Chapter 4:

Kisuke restrained Uryu before they took him out of the reinforced box he sealed him in back in the alley. Once restrained, Kisuke looked him over. No matter how much he tried, the blades could not cut through the restraints. Seeing that it was hopeless, Uryu stopped struggling and sat quietly.

Kisuke took a long look at the back of Uryu's neck, poking it with his finger. "What in the world?" Kisuke took a closer look and his eyes widened. "Oh, boy."

"What? What?" Ichigo asked from his seat. "Can you help him?"

"Yes and no." Kisuke sat back. "I know what this is."

"What?"

Kisuke became very serious. "This is a failed Soul Candy. I remember it from back when I worked in the 12th Division. It was an experiment that never came to fruition."

"An experiment?"

"The idea was to come up with a Soul Candy that could be placed on the body rather than inserted. Instead of swallowing the Soul Candy, it would be placed on the skin of a Gigai. The intention was for the Gigai to be able to defend itself and possibly defend others while the Soul Reaper is busy fighting. This way, if the Soul Reaper is facing multiple enemies, they'll have some backup. Especially, if help cannot get there in time."

"So they wanted to create an artificial soldier?"

Kisuke nodded. "Basically. You see, a regular Soul Candy cannot change physically. It can do whatever the Gigai can do, which isn't much. These things, however, can change physically. That's what the blades are. They are a part of the new Soul Candy, which is why they are placed on the body, rather than inside them."

"Sounds like a neat idea."

"Yeah. They thought this would be great for intense battles as well. Use them as expendable soldiers so there's no great loss if they get killed. They were never real to begin with. So goes the idea anyway."

"That seems pretty heartless, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Kisuke said with a sigh. "But that's not why the experiment was terminated. There were too many issues. Not just resources, but the fact that they cannot survive without a host. Just like with Soul Candy, they cannot move unless they are fixed to something. But then, they become bound to the laws of their host body."

"What's that mean?"

"It means that if their host is human, then they are also human. They must eat and sleep and do whatever humans do in order to survive. If they don't, then both parties would die. And in addition to the blades they can sprout from their bodies, they are capable of doing anything the host body can do. In Uryu's case, now the Soul Candy is capable of using Uryu's Quincy powers. Same thing goes for Soul Reapers."

"Wait, they can attach themselves to Soul Reapers? It's not limited to Gigais or human bodies?"

"No, because they are not inserted. This was one of the issues. If this thing were to attach itself to your body, they could still be in your body and not leave it unlike with normal Soul Candy. This thing would then be able to take control of you. This was a major flaw. It meant Soul Reapers could not leave their Gigais and this thing would then be in control of their bodies."

"I see. That is a problem."

"Even worse, the researchers discovered that these Soul Candies were self-aware. They could learn and develop. They wished to discover things for themselves and understand what they were and the world around them. The department and Head Captain felt this was too dangerous. Especially when the Soul Candies did not want to come along willingly. They attacked, wanting to be free and learn. They did not like being experiments that had to answer to someone else. They had wills of their own and fought back. Containing them was a big issue. Shortly afterward, the Head Captain ordered their disposal. They were all supposed to be destroyed years ago."

And yet, one was sitting among them at this very moment.

"What about Uryu? Can't we just take the thing off him?"

Kisuke shook his head. "This was a major flaw in the design and experimental phase." Kisuke pointed to the back of Uryu's neck. "In order to take control of the body, the Soul Candy needs to burrow beneath the skin and fuse with the spinal column. As you can see here, the Soul Candy has wrapped itself around the base of Uryu's skull and into his spine. This allows it to operate the body. It's doing what the brain normally does."

"So we can't remove it?"

"Not by force. At least, not without killing him," said Kisuke. "If we were to try, we would be ripping the Soul Candy from Uryu's spine, which would then cause massive trauma. We would be separating the part of the body responsible for keeping him alive and mobile. Forcibly extracting the Soul Candy from his spine would cause Uryu's brain to shut down and his organs to fail. The brain would stop sending messages to the body to breathe and everything else. Removing it by force is far too dangerous. We discovered that during the experiment."

