As the night deepened, the pedestrians on the streets of Karakura Town gradually thinned out.
Soifon sat in a roadside café until evening, waiting until Kisuke Urahara finally showed signs of closing up for the night.
It was time.
Tessai Tsukabishi walked outside the shop, preparing to pull down the rolling shutter.
Suddenly, a slender figure appeared a few paces in front of him without any warning, sending a jolt of shock through his heart.
—Such top-tier concealment techniques were far beyond anything the stationed Shinigami from before could hope to achieve.
Tessai paused mid-motion and squinted. As he finally made out the visitor's face, a look of pure astonishment broke across his rugged features for the first time.
"Captain Soifon...?"
Subconsciously, he instinctively raised both hands, rapidly circulating the Spiritual Power within his body. A few beads of nervous sweat even broke out on his face.
I told that guy Urahara not to be so flashy, and not to just accept every customer that walks in. Now look what's happened!
—A Captain from the Seireitei had arrived!
"Mr. Tessai." A hand clad in a green robe pressed down on Tessai Tsukabishi's shoulder. "Calm down. It's quite rude to treat a guest this way, you know."
Kisuke Urahara had appeared at the shop entrance at some unknown moment.
Soifon narrowed her eyes, giving Kisuke Urahara a cold look that carried a faint hint of hostility.
"I didn't think that as fugitives, you'd be so well-informed..."
"The Seireitei has truly... fallen so far it's hard to look at."
This snide remark caused the smile on Kisuke Urahara's face to falter for a moment before returning to its usual mask.
Why did she sound so much like an old friend of his?
"Well... it's a long story, a long story."
Kisuke Urahara stepped aside, clearing the doorway completely and making a 'please enter' gesture.
The shop interior was lit with warm yellow light. Soifon used her spiritual sense to probe for a moment; finding no trace of Yoruichi Shihōin's Reiatsu, she furrowed her brows and stepped inside.
A complex mix of scents hit her. Soifon's nose twitched slightly; despite the dilution, she still caught the faint, lingering fragrance of Yoruichi Shihōin in the air.
One should never doubt it: a keen sense of smell was a mandatory course for the Stealth Force and the Punishment Force.
"So then..."
Kisuke Urahara's voice came from behind her. He had walked into the shop and casually hung up the 'Closed' sign.
"What brings the Captain of the Second Division all this way to see a fugitive like me...? Are you looking to buy something?"
With a snap, Kisuke Urahara opened his folding fan and began to wave it gently.
Soifon didn't take the bait. Her gaze drifted slowly around the shop, finally landing on several items that were clearly intended for sale to Shinigami.
"I've been watching from nearby all day," Soifon said sardonically. "Your little shop... seems to have quite a thriving business, doesn't it?"
Urahara flicked his fan at the comment, which hung somewhere between a compliment and an insult.
"Thanks to the patronage of my former colleagues, I manage to scrape by.
"Of course, I must also thank the wise and discerning members of the Seireitei for not sending anyone to hunt down us 'fugitives'."
Urahara's smile was somewhat punchable.
Soifon's lips pulled down slightly. Just as she was about to ask after Yoruichi Shihōin's whereabouts...
Click.
A very soft sound.
It sounded like soft paw pads stepping on roof tiles.
Immediately after, a black shadow leaped nimbly through an open ventilation window above the shop, landing gracefully on the edge of the checkout counter.
Everyone froze, including Kisuke Urahara.
It was a black cat, its fur looking exceptionally vivid under the warm yellow light.
It sat down elegantly, wrapping its tail around its front paws, its golden eyes quietly watching the three people in the shop.
Tessai Tsukabishi clearly looked confused, and even Kisuke Urahara's fan-waving stuttered.
Yoruichi, what are you doing coming out now?!
It's not like Soifon hasn't seen your cat transformation before!
"Cough, cough..." Kisuke Urahara was the first to react. "This is just a cat Lady Yoruichi recently adopted, yes."
Clumsy acting, a forced excuse.
Soifon ignored his explanation, walking straight toward the black cat and silently locking eyes with it.
The black cat tilted its head, looking at the Soifon before it, and let out a soft, gentle "Meow."
Yoruichi Shihōin, what is the meaning of this?
Soifon had to admit that the current Yoruichi was indeed quite cute, but since she had inherited the 'will' of the original Soifon, she couldn't just let Yoruichi 'moe' her way out of this.
She would have to pet her enough to make it worth her while.
...
A few minutes ago.
Yoruichi Shihōin, who had transformed into a cat for her daily outing, returned to the vicinity of the Urahara Shop only to find a very familiar-looking urban woman standing at the door.
It wasn't until she got closer that she realized it was Soifon; she had almost failed to recognize her in modern human clothing.
Hiss, what is that girl Soifon doing in the World of the Living?
And she's even wearing local clothes. That's not like her at all.
She had even come to Urahara Shop without getting into a massive fight with Kisuke...
Could it be that, even now... they could reconcile?
Since Soifon had come to the door with the intent to talk, Yoruichi Shihōin wasn't the type to run away. Thus, this 'face-off' occurred.
...
Returning to the present.
Soifon stared silently at the black cat for a few seconds before turning to Kisuke Urahara. "I see. Just an ordinary black cat."
Hearing this, Kisuke Urahara's grip on his fan loosened slightly.
He hadn't expected her to actually buy it. Was the Seireitei's Gigai technology so poor that it interfered with a soul's spiritual perception?
In the next second, Soifon reached out with both hands, sliding them under the black cat's forelegs and easily hoisting it into the air.
The black cat's body swayed in the air, but it didn't struggle.
Soifon held the cat at eye level, her gaze calmly scanning the cat's body.
From the tips of its ears to the base of its tail, she inspected it with extreme scrutiny.
"Hmm..." After a moment, Soifon suddenly spoke. "It really is a cute female cat." (Pointedly)
The tip of the black cat's tail instantly stiffened, as if its fur were about to stand on end.
Tessai Tsukabishi turned his face away, his shoulders shaking suspiciously; Kisuke Urahara used his folding fan to block the lower half of his face, leaving only the crinkled corners of his eyes visible beneath the brim of his hat.
Wait, surely the two of them wouldn't be silenced by Yoruichi and Soifon later, right...?
"Oh dear, I just remembered that Mr. Tessai and I have some business to attend to. Miss Soifon, why don't you play with this black cat for a while?"
With that, Kisuke Urahara grabbed Tessai Tsukabishi's arm and fled into the back room.
A grocery store with the rolling shutter down, a tightly closed inner door, one person, and one cat.
Finally, just the two of us.
Soifon pulled her arms in, cradling the black cat against her chest, and began to rhythmically massage the back of its neck.
Then, she lowered her head, her cheek gently rubbing against the fuzzy top of the black cat's head.
"Good girl."
"If only Yoruichi were as well-behaved as you."
Her lips were practically pressed against the black cat's ear, her voice so soft that only the two of them could hear.
Just as Soifon buried her face into the fur on the back of the cat's neck to take a deep breath, the cat in her arms suddenly stiffened. Immediately, Spirit Particles erupted, and the shop seemed to fill with a golden, holy light...
POOF—
As the smoke and holy light dissipated...
Soifon felt her arms grow heavy. The original fuzzy sensation was instantly replaced by a smooth, warm touch.
Yoruichi Shihōin maintained the posture of being held by her, her honey-colored skin glowing with a healthy luster under the warm yellow lights.
"I can't take it anymore!" Yoruichi Shihōin, who had returned to human form while still in Soifon's arms, was fuming. "A warrior can be killed but not insulted! Soifon, your cat-petting technique is absolutely terrible!"
"And why should I care to please you, Lady Yoruichi?"
Soifon curled her lips into a smirk, pulling off her lady's blazer and draping it over the other woman's body.
This was likely the most insincere "Lady Yoruichi" that Yoruichi Shihōin had ever heard.
There wasn't a shred of respect in it—only pure sarcasm—and yet she couldn't even get angry.
—After all, she was the one in the wrong to begin with.
The silent 'Lady Yoruichi' felt foreign to Soifon; the Yoruichi Shihōin in her memories was never such a quiet girl.
Did she think staying silent would make everything okay?
Soifon wrapped her arm around Yoruichi's waist while her other hand pressed down on her shoulder, her foot performing a nimble trip.
—THUD
The two of them fell together onto the wooden floor of the shop.
Soifon hovered over Yoruichi, her knee braced against the side of the other's leg.
The distance was too close—close enough to see her own reflection in the other's pupils, to smell the warmth of each other's breath, and to feel the body heat transferring where their skin met.
Soifon's voice was barely a whisper. "Lady Yoruichi... don't you have anything you want to say to me?"
Yoruichi opened her mouth, her golden eyes darting away several times before she finally gathered the courage to meet Soifon's gaze.
"I'm sorry..."
"It must have been exhausting during this time, Shaolin."
The blazer draped over her shoulders slipped down. Yoruichi Shihōin reached out a hand to cradle Soifon's cheek.
____
New Story: Frieren: Capturing Aura at the Start
✅ Read 40 chapters ahead of everyone else.
✅ Get cool exclusive stuff and updates!
Let's hit these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = 1 extra chapter for the public!
🚀140 MEMBERS = 5 extra chapters on all stories for supporters!
👻 P - Walnutchan