Disclaimer: No, I don't own Bleach. That sounds like it would be too stressful for me.
Soi Fon lifted the next bit of cloth off the stack. It really was sweet that Yuzu was willing to find all these dresses but… did it really matter? She huffed and slipped the garment on. Honestly, it wasn't like she even wanted to go to the solstice ball, even if they had an invitation. Hell, even if she had a personal invitation from Yoruichi herself, but there was no talking down Yuzu, and on the car ride over, she had even learned Rukia was strong-arming Renji into going, and at that point Renji had begged Ichigo to invite Orihime, so now the whole thing had reached critical mass. No, even worse than that. To Shāolíng Fēng, Ninth Head of the Fēng Family. She wasn't even allowed the luxury of refusing. That damn curse. She shook her head and sighed. She couldn't change the oaths her family had sworn; she'd just have to deal with it until she found some way to break the compulsion. Until then, she had to hope that the Shihouins wouldn't abuse their power too much, though that was about as slim a hope as she could imagine. Soi Fon tossed the thought out and turned to look in the dressing room mirror.
"Soi? How is it? Can I see?" Yuzu called from just outside.
Soi Fon just rolled out her shoulders and opened the dressing room door. Isshin was busy fussing over her brothers, while Yuzu was standing with another armload of clothes for her to try. Soi Fon had no idea how Karin was faring, but something told her she had been delivered a similar pile of clothes to try. "So? How's it look?"
"Hm…" Yuzu scanned her. "Well, what do you think?"
"Uh?" Soi Fon glanced down at herself. She had been hoping Yuzu would choose her dress for her and then she could just slip out of the ball at the first chance. "It's nice I guess. Feels easy to move in?"
"Yeah, yeah." Yuzu nodded and turned Soi Fon by the shoulder. "It looks good on you, but I'm not crazy about the pattern. There's all these frills that run down it, I didn't think they'd stick out so much… I think you'd work with something simpler. Classy, y'know?"
"Sure…" Soi Fon pretended like she understood. The last two dresses had been rejected for similarly incomprehensible reasons, though she at least understood the fifth one, which had been a bright yellow. Even Soi Fon could see how odd that would have been at a winter ball.
"Here, try this." Yuzu handed her a mass of dark red cloth. "See how this fits. I think it'll work for you."
"Okay…" Soi Fon stepped back into the dress room. "What's one more dress?" She sighed and spread out the cloth by the edges, watching it unfurl in the mirror. "Then again…" This could work. "What do you think?" She stepped out into the hallway and looked at Yuzu.
Her younger sister grinned. "Yep, that's the one!"
"Hey, Yoruichi! How's it going?"
Yoruichi turned in the direction of Kisuke's voice. It always had that curved texture to it, as if he was trying to suppress a smirk and failing. "Absolutely fan-fucking-tastic. What's it to you?" She growled.
"Now now, that's no way for a noble to talk." Kisuke lowered his hat over his eyes and wagged a finger.
Yoruichi scowled, "You sound like Kuchiki," and turned back to the stack of forms currently dominating her library desk. She was sitting in one of the library's corners, far enough back that nobody would bother her like last time. Apparently, that didn't include Kisuke, though that wasn't entirely surprising. The man had a knack for getting into things that people didn't want him getting mixed up in.
"Oh," Kisuke feigned being shot. "You wound me, Yoruichi. There's no need to go that far."
"Really," Yoruichi deadpanned as she flipped over another document and scanned it. It was the contract summary for the bartenders. She'd need to find another supply of drinks. One service wouldn't be enough for the number of expected guests… Yoruichi chewed her lip and dog-eared the paper.
"Well, I just thought you'd be in a better mood. You went out on that date with your little sneak-thief as you call her, right? What, has she stolen your heart as well as your familiar?"
Yoruichi grimaced. "Eugh. Her? The less I have to do with her the better." Though the more Kisuke continued to open his mouth, the more she was beginning to prefer the younger mage. At least she had been quiet.
"Really," Kisuke grinned and picked up the bartenders' contract. "That's odd. I thought I could smell the sharp scent of honey on you the other day."
