A Solemn Sunset (Rukia, Open)

Yoruichi yawned, clenching the soft blue blanket between her fingers. She gently tore the blanket away from her body, exposing herself to the rather cold air. She checked the clock on the wall before blinking in surprise. was it really 6:00 in the evening. Yoruichi looked out the window to confirm the time. It was already getting dark out, the rays of sunset creeeping into the room. She couldn't believe she slept all day, and that Jinta and Ururu didn't wake her up. Dammit. Yoruichi was wearing a pair of blue pajamas, with the iconic Yuki the duck, one of the Soul Candy characters.

She would've settled for plain pajamas, but this was the only thing that the Shop had that was suitable for sleepware. Yoriuchi swung her feet over the side of the bed and rested her feet on the cold ground. She inched heself out of the bed, standing up and stretching. Yoruichi lazily walked towards, the bathroom, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. She had no idea why, but she was still dead tired. She snatched a towel from a stack of clean clothes and sheets while twisting the showers handle. A quiet gurgle erupted from the shower head shortly before the steaming water shot out of it.

Yoruichi sat the towel on the floor, slipping out of her shirt. She hopped on one foot, balancing as she took off of her pants and undergarments. Yoruichi couldn't wait to take a nice hot shower, maybe it would wake her up a bit more. She cautiously stepped in, beginning to wash up. Yoruichi hoped Jinta and Ururu had opened the shop up, maybe a customer had come by. It seemed as if their customer base ws slowly decreasing, much to everyone's dismay. After she had wshed her hair and body, she twisted the handle in reverse. The water slowly stopped streaming from the showerhead as she stepped out, swathing herself in a large fluffy towel.

Her bright eyes peered at the door, and didn't hear the usual bickering of the two kids. Yoriuchi put on her usual outfit, the backless, black undershirt, black stretch pants,, and finally beige wristwarmers and legwarmers. As she strode out of the bedroom, she slipped her standard light brown shoes. She peeked out into the shop, not seeing Jinta or Ururu anywhere. Yoruichi shrugged, hopefully they went shopping for some food and milk. She walked out into the small aisles and sighed, picking up a few Soul Candy dispensers on her way. Yoruichi stretched one more, looking at the door. It was thirty minutes til' she could close the shop for the night.

The door was slided open, and in entered a very familiar figure. As the door was opened, the moonlight streamed in, illuminating Rukia`s small figure. With the Kuchiki hair piece tied around her left section of bangs, and the waistlong hair, she resembled a certain other Kuchiki. The most noticeable resemblance was that she wore his scarf in the same way he did, even through it reached down to her ankles. She had a vice captain band tied around the upper part of her left arm. The fifth division symbol indicated that not only had her rank been changed, but also division. It wasen`t very noticeable, but if you looked closely, you could see her body had matured a little, giving her a somewhat slender figure, while still being nothing impressive.

"Yoruichi-san, good evening", the short shinigami said in a polite voice, her violet eyes laying them selfs onto the black cat. The fairly young shinigami sounded rather calm despite having just finished up her patrol for now, but it wasen`t a surprise considering how "eventful" her life had been up until this point. Rukia`s gaiga entered the shop along with Rukia, being dressed in a plain blue dress and flat black shoes. The Gaiga`s hair was a mess, the left side having been cut to the former length of Rukia`s hair, and the other side remaining long. Before her gaiga could make any mess, she grabbed her by the hand, sliding the door back into place.

"Is Uruhara-san here? My gaiga played around with a knife and cut the hair while i was slaying a hollow-", "you should have kept it short, ruki-ruki!", the gaiga interrupted, grinning in a way Rukia never would normally. Rukia let out a light sigh and adjusted the scarf a little. Even through the night haden`t been very had, she still carved for a hot shower, at least a quick one before patrol called again.

