A/N: The idea of this has been with me for awhile, and it's only now did I finish it. More info at the bottom.
Meetings
The sound of the rain pattering on her parasol could be heard when she first left the gap.
"What are you doing out in this rain, little one?
There was a child out in the rain, pacing back and forth near the slope of the river's bank. Back and forth, back and forth.
Something had happened here, that was for certain. This child, he looked so lost, as if looking for something... Or was it someone?
She didn't get a response, as if unheard. She frowned, thinking on how if it had been anything else, the child could have been ignored. But no, this child was human, so young compared to the majority of those who lived in the world she loved. Youkai she may be, but Yukari Yakumo still remembered what it was like to be human, and all the instincts for children that came with it.
Walking up to the child, and through that stopping him in his pacing, she crouched, holding her umbrella over the both of them. The boy looked startled at first, as if noticing her presence for the first time, but then frowned and tried to go around her. He would have succeeded to, if it wasn't for the hand she'd put on the boy's shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
(Something vague was there, surrounding the boy, but she ignored it.)
"H-hey! Let go, leave me alone!"
Yes, the look in his eyes told her everything. Letting go of his shoulder, her eyes softened as she gave a kind smile. The boy had backed off already, watching her warily, yet with this dead look in his eyes. The poor thing, losing someone close to him – it was obvious what happened. To her, at least.
It all started with that small encounter. At first it was simple curiosity, but then it changed to concern, for every day she visited, the boy would be there. She'd watch as the boy walked along the river bank, all day with little rest and thought for his own well-being.
Several times she'd tried to get him to talk, but nothing would work – perhaps him talking that first time was a rare occasion. But there were other ways to find out what happened.
Lesser shikigami in the form of common birds were scattered in the town, and they were her eyes and ears. She had time – Gensokyo was rather peaceful recently, and if an incident were to happen, her shikigami would know. There was nothing she did not know in her land, after all.
What Yukari had found disturbed her, for the boy had lost someone here – his own mother. Masaki Kurosaki was her name, and it was deemed she and her son had been attacked by those unknown. The boy himself didn't know what really happened – apparently, he'd been knocked unconscious, and when he woke up... Well, it was simply something no child should ever see.
She couldn't really comfort him, for all the boy wanted to do was walk, searching almost, in a state of grief. Because of this she'd resorted to simply watching him, giving a silent companionship - even if they were complete strangers. She was simply a phantom in the background, one who was given no thought towards. It was only a few days of this did the boy start to take notice of her reappearances, though subtle.
...
It was several weeks later after this routine began, when on her latest visit did she not see the boy. Disappointed as she was to not see him, Yukari was also glad – for it meant that the boy had moved on. She would go looking for him, but for now, Gensokyo called.
A year had passed – or was it two?- , when Yukari thought of visiting the boy. Normally she didn't interact with humans, for they could sense what she was, and were scared because of it. Curiosity however, was clinging to her. Energies she did not recognize, vague though they were, surrounded the boy. (It reminded her of the Netherworld). Was there something she did not know about the outside world? In the back of her mind though, were the thoughts of wanting to see how the child was doing.
Children were precious things after all, no matter the species.
As of an old habit, she first appeared through the gap along the river bank, her parasol open and shading her from the sun. He wasn't there, of course.
So she walked, deciding to opt out of just appearing where she wished – Humans of the outside world would not react well, and they wouldn't really appreciate the random gaps she opened. Besides, the walk was nice, for she got to see the town in her own eyes. Over the last while, she'd begun drawing back her lesser familiars, for they were not as needed. But now, she had only one with her – a crow shikigami to be precise – and she sent it to fly over the town, giving her a bird's eye view for her search.
People gave her odd looks as she passed, her garb was unusual in their eyes. But she didn't care, as this was what she usually wore when there was no business to take care of.
It was nearing the afternoon when Yukari noticed that she was nearing the local graveyard. Perhaps he would be here...?
Ah, there he was, by a gravestone most likely to be his mothers. He'd grown, she saw. Then again, humans aged so quickly. Sensitive ears picked up his voice as she neared, and she paused a respectful distance away, just far enough so she wouldn't make out the words. It was undoubtedly private, after all.
...
After a moment of silence he turned around, and the boys eyes widened almost comically when they landed on her.
"Y-you!"
"Do you always stutter like that?"
It was actually kind of amusing, how both times she'd gotten a response from him, he'd stuttered.
"What? No. I just... Who are you? I remember seeing you a long time ago..."
"Ah, who I am matters not. I just wanted to see how you were doing, little one."
"See how I was doing? Just who are you, miss?"
She frowned, a mock pout hidden in her expression. "Aw."
Yukari turned, and began walking away. In the boys eyes, she was just some stranger who kept an eye on him, which apparently wasn't exactly appreciated.
"Hey wait, what's your name?"
Although...
She stopped, and looked over her shoulder, examining him. Eyes wide with childish curiosity, his gaze was honest despite his previous wariness. Perhaps she could tell him? It had been awhile since she last had a human friend, after all.
She turned back around, and with a gentle smile on her face, asked, "Can you keep a secret, Ichigo Kurosaki?"
A shocked gaze was all she got in response – the question of how she knew his name was undoubtedly going through his mind
"I have my ways. Now, can you keep a secret?"
It took a little while, for his confusion on her reading his mind so to speak was great, but she got a nod in response. It was kind of ironic really, as she could have if she wanted to. But no, the boys eyes were so expressive that anyone could read it.
She walked forward, her shoes barely making a sound on the concrete, and kneeled so she was at eye level. Her next words were so quiet, that it was only the silence of the graveyard that allowed Ichigo to hear them.
"My name is Yukari Yakumo, and I am a Youkai."
It was odd really, that back then the one place she had chosen to enter the outside world from her home of paradise was right where a death occurred.
A/N: Truly, I'd continue this, but I have several reasons why I don't. First is, I have absolutely no clue if I got these two in character. This is my first time actually writing a story of some sort outside of school. Second being, is that I doubt I could actually stick to it. I have ADHD and autism, so my attention span isn't the greatest. Which reminds me - If anything seems a little jarring, like it jumped around or doesn't seem to fit, blame it on that and lack of experience.
Also, I'm fully aware that Yukari sleeps during the day - my excuse is that, as her dreams are unpredictable (like anyone, really), and this is simply a physical manifestation in the outside world at first.
*Now, you dear fantastic, wonderful, amazing writers out there who just happened to stumble upon this, I have a dare- no, challange for you. Do you think you can write a full on story that involves the plot of Bleach with these two as friends?*
I've heard that in the Touhou fandom, one depiction of Yukari is a grandmotherly-like!Yukari, specifically towards Chen. Can you just imagine her acting like that toward Ichigo? It makes me giggle just thinking about it.