creative enough to write stories but not a blog title

As long as I was in the boss’ hands, my father could work on repaying his debt. Offering myself as collateral could have been worse, but now that I’m five months in I’m struggling with my decision. I heard about Kenpachi’s reputation, and to think he’d do anything like that to my father was enough for me to easily make this choice. But every moment I spent at his side was chipping away at my resolve. He was just as gruesome and bloodthirsty as everyone described, just as ruthless as I imagined. He had no problem displaying his nature to me, hence me bearing witness to this moment right now.

Even in the bedroom he was unquenchable and savage, and it seemed like the more I kicked and fought against him the further he advanced. I tried adjusting to him, to his size, to his roughness, but I always felt like a kid just aimlessly rolling down a hill, my body being knocked around and thrashed and tossed faster than I could keep up with. Instead of holding me, he grabbed. He didn’t kiss, which I was okay with, I guess. There was no sweet talking, or really any talking at all. Just grunts and commands being barked. I hated every single fucking second of it and gave up trying to work out that aspect of this predicament. I was grateful that he wasn’t that much of a monster to forcefully take what he wanted from me…

“We’re leaving”. He walked by me without even breathing in my direction. He always spoke at me, rarely ever to me. I stayed where I was seated, watching the slow rise and fall of the guy on the floor’s chest, when a moment later baldy spoke behind me.

“Didn’t you hear him? It’s time to go.”

“I heard just fine, Ichiku .” I rose from my chair and turned to follow my captor.

“It’s Ikkaku . Ikkaku Madarame.”

I paused and looked around curiously. “Oh… Is it?” Shrugging the conversation off, I followed the trail of men I spotted in the distance. Two in sharp, jet black suits with a black shirt and tie, and four in black jeans, white tees and distressed black denim jackets. And then of course there was Kenpachi leading the way, standing above all the men surrounding him, which tended to be the case in any room he was in.

I took my time walking to catch up to them. I always took my time. Whatever small ways I could think of to inconvenience these guys, I seized the opportunities. I looked at everyone in the night club, people still dancing carefreely, others that stopped and stared at us leaving, obviously aware of who we were. This was Kenpachi’s city after all, and even though he owed a debt and took a hit to his street cred, my dad’s name still rang bells around here. There was a good chance these people recognized me too…

I climbed into the black SUV which was the very opposite of a fish bowl; there was no way in hell these tints were legal, but who would tell him otherwise? The door was closed for me, and I could hear muffled sounds of motorcycles revving around us; that would be the denim jacket guys. We were stuck with a bit of a crowd, everyone wanting to take pictures with the infamous Zaraki bikers, and each of them loving the attention. I waited impatiently, but I was thankful for the stall in time. The sooner we got back to the house the sooner I’d be left alone with this behemoth, which I never looked forward to.

“Why aren’t we moving?” If the Grim Reaper had a voice…

“Can’t move through the crowd, sir.”

“Then move over them.” Seconds later he was rudely climbing over me and rolling down my window. The second there was a crack for him to speak he pressed his mouth there to do so. “Get the fuck outta the way. Now .”

His palm was pressing hard on my thigh, bony fingers jabbing into me much to my annoyance. Finally he climbed back over me to his seat as the crowd swiftly dispersed. “Can you watch where you’re going?” He was never gentle in his motions, which he couldn’t really afford not to be at his size. A simple smack on the back from him could probably send someone flying across the room.

As usual, we rode in silence, but tonight I felt like picking a fight. That wouldn’t be hard to do, since every single time either of us opened our mouths to each other it resulted in warfare. “There’s blood on my boot. That’s twice this month.” He said nothing, just grumbled and waved me off with a hand. “This is so gross. Not only is this evidence of something, but it’s just downright nasty. I’m not walking around with some guy’s blood on my shoe!”

“I’ll replace the fucking shoe.”

“Or, better idea, you stop draggin’ me around every time you wanna bash someone’s skull in.”

“Jesus Christ, I wish someone was here to bash my skull in right now-“

“- There is literally zero reason for me to be there, and you know it. You just like dragging me around to further humiliate my father and show everyone how he’s paying his debt.” I rolled my eyes, turning to look out at the city as we sped through it. “I want these exact boots. And they’re from a limited collection so good luck finding them. Don’t bring me some knockoff, fake, look-alike bullshit either because I’ll know-”

“- Pull over!”

The brakes were slammed, my seatbelt choking me, and Kenpachi hopped out, leaving the door open behind him. After a short wait and some commotion behind us, someone else came to the SUV and slammed the door. Kenpachi was replaced by one of the biker boys. Younger, not bad looking, but a little too pretty for my taste. Before I could even think to ask a question, a motorcycle flew past us and the tiny motorcade followed their leader.

The man to my left sighed and rolled his eyes. “Great. I know he’s going to kick up rocks and scratch my bike.”

Not that I cared, but I guess it wasn’t entirely fair for anyone else to pay for my spats with the big man. “Sorry.”

He tucked strands of his blunt cut bob behind his ear, turning away from me and looking out his window. “Instead of being sorry, why don’t you try something new and actually put the boss in a good mood for once…”

I bit the inside of my cheek. I was used to everyone ignoring my presence for the most part, so even the bite in his tone was refreshing since I was still technically being acknowledged. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name…”

”That’s because I didn’t tell you. It’s Yumichika.”

“And how do you want me to do that, Yumichika, since you’re giving advice?”

He scoffed. “I don’t know. Let’s see how far a simple smile gets us.”

“Sure! Once he gives me a reason to smile, I’ll see what I can do.”

But that smile would not come tonight. We were riding comfortably until the rest of the biker boys drove ahead of us, and then I heard gunfire. “Buckle up, princess,” the driver said to me. As I braced myself for who knows what I noticed both he and the bobbed-snob next to me were pulling guns from their waist. What the fuck?? While this wasn’t my first time around this kinda shit, my body still went into panic mode. “This is why he stays in the truck,” the driver said, his irritation evident. I tried looking through the windshield to see what was happening but I couldn’t keep up with the bikes weaving through traffic.

I sank into my seat and let the driver do what he must, the guy next to me leaning out of his window with his gun ready. I didn’t have a shootout on my itinerary for today, but here I was. I couldn’t help but notice the shitty timing. The moment he leaves the truck, the moment we’re all pushed into danger. And I hated to admit it, but I felt a lot less safe without him here. At least when I was right at his side I knew no one would dare to threaten my safety, because no one would dare to threaten his. Plus he was like a human shield; the man could eat a cut, punch, kick or worse like candy. I’ve seen it, both at my own hands and the hands of others who aren’t here to tell the story.

“What the hell is he doing?” I asked no one in particular.

“Having fun. You can relax, you’re not in any danger.”

“Can you even see him from back here? Did you not hear the guns going off??”

“Who do you think is firing them?” Yumichika slid back inside and rolled up the window. “You’ve been around long enough to know by now that he’s got a couple screws knocking around loosely in there.”

“Wait- You’re telling me he just sped off and fired a gun? In public? For fun??”

He sighed and pulled out his phone. “Like I said, we wouldn’t be going through this if you were doing your part.”