Read, Review and Check out my other stories! Also take note of the update schedule on my profile! It isn't hard to figure out how it works, seriously!

Beta'd by BigCC

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach!

"Rukia" – Normal Speech

'Ichigo' – Thoughts

*Kaien-dono* - Zanpakutō speech/thoughts

"Bankai!" – Spiritual Technique

Chapter 22: The Karakura Town Advance Squad

Kurosaki Ichigo had gone through a lot in his short life. He'd seen his mother die at the hands of Grand Fisher. He'd seen his two youngest sisters being attacked by Fishbone-D. And he'd seen Kirika, his little sister, being attacked and treated like a disposable toy by that bastard Aizen. And those were simply the worst highlights of his life. Needless to say, these experiences had helped shape Ichigo into the protector he was today, and the safety of his family was paramount among the things he sought to protect.

Anyone who'd had even the slightest contact with the Deathberry knew that threatening any member of the Kurosaki family, and its three daughters in particular, was a sure way to bring down an unholy orange fury down on your head.

So his reaction to seeing Kirika, his sister, being engulfed in a wall of fire was, predictably…wrathful.

"Getsuga Tenshō!" Ichigo's furious roar was accompanied by a massive crescent slash of pure condensed spiritual energy barrelling straight for the shocked form of Sōma Yoshino.

The female Bount instinctively leapt backward to escape the attack, thought the force of blast still left her stumbling to land on her feet. Looking at where she'd been standing moments before, her jaw loosened at the sight of a trench large enough to hold a small bus carved into the street where she'd been standing.

'What incredibly dense spiritual energy!' Yoshino thought in shock. 'He's just a kid, how is this possible?'

"Aniki, calm down already." Kirika's voice sounded out from nearby, the girl herself reappearing in a blur of Shunpo-enhanced speed. The female Soul Reaper didn't even seem fazed by the Bount's attack, not a single hair out of place and she seemed more annoyed than anything else. "I can't believe I had to use Utsusemi like that; that Goethe of yours is no joke, lady."

"I'm surprised that you managed to survive my fireball, girl." Yoshino replied coolly, trying to keep her mounting shock under control. These were no normal children. "Goethe's flames can turn stone to molten slag within a moment."

"You never actually hit me." The redhead informed her casually. "I'll admit, your Doll's flames are something else, but they're also far too slow to even touch me, even if you managed to catch me off-guard."

'That technique she mentioned must be some form of high-speed movement method then, perhaps an advanced version of the 'Shunpo' technique that the Soul Reaper are supposed to practice.' Yoshino's eyes narrowed as she studied the other woman, trying to keep both her and the orange-haired boy in her field of vision. 'Who are these two? The girl claimed that she wasn't a member of the Goteijūsantai, but who else could have trained her to such a level? And her companion…that boy has more Reiryoku than anyone I've ever seen, even Kariya doesn't compare in raw power, but his control is far more lacking.'

Before anything more could be said or done, a new male voice interceded. "Zeige Dich, Fried! (Show Yourself, Fried!)"

The sudden shout caught all three off-guard, leaving them unable to properly respond as a golden snake, of all things, lashed out of the nearby shadows and wrapped around Kirika's neck before pulling her into the air and hurling her into her friends.

"That Doll…! Utagawa Ryō!?" Yoshino exclaimed in shock.

"I would advise you to take this chance and flee, Yoshino-san." stated the newest arrival. "While I would have liked to take this chance to bring you to Kariya-sama, it looks as if dealing with these interlopers will require all of my attention. Rest assured though; I will find you again."

"Tch!" the brown-haired woman clicked her tongue in frustration. "Goethe!"

Instantly, her Doll swept in and lifted her up, speeding away into the night, even as Kirika managed to untangle herself from her brother and friends.

"Dammit...and who the hell are you!?" the redhead growled as she looked at where the snake had come from, seeing only the vague outline of a man in the shadows.

"I'm afraid I'll have to decline on commenting, young lady." the man laughed. Kirika grit her teeth at the arrogant tone. "But please, allow me to leave you younglings with a parting gift! Schlangenflutschlag! (Snake Flood Strike!)"

Once again, the golden snake surged out from the shadows, this time seemingly tracing a wide arc across the concrete in front of the figure. As the snake drew back, the ground seemingly erupted in a veritable flood of silver snakes, all surging toward the group of teens.

