Chapter Thirteen
"Congratulations. The position is yours."
~*~
Chapter Thirteen
In Too Deep
~*~
Hanatarou Yamada stood quietly on deck, watching the waves made by the ship's progress as they rammed into each other in fits of white foam. Hitsugaya had been talking to Miss Rangiku for a long time now. He was a little worried and a little apprehensive, unsure of what to do with himself without Hitsugaya pointing him in the right direction.
The sick bay wasn't in need of any more aid, and he really wasn't very good with anything else. He was barely passable as a medic.
"Don't you ever move?"
The jumpy prince was surprised by the voice, and Renji had to grab hold of him just to keep him from falling off the ship.
"E-Eh? Oh. I-I was waiting for Hitsugaya...." he trailed off once he'd managed to get himself balanced again.
Renji just snorted, shaking his head. "That woman can go on for hours. I wouldn't wait up."
"B-But I thought they were discussing plans?"
The wild redhead looked at him oddly. Hanatarou didn't know whether it was because he was stuttering or because he'd asked a dumb question. As he contemplated that, he couldn't help but notice that Renji had a different set of guns with him this time. Bigger ones.
"They probably were, the first two hours or so. Now c'mon. They'll probably be in there for another two hours before they're done. Unohana wanted to talk to ya for something."
Well, Renji wasn't the most comforting person Yamada had met on this ship, but they were supposed to be allies now, right? Or something like that. Maybe?
It was with a hesitant shuffle that he followed the other man to the lower levels.
~*~
"And that bald head of his barrelled right through the main sail and out into the water. Yachiru said his head tasted like sushi for days afterward. Not even Kenpachi's been willing to get on Unohana's bad side since!"
Captain Matsumoto giggled at the memory, and Hitsugaya even allowed himself a small snort to show his amusement. The thought of Madarame sailing through one of the sails was a satisfying one.
"But enough about us! Now it's your turn. I've gotten to know you and Hanatarou, but then there's Ichigo too. How did that one happen? And how many others can we expect aid from?"
"The first time I saw Kurosaki, he was committing high treason."
Matsumoto promptly erupted into a laughing fit, supporting herself with the railing of the ship as her back arched in glee. "Okay, now I know you're telling the truth! That sounds just like him!"
"If it had been anyone else, he would have been carted away and executed," came the haughty, disapproving reply.
But the woman captain only chuckled. "Well, it wasn't anyone else. It was you and Hanatarou."
Hitsugaya sighed, joining her in leaning against the railing, but he made a point of facing the water instead of the other pirates still running about on deck. Rangiku Matsumoto had been spilling her guts to him for several hours now; if this was going to go as planned, he would have to give her something in return.
"Each heir to Hueco Mundo's throne is allowed a personal guard, usually of four to six people. Most often they choose generals, captains, Loyals of high rank and experience. Two years ago, Yamada and I instead screened younger soldiers, just out of training and with little field experience."
"Oh, because they'd be more rebellious!"
"Because they would be a little less brain washed," Hitsugaya snorted in reply. "We're required by law to begin any similar interview with…"
~*~
"Are you loyal to King Aizen?"
"Hell no."
Toushirou Hitsugaya couldn't believe his ears. Teal eyes glanced at the person next to him, and Hanatarou's own dull brown orbs met the gaze in startled confusion.
The room was small and dim - empty of everything but a table, chairs, and three boys. Before them, on the other side of the table, sat an ornery teenager with messy orange hair, a scowl a mile long, and an apathetic slouch like no other. An ornery teenager who had just said something neither of the Loyals had ever heard uttered before in public.
"Come again?" Hitsugaya voiced as he turned back to the interviewee.
Ichigo Kurosaki leaned forward in his chair, scowl only widening. "Under Aizen's new conscription law, in a couple of years my little sisters are going to be forced from our home, trained in espionage, and sent on suicide missions! My little sisters! As far as I'm concerned Aizen and everything he's done to this country can rot in hell! You people are sick, getting off by forcing strangers to fight your battles for you. There's no way I'd be loyal to an ass like that!"
