Chapter three, now with ten percent more Ulquiorra. And fifty percent more Renji. And a much shorter author's note.

Many thanks to Vicious-Loner for the good, solid, valuable critique that every writer likes to get.


catharsis |kəˈθärsis| noun;

1 the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions.

2 rare Medicine purgation.


Inside my head hell screams it must be time
This weather can't be right
We rode our horses to the outer edge
The crusty dry devide

And we became the people
we had never meant to be
Those dying flames
The pieces we did not want to receive

-1916, Cake Bake Betty


Kira reached out blindly as the loud but simple ring tone of his cell phone went off, throwing him out of his stupor of sleep. For a few seconds he groped around the small bed side table, where, on any other morning, his phone would have rested. Instead he bumped the clock a few times; brushed against the book he was about half way through but ultimately came up empty handed.

"Damnit," the mild oath came out as a mutter as he sat up reluctantly, rubbing at his blue eyes briefly before stopping dead at the sight of his pants on the floor from which the phone was still going off. The sight of the garment and the ever so slight headache situated in the center of his forehead was enough to bring last night's events back to him in a rush- The attempted pick pocketing, the drink invite, the talking, the sex… With a low groan that sounded suspiciously like 'oh god' he bent over, wrestling the slim grey phone from the front pocket before finally flipping it open- ring tone getting cut off abruptly.

"Hello?" Checking the caller ID was the least of his priorities right now.

"You know- When I blow off the plans that you and Momo make its perfectly reasonable. Because I know the other one will still turn up. But both of you blowing off my breakfast plans- C'mon. That better have been one hell of a party." The blond let out a slight sigh at the distinct voice of Renji Abarai on the other end of the line. For a few seconds he didn't respond until a short 'hello?' made it impossible for him to suspend talking.

"Not a party exactly…" he stated, eyeing the slightly screwed up sheets to his left where Gin had been last night to the best of his recollection.

"Oh boy- He's not instantly on the defensive. Better go through what happened word by word."

"Do I have to…?" Kira questioned, sliding out from under the sheets and dangling his legs over the edge to the bed. He still felt a little bit uncoordinated but figured it would pass as soon as he was actually moving. Holding the phone to his ear via his shoulder he doubled over to collect his boxers and tug them on up over his ankles. "I… met someone okay?" He closed his eyes briefly, holding back another sigh as the red head let out a whoop of laughter through the connection.

"You met someone? Are they there? Can I talk to them-?"

"No, they are not here and even if they were I wouldn't let you," the blond retorted, crossing over to his dresser to pull out a pair of grey slacks, trying to decide if pulling them on right away was worth it when he was keeping a phone pressed to her ear. Not that he really needed to. Renji's voice was raised enough that he probably could have heard it from the kitchenette, and the grin that he knew was on his college friend's face was evident in his tone.

"A one night stand…?" The statement was followed up by a low and impressed whistle.

"Please don't sound so shocked," Kira sighed, selecting a shirt. That was exactly the sort of reaction he'd counted on getting though. His inability to find time for relationships amongst all his work had been a long running joke amongst his friends that was now unfortunately, spreading to his coworkers as well.

"Chick or a dude?"

"A man if you must know," he rolled his eyes slightly. Renji made it a point to not care about who he slept with and seemed to forget on a regular basis that most other people did have a preference. Whether that be their own gender or the opposite. He slid his shirt on to his shoulders but left it unbuttoned as he came to a stop before his mirror at the sight of a bright violet blemish situated well above his neck line. He remembered a bite to the tongue but nothing to the neck. Steeling himself for the fit of laugher he knew would be echoing in his ear, he ran the thumb of his free hand over the mark. "Renji… what would you do about a visible hickey?" Sure enough, he was rewarded with a loud bark of laughter.

"They left visible ones-? Gutsy. I dunno… put a band aid on it or something, it's gonna be pretty damn obvious what it is either way. I'd say call Momo and ask her to bring in her concealer but I tried calling her before you and her phone was off."

"Perhaps her date with her knight in shining armor went better than expected," the blonde profiler stated dryly, now rooting around in his bathroom for the box of band aids he knew was in there somewhere. Renji thought leaving a visible hickey was 'gutsy'; he didn't know the half of it… "Look, it's a little bit too late to get breakfast now right?" An agreeing grunt. "I'll see you at work then, alright?"

