The next day.

She knew Kenpachi was taking it easy on her but still she found herself winded all the same. Eventually she became too tired to get out of the way of his sword. He stopped his blade a hairsbreadth from her face. Suzume let out a yelp and fell backward onto her butt. The sword was removed and a hand reached down in an offer to help her up. Suzume took it and he heaved her to her feet roughly.

"You've improved greatly since you first joined. I may have to think about raising your rank soon." His zampakuto was resting casually on his right shoulder as he was speaking. "Continue to work hard 17th seat Issada."

"Yes, Captain Zaraki. I will." Suzume replied with a bow.

The next several days went much the same. Mornings were spent with the captain as paperwork was delivered to other divisions and afternoons were spent training, usually with Ikkaku though sometimes, she went to the squad's weight room to work on strengthening her body.

All too soon, Kenpachi's birthday had arrived. Streamers and balloons festooned every surface that could have something tied to it. Yachiru didn't seem to use a specific color scheme, but seemed to make it look like a rainbow had vomited everywhere. The third and fifth seat had supplied all kinds of dishes with the financial help of the rest of the squad. Casks of beer and cases of sake were available for drinking. If they had their way, no one would be leaving there sober.

While this was a party intended for squad 11 members only, the other captains had been invited and several had come. The gifts had all been stacked in a pile and everyone had started to call out for Kenpachi to start opening them. Suzume quickly ran back to her quarters and pulled out the gift from the closet. It was rather large so carrying it was a little difficult, but she managed. When she arrived back at the party, Kenpachi had only a few more gifts to go. Around him was spread an assortment of hair bells, gel, beer, and sake. Kenpachi was opening the last gift, a jar of healing ointment from Captain Onohana when Suzume stepped forward with her gift. She didn't have a chance to wrap it, so she waited until her captain had finished thanking the captain of the 4th squad before stepping forward and presenting it to him.

"What's this?" Kenpachi asked his 17th seat as she staggered forward holding a large wooden chest.

"It's my gift to you. I hope you like it Captain Zaraki." Suzume set it down in front of him, bowed and stepped back to let her captain take a good look.

The chest had a rich cherry wood finish and was 3 1/2 feet long, 1 ½ feet wide and about 2 feet tall. On either side of the lid were arms that reached up to allow a sword to be placed on it. The lid could be lifted even while a sword was placed in the cradle. The lid had the same division 11 insignia that was on the captain's jacket. It had been carved deeply onto the lid and was stained ebony. She had also raised the chest a little with the use of fat stubby legs. Inside was an insert that could pull out as needed with spaces to separate items from each other.

Everyone ohh'd and ahhh'd at the chest and after a few minutes, Kenpachi finally looked up from the chest. "You made this?" His hands never left the chest, touching it delicately, almost as if he was afraid it would disappear on him.

Suzume nodded shyly. She was used to her gifts being fawned over, but this was a little more than usual. To her, this was a rather simple piece, easily put together. It was a solid piece and she was proud of it, but to her it wasn't really all that impressive. The peacock was far more difficult than this.

Kenpachi gave her one of his rare genuine smiles, "Thank you Suzume. This is amazing."

Suzume did the only think she could think of, she bowed to her captain, "I'm glad you like it, Captain Zaraki. Happy birthday."

A little while later found Suzume sitting under a tree, slowly drinking a cup of sake and refilling from a jug as necessary. Every now and then someone would remark to her about what a wonderful gift she had made and hinted that similar items would not be unappreciated come their birthdays. Suzume smiled at the comments and told them that she would think about it. She leaned her head back against the tree and closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of the warmth flowing up to her face from the sake. She was enjoying the slight buzz it gave her.

The 17th seat was a little surprised to feel the spiritual pressure of her captain as he sat down next to her.

"I was kind of expecting some animal like you've given other people."

"No animal seemed right. Are you disappointed? I have a nice tiger I've already made that I don't know who to give to yet."

Kenpachi laughed. "No. I like the chest very much. What made you think of it?"

Suzume opened one eye to look at her captain indirectly, "I don't really know. Like I said, it just seemed right. I kinda feel like I gyped you on a gift though. The chest is actually really easy to make. It's the animal figures that give me so much trouble." She closed her eye again, enjoying the company and the sake. She reached down for her cup and because she still had her eyes closed, ended up touching Kenpachi's hand. Suzume's eyes snapped open as she sharply inhaled and withdrew her hand as if it had been burned. Kenpachi looked at her wondering what was wrong.

