Hunted
Third Date - Second Attempt
Soifon gave a very doubtful look at Yoruichi upon seeing her guilty expression at not having some kind of plan on what they would actually spend their time doing.
"What? I don't have all the answers." Yoruichi defended herself. Soifon remained unimpressed as they left her office together, "It's you date too you know, feel free to – Nanao?" Yoruichi stopped dead in her tracks when she caught sight of the familiar woman sat at the assistant's desk, still frantically giving orders into the headset she was wearing. Yoruichi noticed that Nanao had grown since she last saw her but she looked very much the same as she always had with her black hair tied neatly out of the way and she could have sworn she even had the same glasses on.
"It's good to see you again Yoruichi." Nanao nodded to her in greeting, not the least bit surprised to see Yoruichi again.
"I'm glad you're doing well." Yoruichi cast a quick look at Soifon who was observing the exchange with her usual stoic expression. She would have loved to stay and catch up with Nanao but this was technically her impromptu date and she didn't want Soifon getting bored, but she did need to know a few things while she had the chance. "Are you still hanging around with Shunsui?"
"I couldn't get rid of him if I tried." Nanao told her, though she didn't sound too upset by this fact. Yoruichi realised she had been tense since she first spotted Nanao and she felt herself relax after hearing about Shunsui.
"Listen, I'm kind of busy right now but we have to catch up some time." Yoruichi explained hastily after casting another glance at Soifon who had been approached by one of her workers, Yoruichi could tell from Soi's body language alone that she really wasn't in the mood to deal with whatever the man was trying to talk to her about.
"Of course, I'll inform Shunsui." Nanao confirmed, also casting a look at Soifon after noticing Yoruichi's constant glances at her though she did not say anything.
"Thanks, I'll see you around ok." Yoruichi smiled gratefully at her before saving Soifon from the babbling man, "Sorry for the wait there Soi but I'm ready now." Soifon stared back at Yoruichi curiously before she waved the man off dismissively and ignored his protests.
"When did I say you could start calling me Soi?" she asked Yoruichi as they both started walking along the corridor together, not caring about any possible gossip spreading about her walking beside the intruder. Dam, I should have got Nanao to call off the security teams... If she had more energy, she would have just turned around and dealt with it now but so long as Yoruichi didn't wander off by herself, she could deal with any approaching guards.
"Would you prefer being called Soi-chan?" Yoruichi grinned.
Soifon looked unamused by this, "Soi is fine."
"You sure, I quite like the sound of bee now instead." Yoruichi admitted.
"Huh?"
"Bee, your name, it means bee right? Well broken bee but I could get used to calling you bee." Yoruichi explained while Soifon was playing catch up with the conversation as they stood waiting for the lift.
"Yeah…I-I think that's right -"
"I am not getting in that thing again. Wait for me on the ground floor ok bee." Yoruichi waved to Soifon and ran off towards the stairs just as the lift doors opened.
"I said you can call me Soi, I don't mind – wait, what?" Soifon barely caught sight of Yoruichi's purple hair vanishing through the doors leading to the stairwell. She's voluntarily running all the way down to the ground floor, that's got to be…over a– urgh, a lot of stairs. Soifon gave up trying to work out how many stairs it would be within seconds and concluded that sleep was required as soon as possible for her brain to start fully functioning again. Oh crap, Soifon forced her legs to work and she tore after the purple haired goddess when she realised she had just let Yoruichi wander off by herself in a building with trained professionals searching for anyone without an employee badge.
"Yoruichi wait! Security is still after you remember!" Soifon called out the moment she entered the stairwell, her voice reverberated around the room several times before fading away into nothing.
"Yeah and?" Yoruichi's voice echoed upwards in response. Soifon poked her head over the banister to look down and saw Yoruichi doing the same; only she was looking up at Soifon. Yoruichi had managed to get down 5 flights of stairs in the time it took Soifon to chase after her, which Soifon had to admit was impressive, though Yoruichi dismissing the news that she was being hunted for like it was nothing left Soifon completely stumped.
"Err…well –it's -that's a bad thing." Soifon was unable to think of anything else to say. Yoruichi's nonchalant expression turned into a bright smile, thus disarming Soifon even more than before.
"Awwww, I didn't realise you cared about me that much Soi-bee."
