Clenched Soul (The Unending Night)
After awhile, Yoruichi got up from her seat and headed towards the door. "I am going to see if Kisuke is all right, Soifon."
"Shall I accompany you, Yoruichi-sama?"
Yoruichi's face took on an atypically serious look. "You had best stay here. There are strange things afoot. I'll need someone whom I know is capable of guarding the place while I am away."
"Your wish is my command, Yoruichi-sama. But please, if I may ask this of you, let me know when you return. I will want to know that you are safely back."
"Silly! You think something will happen to me?" If it could take out even Captain Muguruma… "Yes, I promise I will let you know," Yoruichi smiled and stepped out into the night.
Soifon got up and checked on the various guards around the quarters. She undertook a personal patrol around the Second Squad's premises. But most of all, she waited impatiently for Yoruichi to return. Urahara is so strange. Perhaps Yoruichi-sama needed more time to dissuade him from following Hiyori. Perhaps they have gone for a walk. Wait, that would be very dangerous. But Yoruichi-sama is powerful. She will be all right.
As the night gradually faded into the early rays of dawn, however, Soifon's mood got blacker. Where is she? The patrols have not seen her, and they have not reported anyone entering or leaving the 12th Squad's headquarters. She promised to tell me when she returned. I should nev-" Soifon was interrupted from her thoughts by a familiar sight from her youth – a black cat, staring piercingly at her, appeared next to her. It rubbed against her legs and ran down the corridor.
"Hey… kitty! Come back!" Soifon started to run, amazed at the return of the cat after all this while. It had disappeared mysteriously as her time back at the Fon estate came to an end and the Steward never mentioned it in his letters despite her repeatedly asking after it. How did it get into Seireitei?
The cat ran into Yoruichi's office as the door was slightly ajar. Soifon rushed in to see the cat standing regally on Yoruichi's seat. It stared at her once more, unblinking, a strange look in its eyes. It turned and leapt out of the window.
"Hey… Hey!" Soifon leaned out the window, but there was no sign of the cat. It had disappeared into the night.
What will Yoruichi-sama say when she finds out there's been an intruder in her office? She never had much partiality for animals…
A few minutes later, Soifon fell to her knees, gripped by a piercing pain in her heart.
Yoruichi-sama… I can no longer detect her reiatsu…