Chapter 36
" As I was saying, we have discovered further information about what we believe the Bounts are up to, after Ichigo and me initially went looking through the files" Ukitake said, looking around at everyone. "Our investigation has pointed to forbidden research that was headed by a Soul Reaper named Ran'Tao"
"What kind of research?" Ichigo asked, not linking where the conversation was going.
"Long ago, before the Department of Research and Development was created, researchers were working on a way to make Soul Reapers immortal" Ukitake said, looking at Ichigo.
"Wait, I thought Soul Reapers were immortal?" Ichigo asked, confused. "I mean ,the head captain is like what? Seven or eight hundred years old?"
"Quite flattering Young Ichigo, but I am a great deal older then that.." Captain Yamamoto said, with a barely noticeable smile. "However, even though Soul Reapers can live a very long time, thousands of years in fact, we are not truly immortal"
"I see…but what about those experiments?" Ichigo asked, looking back at Ukitake. " And what do they have to do with the Bounts?"
"…. Before many of the current laws were in effect., and at a time when central 46 had many ..corrupt members, they performed the experiment Jushiro mentioned with some…unintended side effects.." Kyoraku said, holding the edge of his hat. " Their was an accidental explosion during the experiments, and it effect a large number of souls that were in the Cycle of Transmigration and about to be reborn in the world of the living… this created a new breed of human with powers that are very similar to Quincys. We called them the Bounts"
"Wait! The Soul Society created the Bounts!" Ichigo asked loudly, stepping out of the line of fellow captains. "Then...why are they after us?…"
"Stupid boy, the reason is not what is important here, stopping them is" Captain Kurotsuchi said, in a irritated voice. "Besides, this information was not known to anyone, prior to looking up old files ,that were well hidden"
"Like that matters, you freak job. You said the Bounts were created here, but will need to have the reason. If we find that, maybe we can find out what their planning to do" Ichigo said, yelling at him. " Jushiro, do we know why they'd be after us?"
"Fortunately, or unfortunately , depending on how you look at it, that information was also discovered" Ukitake replied, sighing. "It seems that there was a ..decree issued… the Bounts, as you are aware, have been called vampires, because of what they do. There was at time when they decide to take souls of those still alive instead of those who were dying.. And the Soul Society did not wait for long to deal with the threat to the world of the living"
"What…what did they do?.." Ichigo asked, cautiously.
"…. They attempted to kill them off of course, as should have been done from the very beginning" Kurotsuchi sneered, as he folded his arms. " The explosion that created them destroyed nearly a tenth of the Seireitei, not to mention they continuously disrupt the balance of the worlds, almost as much as the Quincys did. The souls they absorb to remain immortal, do not pass on to the Soul Society after all"
"Why is it the Soul Society tries to solve every problem it has ,by killing someone or something..?" Ichigo asked, gritting his teeth. "Quincys, Mod Souls, Vizards, and now the Bounts… seriously, what the hell is wrong with you people?"
"We never said we were happy with every decision made, Ichigo…" Captain Unohana said, looking a little serious. " All we can do is try to make up for past sins,…walk forward, and make for a better future.."
"As good as that sounds, we need to focus on the Bount problem for the time being…" Kyoraku said, sighing. " Jushiro, was there anything else important we should know?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact there was one more thing… It seems that at one point the Bounts attempted to take revenge on the Soul Reapers for trying to annihilate them, and when they did, they sought the assistance of the Quincys" Ukitake replied, to him and the others. "However, despite bad relations with the Soul Reapers, the Quincy not only refused to help them, they even teamed with the Soul Reapers, in order to repel the Bounts attack"
"The Quincy's helped the Soul Reapers?…why?… The Soul Reapers tried to kill them too…" Ichigo asked in surprised. " … So what do we do now, old man Yamamoto?"
"What do we do you ask, young Kurosaki? It is quite obvious… defeat them at all costs" The Head Captain replied, with his eyes closed. " The Bounts are dangerous to both us and humans alike, they must be stopped as soon as possible"
"Hmmm…. Well, if this meeting is over with I need to go get something to eat… I'm starved" Ichigo said, heading towards the main door. "Se ya later, Shunsui, Jushiro, Kenpachi, and Soifon"
"Ichigo Kurosaki… leaving the room before the Head Captain has dismissed us is both rude, and not allowed" Byakuya said, turning just his eyes in Ichigo's direction.
