"Urahara Kisuke!" Soifon declared with her sword pointed directly at him. "Draw your sword or die where you stand!"
Kisuke didn't even have time to blink before Soifon pushed off the ground to appear right in front of him, mere inches separated the two. Soifon brought her sword arm forwards and slashed at his stomach. Had Kisuke spared a few more precious milliseconds her blade may have made contact but the sound of steel clashing on steel rang through the air as he blocked her attack with his zanpakuto partly drawn from his cane.
"If you wanted to train with me, there were better ways of asking." Kisuke joked despite their blades being locked together.
"You can't talk your way out of this Urahara!" Soifon pivoted 180 degrees backwards to free her sword and this time she aimed for Kisuke's head. The Squad Two Captain scowled upon seeing his stripped hat; now cut in half drift to the ground since instead of meeting her zanpakuto with his own, Kisuke had used Shunpo to escape her attack.
"Are you sure we can't talk about this like adults?" Kisuke called over to her though he fully unsheathed his zanpakuto, Benihime all the same while his mind tried to work out what had prompted Soi's new behaviour.
"There's nothing that needs to be said!" Soifon charged at him once more and was surprised when Kisuke advanced towards her as well. They met in the middle of the testing site and their swords clashed with such force that sand clouds exploded into life around them. Again they found themselves locked in a power struggle and neither fighter was willing to give an inch.
"Seems to me we have an audience." Kisuke glanced around when he noticed members from the squad two appear to remove the barrier and instead found their Captain in the middle of a fight.
"Let them watch." Soifon replied flatly and forced her sword upwards, knocking his clear from her body. Kisuke was already bringing his sword back around for a counter attack when Soifon threw her sword upwards, willingly disarming herself. Caught off guard, Kisuke stalled and in doing so knew he had made a mistake for Soifon unleashed a barrage of punches and each one struck him directly in his chest. She finished her onslaught with a perfect roundhouse kick with such strength; he was knocked right off his feet and sent flying though the air. Kisuke managed to recover his landing by pushing off the ground with his hands and performed a handstand to land neatly on his feet as if the whole thing had never happened. He focused back on Soifon to see her snatch her zanpakuto out of the air during its descent and then flash step right in front of him again. "And I'm just getting warmed up!" Soifon gloated as her sword sliced through the air directly towards his neck and Soifon smirked in triumph from her blade finally reaching its target.
"And so am I." Kisuke's voice came from behind her and Soi's eyes widened in shock as the Kisuke her sword had stabbed popped like a balloon in front of her and the real Kisuke stood behind her. Soifon wasted no time in using Shunpo to escape his reach and took a moment to observe Kisuke as he remained where he was.
There's a power in his eyes, Suzumebachi commented at how focused he appeared compared to the start of the fight.
Good. Soifon replied and she braced herself for his next move. It means he's finally ready.
A shinigami, dressed in the uniform accustomed to Squad Two sprinted past the small tea house with what looked like panic in his eyes and although Yoruichi was a little curious as to why he was in such a state so early in the morning such things were not unheard of so she went back to drinking her tea with Unohana in peace.
"Not everyone can start the day slowly." Unohana observed.
"So it would seem." Yoruichi had been prepared to let the matter go entirely if another member of the Onmitsukido had not sprinted past the tea house shortly afterwards that she glanced after him and took note of how his uniform carried remnants of sand when he stopped just out of earshot to talk to another shinigami.
"Are you kidding me? There's no way I'm missing this! Quickly show me where they are!" The shinigami exclaimed with excitement at the sand covered Onmitsukido member and the two ran back the way he had come from. Yoruichi's eye twitched in annoyance at not being able to have overheard what the fuss was all about and it always amused her how much the unknown managed to get under her skin, especially when it concerned anything relating to Soifon.
"If you don't mind, I'd quite like to find out what is going on." Yoruichi rose to her feet to chase after the two shinigami.
"Careful, curiosity killed the cat." Unohana advised.