Yoruichi stopped mid-signature and glared at her best friend. "It was a chance meeting. I wasn't expecting to run into her. Besides," she finished signing the document. "I don't know how you can tell. Suzumebachi's still out of commission."
Kisuke shrugged. "Huh, I just thought you had asked for your familiar back or something."
"And why would I do that?" Another document signed. "I told you, didn't I? She's not my familiar anymore. Maybe I wasn't really thinking when I set up that duel, but I'm not pathetic." And sure, maybe she had enjoyed a few moments in that thief's lap, but that didn't mean she was going to stoop so low as to beg for Suzumebachi. Besides, it would be a new kind of nightmare if people saw that she had her old familiar again. She'd drown in the gossip at that point.
"Well, it's not like you've made a new contract with a different familiar. Don't you need to finish your comps soon?" Kisuke put the bartenders' form back, or more accurately, he picked up the rest of the finished stack and started thumbing through it after laying the first contract on top.
"I've been a bit busy if you couldn't tell." Yoruichi gestured to where her stack of papers had been. "Hey!"
"That's the second thing I was going to ask about." Kisuke glanced up. "I don't think I've ever seen you so studious before."
"You have your moments, I have mine," Yoruichi rolled her eyes and reached for another form, laying her old one as the start of a new finished pile.
Kisuke just looked at her.
"What?"
Kisuke didn't blink.
Yoruichi glared back. "You're really going to do this right now."
"I just don't think planning the winter ball is part of your coursework is all." Kisuke leaned back with his hands behind his head.
Yoruichi sighed. "My dad put me up to it."
"Ah, I was wondering how he was going to respond." Kisuke nodded matter of factly. "Want help?"
Yoruichi shook her head. "I need to do this on my own," she muttered. It was a matter of pride and responsibility.
"Come on!" Kisuke picked a sheet off the top of the unfinished forms' stack. "He just wants you to get some real world experience as a head noble, and that," he pointed a finger at Yoruichi, "means learning how to ask for help from the right people, right?"
Yoruichi rolled her eyes. "Am I supposed to be taking noble lessons from you?"
"Think about it!" Kisuke grinned and started scanning the form. "I can handle some of this crap, we could get Hiyori and Kuuna to work the auctioneer's stand, well maybe not Hiyori," Kisuke doubled back, "and we'll get Kuukaku for the grand finale. Think about it!" He repeated. "You just know she's cooking up something to show off for New Years. Why not move it forward a couple weeks and get some of your life back? I'm sure she'd appreciate the spotlight." He waved the now signed form in front of Yoruichi's face for emphasis.
Yoruichi glanced between the paper and Kisuke's goofy smile.
"Come on!"
"What's the catch?" Yoruichi raised an eyebrow.
"What?" Okay, sometimes Urahara playing dumb was cute.
Yoruichi held back a smirk. "What's the catch?"
"The catch?"
"Yeah, the catch."
"Well…" Kisuke lowered the form. "Kuukaku and I were hoping you'd be down for a night on the town."
"And?"
"And Ganju managed to stumble on some bottles Juushiro misplaced…"
"And?"
"And we already booked a table for three somewhere and Ganju managed to get caught up in some other heist…" Kisuke gestured as if that made everything obvious.
"…"
"We heard about what happened in the library last week," Kisuke admitted.
So that's what this was about. Yoruichi sighed. They were both nosy idiots, but they did care. "Fine," she chuckled and shook her head. "Not like I'm going to be able to stop you once you put your mind to it."
"Great," Kisuke hummed. "With my help, we should be finished with plenty of time to get there. You'll be done with all these forms before you know it."
Yoruichi grinned and for the first time, Kisuke's smile faltered. "Oh, you didn't think these were all the forms, did you?"
"Huh?"
"These are just the ones I brought to finish today." Yoruichi laughed. "I hope you're ready for your half of the paperwork, Kisuke."
"Hey, wait a minute-"
Okay, maybe she was a bit of a cheeky idiot too.
