A/N: Wow this took a while. Geez I sound like a broken record lol. Here's the chapter!
Chapter 25: Silhouette: Part 2
Returning to the Soul Society felt cathartic, in a way.
Sure he didn't miss having to keep his powers in check, fighting his dark future self, or having to rescue Rukia from an execution, but he had also met some friends there. Momo, JidanbÅ, and Ganju to name a few. Maybe he could add Toshiro to the list one day. Or maybe not.
The workaholic was hard to read sometimes.
"Right this way," spoke their messenger, "Captain Commander Yamamoto-sama will be most pleased to see you."
Danny snorted. The day Yamamoto would be glad to see him would be the day that the Box Ghost would actually be a threat.
Dani sent him a knowing smile that he wholeheartedly returned. It felt good to just forget his problems for just a few minutes. They'd only just arrived in Soul Society, but it felt like they'd been there for hours. In a good way.
'Wouldn't mind spending a week here, honestly. Say, do you think we could spend a week here? Maybe Jin'll cut us some slack if we ask nicely?'
Dani giggled and rolled her eyes. 'Not a chance. We can relax after all of this is over.'
Danny sighed. Was it ever really over though? After they defeat Kariya, there'd be Aizen and Dan, and even after that there would still be his ghostly enemies. That wasn't even counting other future threats. His mind drifted to rumours of a certain Ghost King.
'Woah there Mr. Dark Side. Maybe you shouldn't think about that right now.'
Danny blinked. 'Oh yeah. Mental links. . . I gotta get used to that. But yeah, yeah. You're right.'
'Good of you to notice.'
Danny rolled his eyes.
"The Captains are in here." They were stopped in front of a door easily towering over Danny's head. "I'll inform them of your arrival!"
With a curt bow, the shinigami left them behind.
Dani glanced at Danny with concern. "Do you think you can handle being in the same room with Kenpachi?"
Danny winced and took an involuntary step back. "Darn it! I forgot Kenpachi would be here! I can't go in there!"
Dani gave him an apologetic smile. "Maybe he won't be there? He does kinda hate meetings like this."
"Yeah, but he doesn't hate them as much as he wants to fight me. Gah, I'm so screwed!"
"C'mon, fighting him can't be that bad."
Danny whirled on Ichigo, who was looking at him with a heavy scowl. As if he was being the irrational one. "Look, you've never even fought him so I don't wanna hear it!"
"C'mon you beat him before, didn't you?"
"Yeah, but I don't have a death wish-!"
"Is this a bad time?"
Danny glanced at the disturbed shinigami before glaring back at Ichigo. "I don't wanna hear you try and act like I'm insane for not wanting every bone in my body to hurt and turn into dust!"
Danny yelped as he crumpled to the ground, nursing a giant welt on his head. At least, it felt fairly big. He glared up at Yoruichi who had done the same thing to Ichigo. "What's the big id-OW!"
Yoruichi tugged him and Ichigo up by their ears and made her way to the entrance. "Behave you two. Or I'll put you under the most rigorous training imaginable when we get back!" Her personality did a complete 180 when she looked back at the shinigami. "We're ready to meet the Captains now. Thank you for your assistance."
Without missing a beat, she dragged them both inside of the Gotei Court, leaving their dignity at the door.
The cave was a damp and crowded territory. The nights could get insufferably cold which led many Bounts to huddle for warmth. There wasn't much time for entertainment as they would constantly need to hunt for food and gather herbs.
Eugene, as a young boy, found himself out helping the men to hunt. He hated having to go out there in the open being all vulnerable, but he did love the sights he was blessed with from time to time.
A stray deer drinking from a river, here. A majestic brush of plants, there. It was a tiny bit of solace for him until his friend would arrive.
She said that she was a shinigami and that she would help his people. It didn't make much sense for him to trust her, but she sounded genuine. There was something in her aura that just made Eugene drop all of his inhibitions.
Thus, they'd conversed often about many things when she wasn't planning with the adult Bounts. He found himself on one such occasion talking to her inside of the cave.
"What are we?" Eugene asked. It may have been the darker atmosphere of the cave, but he couldn't help the curiosity as to what caused his dreary situation.
The lady smiled. "You're a Bount."
"How were we made, I mean. Why are we so different?"
"Well, there was an accident. An explosion happened where it shouldn't have and created all of you."
The boy looked down at the ground, feeling a little hollow. "We were just accidents? They hate us because we're accidents." The words tasted like venom on his tongue, like he'd die just from admitting that truth.
His head snapped up once he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. The warm eyes of the woman filled him with an untold wave of warmth. "You are not an accident, Eugene. You're a Bount."
"The shinigami don't like us," the boy pouted. "They think we're mistakes, don't they? They want to get rid of us."
The woman smiled, softly squeezing his shoulder as she looked out of the cave. "They don't understand you all just yet. But one day, they will. We'll show them together. I promise you, Eugene."