"Not this cat." Yoruichi grinned back at the 4th Division Captain and soon caught up to the two shinigami in no time at all. "Hey! Mind telling me what all the fuss is about?" Yoruichi slowed her pace down to keep pace with them.
"Of course Lady Yoruichi." The Onmitsukido member responded gladly, "Captain Soifon and the scientist, Urahara Kisuke are fighting in the desert."
"Really? I never thought those two would ever train together…this will be a rare sight indeed." Yoruichi thought out loud though was quite pleased to hear about Kisuke and Soifon actually getting along with one another for a change.
"I'm sorry to say that your mistaken Lady Yoruichi," the Onmitsukido member explained further. "At the start of the match Captain Soifon stated that she planned on killing him. This is a fight to the death."
For someone holding the title of 'Flash Goddess' and known throughout the Seireitei as the fastest Soul Reaper around, Yoruichi was amazed to find herself skidding to an abrupt halt and unable to move a single muscle.
Soifon scowled as her blade swiped through air where Kisuke had previously stood and flash stepped after him without delay, this time her sword met his, Soifon swung her left leg round in hopes of landing another kick but Kisuke was ready and he blocked it with his left hand before she could strike his head. Soi pushed off the ground with her right leg, freeing herself from Kisuke's grasp and lashed out at him with a powerful jump kick, which he dodged effortlessly.
"This is turning out to be quite the work out." Kisuke admitted with a smile, "I'd be quite happy to spar with you more…often." His sword collided into Soi's on his last word.
"This isn't a sparring match!" Soifon corrected him and they continued to trade blows though Kisuke concentrated on defending Soi's attacks instead of attacking her like she wanted him to do.
"About that, do you really need to kill me? Or can you settle for a defeat?" Kisuke asked in a casual manner like they were discussing what to eat later that day, personally he believed sharing a meal with the Captain would be just as deadly.
"I'd be happy with defeating you yes," Soifon admitted and sprinted towards him, her sword raised and ready as she prepared an overhead blow. Kisuke matched her step for step; they met halfway across the field with his own overhead attack to cancel out hers. "But it seems the only way to make you take this fight seriously is to kill you." Soifon leapt over him, jabbing at him with quick short strikes multiple times to keep him in place, Kisuke blocked them with his zanpakuto each time. The moment she landed behind him, Soi lunged straight for his back; he spun around to face her and knocked her sword aside perfectly. Soifon wasted no time in ducking down into a low spinning sweep kick with the purpose of knocking him over. Kisuke leapt over her attack with time to spare, Soifon used the momentum from the kick to flip into spinning handstand and kicked out at Kisuke with each turn and forced him to block her attacks with his sword.
"The way you switch between your zanpakuto to Hakuda and back again is difficult to keep up with." Kisuke exhaled once Soifon knew his defence wasn't going to break and she flipped back onto her feet, sword in hand in a guarded position. Soifon glared at Kisuke for what he said and because he was giving off the impression that he had really being caught off guard by her attacks.
Is he…mocking us? There was a real anger behind Suzumebachi's presence this time that even surprised Soifon.
"I never expected that behaviour from you Urahara." Soifon removed her captain's haori in one swift motion and outstretched her sword arm, Suzumebachi felt like it was going to burst in her hands at any second. "At least when I fought Yoruichi she treated me with respect and battled against me as though we were equals." Kisuke straightened up, the tired expression wiped from his face which confirmed that he has been pretending to have experienced difficulties in keeping up with her fighting style. "Sting all enemies to death…Suzumebachi!" The zanpakuto in her hand glowed white and once the glow had faded, Suzumebachi was revealed in its released Shikai form, a black and golden gauntlet with a stinger-like blade secured on her middle finger that was attached to the gauntlet by a small chain. "I guess I have to be serious about killing you in order for you to fight me with your real strength!"
