Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, or any of the characters used in this fic. They all belong to Tite Kubo. I only own any of my original characters that I choose to include, as well as any of my own original plot ideas.

Cirque du Freak

A shrug. "Yeah? What the hell is it?"

She grimaces, her lower lip sticking out as her little pink eyebrows move to touch the space between her eyes. She speaks as if it's obvious, the words "It's a circus, Kenny!" flying out of her mouth with a wad of gum.

Looking closely, he can vaguely see the representation of a lion tamer and a trapeze artist, but that's it. There's nothing else that would really suggest that her drawing is a circus.

"The hell's it so damn dark?" he mutters, the top of a beer bottle in his mouth. "Looks like some crazy Halloween shit."

"Yeah!" She nods, grinning as if to say that he's gotten the gist of her artwork. "It's supposed to be scary, Kenny! It's the cirkee da freaks, you know!"

"It's 'cirque du freak,' Lieutenant," Yumichika says. "It's French."

"Smartass." Kenpachi shoots him a sideways glance, downing the last of the beer. "What the hell made ya wanna draw somethin' like that, 'Chiru?"

She shrugs. "I dunno. I heard Kuro-puu sayin' somethin' 'bout it."

Yumichika smirks, a hand over his mouth as he whispers, "I think that, perhaps, he was referring to the lieutenant belonging in the circus, Captain."

He watches Yachiru run indoors to hang her drawing on the wall. He laughs. "Clowns don't know shit, Yumichika."