---Two weeks after they had made up---
"Yoruichi?"
"Yes?" the mentioned person looked up and stared into the storm grey eyes she love so much.
It has been two weeks since they made up on Valentine's Day and her issue of abandoning Soi Fong was resolved thanks to her conscience and its lecture.
"I was called into a meeting today with the Omitsukido."
"What of it? You have meetings with them almost every other day. What is so special about this?"
"The councils of elders of the Shihouin clan have decided. They want to reinstate you as the heir and as the commander of the Omitsukido and the second squad."
"WHAT?! What about you? God! They want to trap me in that stupid noble life again!"
"Technically, you're not exiled, neither are you banned from coming in. so they have the right to reinstate you as the clan's heir and all that. I was only a stand in for the position as commander of the Omitsukido from the start until they found someone better than me to take over. Now that you're back, they want you to resume your duties."
"Omitsukido I can't argue about that. But if I have to take up the job of being its commander again, I would not become the captain of the second squad again. Just thinking about the amount of paperwork I need to do make me sick."
"If I never remember wrongly, someone never did paperwork before. All the paperwork was done by another. Now who was it that did the paperwork and who was it that didn't?"
Yoruichi looked at Soi Fong sheepishly.
"So, you are accepting it right? I need to tell them tomorrow. But, according to them, you will be the commander of the Omitsukido and heir regardless of how you feel. Might as well just go with it and not put up such a big fight. Besides, being a noble again is not all that bad. If you weren't a noble, I would never have known you and we would never have gotten together. "
"Hmmm…you're right. Whatever makes you happy, I'll do it. Even if it means being caged up again. But I want you to wake me up every day."
"Of course, I'm the one waking you up. You always sleepover anyway. Besides, aside from me, I don't think anyone dares to wake you up. I'll do your paperwork for you. Now stop sulking. It's very unbecoming of a commander."
"Arh little bee. Harsh as always" teased Yoruichi as she watched Soi Fong huffed.
---The next day---
"Shihouin-sama! I'm so glad you're back!" the elderly servant rushed in front of Yoruichi, bowing low.
"Takana-san! It's good to see you too. It's been a while" said Yoruichi to her nanny.
"Life here is boring without you. The council of elders is all arguing about whom to take your place when you left so abruptly a hundred years ago. Till now, they haven't come to a conclusion. Each wanted their own child to take your place. Thank god you came back. Any later and this place would have been a bigger mess than what it is now."
"That bad?"
"Sorry, I have talked out of turn. Please excuse me, I have to let the rest know that you're back."
"Oh, no. It's okay. Thank you for letting me know. Please go."
As much as she hated being a noble, her clan was very important to her and she realized how important it was when she heard about the things the council members are doing. It makes her sick. Widening her stride, she picked up her pace and made her way to the conference room where the council members waited.
Knock, knock!
"Enter" a voice called out.
"Please excuse my intrusion" said Yoruichi as she slid the shoji open and entered the room.
The scene that greeted her was akin to what one will see when they enter a board meeting except in this situation, everyone was kneeling down and it is a very traditional Japanese setting. Taking her place at the head of the table, Yoruichi nodded for the council meeting to begin.
"Yoruichi-sama, the council wishes you to take up your place as the head of our noble clan and the supreme commander of the Omitsukido" said the most senior of the council without any preamble.
If it wasn't for Soi Fong's warning the night before, Yoruichi was sure that her jaw would have dropped onto the floor there and then, a sight that doesn't befit her status of the princess of the tenshihesoban Shihouin clan. Head of clan? Didn't Soi Fong said heir? Oh well, like there is a difference. The job scope is the same anyway.Putting up a show of deliberation of the sake of the council members; Yoruichi nodded her assent five minutes later. With that settled, the council begins briefing her on the clan status and how things have changed in the past hundred years.
An hour, two hours and three hours later, Yoruichi was at her limits and was nodding at random points in the conversation to prove that she is indeed listening. The elders are really a bunch of old geezers who are long winded and couldn't agree with one another. Looking out of the window, she gauged the time. I wonder if she is done with her work already. I bet she had a more fulfilling day than me. Anything beats sitting her and listening to a bunch of old men squabbling like little kids in the playground.
---Five hours later---
"So if there is nothing else to report, we will end the meeting here."
Ah! Finally I can leave. Gah! What a waste of a fine day.
" Yoruichi-sama, thank you for coming today and welcome back."
"Thank you. It's my pleasure" said Yoruichi as politely as she could to suppress the irritating building up within her.
"About the plan to take control of the second squad, when are we going to report it to Yoruichi-sama?" one member asked another.
Yoruichi's ears perked up at the mention of second squad. Taking over? Oh yes, Soi Fong mentioned before. Well, I'll just let them know that there is no way I'm going to force my little bee to step down after she had done such a splendid job the past hundred years.
"That will have to wait. There is still the problem of the huge decrease in the clan's fortune. Thanks to Soujiro's daughter. She thinks she can do Yoruichi-sama's job and ended up squandering away the clan's fortune. I heard she built an extra wing just to store her shoes. What a frivolous girl" said Takeshi, a senior council member, the most impartial of all of them.
"Nana-san isn't that bad. Remember that time when Kushina's son took over? That was way worse. All he did was gamble and chalk up his debts to the clan's name. almost half of the reserve was spent bailing him out of debt and trying to maintain our reputation" Jyuurishi reminded Tanaka.
"Kenzou was really the limit. At the end of the day, none of them can do a better job than Yoruichi-sama. Even though everyone thinks that all she ever does is fool around and never serious. Lucky for us, she had returned and agreed to be the head. Saves us from going through the hell of having each council member's child try their hand at governing for a year. Now that is something I never want to have to go through again. Once is more than enough. If we do it again, there isn't enough funds left to fix any damage those incompetent and conceited fools do to our reputation."
"I couldn't agree more. All I can do is hope that none of them will be stupid enough to challenge Yoruichi-sama for her place as head of clan. For now, at least there is peace in the clan."
Yoruichi smiled to herself when she overheard their conversation. So they thought I was the best out of the rest. Nana and Kenzo. Those two are really the limit. Even though we are cousins by blood, they are just arrogant fools something which apparently did not change over the last hundred years that I was gone. The clan is really in a very bad shape. Had I known things were this bad, maybe I would have come back earlier and try to help. For all her playfulness, Yoruichi have deep affection and loyalty to her clan.
---The same day with Soi Fong---
Stupid Oomadea. Taking the day off and leaving me with his paperwork! This is the second day in a row I'm doing all the paperwork. Okay, so maybe I did snatch his paperwork from him two weeks ago (14th) but still…he is still being punished! Serves him right for being such a conceited fool. To think he actually believes that he could win me. That's it. I'm extending his punishment term by another month. Ah…one whole month without paperwork. When should I tell him this? On the last day of his initial punishment term or tomorrow? Hmm…I shall do it tomorrow. Might as well add the clause that length of term will be subjected to work performance. That will make sure he stops giving me shoddy work which requires me to redo.
"Sorry taichou! I…" Oomadea trailed off when he saw the glint in Soi Fong's eyes as her mouth begin to curl into her trademark smirk.
"Oomadea. How kind of you to join us. Didn't you take the day off?"
"Taichou, I…" shit! How to tell taichou that I took the day off to flaunt my wealth in front of the rest of my extended family? Or that I spend the rest of the day at the all-you-can-eat buffet at the newly opened restaurant?
"Well, well. I have a piece of good news for you. from today onwards, I have decided that the length of your punishment will be determined by your work performance. Such that if I ever have to redo whatever you have done, the number of days your term is increased by will be based on the number of errors I need to correct. The first error will be one day; the second will be three times that of the first, the third will be three times that of the second and so on. Simple progression, I'm sure you can calculate it by yourself. And I won't be correcting the errors. You will be doing them, when I'm done looking through and circling them. Of course, you still need to keep to the deadline set by the captain commander. If he finds fault with any of them, I will not hesitate to feed you to them."
Oomadea sweated as he heard the piece of 'good' news Soi Fong had for him. First error is a day, second is three times which makes it three days. The third is three times of the second which makes it nine days and the fourth one is…Crap. What is the how many days extra is the fourth error? Damn it, taichou knows I suck at mathematics.
"By the way, it is cumulative, which means that I'll add up the total number of days. Let me give you an example. For instance, you made three errors. That would be nine plus three plus one; a grand total of thirteen days. Understand? Oh, before I forget. The current length of your punishment is extended by a month for making me do your share of the paperwork today and for redoing the entire pile last week."
With that, she flash stepped out of her office; leaving behind a very confused and frightened Oomadea who is still trying to work out how long more he needs to do her share of the paperwork if he make more than three mistakes. All he could do right now was pray that for the next three months (he completed one but Soi Fong added an extra month) his paperwork will be error free. He much rather face the wrath of the captain commander than his own captain's.
---In her quarters---
Soi Fong was in a good mood. She just assured herself a lifelong pass of being free of paperwork; which means more time for her to train and be with Yoruichi. Oh goody! Soi Fong let out a squeal of delight which is unlike her.
"I'm glad one of us is in a good mood" said Yoruichi as she walked up behind Soi Fong and wrapped her arms around her lover.
Turning around in Yoruichi's arms, Soi Fong found Yoruichi sporting an unusually serious face.
"How did the clan meeting go? I take it that it didn't go too well?"
"Nah. It is no different from a hundred years ago. The bunch of old geezers which still won't die are still arguing like kids over candy and their arguments still span a few hours. It's just that, I didn't know things in the clan were that bad. You know, we are almost broke thanks to my stupid cousins who can't see past their own noses. Oh and by the way, you were wrong. I'm now the head of clan, not just the heir anymore. Though it doesn't make any different seeing how my dad never had the time to take care of the clan seeing that all his time is sucked up by his meetings with the Center 46."
"Yoruichi…"shit! I totally forgot her dad was one of those killed by Aizen. Hugging her lover tighter, she whispered "I'm sure you can come up with a way to restore the clan. I'll help out. We'll be a team again just like the old times."
"Now, I'm going to take a bath. Would you like to join me?"
Yoruichi's expression brightened immediately and raised her eyebrows suggestively.
"Tsk tsk, bathing Yoruichi; and nothing more" teased Soi Fong when she saw the look on Yoruichi's face. I'm glad she isn't that gloomy. This is what I love about her. Her loyalty and affection towards the things she cares for in her life.
With that thought, Soi Fong began undoing her obi sash as she made her way to the bathroom with Yoruichi close behind.
AN: There! I finally got the first chapter done. A rather long one I know. It has been a while since I wrote something thing long. As for the direction of this fic, I have no idea where it is going to go. All I'm doing is writing it down as it comes to me. So please review to let me know what you think and most importantly, I hope you enjoy what I have written.