Kirika was the first to respond.

"Hadō #31: Shakkahō!" with that single shout, a surge of burning red energy erupted from her outstretched palm, splitting the onrushing flood down the middle and allowing her friends to easily split their attention between the two sides.

"Tsubaki! Koten Zanshun! I reject!"

"El Directo!"

"Getsuga Tenshō!"

"Hmph."

Tsubaki sliced through the snakes as if they weren't there, carving a wide path through the onrushing horde, while the bodies and any strays that managed to slip through were wiped out by Chad's blast of pure spiritual power. One the opposite side, Zangetsu's spiritual energy blast swept through the horde of snake like a tide, disintegrating anything in its path, while the lucky few that managed to slip through were quickly and efficiently sniped by precision shots from Ishida's Reishi bow.

In a matter of seconds, the onrushing horde of snakes were completely decimated. Sadly, that still proved long enough for their creator to disappear into the night, along with Kirika's original opponent, much to her frustration.

"Well, this is a pain." the third disciple of the Flash Goddess sighed in annoyance. "At least we've got a clue on what we're dealing with now. Come on, let's go see if we can beat any information on the 'Bount' characters out of Urahara-san."

Later

Urahara Shōten

"The Bount, huh...well, there's a word I was hoping I wouldn't hear again." the former Captain sighed. He was sitting behind a table, absently fanning himself with one of his usual folding fans, while everyone from the Substitute Group were gathered around the table opposite of him. Tessai was busy elsewhere in the shop and Yoruichi had left earlier for the Seireitei.

"So you've heard of these Bount guys, Hat'n'Clogs?" Ichigo asked impatiently, already annoyed with the shopkeeper's general attitude.

"Well, you see, back before I became a Captain and created the Soul Reaper and Development Institute, there wasn't much in the way of focused scientific research being done in the Seireitei." Urahara offered as he snapped his fan closed and gave the group a level look. "Instead, several of the Squads had their own researchers dedicated to the Squad's particular focus, the Kidō Corps had researchers trying to create new Kidō spells, for example, and the 4th had their own team looking into new medical techniques and equipment. There were also the various…private groups supported by the noble houses and the Central 46. As you can imagine these organizations tended to operate under vastly different means and morals. One clandestine group was responsible for Project Spearhead, which lead to the creation of the earliest versions of Mod Souls, which were in turn based on the Substitute Soul created by my predecessor as Squad 12 Captain, Hikifune Kirio."

"Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen." Ishida remarked coldly. "That kind of hodgepodge system without any form of oversight or restriction could lead to all kinds of abuses. I can easily see several ways it could have ended up worse that having that butcher Mayuri in charge."

"And you'd be correct." the former captain agreed with a cold grin. "That was proven most artfully by one group in particular. They were one of the private groups supported by the Central 46, so they had more resources then most. They were apparently looking into developing something akin to an immortal body; combining the longevity of Soul Reapers, enhanced with unending youth and vitality, and further combined with the spiritual flexibility of a Human."

"Spiritual flexibility?" Ichigo, and most of the rest, looked puzzled by this.

"Oh come on." Kirika grumbled under her breath, glaring at two members of the group in particular. "Chad, Orihime; I told you two about this the day before we left for the Soul Society." Seeing the two teens looking abashed, the redhead sighed and explained again. "Due to the nature of living beings, Humans don't really have a growth limit on how far they can develop their Spiritual energies. Souls, on the other hand, have hard-set limits which they can't easily overcome, hence why only certain Souls can become Soul Reaper. For a living soul, the only real issue is taking that first step and awakening it in the first place; which is admittedly far more difficult unless you either come from a bloodline with a history of possessing Reiryoku, spend a lot of time in an area with a large amount of ambient Reiryoku, or both."

Looking around, she saw that everyone was following her, so she continued. "Once awoken, a human only needs to realize this and figure out how to train their soul effectively; usually by developing unique powers, channelling it into a spiritual job like an exorcist, a medium, a miko, a monk or anything along those lines, or following family tradition that allows them to control their powers, like the Quincy. Once a certain stage is achieved, the human in question, once they die and are sent to the Soul Society via Konsō, will not forget their life as a human. It should be noted that Quincies do not reach this level, generally speaking, due to how they focus on manipulating the Reishi in the air around them rather than using their own Reiryoku as anything but a catalyst to do so."

