Chapter Four

Next Comes Despair

Chad, Renji – Shinjuku Station, Tokyo

Day 12 (Wednesday) – 7:00 pm

"Why don't I just Shunpo?" Renji asked under his breath.

"Because, going so fast, you miss things. If Ichigo happened to have come this way, if we're wrong and he left on his own, he might have taken this bus route. So we ask at each stop during the night if anyone saw him," Chad said with a sigh. Sometimes the quick tempered Shinigami didn't understand the necessity of slowing down.

Renji crossed his arms over his chest. He checked his pocket for the soul candy. He still was annoyed at the thought he had to sit in a seat all night. On a bus full of people, too! He grumbled at Chad again about how it was incredibly slow.

Chad and Renji had informed the others what they were planning. The responses they got were varied. Orihime had burst into tears and ran off. Uryū had shook his head at them. Urahara had nodded in silent ascent, knowing he could not dissuade them from doing everything possible. Isshin had almost started crying but had just nodded and turned away. They'd caught a bus from Karakura Town to Tokyo and a cab to the station. Now they waited with about twenty other people for the overnight bus. Chad thought that if Ichigo had gone on his own, he wouldn't have had the money for the bullet train.

They got into the bus and before long they were going off into the dark. Renji fidgeted a lot. Finally he leaned over to Chad. "Okay, so say we find him. What's the plan?"

Chad thought for a moment. "Well, if he's there by choice, I believe we should reason with him. But it will be a matter of what he decides if he will come back or not."

"And if…" Renji swallowed a ball. "And if he isn't there by choice?"

Chad looked at Renji and ran his hand down his arm. "We take him back."

Renji nodded. "No humans, this Yakuza or not, can stand up to you and a Shinigami," he muttered and settled back into the seat. "Hell, they won't even see me once I get out of Gigai."

Chad nodded. He had several ideas, but most of them involved using his power to break through any obstacle and get Ichigo away from whoever had taken him. He'd never thought much about what life would be like with him around, but Chad didn't like it. He missed him. He wanted to see him and hear him again. Chad refused to fight, but Ichigo was more than willing to step in and do it for him. He knew about Chad's dislike of hurting others. And Chad would stand between anything and Ichigo. He never realized until he was gone how much he meant to him. If he didn't find him, he would regret not being able to tell him this.

Chad glanced next to him to Renji. "What will you do when you ask him about the person he's talking about in the journal?"

Renji looked at him and shrugged. "I mean, I've been thinking about who he could be talking about. Just trying to figure it out. Who would he miss that much, you know? If it was a her, I'd say Rukia. But him? I don't know. You know how he is. The people he respects he uses their given names, even when it annoys them like with Kuchiki-taichou. So, I guess there's him, Hitsugaya-taichou, Ikkaku, Zaraki-taichou… It might be one of the Arrancar, though. I thought about that. Like that one he fought with so much that he tried to save, Grimmjow or whatever?" Renji crossed his arms over his chest. "I mean, maybe someone like Ukitake-taichou…but I don't think so. They never spent time together."

Chad nodded. "What about you?"

Renji blinked and looked at him. "I doubt that," he muttered and looked away. Chad didn't miss the look on his face though. It was a look that said he wanted it to be so, but was afraid it wasn't.

They were silent for a long time. They dozed off and on as the night passed away around them.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Renji, Chad, Adel – Kyoto

Day 13 (Thursday)– 10:00 am

"Chad, I don't want to do that again," Renji said as he stepped off the bus. He stretched his back. "That is not comfortable," he muttered.

At every stop, they had gotten off and showed Ichigo's picture to people. They found no one that had seen him. Neither one wanted to say anything, but both were getting worried that perhaps they had come to the wrong place.

Chad looked around for the distinctive figure of his friend Adel. "I do not see Adel yet," he said as he looked around.

"Where'd you meet his dude anyway?" Renji said with a sigh as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"He was visiting Karakura Town while his parents were in Tokyo. I showed him around and we kept in contact afterward," Chad said as he spotted him. "There," he said and he led Renji over to him.

