...

Oblivion

-Hell on Earth-

...

"Fear is the emotion that makes us blind." -Stephen King

...

"Ulquiorra! Time to wake up!"

Large, emerald eyes flickered over to the digital clock before retreating back under the snowy white comforter covering their owner.

"It's seven in the morning... on summer vacation. Let me sleep in for once..." he called back in a drowsy, monotonous voice.

"We talked about this earlier. Now get up and get ready!" his mom chirped, grabbing the fluffy blanket and flipping him out of bed with one quick pull.

The disgruntled teen fell to the floor with a thud, sitting up a second later to glare at her.

"We're leaving in half an hour. Make sure you pack your toothbrush!" The door to his bedroom slammed shut a second later, causing a small ornament to fall off of his chock-full bookshelf.

Ulquiorra sat on the floor for a bit longer, staring at the door in annoyance, before he stood and stretched. A day into his vacation and his mom was already getting on his nerves... Not a good sign.

He padded over to the bookshelf and retrieved the fallen statuette, setting it back up after seeing that it wasn't damaged. The statuette was his favorite- a gift from his dad from when he was five. It was just a simple, white marble carving, depicting a large, oddly shaped crescent moon framing a robed figure, who was holding what looked like a lance. Or a sword. It really didn't matter to him, as it had been the last thing that his father had given to him before he went away... and never came back.

Coming back from his sea of sorrowful memories, he sighed and let his eyes roam his unusually neat room, finally coming to settle on a gray duffle bag that was hiding halfway under his bed. After making up his bed and tossing the bag up on it, he went to his closet, picking out a shirt and pair of pants at random and making sure that they were okay before heading to the bathroom to go through his normal morning routine.

Returning, minus his night clothes, he decided that he should at least pack for whatever it was that his mom had planned. But first...

The pale teen pulled open his desk's bottom drawer and retrieved a small bag from it. He used the contained make-up so rarely that he didn't feel the need to store it in the medicine cabinet or anything. If he did, then his mom would probably throw it out anyway. Today seemed like a good day to use it, though. The raven-haired teen poked around in the bag for a minute, then worked his magic with a few items. A minute later, two teal tear marks were leading down his cheeks.

Chuckling inside, refusing to break his emotionless state of being even while alone, he replaced the eyeliner and mirror back in the bag. The make-up really didn't sit well with his mom; she said that it "gave people the wrong impression", not that he really knew what she was talking about. Ulquiorra didn't really care what people thought of him, even if it was totally incorrect. The tear marks just seemed right since he was being forced out to an unknown destination soon.

Plugging in the small speaker system on his desk and plugging his iPod up to it, he put it on Shuffle and adjusted the volume. Not to loud, but loud enough that the music was clear. The idiots that blasted their music loud enough to shake cars didn't know what they were missing. World So Cold soon began playing, and as it did, he began packing for whatever this cold-hearted world was about to throw at him.

He shouldn't have to be doing this. Summer vacation is a time for relaxing! Just kicking back, grabbing a cold drink, and watching the sunsets. Or the nightlife. It was not the time for moms to be dragging their teenage kids off somewhere at seven in the morning.

'She didn't even tell me where we're going...' Ulquiorra thought, contemplating what to bring in terms of clothing. He just shrugged and put in what he normally wore, along with some necessary articles of clothing. Not like he cared about how he looked or anything. After another second of thought, a few books and his iPod charger were also placed in. At least he would be entertained.

The clock on his nightstand read seven-forty-five, so he switched off the speaker system, cutting Teenagers off in the middle and pocketing his iPod. Following the sounds and smells that accompanied breakfast, he wandered into the kitchen to find his mom cooking. Or just nearly burning everything. Whatever.

He sighed and switched off the burner on the stove, using an oven mitt to fan the air above the still-frying eggs to try and disspell the smoke coming from the burned ones before the smoke alarm caught scent of it. Luckily, the bacon next to them hadn't exploded or anything. Yet.

"You all packed, kiddo?" she asked him.

It took Ulquiorra a few seconds to understand what she had said due to her shoving a piece of toast into her mouth while sashaying over to the fridge.

When he actually did decipher the question, he replied "Yes, I think so. Where are we going, anyways?", before setting the plates of burnt breakfast food at the small table and taking a seat.

"Not we. You!" his mom said cheerfully, plopping an open carton of orange juice and two glasses down on the table, sending orange droplets flying across the tablecloth, which Ulquiorra automatically wiped up with a napkin out of habit.

"What do you mean, me?"

"I'm dropping you off!" she replied, showing another burst of happy energy and accidentally flinging a piece of bacon at Ulquiorra, who blocked it with a raised hand. Another piece of meat flew up and got caught in her own long black hair. She picked it out and set it aside without a second thought.

"Might I ask where?" he questioned, slightly irritated with her vagueness and the fact that she was basically having a one sided food fight with him.

"Mmm... You'll see when we get there."

She scrutinized his face and the marks drawn there for a second before speaking again. "Ulqui, darling, why do you have to wear that? It'll give people the wrong impression..." she told him yet again, looking concerned and leaning over the table in an attempt to swipe her thump across one of the teal lines.

Ulquiorra gently batted her hand away. "And what is this "wrong impression" that you keep mentioning?" While asking this, he sawed a piece of unburnt egg off, tasting it. 'Not bad.'

"Um, sweetie..." She put her fork down and folded her hands in her lap, twirling her thumbs with nervousness. "I meant to ask you this earlier, but... um... There's nothing wrong with it, and I'm totally fine with it, so... tell me the truth, 'kay?"

'Please don't ask what I think you're about to ask...' he thought, horrified at the prospect. Did he really give her enough of a reason to be asking? 'Please don't...'

"Are you... You aren't... gay, are you?"

'The world hates me...'

He just gave her a shocked look, which she apparently took as a confirmation of her son's supposed homosexuality and burst into tears. "Oh, I just knew it!"

She continued to make a fuss for several minutes, managing to knock over her glass and fling her plate across the table in the process. Ulquiorra ignored this and tried to get her attention.

"Mom. Mom... Mom!" She sniffled and looked up at him with her already red-tinted, normally green eyes. "I'm not gay, okay?"

His mom's eyes gained a glimmer of hope in their depths. "R-Really?"

"Really," he assured her, to which she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled softly.

"So I will be seeing some grandchildren in the future? Really, really far in the future?"

"Mom!"

"Okay, okay." She glanced at the clock on the wall, having regained her composure. "Oh! Better get going. Go grab your bag," the black-haired woman told her son, turning to to clear the table. "Go on. Hurry, 'cause we can't be late."

Climbing the stairs to return to his room, Ulquiorra heard a shout following him. "And don't forget your toothbrush!"

Oh yeah. Right.

...

