The Ending of Bittersweet Tales
Sometimes, in order to learn the worth of something important to you, one must loose it, and regain it by any means necessary. If pain was not felt, or hardship not overcome, this thing, be it person, place, or object, was not as important to one as one thinks. So, was it worth it?
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The sun rose to a cloudy day, and an alarm clock went off, jolting the girl that it meant to wake up right in an instant. Her dark, raven hair swayed as she glared at her surroundings; her silver eyes flashed dangerously to the offending noise.
"Fine!" she groaned, and slapped the sleep button on her clock, before laying the blankets she used to the side and stood to begin to de-robe herself. She walked briskly over to her closet and took out a uniform that consisted of a short sleeved white polo, and a dark, black skirt that went to the knee. After she clothed herself in those, she reached back into her closet and took out the matching blazer that she was required to wear in the winter semester. It was made of a warm material and was black in nature. On the right arm was a band that was safety-pinned there that brandished the Kanji for number "two" in a diamond shape, all class representatives were required to wear them for their class.
As she shut the door to her closet she shuffled into the bathroom, where she quickly went to work with her daily ritual of washing her face and brushing her teeth, after which she'd usually grab a brush or comb and groan.
'I hate my hair' she thought. The hair in question was a deep black, and went down to slightly below the shoulder. It was straight, which was normal, and what she liked. Her bangs were squared off above her eyes giving her face a beautiful frame. She quickly raked the brush she'd obtained from a drawer through her hair, which was more of a formality. Her hair hardly ever knotted, so she just did it to fix the slightly unkempt spots her pillow decided to reward her with.
As she made her way down stairs she heard her father bustling around in the kitchen, a rare sight, considering that he was generally off to work by now.
"Morning." She mumbled, sluggishly lifting her arm to reach for a bowl and a box of cereal.
"Good morning, dear!" he chortled back happily humming as he waited for his coffee.
"…Shouldn't you be at work?" she asked quietly before taking a bite of her normal breakfast.
"Do you not want me here?
"I didn't say that."
"Good, because I'd be sad if that were the case!" he said happily ruffling her hair, messing up what she'd done in the bathroom minutes before. She glared at his happiness… she was not a morning person. "I'm not at work because I've been promoted! I tried to tell you yesterday, but you just went up to your room, not even bothering to say good night!" he said with faux sadness.
Soi Fon, as she liked to be called, did not have a good day yesterday, which was a reason why she was not willing to converse with her dear happy father.
"Sorry…" she said, before drinking the rest of the milk in the bottom of her bowl, and washed it out.
"Well, I've got to get going now." He said before leaning down and giving her a quick kiss on the forehead.
"I'm heading out too." Soi Fon said standing and grabbing her bag before slinging it over her shoulder.
"You want a ride closer to the school?" he asked. Soi tensed, she did not want him to see what she was greeted with every day when she made it to school.
"N-no thanks… I enjoy the walk." She said before slipping past him and pushing through the front door.
"O-okay, have a nice… day." Her father finished after she'd made it two houses away, and got into his car to start his day.
-----
'That was close…' she thought as she made her way down the cool streets in the morning air. She gripped her bag tighter to her shoulder, the strap felt comfortable across her chest… which was all the comfort she would be receiving this morning. She dreaded on getting to the front gates of the learning establishment. Especially because of what happened yesterday.
------
"Oi, Soi Fon, get yer ass over here!" she heard that sickeningly familiar voice call to her. Turning she found that it was one of the people she hated to see during the school day.
"Ōmaeda…" she said with a small nod of the head, her father's boss was this guy's father and he constantly held it over her head to the point of harassment.
"Did ya forget something?" he said, extending an open palm. She glared at the fat hand, reaching greedily to her.
"I'm sorry, I didn't get paid this week, and my father said that he wasn't going to give me allowance any more." She said, before turning and began to walk away.
"That's not an excuse." He said, gripping down hard on the smaller girl's shoulder, to a point of where she winced.
"I told you, I don't have your damn money, so stuff it, you oaf!" She said before spitting on him and walking off briskly to her next class, hearing almost all the way "Just you wait Fon, you'll get it for this!"
-----
She thought it was stupid to be "scared" of this guy. Even if he towered over her, and probably weighed at least twice her weight, she wasn't scared, but this didn't mean that she couldn't dread school arriving.
-----
Upon arrival, she was not met as normal by the group of boys that bothered her every day. It was rare; she was wary of her steps further into the courtyard, and made her way carefully to class, only stopping to change her shoes for her school slippers
When she got to class she sighed in relief, maybe they weren't going to bother her today. She grinned, happily taking her seat, and continued on her day as if she were actually normal for once.
Then lunch came.
-----
She could feel the twitch that grew in her eye every time she berated herself mentally for doing something stupid; her stupid action today?
Hope.
That was all there was to it, she had hoped that those idiots had given up on her… but no. This was probably the reason they surrounded her in the secluded area that she enjoyed her lunch in.
"So, runt, you think you can spit on me and just walk away?" Ōmaeda said angrily, taking a singular step closer.
"I don't see why not." She said before returning to her lunch as though these boys weren't around.
Junior high was becoming the worst years of her life, as she had decided this year. Being in the fourth year, the "top of the totem poll", was supposed to be the "greatest time of her life".
'My ass...' She thought bitterly, looking back up to see the ring that had encircled her was now tighter, the ringleader in the middle, closest to her.
"I told you, you were going to pay for this." He said, and jumped.
Needless to say it was an all out brawl between maybe seven guys against a singular small girl.
-----
"Ow…" she complained quietly, as she stroked her swollen cheek that was marred by a scratch that was carved on her pale features by the ring that Ōmaeda normally wore. The day was ending, but she always stayed after school, to make the lie she told to her father more believable.
He wanted her to have friends, but she was such a quiet person, most people thought she was stuck up, thinking that she was too much better than every one to talk to them. The only time people talked to her was when she was being bullied, or when they needed help, and she had to do her duties as a Class Rep, and help.
She found her way to her favorite spot: a tall tree that was the perfect shade on the brightest of days, and the perfect place to just nap for a while. As she sat, she had an unnerving feeling of being watched but she brushed it of and crouched, sliding her back down the trunk and sat on the ground.
As she laid there the sound of the wind blowing amongst the boughs and the leaves rustling, she thought she heard a quiet chuckle, but she dismissed it as a sound of wind, and began nodding off to sleep.
-----
Soi Fon woke with a start when she felt something light, but too big to be a leaf land on her head and run over her face.
"Ah!" she gasped before looking down to see it was just a sheet of white paper.
A loud, hearty laugh soon filled her ears, and she looked up to see the face of once one of the most popular girls in school stare down at her.
"Yoruichi-san." Soi acknowledged with a nod before watching the graceful beauty land on the ground beside her from her perch in the tree.
"Hey there, Class Rep of class two, how's it going?" the girl named Yoruichi said with a bright smile.
Soi Fon had to sigh. "What are you doing here?" she asked, furrowing her brows, and tried to turn her face away to hid the blemish that she'd received at lunch.
"Well, you see… Our school had our sports festival today, and I didn't feel like going. I asked my art teacher if I could take the day as an extra curricular class day and go and draw things. She agreed as long as I brought back five pieces of work, I thought I'd come say hello." She said, kneeling to set next to Soi who was now flustered.
"Ah… Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I know we met at the end of last year, but I don't think I've ever told you my name. You did hand down your rank to me… It's Shaorin Fon, but I prefer Soi Fon." She said, with a bow.
"Ah… You know, I saw that fight you had with those guys… You've got guts Soi-chan!" Yoruichi said patting the younger girl on the back, and sighed. "I have to get back to work. Feel free to keep that," she said, nodding to the parchment that lay in Soi Fon's lap. "Think of it as a present. I hope you get into my school next year! That'd be awesome!" she said before standing and walking away to find something else to draw.
Soi sat for a minute watching the dark skinned, purple haired girl walk away before she looked down at the paper. She lifted it moments afterward, and gasped at what she saw on the underside.
Yoruichi really was a talented artist.
The drawing was of Soi sleeping as she was moments ago, but only her head. Her expression was serene, even if there was a large cut that marred her completion.
-----
It'd been a year, and Soi made it to the school that Yoruichi was in. Happy that she now had a friend, she only loathed school a little less. Being a first year at a relatively new school was not without its ups and downs, and at the moment she found the biggest down there could possibly be…
"What do you want to transfer for!?" Yoruichi shouted after the younger girl. After a few weeks it had been made painfully clear that the high school she'd gotten into was an "arts" school more than an "academic" school.
"I'm not artistic!" Soi said back, only sparing a small look over her shoulder.
"I'm sure you are!"
"Nope"
"You've never even doodled?"
"Never"
This argument was getting no where.
"I'm sure I can find your talent. Just give me two weeks! If we haven't found something for you in two weeks transfer where ever you want!" Yoruichi said, finally catching up to the first year, and grabbed her wrist.
Soi stopped and turned on Yoruichi with a scowl, only to be taken aback by the look on the older girl's face. The expression of sadness flowed through her molten gold irises and she plead, which was a rare sight for the purple haired goddess.
Soi sighed.
"What am I going to do with you Shihouin Yoruichi…"She mumbled, before softening her expression. "…Fine… Two weeks, that's all!" Soi said, and Yoruichi jumped up and down in pleasure.
-----
'What have I gotten myself into?' She thought as she was dragged around for the next two weeks to various clubs and meetings.
She couldn't draw.
She couldn't play an instrument they actually used in the band, though she wasn't half bad on the piano.
She couldn't be "artistic" in photography.
She was absolutely not going to try modeling.
It was hopeless.
"Last day, Yoruichi-san." Soi Fon said on the last day, as she was being dragged toward an unknown room in the school she went to.
"I've got the perfect thing for you!" Yoruichi boasted, and Soi looked disbelieving.
"And what's that?" she asked, running after the ungodly fast Shihouin.
"You told me you like reading, right?" Yoruichi called over her shoulder. Soi almost tripped at the statement.
"I wasn't aware reading fast was an art." Soi said, now thoroughly confused.
"It's not that I know of, but if you've read a lot, you should be fair at writing!" Yoruichi said happily as she stopped in front of the club room's door.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
"You're going to be a writer!" Yoruichi smiled.
-----
Yoruichi had won their agreement and another year passed…
"Hey, Soi…" Yoruichi said from her position in the younger woman's lap, now a senior.
"Hmm?" Soi hummed, reading through a really good novel that she'd heard about, absentmindedly stroking the older woman's orchid locks.
"Can I come over this weekend?" She asked out of the blue.
"Sure," Soi mumbled, absorbed in her book, unable to break away from its tantalizing sentences.
"Thanks a lot!" Yoruichi jumped up; frightening the girl she was lying on top of moments before, and placed a kiss on her cheek. "We'll have so much fun!"
"W-what?" Soi asked, flustered as she sat her book down, and covered the spot where Yoruichi had just kissed.
"Silly little bee! We're going to have fun at your house!" Yoruichi said, beaming.
'W-what?! When did I say she could come over?' Soi thought, and was about to say she wasn't thinking when she said that the taller woman could come over, but she just couldn't, due to the face of supreme happiness that was now burning across Yoruichi's face. Another sigh escaped the dark haired girl's lips.
-----
They'd made it to the house on Friday, after a rough day of school, and were now making their way up the stairs in Soi's small, but beautiful house, to her room.
"Here it is." Soi Fon said with little grandeur as she opened the door, and threw her bag into a corner.
"It's so beautiful!" Yoruichi said, thus causing Soi to arch a brow at the Shihouin's sense of style.