When neither Hitsugaya nor Yamada could muster up a reply, Hitsugaya actually having dropped his quill somewhere along the line, he continued.
"What, you're speechless? Like father, like son, huh? What a pathetic prince, looking for people who haven't even finished basic training to protect your sorry asshole? How do you justify something like that? Think you'd get a kick out of watching a bunch of amateurs die trying to save your worthless lives?"
Yamada couldn't bring himself to do much more than gape, but Hitsugaya saw fit to do otherwise, leaning over the table to meet Kurosaki eye to eye. "What you just said is worth at least four counts of treason and is punishable by death," he intoned, his voice steady and monotonous.
"Then kill me, why don't you? I'd rather die than enable you bastards."
The two Loyals exchanged one last glance before straightening themselves out.
"Congratulations. The position is yours."
~*~
Yet again, the pirate ship's designated captain couldn't hold back a side-splitting fit of laughter. "I wish I could have seen his face!"
That earned her a self-satisfied smirk from the young man at her side. "It was very gratifying."
"Who else? Who else?" she pressed, excited by the story. If even Isshin's boy was in on all of this, she wanted to know everyone who was, she wanted to know everyone in Hueco Mundo who opposed their king. It was something she'd never considered before, the idea that there could actually be people in Hueco Mundo who weren't ruthless, narcissistic bastards. She knew Kenpachi Zaraki and his fighting force had all been raised there, but they, like Byakuya and Renji, had denounced it as their home. Somehow Hanatarou and Hitsugaya were different. How many others were like them, just waiting for their chances? "Spit it out."
"Kurosaki didn't believe us at first," Hitsugaya sighed, letting his chin rest on his arms above the railing, "but when he realized what we were doing, he recommended Orihime Inoue and Sado Yasutora. They were close friends, their families tied to the Kurosakis as well as their illegal activities. I found Uryuu Ishida during another interview. His grandfather had founded an archery troupe, but they were used as scapegoats for a crime they didn't commit. His grandfather along with the rest of the troupe was falsely accused and executed.
"Other than that, there's only..."
"Who's Hina?"
Hitsugaya whirled around, teal eyes wide in unabated surprise. "Wh-What?"
"That's what you called me when you were waking up this morning." Rangiku smiled mischievously, leaning one arm against the rail suggestively in sharp contrast to her companion's sudden stiffness.
"You were awake?" he asked, his voice almost inaudible.
"You thought you were laying with her, didn't you? Is she your lover? Your mistress?"
"She's not-!"
Rangiku moved in close, meeting him eye to eye, their faces only inches away from each other. She could see the growing blush setting fire to his face, and it sent a rush of adrenaline through her system. "Is she Mrs. Sex Bunny?"
He was silent for several seconds before managing a vague, "And what if she is?"
The ship's new captain grinned as she pulled away, only to reach around his back and drag him right up against her side. "We'll have to break the news to her, of course! There's a new bunny lady in her old hare's heart."
Hitsugaya hastily pushed her away, straightening himself out but not looking at her directly. "It doesn't matter who she is. She isn't an ally we can trust."
And in an instant, she was left with a body full of adrenaline and a head full of shit. Damn it, but that stupid Loyal could sober a girl in two seconds flat. Too quickly for anyone's health.
"Come on, Hitsugaya," she sighed, trying to calm down as she turned away from the edge of the ship. "There are some maps of Port Resurreción in the captain's cabin. I want to know how accurate they are."
~*~
The room was large compared to the rest on the vessel, especially considering there was only one other person in it. It was furnished simply but completely - a dresser, two tables, chairs and stools, pillows and trinkets. Books were everywhere, except none touched the floor. There were only two cots in the corner, but they were also bigger than other ones he'd seen on the ship. Were there a couple of fastidious giants living here, hiding somewhere in the deepest bowels of the ship?
"No need to be so nervous, Little Prince. Please sit down."
Hanatarou Yamada anxiously stepped through the door, leaving the protection of Abarai's muscle behind and throwing himself to the clutches of Retsu Unohana's private quarters. The healer was one of the few pirates who was able to make him relax on this eternally stressful voyage, but that didn't make it any less nerve-wracking to be called into her quarters to talk. Why would she ask for him and not Hitsugaya?
"Y-You wanted to see me?" he managed as he sat on the edge of the offered stool, hands clenching the the wood on each side of him.
"Speaking isn't synonymous with scolding. The tea should help you calm down," she replied, getting up to take a teapot from atop a very small, isolated coal fire and pouring the steaming liquid into two cups. After dousing the fire, she handed one cup to him and took the other for herself.
He accepted it, stared suspiciously into its depths, and then took a sip.
Unohana lifted her own glass to her lips, as if to assure him it was safe. "I apologize for asking you here alone, but I knew we wouldn't get far with your valiant watch dog hovering over us."
Hanatarou choked on his tea.
The motherly healer was quick to take the cup from him, patting his back and helping him catch his breath again. But as soon as the worst was over, she grabbed hold of his trembling hands, squeezing them tightly. He tried to pull away, but her grip was too strong. Just what sort of woman was she?
"Your hands are callused, Little Prince."
Hanatarou stopped struggling. "Th-That-"
Unohana's voice was stern, her gaze unwavering. "You do a great deal of physical labor for a member of a royal family. Especially from a country as prestigious as Hueco Mundo."
"Wait-"
"And I can tell simply through observation that you've been abused over a long period of time."
The prince looked like a cornered rabbit - eyes wide, body shaking - but at that accusation his fear turned to desperation.
"It wasn't Hitsugaya!"
Unohana smiled, one of those all-knowing smiles that can shut a person up in an instant. Slowly, carefully, she let go of the trembling prince's hands. "I didn't mean to imply that. I examined him more thoroughly than you, if you recall."
Hanatarou took the moment to strategically become interested in his reddened palms.
"Those scars on his back weren't battle wounds, Little Prince."
When there was still no reply from her guest, she sighed - quiet and dignified but still disappointed.
"I told you that I didn't ask you here to scold you. I won't ask you to tell us what you're hiding either. Whatever secrets you may have, I understand you have reasons for making them secret. I have only one concern, the lives of the people aboard this galleon. So. Prince Hanatarou Yamada. Tell me, will any of your secrets cause harm to this crew?"
For some time, it seemed Hanatarou wouldn't even say anything in response to that. But finally, he reached for the cup of tea and took a second sip, gripping the cup as if it was a physical manifestation of the courage he strove to find. "Not... Not our secrets."
The answer was no louder than a whisper, but Unohana heard it as clearly as if it had been a shout. "Oh, I see," she intoned wryly. "You and your friend are operating under the assumption that no matter what you tell us, we will all die during this mission."
"H-His Highness doesn't negotiate..."
"Not with pirates?"
Hanatarou's grip on the cup, which had never been that tight in the first place, seemed to be slipping. "N-Not with ... anyone."
Unohana's lips formed an intrigued oh shape as she looked over the young prince in a new light. It made him feel very, very uncomfortable. And utterly transparent.
"Rangiku trusts you both very much," she asserted after few moments. "I don't know why, but she does. She knows you're keeping secrets, both of you. Half the crew does. But she trusts that you will tell us if it becomes necessary. It's as if she's a child seeing her very first rainbow. She's enchanted with you two; you're nothing short of sorcerers.
"Do you understand, Little Prince?"
He shook his head, not wanting to look away from the small cup before him.
"Rangiku doesn't believe this is a suicide mission. She believes that she can keep us all alive and return our captain to us. She believes she can do this because you and Hitsugaya are helping us."
This was the moment in time when Hitsugaya would have stood up and stormed out, dragging him along for the ride, but Hitsugaya wasn't there right now and the exit was still conspicuously shut. Hanatarou was no good at theatrics, only managed to hinder drama. So instead, he set down his unfinished tea one last time and hesitantly stood.
"M-May I p-please go now, ma'am?"
