As the Pendulum swings, its direction is different yet the same...
--
It was exciting, it was addicting; it was also the most terrifying and painful thing that she ever experienced up to that point.
Her torso seared like a heavy burn whenever she tried to struggle free, knowing full well that she was only slowing them down.
"P-please…" the young girl gasped faintly, grasping at her captor's shoulder but was handicapped from releasing herself by the raw feeling tearing at her back. "Just lea-"
"-don't even think about finishing that sentence!" her captor automatically snapped, obviously fighting the growing fatigue from carrying two grown men and the smaller girl singlehandedly.
It was a vexing feeling to say the least, as the young girl watched with blurred vision the amount of pursuers slowly gaining on them and that she was unable to complete her duty, no matter how ill fated her attempt had been thus far.
She had sworn to fight to the death, and protect the one person whom she worshipped no matter who her enemies were or how many they numbered and yet she had only found herself to be a liability; the one that needed to be protected all along.
She could feel the heart of her would-be savior pumping rapidly, in growing contrast to her own heartbeat slowing down, despite the fear she felt from the sight of the ever-encroaching pursuers.
In a single blink however, they had all but disappeared, replaced by a rocky expanse that stretched under an infinite blue sky.
"--- ---"
There was a sense of heat that had enveloped her, added to what she undoubtedly saw around her, could only have meant that she was hallucinating, most likely due to blood loss or the like. She blinked again, expecting to snap back into that chase scene once more which would invariably lead to their capture but to no avail. If anything, surely she was on the brink of death by now, which would have given them no choice but to leave her behind which would have most definitely given them a better chance to escape.
"S-- -on"
It would have been better if she was left behind, really. If then, they could always have met again in the future. There was no way that she would have had any hard feelings if tha-
"Soi Fon, wake up!" A sudden rush of warmth attacked her head on, almost drowning her as a few droplets of water managed to invade her lungs from the girl's sudden breath upon being called, "Oh geez, sorry about that!" The once commanding voice quickly whimpered slightly at the sight of this unexpected reaction from being splashed.
After recovering from her coughs the dark haired girl had a glazed look in her eyes, obviously not being able to fully comprehend the immediate situation. "Oh no, did you hit your head?" Visibly concerned, the dark skinned woman had only needed a single pause before gently placing her hands on either side of the girl's head. "I'm sure that the spring will be able to fix that, just hold your breath, Soi Fon…" she said with dead serious eyes.
"…what ar-" Was all that was possible to say before her head was forcibly dunked down toward the hot spring waters. Shuffling out of the woman's grasp, Soi Fon stumbled through the water panting as she managed to get to her feet.
"What the hell were you trying to do Commander Shihouin!?" the girl exclaimed
"I was trying to heal you, duh…" the dark skinned woman replied simply, going so far as to look at Soi Fon as though she were the mistaken one.
"Heal me?" With that in her mind, the girl quickly reached her left arm behind her to feel against her back to where she was slashed to feel nothing of the sort. No injury, not even a scar.
It was then that Soi Fon looked around once more, her recovering eyesight now able to discern the orange tint of a barrier surrounding a specific block of space around them. By "them" she saw, was the grating sight of the man who despite otherwise had more access to her idol than she did, Kisuke Urahara, nearby which was a group of seemingly unconscious people—eight in all—who remained anonymous because of their masked forms.
"You were unconscious at the time, but…" the woman commented, keeping her crouched stance next to the spring. "…Kisuke's currently working on a few gigais before we make our way out of Soul Society."
It was without a doubt that the small sneeze might've ruined the seriousness of the moment, but the woman known as Yoruichi Shihouin would rather use the chance to tease the often much-too-serious Soi Fon rather than get hung over petty details—or would have, if it hadn't been for the imposing figure of a man who approached from behind them and draped a large robe over the now-shivering girl.
"It would be quite unfortunate for you to catch a cold just before our trip, Ms. Soi Fon…" The large mustachioed man said matter-of-factly. He even proceeded to carry the smaller girl out of the spring and placed her onto an adjacent rock in a fatherly manner—no, more like a caretaker would any child under his charge.
"C…aptain Tsukabishi…" Although a bit awkward, Soi Fon was not completely taken aback from her treatment, which wasn't too far off from that of her servants because of her rank in her own family. Still for the most part, what was taking her mind off of the immediate situation was the repeating topic of leaving for somewhere. If anything, she supposed, the current place that they were in had to have been a good spot since they had to have been there for the last few hours—if her able to recover in the spring was any indication.
