Flash: Suì Feng/Yoruichi: First impressions in the park.
A/N: And here lies another fic a part of my Yorusoi fix.
Disclaimer: Bleach is Tite Kubo's.
She was in the lead. In fact, there wasn't ever a time when she wasn't in the lead, where she wasn't jogging ahead like some Olympic champion, where that pony tail, long and mauve, wasn't swishing to and fro against her back.
That girl was always in front of her, always, always, even when it seemed that Suì Feng had started her exercise on the park trail before her. But then she'd blink, and there that girl was, in her seemingly perpetual position, a couple of feet before Suì.
She came here every day. Truthfully, it didn't take Suì Feng long to deduce that, since she came to this park three times a week, randomly, on different days, at different times, and each day, the other girl was there, in front of her. Jogging.
And each time, Suì Feng would squint her eyes and scowl, because must she always be behind this girl? Couldn't she ever be ahead?
Suì Feng glared at the girl's back, dark-skinned and damp, and clad only in an orange sports bra. She clenched her water bottle in one hand, unmercifully, watching as the other girl's pony tail swayed hypnotically. Swish, swish, swish.
That imaginary noise was strangely the loudest amongst the tittering of wildlife and the slapping of sneakers on pavement.
Well, today, Suì Feng wasn't feeling particularly like looking at the back of that girl until she circled back around the trail. Not at all.
So she sped up, breaking into a quick little dash until she was jogging with a taunting smirk, continuously for about four hundred meters, right beside the girl, who she immediately discerned was taller.
Taller, and gorgeous, and when she glanced over with those stunning orbs of molten gold and a foxy smile, the smirk instantaneously fell from Suì Feng's face, leaving her jaw feeling loose and her legs numb.
She probably would have fallen over her own feet too, had the other girl not halted and gripped her firmly by the arm, righting her until she was steady.
"Are you alright?" She asked, wiping a droplet of perspiration from her brow, and Suì Feng noticed how rich a voice she had, a tone that caused the hairs on her arms to rise, as if by static.
She fumbled to find her own voice. "I . . . um . . . y-yes, yeah, I'm fine."
"You sure?"
Apart from the sudden weakness in her knees, the racing of her heart, the dryness of her mouth, and the sweat on her palms, she supposed she was fine. Really, it must've just been from over exertion, or something.
Sighing, Suì Feng swiped her damp bangs away from her face with one hand, ignoring the strange flushed feeling of her entire body while averting her eyes from the fascinating golden gaze that seemed to follow her every movement. "Yes . . . ."
As if content with her answer, the other girl flashed her a toothy grin, something slow and cunning, like a cat, but warm nonetheless.
"So, you like to run?" She inquired, crossing her arms with a thoughtful cock of the head as the two of them slowed to a walk, side by side. "I think I've seen you here a few times."
Yeah, probably before you pass me by. Though oddly, while her thoughts were snarky, Suì Feng wasn't feeling entirely so. Self consciousness and anxiety churned within her for some reason unknown and she took a timid sip from her water bottle to ease her sandpapery tongue.
"Mmm, y-yeah, I come here three times a week, and I think I've . . ." She swallowed thickly. " . . . seen you too." But in all honestly, how can you say you've seen this girl if you haven't ever witnessed her eyes, so alive, gleaming like lit lanterns? How can you say you've seen this girl if you've never once before admired how her skin was like that of fine coffee, smooth and flawless, if you've never appreciated her smile, that impish smile capable of turning your insides to mush . . . .
She suddenly felt faint. Maybe there was a bench somewhere?
"Well, I come here every day." Suì Feng raised her eyebrows, awed that her theory had been correct, but mostly because she was trying to dismiss the sensation of the other girl's bare shoulder brushing occasionally against her own. "I'm Yoruichi, by the way."
Yoruichi . . . . Hearing her name seemed to numb Suì Feng's mind (and seemingly the rest of her) as she hardly noticed the dark hand being extended to her.
"Oh . . . I'm Suì Feng. Nice to," her body jolted off of it's own accord whilst she took the slightly larger hand in hers, absorbing the warmth, the surprisingly gentle texture, the firmness, the . . . she yanked away a little too quickly once Yoruichi's thumb ran gingerly over the back of her hand, the last part of her speech coming out in no less than a squeak, "meet you, Yoruichi-san . . . ."
Either Yoruichi hadn't noticed, or she'd paid no mind to it, laughing easily, "Well, Suì Feng, you're pretty fast!" And the grin that she'd given her next, Suì Feng could not understand why it was so . . . provocative . . . or why said provocativeness had caused all of her breath to leave her.
