Shihōin Estate.
Soifon opened her eyes to a ceiling that was not entirely unfamiliar.
She blinked, letting her eyes adjust to the light, then pushed herself upright.
She looked down at herself. The familiar Shihakushō and captain's haori were nowhere to be found. In their place was a cotton pajama set — printed all over with little black cats.
The pajamas were clearly a size too large. They hung loose on her fra, the sleeves and trouser legs spilling past her hands and feet, the collar falling open to reveal the clean line of her collarbones and a sliver of skin.
She lifted the collar to her nose and sniffed. A familiar scent washed over her — these were Yoruichi Shihōin's pajamas.
Soifon glanced around the bedroom, unmistakably decorated in Shihōin taste, and her mories slowly filtered back. She had fallen asleep here last night.
Yoruichi had changed her into pajamas, but nothing felt off — which ant she hadn't taken any liberties while Soifon was unconscious. Soifon was, just slightly, disappointed.
She scanned the room. She was alone. Yoruichi was nowhere to be seen.
But Soifon's keen spiritual senses picked up sothing from the far end of the estate — the muffled, lively din of what sounded like a celebration.
She threw off the covers and moved to get up — then froze.
Even her underwear had been swapped out for a matching set, also printed with tiny black cats.
Soifon's expression darkened visibly. Without a word, she reached to the bedside, picked up her neatly folded captain's haori, and draped it over her shoulders.
She stepped out into the courtyard. The noise grew clearer with every step — it definitely sounded like a party or banquet of so kind.
Suppressing her presence and slipping into the shadows along the estate wall, Soifon followed the sound with mild curiosity. She was passing by the kitchen courtyard when her footsteps slowed to a halt.
In a corner not far ahead, beneath a large tree, two furtive figures were crouched low to the ground.
One blonde. One green.
Between them sat a plate of delicate sweets. They were taking turns sneaking bites — practiced, utterly content, as if they'd been at it for quite so ti.
Soifon approached without a sound, then spoke: "What are you two doing?"
Both figures seized up simultaneously.
Gulp —
Liltotto threw her mouth wide open and cramd the entire plate inside — porcelain and all — and crunched through it with grinding, unhurried chews before swallowing everything down.
"Cough — cough —"
Candice wasn't so lucky. Soifon's voice startled her badly enough that the pastry in her mouth shot straight to her throat. Both hands flew to her neck, her face flushing scarlet, as she made a very convincing impression of soone about to suffocate.
"There's really no need to be that scared of ," Soifon said.
"It's not like I'm so kind of monster…"
She sighed, raised a hand, and patted Candice lightly on the back. The stuck pastry launched itself free.
Candice gasped for air, hands braced on her knees, the expression of soone who had narrowly escaped death. Then she jerked her head up and blurted:
"It's not about being scared!"
"When you're doing sothing you shouldn't and soone suddenly pops up behind you — anyone would jump!"
The words were barely out before Candice went very still.
Had she just — said sothing she shouldn't have — to Soifon, the cold-blooded assassin who had single-handedly dismantled the entire Wandenreich?
Liltotto quietly shuffled half a step to the side, her expression communicating one clear ssage to Candice: You're on your own. Good luck.
Even Soifon herself blinked. She glanced at Liltotto — had Candice always been this bold?
"I'm so sorry — !!!"
Candice bent at a sharp ninety degrees, the force of her apology ringing out loud enough to send every bird in the tree above scattering into the sky. Standing just in front of her, Soifon felt her hair billow backward a few centiters from the sheer volu.
Soifon quietly wiped a few specks of spittle from her face. Then she turned and walked away. "Hiding in a corner to steal snacks is embarrassing enough. Co on — I'll take you sowhere to eat properly."
She led the two snack thieves toward the banquet hall courtyard. Along the way, Liltotto explained, and Soifon learned that since being confined to the Shihōin Estate, the Quincy survivors had not received a single al beyond the one New Year's banquet.
"Hey, Lady Soifon," Liltotto said, working through a skewer of grilled at Soifon had lifted for them from the party, "not that I'd say this about anyone, but that steward of yours is way too much of a coward…"
"It's not like we Quincy are monsters. Surely they could at least send us food? Chomp chomp chomp."
Now that she had a decent read on Soifon's temperant and understood she ant none of them any harm, Liltotto had loosened up enough to complain about the Shihōin Estate's managent between bites.
"Tch, bla Haschwalth for that," Candice muttered, rubbing her flat stomach. "All that talk about 'not drawing the Shinigami's attention' — telling us to just hold out…"
Soifon kept her expression neutral as she led the way, though a flicker of sothing uncomfortable crossed her face.