Soi Fon focused on tracing the flow of mana in her body. It was a clean, unbroken current of light, a gale of pure air. At least, that's what she tried to imagine it as. Instead, a crackle of lightning arced through her nerves, burning. "Ugh," she grunted and gave up. "I'm not sure I'll be able to help much today, Isane." She opened her eyes and gazed at the taller woman. They were sitting with their legs folded under them in one of the indoor training rooms. Isane had picked it out on recommendation from Prof. Unohana, much to her younger sister's suspicion. The professor had failed the younger Kotetsu sister on her Kaido final, and the three of them had gathered to help Kiyone study for her retake.
"Seriously? It's just a basic respiration enhancement exercise. Even I can do this!" Kiyone piped up from behind Soi Fon. "Er…" She cut herself off as the Chinese woman rounded on her. "I mean, we all have our strengths and weaknesses, isn't that right, sis?"
Isane just sighed at the two's antics. "That's true, but this shouldn't be anything you should be struggling with, Soi Fon. You passed basic Kaido last year. Have you been getting enough sleep lately?"
Soi Fon turned back to Isane and shrugged. "I think I've been alright." Truth be told, she had been feeling better than she had for the past month ever since she had met that cat. It was just that in exchange for her body being repaired, her magic seemed to have scattered into chaos.
"How about your mana then? Can you describe how it feels? Your mana should have fully separated out from Suzumebachi's by now, but maybe there's a different kind of block because of her state? Does it feel any different?" Isane let her legs out from under her and pulled out a small notebook.
"Well…" That was just it, wasn't it? She was just now beginning to understand what her mana actually felt like. In the past, she had never really paid attention to it. When her brothers were beginning their journeys down magecraft, she had been too young to think about such things, and once she had joined up with the gang, it had been more of a tool. Magic was a tool, something to call up to support her brawling or to guard against surprise strikes. Even at Shin'o, it was less about her mana and more about how to channel it. The only time they had directly studied it was a small unit in Intro to Mana Shaping when they had taken a few surveys on their affinity.
But when she had been training under Shunsui, the professor had made a comment: "You've got a lot of bad habits to unlearn," Shunsui sighed. "See? You're using your mana just like your body. You can't go around at those speeds hoping your limbs will break your fall; you'll tear your body apart."
At the time, she had only focused on the physical aspect, no doubt because that was what was actually hurting, but thinking back on it, her mana had felt almost elastic. Shunsui had been right that she was using it as a crutch, or a kind of sling. Even Suzumebachi had commented on it. "Look, I didn't say anything while we were with that professor yesterday because you had all these other things to focus on, but you've seriously got to work on your flash step. Think of how a bee flies." Suzumebachi had pounded her chest and extended her wings.
"And how the hell does a bee fly?" Soi Fon had shot back. In the end, she still didn't understand it.
"You mages all think that you're some special furnace of energy that can power through everything with your mana! Sure, maybe for someone like that princess it works, but you're going to need to start viewing the world the way we do if you want to catch up to her." Unfortunately, that hadn't really worked out and the early hours of their training session had been spent on her ramming into trees accidentally. Ironically, that had been good practice for the actual fight, Soi Fon grimaced. But in the end, they had switched back to her old method of flash stepping. Two days was simply not enough time for a technique change.
But both Suzumebachi and Shunsui's comments had made her more aware of how she was using her magic and combined with chasing Yoruichi's trail through S2 and actually seeing and smelling the Shihouin's magic, Soi Fon could tell her own mana was disturbed. It was like a thunderstorm rumbling, sullen and hurt. The lightning from earlier, the same electrical shortage that had been burning through her body since she had first fully depleted her mana, shattered over and over again, refracting light and sound in a way that could only be described as nauseating. Both she and Suzumebachi had figured it was some sort of exhaustion effect, but now…
"It feels polluted." As if the lightning wasn't just the effect of cannibalizing her nerves for mana but an actual foreign entity.
"Polluted?" Isane scribbled something down in her notebook.
"Yeah, what do you mean polluted? You think you've got smog in your inner world or something?"
"Inner world?" Soi Fon glanced back at the blonde.
"Yeah, oh wait, you haven't gotten that far yet with your familiar."
"Kiyone!"
Soi Fon winced. It was true she hadn't really made any progress on that front either. Not only had she pretty much checked out of Shunsui's course after the first lesson to focus on her duel with Yoruichi, but with Suzumebachi out of commission, there was no way she could progress further in his remedials anyway. Being in the medical ward and then Reaper class had insulated her from the standard course timeline, but she was still painfully aware of how far she had fallen behind. In fact, every time she heard that rumor about her "noble" familiar and how she was some kind of genius mage for forging a new kind of contract, she was reminded of just how isolated from normal life she had become. Most of the student body wasn't even aware that her familiar was still in a coma or had even been in one in the first place.
"Anyway… what do you mean polluted?" Kiyone scanned Soi Fon's face. "Like you think someone else is rooting around inside of you?"
"I don't know if it's someone." Soi Fon flexed her fingers and leaned back, letting her legs out from under her. "But something definitely feels like it doesn't belong."
"Hm." Isane set her notebook down. "Well in that case, let's focus on something that doesn't require mana. How about some first aid practice?"
Kiyone grimaced. "Oh come on, not now!"
"Oh?" Isane's eyes sharpened. "You know, both Soi Fon and I are doing this for you, right? Who's the one who failed the anatomical section again?" Soi Fon could have sworn the silver haired sister had taken notes on Unohana's smile.
"Er."
"That's what I thought."
Yoruichi paced the forest floor. She had to hand it to Urahara. He was an idea man, especially when his ideas were on how to work less. Between the two of them, she had actually managed to steal back some of her personal time. Yoruichi huffed and clawed the nearest tree. Steal back. That sneak-thief had really messed with her train of thought, right down to her word choice. She shook her head and went back to pacing.
She was here to practice, which wasn't a new thing to the Shihouin heir as much as people would assume. Full body transformation wasn't easy, and she was a pioneer. Other mages might have figured illusion or at least a more practical form was a better use of time, but felines had a special place in Yoruichi's heart. They were graceful, regal, and absolutely insane as Yoruichi had discovered in her youth. They were everything a noble was supposed to be, only they weren't bothered by those expectations, it came to them naturally, and Yoruichi had latched onto that idea of freedom.
On the other hand, the point of practicality was a good one, and having another battle form was never a bad idea. Yoruichi chuckled darkly. At the very least, it would be a good party trick to throw any upstart nobles off their game. How would Omaeda handle a jaguar in the middle of his living room? Unfortunately, that part of the equation wasn't going so well.
It had taken her so long to work out a house cat transformation, all the minute details and balancing, that the pattern had basically engraved itself in her mind. She could imagine a bobcat or a jaguar or a lion form, but the mana actualization itself always reverted to her initial house cat template. It might have been a safety measure she had written into the formula to prevent transformation disasters, but for now, the best Yoruichi could manage was augmenting her claws with her mana affinity.
That brought another problem though.
Yoruichi growled and inspected her claw marks. There were clear burn marks where her claws had landed, an artifact of channeling her mana affinity into her strike, but just outside those burn marks, her new eyes could pick out trembling. It wasn't just lightning behind her attacks. There was a kind of vibration, some sort of sonic component that was pounding into the wood like an after shock. Whatever that sneak-thief had done to her hadn't gone away.
The cat padded away from the tree and sighed. Now that she had had some time to cool down and reevaluate her situation, she had realized the tremors weren't just a matter of wounded pride or an affront to her status, they were an active danger. Right now, the effect wasn't large enough to throw off her spell calculations, but if it somehow worsened…
What was it that Kisuke knew that she didn't? What was going on with this commoner?
As if to answer her, two mana signals appeared at the edge of the forest. Yoruichi's ears perked up and angled towards the new sources. One was barely a speck, a feeble ember of a soul floating next to the other, much more solid but hollow beacon.
Yoruichi stretched, remembering the last words Soi Fon had spoken to her. Well, she couldn't say the sneak-thief was a liar. That was one good thing about her.
Soi Fon took a deep breath in and shuddered. The air was sharp. It wouldn't be long before winter arrived in full force. Supposedly, that's what Zaraki was waiting for. Hitsugaya was an ice mage, and the big oaf had been itching to fight him at his strongest. At least, that's what Zaraki had told her while Yachiru was hanging off her elbow in class. In spite of whatever was going on with her mana, her body was nearing a full recovery, certainly enough to support the weight of the surprisingly heavy girl.
"100% muscle girls unite!"
Soi Fon cringed at the memory of Mashiro posing behind her as she complained about Yachiru's weight. The two of them were certainly two of a kind, a point Yachiru had been all too happy to prove by swinging off of Soi Fon and posing with the green-haired girl. On the other hand, Soi Fon had found some camaraderie in Hiyori as they both stared in disbelief at them. Somehow, she was fitting into Reaper class.
She shook her head. Not that that was particularly important. She was out here to figure out what was going on with her familiar, not reminisce. When she had asked Unohana, the professor had merely given her customary wan smile and suggested the younger mage try communing with Suzumebachi.
Of course, Suzumebachi was still in a coma, or whatever the familiar equivalent was, so how was Soi Fon supposed to talk to her? That was why she had come out to S2 again. Even if it was a slim chance, maybe she'd run into the cat, and maybe Suzumebachi would make more progress.
Soi Fon sighed, watching her breath steam as it left her body. Then again, that was a lot of maybes.
"I don't know what I'm doing," she muttered to no one in particular. She hefted the box she was carrying and bent over it. Suzumebachi was still sleeping inside. Since they had met the black cat, the sprite seemed to be more present, that is, she seemed to actually be sleeping instead of dead. From time to time, Soi Fon would catch Suzumebachi furrowing her brow or smiling or even squirming under the covers, but the sprite still hadn't woken up. "Maybe I need to find a blonde cat," Soi Fon chuckled and gently poked Suzumebachi's cheek. Wouldn't that be fitting? Black and yellow, just like Suzumebachi's dress.
Something snapped behind Soi Fon, and the mage whirled around.
Standing behind, looking very annoyed at its front paw, was the black cat.
"Oh," Soi Fon dropped her guard and smiled. "It's good to see you again." She lowered herself and Suzumebachi to the ground, tapping her thighs with her free hand. "Come here, kitty."
By contrast, the cat seemed annoyed, turning up her head and padding over to Suzumebachi instead.
"O-oh…" Soi Fon felt herself slouch as the cat walked past her. Well, at least it was interested in her familiar. Maybe today really was the day Suzumebachi would wake up.
The cat sniffed the box, craning her head around it, and Soi Fon wondered if it was planning to eat her familiar, a fear that only strengthened when the cat lifted its front paw up into the box and-
"Oh no you don't." Soi Fon scooped the cat up and plopped it in her lap. She might be willing to let the cat near her familiar, but there was no way she was going to allow it to hurt Suzumebachi.
The cat glared up at her.
"Don't look at me like that," Soi Fon chided. "Besides," she pulled out the packet of dried sardines she had prepared before starting to scritch behind its ears. "Isn't this better?" She laughed as the cat batted at her massaging fingers.
The cat continued to roll its neck against her, as if she was trying to throw off Soi Fon's hand, but the mage could already feel the deep rumbles echoing up from the cat's body, and soon enough, she was purring under Soi Fon's ministrations. "There… Isn't that nice?" Soi Fon chuckled and ran her hand down the cat's back. It was a long, even motion, almost more calming for Soi Fon than it appeared to be for the cat. Of course in the winter chill, having a warm, fluffy body to stroke was a special kind of luxury, and Soi Fon was taking her time to study it.
"Study" because as Soi Fon continued to brush the cat's fur, the more she felt her own mana begin to unwind. It was like old honey beginning to thaw, a slow crackling drip that warmed into a thick stream of gold or maybe a flower unfurling its petals and casting off the dew that had gathered on it. Soi Fon shook her head. What kind of sappy images were flooding her mind? It was downright embarrassing, and even if she was studying just how much more comfortable her mana felt circulating in her own body, how natural it felt, that didn't mean she had to make her observations so romantic.
"Honestly…" she muttered and pulled out a sardine. "I don't know what's going on with me…"
Several things, Yoruichi mentally yawned. This damn, sneak-thief and her hands… It was bad enough that the younger mage had just scooped her up, but now Yoruichi felt like she could fall asleep in the other woman's lap. Another point for needing to get a larger hunter form. That way no one would go around trying to pet her.
Still… Yoruichi snatched the dried fish up and started gnawing. The Chinese woman's lap was infuriatingly comfortable, and even though Kisuke had been helping her organize everything, there was still a mountain of paperwork they had to get through. And with all of her mana problems, she could use a little relaxation, especially when the younger mage was offering it so readily.
"Heheh," Soi Fon giggled. "Getting comfortable?" She scratched Yoruichi's ear.
Damn her, Yoruichi purred. Or damn this form, whichever was making the younger mage's voice so soft and inviting. It was even cute the way the girl giggled. Yoruichi couldn't have imagined that the obstinate woman was capable of making such a happy sound. Yoruichi could already feel her guard lowering against her better judgment, her mana curling itself around the other woman and sprawling out across the clearing.
"You know, I've been looking forward to seeing you."
Yoruichi's ears perked up.
"Oh?" Soi Fon giggled. "That got your attention? You know, you're really difficult to find. I've been coming out every day trying to meet you."
Why? Yoruichi meowed. Why would Soi Fon want to meet up with her? Sure, she had promised to come back, but that wouldn't explain why the girl was coming out every day.
Soi Fon seemed to understand the question. "Well…" Her hands didn't stop brushing in spite of her pause. "I guess, I was thinking you'd help my friend in the box again. She's been sleeping for a long time." Soi Fon shifted slightly, angling herself so that Yoruichi could catch sight of Suzumebachi. "But she seemed to wake up a little when we first met. I thought you two might be connected in some way."
Oh. Yoruichi had no idea why she felt disappointed. It was just business as usual. She was useful to the sneak-thief, just like she was a means to an end for all suitors that wanted to marry into the Shihouins and snatch the divine armaments. At least, the sneak-thief was being upfront with her.
"And I guess…" Soi Fon's hands went under Yoruichi's body, flipping her over so she could tickle the cat's belly. "I wanted to see you too, you cutie!" She laughed. Between the craziness of Reaper class and Unohana's piercing gaze during physical therapy, heading out to S2 had become a small island of peace for Soi Fon, and no small part of that was because of meeting this cat the first time. It was a bit of hope for Suzumebachi's recovery, part recovering herself, and half quiet companionship that made her relax here despite the memories of her brawl. Even the rising chill seemed comforting when there was something to share warmth with.
Yoruichi didn't have time to process the second half of Soi Fon's answer before she was swatting away her hands. Evil hands. Devilish hands. How could such bubbly feelings be so infernal? Yoruichi couldn't stop herself from mewling. Her whole body felt weak from squirming and unspoken laughter.
Soi Fon stopped and chuckled. "Something must really be wrong with me if I'm willing to give this up for Suzumebachi's nagging. I bet she'd be begging to train instead of sitting here. Oh well…"
Yoruichi stood up indignantly, barely able to keep herself upright after the sneak-thief's assault had left her trembling but too proud to stay at the younger mage's mercy.
The wind blew, cold gusts buffeting the three of them and forcing Yoruichi back into Soi Fon's lap. Dammit.
Soi Fon instinctively wrapped her arms around the cat, scooping her up and holding her close to her chest. "Oops, sorry." Soi Fon let go. "You're getting ready to leave, aren't you?" She let the cat leap off her lap onto the ground and bent over to give it one last scratch. "I guess I should get going too."
Yoruichi meowed and paced around the mage. She had also lost track of time. The clouds had already dimmed to a stormy gray. She looked back towards Soi Fon. The woman seemed to be in better shape, at least she wasn't using a walker anymore, but would she really be able to make it back before dark? Yoruichi tossed the question around her head. On one hand, it wasn't her problem what happened to the younger mage. She had enough on her plate to worry about anyway, and it was beneath her to cater to each and every commoner. Besides, she didn't owe anything to Soi Fon either. If anything, the younger mage owed her for letting her keep Suzumebachi. On the other hand… it would leave a bad taste in her mouth if something did happen to Soi Fon.