As usual, Adel wore the neck corset and his shoulder length hair was free around his face. He bowed to them slightly then tapped on the tablet.

"Chad, I am glad to see you. Who is your friend?"

Renji frowned and looked at Chad.

"This is Renji Abarai, Adel. He is a friend of mine," Chad looked at Renji. "Adel is mute from an injury," he said to him.

Renji nodded and looked around. He really wanted out of the Gigai so he could look around. Without thinking he pulled Ichigo's Shinigami badge from his pocket as was holding it in his hand. Adel glanced at him, then his hand.

"That is an odd thing," he said and pointed to the badge.

Chad looked at him, and then at Renji. Renji looked at him. "You…you can see it…" he muttered.

Adel blinked and stared at Renji for a longer moment. He shook his head and gestured. "Let's get to my apartment."

Once inside, Adel turned back and looked at both of them.

Chad and Renji both looked around the room at the conglomeration of things that Adel had collected. He had some African masks on the wall, and there were a few strange musical instruments on various shelves. There were a lot of snapshots of various places in large collage frames on the walls. There was one larger framed picture of Adel with a couple that had to be his parents and a girl that looked older than him by a few years with a very young little girl. Adel saw they were looking at it.

"My mother, father, and my older sister and her daughter," came the computerized voice as he returned with a tray of coffee and various things to put in it like creams and sugars. He gestured to have them seat themselves on a low futon.

"I have a lot from my travels," he tapped in after he had sat down the tray and poured coffee from the caraff he'd brought in. "I like to collect things to remind me of where I've been. Chad knows, of course, but my parents are international business people."

Chad nodded. "You said when we met before that you traveled a great deal. You've been in Japan for quite a while now, though."

"Yes, there have been a lot of things for my parents to do here," he said with a nod.

"What business do they do?" Renji asked, with a concerned look.

"They're international consultants. They work with a lot of companies on expanding and working on integrating to the cultures they are entering. They gave me most of the books there on cultural etiquette so I could prepare myself," he pointed to a shelf heavy with various volumes in several languages.

Renji sipped at the coffee and made a face. He grabbed the sugar and doused the cup in a generous amount. "So, like, you just follow them and hang out in whatever country they go to?"

Adel smiled and took a drink of his own coffee. "Yes, I typically try to get into local cultures and meet people. Here in Kyoto, some of my father's associates have children my age, and I've been experiencing Kyoto with them. They are a raucous bunch though. I've been in more than one drinking establishment and they seem intent on proving I am not asexual like I claim."

Chad smiled and sipped his own very whitened coffee. "I'd imagine. You told me when we met that you had problems with that."

Renji frowned. "Why would not wanting sex be a problem?"

Adel looked at him. "Well, most people refuse to believe that not wanting something they greatly desire is possible. I do enjoy hiring escorts and sex workers, though. It is to show me around cities I go to. I've heard a lot of stories from them, too. It is a fascinating need that many people have, especially since I don't share it."

"I don't know much about this weird thing that humans have with sex," Renji muttered, looking away. "What's so weird about doing what you want, or not doing it?"

Chad glanced at him and wondered if Adel had caught the slip. He looked over and saw that Adel was staring at Renji now.

"Your tattoos are very unique." Adel's gaze was long, though.

Renji shrugged and ran a hand over his head, still clutching the badge. Adel wondered if he should say anything. He wanted to know, though. It wasn't every day he saw someone like this. Usually, when he did, the encounters ended badly. He had never had a direct encounter with someone who had this kind of spiritual energy, and most like him tended to ignore him. Still, though, he'd heard stories about them.

"What are you?" he tapped into the tablet as he stared at him.

Renji flinched and looked at him. "What?"

Adel's fingers flew over the screen. "You aren't human. I do not know what you are."

Renji looked at Chad and back at Adel. "Chad, can he see spirits…?"

Chad looked at him. "Do you see spirits and other things like monsters with white faces?"

Adel frowned. "The hollows?"

