The Bird of Hermes is my name; eat my wings to make me tame.

Welcome minions to chapter 12, wait I mean readers. Anyway my thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter. Ichigo wasn't that scary was he? Anyway, sorry this chapter took so long, but I literally was bashing my head against my desk trying to write this and after several versions of events, I think I got it right…sort of.

EDIT: This is the censored version of the original.

Disclaimer: All characters are property of their respective owners, of which I am not.

"Normal speech"

"Kido/Zanpakuto release"

Thoughts

"Alucard/Kurohime"

'Ichigo and Tatsuki's link'

XXX

Chapter 12: Enter the cheap knockoffs.

As the night wore on, Yoruichi found she was growing angry. Correction, she was pissed off, no wait beyond pissed off. When she had returned from the Soul Society and Kisuke and informed her of his hare-brained scheme to train the youngsters, she had been opposed to it since it held the danger of driving Ichigo to a point of insanity with a single misstep. Now as she sat in her feline form with Tessai, Tatsuki, Orihime and Chad, her point was proven as Kisuke had followed after the young substitute to step in should he do anything rash. She was forced from her thoughts when Tatsuki winced and grabbed her head as if in pain.

"Tatsuki-chan?" Orihime asked her friend with a worried expression.

"I'm fine," Tatsuki said with a grimace, "Ichigo's not though. It looks like he's returning carrying four others with him, can't tell who though since his angers just pouring over the link."

Yoruichi sighed knowing that Ichigo had been pushed off the deep end and had probably snapped once he discovered Kisuke's actions. They were all shocked though, when a few minutes later Kisuke crashed through the door of the dining room landing in a crumpled heap on the table.

Tatsuki was having mixed feelings at seeing the shopkeeper once again. While she understood his reasoning behind having them improve their skills, she was angry that he had decided to do that by kidnapping them one by one. Her sympathy won out though as they examined the groaning shopkeeper. On closer inspection it was seen that he had a swollen cheek, busted lip, his nose was broken and there appeared to be an imprint of a boot on his face.

"Urahara-san," Orihime spoke as she and Tessai attended to him.

Tatsuki, Chad and Yoruichi though were looking back at the hole from which Kisuke had come through. A moment later the door slid open extinguishing the light in the room, revealing Ichigo in his fury. His features still those of his monstrous form; he entered with his coat frayed and billowing about him, the bodies of the three mod souls in a pile behind him. As he stalked over to Kisuke, he stopped when he felt Tatsuki's arms wrap around him from behind.

"That's enough Ichigo; you've made your point. Hurting him isn't going to make you feel any better now," Tatsuki said as she nuzzled into his back. Looking over her shoulder at the bodies of the mod souls she squeezed him tighter, "You've punished them enough already, don't become a man that revels in causing pain and suffering to others."

Ichigo seemed to deflate as she finished speaking. "I'm sorry," he said as he slumped to the floor, "for everything."

The light returned to the room and everyone let out a sigh of relief that Ichigo had calmed down. Uryu and Renji arrived a minute later surprised to find so little damage done to the shop, but relieved all the same. While Tessai and Orihime went about healing Kisuke and taking care of the mod souls, Tatsuki had lead Ichigo up to the roof of the shop where he lay down, his head resting in her lap as she stroked his hair. She grinned at how the simple act seemed to calm him down.

The moment was broken though when Yoruichi appeared next to them. "Kisuke would like to speak to you if you're willing," she said before disappearing back into the shop.

Sighing to himself Ichigo stood before offering a hand to Tatsuki to pull her up. Entering the shop once again, they found everyone seated at the dining room table. As everyone's head turned to them when they entered, Ichigo could see no evidence of what he had done to Kisuke, probably due to Orihime's healing. Seating themselves next to each other, Ichigo kept his face impassive as the others watched him warily.

"Now Kurosaki-san," Kisuke began, "I'm sure you're wondering why I wanted to test you like I did. And I can assure you that it was with the intent to help."

"How exactly did you plan to help Urahara, by pushing me to the point beyond insanity?" Ichigo said bitterly.

Kisuke tilted his head down at that. "That was not my intent Kurosaki-san. The tests were meant to increase your stamina, strength, intelligence and team work. I think you proved though that it did none of that. Evidence to that fact in how you brute forced through every obstacle placed in front of you and by your words tonight. You may not have needed your friends to complete these tasks Kurosaki-san, but you do need people at your side for the coming conflicts."

Ichigo glared at Kisuke when he finished, "You may be right Urahara, I do need friends and I treasure every single one of them. I stand by what I said though for I know that I am the strongest among our group, therefore why wouldn't I take on the greater burden. In fact if anything your little training exercise has taught me only to be less trusting of those around me." At this he gave a pointed glare to both Kisuke and Uryu.

"So you know," Uryu said as he adjusted his glasses.

"Not the full story, but something about your reiatsu's changed since we came back from the Soul Society," Ichigo said turning to look at him. "What confuses me is why you haven't spoken to any of us about it."

Seeing Uryu was not going to answer the question Ichigo sighed and did a sweep over the first layer of his mind. Realisation flashed across his face as he found what worries plagued the Quincy causing him to scoff. "Do you honestly think that we'll abandon you just because you lost your powers? That we'll leave you out of anything happening in the world around, because you cannot actively participate in it? If you answered yes to any of that then you're an even bigger fool than I thought Ishida," Ichigo said as dropped his gaze from Uryu.

Uryu was embarrassed and slightly angry that Ichigo had wormed his way into his mind so easily, but then again it did save him the trouble of having to tell them.

"Um Kurosaki-kun is right, Ishida-kun," Orihime said at the look on Uryu's face. "I mean who else could we get to repair Kon and our clothing so spectacularly without you around," she finished with a smile on her face causing everyone else to fall back comically at her lack of tact.

It's a good thing she's just so likeable, I mean anyone else and he'd be shouting in anger, thought Tatsuki.

Great so her brilliant solution is to see him as a tailor now, thank god she's so adorable the way she is, was Yoruichi's thoughts.

Uryu was having a tough time accepting her new vision of him. A tailor, but…really...just…you know what never mind, it's not like I can be mad at her after all. She's just trying to help.

Ichigo couldn't help but smirk at Orihime's interpretation of their little group. His mirth was short-lived as Kisuke cleared his throat.

"Getting back on topic now, the reason for testing you will be made clear once you hear what Yoruichi has to say," Kisuke said as he pulled out his fan to hide behind.

Yoruichi threw him a scathing look as he placed her in the line of fire now to explain, "Over the past few weeks there have been an increasing number of missing person's reports being filed. Now normally we wouldn't get involved in such matters, however it seems that whatever is behind these disappearances is actually consuming the souls of the victims. We looked into the case and have found only one group that matches up with the residual reiatsu left on the scenes as well as from an encounter I had with one of them." She looked at Kisuke, the silent gesture telling him to continue.

"We have identified the group as a race of humans called the Bount; similar to the Quincy they are spiritually aware and have certain powers at their disposal. The most notable of which is the ability to absorb human souls and thereby acquire a form of immortality as well as an increase in their own powers," Kisuke said snapping his fan shut.

Within his mind, Ichigo could feel Alucard stir, his zanpakuto spirit grumbling in anger.

"Normally they would 'feed' on souls of the dead, recently though they have begun to consume the souls of the living too," Kisuke continued. "Due to the fact that they are likely to prey upon stronger souls and that they have proven to be notoriously difficult to track, I am assigning the mod souls to stay with those of you that have spiritual abilities. Apart from their main abilities they also act as secondary Bount sensors which will allow you to track them down."

Kisuke paused as Tessai came in with the three mod souls, in their pill form placing them in his hand. "Unfortunately due to the damage their gigai's sustained tonight, you will have to take them home in their pill form and then find a host body for them to inhabit. Kurosaki-san and Arisawa-san will take Ririn, since she will also be able to act like a soul candy for her similar to the way Kon does for Ichigo. Inoue-san you will be taking Kurodo and that of course leaves Noba to you Sado-san." As he spoke, he rolled a pill to each person as they were called out.

Tatsuki picked Ririn up with some apprehension, not knowing what to expect from the mod soul when she was placed in her body. If the stories about Kon and Ichigo's first meeting were true, then she needed to lay down some ground rules for the mod soul before she was allowed anywhere near her body. Leaving the shop the teens went their separate ways home, with Tatsuki and Ichigo walking towards his house first so that he could fetch his body while she had been placed in hers the night she was taken.

Reaching his home he relieved Kon of his body and proceeded to browse half-heartedly for a suitable doll to hold Ririn, a task that quickly saw Ichigo's patience disappear causing him to grab one at random. When he pulled his hand back, it revealed a plush type bird with blue jacket and hood. He chuckled at the thought of said annoyance inhabiting this doll and pocketed it so they could make their way to Tatsuki's house.

They snuck in through her window careful to keep quiet so as to not wake her parents. Placing the doll and pill on her dresser, Tatsuki nearly shrieked as she felt Ichigo sweep her off her feet and carried her over to the bed whispering in her ear, "I never did get to welcome you back properly at the time Tats." He nipped her ear as he laid her down, before starting to leave a trail of kisses down her neck. He paused though when she grabbed his head, pulling him up to her face.

"Not just yet my monster," she said with a smirk as she placed a glowing green hand to the wall and then one to her stomach. Puzzled at the kido, he glanced at her for an answer. "You can thank Unohana for these two; the one is too soundproof the room while the other will save us from having to worry about contraceptives."

Ichigo's face was a mixture of shock and disbelief as he was told what the motherly captain of the fourth division had taught Tatsuki, it was quickly replaced though with feral lust. "So now I don't need to worry about making you scream my name," he said as he claimed her lips with a kiss, his tongue begging for entrance as his hands sneaked under her shirt to tease her breasts.

'I don't know if I should be worried or not now that you're unrestricted in such a way,' Tatsuki sent over their link, too busy to speak as her tongue wrestled with Ichigo's for dominance, her body heating up from his touch.

'Who knows, I'm not going to bother worrying about that,' he relayed over their link as he broke the kiss for air. His annoyance built as her clothing restricted him somewhat from having his way with the rest of her body. Lifting himself off of her he began to undo her shirt as she grabbed his head for another forceful kiss. As the last button came undone he sat up pulling her with him so that she sat on his lap. Removing her shirt, he unclasped her bra tossing it away. Her breasts were exposed to the cool evening air for a moment, before being subject to his touch.

As she gripped his shirt, Ichigo felt her annoyance at being denied access to his skin. Pausing in his ministrations he allowed her to unbutton his shirt while he slipped a hand down to undo the zip on her skirt. He was surprised though when she forced him onto his back after stripping him of his shirt.

Lowering her head to his neck she said, 'It's my turn to take care of you now,' before proceeding to run her tongue down his neck and giving several of his scars slow kisses as she worked her way down to his abs, which upon reaching she allowed her tongue to draw slow circles over each.

'This is torture and you know it,' Ichigo groaned over their link his arousal growing by the second as her tongue caressed his heated flesh.

Smirking at him, she paused in her teasing and reached to undo the button of his pants, slowly drawing them and his boxers down, revealing him in his entirety to her.

'Dammit Tatsuki what else did she teach you?' Ichigo groaned as he was caught up in the pleasure of her actions.

Pausing in her ministrations she looked up at him with a grin. 'Oh just this and that, my Strawberry,' she said before continuing.

'If anyone else called me strawberry you know I'd leave them in a bloody pool right?' Ichigo said with a final groan, as she finished her teasing.

'Maybe, but you're mine after all. It entitles me to some special treatment.' She was unprepared though when he reversed their positions in a flash, pinning her underneath him.

'Special treatment eh? Allow me to give you some of this special treatment then,' he said as he removed her skirt and panties and gave her the same treatment, making her moan in response. She lasted only a few minutes, before her entire body was ablaze with pleasure from his actions.

'We're not done yet milady,' he said as he captured her lips in a kiss and brought their bodies together once again, their minds coming closer than ever more at the same time.

As he felt his mind slipping into a haze of lust, his teeth latched onto her neck as he bit down just hard enough to break the skin, lapping at her lifeblood as it poured from her, increasing their desire.

While Tatsuki knew that Ichigo loved to bite, she wasn't prepared for him lapping at her blood like he was now; those thoughts were pushed from her mind as she felt her end approach. Several moments later and Tatsuki screamed, her fingers clawing into Ichigo's back leaving bloody furrows, as they both reached their limits.

As they recovered, he nuzzled into her neck healing the bite to her. 'Now that's how I imagined our reunion,' he said as he reached for the blanket pulling it up to cover them both.

'If that's what I can look forward too, I might just have to get kidnapped more often,' Tatsuki said as she cuddled into his chest, a smile on her face as she slipped into slumber.

Smirking at his exhausted lover, Ichigo ran a hand through her hair, savouring how silky it felt, before closing his eyes as he fell asleep.

XXX

The following morning life returned to normal somewhat as they returned to their school routine, the only new additions being the bird-like doll they placed Ririn in and was currently sitting in Tatsuki's bag, while Ichigo had Kon, in his pill form, stowed in his pocket. Both mod souls being threatened by being turned into a meal for Ichigo should they prove troublesome, a threat that Ririn could definitely see him following through with considering her last encounter with the orange-haired monster.

They discovered that Orihime had placed Kurodo in a rabbit-like doll and was able to carry him around like a bag, giving her a reasonable excuse to have him around constantly. Chad though was like Tatsuki in that he had acquired a doll for Noba to inhabit, an anthromorhpic turtle that was similar to the mod soul's gigai if Ichigo was honest. The school day passed as normal, their friends still trying to get the details of their relationship while Ichigo and Tatsuki deflected them at every turn. Ichigo was particularly interested in Chizuru's behaviour and was pleased to find that she had simply become more passive in her displays of affection. As they made their way home to the Kurosaki clinic, Tatsuki was greeted enthusiastically by Yuzu while Karin was more subdued as she merely looked at them after muting the TV. Ichigo had to yet again fend off his father, but these days his increased strength meant that he rarely had to deliver a second blow to knock him out. Later that evening as Ichigo sat at his desk reading a book while Tatsuki was sprawled out on his bed reading a magazine soft music playing in the background, they were startled as Ririn jumped from her perch.

"Bount?" Ichigo asked already reaching for his badge.

"Yes, but it's quite far away," Ririn replied.

"Doesn't matter how far away it is, we're not going to sit here and let it have its way with the people of the town," Tatsuki said freeing her soul from her body, Ichigo soon joined her. Reaching for Ririn, he placed her inside his coat, "Hold tight, you'll need it," he said as he and Tatsuki leaped from the window setting off in the direction Ririn indicated. On the other side of town Kurodo and Noba alerted Chad and Orihime to the presence of another Bount, making them set off after it.

Arriving at an alley, Ichigo and Tatsuki watched as a young woman, with long brown hair, wearing an olive green shirt, brown vest and dark pants drained the life of another woman. Ichigo stiffened as he saw the similarity between her actions and what he had done to Tatsuki the night he turned her and last night. Shaking his head to clear himself of such thoughts, he drew his Casull firing a slim beam of reiatsu past her ear causing her to flinch. "First and last warning, stop what you're doing or lose your head," he said gun still levelled at the woman.

Tossing the woman she was feeding on at them, the stranger fled down the alley, while Tatsuki rushed forward to catch the falling woman, checking her vitals to see if it was too late. "She's got a pulse and steady breathing so as far as I can tell she's just knocked out. I'll get her somewhere safe while you chase after whoever did this," Tatsuki said as she picked up the victim, before sprinting off in the direction of a nearby hospital.

Nodding after her, Ichigo summoned a hellhound and directed it to track the Bount by her faint reiatsu trace she left behind. Ririn cringed slightly at the large canine her memories of the night before plaguing her. Finding the trail, the hound gave a piercing howl and set off at speeds just short of a flash step. Following it led Ichigo to find the woman cornered in a nearby warehouse district.

"I'm not going to kill you just yet, not until you've told me who you are and what exactly you're trying to do," Ichigo said as he landed in front of her.

"Who are you?" the woman they would come to know as Yoshino countered, "And why did you interrupt me there?"

"Who I am is of no concern to you, as for why I stopped you. I will not allow human souls to be consumed while I can do something about it," Ichigo said as he gazed at her from under his fedora. He tried to scan the top most layers of her thoughts, but met unexpected resistance from her.

"Careful master, it seems that these Bount are indeed what I thought they were," Alucard said from within his mind, his voice harsh and bitter. "They are the mere fakes of what we are, darkness wielders."

Fakes? You mean to tell me that these people are somehow related to what we are? How and why did this happen? Ichigo queried his zanpakuto spirit.

"Think about it master, we wield tremendous power both physically and mentally. The possibilities of such powers under someone's control, is more than enough reason for people to experiment to try and attain it," Alucard replied. "Though from the looks of it they failed greatly in their goal, such a human wields little of the potential we possess."

"I don't know who you are, or what you are after, but if you are what I suspect you to be, well then let's just say that I cannot allow you to live much longer," Ichigo said as he brought out his Casull once more.

"So a fight is unavoidable," Yoshino said with a sigh. She then raised her arms in front of her, her left hand bearing a silver claw while a silver bracelet was on her right wrist.

Curious as to her actions Ichigo watched on, eyes widening slightly when she called out, "Show yourself, Goethe," and struck the bracelet with her clawed finger, flames erupting along the line she traced in the air.

Soon the entire area was engulfed in flames, giving the area the feel of being in a furnace. Emerging from the flames Ichigo was surprised to see the torso of a man-like creature composed of hardened magma and flames.

"You called?" Goethe asked as he looked at Yoshino.

"Yes, get rid of him, he's being annoying," Yoshino said pointing at Ichigo.

"I go through the effort of not killing you quickly and I get called annoying, that really pisses me off," Ichigo said as he flared his reiatsu.

The flames seemed to die slightly as his presence shrouded the area in darkness, a very real chill running down Yoshino's spine as she watched. Taking aim at Goethe, Ichigo fired a Byakurai like bullet that went on to sever the doll's arm. Ichigo smirked though as the limb was soon reattached by the tendril of flames that flowed from it. "Maybe this will be fun after all," he said as he side stepped left dodging a fireball from the flaming doll.

XXX

Meanwhile Tatsuki had left the woman at the entrance to the emergency room of a nearby hospital, knowing they would take care of her. On her way back to Ichigo, she ran into the pair of Orihime and Chad.

"Orihime, Chad? What are you guys doing out here?" Tatsuki asked confused.

"Ah Tatsuki-chan, well Kurodo and Noba detected a Bount and we came to check it out," Orihime said.

"Okay, but what are you doing back here then. The Bount we encountered earlier was over there near the warehouse district," Tatsuki said as she pointed in the direction she could feel Ichigo from.

"That would be correct Arisawa-san," Kurodo said, "We however felt the presence of another Bount and decided to leave that one to Kurosaki-san."

"Another one? Well what are you dawdling around for, tell us where it is so we can find out what it's doing. Ichigo and I managed to interrupt the other before it could kill the person she was feeding on," Tatsuki said, annoyed at the fact that the mod soul had not brought that point up earlier.

Running off after the signal, they came to another part of the warehouse district not far from where they could feel Ichigo. They looked around for any trace of the Bount, coming up with nothing until Noba hopped of Chad's shoulder and ran into a nearby warehouse. Entering it after him, the group found the slumped over body of a man in a suit. As they approached him though, his body turned to dust leaving a pile of sand and clothing where the man once was.

"We were too late," Kurodo said from where he hung off Orihime's shoulder.

Returning to their search for clues as to the location of the Bount, the group paused when they felt Ichigo's power spike, rushing off in his direction, not noticing a shadow heading in the same direction.

XXX

"So you're not all flash and no substance, "Ichigo said as he threw a jab at the doll, knocking it back a few metres. He then quickly drew the Jackal, holding both pistols in his hands now. Recovering from the punch, Goethe began hurling fireballs at Ichigo, all of which he easily dodged, "Oh come on now, don't tell me that's the best you've got. I mean I'm not even trying to dodge them right now," he taunted as he dodged the next fireball by just tilting his head to the side. "If this really is the best you can do then I'm going to end this now," he said as he took aim once more. In the hail of reiatsu bullets that followed, Goethe was reduced to a lump of molten rock that resembled Swiss cheese.

Bored with the fight, Ichigo sighed holstering his weapons as he walked past the doll, dismissing it as defeated. It was therefore a surprise to him when it retaliated with several fireballs sending him crashing into the side of a warehouse. Extricating himself from the rubble Ichigo stood before Yoshino and her doll once more, "Lucky hit, don't think you'll be able to get anymore in," Ichigo said as he cracked his knuckles.

"As much as I'd love to make Swiss cheese out of you again, I'm bored of this Bakudo no. 61 Rikujokoro," Ichigo said as he pointed at Goethe, six beams of light pinning the doll in place.

"Goethe!" Yoshino yelled as she watched her doll struggle to free himself.

"Where do you think you're looking?" Ichigo spoke from behind her. "I'm your opponent and such mistakes will get you killed quicker," he said as he delivered a bone-breaking kick to her abdomen.

Yoshino gasped as she was thrown back into the side of a warehouse, grimacing as she struggled to breathe due to her cracked ribs.

"Yoshino!" Goethe yelled as he continued to struggle in vain against the binding.

"I held back on my attack and you still took so much damage? Honestly this is disappointing. I bind your 'doll' as you call it and it leaves you powerless against me. What kind of monster are you when the simple removal of your minion leaves you at your most vulnerable," Ichigo said as he walked up to her. Watching as Yoshino struggled to her feet; he sighed and pulled out his Casull holding it point blank to her head. "I would say it's been fun, but that would be lying. So trust me when I say this. Goodbye and pray we never meet again."

Before Ichigo could pull the trigger though, his arms and legs were encircled by a group of snakes.

"What is this?" Ichigo asked as he struggled against the reptiles binding him.

"My, my Yoshino, it seems that I arrived just in time to save you, doesn't it Fried," spoke an unknown voice to his right. Looking at the source of the voice, Ichigo's eyes narrowed as he saw a middle-aged man with short brown hair and goatee dressed in formal clothing walk up to them, a golden snake coiled on his shoulders.

"Ryo," Yoshino said looking the newcomer in the eyes defiance and loathing reflected in her own.

"Oh come now Yoshino, I save you from this," Ryo looked Ichigo up and down as he wondered what he was, "this thing and all you can do is be angry at me? Kariya will not be so lenient on you this time."

"Before you get off on calling me a thing, I'll let you in on a little secret," Ichigo said as he flexed his arms and legs snapping the snakes off him, revealing them to be iron pipes. "I'm a soul reaper that you just managed to tick off," he said as he charged at Ryo, only to be blindsided once again by a fireball from Goethe, slamming him into some construction beams that were piled along the side of one warehouse.

"Don't you know when to stay down you useless lump of rock," Ichigo said as he stood again, his clothing slightly singed but none the worse for wear, looking at the flaming doll to see how it had escaped from his binding. Comprehension dawned on his face as he saw that it had merely separated into several smaller pieces of rock.

"He's too dangerous to let live Ryo, so either help me or don't interfere," Yoshino said looking at Ryo out of the corner of her eye. "Goethe, finish him," she shouted at her doll.

"Finish him? Understood," Goethe said as he charged two more fireballs, much larger than the previous ones.

Ichigo looked on still unimpressed, even as the two flaming balls of death tore toward him, feeling confident as he wrapped his reiatsu around himself to diminish the effect of the attack. They were all shocked though when a blue fireball of equal size intercepted Goethe's attack.

Ichigo smirked as he felt her reiatsu signature above him, "Nice entrance midget, I give it 7 out of 10." His smirk grew wider as she landed in front of him.

"You're lucky that I would only hurt myself hitting you otherwise…" Rukia trailed off without looking at him. "Besides what were you doing just standing there you fool."

Ichigo walked up to stand next to her, "Ah well I was just going to show them how great the difference between our powers truly is, after all I'm still holding back against them. After fighting Kenpachi and Byakuya, good opponents are just so hard to find anymore."

Growing agitated with Ichigo and now further annoyed with the arrival of Rukia, Ryo grabbed Yoshino jumping to the rooftops, "As much as we'd love to stay and finish the both of you off, I'm afraid we have far more pressing matters to attend to right now." His speech finished they leaped off vanishing into the city.

Ichigo sighed as the pair disappeared, "Just when it looked like things might just get interesting. Still they're far weaker than I imagined them to be."

"That would be because anyone less than lieutenant level to you probably feels like a weakling these days," Rukia said as she watched the fire disappear.

"Lieutenant Level? Oh please my dear Rukia, even lieutenants would probably bore me too tears now too," Ichigo said with a grin.

Rukia huffed at that crossing her arms and looking away from him, only to yelp as she was lifted from behind once more by a familiar pair of arms.

"Ah Rukia-chan I'm so glad you're back, did you decide to take me up on my offer of a threesome?" Tatsuki said as she nuzzled into Rukia's neck.

Rukia could only stutter in embarrassment while she blushed several shades of red, while Ichigo clutched his chest laughing his head off. Recovering from his fit, he looked behind Tatsuki nearly losing it again as he watched Orihime's face a deep shade of red along with the two mod souls, while Chad remained the silent giant.

Chuckling slightly Ichigo spoke, "And what took you so long to get here Tats? Do I need to be more vigorous in our night time sessions? After all I wouldn't want you slowing down on me."

This time it was Tatsuki's turn to blush as she set Rukia down, who was still red faced. "It's not like you needed help against her and I'll have you know we were tracking that other Bount before he made his way over to you though." Her face darkened as she finished, "We weren't able to save his victim though."

Ichigo's eyes widened and he bared his fangs in anger. Seeing the dismay on Tatsuki's face though his expression softened and he drew her into a hug. "Don't be too hard on yourself Tats; we can't be around to save everyone we want, no matter how much we want too." Looking over her shoulder at the rest of their group he spoke, "We'll talk about this tomorrow, Rukia do you have a place to stay while here?"

"I…well…there was…" Rukia mumbled and Ichigo grinned sensing the emotions radiating off her.

"Great so you will be bunking with me and Tatsuki, I'm sure she'll just be thrilled to have you around," Ichigo said looking down at Tatsuki.

Rukia groaned while Tatsuki sniggered at her discomfort of staying with them. Rukia just hoped her brother wouldn't find out, considering that news of Ichigo and Tatsuki's relationship had made its way around the Seireitei.

XXX

And that's the end of chapter 12, thank god because trying to figure out how to introduce the Bount and whether to really allow Kisuke to get pummelled further was driving me crazy. But taking things slow, writing wise anyway, meant that the chapter is at least enjoyable hopefully.

Right now before people go off on me about Ichigo shrugging off both Bount attacking him, let me clarify my opinion on their powers. Ryo was killed by Ichinose, who was killed by Kenpachi with his eye patch still on (Yes he did remove it, but that was only to free himself of that sphere). The only Bount that actually had captains use their Bankai are Jin Kariya, Go Koga and Sawatari. As such I am classifying the rest of the Bount as either Lieutenant or weaker seated officers.

So like, love or meh, let me know in your reviews which parts could use some improvement.