Chapter 18: Normal Life Sucks
"So this is a hamburger," Matsuri said as Ichigo took her to a fast food restaurant that sells the best burgers in town. She examines the patty with intrigue and everything that is mixed in. "Looks tasty enough."
"You know you sound like an alien when you say things like that," Ichigo pointed out, still baffled by how detached the Shinigami are from the Human World even though they've watched over humanity presumably forever.
"Sorry if my choice of words make you feel uncomfortable," She mused as she starts eating, and as Ichigo expected, she loves it.
"Don't take it the wrong way; all I'm saying is that one of the best ways to move along here without causing too much trouble is knowing the right things to say, and you not being well-versed about such basic things might complicate things for you," Ichigo advised.
"Was it bad for Rukia?"
"Rukia had the benefit of surrounding herself with my friends who are of… ''questionable'' tastes. They found her ignorance cute rather than suspicious."
"In that case, I might as well meet them," She said.
"I wouldn't recommend it. The next semester of school is in two days and that is when they're at their most unstable," He warned. Matsuri chuckles at his description of his more ''normal'' friends.
"You don't hold back much on your bluntness, even for those you hold close, do you?"
"I barely respect my sisters these days. At this point, I see myself leaving Karakura alone when I'm old enough and never look back," He half-joked.
"That must make your father happy," She smirked.
"Totally. My mom and sister Yuzu? I doubt I'll ever manage to get far enough away," Now to that he wanted to laugh but held himself because he's in public.
This went on for a while, the two just chatting like they did in Soul Society. Out of all the Shinigami, the Kudō Twins left the biggest impression on Ichigo, who grew fond of them fairly quickly.
Once they were done eating, Ichigo took her to a different park that thankfully isn't too crowded so they can converse without anyone eavesdropping.
"So, what exactly is this mission of yours?" Ichigo asked as they sat on a bench.
"A very important mission. I've been sent to hunt a Soul Eater," She explained rather seriously.
"That sounds pretty standard for a Shinigami," Ichigo said, not seeing the big deal, given how Shinigami like him and her should be able to handle any Hollow they come across.
"Yes, but this is a special case. The Soul Eater in question happens to be a living human," She affirmed, shocking Ichigo.
"What?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. There's more to the spiritual than just Shinigami and Hollows, and Quincy and Fullbringers aren't the only types of Superhuman out there," She said. "The extermination of the Quincy was a harsh but necessary evil, and Fullbringers, while half-hollows, are fewer in numbers and pose no threat to the Balance, so Soul Society is content to leave them alone to the point that only a handful back home remember they exist. And then there is the truly undesirable."
"How bad are these other spiritual humans?" He asked.
"Can't say with full confirmation since there is not much they would tell me about them. We call them Bounts, though in ancient times, humans referred to them as Vampires. They are essentially a tribe of humans who were born with unique spiritual powers. I use the word tribe loosely because there's not much known about them except for their ability to live forever," She said. "But the way their immortality works is disturbing. Like Hollows, they depend on consuming souls, specifically Pluses, to sustain their lifeforce, and likely, this process may also increase their Reiryoku, especially if they feast on the soul of a living human who is stronger. Naturally, the Soul Society has a low tolerance for Soul Eaters, so they were hunted down to near extinction."
"And like with the Quincy, your people did a bang-up job," Ichigo said sarcastically.
"Can't argue with that," Matsuri sighed.
"And you think that one or some of them are here in Karakura?"
"We don't think, we know there are Bounts here," She replied. "Not sure if uncle has told you this, but Karakura is a special place. The land where this town was built has more Reishi than anywhere else in the world, making it alluring for any spiritual being to set foot here more than anywhere else. Why? Only a select few are allowed to know, I doubt Captain Ukitake knows, and the Shinigami of his Division are the ones sent to guard Karakura."
"Brilliant. So what's the plan? You got a way to track them down or a special bait to bring them to us?" Ichigo asked.
"No such luck, but they should've arrived very recently, and I have a hunch that they'll begin hunting for living souls in the Karakura Hanchou district," Matsuri surmised.
"Really? In such a populated area, there are bound to be witnesses unless these Bounts can make themselves invisible," Ichigo said.
"Not invisible to the naked eye, but they are said to possess the ability to mask their Reiatsu, making them virtually impossible to sense, so as long as they can avoid being spotted by Shinigami, avoiding passing Humans will be easy unless they want to be caught," She stated.
"So when do we strike?" He said, determined to protect the people of Karakura himself from any threat.
"We begin the hunt tonight. Smart predators never attack during the day," She replied. "By the way, Fujimaru and Renji are in on this, too."
"Three Lieutenants? These guys must mean business," Ichigo muttered. Even though none of the Gotei Lieutenants pose a challenge to him, except perhaps Chojirō Sasakibe, for the Soul Society to send more than one is all the proof he needs to realize the threat level of this new enemy. "Alright, I'll be there before any of you."
"I know you will," Matsuri smirked, taking her leave from the park.
"What do you make of this?" Ichigo asked Getsuhime.
"It is baffling to believe that any human would be capable of devouring souls. Fullbringers I could understand since they neither purify nor exterminate Hollows but absorb their essence to fuel their Reiryoku," She said, giving this new information some thought, all the while Ichigo widens his eyes in shock over the latest revelation.
He can EAT the Hollows he slays? Well… if Orihime and Chad were eradicating them the Shinigami would have hunted Fullbringers into extinction but that is just wrong.
"And that they as a whole group can cloak their Reiatsu from anyone is more questionable and not very easy to pull off. Our way of completely masking ourselves with Gengetsu is a special case, leading me to conclude that these Bounts are mutants of some kind with powers that are all artificial," Getsuhime continued.
"Artificial? You think they're like Mod-Souls. Experiments of the Soul Society that they up and decided to get rid of because of bullshit reasons that are more based on cowardice than logic?" Ichigo questioned.
"Do you no longer believe them capable of such depravity and irresponsibility?" She countered.
Ichigo paused for a moment, not sure why he even considered thinking otherwise.
'If every other spiritual shit we deal with in the future turns out to be skeletons from their damn closet I might as well defect to Aizen's side,' He hissed.
"That just might be our wisest course of action yet." She nodded in agreement.
The rest of the day went as smoothly as Ichigo preferred, but once the sun set and the moon rose, the Shinigami began their hunt.
He briefly returned home solely to leave his body in his room before marching off. He didn't bother to greet his dad, let alone tell him about these Bounts because he deemed it not worth his time and that it might be overkill to have him tag along. Plus, he was giving medical aid to someone who came in sick and he never dared get in the way of his job.
He also chose not to contact his friends, confident that he and the lieutenants would be enough to deal with whatever these Bounts were capable of.
"Now, where to start looking?" Ichigo asked as he stood in the tallest building in the district, having a clear view of Karakura Hanchou.
"If the Bounts devour souls, then we need only watch out for any spiritual signature that has suddenly vanished," Getsuhime said.
"How? There are so many people here, and besides, the idea is to stop them before they devour anyone," Ichigo protested.
"You can't save everyone, Ichigo. That is something you need to accept as you continue being a Shinigami," Getsuhime said, dismissing his wishes. "We're already too late anyhow. A living soul has just been devoured."
"What?!" Ichigo gasped in horror, and he marched straight into the city while Getsuhime guided him to where she felt a human soul suddenly vanish. They arrive in an alleyway where Ichigo spots two women, one hugging the other, but the moment she lets her go, the other falls to the ground. He can already tell that she's dead.
"No…" Ichigo uttered in disbelief, only to be further horrified upon seeing the dead woman's body turn to dust, leaving only her clothing.
"I see. it seems that a Bount's method of devouring living souls is damaging to the body, causing it to fade away as there is no life left in them," Getsuhime analyzed.
"DAMN YOU!" Ichigo shouted, getting the Bount woman's attention.
"A Shinigami!" She gasped in surprise and desperately had to move away as Ichigo charged swiftly at her with Getsuhime unsheathed. She managed to dodge, and in her haste, she hit her back next to a dumpster. She again needs to move away quickly to avoid a vertical slash that instead destroys the dumpster.
"Such a brute," She said, admittedly nervous, and runs as fast as she can into the street, trying to blend in with the crowd.
"You're not getting away!" Ichigo swore and chased after her but wisely chose not to attack her immediately with so many people around, hoping that she would run somewhere where no one would be able to see them fight.
"Ichigo? So he managed to find one of the targets before we did, eh? Lucky bastard," Renji said as he was just on the far north side of Karakura Hanchou when he felt his new rival's rage-filled Reiatsu spike and quickly goes to his direction with the Kudō Twins doing the same.
"He's angrier than I feared," Matsuri whispered, worried about the outcome of tonight.
It's not just the Lieutenants but every other spiritually aware being in Karakura feels their resident Shinigami Agent get angry and start hunting someone or something, causing mixed reactions of confusion and wanting to go help. Another individual became aware of Ichigo's Reiatsu and rushes there as well, determined to stop him from laying a finger on that woman.
Yoshino climbs over a fence and runs into a larger, dead-end alley while Ichigo leaps over the fence behind her. Upon hitting the wall at the end of the alley and looking up to see how tall it is, Yoshino faces Ichigo, who levels Getsuhime at her from several meters away.
"There is nowhere left for you to run." Ichigo glared menacingly.
Now that he has a better look, he can see that this Bount is a tall woman with chest-length brown hair that parts over her forehead in a large, left-facing bang, pale violet eyes, and thin eyebrows. She wears red lipstick and a faded green dress with a popped collar encircled by a red tie ending in a flat edge and purple frills lacing the bottom; the dress is divided into two halves gently curving away from each other at the front of her midsection and is colored maroon in a bra-like portion over her breasts, with the section below this being colored orange, gray instead.
"Unless you want to get hurt bad, you'll come quietly and explain yourself," Ichigo threatened.
"What a troublesome pestilence you are, but that's to be expected of your hated race," The woman scoffed, more irritated than threatened by Ichigo's attack on her. "Even if I were to explain myself, I doubt you would understand my intentions."
"Trust me, I've come across enough Hollows to know how Soul Eaters think, and you don't need a mask for me to see a connection," Ichigo harshly mocked, angering the Bount.
"That was your last mistake, child," She threatened back. She raises her arms, revealing a metallic finger claw on the left middle finger and a bracelet on her right wrist, and she strikes them swiftly at one another to create a spark of fire that she arcs over her head and spreads across the ground.
"Zeige Dich! Goethe!" She shouted. From the fire on the ground erupts a flaming pillar that formed together to summon a muscular golem-like beast of flames.
"This is new," Ichigo uttered, in shock at what he was seeing.
"And unexpected," Getsuhime mused, intrigued by the unusual creature before them that while possessing spiritual power like beings found in Soul Society, its body is made entirely of Kishi like a human.
"You called, Yoshino?" Goethe asked, turning his head to his master.
"Yes, Goethe. Sorry for bothering you but this despicable boy has been assaulting me for a bit and I would like you to get rid of him," Yoshino replied, her anger evident that her creature also becomes outraged.
"I see. Then he WILL DIE!" Goethe yelled, extending his right hand to form a large ball of flame and hurtling it at the Shinigami Agent. Dodging to the left as the fireball strikes the ground behind him and sets it on fire, and rolls to avoid a second fireball from Goethe before slashing through a third fireball, which sets the area in front of him ablaze as Goethe leaps through the flames and throws a punch, only for Ichigo to slash sideways with Getsuhime and sever the right forearm of Goethe, which begins to fly away.
