NaClO (By invitation, otherwise CLOSED)

Isamu grinned at his lover's orders. Stay here and get involved in Kurosaki's fight? Gladly. That kind of order he could get behind. He flashed into motion towards the main scene of the ongoing fight.

Ichigo roared as his heavy, cleaver-like blade slashed through the body of the bizarre creature in front of him and severing it's arm at the shoulder, "Got you. Huh?" He blinked as the arm then flew back and reattached, "Damn! What the hell is that about?" He then jerked back, barely dodging a blast of flame as thick around as his waist.

"Ichigo! Quit fooling around!" The voice of the girl Mod Soul, Ririn, came from a plain looking plush bird of yellow adorned with a hooded blue cloak, "Cut it apart already!"

"I am! But it just comes back together!"

"It's no use." The speaker was a tall and slender woman, her features a blend of Japanese and European. Her skin was fair and her fair was a light chocolate brown that was parted on one side and fell back over her shoulders. Her features were elegant but her severe expression made them hard; her eyes dark and keen. Her figure was full without being ample, a happy blend that was hardly modest but could not be called large. She wore snug fitting black trousers under a thin, almost translucent shirt with a long vest over it that was parted in the back to almost look the tails of a tuxedo and she wore a red tie over it. An off bracelet attached to a claw that went over a few of her fingers were on one hand. "You can cut Goethe again and again but he'll just regenerate."

"We'll see about that!" The orange haired substitute shinigami charged and swung down again with a heavy blow, cutting the fiery creature almost in two, only to have flames spew from the cut and drive him back, the wound resealing in a span of seconds. "Damn!"

"Come on, kid. You're smarter than this, I've seen your grades." Everyone involved in the first paused to look over to where Isamu stood, calmly walking forward out of the alleyway the brown haired woman stood in front of. "You keep charging and cutting like something's going to change. If a tactic isn't working, do something different. See, this is why I say you need to learn how to fight."

The woman looked at him and took a step back, "Another shinigami?"

"A real one this time, sweets, not a talented amateur."

"Hey!"

Isamu went on, ignoring Ichigo's outburst, "So, you're a Bount, huh? And that's how you fight?" He looked up at Goethe. It looked like a man's torso but with blazing column that had an odd eye like amulet on it instead of a head, it's arms ending just below the elbow in jets of flame, the legs ending similarly after just a few inches of thigh. It's skin was black but it was shot through with detail lines that blazed yellow and red, hinting at the inferno enclosed within. "Using constructs or something? That's boring."

"She called it a Doll!" The stuffed bird hopped up onto Ichigo's shoulder, waving madly, "It just regenerates when we cut it!"

Ichigo looked over at her with a sour expression, "Who's "we" again?"

The fiery thing then shook it's non-existent head and a voice like a blast furnace spoke with brazen confidence, "Foolish shinigami, Yoshino is right. I can never be defeated by your swords! You cannot cut down a fire! Bring as many as you wish to face me!"

"Yeah, can't cut a flame." Isamu looked up with a wild grin, "But you can beat a fire out." Before any of them could move, he was rocketing into the air, his sword flashing from his scabbard and releasing without a word of command, "Like this!" He brought Hitoshirezu Daimyo down in a vicious overhand blow that hammered into the blazing golem, sending it shooting downward to slam hard into the ground.

The woman, Yoshino apparently, looked shocked, "Goethe!"

Isamu plummeted down on top of the fiery creature before it could blast skyward and struck it again, "Pay attention, Kurosaki! You got a mobile enemy, you keep him pinned down!" The flaming Doll grunted as the auburn haired half breed rained blows down onto him, pounding him into the dirt, his flames starting to sputter. "If he fires blasts at you, you get in his face and don't let up!" He delivered another huge overhand blow that flattened Goethe to the ground and then he leaped up, "Spinning western circle, life strewn in the path, eastern turning circle, dealing death to all those crossing." He shifted his grip to hold his hammer by the head in one hand and the base in the other, held out in front of him vertically, "Joined circles rage and uproot the mountains! Hadou 58! Tenran!" He spun the warhammer in front of him like a propeller and it whirled madly a split second before a roaring, spinning mass of air five yards wide burst forth and fell down with the force of a hurricane upon the prone Doll.

