I must give SoldierG65434-2 a lot of credit for this chapter. He gave me some fantastic ideas and even contributed a couple of the dialogue lines. I could not be more grateful.

Chapter 6

Soi Fon usually wasn't one for sitting back and doing nothing. But she wasn't one for hard liquor either and that had changed very quickly after Yoruichi left. She hadn't exactly sat on her hands for the whole week though. For the first day she called the woman's cell phone non-stop, trying to explain her side of the story. She soon found that Yoruichi had blocked her number. So Soi Fon moved on to borrowing phones from terrified subordinates who had heard of what the angered captain had almost done to Reiko. At first Yoruichi had answered but had caught on quickly. Now she didn't even answer.

She poured herself another shot and downed it. It burned as the cool liquid trickled down the back of her throat. At least it distracted her for a moment. Soi Fon turned her attention back to her cluttered desk.
Paperwork didn't stop for personal disaster.

A knock at door disrupted her. "Who is it?" she called exasperatedly. This was the last thing she needed right now. A chuckle came from outside.

"I brought sake," the voice called. "I had a feeling you might be needing it." Without asking for permission to enter the captain's office, the person slid the door. It was Kyouraku Shunsui. In his hands was a bottle of his favorite kind of alcohol. He walked into the room and grabbed the nearest chair. Not caring as it dragged on the floor; he set it down in front of her desk and plopped into the seat.

"So, I take it you have another glass here?" he asked. Grudgingly Soi Fon took out another shot glass from the drawer of her desk and handed it to him. Kyouraku inspected it. "Sake in a shot glass? That's just non-traditional."

"Is there a reason that you're here?" Soi asked impatiently. "Or," she leaned forward in her seat and gave him a death glare. "Did you just come to bother me?"

He shuddered. Soi Fon's sting from her glare was just as bad as the one from her Zanpakutou. "Actually," Kyouraku said leaning back in his chair. "I came to comfort you. And what better to do that then with the calming taste of sake?" When she didn't respond he continued. His usual jovial tone was lost. "Everyone is worried about you Soi Fon-taicho. You haven't come out of your office in over a week. We all know what happened to you after she left the first time. But we can't help if we don't know what happened."

She stayed quiet. He rose from his chair in anger. "Fine then. If you don't want help I won't force it on you." Kyouraku rummaged around in his captain's haori for a moment before pulling out a small bag. He tossed it on her desk. "Ukitake said he wanted you to have this. I have no idea why." With that he turned and left.

Soi Fon opened the bag. It was konpeito. The sugary sweet rock candy was her favorite. She looked back up from the bag. They cared. They really cared. "Kyouraku," she called. "I'm ready to talk now."

He was back in a moment. "He said those sweets would work on anybody. He has me convinced now." She smiled. "Defiantly convinced. Now let's talk."


She told him the whole story. It had been years since she had opened up to somebody like this. Yoruichi would even have to try hard to pry any feelings out of her. It felt strange at first but then it felt like a weight off of her shoulders. She couldn't keep their break-up bottled up inside her like this.

After she finished, Kyouraku sat for a moment contemplating. "This girl Reiko is delusional. Why does she think that by ruining your relationship with Yoruichi you'll fall in love with her?" Soi Fon shrugged her shoulders.

He laughed. "It was more of a rhetorical question. But I know what you need to do. You need to confront her."

She shook her head rapidly. "I can't do that. Last time I almost killed her."

"You won't kill her," Kyouraku said. "Get her side of the story first. Find out what caused her to do this."

Soi Fon sighed. Reiko was the last person she wanted to see right now. But the girl had to have a reason for her schoolgirl crush.

She stood from her chair and stuck her hand across the table. "Thank you Kyouraku-taicho. You helped me a lot." He grabbed her hand and shook it.

As she started to leave he stopped her. He held up the bottle with the remaining sake in it with a large grin on his face. "First, drink this. Liquid courage." Though Soi Fon had had her fill of liquor for the next millennia she grabbed the bottle and took a swig. She wiped the liquid from the sides of her mouth and handed it back to the smiling captain.


Soi Fon arrived at the Onmitsukido barracks only moments after her encounter with Kyouraku. She had forgotten how minimal it was. She tried to remember the last time she had set foot in the barracks. Probably the day that Yoruichi had told her to pack up her things and move into the Shihonin household. She smiled, remembering the day clearly.

Her thoughts were jostled by a tap on her shoulder. She spun around hand on her scabbard. In front of her was not an enemy but a now terrified squad member. "A-are you looking for something?" the boy asked.

It must have been Soi Fon's imagination; these recruits were getting younger by the day. But she shouldn't think about that now. "Yes," she answered the boy. "I'm looking for a girl named Reiko. Do you know her."

The boy froze up. He had heard about Reiko and her fan club. But more importantly he had heard about how they had broken up his captain and her girlfriend. Older squad members had warned him what would happen when Soi Fon became angry. He didn't want to see that happen.

"Boy!" Soi Fon yelled. "I asked you to tell me where Reiko is. Now I suggest you do so or I will be forced to wring the information out of you." He shook with fright but still managed to point up to the third story.

"Thank you," Soi Fon said patronizingly. "That wasn't so hard, now was it?"


Soi Fon had never been on the third floor of the barracks. That floor was designated for the members of the Onmitsukido who had been there longer than three years. She had barely been living on the first floor for a month before Yoruichi demanded she move. She hadn't missed much. It was composed of a long, gray hallway with white oak doors on either side for as far as the eye could see. In other words, it looked exactly like the other two floors of the building.

The names of the room's occupants were displayed in bold letters above the door. For once she was glad for the invasion of privacy; this meant she wouldn't have to knock on every door to find the girl. Her eyes scanned each the name plates until she found the one label Kobayashi, Reiko. That was the door she approached.

Soi Fon knocked on the door once. No response. She knocked again. Still nothing. No way was she going to wait until Reiko came home. She put her hand on the door knob and turned it.

Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw. The plain gray room had almost every square inch covered with pictures. Pictures of her. Some were pictures cut out of newspapers and magazines. But the majority were the kind taken subtly with a camera.

Here she was at captain's meetings, training her subordinates, doing paperwork, and other typical day to day activities. But the worst were the ones with her and Yoruichi. Her former lover's beautiful face had pictures of Reiko's face crudely taped over it. All photographs were covered with lipstick marks.

She was in such shock that the captain didn't notice that the very person she had been looking for was lounging on her bed. "I take it you're here to kill me?" Reiko asked while surprisingly calm.

Soi Fon shrugged. "Depends," she answered. "If you can give me a good enough reason to explain all of this nonsense." Reiko laughed. This was a reaction that Soi Fon had not expected. People never laughed in the face of danger. Of course, not unless they were insane. And judging by the girl's room that could very much be the case.

"All right then," Reiko said with a nod. "I'll explain. You see taicho, you were my inspiration for joining the Goteijusantai. I was amazed by your ability, your grace, but mostly your beauty. Then I started to learn about you. And I found that we're more alike than you could imagine. Because all of this," she motioned to the photographs on the walls. "You did the same thing. We're alike in the fact that we both loved people we could never have."

Soi Fon tried to absorb this information. She looked around the room at the absurd pictures of herself. Realization hit her. She had done this. She had saved obscure things that Yoruichi had touched, admired her from afar. She had even gone so far as to take naked pictures of her goddess from afar. To think about it, she had even thought about Yoruichi as a goddess. She had insisted on putting the woman on a pedestal, worshiping her like she was a mystical being.

Please tell me that this isn't me, Soi Fon though desperately as the room seemed to start to spin. Somebody, Tell me that I'm better than this!