A member of the commission of inquiry brought a document into the meeting room, revealing that he got all aviable informations about Asano and some new infos the Soul Society did not have so far...
"...That guy lives alone in Minato-shi, Tokyo. I don't figured out his employer but it looks like they hire him and than he talks into a microphone to record his voice. Something like that. Nothing suspicious in his mail. He was not at home and so far we don't know where he is. He was booked in a hotel in Okinawa but he was not there. Looks like he is very good in hiding. He is in a relationship with a woman called Akira Fukuoka. Another actress. But looks like he is also in some kind of 'affair' with our tv-host..."
"WHAT?!" everone present screamed shocked.
"But that is not confirmed. But what we know is that Asano and this Hirabata regulary share lunch together. They see each other regulary as they mainly work in the same building." the Shinigami continued. "So far, no other important contacts. His family dislikes the Kurosaki's. But he hasn't talked to them for years now. Looks like there was some trouble in the past. According to Madarame from the eleventh, Asano's gives shelter to Shinigami who need a place to stay in the world of the living. But there are contrary informations. It would be a great oportunity to collect informations about us. And Madarame seems to be terribly afraid of Asano's sister."
The other members of the commission turned to thier 'conspirancy-wall'. More and more traces led to Asano. But that made no sense. Several days have passed since the 'incident'. And so far there was no hot track. But they knew: Makoto was never able to figure out anything about the Kurosaki's by herself and that meaned, that someone gave her clue. They knew that she recieved a package. And they knew that the person who told Makoto, must have known about them for a long time.
"Kurosaki told us, that he is his friend. I can't imagine that a friend would betray them." a female member of the commission said.
"Asano, has no contact to Kurosaki anymore!" another one said. "Kurosaki told us that he is 'gubbing' or... how it is called... 'nubbing', 'hugging'... no... but yeah, I think he likes to hug people, too. According to Arisawa a bit too much... Dubbing! Yeah, that is it!"
"What is dubbing?" someone asked.
"I don't know that, too. But what ever it is, Asano has become a well known person because of it."
"Some people think that Asano could act as some kind of 'figurehead' for the Soul Society. At least until we are able to erase everthing out of the humans minds."
"We should forget that! For now... he is one of our suspects..."
In the world of the living meanwhile...
Yupa Taramasaki hid his face behind a newspaper while he and his parents passed the pack of reporters at the main entrace to enter the taxi his parents called, to drive home. His parents were still really mad and demand answers but Yupa gave his word to Kazui to not to tell anyone. No matter what happens...
Yuzu meanwhile, left the building threw the side entrace. Her hair was dyed black and she wore dark sunglasses. She got new clouthes and decided to continue to use the name Haruna Kobayashi. At least as long as necessary. Ishida's trustworthy nurse handed her her new purse and bowed.
"Good luck, Kobayashi-san! You're on your own, now!"
Yuzu bowed, too and left... "You did so much for me, I don't know how to make up for it?"
"Just take care of yourself..." the nurse said and went inside again but than she looked out again. "Oh and... we never met! Understood?"
"When should we have ever met?!" Yuzu said to show that she understood and the nurse went back inside.
Yuzu looked around. Most reporters were at the main-entrace, focused on a family. She didn't know that it was Yupa and his parents. She totally forgot about the boy, and that he might be in trouble, too. She had enough problems on her own. She was homeless now. She had no money and no job. She only had 50.000 Yen the nurse gave her from the Ishida's 'emergency-fond'. She also had savings on the bank, but she saw enough crime-movies to know that the police propably freezed all family accounts... It was just the beginning of an oddysse...
She tried to call Keigo several times from a phone-booth. But everytime she called him, just his answering-mashine picked up. She was too afraid to leave a messsage. She was pretty sure that he had enough problems on his own now. Maybe he left the city? Or he left the contry, like the Ishida's. While she start to cry, she did not look where she was walking... and so she crashed into a man...
"Owch..." Yuzu jelled when she hit with her head agaings the chin of a foreigner, who shrieked up surprised. "Oh, my gosh... I am so sorry, sir!"