Her room was nothing special. It had dark, midnight blue walls, and a black rug that covered most of the dark maple wood that was laid across the house. She had a dark cherry-wood desk that covered most of her room, and a small twin bed with black and white sheets and blankets. Her closet was stark white against the west wall and the spots in her room that weren't taken up by her bed, desk or closet, were shelves filled with books and note books, among other things. The only thing that was "out of ordinary" was her lack of TV and the short Katana that was displayed above her headboard that resided in a black sheath that had gold wrapping itself around the bottom. The hand guard was oddly shaped and the hilt was a deep gold covered in an old yellow cloth.
"That's cool!" Yoruichi said, pointing at the sword.
"Yeah? I got it from my great grandmother. It's been passed down for generations." Soi Fon said and walked over to it, to take it off its display stand. "She called it Suzumebachi."
-----
Later that night the two girls were sitting in Soi's room reading and drawing, until Soi Fon finished her book and set it down with a satisfied sigh.
"Good book?" Yoruichi asked, never taking her eyes off of the paper she was scraping a pencil across.
"A very good book." Soi said before leaning back against the wall.
"What was it about?" Yoruichi asked, sticking her tongue out as she concentrated harder on her art.
"It was one of those action/adventure things. There were Shinigami and even a woman who could turn into a cat!" Soi said as she looked on at the Shihouin who chuckled at the girl.
"A cat, huh?" she asked and finished. "You like?" She asked, extending her drawing pad to Soi Fon who was now stunned again at the level of skill Yoruichi had in art.
"I'm not exactly the perfect person to draw all the time." Soi said as she handed it back to her, blushing slightly at how amazingly well she was captured in the girl's art.
"I like to draw you… So, we going to go to sleep?" Yoruichi said, stretching out her back that had been hunched for the last hour and yawned.
"Yeah, I guess…" Soi said, scooting over enough to allow the older woman to lie next to her on the small bed that easily fit their petit frames.
As Yoruichi got situated she heard grumbling and looked over to see Soi Fon arguing with her antagonistic raven locks.
"You okay?" she chuckled, moving some of the black hair behind Soi's ear.
"Yeah, thanks. I swear I'm going to get it chopped off!" She said and reached over to turn off her lamp.
"We should go tomorrow, and get something to eat while we're out!" Yoruichi said, and grinned happily as Soi nodded.
"I don't see why not, Good night."
"Night." Yoruichi replied, snuggling under the covers with her bright smile on the whole time.
-----
Soi was not lying when she said she was going to cut off all of her hair. It now looked very similar to Yoruichi's unruly mane.
"Hey!" The purple haired goddess said, throwing an arm around Soi's shoulder. "It's like we're twins!" she said with a smile, squeezing the younger girl tight.
Soi was blushing heavily, but was happy beside the fact.
"We going back to your house? Your dad said that I should stay for dinner." Yoruichi said. They'd gotten lunch before the sacrifice of beautiful raven locks, and Yoruichi was beginning to get hungry again.
"Yeah, I guess." Soi said, and they walked silently back to Soi's house.
Back at the house they were lounging around in Soi's room again, and Soi was once again caught up in the climax of a book.
"Hey, can I read this?" Yoruichi asked holding up a note book with "lit club" written on the front of it. She'd flipped through it, not being rude enough to actually read it without permission, but from the looks of it, these were stories.
"Uh huh." Soi said her eyes wide as the high point was exploding in the book.
"Cool thanks." Yoruichi said, and began to read through the lined pages of familiar handwriting.
"Uh huh." Soi replied again like an automaton and continued reading.
After another hour or so, Soi put down her book and sighed in satisfaction; another good book down, a hundred more to go.
"Hey what were you asking me earlier?" Soi said looking over to Yoruichi who was staring at a note book with her jaw dropped. "What are you--?" She asked until realization set in and her eyes went wide in horror. "Yoruichi!" she shouted, jumping onto the older girl and wrenched the note book out of her hand.
"Soi?" Yoruichi asked, looking up at the younger woman who was blushing so fiercely she could guide a plane to land.
"I didn't say you could read that!" She said, holding the book close to her chest.
"Yeah, you did, and that was amazing!" Yoruichi said, setting up after being tackled to the ground. "I mean it, you should publish it!" she continued her praise, much to Soi's distaste until dinner was called.
"Don't you dare say a thing to my Dad." Soi said with venom before standing to open the door for her friend.
-----
She could feel it again, The Twitch, and it was not easy to ignore.
"I mean it, sir, you should think about getting Soi published!" Yoruichi said to the older man, her face bright and happy.
"I didn't know she wrote! You learn something new every day! Soi-chan, can I read one of your stories?" he asked, and the younger occupant of the room shied away from the subject.
"I-it's not good… I don't think anyone will publish me."
"Nonsense!"
… and so the night continued…
-----
"Hey, little bee!" Yoruichi called across the courtyard to Soi who was writing at an astonishing pace into a note book.
"Hey, Yoruichi." Soi said, never taking her eyes off her paper.
"I brought someone to show you!" Yoruichi said.
'Someone to show me?' Soi asked herself and pulled her gaze away from her art.
"Please meet the next great rock star, and maker of the band Hanabi, Shiba Kuukaku!" she said, and clapped as a taller, well developed young woman walked her way.
"Yer so stupid Yoruichi." Kuukaku said, and looked down at the younger girl. "Hey, I'm Kuukaku." She said, extending a hand. Soi took it, and looked on in awe; something about this woman reminded her of the aura that Yoruichi always exhibited.
"Soi Fon." She said, and released the hand shake.
"Interestin' name. I can see why crazy here calls you 'er little bee. Whatcha workin' on?" She asked looking on at the large notebook that was covered in writing.
"A novel." Soi said which caused Yoruichi to slump to her side in surprise.
"You're really working on it!?" Yoruichi asked, trying to look at the words.
"Yes, and you're not allowed to read it." Soi said, tapping the tan woman's nose with the tip of her pen.