Apparently, as long as the creature was attached to Uryu, it was doing what his brain normally did to function properly. It seemed like an equal trade. The body provided the creature with mobility and in exchange kept the host body alive. Of course, if the host were to die, then so would the creature so in a way the failed Soul Candy was actually looking out for itself and didn't really care about the host.

Ichigo gave Uryu a sad look. "So… He's stuck like this? We can't get Uryu back?"

"We can if the Soul Candy is willing to relocate to a new body."

"Are you?" Ichigo asked Uryu.

He did not answer.

Kisuke sat beside Uryu and looked him in the eye. "I'm curious. Why haven't you been destroyed like all the others? It's not like you look like regular Soul Candy. Soul Candies are round and look like tiny gumballs. As I recall, you were a gummy version so we could easily stick you on a body and have you operate it with ease. Clear difference. Why are you here? How did you get here?"

Uryu replied calmly, "I do not know."

"What's the first thing you recall?"

Uryu thought. "I woke up and saw two men. They said I would be with them to gather data. They told me to enjoy my freedom. I took it."

"Who were these men? Describe them."

"One was a man holding a doll."

"So they were the same guys who were at my house," Ichigo said through his teeth.

"Correct."

Kisuke looked at Ichigo. "Your house?"

"They took Yuzu!" Ichigo point a finger at Uryu in anger. "And this bastard still won't tell me where she is!"

"I should inform you that you are using that term incorrectly," said Uryu. "Unless your intention was to use it as a form of insult…"

"Shut up!"

"Where did you get the body?" asked Kisuke.

"What the hell does that matter?" asked Ichigo.

"Soul Candies are created in a laboratory located in the Soul Society. I'm curious how these people got their hands on them in the first place. Especially if they're human."

Ichigo wanted to complain but he realized Kisuke had a point. A good point. The man with the doll was not human but the others were. The man with the doll did not look like a Soul Reaper, but he was the only logical choice when it came to finding a suitable suspect. Since he lived in the Soul Society, he was the only one with access to Soul Candy. But if he wasn't a Soul Reaper, then how did he get it?

How could anyone get it if they were all destroyed?

If that man didn't do it, then what about the other? He was human, so he couldn't have gotten it. Could he? The other man was human, too, but he was the Soul Candy.

"Wait a minute…" Ichigo looked at Uryu. "That wasn't your body, was it? The one you were in before?"

"It was operational. I was using it, but I do not claim ownership of it."

"In other words, it wasn't your body."

"Correct."

"Then who was that guy?"

Uryu told him, "I do not know. I found him when my other body was no longer useful."

"So you took control of an innocent man without him knowing?"

"Do you have remorse for harming an innocent man, or are you just upset that the arm you broke wasn't my own?"

Ichigo didn't know how to respond. He was actually taking the creature's words to heart, grasping that he might have ended up killing an innocent man by mistake. If he hadn't seen Uryu become the creature's next host…

"You had other bodies, you said?" Kisuke turned to Uryu. "Tell me. What were they?"

"Two humans and a corpse." Uryu looked down at his body. "Before this one. Including this body, I have been in a total of four."

"And what did you discover?" Kisuke decided to talk to the Soul Candy like a fellow researcher in hopes of getting more information. He seemed more willing to talk when he was spoken to in this manner.

"The human bodies require food and sleep in order to operate to their fullest. A corpse does not require food and loss of blood is not an issue, making it a suitable host. However, the body stiffens after a while. The joints and muscles tense up, making the body impossible to manage. Unable to move, I relocated to a living human. A corpse will slow and eventually become immobile, making it less than ideal. A human body moves well and does not decompose, but it requires so much care. Loss of blood and too little food and rest cause the body to weaken and may eventually die. I have concluded that between living and dead, there is no ideal host body. They both have flaws and restrictions."