She deliberately neglected to inform them of what happened if none of that occurred with a human, such as with Tatsuki.

"So...if we keep improving our spiritual abilities, we won't forget our lives once we die?" Chad asked. "What about Shibata Yūichi? When we met him in Junrinan, he remembered me and everyone else."

"His soul was touched by Shrieker, when that...abomination...ripped him out of his body." Kirika grimaced at the memory of the serial killer-turned-Hollow who was now hopefully burning in the deepest depths of Hell. "Shrieker had to use a large amount of Reiryoku to fasten him to that parakeet's body, which would have strengthened his own soul considerably, and he was frequently around Soul Reapers who tried to save him. Add into that the fact that Yūichi-kun had been born, lived, died and resided in the general area Karakura Town, which naturally has an unusually large amount of ambient amount of Reiryoku for a place within the World of the Living, and it's not surprising that he reached the level where he kept him memories, even if he hasn't showed signs of any powers yet. Abilities don't tend to manifest until the soul reaches a suitable point of maturity to prevent it from damaging itself. Did he mention if he was hungry every so often? That's usually a sign that a Soul has a fair amount of Reiryoku; otherwise they don't really need to eat or drink."

"He did." the muscled boy confirmed.

"Hm. Looks like he could be a member of the Goteijūsantai in the next fifty years or so." the redhead smirked. "Nice."

"Back to the matter at hand." Urahara interjected, though he was grinning in amusement at the distraction. "From what I understand, the research team working on this so-called Lazarus Project were making slow but steady progress using Artificial Souls as a base and test subjects until there was…an accident. Details are a bit hard to come by, but something happened that triggered an explosion large enough to destroy a tenth of the Seireitei, killing a large portion of the research team and any other Soul Reapers unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast radius.

"A tenth…" Orihime breathed out in shock. She could easily remember how huge the Seireitei was from the 'bird's eye view' they'd gotten of it using the Shiba Clan's Flower Crane Cannon. Something capable of destroying even a tenth of that would have cost hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.

"Mm-hm, though the strange thing was that certain people, the head researcher included, emerged most unscathed from the blast, despite being at ground zero." the scientist's grinned suspiciously for a moment before his face hardened. "The Artificial Souls they were experimenting with however, were all flung into the Wheel of Reincarnation by the blast. Over the next century or so, humans born with souls of those test subjects started appearing in the World of the Living. Those humans are the beings that now call themselves the Bount, a unique subspecies of Humans who possess a form of physical immortality."

"They're more than just immortal." Kirika pointed out. "The one I fought was strong, she was at least on the same level as a Lieutenant. I'd put her on about the same level as Abarai Renji before he achieved Bankai. That…Doll…she used, she claimed it was similar to a Soul Reaper's Zanpakutō."

"That's true. Like a zanpakutō, a Doll is a physical manifestation of the user's souls, and their released state reflects that." Urahara agreed offhandedly. "And just like a Zanpakutō, Dolls tend to be unique to their wielders. However, unlike a Zanpakutō their fūingata are all wildly different and can take the shape of anything that can be carried or worn, from an umbrella, to a hat, to accessories to a coat, even. There's two other very important differences between Bounts and their Dolls and Soul Reapers' and their Zanpakutō."

"And those are?" Ichigo asked, raising a single eyebrow.

"First, in order to retain their immortality they must constantly take in Reiryoku by feeding on souls." Urahara offered. "From what I've managed to find out, they only target the souls of the dead, apparently trying to eat the souls of the living is a taboo for them."

"They eat souls?" Kirika, who'd once been little more than a free-roaming soul herself before she'd been 'adopted,' was more than slightly freaked out by that.

"The souls of the deceased only, Kirika. To the best of my knowledge, they've never tried to devour the soul of a Soul Reaper." the former captain offered reassuringly, before returning to the point of the discussion. "The second difference is that, while like a Soul Reaper and their zanpakutō, a Bount must prove themselves to be a worthy wielder to their Doll, the consequences of failure are far more dire for a Bount; if they fail to impress their Doll, or become weak and injured at any time afterwards, their Doll attacks and devours them. In some cases, if the Doll is wounded badly enough, it will go berserk and attack their Bount master."

