The Two Bounts (Akira)

Darius walked alone along the sidewalk, the moon up in the sky, the night on in full. His short brown hair was spiked, his usual style, and his jeans, t-shirt, jacket and boots were still the same as ever. Aside from the Karakura High uniform, this was the only outfit he ever wore. He just liked the look. There was nothing else beyond that to explain why he wore the same thing day after day. He rolled his odd, coiling ring along his finger, feeling the rivets along its length, and then sniffing the air, as if attempting to smell something. Darius sighed. It had been a while since he'd eaten. He began to search the area for any signs of Reiatsu, looking for a late night snack. He felt a human's Reiatsu nearby, grinned, and headed towards it. The Bount was hungry.

He turned into an alleyway, walking in confidence as he moved. He felt several Spiritual Signatures now, all belonging to humans. Then they made an appearance. There were four of them, two carrying bats, another a knife, and a final one holding a pistol. Darius came to a halt as they began to approach him, laughing drunkenly. Members of a gang, out for some fun after a bit too much drinking. Darius raised an eyebrow, but made no move to retreat. His confidence made the approaching gang members become wary. The one holding the gun came forward then, his weapon held up. "Givve ussh all've yur moneees," he slurred. As he spoke, he swooned. He hiccuped then recovered, continuing forward once again. Darius raised a hand to his mouth, covering it to hide his grin, and purposely failing.

"Yoos wansh ta die?" the man continued, and Darius allowed his hand to fall as he burst into laughter. He reached to his ring then, and he allowed the thugs to follow his hand, ever so slowly, to his many, expensive looking rings. "Howsh aboot yas givsh ush all ove yer eshpeneev luukin shtof theer?" spoke the man with the gun. Darius only sighed, and raised his hand up, taking the tip of the pistol's barrel in between his thumb and forefinger. He then spat in the thug's face while shoving the hand with the gun out to the side. With hardly a grunt of exertion, he then brought his fist into the other man's face. Blood exploded from the staggering thug's nose, and when he finally managed to recover, he roared in anger and waved his friends forward. Darius rolled his eyes, and then rolled his coiled ring once more.

"Versager, please show these fools their mistake," he spoke calmly. His ring suddenly flared with a blinding light, then disappeared. Before him, the figure of a nine-foot-tall, silver-transparent Humanoid stood tall, glaring down at the thugs before him. "I do believe that they wanted to harm me," he said, his voice amused. Versager brought his arm back, and then punched forward, catching one of the thugs full on in the chest. He went flying backwards, crashing into the alley wall. The man with the gun fired now, but the bullets bounced off of Versager. Darius grinned smugly as Versager then began to hum a haunting song. As each of the thugs heard the song, they suddenly stopped, and then slumped to the ground. After a moment, they stood back up, their eyes open but seeming vacant. They were unconscious. They were his to command. And they were his to devour.

Akira was wandering the streets yet again, mumbling about the tightness of the Karakura High uniform he was still wearing. He had not gotten around to returning to the mansion yet today, so was stuck wearing the uniform until the present nighttime. He had released his doll Sirene like normal, allowing her to skip along the sidewalk behind him. The little winged girl drew a few stares from passersby, but the duo disregarded them and continued on their way. This was a repetitive cycle they performed often, just wandering aimlessly without a real objective in mind. Immortal life kind of had that effect on a person. They didn't know what to do with all that time. Though that didn't seem to put a dampener on Sirene's mood. As happy as she always was to be out of her sealed form and traveling with Akira in the open, she enjoyed the walk through town and hummed a cheerful tune while they explored. She suddenly stopped and grabbed hold of Akira's shirt to bring him to a halt while she brought her other hand to her ear.

"Akira-sama, I hear something. It sounds like a song, but it's heavy with spirit power. It's not normal, that's for sure. And I'm sure I heard the sound of gun shots near this power right before it started."

Akira glanced in the direction Sirene was staring and sighed with a bothered tone. "Could it be a hollow?"

Sirene shook her head in uncertainty. "I can't say. It doesn't sound like any hollow I've heard before, but it certainly is grim enough. Should I investigate?"

Akira grew unbelievably more serious. "Not by yourself you're not. Follow my lead and stay behind me until ordered otherwise." He set off dashing through the streets at a decent pace with Sirene running behind him. He wanted to know what was going on in what was now his home in a sense, and if it was a hollow, he would be sure to eliminate it. At Sirene's direction, he turned into an alley and scanned the scene inside. A young looking man stood in the alley with a tall figure standing in front on him overlooking a group of humans that stank of booze. They were acting strange, not seeming to truly see or comprehend what was going on around them.

"Strange company you keep." Akira addressed the young man behind the tall being. "Would he have something to do with the reason that these thugs are acting so weird?" As Akira spoke, Sirene clung to his side as she glanced at the scene. He rolled his eyes at her timidness, but brought a hand reassuringly to her shoulder. If these guys weren't friendly, he was ready for action.

