Holy Jesus, Mary 'n' Joseph! 300 reviews and 8 C2s! Thank you all!!!

I quite like Yamamoto when he's not being super serious in times of crisis, as people might have noticed in some chapters. I could imagine what discussions would be like between Kenpachi and Yamamoto would be like...verging on the philosophical on Yamamoto's part and heavy hints for fighting on Kenpachi's. A little research for Shogi on this part.

Strategy

It was no secret in Soul Society that Kenpachi wanted to battle the Soutaichō. He'd heard that the elderly man was probably the strongest shinigami ever, and was itching for a chance to fight. But when he finally got his confrontation, shogi wasn't what he had in mind.

Kenpachi looked at the board with its little flat pieces. He'd only found out about the rules a few weeks before, and that was probably the only reason why he still hadn't lost yet. The old man was good, countering his attack with a good move instantly and now he was stuck.

"I dunno why I agreed to do this; everyone knows that I'll get slaughtered in this fight." He muttered, moving one of his pawns. Yamamoto takes that piece immediately away.

"Check." He said. Kenpachi blocked to defend. "Zaraki Taicho, you do underestimate yourself. Though you don't plan ahead, you do some remarkable moves when in danger, and that makes it more difficult for me to beat you." He croaked, moving a rook into position. Kenpachi moves a bishop.

"Nah, I call it a fluke. Besides, I've only got four pieces left; you've nearly got all of yours." He held up one of the Soutaicho's pawns, the only piece he'd taken.

"You can still win," Yamamoto moves another piece, not taking anything, "though doing so would be a difficult feat." Kenpachi saw his moves now, he was making a double trap, and he was one move away from making it. He stops it by putting his one remaining pawn up for attack and sacrifice. Yamamoto takes it, visibly annoyed that his trap had been sprung. But Kenpachi was in trouble now and was thinking about asking for best out of three. He could make one move and end the game, but one of Yamamoto's knights was in the way and to take it spelled certain doom. The Soutaicho saw this dilemma and sat back, a small gloating smile on his face, slightly reminiscent of Yumichika when he wins an argument.

"Your move." Yamamoto pointed out.

"I know, I know. Don't rush me." Kenpachi stared at the board looking for possible moves to get him out of this situation. Oh, how he wished he could get this over and done with and maybe have a battle with swords and fire and all that shit.

Suddenly, a flurry of feathers settled on the board. Before they had time to act, a crow had picked up the knight opposing Kenpachi's move and had flew away. Kenpachi looked up and down, between the board and the disappearing crow. With a smile that showed his scary ragged teeth, he moved his bishop into position.

"Check. Mate." He slammed the bishop down in triumph, a gloating smile appearing on his face while Yamamoto's drained away.

"I must protest. We can't finish the game with a piece missing." He began.

"Course we can; see? Those are my missin' pieces." He pointed at Yamamoto's pile of taken pieces.

"But that's part of the game. A piece was taken by an outside force." He pointed in the direction of the crow.

"Are you saying that an outside force doesn't change the course of battle?" Kenpachi folded his arms, ready to fight for upholding his win.

"But this is a game."

"But the strategy is the same in the game as in war. T'me, it sounds like you're denyin' the existence of the kamikaze." Kenpachi nodded in finality. The kamikaze, Yamamoto thought, the Divine Wind. It was the only thing that stopped Japan from being slaughtered by China in the ancient times: a typhoon sinking the enormous Chinese navy to the bottom of the sea on the way to invade Japan. As shinigami, divine beings themselves, they should not deny the right of Divine Interference. Kenpachi had a point there.

"So Divine Interference decides the course of battle?" Yamamoto pursed his lips.

Kenpachi nodded, "Yeah. Strategy is important of course, but you can't deny outside forces 'n' stuff."

"So you won through Divine Interference, hmmm?"

"Yep."

"Fine. I concede defeat." The Soutaicho smiled. Kenpachi looked up in surprise; he hadn't expected to win the debate, "best out of three?"

"Aw, let's go fight. C'mo-on." He tapped the hilt of his zanpakuto expectantly. The Soutaicho perked an eyebrow at him.

"We need to work on your strategy; it's still not perfect," He said, rearranging the board, "you can't depend on divine interference all the time." He replaced the missing knight with a small coin. Kenpachi slumped.

"You're just scared that I'll defeat you with the eyepatch" He pointed at the right eye.

"I don't think me being beaten by a small piece of fabric is very likely. What you should be afraid of is my bishop-lance-pawn combo," He picked up his three pieces in question and waggled them childishly, "Fe-ear them."

"Is that a challenge?" Kenpachi grinned.

"Damn right. Your move."

Okay, vpsnake, I understand you enthusiasm promoting you idea, but I dislike the general idea. If I go through with it, it would be totally unrecognisable in your eyes. If you really want the fic written in the way you imagine it, I'm sure you're more than capable pulling it off yourself. I'm not being a bitch, but I'm just telling you I don't like being told what to do.