A/N- Hello everyone! This is Crystalline Dream speaking, buddy and fellow writer of gaara'sonmymind! I shall be writing chapter five of Before the Snow Falls for her because she is having a severe case of writersblockosis and we have yet to find a cure. -shakes head solemnly- I can only hope she gets over it soon and get back to writing the great stories we all know and love. To start off, I write differently than your normal author, so this will be different. Plus, I owe her for writing two of my chapters, and giving me mountains of ideas. I loves her so, SO NO BASHING! Bash her, you mess with me. Get it? Got it? Good. ON WITH THE STORY!

Disclaimer: I, myself, nor gaara'sonmymind, own Bleach. It belongs to Tite Kubo and will stay that way until he gives it away in his will or something of the sorts¦ Anyhoo, we don't own it.

Chapter 5

When The Sunset Turns Red

Morning came as any other did, sunlight shining on the snow covered ground and making it glisten in a pale glory. Early risers were the few who saw the magnificent dawn, along with one Urahara Kisuke.

He had gotten no sleep since the night before and was currently sitting on the roof of the shouten, staring languidly at the sunrise before him.

He had been up all night, contemplating his Little Bird. However, his mind was distracted by the sun and eventually fell asleep on the roof, snoring lightly under the morning rays.

xXxXxXxXx

It was around midmorning when Yukino awoke from her slumber, reluctantly remembering where she was this time. However, where she was wasn't nearly as important as the sounds coming from outside her room. Yukino was never a morning person and whichever poor soul was sent to wake her always walked away with a bruise. This morning was no different and she was mad that shouting woke her up.

"I swear, the people here are almost as rowdy as Kyosuke."

Her faced turned into a faint frown as she remembered the one named Kyosuke. From the looks of it, it seemed whoever it was, he was at least a friend, but not so close with Yukino. Not that it mattered to her right now, she was still in Kisuke's Shouten (which quite frankly, she had no clue where that REALLY was in Karakura) and as she began to sit up to see who was yelling and screaming outside of her paper door, she noticed a slight change in her movements.

It felt as if she was moving through water for a lake of better words. Her arms felt a little weak, and her legs moved slower then her brain told them to, but she still had the pain in her abdomen and not to mention her headache from the noise.

"Kisuke put me into this gigai when I was sleeping probably. God, he truly is a pervert isn't he."

She silently laughed at her own joke, knowing that she had no room to speak for herself. Of course, yes Kisuke was a pervert, but knowing him he probably wasn't that horrible of one to undress her and then dress her again as soon as she was put into that gigai. No doubt he had help, but the question was who?

She didn't think on it hard, but her brain was still in a cloud when she got out of bed, eyes half-mast and forced into an evil glare. She threw open her door and stomped into the hallway, searching for the source of the disturbance. She followed it to the main room, where she found three people shouting for Kisuke, one of them the man she had met earlier the day before. She stared for a moment before opening her mouth to shout.

"What is going on…Ack!"

True to her klutzy nature and inability to be a morning person, Yukino didn't see the raised board on the floor and ended up falling flat on her face. Her shout attracted the attention of all three of the others who crowded around her twitching body.

"Do you think she's alive?" Jinta asked rudely, grabbing a contently placed stick and poking her with it. There was silence before Yukino leapt up and smacked Jinta upside the head.

"Of course I'm alive you nitwit!!" she screeched, her eyes falling even more shut, "I'm just tired, is all..." She fell asleep once again, hitting the ground with a thud and curling into a little ball, smiling contently and murmuring about hitting little boys with red hair. All three stared at her strangely before Tessai decided to wake her.

"Miss," he said, shaking her lightly, "If you would please wake up…"

Yukino started awake, instinctually striking out at her awakener. Tessai caught her hand easily, glasses glinting proudly. Yukino was fully awake now, rubbing the last of the sleep out of her eyes with her free hand. She smiled awkwardly when she noticed Tessai, Jinta and Ururu.

"Um…Good morning?" she said tentatively, "Who are you again?" All three stared at Yukino incredulously. She could never remember anything she did before she was fully awake. Tessai released her hand as he stood up.

