I don't own Bleach
I don't own Bleach!! Hiya! Thanks so much for all your reviews! They are so encouraging!! WOOHOO!! Here's chapter 4!! Please read and review!
Chapter 4: You just wait and see!!
"He's broken two wooden shinai training swords so badly they can't be repaired!!"
"He broke a poor kid's arm!!"
"He disrespected the super-legendary iron swords that were only for decoration!!"
"He sent his whole class to Fourth Company for intensive care after the first lesson! They were all bruised, bleeding and dying!!"
"KENPACHI'S JUST NOT A TEACHER!!"
--
It had now been two and a half weeks since Kenpachi had started teaching his class. They had started off as a whole bunch of weak losers, with their moans and whining complaints. They had slunk around the back of the class and had no guts at all. But now…
Kenpachi and Yachiru stood at the front of the classroom, looking over the room. The twenty-two students were sitting up near the front, staring back intently at their teachers, with their confident grins bright on their faces.
They had certainly come a long way since they started. This class… once so pathetic and appallingly weak… now they were gutsy and confident and strong- at least stronger than they were before. Kenpachi felt Yachiru's weight shift on his shoulder. Yachiru grinned at Kenpachi and cried, "Hee! You make an awesome teacher, Ken-chan!!"
Kenpachi grunted in reply. But truthfully, he thought so too.
"Captain Zaraki!!" Haruki suddenly cried out. "What are we doin' today?"
Kenpachi opened his mouth to reply when suddenly the door next to him slid open with an enormously loud bang. Everyone in the room jumped with shock and surprise. Kenpachi and Yachiru turned to stare at whoever had burst into the room.
It was Captain-General Yamamoto and Captain Komamura. The two Eleventh Company captains stared at them.
Yamamoto said in his slow and mighty tone, "Captain Zaraki, we no longer have any need for you to teach this class. Captain Sajin Komamura will be taking over for you. Zaraki-taichou and Kusajishi-futaichou, you can leave immediately."
Kenpachi had no expression on his face. The huge man felt Yachiru tense on his shoulder. Kenpachi turned to look at the pink-haired girl and noticed that her face was screwed up and she was really upset.
The students in the classroom were silent as they regarded the stern bucket-wearing captain. They watched the two Eleventh Company captains standing to the side. The sotaichou turned away from the captains and disappeared out the doorway.
As soon as Yamamoto was gone, Yachiru jumped off Kenpachi's shoulder and started bawling. "Why, Kenny?! It's not fair!! Why does Koma-koma get to teach our class?? It was our class!! I don't want us to stop teaching them!!"
Kenpachi let out a slow sigh. "You know, Yachiru, you didn't actually teach them anything."
Yachiru let out a strangled sob. "But, Ken-chan, you liked teaching that class!! And you had fun!! I want you to keep enjoying yourself, Kenny!!"
Kenpachi was quiet for a moment. Yeah, at first he had his doubts, but Yachiru was right. He had really enjoyed beating up his class.
Yachiru glanced at Komamura and at the silent class. She tugged at Kenpachi's sleeve, scowling and with tears in her eyes. "You know you can get this class back, Kenny!! You just have to tell Koma-koma that it's your class, or fight him if you really need to! You know you'll win either way, so why not??"
Kenpachi looked over at the students staring at him so intently and hard. Haruki sat at the front of the class, his red eyes shining, but not with happiness. What? Kenpachi felt the class' scream at him. You were just gonna beat us up and then teach us to get over our weakness? And then you were gonna leave us and abandon us just like that?? Is that what you intended to do??
Komamura stood at the front of the classroom, and like the class, was watching Kenpachi and Yachiru. Through the thin slits of his bucket headgear, he narrowed his eyes. Yachiru was standing next to Kenpachi, so short and tiny, her face full of sadness and eyes full of tears. Kenpachi was silent and expressionless as he stared back at his assistant captain.
He could feel everyone in the room staring at him, yet he still made no comment. The stares he felt hardest were Kouji's crystal blue ones and Haruki's hurt eyes. And of course there was Yachiru staring at him so intently with tears filling up.
Yet… this class… he had never wanted to teach. He had enjoyed himself and was actually impressed with how far this class had come, but… he reckoned it didn't matter anymore. Sometimes… being abandoned was the final lesson.
"Yachiru." Kenpachi said finally. Yachiru looked up at him.
