Kokoro’s face was still serious. “If you came here looking for reconciliation, you’re out of luck.” Kenpachi stepped foreword, his face was sad. “Look, I know you’re still mad at me and that if I apologized right now, you’ll try hack me to pieces. I came to tell you something important.” Kokoro didn’t respond. She still held her blade out. “What?” Kenpachi sighed. “I need you to--“ Kokoro cut him off. “You’re probably gonna say something like, ‘Kokoro I need you to fold my laundry’ or ‘Kokoro, I need you to clean the floor! It’s bloody again!’ or Kokoro I---“ “Just shut your mouth and listen to what I have to say!” Kokoro was surprised by Kenpachi’s sudden behavior, and grew furious. “What gives you the right to talk at me like that?” she asked. “My rank as your captain and your superior.” Kenpachi answered. “ “You sound like a parent yelling at a child, you know that taicho?” Kenpachi sighed again. He reached his hand out towards Kokoro. “What are you doing?” she snapped. Kenpachi didn’t respond.
He put his hand on Kokoro’s blade, and lowered it. She was left speechless. “Kokoro now’s not the time to get into an argument again. I need to tell you something very important. It’s from your grandfather.” Kokoro’s eyes grew big at the word grandfather. Her burning anger for her captain simmered down for a moment, and her attention diverted to the word grandfather. “ Kokoro sheathed her zanpakuto and stood straight. “What could he want?” she asked cautiously. Kokoro was always self-conscious about her image when it came to her grandfather. He was the sotaicho, right? Kenpachi gazed at Kokoro’s zanpakuto, before looking at her in the eyes. “His fukutaicho, Sasakibe Chojiro came after you and Aizen left. He said that your grandfather wanted us there. That was it. I was going to run after you and call you back, but I knew that you wanted some alone time. Then I saw you and Aizen get all cozy by the fountain so I realized that you were feeling much better now.” Kokoro nodded. “I see…” Kenpachi smiled slightly. Kokoro looked at him with her cold blue-violet eyes. “Captain?” she asked in a worried tone. “Yea?” “There’s just one thing…” Kenpachi rolled his eyes. “Go on…” “…What does the division think of me now?” There was silence. Kenpachi didn’t respond. Instead he turned around swiftly, his white haori blowing gently in the breeze. He started walking in the direction of the 11th division gate.
Kokoro sighed, and then looked at Sosuke, who was now leaning against the fountain. “You should go now,” he said calmly. Kokoro nodded, but instead, approached Sosuke soundlessly. “What’s wrong?” he asked. He placed his hand under her chin, and she immediately backed up. “Here comes that sour face again…I thought I told you to smile more often.” Kokoro made a worried face. “I’m not bothered by my captain right now. It’s just that…I feel awkward about this…“ Sosuke interrupted her by pressing his finger to her lips. A suspicious looking smirk grew on his face. “You won’t know unless you go.” Kokoro nodded again, and slowly headed in her captain’s direction. “I don’t know if this is a good idea Sosuke,” she said nervously. She stopped and turned around. He was nowhere to be found. She looked around, searching for him. “Sosuke? Sosuke-kun? Where’d you go?” No success. She sighed walked towards the exit of the 11th division quarters.
[ON THE ROOFTOPS]
Sosuke leaned against one of the nearby roofs. He slowly scooted to the edge and slowly peeked around the corner. He saw Kokoro running towards the exit. Soon, the door closed. “They took the bait. Everything’s going according to plan,” he thought. He smiled menacingly and quickly faded into the shadows.
* * *
[ON THE WAY TO YAMAMOTO’S OFFICE]
“Taicho!” Kokoro called out. Kenpachi stopped walking, and turned his head around. Kokoro was running towards him. She then executed a shunpo and landed a few feet in front of him, breathing softly. “Tired?” Kenpachi asked. Kokoro stood up straight. “No, you were just far away from me.” She adjusted her hair tie and looked up at her captain. His eyes were surprisingly calm. He then gave her a disgusted and unsatisfied look, then started to walk. Kokoro frowned and walked beside him, leaving a gap between them. She then looked up at her towering captain. He looked down at her. They immediately looked straight ahead. Then Kokoro looked at her captain again. He didn’t look at her. She looked straight again. Then he looked at Kokoro. She didn’t look at him. “I hate this unbearable dead silence…but being next to you with this dead silence makes it even more unbearable…” she thought.
[FF TO YAMAMOTO’S OFFICE]
Kokoro and Kenpachi stood in front of the door that led to the meeting hall. Kokoro sighed. “I can’t believe I have to come back here. That meeting was in the morning and I spent the whole day walking around Seireitei with Sosuke. And now it’s the evening…I didn’t really get to do much today…” Kenpachi rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed, and turned around. “Could you stop complaining please?” He opened the door and stood aside. “Ladies first,” he said indifferently. Kokoro’s eyes diverted to the floor. She held her arm out to her side, as if leading someone to the door. “After you,” she replied mockingly. Then Kenpachi sighed. “You’re being very negative and immature.” Kokoro glared at her captain. “As if you’ve never done that before ---- eeek!” Kenpachi swiftly kicked her butt, sending her to the floor. “Sorry, my foot slipped,” he said dryly.
