The Evanescence of Yachiru

Like a storm brewing over the ocean the skies were dark and troubled over the barracks of Squad Eleven. An aura of wild, intermittent chaos filled the air and if one watched closely it was clear that the miasma was spewing forth from one individual – Captain Kenpachi Zaraki.

By all means he looked furious but desperate at the same time. His hair was in disarray and he was frantically tearing apart his own Barracks looking for someone very important to him – Yachiru. However, he was not searching alone for long as word spread throughout the barracks and he was joined by the rest of the members of his Squad. Some of them split off to search her normal visiting places in Soul Society others scouted out her tunnels.

She was nowhere to be found.

As the humidity of the summer day rose so did Kenpachi's unspoken worry for his lieutenant.

Suddenly, Ikkaku returned from his searching of the areas beyond the normal realm of Yachiru's childish wanderings. He had been following leads with Yumichicka and unfortunately their leads were right on. They had found clues pertaining to were Yachiru might be, however from the state of her Shinigami attire and the fact her zanpaktou was with her robes lead Ikkaku to draw a devastating conclusion, one Yumichicka didn't want to think about.

Yachiru was dead, murdered, and swept away with the river they found her clothes near.

Approaching Kenpachi with the greatest caution Ikkaku stood behind his captain for a second. Gathering his courage he prepared to present the items to Kenpachi but before he could do anything Kenpachi whirled around and glanced at Ikkaku. Ikkaku, instinctively, looked away and bowed, presenting the remnants of all they had found of Yachiru.

At first Kenpachi did nothing, his eyes dimming for a second before he reached out and took the clothing and sword from Ikkaku. His eyes hardening he looked down at Ikkaku, his eyes brimming with hate, worry, disgust, relief, and many other emotions before he turned and started towards his sleeping quarters, slamming the door hard enough to swing it off of its hinges.

When Kenpachi was finally behind doors he slumped, his back against the wall of his quarters and he clutched Yachiru's belongings to his body. He didn't believe she was dead, even if Ikkaku believed she was due to the condition of these belongings. He knew Yachiru, Yachiru wouldn't give up without a fight she was his daughter and a member of Squad Eleven.

No matter how much blood was on her tattered Shinigami robes and the fact her sword was not with her did not worry Kenpachi. It only meant one thing to him, she was injured and that the search would continue.

Walking over to his bed he slowly laid the clothing down on his futon before he turned and exited his room. Watching as his Squad gathered at the news slowly spreading through them he glared at them all.

"We will not give up continue your searches!" He proclaimed as the grey skies above Squad Eleven finally burst and rain fell down in sheets over the dusty yard.

"Madarame take me to where you found her belongings!" he ordered, walking over to Ikkaku.

He would find his Yachiru and he would! Nothing in heaven, hell, or earth would stop him!

---

It was going to rain, that much Takumi was certain of. The way the sky was looking, the dark thunderheads and the smell of rain in the air led him to this conclusion. However, one look at his Master, Arakawa-sama, strengthened his assumption. She was speeding along, zipping in and out of the writhing mass of bodies at the market in the East Rukongai, heading towards Mizu no Hana and towards the families compound.

Then, out of the corner of his eye he saw something, a flash of pink along the riverbank. Turning his head he stopped. It was a dead body! A nude body at that and he felt the blood rush to his cheeks. Turning he looked to Arakawa-Sama, his eyes wide.

"Arakawa-Sama!" he called out,his voice high and filled with fear watching as Arakawa-Sama turned and hurried back to him.

"What is it Takumi-kun?" she asked. Her voice filled with concern for him.

"Over there." He answered, pointing in the direction of the body. His face was white and his eyes sparkled with tears. This was his first dead body and it was quite a scary thing for him to experience. He lived a very sheltered life after certain events transpired.

Without a moment of hesitation she handed Takumi her parcel and Arakawa hurried over the bridge. Carefully she made her way down the slope and bent down. Her eyes widened and much to Takumi's amazement she took off her haori and covered the girl. Then scooping the girl up she carefully moved back up the steep slope.

Hurrying back to Takumi she motioned for him to follow her quickly – this motion was a quick jerk of her head. Other than that her movements were sure and to the point. No fear

Which was more than what Takumi was. He was worried honestly, worried about Arakawa-sama and he didn't exactly know why.

