Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? So, in the next chapter you will see a bit of Ichiruki (skwee!) as well as a fight with Ken-chan, and more of Hichigo dissecting Ichigo's psycology. Arn't the voices in your head always the best shrinks? I know mine are.

Oh, and for those of you who do't remember what happened in the last chapter, Ichigo's conversation with his friends was interupted by yet another scary vice-captain. This one with pink hair and those little blushy things under her eyes that only chibis get.

Once again, thanks Namikaze Artemis for editing!

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The little girl stood there, in her black shihakusho with a sword at her side and a vice-captain's badge on her arm, looking like she was playing dress up. She stood glaring at Ichigo with her hands on her hips and a frown across her face and eventually, she said "Ichi, you made Ken-chan sad."

Everyone's eyes grew wider.

"Ken-chan?" Arata asked in a small voice.

"I think she might be referring to Kenpachi Zaraki-taichou, the captain of eleventh division..." Satoshi wispered to him as if to avoid breaking the heavy atmosphere that had suddently been created.

Ichigo was staring at her, still trying to cope with what Yachiru just said; Because when she says 'Ken-chan is sad', it actually means 'Kenpachi is angry' which basically translates to 'the most sadistic, blood-thirsty captain in all of the the 13 squads wants to kill you' which ends up meaning 'you are going to die.'

Now, Ichigo wasn't exactly a coward, but he wasn't suicidal either. So he did what any reasonable man would do; he turned and ran.

Or at least he tried to.

But as soon as he made a move to leave, Yachiru jumped on him.

"You weren't trying to escape, were you?" She asked darkly as she held him against the floor of the pagoda. Her face resembled that of a demon, an expression probably taught to her be her captain.

"Er, no?" he responded meekly. There was somthing about the pink haired little girl that was ten times scarier than Kenpachi. Come to think of it, he had never seen her fight, but surely Kenpachi wouldn't let a girl who was like a daughter to him be weak. Especialy not if she was his vice-captain. Her expression darkened even more.

"Liar, " she said. Then, oddly enough, her expression changed from pissed-off-demon to small-child-on-the-verge-of-tears. " You liar! You promised! You promised you would fight him, so Ken-chan got all exited, but, but,-" Tears exploded from her eyes. "YOU LIED!"

I'm sorry, WHAT? Ichigo thought as his two friends stared at him with their jaws dangerously close to the ground.

"Why would I EVER agree to fight him again?" Ichigo asked.

"AGAIN? Holy shit, you were telling the truth!" Arata said, apperently just realizing it.

"Baldy said you would." Yachiru got off of him and sat at his side as he sat up. "He said you lost a bet."

He stared at her.

"But he said you might not remember because you would be being sicko-sem-addict*, or something."

"So does this mean that one of my best friends is famous? That's so cool!" Arata had apparently continued talking, but no one was listening.

"It means you think you should feel a certain way, so your brain convinces you that you do." Then Yachiru laughed. "You must be a real idiot to do somthing like that!"

Ichigo stared at her and Arata continued his rant. Then the little girl snaped her fingers together as if she remembered something important.

"Oh! And Ken-chan already excused you from all your afternoon classes," she said with a smile. " And he says that If you don't come with me to fight him right now, he'll come here to get you!" He wasn't sure how, but the way Yachiru talked always sounded so frighteningly happy, like she was talking about sunshine and rainbows when she was really talking about one's eventual death.

"Shit," he said, admiting defeat.

And, by the way she put it, this was inevitable. One way or another, he was going to have to fight Kenpachi. On the up side though, he had survived last time, and he hadn't even had a Bankai. Yeah, maybe if he used his bankai he might even, possibly, barely win...maybe. Okay, probably not, especialy if Kenpachi actually got serious, but he would still probably survive.

"You're going to fight Kenpachi-taichou?" Arata asked, wide-eyed.

"Can we watch?" That was Arata.

"I don't really have a choice do I?" Ichigo said to Satoshi as he pushed himself off the ground. Then he turned to Arata. "And no, you can't watch."

"Why not?" He whinned. " Are you afraid of letting us see you get beat up?"

Satoshi chuckled. "I'd like to see that too." He was forever as calm as he would be talking about schoolwork or somthing. He reminded Ichigo of someone, but he wasn't quite sure who...

He shook his bright orange head. "No, not a lot of people can handle Kenpachi's reiatsu, let alone both of ours put together, especialy if I use Bankai." He remembered the two people he was with when he ran into Kenpachi for the first time in Soul Society. How frightening his mere aura was to them, how weak they became just from his presence. Then how Ichigo and his powers were matched in their fight.

But Arata, clearly picking up only the last part of his sentince said; " You're gonna go Bankai? I wanna see! I wanna see!" Like some kid at an amusment park.

"I'll use it if I have to." Ichigo said. He acted cool but inside he was going:

Shit, I'm gonna die. He's crazy, I only barely survived last time. And that was when I had to win, not because I could! That bloodthirsty psychopath! Shit, I'm gonna die!

Arata did a little fangirl squeal. "Do you think he'll use his too?"

The air tensed.

"He doesn't have one," Satoshi finally stated.

"He doesn't need one Baka!" Yachiru said in her normal, happy tone. "Ken-chan is stronger than anyone! That's why he wears the eye patch and bells! In fact, if it was some one like you, he could probably kill you without using his sword at all!" She smiled. " You should come along and see how strong he is!"

They grinned.

" Yachiru..."

"Don't worry Ichi-chan! I'll make sure they don't get in the way of the fight." She grabbed the two by the hands and dragged them out of the pagoda. " Come on Ichi-chan! Ken-chan doesn't like to be kept waiting!"

Ichigo groaned and followed after her. What the hell was going on?

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* If you can't recognize it, this is Yachiru's attempt at saying 'psycosomatic'

*sigh* My chapters are sooo boring! It seems like they are ALL transitions! Oh well, I'll try to stop doing this in the future... Any way, thank you all for the support, happy January, and please continue reading!