The man in front of her, friendly inoncent smile, her age, slim body, didn't seem to care. He just bowed to show that everything was fine.
"I am so sorry, I didn't want to hurt you. I mean it is not what you think. What else you should think when you see me?" Yuzu said fast and with fear in her voice. He was afraid that the man maybe recognizes her and makes a scene. Her hair was dyed but her face was still the same. But instead, he looked surprised and like he didn't understood her.
"Ehm... Japanese... no... speaking..." he said with an horrible, but also kind of sweet accent. "...Korea..."
Yuzu smiled inoncently, while she became pale. What a lucky circumstance. A foreigner who might does not know who she is.
"...Excuse me... the train-station... where is..." he continued.
Yuzu was relieved. He didn't seem to recognize her and he didn't understood her. A tourist, maybe? Or a foreigner on a business-trip who lost his way? She was surprised that still people from outside visit Karakura. Not even the locals wanted to return. Hastily, she used a handkerchief to clean her face and lift her hand to direct the man to the train-station.
"Straight ahead, the third crossroad left and you see it..." she explained. The man didn't seem to understand her. "... the third... one, two, three... left!"
The man just looked on her with big eyes. He did not understand any of her words.
Yuzu sighned: "You know,... follow me! I'll show you."
She decided to bring him there by herself...
On thier way to the train-station she suddenly felt a little bit better. Maybe it was because the man didn't know who she was but it was a great feeling to talk to someone. Yuzu had absolutely no clue... that the man right next to her, was going turn her life to hell...
Yupa meanwhile, arrived at home with his parents, jumped out of the taxi, went inside, stormed upstairs and went into his room. Refusing to talk to his parents, nor to answer thier questions about Kazui or his parents...
"They jinxed him, honey!" his mother cried. "You see it by yourself. Why else the boy would talk to us like that..."
"I have an idea. I will call an expert." he said and took the phone to call at work.
"Who are you calling?" his wife asked worried.
Yupa's father lift his hand to tell his wife to be silent for a moment while he was connected to someone. "Yeah... hello. This is officer Taramasaki speaking. You owe me a favour, you remember. It's time..."
And so, just one hour later, one of his coleauges from police, a police-psychologist who was skilled in treating traumatized children, arrived.
"Please, do something. He refuses to tell us anything. We are afraid, that he got jinxed..." Yupa's father told.
"I already saw that several times with other children who witnessed crimes. Let me talk with him... I see what I can do..." the woman told and went upstairs.
Nobody had a clue, that the conversation Yupa and the psychologist will have... is going to worse everything... The police-psychologist knocked against the door to Yupa's room...
"Go away!" the boy jelled mad, thinking that his mother or his father were at the door.
"Yupa-chan! It's me, Hana! Do you remember me? We met at the police-station several times when your father showed you around. May I come in?"
"No! I won't tell you anything!"
"I don't want to ask you questions you don't want to answer. I just want to talk!"
"Pah... I know that Father called you to 'treat' me!" Yupa knew that 'Hana-san', 'treated' traumatized children. But Yupa was not traumatized. Just worried... and mad... Mad that he was left behind...
"I know you are mad, Yupa. But sooner or later, others will come and ask questions. And they won't be as polite as I am now. I am not here to reproach or to blame you for something. I just want to prepare you for possible trouble in the future..."
When she heared Yupa lifting off she prepared to face him. But the face he used to look on her let her fear... Yupa had a cold and evil stare that scared her so much like never ever before. She was experienced in interrogating traumatized children, but Yupa seemed to be a whole new level...
"Which others?" the boy asked. Now he was worried.
"People... with cameras. People who don't care for you beeing just a child. They don't care for your arm beeing in a cast. Or anything else. They will do everything, and I mean really everything to get what they want. And they want your friend Kazui and his parents!"
He let her into his room. She caught him with her statement. Soon after he closed the door, his parents sneaked closer to eavesdrop... Like Isshin would do: with glasses!
In the Soul Society meanwhile, the Kurosaki's were worried about thier own son, too...
"You know since we arrived here, Kazui is so silent!" Orihime said.
"Maybe he is worried about Yupa?" Ichigo said.
