Chapter 3:
Disclaimer: Same as always.
Author's Note: Finally, a bit of the situation is explained.
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Chapter 3:
"Well, here we are," Hisoka announced, as they stood before a door in the office building.
"This is where your boss is?" Mikan asked.
"Well, technically not our boss, but he's just as formidable," Tsuzuki replied.
Mikan imagined her boss, and the others ranking above her, and shuddered. She hoped that if they were to get punished, it wouldn't be too severely.
However, when the door was opened, she saw a man with glasses sitting behind a desk. Tsuzuki and Hisoka, however, still looked apprehensive, as they led her into the room.
"Good morning, Tsuzuki-san, Kurosaki-kun," the man said. Mikan again started when she heard Hisoka's name.
"Tatsumi-san," Hisoka replied quietly.
The man, Tatsumi, turned his gaze to Mikan. "You must be our visitor." Tsuzuki and Hisoka looked down, and Mikan just nodded. "It's not often we get visitors from Soul Society, let alone a member of the 13 Squads of the Court of Pure Souls." Tsuzuki and Hisoka looked up in surprise at Tatsumi, then at Mikan.
"I'm sorry, sir," she started, unsure of how to address him properly, "but I still do not fully understand where I am, or how you know me."
"Tatsumi-san, is fine," he told her, and indicated that she could sit in one of the chairs he had in his office. Tsuzuki made a move for another one, but a glare from Tatsumi stopped him in his tracks.
"I'm not surprised that you don't know about us. No offense, but you shinigami in Soul Society do tend to ignore anything outside of your own jurisdiction."
"Shinigami?" Tsuzuki said in amazement. "Mika-chan's a shinigami?" Tatsumi raised his eyebrows at Tsuzuki's pet name for the girl, and she just sighed.
"Yes, shinigami," she said. She figured she might as well fully introduce herself, especially to this Tatsumi person. "I am Akarui Mikan, a shinigami assigned to the 13 Squads of the Court of Pure Souls."
"This is Meifu, Akarui-kun," Tatsumi explained. "We are also shinigami, although we do not work for Soul Society. It is our job to assist spirits in crossing over, such as when they die an unnatural death, and to investigate strange occurrences. Tell me, what were you doing on Earth?"
"When I met you last evening, I was tracking down a hollow that I had been assigned to take care of."
"Hollow… was that the monster from last night?" Hisoka's quiet voice asked.
"Yes… Although I should have been able to defeat it before any innocent bystanders were injured." She was referring to the woman killed. "However, for some reason, the hollow was inexplicably hard to locate. Usually it's not difficult, because you can sense the spiritual energy it gives off. But this one seemed… I don't know… protected."
Tatsumi frowned, taking in this information. "Is this the first such hollow that you've run into?"
"Personally, yes. But I have heard rumors that other shinigami have had the same problem. And that these hollows have been seeming quite… organized."
"It appears that you may be working on the same case as these two," Tatsumi stated. Mikan looked at him in surprise.
"We've been investigating a series of murders," Hisoka explained. "The woman last night… it's the same as the other victims. It appears that your 'organized' hollows may be what we're after."
"But… none of this matches anything we know about hollows… It just doesn't make any sense."
"Could this have something to do with it?" Tsuzuki asked, taking an object out of his pocket. It was a small metal ring.
"May I see that?" Tatsumi asked. Tsuzuki handed him the ring. Tatsumi looked at it for a moment, then handed it to Mikan. "Have you ever seen anything like that?"
Mikan shook her head, completely perplexed as to what this object was. "Where did you get this, Tsuzuki-san?"
"It was on the ground where the hollow-thingy disappeared. I think it was on it." Mikan frowned.
"Can I see it?" Hisoka asked.
She started to hand it to him, but as soon as the metal touched his skin, he clutched his head as if in pain. Mikan pulled the ring away from him immediately, as Tsuzuki and Tatsumi, in unison, cried out "Hisoka!" and "Kurosaki-kun!"
"Daijoubu desu ka?" Tatsumi asked, as Tsuzuki forced Hisoka into a seat, checking his partner's condition.
"I'm fine," Hisoka replied. "It was just… The lingering emotions… hatred, anger, pain, and… and fear…"
"Hatred, anger, and pain, I can understand, if that was on the hollow," Mikan explained, although she did not understand what had happened. "But fear… Fear isn't an emotion we generally associate with hollows." She was quiet as she thought about what this might mean.
Tatsumi also was quiet, then stood up. "Tsuzuki-san, Kurosaki-kun, Akarui-kun," he addressed them. "I ask that the three of you work together to solve this case. Truthfully, as hollows are involved, it is Akarui-kun's jurisdiction, and not ours, but, as we have the data we've already collected, and this does not seem to be a normal case involving hollows, it seems in the best interest of all parties to work together. Is this acceptable, Akarui-kun?" Mikan nodded, and Tatsumi dismissed them.
"Well, where should we start?" Hisoka asked, as they headed out of the office.
"I need some supplies, if I'm going to be operating on Earth, so that should be our first stop," Mikan replied.
"Supplies? What kind of supplies?" Tsuzuki asked.
Kurosaki-san was right… He is an idiot, Mikan thought as she looked at him. "I don't exactly have a physical body," she explained aloud. "If I'm to interact with anything on the mortal plane, or question anyone, I'll need a body."
Tsuzuki looked at Hisoka questioningly, but his partner just shrugged and followed behind the strange shinigami.
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Sorry for how long it took getting this up… I was trying to wait for more comments from my beta readers (who have through chapter 4 right now)... glares at gus