A small frown found its way onto the golden eyed woman. "Aww, fine." She said, and crossed her arms in a huff, looking away from the shorter girl.
Both girls were brought back to reality when a chuckle came from Kuukaku. "I need to start hanging out with the two of you more. It's good for the laugh-glands." She said, pulling on the strap her guitar hung on around her shoulder.
"But, aren't you both graduating?" Soi asked looking back and fourth between the two who were looking at each other with humor in their expressions.
"Actually, we aren't. Kuukaku's too stupid to graduate." Yoruichi said with a sly smirk.
"Yeah, and Yoruichi's too lazy to graduate." Kuukaku said, scowling down at the tanned woman, mildly annoyed that she'd been called stupid in front of, basically, a stranger; so much for first impressions.
"That and we both got into really bad trouble last week. That's why I wasn't around. The principal said we could kiss our graduation good bye and that we'd better be prepared for next year." Yoruichi confessed with a smile, and scratched her cheek almost bashful.
"Ah." Soi said in understanding.
"Well…" Kuukaku broke the awkward silence, "I got band practice. I'll see you two later!" She said and waved before leaving.
"Let's get going, too." Yoruichi said, and stood, extending a helping hand to Soi.
"Thanks." Soi said, and stuffed her note book in her bag.
"You wanna stop by my house today before going home?" Yoruichi asked. Soi Fon was stunned.
"S-sure!" She said, and walked with Yoruichi out of the school and along the road.
-----
At Yoruichi's house, Soi gasped. It was a large, yet simple house. It screamed "I'M RICH!"
"It's nothing special. I like your house better." Yoruichi confessed, and unlocked the door quietly. "Welcome." She said bowing in a theatrical manner as she opened the door, ushering Soi inside.
"This is amazing." Soi said, that was all there was to it.
"Not really. It's actually pretty empty. I don't like staying here, most of the time. I generally hang out with Kuukaku or Kisuke." Yoruichi said as she placed her bag down and walked to the kitchen.
Soi nodded in understanding, though she hated hearing that Yoruichi stayed with a guy two years older than her at times. She remembered Kisuke from Junior high, he was the smartest fourth year there was, and every one looked up to him. He'd actually failed once, but Yoruichi beat some since into his thick skull and they'd been friends ever since. Soi knew the story, but she didn't like the guy, no matter how "genius" he was.
"Where are your parents?" Soi asked, hoping she wasn't treading on thin glass.
"Well, Dad's constantly at work, I think he comes home at maybe three and is asleep until after I leave, so I don't get to see him, and my mom died when I was four, I think. I don't really remember her that much, so it doesn't really bother me." Yoruichi said from her place behind the refrigerator door.
Soi nodded, her mother had died when she was at a young age too, and she couldn't remember her, but she was happy to have her father. Yoruichi barely had that much.
"You want something?" The purple haired woman asked, poking her head out over the top of the door,
"No, thanks." Soi said, having to withstand giggling due to how silly Yoruichi looked with just her head over the door.
"Okay."
An hour or so later the two were setting in Yoruichi's room watching her big flat screen TV, laying side by side on her huge bed.
"Soi?" Yoruichi murmured, leaning her head on the younger woman's shoulder.
"Hmm?" Soi asked, turning her head slightly to look at the older woman.
"You ever been in a relationship?" She asked. It was a random question for sure, and one that made Soi blush, but she answered anyway.
"No. Never." She said, eliciting a giggle out of Yoruichi. "You?" She asked, and received a nod. "Kisuke?" She mused.
"One of them, but he was an idiot. I don't think I ever kissed him. After all that I realized that he was like my brother, which made it weird." Yoruichi said, not looking at Soi Fon.
"Ah." Soi said, and returned her gaze to the TV screen. "Why do you ask?" She said after a moment, curiosity finally getting the better of her.
"Just curious…" Yoruichi said, and shifted to look at Soi. "Why do you ask?" She said poking the girl in the side, causing her to jump, and roll away. 'ticklish…' Yoruichi mused to herself, as she crawled on her bed closer to the younger woman.
"Yoruichi, stop, don't." Soi Fon said, attempting to hold back giggling as Yoruichi's long slender fingers slid across her now exposed side.
"Nope, I'm not!" Yoruichi said, now unleashing her "full force attack" on the younger girl.
"Y-Yoruichi… s-stop it! Please! You're killing… me!" Soi said through fits of laughter attempting to get away, but Yoruichi wouldn't have that, so she straddled the younger girl and used one hand to hold her arms above her head.
"Gotcha!" She said, and began tickling with her free hand.
"Stop!" Soi pleaded but the playful torture continued.
"Say Uncle!" Yoruichi said, leaning down closer so Soi could hear her over her own laughter.
"What?!" she asked, and Yoruichi leaned closer.
"Say Uncle." She said calmly again to the younger girl.
"U-uncle, uncle!" she said hastily and the tickling stopped and her hands were released. She opened her eyes to find the molten gold ones hovering very close to her.
"Soi Fon, would you like to go out with me?" Yoruichi asked in all seriousness. Soi's face burned brightly. Yoruichi was the most popular girl in school and not many people liked Soi, the so called snob.
Lately Soi had been feeling depressed because the end of the year was coming around and she'd have to say good bye to seeing Yoruichi every day, but when she found out that she'd been held back today, she was relieved. Some feeling was welling up inside of her and she'd yet to figure it out.
'Why not? What have you got to loose?' She asked herself, and after quickly weighing the pros and cons of being with Yoruichi, the bizarre longing she was now feeling took hold.
"I-I'd love to." She said quietly as she watched something she'd never seen run through Yoruichi's eyes, before the bright smile graced her lips. Yoruichi leaned down and tightly held Soi in an embrace, which the shorter girl returned with glee.
-----
Another year passed, and Yoruichi was nearly inseparable from the shorter girl. They had lunch together and hung out during every recess period, and it'd been sometime that everyone got that they were going out.
