Greetings, all! CS here with my very first fic to be posted on this site!
(Cheers and Applause)
Umm, anyway! About the fic! The idea popped into my head when I was watching Ep. 57 (I think it was around chapter158 of the manga), and it wouldn't stop bugging me until I sat down and wrote it, so there you go.
Also, although this is indeed a Soi Fong/Yoruichi friendship fic, there are parts inside that go borderline shoujo ai, so if the subject isn't exactly your cup of tea, it would probably do you best to just move on. And, obviously, a spoiler warning for those who have not watch/read up to the points mentioned above.
Well, with allthat out of the way, it's fic time!
Some Things Can Change
A Beach One-shot
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"Why?"
"…"
"Why didn't you take me with you?"
"…"
"Yoruichi-sama…" The tears began to fall.
"…You've gotten stronger since the last time I saw you."
It was the last thing she heard, aside from the sound of her own wailing, before she blacked out.
---
"Whew, I think that's enough for one night." sighed Yoruichi, putting her sword down momentarily to stretch her arms out.
"Hai." murmured Soi Fong, mimicking the actions of her idol.
"Shall we get going?"
"Hai, Y-Yoruichi-sama." Late-night practice sessions such as these were becoming an every day occurrence for her and Yoruichi. Every night Soi Fong would arrive by herself at the same spot by the Sakura trees when all the day's work had been completed, and Yoruichi would come by and join her a little later, whenever she had the time.
Sometimes they would practice together, while other times Yoruichi just sat back and relaxed, occasionally giving a few pointers. And every once in a while, they would even spar a little, though they always ended in the Supreme Commander's favor.
This time was no exception.
"Man, you fought well back there, Soi Fong. But what was the score again? I think it was seven wins now and zero losses!" It was just like her to rub it in.
But Soi Fong hardly paid her any mind. "Hai…" she repeated yet again, kicking a stone out of her way as they walked through the forest. Although she seemed calm and quiet on the outside, she was actually anything but on the inside.
'Idiot! How in the world can I expect to protect Yoruichi-sama fighting like that! I'm so pathetic! I-'
"I mean it, you know." She looked up to see that Yoruichi had stopped walking, still with a smirk on her face from winning the fight, but now Soi Fong could see just the shadow of a genuine smile behind it. "You really are improving, and quickly too. You keep it up and I can almost guarantee you'll be taking my spot as Supreme Commander some day."
Soi Fong's eyes widened in surprise, and she began to stutter. "M-me take your s-spot? B-but there's no way I-I could-"
"You know…" started Yoruichi as she began to make her way to her admirer, her smirk changing into something completely different than it was a second ago, something that made Soi Fong gulp involuntarily as soon as she saw it. There was something more… sultry about it, she discovered. "…Have I ever told you how cute you look when you're all worked up like that?" She was now right in Soi Fong's face, one arm around her waist, the other slowly stroking its hand down her smooth black hair. Her voice had lowered, as if it wasn't already uncomfortable enough for her, into a soft purr.
And it was proving itself to be nearing all that Soi Fong could take. "Y-Yoruichi-sama…" was all she was able to muster; all sorts of alarms were going of in her head, her eyes had doubled their normal size, sweat was rapidly running down her face, she was beginning to turn beet-red from all that attention she was getting… wait, stop! She had to do something to take her mind off of it before she short-circuited!
Wait… what was that?
She froze. 'I've… I've never noticed before how good Yoruichi-sama smells…' She just couldn't help herself from closing her eyes, leaning forward, and breathing deeper, trying to catch more of that scent…
…Then she stumbled and almost fell as she realized that Yoruichi was no longer holding on to her, but was instead a few feet away from her with a false look of shock on her face. "My goodness! Soi Fong, I never imagined in my wildest dreams that you'd be one to try to take advantage of me!"
Right then and there, she later recalled, was the exact moment that she discovered that she had the ability to touch the ground with her chin while standing straight up.
"Now look," Yoruichi continued, "I realize that you're starting to grow older, and that you're beginning to enter an… experimental stage in your life --and I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with that, mind you-- but trying to put your moves on your Supreme Commander is where I have to draw the line. Understood?"
Soi Fong, at this point, was so shocked by Yoruichi's behavior that she could no longer even use her mouth to form comprehensible words… that is, until she came to a realization. What if…
… What if Yoruichi was right?
Her hands quickly found their way to her mouth with this newfound shock and terror. 'Oh Kami-sama! What if, this whole time, my hormones were causing me to subconsciously lust after Yoruichi-sama, planning out all the ways I could so that I could possibly be with her? How could I do something so, so unforgivable!'
Suddenly, to the now-genuine shock of Yoruichi, Soi Fong found herself once again falling prostate to her Supreme commander. "My deepest apologies, Yoruichi-sama! I swear on the blood of my entire family never thought that I could be capable of such a heinous act! Had Your Excellency not caught me in the act, I regret to think that I would have gone on, blissfully unaware of the fact! I beg of you to forgive me for my utter selfishness-"
"All right, all right, already, just stop!" Yoruichi decided to stop her right now before she decided to commit Hara-kiri. "I was just kidding! You really can't take joke, you know that?"
"…Huh?" was her only reply.