Kokoro got up from the floor. “Oh yea right, captain.” She started to brush her butt, and after she felt that she was clean, she turned over to her captain. “What?” he asked monotonously. Kokoro sighed. “Don’t try to touch me when we’re currently in the middle of a fight. Don’t touch my butt especially, it’s quite immature and violating.” She turned towards the door. “Shall we enter sir?” Kenpachi began to rub the back of his neck. “Yeah, sure, whatever.” Kokoro nodded. “Oh, and one more thing Kokoro…” Kenpachi said. “What?” she questioned bitterly.“ I just kicked your butt because you were acting like an academy student. I wouldn’t want to touch your butt intentionally Kokoro; you’re my fukutaicho. Besides, your butt belongs to a certain man named Aizen Sosuke ----” Kokoro seized her captain’s shirt and pulled him to her, her face full of annoyance and rage. “Aizen Sosuke?!?! ” Kenpachi put his hand on Kokoro’s head and pulled her face even closer, until their foreheads were hitting one another’s. “I know you love him, in fact I know you’ve been in love with him since you two were itty bitty children. You just don’t wanna confess your true feelings to him because you don’t wanna get involved with someone who’s EVIL!” Kokoro’s jaw dropped. She didn’t see that coming. Her mind started to blank out, and all she could force out of her trembling mouth was a “WHAT?” Kenpachi smirked, and he pushed himself away from his shocked fukutaicho. “Ohh that look on your face…it’s definitely priceless.” Kokoro didn’t move at all. Kenpachi moved closer to her. “Aww what’s wrong?” He gave her a mocking sympathetic look. “Come on Kokoro-chan, tell me what’s bothering you. I’ll listen.” Kokoro closed her mouth and her eyes slowly met her captain’s. “What is it?” he asked. She slowly brought her hand up. “Yes?” She closed it into a fist. “Yoruichi cut your tongue?” She drew her fist back. “Shit.” She punched Kenpachi in the stomach. He fell back a few feet, one hand on his pained midsection. “Okay that’s it! You’re obviously looking for a fight Kokoro, I’d accept a challenge from you…but I wont, since your gramps would go bankai on me as punishment. But never in my life have I wanted to punch a girl so badly ---“ “Do it then.” Kokoro snapped. “For real?“ Kokoro sighed. “Or are you afraid of what is to come ahead?” Kenpachi clenched his teeth and his eyes became fierce. Kokoro started to smirk. “You can’t stand me, am I right captain? You could take this as an opportunity to give me a piece of your mind…or are you afraid that you’ll hold back?” Her eyes became frighteningly cold.
Kenpachi was an intelligent man, despite carrying a fierce reputation and being a fight-loving beast. He knew better than to provoke the granddaughter of Yamamoto-Genryusai Shigekuni, and if he hit a girl he would just be a jerk. As much as he lusted for a fight with a powerful shinigami such as his fukutaicho, he didn’t want to get into trouble, and in addition, he didn’t want to hurt Kokoro anymore. He sighed softly, and started to make his way towards the door. “What are you doing?“ Kokoro asked. Kenpachi’s back was facing hers. He looked back and simply answered her. “Your grandfather is right ahead of us, waiting. You and I know he’s impatient and has a short fuse, so lets get going before he gets grumpy and decides to fry us.” Kokoro’s face slowly grew sad. “You’re right…” Kenpachi stretched his muscular arms, and crossed them soon after. “Oh and something just came across my mind! This started out as a little dispute about your butt and now it’s a fight. And this all started because I mentioned Aizen Sosuke.” Kokoro listened closely. “Go on…” she said. Kenpachi continued. “I was thinking…why you would you get angry from that?”
Kokoro grew silent and turned her back against Kenpachi. “I can’t stand it when people say things that aren’t true.” Kenpachi’s eyes softened. “Same here…” Kokoro turned around, and faced his tall figure. She looked into his eyes with her piercing blue-violet ones, never leaving her captain’s now-gentle ones. “When I first met you two, you both said that you were just friends…but why does it seem like you two are more than that?” he asked softly. Kokoro laughed. “Taicho, I’ve been your fukutaicho for quite some time and you still don’t know?” Kenpachi flashed a small smile in return. “You never talk to me about these kinds of things.” Kokoro smiled wider in response. She remembered that she and her captain were in the middle of a crisis, and stopped smiling. “Well…” she started. “It’s hard for me to explain, but it’s best if I just say that I’ve known Sosuke for so long and that our friendship has been strong since the beginning. You could say that I love him only as my best friend, but don’t get it confused with the love in which two people enter a relationship, get married, and start a family. I could never imagine myself doing anything like that with him.”
Kenpachi closed his eyes. “I see…so you don’t love him at all…but why would you refuse to? I know that it could be awkward to fall for your best friend for many various reasons, but you and Sosuke know each other so well and trust and respect one another ----.” Kokoro chuckled. “You don’t know the whole story.” “What story?” Kenpachi asked curiously. Kokoro’s smile faded. She hesitated for a moment. “It’s complicated.” And with that said, Kokoro disappeared through the doorway.
