Years and years and years before- when Suì-Fēng had first laid eyes upon the boy called the 23rd Tenshiheisoban, her eyes had begun to sting, and her chest had begun to crumple and cave, and her fingernails had pulled red from her palms because he had resembled her so .
Bright eyes, brilliant smile, laughter that filled her with light- The sight of him had been wholly like a slap to the face-
(And that was how she had known, that if there were ever a day should she meet her again, her anger was assured to melt away like an afterthought.)
To this day, it's still much the same. She looks at him and often sees something familiar, but it's not exactly quite her anymore. Sometimes she sees a little bit of herself, a little bit of mentor and student, a little bit of Shihōin and Feng.
The Shihōin house hasn't so much bothered with her now that she's the head of their Onmitsukido and isn't so much inclined to serve them, but she sees it as a new way to protect them, and would have liked to have been able to watch over Yūshirō, especially since–-
"You're going to be next after me, aren't you?"
She asks him this towards the end of the day, after she's through instructing her division, after she finds him watching them all from atop the roofs, like she always does.
Even though she of another, lesser house has undoubtedly broken the tradition, it still stands that the Tenshiheisoban is to be the next commander of the Onmitsukido.
The boy gapes at her with incredulous, wide eyes. " Me , get a turn?"
"Yes, you ," Suì-Fēng replies with a snort, entertained by his exaggerated tone. He can't be serious. She's certain it's nearly all he's been groomed to be, but Yūshirō Shihōin is simply like that sometimes- endearingly oblivious.
"But Captain," Yūshirō kicks his legs idly over the edge of the building, not missing a beat, "That wouldn't be possible!"
Suì-Fēng finds this a peculiar thing for a boy with such potential, and a noble no less, to be saying so matter-of-factly. She quirks a curious eyebrow and sits down beside him, deciding to play along. "And why is that?"
He looks at her with the same open expression, honey-eyes ablaze with earnestness. "I'd only become commander if you fall, and that would never happen!"
It's such an immature thing to say, but she especially appreciates having her ego stroked. She definitely hadn't been expecting that answer of all things. It's not like she would be unable to retire (although, she may admit, she hardly knows the meaning of the word.)
Even so, she challenges him with a smirking, "You sound so sure," but the boy doesn't back down.
"Of course I'm sure!" Yuushiro exclaims, ardent as ever. "Suì-Fēng-nee-sama is a formidable-"
" Remember - what I said about addressing-"
"-and ferocious leader who embodies the art of stealth and assassination! As strong as I am, I could never hope to reach the levels of you or Yoru-nee-sama!"
"And where is your pride?" Suì-Feng scoffs, as though she isn't flattered to pieces. She takes a deep breath, flustered as always by his fervent informality and impassioned reverence. She has always noticed- the way he looks up to her as if she's another sister of his. It's made her heart especially fond.
"I just mean," Yūshirō seems to simmer down, quelled by her tone, "There are tons of other things that I should master beforehand… like the family technique!" His face sinks into a sudden pout of despair as he whines, "Nee-sama still thinks it's no good!"
"Family technique?"
Yūshirō bobs his head in affirmation. "Shunkō! That's what Yoru-nee-sama calls it."
That's what she . . . "But before you, only she and I knew it."
"That's right," Yūshirō says buoyantly, and Suì-Fēng doesn't know what to make of that.
-/-/-
As she half-expects, Yoruichi is in the water when she arrives, back to her, almost entirely obscured by the damp steam surrounding the springs.
She turns around, however, at the sound of Suì-Fēng unraveling the yellow obi from around her haori, and the captain is very cognizant of how her golden gaze never, ever strays from her body until she is completely disrobed.
She recalls a time where this would have her immensely flustered, but now she accepts it with an air of confidence. "Good evening, Yoruichi-sama."
Yoruichi's smirk seems to mirror hers. "Evening, Suì-Fēng." She steps with slow elegance through the water to where Suì-Fēng stands at the edge, hair a dark, serpentine shadow snaking behind her.
Suì-Fēng watches in rapture as she tucks a damp lock behind one ear, rests her chin on her arms on the side of the onsen.
"You look exhausted," her goddess remarks.
"I'm not, really."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because-" the captain pauses, breathes the briefest of laughs. Yoruichi can be so vain sometimes, but she gives her what she wants to hear. "Because you're here, and I wanted to see you."
Her grin grows wider. She's so beautiful that it aches, that she remembers that it's not too different, that Yoruichi can very much still make her blush.
Suì-Fēng looks away, grabbing the bar of soap, but she can nevertheless feel her goddess's knowing, curious eyes.
"You were with him again, weren't you?" she asks, sing-song, voice light with a teasing lilt.
The captain is never quite sure how to respond whenever Yoruichi asks something like this. There's nothing wrong in her eyes with spending time with Yūshirō, and she can see that Yoruichi can't find an issue either, although... there's still this troublesome wave of reluctance to tell her that this isn't some new occurrence— that over the years, Suí-Fēng has given her fair share of reassurances to someone else's kid brother.
She just focuses on scrubbing her skin clean. "I was."
"Of course you were!" The Shihōin exclaims with an exaggerated sigh, and her hand comes down in the water with a just as melodramatic splash. "What do you two do together, anyway? Talk about how much you love me?"
Suì-Fēng flushes red at the accusation (acute accuracy), then dumps a pail of lukewarm water over her head to veil it.
"Oh, please. It's the same as we do when you're with us. We aren't any different."
The look that Yoruichi gives her next is very flat, eyebrows raised. "So you coddle him."
"Does it make you jealous?" She's standing now, and Yoruichi's eyes are once again tracking her every moment as she finally descends into the steaming onsen.
Her dark-skinned goddess moves toward her, close enough to drum her fingers playfully over her chest, and her touch is warmer than the hot water at her waist.
"Actually, it does," Yoruichi says, but when Suì-Fēng glances up at her, she's smiling. "If I'm not careful, he's going to steal my beloved hornet right from under me."
Suì-Fēng can feel her heart fluttering in her chest, can feel the grin tugging at her lips, and she purses them, staring down at the water.
She values this that they have, this closer than comradery, than friendship, than what they've ever known before.
A meaningful romance. Suí-Fēng grows warmer at the notion.
She never thought that she could have something like this, and with Yoruichi no less, but Yoruichi now, she's certain. Suì-Fēng knows she's here, knows she's hers , knows what she feels , and everything is certain.
She feels as though . . . she finally has something that she hasn't for a long time, something that once was lost.
She thinks back to Yūshiro's comment about shunkō and swallows.
"He thinks very highly of you, you know," the older woman continues, almost as an afterthought, voice soft as the hands that caress her hips beneath the spring's surface. "I'd say he really loves you . . ."
And that means much more to her than it ever should.
"Well," the air is relaxed, the water is warm, and Yoruichi is touching her, so she doesn't so much mind admitting, "I do love him too."
This makes Yoruichi smile, as everything does, a gentle radiance. "You're going to be quite the sister-in-law."
To Suì-Fēng, this remark is rather perplexing and out of left field, but she finds it terribly amusing nonetheless. "Why is that? Is he going to marry me?"
"Of course not," breathes Yoruichi with a hint of a laugh, hands gliding over Suì-Fēng's torso until her arms cross around her neck. Her forehead lowers to hers, and Suì-Fēng burns beneath her molten magma gaze. " I'm going to marry you . . ."