Shunsui was up at the crack of dawn, having had a rather sleepless night even after he had left Bya-kun alone in the room. It was not so much the worry that the little boy would run away again, perhaps more because he was worried for the little one. He was rather clueless as to what he could have done to help, seeing as he had not encountered many children before, and all the solutions of emotional problems tended to be found in the bottom of a sake bottle.

And children did not drink sake, thus resulting in the ineffectiveness of his usually extremely effective cure.

He had slept in little catnaps, each an hour or two, before waking up on his own, worried and going next door to ensure that the fire was still burning, that it was still warm, and that the damp one was still there. (No longer damp, of course.) And yes, he had still been there, still curled up in that little corner the last time he checked, which had been about two hours ago. Shunsui sighed, shaken from his thoughts by a rumble somewhere near his midsection.

"Breakfast already?" He muttered, shaking his head, smiling slightly. Peering out the window, he noted that the slight morning chill was still present. "And it's not even six yet." Oh well. Trudging off in the direction of the kitchen, he took one last look, checking that Bya-kun was still in the room, and still blissfully asleep, before going for his morning cup of sake.

He nearly tripped over a black cat in the doorway. A very annoyed-looking black cat who was scowling at him. Oh crap. He had forgotten. Grinning sheepishly, he took a step back. (Or two, actually.)

"KYOURAKU SHUNSUI!" The next second, he found himself face to face with a very angry Shihouin Yoruichi. A naked one, but as he tossed her a set of clothes, happily averting his eyes, a very angry one.

"Sorry! I'm sorry, okay? Ow. Ow! Not… OW!" He pouted, nursing a few bruises on his arm and chest. "I didn't mean to forget, you know. I just… I had a very interesting day yesterday, and it slipped my mind. I didn't mean to! Really!" He grinned broadly, remembering the half an hour long tickle fight, as well as the ink splatters before that. And his Nanao-chan, of course. Who would he be if he did not remember his Nanao-chan? "Ow! What was that for, Yoruichi?"

"Kisuke and I were waiting by the gate all day just for you, you ass! And then when I came over, I couldn't find you or Jyuushiro anywhere. I couldn't even leave a damn note because your office looked like a pigsty! What the hell were you doing, Shunsui? What the heck was so important that you completely forgot that we've been planning to meet up for a drink for the past few months?"

He shuffled slightly on the spot the same goofy grin still on his face. He had been sort of carried away with handling Bya-kun, and frankly, he had completely forgotten about the meeting, so it was true, after all. He and Jyuu-chan and Nanao-chan had had a difficult time, what with Bya-kun running off in the middle of the night and in a damn thunderstorm too. Hm… he wondered how said little kid was doing right now. What did he normally eat for breakfast anyway? Porridge? Bread? Because if that was the case, then he was going to need to buy something back for the kid… Now, where to buy it from?

Yoruichi glared at him, muttering something about ungrateful idiots and womanizing gits. Half expecting an indignant response, she turned around to find him staring at the kitchen table, seemingly deep in thought. Scowling, she kicked at his shin. "What is it that's got you so carried away, hm? The lieutenant of yours agreed to go out with you?" She grimaced, realizing what she had just asked about. "On second thought, I don't really want to know." If it were anyone else, they would probably gush about the loveliness of the date, but knowing him, nu uh. She did not want to know.

"Huh, you said something?" He grinned at her again, another of his goofy grins, except that this one was a little sheepish. Hm… Porridge did sound like a good idea. Besides, the poor thing had been out in the rain the previous night, and it would be good to have something warm for a change. Besides, porridge was a rather safe option. There was lots of stuff that could go with it. He found himself imagining a heap of pepper, and chuckled.

A purple eyebrow raised. "What's on your mind?" It was then that she noticed the child-sized yukata drying in front of the fire. "Hang on, Kyouraku Shunsui… Is there something that you're not telling me?" She leant forward and shook his shoulder. "Seireitei to Shunsui, are you alright?" There was something fishy about this, and she was willing to wager her entire career as the head of the Onmitsukido that something was going on. Oh wait. She was no longer head of the Onmitsukido. No matter.

His grin was now more focused. "Yeah, I'm fine… Was just thinking about what to buy Bya-kun for breakfast."