Ichigo wanted to smirk over how easy this seemed but becomes shocked when he sees the forearm of Goethe reattach itself to his upper arm with a tendril of flame.
"So, since he's a creature made of living fire, he can reform himself as many times as he wants," Ichigo concluded.
"That's right. Try as hard as you can, in the end, Goethe can't die and will always outlast you," Yoshino boasted arrogantly.
"Nothing but nonsense from this one. Out of all the remarkable abilities in a being's arsenal, regeneration is always the most taxing to use continuously. He'll stay down eventually if you keep cutting him or induce an extensive amount of pressure," Getsuhime informed.
"Would've done that even if you hadn't told me," Ichigo smirked, running up to Goethe and slashing him diagonally through his upper torso from his left shoulder, and again, he watched Goethe reattach the two portions of his body with fire.
"I could tell from the start that you're not worth using Shikai," Ichigo mocked.
"You're as annoying as you look, child," Goethe howled and threw a punch that Ichigo blocked with Getsuhime.
Goethe moves backward after his punch to avoid a swing from Ichigo. The Agent persists and slashes the Golem horizontally through his midsection, but Goethe easily reattaches the two halves of his body with another braid of fire. While this was occurring, Ichigo homes in on Goethe's left pectoral and rushes forward, shoving Getsuhime through it, who moans in pain as the hardened parts of his body fall to pieces.
"Guess no matter the species, the heart will always be a weak spot," Ichigo shrugged and turns to Yoshino who remains angered by Ichigo's presence but not threatened by him as much.
Goethe, however, reforms yet again from the flames that surge toward Ichigo in a hellish torrent, resulting in the Agent being sent flying back and slamming into the wall of a nearby building as five chunks of Goethe crash into him to cause more pain.
"Stubborn little shit," Ichigo hissed over the Golem's resilience.
"You lasted longer than any other Shinigami has against Goethe, but this was going to be the result," Yoshino taunted. "Finish him, Goethe! This night has been regrettable enough as is."
"Finish him? Understood," Goethe obeyed as he formed a large ball of fire in both hands while Ichigo lay in the wreckage.
"This has dragged on long enough," Ichigo fumed, easily freeing himself from the debris trapping him with his immense strength just in time to see a whirlwind form around Goethe due to the intensity of his flames and after combining the two fireballs in his hands, Goethe unleashes a large and wide beam of fire that hurtles toward Ichigo.
"Good a time as any to try this out. Issen Getsuga (Lone Flash Moon Fang)!" Ichigo shouted, firing a Zanjutsu technique similar to the Getsuga Tenshō that was instead pale white and overpowers Goethe's attack and hit him faster than he could avoid and hit him with enough force to take him down for good, his louder moan of pain finally breaking Yoshino's smirk.
"GOETHE!" She cried in horror, watching her monster vanish to nothingness just before she summoned him, and won't be coming back.
Before she could further process this defeat, Ichigo rushes her, grabs her by the neck, and rams her to the building wall behind her. She gasps from the pain, but she is more durable than a normal human for her to shrug it off.
"No more tricks, lady. This game is over," Ichigo declared while pointing Getsuhime at her face.
"You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into by chasing after me, boy," She warned him.
"Guess I'll find out once I take you somewhere that will make sure you'll repent for what you've done," Ichigo hissed.
"Sorry to say, but my penance won't be delivered on this night, and to more my dismay than yours, it'll be because of him," She confessed bitterly.
"And who's "him?" Ichigo demanded.
"Above you!" Getsuhime warned with alarm, forcing Ichigo to reluctantly but desperately release Yoshino to escape from the spot with Shunpo as an unnatural gust of wind comes crashing from the ground like a missile, damaging the area worse than Ichigo has done with Goethe but strangely, Yoshino looks to be unharmed by the crash with the wind seeming to be protecting her.
"Another Bount?" Ichigo uttered.
"I don't know how things work in the Soul Society but your parents must be real scum if this is how they taught you how to treat women, boy," A man lectured angrily from within the wind, and Ichigo readies himself as a stronger foe has emerged.
The wind protecting Yoshino subsides, and Ichigo can see the second Bount that has interfered with his fight. A very tall and imposing fair-skinned man. He has crimson eyes with thick black eyebrows that sharply arch upward as they progress outward from his brow with pointed tips that extend off of his face, a flat mouth, and a thin vertical scar on the left side of his chin that widens near the bottom, as well as white hair that is both shaggy and neatly cropped short as it flares upward and outward, with a horn-like tip sticking out on either side of his head.
He wears an asymmetrically designed dress shirt: the right half and the left sleeve and breast are red, but the flared collar and the left half of the torso are black, with the black portion of the left side rising diagonally at the front to terminate near Kariya's collar and doing so near his shoulder blades at the back; over this, he wears an orange tie whose end is completely flat instead of pointed.
"Kariya," Yoshino muttered with suppressed fear and contempt for the man who came to her aid.
"Ichigo, be careful, this man is different," Getsuhime advised, picking up an unusual aura around him that made this Bount a true threat, maybe at the same level as a Gotei Captain.
"I know," Ichigo whispered cautiously, his hold on his Zanpakutō with both hands tighter than before. He hates to admit it, but this man gives off the vibe of an apex predator. He doesn't feel as threatened as when he first felt Kenpachi's killing intent, but he is pretty close to that horrid sensation. He could feel his Reiatsu unlike the woman, but this must be intentional to intimidate him.
"And you are?" Ichigo demanded.
"Me? Well, that simple question comes with a very long story, but to keep it brief, I have gone by many names over the year,s but throughout my stay here in Japan, I now go by Jin Kariya," The Bount introduced himself.
"Okay, Kariya, if you are also a Bount that puts you as one of my targets alongside that woman for the night so thanks for saving me the trouble of hunting you down," Ichigo said confidently.
"This woman who you so rudely have been harassing just so happens to be my wife, so I would appreciate it if you back off and quit being a hindrance," Kariya said menacingly, and Ichigo had the decency to look ashamed of hurting a married woman.
Granted, hurting women in general is something he wants to avoid doing whenever possible unless they deserve to get hurt. Tatsuki is a key example.
He's lost cunt of how many times he apologized profusely to Momo about their fight, and she kindly dismissed him, saying that he was only doing what he believed was the right thing to do.
"Shut up! Don't ever call me that! You and I are nothing now!" Yoshino shouted, disgusted by him calling her his wife.
"You wound me, my dear," Kariya mused, not bothered by her harsh words, and turns around to face her and places his right hand on her right cheek. She wanted to toss the hand away but couldn't, losing a great deal of her strength because of his mere presence. "Don't worry, we'll have all the time in the world to discuss our issues once I remove you from this awful place. I got myself a new mansion that I know you'll love."
"Sorry to ruin this questionable reunion, but neither of you is getting away," Ichigo protested. "And even if you two could somehow evade me, know that it's not just me you have to deal with."
As he said so, Renji and the Twins arrive at the battlefield.
"Hey, Ichigo! Nice to see that you haven't taken all the fun to yourself yet," Renji smirked, holding a released Zabimaru on his right shoulder.
"God! You guys are fucking slow! What, were you busy helping someone's granny walk the street?" Ichigo hissed.
"Apologies for the delay, but we got distracted picking up other several souls vanishing all around this town. We got sidetracked trying to pinpoint them all and ultimately agreed to get here first," Fujimaru explained.
"How many Bounts are there?" Ichigo gasped at the dangerous implication.
"Not as much as we calculated, thankfully," Matsuri replied.
"You'll find out soon enough, my new friends," Kariya smirked with a stronger gust of wind rising up that a tornado formed, blocking the Shinigami from their view of him and Yoshino who disappear.
"NO!" Ichigo yelled in frustration, wordlessly activating his Shikai, gaining the necessary speed boost to run around the entire area searching for the Bount, catching up to Kariya, who took himself and Yoshino flying far above the town and were already moments away from leaving Karakura Hanchou.
Kariya smirks, amused that the Shinigami Agent would persist in chasing them, and just as Ichigo is about to attack them, Kariya fires a wind blast-like missile at him, which Ichigo evades easily, so easy in fact that it had to have been intentional.
And this proved to be true as Kariya hit a building, right through a window, destroying a portion of an apartment, and debris about to fall into the street to the horror of the people below. Worse still, the woman who was living in the destroyed apartment is hopelessly holding on for dear life to whatever she can grab before she also falls screaming in terror.
Ichigo widens his eyes in horror at the devastation.
"Us or the humans, Shinigami," Kariya dared, leaving Ichigo with a critical ultimatum.
"Damn you…" Ichigo cursed as he was left with no choice but to head down to aid the citizens, allowing the Bount to get away.
All around the district, more areas are being destroyed simultaneously, such as a multitude of metallic balls coming out of nowhere, damaging a flower shop enough to cause it to collapse with people inside it, a man going mad and assaulting people with a knife and a few fireballs hitting cars with people on them and setting them on fire, forcing the three other Shinigami to go in and rescue as many humans as they can, not bothering to conceal any spiritual occurrences in public, they'll just have to work overtime on memory replacement with the Kiokuchikan.
"Cowardly motherfuckers!" Renji cursed in outrage over everything that had just occurred, the four of them watching the aftermath of the attacks on the district from a rooftop and the people running frantically, believing this to be a terrorist attack while the authorities struggled to maintain order.
Thankfully, things weren't as bad as they could've been, with the four managing to prevent fatalities.
"This is far worse than we could've imagined," Fujimaru frowned. "To think they would cause so much damage just to rescue one of their own. This is beyond reckless, almost as if they want to be hunted down."
Ichigo's anger over their failure to prevent this and letting the Bount escape boils, and on impulse, he kicks this rooftop's door so hard that it is broken to pieces. "GODDAMMIT!"
Before he could do anything else, Matsuri places her hand on his shoulder and shows him her sympathy.
"You did what you could and saved everyone. Even if they are still out there, and will continue to hurt people, what matters is that we don't let anyone meet a pointless death," She said sincerely, and while Ichigo is not willing to let go of the burning rage growing inside him, he will relent, for now, looking utterly defeated and continues to look at the town he loves dearly with forlorn.
"Well, that was an interesting experience," Kariya mused, having escaped with Yoshino and brought her to a desolated penthouse in an abandoned skyscraper hotel, a perfect view of Karakura can be seen through a large window. "The mansion will have to wait, for the moment this will be our safe haven from the Shinigami."
"Have you lost your mind?!" Yoshino snapped at Kariya, freeing herself from the firm but still gentle hold he had on her arm while he was bringing her here.
"My, it sure has been some time since I've seen you raise your voice like that. What's the occasion?" Kariya joked, turning his head to face her.
"Do you and the others have even the slightest idea as to what you've done? Threatening so many innocent lives just to get away. I never thought even you and Utagawa could be so depraved." She glared at him.
"Even without Goethe, the fire in your eyes is always a sight to behold." Kariya dismissed her turmoil with honey-filled words. "The situation was under control. Unless your ability to sense Spiritual Pressure has dwindled, you might've picked up that those four delinquents were not only powerful but very fast, so the damages done to the town wouldn't have reflected the casualties. You need to have more faith in me."
"I lost all semblance of that a long time ago. Ever since that night when I caught you doing such a terrible thing," Yoshino cursed.