The Eleventh Captain stepped towards the door. "We're leaving."
"What?!" Yachiru cried.
Kenpachi felt the class' react the same as Yachiru did.
Kenpachi picked up Yachiru and placed her on his shoulder. He walked out of the classroom, saying, loud enough for them all to hear. "I s'pose this is the last harsh lesson they'll have to bear."
Tears silently fell down Yachiru's face as she rested her head against Kenpachi's neck. Kenpachi didn't turn around or look back at the class. Instead he kept walking away.
--
"Captain Zaraki!!" Haruki's voice was loud and furious. The green-haired boy stood up abruptly and the chair behind him clattered to the ground.
His classmates and Komamura stared at him. Haruki looked pleadingly at Komamura. Giving in, the Seventh Company Captain sighed gently and said, "You may go."
Haruki nodded his thanks and started to push past the desks towards the door. Just before he got there, he paused by Kouji Hayasaki's desk. Kouji had his head down and his murky hair hiding his clear eyes again, shrinking back into his shell.
"Teh," Haruki muttered. "If you wanna come, then get a move on!!"
--
"CAPTAIN ZARAKI!!"
Kenpachi and Yachiru stopped. They heard footsteps beating towards them, faster and faster, accompanied by a voice that sounded like Haruki's.
They turned around and faced the two students breathing and panting hard from exhaustion. Kouji and Haruki looked up at them, staring furiously at them with their intense eyes.
Kenpachi gazed at them with a seemingly lazy stare. "What do you two want? We're not your teachers anymore."
"Why??" Haruki exploded. "Why would you do that?? As soon as you met us, you treated us like crap! You beat us up and pushed us to lengths that students our level could never achieve! You trained and taught us hard so that in every lesson we practically vomited blood!"
Kouji glanced at Haruki beside him. Haruki had tears building up in his eyes. The red-eyed boy wiped at an eye with his hand and glared up at Kenpachi. "You… were the best teacher, and I respected you more than anyone else!!"
Kenpachi and Yachiru watched Haruki carefully and quietly. Haruki's face was bowed down towards the ground and now tears were falling onto the ground shamelessly. Kouji stood near Haruki, supporting him and with tears in his own eyes.
"I knew, Captain Zaraki, that as soon as we met you, you'd be a tough teacher! And damn, I was so right! You beat us into pulp and that wasn't enough! But no matter how much it hurt or how bloody hard it was to get up again, I knew that you were making us stronger!! I knew… that you were putting us through hell so that one day we would be able to fight like it!! And so… I tried and struggled to become stronger and stronger!! Captain… I wanted…" Haruki stared up at Kenpachi, "I wanted to train under you for ever!!"
"Eh…" Yachiru murmured from a spot atop Kenpachi's shoulder. Her own tears had vanished and were now replaced with intrigue.
Haruki felt the tears on his face. He lowered his head once more and felt the hurt and anger of being abandoned by his most respected teacher flood over him again. He felt Kouji beside him place a hand comfortingly on his back.
Kouji breathed softly as if to pull himself together and then said, "I knew you weren't going to teach us forever and truthfully, I had been glad, because I was terrified of you. But… it's been a while now, and although you still scare the crap out of me, I noticed how much I had changed. Changed for the better, that is. And I still surprise myself at what I can now do…" Kouji stared down at his arm in the sling and said, "I realized that the way I've been acting up till now was so full of attitude and superiority and there was really no excuse for the pathetic whining loser I had become. And so, when I realized that, although you are a freak, Sensei, and you scare me senseless; I thought that I wanted you to keep teaching me, because I decided that I could change under your teaching."
Kenpachi stared down at the two students. Yachiru felt that Kenpachi needed time to think and process so much information, as the sentimental part of his brain could overload at any time. Yachiru felt the love she felt for her captain explode as she watched the two boys standing in front of her. She tilted her head to one side and said loudly, "Eh, Green-Hair and Broken-Arm! You really liked Ken-chan that much??"
Haruki stared at the assistant captain. Yachiru smirked. She knew that she was going to be doing Kenpachi's talking for him. "Well, I'm sorry but Kenny won't be teaching you anymore. He's exhausted with already having to put up with you brats for more than a week. He says you're gonna have to learn to handle being abandoned and dumped aside because it's gonna be worse in the future."
