Hello, my wonderful readers. Here is another chapter for you to enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own Kurenai- that is all. 'Beauty and the Beast' belongs to Disney and Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo.


Soon enough, Renji was taking off on the siblings' horse, Mercury, a beautiful and strong black horse. "Goodbye, Renji, and good luck." Kurenai called, waving to him.

"Take care while I'm gone, Kurenai!" Renji called back with a wave.

As the day passed, Renji had crossed the vast lands, traversing mountains and various towns. Soon, night fell, and Mercury was not very sure that he was comfortable with the road that they were taking. There were too many weird noises, and the moon seemed to loom over them like a single, ominous silvery eye.

"We should've been there by now." Renji murmured, studying the map. "Unless, I took a wrong turn somewhere… I knew I should've…" He raised his lantern to the signs in the middle of a fork in the road. The destinations that should have been written there were all scratched out, but Mercury did not need to read the signs to determine which way he wanted to go. The road to the right looked gloomy and overcome by shadows. The road to the left was light and peaceful; yes, the road to the left seemed like the best option…

Now if only his rider would have agreed. Instead, Renji pulled the reins and guided Mercury down the right road. "Let's go this way." he said. Mercury attempted to pull away, towards the left road, but Renji forcefully pulled the horse back down the other path. "Come on, Mercury," he said crossly, "it's a shortcut. We'll be there in no time."

Mercury trembled as he walked down the path; he did not like this one bit. Renji was too focused on the map to notice just how frightening this road was. Mercury stopped as he heard something moving about in the shadows; he felt very uncomfortable by the fact that he could not see it. He began whinnying and neighing, making an attempt to move backward. Renji was still too focused on the map to realize.

"This can't be right!" he said, pulling away from the map. "Mercury, you dumbass, where have you taken us?" He sighed after a second. "Guess we'd better turn around."

Mercury, who was frightened by the sound of high-pitched howling, was already in the process of doing so, but didn't realize where he was backing up into and the wagon that held Renji's invention hit a hollowed-out tree. Unfortunately, that tree was the home of a flock of bats, who were not to happy to be awoken. Mercury, scared out of his mind, raced down the road he had not wanted to go in the first place. Renji tried to stop the horse, and did, when it was almost too late. A second more and they would have fallen off the edge of a cliff into a seemingly bottomless ravine. Mercury scrambled backwards.

"Good boy, good boy, steady." Renji said. Once more, though, Mercury became frightened as the high-pitched howls grew nearer. The panicked horse ended up bucking his rider off of its back and taking off. Renji looked to the remains of the lantern, which had smashed when he tumbled to the ground, and watched the cinders from the candle fizzle out. His heart seemed to beat twice as fast now that he was alone in the darkness. No stars shone tonight to guide him. Suddenly, he heard the high-pitched growls again. He knew them from anywhere and instinctively reached for his sword. He froze when he discovered it not to be there, then he remembered: he had left his sword in the wagon.

'I am such an idiot!' he thought to himself. Him without his sword? Talk about ill-prepared. His only other option was to run; he knew that that would only invite them to pursue, but it was his only chance. He ran like he had never run before, dashing and darting amongst trees and leaping over fallen trunks. He was much too worried, though, about his pursuers, and did not look where he was going. He tripped over a root that stuck up from the ground and fell face first over a drop into the dirt below. Pain erupted in his right ankle, but he ignored it for now. Looking up, he saw a massive, wrought iron gate. He didn't want to know what lied beyond it, but the shrieking howls were enough to convince him to get inside, now. Wincing, he got to his feet and hobbled, trying at the gate only to find it locked. "Hey," he cried out, "is someone there?" The howls were getting closer. Any moment now and they would zero in on him. "Help!" he cried out.

