Chapter Eleven: Detective Rangiku and Doctor Rukia, on the Case

Rangiku sighed as she parked in her garage, she knew that she was going to need help and who better to ask than her side kick Rukia? She had already placed the call and was told that she would be there waiting for her. Matsumoto glanced at the large file laying beside her in the car. This was going to be a lot of reading...

"Is Momo alright?! She's not going to die, is she?!" Rukia asked as she rushed to the opening door, knowing it was Rangiku.

"The doctor wouldn't let me see her, but Toshiro sent me a text saying that she's fine and going to be staying with him for a few days." Matsumoto sighed as she held up the files to show the small girl. "I need your help with these, though."

"Medical files?" Rukia eyed them before she gasped. "Momo's medical files?! How'd you get those?!"

Matsumoto smiled as she thrust out her chest. "I just talked him into it." She giggled as she heard Rukia mumble. "Aw! Don't fret! You got me to do the flirting and you reap the benefits!"

"Shut up and let me see those!" Rukia snapped as she jumped to grab them from Matsumoto's hand. She was stunned by the weight of it. "I...I knew Momo had it bad...but this-!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up! You knew Momo before she moved here?! You gotta tell me what you know! Toshiro wants to know more about her before he decides on who he wants to date!"

"What?! He's interested in more then one girl?!" Rukia slammed the files on a small end table and pointed her finger at the nervous blonde. "You better spill first!"

"Look, he's been talking to Tobiume online and they meet after games, that's why he stays over, but she always comes hidden. They've kissed once but that's because it was a bet or some thing like that. He likes her, but he likes Momo too and he can't decide...though I'm going with my gut feeling and saying he's going for our Hina-chan."

"...You didn't even take a breath! How do you and Momo do that?!" Rukia asked as she pointed to the smiling friend.

"Whatever! Now, tell me what you know about Hinamori!" Rangiku sat down on the couch and smiled as she watched the other girl sigh.

"It's...not the best of tales, Rangiku, and I don't know a lot of the story myself...Byakuya doesn't even know all of it." Rukia sat down beside her friend and sighed again. "My brother used to take me with him everywhere when I was little, so we traveled from town to town a lot, but we always stopped at Whisper Town. I always thought the name was funny and I'd be as loud as I could when we were there...I wasn't the only loud one there, though. I met Momo Hinamori, yelling 'hello' at the top of her lungs at anyone who passed by her small house." Rukia chuckled as she remembered the sight and smiled warmly to herself. "We became best friends and Byakuya would drop me off there for play dates. I learned that her mom was a single parent and worked on fixing computers and stuff from home. I learned that Momo loved to draw and always carried this sketch book her mom gave her around all the time...and I learned that one day...her mom was killed in a car accident. Momo was hurt in it...but survived and was sent to the hospital for minor injuries."

Rangiku held up her finger to pause the black haired teen and began to dig around in the files. She smiled as she set a small report on the table and pointed out the injuries. "This must be the file of that accident...let's see: small bruising and a lump on the head...Nothing too serious. It says that her mom took most of the impact...I guess that's why Momo wasn't hurt too bad."

"Right. Anyway, by the time Bya-chan and me learned of the accident...Momo was gone, becoming a ward of the state and such. It took us forever to find the one where she was to be staying, but they said she ran away taking only her sketch book and a pencil with her."

Rangiku wiped the forming tears that gathered at the bottom of her eyes before she spoke. "It was the sketch book her mom gave her...*sniff* You guys found her...right?"

"We didn't find her for three years."

"WHAT?! THREE YEARS?! Where was she?! How did she make it on the streets for three years?!" Rangiku asked, but quickly looked at where Rukia was pointing. "The files?"

"Maybe we can find out what she was doing and staying during those three years." Rukia sighed as she spread report after report out on the table. "We just have to sort them by dates and then read on from there." After a few minutes of sorting, The two girls sighed and looked at the reports in front of them, then Rukia sorted them again, making a pile of the car accident, then the time she was in the care of the state, then the missing three years, and lastly the newest medical file.

"Alright...now we have some dates!" Rangiku smiled as she rubbed her chin in thought. "I feel like Sherlock Holmes up in here! That makes you Watson!"

"Shouldn't I be Holmes?" Rukia asked as she pointed to herself.

