Secrets
Chapter 1
Yoruichi was lounging in the sun in a rain forest somewhere in the human world, mostly naked except for a small purple bikini that covered very little, when she felt a senkaimon open nearby. She slowly opened her eyes when she felt the change in the human world's energy and her eyes narrowed as she slowly sat up; it seemed that her days of lounging around and doing very little were over. She hopped down and wandered over towards the gate as four figures stepped through, two of which only looked vaguely like themselves, and when they all four turned her direction she watched as the two that had changed slowly reverted back to their more normal selves
"I didn't figure the senkaimon required you to change to keep yourselves safe," she said and Renji shrugged and pulled his hair up with a spare hair tie he'd kept up his sleeve
"Unfortunately the senkaimon registers our energy as an arrancar and we're faster if we change," Ukitake said and Yoruichi smirked at that
"You must have an interesting story for why you'd risk it and come to the human world," she said and crossed her arms and Ukitake nodded seriously before he said
"The head captain needs to talk with you about leading a small group into hueco mundo. The Gotei 13 is stretched thin dealing with the hollows left over from Aizen's rebellion, which is why we're here to deal with the ones that have made it this far, but he thinks you and Urahara would be the best choices to go and gather the data that Aizen may have hidden," Yoruichi frowned and turned her back to them as she thought over all the possible recruits that might be willing to come with her but then Ukitake delivered the kicker "he'd be willing to accept Urahara back into the soul society if you both agree, even if you aren't able to find anything," she looked back at him with a frown
"I see, and what has him feeling so generous all of a sudden?" Ukitake's face immediately hardened and Yoruichi had a feeling she wouldn't like his next words and she was right
"He's learned about one of Aizen's experiments in particular, one he was fond of forcing on others," Yoruichi looked away again then sighed and rubbed at the back of her neck as she tensed up a little
"Yeah, well, with you and Renji changing all of a sudden I guess I shouldn't be surprised," she said and looked back at him "has anyone else begun displaying symptoms?" Renji shrugged a shoulder and kinda half joked
"Well, Yachiru keeps trying to chew on Ikkaku's head if that counts," Yoruichi smiled and shook her head
"Well, if her hair ever turns a color other than pink I think I'd worry more," she said and stretched then glance back at them "So, while you guys are hunting how long do I have to go and get Kisuke?"
"The head captain wants you both in hueco mundo before tomorrow night, he said he'd open the senkaimon directly into Aizen's compound so you won't have to worry about walking across all of that damned sand," Renji said and Yoruichi sighed and looked up at the sun which told her it was nearly lunch time
"Well, I guess I'm going to have to get a move on then," she said and she stretched one more time before changing into her small black house cat form and as she darted off towards the nearest road she heard Renji say
"Man, I really hope we never turn into house cats, we'd never live it down,"
"Oh, I don't know, it might be nice to carry Ju around," Kyoraku teased and was evidently smacked for his trouble which made Yoruichi smile until she started thinking of all the trouble this was going to be
'Kisuke has been away from home far too long though, anything I can do to help him get back there will be well worth the effort,' she sighed mentally as she began to flash step, the trip home would leave some time for thinking but she really didn't want to with the thoughts that were beginning to pop into her head. Aizen had been a bastard, more so than anyone really knew it turned out, and so far they'd found out the hard way that he'd raped at least three people in the soul society. No one was sure yet why it was that large cats seemed to be the only result in their changed bodies, but so far Ukitake had taken on the spots of a leopard, Renji's hair became a blood colored jaguar's coat, and then of course there was Yoruichi who no one had ever seen as anything but a house cat but in truth she'd been a black panther first.
