A/N-Hi, I know it's been ages since I've last updated, I'm really sorry about that. But uh, here's chapter 5, I hope it's alright. It's a bit of a boring chapter this one, but hopefully once I get a better idea of what's going on, it'll get better. Thanks for sticking with me so far, I appreciate you guys.
Cheers
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Normal POV
True to her word, Yoruichi had spent the whole day with the two at the beach, stargazing when the sky turned dark. Akio was delighted in the fact that Yoruichi was with them, he said it made the stars brighter. The dark woman only pinched his cheeks in reply to his sweetness. It had been Akio's first time at the beach and he already loved the feel of sand between his toes and sounds of the crashing waves.
"Soi-chan, can we live here?" he asked, pulling at her tattered pants. Yes, she had changed back into her old clothes the minute she was out of the water.
"Course not silly, the park's better anyway sweetie" Yoruichi replied for the 19 year old.
Shortly after the question the 4 year old fell asleep between the two girls, earning a goodnight kiss on the forehead by the goddess.
"Wanna take him home?" she asked.
Soi nodded and stood up slowly, picking the boy up as gently as she could and rested him against her shoulder as they began their way back to the park. The walk was surprisingly spent in silence, until the 24 year old looked up at the almost black curtain that stretched above them.
Once the three were back at the park, Akio was tucked in, already fast sleep with light snores. The chocolate skinned woman smiled at the sight and kissed his cheek once more.
"Goodnight, Akio" she whispered.
Straightening up, she turned to Soi whose attention was still on the little boy. With a light tap, the young adult turned to her and raised a brow in question.
"Akio knows you better than you give him credit for," Yoruichi said somewhat quietly.
The asian girl's face became unreadable but the older woman continued in a soft tone,
"Don't push him away, you only have each other out here; and I think you know that better than me. I've said more than I should but I thought you needed to know"
Soi was still blank, though inside her heart there was a silent roar as if something had hit her straight in the lungs and her whole body shook. Akio, though only 4 was the most important person to her; if anything mattered, it would be him. And with what Yoruichi had said, no, what she hadn't said, she was telling the girl that she had hurt Akio.
"Well then, I guess I'll see you round!" she had a cat-like grin plastered on her face, all signs of seriousness gone from her face.
She waved before leaving although she got next to no reaction from Soi, she didn't mind. A whole day of that was enough to get used to the quietness.
"And smile more!" she yelled from across the park.
Those words echoed in the darkness in which Soi could no longer see Yoruichi but it seemed to have made Akio stir. He murmured words resembling 'Soi-chan' and 'Yoru-chan' before he fell into silence once Soi ran her hand through his messy hair. She joined the little boy shortly and though her eyes were closed, her mind was anything but at rest.
The 19 year old forced herself to open her mouth but her throat felt so tight and nothing came out. No sound, no word, nothing. Maybe it had been too long ago since she had last spoken. It just didn't feel natural anymore.
She was now used to her own silence.
Soi closed her mouth slowly, realizing just how tired she was feeling.
It was enough for one day anyway.
And without her knowledge, the whole day had slipped by and she had not spared a thought on what happened on this very day when she was 12.
It was almost as if it never happened and that the 7th of June was just another day with Akio, plus a little something new called Shihouin Yoruichi.
Soi wrapped a protective arm around the boy and held onto his small hand with a light grip. She felt him snuggle closer before her mind shut down and peace took over.
The raven haired girl woke with a start, and noticed something hard pressed to her chest with her arms folded over the top. She didn't remember it being there the night before and looked down to see a…photo frame? She shuffled back against the bench and sat up as quietly as she could, lifting the photo up to eye-level. And there staring back at her was Yoruichi and herself, with the goddess' arm around her. The 19 year old was obviously surprised but Yoruichi was good and ready to go with a grin in place. The girl also noticed there was a faint blush on her cheeks even though her eyes weren't looking at the camera. She wondered why, but found the answer when she saw the red bikini straps and smooth cocoa skin of the 24 year old's shoulders.
Oh, she remembered now.
And it was then that she noticed the writing at the bottom of the printed photo which was written in a fine black permanent marker.
Love the blush
Yoruichi xx
Beside her name was a roughly drawn paw-print and Soi raised a brow at this. As if her personality wasn't cat-like enough she even had to sign it off with a more obvious symbol. But then again, it was Yoruichi; even if she had technically only spent a day with her, it was quite enough to see what type of person she was. She looked at the photo one last time before sliding it under the backpack that served as their pillow. It had been almost 4 days ago when they were at the beach and they hadn't seen the woman since. Soi didn't mind in the least, but Akio was missing the chocolate goddess already and whined about how she seemed to have gone missing.
But the chance slipped as Yoruichi had already seen them without their knowledge.
With a barely audible sigh, she stretched her body and slipped out from her bed, making sure the blankets were still wound tightly around Akio. And it was then that she realized not only did she receive a present but also the little boy. His photo frame was slightly smaller and she retrieved it from Akio's firm grip gently. It was almost the same, the picture, but Akio had his arms outstretched looking at the camera as if he was squealing. Perfect white teeth grinned back at the younger girl and she grimaced lightly.
Why did she have to look so damn good in all her photos?
The message at the bottom was slightly different and she reading the 4 words.
Missing you too Akio
The rest was the same with her name, two x's and a paw-print.
"…Soi-chan?" Akio mumbled, opening his still sleepy eyes.
The 19 year old turned the photo to him and his eyes widened dramatically, nearly snatching it from her care-taker.
"Yoru-chan, that's Yoru-chan!" he exclaimed, pointing at the 24 year old.
Soi nodded and decided to show her photo also and slid it over to him and he, in return squealed again.
"And Soi-chan too! Soi-chan pink!" he pointed his short finger at her blushing cheeks and the young woman almost sighed.
With another brisk nod, she stood up and took the stick propped up against the bench, scribbling on the dirt ground.
Stay here ok? I'll get us some food.
The 4 year old nodded enthusiastically, still looking at the photo, running his fingers over it in remembrance.
"Be back soon Soi-chan" he waved, pulling the blankets closer.
Once the raven haired girl was out of view, the smile dropped from Akio's face and he hugged the pictures close to his chest; both of them.
"I miss Yoru-chan" he whimpered, lips quivering.
He was too small to realize just how lonely he felt when Soi went out to get him food and what not; he just knew that he was a boy in a park with no one. And it was then that it struck him how the photos got to them and he sat upright with lightning speed.
"Yoru-chan took the photos here so Yoru-chan is still here!"
The little boy was half expecting the cocoa skinned woman to pop up from behind him and squeeze him in a bear-hug but it never happened and his hope fell a little. His eyes continued to roam the park he knew too well but found no purple hair or playful gold eyes. It was disappointing to say the least but Akio didn't give up.
Akio packed their belongings into the backpack, including Soi's photo with Yoruichi but held his photo frame tightly and walked off aimlessly for the second time. The boy managed his way back to the beach which was crowded with people as expected and continued on his search for the purple haired woman, asking random people who decided best to ignore little Akio.
"Excuse me, have you seen Yoru-chan?" he asked bravely, pointing to the goddess in his picture.
"Buzz off kid" the man growled, obviously annoyed by the toddler.
He wisely did as the overweight man suggested, in fear of being hit and scrambled off, kicking sand high in the air as he went. He kept running until his body collided into another, sending him onto his backside, still clutching his precious snapshot.
"Hey, watch it pipsqueak!" a slightly older voice snapped.
Akio looked up to see a boy whose body almost completely blocked the sun from his view with a stomach that went over the waistband of his pants. The boy's age would be double Akio's more or less and said boy was terrified. He moved back, body trembling and eyes glassy as if tears were going to fall.
"Soi-chan…" he sobbed.
"There's no Soi-chan round here to help you, little wimp" he mocked with a cruel laugh.
This only made Akio shrink further back, nearly curly himself into a ball for protection. The chubby boy poked at toddler with extra force and sneered at Akio,
"No one's coming to save you…"
The 4 year old blinked back tears and furrowed his brows when the photo in his arms was trying to be taken from him.
"Give it here!" the bully snarled.
"No! It's Akio's picture!" he screamed, kicking his feet wildly with blind fear. The hit landed true, making the other stumble back and there came a whistle from behind them.
"Now that's my boy, right Akio?" a familiar voice asked.
Both boys looked back to see Yoruichi standing with her arms crossed in front of her chest and a proud grin in place.
"Hn, you don't scare me-"
The 7 year old was picked up and then thrown forward in the sand by Soi fon who was glaring. Her eyes were glowing dangerously as she watched the boy who bullied Akio spit the sand from his mouth.
"I'm sorry, what was that kid?" Yoruichi chuckled.
Akio had by then, picked himself up and hid behind Soi's legs, feeling safe at last.
"Now get going, or can you get back with that big load on you?" the 24 year old raised a brow, trying to stop a smile from spreading. The raven haired girl merely shook her head, she wasn't usually one for words; actually she was never one for words but that one must have hurt. But that was if the boy understood the meaning behind those words.
It took the bully a good minute before he got the message underneath and his lips pouted.
"…Daddy! She called me fat!" he wailed, pointing an accusing finger at the goddess, running back to the overweight man whom Akio had asked if he had seen Yoruichi.
"Oh, guess it runs in the family" she shrugged with a smug look.
"Jackass" she added,
"Yeah, jackass!" Akio followed with his high-pitched baby voice.
Her purple hair bounced about her shoulders as Yoruichi laughed wholeheartedly at Akio who was just too cute. Even Soi had to smile and pat his mop of black hair before earning a tight hug in return.
"Yoru-chan!" Akio then went flying to the older woman with a bear-hug, leaving his favorite; well, only photo with Soi fon.
"Lucky we came back in time for Akio huh?" Yoruichi smiled.
The boy nodded strongly against her legs,
"Akio missed Yoru-chan" he said.
"Of course, and I hope Soi-chan did too" the woman grinned.
Soi fon tried not to scowl.
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Sorry for any mistakes or grammar errors or whatever there might be. Despite all that, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please review if possible, and any ideas are welcome.
Thanks for your support and reviews,
Cheers.