Wake Up [Shaoling, Yoruichi]

That expression shifted on a dime. As Shaoling started to spill, the strange look on Yoruichi's face.....seemed to blank, surprise showing instead, even ALARM. As if the woman was ... taken aback at what she was hearing. Especially that bit about what Shao had said at the end there. Striving for Independence? She tilted her head... seeming at a loss of words. Those brows....furrowing for a moment as the woman seemed to ..... struggle to parse what was being said.

Right up until she was done talking.

And an immediate smile spread out across Yoruichi's face. "You....someone caught your eye? You've been doing ART?! That's fantastic!" the woman's body language shifted in it's entirety, the vestiges of worry and concern melted away as if they had never existed to begin with, and suddenly energy bound up within Yoruichi as she smiled from ear to ear. "This student of yours.... I haven't really heard much about them. I knew I should have prodded Urahara about all that. Still, you taking them out to relax? That sounds adorable! I wonder if I could find them. No, I guess that's really up to you if you want me to meet them." She mused aloud, folding her arms across her chest and tapping her chin thoughtfully.

And then, finally, Yoruichi's eyes snapped back to Shaoling's and that smile softened just a little. and a sigh escaped her before it widened again. "I'm.....glad to hear all this from you. I thought you were still so clammed up. I even thought you might try lying to me. But ....you actually seem happy." She noted, her expression turning fond. "You always used to be so darn cloistered about what things you actually liked, even I had a hard time reading you. But now you're so....open." She paused and sighed, shaking her head for a moment before glancing back up to the woman and smiling once again. Practically seeming as if she had trouble containing her mirth.

"I know I don't have any right to be, but I'm proud of you Shaoling. This...... this is what I always wanted from you. I wanted you to seek strength because you WANTED to. Not because it was your duty. But I guess your...methods looked so much like your Family's that I just was worried. But well, I never WAS that good at reading you. But I guess that's expected when you let your feelings get mixed in when you try to teach someone." She sighed wistfully, shaking her head a bit before glancing back to Shaoling and perking her brows.

"Bah, I have to admit though I was a little disappointed, I thought you would say my name all disrespectful-like, or call me a name! I've always wanted to hear my name come out of your mouth without -sama or some formality attached to it. I guess I really should have recorded our fight back in the day." She noted with a playful grin, at least until tilting her head a bit.

"Still, I wonder. These people who caught your eye. HAve you talked to anyone about them? Probably not Kisuke... Your student maybe? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious. I always had my bets back in the day. Aside from all that Kisuke stuff I implied. That was just because I enjoyed seeing your face when I said it." She clarified with an impish smile.

She couldn't help but chuckle lightly at that and offered a warm smile. "Yuujin? A nice name, and of course! I'm probably past the point where I should be training anyone anyway. You're probably a much better teacher than I ever was." She noted with a light sigh, thinking back to when she'd learned that Shaoling had arrived to the notion of Shunko without her having ever even told her about it. Even with her own innovations she'd made on the technique she hardly imagined she'd probaly done as much with it as some of these new young people had.

However at the mention of 'reliving that day' Yoruichi made a face. "Are you crazy? Absolutely not! Just because I liked you saying my name like a normal person doesn't mean I'd want to fight you again. It's bad enough seeing all these new younger gens showing me up, I'm content not getting my ass handed to me by you to remind me I'm getting old." She noted, folding her arms stubbornly at the very thought of it. "Far more? So does that mean that me being proud is worth at least a little?" She asked putting on a bit of a teasing smile before she glanced down over Shaoling's frame. "Ah, I really hope he just forgot about our bet though...." She murmured, more to herself than the woman infront of her.

Of course, when Shaoling went and added that LAST bit Yoruichi blinked COMPLETELY floored that she would EVER admit to THAT! "Eh?! I mean, I knew that, but still! Hearing it from you directly is bizarre! Though I hope you know he probably heard that." She paused and glanced around them. She hadn't been down here before so who knew what kinda 'precautionary'' surveillance features it had. All the same... she looked back to Shaoling and smiled fondly. "So what do you plan on doing now? Aside from becoming robocop. You're a new you, no longer attached to the Gotei for the time being. Do you have any plans? " she ventured, nodding toward the injuries the woman had sustained as well as tilting her head just a bit.

"True, but there's a difference between knowing something and hearing it out loud. I can already iumagine the big ol grin on his dumb face." She noted shaking her head and smiling a little to herself before glancing back at Shaoling. Hmmm.

She'd suspected that was going to be the case, but she still felt weird hearing it. Urahara back in the Gotei, guh... it felt weird, especially after all these two hundred years. She itched the back of her neck and sighed a little. "That certainly makes sense. Murasaki certainly seems to have it in her head to bolster things back up. Even if that means digging up diniosaurs like Kisuke." She murmured lightly.

She paused, glancing back to Shaoling and offering a fond smile as the woman openly voiced her potential willingness to head back into such a position. "Is that right? I certainly think the Gotei could benefit from having you in it again. But well... you have a point in that last bit. Regardless of Murasaki's intentions of how the Gotei should be, there's still a lot of other things to consider. The place barely looks like it did a hundred years ago, though you'd probably know that better than I do." She noted thoughtfully. In no small part she was a little glad nobody had similar to Shaoling andUrahara, wound up showing up to approach HER about all these sorts of things. But ....well...

She smiled ruefully. That probably just went to show that she wasn't the only one who thought her unfit for that sort of position these days. even so.... she felt a lot....lighter....seeing Shaoling like this. Glad that her own mistakes hadn't permanently fucked the woman up. And she caught herself staring a little bit. It was just.... nice....seeing her like this. A person. Somehow having managed to pick all the little pieces up and put them back together with gold. IN no small way.... it was ...inspiring. And she wondered if one day she'd be able to look at herself with this same level of pride.

Yoruichi raised her brows slightly at that. She was aware, to an extent about the situation a couple months ago when she'd been checking in with her Family. However, it seemed that quite a bit had happened since then. "Huh, that's certainly an interesting approach." She pondered, certainly giving a degree of freedom to Captains was something to be said, but that wasn't necessarily always a good thing. She could think of a NUMBER of Captains in the past who would have caused a considerable hassle if given such autonomy. She wondered a little herself what it'd be like. There'd be a lot to learn. And an impish little smile crossed her features. How fun that would be, maybe even start from the bottom and work her way up. Unseated Member Yoruichi Shihoin. Nah that's a little too crazy. But fun tho.

"Do you plan on talking to the Commander herself about this?" she ventured, glancing back to Shaoling. On one hand, Soi had always been the type to be direct about this kind of thing. But well, she was also full of surprises these days, so she wouldn't count her predictions certain. "I really should speak with Urahara actually now that I think about it. He wouldn't have agreed to this sort of thing without being more in the know. Maybe he knows something we don't about this whole Murasaki business. I know enough about her to imagine that her .........progressive mindset is genuine. But well, I Haven't seen her in person since she became Captain Commander." And well, give someone a bit more power and sometimes things bubbled up to the surface. Murasaki seemed earnest enough. But once upon a time, so did Sousuke Aizen. Rest in Muken, pissboy.

"Well, I think I've infringed on enough of your training for one evening. I appreciate you giving me some of your time. Hopefully you don't mind me stealing a bit more now and then." She sighed, a brief playful smile playing across her features, making it clear that she'd be checking in now and then. "Actually that reminds me. What's your student like? Should I keep my guard up when I go meet him?" she asked, a bit intrigued. What sort of person would garner Shaoling's approval? Either someone very determined or very stupid. Maybe both.

Yoruichi nodded lightly at that, smirking just a little at that phrasing. 'Could use a break'. She could only imagine how she drove a student of her own, and well, her later description kinda confirmed her suspicion. She could only imagine what that would be like.

"I'll be sure to do that~ And huh.... kinda sounds familiar."" She murmured. She had thought something similar about Ichigo once upon a time. The man certainly seemed bold based on how she described them meeting. "Well, I'll be sure to wave if I see him. He doesn't scare easily does he?" She asked with a tilt of her head, and an innocent smile. Surely if he hung around the Shoten he'd have probably triggered one or two of Urahara's favorite little jumpscares by now. That impish nature was probably one of the prime qualities they shared. She absolutely was considering spooking this Yuujin fellow. Or at least seeing if she could.