Two Souls Intertwined

Miyako sat on the roof of Jushiro’s house pondering the events that happened the night before. She knew that Yuna could be stubborn, but she didn’t know that she would end up spraining her wrist on just her first night as a lieutenant. Miyako sighed heavily and rubbed her face. Looking out for her was going to be harder than she thought. Well, what better way to prepare yourself for the future than to train your butt off? Which is exactly what she was going to do. She had promised her zanpakuto that she would train every morning for about two hours, give or take a few minutes.
 
Quickly grabbing her sword that was lying next to her, she dashed across the rooftops until she got to the training ground behind the house. When she reached her destination, she hopped off the roof to land in the center of the gigantic hole in the ground that served as the training ground. Spotting a boulder, Miyako walked over to it and sat down. She then unsheathed her sword and stabbed it into the ground in front of her and closed her eyes. It always took a couple of minutes of meditating to get her zanpakuto’s attention, but she had no choice. Not if she wanted to learn more of her secrets.

Of course, knowing Mitsuko, she would be too stubborn to show any of her secrets to Miyako unless she got her butt whooped. Which was exactly what Miyako intended to do. After about fifteen minutes of waiting, Miyako felt the familiar reiatsu of Mitsuko and heard a tail swishing back and forth as the sword in front of her began to materialize. Miyako kept her eyes closed, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. She could tell Mitsuko had finished materializing and was now crouched in front of her and staring at her two inches away from her face.
 
“Miyako...” There was no answer.

She decided to try a little louder, “Miyako!”

Still no answer. Huffing, she roughly sat down and crossed her arms in irritation while looking in the opposite direction.
 
“You know, if you’re gonna make me go through all that trouble to crawl out of that small head of yours, you should at least have the decency to listen to me you ungrateful little-”
 
“Ahhh!” Mitsuko was cut off by a loud battle cry that came from a lunging Miyako.

Mitsuko freaked and tried to flash step away only to be caught by her tail and pulled backwards. Miyako then jumped on her back and began wrestling her to the ground by pushing her head down. Mitsuko was well aware of what she was trying to do and decided to counterattack by falling backwards, knocking the breath out of her master. Miyako was gasping for breath but continued to hang on, she was not about to lose this fight. She tightened her grip around Mitsuko’s waist and rolled over so she sat on top with her sword pinned to the ground.
 
“Ha, now you have to teach me everything you know,” She pulled on Mitsuko’s ears and in response felt a foot collide with the back of her head, causing her to drop her guard for a split second.
Unfortunately, that split second was enough time for Mitsuko to escape from her master’s grip and pin her down instead. Miyako’s face was buried into the ground.
 
“You expect me to teach you my secrets when I can easily escape your grasp? Yeah, right!”
 
Miyako began to rant angrily but was muffled by her face being forced into the ground. Mitsuko leaned forward to hear what she was saying but still couldn’t make out the words.
 
“You’re going to have to talk a little louder than that,” Mitsuko rolled her eyes.
 
The ‘cat’ on the ground grunted and lifted her head, spitting out some dirt in the process. “You said that you would teach me if I pinned you down next time! Well, it’s next time and you still refuse to teach me, even after I pinned you down!”
 
“Did I say that?” She dug her elbow into Miyako’s back creating a loud pop from her spine and a loud groan to escape her lips.

Miyako gave up and placed her head back into the dirt with a huff. Mitsuko placed her head in her hand and leaned further forward and pretended to think.

“I don’t seem to remember me saying that. I recall me saying that you had to keep me down.”
 
Miyako spoke again into the dirt.

“Can’t hear you.”
 
She lifted her head again.

“That’s what I did!”
 
“You may have pinned me down but you didn’t keep me down,” She flicked the back of her master’s head with an amused grin.
 
“What?! That is not fair! That’s it! Get off of me!” Miyako started to struggle underneath her zanpakuto’s grasp. Mitsuko sighed and sat back up.

“How is that workin’ for ya?”
 
“Oh, shut up.”

 Mitsuko’s laughter echoed throughout the Soul Society. Meanwhile, on the other side of the rather large estate, a certain tiny captain with a black cat perched on her shoulder approached the mansion with one intention in mind. That intention was to find this so called ‘Miyako’ and find out where she came from and how she got here. As they continued forward, Soifon began to question whether or not this was where she was staying.
 
“Are you sure this is her location? There doesn’t seem to be any traces of her spiritual pressure.”
 
“Shunsui told me this was where she lived. Apparently she has been staying here for quite some time, but no one knew about it.” Yoruichi said, laying her head down on her subordinate’s shoulder.
 
