Ah… an update! Well here I am! Posting the fourth chapter of a S of G which is about Christmas… and here we are… in summer… I was really eager to write this chapter however I got sooooo caught up in my sports and then I had finals and then extreme writers block so I sincerely apologize. So here we go on chapter 4!

Chapter 4

"Oh! Uh… hi…!" Yoruichi awkwardly greeted, waving a hand to the eight children. With a confused and slightly surprised look adorning her features, she smiled a toothy grin at the young ones lined up front of her. Even though the sheer amount of astonishment inside of her was great, Yoruichi couldn't help but feel delighted and jubilant rise in her heart at the sight of the children. Of course, she occasionally associated with Jinta and Ururu, but other than that, she never really came into much contact with kids before. Sincerely though, who can't resist smiling at the sight of cute kids?

Aww! Look how adorable! This was definitely a surprise though… I didn't really expect kids to be the culprit in this case but-

"Wow! You are pretty," said one of the children, a young girl, said. By the introduction Soifon had graciously yet quickly given her, Yoruichi concluded that her name was Mio.

The Shihoin's cheeks colored a little at the compliment and her smile –if possible- grew bigger, "Aw thanks! But I must say, I can tell you will be very beautiful yourself once you grow up, cutie."

Mio clutched her stuffed toy - a black cat - tighter in her arms as she blushed and looked away from the tall women shyly and buried her face into the captain's leg. Yoruichi chuckled at the reaction before stealing a secretory glance to her lover who had placed a comforting hand on the small girl's head as she smiled softly down at her. Before the older woman could about to comment her girlfriend's looks but was stopped by another small voice.

"Is it true that you turn into a kitty?" little Ryuu inquired, his unique eye color bearing into Yoruichi's own. His posture and voice tone resembled that of a noble with his head high, his shoulders back and his little arms crossed over his chest. Yoruichi instantly thought about the Sixth division captain when it came to personality.

"Why yes I do; a black one. I can even talk in it! Maybe I'll show you guys sometime?" Yoruichi responded, kindly smiling as she squatted down, getting to the young boy's height. Ryuu didn't reply, he just continued to stare back at the new woman with a curious yet judgmental look adorning his features. The Shihoin began to lose her train of thought as she caught sight of the young boy's eyes. She tilted her head as she gazes into the kid's eyes; bright emerald. It was quite extraordinary!

As he felt the scrutiny of the stranger's gaze lingering uncomfortably on his eyes, Ryuu frowned and ran behind Soifon. He hid in her haori for a few seconds before he slowly peeked out, trying to see if the new woman was still watching him. Yoruichi on the other hand immediately felt guilty for sending the little guy scurrying after being a bit rude by staring at him. She gave him an apologetic look before standing.

Great job, Yoruichi! You're really knocking the whole' friendly atmosphere' out of the park! Note to self; Apologize to the cute little bo-

A light tug on her jacket tore Yoruichi from her thoughts. Casting a soft look down, she saw a small girl of four with her braided crimson hair over one shoulder. The girl wore a sweet smile on her lips, one of which Yoruichi reciprocated.

"Hello there; what's your name?"

"Mizuki…"

"That's a wonderful name. Now tell me, do you braid your hair yourself?" Yoruichi inquired, trying her best to be as friendly as humanly (shinigamily?) possible. The little girl nods her head proudly as she shyly fiddles with end of her shining hair. The woman giggles as she responds, "Great! Then you have to braid my hair later, alright?"

Mizuki nods excitedly as she scampers back to the oldest girl, Haruka, and taking her unoccupied hand. Yoruichi's smiling gaze never left the younger girl's figure as she watched her run off and meet the older girl. Gold met hazel as she made eye contact with the oldest girl of the eight children. The Shihoin estimated that Haruka had to be at least sixteen years old yet had to be a good inch shorter than Soifon. The young girl's straight, shining, and sandy locks fell a few centimeters below her shoulders and were parted to one side. The teen who was now holding a little baby and a small hand of the red-headed girl gave the older woman a polite nod and smile before walking over to the captain.

Soi had been watching the interactions of Yoruichi and the kids and couldn't help but think that everything was going smoothly. It was such a relief as well since she had no indication of how her lover would react when she found out that she has been using all of her free time to come and see the eight children that she adored.

Haruka snapped the captain out of her thoughts as stopped next to her.