"Why? I think I fill the role nicely!"

"I just did all the work!" Rukia pouted as she crossed her arms.

"I'm Holmes and that's that! One more word outta you and I'll tell your brother how you sneak into the bank accounts." Rangiku smirked as she watched Rukia stiffen, then sighed as she threw her arms up into the air. "Plus...side kicks usually do all the work anyway." She sighed as she looked at the still pouting girl. "When we're done, we'll go shopping for Momo-chan. Okay?"

"Deal!"

"Alright then...It seems that she has a good bit of reports during her stay at the placement home...Broken bones, bruising on the arms and legs, even some cuts and gashes! What the hell was happening to this kid?" Rangiku gawked as she looked to Rukia, who only snorted and pointed further down the sheet. "Oh! Let's see...All of them says that Momo blamed the other kids...So, they must have been bullying her for some reason."

"Look at her weight and height. She was less then hundred pounds! There was no way she could stand up to them." Rukia growled as she thought of her best friend getting picked on. "Look! Seems like there is an incident report involving Momo here!"

"Yeah! It says she was caught fighting a group of boys...says they stole her sketchbook and was threatening to tear it up." Rangiku nodded her head in thought. "She'd fight to keep that safe. Maybe that's why she ran away, too...she couldn't take the bullying there."

Rukia nodded her head and picked up the second biggest stack of files. "These are from the time she was missing." She scanned over the reports and paused. "Most of them are about her fingers. All these horrible cuts and they even found metal fragments in her hands! What on earth was she doing?"

"That is weird." Rangiku sighed as she glanced at the papers again. "I can't think of any reason for these cuts or the fragments." She tapped her chin in thought when she noticed something. "Hey...look at this! All the hospitals are different!"

Rukia just raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"Get a map, Watson! I have an idea!" Matsumoto yelled excitedly as she thrusted her finger into the air.

"...Whatever..." Rukia sighed as she stared at the overly excited teen. Forcing herself off the sofa, she made her way towards Rangiku's built-in cabinet. She knew that Rangiku kept her mail and other papers in the small storage compartment, so by any means the map should be inside. After rummaging through the countless amount of junk mail (why can't she just shred all this junk?), she found what she was looking for and handed it to her smiling friend. "I don't see what you're going with this."

"Elementary, dear Rukia! Wait just a moment!" Matsumoto hummed as she pinned the map against the wall and began slowly pinning locations on the map. She smirked and crossed her arms when she was finished and stepped aside to let her friend see her work.

The different colored pins seemed to mark the map at all the hospitals that Momo had been to during her three year adventure. Rukia stared at the marks before her eyes widened at the sight, the significance of them finally hitting her. They were slowly making their way toward the town they were at now, but...even though the distance was a long one, why had it taken her three years to get here? Something wasn't making sense. "Alright...I see what you were going for, but why did it take her so long to make her way here?"

"I haven't the foggiest!" Rangiku nervously chuckled as she received a glare from her smaller friend. "I was hoping maybe you had something."

Rukia sighed as she stared at the map. How were they ever going to find out anything? This was years ago and even if they drove to each and every hospital, who was to say the doctors were still there? Or if they were, how would they remember one little girl over the thousand of patients that passed through those doors each day? She shook her head with a saddened sigh before she glanced back at the map. "I dunno, Ran...The more I think about this, the sadder I get. I'm not normally this down."

Matsumoto sighed as she slung her arm around Rukia's slumped shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. "I know...I wanna be sad too, but we have to do this for Momo and Toshiro!" she tapped her chin in thought. "If only we had a sign...A professional opinion or something."

Rukia's eyes shot wide open as a thought struck her like a lightening bolt. She quickly shrugged off Rangiku's shoulders, causing the taller girl to lose her balance and fall to the ground with a thud this however did not stop her. She gathered all the reports and the map, making sure to not lose any of the pins that marked the locations of Hinamori's visits. "Get up! Get in the car! I got it, I know where to go! Get up and in the car!"

They drove down the street like mad women possessed, speeding their way down the roads and screaming out of the opened windows at anyone brave enough to try and pass them or cross the street. Ruika was partially hanging out the window, shouting foul words and stinging insults by the time the made it to the small clinic.