"Does everyone in this fucking country know what we do?" Renji growled exasperated. "Fine, look, I'm going to look, since this guy knows what I am," he muttered as he slammed his hand into the badge, his Gigai dropping as he stepped out of it. "Oh that's so much better," he said and stretched his arms over his head.

"Renji, be careful. We don't know who covers this district, they might not be happy with you running around unannounced…" Chad said.

"Meh, no one will bother me. I'm a Fuku-taichou," he said and patted his arm with the white band. "I'll be back," he said as he shunpo'd out the window into the air.

Adel watched him go. "I have seen those that are dressed like him. They do not seem to realize I see them," he said and looked at Chad. "And you, there is something different about you."

Chad nodded and started to explain what had happened to him and who Renji was. When he finished Adel tapped. "You have a fullbring."

Chad frowned. "What is this?"

"When a hollow attacks a human, and they survive the attack, some power is given to their children. I am a fullbringer as well. Your power lies in the arm that you summon. My power lies in my ability to silence the world around me."

Chad nodded. "That is why you could see Renji and the badge. Since I have this, one of my parent's was attacked."

"My mother was likely attacked while she carried me," Adel typed into the tablet. "She used to talk about waking up with this white face hovering over her bed. She said she thought it was just a nightmare in the middle of a bout of sleep paralysis, but I believe she was attacked. She said it drained her of energy or something, then everything went black. I would assume one of these Shinigami had to kill the creature since they usually don't leave those they attack alive."

"How did you come by this knowledge about what you were?" Chad asked. "We have not been able to understand how I got this power."

Adel thought for a long time. "Over the years I've come to understand what this is. I've met other Fullbringers, some good people, some very much not good people. I realized my power when I was a teen, a street preacher spouting his foolish nonsense, and I was waiting nearby. I just wanted him to shut up, and then, everything went quiet. No one could make a noise, and they looked frightened as they glanced around. Then, the sound rushed back. They all have unique and hollow like abilities. I learned of hollows from a man in Russia that taught me for a while. Another, a woman I met in Prague taught me a bit about ways to deal with hollows I came across." Adel stopped and looked at Chad. "We are human, but possessed of a great power. It is often that it turns people into monsters. We are not monsters because of what power we hold. We can become monsters, though, if we use it wrong."

Chad nodded and sighed. "My friend is a good person. He doesn't deserve to have these things happen to him."

Adel nodded. "Is your friend like us or like the…what was it, Shinigami?"

"No, he is human," Chad said with a sad smile. "He once was a Shinigami, but he sacrificed his power to defeat an enemy that threatened to destroy the World of the Living."

"Well, I can help you decide where to look," Adel's tablet said and he got up and grabbed a map of the city.

Adel marked places on the map that he believed would be likely for someone to end up. He was almost down when Renji landed on the lip of the window and dropped down into the room again.

"Nothing, this is a big city, though," Renji said as he flopped onto the floor in exasperation.

"Renji we have just arrived, and there is a lot of places to look. We should begin." Chad turned to Adel. "Thank you, we'll come back before evening is done. Thank you so much for allowing us to stay here.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Ichigo – Kagema House

Day 11(Tuesday) – 1:00 pm

Ichigo had spent the last three days in the recovery room. He felt like every part of him hurt all at once. Kukoa had come and spoken with him a couple times. It didn't make Ichigo feel any better. He spent most the time lying on his side and avoiding anything that required sitting. He had never imagined feeling so disgusting after something like this. He didn't know how to feel otherwise though. He wanted to just hide away in his mind. He wanted to forget Ichigo. Azami, the Kagema, was so much easier to be right now. Ichigo was a fighter, a person that wouldn't give up or give in. Azami, though, Azami was pitiful, weak, and worthless.

Knowing that they had been giving them sedatives didn't make him feel better. He guessed it should, after all, it was what made him feel sluggish and unable to react in the ways he wanted to react to things. Still, though, he had this idea that he should have been able to get himself out of the situation no matter what. He should have thrown off the effects of the sedative somehow. He should have been able to fight through it. He hadn't been able to do so. He'd let that man hurt him. He'd let it happen. He couldn't stand that thought. It was worse than anything he had thought and the urge to cut into his own body was so strong that he wanted to use his fingernails.

