Hunted
A Secret Plan
Soifon jerked to attention when Nanao gave her leg a nudge under the desk from beside her, Soi glanced at her with raised eyebrows. Nanao however pretended to not notice Soifon looking at her and gestured forwards to where Soifon's attention ought to be.
"Miss Fon…is everything alright?" Chojiro Sasakibe asked politely when it had become far too obvious that Soifon was not paying attention to any of the discussion taking place. Soifon took in Sasakibe's appearance, his silvery grey hair was exactly the same as always and he wore his usual white turtle neck beneath his suit jacket.
"Yes it is, carry on." There was nothing but boredom in Soi's voice when she motioned for him to continue. These board meetings were tiresome at best not to mention the fact it felt rather redundant for Soifon to be sat listening to their future goals for a company that she had saved when they were prepared to abandon it.
"If you find the future of this company boring by all means feel free to leave so that I can too, I have other important matters to deal with." Shutara mentioned in an offhand manner, she too seemed bored of these meetings as she flicked through the reports her assistant had presented to her, Shutara was one of the few board members Soifon actually liked due to her work ethic.
"What? Never! We must not stop till we are done!" Marenoshin Omaeda declared over passionately like usual. Soifon got enough of his personality throughout the day thanks to his son that Soi never had enough energy left to deal with him so he got away with a lot more than she would have liked. The board members began to squabble amongst themselves over how important this meeting really was that Soifon returned to her previous thoughts of Yoruichi. It had been about a week since Yoruichi had revealed the secrets of her past and since then Soifon had done what Kukaku had suggested, she treated Yoruichi exactly the same way as before and did her best make sure Soi didn't act like Yoruichi was a glass sculpture about to break. A task Yoruichi was determined to make as difficult as possible because now that Soifon was aware of her past and how she used to behave Yoruichi had entered a state of self loathing and pity that phone call conversations reversed to Soifon being the one trying to coax Yoruichi into opening up more. Even talks of an official fourth date did not seem to cheer Yoruichi up though she reluctantly agreed when Soifon refused to back down, insisting that the evening out would help take her mind off of things.
The prospect of the fourth date was what Soifon was trying to plan while the board members verbally battled against one another. She had no idea where to start in organising such an event; her previous dates with Yoruichi were not the kind of atmosphere she wished to recreate since the first date if it could be classed as one was when they met and it resulted in Soifon running out of Yoruichi's flat after having hit her a fair few times. The second date or meeting was when they had gotten stuck in the lift together and the third had been Yoruichi guiding a tired Soifon around town, she had been wearing a pair of old jogging bottoms and a hoodie she used to sleep in on that outing, hardly an outfit to inspire Yoruichi's senses. Soifon felt herself blush at that thought and she hoped that none of the board members were paying any attention to her at that particular moment. Although…stimulating Yoruichi's mind would most likely be the easiest way of distracting her – No, no defiantly not! Soifon felt her blush deepen and she shook her head clear of such thoughts, Nanao eyed her oddly though luckily for Soifon she did not question her.
"Bah! You rank our financial state just as highly as I do so don't even try to think otherwise!" Marenoshin bellowed at the top of his lungs to be heard over the ruckus he had created. Soifon rolled her eyes and went back to brainstorming ideas for a fourth date. Soi knew she wanted something more than just a meal in town but less than the get drunk and go crazy like the night they met. A romantic meal seemed like the obvious answer if only she had some kind of knowledge on where to start with such a task. I've done business dinners before it can't be much different than that, Soifon reasoned to herself the more it became obvious that a romantic meal was the answer she was after.
"Where's a good place to eat?" Soifon whispered to Nanao
"Erm there's a coffee shop not far from here that's pretty decent." Nanao whispered back.
"No it has to have more…elegance than that."
"Oh," Nanao's eyes widened in realisation though she kept observing the others so as to not draw attention to their more private conversation. "There is a lovely little place that's not too far away, it's quaint, cosy and the food is great too."
"Send me the directions. I'm done with this." Soifon openly gestured towards the bickering board members and smirked when she noticed that Shutara and a few others had already left the room or were in the process of leaving while Marenoshin had started telling anyone who would listen about how his family found their fortune through hard work and perseverance. Soifon dug her phone out of her pocket and had already called Yoruichi before she had even exited the office room she was that eager to boost Yoruichi's mood.
"Hey get ready; I'm taking you out tonight." Soifon stated the second Yoruichi answered her phone.
"You don't have to." Yoruichi tried to convince Soifon not to waste her time, "You can focus on your work."