Isamu landed on his feet, resting his weapon on his right shoulder. Goethe lie still, the ground around it blackened. No fire spurted from it's elbows or legs and the flame column head was a feeble flicker. "Doesn't work with a real fire, but a little candle like that? You can blow it out too."

"Bastard," Yoshino hissed. "Goethe, get up!" She looked up with a bit of fear on her face as Isamu started to walk towards her, "Stay back!"

"Sorry, but no. I'm not about to let you go around eating souls. But I don't' want to kill you if I don't have to. Come with us and we'll talk. If you've got information of value, maybe we can work something out." The American's yellow eyes caught hers and held them, "Or...you can die right here."

"Yo...shi...no." Goethe stirred and the flame that made up it's head surged to brightness, not as much as before, but stronger than the guttering flicker it had been. There was a hiss and then a whickering bellow as the fires at it's arms and legs re-ignited, weaker than they had been but still present, "Suh-stay away from her, shinigami! Or they die!"

Isamu spun, eyes widening, "What? Shit!" He felt like the world turned into slow motion as the Doll let loose an enormous gout of fire directly at the Ichigo, the youth standing stock still. The column of plasma was ten yards wide and the heat from it cracked the pavement beneath. Ichigo turned to see it coming, too late to dodge-

There was a brilliant flash and a clap of thunder as a bolt of lighting cleaved the fire strike in two; the split attack shooting past either side of Ichigo. All of the combatants stared in shock before a voice that was familiar to the two shinigami broke the silence. "What are you even doing, Ichigo?" She floated down in front of the stunned young man, her pale skin seeming to gleam in the night and her dark hair seeming to drink in the light of the fires burning around them. Rukia Kuchiki looked back over her shoulder at the boy whose life she'd changed forever, "Idiot. Have you gotten that rusty?"

He just stared, his heart in his stunned eyes, "Rukia..."

"Whew. Nice save, Kuchiki," Isamu muttered. Then he blinked and looked closely at her. "Hey, hold up a sec! Kuchiki, where's your sword?"

She stiffened and glared down at him, "Never mind that. What are you doing letting the city burn down, anyway?"

Isamu grimaned, "It was already on fire when I got here! Don't change the subject! Did you seriously come out here to fight an unknown enemy without your God damn zanpakuto? Hell, even Renji or that bonehead kid behind you wouldn't do that!"

"Shut up," Rukia and Ichigo bellowed together.

Behind them, the Doll had moved back around to be in front of Yoshino. It's flames still burned, even if they were lower. "It doesn't matter how many of you there are. You will all burn!" It began to rush forward only to jerk up short as dozens of snakes seemed to slither out of nowhere and wrap around it, squeezing and grappling.

Isamu danced back, weapon at the ready, "The hell?"

"Tch, you'll all so loud," said a languid male voice. Behind Yoshino, a tall and angular featured man walked into view, dressed well in dress shirt and slacks under a trim vest. "But this is enough for tonight. You've done enough, haven't you, Yoshino-san?"

"What do you mean, Ryoo-san?" the woman said, clearly half angry and half afraid. "I'm not going anywhere with you!"

He smiled indulgently. "But you will, Yoshino-san." He gestured with one hand. "Fried, if you please." And almost from nowhere, four snakes appeared to wrap around the woman, binding her arms to her sides and her legs together. She struggled against the bonds, but was unable to break them easily. "There, see? Kariya-san wants to see you."

Ichigo and Isamu surged forward, swords bared. "Hey! Leave her alone, you'll get your turn to fight us!" Ichigo called out.

"Hell, you don't have to wait, I'll fight you now if you want!" Isamu added.

Ryoo sneered, his fingers flickering out. "Now, boys, I'll give you what you want later. Right now," two snakes, each about the thickness of Amaya's waist, appeared, menacing both of them, "the adults have somewhere to be."

Amaya, Orihime, and Chad skidded around the corner then, as the dapper man grabbed one of the serpents binding Yoshino and jumped away. Ichigo and Isamu tried to get around the snakes, parrying a strike from each, but the creatures faded, stiffening into the metal pipes they'd been generated from in just a few moments after the man was gone. ". . . Well, crap," Amaya said, sheathing her sword angrily.

