Fallen Spirits

A/N: Welcome readers. Seems like some folks don't get the memo around here.

MIND THE WARNINGS. NOT REPEATED.

This is a canon divergent fanfiction. Characters are generally in canon until the end of the Fake Karakura Town Arc. After that, changes have been made to events that may not be discussed in this story. In some cases.

Warnings

This is a hardcore yaoi fanfiction. This is rated MA. This contains explicit sexual content. This story includes humiliation, non-consensual slavery, forced bondage, forced prostitution, brothels, sexual torture and rape. This story also contains graphic violence, depictions of human trafficking, drug use and sale, and physical/mental/sexual torture. There are graphic consensual sexual acts. This story is not intended to be read by individuals under the age of 18.

Disclaimer

I do not claim ownership of any part of the Bleach universe or of the Bleach characters. Tite Kubo owns this amazing world; I am simply playing within it. Original elements do belong to me. There is no copyright infringement intended and I in no way make money from writing or posting this work of fanfiction.

Chapter One

It All Falls Down

Ichigo – Karakura Town

Day 1 (Saturday) – 2:48 am

Ichigo kicked a rock as he wandered down the road. He was thoughtful. How could he not be? Spring break was almost over, and he was supposed to start University in a week. He had no interest in it anymore though. He was tired and honestly he was lonely. He didn't feel connected to anyone, not anymore. He'd had trouble sleeping after dinner discussion over school with his father. Discussion of his future always made him exhausted. Even though he never spoke it, he didn't want to be here. He wanted to be somewhere else, with someone else, but he could never do that. Especially when he couldn't even see the someone that he was missing if they were standing in front of him.

Losing all of his powers as a Shinigami had taken a toll on him. It was so much harder than he let others know about, though. He could see the pity in his human friends' faces. He hated that. He hated that they wouldn't even talk about Soul Society around him. He hated that they wouldn't even mention the world Shinigami or hollow where he could hear them. He hated that they just thought he couldn't handle it. He wasn't going to fall apart if they mentioned how things were going in Soul Society. He wanted to know how they were. It had been more than a year now. Even Chad, Orihime, and Uryū avoided talking about what happened there around him. He knew that Urahara was even training Karin. It hurt a lot more than he liked that he'd simply been forgotten.

He sighed and leaned back against a building and looked up into the night sky. He didn't know what he was doing. He had to pretend like none of it ever happened. He had to act normal and forget what had been a big part of his life. Depressing didn't begin to describe how he felt. He'd tried so hard to just get over in and move on, but he couldn't. He missed Zangetsu. He missed the stupid white faced hollow bastard. He missed feeling like he could protect the people he loved from anything. He couldn't now, not at all. He was a weak, worthless, and powerless human. That was all he was. That was all he'd ever be.

They didn't know, though. They never asked him how he felt about it. They just ignored it. Somehow, knowing his father was a Shinigami made it worse. At any time, he could just go back, pick up where he left off, and live on in the world he wanted to be in. More than once he'd wondered if he could get back there by severing his link to his human body. In human terms, he'd be killing himself, of course. He knew, though, that he wouldn't really kill himself. He'd go on to Soul Society. However, without his reiatsu, he feared that not only would he not be able to become a Shinigami there, but he would simply reenter the cycle of rebirth and never know anything more. Then again, would that be so bad? At least then, he wouldn't have this ache inside of him. It was ironic, now with no power at all, he felt completely hollow inside.

He sighed and pushed off the wall and reached to check the time on his phone. He sighed. It was almost three am. He was sure that no one realized he'd gone. He kept going back to the conversation at dinner.

Earlier, Day -1 (Friday)

Approximately 7:00

"So, my wonderful intelligent son, tell me what you are studying?" Isshin asked with a broad grin.

Karin and Yuzu sat on the other two sides of the table. Karin had helped Yuzu cook a little, but as usual, Yuzu was the cook in the house. She'd made a very large meal tonight, mostly because it was the last weekend before the spring break ended.

"Yeah, Oniisan, what will you be taking?" Yuzu asked with a smile.

"I don't know," he said and pushed the food about his plate without much interest. "I signed up for the basics for the first semester until I figure out what I want to do."

Karin nodded. The girls were starting their year three of junior high. He was glad they seemed happy with their studies. Karin had taken a lot of time for her soccer, and Yuzu had also been doing well in all areas. Ichigo thought they'd be top of their class in high school.

"You could follow in your old dad's footsteps and be a doctor," Isshin said with a broad grin.