Yoruichi yawned and looked towards the door as she heard it open. The now visible light from the moon flooded the doorway, softly clashing with the false lighting from the ceiling. She waved to the figure, not knowing who it was til' the figure walked in. When she saw it, Yoruichi blink. Why, if it wasn't Rukia Kuchiki. She didn't believe at first though. She had obviously gotten longer hair, so long it reached her waist. She was also wearing the kenseikan clips that Byakuya traditionally wore, along with the scarf. Yoruichi wiped the small look of shock off of her face, beginning to wonder if Byakuya also disappeared. She had yet to find Urahara, or Tessai.
She couldn't even locate Soifon when she went to visit the Soul Society.

At least Rukia was still ok, and from the look of that fukutaicho badge strapped on her arm, she had ranked up in the Gotei 13. Yoruichi further examined the badge, blinking while standing in place. She recognized that symbol well, along with the other 12. So she was in the 5th Division now. Yoruichi ignored her thoughts about the shinigami's growth, and exactly how long Yoriuichi herself had disappeared for as Rukia greeted her. Her eyes glanced from Rukia, to the Gigai next ot her. "Why, good evening to you too, Rukia." Yoruichi murmured, smiling slightly. She turned around for a second, setting the Gikon dispensers into their respective bins. She frowned slightly, noticing the Chappy dispenser that she had picked up was a bit broken.

Yoruichi simply set it on top of the shelf, in no specific bin. She wouldn't throw it away just yet, maybe Jinta could retrieve the soul candy that resided within' the dispenser. Yoruichi walked back to Rukia while she was speaking, taking a mental note. She sighed softly as Rukia asked for Urahara, speaking of the Gigai trouble. "Sorry, but I haven't seen Urahara, or Tessai for that matter, for weeks.....and I don't know what's happened." Yoruichi explained, her tone of voice sounding a bit solemn and sad. Even though there was always Jinta and Ururu to talk to, it had been strange to not walk in without seeing her old comrades. Yoruichi sighed, sweeping her lengthy purple hair up into the usual ponytail.

She set her hands on her hips, chuckling as she looked at Rukia's Gigai. She knew the poor girl was probably not satisfied with it, but the Gigai was quite entertaining. One side of it hair was cut short, as Yoruichi remembered Rukia used to have her hair, and the other side was exactly like Rukia's current hairstyle. Yoruichi laughed, shaking her head at the Gigai's colorful remark. "Well, I will admit that i'm not as skillful as Urahara in the Gigai department, but I'll do what I can." Yoruichi said to Rukia, sighing softly but still smiling. She began to wonder why Jinta and Ururu were taking so long at the store, if they were even at the store.

"I see...they seemend to have dissappeared as well..". It wasen`t odd for Uruhara to be gone for longer piriods of time with tessai, but they usually would give someone a clue of where they had gone. It had always bothered Rukia a little, why had only the high ranks dissapeared? Her own power had been vice captain level for a long time, yet she haden`t dissapeared when the vice captains and captains had. She slowy tugged her hand hand around the scarf, looking down at the floor for a moment. Would he ever return? Realizing she had been looking at the floor for a minute or so, she quickly looked at Yoruichi and gave the taller woman a little smile. "Thanks..it would just be the lentgh of hair that needs to be fixed, nothing else". Her gaiga had been rather troublesome lately. It had gotten the habbit of wandering around in underwear in the morning, which had caused some trouble when Ichigo awoke and seen it.

Rukia slided open one of the doors and entered the main room. The room looked like itself, the large round table not having changed. Memories of past "adventures" briefly flashed through her mind, causing her to smile a little to herself. She would trade everything she had for things to be like before. Snapping herself out of thoughts again, she looked over her shoulder towards the cat. "I`ll take a shower..see if you can fix that mess". With a little hesitation, she slided the long scarf of her neck, gently folding it and placing it on the table with great care. She then took the hairpiece off, holding it between her fingers for a moment before laying it onto the scarf. Rukia then slided up one of the doors, heading towards the bathing room. She eventually reached it and stepped inside, sliding the door closed behind herself.

"Why does she wear that scarf and weird thing in her hair, it dosen`t suit her", the gaiga said as it stumbled over to the table, reaching out to grab the hairpiece. The sound of rushing water could be heard, indicating Rukia had begun her shower.

