Shiki Mirai spun around sharply, his gaze locking onto Shihōin Yoruichi, still lounging casually against the doorframe.
"Oh? Did you forget something, Mirai?" Yoruichi's lips curled into a smug grin.
She even raised a hand and patted her flat, toned abdomen a few times, making a light pap pap sound—mischief dancing across her face.
"What is it you're looking for? Go on, say it out loud. I'll help you… 'look for it'~" she teased, drawing out the words.
"Hsshh!" A chill shot up from the soles of Mirai's feet straight to the crown of his head.
'When the hell did she get her hands on it?! I didn't notice a thing!'
Her speed… had it improved again since two years ago? Was this the terror of the "Flash Goddess"?
His jaw twitched uncontrollably. Forcing down the mix of panic and fury bubbling in his chest, Mirai kept his voice as calm as possible.
"Yoruichi… can you please give me back the manuscript?"
Even as he spoke, his Reiatsu was silently surging, gathering with intensity in his legs.
"Manuscript? What are you talking about?" Yoruichi blinked with exaggerated innocence.
Then, like performing a magic trick, she slowly pulled out a folded stack of papers from beneath her shihakushō, waving it before him with smug delight.
"I just happened to pick up this little booklet near the door~ No idea which careless idiot dropped it here."
She tilted her head, pretending to have a sudden epiphany.
"Wait… could this be what you called your oh-so-important 'author's pride' earlier?"
…
Yoruichi's expression suddenly turned stern, her voice adopting the air of a senior lecturing a junior.
"Mirai, oh Mirai! This is your pride as a writer! How could you just drop it on the ground like that?
What if someone with bad intentions picked it up and published it before you, then accused you of plagiarism? That'd be a real mess, wouldn't it?"
As she spoke, she even pretended to hand the manuscript back.
Mirai's forehead veins throbbed violently. He barely restrained the urge to hurl a Hadō at her on the spot—mainly because he knew he'd lose.
Through gritted teeth, he hissed, "I'm… truly grateful, Captain Yoruichi. Otherwise, my precious 'pride' might've been snatched up by some very malicious individual."
He reached out again, fingertips just about to touch the paper—
Yoruichi yanked it back with lightning speed, as if zapped by a jolt of electricity.
Her golden eyes sparkled in the orange hues of the setting sun.
"Oh, right~" she mused, tapping the manuscript lightly with a fingertip. "This is your pride, huh~"
Her grin grew more devilish, her voice slow and deliberate:
"The pride of the Soul Society's number-one noble heir… is in my hands now~"
Mirai's mouth twitched again. Swallowing his pride, he softened his tone, voice gentle as water.
"Lady Yoruichi… would you kindly… return the manuscript to me?"
"You really want it?" Yoruichi tilted her head, smiling like the sun.
"Yes!" Mirai nodded emphatically.
"In that case—"
Her figure vanished.
In the next instant, she stood atop the high courtyard wall, balanced on one foot, the wind tugging at her violet hair and captain's cloak. Her silhouette was nothing short of magnificent.
"Come and get it then!"
She looked down at him with gleeful provocation, waving the manuscript in one hand.
"If you manage to catch me, maybe I'll consider giving it back~"
"But if you don't chase me… or you can't catch me, then once I've read it, I'll pass it to Suì-Fēng and Kūkaku for a little 'review session'!"
As she spoke, her body lowered into a runner's stance, golden eyes blazing with excitement under the dying sunlight.
Boom!
Mirai, who had long since compressed his entire Reiatsu into his legs, erupted forward the moment her words dropped.
Cracks splintered beneath his feet as he shot forward like a black arrow aimed straight at Yoruichi on the wall.
"Dammit! Don't run! Give that back!!"
His furious roar echoed over the rooftops of the 2nd Division.
"Hahaha! Come on then! Let's see how much you've improved over the years!"
Yoruichi's laughter rang like silver bells as she danced away into the wind, vanishing across rooftops and courtyard walls in a blur of motion, her silhouette trailing laughter in her wake.
"Get back here!!"
One chasing, one fleeing—their figures streaked through the sunset-stained sky above Seireitei.
Back in the courtyard, only Urahara Kisuke remained.
He gazed in the direction the two had vanished, a sly smile curling his lips, half amusement, half curiosity.
"My, my… those two still get along so well."
He adjusted his crooked hat, eyes glinting beneath the brim.
"And more importantly…"
His mind drifted back to that brief glimpse of the manuscript.
"That manuscript was… very interesting."
…
Teeth clenched, Shiki Mirai forced his Reiatsu into his legs with reckless abandon as he chased after the figure ahead, plunging straight into the western forest of blades.
But even giving it everything he had, the gap between his speed and Yoruichi's remained painfully vast.
What made it worse—infuriating, even—was that Yoruichi kept stopping on purpose. Arms folded, she'd wait just long enough for him to catch up, then toss him a look that could only be described as a cat toying with a mouse.
"What's wrong, Mirai?" she called down sweetly as he stumbled breathless into view. "Why aren't you using that… hmm, odd little acceleration trick of yours? What was it called again?"
She tapped her chin with a finger, pupils swirling thoughtfully, then lit up like she'd just solved a riddle.
"Ah! That's right—was it 'Shave' or 'Moon Step'?"
Grinning, she lifted one foot and stomped rapidly, pat-pat-pat-pat, kicking up afterimages and faint sonic booms.
"This technique—relying on sudden bursts to stomp off the ground or even air—is not bad for straight-line acceleration!"
She nodded, then shrugged with mock humility.
"But compared to real Shunpo, where you blend into the environment and ride the flow of Reishi… it's just a bit crude and clumsy, don't you think~?"
A vein twitched in Mirai's temple.
He couldn't help recalling his days at Shin'o Academy, where he had rebelled against the standard Shunpo curriculum, foolishly attempting to invent more explosive movement techniques like 'Shave' and airborne maneuvers like 'Moon Step'.*
And of course, that was exactly how he ended up attracting this "problem" to begin with.
"Compared to you, the 'Flash Goddess' herself, those moves really are child's play."
…