A/N
I don't do fan fiction. I write mostly original short fiction, but for some reason, I wanted to see if I could tell this story. There is only one OC, but he has little bearing on the story, and one character who may at first seem like an OC, but should be familiar to all Bleach fans. The entirety of this taletakes place before the bleach story arc, in fact well before Ichigo is even born. Hope you enjoy my take on it.
Remember: I own no rights to Bleach or its characters. Those are property of Kubo Tite
--------------------------------------------------------------
Memoirs of a Combat Princess
Chapter 1: Memoirs of a Combat Princess
It was summer, three years before Shihouin Yoruichi was to take over the Keigun and Onimitsu Kidou, when her world was changed completely. She was to be the tenth Shihouin to take on the role, but the first woman to have such a grand responsibility in Soul Society.
She felt the pressure, no doubt, being so young. But pressure was nothing new for the Shihouin princess. The moment she was born, she was immediately betrothed to Kuchiki Akai, the eldest son of the Kuchiki family. She understood why the marriage was arranged. A noble woman should be married to a noble man. This was, of course, to maintain "pure and proper" bloodlines. Or so her father had told her. And truly, she had nothing against the Kuchiki family, nor against Akai. She had often been in his company when the noble families would meet. He was very quiet, but had a gentle aura around him, and when he spoke, it sounded like he had thought very carefully about what he said. This alternately endeared and distanced him. He flattered her when he spoke to her, but Yoruichi could never be sure whether it was because he genuinely admired her or simply because she was his wife-to-be.
But he had many good qualities. She heard through various channels that he would often visit the very poorest districts of Rukongai to settle disputes, or simply to see if he could make the children there smile. She had even seen him carry a young Academy cadet on his shoulders to the training grounds using very careful and adept shyunpo. Truly, he made Yoruichi smile. She loved this part of him, since it was so different from what the noble families were all about. But at the same time, she knew her marriage to him was forced, and thus she could never come to really love all of him.
Even so, she was virtually inconsolable when she learned that Akai had died protecting his fellow sixth squad members in a routine Hollow hunt in the living world. She spent months crying at the altar where his portrait and zanpakutou, Sengoukazura, had been laid on the Kuchiki's property. Though she never thought she could love him as a husband, she did think of him as a friend and confidant, as they had both been forced into their awkward situation.
Of course, the Shihouin and Kuchiki clans took this as a sign that she still ought to be married to a Kuchiki. And the only possible candidate in that case was Akai's younger brother, Byakuya. In Yoruichi's opinion, the families did not give her a long enough time to mourn before announcing this new engagement.
Byakuya she did not like. He was cold and rigid and never showed even a tenth of the compassion that his brother had. He seemed to her the ideal noble child. He upheld everything that the noble houses stood for. The more she was in his presence, the less she liked the idea of marrying him, and the more she began to resent the noble houses and their "pure and proper" bloodlines.
Even so, she relished the responsibility that was to be bestowed on her. The Keigun was revered in Soul Society, and its commanders were always given the utmost respect by the Gotei 13 and Central 46. And luckily, the Shihouin families agreed that she should be permitted time to adjust to her role before tying the knot. This would also give Byakuya, who was four years her junior, time to adjust to his new responsibilities as a member of the 6th Division. Yoruichi was able to breathe at least a temporary sigh of relief.
But a twist of fate postponed the marriage permanently. On a rare trip to Rukongai, Byakuya, likely in an attempt to emulate his late older brother, stumbled upon a young woman whom he fell for immediately, for reasons still unknown Yoruichi. Her name was Hisana. She was different from Byakuya in so many ways. She was compassionate and warm, where Byakuya was aloof and cold. But she brought about a change in Byakuya that made Yoruichi happy. He was truly in love, a sentiment Yoruichi was sure he would never experience.
The Kuchiki clan was thrown into an uproar. She knew well enough the unwritten rules of noble families to understand how scandalous the affair was. But fortunately for Byakuya, he was the last remaining progeny of the clan, and thus it would have been impossible for the family to disown him.
So Byakuya married Hisana in summer, three years before Yoruichi was to take over the Keigun. Relieved of the pressure to marry, Yoruichi began discovering her true self and how much, despite her anticipation of her new leadership role, she despised being a noble. How much longer, she wondered, would she have to spend hours being prettied up by the servants of the household before she could simply take a walk? How much longer would she have to hear long-winded introductions? "It is the highest honor to make your acquaintance, your most honorable Shihouin-Lordship, ma'am." Why did people have to bow their noses to the floor and say so much just before telling her their names? It was so stuffy and practiced that she grew loathe of it.
She began sneaking out of the house late at night, slipping past the so called "honor guard" of the Shihouin clan. Her favorite spot to go was on top of Guillotine hill. It was off limits to everyone unless an execution was occurring, but she knew that even if she was caught, nobody would say a word anyway.
But she was surprised to find someone else at her favorite moon-gazing spot. Make that four someones. Four rather tipsy someones. She recognized two of them immediately: Ukitake Jyuushirou, a guy she had somewhat of a crush on in the academy, and Kyouraku Shunsui, a friend of Jyuushirou's who had made more than a few blatant passes at Yoruichi during that same time. The other two she did not know. One had short, black hair and a loud, gruff voice. The other had shaggy blonde hair and wore a Vice-Captain's armband.
"Osu! Yoruichi-chan!" Shunsui called when he spotted her. "To what do we owe the presence of such a beauty as yourself."
"Shunsui, easy," Ukitake scolded. "Someone'll hear you."
"Ah, don't be such a stick in the mud, Ukitake! No one comes up here."
"I always come up here," Yoruichi said. "But I can't say I've ever seen you here."
"That's cuz we're CELEBRATING!" Shunsui hooted. Yoruichi smelled sake on his breath and took note of the four empty jugs at their feet and the two near full ones circulating among them.
"Isn't this a bit of a macabre place to be CELEBRATING?" Yoruichi asked, imitating Shunsui's slurred cheer.
"Maybe it is. But it's such a beautiful moon out."
It was true, there was a beautiful full moon out, and as she grew closer, she could make out the finer features of the two Shinigami she had yet to be introduced to. The one with black hair was rugged looking, with facial hair similar to Shunsui's. For some reason she reminded her of a goat.
The other was very intelligent looking and subtly handsome. Even in the pale moonlight, she could see his eyes clearly, which she found very endearing.
"Oh, Yoruichi-chan!" Shunsui said. "This is Kurosaki Isshin, a friend of mine from back at the academy. And this guy..." He put his arm around the blonde's shoulders and put him in a headlock.
"This guy is the reason we're celebrating!" He rubbed his fist in the blonde's hair.
"U-Urahara Kisuke," the blonde stammered as he held up his right hand. "N-nice...to meet you."