The woman stroked her braid once as if thinking about it, but no one could deny a face like that. It wasn't cute, it wasn't dejected, and it was hardly determined. It was just ... empty. That was his answer, she realized, and Retsu Unohana sighed. Hitsugaya may have accepted an alliance of sorts, but Rangiku was in for a very rude awakening if the very key to their victory, the hostage they needed to trade, was so certain that he had nothing of worth to offer.
"Yes, you may."
She watched him leave, quaking as he walked, and soon she fell into daydreams, thinking about what had transpired and what exactly it meant. She wondered how many patients she would see in the next few days ... and how many she would watch die.
"Ain't often that I can walk in here without ya scoldin' me fer not knockin'."
Retsu Unohana, the most dignified woman most anyone had ever met, jumped in surprise, letting out a very undignified "eep!" when she felt those large, familiar arms wrap around her from behind. Just how had he managed to sneak in while she was sitting right there?
"Kenpachi Zaraki, what are-" She paused, blinking up awkwardly at the man towering above her. His smirk was as wide as the ocean and almost as deep. "You didn't kill the poor thing with fright as he was leaving, did you?"
He pulled away, that smirk only growing as he matched the woman's gaze. "Nah. He looked scared 'nough already. I didn' have to do a thing."
Retsu didn't smile back. "It's nothing to be proud of. I separated a kitten from its mother and intimidated it until I was able to take from it what I wanted. It was a cowardly thing to do."
"You sure that one's the kitten?"
Yet again Retsu was taken aback. She had known Kenpachi for quite some time. Never once had she heard him refer to someone as meek and easily influenced as the young prince in such a way. "Why do you ask that?"
He shrugged before he began rubbing his fist in circles against her back, receiving only an expectant - and quickly growing impatient - look in return for his efforts.
"Neither of 'em's a lion, but at least that one don't try to hide how pathetic he is. That Hitsugaya brat ain't half o' what he looks. Ya can tell by the way he moves, never relaxes. He ain't no fighter; he's runnin' scared."
Finally, she let him move in again, leaning back into him as he placed his head atop her shoulder. She offered a small, sad smile.
"Have you ever been scared, Kenpachi?"
"No point in it."
"Sometimes running is the only thing you can do."
~*~
Chapter Thirteen End
~*~
Chapter Thirteen
In Too Deep
~*~
Hanatarou Yamada stood quietly on deck, watching the waves made by the ship's progress as they rammed into each other in fits of white foam. Hitsugaya had been talking to Miss Rangiku for a long time now. He was a little worried and a little apprehensive, unsure of what to do with himself without Hitsugaya pointing him in the right direction.
The sick bay wasn't in need of any more aid, and he really wasn't very good with anything else. He was barely passable as a medic.
"Don't you ever move?"
The jumpy prince was surprised by the voice, and Renji had to grab hold of him just to keep him from falling off the ship.
"E-Eh? Oh. I-I was waiting for Hitsugaya...." he trailed off once he'd managed to get himself balanced again.
Renji just snorted, shaking his head. "That woman can go on for hours. I wouldn't wait up."
"B-But I thought they were discussing plans?"
The wild redhead looked at him oddly. Hanatarou didn't know whether it was because he was stuttering or because he'd asked a dumb question. As he contemplated that, he couldn't help but notice that Renji had a different set of guns with him this time. Bigger ones.
"They probably were, the first two hours or so. Now c'mon. They'll probably be in there for another two hours before they're done. Unohana wanted to talk to ya for something."
Well, Renji wasn't the most comforting person Yamada had met on this ship, but they were supposed to be allies now, right? Or something like that. Maybe?
It was with a hesitant shuffle that he followed the other man to the lower levels.
~*~
"And that bald head of his barrelled right through the main sail and out into the water. Yachiru said his head tasted like sushi for days afterward. Not even Kenpachi's been willing to get on Unohana's bad side since!"
Captain Matsumoto giggled at the memory, and Hitsugaya even allowed himself a small snort to show his amusement. The thought of Madarame sailing through one of the sails was a satisfying one.
"But enough about us! Now it's your turn. I've gotten to know you and Hanatarou, but then there's Ichigo too. How did that one happen? And how many others can we expect aid from?"
"The first time I saw Kurosaki, he was committing high treason."
Matsumoto promptly erupted into a laughing fit, supporting herself with the railing of the ship as her back arched in glee. "Okay, now I know you're telling the truth! That sounds just like him!"
"If it had been anyone else, he would have been carted away and executed," came the haughty, disapproving reply.
But the woman captain only chuckled. "Well, it wasn't anyone else. It was you and Hanatarou."
Hitsugaya sighed, joining her in leaning against the railing, but he made a point of facing the water instead of the other pirates still running about on deck. Rangiku Matsumoto had been spilling her guts to him for several hours now; if this was going to go as planned, he would have to give her something in return.
"Each heir to Hueco Mundo's throne is allowed a personal guard, usually of four to six people. Most often they choose generals, captains, Loyals of high rank and experience. Two years ago, Yamada and I instead screened younger soldiers, just out of training and with little field experience."
"Oh, because they'd be more rebellious!"
"Because they would be a little less brain washed," Hitsugaya snorted in reply. "We're required by law to begin any similar interview with…"
~*~
"Are you loyal to King Aizen?"
"Hell no."
Toushirou Hitsugaya couldn't believe his ears. Teal eyes glanced at the person next to him, and Hanatarou's own dull brown orbs met the gaze in startled confusion.
The room was small and dim - empty of everything but a table, chairs, and three boys. Before them, on the other side of the table, sat an ornery teenager with messy orange hair, a scowl a mile long, and an apathetic slouch like no other. An ornery teenager who had just said something neither of the Loyals had ever heard uttered before in public.
"Come again?" Hitsugaya voiced as he turned back to the interviewee.
Ichigo Kurosaki leaned forward in his chair, scowl only widening. "Under Aizen's new conscription law, in a couple of years my little sisters are going to be forced from our home, trained in espionage, and sent on suicide missions! My little sisters! As far as I'm concerned Aizen and everything he's done to this country can rot in hell! You people are sick, getting off by forcing strangers to fight your battles for you. There's no way I'd be loyal to an ass like that!"
When neither Hitsugaya nor Yamada could muster up a reply, Hitsugaya actually having dropped his quill somewhere along the line, he continued.
"What, you're speechless? Like father, like son, huh? What a pathetic prince, looking for people who haven't even finished basic training to protect your sorry asshole? How do you justify something like that? Think you'd get a kick out of watching a bunch of amateurs die trying to save your worthless lives?"
Yamada couldn't bring himself to do much more than gape, but Hitsugaya saw fit to do otherwise, leaning over the table to meet Kurosaki eye to eye. "What you just said is worth at least four counts of treason and is punishable by death," he intoned, his voice steady and monotonous.
"Then kill me, why don't you? I'd rather die than enable you bastards."
The two Loyals exchanged one last glance before straightening themselves out.
"Congratulations. The position is yours."
~*~
Yet again, the pirate ship's designated captain couldn't hold back a side-splitting fit of laughter. "I wish I could have seen his face!"
That earned her a self-satisfied smirk from the young man at her side. "It was very gratifying."
"Who else? Who else?" she pressed, excited by the story. If even Isshin's boy was in on all of this, she wanted to know everyone who was, she wanted to know everyone in Hueco Mundo who opposed their king. It was something she'd never considered before, the idea that there could actually be people in Hueco Mundo who weren't ruthless, narcissistic bastards. She knew Kenpachi Zaraki and his fighting force had all been raised there, but they, like Byakuya and Renji, had denounced it as their home. Somehow Hanatarou and Hitsugaya were different. How many others were like them, just waiting for their chances? "Spit it out."
"Kurosaki didn't believe us at first," Hitsugaya sighed, letting his chin rest on his arms above the railing, "but when he realized what we were doing, he recommended Orihime Inoue and Sado Yasutora. They were close friends, their families tied to the Kurosakis as well as their illegal activities. I found Uryuu Ishida during another interview. His grandfather had founded an archery troupe, but they were used as scapegoats for a crime they didn't commit. His grandfather along with the rest of the troupe was falsely accused and executed.
"Other than that, there's only..."
"Who's Hina?"