Suddenly, as if the gate had a mind of its own, it opened, and Renji tumbled inside. As he did, the band that kept his hair from his forehead fell off. He made himself busy by kicking the gate shut, but just as he was about to pull himself up, he cried out as a Hollow, grotesque- with a long, pointy nose and sharp fangs biting at a bar that made up the gate- in form grabbed at his ankle. He kicked the offending limb away and scrambled away from the gates. The sweat leaking down his face reminded him that he had lost his headband, but he'd look for it later. Right now, he was more focused on getting somewhere where he could reclaim his bearings. He looked up, only to discover that the gates opened up to the grounds of an immense castle that sat just over the ravine. The only way in and out of this place was via the bridge that he was now standing on. As he looked up, he couldn't help but think that the immense towers seemed to touch the sky. As his luck for today would have it, it started to rain. Renji ran- careful to keep his weight off his injured foot- across the bridge to knock on the massive front doors. When he received no answer, he pushed the door open and peered in.

With no one forcing him out, Renji entered, soaked and chilled to the bone. The room which he had entered was massive in its size. Everyone in the village could've fit in here, and then some. Yet, at the same time, it was so dark and gloomy, and with no one around, it almost seemed… hollow. Shadows filled the room, save for one area. On a little table sat a clock and recently lit candelabra. If someone lived here, they were definitely living a lonely life.

"Hello," he said to the shadows. With the room's massive size, his echoed voice almost seemed to be the voices of the shadows that engulfed the room. "Hello?" he asked slightly louder.

"Poor guy must've lost his way in the woods." a deep voice whispered.

"Be quiet," another voice said, clearly irritated, "maybe he'll go away."

Renji looked around, but saw no one. "Is someone there?" he called into the darkness.

"Not one word, Shunsui," the second voice threatened, "not one word."

"I'm sorry to intrude, but… my horse took off and I got lost in the woods. I just need somewhere to stay, catch my bearings. I'll be outta your hair by the morning."

"Oh come on, Toshiro," the first voice pleaded, "give the guy a break." There was a slight 'shush' and then a cry of pain. "Of course my friend, you are most welcome here."

Renji, who wasn't sure who said that, grabbed the candelabra and held it up to the darkness. "Who's there?" he asked with a nervous edge to his voice.

"Over here." the voice said again, this time sounding closer. Renji turned, but much to his confusion, he saw no one. Suddenly, there was a tap on his shoulder, and he found himself looking at the candelabra. How odd, he thought, that the middle candle, which was also the tallest, seemed to almost have a face carved into it. It wasn't until it moved that Renji got the surprise of his life.

"Hey there." it said. Renji, in his astonishment, dropped the object and stepped back. With amazement, he watched as the candelabra recovered itself after being dropped to the floor.

"I-Impossible!" he exclaimed, although he was more surprised than frightened.

"Well," the clock said, its eyes opening. It jumped down to where the candelabra was. "Now you've done it, Shunsui. This is just peachy." Suddenly, the little clock cried out as Renji picked it up to examine it. He looked at it all over.

"How in the world…" Renji began to himself. Perhaps it was some type of advanced machinery, something he had never heard of. He just had to be sure.

"Stop that, put me down!" the clock cried out. His protests, however, were cut off by a fit of giggles as Renji attempted to examine the clock's feet. "Stop that!" the little clock repeated seriously. Renji did stop tickling him, but then shook the poor object. The candelabra couldn't help but laugh at his associate's predicament.

"Sounds like you have all of the parts a clock should have…" he said. "Hm, I wonder…" Despite the clock's protests, he turned it around in his hands and began winding it, ignoring its obvious cries of discomfort. To the clock, it felt like someone was trying to twist around his facial features all at once. Finally Renji was examining the pendulum in the clock's body.

"Close that!" the clock snapped, closing the door on Renji's finger. "Do you mind?"

"Sorry." Renji said sheepishly as he waved the pain out of his finger. "It's just that I've never…" His sentence caught as he felt a sneeze making its way up. Toshiro, the little clock, tried to get him to let go, but couldn't in time, and ended up getting sprayed by the oncoming sneeze. With a roll of his eyes, he used his clock hands as little wipers for his face. "Sorry about that." Renji said, wiping his nose.

