Yay! I'm back in the mood for writing! Thanks for all the reviews, they do make me feel better. And thanks for the concern over me in hospital, but I'm fine now. :) Oh! and did I tell you I got an Ichigo plush? Well, I did. It's cool, but it's not really a plush I can cuddle in my sleep. Just a little note, when you suggest something for me to put in my fics, don't make it so detailed that you could write it yourself.

Fairy Tale

"…And Momotaro lived happily ever after. The End." Yumichika closed the book with a snap. Yachiru yawned in Kenpachi's lap.

"I'm still not tired yet." She rubbed her eyes. Kenpachi looked down and caught the contagious yawn.

"I'm tired. Geez, Yumichika, you ought to tell more interesting stories than just fairy tales," He stretched, "I don't want to fall asleep before the brat." Ikkaku lingered in the background, sake in hand. Yumichika looked thoroughly annoyed.

"Well, the idea of fairy tales is to bore you to sleep. Isn't that what we're trying to do with Yachiru?" He asked. Kenpachi shrugged.

"It ain't like she's got to do anythin' in the morning. She can stay up longer. Tell us something more interesting."

"Alright then," Yumichika said with a huff, "I'll tell you a story that'll keep you up for days. I learnt it in my kabuki days, and it'll guarantee to scare you witless."

"Ooo, a ghost story. I like ghost stories." Kenpachi said, a smile spreading on his face, "they're full of people fighting and getting killed."

"Puh," Yachiru sniffed, "I'm not scared of ghost stories."

"You'll be scared of this one. It's called: Yotsuya Kaidan."

"Sounds gay." Yachiru sighed.

"I'm leaving." Ikkaku said, lifting himself off the ground, "I still get nightmares from this."

"Baldy's a scaredy cat!" Yachiru mocked. Ikkaku turned to look at her evilly.

"No, I fear for my safety. Every time the story is told, someone dies." He foretold ominously. Yachiru looked at Kenpachi and Yumichika for confirmation as they looked solemnly at her.

"Yeah, right. A story can't kill you, right? You're just trying to scare me," Yachiru's voice shook a little, "not that I'm scared or anything."

"I'll come back in a few minutes to make sure no one is being eaten by the ghost of Oiwa; have fun." Ikkaku waved, sliding the door behind him. Yumichika had the shadow of a smile across his face.

"A story that can kill you. I like that." Kenpachi smiled. Yumichika got up and dimmed some of the light for effect.

"Ready?" The other two nodded, "In the deep past there lived a man called Iemon. He was a wicked man who loved women and loved to kill them to marry another-" Yumichika began.

"Bo-oring." Yachiru moaned. Yumichika gave her a brief look of quick death before continuing.

"He married one frail woman called Oiwa. She was very beautiful, with dark hair that went to her waist, but she was often sick, an ailment that began from the beginning of her marriage. Little did she know that Iemon was poisoning her little by little with her medicine that was meant to make her stronger. A few years went by and Iemon found his new target, the beautiful young daughter of his neighbour. It was about this time that Oiwa's father knew what Iemon was doing to his daughter.

"What did Oiwa's father do?" Yachiru asked.

"He couldn't do anything because Iemon found out and smothered him in his sleep. Iemon, now free to complete his plan, gives Oiwa a stronger dose of 'medicine'. Unfortunately for both of them, this did not kill her. Instead, she becomes deformed; clumps of her hair keep falling out as she brushes it, leaving hair all over the place: in food, in clothes. And her face droops, one of her eyes nearly falling out of her socket completely." Yumichika's voice dropped low and deadly.

"Eww." Yachiru shuddered.

"Oiwa goes mad at this new change in her appearance. Iemon kills her, whips her heart out with a katana. Unfortunately, he is spotted by one of his servants and has to kill him too. He then crucifies the two on a door and throws them into the river, claiming to the neighbourhood that he had caught them cheating with each other."

"Bastard." Kenpachi commented.

"Iemon soon is engaged with his neighbour's beautiful daughter. He stands at the aisle waiting for his bride to come down and when she does, he lifts off the veil to find…" He pauses while the other two lean in, engaged into the story, "Oiwa's rotting, disfigured face. Iemon screams and ran to his father-in-law, asking 'is this some kind of joke?' before realising his father-in-law had the face of Oiwa's father. He finds his katana and slaughters them both in front of the congregation. When he stops, he finds that he'd killed his new wife and father in law, the ghostly faces gone. Iemon flees, not wanting to find death at the hands of his bride's family. He flees to the mountains, but at every place he stays at, he finds his bed full of long, dark hair. He starts seeing Oiwa's face in pictures, in his dreams and beside him when he's sleeping," Yumichika smirked as he saw both of them contain a shudder, "Then…"

"Then what?" Kenpachi asked. The room seemed to have gotten both smaller and larger with the oppressive darkness. Whether Kenpachi liked to admit it or not, it was rather damn spooky.

"Then Iemon moves to a cave and beings living like an animal, fishing for his living. But every fish he catches contains hair in its entrails. One evening, he catches something heavy on his line. He reels it in and grabs it. He looks in horror to find that he'd caught the door with the crucified bodies of his wife and servant. The bodies stir and turn to look at him, smiling. They grab his arms and pull him into the river. He escapes, but what he thought were weeds clinging to his body were actually tresses of hair. Iemon flees again, this time back to a Buddhist temple. He sleeps for the night, knowing that he'll be safe from Oiwa under the protection of the monks. He watches the lantern lighting the room…" Yumichika pauses to look at the only lantern flickering in the room. Yachiru heard a squeak of wood and she looked wildly around the room.

"…and?"

"He notices that shadow of the lantern being to grow…and grow…and grow. He sneaks into the corner of the room and sees…"

"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWRRRRR!" A giant figure jumps down between Yumichika and the pair, covered in matted black hair and a loose eyeball stared at them.

"THE GHOST OF OIWA!!!" Yumichika screamed pointing at the figure. The figure leapt at Yachiru, making slobbering noises. Yachiru screamed in terror.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Don't eat me! Don't eat meeeeee!" she ran from Kenpachi's lap, but the figure tackled her, breathing down her neck. The eye stared at her and the face went closer and began to laugh.

The light flickered back into the room as Yumichika, snickering with evil laughter, lit some lanterns. Ikkaku, wearing a long wig of hair and a mask, started to laugh louder and got off Yachiru, who was rigid on the floor with fright.

"Gets them every time." Ikkaku laughed, taking out the egg he used as an eyeball from his mask. Yachiru regained her senses. She ran over and tackled Ikkaku, pummelling her small fists on his torso.

"I so wasn't scared." She sobbed.

"Enough, enough. Get your breath back, brat. Were ya scared, Taicho?" Ikkaku called. He looked at the rigid and unconscious body on the ground, foaming at the mouth. Kenpachi had fainted. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." Ikkaku smirked.

The story here is actually based off a real kabuki play from the same name (with my own little twists, ha ha). Lots of Japanese horror was based off it, including the original Ring (which is one of the few horror/thrillers to scare me).