Disclaimer: I don't own, nobody tattles (not that I think any of you would ), I don't get sued.
Please read A/N at end of chapter for important announcement about udates!! Enjoy!

Chapter four: Home Again

Kenpachi awoke the next morning actually feeling pretty well rested. He also found that he was surprisingly eager to see Unohana again. "Stupid kid is getting to me. What else am I supposed to think with her telling me all night that I like Unohana? It's gotta be subliminal or something…" Kenpachi grumbled to himself. It was Friday. He only had a few more days until he could leave and be done with this emotion business.

(Quick timeline A/N: He passed out Friday, woke up Monday and was then told he had to stay another week for observation, etc. it's now Friday of his observation week. Now back to the story—)

It wasn't long after he'd woken up that Unohana entered his room with her normal warm smile and warm tray of food. "Good morning, Zaraki-san. How did you sleep?"

"Well enough," he said with his usual answer. Inwardly he felt a small pang in his chest as he thought 'What happened to "Kenpachi-kun?" That was kind of nice…' "How did you sleep? Any better?"

"Much better, thank you for asking." Unohana beamed. "So Zaraki-san, are there any new developments with the young girl in your dreams?"

"Not really, she's just becoming more and more like a young Yachiru with each dream."

"Very interesting. One has to wonder if Yachiru is the way she is due to just her individual personality or from being raised by you, Zaraki-san. If this other girl is becoming like Yachiru it may be your presence that brings out this behavior in young girls." Unohana teasingly hypothesized as she covered her mouth to hide her light giggling to no avail.

"Oi! Yachiru is the way she is because candy rotted her brain when she was younger. I have no idea what's wrong with this one." Kenpachi huffed. He listened to her laughter and thought vaguely that it reminded him of the sound the string of bells in his window made.

"I am sorry, Zaraki-san. Sometimes it's fun to tease you a little. Yachiru has grown into a lovely, strong young woman, and that is all thanks to you." She said with a smile.

"Unohana…" Kenpachi started after setting his chopsticks down, "why do you keep calling me by Zaraki? I liked it much better last night when you called me by my name, Kenpachi."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I had heard that you had dubbed yourself Kenpachi and assumed that you had taken the name Zaraki as well. I didn't want to seem too familiar and offend you…"

"I did name myself Kenpachi, but Zaraki was a title stuck to me later by others that has just become a part of my name. Zaraki was the name given to the district of the rukongai I used to live in. It was by far one of the worst places in all of Soul Society. Everyday alive meant literally facing a kill-or-be-killed life. I was from Zaraki just as Yachiru was from the district called Kusajishi."

"I'm sorry," Unohana responded timidly. "I didn't know. That name must bring back horrible memories for you…"

"I don't remember much before Yachiru actually…" Kenpachi reminisced as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I mainly remember the fighting and the killing and how good it felt to win."

"Not many people know this, but I'm from the rukongai as well. Not from one of the rough districts, but from District two in Northern rukongai. Most people think I'm the daughter of one of the lower noble families that isn't mentioned often." Unohana admitted. "I wasn't born in Soul Society like so many others. I died and was brought here by a shinigami. Because of a spirit force I didn't even know I had in life I was appointed to squad four by Genryusai-dono. I don't remember much about when I was alive. I only know that I've been here for a few hundred years now."

Kenpachi was shocked at how much she had revealed to him about her past. "I never would have guessed that you were from the rukongai. You certainly act much more civilized than others I've met from out there." He complimented.

"Thank you," Unohana accepted with a slight nod of her head. "Were you born in Soul Society, Kenpachi…-kun?" Unohana asked as a blush appeared which she tried to hide with her sleeve as she pretended to turn her head away and cough.

"I don't remember anything of a childhood so I'm going to say no. But like I said earlier, I don't remember much before Yachiru came along." He said with a chuckle "And thank you for calling me by my name, Unohana-chan." He had mainly added the –chan to her name this time because he liked to see her blush. It was very becoming for her. "Actually, what is your full name? I don't think I've ever heard anyone call you anything but "Unohana"."

"Unohana Retsu. Many people have told me that Unohana becomes me much more than Retsu."

"Well I think both are good for you, Retsu-chan." Kenpachi said with a sly smirk.

At this point Unohana had so much blood rushing to her head she didn't even notice Kenpachi's cocky look. She just knew that she needed to get some fresh air and some tea to calm down before she passed out. "Well if you'll excuse me, Kenpachi-kun, I must be making my rounds. I'll be back with your lunch later." And with that Unohana left the room as if in a rush to be somewhere very important.

A very pleased with himself Kenpachi was merely left with the remainder of his breakfast as he watched a few birds flutter past his window. "Today is going to be a good day." He mused with a grin, taking another bite of rice.

Unohana walked into her office and shut the door as she leaned against the wall. She put a hand to her heart to feel it fluttering wildly and her stomach was doing flips. "Why do I feel this way?" Unohana questioned herself in a confused and yet giddy state. "I can't ever remember feeling this way in the past…well, I only have to keep this under control for another few days. He'll be released on Monday and things will be back to normal." She told herself as she took a few deep calming breaths. But no matter how she calmed herself, she couldn't hide the blush that continued to stain her cheeks or wipe the smile from her face.