Well, Yoruichi laid her front paw on top of Soi Fon's foot, let it not be said she wasn't gracious. Yoruichi threaded a portion of her mana into the other woman's lines. She had taken her mana from her before, but now Yoruichi knew what to expect and she had spent years training to perfect her mana control. This wasn't Kaido, not a formal transfer of energy for healing, but a direct line of credit. Normally, something like this would fail, but if Suzumebachi and her own tainted mana was anything to go by, there was some unorthodox connection between the two of them. Maybe she would even learn the mechanism behind the pollution in her system by trying to connect their pools again.
Soi Fon blinked as something warm flooded her system. It was almost a sickening amount of mana, something overrich and energy-decadent that her body couldn't break down. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to even out the inflow of foreign energy as best she could while her body scrambled to adjust. It was like a parched field being flooded with boiling water. It burned the inside of her throat and eyelids, a white hot plasma melting through her flesh.
The cat cocked its head and stepped back, and with it, the golden nausea faded.
Yoruichi studied the younger mage as she backed off. Soi Fon had doubled over as soon as she had started to pour her mana into her. It seemed like she wasn't the only one feeling a backlash, though Yoruichi noted with no small hint of satisfaction, this time she seemed to have purified her mana instead of the reverse.
Soi Fon's eyes flashed open, silver sparks lashing out as she gasped.
And there was that odd elemental affinity in her, Yoruichi noted. Maybe the reason she had been speeding up during their game and the reason Soi Fon had been releasing lightning back then was because she had been stripping some of her ambient mana and redirecting it. The girl seemed to have a talent for stealing things it seemed. Yoruichi shrugged and began to walk away. She had done her part. No need to walk the sneak-thief home.
Soi Fon staggered backwards. Just what was that… cat? She scanned the clearing. Where had the cat gone? She had been left alone in the forest with only Suzumebachi. It hadn't felt like the cat had meant any harm, but what had that been just now? Soi Fon turned her arms over, scanning her flesh to see if there were any bulging veins or tears that had opened up. Her whole body felt tight, as if it was struggling to contain something that had been stuffed into it.
What was that cat?
Soi Fon turned the question over in her head as the tightness and pain died down. Something similar had happened the first time they had met. It had almost been like a bolt of lightning then, now it felt… more complete? Like a full electrical current, a thrum of energy bashing its way through her, but in that case, was the cat the reason her mana was so foreign lately? But her mana problems had been going on before they had even met, and now the feeling of sickness had completely faded. In fact, she felt stronger than ever before as the energy evened out across her body into a true warmth.
"Ugh…"
Soi Fon's ears perked up and she whipped around.
"What happened?" The sprite was draping her stinger off the edge of the box while clutching at it with her other hand.
"Suzumebachi!" Soi Fon raced over.
"Huh? Soi?" Suzumebachi gazed up at her partner. "I take it we won? Got the bells?"
Soi Fon just scooped the sprite up and hugged her.
"H-hey! Are you okay? What's going on? Where's that princess?" Suzumebachi fumbled around in Soi Fon's embrace. "Hey, are you listening! What happened?"
A/N: Alright, that's as good a place as any to end the chapter! Wow, this took a lot of time to get through… and I thought I would breeze right through it! I guess having one half of your couple not knowing they're interacting with the other half is a pretty big handicap to put on yourself. Especially when they're not on the best of terms to begin with.
That being said, more YoruSoi! Is it cute and fluffy? Maybe literally, but also, a bit of manipulation as these two idiots try to figure out what's going on and just grow up in general. Oh well, next chapter is the ball and then they'll actually have a scene where they're both aware of each other! Now, I just gotta figure out how to write it out…
Anyway, I hope you all are enjoying this fic! I'm planning the next "arc" after this, so we'll see how things go. Whenever I think about how much work I have to put in to get these two to actually fall in love, I get a little faint, but reading your guys' comments always helps me push through! Please feel free to leave some more (heh), and I'll see you in the next chapter!
