A/N: Takes place just before Ichigo begins his training with Urahara. Spoiler warning! Rated K+.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach and am making no profit from this fan work.
Seven Deadly Sins: Envy
"Advantage"
By Nessie
Urahara suggests that she must be going easy on him, and she internally winces. The training session they had decided on having this morning was certainly useful, certainly strenuous, and certainly eye-opening. Yoruichi doesn't like that her arms burn as she jabs at him, and she despises the little smug look on his face as he almost-lazily dodges all of her assaults with a twist of his cane.
"You're out of practice," he says simply and pokes her in the belly in a teasing way. "It's to be expected after not fighting for a hundred years."
A hundred years isn't that long, she wants to say. She briefly considers forgoing technique in favor of lashing at him with teeth and nails, but Yoruichi knows that her childhood friend/lover/sparring partner is better than that. It has never been easy to surprise him. And she certainly couldn't succeed in any hiding tactics, not in this bare, desert-like terrain beneath his store.
Instead, Urahara surprises her, years ago by reaching Bankai in only three days; and now, by saying that they'll stop for today. She gets angry, feeling temper overtake her sensibility. "Why? I was just starting to get in shape!"
Beneath the brim of his floppy hat, she can see the mischievous glint of his eyes. "There's absolutely nothing wrong with your shape," he assures her.
The Shihouin ex-princess pretends that the heat that rises inside is from feeling the temperature through her sudden lack movement, and that it has nothing to do with him. Reaching up, she strips herself of the thick orange jacket she wears, revealing the plain black tank top beneath. She dislikes the unclean feeling from all of the sweating she's done in the last couple of hours and decides to wash as soon as she's in cat form.
Instead of going right away, Urahara chooses to take a seat on a long, mostly flat rock and stares up at the fake sky with a genuine smile. Glancing at her, he pats the spot beside him and invites her. Yoruichi sits and notices for the first time how authentic the false training desert is. It's a good replica of his previous work, but the one in Soul Society that they built together manages to outmatch this one. There aren't even any hot springs in this training ground.
Part of her wants to ask why he built this underground training field inferiorly to the first of its kind, why there are no hot springs, but Yoruichi knows that he will only reply with something stupid. Something like, Because you never come and who wants to get naked by themselves?
She doesn't realize that it was possible he didn't construct this one as well on purpose. The notion that it's not as good because she wasn't here with him to create it – like she had been before – doesn't even enter her mind.
"So you're really going to bring Ichigo down here and work with him?" She gives him a sideways, slightly distrustful glance. "You're not going to make him reach Bankai, are you?"
"Yoruichi!" He sounds shocked and offended, but only jokingly so. "I want to make him stronger, but I don't want to kill him. He doesn't even have proper use of Shikai yet, if he even ever gets it." He keeps his gaze trained on her, and Yoruichi can practically feel each individual eye roaming over her, seeing the tangles in her purple hair and the gleam to her darkened skin.
"Then I'll approach Yasutora-san and Inoue-san. I'll try with Ishida, but…" She shrugs, not sure how to explain. "He's a Quincy." She turns her head to give Urahara a direct, serious look. "Don't be incredibly hard on Ichigo. Be firm, but not mean. He's pretty torn up about Rukia."
"That will help him. And me, too. I'm torn up about Rukia. If they kill her before anyone can retrieve my Hogyouku, I'm going to be—" Urahara cuts off his rant without warning, and she wonders what he sees in her face to make him quiet himself. "He'll be tough, at any rate. That's good."
They sit in silence for a moment, watching the artificial clouds go by in the dry air. Yoruichi's hair had come loose during their sparring match and now whips around her face.
Yoruichi shakes her head after a moment. "You don't need to bottle up, Kisuke. I can tell you wish you could go." She looks down to see his hand resting on the rock and notices there are shallow holes dug in on the hard surface, created by all five of his fingers. He is certainly tense. "We won't fail."
"To what? Retrieve Rukia-chan or my Hogyouku?" There it is, jealousy flickering in his eyes like dying embers. He talks about his dangerous invention as though it is all that matters, but Yoruichi can tell that he longs to jump through the portal and brave the chances of death with her, with them.
But the gate would reject him, and then they'll never get through. In a slow, decisive movement, Yoruichi brushes the tips of her fingers over his cheek and kisses him soundly. The action is meant to be comforting, companionable even. But after a moment, Urahara pulls back and meets her eyes solemnly.
"Why did you ever leave?" he demanded softly. "And now you have to deal with this."
Yoruichi smiles, immediately wanting to avoid any tension concerning the past. "Oh, it's worth it. When else could I take advantage of this fantastic training space?"
Urahara stands up, and she follows him upstairs.
And when else, she thinks as they look for a cooler, more private area, could she have taken advantage with all this guiltless time with him?
The End