"Tough shit, I'm hungry, so I'm going to go eat" Ichigo said ,opening the door. " You wanna stop me, be my guest and try. But just remember, I kicked your ass in our last fight, and that was before I trained more with my Zanpaktou, and this time you'd be leaving in a body bag…if your lucky"
"Now that's a fight I'd like to see" Kenpachi said , grinning and licking his lips.
"Silence, everyone…" Yamamoto said, pounding his can on the floor just once and unleashing a small ounce of his enormous spiritual pressure, making almost everyone at least flinch a little. " The meeting is not officially over yet, so be still"
"Whatever ,I'm still out of here" Ichigo said, as she flash-stepped out the open door, seemingly unaffected by the head Captain's spirit energy.
"Ichigo!" Soifon yelled after him, leaning out of the Captain line up. "… he really is stubborn…"
"Should he not be punished for leaving without permission, Head Captain?" Byakuya asked ,looking over at him.
"He is quite stubborn, foolish, and doesn't do as others tell him…. But what good would punishment serve?… if we striped him of rank, he'd go back to the world of the living. If we demoted him, his lieutenant, Hiyori Sarugaki, would take his place, and still follow his orders" Yamamoto said, looking over at Byakuya. "Besides, walking out on a meeting is hardly a major violation, if it was, I suspect Captain Zaraki would be in trouble quite often. And further more, we have a great need of him against both these Bounts and Aizen. We can not afford to lose him support"
Ichigo came to a stop not far from the squad one barracks, where he began to walk slowly, trying to remember where the mess hall was. He wasn't really paying attention to where he was walking and ran into someone.
"Hey watch where your going you little….Rukia?" Ichigo asked in surprise ,as he looked down at the short girl who was on her but on the ground.
"Ichigo ?" Rukia exclaimed, looking up. "… Moron, I haven't seen you in how many chapters of this story and the first thing you do when you see me, is knock me down?"
"…. Eh, bite me , midget" Ichigo said, with a smirk. "You need a hand?"
"A hand ?,yes…then again you want me to bite you ,…so does that mean your one of those guys with a pain equals pleasure thing?" Rukia asked with a evil grin..
"Say what!" Ichigo yelled out, red faced. "Get your stupid assed mind out of the gutter, you little pervert!"
"Relax, you prude. I'm just kidding.." Rukia said, holding out her hand ,waiting for him to help her stand up. "I just hadn't see you in a bit, and felt like teasing you.. If I say I'm sorry, will you help me up?"
"… Fine, here" Ichigo said, grabbing her hands and standing her upright. "So what are you doing here, anyways?"
"I was taking a break from assisting Kiyone and Sentaro with paperwork, and going to meet Captain Ukitake" Rukia said, as they walked along the wooden floors. "Then I going to take a break and get something to eat… did you find out anything useful at the Captain's meeting?"
"Only that once again, the Soul Society tried to kill the Bount soon after they created them by accident" Ichigo said bitterly. " You can just add it to the list of problems they've tried to solve by killing… as if trying to work things out is a foreign thing to them.."
"We created the Bounts?… how?… when?" Rukia asked in surprise. " And what's the plan to deal with them?"
"The usual…. Kill them… look, I'm hungry and rather not talk about the Soul Society's "great" plan for dealing with the Bounts right now… I'm sure Jushiro will tell you later" Ichigo said, sighing. "now, show me again, where the mess hall is, will ya?"
"Yeah, sure" Rukia said, as they walked off. "I can meet up with Captain Ukitake afterwards, there's no rush"
After arriving at the mess hall Ichigo got some Donburi ( meat or fish and vegetables served with rice) , and cold green tea, while Rukia had Tataki Bonito ( a unique way of cooking skipjack fish), with rice and cold green tea. As they ate and caught up, Ichigo felt something land on his shoulder and small arms around his neck. He looked over to see Yachiru , who smiled brightly at him.
"Hey Ichi! Hey Shorty!" Yachiru said, waving with one hand. "How's it going?"
" I'm doing alright I suppose..how about you Yachiru?" Ichigo asked ,patting the little girl on the head, and making her giggle. " You manage to put little pink bows on Kenpachi's spiky hair yet?"
"I'm also doing well and..wait!, pink hair bows?" Rukia asked, confused and surprised. "Do I even want to know?"
"Ichi and me though it would be funny to put pink bows in Kenny's hair after he spikes it up in the mornings.." Yachiru said, grinning. "But after the last time I tried it, he started locking his door when he does his hair… I'm thinking of putting something in his sake to knock him out so I can put them in…what do you think?"
"Um…I'm not sure the best idea ever… not to mention the safest." Ichigo, said cringing. "Why don't you ask him to let you put them in… tell him it will make you very sad if you can't..you know, use your cuteness to your advantage"
"Hmmm ..great idea Ichi!" Yachiru said, laughing. "After I eat I'll go back to the squad 11 barracks and do just that… I'm going to go get some food, be right back!..oh and Ichi, you better not be hitting on me...hehehe see ya in a moment!"
"Really Ichigo, I know you liked short girls , but I didn't think you liked them that short" Rukia said grinning. "I must say though, at least you can't be accused of dating a girl that's too young, she is much older then you after all… though I wonder what your girlfriend, Hiyouri would think?.."
"Sh-sh-shut up, you stupid midgit! I think of Yachiru like a third little sister! Sheesh!" Ichigo said red faced. "I think you've been spending too much time around perverts or something… can we talk about something , that's not perverted for once?"
"Relax, I was only joking… besides, Hiyori told me I should say something like that when I saw you today" Rukia siad, laughing. "She was right, you really do react in a great way"
"She told you to say that?. Did you see her before you met up with me or something?" Ichigo asked taking a bite of his donburi. "And how did she know I'd see Yachiru here?"
"Because I ran into Hiyori and we saw Yachiru hopping across the roof tops, towards the mess hall about 5 minutes before I met you near the squad 1 barracks" Rukia said simply as she took a sip of her tea. " Messing with you, is something we both take great pleasure in doing.."
"Nice to see I amuse you and Hiyori so well…" Ichigo said, grumbling. "By the way where was Hiyori off to, anyways? Did she say?"
"Hmm?.. Oh yeah, she said she was on her way to Captain Unohana about something…didn't say what" Rukai replied, thinking back. "Hope nothings wrong"
"Yeah, me too…guess I'll have to ask her later after I eat.." Ichigo said, as Yachiru reappeared, with a plate full of chicken curry and rice and somehow, a bunch of candy too . "Oh hey, welcome back"
Yachiru gave him a grin before hopping into a chair, and digging in.
"Make sure you eat your meal before the candy, by the way" Ichigo said, eating his own food.
"…Yes, Ichi" Yachiru said, soundly slightly disappointed, but doing as he said, nonetheless.
As Ichigo, Rukia and Yachiru ate, Hiyori was at the squad 4 barracks medical center about to talk to Squad 4 captain and head doctor, Retsu Unohana.
"Please have a seat, Lieutenant Sarugaki" Unohana said, smiling as Hiyori did. "Now, what seems to be the problem?"
"Well…it's not that I have problem …yet… it's more like… well.. As you are probably aware, Ichigo is my boyfriend and we haven't ..done the horizontal tango yet" Hiyori said, with a very red face. " As you also know when we pass on and come to the Soul Society, we don't retain our memories, so I…don't… I don't really no much about…"it" and wanted to know about "it" and if in the distant future if I were to get knocked up, the only thing I know about… se- se- sex, if there would be any problems for me"
"Hmm.. I see… you wish to know about sex… a rather simple thing I guess. I can give you some information to read up on if you wish…" Captain Unohana said pulling out a few books, and handing them to Hiyori. "As for any problems related to being pregnant, I'm afraid there very well might be if I'm correct…"
As Hiyori talked with Captain Unohana, Ichigo finished eating and told Rukia he'd see her later, before walking off ,back to his barracks, with Yachiru hitching a ride on his back for a while. She eventually hopped off and said bye as she headed to squad 11, saying she was going to ask Kenny about the hair bows.