"Y-Yeah?" She replied uneasily, weakly, fiddling uncharacteristically with the orange hoop at the end of one braid.
"Yeah." Still with that painfully alluring smile, still with that playful twinkle in her eyes. "In fact, I think we should be partners."
It wasn't unexpected that her words had rather startled Suì Feng. If truth be told, everything that Yoruichi's had done since they'd met eye to eye had taken Suì aback. Actually, just meeting her like this was a surprise.
"P-Partners?" Suì Feng stammered, staring at her incredulously because what exactly did she mean by partners? Partners in what? Why suggest it?
"Yes, because I've never had anyone to stay right by my side."
Suì Feng froze, her bottom lip between her teeth. What was with that tone just then? That slight note of . . . wistfulness? It left her thinking that . . . there was another meaning behind her words. An intimate meaning.
"Right by your . . . ?"
Suì Feng's voice appeared to have startled Yoruichi out of whatever reverie she'd previously been in, her sunny eyes locking on hers so intensely that it caused her to blush.
"Yeah, you know, in speed?" Her response was so abruptly effortless, so breezy and casual, that Suì Feng had thought for a fleeting moment that she'd imagined the undertone.
"Oh." Jeez, she hadn't meant to sound so disappointed. "Oh, right."
But no. Even as she peered elsewhere, she could still feel Yoruichi glancing almost coyly at her, still feel Yoruichi's shoulder brushing against hers not so occasionally anymore, still feel her own body heating up and still see Yoruichi smirking haughtily at that.
This . . . was not what she'd expected of her workout routine for the day. She hadn't known that she would actually attempt to pass the girl that had always jogged ahead of her, hadn't known that the girl would be so . . . beautiful in everything she did, hadn't known that her usual arrogance would melt into nothingness while spending a couple of seconds with said girl.
She hadn't known that she would like that.
She snorted at herself, turning her head away from the companion at her side. Look what this chick had done to her. Had her blushing and heating up, and look, now she had abandoned her workout of jogging. Look, now she had run out of water. Well, there would be no more of that, no more of this submissive behavior from her, no more-
"You want some of mine?"
"H-Huh?" Screw this stammering, flushing person she had abruptly changed into...
A sideways smile. Just always a smile. Period. "My water? You look like you ran out."
"Oh, um . . ." She should just say no. That she's fine. That she doesn't need anything from this stranger that suddenly feels so familiar to her. That she- "Okay . . . erm, if you don't mind?"
"Nah, I don't mind." Her arm brushed Suì Feng's again. It was too hard to swallow, and all she could do was glance at all this selfless girl and wonder if the familiarity she felt toward Yoruichi was returned.
The taller girl then reached for Suì Feng's empty water bottle, and Suì complied, though rather confusedly. Yoruichi was going to pour her some? Well, that needn't be since she only needed a sip.
Yoruichi seemed to follow what she was thinking, sending her a knowing smirk. "I dunno. I think this way would be a lot safer, since you seem like a believer of indirect kisses." Her lips parted into something charming as she uttered, "And I don't prefer indirection."
Suì Feng had to look away, face hot. This would not- she would not be won over so easily. Or at all, for that matter. She just silently let Yoruichi handle her bottle, pour water into it, or whatever she was up to.
And when she passed it back, half full, Suì Feng stopped right in her tracks, the canteen inches from her lips.
What was that . . . written on the cap there? Numbers? A collection of numbers? A . . . a phone number . . . ? She blanched, the bottle quivering in her grasp. What . . . what did that mean? Giving me her number like that? Does . . . Does she mean as just friends, or . . . ?
"Hey." Suì Feng was startled out of her frenzied thoughts, and when she glanced up, Yoruichi was a couple feet ahead of her, at the two mile point. "I think I'll turn back now. Been around this thing four times already."
She came back to Sui Feng and just as she passed her by, headed in the other direction, Sui Feng was painfully aware of something soft, warm and ultimately Yoruichi's lips brushing against her cheek, raising sensitive hairs electrified with pleasure. "But see you tomorrow?"
And instead of becoming frozen stiff, Sui Feng allowed herself to melt from the block of ice she'd previously been, blushing like never before. "Oh, um, yeah, yeah sure!"
Jesus, Yoruichi, I . . . I surrender.
And of course, being who she was, Yoruichi smiled over her shoulder.
A/N: I dunno. Review?