Chapter 10
A favor for later.
When Stella made sure Rukia and Ichigo were out of the cottage she sighed heavily. She kept telling herself that this was for the best, it was the easiest and fastest way to take Rukia out of her sour mood, it would lift her spirits, she was sure of that, but unfortunately Lucy didn't agree with her and that little fact could complicate things later on.
Stella rolled her eyes as she remembered how her co-worker almost ruined her plan and, with steady steps, she walked towards her room.
"You're a worrywart," Stella complained the moment she stepped in Lucy's bedroom "I mean it."
Lucy scoffed.
As Stella guessed the blonde maid was waiting for her, sitting on her bed with a frown on her face and her arms crossed. She probably wanted to remind her how visitors were not allowed after curfew or how another boy tried to visit Rukia at night a few years back and how horrible that ended for everyone around the Kuchikis' property. Sure, Urahara Kisuke was a force to be reckoned with, but Kuchiki Ginrei was scarier in his own way.
"You're too careless," Lucy retorted the frown was not leaving her face "what if he had gone in?!"
Stella rolled her eyes again, she was sure that Lucy was going to give her a headache.
"Stop it," Stella groaned frustrated "they just left, it'll be okay!"
"Good!" Lucy exclaimed relieved "that means…" she stopped talking as her eyes widened "wait, they just left? They?!"
Stella nodded and Lucy understood immediately.
"You let him in?!" the blonde maid screeched as she stood up "you let him in and take my lady with him?!"
"You won't say a word, this will be for the best!" Stella warned her "it's the fastest way to take my lady out of her terrible mood!"
Lucy gaped indignantly.
"Are you out of your freaking mind?!" she questioned "have you finally lost it?!"
"What's the worst that can happen?!" Stella asked.
"Should I remind you…?!"
"They are not the same!" Stella argued before Lucy could bring up Grimmjow "Urahara-sama and Yoruichi-sama trust him! He's their godson!"
Lucy shook her head with disbelief. She was about to give an earful to Stella, she wanted to scream and remind her about Grimmjow, she wanted to remind her about what happened the last time Rukia got lost in the woods, she wanted to remind her why they were hired but the words were not coming out and, to make matters worse, the door opened abruptly before she could even speak.
The intruder made both maids pale considerably.
"Rukia is gone," Yoruichi informed them seriously, there was a deep rage behind her eyes "has any of you seen her?!"
Lucy and Stella exchanged a panic stricken face.
Shihouin Yoruichi was out for blood.
Rukia wouldn't say it aloud, but having city boys so scared and fascinated by the woods was entertaining. The redhead was literally clinging to dear life to the bespectacled boy's right arm while Ichigo tried to keep a cool and collected pose but Rukia could clearly see his tense shoulders and his unusual silence, he was keeping himself really close to Kon.
The only one who seemed to be holding his ground, much to Rukia's annoyance, was Ichigo's cousin.
Shiba Kaien.
"Cousin," Kaien smirked "is sort of refreshing to see you, finally, breaking the rules."
"I take it that he's a goody two shoes?" Rukia chuckled, she didn't like him but since he was Ichigo's family she decided to keep things amicable, for Ichigo's sake.
"Unfortunately," Kaien nodded "we try to tell him to have fun, to get loose, but does he listen? He does not."
"We've tried to go through one or two rites of passage," Renji admitted with a shaky voice "but he's way too uptight."
"I can hear you, idiots" Ichigo scoffed.
Rukia had an idea right there but she wanted to make sure.
"Rites of passage? Like what?" she asked them.
"Getting drunk, getting a tattoo, swimming at midnight at the local pool and running away from the police" Kaien enumerated.
"Going on dates," Renji continued the list "sneaking inside school at midnight, racing the car or the motorcycle with the guys."
"And have my father take away my motorcycle," Ichigo frowned at Renji "right, fun" he said sarcastically.
"You never told me you had a motorcycle," Rukia pointed out, what else she didn't know about him "how come?"
"Believe it or not, Kuchiki" Kaien answered before Ichigo could "my dear cousin is sort of cool, and popular, but for some reason he keeps himself like an old man locked out inside home and watching movies."
"Most of those rites of passage are lame anyway," Ichigo complained, he wasn't letting go of Rukia's hand "and what's up with tattoos?" he looked at Renji "shall I remind you how much you cried while getting yours?"