"Oh well," sighed Yoruichi as she began to walk off, "I guess some things will never change. I'm going to bed. Ja ne." one Flash-step later, and she was off to her quarters, leaving Soi Fong alone in the forest, still on her knees.
"Man, I never thought Yoruichi-sama could be so cruel." she said finally, as she made it to her feet and began to walk at her own pace to the Main House as well.
The next morning, the two of them were supposed to meet back at that spot, where they could do some warm-up exercises in private to start another day of hard work. It was a ritual they had started long before they even made up the ritual they just completed.
Yoruichi would never make it.
She would have already run off a couple of hours before then.
Soi Fong would never have believed during that moment that it would be the last time they would see each other for over a century.
---
Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and she began to sit up.
"Ah. Awake already, I see."
Soi Fong got up with a start, her mind just now taking in its surroundings. She found that she was back in the forest at the base of Soukyoku Hill. She also found that she had been wrapped with the remains of her Captain uniform, and her Soul Slayer, now in its sealed form, laid off to the side.
And finally, there was Shihouin Yoruichi, sitting across from her, with her back leaning against a tree.
"…What happened?"
"Don't tell me you forgot?" Yoruichi answered teasingly, "You cried yourself to sleep, you big baby."
"Oh yeah, that's right." she responded somewhat softly. "How long was I out?"
"Not long at all really. Just a couple of minutes." A long pause.
"I… I was dreaming." She said finally, as Yoruichi got up from her seat and stretched off. "It was of the last time we saw each other." She wasn't sure why she needed to tell her that. It wasn't even like she really had much, if anything, to say about it.
"Is that so?" But apparently somebody else did have something to say about it. "Now, just let me think for a minute here. What was it that we did the last time we saw each other?" said Yoruichi, placing a hand on her chin in mock contemplation.
Soi Fong, obviously, knew where this was going, and she did not like it at all. "You know damn well wha-"
"Let's see," Yoruichi ignored her, "First you did the training, we did that every night, then I complimented you on the progress you were making, I remember that well because of how exited you got, and then…" She snapped her fingers, a devilish grin appearing on her face. "Now I clearly remember what happened that night!"
Her smirk grew even larger as she saw that Soi Fong was already furiously blushing, trying to hide it by looking down at the ground, and was even shaking a little. "Are you trying to tell me all about the wet dreams you have about me, you little pervert? Look I'm sorry, but I'm really not interested in whatever sick fantasies you have playing out in your head. I must say, this is quite unbecoming of a young lady such as yourself-" She stopped when she finally realized something about Soi Fong. That wasn't the blush or shaking that one gets from embarrassment.
Rather, convulsions such as this were usually classified as coming from barely-contained rage.
But suddenly, the convulsions stopped. She took deep breath, and the color in her face, to Yoruichi's relief, had returned to its original color. She slowly got up to her feet, much like she did at the end of her dream, put back on her torn Captain jacket, and dusted herself off, still with her head facing the ground.
Her hand shot up, pointing her index finger at her former idol.
"Hadou No. 4..." Her head shot up to face her, revealing her anger had been twisted into her trademark sadistic grin. "Byakurai." A flash of lightning shot from her fingertip, aiming straight for the God of Flash, who then put said title to good use and easily flash-stepped out of the way.
Little did Soi Fong realize, that less than five minutes later, a certain 6th Division Captain would use the exact same technique, and with a much better rate of success. But enough about that.
Yoruichi reappeared to Soi Fong's right side. "Aww, whatever happened to the meek Soi Fong I used to know and love so long ago. To tell you the truth, I liked you better back when you were a blubbering mess."
"Shut…UP!" Soi Fong was on her in an instant, punching and kicking at her every way she thought possible, so she could finally put an end to that smart little mouth.
But it was to no avail as her body, weakened from her over usage of the Flash Cry technique, was no longer able to keep up with Yoruichi's speed, and everything she was throwing at her ended up being dodged, blocked, and parried.
"I swear, in a way, you're just like Ichigo! First you love me, then you hate me, then you want to kill me, then you have a little nervous breakdown, and every time I try to make one little joke, it's back to kill mode! I can't believe it's been over a hundred years and you still have the chemical imbalances of a 15 year-old!"
"Didn't I just tell you to shut the hell up?" In her blind rage, Soi Fong made a particularly foolish maneuver, a flying heel kick, which Yoruichi easily caught, and after shifting her weight sent her right back to the ground.
Yoruichi stood over her defeated opponent. "Wow, we've been reunited for not even half an hour and I already beat you twice in a row! I think that makes it nine for me, and still nothing for you!"
Soi Fong rolled over on her back, and opened her eyes, and hat's when she saw it again. That half assertive, half-mocking smile, with that small sliver of something…gentle.
"I suppose…some things can change after all. I'll be back when you're not feeling so damn moody. Ja ne, Soi-chan."
And then she was gone.
Soi Fong didn't even bother to get up and go after her. She just sat there in the grass, watching the clouds go by.
She couldn't stop herself from smiling a little.
"Yeah...I guess they can."
…
"…Wait a minute…SOI-CHAN?"
Owari
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And that's a wrap! And what better way is there to welcome a newcomer on this site than by clicking that review box there in the corner? Questions, comments, death threats, fortunes to tell, whatever I take 'em all, so just drop me a line!
CS, out