That statement had been what had done it. Ichigo knew that his father didn't mean to say something that would cut him as deeply as it did. But he couldn't help it. Following in his father's footsteps…something he couldn't really do. His father, the Shinigami captain, the man who could still wield a Zanpakutō and kill hollows. He was a doctor to the human world, but that wasn't who he had been in the beginning.

Ichigo didn't show the sudden pang of hurt. "Ah, I don't know, Pop. I might just take basics until I figure out what I want to do. I don't think being a doctor is my thing."

Isshin smiled at him. "Whatever you decide, son, that is fine. I can't tell you how proud your mother would be of you right now. Graduating high school at the top of your class, you have done me and her proud."

Ichigo nodded and stood up. Karin looked at him. "You barely ate, Ichigo," she said with a frown.

"Yeah, maybe coming down with a summer cold, just not hungry," he said and headed up the stairs.

He went into his room and sat on the bed for a long time staring out the window. In his mind he saw Renji or Rukia leaping into his room. He saw himself yelling at them to get out of his room without permission like that. He saw the door to his closet opening and Rukia yelling at him to move his ass. He sighed and wondered if he could ever be happy like that again. Even at the worst, nearly dying in Hueco Mundo to get Orihime back, he had been happy. He'd felt useful. He'd felt needed. Now, he was another teenager doing nothing important with his life.

His eyes went to the small table by the bed and he felt temptation creeping into him. It had been weeks, so many weeks, but here were the old feelings rising in his chest. It had started a month after he'd watched Rukia vanish along with his powers. He swallowed thickly and felt his hand tremble as he reached over to the drawer. He fished around and pulled out the small knife. It wasn't anything impressive, or big, it was just a small pocketknife. The case was black, and he'd taken another knife and scratched an image of his substitute Shinigami badge into it. He didn't want to forget it. The day he'd done that, that had been the first time. He bit his lip as he flicked it open. The silver metal glinted and he stared for a long time. He shouldn't do this. He didn't need to do this.

But he did need to do it.

He closed his eyes and then slid his pants down, uncovering the scars on the top of his thighs. Most were white now. After all, the most serious episodes had occurred close to the time his powers stopped functioning. He ran a finger over some of the pinkish lines. Every color of scar, he remembered vividly what had happened.

The oldest were when he broke down the first time two weeks after it ended. He had found the pocketknife in the park and he'd seen a branch fall from a tree with a crash. He'd gotten up and saw what looked like claw marks in it. It had to have been a hollow, and that meant that whoever was on duty in Karakura Town was after it. He'd taken a shower, and come out and sat on the bed staring at the knife. He didn't remember grabbing it though. He just remembered watching blood slide down the inside and outside of his thighs as he slid the knife through the skin. It was dull, and he had only made three good cuts. He was silently crying when he stopped. He just sat there and watched himself bleed.

The next ones had been not long after that. Uryū and Orihime had been in a quiet discussion in the back of the classroom and when he came near, they'd stopped talking. They both gave him nervous smiles, and he'd know they were talking about hollows or Soul Society. Then the next set happened when Chad, Orihime, and Uryū all disappeared for two weeks with no real explanation other than a sudden trip out of town. When they got back, Ichigo asked what had happened. None of them would tell him. He'd cut almost too deep then, and he had worried he'd have to have his dad put stitches in it. That one had healed badly, leaving a thick scar. There were several others, some with two lines others with five or six. Small incidents, noting major, just incidents that left him lonely. Even Orihime had stopped flirting with him, which was a blessing, but it still was odd. Then, today. He hadn't cried since the first time, but now as he sat there he did. He slid through the old scars, because today was more pain than he could handle. He was numb, so very numb, and he just wanted to feel again.

There were seven on each leg when he was done. The blood was pooling under him. For a moment he just stared at it. He'd started nearly at the top of his thigh and gone halfway down. He'd never done so much at one time. He swallowed and realized he didn't have anything to clean up the blood. He kicked off the pants he was wearing and used them to staunch the bleeding. After a few minutes he sighed and saw that there was only a little blood oozing. He grabbed his robe and threw it on to shower. The shower was hot and it stung his legs horribly but that was fine.

He sighed, hands rubbing down the front of his thighs. He'd found some gauze pads and paper tape in the bathroom. He'd covered the marks as well as he could, but he'd left the pants he'd bloodied there under his bed. He'd have to figure out what to do with that when he got back. The same for the knife he'd left on the bedside table. He even thought he'd forgotten to clean it off. He had thought about sleeping but he just couldn't. So he'd just decided to go for a walk. He sighed and turned to head back. He supposed he should come back before someone found the mess and asked questions. At least he'd remembered to take his phone with him.