"Commander…" the girl spoke out after needing to carefully think over her words because of the shock, still draped in the Kido Captain's oversized robe as though it were her own, "…what do you mean by 'get out' of Soul Society…?"
"It is exactly as she has said, Ms. Soi Fon." The man answered for the woman, adjusting his glasses in the process. As each of her senses began to return to normal, Soi Fon turned to address the man who had been answering her instead of Yoruichi.
"Despite your tagging along with me when I went to Central 46 you still haven't noticed…?" Yoruichi spoke out sarcastically. Her face and tone however quickly took a much serious turn. "…that this is far beyond simply trying to prove Kisuke's innocence…"
Hearing that, Soi Fon turned her attention back toward the masked group laid side by side within multiple barriers in addition to the one that surrounded the immediate area. In fact, she felt a sense of dread emanating from the group; the same intuition that often kept her alive when fighting Hollows. Simultaneously however, those eight lying in a row were dressed in shinigami uniforms, some even with ripped vestiges of the white captain's haoris at points exposed from their Hollow-like features.
"…then…they are…." Soi Fon trembled from the realization. Her fist tightened at the sight and her entire body tensed as she restrained her first impulse to lash out at the uneasy feeling. She instantaneously relaxed though, when she felt her tightened fist cupped between two gentle hands that loosened her mind and her body.
"Soi Fon," the taller woman began softly, managing the girl's eyes to lock onto hers when she spoke. "I want you to ignore any sort of debt to me, or even our status as commander and subordinate, alright?" With a soft caress of her hand against the girl's cheek, Yoruichi saw the assurance grow in Soi Fon's eyes. "You'll be declared a traitor and accomplice to Kisuke's crime if you come with us to the World of the Living. Remember, you nearly died only a few hours ago because you decided to tag along…but if you stayed behind, at most, you'll be charged as an accessory to our escape and I can at the very least guarantee that you'll live, then…"
Her eyes had sunk as she heard Yoruichi's plea, but contrary to the calming affect that her touch had on her a few moments ago, Soi Fon felt herself beginning to tense up more and more as the woman continued to speak. With her free left hand, she grasped her fingers around the soft touch against her cheek. "Commander…I pledged my life to protect you…and I would sell my very soul to…to be with you forever…" Ever slowly, Soi Fon peeled the old woman's hand away from her cheek, not wanting Yoruichi to come into contact with her tears now trickling down. Ignoring her unkempt appearance, her eyes shot up toward Yoruichi's, furrowed in anger that she never realized she could have toward her.
"Don't just cast me away like that, Commander! I'd rather you disappear without telling me goodbye than to choose to leave you myself!" Amidst the sniffles and trembling, Soi Fon only felt a warm embrace as Yoruichi wordlessly took her in her arms.
"Then do me a favor…" There was a sigh before Yoruichi spoke, serving only the tense up the girl even more. As the pause wore on, Soi Fon tried to hold back her trembling in an earnest effort to hear through the muffling hug. It was then that Yoruichi suddenly stepped back, prompting Soi Fon to look up again to see amber eyes looking down at her. "Could you try to drop that stiff title whenever you talk to me? I thought we've been through this, already…" the corner of her lips arched upwards in a softer manner as she lightly chastised the girl.
A faint flush of red began to spread on her face as she glanced downward in an attempt to hide that fact. "Y-yes…Lady Yoruichi…"
With a sigh, Yoruichi could only take her thumbs and wipe the bottom of Soi Fon's eyes of the tear trails.
"I guess we'll have to keep working on that."
Author's Notes: Yet another story from my archive, since I feel that its about time I updated despite the fact I have no time to work on existing stories. I began writing this around the conclusion of the "Turn back the Pendulum" with how Kisuke, Tessai and Yoruichi escaped with the Vizards from Soul Society. I also couldn't help going back to when Soi Fon's flashback when she and Yoruichi fought in the "Rescue Rukia" arc, since there was a bit of a cross between the two. Thus this AU idea was born.
I'm tacking this as a one shot, since I've yet to figure out how to continue this idea without simply re-imagining the series with Soi Fon included, since with the rest of my re-imagining series still left incomplete, will bound to be snagged by story hiccups (like who the heck would be the 2nd Division commander? Omaeda?) Would love to hear suggestions, or read a fanfic like that should any one of you readers decide to take up that task.
By the way, I am very pro (one sided) Soi Fon x Yoruichi, but I just can't see anything taking fruition from it. More or less, its just a cute stalker-ish comdey relief.
Seriously though, is there anything more adorable than a teary-eyed Soi Fon?
legalities
Bleach and all characters were created by Tite Kubo and owned by Shounen Jump/Shueisha