Disclaimer: I don't own the characters only this story. No lawsuits please.
Ririn entered Urahara's shop quietly. She didn't really care if Junta or Uurru saw her. However, Renji still stayed here when he was on earth, and that might also mean Rukia was here. Ririn certainly didn't want to run into either of them right now.
She stole through the front of the shop and made for the backrooms where Urahara and the others lived. Strangely, in spite of the hour she found Kisuke sitting at the small table in the first room. He looked up and greeted her with a smile before returning his gaze to the paperwork in front of him.
"What brings you here at this hour Ririn?"
Ririn created an illusion in the room so that anyone who looked in would only see Urahara going over invoices and hear nothing that was said. Once that was done she hesitated having planned no further than making her way to the shop. She wrung her hands together and then sat down.
Urahara once again looked up at her meeting her gaze before raising an eyebrow. The situation rattled Ririn's nerves. She took a deep breath.
'Nothing left but to say it,' She thought.
"Urahara, I need a new gigai."
"What's wrong with your current one?" Urahara asked breaking eye contact and looking toward the floor so that his hat covered his eyes.
"I just feel like I can't pull my own weight with this one." Ririn said opting for a half truth.
"So it's 'short' on functions?" he asked with a tone that sounded only half questioning, and the beginnings of a smile forming under the brim of his hat.
Ririn's temper immediately flared. His tone and asinine little smirk told her that he more than half guessed her intentions and was purposefully being obtuse.
"Something like that," She said keeping her tone in check.
"Oh but that body is not that 'old'. It certainly shouldn't be obsolete for several more 'years'," Kisuke's grin was Cheshire like in it's intensity and the emphasis on certain words could not be mistaken this time.
Ririn hated this game that he was playing with her. She was embarrassed enough as it was and she could only imagine that he would find new ways to make the embarrassment that much worse.
'It seems like Urahara won't be satisfied until I come out and say the absolute truth.' She thought.
She glared intensely at Urahara half plotting to pull that tacky green and white hat of his down past his smirk and tie it in a knot under his pointy chin. She decided on the course of action she had to take. She prepared to humiliate herself in front of the man who created her for the sake of the man who she wanted to be with.
"I..." Ririn began
"A little birdy tells me that if you keep playing games Kisuke you are going to see hell before the end of the night." Yoruichi said from just the other side of the open door. "It's cruel to make someone abuse themselves when you already know all the answers."
"I know what she's thinking about doing and don't agree with it," Urahara snapped back at Yoruichi. "I don't care what you or anyone else thinks. Ririn doesn't have the experience to deal with a situation like this."
Ririn's face scrunched up. Torn between anger and intrigue at Urahara's slip of the tongue.
"You seem to have made a critical error in your judgment. You've spent too long in this world I think. A body does not in itself decide the nature of the soul within. Take a moment to consider captain Hitsugaya of 10th squad. His form does not look any older than that of Ririn's current gigai. Does that make him too young for his authority? She is asking for a body to match her heart. She has at times acted like a child, but were you behaving any differently just a moment ago? She is blessed because she is not limited by a permanent body that restricts others perceptions of who she truly is. She is more than the equal of Ichigo and the others in terms of experience, heart, and true maturity."
Ririn let Yoruichi finish, but did so gracelessly. She stood up fast just barely keeping her balance.
"As I was about to say before being interrupted."
Urahara and Yoruichi both turned back to look at Ririn.
"Yes. I want Ichigo. I want him to see me for who I am inside. It's even harder for him to see beyond this gigai, this body, and I can understand why. However, I'm tired of being another "little sister". That's not who I am. It has not been who I was since before I joined Ichigo and the others, and I want everyone to be able to see who I am now." Her face was stern and her tone brooked no argument.
Urahara sat agape. His face was the absolute portrait of aghast, but he recovered fast. Closing his mouth he shook his head in surprise at Ririn's words.
"I must say it's been a few years since someone mouthed off to me like that. Do you really mean that, and are you willing to risk so much on a whim?"
Ririn's mouth went dry as she considered his question. She tried to think of what to say but nothing came to mind and she opted to weather it all.
I guess the fact that you said it to me with such force should be answer enough," Kisuke said before cracking a smile. "I guess, now, I know how most fathers feel when their little ones grow up."
Kisuke paused considering what to say. From Ririn's perspective it seemed like he might still change his mind and back out rather than help her.
"Just telling him the truth may save me some effort." He commented
"Like I said I want everyone to be able to see who I really am. Not just those people that I can convince."
"Well alright then I think I can have it ready by tomorrow. Come back around six."
Ririn succumbed to a moment of childlike glee. Grinning she leaned across the table and hugged Urahara
"Thank you."
She left the room less stealthily than she had entered to head back to Ichigo's house.
"I hope this is the right choice," Urahara said to Yoruichi once Ririn had left.
"He seems to think it is."
"I suppose. I just don't know and I hate making decisions that can change the course of someone's life without knowing all the details."
"I doubt he made it lightly and he did wait to tell us until he was sure of his suspicions. Trust his judgment, you always used to," Yoruichi said, her voice trailing off as she stared at the door that Ririn had taken.