Ichigo stopped suddenly and turned around. He swore he'd heard footsteps behind him. There wasn't anyone there. He shook his head and pulled his phone out of his pocket to hold. It wasn't like he was afraid of anyone out here. He could more than handle himself. He could certainly fend off anyone that thought it was a good idea to mug him. He stopped again and swore he heard someone. What the hell was this? Was it someone from Soul Society messing with him? He hoped not because that would just be too cruel for words. He shook his head and kept walking.

"Hey, Anaki," came a voice from behind him. He turned around and saw that in the yard he just passed, a little girl was standing there with a doll in her arms. She was in a nightgown.

Ichigo looked around and walked toward her. "What in the world are you doing out here at this time of night?" he asked.

The little girl was about seven or eight, and she had big, dark eyes. Her hair was light brown and in two high pigtails on her head. The nightgown was long and edged in pink lace on plain white. The doll was dressed in a matching gown, and had bright pink hair. She smiled at him. "Can you help me, Anaki?"

Ichigo frowned and knelt down in front of her. "Yeah, can I call someone for you? Do you live nearby?" he asked.

"Yes, Anaki, but there was a dog in my yard so I ran away and now I'm scared to go back on my own," she said with eyes that looked about to tear up.

Ichigo smiled at her. "Hey, it's okay, I'll walk with you. You sure you don't want me to call your mom?"

She shook her head, pigtails bouncing. "No, Anaki, she'll be mad that I came outside. I heard a kitty cat outside the window, and I went out to see why it was meowing. The dog was chasing it, but I ran from the dog."

Ichigo nodded and stood up. "Okay, here, we'll go together," he said with a smile.

She skipped a bit now and then as she led him down the sidewalk. He was tempted to call the police, but he felt good about this. Someone needed him. He could do something for this little girl, and he could help her. That felt really good for the first time in a long time. He smiled to himself and thought that maybe he should become someone that helps others. Other than a doctor, of course. He didn't want anything to do with that. That was too close to his father, and then he'd remember everything about the Shinigami. Police maybe? Or maybe a social worker. He could work in child care, but he'd have to get used to kids. Then again, he had done a lot with Karin and Yuzu when they were little. Maybe the future wasn't as bleak as he made it out to be.

They were coming out of the residential area, though, and he was beginning to wonder where this girl's house was. He looked around and watched as the trees and bushes that lined the sidewalks dwindled away and the lights from the street lamps faded around them. She kept walking, though, humming a little tune as she went. She'd look back at him and smile now and then.

"Where do you live? We're leaving the neighborhoods…this is where the warehouses are," he said as the manicured lawns gave way to concrete and fences.

"Just over here, Anaki, behind this building. We have a little house. We don't have much money, so we live out here," she said and kept leading him by the hand. This was weird, he thought.

She stopped outside a warehouse and looked around. "I think I'm lost, Anaki," she said with a sigh. "Let me run and check what street we're on," she said and dashed away.

"Hey, wait!" he called but she was gone. He looked around realized that he didn't know where he was. He shook his head and took out his phone. He would just call Uryū or Chad.

Surprised did not describe how he felt when his phone was knocked out of his hand. He looked up to see a guy standing there with some sort of covering over his lower jaw and glittering eyes above it. He was wearing black, and had a stocking cap covering the rest of his head. Ichigo didn't know what this guy's game was, but he wasn't going to find out. He may not be a Shinigami anymore, but he'd been trained by them how to fight. There was no way he was going down by this guy. He figured if he knocked him back, he'd run the direction the girl went. He really didn't want that little girl to get hurt by these guys. He swung around and kicked him in the stomach then up into the jaw. He turned to run in time to be punched hard enough to knock him flat to the ground from the other direction. He felt blood running from his mouth and he looked up to see another guy, dressed like the first one, but a whole lot bigger.

"The hell is this?" he asked as he got to his feet.

Were these guys kidnappers after that little girl? Had they followed them here? He knew he'd heard someone before, but he hadn't seen anyone. Two humans shouldn't be a problem, he thought to himself. He knew how to take down bigger guys that this one. He'd sparred with his father before he was trained by the Shinigami, and now he was faster and stronger than before. He may not have had the unnatural speed from before, but he was a hell of lot quicker on his feet than most people.

