Crows x Souls

[Soi Fon POV] 

How she turned out like this in such a short time was something Soi Fon had thought long and hard about, yet couldn't come to a goddamned answer.

Due to the surge in Hollow activities months ago, her Lady had commanded her and a smart team to run recon for the Tenth since a Captain was going out and it should have been an easy mission, even if she would be away from her Lady's presence. 

And it had started that way. 

All they had to do was spread out, comb the neighboring districts and save Captain Shiba time in pursuing the Hollows, report back and be done with their mission so that she could promptly go back to serve at her Lady's side – which was exactly what she did. 

She finished her mission, reported back to Captain Shiba, passed on the message from her Lady to the Captain and was on her way back to the Seireitei which was when she had felt the Captain's Reiatsu surge, followed by the releasing of his Shikai. 

Even from afar, she could feel a certain warmness in the air after the Shikai release, leaving her in awe of the strength of the Shinigami Captains, her Lady too, but she kept those at bay and promptly returned. 

She was here for information and the current situation was exactly the highlight of her mission – to know the strength class and behavioral patterns of the Hollow Captain Shiba was fighting, except it wasn't a Hollow. 

It was a man. 

A Shinigami or at least that was what she had initially thought until she paid attention to the man. 

Despite wielding a Zanpakutō, he used neither his Shikai, Hohou, nor did he use any of the Kidō arts. 

'Was he looking down on a Captain by not activating his Shikai even when Captain Shiba had done so, or was this a ploy not to make Captain Shiba go hard on him?'

Regardless of her thoughts, the plain truth that unfolded before her eyes and the eyes of everyone there had been the sheer skill the man fought with, even earning the acknowledgment from the Captain, Soi Fon realized, given he had activated his Shikai. 

She and the others watched, waiting for the exact time to act and soon it came. 

From the way the atmosphere seemed to dry up and the surge of Reiatsu from Captain Shiba's blade, she knew he was about to use his sword abilities, which normally should have ended the fight but once again it showcased how skilled his opponent was, even if he was on the weaker end. 

As expected, though he escaped, he was severely injured and the tree he had retreated to had been one closest to Soi Fon and she had acted at the prime opening from a weakened opponent. 

Before he could move or even know what was happening, she held a blade against his throat but before she could even finish her words, pain assaulted her abdomen and then her back, all in quick succession as she impacted a rock from the force of the man's kick, and when she opened her eyes, that was when she saw it.

A Zanpakutō, breadths away from slashing a line through her throat and the cold black eyes calmly granting her death. 

'My Lady, Yoruichi-sama, is this the end for me?' 

It had happened all too quick that she couldn't even get a word in before a blade was pointing at her throat. 

Would she die a meaningless death just like the rest of her brothers? Without even becoming someone worthy enough to stand by Yoruichi-sama's side? 

Lucky enough for her, Captain Shiba had saved her just in the nick of time and all she could remember doing was staring blankly through the rest of the fight that had the man surrounded, even as she saw others dying so quickly without even being able to react. 

Would she have died without even knowing it? No, she knew when she would have died but she could do nothing to stop it… she shivered fiercely at that. 

But soon that thought turned into a nightmare… dying before she could say a word or even wield her blade. 

No Zanjutsu, no Kidō spell, no Shunpo – just dying before she could do a single thing. 

….. 

Walking into the Research Institute of the 12th Division with Soi Fon following behind her, Yoruichi made her way straight towards Kisuke's office, which was a large lab and also where he spent over 90% of his time, and found the blonde shabby Captain tinkering with mechanical contraptions that only he knew the use of. 

"Yoruichi! Happy seeing you here!" Without even looking at her, he waved in her direction but kept his focus on the object he was tinkering with. "You too Soi Fon, how are you doing?"

"That's none of your business, Urahara!" Soi Fon huffed, turning her face to the side and crossing her arm. 

Rolling her eyes at their antics, she put a stop to their bickering before it escalated. "Can you two stop your flirting and keep it for another time?" She ignored the way Kisuke turned rigid and the sputtering mess of simmering rage Soi Fon became. "Kisuke, I need one of your personal Reiatsu scanners."

Kisuke stopped what he was doing and looked at Yoruichi and Soi Fon, said nothing as he dug his hands into his inner pockets and fished out a small hand held device that he threw at Yoruichi. "Something important?"

"Yes, very important." Yoruichi said as she pocketed the device. "Soi Fon and I are going on a hunt for that guy."

Soi Fon audibly swallowed and a trickle of sweat ran down her forehead. 

"I had a few of my people try to track him down but they lost his trail sometime ago. All they discovered was that he was steadily making his way down the Rukongai Districts."

"You think his destination is the Soul Society?" Kisuke asked. 

Yoruichi shrugged. "Who knows? It's not like it matters all that much. Apparently he's pretty strong too for a new soul-" 

Kisuke interjected. "If he's a new soul. Captain Shiba said he could give a lot of the Lieutenants a run for their money and that's without Kidō or a Shikai. That doesn't seem like a new soul to me, but I guess it would be pretty interesting if it is."

The two Captains shrugged at their own opinions, not exactly invested in it. Like Kisuke said, it would be pretty interesting if it's true, and like Yoruichi said, it didn't matter all that much. 

Leaving the Research Institute of the Twelve, Yoruichi and her ever loyal retainer walked in silence, Yoruichi in front while Soi Fon timidly walked behind. 

"Yoruichi-sama…" Soi Fon started but couldn't find the words to continue. 

"Say what you want to say, Soi Fon."

She bowed her head in apology, very ashamed for having troubled her master to act in her stead. "I'm sorry for my incompetence, Yoruichi-sama."

"Sorry for what?" Yoruichi turned around in genuine surprise. "Don't be mistaken, Soi Fon, you are not blame yourself for anything. Yes, that also means your weakness. No matter how strong you are, have in mind that there's someone or something out there that will make you vulnerable – that applies to everyone, even me. No one is infallible Soi Fon, no one."

Perhaps it was the way Yoruichi said it or vulnerability she showed at that moment, or it could have simply been Soi Fon's eyes displaying something that was never there, but for that short instance, Soi Fon, much to her horror, felt that perhaps Yoruichi wasn't that far away from her. 

Maybe, just maybe, she could bridge the almost insurmountable gap between her and her Lady. 

"Come on, let's go. I need to teach the bastard who messed with my cute little butterfly." Yoruichi beamed and disappeared in a Shunpo. 

Seeing Yoruichi gone, Soi Fon thought over what she said and a smile came alive across her lips. "Yes, Yoruichi-sama!" And with that she was gone too. 

Her thoughts were pretty simple, with her Yoruichi-sama by her side, facing that man once again and apprehending him to the maggots nests was a piece of cake. 

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10 chaps ahead on p@treøn/QuackVader