Retsu flash-stepped to the hospital, trying not to show how angry she was. Hanatarou was an incredibly talented healer, as well as a very kind person. He also seemed to be a magnet for every bully in the Gotei 13. And by the fact that they'd called her, he had been seriously injured.

She opened the front door of the trauma wing and walked in. Calm. No fear or anger shown. Due speed, but not excess haste, she reminded herself. A nurse, obviously frazzled, met her. "What happened?" Retsu asked as she followed the nurse back to the treatment room.

"Some bullies threw him in the river, and he struck a boulder on his way down," the nurse explained. "He nearly drowned by the time they got him out."

"Who rescued him?" Retsu asked.

"He was with a friend, and she ran to get the paramedics on duty. She's pretty upset," said the nurse.

Retsu entered the hospital room. Hanatarou was hooked up to a ventilator, the right side of head covered in bandages. A healer was maintaining a stasis field over him. He glanced up at Retsu with relief. "What have you done so far?" she asked him.

"I've stopped the bleeding and I've been trying to bring up his body temperature," the healer said. "He was hypothermic by the time they brought him in."

"Understood," Retsu said. "Continue to bring up his temperature and monitor his vital signs. I'll begin the healing."

She began with a diagnostic, using her reiatsu to probe Hanatarou's injuries. She started with the head, closing her eyes so that she could focus more easily with her interior senses. Linear skull fracture on the right side, as well as a concussion, she thought. She moved her senses down to Hanatarou's torso. Slight spinal injury. Some fluid in the lungs. Simple fracture of the right radius, and one cracked rib. His lower body was fine, apart from some bruises and contusions.

Retsu took a deep breath and began the healing. She gently used her Kido to smooth the skull, lifting the depressed region back where it belonged. Then, she directed her power to the brain itself, carefully repairing the damage. The spine was actually the most difficult part of the healing. The damaged nerves had to be repaired, but you had to be careful how much reiatsu you used, or you'd overload the nerve endings. She healed the bones partly, although it was best to let the body finish the job. She couldn't do anything about the lungs.

As Retsu finished the healing and opened her eyes, she could see that Hanatarou's color had improved considerably. "How are his vitals?" she asked.

"His heart rate and blood pressure are better, and I've got his temperature almost back to normal," the other healer said.

"Good. Continue to have him monitored throughout the night. I want a report in the morning," Retsu said. She got up and left the hospital room, sighing with relief. It could have been far worse, actually—he didn't loose a dangerous amount of blood, and he hadn't inhaled too much water. She went to the main lobby. It had been a quiet night; the only people in the waiting room were the receptionist and a worried-looking young woman with her head in her hands.

Retsu crossed the room to speak with her. She vaguely recognized the girl—she was an unseated member of Fifth Division. What was her name? Retsu tried to remember.

"Miss…Tanaka, I think?" Retsu said.

The girl looked up at her. She had light brown hair and rather pretty hazel eyes, although at the moment they were red and puffy from crying. Recognizing Retsu, she jumped to her feet and bowed. "Is Hanatarou all right?" she asked, looking desperately into Retsu's eyes.

"He'll be fine," Retsu assured her.

The girl started crying again, this time with relief. "I'm so glad," she said.

"He'll need to stay here for a few days to make sure there are no complications from the water he inhaled, but you can see him in the morning," Retsu said. "For now, you should probably go home."

"I'll just stay here, if it's all right," Miss Tanaka said. She burst out, "I…I hope those bullies get punished really good!"

"Did you recognize them?" Retsu asked.

"No, I just recognized their division symbol" Miss Tanaka said, "but Taro…I mean, Hanatarou knew who they were." She looked at the floor, embarrassed. "He said we should run, but I got scared and started using Flash Steps. I forgot he couldn't, too. By the time I realized and turned around, they'd already thrown him in the river. It was really deep and fast, and I can't swim, so I had to go get help instead."

"You did the right thing," Retsu said. "You shouldn't try to swim into a river to rescue someone unless you've been trained to do it. Even then, it's dangerous."

"I suppose so," Miss Tanaka said, her eyes still on the ground. "But I shouldn't have left him behind."

Retsu gently laid her hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "And do you really think that Hanatarou would have wanted you to get hurt, too?" The girl looked up slowly and shook her head. "You got help in time, and you might not have been able to if you waited. Now, why don't you go home and get some sleep?"

"All right," Miss Tanaka said, wiping her eyes. She straightened her shinigami uniform and walked out the door looking, if not cheerful, then at least less upset.

Retsu walked back to the receptionist's desk. "I'm going home now," she said. "Call me if there are any further emergencies."

"Yes, Captain," the receptionist said. Retsu left the Fourth Division headquarters and went back to her quarters to clean up the mess left from dinner with Kenpachi.

oOoOoOo

Kenpachi headed back to Eleventh Division, slightly bewildered. Did all women blow hot and cold like that? In the course of one day, Retsu had snapped at him, cried on him, yelled at him, laughed at him and stormed out, leaving him behind to wonder whether he was supposed to wait or not. He tried to imagine Yachiru having so many conflicting emotions…nah, it'd never happen.