They didn't answer as the bigger one moved on him. He was slow though, and Ichigo had no trouble side stepping him and landing a few quick blows on him. He left him gasping and wheezing where he knelt. He dodged the faster one, but he was afraid he wasn't going to be able to dodge him forever at this rate. He had no idea what was going on but he didn't want to find out. Finally, he managed to kick the guy across the side of the face, hearing a low grunt as he hit the ground. He turned and ducked another swing with a billie club from a guy that came up behind him. He wondered exactly how many of these bastards there were? That was three. He managed to land a hard right into that one's jaw and sent him sprawling. He was about to take a breath and the first one, the quicker one, was back up with blood and a very crooked nose. He managed to duck under another wild swing and he saw the metallic glitter on his knuckles. Oh, that was great, he had metal knuckles. He dropped under a second with the other hand but caught a glancing blow to his temple enough that he staggered for a second. These guys didn't give up. Luckily, the big one was still wheezing on his knees and the other one hadn't gotten up.

In a way, it was nice to prove to himself that he could still fight without his powers. The fourth one dropped down from the wall beside them. He ducked him and used the one that was wheezing to block another kick from this guy. Where were all these guys coming from? He managed to get behind this one and landed five blows up his spine with the last at the back of his head. He dropped below another swing with the billie club wielding guy. He'd gotten up at some point. Despite his ability, he was panting and wearing thin. Probably had something to do with losing blood earlier. With the fighting though, he felt blood soaking through his sweats already from the wounds opening again. It stung a bit, but he was too up on adrenaline to really take not of it. He managed to snag the one with the billie club and throw him into the one with the metal knuckles, sending both of them tumbling to the ground. The wheezing big guy tried to grab him but he dodged his sluggish moves easily. He looked up the road and saw the little girl watching him.

"Run!" he screamed at her as he spun and kicked the one that had the bloody nose right across it again. He was going to need some help fixing that, he thought to himself as the guy yelped in pain. He looked around and all four were down or too far away to get to him. The girl was just standing there. She needed to run; why wasn't she running?

Dammit! He figured he'd have to grab her and run with her to get away from this group. Just as he was about to take off, the back of his head exploded in white hot pain and the world went vividly bright for a second. He fell forward to his knees and saw the world start to fade slowly around him. He had time to realize that there were more than four of them, he saw maybe three more surrounding him as he fell forward to the concrete. He realized that they weren't after the little girl. They had been after him.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Isshin, Karin, Yuzu – Karakura Town

Day 1 (Saturday) – 8:10 am

"Oniisan!" Yuzu yelled up the stairs. "Breakfast is ready!" She waited for a minute and glanced back to the kitchen. "That's strange, I'll go get him," she said as she headed up the stairs.

She knocked on the door and got no response. She frowned and knocked again. When there was still no response, she opened the door.

"Oniisan?" she asked.

The room was empty. She frowned and checked the other rooms before returning to the kitchen. "Pop, Oniisan isn't in his room."

Isshin looked up. "Well, he must have gone over to someone's house, strange that he wouldn't say anything to us…" he muttered as he picked up his phone.

He texted him and waited. Son, did you go to a friend's this morning?

Yo, found this phone, you know the owner? Came a response.

Isshin blinked at the screen. It belongs to my son. Can you bring it to Kurosaki Clinic today?

Sure, I'm not far from there.

"What is it, goat face?" Karin asked.

Isshin shook his head. "Um, guess he lost his phone somewhere," he said with a shrug as he dialed Uryū's phone.

"Kurosaki-san, what do you need?" came the young Quincy's voice.

"Is Ichigo with you?" he asked, starting to get a little concern.

There was a pause. "No, I haven't seen him much over the break. I tried to talk to him last week about our University classes, but he said he was busy."

Isshin frowned. "Alright, I'll check with Chad and Arisawa."

After calls to both of them that revealed they didn't know where he'd gone either, he sat and stared at the phone. The door to the clinic rang then, so he headed over and answered it. A young man in a uniform stood there. It looked like he worked at one of the warehouses on the edge of Karakura. "Here, man," he said as he handed him Ichigo's phone.

"Where did you find this?" he asked, seeing that the screen was cracked.

"Went in to work this morning and kicked it by the warehouse. I think it was already broken though, I didn't kick it very far. Still works, though," he said with a shrug.

"Oh…thank you very much. I'll take care of it."

Isshin went back in and sat the phone down. "Is that Oniisan's phone?" Yuzu said as she picked it up. "It's broken! Ichi-nii never mistreats his phone…"

Karin looked at it. "I've never seen him drop the thing, let alone let it get this messed up. Where was it?"

"The guy found it by the warehouses," he said thoughtfully.

"Where's Ichigo?" Karin said with a frown.

Isshin sat down and sighed. "I…I can only think of one reason he'd ditch his phone. You saw how he was acting yesterday." He sighed deeply. "I…I think he might have taken off on his own."

Karin looked at him. "What? Why?"

Isshin looked at her. "He's been depressed for a long time, since he came back. He's been distant, and since he left high school, he's just been avoiding talking about what he wants to do with his life. But we'll wait and see, I'll ask around some more, but if he's left, we might need to let him be. He may need to find himself on his own. I think that he needs space and we haven't been giving him any."

Yuzu and Karin exchanged glances. They could not deny that Ichigo had been distant and avoiding any discussion about the future. They didn't want to admit that he'd leave them, but they both knew he might.

By the time two days had passed, no one had heard from him. Isshin wasn't sure what to do. He called and reported his absence to the police. They told him that they doubted anything could be done since he was old enough to do what he wanted. They informed him that kids his age that disappeared were usually not interested in being found. Isshin didn't want to hear it. He sat at the table and felt the world crush him.

"I failed, Masaki," he whispered and wondered if there was anything worse than this. "I couldn't do the one thing you would have wanted me to do; I couldn't protect him."

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Chad, Renji – Karakura Town

Day 3 (Monday) – 5:20 pm

"What?" Rukia said with more than a small amount of shock. "What are you saying?"

Orihime looked at her with tearful eyes. "He's gone, Rukia. He left the other night, and no one knows where he went."

Rukia glanced at Renji and back at Orihime. "Why would he do that?"

Renji and Rukia had come for a visit, stopping at Urahara's Shoten to see how everything was going. Orihime, Chad, and Uryū were already there to let Urahara know what had happened. He had been disappointed, but frankly, unsurprised.

"He has not dealt well with losing his Shinigami abilities," Urahara said with a sigh. "I think that Karakura Town was too hard for him to deal with. I know he had mentioned to me before his powers faded finally that he wasn't sure if he could stay in Karakura. I believe that with his future looming ahead, he finally came to that point that he needed to leave."

Renji looked around. "You aren't serious? You think he would actually leave without telling someone, anyone?"

Chad looked up and locked eyes with Renji. "I agree. Ichigo would never leave Karakura Town. His mother is buried here. He would never abandon his sisters no matter what happens."

Urahara glanced between them. "I don't think so this time. I believe that Ichigo finally hit his breaking point. We have asked so much of him. He lost the things that he became, and he sacrificed so much for all of us. He deserves to be allowed a life that doesn't cause him pain."

Renji stood up. "No, I don't accept it. I can't. He wouldn't just leave."

Rukia looked at him. "Renji, please, you know how he wants to protect others. He had so much power, and it was all taken away from him."

"No, there's no way he'd run. Leave, maybe, but he'd tell someone that. He wouldn't leave and let people wonder what happened to him," he said, truly becoming annoyed by those around the table.

"There's nothing to be done," Isshin said from the doorway. The others looked up at him. "I reported him as missing, but he's eighteen, and they said unless there's evidence of foul play, there's no reason to think he didn't just leave on his own."

Chad nodded. "You found his phone. Where was it?"

Isshin looked at him. "One of the warehouses on the outskirts. It would be consistent if he were leaving and got rid of his phone, it was on the way out of town."

Renji looked at Chad. "Take me there. I want to see."

"I don't know that this is necessary," Uryū said and pushed his glasses up with a sigh.

Renji looked at him. "No, I'm going to find out what happened. Something isn't right here. I can't believe that you don't think so. Come on, Chad," he said and spun on his heal and headed out. Chad stood and walked behind him.

Renji was fuming when he got outside. "I can't believe this!" he growled. He'd gotten his gigai, so he could interact with the world. He sighed. "How can they think Ichigo of all people would run away."

Chad nodded. "He would not."

They stood for a while and then Chad looked at him. "Here, we will go to the warehouses."

Chad took him to the area where the few warehouse at the edge of Karakura sat. They walked around for a while until someone stopped them.

"Hey, you guys looking for something?" the man asked. He wasn't too remarkable.

"Yeah, we're looking for someone who disappeared down here a few days ago. Someone found his phone down here," Renji said and looked around.

The man looked up in thought for a second. "Oh, yeah, Ryō found that phone. Said it was by the back entrance. Busted the fuck up too," he said.

Renji looked at Chad and back at him. "Can you show us?"

"Sure, come on," he said and led them back entrance. "Back here," he said and pointed to the door.

Renji looked around for anything. "Has someone swept or anything back here?"

"Yeah, someone cleans up out here every night," he said. "I mean, they're supposed to sweep off the sidewalk into a dustbin, but they usually just sweet it into the grass."

Chad was already looking around in the grass around the area. "Renji," he said as he knelt down.

"What is it?" he asked and came over.

Chad had found a piece of metal rebar, laying off in the grass. Renji picked it up and looked at it. "Wait, is that…" he muttered and picked out a hair that was wrapped around it. It was bright orangey red in color. Renji ran his fingers down the bar and they came away with dried flakes of red. "This has to be enough. This has to prove something happened to him here…"

Unfortunately, the police disagreed. It was circumstantial. Ichigo wasn't the only person with that kind of hair, and though they could tell it was natural hair, there was no follicle. They determined that the rebar had blood on it, but the sample was so degraded that they couldn't tell who it was from. Renji tried to reason with Isshin, Rukia, and Urahara. They told him that he was seeing clues where they didn't exist. Chad agreed with Renji, though. Renji requested leave from Byakuya, and considering that there were no major incidents lately, he'd allowed him.

Renji and Chad sat on a green field and tried to come up with what they should do. They had no idea. Renji looked at Chad for a long moment. They had nothing, really.

"Why do you need to find him?" he asked finally.

Chad didn't move for a long moment. "There are things I need to tell him. Why do you come here for him?"

Renji sighed and looked at the sky. "I've got to tell him some things too…" he said with a sigh.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Ichigo – En Route to Kobe

Day 1 (Saturday) – 4:00 pm

The first thing Ichigo realized was that he hurt. His head was throbbing and he had no idea what was going on. He couldn't see anything but he was moving. It felt like he was in a vehicle of some sort. He groaned and tasted something horrible in his mouth, and there was a fabric gag in his mouth. Both sides of his mouth hurt. He tried to move but his hands were together behind his back and he could barely feel his fingers. The same was true of his ankles. Something was digging into both painfully. He tried to move but he was apparently bound to something behind him because he couldn't even roll off of his side. His heart was pounding in his ears and he had never been so scared in his life. There was no way to fight, no way to get away from this. He was in his worthless human body. He couldn't do anything. Not worthless, he told himself, he did put up a good fight with those guys, but he couldn't break out of this. Plus his head hurt still and he was dizzy.

He'd fallen asleep off and on for what felt like a long time. He had no idea how much time had passed. His stomach told him that it had been a while. He was also parched and his throat clicked dryly when he tried to swallow against the awful taste in his mouth. There was a jostling thump and he felt like if whatever was holding him in place hadn't been there, he would have rolled away from his position. Sudden light flooded the area around him and he squeezed his eyes shut. He could hear talking now.

"How many this time?"

"I think we grabbed eight altogether."

"No witnesses?"

"Nah, little Kie did a good job luring them away from residential."

"What'd you get? Anything special?"

"Eh, got a girl that has some nice tattoos on her legs, got a couple of boys that are real twink bitches, there's that girl there with the blonde hair, natural too, curtains match the drapes. This fucker," and now Ichigo felt a sharp pain in his shoulder ash he was kicked and now the two men that were talking came around.

They weren't masked. One was a tall man with dark hair and a three-piece suit. He looked like he belonged in a board room. The other one wore a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"This is the fucker that broke three of Shin's ribs, and Stitch's nose. Might have broken Rastlin's wrist too. Took the whole team we had out to bring his ass down."

The man in the suit knelt down and Ichigo saw he had bright blue eyes. "I see, feisty, are we?" he said and reached out and put his hand on Ichigo's face. Ichigo jerked away from him even though he couldn't go anywhere. "Hmm, I know where you're going already. You were a special."

He stood up and looked at the other man. "Any other collateral damage? No stops on the road?"

"Nah, we made it through with wings on. The weight station was smooth. They opened the back, saw the crates and let us go, like silk. Made sure all these bitches were bound up and gagged good. Soaked the gags in some liquid sedative to make sure the ride was smooth."

The man in the suit nodded. "Pull into the loading dock. Move the merchandise into the ground floor. The sale begins in two hours. And try to clean this one up," he said and shook his head at Ichigo. "I do like the buyers to know the quality they're getting. Riyoku brought in five from the north. With these eight, we'll have a decent group for this sale."

Ichigo watched him leave and looked around, the place now lit up. There were others lining the side of what he realized was a truck where he was bound. He saw just forms and shadows. What the hell was this?

It didn't take long before the truck moved again and men came into the back of the truck and began unhooking the figures from the side. When they got to Ichigo, he tried to get away from them but they'd sent two to get him out. He growled at them and tried his damnedest to kick one of them. He nearly got one of them in the face.

"Damn, boss wasn't kidding when he said this one was a handful. He's gonna go to Kukoa I bet."

"Oh, yeah, he'll take him in a second…" the other answered as the dropped him to the floor.

He groaned and rolled over to see he was in a large warehouse. There was a raised platform nearby and chairs were arranged in a semicircle around it. He saw that the others from the truck he'd been in had been dropped nearby. Some were unconscious still, others, like him, were looking around with frightened and confused eyes. After a while a young woman in what looked like a French maid outfit came over with a cloth and started cleaning off some of them. When she knelt down, Ichigo could see under her skirt and she had nothing under it. He looked at her when she came over and knelt by him.

"Aw, you look terrible," she said in a very soft voice. "Don't fight them. You'll only suffer for it. Accept your fate, no one will help you here," she said as she stood and went to the next person.

A few minutes later, the men who unloaded them came over and started cutting the zip ties off the others' legs. They pulled them to a standing position and Ichigo watched as they started cutting away their clothes until they stood there in their underpants. He could see five girls and two other guys. All of them looked to be around late teens and early twenties. He felt himself being lifted up. He was hoping they'd cut his legs free because he was going to do more than break someone's nose.

"Ah, you, heard about you," the man said. He was another different guy. This one had a bald head and a nose ring that glinted in the dim light. "You don't get cut loose even to walk."

Ichigo growled and struggled against the person holding him up from behind as the bald one took his knife and sliced down his t-shirt. He nodded.

"He's fit, that's a good selling point. Boys did a good job this time. None that we can't sell off like last time."

He then slid the knife under the band of his sweat pants and sliced down one leg of them, then the other. Ichigo winced as they pulled them off of him. Mostly because they were stuck to his thighs where he'd reopened the cuts there. He growled at them through the gag and tried to yell various insults, but it just came out muffled.

"Hehe, keep that fire up. You'll lose it real quick, trust me," he said and they drug him toward the platform where they stood behind it with the others.

He saw the seven that had come in with him, and there were four more girls and one more guy being brought in from the opposite side. He looked up as he heard a microphone squeal. His heart stuttered. Wait. Was this what he thought it was? He looked around and realized that the others were far too frightened to be looking around. No, this wasn't possible. He knew this kind of thing happened, but things like this didn't happen to him. They happened to other people…

"Welcome, we'll start the night with our lovely young women. We have four virgin sales, followed by five that have already been deflowered. Now, as usual, if you have put in a pre bid, the bidding will start at that level, and you will be able to compete if anyone rises above you."

Ichigo watched as four of the girls were guided up onto the stage. Ichigo could hear more than one of them choking sobs as the guy began auctioning them off one at a time. Ichigo felt his heart stop. No, he thought to himself. No, this was impossible. After everything he'd gone through, after he became a Shinigami, fought hordes of hollows, went to different worlds…and he'd been abducted by human traffickers of some sort. And he was powerless to get away. The four were led back to the other side and the other five girls were taken up. Ichigo could hear the announcer but not any of the responses.

"Next up, we have our virgin boys," he said and Ichigo felt the guy that was holding him lurch forward. Wait, how the hell did they even know that? He looked over at the other three that had been hauled up. There had only been four of them that were male. "I know, you ask if we're sure, do you think we take their word for it? All have been checked out, nice tight virgin holes, guaranteed. If you disagree, we can discuss it. Get your money's worth. All four have a pre-bid placed on them, so beware, you may not be able to rise above it... "

Ichigo's eyes went wide as he looked down at the other three. They all were wearing similar mortified expressions. Well, there went any idea that this wasn't a sex trafficking ring. Ichigo swallowed and watched as one by one, each of them was drug up beside the auctioneer. He was last in this group.

"Now, this one, you're gonna have trouble with. Already broke one of our guy's ribs, and another one's nose. This one is a fighter, so you're gonna need to keep it in mind, we're not responsible for any damages caused by the product after you take possession. Now, can we start the bidding…"

Ichigo phased out the words and just stared out as there had to be at least fifty men and women in those chairs. What the hell was this?

"Sold, sorry folks, Kukoa is not going to be outdone today on the boys. Thanks for driving the price up, though folks!" he said finally and Ichigo was drug back behind the dais and forced down to his knees with the others that had been sold already. He saw that several of them were weeping and trying very hard not to panic. He watched as there were people that came around and started exchanging money and leaving with some of the girls. All of the girls were sobbing now. One of the boys that was sitting with Ichigo was sobbing too. He wished he had his arms to put one around him.

