To Orc ( since I cannot reply to people not logged in ;-; ) - "Without a second thought, his laugh having turned to a maniacal cackle, Kenpachi reached up and tore the eye patch off his eye..." So, the answer is, yes, he did get rid of his eye patch.

--

Due to exhaustion, Keiko slept most of the day, and didn't wake up until close to noon. After changing, showering, and fixing her bandages, she made her way towards the area the Captains generally held their meetings. She was stopped a few times by various Shinigami she didn't recognize, many of them shaking her hand, many congratulating her, and by the time she actually reached her destination, it was ten to one. Stepping into the room, her eyes fell upon a fellow Captain. A warm smile greeting her lips, Keiko moved over to her mentor and shook her hand. "What are you doing here, Soifon-taichou? Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou said he wanted to talk to me."

The Second Squad Captain opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off when Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou himself appeared from the back. "So I did," the old man spoke quietly. Followed closely by his lieutenant, he made his way towards the other Captains and sat down in his chair. Both women bowed to him respectfully. "I wanted to talk to you about your fight with Kenpachi."

Keiko winced. Would she be scolded? Was now the time she would have to explain to him -why- she did what she did? "Yes?" her voice was quiet as she moved closer and kneeled before him.

"No, you aren't in trouble," he shook his head. "I know what kind of man Kenpachi is, just as I know what type of woman you are. I had expected something similar to occur eventually. I'm just glad the two of you had the common sense to make sure it was in an area where there would be no casualties or need for repair." Keiko inwardly sighed in relief. "I just want to make sure the fight didn't do anything to your seals," he continued.

Looking up at him, her eyes widening, almost instantly watering, Keiko shook her head. "They didn't. I didn't even use my bankai against Zaraki-taichou."

"All the more reason to check them. Exerting as much power as you did to fight Kenpachi without even bothering to release your bankai could cause a strain on them. Even if the fight didn't do anything, it would still be wise to re-do them. You know what could happen if they broke." Although his eyes were hidden beneath his eyebrows and thin lids, he was looking down at her.

Keiko bit her lip, turning her head down to stare at the floor. He was right, she knew that. There would be no arguing the case. Truth be told, she should have known this was coming if Soifon-oneesan was here as well.

Sighing softly, and resisting the urge to cry, the newest Captain stood up and removed her Captain's jacket, letting it fall to the floor. Beneath the haori, rather than the traditional white shitagi and black kosode that Captains wore, Keiko wore a sleeveless and backless shihakushou, the same form as Soifon-soushireikan's Onmitsukido uniform. Covering the entirety of her back and shoulders were large, complicated tribal designs, red tattoos curled in fascinating waves and patterns.

Closing her eyes, Keiko turned around so that her back was facing Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou before kneeling back down and tightly crossing her arms over her chest causing her back to arch as much as possible. Soifon-oneesan knelt before her, a small bit of cloth tightly curled into a long cylinder shape in her hand. Keiko nodded and opened her mouth, Soifon-oneesan slipped it in. When the 9th Captain bit down on it, the Second Squad Captain knelt before her and grasped the younger woman's upper arms.

Sasakibe-fukutaichou, Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou's lieutenant, held out a long scroll, offering it to the Commander General who in turn took it. Standing up, he began to read from it, a language unknown to any in the room except him. Almost immediately, Keiko grunted in pain. The seals on her back began to glimmer a deep crimson, and as Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou read on, the glimmer grew into a glow. As seconds passed, Keiko's eyes dripped tears and her fingers gripped her upper arms so tightly that her nails began to draw blood. Her eyes shut tightly as the pain at her back grew, and if it hadn't been for Soifon-oneesan holding her up, she could have toppled over from the pain.

As the Commander General's voice grew louder, the seals glowed brighter. Eventually flames burst from the tattoos, crimson in color, and Keiko screamed in agony, the sounds not even remotely muffled by the cloth in her mouth. Quickly letting go of her arms, she slammed her hands into the ground, her entire body beginning to shake. The flames grew, eventually darkening until black, but strangely enough, her skin did not burn. She was, however, in unimaginable pain. It blinded her, dominated her mind, made her sob and shake.

The entire process took close to half an hour, and when Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou was done reading, Keiko let her muscles relax, and she fell forward into Soifon-oneesan's lap, tears still falling from her eyes as she passed out.

For hours, Keiko remained unconscious, her mind too exhausted to offer her sweet dreams, and it was close to six by the time she started to wake. Groaning softly, she slowly opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw a black wall across from her.

"Waking up?" Soifon-oneesan's voice rang out softly.

