My first Bleach fanfic! Dedicated to the pairing UraYoru. The story is based on their past, mainly about their escape from SS, and how they ended up as what they are now. The story is based on their strong friendship, but implies a deeper relationship. You can take it either way.

Captains (Taichous) appeared in this chapter:
1st Division - Yamamoto
4th Division - Unohana Retsu
12th Division - Urahara Kisuke (Ex-captain)
2nd Division - Shihouin Yoruichi (Ex-cap, Ex-commander of Covert Ops)

I do not own Bleach nor its characters.

AU: minor changes've been done for your reading pleasure :) FanFic killed whatever styling I had...but regardless...

HABITS: Chapter 1

She leapt through the darkness, her silent flash steps unfaltering, her figure barely visible in the moonlight. She came as soon as she could, as soon as she heard the news of his imprisonment. She had brought nothing along with her, because nothing here mattered. Except him.

She paused briefly before the Tower of Penitential. The sight of it made her heart sick. No, he's not in there, not for another week. She headed, instead, for the Central 46 Prison, where Soul Society's pending prisoners were kept. Getting in would be a piece of cake, she grinned darkly, but getting out… She can't think about that now. She had already come this far.

She surveyed the area and saw the guards. She leapt down from the roof, light as a cat.

There was no time to play around, something she usually would have done. She needed to finish them off quick. So she took out two darts, and aimed at the closest guards. They fell instantly. The third guard, who saw both his comrades fell, Shikai-ed his Zanpaktou and slashed at her direction. She dodged and stepped out of the shadows.

The guard paused in shock. "Taichou!" But she only sneered, taking the moment of advantage and aimed the finishing blow. Slowly, her last resistance fell. Without hesitation, she marched in front of the entrance and blasted open the door, revealing rows of empty cells.

She raced past the empty cells, along the dim corridor, ignoring the resounding alarm. Her eyes searched for his name. Urahara Kisuke.

The arrest order came this morning, without warning. Central 46 secretly ordered the arrest of Urahara Taichou of the 12th Division, for the felony of inventing an unauthorized and undetectable, power-sucking Gigai. Knowing the power of Urahara Kisuke, old man Yama personally led the arresting squad, along with two other Taichous. It was the first time she ever known Yamamoto to release his Zanpaktou. The fight didn't last long; Kisuke was caught off guard for one thing, and he was greatly outnumbered. But he managed to get away with only a wound on his shoulder, which Unohana-san had taken care of.

She did not witness this. She was sent away on a special mission outside of Soul Society. Maybe the Central 46 planned this on purpose, so she couldn't interfere. She only heard the news when she got back, when rumors were flying all over Gotei 13 about the arrest. She knew the reason behind the sudden arrest. The real reason. The Central 46 must had found out, yet it's too dangerous to reveal to anyone, so they used the Gigai as an excuse. Actually she had known this would happen, expected it, ever since the first time he proudly showed her that secret ambition.

Tonight they would leave this place, together.

She halted at the last cell, almost relieved to find the familiar figure standing in the shadow, tensed at the sounding alarm. The figure turned, paused, and moved slowly towards her, those charming eyes of his widened in disbelief.

"Yo-ruichi,"

She wanted to go up and embrace him, but the cell bars acted like a barrier between them, stopping her from getting close to him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Helping you break out of course," she said, stating the obvious.

There was a pause. He looked intently at her. The alarm sounded louder than ever.

"You risk a felony just being here…"

"And it's on the risk of death that I am willing to get you out of here." she said, determined, and drew out her Zanpaktou.

"Stand back, Kisuke."

They had made a promise, before he left the Shinigami Academy, that they would meet again in Gotei 13. It was their childhood dream. He was a year higher than her, and was accepted into Gotei 13 before graduation. He said he would be waiting for her, she said she would be there, and he would better be there waiting.

"Just make sure you don't get kick out before I get in," She tried to sound cheerful, but a year without seeing him…

"Don't worry about it. I'll behave. Besides, it's no fun getting in trouble on my own. " He sounded happy-cheery as usual.

"But of course. And you always leave an imprint of your mischief everywhere you go."

They both glanced around at the ashes of the blew-up classroom, where one of Kisuke's experiment exploded.

"…yeah, they'll spend years trying to fix that…"

"You'd better go before the sensei sees it. I'll try to cover it for now."

"Well, it's quite visible…" He said, indicating the missing wall, and the curious students outside that were now staring at them and the huge chuck missing in the school building.

"Well, I'm off then. See you in Gotei 13." He smiled. That was the last time she saw him in the Academy.

"Yeah, I'll see you in Gotei 13."