Akari woke up from her futon bed and stretched her arms with pieces of her messy locks sticking to her face, yawning after a good night's sleep. She debated on whether or not to wear her former shihakusho over her new updated version. It was against dress code, but it was her favorite and was easier to move around in. She slipped on her old uniform and brushed her bed hair until it was neat and put it back into a high ponytail. She walked over and grabbed her zanpakuto which was resting against the wall and looked at it for a moment, silently. She strapped the sword on her side through the sash of her shihakusho and left her room, closing the sliding door behind her.

She headed towards the captain's barracks. Excited but also a little nervous. Today was the day she had planned to fight him. But what if he loses control again? Akari stopped in front of the doors and slid it open to find an empty room until her eyes laid upon the little Lieutenant who was laying on the floor, drawing. Yachiru looked up and smiled when she saw Akari and stood up and walked over to Akari, wheeling her zanpakuto behind her.

"Hey, tomato head! Are you here to see Kenny?" Yachiru smiled, happily.

"Yeah, I guess. Is he around?" Akari asked. Yachiru smiled dropped a little.

"Sorry to break it to you, but Kenny stepped out for a bit."

"Oh, I guess I can go find Ikkaku or Yumichika. I'll fight him another time." Akari replied. "Can you let him know that I stopped by?"

"Yeah, sure I will!" Yachiru nodded. Akari smiled and thanked her and was about to walk away to head towards the training room.

"Do you love him?" Akari's eyes widen in shock and took a step back caught off guard by the Lieutenant's question.

"W-What!?" She sputtered.

"Kenny!" Yachiru smiled. "Do you love him?"

"Yes, I do. He is going to be my captain and he is pretty interesting." Akari told her.

"Really!?" Yachiru beamed at her. "That's great! Not many people ask to see him."

"What do you mean?" Akari asked, wondering.

"He can be a bit intimidating which can scare people away. Other than Ichi, it looks like he finally found someone worth fighting for once. I'm going to go see the other captains! See you later, tomato head!" Yachiru smiled and before Akari could say anything the Lieutenant quickly sped off. Akari blinked, surprised by the little girl's speed. Then she headed over to the training room to see Ikkaku, with half of his uniform down and tied to his waist revealing his chest and abs, sparring with some of the members with a wooden sword. Yumichika was sitting down watching him. Akari walked into the room, catching some of the members attention.

"Hey, Ikkaku, are you ready for our fight?" Akari asked him. Ikkaku smacked his sword across his opponent's face, and he fell to the floor, groaning in pain. He finally noticed Akari when she walked over and grinned.

"Right now?" Akari nodded.

"Okay, but not here. Come on, I've got a better place we can go to." He told her, putting his shihakusho back in place and tied his sash back on. Akari looked at him confused.

"I'm going to come along to see this." Yumichika smiled. Ikkaku, Akari and Yumichika left the barracks and Ikkaku led Akari towards another training ground of some sorts further away from the Soul Society. Yumichika took a seat on a rock.

"Why did you take me out here?" Akari asked Ikkaku.

"Well, you have bankai and I want us to unleash our full potential." He said, pulling out his zanpakuto.

"Do you have bankai as well?" Akari asked.

"Since you trust us with your secret, I'm going to tell you mine. Yes, I do have a bankai. You can never tell anyone about this." He told her.

"How come?"

"Because if word gets out that I can do bankai, I'll never hear the end of it. It is one of the steps to become a captain, if one should choose to do so. I don't want that. I want to fight under Captain Zaraki until the day I die." Ikkaku explained.

"But can't you just say no?" Akari asked him.

"Yeah, but I'll be constantly asked. It'll be annoying." Ikkaku said.

"I won't tell." Akari told him. Ikkaku smirked.

"That's good to hear. Now let's see who's the STRONGEST!" he roared. "Bankai! Ryumon Hozukimaru!" Ikkaku staff began to transform, growing bigger until they turned into a Chinese monk spade and Guandao with red hair tassel at the hilt, all connect to a heavy chain linking to Ikkaku's back was a large ax with a dragon on it.

"Eager to get our shirts off already, are we?" Akari teased, smiling.

"It's not like that!" Ikkaku shouted.