"Yoruichi!" The two heard after school. They were sitting under a tree in the courtyard waiting for their respective clubs to start.
"Kuukaku!" Yoruichi said happily, and waved her over. "Whatcha been up to?"
"Playin' shows. Why don't you and girly here come see one?" She said, pulling out two slips of stiff paper. As Yoruichi took them, she saw that they were tickets that brandished the name Hanabi Kaze on the headliner.
"I didn't know you changed the name of the band…" Yoruichi mused as she looked over the date of the tickets.
"Well, Hanabi was already taken, so we had to change it if we wanted to play actual shows, and not just side shows." Kuukaku explained, scratching the back of her neck. "By the way, great book, kiddo. I think it's one of the only ones I've ever actually read for pleasure." She said looking over at the shorter girl on the ground next to Yoruichi.
"R-really?" She said blushing, Yoruichi did not like. "I didn't think it was that good, personally." She said, looking away due to embarrassment.
"Nah! It was great! Was that the one you were workin' on when I first met you?" Kuukaku asked, taking a seat for a moment.
"No, I never finished it. I can't think of an ending." Soi explained. Yoruichi was uncomfortable with how the two were leaving her out of the conversation.
"Soi," Yoruichi said, tearing the two away from each other.
"Yeah?" Soi asked, looking over to the older woman, who was now in the same grade, and class as her.
"Golden week is coming up… You wanna come to my lake house?" She asked, happy that Soi's attention was back on her.
"That sounds great!" Soi said, and looked toward Kuukaku. Yoruichi scowled, but knew what Soi was wondering.
"You wanna come too?" the purple haired goddess asked Kuukaku who was fiddling with the white bandana she tied around her head.
"Huh? Oh! Uh, I'm busy Golden week. I'm loaded with gigs." She said, adding a sorry before she stood.
"Too bad, it would've been fun." Yoruichi said completely masking her glee at the thought of just her and Soi alone for a whole week.
"Yeah, well before you go off to that place 'a' yers, come see my show!" Kuukaku said before walking off.
"Sure!" Yoruichi called back, and brought her attention back to Soi, who was now writing again.
-----
Golden Week was here and everyone in Japan was happy to get some free time. Yoruichi and Soi Fon made their way to Yoruichi's secluded lake house, something that was a first for the younger of the two.
Soi had never actually done anything for Golden Week, it was just a week where she read the most, and occasionally went shopping if her dad asked her to, or if she wanted some new books. The most she'd ever done on Golden Week was work like a dog for most of the vacation time.
Now, now she was on a lake house retreat with her girlfriend of nearly a year.
"You like?" Yoruichi asked with a bright grin as they pulled into the drive.
"Yes! It's really nice!" Soi said happily, and opened her door to stretch from the long ride.
"We should go swimming first, it'll be better to stretch from being cooped up in this damn car for so long!" Yoruichi suggested. Soi agreed. Though it was a cooler day, she was hot from the car ride, and it would make her legs feel better if they were submerged in the lake.
"Let's leave this stuff then, and just go jump in!" Yoruichi said, slamming the car door, and made for the body of water.
"R-right!" Soi said and ran after her, taking off her clothes leaving the bathing suit she had on and jumped in where the Shihouin was waiting.
-----
That night they say beside a fire that they'd built out by the lake. They were still in only their bathing suits, but they were cuddled together with a dark blanket guarding them from the occasional cool gusts that would blow by.
"Kuukaku's show was great!" Soi said as a conversation started.
"Sure was, I never knew all that noise that she made with that guitar of hers actually came out to sound like that when she was in "band format"!" Yoruichi said, holding her girlfriend tighter, resting her chin on her shoulder.
"Well, we already ate… what should we do now? Have story time?" Soi asked, nuzzling her face against the dark one that was next to her.
"Well, unless you got some ghost stories that'll scare the pants off of ya in that brilliant mind of yours, I think we should go in." Yoruichi said, shivering slightly at the wind.
"I think you're right." Soi said, standing, and taking Yoruichi with her.
"I'll put out the fire." Yoruichi said, and picked up a cup that she'd finished the drink out of before walking over to the lake and filling it with the inky black liquid that reflected the moon and the fire, nothing else, and poured it over the strong inferno putting out its life force. "Let's go." Yoruichi said, wrapping an arm around Soi's waist and guiding her into the house.
Yoruichi turned on a radio that she had in her house to some classical station and walked over to Soi who'd finished getting dressed into her night clothes which consisted in boxers and a tank top, in the summer.
"I think we should get to bed. It's getting pretty late." Yoruichi said, caressing Soi's cheek with her hand, running it up to run through the silky black hair on her crown.
"You get dressed then, I'll be waiting for you." Soi Fon said, and climbed under the warm covers of the large king sized bed that was the centerpiece of the master bedroom in Yoruichi's lake house.
"Sure." Yoruichi said, and walked off to the bathroom, coming out minutes later in nothing more than a skimpy, lacy, night gown. She climbed into bed with the younger woman and wrapped an arm around her, thinking that she'd already nodded off.
"Yoruichi…" Soi mumbled, and Yoruichi shifted to where she was leaning over Soi, and leaned down to plant a kiss against her pale lips.
She only meant it to be a light kiss with a "good night" after it, but apparently Soi wasn't asleep and when she opened her eyes to see Yoruichi kissing her she kissed back.
For a few moments the kiss was nothing more than a passionate, yet light kiss… which escalated into a fight of dominance.
That was the first night they made love.
Yoruichi skillfully slid her hand to Soi's back and carefully de-robed her before pushing the younger woman back on the bed. After which she began to make light kisses paired with small bites along the younger girl's neck, causing small gasps.
With every touch they gave each other: a memory was made. With every sound either made: a new memory was engraved in their minds.
Their passion for each other was never ending, and finally both had had enough.