"Soi-bee?" Soifon repeated this new name to herself distastefully. "You can pick one or the other but no way I'm letting you call me Soi-bee."
"Great, bee it is." Yoruichi called back up to her happily.
"No, I – huh…what just happened?" Soifon trailed off once she realised Yoruichi had just gotten permission to refer to her as bee.
"What's going on out here?" A gruff sounding voice interrupted their conversation and by the sound of things, the man had entered the stairwell on Yoruichi's level. "It's you!" he shouted at Yoruichi, leaving Soifon to believe they must have bumped into one another at some point before her arrival and started to rush down the stairs to meet up with the two of them before anything happened.
"You again?" Yoruichi's head vanished out of sight as she moved to face whoever it was questioning her, "Didn't I knock you out before?" Soifon couldn't help but wonder why Yoruichi would want to annoy the security guard.
"I'll get you this time!" the man shouted out triumphantly.
"Wait!" Soifon tried to call out but was too late; there was the unmistakable sound of someone grunting in pain, followed by a dull thud, every sound amplified by it echoing off the walls. Great, just what a date needs - , Soifon thought after jumping down the last set of steps and turned to go down the next set but stopped dead in her tracks -a trip to the hos-pi...tal There at the bottom of the stairs, was the knocked out security guard with Yoruichi standing over him looking completely fine.
"You'd think he'd have learnt from the last time." Yoruichi lamented for the man's sake and noticed the surprised look on Soifon's face as she moved down the stairs towards her. "What? Told you I knew martial arts." Yoruichi shrugged.
"Is he going to be ok?" Soifon examined the unconscious man.
"He'll be fine when he wakes up." Yoruichi waved dismissively and jogged over to the next flight of stairs leading downwards.
"You're not really going to run all the way down to the bottom, are you?" Soifon asked when she noticed Yoruichi was not heading to the door leading out of the stairwell.
"Pretty much, safer than that tin can at least."
"Safer? For you maybe but apparently not my security team." Soifon mumbled, her eyes fixed on the sleeping man again.
"You'll just have to come along and make sure they don't do anything stupid then!" Yoruichi grinned at Soi and took off down the stairs.
"You're crazy!" Soifon called after Yoruichi, "Do you realise how many stairs we'll have to go down?"
"Come on, we'll be at the bottom within a flash!"
Both Yoruichi and Soifon were sprawled out across a flight of stairs somewhere between floors 23 and 22.
"Al-alright… so it wasn't…in-in a flash." Yoruichi managed to get out between gasps for much needed air. She looked over at Soifon's hunched over form when the snide comment she expected was not delivered and saw her shoulders shaking slightly. "You alright…Soi?" Yoruichi made herself sit up to get a better look at Soifon and check that she was alright when it sounded like she was sobbing.
Soifon bust out laughing, unable to contain it any longer, of all the things she had pictured as things people do on dates together, running down the stairs of a skyscraper had never once featured on that list. "Did I miss something?" Yoruichi asked, watching Soi's laughing fit with a bemused expression.
"It's this-all of this is crazy." Soifon laughed. Yoruichi chuckled though soon found herself laughing purely because Soifon was laughing, it was infectious and seeing Soifon's lovely, bright smile warmed her very heart.
"Yep, it sure is crazy." Yoruichi agreed softly, not able to nor did she want to take her eyes off of Soifon.
Not having any kind of a plan worked out on what they could do together once they made it to the ground floor in one piece, they set off walking around the city centre from Soifon's office and even though they did nothing but window shop and talk. Yoruichi felt like this was the best thing they could have done since she was aware of Soifon being tired, they could set their own pace, take breaks when needed, plus wandering around all the shops gave her a chance to find out what kind of things Soifon liked.
"One more thing, I would not have any face concealing helmets – the visors would be see-through so any would be heroes could not disguise themselves as my soldiers." Soifon explained matter-of-factly as they left the DVD store together.
"Ah, good one - that's always a big mistake." Yoruichi agreed. As soon as they had entered the DVD store, both of them rushed straight for the action section and spent ages talking about and recommending some of the favourite action/adventure movies and ended up discussing in great detail all the classic mistakes the bad guy makes. Much to Yoruichi's amusement, Soifon had created her own 'What Not To Do' list should she ever decide to try and take over the world. "Though it's always great to see the look on their faces when you take the mask off and they realise they were tricked."
