Adult-FanFiction.org : Bleach

Prize of Victory 2
By : NovaAlexandria
Category: Bleach > General
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Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make a profit from this story
Chapter List
- 84
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The Night before Tomorrow: Soi Fon

What few people realized, Soi Fon mused as she hunkered down on the tiled floor surrounded by the clicking and chittering of Portal Scarabs, was just how much time management went into planning a successful battle. Timing really was everything.

They had less than twenty hours before all hell broke loose and she still had much to do in order to make certain �hell� arrived on schedule with as few snags as possible. She was the one responsible for checking on all the various preparations. Keeping so many moving parts in synch took almost all of her concentration. Soi Fon considered that a good thing. If she let her mind wander, it might lead her down dark, dangerous paths, ones she couldn�t afford to tread right now. Unfortunately, recent events wouldn�t let her sense of vengeance rest. It forced them to the forefront of her brain, urging her to analyze them for a weakness she could use against the one she most wanted dead.

Barragan�s display the other day was undoubtedly deliberate. She strongly suspected he�d done what he�d done to Ggio with the express purpose of generating rumours that would get back to her, the story growing worse with each retelling. In some, he�d lost a limb; in others, Barragan had beaten him until Ggio bled rivers from his back. Soi Fon had immediately considered the rumours from a tactical standpoint, since spreading them had been an Onmitsukidō specialty. It would mean Barragan considered her a threat of some sort, but more likely, the message wasn�t for her as much as it was for Harribel, as Soi Fon�s new �owner.�

Thankfully, one of her contacts who had been at the market and witnessed the incident whilst hiding behind the counter of a nearby takoyaki booth had given her a more accurate account than what she�d heard at Ukitake�s kitchen table. While she�d been relieved to discover the truth wasn�t as bad as the rumours had made them out to be, it was still painful to hear how The Second had flogged the father of her child and then forcibly taken him in the street. It sickened her that anyone could be as callous as to rape another in public and think nothing of it, all for the �crime� of holding his child. There were permanent creases in her palms from clenching her fists in rage and doing everything in her power to control herself, to remain on course and un-swayed by her desire to end Barragan�s miserable life.

�Soon enough,� she promised her inner sense of justice. �Tomorrow�s sunrise will be the last one he sees.�

Soi Fon did her best to hide her anger, as now wasn�t the time to indulge in it. She also found her lack of mental discipline irritating. Her rage alone wouldn�t free Ggio and it wouldn�t help her finish the tasks she had ahead of her.

At present, they had a greater tyrant than Barragan in their sights. If all went well, by this time tomorrow, someone sane would hold the city and she would be back in Ggio�s arms with their daughter nestled between them. They might even get the chance to reacquaint themselves with one another intimately, since Orihime had restored her health with her powers earlier that day. The only thing the woman hadn�t been able to fix was her throat.

While she was disappointed, Soi Fon also wondered if that meant Orihime�s abilities had a definite time limit. Respira instigated decay in anything it touched and while the woman�s shield was powerful, she suspected that the longer something existed in a state of disrepair, the more likely that degenerated or damaged state would remain a permanent feature of an object� or in this case, a person. It had taken a monumental effort on Orihime�s part to reverse the damage Ukitake�s illness had wrought on his lungs over the last century and he still wasn�t entirely healed. It was a good theory, but it had its weaknesses. Abarai Renji had spent nine years as little more than a walking, breathing corpse, but Orihime had managed to restore the lost half of his soul without much difficulty. What was the key difference between his case and hers? Was it a matter of perception on the part of the person sustaining the injury? Had Soi Fon remained voiceless for so long that she�d come to think of her enforced silence as an intrinsic part of her being?

Those were questions better suited to philosophers and theologians. There would be time enough to suss it all out later. For now, she remained mute. It was not, thankfully, an insurmountable disability. Select members of her old Division could translate the Onmitsukidō�s sign language for her few contacts that didn�t know it. It had been easy enough to slip one of her old subordinates into the Science and Research Division. Lab coats provided excellent camouflage. What was one more geek, indistinguishable from all the others, nestled up to the coffee maker in that place? Kurotsuchi Mayuri would have never allowed such a security breach and to Soi Fon, it was proof that Aizen was too preoccupied with Karin to notice the rabbit holes opening up beneath his feet. Now that she was free, it was her job to exploit them to their fullest potential.