Orihime and Kirika both gulped at that, their instinctively hands moving to caress their respective fūingata, Orihime's hair clips and the sheathed sword at Kirika's waist. The thought of being killed by their battle partner was a horrifying one.

Ichigo merely scowled as he was suddenly reminded of a certain white-haired, orange-eyed asshole.

Chad and Ishida were largely unmoved. Neither of their respective weapons had ever shown any degree of sentience, so the current situation didn't really apply to them.

"OK, but why would the Bounts be here, draining living people of their souls?" Ichigo asked impatiently. "If it's so taboo, why was this Sōma person going against it?"

"Ah, there's the rub of it." Urahara grimaced. "When it was discovered by the Central 46 that the Bounts existed, they decided that all remnants of the experiment had to be buried...including the Bounts themselves. They ordered a massacre of the Bount, which only a small amount of the overall population managed to escape. As the Goteijūsantai has been drastically weakened by the loss of three Captain-class Soul Reapers and the Seireitei has lost the Central 46, it is more vulnerable now than is has ever been since a hundred years ago. I would presume that the goal of the Bounts will turn out to be revenge on the Seireitei."

Kirika bit back a snarl of annoyance before spitting to the side. "Good riddance to bad rubbish. Getting rid of those worthless, short-sighted old fossils was probably the only good thing that bastard Aizen ever did in his life. The only things those fogies ever did was cause make situations worse and overreact to anything that got their dander up."

"Kirika!" her brother exclaimed in shock at her ruthlessness.

"Aniki, those old bastards would have happily ordered all of our deaths if Aizen hadn't killed them before we arrived." the redhead pointed out harshly. "Their first response to anything that poses the slightest risk of disturbing the balance of souls is to wipe it off the face of the earth; the Bount and the Quincy are just two examples of that. Two humans with unique powers, a Quincy, a Captain-class Soul Reaper and a borderline Captain-class Soul Reaper, outside of their control? They'd have pissed themselves in fear at the very thought of letting us go without sealing our powers or simply ordering us executed outright."

"Sadly, Kirika-chan isn't too far off the mark here." Urahara put in with a tired groan. "The Central 46 was an old, conservative and hidebound organisation that only changed members when an incumbent member passed on into the Cycle of Reincarnation, which as you can imagine happened very infrequently. Cut off from the outside world in the Seijōtōkyorin, they were paranoid of anyone possibly threatening their primacy, such as when large groups of unusually powerful spiritually aware people turning up in the World of the Living. Or even someone gaining the powers of a Soul Reaper even after having their Hakusui and Saketsu pierced."

"If they try anything, I'll massacre them again." Kirika said flatly. "No one hurts my family and friends and gets away with it."

The sheer determination in that made the others look at her in mild shock.

"I doubt Yamamoto will the newest incarnation get that far out of hand." Urahara offered placatingly. "With all the members out of action and an entirely new group having to be formed, I don't doubt the Head Captain is taking measures to curtail some of their abuses from happening again." The former captain then snapped open his fan again. "Back to the matter at hand, we might have some difficulties dealing with the Bount if your little group are the only ones involved. Tessai and I can't offer any serious aid, we're both arms deep in research preparing a few…surprises to help deal with Aizen when he shows his face again. Yoruichi's going to be doing reconnaissance when she gets back from the Seireitei, so I asked her to request help from the Goteijūsantai while she's there."

"I suppose it was inevitable. Will they actually help, though?" Ishida asked grumpily.

"A Bount is in many ways similar to other Spiritual beings in that being in an area rich in Spiritual Power such as the Soul Society or worse, the Seireitei itself, rapidly accelerates the growth of their own spiritual energy." Urahara explained. "The best, most logical solution, is to stop the Bounts from entering the Soul Society in the first place, although I'm uncertain as to how the Bount plan on doing so, as they lack my Reishi Henkan-Ki (Spirit Exchangers), and thus cannot enter a Senkaimon, even if they were somehow able to open one."

"How they're planning on getting there is immaterial; we're not even sure if that even is their final plan." Kirika pointed out. "Finding and dealing with them quickly is our first priority. There's no way of knowing what Aizen may do while they're distracting us. Can I assume you have some way of tracking the Bount; none of us have the kind of training that would allow us to detect the minute differences in their Reiryoku like Yoruichi-sensei could."

