The last emotion Yoruichi thought she would ever feel in reference to her best friend was fear. She did not fear him, per say, she feared what would become of him. Her heart and mind knew that Kisuke was a kind man with more strength than he'd ever bothered to really show anyone. She had watched him achieve bankai when they were younger; he'd wanted so badly to do something not done before. He also did it because he wanted to become captain of the twelfth division, a job he coveted. Yoruichi stood beside him when he achieved all that he dreamed he would do. She even went as far at times to achieve his dreams for him. For instance, she was the one who watched his experiments as he slept or went out to inspect his division. Also, she was the person to suggest that he begin his own research institution. If he was great enough to create things that changed the way shinigami traveled and lived, he was great enough to have his own research lab.
They stood glaring at one another in the center of said lab. It was pitch dark in the room aside from the glowing light from the neon hanging over one of the glass cases. The silence in the room stretched throughout the entire building. Yoruichi sighed heavily, releasing all the anger she'd felt towards him seconds earlier. Her eyes moved from familiar objects until they rested on his face again. Words she could not bring herself to say bubbled at the back of her mind. She turned away from him.
His hand was rough when it wrapped around her arm. "Yoruichi, I'm not asking you to give up anything. I'm telling you I'm leaving."
"Well, that doesn't mean I won't see you again. I visit Kuuaku all the time."
Kisuke's laughter echoed in the darkness. His hand slid down her arm to clasp her smaller hand into his. "I'm leaving soul society, Yoruichi."
A strangled gasp escaped her throat as his words sunk in. "You're leaving me?"
"No."
"I am here. If you leave, you are leaving me."
Kisuke sighed as if the entire world was sitting on his shoulders and he could no longer bear it. "I'm always with you, Yoru-chan."
Yoruichi took her hand away from him and walked until she stood behind a large desk with papers splayed everywhere. Had Kisuke done that when he came up with the stupid idea to leave everything he cared about behind? She laughed at the thought before looking up at him. "Kisuke, who was the first person you saw after passing out from starving when you were young? Who gave you the jewels from her neck and wrists just so you could live? Who brought you to Seireitei? Who helped you achieve this?" She raised her hands into the air. The smile on her face widened in response to the smirk on his face. "If I have been with you this long, millenniums, I would not leave you even in death."
Kisuke chuckled. He ran his hand through his hair slowly as a thought crossed him jumbled mind. "Yoru-chan. Your mother is really going to hate me after this one."
Yoruichi laughed and jumped across the table so that Kisuke caught her in his arms. She snuggled against him. "She never liked you to begin with. Besides, we'll be gone before the sun rises."