Hotheaded Huh? (Yoruichi/Kokoro)

A soft appreciative whistle escaped the woman as she stood at the threshold of the estate itself. Eyes shifting from side to side as years of experience and frankly, memory, let her catch those subtle airs and familiar.......quirks about the space. Particularly the security measures and of course personnel distribution. Ah, the times she would sneak into this place just to mess with little Byakuboy.

But this time Yoruichi made no effort to SNEAK into the Kuchiki manor, no she quite happily walked up to the manor itself, enjoying a brief moment in memory lane. Ignoring the reasoning that she was here for. There was, after all, no reason to go startin this off on a bad foot. How long had it been since she'd seen little Kokoro? By far one of the younger members of the family to be sure. And quite the fast grower at that, likely due to her heritage. The genes of nobles certainly did like to lock their members in puberty jail for stretches of time.

Ah, right.

She began paying attention to the servant that approached her, having entirely missed the greeting that had been offered to her. She smiled easily, reaching up and waving dismissively at what she was SURE was a very well-polished and polite greeting befitting her past titles. "I'm actually here to see Lady Kokoro." She informed the young man, watching as her request was acknowledged and the man promptly sped off to relay the information to the woman herself.

Meanwhile, Yoruichi's gaze drifted lazily toward a Koi pond as she waited. Under normal circumstances she would have just invited herself into the estate and just popped up with a 'Howdy' next to the Shihouin woman. But she felt perhaps Kokoro deserved a bit more of a normal greeting. The surprise visits would happen in the future~

The very idea of getting to mess with one of her favorite relatives put a slight grin on Yoruichi's lips.

Yoruichi's brows raised for a moment when she noticed Kokoro emerging, the tiniest sliver of herself up in her guard, ready to adjust. However, when no such sudden approach came she twitched. One, tiny little part of her had missed that. Maybe because ages ago her brother used to do the very same thing the moment he saw her, maybe she had just enjoyed the little games of keep-away. But all the same, Yoruichi couldn't help but furrow her brows just a little, exaggerated disappointment laced in her expression. "Hi hi? That's it? Who are you and what have you done with my Niece?" She promptly insisted, as if offended that she hadn't been the target of a tackle.

She sighed, reaching up and gently touching her forehead as she let her eyes drift to a close. "Never thought that my Precious little Kokoro would one day have lost that rambunctious energy. And here I was looking forward to a game of tag." She sighed, shaking her head just a little before a sudden Cheshire smile swept across her features, a single eye opening to gleam in Kokoro's direction. "Well, I suppose if you've lost the will to be the tagger, I guess your old Aunt Yoruichi will have to take up the role."' She hummed, as if she hadn't even heard any mention of the wedding or the photographs. Truth be told, while she would have liked to have been invited she honestly hardly expected anyone to know where to send such invitations. So she simply brushed that subject aside.

No, rather than that, Kokoro would so very suddenly have Yoruichi directly in her personal space, arms raised, hands curled into claws, about to pull Kokoro into the biggest bear hug of her entire life when she suddenly had stopped, pausing to look contemplatively as it seemed her decision to tackle Kokoro was halted. On second thought....

"Well I wouldn't mind looking at a few Photographs might be pretty nice. I'm sorry I wasn't around for it. " She hummed, dropping her arms to her sides for a moment and reaching up to gently pat the top of Kokoro's head as she had done in the past. She vaguely wondered if Kokoro even remembered, it wasn't very often she got to see them. "But I actually did have something else I wanted to ask you about. I think I'll accept your offer to go inside." She smiled, proceeding to walk toward the house with Kokoro at her side. "It seems like I missed a lot the past couple years. You're all grown up, but everyone seems.....different as well. Even little Kokoro is more distant than I remember." She noted with a troubled tone, almost sounding like she was pouting at the end of that sentence, at least before her expression grew a bit more serious. "Congratulations on your marriage, bye the way. Is your Wife around?" She asked, glancing around as if to catch sight of the woman in the area.