"Somehow I get the feeling you would enjoy doing that." Soifon commented, recalling Yoruichi's smug toothy grin she showed off the two times she had gotten into her building up to now.
"You make it sound like I do it on a regular basis." Yoruichi laughed.
"I'm beginning to think you do. Even with training, being able to avoid capture for as long as you did is very impressive." Soifon turned away from Yoruichi the moment she let those words escape from her mouth. She was always so careful to keep her true feelings hidden, even from those she considered friends. She always made sure to guard herself and yet she revealed part of her admiration towards Yoruichi like it had been nothing that it surprised her how easily it had slipped out.
"Do I detect a hint of flattery?" Yoruichi teased, not wanting to miss a possible chance at making Soifon blush now that she got the opportunity. Soifon refused to make eye contact with Yoruichi as she leaned closer to her, which only served to deepen her blush as she was all too aware of that fact that they were in the middle of busy shopping centre.
"I-it's understandable that I would ad-admire aspects of-of you." Soifon finished meekly, aware of how stupid she sounded from her lack of experience in this subject matter. Yoruichi's teasing grin turned into a genuine warm smile at seeing how uncertain Soifon appeared, emphasised more by her tired appearance and the oversized clothes she had thrown on to leave the house. It was a direct contrast to the stern, workaholic Soifon Yoruichi had seen so many months ago now and it gave her a look of vulnerability that made Yoruichi want to wrap her up in a big fluffy blanket. Having no blanket available though, Yoruichi settled for pulling Soi into a hug from behind and met little resistance from Soifon apart from her tensing up slightly at Yoruichi lowering her head just over her left shoulder.
"You really haven't done this type of thing before, have you?" Yoruichi murmured softly to her. Soifon remained quiet, "Is this the whole 'it's complicated' matter?" Yoruichi tried again.
"Yes." Soifon answered after clearing her throat and shifted under Yoruichi's hold on her.
"Well, just another piece of the puzzle that I have to find." Yoruichi broke the intimate hold she had on Soifon in hopes of making her feel more at ease while patting her on the back to get her moving again.
They passed by a shop window in silence while weaving through the festive shoppers.
"Won't you get bored once the picture is complete?" Soifon asked and watched Yoruichi carefully for her answer.
"Nope, because then I get to appreciate it all the more." Yoruichi reassured her without needing to think about her answer as they walked side by side. "Oooo, that looked nice." Yoruichi commented about something she saw in the shop window they were passing. Soifon looked around to see that Yoruichi had spotted a dark, multi-coloured stripped poncho.
"Matches the upcoming holiday well." Soi commented at seeing the dark green and red colours of it.
"Yep, that time of year again. Always say I'll get the Christmas shopping done early but end up doing a mad dash out on Christmas Eve." Yoruichi chuckled, "How about you?"
"Hmm? Oh I usually get wrapped up in the office parties that by the time I get some peace and quiet, Christmas has come and gone." Soifon explained with a yawn.
"I'm boring you already? Good to know I lasted a couple of hours." Yoruichi laughed, Soifon elbowed her playfully for making a very bad joke and explained it was because she was tired. Yoruichi looked around and saw a small restaurant across from them where they could sit for a little bit to let Soifon rest. It also gave her the chance to try out a few things on the menu now that she was starting to feel hungry and the lovely smelling foods made Soifon realise how hungry she was as well and they ended up spending a lot more time than they realised in the quaint corner café, swapping stories and people watching while they ate.
Soifon told Yoruichi about her move to the city after finishing her education in China and how she had gotten an intern job at Balance Industries and that she spent the rest of her time since then working her way to the top. "Luckily I was able to patch up the messes the last guy in charge made and well, here I am now." Soifon finished speaking.
"Bet that wasn't easy." Yoruichi commented, prompting Soifon to continue.
"Not one bit." Soifon admitted, "It took a while before they would even consider listening to my ideas, let alone go through with them."
"Sounds like it was worth it though, a good job, nice neighbourhood…steady routine…I'd like that." Yoruichi trailed off. "Not the working in the office bit but defiantly the stability it offers." she explained hastily after realising she had gotten lost in daydreaming.
"Why, what do you do?" Soifon asked through a yawn.
