Chapter 4

That night Soi slept on her couch. It wasn't the type of couch that was meant to spend long nights on and left her tossing and turning. Not that she would have been able to sleep anyways. She couldn't stop thinking about what could have happened at the party. Yoruichi was stubborn, she knew that. But would she really stoop so low as to go out and get hammered just to defy her.

Soi heard groaning noises coming from the bedroom. Good. Yoruichi was awake. She pulled the blanket off of herself and put her feet on the tatami mat, stopping to rub the sleep from her eyes.

With difficulty Soi got up and started to walk over to the bedroom door. She didn't want to do this. Despite the fact that she was born and raised a warrior, she hated fights like this.

She pulled open the door. It squeaked. From the bed came a loud moan as Yoruichi protested the noise. She grabbed a nearby pillow and plopped it over her head to bloke out any other incoming clamor. "Hangover?" Soi asked.

Yoruichi lifted the corner of the pillow slightly to see out. "You don't know the worst of it," she whined. She dropped the corner and sighed as it blocked out the impending light. Soi strode over to the side of them bed and snatched the pillow off of her girlfriend's head. She tossed it to the side and reached over to open the blinds. The fresh sunlight of the morning shone in; right in Yoruichi's eyes.

She screamed in pain and flung her hands over her eyes to protect them. "Why would you do that?" she yelled angrily. Soi stood there for a moment. Then she smiled. It wasn't the typical kind smile she usually used with her lover. This was a smile of contempt.

Yoruichi had waited long enough for a response. Bracing herself against the light she jumped out of the bed and closed the shades. She reached down and grabbed her pillow before jumping back into bed. But for once the Goddess of Flash was too slow. Soi snatched the pillow from her and held it high above her head.

"Why are you doing this?" Yoruichi shrieked. She winced at the loudness of her own voice and dropped her voice to a whisper. "Why?" Soi smirked again.

"Simple," Soi said as she sat down in Yoruichi's spot on the bed. "I bring up a reasonable suggestion and you yell at me. You leave in a huff and return after god knows what sort of activities in a drunken stupor." Her voice raised in volume as she spoke. "And then you expect me to be fine with this?"

Yoruichi scoffed and folded her arms. "All I did was go out and have some fun."

Soi glared at her for a few moments. She finally opened her mouth to speak. "And what did that fun include?"

"What are you accusing me of?" Yoruichi asked, forgetting her whisper for an excited moment.

"We all know how you act," Soi stated plainly. Forgetting her current state in a haze of red Yoruichi ran over to Soi and grabbed her by the wrists. Soi struggled to get free but she was clearly no match for the angered woman.

"What are you saying about me?" Yoruichi asked, her temper wearing thin. She grabbed Soi's other wrist and held her tight. "Answer me," she demanded as her head screamed in pain. Soi tried to twist away. "Let me go," she demanded.

Yoruichi dropped her without hesitation. "Fine," she replied. "Now answer my question; what are you saying about me? That I'm a whore who can't keep it in her pants?"

Soi looked at her plainly. It hurt to hear what she had thought over and over in her head finally said out loud. Even if it wasn't her being insulted, she still wasn't prepared for such a thing.

"Fine then." Soi stood up from the bed and smoothed out the wrinkled sheet she was sitting on. "I won't accuse you of anything more then." She walked over to her closet and grabbed her captain's haori. "I'll simply go and ask them myself."

She walked over to the door and grabbed the handle. "Soi, wait!" Yoruichi cried. Soi paused for a moment. She tightened her grip on the doorknob and pulled it open. Without looking back she walked out.

As soon as the door closed quietly behind her the tears started to fall from Yoruichi's eyes. She couldn't stop them. With a defiant motion she brushed them from her face. "God dammit," she muttered. "I won't let myself cry over you." The statement did nothing to stop the tears.


"It worked!" cried Reiko. She popped the cork of the bottle of champagne and held it up. "I declare a toast."

The rest of the group moaned. "Not after last night," Hoshiyo groaned. The others nodded in agreement. Reiko sighed angrily. "But this is time for celebration! We won. After all this hard work we finally did it. We w-"

"Won what?"

The group spun around to face the intruder. It was Soi Fon.

"T-taicho," Haruto stammered. All four bowed simultaneously. Soi smiled tightly. "Stand up," she commanded."Now, as I asked before, what did you win?" The members looked at each other, searching for an answer.

Finally Shizuka stepped forward. "We were playing a game earlier against other members of the Onmitsukido. Our team was victorious."

Reiko shoved her aside. "Yeah taicho," she exclaimed. "We were playing hide and seek earlier. In fact," she motioned to the group. "We were just about to play another round. Would you like to join?"

Soi shook her head. "I actually came here to ask you something." The group looked at her expectantly. Oh god. Could she actually do it? Could she really do the one thing she considered taboo; mixing her personal and private lives? She took a deep breath and asked.

"What exactly did Yoruichi do last night with you?"

She couldn't do it. She couldn't face whatever the answer might be. The strong, stoic captain broke down in tears. Reiko rushed forward. "Hey, it's okay," she comforted. Soi moved her head to the girl's shoulder. The young woman looked threateningly at the other members, urging them to get out so she would have her much deserved time with their captain. They quickly obeyed her and rushed from the room.

Soi looked up into Reiko's face. "Please tell me she didn't do anything other than drink." Reiko lifted her hand to Soi's face and started to brush her long hair away. Here it was. Her big chance. She had successfully gotten her taicho and that bitch Yoruichi broken up. Now here she had it. The chance to prove to Soi Fon how much she truly loved her. A chance to-

Her thoughts were interrupted by someone bursting through the door. Both women turned to look. They were caught in an awkward position with Reiko's hands cupping Soi's face. Their bodies were touching as they stood and they were leaning towards each other. They looked like they were about to kiss.

At least, that's how it look to Yoruichi Shihonin.