"Man, you are soaked to the bone, my friend." Shunsui pointed out. "I think this definitely calls for a warm chair by the fire, don't you?" His gaze then drifted downward as he noticed that the guest was limping. "Ooh," he said with a wince, "it looks like you messed that ankle up something awful. We'll get that taken care of for you, too."

"Thank you." Renji said with a grateful nod. He let Shunsui lead him to a set of doors that had firelight leaking through the gap.

"No! You know what the master will do if he finds this man here." Toshiro barked.

Deep within the dark rooms of the castle, something finally stirred after being alone in the dark for so long.

"I demand that you stop, right now!" Toshiro insisted, trying to pull Renji back, only to fall over the steps leading into the room. When he looked up, he found Shunsui ushering Renji to sit in the chair. "No, no, no, no, no, no… Not the master's chair!" he groaned. When Renji finally allowed himself to sit down, a little footstool that acted like a dog- or a dog that looked like a footstool? - ran into the room. After a moment, it stood up straight under Renji's legs. Shunsui immediately set to work treating Renji's injured ankle. The injured man nodded gratefully to a coat hook that put a blanket over him. Toshiro was obviously being ignored, and he hated it. "Alright, this has gone on far enough! Remember that I'm in charge…" At that moment, he was nearly run over by a teacart that sped by. It pulled up next to Renji's chair, and he found himself looking at a teapot, who was looking back at him with a serene smile.

"Would you like a warm cup of tea?" she asked gently. "It may be just the thing that you need." Renji nodded. She poured the beverage from her spout into a diminutive teacup, who smiled at him. When she was done, the teacup hopped into his hand.

"I hope this makes you feel better, mister." the teacup said congenially. From the sound of his voice, he couldn't have been but a small child. Renji smiled back.

"Thanks." he said, taking a sip. The tea seemed to have an instantaneous effect; he found himself feeling warmer already.

"There you go." Shunsui said as he carefully finished tending to Renji's foot, cutting off the end of some gauze that he had wrapped around the injured foot. "Try not to put so much pressure on it." he said.

Renji nodded and smiled, despite himself. Maybe things would only get better from here on out.

Unfortunately, fate often has other plans for us. No sooner did Renji think this, the doors to the room flew open. The oncoming gust of air from the sudden action took out the fire, and any source of warmth Renji had encountered. The teacup leapt from his hands and hid behind the teapot, uttering a small "uh-oh." Renji's heartbeat accelerated again as shadows once more overtook the room. He couldn't run this time.

"Well," a high-pitched voice said, "I think it's time for another game." A wicked, high-pitched laugh set shivers down Renji's spine. "It's called 'Who Let the Stranger In?" There was a moment's pause, and then Shunsui stood up.

"Now, master, please, let me explain." he said calmly. "This fellow got lost in the woods. He was cold and injured…" Suddenly Shunsui stopped talking for whatever reason. Renji tried to focus on Shunsui's light. It was the only thing that kept him from losing his mind. And then, it too was snuffed out.

"Master, I would like to take this moment to say that this was all Shunsui's idea. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen…" Toshiro was also silenced.

Renji looked around, his breath trembling. This darkness, this terror… he'd never experienced anything like this before. As he turned to his left, he saw nothing, but when he turned back, he was staring into two turquoise eyes. The owner of these eyes blended in with the shadows, but he could see a faint outline, along with sharp, pointy fangs as the thing smiled.

"Well, I can see that you are enjoying my castle." he said in a voice of mock pleasantry. Suddenly his gaze became cold and hard. "Now answer me this: Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Suddenly, Renji heard the loud clink of a chain and then felt the cold, sharp, steely edge of a blade against his neck. He swallowed hard, trying to find his voice- in spite of his terror. Finally, his mind connected with his mouth.

"I-I got lost in the woods and…" He was too terrified to finish his sentence. The thing smiled once more, flashing its sharp fangs in Renji's direction.