Yoruichi brought her hands up to Soi Fon's face and carefully cradled it, their hot breath mingling. "Soi Fon, I love you." She said breathing heavily, passion still clouding her eyes. The younger girl slid her arms around the slim, toned, tan waist that pressed against her own bare one.
"I love you, so much." Soi replied, dismissing the fact that this was turning out as one of her fluffy romance novels she either read or wrote.
Going down for one last kiss, Yoruichi pulled back quickly before loosing herself to passion once again, and laid her head against Soi's bare chest, to listen to the sound of her elevated heart beat, and the breathing that was now slowing. Soi reached her arm up and held on to Yoruichi's shoulder in an embrace, as her other held Yoruichi's side in a slightly awkward, yet comfortable embrace, before snuggling her face into the purple hair that she loved so much smiling the whole time before she fell asleep.
Those were the good old days…
-----
The year was over, and every one was finished with their college entrance exams. Soi had gotten into a great place for writing and Kuukaku refused to take an exam, music was the only thing she needed. Yoruichi has insisted on keeping her college a secret, which Soi thought was silly, but allowed the woman to keep her secrets as she sought fit.
A month after school left out, Yoruichi had decided to stay with Soi while Soi's father was on a business trip, who could ever known that would be the day things went wrong.
She woke up the next day, alone and cold. She walked down the steps not hearing any noise or smelling any smells, and she looked to the fridge, which was normally the place Yoruichi was when she woke up. On it there was a picture of the two smiling and happy that hadn't been there the night before.
"What the?" She mumbled, but was brought away from the thought as her phone rang. "Hello?" she said as she grabbed it. Kuukaku was on the other line.
"Hey, there Soi." Kuukaku said solemnly, which caused anxiety to rise like bile in Soi's throat.
"What's wrong?" Soi asked immediately.
"Y… Yoruichi's gone. She left the country, or so I've been told. Apparently some big shot artist guy asked her to go with him, and she left. All I got was a note, which asked me to tell you." She said, pausing waiting for Soi Fon's words.
"…"
"Soi?" Kuukaku asked quietly before she heard a sob that made her heart sink on the receiver. "Listen, I'll be there in ten." She said before hanging up the phone, leaving Soi to break down on her tile floor.
-----
Like she said, Kuukaku was over ten minutes later, god only knows how badly she broke the speed limit to get here that fast, and she rang the door bell.
"Soi? Soi Fon?" she called through the door.
It took all of the petit woman's strength to stand from the fetal position she was in on the kitchen floor to and to drag herself over to the door. She opened it to find Kuukaku in one of her favorite outfits. Blue jeans with a cream colored shirt covered by a red jacket with her family's insignia on it, paired with her favorite bandana and matching dirty, really old, vans.
She caught the girl when she fell forward into her arms, and began crying again.
'Damn bitch, Yoruichi. She's got such a cute girl all to herself and she has to go and throw it all away to be some sort of stupid international artist. I know it was her dream, but… she broke this girl…' She thought as she picked up the younger woman while kicking off her vans, and walking up stairs where she knew the girls room to be.
-----
Soi was hollow for a whole year. The only person she'd even remotely speak to was Kuukaku, and her father, but only if they spoke to her first. She'd moved out of her house and lived in a small apartment near to Kuukaku's house. She'd not written a single thing for longer than that, not even touching a pencil or keyboard. Her editor understood though, and was waiting for the day the fire would be re-ignited in Soi's heart.
One day, when she was setting with Kuukaku alone after a sound check for Hanabi Kaze, Kuukaku decided that she was fed up with this moping.
"Soi!" She said, walking over to the younger girl, who looked up surprised: the most emotion she'd shown in god knows how long. Kuukaku bent down and grabbed one of the girls shoulders, before claiming her lips for herself.
Needless to say Soi was stunned, but she wasn't bothered by it. After all, who better to replace Yoruichi than the woman who reminded her of her the most?
"W-what are you--?" Soi sputtered as the Shiba pulled back, only to dive in again, this time kissing the smaller woman with more passion and force.
"Soi, I care a hell of a lot for you." Kuukaku said, entirely out of character as she leveled her eyesight with the shorter woman. "I'll help you forget." She said, taking the girl's hand and lead her out of the club, back to her car where they'd go to her expansive estate.
"Kuukaku…" Soi said, so quietly Kuukaku didn't even think she'd actually talked, as they walked into the house. "H… please, help me forget her!" she cried, holding onto the older woman. A grin spread across the taller woman's face as she picked up the woman and carried her in a passionate kiss to her bed.
There Kuukaku helped her forget. It was her first time with someone other than Yoruichi, and Soi Fon was slightly afraid, but something about Kuukaku said it'd all be okay.
Kuukaku was gentle, knowing how much the younger woman must hurt, feeling as if she was betraying the one she loved, after all, she'd dealt with this situation once before.
"Kuukaku…" Soi urged, causing the woman to flush. She expected the young woman to call out her name, not her own. She smiled, happy that this girl might actually end up falling for her in the end.
"Soi… I think I love you." She breathed as she continued on into the night full of pleasure and loss for the both of them.
-----
Soi Fon was different, it was clear enough to see that. She was not the way she used to be, but at least she was hers now, no longer caught in the grip of that bitch Shihouin.
Unlike most that cut their hair when they broke up with someone, Soi let her hair grow out, because Yoruichi had said she loved it short the way it was, but she was starting to get really annoyed with it.
"Why don't you just cut it?" Kuukaku asked one day, later in the year as the two were going to the beach for the weekend.
"I just don't want to." She said, angrily flinging the hair out of her face.
"I got an idea! Why don't you just wear it like mine?" Kuukaku said to which she received a sidelong sneer to. "Not exactly like mine, that'd look too weird. Just braid it or something." She said, stopping the car at their destination.
"I don't know." Soi said, wary of what the older woman meant.
"Trust me, just let me do it tonight." She said, unpacking some of the stuff before making her way to the comfortable condo they'd rented for the weekend.
