11.
Title: Tell-Tail
Rating: K
Pairing/Characters: Urahara/Yoruichi
Word Count: 420
Warnings: None. Wait, what?
Summary: Yoruichi's return.
A/N: Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating today. This piece is based off a fanart by DakotaAngie at Deviant Art. You can find it at this address: http : // dakotaangie [dot] deviantart [dot] com [backslash] art [backslash] Urahara-and-Yoruichi-45064207. (Obviously, take out the spaces and replace bracketed words with its symbol counterpart.)
I feel this could've been written a lot better, but oh well. I apologize for the lack of updates. Classes and some real life curve balls have really cut into my writing time, as well as just having no desire to do so, but NaNoWriMo has helped somewhat on that. Anyway, there will likely be some other characters and pairings introduced into this little series. Possibilities include but are not limited to: Rangiku/Gin, Isshin and Ryuuken, Soi Fon, Starrk/Harribel, and any other characters and pairings I feel like branching into. Now that I've rambled on for a bit, enjoy!
As the day drew to a close, Urahara slipped into his room and slid the rice paper door shut behind him. He removed his hat and placed it on the stand near the door then flopped onto his futon, jarring Yoruichi from her sleep. The cat peered menacingly at him, tail swishing in annoyance. She briefly considered taking a swat at him, but thought better of it as she realized she needed a good stretch and stood on her four paws, stretching her back into a perfect arch of that only a cat could accomplish. Urahara reached a hand forward from where he lay across from her, gently scratching at the base of her tail then began petting her from head to tail. While Yoruichi was still rather peeved at being woken by the slamming of his body onto the mattress, she couldn't help but indulge in the perks of being a cat, her purring betraying how much her annoyance had dissipated.
"So how do cats purr?"
"After that stunt you pulled," she paused briefly, nudging his hand to scratch behind her ear, "I'm not telling."
"What stunt? I simply wished to be close to my neko-san, considering she's been gone for too long." He stopped scratching behind her ear, then perched his head on his crossed arms. "Where did you go this time? South? West? Possibly the Middle East?"
Yoruichi sat on her haunches, licking at a paw then brushing it across her brow, repeating this several times before she answered, "I didn't go too far. I stayed on the continent, traveling southward for the most part. I did stop in Nepal and Laos, but I mainly lived in the Philippines and Indonesia."
He smiled. "I'm sure you've a hundred tales to regale me with."
"I bet I have."
They momentarily sat in silence, comfortably staring at one another. He noticed that her tail had stopped its pendulum-like swing and simply stood straight, wafting from one side to the other this time.
Breaking her gaze, he glanced at an arbitrary spot in the room. "I missed you," he then said, making eye contact once more. While he noted no change in her face, he did see that her tail had paused and had now begun to quiver. His lips quirked into a knowing smile, understanding that he would not hear a word from her on the subject and that she prided herself on always showing exactly how she felt rather than telling him.
Emboldened, Yoruichi stood and head-butted him.