Characters: Yoruichi, Kisuke
Summary: At the half-centennial mark Urahara waxes poetic and Yoruichi shuts him up.
Pairings: KisuYoru
Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers for Turn Back the Pendulum arc
Timeline: pre-manga
Author's Note: I always promised myself I'd do a stand-alone oneshot with this pairing some day.
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.
"And thus the river of sunset drains into the ocean of night," Kisuke murmurs with a whimsical, almost melancholic note hovering in his voice as he hands Yoruichi a cup of sake and she drinks, smiling with dry humor.
"Okay, 'fess up. Who are you quoting?" The sunset is very lovely tonight, yellow and pink without even the slightest trace of red, but Yoruichi knows it's not enough to make Kisuke originally poetic; he's a salesman, but he's not a poet.
Pale eyes widen in mock offense before softening and becoming heavy-lidded again; Kisuke knows he never needs to be theatrical around her, especially not when she's in such a good mood. "No one but myself, Yoruichi-san." If she breathes in deep enough he smells like the roses being sold in the store now.
Yoruichi rolls her eyes. "How poetic. And saccharine."
"One tries one's best."
It's her first time back to the shop in over a year and finding that Kisuke hasn't allowed the place to burn to the ground (yet) makes Yoruichi a little more relaxed. She still feels like she shouldn't be so cheerful, considering for what reason she's come here. It should weigh her down, but Yoruichi can feel no great grief, not anymore.
It's been fifty years as of tonight since they were exiled from Soul Society. Fifty years of wandering, of squatting on living soil, of sifting through the morass of human flesh to find some purpose. So much to regret, so much to miss and remember with sadness. But Yoruichi can't find the grace to let it weight her down.
"Half a centennial," she remarks mockingly as Kisuke sits down beside her. They're sitting in the shadow of the Urahara shop. "Hope you're not going to be as maudlin as you were at the twenty-five year mark. God, why did you drink so much?"
Kisuke smiles mildly, eyes soft. "Trust me, I'm not." Falling back into deliberately poetic speech, he casts one eye down at her; Yoruichi's sure he's doing it to annoy her now. "Such a dim remembrance of time yet forgotten, of everything that has been lost and all that—"
"Kisuke?"
"Yes, Yoruichi-san?"
Yoruichi grabs the front of his shirt, smiling mischievously, "Shut up," before jerking him down.