Kukoa came in and smiled at him. "Ah, my dear, you are looking better. The good news is that your future clients will not be like him. I regret how injured you were, but the others would not have endured. I knew that when the team said it took them all to subdue you. It is very rare that I gain a Kagema that is so capable of fighting. I was so much like you, fighting them to the last."

Ichigo swallowed thickly. Kukoa continued. "Come, time to get ready for your next client," he said with a smile.

Ichigo didn't like the fact that he still felt terrible the last thing he wanted to do was have another client. He didn't want to do any of this. He followed though, because he knew that the consequences of not doing as Kukoa said were far worse than the humiliation he was about to suffer.

After Kukoa assisted Ichigo with the preparations, something that he still found humiliating beyond belief, he took him to a room that looked similar to the one from the night before. He realized what the "thunk" had been, there was a wooden sign on the door that said "In Use" on it. How nice, he thought to himself. They don't want people to walk in on whores. He looked up to see someone else leading Nakimushi toward them. He tilted his head to side and looked at Kukoa.

"You have a special client once again. Usually, there is a series of trainings that I do with my new Kagema before they begin having clients. These clients are those that request new Kagema that are untrained, like your first client. He had been on a list some time to have a new Kagema to sate his perverse desires. This one tonight requests new Kagema as well. He requests two, and his tastes…are unusual. I am certain that you can handle this, Azami."

Ichigo still hated the name. Azami. He wasn't Azami. But really, would being Azami be so bad? If he was Azami, then he wouldn't be so humiliated, because it wouldn't be Ichigo Kurosaki that was being subjected to these horrible things, it would be Azami. He glanced a Nakimushi and wondered what his name had been. He supposed he didn't mind working the same client with Nakimushi. He was a very cute boy, after all. He was wearing a kimono with cherry blossoms all over it. Ichigo's was, like the last time, covered in lotus blossoms, this time, though, they were pink on a light cream colored background. He was beginning not to mind the kimonos. He'd never worn women's clothes before, but he rather liked the way they felt.

Ichigo flinched when the door opened and Kukoa led them in. "Here are Azami and Nakimushi," he said and bowed to the two men waiting inside the room. He backed out and closed the door.

"You are both lovely," came a voice beside them. Both Ichigo and Nakimushi turned to see a very young man, perhaps sixteen or less, standing beside a much older man in a suit. The younger of them had on a long yukata and was staring intently at them.

"Do you wish me to stay, son?" the older man asked. It would seem that the older man was the Yakuza member instead of the younger one.

"No, father, please, leave us. A long night is ahead of me," he said with a smirk.

The older man left and the younger circled them. "I have some peculiar tastes," he commented. He stood shorter than Ichigo, but taller than Nakimushi. He smiled and tipped Nakimushi's face up.

"Remove your clothes," he said and turned his back.

Ichigo and Nakimushi both did as he asked. Both of them had clients that had left them unwilling to test Kukoa's patience. Ichigo saw that Nakimushi's body was as marked as his own. Large bruises blossomed over his ribs, hips, and thighs. Ichigo didn't look much better, his neck, hips, and arms were marked up as badly. Nakimushi's legs had some deep scratches on them. The young man reached down and gasped Nakimushi's flaccid member in his hand and played with him until he'd grown to full arousal. He was wincing and holding his breath to keep from cumming before anything had happened. He stopped back and looked over Ichigo.

"Good. Now, Nakimushi, I want you to force yourself on him," he said as he walked over to a chair near the door and sat down.

Ichigo and Nakimushi exchanged a look of curiosity. "Are you going to do what I've asked or not? I can tell Kukoa that his new Kagema are useless. I want you, the small boy, to take your dick, and fuck the taller one here while he tries to resist you. You will overpower him, of course, and then you will fuck him as I watch, as many times I want to watch you do it to him. I like to watch strong, powerful boys and men humiliated by someone much younger or smaller than they are."

