Yoruichi Shihoin watched in horror as her friend, student, and one-time bodyguard collapsed to the ground and started vomiting blood. It took only seconds after Soi-Feng hit the ground for her to start dissolving into a mess of flesh. The sight was so sudden and disturbing. Worse of all, Yoruichi could already tell that there was nothing to do for the woman who had cared for her so dearly.
Tears sprang from her eyes and she screamed to the sky and to the battlefield. She would make the enemy pay for what they had done here. It was time to get serious and save her people. And save her brother as well.
"Shunko," she shouted, and her clothes ripped apart in the back as power ementaed like a storm from her body.
Like a hellish comet, Yoruichi dropped from the sky and slammed into the center of her foes. They scattered, thrown about as if a tornado had touched down on top of them. Her raging Kido, wrapped around her body, made her momentarily impervious to all attacks. She sped for her brother, flattening everyone who stood in her way.
"Lady Yoruichi," the clansmen cried out. "We are to ser-"
"You can get started by clearing out the grounds and putting out the fires! I will protect Yushiro and guard the gate! Now get going," she ordered. Looking at her brother she added more softly, "Stay behind me and try to stay out of trouble. I'll deal with this."
"But… Soi-Feng," he mumbled.
"She's dead," Yoruichi said sadly. "You can feel it, too. Her spiritual presence has been extinguished. But I'll avenge her!"
The enemy had recovered, and the ranks of Kasumioji assassins and Rukon renegades were regrouping. Yoruichi gave them a condescending glare.
"The only way you were able to beat Soi-Feng was through surprise and deception. I will not be so easily tricked, especially now that I have seen your tricks!"
"Even your speed is no match for the poison we specially engineered to kill all Captain ranked fools, like yourself," spat the man who wielded the sword that had killed Soi-Feng. "We are equipped to defeat all of the zanpakuto that you have!"
"Well, I don't have mine as the moment, but that's okay. I just need my fists to kill you," Yoruichi replied smoothly.
"Bold claim," the man asserted. "Let's see if you can back up that bravado."
"I'm the Flash Goddess, you will see that I can back up my words!"
Yoruichi sprang forward at a furious pace. She punched the assassins and soldiers surrounding the boasting man, and as she did so they were blown to smithereens by the force of her Shunko. Right as she was about to kill the man who had murdered Soi-Feng, something strange happened to her and she began slowing down. Up until that moment, she had been moving so fast that her enemy should not have been able to read her movements. Indeed, he had been transfixed like a statue to her point of view. But now he grinned and swiped at her with his poisonous blade. She barely managed to dodge.
What was that, she wondered, thoroughly bewildered.
She felt sluggish, and there was no time to think the matter through. The man charged her. Using Shunko, she was able to redirect the blade as she moved her hands and feet graceful to intercept the blade. The force of her Kido and her inner speed created the gale around her body forming a wonderful shield and weapon. Her attacked was not happy.
"Drain more from her! We need to weaken her!"
She smiled at him and said, "You have someone trying to take away my speed, right? That is a wise move, but utterly futile. I am way too strong to have all of my speed zapped from me!"
"Is that so? I almost got you there," the man sneered.
"Almost never saves you in battle," Yoruichi replied, now pressing the man back. She felt herself still getting slower, but she pushed forward nonetheless. "And it's rather shameful having to rely on someone else to help you defeat me."
"That's rich," the man chuckled uneasily. "Coming from an assassin. From people who strike in the darkness and from behind. Your tactics are just underhanded. At least I've always met my enemies head on!"
"It's what I'm doing to you right now," Yoruichi reminded him.
"Only because I forced you to," the man spat.
"Then you clearly do not understand what it means to lead others, nor to protect what is precious to you," Yoruichi said angrily. "And finally, you do not understand what it means to deal out true vengeance."
"Don't speak so high mindedly to me Shihoin! You and your people are all hypocrites!"
Yoruichi managed to knock the man's sword from his hands. He paled and shouted for others to cover him. Assassins swarmed Yoruichi. By now, she felt herself really moving in slow motion, and she noticed that these men wielded strange blades.
The bakoto, she realized. I have to pull out one of my trump cards already! I would rather not use this, especially without Kisuke around to supervise it. But this kind of form will probably frighten the others away and help me move at a normal enough of a speed to kill him and find whoever is helping him!
Youichi dipped into her spiritual energy and hado, combining them into her rarest form. In a way, it felt fitting to use it, even against this rabble. If it were not for the mysterious bakoto that was being used on her from somewhere, she might not have considered it. But with her predicament, and her desire to avenge Soi_Feng, it was on appropriate to do so.