With a grunt, Keiko nodded, closing her eyes for a few more moments as the rest of her body woke up. "How long have I been out?" she muttered, testing her muscles by flexing them gently. She realized she was lying on the floor, on her right side, a folded blanket beneath her body. Gentle hands reached out and helped her sit up.

"A few hours," the Second Squad Captain replied, now kneeling behind Keiko to support her.

Silence cloaked the room for a few more minutes, and when Keiko was fully awake, she opened her eyes again and sighed. "Stupid," she muttered, shifting until she was on her knees, and with Soifon-oneesan's help, she stood up. "I didn't even think about the seals when Kenpachi approached me."

"It was time to redo them either way," the older woman replied, her hands pressed into Keiko's lower back for support. "Although I agree - it was stupid to let him goad you into a fight."

Keiko snorted. It was -not- time to redo them. She, as well as Soifon-oneesan knew that. The Second Squad Captain also probably realized, as Keiko did, that the Commander General probably used the painful process to try and steer her away from fighting Kenpachi again. But there was no need to go into it. The fight had been worth the pain those few hours ago.

"He didn't goad me. It was... a mutual agreement." She turned around to face her mentor, reaching up to pull her short black hair out of its ponytail. "Who else would have been able to stand up to me like that? No one. I know it's hard for you or any one else to understand, but when your power out measures everyone elses and fights are nothing but a joke? It's exhilarating." With a shrug, she pulled her hair back tightly and rebound it. "I mean, yeah, I would have beaten him down along with anyone else that came at me if the seals broke, but it's nice to be on par with someone every so often."

Soifon-oneesan sighed and shook her head. "I know, you've explained it before. Just be careful, alright? Do you want Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou to have to redo the seals every day?" Keiko cringed. "I didn't think so."

Slowly bending down, Keiko grabbed her Captain's jacket and carefully put it on. Immediately, her eyes began to water; the fabric was rough on her still sensitive skin. Biting back a cry, she stood still for a few moments, her hands tightening into fists and relaxing a few times as she did her best to will her mind to forget the pain. Once it was bearable, she turned back to her mentor. "Well, I'm going back to my Squad. But, honestly… Thank you." For a moment, sadness crossed the younger woman's eyes as she looked towards Soifon-oneesan.

"Don't mention it," she replied, with a shake of her head. "Just be careful."

With a nod, Keiko turned to exit the room, but stopped when Soifon-oneesan spoke up: "I told you so."

The moment she stepped outside, Keiko inhaled deeply, her lungs quickly filling with fresh air, and any other miasma clouds in her mind disappeared. Aside from a dull throbbing at her back and shoulders, she felt almost normal again, and, arranging a smile on her lips, she turned the corner to return to the place she called home. Before she could get very far, a roadblock stopped her. Craning her head back all the way, she raised an eyebrow and stared up at Kenpachi. "What are you doing here?" Immediately, she became defensive; had he been sneaking around while her seals were being redone?

Kenpachi snorted, looking down at the much smaller woman. "Someone's got their panties in a twist."

Rolling her eyes, Keiko side-stepped the big man and started walking towards her Squad again. With a nod of her head, she motioned for him to follow. "What do you want?"

Apparently having nothing better to do, he followed. "Just tryin' ta' find where you were hiding. And ta' make sure you weren't gonna' try and lie yer way outta' that promise you made."

Was he actually looking forward to it? Honestly, she wasn't surprised. She had felt the tiniest twinge of sadness in his aura when she had spoken about bankai. But she didn't expect him to be so... so... excited? Impatient? With a chuckle, she nodded. "I'll keep that promise. But not tonight. Probably not for a few days, honestly."

"Ohh? Chickenin' out on me are ya'?" he grinned again, reaching out and clapping a hand over her shoulder.

Eyes wide, vision blurred, Keiko bit back a scream as pain coursed through her entire body; his hand had caused the fabric of her haori to brutally rub against her sensitive skin. Grunting loudly, she stopped where she was, fighting hard to keep herself standing, her knees threatening to buckle under her. After a moment she smiled weakly up at him. "I'm not," she murmured, stepping away from his hand. "I'm just… beat up more than I thought I was from yesterday."

It was a full out lie.

Kenpachi stared down at her. "Yer a terrible liar."

And he caught it.

Keiko chuckled quietly, pulling a bit more strength together before she started walking again. "Might be. But I promise that I'll keep the promise. You can at least tell I'm -not- lying about that one, right?" She looked up at him, making certain her aura was giving off waves of honesty.

He shrugged, still following her. "I think yer insane for thinking you can do the impossible, but," he shrugged again, not having much else to say.

"Just give me a few days to recover, then-"

"Recover from what?" he cut her off. "You took the same beating I did, and yet yer walkin' around and talkin' without a problem. Yer not dead, so what gives?"