Ichigo glanced at Nakimushi and saw something he hadn't noticed before. He looked at Ichigo with a look akin to what the other man had looked at him. Ichigo knew he could easily overpower the much smaller boy but he realized that they had been prepared for this. He felt sluggish and dull, and it seemed Nakimushi was clear headed. Kukoa knew what this guy wanted, and he'd had Ichigo sedated. It made sense. Nakimushi and the other three wouldn't fight, so there was no real need to drug them. Kukoa had said himself that he knew Ichigo would fight still.

It was like he was in slow motion and Nakimushi was in super speed as he grabbed Ichigo's hands and spun him around and tripped him onto the floor hard. Ichigo blinked, eyes wide and surprised as the smaller boy manhandled him easily. Had Nakimushi been coached on what to do? He had to have been because he was far too timid for this sort of thing. Ichigo gasped as he felt his hands ghost over his hips and there was urgency to his fingers. This was more than doing what he had been instructed. All the times that Nakimushi had sat beside him, touched him, or smiled at him came back. Was he enacting some fantasy of his own? He gulped down something that would have been a sob if he had been able to speak.

Ichigo looked at the boy watching them. He was intent on what they were doing. Nakimushi's hands were all over him, and while he didn't think he'd mind this so much, he didn't want it at all like this. He pushed in between Ichigo's legs and ran hands up and down the inside of his thighs. Ichigo knew the client wanted him to act resistant, but honestly it wasn't an act. Ichigo would do what he said because he really didn't want Kukoa to stick in in the same room with another violent bastard. Ichigo started to push him away and to his shock, Nakimushi slapped him. Ichigo looked at him and was actually getting irritated with him. He started to strike upward when Nakimushi balled up his fist and hit him right in the center of his forehead.

The world spun out of sync for a minute and he was wondering just what the hell had happened. He crashed back into reality when he felt Nakimushi drive into him without any warning. Ichigo didn't think such a small guy would hurt that much. Then, he'd only been torn in several places a couple of days ago. He felt his back bow as he lacked the strength to push him away. What bothered Ichigo, though, wasn't what Nakimushi was doing, it was the look on his face. He was pleased with what he was doing, very much so. He thought Nakimushi was like him at all. He had thought he was a good person that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. He didn't think it had been that at all.

Ichigo tried to cover his face and Nakimushi pushed away his hands and grinned at him. 'No' he mouthed at him and dove down to suck at his throat. He'd pulled his legs across his body, and pressed him into a very folded position. Ichigo thought his back was going to break from it. He felt tears already from the pain, and humiliation.

Several more scenes were played out for their client, and Ichigo seriously thought he was going to pass out. He'd bled some, but Nakimushi didn't seem to mind that. The client came over and tipped up Ichigo's face and smiled.

"Open," he muttered and Ichigo felt Nakimushi grab his chin. To his surprise he wrenched his mouth open forcefully and used his other hand to slide under him.

"Good, good," the boy said as he used Ichigo's mouth mercilessly. Having never done this, or even had it done to him, he became nothing more than a receptacle for this boy that had to be younger than he was. Eventually, he finished and stepped back from them. He glanced at them both.

"Good. You did well. You, I think you enjoyed this, didn't you?" he commented as he looked at Nakimushi. He was sitting on his knees holding Ichigo up in his lap. "You are a little minx," he muttered and left the room after gathering his things.

Nakimushi kissed Ichigo's neck then, surprising him. Ichigo turned and pushed him away as he fell off his lap. Nakimushi sat for a moment then made a strange face. He moved and grabbed Ichigo by the hair and wrenched his head around to kiss him. Ichigo growled and tried to push him away, but he was still out of it from whatever he'd been given. He pulled back and ran a hand over Ichigo's head and smiled at him. It wasn't a gentle smile, though. Ichigo shook his head and stumbled to his feet, still feeling out of it. He got his kimono and struggled with it for a moment.

He flinched when he felt Nakimushi helping him into it. He had no idea what to think about him right now. Ichigo wrapped the kimono around him and crossed his arms and looked at him again. He still had that oddly pleased, leering look in his eyes. Ichigo didn't like that at all. The door opened then, and both of them saw that Kukoa was coming for them.

