The Victorious Beauty

by Shandar1

There is a new shinigami at the 11th squad. How many lives can she change? What secrets will she reveal? And will Zaraki Kenpachi finally find that someone special? I do not own Bleach or any of it's characters. Please R&R.

11. To Kido or Not to Kido

I am sorry about throwing the whole Katsumi/Kenpachi relationship at you without more leading up to it, but this whole chapter 11 thing is bothering me. I had really wanted to do something shorter (I cringe when I see chapters 15, 20, even seen a 55), which is why I am publishing some scenes as separate one-shots. Katsumi is present at all events in this story, either as prominent or a background spectator. All other stories are stand alone and are published as supplementary to the main story The Victorious Beauty.

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The forest outside of the seireitei's south wall had rung with the sounds of clashing steel throughout the morning. Next to the placid lake, under the leaves of the surrounding trees, two shinigami sat relaxing after a morning of sword play. Kenpachi was somewhat satisfied with the match, but it hadn't been bloody enough to be truly enjoyable. The ideal of causing any real harm to Katsumi was strangely unappealing to him, but the woman was still a true fighter. They both sat under the trees, watching the fish jumping in and out of the lake's surface. Katsumi was breathing hard, trying to catch her breath after the exhausting battle. If it had not been for her skill at healing kido, and her ability at healing herself in the middle of fighting, she would not had been in any condition to move, let alone stand.

"You said you wanted to talk to me woman, so talk before I change my mind." This was part of Katsumi's agreement with him earlier...they get to have a serious conversation after the fight was over. Hopefully the talking wont take away any of his enjoyment of the fight. He knew she was going to make him think a lot, and that was something he tried to avoid.

"The three Taichou positions need to be filled. You haven't said anything good about Hisagi, but you haven't said anything bad either. I know you wouldn't recommend him to be named Taichou of the 9th squad, but will you accept it if 6 others recommend him?"

Kenpachi grunted, "I suppose, what happens to the 9th squad doesn't really matter to me, but Ikkaku and Yumi like him. He's already running it now so it wouldn't make much difference if he is named Taichou or not...so fine."

"Squad 3 needs a Taichou that will kick ass. Someone who can tear them down, then build them back up into a true fighting source." Katsumi was happy that he was willing to go along with Hisagi, but she was unsure about his feelings about this part.

"Che...squad 3 sucks, a bunch of wimps. I can feel for whoever gets that job." A disturbing grin crossed his face. "Though that could be a lot of fun."

"I know someone who can do that job," she leaned against his shoulder, "but it depends totally of you."

"Me!" An incredulous look on his face, "What do I have anything to do with it? You know that Yachiru stays with me."

Katsumi smiled. "She belongs no where else but at your side. There is someone else with the ability and drive to do the job, but he wont take it."

"Ikkaku...I know. He should have been given greater responsibilities, but he seems happy with things the way they are now. I don't want him to go. He and Yachiru get along so well together, almost like an older brother and younger sister."

"They do act that way, with Yumichika the mom," His eyebrow lowered, a displeased frown appeared "not that I'm saying anything about you and him. Ikkaku would also take exception to that. But moving from one squad to another is not going away or dieing. He need someone to tell him that taking the exam is the right thing to do. He has sworn to die under your command, and it is up to you to tell him to move forward and live. He is simply existing here, he should have more."

The ideal of Ikkaku leaving the "family" caused a certain amount of restlessness in Kenpachi. His 3rd seat was the closest he had ever come to family. "Why do I have to talk to him?" He actually whined, and he hated whining.

"Wouldn't it be nice to have someone like him with you at those Taichou meetings you hate so much? Maybe they wont be so boring for you, then. But you know he will never agree to such a promotion without your telling him he should."

"Yeah, I know. Most squads promote from within, especially with the 4th and 12th, which makes us unique. We supplied the 6th and 7th squads with their fukutaichous. If another Taichou comes from us as well...we are an elite squad after all." Kenpachi had to smirk at this. The 11th squad were always referred to as barbarians, stupid, and looked down on as "cannon fodder", but if Ikkaku can become a Taichou...

"If Ikkaku does make it, you are aware you will probably going to be loosing a 5th seat as well." A horrified look appeared on his face, and few things horrified him. "He will probably name Yumi as his 2nd seat." Katsumi just had to giggle. "No one to do your paperwork, make sure things are kept in repair, and that the squad has enough money in the budget to pay for the saki parties you keep having with the 8th squad. Worse yet, without Ikkaku and Yumichika...who will babysit Yachiru and keep her out of trouble?" Kenpachi groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. Katsumi reached up to tug on his hair, the bell jingled mockingly like the high pitched laughter of a miniature tyrant. "But I could look into that for you."

