Author Notes: Hello again, everyone! Kisuke and Yoruichi are one of my favourite ships in Bleach. I've wanted to write a story for them for some time, but not just the two of them. Enjoy :)

Warnings: Fluff and OOCness because my muse refused to let me write them as matured adults :p

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo.

- Story Start -

In the early hours of the morning, Urahara's shoten was dark and quiet. There was a slight shimmer in the air just across the road and a pair of Senkaimon materialised, opening to let out copious puffs of white smoke, a black Hell butterfly, and a black cat with golden eyes.

Yoruichi's eyes and whiskers drooped with exhaustion. Thanks to Kurosaki and his harebrained scheme to storm Soul Society to rescue Rukia Kuchiki, she had to go back to make sure all the loose ends were tied up. Kukaku and Ganju were gleefully open about making their involvement known, but Yoruichi preferred that Kisuke and Tessai weren't implicated as much as possible.

Her Seireitei and Rukongai contacts had assured her of that, much to her relief. She was finally home; tired, hungry, and looking forward to a bowl of milk, a grilled fish, a hot bath and a nice long sleep.

In that order, with some TLC from Kisuke thrown into the mix.

Yoruichi's ears drooped further as she padded across the road. She would trade the tender in TLC for passion in a heartbeat, but genius scientist and skilled onmitsukido operative aside, Kisuke Urahara was one heck of a clueless Shinigami.

Exiled Captain.

Shop owner.

Whatever.

Regardless, he and Tessai still owed her a big thank you and Yoruichi intended to point that out tonight. Jumping onto the bathroom window ledge, she squirmed inside, leaped onto the tiled floor and exited the bathroom. She sauntered down the corridor only to realise from the dark and silence that it was probably very late at night. Or very early in the morning.

Oh well, too bad for Kisuke then. She made her way to his room and slid open the shoji door with a paw before stepping inside, absently sliding it shut with her tail.

There he was, that annoying, fascinating, irritating, adorable man, clad in nothing but a pair of loose sleeping trousers, sprawled on his back with one arm flung over his eyes.

Kisuke had something against sleeping in the dark and Yoruichi was grateful for the shaded lamp he kept switched on in a corner of the room. Her eyes gleamed, tail twitching as she eyed that lean muscled chest with its interesting dips and planes; such a tempting target. She cast a quick barrier around the room, took two running steps forward and then she leaped.

- o -

Tessai awoke with a start, alert but not alarmed. He had been awakened by... someone, but the kido barrier around the shoten which he refreshed every night hadn't been disturbed. It could only mean their visitor was both known and trusted, one whose reiatsu signature had already been keyed into the barrier by Tessai himself.

Reaching out with his senses, he relaxed and nodded to himself. It was Yoruichi. He squinted at the clock beside his futon. Five in the morning. An hour and a half before his usual wake up time, but he might as well brew some tea before going back to sleep. There was a new carton of milk in the fridge and some strawberry mochi if she was hungry.

Tessai stood up, slid his feet into his slippers and left his room. The living room was empty so he continued onto the kitchen and set a small pot of water on the stove, switching it on with a practiced flick of his wrist. While he waited for the water to boil, he measured out the tea leaves and absently reached out with his senses again, tracing Yoruichi's reiatsu to Urahara's room.

The fact that she had arrived here so early and gone straight there filled Tessai with a sense of foreboding. For the past one hundred years, the three of them had managed to stay below the Gotei 13's radar. He hoped there weren't any repercussions from Kuchiki's rescue either for themselves or for the group of Karakura teens they had befriended.

- o -

Kisuke awoke the instant he heard his room door slide open. He stayed perfectly still since he knew who his uninvited guest was.

Uninvited, but not unwelcome.

Never that.

He kept his breathing deep and regular as a simple barrier formed in the room. His senses tracked the almost silent paws on the tatami mats, inwardly smirking at what he knew was coming next.

When a slight weight landed on his stomach, he still didn't move but counted to five until he was sure her anticipatory grin had turned into a frown of puzzlement. Then he lowered the arm over his eyes... only for the teasing words to die on his tongue and his eyes to go round in shock.

Yoruichi may have entered his room as a cat, but she had changed mid-leap because it was her gorgeous and completely naked human self who sat atop him now, one smooth buttock resting on his stomach and the rest of her weight evenly distributed between her four limbs. She was leaning back with arms straightened and legs bent, hands and feet flat on the tatami mats on either side of his futon.

Stunned, Kisuke stared at her face before his gaze dropped, pulled by the lure of her long neck, gorgeous breasts, flat stomach and - he raised his head up off his pillow - what lay between those nonchalantly spread thighs.

