A sword cut through the tentacle holding Kira, and strong arms grabbed him as Zaraki Kenpachi flashed over to a rooftop, setting Kira down. Kira's legs buckled under him, and he fell over, face meeting the rough tiles.

Zaraki quickly turned him over, taking in the blood still oozing from his shoulder, the rough, quick breaths Kira was drawing, trying to lessen the pain in his ribs, and the fatigued expression.

"Gonna fucking kill 'im," Zaraki growled, turning from Kira and pointing at the Shinigami dotted on the ground below him. "Someone get up 'ere!"

Two Shinigami appeared beside him the moment he'd issued the order, but Zaraki didn't have the chance to say anything else as a large tentacle smashed through the part of the roof he'd been standing on seconds before.

Zaraki, appearing besides Kira, grinned at the Espada – the captain was slow in battle, but not that slow. Obviously, the Espada was in pain.

"What're yer name, anyway?" Zaraki called as the Shinigami moved to Kira and knelt beside him. He didn't look back at the blond – taking his attention off the dangerous Espada for even a second would be quite hazardous. Zaraki wanted to murder the monster, not be killed.

"Luppi. Sixth Espada," Luppi said, grinning back just as arrogantly. Zaraki 'hmm'ed, lifting his sword. He could feel the familiar reiatsu of Ukitake and Hisagi coming closer – apparently, they'd been alerted by members of the 3rd, too.

"Well, Luppi. First, I'm gonna mutilate every single fucking tentacle you have, for ever daring to use 'em on Kira. Then, I'm gonna enjoy cuttin' up your body into little pieces an' hearin' your screams 'a' pain – because there will be pain," Zaraki assured. Luppi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, really? I'd like to see the day," he said, and then spread his arms wide in a 'come hither' gesture. Zaraki raised his sword and, in one leap, had cleared the space between him and Luppi, anger making him faster.

Luppi's eyes widened at Zaraki's surprising proximity. Zaraki barked a laugh and, starting at the Espada's shoulder, carved a deep line to his waist, before Luppi managed to move away.

A tentacle soared at Zaraki, who quickly chopped it off. Luppi growled and moved it away, and Zaraki dispatched the next tentacle coming his way.

"Ye'r pretty slow, aintcha?" Zaraki noticed. Luppi grit his teeth. "Pretty weak, if ya ask me. Bet I could find an unseated Shinigami to just take care of you." Three tentacles soared towards him, and Zaraki, grinning, cut all three up.

"Shut up! No-one asked you, did they?" Luppi shouted, raising both his hands. Zaraki frowned curiously as red light gathered in his palms, before his eyes widened. Luppi grinned as the red light formed a large ball and light flew from his hand, straight to Zaraki.

A body collided with Zaraki's, pushing him out of the way, and he fell to the rooftop with an 'oof'.

"Slow idiot!" Kira hissed at him, scrambling off and grimacing in pain. The two Shinigami who were supposed to be with him looked confused, and Zaraki growled at them.

"Take care o' him, you fuckers!" he snapped, before turning to Kira. "And you! Stay put, where you won't get hur-"

Zaraki was cut off by another bolt of red light moving swiftly towards them. He gathered Kira up and dodged out of the way, off the roof and onto the floor. The rest of the 11th squad had arrived and were currently fending off the arrancar that had followed Luppi.

"Madarame!" Zaraki roared. The bald Shinigami quickly ran over to them, and Zaraki dumped Kira into his arms. "Make sure he doesn't fuckin' escape."

Ikkaku grit his teeth, obviously displeased with the task – he was a fighter, not a babysitter. Zaraki smiled grimly. "Don't worry, you'll be able to fight him- feisty little nuisance."

And then he took off towards Luppi, leaving Madarame to sigh in annoyance, and then yelp when Kira kicked his shin and attempted to take off after Zaraki.

Another cero skimmed just by Zaraki's cheek, and he laughed, delighted. "Tha's more like it! Was getting pretty boring before an' all," he told Luppi, who gave him a disgruntled glare.