Rukia sighed. "They'll turn up again - bad mon always do." She rolled her shoulders and shook her head. "It can't be helped."

"I suppose not, but that doesn't . . . Rukia-chan?" Amaya blinked, then ran forward and hugged her friend. "Why are you here? Do they need us back in Soul Society?"

The petite girl wouldn't meet her friend's eyes. "No, they don't. Since you two are supposed to be watching the others, they sent me as the official shinigami for Karakura Town."

One of Amaya's eyebrow's quirked up. That was as likely as Kenpachi showing up to a Captain's meeting wearing a pink frilly dress. But she thought it might be best to talk about it in private. "Right. Well, it looks like that's the excitement we'll have tonight." Her stomach churned as her mind flashed on the image of that poor person dissolving into sand. "Let's all go home and try and sleep."

"Tch, man." Ichigo slung Zangetsu onto his back, "Tonight was a real bust, wasn't it?"

Rukia nodded, "We failed to stop the enemy, it's true. But we learned there are at least two of them, and how they fight."

Isamu gave Rukia a sour look, "Quit acting like you've been here all along." He rolled one if the pipes, "But yeah. They summon things to fight for them. She called it a Doll, right, Kurosaki?" At Ichigo's nod, he shook his head, "But that guy didn't summon these, he made snakes out of them?"

Orihime raised a hand to her hairpins, "It's not like my Shun Shun Rikka, is it?"

Stoic Chad grunted, "It felt different."

"Good! 'Cause if I could make more faeries and they didn't tell me, I'd be mad!"

The rest of the group regarded her fierce expression for a moment. "Anyway," Isamu said, "They'll go to ground for tonight at least. Kuchiki, let's go, our place is this way."

The little shinigami blinked. "Our place?"

He looked over his shoulder at her, "Yeah. We've got a nice house with plenty of bedrooms, we'll get you set up. No sleeping in a closet on this trip."

"Anoo," she paused, "Is it...wise to put all of us in one place? I think I should establish a second base with Ichigo to cover more of town."

Isamu looked at her with a baffled expression. "No, besides, without your sword you're a liability to someone as untrained as he is anyway."

"Am not," Ichigo and Rukia bellowed at once, both of them bristling.

Amaya shoved her lover to cut off whatever he was about to say, "Why don't Rukia-chan and I talk the strategy over? The rest of you go ahead."

Isamu sighed, "Whatever. See you back then."

"Welcome back, Kuchiki-san!" Orihime beamed and waved as she followed Isamu out of the area, Chad silently following.

The two women watched while the others moved out of the alley and back towards their homes. As the last back vanished from sight, Amaya turned to look at Rukia, her arms folded and eyes serious. "Now, Kuchiki-san, why don't you tell me what's really going on?"

"I don't know what you mean." The stubbornness in her voice told Amaya a fair bit about why she was actually there, but she waited for the other girl to sigh and then say, "I may have overheard Ukitake-taicho talking about how he would feel comfortable with another shinigami he could trust here, and so I came."

Amaya gave her an arch look. "You decided to come on your own, without your sword."

Rukia blushed brightly. "I was in such a hurry that . . . ." She looked at Amaya, and then huffed. "Fine. I may not be completely healed, yet. I can feel her there, waiting for my power to regenerate enough."

"I see. Between your time in that stupid gigai and your imprisonment in that stupid tower . . . combined with the damage your soul sustained when . . . right." Amaya's face wasn't filled with pity, but rather worry. "Rukia-chan, this is so dangerous for you. Without your sword, you're in as much danger as the average whole, maybe more because you're so headstrong." She thought for a moment. "I don't know that I can allow you to stay."

"What?!" There was fire blazing in Rukia's eyes. "You can't make me go back, I'm not a child!" She stepped closer to Amaya, clearly agitated.

Amaya just stood there, looking at her with a stern face. "I'm your commanding officer, shinigami. I can damn well grab you by your collar and drag you back to your brother this second if I deem it proper." She looked at the other woman, one hand on her hip. "I may have the limiter on, but I'm still stronger than you right now. So tell me the truth, Rukia-chan. And I'll make my decision. Stop trying to bullshit me, because I will not take it. One more lie, and you'll be back in that mansion before you can blink." Her voice became hard and measured. "Why. Are. You. Here."