"I see. So while you are in a corpse, you are not harmed because the host is already dead, but in a living host, if that one is killed, then you would die with it." Kisuke nodded up and down. "Interesting. We never got to that during the testing phase."

"What about my sister? Are any of these questions going to tell me why they took her and where?"

"I told you already I do not know."

Kisuke nodded his head. "I have an idea." He leaned closer to Uryu. "The body you're in right now belongs to a friend. I understand that you need a host in order to survive, but you can't keep him. Now, I will provide you with a brand-new body that will not slow you down or require you to eat or sleep unless you wish to partake."

"I see no purpose in consuming food unless it provides sustenance. Otherwise, it is a needless act."

"Alright. Well, I can give you this body under the condition that you lead us to your friends."

"Friends?" Uryu gave Kisuke a puzzled look.

"The ones who snatched Ichigo's sister."

"Oh." Uryu thought a moment. "I suppose that would be alright. However, you do realize that I would be surrendering two things in order to obtain one. The body and the location of the female. In exchange, I would only be receiving a new and different body."

"And we won't kill you. Two things."

Uryu nodded. "Deal."

Kisuke stood up. "Wonderful. Just sit tight and I'll have that body out for you in just a little bit."

Uryu looked down at his body. "Sit tight? These restraints are tight. Is that not the point?"

Ichigo frowned. "You don't know what expressions are, do you?"

Uryu glanced at him. "I am new to many things. I was only granted freedom a two days ago."

"Two days ago?"

"This will be the third day. Two full days have passed."

"You've only been alive for two days?"

Uryu paused. "Alive? I do not understand. I was created a long time ago, but I was unable to differentiate between days and weeks during that time. I was aware of my existence but I was unable to do anything. I had no sense of time or space. No sense of smell or sight or hearing. Not until recently when I was given a body. Then I could see for the first time and move as I wished. When you say 'alive' what do you mean? Are you referring to the moment of my creation or the moment I became mobile?"

"Uh…"

For an enemy, this creature didn't seem very evil. He wasn't. If he just became able to see the world for the first time a few days ago, then he hadn't experienced all that much. He was still discovering things. He probably didn't have a good understanding of how things worked. He might not have known he and those men he was traveling with had done anything wrong.

Which raised another question.

"What's your name?"

Uryu looked at him. "Name?"

"Yeah, your name," Ichigo pressed. "What do they call you?"

Uryu blinked. "I do not have a name."

"You don't?"

"When someone wishes to address me, they look at me. If someone wishes to get my attention, they either touch me or give a sharp noise to alert me."

"Really? Doesn't that bother you?"

"I do not understand the importance of names. Other than to tell one member of the same species apart from another. Like this man you call 'Kisuke'. You call him by that title to tell him apart from other humans, yes? That is the purpose, correct?"

"Sure?"

"I am the only one of my kind that I am aware of, so I do not need a name. I am referred to as 'the failed Soul Candy' and I am fine with that."

"Yeah, but that's a mouthful," said Ichigo. "You should still have a name."

"A mouthful? Full of what?"

"Never mind."

Kisuke came back and placed something on the ground in front of Uryu. "Ta-da!" It was a Gigai, but it didn't look like anyone Ichigo knew. "It was blank before, but I quickly added a few things here and there to make it personalized. It was meant to look like me, so it's roughly my height, but I hadn't added any details, so you can make it your own."

Uryu looked at the body.

"Act now, and I'll throw in some old clothes for free," he said with a smile. He sounded like an advertisement.

Uryu did not look impressed.

"Come on," Kisuke whined. "You need clothing. Can't have you running around in an unclothed Gigai. That will cause a stir."

Uryu still didn't respond.

"Not even a smile? Or a pity laugh?"

Uryu looked at him. "I do not know how to laugh."

Kisuke's cheery tone diminished. "Oh. Hmm." He bent down in front of Uryu. "Have you ever tried?"

