Vol 2: The Bounts Arc
Inner peace, inner peace.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Be calm. Be serene. No thoughts.
Inner peace, inner peace.
Inn… inner peace.
"You know, I can't tell whether you are sleeping or trying really hard to fall asleep." Rangiku said teasingly.
Harry's shoulders dropped in disappointment as he came out of his best attempt at clearing his mind without falling into his inner world. He was sitting on the rooftop of one of the tallest buildings in the Seireitei, trying his best to go through the Occlumency exercises.
'Trying' being the highlight as his best efforts were proving to be not enough.
But Harry was not giving up. His darker self had imparted the knowledge of how to build defences around his mind to his Zanpakuto. So, he was not about to give up just because he found it was not easy to accomplish.
However, it bothered him how his darker self truly knew about Occlumency. It was a mystery that remained unanswered for now, as his Zanpakutō was tight-lipped on that topic.
"Neither," Harry said, breaking his posture and stretching his legs as he lay his back against the roof tiles.
"Don't tell me you're training to be a monk," Rangiku said with a laugh.
"What would be the point? We're already dead." Harry said with a scoff.
"In some ways, we're more alive than the humans." Rangiku said.
"Hmm." Harry just grunted in acknowledgement.
He had seen enough in Rukongai over the years to know the supposed 'heaven' was far from being the resting place of souls as touted to be. It was a place of great danger, perhaps more than the world of the living. The long lifecycle of souls devalued almost all aspects of life in the Rukongai. The further one travels away from the proximity of Seireitei, the worse it gets in Rukongai.
"How is Captain Hitsugaya?"
"He is fine. Captain Unahona was quite thorough in restoring his health." Rangiku said happily.
"I was not asking about his health." Harry said.
The captains of Gotei 13 may have regained their health, but many of them were still reeling from the psychological blow dealt by the traitors.
"He is quite all right. Though he worries for Hinamori-san." said Rangiku.
He had heard rumours of what was going on with Momo Hinamori, the Lieutenant of Squad 5. It was said the poor woman had gone completely bonkers because of Aizen. There were also rumours that he might get transferred to Squad 5, and that nightmare was not something he looked forward to. Adding to the fact that he was asked to reveal his Bankai next week to the Head Captain, Harry had some serious concerns.
He hoped he wouldn't be transferred to Squad 5. He was not prepared to take on the mess Aizen left. He was quite happy working in Squad 13.
"How are you doing?" Harry asked, staring intently at the woman standing beside him.
"Me?" Rangiku blinked owlishly.
"I know Gin Ichimaru is your oldest friend." Harry sneaked a look at the woman out of the corner of his eyes.
"Oh. Gin is…" Rangiku cleared her throat while hiding her face behind her long curly hair. "Gin will get some sense knocked into him the next time I see him."
It was plain to see that Gin Ichimaru's betrayal had left a mark on the usually bubbly personality of Rangiku. He was witness to her increased drinking tendencies, even when the Gotei 13 remained on high alert.
His eyes strayed to the massive sekkiseki stone walls that surrounded the city. The fact that the walls were still in place even after the ryoka invasion was over spoke volumes. The Seireitei remained in high alert, and their last intelligence briefing only confirmed an old enemy stirring in the World of the Living.
"I heard you sent Rukia Kuchiki to Karakura town." Rangiku said airily.
"It was Captain Ukitake's decision. He believes Rukia's familiarity with Kurosaki and his friends will be a boon in finding why the Bounts are making trouble."
"Going by the tone, you don't seem to approve." Rangiku said with a wink.
"Lieutenant Abarai was already sent in advance. I just think sending Kuchiki-san serves no purpose." Harry said with a shrug.
"Hmm… I think Captain Ukitake is grooming her to take more responsibility." Rangiku commented after a thoughtful frown graced her face.
Harry didn't say anything to that. He was not blind to the implications. If Rukia was being trained to take more responsibilities, then his chances of getting transferred to another division only got stronger.
Suddenly, a hell butterfly came flying into the hands of Rangiku. Harry watched the spirit transmit its message to Rangiku with interest. When the message was delivered, the hell butterfly flew away.