There was an expression on Rukia's face that Amaya knew she herself had worn - pure, firm pigheadedness. But in a second, it softened. "Fine. Fine! I did hear Ukitake-taicho talking about sending someone else. But I also couldn't take the pity anymore, the way people were looking at me, like there was something wrong with me." She sighed. "And . . . you know the other reason." Her cheeks were red.

Amaya just looked at her.

"You're going to make me say it, aren't you?" A small smile crept over the pink-haired officer's face. "Ugh. Fine. I wanted to help protect the people I care about. You, and Takeuchi, and . . . the others."

The silent stare continued.

Amaya could feel her getting more agitated, and then finally, she huffed again. "Ichigo, okay? I wanted to make sure he was safe. Because . . . it's my fault he's involved in this whole mess."

"And . . . ?"

"Because . . . I care about him. Okay? Are you happy now?"

Amaya laughed and put an arm around her shoulders. "I am, yes, since you admitted you cared about Isamu-kun too, and I know you both were on the outs for a while." They started walking down the alley. "We do have a house, if you want to stay there. But I suspect you'd rather take up residence in someone's closet again, correct?"

Rukia just studied the ground. "If you wish me to stay with you, I will, fukutaicho."

"Oh, stop it. I'll let you stay with Kurosaki, on three conditions." The hand draped around Rukia's shoulder held up one finger. "First, you will report in to Isamu or I twice a week, no excuses or exceptions. Second," another finger went up, "you will attempt to teach him some sort of skill with his sword. You're not great at kendo, but you're better than he is. And I need a legitimate reason for you to stay there to tell Ukitake-taicho." A third finger went up, her little finger, making a borderline vulgar gesture. "Third. You have one week to make some kind of move on the kid, or I will."

Rukia blinked at her, then caught the gesture she was making and batted her hand down. "You wouldn't." Amaya smirked at her. "You wouldn't!" The smirk got bigger. "Fine! Fine, but you . . . are being unreasonable!"

"I'm really not, Rukia-chan. I just want you to be happy. And that boy needs something to jolt some of his stupid ideas around. One of us will have to do it, since . . ." she paused. Maybe not the best idea to mention Orihime's infatuation to her friend. "Since he's so oblivious," she finished lamely. "Come on, let's catch up so I can tell your boyfriend he's got a lodger."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Rukia cried as the two of them flash-stepped forward towards the rest of the group.

"..Just saying you both could use some more formal training," Isamu's voice came to ears of the female shinigami as they caught up with the little group. His sword was sealed and sheathed again.

"Not this again," Ichigo complained. "You and Hat-and-Clogs are like looped or something. Same thing over and over. I don't need your help."

"I'm not saying you do but you need somebody's. You and Chad both." Isamu glanced over at the tall youth who had not weighed in on things. "You both fight exactly the same way; you just charge in and try to overwhelm the opponent with brute force but that only works some of the time. And when it doesn't work, you keep trying it anyway. That Goethe thing had your number, Kurosaki."

The fact that the orange haired young man didn't disagree made Isamu feel that maybe, just maybe, the kid might be listening to him. Or at least thinking about it. "And in Soul Society...I saw two of your fights and you only won one of them clean."

"What?" Ichigo's eyes snapped to him, angrily, "What are you talking about? I earned those victories!"

"You lucked into them," Isamu countered. "I saw your fight with Renji. He had you dead to rights, kid. That swing of his was going to chop you in half. And then you got this big burst of power out of nowhere that kept your wounds from slowing you down and let you brute force your way through. I'm betting something like that happened with Zaraki too, didn't it?"

"...Not...I don't know."

So it had. "Look, I'm not saying this 'cause I think you're bad. You've got incredible potential and hell of a lot of raw talent but that only goes so far. Training beats talent in the long haul every time. Amaya-chan was beating you when she was disguised as Triskadeka. You couldn't touch her and then your big money moves failed. And, kid, remember; she was holding back." He shook his head, "You can't count on miracles to win your fights, kid. You got to back it up with more than spunk."

"That's enough, Takeuchi," Rukia declared. "You won't get anywhere like that. I'll talk to him later."

"Can't wait," Ichigo sneered.

The pale, petite girl gave him a hard look, "What was that?"

