Author's notes: Thanks again for the reviews! They're a great way for me to see if I'm getting the effect I want now that I don't have a beta. I apologize for not commenting on any of them. I feel like doing so might ruin the story for you. As an alternative sign of gratitude, here's an extremely early update (by my standards)—the result of your encouraging words. Enjoy!

Chapter 11: Discoveries

The day after the second emotional interrogation session, Yoruichi once again found herself outside Soifon's cell, but this time not of her own volition. She had just come from another captain's meeting where her colleagues' behaviors were more astoundingly irritating than usual, and before she could distance herself from the bunch, Kisuke told her to visit Soifon in his place.

Busy my ass.

As the locks clicked and hissed, Yoruichi began wondering again about the purpose of such facilities when high level criminals like Mayuri Kurotsuchi had always been kept at the Maggot's nest or at the Second Division. However, she had other things she had to think about. She was about to see her student: captain-level, potential threat.

Once the door was open wide enough, she wasted no time to state her purpose in a bored monotone. "Kisuke says you've been cooped up in a reiatsu cell for too long. You need to replenish and use your reiatsu or else." That lazy bastard.

At some point during the explanation, Soifon had stood up from the chair and had approached the portal. "Or else what… Yoruichi-sama?"

"I told you, it's Shihouin-taichou. And it doesn't matter what. I'm taking you out for that stretch. Come on."

"Y-yes," Soifon obliged, a tad put off by Yoruichi's mood.

Yoruichi then re-locked the cell. "We're going to the closest training grounds. You know the way."

They walked through the halls of the Twelfth Division with the student ahead of her master. The few people they ran into didn't seem to notice or care about the reversal. No one seemed to see them for what they were—a troubled prisoner being ushered by a wary warden.

Soifon was hesitant to speak with Yoruichi in that mood, and really, all of the conversations they could have at this point were conversations that had to be kept from eavesdroppers. In the silence, Soifon contemplated what might happen next and how she might still carry out her plans against Aizen. When they stepped out of the division, she was already completely absorbed in her own world.

Not long after they reached the road, a black-clad figure dropped from the sky and onto one knee before them. "Gundanchou," the man greeted. "Report!" Soifon immediately ordered, falling into her role as a commander easily in her moment of strategizing.

Both, the man and Yoruichi, stared at her in surprise. Once she noticed the looks, she realized her mistake. "Ah! I… Sorry! I just meant that Yoruichi-sama… would probably like to hear your report." She looked down, partly getting into her younger counterpart's character and partly out of her own embarrassment.

"In a minute," Yoruichi calmly held her palm up to the man. She quickly sighted the nearby lawn and stepped close enough to whisper to Soifon. "Go ahead to the training grounds. No funny business. I'll be watching from here."

"Yes, Shihouin-taichou," Soifon whispered back before she started walking to the field.

Yoruichi watched Soifon thoughtfully until she was out of hearing range. Then she faced the man, eyes hard. "Report."

"Yes, Gundanchou. The Twelfth Division reported strange readings from Inuzuri. They say it happens from time to time with no consequence, but they want Onmitsukidou to stand by in case something bigger comes of it."

Yoruichi's features creased into a frown. Could this activity be related to the disappearances. As she considered the possibility, she eyed Soifon suspiciously. She had just entered the training grounds and was starting a kata she had taught her.

"Where's Omaeda?"

"Still out on assignment, Gundanchou."

"And Takeda?"

"Posted at the Maggot's Nest for the week."

"Alright. Find Sakamoto. Tell her to make sure that the rest of my personal guard is aware of the situation. At any time, at least five of them should be able to get ready for departure within 10 minutes notice if we receive word from the Twelfth Division. We'll give it 24 hours. Help Sakamoto draw up the shifts and keep me updated on the situation. Dismissed!"

"Yes, Gundanchou!" the man responded.

When the man left, Yoruichi stayed and continued to watch Soifon's flawless form and impeccable technique from a distance. Each move was stunningly sharp and deadly.

Just like I taught her. I really can't deny that she's my student.

At that moment, she decided to try something out when she went to meet up with her charge.

Punch, punch, kick, thrust, pivot, kick, shift, kick.

Soifon was enjoying the exercise after all the inactivity...

Chop, grab, knee, center, throw, pivot, punch.

She lost herself in the sequence…

Sweep, heel, punch, punch, kick, punch, chop.

She didn't want to stop…

Kick, kick, pivot, punch, chop, chop, thrust.

But as the routine came to an end, she flipped backwards like her teacher taught her, landing softly on her feet.

"MEOW!" came the anguished cry for no matter how lightly she landed, ultimately, her full weight bore down on her feet and the black tail beneath them.

Soifon hopped back in alarm, and when she saw the black cat bristle, the mortified girl dropped down to her knees and into her lowest bow.

"I'm so sorry, Yoruichi-sama! I'm so so so sorry! It must be the drug or the cell. I've just been messing up so much today! I didn't even sense your reiatsu. Please forgive me, Yoruichi-sama!"

As all of the words spilled hurriedly and uncontrollably from her mouth, the cat gave her another angry meow. Then behind Soifon came a voice that couldn't quite decide whether it was confused, amused, or annoyed. "What do you think you're doing?"

Still bowed low, Soifon's head turned. "Ah! Yorui—I mean Shihouin-taichou." She pushed herself off the ground and hopped onto her feet. "I was… There was the cat! And then I thought you were—"

Meanwhile, the cat ran off to recuperate. "Never mind, Soifon," Yoruichi shook her head. "I guess Kisuke was right about you really needing to get out of that cell." Soifon breathed a sigh of relief for not having to explain herself.