Kenpachi's gaze flew up. "You'll transfer in?"

"Hell no! I'm not an idiot. I'm not great with kids, besides I already have a job I enjoy." The defeated look returned to his face. "But I have been looking over the files of the new graduates coming out of the academy, and I just may have spotted someone that can help. Just remember...you not looking for a fighter, but an administrator type who is good with children."

"Why would I want a wimp in my squad? If he isn't a fighter let him join the 4th." He replied indignantly.

"The 4th wont take him." At the dumbfounded look on his face she quickly explained. "The 4th specializes in healing kido, even their weakest knows kido; he only knows enough kido and fighting to barely pass. His intelligence is what put him over the top." Kenpachi's mouth still hung open slightly. "I think that one man watching over Yachiru is more impressive than one fighter or kido user that is interchangeable with any other fighter or kido user. And his paperwork would be perfect, even Yamamoto wont be able to find anything wrong with it."

"Let's first find out if Ikkaku will even that the damn exam before even considering letting a weakling into the squad." He paused, "As Taichou Ikkaku is going to half to put up with all that kido shit." Kenpachi didn't even want to think about some little gutless fool in his squad, so he refused to even talk about the possibility.

"That is where you come in again. You have to let your squad know that kido is alright to use, as long as it only supports a fighter's ability and not replace it." His mouth dropped open again, then he started to argue the point, but she interjected. "You seem to have gotten over the fact that I use kido."

"B..but you can fight!" He still had a hard time accepting that kido was of any use.

"So can others. A good number of your own squad can use kido, there are even a few that are quite talented. But they all refuse to because of your attitude to it and their loyalty to you. If they are allowed to use it as one of their weapons, like a second sword, they would probable be better fighters; and they would probably live longer too." Katsumi cuddled up to his side and played with the collar of his hori. "You seem to be enjoying our battle earlier. Think of the better fights they will be able to give you if they can use all of their abilities and not just some of them."

He looked down into her upturned face. "You know that you are too smart for your own good, don't you?" A hurt, innocent face looked up at him. "And don't go giving me that innocent crap either. I've spent decades with that manipulative Yumi to recognize when someone is pulling something over on me. Your just lucky that it doesn't bother me anymore." He leaned down and gave her a rough kiss.

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Early that afternoon the squad was gathered on the training grounds practicing; while Kenpachi looked on with Yachiru perched on his shoulder, and Ikkaku and Yumi standing at his sides. They watched the healer Katsumi spar with the 4th seat. He was showing just why he was given that position when she used Bakudo 4 Hainawa, to bind him long enough to to land a direct hit to his neck. Not a sound could be heard, except for the shinigami's harsh breathing, and all eyes turned to their Taichou. The kido tendril faded away.

"You're dead." Kenpachi said in a flat voice.

The shinigami stiffened, then bowed to his commander. "Forgive me sir! I should have given a better fight. If she had not used kido, I wou..."

"If she had not used kido?" Kenpachi interrupted. "You think your opponent wont use kido because you don't? Battle doesn't work that way! You use whatever you have to win and survive. Kido should never replace your ability to fight, that is the way for the weak; but as a secondary supporting weapon, if you have it...use it. He spoke loudly so that all members of the squad heard what he said. He wondered if Katsumi pulled her little stunt just so he could make this speech; and he realized he was using the same phrasing that she used. As if she had written this speech for him.

Yumichika asked nervously, "So...if we know kido...is it really OK for us to use it? You always said it was for wimps."

"Yeah! You said real warriors don't need to cheat with crap like that." Ikkaku chimed in.

"If you are a good fighter that happens to know some kido, fine. I've been itching to fight Kuchiki for years, and he uses a lot of kido. He is still a great fighter like all the other Taichous, all of whom use kido. So...I guess that it is alright to use, but just...not all the time...and...don't depend only on it. You are fighters first. I would rather you all win...and come back alive, if you can help it." He felt embarrassed spouting such mushy feelings, this was a first for him.

"Awww! That so sweet, Kenny!" Yachiru was one of the only beings alive that he would allow to use his name and the word sweet in the same sentence.