Rukia chuckled while Renji blushed.
"I didn't know it was going to be that painful!"
"So," Rukia smiled at Ichigo "you're not a normal teenager? At all?"
Ichigo smirked at her.
"Are you really asking me that? You?"
Rukia shrugged, she understood what he meant by that, but she was not a city girl and she didn't fancy becoming one.
"My circumstances are different" she excused herself.
"I'm curious," Ishida admitted, he didn't mean to pry but he supposed that he wouldn't find another moment to ask "why are you living so far away from your family?"
Rukia scrunched her nose.
"Look around yourself," she offered "who in their sane mind would trade this for stupid traffic lights and boring four walls bedrooms? I literally get up the moment the sun rises and I don't have to worry about getting on time anywhere, and once the moon comes out I get to go to sleep while enjoying the woods' music."
"What is there exactly around us?" Kaien retorted incredulous "and by music do you mean mysterious howling and the cries of dangerous animals?"
"Right," Rukia rolled her eyes and then stopped walking as a smile crept on her face "why don't you look around yourself now?" she challenged.
All of the boys obeyed and they gaped. They were right at the top of the waterfall, the night sky looked wonderful, they had never seen so many stars and the moon seemed to be glowing! The sound of the water falling beneath them made them feel as if they were in some kind of fairytale, their fears and worries were replaced by fascination.
The woods were truly gorgeous.
Kaien then looked at his feet and noticed several fireflies flying around their ankles.
"Let me ask again," Rukia smirked "who in their sane mind would change this for the dull and stressful city?"
Kaien chuckled.
"I cannot argue with you, Kuchiki" he smirked at his cousin then "do you realize that if you marry her the woods will also be yours, right?"
Ichigo blushed as Rukia laughed.
"I'll throw you from this waterfall! I swear!" the orange haired teenager threatened.
Uryuu and Renji joined the laughter.
Urahara knew that he was not going to get decent sleep anytime soon. He felt as if he had slept only five minutes when Yoruichi stepped back into the room running as if her life depended on that, she threw open the walk-in closet door and she went straight to the little safe that was inside of it, Urahara rubbed his sleepy eyes and frowned.
"What is it?" he asked as he stood up from the bed.
"I need Kon's whistle," Yoruichi explained as she pressed each button to open the safe, the code was only known by Yoruichi and Urahara "Rukia is not at her cottage."
Urahara's eyes widened.
"What?!"
"Lucy and Stella are going with me into the woods," Yoruichi informed him as she grabbed the dog whistle "stay here, I don't want to wake the boys up."
Urahara was still sleepy so he didn't stop his wife the moment she left the cottage running, but he wasn't an idiot. The moment he heard Yoruichi closing the door he walked towards Rukia's (now Ichigo's) room and he wasn't surprised the moment he found it empty.
"My, my…" he muttered.
Urahara knew Rukia extremely well, so he decided not to tell Yoruichi about the boys' absence, if he were to endanger Ichigo she would never forgive him, he only hoped that she was okay otherwise there would be hell to pay.
Rukia and the boys had been exploring the woods for a few hours and they didn't stop talking the whole time.
Rukia now knew a lot more about their lives and about Karakura. She learned how Ichigo used to be top of the class before his whole "troublesome" phase, Kaien was the captain of the soccer team and Renji was at the Karate club (and he had quite the crush with someone named "Tatsuki"), while Ishida Uryuu was extremely smart, and terribly shy, and he hadn't been able to confess to his childhood crush, someone named "Inoue Orihime".
Rukia had showed them the waterfall, the stream, the tallest trees and the meadow. They praised and awed at every single thing and, luckily, not a single wild animal approached them. Rukia believed that the witch that warned the animals about them but she didn't say it aloud, she was about to suggest another spot when Kon perked up and stopped walking.
Rukia observed his rigid and faithful pose and she knew immediately, someone had used the whistle. Her mouth went dry, the color drained off her face and her palms started to sweat. This was her worst case scenario, only two people had control over Kon's whistle so that meant…
"Uh oh…" Rukia muttered shakily "Kon?"
Kon didn't move, he wasn't listening to Rukia, he sat up and looked to the opposite side of the woods as if he was no longer interested in whatever his owner was doing.