"Well, you must have recovered some of your reiatsu by now. Enough for you to flex it a little bit."

Soifon sorted through her list of techniques and thought of some way to use just a little bit of reiatsu without threatening her guard. "Low level kidou?" she suggested.

"No," Yoruichi declined. It was time to carry out her impromptu plan to make a more complete assessment of this strong potential threat, "Do you think you're up to shikai? That would exercise your reiatsu more effectively." She wasn't lying. She just wasn't sharing her motivations. "You've achieved it, right? You must have if you've started on bankai."

"I didn't mean to lie about that before," Soifon murmured guiltily.

Inwardly, Yoruichi scoffed. If you hadn't meant to lie, then you wouldn't have. But now wasn't the time to bring it up again so Yoruichi waved Soifon off. "So can you do it?" she handed over Soifon's zanpakutou that she had hurriedly picked up for this purpose after she dismissed her subordinate.

Soifon reached into her energy reserves and found enough. "As you wish, Yoruichi-sama," she answered obediently, already taking the blade and distancing herself from her commander. "Sting all enemies to death, Suzumebachi!" When the release was complete, Soifon was wearing her black and gold stinger, arm positioned across her torso.

I finally get the chance to show this off but I don't want to anymore. I just know Yoruichi-sama is just trying to learn more about how much of a threat I am… Suzumebachi won't be happy.

Yoruichi hummed, "Pretty." And perfect for hakuda. "So let's see what it can do."

Soifon scanned the field for a moment. Empty. "I can't, Yoruichi-sama."

"Why not?" A purple eyebrow quirked.

"This shikai isn't… It's dangerous. It's not meant for something like this."

"So use it on a tree or something," Yoruichi put her hands on her hips.

"It doesn't work on trees. It has to be something with a soul of some sort… like a hollow or even an animal." Good thing that cat left.

"So try it on me. I'm pretty fast," Yoruichi offered. "I'm sure I can dodge it."

"Dodging won't show you the ability, Yoruichi-sama. And no, I will not strike you with this thing. Never again," Soifon insisted firmly. After weighing her options, she decided that she would have to divulge this piece of information if only to end Yoruichi's line of thought. "My shikai's ability is called Nigeki Kessatsu. The first sting marks my prey. A second sting in the same place… brings instant death."

Yoruichi remained quiet as she pondered the ability. "Geez, Soifon, when'd you get so scary?"

In her quarters and finally free from her babysitting duties, Yoruichi turned her attention to her own training. Sure, she had already mastered many things, but stagnation was death and there was one trump card she had been bent on mastering since she had found out that she had the potential for it—the stealth form. It involved a transformation into an unobtrusive animal that could dampen one's reiatsu and worked fantastically for spying. The Onmitsukidou commander couldn't wait to learn it. As it was, she had been trying off and on for years. She didn't get why it wouldn't work.

The transformation was essentially kidou, one that specifically required the strongest of reiatsus and the purest of Shihouin blood. As with all other kidou, the key to getting it was visualization. Maybe she needed to improve her imagination? Add more detail? Choose a specific animal to visualize and if that doesn't work, move on to the next? That would take forever. No, it has to be pretty general.

She sat cross-legged and closed her eyes. Her father and grandfather and his father before him had all transformed into birds. She was sure that's what she would be as well.

Something with feathers, something with wings. Something that flies. A beak and two legs.

She opened her eyes and scowled. It's no good. It has never worked before and it's not working now.

She wracked her brain for any clues that could help her. The process brought back memories of the day and how Soifon bowed to a cat, calling it by her name. Ridiculous. Then again…

What if I'm not a bird? It would make sense that all my other attempts failed. A squirrel? A mouse? A bug? That made her stop. I'd rather not be a bug. But the furry critters would be okay for spy work.

Yoruichi closed her eyes again. She decided to start with the general descriptions and slowly get more detailed. Something with fur, something with four legs. Maybe a tail? Oh, and claws. Wait, do mice have claws? Whiskers! They have whiskers!

While she was trying to imagine the little things that made critters, critters, she began feeling a little lightheaded. By the time she got to 'whiskers', she felt a sensation akin to staring down the edge of a cliff. Then she actually felt like she was falling down that cliff. She opened her eyes with a gasp, and when she did, the room seemed a whole lot bigger than before.

"I did it!" said a distinctly male voice. She turned around to spot the speaker until she realized it was herself.

Pushing her confusion about her voice away for the moment, she ran as well as she could, this being her first time to run with four legs, and when she reached the mirror, she saw a black cat staring back at her.

A cat! Who would have known?!

At that moment, all four legs weakened and wobbled, and she found herself on her belly.

Soifon. She knew… This morning… She knew I was going to be a black cat before even I discovered it. She took it for fact even though it was the least likely thing…

It was one thing to respond to being called Gundanchou or to say all the things she said. A master spy can act. But this?

She really did come from the future.

Aizen really is trying to destroy the world.

I really am a traitor.

It was a sobering thought.

In her head, she could hear Soifon. "Yoruichi-samaaaaa!" "It hurt so much." "Did Yoruichi-sama come back for me?" "Soifon, Captain of the Second Division, Commander of Onmitukidou, Leader of the Keigun First Brigade." "I trained for decades with the goal of surpassing you, that I may capture you with my own two hands."

Youichi felt like the wind had been knocked out of her lungs.

But there was something else Soifon said. 'I will not strike you with this thing. Never again.'

What was that about?