Yoruichi choked on the sip of sake, spluttering indignantly, eyes widened in shock, and a little horror. The bottle clunked to the table, and Shunsui leapt to keep it from spilling. (It would seem that he was not completely dazed, then.) He frowned at her, no doubt about to comment about the possible wastage of sake and how that should be avoided. Yoruichi beat him to speaking. "Y-You're…" She coughed once more, swiping at the air with a hand. "H-He swings the other way? Y-YOU SWING THE OTHER WAY?!"

"WHAT?!" Shunsui stared back at her agape, before it hit him. Eyes widened in horror, he shook his head vigorously. "NO! No! I do not like him that way!"

"But I swear you just said you're buying him breakfast!"

"Uhm. Yeah. Breakfast." Looking at her narrowed eyes, he began to grow defensive, which in Yoruichi's book meant guilt. "So? It's just breakfast. The kid…" He paused, a light going on in his head. (figuratively speaking) A sly devious grin that was much more characteristic of him than the dazed glazed look came to his face. "Ohhh." A smirk. "I forgot. You don't know."

"Don't know what?" Well, it was quite obvious that she had no idea what in heck he was thinking. (Or rather, seeing as he was seeing coughByakuyacough, it would mean that he probably was not thinking. Urgh. She could not even begin to consider the intricacies of their relationship. She did not want to begin to consider the intricacies of their relationship. No, no, no. Eek. Get those nasty thoughts out of your head, Shihouin Yoruichi!)

Shunsui grinned. By the disgusted face, he could tell that Yoruichi was under the impression that he and Kuchiki were ew, dating... Which was wrong. Dreadfully wrong. Too wrong to be just wrong. It was so horribly off the mark that it was almost funny. Almost. It really could not have been further from the truth. He felt more father-ish than ew… Never mind. In any case, it would be interesting to watch this play out. His stomach rumbled. Damn. There was no time to let this play out. But on the other hand… He considered his actions, both the pros and the cons before deciding on one course of action.

Maybe Yoruichi would be able to snap the poor kid out of his depression. He lowered the brim of his hat slightly, a sign to anyone who knew him long enough, which included Yoruichi, that he was up to something. (It was an unconscious act for him, so really, he had no idea how much he was giving away.) "Do you want to speak to him? Bya-kun's currently in the guest room." Another smirk as yet another mouthful of sake ended up somewhere halfway between her hand and her mouth.

"Hell yeah!" She slammed the cup down on the table. "This is… disturbing, to say the least. How could you, Shunsui? I thought you weren't over your lieutenant yet? And I thought you really, really liked her? What happened to that? Got turned down too many times so you're trying your luck with someone else who needs to get laid as well? So this is the reason why you didn't turn up and didn't bother to tell Kisuke and I that we didn't need to wait four freaking hours for nothing?"

"Um. No?" He blinked, taking a step backwards and reminding himself of exactly how funny this was going to be after she went to see him. Hopefully, it would be worth it. The scheming look returned to his face. "Look, just go talk to him, okay? Everything will clear up then." She scowled back at him, stalking out of the room in a whirlwind of purple hair.

After traversing down the corridor, he began to have doubts. Shit. What was wrong with him? He was Kyouraku Shunsui, and he did not doubt. Especially not himself. Urgh. Where had the voice in his head that said "In any case, better to be safe than sorry" and that sounded like Nanao-chan come from? Urgh. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he weathered her fierce glare. "What, Shunsui?"

He sighed, before deciding to tell her the truth. Gee. That voice was such a spoilsport. "Aha, but in this case, there's a greater chance that you'll be stuck with a happy kid later, right?" Sweeping the voice, which now sounded oddly like Katen Kyoukotsu (and probably was a subconscious reminder of the sword dwelling in his subconscious) back into where it belonged, he scratched at his hair nervously as he watched the scariest and possibly most skilled user of hand-to-hand combat in Seireitei digest the information.

"Hm." He blinked, stunned at her reaction. To tell the truth, he had expected an outburst of some sorts, accompanied by copious amounts of violence. Apparently not. Before he could react, she had slid open the shoji door and entered the room. Uh oh.

She stood there, a little stunned. This was… quite a revelation. Rather different from what she had originally expected, but still quite a revelation. At least this was less disturbing. Only a little less. Frankly? It intrigued her. And yes, she was very, very interested.

Curiousity killed the cat, hm? Hopefully not this time, then.

Here's a short chapter for now! I'd like to hear your opinions on this: Should I introduce more characters? Or should I limit it to fewer? I've got a vague plot in mind as well, so any plot ideas are welcome! :)

Cheers,
Tani