Title: It's An American Thing
Pairing: Yoruichi/Soi Fong
Series: Bleach
Rating: PG
Warnings: Yuri undertone.
Disclaimer: Not mine, 'cept for the writing.

It's An American Thing
ninety-nine; ikuze!

It was all very awkward.

The fact that it was one of those silly American holidays – something they'd decided to celebrate, which she thought was completely unnecessary – did nothing to bear on her current mission. After all, her current mission was something she couldn't turn away from, nor hope to escape. It was something that was very… inevitable.

It was the awarding of a box of chocolates to one very difficult-to-faze cat.

This is embarrassing, Soi Fong thought to herself, small scowl evident as well as a red stain blushed over her cheeks. She hated situations like this, particularly when she just knew how Yoruichi would always take advantage of it.

'Oh, for me? Why, Little Bee, are you trying to tell me something?'

And then she'd blush and scowl and be horribly embarrassed while Yoruichi would laugh, entirely too cheerful, and hug her tightly around the shoulders to keep her from quite literally running away.

Yet, for some reason, she found herself going back to that sort of response, over and over and over again.

Present clutched tightly within near-whitened fingertips and a look of determined agitation set firmly on her face, she embarked on her journey, planning to search every available nook and cranny for that elusive cat-slash-purple-headed-ex-Commander. That was just what she did, too; as it was, Yoruichi had that annoying ability to only be findable when you wanted her around the least.

It took nearly an hour of irritatingly enthused hunting and shunpo-ing, Soi Fong having blurred from one place to another as she searched for her Yoruichi-sama. Finally, when she stumbled upon the one place where she hadn't thought to look at all – the place from which she'd started – she found herself uttering a long sigh of relief.

Until she remembered the goal of her operation.

"Oi, Soi Fong!"

The shorter girl winced. It was too late to back out; not here, not now. Slowly, the Chinese woman approached the taller woman, gaze lowered and arms locked tightly behind her back.

"Hai, Yoruichi-sama?"

"Where have you been all day?" The woman grinned a canine-toothed smile, bending forward at the waist to affectionately ruffle the shorter woman atop the head. The latter, scowling for only a second, accepted the PDA.

"I've been bored! What with watching the orange-haired kid run after Rukia all day…" Yoruichi groaned, suddenly plopping down on the floor next to Soi Fong, cross-legged. "Not like anyone else is doing anything better, anyway. All they do is talk, talk… you know," she wove a hand in a circular motion for emphasis. "Like they don't know how to relax or something."

Soi Fong soon realized that she had absolutely nothing to say.

Yoruichi, after having released a long suffering sigh, soon realized that her past pupil and current companion hadn't said a single word in reply. One eye narrowing as its opposite found its eyebrow arching down in curious intrigue, she stared up at the Chinese woman, quickly noting Soi Fong's very tense posture.

"Speaking of relaxation," she murmured, voice suddenly suspiciously quiet. "I believe that someone needs a bit of that… right about now."

With no warning offered to the bewildered younger woman above her, Yoruichi gripped Soi Fong by the fabric of her pants and yanked, forcibly dragging the Captain down to tumble on the ground beside her.

(It took Soi Fong everything she had not to outwardly curse nor drop the delicately wrapped box of chocolates.)

"Y-Yoruichi-sama!" she stuttered in reply, but only after indignantly righting herself from her floored and discombobulated position.

"Calm down, Little Bee," Yoruichi laughed, the old nickname bringing yet another red tint to the shorter woman's cheeks. "You'd think that you'd be able to relax on today of all days."

It was at that moment that Yoruichi decided to lie down fully, head soon comfortably nestling in Soi Fong's lap.

Déjà vu. Lips pursed as she tried to restrain the usual look of contained embarrassment and agitation at Yoruichi-sama's­ far too casual actions, Soi Fong – who didn't know what to do with her spare hand which wasn't holding the chocolate box – eventually gave in, placing the palm gently atop the older woman's head. At the sign of an encouraging mumble, she began to lightly stroke through the loosened strands of hair, a surprisingly focused look dawning over her features as Yoruichi began to curl into the touch, a cat-like purr soon following.

…wait. Aren't I supposed to be giving her something…?

It took Soi Fong several minutes to register that she had, in fact, come to Yoruichi with a purpose other than petting her and making her fall asleep – in her lap. Frustrated once more, as she realized she had been caught in Yoruichi's trap of ease and relaxation, she began to quietly speak, murmuring the older woman's name in hopes of reviving her.

"Yoruichi-sama…?"

"…nn. What is it, Soi Fong?"

Soi Fong needed to take some time before she came up with a response.

Letting a silence stretch between them once more (as she continued to distractedly comb her fingertips through Yoruichi's hair, the ex-Commander still muttering bits of contentment as she nestled further into place), Soi Fong finally decided that the only means of explaining herself was through visual example.

When Yoruichi realized that the petting had stopped, she opened her eyes… only to see a blanket of black.

"Nn?"

Sitting up – and nearly slamming her forehead into the box of chocolates in the process, if Soi Fong hadn't hurriedly moved them out of Yoruichi's head's way – she twisted, one hand reaching for the offered box while the other's palm pressed to the ground, steadying herself. Peering at it curiously, it wasn't long until a slow and mischievous grin broke over her features, leaving Soi Fong in the midst of paranoid semi-regret.

"Oh, for me? Why, Little Bee…"

Soi Fong's eyes squeezed shut, teeth gritting at the back of her throat and fists clenching as she waited for the sure-fire bit of embarrassment to come, the short jibes that Yoruichi always had to fling in there.

It's coming, and this time, I'm going to be ready for it, and I-…

"…thank you. I love it."

…what?

Eyelids slowly cracking open as she warily peered at her former master, Soi Fong was left speechless, lips gradually parting as she attempted to mumble an incoherent sound in reply. Yoruichi was still grinning at her, though this one was far softer than the last. In fact, it almost looked…

…loving.

"I love it," the older woman repeated, more serious this time, as she leaned forward to wrap an arm around Soi Fong's shoulders. Gently pulling the shorter girl to her in a half-hug, Yoruichi pressed the side of her forehead to Soi Fong's own, cheery smile still evident. "Thank you, Soi Fong."

The Chinese Captain, stunned to silence, lagged in her response before she hurried to reply, color returning to her cheeks as she blurted out a hasty "You're welcome, Yoruichi-sama!".

Maybe she's not as viciously obnoxious and casual as I thought she was-…

"I always knew you wanted to get into my pants, Soi Fong."

"What-…!"

And once again, Soi Fong found herself furiously blushing, a laughing Yoruichi-sama (managing to murmur a series of 'just kidding!' amongst the chuckles) still hugging her tightly to her form.

She hasn't changed.