Darius spun to face the newcomer, but then found himself staring at the odd winged girl hiding behind him. Versager turned as well, and saw the girl as well. Odd vibrations came from Versager's body, carrying words from him. "That girl is a Doll, Darius," he said. Darius turned to regard Versager for a moment, then loomed at the newcomer once more, this time with intrigue instead of annoyance. So the teenager that looked not too much younger than Darius himself, standing before him now, was a fellow Bount? It was the first time he had ever met another, aside from his father.

He took a few steps towards the young man, smiling and giving a low bow. "Hello, and well met. I am Darius Faine, and this is my Doll, Versager. He says that you are also a Bount. I take it this is true?" he asked as he came back up. He smiled and extended a hand, while Versager turned and began to herd the four humans towards Darius and the new Bount. "I do hope you're hungry. It has been a while since I've eaten, so I had thought I would get together a late night snack. Would you like to split the meal fifty-fifty?" he continued as he waited for the other Bount to shake his hand.

Akira's expression didn't change as the others revealed themselves to be bount and doll. Now that they were close enough to sense properly, he could tell that their energy was nothing like a hollow or shinigami. And Versager's body was a major hint by itself. Akira knew that a flesh and blood doll like his own was a rarity. He saw no reason to deny the truth to Darius.

"Yes I am a bount. This shaky leaf by my side is my doll Sirene." He stepped forward to accept Darius's handshake, though not taking his piercing stare off of his face while doing so in case it was a ploy. He swiftly stepped back afterwards and turned down Darius's offer concerning his meal. "I have to refuse. Their soul tastes alright, but I consume living males as little as possible." He added in a low mutter, "Don't like putting my lips near them, especially if they're garbage like these four." The side remark finished, he added some reassurance towards Darius's good will. "I just ate a fine meal earlier anyway. A couple of girls from the school I go to wouldn't leave me alone." He smirked a small crack of a grin as he spoke of the incident. "I warned them that I'd eat them if they didn't stop bugging me. They didn't take me seriously."

Finished talking about meals, Akira's gaze shifted to Versager, then to the thugs, then back to the doll again. "So what's up with their behavior anyway? Normally guys like this would run screaming from something with his appearance."

Darius chuckled at the other Bount's remark about his snack being trash. It was true, after all, but a meal was a meal, and to get four humans all at once because of a stupid mistake on their part just didn't happen. He grinned as the Bount spoke about his meal earlier in the day, a couple of girls from his school. It was true, men, especially drunk ones like these, tasted nothing like a young woman, but Darius had learned not to be picky about his food. He couldn't help but smirk at the caution the other man showed towards him. If he had wanted to hurt him, he would have already done so. Finally, when the other Bount shifted the conversation to the drunkards acting strangely, Darius burst into laughter. As he finished, he motioned to his Bount to begin his explanation. It was an ability that Versager could use that had caused it to happen, after all.

"It's called Hypnotisieren, an ability that Versager can use. He sings a song by sending out large sound waves, and when Spiritually Unaware humans hear the song, they slip into an unconscious-like state. When they're in this state, I have complete control over them. If I told them to attack someone, figuratively speaking, it'd be like they can still see. It would also seem like they're actually aware of what they're doing, when in reality, they won't even remember what happened when they wake up... If I don't end up having a little snack, of course," he said, smiling as he finished. "Now, what did you say the name of your school was? I don't believe there's more than one High School here in Karakura Town, of course, but it couldn't hurt to make sure," he said. As he spoke, he turned and approached one of the men that were carrying a bat. He moved around behind him, then came up and dug his teeth into the man's neck, draining his soul into his body. He shuddered as new energy began to course through him.

Akira folded his arms and nodded in understanding as he listened to the explanation of Versager's ability. So this bount's doll was another sound user. Akira wondered who would be stronger in a match of Sirene versus Versager. Versager definitely had the advantage of courage, where Sirene was more frail and timid. But Sirene might have had her own advantage in the element of control. With her power to manipulate sound, she could possibly deflect, weaken, or completely halt Versager's abilities altogether. The x-factor in that assumption was whether or not Versager could manipulate sound like she could. Akira didn't think the situation would come to him having to find that out with the way things were going now, but it didn't hurt to examine the possibilities. As Darius began to feast on his prey, Akira indicated his uniform and answered his question.

"I attend Karakura High for now, but it's mainly only to maintain observation on the town's people. I've lived long enough and been through school enough times to learn all they teach there. There's a surprisingly high number of spiritually heightened people in this town, and especially in that school. It's good to stay aware of my surroundings...and it often provides me with a powerful treat if I'm careful."

Akira waited a few minutes before continuing, giving Darius time to finish his meal. Sirene was starting to settle down and regain her happy attitude, even gliding over to Versager to get a closer look at him for a moment before returning to Akira's side with a calm smile on her face. Akira, not as readily trusting of people, maintained his distance and continued to watch Darius closely. When he'd finished eating, Akira offered the same invitation he'd been given when arriving in Karakura.

"If you're in need of lodgings, there's a mansion on the edge of town that we bounts occupy. You're free to come a pick a room of your own if you need it. And if you don't need it, you're welcome to stop by anytime you please."