Hitsugaya whirled around, teal eyes wide in unabated surprise. "Wh-What?"
"That's what you called me when you were waking up this morning." Rangiku smiled mischievously, leaning one arm against the rail suggestively in sharp contrast to her companion's sudden stiffness.
"You were awake?" he asked, his voice almost inaudible.
"You thought you were laying with her, didn't you? Is she your lover? Your mistress?"
"She's not-!"
Rangiku moved in close, meeting him eye to eye, their faces only inches away from each other. She could see the growing blush setting fire to his face, and it sent a rush of adrenaline through her system. "Is she Mrs. Sex Bunny?"
He was silent for several seconds before managing a vague, "And what if she is?"
The ship's new captain grinned as she pulled away, only to reach around his back and drag him right up against her side. "We'll have to break the news to her, of course! There's a new bunny lady in her old hare's heart."
Hitsugaya hastily pushed her away, straightening himself out but not looking at her directly. "It doesn't matter who she is. She isn't an ally we can trust."
And in an instant, she was left with a body full of adrenaline and a head full of shit. Damn it, but that stupid Loyal could sober a girl in two seconds flat. Too quickly for anyone's health.
"Come on, Hitsugaya," she sighed, trying to calm down as she turned away from the edge of the ship. "There are some maps of Port Resurreción in the captain's cabin. I want to know how accurate they are."
~*~
The room was large compared to the rest on the vessel, especially considering there was only one other person in it. It was furnished simply but completely - a dresser, two tables, chairs and stools, pillows and trinkets. Books were everywhere, except none touched the floor. There were only two cots in the corner, but they were also bigger than other ones he'd seen on the ship. Were there a couple of fastidious giants living here, hiding somewhere in the deepest bowels of the ship?
"No need to be so nervous, Little Prince. Please sit down."
Hanatarou Yamada anxiously stepped through the door, leaving the protection of Abarai's muscle behind and throwing himself to the clutches of Retsu Unohana's private quarters. The healer was one of the few pirates who was able to make him relax on this eternally stressful voyage, but that didn't make it any less nerve-wracking to be called into her quarters to talk. Why would she ask for him and not Hitsugaya?
"Y-You wanted to see me?" he managed as he sat on the edge of the offered stool, hands clenching the the wood on each side of him.
"Speaking isn't synonymous with scolding. The tea should help you calm down," she replied, getting up to take a teapot from atop a very small, isolated coal fire and pouring the steaming liquid into two cups. After dousing the fire, she handed one cup to him and took the other for herself.
He accepted it, stared suspiciously into its depths, and then took a sip.
Unohana lifted her own glass to her lips, as if to assure him it was safe. "I apologize for asking you here alone, but I knew we wouldn't get far with your valiant watch dog hovering over us."
Hanatarou choked on his tea.
The motherly healer was quick to take the cup from him, patting his back and helping him catch his breath again. But as soon as the worst was over, she grabbed hold of his trembling hands, squeezing them tightly. He tried to pull away, but her grip was too strong. Just what sort of woman was she?
"Your hands are callused, Little Prince."
Hanatarou stopped struggling. "Th-That-"
Unohana's voice was stern, her gaze unwavering. "You do a great deal of physical labor for a member of a royal family. Especially from a country as prestigious as Hueco Mundo."
"Wait-"
"And I can tell simply through observation that you've been abused over a long period of time."
The prince looked like a cornered rabbit - eyes wide, body shaking - but at that accusation his fear turned to desperation.
"It wasn't Hitsugaya!"
Unohana smiled, one of those all-knowing smiles that can shut a person up in an instant. Slowly, carefully, she let go of the trembling prince's hands. "I didn't mean to imply that. I examined him more thoroughly than you, if you recall."
Hanatarou took the moment to strategically become interested in his reddened palms.
"Those scars on his back weren't battle wounds, Little Prince."
When there was still no reply from her guest, she sighed - quiet and dignified but still disappointed.
"I told you that I didn't ask you here to scold you. I won't ask you to tell us what you're hiding either. Whatever secrets you may have, I understand you have reasons for making them secret. I have only one concern, the lives of the people aboard this galleon. So. Prince Hanatarou Yamada. Tell me, will any of your secrets cause harm to this crew?"
