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Chapter 26

His breath was warm against the back of my neck. I shut my eyes again and grabbed his arm that was wrapped around my waist, kissing the tips of his fingers. He was breathing heavily, knocked out cold even as I turned to face him.

I traced the lines of his face with my eyes, wondering if he resembled his parents. I had never seen a picture of them in his room. I liked to think what it would have been like to meet them. Would his mom have liked me? Perhaps not since I put him through the wringer so many times.

I stifled a laugh, imagining what Kisuke must have been like as a kid. He must have been an annoying little shit with a dazzling grin that let him get away with anything. I could imagine it. Him running around with Haku and Yoruichi, his sandy blond hair still growing out. All flesh and bones and no muscle—his blue eyes large and bright. It made me smile down at his sleeping form.

"You're staring is creepy," His lips quirked up.

"I thought you were asleep."

"I was but your creepy staring woke me up."

"My bad," I smiled, kissing him softly, "Good morning, sleepy boyfriend."

His eyes cracked open and he chuckled, "Good morning, creepy girlfriend."

I shut my eyes again and tucked my head against his chest, "Kisuke…tell me about your parents."

His lips pressed to the crown of my head and he took in a deep breath. I looked up and he was watching me quietly, "My father's name was Hayato—he was the one who taught me to fight. I didn't see him very much after I turned ten but I wanted to be just like him when I grew up."

I grinned, "And your mom?"

"My mom was Chiyo. She came from a family of fighters too. She and my father couldn't stand one another when they first got married but one night she came home injured from a fight in the Rukongai protecting Yoruichi's younger sibling. My father helped her bandage up the wound and made her favorite cup of tea—she told me that that was when she realized he wasn't as uncaring as he made out to be. She had paid attention and realized all the little things he did for her and it was then that she fell in love with him."

"That's very sweet," I whispered, smiling as he squeezed my hand, "So which of your parents passed down the sick sense of humor?"

"That would be my mom," He laughed, "She was a practical joker—always playing little pranks on my dad and I. She thought she was hilarious."

We talked like this for an hour or so, and I found out more about him than I had ever thought was possible to know about another person. The blond hair came from both sides of the family but the height came from his father and his blue eyes came from his mom's mom. By the end of the conversation, I felt like I knew his parents personally—everything about them right down to their favorite books and what made them tick.

"What made you ask?" He asked after we had finished laughing over one of his silly childhood memories.

"I lov…" I cleared my throat and shook my head, "I was just curious where the little beast lying next to me came from."

He scooped me up in his arms and kissed me, a hand threading into my hair. I did the same, combing through his soft, sandy strands of hair. Quietly, he whispered, "I'm glad you're safe, Kumiko."

It had been two days since I had returned from Ren's. Squad Two had been eerily quiet about the incident and Kisuke hadn't spoke much about it either. It was as if everyone was pretending that nothing had happened. It was driving me crazy but I was also thankful that no one had pressed me to answer any questions.

I had to meet Soi-Fon tomorrow morning to answer some follow-up questions about the hostage situation. I had this gut feeling telling me that there was a lot more to this than any of them had let me on. It felt as though they were expecting me to say a lot more, as if they knew about the traitor Shinigami. It only solidified in my belief that Ren had been telling me the truth.

Ren…he would be waiting for answers in two nights. There were so many questions I had to answer for him and for myself…but all I wanted to do right now was indulge in Kisuke's embrace.

"Me too," I kissed him again because if I didn't the words 'I love you' would definitely slip through my lips this time.

After a moment or two, he pulled away, his voice husky and deep, "I need to get ready."

I glanced over at the clock on the wall and sighed. I would have to as well. Today was the only chance I would get to look at those files without Kisuke hovering about. He was in the lab for the good part of the day. I only hoped that I wouldn't have to go behind his back after this.

I sighed, sitting up as he began to undress. I watched him change into his uniform, "Let's run away."

His chuckle was deep and made my heart pound, "That would be nice."

I stood up from the bed and grabbed his haori, holding it for him as he slid his arms through. I smoothed the material over his shoulder, whispering as I untied my nightdress, "Would you mind helping me?"

