"Sir! You can't just – Sir? SIR!"

"Quiet! Don't you know who that is?"

"Isn't that the Demon Hunter?"

"No way!"

"Look at him… he's huge! And all those scars!"

"What's he doing here?"

"Probably heard about the Director…"

"That's right – they have a history don't they?"

"if you call nearly killing each other a 'history'!"

"WHAT?!"

Kenpachi ignored the banter and headed to the emergency recovery ward. There were nurses and interns scurrying left, right and centre – but they pressed themselves against the walls and he strode through. He was usually terrible with directions, and today was no exception - it took him two turns and a dead end before he realised he was lost. Snarling in frustration, he spun around and stalked back to the main hall, where some quivering pipsqueak was sure to tell him where Unohana was located.

"Sir? Mr. Zaraki?"

Ah, Isane, she at least wouldn't shrink overly much when he spoke to her. "Where' Retsu?"

"Uh, she left recovery 20 minutes ago, and is back in her office. Do you know how to get there?"

Even though the question was asked politely, Kenpachi bristled at the implied criticism.

"'Course I know how to get there!" He barked, making the woman flinch, "Been here a dozen times before, ain't I?" Without waiting for an answer, he strode past her, long legs eating up the distance quickly. Within moments, he found himself outside her office door, and opened it without knocking.

The pale woman at the back of the brightly lit room stared at his intrusion - calm, collected and utterly unimpressed. Her long black hair was neatly brushed into a plait down her left side, disappearing below the edge of the dark mahogany desk. She raised her hands from her paperwork and placed them neatly in her lap, appraising Kenpachi. He hadn't changed one bit. He still wore his wild hair shaved at the sides, but long and fastidiously groomed down his back. He still had his wooden staff thrust into the belt at his hip and of course, and he still wore those damn dark glasses that made his eyes all but invisible. They only served to accentuate the scars on his face and neck – specifically the familiar one running down the right side of his face, cutting his eyebrow in half. And of course the arrogance – he wore that like a cloak, billowing around his form to intimidate and ensnare the unwary. He was fully aware of the effect he had on others – he just didn't care.

"Kenpachi. How nice, that you should visit. To what do I owe the honor?" Her voice was calm and controlled. She had no reason to fear that he would act... inappropriately – but she knew from the set of his face that she wasn't about to get out of this without a headache.

Kenpachi for his part, saw her sitting calmly and in control, apparently unharmed, and instantly cursed Renji's name to every god in existence. He lowered his arm from his sword hilt and strode into the room fully, flicking the door closed with the heel of his shoe. If she was going to act like everything was alright, he would do his best to break her demeanour.

"You think this is just a pleasant little visit? What the fuck, Unohana? I get a message that Aizen is back in town, and that his first little pit stop was here. I want information! How many attacked this place? What weapons did they use? What was their objective? C'mon – you must have at least got some information while you were getting your ass handed to you!"

Retsu Unohana was slow to anger, but something in his words stoked the embers in her belly. Nothing outwardly changed, but the feel of the office turned darker. Menacing. "Pardon me, but I didn't get my 'ass handed to me'. I was outnumbered and taken by surprise – as any capable leader could have been. We have both seen war, Zaraki, you know I can look after myself. Had I been more prepared-"

"Then why weren't you?" He snarled, voice rising in anger, "You know that you hold dangerous people in the psych wards – why weren't you more prepared? You should always be ready for an attack – you know that!" He was yelling at her now, walking forward to place his hands on the desk, thrusting his face into hers.

Her eyes glittered strangely. "That's what it really boils down to, doesn't it Kenpachi? You didn't come here for information – you came here to gloat about how I couldn't defend myself. I've got 8 stitches in my head – thank you for asking – because some brute decided to use a blunt instrument on me, rather than shoot me and alert the night watch. They snuck in behind me as I passed a fire exit and knocked me out for over fifteen minutes – taking the inmate. They were well prepared and very organized. Security got no footage, no alarms were activated and the cell door for Grimmjow - 'The Grimm Reaper' - was opened using a duplicate key – meaning they have a spy on my personal staff. Now on top of all of this I have to deal with you barging into my office and yelling at me for your own selfish reasons. Go home, Kenpachi – and take your emotional baggage with you." She stared at him calmly, only the slight rise and fall of her chest betraying her frustration.

