Disclaimer: Not mine.
Warnings: None.
A/N: Takes place not too long after the chapter 206 flashback.
Down For the Count
Sometimes Yachiru got upset.
"Ken-chan! Get up, Ken-chan!"
Her voice echoed around in the back of his mind, drifting lazily about without any sense of direction.
"I can't move you, Ken-chan. You're too heavy. You have to get up!"
Her words happened against some small part of him that was still aware. An inkling of concern trickled into his consciousness: Yachiru sounded distressed.
"You're all sticky and I can't make it better. You gotta get up, Ken-chan!"
He realized she was shaking him, slapping him, poking him, doing anything that might possibly bring him back to the world.
"I'm scared, Ken-chan!" she whispered and Kenpachi opened his eyes.
"Oi, Yachiru, yer crushing me, here," he grunted, squinting in the bright morning light.
"Waiii! You're awake, Ken-chan!" She was instantly all smiles and laughter, a hyper blur of energy that made him hurt just to see it.
"Calm down, brat. I'm dying here!"
"No, you're not," she contradicted, looking fierce. "You'll feel all better soon!"
"Won't neither," he argued, shifting painfully on the ground.
"Will too! You just gotta drink some water and eat some food and rest some and you'll be lots better."
Which was sensible and probably would immensely improve the situation, but there was just one problem…
"Where's the food gonna come from, brat?" he snapped. "Is some animal just going to walk over, build a fire and roast itself?"
Yachiru made her determined face and Kenpachi knew fear. "I'm gonna do it! I cook good!"
He definitely wasn't feeling up to this.
"Forget it, runt. I'll do it. Help me up, here," he ordered, hauling himself painfully into a sitting position.
She growled and tried to shove him back down. "You rest!" she ordered.
"Yeah, yeah," Kenpachi muttered, planting a hand on her head and using her to lever himself upright.
"Ken-chan!" she glared with disapproval, but stood steady beneath his weight.
"You wanna eat?" he asked menacingly, shaking her head a bit.
"Hai."
"Then I gotta get up. You ain't strong enough to kill nothing dead, yet."
She scrunched her face up. "I will be!" she resolved. "I'm gonna get strong so I can take care of Ken-chan!"
"Get strong so you can take care of yourself, moron," he told her, waiting for the world to stop spinning.
"Ken-chan takes care of me," she said, ducking free of his grip to lean against his leg. "If I take care of Ken-chan, he can take care of me better!"
Which was Yachiru-logic, which he wasn't up to dealing with right now.
"Che. Whatever, brat. Just get off me, huh?"
"Aaa! Ken-chan is mean!" she shrieked, pelting away into the forest and probably scaring away all the game within a ten mile radius.
Kenpachi sighed and plodded after her. So much for her concern.
"Waaiii! A chipmonk! Come see, Ken-chan!" Her voice rang through the trees and he dutifully shifted course in her direction, making slow, painful progress. He so wasn't up to this and he regretted ever waking up.
Yachiru was hard enough to deal with even without a hangover.
-the end-
