[Second Book]
Having saved Rukia and found her birth family, Emiko and the gang return home to their normal lives. All things seem well until Emiko's pass comes back to remind her of what she has forgotten. Will she be able to stop a certain bount f...
Everyone was silent as we continued to sit around the table. Moving from Kisuke's training grounds, we were currently in his shop. The mood was still as serious as it was before. I remained silent from my seat between Ichigo and Renji.
"...Bount, huh?"
Kisuke was the first to break the silence.
"Bount?" Uryu questions.
Holding up a test tube, Kisuke shows off what's inside.
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"This reishi is probably from a Bount..."
"So what's a Bount?" Ichigo inquires.
Kisuke's eyes shift towards Yoruichi, who simply nods her head. With eye back on us, he explains.
"When I was in the Department of Research and Development, I saw residue that looked a lot like this. It's a mysterious reishi that reacts with special components of human souls... Upon investigation, I found a tribe called the Bount. They are a few in numbers, but the Bount are humans who have special powers...like the Quincy.
Quincies, having the power to destroy Hollows, brought disaster upon themselves, but... Bounts absorb human souls as nourishment. Also, Quincies are born human and die human. But, by absorbing human souls, Bounts can live forever. That's all I found out, but I have never been able to see one myself."
"Live forever?" Ichigo thinks out loud.
"Yes. Bounts gain eternal life by absorbing human souls for food. That's the kind of tribe they are. It seems that depending on the era and place, they were also called vampires."
Vampires? Really? We're dealing with that now? ...Hmm.
"The way Bounts usually do things is to come and steal the soul of a human who died while Konso is being performed on it." Yoruichi explains. "But this time, the Bounts Emiko and I saw were trying to absorb the souls of living people."
...Kaori... She was a Bount all this time? ...No, that can't be right. At least, I don't remember her ever acting strange like that.
"What happens to people if their souls are sucked out?" my brother asks.
"The same thing as when their lives are taken." Kisuke simply answers. "The result is, in other words...death."
Death? No... I mean, Kaori's rude, but she wouldn't try to kill people. Something happened to her... And I intend to find out what.
"We're still not sure if it's a Bount." Yoruichi adds.
We don't? So, she could not be one?
Looking towards Kisuke, Yoruichi questions him.
"Do you suppose that it could be a subspecies of Bounts?"
"Who knows..."
Yoruichi and Kisuke simply cross their arms and think. This pissed Ichigo off. Slamming his hand on the table, he nearly knocks over both of our tea.