Yoruichi sighed and nodded at Rukia's comment. She wondered if Byakuya was gone too. From the sight of the Kuchiki heirlooms in Rukia's possession, he had indeed vanished. Yoruichi felt bad for the two young Humans, Jinta and Ururu. Not only had Tessai and Urahara disappeared, but according to them, so had she. Luckily, Yoruichi was back, and had the duty of taking care of the kids. Yoruichi kneeled down, scooping a box full of new Denreishinkis. She began to wonder why Jinta wold just leave it in the middle of the aisle. Then again, the redhead was a ridiculous slacker. Yoruichi shook her head and laughed slightly. If Tessai returned, he'd probably faint from the surrounding mess.

She looked back to Rukia as she began to speak, gently setting the large box on the counter near the register. "Well then.....that's quite simple. I'll go ahead and start on that..." Yoruichi murmured, stretching her arms while yawning. Dammit, she still felt tired, after sleeping all day. Yoruichi walked towards the Gigai, briefly spotting a smile on Rukia's face as she walked into the main room. She somewhat wondered what the young Kuchiki was thinking about, having a slight idea. Smiles like that were always affiliated with lovely nostalgia. That was something she knew well and from personal experience, though Yoruichi preferred not to dwell on the past. What was done, was done. There was no turning back. Yoruichi yawned asRukia said that she'd go take a shower, with a small request to fix the little Gigai.

She chuckled slightly and nodded, though Rukia probably wouldn't see it. "Sure thing Rukia....and there's towels on the bathroom counter." Yoruichi called out, looking at the Gigai's bad hair day. It wasn't too bad. Yoruichi blinked as the Gigai reached out for the kenseikan, but Yoruichi gently blocked the Gigai's hand from messing with it. She sighed. "They're very important to her, silly...." Yoruichi explained, softly patting the chipper Gigai. She turned her face to the main door as Jinta and Ururu entered, her tired expression switching to one of slight annoyance. "Where have you guys been? You didn't even wake me up..." Yoruichi said with a frown. In their hands were a few grocery bags. Yoruichi smiled slightly, as at least thye got some groceries.

She sighed and turned around, peeking over her shoulder at the two children. "Well, come on in." She said with a slight snicker as she grabbed a pair of scissors from the table. Yoruichi looked back to the Gigai. "Why don't ya go ahead and sit down.....I can't mess up your hair further, or Rukia'll probably get angry...." Yoruichi explained, laughing. The young Kuchiki was so short....it was almost adorable. She could hear the shower running in the background along with Jinta and Ururu putting away groceries. Yoruichi began to quickly cut away at the long side of the Gigai's hair, giggling. She had never tryed her hand at hair styling before, hopefully it would end well.

Rukia opened her eyes a little as she heard two pair of feet, followed by the familiar voices of the two children that Uruhara pretty much had adopted. She placed her hands against the wall that had become warm due to the moisture from the hot water. At least they are still here...i wonder how they have survived without anyone around. She let out a light sigh and sat down with the back against the wall, hugging her knees. She didn`t really pay attention normally, but she was fascinated on how sudden her body had begun to grown. It had been her own choice to grow her hair, but the rest had come out of nowhere. Would she continue to grow and become big enough to compare to Orihime? Or would her growth stop right now and she would get taller? The growth pattern of a shinigami was quite unpredictable, but she knew it would`t happen on a single night at least. She ran a ran through her hair and began to rinse out the shampoo, knowing she could`t spend the entire evening under the relaxing water, even through it was what she wanted to. Oddly enough, she thoughts began to wander over to Ichigo. She had missed him and the others after the battle with Aizen, and with the dissaperance of many dear to her, she had only missed them more, having never thought she would see them again. Yet here she was, spending her nights in Ichigo `s closet, having encountered Orihime already as well, and now Yoruichi. It seemed like a dream to her, a dream she would live as long as she could.