Yoruichi quirked a brow as she followed Kokoro, eyes idly scanning the surroundings and decor whilst the woman herself fretted away. A pause was given before Yoruichi looked over her shoulders at Kokoro and gave a suspicious peer. "You've become a real worry wart since I last saw you." She observed, quirking a brow and tilting her head to the side as she gave a sly smile. "Though so far as you tackling people. I imagine that given your reputation, the giddy sunny woman that went around tackling her loved ones was exactly the kind of woman she wanted to marry. " She reasoned. Honestly it was one of the things that made her anxious about such committed situations. The inevitable self-doubting, but she was glad that it didn't seem to effect Kokoro TOO badly.

"Hm, I'm glad to hear she's keeping up with that. You wouldn't believe how often people give up when they realize how hard rehabilitation can be." She noted, marking Keiko's resolve and then smiling when the girl finally gave in and put their arms around her, a hug which Yoruichi was happy to reciprocate with her own bearish strength. Certainly Kokoro would never have to worry about harming Yoruichi with this sort of thing.

"Well, tackling monster or not, I'm still happy for you and Keiko. Though you sure you want to introduce me? If you're worried about reputation maybe yer ol Aunt Yoruichi isn't the bst person to go showing." She grinned toothily, even raising her hands and curling her fingers into claws as if to give a menacing air about herself. Suffice to say that she would be happy to meet Keiko, but it was still fun to tease Kokoro about introducing such a problematic member of the family to them.

She paused, thinking for a moment as she lightly drummed her fingers atop Kokoro's head, considering things. And for just one moment, she considered confiding in the girl. About .....well any number of things. But just as quickly abandoned the idea. No, she would not burden the newlywed with such things. Instead, she smiled and then patted Kokoro on the shoulder. "SO! In the meantime, why don't we sit down and you tell me all about this little romance that popped up between you and your wife?~ You know how us old ladies love us some gossip and food for vicarious endeavors!" She insisted, promptly leading Kokoro to a couch and smirking as she promptly pressure the girl into telling her about probably the BIGGEST thing she'd missed in her absence as it pertained to Kokoro.

Such a mundane, simple thing to enjoy with her Niece.

All while she ......mentally....kept a note about what Kokoro had said about her mother.
Something she might follow up on and investigate later on.

Yoruichi snorted a bit and waved off such praise. She was, perhaps, a favorite for shinigamI who were super into nostalgia and the like. She was fairly sure a couple shinigami had surpassed her speed and such. There was likely no comparison to say the least compared to SOME others.She let that subject lie as it was and simply focused on the far more entertaining story. Yoruichi was a good listener and an attentive audience, sitting and smiling as she listened to Kokoro recount the tail. Making note of her body language and the clear halcyon way that she spoke of the events. Well, most of them. She did firm her expression just a little as she thought over the whole situation that had spawned from that act of violence. She had to admit, she had been a bit ....unsure how to feel about the girl. Her Niece.

She had received some mixed reports on the incident itself, and she also knew that Yuushirou had been involved in the incident. She closed her eyes, drumming her fingers as she ....pondered the situation. But she let her eyes dart and refocus onto Kokoro when the subject shifted on to her recovery. It was adorably sweet, to hear how Kokoro had come to be so close to the girl damaged by the incident. And she was pleased that it was a member of the family that had gotten so close, even so far as to join the families with their marriage.


And some small part of her wondered.

It had been... well.... a while. But how long had it really been? Keiko had begun her recovery, however the fact that the Healers available to the nobles hadn't been able to simply recover the damage so easily. Keiko likely had a long road ahead of her. She did not doubt Kokoro's ability to stick by her and do all she could to help the woman recover. However, she knew that ......struggle could change people. Or bring out things that were previously hidden even to themselves. There was a limit to what physical therapy could do, and even if Keiko managed to return to full functionality, the strain and abuse her body had gone through would eventually resurface when the woman grew older. Lingering pains and even relapse if she were go get sick or be injured again. She knew about the circumstances around the woman, but she knew little of Keiko herself. And that part of herself wondered. Even if Keiko held strong. Even if she was able to keep herself.

Could Kokoro bear to see her love fall again and again?
Could she bear to see someone so gentle and brilliant begin to slowly fade and tarnish.
Or worse.....could she bear to see the pain behind every smile and loving phrase, knowing that her wife was suffering beneath it all? Especially for her.