A blush crept across her cheeks as she managed to get out, "I meant to pick up my sake cup." She suited actions to words and picked up the offending cup and took a deeper pull than normal.

"I'm not going to bark at you because you touched me, you know. It's almost like that first month all over again. At least now you stand still when I walk towards you."

The red staining Suzume's cheeks receded. "It wasn't that I was timid or scared of you. Don't get me wrong, you can be downright scary when you want to be. It was being around that kind of spiritual pressure. You hear about it, but nothing prepares you for feeling it. It's a bit overwhelming, especially for someone at my level of spiritual pressure. Hell, when you raise it high enough, I still want to take a step back from you." As Suzume spoke, Kenpachi watched her. And here he thought she had just been afraid of him all that time.

The captain turned his head back to the party as he spoke, "Can you stop with all the bowing? It's so formal and I'm not the captain of the sixth squad, you know."

Suzume smiled. "As you wish, Captain." And made a mock half bow from her seated position. Laughing, Kenpachi pushed her over.

"I mean it, Suzume."

Hand over her heart, she responded with, "I promise." Satisfied, Kenpachi nodded and continued to sit with her, eventually reaching over for the sake bottle and draining it of the rest of it's contents.

Suzume laughed. "I don't know how you can drink so much and not even get a little drunk."

"Part of it is practice and part of it is because of my spiritual pressure. Because of it, I heal very quickly. I think it treats alcohol as another wound to be healed. Now-a-days, I drink because I enjoy the taste. Not to get drunk." Kenpachi looked up and saw Yachiru bounding toward him with one of the woman from her woman's club following behind. "Shit. Not again."

"hmmm?" Suzume asked lazily as she looked towards her captain.

"She keeps on trying to set me up with women from that Female Soul Reaper Association thing Yachiru belongs to." He growled, not looking forward to this embarrassment again.

"Kenny! I want you to meet Nemu," she called out excitedly.

With a stone like face, and extra gruff voice to let Yachiru know he didn't like this new fascination of hers, he replied, "I've already met her," as he stood up.

"Oh good! You should take her out on a date!"

Suzume watched this exchange with dismay. Was this why her captain was sometimes so angry? Maybe the drink was starting to affect her, but she decided to make a snap decision and hope it turned out for the best. In her best pouty voice, she said, "But Captain, I thought we were on a date. It isn't fair for you to be thinking about going on a date with someone else in the middle of our date."

The captain of the 11th turned to Suzume with a small look of horror in his eye. When he had turned, he had blocked Yachiru's and Nemu's view of her, so she gave him a quick wink, hoping that he would get the ruse. His lips quirked up in a smile and turned back to Yachiru and Nemu. "She's right Yachiru. That was quite rude. Now if you'll excuse us, my date and I would like a little more time alone." He quickly sat down and turned towards Suzume to signify that the conversation was over.

Yachiru was surprised and pleased and walked away with Nemu.

Suzume giggled. "You looked like you could use an out, Captain Zaraki."

"Considering that we're on a date now, you can start calling me Kenpachi."

"But….but.." she stammered.

"You're the one that said it. I need a break from her constantly trying to hook me up with those women. I wish I knew what's gotten in to her. She used to be just fine with just the two of us. It's like I'm not enough for her anymore." He sighed.

"Maybe she just wants to see you happy and thinks you would be happy with a woman. You do like woman and not men right? She's not barking up the wrong tree with you, is she?"

Kenpachi growled at Suzume, some of his spiritual energy snapping out with his anger. She had that feeling to back away. It must have been in her eyes because he reigned in his spiritual pressure, put a hand gently under her chin and pulled her close. The kiss was light but thorough, causing Suzume to gasp a little when he finished. "I have no interest in men other than fighting them." He sighed again, releasing her face, "I can't stand to be around most of those women. At least I like being around you. I meant what I said. Let's make this a date. And maybe, if I'm lucky, it will keep Yachiru off my back for a little while." The look of shock on Suzume's face was enough to make him chuckle. "Come on. Let's get some food in you to soak up some of that sake. I wouldn't want my date to get too drunk now."

"I'm quite sober now, thank you very much." Suzume replied as though still in a daze. Considering that she was still in a daze, it worked out. He had been so gentle. His tongue lightly brushing her lips during the kiss. She had expected him to be rough; not soft and gentle. She had expected growling; not to be kissed.