"I'll be there in twenty minutes, ten if I can beat the lights." Soifon hung up before Yoruichi could think of any other excuses to convince her otherwise, she hoped this plan to cheer Yoruichi up would work since Soi found herself starting to miss the assertive playful side of the exotic beauty that she was drawn to like a moth to a flame. "I swear this better work or I'm gonna – do something to her that's for sure." Soifon grumbled and slammed her car door shut after she all but dived behind the wheel eager to go knock some sense into the woman.
"I already told you that you didn't have to do any of this." Yoruichi mumbled very self aware that she was not dressed for the occasion once the waiter had left with their orders, at least Soifon's suit from work matched the relaxed, romantic ambiance the restaurant gave off whereas Yoruichi had quickly jumped into the cleanest clothes she could find and felt very under dressed.
"I know and you kept telling me in the car too." There was a hint of annoyance in Soi's voice since this had been the topic of conversation for some time now.
"You didn't even let me have a shower." Yoruichi whined.
"I've already had to sit and listen to a bunch of old geezers complaining to me today I'd prefer if I didn't have to add your name to the list too." Soifon shut her eyes as she spoke and forced herself to calm down, she wanted Yoruichi to enjoy herself tonight and it was not off to a great start.
"I'm sorry but I was all but dragged out of my flat by oh yes you so it's your own fault." Yoruichi huffed back at Soifon who finally reopened her eyes.
"Ypu've never been attached to it before," Yoruichi did not look impressed. "Alright I apologise for rushing you, can we -" Soifon paused and waited for the waiter to leave after he placed the drinks on the table, "Can we please start over?" There was something about the pleading look in Soi's eyes that made some of Yoruichi's resistance melt away.
"Sure." Yoruichi agreed which granted some relief for Soifon though that gradually declined over the evening the less Yoruichi joined in the conversation till eventually Soifon was only getting one word answers yet again.
"Check please." Soifon motioned to the waiter gloomily when she finally got fed up of talking to herself. This place is really nice, Soifon had spent most of the meal taking in the restaurant, everything was made out of wood, the bar, the tables; it even had low hanging beams to complete the old town appearance and the entire place was light by candle light alone, just a shame it wasn't enough.
"Sorry." Yoruichi apologised once Soifon had pulled up into the car park to drop Yoruichi back at her apartment, she was well aware that Soifon had really tried tonight to take her mind off of things, it may have worked if she had been given a little more notice to prepare for the evening and actually managed to have some decent sleep instead of the nightmare induced sessions she'd been having lately along with the ability to time travel and change her past.
"Don't worry about it." Soifon sighed and felt very dejected that her first attempt at doing something romantic seemed to have been a complete and utter bust, "Next time maybe."
"Are you sure about this?" Yoruichi turned to look at Soifon, "I haven't exactly been the best company to have a round lately."
"I swear you're doing it on purpose just so you can hear me say that I – that I like you again." Soifon stammered, still a little uncomfortable to admit that someone had a hold on her in way she did not understand. Her feelings for Yoruichi still scared her except whenever she got caught up in the turmoil it created inside of her all Soi had to do was picture Yoruichi's smile and everything fell still and peaceful once more.
"You caught me," Yoruichi half smiled despite sounding very tired.
"I knew it." Soifon played along although her mood picked up instantly. There it was, proof that Yoruichi was still her usual self it was just lost beneath all the crap that had resurfaced to torment her.
"I should probably get going." Yoruichi indicated to her apartment, Good night Soifon." Yoruichi was busy opening the car door to exit the vehicle when Soifon dragged her back by the collar of her top and pulled her into a rough kiss that grew softer with each passing second till it ended with Soi's tongue pressing against Yoruichi's parted lips playfully.
"Goodnight Yoruichi." Yoruichi bit her lip and opened her eyes to Soifon's hungry expression fixed on her.
"Yeah goodnight." Yoruichi cleared her throat while she failed to find the door handle a few times, completely taken aback by that unexpected kiss.
"You ok?" Soifon asked smugly and quite enjoyed seeing Yoruichi thrown out of loop instead of being her for a change.
"Y-Yes," Yoruichi confirmed and couldn't believe that she actually felt herself blushing from how long it had took her to open the car door and scramble out due to a single kiss. "Night Soifon."
"You already said that, a few times now." Soifon chuckled at Yoruichi's behaviour.
"Oh -" Yoruichi stuck her tongue out unable to think of a decent combat and shut the car door when Soifon chuckled at her though she did wave goodbye when Soifon started her car engine and drove out of the car park.
