I have only some clue as to what I am doing. Most of the Bleach series, I've been forced to miss because of various chores, so all I know is from the little I've seen and the stuff on the characters I've read.

-S

The hallway was tall and long. Sunlight shone off the golden wood of the floor. A teenage girl with long dark blue hair separated into pigtails ran down the hall and slid open one of the doors.

"Yoruichi! Do you know where- uh…oh…um…uh….hi, Kisuke… uhhh…." In the middle of the room, a teenage girl with long dark purple hair drawn into a ponytail reclined on a mountain of pillows layered on a straw mattress. She was a shade darker than the blue haired girl. In front of the pillow bed sat, on a pile of pillows, a blonde teenage boy in a blue robe. He raised a hand in greeting.

"Hey, Yoruhaji." Her face turned a light shade of pink.

"Uhm…" Yoruhaji looked behind her, hearing footsteps in the adjacent hall.

"Do I know where…?" Yoruichi asked.

"I….gotta go. Later!" Yoruhaji closed her sister's door and took off down the hall. "Flash step! Duh…" she hit herself on the forehead and used a flash step to get out of the main house to the marketplace.

"Your little sister is weird."

"So is that girl you like."

"Actually, Shien is the most normal person I know." Kisuke replied, crossing his arms. "Buuut….That's the problem. Shien is too normal for my liking."

"Uh-huh. You're weird. Most people prefer someone 'too normal' to someone like us." Yoruichi said, referring to herself and her sister.

"You seem to forget, Yoruichi, I'm not most people."

"If you say so, Kisuke." she closed her yellow eyes and waved her hand in dismissal. Her door slid open again, revealing an annoyed man. "Father!"

"Yoruichi, have you seen your sister? She must be present for-"

"The noble's brat? I mean…son?"

"Yes. I expect you both to be there in two hours." Irate, her father left without another word.

"What?" Yoruichi sighed.

"There's another Soul Society location, and once a year, one of their five main clan's sons come here to choose a girl to take with them, so in a few years' time, they can get married."

"Bu- that's not fair! You two are my best friends!"

"Yeah. Haji doesn't want to go any more than I do. She'd prefer living with Father than a place where she'd be respected."

"What's that mean? I respect her. So does practically everyone else…" he thought of the band of 'miscreants' the trio occasionally hung out with.

"Do you promise never to say a word of this?" Yoruichi asked in a lowered voice.

"On every snide comment that's ever crossed my lips and every prank I've ever pulled." Kisuke said solemnly. They moved in closer.

"My father has a twin. He's Yoruhaji's father. Once Father found out, he changed her name from Tenshiko, Angel Child, to Yoruhaji, Night of Disgrace."

"That's awful. How could a parent be so cruel?"

"I don't know, but he's let her know what it means, and why it's her name."

"She would really rather stay here?"

"Course she would. You're her best friend, and I'm the only one she really has to talk to. Before they're married, she wouldn't be allowed to visit. We're talking three or four years here. After that, she could only come back here once every four months."

"Well, what if she and this kid got there, and he decides Yoruhaji's too weird?" Kisuke asked. Yoruichi looked at him and replied simply, "She'd be killed. Deemed unsuitable for marriage and childbearing is-"

"Childbearing? Wow. I can't imagine a knocked-up Haji."

"I know. She gets pretty worked up as it is." One of the wall panels on Yoruichi's left opened up, making a crashing noise.

"Rui! Help me!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"He- he saw me! That brown haired-

"Who saw you? What are you-

"little brat! He's as old as I am and he-

"Talking about? The noble's kid? You and I-

"Wouldn't quit touching me and he tried to-

"Have to be there in two hours. Wait, he did-

"Kiss me! I'm so screwed! There's no way-"

"What?"

"Out!" Before either of them could continue, Kisuke stood up.

"Hold on, you two!" he shouted. Yoruhaji shrank back a bit. "Now," he turned to his purple eyed friend, "what happened, Haji?" She stepped fully into the room and sat against the wall, close to Yoruichi.

"I…kinda set off some firecrackers in the guard house. Fireworks, actually. Uh…"she blushed as Kisuke laughed. Yoruichi noticed her sister's colour and smirked.

"You set them off and…?"

"Hm? Oh…" she looked at her feet. "I was running from them and came here to ask if you had seen Mei. The guards got too close so I had to go, then I remembered flash step. I got to the marketplace and hid my outer kimono in the back of Kurohime's shop, so no one would see the Shihoin clan symbol on it. No one told me this one had it on the back." The dark green kimono was short sleeved and knee length, suddenly too short for Yoruhaji. She got even redder. "I guess he had seen me sneak in and out of the shop. There wasn't enough room to use flash step, and he kept catching up to me. He's a brown haired brown eyed pervert prat.

"Well, you're gonna have to face him. We both do. Father said in two hours, we have to show up with the rest of the prissys."

"Awww…" Yoruhaji sank lower to the floor with the face of a depressed cat. She wasn't assuming she was going to be taken, but out of the main clans' daughters, she and her sister were said to be the most beautiful. Odds were, either she was taken from her sister, or her sister was taken from her. Neither option was a good one.

"How did you get rid of that Nirosaki kid" Kisuke asked Yoruichi.

"Eh. I pretended to be enamored with Teru. Then he quit stalking me."

"Yeah, but I hate Teru." Yoruhaji whined. "Can't we just cut up my face or something?"

"You would actually rather harm yourself than ask one of the guys for help?" Yoruichi asked.

"Shall I run through the list for you?" Upon receiving no answer, she started. "I hate Teru. Kino is working today, Zaku has recon to finish up, Hiten's too old, Kira is a girl, Baki is a jerk, Kotetsu wouldn't to it without being paid, and Sano is gay." she said flatly, sinking ever lower to the floor.

"You're forgetting someone." Yoruichi, now standing, put her foot on her sister's head.

"Hmph. Sano's brother is out of town."

"Not Arashi." Yoruhaji looked up

"Who?"

"I'll do it." Kisuke offered.

"Wha-" Yoruhaji looked at him, face crimson. Yoruichi kneeled down.

"You wouldn't even have to pretend to be enamored with him." she whispered. "Breathe." Yoruichi added, louder.

"It…it won't work." she stuttered.

"Why?" her sister asked.

"What if he makes me….h-hug you o-or s-s-something?"

"And I'm contagious?"

"What about Yoruichi?"

"I get along with Teru, and Kotetsu owes me."

"Bu-but but I…uhm…mrow!" she squeaked out. Kisuke and Yoruichi both laughed, causing Yoruhaji's blush to grow.

"Well sis, if you can't come up with anything better, we've got to go. Kisuke, can you explain the situation to Teru?"

"Sure thing, Yoruichi. See ya later, guys." The blonde left.

"Yoruichi! I hate you!"

"You're cute when you're mad, Haji." Her sister's blush encompassed her face, neck, and ears. "Face it. You like Kisuke." Yoruichi wore a smug face.

"I do not!" "You're a bit too red to be denying it, Haji."

"Yeah? Well…Nuh-uh!" Haji turned from her sister. "shut up, Rui." Yoruichi put her arm around her.

"Aww…come on. I won't tell if you don't want me to."

"What is there to tell?"

"Have it your way, Haji." Yoruichi started toward her door.

"Wait Rui! Don't…please….." Yoruichi laughed.

"Okay. I promise not to tell him you like him. But," she added, "we have to put something on your face so you don't go all cherry-cheeked later."

"Alright."

Okay, so you know, this and the next chapter...maybe the next two or three will take place in Sereitei. After that, it's brought into the Human world. R&R

-S