Chapter Eight: Exit Light…

"I'm telling you, Urahara, I could have sworn I saw Soi's double in that convenient store." said Yoroichi.

Urahara just glanced at her from the shadows that were cast by his hat. He scratched the stubble on the side of his face, before replying back, "I seriously doubt that she was here in the real world, Yoroichi. How closely did she resemble Soi, Yoroichi? Were there any differences in the general look that might cause you to rethink your wild claim?"

Yoroichi's expression grew pensive, "Well, she did not have even close to the same hairstyle. She had waist length hair, and it wasn't straight cut like she used to wear it. And she also didn't walk like Soi does at all, you know, all stiff and formal like."

Urahara snapped his fan open and held it over his face, "Well there you go right there, my feminine feline friend. Soi cannot physically stop her self from walking militarily. So the woman you saw could not possibly be Soi, even if the resemblance was uncanny, you should probably just try and forget about it."

Yoroichi nodded her head, "You're probably right." She then went into her room and laid out on her futon. As she tried to get some rest, she couldn't stop thinking about it. That woman just looked so much like Soi it wasn't even funny. As she fell asleep, her dreams were filled with memory.

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Right after her fight with Soi

As Soi crumpled to the ground in defeat, Yoroichi closed her eyes in an attempt to sense the outcomes of the various clashes of reiatsu that had been taking place throughout Soul Society.

She noticed that Old Man Yamamoto and Keigo were still locked in mortal combat. The flames from their zanpakutoh sent waves of heat all across Seiretei. She shivered at sheer intensity of the fight. Who knew that a mere human teenager would be able to fight toe to toe with the oldest and greatest of the current captains of Soul Society? She certainly did not.

The one thing she didn't get was who were those two boy's parents? Mizuiru's power was almost demonic in nature, it being able to freeze someone both physically and mentally. Keigo had the ultimate execution's instrument under his control, with enough raw power to completely wipe out half of Seiretei in one fell swoop. The only thing was, was that both boys were tight lipped when it came to their parents.

She turned her gaze to her left, when she sensed the presence of one of Soi's subordinates rushing towards them. She tensed as he drew closer, preparing to use shun-po to take him out. But before she could do anything, he used shun-po to flash to his Captain's side.

He grabbed his Captain in his arms, shaking her gently in an effort to wake her up. "Captain," he said, "Captain, wake up! This is not the best of times for you to catch up on your beauty sleep, Soi Fon-Taichou."

Soi stirred awake as the words of her subordinate reached her. She opened her eyes to the sight of a concerned member of her division gazing down at her. The lower ranked Shinigami smiled at her through his mask and said, "I'm glad you are alright, Captain."

He set her down gently with her back resting against a boulder, before standing up and facing Yoroichi. He spread his legs apart and reached behind him for his zanpakutoh that was strapped sideways to his waist. "Now if you will excuse me, Captain, I do believe there is the matter of this woman that needs to be taken care of."

"Fuji, stand down at once."

The second division member turned towards his Captain in astonishment, "But why, Captain? She hurt you, and that is an unforgivable sin." Yoroichi raised an eyebrow at this.

Soi saw her former Captain's expression and gave out a light chuckle. "She is not to be harmed, Fuji, do you understand?"

Fuji grumbled beneath his breath at this.

"What was that Fuji? I couldn't quite hear you."

Fuji resheathed his sword and bowed towards his Captain. "It shall be as thou hast desired, o' beautiful Captain of mine."

Soi just looked at him. He chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, Captain, guess I got carried away with my undying adoration of you."

Soi's vein bulged on her forehead with annoyance. "How many times have I told you to not do that kinda stuff in the presence of others, Fuji?"

Fuji replied in a happy tone, "1,269,669 times so far, Captain."

Yoroichi laughed out loud at their antics. Before the others could comment again, Isane's report on Aizen, Ichimaru, and Tousen's betrayal cut through to them. Her eyes wide in shock, she turned to Soi and said, "You stay here, and I'm going to help the others stop those three."

As she sped off into the distance, the one known as "Fuji" took off his cloth mask. Turning back to his Captain, he started to bandage her up and give her other kinds of medical attention. He winced when he noticed the newly made scars covering her body. Sure, she had to fight at only ten percent, but he never would have guessed she would have been hurt this badly.

Soi turned her head towards him, but before she could speak, a voice cut through the air. "So, the infamous Soi Fon-Taichou finally fell in battle. I guess that's what you get for being so weak, Captain."

The one who said this was none other than Ryu Inuzuri, a Shinigami who was a member of her division. He had never forgiven her for taking the Captain's mantle for herself. He thought that it should have gone to him. But no, none of those in power thought he could do anything. Well, he would show them. He would kill the Captain here and now, and there wouldn't be a single thing that anyone could do about it. As he drew his sword, Fuji turned towards his Captain, an eyebrow raised in question. She nodded.

Before Ryu could do a single thing, the other male second division member used shun-po to get behind him. As he was turning around to face his opponent, he only heard one word.

"Byakurai." said Fuji, pointing his finger at Ryu's head. The bolt of lightning made a thunderous sound as it totally obliterated the pompous shinigami's head.

Without the ugly head, the body of the traitorous Shinigami collapsed in a heap. As Fuji ran a hand through his orange hair, she suddenly fell back asleep.

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She ran along the riverbank, desperately trying to catch up with her fool of a Vice-Captain. As she turned a bend, she noticed that there were three bodies on the ground. One of those bodies belonged to a grown woman. She lay bleeding on the ground, most likely dead.

A little boy lay beside her, throat slashed open. Most likely this had been caused by a hollow, for she could sense no life force at all, meaning their spirits either left or were devoured.

She turned her attention to the third body, and suddenly forgot that there still might be a hollow close by. She ran to her Vice-Captain, clutching him closely to her chest.

Before she could try to heal him, a hollow appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her by the neck using its tail. As it lifted her up, she used her sword to chop the appendage off. The hollow howled in pain and took a couple of steps back. Its eyes narrowed at her, before it used a move similar to shun-po to get behind her. It gripped her by the neck again, making sure to keep a firm enough grip to ensure that she did not try anything.

But instead of throwing her across the riverbank like it had done six years ago in reality, the dream hollow reached towards its own mask. She heard a sickening crack as the mask broke off of the hollow's face. She screamed as the hollow sneered at her. To be more accurate, the face of Ichigo sneered at her with malice far beyond even his capabilities.

As she screamed even louder, he let out a horrifying laugh that would chill even Aizen to the bone.

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"Shaolin, are you ready?" Ichigo asked from the other side of her bedroom door.

She looked one last time in the mirror to make sure she looked alright, before opening the door. Ichigo stood outside, wearing a black tuxedo and holding a rose in his hand.

As she stepped outside her room, he gave her the rose and said, "You look absolutely stunning, Shaolin. Shall we go?" He offered his arm to her.

She nodded her head and accepted it. They then walked outside to a waiting limousine, which would take them to a very important dinner…

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TBC