These thoughts interlaced and wove in subtle silence beneath the calm, happy smile she held for her Niece as Kokoro finished. Yoruichi reached up, and gently touched Kokoro's chin, lifting her own as she took a moment to look proud at the woman's face. The face of a simple, honest woman in love. "I'm glad that you've found yourself such a happy place for yourself with your Wife. You know, with that strength of yours I always did wonder if you would wind up taking up the life of a Shinigami. And now I do wonder what you'll do with yourself. On one hand: You have something precious to you. Someone to spend your days with." She paused and her expression grew a bit more serious. Not the deadpan look that she might have given someone else. But a look tinged with worry.
"But. We can't just pretend like what happened just before my absence never happened. I wish you could have been born into an era where I could say that you could simply enjoy this happy life you've found. But things are not as .... comfortable as they once were. And not only that, the Family we have is torn and divided. Which is why I want to ask you: What is it that you want to do now that you've found Keiko?" She asked gently.

A hand raised. "You don't have to answer right this moment." She added, perhaps even interrupting the beginning of a response. "I don't want to make you think that you need to answer right now. You have a lot to enjoy in the wake of your marriage. But happiness, as you and I know, is fragile. And....admittedly, it would be hard on Keiko if you weren't around because you had Shinigami obligations. The family has access to trainers of course. People who can take the place of that sort of training. But, I want you to know that I'm also here. Maybe not all the time. But I;n around." She pointed out, breaking into a smile. Gentle and warm, to help ease off some of the perhaps...heavier things she had deigned to bring up.

Yoruichi couldn't help but soften her gaze just a little, enjoying the mirth that came with young Kokoro responding, but it was a smile that only lasted for a fraction of a second before she knit her brows together and reached up to lightly tap the center of Kokoro's forehead with a singular knuckle in light rebuke of the girl outright going out of her way to answer the question. "Hey now, this isn't an episode of Cuna de Lobos, I said not to answer yet!" She sighed, head tilting to the side before she smiled just a little, making no attempts to veil how pleased she was with the woman's heartfelt answer.

"You're supposed to dance around the point a little. Other Noble families love that sort of grave extravagant waltz around the topic before you finally make your point. Isn' that the point of trying to restrain yourself? To seem more noble?" She teased, folding her arms ceremoniously and drawing herself up, eyes closed, expression the picture of stern contemplation as she considered the woman's prior response.

"Hmmm, not that it wasn't a bad answer. But it was a little on the cheesy side." She cracked an eye open, grinning impishly with one eye opened at Kokoro. "Maybe I should ask you that question again when Keiko is around. I'm sure she'd be all sorts of flattered and aflutter hearing it." Another playful little comment before she let her arms fall to her sides. "But you still should think on it a little more. Maybe talk it over with Keiko." she paused. "I know that the family has started to ....drift a little. That's not....." What Yuushirou would have wanted. She wrinkled her nose and swallowed the sentiment. "....the type of thing we should just LET fester. Annoying as it is, all of these bozos are our family. Lucky us, right?" She hummed, glancing at Kokoro and smiling lightly. She detested family politics and the like. She'd hated it ever since she was little. "But just cause they're hissing at eachother doesn't mean they aren't still family. And we aren't JUST a family. There's more to our name than probably most of you know. SO! The short of it is, the more of us there are trying to keep everyone together, the more successful we'll be, yes? You're under no obligation to help. Matter of fact, you probably of most of the family have the least reason to be interested in the rest of us." Her voice dropped in tone and softened, once more going a bit more serious. "Not only that but you have a new marriage to handle. But even so, doy ou think you could help me out a bit? Even if it's just helping me keep tabs?" She asked lightly.

She sure as hell didn't want to be doing this, but at the same time it was hard to see what was happening and know that her brother would not rest peacefully while it was. If NOTHING else, she at least wanted to get the ball rolling. Check in on those she could, at least put the idea into the more stubborn ones heads that maybe their family ISN'T just for political game practice and objects of hatred. Especially since she had no idea what other ... matters might demand her attention. She still had to check in on plenty of people outside of just her family.