"Yeah fine- Just don't ditch work as well cause lover boy's actually waiting outside your door to pounce and molest your ass."

"Ha ha, very funny," with that he snapped his phone shut, placing the band aid over the bruise on his neck and tried to block out the mental image of Gin's smiling face. It was a poor choice and there was no point in dwelling on it. He wouldn't see the other man again and even if he could he wasn't sure he would take the opportunity. As muddled as his recollections were there was something unsettling about those blue eyes and that grin. Another low groan escaped the blonde's lips as he glanced down- Renji would have to wait a little longer. He needed a shower.

--

It took Renji roughly twelve seconds, starting after Kira walked in to the front lobby to give the shorter man a congratulatory thump on the back. He'd have done it sooner but he had to cross over from the front desk where he was talking with the receptionist and meet the blond about half way from the sliding glass doors.

"No, I don't know what I was thinking," the criminal profiler started without hesitation, knowing that his brief run in with interrogation on the phone was just the tip of the iceberg. "Yes, I was a little drunk…" that part of the statement came out with a sigh. "And yes, he was fairly decent looking."

"Good man,' the red head stated with a short laugh, raising a hand in a sort of half formed farewell wave to the receptionist as they started in to the actual building. "Now, was this drunk for you or drunk for a standard person because seriously- You were giddy off that wine cooler when we all went out to eat that one time. And I'm sorry but that's sad." Kira gave him a dry look that suggested he wasn't amused by the other bringing up the fact he couldn't hold liquor in any form.

"It was a beer and half, so drunk for me I guess-" Renji shook his head slightly, clasping the blonde's shoulder in a jokingly consoling manner as they passed through the first block of offices and rooms that were pretty much reserved for briefings and spaces for people who were fresh from the academy and need some place to work before they got formally settled.

"So'd you get his name, or I dunno… What he does? Or was it drink and fuck?"

"Renji, some people have standards. I know you're not lined up with the normal human mentality but at least try and keep it in mind. His name was Gin and… he said he was a novelist." Bringing up the fact that he could easily have been lying about that and that they'd met when the older man had tried to pick pocket him would probably only cause problems… What the red head didn't know wouldn't hurt him. He let out a faint sigh, lips pursed as they walked by Momo's office. The door was still shut and the lights were off making it obvious that she had yet to come in. Kira had been sort of half hoping that she would have arrived and Renji would have someone else to bother about their intimate conquests. It could hardly be called his topic- In fact he sort of shied away from discussing most private things.

"Weird name, but I guess you gotta have one if you're one of those creative writer types," the blonde's somewhat odd way of phrasing the statement ('said he was a novelist') went right over his head. "I wanna go say good morning to Rookie before I hole up in my office waiting for something exciting to happen that I can actually get involved with- Urahara hasn't let me anywhere near the scenes of one of the serial killings and its driving me crazy-" he cut himself off with a sort of huffish sigh, as though he too personal offence in the fact. "Anyway, you wanna come with?"

"You know," Kira noted, with a faint nod. "You might have more luck talking to him with you called him by his name instead of 'rookie'"

"Aw, don't be a spoil sport. He's only been here half a month or so- Soon I won't be able to call him rookie. He should be thanking me in any case, that sounds way manlier than Ichigo. What the hell were his-"

"Abarai, Kira-" The red head's comment was cut off by the cool, business like voice of Byakuya Kuchiki as he approached from behind them, lips in a flat line.

"Sir?" the blond questioned, trying to cover up, or at least make up for, the fact that Renji's only form of acknowledgement was to make a slight face. He and their black haired superior hadn't gotten off to a brilliant start back when Renji had first joined the force. As far as Kira could recall it was something to do with his tattoos- Byakuya had fought valiantly to force him to get them removed until Urahara had told him it didn't really matter and that nobody but stiffs paid attention to policies like that. And while Urahara sometimes took things way too lightly he was the director and his word was essentially law.

