YORUICHI, URAHARA, AND BYAKUYA'S GAME OF TAGby razberryl
Yoruichi stared incredulously at an entirely too innocent looking Urahara. No, that's not it. He doesn't look innocent at all. He's trying very hard, to his credit, but the slight quirk at the corner of his mouth and the glint in his eyes always give him away.
"Kisuke... It's impossible to put down five tens. You're cheating!"
Urahara, for his part merely tried to maintain his best cheat face, which isn't so much unlike his poker face. "Impossible? It only means that no one has tried hard enough for it, in my vocabulary..."
Already Yoruichi is overturning the cards Urahara had thrown in the pile of cards between the two of them. "Four tens and a /joker/? What is this, a joke?" Yoruichi exclaimed, then paused, staring into Urahara's grinning face. "... Your sense of humor is still /awful/, Urahara Kisuke. And you still cheated."
Towards Urahara the pile of cards is pushed, but Urahara seems to have other ideas. "Wait, I seem to recall a certain rule that jokers can be substituted for /any/ card in some card games and is valued as such until put in opposition with the actual card-"
/Headbutt/. On his back Urahara fell, seeing the nine planets in circulation in the back of his head.
"I /specifically/ took the jokers out of play to prevent exactly-" Yoruichi started, but was interrupted by a polite cough behind her. "Yes?" The girl responded, turning to face the originator of that cough, for courtesy's sake.
A middle-aged man with frameless spectacles and graying hair stood before her. Yoruichi recognized the man as the head housekeeper of the Kuchiki family. "Can I help you?" The girl added once more, peering into the man's narrow eyes.
"Please excuse my intrusion," the housekeeper began. "But have you seen my young master, Byakuya-sama? Last I had heard he was out to meet you for another match of tag, but it's way past his dinner time and the household's in a state! Do you know of his whereabouts?"
Yoruichi's ears twitched, probably a habit acquired from her cat form, but no one noticed it over her dark, fluffy hair. "Uh, no. Some time after our game of tag we decided to try for something different... Hide-and-seek, to be exact. What he lacks in swiftness he certainly makes up for in cunning. I haven't been able to find him despite my best observational powers," she shrugged noncommittally. "It's quite beyond me. Please give him my regards once he turns up."
As the housekeeper's figure disappeared from view, Urahara, from his position on the ground, suddenly contracted a bad case of snickers. Even Yoruichi's mouth twisted into a smirk.
"Now don't make me remind you how many times you pulled that on /me/, Urahara Kisuke." "But you /were/ too cunning for me to-" "Silence!"
XXX
From deep in the twisting tunnels of the sewers, a young Byakuya sat curled up in a niche in the walls beside the water way, shivering with a victorious smile on his face.
"She'll never find me here. No one but the 4th divison knows how to find their way down here," the young boy said to himself, triumphant in his tone. "I totally won. I knew if I kept it up long enough I'll beat her somehow, she had to get tired running away from me all day. She may have beaten me in tag, but she'll never beat me in hide-and-seek!"
A lone sneeze joined the sounds of running waters, and nothing more.
Yoruichi stared incredulously at an entirely too innocent looking Urahara. No, that's not it. He doesn't look innocent at all. He's trying very hard, to his credit, but the slight quirk at the corner of his mouth and the glint in his eyes always give him away.
"Kisuke... It's impossible to put down five tens. You're cheating!"
Urahara, for his part merely tried to maintain his best cheat face, which isn't so much unlike his poker face. "Impossible? It only means that no one has tried hard enough for it, in my vocabulary..."
Already Yoruichi is overturning the cards Urahara had thrown in the pile of cards between the two of them. "Four tens and a /joker/? What is this, a joke?" Yoruichi exclaimed, then paused, staring into Urahara's grinning face. "... Your sense of humor is still /awful/, Urahara Kisuke. And you still cheated."
Towards Urahara the pile of cards is pushed, but Urahara seems to have other ideas. "Wait, I seem to recall a certain rule that jokers can be substituted for /any/ card in some card games and is valued as such until put in opposition with the actual card-"
/Headbutt/. On his back Urahara fell, seeing the nine planets in circulation in the back of his head.
"I /specifically/ took the jokers out of play to prevent exactly-" Yoruichi started, but was interrupted by a polite cough behind her. "Yes?" The girl responded, turning to face the originator of that cough, for courtesy's sake.
A middle-aged man with frameless spectacles and graying hair stood before her. Yoruichi recognized the man as the head housekeeper of the Kuchiki family. "Can I help you?" The girl added once more, peering into the man's narrow eyes.
"Please excuse my intrusion," the housekeeper began. "But have you seen my young master, Byakuya-sama? Last I had heard he was out to meet you for another match of tag, but it's way past his dinner time and the household's in a state! Do you know of his whereabouts?"
Yoruichi's ears twitched, probably a habit acquired from her cat form, but no one noticed it over her dark, fluffy hair. "Uh, no. Some time after our game of tag we decided to try for something different... Hide-and-seek, to be exact. What he lacks in swiftness he certainly makes up for in cunning. I haven't been able to find him despite my best observational powers," she shrugged noncommittally. "It's quite beyond me. Please give him my regards once he turns up."
As the housekeeper's figure disappeared from view, Urahara, from his position on the ground, suddenly contracted a bad case of snickers. Even Yoruichi's mouth twisted into a smirk.
"Now don't make me remind you how many times you pulled that on /me/, Urahara Kisuke." "But you /were/ too cunning for me to-" "Silence!"
XXX
From deep in the twisting tunnels of the sewers, a young Byakuya sat curled up in a niche in the walls beside the water way, shivering with a victorious smile on his face.
"She'll never find me here. No one but the 4th divison knows how to find their way down here," the young boy said to himself, triumphant in his tone. "I totally won. I knew if I kept it up long enough I'll beat her somehow, she had to get tired running away from me all day. She may have beaten me in tag, but she'll never beat me in hide-and-seek!"
A lone sneeze joined the sounds of running waters, and nothing more.