-----
Later that night there was the sound of complaining coming from the only condo that had its lights still on that sat on the beach.
"It's just not me." Soi said looking at the braids that Kuukaku had put in her hair. The woman who'd taken the time to do this scoffed.
"Fine," she said, taking off her bandana and sliding it over Soi's head before sliding it back up to cover her eyes, leaving her hair cascading over it.
"What are you doing?" Soi asked raising her hands up to take off the blindfold.
"Don't you take that off!" Kuukaku warned, and started on what she was going to do to Soi's hair.
After what seemed like an hour, the blindfold was taken off the younger woman's eyes, and she kept them closed for a moment longer.
"Well, you like?" Kuukaku said. Soi opened her eyes and nearly gasped.
It was strange, but perfect.
"I put our hair styles together, so I figured you'd like it more. You don't have short hair; it just looks like it… Something you're more comfortable with." Kuukaku said lifting a braid that she'd weaved around a gold hoop toward the end. "I like the touch it puts to your hair." She said, grinning before dropping the hair again and walking through the room.
"Thanks, Kuukaku." Soi said, looking at her new hair style.
"Yeah, yeah. It's the least I could do. After all, you started writing again… and I've been getting no where with my music, so you've been buying everything. By the way, I loved the new work!" She said, lifting the book.
"You know, I wrote it for her…" Soi said, slightly depressed, but continued on anyway. "At the end of my second year in high school, I thought she was going to leave. This was all before I was involved with her the way I was. She'd said that I should publish one of my "stories" so I wrote this novel, trying to explain how someone like me could feel the way I did about her. I published it so I could move on. I didn't even finish it." She said walking up and took the book from Kuukaku's hands opening to the back, and handed it back to Kuukaku.
"How will it end?" was the last words of the story.
"I suppose I could write a sequel, but that'd be stupid…" Soi said, sighing and setting on the bed.
"Aw! I haven't even finished reading it, and now I want to know the end!" She said which caused a rare smile to creep across Soi's lips. A ghost of what she had for Yoruichi.
"Maybe someday…"
-----
It was going on two years now that Soi had seen nor heard anything about Yoruichi… of course she wasn't that clued in about foreign news, and she didn't want to try the internet, it would just bring up too many painful memories.
Her birthday was tomorrow… well "today" if you counted it, for it was a little after twelve, and she slept peacefully, her reading glasses still on her face and she was curled into a small ball holding an open book to her chest.
The door slid open soundlessly, and in walked a dark figure.
'I figured she'd change the locks or something…' the figure thought as she glided across the room that she remembered so well full of dark colors and hard wood floors, filled with the aroma of a library.
After her father had died, a year ago, Soi Fon had sold her apartment and continued to live in her old house.
The figure came close to the young woman, and gazed lovingly into her placid face. Brushing back some stray hair, it lifted the frames of the glasses off of the young woman, stopping suddenly as the raven haired woman moved, unknowingly removing the glasses herself.
The keen ears of the figure heard a new person coming in through downstairs and making their way up the steps leading to the room. The figure of Kuukaku Shiba came out of the darkness of downstairs, and walked over to Soi, lovingly caressing her face she urged her to wake up.
"Come on, you look so uncomfortable…" she said, as Soi groggily opened her eyes, and smiled before noticing who it was, which was when her smile faltered for a moment until she replaced it.
"Kuukaku," She mumbled, and stood, following the taller woman to the side of the bed, and laying down after her, resting her head on her shoulder before falling back into unconsciousness again.
"Soi… Soi-chan?" Kuukaku called while shaking the younger woman carefully, when she was not answered the older woman looked up. "I think you should leave, Yoruichi." She said with disgust, holding the girl tighter in her arms. "How'd you get in?" She said before the tan woman took her leave.
"She gave me a key a while before I left." She said, paused for a moment longer before making her way down the steps and out the door, locking it as she left.
"Yoruichi…" Soi called in her sleep and gripped tighter to Kuukaku, which caused the older woman to sigh. She knew something like this was going to happen. Soi, her Soi, still loved Yoruichi so much more than she'd ever love her.
Who was she to break that apart?
-----
In the morning Soi woke up to a loud bang.
"What the hell?!" She shouted covering her head just incase.
"Happy Birthday Soi!" Kuukaku shouted, and quickly pulled the younger woman out of bed. "We gotta go! You've overslept!" She said, shoving some clothes into Soi's arms, and pushed her into the bath room.
Soi came out ten minutes later dressed and refreshed. She'd kept her hair the way that Kuukaku had made it and it was becoming fun to do it every morning. She even loved the rings that felt so natural in her hair now.
"Let's go!" Kuukaku said, grabbing her wrist and pulled her down the stairs and into her car.
-----
"Where the hell are we?" She asked looking around at the empty lobby of a convention center.
"It's your birthday present." Kuukaku said as she put the white bandana she normally wore over Soi's eyes once again.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" she heard as she was temporarily blinded by light as the bandana was removed from her eyes.
A lot of people she'd made friends with ever since Kuukaku "saved" here were there, most with her books, hoping that she'd sign them.
"Thank you Kuukaku." She said with a small reserved smile, and Kuukaku knew that she wished Yoruichi could be there with her celebrating along side her. "Well… Mingle!" Kuukaku said, pushing her off into the crowd.
-----
Unlike normal, Soi was actually enjoying herself… that was until she caught sight of a purple tuft of hair and a dark, nicely toned body. She couldn't believe what she was seeing until the molten gold eyes locked with her cold silver ones, and the woman waved to the birthday girl.
Soi took the initiative and strode over to the woman who sat casually at a table.
"Happy Birthday, Soi!" She said as soon as the younger woman was in range of hearing, but that didn't stop the younger woman, and she continued on until she was a mere few centimeters from the older woman and she drew back her fist and knocked Yoruichi in her face with it.
The party went quiet and the smile that was on Yoruichi's face was literally knocked off.
