18 Carrot and Stick

"That was some impressive offensive and defensive power," remarked Yoruichi. "But it's impractical if you can't see or hear anything. Not to mention that if you fire off that beam indiscriminately, you could harm your allies."

Raising his brows, Ohta noted, "Wow, you're pretty smart when you want to be."

Tilting her head forward and looking up at Ohta, Yoruichi warned, "Don't make me bury you..."

Ignoring Yoruichi's threat, Ohta looked around to admire the devastation his Kusho state had wrought. It was only his second time using it, but he didn't have an opponent the first time. He just created a really deep shaft in the nearby mountains, the consequence of activating the technique in a trance and being pulled downward by the Earth's gravity.

Snapping her fingers, Yoruichi said, "Don't ignore me. Also, unless you want to cause the ceiling to collapse, burying us and damaging the city above, no more damaging the walls."

"Yes, mom..." replied Ohta, rolling his eyes as he turned to meet Yoruichi's gaze, asking, "So, what now?"

"Now, we work on your foundation," said Yoruichi. "Your mental abilities are off the charts, but you're severely lacking in the physical and spiritual departments. With a robust body, you won't have to rely on that barrier of yours as often, and if you attune your spiritual sense, you should be able to detect your opponents even in that Kusho state."

Crossing his arm, Ohta asked, "So, what are you suggesting? Endurance training? Meditation?"

Adopting a smile, Yoruichi gave a curt nod and replied, "Those would certainly help. However, you don't strike me as the particularly patient type. Instead, we'll do what we did the other day: play a game. More specifically, I'm going to blindfold you. If you can locate me within ten minutes of being blindfolded, I'll reward you. Sound simple enough...?"

"At least on the surface..." replied Ohta, understanding they wouldn't be playing a simple game of Marco Polo. The underground chamber was a rectangular prism with a width and breadth exceeding one kilometer, so Yoruichi had a lot of room to hide. Not to mention she could completely conceal her presence...

Seeing through Ohta's thought, Yoruichi adopted a sly smile and assured, "Relax. I won't start concealing my presence until you develop a knack for sensing. I'll also hide within a hundred meters of your starting position, so it shouldn't be 'that' difficult to determine my location."

"Then, if I succeed, I get to enjoy the remainder of the time," remarked Ohta, adopting a mischievous grin.

"Yeah, I expected you to say that..." remarked Yoruichi, crossing her arms as she added, "But, sure. Just keep in mind that the difficulty will increase proportionally to your behavior and performance..."

"Sounds like fun," replied Ohta, extending his hand to indicate that she should give him the blindfold.

"Use the cloth around your waist and tie it snugly," instructed Yoruichi. "Once you have, I'll give you a few seconds to acclimate before using Shunpo. If you pay close attention and manage to sense the direction I move, finding me will be a lot easier."

Nodding his head, Ohta took a moment to prepare his blindfold before adopting a smile and stating, "Let's do this." with confidence. Yoruichi narrowed her golden eyes in suspicion but didn't say anything as she disappeared from view, reappearing just ten meters away with crossed arms.

Contrasting Yoruichi's expectations, Ohta didn't say or do anything for nearly ten minutes. Instead, he remained at his starting position, slowly swiveling his head from side to side. He looked directly at her once but didn't linger for more than a few seconds before looking away.

"This is harder than I thought it would be..." remarked Ohta, adopting a genuinely wry smile. He initially thought he would be able to see through the cloth if he focused, but because it was made of spirit energy, it was a lot harder than looking through walls...

Waiting until the full ten minutes were up, Yoruichi responded, "You'll get the hang of it." before promptly repositioning herself.

"Well, I could always use my psychic energy like sonar," remarked Ohta, looking in the direction Yoruichi had been moments prior but not moving toward it. Then, as he swiveled his head slowly in the other direction, he mused, "But that wouldn't be fair to you..."

Rolling her eyes, Yoruichi crossed her arms and patiently waited another ten minutes before asserting, "That would completely defeat the purpose of this training. Most of your opponents in the future will have spiritual or soul-formed bodies, so you need to be able to detect spirit energy."

Pivoting toward Yoruichi, Ohta remained silent for several seconds before adopting a sly smile and musing, "Still, it's pretty tempting. After that little show you gave me earlier, I'm feeling 'optimistic' about our collaboration from here on..."

Causing Yoruichi's eye to twitch, Ohta began making his way slowly but steadily toward her. She hadn't moved since responding to him, so he was gradually able to sense 'something' in that direction. It was difficult to put into words, but if he had to, it was akin to the peculiar feeling that people would sometimes get when passing through areas known to be inhabited by wild cats and other dangerous predators...

Following the sensation, feeling it get stronger over time, it wasn't long before Ohta was within arm's reach of a frowning Yoruichi. The strange feeling wasn't the only thing he could sense at that range, so he leaned forward slightly and gave the air a whiff before adopting a faint smile and remarking, "You smell nice."

Exhaling a sigh, Yoruichi replied, "Just get on with it..." in a huffy, clearly annoyed tone.

"Maybe later," replied Ohta. "I was originally planning to leave a psychic imprint on you to make things easier for myself, but I think I'm starting to get a feel for this. Let's continue."

Raising her brows, Yoruichi questioned, "Are you sure? You won't be able to find me as easily in the future."

"Does it matter?" asked Ohta, adopting a shit-eating grin as he mused, "I have you as my evening companion until we part ways or you stab me in the back. Missing out on a few minutes is no great loss."

"..."

Instead of responding to Ohta with words, Yoruichi utilized Shunpo to vanish and reappear more than twenty meters away. This caused Ohta to resume the process of slowly swiveling his head, pausing for increasingly long periods whenever he looked in her direction.

"Yeah, I'm definitely getting the hang of this..." said Ohta, making his way toward Yoruichi with about three minutes to spare.

Waiting until Ohta had reached her, Yoruichi replied, "So it would seem..." in a flat tone. "However, whatever you're using, it's not spiritual sense. I completely erased my presence this time, yet you still managed to find me. If you're not cheating, you're utilizing something else to locate my position..."

"If I were cheating, I would have taken advantage of it," remarked Ohta. Then, as it was the only thing that came to mind, he proffered, "If I had to guess, it's because we're linked..." while tapping the tanto strapped to his lower back.

"Ah..."

As it was fairly obvious once Ohta had pointed it out, Yoruichi exhaled a light chuckle, regaining a smile as she said, "If that's the case, we'll need someone else to help with this particular training."

Clicking his tongue, Ohta remarked, "Should have kept my mouth shut..." in a faint tone. He wasn't genuinely upset, but because Yoruichi couldn't see his eyes, it was a lot easier to portray.

Seeing through Ohta's ploy, Yoruichi rolled her eyes and said, "Let's put it to the test. I'm going to conceal myself seriously this time. If you manage to find me, I really will sit on your face."

Though it was mostly for dramatic effect, Ohta released a psychic pulse from his body, portraying 'seriousness' as he expressed, "You should hide well..."

"Oh, trust me, I will," replied Yoruichi, promptly disappearing. This time, however, she didn't reappear within the underground chamber. Instead, she made her way to the surface and continued even further, ultimately making her way to Ohta's apartment to see if he would be able to locate her aboveground and halfway across town...

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Though it was a tremendous pain in the ass to find his way out of the underground chamber and navigate Karakura Town blindfolded, Ohta eventually reached the outside of his apartment around 2:38 PM, nearly six hours after the impromptu game of hide and seek began.

"You picked a hell of a place to hide..." remarked Ohta, phasing through his front door.

Lying on Ohta's bed, Yoruichi lazily replied, "And you're lucky I didn't give you a time limit. In hindsight, that was a pretty major blunder on my part."

Reaching up to remove his blindfold, Ohta was interrupted by Yoruichi asking, "What are you doing? I never said this was the end of our training. The blindfold stays on."

Raising his hands in mock surrender, Ohta replied, "Fine, but if I feel a cat's ass on my face, good luck trying to convince me to show up for future training sessions..."

Snorting through her nose, Yoruichi pointedly asserted, "I keep my word," despite fully intending to employ her cat form if Ohta hadn't said anything. She didn't especially mind sitting on his face, but she would have liked to get more information out of him before things progressed beyond simple skinship...

Making his way toward the bed, Ohta regained his smile, musing, "How commendable..." before taking a seat and promptly lying down once he reached it. He could hear Yoruichi exhale a faint sigh as he did so, but it wasn't long before he felt her feet on each side of his body, followed by an approaching warmth that quickly enveloped his face.

Putting all her weight on Ohta's face, Yoruichi, sitting arms-crossed and with an annoyed look on her face, asked, "Happy?"

Though he was tempted to respond with muffled words, Ohta gave a thumbs-up that elicited a heavy eye roll from the dark-skinned beauty. Fortunately, she didn't immediately raise her hips, allowing him to enjoy the sensation much longer than he expected...

While contemplating suffocating Ohta with her ass, Yoruichi eyed his crotch, increasingly annoyed that he wasn't getting an erection. Some might call her vain, but she was supremely confident in her appearance. She would have had most other men wrapped around her pinky finger by now, but Ohta seemed more intent on fucking 'with' her than having sex...

With Yoruichi lingering a lot longer than he anticipated, Ohat eventually brought his hands up to grab her legs before promptly digging his mouth and nose into her crotch. She was wearing her skin-tight bodysuit, but he could make out her fragrance, discern the heat and contours of her pussy, and feel the slight moisture permeating the fabric separating them...

Contrasting Ohta's expectations, Yoruichi made no attempts to stop him. Instead, she flatly remarked, "You're getting a little carried away..." while continuing to stare at his crotch. When nothing changed, even when Ohta began moving his nose, sinking deeper into her slowly moistening insides, Yoruichi began to suspect something was up...

Intent on confirming her suspicions, Yoruichi abruptly leaned forward and pressed her hand to Ohta's crotch, feeling it rock hard against her palm. A grin developed across her face at the realization he was pretending not to be aroused by her, but her amusement quickly turned to annoyance when Ohta ceased digging into her crotch, saying, "Hey, this is supposed to be my reward. Don't go getting ahead-"

Silencing Ohta by shifting her weight onto his face, Yoruichi said, "Just shut up and make yourself useful..." with an annoyed look on her face. She was starting to feel it a bit since Ohta kept rubbing her clit with his nose, so she encouraged him to remain silent and keep going by slowly grinding his face. His response wasn't immediate, but he eventually gave a light shrug before tightening his grip on her legs and biting the fabric of her body suit, tearing it with his teeth and confirming she didn't wear panties underneath...

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(A/N: Ohta has gone from pushing Yoruichi's buttons to tracing his finger along her switch...)