"Something's happened. Urahara would like to talk to you in his office. Now." The two younger men exchanged a glance but followed without question, heading back up the way they had come. A call to the director's office meant the topic was grave enough for the blond man to neglect his normally loose attitude- Standard messages from him were delivered in person and with no fan fare, just a quick duck in to your office.

"What-"

"I think he would prefer to tell you," Byakuya stated, cutting Renji off for a second time, gesturing them forward through the door and locking it smoothly to prevent interruption as they all crowded in. Renji frowned slightly as they took a seat across from the older man in response to a sort of half hearted hand gesture- Kira grimacing ever so faintly despite the fact the chair was padded.

"What's this about-?" The tattooed man beside him questioned sort of callously, unnerved by the somber atmosphere the small room seemed to hold. "We just got in-"

"We've had another killing," Urahara stated, tone almost flat and with no trace of his normal half there grin that always seemed to be lurking around the corners of his mouth. He didn't need to elaborate on what sort of killing as the two men before him paused, expressions holding varying degrees of confusion.

"I've already told you," Kira started, making half a move to stand up. He didn't want to get involved with this case on any level. Not out of heartlessness- he felt nothing but sympathy and sadness for the friends and families of the victims, even more so because they were making no head way with it. He knew that the people who were personally acquainted with all the women must be losing all faith in law enforcement. No, he didn't want to get wrapped up in it because he didn't want to have to sit there and rationalize what sort of person could have committed these murders or why they did it. So, as selfish as it was, he planned on continuing to turn down requests to join the team until something happened to make him want to personally put the perpetrator behind bars. "I'm not working the case, not until-"

"That's exactly why I called you in," the older man stated, causing the profiler to stop dead in the middle of his sentence, still hovering about an inch above his chair. "Momo's dead." He was greeted with the dead silence that accompanies taken aback shook as Renji twisted sharply in his seat to look at the black haired man still standing by the door in a sort of desperate manner as though silently pleading with him to say 'just kidding'. Because those reassuring words sure as hell weren't coming from the flat line of Urahara's lips, and there was no joking sparkle in his somber eyes.

"What-?" the word came Kira in a sort of strangled whisper, his blue eyes still locked on the man in front of him as he sat back down with a shallow 'thump'. Urahara nodded slightly, the movement dragged the red head's pained gaze back to him as well.

"The call came in about ten minutes ago," the ash blond man continued, voice heavy. "She was found a couple of blocks from here… Kira," the name escaped him in a sort of regretful manner as though he knew it was wrong to be forcing this sort of thing in on the younger man. "Does this constitute a personal reason for you to get involved…?" The criminal profiler stared at him for a few more seconds as though praying, just like Renji, for someone to declare it was a joke, a sick one, but just a joke.

"Yes-" he still sounded choked as he nodded, finally looking away to close his eyes, biting his lip in a pained manner.

"Byakuya will take you then-" Urahara started, tone laced with sympathy but he never got to finish as Renji stood sharply, stepping up to his desk.

"Wait just a fucking second!" he snapped, palms pressed to the deep brown wood of the surface before him as he leaned in to the other man. "What about me?! You haven't let me anywhere near the case even though I've been trying since day one to get on the team! And now-! One of my best friends is killed and you expect me to take that news back to my office and do nothing to try and catch her killer?!"

"Renji, I just don't think, with your temperament-" the police director tried in apology, raising one of his hands slightly as though to ward off the punch that looked like it might be coming his way.

"I'm one of the best people you've got you god damn sleazebag and you know it-! Put me on the fucking team-!!" the red head all but shouted, twisting sharply as Byakuya stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder to try and pull him back a notch. There was no way, there was just no fucking way he was going to still be denied a shot at catching this guy- Not now- Not with Momo dead-

"If you want me you'll put him on the team," Kira cut in, voice soft in comparison to Renji's though his eyes were open again and he was back to looking Urahara despite the pained air around him. "The three of us have been teaming up on things since before we got here. That doesn't change- Especially not now." The older man pursed his lips slightly, a barely audible sigh escaping him as he glanced at the red head who was glaring at Byakuya and shoving his hand off roughly.

