Guess Who's Staying for Dinner Soi had to admit to herself that she was a little nervous when they arrived at the front doorstep. Yoruichi hadn't said anything since they had turned down her street and the houses were becoming progressively more neglected as they walked, almost like watching an animal die frame-by-frame. She remained silent as the smaller girl slid her key into the lock, turning it until it clicked open, then pushed the door inside. "...Well, like I said, it's nothing special..." Soi muttered apologetically as the upperclassman stepped inside, the floorboards creaking slightly underneath her feet. Yoruichi slipped her shoes off following Soi Fong's lead, then turned her face towards the freshman. Instead of looking disgusted at the Fong family's near poverty, Yoruichi had a wide smile on. "Are you kidding! I love it!" "...Huh?" Soi blinked, this reaction far from what she had anticipated. Yoruichi stepped out of the small drop-off where they had left their shoes and walked casually to the staircase, running a hand along the nicked railing. "I can't see why you're embarrassed about living here-- it's so...cozy, you know? It kinda gives you that warm, nostalgic feeling." Soi Fong turned defensive once she realized what Yoruichi had said. "I...I don't feel embarrassed! I-I like it here!" "...Then why were you so insistent on me not coming? Or even Kisuke for that matter?" the older girl countered with a slightly cocked eyebrow. The Chinese girl opened her mouth, but quickly shut it again once she realized she didn't really have an answer to the question. "...Did you think that it would be 'below my dignity?'" Yoruichi added with a wry grin, and Soi, embarrassed, turned in the other direction, knowing that Yoruichi had once again seen through her like a glass window. "...I-I'm sor--" she began, but the upperclassman waved the feeble apology off. "Don't be. It's only natural for you to have some assumptions about me-- we don't know each other very well yet. Let's just forget it, all right?" Soi Fong stared at the girl quietly for a moment before she nodded in agreement. It was rather pleasant to see that instead of just being some airheaded tomboy, her savior was in fact wise beyond her years. "...Hey, what's this?" Yoruichi had walked over to a small chest of drawers on the wall beside the stairs that was covered in photos and homemade crafts. She carefully picked up a little object composed of glue and popsicle sticks, painted haphazardly the way only a kindergartener can. "Did you make this?" "Uh..." Soi hummed as she waited for memory to provide a decent answer. "...Yeah, I made that when I was five-- for my mom." She blushed slightly as she looked at the 'sculpture' she had been so proud of those many years ago and now in hindsight only looked like an eyesore. "It's pretty crappy, I know, but..." Yoruichi didn't think there was anything wrong with it at all, but decided to say nothing regarding the sculpture and changed the subject by picking up a framed picture showing two adults and a little girl. "Is this your mom?" the tall girl asked as she turned the picture so that Soi could confirm her suspicion with a nod. "...Yeah." she said after a moment. Yoruichi looked at the tiny girl struggling to escape the protective embrace of a stunning woman with perfectly straight, flowing black hair and a warm smile. "She's beautiful," The dark woman said quietly. "Where is sh--" "Let's go into the living room," Soi interrupted and led the way into the next part of the house, her reaction telling Yoruichi more than words could. As such, she never mentioned the photograph, or Soi's mother, again. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "I'm home!" a man's voice rang warmly through the worn corridors of the small house to be greeted by Soi Fong's voice from the kitchen. "Hi Dad! I'm in here!" Her father smiled to himself as he took off his suitcoat and hung it on the closet doorknob and set his shoes beside the front door. He turned left in the voice's direction and was swiftly greeted with a hug from a short girl with long braids. "Hello, honey! How was sch--" He stopped speaking when he caught sight of the tall girl sitting casually at the small kitchen table, smiling in his direction. "...Soi Fong, who's this? Are the bill collectors sending kids to do their dirty work now?" He chuckled at his own joke, but Soi's eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of a subject that she didn't find even slightly amusing. Her frown faded immediately, however, since she couldn't stay angry at her father for very long even if it was only in jest. "Oh, sorry...Dad, this Yoruichi-san, she goes to my school. Yoruichi-san, this is my father." Yoruichi bowed respectfully to the older man, a surprisingly formal action that nearly made Soi giggle, but she succeeded in hiding it behind a cough. "It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Fong," she said