Title: Tolerance
Characters: Zaraki, Yachiru
Warning/s: None
A/N: My first Bleach fic ever, so would you be dears and leave me some constructive crit. Thanks a bunch.
Zaraki Kenpachi likes to think that he's a very tolerant person.
He doesn't complain when he's awoken by a loud, "Ken-channnnn!" and then jumped on by a pink haired brat that obviously has had too much candy, way too early in the morning. Which reminds him that he really needs to get around to dealing with that freakin' Kuchiki one day, because he just knows he had something to do with this. But instead of gutting the person who woke him up at such an ungodly hour of the morning like he usually would, he simply shoves her off of him--not too hard, mind you--and grumbles a quick,
"I'm up runt, I'm up." To which the latter has long since grown immune to, due to the various name calling he puts her through. So she merely smiles widely, and with a cheery "Come on Ken-chan!", speeds out of the room.
Kenpachi is almost tempted to go right back to sleep but doesn't feel like having to deal with a teary-eyed fukutaichou, and definitely doesn't want to explain to Unohana-taichou why Yachiru went on a rampage (also known as finding someone other than Ken-chan to play with), and why exactly half of the 11th squad are currently in the infirmary.
Nope, Zaraki Kenpachi definitely doesn't want to do that, and he doesn't want her to remember that he never did show up for that yearly check-up he was supposed to go to last month.
It's only when Kenpachi hears a large crash does he know that he's stayed in his room for too long, and hurriedly -more like leisurely- leaves the room, but not because he was worried about his fukutaichou, oh no. It was merely because he really didn't want to have to explain anything to Unohana-taichou, and now he figures that he's saving face because it wouldn't do for the strongest division in the Gotei 13 to be disabled because they had their ribs broken from playing "horsie".
And so when Zaraki goes out for breakfast and sits 'Indian style' at his usual place at the table, surrounded by a suspiciously happy Yumichika, a hung-over Ikkaku, and other 11th squad members, he says nothing when Yachiru plops herself on his lap. Smiling happily up at her Ken-chan while she proceeds to devour everything on his plate. And that's why he merely scowls and tells his fukutaichou to get her own food, while he holds the plate over her head. And Kenpachi definitely doesn't think it's cute when she scowls almost as menacingly as he did and zips from his lap and comes back with a huge bowl of food, which she somewhat grudgingly lets him share, but only because she felt guilty for eating his.
Zaraki merely tolerates her while she sits in their office finger painting whilst he painstakingly goes through both their paperwork, and only momentarily scoffs as he off-handedly remarks that she should be "takin' care of her own crap."
But Yachiru only smiles happily and shows him her new masterpiece, which consisted of an unusually messy drawing of her Ken-chan ripping the heads off of the hollows they ran into the other day.
And that's why Zaraki tolerates her when she tacks the picture on the wall and sits back down to draw some more, and somehow, Kenpachi doesn't really mind anymore that she doesn't do her own paperwork, besides the last time she did, it was sent back to their office with a little note attached to it that read:
Kusajishi-fukutaichou, would you please refrain from drawing pictures not pertaining to the paperwork assigned to your division.
It said more, but Zaraki didn't have time to read it before Yachiru decided to turn it into her new finger painting paper.
Zaraki Kenpachi is a very tolerant man, which is why he puts up with tucking Yachiru into bed every night, but not before he reads her a story, which of course had something to do with a conspicuously strong man ripping the head off of something. (Kenpachi briefly wonders if he should be reading this to her, but quickly throws away that thought...the story is getting pretty interesting after all.)
He deals with her constant excited interruptions and her pointing out that he doesn't do the birdie voice quite as well as Baldie, Feather Brow, or Maki Maki does.
He also deals with her coming into his room on nights where she can't seem to sleep and climbing onto his futon, and under the cover without a word and curling up against his back like he was the world's biggest pillow.
Zaraki Kenpachi only puts up with Yachiru because he is a very tolerant man, not because he cares about her or anything, nope, definitely, definitely not.
And Zaraki doesn't say anything when Yachiru mutters a happy "Ken-chan" in her sleep and moves even closer to him--if that's even possible--,and says what Zaraki can only decipher as "love."
Zaraki snorts, but moves the covers over Yachiru, settling himself to sleep as he lets out two words that one could only decipher as affectionate.
"Che...Brat."
Yeah, Zaraki Kenpachi is a very tolerant man.