"What happened?" Harry asked, seeing the serious look on Rangiku's face.
"I have been ordered to gather Izuru, Yumichika and Hisagi. It seems Captain Toshiro wants all of us on a mission in the World of the Living." said Rangiku.
"Four lieutenants!" Harry gasped. "Has the Bount situation become so bad?"
"Most likely. I must find the others and gather them."
"Go, Rangiku. Be safe." Harry nodded.
"Is it concern I see on your face Harry-kun." Rangiku giggled.
Suddenly, Harry found his vision of the sky blocked by Rangiku's luscious blonde hair. His eyes widened when a warm pair of lips pressed against his cheek.
"It's nice of you to worry, Harry-kun." Rangiku said with a wink. "I'll be back before you know it."
Rangiku disappeared using a flash step, leaving Harry alone on the roof. Harry chuckled light-heartedly and lay there staring at the clouds passing by in the bright blue sky.
"I know." he whispered.
******
The next couple of days were hectic in Seireitei. With so many Lieutenants on a mission in Karakura Town, the bulk of keeping things together fell to those few who were inside the city. While Captain Ukitake was busy investigating the Bounts and their origins, Harry was the one keeping Squad 13 together. He organised daily drills and training to keep his subordinates sharp and prepared their sector of the Seireitei for another ryoka invasion.
While the Captains hoped to contain the threat of Bounts in the World of the Living, he was almost certain the Bounts would find some way into Soul Society. The timing of the Bounts becoming active was suspect in his eyes. His intuition led him to believe Aizen was somehow involved, and that made him confident that the Bounts would invade.
He could already see the attention of Gotei 13 shifting entirely to the threat posed by the Bounts instead of Aizen. He suspected that was the endgame of Aizen. No doubt, the man was building an army in Hueco Mundo. It made his blood boil that Aizen was free to build his army without the Gotei 13 breathing down his neck.
Suddenly, he felt a gathering of a strange spiritual pressure. He pushed aside his desk in his office and rushed to the window. There, in the sky, he saw a tear in space calling out to his keen senses. The spatial energy required to form such a portal piqued his senses honed by his innate link to a space-time Zanpakuto.
Harry stared in wonder as several bolts of light streaked across the sky from the portal. He noticed the lights were veering off from proper Seireitei and into the direction of Rukongai.
"I see. They already know of the barrier protecting the city." Harry mused.
The door to his office slid open to reveal Kiyone.
"Lieutenant. Captain Ukitake has been summoned for an emergency meeting by the Head Captain." Kiyone said in a rush.
"Of course, he was," Harry muttered under his breath.
He took a deep breath and analysed the situation. It was most likely that the squads would be asked to go into the Rukongai and find the Bounts before they make too much of a mess. If that were the case, then it would be better to be prepared in advance.
"Gather the seated officers. I'll have them divided into emergency response teams in case we're ordered to track the Ryoka." Harry ordered.
"Yes, sir." Kiyone disappeared just as quickly as she had arrived.
The Captains' meeting was handled swiftly because orders were quickly relayed to all squads. As Harry expected, they were asked to track down the Ryoka that disappeared into Rukongai. The overall lead on this mission was given to Captain Hitsugaya. The cherry on the top was the kill on sight order regarding the Bounts, which came directly from the Head Captain.
"A kill on sight order. That is unusual, right?" Kiyone asked as he led a select few teams and assigned them different districts to sweep for the Bounts.
"There is nothing unusual. It just means the Head Captain considers the Bounts a serious threat, and he wants them wiped out." Harry answered.
"Do you agree with that, sir?" Kiyone asked in a hesitant voice.
"To disagree with the order would mean I know better than the Head Captain about the threat we face. Do you have such an opinion, Kiyone-san?" Harry asked sharply.
"No, Lieutenant." Kiyone said hastily.
"Good. We follow the orders from the Head Captain to the letter. No hesitation." Harry shouted for the benefit of the other squad members. "If you find any Ryoka, call for backup before engaging. Now, go!"
The teams Harry gathered ran through the gates of Seireitei into different districts of Rukongai. He was not the only one to do this. Lieutenants Omaeda and Iba also followed suit by leading their own teams to sweep different districts of Rukongai for enemy activity.
