Again, I'm terribly sorry about the long wait, I have no excuse except that I'm far too easily distracted. All the same, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Kenpachi kept his eyes fixed firmly on the road, especially on the mad Ford in front of him who was weaving this way and that, driving frustratingly slowly, despite their being on a motorway. He also tried to ignore the merry tunes blasting from the CD player, which he'd already had to turn own once due to complaints from the back of the car, where Yumichika and Ikkaku were seated, Yachiru having asserted the front of the car as her domain, putting them back in their place after having been forced into the back on a couple of frantic occasions.

The two teenagers where conferring quietly now, heads together, the increasingly rural views only receiving the occasional glance, whatever they were talking about being deemed far more important than the trees and fields outside. Idly, Kenpachi wondered if the pair had ever been outside the city and almost smiled as he tried to imagine them, especially Yumichika, in a field or on a farm. The two of them were definitely the urban type.

"What's that?"

Kenpachi slowed, looking to where Yumichika was pointing, Ikkaku peering past him to the field of golden yellow flowers. "Its rape." He told them, glancing first at the field and then in the mirror to watch their expressions. "Its used to make oil."

The road was running between two hills and from the window all that could be seen was yellow, carved into orderly squares by green hedges; even Yachiru was watching from her window, although slightly less interestedly, having seen it before. "How do they make it?"

The question came from Ikkaku, who had pulled his attention from the window and was leaning forward to hear the answer. Kenpachi thought for a moment, hoping that common sense would win over technical knowledge. It didn't. "I don't know" he admitted. "Look it up when we get home"

Obviously a little disappointed Ikkaku leaned back, watching as the dark haired boy beside him continued to look out of the window. An excited cry a few moments later from Yachiru broke the silence.

"Look! Look! I can see it!"

Ah yes. The reason they were cramped in the car on the last, and somehow unsurprisingly hottest day of the holidays. Kenpachi would have given most things to be lying on his bed right now, a book at hand, or possibly just sleeping, with a lovely cold drink instead of sweating in an old, hot car. He had been told that children had the persuasive powers necessary to move the earth and he hadn't really believed it. He had known that when Yachiru wanted something she would do everything in her power to get it, and certainly Ikkaku and Yumichika had their own methods of achieving their wants and needs, but until yesterday he had always believed that he had the power to resist them if he really wanted to.

He had been wrong.

A few days ago...

It was Ikkaku who noticed it first, and pointed it out to Yumichika from the window of the clothes shop they had been dragged to to buy school uniform. Kenpachi should have seen the warning signs then, the two teenagers whispering, a rare occurrence, usually they had no problems letting the world know what they were saying, but he dismissed it, too horrified with the number on the receipt he had just been handed. If he had to do school uniform for the three of them every year - which was likely considering the state he had found Ikkaku and Yumichika's uniforms to be in - then he would soon be bankrupt!

The next danger signal was the smile on Yumichika's face as he crouched down next to a bored looking Yachiru, balanced elegantly so as not to rumple his clothes. He pointed it out to her too, his eyes shining with a hidden motive as he whispered to her softly, occasionally glancing at the colourful poster pinned to the rails opposite the shop.

By then the damage was done. Yachiru, who probably wouldn't have noticed it on her own, had been alerted, and there was nothing Kenpachi could do to rectify the situation. He had to give it to the pair, they were sly. He could ignore them, dismiss them and if he really had to chase them away, but with Yachiru it wasn't so simple, and they knew it.

Not a word was said until they left the shop, bags shared between them, and Kenpachi hoped that nothing would be said at all, but he was disappointed. Yachiru tugged on his sleeve as they walked down the road. "Hey...hey... Can we go?"

"Go where?"

She looked up at him, eyes wide and innocent. "To the fun fair." She pointed to the advert, filled with colourful pictures of merry-go-rounds and other fair associated things before looking up at him hopefully. "Please?"

