until i see you again | urayoru

ii

The young Shinigami looked nervous as she entered the room, and Yoruichi couldn’t blame her. Rukia was still a rookie, and finding herself face to face with the Kuchiki elders, including the Captain of Squad Six, would be enough to make any trainee tremble.

Yoruichi hadn’t been able to warn Rukia about what to expect; her mission from Byakuya had been short and simple, and needed to be done with the highest level of discretion.

Find Hisana’s sister. Tell no one.

The request was not a formal one—Byakuya, his stoic face hardened further with the loss of his wife, had asked an uncharacteristic favour of his old mentor, off the record. Yoruichi would have said yes to him regardless, but when his carefully composed façade cracked for a split second at his regret of not granting Hisana her dying wish, to reunite her with a long lost loved one… well. Yoruichi could empathise.

The room was dark, the only light the windows providing coming from the surrounding hallways adding to the unnerving atmosphere. Yoruichi watched from the side lines as her mission came to an end, with the Kuchiki family offering to adopt Rukia. The excuse of her looking like Byakuya’s late wife was a flimsy reason for the adoption, but Byakuya had been adamant that nobody but himself should know the true reason, and there was no one in the Kuchiki estate brave enough to deny their mourning Clan Head his unconventional whim.

Yoruichi wasn’t really listening to what Byakuya was saying, instead watching the reactions of those in the room. The disapproval of the Kuchiki elders Byakuya had brought was clear in the narrowed lines of their eyebrows and their hard set mouths, a sight Yoruichi was too familiar with from her own family to be shaken by. She was impressed, however, by Rukia’s nerve; she was clearly surprised by the situation, but her poise never faltered. No matter the reasons for her being adopted, Yoruichi could see the Kuchiki family would be getting a strong asset to their household in Rukia.

She was not, however, the only person capturing Yoruichi’s interest as she leaned against the wooden wall panels, just out of the line of artificial light streaking through the windows. Rukia’s friend, the redhead Yoruichi had observed her with, seemed ecstatic at Rukia’s chance, but Yoruichi could see the conflicting emotions underlying his cheerful demeanour. When Rukia shrugged his hands off her shoulders, Yoruichi tilted her head as resignation flickered across Renji’s face, and her brow furrowed. It was the look of someone who had given up already, and Yoruichi wasn’t sure exactly what he’d lost.

No words had been shared with Yoruichi since she had led Rukia to the room, finally confirming that she was who Byakuya had been looking for when he’d blinked at the girl’s entrance—there was no denying Rukia’s relationship with Hisana, although nobody was questioning that she was any more than a coincidental lookalike. Instead Yoruichi observed the scene, the sole witness who knew the extent of the truth. She watched the nobility parade out, the only reaction from her former protegee the barest hint of a nod as he passed her.

Rukia followed her new family, and Yoruichi frowned at the tremble of the younger girl’s hands before she clenched them tight. Glancing at Renji, Yoruichi shook her head, and decided to invite the newest Kuchiki to tea.

She looked like she may be in need of a friend.

| until i see you again |

Years passed by like seconds, and Yoruichi watched the world spin on an axis of disappointment.

She saw Shinigami come and go through the ranks, battles fought and battles lost all in a never ending rotation of clashing metal and heartless paperwork. There was always light to be found, of course; Yoruichi watched Soifon become almost as fast and deadly as herself, and saw Rukia blossom as she entered Squad Thirteen, becoming stronger and ever so slightly more comfortable in her own skin.