"I'm Tessai," he said, bowing to her a little as she stood up, "And this is Jinta and Ururu." He pointed to the two children. Jinta turned away grumpily, upset that she hit him. Ururu, however, smiled weakly and waved a little. Yukino returned the smile.

"I'm Yukino," she said, bowing as well, "It's a pleasure to meet you all." There was another awkward silence as they stared at each other.

"So,' Yukino said, breaking the silence, "Was there a serious reason as to why you all were shouting when I first woke up?" A sudden panic stricken look adorned all their faces and they began shouting for Kisuke again, returning to looking around the shouten for their lazy boss. Yukino just stared around for while, utterly at odds with the situation.

"We're looking for Kisuke-san," Tessai clarified when he passed her, "He's not in his room and he usually doesn't just up and disappear for no reason." Yukino nodded in understanding, though not really understanding at all. If he was their boss, wouldn't he come back, she speculated. She sat in ponderful silence until she got bored, not to mention hungry. She decided to wait for her new acquaintances to finish their search before complaining, but her stomach had other ideas.

Growl! She blushed furiously when everyone stared at her oddly. She smiled shyly. "I guess I'm hungry," she stammered, face red as an overripe tomato. Tessai nodded and headed off to make breakfast for their new guest. That left Ururu and Jinta alone with Yukino and another awkward silence ensued. The three just stared at each other, no one saying anything and situation only becoming more awkward.

"What have we here?" All three jumped and turned towards the sudden voice. All three found themselves staring at a black cat. Yukino's eye twitched before she leapt into the air, grabbing a broom. She glared at the black cat before bringing down the broom hard.

"Black cats are bad luck!!" she screeched, trying over and over to hit the poor thing, "Get it out!!" She blindly smashed around her, trying to hit the creature.

"Stop it! I'm human you know!!" Yukino froze and stared strangely at the cat. The cat glared at her before leaping onto one of the shelves. "That's better. Now, my name is Shihouin Yoruichi. And that was my tail you almost smashed!" Yukino blushed and bowed repeatedly, stuttering her apologies. However, once again, Yukino's bad luck (Ha!) intervened and she smacked her face on the broom handle.

"Kami above!" she shouted, clutching the now red dot on her forehead, "That hurt like Hell!" Instantly, she clapped a hand over her mouth and looked sheepishly down at Jinta and Ururu.

"Sorry for swearing!" she said sheepishly, "Bad habit of mine!" Jinta just shook his head while Ururu graciously accepted the apology. Yoruichi sighed, watching as Yukino tried in vain to look at the growing red spot on her head. Yoruichi was certainly worried about Yukino's motives, though presently, Yukino didn't seem much of a threat. Still, Yoruichi remained wary of the new guest at the shouten.

"Breakfast is served!" Tessai burst into the room, holding a HUGE platter of rice and chicken, both steaming and fresh out of the cooker! Yukino's stomach growled loudly again when she caught a whiff of the delicious looking food.

"Dibs!" she shouted, leaping at Tessai. She snatched up the biggest bowl and began wolfing it down, finishing before the others even got their own bowls. When she was done, rice covered her face and she was grinning proudly, holding up her bowl for seconds. Everyone sweat dropped at her enthusiasm but Tessai gave her another bowl, all of them watching in amazement as she scarfed down her second bowl before burping contentedly.

"Man she can eat!" Jinta exclaimed, poking Yukino's currently inflated belly. Yukino glared at him before smacking him again, making him whine about abuse of minors. Yukino snorted before handing her bowl to Tessai.

"Thank you very much for the food, Tessai-san!" she said, attempting a bow in her bloated state. However, Tessai managed to stop her before she fell over. Yukino waited patiently while the others ate, watching Yoruichi the closest of all. It was odd to her to see a cat eating out of a bowl just like everyone else. Yoruichi could sense her staring and locked eyes with her.

"It's rude to stare you know," she said, making Yukino blush furiously and look away. Yoruichi only sighed and returned to eating. However, after a few minutes, she felt a gaze on her once again and looked up to find Yukino staring at her once more. She shrugged it off, returning to eating her food peacefully. When the stare didn't lift, Yoruichi began to get seriously annoyed.