"Good job, Nakimushi. Head back to your room," he said with a smirk.

Nakimushi left and Ichigo looked at Kukoa. "He's possessive of you, you know," Kukoa said as he took Ichigo's arm. Ichigo frowned and arced his brow at him. "Yes, he got very upset when I suggested that Hinto take this job with you since his experience was nearly as violent as yours with his first client. He grew very angry at the thought. You will do well to watch him closely, Azami."

Ichigo stumbled alongside him and nodded as he continued. "He has a wicked heart," Kukoa said as he got into the recovery room and flagged one of the nurses. "He is one of the Kagema I've taken in that were made for this business. They enjoy this, and they enjoy hurting others in return."

Ichigo nodded and was asleep to the sound of talking around him before he was even all the way laying on the bed.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Day 17(Monday) – 7:00 pm

Chad, Renji, Adel – Adel's Apartment, Kyoto

Chad sat on Adel's futon and stared at his hands. So far there had been nothing. They had found nothing. Renji had spent more time in his soul form than anything. They'd found the local Shinigami and talked to them, and he didn't have a lot of information other than the Yakuza were dangerous. They often had to perform Konso on those that had been killed by them, or on them. Some were glad to be released from the world, others weren't. Chad looked up as Renji hopped down through the window with a furious look on his face.

"Anything?" Chad knew the answer already.

"Not a damn thing. It's like these people don't exist," he muttered as he flopped down on the futon.

"Of course not, you will not find information through regular channels," Adel's computerized voice said as he walked into the room. He had hoped they wouldn't' need his help, but it was obvious that this was going to take some of his own connections.

"What do you suggest?" Chad asked.

Adel thought for a moment. "The people that would know of this kind of thing aren't walking about like anyone else. We should try and find someone that is involved in the Yakuza. I think I might know someone, though."

Chad and Renji exchanged a look as Adel dialed a phone number on his tablet and a voice answered over the speaker.

"Adel, hey man, you need something?" came an oddly accented somewhat feminine voice.

"Yes, can we meet? I wish to ask you about some of your connections," Adel's computer voice said.

"Sure, usual?" the other voice asked. Chad wasn't sure if it was male or female.

"Fine, two hours?"

"See you there, man," the voice answered.

Adel looked at them. "Don't worry, Vanessa is a good person. She's American."

Chad and Renji both nodded and waited patiently until Adel told them it was time to go. They all headed out and after a bit ended up in a very seedy looking part of town. They went into a small pho place and sat down. A minute later a tall, muscular looking woman came and sat down with them. She smiled.

"What's going on, your friends, Adel?" she said with a smile.

"Yes, this is Renji and Chad," Adel's tablet said as he pointed to each in turn. "This is Vanessa," he said with a smile. "Vanessa, I need to see if you can help my friends."

"I can try," she said with a smile. "What's going on?"

Renji looked at Chad then to her. "Okay, so this started when our friend disappeared…" After a full explanation of what they knew so far she sat and stared at her electric blue nails for a long moment. He of course, left out the fact that he was a Shinigami.

"Disappearance without a trace? Police ignoring it? Warnings to stay off the trail?" she said thoughtfully as she pulled her long blonde hair up in a ponytail. "Definitely Yakuza."

"Excuse me, but how do you know so much about this sort of stuff?" Chad said with a frown.

"I'm INTERPOL, organized crime and drug trafficking division," she said with a smile. "Actually, this pho place here is one of our bases in Japan. That's why it is safe to talk here. I hate to tell you this, boys, but the chance of finding your friend is slim to none. People that disappear like this…there's not a lot of hope. You said the man who you think is connected is one named Kukoa who had been a Kagema?"

Renji nodded. "I mean, I know what a Kagema is, it isn't like I haven't seen them, where I'm from there's a Kagema House in the rough part of the place, but I didn't think they existed here," he said, glancing between her and Chad.