Kenpachi shifted back, standing straight and confused. Why was he even here? The woman knew how to protect herself – he didn't care whether she got hurt. He did care for information though – and he was going to get that one way or another.

"Stop playing the bitch, Retsu," He lifted his sunglasses to rest on his forehead and crossed his arms over his chest. "I ain't gloating, I'm here for information – tell me what you know. Were they strong?"

Unohana sighed – she should have known it would be useless trying to make him feel bad – the man was as emotional as a rock. She held his stare. "Yes, they were strong. They were also smart. Whether or not there were 1 or 20, and whether all of those were geniuses remains to be seen – but they have a very able commander, that much is clear. I know Aizen's ways from the last time – he wouldn't have cared for a sneak attack himself – had he wanted Grimmjow, he would have walked straight in the front door on his own, especially if he was on his own. The fact that he had people do this for him stinks of hired hands – and that means he either has new 'friends', or is too weak to attack himself."

"He's not weak. That one has never been weak. He's been a sneaky, lying, backstabbing, traitorous son-of-a-bitch – but never weak." Venom infused Kenpachi's voice as he thought back to all those people that were taken in by Aizen's betrayal - so many of them fighting companions or trainees. To this day, they still hadn't recovered from their losses.

Unohana frowned at his response - the man was still too personally attached to this, regardless of what he said. "That's all I know, Zaraki," she murmured, trying to urge him to leave by returning to her paperwork "If you want more information, go speak with Komamura over at 7th Precinct – his people were the first on the scene, and I think Nemu from Kurotsuchi's CSU Division was the investigating agent. She's thorough," a hint of a grin appeared, "and she's not scared of you."

Kenpachi snorted at Unohana's attempt at humor. Nemu was one of a handful of people, let alone women, who could speak with him straight and look him in the eye. He respected that – even if he hated the way she always acted so weak before her boss. The damn women was abused and everyone knew it – but she was a decent fighter, and made a world of difference during the cleanup after the Aizen incident years ago. She was just so damn creepy. It was as if he could punch her, but she would just get back up and keep fighting – usually that would be highly enjoyable in a battle partner…but with her, she just didn't enjoy it. Creepy.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi on the other hand was a lunatic – a well funded, scientific, genius lunatic. The man brought a whole new meaning to the title 'Mad Professor'. He got results, yes indeed, but his methods were questionable and his tactics were sometimes as bad as the crime he was investigating. Still, the City kept him on as the head of CSURWD Centre (Crime Scene Units, Research and Weapons Development), or as the other civil services called it – Cursed Centre. But everyone knew of his contempt for his predecessor, and the unconventional way he got his position. That was a memory for another day.

Lowering his sunglasses back to the bridge of his nose. Kenpachi turned on his foot and exited the small office, taking one small last glance at the quiet woman working at the desk. She used to be a total enigma to him, but as they grew to seeing each other from time to time, he had learnt how to read the subtle set of her shoulders, the way she wore her hair, the terrifying coldness in her eyes.

And it was in that glance that he saw it - the thing she was hiding from everyone else. She was in pain. Sharp physical pain. She hid it well – but he knew weakness, especially battle weakness, when he saw it. He scowled as he exited the hospital, into the cool night air.

Someone had hurt her, had caused her to seem weak to him. And he didn't like that.

Not one bit.

"Kennyyyy! I'm coming with you to work today, ok? C'mon – let's go!" Yachiru's high pitched, bubbly voice filtered through the bathroom door, where her extremely tall father struggled to pull the brush through his sleep tossed hair. He was bent almost in two trying to look in the short bathroom mirror, and he once again cursed the fact that he didn't pre-empt buying a proper mirror for his bathroom when he bought the house. Finishing his morning routine, he opened the door, ignored the bouncing, pink haired girl (pink – why did she have to dye her hair PINK?) and headed straight to his wardrobe to get dressed. Well, it did suit her.

"Yachiru!" He called out, stopping her bouncing. "Haven't you got an exam today? Miss Ise called me yesterday at work," he emphasized the location – she knew how much he hated being distracted when he was working, "to tell me you'd better be there for it, or she'd put you on suspension." He dressed quietly, waiting for her inevitable response – would she whine, or play dumb today?

"What? No one told me there was an exam today!" (ah, playing dumb it would be) "I haven't studied because I didn't know! Oh, Kenny! You can't expect me to go for an exam I didn't study for! I'll fail for sure! And all because no one told me!" She pouted, shooting him a look of affronted anger that made her both seem adorable and justified. He grinned his shark-like grin and came out of his bedroom to stare down at her – this time around, she had no-one to blame but herself.

"Now ain't that strange? Because your teacher told me that she reminded you three times before you left school yesterday – like she's been remindin' the whole class for the last month. Are you calling her a liar? 'Cause that means I'd have to go down there and fight her for lyin' to me. And I know you like this teacher… so what's it gonna be, Kid?"

Yachiru stuck her bottom lip out, then grinned and scrunched up her nose at him, "Oh, Kenny! You're no fun! I guess I'll have to go to school then, huh?" And without another word, she grabbed her backpack and scooted out the door faster than his eyes could follow. He chuckled, a deep throaty sound.

Little twerp – by the look of that backpack, she knew she was going to have to go to school all along. Well, at least now he could get next door to the barracks and get the training started for all the early risers. Nothing like a good sparring session to get things going. He had a feeling this week was going to be one hell of a week... And it was only Tuesday.

"C'mon Rookie – move your ass! I swear... why do they send me these weaklings?!" Kenpachi swung his battered wooden practice sword up to rest on his shoulder. "They'll never get better if they just crawl in the corner, not engaging!" The comment was directed at Ikkaku, but the glare was directed straight at his visitor trainees from Third Precinct on the other side of town. " I don't care if they're constables, lieutenants or the Old Man himself!" He walked towards the quivering masses, accentuating each word with a solid 'thump' of his sword against his shoulder. "You. Must. Engage. The. Enemy. Or. You. Will. Die. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, WEAKLINGS?!"

"Sir, yes sir!" Their voices were high pitched in fear, and though there were over 30 men and women, the response sounded more like a group of children. He roared at them, "I said: DO YOU GET ME?!"

"SIR YES SIR!" Came the resounding response. That was more like it. "Now! Our drill instructor Makizo Aramaki is going to show you the basics for weapon to weapon and weapon to hand fighting – seeing as your own Precincts will have schooled you in hand to hand already. I don't wanna hear one peep outta you between now, and when that clock strikes quittin' time – DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

"SIR YES SIR!"

"Carry on." And with that he walked away, signaling Ikkaku to follow him, as the barely competent Aramaki came in barking orders. He may have been 'barely competent' for 11th Hour, but he was more than enough for a group of Rookies from Third Precinct. He headed straight to his desk at the back of the barracks, where the hated computer rested - he needed to get Yumichika up to date. Seating themselves, Kenpachi and Ikkaku divulged their various news from the previous evening – the Captain, about his visit to Unohana, and the re-awakened Aizen threat. And Ikkaku about his cleanup of the Ichinose house.

"I was going to tell you yesterday, after you ran off - but when I tried to call your Cellphone, it didn't go through?" He raised an eyebrow at his Leader, silently questioning the whereabouts of his phone. It was a running joke in the 11th Hour that the Captain had owned as many phones as he had taken in bounty's.

Kenpachi scowled, "Ah shit, I dunno! I had it yesterday... think I may have left it at the bar when I went to Sereitei General." He frowned. "Why didn't you just give me the updates while we were drinking?"

"Because it was boring work shit. Not fun work shit. And 'we don't discuss boring work shit when we're drinking'." Yumichika chorused with Ikkaku, grinning. Kenpachi scoffed, a hint of a smile creeping onto his face.

"There was something else I needed to tell you last night, which will make you happy," Ikkaku really hated being a messenger, but he knew Kenpachi needed the information. "I got a call from Ichigo last night, late. He said he had a lead through his mercenary contacts about Aizen's grand re-emergence into our fair city. Said that he thought you should know, along with every other major player during the last time... the last war. Sounded like he had called everyone, from Urahara right up to the General himself." Ikkaku took a deep breath and held it, watching as the captain narrowed his eyes in that eerie glower that reminded Ikkaku that this man was more than bounty hunter... he was a merciless warrior.

"Sir... he's calling for a Counsel of Chiefs."