"But of course." the former Captain replied with a grin. "You might recall Ririn, the Mod-Soul that temporarily occupied your body while you were in the Soul Society? I've been able to modify her and a few other Mod-Souls in my possession to vastly increase their Reishi awareness to the point they can detect the unique signature given off by the Bount from a good distance. Of course, they've also got their own combat abilities as well, so they'll be of more use than as simple scanner. Ririn, Noba, Kurōdo, that would be your cue."

A dark red circle appeared in mid-air, and three figures emerged from it, one female and two male. The girl was short, with blond hair and bright blue eyes. She wore a pink, fur-trimmed coat, a black bird-shaped cape and red boots.

The two men were a study in contrasts. One was a tall man, with two-toned hair split down the middle, black on one side and yellow on the other. He had light-grey eyes hidden behind a pair of large circular spectacles and he had a thin, neatly-trimmed moustache. His clothes made him look like a gentleman out of England's Victorian and Edwardian periods; a white button-up shirt, a grey and yellow tie and a suit that mixed grey, black and red, finished off with a grey top hat and pair of boots.

The other was about the same height as his companion and wore a set of black clothes, including a fur-lined jacket, trousers and boots, with a pair of intertwined belts around his waist. He wore a royal blue shirt underneath his jacket which seemed to be linked to the zippered mask he wore on his head, out of which peered a fringe of red hair and emerald green eyes.

"Hey, Ririn." Kirika greeted the female Mod Soul with a friendly smile.

"Hey!" the blond waved back.

"You know her?" Ichigo asked his sister.

"Yeah, Ririn here was the one operating my Gigai and acting like me while we were in the Soul Society." the redheaded girl replied. "From what I hear, she did a good job keeping Kon in line."

"Stupid pervert that he is." Ririn huffed.

"Please don't tell me he tried to go on a kissing spree again!?" Ichigo groaned.

"He thought about it until I threatened to make sure Yuzu gave him the 'Bostov' treatment again." the Mod Soul smirked.

"I'm gonna put him through the washing machine when I get back." the Deathberry vowed darkly. Stupid perverted Mod Soul.

"Please do." Kirika agreed, equally unhappy.

"Ahem." the bespectacled Mod Soul coughed politely. "Might I introduce myself now?"

"Of course. I'm sorry, I was just happy to see Ririn-chan again." Kirika apologised.

"Think nothing of it. On the contrary, I am pleased that you care little for our status as Mod Souls, given our very existence is illegal." the man replied with a small bow. "I am Kurōdo, and my companion here is Noba. You are, of course, already acquainted with Ririn. We look forward to working with you all against the Bount."

"As to who will be partnered with who, Ririn will go with the Kurosaki siblings, Noba shall go with Yasutora-san, while Kurōdo will partner with Inoue-san." Urahara put in. "Ishida-san is more than capable of detecting Reishi to a much finer degree than anyone else save for Yoruichi, Tessai and myself, so he doesn't require aid in that regard."

"Obviously." the Last Quincy used a finger to adjust his glasses smugly.

Kirika felt like slapping herself. She'd forgotten that, as a Quincy, Uryū's Reishi awareness was naturally far superior to any of theirs.

"Can you make a Gigai for Kon as well?" Kirika asked bluntly. "Having him able to guard Yuzu and Karin when Aniki and I aren't around would be beneficial."

"I'm already making one for him, actually." the ex-Captain stated with a sigh. "Yoruichi decided that I was going do it and I prefer not to be treated like a living scratching post, so I didn't argue."

The Substitute Group smirked (for the most part) at how easily Yoruichi could bend the blonde scientist to her will.

"So, what kinds of powers do you have?" Ichigo asked curiously. He knew that Mod Souls could possess some powerful abilities, although Kon, his first Mod Soul, was fairly mundane in that all he could do was enhance the power of the legs of whatever body he happened to be inhabiting, mostly for running and kicking.

"Heh-heh! I can create illusions!" Ririn proudly declared, changing the area around them from the inside of the Shōten to a sprawling desert for a moment before reverting it to normal. "Yoruichi-sama also trained me in Hakuda and Hohō."

"I possess shapeshifting abilities." Kurōdo stated before changing into an exact copy of Chad, including his voice. "I can mimic most abilities that someone I copy has, including the forms and abilities of zanpakutō. Sadly, I'm unable to mimic Reiryoku signatures, but in a chaotic situation where one does not have time to analyse a signature, I can take advantage and strike. To reflect that, I've been trained in Hakuda, Hohō and Zanjutsu, as well as have an extensive library of training on the basic uses of most types of weapons, such as spears, clubs, bows and others."

Noba looked away shyly as everyone turned to look at him. Ririn rolled her eyes. "Noba here can teleport himself and up to a handful of others at the same time elsewhere, so long as he can lock onto a source of Reiryoku for him to target on the other side. As you saw, he can also open portals called wormholes to redirect Kidō and physical attacks, as well as act as transportation. He also has an alternate dimension that he can send people to in order to isolate them." she said tiredly. "Don't mind him; he's just shy. Oh, he's also been trained in Hakuda and Hohō just like me."

"And this is why the cancelling of Project Spearhead was a stupid decision." Kirika sighed. "With Mod Souls to help the local Soul Reaper to patrol and fight Hollows, the job of a Soul Reaper on duty in the World of the Living would be so much easier."

"Lemme guess, it was those Central 46 guys again?" Ichigo offered with a scowl. He was starting to see why his sister hated those guys with a passion.

"I think it was actually the Sōtaichō, due to ethical reasons." Urahara corrected. "This was about five-hundred years ago or so, and Gigai were even harder to make than they are now, so the thought of using Gigai instead of human corpses would have been dismissed due to the fact it would cost too much."

"Huh...well hopefully, with the current situation, we can get him to ignore the four Mod Soul we have working for us." Kirika sighed.

Later

Captain's Meeting Room, Squad 1 Barracks, Seireitei, Soul Society

"So, after two centuries of hiding, the Bount have finally re-emerged." Yamamoto rumbled solemnly.

He and the entirety of the remaining loyal Captains were all gathered with Shihōin Yoruichi standing between the two lines of captains, facing Yamato himself. The three empty spaces left behind by Aizen, Ichimaru and Tōsen after their betrayal stood out like a festering wound on the Goteijūsantai.

"That sums it up quite nicely Captain-Commander." Yoruichi offered calmly. "Kisuke is already tinkering with a few…old projects of his to build some detectors capable of locating them, but with just the Kurosaki Siblings, the Last Quincy, Chad and Orihime against who knows how many Bount, with at least one combatant that we know of being at least Lieutenant-level, the odds are not in our favour. That's why I'm requesting that the Goteijūsantai sends reinforcements to Karakura Town, District 3600, in order to aid the humans there in stopping them before they can become a threat to the Seireitei."

Yamamoto was silent for a moment, before opening a single eye fully to gaze at Yoruichi. "At this moment the Bount have not done anything to warrant additional forces being deployed to District 3600."

"The one we encountered was draining a living human of their soul." the Shihōin Princess countered. "From everything we know about the Bount and their culture, that breaks their ultimate taboo, and from the trends we've noticed this isn't the first time it's happened. The fact that the Bount are going this far and targeting it specifically in Karakura Town, a place with a strong spiritual connection to the Seireitei, cannot be a coincidence."

The Sōtaichō simply continued to stare at Yoruichi for another long moment, with the former Captain meeting his gaze resolutely, before an unexpected source interrupted them.

"Sōtaichō-dono, might I suggest a compromise?" Byakuya interjected smoothly.

"Speak." the old Soul Reaper grunted out, eyes still locked on the werecat.

"If my memory serves me, no replacement Soul Reaper has yet to be assigned to District 3600 since Aizen's manipulations came to light." The Head of the Kuchiki offered calming, deliberately not mentioning the fact that he'd been one of most manipulated pieces in the traitor's plan. No one, not even Mayuri or Kenpachi, were stupid/crazy enough to bring that up. "I would suggest that, with the charges against her dismissed and her powers restored, that the previous Soul Reaper assigned to the district be returned to active duty and reinstated to her original post.

Several eyes blinked in disbelief as they saw Kuchiki Byakuya, someone who upheld the law like it was more precious to him than air, suggest a way to circumvent the opinion of the Sōtaichō. The occurrence was so incredibly surreal that several of the Captains discretely moved to grip their swords, wondering if they'd been caught in another illusion.

