Shihouin Yoruichi wanted little more than to relax. She wasn't actually a captain anymore (thank God, she had already had nightmares about the amount of paperwork that they had to be doing at the moment, she really didn't want to be doing it), but she was still tired, and had be required to write reports for the Gotei-13 concerning certain events even if she really wasn't a member of the Gotei-13 (though she had been at one point, she most certainly wasn't now). Now she was just looking forward to a couple of days of relaxing, not really having to worry about anything but what she was going to eat that day.

One of the good things that had happened was that her exile had been revoked, as had Kisuke's and Tessa's. Yoruichi was the only one making good use of that change at the moment, as Kisuke and Tessa had the shop to run, and the shop was actually fairly important – not only was it Kisuke's lab (and it had taken him the last 100 years to get it exactly perfect, apparently, and he didn't want to move it), it also provided a good place for the shinigami to base their operations in Karakura Town and was a good source of supplies for said shinigami.

Yoruichi, however, was most definitely not as attached to the human world as Kisuke, who had stayed put for the century they'd been in exile. Yoruichi had ranged further and seen more, and even though the Seireitei wasn't exactly great, it still was, in Yoruichi's opinion, better than the living world. So she had returned, not only because she found it preferable, but also because she was still part of the Shihouin family, and therefore still nobility and still required to perform the duties associated with being noble.

Which is why she wasn't completely surprised to see a Shihouin messenger on her doorstep, even though she really didn't want him there. And apparently, glaring did nothing to make him go away. It did however, making him sweat and look very uncomfortable. He fidgeted as Yoruichi approached and then collapsed on her porch, right near her door. A few minutes of uncomfortable (for the messenger) silence passed before he realized that Yoruichi wasn't going to invite him in.

Yoruichi did realize that it was bad manners to keep the messenger (and a high-ranking one, too) on her doorstep and then glare at him. At that moment, Yoruichi was in no mood to be sociable or kind, and she was definitely not in the mood to make tea and act like she actually gave a damn about what he was saying. She merely folded her arms over her chest and waited for him to start talking.

He cleared his throat nervously and then began. "The Shihouin elders request your presence," he managed to get out.

"When?" she asked brusquely, massaging her temples.

"Immediately," he replied.

She stood, brushing herself. Immediately was immediately. Never mind the fact that she was hungry, and tired, and wanted so desperately to soak in some nice, warm water for something like three hours… Yoruichi shook her head. She just wanted this to be over with, so she could do all of those things, and hopefully get to Suìfēng's home (and thereby, food) before it was too late. Which, knowing the elders, was completely unavoidable.

Well, if her day hadn't been shot to hell before, it most certainly was now. Couldn't they have waited until tomorrow? Or better yet, never? It was probably just some little minor thing that could've 

been left alone for the rest of Yoruichi's lifetime without becoming the slightest bit more important. Not that it mattered in anyway to the elders.

It was only when the elders' domain loomed in front of her that Yoruichi realized she'd made the entire trip on auto-pilot, and now had to face the crotchety old bunch. She spent a couple of minutes trying to approximate her normal mood as glaring and looking otherwise malcontent most certainly wouldn't help her, and it would give them something less to gripe about. Even though they really didn't like how she acted most of the time anyway. They often asked why she couldn't be more like Byakuya.

Those were the times that she was glad that she had actually paid attention when her mother was trying to drill self-control into her head. It had taken all she had to not laugh, and she was eternally thankful that she looked perpetually amused (most of the time, she was amused). Byakuya merely projected that he was a well-behaved nobleman, but he was obviously not, if his marriage to Hisana proved anything. Yoruichi was just sure that the elders conveniently forgot that transgression.

Yoruichi slightly straightened her clothing slightly and entered the building with her trademark grin. She was quickly ushered into the main chamber, where she was surprised to find all of the Shihouin elders in attendance. There was always at least five or so missing (five was the smallest amount of elders she'd ever seen missing, and that had been when she ascended to the head of the clan), usually something more like ten or twenty, but now every single last one of them was present.

This most definitely did not bode well. Yoruichi managed to keep the shock off of her face and not to falter (both would have been disastrous in front of all of the elders) and situated herself quite easily in front of the ten great elders. They all glowered at her from their chairs while she sat down in the traditional kneeling position (which was actually quite uncomfortable), and waited beneath all of those glittering, disapproving eyes, to begin.

It was the Head Elder – Yoruichi knew him as nothing else, apparently, when you became an elder you also gave up your individuality – who cleared his throat and began to speak. "As the last remaining scion of the Shihouin main house after the death of your father," he started, pompous as always. Yoruichi nearly laughed at the 'last remaining scion' part, and to keep herself from doing so, mentally added 'legitimate' (or at least to make it true). Her father had sired at least ten bastards, and those were just those that she had found. If they really needed an heir, they had their pick of the crop. Of course, choosing one of the bastards (who would never be acknowledged as that was against tradition) were ignored by the elders and deemed a pervasive lie meant to sully the name of Yoruichi's late father. Not that he had ever needed anyone else's help in sullying his name.

Ah, but he was continuing, "It is your duty to reproduce and continue the line." This was nothing new to Yoruichi, who had been told this since before she could remember – probably since the moment she came out of her mother and was deemed to be alive. She hadn't, to date, done much about it.

"Since your exile has now been revoked, we have decided that it is time that you marry and reproduce," he stated. Yoruichi could feel the dread creeping up on her. They'd never gone through this part before – it was always something about considering the fact that she must eventually have to turn her focus to more clan related activities. It also didn't help that she felt like a brood mare every time they brought up that topic of conversation.



"If we do not see you actively trying to find a mate" – Yoruichi again felt like a brood mare, no surprise here – "We will pick one for you. Also try not to take too long, as time is running out."

Yoruichi sat there for a couple of minutes, still grinning and acting like they had said nothing out of the ordinary. And once her brain began to function and realize that he actually said that, there was only one thought running through her head.

Oh shit.