"Can I help you with something?" she snapped, turning a wrathful glare on Yukino, "If not, please stop staring." Yukino flushed a brilliant shade of red before turning to her fingers. There was silence before Yukino looked up again.

"How can you talk?" she blurted out, "Aren't you a normal cat?"

Yoruichi sighed, knowing that this wasn't going to be the first nor the last time she got asked this question. Actually, she was quite surprised that she didn't even overreact to her talking, seeing how a talking cat was a little unusual. Not to mention, the fact that she just reacted over her fur being black, supposedly meaning bad luck, was what surprised her the most. "Well, Yukino-san, I rather not show you why I can talk, for the last time…"

Tessai raised his hand for her to stop, blushing in an embarrassed manner. Not to mention Jinta as well, who besides raise his hand, lowered his head in embarrassment. "Well, let's just say, that they didn't take my true form too well." That was practically an inside joke between Yoruichi and herself. Oh the irony of being able to embarrass so many men with a little bit of nudity.

Minutes passed, and soon enough the room was cleared, and Jinta and Ururu were sent to sweep the basement, as Tessai set off to restock. Yoruichi said she would be gone for a couple of hours, and soon left Yukino all by herself. In her mind, Yukino could sense that Yoruichi didn't like her that much, which sort of confused her a bit knowing that she barely, knew the cat in the first place.

"Well, I guess I should go searching for Kisuke on my own. But first…"

Yukino walked towards her room, and opened the door. Nothing was as boring as walking into a room completely empty, but there was an up to this time. There was a little note left for her that she missed this morning laying next to her bed, reading on the front "Little Bird".

Picking it up, full of curiosity, Yukino already knew it was from Kisuke. I mean, she had no clue why he called her Little Bird, but it was a cute name and she liked it. Just thinking about it, made her cheeks turned a faint red. It was actually really sweet of him to leave her a note beside her bed. So thoughtful, and yet it was so charming. So, without further thought, she opened it, only to be surprised by something completely different.

"What!?! I list of chores!"

xXxXxXxXxXx

Cleaning, dusting, sweeping, washing, organizing you name it. It wasn't that much, but yet, Kisuke did say that she would work, but not like this. At first though, you might think she is over exaggerating, but seriously. She was asked to wash at least, and I literally mean at least, ten baskets full of laundry. And it didn't end there. She had to sweep the whole house, wash a sink full of dishes that literally had the food cemented on them, and dusting shelves that turned from gray to red with one sweep of a cloth.

"Totally ridiculous. This guy is insane. He just took me from my regular job just so he can have free labor. What an asshole."

Even though these cruel words came pouring out of her mouth, she didn't really mean them. Quite frankly, even though she only knew Kisuke for at least two days, she already considered him a friend. Even though she still barely even knew what he really did, or why he had this shouten. Quite frankly, she didn't even want to know why he had the shouten, for the stuff she found was quite interesting. Hazardous would fit that sentence better actually. Hazardous, yet interesting, merchandise.

Sighing as she finished one more chore, she checked that one off, and then looked at the list to find she had one left. "Sweep the porch in the back. Shouldn't take long!" There was a little heart next to the word 'long', and Yukino smiled a tad. How cute could he get!

"Well, okay if that is it, then I will do that, and search for Kisuke."

No doubt he was probably getting hungry, which knowing him, would give him a good enough reason to come home. So, on with her chore, she picked up her broom, and walked towards the door that was towards the back. Opening slowly she found that it went outside, and it seemed completely normal. Nothing out of the ordinary.

She walked out into a backyard that had very little space to walk around at all, and not to mention barely any plant life. Instead of grass there were rocks and probably not even a bonsai tree would fit in the tiny space where there could be plants. Also, a giant fence stood before her, and was probably four feet taller then her, blocking almost the whole view of Karakura from the back.

She sighed, and shrugged. "Well, might as well get started."

As she began to sweep, birds flew above her head, chirping a sweet tune as they flew back and forth from the roof to a tree in the neighbor's yard. Yukino looked up and watched them as they flew back and forth, and it actually sparked her curiosity.

"I wonder if they are building a nest"

Smiling, she put down the broom, and saw that there was a ladder close to her that lead to the roof. Climbing up the ladder was pretty easy, and even getting on the roof was easy too. It was surprising that she didn't have a klutz moment, especially with the ladder. Klutzes and ladders do not go together.

Anyway, Yukino stood on the shingles, and walked towards where the birds were flying, which was the far off end of the roof covering the right side. Walking on the shingles showed some problem with her weak legs, so she began to crawl on the roof, getting slowly closer. Birds flew away as she finally looked around the corner and saw what the so called 'nest' was.

Kisuke was fast asleep on the roof, and the birds were using him as a perch. Scooting closer to him, she began to giggle as a bird landed on his shoulder, and he didn't even move from his deep slumber. His face was relaxed, and he was holding a cane close to him as if it was protecting him some how.

His hat was lying on the other side of him, and Yukino slowly began to lean over him to reach for the hat. As she began to scoot further, trying not to awake him, she began to feel a tug on her pant leg. Her pants were caught on a nail, and she couldn't get free from the caught fabric. Pulling slightly, she tried to break free but it didn't work as she cursed under breath.

"Come on…why does this always happen to me?"

She spoke to herself, but then suddenly, it became free. It was such a surprise to her, that she lost balance on her arms, and literally fell on top of Kisuke's chest. Within seconds Kisuke's eyes flew open and he began to cough at his wake up call. But it didn't stop there. As he finally got his attention, the both of them began to slide down the roof, which would then lead onto the hard rocky ground. As friction wasn't on their side, the both began to fall letting gravity pull them back to Earth.

Yukino screamed, gripping onto Kisuke's clothing that wrapped around his shoulders. Her body became extremely close to his as he put his arms around her waist and back, as he showed he wanted to dull the fall for her. The both of them gripped onto each other tighter as they could see the ground getting closer, but, suddenly, something extremely cold consumed their bodies.

The both of them landed into a pile of snow that seemed to have collected right where they had landed. The odd thing was that Yukino could feel the snow on her elbows a bit, and slightly on her legs, but the rest of her was warm and dry. Yukino didn't even notice until she finally felt Kisuke shivering under her that she had landed on top of him and not in the most, how should I put this, just friend's sort of way.

"Well, this is an interesting turn of events." Kisuke chuckled as Yukino's face turned beat red at her embarrassment. Since Kisuke knew her enough that she wasn't really use to being this close to any man at all, it was just precious to see her embarrassed because of it. "I am so sorry Ki…Kisuke." She began to stutter as she moved off of him, and slowly got to her feet. Since she was extremely embarrassed by her klutzy move, her landing position, and not to mention the fact that it was Kisuke who happened to be there, she couldn't even think straight, and the cold air was getting to her.

Kisuke stood to his full height and picked up his cane and hat that had dropped from the roof and landed to the side of the pile of snow they landed in. Putting his hat in his hand and his cane in the other, he began to shiver as a cold breeze ran across his wet back making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "My, it sure gets cold!"

Yukino looked behind her and saw Kisuke shivering; his hands rubbing his arms as he tried to warm himself up. She smiled slightly as Kisuke stopped warming up and took off haori and shook it in the wind. The green clothe had a giant wet spot on the back, and she noticed that Kisuke felt the wet spots all over his gi that made him as twice as cold as he was right now. He sighed, and looked towards Yukino, "Well, Little Bird…I guess I have to change."

Yukino smiled, and turned her head. Walking slowly towards the front of the shouten, Jinta was heard opening the entrance, and Tessai and Ururu were arranging merchandise into a stylish manner. Yukino stopped at the corner and waited for Kisuke who walked slowly up to her. He spoke to her as he came closer, but Yukino looked up at his face, and got a glance of his silver gray eyes. Her stomach made a little fuzzy feeling like she was on one of those free falling rides, and she swore her heart skipped a beat. Yukino was memorized in his eyes, and it was like a trance. They seemed so peaceful, and yet she couldn't even explain why she was feeling this way. What? This feeling is confusing. I never felt it before, but…I enjoy it.