�Rabbit hole� was a great analogy, considering where she was now. She sat under the glare of artificial lighting next to a small group of her fellow conspirators amid the press of insects, with a map the size of a tatami mat spread between the four of them. Iemura Yasochika tapped the capped end of a marker against his chin, waiting for Tsubokura Rin, a young Shinigami from the Science and Research Division, to finish the conversation he had going with a fellow Division member on the other end of his communicator. He seemed like a nice boy with all the grace of a born klutz. She�d seen him trip twice as he�d tried to navigate a chamber full of Scarabs and wondered why he was still alive, considering all of the dangerous things housed in Szayel�s lair. The fourth participant, a former member of the Onmitsukidō who now went by the pseudonym �Yui,� served as both a translator for her and a messenger if necessary. The woman wore the white laboratory coat as if she�d actually earned it, her dark hair up a bun and her sharp eyes hidden behind a pair of spectacles so thick they made Iemura-Fukutaichou�s glasses look like designer frames.

Six Portal Scarabs had come through the Senkaimon in the basement of Szayel�s Division earlier in the day. The technicians had rerouted the portal�s exit to a large, empty, heavily shielded chamber on the lowest level of the Division. Two of the Scarabs had then set up a portal to their Realm and had brought in a dozen of the burrowing pill bugs. Those had wasted no time carefully tunnelling their way into the sewer system, tearing up floor tiles that for some odd reason, had traces of ink on them. A General accompanied the second group, to coordinate the subsequent transfer of troops. In fact, the creature hovered over them, eyeing the map with keen interest and keeping in touch with their home dimension via whatever unseen network the commanders employed.

Once the pill bugs had cleared paths to the sewer system and the rock and dirt from the excavation hard-packed into the walls of the tunnels to prevent collapse, the General had directed the six Scarabs to open three more portals. An influx of Scarabs ensued, one by one, until another sixty packed the large space. The Swarm, with this operation in mind, had set up a second, temporary outpost much farther to the North than the one Aizen�s raiding party had destroyed and ferried the insects in from it, if the chill that clung to their carapaces was any indication. Once in the underground chamber, four teams of two Shinigami, one representative from Szayel�s Division and another from the 4th Division, escorted two of the paired Portal Scarabs to optimum locations in the catacombs beneath the Seireitei. The first Shinigami served to cloak the Scarabs� presence to prevent detection and the second kept everyone else from getting lost en route. Even Soi Fon admitted that it would be far too easy to lose one�s bearings in the dank, underground maze.

Rin, one ear pressed to the receiver of a handheld 12th Division communication device, nodded his head a few times and then turned the dial on it down, covering the bottom half of the thing with his hand after murmuring �Roger that.� Then he grinned at the rest of them. He resembled a puppy, wriggling in excitement as he relayed the message.

�Okay Iemura-Fukutaichou, Team 4 is on their way back to get another batch of visitors. The current group is in position and making room for the next arrivals.�

They�d had to find the best spots in the sewers, areas with enough space to operate a gateway, house a number of crawling flying insects for the short time they�d be underground and which were close to one of the sewer�s egress points. Iemura and Rin had carefully selected the eight operatives, and other than Unohana�s 4th Seat, the woman held by Harribel�s fraccion Apachi, none had a Claim on them. The sheer number of insects necessitated multiple helpers to get the Scarabs situated, though Soi Fon had qualms about so many others needing to know about this portion of the operation.

�Excellent,� Iemura smiled, marking off a spot on the map with the blue marker to indicate it had been �inspected.� If they did fail, they wanted as few people as possible implicated. Thus, this entire exercise went under �Sewer and Wastewater Storage and Outflow Assessment.� Supposedly, those involved were conducting small-scale tests of underground areas that might be �unstable,� a lie that would also help explain any ground vibrations from the pill bugs� activities. The fact that those areas were about to become unstable was beside the point. To further cover up the operation, nearly one hundred �decoy� spots decorated the map. In addition, four of the expected �breakthrough points� nearest the Palace had no label at all.

�Your Dienztmeizje are fazt,� the General noted with interest, leaning over Soi Fon�s shoulder. The four of them looked up at the Swarm General in confusion, partly at the unrecognizable term and partly because of the accent. It, or maybe �he,� Soi Fon wasn�t certain, interpreted their perplexed expressions correctly, because the insect kept talking.

�Ze navigate ze hive eazily. I can azzist, make it fazter. Thiz map iz accurate, yez?�

�Oh� Oh, yes� it�s quite accurate,� Iemura assured him and pointed at the date written along the margin. Soi Fon detected a trace of pride in the man�s voice. �Our people made it within the last five years, with all additions and excavations within that time recorded.�

�Zen I zill inztruct to theze pointz,� the General told them and indicated the more easily reached locations with what she assumed was his finger, �and your Dienztmeizje direct to ze more problem zpotz.�

�Oh, I get it!�

Rin�s face lit up first and a few seconds later, Iemura smacked his forehead with his palm and muttered �Of course.� The smaller Shinigami gestured at the map and then tapped the side of his head, as if to emphasize his point. �You can communicate with the Portal Scarabs telepathically. While our teams lead Scarabs to the harder-to-find positions, you can send instructions to those with easier routes, right?�

�Ze,� the General agreed and Soi Fon took that as confirmation.

�That will definitely speed things up,� Iemura noted. �I want this over with quickly. All your troops will have to do is push the covers out of the way to exit the tunnels.�

Soi Fon wasn�t exactly happy about doing any of this. The idea of the bugs moving beneath the city unsupervised went against every principle regarding security she possessed. Then again, she considered ruefully, the General had already seen the map. For all she knew, someone in the Swarm�s home world might have copied it by now and there was no going back. The 4th Division didn�t have the manpower to guard the Scarabs once they were in place and if the Swarm truly wanted to strike at the Seireitei itself, there would be no one to stop them should all of this prove to be an elaborate treachery on the insects� part.

It came down to trust. She needed to trust that the Swarm would honour their agreement and not stab the Seireitei in its collective back. The Swarm was doing the same with them, for who was to say that the Shinigami weren�t leading the Scarabs into traps themselves? Unfortunately, trust wasn�t something that came to her easily, not after Yoruichi�s abandonment, though her mentor had explained her reasons behind her long-ago departure.

�What is the old saying about strange bedfellows? Seems to be true in war as well as politics,� Soi Fon concluded. In the end, both sides had no choice but to hope the other would do what they said they would. They could not pull this off without the Swarm�s participation and the Swarm needed them to sneak past Szayel�s sensors. It would raise too many questions if the Science Division shut those off en mass, without an order from the 1st Division.

�Do it,� she reluctantly signed. Her translator watched her hands and conveyed the command.

Most of the remaining Scarabs suddenly rose in groups of two and slowly moved out, two by two, leaving only eight pairs who would need real guides. Distributing the bugs would still take most of the night. The Seireitei was a big city and it took time to traverse while above ground. They�d be doing well if everyone was in their proscribed spot in the winding, twisting sewers and they would still have to make certain the egress points were unlocked and unobstructed.

�I know you have more appointments to keep. We have everything under control here, Soi Fon-Fukutaichou. I will send Yui-san to you if we encounter any problems.�

Soi Fon looked from Rin, to Iemura and up at the unreadable visage of the General. The first two seemed confident and Kami only knew what was going through the third�s head. Iemura was right in that she had other rendezvous and a checklist to complete before tomorrow morning. Lingering here would do her no good.

Leaving the two men, her operative and the General behind to finish their task, she accepted several folders. They held falsified reports that would serve as a cover for her presence at the Science Division. In addition, one of them contained copies of her sonograms, from early in her pregnancy. Szayel's staff hadn't transferred the files to the 4th Division with the ones taken later and it wasn�t unconceivable for someone such as her to ask for them. The Shinigami at the front desk had bid her farewell and Soi Fon walked out of the front door unimpeded.

The night was clear and the air unseasonably warm, as it had been all spring. It was much easier to move now that she no longer had such a large front end. A part of her missed it and longed to feel her child squirming inside of her. She even missed the times a tiny foot would impact her bladder, or a diminutive fist knocked on a rib. At least she had been with her daughter at that point, unlike the present.

The guards at the gate leading out of the Seireitei and into the 1st Districted eyed her up and down as she approached, the folders tucked into the basket on her arm. She recognized the large male Arrancar as one of the Hollows whose past behaviour meant he hadn�t made the cut to Claim a second �pet� at the auction of the officers. Two other Shinigami, both men and wearing the same anxious masks on their faces, stood with him. She didn�t blame them for being nervous, given their counterpart�s foul mood. Both were from the 3rd Division and if memory served, other Arrancar had already Claimed them. That explained why they only looked edgy and not terrified.