"Fine…" he stated slowly, recalling exactly how many times the two men and Momo had swapped notes and helped each other with the cases they were handed. "All three of you will go then. Ichigo left with a few of the cadets when the call came in to tape off the area and start with the basics-" His explanation was rendered useless as Kira stood with a faint look that could have been of thanks and followed Byakuya out the door Renji had violently unlocked and opened as soon as the word fine had passed the ash blond man's lips.

The drive over was all but silent. Byakuya didn't question the other two as they took seats in the back of the sleek unmarked car. On occasion he would shoot a glance at the rearview mirror but neither Renji nor Kira budged during the entire- albeit relatively quick- drive. The red headed crime scene investigator hadn't bothered with the seatbelt by his shoulder and had his head tilted back over the back of the seat, eyes closed and brow half knit. Kira was doubled over staring blankly at his knees with his hands run half way in to his hair and tangled there. The jolt of the car braking and being put in to park snapped them both out of it however.

"We have a job to do," the black haired man in the driver's seat stated evenly, opening his door. "Don't let the fact that you know the victim alter any of your decisions." Renji glared at his back slightly as they approached the taped off area, the angered expression fading as he took in the sight of Momo's body situated in a seated position, one leg crossed over the other in a manner standard of women wearing skirts. Her hands were folded on her knees and there was the white rectangle of an index card situated right where it was supposed to be.

"Jesus Christ…" Kira breathed from Renji's right, looking faintly sick as he raised a hand to his mouth. Unlike the red head, his gaze had immediately shot to the gash that crossed her throat in a precise manner and was deep enough to cause her head to tilt back on her shoulders, stretching the skin to reveal some of the inner workings of her airway that were coated in dried blood.

"Renji-"all three of them turned as Ichigo's voice sounded from behind them where he was walking back from the open trunk of the car he had evidently arrived in. The young ginger was clutching several pairs of gloves in his hand as he dodged one of the cadets milling around the taped off area. "Sorry, I was telling one of the cadets to keep the press-"He might have only joined the force a couple weeks ago but his high scores on tests and exercises had placed him in a position above all the other newcomers for the year. He stopped himself as he took in the expressions in place on their faces, brow knitting upwards a notch. "I'm-"

"Let's just get to work-" Renji stated shortly, not letting the sympathetic apology form fully. If he kept busy, he thought, the situation wouldn't sink in all the way. And he couldn't afford to let it. Because as soon as the reality of this hit home- as soon as his brain stopped refusing to put Momo's name with the face of the women before them- he knew he would break down and then he wouldn't be any use here.

Kira shot him a brief look, wishing he was able to disassociate himself as well at the moment. It was because he wasn't used to this, he thought as he ducked under the band of tape before them, eyes closing for a few seconds despite his attempt to remain focused on the tasks ahead of them. He couldn't objectify like Renji and try as he might he couldn't rid himself of the clip of mental film that kept replaying in his mind's eye- Momo turning in a small circle in front of his desk, skirt spinning out slightly as she asked how she looked, smiling…

"Kira," Byakuya's voice snapped him to, and he couldn't be sure but it sounded just slightly less cold than it had back at the car. "This is a small crime scene, the less people the better. And because this isn't your normal area of … expertise I'm going to have to ask you to tell one of the cadets what you need and then step back." Renji turned at his words as his friend nodded sort of hesitantly and quickly requested to see the index card as soon as he could. There was no point in reminding them to photograph her position six ways to Sunday.

"We're only checking this area-?" the red head questioned, sounding sharp again as he carefully avoided looking at Momo's face where her glassy eyes stared up at the cloud covered sky- amongst all the other things he'd done the killer hadn't bother to push her eyelids down.

"Abarai, this is a public area. And if you were keeping your emotions out of this like I asked you to you would realize right off the bat that inspecting any more than this segment of sidewalk would be counterproductive. Odds are there would be nothing of use and it would give the public and press more time to stick their nose in to this," he glanced briefly at some of the newcomers who'd come with Ichigo and were already busy shooing passersby along, it was only a matter of time before they turned in to reporters flashing their press badges and demanding to be let by. When that happened he wanted to be almost done if not long gone. He despised that humanity felt the need to stick their noses in to everything; the death of someone should be an event that people respected, not broadcast to all the TV sets in the city so as to entice more morbidly curious viewers to flick to their channel. "Do your job, Abarai and grieve for her once we're all done here," he broke off with a faint sigh as Renji gave him an angry scowl but turned back anyway. If the younger man wanted to channel his anger towards the man heading what was now his team, fine. He didn't need the people working this case to like him. Just to listen.

