Lost Without You Chapter 4: Lost 4, a bleach fanfic

Lost Without You

A/N: Well onto chapter four! Last chapter had a lot of information packed into it this chapter won't be much different. Things should heat up again in the next chapter, maybe not with a Bount fight though. Sorry for the slow build up but I just want to get my ground work covered so no one is like wait the Bount can't do that! Because in my AU they can.

Spot of editing done: 9/7/15

Warning: Well it hasn't changed I am still changing everything you know about the Bount while throwing in OC fodder. (Even if you haven't seen much of them yet.) I will also change what you know about Ishida's lost powers. I forgot to mention that before.

"That is quite the issue." Ichigo sighed allowing his head to fall into his hand as he stared into his tea. There were plenty of questions involving Ishida right now. Yet the one in question didn't seem to want to talk about it. "What exactly does it mean for Ishida to be powerless? Does it have to do with why Orihime's power wouldn't work?" He had connected more of the dots during the conversation, things like why Ishida had seemed different ever since the return from Soul Society. There were still several things missing from the picture, some of which he would have to confront the Quincy about personally.

"Yes." Urahara sighed they were getting into the heart of the issues now. Ishida himself would be the prime target and the savior, what a lovely combination for the powerless. "His body is not able to accept large amounts of spiritual energy that is not Quincy in origin, of course this won't stop a spiritual attack. The item I used to heal him was an item I had picked up some years ago from a Quincy. Without that he would be healing just as slowly as a normal human, which I must say would have taken weeks at the very least. As it is right now he might as well be as weak as an eleven year old girl." Urahara admitted with a sigh, there wasn't really anymore delicate of a way to put it so he continued. "Ishida's body has suffered from the loss of his powers. Even if they still exist within him it's only in the minimum amount to keep him alive since without any he would be dead." Urahara was hoping that the seriousness of what he had just said was truly sinking in.

"What do you mean he would be dead?" Orihime asked a few seconds later obviously worried about her friend. She couldn't help but wonder exactly how she could help if her healing was of no use to him. And her own powers had been deemed fairly useless as well because the accuracy rate was not high enough.

"Ishida?" Chad's voice was low and deep and full of understanding. As a very peaceful person Chad was not going to hold this lack of information against the Quincy. He reasoned that there had to be a logical and possibly an emotional reason why Ishida hadn't told them about it. With every new piece of information his protective nature was awakening, sure Ishida wasn't cute like that parrot had been but he was a friend. And friends were important too, but not more than cute little sisters that looked like they needed more protecting because they tried to play tough. He had to mentally shake away the image of Ichigo's little sister and remind himself of the serious matter at hand. Ishida would be the target Karin would be safe this time if they weren't after just anyone with spiritual powers unlike hollows.

With a sigh Ishida took another sip of tea gathering his thoughts. He of course had known the risks of taking off the glove but he hadn't known the whole story until afterward. More accurately when Urahara had told him last night after waking him up to heal his wounds. However he knew he couldn't expect the shop keeper to save him from facing up to his own mistakes before his friends. "As it turns out the glove I used, unbeknownst to me, could have taken my life instead of just my power. And now that I am powerless it is much like he said I am no stronger than I was at eleven, a repercussion of losing my power." He looked away from everyone by peering into his tea cup as he listen to Urahara take over, there was nothing else he could add on this. He wasn't quite sure how it worked either even after being told. Though most of the information had been accompanied by pain.

"Since Ishida was born with his Quincy powers his body is unable to function without them." Urahara added somewhat helpfully for those sitting at the table who didn't understand. "Unlike Chad and Orihime here who had latent abilities awoken by Ichigo, Ishida's body is used to the continuous flow of his power throughout his body. It has built his muscles up, improved his immune system, and integrated itself into his body's every system since he was born. It is as important as blood for his body to function." He finished watching as Ichigo's face contorted in anger before smoothing over with a facade of calm. He immediately decided that after this meeting he was going to be as far away from the treatment room as possible.

"I see." Ichigo was the fist to speak up his voice completely controlled but all of them could hear the anger laying just beneath the surface of that calmness.

"This has been a lot to take in." Tessai nodded gravely. They were no where near done with this discussion no matter how heavily his next words would fall. The issue needed to be addressed before they were allowed to go back to the treatment room to stew. Or fight it out. "But we still haven't addressed what we are going to do about the bount."

With his words another heavy silence fell that spanned for several minutes with all of the youngsters staring deeply into their tea. Urahara was disheartened at the looks on their faces. The bount had caused much trouble in his time as a shinigami, what was a group of young children to do against monsters? Surely the bount were more formidable than the basic hollow, and only a few high ranking hollows had ever been compared and even some of them had been eaten. The bount's existence could be held partly accountable for some of the first research into holllowification. Not that the Vizard had stayed around for that purpose once created. It concerned him greatly that the only natural enemy around was Ishida who was powerless. Not that he wouldn't do his best to help him solve that problem if he could. He however knew there was only one person who had anything in their possession that might actually help.

"I have a question." Chad spoke up again something was bothering him about what Urahara had said about the bount. "You said the bount are human except for their doll essentially..." He paused to allow the shop keeper to correct him if he was wrong. When he didn't speak up he continued slowly. "So if we kill the doll what happens to the Bount?"

"Well that is a good question!" Urahara smiled crookedly he had been hoping they would ask this. "The doll is the source of the bount's power without it they are much like Ishida here, only more normal in most regards. They return back to being human and depending on how long they have been alive they turn to dust." He sighed when he was shot more confused looks and a raised eyebrow from Ishida. "The consumption of souls keeps the bount alive much like a vampire with blood, only with a preference for souls. They are essentially immortal as long as their doll exists. However if the bount itself was killed without the doll dying they would resurrect, once the doll is dead they die from age or return to being human." He summed it up with a sip of tea. He wasn't really sure his words were sinking in though as Orihime gave him a thoughtful look.

"So it's not like murder?" Orihime frowned slightly it felt weird fighting against humans instead of souls and monsters. Not that these bount sounded very human to her.

"No they may have once been human but you must understand, they are monsters." Urahara nodded at his own words as if to assure them of their truth. "They are more like hollows with a less distinguished palate than they are humans."

"So what's our best plan of attack?" Ichigo asked looking from Chad to Orihime, they were the only fighters now and there was no way to not drag Ishida into it. But who would protect him? Who would be best to make the strike? How would they find out how weak their weak spot was?

"The only way to pinpoint their weak spot is Ishida." Urahara shrugged that part off it had already been established but next came the information Soul Society had compiled on the bount, the information that wasn't known throughout the shinigami. "What I'm about to tell you is the information that Soul Society's research department compiled, some of it might be outdated or wrong. We weren't able to find out much as the bount are more commonly found in Germany and we don't have many connections with them. The most we know is that every doll has a different power much like a zanpaktuo, an attack equal to bankai. Rumor has it that some even have two if they have lived long enough." Urahara sighed it was hard deciphering what was useful and what wasn't when it came to some of the until now useless information he had been lugging around. "As it is the data suggested that an attack of slightly below bankai or bankai itself that directly lands on the spot of weakness should be enough to defeat a doll and release any freshly eaten souls. Which in theory could release a hollow if they had eaten one."

"So Chad could be able to defeat one if he hit it correctly?" Ichigo asked hopefully this was getting somewhere. If Chad was able defeat a bount with his own attack then he would be free to protect Ishida and if not it could be vice versa. And if Orihime could create a shield of sorts for her and Ishida that would work in their favor.

"Theoretically yes." Urahara nodded slowly having already reached a conclusion just waiting for Ichigo to reach his own. He could see exactly when the same idea flitted across his eyes.

"Orihime do you think you could find a way to shield Ishida and yourself?" Ichigo asked looking over at her with a concerned look in his eyes. He knew he was asking a lot of her but if they were going to take down these monsters they were going to have to function as a team.

"I might be able to." Orihime thought about it a moment and figured that she probably could but not without practice. Practice she wasn't sure they would be able to afford. "I wouldn't know without trying." She smiled widely at him she had really been hoping to be useful.

"That's a start." Ichigo looked over at Chad and weighed his next words carefully knowing that if he worded it wrong Chad might not go along with it. Not because he didn't care but because he was more of a protector, however Ichigo knew his attack to be more accurate for a smaller target. "Chad..."

Before Ichigo could finished Chad raised a hand in understanding. "You protect him." Was all he would say, he had known that's what he wanted the moment Ichigo had opened his mouth. It wasn't hard to see why. Ichigo was the type of leader that took everything onto himself, one day he just hoped he would allow him to share the burden.

"When do you think they might attack next?" Orihime timidly looked at Urahara this might not be an easy question to answer. "Or should we try to find them?"

"That is hard to say. Tracking the Bount is difficult because they do not have a feeding area they are known to travel great distances in short amounts of time. The best thing to do is to stay together as much as possible. I can loan you the treatment room for the rest of the weekend but once school starts..." He didn't need to finish his sentence they knew what he meant. Once school started on Monday they might as well be sitting ducks in the classroom and with human bodies they could be anywhere. That blonde Bount had looked no more than twenty, but knowing what they did now who knew how old she really was.

"Well this has been a lot to take in." Tessai rose from his seat there was no more wisdom they could impart on these young minds. "It would be wise if you went to bed now and allowed it to all sink in." To his surprise they rose as one not looking at each other and moved into the next room without speaking.

A/N: Well that's all for now. Please review! With the following if you don't mind as I would like constructive feedback!