"Remind me. How do I keep letting you talk me into these things?"
"Not a clue. But if I ever find out, I'm abusing it every chance I get."
The Chinese girl laughed wryly, giving an exaggerated roll of her eyes.
"If you think about it, it's probably because I drive, and you don't," Yoruichi said, grinning at her passenger, who was sulking up against the side window. It was a bit of an odd pattern that had formed between the two of them, and she was getting much better and figuring out the difference between what was said and what was meant. And despite her roommate's assertiveness and independence, not to mention all the griping, the girl seemed to get pulled along with the flow more often than not. And right now the flow was the two of them driving down to the mall for a shopping trip that was highly anticipated. For one of them, at least.
"I'm already regretting this," Sui-Feng grumbled, "And we haven't even started yet."
"Aw, don't be like that. Never gone shopping with any of your girl friends before?"
"Nope. Was too busy getting into fights and causing trouble when I was a kid," she said, but then scrunched up her face in disgust. "Went shopping with a guy friend once. I guess that was basically the same thing."
"Well, I'll promise to be on my best behaviour."
"I already know that's a lie."
The rest of the drive took several more minutes, followed by a long wait circling the parking lot, which gave the younger girl a lot more time to mope. When they finally found an empty stall, Yoruichi was raring to go, jumping out of the car with gusto as soon as it was parked. Her roommate, predictably, was a lot more reluctant to move.
"Why do I feel like a mother dragging her kid along?" the older girl asked.
Her roommate scowled at that. "Believe me, if my mom was here, things would be a lot worse."
"Oh...right," Yoruichi said, rubbing her neck. "Sorry, forgot that was a thing..."
"It's not a thing," the Chinese girl said vehemently, "It just is."
An awkward silence followed, until Sui-Feng sighed and brushed hurriedly past. "Just leave it alone. Where are we going, anyway?"
"Uh, right," the older girl answered, shrugging her shoulders and dashing to catch up.
She honestly hadn't planned very much ahead, and figured they'd just drop into a few stores and find a few things to the other girl's liking. There was one thing, however, that she was absolutely dying to do, and it would be best done before the other girl got too grouchy. Leading the way, she weaved through the afternoon mob of shoppers as they navigated through the maze-like layout of the mall. She passed by a lot of stores, ones that they'd probably backtrack to eventually, but right then she had a particular place in mind. Her roommate didn't say anything, just following mutely behind the whole way, but let out a very loud and very expected groan the moment they were parked in front of a small, dressy boutique.
"Please, just kill me now."
"We'll just look, I swear! Don't have to buy a single thing," Yoruichi said innocently, grabbing her companion's hand to drag her into the store.
Sui-Feng was notably unimpressed as they walked in, her eyes lingering on a few of the pieces that were on display. It was a good thing she hadn't looked over the price tags yet.
"What's with all this lace? I already feel frozen just looking at them."
"Most of those are for fancy parties with lots of indoor heating," the older girl answered absently as she wandered down a different row of clothing. She already knowing what it she was looking for, and grabbed a few articles from the shelves as she spotted them.. "You're supposed to show some skin to get a little attention."
"Always thought that was dumb."
"Hey, nothing wrong with showing a little skin," Yoruichi said, winking as she approached with a folded up outfit, and then shoved the ensemble into her roommates arms. "Here, go try these on."
"I don't think so," Sui-Feng protested, but found herself being pushed toward a changing room.
"Live a little, you might like the look."
Sighing, the Chinese girl submitted, allowing herself to be locked into one of the stalls. Standing just outside it, Yoruichi waited patiently for the reaction she knew was coming. Surprisingly, the expected stream of curses never followed, but the door swung open moments later nonetheless. The younger girl had a look of complete disgust on her face as she held a short black skirt, white dress shirt and tie in her outstretched hands.
"Is this a thing for you?" she asked through gritted teeth. "Because I swear..."
Yoruichi shrugged her shoulders and tried to fake a demure smile. "I just wanted to picture you as a schoolgirl."
The rest of store visit was equally unproductive, with the older girl eagerly jumping from rack to rack grabbing frilly dresses and other girly outfits and trying to force them on her companion, and the younger of the pair getting increasingly annoyed as the suggestions got more and more ridiculous. At one point a store assistant came by to see if they needed help, and nearly had her head bitten off when she recommended something to emphasize Sui-Feng's bust. After a while, enough was enough, and with her fun goal for the day all finished, Yoruichi finally lead them off to some places that were a little more practical.
"Look, I'm just saying," she said, as they left a department store, "Maybe no to the short skirts, but the shirt and tie could give you some boyish charm."
"And why the hell would I want that?" Sui-Feng asked, looking severely disgruntled. At the very least she had found what she'd needed quickly, and was toting along a couple bags of sensible, but predictably plain, winter wear.
"I don't mean you have to look like a boy," the older girl scoffed, trying to get her point across, "You just have some qualities that could do with some highlighting."
"Okay, I know you have this thing for young girls, but boys too? This isn't something really creepy, is it?"
"Ack, don't even say things like that out loud," she said, immediately trying to quell that idea. "And I don't go looking for age."
"Fine," the Chinese girl said, sounding exasperated, "So what do you look for?"
Stopping her stride suddenly, Yoruichi grabbed her companion by the shoulders before the other girl could react, pulling her backward and wrapping her in a tight hug from behind.
"The fit."
Proving her point perfectly, the taller girl was able rest her arms comfortably on Sui-Feng's shoulders, with her forearms pressed tightly along the girl's collar. If she could've made the shorter girl lean her head back, it would've nestled right against her neck and shoulder – which was a shame, because the victim of her impromptu move seemed far more intent to squirm and struggle.
"Alright, alright. Get off!"
Releasing her hold, Yoruichi just smirked when she received a weak glare. If she didn't know any better, she would've thought there was a light dusting of red on the other girl's cheeks.
"Fine, point made," Sui-Feng said gruffly, "You don't have a thing for kids, you're just really annoying."
"And for the record, it's still just the ladies."
Her roommate rolled her eyes at that. "Yeah, whatever. So what are we doing now? I've got everything I need."
"I'unno, didn't really plan for anything," Yoruichi said, shrugging. There wasn't really anything she'd wanted to do, but leaving so soon seemed like a waste of a trip. "Feel like window shopping? Christmas is just around the corner, couldn't hurt to look around."
"Hmm, should've known you were into the big commercial holidays," the Chinese girl said, but nodded and started walking anyway.
"Actually, not really," the older girl said, walking alongside, "Problem with being a New Year's baby, there's too much to celebrate all at once. And with too many people trying to plan out my childhood, there was a lot of pomp and circumstance during the holidays. Best Christmases I had growing up was when I could sneak off and just goof around with Kuukaku and the guys. Now that no one's forcing a big fancy party around me, it's nice to just keep things simple."
"Huh. I think can actually kind of relate; my birthday's right around Valentine's Day. Didn't usually matter, but whenever it did, everything was always crammed into one day with twice the effort. After a few really dumb years it was just better if no one bothered."
"Ha! I knew you'd understand," she said energetically, "Screw the tacky cards and fake merchandising."
"Right," Sui-Feng said with a grin, "Yet we're still going window shopping?"
"Hey, just because I don't want a lame holiday doesn't mean I can't snoop into what everyone else does."
The rest of the afternoon passed by in a blur as they wandered from store to store aimlessly, mocking the cheap merchandise on display, staring at weird gadgets and doodads, and mostly just wasting time doing nothing. At one point, the older girl attempted to drag her companion into an arcade after she'd spotted the flashing lights, and was fervently shut down, but at least managed to get them into a bookstore where she tried to guess at the other girl's tastes. At another store she noticed the younger girl's eyes lingering on a display packed with stuffed animals, but bit her tongue and just smiled to herself. Eventually the novelty started to wear thin, and they were both ready to head back.
"You know what?" Yoruichi said as she was pulling out from the parking lot, "I feel like having a lazy evening."
"So what else is new?" Sui-Feng said, but played along. "Fine, what are you thinking?"
"Dunno. We could veg out on the couch and watch dumb TV all night? Ooh, and pick up a ridiculously big pizza, my treat."
"For once, that doesn't actually sound half bad."
"I'm suddenly reminded how rarely I use this thing," the older girl said, remote in hand as she flipped through channels, "Not even sure why I bother with cable."
"Don't look at me," her roommate said around a mouthful of cheese, crust and tomato sauce, "I've never watched much TV before."
"Over a hundred channels and they all look terrible."
She settled on a movie that was just starting, an old and dated sci-fi, and made a face at the corny lead-in credits. Well, she said dumb TV and apparently that's what she was getting. Reaching over to where the huge pizza box was covering the coffee table, she grabbed her own slice, then shifted in her seat to try and get more comfortable.
"Problems over there?" Sui-Feng commented after several seconds of wiggling beside her.