"What's the matter?" Ichigo asked.
"Someone called him" Rukia answered as she started to mentally plan the way back to the cottage and how long it would take, and she didn't need to guess that she wouldn't arrive on time.
"The witch?" Renji asked fearfully.
"If it had been the witch we would be safe," Rukia muttered "this is different."
All of the boys exchanged worried glances. What were they supposed to do? They had been exploring for hours and they didn't believe that there was something dangerous inside the woods. What was Rukia's deal and why did she look so damn scared? Ichigo wanted an explanation but he had never seen her so damn worried, what was going on?
Rukia took a deep breath and then Kon barked once.
That was the second warning of the whistle.
"We have to go back," Rukia told the boys and then she pointed behind them "run in a straight line, hide in my garden until you listen to Yourichi giving me an earful and then sneak into Urahara's cottage and pretend this never happened!"
"What?!" Ichigo screeched.
Kon barked once more.
"There's no time! Go!" Rukia urged them "I'll distract her!"
"I'm not leaving you, what the fuck?!" Ichigo complained "I was the one who convinced you to come!"
"Leave this to me!" Rukia told him.
"You'll get in trouble!" Ichigo insisted.
"I can handle Yoruichi!" Rukia fumed.
Kaien didn't need to ask to know that Ichigo was not going to listen to her and they couldn't have that. He decided that he would have to drag his cousin out of the woods, so he exchanged a look with Renji and they nodded at each other. Before Ichigo could react they both grabbed him, Kaien took him by his arms while Renji grabbed his legs and they started to run towards the direction Rukia pointed.
"Let me go, idiots! Rukia!" Ichigo protested but Rukia ignored him.
Uryuu looked at Rukia.
"Will you be okay?" he asked her.
"This is my territory," Rukia reminded him with a smirk "go, don't get lost."
Uryuu nodded as he started to run behind his friends.
Rukia then decided to turn around and run towards Yoruichi, that would ensure that she would find her before she could find the boys. But she made a mistake, she was so focused making sure that Ichigo and the others made it out of the woods that she didn't notice when her left feet got caught in a branch.
Rukia winced in pain as she fell painfully and when she tried to get up she realized that she couldn't move.
Kon started to bark frantically then.
Rukia looked at her ankle then and noticed how it was trapped, and probably sprained, between two branches.
"Kon!" Rukia gasped "stop it!"
But Kon didn't stop barking, he was trained to ask for help in case something happened to Rukia, and for him this was an emergency.
"Kon!" Rukia insisted but it was too late.
Rukia noticed some flashlights and some voices near her. She closed her eyes the moment her godmother, looking completely enraged and worried sick, pointed at her face with the flashlight. She knew that not even her puppy eyes were going to help her this time, now that she was hurt not even Urahara would be on her side, she wondered if Yoruichi would call her father.
She hoped not.
"You're in deep shit" Yoruichi hissed with narrowed eyes, Lucy and Stella were behind her with pale faces.
Rukia smiled weakly at her as Kon stopped barking and started to run in circles around Rukia.
"Have I told you how much I love you?" Rukia asked her.
Yoruichi's face didn't change.
Rukia gulped, she only hoped that Ichigo and the others had made it safely to the cottage.
"You should've taken Rukia instead of me!" Ichigo barked upset.
All of the boys were hidden inside Kon's dog house. It was surprisingly big, at least big enough for all of them to fit in comfortably, and it was furnished with plushies and a soft carpet. There was a picture of Rukia hugging Kon on one of the walls and some diplomas of "best dog of the academy."
"This is way more luxurious than my house," Renji scoffed "no joke."
Kaien ignored them. He decided to listen intently to whatever was happening inside the cottage, and it didn't take long for them to hear Yoruichi, Rukia and some others stepping into the Kuchikis' garden. They boys kept quiet then, and Ichigo decided to peek through the dog house's little window and what he saw made him feel extreme guilt and worry.
The blonde haired maid was carrying Rukia on her back and, even in the middle of the dark, Ichigo could see how Rukia's ankle was… sprained? Broken? He wasn't sure, but it looked as if something happened to her. Stella and Kon came next while Yoruichi, who was in front of everyone, was in the middle of a rant.
"How many times?!" Yoruichi fumed "how many times do we have to go through this for you to get it?! Do you want me to call Byakuya-boo?!"
"Shit…" Ichigo muttered "I should-!"
"If you leave the house right now it means her sacrifice was for nothing," Renji whispered.
"But-!" Ichigo tried to argue.
"If your godparents find out, cousin" Kaien said "they might send you back, do you want to go to my uncle's house in Karakura?"
Ichigo kept quiet then. He decided he would wait and see what was going to happen, he only hoped that Urahara wouldn't find out, if he were to ask Ichigo wouldn't be able to lie to him, his godfather was good at looking through him.
"What happened?!" Ichigo heard someone else asking and he winced.
Urahara had arrived at the Kuchikis' cottage.
"Your goddaughter is what happened!" Yoruichi complained.
"Child!" Urahara exclaimed with sincere worry "your ankle!"
"This is nothing!" Rukia assured them and she sounded desperate "please, don't get mad!"
Ichigo covered his eyes until the voices faded inside the cottage. How a cool outing ended up like this? Was Yoruichi going to call Byakuya? How was he supposed to pretend that nothing happened? This was his fault!
"Let's go," Kaien whispered "it's the perfect time to go back, we'll fall asleep and perhaps they'll tell us what happened tomorrow."
Ichigo nodded but, even after they were back to the cottage and covered themselves with blankets, he wasn't able to sleep that night.
The next morning the boys got up early and, after taking a shower and getting ready, they went downstairs to have breakfast. They were greeted by Urahara, who was having breakfast alone, while an older maid that Ichigo hadn't seen before served him coffee.
"Good morning," Ichigo greeted carefully "where's Yoruichi?"
Urahara smiled at them.
"Don't worry about her," he dodged the question "she'll be busy for the rest of the day, and so will I, so please enjoy yourselves around the property" he raised his coffee mug "Tessai will assist you in case you want to race the horses."
Ichigo frowned as his friends started to eat.
"Thanks," the orange haired teenager mumbled and then decided to test his luck "I'll call Rukia so…"
"Oh no," Urahara shook his head "she'll be with Yoruichi the whole day so…" he shrugged "have fun without her."
"Is everything okay?" Renji asked.
"Of course!" Urahara smiled and then stood up "I'll be going now, make yourselves at home."
Ichigo hit his head against the table once Urahara was out of the room.
"What have I done?" he asked aloud.
Renji, Uryuu and Kaien exchanged worried looks.
"Listen," Renji said "I'm pretty sure Rukia will be okay but if you act like this the whole time Urahara will notice something is wrong."
"Abarai is correct," Uryuu nodded "we should act as if we don't know anything and once things have calmed down you can look for Kuchiki-san, don't you think?"
Ichigo nodded.
The boys spent the rest of the day distracting themselves. They raced the horses and helped Tessai around the farm, they had lunch under an oak tree and picked up apples in the afternoon but nothing worked for Ichigo, his mind kept wandering towards Rukia. Was she okay? Did Yoruichi call Byakuya? Did Ginrei-sama found out about what happened?
That night Ichigo couldn't sleep again.
He looked around the room and noticed how all of his friends were snoring, how could they? Rukia was in trouble! And it was their fault! Mostly his, of course, because he was the one who convinced her in the end. She was behaving, staying inside like a good girl and he went and stepped into her room in the middle of the night…
He groaned against his pillow, he couldn't keep going like this! He was going to confess to Urahara and Yoruichi even if it meant having to go back to his father. Taking a deep breath he got up and went to his godparents' bedroom, he stopped right in front of their door and wondered if knocking in the middle of the night was wise but he didn't have to ponder too much on that.
"You should come inside before dawn," Urahara suggested from inside the room "otherwise you'll have another sleepless night."
Ichigo sighed and opened the door. He found Urahara smoking on his balcony and looking at the woods behind the property, he looked pensive and Ichigo stood next to him. The orange haired teenager opened and closed his mouth several times but he didn't know what to say or where to start, he had to admit that he wasn't looking forward to go back to Karakura.
"So," Urahara broke the silence "how does the woods look at midnight?"
"You know" Ichigo winced.
"Dirt all over my carpet? A tiny branch on Shiba-kun's hair? Abarai-kun with dog hair on his t-shirt?" Urahara smirked.
"Are you mad at me?" Ichigo asked "it was my fault!"
Urahara shook his head.
"I'm upset at the fact that she got hurt," he explained "but she loves breaking the rules, the fault is not entirely yours."
"I don't get it," Ichigo admitted "Yoruichi claims she doesn't like the woods and that's why we can't go inside, why live here at all?"
"Yoruichi loves the woods," Urahara corrected him "this cottage was the ring I used to propose to her, we're living here because she loves the place."
"I don't get it" Ichigo insisted.
"Yoruichi loves the Seireitei," Urahara explained "what she hates is Rukia inside the woods, the memories we have of Rukia and the woods are not that wholesome."
Ichigo tilted her head.
"Has this something to do with the fact that she didn't go back to you after the old maid threatened her with calling Byakuya?"
Urahara nodded.
"Since she was not coming back, Yoruichi was worried sick..."
"It doesn't make sense!" Yoruichi scoffed "she went through lots of shit to find her godmother," she grabbed a knife "and when she finally finds me she leaves me?! Just like that?!"
Urahara tensed as Yoruichi started to stab the bread in a violent manner.
"She's like Hisana!" Yoruichi groaned and then pointed at Urahara with the knife "the idiot was a walking contradiction," she rolled her eyes "there she was, crazily in love with Byakuya-boo but rejecting him at every chance she had!"
Urahara remembered that, but he decided to keep quiet since Yoruichi kept waving the dangerous knife around.
"Now her daughter is the same," Yoruichi stabbed the lettuce this time "looking for her godmother and then leaving me behind, what's going on inside her head?"
"Bunnies, probably" Urahara offered.
Yoruichi glared at him.
"It's been three days," she frowned "what's keeping her from visiting?"
"Why don't you visit her?" Urahara suggested.
"Perhaps I will," Yoruichi scoffed as she passed the knife to Urahara "prepare dinner, it's late already so I'll just make sure she's okay and I'll be back."
Urahara nodded and then Yoruichi left the cottage.
She was planning to simply go and knock on the door, but she didn't fancy greeting the old and bitter maid.
"I guess there's no other choice…" Yoruichi muttered.
But before she could take another step further she noticed someone leaving by the side of the property. Her eyes widened when she noticed Rukia running, pretty fast, towards the woods.
"Idiot!" Yoruichi whispered as she ran towards the woods as well.
Yoruichi followed the path that she believed Rukia took and almost gasped when, a few minutes later, she saw her little goddaughter arranging some tiny branches in a pile. What was she playing at? Yoruichi would've been happy just watching her have fun with her weird games but it was late and none of them should be at the woods, so she decided to talk to her.
"And what do we have here?"
Yoruichi observed amused how Rukia gasped scared, the little girl turned around and once she saw who was behind her she visibly relaxed.
"Yoruichi!" she exclaimed smiling "you scared me!"
Yoruichi sighed relieved and approached her.
"What are you doing here?" Rukia asked her as she continued to arrange the little branches.
Yoruichi kneeled next to her.
"I should be the one asking that," she pointed out "it's late, the woods are dangerous, and fires are forbidden inside the area, what's your deal?"
Rukia shook her head.
"I'm not going to start a fire! That would scare the bunnies!" she explained "I'm going to build a shack."
Yoruichi couldn't help but chuckle.
"Really? What for?" she played along "do you want the witch to have her own house?"
Rukia tilted her head as if she was considering her words, perhaps she didn't think about the witch at first.
"I think that if she wants we could live here together," Rukia reasoned finally "I was building it for myself, actually" she admitted.
Yoruichi sat down next to the girl and sighed.
"Kiddo, you have a big and gorgeous cottage, you don't need a small shack" she said as she grabbed a thin branch and held it between her fingers "there's no electricity here, let's go back to your cottage."
Rukia pouted.
"The cottage is not mine," she scoffed finally "it belongs to the old hag."
Yoruichi frowned.
"Listen," she said "is wrong to call old people rude names but leaving aside that, the cottage belongs to your family, including you, she cannot tell you otherwise."
Rukia stopped arranging the branches and crossed her arms, the only thing that allowed Yoruichi to read the child's expressions was the moonlight. Was it her imagination or she was blushing? Why was she breathing heavily? Was she tired?
"She slapped me," Rukia muttered as tears welled in her eyes "she told me that the only reason why I was living in the cottage was because my daddy didn't want me to live with him and because mom was dead."
Yoruichi's eyes widened.
"What the...?"
"She also told me that granddaddy went on a long trip because he couldn't stand seeing me in the cottage," Rukia sobbed as tears started to fall down her cheeks "I'm not going back!" she declared while sniffing "I'm living here with the witch!"
"Rukia," Yoruichi said calmly while taking her hand "you..." she paused as she felt something weird "fuck, your hands are cold! Are you okay?!"
Rukia nodded while letting go of Yoruichi's hand.
"It happens often, it'll be okay after a few days" she informed her godmother.
Yoruichi gulped. She had heard that before so without waiting for the child's approval she grabbed her arm pulled her towards her and placed her other hand on her forehead, she was boiling, her fever was not a laughing matter.
"For how long have you been sick? Where's your medicine?" Yoruichi asked quickly while standing up.
Rukia shrugged and kept quiet.
"Rukia," Yoruichi insisted "for how long?"
"It started three days ago, that's why she didn't let me go to visit you" she admitted finally "she said that she would punish me if I were to make a scandal about this," she covered her face with her little hands "I didn't want her to slap me again."
Yoruichi didn't hesitate. She picked Rukia up and started to run towards her cottage, she didn't know if Rukia had inherited Hisana's condition but the symptoms were not a coincidence, they couldn't be. Besides Yoruichi also knew that stress could worsen the sickness and the old hag probably put Rukia through hell.
"Yoruichi," Rukia whispered quietly while hiding her face on her shoulder "I don't want to go back."
"Don't worry, I'm not sending you to the old hag," Yoruichi assured her "you're staying with me."
"But..." Rukia sobbed and that little noise broke Yoruichi's heart "but I don't want to be a burden for anyone"
"Idiot," Yoruichi hissed "you're not a burden, you're my goddaughter and I care for you" she said while swallowing her anger against the old hag "that fucking bitch lied to you."
Rukia sobbed.
"I'm happy to have a godmother" she said and Yoruichi felt the tears damping her shirt.
She promised she was going to kill that damn old bitch.
Urahara knew something was up the moment Yoruichi stepped into the cottage and ran as fast as she could upstairs, she was carrying Rukia, who looked extremely pale, and Urahara followed them. He observed how Yoruichi turned the shower on and set the temperature of the water so it would be cold, taking a deep breath she stepped into the shower with the child on her arms and caressed her forehead, she didn't even remove their clothes.
Rukia whimpered.
"Endure it," Yoruichi said "this is the fastest way to lower your fever."
"Who should I call?" Urahara asked quickly after assessing the situation.
"Unohana," Yoruichi instructed without looking at him "tell her to make sure that no one sees her coming, no one at the town must know."
Urahara nodded as he left the room to make the respective call.
"That was a quick, and adequate, reaction" Unohana praised as she left the guest's room in which Rukia was sleeping.
"Is she going to be okay?" Yoruichi asked.
Unohana nodded.
"Yes, for now she's asleep but the fever should be gone by tomorrow morning."
Yoruichi sighed as she ran a hand through her damp hair.
"Thank you for coming" Urahara said smiling.
"Don't mention it," Unohana nodded "and don't worry, I was confused at first when I got your call but when I saw who the patient was..." she chuckled "well, you can count on my silence."
"Thank you," Yoruichi said "but just so you know, we're not kidnapping her."
Unohana shrugged.
"I figured out that much, although I believe that you won't let her maids know that she's here" she reasoned and Yoruichi nodded "let me know how everything goes" Unohana said finally.
"Sure" Yoruichi promised.
When morning came and no traces of the child were found Shima panicked. If Kuchiki Ginrei were to come back she wouldn't be able to explain why she didn't know where the child was. She cursed under her breath, why did she have to push the child's limits?
"Shima-san," one of the maids called her "perhaps we should ask the neighbors, they know the zone better and the little lady seemed to trust them."
Shima sighed. She didn't want to face Yoruichi Shihouin, she didn't have doubts that that woman would murder her if she were to inform her that her sweet, innocent and insufferable goddaughter was missing, but what the maid was saying was true and she would be able to help.
Standing up she decided that she wasn't going to be honest with her but she would force her, unbeknownst to her, to say something about the child's whereabouts.
Shima knocked the door of Yoruichi's cottage twice and was surprised at the fact that not a single maid greeted her. How come they were living in the wealthy side of the town without security guards or servants? She believed that this couple was weird.
"Coming!" Shima heard Yoruichi screaming from inside.
The older woman took a deep breath and put on a fake smile. She couldn't panic in front of the godmother, it wouldn't do any good.
The door was opened and the old nanny couldn't help but frown. Yoruichi was still on her pajamas, she was wearing a thin, white strap shirt and short shorts, her hair was disheveled and she had a cigarette on her hands.
She didn't look decent.
"Oh," Yoruichi exclaimed with a smirk "it's you."
Shima nodded as she struggled to smile at the younger woman.
"Hello," Shima greeted "I do not wish to intrude your early..." she paused "activities."
Yoruichi scoffed.
"Don't judge me," she chuckled "morning sex is great exercise."
Shima clenched her fists under her Kimono's sleeves.
"You're young," she muttered annoyed at Yoruichi's antics "so it's understandable."
Yoruichi rolled her eyes.
"Oh, it has nothing to do with age" she said smiling "you're not that bad looking, I bet that if you go to town you might find one or two men that would accept your company gladly," she winked at her "if you know what I mean."
Shima blushed a deep shade of red.
"May we move on? I wanted to ask you something..."
"Sure," Yoruichi nodded while smoking carelessly "what's up?"
"Have you seen lady Rukia?" Shima asked as nonchalant as she could but she realized her mistake almost immediately. She noticed how Yoruichi's eyes widened as she took a tense pose, she stared at her as if she was ready to slap her.
"Is she lost?!" Yoruichi asked urgently while grabbing her by the front of her kimono "did you lose my goddaughter?! Please, tell me you didn't let her go into the woods!"
Shima understood then that the child hadn't come here, if anything she had exposed her own carelessness by asking Yoruichi about the child.
"Please, calm down" she said as calmly as she could "we're just playing hide and seek but she's..." she chuckled "extremely good."
Yoruichi sighed.
"Fuck," she muttered "don't scare me like that, I swear I was worried sick for a second."
"I noticed" Shima pointed out dryly "but since she's not here I guess that she'll appear in the cottage sooner or later."
"Totally," Yoruichi agreed "you're taking good care of her, right? She'll run right into your arms once she gets bored of the game, don't worry."
Shima nodded.
"And there's no chance that you're hiding her, right?" she asked with a forced smile.
"Would I be smoking and having sex while taking care of a child?" Yoruichi retorted.
"I guess not," Shima gave up "have a nice day."
"I will," Yoruichi assured her "one of the advantages of being young without children is that I can have at least three orgasms before leaving the bed."
Shima simply turned around and ignored her nasty comments.
Sex? Three orgasms? As if! Yoruichi had spent the whole night next to Rukia, making sure that her fever was going down and Kisuke, who had been awake with her the whole night, had been supporting her. But just as she thought the sex topic made the old hag extremely uncomfortable and that was fun to see.
Yoruichi put on a discreet robe and sighed, she combed her hair and walked towards the guest's room where Rukia was staying.
"I'm telling you," Rukia kept saying "Chappy is the best, in the animated series he solves crimes and protects the other bunnies."
Yoruichi stepped into the room.
"And I keep telling you," Urahara, who was drawing something for Rukia, said "he's an indecent fellow, he's naked all the time."
Rukia scoffed.
"He wears a T-shirt and a cape!" she retorted.
"And where are his pants?!" Urahara asked scandalized.
Yoruichi rolled her eyes as she took a seat on the bed next to Rukia, she placed her hand on the child's forehead and noticed how the fever was almost gone.
"Just so you know," Yoruichi told her "the old hag is looking for you and she's lying about how you're playing hide and seek with her."
Rukia chuckled.
"She won't find me," she exclaimed happily "can I stay here a while longer? Until I figure out how to build a shack in the woods?"
Urahara smirked.
"But the woods are property of the witch, did she let you live there?" he asked playfully, while handing Rukia his drawing.
"I guess she won't mind," Rukia shrugged accepting the drawing "Chappy doesn't wear pants!"
"Well he should!" Urahara exclaimed.
"You're not living in the fucking woods," Yoruichi scoffed "stop saying that."