Yachiru saw the disheartened look on Haruki's face. She saw Kouji lower his head and hide behind the murky hair again. Yachiru sighed. Truthfully, inside she felt like crying too, but Ken-chan was always strong and so she would be too. The tiny pink-haired girl chuckled and then pasted a big grin on her face. "Heh! Just think of it as another lesson from Kenny! He wants you to treat it as your final class with him. If you can get through it and emerge stronger than before then he might treat you with respect next time!!"
Kouji and Haruki looked up suddenly at Yachiru's brighter and more hopeful tone. Haruki focused on Kenpachi's face but the Eleventh Captain turned and Haruki couldn't tell what he was thinking.
Kenpachi knew it was time to go. Darn, if he stayed any longer, he might actually start to care for his students of two-and-a-half weeks. The spiky-haired captained turned, without looking at either of his students and started walking off when Haruki suddenly yelled out at him.
"CAPTAIN ZARAKI!! B-before you go, please listen to what I have to say!!"
Hm? Kenpachi paused there, a distance from the two boys.
Haruki wiped away any tears he had before and stood up straight, finally feeling the strength and the courage he had gotten returning. Kouji straightened up as well, feeling his arm creak again.
"WE'RE GOING TO TRAIN, CAPTAIN!!" Haruki yelled out. The determined green-haired boy shouted again, louder than ever, "We're going to train out hearts out and we're going to graduate as the strongest shinigami in our class!! And then… AND THEN WE'LL BE WORTHY OF BEING IN ELEVENTH COMPANY!!"
Kenpachi was silent, but listening intently. Only Yachiru could see the satisfied grin stretch across his mouth.
Kouji stood beside Haruki, with the same firm look in his clear azure eyes, nodding and agreeing wholeheartedly with the louder boy.
They stared out at the back in front of them, seeing the distance between them, knowing that they would have to run and train and get stronger than ever to reach the captain standing so majestically in front of them.
Finally, Haruki screamed, "I PROMISE, CAPTAIN ZARAKI!! We promise!! WE'RE GOING TO MAKE IT TO YOUR COMPANY AND FIGHT UNDER YOU!! We're going to graduate!! We're going to be strong enough, proud enough and with the guts to be worthy of Eleventh Company!!"
Yachiru wrapped her arms around Kenpachi's shoulder and neck, doing the best she could to hug her beloved besty. Kenpachi felt Haruki's furiously determined voice pierce through him and he couldn't smile any harder.
"Y-you wait for us, Captain Zaraki!! We're going to meet you in the Gotei 13 one day!!" Haruki shouted. Even normally shy Kouji piped up and yelled with Haruki as they both screamed at Kenpachi and Yachiru. "YOU JUST WAIT AND SEE, CAPTAIN ZARAKI!!"
The two students stared out after the Captain, but he still said nothing, nor made any movement to turn around and lecture them. Haruki's bright red eyes and Kouji's piercingly clear blue eyes seemed to burn through Kenpachi. And then finally, they heard the Eleventh Captain's voice.
"Ha! Hahahaha!!" Kenpachi chuckled. He never did turn around and look at his former students. Instead he kept facing resolutely forward and started to walk away. But Haruki and Kouji heard him cry out, "Good luck with that!!" in his disbelieving tone.
And so the two eleventh company captains and the two students parted ways.
--
"What's so funny, Ken-chan?" Yachiru asked, curious about Kenpachi's soft chuckling as they walked back to their headquarters.
"Heh…" Kenpachi stared up at the sky and said, "Yachiru, do you think it's stupid of me to have become so attached to my students?"
Yachiru considered this, but shook her head spiritedly and told him, "Not at all! You see, I reckon… that you, Kenny, are the best teacher ever!!"
Kenpachi just laughed harder and Yachiru laughed along with him.
Kenpachi almost found tears of laughter in the corners of his eyes, but assured himself there weren't any. "That's a real load on nonsense!"
But Yachiru just grinned to herself. Yeah, seriously. Kenpachi Zaraki, a teacher? Yeah right!
Well, that's the end of the first arc in my story!! I haven't done story arcs in my fanfiction since FFFD, and there were so many arcs in that one it drove me insane!! But I'm just so proud of this arc and how this fic has done so far!! Please review everyone!! And keep a look out for Haruki and Kouji!! I'm sure they'll be back some time in the future!!
Thankyou so much!! The story's not over so I hope you'll tune in again next week!! Thankyou!! emichii!