Ichigo finally arrived aback at the squad 5 barracks, and headed to his office/room, just as Hiyori appeared , carrying several books in her hands, and looking a little preoccupied.
"Hey...something wrong Hiyori?" Ichigo asked, following her into their room they shared. "Hiyori?"
"Oh, Ichigo ..it's… nothing, nothing important anyway…" Hiyori said, puttting the stack of books down on the floor, by the desk. "So how the meeting? Find anything out usefull about those Bount bastards?"
"Yeah, but your more important then some crap about the Bounts…" Ichigo said, kneeling down a little and hugging the girl. " Now tell me whats' wrong… where's the sarcastic, violent little girl I know and love?"
"…"
"No come back?.. Now I know something's wrong… Come here" Ichigo said, pulling her onto his lap as he sat down on the edge of their bed. " You know you tell me anything….and you've never been shy about it before ,so spit it out"
"I … I went to Captain Unohana to learn soemthings about…well, sex, for when were both eventually ready…" Hiyori said with a reddening face. " I also had a feeling about some ..complications that might happen if I were to ever, theoretically get pregnant…"
"Se-sex…?.. I see…" Ichgi stuttered with a even redder face then hers. " And what kind of..problems did you find out about.."
"Well, as you know, I'm ..well, short, not even four and a half feet tall, to your nearly six feet in height… and because I'm so mall in height, and weight… well…" Hiyori said, looking downward. "It might not be the best thing in the world for my health, and more specifically my hip and knee joints , if I got pregnant. The weight a girl gains could cause a lot of stress to those joints, which Captain Unohana said could be very painful and problematic when I rejoined the force of Soul Reapers.."
"…."
"Not to mention, the fact that I'd have to probably get a c-section done for delivery.. Which is not something I'd look forward too" Hiyori said, sighing. "In other words ,if you ever had a desire to be a dad someday, and our still with me, a baby might not happen… it's not impossible since plenty of short women have babies all the time, but it's probably bettter to air on the side of caution, and all that crap"
"Well, we haven't even..done it yet, and we're both a little too young to be parents…or least I am…" Ichigo said, holding her close. "Besides, whatever happens, and despite your sarcasim, foul mood, and quick temper… I still love your short little snaggletoothed self, and will be right here for you, no matter what…"
"Thanks, but just one problem now.." She said, elbowing him in his stomach. "Too much touchy feely shit for one day.. Lets do something destructive, like go find some hollows to kill or something"
"Yeah ok, but mabe we can just work the squad really hard in training drills instead" Ichigo said, holding his stomach. " Shall we?"
"Yeah,.. Let's get our squad" Hiyori said ,hopping off his lap. "But before that, we need to turn in our paperwork to the Squad 1 barracks..probably should have taking it with you earlier"
"Yeah, let gather it up and go deliver it" Ichigo said, standing up.
The two of them got the paperwork, and headed back to the Squad 1 building to drop it off. After delivering it, they made their way back to their own barracks to do squad drills, and ran into Captain Kyoraku.
"Oh, hey their Ichigo, Lieutenant Sarugaki, where are you off to?" Kyoraku asked, in his usual laid back manner.
"We had to turn in our squad's paperwork and were heading back to the squad 5 barracks.." Ichigo said, calmly. " What about you, Shunsui ?"
"Me?, Old man Yama, wants me to go and be a guest speaker at the academy today… even though I'd rather just have a drink" He replied, grinning. "Oh, before I forget, how come your back to wearing a track suit instead of your Shihakusho, Lieutenant ?"
"I haven't wore one regularly in over a hundred years, so why start now?" Hiyori said, crossing her arms. "I'm more comfortable in a track suit anyways"
"Well, be that as it may, Soul Reaper etiquette does require you to wear your Shihakusho, especially on missions or ceremonies…" Kyoraku said, politly. "I also see you not even wearing your Lieutenant's badge on your arm, or anywhere else for that manner. You should at least wear that,.."
""Where is the squad 5 Lietenant badge you received anyways ?" Ichigo asked, looking down at his girlfriend. "I remember you getting one…"
"Probably in our office still… I think I shoved it in one of the desk's drawers" Hiyori said, putting her hands in her jacket pockets. " If it makes you feel any better, I'm wearing underwear with the squad 5 symbol on them"
"Um,… tht;s probably not something you should go around telling people so casualy" Ichigo said with a tiny nose bleed. " Anyways, we really need to get going to do squad drills…, see ya later captain pervo"
"What?…oh yeah see ya around Ichigo, you lucky little bastard…hehehe" Hyoraku said, with his own minor nose bleed. "Oh and before I forget, unless the Bounts or someone else, suddenly attack us, the Head captain want's you to both to be guests at the Soul Reaper academy as well. He wants you two to go tomorrow morning"
"Super…. That sound like a shit load of fun…" Hiyori said, frowning. " Still, maybe we can really fuck with the new students there… that might be fun"
"Yeah, though you may want to tone down the swearing a bit… and maybe remember wear a bra…you tend to either wear a wrap, or nothing at all" Ichigo said, blushing a bit.
"Sheesh, don't give pervo here more stuff to get a nose bleed over…" Hiyori said, face palming herself and grabbing onto Ichigo's sleeve to pull him along. "See ya later, Shunsuei, come on Strawberry. Let s go tourture, I mean, train the squad"
"Have fun you two…" Kyoraku said, with tissues in his nose. "Try not to send to many people to the infirmary today, I'm sure Captain Unohana would be grateful "
"No promises!" Hiyori yelled back, as she and Ichigo walked off.
A little later, squad 5 was out in it's training field, waiting for orders.
"Allrights, magots, we'll start with some basic sword swings" Hiyori said, puling her sword out of it sheath. " One swing to attack and one to defend. Basic academy stuff, so get to it. Just watch what I do and I want you all to do it about….hmm,… 30 times. Before we move on… are their are any questions?"
"Uh, I have one lieutenant" A male Soul Reaper with green hair said, rasing his hand. "Why are you giving orders, instead of our captain their?"
"Because this moron, started his carrer as a human and Substitute Soul Reaper in the world of the living.. He never went to the academy and doesn't know how to really do the drills" Hiyori said ,holding her sword ,waiting to do the swing and defend demonstration. "Any more questions?"
"Human ? Substitute Soul Reaper….wait! I'm kind of new to this squad, but… Captain Sir, you wouldn't happen to be Captain Ichigo Kurosaki, would you ?" The young squad member asked.
"Yeah, I am…. How many other orange haired Soul Reapers do you know of?" Ichigo asked, stretching. " And as I explained to the other squad members when I first became a captain, because I'm not up to date on a lot of Soul Reaper things, Hiyori here will be doing a lot of stuf like this, so just think of her as a second captain if you want"
"Uh, yes sir" He said, nodding. "And before we begin, may I say it's a honor to work under you , mister hero, sir"
"Sure,… go ahead Hiyori" Ichigo said, nodding to her. " I'll even do the drill with you guys and girls"
Ichigo let Hiyori take charge of training the squad, and while he did some of the drills with them, he mostly did his own solo practice nearby.
"You know Ichigo you should really practice using Kido spells a bit, since it is a requirement of a captain" Hiyori said, walking over to him. " How about we try training a bit, like you did with Soifon?'
"..I guess" Ichigo said, putting his Zanpaktou against a nearby railing and walking over to her. "What do we do first?"
Hiyori took her own Zanpaktou, put it back in it's sheath, and set it down next to Ichigo's, before turning to look at him. "We start at the beginning…."
x-Meanwhile-x
Back in the world of the living, the Bounts were gathered up on the same cave they had fled to after the destuction of Kariya's mansion.
"Thank you for regrouping so quickly, my fellow Bounts. We have urgent things to discuss" Kariaya said, looking around at the others. "We are all know immensely stronger thanks to the Bittos and the time to enact are revenge has come. There are however a few loose ends to tie up and a few small obstacles still standing in our way"
"And what might those be?" Yoshi asked, impatiently. "Please tell me it involves killing someone.."