Kenpachi chuckled again as if he knew exactly how good he kissed and said, "Then let's get some more sake in you to help you relax." He stood up and held a hand down to her to help her up. Suzume took it and he gently lifted her up, again surprising her. "You look stunned. Like a deer that's been spooked by a predator."

How could he read her so well, thought Suzume. Out loud she said, "You're full of surprises tonight Ca… Kenpachi. Here I was just expecting a quiet evening for an 11th squad party and now you've gone and kissed me. Not that I mind, it's just that I wasn't expecting it."

Kenpachi snorted, "That's what you get for asking if I'm gay."

Suzume put her hands up in mock surrender, and Kenpachi smiled. They spent the rest of the evening in each other's company and true to his words, Kenpachi treated it as a real date, asking her questions and getting to know her. He realized that even though she had been in his division for a year, he really didn't know a ton about her. This wasn't out of the ordinary as she was only 17th seat and nowhere near strong enough to offer him any kind of challenge.

He was surprised to learn that she couldn't use kido at all or any of the charms. She had almost been kicked out of the academy but it was her swordsmanship and hand to hand skills that kept her. She even showed him by reciting a kido chant, a low level one at that and all that happened was a little puff of smoke and a tiny flash of light. It made him laugh. It was a good thing she was in his squad where kido didn't matter. He asked her about her family and what district she came from. He was always interested in what it was like to have a family so he asked questions about growing up with her 3 older brothers.

"The southern seventh district?" Kenpachi asked incredulously. The rest of his men came from the outer districts where fighting was important and needed to survive. Someone from one of the inner districts should be some stuck up prissy ass that didn't know one end of the sword from the other.

"So surprised?" Suzume laughed. "Yeah. I'm the only one in my family with any kind of spiritual pressure. They wanted me to stay and help with the family business, but I wanted to do something with it that mattered. When I found I couldn't use kido, I concentrated on fighting."

"Family business?"

"I thought you would have guessed. It's wood working. My dad is a carpenter. A really good one at that. In fact, I think your desk in your office was made by him."

"How did you start carving?" He asked.

"I used to have a bit of a temper growing up. It felt like I was always being treated differently than my older brothers. Which, to be fair, I was, but back then I didn't understand that they could do things I couldn't yet because they are older than me. During one of those times, my dad handed me a block of wood and a carving knife and he said, 'carve until you're calm again.' I think I ended up with a toothpick by the time I was done." Suzume laughed at the memory and Kenpachi joined in.

"What was the first thing you really carved?" he prodded.

"A very small bird from a block this big." She moved her hands to indicate that the block was about 7 inches square and then again to show how tiny the "bird" was. "The knife would keep slipping and it would unbalance the piece and then I would have to adjust everything else to match and …. Well, by the end it was just a mess."

The night was getting late so Kenpachi escorted her to her room like a gentleman. At her door, he cleared his throat nervously, "So…." He rubbed the back of his neck, "I'll see you in the morning."

Suzume chuckled. Seeing her captain like this was refreshing. "I had a good time tonight, Kenpachi. Call me anytime you need to get out of one of Yachiru's dates." She waited long enough to see him give a small smile and opened her door, went inside, closed it and leaned against it. Damn that crush she had on him! Why did he have to kiss her like that? Just keep playing it cool, Suzume. You can't let him know that you have a crush on him. You've kept it to yourself this last year, you can keep on keeping it to yourself! She fanned her face and went to go splash some cool water on her face and then get ready for bed.

On the other side of the door, Kenpachi let out a long sigh. It was so easy with her. Those other dates he had been forced on had been disasters. He felt so awkward around those women. Was he eating too vigorously? Was he supposed to offer some to the date? Coming from the 80th district didn't grant him too many social graces. He had picked some up along the way, but not to that extent. He was a little worried about the reputation he was getting with those women, but not enough to really care. He was the demon of Zaraki after all. What did they really expect? He had wanted to ask her out again or kiss her again, but didn't want to scare her off. Was she really interested in him, or had she just been nice? She did give him an out though. He could always say that Yachiru was trying to set him up on another date…. Zaraki rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he headed back to collect his gifts and head back to his rooms. He couldn't wait to start using the chest. He knew just where he was going to put it too.