"I used to be a model." Yoruichi saw Soifon's curious expression so continued to explain. "I haven't done any recent work but it's not for a lack of wanting…more a recommendation to not do anything for a bit." Soifon remained quiet which Yoruichi took as a sign to go on, "Urgh, I was hoping to not go into this so soon, didn't want to scare you off so soon." Yoruichi groaned.
"I'm too tired to run off anywhere right now so go on." Soifon indicated for Yoruichi to explain further.
"Alright, I had some fans go a little nuts…they caused a lot of trouble." Yoruichi shrugged it off.
"Can't help but get the feeling that's the abridged version." Soifon studied Yoruichi's expression, trying to see past the carefree attitude she was displaying.
"I can't reveal all my secrets in one day." Yoruichi replied slyly. Soifon was thinking of a way to get Yoruichi to tell her more about what happened when the waitress brought over the desert Yoruichi had ordered and she lost the woman to the chocolate pudding, if she learnt one thing from this meeting with Yoruichi, it was that she loved food. Another thing Soifon discovered was that she really did enjoy Yoruichi's company, there seemed to be something genuine in Yoruichi's interest in her when compared to others who only wanted her friendship for their own gain.
"This hasn't been too bad, right?" Yoruichi cast a sideways look at Soifon now that they were getting closer to her office building and the end of their impromptu date.
"It was nice to get out of the office and relax for a bit, it - it was needed." Soifon admitted.
"Think you can give me a call next time you need a break from the paperwork…or when you get some free time?" Yoruichi tried to make this sound as casual as possible.
"Subtle Yoruichi." Soifon smirked at the not so casual attempt now that they had come to a standstill outside Balance Industries.
"I'm just making sure you don't slip through my fingers again." A devilish look flashed across Yoruichi's face and she leaned in dangerously close to Soifon to steal a kiss to make sure her interest in Soifon was perfectly clear. Panic gripped Soifon at seeing Yoruichi's advance on her; they were in plain sight of anyone who just happened to be looking outside, not to mention anyone passing by the building.
It felt like she was working herself into a very painful headache over the decision to give into her feelings and let Yoruichi kiss her or back off when everything stopped. All she was aware of was the soft delicious taste of chocolate on her lips. The sensation stopped as soon as it started and she was left in a kind of stupor as she tried desperately to cling to the sense of calm pulsating through her.
"Don't leave me waiting too long ok bee." Yoruichi's smug voice drifted through her ear, Soifon opened her eyes contently and saw Yoruichi waving goodbye to her as she left the building lot. Her eyes lingered on Yoruichi's departing form while her mind was rebooting itself from the pleasant surprise of being kissed and was really glad she had spent too long working out what to do to actually do anything to stop it from happening. This thought made her blush and she hurried off towards her car at a brisk pace, eager to not be caught blushing like an idiot by someone brave enough to tease her about it later on.
Kukaku leaned back into the sofa with a sigh and flicked her eyes back at Kisuke, there were times when she thought this man was too laid back for his own good and this was one of those times.
"I can only do so much and this changes a lot of things." She hoped he would give her a serious answer this time round, they'd been talking for a half an hour now and it felt like she had gotten nowhere since she arrived at his place.
"It doesn't change anything; it certainly doesn't require us to move anyway." Kisuke responded calmly, "However, it does mean we have to be more careful." He added in a quieter tone when they both heard the sound of someone coming down the stairs.
"Try telling her that." Kukaku muttered under her breath as Yoruichi poked her head round the doorway to see them both sitting on the sofas with grim expressions. Kukaku examined Yoruichi's appearance, she looked terrible and it was very clear she was ill.
"Dod mind me, keep plodding -" Yoruichi broke out into a coughing fit, "Urgh…secred plands – I'm going oud anyway." Her voice heavily distorted from the cold she had caught a few days after her time out with Soifon and since her place would no doubt make her feel worse, she been allowed some time at Kisuke's to rest and recover.
"The only place you should be going is back to bed." Kukaku chided.
"Bud Soifon called saying she wanded to meed up." Yoruichi whined pathetically.
"Ah yes, the fabled Soifon…when do we get to meet her?" Kisuke chimed in happily as Yoruichi moved away from the door and out of sight down the hallway.
"Oh sure, leave Sora alone for bonths but dorment Soi in de first week? No way!" Yoruichi yelled back and they heard her break into another coughing fit from the strain she put on her voice.