"You mean that very same ''thing'' you did to that woman, which earned you the scorn of that orange-haired boy," Kariya mused, one step ahead of her, who gasps at how he could know such a thing. "Don't look so surprised. Just because I don't focus all my attention on you these days like I promised I would, doesn't mean I don't keep an eye on you when you stubbornly take off without warning."
"You had Utagawa spy on me?" She accused.
"Spying is a horrible thing for a man to do to his spouse, but can you blame me for being so overprotective? You're always playing hard to get." He shrugged as he went to sit down on an armchair and gaze at Karakura.
"These are dangerous times, Yoshino. Although the Afterlife has practically forgotten all about us, our tribe can't afford to take too many risks. The days of the Bount being independent of one another have to end if we are to have any hope left for the future," He advised her.
"There can be no future for any Bount under your leadership, Kariya," She frowned. "Not one where I could ever hope to live on, and after tonight, that has never been more clear."
"Why? You expecting the entire army of the Shinigami to come swarming down just to hunt us after that incident?" He questioned, unimpressed. "We have nothing to worry about, at least not for a couple more days."
"How can you be so sure?" She demanded.
"Because among those Shinigami, three of them happen to be Lieutenants," He revealed, making her widen her eyes in shock. "You mean you didn't notice those badges worn by the three who came to aid the orange boy? Honestly, dear, you need to work on your perception."
He would blatantly laugh at her ignorance, but he respected her too much to be so rude.
"The information we've gathered over the centuries about our enemies may be scarce but enlightening. Don't you see? The moment they suspected our return, they sent their elites to investigate. Something must've occurred in the Beyond to make them so anxious because them sending the second in commands of the mighty Gotei Captains means that they are desperate for something and our resurface is an inconvenience they can't afford, and yet all the same, by the time they realize that they should take us more seriously, it'll be too late," He mused.
"For you see, my love, the one thing we Bount and the Shinigami have in common, the thing that truly binds us to the Soul Society, is Pride. The very sin that birthed us. Those Lieutenants will most likely be all the danger they'll have us deal with, and if they aren't enough, I doubt those arrogant bastards will want those three around after proving to be as incompetent as I am predicting," He boasted.
"You expect me to believe that you hold all the cards in this insane game of yours?" Yoshino scoffed.
"No, I do not. But I'll make due," Kariya smiled sincerely. "I'm certainly better off than you, my dear. I mean, if you really oppose what the others and I will embark on, then you should've rushed to the Shinigami for help. Instead, you chose to try taking me on yourself, and in doing so, you exposed yourself to be some kind of monster to them. That young man seemed to think so."
Yoshino bit her lips at that comment, having regret for what she did to that woman, and does not harbor any ill will for Ichigo attacking her with such fury. She deserves worse.
"And the victim's body turned to dust, you say?" Kisuke asked as Ichigo finished explaining the first battle against the Bount once he visited him. Urahara has been showing a more serious face to Ichigo ever since they came back, but he never lost his cheerful outlook, though right now he is more mature and serious since Ichigo remains on edge even hours later. "That's more disturbing than you could imagine."
"Coming from you, it's a wonder the world didn't come to an end a long time ago," Ichigo sighed.
"Understatement of the millennia. Don't worry. Even though I don't know a whole lot about Bounts, I have a few things that can help you four overcome this situation. For now, you should keep your friends close and be wary of anything," Kisuke instructed. "After this foolish stunt, they should keep a low profile until the town settles down. The memory replacement we did to everyone and tampering with any recording device will only get us so far. Have you informed the others about this?"
"Yeah, Orihime, Chad, and Uryū know the situation and will keep their eyes peeled for anything," Ichigo explained. "You think Aizen is somehow involved with these freaks?"
"Highly improbable. With what I've done to the Hōgyoku, he'd better lay as low as possible until it is ready to be fully useful again, which I estimate won't be until Winter so the Bounts are a third party, which makes this more difficult because unknowns are something we don't need right now."
"Level with me, what exactly is it that you have in plan to help fight the Bounts exactly?" Ichigo questioned him.
"I have three new allies coming that will prove highly effective in tracking down unknowns like the Bounts. They're not exactly foolproof, but with what's happened, there are a few adjustments to be made before they can come to help you."
"You make it sound like you're sending machines. Are you pulling another mad scientist crap again?" Ichigo wondered.
"I prefer to think them as miracles. I assure you that they, like everything else in this shop of mine is an asset to you," He said sincerely.
"So you like to say," Ichigo bemused unsatisfied with his answers. Hearing enough, the Agent leaves, and in a hurry to get out of the shop. Kisuke can only guess that it has something to do with the fact that his Zanpakutō started acting up, trembling as though it would unsheathe by herself and he seemed to be subtly struggling to keep Getsuhime from doing so by how strongly he's holding on to the hilt.
'She's a firecracker, that one,' Kisuke sighed. 'If I were in a better mood, letting her cut my head off might've been tempting, but a scientist's work is never done.'
He hasn't forgotten the look of hate and bitterness Getsuhime gave her when she first manifested; hard to forget something so haunting as that face.
Kisuke rubbed his face in frustration, asking himself how long he could withhold his confrontation with her before things really got out of hand.
This is a dangerous game he's playing, probably the worst he's ever played because it's not just his life that's at risk, if it was he wouldn't be this anxious.
"I'm putting my trust in you, Ichigo. Not for myself but for my family…"
"You don't like him, I don't like him, we're on the same page. But going berserk at him is not in the plan," Ichigo lectured Getsuhime who slowly settles down once she was separated from Kisuke.
"I never agreed to allow ourselves to be subjected to his horrid machinations," She said defiantly even though her anger has subsided.
"We're all on thin ice with Hat-and-Clogs, but what good would killing him accomplish? We don't know where Aizen is, and now that he has that Hōgyoku, he's practically the most dangerous man in the world, and if he shows up while we're in the middle of dealing with these Bounts, we need all the help we can get. So why the fuck are you the one with the biggest issue with that asshole?" Ichigo scolded.
"Overestimating your enemies is wise. Overestimating your allies is not. In your desperation to find the best solution to keep every one of us from perishing in the battles to come, I advise you to think carefully about whom you choose to put up with and those who are just dead weight. And for all the Wretch's intelligence, without trust on both fronts, there is only dead weight," Getsuhime warned coldly before going completely silent again.
Ichigo sighs with lament. He's known about her distaste for Kisuke ever since he first trained under him and Isshin but he initially thought that it was for the same reason as him, that Kisuke's a selfish smart ass with all the answers but too little ground to depend on.
But it slowly became apparent that she actually hates him and once they returned from their successful rescue mission, she became more open with her hostility.
This wasn't the first time she tried to unsheathe herself to cut open his face like a tomato, when they confronted him about what he did to Rukia, Ichigo chose to partially accept his sincere apology for being dishonest, even to Isshin, and when he questioned the Shopkeeper about him believing that if he had come clean from the beginning Ichigo might've chickened out and he chose to admit that he did in a comedic way, Getsuhime snapped and was an inch away from killing him then and there because he let his guard down thinking he was going to get off with just a punch to the face.
Boy, was he as surprised as everyone else to see Ichigo struggle to catch his Zanpakutō who charged at him without warning but if Ichigo is being honest, Kisuke wasn't really bothered about the close call and just apologized further and swore that he would make it up to all of them, especially to Rukia.
"I hate it when I can't dispute her," Ichigo muttered, rubbing his head frustratingly. He'll have to give her space for now.
"Zabimaru told me that you two were a pair of freaks, but that sure was something," Renji said, walking towards the orange head.
"Renji? How much did you see?" He asked.
"Only your parts of it. A Zanpakutō can only commune with their respective Shinigami and other blades, but we can feel their presence when they are speaking. Comes in handy to avoid being accused of talking to yourself at any random point, and we can feel a fraction of whatever emotion they're feeling, and your girl was livid," Renji explained. "What the hell happened inside that shop? Her bloodlust is giving me a headache."
"I don't know yet. Getsuhime just hates Kisuke for some reason, and she doesn't want to talk about it, just attack," Ichigo groaned.
"She should get in line then because I and my Captain are the ones at the front, followed by Captains Soifon and Kurotsuchi," Renji frowned also angry at Urahara for what he did to Rukia.
"Pretty sure Aizen has you all beat but until he's taken down, Kisuke remains on community service," Ichigo noted.
"No objections there," Renji conceded.
"Anyway, what are you doing here?" Ichigo asked.
"I'm here to question Urahara about a few things, both about the Bount and to gather any information Yoruichi Shihōin may have withheld from the Head Captain about Aizen and the Hōgyoku," Renji explained.
"Knowing him, there are a thousand things he's withholding, but I doubt he'd be willing to talk about anything to someone affiliated with the Soul Society."
"He's gonna have to. The higher-ups are finally willing to admit they fucked up with him and everyone else Aizen has wronged but the fact that it was his inventions that Aizen has been using against us still puts him in a tough spot, and if he expects to be pardoned, or anything really, now that we know where he is, he will have to be more open with us," Renji said.
"Makes sense, but why just you?" Ichigo asked, wondering where Matsuri and Fujimaru were. "I expected those two to be the most eager to see him."
"They didn't want to talk to him. Well, Fujimaru didn't say anything when I mentioned coming here and Matsuri looked like she wanted to come but chickened out at the last second, so now they went to get us an apartment for us to stay in this town for the duration of this mission," Renji explained and mighty glad that his first concern about staying in the Human World was quickly solved.
He was afraid he'd had to sleep in the streets, or worse become a moocher to someone's hospitality. It really pays to have rich friends.
"Wonder why they're so hesitant about this?" He asked.
"They didn't tell you even though you're in this together with them? Dude, Kisuke Urahara is their dad," Ichigo revealed, making Renji's eyes nearly burst out of their sockets.
"What… the… fuck…" Renji was almost lost for words that he couldn't even scream like he wanted to.
"Yeah, that made me scream to the moon when I realized it," Ichigo uttered.
"How is that possible? For as long as I've known them, they were a part of the Kudō Family, minor nobles who served under the Shiba Clan before their fall from grace, and are the last members of that dying clan," Renji asked.
"I guess they were adopted. And Kisuke didn't want to raise them while on the run from not just Soul Society but Aizen as well, so he left them in the care of my dad," Ichigo explained.
"Just when I thought those two couldn't surprise me any more than they have to all of Soul Society, I learn about this," Renji mused. "I'd be happy for them if I wasn't more interested in shoving Zabimaru down the man's throat."
"Yeah, try not to bring it up when you question him. Family drama is something outsiders should avoid at all costs," Ichigo warned before walking away.
"I guess that is one of the minor miracles of being an orphan," Renji mused.
Ichigo returned home soon after to rest and informed his parents about everything that had gone down. Their reactions were a mix of dread over yet another threat they have to deal with while guarding their home, but also a joy on Isshin's part to have the Kudō Twins around.
He also contacted his spiritually aware friends as they were in a panic, along with their ordinary friends when word spread about what happened. None of them took the news well, especially after the damage they caused to their town, they are on edge like Ichigo, but they are better at hiding it. And Baishin is still at large.
The incidents caused because of Senna unwittingly messing with the memories of the townsfolk has only recently with resolved with the Soul Society putting everything under the rug and have also injuries and deaths be brushed off as unfortunate accidents, but there was little they could do about the emotional turmoil the people felt because of it and now with the Bount's arrival, the fear is getting worse with rumors spreading about these events being connected.