"Uh, nothing. So...let's go home, right?" He shrugged and then turned away, pausing when Rukia fell into step beside him. "R-Rukia? You're not staying with them? I've gotten used to keeping clothes in my closet, you know."

"Psh. Yuzu-chan puts clothes in your closet. You just dump your at the foot of the bed," she smirked. "But yes, I'm staying with you still. It's part of our strategy."

He paused just a hair too long before he shrugged and tossed his head, "Whatever. Chad, Orihime, Amaya, you guys want to talk tactics at my place for a while?"

Isamu frowned shrugged, "I guess we're not invited, Ishida-san." Then he blinked and looked around. "...Hey, guys. He's not here. Was he supposed to show up?"


The Quincy walked away from the group just before they noticed his absence. Kurosaki really needed to listen to the half-breed. He was a brute himself but one who used his senses and cunning, such as it was, rather than blindly wading in.

They hadn't needed him but several times he'd felt the urge to act, unconsciously tried to summon his power and leap into action...only for nothing to happen.

He would spend the rest of the night studying the Bangle and filling some Silver Tubes; fortunately there was enough ambient reiatsu in Karakura Town that they would fill slowly on their own and he did have a few prepared in case of emergency.

He would not stay this useless. Not for long.


The stately manor was set on richly rolling grounds that had once been carefully tended but were now wild and darksome. The towering and sprawling structure was built in the Western style for some politician whose name was lost and whose grand home had been abandoned.

For a time, at least. It was occupied now.

The forlorn looking Yoshino was pushed into a dark room by the lean and smirking Ryoo. "I've brought her, Kariya-sama."

"Thank you." From a high back chair behind a large desk, a tall man stood up. "Ah, Yoshino, Yoshino. What will I do with you?" He had an athletic build with broad shoulders and wore a dress shirt whose panels were different colors; grey, black, red, brown and a pair of slacks. His hair was a stark white though he looked to be in his mid-30s at most and his eyes were an unnatural red.

"Jin...I don't owe you an explanation, and I won't apologize." She turned away from him. "What I do is none of your business anymore."

"That's not true, Yoshino." He walked up to her, standing a few feet away, a hand in one pocket. "As leader of the Bount, I cannot overlook any of you. You least of all." He sighed, "But I also can't forgive you always going against me. You must be...punished."

She flinched and looked back at him over her shoulder. "Don't worry," he said, "I won't do anything too bad this time. You will be imprisoned here until further notice. Disobey me again and your punishment will be...more permanent." She shivered and he smiled. "I'm glad we understand one another again. Ryoo, take her to a room and make sure it's shut up tight, hmm?"


Isamu leaned back at his desk in the little office that abutted the gym. It had been another long night. He didn't really agree with Amaya about having Rukia stay with Kurosaki and he sensed his love was keeping a secret for the diminutive shinigami in question. But he hadn't pried. Yet.

She'd integrated back into school seamlessly. It was actually a little scary how well she modified everyone's memories. It had also been fun to have her in gym class and boss her around a little, though he knew she'd pay him back for it later. But hey, she's the one who wanted to play high school student.

It was lunch now and the others were probably gathering up on the roof. He wanted to go up there...but it would be weird for a teacher, even a student teacher, to join the kids . Amaya was probably up there but that would be okay; she was an art teacher and everyone knew they were weird.

Amaya settled between Rukia and Ichigo against the low wall on the roof, giving the dark-haired girl a little smirk as she did so. "So we decided all of nothing last night, thanks to your dad," she said, pulling out her sandwich. "We need to figure out what we're going to do about these Bount."

"Umm, Amaya-san," Orihime said hesitantly, "are you sure . . . ."

"Won't people talk if you're up here with us, instead of with the teachers?" Ichigo finished, looking at her in surprise.

She shrugged. "Who cares? I'm the art teacher - we're supposed to be flighty and improper." Taking a big bite of her sandwich, she winked. "Or hadn't you noticed?"

He blushed, and she could feel Rukia's irritation growing on her other side. "A-anyway. We do need to make up our minds, but we don't know how to beat them. I could barely scratch that one's - Yoshino? - doll."

"And we couldn't catch that Ryoo guy," Orihime said, looking up from her rice and red bean pasted stuffed peppers. "He was way faster than we expected, wow!" Chad nodded, looking down at the ground. "I wonder if they have superpowers, like vampires in movies?"

