And here's chapter 11! Right after ten, just like I promised. ^^ I liked writing this one too but, I'm not gonna lie, I don't think it flows as well. Any constructive criticism to make my writing better would be much appreciated.
Hope you're all happy to know that Kenpachi is in this chapter and will also be in the next one and the one after that so, we're finally getting somewhere... kinda. XD
As always I don't own Bleach, just So and people are awesome and amazing and I'm giving them a shout out cause I can.
Sushii-Kun, gnarly, lisamariem, Kira Carmen, Chocoholics Unite, Insanity-Red, Sou desu ka. Meh. Kami korosu, Inspired Kid, eternalwings15, LuCkY-StAr69, ISgrl15, Nightshade's Deadly Beauty, Goldensaurus, WiseDragonQueen5, Silverveign, TalonNight, and Devious Cherub. You're all amazing and I thank you from the bottom of my heart~
Oh, and thanks to those who are contented to just read~ You all make me happy too, even though I don't know who you are.
Chapter 11 – Bad Days and Bath Houses
A week passed, undisturbed, calm, productive.
Life in the Seireitei went on. Paperwork was filed, trainings were done, hollows were killed, and parties were had.
The last legs of spring were coming up on them, days were getting longer and warmer, nights more pleasant.
Work was starting to get sluggish.
At the late day hour of three o clock in the afternoon, sun starting it's decent from the center of the sky but still fairly far up, Shuhei found himself looking for his Captain, as did Kenpachi.
They met in a hall, not far from the office, and both stopped.
"She in there?" Zaraki motioned with a jerk of his head toward their shared office, bells sounding lightly, and Shuhei shook his head. Under normal circumstances he'd just keep on and hope not too many things were broken when he returned but, he was curious.
They'd gone a whole week without harassment and now this? Had the demon caught a cold and stayed in bed, or did he have some legitimate business with his captain?
Regardless of what the cause may have been, he felt the need to add to his answer. "She hasn't been there for at least three hours. I'm actually trying to find her. Have something for her?" The last part just sort of slipped out and he almost laughed when he thought of the flowers, now wilting, back on her desk.
Zaraki game him a disbelieve look. "Ya really think I'd been down here for fuckin paperwork?" he asked Shuhei with a tone that implied that he was slow.
The shorter man frowned.
"I wanna fight. We never got ta finish."
His frown deepened.
"See ya."
Zaraki turned and sped off again, it seemed he wasn't going to sit and wait today. All the better, Those financial reimbursement papers were pretty damn annoying and new desks were expensive.
He sighed, looking around. Still, he should try to find her first, not only to drag –attempt to drag- her back to work, but also to warn her that her least favorite person was on a war path…
A war path?
Yeah, that actually sounded pretty accurate because well, Zaraki had seemed, off to him, jittery. There'd been a bit of a twitch in that gargantuan neck and scowl working at his lips somehow different from the one he usually wore.
He walked a little faster now, concerned by his own musing. Of course though, they were just silliness, he was just being paranoid. How off could Zaraki be when he was never really on? How bad could it be?
…Very bad
Kenpachi was having the worst fucking day ever.
He woke up two hours before the ass crack of dawn to Yachiru whining about a stomach ache and, when he ignored her and tried to go back to sleep was promptly vomited on.
Head pounding from a not yet slept off hangover, shows how much he'd been drinking the night/nights before since it took a lot to get Kenpachi Zaraki drunk, he found himself changing clothes to rush her over to the fourth at an hour of day he felt shouldn't even exist.
Being that it was about four in the morning there was almost no one up at the fourth, most certainly not Unohana whom Yachiru favored for checkups.
Instead, he'd been stuck with some stupid little whelp who had better have been on the first weeks of the job because really, if he'd gotten along more than a month at that level of incompetence he might have to go back and kill him.
Under his oppressive and erratically flaring spiritual pressure the young man had swooned but staved off fainting long enough to babble something about a stomach flu that had been going around and shove a bottle of pills into his hands without giving the greening girl a second look.
He returned to his division, a task that took nearly an hour in the dark and with a hangover and sick/complaining child, and gave her the medication as instructed, then threw the sheets and his clothes, and hers in the wash.
He was doing laundry at five in the fucking a.m. That had to be a crime. Somewhere, that had to be a crime.
When he came back ten minutes later he changed the sheets, laid back down, and was promptly vomited on again, Yachiru regurgitating the medicine and the water used to wash it down with a healthy dose of bile before dry heaving for a few minutes and curling up to cry.
He didn't even bother with changing that time, too concerned about the brat to really notice the damp on his chest, he just scrapped off what he could, picked her up, and booked it to the fourth in a record thirty minutes.
He'd come in roaring and startled the, now slightly larger, handful of people visible when he entered.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw the pathetic kid from before dive behind a potted plant and he would have gone in for the kill if not for the busty nurse with the lavender eyes.
She walked up, calm as ever, and asked him what was wrong and if Yachiru was the one who had obviously vomited on him. She could tell by the stink apparently since he'd done pretty good with wiping the visible stuff off.
He'd given her the answers she'd needed and then handed the whining girl over when she asked, stepping into an examination room just down the hall.
She of course let Kenpachi come. Thank whatever gods there were for little blessing and victories.
She took Yachiru's temperature and asked him a few questions. Had she gone to bed with wet hair, had she been around anyone with the flu, anyone with a cold, and what was the last thing she ate.
No, no, no, and he didn't know.
She turned to the girl and there was the answer.
Guiltily Yachiru admitted to pilfering snacks from the Squad eleven kitchen before bed, sadly, the snacks she'd snatched were the ones made by the squad members themselves in a cooking class that Yumichika had decided to host, just for the hell of it.
Yachiru had food poisoning.
"It could have come from any number of things" the tan woman had said, patting Yachiru gently on the head "but whatever it was it was bad. I suggest your men exercise more caution when cooking. Improperly prepared foods can lead to things much more serious than this."
She had sighed and he had cringed, watching as she moved over to a cabinet lined with medication.
She'd prescribed something different and had Yachiru take the first dose there, watching to see if the threw it back up.
After fifteen minutes of laying on the examination table the usually bubbly girl had nodded off and did not make another mess.
He'd been so relieved he'd actually thanked the nurse. She'd smiled and assured him that it was no problem just before he sped off.
Do would feel a little differently by the end of the day when seven other squad eleven members had thrown up on her shoes.
Zaraki didn't know that though, all he knew was that he had to do laundry again, now at six thirty, and take a shower because he stunk like vomit.
His head still pounded away, and while Yachiru got to sleep he had to wander off and kick some asses.
No asses were kicked sadly… For him at least.
He did get to force Yumichika into babysitting a throw-upy Yachiru, which was just as good, but hardly as satisfying, especially since if the medicine was working right she wouldn't be throwing up at all.
He'd practically dragged the diva out of his sleep, the priss woke up swinging, and demanded that he tell him who all was in that stupid class and to go watch the child while he skinned them.
He got seven names, fifty minutes later he knew that seven men would be going to the fourth with food related ailments instead of ones caused by the bodily harm he so desperately wanted to dish out.
Too bad he had honor. Couldn't kick a man when he was so down he couldn't even get up to the toilet to throw up.
At that point enraged he'd turned to go back to his room only to remember that Yachiru would be there and, at present, he didn't want to see her. Nothing against her of course… well maybe a little, but mostly he didn't want to disturb her and he didn't want to give Yumichika a chance to try and get out of his babysitting job.
So, now at the still early hour of seven in the a.m. he left, off to wander the streets and rooftops of the soul society.
He would've stuck around but he couldn't, he was too pissed. As far as he was concerned at that moment, his thought very impaired, his squad was full of idiots.
He spent a few hours asleep in a tree but woke when a ball came crashing into the left side of his head, where the throbbing was worst, knocking his balance off just long enough for him to fall out and crash with enough force to crater the ground.
Whoever had done it was gone by the time he was up to look around and he felt his tension and frustration rise.
Needless to say, the poor tree and the ball did not survive. Several trees in the surrounding area did not survive. It was a sad day to be a tree.
Tree massacre over, Kenpachi found himself no more calm than before. If anything he was more upset because a splintered piece of wood had lodged itself in his arm. The wound only trickled a little blood when he pulled it out, it was a miracle it had stuck in the first place, and he threw it down.
That's what he needed though…
He needed a battle, he needed pain, blood, fire, strength.
He straightened his posture and headed in the direction of the ninth, realizing that he needed her.
And he was still looking, rushing down hall after hall, stopping occasionally to ask frightened passersby if they knew where their Captain was.
He was happy to say he found her before Shuhei, sprawled out on a deck in the farthest corner of her division.
Her hair was down, spread around her in an extravagant spray that shone under the light of the sun. A tea pot, cup, and plate of half eaten snacks were beside her, an ornate kite resting on her stomach and chest.
She was sleeping, her breathing slow, a little snore working up from her throat every few seconds.
Well, that needed to stop. He needed her up and alert.
Stalking over, she was just a few steps away, he moved to nudge her with his foot, not about to kick a sleeping woman.
She caught his ankle, opened one large blue eye, and glared at him sleepily.
"Wasit?" she asked groggily, not seeming to recognize him quite yet.
"Fight me"
That seemed to clear up her vision, both eyes snapping open to regard him with distaste.
"No" she replied simply, releasing him.
He growled. "Fight me."
"No" now she was sitting up.
He drew his sword and brought it down where she lay, knowing she'd move in time to dodge.
She did, unsurprisingly, rolling to land crouched beside him. Her anger was nearly palpable, rolling off of her in waves as she glared up at him.
"What is wrong wit you?" she demanded, flustered. "Yousa jus come 'n attack meh fer no good reason! Yer such a brute!"
He glared in kind, bothered by her questioning, but answered anyway, hoping to make her more complacent.
"I need a fight."
"Need?" she quirked a brow at that, finally rising from her crouch.
He paused in answering, a little distracted by her hair, pooling around her feet on the ground. Was it seriously longer than her? What the fuck?
"Yeah" he finally answered through his disbelief, shouldering his blade. "So stop talkin and let's go."
She scoffed at him and turned her head away, that impossible hair swinging around her. "Yah dun need a fight. Yah need a bath" she retorted, throwing a hand up flippantly.
"The fuck do ya mean by that?" he growled. She better not be saying he stunk. He sure as hell did his damnedest to clean the ick off from before and if he still smelt like it-
"Bath's 'er better than fights fer calmin down. Go ta the bath'ouse n relax."
His scowl deepened and he was about to make his reply but before he could she flash stepped away, a blur of black and white in the sunny spring light.
It took a second for her departure to sink in and when it finally did he threw his sword down, spearing it into the deck.
"Coward!" he shouted after the long gone woman, it would take him forever to find her again.
He tried though, for roughly half an hour, and then gave up the search. He was tired and hungry and wanted a drink and… and a bath.
It irked him to no end that she'd gotten into his head like that but, thinking on it, a hot bath did sound nice, and at the bath house, where it was sure to be quiet and he would be able to relax sounded even better.
Giving one last disparaging glance around his surroundings, he was still in the ninth, perched on the top of a building, he jumped down and sped off to the commercial district.
It took him about two hours to find his way and the sun was dipping lower now at five.
He was exhausted when he entered the bathhouse lobby and was pretty sure that his grumbled greeting terrified the poor woman at the front counter.
It didn't matter though and after he paid he stalked to the back and headed for the men's bath.
He stopped. Noise was streaming out from the dressing room and, when he looked in he saw Shunsui, Iba, Renji, and a host of other male shinigami moving on to the showers.
He groaned. Any other day he'd be okay with the company, but today…
He stepped back, ready to leave and then regarded the other two doors thoughtfully.
He couldn't very well go into the woman's bath, that had bad idea written all over it but, the unisex bath could work.
He walked into the changing room and looked around, empty, and felt some of the tension leave his shoulders. Okay, this would work.
He stepped over to the cubbies on the left side of the room and dressed down, remembering to remove the bells from his hair and nest them in his haori. He hated it when he lost them. Grabbing a towel he secured it around his waist and entered the shower room, never noticing the small bundle of clothes just a few rows over.
He almost turned around when he saw her though, sitting on a low stool with her hands in her hair, working up a purple pink lather, her back to him.
His brow furrowed, if she weren't so damn quiet he would've known not to come in but.
Before he could make his decision on whether to stay or go she turned and looked at him with those big eyes. The expression within them was different than usual though, not hate or anger, not even mild dislike, it was calm, contented.
"Evening" she said softly, nodding to him.
He nodded back out of habit and watched her turn away, still calm.
That was an odd change of heart. Every time they'd met each other's gaze after that initial first meeting she'd tried to glare holes right into his scull but not now, not here.
He decided not to dwell on it now though, thinking could be a dangerous thing to do, and tiring. He was so tired.
He took a seat at the shower farthest away and let the water rain down on him, loosening his hair so that it fell across his shoulders and down his back.
He had no qualms about using the soap supplied there, he could tell from the unusual coloring that the little Captain brought her own though, and so started to work it across his skin and into his hair.
He felt her gaze on him for more than the usual few seconds, both of them had been throwing paranoid/curious glances every few minutes, and turned with a snap. "What're ye lookin at?"
"'Ats not good fer yer hair" he replied casually, pointing at the soap bar in his hand. "It'll dry it out."
He stared at her, incredulous. "The fuck is wrong with ye?" he dead panned. How could she be talking to him like this, like everything between them was a-okay, like they hadn't driven each other near the brink of insanity in a fight so devastating the commander had to stop them?
"Nothin'" she told him, "was wrong wit you?"
Moments ticked by in silence and she finally turned away again, working her fingers through the lower half of her hair now.
Kenpachi put all of his energy into ignoring her, looking over again only when he heard the water kick on and saw her stand, rinsing off.
It took her the same amount of time to wash her hair as it took him to wash his whole body and he wondered just how long she'd actually been there.
He rinsed off too though, pushing those thoughts out of his mind, and they shut off the water at nearly the same time, heading for the bath.
So stretched as she went along and pushed her hair up and out of her face, a large portion of it wrapped tight around her wrist to keep it from dragging on the floor. The rest of it hung about her shoulders and down her font and back, making a sort of garb to cover her as she went along with no towel wrapped about her body.
Kenpachi quirked a nonexistent brow when he noticed and she shrugged at him, pausing at the door.
"Truce?" she asked softly.
"What?"
"Here… Let's get along? Isa dun wanna fight here… I like it 'ere" she looked longingly at the steaming pool just feet away and he looked there as well, the sight of it calming him slightly.
He supposed he could understand that request. This was a place to relax…
"Whatever" he said, shifting his weight, hand holding a little tighter to the towel tied loosely around his waist. "Ye gunna go in or what?"
She smiled and waved a hand "after you."
He grunted and walked in, sighing with contentment when he dropped his towel and sunk into the hot water.
She joined him a few seconds later, sitting just across the way, a smile on her face as she sunk in all the way to her chin.
"Isa nice, right?" she asked him minutes after they'd come in. She really was trying to get along with him here, wasn't she.
"Che" he shrugged his massive shoulders and looked away. It was nice; he could feel most of the day's tension slipping away, the muscles in his neck finally relaxed again. Still though, "could be better."
"Oh… How?"
"Ye could fight me"
"… Shut up Zaraki."
He shrugged again. It was worth a try.
I like the ending but I felt a little awkward when writing their interaction... Maybe because they're awkward... I duno. XD Anyway, that's it for this chapter. Next one should come between tonight and monday so, keep a look out. Oh, and if you're a Byakuya fan go check out the new story I'll have up called Hearts and Flowers. It's all about Do and captain Kuchiki~