Yukino lost her train of thought, and became lost in his eyes. She didn't even notice that he began to wave his hand in front of her face. "Yukino-chan, you in there? Hello?" Like a flame on a candle, the emotion and sensation disappeared in the wind. She sneezed, letting out a slight whimper.

"Oh my, are you alright?"

Yukino looked up at Kisuke and nodded. I guess I am getting cold. Maybe that is why I felt like that…

Kisuke stood in front of her, and put the back of his hand towards her forehead. Yet again, Yukino felt that emotion, and the sensation in her stomach returned. Her eyes tried not to make contact with his, leaving her to close them slowly, relaxing her muscles that seemed to tense at his sudden touch.

"Oh wow, you might be running a fever." His hand came off of her head, and she sighed slightly. At the words fever, her body seemed to weaken and she slightly looked up to Kisuke, "I think I am just getting use to being a in a gigai that is all. My body isn't fully immune to the cold air and sicknesses here." Kisuke chuckled as he did know that is completely impossible for that to actually be true, but he decided to let it slide.

"Whatever you say Yukino-chan. Anyway, if you feel really bad later, I will gladly give you some medicine. Just remember, don't go to Tessai. Actually, don't even mention you feel a bit under the weather to him." Yukino's eyes became wide, and she nodded to his warning. Imagining Tessai giving her medicine seemed like a nice idea, but from Kisuke's words it sounded like Tessai would be giving you arsenic.

Kisuke smiled a bit, as he put his hat back on his head. Yukino looked up to his face, and saw the shadow of the bucket shaped hat covering his eyes, leaving her a little bit disappointed. "Well, I will be inside Yukino-chan. I need to take a hot shower and probably put on some new clothes anyway, so see you in a bit." He put his hand up to her head, and slowly patted her sandy blonde hair.

Now, even though Yukino couldn't see his eyes, it seemed that Kisuke was no having a bit of the same reaction she had towards him. There was a bit of silence as Kisuke seemed to keep his hand on her head, which began to slightly stroke her hair, leaving Yukino's face a bit flushed. Even though this lasted for a bit of five seconds to Yukino and Kisuke it seemed to last hours. They were both in a trance, lost in each others eyes, making them both feel oddly strange.

A loud bang was heard from the front of the store, as it seemed Jinta had opened the garage like metal door. At this moment, Kisuke and Yukino both shot back to reality, and Kisuke's hand shot back into its regular position like it wasn't even caressing her head in the first place. And soon after, Kisuke sneezed as Yukino did.

"Oh wow, I must be catching your cold!" Kisuke shook his head as the sneeze left his head in a dizzy state. Yukino giggled, and Kisuke's mouth slightly formed a grin. With the clack on his geta, he slowly walked toward the front of his shop, and soon was glomped by Jinta and Ururu who both seemed to miss him, probably making up some story in there head that he probably crash landed in Djibouti , Africa.

Yukino could hear all the giggling and such from her standing point, and she decided not to go in the front for she didn't want to ruin the moment. So walking down the side of the shouten, her footsteps slightly crunched on the rocks, and her hand was on the wall for some support on the unstable ground. Her thoughts ran through her head, as she could tell that the sensations and feelings she and Kisuke had back there were defiantly not from a cold.

Gaara'sonmymind here. Sorry this took forever, but this chapter was really hard to write. Half of it was actually written by me, well actually more then half. Crystalline Dream wrote the other half, and I thank her lots for that! Anyway, I am posting this chapter late at night yet again, for I tried finishing it earlier but I wasn't able to. Sadly, I am actually able to finish it now since Bleach won't be on till another hour and half! Damn you Adult Swim for changing your whole schedule for Death Note!

Please R&R! Also please tell me if you liked this chapter, for it is almost impossible to get the loving tension in the first couple of chapters of romances. –sigh- Anyway, next chapter should be up next Saturday! YEAH!

BTW: This chapter is named after a song called When The Sunset Turns Red by Scoobie Do. Very good song, and one of my favorite J-Pop songs.

P.S. – Birds can't build nests in winter…shows how much common sense Yukino has! XD