Her status as Harribel�s �fraccion� and her rank as an acting Fukutaichou earned her a salute from each of the Shinigami. The Arrancar eyed her up like a dish of candy, sensing her power combined with the lack of Claim. Still, �looking� was all he dared do. Soi Fon inclined her head at the Shinigami joint salute and proceeded through the gate, as if she had every right to do so.

She wished she could speak. She would have offered the two men stationed there words of encouragement, telling them to stay strong despite the rabid dog snapping and snarling nearby. Unfortunately, she had to leave them behind and make haste to her next stop.

At least with Marenoshin, her speech impediment wouldn�t be an issue. Her old Fukutaichou had the task of overseeing each explosives team in the middle-numbered districts. As of tomorrow morning, there would be an inordinate number of �accidents� at sake distilleries, as well as lanterns and torches brought into barns still stocked with winter hay for the animals. There would also be cooking fires, bathhouse fires and fires in at least two commercial laundries scheduled to �get out of hand�. Each of these businesses relied on heated water and needed wood-fuelled flames to operate. The conflagrations would escalate, thanks to the tightly packed paper and timber housing that predominated throughout these more �middle class� areas. While it was unfortunate that many innocent people would lose homes and businesses in the mess, rescuing Plusses and trying to put out the fires would serve to occupy those sent to deal with them. While these Districts weren�t impoverished like the higher numbered, outlying Districts such as Inuzuri or Kusajishi, they were still rough and fires weren�t an uncommon occurrence. Making a face, Soi Fon thought that many of those districts might actually benefit from some new construction. She tried to remember what they�d called the process in the Living World.

�Oh, yes� urban renewal. That was the term.�

It didn�t take too long to get to Marenoshin�s location using Shunpo. Trust an Omaeda to worm his way into a covert position where food and drink were readily available. She didn�t even have to look all that hard for him. He�d traded in his identity as a fishmonger for that of the seedy proprietor of an equally seedy drinking establishment in the 41st District. He sat at one of the tables in the corner of the tavern with a large meal spread out before him, as if surveying both his domain and his meal. It was a means of overseeing his subordinates as they made their reports under the pretext of barhopping. There was nothing remarkable about inebriated men stumbling in and out of the establishment, arm in arm and singing lewd songs about promiscuous women doing them wrong. As much as Soi Fon disliked the means, it was an effective cover.

The barkeep would occasionally scurry back and forth between Marenoshin and the bar, ostensibly to deliver more sake to the owner. In reality, the skinny barkeeper was relaying information by means of their payment and then giving that to Marenoshin along with a sake bottle full of water to keep up appearances. It was an old, reliable method of communicating secrets by using the fold of a paper bill or the number and type of coins used to pay in combination with whether or not the currency was paid face up or down. A more complex variation of the code would even include what the operative ordered, but thankfully, they didn�t need anything like that for tonight�s correspondence. Their informants used the yen Marenoshin had handed out in change for the last week, returning the coins face down if their mission was a failure and face up if all had gone well. The drink of choice was always the same: cheap beer with a wave of three fingers in the air to let the bartender know a message was imminent.

�Ah, Soi Fon-Fukutaichou!�

Marenoshin greeted her with a wide smile as she tentatively joined him at the table. �You look famished! Eat, before the wind blows you away!� he ordered, indicating the food on the table with a magnanimous gesture. The meal was on the extravagant side and she suspected he�d raided the kitchen in anticipation of her visit. His pocketbook and his once-plush waistline had suffered since the loss of the Omaeda Estate and she knew he couldn�t really spare the funds unless he had free rein of the tavern�s kitchen. Soi Fon would not want to be Sementall when Marenoshin cornered the Arrancar. Her former superior had always been fond of his children, the youngest in particular, and as a retired member of the Onmitsukidō he knew ways of inflicting pain that bypassed the traditional definition of �interrogation techniques� and went straight on to �heinous torture.� Sementall had better have treated Mareyo like a queen, if the Hollow knew what was good for him. In addition, Mareyo would have to say good things about the father of her child if she wanted him to live past tomorrow night. Even that might not be enough to get Marenoshin to spare the Arrancar, considering what had happened to two of Mareyo�s three older siblings.

