It was a miracle. She might have merely swatted at him like the gnat he was and stalked away, thwarted in her mischief. Or turned back into her cat form, clawed the hell out of him and then some.

But she did not.

The one-sided screaming match ended abruptly when Yoruichi's amber eyes finally took in the scenery around them and realized that her kohai was missing. Instead of bursting into self-righteous feminine flames, she heaved a scowling breath and made like she would leave—in the opposite direction of the Kuchiki Manor, where Soifon and her erstwhile suitor most certainly had gone.

But that white hand snaked out and caught hers. It was a girlish thing to have one's heart skip a beat but she could not be ashamed of it. So, she thought to herself. He wishes to make peace.

She has not decided yet whether she wants to give it to him. "Juushirou," she says evenly, "let go."

When she looks at him, his eyes are calm but determined. "No."

She tilts her head, just a bit. Her eyes narrow. "I take it I am being collared."

"Take it any way you want to. I think we should talk now."

"Now?"

"Finally."

"What is there we need to discuss? Your feelings are understood. I was not bothering you."

For a split second the placid expression cracked and a flash of exasperation—real irritation—peeks through. He drops her hand. "You can't even be fair enough to allow me to apologize, can you?"

"For rejecting me?" she scoffs.

"For hesitating. There was something in my head, you see. Something I sensed but did not want to ask you, because I was unsure I wanted to hear the answer. But I did not think you were such a spoiled princess that you'd throw a tantrum just because you could not have what you wanted the moment you wanted it. That bothered me, too."

"So you're telling me it's my fault you lost your balls somewhere? Hell of an apology," she scowled.

"I didn't lose them. You stole them. I don't think you meant to. Can we please talk about this somewhere else?"

"Fine," she snorts before sprinting off. "But I'm telling you now that I may very well have eaten them."

Her shun-po is a little slower so he can keep up. After a few steps he looks at her and smiles a little. "That would not surprise me much," he says.

She makes an indelicate noise as she steps just fast enough not to feel his detestably comforting reiatsu swelling beside her. She has learned to hate that part of him—his unbreakable calm, his kind and patient rhythm. He has never once lost his temper with her, and she's given him plenty of reason to do so. If he were more like Kisuke. . .

And how convenient. The place her feet come to a stop reeks of the intrepid Urahara Kisuke.

Juushirou is at her side, and he doesn't even have the decency to pretend to be out of breath. But the way his face crumples, just a little, tells her what she suspected. The aura she is so used to is all but suffocating to him. She can see the hilt of the knife in his gut and cannot help but want to twist it. "We had a lot of fun here, Kisuke and I."

The ivory head tilts backward toward the false sky. "You slept with him."

"A multitude of times," she lies, stretching her arms and grinning. "Under this very sky."

"No," he says. "Not until after you both were gone from here. You were always honorable, even if you had mischief in you. You would not have pursued me if you'd had him."

"You know me that well."

"Better than I thought I did, and I thought I'd forgotten the worst parts of it. It was not clear until Hueco Mundo, and after that all I knew to do was hide. I'm sorry, Yoruichi." His eyes catch her in that way; he is as earnest as ever, but this has a tinge of real guilt. But it's gone just as quickly. "You've been an ass, though."

She frowns at him.

"Go on and look at me however you want. Soifon was at least sensible enough to direct her rage at the rightful target. Did she tell you how many times she had that man within her sights and decided at the last minute not to give the final blow? She's truly a student of yours, and in some ways she's surpassed you."

These words make Yoruichi bare her teeth. "How cruel."

Juushirou begins to pace. "And?"

"You know, killing you would be too easy, if that's what you want."

"Well it's not."

"Then what?"

He stops, faces her. Scratches his head in that adorable way. "Was it only once—you and Kisuke?"

She blinks. Of all the things to want to know. "What do you mean, you did not know until Hueco Mundo?"

"Kisuke got to Aizen because you cleared the way with him. The two of you—you were in perfect sync. When it was over, Aizen was in shreds. You had executed that act perfectly, but it was obvious—to me, to Shunsui—that you'd never planned it. To fight that well together. . . there was no way you could have if you hadn't been. . ."

"Together," she finishes for him.

"It hit me harder than I thought it would. I thought I was past that. All my my calm, all the years I've trained and fought and believed myself to be rational. Gone in the space of a breath. And it's been eating at me." He looks at her. "Every time I thought I was ready to ask, I scared myself off. And then I beat myself up for it. It became a bit of a vicious circle, and all your little antics only made it worse. So you see, if you'd just attacked me instead, we might not be standing here now."

Her arms cross and she shakes her head. "Your about-face has given me whiplash."

"It's not an about-face. I'm standing my ground for once." He pauses, teeth gritted. "Can you be an adult for once and make peace?"

"What's in it for me?"

"One way or another, it ends. All this tension. All the damned hairballs, and I know you hate the taste of them coming back up, so don't even try to act like you enjoy it. I'm in front of you empty handed. Do you still want me?"

She means to smack him. He does not dodge it. But the blow never connects. The cheek her palm grazes is cool and a little clammy. "You're worked up," she murmurs.

"You should know it. You're the one who caused it." He only halfway swallows his chuckle. "Will you please answer the question?"

She raises an eyebrow. "It was only once with him. Something strange happened to me. All I wanted to do was mourn you and he couldn't stand it anymore. It never happened again and all I was thinking about was you. Back then we didn't think we'd ever be able to come home, you see." She watches as the relief washes over his face. At this point she reconsiders smacking him. "How can you feel better about that? I slept with Urahara Kisuke."

His smile is brilliant. "Once. And you thought about me the whole time."

"Well maybe I'll think about him the whole time I do it with you," she snarks, "and it'll be so overwhelming I'll yell Kis—"

"Oh shut up." His kiss puts an end to it.

It's about time, they both think.


A/N: Epilogue is a-coming.