She began changing. She could feel it. Her feline self merging with her soul's body. The murderer she was going for had retrieved his blade and was readying himself.
He snorted, and said, "True to the Shihoin way, you never know when to quit. I know what you are doing! Central 46 demanded perfect records of the Quincy War, and even with all of the destruction, they got excellent results. It was so kind of Kisuke Urahara to be accommodating, even if there were some gaps in the report. You have a special form you can take by taking your black magic ways to the next level!
"Well, that is why we had this special bakoto forged just for facing you! By decreasing your speed, even this trump card of yours, this ultimate form so to speak, will be robbed of all its powers! And this venom? We formulated it using a brilliant concocting of all the race's magical abilities! Not even you can throw off its lightning fast effects!"
"Damn, you really talk too much," Yoruichi growled, bending over and curling like a cat.
Then suddenly, everything changed. She felt her power rushing back to her. She could practically taste her speed coming back to her. It was such an odd sensation. But it was wonderful!
"Shunkō: Raiju Senkei: Shunryū Kokubyō Senkei," she screamed.
Her transformation was complete, and she merged with her cat form. So many sensations came to her. She could feel and think with the incredible speed that made her spiritual power a storm about her. The man before her visibly paled and began speaking.
"Well met Yoruichi Shihoin. My name -"
He never finished, and died anonymous. Yoruichi sheared right through him. She then descended on the rest of the enemy soldiers. Assassins with their strange sword, Rukon rabble with their makeshift weapons, and noble soldiers all succumbed to her ferocity. She knew what she was doing. She was clearing the gates, destroying their siege equipment, and putting their reinforcements to flight. Most of them did not escape with their lives. She then turned about playfully to ravage the rest of the enemy within her ancestral walls.
Yoruichi was not sure exactly when she came back to a proper frame of mind, but when she did, her brother was wrapping a blanket around her nude body. Soldiers stood at arms around her. The Shihoin manor was smoking, but thankfully the flames within had not taken the whole house. The grounds were quiet and subdued.
"Thanks, Yushiro."
Her brother blushed slightly with pride and replied, "Anything for you sister. I managed to locate and kill the guy who was using this on you."
Yushiro held out a strangely curved cavalry sword. He flinched as he did so.
"You did," Yoruichi repeated, feeling a little surprised. "Excellent job!"
"Thank you big sis! Only, we lost a lot of people in the attack. And unfortunately, Miss Soi-Feng is dead. We did what we could to honor and preserve what… What was left of her."
"That foolish girl," Yoruichi snapped. "She was always so headstrong. She didn't think the situation through well enough!"
"She was here to save us all," Yushiro protested, tears in his eyes.
She blinked and felt her own tears. Another comrade dead. This time, someone she was very close with. Soi-Feng did not deserve to die the way she had. At least she had seen to avenging her. By the looks of things, her part of the battle was over.
"I know you're sad, but there is something important I need to tell you. Sister, we took some prisoners and got them to talk. It seems the Kasumioji Clan has been behind the the whole thing! They made these monster zanpakuto to help overthrow the other noble houses who didn't support them and take over the Seireitei. They want the whole Soul Society!"
Yushiro, when did you start maturing, she thought with a hint of her old amusement.
"They call these weapons the bakoto," Yoruichi said. "From what Kisuke could discover, they amplify the wielder's spiritual pressure. Even if it were basically nothing, it could force that person to be on par with a regular Soul Reaper, but with a devastating cost. And it sounds like they have many other instruments at their disposal. But I did suspect that the Kasumioji Clan would be behind all of this. I even think that the princess is not as innocent in this matter as she would have everyone think.
"Do we know what other noble houses have joined the Kasumiojis?"
Yushiro nodded. "A ton of the minor nobility. The list kinda goes on and on, but so far, we think that the major houses have not defected."
As her brother spoke, Yoruichi could feel the waves of violence and unleashed power washing over her. She found herself being torn three ways. To stay with her clan, protect them, and see Soi-Feng's remains properly cared for. Then there was a fight Kusike was in. And out there, in the Rukon, Ichigo was battling hard. War was everywhere.
She sighed and knew that the first option was sadly not one at all. She had a much greater duty to the Soul Society and to her close ones. Yushiro was capable, and he could defend their land for now. But where should she go next?
She stood up quickly, her blanket fluttering like a cape, and asked, "Yushiro? Do you still have our family's armament ready?"
He looked up at her with shining eyes.