Yamamoto himself merely seemed to go still for a moment, before his eye closed again

"That would be the decision of Ukitake-taichō, whose Division has jurisdiction over District 3600." the elder Soul Reaper stated simply. "As well as Unohana-taichō as Kuchiki Rukia's healer."

"Rukia-san has fully healed from any stress, strain and wound inflicted upon her by Aizen's actions." the Captain of Squad Four stated serenely. "Her Reiryoku has been restored to a state greater than what Ukitake-taichō tells me was her previous level. I can think of no reason for this beyond either the ritual method used to extract the Hōgyoku from her spiritual body, or the removal of the Hōgyoku itself. Thus far my own observations have failed to notice any side-effects of either, so I have no issue certifying her as fit for active duty once again."

Ukitake Jūshirō smiled slightly. "If Kuchiki-taichō has no objections to my newly-promoted Fourth Seat being dispatched to her designated patrol area, then I shall do so."

"I shall also be dispatching my Lieutenant, Abarai Renji, to that area as well." Byakuya added blandly. "Kurosaki Ichigo's inability to properly control his Reiatsu raises the likelihood of a Menos-class Hollow appearing, and Abarai is capable of performing the Final Release. Should one emerge, he shall be able to handle it once he requests for permission to use Gentei Kaijo, allowing him to gain valuable experience with his new ability in the process. Of course, should the Bount just happen to cause trouble while there, it shall be only natural to step in as necessary to deal with an enemy identified by long-standing order to be eliminated."

Yamamoto's eyes both opened and locked onto the Kuchiki Clan Head. He, and everyone who had been present during the final confrontation with Aizen before the man and his followers had fled to Hueco Mundo, was well aware that Abarai Renji could use Bankai. Were it not for the fact that Renji clearly needed a lot more practice in using his Bankai, he would be forced into taking one of the recently vacated Captain's seats.

More importantly, it was the stated policy of the Goteijūsantai that Captains were not to go to the World of the Living unless it was absolutely necessary, even with a Gentei Reīn on them. As Abarai did not hold the rank of Captain, technically he was exempt from that policy if you only looked at the letter of the law. In reality, he was a Captain-class Soul Reaper and should be held to it.

Still, it was a wise and cunning plan to place a powerful Soul Reaper in a position to aid allies of the Soul Society in such a way that the Central 46, once new members were appointed to those positions after the end of martial law, couldn't argue with, because the very foundation of the Central 46 was the letter of the law rather than the spirit. The previous incumbents had regularly bent their own laws in exactly the same way, so Yamamoto found it somewhat amusing that Byakuya was using their own tactics against them.

"Very well." he stated, thumping his cane to the floor once. "Have Lieutenant Abarai and Fourth Seat Kuchiki briefed and dispatched before the end of the day. Kurotsuchi-taichō, a member of your squad is to be on duty at all times in order to authorise a Gentei Kaijo immediately should Lieutenant Abarai request one. Shihōin Yoruichi, updates on the ongoing state of the Bount situation in Karakura Town would be...appreciated...so that any further reinforcements can be dispatched if, as and when required."

"Hai, Sōtaichō-dono."

"Hai, Genryūsai-sensei."

"Oh, very well. If I must."

"Got it."

The varying levels of respect he got from each person made him want to sigh. Shihōin Yoruichi had no reason to respect him, as she was an exile, a status that he literally could not lift, as she had unmistakably defied the will of the Central 46 by rescuing Urahara Kisuke and Tsukabishi Tessai from their trial, regardless of the fact that the trial had been orchestrated by Aizen. He couldn't see the next iteration of the Central 46 lifting her exile; that would be admitting their predecessors' culpability.

Kurotsuchi had been acting particularly impudent lately, largely due to his captaincy being put under sharp review. The deranged scientist was very close to losing his position due to the numerous unethical and inhumane experiments he'd both authorized and performed himself; many without approval of either himself or the Central 46, not the least of which was the systematic murder of almost every single Quincy who had been made into a Soul Reaper or had been wandering around in the Rukongai. Ishida Sōken's deliberate murder was just the cherry on top there. And as the investigation proceeded, more and more disturbing evidence was coming to light showing these were only the tip of a rather grotesque iceberg.