For hours, they searched relentlessly, covering the districts closer to Seireitei and then into the interior. Their persistent search took them beyond noon, leaving many of the reconnaissance teams weary. Harry started pulling some teams back and replaced them with reserve teams. The recalled teams were stationed at checkpoints in the closer districts to Seireitei, where they could rest while also keeping a lookout for any Ryoka slipping through the wide net they had placed on Rukongai.
Harry was sweeping District 35 when a messenger rushed to him with the latest intelligence.
"Lieutenant, there has been a sighting of a Ryoka in District 43. Rukia Kuchiki has engaged a Ryoka in battle."
"Rukia-san?" Harry was surprised by this information for a moment.
After all, the last he heard, Rukia Kuchiki was supposed to be in the World of the Living.
"Inform the Captains we have a Ryoka and I'm in pursuit." Harry ordered.
The messenger vanished in a burst of flash step.
"Kiyone, take charge of the squad. Do not overextend. Keep your positions and maintain contact." Harry ordered.
"Yes, sir." Kiyone nodded seriously.
Harry took off immediately in the general direction of District 43. Repeated flash steps allowed him to quickly cover the distance, and he began to feel the spiritual pressure of Rukia. But for the life of him, he couldn't sense the spiritual pressure of the Bount attacking Rukia.
Harry picked up speed when he felt Rukia's spiritual pressure drop significantly.
When he finally arrived at the scene, he found Rukia blasting a Ryoka with dark green hair using Hadou 33: Sokatsui. Harry stood back and watched as the blue fire burned the Ryoka, creating smoke and kicking up dust from the explosion.
Harry appeared by Rukia's side, who was out of breath and had an injury on her right arm.
"Trouble seems to be your walking companion these days, Rukia-san." Arry said with a sigh.
"Lieutenant! How did you…?" Rukia stared at him with wide eyes.
Harry bent down and started applying a healing kido on her bleeding hand. The green bubble of kido spell enveloped the wound, and Harry started pouring in his spirit energy.
"Captain Hitsugaya is in charge of hunting down the Bounts. The Head Captain has issued kill on sight orders." Harry explained.
Suddenly, Harry felt the spirit energy shift all around him. He turned slightly to see the spirit particles in the vicinity break down and flow into the burnt body of the Bount.
'Spirit energy manipulation.' Harry thought as he stared at the healed Bount with wide eyes.
The woman stood fully healed and cackled madly.
"More soul reapers means more fun for me." The Bount yelled with glee before throwing the sword in her hand.
Harry scooped Rukia in his arms, escaped with a flash step, and appeared over the roof of a nearby building. The sword struck the ground where she had previously occupied, but that didn't stop the Bount. She threw the fan attached to the sword next in his direction.
He let go of Rukia and smacked away the fan with his Zanpakuto.
"Are all soul reapers weaklings?" the Bount yelled with a savage grin, followed by throwing her sword at them again.
This time, Harry chose a different tactic. He dodged to the side and let the sword fly past him harmlessly. At the same time, Harry pressed his fingers around the rope connecting the sword and the fan.
His fingertips sparkled with lightning.
"Hadou 4: Byakurai."
Lightning surged through the Bount's weapon and shot untold volts of electricity into her body. Harry used the moment to jump straight towards his enemy and slashed through her neck. His aim was to kill the Bount with a clean cut, and he nearly succeeded.
But the weapon in her hand morphed unexpectedly into some kind of armour that covered her whole left arm and even the neck.
The Bount jumped several paces back, and blood was spilt on the ground.
"You!" the Bounta snarled as she absorbed more spirit particles to heal herself.
Harry wasn't having that.
"Hadou 54: Haien."
A blast of powerful purple flames smashed into the Bount, and the area erupted in a loud explosion.
The Bount jumped out of the explosion with severe burns all over her body.
"Yoshi, you idiot. Your clumsiness will kill both of us." the sword suddenly spoke.
Harry raised an eyebrow at the sword, talking like a different entity.
'These Bounts have sentient weapons like a soul reaper's Zanpakuto.' Harry mused.