Soifon stroked her mentor’s fur absentmindedly and walked up to the gate, Yoruichi purring along the way. Ukitake opened the gate, expecting their arrival and beckoned them inside with a heart-warming smile.
 
“Welcome, Captain; Yoruichi.”

Both women nodded as they walked past Jushiro.

“You came just in time; I was just going to sit down to some tea and lunch. Would you care to join me? We are having fish today...”

Yoruichi’s head popped up at this. She jumped off of Soifon’s shoulder and sauntered toward the dinning room.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Both captains then followed after the black cat. They walked in silence and sat down at the table waiting for the fish to come out of the kitchen. Jushiro noticed how Soifon kept gazing off into different directions and smiled.
 
“She’s good, isn’t she?”

Soifon looked at him, eyebrow raised.

“I presume you are searching for Miyako’s reiatsu. She is very skilled at masking it, but I do assure you that she is here,”
 
“Told ya,” Yoruichi said from a nearby pillow.
 
“I never said you were wrong, Yoruichi-sama,” Soifon noticed all of the holes and rips in the pillow her Mentor was currently laying belly up on.

“Why does that pillow have so many holes?”
 
Jushiro looked over at what the small captain was talking about and laughed.

“Miyako was asleep and ended up tearing holes into the pillow when she was roughly woken up by Yuna screaming,” Jushiro explained.

A servant came into the room and set down a teapot along with five cups. Jushiro then poured the tea and handed Soifon her cup. She nodded her head in thanks and took a small sip.
 
Yoruichi rolled over so she was facing the two captains, “Speaking of Miyako, where is she?”
 
“I am not sure, but I do know that she will be coming. She never misses a meal.”

He began to rub his chin in thought, “In fact, how someone as skinny as her can pack away that much food is beyond me.”
 
Soifon looked in Yoruichi’s direction who was currently cleaning her fur. The Captain put the tea cup to her mouth and smiled, muttering something about Yoruichi doing the same thing. Yoruichi’s keen ears picked up on this however and she walked over to Soifon, jumped onto her lap and put her paws on her chest.
 
“Did you say something, Soi?” She looked her straight in the eye as she said this.

Soifon tried to lean back, but instead of getting away from the cat, Yoruichi just went with her. Flashbacks of her paparazzi experience flashed through her head and she feared the punishment she would receive if Yoruichi found out what she said. Yoruichi leaned in closer, trying to probe an answer out of the now timid woman. Soifon searched her mind for an excuse. She opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by a sudden explosion. Yoruichi turned her attention towards the door.

Soifon silently thanked the gods for the distraction as she walked outside to see a gigantic mushroom cloud on the other side of the mansion.
 
“Oh, she must be training,” Jushiro said as he sat back down after rushing to the door.
 
“That was her?!” Yoruichi asked in shock.
 
“Yes, she often trains with her zanpakuto in the morning. I’m just glad that they kept the battle in the training grounds today.”
 
“What do you mean by that?”
 
“Well, they usually end up running around the manor and end up destroying part of my garden. They are constantly arguing as well,” He shook his head.
 
“Wait, her zanpakuto is able to materialize on its own?” Soifon became serious again.
 
“Yes, she seems to have a deep connection with her zanpakuto, unlike most soul reapers. I am not sure why, in fact, I don’t even think she knows why.” He sipped his coffee.

He looked up from his cup and motioned for the two to sit back down with him. They did as they were asked.
 “She should be finishing up, so you won’t have to wait much longer.” After this comment, the room fell silent as they waited for Miyako to make her entrance.
 
After about ten minutes of silence, the smell of smoke entered the room along with a disheveled looking Miyako. Her face was covered in dirt and her hair was sticking up in different directions. A silent Yuna walked past her and sat at the table.
 
Miyako started walking into the room and stopped halfway, looking down at a black cat that was currently blocking her path. Her ears were pinned back against her head; she did not like this at all.
 
“Why is there another cat in the house?” She asked, a hint of malice in her voice.

She felt as though her territory was being invaded. She bent down so she was at eye level with her intruder.
 
“Miyako, meet Yoruichi. Yoruichi; Miyako.” Jushiro motioned to each of them with his hand as he spoke their names.
 
Miyako looked back down at the cat, “You’re Yoruichi? But how can you be a cat?”
 
“The same way you can change into a cat. You two are a lot alike Miyako, in more ways than one.” Ukitake said.

Miyako glanced into Yoruichi’s eyes for a moment.
 
“Oh, it is you. I didn’t think I would see you so soon,” Yoruichi put her paw on Miyako’s face in return.

Miyako scratched behind her ear then looked in the shorter captain’s direction and glared. “Why did you bring that with you?”
 
The look of anger on the Captain’s face was priceless. Miyako stood up, grabbed the fish that was on the table, and then proceeded to walk out of the room. Not once, did she look at Soifon’s face while doing so.
 
“Miyako, that is no way to treat a guest! Especially one who has come all this way to talk to you specifically.” Ukitake scolded the girl, causing Yuna to chuckle and Miyako to mumble under her breath.
 
“Fine.” She turned around and sat at the table across from Yuna who, might I add, was very amused at the whole situation.

Miyako pouted and put her head in her hand, obviously not wanting to be there causing Jushiro to clear his throat. Miyako sighed and sat up straight, a smile appearing on Ukitake’s face.
 
“Let us eat.” Jushiro simply said.
 
Everyone started to dig in and Miyako scarfed down her food as quickly as she could. She did notice, however, that Yuna was hesitating to pick up her chopsticks. She was about to say something when Ukitake spoke up.
 
“Captain Soifon, do you care to enlighten us with your reason for joining us today?” Ukitake smiled in her direction.
 
Soifon nodded her head and turned towards Miyako, but before she could speak a pain-filled noise came from the other side of the table. Everyone turned to Yuna, worry filled Miyako’s eyes. Yuna then narrowed her eyes before disappearing on the spot.
 
“Yuna!” Miyako yelled after her, but she was just ignored.
 
She quickly used her flash step to catch up with the smaller girl. “I’m faster than you, Yuna, and you know it!”

She was next to Yuna in a second. She came to an abrupt stop and Miyako followed suite, effortlessly. Miyako raised her hand to put on Yuna’s shoulder, but recoiled after hearing the sting in Yuna’s voice.
 
“I hate you!” Yuna yelled suddenly, her eyes filled with emotion.
 
Miyako’s eyebrows furrowed.
 
“I hate you.” Yuna repeated, tears escaping from her eyes and traveling down her face in narrow fast-running streams.

“You were supposed to protect me. Where were you? I needed you and you weren’t there.” Yuna said, Miyako’s heart suddenly felt heavy.
 
Miyako’s expression changed to sadness as she understood what Yuna was going through now. Not only was her wrist hurt by this ogre man, but so was her honor and the wrist was just a plain reminder of it. She took a step toward her with her hand outreached, but Yuna disappeared again before she could reach her.
 
“Yuna!” The girl was gone.
 
Miyako just stood in the same place, contemplating what she should do. She could either go back to Ukitake’s and wait for her to return home or she could wait for a few minutes and go after her when she was a little cooled down. Miyako decided to go with the latter and wait. She found a nearby tree and sat on the branch.
 
The wind softly blew, her tail waving in the wind as she waited. She looked up to the sky and stared at the clouds above. Reruns of last nights events ran through her head, along with what Yuna had just said. Miyako then sighed and shook her head. Why in the world would you trust me of all people to look after this girl, Miyako? I can’t even look after her at a stupid party.
 
“Because she new she could trust you.” Mitsuko answered back.

“She saw a strong, young woman who she knew she could entrust her daughter to in case anything happened to her. That’s why she chose you.”
 
Miyako didn’t answer. She knew her sword was right but she wasn’t going to admit it, not yet at least.
 
“Who asked you,” Miyako stated with a bit of sarcasm.
 
“I know, I know. I’m always wrong. Now how about we go find that stubborn teenager,” Miyako could tell that Mitsuko was rolling her eyes.
 
Miyako nodded her head and started off in the same direction as before. It wasn’t long before she found Yuna walking back to the house her arms crossed behind her head. She seemed to be deep in thought until she dropped to the floor and crumpled in on herself, hugging her hand close to her chest. Miyako couldn’t take it.
 
“Stop it, Yuna.” Yuna laid frozen on the spot from surprise.

“Stop killing yourself over what a simple pig did to you!” She projected her voice to make a point.
 
“It’s not your fault and it’s not mine either! And if you want to cry about it all day then go ahead, but I know you’re better than that! What happened to the Yuna who said she didn’t need a guardian and kicked me in the face to prove her point?! I know the real Yuna would’ve taken all the pain by now and turn it into anger towards that person who caused her all of it! I know the real Yuna wouldn’t disgrace her family name and lieutenant status for someone as undeserving as Omaeda!”
 
Yuna slowly got to her feet and turned around to face Miyako with a piercing death glare.