Looking over his shoulder he saw that "Feather-Face" was snickering and "Baldy" was rolling around on the floor in a fit of laughter. Rolling his eyes, he turned back to the shinigami gathered in the training grounds. "I know you are all fighters, so if you have to use kido go ahead. Just not all too often, and just...when you have no other choice. AND WOULD YOU TWO SHUT THE HELL UP. You are getting me mad!" Yumi and Ikkaku quickly stopped making noise and stood soberly at their posts.

The individual sparring partners returned to their sparring matches; except this time there were occasional flares of white and red, with the rare shimmer of blue energy. Each time they occurred most would look at the Taichou to see how he would react to this use of kido. He watched the scenes taking place with a blank face, showing none of the emotions he may have been feeling.

"You know...some of out men aren't as good as I thought they were.", Ikkaku muttered.

"It's because they don't know how to deal with kido, it puts them at a disadvantage when battling opponents who do us it." Yumichika replied to his friends mumbling. "Some of our average fighters are doing better when allowed to use it, too" Yumi turned to Kenpachi, "Taichou...is it really alright to use kido? We have always looked down on it...calling people who use it wimps and cheaters. Do you truly condone it's use?"

"That's what I said, isn't it? If Kuchiki and the other Taichous can use it, and they are not weak, I guess it cant be all bad. You both know I've been sparring almost every day now with Katsumi,..." both shinigami nodded, "..and our fights are alright. If she hadn't been using kido along with her fighting skills, I wouldn't be enjoying it as much. She says kido isn't a trick, but just another weapon. Kind of like having a second sword on you. If you are in a fight, maybe for you life, and you don't use every thing you have, then you'd be a stupid fool. I want all of my men to be good fighters; but if any of them die because I don't like kido, it would be my fault." Kenpachi had thought long and hard about what Katsumi had pointed out to him several times, and he always came back to the same decision. "We are fighters and there is no better death than in battle, but I don't want them dieing when it could be avoided."

"Don't worry sir," Ikkaku spoke up, "we will always be fighters first. None of us will depend on that kind of thing, if we even know that demon arts crap. You know back in the academy Yumi was actually pretty good at it." Yumi looked at his partner in surprise, he didn't think Ikkaku remembered that; or even take notice of it. A faint blush appeared on his cheeks when Zaraki looked up at him in surprise. "Wasn't there a teacher that kept trying to get you to take his class, he was an instructor in kido."

Yumi turned even redder. "I didn't think you paid any attention to things like that, you were so wrapped up in the sword fighting classes."

"Of course I noticed! I always try to notice everything that happens to you, we are friends. I can now look forward to even better fights with you, and of course you are responsible for helping the men when it comes to practicing kido. I never understood that crap." Ikkaku stopped talking when he became aware of one of the unseated officers approaching them.

Both Zaraki and Ikkaku recognized him in a vague way, but neither had bothered to learn his name. Yumichika knew the young man as Tanaka Junji, an earnest ,but average, fighter who was well liked in general. Tanaka hesitantly approached his Taichou with a fearful look in his eyes. He bowed deeply before speaking. "Si..sir, Zaraki Taichou, I..I have a question...but..sir, I live for the 11th squad. I have no wish to be anywhere else but here, serving under you is a great honor..."

"Che, would you get on with it and ask your question." Kenpachi broke in to what promised to be a boring speech.

The young man gulped and shifted uneasily from one foot to another. "Well sir...if it is alright for us to use kido...only when necessary as a second weapon...I was kind of wondering about...", he looked down at his feet and shifted back to his other foot, "well, what about our... zanpakuto?"

"You're not making any sense, you fight with your zanpakuto. What does that have to do with anything?" Kenpachi asked with a confused look on his face.

"I..If y..your za..zanpakuto was kdbdmmmm...", here his voice lowered till you couldn't make out what he was saying.

"What the hell did you just say? Speak up!" Zaraki started to get an irritated tick at his temple.

"I..I said what if yourzanpakutowaskidobased?" The last was said in such a rushed way that the words all jumbled together.

"Did you just say what I think you did?" Ikkaku looked mildly alarmed at Yumi, whose eyes stayed riveted on their Taichou's face.

"Can we use our zanpakuto if they are...kido..based?" The poor man looked like he wanted nothing more than to take back his question and return to practice.

At first Kenpachi was going to yell at the cowering man, but he felt Yachiru tug on the back of his hori. As much as he wanted to deny it, his zanpakuto was kido based herself. He took a deep breath and exhaled a sigh, looking down at his subordinate. "Are you telling me that this whole time you were here you haven't been using your zan the way it was suppose to be used?" The shinigami nodded in despair. "And even without it you an OK fighter?" Tanaka glanced up to his towering leader, then looked away again. Nobody in the training ground moved or mad a sound; a few even held their breaths. Another man moved forward with a kind of stoicism and stepped up next to his comrade and silently bowed.