This time, as he approached his quarters, only the main lights were on. He had told Yachiru that she had better be in bed when he got home this time, or there were going to be consequences. He opened the door quietly (for him) and shut it behind him.

Yumichika and Ikkaku were lounging on the sofa, drinking sake. "How'd it go?" Yumichika asked.

"I'm not really sure," Kenpachi said, dropping into a chair.

Yumichika and Ikkaku exchanged looks. "That bad?" Yumichika asked.

"Well, she got pretty mad at one point cuz I said that Fourth Division was weak. And I kinda broke her counter," Kenpachi said. Ikkaku snickered. "And then she ended up crying. It was really weird," he continued.

"Then what?" Ikkaku asked.

"Then she got a call about one of her division members getting beat up by one of ours. She was pretty mad when she left to take care of it," Kenpachi finished.

"The woman's mind is a mystery," Yumichika said philosophically. "No man has ever understood a woman in the entire history of the human race. The only solution," he said, offering the jug to Kenpachi, "is to drink sake."

Kenpachi took a large slug of the drink before returning it to Yumichika. Standing up, he said, "Well, we've got training tomorrow. Thanks for watching Yachiru."

"Sure," Yumichika said, as he and Ikkaku turned to leave.

After his fifth and third seats had gone home, Kenpachi went to Yachiru's room. He wasn't especially surprised that she sat up at once when he came in. "Hey, Ken-chan!" she said cheerfully.

"Ain't you supposed to be asleep?" he asked.

"You said I had to be in bed," she pointed out, "not that I had to be asleep." Kenpachi rolled his eyes. Yachiru could be so legalistic when she wanted to do something. "Anyway, I can't sleep until Ken-chan is home," she said.

"Oh, really," he growled half-heartedly. He knew darn well that she was using it to get what she wanted…but she could be so cute when she wanted something. "Well, I'm home. So go to bed."

Yachiru obligingly snuggled into her covers. "Hey, Ken-chan?" she asked. "Did you have a nice time?"

Kenpachi sat down at the foot of her bed. "She got pretty angry because some of our division members hurt one of hers," he said.

Yachiru sat up partway and put her hand under her chin, which was usually a sign that she was thinking hard. "Did her person want to fight?"

"I doubt it. It's that skinny little kid, you know, the one with the long black hair?" he said. "I can't really see him starting anything."

"Then Ken-chan should punish them," Yachiru concluded. "It's OK to fight with people, but only if they're bad people, or if you're practicing, or if they want to. Or if they're being mean or rude."

"Guess so," Kenpachi said. "But I don't know who it was."

"Oh, I can find that out," Yachiru said. "I'll take care of that tomorrow." Kenpachi decided that he didn't want to know what method Yachiru was planning to use to get that particular piece of information.

oOoOoOo

By midday, Yachiru had found out the names of the Eleventh Division members who hurt Hanatarou. They were unseated members, not yet even high enough in the hierarchy for Kenpachi to recognize the names. Actually, the bullies' timing was rather convenient. The full-division training session was scheduled for that day anyway.

At the end of the day, Kenpachi had the whole division muster. As he stood up, everyone fell silent. "In Eleventh Division, we all love a good fight," he began.

There was a wild cheer. Kenpachi let it settle down before he continued. "We love to risk our lives in battle and pit our strength against others." More cheering. "But what makes a good fight?" he asked. There were a few mutters of confusion as people looked at each other. "Seems to me that it has to be a fight worth your time to be a good fight. For example…" he looked around at the crowd as if sizing them up. "Goto! Konoe!" he barked. "Step forward!"

The two shinigami made their way down to the front, pale and trembling. As they approached him, Kenpachi could see them sweating. Cowards, Kenpachi thought with disgust. For the moment, he damped his reiatsu. "Now, for example," Kenpachi said to the group, "if I were to fight with these two, they'd have less chance than a healer from fourth division would against them."

Goto and Konoe turned even paler. "See what I mean?" Kenpachi said, letting his reiatsu flare. The bullies collapsed instantly, as did several members in the front lines of the audience. "I wouldn't even need to use my sword on them," he said, taking his zanpakuto out and waving it negligently over their heads.

"So, when you fight, make sure it's a good fight!" Kenpachi concluded, sheathing his sword and letting his reiatsu subside. The Eleventh Division members burst into cheers again before they left the training field. Kenpachi left Goto and Konoe on the ground to recover their wits. At the edge of the field, Kenpachi met Yachiru. "Was that what you had in mind?" he asked.

"Yep!" she said. "Ken-chan did real good! I bet Backwards-Braid Lady will be pleased." Then, Yachiru climbed onto Kenpachi's shoulder and they went home.