The main issue for Ichigo's group at the moment is their ordinary friends. There's no way they would ever suspect that the four of them know anything about it, and none of them have a hero complex so they wouldn't want to rush in and face the culprits in the place of the authorities but Orihime has expressed concerns that one way or another they'll learn their shared secret eventually and get involved, rather they want them to or not.
Ichigo wanted to assure her that everything would be all right with them but opted to say nothing, not sure if he could say the right words to her at the moment with his thoughts clouded with anger.
"Well, that was more than we expected," Said one of two individuals standing on top one of the tallest buildings in Karakura that have witnessed the carnage brought about to the town by the Bount. They are wearing cloaks that completely cover their visage and are nearly identical to the one Aizen had that hid his presence from the Shinigami in the Seireitei.
"The special humans known as the Bounts have made their move sooner than his Majesty predicted," The other one said. "What do you think, Loly?"
"I think that Lord Arturo will be pleased. With them here, the Soul Society's hands will be more full than ever, giving us the better element of surprise."
"I see your point, but based on the carnage they are capable of, I think they'll pose a problem to us as well. I mean, our ultimate objective will be for nothing if this town is destroyed."
"Don't be so negative, Menoly. If those freaks pose a problem, we'll intervene. As long as it isn't Urahara, Shihōin, or the Kurosaki men, these cloaks his Majesty gave us keep us undetectable, and we have his permission to get creative to cause trouble for the protectors of this town."
"You're enthusiasm about this mission is starting to get vexing," Menoly sighed. "Espionage and sabotage are so not my gigs."
Loly groans at her partner's whining. "You're pathetic sometimes, you know that."
"Are those pet projects of yours almost done?" Yoruichi asked Kisuke as she entered the kitchen in the Urahara Shop.
"Almost. With the way things have escalated, I felt that adding these last-minute adjustments would be good for the kids when they continue their hunt for the Bount," Kisuke said casually as he lay down next to his table.
"The fact that you considered making those three at all tells me that you knew in advance that the Bount were coming, and yet, as usual, you were late to tell anyone about it," Yoruichi shrugged.
"Now, now, don't be like that. I admit I was concerned for those kids and wanted them to try and relax before any more bad things started happening," He assured. "To tell you the truth, my countermeasures against the Bount were a slow response. There has been a string of disappearances happening around Karakura for two weeks now. I didn't pay much attention to it because I was sure it was something human authorities could handle, but then I found out that the only thing they could find of the missing people was their clothing left behind where they disappeared with something akin to sand covering them. I did a quick research, and there was only one conclusion that made sense. A Bount."
"Wonderful, so we are dealing with humanish Soul Eaters now," Yoruichi sighed.
"Looks that way, and it's gotten so bad that it's earned the Soul Society's attention. They'll want to verify if Aizen is involved or not and ensure that it's no more than an isolated incident like with Ganryū," Kisuke explained.
"How many Shinigami did they send to investigate?" Yoruichi asked.
"Only three, and predictably, it's those they know. Ichigo will let his guard down when around them," He said. "Hanatarō, Ganju, and Kūkaku are already here also."
"That's a party I would like to join," Yoruichi smirked. "Is Rukia here again?"
"To my surprise, no, which is odd since it's universally known how deep their relationship is," Kisuke mused. "Though I guess it's not all THAT deep since Ichigo's into big boobies." He joked.
"Boys will be boys," Yoruichi laughed. "She likely chose to stay to try and mend her relationship with little Byakuya, which is good for both of them, so it's better this way."
The mood in the living room calms down a bit with a single thought flowing through their heads that both are nervous to talk about.
"So… they're here now, eh," Yoruichi said softly, thinking of the twins.
"Yeah. Though they haven't come to see me yet. Renji Abarai came alone when the time came to question me. I didn't want to be too rude and answered as many of his questions as I could without revealing too much. My mind was so focused elsewhere that I left a bigger impression on the young Lieutenant than I intended, and I'm not sure how I feel about that, to be honest."
"If even this wasn't enough to liberate the world of your childishness, I'd had you buried and horribly bruised for your callousness," She admitted.
"And the humane part of me would've thanked you for doing so," He replied. "I've been waiting a long time for this moment and yet I am woefully unprepared, because apparently even I can't plan for everything. You dodged the subject before and I respectfully didn't budge but really, how was it for you when you finally confronted them?"
"Honestly, I was surprised I managed to remain myself for the most part, but that was because Matsuri is the most eager of the two. She's idealistic like you," Yoruichi half smiled, recalling her time with their daughter. "Fujimaru, on the other hand, is more realistic, and I don't fault him for keeping his distance and putting up walls around himself, which is something he picked up from you also. I don't see myself in them at all."
"You can't know that for sure yet, unless we try and reach out to him. At least you are starting to have something. None of them even came to see me yet," He said, genuinely hurt. "I hate to say this because of how dangerous things are turning out for Karakura, but this whole situation might be a blessing in disguise for us."
"Look at you, trying to make light of a dire situation," Yoruichi shrugged.
"You say that like I'm proud of it. Because I'm not,"
"I know," She said amusedly.
"So, are they really going to be staying in your house?" Orihime asked Ichigo while they and Chad were walking to their first day of school after summer's end.
"Only Hanatarō. Kūkaku and Ganju are crashing at Urahara's," Ichigo explained. "He'll be sleeping in your room. Not like it looks girly anyway."
"You mean the spare room no one knows about?" Chad asked.
"You know about it, so your comment is questionable," Ichigo said.
"I meant not known to those you don't like," He rephrased.
"That list is as big as the moon, so you need to narrow it down for me."
"Did Rukia ever sleep in my room when she lived in your house?" Orihime asked curiously.
"It was the safest place to keep her in when my mom found out someone was sleeping in my closet," Ichigo groaned, recalling how Masaki inexplicably turned into a literal monster walking in fours like a spider hunting down Rukia around the house but never thought to check that one room when Ichigo locked her there for her safety.
"She's not going to be very welcoming to Rukia if she ever comes back, will she?" Chad asked.
"Most likely. So, I guess you'll be having a roommate if the hobbit does return," Ichigo suggested to Orihime.
"I would love that very much," She cheered. "By the way, why do you call her Hobbit all the time?"
"Oh, the name originates from this AMAZING English high fantasy novel series turned into movies that I can't get enough of. The Hobbit in question is a race of very tiny people," Ichigo explained with a smirk. "Its successor, Lord of the Rings, is even more glorious, but I digress. One could argue that she's an average midget, but to me, she's smaller than a dwarf, so a hobbit is more suitable."
"Antagonizing a person for their size is morally wrong," Chad somewhat lectured.
"You should've seen her reaction when I showed her a picture of what a Hobbit looks like," Ichigo cackled a rare laugh. "She didn't speak to me for three days; it was wonderful."
"Ichigo, you're awful," Orihime pouted at his rude words to Rukia that she actually hits his chest repeatedly, not that it hurts him, if anything, she's making him laugh more.
"Okay, okay, I'll stop now," He promised with jest while holding her hands to stop her. "But really, I did apologize to her. I even spent some of my savings to buy her that pink hoodie with the rabbit ears."
"That was you who gave her that?" Orihime said, recalling that one Saturday when she and Tatsuki bumped into the small Shinigami at a park.
"Look at me! Aren't I the cutest girl you've ever seen!" Rukia squealed with delight, shamelessly showing off her rabbit hoodie to all.
"Aww, that was so sweet, Ichigo. She was the happiest girl in the world that day," Orihime started to sob, also remembering how happy she was for her short friend.
"Ichigo laughing and Orihime wailing tears of joy. Now all that's missing is an overbearing Tatsuki and a sociopathic lesbian, and we'll have an early graduation," Said Uryū out of the blue, reaching his group of fellow misfits. As intellectual and reserved as he is, his previous adventure solidified him as the worst kind of troublemaker, which he somewhat enjoyed, so he isn't too against being paired up with Ichigo as much as before.
"Hello Uryū," Orihime greeted.
"Good one," Ichigo grinned at his comment. "So, how was everything back home?"
"Pretty good, if you consider your little sister constantly trying to take your only means to make weapons to fight Hollows so she can fight them herself as such," Uryū sighed, surprised that he was able to sleep at all since Kairi never left him alone, even when it was bedtime.
"Why not give her a Quincy Cross of her own then? I mean, children shouldn't ever be left with anything so dangerous, but if she's determined to be a Quincy like you, I would think you'd want to indulge her," Ichigo said.
"Of course, I want my sister to embrace her heritage. An Ishida must keep the proud Quincy legacy alive for eternity!" Uryū declared with the ferocity of a Drill Sargent. "But alas, there are three key factors that impede me from doing this. The most glaring one is my accursed father, who shuns our bloodline and refuses to let Kairi accept her destiny. The second is that I don't know yet how to make another Kreuz to give her one of her own. Researching that is a hassle to go through, so I'm almost tempted to ask Urahara for his technical support. And of course, there's the fact that…"
"As her big brother, you can't allow your younger sister to be involved in anything dangerous," Chad finished for him.
"Yeah…" Uryū lowered his head in self-pity. "I can't even work up the courage to even think of training her myself. I just get so nervous picturing her fighting Hollows."
"Are you sure it's because you can't stand her preferring to use a sword rather than a bow?" Ichigo couldn't help himself but poke fun at Uryū's internal turmoil, taunting his cousin to replace his dread with irritation.
"If you corrupt my sister with any more of your Shinigami poison again I'll bury you in a hole so deep not even your dragon will be able to get you out of it," He threatened with the fury of a thousand suns in his eyes.
"Understood," Ichigo relented, but only on the principle that he too is an older brother; as such, he shares Uryū's anguish. "For the record, she decided to attack me with a sword herself."
"Pity she missed,"
"We better continue to head to school," Chad suggested, hoping to prevent things from becoming a real fight.
"Yeah, you're right," Ichigo relented with a sigh, later cracking his knuckles and massaging his biceps.
"What are you doing?" Orihime asked.
"Just preparing myself for when I have to use my arms to bring the hurting down on some idiots," He explained.
"Why?"
"What's the first thing that I usually go through when I set foot into school? More specifically, when I'm about to enter our homeroom?" Ichigo made his own question that gave the three a quick reminder of a daily routine that needs to stop as it goes nowhere, and a certain someone is bound to go to the nurse's office, if not the hospital, for a broken jaw eventually.
"Let me reiterate her question, then. Why do you feel the need to make sure you hit that useless fool harder than he deserves?" Uryū asked next.
"Because he's not the only bitch that needs to die," Ichigo replied with the irritation they usually attribute to his parents. The irritation only increases a little bit when his Shinigami Badge turns on, shouting the word HOLLOW at least three times to signal that duty calls. "Of course, there would be some extra shit to work through."
"I'll give that thing credit; it picked up the Hollow's presence before I could," Uryū noted, sensing the Reiatsu of a Hollow to their right at least two blocks away a second after the badge turned on.
"Do you want us to back you up?" Orihime asked.
"And thankfully it's only just one so this won't take long," Ichigo said, taking a moment to make sure no one is watching, let alone any cameras for good measure before he does split his Soul from his body, and once he did, he quickly grabbed his body before it hits the ground.
"I'm just going to leave this lying on a rooftop where no one will notice, and everything will be dandy," Ichigo said before vanishing with Shunpo.
"He really should bring Kon along to avoid something this inconvenient," Orihime suggested.
"Somehow, I don't think he'd want that guy in his body any longer than he already has," Uryū said. "He needs a better Soul Candy."
"That's what they're called? How cute," Orihime giggled.
Unbeknownst to the four spiritually aware humans, someone is watching them and has even witnessed what Ichigo just did with intrigue.
"So, he needs that badge to exit his physical body, eh?" The Stranger smirked with delight, a sinister plan hatching in his head. "How convenient, for me."
"That barely lasted a second," Ichigo mused to himself, making it to school, and there were still ten minutes left before classes started. So far, so good.
"Back already, Ichigo." Orihime was the first to greet him once he came into the classroom, standing next to the doors.
"Yeah. I can't believe I used to consider those things a threat," Ichigo shrugged. "I mean, they are a really big problem for all of us, but in terms of strength, I really can't be bothered by them anymore, when I rather be doing anything else."
"Like what?" Orihime asked curiously.
"ICHIGOOOOOOOOO!" A scream booms throughout the corridor of the third floor, one that is so infamously known throughout Karakura High as it belongs to the class clown.
"And here we go…" Ichigo sighed, expecting this to happen. Keigo has an insufferable habit of rushing at him at top speed to tackle him, not necessarily to hurt him but to play around and have a friendly or rather brotherly hug that was tolerable, and to some extent touching the first time around.
Of course like with everything revolving around Keigo, it overstated its welcome so whenever he tries doing it again, Ichigo hits him in the jaw with his bicep, leaving him on the ground in pain, sometimes he is left out cold and misses a whole period of class but not even the teachers can bring themselves to care because he refuses to learn.
When Ichigo prepares to repeat the daily routine, he is left curious when he finds that Keigo did not take another step further towards him once he screamed his name and is instead standing there beside the other classroom in front of their shared homeroom, pointing an accusing finger at Ichigo while shedding tears at the same amount one would cry after hearing of their grandmother's passing, and Keigo's grandma did pass away last year and his look of genuine sorrow is something no one is going to forget any time soon.
This almost feels the same way, but Ichigo can tell in his eyes that there is also a burning rage that makes him want to laugh rather than feel threatened, so he can rest easy knowing it isn't anything serious. Then again, he may go and hit something personal, so maybe he should shut him up before he says anything.
"A whole summer was not enough to vaccinate me of this shit and now I have to go through this again," Ichigo whined, really wanting this day to be over with.
"FRIENDSHIP OVER! I'm transferring classes! If I could, I would've transferred schools—no, moved to another city already! Anything to get away from you!" Keigo declared more fiercely that it made everyone watching, even Ichigo, Chad, and Uryū startle.
'This level of fury is way too realistic for Keigo of all people,' Chad thought, bewildered.
"Okay… wasn't expecting that," Ichigo bemused, tempted to ask what brought this up even though he could never really care.
"First, you stood me up along with everyone else when I invited you all to the beach. Two weeks later, I find out that you did go to the beach but with your family, minus your dad. THE VERY SAME BEACH I WENT TO, mind you, and you even pretended like you didn't know me and blew me off like a piece of paper to be thrown into the trash!" Keigo cried with his usual dramatic stupidity.
'Damn, I forgot to ask what beach did mom take the twins and Kon to, and does Kon not know who Keigo is? He knows Mizuiro,' Ichigo thought. 'Then again, it's Keigo, so maybe Kon can somehow erase people from his memories. If so, then he is one enviable little bastard.'
"I have put up with a lot of crap over the years, mainly by you but that sting was the worst of all. Which is what I would say if not for your greatest act of betrayal thus far," Keigo seethed with comedic anger that for a moment felt more like the real deal. "No, what you did next is truly unforgivable! You…"
"I what? Spit it out already so I can carry on the rest of the day in peace," Ichigo demanded with his patience drained completely.
"YOU TOOK A CUTE GIRL OUT ON A DATE!" Keigo screamed loud enough that everyone in the school heard him.
If Ichigo were back in his inner world, he wouldn't have been surprised by the total silence of his surroundings and would even welcome it, but when in the real world, silence is usually a bad omen and a sign of things to come. He wishes he could say that the shock and questioning stares were something he was used to, given his reputation as a delinquent and a semi-respectable smart student, but this was different; this is something no one expected of him.
Even Uryū was giving him a questioning look. Chad was neutral, but even he wanted details.
The reaction that caught him off guard a bit was Orihime who was covering her mouth to prevent her gasp from escaping her lips, and if he didn't know any better she also looks like she is fighting the urge to shed tears.
"I… I… I can't really give an answer unless you speak more sense," He muttered, really not knowing what he is talking about. Or rather he does know but his current mindset won't allow him to remember on his own.
"You know damn well what I'm talking about, you traitor!" Keigo pressed. "That cute blonde you took to eat burgers with and then walked her to a park!"
Matsuri? That's who he was referring to. How could he know about the burger shop or even the park unless…
'This little fuck!' Ichigo gritted his teeth, with his rage boiling up.
It was at that moment that the entire student body knew. Keigo Asano fucked up.
As though he somehow managed to access a portion of his Shinigami powers while still in his human body, Ichigo grabbed Keigo by his shirt before anyone could blink and proceeded to drag him to the nearest window and tossed Keigo through it.
"HOLY SHIT!" Someone shouted as everyone panicked over what Ichigo just did. Of course, Ichigo didn't really throw Keigo out the window as he was holding him by the back of his shirt and his pants. That didn't stop the class clown from crying his lungs out from the fear of falling to his death.
"You were stalking me again!" Ichigo roared. "What did I tell you what would happen if you were to pull that shit again."
"I'M SORRY! I was just walking around town when I saw you entering a burger shop with a pretty girl following and I couldn't help but see what was going on," Keigo admitted while crying a waterfall in his face. "I can't help it! I see something that doesn't make sense to me I become desperate to find clarity."
"What part of what you saw made zero sense to you?" Ichigo demanded.
"Are you sure you want him or anyone in general to answer that?" Tatsuki taunted, the only one who seems indifferent to Ichigo killing Keigo, whether by accident or not.
"SHUT UP, OR I'LL DEFINITELY THROW YOU OUT THE WINDOW!" Ichigo warned, and that threat sent chills down everyone's spines, even Uryū.
Ichigo pulls Keigo back to his feet but doesn't let him off just yet as he pins him to a wall.
"I'd skull fuck you for every single stunt you've pulled if your sister hadn't beaten me to the punch,"
"That sounded wrong," Another student commented about the gross implications.
"This is strike two, Keigo. The third will be your last. Got it!" Ichigo warned.
"Yes…" Keigo whimpered helplessly, falling to his knees and crawling like a dog to the back of his homeroom for all to see him in his now pitiful state.
Inhaling and exhaling three times, Ichigo managed to calm himself down enough before he said and did something next that he might actually regret.
"Did you guys come here for a spectacle or did you come here to learn shit? Everyone get in your homerooms already!" Ichigo ordered everyone who witnessed the chaotic scene that wasn't from his classroom, and before he could blink, the majority of students ran to do as he demanded.
"Well… that was something. Not unexpected, but it was still something," Mizuiro said, not sure what to say regarding the near murder attempt that he stopped texting on his phone as he always does. One thing he knows for sure is that no one has the balls big enough to confront Ichigo about his actions, let alone report him. Everyone is just going to sit down and pretend the whole thing never happened.
"Good morning, everyone! I hope you had a good summer, and as always, let's try to have an even better semester." Their young and pretty homeroom teacher, Misato Ochi, cheers as she enters her classroom. She is noticeably different aside from wearing her usual rounded glasses, her brown hair which used to be long and tied back in a ponytail now cut to shoulder length.
"Morning, Ms. Ochi!" Most of them greeted her back.
"Wow, teach, I love the new hairstyle. It suits you," Mizuiro complimented her.
"Nice try, Kojima. But flattery doesn't work on me," She said, more than familiar with her student's playboy nature and interest in older women.
"Aww, you're always so challenging," Mizuiro joked.
"For the love of God, what is wrong with you?" Ichigo hissed over his attempts to flirt with even their female teachers. His attempts are at least funny, earning him chuckles from most of his classmates.
"This semester is off to a good start," Uryū commented sarcastically.
The rest of the day started out the same as always and luckily for Ichigo, no more Hollow sightings so that's a plus for him that he enjoys a lot and feels like today might turn out pretty good. Of course, when have things ever truly gone well for Ichigo Kurosaki?
Once it was time for lunch, that is when the real commotion started.
"Extra! Extra! Ichigo Kurosaki has a girlfriend! Read more on page 11 of the Karakura High Newspaper!" The Head of the Newspaper Club announced. Around him was a sizable crowd of students and even some teachers wanting to get their hands on the newest piece of gossip.
"SERIOUSLY?!" Ichigo exclaimed, drawing the crowd's attention. "Don't you have anything better to do than to butt in someone else's life?!"
The choir of no's killed him a little bit inside.
"You're infamous popularity with this educational system is quite perplexing," Getsuhime said.
'How do you figure?' He thought sarcastically while he made his way to the school's roof, which is where he likes to hang out alongside his friends, all the while ignoring all the students and teachers gossiping behind his back.
"You wish to be seen as a delinquent that is not to be trifled with and who relies solely on brutality to get his way, hence why you secretly enjoy fighting gangsters and any human child wasting their lives on meaningless things, and yet, in reality, you possess an intellect that should've earned you a scholarship by now, and the school board knows that, along with the fact that you have the loyalties of many students who are considered angels when compared to you. I fail to see why you are content with so much imbalance in your life when you only need to follow one path that is the one that enables you a suitable life as an adult," Getsuhime voiced her complaints about how pointless his human life currently is.
'Don't get so worked up about it. It's not that big of a deal.' Ichigo shrugged her concerns.
"I kind of have to since you having a future at all is one of my top priorities and you have no trust in your parents to help you out with that," Getsuhime countered.
'Oh joy, my own Guardian Angel,' He thought sarcastically.
Once on the rooftop, Ichigo only has Orihime, Uryū, and Chad beside him with no sign of the others and he can't bring himself to care for any of them right now.
"It was Matsuri," He said out of the blue for the three to hear.
"Pardon?" Orihime asked.
"Matsuri. Before I confronted the Bount, I bumped into her while I was strolling around town. She was hungry, and I offered to feed her in exchange for information since she, her brother, and Renji didn't initially want me involved in the hunt for the Bount," Ichigo clarified.
"We didn't ask for details," Uryū said.
"YOU wanted them! Don't lie to my face," The strawberry growled.
"Oh? That makes sense. Of course, what else could it have been?" Orihime smiled nervously, relief plastered over her face to know that Ichigo wasn't really on a date. If he were in a calm state of mind, Uryū figured Ichigo would've realized the reason for her flustered behavior, but right now, his idiot cousin couldn't tell the difference between a girl's feelings and the dirt on the floor.
"I can't believe the whole damn school is so stupid that they rather prioritized my personal life than the crisis that happened on that same damn day," Ichigo hissed while his back leans on the rooftop's railing.
"People are still rambling about it. All around Karakura, the citizens are scared since something like the Bount attack has never happened before. The Lieutenants and Urahara did a good job with their memory manipulation and other machinations to prevent the public from jumping to conclusions and escalating things," Uryū said. "As long as everyone refrains from unanimously agreeing to anything drastic like terrorists and the like, order and life should return to normal."
"Good for the town, bad for my faith in humanity if the alternative is what they all would rather be doing," Ichigo shrugged.
"It at least makes our efforts to confront these Bounts without interference from the common person that much safer," Chad pointed out.
"Exactly, and that is something the Bounts will want as well if they hope to get away with anything," The Quincy said while adjusting his glasses for the twelfth time today, at least as far as his friends are aware. "By the way, there is something I figured out concerning one of the Bount attacks, specifically about the man that went crazy and attacked people in the streets."
"Like what? Renji managed to pin him down before he could kill anyone," Ichigo said.
"Yes, but what the public doesn't know is that he's dead. Cause of death was suicide, via asphyxiation, or more accurately, he seemingly chose to stop breathing until he died," Uryū said with narrowed eyes, making Orihime gasp in horror, even Chad looked disturbed by this news.
"What does that mean?" Ichigo questioned.
"That is what the doctors who examined him said when I overheard them while I went to try and learn what I could from the victims if they saw anything out of the ordinary that perhaps the Shinigami failed to erase, furthermore while this man was in his berserk state, they said that he had a large four-petaled yellow-red flower on his chest that was somehow attached to him and could not be removed but when he died, it vanished,"
"The woman I fought was capable of summoning a strange creature made of fire. It had Reiatsu, but his body was made of Kishi, so it was visible to the human eye, and it certainly felt like I was fighting a person when I slashed him with Getsuhime," Ichigo noted.
"And all Bounts likely have control over monsters with unique abilities like a Zanpakutō," Getsuhime suggested.
Ichigo agreed and repeated what she said to his friends. He thought of telling them about her theory that the Bounts have a connection to the Soul Society like Mod-Souls but refrained from it to prevent doubt from spreading concerning those they need to keep as allies for now.
"Meaning that one of these Bounts has a monster that can control people, and he used this ability to force an innocent man to attack others just to create a distraction," Chaz concluded, tightening his fists while filling up with invisible anger.
"How awful," Orihime came close to crying again.
Ichigo growls, his anger increasing as his determination to hunt down the Bounts increases.
"Ichigo move!" Getsuhime suddenly warned him with alarm.
It was a split-second decision. Ichigo instinctively wanted to turn around and see what would alarm his Zanpakutō, but prioritized his safety, and as quick as he could, he leaped away from where he was previously standing. His friends did not bother asking what made him react this way as they laid eyes on what made him do it in the first place.
A medium-sized gray snake with sharp teeth appeared out of nowhere that managed to sneak its way onto them and went straight for Ichigo. Even as he evaded being bitten, the snake persisted and caught the Shinigami Agent Badge with its teeth and effortlessly pulled it away from Ichigo.
"Dammit!" Ichigo cursed. What happened next shocked everyone as the snake quickly fled from the group of four and jumped off the rooftop.
"Unbelievable!" Uryū said in shock, having never seen an animal do something like this. The four looked from the railing to see the snake fall to its supposed death. Instead, the next thing they saw was the snake transformed into a metal pipe that landed at the bottom of the school with thankfully no one around for it to land on.
As for Ichigo's badge, it is caught before it hits the ground by another snake, one golden colored that was leaning from the school fence. The snake then leaves and wraps itself in the arm of a man who was on his knees for it to climb on.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Ichigo muttered.
This man is tall and lean with wavy brown-red hair arching at the front and parted on either side with wing-like tufts brushed above his ears, maroon eyes, thin and flat eyebrows, pronounced cheekbones, and a thick goatee shaped like a straight line extending from underneath his lower lip to the underside of his chin, as well as a pointed tongue. He wears a purple vest with a black lining in the left breast pocket and a dull green tie over a white dress shirt, as well as brown slacks and black dress shoes.
"I feel no Reiatsu from this man or that serpent," Getsuhime said.
"That guy's a Bount," Ichigo concluded.
"That first snake went straight for the badge rather than to harm Ichigo," Chad said.
"Dammit! He must've been spying on us and witnessed you exiting your body with it," Uryū cursed himself for not paying better attention to his surroundings. The enemy being able to cloak their Reiatsu is no excuse for being ignorant.
The Bount looks at the humans with a cruel smug, obviously taunting them to follow him before walking away.
"Goddammit!" Ichigo growled and was going to run after him but was stopped in his tracks by Uryū.
"Think before you act, you idiot! This is an obvious bait and these fiends did not act on their own the first time," He warned.
"You think the school might be surrounded?" Chad asked.
"We have to consider that as the most obvious outcome," Uryū agreed.
"So they're here for us, and now everyone is in danger," Orihime uttered.
"Don't think like that, Orihime! We can't let them believe they've won just yet," Ichigo insisted.
"I'll go after the snake man while you three stay and guard the school. Contact Matsuri's team while you're at it," Uryū instructed and left at blinding speed with Hirenkyaku.
"Those bastards!" Ichigo cursed while purposely raising his Reiatsu to a substantial level to get the attention of the Shinigami. "Don't be late this time, Matsuri."
The three get distracted when they hear screams from below them.
"Oh no!" Orihime cried, believing that the Bount attack has already begun with the students and teachers, and they rush back down to protect their school.
Once they make it back to the third floor, they see students running away from a pack of gray snakes. Among them, a girl trips and falls, leaving her as easy prey for the snakes to attack. Fortunately for her, Chad steps in and stumps on the one closest to her, followed by him grabbing its head and pulling it, tearing the head off. Strangely, upon its death, the body fades away into dust.
Ichigo next carries the girl and takes her away from the rest of the incoming snakes. The deadly predators jump at Chaz to bite him but the giant teen raised his right arm for defense and summons a fraction of his power, enough to harden his skin so that when they took a bite out of him their teeth shattered on impact, and he tosses them aside.
The rest of them must sense the danger Chad poses and choose to remain still and wait for an opening.
"Go! Get everyone off the floor. These little bastards are hungry," Ichigo instructed the girl and the rest of her friends.
"Yeah, no kidding," One of them said as they left without a second thought, let alone sparing a glance at the three who remained to face them.
"Great, just what I needed, a fucking sequel to Snakes on a Plane!" Ichigo cursed while they heard more screams happening below the school. "There doesn't seem to be anyone on this floor right now, so do your thing, Chad."
The Giant nodded, again summoning a portion of his power without transforming his arm to take down all the snakes. While he was doing this, another group of snakes shows up from the classroom behind the three and gets closer, believing they have a chance for a sneak attack but the moment they got close, Chad slams his fist on the ground, releasing a spiritual shockwave that hit all the snakes, vaporizing them all in an instant until only the three spiritual humans are left standing.
"Wow, we didn't even feel it," Ichigo said amazed, believing that he and Orihime might get hurt, hence why he grabbed onto her to shield her from the shock. "You only caused harm to those little bastards."
"I didn't need to use much power, so you two were going to be okay. As for the rest of the floor, I'm surprised that I didn't cause any collateral damage," Chaz said.
"This much self-control must mean that your training is paying off spectacularly," Orihime cheered while also enjoying Ichigo's embrace.
"On to the next floor," Ichigo pressed, with them running to the lower floor, where they were presented with another chaotic scene. There aren't as many snakes as they feared, probably thirty, which is still pretty bad, and all of them are aggressive, two or three are about the size of anacondas. Some of the students and teachers try to fight them off.
"Drop dead, you fuckers!" Tatsuki yelled, swinging a broom at one snake aiming for her and her gal friends, hitting it so hard that it slammed into a wall.
While continuing to defend the others, the karate girl does manage to take the time to look at her surroundings without letting her guard down in case she is attacked again, and notices Ichigo, Orihime, and Chad.
"Orihime! Get over here and take cover!" She yelled.
"Tatsuki!" Orihime cried, desperate to help her friends and, for an instant, considered using her powers in front of everyone despite being warned never to expose her abilities. Even if normal humans couldn't see the spirits that make up her power, the effects they cause will still be noticeable, but at this moment, she doesn't care about that.
"Orihime stop!" Ichigo shouted, grabbing her by her shoulder as another snake sneaks up on her left and he pulls her aside, becoming the snake's target who bites his neck.
"ICHIGO!" All in the vicinity cried, watching the Agent fall to the floor, a look of agony on his face.
'I've been poisoned…' He cursed his misfortune, but despite this predicament, he was still able to muster the strength to squish the snake so hard that he forced it to let him go and toss it away from him, followed by it being furiously stomped on by Chad.
In a further act of retaliation, he grabs onto the door of one classroom and, with all his strength, jerks it off to use as a projectile that he throws at one of the anacondas, cleaving it in two along with six other snakes.
"Ichigo!" Orihime sobbed, holding on to him as he forced himself off his feet, covering his wound with his hand. "I'll heal you."
"Not yet," He groaned over the intense pain he was in. "There doesn't seem to be too many left, so hold off on that, and besides, this poison won't be enough to kill me."
"But—"
"—Orihime!" Ichigo raised his voice to silence her, but not high enough that anyone else would hear them because of all the commotion. "I know exactly how you feel but listen to what I'm telling you, we can't let anyone be directly involved in this."
Orihime stays silent, unable to argue against this, and gets dragged to the rest of her friends by Ichigo.
"That is one awful wound. How the hell are you even able to stand up?" Tatsuki demanded while stumping her broom on another snake.
"Never mind me, it's not a big deal," Ichigo shrugged, refusing to let anyone prioritize him over themselves, and in an attempt to divert all attention to him, he asked a question concerning someone that has him worried. "Where's Mahana? I thought she was having lunch with you."
"She was but she went to our homeroom to pick up her lunch after leaving it there," Mizuiro said among those hiding behind Tatsuki. He replied so calmly that if Ichigo hadn't known him for as long as he did, he might've bought his indifferent attitude to the crisis when, in fact, he knows he is scared.
"She's still up there, but we just got back from there," Orihime said, worried but a little relaxed knowing that there shouldn't be any more snakes in the upper room. Ichigo did not share this thought.
"I'll go check if she's still there," Ichigo said without giving anyone a chance to object.
"Be careful," Orihime whispered sadly.
"MAHANA!" Ichigo yelled, kicking open the door to his high school homeroom as soon as he reached it. The said room is in shambles as the students who were there before ran in a panic. In the corner at the far left hides a lone schoolgirl and one of Ichigo's classmates, Mahana.
"Ichigo…" Mahana Natsui sobbed while in complete terror from the crisis.
"You're all right," Ichigo said, rushing to her, who immediately jumped on him while crying frantically.
"I can't believe this! Why is this happening?" She cried, more scared than she'd ever been in her life.
"Don't worry. Whatever happens, you're going to be okay," Ichigo assured her while helping her to her feet. Then picks up one of the school seats and, with the inhumane strength she knows he possesses, effortlessly throws it with one hand into one of the windows, smashing it open.
"What are you-" Mahana tried to ask but Ichigo doesn't give her time to finish when he picks her up bridal style. "But you're hurt!"
"No time!" Ichigo protested, and just in the nick of time, a wall of the classroom is smashed through, and from it, a swarm of dozens of snakes come out. Seems he grossly miscalculated the number of them Bount's unusual power.
Wasting no time, Ichigo jumps off the window he forcefully opened from the back of the school where no one is around to see them, Mahana screams since they are on the third floor of the school so if the snakes don't kill them the fall will, and the snakes would prefer it if they were the ones to kill them, jumping down after their prey.
"You'll be fine!" Ichigo assured her and this is proven true when Renji Abarai showed up and grabs the two in time and drags them to safety.
"You are one bold dumbass, you know that," Renji smirked, safely escorting the two into the ground.
"I knew you'd catch us since I felt your Reiatsu," Ichigo scoffed.
"I'm touched that you have faith in me," Renji mused, turning to the snakes who landed and did not seem deterred by the fall and continued their attack.
'I was expecting Matsuri to catch us, but I better not tell him that,' Ichigo thought.
"A snake infestation, eh? How fitting," Renji said smugly, unsheathing his Zanpakutō. "Howl, Zabimaru!" With his mighty Shikai, he rips and tears every last one of them before any of them can escape.
The tables have turned in their favor, but Ichigo can't celebrate yet since Uryū hasn't come back from chasing the Bount and can only hope that he will be okay.
"This is the life," Kon sighed in satisfaction as he lay down on the couch in the Kurosaki Household and watched TV without fear of being spotted by anyone now that he had the support of Ichigo's parents.
"Oh, Kon. I didn't see you this morning," Masaki said, walking by the living room carrying dirty clothes to put in the laundry.
"Didn't feel like leaving Ichigo's room until now," Kon said lazily. "What about you? Shouldn't you be at your Bakery?"
"Nah, I'll let my Assistant Manager handle it for one more day. This house has been empty the whole summer. And since the boys seldom clean up after themselves, I'm not leaving until it's spotless," Masaki said.
"I thought Orihime was the Assistant Manager. I keep hearing she is your best employee," Kon asked.
"Not while she's still in high school, she's not. Besides, just because I'm the most tolerant of her being near my son doesn't mean I'm that trusting of her."
'This woman's got some real issues,' Kon thought while cringing. "Okay, and where's that little Shinigami who's also staying here? Hanatarō, was it? What a boring name."
"Isshin thought it would be a good idea for him to go explore Karakura and get to know the place he'd be staying for a bit. We offered to escort him, but he insisted on doing it himself," She explained.
"Brave fellow. Karakura is full of animals and savages," Kon mused.
"True, but he's a Shinigami, so I'm sure he's put up with both before," Masaki said.
"Not with that attitude," Kon said as he continued with his channel surfing. "Lame. Boring. Crap. Crap. Mega Crap. Geez, for the Kingdom of Anime, Japan doesn't have any good Anime right now."
"You sure you're just not in the mood for action instead of hentai?" Masaki questioned.
"Probably. Being inside Ichigo's body always makes me want to punch people. Like that idiot Keigo, who wouldn't stop hounding me while we were on that beach," Kon said.
"And that's the way it should be." She smirked. No sexual urges from her son. No sir.
"The punching part or beating up Keigo?" Kon asked.
"Whatever works." She shrugged as she was going to go to the laundry.
"Breaking news! Chaos and terror engulfed Karakura High School." Kon had just moved to the News Channels with the Anchorman beginning to report the events that took place in Ichigo's school.
"What the…" Kon uttered as he and Masaki's eyes became glued to the TV. She even drops her clothes to the floor from shock.
"Right around the lunch hour of the Karakura High School, the usual normalcy given to the young students during the first day of the new semester ends in tragedy when the school suffers a crisis of a swarm of savage snakes that ran amok on the students and teachers."
They then started showing several students detailing what they witnessed, explaining their experience with snakes of all sizes that seemingly came out of nowhere and attacked them without warning. Thankfully, no one is reported dead, but several students and teachers are injured and even poisoned, which is painful to swallow for any parent.
"Isshin! Get over here!" Masaki yelled, calling her husband in his clinic.
"In a moment, my Queen. I have yet to give this little champion his lollipop," Isshin said as he attended to a ten-year-old boy who was brought by his father due to a sudden cold.
"The only little champion you need to focus on right now is your son!" She demanded.
"Bleh. Believe me, I've seen enough of that boy to ruin my summer," Isshin groaned before he whispered to the little boy. "Between you and me, people say my wife and I belong in an asylum, but it's my son who needs help. And this house is his asylum."
The boy couldn't help but laugh at that piece of information that made sense if you know the Kurosakis.
"ISSHIN!"
It took him a lot more effort than he would like to admit, but Uryū managed to track down the Bount responsible for the attack on his school. But what makes it irritating is that the man wanted the Quincy to chase him. Regardless of whether it's true, he must continue to hunt him down, and the trail leads him to a parking lot filled with trucks. Near them are the clothes of truck workers lying on the ground with dust coming out of them, which can only mean that he was too late to prevent people from dying.
"Dammit to Hell," The Quincy howled, unwilling to accept such a cruel fate for anyone that isn't a Hollow.
"My, how the mighty have fallen," The Bount said condescendingly and standing before him, and he was not alone, with him is a woman in a dress and sun hat that he is restraining with his arms, scared for her life, having likely witnessed what the Bount had done to the truck workers.
"Let her go, you monster!" Uryū demanded, while not yet summoning his bow but is capable of at any time he wished, regardless of what the Bount may try.
"You speak as though you are in any position to be making demands, Quincy, but in case those glasses are just for show, you're the one without any leeway," He taunted.
"You know what I am?" Uryū questioned, intrigued since this is the first time anyone's ever known outright about his lineage.
"Indeed, I do. My kind and yours go way back; in fact, I'd go as far as to say we're kindred spirits," He claimed. "And by the way, Ryō Utagawa is the name."
"Don't make me puke! No Quincy would ever be associated with someone like you," Uryū denied his words.
"Oh, my poor boy. It's easy to tell that you're quite ignorant of your history, commendable as your pride might be," Utagawa mocked. "But don't worry, I'd be more than happy to educate you. But first, I must ask you to surrender your Kreuz. Can't have you pointing any sharp arrows at me after all."
To make sure his warning is understood, Utagawa's snake that was dangling around his neck moved closer to the woman's face, threatening to bite one of her eyes, further increasing her fear that it's a wonder that she hasn't fainted yet.
"All right!" Uryū raised his voice, relenting to his demands and removing his Quincy Cross that he always kept attached to his right wrist.
"That's a good boy, now toss it over," Utagawa instructed, and without much fuss, Uryū throws the cross for the Bount's snake to catch with her mouth.
"I was counting on you catching it with your hand, but letting your pet put it in its mouth makes this a lot easier," Uryū smirked in triumph.
The smirk was enough to alarm the Bount who notices on time that the small chain that holds the conduit for Uryū's spirit weapon also has attached to it a Gintō with the liquid Reishi coming off by itself. With quick reflexes, Utagawa drops the woman to free his hands to grab the tube from his snake's mouth to toss it away, at the same time, Uryū uses Hirenkyaku to rush to the woman's side.
"Flammen (Blaze)!" He chanted, and the Gintō erupted, releasing an explosion of blue flames that tore apart one of the trucks and engulfed the Bount.
Uryū escaped on time and escorted the woman to the nearest rooftop, placing her gently on the ground who finally fainted from all the shocks. Confident that she'll be safe, Uryū returns to the parking lot.
"Your first mistake was comparing me to someone with the arrogant mindset of a Shinigami. As if I would allow one of my belongings to be taken without any countermeasures, especially a Quincy prize possession like my Kreuz," Uryū said with ironically more arrogance than Ichigo would ever display, walking towards his flames that seem to move away from his presence to not harm him, and gets on his knees to pick up his cross that was not harmed by the fire, immediately activating it to summon his Kojaku.
He looks to see Utagawa survive as his snake's length increased enough to wrap itself around him and was durable enough to survive the flames formed by Reishi. A feat that impressed Uryū as those flames are hot enough to be used underwater and turn all liquid to steam in seconds.
"You are a very annoying brat. If that's how you want to play it, just remember you asked for it, kid," Utagawa said as his snake's length increased to be used like a whip for combat.
'And I thought Zanpakutō were a bizarre case,' Uryū thought, mildly disturbed by the strange abilities of this Bount.
"Before we do this, answer me this. Why did you attack my school? Wasn't the anguish you caused before enough? All you succeeded in is putting everyone on even more high alert and painting a bigger target on yourselves." Uryū questioned.
"Sorry, but I'm afraid I cannot comment on that," Utagawa replied smugly.
"Fine then. But for the record, it was you who started this," Uryū said, shooting an arrow that Utagawa parries with a fierce swipe from his snake.
Utagawa continues by lashing into the ground multiple times, forcing Uryū to evade with Hirenkyaku as the snake whip leaves gouges in the concrete floor. Quincy moves to the Bount's back and has a cleaner shot.
'Not shying away from playing dirty, eh,' Utagawa sneered, turning around on time and morphing his snake as a shield in the form of a flat circle in front of him to block the arrow.
Uryū again vanishes from sight, but Utagawa catches on to him this time, extending his free hand to his left, catching the Quincy by his right hand, and forcing Uryū to fire his next arrow into the air and holding him under his tight grip.
"Your people were never very adept at fighting up close," Utagawa smirked to a shocked Uryū for being caught up so easily. The Bount then tosses the Quincy to the floor, next to the gouges he caused. "Fried, if you would."
"Of course," The Snake replied with a sadistic feminine voice, whose eyes glowed red, and those same gouges began emitting blue energy, and gray snakes are summoned from them that immediately surround Uryū and wrap around him, restraining his body completely.
"What the hell!" The Quincy shouted in horror over the situation he was in.
"Word of advice: Fried's friends have quite the venomous bite to them, so I suggest you don't try any more funny tricks," Utagawa warned, walking closer to Uryū, and the two snakes moved closer to his face, threatening to sink their menacing fangs into his flesh. "They'll bite you before you even have a chance to use another of your Zauberei (Sorcery)."
"Zauberei?" Uryū questioned.
"Oh? That's right; I completely forgot. Quincy, born in Japan, refer to your magic as Gintō. A bit disheartening, since we Bounts also have a strong attachment to Germany and this fact ironically makes you closer to the Shinigami," Utagawa mused. "But this isn't the proper place to discuss the history of our respective people. We will have plenty to talk about once I take you to meet the others."
"Like Hell I will," Uryū growled, refusing to be taken hostage.
"Come now, why be so stubborn? I never said anything about giving you a choice," Utagawa smirked in triumph.
"Ryō!" Fried shouted, noticing an incoming danger from above. Reacting fast, Utagawa turns the lower half of Fried into a medium-length, double-edged blade widening toward the hilt and swings her to block the Zanpakutō of Fujimaru who came to Uryū's aid and the force of his blade was too much for the Bount who came close to falling to his knees and tries fighting back by delivering a punch to the Shinigami's gut but Fujimaru was quicker and delivers a swift kick that sent Utagawa flying and crashing into the loading bay meant for the trucks that were destroyed.
Fujimaru next freed Uryū from the snakes holding him with a series of blinding fast swings that cut the snakes to billions of pieces, that nothing remained of them.
"You all right?" He asked, offering him his hand.
"Yeah…" Uryū said softly to hide how begrudgingly he feels about accepting his helping hand. "Are your sister and Abarai at my school?"
"Yeah, the situation there should be under control, provided no more Bounts show up," Fujimaru replied.
"A Shinigami coming to the aid of a Quincy?" Utagawa questioned in disbelief at the sight before him. "Times have changed indeed, but too little too late for any real change, don't you think?"
"That's none of your concern. And you will be coming with us to answer for your actions," Fujimaru warned.
"My, my, he sure makes for a disappointing jester," Fried snared mockingly.
"I couldn't agree more. Your jokes reek of nonsense," Utagawa half-growled. "No Bount would ever kneel to the Laws of the hated Shinigami. now, Fried!"
The snake's eyes glow red again to use her power to the fullest, and this causes every rope, hose, and any other nearby object that is elongated to turn into snakes that slither toward Uryū and Fujimaru.
"This is one annoying ability," Uryū said, already having had enough of snakes for one lifetime.
"I agree. Flash, Ryūjōmaru!" Fujimaru declared, activating his Shikai, and in an instant, every snake in the area was whipped out the same as before but with greater speed in use, to the amazement of Uryū and the horror of Utagawa and Fried.
"What the hell!" The Bount uttered before a twister was summoned that enveloped him, becoming a sphere to keep the man and his snake in prison. "He's just like Kariya."
"I don't like it when my time is wasted, so I would appreciate it if you weren't so full of yourself," Fujimura said irritably.
'He's almost as swift as Yoruichi, which isn't a surprise,' Uryū thought with silent praise.
"Glad this is over with, but where do we go to keep him locked up?" He asked.
"I had a small base of operation built outside the city that we can hold him to interrogate," Fujimaru explained.
Things, unfortunately, may not go their way as the two are besieged by an illuminating light that disoriented them with its brightness.
"What is it now?" Uryū uttered, noticing with the little visibility he has that their surroundings are banishing from sight as well as their own shadows. This is almost like the light of Getsuhime but the Reiatsu doesn't feel as intense or downright terrifying as Ichigo's sword would emit to friend and foe alike.
"Get behind me!" Fujimaru warned as several dozen shadowy slashes came toward them from multiple angles. The 2nd Division Lieutenant swings his sword in a similar fashion that Ichigo displayed when cutting the billions of blades from Byakuya's Bankai, he cut all the shadow blades.
"Another Bount?" Uryū said, watching their backs.
"No, this Reiatsu is nothing like his," Fujimaru said as the light faded, and they noticed that Utagawa had vanished. The condensed wind that held him must've been destroyed by some of the shadow blades that didn't go for them. "It seems we have more than Bount to contend with."
"Like whom, more rogue Shinigami?" Uryū questioned.
"The only way to know for sure is to catch them."
"Then let me return the favor," Uryū proceeded to pick up two of his silver tubes. "If sensing an opponent's Reiatsu is out of the question then we need only track them through their movements, even their very breathing."
He releases the liquified spirit energy into the floor while rotating his body with his inhumane speed, forming a perfect circle under the Quincy, who then claps his hands together and chants.
"Where evil lurks, I will seek them out until there are no more innocents to prey upon! Jäger (Hunter)!" Uryū shouted with his body surging with pale blue Reiatsu and his own awareness extending beyond the capacity of humans and animals alike. He can now see everything within the whole area. No one, no matter how small, can escape his sight; he can also feel every movement they make as though they are his own, every beat of their pulse resonating together. It isn't long before he finds what he is seeking and hears the movement of one moving through the air like a Shinigami would while carrying a man and a snake.
"I got them!" Uryū said, taking to the air with Fujimaru following. They have to run passed ten square blocks before they finally spot Utagawa escaping with his aide, who looks like a Shinigami.
"Kūiki Zetsu!" Fujimaru fires multiple blasts of air directly at the targets but the unknown Shinigami is prepared for this attack and swings his Zanpakutō while it surges with light that Fujimaru's attack is repelled and the two are again blinded by the illuminating light.
"Not this time," The Lieutenant declared as he fired a horizontal tornado that powers through the light, forcing their enemies to fall back and land near a rooftop where he and Uryū surround them from front to back. "Nowhere to run now."
"Is that so? I've never known you to be so boastful, Fujimaru. But I guess all that time in the 2nd Division with the Onmitsukidō was bound to give you a bad attitude," The Shinigami said sternly, turning around to face the Lieutenant to give him a good look.
Tall, fair-skinned, lean-built man with brown eyes, sharp eyebrows, and short, shaggy, raven-black hair that framed his face and arched upward on either temple to hang down in the center of his forehead in a large bang. His shihakushō is sleeveless, and he also wears a white hooded shirt underneath.
"Maki Ichinose." Fujimaru widened his eyes in shock at the man before him. Uryū did wonder briefly if he knew who this Shinigami was and his reaction confirmed it and perhaps they were friends at one point.
"A friend of yours?" Utagawa asked his rescuer.
"From a lifetime ago, but now he is just a memory," Ichinose said solemnly before turning to Utagawa. "As for you, you were supposed to wait for me before we attacked that school."
"Shut up, I was sure I could handle it and still can. I won't accept help from the likes of you," Utagawa scoffed ungratefully.
"Treat me however you like, but the fact remains that Master Kariya's orders are absolute, and your impudence may cost us in the future," Ichinose warned, earning a glare from the Snake Bount, but he never noticed and remained focused on Fujimaru. "This is where we part ways again for now."
"You know I can't just let you go, especially if you're aligned with that man," Fujimaru warned.
"I do, but your consent is irrelevant. In honor of my past friendship with you and Matsuri I will spare you on this day, however, the next time we cross paths may be our last," Ichinose declared. "I am no longer a dog of the Soul Society, your people cast me out as a Dagami (Fallen God), a title I now wear with pride as I have embraced a new destiny!"
Ichinose raises his Zanpakutō, which has a simple, blue-gray rectangular guard inscribed with a circle around the blade and two inward-curving lines stretching to each corner along the long sides. Both the blade and Ichinose's body shine with greater light.
"Not again," Uryū cursed, covering his eyes again, and when he was able to reopen them, he found himself in an area filled with yellow-white light.
Uryū keeps his guard up, looking out for whatever danger may come his way, but to his chagrin, his Jäger spell wore off. Like most Gintō, Jäger has a time limit for how long it can stay active, but this time, it faded faster than it was supposed to. Perhaps Ichinose's Zanpakutō affected his spell in some way.
He readies to fire when he sees Ichinose walking toward him. He guessed that the mercy he spoke of only extended to Fujimaru and readied to fire, but like with Utagawa, Ichinose reacted faster, grabbing onto his right wrist to prevent him from firing. Beyond that, the visage of Ichinose vanishes, and now Uryū sees that it is Fujimaru.
"Don't waste your energy. No reckless movement can be made when it comes to him," The Lieutenant advised and the light trapping them vanishes along with Ichinose and Utagawa.
"What was all that for?" Uryū asked, confused.
"A situation made more dangerous than we could anticipate," Fujimura sighed with sadness.
"A Dagami?" Ichigo repeated while rubbing the spot on his neck that was bitten by the poisonous snake and later treated by Orihime, the bite mark and poison may be gone, but the phantom pain remained due to him stubbornly ignoring it for way too long. Ichigo's group and the Shinigami regroup in the Kurosaki Clinic to rendezvous. Isshin, Masaki, and Kon are also present.
"It's a title the Soul Society uses to address Shinigami that have gone rogue like Aizen, Gin, and Tōsen. Same with Urahara, Shihōin, and Tessai," Renji explained.
"Which is what this Ichinose is?" Uryū said.
"Maki Ichinose. He was an astonishing Shinigami of the 5th Division and served under Aizen as the 3rd Seat, but two years before the Ōin War, he was ostracized by his Division," Isshin said with sadness. "No one knows all the details, but he somehow discovered Aizen's true nature before anyone else could and tried to expose him, which ended miserably for him with everyone protecting the benevolent persona he fooled everyone with, and he disappeared from the Soul Society in shame."
"We tried searching for him, maybe help get his life together or fix his sullied reputation but we found no trace of him and Central 46 branded him a Dagami," Matsuri said also feeling sadness about Ichinose's fate. "I wish I could say I tried my hardest to support him but I didn't start to investigate Aizen's schemes until five years after the war so I too shrugged his accusations as absurd."
"And now this guy is working for Bounts. That's as bad a sign as any that he's fallen from grace and is on our shit list," Ichigo said with his resentment for the Bounts growing after their latest atrocities. He's never seen his classmates so horrified, with looks of their lives flashing before their eyes, and he does not want it to happen again. Even with casualties avoided, there were close calls with students and teachers getting poisoned by the snakes.
This is different from their exploits in Soul Society. This was a battle that occurred in their place of comfort where they come to learn and be with their friends, and they just barely managed to protect it. Orihime fruitlessly tries to hide her tears. If Chad keeps tightening his fists his palms will bleed out, his friends are surprised they haven't already but he's just that durable. Even Uryū is visibly disheartened by the horrendous attack and curses himself for being helpless against just one Bount.
"Don't go losing yourself to anger yet, Ichigo. That will only make you an easy target to those who can exploit you," Isshin warned his son to stay calm.
"I know," He replied, doing his best to relax. "What about Yuzu and Karin's school?"
"Word about what happened had already spread but so far, the other schools around the town see no reason to end classes early and wish to keep things as normal as possible but police have been ordered to guard them until it's time for all students to go home," Masaki informed.
"Man, these Bounts are a bunch of freaks. You'd think they'd know better than to cause a scene and risk being exposed," Kon shook his head. "The way things are going, it will be a miracle if we manage to keep things between only the Spiritually Aware."
"Agreed. Even though we tricked everyone into believing that those unnatural serpents originated from some unknown truck carrying them that had an accident and crashed near the high school, resulting in the snakes being released, it might not go over so well," Fujimaru said. "It's not safe to mess with a person's memories so regularly. So many fake memories could result in a mental breakdown."
"And with no way to properly track them, we have no choice but to rely on whatever Kisuke's come up with to find them," Ichigo hissed.
"He mentioned that he'll have them ready by tonight, so we just have to make due," Isshin said. "While we're at it, we could begin to search for any locations that could make for a decent hiding spot, like abandoned hotels or mansions like the one on the outskirts of Karakura."
"Yeah, and hopefully, those creeps will lay low this time," Matsuri hoped.
"If only," Ichigo sighed, not having any high hopes. "So this Ichinose, he also has a Zanpakutō of Light?"
"Yeah, he was mega-popular back in the day because of his Nijigasumi (Rainbow Mist), and like you, he prefers to wear a sleeveless shihakushō, but for personal reasons, only the 9th Division gets to wear that version. Guess he took his exile as an opportunity to dress the way he wants. Hope nobody draws any comparisons," Matsuri said.
"I don't like what you're implying," Ichigo scowled.
"I'm just saying, you'd look better wearing a coat," She insisted, giving Ichigo pause to consider.
'What do you think?' Ichigo asked for Getsuhime's opinion.
"If you still want to stand out, I suppose you could consult your mother about a makeover."
'Duly noted. Should I stay in black or go white?'
Hello, it's been a while, I know. Life has been tough for me. Nothing life-changing, but I had to re-evaluate a lot in my life that distracted me from everything Anime and what Anime I did watch, it was My Hero Academia, but that's its own can of worms. I still love Bleach, and I've been playing Rebirth of Souls for almost a month and replaying Brave Souls after almost two years of boredom.
I want to see Moon Princess through to the end, but alas, I have to stretch myself thin with some things to get by, plus, more than a year without even thinking about this story has made me forget a lot of the ideas I've made for it so I have to re-read it all to try and regain my previous passion for Getsuhime.
On a more positive note. I'll become an official Novelist soon with my first book finally ready to be published. I don't have a date yet for when it will be published, only that it's finally happening, and that fulfills me in ways I can't express with words. Once again, I would like to thank SkyRig, who inspired me to become a Novelist after he announced that he self-published his own original story, you're the goat.
Thank you for reading my Moon Princess and hope you have a good Year. Something tells me we're going to need it, plus a bit extra.
