_ .Credits to Cap't Yoruichi, she beta'd this work. THANKS!! It turned out longer, hope ya don't mind. _

d^_^b ..Insert disclaimer here.. d^_^b

.: Beautiful, Dirty, Rich:.

We are a product of the decisions we make, and to be able to understand fully why we choose to do those actions can only be rooted out to reasons which our minds conjure, either a matter of force or a matter of will. As a child, as a member of such a prestigious household, every move was a forced decision and I was not supposed to make unjust or unprofitable choices for the sake of my own judgment. I was not permitted to decide anything in a snappy manner. And because of this, the sum of all this nonsense leads me to live a very boring life. It sickened me, I loathed it.

I was never a fan of rules and obligations; I found these chains unbearable to keep up with, and it fueled my rebellion. My attitude, my demeanor and even my stance in front of the public screamed proper, superior, elegant, or as most people would like to call it, perfect. Smart, cunning, stunning, exactly like a Goddess. But, as stated, I never wanted to be that image. This was carved by my lineage, and all values instilled by no other than my parents.

I pity my parents for some reason. I had to be their daughter, the last in line to bring misery and despair to my father's credibility. They were loving people, but then again, so is any other parent. Burdened by the name 'Shihouin', my father went against his parental instincts and trained me like a caged lion, exactly like those found in the circus, and my mother never stood in the way - she was there only to soothe the bruises after the assault. My skills and talents were only for show and bragging rights, but never for anything else.

Things weren't like this before; believe me, I used to love being a Shihouin. I felt loved, I felt like I was part of a family. No burdens, no pressure, just letting everything slip by and dealt with by will.

I wasn't an only child of course. I had elder siblings. They were the ones who were supposed to live up to the name, not me. Apparently, my elder brothers were also similar to me. They were forced to behave perfectly by the elders, and this lead to the simultaneous demise of their existence. Katsuo and Minoru both died, leaving my mother devastated and my father on the brink of sanity. My parents raised them with all the love in Soul Society, so different from the way they raised me, and it wasn't enough to protect them from death itself.

But of course, they didn't leave without any contribution to the family name. Katsuo always came home victoriously from the various fights he was assigned to; and Minoru was able to extricate numerous flaws and truths in the written laws of Soul Society. They were born geniuses, or true blooded Shihouins as the elders proclaimed, and were capable of doing such great things at a moment's notice.

I, of course, being the unplanned child or the 'for fun mode' product was left without much attention during my brothers' reign, and with my genetic make-up, I couldn't ask for any more. I used to linger for weeks without returning home, and my parents wouldn't care, that's how it works for our family. I loved this sense of freedom. Apparently, birth order beliefs and principles do not apply to noble families. I was no daddy's little girl.

Then it came, my parents awoke one day to receive horrible news. My brothers were dead. They were incinerated to the point of no recognition. I was shocked; knowing my brothers, murder was not possible, and no one could ever lay a hand on them. But the findings of the 12th division pointed out that indeed the evidence at the crime scene was reeking of Shihouin blood. I just couldn't believe it.

Katsuo and Minoru Shihouin were dead.

The whole Soul Society mourned for the loss of my brothers. Their demise would not be forgotten, but life must go on. Their greatness did not live long enough to propel them to captain rank, and this of course stirred a very heated debate amongst the clan elders.

My father was regarded as stupid, incapable, and illegitimate. My father, being a sensitive man, took it all in. The elders didn't mourn the loss of two great men; rather, they were infuriated with the loss of two pawns for the expansion of our name sake, and my father knew it. Regret and hatred filled my father's heart, and when he came home that day, I knew nothing was going to be the same ever again.

Then it started. I wasn't even hitting puberty but I was bombarded with millions of new things every day. I had the whole written law memorized before I hit my teenage years. My body was forced to accommodate new arts and crafts, like transforming into animals, masking reiatsu perfectly, and being able to keep up with the head of the Secret Mobile Corps in terms of combat. I came home every day with new bruises, and every single day, I had to bathe myself in a tubful of ice.

It hurt, everything hurt.

Soon enough, I was old enough to be officially declared an heiress, or as father called it, a target for assassination. The lower guards were forced to train harder; my father would not allow any more unwanted murders. I wasn't allowed to linger alone; I never had any time to myself. Even during my events of rebellion and misfits, I still had guards attached to my rear end. I thought I was alone. All these mischief were rewarded with none other than not less than 500 lashes at the back and extra training. I started to loathe who I was destined to become, and freedom started to become a dream more than a reality.

Well, those times of rebellion clearly defined who I was to be, and who I wanted to be. No, I don't like clothes and no, I wouldn't become everyone's pretty little princess. I was in love with displeasing the elders, though it pained my father. I slouched more often, giving in to 'happy-go-lucky' stance and laid back behavior. Those who are close to me, my father not included, knew that I was no princess.

Then came the time I was to ascend to head the 2nd division. My father was then loud, boisterous and always threw 'in-your-face' comments at the elders. The elders were proud; a Shihouin was once again part of the Gotei 13 as well as leader of the Executive Militia. For the elders, to whom power was everything, a Shihouin holding two powerful titles was fitting.

My mother was already sickly at this stage, and at this point, we were just counting the days to her end. I loved visits to my mother; it was the only time the guards left me alone. Mother was an admirable person, but the day of her death was painstaking for me. I lost one of the greatest friends I've ever had, and the only real parent I considered myself having after the death of my brothers.

The day my mother died was also the day she told me everything about her marriage to Father. She was never in love with him to begin with. It was all prearranged. My father wanted my mother as a wife after seeing her with Hikaru Shiba, one of Father's closest friends. It started off with flirting behind Mr. Shiba's back. My mother rejected all of these suggestions, and of course, my father, being the sensible man he was back then, moped to himself in a corner.

The elders then found out the story, and devised a plot to take my mother. Also, of all the women who my father courted, it was my mother who pleased the elders the most. She was pretty and witty, and of a very notable background. And from there, the Shiba house was then stripped of their nobility, and my mother was forced to wed my father. He was still oblivious to the plot done by the elders, but my mother was no simpleton.

Of course, my mother acted perfectly. I couldn't see any imperfections in their marriage; nobody did. She brought up the time she was gone for at least 2 years before my conception, which was because she was carrying a child not of my father's blood. As she continued on with her tale, I realized Kisuke Urahara was my mother's son, one born out of love from a suitor far away, a visitor during one of my father's parties. She told me the man was of great demeanor and reminded her of her former lover, which is why she gave in to him.

She left on a vacation to be with her family physically as far as Father knew. But that was really just to give her time to bear Kisuke, and to leave him with his father. I found it funny that his father did not object to this obligation. Mother told me he was a gentleman, and it was against his principles to leave his responsibilities behind. Besides, he did want a child, a living legacy to his name, and Kisuke was cute enough to pass the mark.

But his father was not able to take care of Kisuke well. A few years after my mother came back from her vacation, a few years after my birth, Kisuke was forced to live under the family's roof. His father could no longer keep up with the demands of a child and had requested my father's help, which my father didn't decline because of my mother. Mother persuaded him to say yes because she found Kisuke 'adorable'. He was put under the hands of the house's scholars, in high hopes that one day, his study would be able to expose numerous of knowledge and applications still unfound by the greatest researchers of all time.

Kisuke and I became best friends in an instant. During the free time I had before my brother's death, he was my partner in crime. I loved the way he tried to flirt with other pretty girls we've met. His flirting was awkward at first, but now, he is a bona fide gentleman who has perfected the craft of pleasing women at various degrees. Believe it or not, most of the things I know about love and sex were all simple generalizations from his stories.

One of the women which Kisuke courted and flirted with was the 2nd child of Mother's former lover. Kuukaku Shiba was not his usual type, but somehow magic had worked for the two for some period. My mother intentionally introduced them to each other, and was pleased with the outcome. She said both of them reminded her of her past relationship; of course I didn't know what that meant until my mother's death.