Amaya sighed. "I think the whole 'sucking-the-souls-out-of-the-living' is bad enough. I hope they don't have anything besides those dolls." The image of the human body dissolving into dust flashed across her mind, and she suppressed a shiver. "We can't let them . . . keep doing what they're doing. I won't let more people die if I can stop it."

Uryuu squinted up at the sky. "I should go train. I need to be able to use this item more effectively." He looked at her, then at Ichigo. "One of us needs to be able to work effectively."

"What the hell does that mean?!" Ichigo bristled visibly. "I'm plenty effective, you -!"

Ririn's plushie head popped out of his bag. "Ara! There's something out there . . . Bount, I'm sure of it!"

Everyone on the roof sat straight up, eyes wide. Kuroudo, from Orihime's lap spoke up as well. "Hai! I can feel it as well."

Amaya pulled out her phone and was already dialing Isamu as she asked, "Where? How far, which direction?"


She'd left her body on the roof, Soul Candy taking charge, as had Rukia. Ichigo looked like he was passed out, and the others were with them, physically. It was strange, but they all got there fairly quickly. Isamu had met them at the school entrance in his shinigami form, and they all followed the mod souls' directions to where the Bount was.

At one point, turning a sharp corner, they all had to jump over someone who had fallen down, and after they were past, Amaya glanced back. "Didn't that look like Yamada-san? From Squad 4?"

Isamu nodded. "Yeah, but what would he be doing here? Must just have looked like him."

"Right, right." Amaya turned her attention forward in time to dodge the back end of a truck that was going down the road across their path. "Ah! Geez, I've gotta pay attention."


Their target was a truck depot about half a mile from the school. It was mostly abandoned, but there were three people in it - or so it seemed. One figure was standing, dressed in a dapper style, while one was lying prone on the ground. The other was on the ground, and slowly, as they approached, dissolved into a pile of sand.

"Dammit!" Amaya's fingers were on her sword before they finished running. "Damn you, Bount! I will not stand for this!"

The dapper dressed Ryoo glanced their way, "Oh? Then I'll put you on the ground before me, just like naughty little Yoshino-san here." His eyes moved over Amaya, particularly the delicious cleavage her shihakusho left exposed, "Though you're not as little as she is. Kariya-san won't let me play with her, but I don't think he'd care if I had a little shinigami pet."

The brunette groaned on the concrete, "Bastard," she growled. She looked over the group that was fanning out to start trying to surround her attacker. Her eyes landed on the slender form of Uryuu Ishida and she sucked in a breath "The Quincy! They brought him here?"

Isamu was bristling with fury but Amaya beat him to the punch this time. The buxom warrior cried out and darted at the condescending Bount, sweeping her sword out in an Iai strike that made him grunt as he threw himself backwards. He smirked at her, "Not even close, har-ah?". His tie suddenly parted and fell, his vest and the shirt beneath parting in a horizontal line across his chest that then began to slowly seep red. "Y-you-"

"It wasn't close, I was trying to cut through to your spine," she smiled sweetly. "But if that's the fastest you can dodge, the next one should do it." It wouldn't be that easy; he'd been cocky and let his guard down but he was on alert now. Of course, if she could piss him off...

His face was furious, one hand clutching the vest pocket that his watch chain led to. Red was staining his clothes and running down his chest faster now. "Damn you! It's always you shinigami! You'll all pay soon, but you, you'll start right now! Freed!" He lashed out with his other hand and the large brass snake with black stripes burst out of nowhere and struck at Amaya.

She lunged into the strike, her sword slipping up and under the snake's fangs to hook it on it's own teeth. Her shoulders heaved and she threw the striking head down into the concrete, cracking it and sending bits flying. "Pfft! Really? The snake I usually fight is a lot faster and stronger than this one! Trouble with your snake in front of a crowd? That can happen to some guys, I hear."

"Man," Ichigo shook his head, "look at her go!" Rukia's expression soured slightly, not that anyone noticed. "Save some fighting for the rest of us, Amaya!"

Ryoo cackled, "There will be plenty for you all! Now, Freed!" Suddenly the objects all around, even the concrete under their feet, erupted in a horde of serpents of all sizes. "You underestimate my boundless power!"