"Sting all enemies to death…Suzumebachi!" That sentence reverberated around Yoruichi's mind and it felt like Soifon herself had punched her right in the gut at each word being spoken. Again, Yoruichi found herself frozen in place, her limbs felt like dead weights at the sight of Soifon's zanpakuto transforming into the weapon that delivered death in two hits. Her eyes darted to Kisuke when Soifon charged at him but just as Yoruichi had been locked in place at Soifon using her Shikai on her so was Kisuke. Come on Kisuke! Move your ass…Now! Yoruichi willed from sidelines where she stood with the other shinigami who had heard about the fight and had come running to witness it. Too late… Yoruichi grimaced and found herself turning away from the scene when Soifon pierced Kisuke's chest with her Shikai. Yoruichi looked back in time to see the butterfly crest spread across his chest, his hand gripping the centre of crest where the stinger blade had pierced him.
"I won't let you get away." Yoruichi turned around and Soifon was there, a smirk on her face and the Shikai pierced Yoruichi's chest. Yoruichi managed to leap out of the way to land on a branch with her hand over the fresh wound while Soifon spoke to her. Yoruichi instinctively put her hand over her chest where Soifon's Shikai had struck her in their previous battle as Soifon spoke to Kisuke, who looked as stunned as Yoruichi had felt when it happened to her.
It became difficult for Yoruichi to pay attention to Soifon and Kisuke's battle after Soi released her Shikai for when Soifon landed the second strike on Kisuke's wrist, Yoruichi heard Soi's voice replaying in her head from the day they had fought one another. "Pay the price of being away from the battlefront for a hundred years with your life, Yoruichi!" Yoruichi felt the second strike land on her back and the third on her top right arm as it were happening all over again.
Another Homonka appeared on Kisuke's body, this time across his thigh and the next struck the back of his rib cage as Soifon stayed on a constant move, not letting up for one second in hopes of getting Kisuke to finally fight her for real instead of the holding back like he had been doing so. Yoruichi's fists tightened in response at seeing the forth Homonka appear on Kisuke while she still tried to wrestle with the conflicting emotions raging inside of her from the two people she cared about the most actually fighting and from the memories of having to fight Soifon herself. Soifon's sword arm cut through the air towards her chest and Yoruichi's last defence was to deflect the blow by presenting yet another target for Soifon to aim for. Yoruichi felt blood gushing from the side of her face as they separated to land on the ground and Yoruichi knew that a Homonka had spread across her cheek from where Soifon's Shikai had hit her again.
Kisuke's battle performance must have displeased Soifon for she finally relented in her attacks and landed on the ground while Kisuke remained suspended in the air. Soifon spoke to Kisuke while her sword arm jerked sharply outwards and her spiritual energy erupted in a vortex that rapidly revolved around her body. "I am better than you. Now that you understand this, I'll finish you off." Yoruichi couldn't stop the memories now that they were flowing freely though her mind, the only difference between her battle with Soifon and the one unfolding before Yoruichi's eyes now was that Soifon's Shunko was in its competed form.
This fact must have popped into Kisuke's mind for he finally snapped out of his stupor and prepared his own counter attack against Soifon's completed Shunko form. Soifon kicked off the ground and raced upwards to him, her sword arm leading the way, powered by the powerful spiritual energy whipping furiously around her body while Kisuke raised Benihime above his head, sparks of red energy burst from the tip as it arched through the air to point directly at Soifon.
Her body reacted purely on instinct alone that Yoruichi barely noticed that her jacket was ripped into shreds from the dense kido now emitting from her back and shoulders as she broke through the energy barrier that enclosed the two fighters because all she could see in her mind's eye was when she had been forced to use Shunko against Soifon. I should never have let the battle reach that point, Yoruichi thought to herself and threw her body between the two attacks coming from Soifon and Kisuke, I should never have let it get this far.
Great clouds of smoke burst from the point of contact where Kisuke's attack hit Yoruichi's spiritual pressure and covered the area in a dense cloud that was impossible to see through and blocked both Soifon and Yoruichi from his view.
"Yoruichi!?" Kisuke shouted into clouds, a slight panic to his tone mainly from surprise at her appearing right in the middle of their attacks but still he peered anxiously through the clouds as they faded away to assess the situation better and her condition.
