Bleach (Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Soi Fong)
Title: Adequate Boundaries
Author: Cadence
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,127
A/N: Prompt: Bleach, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Soi Fong: A weird sort of bonding while searching for their respective captains in Soul Society’s plethora of bars- “He couldn’t have chosen a worse time to disappear, the inconsiderate“
Soi Fong hadn't been worried, to start.
She had arrived at the Shihouin mansion a few hours earlier than she needed to for guard duty. She did that fairly often; usually Yoruichi would smile and spare the time for sparring, or just talking. Occasionally she would still be asleep, and Soi Fong would wait for her happily. Today, however, she just hadn't been there. Which was odd, but not in itself worrying.
But then she'd come back at the true start of her shift, and she still hadn't been there. And none of the Shihouin family attendants knew where she was, either. That was not particularly odd, but the fact that she hadn't mentioned anything to Soi Fong was. And so a sort of gnawing worry began to creep into her mind.
So she went to the next most likely place for Yoruichi to be if she wasn't with her-the twelfth squad headquarters.
She didn't manage more than a few steps in the door before she heard a voice snarl. "What do you mean he hasn't been in! There is valuable data missing! Data which the investigation committee has requested, in fact. He couldn't have chosen a worse time to disappear, the inconsiderate-" Kurotsuchi Mayuri turned then to Soi Fong, just noticing her presence.
Soi Fong was torn between relief and trepidation. If Captain Urahara was missing, too, then he and Yoruichi were likely together, and safe. On the other hand, Kurotsuchi set her nerves on edge no matter the circumstance.
"You. Girl." Soi Fong bowed her head. "Have you or your mistress seen my delinquent captain recently?"
"No, sir. In fact I haven't seen my mistress this morning, either." She raised her head to see a similar understanding enter the lieutenant's glassy eyes. "I was hoping to find her here."
"Is that so." Kurotsuchi shoved the underling he'd been yelling at away. The man scampered off gratefully. "Come with me, then."
"What?" Soi Fong blinked.
Kurotsuchi stared down at her and she stifled the urge to hunch herself smaller. "Are you stupid, girl? I need Kisuke here now. He's clearly with your mistress, so you're going to help me find them." He stalked off out of the building, and after a pause Soi Fong followed. "Where would they be?"
"Ah... Yoruichi-sama's not at the Shihouin house, or the Special Forces headquarters," Soi Fong offered, walking quickly to keep up with the man's long stride. "And no one seems to know for certain if she came back last night, either. There are other places she'd go, but not with Captain Urahara, so... a bar? An inn of some kind? It's not like her to still be there, but..."
"It is like Kisuke," Kurotsuchi growled. "Hiding away from his responsibilities. Let's get started, then. Someone will have seen them."
That was probably true in the strictest sense, thought Soi Fong, but the fact was that Soul Society was huge, and Yoruichi at least was known for jaunts into Rukongai.
"We should try the Red Lotus first, then," she offered, as it was the one tavern Yoruichi had ever taken her to. Usually their activities didn't go that direction. As Kurostuchi growled slightly and headed off in the correct direction, Soi Fong hung back a bit to whisper to a butterfly.
The Red Lotus was closed, of course, since it was only late morning. But the proprietor was there, and he let them in when he saw their faces. Or, perhaps more accurately, when he saw Kurotsuchi Mayuri's face.
"No, I'm afraid I haven't seen either of them recently," the proprietor said, sounding understandably nervous. "Your lady was in a few nights ago," Soi Fong nodded at that, "but Captain Urahara, no, not for weeks."
"You couldn't possibly be lying to me, could you?" Kurotsuchi glared.
"No, sir."
"She probably wasn't going to be here," Soi Fong said suddenly. "She almost always lets me know where she's going to be. Since she didn't, she must be trying to avoid me," she prided herself on the steadiness of her voice at that, "and so she wouldn't come here. It's obviously one of the first places I'd look."
Kurotsuchi looked annoyed but didn't argue with her logic, and so they left, Kurotsuchi without so much as an acknowledgment and Soi Fong with a quick bow and apology.
When they were back outside she saw a flash of black, and her butterfly alit on her finger. After a moment she looked up to find eyes on her.
"They haven't left the city," she offered gently as the butterfly flew away. "At least, none of the gate guards report having seen them."
Kurotsuchi's face twisted and Soi Fong braced herself for a snap. "Hmm," he said instead. "Adequate boundaries for our search, then."
"Yes," Soi Fong managed, a bit surprised.
"We must continue, then. All the bars in Seireitei seem equally likely now," he said with a snarl.
They did continue, for hours and hours until the sky began to darken. Kurotsuchi's temper ran shorter by the minute as frustration turned to anger. For Soi Fong, however, the less success they had the more she began to worry, then despair. It was terribly unlikely, she told herself once every minute, that anything had happened to Yoruichi. She was really quite capable of defending herself.
But it kept growing later, and it was nearly a day since anyone had seen her when they finally hit success.
"Yeah, I saw 'em," they heard, not from the bartender they were questioning but from some anonymous-looking shinigami with a day-old beard in the corner of the bar. "Were heading for the east portal to the human world, looked like. Had quite a bit of equipment with. I did wonder what mission'd take that."
"And you didn't report it?" Kurotsuchi yelled, his spindly fingers tightening around the man's collar. The man's face slowly dawned on a look that said he'd just figured out how much trouble he was in.
This time, Soi Fong could hardly sympathize. There was no reason for Yoruichi to have gone to the human world, and Urahara was specifically disallowed from it. So it made no sense unless-
"Leave him," Soi Fong said, and her voice surprised her with its ice. "He can't help now. We should check the tracking on their issued false bodies, and then-" when that doesn't work, she didn't say-"report this to Commander Yamamoto."
The look on Kurotsuchi's face went from outrage to irritation. As she turned she missed the last change, something that might have been respect.
Walking out the door first this time, it occurred to her that she had spoken imperiously to a superior officer.
She couldn't bring herself to care. Yoruichi was gone.
Author: Cadence
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,127
A/N: Prompt: Bleach, Kurotsuchi Mayuri, Soi Fong: A weird sort of bonding while searching for their respective captains in Soul Society’s plethora of bars- “He couldn’t have chosen a worse time to disappear, the inconsiderate“
Soi Fong hadn't been worried, to start.
She had arrived at the Shihouin mansion a few hours earlier than she needed to for guard duty. She did that fairly often; usually Yoruichi would smile and spare the time for sparring, or just talking. Occasionally she would still be asleep, and Soi Fong would wait for her happily. Today, however, she just hadn't been there. Which was odd, but not in itself worrying.
But then she'd come back at the true start of her shift, and she still hadn't been there. And none of the Shihouin family attendants knew where she was, either. That was not particularly odd, but the fact that she hadn't mentioned anything to Soi Fong was. And so a sort of gnawing worry began to creep into her mind.
So she went to the next most likely place for Yoruichi to be if she wasn't with her-the twelfth squad headquarters.
She didn't manage more than a few steps in the door before she heard a voice snarl. "What do you mean he hasn't been in! There is valuable data missing! Data which the investigation committee has requested, in fact. He couldn't have chosen a worse time to disappear, the inconsiderate-" Kurotsuchi Mayuri turned then to Soi Fong, just noticing her presence.
Soi Fong was torn between relief and trepidation. If Captain Urahara was missing, too, then he and Yoruichi were likely together, and safe. On the other hand, Kurotsuchi set her nerves on edge no matter the circumstance.
"You. Girl." Soi Fong bowed her head. "Have you or your mistress seen my delinquent captain recently?"
"No, sir. In fact I haven't seen my mistress this morning, either." She raised her head to see a similar understanding enter the lieutenant's glassy eyes. "I was hoping to find her here."
"Is that so." Kurotsuchi shoved the underling he'd been yelling at away. The man scampered off gratefully. "Come with me, then."
"What?" Soi Fong blinked.
Kurotsuchi stared down at her and she stifled the urge to hunch herself smaller. "Are you stupid, girl? I need Kisuke here now. He's clearly with your mistress, so you're going to help me find them." He stalked off out of the building, and after a pause Soi Fong followed. "Where would they be?"
"Ah... Yoruichi-sama's not at the Shihouin house, or the Special Forces headquarters," Soi Fong offered, walking quickly to keep up with the man's long stride. "And no one seems to know for certain if she came back last night, either. There are other places she'd go, but not with Captain Urahara, so... a bar? An inn of some kind? It's not like her to still be there, but..."
"It is like Kisuke," Kurotsuchi growled. "Hiding away from his responsibilities. Let's get started, then. Someone will have seen them."
That was probably true in the strictest sense, thought Soi Fong, but the fact was that Soul Society was huge, and Yoruichi at least was known for jaunts into Rukongai.
"We should try the Red Lotus first, then," she offered, as it was the one tavern Yoruichi had ever taken her to. Usually their activities didn't go that direction. As Kurostuchi growled slightly and headed off in the correct direction, Soi Fong hung back a bit to whisper to a butterfly.
The Red Lotus was closed, of course, since it was only late morning. But the proprietor was there, and he let them in when he saw their faces. Or, perhaps more accurately, when he saw Kurotsuchi Mayuri's face.
"No, I'm afraid I haven't seen either of them recently," the proprietor said, sounding understandably nervous. "Your lady was in a few nights ago," Soi Fong nodded at that, "but Captain Urahara, no, not for weeks."
"You couldn't possibly be lying to me, could you?" Kurotsuchi glared.
"No, sir."
"She probably wasn't going to be here," Soi Fong said suddenly. "She almost always lets me know where she's going to be. Since she didn't, she must be trying to avoid me," she prided herself on the steadiness of her voice at that, "and so she wouldn't come here. It's obviously one of the first places I'd look."
Kurotsuchi looked annoyed but didn't argue with her logic, and so they left, Kurotsuchi without so much as an acknowledgment and Soi Fong with a quick bow and apology.
When they were back outside she saw a flash of black, and her butterfly alit on her finger. After a moment she looked up to find eyes on her.
"They haven't left the city," she offered gently as the butterfly flew away. "At least, none of the gate guards report having seen them."
Kurotsuchi's face twisted and Soi Fong braced herself for a snap. "Hmm," he said instead. "Adequate boundaries for our search, then."
"Yes," Soi Fong managed, a bit surprised.
"We must continue, then. All the bars in Seireitei seem equally likely now," he said with a snarl.
They did continue, for hours and hours until the sky began to darken. Kurotsuchi's temper ran shorter by the minute as frustration turned to anger. For Soi Fong, however, the less success they had the more she began to worry, then despair. It was terribly unlikely, she told herself once every minute, that anything had happened to Yoruichi. She was really quite capable of defending herself.
But it kept growing later, and it was nearly a day since anyone had seen her when they finally hit success.
"Yeah, I saw 'em," they heard, not from the bartender they were questioning but from some anonymous-looking shinigami with a day-old beard in the corner of the bar. "Were heading for the east portal to the human world, looked like. Had quite a bit of equipment with. I did wonder what mission'd take that."
"And you didn't report it?" Kurotsuchi yelled, his spindly fingers tightening around the man's collar. The man's face slowly dawned on a look that said he'd just figured out how much trouble he was in.
This time, Soi Fong could hardly sympathize. There was no reason for Yoruichi to have gone to the human world, and Urahara was specifically disallowed from it. So it made no sense unless-
"Leave him," Soi Fong said, and her voice surprised her with its ice. "He can't help now. We should check the tracking on their issued false bodies, and then-" when that doesn't work, she didn't say-"report this to Commander Yamamoto."
The look on Kurotsuchi's face went from outrage to irritation. As she turned she missed the last change, something that might have been respect.
Walking out the door first this time, it occurred to her that she had spoken imperiously to a superior officer.
She couldn't bring herself to care. Yoruichi was gone.