Soi Fon put that thought aside and helped herself to a plate of breaded pork and a bowl of udon soup. Orihime might have healed her body, but she needed to replenish her lost energy too and she was famished after a day that seemed to have no end. In fact, the 4th Division was her first stop tomorrow morning. She was supposed to undergo a �post-partum check up,� to determine if her health was good enough to withstand Harribel�s Claim. In reality, she�d arranged for a reiatsu infusion to top off her reserves. She would also let Unohana know if they were going to proceed with the plan or scuttle it. So far, everything seemed to indicate a solid �go,� but she�d know more after she finished here and met up with her next contact.

�I trust that you�re still up to your ears in cockroaches, cleaning out those old Division grounds?� Marenoshin asked with a great laugh as she devoured her cutlet with gusto. She rolled her eyes at him in mid-bite, but nodded as she chewed to indicate all was going well with the Swarm. He rubbed his hands together and his eyes took on an avaricious gleam.

�Excellent! Business has been on the uptake lately. Our profits have been good tonight, with nary a bar fight!� the tall man announced cheerfully and poured a cup of �sake� for her, then one for himself. She tossed back the water as if what was in the cup was actually alcoholic and watched him do the same.

His words meant that everything was proceeding nicely with no complications, which was good news. In fact, as she finished the pork and started slurping down a surprisingly delicious bowl of udon, Soi Fon watched another group of drunken men stagger past the cloth strips that served as a �door�. They slurred out an order for the cheapest of the house beers, though only one man showed three fingers while he did so. That man handed over his coins face up and all of the loutish-looking boozers downed their drinks as if they�d spent the last week trapped in the desert. The guzzle-fest came complete with a loud round of belches at the end and then they tottered out while they joked about �making the rounds�. The only man in on the plan was the one who had signalled. The other two were convenient patsies, probably picked up somewhere on the street with an offer of buying a round or two in celebration of some made-up event. Hiding behind perfectly ordinary drunks on a bender made the agent�s cover story more convincing, especially as there was no act on the civilians� parts to maintain. They were thoroughly soused and Soi Fon did not envy them the headaches they would have in the morning.

�So, what will your mistress have this evening?� Marenoshin asked as he dabbed at the side of his mouth with a napkin. He rose from his seat once she�d finished her udon with a sigh and graciously indicated that she should follow him to the bar. He made idle small talk, while she either nodded or shook her head. Thankfully, he kept his banter simple and she didn�t have to pull out that blasted chalkboard.

She�d received a coded message nearly two weeks ago, saying he�d moved locations and as such, the nature of her purchases had changed, from fish to rice wine. In theory, Harribel had sent her to get a bottle of the house�s finest Daiginjo Sake for her mistress and her fraccion. The irony was that neither Harribel nor Toshiro were heavy drinkers. In Harribel�s case, her pregnancy would keep her from imbibing and Toshiro preferred not to drink at all. On the other hand, the �three geese,� as Toshiro had amusingly and fittingly dubbed them, were more than willing to make the bottles Soi Fon brought home disappear if it helped the cause. While the Trés Bestias had moved out, they still gathered at Harribel�s den for dinner every night with their �pets� and if they swayed a bit as they walked back to their new lairs, no one thought anything of it.

�The usual?� the barkeep asked as Marenoshin leaned against the bar and scratched the remains of his once-proud belly. Soi Fon nodded again and the man in charge of the booze began to rummage through one of the cupboards beneath the bar. Again, this was code to indicate all was going well and according to plan. If it hadn�t been, they had preset a selection of other bottles to choose from to indicate the nature of the problem. As there was no duress, she accepted the bottle of Daiginjo from him and bowed respectfully.

�Well, tell your mistress we appreciate her business.�

Since they were in the public eye, Soi Fon settled for a respectful bow while she accepted the bottle of expensive sake, though Harribel wouldn�t be the one to receive the alcohol tonight. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw another party of ruffians trot in. They took seats at a nearby table and tossed boasts back and forth between them about their �prowess with the ladies�. The barkeep brought the four, two of which tapped three fingers against the table to some unseen music in their heads. Those two paid their tab with the coins facing upwards. There was some distasteful back and forth at that table, some bragging about �she couldn�t get enough of me� making Soi Fon glad she didn�t frequent this establishment by choice, but it was all part of the deception. When they got up to leave, she bowed again, in thanks for the food as well as the bottle and followed in their wake.

