AN: There's new info on the sequel to Arranged Funeral that I promised a few of you on my Bio if anyone's interested. This story will not have one, but it will be finished before I start the other because I have ADD.


Chapter 8, Wine is an Ice Breaker

Yoruichi turned to Soi with a large grin tattooed on her features, not halting in their walk for a second. The younger girl just held her arms in a tight cross refusing to look at the numerous amounts of bags swinging from her companions hands. "Have fun?"

"Hardly." The siren stopped, oblivious to Soi until the large white bags had faded from her peripheral vision. "What?"

"You're always in a bad mood. Can't you just once act like you're happy to be around me?"

"That would give you the wrong impression."

"Then you aren't?"

"Yoruichi don't act stupid."

"Who's acting?" Soi rolled her eyes and headed back to the goddess pausing to look into her dark shades.

"I never once disliked being around you." Soi's hands slowly drifted up and wrapped her fingers around the temples of Yoruichi's aviators. "You know it's not true, what they say."

"They?" Glasses removed, Soi frowned at the contemplative look in her friend's eyes.

"You're not perfect. Sometimes I forget, but I really want this to work-" It took only a second for Soi to realize the warm pressure on her mouth before melting into the kiss. Their lips danced against one another, pulling, massaging, and ghosting against the soft flesh. She opened her eyes soon after and stared into a pure gold ring, Yoruichi's pupil decreasing from its dilated state.

"I do too." Out of the corner of her eye, the siren noticed something black and turned to catch the object but it disappeared in the crowd of shoppers. Not even sure it was anything, she withdrew her hands that had found their way to Soi's waist and bent down retrieving the forgotten bags. "So are we…?"

"Yeah, I'll give you a chance." Soi replaced Yoruichi's sunglasses, heading out the main entrance alongside her.

--

"Can we go out tonight?" Soi asked looking down at the head in her lap and continuing to run her fingers through the older woman's loose hair.

"This is a surprise."

"Just out for dinner."

"You have any place in mind?"

"No."

"Well I'm sure I could call some place up and get reservations for later." Yoruichi closed her eyes again, relaxing under Soi's affectionate gesture.

"Can Nanao tag along?"

"What?" The goddess sat up completely and turned to look Soi in the eyes. "Why?"

"I told Shunsui I would introduce them formally."

"Wait, Shunsui? The record guy Shunsui?"

"Yes."

"He's straight?"

"Yoruichi he's a womanizer…"

"No way, I thought he and Ukitake were… never mind. You think Nanao would go for him?"

"Honestly no, but she's done crazier things."

"Like?"

"The point is I really think it would be good for her."

"But if we bring them I can't have you all to myself."

"You already do."

"But it's our first real date." For emphasis, Yoruichi's lower lip jumped out.

"I'll make it up to you."

"Why are you so interested in hooking them up? They're completely opposite in every way."

"Like us?"

"How are we opposite?"

"You're loud and cheerful, you eat everything, sleep constantly, and you have a huge libido."

"Is that all?"

"You don't want me to continue."

"Fine do what you want." The younger girl smirked and leaned back into the couch as Yoruichi pouted and crossed her arms. "But you owe me." A pale hand rose catching the other woman's eye and she stared questioningly.

"Yoruichi give me your phone."

"What do you need it for?"

"I'm going to call Shunsui and invite him." Yoruichi reached into her jeans and pulled it out, replacing her head in Soi's lap.

"Why isn't he in here?"

"It's under U."

"You named him Ukitake's-"

"I thought they were a couple!"

"I'm not even going to ask." The phone rang a few times and Soi was greeted by a very relaxed deep voice. "Hey Shunsui, sorry to call on such short notice, but are you up for dinner tonight?" Yoruichi glanced up to watch Soi zone out, absorbed completely by the call. "We wanted to celebrate a little, could you stop by around 7:30? Great, thanks."

"I wish you paid as much attention to me as you did my phone."

"Don't start." Pulling out her cell and hitting the number 8, Soi waited for Nanao's simple greeting and ignored it. "Yoruichi's house 7:30. Wear something dressy." Then shut her phone as quickly as it had opened and Yoruichi started to close her eyes at the comfort from the younger girl's thighs. "Don't go back to sleep, you still need to call up the restaurant."

"Well if I mimicked your way of making reservations it would only take a second 'Shihouin, table for four, 8pm'."

"I don't really feel like talking to her right now."

"You still upset from this morning?"

"No."

"Then you're worried she'll find out?"

"I know eventually she'll find out, I just hope she hears it from me before Aizen." Both women sat in silence for a while, not wanting to think about anything but their close contact.

"You know we have a few hours before they get here."

"No."

"I didn't say anything!"

"Just make the reservations." Yoruichi grumbled to herself before grabbing the phone out of Soi's hand.

"And my libido isn't huge!"

--

"What's the meaning of this?"

"Nanao, you're early. How unexpected, Soi's getting changed."

"Where does she intend to take us?"

"Dinner date. Have a seat on the couch, there's something I wanna clear up before we go out. I don't think she's told you yet, so I won't break the news, but you and I have never been on the same page. And since me and Soi are going to be spending a lot more time together I thought we should just use this dinner as a way to get to know each other better. I want us to have a good relationship."

"She put you up to this?"

"Yes."

"Well you are a very crafty liar Shihouin. Maybe we will get along after all."

"I'm not lying though. I honestly want us to be on good terms."

"I suppose I could try for Soi, she seems to be in higher spirits due to your involvement."

"Thanks." Yoruichi got up and smoothed out her long purple dress after hearing a knock at the door. "Shunsui! You own a suit?"

