What's that coming over the hill?

[sinister_bells]

Who: Kenpachi Zaraki (sinister_bells) and Yachiru Kusajishi (inpiecesofcloud)
When: After this.
Where: The Zaraki &Kusajishi residence
Format: Paragraph
What: Yachiru tells Kenpachi all about the big fight between Priscilla and Riful.
Warnings: None, really

Comments

[inpiecesofcloud]

Yachiru's head snapped up and suddenly she was angry. It was a pure anger, a hatred so strong and undistracted it could only have formed in a child's heart.

"It was Riful." In answer to both questions. She had disposed of the nick-name she had given that monster. She didn't deserve to have a name from Yachiru. "It was her fault. She did terrible things and she fought Scilly. And I tried to make her go away but she cut me. And Scilly was so mad, I never saw her so mad." She stopped and blinked, as if remembering for the first time. Her breathing was heavy, labored. Scared. "She looked different, too. Like a monster. Her skin was all dark and she had pointy teeth like a shark."

Her eyes went round again, distraught. It wasn't remembering this that upset her or even having seen Priscilla look so that scared her, but the sensations that had come with it. It was that terrifying power that wanted to eat up her sister so she could never see her again. She had understood death and she understood loss both intimately from a very early age. She'd lost her natural parents when she was only a baby, been abandoned in a land of blood. But maybe that was why she had such a violent reaction to loss now. Because she knew how real and how possible it was for her to find herself all alone again and covered in red. It was the only thing that terrified her.

She leaned back a little further and put her little hand on Kenpachi's face, her fingers touching the scar over his left eye. Ken-chan would never leave her all alone. He wouldn't abandon her. She could trust that as a certainty, a given. An absolute.

"I made her come back."

[sinister_bells]

"Terrible things?" He cocked his head slightly. Some morbid curiosity made him want to know what shoved Priscilla over the edge. Never to use later on, if he fought it would be on his terms. But limitations were good to know.

Turned into a monster. Is that what Riful was? The tentacles, the discoloration. Was she some sort of hollow, maybe an arrancar? He'd find that out later, Riful would surface eventually. Creatures like that always did.

No, the monster was in reference to Priscilla. He knew that she had some inner energy she could channel. And she had changed a little in their fight. Did she push too far?

Yachiru's panicked breathes set his teeth on edge. He gripped a little tighter, reminding her of where she actually was and who was holding her. Anything to reassure her and to make the fear stop.

"And are you okay?" Well, that question was a double-edged sword. Clearly she wasn't. There was the shoulder to worry about though. She was touching his scar on his face now. Kenpachi moved his right hand to her temple, brushing the hair out of her face.

"How did you bring her back"

[inpiecesofcloud]

Yachiru settled down into Kenpachi's arms, her hands taking hold of some of the fabric of his robes. He was solid, he was here and she loved him so much sometimes she could barely hold it in. Being close to him now calmed her down a lot and her breathing evened out and her eyes cleared as she felt his finger pass against the side of her head and push her dirty hair out of her eyes.

"I'm okay, Ken-chan," she said, nodding. She shrugged her shoulder a little. "Doesn't really even hurt. Stupid Riful It's all her fault. It's all all her fault. I think she really hurt somebody Scilly likes. I couldn't tell, he was gone already when I got there. But I think. And she fights like a cheater, too. I hate her."

But Riful was only the cause behind what had scared her so much.

"I told her to. I told her come back! I said not to lose because I was scared and I didn't want her to go away. And I hugged her." Yachiru's breath hitched again and she shivered, leaning closer to Kenpachi. "I held onto her and I begged her not to go."

[sinister_bells]

Priscilla had pushed too far and somehow Yachiru had brought her back. A small smile appeared at the thought. She still impressed him, even now. He continued to stroke her hair as she calmed down.

"Fights like a cheater, eh?" He could have laughed at that. Considering all that had happened, that Riful apparently had done, that she should also be accused of cheating- Well, it was amusing.

He stood up, still holding Yachiru so she didn't fall. He headed for the door.

"We'll get that shoulder fixed up at the clinic. Then we'll see what's going on." Because this surely wasn't over, not by a long shot. He closed the door without locking it - who would dare steal from him? - and headed to where he thought the clinic was. Well, Yachiru knew, at any rate. She'd point the way.

"You did good today, kid."

[inpiecesofcloud]

"Like a cheater," she mumbled bad-temperedly. She leaned against his chest, one hand still clutching the fabric of his clothing. There was something very comforting about being close to him, his familiar scent and the warmth of his body. And she was so tired, so she was happy he was holding onto her because she was too shaky and worn out to hold onto him.

She nodded, resting her head against him, at the suggestion of going to the clinic. She didn't really care either way about her shoulder wound. It wasn't nearly as worrisome as the persistent fear she couldn't seem to shake off.

"I did, Ken-chan?" Giant brown eyes turned up to stare at him, questioning, uncertain. Worried. "You think so?"

[sinister_bells]

"And how exactly does she fight like a cheater?" He's very amused by her proclaimation of this. Normally Kenpachi wouldn't ask but this whole Riful thing isn't over yet. If they do fight and she "cheats" he'd like to know about it.

He ambled through the streets, not too concerned about losing his way or even getting there quickly. Yachiru's strong and quite resistant to injury. She'll heal fast.

"Yeah. You did. You brought Priscilla back. I'm proud of you." A smile forms, a touch of pride in it.

[inpiecesofcloud]

"She pretends she's a little girl all the time, but when she starts fighting she's like a hundred feet tall and has all these arms like ribbons and they can cut! She's a liar! Plus she only picks fights with people who are weaker than her."

Her little fists tightened in the fabric of his robes when he speaks. And when he smiled, she smiled back, small but genuine, and then she rested her forehead against his chest. For Ken-chan to say he was proud of her - she knew he was, but to hear him say it out loud - it almost made everything that had happened tonight okay. It made her feel like she was big and strong like him, like there was nothing she couldn't do, no one she couldn't fight, no battle she couldn't win.