"Well, you're getting rather boring too! Am I seriously gonna have to do all the work?" he snapped. Zaraki's eye lit up, and he charged towards Luppi, who paled as the enormous Shinigami came running. "Fuck."

In a flash, Zaraki was right in front of him, and Luppi narrowly avoided a sword to the neck. Zaraki's zanpakuto moved down and stabbed through his chest. Luppi stilled, gasping at the feeling of intense pain.

"That the best you got?" Zaraki asked, sounding rather disappointed as Luppi breathed in and out harshly, hands moving to try and tug the sword out of his chest. Luppi's head shot up to glare at him.

"I'll show you," he snarled and, with a great effort, pulled himself off of Zaraki's serrated blade. Zaraki smiled and stood back, swinging his sword so it rested against his back, baring himself vulnerably to Luppi.

"Well, go on then. You're not proving much of a challenge – how 'bout I let you get in a free hit. Reckon that'll help?" he asked, gesturing to his inoffensive body. Luppi stared at him incredulously, before shaking his head.

"I don't need your pity!" Zaraki barked a laugh, making no move to rescind the offer – he was curious, deathly curious. Would a cero be able to burn his skin, be able to even hurt him? Luppi hardly seemed like the strongest Espada to come from Heuco Mundo, after all.

"'S not pity. This fight's jus' really dull," he informed the Espada. Luppi's eyes flared with fire and he held his hands up, the palms to Zaraki. Zaraki grinned, cheerful. He'd be able to sate his curiosity.

The cero shot towards him, hitting him full in the chest, while Luppi watched, satisfied. Zaraki didn't even move, eyebrows raised as he waited for something to happen. After a moment, Luppi's eyebrows drew together, confused, and Zaraki looked down at his chest. The skin was slightly reddened.

"Tch," Zaraki muttered, swinging his zanpakuto so it was in front of him. "Disgusting."

"H-how?" Luppi whispered, fascinated with Zaraki's body, the slight redness, but no real burn in sight. He'd poured all his power into that cero, shot it with everything he had. He was certain that Zaraki would be fried alive. "I hit you. I hit you."

And yet... he was unharmed.

"What are you?" Luppi murmured, shaking his head, horrified. He'd seen this with higher Espada, but never with Shinigami. Zaraki made a curious sound.

"Me? I'm just a lowly Shinigami," he answered, zanpakuto shifting. That was Luppi's only warning before Zaraki was running at him, cutting away the tentacles aiming for him, and reaching his body again.

His sword shot out, stabbing through Luppi's shoulder, and poking out the other side of his body. Luppi's mouth fell open and his eyes began watering.

"How'd you like it, eh? Is it painful? Are yeh simply burning?" Zaraki asked, withdrawing his sword. Ukitake was behind him, and Hisagi and his squad below, getting rid of arrancar.

"Hey Ukitake," Zaraki greeted, all friendly, before ramming his sword into Luppi's stomach.

"Zaraki," Ukitake returned, sounding rather confused and slightly put-off by the gory violence. Zaraki chuckled, withdrew his sword again, and, drawing his zanpakuto to the side, swung it at Luppi's head. Beheading him would be just hilarious- he could hang the head on his wall, like a trophy.

Just as Zaraki's sword brushed the skin of Luppi's neck, the Espada was grabbed and drug out of the way.

After shaking off his momentary confusing, Zaraki growled, eyes narrowing, as he took in who had just disrupted his well-deserved kill. He'd been really looking forward to that, as well.

Another Espada, with a blank face and a helmet mask regarded him coldly, before reaching behind him to rip open a garganta, the black line widening to form a hole big enough for them to step through. Luppi sagged in his arms, stubs of his tentacles wiggling.

"Oi!" Zaraki snarled, making to follow them as they stepped in – he'd kill that little bastard if it was the last thing he did, for even daring to hurt his Kira. However, the blank Espada quickly put a stop to this.

Dropping Luppi, the monster cupped both his hands, palms facing Zaraki. Red light formed. Zaraki grinned, slipping into a defensive position. Luppi couldn't even hit him with a cero, what made this Espada think he could?

"No, Zaraki!" Ukitake suddenly yelled, moving to him. But it was too late.

The cero shot out of the Espada's hands and hit Zaraki head on. Zaraki's eyes widened and he only just held in a scream as his body was hit with intense agony. Every nerve end seemed like it was on fire.

"Oh fuck," he hissed, teeth clenched tightly together, and then he grinned. "What a great way to die."

Zaraki's eyes slipped closed as he lost consciousness. Ukitake caught him before he fell, raising his own zanpakuto to attack the Espada. However, he had already stepped into the garganta and was closing it behind him. Ukitake glared as the black line disappeared.

x.x.x.x.x

"Is he-" Vice-Captain Isane smiled grimly and patted Kira's shoulder.

"He's still the same," she said softly. Unohana had been attending to Zaraki as much as possible, but, though the Shinigami was now stable, he wasn't conscious.

Kira nodded, stepped away from Isane and walking into the room Zaraki inhabited on his own, partly because he was a captain, and partly because most of the Shinigami in the Goeti 13 were terrified of being in the same room as him, awake or not.

Kira stopped in the doorway after he slid the door closed. Zaraki was lying in the same bed he'd been in since they brought him into the 4th division. His bandaged chest rose and fell in time with his breathing, and his eyes were still closed.

Moving to Zaraki, Kira stood over him, fingers reaching out to rest just above Zaraki's face. It was covered with small burns that were quickly healing. His eye patch had been dissolved in the cero, which was possibly a good thing, as the man was healing faster than most Shinigami, and his released reiatsu had shielded him slightly from the cero. Most of his body was still covered in bandages, however.

"Please wake up," Kira murmured quietly, drawing his hand away. Zaraki didn't stir. Kira sighed, looking over the rest of Zaraki's battered body. "I'm so sorry, please. Just wake up."

Why had he been so stupid? He'd... he'd got Zaraki hurt, burnt to a cinder. Zaraki Kenpachi, who no-one had been able to even cut since Kurosaki Ichigo.

Surprisingly, the terrifying captain had had a lot of visitors in the past few days. All of his squad had visited him at some point, and Yachiru was usually found around the 4th division, asking the members endless questions. At one point, they're brought Ikkaku and Renji in, the loudest Shinigami in Soul Society, counting on them to make enough noise to wake Zaraki.

It hadn't worked, and Unohana had berated the idiots who'd thought of the plan because most of the other patients hadn't been able to get any rest.

Kira was still confined in the infirmary himself, although in a different room to Zaraki. Unohana had thought that being in the same room would make him restless, and stop his healing progress. His ribs were still healing, and his bruised spine was causing trouble. However, the puncture in his lungs and stomach had been healed.

Kira carefully sat down on the edge of Zaraki's bed and brushed his fingers against the back of Zaraki's hand. He wasn't bold enough to take Zaraki's hand, or show him any other physical affection. Their relationship still made him uncertain. Especially since he'd nearly got Zaraki killed with his weakness.

"If you wake up, I won't even be angry about you foisting me off on Madarame," Kira coaxed. He and Madarame had took part in a twenty minute struggle as Kira attempted to get to Zaraki. Apparently, it was a very good fight, from Ikkaku's perspective. Kira didn't get the 11th squad's need for fights.

A Shinigami took that opportunity to bustle into the room with a tray of medicine in hand. He set it down on the bedside table and grinned at Kira. Hanatarou or something, wasn't it?

"You know, Unohana-taichou said there's been increased activity in his brain," the boy said brightly, arranging bandages and ointments. Kira felt hope rise within him – Unohana hadn't said much about his condition, obviously not wanting to give Kira false hope.

"Yeah, she says there's the chance he might come out of his coma," Hanatarou said, "so we're all watching him more carefully."

Kira's gaze flitted back to Zaraki's serene face, and he smiled slightly. He honestly hoped that Unohana was right, that he'd wake up – the first two days, they'd all expected Zaraki to wake up, but after he remained unconscious, they'd lost a bit of faith. Unohana couldn't cure everything, and that included brain damage.

"None of us really expected Zaraki-taichou to, you know, with you," Hanatarou continued, giving Kira pause. Finally he raised his eyebrows – that was an odd way of putting it. "No offense, but you hardly seemed compatible."

Hanatarou continued to obliviously chatter on about Kira and Zaraki, and then the other squads, as he dabbed the wounds on Zaraki's face with a cotton bud and some ointment. Kira tuned him out, stroking his fingers along Zaraki's hand.

He barely noticed when the hand twitched, something it hadn't done in days, so lost in his own thoughts was he. However, he did notice when fingers grabbed his own, stopping their movement.

"Stop. Itches," Zaraki rasped, and Kira's eyes shot to his face. Zaraki's eyes were still closed, but his lips curved in a smile. Hanatarou let out a little shriek, dropping his cotton bud. Kira gulped.

"Zaraki-taichou?" he whispered uncertainly. Hanatarou leant closer as well. Zaraki groaned, shifting slightly. Kira turned to Hanatarou and requested some water for Zaraki. Hanatarou quickly fled the room.

"Drop the formalities," Zaraki told him. Kira bit his lip – he hadn't obeyed the first time Zaraki said it, and he would probably continue with formalities... but no need to tell the man that. Zaraki's grip on his hand tightened slightly.

"What can you remember?" Kira asked hesitantly. He would have thought Zaraki would be jumping out of bed, intent on murdering the Espada who had rendered him unconscious. Zaraki frowned, opening his eyes blearily, and then closing them again.

"Dunno. Some Espada. I beat 'em, right?" Zaraki asked. "Beat their arses raw?" Kira laughed softly, knowing he couldn't really tell Zaraki the truth. It would just make the man distraught.

"Yeah, you did," he answered, and Zaraki nodded, satisfied, and opened his eyes again, fixing his gaze on Kira. Kira realised he'd never seen both of Zaraki's eyes, since one was always covered by an eye patch. Zaraki seemed even more intense with both eyes.

"Yeh're okay, too, right?" he said. Kira nodded in confirmation. Zaraki sighed, the grip on his hand loosening slightly. "Good. Little fucker deserved so much more pain for hurting ya."

Kira smiled despite himself. His chest felt warm at the protectiveness Zaraki showed, even though the Shinigami should be concentrating on himself. Kira hadn't spent days on end in a coma.

"How're you feeling?" Kira asked, shifting closer to Zaraki. Zaraki laughed softly, tugging at Kira's hand. Kira leant in closer, and Zaraki raised a muscled arm to wrap around his back, dragging Kira closer.

"I dunno, I'm in a hell o' a lotta pain. Maybe you could kiss it better?" he suggested innocently. Kira grinned, leaning in closer. Zaraki's eyes narrowed conspiratorially, and his arm put more pressure on Kira's back. Kira had no choice but to let his lips meet Zaraki's dry ones.

"Mm, feelin' better already," Zaraki mumbled, kissing him again. Kira couldn't help but agree – he was feeling lighter, weightless even. All the worry, all the guilt he'd held over Zaraki's condition had eased with the kiss, with Zaraki's deviousness and amusement.

Zaraki would be fine.

Zaraki's eyes slipped close and the kiss lessened in intensity as the tall man pulled back. Kira allowed it, and sat up straight, brushing Zaraki's long locks of unstyled hair out of his face. Zaraki smiled softly.

"Ya better be stayin'," he said gruffly, awkwardly. Kira nodded, though Zaraki couldn't see it.

"Wouldn't dream of leaving."

x.x.x.x.x

Aww. And Hanatarou's outside, spying on the two.

Well, this was really fun to write, although I don't think I did too good a job on the fight scene ;;cringe;;... or the ending ;;more cringing;;. Oh the fluff, the fluff of it all!

I enjoyed writing it, however. Hope you enjoyed reading it, even if this chapter was awful. Thanks to all my reviewers, too. You're rather amazing.