Noticing that Ikkaku was keeping his eyes firmly on the ground and Yumichika suddenly seemed to find the surrounding architecture fascinating, he scowled. "I'm not sure" he muttered "We'll see." It was an age old technique, used by parents everywhere, the fits-all-situations response intended to satisfy the child while not committing in the slightest. Unfortunately it didn't work on Yachiru.

"We should go. I want to see the merry-go-rounds and the teacup rides and go on the ghost train and have candy floss and hook ducks and..." She continued merrily, listing all the things she could do, and her friends who had been and told her about it, all the way down the street and back to the car, where she began to speculate about what he and everyone else would do, and when they should go, and how long it would take. It was almost unbearable but all he could do was glare at the instigators of his torture, who rather worryingly smiled innocently back at him, telling him in no uncertain terms that it was by no means over.

There were two very good reasons he didnt want to go to any fun fairs. Firstly co ordinating the three of them would be a nightmare he didnt feel he could cope with. They would each want to do different things and cooperation was still not quite part of Yumichika and Ikkaku's vocabulary, each still holding that 'looking out for number one' philosophy which was fine when there was only 'Number one' but really didnt work within a family. Secondly it was just...silly, which might not cut it with the children but was an excellent reason in his mind. They were only really amusing to young children, were expensive, chaotic and left you loaded with sticky children clutching equally sticky soft toys, or as was more likely, making you hold the aforementioned soft toys.

The concept was next broached over the dinner table, again by Yachiru, who was clearly not going to take no for an answer. "Can we go tomorrow?"

Surprisingly it was Ikkaku who objected this time, scowling as his fork hovered half way to his mouth. "Its Kendo practice tomorrow." From Yumichika's slightly stricken expression and the way Ikkaku winced a few seconds later Kenpachi could see that the objection was not part of their plan and he grasped on it like a castaway to a plank of wood.

"Yeah, we're all a little busy this week Yachiru. Schools starting soon, we need to be ready."

It was Yumichika who picked up on his error. "Isnt that a reason for us to go somewhere?" His eyes narrowed slightly in an expression which Kenpachi had come to, if not quite fear, at least view with caution. "Proper families take their children out on trips in the holidays."

Kenpachi growled slightly, he could see he was losing this argument. "I said no. We're all busy and I dont have time to cart you lot off on some trip." he eyed each of them, telling them clearly that the conversation was over and brooked no arguments.

Silence reigned around the table for the rest of the meal, the three of them evidently having decided not to push their luck, but it was only a brief respite. The demands continued the next day, each more elaborate than the next, ranging from Yachiru drawing pictures of happy children at a fair to Yumichika reminding him firmly of his and Ikkaku's achievements before softly suggesting that they celebrate, to Ikkaku's not quite so subtle outright questioning of why they couldnt go, possibly having decided that manipulating Yachiru wasnt going to work. Eventually Kenpachi began to wonder whether it was worth the effort and he should just agree, but he somehow knew that if he conceded defeat once, it would be grasped on like a leech and he would be sucked dry.

The turning point finally came along with another checkup by Unohana. When the idea had been suggested to her during a chat with the children she had thought it a 'wonderful idea'. Once they had her on their side there was very little he could do, and there was something about the way that she smiled when she said it that made him want to take them anyway, to please her. After all, if she thought that it would be good, then surely it couldn't be that bad, she was a professional and knew about these things.

So, after garnering some tips for child management in crowded places Kenpachi reluctantly announced that on the last day of the holidays they would go to the funfair, to much joy and even a victory dance on the part of Yachiru, Ikkaku and Yumichika.

XXXX

Eventually Kenpachi located the small lane which served as an entrance to the fair and ground to a halt on the slightly yellow grass as the four of them piled out of the stifling car into the fresh air, the looks of excitement clear on the children's faces as they looked around at the colourful rides and the crowds milling about between stalls.

Kenpachi took a deep breath. "Well, here we are..."

Next chapter will be fun (or not) at the funfair! XD As always, I would love to hear what you thought, your opinions are wonderful to read.