Police Department
Sunday, September 22, 2014
9:00 am
Kira woke with a start when someone put a hand on his shoulder. He blinked and looked up to see it was Imelda. The night had been long. He'd stayed at the hospital, sleeping on and off until dawn and then came back to the station. Imelda said before anything else, they needed to figure out what exactly Aizen had done in his training of Ichigo, or they wouldn't know where to start. The hospital was releasing him after noon, and his family was due to arrive sometime that evening. Kira had run into Grimm earlier and heard about that phone call. He was worried about Ichigo's father's reaction to him not just the situation.
"Sweetie, they're transferring Aizen out of the holding cells later today. If we want to talk to him, we have to do it now. Grimm and Shunsui are going in to talk to him now. Would you like to listen in to this part of the interview?" she asked gently. She'd changed clothes, now wearing a light colored blouse and simple skirt.
Kira nodded and stood up, following her into the observation room where inside Aizen sat handcuffed to the table with his lawyer beside him. Grimm and Shunsui sat inside along with the dark haired girl from the night before, he thought her name was Estrella or something. He knew she was from Internal Affairs.
Aizen glared at them. "Okay, look, I've already said, I'm pleading guilty to the charges and I'll give you anything you want on the bastard Ishida."
"You realize there's no staying out of jail for you, right?" Grimm asked.
Aizen rolled his eyes. "I won't be in long. Look, I've already been dismissed from the mayor's office, and I guarantee after this shit, I'll never be able to show my face in this state again. So let's get this over with."
Shunsui nodded. "You will have a supervised meeting with Imelda Escher and Izuru Kira, and you'll cooperate with them so they can help the boy you victimized."
"I didn't…I mean!" Aizen said and then just sighed. "Fine. I will tell her whatever she needs to know. What do you want to know?"
Grimm pulled out the files. "Do you have any idea who these coded entries could be referencing?"
Aizen pulled it over. He pointed to one of them. "This is me, I can tell because of the dates. I didn't go all the time. I only had interest in young, fit rent boys, not the females. See, he kept a code on each line by the date, the blue circle with the number is the boys he had, the red circle with the number is the girls. He cross referenced them to the other files."
Grimm nodded, glad that he was at least being cooperative. "And the rest?"
"I can only vouch for the ones that were there when I was," he said thoughtfully. "This…I'm betting that's James McKeller. He's a circuit court judge. He wasn't there tonight. This one is for Zommari, he appears under tonight's. And that's for Barragan. This one…I bet this is Carson White. He's a Board of Education member for the city schools. He only came this one time," Aizen went on and detailed several others that the codes might refer to, which was important because Ryuken had refused to help no matter what.
"This will look good for the judge, Aizen," Shunsui said. "Now, is there anything else you might think will help you?"
"I have the emails and messages Ryuken sent me about the boy. And the contract that I agreed to and was told he agreed to as well," he said. "My lawyer can get them."
"Okay, I'll stay here," Estrella said. "Would you send in our guests, sir?" she said with a smile, sitting at the end of the table.
A few moments later, Kira came in and sat down and stared at Aizen. Imelda's face was completely neutral. "You're already blacklisted," she said leaning back.
"I figured as much. You never like me anyway," Aizen said with an arched brow. "How far will I have to go?"
She smiled. "I would definitely stay out of Missouri and Illinois if you want to ever have another sub. Even then, you know how word spreads."
Aizen nodded. "Yeah, guess so."
"Blacklisted?" Kira asked, looking at Imelda.
"He's been blacklisted in the community. No dungeon will let him in, and no sub in their right mind will take him on as a Dom. He's ruined in our lifestyle, at least locally, and possibly further," she said softly.
Kira nodded. Imelda took out a small notepad. "What did you use on him, Aizen?"
Aizen sighed. "You know as well as I do."
"I want to know what exactly you used, Aizen. And did you find him aroused by anything in your training?" she asked.
Aizen looked down at his hands. "Um, no."