"Yoruichi-san!" he squawked, bolting upright and displacing her in a tumble of long hair, flailing limbs and surprised squeal. "Have you no shame, woman?!"

Yoruichi burst out laughing as she sat up and shook her hair back, golden eyes twinkling.

"Mou, you've seen me naked before, Kisuke."

"Not in such detail!"

"What a prude. We're friends, aren't we?" she said with a shrug. "Childhood friends at that."

Kisuke ran a hand down his face and glared at her, feeling the heat pulse in his face.

"Childhood friends don't go around showing everything they have!"

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? I seem to recall two young boys showing me their little packages after one of our sparring lessons...?"

Kisuke sputtered, blushing even hotter.

"Tessai and I were eight! We didn't know any better then!"

Yoruichi's laughter was low and far too amused as she crawled towards him, all predatory grace and gleaming eyes.

"And you do now?" she asked. "So why is your face so red? Surely the great Kisuke Urahara has had his fill of beautiful women here in the Living World?"

Kisuke scooted backward until he was off his futon completely, back thumping against the wall behind him.

"I'm not going to dignify that with an answer."

Yoruichi blinked.

"So... that means no?" she asked. "What have you been doing all this time?"

"I've been busy."

"I mean after you'd helped those Visored. What have you been doing since then?"

Kisuke swallowed.

"There was never any, uh, opportunity," he mumbled.

Yoruichi's eyebrows shot up before she gestured at the window.

"You live in a town full of people!"

Kisuke hunched one shoulder. He could feel her drawing closer and his normally clever mind scrabbled around for a change in subject.

"You must be hungry. Ah, I do believe Tessai-san went shopping this morning. He bought-"

Then she was right in front of him, kneeling between his legs. He sucked in a startled breath which was a mistake because her alluring scent was suddenly all he could smell and think about.

What Tessai bought this morning went unspoken. Forgotten.

A slender finger reached out to tip his chin up, forcing him to meet thoughtful golden eyes.

"Were you waiting for me, Kisuke?" Yoruichi asked gently. "All this time?"

He stared at her, knowing his answer was displayed on his face, and frankly, not caring anymore.

"You are such an idiot," she breathed before closing the gap between them.

- o -

Tessai surveyed the tray he had prepared - warmed teapot filled with freshly brewed tea, stack of clean teacups, bowl of milk, plate of mochi and two pairs of chopsticks. He nodded in satisfaction, picked up the tray and headed for the living room. After setting it down on the low table, he went to Urahara's room.

Tessai had been the Captain of the Kido Corp before his exile. His expertise enabled him to sense the flow of reiatsu in a person's body so clearly, he could visualise the outline of their body even through walls, much less a flimsy shoji door just two feet away. He focused on the two signatures inside the room, trying to determine - without actually eavesdropping - whether the discussion was at a point where he could interrupt them.

Then he froze.

Urahara and Yoruichi didn't seem to be discussing anything, not with their lips locked together like that. Tessai's mouth went dry. He noted that a barrier had been erected inside the room, but it was simple enough that his keen hearing still caught the wet sounds of passionate kissing.

With a sharp inhale, he retracted his senses and bowed his head, large hands tightly fisted by his sides. They were closer than he had thought, much closer than he was to either one of them. But he was glad, he told himself fiercely. Yes, he was. Urahara and Yoruichi were his two best friends ever since childhood. They hadn't interacted much once they grew up, what with him entering the Kido Corp and Urahara the Omnitsuki which Yoruichi headed.

But then that incident happened. Tessai and Urahara had gotten involved, Yoruichi had intervened, and all three of them had had to flee Soul Society. Urahara and Tessai had stayed in the Living World while Yoruichi roamed Kami knew where, dropping by now and again.

Tessai had been content to stay by Urahara's side; cooking, helping out with the shop and later on, taking care of Jinta and Ururu.

After a hundred years, he was more devoted to Urahara than before. In fact, he had even started to entertain a slender hope that his feelings were returned, based on warm grey eyes and fond smiles-

No.

It was stupid. So, so stupid to even imagine anything like that could happen while Yoruichi Shihouin existed. She was everything Tessai wasn't, and he didn't just mean their gender. She was extremely beautiful, extraordinarily skilled, generous, loyal and fun loving. A noble princess who thought nothing of befriending two boys not of noble blood, who hadn't hesitated to save both of them from an unjust imprisonment, even though it meant throwing away her career and her comfortable life in Seireitei.