"Bankai, Ryujin Hebimaru!" Akari pulled out her sword and released her bankai. The two quickly darted toward each other. Ikkaku swung one of his large blades at Akari. She quickly deflected with one of her flame shields. Her feet skidded on the dirt as she was pushed back. When Akari glanced back towards Ikkaku she saw that he was no longer in front of her. A dark shadow began to form below her and Akari quickly looked up to see Ikkaku coming down on her fast. Akari quickly flashed stepped, dodging from the blades as they came crashing down to the ground where she once stood. She appeared in front of Ikkaku bringing her sword down so fast he barely had any time to block it. While she was striking at him, repeatedly, Akari noticed the dragon behind Ikkaku's back was glowing red, almost half full. She jumped back, gaining some space.

"What's with that dragon of yours?" she questioned. Ikkaku smirked.

"So, you really want to know?" He began to spin his zanpakuto round and round above his head. The dragon began to slowly rise until it was completely full. Akari's eyes widen when she felt a sudden rise of reiatsu coming off from Ikkaku, giving off a red aura. It was strong. Really strong!

"Once this dragon gets completely full, my bankai becomes fully awaken."

"Awaken?" Akari questioned.

"Hozukimaru tends to be lazy during battle. It needs to charge up by causing or receiving an injury." He told her.

"Then you better make this last attack count." Akari smirked.

"Here I come!" Ikkaku darted towards Akari and she charged directly at him. The two clashed swords, one striking the other. Then Ikkaku and Akari landed on the ground, both still standing and seemingly unharmed. Suddenly a loud clang was heard when Ikkaku's zapakuto was split in half, falling to the ground. Yumichika's eyes widen in shock, along with Ikkaku's.

"N-No way!" Ikkaku sputtered.

"Looks like I win!" Akari smiled and laughed, putting away her sword. Ikkaku put his away as well. "Looks like I have some competition." He smirked.

"Hey, Ikkaku, Yumichika, can you tell me this. Why do you love to fight?" Akari asked him. Ikkaku's eyes widen a little in surprise and so did Yumichika's.

"That's a very strange question." Yumichika replied.

"I want to know why." Akari insisted. Ikkaku smirked.

"Before I joined Squad 11, I fought the captain."

"You fought Zaraki!?" Akari exclaimed.

"Yeah, he gave me the reason to fight. Before I met him, Yumichika and I used to be in one of the poorer districts. I would use to pick a fight with anyone, beat them to a pulp. Anything to excite me. Until one day, the captain and I crossed paths. It was brutal. No matter how hard I tried he managed to push me back until I laid bleeding and defeated on the ground. I wanted him to kill me, but he didn't. He told me to get stronger so one day we can fight again. So, when I heard that he had joined the court guard squads, I didn't hesitate to join up as well. Yumichika did so, too. We choose to fight under him." Ikkaku yawned. "I'm going to go and take a nap. See you two, later." He walked away, leaving Akari and Yumichika alone.

Akari walked over and sat down beside Yumichika. "Yumichika, why did you join with Ikkaku and picked Squad 11?" She asked him.

"Answer me this; Do I look like I like to fight?" He smiled.

"To tell you the truth, no. You don't seem like the type. I think you prefer the art style to fighting."

"To me, fighting is a beautiful art." Yumichika said.

"A beautiful art?" Akari questioned.

"There is such a thing as a beautiful fight. Especially such as yours the other day and just now." He winked. Akari's eyes widen a little in surprise.

"What?" she laughed a little and crossed her arms. "Are you going soft on me, Yumichika?"

"Consider it a compliment." He shrugged his hands.

"Maybe I will. But are you sure you didn't join because of a certain bald guy?" Akari smirked.

"You better not let Ikkaku hear you say that." He told her. "But tell me this, why did you choose Squad 11? You could have chosen any one of them. Why us?"

"You guys are interesting." Akari said.

"Fair enough. We are an interesting bunch. Have you decided on what seat you want? Seat four has been available for a while, if you want it." Yumichika said.

"What happened to the last person who had it? Is the seat cursed or something?" Akari asked him, receiving a small laugh from Yumichika.

"The last person was Tetsuzaemon Iba. He got promoted to Squad 7 and is now their Lieutenant. I was offered the seat, but I prefer the number 5 because I liked the look for it better."

"I'm not really interested in positions. I just wanted to join. But I'll think about it."