Imelda looked at him. "You trained him for five days and never once had him become aroused by what you were doing, and you didn't think it was strange?"
Aizen had the courtesy to look upset. "I did, but he could have been asexual."
"An asexual with a rape fantasy," she said, looking at him hard.
He started to speak and then closed his mouth. It wasn't unusual for asexuals or those who were not interested in the sexual aspects to become involved in the lifestyle, but it was unusual for someone who wasn't into the sex part to request the sex part. "I see your point."
"You didn't think it through, did you?" Imelda said. "Your list of mistakes is so long, Aizen. Really, as long as you've been in the community, how can you have messed this up so badly?"
"To be fair, he was well manipulated," the lawyer said from beside him. "As you will see in the emails and communications between my client and Mr. Ishida."
Imelda sighed. "You realize you took a child who probably wasn't even interested in the lifestyle and treated him like you did Edgar. You forced him into doing what you wanted and conditioned him in five days to become your perfect slave. Did you even let him sleep?"
"He slept. Mostly on the cross…but he slept."
"What's the cross?" asked Kira, glancing at Imelda.
"St. Andrew's cross, that thing that looked like a big x in the back of the room. It's used to hold a sub while they're flogged or whipped, or for a number of other things. What else did you use?" she asked.
"Imelda, do I have to go over most of it? I trained him with the hook like I did Edgar, though he didn't seem to enjoy it like Edgar did…" Aizen said, looking away from her.
Kira turned to her again. "Something I don't use," she said quietly. "It's a hooked piece of metal that has a ball at the end. Its inserted and then attached to something else." Kira paled a bit. "And you kept him caged, I saw, didn't you think it odd he never once had come, even in the cage?"
Aizen shrugged. "Look I'm not making excuses. I fucked up. I'll go to jail and be lucky to make a life somewhere where no one knows of what happened. I used caging, kept him plugged during the time he was caged, used the cross and the hooks, he was flogged for all infractions, I kept him to the silence and obedience rules and used any deviation to whip, flog or fuck him. When he was giving reprieves, I chained him down on the floor and gagged him. I told him he was useless and worthless and nothing while I whipped him. I kept him in rigging at night if he wasn't on the cross, and when I left, I bound and gagged him alone in the bedroom. Is that enough? Or do you need day by day details?"
Imelda nodded. "Don't take your anger on me, Master Black. You did this yourself." She stood and led Kira back into the observation room. He looked up to see Uryuu come in.
"Kira," he said, surprised anyone was in the room.
"Uryuu, I didn't know you'd be here," he said. Imelda sat down on the back wall.
"Ryuken's interrogation. I wanted to see it. Are you here for that?" he said quietly.
Kira shook his head. "We needed to talk to Aizen about what he'd done to your cousin…to help him recover. He's still at the hospital but he's sedated until I get back."
Uryuu nodded and looked up as his father was escorted into the room in prison orange and handcuffed to the bar in the table. The bailiff left and a moment later the door opened and the man with black spiked hair he'd heard was Captain Zaraki of Homicide, and Shunsui came in together. There was a click as the recording devices were turned on. Kira and Uryuu could either look through the one way mirror or look at the monitor that was showing the feed.
"Interrogation, Ryuken Ishida. Charges are yet to be determined," Shunsui said and then looked across the table.
Shunsui put a few files on the table. "So, Ryuken, can you tell me what these names have in common? Momo Hinamori. Yasochika Lemura. Kaien Shiba. Kensei Muguruma. Rose Ōtoribashi. Isane Kotetsu. Renji Abarai. Mashiro Kuna. Cyan Sung-Sun. Hiyori Sarugaki. Nemu Kurotsuchi. Shinji Hirako. Hachigen Ushōda. Nanao Ise. Hanatarō Yamada. Hinto Sung. Darren Choi. Lu-Ling Chin. Rin Tsubokura."
Ryuken shrugged. "They're all Asian."
