Choices "...Wow," Kuukaku muttered once her friend had finished relating the general points of her and Soi's reconciliation, a smirk finding its way to her face as the news sunk in. Yoruichi hadn't told her about how she'd cried into the younger girl's arms, though-- part of her felt like it was a private thing between them, a moment that had cemented a foundation on which their relationship could build. "...I've gotta say, I never thought of you as the 'monogamous' type." "Hmph. That makes two of us," the dark upperclassman muttered back as she lightly scratched the side of her face. She cast a glance back at Soi's house as she adjusted herself on the front step, then reluctantly turned back around. "...Soi's a great kid. I'm glad for you," the Shiba woman said with a surprising degree of sincerity. "But... I have to ask what you were going to do." "Well, not much... I was just planning on spending the evening with her--" "You KNOW what I mean, Yoruichi." Upon catching the tone in her friend's voice Yoruichi turned to face her, locking eyes with the surprisingly sober Kuukaku before her. "Have you talked to Urahara at all since then?" "...I'll take that as a 'no,'" Kuukaku said evenly as she assessed the evasive look on Yoruichi's face. "I just...I don't know what to say to him." "Well, you apologized, right?" Yoruichi gave a slight nod in response. "Well, then I'm sure he'll be able to forgive you. It sounds like he understood your situation pretty well. And you guys have known each other forever!" "That doesn't make what I did to him right." Kuukaku groaned as she ran her fingers restlessly through her hair, then let it rest at her side once she'd tired of making herself look even more unruly than normal. "And what about Soi? What are you going to do about your trip?" "...I don't know," Yoruichi answered after a few silent moments. "Well, I'm gonna leave you two alone," the other girl said suddenly as she got herself off the step, brushing off the now-dirty back of her jeans. "But you should think about it, Yoruichi. You don't have very long." Yoruichi watched her friend go quietly, pondering her final words as she disappeared in the distance. ---------- "Are you okay?" Yoruichi shook herself out of her reverie at the sound of Soi Fong's voice, smiling at her even as she struggled to keep her hands from making the car stray too far in either direction. She felt a hand lightly fall on her shoulder, fingertips squeezing slightly in concern. The upperclassman's smile got just a little wider at the contact. "I'm fine...just thinking, is all." Soi grinned herself, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks as she leaned over just enough to rest her head on the older girl's arm. "So...where did you wanna go so badly?" Yoruichi said nothing, only allowing a mischevious grin to appear on her lips as she made a right turn, the sign of Homounka visible from their location even without its neon lit. Soi smiled at her, aware of exactly what she had in mind. ---------- It was dark by the time they returned, Soi opening the front door of her house with an effort as they both struggled to stop laughing, still giddy from the lingering exhilaration hanging over them both. On a whim Yoruichi reached out for the younger girl, twirling her in an exaggerated waltz spin before pulling her back into her arms to dip her down, Soi's face still lit up in a glad smile. "Well, I guess you're not COMPLETELY beyond hope--as far as dancing's concerned," Yoruichi teased as she let Soi back on her feet, eyes following the girl's lithe form as she adjusted her slightly sagging jeans. "well, no thanks to you anyway," Soi responded with a wicked grin, but Yoruichi caught her arm and pulled her close again, this time the snug embrace of the tango. "You know... everyone was looking at you today." "...And YOU know how I feel about cheap flattery, Yoruichi." Soi was trying her best to keep up her mask of sexual confidence and grace, but the senior's proximity to her threatened to turn her into putty all over again. At least, in this moment it did. "I'm serious," Yoruichi muttered quietly, leaning in close enough that Soi could see the slight flush on her dark skin, but whether it was from all the exercise or something else Soi couldn't tell. "Even seeing you in street clothes... Let's just say I was having trouble keeping it in my pants." Yoruichi's voice was joking but the look in her eyes said otherwise, and it made a shiver of anticipation run through the younger girl. In less than a second-- during which an unspoken question was answered with equal silence-- their lips were together, Soi's mouth pressed against an equally enthusiastic Yoruichi's. The younger of the two wrapped her arms around Yoruichi's neck, who was only too happy to pull her closer at the waist, savoring the contours of her hips and the smell and taste of her that left her in that indescribeable haze of bliss. Yoruichi had the strongest urge to whimper but decided that such a girlish noise of euphoria would seem strange coming out of her-- though the constant massaging of her scalp by those slender fingers made her decision a difficult one to keep. Suddenly Soi withdrew, planting a lighter peck on Yoruichi's lips like it was her trademark, making the senior realize that she was STILL blushing-- but at least, so was Soi. "...I'll get the movie going, okay?" Yoruichi felt a stupid sort of ecstacy wash over her as Soi gave her a wink and walked into the living room, like the stomachaches she'd had before but this time it almost made her want to sing, to run after Soi and just smother her with kisses for the rest of her life. The whole thing, of being in a relationship with Soi-- it was all so different from what she'd known before, and made her FEEL different than she ever had. No freedom she'd believed she possessed could ever equal this, the warmth and security and the absolute contentment that only Soi seemed to give her. But then her thoughts drifted back to what Kuukaku had said. What was it she wanted to do? She wanted to be with Soi, but...somehow, this trip just seemed to stay on her mind. She'd wanted this for so long, but would Soi understand? Could she leave her after all this? And what about Kisuke? She'd tried calling twice already today, but hadn't recieved an answer from anywhere he could be. She at least wanted to be on good terms with him when she left. "Yoruichi, are you ready?" Soi called suddenly from the living room couch, where the light of the television had already started blinking away. "Uh," the senior managed, shaking herself out of a trance, "...Yeah, I'll be right there." ---------- "So," Yoruichi asked suddenly as the movie continued, Soi adjusting herself slightly in her embrace, "...When did you know?" "Know what?" "Well, that you...liked me," the dark-skinned woman said quietly into the back of her neck. Soi was quiet for a moment before answering, humming as she searched her memory. "Um...Well, I guess it was when we all went to the beach over the summer. Do you remember the festival at all?" "Hmph. I remember waking up the day after with a hangover," Yoruichi grumbled. "well, you WERE drunk... and I was in the woods, don't ask me why though... And then I found you, and you...kissed me." "...I WHAT?" "Yup," Soi responded, holding down a laugh at Yoruichi's shocked and disbelieving reaction. "Pinned me to the nearest tree and just kissed me for about a minute. It was getting to the point where I couldn't breathe-- and quite frankly, you're not a great kisser when you're blitzed." "Oh, jeez... I can't believe I did something so stupid. NOT kissing YOU," Yoruichi corrected when Soi cast a teasing look of accusation at her. "I just mean... Ah, nevermind." Soi smiled as the senior rubbed her eyes in embarassment. Though it WAS a mistake, it had ultimately led her to this-- to being with her, to a new sense of who she was in relation to the world. It had been sloppy and forceful and Yoruichi had reeked of sake but she wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. "Okay, okay... and what about YOU, Yoruichi? When did you fall for little ol' me?" the Chinese girl asked in a sarcastic attempt at coyness. "...Um... I don't know." "...You don't know?" Soi responded with a bit of indignance in her voice. "Well, I just mean...there wasn't really a moment when it happened. I just... I guess if you NEED an answer, it would have to be the first day I met you." "R-really? You're just saying that," the girl dismissed skeptically. "Don't get me wrong-- it wasn't anything like 'love at first sight' or something that silly... I was just... It was something about your additude. Not caring whether you got beat up or not, or if someone helped you. I guess... I kinda saw a lot of myself in you. But you were a lot sweeter of a kid then I EVER was," Yoruichi said with a smile as she leaned forward to peck her lover on the forehead, her grip on her shoulder tightening just a little. "...Yoruichi?" the Chinese girl said without warning. "Yeah?" The upperclassman loosened her grip as Soi leaned up and put slender lips to her ear, whispering a trio of words that rang in Yoruichi's head, despite the gentleness with which they were conveyed. The love with which Soi had muttered her declaration, as well as the gentle kiss left on her neck as she curled into her arms, sent Yoruichi reeling for about a minute, her heart orbiting the moon and then gliding blissfully back again. She felt disarmed, exposed with the freshman, but as she squeezed the tiny body in her lap closer she was aware that she didn't feel nervous or guilty at all. Just happy. "...I'm going to miss you...when you're gone, Yoruichi," Soi said in as quiet a tone, but this time her voice quavered slightly as if she was holding something back. It only took Yoruichi a moment-- for all her earlier indecision and doubt-- to make a decision. "I'm not going." "...Huh?" Soi asked in obvious confusion, pushing up slightly to meet Yoruichi's smoldering gaze. "Soi...I'm not going anywhere. I want to stay...with you."
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