A/n: I'm so sooo sorry for the very late update! please don't hate me!

Kisuke never thought it would be like this. He had, of course, seen people fall in love before, but he never would have dreamed that falling in love and being in a relationship could feel so… amazing. He felt giddy all the time, like a young school girl experiencing love for the first time. He felt as if he was the luckiest guy in all of Seireitei. Well sure, people from Ryukongai are getting poorer each day, the nobles are becoming more oppressive, and hollow attacks had been more common, but he couldn't bring himself to feel down about all these things. He had never felt this happy before, and he didn't want anything else to get in the way of his happiness.

He sighed again in contentment, for the tenth time today, as he gazed across his small room, staring intently at the source of his happiness. She was sleeping, and seemed to be dreaming since her lips were curled in a smile. Kisuke chuckled to himself as he kneeled beside his bed and softly played with the strands of her slightly purple hair. Apparently Yorouichi was one heavy sleeper, she had been sleeping for 15 hours straight. The potion that would turn her back into a cat had a minor side effect, it made her quite tired, it drained her reiatsu a bit. Kisuke had to do minor adjustments to the potion, before it was completely perfect, he had to hurry though, time was running out, the 2nd division was nearing their district, only two more days before they would search through this district.

How did they know that it would only be two days? Isshin had made himself quite useful. He agreed to spy on the secret mobile corps stationed just outside their district, in exchange for Kisuke doing his assignments, letting Isshin copy off his exam papers, and teaching him the high level binding spells until graduation. Kisuke agreed to it without hesitation, he would pay whatever price as long as it would keep Yorouichi safe. He would go through hell and endure hours of trying to teach binding spells to Isshin if it meant that Yorouichi would be kept from harm's way. That's how much he cares for Yorouichi, and mind you, Isshin horribly sucks at binding spells.

Kisuke stood up, he figured it was time he went back to work again, but he was pulled down back to the bed by the now awake Yorouichi.

"You look terrible…" whispered Yorouichi, referring to the bags under his eyes, he had been sleep deprived for some time now. She snuggled closer to his chest as Kisuke wrapped his arms around her.

"Thanks. Did I wake you?" Kisuke smiled at her.

"Yeah but it's fine, I feel quite refreshed. But you on the other hand…"

"No big deal. I've pulled all-nighters before, I'm used to it."

"Kisuke you should get some sleep, I can tell that you're tired. You don't have to force yourself…" she said with a pleading look in her eyes. Kisuke felt his hear skip a beat.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. I think I'm getting there anyway, I'll take a rest when the potion's done." said Kisuke as tucked away a few loose strands of her purple hair.

"But that's what you told me hours ago and your still not done! You still have time anyway, you can afford a couple of hours sleep." scolded Yorouichi

"But…" Kisuke's sentence was cut short, Yorouichi covered his mouth with her hand.

"No buts, you're going to rest." said Yorouichi, in her usual commanding tone. Kisuke could never say no whenever she gets bossy.

"Fine, fine. Only for a half hour though." he said as he pulled away from Yorouichi and tucked himself under the covers of his bed.

"Five hours." she said

"An hour…"

"Three hours…"

"An hour and a half…"

"Two hours." Yorouichi's voice was bossy again.

"Fine then, but you'll have to sleep with me." he said, Yorouichi blushed crimson.

"What did you say?!" she retorted. And then it hit him, Kisuke had just used the wrong words.

"N-no…! I mean sleep here, beside me! Not as in sleep with me like err… well you know…" Kisuke fumbled with the right words. Yorouichi giggled.

"I know, I was just messing with you!" Yorouichi pulled herself closer to Kisuke as she also got under the covers. Kisuke closed his eyes and forced himself to sleep. "Kisuke?" called Yorouichi softly.

"Hmm?"

"Thanks…"

"I should be the one thanking you, you're right you know, I really need to get some rest." he said.

"Not that… I mean for everything you've done for me, I really, really appreciate it. I don't know what I'd do without you…"

"Aww… look at you, getting all mushy. What ever happened to the spunky heiress I used to know?" Kisuke teased. Yorouichi gently nudged him on the ribs.

"Hey I'm serious…"

"I know you are. And don't worry about it, I'm not just doing this for you, this is for myself too…" said Kisuke

"For yourself?" she asked, confused.

"Well because… I wouldn't be able to bear with it… if ever you were taken away from me."

"A promise then…"

"Huh?"

"Let's make a promise. I promise that I'd never ever let them take me away, and you'll have to promise to protect me and save me if that ever happens…" said Yorouichi.

"Who are you and what have you done to Yorouichi?"

"Idiot!"

"Just not used to hearing you say things like that. Look at what you've done! I'm blushing!"

"Kisuke…" her face was serious now.

"I promise… No matter what…" he whispered into her ear.

"Thank you…" she said. Kisuke gently grabbed her face towards his as he kissed her softly on the lips. Yorouichi wrapped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. They were locked in a passionate kiss when suddenly…

"Eww! Gross!" The two quickly broke apart, and glared at their audience.

"Isshin… I forgot you still live here…" said Kisuke

"Thanks man…"

"Really? That's great news! When did it happen?"

"A couple of days ago, saw them making out. It was really weird, seeing them like that."

"You'll have to get used to it then…" said Retsu.

"I told them to tone it down, don't want to walk in on them again, especially when they decide to take it to the next step. If I ever see them doing it, I might be emotionally scarred for the rest of my life!"

"Haha… I bet you would!" laughed Ukitake. Isshin, Retsu, Ukitake and Kyouraku were all hanging out by the cliff behind the academy's old building.

"Does Kuukaku know about it?" asked Kyouraku

"I don't think she does. It will be hell if Kuukaku finds out though…" said Isshin

"Oh I forgot to ask! How did your tests go? Wasn't today the first day of exams for the 6th years?" asked Retsu

"Yeah… I think I did okay… Wow, can you believe it? Kyouraku and I are graduating in two weeks!"

"Easy for you to say, I don't think I'd be able to make it though…" said Kyouraku, he had such lousy grades.

"Even if you did fail your tests, With your father's influence, They'd let you graduate…" said Ukitake.

"True…" added Isshin. The Kyouraku clan was a member of the higher nobility.

"How are things in your district?" Ukitake asked Isshin

"The secret mobile corps are really aggressive. They posted signs everywhere with Yorouichi's face on it. I think they're giving a reward to whoever could pass information on her whereabouts." said Isshin

"I heard the commoners were passing on fake information to the second squad just for the sake of the reward…" said Retsu

"Those SMC guys are everywhere! I thought they were supposed to be secret?"

"How are those two handling this?" asked Ukitake

"Yorouichi's always restless, she just can't seem to stay put in one place whenever she's not asleep. Kisuke looks like a zombie, he hasn't had any decent sleep. He's been working on the potion for days now…" explained Isshin

"I think we should help those two out. They've been on their own for some time, and as their friends, it's about time we helped them out…" said Retsu.

"You're quite right Retsu…" The group noticed that someone was approaching them, a female student with tied up hair and glasses.

"Sempais!" she called, she seemed to be in a hurry.

"Nanao-chan! What's wrong?" asked Retsu. Nanao stopped in front of the group and kneeled to catch her breath.

"Sasakibe-sensei asked me to pass you a message. It's about Urahara-sempai…"

"What's it about?" inquired Ukitake

"Sensei said that you should tell Urahara-sempai to come to school tomorrow…" said Nanao.

"What? And if he doesn't come to school tomorrow, what's gonna happen to him?" asked Isshin

"Well… he will be expelled…"

"But that's crazy! Kisuke is the academy's top student!"

"That may be true but there are still rules. A student can only be absent for a maximum of 30 days, it's in the student handbook." explained Ukitake.

"And how many days has he been absent…?" Kyouraku turned to look at Isshin. Isshin began counting in his head.

"Err…Three weeks… And that's not counting the times he's skipped class for fun…"

"Oh no…"

"Is he really going to be expelled?"

"Who knows? We should tell him as soon as possible!"

After classes, Retsu, Jushiro, and Shunsui all followed Isshin home. When they got there they saw Yorouichi sitting on the tatami mats on the floor, and she had a disoriented look on her face, Kisuke on the other hand was on his desk, his hands were moving quite fast… he was still working. The two didn't seem to notice their arrival.

"So you weren't kidding when you said that the SMC was all over the district…" said Ukitake. They all squeezed themselves inside Kisuke and Isshin's small house.

