A Wonderful Christmastime.

By Erik Howlett.

Disclaimer: Bleach is the creation of Tite Kubo and is licensed by VIZ Media. I do not claim any of the characters or elements of the manga or anime as my own, and am only writing this story as a leisurely past time and because I am a humble fan of this genre simply telling a story.

Hello once again, True Believers, and Merry Christmas one and all! I know, it's not quite Christmas just yet, but I thought I'd start off the season right with a rewritten version of my story "A Wonderful Christmastime," a series of 25-chapter-drabbles focusing on my favorite couple in the Bleach universe, Yoruichi Shihouin and Kisuke Urahara. I will be doing my best to upload a new chapter each day up until the day after Christmas, a sort of countdown to that most wonderful time of the year. Well, I hope you enjoy the story, True Believers, and Merry Christmas to you.


December 2nd; A Family Affair.

What's the best thing about living at Urahara Shoten around Christmas? All the candy you can eat.

Christmas was steadily approaching when the packages arrived, only three weeks away in fact, but still close enough to be a priority for the little ragtag family of misfits that called Urahara Shoten their home. The tree had already been picked weeks in advance, before the first snowflake had hit the ground, carried home from the forests on the sturdy shoulders of Tessai and set up in a corner of the living room for their enjoyment. Ururu and Jinta were both chomping at the bit to see it decorated and lit up, as usual, but Kisuke and Yoruichi were able to calm them down long enough to reason that staying the process for a few days wouldn't hurt anything. They had been disappointed, of course, but they had to agree they had a point, as adults often did. Luckily, their waiting had paid off, and this particularly chilly evening found them all seated around the kotatsu's space-heater, warm and toasty as they sorted through box upon box of ornaments and other decorations.

Still, what official Christmas job like tree-trimming would be complete without candy-canes? Kisuke, of course, already had a stock of the peppermint hooks on hold for this time of year, and took little time breaking them out and distributing them among the eager decorators. Needless to say, the children had liquidated their first serving, prompting him to go back to the store front and pluck a fresh handful from the stack on the shelves. Those things had a bad habit of simply vanishing into thin air when left out, and he knew that. There were a couple dozen boxes locked away in the backroom in case of emergencies, and another sat in a corner of the living room right now, for actually decorating the tree. He knew those would also slowly disappear over the next few days, with the children (and Yoruichi) claiming innocence, though he knew better.

Yoruichi hummed a steady tune as she artfully strung piece after piece of popcorn onto a long strand of thread, pausing the rhythm of her needle only for a second or two as she retrieved another piece from the bowl that Kisuke popped for her himself, the old fashioned way. The sly little minx she was, it was no small wonder that a few unlucky pieces found their way to her mouth instead of her string. It was Kisuke's fault, she reasoned to herself as she ate another, while grabbing another for her needle. The man just knew how to make an irresistibly delicious bowl of popcorn. The right amount of butter, the right amount of salt, and an intoxicating aroma that was hard to ignore. Kisuke was going to have to make a few more bowls if they wanted a proper string of the stuff on the tree.

Ururu was busy unwrapping the tissue paper that held the old ceramic Nativity figurines in their boxes, her steady little fingers taking great care not to break one of them as she gently plucked it from its cocoon and set it on the small glass plate that sat on the table. The stable itself and already been removed, as had the three Magi, the shepherd boy, the donkey, ox, lamb, and camel, and now the figures of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus himself remained to be placed. Every year she had done this, she'd always saved those three for last, knowing that they were the most important of all. It still puzzled her as to why Kisuke and Yoruichi had these figurines, being shinigami as they were. Maybe there was truth to the story of the Nativity? She didn't pretend to know their reasoning, but she still like to hear Yoruichi tell her the story and still marveled at it when she did.

Jinta, the pushy little guy he was, elected himself the one to pick out the ornaments for the tree. Tessai had already strung the lights on the perfectly even branches, so this was the only chore he had to do, knowing that Kisuke would let Ururu be the one to place the star like he always did. It wasn't that he really had a problem with it, she was the group's baby after all, but he still liked to give her a hard time about it. Normally the first one to start a fight, it was an interesting change of pace to see him being so careful as he placed ornaments of every shape and size on the tree. There were glass balls of every color under the sun, little Santa figurines and reindeer made from clothespins that must have been a decade old at least, extravagant ornaments that were obviously gifts from people of great importance, and lengths of golden tinsel that seemed to stretch on forever.

"I'm back," Kisuke said jovially as he slid the door to the room open smoothly, holding up a fistful of sticky white and red hooks for everyone there, "And I've brought replacements for the ones you three already polished off."

The smell of peppermint like honey to a bee, immediately all three heads turned in his direction, eyeing the candy-canes in his hands hungrily as he passed them out. Jinta took his and went back to work, his cane sticking out the side of his mouth like he was some kind of pirate as he rummaged around in one of the boxes for another ornament, smiling when he finally found one that he wanted. Ururu look a bite out of the hook part of hers, saving the rest for later as she set the figure of Mary on the plate and began to unwrap the baby Jesus to place next to his mother. Kisuke himself took a page from Jinta's book and continued the pirate-look as he plopped himself down beside Yoruichi, offering her the last candy-cane as he wrapped an arm affectionately around her waist. Smiling slightly at his antics, she took it from him and leaned her head into the crook of his shoulder, not missing a beat on her stringing as the children (well, mostly Jinta) rolled their eyes at the grownup's "lovey-dovey" moment.

"Where'd Tessai run off to?" purred Yoruichi softly as she closed her eyes and resumed the soothing rhythm of her task, curious as to the disappearance of the larger gentleman. It wasn't easy to miss the fact that he wasn't there, so she knew he must have gone somewhere.

"Eh, there was a customer, so he offered to mind the store-front while we continued with the decorating," explained Kisuke as he enjoyed the warmth of his paramour, a sensation that actually kept him warmer than the space-heater ever could. "He knows how much we enjoy doing this together."

"Yeah, we do have a lot of fun with this," smiled the Goddess of Flash as she took a lick of her candy-cane.

"Well, not as much fun as we do with our 'other' tradition," replied the inventor with a pervy grin, eyebrows waggling playfully as he spoke.

At the mention of their little secret, Yoruichi gave him a playfully jab to the ribs, chuckling when he feigned a painful look on his face, her cheeks getting warmer than usual as she blushed in embarrassment that he mentioned it in from of the children… Not forgetting the naughty little thoughts that came to her mind at the moment.

"What are they talking about, Jinta?"whispered Ururu curiously, her big innocent eyes wondering what the grownups meant. This was the only tradition they had that she knew of.

"I don't even want to know," responded the red-headed baseball-fanatic truthfully with a shudder as he continued his work, not even bothering to once look up at Kisuke or Yoruichi. He wasn't the most intelligent of the group, but he'd had the displeasure of accidentally walking in on the two of them in a more... compromised state once. After an hour of hiding in the closet, washing his eyes out with soap, and listening to the most awkward talk he'd ever had with Kisuke, he swore never to question his boss' little secrets, especially ones that pertained to Yoruichi.

But he had to admit, he liked this tradition of theirs most of all.


Next time: December 3rd; Certain Little Things.

Author's Note: Admit it, trimming the tree is part of what makes Christmas special, am I right? Anyhow, looks like the Christmas Spirit is really starting to shine at Urahara Shoten. Hopefully, the rest of the season turns out as nice. Please remember to read and review as well, since you're input is greatly appreciated, as is constructive criticism (though remember that flames get doused and trolls get crushed by bridges). Well, stay awesome, True Believers, and until next time, EXCELSIOR!