"Did your arms fall off?" He smirked as he pushed the dress from my shoulders, his lips brushing against my collarbone.

"Something like that," I said in a hushed voice, drawing him close.

"Maki, I need that copy of the reports on the noble attacks," I said as I sat down. Being drowned in his paperwork, he passed them to Rika without looking and she passed them to me, "Thanks."

"What're you looking for?" She asked, "Can I help?"

I opened the file and scanned it over. I had read it a number of times already but now I had something specific I was looking for.

Nothing was mentioned that rung any alarm bells or indicated that Ren was connected. Something interesting I noticed that I hadn't before was that all the nobles that had been targeted thus far were all connected to Shinigami or had gone to the Academy at one point.

"Rika…help Maki with the paperwork," I murmured as I stood up and walked out of the office, "I need to talk to my sister."

I sprinted as quickly as possible to Squad Nine, finding Mashiro sprawled out on her Captain's table. He looked rather fed up with her and looked extremely relieved when I walked in.

"Mashiro, your sister—"

"Kumihimo!" She tackled me. I narrowly caught the file before its contents spilt out, "What're you doing here!"

I wriggled out of her arms and went to her desk, opening the file up and point to the list of names I had written, "These are all the nobles who have been attacked. Do you remember any of them, Mash?"

She peered at the list and hummed, "I remember a few."

"I need help ticking off the ones who are ranked officers or have the equivalent amount of spiritual pressure," I passed her the ink brush she had set aside.

"Okey dokey!"

Captain Muguruma sat up straighter, "What's this about?"

"A hunch," I murmured, looking up at him, "I think that the attacker was targeting Souls with high levels of spiritual pressure. I don't think them being nobles had much to do with the attacks."

"Why though?"

I shrugged. I wouldn't know for sure until I checked but I suspected that if I checked Kisuke's reports of the murder of the traitor Shinigami, I would find similarities between those attacks and these.

"Here," Mashiro passed me the list, "I think these are all of them. You know, Mum might be able to hel—"

"Thanks, Mash!" I grabbed the list and sprinted out the door. I needed to get to Squad Twelve before Kisuke went back to his office. I was now certain that these two things were connected—I just needed to prove it.

Kisuke was in the lab when I had arrived after work. He should still be in the lab for another hour or two. No one questioned me when I slid into Kisuke's office. I visited so often now that most of the squad acted like I belonged to them and not Squad Eleven.

Calming my breathing, I slowed my heartbeat and reiatsu output. I didn't want Kisuke to realize that I was breaking into his filing cabinets to read his reports. But I needed to. He had a copy of the secret report here. I knew he did. The deaths in the report had been an anomaly and anomalies were investigated by the Research Department now.

Eventually, I found it and was about to compare it to the report I had in my hand when something else caught my eye. There were more. The reports here had been dated back to when Kisuke was still in Squad Two. Before the secret report had even been recorded.

Setting the two aside, I dug the others out from the filing cabinet…

Study of Souls

The creation of Hollows

Hollows are souls whose Soul Chain has corroded into itself. Thus, there are two types of souls in the existing planes; Hollows and Pluses. The balancers are the Shinigami.

Proposal: Is it possible that these two kinds of souls can be combined to create a new kind of soul?

Humans and Shinigami have been known to procreate. This a cross between two different species for all intents and purpose. The result of these two extremes combining is a human with high spiritual power. It is reasonable to say that two different kinds of souls could also have an in-between.

I stared at Kisuke's handwriting in horror. These sounded more like the ravings of a madman. Were these the kind of things he researched about? How to combine a Hollow and a Plus? Surely that was illegal.

The creation of a Hollow starts with the reformation of the soul and then the mask. After observing the formation of many Hollows, we now know that this white substance comes from the remnants of the Soul Chain.

I dropped the study like it burnt me. It might as well have. What I had read was burned into my mind. White substance.

Was this the same white substance that was found at the crime scene months ago? The same white substance that had caused the death of several Squad Two members? Was this why Yoruichi had protected him so fiercely during the captain candidate screening?

I opened the next file and continued to read, feeling sick to my stomach. My hands wouldn't stop shaking.

Although it hasn't been tested yet, I believe that I have found the answer to my questions. I have designed a method that has the ability to alter the boundaries between Soul and Hollow. If I'm correct, this method would only work with more powerful souls–Shinigami with a high amount of spiritual pressure.

I have yet to find a way to execute this method in practice–

The sound of Kisuke's laughter caught me off guard. What the fuck was he doing back so early! I scrambled to tidy up and shoved the reports back into his cabinet, locking it and setting the Kido barrier back up. He opened the door just as I lowered my hands and I turned to face him, hoping I didn't look as panicked as I felt.

What have you done?

"Kumiko?" He asked, surprised. A soft smile touched his lips and I wanted to cry. He must have seen my lip tremble because he shut the door quickly and came up to me.

"Kisuke…" I clung to his haori, desperately clinging to my belief in him. He couldn't have killed all those people. He wouldn't have. That was not the Kisuke I knew. He was a good man, not an evil one.

But that was his handwriting. His words. I was so confused but I was also afraid. If Ren or anyone else found out about that research he did, he would be executed.

I looked up at him and I found it so hard to believe that he would do anything to hurt anyone. I wanted to look past the coincidences –his connection to Squad Two, this research, the deaths of the Shinigami, Takahashi –but I was terrified that I was letting my love for him blind me.

"What's wrong?" His eyes flicked up to the cabinets and back to me.

I shook my head, "It's just been a rough day…"

He made his way to the cabinet and I felt my panic arise again. He was going to find out and I couldn't let him. The thought of Kisuke being a killer made sick but the thought of him being innocent and never trusting me again made me break out into a cold sweat.

"I didn't freak you out, did I?" I blurted out. He stopped and looked at me with an audible "huh?" and I felt my cheeks go bright pink, "I…well it's just that I was asking a bunch of questions this morning about your parents. And I was worried that I had pried too much—or made you uncomfortable."

"Kumiko," His voice held a smile in it and I was relieved to see him moving away from the cabinets. He laughed and I couldn't stop the grin that came to my face, "You can ask me questions about my parents. I don't mind."

I smiled and felt the fire in me settle down. This was my Kisuke, the one that no one else seemed to know. He was so good that this world almost didn't deserve him. Perhaps the research was just that, research. Kisuke was a curious mind and sought answers when he had questions.

"I'm glad," I whispered, playing with my hands and trying to hide my smile.

"Can you tell me the reason why you came to visit me?"

I looked up at him and he wore a frown, his eyes like troubled seas, "I wanted to escape the office." I smiled and kissed him.

"I don't believe you," His words were slow, annunciated like he was taking special care to make sure I knew what he was talking about.

I started to take a step back but stopped myself. I would look guilty if I retreated. But Kisuke could sniff out a lie before someone even made it—he knew I was hiding something.

"I…" I sighed and sat down on the files that I wanted to hide from him, "I've been thinking about the attacks on the nobles. And I think it's more than that."

He was quiet for a moment, "Go on."

"It doesn't add up. Like we discussed—the attacks weren't politically motivated, driven by hate, or even money. So what? Why attack them?" I ran a hand through my hair, "Ren…he told me something…something about Squad—"

"Kisuke!" Hiyori ripped the door open and came tumbling in. She ran up and kicked him hard in the shin, "You big, fat dummy! We've been waiting in the Squad room for-fucking-ever and you're here talking to your girlfriend?"

Kisuke raised an eyebrow at her, "We…uh…had a meeting?"

She screamed and kicked him again, jumping up and grabbing him by the hair, "Move your ugly ass! And you, Kumiko, stop distracting him!"

I gawked as she dragged him out of the room, and wasted no time gathering the files from underneath me. As I ran away back to my room, I had a feeling of dread overwhelm me as I went behind Kisuke's back.

I sat down on my bed with the files spread out, comparing details. I could only come to one conclusion and that was that the nobles had been connected to the attacks Squad Two had investigated. Only one noble had perished in the attacks, and of unknown causes. To top it, the medical professional who had performed the autopsy had died of unknown causes shortly afterwards.

The similarities were too much to ignore, and along with Kisuke's research it seemed to me that this had a lot more to do with experimentation than the work of a serial killer. I wasn't an expert—I was by no means an investigator—but the facts were laying in front of me and some pretty clear connections.

The question that mattered to me the most now was how was Kisuke connected to this?

He couldn't have possibly attacked the nobles—he had working on the construction of the Squad Twelve laboratories during all the attacks. And the previous case he with the white substance and murders of the Shinigami…he and Yoruichi had made it perfectly clear that it was the work of someone else.

I combed my fingers through my hair and let out a loud sigh, "What the fuck?"

A knock on my shoji door had me jumping out of my skeleton. I had been so deep in thought that I hadn't noticed someone approaching my door. Hastily, I gathered the papers back in their files and slid them under my pillow.

"Come in," I said, surprised who opened my door, "Nari?"

"Kumiko," She spoke softly as she walked in, "I wanted to know how you were doing?"

I patted the side of my bed, "I'm doing well…I meant to thank you for coming with Maki and Lieutenant Aizen to save me."

She smiled, "It's alright. You would have done the same."

I smiled, "Is everything alright?"

She was quiet for a long time, staring at her hands in her laps, "Kumiko…I know that you're looking into the attacks of the nobles more. I overheard Rika and Maki talking about it."

"I am," I affirmed, "It's just a theory. I don't—"

"Don't," She looked up at me and her eyes were wide, "Please don't continue, Kumiko."

I was stunned into a momentary silence, "Nari…do you know anything?"

She stood up and began to walk away, "I just…don't want you to get hurt. I heard that people who have been investigating the attacks have been getting sick."

She avoided my gaze as I eyed her. If she had anything else to add, she wasn't going to. Where had she found out about this though? I wasn't aware of anyone below third-ranked officers having a copy of the noble attacks—the only reason why I had it was because I stood in for a lot of Hisoka's duties.

"Nari, I need you to be honest with me," I took her hand and she looked up at me slowly. Softly, I asked, "Do you know anything else about these attacks?"

"I'll be killed," She whispered before breaking away and sprinting out of the room.

I stood up to chase her when I realized how late it was. I needed to return Kisuke's file! Nari would have to wait.

The Squad Twelve grounds were dead. Nothing moved and nothing breathed. The only sound was the occasional Shinigami who greeted me as I passed.

Kisuke was in the lab—I had searched for his presence before entering the grounds. It wouldn't be unusual for me to be waiting in his office for him, so I made my way there at a pace I hoped didn't looked panicked.

As soon as I shut the door quietly behind me, I scrambled to the cabinet. With the flick of my wrist, I let down the barrier and slid the file back into the spot where I had originally found it. Then, just as I had done earlier that day, I closed the barrier. Shutting my eyes, I breathed a sigh of relief. Kisuke was still in the lab and the file was back where it belonged.

"That's clever. I never thought of how easy it would be to mimick the Kido barrier's makeup until earlier today." I froze immediately, dread hitting all the air from my lungs. He was right behind me, watching and catching me in the act.

"You're supposed to be in your lab," I spoke quietly, reaching my mind out to the area. His presence was still there.

Whipping around, I stared at him with wide eyes. His gaze was cold and closed off, "A new device I made—with the use of a simple Kido spell, it can imitate your spiritual pressure and create a diversion."

I stood there quietly, unsure what to say. He had caught me. There wasn't anything I could say that could worm me out of this situation.

"Why were you looking through my files?" He asked and I stepped away from him as he moved closer.

"The case on the Shinigami you investigated back in Squad Two…the ones who were turned into a white substance," I watched cautiously as his eyes widened, "I needed to read it again."

"Why?" His tone was sullen, "Did Ren put you up to this?"

"No! He doesn't know about that but he did s—"

"What did he say to you? Ren—what did he tell you, Kumiko?"

"Nothing—"

"That was your last chance to lie. Next time—"

"Next time what?" I growled, "You'll arrest me? Fucking do it then, Kisuke!"

