.Cat.94: welcome ladies and gentlemen to another chapter of Cat vs. Wolf I gotta say, I'm impressed, I didn't think this story would reach over a thousand hits I feel so loved thank you all
Soi Fon: yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night
.Cat.94: that hurt a lot you're a mean bee
Soi Fon: no one said I was nice now start the disclaimers
.Cat.94: I don't care that you're mean you're still my favorite character ever!
Soi Fon: really? *blushes slightly* really?
.Cat.94: yeah girl you're amazing, anyway I do not own bleach or Sean Kingston's music please enjoy
Akara was currently walking through the halls of the Kurokiba manor. Every few minutes she would be greeted by the servants and she would hug them fiercely saying how much she missed them. She would then ask how they were doing and things like that. Then after a brief conversation she would continue to walk toward her destination; but if you ever asked Akara if she wanted to check in with her family, she would say yes, but on the inside she would scream no. You see, she was the youngest of the three children of the Kurokiba clan. Her oldest brother Kai was a kind soul to just about everyone, well all except for the Shihouins obviously. He had short spiked brown hair, much like her father, he also had his tall muscular structure. And because of this he made an ideal fighter, which pleased her father a lot.
Akara's second oldest brother Airo wasn't as tall as Kai or as muscular, but he was very intelligent. So he was a great strategist, and again his father was proud of him for that. Now traditionally in her family, the eldest child of the Kurokiba clan would inherit the family deity's spirit and hopefully use the spirit wisely. But when Kai didn't inherit the spirit, her father was silently disturbed but didn't worry about it too much about it. And when Airo was born and didn't have the spirit either, he began to panic.
And finally when Akara had come, her mother, Akari was more than pleased, that she had a daughter. And she had inherited the spirit, made her mother even more proud. But her father, he was more than outraged. Out of all his children, his daughter had taken her brother's right. Akara had always tried to appease to her father's good side, but she was always down sized by him because of her inheritance. Thankfully her mother and Airo were always there to defend her.
Finally arriving at her father's study, Akara took a shaky breath and called from just outside the massive shoji doors,
"Father, may I come in" Akara waited for a moment, and instead of hearing her father's gruff baritone voice, she heard a more feminine voice.
"Akara dear please come in" Akara's heart fluttered in excitement, she recognized the voice and she eagerly ran in, and wouldn't you know it, her mother was standing on the other side with her arms wide open and a smile gracing her petite face.
"Momma" Akara squealed as she hugged her mother. Akara looked exactly like her mother, except her mother was about an inch taller than her.
"My dear daughter, I have missed you so much, how did your mission work out" her mother asked as she let her daughter go. Akara smiled and pulled out a parchment.
"Well the negotiation was a bit difficult. The only way I could get a meeting with that lower noble family's leader was to do a few errands, train a few small armies, and fight in two major battles" Akara shrugged. Her mother winced at the thought of Akara in the heat of battle, but she knew Akara could plan and fight very well. But the thought of losing her had haunted her thoughts ever since Akara left all those years ago.
" But in the end, they agreed to help us when political matters are out of our control and they also agreed to come help train with our guards and Kai's army also" Akara smiled victoriously. Her mother had taken the parchment and read it over.
"I'm very proud of you Akara; you have given our family name even more to be proud about" her mother beamed.
"Mother, where's father at, I wanted to show him this also" Akara asked. And she noticed her mother's pleased facial expression falter slightly.
"Akara, honey your father went to a conference on the other side of the Soul Society" her mother said. Akara sighed dejectedly,
"I understand" then things went silent for a moment. Akari thought for a moment on how to cheer up her daughter, then a thought crossed her mind and she grinned with a hint of mischief.
"So Akara, how is Soifon doing" Akara stiffened as a blush bloomed across her extremely light brown skin.
"She's doing well, did you know she's the Captain of Squad Two, and the Commander of the Special Forces now" Akara asked excitedly. Her mother smiled,
"Yes I did actually; she came and told me a few days after her ceremony" then her smile faltered.
