Soifon stood from her desk, and moved to her office window. Omeada had failed to show up to the office again, and her hand and back ached from hours at her desk. From looking at her one would have assumed she was watching the sunset over the sereitei, but her mind was far from the beautiful reds and blues splashed across the sky.
The previous day Yoruichi had shown up, unexpected, unannounced, and at the worst possible time. Soifon smirked, "as usual', she thought. But in the middle of chastising Omeada for his laziness was not a time Soifon encouraged interruption.
She stood on Omeada's massive stomach, suzumebachi's blade bared and prepared to strike Omeada's face, but the hiss of shunpo derailed her murderous train of thought. She turned to see the orange jacket she had no desire to see at that moment.
"Hey there little bee!"
"I hate that nickname."
"Oh but you used to love it so!"
The permanent scowl etched on Soifon's face merely deepened. She hated it when Yoruichi brought up how they used to be. Just because Soifon had decided to move on and let go of her all consuming hatred for the senpai who abandoned her, did not mean she had forgotten how much Yoruichi's now explained betrayal had hurt. Regardless of why she had to go, she still had LEFT her.
"Why are you here? As you can see, I'm quite busy."
"You can kill your lieutenant another time. I need to speak with you."
It had been the uncharacteristic seriousness in Yourichi's voice that had convinced her to back down off of her sweating lieutenant and return suzumebachi to her sheath. "Run." She had told Omeada, and after watching him scramble to his feet and disappear she had turned back to the waiting Yoruichi. "What do you want?"
Rather than the usual, "I'm bored, Tag! You're it!" routine, Yoruichi had merely asked to walk with her back to her office, and on the way, had brought up the subject Soifon was now ruminating on.
She would normally have dismissed offhandedly the request to train one of that obnoxious strawberry royka's friends. She had no time for them, and since Urahara (whose name she thought with a barely suppressed quiver of rage and disgust) and Yoruichi had abandoned their captaincy and been forgiven after Aizen revealed himself, they obviously had enough time to deal with that unexpectedly talented bunch from Karakura.
But Yoruichi's description of this particular human had intrigued her. A karate champion, so obviously talented and hardworking, and the seeming balance to Orihime, in that she was quiet and intelligent. Soifon kicked herself mentally. She shouldn't be considering this. She didn't have the time. She sighed, and went back to her desk to slough through the rest of the day's paperwork.
The Next day she sent a hell butterfly to Yoruichi. "I accept"
Secretly glad that she had, Soifon stood in the underground training cavern Urahara had built, Watching Tatsuki go through her forms at blinding speed. At first, the girl had been beyond frustrated with Soifon's insistence that she not practice with her newfound powers. After an accident where Ichigo had dodged Rukia's attempt to force him out of his body and Rukia had accidentally hit Tatsuki, then releasing her from her body, they had all been shocked to see her spirit stand in a shinigami uniform. Though with a slight difference, rather than a zanpaktou, she had been gifted with gauntlets that seemed to work in a similar fashion to Chad's armor.
Immediately, Rukia and Ichigo had taken Tatsuki to Urahara, and after Yoruichi berated them thoroughly on their stupidity, with Rukia standing looking ashamed and Ichigo doing his best to interject with, " wasn't my bloody fault!" while Yoruichi smacked him about the head, Urahara had pointed out that that this hadn't been a complete disaster. He then suggested enlisting Soifon, herself being a Hakuda master and an experienced teacher, to help Tatsuki harness her new abilities.
Soifon paused in her thoughts as Tatsuki came to the end of her movements and flashed across the ground to stand in front of her. The girl was trembling, and it took Soifon a minute to understand. "You may rest now." In response Tatsuki merely dropped to the ground, sprawled out on her back. "Geezus, Soi, do you work all your men like this?" she asked through gasped breaths. "It's Taicho, or sensei. And yes, I have to, and they understand that. So should you. You are behind your friends, and if you expect to help them you need to work twice as hard." This was Tatsuki's third week in soul society, and she had made great progress, however it was not in Soifon's nature to admit this. "Godamn, I feel like crap." It had been several minutes, and the girl hadn't regained her breath. Soi's face softened slightly. "Do you need help getting to the spring?" "No!" Tatsuki replied, but in trying to get up, she collapsed again.
Soi sighed, and merely picked up the girl despite her protestations and carried her to the spring, dumped her in, and walked away before she had the chance to complain.