Treatment

She likes treating him.

She likes treating a lot of people- the fulfillment when they get up and walk, alive and soon-to-be well, is the main reason she's in the 4th division.

She can't treat him the normal way- his ridiculous eye patch eats up her reiatsu faster than it does his, because that's just how 'bloody badass' his reiatsu is. If he takes it off, his aura is so strong she can't concentrate. (This had a lot to do with a person's aura reflecting their base feelings, and the kind of base thoughts Kenpachi had when she placed her hands on his bare skin.)

She likes treating him- seeing him come in near death or with wounds that should herald death, when he's still so full of life even with it seeping (gushing, actually, if he's coming for treatment) out of him, some bright spot in knowing that she doesn't have to try to save him while around her people die no matter how hard she strives.

She likes the sheer aliveness of him, the life that he emanates over everything he does, characteristic of a fighter (healers are too shadowed by silent death to be loud) - characteristic of him, this brash man who celebrates life with blood and death.

When she bandages him –when she wraps linen around hard muscles and warm skin- he'll be complaining about how he doesn't need so man bloody bandages, Retsu, and how he needs some personal attention, nurse (half on top of him, pulled there by healthy hands, she smiles).

She likes treating him- likes feeling his strong pulse and warm grip instead of the hesitant heartbeat and clammy skin of the patients, his loud voice and even breathing instead of their fading gasps and labored breaths.

Most of all, about treating him- she likes knowing that he's so alive, and that he's not changing anytime soon.

When she treats him, he'll complain about being coddled, then shamelessly demand 'personal attention' (with a smirk that makes her blush) and her to feed him, and then hang around for hours, distracting her.

This time, on her way out he gooses her, and she's so surprised she squawks and overbalances into his arms. Looking up backwards at his manic grin, aware o the people sticking their heads into the room, held to his warm firmness by a hand the size of her head, she begins to laugh, loud and long.

She likes treating him.

-end-