Chapter Two: Our Story
It was a peaceful afternoon. Kenpachi and Yachiru sat back to back in a little private spot that they shared. The trees cast a soothing shadow over them. The girl would occasionally talk to the man about the shapes of the clouds on the sky. What was it that was causing them to change shape all the time?
"Ken-chan, can you make me smile?" Yachiru asked while looking up at him. She could still remember what she saw in the Living World. That kid was laughing when an older man spend time with him. Will it be the same way between her and Kenpachi? What she didn't know was that the little boy and the man back then were father and son, but she and her captain, what are they?
Pink petals found their way down from the tree. The flowers were blossoming, and the scene was captivating. "Can you tell me a story?"
The girl yearned to be treated like a normal child. But it would never happen. She was not a normal kid after all. She had seen death, and she loved it. But would it make a difference? She was that only one to Kenpachi. Her captain didn't respond. But a long time later, he finally began on the story...
"Ya ever hear' the loyalty of wolves'? Men are dangerous 'animals. They abandon things too quick. Wolves are one of da most loyal ones. Once they decide on a mate, they follow the other for life. So there was once this Wolf who followed its damn master for an 'ong time. But like I say, men are very ugly." He sighed.
"When the Wolf is of none use, the man would kill' the poor wolf. Then the day came, when the Wolf can't help any' mare. The man chased 'fter it, trying to kill it. You' know what that means? Humans are far more dangerous than beast. Ya know, the Wolf escaped finally and realized the cruelness within his master..."
Kenpachi paused here and turned to look at the girl. To his dismay, she was drawing a wolf on his long white captain jacket. "That looks good?" she asked while smiling. When he was about to scold her, a messager interrupted him. The order was given and he had to attend an immediate meeting. "Wait for me here, okay Yachiru?" She looked up and nodded.
It was a long time. Her captain didn't return for a really long time. The girl sat there, obedient to his orders, and looked up at the flowers. Out of no where, she could feel a strange rieatsu approaching her. It was not her captain's, but she was not worried at all. At this level, there was no way that she will get defeated by the approaching opponents.
"There's the girl who killed Brother! Get her!"
There were five of them. They surrounded her, but Yachiru easily escaped. She had an early advantage over them, and she could have finished them off. But she underestimated the group, for there was the sixth one. That sixth one took her by surprise and pierce through her when she was too busy messing with the other five. It was too quick, and the next moment she was already down to the bare ground. She was helpless, and there were numerous wounds on her already. She felt weak, as she once did many years before. Way before she met Kenpachi. Blood seeped out slowly.
How come Ken-chan is still not back yet? She spoke to herself. Everything was blurry, and there came the final blow. She felt the immense pain spreading throughout of body...
Then Kenpachi was back. Within moments, there were six new corpses on the ground. The girl lifted her head with difficulties. "Ken-chan, you're late..." she said, but her voice came out as a whisper. She wanted to move, but her body wouldn't obey. The man held her into his arms. What was he to do? He could feel her declining spiritual power...
"Can you buy me pannycakie... when I ...recover?" she asked in a coarse voice. But she never will. And Kenpachi knew that very well. He held her closer and closer... "Our story never reached an end... Ken," she began coughing... "Ken-chan..."
He felt like exploding as he began. "Then the Wolf found this 'ittle wolf in the forest and spend the 'rest of his life with it. The bigger Wolf would teach her things..." he felt unable to go on. His voice became so deep, and every word seemed to resist coming out. He knew that the moment he finishes the story, the girl would disappear completely.
She lifted her tiny fingers up to his white outfit. Drawing the wolf again, with her own blood this time, she could feel herself losing it. She was losing the touch, the hearing, and the sight... Her hand trailed down, and blood smeared down the wolf's face. The wolf looked as if it's crying now...
Her body went limp against the captain's. Standing up, he began to laugh hysterically. "Baka... quite playing around... wake up you idiot..." he refused to believe it. This particular person had lived through all the things with him. How could she leave him? He began walking back to his own division with the breathless Yachiru in his arms. If one were to tell him Yachiru was dead now, that particular person will not survive. For he didn't want to hear it. He wouldn't admit it, if he did, then she really will be gone forever.
It was already a whole year. Once again, Kenpachi looked up at the pink blossoming flowers. He was not afraid of killing, and he never will. Before, he would even worry that those people he killed will avenge him by killing Yachiru, but now, that last concern was gone. In some way, the girl still exists. For as long as these flowers blossom, she was still there. In his story, he knew that he was the big Wolf, and Yachiru being the smaller. He was like a wolf, for he was loyal, and will never forget Yachiru. It was their story.
Maybe I'll just do this one more time, thought the captain as he began telling the story once more. But this time, to the flowers.