Yamamoto knew that he either had to find a way to properly leash the deranged sociopath or cast him into the Shin'ōchikadaikangoku (Central Great Underground Prison) for his crimes. The latter would be a painful lost. Despite his malignant nature, Kurotsuchi was both an incredibly capable warrior and a brilliant scientist; both of which would be needed in the trials ahead.

The other two were respectful; not an unexpected outcome, given that Kuchiki Byakuya was a stickler for social protocol and Jūshirō was Yamamoto's student.

"Dismissed." he ordered.

Later

Central Senkaimon, Seireitei

"So, back to the World of the Living, huh?" Renji mused, absently rolling his shoulder. The damn Gentei Reīn that Squad Twelve had tattooed onto him not only left him feeling like he'd suddenly gained a few extra tons, but the damn thing itched to high hell and back. He could barely believe that he was once again willingly allowing himself to have eighty percent of his power sealed.

"Indeed…I can't help but wonder just what these 'Bount' are hoping to accomplish." Rukia offered with a frown. "That they're acting us now, of all times, when the Goteijūsantai are at a weak point, is particularly troubling. How would they know if they can't come to the Soul Society?"

"Good question, Rukia-chan." Yoruichi said as she blurred into being from a Shunpo next to them, making the two old friends jump in surprise.

"Yoruichi-sama!" Rukia exclaimed.

"Just Yoruichi, kid. I officially don't have any rank, military or social, what with being an exile and everything." the purplette told her. "As for your question, well you hit the nail on the head, especially since the Bount shouldn't be able to access the Soul Society."

"Then...it's either a coincidence…" Renji grumbled.

"...or someone told them about it." Rukia finished with a shiver. "Could it be…?"

"Aizen?" finished Yoruichi, before shaking her head. "While we can't rule out that he's manipulating the Bount to keep us distracted while he does god knows what, I doubt it. It would certainly suit his style to manipulate people like that, but I doubt he'd have waited until now to use them. He'd have set them loose when we were still reeling from his attack, not after we had a chance to recover and get our feet back under us. Besides, the bastard's obsessed with his current project, he wouldn't waste more than a glance at the Bount while he's wrapped up with that.

"I really want a piece of that bastard." Renji growled.

"You've got quite the line ahead of you on that one, kid." Yoruichi snorted. "Anyway, now that the Senkaimon's ready, let's go. Hopefully, Kisuke's got the others out and about while I was here. I can't believe it took an entire day to get all of the Captains gathered…"

"Some of them might have been busy…?" Rukia ventured.

"Kenpachi was out hunting hollows in Zaraki again, Kurotsuchi was messing about in his Barracks and had the entire place on lockdown and Kyōraku was passed out drunk." the werecat scoffed. "Again. Seriously, the more things change, the more they stay the same in this place."

There really was nothing the other two Soul Reapers could say about that without sounding as if they either disagreed with the older Soul Reaper or were criticizing the Captains, so Renji and Rukia decided that discretion was the better part of valour here and just followed the grumbling werecat into the open Senkaimon, the Jigokuchō fluttering ahead of the three.

"Y...Yoruichi, how is Ichigo?" Rukia asked shyly as they arrived in Karakura Town.

"Training at Kirika-chan's behest." the woman replied. "He hasn't quite managed to get to the point where he can seal his Shikai, but he's working on it. He doesn't quite believe that Aizen's a threat to him and his, but the fact that Kirika's worried about him is making him at least pretend to."

"Why the hell isn't he-?!" Renji started before all three froze at the sensation of multiple signs of raised Reiatsu registering to them.

"This Reiatsu...it's Ichigo and Kirika!" Rukia exclaimed.

"Orihime, Ishida and Chad as well." Yoruichi frowned.

"I can barely feel anything that distinct." the pineapple-haired man groused. He was absolutely lousy at Reiatsu sensing.

"Who are those five signatures near them?" the former Inuzuri Brat asked Yoruichi, ignoring her friend.

"I know three of them...the other two are a mystery." Yoruichi replied. "We'd better get there, quickly! Try and keep up, kids!"

With that, she vanished in a blur of Shunpo, quickly followed by Renji and Rukia, towards the signs of a clash with the Bount.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Next Chapter: The Start of the Bount Conflict

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII