Over The Rainbow "Yoruichi! Yoruichi, are you even awake?!" "Hnnnnm... jus... five more minutes..." the senior muttered incoherently as she wrapped the sheets even tighter about herself, shifting to her side on the couch. Soi groaned, rolling her eyes as she pushed harder against the dark-skinned girl's shoulder, barely sparking a reaction from the slumbering beauty. Jeez... you STILL sleep like a rock," the Chinese girl quipped as she tore the sheets away in a single movement. "Yoruichi, come ON! We have to get to school! "Wh...why?" "Because you're already late, and if you don't get there soon you won't be able to graduate!" She'd never seen anyone snap to awareness that quickly, Soi considered minutes later as Yoruichi put on her clothes and rushed out the door, followed seconds later by a slightly-better-prepared freshman. ---------- "What about your uniform? You can't go in there...like that!" Soi managed as she ran, already finding it difficult to keep in step with Yoruichi's longer and more controlled strides. "N-no time! If they don't like it... well, too bad!" Yoruichi called back as she slowed her pace just enough to let the younger girl catch up with her. They ran in silence for a few minutes before the upperclassman spoke, the strain of extended running finally beginning to make itself clear. "H...hey...about...our talk...now that...you've thought things over...are you s-sure?" Soi tried to huff a response, but instead ended up clutching the stitch in her chest to indicate that she was in no condition to answer. ---------- "Shit," Yoruichi whispered as the pair walked finally reached Rukongai, only to find the first floor deserted. "...How late am I?" "There might...still...be...time...for you to get to your class," the freshman managed as she leaned against a nearby locker, gasping desperately. Soi made to head for her floor but Yoruichi grabbed her arm in midstride, pulling the girl's eyes to her own. "Just so you know...I'm blaming your Dad for not letting us share the bed." "If Dad...hadn't caught you molesting me he might have let us," Soi retorted with as sardonic a smile as she could manage. "...I'll see you in the gym, okay?" Despite their obvious lack of time Yoruichi hesitated, holding Soi's arm a little less urgently. "...Okay," she finally muttered as she headed in the opposite direction, toward the already packed auditorium. When she came through the doors she felt everyone's eyes turn onto her, and though a sudden fear gripped Yoruichi it faded just as quickly when she realized that the ceremony had yet to begin. Walking as quickly as she could without being too much of a distraction, she quickly found her class and slipped into the nearest open seat by the aisle, not noticing who she was seated besides until an all-too-familiar voice hit her. "You're late." Registering her long-time friend instantly, Yoruichi turned around slowly, as if expecting him to be angry with her. Instead, the blonde had the slightest hint of a smile on his face, his emerald eyes calm and almost playfully condescending. "Kisuke!" For a moment she just stared at him, unsure of what to say after so long without speaking to the teen. Biting her lip slightly, she opened her mouth, making sure not to cause any more attention to herself than she already had. "...I..." "Here. I didn't see you at the house this weekend, so I figured..." She stopped short as he handed her the parcel she hadn't noticed was on his lap, gasping when she opened it to find a neatly folded uniform inside. "We can talk later. But for now, you'd better get dressed." Even after all this, all that she'd done-- still the same old Kisuke. Yoruichi wanted to hug him, but decided instead to slip out to the bathroom while there was still time. ---------- Soi looked around as her class proceeded into the gym, her heart giving a jump in her chest as she caught sight of Yoruichi, relieved that she'd somehow managed to get her clothing issue taken care of. At the same time, it occured to her that she'd never see the senior in that outfit again, after only one short year. The whole space of time felt like an illusion, impossible for so much to have changed-- for both of them-- in only 12 months. "Fong-chan," the boy behind her muttered suddenly, "You're holding up the line." "Oh!" Soi grimaced as she realized that she'd been staring at her...girlfriend, she supposed. "Sorry!" Quickly taking her seat near the front of the auditorium, the Chinese girl glanced back, towards Yoruichi, contemplating what she'd discussed with the senior. Before her train of thought could wander too far, Principal Yamamoto stepped up to the stage, and once everyone had respectfully stood and bowed to the patriarch the graduation finally began. "Yoruichi?" "Hmm?" the older girl mumbled through a mouthful of corn flakes, making Soi supress a chuckle despite her somber tone. "Whad's wrong? You loog ubsed..." "I was thinking about what you said...you know, last night?" At this Yoruichi swallowed, then washed it down with a quick gulp of milk. "...Yeah...what about it? I know it's kind of a shock, but I realized that I--" "Yoruichi, listen... I think," Soi said, pausing to take a steadying breath, "...I think that you SHOULD go." ---------- "And now," Yamamoto said suddenly, bringing everyone out of the slight stupor they'd been in from his undoubtedly fascinating talk about 'shaping the future citizens of this great nation' and 'the pride of every teacher who sends an educated student out into the world,' "...I'd like to take a moment to honor the student of the graduating class who recieved the highest GPA out of all his classmates. Kisuke Urahara, please come up to the stage." Yoruichi gaped at the anouncement, wondering if she heard wrong while her friend nearly fell over in his chair, equally disbelieving. "Huh. Guess I passed those classes after all," Kisuke muttered with a grin as Yamamoto called his name again, and he slipped past Yoruichi, doing his best to ignore the eyes following his every movement up to the stage. Yoruichi smiled, clapping as loudly as she could as he recieved a certificate from the Principal, the rest of the school nearly overpowering her as he came down, trying to hide a rare look of embarassment as he passed his long-time friend. "Congrats. I always knew you were really a nerd," Yoruichi teased as she playfully ruffled his blonde hair. Just like the old days. Now, she really DID feel like everything was all right between her and Kisuke. ---------- As the student body stood up as one and sang their Farewell, ushering in the end of the ceremony at last, Soi stole a glance behind her, to the golden eyes framed by dark skin that would no longer walk these halls with her. She smiled-- just a bit-- when Yoruichi locked eyes with her, a silent assurance of her presence visible on whispering lips.Yoruichi blinked, silent for what felt like an eternity as the freshman's words sunk in. She sighed, setting down her spoon to look Soi in the eye. "...What do you mean, you want me to go?" "Yoruichi, it's not like that..." "But...I thought you wanted me to stay." "I...I do," Soi admitted sheepishly as she fiddled absentmindedly with her spoon. Yoruichi stuttered for a moment in response, confused by the other girl's seemingly contradictory logic. "Then why?..." "I don't want you to give up an opportunity like this because of me." "Soi, I'm not giving up anything that special..." Yoruichi said after a moment, but Soi cut her off. "Do you remember when you first told me about that trip?" The senior paused, then nodded when the recollection hit her. "...You looked so happy-- like you'd just won the lottery or something. And it was hard for me, at the time, to imagine you going away or being out of my life for any amount of time. But... I can't be selfish. I want you to be happy too, Yoruichi." "But...I AM happy," Yoruichi insisted, reaching a hand over to squeeze the smaller, pale one lying prone on the table. "Yoruichi," Soi whispered as she placed her other palm atop that of the upperclassman, "...If it was me... would you keep me from going? From seeing the world, learning things I couldn't learn here?" It took Yoruichi a long while, a long period of silence to shake her head 'no.' "...Of course not. I... I couldn't hold you back like that." "I feel the same," Soi responded, smiling at Yoruichi even as she felt her eyes begin to itch. "Yoruichi... you HAVE to go. You'll regret this if you don't. And I KNOW that you still want to go." "...Yes," the dark-skinned girl said, barely over a whisper. "Soi, I... I still do." The freshman nodded, doing her best to just keep smiling, bowing her head in the hopes that Yoruichi wouldn't see the tears slowly beginning to crawl down her cheeks. But she made no protest when Yoruichi pulled her close, her warmth allowing a bit of strength to flow back into Soi. "Just...just do o-one thing for me..." "Anything," Yoruichi whispered into the younger girl's hair, wanting to do the same but knowing that it wasn't her who was really being the strong one at this moment. "...Just write me. N-not often, just once or twice a month...o-or whenever you get the...time..." "Are you kidding? I'm gonna send you so many letters you'll be sick of them." In spite of herself, Soi laughed, and the sound of her sobs mingled with brave chuckling made Yoruichi hold her a little tighter. ---------- The bell rang, and as if on cue every student in Rukongai High School let out a holler and rushed out of their homerooms, their summer break finally begun. Urahara, if for no other reason than pure nostalgia, glanced about the room, lingering as his classmates left, grinning and trading congratulatory slaps on the back. He was finally about to leave, diploma secured under the crook of his left arm when he looked up, finding Yoruichi leaning against the door. "Hi, Kisuke." He found it was a bit harder for him to smile than before, but all the same accomplished the task. "Well... ready to get outta here? Into the 'real world?'" The cocoa-toned girl cracked a grin. "Listen, about everything, I--" "Yoruichi, listen to me," the blonde interrupted, sobering if only slightly. "...You've done nothing terrible, or unforgiveable, or malicious. So don't think for a minute that you need to apologize." The girl nodded silently in response, swallowing her words. The room was silent as she tried to think of something else to say. "So... If everything was okay... why didn't you call me back? I was trying to...well, make sure you weren't still..." "Oh-- sorry about that," Kisuke admitted with a grin as he pulled out a folded-up piece of paper from his pocket. "I had to take a trip up to Tokyo; the Entrance Exam postings were released this weekend." Eyes widening at his offhand revelation, Yoruichi took the paper and unfolded it, gasping as she read it over again. "Th-this is..." "...I didn't wanna tell you I took the exam 'til I knew for sure, so--!" Urahara was interrupted as Yoruichi roughly threw her arms around him, embracing her friend in a tight hug. "Kisuke, this is AMAZING! Tokyo University?!" "Well," he quipped, uncertain of what to do with his hands, "...I figured with you moving on, it was time for me to go too." Yoruichi chuckled, tightening her hold on her friend, head resting slightly on his shoulder. "...Thank you, Kisuke. For everything." The blonde said nothing as Yoruichi continued to hug him, just slid his own arms up to return the embrace. ---------- Soi wandered the halls of the Senior floor, glancing around at the deserted classrooms, the gaggles of upperclassman hanging around, talking, staging mock fights with their diploma holders as weapons. She nearly flinched as she caught Ichimaru and his girlfriend Rangiku leaning against one of the lockers, but to her surprise Gin only spared a glance in her direction, giving the girl the slightest of nods. Rangiku glared at her boyfriend before smiling at Soi, giving her a wave and promising that they'd hang out one of these days, maybe get drunk when she was older. Soi was polite, as usual, but kept scanning the hallway, not certain of where Yoruichi could be. She smiled as she heard that familiar voice, friendly and just a bit catty, around the corner, and found the no-longer-senior with a gaggle of others, all of them taking pictures and laughing and reminiscing on the past like a bunch of old-timers. She didn't think it was possible, but Yoruichi's smile widened even more when she caught sight of Soi approaching. "Hey, Soi-chan!" Kisuke called with an arm draped playfully around Yoruichi's shoulders. "Aren't you ready to go home? Most of the freshman have already left! "Well, I just..." Soi began, but smiled when she realized she didn't really have a reason. Just to see Yoruichi once more in her uniform before she left, to cement in her mind that all this really had happened. "Hey, I know!" Urahara said as he disengaged himself from Yoruichi, the friend across from them getting his camera ready for another picture, "...You should get one of you with Yoruichi!" "Oh no, I couldn't impo--" "It's a great idea," Yoruichi interrupted as she grabbed Soi's hand squeezing it just slightly as they got into position before Soi could process this unexpected turn of events. She didn't have any pictures of Yoruichi, much less of them together, so she supposed that it would be a nice keepsake. She wasn't certain of what to do with herself, how close she should be to the one she loved if she was still self-conscious about their relationship. But to her surprise Yoruichi put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close like Kisuke had her, but the constant pressure of her embrace-- something protective and gentle and infinitely loving-- told Soi that it was nothing like her picture with her friends. Soi hoped she wasn't blushing too hard as the flash went off, freezing the moment in time for eternity.
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