"You too?" The 11th squad had always looked down on kido and kido based zanpakutos, so Kenpachi found it hard to believe that two of his own squad members had kept the true natures of their zans hidden all this time. Slowly others came forward to stand with them, till about 13 stood in front of him. Zaraki became aware of movement to his side, looking down he noticed Yumichika walk down the steps and turn to face his Taichou. Unlike the others, he did not bow but stood tall, but his eyes never strayed from Ikkaku's shocked face.

Kenpachi looked down at his 5th seat, one of the best fighters in the squad, his Yachiru's babysitter, one of his right hand men, and a member of the family he had put together. He sighed again. "Only fighters are allowed in this squad." Yumi felt his heart stop, yet kept his face blank; but he never looked away from Ikkaku, hoping that the bond between them was not broken as well. "And the only people I see before me are fighters." Everyone's eyes flew to Zaraki. "As long as you are fighter's first, I see nothing wrong with kido based zanpakuto." The look of relief flood the men's faces; except for Yumi, who's eyes turned back to Ikkaku. "Training is over for the day. You all have duties that you need to see to. Ikkaku...I need to see you in my office. Now." He turned away and entered the offices, with Ikkaku silently following.

The hum of conversation swept the grounds, and the men whose zans were kido based turned to their superior in thanks. Yumi did not smile or show any emotions; he merely said thank you and started directing men to their chores. The haunted look did not leave his eyes as he looked at Katsumi, who had been standing quietly near the back wall. He nodded to her, wondering how much she had to do with the radical change of policy.

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Author's Note: These scenes are published as separate stories.

Looking Forward - A meeting between Kenpachi and Ikkaku as the Taichou talks to him about the future.

Forgiveness - Ikkaku has just learned the true nature of his best friends zanpakuto, will their relationship ever recover from this feeling of betrayal.

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Late that evening, Kenpachi laid back thinking over the events of the day; his head pillowed on Katsumi's lap as she gently massaged his temples. He had known some of his men knew kido, but had never expected that any of them had kido based zanpakutos. After all these years together, to find out that Yumi of all people had such a zan stilled shocked him. It had also shocked Ikkaku. The two had been together for over a hundred years, and Kenpachi hoped that this wont damage their friendship.

"I'm proud of you." Katsumi's voice came to him. He opened his eyes to look around her quarters. "That you care enough for your men and their lives, to lay aside your feelings about kido, it is a sign of how much you have grown as an individual. Before you met Yachiru, you would never have even been aware of other people's well being. Now you are thinking like the true Taichou of the Goti 13 that you are."

"You knew. Himitsu Soyokaze talks to zanpakutos, so you knew that Yumi's Fuji Kujaku was kido based. You knew about Yachiru, too. Just how much more do you know?" Kenpachi wasn't quiet sure how he felt about her zan's abilities. He was just beginning to get an inkling about what it might be capable of.

"I know lots of things," Katsumi confirmed. "but I do not tell secrets. I may work around them, but only reveal things if they are extremely dangerous to the Soul Society. Even then...I would rather find a way for the person to reveal it themselves."

Kenpachi was silent for a moment, as he considered her reply. "That's kind of scary, knowing so much about a persons secrets, but I'm not surprised you don't reveal that about her to people."

Katsumi laughed. "True, not many shinigami know about her, but all zanpakuto know and love her. She is hardly alone. I only wish she would have fewer friends, maybe that would cut down on the headaches all her chattering causes."

He sat up and turned to her. "You suffer headaches from your zanpakuto?"

"Well...yeah, I guess so. We've been together for more than 600 hundred years, so it has become the norm by now; don't know how I would handle not having pain. Maybe that's why I like the mortal realm so much, there are so few spiritual beings that it cuts down on the noise level. Of course it has certainly raised my pain tolerance, and allows me to function despite it." Katsumi had stopped thinking on her headache hundreds of years ago, so she hadn't really considered the benefits from it.

"Che, a six hundred year old migraine. Yachiru can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but at least I don't have to put up with anything like that." He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest. "I'm sure you already know what happened when I spoke to Ikkaku earlier, but you want me to tell you about it...right?"