"Don't play games, Ishida," Zaraki said. "You know that those names came off the files of the student's you've blackmailed into being involved with your little prostitution ring."
"Well, if you know already, why ask me?" he said, rolling his eyes. "Sounds like you have everything figured out already. Don't blame me, all those punks got themselves into serious trouble and should have been expelled. I just offered them an opportunity."
"And your nephew?" Estrella asked from where she stood by the door. Ishida started. He hadn't even realized she was in the room. Neither had Kira and Uryuu. The woman was a freaking ninja…
He shrugged. Shunsui leaned over. "We called Dr. Kurosaki."
Ryuken turned back to him. "Yeah, it seems he's a little on the calm side. Curious, considering what you did to his son, only son I found out," Zaraki said, dropping Ichigo's file onto the table. "And he's a doctor so he's not gonna need any explanation for these files. Oh, yeah, he's on a flight here right now."
Ryuken's eyes went a bit wide at that. "That's ridiculous. He can't afford that. He spends his time doing free work at his clinic. He never has extra money," he said with a shake of his head.
"That might be true, but the chief bought four tickets for him. He took the first flight out of Kyoto," Estrella said from the door again. "He has three people with him, used all the tickets."
Ryuken looked to have paled a bit. "So…" Shunsui said, leaning back. "Unless you want us to 'arrange' for Dr. Kurosaki and you to spend some time alone in a holding cell…I mean, where else would we put him if he does something illegal once he gets here. So I suggest you explain to us now why you would do something to your own nephew, or we can let you tell your brother in law yourself."
"He's not my brother in law. He is the person that stole the only woman I ever loved from me. I married her half-sister, but in some ways it was worse to see them so fucking happy together," Ryuken said, mouth set in a thin line. "I hate him more than words can ever express."
Uryuu stared open mouthed through the window. So that was the reason. "I never knew," he whispered to Kira. "I knew he was close to Aunt Masaki. I had no idea he'd always been in love with her."
"I was in trouble," Ryuken said. "Five years ago, I was in some shit. Had a huge gambling debt owed to Barragan, which I'm sure you already know is mobbed up. We busted that student run prostitution ring and over poker Barragan said that he sure wished someone would run a kid ring like that he could get access to. That's how I got the idea. I started putting together things, and then I had the first kid with a drug charge. He was a Japanese exchange student, so I asked him what he was willing to do to make it go away so he didn't have be expelled and sent back to Japan. I was raised there. I knew exactly how the kid would react. So, I took a picture and told him to come back that weekend. I had five people come the first time. It was a success and it wasn't long before I had another student that was Asian and had messed up enough to be expelled. I mean, I could have used the American students, but I knew the Asian kids were at risk of not only being expelled but being sent all the way home. It wasn't like they could just go down to the local community college and finish up."
Ryuken shrugged. "Then I got an email from Isshin one day just saying hi and seeing how Uryuu and I were doing. I asked about Ichigo, and he said that he wanted to be a doctor but it might be hard considering their finances and having two other kids. He sent me a family photo and I knew then that I could make enough money off him within a few weeks time to get out of the country and away from my debts. The others just weren't fast enough, once a month wasn't getting me out of the country. It was keeping them from killing me, I guess, or taking Uryuu in some stupid attempt to use him as leverage. Not that I'd have cared what happened to him."
Kira glanced at Uryuu who was grinding his teeth. "You son of a bitch," Uryuu muttered.
"So I made the offer when I found out he'd be out of high school this year. It was easy enough, I have the money, the space, and I manipulated the scholarship contest so he won. Granted, I think he would have won anyway. I hate to admit it, but he's smart. It was an opportunity. I could easily manipulate him into going the first time, and then when Aizen presented the chance to beat him into submission, I took it. I knew it would work. He already flinched if I made a sudden move toward him. He was perfect. And I got to get my revenge on his father. I could see nothing wrong with this plan," he said, shrugging and looking uninterested.
"Except you didn't count on people noticing," Zaraki said.
"I thought over the long time it was, the chances were rather slim to get noticed. I suppose Ichigo was too fragile in the end to cope with the situation," he said with a shrug.
"Too fragile?" Shunsui said with a shake of his head. "Out of all the kids you did this to, only one went on to graduate, three are still here in school, and two went to other schools. The rest dropped out, were arrested, or went back home to their countries. Two of the girls even ended up pregnant."
Ryuken shrugged. "They knew the risks. If they hadn't gotten in trouble to begin with, I wouldn't have been able to use them."
Estrella snorted. "You can't use that excuse for your nephew."
"He existed, that's enough," Ryuken growled.
Shunsui sighed. "You hated his father but you loved his mother. How in the world could you hurt her child like that if you loved her so much? You know, he isn't just Dr. Kurosaki's child. He belongs to the woman you claim to have loved so dearly. What would she think, Ishida? If she were to find out how you used her only son?"
Ryuken shook his head and looked away. "Doesn't matter. The bastard son of Isshin Kurosaki is no concern of mine. He's broken, more than ever before, and he'll never stand on his own again. I expect him to be in a psych ward by the end of the month," he said, turning with a wide grin.
"Not if Kira has anything to do with it," Estrella commented, glancing at the mirror.
Ryuken smiled at the mirror. "Oh, the little fuck who ruined everything. Please, Izuru, enjoy your time with him. And when he lets you fuck him, remember to thank me for turning him into such a little slut for you. I bet he'll beg you to fuck him and beat him. Aizen said he was a wonderful cocksucker by the end of their time together."
Kira's hands were clenched so tight that blood was dripping on the floor. He felt Uryuu put his arm around him. "Don't let him get to you, Izuru. Please. I'm dealing with a lot now, and I just found out my best friend was one of his victims and he never told me. And I…I don't think I deserve to help Ichigo, so I need you to do it."
Hospital
11:00 am
The world swam into existence slowly. Ichigo was only half aware of what was happening around him. He tried to move his hands but found them restrained. He sighed, not really bothered by that fact. He usually couldn't move his arms, so it was actually comfortable in a way.
"Ichigo?" came a voice and he opened his eyes to see Uryuu sitting beside him. He frowned and blinked slowly, glancing to the other side to see Kira was sitting there.
"Hm," he muttered and sighed deeply. He was actually quite comfortable.
"I…I wanted to apologize. For my father, obviously, and for myself. I should have done something sooner, and I can't express how sorry I am…" Uryuu said, staring at his hands as he spoke.
Kira was waiting for Hisagi to come pick him and Ichigo up. They'd agreed to take him to the small house they shared off campus. There was also an extra room that Ichigo's dad and sisters could stay in while they were there if they wanted to. Imelda had warned Kira that it would be best if he wasn't left to sleep alone at night, and sharing a bed with Kira would help him a lot more than being forced to sleep alone.
Ichigo shook his head and kept his eyes closed. He really couldn't handle Uryuu blaming himself right now. His head was a mess, and he wasn't sure who was at fault for his current state. Was it Ryuken? Or had he brought it on himself? He wasn't sure, and he didn't like it. He felt Uryuu reach for the restraint, though and his eyes flew open.
"No, leave it," he said franticly. Uryuu started and stared. Ichigo shook his head again. "Just, leave it, Uryuu, okay?"
Kira reached forward and put a hand on his other hand. "What is it that you want? The cuff or being restrained like this?"
Imelda had given him a few tips for today, but in the morning he was meeting her for a lot more intensive bit of instruction with another young Dom she was teaching. One of the things she had said was to find Ichigo's comfort thresholds. Sometimes restraints became symbols as well as physical objects, symbolically holding back fears, emotions, and pain. What was important wasn't the actual restraint, but the symbol that it represented in Ichigo's mind.
Ichigo looked at him and then away. He exuded the same feeling Master Black and Mistress Cybelle did, but it was quieter and felt more comfortable than either of them. "Ichigo, you can look me in the eye," he said quietly. "I won't punish you."
Ichigo swallowed and looked back up at him, his eyes slightly wide and dilated. Izuru smiled at him and brushed a hand over his head and snickered when he almost purred at it. Uryuu looked over at him with a completely perplexed look on his face.
"That's it," Kira said. "Now what is it you want? We're going to talk more tomorrow, but today I want you to be comfortable. Tell me what makes you feel comfortable right now, and it will be okay if you change your mind about it later."
Ichigo's brow crinkled and he thought about it. The cuffs were comfortable, familiar, on his wrists. So was being unable to move them. He didn't have to wonder where to put his hands, and he didn't have to wonder if he was right or wrong when he couldn't move them.
"I…need both," he said, looking at Kira with a confused look. Kira nodded.
"Okay, I have a couple things I brought that Mistress Cybelle gave me. She thought that might be the case today, so I brought this," he said, and reached into a bag beside him and pulled out a set of leather wrist cuffs with simple buckles on them. They were plain and obviously not made for him, but they would work for now. "Can I undo these if I put these on you?" he asked, tapping the restraints on the bed. Ichigo swallowed and nodded.
Kira carefully unhooked his wrists and noticed he didn't move them as he did it. He gently placed the leather cuffs on him, checking to make sure he could put two fingers between his wrist and the soft padded leather. He moved to the other side and repeated it on the other one. Ichigo still looked off, though.
"I don't have anything else, but I thought this would get us to my house," he said with a soft smile.
He looked up and blinked. "Your house?"
"If you want, of course," Kira said with a smile at him. "I mean, I didn't think you'd want to be alone. If you do, I can take you to Ryuken's house."
Ichigo shook his head. "Where's Ryuken?"
Uryuu swallowed. "Ichigo, remember, they arrested him?"
Ichigo's brow furrowed. "What for?"
Kira and Uryuu exchanged a glance. The psychiatrist had warned them about this; he was going to think the fault was on him and not on Ryuken and Aizen. "He's being charged for the prostitution ring he was running, and for forcing you into doing what you did."
Ichigo shook his head. "But I agreed to it. It's not his fault, I agreed…"
Kira put a hand on his shoulder, Ichigo's head snapping around to him immediately. "Ichigo, you didn't really agree to anything. He forced you into it. He manipulated and controlled you, and then he used Aizen to force you into submission. He lied to Aizen. He told him that you wanted to be involved in a rape fantasy. He told him you wanted to be treated like slave. He was wrong. You didn't want that."
Ichigo started to say something and closed his eyes. He wasn't going to argue with Kira, it was obvious he belonged to him now. He'd taken him from Aizen, right? He was so confused.
"Ichigo, please, don't hide your thoughts from me," Kira said, squeezing his shoulder gently. "I fell head over heels in love with you, you know. First day I saw you at the orientation, I was done for. I wanted to ask you out but I didn't know if you were gay or straight, and you were just so damn cute…and you still are. All I want to do is help you, and if you'll have me, I'll take care of you the way Aizen didn't."
Ichigo opened his eyes and looked at him. "You'll…you'll be my master?" he said quietly. Kira saw Uryuu's face twist in disgust and looked across at him and shook his head at him.
"I don't like that name, but I will take care of you," he said softly. "You won't be my slave. I won't have that. I want to love and care for you where he didn't. I want to help you through this and do whatever is necessary to make you feel comfortable and safe and happy. I want you to me my…Ichi-ai." Kira knew it wasn't a real word. It wasn't even a Japanese honorific. He thought, though, he wanted to do something different and combining the first of Ichigo's name with the Japense ai which was translated as love, would work well.
Ichigo's heart thumped hard in his chest. Was he offering to take care of him because he felt like he had to? Because he'd saved him? Or was he doing it because he wanted to? He was so confused by all this. It had been so much simpler to just be told what to do. He swallowed.
"I don't know what will make me safe and happy and all that. I don't know what I want. Can…can you tell me what that is?" he said quietly, looking up at him with his eyes wide.
Kira smiled. "I can't. I know that you want me to tell you, but I can't do that. You have to decide. Even if that choice is to walk away and forget all this happened, I won't stop you, Ichigo. I know that you feel like you want to do whatever it takes to please me, but that's not what I want. I want to please you and make you happy. So whatever you choose, that's where we'll go."
Ichigo crossed his hands over his body and picked at the edges of the cuffs. It had become a nervous habit he started the first day he'd had cuffs on him. Master Black had repeatedly whipped his hands for doing it, but it didn't seem to go away.
"I…I feel like…if you make me go away…I'll just crawl out of my skin and the thought of being alone…I can't breathe right," he said softly, fingers playing with the edges of the cuffs. "I don't want to be alone, but I…I don't know what I want…and I can't…I can't put it together. I did it because I agreed to it but I didn't really, and I can't understand why I can't separate the two ideas…" he said with a sigh. "C-can I stay with you for a while?"
Kira nodded. "You can, you can stay as long as you want, and I will help you as much as I can. Your family will be here tonight, but I will leave it up to you if you wish to see them tonight or wait until tomorrow…"
Ichigo shook his head. "Not tonight, I can't…not yet."
Kira nodded. "That's fine," he said with a smile. "Uryuu, will you meet them and take them to the police station when they get here?"
Uryuu nodded and stood. "I'll see you later, Ichigo, okay?"
Ichigo nodded but kept his eyes down and away. He couldn't really face Uryuu right now. Uryuu's father was in jail because of him. That thought was loud and reverberating through his skull. If it weren't for him Uryuu's dad wouldn't be in jail. He focused on the edges of the cuffs, and he felt Kira's presence beside him. It was comforting, just him being there. He felt like if he left he'd just explode and he was so full of something he couldn't name.
A nurse came in a few moments later and started the discharge process. She asked about the leather cuffs he was wearing and Kira told her to see Dr. Kerry if she needed information about that. The nurse seemed slightly annoyed but left. When she came back she didn't comment on it again, and also didn't comment on how Kira seemed to be instructing her patient on everything. She shook her head. What a strange situation, she thought as she wheeled the boy out in the wheelchair. He was wearing a pair of the disposable scrubs, because from what she saw, he'd come in mostly naked.
Hisagi was waiting outside with his car, a nice, sensible Dodge Caliber, a hatchback with a decent backseat. Kira helped Ichigo get situated in the back, and sat down in the passenger. Hisagi glanced at him in the mirror and at Kira who just nodded to him.
"So, Ichi, you want to stop for drive through?" Hisagi asked.
Ichigo looked up and blinked. "I…I'm not sure…" he said, glancing over at Kira.
"Ichigo, I'm not going to tell you if you're hungry," Kira said. "If you want something, please tell me," he said softly.
Ichigo bit down on his lip and nodded. "Whatever you guys want, I…I haven't had much outside the school's food court, I don't know the places to eat."
Kira smiled. It was more than he expected at this point. "Okay, burger okay then?"
Ichigo nodded, but Kira had a feeling he would have nodded at anything at that point. At least he'd voiced something of his opinion. He was just extremely glad he'd only spent five days with Aizen instead of more. While the damage was still there, at least it wasn't as extensive as it would have been after months with the man. However, Imelda had warned him that he would still be coming down, and he might hit a depression and very low spot in the next few hours or next few days.
After they'd picked up food, they headed to Hisagi and Kira's house. It was an old house, two stories with four bedrooms, a big attic and finished basement level. Kira's dad had arranged for them to rent it from a family friend, so they'd gotten quite a deal on it. It was also in a pretty nice area that was close to the school. They went in and Kira led Ichigo into the living room and turned on their TV. They passed out the food and ate in silence. Ichigo though looked uncomfortable where he was, though, and seemed to be more anxious than before.