"But the old hag is in the cottage," Rukia frowned "I'm not..."
"If everything turns out as I planned she won't stay inside there for much longer," Yoruichi said "but no matter what, don't leave this cottage and if she somehow comes inside you hide, okay?"
Rukia nodded.
"Okay!" she said happily.
"If we end up in jail for child kidnapping send me some drawings from time to time, okay?"
Rukia tilted her head confused and Yoruichi rolled her eyes.
"Uh?" Ichigo asked shocked "you kidnapped her?"
"Technically no…" Urahara muttered "we had legal rights as godparents, we just didn't ask her father first."
"And after that?" Ichigo asked urgently, he wanted to hear the rest! Was justice served? How did Yoruichi fight the urge to kill Shima? How come Rukia was so comfortable around maids after the hell they made her go through "did the maid discover where Rukia was?"
Urahara smirked.
"Yoruichi is about to arrive here," Urahara announced "so the next part of the story will have to wait."
"But-!" Ichigo tried to say.
Urahara decided to change the topic before Ichigo kept insisting, it was getting late.
"Rukia is okay, it was just a sprained ankle, she'll go around creating mayhem once more in a couple of days" Urahara informed him "I won't let Yoruichi know that you and your friends went into the woods otherwise she won't hesitate to call Isshin, and you won't be grounded, don't worry."
Ichigo frowned.
"It doesn't feel right," he admitted "it was my fault, not hers, she broke the rules just to save me and…" he ran a hand through his hair "punish me, please, I'll pick up horse shit or something."
Urahara sighed.
"Let's make a deal," he offered "you owe me one favor, for later."
Ichigo shook his head.
"I don't understand"
"Once I come to you and ask you for this favor you cannot say "no"," Urahara explained "even if I come and ask you to go back to your father."
Ichigo gulped. He had heard from his father, and Byakuya, how making deals with Urahara was like selling your soul to the devil but he supposed that whatever his godfather had planned for him he deserved it.
"Deal" Ichigo asked.
Urahara extended his hand and Ichigo took it to seal the contract.
Deep down he believed that Urahara wouldn't send him back to the city, right? He decided not to ask and went back to his room and this time sleep came faster than expected.
Yoruichi scoffed as the Chappy movie ended. Rukia was wide awake on her bed and her ankle was on top of a Chappy pillow. Lucy was next to her making sure that the pillows behind her head were in a comfortable position, she was doting like that.
"I'm fine," Rukia told Yoruichi "shouldn't you go back to Urahara? He might cry if he sleeps alone again."
Yoruichi raised an eyebrow.
"We only made him cry once" she reminded her.
"Best roadtrip ever!" Rukia chuckled "but you should go back, what if he is with some random woman?"
Yoruichi smirked.
"We accused him of cheating once, remember?" she asked her.
"He almost cried!" Rukia gasped amused "we should do it again!"
Yoruichi sighed.
Rukia was never going to change.
"You're still grounded," Yoruichi reminded her "I'll come back early tomorrow."
Rukia nodded and then gave puppy eyes to Yoruichi.
"Hell no," Yoruichi scoffed "you're not five anymore."
"But it'll help me to sleep better!" Rukia pouted.
Yoruichi frowned but approached Rukia and, pretending to be disgusted by the gesture, she kissed her goddaughter's forehead.
"Good night, kiddo"
"Good night" Rukia said.
Once Yoruichi was out of the room Rukia turned to look at Lucy.
"I haven't told you what we did it in the woods! It was awesome!" Rukia smiled widely "they loved the woods, can you believe it?!"
Lucy frowned.
"My lady…"
"And guess what?!" Rukia exclaimed "I already know what we're going to do the rest of the summer!"
Lucy wanted to remind her what happened with the last boy that was close to her, she wanted to warn her and to threaten her with revealing to Yoruichi that Ichigo was the one behind the woods' plan but after seeing Rukia's eyes shining she decided against it.
Lucy didn't want to see it but it was impossible to ignore how Kurosaki Ichigo was an expert at making Rukia happy.
Thank you so much for reading! This update took a while, uh?! Let me know if you're still reading and if you liked this chapter, okay?
The Kuchikis will show up on the next one, are you eager to see them interacting with little Rukia? I know I am.
Review?
Pd. I apologize for my grammar mistakes.