a/n: it's a bit short...sorry...

Kisuke had been absent from the academy for over a week, all thanks to Yorouichi. Walking on the path towards the academy felt really refreshing to him somehow. At least he would be away from the house, and away from Yorouichi's constant complaining. That's what you get for taking in a noble into your house, but it's not like Kisuke missed going to school. Yorouichi, kept hinting that it was his fault in the first place that she was staying at their house, and the least he could do was keep her company. Kisuke couldn't help but stay with her; he couldn't possibly leave her alone their house, with his inventions! Then why, after all those reasons, was he going back to the academy today? The answer was simple, the heiress told him to. And Kisuke obliged, although he was a bit hesitant at first. Yorouichi was one smooth talker.

"Kisuke darling!!" As soon as Kisuke arrived at the front gates of the academy, he was immediately showered with affections, courtesy of Shiba Kuukaku. Behind her, Kurosaki Isshin and Unohana Retsu sniggered in delight at the look of pure shock on Kisuke's face.

"Kuukaku has been greeting you this way since we were freshmen! Shouldn't you be used to it by now?" said Isshin as Retsu giggled softly, Kisuke glared at his best friend.

"Oi get off me!! Why are you more clingy than usual anyway?!" protested Kisuke

"Why?! You know why!! I haven't seen you in over a week Kisuke my love! And these guys said I couldn't visit you at all!" said Kuukaku, clinging unto Kisuke tighter.

"I appreciate your concern Kuukaku, but please get off me!! I can't breathe!" In one swift motion, Kisuke was able to slip away from Kuukaku's possessive arms. Kuukaku, Isshin, and Retsu blinked a couple of times in surprise.

"What the hell was that?!"

"You moved so fast Kisuke-kun! How did you do that?" asked Retsu

"I did? Really? I didn't notice that I'd moved so fast…Oh well. Better head to class. See ya Kuukaku!" Kisuke dragged Isshin and Retsu with him towards the main building, and into class 4-A's classroom. Upon entering the room, their classmates turned to face him and all they broke out into whispers, or to put it simply, they were gossiping about his long absence. Not really in the mood to socialize, Kisuke seated himself on his usual desk at the far back of the room, near the window. He glanced at the empty chair beside his' and sighed.

"Worried 'bout her?" asked Isshin, who sat on the desk in front of him, next to Retsu.

"Yeah… I hope the house would still be intact when we get home…"

"I'm sure it will be alright. Yorouichi wouldn't do anything to jeopardize her stay with you…" said Retsu

"We should just hope for the best! Anyway, glad you're back, my friend! And in time for the written tests too! Share some of your knowledge, will ya?" Isshin whispered that last part to Kisuke. What Isshin meant was "Please let me copy off your paper".

"Sure, sure… So what did I miss?" he asked.

"A couple of lectures and training sessions, but nothing you don't already know. Oh and you've been the talk of the school for the past week and Yorouichi too since you quit going to class at the same time that Yorouichi was supposedly 'kidnapped'. I heard a couple of girls making up stories that Yorouichi chickened out of her wedding and dragged you along with her. Some even said that you had eloped." Isshin told him.

"Really? That's funny. Wait till she hears this…" Kisuke, instead of getting mad of all the rumors, simply laughed it off. The classroom door opened, and Kaien Shiba, a member of the disciplinary committee, entered.

"Urahara Kisuke, The headmaster wishes to see you at his office." Said Kaien

"Now?" he asked, as he stood up.

"Now… I was told to escort you."

"Kisuke you don't think it's about…?" began Isshin

"I hope it's not… See you guys later…" Kisuke walked towards the door, and followed behind Shiba Kaien, who didn't speak to him at all. Kaien opened the door of the headmaster's office, and motioned to Kisuke to enter. When he got in, he saw that the headmaster wasn't the only one inside. In fact, the room was full of people. But the only one's he could recognize was the headmaster, and Sasakibe-sensei. The other people in the room, were shinigamis.

"Ah, Urahara-kun. Come in. Take a seat…" said the headmaster. Kisuke nodded and quickly took a seat. For the first time in his life, Urahara Kisuke was actually nervous.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes… But first let me introduce, Captain of the 2nd division and the secret mobile corps, Shihouin Azuma…" Kisuke gulped. The man standing in front of him, is Yorouichi's father. He had short black hair that was graying; he was tall, but a bit thin for his height. He had the same purple eyes as Yorouichi and he had pale skin. Kisuke figured that Yorouichi's takes after her Mother, and her mother must have been really beautiful, her father was not much of a looker, and he looked scary too. Yorouichi's father merely grunted at the headmaster's introduction.