politely. "Well, it's nice to meet you as well, young lady. Are you one of Soi's friends?" Yoruichi was silent for a moment as she considered his query, then smiled warmly in the other girl's direction. "...Yeah, I guess I am." Soi Fong's face turned a very light shade of pink at Yoruichi's statement. The idea that, of all people, a popular upperclassman like her would consider Soi as something other than just another faceless freshman seemed unreal. "Well," the tall girl said as she brushed a few stray hairs out of her face, "...It's getting late--I better get home." As she watched Yoruichi walk to the door, Soi Fong felt a strange desire to ask her to stay longer. She'd been here nearly an hour, and they weren't actually doing anything, and Soi didn't want to inconvenience someone who'd be getting ready for college exams soon, but her mouth was half open when her father suddenly cut her off. "Hey, wait! Why not stay for dinner? I'll bet you're probably hungry..." Yoruichi hesitated, as she was in fact VERY hungry, but she only held up a hand in mild protest. "Oh, no--I couldn't impose, and I'm sure you guys want a nice quiet dinner to yourselves..." "Come on now," the middle-aged man protested. "I won't take 'no' for an answer. I never get to meet my Soi Fong's friends and this would be a nice opportunity." The upperclassman was about to refuse again, but after a few moments spent in quiet contemplation, she stepped away from the front door. "...You know what? I'd like that...If it's really not too much trouble." Soi Fong managed to fight down the strange urge to jump for joy, and contented herself with only a slight smile. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unfortunately for Yoruichi, Soi's father had no idea how to cook, a fact that became evident when he somehow succeeded in actually setting the noodles he was making on fire. Once the smoke cleared and the long-haired upperclassman managed to stop laughing, he reluctantly dug in the cabinet and pulled out the phone book, finally stopping at a number for local pizza delivery place. "It'll probably take about half an hour," the graying man said with a sigh after he put the telephone back on its stand. "So, Yoruichi-chan... (the dark girl flinched at being referred to as 'chan' but did nothing) ...How did you meet Soi Fong? She never mentioned you before..." "Oh, uh... Well, she showed up at the Karate club one week and she's been going ever since." Soi blinked at how quickly Yoruichi had fabricated these alternate circumstances of their first meeting; it was almost as if she had anticipated the question from the start. "Really? Soi Fong in Karate?" he responded with an impressed look on his face, then turned to look at his daughter sitting at the other end of the table. "...I didn't know you'd taken an interest in sports." Soi turned red from the exacting stare her father was giving her, but managed a 'yes' that satisfied him. "Oh, she's great!" Yoruichi continued, eager now that she knew her story had been believed. "Most kids her age aren't as eager to stay with the program just because it starts so slow, but she's been sticking with it the whole time!" "Yes, Soi's always been the patient type," her father said with an appraising smile. "I'm sure you'll find she's a very dedicated person." "I'm sure she is," Yoruichi said with a nod. With that, the conversation effectively died, leaving an uncomfortable silence in its wake. "...You know," the patriarch said without warning, startling the two girls, "...I have to say that I'm glad to have met you, Yoruichi-chan (another flinch on Yoruichi's part). To be honest, I was starting to worry that Soi Fong hadn't made any friends." The two girls laughed uncomfortably at that, and afterwards the conversation degenerated into small talk until there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it," Soi said as she got out of her chair, eager for an excuse to evade pointless chit-chat. "Oh, here's the money," her father indicated a few bills in his hand. "...Be sure to tip him, okay?" The freshman nodded, taking the money and walking to the front door just as the visitor began a fresh stream of banging. "...I'm coming, I'm coming..." Soi muttered in annoyance at the delivery man's apparent impatience as she turned the knob. Once she opened the door and saw who it was standing there, she did a double take. ...No way... "Hi, delivery for the Fong famil-- Wait a minute..." the courier lifted up the brim of his striped bucket hat to reveal a pair of eyes staring out from behind a mess of sandy hair. His expression was indescernible for a few moments until his face broke into a smile. "...Hey, I remember you! The kid with moxie, right?" "Uh...Yeah, it's Soi Fong," the braided girl said as she gave him a slightly irritated glare. "Uh...and you're Urahara, right?" "Yeah, that's me," he said casually. "...So, this is your place, huh?"
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