"Sir," one of the cadets approached him holding an evidence bag with the index card in it- apparently they were done photographing that bit. "Could you point out who wanted this?" Byakuya pursed his lips faintly but inspected the area behind him before gesturing to Kira who was leaning against the car they had come in with his arms crossed over his chest as though to put some distance between himself and reality.

"Don't bother him," the black haired man ordered as an afterthought- he wanted his men to listen to him and he didn't need rookie cops pestering them.

"Sir," the young man acknowledged again before ducking under the line of tape and making a beeline for the blond profiler. "They're done photographing it," he stated, holding the clear evidence bag out to Kira. "But if you want to take it out please use gloves." It wasn't as though any of the other index cards had revealed anything more than the centered, black ink that made up its quote- no fingerprints, nothing. But that didn't mean they were allowed to break with routine.

Kira nodded and took the bag from him and the cadet started back quickly for the taped area as though realizing that maybe he shouldn't have reminded his superior about proper procedure. The blond barely got a chance to glance down at the black letters (and certainly didn't get to actually absorb the words they formed) before another unmarked car pulled up, parking a couple feet to his left and behind the vehicle he'd arrived in. There was an indistinct exchange of words between the two passengers before the driver's side opened and their force's resident forensic pathologist, Ulquiorra Schiffer, stepped out- Followed quickly by Byakuya's sister in law and the integrator for the case Rukia Kuchiki. The dark haired woman's attention almost immediately locked on to him as she rounded the trunk end of the car, brow knitting faintly as the man she'd ridden over with gave Kira a slight nod of acknowledgement and started over for the actual crime scene without saying anything.

"I think he's annoyed I insisted on riding over with him," she started softly. "I'm not technically supposed to be here… but I heard both you and Renji were here and I couldn't just sit around and twiddle my thumbs…" The red head behind the tape was an old childhood friend and while they'd grown apart and lost contact it was hard not to catch up and make up for lost years when you were working in the same building. Renji had introduced her to Kira and while no one would call them close she liked the blond profiler, quite, polite, reserved- everything Renji wasn't. Watching them had never failed to amuse her. And Momo… She'd been talking to optimistic and romantic woman lately, getting to know her…When it came down to it, it didn't really matter how 'close' to someone you were. Everyone in the building was there to provide support when someone needed it. "Izuru… I'm sorry…" Kira looked at her, the bag containing the index hanging loosely in his grasp at his side.

"Yeah…" he breathed, sounding strained. For all the effort he was putting in to viewing the situation from a disconnected mindset, it wasn't working... Rukia hesitated slightly, draping an arm around him in a sort of half formed but comforting hug before letting it drop back to her side- their height difference and the air hanging around the blond making it sort of awkward.

"Is that the card they left us…?" the petite woman asked, noticing the clear bag. The man beside her glanced down at it as though he'd forgotten it was there in the minute or so they'd been talking but nodded and flipped it over his hand to take in the words once more.

"'We become innocent when we are unfortunate. Jean de la Fontaine,'" he read out loud for the rectangle of white paper before his attention shifted back to the taped off space a couple of yards from them. He didn't want think about the quote's meaning or what it represented until they were done here.

--

Byakuya pursed his lips faintly, glancing at Ulquiorra. They'd done the most they could here- The sidewalk was concrete- no footprints. They'd dusted for fingerprints but just like all the other times before that search had turned up nothing. Other than photographing everything from every angle imaginable there wasn't really anything to go on. It was as clean as you could expect a public bench to be. Of course they would return later to ask the people who lived in the area if they had seen anything but all of the killings, with Momo's being no exception, appeared to have been done some place else with the murderer just getting a little creative with their body dumping method. There was never any blood on the victim's clothes and the wound, though nasty to look at, had been cleaned. Or rather the skin around it had been wiped free of any blood that might have been there when it was fresh.