"Urahara Kisuke, Shihouin-taichou and his men would like to ask questions regarding his daughter…your classmate, Shihouin Yorouichi." Said the headmaster. Kisuke's heart pounded faster. Have they found out? If they have then…

"What about her, sir? I heard she was abducted…" Kisuke spoke calmly, but on the inside, he wasn't calm at all.

"Yes… The captain here was hoping you'd be able to help them find out who took her. You and Ms. Shihouin are good friends, are you not?"

"We were friends…" answered Kisuke

"Were friends? Does that mean you're no longer friends?" asked the headmaster.

"I have not spoken to her for nearly a year now, sir…"

"That's true… Urahara and Ms. Shihouin are both in my class and I have noticed that they no longer speak to each other…" Sasakibe-sensei spoke.

"But still you used to be friends. Has she ever told you about a stalker of hers, perhaps? Has she mentioned something of the sort?" inquired the headmaster, Yorouichi's father, who had been quiet for some time now, stood firmly and spoke in a deep cold voice.

"You are too soft, headmaster. You should not be asking those kinds of questions."

"What do you mean, Shihouin-taichou?"

"You should be asking this boy if he knows the whereabouts of my daughter." He said.

"Shihouin-taichou, are you suggesting that I took your daughter?" asked Kisuke

"You have been gone from the academy for over a week, the same amount of time that my daughter has been missing, and you admitted that you were friends with my daughter…" said Captain Shihouin, he didn't mention the fact that it was him, who forbid Yorouichi to be friends with Kisuke.

"The fact that I had been friends with your daughter, and my recent absence from the academy doesn't justify your reasoning that I took her away. You don't have any valid and concrete proof that I was the one who took her. And what benefit would it be for me, if I did take your daughter? I could ask for ransom, sure , but with the secret mobile corps under your command, I would surely be caught. If you must know, Shihouin-taichou, I am quite the merchant. I would not take on any deal if I knew that it would not be easily profitable… And I value my life dearly, I would not want to put it on harm's way by kidnapping someone of such high noble stature..." Kisuke spoke with dignity and in his most uncaring voice, as to avoid further suspicion. He was proud of himself for coming up with such a convincing speech. After he spoke, Captain Shihouin was taken aback.

"I may not have any proof, but I am rather certain that you were involved in my daughter's disappearance. I have heard of your accomplishments, and surely for someone bearing the name of 'genius', breaking a high level spell would not be that hard for you." Said Captain Shihouin

"I don't get what you're trying to say, Shihouin-taichou, but I have cut my ties with your daughter, and she with me, so there's no point in me going through such trouble just to kidnap her. Wouldn't want my talents wasted." He answered with a smirk.

"Shihouin-taichou, I have great respect towards you, but you have suspected one of my best students of a crime that he might not have committed, I feel very insulted. I request that you stop this interrogation." Said the headmaster.

"Hmph. Listen clearly boy, if I have proven that you had something to do with my daughter's absence, you would regret the fact that you ever lied to me…." Captain Shihouin turned his back on Kisuke and ordered his men to move out; they were gone in a flash.

"I'm sorry about this… Urahara-kun…"

"I should be the one saying sorry, Headmaster Tsukabishi…"

Yorouichi lay sprawled on Kisuke's not-so-comfy bed. She was bored, terribly bored. It had only been three hours since Kisuke and Isshin left for school. She tried entertaining herself by reading Kisuke's books, but it didn't interest her at all. She also tried cleaning the house, but then again, she has never held a broom in her entire life. Since she couldn't do anything, she had just decided to take a nap. But after a couple of minutes laying down, she couldn't fall asleep. Before all hope for sleep, or entertainment was lost, something caught Yorouichi's eyes. Kisuke's oh-so-secret drawer had been left partially opened. She had been warned by Kisuke, at least a hundred times, to never touch anything inside the drawer, and that she would pay dearly if she did touch it. She was curious, really curious, what could be inside Kisuke's drawer? Although she did promise Kisuke that she'd never touch this particular drawer, but desperate times call for desperate measures. This was a do or die situation. Yorouichi walked across Kisuke's small room and stood in front of the drawer as she slowly opened it. Yorouichi thought she would find something like, Kisuke's adult magazines perhaps, but what was inside really surprised her.