"I do not see the point."

"Mm." Kisuke nodded. "Ok. I'm going to let you go. When I do, jump into this new body. It's all yours, ok? You get this new body and we get our friend back. Agreed?"

"Those were our terms."

"Ok, then." Kisuke stepped behind Uryu. "The body should be close enough for you to get to without doing any damage. Is that right?"

Uryu looked at the body on the floor. "It is a proper distance."

"Ok. I'm letting you go. Ready?" Before he undid the locks behind Uryu's back, Kisuke gave Ichigo a look. He wasn't asking if the creature was ready to relocate. He was making sure Ichigo was prepared to fight if something went wrong.

Ichigo nodded, understanding the message.

Kisuke undid the locks and Uryu bent forward. A gelatinous ooze slithered over to the new body and attached itself to the back of the neck.

As soon as it was off Uryu, he sat up gasping and holding the back of his neck. "Ow!" he cried out painfully. He hunched over, whimpering. Kisuke checked the back of his neck and saw thin lines of blood from where the creature attached itself under the skin. Ichigo could only imagine the pain Uryu felt having something removed from not only his skin but from his bones.

The body on the floor began to rise. The arms twitched and the eyes opened. The body sat up and tested its arms and legs, moving them slowly. The creature's new body was tall and thin with dark brown hair and eyes. He had freckles on his cheeks and pale skin.

"How's it suit you?" Kisuke asked.

The creature turned its new head to look at him. "It is operational," he said calmly.

"Please contain your enthusiasm," said Kisuke, grinning.

"I do not understand."

"It was sarcasm."

The creature tilted its head. "I do not know what that is."

"We'll explain later." Kisuke tossed the creature some clothes. "Put those on."

As the creature got its new body dressed, Ichigo became more bothered by it not having a name. They had to address him someway and what they had been doing up to this point wasn't cutting it. It was getting annoying calling the creature by what it was designed to be. It needed a name.

"How about we call you Ken?" Ichigo blurted out. "Since you don't have a name, we might as well call you something."

"Why Ken?" asked Kisuke.

"Because it means 'sharpen' and 'study'. I thought it would fit someone like him."

"Hmm." Kisuke put a hand to his chin, considering the name. "It's a little short. How about Kenichi? Not only because you inspired the name but because he might be the only one of his kind left."

"He is not going to be named after me!"

"Then Kenji," said Uryu to end the discussion. "That way it means 'two' so Ichigo won't have to worry. Now can someone please tell me what's going on and who this guy is?"

"Kenji it is."

Kisuke quickly told Uryu everything he missed while the newly named Kenji was controlling his body. Uryu didn't remember what happened after the sharp pain in his spine so it was apparent that no one was aware of anything Kenji did while he was operating the body. All that was left behind after Kenji fled was mild amnesia and a crippling pain in the neck.

"To be clear, you do not know why those people took Ichigo's sister or where they are?" Kisuke asked Kenji.

"That is correct. I will find them."

"And after you do, what did you have planned?"

"I do not know. I agreed to meet them once I was fully recovered and then it would be decided."

"I see. So either you guys did not plan that far ahead or they didn't bother to tell you." Kisuke paced in small circles. "Hmm… If they hadn't planned that far in advance, then we might stand a chance. They might just be impulsive. If they didn't have a plan in mind, then they probably won't have an escape plan should something go wrong. Like an attack. They probably thought they would get away since Ichigo was the only witness. But he got knocked out, so they probably didn't think he would be after them so soon."

"Or they didn't care," added Uryu. "I don't think they're being impulsive. They were well organized enough to find Ichigo's home and attack when the least amount of people would be there. They clearly had a plan, or were just lucky."

"That's what concerns me," said Kisuke. "I think it's more likely for them to be well organized. If that's the case, then approaching them without a plan will be dangerous. They might have taken into account being pursued. So they'll either have a plan of escape or they want to be hunted down. Ichigo's sister might be bait."

