Old Habits Die Hard

Akira was strolling in the night time through the thinned out streets of Karakura. He was still getting to know the town, but it had a nice feel to it. It was unlikely that he and Sirene would be moving on for a while. Besides, the mansion was comfy. As he walked, he began to notice that he was feeling hungry. It had been a while since his last meal, as he'd been distracted with surveying the town. He slid into a dark side alley, dimly lit by a sliver of moon shining in the clear night sky above. Releasing Sirene from her pendant form, he had her begin a tactic that the two of them had developed over the years. The pretty girl doll sang out with an enticing melody that floated out of the alley and into the streets. One teenage girl stopped as she passed the alley, picking up on the beautiful sound from the doll's voice. Akira didn't know what a girl her age was doing out alone on the streets at this time of night, but he didn't care. That was her mistake. As the girl crept into the alley, drawn towards the singing almost as if in a trance, Akira quietly snuck up on her from behind. Catching her in an embrace from behind, he gently brought his lips to her neck and inhaled heavily. The girl's face went blank and her head began to sag as her soul was drawn out and consumed by Akira. He finished and let her body drop to the ground with a thud. It remained for a few seconds before turning into a pile of dust. Akira wiped his mouth and motioned for Sirene to stop singing. One living soul was enough for a while. But as Sirene and him prepared to leave and set off for home, a blue arrow of spirit power shot at them from the exit of the alley. Pushing Sirene to the ground in a diving tackle, Akira rolled on the ground and looked up catch sight of their attacker.

Standing in the mouth of the alley, outlined by the bright light from the street lamps, was a young man dressed in white wielding a large glowing bow. Akira didn't need to ask what this guy was. His master had taught him about quincies. Standing protectively in front of Sirene, he returned the glare that the quincy was sending in his direction. The quicy cleared his throat and spoke in a voice that sounded too pompous for a fighter of his age. "You bounts know that consuming souls is not acceptable. For this serious crime, heightened by your uncaringness about consuming a living soul, you shall be eliminated now."

"Do these guys ever shut up?" Akira muttered to himself as he balled his fists and prepared to fight. The energy boost he'd gotten from his meal was coursing through him, and he felt like putting it to good use against this wannabe hero. Not caring to exchange any sort of introductions with the adversary (since he'd be dead in a few minutes anyway), Akira immediately charged straight at the quincy. His foe seemed to be getting cocky, ridiculing Akira like he was making a terrible move. "You couldn't have made yourself an easier target you monster!" He fired three quick shots at Akira, who carefully strafed out of the way while continuing his advance. The quincy responded by charging a larger shot on his bow and taking careful aim. Akira noticed that if he dodged this one, Sirene would be the one in danger. It was time for the quincy to find out the ace Akira had hidden up his sleeve. "Now Sirene!"

Sirene let out a amplified scream that she directed past Akira and at the alley entrance where the quincy was. Akira was mostly unaffected since it was his own doll's power, though it did make his ears ring a little. The quincy was less lucky, his eyes screwing shut in pain as the scream washed over him. His concentration was broke, and his bow and arrow both scattered into harmless spirit particles. Akira leaped forward to take advantage of this chance and landed a powerful punch to the quincy's face, sending him reeling back and sliding out of the alley, into the street. The quincy must have been seeing stars at that point. His face was that of a disoriented person, running with blood from a broken nose. He was trying to say something, but could only manage gibberish that Akira didn't care to even try and translate. Akira walked out and stood over the quincy, his calm attitude speaking in a quiet voice that dripped with the prejudice that he was returning to the quincy. "Your kind has always labeled my kind as monsters, without even trying to understand what we are. You think we live this life out of cruelty? We are what we are. If you want to slaughter us brutally, don't expect us to just surrender. We will return every bit of savagery you throw at us." Finished with his words, Akira bent down and painfully pulled the quincy up into a sitting position by his hair. He lunged his head down and drew out the quincy's soul, consuming it in the same way as he had the girl's earlier. As the quincy turned to dust, Akira wiped his lips vigorously. The soul and its power had tasted quite alright, but he didn't enjoy the part of having to bring his lips to a guy's neck. He sighed as he felt the energies of other quincies in the area, moving toward his position. No doubt they had sensed their comrade's power as he attack Akira. Waving for Sirene to follow, Akira began to sprint out of the area, sure that he'd have to fight at least a few more quincies before he was out of harm's way.

Akira strode fast, calling for Sirene to hurry up too. They ran through the streets, feeling the pressures of the other quincies starting to gain on them. As the buildings around them started to thin out and they reached an old abandoned part of town, four quincies appeared blocking their path. Each had one of those blue glowing bows materialized, pointing right at Akira's chest. Akira didn't stop running, but instead yelled, "Schlachtruf!" The quincies appeared confused by the shout, seeing as nothing was immediately happening, but Sirene running close behind Akira understood. It was an order for her to use her ability. Singing out with a gentle note, she guided her voice into Akira's ears where it triggered a reaction in his body boosting his physical abilities.

Akira's running speed increased faster than the quicies could react to, allowing him to plow through their line while landing heavy punches in their guts as he passed. They doubled over in extreme pain while their two comrades turned to follow Akira's movement and fired their arrows. Akira nimbly jumped out of the way of one arrow, but couldn't completely avoid the second, which gashed his arm as it passed. He held up his arm looking at the wound, then turned it to show the quincies what was happening. The energy filling him that he'd received from eating the soul of the quincy who'd first attacked him was making his wound glow. Within moments, there was no wound to see anymore beneath the ripped sleeve of Akira's shirt. He charged again, making the quicies quickly materialize more arrows to fire at him. Their own power was the reason that they would lose. The need to focus was so easy to exploit when he had his doll. She let out the same amplified scream she'd used earlier to distract the quicies and leave them defenseless. While screaming, she ran at them from behind while Akira approached from the front. They reached them at the same time and Sirene leaped into Akira's arms, turning into her sword core form. Turning on the spot, he swiped horizontally with this weapon, cutting both quincies deeply at their torsos. They fell bleeding to the ground while Akira returned Sirene to her released form and strolled away with a feeling of ease. He'd eaten well and had a good spar tonight.