A/N: Bleach and all characters belong to Tite Kubo. Unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine alone.
It was a dark and stormy night.
Usually thunder and lightening did not really bother Juushiro Ukitake, but there was something ominous about this particular storm.
The lightening flashes were particularly bright and thunder clashed in such close proximity that the few knick-knacks on the shelves, wobbled under the force of the concussion wave.
He kept seeing movement in the shadows with every flash, and strange sounds could be heard along with the thunder's rumbling.
He swore he felt someone tug gently on his hair accompanied by a childish laugh. Was that the sound of an animal growling? Were the shadows moving? Had someone just pinched his backside?
It felt like the shadows were closing in on him and he began to panic a little. The creepy feeling coupled with the intense storm was rattling Ukitake's nerves. He was sure he was hallucinating. There was no way the shadows were moving to cover him, no one was playing with his hair, no one had pinched his bottom and certainly there had been no animalistic growling. It was all nerves.
Juushiro had been sick recently and his medication had been adjusted. Sometimes that led to odd sensations. It had never been this vivid but who knew how new medication mixed with old medication was going to react. Retsu Unohana had always done her best to keep things on an even keel, but sometimes the effects were beyond her control.
Maybe that's what this was. The storm was just accentuating the effects of the drugs.
Until he heard a familiar low rumbling chuckle behind him. Then a pair of slender child arms slipped around his waist.
"Dammit Shunsui I thought you promised not to play those shadow tricks with me again. You actually scared me that time." Juushiro turned his head to see his friend smile at him and melt back into the shadows once more. He patted the arms that still wrapped snugly around him, "Lilynette I can't believe you were in on this."
"Starrk was too." She chirped merrily. "Sorry if you were scared though, I heard it's not good to scare old folk."
He knew she was teasing, but it still kind of stung to be called old. "I'm not that old." He grumped. "Why aren't you playing with a ball or something?" It was an old argument from their first meeting. That seemed like such a long time ago now. Juushiro chuckled quietly as her cheeks pinked with suppressed anger.
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO, YOU OLD GEEZER."
A hand slide out of a shadow and batted her head. "Stop it you brat. You're being loud and annoying again."
"STARRRRRRKKKK." The girl wailed plaintively. "Don't hit me like that you asshole."
"Shut up, I'm trying to sleep."
"Jerk!" Lilynette reached into the shadowed area and dragged the lounging, former Primera Espada out of his hiding place and began to pummel him without mercy.
Another pair of arms soon snaked their way around Ukitake's waist. "They're so cute like that." Shunsui murmured into his ear. Juushiro nodded as they watched the two scuffle.
"I really hate when you do that shadow thing." He relaxed into Kyoraku's arms. "It's really creepy and I didn't need that today."
"Sorry handsome."
Everyone in the room jumped and yelped as the thunder and lightening cracked through the sky.
"I think this would be the perfect time to tell ghost stories." Shunsui announced. "This kind of night is practically begging for it."
"Just no more shadow games, please." Juushiro pleaded.
"I'll try." Kyoraku winked slyly and pulled a big bag of sweets out of his sleeve.
Both Ukitake's and Lilynette's eyes flashed with unabashed greed as the candy came into view. The other two settled back with a bottle of sake between then and the scary stories began to unfold. Occasionally a flash of lightening or a loud crash of thunder accentuated the story.