She was absolutely not going to admit that she had simply been too busy lately and had completely forgotten about the Quincy survivors left behind in Soul Society.
Before long, the lively banquet hall ca into view.
"Oh, look who finally woke up."
Yoruichi Shihōin was in the middle of sharing drinks with Rangiku Matsumoto. When she spotted Soifon, she raised an eyebrow and lifted her cup in a lazy toast from across the room.
As for the two Quincy behind Soifon — the mont they crossed the threshold, they dove into the feast like mice who had discovered a rice jar.
"Mm… good morning…"
Settling into the seat Yoruichi had set aside for her, Soifon let out a yawn.
Even as the words left her mouth she regretted them — it was just habit; she'd woken up, so she'd said good morning without thinking.
"Captain Soifon, are you actually awake?" Rangiku Matsumoto leaned over and pressed the back of her hand to Soifon's forehead. "No fever either… Did you hit your head on the way down from the Royal Palace?"
"Speaking of which, Captain Soifon…"
"You said yesterday that the war was over — right?"
Rangiku lowered her voice and leaned in conspiratorially, breath carrying just a hint of warm sake.
Soifon instinctively glanced at Yoruichi. Yoruichi gave a small nod and a smile. Soifon exhaled.
Good. Yoruichi hadn't sold her out.
"Ah… yes." Soifon lifted her cup, took a small sip, and nodded.
Emboldened by the alcohol, Rangiku slung an arm around Soifon's shoulders. "Then, Captain Soifon, you had better make it up to . Hic—"
"What? What did I do?"
Watching that face draw ever closer, Soifon extended a palm and used it to keep a respectable distance between their cheeks.
"If you hadn't gone to infiltrate Aizen's side, I never would have had to risk my life learning Bankai with that soul-transfer technique…" Rangiku said. "Do you have any idea how many captain seats are vacant in the Gotei 13 right now?"
The last part clearly hit a raw nerve. Rangiku picked up the sake flask beside her and upended it directly into her mouth. Sake dribbled down her throat and soaked into Soifon's captain's haori.
"Third Division, Fifth Division, Ninth Division…"
Soifon counted on her fingers with genuine seriousness — then t Rangiku's deeply aggrieved gaze.
"I've already been put forward by that Hitsugaya kid. The captain selection is in a few days… and it's all your fault, Captain Soifon!"
"My beautiful, peaceful, slack-off lifestyle — you've completely ruined it…"
Grinding her teeth, Rangiku grabbed Soifon's cheeks and gave them a light headbutt.
Soifon averted her eyes guiltily and said nothing.
It was true — the Gotei 13 had recovered sowhat, but three captain seats remained empty. And in the aftermath of the Karakura Town battle and Yhwach's invasion, the vice-captains and seated officers who had revealed their Bankai now outnumbered the vacant captain slots for the first ti.
Rukia Kuchiki, Momo Hinamori, Rangiku Matsumoto, Renji Abarai, Shūhei Hisagi…
In barely a hundred years, the captain vacancies created by the Hollowfication Incident had sohow produced this many candidates all at once. The Captain-Commander's desk was receiving more personnel files than it ever had before.
The future of the Seireitei looked bright indeed.
The next instant, Soifon snapped back to the present — she beca aware of two more hands having materialized on her face, stretching her cheeks from different angles.
Soifon sealed her lips and puffed her cheeks out like a blowfish, popping both sets of pinching fingers away at once.
"You two as well — trying to pile on, are you?!"
One to the left, one to the right — Soifon proceeded to drum on Momo Hinamori and Rukia's cheeks in front of everyone, with the steady rhythm of soone beating a taiko.
Fortunately, Yoruichi had not invited a single male guest to today's banquet, so the assembled crowd watched this developnt with nothing but delight.
"Waaah! That's not fair!"
"Why does Vice-Captain Rangiku get to pinch Sensei's cheeks and we can't?!"
"Exactly! We're also victims of your sches, Sensei!"
"I'm not leaving! Captain Soifon! I'm staying in the Second Division as a 3rd Seat for the rest of my life!"
Soifon hadn't used much force at all, but the two of them were making such an embarrassingly raucous racket — completely at odds with the dignity of the banquet hall — that she had no choice but to reluctantly suspend the punishnt.
Once released, they made a great show of rubbing their thoroughly-abused cheeks, limping and wincing their way back to their seats with exaggerated suffering.
"Why are Rukia and Momo so against it, though? Being a captain seems quite nice, doesn't it?" Isane Kotetsu, who had been quietly listening from the side, offered with a gentle smile.
"Ah, Senior Isane, you just don't understand — being a captain is exhausting…"
"Exactly. Not everyone is Captain Soifon. Just look at poor Hitsugaya — the guy's had it rough…"
Truly Momo Hinamori — she had managed to offend Rangiku Matsumoto again without even trying.
But mid-sentence, the two of them both went quiet at the sa mont, staring at the serenely smiling Isane Kotetsu, and fell into a shared contemplation.
Thud. Thud. Thud —
Rangiku, Rukia, and Momo exchanged a glance. A preposterous thought had surfaced in all three of their minds simultaneously.
Perhaps… Isane Kotetsu — who had not yet mastered her Shikai — was actually their most formidable rival of all.
As for Soifon, the "pri culprit" behind it all, she had already fled the scene.
Unable to withstand the combined firepower any longer, Soifon had seized on the excuse of "escorting the Quincy back to the World of the Living" and made her escape from the boisterous banquet.
——
"See? I told you Lady Soifon would let us go."
Liltotto munched on food she had packed from the banquet, gazing at the distant light of the World of the Living through the Dangai.
"When exactly did I beco your Lady Soifon, by the way…"
Soifon stopped, turned, and fixed the foul-mouthed little gremlin with a deeply weary look.
"Because calling you that keeps alive," Liltotto said, swallowing her mouthful without a hint of sha. "I want to survive."
What an utterly, nakedly honest answer.
Haschwalth and Candice and the others instinctively covered their faces. Everyone had been thinking it — but Liltotto had said it out loud with absolutely no filter whatsoever.
At the mont of stepping through the Senkaimon, Soifon raised a hand and flicked. Several golden spirit particles sank into the bodies of the Quincy survivors.
Soifon tilted her head slightly and looked at them.
"Think of these as trackers. You should understand what that ans."
"Strictly speaking, we should have executed you. But given that these past weeks have been… not entirely unpleasant…"
"I am hereby granting you permission to live — under joint surveillance by the Seireitei and the Ishida household."
She finished by holding out a slip of paper with the Ishida family's address written on it.
...
Having parted ways with the remnant Quincy, Soifon made her way alone to a quiet, secluded outskirt of Karakura Town.
Since awakening her Fullbring, the pull she felt toward that mysterious gate of Hell had grown steadily stronger — as if a single focused thought could summon those ominous doors back into existence.
Perhaps… it was the sheer intensity of her wish to purify Hell that had given birth to this Fullbring in the first place.
Soifon stirred her Reiatsu. Golden lines shimred faintly across the surface of her skin.
Just as she was about to use her Fullbring to open the gates of Hell —
A flash of green ca hurtling at her from the side without any warning!
"Lady Soifon — !!!"
Sensing familiar Spiritual Pressure, Soifon suppressed the instinct to strike back and instead opened her arms, catching the green projectile firmly against her chest.
— It was Nelliel.
A warm, soft body crashed solidly into her embrace. The impact was enough to make even Soifon sway slightly.
Nelliel clung to Soifon's waist like a koala, rubbing her face contentedly against her chest and making small, happy sounds.
"Lady Soifon, we've finally been waiting for you! It's been so long!"
Soifon looked down helplessly at the shaless creature demanding affection in her arms, then looked up and ruffled her head.
Not far away, another figure stood quietly.
Harribel was pressing two fingers to her temple, her expression a mixture of envy and exasperation. She directed a half-hearted reprimand at Nelliel, then — the mont Soifon's gaze landed on her — snapped rigid and bent into a deep bow:
"I sincerely apologize, Lady Soifon!"
"I did my best to stop her, but…"
Soifon waved a hand, cutting off the explanation. "I'm not blaming you."
"But — weren't you two supposed to be rebuilding Las Noches? What brings you all the way to the World of the Living to find ?"
In her arms, Nelliel lifted her head imdiately, clearly ready to answer—
Harribel vanished from where she stood. The next instant she had reappeared at Soifon's side. Her hand shot out and clamped firmly over Nelliel's mouth, pressing back whatever she had been about to say.
"Mmph…!"
Nelliel, mouth covered, could only emit muffled sounds of indignation.
Harribel gave Soifon an apologetic glance, then released her hand and spoke in a asured tone:
"After Lord Aizen awakened, before he departed from Hueco Mundo, he left instructions for us…"
"He said that if Hueco Mundo experienced a violent tremor and he still had not returned afterward, we were to co to the World of the Living and await Lady Soifon's arrival — and extend an invitation for you to co to Hueco Mundo."
"Lord Aizen left sothing for you in Las Noches. Only you can open it."
____
👻🔥Seek: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Samsara Ga: Starting in The Long Dark with My Waifus
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