DISCLAIMER: The rights to all copyrighted material mention henceforth in this document are owned by their respective owners.
I've added a new poll to my profile so you all can voice your opinion on what I update next.
This is when things get fun...for me.
Having a life that spans over thousands of years can really skew one's perception of the flow of time.
To one whose life extends into millennia, two years is a mere rain drop in a lake. It was the equivalent of a few hours to a mortal.
Yet a year still consisted of three-hundred and sixty-five days, and each day was comprised of twenty-four hours, each of which was filled with sixty minutes. Even to someone who lives through the rise and fall of Kingdoms, this is still a lot of time for things to happen.
If felt like only yesterday, but it had, in fact, been two full years since the last time since Yoruichi set foot inside the Seireitei.
Yoruichi looked around at the place she once called home; it was astonishing how little things had changed, considering how much strife and conflict had taken place.
Yoruichi spent almost the entirety of what was commonly known as the Winter War watching over the real Karakura while the Gotie 13 and Vizards battled Aizen and his Espada in an exact replica that Urahara and Mayuri created. It wasn't a glamorous job, but someone had to make sure the townsfolk weren't eaten by hollows in their sleep.
After that, Yoruichi had to watch over Karakura yet again, only this time in its natural location. The town was almost devoid of Shinigami, as the Gotei 13 had retreated to lick their wounds.
All that took about six months. The rest of the time Yoruichi spent stalling.
She knew that she needed to go talk to Sui-Feng. She even wanted to see her again. But she couldn't figure out how she was supposed to face her after what she did. To just dismiss her like that…
"Shihoin-dono!" The Guards of the Second Division Barracks saluted Yoruichi as she approached.
"At ease." Yoruichi replied with a gentle wave. Without prompting, the guards opened the gate and allowed her passage.
That's a good sign, Yoruichi thought as she passed through the gate. Normally, those wishing to enter the Second Division Compound needed an appointment or an order form the Captain-Commander. The fact that Yoruichi required neither meant that Sui-Feng hadn't rescinded her order to allow Yoruichi unfettered passage. It could be merely a clerical error, but Yoruichi liked to think that it meant that she was still welcome.
Yoruichi didn't like to walk, if she could help it. When shunpo was second nature to you, walk seemed so sluggish and wasteful. However, she was in no rush to hasten her reunion with Sui-Feng. She still wasn't sure what she was going to say, so the more time before she saw her again, the better.
Eventually, Yoruichi inevitably reached Sui-Feng's quarters. Inhaling deeply, Yoruichi opened the shoji. She never knocked. The head of the Shihoin house didn't need to knock. Especially not for Sui-Feng.
Yoruichi expected to see Sui-Feng hunched behind her desk buried in paper work, but what she found instead was a stark room with only a desk by a window. The precious few personal affectations that normally adorned the walls were nowhere to be seen.
Frowning, Yoruichi entered the room and looked around. There were no signs of life in the apartment and even Sui-Feng's meticulously maintained bedroom was empty. There was only a simple sleeping mat, and it had a layer of dust on it.
A little disturbed, Yoruichi exited the quarters and looked around, making sure she hadn't gotten lost or turned around on her journey. By chance, a member of the Second Division passed by her.
"Hey you!" Yoruichi called out to the boy. He had a slow gait and a rather slouched posture.
"Yes, Shihoin-dono!" The boy saluted.
"This is Sui-Feng's room, correct?" Yoruichi inquired authoritatively.
"Yes, in a way." The soldier replied hesitantly.
"Explain what you mean by in a way." Yoruichi crossed her arms.
"This is still Sui-Feng-taicho's quarters, but she moved her main residency to the Onmitsukido Barracks. She still uses her quarters here as an office, on occasion."
"Thank you." Yoruichi released the boy.
That's odd, Yoruichi contemplated. She said she didn't like the quarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukido. Too much space. The quarters for the head of the Onmitsukido consisted of a two bedroom apartment, compared to the single bedroom of the Captain of the second Division.
Shrugging, Yoruichi turned on her heels. The Onmitsukido barracks were on the complete other side of the Serieitei. It would be another long walk, but it gave Yoruichi more time to get her thoughts in order.
Sui-Feng's muscles ached as she trudged through the Onmitsukido barracks. She hated the fact that she had to move her quarters to such a remote part of the Seireitei, but the extra space was necessary.
Since Sui-Feng lost her arm battling Barragan, she had spent almost all of her time recalibrating her fighting style. The loss of so much weight completely altered her center of gravity, so her stances and attacks had to be adjusted accordingly.
She was also engaging in a fair bit of strength training. Normally, Sui-Feng did not normally spend time simply increasing her physical strength. Proper technique and the expert manipulation of her reiatsu can more than make up for her small frame. However, the loss of her arm meant that she had lost a quarter of her strength, so she needed to compensate.
All this extra training wouldn't be a bad thing if it wasn't for the fact that the Onmitsukido training grounds were woefully inadequate.
The Onmitsukido is not part of the Gotei 13 and is privately funded by the nobles who had members and vested interests in it, and as such, the use of the funds was very corrupt. Most of the money that the Onmitsukido receives goes to furnishing the quarters of the notable members, rather than training and equipment.
Luckily, Yoruichi Shihoin had the sense to partially integrate the Second Division and Onmitsukido, giving the paramilitary organization accesses to better training facilities.
Unfortunately, the integration came very late. Even though the Seireitei was a massive military compound that was the size of a small nation state, by the time Yoruichi took up command of the Onmitsukido, space within its walls were at a premium. The current Onmitsukido barracks sat on the opposite end of the Seireitei that the Second Division barracks were. It was a minor inconvenience.
By the time Sui-Feng finally reached her quarters, the sun was already beginning to set. Her lips curled up into a faint smile as she stood outside her door. She could already smell food cooking.
Sui-Feng slide the shoji to the side and stepped within. Delicately, she slipped off her shoes and placed them in their usual spot next to the door and a pair of waraji.
Deftly, Sui-Feng untied the yellow sash around her waist and removed her haori. The stump that was once her left arm was wrapped in clean white bandages, even though it had long since healed. People seemed to stare less if it had bandages on it, and it annoyed her when people stared.
Sui-Feng's socked feet made no noise as she made her way towards the kitchen area. The wooden floors were cold against her thinly veiled feet. Sui-Feng contemplated whether there was enough money available to heat the Onmitsukido's floors as well.
Sui-Feng rounded the corner to the kitchen. Standing behind the stove, stirring the contents of a sizzling pan, was a woman that was about a half inch taller than Sui-Feng with short, bobbed, brown hair. She was wearing the standard Shingami uniform and was of a shapelier build than most other Shinigami. Her figure was softer and more rounded. Her body simply hadn't been hardened by rigorous training like Sui-Feng's had. She looked more like a woman than a soldier.
Her face was ordinary, but not unattractive with large green eyes. Her lips were a bit thin, though that may be a byproduct of the near perpetual smile on her face as were the dimples in her cheeks.
"Hello, Rei." Sui-Feng said a bit tiredly.
"Oh! You're back!" Rei jumped in surprise and then turned to Sui-Feng with a smile. "I didn't have time to run to the market like you asked, there was another training accident in the Eleventh and we were swamped with injured recruits, so it's just a simple stir fry tonight."
"That's fine." Sui-Feng replied. Turning, Sui-Feng walked over to her desk and began to sift through the papers there. As was customary, the forms had already been organized with the most urgent on top and the least urgent on the bottom. Sui-Feng picked up a pen and began to fill out the ones necessary for tomorrow while Rei finished her cooking.
"It's ready!" Rei called out from the kitchen. Sui-Feng placed her signature of one last form before standing. Sui-Feng walked to the dining area and knelt down in front of her usual spot on the low dining table. Rei sat across from her.
Without reservation, Sui-Feng picked up her chopsticks and began to eat. On her plate was a pile of rice and cooked vegetables, all covered in a sauce of Rei's invention.
"It's good," Sui-Feng said after a few bites.
"Thanks," Rei smiled warmly. Sui-Feng gave out complements sparingly, so she made sure to savor them.
"You said there was an accident in the Eleventh?" Sui-Feng asked.
"Yeah," Rei replied. "A few of the more senior members got a little rough with the new recruits and landed several of them in the hospital with some pretty serious injuries." Rei's eyes saddened. "Someone needs to reign in that monster of a Captain. He has no regard for the value of a life!"
"Membership to the Eleventh is strictly voluntary." Sui-Feng replied calmly. "They knew what they were getting themselves into. And if they didn't, then that's their fault for not doing the proper research."
"I guess," Rei relented and fell silent. She decided to study the face of the petite woman in front of her instead.
Sui-Feng was a dignified woman. Her presence exuded a relaxed confidence. Her shoulders were always square but never tense and her chin was always held high, daring anyone to meet her gaze.
Tonight, however, Sui-Feng was uncharacteristically sullen. Her shoulders were slouched and tense and her head and eyes were pointed towards the floor. It was very troubling to Rei.
"Uhh…is something the matter?" Rei asked cautiously.
"No, I'm fine." Sui-Feng lied, shaking her head. The truth was that there was something that was bothering her deeply.
While Sui-Feng had been training, she had felt a sudden flash of reiatsu. The Seireitei was a busy place with all types of training from Shikai to Bankai taking place. Reiatsu flares weren't by any means uncommon. However, this was instantly recognizable to Sui-Feng.
She was here.
Normally, the thought of seeing Yoruichi again would turn the normally stoic Sui-Feng into nearly a blushing school girl. That was before her second display of emotional weakness in front of the woman.
Sui-Feng didn't know what she expected to happen after she had carelessly blurted out her undying love for the brown-skinned woman, but she hadn't expected what happened. She anticipated Yoruichi getting angry, or disgusted, or even, in her wildest fantasies, her accepting and returning the love that was offered to her.
She hadn't expected Yoruichi to just shrug off the declaration as if it was nothing important. Sui-Feng didn't know why she was surprised, though. When she broke down in tears in front of Yoruichi, she outright abstained from answering her desperate question. At least she got a response this time.
The fact that Sui-Feng had sensed Yoruichi's presence wasn't what was bothering her, however. It was the fact that she had sensed it hours ago.
Yoruichi wasn't one to waste time. Shunpo was her specialty, and she used it to travel almost everywhere. The fact that Sui-Feng hadn't seen her yet must mean that she had no business with her.
Normally, Yoruichi didn't need and official reason to see her. She would pop in unannounced at nearly any hour to "check up" on Sui-Feng. But the black-haired woman hadn't seen any sign of her all day.
I guess I finally managed to destroy what little friendship we had in the first place. Sui-Feng thought to herself sadly, unaware of Rei's attentive gaze. I can't blame her for avoiding me. If I knew someone loved me that I didn't feel at least similarly towards, I would only interact with them as much as necessary.
Sui-Feng finished up her plate and rose from the table. Rei collected the dishes and quickly washed them in the sink, humming softly to herself.
"Shihoin-dono!" Yoruichi rolled her eyes as another pair of guards saluted her. Yoruichi waved them off and passed through the door that they were guarding.
The quarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the Onmitsukido sat at the end of a long, narrow hallway in the farthest corner of the organizations barracks. Yoruichi walked slowly down the familiar hall. The walls had long since been stripped of the Shihoin House's regal trappings and were now bare.
Yoruichi made it about halfway down the hallway when a near irresistible urge to turn around struck her.
What was she doing here? What did she expect to accomplish? Did she truly think that an apology would make up for what she did? Did she expect to somehow find the courage to tell Sui-Feng how she felt?
In all honesty, Yoruichi was beginning to think that talking to Sui-Feng was only going to make things worse. Sui-Feng's cards were already on the table. Everything was in Yoruichi's hands now, and that idea made her a little queasy. How was she supposed to repair her relationship with Sui-Feng and take it further when she couldn't even express her own feeling appropriately? Or at all.
Sui-Feng walked to the back of the main living area and slide the back shoji open.
Most of the open space in the Seireitei was occupied by meticulously maintained gardens and groves. However, the new Onmitsukido barracks were the last instillation to be built within the Seiretei's walls, and the only available space at the start of construction was the very close to the drainage area that had been used during the main complex's construction.
While the back doors of most of the other Captains opened to lush meadows and soothing sakura groves, Sui-Feng's backyard was a thick mangrove swamp.
Sui-Feng preferred the more organic environment she was now staring at peacefully over the almost clichéd horticulture of the rest of the Seireitei. The gnarled roots of the trees that jutted up out of the water looked far more natural and the wildlife that inhabited the canopies was far more interesting than the small birds and squirrels of Ukitake's garden.
Rei's dried her hands on her hakama as she exited the kitchen. She stopped in her tracks as she turned the corner into the main living area. Sui-Feng was staring wistfully out into the swap, watching an egret peck at the water for small fish.
While Sui-Feng stood, absorbed by the tranquility of the scenery around her, Rei allowed her eyes to settle on the bare skin of Sui-Feng's back.
Rei never understood why Sui-Feng's uniform was so revealing. The few times she had inquired about it, her questions had simply been dismissed or ignored.
Rei's brow furrowed as she watched Sui-Feng. Normally, when Sui-Feng observed the naturalistic surroundings, she was very relaxed. But the muscles under the bare skin of Sui-Feng's back were not able to lie to Rei's expertly trained eyes.
Quietly, as not to disturb her, Rei approached Sui-Feng. Once she got a little closer than arm's reach, she reached out for the woman's shoulders.
"You're so tense," Rei's hands began to gently knead the stiff muscles of Sui-Feng's shoulders with the skill of a masseuse. Sui-Feng's only response was a soft grunt. Cautiously, Rei's hands began to fall lower, until they were at Sui-Feng's side. Slowly, she began to inch them forward until they were almost underneath Sui-Feng's top.
"Rather anxious tonight aren't you?" Sui-Feng chuckled with a small smile.
"I'm sorry!" Rei withdrew her hands and clutched them to her chest. "It's just that you came home all hot and sweaty, and your muscles were all swollen from training, and you were awfully distant at dinner and you seem more stressed than normal. I thought that maybe…"
"It's okay." Sui-Feng smirked as she turned around to face the woman. Gently, she placed her hand behind Rei's neck and pulled her in for a gentle kiss.
This is it, Yoruichi thought to herself as she stood in front of the door to Sui-Feng's quarters. I'm just going to march in there and tell Sui-Feng the truth. That can't be that difficult, right? I mean, if she can do it, I'm sure I can.
Inhaling deeply, Yoruichi threw the shoji to the side with reckless abandon, as if she would lose her nerve if she took any more time.
"Hey Soi! You...wow!" Yoruichi's eye's made a quick sweep of the room. Just like before, she had expected to find Sui-Feng behind her desk buried on paperwork. What she saw instead was Sui-Feng, pinning a strange woman, whose torso was completely bare, up against the wall. She was kissing the brown haired woman's neck while her right and only hand cupped a breast.
"Yoruichi-sama!" Sui-Feng recoiled from the woman, blushing deeply.
"Yoruichi-sama?"The brown haired woman fumbled with her uniform ineptly in an effort to cover herself.
"I…I'll come back later!" Yoruichi stuttered as she backed out of the room and slammed the shoji shut behind her. Unsure of what to do, Yoruichi ran down the hallway until she nearly reached the exit. There, she slumped up against the wall to catch her breath and recover from the shock of what she just saw.
Just like I planned it, Yoruichi thought wryly as a dull pain crept up the left side of her chest.