"I think we should head back to house; everyone's pretty excited to show you what Santa gave them."

"Speaking of which," Soifon started with a mischievous smirk. She turned to the rest of the younger audience, noticing Habiki, Hotaru, and Tsubaki climbing all over a giggling Yoruichi and continued, "On my way over here, I recognized the sound of sleigh bells and considered the fact that he revisited the house; but I could be wrooong…" the captain ended her little speech with a 'completely innocent' smirk and the crossing of her arms.

Catching the bait in an instant, all of the children perked up with wide and slightly incredulous eyes. Then the moment of silence was broken with the incoherent cacophony of multiple young children's babbling. Three of the younger children began to push Soi in the direction of the house, showing the extreme zeal they all possessed to get back to the house to see if the captain's accusation was correct. The giddiness of all of the kids affected the atmosphere as it was filled with happiness and glee as the excitement level rose by the second. Giggling, the captain had to sweetly urge the three pushing children to stop. Taking Mio and Ryuu by the hand, she tilted her head to Yoruichi, indicating to follow her back to the house. Yoruichi nods before starting to follow her lover but was stopped by two tugs on her hands. Looking down, Yoruichi finds three sets of differing eyes upon her. Tsubaki, a small little girl, lifted her small hands up to the taller woman, silently asking to be picked up.

Unable to resist the cuteness seeping from the little girl, Yoruichi picked her up and placed her on her shoulders. The other two children, Habiki and Hotaru; the twins, each grabbed a free hand and began to catchup to the captain and teen ahead of them. Once they caught up, the two shunpo masters shared a smile before engaging in small talk with the children; watching in amusement as Tsubaki squealed in delight as Yoruichi ran with her on her shoulders. Of course she was cautious about the situation and carefully slowed down as she earned a concerning and warning glare from the young captain.

Before they knew it, the ten people found themselves back in the circular, snow-covered clearing with the old, rickety shack in the very center. Finding that they were literally meters away from their home, the children seemed to barely have the ability to contain themselves as some ran off in a blink of an eye to end their eagerness.

Upon setting her eyesight on the porch, Yoruichi couldn't help but notice the complete absence of two certain giant sacks.

Where did they go? I'm sure we left them on the porch?

"Hey Soi, I think we got r-"

"REALLY lucky that we came at such a great time to watch everyone open more presents…" the captain interrupted and finished for the taller woman as she gave her an all-knowing glare.

"Oh… ye-yeah! That's right, little bee!" Yoruichi responded, catching the hint. The duo and the few children who were a bit more patient ascended the couple stairs and reached the porch before approaching the front door. Soifon gripped the door handle and opened the door for them to enter before they all crossed through the threshold and entered the small cabin. Upon entering, the rest of the children fled into the room. The Shihoin noticed that the room must be the living room where a Christmas tree, one that looks as if it were cut down from the surrounding forest, stood on one side with hand-made ornaments covering it. The ornaments varied in complexity, color, and size; indicating that each decoration was made by different people. Popcorn strings carefully wrap around the tree, from top to bottom. To finish off the true feeling of a true family Christmas tree, an angel topper sat at the very top of the Christmas tree. The angel's golden halo shines brightly above her head as her head is forever bowed with her hands folded in prayer.

Surrounding the base of the tree was a literal sea of brightly colored and meticulously wrapped gifts of various different sizes. There were so many! The floorboards of the living room were completely covered by the extravagant piles of gifts that it was almost impossible to move freely through the room if it hadn't been for the designated walk spaces Amongst the 'Christmas present Ocean' were the children, ripping through the presents with their names on them. Wrapping paper flew through the air and landed in disarray all over the floor to form mountains. All of the children were having the time of their lives as they shredded the paper from their packages and reveling in the contents before moving on to the next present.

Soifon and Yoruichi were left alone to stand near the door as the children opened their presents. Yoruichi couldn't help but feel the emotions of the kids enjoying their Christmas morning. She felt every ounce of the giddiness and happiness as every child opened up a new present and grinned as she saw the joyous smiles on their faces.

"So the mystery bag had all of this?" Yoruichi whispered, leaning down to ensure no one else could hear.

"Yup" Soifon replied in what seemed like a daze; too focused on the ordeal before them.

