easy, they were merely ridiculed and beaten. But that did not work with the Taichou and the 2nd and 3rd seats. When Kenpachi forgot to pick his clothes up off of the floor, Yumi taught Yachiru a new game...lets paste glitter on Kenny's hori. He remembered having to attend a Taichou's meeting with the number 11 surrounded in purple glitter and green sparkles along it's hem. The old man had been furious over his treatment of his "symbol of authority".
He looked up when he heard a gentle tap on his door. "Come in Yachiru. Why did you knock? Normally you just burst into a room." That was always something that he always wondered about; most people seem to have a hard time sensing his fukutaichou's presence, but he always knew when it was her. When he concentrated on her, he knew where she was and what she was doing. The door slowly slid open a crack and her eye shown through the slit. "If your going to come in, then get in here. Otherwise I'm going to bed." The little girl slipped in and pressed her back against the door, apprehension reflected in her eyes.
"Kenny...I need to tell you something." She all but whispered this to her Ken-chan. "B..But your gonna be real mad at me." Tears started to roll slowly down her cheeks.
"Come on Yachiru, you know I would never get mad at you." He picked her up gentle and held her against his chest. "Even if I do, it will never be for long." Sitting down, he sat her on his knee. "Did you mark up Ikkaku's head again?" She shook her head no. "Send most of the squad to the 4th because of injuries?" Yachiru continued shaking her head no. "Did you disobey Yumi and he is the one who told you to tell me?" The tears started to fall harder, so Kenpachi started thinking beyond the borders of the 11th squad. "Accidentally poison Kuchiki's koi pond again, trying to feed candy to the fish? Take one of Sui-Feng's cat plushies to play with? Please don't tell me you tried to do a makeover of the old man or Ukitake by dipping their beard or hair into black ink?" As the child cried harder, he cringed thinking of the grief he was going to face tomorrow. He sat quietly, gently rubbing her back, while she tried to get her crying under control.
"It's just...you've been trying so hard to talk to your zanpakuto, that I just know your going to yell at me." The first though that crossed his mind was...huh? "I...I tried to talk to yo..you, b..but you wou..wouldn't listen to m..me. I swear I tried, hon..honestly. I screamed and screamed, b..but you wouldn't hear me."
Kenpachi spoke in a soft, gentle, yet firm voice. "Yachiru, what are you trying to tell me?" A horrible thought hovered at the edge of his mind.
"I never lied to you Kenny. I could n..never do that to you. But.. I couldn't tell you the truth , either. You wouldn't have b..believed me then, but now your trying to t..talk to me and...I don't know how to t..tell yoouuu." This last was drawn out into a series of sobs. That horrible thought just to center stage in his mind. Yet in a strange way...it felt right, natural.
"Yachiru, you are the only person I love. I kind of care about Yumi and Ikkaku, but they don't really matter to me. You do. I may get mad or frustrated with you, but I will always love you. You can tell be anything, and after I calm down we will work it out. Just tell me the truth."
The little face framed with pink hair looked up at him with glistening eyes. "You wouldn't listen to me...so I had to see you." Her eyes pleaded for understanding.
"Are you trying to say that YOU are my zanpakuto?" Kenpachi was impressed at how in control his voice was, not realizing that it had increased in volume. "You have know all along but never said anything to me? I thought we were friends...family, but you haven't been straight with me from the very beginning." Yachiru broke out in louder sobbing, her small frame shaking from the force of her emotions. Kenpachi immediately felt horrible for yelling at her, though he felt she may have deserved it. But he had to admit that only a year earlier, he would not have believed her.
Kenpachi picked her small body up and cuddled her to him. "I'm sorry I yelled, you just shocked me."
He gently bounced her on his chest as he had when they first met...when she materialized. "There, there. Just calm down." He was unsure what else to do to make her stop; he was use to making people cry, not stopping them. "Tomorrow you and I can challenge the whole squad to a fight, a little blood always makes us feel better." Yachiru's sobs lessened, but it still tore him up to see her eyes glistening with tears. Clearing his voice he tentatively stated, "Thank you for telling me the truth. I know it must have been real hard for you, I am not the easiest of people to deal with. We are going to have a busy morning tomorrow breaking a few bones, so we need to get some sleep." He stood and carried her into the neighboring bedroom. Kenpachi hugged her again before putting her in her bed and tucking the blankets around her body. Her tears had mostly stopped, but she gave the occasional hiccup and isolated sob. He picked up a book that was on the table next to her, he knew Yumi sometimes read to her to get her to go to sleep.
"Let's see...Grimm's Fairy Tales...fairy tales?" What sort of trash was Yumi trying to read to the poor girl. He opened to the page marked with a vibrant purple ribbon. "Fitcher's Bird...well maybe it wont be too sappy."