"This fight is over." Yoruichi's voice spoke loud and clear with enough power behind it that even the shinigami who had been watching the fight started to swiftly leave the area as fast as their legs could carry them. Kisuke remained where he was as he stared at her, still in shock from her arrival and from her ending the fight in the manner she chose to do so. He could only guess that she had used her Shunko to block all of his kido for Soifon's Shikai was deeply embedded in her right side since Yoruichi had not blocked Soifon's attack at all. Soifon was clearly in deep shock from having Yoruichi dive between them both, her eyes wide with horror were fixed on the blood dripping from the wound that Yoruichi ended up gripping Soi's arm and pulling Suzumebachi from her body herself.
"A-are you alr-" Kisuke started to ask but one look from Yoruichi told him to shut up as she descended carefully to the desert floor and guided Soifon with her, who was still in shell shock at having stabbed Yoruichi. Kisuke followed suit and landed on the ground close by to them both, not sure of what he could say to Yoruichi so he remained quiet and waited for Yoruichi's next move.
"You two will never fight that way again." Yoruichi's voice was enough to scare Kisuke into believing that she'd kill him herself if such a situation ever repeated itself.
"U-Understood Yoruichi." Kisuke gulped and flash stepped away from the area as fast as his feet would carry him when Yoruichi's stern gaze left him to focus on Soifon.
"I – I didn't mean to -" Soifon stammered uncontrollably at trying to explain how Yoruichi had appeared in front of her too fast for Soifon to pull back on her attack and how she never wanted to hit Yoruichi in the first place.
"Don't." Yoruichi cut Soifon off sharply, she still had a hold on Soi's arm and her grip tightened to the point that it began to hurt Soifon. "Don't ever fight him…" Soifon found herself stunned once more by Yoruichi's actions for she collapsed to her knees in front of Soifon and clung to her as if she was her lifeline, her voice was barely above a whisper as the Flash Goddess struggled to contain her emotions. "I can't stand the sight of you two fighting…" it sounded like Yoruichi was going to burst into tears, "Please…never fight him like that again."
"I won't…" It was the only thing Soifon found herself able to tell Yoruichi.
"Never again..." Yoruichi choked out through a sob and Soifon had a feeling the fight was still replaying in the back of Yoruichi's head. Not sure of what else she could do, Soifon encircled her arms around Yoruichi and repeated that she wouldn't fight Kisuke again until Yoruichi believed her.
"Yoruichi?" Soifon tried tentatively once she believed Yoruichi had finally calmed down, "I'm sorry." The scene instantly reminded Soifon of the aftermath after her battle with Yoruichi where she had been the one on the ground and Yoruichi was crouched down beside her, apologising to Soifon. "I never intended to hurt you Yoruichi, emotionally and physically." Soifon looked down at Yoruichi's side and saw that blood was still flowing freely from the open wound and Soifon gently pushed Yoruichi upright. "We need to get that treated." Yoruichi looked down at the wound and nodded, it was only after she stood up did Yoruichi realise that there was no Homonka present where she had been struck.
"Where's your mark?" Yoruichi looked a little puzzled.
"Are you kidding me?" Soifon stared at her dumbfoundedly, "I may not have been able to pull back on my attack but I had enough sense to remove the mark before it even formed." Soifon protested when Yoruichi just blinked at her, "Yoruichi I'd never let myself strike you with the intention of leaving the mark for a second strike ever again!"
"I better hope we part as friends should we ever break up then." Yoruichi joked half-heartedly and Soifon rolled her eyes though smiled at the return of Yoruichi's humour.
"Come on, let's go back home and treat your injury." Yoruichi raised an eyebrow at Soi's choice of wording.
"Let's go back home? Was that your way of asking me to move in with you?" Yoruichi teased.
"You wish Yoruichi." Soifon retaliated as they walked side by side across the desert wasteland.
A/N: I hope this chapter is back to the usual quality provided and that you enjoyed reading it!