Keiko stopped again and stared up at him. For a brief moment, shadows passed her eyes and the air around her grew cold. Part of her wanted to spit in his face, to growl some venomous comment about his zanpakuto, but that wasn't her. Blinking a few times, she shook her head. "Everyone has their secrets." Not waiting for a response, not waiting for him to follow, she abruptly turned and disappeared toward her Squad house.

Yes, Kenpachi was impatient. And -that- was why he sought out Keiko as soon as he could. The only train of thought that had been running through his mind was: learn bankai, get stronger, have rematch. It was all he really needed to know.

There were, of course, other motives as to why he was so impatient. Despite popular belief, it bothered Kenpachi that he didn't know his zanpakuto's name. It wasn't because he "wasn't like everyone else", it was because a part of him always felt... missing. Usually he drowned the thoughts and, ick, -feelings-, away through sake or fighting, and usually it kept him preoccupied enough. But when Keiko claimed she would try and help him, the smallest, tiniest, most microscopic tingle of hope had entered his mind. Of course, on the outside, should anyone find out what he was going to do, he would simply explain it off as just getting stronger, to reaffirm the name he had given himself: Kenpachi. But, pfft, who was he kidding? Did anyone have the -balls- to ask him?

After Keiko had disappeared, he returned to his own Squad, and after fishing out a bottle of sake out from under his bed, plopped down on the floor with the rest of his Squad and commenced drinking.

She had lied. It bothered him.

In a way, he supposed that it felt like a disappointment. Both he and she had exhausted themselves yesterday. Both of them had, probably, about the same extent of injuries. Both of them were able to walk away from the fight with little help from their lieutenants. And yet, there she was, claiming that he had hurt her more than she hurt him. It didn't make sense, and, obviously, he had pointed out the lie and shoved it in her face. There was something else she wasn't saying, and it pissed him off. Through their fight, they had bared their -souls- to one another, had shown each other what their raw power could do. And then there she was, keeping secrets. It annoyed him.

Well, there were only two things to do: drink, and then bother Keiko enough so that she would eventually tell the fucking truth.

shitagi - short sleeved undergarment

kosode - the "shirt" part of the Shinigami uniform; sometimes referred to as kimono

Showers

Yes, Keiko takes a lot of showers, and I often mention this for reasons that will later be revealed. (Bwahaha.. /forces you to read)

Keiko not in trouble? (For KonranKoneko)

You might be thinking - why is Keiko not in trouble for starting an necessary fight with Kenpachi? Wouldn't Yama be angry at them for it? Truth be told, even if something like this were to happen in canon, and it involved Kenpachi, I don't think anyone would be in trouble for breaking any rules. Everyone knows what kind of person Kenpachi is, Yamamoto included. Eventually, the old man would -have- to see something like a completely unnecessary fight would happen -sometime- in the future. And if he does know that, and if it bothered him, he more than likely would have found some way to get Kenpachi out of his position as Captain. At least, I'm pretty sure that's what would happen. /shrug So, since Kenpachi's still a Captain, there probably aren't any problems.

Although, as a way to dissuade Keiko from fighting Kenpachi again, Yama had her seals redone. Considering they weren't in need of being redone, Keiko realizes this, but, of course, it won't stop her from having a rematch.

Zaraki-taichou / Kenpachi

Keiko uses it in this chapter while speaking to Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou as respect for the Commander General.

Yama refers to Kenpachi by his given name rather than his title (Zaraki-taichou). Why? Well, I think Yama, in general, would be annoyed, upset, angry, etc with Kenpachi because of the man's disregard for rules as well as his personality. Take for example his fight with Ichigo. Kenpachi didn't have to destroy half the buildings he did, but, he did it anyway because he's Kenpachi. I'm pretty certain little shit like that would piss Yama off. Besides, Kenpachi doesn't exactly seem to care if people use his title or not, unlike Toushirou, lawl.

Seals

That's what they are. What exactly they seal up probably won't be revealed for quite a while.

"Bearing of Souls"

Yeah, generally it means telling a person everything about yourself, blah, blah, blah, "Oh, I love you! Here's some shitty info about me!" Buuut, this isn't the case. Keiko and Kenpachi are warriors. It's who and what they are, no questions about that. Neither of them, in the past, had been able to completely push everything they had into a fight (with, maybe, the exception of Kenpachi's fight with Nnoitra, but this fic -is- AU, so.) And so, finally being able to do that, they showed each other what they really were, their real -essence-. Only reason I explain this is because I don't want people thinking I'm making Kenpachi -too- human.

Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people.

Akuuno Keiko (c) me, General Junos.