"These Yakuza are old school. They often apply the tattoos the old way, with the bamboo reeds. It is excruciating and leads to possible future liver damage, for those that have their bodies covered. If someone causes shame to them, they cut joints off their little finger onward, of their own fingers, otherwise they'll be killed. They have a family structure, the leaders are fathers, the lowers big brothers and little brothers, you see it is all very traditional. This includes using Kagema. Illegitimate children are a problem for these men. Kagema offer the ability to have carnal relationships without the danger of dealing with pregnancy of other escorts. These boys are highly skilled and trained in what they do. I've been on a sting or two where we've raided houses with Kagema. Those that are trained in the Yakuza's way are dangerous. They all know how to fight and are fiercely loyal to them," she said as she stirred her green tea.

"So…" Renji asked. "He…he wouldn't have been taken to be a guard, would he?"

Vanessa shook her head. "Not likely, they have no shortage of men willing to give their life. No, they don't kidnap people for that sort of reason. No, most likely if Kukoa was involved, he was taken into his Kagema House here in Kyoto. That is one of the reasons I'm here, working on their sex and drug trafficking organization."

"Why?" Renji asked with a deep frown. "Why would they take him to this Kagema House?"

"Describe your friend to me, please," she said as Adel excused himself to the rest room. He had drunk way too much coffee earlier.

Renji thought. "Ah, here," he said and pulled the folded picture from his pocket of Ichigo and Chad. She looked at it for a long moment.

"No doubt, that's where he is, I'm sorry," she said and pushed the picture over to him.

Renji stared at it then looked at her. "Why do you say that?" he asked as he put the picture back in his pocket. Adel sat down as she started talking again.

"He fits the profile of the people they snatch. Usually unique looking individuals, thinner, slightly effeminate, and alone. If he was walking alone in a known grab area, then there's no other option. I can check in with a couple of my contacts." She sighed. "They don't grab people directly. There are several independent Yakuza affiliated contractor teams. They move alongside other operations and if the opportunity to grab a person for the human trafficking rings comes up, they capture them and sell them off at auctions to the various brothel owners. There are three major Kagema houses, not counting individual buyers that take personal Kagema."

Adel tapped into his tablet. "I can check with my parents. They may have some contacts." Vanessa nodded at him.

Chad and Renji looked at each other. "What do we do?" Chad asked.

"I'll see what I can find, you two stop nosing around in Yakuza business, you're both going to get yourselves killed. They don't take wall to people asking questions about their property."

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Day 12 (Wednesday) – 5:00 am

Ichigo – Kagema House

Ichigo wasn't really sure what to think as he curled into a ball, once again, in the recovery room. He didn't know what to think of the way Nakimushi had acted, or what Kukoa had said afterward about him having a wicked heart. Ichigo had been restless all night, though. He had skipped food the night before, and refused any drink as well. He wanted to see if he could do something without being sedated. It had taken several hours but his head began to clear around four in the morning. He watched the patrolling schedule and thought that he might just be able to make it down the hallway. He'd managed to put together a map of the place in his head and he was going to try. It would only work when he was in the recovery room, though. He still got shackled when he was put in here, but he'd just have to break his hand to get out of it.

He figured he was dead if he got caught, but he was strangely comfortable with that idea. At least this humiliation would be over. He waited until the "nurse" had come by and checked on him, he wasn't actually sure what these "little sisters" as they were called were. He pulled his wrist toward him with the metal handcuff on it. He used his teeth to cut into the base of his hand to get it to bleed. He waited as he let the blood seep from the wound and down around his wrist. He grit his teeth together and used his left hand to push his thumb inward as far as possible. He growled under his breath as he pushed it past that point and heard a crackling sound. He felt pain shoot up his arm and down into his hand as he pulled. The blood around his hand made it slippery and the bones crackled again as he pulled it free. He paused to pant for a few moments. He had about two minutes before she came back by, and thirty before the guard in the hallway came back. He wrapped his kimono around him tightly and dropped to a crouch and slipped out the doorway and into the hall. He paused, seeing no one, and then dashed for the farthest hall that he hadn't been down yet. If his thinking was correct, it would lead to a stairwell or elevator since there were none accessible in this part. The only other exit was on the far side of the floor where he'd come in.

Ichigo hit the door with his shoulder as he ran through it into a dead end. There was nothing, no doors, no nothing, just nothing. He shook his head and saw the door open and two guards were coming after him. He wasn't going to waste this chance. He managed to drop to the floor and sweep one's legs out from under him and pop up to shoulder the other guy into the other doorway. He dashed through it and had no idea where to go now. He knew which way the elevator he came in was, so he thought he'd try that. He got through another couple doors and found himself in the first room he'd been in. He stopped and went toward the glass windows. He stopped and gasped out loud. He had to be sixty or seventy floors up. He turned and saw two other guards waiting behind him. The difference between them and him was that Ichigo didn't care if he hurt them. They had no doubt been told not to damage the Kagema. He tried to shoulder one of them but he grabbed him by the arm and swung him down hard. His head bounced with a sick crack on the floor and light exploded in his eyes. He moaned soundlessly but managed to roll away before he kicked him. He blinked because his right eye was blurry. He closed it and had almost gotten to the door to what he thought might be a stairwell when he felt heat explode one either side of his head.

He turned and saw Kukoa, his lighter in one hand and an arc of flame bent over his head starting at the lighter. It was resting in his open palm on the other side, dancing and swaying there. "Azami, you are a very naughty boy to make me use my powers."

Ichigo stared as Kukoa made the flame flicker and writhe on his palm. "This is why you aren't leaving, Azami. This. I'm not the only one here, we have a nice little group going. You met the doctor. And you have no idea who the others are. I can fight fine without my…enhancements…but this helps. I felt you needed a real reason that you'll never escape me, my dear. You are mine, and you won't leave."

Ichigo had no idea what this guy was. He couldn't sense reiatsu but he didn't think it was the same as anything he'd ever seen. He wasn't a Quincy, and he definitely wasn't a Shinigami. He was thinking this over as his head exploded in pain again and the world went sideways. He giggled for a moment because for a second it looked like his inner world a bit.

Ichigo came to consciousness in that weird way that happened when he'd been knocked unconscious. Wait, what had happened? He winced as pain shot through his head and he groaned. He felt someone shine light into his eyes and it lanced pain into his head. He fluttered his eyes open and he found himself looking at Kukoa. Something was wrong though. He looked wrong. He blinked and just couldn't get the world to look right.

"Tut tut, my dear. Weren't you a naughty little thing, trying to run like that? I commend your commitment, though. You broke four bones in your hand in that stunt and got a very nasty concussion. But you managed to make yourself even more exotic looking in the process," he said and handing him a mirror.

Ichigo reached out and took it in his left hand and blinked. Now he understood why everything looked weird. His right eye was white almost, like it had a translucent film over it. "The doctor says it isn't likely you'll get vision back. I believe he suggested making sure you don't get another concussion or you might kill yourself. Before you think that's an option, though, understand that he also said you could just maim yourself or lose all your vision, so it isn't a sure thing that you would die."

Ichigo gave him the mirror and gestured with his hands to mimic what he'd done with the fire. Kukoa smiled. "You don't seem all that surprised by my Fullbring. Interesting, does my naughty little Azami have experience with things outside the realm of human experiences?"

Ichigo scowled deeply at him and shook his head. "Ah, you have seen something like this. Well, it's a long story, and I've no intention of telling a pathetic human like you about it. Just know that I have these powers, and I will use them against you." He smiled. "Tomorrow, my dear, you're going to learn why you don't try to run from me. Enjoy your rest. You'll need it."

Kukoa turned to the nurse. "Dose him intramuscularly. Make sure he's sedated enough to be unable to leave this room. Shackle him on four points, as well. He's not going anywhere again."

Ichigo winced as his arms were pulled down and hooks slipped through the rings on the cuffs, then the same thing happened at his ankles. The little nurse, the one with short blond hair and a vicious smile, brought over a syringe and stabbed him harder than necessary in the leg. He gasped and then the sedative hit him hard. The world spun away and everything was blissfully blank for a while.