"Yoruichi you need to rest! Call her back; switch it for when you're feeling better ok." Kukaku called out to her, half tempted to drag her butt back upstairs and make her rest.
"You know it's impossible to control her." Kisuke laughed at Kukaku's growing temper.
"This is exactly why I suggested it in the first place," Kukaku grumbled back at him, getting back to her original point, "If something happens here, I can only keep her safe for so long."
"It will happen eventually, we can't outrun it forever and besides, I like it here and so does Yoruichi." Kisuke countered.
"Pfft, she just likes the people here." Kukaku complained.
"Nope, nod people -Soifon. Back lader guys!" Yoruichi flashed them a smile through the doorway and vanished again down the hall.
"Yoruichi come back here!" Kukaku stood up to go after her but heard the front door open and close as Yoruichi left the building, Kukaku allowed herself to fall back onto the sofa and pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh. "Have I told you how grateful I am to have you guys back?" Her voice laced with sarcasm. Kisuke smiled sheepishly back at her.
Soifon stood on the corner close to Balance Industries and was busy putting her phone away from checking the time when Yoruichi tapped her on her shoulder.
"Hey, sorry I'm lade but dook longer gedding -"
"Whoa, what happened to you?" Soifon questioned instantly at seeing Yoruichi's condition, her healthy coloured face now had a sickly tinge to it and there were bags under her eyes that had lost their golden sparkle. "Should you even be up right now? You look terrible."
"Danks for de compliment, you look gread doo." Yoruichi responded with a weak grin, her voice full with cold.
"Ok even your voice is completely different." Soifon blinked at how masculine she sounded from just having cold.
"I'mb ill, nod my fauld." Yoruichi mumbled, pulling her jacket closer around her to block out the wind.
"Why didn't you say something before? You should be home resting." Soifon had wondered why Yoruichi's voice had sounded weird on the phone but Yoruichi had said it was nothing so she put it down to a bad phone connection, now she was wishing she had questioned it further. It had taken a long, lengthy mental debate on her part to actually call Yoruichi in the first place and now Soifon was wishing she hadn't, she could have spared Yoruichi the trip out and felt bad for even making the call in the first place.
"Wanded do see you dough." Soifon's steel gaze softened at hearing Yoruichi's statement. The moment ended abruptly by Yoruichi's loud sneeze.
"Alright, this can wait another time; you need to go back home and rest." Soifon smiled at her sympathetically when Yoruichi gave her an apologetic look, "Do you need a ride home or something?" Soifon offered in hopes of clearing her guilty conscious for dragging Yoruichi all the way over here for nothing.
"Well…I'mb staying wid my friend for now." Yoruichi offered and mentally cursed afterwards when she realised Kisuke may get to meet Soifon sooner than expected.
"My car's over there," Soifon jerked her thumb over her shoulder back towards the car park, "Give me directions and I'll get you home." Before Yoruichi could offer any kind of protest, Soifon gently pulled her in the direction of the car park.
Kisuke wandered lethargically back into the main room and stopped in front of the large bay window to enjoy the sun rays warming his skin while Kukaku was browsing through the TV channels with a bored expression.
"You do know you have your own house, right?" He commented and took a sip from his cup of coffee, his eyes watching the yellow sports car that had pulled up in front of his house while Kukaku chose to ignore his statement. "Scratch that, you are not gonna want to miss this." He grinned at what he was witnessing.
"Why, what is it?" Kukaku perked up, recognising the almost gleeful tone in his voice.
"You know our uncontrollable woman." he said as Kukaku moved over towards him to look out the window with a quick nod in acknowledgment. "Take a look at her now." He commented smugly and Kukaku couldn't stop the grin spreading across her own face at seeing Yoruichi being lead up the pathway to the house by a woman shorter than herself.
"The fabled Soifon…" Kisuke nodded in approval and looked at Kukaku happily.
"I like her already." Kukaku smirked and moved away from the window, "I'll go let them in."
A/N: I know this is way overdue but here it is at last, don't know when I'll get the next one cause final year at college, need to really be doing work etc blar blar.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and that this story still holds your interest :D
Oh and did it work having the speech messed up to show Yoruichi as ill or not? I didn't know if I should do it or not so if you guys liked that I worte it that way let me know or if you prefer me writing it normally next time, let me know - I'm torn over the matter (it's easy to write it but your the ones who have to read it that way XD )