The Hunted
The Lift Strikes Again
"I bet you're glad to feel fresh air again." The end of January brought a joyous end to Yoruichi's confinement and Kukaku was the first to take her best friend out into the city once again.
"It's not like I stayed inside the entire time you know, " This didn't stop Yoruichi from enjoying the sights and sound of all the people bustling around the streets or the freshly cooked smells of different types of meats from the food stalls that were enough to make her mouth water and tummy growl in protest at having survived off nothing but cheap ready meals for the past couple of weeks.
"You said you behaved this time round." Kukaku mumbled, slightly disgruntled at having put her trust into her friend's word this time round.
"I did, I only went out for the occasional run round the block or so. I never left the complex, I swear." Yoruichi reassured her.
"You must be feeling better then, to go running I mean." Kukaku pointed to where Yoruichi's most recent battle scar would be. All thanks to some random idiot with a gun… I swear you have the worst luck in the world, Kukaku pointed to a bench nearby which they stopped to rest on for a while.
"Loads. I'm still taking the pain killers though I gotta say it's funny how it came back to me. I've not been in that kind of setting in… what - a decade or so now? And all of my instincts kicked into full working gear. If Soifon hadn't been there I'm certain I could have gotten that gun off him without him pulling the trigger." Yoruichi imitated holding up a gun in hands and pretended to fire it.
"Old age catches up to all at some point, "If you really were in control I'm certain you could have stopped that guy even with your new lover distracting you." Kukaku put on a sickly sweet voice when she referred to Soifon. Yoruichi playfully punched her on the arm despite laughing at the silly goo-goo face Kukaku was pulling right back at her. "Speaking of, how come you haven't raced off to see her yet? I would have thought you'd have been crawling up the walls by now from not seeing Soifon in ages."
"Err… I saw her the other day." Yoruichi admitted, absolutely positive she didn't hear Kukaku say anything about Soifon being allowed to visit her. "You said I was grounded, not barred from having visitors."
"It's - It's fine." Kukaku reassured herself more than Yoruichi and dreaded how odd it must have looked to the local degenerates anytime Soifon turned up in her very expensive Ferrari. "People probably pegged her for a social worker or something… Anyway," Kakaku cleared her throat which was a clear sign she was now in work mode to Yoruichi. "Remember that I don't get to make these choices, I'm just the messenger. Don't shoot me."
"Here it comes, the reason you've been so kind to me today." Yoruichi braced herself for whatever the agency had planned for her this time, "Out with it then."
"You can't see Soifon on the thirteenth, fourteenth or the fifteenth this coming month. If you two are to make contact during that time, it must be phone calls only." Yoruichi blinked back at her, puzzled as to why three days were so important to be avoided.
"Why what's going - Oh… Valentines Day." Yoruichi worked it out when she recalled what month was about to start. "Can I ask why?"
"Something about too much exposure if the two of you are seen. Too difficult to contain." Kukaku eyed Yoruichi suspiciously, for someone who was told she can't spend one of the world's most romantic days possible, her friend seemed rather calm compared to the outbursts of protest Kukaku had been expecting. "Are you okay with that?"
"Actually Soifon said the same thing the other day. I swear you guys should hire her. She's more concerned about being caught than I am." Yoruichi laughed despite her own paranoia trying to trick herself into thinking Soifon doesn't want to be seen with Yoruichi for negative reasons. Kukaku questioned what had been said between the couple on the matter and Yoruichi gave a brief explanation that Soifon seemed to enjoy a new hobby of late which involved working out what information Kisuke had dug up about her and her lifestyle. "I swear if I didn't know any better, I'd say she's been spying on him."
"He'd be staring right back at her if she did." The duo laughed at the imagery they had constructed together; Soifon in some sort of spy getup complete with war paint and night vision goggles, zooming in on her prey only to see Kisuke waving a flag with his big goofy grin printed onto it, his eyes blinking right back at her through his own binoculars.
"What's the point of doing so?" Kukaku laughed, "you don't know what he knows anyway to confirm or deny whatever she comes up with."
"Right, that's what I told her too." Yoruichi chuckled at how this fact had broken her little bee's master plan and had sent Soifon into one of her cute tantrums, determined not to be outdone by Kisuke for some daft reason. Once the laughter between Yoruichi and Kukaku calmed down, Yoruichi continued to tell her story of how Soifon had concluded that it would be best to avoid making plans for Valentine's Day. "She basically told me that no matter who it was, people around her would be surprised if she suddenly went out for a dinner date on the evening associated with romance." Yoruichi straightened upwards for this next part and put on her best official sounding Soifon voice she could muster. "It just takes one picture to reveal who you are and more importantly, where you are." Yoruichi slumped back down against the bench. Kukaku applauded her impression of Soifon except she criticised the death glare.
"Needs a stronger 'death' feel to it." Kukaku laughed at having earned another playful punch off Yoruichi. "Seriously though, I'm glad she understands. I was worried it might have caused some issues or something." A weight had indeed been lifted off of Kukaku's chest at knowing the new couple seemed prepared for what difficulties were thrown at them.
"Oh I don't like it, not one bit." Yoruichi admitted. She knew the day was known as a cash grab to the more modern world but it still bothered her that she couldn't spend the day, now three days without Soifon at all thanks to her past. "I'm hoping we can do something after it though, like we are for my birthday. Celebrate Valentines at the end of the month or something." This statement was more to herself than to Kukaku as she was yet to ask Soifon if she would like to do so. Yes they were officially a couple however Yoruichi was flying high on the love she felt for her little buzzing bee whereas Soifon was still learning how to walk in terms of being aware of her feelings and being able to comprehend them.
Being more experienced when it came to these matters had at first made Yoruichi feel like a mentor to Soifon only if she was being honest with herself, Soifon was showing her new things about herself as well. If anyone had asked Yoruichi before she met Soifon what kind of partner she would have wanted, someone who was comfortable with themselves and knew what they wanted was what used to come into mind. This unknown phantom of a lover she pictured used to be taller too but now she could only see her blushing bumble bee standing before her, somehow her aurora overflowed with complete control and yet vulnerability at the same time. Two conflicting traits that drew Yoruichi to her like a moth to a flame. When Soifon was in her element there was no way Yoruichi would ever dream of not giving into her since thoughts like that left her feeling weak in the knees. For this reason Yoruichi was glad to be sat down as she recalled how undeniably sexy Soifon looked back then at the lodge in Sweden, her silver eyes exuberating power that held Yoruichi captive even now when Soifon was nowhere in sight.
And yet whenever Yoruichi even tried to tell Soifon this, her little bee would blush brighter than the morning sun and turn away from her. While this was surely a defensive manoeuvre on Soi's part, it only induced an uncontrollable desire within Yoruichi to pull Soifon into her warm embrace, both shielding her from the rest of the world and to keep her all for herself. After all it was her actions that turned Soifon into an adorable mumbling mess and each time Yoruichi felt her heart flutter and take flight at the knowledge that Soifon was comfortable showing that side of herself. Any time the shorter woman was unsure, second guessed herself or as she recently had been doing, started to overcome these uncertainties felt like Yoruichi was being given a tiny gemstone and she treasured each and every one and would continue to do so for as long as Soifon would have her.
"Huston, we have a problem. Subject has been unresponsive with a fixed dream-like expression on her face. Permission to cancel all birthday plans and go back home?" Kukaku's voice impersonating a radio call combined with her hand waving inches away from Yoruichi's face pulled the darker skinned woman out of her trance-like state.
"Permission denied." Yoruichi forced her mind out of the spiral of thoughts related to Soifon, a daunting prospect any given day however Kukaku had said birthday which usually involved presents that she would get to unwrap. Her brain failed her completely as she pictured unwrapping Soifon. "What plans?" Yoruichi cleared her throat and rapidly blinked the imagery of Soifon wearing nothing but a red ribbon out of her head. For extra good measure she also sat upright, determined to pay attention to what her friend was going to tell her about the future party for both herself and Kisuke.