"Aw, that's so sweet, Soi! Why the hell didn't you tell me about any of this; I could of helped you!?" she responded, wrapping an arm around her lover's waist.

"I'll explain later…"

"Okay fine but where did all of the cooking supplies g-"

"Soifon!"

Yoruichi was interrupted by a gruff yet young sounding voice that had a hint of an accent on it that originated from the kitchen. Both women turned toward the entrance to the kitchen to see a tall woman emerge and enter the living room. The woman was young - Yoruichi estimated that she was around the same age as herself - lean and had a muscle build that complemented her body structure. Her dark brown, almost black locks were cut pretty short, the longest of the strands being just a few centimeters below her ears and had the tousled, 'I just fell out of bed' look. She wore a black tank top and blue holiday-themed pajama pants with reindeers and snowmen on them.

"Well everyone, look who finally got out of bed," Soifon laughed as she made her way through the sea of wrapping paper and gifts to greet the new woman.

"I'll have you know that I was making preparations for dinner!" the woman responded with a laugh.

"Not five minutes ago you weren't!" Mizuki said from her spot on the floor as she tore through her next present.

The two women laughed and embraced warmly before exchanging Christmas greetings. Some of the children took a few seconds break from their festivities to give the woman a 'good morning' and/or a 'Merry Christmas'. Yoruichi, on the other side of the room, wasn't too fond of the embrace the two women had shared. Golden irises glared at the stranger as she became more and more aware of how friendly her lover and the short-haired women were.

"Setsuko-mama look! Santa came back and gave us lots more presents and Soi-mama's here!" Mio exclaimed in delight, showing off her newest stuffed toy- a white kitty cat- to the newcomer.

"Ah, did he now?" Setsuko replied with a grin, "I must have missed him, princess. And didn't I say that Soi would be coming to spend the day with us?"

Haruka giggled. "Yes but how long did you plan on sleeping?" she asked from her spot on the floor with little Ran in one arm who was playing with a new baby toy and a red wrapped present with a gold bow in the other.

"To be honest, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. I guess I was so excited and wanted to see if I could see Santa."

You didn't get a lot of sleep last night because my girlfriend was here keeping you company… Yoruichi thought as Soifon grabbed Setsuko's hand and dragged her across the room to where she stood.

"Well did you see him?!" Little Ryuu asked before picking up his new book and skimming through it.

"Of course I didn't, you silly lad!" Setsuko chuckled, giving the boy a pat on the head before winking to the captain and continued their trek across the room.

The woman looked up and noticed a newcomer in her household. At this time, gold clashed with green in a fiery battle as the two taller women finally lock eyes. Setsuko's eyes widened as she saw the threatening glare directed towards her and Yoruichi couldn't help but to smirk at this reaction. The cat-like woman registered in her mind that the woman beside the captain was indeed the woman she saw with her lover the last night. The one who hugged her.

That's right.

"Yoruichi this is my good friend Setsuko; she owns this place, operates it on her own, and takes care of all the children," Soifon said factually, officially introducing the two women to each other. "Setsuko this is Lady Yoruichi Shihoin; she's my…"

"Girlfriend," Yoruichi finished for her firmly, not removing here hard gaze from the other tall woman.

"Ah, yes, Soi talks about you quite a lot! It's a pleasure to meet you, Yoruichi," Setsuko said with a smile before extending a welcoming hand to the Shihoin. Not wanting to come off as a jerk, Yoruichi pushed her pride aside and took the hand and they shared a formal handshake.

"Yes it's nice to meet you too."

Soifon inwardly sighed as she saw that glint in Yoruichi eyes and that smirk on her lips. In her mind she knew that when her lover would meet her friend, it would be an all-out competition of pride and stature for both of the women possessed similar and strong personality traits. This, of course, would lead to a series of games of the mind that would ultimately turn into full on contests. As she witnessed the whole ordeal of their meeting, Soifon new this was going to be a long day.

Soifon sighed before turning to the children, who sat in a sea of wrapping paper and toys.

"So, who's ready to play outside?"

Yeah….so again I'm really sorry about the late update! And I know this was a very short chapter but I need to go brainstorm and see how this story could potentially end! I have the big story all planned out and I want to start it ASAP. I may also post other stories about other pairings such as bumbleby 3 and whiterose from RWBY or some others so look out for those! I hope you enjoyed this installment of SofG! Until we meet again, bye!

-Huntress