She'd learned after years of struggling that she could focus her spirit energy and use it in other ways besides claws and fangs, and she'd quickly adopted those fighting styles instead of drawing attention to herself. Kisuke had helped, of course, and he'd learned about her past long before anyone else because he'd been the one to eventually find her when she'd been drinking home alone and she'd evidently blabbed everything to him. She still winced to think what else she might have told him but thankfully his attitude towards her hadn't changed a bit, making her think that he'd possibly suspected all along but had only then had his suspicions confirmed. She'd cried, raged, and eventually begun to heal until she'd heard about Ukitake and then later Renji, now it seemed she was destined to confront her worst memory in a level of detail that she wished she could shy away from 'I can't though, and I know it; there's too many unanswered questions that can't be left to guess at the least of which has to be is there anyone else who hasn't begun to show signs of changing yet?' she shook her head and hopped up onto a fence that bordered the Urahara shop before hopping back down and changing as she wandered into the empty house; Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu were nowhere in sight so Yoruichi wasn't expecting to see Kisuke but when she went into the bedroom in search of clothing she found him asleep lying on his back in bed. She blinked in confusion and knelt by his side, leaning over him and sniffing him delicately, and she yelped when she suddenly found herself pulled over him and cuddled to his hard body as he nuzzled her
"Oh, Yoruichi, I thought I'd scared you off for good this time!" he wailed dramatically and Yoruichi felt her eye twitch a little as she mentally shook her head
'Why do I love this guy again?' she wondered to herself and shoved at his shoulder which caused him to loosen his hold with a laugh, though he kept her in the circle of his arms as his face became a little more serious though no less warm
"Welcome home," he said softly and she rolled her eyes then leaned forward to kiss his cheek before using her opportunity to get up and get changed from her bikini behind the dressing screen
"Yamamoto has a request of us, says if we agree he'll let you come home," Kisuke was quiet, as she'd expected him to be since she'd been shocked to hear the news and she knew it had to be an even bigger shock to him, and once she'd shrugged into a loose fitting black shirt and pants set she came back around the screen to see Kisuke sitting up in bed and watching her with a surprisingly hard expression
"What aren't you telling me?" he asked and Yoruichi cocked an eyebrow
"Those are the details," she said "we're to go and search through some research and even if we don't find much Yamamoto said he'd be willing to let you come home,"
"He wouldn't reverse my banishment if he assumed this was going to be easy, and since he's ordered you along with me I can guess just what research he's interested in," Urahara stood up and stalked over to her "It's Aizen, isn't it?" she nodded and he took both her hands in his, his eyes cold though she knew it wasn't because of her "That bastard raped you and Yamamoto expects me to go through kami knows how many video files and watch him do it?" Yoruichi refused to wince, though she felt bile rise in her throat anyway
"It's not just me, Kisuke," she said softly and Urahara stiffened and she nodded "Ukitake and Renji too, and they're just the ones that have changed and had no choice but to come forward; there might be more that haven't changed yet. We need to look through the research and find them so that we can help them through it," Urahara winced and pulled her into a hard hug, and she knew she'd convinced him; he'd never let others suffer if he knew he could help
"I won't ask you to relive it, Yoruichi," he said softly "you can look through written notes searching for other names and I'll… I'll take the heavy lifting on this mission," she turned her head to nuzzle his neck and she murmured against his pulse
"It won't be as hard as you think, I was a different girl back then," she promised and he tightened his hold, clearly more distressed about this than she was allowing herself to be, and she pressed a kiss to his throbbing pulse before licking lightly and he loosened his hold with a shiver before turning and nipping her neck in retaliation which only made her smile fondly "We don't need to go until tomorrow, but the senkaimon will open directly into the fort so we'll only need a few hours to get from here to there. Ukitake said that all we're required to do is go through whatever's still there, if anything, and report back to Yamamoto when we get back," she said and he sighed then nodded and pulled back before he gave her a soft and sweet kiss that instantly made her melt against him
"I'll go and pack, can I talk you into getting dinner ready?" she nodded and he kissed her again before murmuring against her lips "And maybe I can talk you into waiting naked in bed for me after?" he teased and she swatted his shoulder and left for the kitchen as he chuckled.