Soifon dropped her keys on the small table by the door to her penthouse flat and deliberately walked past the large fireplace so that she triggered the motion sensor, it ignited and illuminated the room in a fiery glow just as Soifon collapsed onto her black sofa and kicked her shoes off.
"What a day," Soifon smiled to herself at the sight of Yoruichi looking so flabbergasted. It was weird to think that with how badly the meal had gone her plan had worked in a strange way since that was the most talkative Yoruichi had been all week. It did work it just needed to be bigger…how do you top a romantic meal? Soifon rubbed her temples to try and stimulate a new plan of action to help her deal with Yoruichi. When none came to mind, Soifon dug out her phone from her pocket and glanced at the time and was surprised to see that it was few hours off becoming the twenty-first of December. This month has just flown by just like always – Soifon bolted upwards from the idea that had struck her like a bolt of lightening; she leapt off the sofa and ran over to her laptop with glee when she imagined Yoruichi's reaction to this if a simple kiss after a night out had surprised her.
Yoruichi stood outside her apartment like Soifon had instructed her to do so and was dressed in a pair of black jeans and a leather jacket Kisuke had given her to replace her favourite orange one that had gotten ruined when she was shot. Yoruichi was a little confused as to what Soifon had planned for them today since they had met up yesterday and she was ten minutes late, Soi had never been late before and it was not like her to be late. Yoruichi amused herself by blowing out long breaths now and then so she could watch the cold puffs of air slowly rise to fade out of eyesight, she was thinking about going back inside to find something a little bit warmer when she heard the powerful engine from Soi's car heading along the street before she even saw the exotic vehicle.
"Sorry I'm late; I had to pick up something." Soifon explained when she pulled up alongside Yoruichi with a giant smile spread across her face, instantly alerting Yoruichi that the woman was up to no good.
"What have you done?" Yoruichi asked suspiciously and even gave the car a funny look as if it would change before her very eyes with how pleased Soifon looked with herself.
"Get in and you'll find out." If it was possible Soifon's smug smile grew even wider when Yoruichi sealed herself to Soifon's plan by getting in her car.
"Where are you taking me?" Yoruichi tried to see if there was a map or sat nav set up to give away some kind of clue as to what kind of plan the smaller woman had put into motion.
"Yesterday didn't go completely as I had hoped so all I've done is elaborated upon the original idea." Soifon explained without giving any further details.
"I know I said sorry for yesterday but I am sorry, you'll be happy to hear I did sleep last night," Yoruichi decided to leave out the fact it was because she had dreamt of Soifon pinning her against the wall and a battle for dominance took place till they found they way to a bed.
"Don't worry about that, you'll have plenty of time to sleep on the way there." Soifon smirked when she saw Yoruichi turn to her looking even more confused than she did earlier.
"I'll ask again what have you done?"
"Let's just say you're getting your Christmas present early this year." Soifon teased which promoted Yoruichi to start guessing her gift and Soifon struggled to contain her laughter at wrong Yoruichi was with her guesses.
"Is it my very own lion?" Yoruichi was starting to run out of the normal gift ideas but Soifon just shook her head to indicate that she was wrong, "Come on Bee…am I even close?"
"Nope." Soifon confirmed quite pleased that Yoruichi was spending the car ride guessing since it meant she was not paying attention to where they had just turned into. "And for your next three guesses the answer is no." Soifon parked her car and got out without looking at Yoruichi on purpose as she stared open mouthed at where they had parked. Soifon started to walk towards the building doing her very best to not laugh at how Yoruichi scrambled after her, mouth still agape, utterly confused as to why of all places Soifon had brought her to the airport.
"What have you done?" Yoruichi tried once more when Soifon led the way through the entrance doors of the airport and Yoruichi could no longer fool herself into thinking they were going to one of the food chain restaurants besides the airport.
"Ran out of guesses?" Soifon responded coolly while she read the signs for where they needed to head to next.
"I think I'm a little scared to know the answer." Yoruichi looked up at the screen Soifon was currently examining that updated passengers with information about their flights.
"Then I won't tell you." Soifon took Yoruichi's hand in hers and lead the way through the busy airport to the right check in point, Yoruichi had fallen unusually quiet since there the only thing that made sense right now was for Soifon to turn around and tell it was all a prank for last night, there was no way they could fly anywhere since she had not brought her passport in fact she didn't even have it, Kisuke currently had it for safe keeping. Soifon presented her ID when the woman behind the check in counter greeted them, Soifon gestured towards Yoruichi and pressed a finger to her lips and slipped a couple of notes across the counter to the woman who winked back in agreement. She then whispered something to Soifon that Yoruichi couldn't hear all of which Soifon responded to with a no.