"The plan to celebrate your birthday at the end of the month instead of at the start like we agreed." Kukaku teased, "Nah, nothing special. I figured we just get some good food, a couple of drinks and crash at Kisuke's place or something." While it was said in a nonchalant manner, Kukaku had revealed that she was allowing Yoruichi to spend time away from her horrible living conditions again. It was more than enough to make her want to bear hug her best friend and Yoruichi did so, she yanked Kukaku towards her and refused to let go until Kukaku jabbed her in the ribs, telling her that thank you's were not needed. "I'd do more if I could." Kukaku grumbled as she felt the ever pressing issue of having her hands tied behind her back when it came to helping Yoruichi and having to stick to the rules.
"You do more than enough." Yoruichi acknowledged her constant efforts and Kukaku nearly choked at the sentiment her friend displayed.
"Geez you really do got it bad." Kukaku recovered from her coughing fit. "Go on get outta here before you make me catch some of your infectious disease." She stood up and proceeded to shoo Yoruichi away from herself.
"I thought you said you wanted to go shopping?" Yoruichi laughed.
"Yeah but I was gonna ditch you after a while anyway. My younger brother is passing through this city and I agreed to show him around for a while."
"Ganju is coming here? Man, I don't think I've seen him since he was a kid, how is he doing?" Yoruichi asked and tried to recall what he had looked like.
"He followed in our footsteps, has his own gang and everything. My uncle has offered to take him in, to try to knock some sense into that thick skull of his since I've got my hands full trying to keep you out of trouble."
"Is he staying for long? He could come to the party if so." Yoruichi extended the invite in case Kukaku felt like she couldn't bring him.
"Nah, he's just got a couple of hours to kill till his next train arrives. Besides, I'm trying to stamp out the urge to be a crime lord, not encourage it by letting him stay in a major city. Nope, he's going out to the countryside to be a rice farmer or something else equally void of dangerous situations." Yoruichi laughed at Kukaku's overprotective sister mode having been activated. "Want me to drop you off anywhere before I head off?"
"No thanks, I'm good here. It'll be nice to wander around the city again." Yoruichi stood up and stretched her legs after she plotted out the route that would take her directly to where Balance Industries was and to where Soifon would soon be finishing her work for the day. The two friends parted ways, both agreeing to chat later on in the day and while Yoruichi did stop to window shop now and then she reached the building without any hassle, it's yin yang statue still shining in the fading sunlight though what made Yoruichi smile to herself was that she spotted Soifon's car which meant her busy bee was still buzzing around inside.
It was the first time Yoruichi had visited the building in ages though it looked exactly the same as it had when she stormed the place and proposed her plans for a third date to Soifon. Even the receptionist on shift was the exact same one who had been given orders to ban Yoruichi from the site. For that reason alone, Yoruichi gave her the biggest smile she could muster along with an over the top wave in greeting as she walked past where the receptionist was behind her circular desk in the centre of the large open lobby area.
"How can I help you today Miss - wait aren't you…" the woman gasped at recognising Yoruichi as the one she was charged with keeping out of the building. "S-Security!" the woman exclaimed when Yoruichi didn't stop at the desk and continued to walk to where the lifts were.
"Wait what?" Yoruichi's happy smile threatened to vanish at the tell tale sounds of advancing footsteps. She briefly considered what was most likely happening behind her and pressed the button to call the lift anyway. "Gentleman, I'm sure there has been some sort of mistake." Yoruichi turned to face the two unlucky security officers on duty that were advancing towards her. There's no way Soifon kept the ban on me right? Surely she couldn't forget to remove it… All the same, Yoruichi began to press the button in a more frantic manner, not entirely pleased at the prospect of having to take the stairs yet again.
