Not A Child "Well, we're here!" Isane called to the group as the limo pulled up to Rukongai's front door, pulling Soi out of the contented haze that dinner had placed her in just half-an-hour ago. To be honest, she had found that to easily be the best part of the evening so far, having not eaten at a nice restaurant since her birthday of the previous year. She hobbled out last, supported from falling on the hem of her dress by Uryuu's quick reflexes. She smiled gratefully and tried to thank the boy, but he only glanced away, muttering that 'it was nothing' as he pushed his slipping glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Come on, you two!" Ichigo called from the top of the stairs, a slight hint of irritation in his voice as the freshman and sophomore caught up with them. Soi glanced around as she waited in line, Isane being in possession of all the tickets in. The school didn't seem that much different at night, but then the lights were on in this particular hall anyway. Once the silver-haired girl had gotten them all through, they walked up to the gym. In spite of herself, Soi blinked as they walked inside. This was definitely closer to what she had anticipated and more, since Rukongai was such a nice school to begin with. The room was only reconizable due to the basketball rims that had been raised into the high ceiling; practically every inch of the walls was covered in streamers while large paper snowflakes adorned with glitter hung off strings attached to the rafters. There was pop music coming from a booth manned by a disc jockey at the far end of the room, the music apparently synchronized with the flashing multitude of colored lights set up around the perimeter; on a small table to the side sat a bowl of punch and a few dishes full of desserts and snacks, and not far from there was an open area where various people had paired off and were dancing with abandon. As Soi followed Isane's friends around the edge of the dance floor the sight of blonde hair beside her caught her eye. "...What's wrong?" Uryuu asked, happening to notice the freshman's distracted behavior. "Nothing," Soi answered with a shrug. "...I just thought I saw someone I knew, is all..." With that she shook the possibility off physically before following Isane's beckoning hand. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Jeez, I TOLD you to be careful!" Yoruichi growled as she smacked Kisuke on the head from their position between the wall and one of the many snack tables. "...She almost saw you!" "I said I was sorry!" he shot back, equally irritated about the whole situation. "...I don't see why we have to be hiding, anyway. Aren't we supposed to be CHAPERONES?" "We can't just stand there in the open-- If Soi sees us she'll think that we're spying on her!" "Isn't that what we're doing?" Urahara asked with a raised eyebrow. It wasn't even like they blended in-- they'd had to stop at their respective houses to pick up the best clothes they could on such short notice, which for him meant nice jeans and a longsleeve striped button-down and for Yoruichi amounted to a black miniskirt and jacket with a ribbed v-neck shirt beneath. "We're a little underdressed, and it's not like you're not gonna go unnoticed anyway..." "Just relax, Kisuke...As long as we don't draw any unnecessary attention to ourselves we'll be fine. Now come on, if we scoot over a little we should be able to see her just fine--" "Yoruichi," Urahara asked with a sudden degree of seriousness in his voice, "...What are you doing this for?" The dark girl blinked in confusion, as if the answer should have been plain. "Because if we don't, something might happen to her! Did you not SEE her? I mean, there's lots of people who might hit on her in a situation like this and if she--" "...No--I mean, why are you REALLY doing this?" "...Well..." Yoruichi started to retort, but somehow it got lost in her throat. She couldn't explain it, what was going through her head right now, but...it had just never occured to her how beautiful Soi was until she'd seen her in that dress. She had always been CUTE, just not quite like this-- not so much that it had nearly taken her breath away. "...Come on, let's just keep moving," she finally said, standing up and moving to the next table as quickly as she could, grateful that the low lights and the swarm of people kept her and Kisuke fairly well hidden. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Soi glanced around, feeling awkward as she sat at one of the small tables, sipping a cupfull of punch occasionally to occupy her hands. She was starting to think that maybe she had the right idea before-- she didn't have any friends here besides Isane who was off dancing with Chad, and without a date she was stuck in the lowly category of 'wallflower.' She'd tried dancing to some of the up-tempo stuff, but when three songs had passed of her waving her arms and bobbing in time with the music she just felt foolish, and was now watching the dance pass her by from the safety of the seats. After a few songs she sighed and glanced at her watch. Maybe I should just go home... This whole idea was stupid... "Hey, uh...do you wanna dance?" Soi blinked at the sudden intrusion of her thoughts and looked up to see the bespectacled boy from the limousine shifting his weight nervously, the tails of his white tuxedo moving in time with him. "Oh, well..." the freshman muttered as she bit her lip, "...You're kinda not my type, Ishida-san..." "Huh? N-no, I didn't mean it like that," the boy answered even as he struggled to hide his slight blush, "...I just saw you over here alone, and...I thought that..." "What, that I can't get a date? Are you looking for a 'pity dance' or something?" Soi knew that she was overreacting but the fact of the matter was that he'd caught her at the worst possible time, when she was feeling even more insecure than before. Uryuu flinched at the sudden fire that had seeped into the girl's voice, but stood his ground. "...Listen...It's not like that," he answered while pushing up his perpetually slipping glasses. "See, I'm kinda in the same boat as you, and...I know how it feels when you come to one of these things alone." To his relief, Soi's cold eyes softened a little, replaced with a hint of guilt. Seeing an opportunity, he pressed forward and extended his hand again, the embodiment of a perfect gentleman. "...So...as friends... would you like to dance?" Soi glanced at the upturned palm before her, feeling a little apprehensive. He hadn't really given her any good excuse to turn him down, and wasn't as if she wanted to waste all the money she'd spent on this without at least one waltz under her belt. Besides, hadn't Yoruichi...kind of expected her to dance with a boy? It wasn't like she expected her to notice the way she felt, but still...maybe there was a chance that she could still be deluding herself, that what she experienced with Yoruichi was just an illlusion. "...Okay," Soi said with a friendly grin as she followed him out to where the music had shifted and the amorphous blob of bodies had split off into slow-dancing pairs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "...Who the hell is THAT?" "Huh? Gyu sha shomthng?" Kisuke asked at the sudden question posed by Yoruichi, leaning out from under their third table as he swallowed a handful of barbeque chips at once. Yoruichi had half a mind to tell him to not talk with food in his mouth but decided that what she was seeing now was more important. "...That kid who's talking to Soi! Do you know him?" "Hmm... don't know. He's not from any classes I'm in, so he's probably an underclassman... Oh will you look at that..." he finished with a grin as he watched the bespectacled teen lead Soi over to the packed dance floor. "...Looks like she did get a da-- Yoruichi? Is something wrong?" "...What gave you THAT idea?!" the upperclassman growled at Kisuke with unintentional venom. When he looked too afraid to continue his comment Yoruichi turned back to the sight of Soi and Uryuu dancing, even though it was only putting her in a worse mood. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Soi smiled at the boy as they swayed back and forth on in time with the music, even though she knew it was an artificial display of enjoyment. It wasn't that he didn't seem nice, it was just...more that it didn't feel RIGHT. "Hey, something up?" "N-no," Soi answered jovially, even though she just kept wishing that it was Yoruichi and not Uryuu that had a hand on her w...! "Oh! I-I'm sorry!" Uryuu gasped as he pulled his palm back up from her rear. "I just kinda lost my balance there, a--" "No, it's alright," the freshman said with as much good humor as she could muster. It may have been an accident, but it still had felt so odd when he'd touched her. There was no breathlessness, no passion flowing through her like it had when she'd danced with Yoruichi, just a lingering feeling that she'd been violated, like someone had dropped an ice cube down the back of her dress. "It's okay, let's just keep going..." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Okay, that's IT!" Yoruichi snarled as she pulled herself up with blinding speed and began walking straight for her friend. She couldn't believe that he had just done THAT to Soi, and she was getting ready to break them apart when Kisuke locked her in a full nelson and dragged her to the nearest exit, Yoruichi kicking and struggling while a few couples standing to the side stared in silent bewilderment."Let...me...GO, Kisuke! Goddamnit--!" When he had managed to pull her to the deserted hallway just beyond the gym Urahara complied, releasing Yoruichi once he was sure that she wouldn't go running back inside. "What happened to 'letting her have a good time?' I thought that was the whole reason you were encouraging her to come to this thing, Yoruichi!" "She wasn't having a good time, she was being molested!" Yoruichi protested angrily as she tried to peek through a window in hope of vainly making sure Uryuu hadn't done anything more to Soi. "Don't you think that maybe you're overreacting a little bit? I mean, it was pretty obvious that guy wasn't the type to do anything to a girl, and especially not Soi Fong--" "I don't care! She's MY Soi and I'm not going to just let someone think that it's okay for them to feel her up!" "...What does you mean, 'your Soi?'" Yoruichi opened her mouth to continue her tirade when what she'd said suddenly hit her. Did I...really just...? What was wrong with her? She knew that she was being childish...but even so, just seeing someone TOUCH Soi like that... I'm just angry because we're friends, she assured herself. She just wanted the best for Soi, that had to be it. But that spark that had flared up within her when she'd seen Soi tonight... that wanting... No, it had to have been surprise getting the best of her. It was a sisterly affection she felt for Soi, nothing else. It couldn't be anything else... "Look," Kisuke said after a moment, bringing his friend back to her senses, "...You seem like you're upset-- you should just go home and get some rest. Don't worry, I'll watch out for her, if that's what you want," the teen promised with an easy smile as Yoruichi prepared to speak. The fact of the matter was that Yoruichi was tired. All this stuff running through her head...she needed time to just put it aside, to breathe and collect herself. "...You'd better," she said simply as she extricated himself from his grip and headed lazily for the door. "Do you need a ride?" "My house is just up the street, Kisuke," Yoruichi answered wryly, a sliver of her good humor making itself evident. "...I'll be fine. Besides, the walk'll do me good." Soi blinked, stared at the spot where she'd caught a flash of movement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Was that...Yoruichi? No, she decided with a bit of disappointment, it couldn't have been. Besides, she said these dances were stupid... "Um, listen..." Soi began as she pushed away from Uryuu gently, "...I don't feel like doing this anymore..." Not when I'm hallucinating HER, anyway. "Oh...Uh, okay. Well, I guess I'll see you later then..." Soi nodded as Uryuu headed off to try and find another partner, then walked over to the punch bowl and took a drink from one of the many waiting cups. She was tired of this, of trying to deny what she really felt. After she downed the plastic cup's contents she tossed it in the nearby trashcan and, considering that the limo wouldn't be back to pick them up for a good three hours simply headed for the door and left. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The man sighed as he hid in the bushes, nearly nodding off for the fifth time as his cohorts idly passed cards back and forth between themselves. I don't get it, he thought angrily as he shivered in the chill weather. He just said said she should be coming this way. He knew better than to question his employer, especially if he had risked calling to assure them their target would show up. "Hey, boss..." a teen with a narrow face said while he pointed just beyond their cover. Deciding that it was worth the risk, the other two peeked out from the top of the shrubbery to find a short girl in a black dress with a red sash walking along the sidewalk, holding up the hem of her dress awkwardly. "Is that her?" the pudgiest of the trio asked in a grunt while the leader pulled out the photo he'd been given. "No question," the oldest responded as he brushed his blonde-streaked wave of hair out of his face. "...Let's get to it." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Excuse me, Miss...do you have the time?" "Huh?" Soi muttered as she turned to find a boy in a jean jacket and leather pants walking along behind her, apparently having shown up out of nowhere. "Oh...about 9:32," she answered before curtly turning her attention back to the street she was walking down. His sudden appearance bothered her, but she dismissed her paranoia and kept walking...at least until she kept hearing the sound of feet moving behind her. As nonchalantly as she could, she started to move faster, only to hear the man behind her speed up. Not even bothering to worry about her dress anymore she dropped the hem and broke into a run, which was surprisingly fast considering her feet were trapped in heels. Before she could make much headway she ran straight into a pair of men, all similarly dressed and not much older than herself. She tried to pull away but the overweight one closed a strong hand around her arm, squeezing so tightly Soi couldn't feel the blood flowing to the appendage anymore. She pushed at him as hard as she could, but then she felt a thick arm around her neck, forcing the air ever so slowly out of her lungs. "...I hope you don't have a phone, little lady...If anyone comes for you you're dead, understand?" Soi only glared daggers at the man in front of her who had spoken, wanting to spit in his face but barely able to gather the breath required for even basic brain functions. "So...he said anything, right?" the tall one who was busy choking Soi asked with a smile that made his meaning clear. "Yeah," the faux-blonde said coldly as he glanced at their prisoner. "...But just look at this flat bitch. It wouldn't be any fun at all unless she's got a rack on her..." Soi's eyes widened as she felt a rough hand fondling her chest. This was nothing like Uryuu's touch, which had been an inconvenience more than anything-- this felt like she was being tortured; combined with the wooziness she felt from the arm around her neck she thought she might be violently sick right then and there. She angrily kicked her leg out, landing the square of her right heel against the nearest shin in an effort to keep them as far away from her body as possible. "Well, Boss...looks like this one's gonna be more trouble than we thought." Soi instantly felt a ring-covered fist smash into the side of her face, sending blood into the darkness surrounding them, onto some point on the dark asphault of the street as he hit harder, Soi doing everything she could to remain silent. She kicked out again, this time with more violence and behind her, making her strangler lose his grip and give her an opportunity to get away. But before her oxygen-deprived body could move more than an inch she felt a hand grab at her neck, pull her back before something snapped around it, teasing her with freedom again before she tripped on her heels and ended up with her face to the ground. She coughed up a spatter of the blood still in her mouth before feeling a boot stomp on her back, nearly making her cry out as it ground deeper into her spine. "Well, we were just gonna rob you, you bitch," one of Soi's assailants hissed above her, "...but I guess you like it the hard way after all..." She felt a strange, horrific sort of understanding as the sound of a zipper coming undone sounded behind her, a hand tear her dress from the hem to where it met the small of her back, exposing her body to the cold and a hand moving up and down her thigh. For a moment Soi was paralyzed, unable to believe that this was happening, that she was helpless, when the truth finally dawned on her. No. Not like this. Not EVER like this! In an instant the half-year's worth of Karate she'd been taking came rushing back to her and with the speed and strength only adrenaline could provide, she sent her elbow flying behind her back. Soi repeated the action when she felt it collide with skin and underlying bone until she heard something crack and an ear-piercing howl of pain. Rolling to get the deadweight off her back she quickly got to her feet, she blocked another blow to her face and used the inertia of the punch to send the second to the pavement straight on his back. She didn't even notice the headlights coming their way as the oldest of the group stared at Soi, cowering at the fury illuminated in her dark eyes. "Y-you crazy bitch!" the faux-blonde hollered before heading off in the opposite direction, running so fast that even Soi couldn't have caught up with him if she'd wanted to. She knew there was a car beside her as she turned around, executing a brutal roundhouse kick only to have it blocked by a broad hand. "Whoa-- Soi Fong, it's me! Are you all right?" Soi's guard lowered slightly, reassured by the familiar silouhette bordered by blinding car headlights. "...Urahara-san!"
Back to The Cat and the Bee Index - Back to Bleach Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction