Sōma Yoshino walked throughout the streets of Karakura with a determined look in her eyes, looking for an acceptable prey while also keeping a lookout for any of her ex-husband's 'comrades'.
She bit her lip at the thought of the man and how she had to lower herself to her current situation in order to have any chance of dealing with him.
To think that there would come a day when she had to devour the souls of living people. She knew why her people, Bounts, had decreed such an act to be a taboo; she had seen Sawatari after all. Even if there were times she hated her eternal life, she had no desire to spend it as a decrepit old hag.
Yet she had to take the risk. Kariya's plan was plain madness, and she was not strong enough to stop him; to devour living souls was the only way she had.
Not to say she was weak, she had absolute confidence in her Doll Goethe when it came to battle and was confident she could defeat almost anyone among the remaining Bounts who had sworn loyalty to Kariya.
Except for two.
She did not fancy her chances against Sawatari's Baura or Koga's Dalk. Those two not only had an immense advantage against Goethe's flames, she also knew Sawatari and Koga were both more powerful than her in spell-craft too.
And Kariya was stronger than both of them put together with their Dolls.
No, as much as she felt disgusted with herself for devouring living souls, there was no other way. To let Kariya go on with his plans would only lead to disaster. She had to stop him, and to do so; she needed more power. Her own personal feeling were inconsequential.
As she watched a middle aged man walk towards the abandoned trainyard with no one near him, she knew that she got her next target.
It was nothing fancy, a simple spell of compulsion for him to keep walking into the trainyard in order to make sure there would be no interruptions for her meal; any Bount worth their Doll could do it.
As the man came closer and closer to where she was, Yoshino stopped hiding and placed her arms around the man's shoulders. If nothing else, she would try to make it feel as painless as possible for him.
Or that was the plan until her instincts, honed throughout centuries of being hunted, screamed at her to get away and she jumped away; right before a kick sailed through where her had just been.
The owner of the kick was a black woman with purple hair who, for reasons Yoshino would not even try to understand, was naked.
There was also another woman with black hair, and far more petite frame, who was checking on the man she had been about to devour the soul of.
"It's not nice to interrupt two consenting adults." The words left her mouth before she even realized it. She still smiled, not wanting to embarrass herself in front of an exhibitionist.
"If that was your definition of consent, then I got some prime farmland to sell you in Sahara." A voice came from behind and she jumped away, but no attack came.
Instead a young man with black hair and a muscular frame simply stood with his hands in his pockets.
"I am truly popular tonight." Yoshino muttered with a smirk.
This was bad. She could probably lose them if they kept their attention on her almost victim but the man in front of her gave the feeling of someone who would chase her without second thought.
Could she win? She didn't know how strong they were but three on one was obviously a bad matchup, even with her Goethe's flame body granting him intangibility.
She frowned as she realized that she might not have a chance anyway. She brought her claw to her bracelet, ready to strike it and summon Goethe. She could probably escape if she had him use a blast to create a smokescreen.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Only for her hand to be grabbed as the man appeared in front of her.
'Fast!' She stared down with wide eyes. To move like this… a part of her felt happy that she didn't try to fight back now.
"Now then, I got some questions for you." He said as he raised his hand, pulling her up along with it. And as he did so, she saw a glint of metal around his sleeve, and its source made her eyes widen.
A cross.
"Quincy."
"That I am. And you are a Bount." He said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "A Bount that has been going around sucking the souls of people like there is no tomorrow." Souls?
Why was he talking as if there were multiple victims already? Had Kariya and others…
Before she could attempt to explain the situation to them, a mass of white appeared around them.
"The hell?" Quincy asked as he looked around, seeing that they were surrounded by weird creatures. Made entirely out of white spiritual matter except for where their heads should be, in its place was pinkish red pin-like masses.
She had to agree with the Quincy. The hell indeed.
At least their appearance made the Quincy lighten his grip, allowing her to free herself. But she wasn't going to run, if the Quincy of this town was here then she had to stay close. They were a part of Kariya's plan, even if she didn't understand how. But she needed to at least explain her situation to them.
But before she could, the white creatures heads turned from their pinkish color to a blood-like crimson; and then they rushed towards them.
"Ridiculous." Only to be blown away by an unseen force generating from the Quincy, sending them all flying. "The fuck are these supposed to be?"
"I don't know." Yoshino said, only realizing that she did so when Quincy looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "I need to talk to you."
"Cool." He said with a shrug and Yoshino blinked in shock, that was far easier than she thought. "We'll talk when you wake up." And then he chopped her in the neck and the world grew dark.
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