Author's note: This happens to be a bit of a nothing chapter. Sorry. I promise to do better next chapter, really.
"Meaningless distractions, eh? Well, I doubt he could have truly meant that... Anyway, let's get you back to the Fifth, shall we?"
Soi Fon had the kernel of a plan forming. Why, she had no idea, except she rather liked Momo. Which was fairly odd in itself, all things considered.
"O-ok then..."
The weather hadn't gotten any better when they ventured out. If anything, it was even more oppressively cold, the wind that much more biting. Even so, it seemed to Momo to take only a few minutes to get to the Fifth division barracks, whereas she had struggled for almost an hour to get from here to Second.
"Right. If I leave you here, you'll be alright? I have some work to attend to."
"O-of course, Captain! Please don't worry about me – I'm much better now!"
Momo and Soi Fon both knew that wasn't the case – despite being wrapped up to resemble a furry beach ball, Momo was still shivering and her face was covered in frozen tears. Soi Fon charitably decided, however, to attribute these to the howling wind that fetched up against the front of Fifth's barracks. She bid Momo a good day and left, staying only long enough to make sure Momo went inside. Then she ran as fast as her kido would carry her back to the Second's barracks and started yelling orders.
"Get the sekki-sekki climbing kit! Now!"
"Captain? Why-"
"Don't ask why, you fool, just do it!"
It was barely twelve minutes later when Soi Fon rushed toward the Shrine of Penitence and ran straight into Jushiro Ukitake. The shock of seeing the permanently-ill old man outside in such weather, combined with her shortness of breath, momentarily robbed Soi Fon of the power of speech. Jushiro managed to pre-empt her before she could draw a decent breath.
"Captain Fon! Are you planning to break into the shrine with all that gear?"
"Not into it. I just need to get to the top, and this weather makes it much more difficult."
"Why would you want to do tha-"
"I can't really say. Special Ops stuff. Top secret." Normally, Soi Fon hated people who used the mystery of Second to cover up their activities, but now it seemed useful.
"I see. I appear to be at a loose end now, so if you need any assistance..."
"Actually, you might be able to help... You'll certainly be more apt at this than my good-for-nothing lieutenant. Come on."
They both ran the few dozen meters to the point that Soi Fon had picked out as easiest to scale, back when she was in the Academy. It turns out that pessimism pays off. Excellent.
"Here. You stay on the floor and hold on to that rope. If I fall off the wall, that thing will be my only real hope, so don't you dare let go. I'm going all the way up so this could take about an hour. Still up for this?"
"Well, this spot does appear to be out of the wind. I'm sure I'll be fine. Get going before the Captain-General catches us, yeah?"
Halfway up the building, Soi Fon realized that the tallest building in the soul society could not, logically, enjoy the cover provided by other buildings of its entire height. Not only could she be seen by anyone who dared look up – though that was unlikely in this weather – and was being blown about by the wind. The wind, which was getting worse as she ascended. And the temperature was dropping, causing her breath to hang around in small, misty clouds. The ice on the building that had made climbing harder and harder since the journey had begun was thicker and smoother up here. But still, she struggled on.
It's a pity that I couldn't have taken the stairs. Stupid regulations, need a damned permit to climb a damned building... I'm going to kill someone if there's no-one up here, and if there is I think might end up killing them...