Eugene smiled, shyly. "Thank you, Ran'Tao!"
"Jin."
Jin glanced up at Vlad, vaguely perturbed. The halfa was watching him expectantly. There was still that light of contempt nestled in his gaze. Oh, Vlad could try and hide it, but no one was as good as he when it came to spotting a facade.
He'd had to wear one for years after all. "Yes?"
"I just wanted to let you know that your subordinates will soon be back from their feeding trip."
"Wonderful. Is there anything else on your mind."
Vlad stayed silent just raking his eyes over the walls. His eyes stopped, focusing on one singular image. Jin looked over at it and saw it was a picture of himself and Yoshino smiling. They were standing in front of a boat arm in arm.
He remembered the day vividly. She had wanted to visit Sicily to see their architecture, so he'd taken every expense to get her there. They'd gone all over the city and taken that picture at the tail end of the night.
She had been so happy then.
"I will miss her dearly."
"You killed her."
Jin sighed. "We've been over this. She had to die for this plan to work. For you to be with Maddie, for Soul Society to fall, this all had to happen. The road to heaven is not one without sacrifices, Vladimir-san."
Vlad said nothing. He just continued to look at the photo.
"Vladimir-san, I loved her. I risked alerting the shinigami in Karakura Town to get that photo back. If there was another way and I could keep Yoshino, you know I would've taken it."
Vlad turned on him with a withering glare. "Isn't it about time for us to go?"
"We'll need more time to prepare. A couple of days, at best."
"I'll be waiting then."
Vlad closed the door with a loud slam that rebounded throughout the room. Jin exhaled through his nose. "It'll be over soon, Ran'Tao. It'll all be over soon."
Danny squirmed under the stares of the Captains. He doubted that he was on good terms with most of them. The gaze of Kenpachi felt the heaviest.
Speaking of the metaphorical Devil.
"Hey, Danny, long time no see-"
"We don't have time for your idiotic drivel, Zaraki!" Mayuri screeched. "We need to get to the bottom of this. Somebody messed with my turf!"
Danny stared, warily, at Mayuri. He'd seen the scientist be weird before, he's seen him be sadistic, but seeing him ticked off was a new treat. However, considering how he'd first encountered Mayuri, it was probably best for him not to deal with a missed off Mayuri.
"Your turf?" Ichigo asked. "What do you mean?"
"His database on Bounts was completely wiped out a few days ago," Shunsui said. "He thinks it may have been the work of the Bounts."
"May have been?" Danny muttered. "The Bounts deleted info on themselves to cover their tracks. Seems like an open and shut case to me."
"It is a good thing you are not a part of the OnmitsukidÅ," Sui-Feng snarked.
"Hey!"
"Compose yourselves!"
Danny blinked at the Captain Commander with no small amount of surprise. He hadn't even noticed the man was in the room with all he had to deal with in Kenpachi, Sui-Feng, and Mayuri.
He made a discrete glance at Uryu. The Quincy looked absolutely livid as glared at Mayuri. If Mayuri said the wrong words, Danny wouldn't be surprised if Mayuri wound up with an arrow in his skull.
'He doesn't have powers anymore, remember.'
Danny looked at her confusedly before sighing in realization. 'Ah yeah, I forgot.'
'Of course. . .'
"Yoruichi," started Yamamoto, "what have you discovered about the Bount threat?"
Danny felt an odd twinge at the man's phrasing. He didn't know why, but Utagawa's words started running in his mind. "What is so wrong about we are doing?" he'd asked. "Simply surviving in a world that hates us!" He knew that Utagawa wasn't right. There wasn't ever a good reason start planning mass genocide, but Danny couldn't help that little voice. It hadn't been that long since the Soul Society and he had been enemies, and they'd unjustifiably hated him.
His reverie was broken once he glanced back at the Captains. They seemed to be entirely focused on Yoruichi, so he guessed that she'd been about to speak or talking the whole time.
"Sir," Yoruichi said, "we have reason to believe that the Bounts will attack the Soul Society relatively soon."
The Captains had varying reactions to this info. Some were disturbed, others were skeptical, indifferent, or excited. Kenpachi's hungry grin would never not give him nightmares.
Yamamoto leaned forward in his chair, firmly grasping his cane. "What is your reasoning for this bold claim?"
"Danny has received a vision from Clockwork."
The next handful of days had been uneventful. The Soul Society was still on high alert, but they were becoming impatient by the lack of. . . anything, really. The Bounts had completely wiped themselves off the map, despite a search party being sent into the Human World. Urahara's "Bount trackers" weren't having much luck either. They were doing a remarkable job at annoying him, though.
Well except for Noba, but he was the silent type anyway.
Danny had entertained himself with dropping by various places in the Soul Society and the Rukongai. Sometimes, he found himself watching his sister help Momo during her therapy sessions.
