Bleach Shadow Redux

A Reason to Fight

Akari woke up from her futon bed and stretched her arms with pieces of her messy locks sticking to her face, yawning after a good night's sleep. She debated on whether or not to wear her former shihakusho over her new updated version. It was against dress code, but it was her favorite and was easier to move around in. She slipped on her old uniform and brushed her bed hair until it was neat and put it back into a high ponytail. She walked over and grabbed her zanpakuto which was resting against the wall and looked at it for a moment, silently. She strapped the sword on her side through the sash of her shihakusho and left her room, closing the sliding door behind her.

She headed towards the captain's barracks. Excited but also a little nervous. Today was the day she had planned to fight him. But what if he loses control again? Akari stopped in front of the doors and slid it open to find an empty room until her eyes laid upon the little Lieutenant who was laying on the floor, drawing. Yachiru looked up and smiled when she saw Akari and stood up and walked over to Akari, wheeling her zanpakuto behind her.

"Hey, tomato head! Are you here to see Kenny?" Yachiru smiled, happily.

"Yeah, I guess. Is he around?" Akari asked. Yachiru smiled dropped a little.

"Sorry to break it to you, but Kenny stepped out for a bit."

"Oh, I guess I can go find Ikkaku or Yumichika. I'll fight him another time." Akari replied. "Can you let him know that I stopped by?"

"Yeah, sure I will!" Yachiru nodded. Akari smiled and thanked her and was about to walk away to head towards the training room.

"Do you love him?" Akari's eyes widen in shock and took a step back caught off guard by the Lieutenant's question.

"W-What!?" She sputtered.

"Kenny!" Yachiru smiled. "Do you love him?"

"Yes, I do. He is going to be my captain and he is pretty interesting." Akari told her.

"Really!?" Yachiru beamed at her. "That's great! Not many people ask to see him."

"What do you mean?" Akari asked, wondering.

"He can be a bit intimidating which can scare people away. Other than Ichi, it looks like he finally found someone worth fighting for once. I'm going to go see the other captains! See you later, tomato head!" Yachiru smiled and before Akari could say anything the Lieutenant quickly sped off. Akari blinked, surprised by the little girl's speed. Then she headed over to the training room to see Ikkaku, with half of his uniform down and tied to his waist revealing his chest and abs, sparring with some of the members with a wooden sword. Yumichika was sitting down watching him. Akari walked into the room, catching some of the members attention.

"Hey, Ikkaku, are you ready for our fight?" Akari asked him. Ikkaku smacked his sword across his opponent's face, and he fell to the floor, groaning in pain. He finally noticed Akari when she walked over and grinned.

"Right now?" Akari nodded.

"Okay, but not here. Come on, I've got a better place we can go to." He told her, putting his shihakusho back in place and tied his sash back on. Akari looked at him confused.

"I'm going to come along to see this." Yumichika smiled. Ikkaku, Akari and Yumichika left the barracks and Ikkaku led Akari towards another training ground of some sorts further away from the Soul Society. Yumichika took a seat on a rock.

"Why did you take me out here?" Akari asked Ikkaku.

"Well, you have bankai and I want us to unleash our full potential." He said, pulling out his zanpakuto.