Shunsui Kyoraku lifted the yellow straw hat that was shielding his face from the sun as he heard the deep rough voice of the 11th squad captain address him by his last name.
Shunsui turned his head up and looked at the giant man from his position on the ground. He'd been taking it easy this morning and decided to lay down in the grass outside the Squad 1 barracks. The small courtyard was a pretty relaxing place to rest especially underneath the Sakura tree.
"Hey there, Captain Zaraki. It sure is a pretty day out here, isn't it?" Shunsui smiled.
Kenpachi glared down at the man with his usual bored expression.
"We're getting married, she wants a ceremony." Kenpachi blurted.
Shunsui sat up from the ground and realized that Linake was standing by Kenpachi's side and he noticed the way she was looking up at her lover. She sighed before she rolled her eyes at his no nonsense behavior.
"If it's okay with you, Captain Kyoraku, I would like to be able to have a ceremony." Linake corrected.
Shunsui smiled up at Linake.
"Well now, I think a marriage ceremony is exactly what we need. I'll tell you what, I'll do you one even better. How about I marry the two of you myself?" He offered.
Linake grinned down at him.
"You would do that?" She asked.
"Oh yeah, I'd be honored too, besides, I never thought this day would come for this big lug." Shunsui replied with enough confidence in himself to steal a jab at Kenpachi's expense.
Linake half laughed as she looked up at her intended. It seemed that the jab had been taken for how the head captain had meant it because she noticed the way Kenpachi's lips lifted slightly. Shunsui pushed himself up from the ground and secured his hat to the top of his head before he looked down at Linake.
"What kind of ceremony did you have in mind? Something traditional or maybe something a little more suited to the occasion?" Shunsui asked.
"I really don't know much about what would be traditional here." Linake admitted.
Shunsui smiled.
"I propose since you're not from this world, you show us a little bit of your world. What do the women wear there?" He asked.
"Well, we wear dresses. Traditionally they are white, but, I've personally never wanted a white one." She admitted.
"Hmm. Well, how about we go ahead with our normal ceremony but let you get one of these dresses from your world. That sound good?" Shunsui asked.
Linake grinned.
"Yes, I think that's a perfect compromise." She replied happily.
Shunsui smiled and looked up at Kenpachi who seemed indifferent about the subject. Shunsui's gaze drifted back to Linake and by the look he gave her she felt that he was about to say something a little mischievous.
"What do the men wear in your world?" He asked her.
Kenpachi's expression changed as his brow lifted and he turned to look at his bride to be.
Linake laughed at the thought of seeing Kenpachi dressed in any form of suit. She had to admit, he would look incredibly sexy but she knew he would be too uncomfortable.
"They wear what's called a suit, uh…pants, long sleeve shirt with a jacket over it." Linake tried to explain.
"Sounds like it would be something different." Shunsui offered.
Linake looked up at Kenpachi and she could tell by the look on his face he wasn't up for very many more changes.
"I think it would be fine if he wore his captain's haori." Linake replied.
"Really? You don't want to see him dressed up a little?" Shunsui offered.
Kenpachi let out a frustrated breath as he rolled his eyes. Linake reached out and grasped his hand in hers threading her fingers with his.
"I want you to be comfortable, so it's whatever you choose." She told Kenpachi.
He looked down at her and his gaze softened after hearing her response.
"I'll figure it out on my own then." Kenpachi replied as he ran his thumb over hers.
Shunsui let out a chuckle as he watched the two. A part of him still couldn't even imagine Kenpachi being intimate with a woman and now here he stood holding hands while planning a marriage ceremony.
"I guess all there is left to do now is get the two of you registered and pick the day. Also, you would have to take another trip back your world to get this dress you're talking about." Shunsui stated.
Linake smiled.
"I think I will ask Amaya and Rukia if they would like to come along and help." Linake replied.
Shunsui nodded.
"I'm sure they wouldn't mind." The head captain replied.
"Thank you for this, Head Captain." Linake continued.
Shunsui lifted his hand and gripped her on the shoulder and squeezed gently.
"I think of you and Amaya as one of us now, Linake. I don't mind bending the rules of tradition a little for you." He replied with a soft smile.
"You two should head down to the registry office if you plan on filing today. It's going to take a couple days before it will be official." Shunsui explained.
"Couple days?" Kenpachi replied.
Shunsui shook his head reading the impatience on Kenpachi's face.
"They do more than just marriage registries, Captain Zaraki. They will have you fill out the information and have it ready for you as soon as they can, with you being, well, you, they may speed up the process a little." Shunsui smiled.
Kenpachi let himself grin at the head captain's humor and Shunsui couldn't help the pleasant surprise he felt. It wasn't too long ago that the captain of squad 11 would have just stared back at him with a cold bored expression no matter what he had said to the man. Shunsui wouldn't go as far as to say Linake was changing Kenpachi, but if he had to guess she was making him feel more comfortable as a man, and Shunsui knew one thing, if a woman knew how to make you feel like a man, you tended to want to smile a little more often.
Kenpachi and Linake walked hand in hand down the path in front of the squad 7 barracks and once she saw that they were in fact heading in the right direction she relaxed a little. It was heading for late afternoon and she didn't want the day to be wasted after trying to find the registry office for over two hours.
Linake had finally gotten so frustrated that she'd pulled Kenpachi by the arm and went and found Rukia. After visiting with the captain of Squad 13 for about twenty minutes, Rukia had pointed them in the right direction with a smile on her face.
Linake was happy that her friend had accepted their wish to have a ceremony and that Rukia had agreed to make plans on accompanying her to the human world to find a dress. Rukia had even brought up the Idea of asking Orihime Kurosaki if she would like to help, which Linake had thought was a brilliant idea. Between Rukia, Orihime and Amaya she was bound to find something decent enough to be married in.
Kenpachi looked down at Linake and squeezed her hand in his to get her attention. Linake looked up at him and her brow raised in silent question.
"When are you going to take another trip?" Kenpachi asked her.
It seemed that both of them had been thinking the same thing. Linake could tell by his apparent inpatients that marrying her was his current mission and he wasn't going to be content until that mission was completed.
"I was thinking in the next couple days." She answered honestly.
Linake could tell by the frown that spread across his face that he didn't like that plan.
"I need to give Rukia some time to prepare for it, we just took a trip a couple days ago, and I can't just expect her to walk away from her Squad." Linake explained.
Kenpachi sighed.
"Yeah, I get that." He replied as he squeezed her hand again.
"What's the rush?" Linake asked him.
Kenpachi lifted is head as the pathway opened up and he spotted the small white building with a clay roof that they had been looking for.
"Just want you to be mine is all." He replied back.
Linake smiled softly as her chest grew heavy from his admission.
"I am yours, my love. I have been for quite some time." Linake replied.
Kenpachi paused in the middle of the pathway and looked back down at her with an unexpected expression on his face.
"What? What did I say?" She asked.
Kenpachi lifted his free hand to the side of her face and leaned his tall frame down and pressed his lips over hers. Linake lifted herself up on her tip-toes and kissed back without any hesitation even though confusion still filled her. Kenpachi pulled back and she saw the emotion swimming inside his uncovered eye.
"You've never called me anything but Kenpachi before." He replied.
Linake smiled as she realized he was reacting to her referring to him as "my love" and she understood now, the big lug liked pet names.
"If it means that much to you, I'll keep doing it." Linake stated.
"Only if you want to." Kenpachi replied back as he straightened his stance and pulled her along the pathway.
Linake looked up and she sighed with another wave of relief as she too saw the building coming into view. Technically speaking to the laws of the Soul Society she would be married to Kenpachi as soon as the documentation was prepared and signed, so, she would be his wife well before the ceremony took place anyway.
Kenpachi pulled her along as he walked up to the small building. He'd never been there before so he wasn't sure what to expect or who even worked inside. He gripped the door handle with his free hand and pushed it open, ducking his head before he stepped inside. Linake stepped inside as he continued to pull her by their joined hands. She lifted her free hand and placed it on his arm before she spoke.
"I'm not going to run away, Kenpachi, you don't have to drag me." Linake complained.
Kenpachi looked down at her as he grinned. She rolled her eyes at him as he turned his attention to the two souls working behind the counter that spread across the width of the room. One of the associates was already assisting someone and the other seemed to not be paying attention to who had just walked in.
"Hey, you! You gonna work or just stand there with your thumb up your ass?" Kenpachi called out.
Both of the male employees and the male customer all looked up with slacked jaws and wide eyes as they saw Kenpachi pretty much filling the small room with his height and build.
"C…Captain Zaraki, W…What can I do for you?" the young blonde man, who had not been busy asked as he walked up to the counter, his blue eyes almost the size of dinner plates.
Linake tried not to laugh as she looked over and saw that the customer had gotten over his shock and was busy talking to the other employee again.
"Marriage Registration." Kenpachi barked his answer.
The young man looked up at him as if Kenpachi had spoken a forging language before turning his gaze to Linake. His eyes lowered even more seeing the couples hands comfortably intertwined.
"Oh…I can help you with that, I would just need you to fill out some paperwork." The young man replied.
"Let's have it then." Kenpachi demanded.
Linake squeezed his hand a little trying to indicate that he was being a bit too brash again. She didn't have to look up to know he was rolling his eyes at her as he sighed. The blonde scurried back behind the counter grabbing various papers from separate piles.
Kenpachi looked down at her with a less than enthusiastic expression. She already knew he hated filling out paperwork, it was one of the reasons why his 3rd seat, Yumichika, had taken over the task of completing the weekly reports for him. It wasn't that Kenpachi wasn't capable, he just simply didn't want to.
"I'll fill them out for us, as long as you don't glare at me when I ask you the questions." Linake offered.
"I don't glare at you, woman." He scoffed.
She looked up at him and smiled fully.
"You are right now, my love." She replied.
His brow raised and the side of his lips lifted again.
"Keep calling me that and you know exactly where you'll end up." He countered wickedly.
Linake chuckled.
"My love." She teased.
"H…Here is the paperwork I would need you to fill out, Captain Zaraki." The blonde held out the stack that looked like it was almost half an inch thick.
"You need us to fill out all of this shit?" Kenpachi asked as he took the stack from the kid and then handed it down to Linake's free hand.
She accepted the stack and inspected the first page. It was pretty basic information, name, rank, place of birth, etc. She laughed to herself when she thought of her answers to some of the questions. She was sure to be the first human to have ever gotten married to a Soul Reaper-well, other than Ichigo's parents.
"So we fill these out and give them back, how long are we looking at?" Kenpachi continued.
"Uh…I…it usually takes us anywhere from two to four days…B…But I will put a rush on this and make sure it's done as soon as possible." The young man answered.
"Be sure that you do." Kenpachi replied feeling content with the kid's answer.
Linake and Kenpachi turned around looking for someplace they could fill the paperwork out at, but the place was so small there didn't seem to be any chairs or tables.
"I saw what looked like a restaurant up ahead, we could get something to eat and I'll fill them out there?" Linake asked.
"That works." Kenpachi replied as he turned and opened the door again.
Kenpachi kept a hold of her hand but wasn't pulling her anymore as they walked a little more and came up to the small eatery. Neither Kenpachi nor Linake had really ventured to this part of the Seireitei. Linake guessed not many others did either unless they had some kind of business to take care of at the registry office.
The couple walked up the small path and Kenpachi gripped the door and let go of her hand so she could step inside before him, something she didn't even think he realized could be considered gentlemanly behavior. The host looked up from a small station that stood in the middle of the entrance and smiled at them.
"Hello, and welcome, just the two of you?" He asked.
"Yeah." Kenpachi replied.
Linake gave the man a friendly smile as he gestured for them to follow him into the back of the restaurant. He led them to a table in the back corner, Linake thought it was perfect because it allowed them a bit more privacy. Kenpachi leaned down and took a seat on the built in bench closest to the wall and Linake slid in next to him, knowing if she tried to sit opposite him he would protest-he always wanted her next to him.
"Can I start you out with some tea perhaps?" The host asked.
Linake sat the stack of papers on the table top before she looked up at him.
"Yes, please, a pot of Green tea, and some Honey." She answered.
"Sake." Kenpachi replied.
"Of course." the man bowed before walking away to take care of their drink order.
"I should have brought a pen." Linake admitted as she realized it would be pretty hard to fill out paperwork without one.
"Ask the host." Kenpachi replied.
She nodded and her eyes widened as she felt his large hand cover the top of her thigh under the table. She clinched her legs together indicating that was all she would allow in public. She heard him chuckle lowly next to her as he squeezed her.
Linake turned her head and met his gaze and by the look on his face he seemed to be relaxing a little.
The host returned setting down a medium sized tea pot and a clay cup down for Linake along with a small ceramic bowl filled with fresh honey. A petite woman stood behind him holding a jug of sake and a small red ochoko for Kenpachi to sip from.
The host turned setting the jug and ochoko down on the table closer to Kenpachi.
"What else can I get started for you?" The man asked.
"Um…I think I will go with Ramen and a side of Nikuman." Linake answered.
The man bowed his head as he turned his attention to Kenpachi.
"And for you, Captain Zaraki?" He asked.
"Gyudon." He replied simply.
"Yes, Sir." The host replied.
"If it's not too much trouble, may I borrow a pen?" Linake spoke up before the man could walk away.
"Of course, no trouble at all." he replied as he reached inside his pocket and handed her his.
"Thank you." She replied, before turning her attention to the first page of the stack.
Kenpachi reached out and took a hold of the jug and poured himself a shot of sake as he watched her begin to fill out the page. He looked down and noticed the fancy way her handwriting looked. His always looked half legible and sloppy, but hers looked kind of pretty. Kenpachi lifted his gaze and noticed the way she tilted her head, her long dark auburn hair falling over her shoulder. She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth in concentration as she paused to read each question carefully.
Kenpachi sipped the shot of sake down as he kept watching her. The woman was unlike any other he had ever known. He wasn't too proud to admit that when it came to brains, she had him beat, but she didn't seem to mind it. Linake was patient with him when he didn't understand something she would speak about, most of the time it being about something from her world, which he guessed wouldn't really make him dumb, just uninformed. She looked up at him with her brow furrowed and freed her bottom lip before she asked her first question.
"What's the number for the Zaraki district?" She asked.
"80." Kenpachi replied.
She nodded as she turned her head back to the paper and wrote down the number.
Kenpachi laid his hand back down over her thigh and caressed her as she continued to fill out the paperwork rather quickly. She'd already flipped two pages out and laid them in another pile and she was almost done with the third. It was still going to take her hours to finish them all, so he decided it would be better to cut her some slack. Kenpachi squeezed her thigh to get her attention and she looked up at him.
"We'll take them back with us and drop them off tomorrow. Drink your tea before it gets cold." He stated.
Linake smiled up at him.
"Are you sure? You seem to be pretty riled up about this." She replied.
Kenpachi leaned his head down and pressed his mouth over hers softly. Linake kissed back smelling and tasting the sake from his lips. When it mixed with his spicy scent and his natural taste she didn't mind it, in fact, if they could bottle Kenpachi's kisses she would drink the bottle down to the last drop.