The weekend passed without much event. The fourth division was minimally staffed due to many people taking the weekends as off time. Unohana had more time to spend talking with Kenpachi as she didn't have many other patients that required her attention. But as Sunday evening rolled around and they were saying their goodnights, neither could stop the faint feeling of regret that it had been their last full day together.

Upon waking on Monday morning, Kenpachi sighed as he grabbed the string that held his bells and began forming his hair into its usual spikes. He'd been wearing his hair either down or in a ponytail through his week of bed rest. He was just fixing the last bell in its place when Unohana quietly entered with his last breakfast for his stay.

"Good morning, Kenpachi-kun," the name still made her blush, "I have a very special breakfast for you this morning." She said as the tray was settled in his lap.

As he stared at the sweet smelling dish he couldn't help but ask, "What is it?"

With a cheerful smile, Unohana explained, "It's a dish that one of my men learned how to make while staying in the living world. He said it's very popular in western civilization. It's called "Pancakes with Syrup."" She beamed.

Kenpachi was a little hesitant to try it as he'd never seen anything like it before, but decided that he didn't want to hurt Unohana's feelings when she seemed so happy. He carefully cut a small piece out of one of the fluffy circles and placed it in his mouth only to find that he enjoyed the taste very much! When he had finished his meal he couldn't recall ever having a more pleasant breakfast. "That was wonderful, Unohana. Who cooked that?"

"I did," she beamed. "I'm very glad you enjoyed it so much." Then there was a silent pause between the two. "I suppose once I get your discharge papers ready you'll be free to go." She said with a warm yet sad smile as she took the tray and left the room.

'I don't want her to be sad, but I can't continue to stay here and act like this. The sooner I leave the better.' Kenpachi thought as he stood and began dressing in his Captains robes.

Unohana was sitting in her office reluctantly filling out Kenpachi's discharge papers for the records when she heard a knock at her door and called "Enter."

She looked up to see the massive form that was Kenpachi filling her doorway. He was already dressed in his normal robes again, and as Unohana noticed, he was much more intimidating in his usual attire with his normal hairstyle than he was in the white hospital robes with his hair down framing his face.

"Come in Kenpachi-san. I'm almost done filling out your papers which you only have to sign and you'll be free to return to your more rowdy division. I'm sure they're ready to see their Captain again." Unohana said with her normal warm smile that she was partially forcing.

"Where do I sign?"

"On this bottom line here…" Unohana said as she pointed to the proper area.

After he signed the papers he stood at his full height looking down at the fourth division Captain in an awkward silence. Both sat looking each other in the eye, as if waiting to hear "Don't go." Or "I want to stay." But the words never came. Kenpachi merely bowed his head in a silent thank you, turned on his heels, and proceeded to walk out her door and close it behind him.

With a small sigh, Unohana filed the papers away and decided to continue about her day, but felt as though something was missing. She would sigh every time she passed by the now open room which Kenpachi had occupied for that brief and surprising week. She thought back to how much they had shared and was still amazed at how easy he had been to talk to and how open he had been with her.

Kenpachi arrived at the front door of his division that afternoon and just as he opened the door a pink blur attached itself to his chest, nearly knocking him down. He merely patted Yachiru on the head as she continued to squeal about her 'Ken-chan' being back. With all of the commotion it wasn't long before the rest of the squad also showed up to welcome back their Captain.

After hearing a few suggestions of taking the rest of the day to have a party in celebration of his return, Kenpachi yelled "Get back to work you slackers! Anyone caught slacking off has to spar one-on-one with me!" And with that everyone but Yachiru, Ikkaku, and Yumichika scattered. They didn't have any desire to fight their Captain now that he was back to his frighteningly strong self.

"Welcome back, Captain. You're looking very well rested, I must say. But you will need much more rest if you are to be as beautiful as I." Yumichika said as he flipped his hair.

"Quit being so damn fruity and go train. Both of you. NOW!" Kenpachi yelled. 'It feels good to be back to normal.' He thought with his fang-like smile. "Did these weaklings actually train while I was away, Yachiru?"

"Yep, yep! I made sure they trained REALLY hard." She said as she proudly lifted he head and smiled. "Some of them are even LOTS stronger now!"

"Good. There's no room here for wimps. If you did such a good job maybe one day you could take over as Captain if I actually kick the bucket." Kenpachi joked.

"WWAAAA!! No, Ken-chan! You just got out of the hospital. You're not allowed to joke like that!" Yachiru scolded with one hand on her hip and a finger waving at his face. She was just so serious he couldn't help but laugh.

The next couple of weeks passed without anything interesting. Kenpachi attended the weekly Captain's meeting where he would see Unohana and she would only smile at him and go back to whatever she was doing. Even though he didn't see her nearly as much he noticed that he still got knots in his stomach when she smiled at him…and it irked him to no end. He would train with Ikkaku every now and then because Ikkaku was usually looking for a fight as bad as he was. A small group of Hollow had only attacked once in the entire two weeks and with nothing to do Kenpachi was losing his mind.