"Yes please. I have your zans take of what happened, but it does not replace what you feel happened. One of the reasons I can not rely completely on zanpakutos; their perceptions could be flawed, they may be crazy or delusional, or what they think is true...simply isn't. I cant depend only on them for information, so...spill, what happened?"

He chuckled softly, "Ikkaku started on what a good fighter Yumi was and how much better he'd be if allowed to use his zan's ability, whatever that is. I don't think those two are going to have problems over this, but with those two you never know. I had to tell Ikkaku to shut up and listen to me. I think he thought I was going to throw Yumi out of the squad or something."

"Well, a few years ago and you just might have." She reminded him.

"Phew..yeah...but...enough of this. I told him I wanted to talk to him about his future." He rolled his eyes.

"And he thought you were going to throw them both out."

"If you knew this already, why are you wanting me to tell you?" A small burst of irritation flared through him.

"I'm sorry. I promise not to interrupt you again. Please continue with your story." She reassured him.

"You were right, of course. He thought I was going to get rid of them both. Once I got him to calm down I told him I was putting his name up to take the Taichou's exam." Kenpachi snorted, "It took him over a minute before he could even talk again. Then it was all "I cant do this" or "I could never be that", and then he started in on not having banki. It feels kind of nice having him so loyal like that, but when I told him I've known for years that he does have it, he avoided looking me in the eyes. That is so not like him." He looked over at Katsumi, waiting for her to make a comment. No such comment was forthcoming. "Well...aren't you going to say anything?"

A surprised look appeared on her face. "I promised you I wouldn't. But since you asked...I am surprised more people don't know, given the number of people who have actually seen him use it. You should feel flattered that your men are so loyal to you. Ikkaku willing to give up personal advancement to work under you, and Yumi and the others denying their own selves by refusing to use their zans as they should be used. That puts a lot of responsibilities on you, because it is now up to you to see to their well being." Kenpachi looked daunted at that. Running into battle against incredible odds was easy compared to seeing his men were emotionally and mentally good. He had only cared about his own interests in the Zaraki district, then it was just him and Yachiru, but now he was going to have to add the entire squad to that short list. "I'm sure you will do fine. You have become so much more than what you were decades ago."

"Back to earlier...Ikkaku argued about taking the exam, but I told him that I would be proud to have one of my men become a Taichou. That a little company at those boring meetings would be nice. He finally agreed to it, so I just might be loosing a 3rd seat." His emotions were still unsettled about the whole thing.

"I do have a suggestion." Kenpachi threw her an exasperated look. "It's your decision of course, but maybe you can take in Kira Izuru."

He sputtered, "You...you have got to be kidding me! Why would I want the simpering little twit in my squad?"

"He is a good fighter. His zans ability is kido based, but it relies on his fighting ability to use it. Also, his mastery of the demonic arts would help him instruct the other squad members who have been refusing further lessons on how to use their abilities. His only problem is confidence, or lack of it, which you have in abundance. He comes from a noble family; he has never had to fight for food and shelter like the rest of you. Then coming from the academy to the 4th squad didn't help, and shortly after entering the 3rd with Ichimaru; who crushed what confidence he had left." He grunted, so she continued with her argument. "The one thing you inspire in all of your men is confidence in self; even the most timid 11th member is equal to the average shinigami in other squads. Even those who leave, like Abari and Iba, retain that characteristic and still think of themselves as 11th squad members. I think that you can give Kira exactly what he needs to be a good shinigami."

"You just feel guilty about getting him kicked out of the 3rd squad.", he grumbled. "I'll think on it; but he would have to earn an officer's seat, and not just given one." That he even was willing to consider it was a big deal for him. "But if Yumi wants to stay with us...forget it; he cant stand the depressing man. I hop Ikkaku and Yumi will be able to get past this whole zan business." The two shinigami had a bond that he had always envied. Kenpachi despised relying on anyone, so he had never considered making such a relationship himself. But their bond never seemed to get in the way of self reliance by either side, which made it something special.

Katsumi smiled gently. "They are working on it right now, and I don't see it causing any lasting problems." She kissed him in a lingering way. "Lets not talk about them anymore. In fact...let's stop talking all together."

He smiled broadly. All the relationships, if one could call them that, he had been in before were strictly physical. He tried to ignore the yammering of his previous women, it always gave him indigestion. But with Katsumi, he actually liked talking to her, a first for him. He had to admit he liked the novelty.

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Sorry this chapter was so long. I hope it is not too OOC. Please remember to R&R, it helps me by giving me ideals and informs me what I need to work on. I am hoping that this story wont go on much longer.