Title: A Different Kind of Strength
Fandom: Bleach
Pairing: ...Zaraki x Unohana...
Rating: T for language
Warnings: 11th division general warnings. Lots of cursing and shouting...
Disclaimer: I am not Kubo Tite, thus I do not own Bleach. I do not own these characters. I am only borrowing them for my own enjoyment.
Dedicated to burnein for DO chat fun/Zaraki molesting and Sasha for Yachiru-speak.
If there was one thing he admired (and in the case of everyone in his division, expected), it was strength. Hell, best not to lie. It was the only thing Zaraki Kenpachi admired. What else was there? If you couldn't fight, you were worthless. If you weren't strong, you weren't worth his time. Period. End of story. If you don't want to get your ass kicked then get the hell outta his way.
Thus he had very little patience for the other divisions. He tolerated the presence of the other captains, but that was more due to obligation than respect. If anyone had ever asked him, he would have confidently stated that he could wipe the floor with any of the other captains (with the exception of Yamamoto). Regardless of their skill with the demon arts, regardless of their relationship with their zanpakuto, regardless that they could reach Ban Kai, none of that mattered in the face of pure physical strength and the kind of willpower that kept you on your feet even as you were bleeding slowly to death. Zaraki was the kind of man that let nothing stop him, and had no patience for the weak. Thus, there were many within Sereitei that he had no patience for, and an entire division that he ignored because of it's weakness.
"Ken-chan doesn't like Backwards-Braid-Lady, huh?" Yachiru chirped from his shoulder, little fingers grasping at his captain's robes.
Zaraki muttered irritably, waving over his shoulder at the little girl. "I'm workin', Yachiru." His voice was impatient and the words were garbled around the pipe clenched between his teeth. "G'way."
"But why doesn't Ken-chan like Backwards-Braid-Lady? I like her--she gives me cookies when I go and see her!"
So that's why the vice-captain was always hyper after she came back from 4th division. He'd remember that and tell Unohana to stop it the next time he saw the dark-haired captain. As if Yachiru wasn't hard enough to get to bed without sugar being pumped into her.
"Who said I didn' like 'er?" Zaraki grumbled around his pipe, glaring at the paperwork scattered in front of him. Accident reports. Damned shinigami couldn't keep out of trouble. Looked like it was time for another S.U.I.C.I.D.E. (Sparring Under Intense Conditions, Injury Definitely Expected) Drill. Ikkaku loved leading those. Even if Yachiru needed to occasionally remind Ikkaku of that love.
"Ken-chan's always avoidin' Backwards-Braid-Lady!" Yachiru had no memory for names, unless she was the one that gave them.
Zaraki growled, glaring at Yachiru over his shoulder. "I ain't avoidin' her." That said he settled back to his paperwork.
"Then how come Ken-chan didn' go get his check-up like he was s'ppsed ta?"
Zaraki's teeth tightened around the stem of his pipe and he had to consciously relax before he broke yet another one. He was tired of replacing them. "'Cause I ain't sick, dammit, now g'way!"
"Baldie says that Ken-chan likes Backwards-Braid-Lady, but I told him ya didn't on accounta ya never goin' ta see her!" Yachiru, as usual, ignored Zaraki's glares and grumbles, stretching her little arms out and wrapping them around his neck, cuddling his back. "'Cause Feather-Brows says that when ya like someone ya like ta see 'im, an' that's why he's always sneakin' out ta go an' see 69-Face at night!"
Apparently he needed to have a talk with Yumichika about what he should and should not be telling Yachiru. Not because he feared any developmental repercussions--Yachiru was a lot smarter than most people assumed, and besides that, Unohana had given Yachiru that "birds and bees" talk a long time ago. He knew, because she'd insisted he sit through it too. Most embarrassing three hours of his life. He'd almost ripped his own skin off just to have something to distract himself with. Damned healer...
No, he was going to have to tell Yumichika to keep his trap shut around Yachiru because Zaraki had absolutely positively one-hundred percent no interest in hearing about Yumichika's late night booty calls, dammit!
"So I told Baldie that ya don' like Backwards-Braid-Lady, and he said that ya didn't know how ta act around her 'cause ya liked her. An' I said that was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard on accounta Backwards-Braid-Lady sayin' how when ya like someone ya be nice to 'em. So if Ken-chan liked Backwards-Braid-Lady he'd be nice ta her, but thenBaldie told me that Backwards-Braid-Lady told him that sometimes guys with the emotional range of a bug dun know how ta act around girls they like so they be mean ta 'em. Then he yelled at me ta get off his head." Inserting a pout here she rested her chin on Zaraki's shoulder. "But I couldn't help it on accounta his head tastin' real good."