"Ichigo, do you need something?" Kira asked softly.
Ichigo looked up at him and nodded, his orange brows knitting together in a scowl.
"Come here, then," he said, holding out his arm. Imelda's warning that he would need to be held and touched came back. He was starting to come "down" or "drop" as she'd called it. She'd said that once it began it might take ten minutes, or it could take a whole week. The best that Kira could do was be there for him through it all.
Ichigo came to him and buried his head into his shoulder and Kira could feel his heart beating rabbit fast under his hands. He stroked his back and put his arm around him, pulling him in tightly to him as his breathing became faster. Hisagi watched silently, attempting to try to look like he wasn't watching, but he was. Kira held him as his body began to tremble again.
"Shh," he whispered, running his other hand over his head. "Shh, Ichi-ai, you're safe with me," he said softly, and immediately, the trembling started to subside. "Safe and warm and loved, that's what you need, right? Now, I've got you, and you don't have to worry," he said, and thought to himself he almost felt like he was comforting a child. He smiled to himself. Here he had looked at Imelda like she had two heads when she told him that there might be a chance he needed a "daddy" figure instead of a "master". The whole concept was strange to him, even more than the master/slave idea. Kira sighed and continued the ministrations. He'd be whatever he needed to be.
-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-
St. Louis Police Department
1:00 pm
Estrella put her head down on her desk and sighed deeply. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see her boss, Harribel.
"Hey Captain," she said with a sigh.
"How's the report coming on this one?" she asked, sipping her coffee. The woman drank coffee at all hours of the day.
Estrella shook her head. "I'm just trying to wrap my head around everything. I'm just…damn."
"Take off to lunch, Grimm's out in the bullpen and said he'd treat you if I'd let you go," she said, patting the younger woman's back.
Estrella nodded. "Lunch sounds good before I finish this report. I swear…I've never done a report like this before."
"Let's hope you never have to again," Harribel said, walking toward the back again.
Estrella grabbed her coat and headed toward the door, waving at a couple people as she left. She saw Grimm chatting up some blonde chick from the mail room.
"Grimm, baby, she don't need your kind of loving," she said, smacking his ass as she passed.
Grimm snorted and sighed as the girl gave them a strange look. "Dammit, woman, I was gonna score," he said, jogging to catch up with her.
"Nah, she's a notorious flirt, and she doesn't date anyone at the precinct," she said with a smirk as they hopped into her small Corolla. Grimm grunted and complained every time about the car being too damn small. She always smirked.
They headed out to the nearest sub joint, somewhat healthy; she supposed and set up shop in the corner. They were regulars, so no one really bothered them, and then again, who'd screw with Grimm? They ordered and she slumped in the booth.
"Fuck," she groaned as she sipped her drink. "I'm so dead. How are your reports coming?"
"Slowly," Grimm said, sipping his coke. "It's a lot of shit to wade through. Man, this is all fucked up. I've never worked a case where the reports have to be completely error free. I mean, when we're nailing our own to the wall, granted you're IA you're used to this…"
Estrella arched a brow. "Fuck, you think it's easy just because I work IA and we've done it before?"
Grimm shrugged. "Point, point. This whole thing is fucked up, girl. I swear to fuck. This is some messed up shit. If that kid were related to me, I don't think I could rest until that fucker Ryuken Ishida is dead."
"If someone in Mom's family had pulled a stunt like that, well let's just say the police would be finding a few dead bodies instead of making arrests..." she muttered.
Grimm shook his head. "Cubanos…" he said with a smirk. Estrella rolled her eyes as the server set their food down and asked if they needed anything else, which they didn't.
They ate for a few minutes in silence, because they were honestly both starving. After a moment, Grimm wiped his mouth and put down the sub sandwich he was eating.
"So, speaking of family," Grimm said. "What's your family like, anyway? And what do they think of your line of work?"