"I use it on formal occasions. I must admit though I am excited to get to know Soi more, she seems like a very nice- Nanao?"

"Yoruichi what's he doing here?"

"Uh… well you see Soi kind of wanted Shunsui to come too I hope that's not a problem."

"It is. Why are we even going out in the first place?"

"Oh, we're celebrating my new single. Sorry I forgot to mention that."

"And what's his involvement in the matter?"

"Shunsui is my producer."

"So he works?"

"Well despite my appearance, yes," he chuckled slightly, "I'm not a bum."

"Well then, everyone's happy!" Yoruichi clapped her hands together smiling and guided Kyoraku to the couch next to Nanao. "Sit, sit, I'll check on Soi."

"Take your time, we're in no rush." Nanao glared at him as he spoke and Yoruichi left the room. "So, what are you interested in?"

--

"Soi, you ready yet?" The room had appeared empty save for her shadowy figure.

"I'm in the bathroom, could you come here a second?" Being the master bedroom, Yoruichi strolled over to the connecting bath and peered inside smiling lightly.

"You're wearing the dress from earlier?"

"Yeah, could you tell me if the back looks good? I think I'm tangled." The siren walked over and wrapped her arms around Soi's waist looking ahead into the mirror.

"It looks fine, but nothing compared to the person in it."

"Flattery is not your forte." Yoruichi dropped her head a little, just enough to plant light kisses along Soi's revealed shoulder and lower neck. "Dinner's going to be a nightmare."

"They both seem ok with the idea, how bad could it be? Besides, I have a feeling by the end of the night Nanao won't even remember what happened."

"You're planning on getting her drunk?"

"If there's one thing I know I'm good at, it's holding my alcohol. I want to have a little fun." They entered the living room and noticed an eerie aura coming from the two as they now sat farther apart from each other on the couch looking in opposite directions.

"You were saying?"

"It'll be fine, everyone ready?" Shunsui stood up and smiled at the couple.

"Soi, you look very lovely this evening."

"Thank you. You clean up pretty well yourself." He turned sheepishly towards the door, resting a hand behind his head and held it open for all three women as they made their way to the car.

--

"Good evening, my name's Shuhei and I'll be your waiter tonight. Can I get you anything to drink?" Yoruichi motioned for the young man to get closer and she pulled him slightly aside to whisper into his ear.

"We're going to need wine, so you think you could set us up with something really good, but not too expensive? I'm expecting a few bottles to leave this table." He nodded in agreement. "Oh and the woman sitting across from us, make sure her glass is full at all times." And she slipped a twenty into his pocket while the others were distracted looking through the menus.

"Yes." He turned to the rest of them. "I'll be back in a few moments."

"Yoruichi what did you tell him?" Said woman turned to Soi a bit startled and smiled calmly.

"Nothing special, I just thought a little wine would help lighten the mood." This brought a smile to Shunsui's face and he soon caught on to the devious woman's plans.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before the waiter came back with a dark bottle, pouring the deep maroon liquid into each person's glass. "Are we ready to order?" Some simple appetizers were scribbled down on his pad and he left, leaving the group to their own agenda.

"Yoruichi how did you and Soi first meet?" Both women looked up at him a bit surprised as did Nanao, who soon found she had become quite curious. They then looked at each other and Soi nodded, allowing her elder to speak.

"Well I think we ran into each other outside one day, literally. I had already previously gotten to know Nanao, so later at a bar we met again and the rest is history."

"Oh, so Nanao, you knew Yoruichi before Soi? Was it business related?"

"Yes, I… handled photography. She had quickly become one of my most popular subjects." The Shihouin watched as Nanao's hand reached for the wine glass in front of her. Everything was going exactly as planned.

--

Everyone for the most part finished eating and was relaxing at the table except for Nanao, who had long ago had more than her fair share of alcohol, and was recently entertaining the group with another personal story about Soi, who had her hands in her palms and was blushing like a maniac. Yoruichi laughed lightly at Soi's right with her hand on the younger girl's thigh to comfort her. Across from them Shunsui was filling up his glass with another bottle, his cheeks a light pink color and turning to Nanao every now and then to smile.

At least during the dinner Yoruichi learned more about the two girl's relationship. Despite their attitudes appearing exactly the same, there was an obvious difference. Nanao was a fun drunk, which turned out to be quite enjoyable and helped her learn things about Soi that she normally would never have discovered. Things she would remember later as blackmail. But in all honesty, Nanao was a pain in the ass when not drinking. Yoruichi figured Soi was only mildly cranky due to lack of sex, or maybe something to do with past relationships, but she had desperately hoped on the first, which was something she could change.

Even Kyoraku got what he wanted. Or at least he seemed happy enough with Nanao leaning on him in between stories laughing, and he currently had his arm draped across the back of her chair. Yes, everyone seemed to be happy except Soi, who was the only person that really wanted to do the dinner date.

Time came to retreat back to their houses, Yoruichi paying, with protests from Shunsui, but as it turned out, he was too drunk to put up much of a fight which amused Nanao. So they leaned on each other into the parking lot, with Soi and Yoruichi walking a small distance behind them. Unfortunately they had already planned on Ise being too wasted to drop her off at home, so she would get Soi's room, and Soi would sleep in Yoruichi's room. One of them would be greatly surprised when the time came, as Yoruichi wasn't going to sleep on the couch, it was her bed after all.

The goddess, with a bit of alcohol in her as well, enjoyed how the evening had resulted. She even found herself brave enough to interlock hands with her date who strangely enough, accepted the gesture.


I don't like slow chapters, but now I have more room to entertain you guys, and I threw in some action there. Plus I know how to set up the next chapter, so as a treat expect that sometime next weekish…

PiP 8