"Shut up!" Yoshi snarled at her weapon before directing her hate-filled gaze at Harry. "What is your name?"
"What use will my name be to the dead?" Harry asked, followed by a swift flash step which made him appear directly over the Bount.
His sword clashed into her raised fan with tremendous force. He exerted his spiritual pressure and began to overpower the Bount, but the woman started absorbing spirit particles from the surroundings to augment herself.
Harry placed his palm against the blade of his Zanpakuto and channelled magical energy into it.
"Bombarda Maxima." Harry whispered.
A massive wave of destructive magic was channelled straight through his Zanpakuto into the fan wielded by the Bount Yoshi.
"No!" Yoshi screamed as a colossal wave of power consumed her and her Doll.
Harry made sure to contain the blast with his spirit energy and confine it in the immediate vicinity surrounding Yoshi.
When the dust settled, Yoshi was on the ground with her weapon broken. The fan was broken into three pieces, and the sword was severed from the rope attached to the fan. The Bount herself had her right arm torn off, and she was suffering from serious burns all over her body.
Harry didn't wait a moment and immediately chose to immobilise the Bount. While his orders were to kill on sight, he gathered that there was valuable intelligence to be extracted from the fallen enemy. Therefore, he pressed his palm against the unconscious Bount while gathering his spirit energy.
"Bakudou 9: Geki."
A red aura engulfed the Bount, which immediately immobilised her. He immediately followed up with another kido.
"Bakudou 4: Hainawa."
Bright yellow ropes made of spiritual energy wrapped around the Bount and restrained all her limbs.
It was just in time, as well, because on one side of the street, he could see Captain Byakuya arrive with a number of Shinigami, and from the other side, he saw Ichigo Kurosaki arrive with Inoue Orihime.
"Rukia!" Ichigo and Orihime yelled.
"Captain Kuchiki. I have the Bount restrained." Harry said respectfully as the Squad 6 Captain appeared before him and stared intently at the Bount.
"Your orders were to kill." Byakuya coolly reminded him.
"An order I would abide by, but I suspect we need to know what the enemy is planning." Harry said calmly.
Byakuya turned away and stared at the injured form of his sister.
"Call for a med squad immediately." Captain Kuchiki ordered one of his subordinates.
"Yes, sir."
"We'll need restraints made of Sekkiseki stone to restrain this prisoner. The Bounts are capable of absorbing spirit energy from the surroundings. The binding spells on her might break if she tries to absorb their energy." Harry said.
As Byakuya ordered the restraints to be brought, Inoue Orihime used her powers to heal Rukia. Strangely enough, a doll named Lirin jumped out of nowhere and started talking with Kurosaki and Orihime.
'What a strange group.' Harry thought, staring at the trio.
Suddenly, a huge tremor came out of nowhere, shaking the very foundations of Rukongai. The tremor sharpened their senses as all the spirit particles resonated as if they were communicating with each other, and almost immediately, Harry and Byakuya could feel that something was happening inside the city.
"What the hell was that?" Ichigo shouted.
"Someone attacked the Gotei 13 while we were distracted." Harry said absently.
"We must transport the prisoner faster and extract all valuable intel." Byakuya said.
"I'll handle this, Captain Kuchiki." Harry offered.
The Squad 6 Captain didn't oppose and instead answered with a brief nod.
Harry took the captured Bount and disappeared from Rukongai towards the city in a series of flash steps. When he finally reached the gates of the Sekkiseki wall, he saw what had happened.
The Senzaikyu prison was destroyed somehow. That only meant the Bounts already knew the Sekkiseki stone would neutralise their ability to absorb spirit energy from the surroundings.
With the destruction of the prison building, Gotei 13 would no longer have a means to hold a Bount prisoner unless they somehow rebuilt the prison using more Sekkiseki stone.
Harry considered that unlikely since it'd be difficult work to pull off while the enemy already has access to the city. Nonetheless, Harry took off in the direction of the Captain Commander and the other Captains with the prisoner, hoping that Captain Kurotsuchi might have an alternate way of securing the Bount.
AN:
To read ahead of the update schedule; pat(r) eon. C (O) M/Dragonspectre.
For artwork related to the fic:
https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf