Day one: the search begins (Open to two others)

Lulu stalked down the back alleys of Karakura town as the misty night wore on. Her long legs creaked in their leather pants and her high heels clicked as she walked. She had been in this wretched town for almost twenty-four hours and no sign of a single one of her fellow Bounts.
The one she'd encountered yesterday...what was his name? No matter. Anyway, he had vanished before even giving her his name, just saying that it was time for the Bounts to reunite under a new leader and reclaim their former glory. She sighed. It was no fun at all, being the new lady in town. She'd barely had a snack since she'd arrived, only the poor sad soul of some beggar sleeping rough in the park. She shook her head. The man had been on death's door anyway. Really, she was doing him a favour. Her doll had refused to consume his body for fuel, though. She supposed it was only fair, he would have given her poor doll a stomach ache. Never mind. She'd done some scouting around town, and there were some superb fare to be had, particularly at the high school. She licked her black lips at the thought. Some lovely, tender young things, looking soooo good in their uniforms...
Gods, she was hungry. She'd settle for anything at the moment. If she couldn't find her fellows she might as least have a decent meal. Bunching her powerful legs, she sprung into the air, landing on a rooftop, and peered around into the murk. Suddenly she heard foosteps. Her stomach gumbled and she licked her lips, crounching down ready to pounce. Let's see who's coming to dinner tonight...

Zanmato walked along the misty streets of Karakura, yawning quite openly and giving himself a good stretch. He'd just been enjoying a decent hunt; a nice half dozen Hollows that had appeared in six different sections of the city. To Stolz's amusement, what gave Zan the challenge was not in fact the fighting that had resulted in six delicious souls in the Bount Leader's 'stomach,' but the act of locating them without using anything more than his eyes, ears, and Stolz's eyes. Made things more interesting than sense and kill in their opinions. Zan momentarily stopped to wipe some dirt off of his black jacket, and straighten his bone necklace, then suddenly looked up and to the right with a confused expression.

Then he rolled his eyes and laughed a little bit, having sensed one of the Bounts' spiritual pressure nearby. In fact, it appeared to be practically on top of him! Had he been paying any kind of attention, he would probably have sensed it sooner. After lightly giving himself a facepalm as punishment, the Bount Leader jumped into the air, spinning so that when he landed he was behind...Lulu Kuiiji, otherwise known as Gluttony of the Purgatory Seven, the newest of the Bounts to join the growing number.

"Good evening Ms. Kuiiji. I trust that your relatively short time in Karakura Town has been...pleasant?

Zan spoke softly and politely, his face bearing an expression of slight amusement overshadowed by an imperious calm. From behind him, a large hand of shadow emerged and, after waving to Lulu, turned itself palm up. The Bount Leader sat down on this makeshift chair and looked at his ally, beckoning an answer.

Lulu stood up and turned with startling speed, foot raised in Taekwondo stance to drive her pointed heel into the newcomer's throat. However, when she saw the man face to face, she hesitated, then lowered her leg. He had a familiar aura about him...
That was it! His aura reminded her of Sawatari, her mentor. She grinned and relaxed. At last! Another Bount had shown up. She stretched, showing off her luscious curves barely contained by her leather catsuit, then bowed theatrically, one arm to her chest, the other flung out toward the mist, incidentally giving him a good view of her ample cleavage. Her glasses glittered in the moonlight.
"At your service, I'm sure," she said, straightening up and smiling. "May I ask who you are, and how you know my name? After all I've only been here a day. Surely word of my greatness has not spread so quickly?"

Zanmato looked at Lulu, taking in every detail of her body without giving away more than a radiance of imperial calm. Of course, it was not that difficult considering that she was stretching somewhat provocatively and showing off her...lovely cleavage. The Bount Leader looked away for a moment, pretending to look at the stars while he regained some composure, not that it appeared that any had been lost in the first place.

"At your service, I'm sure," Lulu said, straightening up and smiling. "May I ask who you are, and how you know my name? After all I've only been here a day. Surely word of my greatness has not spread so quickly?"

Zan looked back at Lulu with a small smile that exposed some of his pure white teeth. Then he tapped on his hand chair a few times, and three eyes opened in response, one for each tap. He stood up as the chair began to sink back into the ground, or more appropriately, back into his shadow from whence they came. Satisfied that the eerie display was completed, Zan spoke to Lulu again.

"Well, as one could imagine, it is quite easy to learn things about people when all that one need do is look into the shadows, or might I say through them? Ah, but I apologize for my manners. I am Zanmato Jishaku, also known as Pride, and I lead the Bounts here in Karakura Town.

"Oooh, the leader indeed?" Lulu grinned, and slunk toward him. "Then would you mind telling me a little about what's going on in the world of the Bounts lately? I've been out of touch for such a long time!"
She passed by very close to him, stroking his shoulder lightly with a fingertip as she passed. Then she sat lay on the roof peak, stretching her long legs and crossing them. Her arms draped over the top of the slope, like she was sitting on an armchair. It was quite uncomfortable, but she didn't let it show. Looks were everything.
Plus she thought it important to be impressive and confident. His doll was clearly a strong one, even though she thought it unusual and a little unwise to let it run around loose like that.

Zanmato nodded when Lulu asked if he were indeed the leader, and only once at that. She walked by and, true to form, touched him lightly on his shoulder before she sat down. Mentally he noted that Lulu Kuiiji was quite like Noelle Fontaine, and that when the two ladies met they would probably get along very well. Zan rolled his eyes to Heaven for a moment before remembering the task at hand.

"Well, there is not much to tell Ms. Kuijii. You are the fifth and the latest to join my group; we are based in the palace-mansion located on the outskirts of Karakura Town, there is no defined goal of the Bounts as of yet, and our existence is not widely known as of yet."

A small tendril of shadow worked its way up to the Bount Leader's shoulders and circled them, hanging there like some kind of scarf for a moment before sliding onto his hand and compressing to form a watch-like shape on his wrist. Though normally he'd have his shadow under lock and key, tonight Zan was not paying much attention to Stolz, his doll, and so it was busy trying to amuse itself for the time being.

"On that note, what brings one such as yourself to this place?"/

Noelle was walking alone through the empty alleys of Karakura town. Her doll, Shwarze Katze, had convinced her to search for Zanmato. She was rather depressed since her "date" with him was cut short. Such an awkward encounter at that, their dolls doing the talking for them. Though she did like Zanmato, she'd never admit it to Shwarze Katze. However, she felt that he already knew. Noelle's violet eyes glowed in the misty darkness. Her long, raven black hair was worn down and swayed elegantly behind her as she walked. She was dressed in a thin, white button down blouse with tight fitting, navy blue jeans. On her feet were black stiletto sling backs. Her right hand lifted from her jeans' pocket and gently gripped her doll which hung from her neck. Where is he, Shwarze Katze..? I can sense him nearby....or else my heart wouldn't be beating like this... Her heart was indeed beating wildly. What did this mean? Noelle decided to search from higher ground.

With cat-like grace, she leapt up to the rooftops. Almost as if it was fate, she spotted who she sought. Her heart suddenly sank upon seeing who he was with. Noelle stood there at the edge of the roof, her eyes wide and somewhat clouded with tears. Shwarze Katze was going nuts. Noelle!! Don't let that hussy take the one you like!! We're greed, for fuck's sake!! Be greedy!! Noelle was trembling, but Shwarze Katze was right. She wouldn't dare let someone else take what she adored without a fight. Swallowing her tears, she approached slowly, not caring if she was interrupting. She liked Zanmato and planned to tell him before it was to late. After getting close enough to be sensed and to be within Zanmato's hearing range, Noelle spoke, her voice somewhat squeaky due to the fact she was nearly crying, but her heavy Russian accent was still audible. Master Pride! I'm sorry about our little date...I actually would like to talk to you if you don't mind... She found herself blushing as she prepared to speak to him about her once suppressed feelings.

She then shot a glance at the woman that he was with. She grimaced. She looked and dressed similar to Noelle when Noelle wore her well known espoinage attire. She heard Shwarze Katze hiss at the woman and call her a slutty version of Sarah Palin. Noelle refrained from laughing. Her eyes drifted back towards Zanmato, she not even caring that the woman was present. Noelle had to tell him before it was too late. She wasn't going to lose him before she even got a chance. Master Pride....I....um....you know what Shwarze Katze was saying during our date, right...? Well...normally I'd do this sort of thing in private....bit this can't wait...he was right...I do...um... Shwarze Katze, growing annoyed with Noelle's stammering, piped in. She has the hots for you!! Noelle blushed fiercely and simply nodded in agreement with her doll's words. Noelle shot another glance at the woman, knowing that this had to be awkward for her, but that was just too bad. Saying what needed to be said, Noelle waited for Zanmato. Would he reject her feelings or reciprocate them? Noelle hoped for the latter of the two.

Lulu was intrigued. She loved a bit of drama and romance: after all she had outlived four husbands, not to mention numerous boyfriends and girlfriends in more recent years...
She studied the newcomer hungrily. An attractive girl to say the least, and undoubtedly another Bount.
She held up her hands.
"Aww sorry! I hope I didn't interrupt anything!" She winked at Noelle, which seemed to infuriate her, and stood up. "I'll just step aside for a moment, shall I?"
She blew a kiss at both of them and strutted off down the other end of the roof, heels clicking on the tiles.
"I have no intention of stealing him off you, honey!" She called over her shoulder, and waved. "We've only just met after all, and I hope we'll be friends."
Though I'm tempted to try and steal you off him, she thought, eying the slender girl out of the corner of her eye. She sat down, legs dangling, on the corner of the far end of the roof, just within earshot but pretty much out of sight in the gloom.
She stared out over the rooftops, chin on her hand. From here she could make out the glimmer of lights at the high school. She sighed. She'd walked past there earlier and all those hot young girls nearly proved too much of a temptation. Hang on...
She started to grin as an idea formed in her head. After all, she needed a job to keep her getting too bored...yes...why not...?

Zanmato looked around when he felt a familiar spiritual pressure, and couldn't believe what he was feeling until he saw the pressure's owner. Sure enough, Noelle Fontaine had appeared and was standing not too far away from where he was now. He looked at Lulu and thought of how things must have looked and his heart fell a few inches. He then felt himself physically wince a little bit as Noelle mentioned their 'date.' As much as it could be called that, since their dolls had been doing most of the talking and most of the merrymaking for that matter. He thought that he was to hear something rather negative, failing to hear the inflections in Noelle's voice, and was getting a bit downcast, as he actually liked Noelle quite a lot and wanted to have a second chance to make up for the first time.

Having prepared for the worst, the Bount Leader's expression must have been priceless when he heard Schwarze Katse's announcement clear as day. Noelle's nod confirmed it and Zan's heart returned to it's usual position, then proceeded to beat at about twice its normal speed. He himself took a moment to make sure that he had heard and understood correctly the words that had been spoken to him. Then he took another second or two to think, then abandoned that futile effort, too stunned for once to even think. And finally he snapped out of his stupor after Stolz mentally told him to do something and not just sit there staring.

In the next second that passed, Zan was already standing right in front of Noelle, smiling brightly as though his entire day had just gotten many times better. Which, in truth it had. He wrapped his arms around Noelle and gave her a good hug, apparently forgetting about Lulu's presence entirely for a moment.

"So, you really do like me huh? Well, I like you too Noelle, and I was hoping that we could ah...try to go out again sometime, only this time without our dolls making things messy.

At this point, he let Noelle go and looked at her quizzically, waiting for her answer.