"I don't think it is about Yupa! Something is bothering him." she replied. Suddenly she remembered something... "Gosh... Ichigo..."
"What?"
"Kazui's birthday..." she said and Ichigo was suddenly very shocked, too. "...what day is today? I think we forgot his birthday!"
In the other room, Kazui was able to talk openly to Ichika. He forgot his birthday, too but that was not the reason why he was worried. "I told him to never ever tell anybody. And I know he will keep his promise. But I have this terrible feeling..."
"What?" Ichika asked.
"I think... something terrible is going on right now..." Kazui replied.
Not far away, in the meeting room of the commission of inquiry, they talked about Yupa, too.
"Did someone already interogated that boy?" the chairman asked and pointed on a photo of Yupa, they got from the Kurosaki's.
"Not yet! He is still recovering from his injuries. But I think it is time to interrogate him. It is possible that he knows more than Kurosaki jr. told us..."
In his room, Yupa sat down on his bed. His injuries were still visible. He watched the woman looking around in his room, observing his posters of superheroes and soccer-stars.
"You are a soccer-fan, right? And you like superheroes, do you?" she asked. Yupa just shrugged. "What is your favorite club?"
"Does it matter?"
"I am just curious?" she replied and pointed on a poster with an anime-superhero. "Ah... Hero-Man, that is the main character of this popular new anime. Keigo Asano voices his human alter-ego. You know the actor who voices him, is playing in one of my favourite serieses, too: Crime-Lab-Tokyo! Everyone in the police-department likes this series."
"Hana-san, stop talking to me like to one of your witnesses. I am fine! I am not traumatized. I am not mad. I only wait for the Soul-Society to erase everything out of the peoples memories."
"The Soul-Society? What is that?"
"That does not concern you!" Yupa said mad. Looking evilily on her. "And now, leave my room!"
"Yupa... you know that I am on your side! The others are not. They won't care for you when you tell them to leave your room. They will be willing to do everything to let you talk. You don't want to talk about Kazui Kurosaki, it's fine! Let's talk about you. Why you went to that backyard-shop that day? What did you did there when you were suppossed to be in school?"
Yupa remembered, the encounter with thier classmates, the incident in the restroom, the arriving fire-brigade, the SWAT-team storming inside...
"You remember?"
"Yeah, I... I mean... we... were running away. This was never suppossed to happen! Something like this they never see comming! They never expected..."
"Who are they? The Kurosaki's?"
"No, the Soul Society, I think!"
"Ah, the people who do not concern me! So lets talk about them..."
"No! I promisted to tell nobody. No matter what happens!" Yupa said.
"Whom?"
"To... to Kazui!" the boy became nervous. It was obvious that he was scared.
"And when?"
"When... he... no... no... I can't!" Yupa said, now more terrified. "I don't want to betray him. I promised to him."
"You're not betraying him! I see, you try to protect him. But if you want to protect him, you have to tell us what happened. Everyone is convinced that he hurt you so terrible. Is that true?"
"No!" the boy said shocked.
"So, who hurt you? An adult?" she asked. Yupa nooded. "Who? One of the SWAT-team?"
"I think so!"
"Why not... starting from the beginning. If I understand everything I may find a way to help you. And Kazui, too."
"Really?"
"Really! So... let's begin... with Kazui telling you his secret... You don't have to tell me about his secret. I just want to know why he told you!"
"I... I... was... mad on him..." Yupa told. "I saw him using his superpowers and... and I asked him why... well... about his secret. And he denied everything. So I told him, that I am not his friend anymore if he continues lying to me..."
Yupa's parents carefully listened threw the closed door and finally understood something.
"And so he told you, his secret!" the woman asked politely. "When?"
"Hmm... last week!" Yupa shrugged. "But he told me without his parents permission."
"So, he told you... but you were originally not allowed to know."
"Nobody is allowed to know it!" Yupa said. "It's like revealing the secret identity of a superhero. After that they are not able to help the people anymore."
"Aww... interesting!" slowly the woman realized why Yupa was not afraid of the Kurosaki's: He saw them as superheroes and not as Soul-Eating-Demons like anyone else. "Superheroes?! What makes you so sure that they are Superheroes?"
"I am not allowed to tell!" Yupa said.
"Fine! Later on that. So, let's talk about what happened the day, the news reported about them... Why you two left the school? You know... normally School is a safe place to stay for kids."
"They... all glared on us. They looked on Kazui like a freakshow. Our classmates were so upset... And we... went to a friend of them to ask for help. But when we arrived, they were gone..."
In the corridor, his father made some notes to tell his colleagues that possibly more Shinigami are somewhere in town. His mother continued listening.
"...so we waited. But suddenly, the 'birthday-surpise' was thrown threw the window."
"Birthday-suprise?!" the woman asked, his father meanwhile realized that the SWAT-team really stormed in while he was alone in there. "You mean... a tear-gas-canister?"
"Yes! And than... they stormed in, and... and... than I woke up in hospital... And Kazui and his family are now in Soul Society..."
"Have you ever been there?"
"No! But I would like to..." Yupa said. Suddenly his mother start to cry loudly in the corridor. Because in her ears it sound like a wish to die. That was the moment the boy realized that his parents were listening to them. "Hey, that's unfair! I don't tell you anything anymore. I knew it... my parents asked you to treat me!"
"Yupa, that's not true. Listen your parents are just afraid of the Shinigami. Everyone is afraid of them..."
As if on cue, two Shinigami appeared on the window and looked inside. Surprised Yupa looked towards his window and tried to brush them off. In surprise the woman looked towards the window, too. She didn't saw the two Shinigami who were surprised that Yupa was able to see them.
"Hey, he can see us?" one of them said surprised.
"So we were right with our guess..." the other one said.
"What? Is there someone?" Hana-san asked surprised and pointed on the window.
"Wha... no no no... ehm... I... am... just... I want to open the window." Yupa said. "I need some air!"
"Oh, of course! It's your room." she said and opened the window. When she opened it, the two Shinigami jumped in and stood now on Yupa's desk. Yupa fell on his knees and begged for mercy.
"Please, I didn't want that happen! But first replace her memories. I don't want her to hear this..." Yupa jelled kneeling down in front of the Shinigami.
The surprised Shinigami looked on the woman and one of them lift his memory-replacer to knock the woman out. As soon as she faded away, Yupa confessed everything to them. How he became mad on Kazui for lying to him. How Kazui became sad and decided to share his secret with him. How they spend time together after that and everything Kazui had told him about Shinigami, the Soul-Society and spirits, Hollows and all that stuff... everything cleary hearable for his parents in the corridor...
In shame, Yupa bowed in front of the Shinigami and apologized. Deciding to accept every punishment, even the death-sentence. But he kindly asked them to not send his soul to hell. Hearing this, his mother stormed inside to comfort her son, seeing the senseless psychologist and her son bowing to the wall.
"AGHHHH... Yupa, what did you did?"
"What?" Yupa asked and looked on the senseless woman. "Oh, I didn't did that! They did!"
"Who?" his mother screamed again. She was not able to see the two Shinigami, right in front of her.
"Nodoby!" the boy said with an innoncent smile.
"Is there a Kurosaki in your room?" his father asked shocked.
The two Shinigami looked on each other and were surprised. Looks like the humans think that every Shinigami is 'a Kurosaki' at the same time. The little boy just shaked his head and carefully opened a drawler to get out a toy-camera. "No! I just wanted to show the pictures I made together with Kazui, and that accidentaly end up in TV, to nobody..."
Carefully the boy handed the camera to the Shinigami. One of the man took it to see the photos. Yupa's parents meanwhile were terrified when they suddenly saw a floating camera right in front of thier son. The Shinigami both looked on the photos, just to get disappointed: None of these photos was aired in TV. And Kazui was not even visible on most of them...
"Don't worry young man! This proves that you and Kurosaki-junior are not fault!"
"Oh, really?" Yupa said, now with a better mood. But Yupa's innoncent smile didn't spared him from his parents scared screams...
The Shinigami took the photo's from the camera back to the Soul Society of course, to report everything to the commission...
"That are not the pictures aired in TV! That means he wrongly thought that he and Kurosaki jr. are responsible for this mess." the chairman said, pointing on the pictures. "So the kids are fully innoncent."
"Yes, we told that to the boy, too. Well... after we changed his parents memories... they were pretty terrfied of our presence."
"And where is the boy now?"
"Oh, he is still at home. He asked to be brought here, too. But we couldn't do that. We are sure he is well among his family..."
The Shinigami were so wrong...
Under tears his parents watched Yupa carried into an van. The boy screamed and tried to escape, while he was spellbound on a stretcher and two employees from the psychatric-clinic took care of him...
"Noooo! Please, let me go... Mommie... Daddy... Help me! Don't let them take me with them... NO!" the boy screamed and cried when the backdoors of the van closed.
He saw his mother crying. His father looking on him worried and trying to comfort his mother. And he saw one of his classmates watching everything from safe distance... filming his 'arrest' with a smartphone. To share it with the rest of the class...
In Soul Society the discussion went on...
"Kurosaki's son might blame himself. We should tell him that he is not fault." someone sugested.
"I think we leave it to the boy to talk with his parents..."
Another wrong decision...
In the world of the living meanwhile... Keigo Asano was still in hospital. Yupa was brought to the psychatric-clinic and Yuzu was forced to find a new place to live without money and with the permanent fear to be recognized by someone.
Keigo walked threw the darkness... seeing bad memories all around him. All the times someone hurt him, lied to him, betrayed him... he always insisted that his life is good. But his life was not as good and happy as he always believed. No... he just was too blindfolded and too naive to realize that everyone hates him...
"Not true..." the voice suddenly said. "...no there are people caring for you..."
"Who are you?" Keigo yelled.
"Don't listen to him! He was not there... remember all the times they hurt you..." the other voice moaned.
Keigo saw it again. It was like expieriencing again. All the abuse and the bullying. Not only from Oshima and his sister. But also from Ichigo, Tatsuki...Mizuiro's ignorance to all of his statements. His neglective parents. That was the moment he realized that he forgot his parent's faces...
"Don't forget that there were good times... And people who actually care for you..." the first voice replied.
Suddenly, Keigo's memories around him changed... to the good ones. The moment Ichigo and Chad safed them from Oshima and his violent gang. The funny moments. His sucess at work. His career! There were people who really knew that he was more than just a 'Ichigo-worshipper'... Makoto, Akira, Shino... his producer... even that always crotchety guy from the welcome-desk kind of seemed to care for him... gosh... his life is so complicated...
"What is this... Hey, you two... what are you?" Keigo yelled... "What is this? Is this the purgatory? A nightmare? Or what? Am I dead?"
"NO...YES..." the two voices replied at the same time.
"What?" Keigo asked annoyed. "Gosh... I am pretty sure that all this is just because of Ichigo. Admit it voices! Are you here because of Ichigo?"
No respond...
"Yeah... definetely Ichigo's fault..."
Keigo turned around to not to face his memories anymore. This was a weird nightmare...
Yuzu meanwhile somehow managed to hide under her new identity. But everytime she tried to use an ATM she had to learn that all accounts of the family were blocked by the police. And when she walked threw a supermarket, a woman seemed to recognize her and start to make a scene. Before the situation could become worse, she fled out of the market.
Yuzu was always the spiritually weakest in the family. The media spread that, too. So rumors made the round, one of them telling that Yuzu might be adopted...
"That's it..." her father said when she stood in a phone-booth several days later. She picked up after hearing it ringing. It was one of thier rare possiblities to talk. "Yuzu, you are adopted!"
"What?" Yuzu jelled shocked.
"Of course not really!" her father told her. "But if someone recognizes you, tell him that you are adopted and that you were unaware! I know it's a lie... but do you prefer that the people... I don't even dare to say it out loud..."
"Yeah... I know what you mean..." Yuzu said while she watched a woman passing the phone-booth, looking curiously on her. "At least I found a place to sleep. I was able to rent a one-room-apartment. But now I am out of money."
"There is still a entry-ban to the world of the living!" Isshin told her.