"Shit!" Ichigo exclaimed, jumping into the air as a snake lunged at his feet. "That's cheating!"

The shinigami unlimbered their swords, with the exception of Rukia, and started to slash at the hissing, writhing beasts. It was curious, because the creatures moved like true snakes, but when they were cut in half, they turned back into what they had been previously, just in two pieces. They laid about them, trying to limit the number of snakes moving around.

"That's a dirty trick," Amaya said, keeping her eyes on Ryoo. "Inviting more people to the party." She threw a test strike at him, sweeping low. He dodged easily, and the large snake he'd summoned first threw itself at her back, taking advantage of her apparently lowered guard. She spun out of the turn and went up, catching the brass-and-black snake across the back with her sword and pushing it down to the ground with crushing force. She tutted at the creature. "I thought I told you already, you aren't nearly up to what I'm used to."

She was able to see before she turned again to face the dapper, bleeding man, Orihime using her shield to keep a trio of serpents from herself and Uryuu. Ririn was making illusions as quickly as she could, trying to keep the creatures distracted, and Noba, from his perch on Chad's head, was using portals as best he could to keep the snakes from the group's rear.

They were almost cleaned up, the snakes down to half their number, but still throwing themselves at the group of teenagers. "So Kariya is your boss? Tells you what to do, and you do it like a good boy?" she taunted. "Maybe he'll be worth dealing with, since you're too weak to fight a girl one on one."

His face was red, but his voice was more composed, which put her on edge. "You don't get it, do you? My doll and I are one." He gestured, and the battered brass snake moved towards her again. She dodged, and the snake shot past.

"Not good enough," Amaya laughed.

"It was good enough!" he gloated, watching as the snake sailed past her. It slithered through the air and towards the others. The creature moved fast, shifting underneath Orihime's shield by a hair. Before anyone could act, the snake was wrapping itself around Uryuu's legs and up, binding him. "It's funny, isn't it, shinigami-san, how natural it is to pick out the weakest link? How simple it can be to remove it?"

"Bastard!" Isamu growled, "Pick on someone your own size!"

"Only those who are losing say such things," the dapper Utagawa all but crooned. He jerked his and the snake, Ishida still struggling in its coils, swung back through the group to come to rest next to him, the boy upright. "Attacking the weak link is simple tactics and predation. You ought to understand that." He shook a finger, "Now you all better relax unless you want something to happen to him."

Amaya's eyes were hard. Damn it! She'd fucked up; she should have just killed him instead of wanting to learn more from the fight. "Simple tactics and predation should tell you, you don't piss off the bigger predator."

"Ishida-kun!" Orihime looked stricken. "I wasn't careful enough," she said as if to herself. Then she stepped forward, glaring at the Bount. "Let him go!"

"Go? No. I think...after the affronts of your shinigami whore, I'm hungry." He kept a hand braced on his wound to help keep it closed but began to draw close to the struggling boy.

"When he leans in for the bite," Ichigo growled low, "that's when we move."

"Think I can't hear you, boy?" The cruel man sneered, "Just for that!" He thrust his hand down and the snake snapped sideways and down. Uryuu cried out as his head struck the ground with a sick and heavy crack, then groaned as red slowly began to spread. His smirk widened as he knelt to run a finger through the blood and then tasted it. "Ahh. Rare flavor for one so young."

Amaya, Ichigo, and Isamu all lunged at once, screaming. But then there was a sizzling roar and a blast of fire lanced between all of them and narrowly missed the bleeding Utagawa. "What the-you!"

The fiery doll Goethe raised it's belching furnace arms overhead. Amaya swore, "Fuckity fuck, I forgot about the other one!" The doll threw a tremendous fireball not at the shinigami and their allies but instead at the snake commanding vampire.

"Yoshino, you witch! Why?" Utagawa pulled his hand back and the snake let go of Uryuu and coiled itself into a round in front of him, like a shield.

As the flame splattered against it; the brunette Bount darted in and swept Uryuu up in her arms like a bride. "Goethe! Cover us!"