"She looked so different after Yoruichi left" Akari sighed, and Akara growled at the name,
"I remember; she left with that Urahara man and a few Captains and lieutenants that were strangely turning into hollows. She always wanted to be free from her family, but I don't think exile was a good way to do it, especially since she left Soifon behind to clean up her mess" Akara growled.
"Don't go getting angry in here, I don't any broken objects" Akari said and Akara took a deep breath and slowly let it out,
"Ok, I'm calm" Akara said. It was a partial lie, but she didn't want to face her mother's fury if she broke something.
"How about we go and see your brothers, I know Airo has been just waiting to give his little sister a hug" Akari laughed. Akara shuddered slightly at the thought of getting one of Airo's bone crushing hugs. So the two Kurokiba's left the room and went to go search for the others.
Meanwhile, Soifon was just finishing up her paper work for the afternoon. She had just read and approved about fifty new missions for her squad to take. Some were small like handling a few robberies, finding missing people and handling low class hollows. While other missions' required her more seasoned fighters for more major events. Such as escorting nobles, delivering important documents, and fighting higher classed hollows. Soifon leaned back in her chair and stretched out her arms. She had sat for at least three hours straight and now she was becoming restless.
"Well I suppose I can train for awhile" Soifon mused as she got up and walked out her office. She shunpoed to the training grounds and began with basic round house kicks and various punching techniques.
"Left, right, dodge, kick, jab" Soifon mumbled to herself as she fought her invisible opponent. She continued her little routine for about an hour and a half until a Hell butterfly fluttered carelessly towards her. Noticing the small insect fluttering towards her Soifon stopped right in the middle of a swift high kick. She put her finger out and the butterfly landed. She pulled up close to her face and let it give its message. Once it was done and flew away Soifon sighed.
"What does she want, maybe she needs the supplies Akara and I got earlier" Soifon muttered as she wiped off the smallest hint of perspiration off her thin black brow. Then she made her way to the eighth division with a quick Shunpo. And within a few moments Soifon was in the front of the Eighth Division. And standing in front of the division gate was Nanao Ise. She adjusted her glasses quickly before she spoke.
"Hello Captain, I hope I didn't pull you away from anything important" Soifon shook her head,
"Not at all Lieutenant I was just taking some time to do some personal training" Soifon said in her stoic tone. Nanao nodded,
"I understand, but I was wondering where you had put the supplies for our Bake sale, we planned to do the event this weekend, and since it is Wednesday we only have two days to bake everything" Nanao said checking her book.
"Well I had everything put in my division, but if you need them I can ask a few of my subordinates to deliver everything, where do you want them" Soifon asked with her usual serious tone.
"Well, the fourth division has a largest kitchen in the Seireitei, so I took the liberty of asking Captain Unohana if we could borrow the kitchen, and she was more than happy to lend it to our association" Nanao explained adjusting her glasses again.
"Very well, as soon as I get return I shall get a few of my subordinates to take everything there" Soifon said before turning Shunpoing off back to her division. As she took her second bound, Soifon noticed that the sun was starting to shift slightly and the coloration of the sky was starting to change.
"Well the day is starting to end, Akara should be back soon" Soifon muttered to herself as she landed quietly in front of her office door. Once inside the walls of her office, she found Omaeda sitting at his desk eating crackers and surprisingly doing some paperwork.
"Omaeda" Soifon said in hint of disbelieve, and immediately he flinched
"Please don't me Captain I was working honest" he said hastily.
"That's a rare occurrence, but I need you to send twenty of the troops to deliver a few supplies to the fourth division" Soifon said sitting down to work on a new delivery of paperwork.
"Y-yes Captain" Omaeda said before rushing out of the room. After a few minutes, Soifon was deep in her working trance. But she wasn't that into her work because she noticed another Hell butterfly come in. putting her pen down, Soifon held her index finger out and the butterfly landed rather elegantly on the digit.
As the butterfly was giving the Second Division Captain its message, Akara was walking back to the Seireitei.
"That was a nice check in, it's good to everyone doing well" Akara smiled as she spoke to herself. But I reality she was talking to her Zanpakuto.
"Indeed, they all seemed to miss you, especially your mother" Tsuki no Okami said before materializing beside her. He was a white wolf with a hint of blue mixed into the fur pattern. He had a light blue streak running from the top of his head all the way down to the center of his back. There the blue streak divided and ran to both his legs and his tail. He also had red marking on his muzzle that ran around his light purple eyes.
"Yeah, it's too bad father wasn't here, I really wanted to tell him what I did" Akara sighed with heavy disappointment. Tsuki no Okami nudged her hand affectionately,
"Don't fret Akara, I'm sure you can tell him when he gets back" Tsuki no Okami assured her, Akara patted his head and smiled.
"Your right, and maybe this time he won't insult my efforts" Tsuki no Okami nodded,
"You worked really hard those ninety eight years, I should know, I'm still sore from all that fighting" Tsuki no Okami laughed, and Akara joined in.
"Yeah" then they walked in silence, until they felt familiar reiatsu flair up in the distance, and Akara's nose scrunched up in clear dislike.
"Oh joy to the world, it's Yoruichi" Akara spit.
"And it feels like she's coming our way" Tsuki no Okami said with a neutral tone. And within a moment the mentioned woman appeared in front of them.
"Well well, looks like I found a stray, what are you doing out here" Yoruichi asked with a rather rude tone.
"I think I should be asking you that, but since you asked first I'll tell you, I was heading back to the Seireitei, I told Soifon I would be back before she turns in for the night" Akara said.
"So, the real question is what are you doing here" Tsuki no Okami asked in a much nicer tone than his master.
"Well, to be honest I was heading there too, I was going to visit Soifon, but when I felt your reiatsu, I remembered I wanted to talk to you" Yoruichi said with her carefree smile, but it was only there to hide her discomfort and growing irritation toward her childhood rival. Akara looked at Tsuki no Okami and he nodded before dematerializing.
"What do want to ask me" Akara asked trying to calm her growing irritation. Yoruichi's smile disappeared,
"What happened to Soifon after I left" Akara frowned; she knew this question would find her, but she was hoping it wouldn't find her today.
"Why do you want to know" Akara asked raising an eyebrow in slight suspicion. Yoruichi sighed,
"Well I had a talk with my friend Kuukaku, and she told me about something that happened to Soifon a few days after I felt, but then I figured since you were there when I left, that maybe you could fill me in on the details" Yoruichi said. She didn't want to ask Akara this, let alone talk to her, but she was a major key to Soifon's past and she wanted and needed to know what happened after she left; that is, if she ever wanted to earn her dear little bee's trust, but more importantly her love, and she really wanted too.
"I just want to know what I did to her" Yoruichi said in a low sorrowful voice. Akara scratched the back of her head, Akara didn't like the Shihouin, but she wasn't going to be cruel, especially since she wanted to know what happened.
"Very well, I'll tell you, but it's starting to get dark, and I promised Soifon I could be back; so I'll tell you when she goes to sleep" Akara said, before walking past the were cat.
"Why until when she's asleep" Yoruichi asked, Akara didn't stop walking when she answered,
"Soifon doesn't like hearing about it, I figured you should wait" then the wolf shunpoed away. When she was gone Yoruichi sighed and growled,
"I hate her so much, but at least she'll tell me what happened" after that was said, Yoruichi Shunpoed back to the Seireitei as well, only she was heading to her second favorite division.
When Akara had returned to the Second Division, Soifon was just finishing her paperwork for the day.
"Hey China Bee, did you have a nice day" Akara asked, she smiled when Soifon ran up to her and gave her a big hug.
"Yes, I did, I got my paperwork finished, the baking supplies were sent to the Fourth Division, and I get the feeling that the only reason Unohana let us use her kitchen is that she could sneak a few of the pastries for her and her Lieutenant, and seated officers" Soifon giggled uncharacteristically then she let her friend go.
"So how did your check in go" Soifon asked, she had worried about it quietly during the day. She knew about Akara and her father's edgy relationship. Akara sighed,
"He wasn't there when I came home; mom said he was a conference on the other side of Soul Society, but everyone else was glad I was back" Soifon looked at her with a small twinge of pity before hugging her again.
"Well he should be back sooner or later, so you can go check in again when he returns" Soifon said in hopes it would make the wolf girl feel better.
"That's true I guess, so what are you gonna do now, since your work is done and all" Akara asked when Soifon let her go again. Soifon thought for a moment,
"Well, it's not totally dark outside just yet, feel like sparring a bit" Soifon asked with a competitive grin.
"I haven't had a decent fight in awhile, why not" Akara said returning the grin Soifon have.
"But I hope your prepared for a beating" Akara teased as she and Soifon headed for the door.
"Ha, don't get your hopes up, my fighting skills have improved immensely since you left" Soifon said walking out the door first with a confident stride. Akara laughed,
"I believe you, but I haven't been sitting on my butt the whole time I was gone" Akara replied as she closed the door and followed Soifon toward the training grounds.
All the while, Yoruichi was currently back at the Sixth Division waiting for a certain uptight Captain to return to his office, Yoruichi had noticed some paperwork still on his desk, and knowing him, Byakuya would not leave his office with work still to do. She was sitting in his desk with her feet propped up on the desk currently singing a song she had heard a few days ago in Karakura town. She didn't know the title but it was catchy. Plus it had been stuck in her head ever since.
Somebody call 911,
Shawty fire burnin on the dance floor, whoa!
I gotta cool her down
She won't bring the roof down to the ground
On the dance floor Whoa!
She's fire burnin fire burnin on the dance floor,
She's fire burnin, fire burnin on the dance floor
That little shawty's fire burnin on the dance floor
"What on earth are you singing, and why are you sitting in my desk" Byakuya asked in his usual cold tone, that he and Soifon shared. Yoruichi smiled widely and got up to hug the stiff Captain.
"Ah, Byakuya-bo I missed you" she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around him. Byakuya sighed,
"I'm sorry to say Shihouin, but the feeling is not returned, now what brings you by" he asked as he sat down and dusted off his desktop before getting his pen to finish the work he had left behind when he went to Thirteenth Division, it turned out that his sister Rukia had gotten sick, so he went to go check up on her. But when he returned he found an annoying cat sitting in his chair and singing a strange song.
"Aw, so mean as usual, I just wanted to visit you for a bit" Yoruichi grinned. She loved messing with him, it was one of her favorite things to do, other than sleep and spend time with Soifon, but Soifon was definitely number one on her list.
"Well I hope that you noticed that the day is closing to an end, and I'm preparing to head out" he said working on a few transfer documents for some new recruits in his squad he had received today.
"I hate paperwork, it's so boring" Yoruichi scoffed as she sat on top of the Captain's desk, much to his displeasure.
"What it is that you want Miss Shihouin" Byakuya asked without looking up from his paperwork. Yoruichi stayed silent for a moment. She had wanted to talk to him about Soifon, but she didn't know if she should or not. And when she did not respond Byakuya spoke again.
"Why do I get the feeling that you wish to speak about the Second Division Captain" Yoruichi stiffened for a moment.
"How on earth did you know that" Yoruichi asked happily to hide her utter surprise.
"I had a feeling, your feelings for her have been rather obvious for as long as I've known you, but I'm afraid it's rather unfortunate for you" Byakuya said putting one of the finished papers in the done pile. Yoruichi arched a brow,
"Unfortunate, what do you mean" she asked, and Byakuya let out a quiet chuckle,
"Well, Akara has feelings for her as well if you didn't know already" Yoruichi's eyes flared in anger, she knew that the horrible wolf had liked her little bee and it just made her scared.
"And, it seems that Captain Fon might be attracted to her as well" Yoruichi was stiff before, but now she was straight up ridged with ice cold fear.
"y-you don't know that" Yoruichi said to him with uncertainty, and Byakuya shrugged slightly,
"Perhaps, but it's just a feeling I have" Byakuya said. But when he looked up, the cat woman was gone.
"You foolish woman" was all he said before finishing his last paper and leaving to go home.
Back at the Second Division, Akara and Soifon were in the heat of their spar. Akara was throwing quick jabs towards the smaller woman's chest, stomach and any other vital areas of the Captain's front side while she dodged high and low kicks, before sweeping her leg under the Captain's feet. Soifon had blocked most of the hits, but she was tripped from Akara's leg, but she quickly retaliated by doing a front flip and pushing off Akara's stomach. This caused Akara to lose part of her breath, but she went after the now air born Captain. Soifon stood in mid air for a moment before Akara caught up to her and punched Soifon in the shoulder.
"Ha, I finally got a hit on you, you were right China, you have gotten better, of course I never doubted your skills to begin with" Akara praised. Soifon blushed slightly. Akara was going to try and throw a mock punch before an actual punch, but she caught Soifon blush and she thought,
"She's so cute when she blushes" Seeing Akara I a slight distraction Soifon took that as an opportunity, so she threw all her strength into a round house kick that had successfully landed square in the middle of Akara's stomach. The impact sent her flying into the trees. After a moment of hearing the thick branches of the tree break and hit the ground, Akara fell down and landed on her backside.
"Ow" Akara said rubbing her stomach it was throbbing badly. Then before she decided to get up a thin branch fell on her head. Soifon shunpoed over and started to freak out,
"Oh Kami, Akara are you ok, I didn't hurt you did I" Akara laughed ignoring the pain as she laughed,
"Hey I'm fine, that a great kick, but I need to work on my Arial fights, ha ha, I never was good at those" Soifon sighed and offered her small petite hand to Akara, she gratefully took it. But once she stood up, she hunched over and grunted before falling back down.
"Okay, maybe it hurts more than I thought" Akara said with a breathless smile, she didn't want Soifon to go overboard on her. But unfortunately she did,
"I knew I kicked you to hard! Ai Yah, I'm so sorry Akara" Soifon said as she began to panic.
"Soifon, I'm fine, I'm not dying, calm down China bee, or your going have a panic attack or something, now take a deep breath and calm down" Akara instructed calmly. Soifon drew in a large breath before slowly releasing it.
"Good, now let's see if I can't make it to Division, that's the medical division right" Akara asked as she tried to get up. Soifon offered her shoulder as a support of some kind.
"That's right, I just hope Captain Unohana is still there" Soifon said as they slowly made their way to the Fourth Division. Once they arrived they were greeted by Isane Kotetsu Unohana's ever loyal Lieutenant.
"Oh dear, what happened" she asked in her kind voice. And Akara smiled,
"Nothing too bad, Soifon and I were just sparing and she got really good kick in my stomach. It hurts, but I don't think it's too bad" Isane looked at Soifon, who was currently looking at the ground in shame.
"Well, no point standing out here in the dark, come in and I'll do a brief check up before Unohana comes" Isane said standing to the side to let them pass. She noticed Akara wince a little bit as she walked in.
"I swear Captain Soifon can be reckless sometimes" Isane said as she rolled her eyes in slight amusement as she closed the door.
Meanwhile, in the same division, Yoruichi was conversing with the both loved and feared mother figure of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.
"What should I do Unohana, I mean if she does like Akara, then there's nothing I can do to stop her, but I love her so much, I don't what I'll do without her" Yoruichi sobbed. She had found Unohana in her office drinking some tea, but when Unohana saw Yoruichi on the verge of tears, she smiled gently and put down her drink to go give the distressed woman a hug. And ever since then, Yoruichi has been crying in the woman's lap. This was about an hour ago.
"Now now, I'm sure she still loves you Yoruichi" Unohana said kindly stroking the woman's orchid hair in a motherly way to try and get her to calm down. Yoruichi shook her head,
"No she doesn't, how could she after what I did to her" Unohana wiped another tear away from the chocolate skinned woman's face, when she looked up.
"Love, is a very strong emotion, even the most horrendous events cant faze it" Unohana said quietly, but loud enough for Yoruichi to hear. She sniffed as a new batch of tears plagued her face.
" But I know that without a doubt, that Captain Soifon still harbors that feeling inside, she's just buried inside herself; so I think all you have to dig them out again" Unohana said.
"What about Akara, she likes her and" but before Yoruichi could continue Unohana interrupted her.
"That's the only difference, she likes her, and you love her, so what else do you need" but before she could answer Isane had slid the door open,
"I don't mean to intrude Captain, but Captain Soifon and her friend are in the infirmary, the Captain isn't harmed but her friend is" and when she finished she slid the door closed and walked back to the duo in the infirmary.
"Well Miss Shihouin, I must go tend to Akara, I believe that's who it is with Captain Soifon. But you are free of course to stay until I finish, then we can resume our talk if you want" Unohana said as Yoruichi moved so the Captain could get up to leave and once she was up Yoruichi sat down. But before Unohana left, she wiped away another tear and kissed her forehead.
"Now, behave and I'll be back soon dear" then she left the were cat to her own thoughts.
"Ok, now what happened here?" Unohana asked as she walked into the infirmary. Akara explained Soifon's amazing kick to her stomach and the throbbing that came with it, and Soifon apologized again for it.
"Well then I'll just have to take a look then, would you mind taking off your top for me" Unohana asked. Akara looked at her with a look of astonishment, and then she said,
"Um, you're going to have to take me to dinner first" Soifon looked at her with an "I can't believe you just said that look" and Isane looked at her Captain with a slightly fearful look. But all Unohana did was smile and say
"Miss Akara, I need to look at your injury" then the atmosphere seemed to become rather uncomfortable and dangerous and Akara shrank a bit as did Soifon.
"Now, please remove your top so that I may examine your wound" then the air seemed to get thicker before Akara nodded and slid off her altered shinigami uniform. When her stomach was revealed there was a deep purple spot in the exact spot where Soifon had kicked her. Akara whistled,
"Wow, I didn't think it would bruise like that, nice job bee" Akara smiled, but all Soifon did was wince. Unohana raised her hand and a green light appeared, she put her hand gently to Akara's stomach and moved it around slightly,
"Well, it seems she has a few cracked ribs and a major bruise that'll hurt for possibly a week so I don't recommend sparing or fighting for awhile, but nothing more than that" Unohana said before, healing Akara's ribs and some of the bruise. And once she finished she had Soifon sign Akara's discharge papers and they left.
"I'm sorry that happened" Soifon apologized as they entered Soifon's quarters. Akara waved it off,
"I told you its ok, so stop worrying about it" Akara had called as she walked to Soifon's couch and eased herself onto her back. They had both had a long day, and even though the spar was fun and all, Akara and Soifon were tired. After she made sure Akara was comfortable she made her way to her room and changed for bed. She was just getting ready to lay down when she felt a foreign reiatsu a few feet outside her window. So she went outside to look, Suzumebachi in hand, but found nothing. She scanned the area numerous times before going back inside and going to bed.
Back in the Fourth Division Yoruichi was talking with Unohana again, and this time Isane had joined them. She felt the need to help as well being the kind woman she was.
Outside of the Fourth Division the moon was full and emitting a beautiful soft glow throughout the entire Soul Society. But standing high above the Seireitei on top of the highest tower, a somewhat tall feminine figure stood watch, her pale skin mixed with the moonlight. She cracked a menacing smile that rivaled the Twelfth division's captains. After a moment another feminine figure, but slightly taller and slightly more colored skin joined her,
"I take it that you found her" the female figure spoke with a sweet purring voice. The second figure nodded before giggling like a giddy teenage girl,
"Yes, looks like we finally found the wolf princess's weakness, master will be pleased" then the two left leaving nothing more than echo of evil laughter.
.Cat.94: well that's was a fun chapter, I hope you liked it and see you next chapter
Soifon: please review, it would be most appreciated