Author's note:
I just wanted to thank everyone who has read this fic, everyone who has left a review, and everyone who has kept waiting, hoping that there would be an update despite the terribly long hiatus. I'm not really in a position to update regularly, but I had this little tidbit lying around so I just thought I'd post it as a little reward or a little teaser, however you want to look at it. The enthusiastic reviews really pushed me to update; they reminded me that there are people out there who care what happens to the fic. Just so you know, I do like this story and I haven't given up on it, but it will take a lot of time before I am able to devote time to it again.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, even if it is shorter than usual.
Chapter 9: Memories of an Interrogation
Soifon woke up with a start, body trembling and eyes wide but unfocused. She didn't know why, at the moment, but she had the nagging feeling that she should not have been asleep. At least she hadn't intended to fall asleep and couldn't remember going to sleep. She tried to recall what had happened before she had woken up from this unplanned nap, but the lights were a little too bright and her mind a little too addled. All she could call forth were images and snatches of conversation, but they weren't very useful…
She thought she remembered her commander wearing a black body suit instead of her captain's haori. Urahara was there too, wearing a lab coat as he stood beside her. She tried to recall what they were doing while she with them, but everything was wrapped in a haze and held a certain sense of abandonment and inadequacy.
Abandonment.
Now, thinking of that word seemed to call forth more memories that were so clear, she was sure they must have just happened.
There was Yoruichi-sama, furiously pacing the floor with a frown on her face.
But why is she wearing her haori in this memory? Wasn't she just wearing her body suit?
Urahara's lieutenant was in danger and the officers of the Gotei 13 were off to rescue her. Yoruichi-sama seemed frustrated, no doubt wishing she had been sent instead. But there was something else. She seemed… worried; Soifon could see traces of it on her face even as she assured her that things would turn out fine.
I thought Urahara was there with us… He was standing right there while Yoruichi-sama was talking to me.
Sometime after that, Soifon remembered running fast and hard for a very long time. She had heard rumors about Yoruichi-sama, but they had to be wrong. They just had to be. She ran because she desperately needed to know. Nothing else mattered, not the burning in her lungs or the aching of her legs. It was an eternity before she rounded the corner; she blasted the doors open to find Yoruichi's throne empty.
She wasn't there like she should have been…
She remembered that all too clearly. Her legs gave in and she slid absently against the door jamb, into a heap on the ground. She had yelled out her commander's name for the rumors were correct. Shihoin Yoruichi had abandoned her position. Shihoin Yoruichi had abandoned her.
And then there was an interrogation.
Yes, she vaguely remembered being interrogated. Yoruichi-sama was wearing a black body suit instead of her captain's haori, and Urahara was wearing a lab coat as he stood beside her.
No, wait, that can't be right.
That memory was probably from before they left her… But there really was an interrogation. She had screamed for Yoruichi-sama… no, that didn't seem quite right either. It was an order from Central 46; that she remembered quite well. It was an embarrassment and no one believed her. Then the Soutaichou was there. He had been so angry…
Yes, that must be it, she thought hazily as her eyes wandered around the room she had woken up in, taking in the ashy marks on the walls and ceiling, and the series of long gouges on the wall opposite her, as if giant talons had carved them out. She was probably being kept here while they figured out what to do with her after her interrogation.
At the back of her head something told her that all of this would pass and eventually, she would be trusted with the position that her master had left. She ignored that feeling in favor of the overwhelming sense of despair that clouded her senses and seemed to run in her veins.
Just then, she heard a muffled voice and felt the familiar tingling of reiatsu being released. She then heard a series of clicks followed by a hiss—a kidou spell had released the locks to her reiatsu-blocking cell, no doubt. Soifon was puzzled by the need for such high security measures against her. It wasn't like she was captain level or something.
Soifon was expecting the First's lieutenant to enter but gasped when the blond scientist, the bane of her existence, sauntered through the door. "Soi-chan! You're up!" Kisuke was yelling cheerfully when all of a sudden, a black blob slammed into him, knocking the air out of his lungs. The next instant found Kisuke at the opposite end of the room with eyes grim, having flash-stepped away from the presumed enemy out of instinct, but the black blob remained attached to his robes. He was about to remedy that through more drastic means when he realized that Soifon was clutching his robes desperately firing off questions in quick succession.
"Urahara! You're back? Everyone thought you were gone for good! Has everything been sorted out? I told everyone they were wrong. I told them!" When Kisuke remained quiet and his expression remained uncharacteristically grim, Soifon's hopeful smile melted.
"Then it's true…" Soifon mumbled to herself in horror as she released her hold on Kisuke and slowly backed up. "How did you get past the guards, all the shinigami that have been sent to capture you?"
But through all that, another seed of hope grew in her heart. "Did Yoruichi-sama come back for me?" Her voice was so small, disbelieving but painfully hopeful, that it almost broke Kisuke's heart.
"Soi-chan, I think you need to rest some more," Kisuke said softly, knocking the disoriented girl out as gently as possible, sticking a needle into her neck. Pausing and looking up thoughtfully, he took another vial from within his robes and injected the brown liquid into her as well. Nodding in satisfaction, he carried Soifon back to the simple bed he had set up for her.