"How dare you? How DARE you Yoruichi!?" she said fury burning in her eyes that started to well up with unshed tears. "Who even invited you?" She asked, almost hitting the tan woman again because she wasn't speaking, due to the total shock she was still in.
"I did, Soi." Kuukaku spoke up and Soi looked over at her with astonishment.
'Kuukaku?' she thought to herself, and felt her body go limp. How was she supposed to know that today would be the worst day ever?
-----
She woke up the next day groggy and drained, but she felt at piece in the strong arms that held her.
"Yoruichi…" she breathed with a smile, until she realized that this was no dream, and the woman that she lov—hated was laying in bed next to her, both fully clothed thank god.
'Oh, yeah. I said she could stay here with me.' She recalled, before turning to Yoruichi, making her way out of her grip before she woke her up.
"Yoruichi…" she called, shaking the woman, who quickly opened her eyes.
"Soi…" she said, almost embracing the younger woman's frame before she was reminded of yesterday.
"I said you could stay at my house… I didn't say you could sleep in my bed. There's another bed, and a couch you can sleep on, choose your pick. I'm going out with Kuukaku today, because she wants to apologize for yesterday. Lock up if you leave." Soi explained, setting up and sliding off her bed to walk to her closet and get her clothes for the day.
"You know," Yoruichi started as the younger woman walked into the bathroom. "I've read every one of your books. I have to say you improved much more after I left." Yoruichi finished, and lay back down on the bed to look at the ceiling.
"Bye." Soi said before leaving.
-----
Kuukaku decided that the two of them should meet at her house, so Soi was on her way there.
"Hey, nice ride?" Kuukaku asked, slightly anxious as to what she was about to do.
"Yeah, so… you ready to go?" Soi asked, more lively than ever and Kuukaku noticed.
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something." Kuukaku said, stepping up to the ledge to take the plunge. Soi arched her brow and listened. "I don't think I can be with you." Kuukaku said, locking her startling blue eyes with Soi's silver ones.
"What do you mean?" Soi asked bewildered, but not broken. She couldn't lie to herself… she liked Kuukaku, just not like she did… other people.
"You were never happy with me. The only time you'd actually smile the way you used to was when I woke you up and you thought I was Yoruichi. You'd even say her name sometimes… and you would always mumble it in your sleep." Kuukaku said, and Soi was astonished.
"Kuukaku, I love you."
'Liar'
"I could never leave you, how could you think that I love Yoruichi after what she did to me?"
'You are such a liar.'
"Kuukaku… I—I!" Soi couldn't bring her self to say it; she knew Kuukaku was telling her the truth she refused to hear.
"You love Yoruichi, not me. I still love you, and I wouldn't mind being friends, but I think you should go back to her… We talked a lot about this yesterday after you left, and I think you should listen to what she has to say with an open mind." Kuukaku explained, and bent down to give Soi a singular, soft kiss on her lips before turning her back to her. "Go back to her." She said, and walked into her house.
-----
Yoruichi woke to a door shutting below her and stirred, turning over she saw Soi enter her room and Yoruichi began setting up. "I-I was just getting up to sleep on the couch or something!" She said setting up quickly.
"It's alright." Soi said, setting at her desk looking out the window that framed the top of the desk.
"W-wait, aren't you supposed to be somewhere with Kuukaku?" Yoruichi asked, looking at her watch to see that it'd only been half an hour since she'd left.
A smile crept across Soi's face before she turned to the dilapidated looking tanned woman lying in her bed. "She dumped me." She said, before turning back to her window with that smile lingering.
"For who? I'll kick her ass, no one's better than you!" Yoruichi said, bolting up out of bed.
"She broke up with me because I don't love her… she said I still loved you." This caused Yoruichi to stop in surprise.
"Well that's stupid. After that knock to my face yesterday, I don't particularly how she sees that." Yoruichi said, slightly hopeful that Kuukaku was right.
"You know, I think she was right. I haven't been able to get over you. It even shows in my writing…" Soi said smiling, before standing and making her way over to Yoruichi who still sat in her bed.
A grin broke across Yoruichi's face as her head was pulled against Soi's chest in a hug.
"I'll give you a second chance like she said, but you have to tell me why you left." Soi said, and slid back into bed with Yoruichi.
"Tomorrow… I want to talk about you now. I liked how your writing became more bittersweet after I left." Yoruichi said, holding the younger woman to her close, protecting her from any bad things that may try to harm her.
"I thought it better to be realistic, instead of fluffy." Soi said with a smile before looking up into Yoruichi's beautiful gold eyes like it was her first time.
"You know it's true. Life isn't fully of rainbows and sugar… People die, and you have to move on…" Yoruichi said quietly into Soi's dark hair, this caused the younger woman to tense and she looked up at Yoruichi quickly, worry plastered on her face.
"You're not… dying… are you?" Soi said, horror reflected upon the silver windows to her soul.
"No… I'm staying right here with you… for however you want me to." Yoruichi said, pulling the shorter girl in for a small kiss, which erupted into a very passionate kiss.
After breaking apart, Soi Fon was the first to speak, "I guess my story will have to have a happy ending after all…" she thinking about the sequel to the novel she was writing for Yoruichi.
A toothy grin spread across Yoruichi's face before she went in for another kiss, this time they took it to where it should be.
And there they made bittersweet love, yet again.
-END-
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
AN: Wow, what was supposed to be a short 1000 word or so drabble turned into a full blown fanfiction! I really didn't mean for it to go this far, and I kind of veered off my original idea, but I hope you like it anyway.
Made as a request for carolingiae on Deviantart I really hope it's what you were expecting… if it wasn't I'll write a different one! I promise!
It was slightly rushed because I started to forget what I was getting at, so sorry about that, another reason was because I was expecting it to be like six pages at the most… twenty one pages is defiantly not six pages…
Thanks for reading! I hope to write more soon!
~Bishimimou