It was a humble little place, quiet and located in a lazy part of town. No one would guess that the doctor inside, nor the entire family for the matter, were very loud and energetic people. They seemed to hide it well though, keeping calm and smiling softly at their patients while treating small wounds or doing check-ups. However, this peace was broken when two, screaming females rushed into the facility holding a mess of papers and what appeared to be a map?

"DOCTOR KUROSAKI!" Rangiku and Rukia shouted as they burst into the man's office, startling him awake and almost causing him to hit the floor.

"What?! What's going on?!" The doctor asked, quickly rising to his feet only to have the mass of papers thrown into his large arms. He blinked as he tried to listen to the two distraught females, both excited yet worried for the welfare of a dear friend, it seemed. He couldn't make out much, but he couldn't help but smile and nod to the two.

He knew how to handle girls, being the single parent of twin girls himself, and nothing made him happier when his 'adopted children' sought out him for aid. It always got him thinking of his wife, making him feel a mixture of extreme bliss and a pang of sadness and loneliness, but he shook it off and began looking through the papers. He was shocked to see they were medical files, but even more shocked, if not down right horrified, to discover what they were about.

"Momo Hinamori? She's the shy little one...right? I remember her coming around here a time or two with everyone for Halloween." Doctor Kurosaki asked, sighing as he watched the two friends nod. "How did you girls get a hold of these? And further more, what do you want me to do with them?"

His eyes widened his he listen to them tell her story right up to the point of her being in the care of Toshiro and his grandmother, whom he knew quite well since the boy was always bringing her here for her check-ups. He felt a shudder go through him, though now the first few files made sense to him. The broken limbs and bruises was from her fighting with others, but what about her fingers? And the fragments? If he knew what type of metal he could make a pretty good guess how they got there but it seemed that it was not included within any of the reports which was odd. The good doctor sighed again before he reread the names of the head doctors' and smiled. "Hush you two and let me make a call."

The two girls piped down immediately and watched the man before them hum as he dialed a number and held the ringing phone to his ear. "Ah! Hello, this is Doctor Kurosaki, may I speak with Doctor Welson please? Alright...Ah! Hello there! How are you?...Ah, yeah, it's been easy here though! I don't envy you! Hey, I have a file here on one of your old patients and I was wondering if you remembered her. Momo Hinamori?...you do?!...yeah, you know what would cause those injuries? And what where the fragments?...Copper?...No...Are you sure?...Yeah, I remember, but you can't be serious...Okay, okay, I didn't mean any insult it's just that...she's a great kid so you see why I find it hard to believe...Well, if you put it that way it makes sense. Hm? A sketch book? Well, I know she draws and stuff, but I haven't seen any of her work. Why?...Hahaha! Seems like she hasn't changed a bit!...Alright, I'll talk to ya later over dinner or something. Yeah, okay. Bye." Doctor Kurosaki sighed as he hung up the phone and rubbed his eyes.

"Well?! What's going on?!" Rukia shouted at the man, her curiosity making her want to burst.

"Copper. She had copper fragments in her fingers." He stated as he turned to the two girls, their eyes telling him that they could not grasp the meaning of it yet. "Do you remember all those break-ins and robberies years ago? Remember that the thief was never caught?"

"You aren't saying that it was Momo, are you?!" Rangiku spat, her stomach feeling ill and her throat clenched at the idea, making it hard for her to swallow.

"I know it's hard to believe, but we have all the evidence we need right here. She was stripping the buildings of their copper wiring and selling it." Kurosaki placed his hands on the girls shoulders and brought them in for a hug. "And it makes sense. Copper can bring in a lot of money, enough for her to buy food and water, but it seemed like she really didn't spend her money on those things." He chuckled as he said that.

"What do you mean, Doc?" Rukia asked as she pushed away from him slightly to see his face.

"Well, by the reports I can tell she was under weight and a little dehydrated, but if you look at her belongs, she carried a bunch of art supplies in an oversized satchel. She must have been spending her money on that instead of food or shelter."

"That sounds like her." Rangiku sighed as she wiped a stray tear from her eyes. "Come on, Rukia...we need to look into this thefts more before we go confronting her." Rangiku sighed as she and Rukia waved goodbye to the smiling man before they left.

As he watched them walk away, he leaned back against his chair and chuckled.

"...What a clever girl...Who'd of thought she'd be the one who got away?"