"In that case you're all set. Enjoy your f – day." She waved them off pleasantly after Soifon stashed something into her suit pocket then turned around and smiled innocently at Yoruichi.
"What have you done?" Yoruichi whispered frantically as Soifon lead the way towards the security check point to be allowed access to the terminals.
"I thought you didn't want to know." Soifon chimed back in a far too sickly sweet manner, she was enjoying this way more than she thought she ever could.
"We seem to be heading through the security of an airport so yes I'd like to know if you intend to create an international incident since I don't have a passport and I think they might have an issue with that." Yoruichi tried to get her point across as quietly as possible without raise too much attention from rest of the people in the queue.
"About that," Soifon pulled a passport out of her pocket along with another piece of paper and nonchalantly handed it to Yoruichi. Yoruichi barely had time to register the fact that she was holding a passport and a boarding pass when she was called towards the check point and they asked to see her passport.
"Business or pleasure?" The man asked while he flicked through the passport.
"Err…both?" Yoruichi looked at Soifon who was busy staring up at the ceiling to avoid Yoruichi's gaze.
"Alright everything checks out in my end so you can move on, remember to take your shoes and jacket off and place them in one of the trays provided." He smiled at Yoruichi and handed her the passport and ticket back. Yoruichi moved along with the queue in a dream like state with Soifon right behind her, prompting her now and then if she took a little too long. It wasn't till they had gotten through security and were sat down in the shopping centre that Yoruichi dared to open the passport and confirmed with her own eyes that it was indeed her very own passport that her brain seemed to start working again.
"What have you done?" Yoruichi turned on Soifon who was sat with her eyes closed, arms folded and her legs crossed while they waited.
"You could check your ticket." Soifon pointed out without moving or opening her eyes.
"Sweden?" Yoruichi blinked at the ticket, "Why are we going to Sweden?"
"Why wouldn't we go to Sweden?"
"Soifon if you don't tell me what you have done I won't get on the plane and how did you get my passport?" Yoruichi wasn't serious with her threat about not getting on the plane, she just wanted to try and gain some ground back since Soifon had managed to stun her into silence for long enough.
"We're going to stay at an igloo resort where we'll access to an outdoor hot tub and a good chance to see the Northern lights. We'll also be treated to a goulash soup dinner and a traditional Jamtlandic breakfast and a hot drink." Soifon revealed and couldn't help but laugh at Yoruichi's dumbstruck expression. "As for your passport I popped round to Kisuke's place and picked it up when he told me that you didn't have it, he did."
"I think you did a lot more than expand on the idea of a meal out together." Yoruichi managed to say after she had processed what Soifon had told her.
"I did think the upgrade on the meals to include the three course dinner and wine was a bit of a stretch but I thought it would be worth it in the end." Soifon admitted through a smug grin.
"You did not have to do any of this." Yoruichi gave her that look that told Soifon she had gone above and beyond what could have possibly been expected.
"I wanted your Christmas present to be unforgettable." Soifon admitted.
"Unforgettable?" Yoruichi, unsure if she hit or kiss Soifon for her reckless amazing gift, slumped against her and allowed Soifon to hug her in return, "I don't think you'll ever be able to top this."
"Just watch me try," Soifon couldn't hide the smugness in her voice even if she paid to do so, her plan was a major success and they weren't even on the plane yet.
"Hang on. We're going to Sweden?" Yoruichi sat up when it just dawned on her that neither of them had packed nor brought a suitcase. "And we're staying in an Igloo?" Soifon nodded in confirmation, "We're going to freeze!"
"Oh that, don't worry about that, we won't get there till the twenty-third and we can just buy clothes once there anyway." Soifon relaxed when that was the only thing that concerned Yoruichi about leaving the country on such short notice.
"I – I don't know what to say." Yoruichi admitted since she was completely and utterly blown away by such a huge gesture.
"You don't need to say anything at all. Merry early Christmas." Soifon held her gaze warmly and planted a soft kiss on Yoruichi's forehead which again left Yoruichi speechless and she wondered if Soifon was aware that she had just initiated a kiss in public without batting an eyelash.
A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas - it looks like Yoruichi is gonna have one hell of Christmas too!
Let me know if you liked it, didn't like it or if you had a good Christmas!