Speaking of his mind, he continued to have the dreams in the darkness of his mind where he would talk with the girl or protect her when she was scared of the demons lurking in the darkness. He apparently STILL hadn't remembered what he didn't even know he'd forgotten and this was just one more thing that added to his growing ire.

"Ken-chaaaaann!" Yachiru called as she waved her hand in front of her distracted Captain's face. "Hello? Do I need to take you to see Unohana-san again?"

The mention of Unohana's name caught his attention. "Huh? What?"

"I think you miss Unohana-san." Yachiru teased as she put a finger to her lips. "Why don't you go see her? I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"No. Now get back to work. Now that you don't doodle on your paperwork anymore you have to do your own." Kenpachi said as he tried to return to his own work lying scattered on his desk.

"Oh foo! I'll do it later. I'm talking to you right now." She pouted as she heaved herself up to sit on the corner of Kenpachi's desk. "I know that you and Unohana-san talked while you were there. You must have sort of been friends." She said as she paused and watch as Kenpachi almost completely ignored her to review some papers lying in a pile. "I personally think a girlfriend would be good for Ken-chan." Yachiru mused not-so-discretely to herself as she kicked her legs back and forth, still seated on his desk.

"I don't need a girlfriend. Or any woman. Now get back to work."

"If you don't need ANY woman I'll just leave then!" Yachiru yelled in a huff as she leapt from the window.

A very confused Kenpachi slammed his head down on his mountain of paperwork. "Damn hormones. I almost wish she would have stayed little." Knowing that he had to go find his Lieutenant-slash-daughter, Kenpachi slowly stood and started walking through the white streets calling Yachiru's name. He'd started with the thirteenth division asking if they'd seen her and decided to make his way down the line.

As he stood outside the fourth division building he thought 'She wouldn't have?...would she?' Despite the eye patch, he wasn't blind. He knew Yachiru had been trying to get him to come over here for at least a week now. Sighing yet again, he opened the doors and started walking down a hallway calling Yachiru's name and asking people if they'd seen her. He finally ran across Isane and asked, "Oi, you seen Yachiru around here?"

To which the nervous Lieutenant pointed down the hall. "Captain Unohana's office." And then she scurried off to continue with her work.

Kenpachi contemplated leaving Yachiru there. 'She has to come back sometime.' He thought. But in the end he decided that if he wanted this to blow over as soon as possible he should go and try to make peace with her. He knocked on the door and heard Yachiru's voice call "This is a Ken-chan free zone!" Then she and Unohana started to giggle.

Sliding the door open in frustration, Kenpachi walked over to his Lieutenant and said "Come on. Let's go."

"Nuh-uh. You were mean. You have to make it up somehow first." She said in a mock pout as she crossed her arms and turner her head away.

With a sigh of defeat in knowing that he wouldn't be able to settle this later, Kenpachi started to wrack his brain on ways to appease the pink-haired monster. Then it hit him. "You haven't destroyed anything in a while...I guess it's about time for a vacation." He said with a playful smile.

Yachiru instantly turned around and looked up at him; her eye's shining brightly with excitement. "Ken-chan! You mean it?! Really?!"

He nodded in response. "Only if you forgive me."

"Done and done!" She shouted as she jumped up out of her chair. "Wait…only if Unohana-san can come too." Yachiru said as she tried to haggle with the stubborn Captain.

"I don't know…" Kenpachi said hesitantly. He didn't know if he could be around Unohana that long or not.

"Then no deal." She said crossing her arms and plopping back down in her chair.

In one final sigh of defeat, Kenpachi hung his head and said "Fine. I'll start the paperwork to get clearance later today."

"Ummm, I'm sorry," Unohana said, finally speaking up. "But where will I be going?"

"To the living world to visit Icchy!" Yachiru cheered.

A/N:
Yay for more filler haha. Well, I revealed some of Unohana's past, but I'm not gonna say that's all. Everyone has things they keep to themselves. I'm keeping Ken-chan's past still a mystery for now. But it should come up in…uhhh…three or four chapters. I already have the next two planned out though so don't look for anything that soon. Next chapter will mainly be about their trip to the living world; we'll get to check and see what Ichigo and Orihime have been up to, do a little karaoke, and watch some romantic developments so stay tuned! And thank you to all who have reviewed! It makes me very happy to hear from you!!

PS--IMPORTANT: I've started two part-time jobs. Together they have me working 7 days a week. One job from 9-5:30 and the other from 8-6:30 (needless to say I'm dead-fucking-tired). The longer one is at a kennel in a local vet's office so I almost constantly smell like cats, dogs, 3 kinds of dog shampoo, and bleach...ugh...anyway, until things settle down I have almost no time to write. Do not fear though, because I already have the next 3 chapters written I'll be posting those one every friday. But after those run out if things are still crazy it's probably safe to assume that updates will be sporadic. Sorry for any future inconvenience!

TTFNFWA