My father, in the middle of the Kuukaku-Kisuke thing, asked me why I didn't date Kisuke. The simple yet true reply of, "He's like a brother to me," didn't work. He said that the Shihouin name shouldn't stop at me, there must be predecessors. I said it wouldn't be advisable; Kisuke can be used as a means for assassination. I had to threaten my dad with his worst nightmare; else he'd go on with me having Kisuke for a husband.

Of course, I was no longer trapped in those hormone induced years when I was given the seat to the 2nd division. I was fully grown, and I'd experienced the dozens of suitors from millions of noble families coming from lands I missed out during my studies. I rejected every single one of them; I didn't like being chased for my wealth, my name, my body, or my breeding capacity. Soon enough, I just wanted to be left alone. I was not to be wed and that was my decision.

My childish antics never left me behind; it was probably because of the lack of self expression when I was younger. I didn't mind. I loved playing tag with Byakuya Kuchiki; I loved causing trouble in the other offices. Teasing and playing became my hobbies, and it always interfered with my work. All of my actions displeased those rotting pile of spirit dumps, oh and believe me, I loved every minute of it.

I loved displeasing those incoherent bastards, but my father did not. Then, I found myself in an arranged marriage with some noble person. I didn't like this, I was pressured. I found myself taking strolls around the training grounds of the Militia more often than enough; my paper work was already piling up.

That's when I saw her: a fledgling ninja, a star out of the ordinary. She was mesmerizing; I found it hard to ignore her. She moved well, she blocked all attacks without flaw, and with so much accuracy, she landed every attack she threw. Not even the flurry of men that came at her was enough. I watched her for a few more seconds, and then I intruded.

I threw myself inside the mass of trained soldiers, taking each one out with only a blow or a kick. Once all the men were gone, I saw her form nearing me. And acting on instinct, I threw her a hard kick, the first one which she dodged with ease, the second one being blocked without difficulty. I was shocked, no one was able to dodge and block my kicks especially when I've done it out of impulse.

"Corps Commander?" She questioned. I then flipped her over with my legs and threw her a good distance. I neared her and asked her name.

"I am Soi Fon."

I smiled.

The next few days I couldn't stop thinking of the kid. I stalked her in my cat form during my spare time. Soon after, I was willingly following her, trying to piece her together, somewhat like a stalker. She was from the lower Fon house. She didn't like meat, but lived on a diet of fish. She spoke fluent Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese. I have no idea how I got hold of these information; I creeped myself out a little.

Then it arrived. Again, my father intruded, requesting I get myself a personal bodyguard. I took it as an opportunity. "Sure," I said. "On one condition, I get to choose who." My father had no objections whatsoever, he was sure that my decision would be appropriate. Of course, I chose no one other than Soi Fon.

My father was angered again, but this time, he had to keep his mouth shut. He had agreed on it, and assumed that I would choose someone who was physically capable, a man. This time, I was the one throwing in-your-face comments at him, and the elders. He was starting to become like them; slowly I hated my father the way I hated the elders. I really wish it was they who were murdered and not Katsuo and Minoru.

Those days with Soi Fon as my body guard were anything but boring. She never ceased to amaze me, even brought me to think that she deserved to be more of a princess than I should be. She followed orders, respected even those who don't deserve respect and she was hardworking, an admirable trait which most noble children seem to lack.

I found her one night training at a sakura clearing, and of course, I stepped in. I showed her proper stance. I showed her how to wield a sword. I showed her how to fight. And what did she show me in return?

She showed me how it was to have butterflies in my stomach.

.:END:.

Yeah. And that's about it. Sorta, I dunno.

A few things to be discussed:

I believe Kisuke is Yoruichi's brother from another FATHER!!!! LOL, Jinta did say that Yoruichi was his only living relative. ;)

Brother's names definition are Katsuo : Victory and Minoru : Truth. Plus the Shiba's dad name, Hikaru : Light. I just felt like telling. LOL