Tessai had long since regarded her as their saviour and goddess, an opinion he knew Urahara shared. He was eternally grateful to her, he would lay down his life for her. For both of them.

So the very least he could do now... was leave them be.

Taking another deep breath, he turned on his heel and walked back down the corridor, back ramrod straight, hands still clenched by his sides. He would get another hour of sleep - or try to - before going to rouse Jinta and Ururu at their usual time.

When a single tear ran down his cheek, he wiped it away. He was just happy to discover that the two people he loved most in the world loved each other.

Another tear ran down his other cheek and was wiped away as well.

Yes, he was happy.

- o -

When they finally pulled apart, Kisuke didn't look away, but stared at Yoruichi, eyes wide, lips parted and looking, on the whole, flatteringly awestruck.

Yoruichi grinned at him while mentally berating herself for not doing this earlier. Like a hundred years earlier or even before. She was never one to care much about protocol after all.

"Should've done this sooner, huh," she couldn't resist saying smugly.

"Yes," Kisuke said, still staring at her.

"After all, we both know it would be another hundred years if I waited for you," she purred.

"Yes," Kisuke said again. Then he chuckled and leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers.

"So glad you didn't," he said and slid a hand to the back of her neck, his fingers warm against her skin as he kissed her this time.

Yoruichi responded to the kiss, eyes half lidded to hide a sudden twinkle. She waited until he pulled back before she spoke.

"Think the others heard us?"

Kisuke froze at once, eyes snapping open in shock. Yoruichi chuckled, she couldn't help it.

"Relax, I'm sure you felt the barrier I put up earlier. Granted, it's nothing like Tessai's or yours, but it should be..."

She trailed off, eyes narrowing at the fleeting expressions on Kisuke's face - worry and guilt instead of mere embarrassment. Not for the first time was she glad that while he wore his playful, silly mask to fool everyone, he never did so in front of her or Tessai.

Ah.

Yoruichi shifted to sit cross legged, propping her cheek on one fist with her elbow on her knee.

"So. Tessai?" she guessed.

Kisuke hesitated before nodding, his eyes sliding down to her breasts again. He jerked his gaze away after a moment, his guilty expression making Yoruichi want to either smack him or hug him. Maybe both, she thought as he bowed his head. Definitely both if they were already lovers without telling her.

"Have you two-" she demanded, but Kisuke quickly shook his head.

"No," he said, his voice low. "We... never even talked about it."

He glanced at her - when was the last time he had looked so uncertain, so guilty? - before looking away again.

"But... there's something between us. After staying together all this while, relying on each other, building a home with Jinta-kun and Ururu-chan. We just never..."

He trailed off and tipped his head back, staring at the ceiling, frowning as if searching for the right words to use.

"Because you two idiots were waiting for me," Yoruichi finished in a matter of fact voice. It was the only reason she could think of, the only reason she would accept.

Kisuke's startled look only confirmed her suspicions, or maybe it was the dawning of hope and wonder in his eyes. Something bloomed inside her chest, something deep and sweet, something that told her things could get even better than they already were.

When she smiled, Kisuke ducked his head, a relieved smile quirking his lips as he peeped at her through his messy bangs.

"Well, you know the trouble we end up in whenever we try to do something without you," he said.

That rueful tone, that humble pose contrasting with those mischievous eyes undid Yoruichi completely. She started laughing again, not stopping even when Kisuke straightened up in alarm, eyes darting to the door.

"Hush," he begged. "You'll wake everyone up."

Yoruichi tried to rein in her amusement.

"Barrier, remember?" she said and took a deep breath before reaching for his hand.

"Shall we include Tessai then?"

Kisuke swallowed as his fingers tightened almost painfully around hers, his nervous smile making her heart turn over in her chest.

"Are you sure? What if... what if he doesn't...?"

When Yoruichi raised an eyebrow, Kisuke had the grace to look abashed.

"He'll agree," she said confidently. "After all, you two have always been mine."

It was true, she realised. Yes, there was a small part of her that had suggested this to appease Kisuke, but after saying those words out loud... it was true.

"You really mean that?"

Yoruichi nodded, wondering why the hell hadn't they come together long before now. Kisuke's grin was bright and brilliant as was the smacking kiss he gave her. Yoruichi wrapped her arms around his neck and rose onto her knees, pressing close to him and making him groan.

Too bad it was almost dawn. The others would wake soon.

Tomorrow night then, she decided. Waiting would be a pain, but it would be worth it. Tessai would just need to put up the strongest sound blocking barrier he was capable of.

No sense in scarring Jinta and Ururu for life!

- Story End -

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you enjoyed it... and want to read more :)