"I've been hoping you'd return here." One of the guards stepped forward and despite herself Yoruichi grinned at the challenge from the poor man she had beaten twice before, yet here he was determined to get his ass kicked for the third time. Aware of the scene that was being created by the number of heads turned their way, eager strangers wanting to know what sort of situation would unfold made Yoruichi feel very relieved to hear the telltale chime that signalled the arrival of the lift.
The doors of the lift slowly opened and they acted like the bell going off for the start of a boxing match. The guard lunged forwards, no doubt in an attempt to grab hold of her and keep her in place. Yoruichi dodged to the left, going out of his reach and stepped inside the lift at the same time. She beckoned to both of them, taunting them to follow her inside so that they were not in full view of everyone in the lobby. Her challenger took no time to convince and he dove after her, this time she required more than a doge to stay out of his grasp. She ducked under his arms, planted her foot on his lower abdomen and pushed with enough force to send him stumbling into the opposite side of the lift's walls though it wasn't enough to incapacitate him.
"Don't just stand there, get her!" He snapped at his buddy who had done the smart thing and remained where he was though having someone bark orders at him, made the other guard jump into action and he too, stepped into the lift to join the party. The newcomer raised his arm, pointing it at Yoruichi as if he was about to tell her off except she never gave him the chance to speak. She grabbed hold of his arm since he was offering it to her and she spun him round, tripping him up in the process and pushed his face roughly into the control panel, multiple floors lit up from the contact. Great, we're gonna visit every floor in the building at this rate, Yoruichi sighed at the unnecessary delay, her attention snapped back to her latest friend who had recovered his breath from the kick and was yet again advancing towards her with a need to settle the score between them. "You'll have to do better than that." He smirked at the doors closing, sealing them inside together. Yoruichi couldn't help but think if he had half a brain cell he'd be worried about being trapped in a small area with someone who had beaten him twice before but nope, the giant fool seemed to think that this was his victory.
"How about this?" Yoruichi pulled the man she still had a hold of up and around between herself and her wannabe rival, she repeated her tactic from earlier and planted her food squarely onto the man's stomach who looked at her with panic in his eyes. "Sorry about this, " she smiled back at him apologetically and kicked out with more force this time. He fell backwards into his buddy and the two of them were tangled mass of limbs for a while, giving Yoruichi plenty of time to readjust her leather jacket. The lift doors pinged open to signal that they reached the first floor and Yoruichi stepped out only to find herself yanked sharply back into the lift by a hand pulling on her jacket. She briefly caught sight of an employee looking rather confused at having seen a woman being sucked backwards before the doors began to close again and the mechanism which moved the lift between floors hummed back into life. "You really ought to ask for a pay rise." Yoruichi sighed at his determination to apprehend her while the other guard seemed quite content to stay out of the situation completely.
"I've been practising since we last met, you won't be able to beat me this time round." He grinned back at her and took up a fighting stance this time round instead of charging at her blindly.
Why does this stuff always happen to me? Yoruichi's hopes of one day being able to take a lift like a normal person vanished when she became aware of the fact that she was actively working out how to take out a security guard in a mode of transportation. Plus the sooner she ended this encounter the sooner she could meet her oh so charming girlfriend and remind her that taking her name off the 'Most Wanted' list was now Soifon's top priority.
Employees waiting on the second floor for the lift to arrive had an interesting choice to make upon telling their friends and relatives about their day because it really was one of those situations where you had to see it to believe it kind of things. The doors opened to reveal a security guard and a woman locked in what appeared to be a wrestling match while another security guard was busy scrambling to his feet and managed to dive through the doors before they closed again, leaving the remaining two occupants of the lift to continue their struggle.
"You know I really didn't want to do this to you again but you're really leaving me no choice." Yoruichi spoke through gritted teeth since she really was trying not to hurt the guy, if anything, he was starting to grow on her. She pried free of his hold and stepped in towards him, close enough for her body to be pressed against his own, her muscles tightened in her left arm as she prepared to deliver the knockout blow by slamming her elbow straight up into his jaw like she had done the last time he had tried to capture her. Unlike last time though, her elbow met nothing but air. The guard had stepped backwards at the last moment possible.
The doors to the lift once again opened onto the third floor this time to reveal the two in a tense standoff. A worker entered the lift and stood right in the centre, forming a makeshift barrier between Yoruichi and the guard. The new person blinked at the strange tension that hung in the air since the security guard and the woman never took their eyes off of each other, both were breathing heavily and this left the newcomer to believe they had interrupted some sort of secret love affair. This unaware person rode the lift with them both for a couple of floors in complete silence and believed the two were going to get straight back to their make out session as soon as the doors shut them off from view of the fifth floor.
"You have been practising." Yoruichi complemented the officer, this impromptu battle had ignited the thrill of the chase from her previous lifestyle, a feeling of elation washed over her system at him being able to dodge her finishing move for now they could continue some more.
"I did tell you that earlier." He grinned back at her. This would have been the perfect time to bring up the fact that there was a mistake, that if they just talked they could find a peaceful solution only Yoruichi didn't, she wanted to keep the fight going, to see how far he could get, to test herself in real combat for the first time in a long time too.
"Alright, this time I won't hold back." Yoruichi returned the grin and shifted her weight in preparation to attack first with a powerful kick that would really determine how good of a fighter this guard actually was. The lift doors opened onto the sixth floor and the employee about to enter the lift was greeted by both Yoruichi and the guard shouting at them in unison.
"Get the next one!" The person dropped their paperwork out of shock, they instantly started apologising while they busied themselves with picking up their scattered work. No sooner than the doors had closed, the two combatants closed the distance between each other. The security guard threw a punch at her face which Yoruichi swept it harmlessly to the side with her left arm and followed through with a counter attack via her right arm. This was a complete faint except her opponent fell for it and in the time it took him to prepare to block her punch, she had already pivoted completely around, her back presented to him, her golden eyes locked on her target over her shoulder as her leg cut threw the air like a knife slicing butter, the back of her heel smashed into the top of his head. The defeated guard managed to stumble around slightly before his world faded to black and Yoruichi caught hold of him and guided his unconscious body to the ground.
"Better luck next time pal," Yoruichi patted the sleeping guard's back after she placed him in the recovery position and wondered if removing her name from the banned list really was top priority now that she had someone fun to play with. A quick glance at the control button told Yoruichi that this current lift was going to be stopping on every floor up into the twenties no thanks to her grinding that other guy's face into every button so she happily stepped out onto the seventh floor and proceeded to get a fresh ride that would take her to destination without experiencing a tour of the entire building in the process. It did not take long to reach the floor that Soifon's office was based on and Yoruichi was glad to finally be out of the lift, eager to put some distance between herself and it for a good while now.
"Y-Yoruichi?" It was very obvious the owner of the voice was completely dumbstruck to see her again, at her workplace of all places too.
"Sora, hi!" Yoruichi smiled brightly back, not surprised at all that she would eventually bump into the familiar woman, who wore one of her usual office skirt outfits, her long blond hair tied neatly into a tight bun. "How have you been?"
"I'm fine, thanks. What are you doing here?" Sora looked genuinely confused at Yoruichi's unexpected appearance.
"I'm here to see Soi - Hmph!" As soon as Yoruichi began to say Soifon's name, Sora's hand clamped down upon Yoruichi's mouth, silencing her and before anyone bored enough with their workload could turn to take in the pair of them. Sora forced Yoruichi backwards the two slammed into the back of the lift in time with the doors closing on them.
A/N: So this fight was never actually part of my plan, it kinda happened as I was writing, I laughed at the idea of workers reacting to seeing strange things in a lift per floor and I expanded something that was only meant to be a sentence or two into a whole chapter.
Also I never put a name to the guard but I did think of Yoruichi's relationship with Byakuya as inspiration - I don't want to commit to this idea as if he was going to appear in this story, I don't think him being a simple guard would do him justice but feel free to picture it as him for the time being.