"Actually, it just might, Yoshi…I need someone to either distract or kill the Soul Reaper Kisuke Urahara and his merry band of shop keeping residents" Kariya said with a smile. " While this happens we will go after the Quincy who still lives , a teenage boy named Uryu Ishida. We do need him to enter the Soul Soceity afterall. Yoshi, would you like to go after the Soul Reaper?… perhaps you can take Ryo with you, have some fun and who knows? Maybe you'll actually kill him off… "
"Working with Ryo?….sounds like ass…. But killing a Soul Reaper? That sounds fun…." Yoshi said, licking her lips. "Just the thought of bathing in his blood, get me really…excited"
"Excellent, go.. Have fun" Kariya said, with a smile. "The rest of us have a Quincy to collect"
Ryo and Yoshi made their way out of the cave amnd stopped at the enterence.
"I just wanna make one thing clear before we head out, Ryo" Yoshi said, slanting her eyes. "You get in my way as we attack the Soul Reaper, and I won't hesitate to kill you too. Got it?"
"The same goes for you, Yoshi" Ryo said, before walking off, with Yoshi in tow.
Across town, as Urahara was killing Bittos he couldn't shake the strange feeling that, something or someone would soon be after him. He gripped his Zanpaktou, Benihime, rightly as he cut through several more Bittos and went on his way, hoping that he would be ready for whatever might come for him that night.
He shook his head and flash-stepped forward to rendezvous with Yoruichi back at his shop. After several blocks he came to a deliberate stop, and grinned.
"You've been following me a few blocks now….so just come out already" Urahara said, not turning around.
"You…you were able to sense us?…" said a female voice asked, steeping out of the shadows. "No wonder, considering you were once a captain,…. but I am curious as to how you discovered us"
"Oh, it's actually simple, I created a portable Bount sensor and brought it with me" Urahara said, holding with wrist out, reveal a small watch like object. "Stylish, huh?….. By the way, your partner can also come out to play"
"I suppose I should, right Yoshi?" a man holding a pocket watch said.
"Sure, Ryo, as long as you stay out of my way, come on out…" Yoshi said, grinning as she looked at Urahara. "Tell me Soul Reaper.. Are you ready to die?.."
"Die?… hehe, sorry ,but I have to meet up with a lovely lady friend of mine and can't be late" Urahara said grinning back. " If you two do wanna fight , I'll have to make it quick"
"You sound so confident… I wonder how you'll sound when I cut of you arms and legs, leaving you a bloodly stump on the ground?" Yoshi said, grinning with bloodlust. "How about we find out… Zeige Dich, Neider!"
"Don't forget that you are facing two opponants on this night, Soul Reaper… so I'm afraid your "lady friend" will have be disappointed by you not showing up" Ryo said, holding out his pocket watch. " Zeige Dich, Fried!"
"Well, since both of you have called on your dolls, it would rude of not to wake up my Zanpaktou, the red princess.." Urahara said, pulling out his Shikomizue ( cane with sword blade hidden in it). "Awaken, Benihime"
"Now then, allow me to show you just how fierce the red princess, Benihime can be in battle" Urahara said in a serious tone. "I warn you, if you wish to survive this fight, you'd do well to not underestimate her, it could cost you dearly"
"We'll have to see if your promises can be kept, Soul Reaper" Yoshi said, grinning. " Let's show him that his "red princess" isn't the only dangerous one around here… shall we, Nieder?"
"Yes lets us show them" Her Jian sword said, while the battle fan part of her doll said, " Yes, let's carve them up real good"
"Fine, enough talking then" Ryo said, swinging his whip like doll around. "I came here to kill a Soul Reaper, not chat!"
"Well, then I hope not to dissapoint you" Urahara said, faling back into a defensive stance. " Show me what you can do"
End of Chapter 36...To be continued
Thanks for reading, please enjoy and review. And ( this seems to be a regular thing now) I must appologize for the lateness of thie chapter update.. Please be patient, this show will go on!.. Unless the world blows up or an army of hamsters attack…you know, something bad… see ya soon