"So there is also no way to get any help. Tell me, what's up? Did you figure out something?"
Isshin denied. He told her that the commission did have some clues but no hard evidence. She told him about how she was able to rent this one-room apartment for the next few weeks. But in the middle of thier conversation... the connection suddenly became worse...
"Yuz... pls... rep... aat... I... can... ear..." her fathers voice cracked out of the phone like from a bad adjusted radio.
"Daddy... Daddy, can you hear me? Hello?" Yuzu got afraid. She suddenly only heared a dial tone. "Hello...?"
In the Soul Society, the device Isshin used to talk to Yuzu start to smoke. A light-bulb blow up and it stopped working...
Yuzu broke out in tears. That was nood good. Her father would never just hang off. Something must have happened. In the Soul Society Isshin start to scream and to rant around to the guys of the twelth division to fix it. Just a minute later his son arrived to tell him to remind him about Kazui's birthday, too. In fear Yuzu meanwhile, left the phone-booth and cried. She cried so hard, that she didn't look where she was walking... only to run into the Korean 'tourist' again, letting him drop his basket with groceries...
"Oh, my gosh... Please forgive me, I am so sorry!" she said and went down to help the man to pick up his stuff. Than she realized that it was the man again, she met back the day when she was released from hospital. "You!"
"You!" he said, too. "Hello... do you feel... well?"
Yuzu lift up and used a handkerchief to clean her face. "I am sorry. It is just... nothing. None of your business..."
The man smiled. "I... am.. on... the way to the... hotel." Yuzu had to smile. The man sound so funny when he tried to talk Japanese. After handling him his stuff, she bowed to apology again. "Do you... need help?"
"No, I am fine! Anyway, there is no way you can help me with my problems. And even if I tell you, you wouldn't understand... Oh I'm sorry... Nothing against you... Your Japaneze actually sounds okay. Where are you from?"
"Oh, ehm... my name is Joon-sik! I am a... sales-representative... from Busan in the Republic of Korea. And I am here in Japan to sell... stuff..."
Yuzu didn't mention it, but they walked together for almost an half an hour, talking normally. Yuzu told him some facts about Karakura and where to find the best shops and sights. He listened carefully, knowing that some of the stuff might be helpful.
"Oh, this is hotel... where I am living!" he suddenly said, stopping in front of a building.
"Oh, okay... thank you, it was really nice to have someone to talk." Yuzu said. She mentioned that she felt much better. Maybe it was because he didn't know her. Or because he was not able to understand who she was, or why she was sad. But she was just happy that she could have a normal conversation with someone.
"Do you want... eat?" he asked.
"Oh, thanks I just had breakfast!" she replied.
"No... tonight... going to... eat! In the... restaurant?" he asked. "I will... invite you!"
"Ehm... Are you... asking me out for a date?" Yuzu asked surprised. Her respont surprised her much more... "... sounds like a lot of fun! I can show you some nice spots in town..."
It was the first time since that frightful day, when she felt free... It was the first time since her family's public exposure that she felt like a human again. And not like a freak. She was a human woman again... and not the child of a soul-eater anymore...
Happily Yuzu and the man arranged to meet tonight right here in front of the hotel and Yuzu left to prepare for thier date. The man meanwhile went inside to get back to his room in the third floor...
The reason why he and his comrades choosed Karakura, was that many hotels in town became so cheap after Kurosaki-Gate as nobody wanted to come to this town anymore. The police was infamous to be inefficent and that crimes in this town often seemed to be 'ignored'. And they focused more on the 'Shinigami' now. A perfect hideout for thier group.
Opening his room, the man greeted his three comrades. Telling them happily that he found a young, naive and silly girl that might be helpful for thier plans. And so they sat together... a picture of thier 'great-leader' on the desk. And a plan to make up a plan to force the so much hated Americans out of Korea and to the Middle-East to destroy it more than they already did. And so Yuzu was unaware... that her new boyfriend... was not a sales-representative from South-Korea, but a terrorist from North-Korea...
At the same time... Keigo Asano suddenly opened his eyes again in hospital...
Please review and keep well.