"Well, let's see my mom is Cuban, and stayed home to take care of me and my brother Romero. She's got some nasty asthma so she stays in most of the time. Pop's a American boy, was a soldier for a while, and then when he got back he became an electrician, trade he learned in the army. My brother is an amazing cook, though. However, Pop taught him a bit about home and yard stuff so he can take care of himself when he moves out," she said, stirring her tea with a smile.
"That's cook, your brother here?" he asked, eating as he listened to her talk.
She shook her head. "Nah, back in Miami, cooking school, told you he was a good cook. Anyway, he was good enough to get a scholarship and is going for free. Mom and dad are proud of him, and so am I."
Grimm nodded. "Yeah, don't have much family, m'self," he said with a sigh, putting down his napkin. "Parents died when I was little, spent my life at a German foster home until I was adopted by some idiotic American with a fetish for foreign kids. Less than two years later, she lost me due to getting caught with drugs, and I was in the American foster system. Spent the rest of my days there, causing trouble mostly," he said, drinking his coke with a big grin. "Let's just say it is a damn good thing that they seal juvenile records."
She smiled. "Close to anyone?"
"Well, I didn't know until yesterday, but the closest thing I have to a sister, a little girl named Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck that the stupid American broad took in with me. She's actually in college here at UMSL for a degree in forensics. I tried to dissuade her with everything I had to stay out of law enforcement, but she's got a hell of a stubborn streak," he said, shaking his head.
She shook her own head. "Well, that's someone. You spend much time with her?"
"Not as much as I'd like. You know how the job is," he said with a shrug, looking around. He glanced up to the news, weather. "Got anything coming up with the family exciting?" he asked.
"Well, the holidays coming up, Romero is coming up to visit. We're going to try the whole roasted pig. One of those weird Cuban traditions," she said with a smile.
Grimm nodded, sighing, glancing toward he news and freezing. "A fuck me running," he muttered, his face falling.
"What?" Estrella said, craning her neck to see the TV. "You have got to be fucking shitting me…" she muttered. "Who the fuck…" she said, standing and walking toward the TV, followed by Grimm, who reached over her and turned up the volume.
"…sources close to the police department say that the sting operation was completed in the early morning hours. The resultant arrests have been unfathomable. The deputy mayor, Sōsuke Aizen has been taken into custody and his lawyer refused to comment when we contacted his house this morning. Sources also say that there were at least twenty victims of this horrific forced prostitution ring run by Doctor Ryuken Ishida, the dean of Business at UMSL, as well as the head of the disciplinary committee. Sources at the school have declined to comment at this time. Thus far, our source has only identified one of the victims with certainty, local UMSL student Ichigo Kurosaki, a foreign exchange student and nephew to Dr. Ishida. We attempted to contact Dr. Ishida's son, also a student at UMSL, but he is currently unreachable."
Estrella looked at Grimm. "Who the flying fuck leaked this much?" she breathed. "There is no way someone in my division did…"
Grimm shook his head. "It could have been one of the ones we haven't arrested yet, attempting to divert attention, or it could have been one of the lawyers of the people we have in custody already. You know how this shit works, girly. They'll definitely be out to stir the pot and discredit anyone who is supposed to testify. This is only the beginning, and you know that," he said with a sigh.
"…charges range from rape, prostitution, abuse, assault and battery, drug distribution…"
Grimm rubbed a hand over his blue hair and groaned. "This gets better and better," he said.
"Sōsuke Aizen is charged specifically with charges of rape and false imprisonment against one Ichigo Kurosaki. It is unknown if there are similar charges waiting for the other twenty or so alleged victims, or if Aizen specifically targeted this one victim…"
Estrella growled loud enough to gain attention. "What the fuck!" she said, storming out to her car.
Grimm paid and followed her to find her leaning against the car with a face of barely contained rage. "I can't believe this shit! Not even twenty four hours! I'm going to skin someone alive!"
Grimm was trying hard not to laugh and not succeeding.