Don't Tame Your Demons: Kenpachi Zaraki x Mika *New*

Part Fifteen (XXX)

"Really Mika, what happened?" Ai asked me with an insistence so gentle it actually felt unintrusive. "You were just here and now you're back and I didn't hear about another attack."

I was back in the infirmary getting the tears the menos had but in my hide closed up. What was I supposed to say? 'Oh yeah, Zaraki threw me to a pack of menos to force a secret out of me. Then we fucked. It was awesome. Oh and I think I'm letting this go a little too far. Yeah, I know it doesn't seem like it could go much further than basically letting him have complete control over me, but now I'm actually starting to feel...well...something.'

Nope.

How many people actually knew about the senkaimon to Hueco Mundo? Better I didn't say anything. Could I tell her it had been a placement test? Zaraki couldn't have given me those wounds. I knew that. If he'd used his Zanpakto or even a normal blade, he'd have killed me no matter how careful he was. She was looking at me expectantly. Damn.

"Uh, officer placement test. Sorry, Squad Eleven thing, you know?" I said lamely.

Her beautiful eyes lit up, "Oooo, what seat are you then?"

"Uhhhh..." damn, I hadn't thought about that. "Guess I don't know yet."

Ai was visibly taken aback. "You went through all that and didn't notice he didn't tell you?"

"I was a bit distracted."

"Wow, Mika. I can't imagine what that must be like. I wouldn't have had the nerve to volunteer for that, much less walk away with being really shaken."

"Well I didn't exactly volunteer for it..." I told her.

"But you would have," she said quickly.

"Yeah, I would have. Excelling in my squad means everything to me," I told her, surprised to find myself admitting even that much to someone.

"I can see that. Your captain...well..." she blushed.

I was actually curious, she still didn't seem to be prying. "What about my captain?"

"Ah...he scares me. I'm not sure I wouldn't break down in tears if he said something to me," she said with a giggle.

I genuinely laughed. "Yeah, he scares most people."

"Not you though." It was a statement, not a question.

"No," I agreed.

He probably should have. Honestly, he was more likely to kill me inadvertently than any enemy that was actually trying to. Everyone dies though. Not everyone has the chance to truly live. Even fewer have the courage to take that chance. I'd rather die by his hand than live a safe life in the dirt of my old village.

She was quiet then. I could almost see the wheels in her lovely head turning. Her Kido as she healed me tingled, like a soft summer's rain seeping through my skin. I was surprised how quickly my wounds closed and my Reiatsu replenished. I didn't know the healers could do that. Both what had been damaged and what Kurai Yoru had consumed were replenished. I watched Ai carefully. Her ability with Kido must have been stronger than I first suspected. The shinigami was gifted.

As she finished she hesitated slightly.

"Mika?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"I was going to go get dinner. If you hadn't eaten I thought maybe you would come with me?"

"Ok," I said, again surprised by my own response.

She was quietly pleased. She finished healing me and I pulled on the kimono I'd brought with me from my room. The clothes I'd been wearing were torn beyond hopes of repair.