"Good doing business with you," he heard and saw the man in the three-piece suit exchanging wads of bills with some of the people.

"I'll check the merchandise before I pay, thank you," one of them said.

He was a tall and thin man with fine black hair that was pulled back at the nape of his neck. He walked over toward them and looked down at the four males that had been sold. He knelt down and pulled up one of them by the chin and stared into his face. He reached his fingers into his mouth and looked inside and nodded. He repeated the same with the other two and then did the same with Ichigo. Ichigo tried to glare at him as best as he could. It wasn't very effective, though, considering his position. Ichigo noted that he had a lighter in his hand and was flicking the lid open and closed as he looked them over.

"Not bad, better than the last one you sold me," he said with a sigh. "I nearly had to tell the boss not to use you anymore for the slut runs."

"Kukoa, you know that we had no idea that the one had asthma, if we had we wouldn't have shipped him gagged."

Kukoa sighed and stood up. "I was out a lot of money for that boy. You're sure none of them have been used?"

"I told you that…" the three-piece suit guy said.

"Hmm, forgive me if I don't believe you," he said and went down to the first one of them and did something that made him cry out into his gag. He did something similar to the next one, and then when he got next to Ichigo, he could see what he was doing. He slid his hand down the back of his underwear and then the boy yelped in obvious pain.

"Hmm, this one was the fighter, yes?" he said as he knelt down beside Ichigo.

"Yeah, fancy footwork, good with kicks and pretty damn quick, don't let him get loose or you might never catch him again," the suit said with a smirk as Ichigo was pushed forward and he felt the guy reach down and force a finger inside him. He gagged and tried to get away from it.

"Alright, they're unused. I only take the fresh ones. My clients pay a lot to break in a boy," he said as he turned and gestured to two men in suits.

Ichigo was practically carried to a van that was waiting inside the warehouse. The four of them were pushed to the floor and their hands were all zip tied to a bar that ran along the side of the van. Ichigo looked down at the others and they all knew that this was bad for them. He swallowed hard and felt his stomach flip as they drove for a while. Ichigo had no idea how long, but he thought it was more than an hour. The boy that had started crying in the warehouse was still weeping. Eventually, they stopped with a jolt. All four were ushered out through an underground garage and into an elevator. Ichigo saw that they were going to the top floor of a rather tall building. His stomach would not settle, though. Fear wasn't something he normally felt, but this was one of those times he was feeling it. They were drug out of the elevator into a large, open room. There were sofas and chairs all around it, more than Ichigo had ever seen in a living room. The wall was a bank of windows showing the night sky. There wasn't anyone present at the moment as they were taken into a large bathroom. There was a large open shower in the middle and toilets along the other side. All four were thrown to the floor on the tiles of the shower. The men who had brought them stood one on each side of it.

A pair of young women came into the room and brought with them bags. The four boys watched as one of the girls took out a pair of cuffs that were connected together with chain and started putting them on each of the boys. She then cut the zip ties off. Ichigo was somewhat thankful because feeling rushed into his fingers. He was still bound, but at least he wasn't numb. The other girl began going around and placing similar cuffs on their ankles. She clipped Ichigo's together, though. There was enough chain between them that he could stand but not much else with them. The four goons, as Ichigo referred to them, came up and hefted each of them to their feet. The girls each cut away their remaining clothes. The goon holding Ichigo laughed out loud.

"What?" the one next to him said.

"Hey, look, the curtains match," he said with a snicker. Ichigo's face went red.

"I'll be damned, though he had to dye that shit…" the second said as they were shoved under the sprayers as the girls washed them off from head to toe. Ichigo was more than red at this. Finally they started removing the gags from the others and then Ichigo. Before he could say anything though, he felt a knife being held by the guy behind him at his throat. "Don't say anything," he growled. Ichigo saw the others were in the same position.

They were all fitted with gags that were like horse bits, but made out of rubbery material. They were then drug into another room that had some sort of padding in the floor mats and pillows. The girls and the four goons pushed them down and then left, closing the sliding door behind them. Ichigo got to a sitting position and just stared at the door. No one was going to find him. No one would look. He knew that. He remembered telling Urahara even that he didn't think he'd stay in Karakura Town. Despite himself, he felt tears starting to fall. There was nothing he could do to save himself, not to mention anyone else. But he would try. He had to try. He looked over at the other frightened boys. He would do everything to get them all out of this place.