Her next rendezvous would be trickier, as she moved further out into the wilder, more dangerous Districts. She also did her best to hide her reiatsu, to better blend with the weaker souls that made these Districts home. She had made certain that she had put herself down for patrol this evening on the Division�s roster, in the unlikely event that Aizen would choose tonight to check in on her with the tracking serum with which he�d injected her. While the purpose of her resurrected Division was the performing of konso, every Division had to help with border patrols and that included the officers. As such, she�d used the loophole to assign herself this particular patrol route, on this particular night, in order to meet one particular person, a woman with a reputation for being notoriously difficult to find, though when she did make an appearance, she did it in the most flamboyant manner possible.

It astonished Soi Fon that someone so exuberant could vanish at the drop of a hat and take those closest to her with her as well. Then again, she had good reason to hide her presence from the world and more than enough cause to want revenge against the man who dared to call himself �Kami�. After all, Aizen was responsible, both directly and indirectly, for the deaths of her real and adoptive brothers.

When Soi Fon reached the designated clearing and saw no one, she wondered if she�d made a mistake. The heavily forested northern 80th District didn�t have many landmarks, but she thought she�d made the correct right turn near a boulder that resembled a sleeping bear. Thinking she might have misread the directions, Soi Fon was about to turn around and retrace her steps when the bushes on the far side of the open space rustled and two figures stepped out of the shadow of a tall tree.

�Yo, Little Bee! What took you so long to get out here?�

The first figure used its only hand to push back her cloak�s hood revealing messy dark hair bound up in a turban. Shiba Kukaku greeted her with a cheeky smirk.

:You weren�t my first appointment: Soi Fon replied via sign language.

The woman assisting Shiba Kukaku in her endeavours this evening translated the movements of the former Taichou�s fingers for the Shiba heir.

�All is going well I trust?�

:So far, so good. The Swarm should be in position and ready to move once they get your signal. How are things on your end?:

�We�re ready to fly and we�re down to double checking wires and triggers, but I don�t foresee any issues. By the way, the Arrancar on patrol passed us an hour ago. The idiot had no idea we were setting up a bomb as he passed overhead,� she informed the smaller woman and then her expression changed to a meaningful glare. �This had better work, Soi Fon. I�m taking a big risk in supplying your people with powder and explosives. There is no way Aizen will believe someone other than a Shiba could pull this off, and I have no desire to join Unohana in warming his bed.�

:Should we fail, there will be a short amount of time before Aizen can restore order. By then, I trust, you will have ample opportunity to go to ground: Soi Fon countered, her exasperation plain. She didn�t blame Shiba Kukaku for worrying, however. As a noblewoman whose ties to the Spirit King�s throne rivalled that of the Kyoraku and Kuchiki, Aizen might be tempted to bring her in for testing and/or imprison her to serve as another brood mare.

On the other hand, with poor Karin already in his grasp, he might not want to do anything more than extinguish the Shiba for good. The bastard�s gonads could only produce so much semen a night, after all. She couldn�t see Aizen devoting extra time and resources to tracking Kukaku down. It was a testament to the one-armed woman�s skill that she�d remained free and hidden for this long, considering her high spiritual pressure. The Arrancar hadn�t stopped prowling around for strong women to Claim. In fact, Soi Fon has been shocked to learn that Kukaku had been the one responsible for Nirgge�s demise.

She had always wondered what had happened to the second of Barragan�s surviving fraccion. Nirgge had failed to return after going out to seek his own pet shortly after Aizen had declared open season on the Gotei 13�s survivors, the Seireitei and the Rukongai. A few Arrancar had gone �missing� during that time and Nirgge had been one of them. For the longest time she�d assumed Nirgge knew what sort of monster Barragan really was and had decided to cut his losses and bolt. However, when she took into account Nirgge�s unappetizing, oafish appearance and factored in Barragan�s taste in young men, she�d revised her theory of Nirgge being one of His Majesty�s fuck toys. In a way, she supposed that it was a good thing, as she couldn�t see the mastodon�s role in Barragan�s household as anything positive for her, Ggio or Yumichika.

At least Soi Fon now knew the fate of the beast that had killed her Fukutaichou. Kukaku�s revelation and her mocking lament at the fact that it had taken a full crate of her most expensive black powder to� blow the stocky son of a bitch to smithereens� were almost uplifting to hear.

�Are you going back to the 1st District, or do you want to accompany me to the next two detonation points?� Kukaku inquired. �If you come with me, try not to damage Ganju too much if it looks like he�s slacking. That�s my job.�

: I�ll accompany you: Soi Fon responded, before pulling out the bottle of sake she�d had tucked in a bag under her arm and giving it a shake. She also made sure Kukaku could read the label in the moonlight. He companion�s eyes lit up at the sight of the expensive stuff.

�Well, let�s carry on then!� Kukaku laughed gaily, swiping the container from Soi Fon, pulling the stopper and taking a sip. One should savour alcohol this good, the other woman murmured appreciatively, not slug it, even if it was cold. She then passed the bottle back, a bright gleam in her green eyes that hadn�t been there before. It was a reminder that she was probably the only soul in the Seireitei who could match Yoruichi-sama cup for cup in a drinking contest.

She could only hope that Shiba Kukaku and her twit of a brother could wire explosives as expertly while tipsy as they could sober. Soi Fon accepted the bottle and took a sip herself, sighing as the smooth liquor slid down her throat to settle in her belly. How many years had it been since she�d been allowed to enjoy the taste of good sake? The answer to that was �far too long�. She offered the bottle to the translator, who shook her head and held up her hand, indicating she�d forgo drinking, which was just as well. A sober translator was an accurate translator, especially while working without a lantern.

�So, I heard you pumped out a kid! Boy? Girl? What�s the child like?� Kukaku asked as they walked towards their next destination.

Soi Fon reached up and rubbed her forehead. Of course Yoruichi would have told her fellow noblewoman about that. The two were thick as thieves. Knowing it was useless to dissemble, Soi Fon shared with Kukaku what she could about her daughter, including her adopted parents and the lengths to which Ggio had gone to ensure Avispona�s safety. Regrettably, there was a limit to what she could share because she lacked the information. Nnoitra�s possessiveness towards Rangiku and his insistence that his fraccion keep his �possession� under guard at all times, coupled with Tesra�s instincts to keep his pregnant mate either safe by his side or secure in the den had kept Tatsuki from contacting her. She considered it a miracle that Rangiku had convinced Tesra to allow the two expectant women to visit Nanao�s Division.

It also served as a painful prod to the festering wound within her. This entire night had been a reminder of the suffering Aizen and the worst of his creations had caused and of those creations, she considered Barragan the greatest of monsters. She would have to leave Aizen to the others but Barragan� Barragan was her target. The horrid old skeleton had racked up quite a bill as far as the suffering of others went. Soi Fon swore she would extract payment from his wrinkled, misbegotten hide if it were the last thing she did.

By the time that they had checked all of the hidden explosives, it was nearly midnight. The timers were set, the wiring perfect and she found it almost reassuring that Shiba Ginjou was still a bent-nosed ne'er-do-well easily cowed by his elder sister. After some bickering, Kukaku and her little brother melted into the shadows along with the interpreter and the sake bottle. They were going on to the other outer Districts, to do the same sort of testing. She would have to trust that they�d do their best.

�This all ends tomorrow,� Soi Fon thought wistfully as she abandoned her supposed patrol and tiredly made the long trek back to Harribel and Toshiro�s house for a few hours of sleep. Getting past the guard on the way back into the Seireitei wasn�t difficult. The Arrancar was too busy sneering at the two Shinigami with him to notice the shadow that darted through gate behind him. If all went well, tonight would be the last time that particular Hollow would have the wherewithal to browbeat anyone.

Two different images accompanied her on her way back to her temporary abode: one of Ggio, Avispona and herself safely tucked into the spare bedroom of Harribel�s den, her little family reunited in the best way possible. She could even see Harribel�s overly curious girls kept at bay by Yumichika. The man was capable of turning a bolt of harmless-looking silk into a weapon.

The other was of Barragan�s crown split down the middle as Tiburon cleaved the �King of Hueco Mundo� in two and Suzumebachi purified the bastard.
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Prize of Victory 2	By : NovaAlexandria Category: Bleach > General Views: 56251 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 5
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor make a profit from this story

Prize of Victory 2