So, I know there will definitely be grammatical errors in this story, but it's 1:30 in the morning, and I sat down just to write this chapter for you guys, so cut me some slack?
Surprise etched itself into Ichigo's face as he ran down the hall, trailing behind a laughing Yoruichi. The hall behind them definitely left something to be desired, as paintings dropped from their recent standings, only to be shattered on the floor as the whole structure trembled.
"THIS WAS THE WORST IDEA EVER," Ichigo panicked.
"Kuukaku is always a bad idea!" Yoruichi cheerfully replied, yelling over her shoulder before darting into a janitor's closet, yanking the boy behind her.
"Wha-"
"Shhh," the dark woman silenced him with a finger, peeking out the door as four guards flew past them, running towards the main entrance.
Maybe calling Kuukaku was a bit drastic… Yoruichi smirked mischeviously.
A few meters down stood Seireitei's main gate, a large structure made of approximately 2 feet of steel that was created more for decoration than protection. On previous days, Soi Fon, commander of the Onmitsukido guard, and captain of the section division, had always detested the height and thickness of the door. It was tediously heavy, and the stairwell to the top was unreasonably long, causing her to waste precious time simply trekking up the continuous staircase. Yet, despite her previous quarrels, today, Soi Fon could not have been happier with the structure of the gate. Swiftly dispatching her primary defense team, Soi Fon tore up the staircase, attempting to get above and see what exactly was attacking the gate. Light pants slipped through her lips as she quickly recovered air, cautiously moving past the last wall of the staircase to glance over the railing. Despite her intensive training, and continuous preparation for any particular event, Soi Fon couldn't help but widen her eyes in complete shock as she gazed at the scene below.
Standing a few yards away from the shaking gate stood Kuukaku Shiba, former member of Seireitei, and current head of the Shiba clan.
"Wha-" Soi Fon's brow furrowed in confusion.
Suddenly the ground shook underneath the young girl's feet, pushing her into the wall as she struggled to regain her composure. Horror quickly replaced the surprise on the petite girl's face as she realized exactly what the Shiba woman was doing. Surrounded by her comrades, Kuukaku laughed heartily, wind whipping past her face as she stood, pointing an acusing finger towards the gate, and watching as one by one firecrackers stripped past her, smashing brightly into the old gate.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, KUUKAKU?!?!" Soi Fon roared down towards the brash woman.
"Oh! Soi Fon! Just the girl I wanted to see!" Kuukaku hollered merrily.
"WHY ARE YOU BLOWING UP FIREWORKS?"Soi angrily yelled.
"Oh stop your moaning and groaning!" came the happy reply. "I'm just lighting up some fireworks!"
"INTO MY DOOR?!" the petite woman nearly screeched, her cheeks tinted a slight pink in her rage.
"Well… I had to get your attention somehow," Kuukaku shrugged, casually leaning over to ignite another rocket.
"STOP IT! YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION!" Soi Fon paled as the metal door groaned under the stress of the firework.
"Just making sure!" Kuukaku blew out her sparkler before nonchalantly striding towards the singed door. She waited, rather patiently, as the guards cautiously creaked the gate open, grunting uncomfortably as the woman took the initiative to kick it in the rest of the way.
"Kuukaku," Soi Fon called out from above, stepping out from the ledge, and casually jumping down, staircase-to-staircase until she faced the woman stated, "you are hereby restricted from further actions within Seireitei, and will be held in our detainment unit until further notice."
"Oh Soi," the taller woman grinned down, placing her pipe between her lips before continuing, "I thought you'd never ask."
Sprinting past a few more doors, Yoruichi finally stopped before a large bridge, cautiously entering the open hallway on the other end.
"We're here…" she quietly motioned towards Ichigo.
"I always thought she'd live in a… brighter place..," he trailed off, glancing at the strange metal contraptions that lined the walls.
"Well she's a strange one." Yoruichi nervously checked around for signs of approaching residents. "I mean, who would ever want to work in the twelfth division? They're always so odd, with their experiments and such, it always was the perfect place for Kisuke."
"Experiments? What?" Kurosaki turned towards his companion. "Rukia doesn't like that kind of stuff."
"Then what is she doing under Mayuri's supervision?" A nervous shudder wracked Yoruichi's body. She never did like the creepy scientist, and seeing his projects stacked throughout the room was doing nothing to improve her previous views on the man.
"Mayuri?" came the confused response. "I thought her captain was Jushiro Ukitake. She was always talking about how he was such a great leader and strong person despite his sickness…" Ichigo trailed off seeing Yoruichi's paled face.
"She's under Ukitake's command?" the dark feline hissed. "She's in the thirteenth division you fool!"
"Oh… but then wh-"
"Who is in Mayuri-sams's lab?" a quiet question floated through the room.
"Oh crap," Ichigo anxiously cursed.
"Yoruichi Shihouin," the voice calmly stated. A little too calm Kurosaki uncomfortably noted.
"Who-" Yoruichi whirled around, locating the voice, "Nemu."
"Yoruichi-san, the last I was aware of, you were restricted from entrance into Seireitei," the monotone woman emerged from behind Ichigo, completely ignoring him in her conversation with Yoruichi.
"Well, I was allowed to enter in order to assist Sotaicho Yamamoto with… certain matters…" the dark woman's mind raced, hoping that Yamamoto was even alive at this point.
"You are on restricted grounds," came her monotone response.
"We simply got turned around," Ichigo cautiously motioned towards the bridge, expanding on his comrade's fib.
"This way." Nemu blankly pointed towards a door at the back of the room.
"You must be busy," Yoruichi flashed a smile, easily slipped back into her lie, "knowing Mayuri-sama, he'll have you punished for wasting time showing us around."
"This is correct." Nemu frowned.
"Well I'm sure we can find our way once we are out of the building."
"Very well."
"Thank you," Yoruichi grinned brightly, elbowing Ichigo as Nemu turned towards the door she entered through.
"R-right!" Ichigo stuttered, "Thanks!"
"Do not mention it." Nemu commented, exiting without as much as a glance.
"You are so lucky we ran into Nemu and not Mayuri." Yoruichi scowled.
"This place is way too huge," Ichigo returned the frown.
"Yeah, yeah," the dark woman flicked her wrist before slipping past the door that Nemu had mentioned, "we best get going before someone worse than Nemu decides to appear."
"Right." The strawberry blonde quietly entered the door, hoping that Rukia wouldn't be too far away.
..::..
Yoruichi is getting closer to Soi! I was tempted to throw them together in this chapter, but I really like Kuukaku, and she cracks me up, so I had to put her in. Maybe YoruSoi will come together next chapter! Stick around and find out?
Leave me a review!