"Once we're back I'll be able to give you a more exact time," Ulquiorra started, pulling off the gloves he had donned earlier to reveal slim fingers and pale skin. "But I'm placing her death at some point late last night." Renji yanked his gloves off aggressively, brow knit in a scowl. All they had to show for their work so far was a pile of photos that would have to be printed out and then stared at for hours in hopes that they held some sort secret they'd missed the first time around. At least Kira might find them useful, he thought with a sort of bitter twinge, ducking under the tape with the other two men as the cadets were told to finally move Momo and wrap up everything. We're gonna get this guy, he promised silently, glancing over his shoulder as Momo's still somewhat limp corpse was carefully shifted out of its precise position.

"I'll call you when I have everything together for a report," the black haired forensic pathologist continued as they made their way back over to the cars. "But the cause of death is obvious as you saw, just like all the times before. And just like all the times before I wouldn't count on the body revealing any evidence. He isn't about to get sloppy and start making mistakes when his victim is a member of the police force." Ulquiorra had inspected each of the other victims, and while he wasn't officially on the team he might as well have been.

"You think he knew she was police-?" Ichigo questioned quickly, brow half knit.

"I wouldn't know, Kurosaki," was the sort of cool reply. "I am well versed in the inner workings of human bodies but I find the study of our minds to be rather frivolous and unproductive. However Urahara has informed me you now have the services of a profiler. I would suggest asking him if you find you need to know." They came to a sort of dead stop a few feet from the cars as Rukia darted forward and this time there was no hesitation as she draped her arms around Renji in a conciliatory hug. Unlike with Kira she pretty much knew the red head could use some form of grounding contact. The taller man hesitated for a second before returning the gesture, arms dropping back down as she stepped away with a muted apology.

"Kuchiki," the dark haired woman turned at Byakuya's voice. Though they were indeed related by a confusing mess of marriage and adoption that most people had given up on trying to understand, the older man insisted on calling her by her last name the same as anyone else. Sometimes she swore he was harder on her because they were related. "This is a crime scene and you are on my team. Care to explain what you're doing here without my express permission?"

"Comforting people, sir," she replied without missing a beat. Now wasn't the time for the normal, though slight, intimidation she felt around the other to kick in. Byakuya arched an eyebrow slightly but didn't get a chance to say anything as Ichigo stepped forward to grab Rukia's wrist and sort of half tug her in the direction of the car he'd come in.

"Sorry, my fault," he started. "I thought it would be a good idea for her to come with Ulquiorra because she's on the team." The frown on the older man's face at the ginger's lack of formality was almost enough to prompt a half formed and kind of cracked smile to Renji's lips but the expression died before it got a chance to be anything more than a thought.

--

Both Kira and Renji paused slightly as they stepped through the door in to the room the team had claimed for the case. All the photos from the other killings were organized in rows on the walls starting with the first to the most recent. The red head grimaced faintly as he took them in quickly- He'd seen plenty of nasty things but that didn't make a close up of a slit throat of a bullet wound in a forehead any nicer. The room was furnished for functionality, a single table that was roughly in the middle along with monitors on their own private desks off to the side. The wall across from the door was spared the slight grotesque photos and instead had snap shots of former suspects that had turned out to be duds and clumps of post-it notes with tidy hand writing. The whole area was like a shrine to the combination of old techniques and technology that they prided themselves on. Computers and databases had made their jobs ten times faster but sometimes there was nothing better than a good old fashioned mug shot.

"Take a seat," Byakuya stated shortly as they were followed in to the room by Rukia and Ichigo. "Hisagi will be down here shortly when he's finished printing off the photos." Kira's brow knit slightly at the mention of the dark haired man who was a few years older than them and had helped Renji out when he'd first joined the force awhile back. He hadn't realized he was working this case as well… Hisagi spent his time working with tech and covered some of their contact with the press as well- keeping the reporters off their backs and preventing leaks. Byakuya glanced around as they all took seats that were situated in various stages of being pushed in around the table. "Because we know who the victim is this time we're going to start with what she was doing last night. Perhaps she told her roommate where she was going out."

"I know what she was doing," Kira cut in, voice still not quite at its normal tone, as though if he didn't pick and choose his words carefully it would crack. "She came by my office before she left… She had a date… With a man named Sosuke."