The lieutenant seemed to be getting a little bit closer to normal with every session, which was something Danny was glad to see.
They were on the verge of finishing up their current appointment. Jazz was smiling more than he'd seen from her in days, and Momo seemed far more cheerful. It was a nice distraction from the complaining Bount tracker sitting next to him. A very welcome distraction.
Momo got up to leave, bowing with a smile. "Thank you so much for everything, Jazz-san!"
"Hey, why don't you join us for lunch?" Jazz asked. "You could maybe show us around?"
Momo just looked off, swinging her arm a bit. "I don't know. I don't think you'd want to spend time with me outside of therapy, and I don't want to intrude."
"Oh, don't worry. It'll be no trouble at all, right Danny?"
Danny nodded with a bit of reluctance. Knowing his luck, they'd go on clothes shopping binge or something. Unfortunately for him, his parents had given each of them enough money for at least a couple of shopping sprees. "Uh, sure. Yeah, what's the worst that could happen?"
"This sucks."
"Danny, be nice! Momo was kind enough to show us around."
"Yeah and you were annoying enough to get us here. . ."
Jazz shot a quick glare at Danny before smiling at Momo. "Don't mind Danny, Momo. He's just a little bit fussy."
Momo just giggled behind her hand. "Toshiro is the same way!"
"Boys, I swear," Ririn huffed, waddling along beside them. The Mod Soul tracker had been stuffed into one of Ichigo's sisters' dolls; a little duckling. Whatever amusement Danny gained from her situation had been ruined by her constant whining, unfortunately. "They have no appreciation for good clothing. Y'know, you could be much more appealing if you wore more than one outfit, Danny."
Danny scowled at a clothing line of shihakushos and haoris. If there was one thing he hated more than anything, it was the mall. Or the store. Anything like that really. It was at least tolerable with his friends, but they were in Amity.
And he was here.
"Great," he muttered. "Triple-teamed. . ."
The girls just laughed and moved on to the next set of clothes. Thus commenced an hour of trying out clothes and other accessories. They'd ask Danny for his opinion and he'd try and muster up some interest or commentary. They looked like they were having so much fun that Danny couldn't find it in him to gripe too much. After a handful of clothes, there came a time that his sister went off to the changing rooms alone, leaving Danny and Momo. Ririn had headed off on her own, a while before, to find some clothes that suited her interest.
While they were gone, Momo decided to strike up a conversation with him. "What's it like in the Human World?"
Danny glanced at her with furrowed brows. "You haven't been there?"
Momo flushed slightly, smiling a little nervously. "I mean I've been there once, but I, uh, never got to do much sightseeing."
"Oh, what'd you do?"
Momo hesitated, looking as if she'd seen a ghost. For a moment, Danny wanted to kick himself. "Don't worry," Danny quickly amended, "you don't-"
"No, no. It's fine. I was a trainee and there was this Memos Grande that had shown up out of nowhere."
"Menos Grande?"
Momo nodded apologetically. "It's an extremely powerful class of Hollow. They're way more dangerous than the regular ones." At Danny's nod, she continued, "So, it seemed like my friends and I were going to die when Aizen-sam- when Aizen showed up. He saved our lives."
"Ah."
The atmosphere felt about three shades darker than before. Just hearing the name of the former Captain was enough to make his blood boil. He would make certain that he would eviscerate the former Captain the next time they fought..
Momo gave a weak chuckle. "Look at me! Still calling him, Aizen-sama! I still care about him, even after all this."
"Hey, forget about him. He's not worth your time. Anyone who spends that much time and money on hair gel and dramatic escapes is definitely not worth it."
Momo giggled. "Yeah. You're right."
"You wanted to know about the Human World, right? Well, it's a lot like this one but different at the same time."
"Like what?"
"Um, less Reishi for one, but I guess you already knew that. There are cars-"
"Cars?"
"Yeah, they're for transportation. Since not everyone can Flash Step, we've got stuff like airplanes, busses, and cars."
Momo's eyes got real big for a moment. "Airplanes?! They let you fly, right?"
"Yep. Lemme think. . . there are amusement parks."
"What are those?"
"They're like places with lots of rides and roller-coasters. They've got prizes for certain games and a bunch of other stuff. They're really fun with friends."
"Wow, I'd love to see that one day. It all sounds so amazing."
Danny bit his lip and he leaned in close as if to tell a secret. "Maybe I could take you one day."
Momo gaped at him. "But how? They won't let me just go into the Human World."
Danny grinned slyly. "They don't have to know. I can take you there myself and be back with no one noticing."
"But how?"
Danny's mouth opened and shut. Within seconds, he was absolutely stupefied. He didn't have his powers anymore. He couldn't even take himself anywhere anymore, much less anyone else.
