This and the next were originally one, but I split them because I thought it might be a little long. Hope you enjoy. XD

It sounded like a war indoors. He had only stepped outside for a few minutes and when he came back in it sounded to all the world like they were killing each other. There were shrieks and profanities and what sounded suspiciously like angry shouts muffled by something inserted in the shouter's mouth.

Following the sounds he discovered his thoughts had not been too far off the truth. From what he could make out from the wriggling ball, Yachiru had sunk her teeth into Ikkaku's arm, hence the muffled shrieks and the rather colourful expletives, and Yumichika was trying gallantly to pull the squirming girl from his companion, with little success. If it had been some other group of children, it would have been rather funny, as it was he could see it was far beyond ending in tears.

Things really came to a rather dramatic head when Yachiru kicked back violently, catching Yumichika on the side of the face, his head jerking back so violently Kenpachi feared he had been seriously hurt. Squaring his shoulders he waded in, catching the still chewing girl round the waist. "Enough!"

The shout caused instant silence, ringing itself into oblivion as the three children (Yumichika included, who seemed to have avoided serious harm) watched him carefully. Yachiru let go of Ikkaku's arm, and Ikkaku let go of the girl's hair, allowing Kenpachi to set her down on the floor, a safe distance from the teenagers.

He took a deep breath. "Now. Do tell. what the Bl-" He quickly corrected himself. "What on earth caused this?"

It was Yachiru who answered, pointing accusingly at the two boys. "It was them. I was watching something and they just came in and took it away!" She looked like she was going to burst into tears. "They changed the channel even though I was watching something!"

Ikkaku started up angrily, still clutching his arm, which appeared to be bleeding. "She...she bit me!" He looked up to Kenpachi, appealing to the higher power. "I only changed the channel and she just jumped on me!"

Kenpachi groaned. This was going to be a long hard slog, but first he turned to Yumichika. "You OK?"

The boy touched his cheek gingerly "yeah..."

"you can move your neck? No headache? pins and needles? Back pain?" As he rattled the list off Yumichika began to look more and more alarmed, but every one was a negative. Despite the colourful bruise blossoming on his cheek, and a likely black eye, there was no serious damage. Kenpachi turned to Yachiru. "This is why you cant kick people in the head! If you kicked him too hard he could be hurt a lot worse. And you definitely don't bite! Only animals bite. Are you an animal?" He didn't really have to try too hard to sound angry, he had thought they might be past this stage now.

"No..." To her credit she looked genuinely upset. "Did I hurt him bad?" She glanced from Kenpachi to the now slightly white-faced Yumichika, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Not this time, no." Yachiru whispered an apology and looked so dejected he almost gave up and hugged her, but she had to learn. Viciousness had been one of the main problems he had had to face with her. "Don't say that to me. I'm not the one you kicked."

Slowly she got up and knee-crawled to Yumichika, before throwing herself on him. "I'm sorry!" she wailed again, engulfing the surprised teenager.

Next Kenpachi turned to Ikkaku, who was beginning to look a little smug. "Wipe that expression off your face. You're not blameless."

Ikkaku's face instantly became sullen and guarded. "I didn't do anything! She bit me." He thrust out his arm.

"Yeah, and when she's apologised to Yumichika, she's gonna apologise to you. But you shouldn'a just taken the remote from her. You knew it'd upset her."

Ikkaku wasn't giving up his argument. "She still bit me..." He flinched slightly when Kenpachi crouched down beside him, but the large man only inspected his arm, retrieving some kitchen towel to mop the oozing bite marks. Eventually Yachiru also came over, and after a further serious lecture from Kenpachi about the reasons you don't bite people she sniffled an apology and kissed his gingerly held out arm better.

Two hours, a cold compress, numerous plasters and many reconciliatory hugs later Kenpachi stood in the kitchen, carefully reading the cooking instructions for a packet of Chicken nuggets. A wary silence had descended on the house, with Yumichika and Ikkaku retreating to their rooms, no doubt to nurse their wounds and Yachiru at the kitchen table, dutifully reading through the books her school had given her. It was amazing how she even made reading seem like an act of apology, glancing up every few minutes sorrowfully. She really was a mistress of manipulation.

A small cough caught Kenpachi's attention and he looked up to see Ikkaku standing in the doorway. The boy looked away from his gaze. "I already said sorry."

Kenpachi returned to the nuggets, placing them on a tray ready for the oven. "I know."

"You can't stay mad."

"I'm not" Kenpachi replied levelly. "The issue's over, everyone's made up."

Although he tried to hide it Kenpachi could see Ikkaku was relieved. "Good." He sat down, studiously ignoring Yachiru. "What's for lunch?"

Kenpachi waved at the nuggets vaguely, "Nuggets, bread, some tomato, unless you want different, it hasn't gone in yet." Although he really wasn't still angry with the boy he tried to sound as amicable as possible. It was rather nice to discover that he was worried about still being in trouble, but he didn't want to encourage the fear.

"No. Its fine." Ikkaku trailed off, looking down at the table, unused to conversation. Eventually he looked up. "Can I take me and Yumichika's upstairs?" He hazarded.

Kenpachi looked at his severely. "Why?"

Ikkaku spoke a little too hurriedly. "No reason. We were just doing....homework. Getting really into it..."

All this produced was an amused snort. "If you want to lie to me you'll need to get better at it first." Kenpachi grinned at the boy's expression. "There's no way I can imagine either of you two getting that into any homework. Now, tell me the real reason. You know we eat meals together. I don't have many rules besides that." Knowing how stubborn the boy was he added a few seconds later, "And don't think about trying to lie again, or I really will get angry."

While Ikkaku contemplated whether to answer Kenpachi slipped the tray into the oven. As he straightened Yachiru looked up from her book mournfully. "Baldy's still mad with me. He doesn't want to eat with me."

"What?!" Ikkaku stared at her, momentarily flabbergasted as she stared at him accusingly. "No! I- You-" he spluttered. "'S over and done with. Your just a kid anyway." He muttered finally.

For the first time since the fight Yachiru's mournful expression was gone, replaced by outrage. "Kid? I'm not a kid!"

Ikkaku scowled at her. "Yes you bloody well are!"

Kenpachi cleared his throat loudly, silencing the two children. "Watch your language." He warned Ikkaku, "I'll not have foul mouths in this house. And Yachiru, you are a kid, so quiet." He added.

As Kenpachi turned Yachiru glowered at Ikkaku. "Prove it." She muttered at him.

Ikkaku returned her glare twofold. "What?"

"Prove its over."

The boy snorted at her, rising and opening the cupboard, his eyes scanning the shelves until he located the single, black wrapped packet. The last sweet from the shopping trip. "Fine. How do I prove it?"

The girl eyed the sweet in his hands, her eyes lighting up. "That." She pointed at it. "Gimme the sweet and you're forgiven!"

"Eeh?" Ikkaku instinctively held the sweet closer, as if the girl might leap from the chair and steal it away. "You don't care if you're forgiven! You just want the sweet!" He looked up into the raised eyebrows of Kenpachi, who had turned to watch the proceedings with mild interest. His jaw jutted out defiantly for a moment before he deflated and wearily handed the bar of chocolate over, muttering incoherently about children and their ills.

Feeling Kenpachi's watchful eye on her Yachiru took it politely and unwrapped it slowly. "Thank you. I forgive you."

"When did this turn into me needing to be forgiven?!" the teenager looked outraged

Unable to contain himself Kenpachi snickered as Ikkaku made to leave, still muttering to himself, but a few seconds later he called the boy back. "You gonna tell me why you don't want to eat with the rest of us?"

Ikkaku stood still for a long while, an obvious internal debate going on while Kenpachi waited patiently. Eventually he looked up. "Its not me. Yumichika's locked up in his room having a fit."

I had been thinking of doing a Christmas chapter before realising that I was so far behind in 'Zaraki-world' that I would be skipping most of the term to get them to the right time! But, if anyone would like me to do a little christmas story I can post it up seperately, so just say the word. ^_^

As always, reviews are a great spur and very much appreciated.