---

It had taken a bit of coaxing but Kenpachi had convinced Madarame to take him to the site where Yachiru's clothing had been found. Once there Kenpachi, Madarame, and Yumichicka began the search in detail for any clue of what happened to Yachiru. After all, this was private Squad Eleven business and the sooner they wrapped it up the less paperwork they would have to deal with. But even more important than less paperwork was the fact Yachiru was important to them.

“Captain!” Yumichicka suddenly exclaimed, looking up from the water's edge. “She appears to have been dragged into the river.”

Walking down to where Yumichicka was Kenpachi started to look around as well and he could clearly see the drag marks, slowly being washed away by the rivers flow. Bending down he gently touched the spot and a soft growl came from him.

“It appears she was bleeding.” Yumichicka added as he continued to look at the marks. “A lot actually.”

“The bastard will pay for this!” Ikkaku swore, his eyes narrow with his anger.

Then the skies opened up and the deluge of water began, washing away all evidence of what had happened to Yachiru from the earth. But this great wall of water would not erase Yachiru from the minds of Squad Eleven.

She would be found come heaven or high water!

---

The rains began as soon as Arakawa-sama made it through the front gate to the compound that she had called home for most of her adult life. It was kept clean by a legion of servants from the branch houses of the Arakawa, mainly the Tachibana family as it was the largest branch house. That is who met them, a woman from the Tachibana house who handed Takumi an umbrella and held one over Arakawa-sama's head so that she wouldn't get wet.

Arakawa-sama and Takumi made their way to the main house. Making her way to one of her many guest rooms she laid the small girl down and looked up at Takumi, his wide eyes showing how unaccustomed he was to seeing someone other than Arakawa-sama and his mother beat like this.

“Takumi kun would you be kind enough to go fetch your mother for me?” Arakawa-sama asked, her voice soft and warm but filled with authority at the same time.

“As you wish Arakawa-sama.” he answered, bowing to her before he raced off to find his mother. She wasn't far of course, she worked in the main house and was the cook. However, she had quite a lot of medicinal skill as she had patched herself up a lot from her deceased lover's beatings.

It was only a matter of seconds before a short woman with straight black hair and bright blue eyes came into the room carrying a small chest. Takumi followed behind her carrying a teapot filled with hot water for cleaning the wounds of the small girl.

“Thank you for coming Kiku.” Arakawa-sama whispered, gently petting some of the girls pink hair away from her face. “She is alive, but barely so.”

“I will do my best Arakawa-sama. She is just so small...and according to my son the wounds are quite grievous.”

“They are not as bad as he makes out Kiku.” Arakawa-sama answered as she slowly pulled back the haori. It was clear that the wounds were plentiful but the one that posed a serious threat was the one on the girl's abdomen. It was deep and seeping dark blood. If it had nicked an intestine or a major organ no mater what they did the girl would die of septicemia.

Carefully kneeling down next to the girl Kiku opened the box and found some ointments and a rag. Pouring some hot water into a shallow bowl she began to clean the wounds which elicited a small moan from the girl.

“I am surprised. Some of these wounds are here just to inflict pain on the girl. Others, are meant to bleed her to death. She has a surprising clotting factor as many of these have started to clot. However, the one on the abdomen concerns me greatly and we will need to cauterize it to stop the blood flow.” Kiku answered as she looked to a nearby brazier. Then she looked to her son and nodded and he hurried out of the room.

“Considering where this wound is Kiku it might have damaged her female organs.” Arakawa-sama stated, gently touching it. “She might never have children if she survives.”

“We will worry about that when the time comes Arakawa-sama.” Kiku answered as she slowly started to rub ointment on the other cuts and bruises. “But we will cauterize it none the less. Thank goodness she is asleep.”

“That is something we can both be thankful for.” Arakawa-sama agreed remembering when Kiku had to cauterize whip-wounds on her back from one of her deceased husbands many beatings. “I will hold her down when you do the deed.”

“Thank you Arakawa-sama.”

Takumi entered into the room, holding a small rod of sorts his mother used to cauterize wounds when they were especially bad. Then he left the room, he wasn't allowed to participate in the cauterization process yet. Not because of his age or anything but because his mother wanted him to remain innocent and chivalrous and she was scared he would develop a taste for it; like his father did.

The smell of searing flesh drifted through the entire main house.