Momo seemed to sense this change, but Danny did his best to amend it. "I can totally get you there with my zanpakuto! Just not today. Or anytime soon. Cause of the Bount hunt and all that."
Momo smiled and nodded her head in thanks. "I'd like that a lot. Thank you, Danny-san!"
"No problem."
"What are you two talking about?"
Danny jerked at his sister's voice. She was touting a bag filled with clothes, looking at him with a mischievous little smile and a twinkling of mirth in her eyes. A lesser trained person would've dismissed it as a happy demeanor, but he knew better.
Danny shot her a glare. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to wipe the cheshire grin off her face. "Don't worry about it."
"O~K!" Jazz chirped. "If you're both ready, I think we can leave now-"
"Yes!"
"-and head to the store nearby."
"Oh, c'mon!"
Dani took a deep breath as she stared down the Quincy. "You've got this. Just talk to him. He needs it. Do it for Uryu."
Slowly, Dani edged her way towards him, barely noticing her feet just barely hovering above the ground. 'This is it. Here goes-'
"Dani, what are you doing here?"
Dani just about shot thirty feet into the air. "Hey! What was that about?!"
Uryu had the decency to look bashful as he pushed up his glasses. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. It's just that I figured you'd be with Danny?"
Dani tried to calm her racing heart as she floated down. "I just figured that you would want someone to talk to."
Uryu's eyes narrowed. "I appreciate your concern, but-"
"You've gotten used to life without your Quincy powers?" Dani finished with a roll of her eyes. "You're still using that lie?"
"It's not a lie!"
"Oh was the honor of the Quincy stuff a lie then? You don't seem to care much about that anymore. The Uryu I know wouldn't sacrifice his powers over some dumb Captain!"
Uryu drew a deep breath. "Dani, I think it'd be best that you stop-"
"No! You're just gonna abandon your Quincy pride like that?"
"I didn't abandon my Quincy pride! That was all for my Quincy pride! It was for my Grandfather, my mother, and all the Quincies who'd come before me!"
"How is losing your powers 'for your Quincy pride?!' You're miserable! You think we haven't seen you moping around feeling sorry for yourself? You want your powers back!"
Uryu looked at her hard as if he wanted to say something. She half-expected him to shout at her, but instead he swallowed hard and spun away from her. "It's done anyway. There's nothing we can do to change it."
Dani was in front of him in the blink of an eye. His face was partially hid by his hair, but she could see the conflict contorting his face. "There's gotta be some way to get them back. Maybe Urahara and Danny's parents could find a way to jumpstart your powers or we can-"
"I said it's done. I appreciate your concern, but drop it."
Dani's jaw set as she stared at him. She may not have been as adept at feelings as Jazz was, but she could see Uryu was conflicted about something. She just wasn't sure what it was about, but she was darn sure that she wasn't gonna just give up on him. "Fine. I'll drop it for now, but we'll talk about this later."
Uryu glared at her with so much venom that she took a step back. Before any scathing remark could fly from his tongue, the sky began to darken.
Uryu glanced up with apprehension as Dani tried to make it all out. The sky looked like it was rippling when she looked closely, like a pond after a stone was dropped into it. Dani felt a pang of dread enter her heart despite herself.
"That power. . ."
Dani turned to Uryu who was still enraptured by the display. "What's going on?"
"I can sense them. It's faint but it's there. It's the Bounts!"
Dani stared at him like he'd grown another head. "What? We can't sense Bounts. That's why we brought Ririn and the other trackers!"
Uryu looked more than a bit appalled by his newfound skill. "I know that but I can sense them. Barely, but I'm certain it's them."
"Dani-chan!"
Dani's eyes flew to her pockets at the voice, fishing out her communicator. "Orihime! What's up?"
"Is Uryu-kun, with you?"
"Yes, I'm here!" Uryu shouted, heading over to Dani. "Where are you?"
"I'm with the group at the hotel. Yoruichi wants you both to meet us there."
"Wait!" Dani asked. "What's going on? What's happening?"
"The Bounts are here."
Kariya stood over the Seireitei, standing on the air just as easily as he would the ground. It was quite fitting, in his opinion, for him to be standing over the lowly shinigami in plain sight. He wasn't hiding, not anymore, and he was above them despite the Hell that they'd subjected him to.
"Kariya-sama," Koga muttered, "what should we do now?"
Jin felt his charismatic grin return with practiced ease. "What else is there left to do? Wreak havoc of course!" Turning to the rest of his subordinates, he spoke louder. "Show them the power of the Bounts! Cut the vermin down!"
A cacophony of cheers rang out as the clan shot towards the Seireitei.
A/N: The arc's almost over! All we've got left is two more chapters, and then we'll get into this story's final arc! And then I'll make part two to completely finish everything. . . oof. Thank you all for reading this far! You are all awesome!
Uploaded: May 5th 2021