For some time, it seemed Hanatarou wouldn't even say anything in response to that. But finally, he reached for the cup of tea and took a second sip, gripping the cup as if it was a physical manifestation of the courage he strove to find. "Not... Not our secrets."
The answer was no louder than a whisper, but Unohana heard it as clearly as if it had been a shout. "Oh, I see," she intoned wryly. "You and your friend are operating under the assumption that no matter what you tell us, we will all die during this mission."
"H-His Highness doesn't negotiate..."
"Not with pirates?"
Hanatarou's grip on the cup, which had never been that tight in the first place, seemed to be slipping. "N-Not with ... anyone."
Unohana's lips formed an intrigued oh shape as she looked over the young prince in a new light. It made him feel very, very uncomfortable. And utterly transparent.
"Rangiku trusts you both very much," she asserted after few moments. "I don't know why, but she does. She knows you're keeping secrets, both of you. Half the crew does. But she trusts that you will tell us if it becomes necessary. It's as if she's a child seeing her very first rainbow. She's enchanted with you two; you're nothing short of sorcerers.
"Do you understand, Little Prince?"
He shook his head, not wanting to look away from the small cup before him.
"Rangiku doesn't believe this is a suicide mission. She believes that she can keep us all alive and return our captain to us. She believes she can do this because you and Hitsugaya are helping us."
This was the moment in time when Hitsugaya would have stood up and stormed out, dragging him along for the ride, but Hitsugaya wasn't there right now and the exit was still conspicuously shut. Hanatarou was no good at theatrics, only managed to hinder drama. So instead, he set down his unfinished tea one last time and hesitantly stood.
"M-May I p-please go now, ma'am?"
The woman stroked her braid once as if thinking about it, but no one could deny a face like that. It wasn't cute, it wasn't dejected, and it was hardly determined. It was just ... empty. That was his answer, she realized, and Retsu Unohana sighed. Hitsugaya may have accepted an alliance of sorts, but Rangiku was in for a very rude awakening if the very key to their victory, the hostage they needed to trade, was so certain that he had nothing of worth to offer.
"Yes, you may."
She watched him leave, quaking as he walked, and soon she fell into daydreams, thinking about what had transpired and what exactly it meant. She wondered how many patients she would see in the next few days ... and how many she would watch die.
"Ain't often that I can walk in here without ya scoldin' me fer not knockin'."
Retsu Unohana, the most dignified woman most anyone had ever met, jumped in surprise, letting out a very undignified "eep!" when she felt those large, familiar arms wrap around her from behind. Just how had he managed to sneak in while she was sitting right there?
"Kenpachi Zaraki, what are-" She paused, blinking up awkwardly at the man towering above her. His smirk was as wide as the ocean and almost as deep. "You didn't kill the poor thing with fright as he was leaving, did you?"
He pulled away, that smirk only growing as he matched the woman's gaze. "Nah. He looked scared 'nough already. I didn' have to do a thing."
Retsu didn't smile back. "It's nothing to be proud of. I separated a kitten from its mother and intimidated it until I was able to take from it what I wanted. It was a cowardly thing to do."
"You sure that one's the kitten?"
Yet again Retsu was taken aback. She had known Kenpachi for quite some time. Never once had she heard him refer to someone as meek and easily influenced as the young prince in such a way. "Why do you ask that?"
He shrugged before he began rubbing his fist in circles against her back, receiving only an expectant - and quickly growing impatient - look in return for his efforts.
"Neither of 'em's a lion, but at least that one don't try to hide how pathetic he is. That Hitsugaya brat ain't half o' what he looks. Ya can tell by the way he moves, never relaxes. He ain't no fighter; he's runnin' scared."
Finally, she let him move in again, leaning back into him as he placed his head atop her shoulder. She offered a small, sad smile.
"Have you ever been scared, Kenpachi?"
"No point in it."
"Sometimes running is the only thing you can do."
~*~
Chapter Thirteen End