"Can't you at least tell me where we're going?" he asked for the fifth time that day.

They had been on the road for a few hours now, and Ulquiorra was now getting bored. He had already listened to almost half of the songs on his iPod and was now occupying himself by reading The Silence of the Lambs.

'Whoa, messed up...' he thought before the sound of his mom talking brought him out of The World of Hannibal Lecter.

"You'll see. Only about... oh, thirty minutes left," she said after glancing at the GPS. "Maybe a bit more. The man I talked to said the road's a bit hidden..."

She muttered the last part, so Ulquiorra didn't quite catch it. He just sighed and pressed his forehead against the car window, enjoying it's coolness and watching the scenery flash by. Some ducks flew overhead. Maybe they were near water?

His mom looked out her window and seemed to be searching for something. The car slowed down to a standstill. "Is this...? Oh yeah! Found it!"

"This is where we're going?" Ulquiorra asked, observing that his mom seemed to be fixated on a narrow dirt road, almost completely hidden by some overhanging tall grasses and tree branches. It was just wide enough for a car to drive on, and the tree branches were just high enough so that a van would be able to pass under while just being scraped by some thin ones.

His mom turned the car onto the narrow road, somehow managing to not flatten the wildflowers growing alongside it. She took note of his expression and, in a total mom-like way, told him, "Don't worry sweetie. Mommy's not going to leave you in the middle of nowhere with the hippies."

He decided not to egg her on by complaining about the baby talk. "Well, what else is going to be out here?" he replied in an annoyed manner, gesturing at the surrounding forest.

"Ah, well... It's a little bit of a drive here... But there are other kids your age here. I hope you'll make a friend or two. Or meet a nice girl. Or... guy." The worried look returned to her face.

"Mom, I'm not gay. I swear." He frowned as she went through her normal relieved actions. A friend? Last time his mom tried to help him with that, he and another nine-year-old ended up in a fistfight. The school ended up making him go to a psychologist, who called him antisocial.

The car stopped once again. Ulquiorra looked up hoping to catch a glimpse of where his mom had dragged him to, but found the car still surrounded by trees. He turned and gave his mom a questioning look, to which she said, "Oh, we've just got to walk a little. The road ends here. Come on, don't just sit there!". He began to be pushed against the door by his mom's sandled foot, forcing him to open it. "Out you go!"

Having no choice in the matter, he pulled the door handle and managed to grab his duffle bag before tumbling out of the car. His mom exited the car shortly afterwords, surveying the area for a second before walking straight ahead down a really narrow path, motioning for Ulquiorra to follow. He did, thinking that his mom was insane. Then again, the area was nice. Lots of foliage, plenty of animals, including, from the sound of things, lots of birds and cicadas.

They walked for about a minute before coming upon a large clearing, which, past a worn out fence, opened up to a campground. Or, at least, what looked like one.

Ahead, there were buildings ('Cabins?' he guessed) arranged in two rows with one much larger one settled in the front, along with a smaller structure off to the left. Off a couple dozen feet to the right, there was another, longer, building, but Ulquiorra couldn't really tell what that one was.

Past these, a crystal clear lake stood calmly, its waters a deep blue. The whole area just looked natural, even the cabins, if that is what they were, people seeming to have very little impact on it, as far as the teen could tell. Speaking of people, Ulquiorra really didn't see anyone around. Well, it looked like there might be a few down by the lake, but still.

"Oh..." His mom looked around with wide, glittering eyes. "He said that the area was pretty, but... wow."

"Uh... so you're dropping me off here?" Ulquiorra asked, watching what looked like a leaf crawl on a bush. The "leaf" then struck out at a katydid and raised it to what the teen supposed was it's mouth. Ah, a praying mantis.

"Yeppers!" the woman beside him chirped. "Now, the nice man said something about the cabin marked first. Help me find it!"

'The nice man?'

"Uh, I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that it's that one," he said, pointing a black-nailed finger at the building closest to them- the larger one on the end.

The long haired woman frowned at the nail polish decorating her son's hands, still believing that people would assume the worst. She didn't say anything; rather, she just lead her son around the rectangular building and looked at its front. Sure enough, a character that looked like a dash was carved above it's door.

"Okay then!" She marched up the steps leading to the door, knocking as her normal bubbly attitude returned.

Ulquiorra just stood there and stared at the building in front of him. He had immediately reconised the "dash" as standing for "first". His parents, being from a Japanese heritage, had made sure that he learned at least some characters for whatever reason. Although he didn't understand the majority of them, he could read basic things; his name, the numbers up to twenty, and a few miscellaneous ones.

The building was indeed a cabin like he had guessed, albeit larger than the other ones set in rows behind him. Chrysanthemums were planted all along the front of it, stopping at the bottom step. Looking behind him, he found that all of the cabins had a number at the top and some sort of flower planted in front.

Before he could really look closely, though, the door that his mom had knocked on opened, after which a somewhat high-sounding voice cut through the air.

"So this is our new camper, eh?"

Turning, Ulquiorra found a man standing in front of him, having come down the stairs in the short amount of time that he had been looking around. Not expecting him to be right there, Ulquiorra was, quite frankly, freaked right the hell out, not that he showed it. The man looked about thirty, with messy blond hair and a bit of stubble on his chin, and appeared as if he had just woken up from a nap, judging from the state of his hair and the crookedness of his clothes, which looked straight out of a shōnen manga. The stick from a lollipop was loosely hanging from his lips.

He smiled warmly at Ulquiorra before turning to his mom and pulling the lollipop out of his mouth. "Welcome! You're Ms. Cifer, right?"

She nodded, still a bit overwhelmed by her surroundings.

"And this is young..." His smile faltered.

"Oh! This is Ulquiorra!" Ms. Cifer exclaimed, immediately snapping out of her daze.

"Ah, Ulquiorra. Sorry about that. I was half asleep when I was talking to you!" he laughed, wrapping his lollipop in a plastic wrapper before whipping a fan out of nowhere and fanning himself lightly. "I'm Kisuke Urahara, by the way. But just call me Urahara! Everyone does."

Ulquiorra just stared at Urahara for a minute, then turned to his mom. "So what am I doing here?" He knew that it was a stupid question, but he still didn't know what was going on.

Urahara gave him a curious look before turning to the boy's mom, who rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Um, this... was a surprise. He doesn't know anything."

He closed his fan with a snap of the wrist and pocketed it just like the lollipop. "Well, that's not a problem!" The man then explained.

"As you can probably see, I run a summer camp. All for teens!"

Ulquiorra's eyebrow twitched. "A... summer camp."

"Yes! Isn't it wonderful?" his mom asked, hugging him.

"How long do you expect me to stay here?"

"It's a summer-long camp. Whole summer!" Urahara informed him in his unusual voice. Ulquiorra was beginning to wonder if his clothes were made of hemp.