The gaiga oddly enough settled down as the cat attempted to fix it, at least to even it out a little. It fixed its gaze onto the scarf and hairpiece, the light from the celling reflecting in the pure silver hair ornament. Its violet eyes turned to Rukia, whom entered through the slide door. A knee long towel was wrapped around her body, and her damp hair had been put into a temporary ponytail that ran down her back, the bangs still framing her face like always, as if they were glued into position. "Not perfect, but at least better than before", the short shinigami commented, as she saw the result of the cutting. Even through it wasen`t a 100% perfect, it would`t be noticed if the neck hair was tied up. Her gaiga had luckily not cut the bangs. The gaiga took the cut off hair and went out of the room, trying to find a place it could be dumped in. Rukia`s eyes followed her gaiga`s until the door was slided back into place. Rukia sat down at the table, taking the Kuchiki ornament into her free hand, the other one holding the towel in place. Her face suddenly cut into a rather emotionless state, as if she was caught in memories and thoughts.

Yoruichi sighed as she trimmed the last area of the long hair, finally evening it up. She took a step back, taking a small walk around the table and Gigai. The Gigai's hair was fixed, not perfected, simply fixed. She turned her body to the bedroom door to face Rukia as she walked out of the bedroom. Yoruichi grinned at Rukia as she said the Gigai's hair was better than before. She nodded slightly, narrowing her eyes at it as if to look for any mistakes or long pieces of hair. There was none, as she could see.

"Well....I tried my best, though I suppose it is an improvment." Yoruichi admitted, chuckling slightly. She strode over to the kitchen, setting the scissors in a small wooden drawer. Yoruichi peered over at Jinta and Ururu, who were putting the last of the groceries away. She unintentionally grinned as she spotted the carton of milk. The cabinets and fridges were horribly empty, at least they had some food that could last them til' the next month. She had no idea why, but business had slowed considerably in the past few weeks. It was aggravating, but she felt sorrow for the kids.

All those weeks they were left alone were probably miserable. Yet when she found them, they seemed like they were okay. She only hoped Urahara and Tessai would return soon. It just wasn't the same, walking into the shop only to see the two kids. The shop was quiet most of the days. Nostalgia for the past began to surface in her mind, but Yoruichi silenced it before it could show on her face. The soft glimmering of Rukia's kenseiken drew her from her melencholy thoughts and she peered back to the young Kuchiki. Yoruichi brushed her bangs away from her face as she watched Rukia slip on the scarf and kenseiken.

She shook her head, chuckling slightly at how much Rukia looked like Byakuya. Though, the two's personalities seemed a bit different. Yoruichi didn't pay much attention to the smiley Gigai, she knew the little thing wouldn't cause any trouble in the shop. She yawned, still slightly tired. Yoriuchi turned arouund and walked into the kitchen, peering at Ururu and Jinta. "Jinta, Ururu, why don't you start simmering some rice, please? I'll be right back." Yoriuchi murmured softly, in a polite tone.

She wouldn't want to be rude to the young children, just it was about time she closed the shop. Yoruichi would let Rukia out whenever she desired to leave. Just Yoruichi knew no more customers would arrive, not at this hour, so she might as well close up the front area. She quickly wandered over to the front door, twisting the key in the lock. The tiny click let her know it was locked. Yoruichi walked back towards Rukia and the children, setting the key on the circular table. She glanced back to Rukia, blinking slightly.

The young Kuchiki looked rather distant, detached from the world around her. Yoruichi peered down at Rukia, still a bit confused. "You okay, Rukia?" Yoruichi asked, a mix of sympathy and curiosity in her voice. She turned her eyes back to Jinta and Ururu. Jinta was busy stirring rice, while Ururu looked back at Yoruichi and to Rukia. It seemed as if the young girl had caught on to the situation, but she simply turned back to help Jinta with the rice. Yoruichi sighed, walking over to the cabinet and setting four cups on the counter.

She poured each one to the brim with tea, flavored with honey and mint. Yoruichi left two cups for Jinta and Ururu on the counter, and set the other two on a small tea tray. She paced back to the round table, setting the tray in the center. Yoruichi sat down on the opposite side of Rukia, carefully dragging one saucer near to herself. "Have you spoken to the others since the Winter War? Orihime, Uryu, Chad.....Ichigo?" Yoruichi questioned. She said Ichigo's name with hesistance, very aware of the fact that there was a strong bond between the young Ichigo and Rukia Kuchiki.

Rukia remained she ways until the cat spoke to the two children, breaking her out of thoughts. . It would be rude and kinda awkward to be sitting eating only dressed in towels. She looked towards her gaiga that was sitting on the other side of the table, looking into the head of a mirror, enjoying its old haircut being back. She snaked a little on her head, running a hand through her hair. She was still lost on why she had grown it, no one had really questioned it. Did she look worse with longer hair? What did Ichigo truly think about it? Discovering her thoughts once again directed them selfs towards Ichigo, she returned to the bathroom in order to change back to her uniform. Spending only a few moments on roughly drying her hair and putting on her uniform and white socks, she returned before the cat had. She sat down at the table again, picking up the hair ornament again.

"OKay? Yea of cause..just spacing out a little", she mumbled in a unusual distant tone, as if she had only brought herself back for a moment to answer the question. She turned her violet eyes onto the two human`s, observing as they made rice. they looked so sorrowful without Uruhara or Tessai around, even through they tried to hide it. She wondered if that was how she looked when she had returned to soul society after the war? Even through the Kuchiki family accepted her and she had gotten closer to Byakuya, she had still felt sad when she was alone, and not occupied with training or such. She felt a sudden guilt rise within her. She knew that the twelfth division was working day and night on finding out the whereabouts of the still missing captains, what had she done to help? She was watching over Byakuya`s scarf and hair ornament..but that was it. She had not chosen herself to become a vice captain, neither had she chosen to come to the human world. Of cause she was happy over returning, if only for a month, but she still felt like she should do something to help find the missing.Once again the cat broke her out of thoughts, causing her to look away from the children and towards her.

"Ive only been here a few days...but..". She cluthed the part of her uniform in her lap, looking down at the table. "I have encountered Ichigo and Orihime. Its nice to see them again and all, and i would love to spend every moment with them, but its my duty to watch over the town for this month". Still not looking up, she reflected back onto the day before. Togeder with Orihime, she had encountered the former third espada, Tia Harrible, a survivor from Aizen`s armor. She had not appeared to be an enemy, yet she still felt unsettled around it. She had buieness with Ichigo, and she had jumped onto it with Orihime without much hesitating.

"Ah, thats right. I`ll be staying at Ichigo`s house during my mission...so there`s no need to worry about food for me from now on". Even through it was a sudden change of topic, she needed to direct her thoughts away from that incident. She took a sip of the tea, savoring the flavor. It was a little to sweet for her liking, but it was better than nothing.

A bright smile appeared in the form of a creepy smile given by Yokkyu's body itself. Shortly followed was a signature creepy laugh as Yokkyu ran forward towards the closest female being in the general area. With googlie eyes and a drooling mouth, Yokkyu ran and planted a hand firm on some blonde female's backside. With widened eyes, she turned abruptly and planted one firm hand across Yokkyu's smiling face. Yokkyu, not daunted in the least smirked and asked, SO does this mean we're dating?! . Once again, as if on que, her face lit up with undeniable rage and she planted another firm slap across his face. This time, Yokkyu staggered backward and seemed to break down into tears. With a scowl replacing the sadness, he ran off in another direction, away from the marketplace he was currently at. He ran, with tears slowly falling from his face, though his face was still contorted with slight anger. As he ran, he looked around, his face instantly changing to one of happiness as he saw another blonde woman about 200 meters away talking with a large and buff male. With a new indea set into his brain, he took off in her direction. Only to be stopped by a large male wearing a Captain haori with a six headed snake-whip in his hands.