"Told yah. Oi Kisuke?" Isshin tapped Kisuke's shoulder and he jumped in surprise.

"God! Don't scare me like that Isshin! You almost gave me a heart attack…." said Kisuke. Retsu, Jushiro and Shunsui's mouth dropped in shock. Kisuke looked really pale, he had such deep bags under his eyes, and he looked like he had lost weight.

"Oh my! Kisuke-kun!" exclaimed Retsu

"You look like you're about to drop dead Urahara…" said Shunsui

"What are you all doing here?" asked Kisuke, he sounded really irritated.

"We came to check how you guys are doing… Now we can see that you're both not doing so well…" said Jushiro

"We brought food! Hey! What the hell's wrong with Yorouichi? She didn't even look up when I said food!" said Shunsui. Retsu gently shook Yorouichi. She snapped away from her stupor.

"H-huh? Oh hi Retsu… Didn't see you there…"

"Yorouichi-chan, are you okay?" asked a very concerned Retsu

"She's still recovering from that last potion I gave her, she's a still a bit woozy." interrupted Kisuke

"I'll be fine… I think I need to lie down though…" Retsu helped Yorouichi stand up.

"I'll take her to your room Kisuke-kun." she said as she led Yorouichi to Kisuke's room.

"Thanks Retsu…" Kisuke mumbled.

"Still not there?" asked Jushiro as he moved closer to Kisuke's desk. It was quite a mess.

"Almost, though… I just can't seem to leave out the part where it drains her reiatsu. Ugh!" Kisuke slammed his head quite painfully on the desk.

"H-hey! Why did you do that?"

"I have to inflict pain on myself so I wouldn't fall asleep… I have to get this right as soon as possible…" said Kisuke as he returned to his work. His friends couldn't help but feel pity. He looked terrible.

"I'll help you out then!" said Jushiro

"But don't you have exams, sempai?"

"Yeah but I'm sure I'll be able to pass them without reviewing again. Let me in on your work!" said Jushiro enthusiastically. Kisuke nodded in appreciation. Jushiro pulled out a chair and sat next to Kisuke as they began working.

"Oh but before I forget! Kisuke-kun!" Jushiro suddenly said.

"What?"

"You have to go back to school tomorrow! You'll be expelled if you don't!"

"Yeah you should go back, I'll stay home tomorrow and look after Yorouichi." offered Isshin.

"But what if…" he began to protest.

"Kisuke, just go, okay? We'll be fine. Didn't you want to be a shinigami?" said Isshin

"I do but…"

"Then you should go back to the academy tomorrow! We may still have time before the SMC gets here…."

"Okay then… But I'll have to finish this potion today…."

"That's what I'm here for!" said Jushiro as he patted Kisuke on the back.

"I'll get you some coffee then, look's like you still won't be able to sleep again tonight." said Shunsui, as he stood and left. Kisuke felt really grateful, and lucky at the same time. He was so glad that he had such good friends. He had to work harder, if the SMC were to caught them, he would blame himself if anything were to happen to his friends.

The next day…

Kisuke woke up with a start, his neck was hurting. He realized that he had fallen asleep on his desk. He looked around the house, he could hear loud snores coming from Isshin's room, he must still be asleep. Retsu, Kyouraku and Jushiro left just a few hours ago, they had to get ready for school too, and the two 6th years have their exams. Kisuke stood up, and walked towards his room and grabbed his uniform from his closet. He was surprised to see that Yorouichi was awake, it was rare for her to be awake this early in the morning. She was sitting on the bed, her legs crossed, she was silently gazing at the window, wearing the most beautiful and serene expression Kisuke has ever seen.

"Hey…" he called. Yorouichi turned to look at him and smiled.

"Hey you… You still look as awful as you did yesterday…" said Yorouichi. She gestured for Kisuke to sit beside her on the bed.

"You were staring outside… Bear with it for a little longer… I promise it will be over soon…" Kisuke whispered, Yorouichi nodded. He knew that she missed the outdoors… she had been staying inside the house for weeks.

"You're going back to the academy right? Please be careful. My father probably set up some of his guards to watch you…"

"I'll be fine. I can take on a couple of shinigamis if the need to do so arises." he said jokingly.

"Sure you can…" said Yorouichi, but deep down she was really worried. The 2nd division was made up of the most dangerous shinigamis, even if Kisuke was a genius, he could never take on all of them.

"I better go then, don't wan't to be late on my first day back." he winked at her as he stood up and turned to get dressed. Yorouichi grabbed his hand before he could go.

"Kisuke… Be careful…" she pleaded.

"I will…"

Upon entering the academy, he could feel the entire student body staring at him as he made his way across the main buildings halls, towards the headmaster's office. The students were murmuring as he passed them, gossiping was more like it. Most of them believed that he was involved in Shihouin Yorouichi's disappearance. He was annoyed by the reception but he didn't bother with them. Before sliding open the headmaster's office door, he took in a deep breath.

"Ano… Excuse me?" he called. Sasakibe was standing in front of the headmaster's table, they seemed to be talking in a low voice.

"Urahara! Good you came back! You've been expelled though…" said Sasakibe

"What? But…"

"What I meant to say was you're supposed to be expelled. Headmaster Tsukabishi and I pleaded with the Commander-General to reconsider." said Sasakibe. (a/n: there have been errors with my fic about this one, to make things clear, during the start of the fic, Yamamoto was the headmaster of the academy and also the commander, but being the commander required him to be absent from the academy most of the time, and so he appointed a new headmaster…Tsukabishi Tessai!)

"Urahara, I'm not going to ask why you've been absent for weeks, but please don't be absent anymore. You're the academy's top student, and it'd be such a loss." said the headmaster.

"Of course. I'm sorry sir, after everything you've done for me, this is how I repay you…" he said, with remorse in his tone.

"You're parents have been good friends of mine, they were truly honorable shinigamis. The least I could do is to make sure their son becomes a shinigami…" said Headmaster Tsukabishi.

"Oh and about that matter…" began Sasakibe "To make up for your absences, the Commander has taken back his offer to allow you to take the shinigami test. You'll still have to go through your 5th and 6th year." he continued.

"I see. I don't mind then. I still have a lot to learn from this academy." said Kisuke. That wasn't how he really felt though, he was tired of attending classes, but at the very least he was glad that he wasn't expelled.

"Good. Don't go skipping classes anymore, The headmaster and I can only do so much…" said Sasakibe

"Yes sir…"

"Go to your class then…" Kisuke bowed to them as he turned to leave.

"Wait Urahara…" called the headmaster.

"Yes?"

"If ever there's anything I can help you with, don't hesitate to ask…" said the headmaster, wearing a very serious expression on his face.

"Yes sir, Thank you…"

If someone had asked her, four years ago, if Urahara Kisuke was someone she would consider to be with, someone who she would consider falling in love with, she would have answered a very honest no. At first, Kisuke was this proud, sadistic, opportunistic (albeit good-looking) rebel who annoyed the hell out of her. The first year of their friendship composed mostly of constant arguments, the only thing they had in common then was their passion for pulling pranks, that was probably the only reason they became friends. There was even a time when she hated his guts, Kisuke was a show-off, he always showed the student body his amazing skills and talents, and he liked having to hear them constantly praise him. She was really pissed off by this trait of his, and Kisuke probably felt just as annoyed of her, as she was with him. She was this sophisticated, bossy, and spoiled heiress after all. After spending so much time with Kisuke, she had changed, for some reason, Kisuke had this really huge influence on her. After a couple of years, Yorouichi began seeing a different side to him. Despite being a genius rebel, Kisuke had a heart of gold, and a good sense of justice. He always helped out those in need (he didn't ask for anything in return… on certain occasions at least), he shared his talents, he didn't keep it to himself and he had this really strong urgency to protect the weak. He would gladly face danger if it meant he could protect someone. When Yorouichi saw this side of him, that was probably when she began falling for him. She started to fall for him despite the fact that he was totally obsessed with his inventions!

When she realized that she had fallen for him, she went through an internal debate with herself. Kisuke was her first friend, no, her best friend. If ever she was to tell him her feelings, and he didn't feel the same, things would be awkward between them and that would have destroyed their friendship, she didn't want that to happen, and so she kept quiet. But it didn't help that whenever Kuukaku was clinging to him, and when those flirty freshmen girls were hitting on him, she had this really strong desire to just tell him. Her jealousy was eating her inside. And the other issue she debated with herself on, was their difference in background. She was a noble, and he was a commoner. It was a very standard tradition that heiresses had to marry someone of the same stature. Yorouich used to think that she could never go against the Shihouin Clan, and when her engagement had been announced, she had to go through with it, she didn't have a choice. But when she saw Kisuke just right before she was about to get married, and how he had pleaded to her not to get married, all her thoughts of following her duties as a Shihouin went down the drain. She wanted to be with Kisuke, she wouldn't give a damn about anything else as long as she could be with him, and when she realized that Kisuke felt the exact same way, she almost exploded with happiness.

Being with Kisuke like this, having to wake up every morning and see that mischievous grin of his, has never made her this happy in her entire 20 years of life. She would die (metaphorically speaking) if she would be separated from him. She knew for a fact, that Kisuke was someone she could never live without.

"Ne, Isshin…" called Yorouichi

"What?" Isshin looked up from the book he was reading (a/n: Isshin, reading a book?! Waaa! Ask Retsu…)

"Nah, it's too embarrassing I can't talk to you about it…"

"Is it about Kisuke?" he asked.

"Yeah… But it's nothing, forget it…"

"Come on tell me? I may be like this, but I still am your friend…" said Isshin

"Well… I was thinking of doing something for Kisuke, you know, to err… show how much I appreciate him doing all this for me…" she said. It still felt weird, talking to Isshin about something that concerned his so-called 'boyfriend'.

"And you're asking me what I think you should do for him?"

"Uh-huh…" Isshin thought for a while, before he spoke again.

"Have you done it yet?" he suddenly asked. Yorouichi's mouth dropped in shock.

"N-no!!" she answered, she felt her cheeks redden. Stupid, perverted, Kurosaki Isshin!

"You could do it, that would DEFINITELY make him happy." Isshin said, as he winked at her. Yorouichi grabbed him by his collar.

"I'll punch you in the face Isshin…"

"Hey that was just my opinion, no need to get so violent. But I'm surprised you haven't done it yet. Doesn't sound like Kisuke at all…" said Isshin, Yorouichi let go of him.

"What do you mean?"

"Err no, nothing…" Isshin almost slipped, Kisuke would literally kill him if he told Yorouichi about 'that'.

"Still need help here…" said Yorouichi. Isshin was relieved that she didn't press on the matter.

"I'm absolutely positive that whatever you think of doing for him, no matter how awesome or lame it is, he's gonna be happy as long as it's from you…"

"Really?"

"Of course! He's been in love with you since we were freshmen!"

"I know…" Yorouichi let out a contented sigh. Hearing other people tell him how in love Kisuke is with him, makes her feel so special. "So you really think anything is fine then?"

"Of course! How about cooking for him then? Or cleaning the house? His room? Or washing his clothes?" Yorouichi couldn't pick one out of the above, and so, she had decided on doing all those things. Things that she had never, EVER done before. The cleaning, washing, and the cooking took almost all day, it was almost time for Kisuke to come home from the academy. She wondered how he would react, he'd probably flip out though, Shihouin Yorouichi doing household chores was definitely rare. She sat close by the door, waiting to ambush him the moment he stepped inside the house. She waited for a while, ten, twenty, thirty minutes had passed, and he still hadn't come home.

"He isn't home yet?" asked Isshin, as he peeked on Yorouichi from his room.

"Yeah… I wonder where that idiot is, he's late!"

"Maybe he decided to drop by the 12th division, Hikifune-taichou is really fond of him…"

"Maybe…" Yorouchi began to worry. She suddenly felt that something bad had happened to him… Just then, she heard hurried steps from outside. Finally! She thought… She slid open the door.

"Kisu…." it wasn't Kisuke, it was Retsu, Jushiro, Kyouraku and Kuukaku, they all had a blank expression on their faces.

"Yorouichi, Isshin… They took him… The Secret Mobile Corps took Kisuke away, and… they're making their way here…"

a/n: please tell me what you guys think! and some suggestions would be nice too! oh and sorry if Kisuke and Yorouichi are OOC (especially Yorouichi) I'm trying my best though... And give those two a break, they're in love after all! Heehee... Thanks!!