He ran a hand through his face and spoke quietly, "I thought you trusted me."

"I do—"

"When you asked me about my parents this morning, I thought it was because you cared," He looked up at me, "But that was clearly a trick too. You're always finding a way to distract me from the shit you pull behind my back—"

"I wasn't!" I cried, "I…fuck I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you telling Yoruichi, Kisuke! I didn't want to tell anyone—"

"Except Ren? Kumiko, it's enough that I've let you break into my files not once but three times—and now you're giving that information to some random man?"

He had the wrong idea about this entire situation. My mind raced but all I could think about was telling him the truth. He wanted the truth, regardless of the danger it would put him in.

"Kisuke, it's not like that—"

"I wish you trusted me as easily as you did him," He began to walk away.

"It's all experiments!" I exclaimed and he stopped, "The nobles, the Shinigami—it's all experiments, Kisuke. I bet if you went around the files of mysterious deaths reported, you'd find a lot if not all are connected to this!" He didn't say anything and I ran up to him, "The Shinigami—there was nothing left of them but a white substance that killed the men investigating the crime scene. Something similar happened to one of the nobles that were killed—and the technicians working on the body. There wasn't a trace of the substance like with the Shinigami but Kisuke they're connected!"

"You read my research files, didn't you?" His tone was dangerously low. I couldn't lie to him with him looking at me with so much disgust, "Get out."

He brushed past me, his shoulder bumping into mine roughly. I stared at him with wide eyes, unsure what to say or do. He wanted me to tell him the truth and I had…but he wasn't happy. I knew that I had been in the wrong but I couldn't understand his silent rage. He was always so accepting and forgiving but I saw none of it in his eyes anymore.

He sat down in his desk and repeated himself, "Get out, Kumiko."

"I'm sorry I broke into your files Kisuke—"

"It's not just about that, Kumiko," He ran his hand through his hair, tugging at the ends, "You combing through my research like that—it can get me in a lot of trouble if it gets out."

"Yeah but I wasn't going to tell anyone. I wouldn't do that to you."

I stared at him in disbelief but he refused to look at me. Slamming my palm against the surface of his desk, I growled in his face, "You wanted the truth from me but you're hiding something yourself."

He met my gaze, "You need to leave this be, Kumiko."

"Kisuke, what is this ab—"

"Leave it alone, Kumiko!" He said loudly, his temper snapping. I moved back and stared at him. He wasn't just angry about this. There was something else festering inside as he bottled it up. Fear.

His eyes were bright blue, burning with his barely restrained anger. I took a step towards him, reaching out gingerly to touch him. He didn't move, only glared at me as I cupped his face in mine.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, "I shouldn't have gone behind your back—"

"I can't do this," he took his hand away, "I can't do this anymore with you. You can't just apologize for doing something and then do it again and again—"

"I love you," The words tumbled out and I bit down on my tongue hard. We both stared at one another with wide eyes. I let my hands drop to my side and I stood up, feeling my heart beating erratically. My palms felt clammy as he stared at me with wide eyes.

"That doesn't matter—"

"It does," I grabbed his hands again, "Kisuke, I'm sorry. I didn't want to get you involved anymore because I wasn't sure what I was going to find. What Ren told me…it scared me and so I went back to check my reports. And it all sounded so familiar. I should have gone to you—I know. I just…I'm so sorry."

He didn't say anything and I pulled away, holding my hand over my mouth. I felt like my throat was about explode with the pressure of my sobs building up but I refused to cry in front of him. Why wasn't he saying anything?

"I'm sorry," I whispered and stood up to leave. I waited for him to call me back but he didn't and by the time I had reached the door, I realized that he wasn't going to.

My lungs quivered as I held my breath, listening for the smallest whisper from him. But nothing came and I had opened the door, feeling as through a weight had been tied to my forehead. I turned to say something to him but no words came to mind as we stared at one another in the thick silence. My vision blurred and I turned around quickly and left the door open behind me.

Up Next: Kumiko faces the Head-Captain. The apprentice is revealed.