"Hai!" The efreet spun in the air and the jets from all four limbs bellowed and sent a walls of fire ten feet high shooting across the field of battle. Orihime squealed as Isamu grabbed her around the the waist and hauled her back from immolation, Ichigo and Rukia shot up into the air, Chad danced back with surprising agility for his size, while Amaya threw herself forward at Utagawa and felt the heat on her back as one of the walls passed within inches of her.

"You won't get away!" She swung her sword to have it narrowly blocked by Fried's brass length. "You're not hurting anyone else, you needle dick monster!"

Utagawa glared but then smirked, "Not today, it seems. Fried!" The snake smashed it's head into the ground and then drew it across and a wall of thick-bodies snakes erupted out of the ground. They forced Amaya back and then tumbled over into just uprooted chunks of concrete. Both of the Bount and their dolls were gone. As was Uryuu Ishida.

"We got played," Isamu snarled. "Hey, Mod Souls! Where are they?"

The little bird on Ichigo's shoulder quailed, "I...I don't know! It's all so muddled with reiatsu and...I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The little plushie began to cry; the other two leaped over to comfort her.

"I'm afraid they moved out of our range, my friends," the rabbit-like Kuroudo sighed.

"Gomen," Noba added.

"So what? We spread out and find them, easy as that," Ichigo said with a shake of his head. "Let's go!"

Isamu glanced at Amaya, who nodded. The half-breed set Orihime down; the ginger haired girl's face a little flushed even as she was adorably resolute. "All right. Shinigami pair up with a Karakura kid. Inoue-san, you stick with Amaya-chan." She nodded. "Sado-san, you and me, since I don't want to waste time arguing with Rukia so she can just go with Ichigo."

The orange haired youth nodded, "Yeah, that works for me."

Rukia glared at them both and crossed her arms. "I wouldn't have had to argue that much."

Amaya grabbed Orihime by the hand, "No time for this now, let's go!" She flash stepped away, dragging the yelping girl along with her. The other two pairs nodded and then turned to sprint off in different directions.


Uryuu Ishida's head hurt. That was a good sign, really. If it was bad, he wouldn't feel anything. He was lying on something relatively comfortable...not a bed but similar. His eyes were closed and he felt a pressure wrapped around his head; firmly but not roughly or painfully. He could feel nearby weight on whatever he was lying on. "I'm surprised you treated me. But I suppose I owe you my thanks."

Yoshino, the brunette Bount woman, blinked and looked down at him. The eighteen year old was looking up at her, his blue eyes barely open. She tilted her head, "It was the least I could do when one of us tried to do that. Especially to you."

"To me? It made the most sense." Uryuu slowly sat up, wary for a dizzy spell. "Without my powers, I am the most obvious target. Despite my being the perfect one to fight that man...I wasn't able to do anything."

The older woman, though how much older was impossible to say despite her only looking perhaps a decade a senior, shook her head. "But even still, you couldn't stay out of it. You really are a Quincy. That makes it all the more important. We're alike in some ways, you and us. I wish...we were more like you."

"What do you me-" His eyes widened slightly as she shushed him with a finger to his lips. A warm, soft finger.

"Listen now. The treatment I used will make you sleep soon and when you wake up, you won't be here. If you're lucky, you'll never see me again. You see, Quincy, our people had a law. Never to consume the souls of the living. Hollows, yes. And to take little snippets from the living so we could survive, but never to fully consume a soul. It would destroy the balance of the world. But...doing so...it can give us a great power." She sighed, "But now, because of one man, Jin Kariya, that's all changed."

The young man felt his head growing heavy. He let out a grunt and slowly lay back down. Yoshino looked at him with a serious expression. "He's after you, Quincy. I don't know why...but you're the key to what he's planning. You must stay safe and away from him." His eyes closed and his chest began to fall rhythmically. Yoshino sighed again. Jin..what was he thinking? She watched the boy sleep a few moments. Such a pretty young man. If things were different...but they weren't.


"Yeah? You're sure. Okay." The massive shouldered and dark skinned Chad closed his cell phone. He looked up to where Isamu stood atop a lightpole, scanning the area. "Urahara-san called Ichigo. Ishida's been checked in to a hospital."

The American looked down with relief and confusion. "How did he get there? And why did they let him go?" Chad didn't speak and there was no need. The auburn haired fighter leaped down, "You know which one?" The giant nodded. "All right, let's go see him then. Maybe he got some answers out of all this."