Inside the Dangai.
"By the way, you two Arrancar are following Soifon into Soul Society — aren't you worried the Shinigami of the Gotei 13 will cut you down on sight?"
The three of them were walking behind Soifon. Yoruichi Shihōin cast a slightly prickly glance at the two tall Arrancar won on Soifon's right.
"We'll be fine, Senior Yoruichi." Nelliel smiled gently. "As long as we don't release our Spiritual Pressure, we'll just read as ordinary spirit bodies — we won't cause Lady Soifon any trouble."
Harribel nodded in agreent. "Nelliel is quite right."
"...Fine, suit yourselves."
"Besides, when I return this ti I'll be reclaiming my position as head of the Shihōin Clan — covering for two Vasto Lordes is hardly beyond ."
She wanted to look magnanimous in front of Soifon, so Yoruichi swallowed any further objections and tacitly allowed them to tag along.
Not that anyone could really bla Yoruichi for overthinking it. After all, when she and Soifon had been doing that, these two had been right there in the next bed, listening to the whole thing. There was no guarantee they hadn't already been drawn in and corrupted by Soifon's particular... influence.
That was also why Yoruichi had decided to follow Soifon back to Soul Society this ti. A mounting sense of urgency had made it clear she couldn't afford to idle her days away in the World of the Living any longer.
Just then, a thunderous rumbling shook the stillness of the Dangai. It rolled through the passage like a landslide, accompanied by the dull, heavy crash of tumbling rock and sand.
"You— did you even bother to check the Departnt of Research and Developnt's spaceti fluctuation forecast before you opened the Senkaimon?!"
Yoruichi suddenly stopped dead and grabbed Soifon by the collar, shaking her.
Soifon blinked, looking mildly bewildered from being yanked around. "What forecast?"
"The Kōtotsu appearance schedule, obviously!"
Yoruichi's composure cracked. Her eyes went wide. "Don't tell you just opened a Senkaimon without even glancing at it?! This is the Dangai — if we get hit by the Kōtotsu—"
The words died in her throat.
Yoruichi looked past Soifon's shoulder — and froze.
An enormous shadow lood behind them. A colossal boulder, radiating an ominous black light from every surface, was hurtling toward the four of them at a speed that defied all reason.
The Kōtotsu was here.
"Move — RUN!"
Yoruichi's reflexes were razor-sharp. She seized Soifon's wrist with both hands and hauled with everything she had, trying to drag her back the way they'd co, toward the Senkaimon.
Soifon didn't budge. She stood rooted to the spot.
Yoruichi, having thrown her full strength into the pull, was caught by the recoil. She stumbled forward, nearly pitching face-first onto the ground, and scrambled to right herself.
"The Kōtotsu, huh..." Soifon murmured. "Now that you ntion it, I rember being chased all over this passage by that thing back in the day. Quite the undignified scramble..."
She turned around slowly to face the massive shadow now almost upon them.
A flash of golden Spiritual Pressure blazed before her eyes. The charging Kōtotsu lurched to a halt in mid-air — and then, in an instant, a web of dense fracture lines spread across its entire surface.
Crack... crack...
It crumbled apart. Shorn of all its terrible force, it beca nothing more than ordinary stone, clattering down in a cascading heap, nothing but an unremarkable pile of rubble littering the floor of the Dangai.
"That terrifying Kōtotsu... Lady Soifon just... destroyed it..."
Harribel crouched down and picked up a chunk of stone, turning it over in her hand, marveling at Soifon's power.
"You can't be serious, Soifon."
Yoruichi stared at the now-clear path ahead, dumbfounded.
"Heh heh."
Soifon looked at Yoruichi's dazed expression. She lifted her chin ever so slightly, a small, satisfied smirk tugging at her lips. "Aren't I impressive, Lady Yoruichi..."
She never got to finish the sentence.
Yoruichi's forehead knocked against hers.
Their foreheads pressed together, close enough to feel each other's breath.
"Even if you really are that powerful now, you can't just take risks like that!"
"You know what happens to soone swallowed by the Kōtotsu, don't you, Soifon..."
Before the last word had left Yoruichi's lips, Soifon leaned in — just slightly — and pressed her own lips, softly, against Yoruichi's.
Yoruichi's eyes flew wide open. Every remaining word was sealed away.
Soifon held the contact for a breath, then spoke against Yoruichi's lips:
"I know, Lady Yoruichi."
"Thank you... for worrying."
A feather-light kiss — no more than a dragonfly touching water — and then she was already pulling back.
Soifon stepped away and looked at Yoruichi.
A visible flush blood across Yoruichi's face. She wrenched her gaze away, flustered.
"I wasn't worrying about you, you idiot! Don't flatter yourself!" She grabbed Nelliel and Harribel — who had been happily watching the whole scene unfold — and bolted forward. "Co on, let's go! Stop dawdling!"
Back in the Seireitei.
After changing back into her captain's haori, Soifon walked openly through the streets of the Seireitei — brazen as you please — with the long-since-expired fugitive Yoruichi Shihōin, and two Vasto Lordes who bore no visible Arrancar traits whatsoever.
"So this is where the Shinigami live."
"No wonder Lady Soifon doesn't like Hueco Mundo — Soul Society's environnt is in a completely different league."
Nelliel was looking left and right with undisguised curiosity, not the slightest trace of fear on her face.
"This is nothing special," Yoruichi said, puffing out her chest with pride. "When Soifon was little, I even took her to the hot springs—"
Harribel flipped through the dictionary in her hand and helpfully explained to her companion: "Hot springs — that ans bathing together."
"WHAT——?!"
Stare—
A burning gaze, as though it could scorch a hole right through Soifon's captain's haori.
"Lady Soifon, we want to go to the hot springs too!"
Nelliel tugged at the hem of Soifon's haori, pouting.
"Actually, after my Resurrección I can generate hot water myself..."
Harribel didn't get to finish before Nelliel clapped a hand over her mouth.
— So teammates simply had no sense of romance. Truly impossible.
Soifon left Yoruichi to settle the two of them in the Second Division and went on alone to the First Division, pushing open the Captain-Commander's office door.
"...That concludes my report."
Reporting complete, Soifon moved with practiced ease — she reached over and plucked the Captain-Commander's teapot right from his hands, poured herself a cup of hot tea, and then, as an afterthought, poured one for him as well.
"...Making yourself right at ho, aren't you. At this rate, you might as well just take the Captain-Commander's seat."
"So what you're telling is that the threat of the Wandenreich no longer exists. Is that correct?"
The Captain-Commander scratched his bald head.
He felt a curious mix of elation and lancholy.
The elation: a bomb that had been ticking away in secret for a thousand years had been quietly dismantled by Soifon.
The lancholy: he had only just taken advantage of Soifon's absence to mobilize every mber of the Gotei 13 into intensified training — and he'd even approved a substantial budget for Mayuri Kurotsuchi to research the shadows...
"The Wandenreich's threat is indeed gone. However, Yhwach may not be dead. I suspect he could resurrect at so point in the future."
"I would like to formally request, Captain-Commander, permission to use the Flower-Crane Cannon to travel to the Royal Palace and question Ichibē Hyōsube directly."
Soifon raised her eyes to et the Captain-Commander's gaze, her expression grave.
After holding her stare in silence for several seconds — long enough to confirm she wasn't joking — the Captain-Commander slowly nodded.
"Granted."
"And will you be bringing your students along this ti?"
With the power Soifon now commanded, she could break through any restriction by sheer physical force alone — the Shiba Clan's assistance was completely unnecessary. And frankly, the Captain-Commander had no great fondness for that Ichibē Hyōsube. As far as shalessly squeezing resources out of the Royal Palace went, the Captain-Commander's attitude was: go right ahead, and bring back as many future captains for the Gotei 13 as you can carry.
"You've seen right through , Captain-Commander. Then I'll take my leave."
Soifon took the written authorization, tucked it carefully into her pocket, and rose to go.
"Soifon." The Captain-Commander called out, stopping her. "That proposal I made before — have you given it any more thought? The title of the strongest Shinigami in a thousand years — it's ti for that seat to change hands."
Soifon paused at the office doorway and turned back slowly. "Captain-Commander, you are the strongest Shinigami."
The Second Division.
By the ti Soifon returned to the division barracks, her two students and Yoruichi's group had already gotten into a very literal brawl.
"Your backhand has no power, your forehand is sloppy, your footwork is a ss, and your reaction ti is abysmal. There isn't a single clean technique among the lot of you."
"And you call yourselves fit to fight alongside Lady Soifon on a battlefield?!"
Out in the courtyard, Harribel — bored with nothing to do — had taken it upon herself to run Momo Hinamori and Rukia through military drills on Soifon's behalf.
Both girls were gasping for breath. Their Zanpakutō were already in Shikai — and still they couldn't touch Harribel in her base form. They couldn't even break her Hierro.
Creak—
Soifon pushed the gate open and stepped inside. Harribel imdiately stood down and bowed.
"Everyone pause for a mont. Momo, Rukia — co here."
Soifon beckoned to her two students.
The two of them wiped the sweat from their necks and faces and trotted over eagerly.
"Do you want to get stronger?"
Looking at the stubborn, determined expressions on their faces, Soifon reached out and brushed the beads of sweat sliding down their foreheads.
"Of course we do, Teacher Soifon!" ×2
Momo and Rukia answered in perfect unison.
"Good — that's the spirit!" Soifon patted them both on the shoulder. "Go clean up, then wait for at the south gate. We're heading to Rukongai."
Next, Soifon made her way to the Fourth Division.
"I won't be going, Captain Soifon."
Isane Kotetsu smiled gently and declined Soifon's offer.
Seeing Soifon's puzzled look, Isane continued with a warm smile:
"I know I have no talent for combat. No matter how much my Spiritual Pressure grows, it won't change anything that matters."
"Rather than going up there and wasting the Zero Division's resources, I'd rather stay and devote myself to Kaidō under Captain Unohana's guidance."
"I'm sorry, Captain Soifon..."
Soifon studied Isane carefully, and once she was certain this was a genuine refusal from the heart, she let it go without pressing. "It's all right — I should have thought to ask what you actually wanted."
"When I get back, let's all go out for grilled at together, Isane."
Authorization in hand, Soifon arrived at the rendezvous point she'd arranged with her students.
"This is the authorization, Miss Kukaku."
After Soifon handed over the Captain-Commander's written approval, Kukaku Shiba — that bold, high-spirited mistress of fireworks — gave Soifon a hearty slap on the shoulder and let out a booming laugh.
"If it's Captain Soifon asking, the Shiba Clan would never say no! Leave it all to !"
Scene transition.
Inside the narrow but sturdily built Heavenly Pillar Palanquin, Soifon stood at the center with Rukia and Momo pressed close on either side, both peering around at the sealed compartnt with equal parts fascination and barely-suppressed nerves.
"Teacher Soifon," Rukia couldn't hold back any longer. "Where exactly are we going?"
Soifon kept it brief. "The Royal Palace."
"Oh, oh, the Royal Palace..."
Rukia echoed the words on reflex and gave a nod. Momo let out a small "mm" of acknowledgnt.
One beat later.
"WHAT——?! The Royal Palace?!"
"We're small fry who haven't even achieved Bankai yet — they'll actually let us go up there?!"
Both their voices rang out in disbelief.
BOOM—!!
Outside the palanquin, Kukaku Shiba ignited the launch chanism.
"AAAHHH——!"
"We're going to diiiie——!"
Rukia and Momo's shrieks were instantly swallowed by the crushing acceleration and the deafening roar.
Like leaves caught in a typhoon, their bodies completely out of their control, both of them instinctively latched onto the only stable anchor in the small compartnt — Soifon.
Soifon let the two of them cling to her like a pair of koalas and quietly released a thin veil of Spiritual Pressure to wrap around all three of them, blunting the worst of the savage impact.
After what felt like an eternity, the entire cabin jolted with a violent shudder — and every vibration, every tremor, ceased at once.
They had arrived.
A soft click sounded as the internal lock disengaged, and the hatch slid smoothly to one side.
"Rember to reinforce your bodies with Spiritual Pressure," Soifon said, just before stepping out. "Otherwise the Royal Palace's Reiatsu will flatten you on the spot — and don't say I didn't warn you."
With that, she stepped out first, setting foot with ease onto the approach path of the Royal Palace.
Behind her, Rukia and Momo exchanged a look — and saw in each other's eyes both apprehension and barely-contained excitent.
The mont both students had exited the palanquin, Soifon released the Spiritual Pressure barrier she'd been maintaining around all three of them.
It was like plunging into the deep ocean — but made of spirit particles. Rukia and Momo felt their legs give out at once; their knees buckled without permission, and they crashed down together, barely catching themselves on their hands.
"Do your best. Once you can stand and walk freely, I'll co back for you and your real training can begin."
"If you can't even resist pressure at this level, then this is simply your ceiling."
Hiding the ache in her eyes, Soifon turned away without looking back and walked toward Ichibē Hyōsube, who had been waiting ahead.
Staring at Teacher Soifon's retreating figure, Rukia and Momo clenched their teeth, stubborn defiance blazing in their eyes.
"Oh ho, Soifon, you made it."
"I've already had Kirinji and the others make arrangents — I guarantee your two students will undergo a fundantal transformation in strength."
Ichibē Hyōsube grinned as Soifon walked toward him.
"..." Soifon approached him with a peculiar expression. "Did you think acting helpful would save you from a beating?"
"Co on, you've already dealt with that little troublemaker Yhwach — spare , please..."
"Though if you really need to vent, killing once is fine too."
Ichibē Hyōsube kept his hands tucked in his pockets and his grin firmly in place.
Seeing that Soifon was just frowning without actually moving to strike him, Ichibē swept the dust off the ground with his calligraphy brush and settled himself cross-legged.
"First things first: the information I gave you that day was accurate. Two years from now, Yhwach will beco the Soul King."
"Second — as you should know, breaking through His Majesty the Soul King's defenses requires the power of a Hollow."
"So then... Yhwach is a Quincy without any Hollow power. How exactly is he supposed to break through His Majesty's seal and absorb His Majesty's power?"
Soifon sat down across from him and gave a thoughtful nod, gesturing for the monk to continue.
"The power of Hollow, Quincy, Shinigami, and the Soul King have already achieved perfect fusion within the body of Sōsuke Aizen."
"Having absorbed the 'Left Arm of the Soul King,' with the power of a Quincy now born within him — Sōsuke Aizen is the lynchpin of Yhwach's resurrection."
"The strike with which Yhwach seized the altar was aid at its true target: Sōsuke Aizen, who would ascend to the Royal Palace two years hence..."
"He cannot avoid resurrection — he has rely postponed it by two years."
"However, using his half-baked The Almighty to attempt a body-snatching against Aizen two years in the future carries enormous cost — which is precisely why he could be cut down by you imdiately afterward."
When Ichibē finished speaking, he fell quiet and watched Soifon, waiting for her to absorb what he'd said.
As it turned out, Soifon showed not the slightest flicker of agitation after hearing all of this. She simply gave a mild nod. "I see. So we just kill him again when the ti cos — is that about right?"
Ichibē feigned astonishnt. "Oh? I half expected you to pass this information along to Aizen so he could take precautions."
Soifon shook her head. "Captain Aizen and I have never been the type to warn each other about danger. If Captain Aizen falls at that hurdle, it would only prove that becoming Soul King was never his destiny."
____
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