"The whole summer," he repeated, glaring at his mom.

"Well, you can't spend all summer locked in your room, can you?" she asked. Another totally mom-question.

"Don't worry!" Urahara told him, noticing the teen's annoyance. "Plenty to do around here! Even when it's raining. We have electricity, too."

Ulquiorra's brow furrowed at that. How did they have electricity? It's not like there were power lines or anything around...

The man continued on with his monologue. "Swimming, fishing, and other camp stuff. The other counselors can tell you more, but I think they're out on the lake now or something. Your cabinmates are here, though!"

Ulquiorra didn't say anything, but he supposed that his expression asked the question itself. Either that or Urahara was psychic, because he answered the question lurking at the front of the teen's mind.

"You'll be bunking with two other campers. Your age, so don't worry about that! Now..." He looked Ulquiorra over once more, paying special attention to the make-up and choice of clothing. It was kind of creepy. "Cabin Nine for sure!"

"Why Cabin Nine?" Ms. Cifer asked.

"Well, all of the other boy's cabins are full other than Six and Nine. And Six... Well, I don't really think Ulquiorra would enjoy himself there..."

"What do you mean by that?" the small woman demanded, thinking that Urahara was "getting the wrong idea".

"Oh! No no no no! I didn't mean it like that. The kids in Cabin Six... they're a bit... well, flamboyant."

"Oh." She blushed slightly while Ulquiorra just stood there silently. He figured that it was useless to fight this; he did not need to feel the Wrath of Mom at the moment.

"...So anyways," the green-clothed man started, recovering from the awkwardness rather quickly. "Ms, Cifer, do you think you could fill out a little more paperwork for me? Just a page or two."

"Of course," she replied politely.

Five minutes later, all the forms had been filled out and Ms. Cifer was giving her son a tearful goodbye at the fence line. Ulquiorra was just standing there, trying not to be crushed while attempting to get over his withheld anger and accept his boring fate. If only he knew how wrong he was...

Urahara ended up having to pull her off her son and promise her that everything would be fine. He had then been hugged and things started up again. After he had been freed, his mom left to locate her car.

The fan-wielding counselor sighed while retrieving his lollipop. "Well, now that that's over with... Welcome to the camp! Ready to meet your cabinmates?"

"I guess..." Ulquiorra muttered, wishing that his mom had taken him with him instead of leaving him with this strange, sugar-addicted man.

"Aw, cheer up, Ulquiorra-kun! They won't bite... Well, one might, but I already told him not to maim any of the other campers."

The teen just gave him a disturbed look.

"It was a joke..." he added, afraid that he had put the wrong idea into the teen's head. The two males just kept walking, Ulquiorra in silence and Urahara humming a song under his breath.

They soon stopped in front of one of the smaller cabins, this one with the Japanese character for "Nine" above the door and a group white flowers growing on the stairs' sides.

"Go on. They really won't hurt yo-" Urahara stopped and turned towards the lake, from where angry shouts were being emitted. Something about fish and shoes. He sighed once more. "I've... got to go deal with that. Have fun! I'll be back with something later."

Verdant eyes glared at him back as he walked hurriedly away. 'One might?' Seriously? He gave a sigh of his own and decided that he might as well just jump in, seeing that he was stuck there for the summer. Ulquiorra ascended the steps leading up to the solid brown door and reached for the rusty knob, but then froze. On second thought...

He knocked instead, waiting for a reply. A light thud issued from inside, which the teen took as a go ahead, hoping that he wasn't about to walk in on something that he really didn't need to see.

The first thing he noticed upon entering was the simplicity of the interior. Smooth, paneled wood walls, matching floor, a simple, red, squared rug in the center. Two trunks were set against the wall to his left, and to their opposite, a bunk bed. He noticed this all in mere seconds due to his attention to detail, but he didn't see the room's occupant until he spoke up.

"So you're the new kid? We kind of figured that Hat-and-Clogs would put you in here."

The speaker sat up, swinging his legs off the bottom bunk and standing, pausing to stretch as he did so. The fact that he didn't spot him unsettled Ulquiorra; the boy's clothes didn't even blend in with the tan blanket covering the bunk.

His apparent cabinmate studied him as much as he was him, looking him up and down with large, pale blue eyes. Not in a creepy way, though. His gaze was just as curious as Ulquiorra's. Maybe it was because of their similar styles.

He looked about Ulquiorra's age, similar in build, although he was a bit taller with dark brown, somewhat wavy hair falling to his shoulders. The teen was dressed in black jeans and a polo, along with a scuffed-up pair of Chuck Taylor's. In all, his appearance was very similar to the shorter teen's in more ways than one.

"...Apparently, yes," the pale teen replied, still lingering on the fact that he hadn't seen him. Then he remembered that he should probably introduce himself. The other teen beat him to it.

"Don't be so jumpy. Whatever that fool told you was probably a lie. I'm Tensa, by the way." A pause. "And you're...?"

"...Ulquiorra."

"Ulquiorra... sounds Spanish," commented a watery voice, followed by a thump similar to the one that Ulquiorra had heard outside. He turned around and just about died from shock.

Standing behind him, apparently having jumped from the top bunk, was a downright demonic looking teen, maybe a bit taller than Tensa. Paper white skin, all white clothes, longish, spiky white hair, and white-on-freaking-black eyes staring straight at him. The albino gave Ulquiorra a wide, psychotic grin that made his blood run cold. It took all of his willpower not to go running out of the cabin to find their seemingly high counselor.

"What, scared?" he asked, enjoying the gothic teen's shocked expression.

"Leave him alone, Ogihci. Urahara said that you're not allowed to haze the newbies," Tensa said, throwing a pillow at him.

"Whatever," Ogihci drawled, pulling a sports bottle down from his bunk and taking a drink. He glanced over his shoulder at Ulquiorra, who was still carrying his duffle bag. "Ya can just put your bag over there if ya wanna. Hat-'n-Clogs'll probably bring ya a trunk later."

"Hey, if he brings in another bunk, I call top," Tensa piped up, which caused the albino to start snickering. "Wha- Oi, pervert! Quit it!"

"Pffft... Ya gotta word things better, Zanny."

"You're the only one that would think about that. And quit calling me that!"

"Zanny?" Ulquiorra asked curiously while setting his bag down next to the trunks.

"Short for Zangetsu. My surname," he explained, glaring coldly at the ghost-like boy sharing the space. "He calls me it just to annoy me."

"That's 'cause yer name's weird!"

"It is not!"

"Why would he make fun of that?" Ulquiorra questioned, finding it weird that anyone would make fun of that name. Sure, it was odd, but still.

"I don't know... Can we talk about something else now?"

"Ooh, what about tha Campfire? Marshmallow time!" Ogihci sang out, looking delighted at the thought.

"You don't need any more sugar," his brown-haired friend told him before looking over at Ulquiorra. "You can meet the others tonight. In the meantime, did Urahara show you around camp?"

"No..." the boy responded, watching Ogihci, who had produced a sour gummy worm package from somewhere in the room and was now trying to wrench it open.

"Come on, then. Hey, don't get sugar everywhere! The ants will get in again!" Tensa told him sternly as the bag ripped open, sending multicolored candy worms everywhere.

"Crap!" He scrambled to pick them and the sugar up, remembering the last time the ants invaded. Not fun.

Tensa sighed, then walked out the doorway and descended the stairs, waiting for Ulquiorra at the bottom. After he joined him, he called back, "Hey, find us when you're done!", receiving a muffled, possibly vulgar, reply. He shrugged, then proceeded to give the new camper what he suspected was the grand tour.

The cabins were numbered One through Thirteen, all with Japanese characters at the top representing them ("Because Urahara's a manga freak," Tensa had explained.), along with flowers growing in front. All of the flowers were of different species, and it was the campers' job to keep them alive, which wasn't very hard, apparently; all of the plants were hardy breeds for obvious reasons. The counselors' cabins were the first three, with the campers occupying cabins Four through Nine. The last four had been empty for as long as Tensa knew, though no one seemed to know why.

If you kept walking past the cabins on the left, you got to the Firepit which Tensa remarked was more like a bonfire when lit because of its size. Large rocks and logs served as the seats around it, the rocks set farther away than the logs. You always had to check these for sheltering snakes or spiders due to the black widows taking a liking to them.

If you walked past the Firepit a ways, you eventually ended up at an old, mid-1800's through early-2000's cemetery. A lot of the campers apparently explored it every summer, including Tensa and Ogihci. They didn't go up there themselves, but Tensa mentioned that they would later.

While walking along the lake, which seemed to be overpopulated by small fish, though it seemed that the fish were just brooding here, they walked out onto a large, well-made dock. It easily went seventy-five feet out and was basically used for fishing and swimming off of. Boats would sometimes be docked there by other people living around the lake, mostly the counselors' friends.

Just as they were walking away from the shore towards the right side of camp, Ulquiorra heard a cheery, feminine voice call out from behind them. "Tensa! You wanna go crawdad hunting?"

He glanced over his shoulder and called back, "Not right now. We've got a newbie! And wait for the Campfire!"

" 'Kay! But you've gotta come tomorrow, okay? Bring him, too!"

"...Crayfish?" Ulquiorra asked, using the term that he was more familiar with.

"Yeah. Fun to catch. Plus, they make good bait," the other teen told him, stooping to pick up a flat rock before throwing and skipping it across the lake's surface. "Huh, five." He turned back to his fellow black-clad teen. "Hey, I'll be back in a second. Don't go to far."

He watched him walk off in the direction of the restrooms, which were in the longer building to the cabin's right, and wondered how exactly, or even if, they had plumbing. It wasn't that important. Well, not currently.

Ulquiorra turned to head back to the dock, figuring that he could go and watch the minnows dart around for a while, but bumped into something hard before he could even take a step and fell swiftly.

Rubbing his head and looking up, he almost had another heart attack when he saw that it was Ogihci standing there, his hands in his pockets, looking down at him. "Eh, what's with tha face? Scared?"

"No, you just surprised me, I guess," he said after regaining his composure, sitting up straight. It was the second time that he had missed something that day...

As he was standing, a snake decided that it was the right time to slither over his hand, which he jerked away. Okay, third.

Ogihci snickered at this motion and gently picked up the little garter snake, letting it slither through his fingers as he held it. "Hey, don't worry. All ya gotta worry about here is us... and tha ghosts." The pale teen smirked before heading back towards the lake.

Great. Just what he needed...

Wait, ghosts?

"Is Ogihci trying to scare you or something?"

Ulquiorra jumped at Tensa's question. When had he gotten back? What were these guys? Ninjas?

"...No, but..." he paused, uncertain if the question was okay to ask or not. "...he did mention something about ghosts..."

He didn't know what he had expected to happen; maybe for Tensa to burst out laughing or something. Surprisingly, the teen kept his serious expression. "Well..."

"Don't tell me..." he muttered, dreading the possibility. He and ghosts didn't really get along well.

"Uh... so, do you like the camp so far?" Tensa asked, attempting to distract him.

"I guess... Don't change the subject."

"Fine," he said, walking towards the lake. Ulquiorra followed him, sensing that he was going to continue talking.

"There's been some... weird things. Incidents, I guess," the teen said, watching a few of the small, silver minnows dart around in between the reeds. In the distance, Ogichi was crouched at the lakes edge, poking around in the water with a stick and watching the garter snake slither away into some nearby rocks.

"Like what?" Ulquiorra asked, curiously as they neared the dock.

He was silent until they began to walk along the dock's somewhat uneven wooden surface above the deep blue waters. "Ogihci and I... we've been coming here for years now. Probably longer than most of the others. You'll probably... start noticing things soon, just to warn you."

"What are you-"

"Wassup!" Ogihci yelled, springing up from behind them.

"Ah! What the hell!" Tensa cursed, swinging at the albino, who darted out of the way, giggling insanely.

"Is there something wrong with him? Specifically, his brain?" the green-eyed teen asked, pointing a finger at Ogihci.

"Hey! Like you can talk, el que llora," he retaliated, losing his grin despite the pun.

"Like I haven't heard that one before," he said, actually rolling his eyes. He caught something in the water with this action.

"Big fish," he remarked, watching the easily two, three-foot-long creature glide by, sinking lower into the water with every second.

"Catfish," Ogihci said, letting his faked anger subside. "They live around here. Weird tha' it's at tha surface."

"Hey, the sun's setting," Tensa said, catching their attention as he gazed at the orange orb perched on the horizon.

Ogihci laughed. "Campfire time! Come on!" He grabbed Ulquiorra's arm and started dragging him off the dock, Tensa following in his normal calm manner.

...

The trio arrived at the Firepit after a while of exploring the forest line. Urahara had told them that the other counselors were still AWOL, so they just went off to explore. Other campers were doing the same, but they kept their distance. Tensa explained that it was because they had a newbie in their group. Plus, they were just as excited for the fire as Ogihci was.

Ulquiorra really didn't get that, but when they returned, Urahara was over to the side setting up a table with two younger adults, who he guessed were the other counselors. One was fairly tall, with odd silver hair despite his age. The other was a dark skinned woman with her long, purple hair tied back into a high ponytail. They were setting out some food, sealed in plastic bags. All the while, Urahara kept eating what looked like chips. The purple-haired woman glared at him with startling golden eyes and slapped him, pointing her finger in the other direction and saying something about matches.

Urahara hung his head in mock shame for a second before he noticed the three boys. He got the other counselors' attention and nodded at them before sauntering off. They looked at the campers and smiled warmly, though the man had been smiling long before that.

"Hello," he sang, giving a small wave.

"Hi boys. This is the newbie, right?" she asked, placing one hand on her hip.

"Yep! This is Ulquiorra!" Ogihci happily informed them, swinging his arm around the teen's shoulder and pulling him close, his eyes remaining on a bag of marshmallows the whole time.

"Get off of him," Tensa snapped, pushing him off. "God, it's like he's horny twenty-four-seven..." he mumbled, looking away in annoyance.

"...Hello?" Ulquiorra tentatively greeted, looking at the albino standing a few feet away, who looked disappointed.

"He's always like that. Don't worry about it," the woman told him reassuringly. "I'm Yoruichi, by the way. The female counselor. This smiling idiot here is Gin. He's going to be you guy's counselor."

"Hey!" Gin exclaimed, frowning and faking hurt at Yoruichi's joking comment.

She snorted while rolling her eyes, then turned to fiddle with the marshmallows that Ogihci seemed to have his heart set on.

"Looks like the sun's finally going down," she commented, keeping her eyes fixated on the bag. "The others are going to start coming in soon."

Sure enough, other campers slowly began trickling in, acknowledging the counselors before plopping down on the various makeshift seats around the currently cold firepit.

Tensa and Ogihci led Ulquiorra to a large boulder, which was easily big enough for them to lounge on. While campers continued to slowly arrive, the members of Cabin Nine started up a dialogue about their lives at home.

"Hey, ya got any bros or sisters?" Ogihci asked. " 'Specially older, hot ones?"

Tensa smacked him upside the head for that.

"No. I live with my mom a few states away."

"With your dad?" the pale teen asked absentmindedly, leaning back on his elbows.

Ulquiorra remained silent.

"Oh. Damn, sorry dude."

"Uh... so..." Tensa quickly said, trying to shift the conversation away from the current topic.

"Really, it's fine," the messy-haired teen said in a slightly more depressed tone, examining his black fingernails.

"...Do you always dress that way?" the calm teen asked, gesturing at Ulquiorra's ripped, safety-pin bearing black jeans and slasher flick t-shirt.

"Do you mean the clothes? Yes. The make-up was mostly to get back at my mom. I'm thinking about keeping it up, though," he said thoughtfully, gently running his finger along one of his teal marks.

"Cool."

"...So along with what you asked earlier... where do you two live?"

"Few states over, same as you," Ogihci answered, looking up at the sky, where the stars were beginning to come out of hiding. "I live with my dad, lil' sisters, and bro. Oh, and Tensa here pretty much lives with us."

"I do not!"

"Dude, you're over there all tha time. Before school, after school, weekends. At dinner, too. It's like ya never get fed!"

"Hey, Yuzu can cook. You've got to admit that."

"Yeah..."

"Who do you live with normally?" Ulquiorra asked, amused by their argument even though he didn't show it.

"With my dad. Mom's dead," he replied nonchalantly.

"...Sorry."

"Don't be. I'm surprised that I was born without a third eye or something. She smoked and drank everything. Basically offed herself."

Ulquiorra just stared at him, surprised at how he could handle that so well. Just when he was about to say something, several loud snapping sounds interrupted him. All three boys looked over, but it was just Gin breaking up some of the firewood and arranging it in the firepit. Yoruichi was preparing what looked like tinder, and Urahara was messing with a large box of matches off to the side.

"Hey, he finally got his hands on some good ones," Tensa remarked, looking fondly at them.

"Remember that time when it took, like, thirty minutes ta light it? Everyone was getting eaten alive by mosquitos."

"Yeah. Gin finally started it with a phone book."

"A phone book?" Ulquiorra smacked his neck right after he said this, looking down at the crimson smear on his palm in dismay.

"Tha mosquitos'll go away when tha fire starts," Ogihci told him, looking around the fire pit. It looked like the whole camp was there now.

Urahara stood and cleared his throat in a loud, obnoxious manner, getting everyone's attention within a few seconds. The campers fell silent, and Gin and Yoruichi began to really prepare the firepit

"Well, I hope all of you are enjoying it here! Now... Uh, we seem to be missing a few campers... Gin?"

The silver-haired man looked around the circle as did everyone else. "M'kay, where'd Nnoi and Tesra go?"

"Probably off screwin' or something," came a rough voice from across the firepit, followed by some laughter. Even Urahara cracked a smile, but Yoruichi slapped him for even acknowledging this.

"Uncalled for," she declared in a stern voice.

"I'm sure they'll show up any minute... Ah! There you two are," the head counselor exclaimed, messing with his hat as he watched two boys run up to the group and collapse onto a large log.

"Where'd ya two run off to?" Gin asked, grinning in an exceptionally creepy way.

"Got lost... in the woods," the blond one panted.

"Tha... tha idiot left us there..." his lanky companion got out, pointing a finger at a blond teen sprawled out on the grass next to him, who snickered and adjusted his newsboy cap.

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say," said the voice from before. It was too dark to see who it was.

"Okay, now that everyone's here... Everyone is here, right?" Urahara asked the other counselors, who looked around for a minute before nodding. "Great! Now, intro time! We'll go first."

"What is he talking about?" Ulquiorra asked his cabinmates, who were watching the three adults.

"You'll see," Tensa said.

"So, I'm Kisuke Urahara, in case anyone didn't know," he said in mock bravado.

Gin and Yoruichi introduced themselves, then the two males continued on with the earlier work done with the firepit while Yoruichi remained standing.

"Okay, now that you get the point... Just introduce yourselves, okay? Cabin Four! You're up!" Yoruichi said energetically, pointing at a group of girls sitting to her right. They stood and stepped forward, apparently knowing the routine.

" 'M Lilynette!" a small girl, looking no older than thirteen, said.

"My name's Nel," chirped a busty, green-haired teen, who was smiling warmly.

"..." The equally endowed blond teen beside her said nothing and looked away, pulling gently on her unusually high collar. Ulquiorra wondered how she could wear that in the middle of summer, but then remembered his own choice of clothing. He really shouldn't be talking.

"And, um, this is Harribel," Lilynette said, motioning at her. "She doesn't talk."

The trio returned to their seat while the gathered campers murmured among themselves. Their noticeably cat-like counselor nodded at the next group, which Ulquiorra assumed was Cabin Five. Everyone seemed to be seated counter-clockwise by the order of their cabins.

Cabin Five's residents, who seemed to just be a duo, stepped up. Both were dressed abnormally, at least by most of society's standards, but most of the campers were. One was dressed in Gothic Lolita-type clothing hinted with purple, while the other was dressed in much more simpler clothing, just gray jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt.

"...Sung-Sun," the one in the white shirt said in a thoughtful-sounding voice, pushing a lock of olive-green hair behind her ear.

"Cirucci." The Lolita girl smiled as the bright flames of the fire started to lick at the log, only going back to her seat when Yoruichi told her she had to.

Next was Cabin Six, the cabin that Urahara had considered putting Ulquiorra in. As the goofy blond had stated, the two boys occupying it were quite "flamboyant".

"Szayel," purred a pink haired guy, nodding his head in Cabin Nine's direction.

Tensa facepalmed and mumbled, "Not again..."

"And I'm Luppi!" the smaller boy exclaimed, waving his arms around a bit, receiving weird looks. He didn't seem to notice.

"Uh... I can see why Urahara didn't put me in that cabin," Ulquiorra commented.

Ogihci laughed. "Yeah, they were here last year, too. Freaked us right tha hell out."

The next cabin approached before Ulquiorra could say anything else, this one containing three boys from clearly different social groups.

First up was a teen with wavy brown hair and a light goatee, who half-heartedly mumbled his name, Starrk, before yawning and returning to the rock they had been sitting on.

A young kid, close to Lilynette's age, was next. His snowy white hair glowed slightly in the dim firelight now being produced by the slowly expanding fire as he introduced himself. "Tōshirō. Don't call me anything else."

"Okay, Lil' Shiro," the much bigger, blue-haired punk beside him teased, much to his annoyance. He grinned at the fire just like Cirucci had. "Grimmjow."

Cabin Eight was another trio, composed of the three guys from before; two that looked like they had had one too many hits, and one smaller, calm-looking teen.

"Shinji. Pleased ta meet ya," the kid with the newsboy hat said in a slight New York accent while smiling widely.

"Nnoitra," the lanky teen drawled out in his somewhat creepy voice, giving a grin almost identical to Shinji's.

"Tesra..." said the blond kid, trying to stay out of Nnoitra's way.

As soon as that group sat back down (after Yoruichi scolded Nnoitra for making a lewd comment directed at one of the girls), Tensa and Ogihci stood, followed shortly by Ulquiorra. They introduced themselves without a problem, though Ulquiorra noticed the blue-haired punk staring at him.

"Alright! Now that you all hopefully know who your campmates are, let's have some fun, okay?" Yoruichi said cheerfully, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Gin copied her movements in an exaggerated way and was given a cold glare for his actions. He pretended like he hadn't done anything.

"...Anyways," she continued, still glaring at him. "Try not to kill each other."

"We'd never!" Ogihci gasped over the popping of the fire, which had officially started, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Oh, shut up," she said jokingly, rolling her eyes despite the snickering.

"Ah, come on, Yoruichi. Ya know ya-"

He was nailed in the face with the bag of marshmallows, Gin having happily supplied them to his fellow counselor. The albino fell off the rock with a shout, which resulted in several people bursting out laughing. Urahara chuckled to himself as he tended to the fire, which was growing by the minute.

Ulquiorra peered over the side of the rock at the fallen Ogihci while Tensa asked them, "Why? One of his favorite foods in the whole world, and you just gave him a whole bag. Of sugar. Why?". He was partially joking, but mostly being as serious as always.

"There's plenty more. Don't worry."

"That's not what I meant..."

Ogihci sat up and began tugging at the plastic bag containing the sweets, ripping it open a second later and shoving a handful of them into his mouth. By that time, everyone had either gone back to talking, helping Urahara with the fire or food, or, in Luppi's case, scolding Ogihci on his consumption of almost half of the marshmallow bag in under five minutes. When the teen offered the bag to him, he ran away in an attempt to avoid the deadly calories.

He laughed and then turned towards his cabinmates. Ulquiorra was looking up at the blanket of stars in the sky while Tensa was watching the fireflies blink in the distance, eating an apple. They had been put out due to a few of the campers being vegetarians.

Shoving another handful of giant marshmallows in his mouth, he spoke, or at least tried to speak. "Mmpy, nm mnna mo dwmn mwo mne mnownem?"

"What?" Ulquiorra looked back down at his ghost-like cabinmate.

"Don't speak with your mouth full," Tensa told him, turning his attention away from a particular firefly that didn't seem to know the danger of a campfire.

Ogihci swallowed, licked his lips, then repeated himself. "You wanna go down to the mausoleum?"

"The what?"

Tensa let a small smile show before allowing his face to return to its usual expression. "Hey Urahara!" The counselor looked up, allowing time for his marshmallow to burst into flames. "Can we take Ulquiorra down to the mausoleum?"

"Sure, sure," he replied in a carefree manner, blowing out his charred marshmallow before pulling it off of the stick.

"You're just going to let them wander off by themselves? At night?" Yoruichi asked him disapprovingly. When the man didn't answer, too busy with his gooey marshmallow, she sighed and called out at the other counselor. "Gin! Go with them, okay?"

"'Kay!" he replied cheerfully, giving up on his plan to scare poor Lilynette, who was trying to ignore him. Nel had been close to beating him to a pulp anyways.

"Come on!" Ogihci grinned psychotically as he grabbed Ulquiorra's right arm and began dragging him off away from the fire. Tensa mimicked the action, while Gin followed closely behind, humming the Caramelldansen rather loudly.

"Hey! Ya goin' off for a threesome or somethin'?" shouted a screeching voice from behind them.

Ogihci flipped Nnoitra off with his free hand while Tensa yelled back, "No, but you and your cabin have fun!"

This was apparently an inside joke within the camp, because Gin started laughing, a few catcalls and wolf-whistles rang out, and Ulquiorra just caught Yoruichi commenting in a slightly exasperated way, "Well, boys will be boys, I guess."

As the two boys continued to drag the poor newbie away, he asked, "Where are we going? And why is he with us?", while nodding backwards at Gin, who had completed his earlier redemption of the tune and was now watching the fireflies float by.

"To the mausoleum, like we said. And the counselor have to be with all of the campers at all times after sundown. Or at least when we aren't in our cabins" Tensa told him, shifting his grip on his arm.

"Not tha' ya guys don' sneak out anyways," the counselor said casually, giving them an extra-large grin.

"And you don't do anything about it?" the short teen asked, no longer resisting the hands guiding him.

"Nothin' would be any fun if we did," he replied with a shrug.

Ogihci slapped at his pale arm, lifting his hand to reveal a red smear. "Stupid mosquitoes..."

"We're here," Tensa announced, letting go of Ulquiorra's arm.

They were standing at a wrought iron fence, beyond which laid mostly dark, indistinguishable shapes. It took the pale teen a few seconds to realize that they were standing in front of the cemetery, evident because of the gravemarkers. Lots of short and tall headstones, some decorative and some plain, some in a state of ruin, others polished and intact.

"Is this place... Are people still using it?" he breathed, looking out over the burial ground.

"Nah. Just the dead," Ogihci answered with a grin, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. It must have been hard with skinnies on.

"...So why are we here? I mean, this place is cool and all, but-"

"Go in and knock on the mausoleum's doors. Dare ya," the albino told him.

"What?"

"Shouldn't be that hard ta find. Really shiny and white."

"I am not going to knock on a mausoleum!" Ulquiorra looked at Gin for support, since Tensa seemed to be with the psycho, but found that the man was just staring up at the moon happily.

"I don' see tha problem. Go fer it."

"We did it when we got here," Tensa supplied.

"Why?"

"Tradition," Gin said. "Most of tha campers here have done it."

"You let them?" Ulquiorra was beginning to doubt his own safety at the camp.

"No harm done. No one gets hurt an' tha cemetery isn't affected."

"You've got to be kidding me..."

"Do it," Ogihci commanded. "We dare ya."

He looked around at the three other males standing around him and sighed, knowing that, although he felt nerdy for thinking it, resistance was futile. "Fine. What do I...?"

"Hop the fence. It's on camp grounds, so don't worry about trespassing," Tensa said, searching his pockets for something. Finally, he pulled a pen-sized object out of his shirt pocket and pressed a button on the end, causing the light on the end to flicker on. He handed the penlight to Ulquiorra. "Here. The mausoleum is in the center of the cemetery. It's the only one there, so you shouldn't get that lost."

He looked at the light a little uncertainly. A weak little penlight was going to lead him through an old, unfamiliar cemetery? Sure, he had pretty good eyesight, even at night, but a little light wasn't going to help much.

"You have to tell us what the mausoleum's plaque says when you come back," the nearly invisible, dark-clad teen told him.

"Oh! An' pick one of tha flowers growin' in front ta prove it!" Gin added.

"Uh..."

"Go! Shoo!" Ogihci shoved the much smaller teen towards the gate playfully.

He looked back for a second before taking a deep breath and jumping the fence with ease. It wasn't like he hadn't done it before. Just not at that particular graveyard.

Ulquiorra weaved his way through the headstones, trying to keep his path straight while searching for a white structure. He stumbled over a stone hidden in the grass and shined his light on it. '1859...' The pale teen frowned and continued on his way, glancing at the dates on the occasional headstone.

'1860... 1877... 1880... back down to 1876...'

Judging by the fact that there were almost-new headstones ahead, he reasoned that he was in the old section of the cemetery. Getting to the newer ones, he checked their dates. '1950... 1967... 1980...' It looked like it was grouped into family plots.

Deciding to continue on and focus on his goal, he tried to stop looking down. He passed a few interesting headstones and monuments, including a creepy one that was carved like a chair. For the first time, the boy noticed that there really didn't seem to be many insects around. Now that he really thought about it, he hadn't been bit by any mosquitoes since he entered the cemetery. Odd, since he had had to bat away at least ten before the fire had started earlier. The only bugs that he had seen signs of were the fireflies, which seemed to be exceptionally numerous there.

The beam of light from the small flashlight landed on a tall monument, causing Ulquiorra to stop in his tracks.

'2009...' The burial was recent.

Before he could really read the inscription, he heard a snapping sound from behind him. Whirling around, he found nothing. It could have been a small animal, but...

He frowned once again and continued on, passing the monument. He would have to come back in the future. Soon, a glimmer of white came into view.

The mausoleum wasn't that big, being no more than ten by ten feet, probably less. It was made of pure white, shining marble, carved elegantly with roses and angles along the top. A phrase was inscribed on a plaque above the door- "In Amor et In mors", which Ulquiorra roughly translated in his head. His Latin classes had finally paid off. Who would've thought.

Looking at the structure's foot, he saw that a large number of small, blue and white flowers growing there. Remembering what Gin had said, he reached down and plucked a single stem. Then, remembering why he had come out there in the first place, he silently walked up to the sealed marble doors and rapped his knuckles on them four times. Not that anyone would ever know, but he just felt it necessary.

Satisfied, he began to retrace his steps back to his group, following the tombstones that he had seen along the way.

Then the snapping sound repeated itself.

Turning quickly once more, he shined the penlight around, trying to find the culprit. A shadow seemed to dart off to the left, but when he checked, he found that area to be devoid of life. There was nowhere to hide either, as all of the tombstones were small, ground-level ones.

Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes, suspecting that one of his cabinmates was trying to scare him. Since there weren't any hiding places to check, he continued, reaching the cemetery's old section after a few minutes of walking.

He didn't scare easily, so when the sound of of twigs breaking reached his ears for the third time, he simply turned the light in that direction, assuming that if there was anything there, it would just run off like last time. When he looked up, he froze in mid-step.

In the penlight's beam, a figure appeared to be standing off to the side. It was only there for a moment, but it was definitely there; a shadowy figure, maybe standing a little more than five feet tall, and it looked solid. Before he could notice anything more about the figure, it vanished. Just... vanished. Almost as if it had just been a shadow dispelled by the weak beam of light and had sunk back into the ground.

Ulquiorra stared at the spot that it had been, startled. It had looked so real... and left such an eerie feeling in his gut. He realized what he had just seen and turned, shaking his head to try and get over it, then resumed his retreat at a slightly faster rate. The encounter had left him more than a little spooked.

Meanwhile, Ogihci, Tensa, and Gin were waiting on the other side of the fence, growing uneasy. The small flashlight's beam was no longer visible, so they had no clue where the newbie was.

"Ya think he got lost?"

"It's a pretty straightforward route, so I doubt it. You don't think he saw...?"

"Oh, come on. I thought we said we weren't going ta talk 'bout that anymore?"

"Hey, looky there. He's back," Gin sang, interrupting the two camper's conversation.

True to the man's word, Ulquiorra had reemerged from the cemetery's depths, looking relieved to be getting out. A wilted flower was clutched in his hand, a memento from his dare.

His demeanor was what freaked them out, though. From what they had seen, he was a pretty unemotional guy, not really showing if something was bothering him. He appeared to breaking this regular pattern now, as he seemed paler than normal, if that was possible, and his brow was furrowed as if he was debating something in his head.

"Whoa. You okay?" Ogihci asked, looking past the teen as he jumped the fence to see if something else was there. There was nothing other than a few fireflies with their odd, greenish-yellow lights, so unless the guy had entomophobia, there wasn't anything that could have freaked him out that much.

"Yes... In Amor et In mors," he said, looking at him with seemingly bored emerald eyes.

"What?"

"In Amor et In mors. It's what's above the mausoleum's doors... Roughly translates to "In Love and In Death"."

"Nice." he praised, swinging his arm around his shoulders in a friendly manner. "Welcome to tha team."