"Well this leaves me with quite a bit of a predicament." the demon stated. Renji looked at it in confusion and terror mixed. "I could either kill you for trespassing where you're not welcome…" Much to his unspoken mirth, Renji's eyes filled with fear, and he tried to offer a shaky apology to the demon, who ignored it. "Or I could let you rot in my dark dungeons until the end of time. It's perfectly obvious to me now why you're here. You came to look at the demon, didn't you? Well, have you gotten a good look? Don't be shy. Tell me; I'd love to hear your answer."

'Quit being so sadistic.' a voice in the demon's head told him.

'Well, look who finally decided to join the party.' the demon thought back.

'This is exactly why I sealed you away from the world.' the voice replied.

"I'm sorry." Renji spoke up, gaining the thing's attention. "I meant no harm; I just needed a place to stay for the night."

"Oh, that's all, is it?" the demonic entity asked. Effortlessly, it picked Renji up by the front of his robes. "Well then, why don't I just give you a place to stay- permanently!" Ignoring the pleading cries of the man, it dragged him out, leaving the frightened servants alone in the darkness. Despite the fact that the doors had closed, they could still hear his pleading cries as he was dragged into the dark bowels of the castle.


Rin and Omaeda peered through the bushes just outside of Kurenai and Renji's house the next day. Omaeda was dressed in his 'Sunday best' which consisted of a rather tacky outfit adorned with little gold embellishments.

"Oh boy, Kurenai is going to get the surprise of her life today, huh, Omaeda-san?" Rin asked excitedly.

"You'd better believe it. This is her lucky day; after all not just anyone can be good enough to marry me." he said. He turned over to the small gathering of villagers, who had set up a small wedding venue in the yard, where everyone could see. He cleared his throat. "Great work on getting my wedding ready. Now all I have to do is propose to the girl." he said with a laugh. Most who laughed felt like they wouldn't get paid if they didn't laugh. Others merely sweat-dropped in their exasperation. He turned to Rin. "You know what to do when I come out with her." he reminded.

"Yeah, I strike up the band." Rin said enthusiastically. He started the band on a rather obnoxious round of the wedding march until Omaeda brought his fist down on poor Rin's head.

"Not yet!" he growled.

"Sorry." Rin sheepishly replied.


It was a typical day for Kurenai. She was taking a break in between chores and reading in her chair by the fireplace. Kenpachi was curled at her feet, napping the hours away. Suddenly, his good ear went up in alert. He heard someone coming up the front steps. Kurenai also looked to the door; it was too early for Renji to be home. He had only taken off yesterday, unless things didn't go so well at the fair. Kenpachi knew, though, that those footsteps were too heavy to be those of Renji. He growled at the visitor.

"Kenpachi," Kurenai chastised. She got up and went to the door, using a special device Renji had designed to see who came knocking at their door. When she saw Marechiyo Omaeda on the other side, she gave a groan of annoyance. Would this guy ever give her a break? She looked to the dog, only to see as close to a smug look as a dog could give. "Shut up." she grumbled. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door. "Omaeda-san, what a surprise." Her voice flattened as he moved to let himself in the house.

"I know right?" he asked enthusiastically. "I'm completely full of surprises." He said as he let himself in.

'Funny,' Kurenai thought, 'and here I thought you were merely full of yourself.'

"Do you know how many women would dream to be the girl in your shoes Kurenai? This is the day…" He paused to look at himself in the mirror, using his tongue to clean out something out between his teeth before continuing, "This is the day that I make all your dreams come true."

"Uh-huh," Kurenai deadpanned, "and what do you know about my dreams, Omaeda?"

"Plenty." Omaeda answered, sitting at the kitchen table. Much to Kurenai's horror, he propped his feet up on the table, right where she had laid her book. To top it all off, his feet were coated with mud… Kenpachi growled. Not only had this oafish human taken his place at Renji's chair, but he was also trying to make moves on Kurenai. "Picture this," he said, "A rustic lodge, my latest kill that I worked hard to catch roasting on the fire, and my little wife massaging my feet. The little ones play on the floor with the dogs; we'll have six or seven."

"Please tell me you're talking about dogs." Kurenai sighed.

"No, Kurenai. I'm talking about strong little boys, like me."

"Huh, imagine that." she said, pulling her book free from under his feet.

"Speaking of which, Kurenai, the dogs will be purebred hunting dogs, not flea-bitten mongrels like that." Kenpachi growled as Omaeda pointed to him. Oh, how the dog wanted to run up and bite that finger off.

"Kenpachi," she warned lowly. The dog obediently settled.

"Anyway, do you know who that little wife will be, Kurenai?" he asked as she put her book away.

"Let me think…" she said with disgust. Suddenly two large hands were planted on either side of her. She turned to find Omaeda looming over her.

"You, Kurenai." he answered. Yep, that's what she had feared.

"Omaeda, I'm… speechless…" she said as she broke away from him, moving under his arm. She could still feel his eyes on her though. Suddenly an idea formed in her head and she backed up against the door. Now all she had to do was wait for the right moment. She resisted the urge to gag as he made his way over to her, trying- and epically failing to be seductive. "I really don't know what to say."

"Say you'll marry me, Kurenai." he replied, once again pinning her between his arms. He moved in closer. Oh hell no, this guy was going in for a kiss; only in his dreams.

"Well I'm sorry to say this, but…" she said, reaching for the doorknob, "I think you need to cool off." With that, she ducked as he lurched forward and tumbled out the door, right into the mud puddle that the pigs basked in.

Rin took that as his signal and struck up the band, only to realize too late that it was just Omaeda, face first in the mud puddle. He stopped the band and wandered over to the mud puddle. At first he was confused as he was not met with Omaeda, but a pigs head, and then the mentioned man shoved the pig off of his shoulders. "How did it go?" All of a sudden, Rin was pulled by the front of his jacket so that he was face to face with Omaeda's angry, mud-smeared face.

"I'll have Kurenai for my wife! Make no mistake of that!" With that, he tossed Rin into the mud and stormed out.

"Touchy," Rin said to one of the pigs, who snorted in agreement.

Kurenai opened the door and found everyone to be gone. With a loud, irritated groan, she looked to a chicken that was pecking at the grains of corn in the feed bucket. "Can you imagine?" she asked incredulously. "After all the times I've said 'no', he still asks me to marry him?" She grabbed the bucket and headed to the stables to feed the animals. Kenpachi followed. "Me, the wife of that boorish, brainless…!" she exclaimed. "Can't you just see it, Kenpachi? Me, Mrs. Omaeda, his little wife? Nuh-uh. It's not gonna happen! Why can't they just leave me alone?"

After her chores were finally finished, she took a walk down to a little clearing that she knew well. Kenpachi joined her as she sat down.

"They just don't get it, Kenpachi; I don't want to get married yet. I don't want the same thing everyday. I want adventure. I want it more than I've ever wanted anything." she said, lifting her hand to pet him. "And… I want someone who understands… do you think that's too much to ask for?" Kenpachi gave a low 'woof' and licked her hand. She chuckled and put an arm around her dog in an embrace.

A neigh brought them back to focus. They turned and saw Mercury rush into the clearing with the wagon still attached to him. It was obvious that the horse was still very frightened. "Mercury," she said gently, grabbing him by the reins. "What're you doing here? Where's… Where's Renji?" she asked as she started to become worried. She looked in the wagon. The machine looked untouched, and then Kurenai saw something that only worsened her fears: Renji's sword lay at the bottom of the wagon. Renji normally always had his sword on him. "Where is he, Mercury?" Soon, her mind was made up, and she set to work unhitching the wagon. "We have to find him, Mercury. Take me to him."


So there you have it readers. I will have more soon. Until then, I bid you adieu.