The vein in Zaraki's forehead was pulsing as he listened to this. What the hell was Ikkaku doing, talking to Yachiru like this? And how was it any of his damned business?
And what the hell was Unohana implying!
Grinding his teeth he stood so abruptly that the chair clattered back and hit the wall, stomping out of his office.His spirit pressure, always raging and uncontrolled, nevertheless rose as he exited the building and headed for the gates.
"Where're we goin', Ken-chan?" Yachiru's death grip hadn't even flinched at Zaraki's abrupt movements.
"Yachiru, go find Ikkaku and tell 'im ta round up everyone, I don't care if they are injured or not, and get 'im ready fer S.U.I.C.I.D.E. Drills. Tell 'im I'll be back in 10 minutes and if they ain't warmin' up I'll show Ikkaku a new place ta store his zanpakuto."
Yachiru giggled as she flipped off his back, landing and sprinting back to the building, her voice carrying back to Zaraki. "Baaaaaaaaaaldie!"
Zaraki bared his teeth to no one as he left the 11th and headed for the 4th division gates. His feet abused the earth as he walked and he didn't acknowledge the people he passed, though part of him registered amusement as they reacted to his spiritual presence. Those in front of him struggled not to flinch under the weight of his power, and he was aware when they collapsed as he passed.
Weak, and thus insignificant. He entered the 4th division.
The shinigami in his way were quick to remedy that situation. His path was cleared as he headed for the main building, approaching the figure that knelt quietly on the porch. Her zanpakuto lay at her side, her tiny hands supporting an equally delicate cup.
He stopped just in front of her, his spiritual pressure making the shinigami in the immediate vicinity crumble towards the ground as they tried to get away.
Unohana only smiled. No reaction to his anger, to his power, registered over that serene expression.
Zaraki found that annoyed him even more.
"Yes, Zaraki-taichou? Is there something wrong?"
His temper flared as her sweet voice lilted through the air. It infuriated him to see no reaction to his presence in her features. It enraged him to know she wasn't intimidated in the least by his power. It made his blood boil to know that she was weaker than him, yet did not fear him. He couldn't intimidate her. He couldn't push her. He couldn't even make her react!
How dare she not react to him! How dare she act as if it was any other captain that came to see her, any other person that demanded her attention! He was special, dammit! She should acknowledge that!
Unohana lifted her gaze from her cup, looking him straight in the eyes, her expression distantly pleasant. "Zaraki-taichou?"
He opened his mouth and found he couldn't speak. His throat was dry. How'd that happen? He stared at the tiny woman, her skin so pale it was almost translucent, this tiny wisp of smoke that refused to quell in the fury of his fire. Stared at her, and suddenly realized that he was wrong.
Unohana wasn't weak. She wasn't strong in the same sense that he was strong--in a physical battle there was no comparison. He'd break her in half before she had time to think of how to attack him. She wouldn't even know what had hit her.
But...
Zaraki's fury died as his stubborn mind allowed itself to realize that she was strong. In a way, stronger than he. Not physically, no, and until now he'd assumed that was the only kind of strength that mattered. He'd been wrong, and an irrational fear gripped him. He had to get away before his thinking continued down this path. He feared that as he'd never feared anything in his life.
"N-nuthin'." Zaraki broke their held gaze and looked just over her head, at the division doors. "Just…came ta warn ya that we're doin' drills."
Unohana sighed, setting her tea cup down. "Thank you for the warning, Zaraki-taichou. I'll send a squad to the 11th in an hour."
Zaraki barely waited for her to finish her answer before he turned and practically fled the 4th. He sprinted back to the familiar safely of the 11th division, sighing as he entered to find his division already into their warm-up.
Yumichika, sparkling despite the workout, grinned as Zaraki joined them. "Taichou! Why're you so flushed?" He grinned in a suggestive manner, lifting his eyebrows. "Where did you go?"
"None of yer damned business! Ikkaku, if I don't see someone bleedin' in the next two seconds I'll remedy that with yer hide, got it?"
Ikkaku quickly had the division members begin the drill. Watching the melee Zaraki sighed and relaxed. He was on familiar ground now, and he'd do his damnedest to stay right here.