"I also just remembered how rarely I sit on this," the fidgeting girl answered, still not finding much luck. She'd bought the furniture so long ago, and couldn't remember if she'd picked it based on looks or comfort. It certainly felt like the former, and questioned how her roommate could tolerate sleeping on it.
"First step is putting your butt on the seat."
"Oh shush, smart ass."
Fed up, she decided to change things up, twisting around and lifting her legs up so she could stretch across the entire sofa – which also happened to leave her legs lying across the other girl's lap. Finally settled in, she looked across the couch with a cheeky smile.
"There, much better."
Surprisingly, her roommate didn't give any comment or complaint, instead just rolling her eyes and taking another large bite of her pizza. Yoruichi wasn't really sure how to take the shockingly charitable behaviour, but decided not to make a big deal of it and just enjoy the moment while it lasted.
For the next little while they tried to silently enjoy their food and the movie, which proved difficult when the cheesy dialogue and bad acting started to kick in. Both girls struggled to contain their snorts and laughter while they ate, trying not to make a mess. When the rubber suits and terrible special effects made their first appearance, it got to be a bit too much, and they just started to ignore what was on the screen and focused on dinner.
"Ugh, maybe the extra extra large was a bad idea," Sui-Feng said, staring down at her fourth slice.
"Speak for yourself," Yoruichi said in between bites, already well into her fifth without signs of stopping.
"Where are you even putting all of that?" her roommate asked, staring at the amount of food being wolfed down.
"I probably just burn off more energy than you," she answered with a wink.
"I already know where you're going with that, and I'm not biting."
"Aw, too bad. I knew a few that liked to."
"Goddammit!"
When the hour dragged on, and they'd both stuffed themselves completely full, they just settled into cushions in post-meal catatonia. Sui-Feng was leaning back, eyes half closed, and Yoruichi was still sprawled across the entire couch, absently staring at the television but not actually watching.
"Hey," she murmured lazily, "This was kind of fun, wasn't it?"
"Huh?" her roommate said, her head jerking up slightly as if she'd been ready to doze off. "Oh. Sure. I mean...yeah. It kind of was."
"Funny to think about, isn't it?" the older girl mused, "You and me hanging out like normal people. Not even sure how we got here."
"Dunno," Sui-Feng said, a contemplative look on her face. "I know what you mean, though. Sometimes I have to remind myself why I hated you in the first place."
"Well that's some progress. Sounds like I'm on my way into your inner circle," Yoruichi joked.
"Yeah. Probably."
"Uh, you okay there?" she asked, turning her head to look at the other girl, who was acting oddly somber.
"Just thinking."
"About?"
"Just the last couple of months," Sui-Feng said, "And how much you've helped me out, even though I probably didn't deserve it."
"Hey, don't start selling yourself short," Yoruichi stated, not liking the shift in mood. "You were in a bad place when we first met, but things got better. And it's been surprisingly fun having you around, once things settled down. I'd say it was worth the few bumps along the way."
"Maybe...but still, thanks. For, you know, everything."
"Hey now," she said, lifting a leg to give the other girl a playful nudge with her foot, "No need to get so serious. I'm sure any of your friends would've done just as much, if you bothered pulling that stick out of your butt."
Her roommate rolled her eyes and gave the offending appendage a weak slap. "I'm just saying, you've been a pretty good friend, and it wouldn't be too bad keeping in touch once I'm out of here."
Yoruichi frowned at that. "What do you mean?"
"You know," Sui-Feng said, waving her hand nonchalantly, "I was staying here until I got back on my feet, and now things are looking manageable. It's about time I went looking for my own place again and stop being a leech."
"Hey, I don't mind at all," the older girl said, forcing a smile despite a weird melancholy that was suddenly settling in. "Besides, there's no need to rush. I mean, classes are ending soon, and you'll be busy worrying about those. And don't forget the holidays; you might not care about them, but that doesn't stop everyone else in the world, so it's probably a terrible time to go looking for an apartment."
The younger girl looked thoughtful, then shrugged her shoulders. "I guess you have a point, and if it's really not a problem..."
"Of course not! Oh, hey, speaking of the holidays, Kuukaku usually has a big party every Christmas Eve, and now she'll probably insist on you coming along. It's not really Christmasy, just loud and a bit crazy. You could probably invite your friends along too, she won't mind, as long as they pitch in with the booze..."
Rambling on enthusiastically, Yoruichi did her best to ignore the awkward sinking feeling in her chest. The way things had been lately, it was good, and it was easy to forget how quickly it could change.