DISCLAIMER: Nope. Unfortunately.

Author's Note: I'm back with a new mini-series, as promised :D you just gotta love the holidays! Anyway, this one is somewhat similar to my last series, Come Back Soon, except that I don't really have an overall theme for this one, except each chapter being based on a certain colour. So here's the first one - hope you enjoy it, then!

1. ORANGE

The sun was just beginning to set when he heard the soft tread of footsteps behind him.

"Thinking again, Kisuke?"

He turned around from where he had been sitting on the steps, waving his paper fan in front of his face. "Ah, Yoruichi-san! So nice of you to visit me!"

"You never change, do you?" She shook her head in mock despair at his innocent expression. "Now tell me, what's bothering you?"

The shopkeeper laughed lightly. "Oh, it's nothing I would bother you with, dear Yoruichi-san! It's just the everyday worries of a mere simple-minded shopkeeper, nothing much at all…"

"Urahara Kisuke, simple-minded?" There was a loud, sardonic snort. "You should know better than to try to trick me like that. It might work on everyone else, but I know you too well to be fooled." She crossed her arms, looking at him intently. "What is it?"

He took in her glare – it was the same one she'd given him that one time he had tried to hide her milk in Ururu's room. The one that said if he didn't give her what she wanted now, he was going to regret it for the remainder of his days.

It reminded him of the days when she had been his superior.

Finally, he gave in, closing his fan and setting it down beside him.

"I was just wondering… what if I had done things differently all those years ago?" He sighed, turning away from her again. "If I hadn't sent Hiyori out, but gone myself instead – maybe I could have changed things –"

"Wait, wait, wait –" she interrupted him almost airily. " – this was what you were so reluctant to tell me?"

The shopkeeper sighed again, feeling very old for a moment. "I told you it was nothing at all, Yoruichi-san, not anything important that you need to be concerned with…"

She chuckled, amused. "That wasn't what I meant at all, Kisuke. I'm just saying that you're being stupid if you actually think that."

"But – " he spluttered "– if I had been there that night, I could have stopped him –"

"That doesn't mean you could have known what he was thinking," she said dryly.

He ignored her. "I could have guessed what he was trying to do – I had experimented with the idea of Hollowification before, and all the signs were there, I just didn't make the connection fast enough – "

"You don't get it, do you?"

She clapped a hand over his mouth, meeting his surprised gaze steadily.

"Listen to me, Kisuke. I'm not saying that you weren't good enough to stop him – in fact, you probably could have, if you had known about his plans. And don't you even go telling me that you should have known," she added before he could respond. "No one could have guessed what he was planning to do, least of all you. Even Shinji had no idea, and we both know he isn't an idiot. So there was no way you could have known, and therefore you couldn't possibly have stopped him. That is a fact."

There was the sound of muffled protests from underneath her hand.

Her gaze hardened ever so slightly. "I'm not having any of your silly arguments, Kisuke. This whole mess is not your fault. Do you understand me?"

He seemed to be ready to protest again – then he suddenly deflated like one of his inflatable gigai, and nodded miserably.

She looked at him for one long moment before removing her hand. "That's better."

Then she rolled her eyes and laughed, breaking the solemn atmosphere. "You should have seen your face just now… you looked like a cat left out in the rain!"

"What can I say?" He shrugged almost nonchalantly, his usual demeanour slowly returning. "It's difficult to shake the feeling that I should have done something."

"Couldn't, wouldn't, hadn't, all add up to the same thing: didn't." She sat down gracefully beside him, a wide grin on her face. "Silly Kisuke. You aren't omniscient, you know, no matter how much you always pretend to be."

"Oh, Yoruichi-san, your words wound me so!" he declared overdramatically, pretending to keel over.

She laughed heartily at his antics for a while before both lapsed into a companionable silence.

Then she spoke up. "Ne, Kisuke… do you know why I always wear this orange shirt?"

He slanted a glance at her, somewhat confused at the abrupt change of topic. "Eh – because you like orange?"

"Absolutely not," she said, still grinning as she shook her head. "I hate orange. Use those little grey cells of yours, Kisuke!"

"Eh…" he mulled over it for a moment before giving up. "I don't know. Why?"

Yoruichi whacked the shopkeeper over the head with his fan. "It's the colour of the Second Division, you idiot."

"Oh – right, I'd almost forgotten that…" he muttered while rubbing the sore spot on his head. Then he looked at her petulantly. "But that wasn't an excuse to hit me!"

She conveniently ignored his complaints. "The past is past, Kisuke. Just because we might have done something wrong doesn't mean that we must spend the rest of our days regretting it, you know?"

"Yes, yes, Yoruichi-san. Just don't whack me again!" he begged pitifully, an obviously faked pout on his face.

"Why would I?" She smiled fondly at his expression of horror. "It's fun!"

He was already up and running before she even finished her sentence. "TESSAI! URURU! JINTA! HELP ME!"

"They're not around!" she exclaimed gleefully as she sprang up lightly, wielding the fan like a weapon. "I sent them out on an errand!"

There was a cry of dismay from the unfortunate quarry – and so it was that the epic chase began, two figures silhouetted against the orange light of the setting sun.

to be continued...

2nd Author's Note: So there you have it :D this is my first time writing Yoruichi and Kisuke - which is rather odd, considering they're practically my favourite characters - so hope I didn't do too badly!

3rd (and last!) Author's Note: I'll be updating as soon as I can - it shouldn't take too long, since I already have a couple more planned out. In the meantime, I'm still looking for ideas for future chapters, so use your little gray cells (yay!) and give me your suggestions :D reviews are always welcome, and thanks for reading!