Oh come on. I think it's time we take you to Urahara and get you replaced... the real Yokkyu said, currently in spirit form. Yokkyu, who's face appeared emotionless, lashed outward with his whip, catching the gigai by surprise. The six snake heads lashed out viciously, taking one bite-each-head on his chest, the first bite injecting a numbing and paralyzing venom, and the countless bites afterward just to ensure the subject was apprehended properly. With the poison taking effect almost instantly, the gigai fell to the floor, paralyzed, inable to move his arms of legs due to the venom being injected in a centrally located area, with the venom spreding to all the corners of his torso, primarily the upper left and right, as well as the lower left and right, neutralizing the right and left arms and legs. With the Gigai's mouth and face able to move, he started to violently curse at Yokkyu, pleading yet demanding to be left alone so he can finish his business. Yokkyu promptly ignored everything he said, punching him in the back of the head with intent to shut him up. Instead, this made the gigai simply complain even more. Oh bother... Yokkyu sighed as he lashed out a second time with his whip, this time mentally commanding each of the six eight foot long snakes to wrap around different points of his body so Yokkyu could jump into the air and carry his gigai with his zanpakutou instead of with his arms. This would be much easier.

With the snakes tightly wrapped around six different points on the gigai's human body, Yokkyu took one great leap into the air and focused reiatsu to his feet, allowing him to walk in mid air. With reiatsu concentrated to his feet, and about 30 feet in the air, the gigai hanging 12 feet below Yokkyu, the strong male who seemed to be a captain due to wearing the haori set off towards the Urahara shop, still ignoring the irritating cries of the gigai. Simply for entertainment purposes, Yokkyu grabbed and swung his zanpakutou to and fro as he ran in the air, causing the gigai's stomach to churn uneasily, and even making him throw up twice. This pleased Yokkyu. With a smile on his face, he looked at the shop of Urahara Kisuke from above, and promptly lowered himself to the ground, allowing the snakes to drop his prey, knowing that he was still paralyzed. He fell with a thud, allowing Yokkyu to land atop of him. Yokkyu mentally commanded the snakes again, three to each leg, to wrap around so Yokkyu could drag him into the shop. The snakes abided and wrapped tightly around his ankles, and Yokkyu strolled inside, to see two females - both he knew from his days in Soul Society. He had heard of the dark-skinned female, and he knew the other by her name. Rukia Kuchiki and Yoruichi something-or-another. Both weren't like him - weren't vizards, so he didn't really know how they would react to his pressence. However, he didn't stress about it and casually asked, Where might Kisuke be? I seem to be having gigai troubles... If you catch my drift... Yokkyu said, tugging on his zanpakutou violently to bring his prisoner who was 12 feet behind at his feet, still paralyzed and numbed. All I need is a replacement gigai, and this one to be burned. Please and thanks. he stated directly afterwards, bowing low to the noble Rukia Kuchiki - though she probably didn't catch on to his reason for bowing, and then once to the once-princess Yoruichi.

Kisuke had been sitting in his shop for a while he yawned slightly and looked around at the items along side him. He looked up to see three people talking outside of his shop he could tell one right off the bat by their voice one of them had to be Yoruichi the other had to be rukia judging on the figure that stood outside of his shop he laughed a little bit and heard yet another voice. the reiatsu. He looked around him and saw that his assistants were not in the shop with him this caused him to laugh a little bit at the fact he was there alone. He looked up at everyone and walked out to where they were. He got out there and spoke softly and in a funny tone. "yourichi san good to have you back. Rukia chan its nice to see you again as well." He said and looking at the third person here he just smiled at the putting on that act and his face got serious.

"Not normal for a vizard to come to my shop in less they need something that isn't anywhere else." He said starring at the man that was talking to yourichi and Rukie. He noticed a small scent near by that smelled as if it belonged to someone else wasn't quiet able to put a finger on it. He turned back around and looked at yoruihci. "There is some rice in the kitchen if your hungr yi know you have been working hard." He turned his eyes back at rukia and smilled slightly at her. "I heard your problem you need a new gigai is that right?" He said thinking he might of gotten then order backwards but he didn't know he was taking a guess he turned around and started to walk back into his shop. "Come with me then you three." He said leading them into the shop.