Upon opening the drawer she saw a phial of a green liquid of sorts, it had the label 'miracle power potion mark IV' written in bold letters, unmistakably Kisuke's hand writing. This was what Kisuke was trying to hide? A silly little potion that probably doesn't even work? Or maybe, it really did work, and that drinking this stuff would flare up your reiatsu. Yorouichi wanted to try it out. Kisuke wouldn't notice if she just took a few droplets of the stuff anyway. And so, she opened the phial, and took a tiny sip, It was kinda sweet and tasty, like candy. Yorouichi waited for something, but nothing happened. She thought right, the potion was a failure after all. She returned the potion to the drawer and closed it. So much for the entertainment that she was hoping for. Yorouichi sat on Kisuke's bed, coming up with stuff that she could do to kill time, when suddenly, she found it difficult to breathe, it felt like she was choking… She couldn't talk, she couldn't call for help. Was it because of the potion? Was she going to die? But before she could think any further, she lost consciousness and landed on the floor with a thud.

Kisuke sighed in relief, for the fifth time today, since he was called to the headmaster's office. After the 'interrogation', Kisuke lost interest to go back to class, and decided to skip. He would just tell Isshin about what happened later. He was on his way back home, he passed through the market and bought food, Yorouichi would complain if he didn't buy any. When he got home, the house was really quiet, and it seemed like it was empty. Kisuke made his way towards his room, and Yorouichi wasn't there. Where could she be? Had she been taken by the 2nd squad? The house was still the way it was when he left it this morning, and if the 2nd squad did come to get her, she would have at least resisted. Kisuke's heart began to race faster. Where was she? Was she okay? If anything bad ever happened to her, he wouldn't be able to handle it…

"Oi!" called a deep male voice, Kisuke looked around for the source of the voice, but he was the only one inside the room. Was he hearing voices?

"Psst! Down here!" said the voice. Kisuke looked down on the floor and saw… what seemed to be… a black cat. He looked curiously at the cat… was he hallucinating perhaps? Because it seemed to him that the cat just talked. "Oi it's me!" said the cat.

"ACK! A talking cat!!" screamed Kisuke

"It's me you idiot!!" said the cat. The cat had a bossy sounding voice, and then it hit him…

"Y-yorouichi?!"

"Yes! Pick me up, won't you? I can't move just yet…" Kisuke picked up the black cat, a.k.a Shihouin Yorouichi.

"Why are you a cat? How did this happen?"

"It's your fault, you stupid idiot! If only you hadn't left your secret drawer, this would have never happened to me!" said Yorouichi, in her deep voice.

"You drank the potion?! I specifically told you not to open that drawer!" scolded Kisuke

"I only took a sip, and this happened to me! I thought it would raise my reiatsu!"

"That potion was still in its experimental phase. I was about to test it out on myself, but it's a good thing you beat me to it…" Kisuke smirked.

"Idiot! Do something, will you? Change me back!! Do you have the antidote, or something?!"

"Why would I make an antidote? It's not poison, you know…"

"I know! Just bring me back to normal! You can do it, can't you?" begged Yorouichi, her small yellow cat eyes, staring right into Kisuke's normal, green ones.

"I guess I can… but it will take some time…" said Kisuke

"Then get to it! I don't want to be stuck like this!!" complained Yorouichi. Something clicked on Kisuke's mind.

"Wait… I think it's better you stay this way… for the next couple of days at least…" he suggested.

"What?! Why?" demanded Yorouichi

"The 2nd squad has begun their search for you in Ryukongai… they would reach this district soon.."

"Are you serious?" Kisuke then told the cat Yorouichi about his meeting with her father earlier.

"Damn… I guess I really should stay as a cat… In the meantime…" said Yorouichi, as she admitted defeat.

"We have no other choice. No worries though, I promise I'll bring you back to your normal self. But I kinda like you this way, you'd be easy to pick up, and throw out!" said Kisuke as he threw Yorouichi unto his bed.

"If you do that again I'll… scratch you!" she hissed

"I'd like to see you try, Mr. Cat. At least now you've learned a lesson…" said Kisuke

"What lesson?"

"Curiosity killed the cat… Literally."

a/n: so sorry... i've been really busy... and i'm in a hurry... tell me what you guys think by reviewing this rushed chapter... Thanks!!