"Did you see anything... weird in there?" Tensa asked, glancing sideways at Ogihci to make sure he would stay quiet.

"..." He didn't say anything, hoping that the black-clad teenager would get the hint. That figure... For some reason, talking about it just seemed... wrong.

"Eh, don' make 'em talk 'bout it if he dosen' wanna," Gin told them, turning toward the gothic teen. "A lot o' people see weird stuff 'ere, 'specially near this place."

Everyone was silent for a moment after his dramatic statement before the creepy counselor himself broke the tension. "Alrigh', back ta tha fire you three."

...

The rest of the night was rather uneventful, at least if you go from a paranormal standpoint. Urahara kept the fire well fed while devouring marshmallows and lollipops, and the others entertained themselves with various campfire activities. Some of the highlights: Ogihci's marshmallow-induced sugar high, which ended in him jumping into the lake and having to be revived by Yoruichi (who slapped him when he started laughing after she had given him mouth-to-mouth), Sung-Sun's monologue about the flame's symbolism to life, ultimately causing Yoruichi and Luppi to tear up, and Nel nearly killing Tensa by glomping him after he mentioned his mom.

Ulquiorra mostly stayed off to the side, watching his fellow camper's antics and pondering over what he had seen in the cemetery. He didn't know why it was bothering him so much; he had seen things like that before, but they never gave him that kind of creeped out feeling.

As he was lost in thought, one of the campers approached him and sat beside him on the boulder. He looked up to find Harribel sitting there, looking at him with a passive expression, holding a cup and a notepad, which she had placed in her lap. The blond offered the cup to him, and he accepted with a thank-you after seeing that it was Coke.

"So... you're in Cabin Four? Harribel, right?" he asked, trying to be polite and start up a conversation despite her cabinmate's claim that she never spoke.

She nodded, then produced a small pen from the pocket of her extremely baggy, tan cargo pants and began to scratch something onto her notepad. Then she held it up.

'Yes. Did you go to the cemetery?'

"All the way to the mausoleum. Does everyone really do that?"

'Pretty sure. Almost everyone here has'

She paused, then wrote something else before he could reply.

'You look freaked out. What did you see in there?'

Ulquiorra stayed silent. He still didn't want to tell anyone about the figure. She observed the look on his face for a moment before writing something else, then showing him her spiky writing.

'You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. Just know- most people see things while they're here.'

"Like what?" he asked, feeling a sense of déjà vu as he did so. He only realized later that it was from his earlier conversation with Tensa.

Harribel didn't write anything for a minute, just staring at the fire before looking up at the moon. She then stood, writing as she did so.

'They're going to put out the fire soon. I'm going back to my cabin.'

"Uh, okay."

Soon after this, Urahara managed to get everyone's attention by banging two metal pots together. "Alright everyone. Unfortunately, we can't keep this going all night. So everyone help clean up! No trash left behind!"

Everything was cleaned up in a few minutes, recyclables put into one bag and food scraps in another, with only one incident involving some melted marshmallows and Luppi's head. After that had been dealt with, Luppi only having hit someone once in his frenzy to get the gooey mess out of his hair, the campers were sent off to their cabins, accompanied by Gin, while Yoruichi and Urahara dueled with the fire.

Tensa made Ogihci get into his nightclothes and brush his teeth in the restroom despite how hyper he was. Both of his fellow cabinmates did the same, trying to keep their distance from Luppi, who had his head shoved under the faucet, trying desperately to get the sweets off his head with Szayel's help.

Returning to their cabin, sugar-loaded albino in tow, they found that Urahara had, in fact, found time to find another trunk and bunk bed for the cabin (the only beds at the camp were bunk beds to save space), which was surprising because his time was usually divided between sleeping, his prized lollipops, and flirting with Yoruichi, apparently.

"All right!" Tensa cheered, quickly climbing the new bunk bed like a pro and claiming the top bunk as he had said. He peered over the side at Ulquiorra, who was placing the contents of his duffle into the new trunk. "You might want to share this one... Ogihci's not going to stay still tonight."

"Yeah, I can see that," the shorter boy replied, edging away as a white blur ran past him, going in circles around the small space.

"You aren't mad about the cemetery, are you?" the brunet asked, laying his head down on his arms as he looked down.

"No... I kind of want to go back and read the headstones," he replied, trying to keep the demon-like boy from trampling his things.

"Well, you've got all summer. You want this bunk?"

"No, you can keep the top." Ogihci snorted childishly at this.

"Ogihci... Go run around outside or something. I'm sure Gin would love to chase you," Tensa suggested with a roll of his eyes.

"No! The pedo's not allowed to chase kids!"

"...Uh, well, at least get into bed," Ulquiorra told him, closing his trunk carefully while wondering about what he had said about Gin being a pedo.

"'Kay!"

It took them a little while, but they eventually managed to get Ogihci to stay still long enough to fall asleep and got into their bunks themselves. While Tensa fell asleep soon after saying goodnight, Ulquiorra stayed up for a long while after that, listening to the nightlife... and the all too familiar sound of breaking twigs.

...

Next Chapter...

Ulquiorra reluctantly gets settled into the camp life, but something strange is going on. Not with the campers, but with the camp itself. Why is the shadow following people? Why is Gin so creepy? And what's the deal with Urahara's lollipops?

Disclaimer- This is the one and only time I'm going to say this... I don't own Bleach or any other copyrighted materials. They all belong to their respective owners, who I'm sure you can find by Googling whatever it is.

A/N- Thank you to everyone who actually read all the way through this monstrosity... I swear, the other chapters won't be nearly as long. I did enjoy writing this, though. Something to take note of- The next chapter and the majority of the ones following it will be in first person. Third person will be used sparingly. Also, all of the chapters following this will be covering a week each (unless noted), so mini-time skips are to be expected. Nothing important will happen in-between.

Oh! Before I forget, this was partially inspired by that hilarious fic The Espada Friendship Reconstuction Program by UNseated4TH (If you haven't read it, go. Now. It's worth it.) and Sinsanity's multiple random ideas and comments. Yes, the random comments that had almost nothing to do with anything helped. XD Joking, joking...

Just so you guys know, I've never personally been to a summer camp. Well, once, but I got sick and left on the first day. :( So I'm just basing this off of what I know about them and putting my own spin on it. So sorry if some of the stuff's off or wrong. Some of the characters are OOC as well, I know, but it was mostly because I was trying to write them as teenagers. Kind of hard with some of them.

Well anyway, I hope that you guys liked this. I'll be trying to update this regularly every Friday or Saturday for the entire summer. More info, including an actual summary, is up on my profile.
And guess what? I pretty much have the whole story line planned out for once! Just the framework, though.
Any questions? Suggestions? I don't mind a little constructive criticism, as it will help me a lot, but no flames, okay?

So go forth and review!