"Bait for who?" Uryu asked. "It's Ichigo's sister. If they knew he would come after her…" He shook his head. "It doesn't make any sense. If Ichigo was the prime target all along, why not take him then and there? Why waste time making him come to them in order to get her back?"

"Unless he was never the target. Maybe they wanted someone else to come instead."

"But who? His father or other sister? If that's the case, then why not take Ichigo? Any member of the family would have been just as good, right? Why did it have to be her?"

Kisuke looked at Ichigo. "Which one was it? Yuzu or Karin?"

"Yuzu. She was taken."

Kisuke thought a moment. "You're right. It doesn't make sense. Why her?"

Ichigo looked at Kenji who never said a word unless he was addressed personally. "That lead guy you were with. He wanted to come in. He didn't force his way in until after you heard Yuzu's voice. Why is that?"

There had to be a reason. Ichigo was never the target to begin with. They were after Yuzu but he still didn't know why. What did she have to offer them? What could they possibly gain from taking her?

"I simply heard a female voice and knew she was human," answered Kenji.

"There has to be more than that. Tell me."

"I gave you my answer."

Ichigo punched him across the face. "Tell me, dammit!"

A blade sprouted from Kenji's back and hovered in the air. Kisuke wedged himself between them.

"Now, now. Enough of that." He looked at Ichigo. "I know you're worried about your sister, but beating him up won't get us any answers. I believe he's telling us the truth. I think he really doesn't know what's going on and was just following orders."

"But why Yuzu? Why my sister?"

"I don't think he cares about the why. While knowing why would be nice, in the end, what matters most is getting her back, right?"

Ichigo fought to calm himself down. The only reason he stayed was because he had no idea where to start searching and he knew this creature held answers.

"Fine." He sat back down with a growl.

Kisuke was right. All that mattered was getting Yuzu back.

"So here's the plan." Kisuke addressed everyone in the group. "We're going to let Kenji go."

"What?!"

"Hear me out, Ichigo. We're going to let him go, but we'll follow him. He has to find his friends and when he does, they'll probably be with Yuzu. We help him find his friends, we find Yuzu. That's the idea. He'll lead us right to them."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Uryu. "If they see him being followed, won't they run off?"

Kisuke shook his head. "Kenji is in a new body. They might not recognize him at first. Besides, they haven't met either of us yet. Only Ichigo. I say we keep Ichigo at a distance. At least until he finds his friends. He can simply duck behind a building and come out and tell his group that he obtained a new body. That way, even if they did see Ichigo close by, they'll think he was talking with a normal person and now that person has been taken over, making him harmless. See where I'm going with this?"

"Ichigo probably won't stay far enough back anyway," said Uryu. "Knowing you, you'll be right up close to the action. You won't hide."

Ichigo shot him a look.

"But I understand," Uryu went on. "If I were in your position, I would be going out of my mind with worry. I can't blame you."

Ichigo's eyes softened. Uryu actually understood just how worried he was. He was fighting to keep it in check, but he couldn't suppress it fully.

"Everybody good with the plan?" Kisuke asked.

Ichigo and Uryu nodded. Kenji sat quietly.

"Ok, Kenji. You're free to go. But we're going to be following you. Don't do anything that will draw attention to other people, ok?"

Kenji stood up. "Alright." He started to walk towards the door. He stopped and turned around. "I suppose this means you will not be attacking me either, yes?"

"Not until we find Ichigo's sister. We won't attack you if you don't attack us. Fair trade, right?"

Kenji stared at Kisuke then walked out the door.

Uryu leaned closer to Ichigo. "Do you really think this is a good idea? Can we trust him?"

"Kisuke seems to think the guy can't lie because he doesn't know how to. He doesn't even understand sarcasm."

"That doesn't mean he can't be deceptive." Uryu sighed and followed Kisuke out of the shop. "I just hope this plan works. For your sister's sake."

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah."

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