I had a ton of fun writing this one. I got to use two characters that I don't get to use too often, got to explore a side of the story that I've wanted to for a really long time, and get to have something to justify my decision to make Urahara a Captain instead of the villain. Enjoy a long chapter from me to you.


It was a few hours into the morning. The sun was shining. The walkways of the Soul Society were busy, and Tatsuki was there weaving through it all trying to make it on time to what was probably the most important meeting of her career thus far.

She probably would have been there already had it not been for a certain someone.

"You really aren't coming?" Ichigo asked for maybe the third time. "Things would be loads easier if you were with us."

"I can't and you know it," she said exasperatedly. "Besides, I've seen the mission roster. Your team isn't exactly hurting for power."

"I'm not worried about that," he scoffed. "It's Tōshiro! You're probably the only person aside from my dad that can keep him in line all the time."

She snorted. "Well maybe if you didn't call him Tōshiro…"

He grimaced at the mere thought, a visible shiver going down his spine before facing her again, a deep frown on his face. "Seriously, though, what the heck are they dragging you away for this time?"

"Not sure," she said honestly. "The Captain said he needed someone to help decode all of Aizen's research."

"And that someone is you?"

She tried to elbow him in the side only to have him expertly dodge. "No," she stressed, "but I am supposed to help find that someone."

"Sounds mysterious," he said with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe even cool."

"Maybe, if I cared," she sighed out. "Ugh! Why can't I just go with you guys?! Fighting Arrancar, Aizen's own generals, that's way cooler!"

Ichigo laughed. "Hey, what happened to all that career talk from earlier?"

"Shut up!"

He laughed harder.

"Don't you have your own mission to go to or something?" she growled out.

"Eh, I'll be fine, you worry about yours." He said this thumb pointed at the nearest building. One look up and Tatsuki realized they'd arrived at the labs.

She frowned. "Just go already. I'm not letting you use me as your excuse for being late."

Ichigo grinned waving over his shoulder as he jogged away. She stuck her tongue out at his back.

For all the evil Aizen did, she had to (at least in private) thank him for bringing this back to her. Then again, if current theories were to be believed, it just may have been his fault for her losing this in the first place.

"Punctual as always, Miss Arisawa."

Tatsuki stiffened on instinct, only relaxing when she realized exactly who had decided to sneak up on her like that. She turned to Captain Urahara, bowing deeply.

"Of course, Captain Urahara," she said properly.

He raised an eyebrow in response, amused, something that caught her just a bit off guard. With a wave of his hand he said, "C'mon, we've got a lot to talk about."

They stepped inside the labs, Tatsuki almost stubbornly sticking to decorum and staying the exact amount of steps behind as would be considered proper for a Lieutenant. It helped that it also allowed her to scrutinize him from behind without being noticed.

Tatsuki knew very little about Captain Urahara, something that was honestly kind of odd, considering.

Captain Shiba thought of the man as a friend. She'd remembered seeing him around plenty of times at the Shiba compound growing up, but somehow he remained a mystery to her. She supposed that had something to do with her own reservations towards adults at that age.

Later, almost overnight the man became known as the Seireitei's resident hermit and that door had closed entirely. Even people in his own Squad barely saw him anymore, especially if they weren't in the Research and Development Division.

Despite being a non-presence in her life and her not thinking of him for several decades outside of the context of Captains' and Lieutenants' meetings, he had thought of her for this job, had named her specifically. That was maybe the biggest mystery of them all.

The two reached his personal lab, the man stepping up to his computer. He clicked a few keys, an icon or so, and in a moment brought up a picture of a rather strange looking man, one that seemed familiar.

"Do you know who Mayuri Kurotsuchi is?" he asked. Her eyes widened just a bit.

"Most ranking officers know who he is, sir. He was the famous exiled Lieutenant."

"Well, yes," he answered with a nod. "Anything else?"

She opened her mouth, closed it, and then finally shook her head. Urahara let out a chuckle.

"You know what the majority of the Soul Society does, then." She frowned, and he quickly added, "That's not a bad thing, necessarily. Most of what happened with him went under the radar. People were worried about other things, you know?"

"…Other things?"

He shrugged. "The Visored Incident. The murder of Kaien Shiba."

Oh.

She looked back at the photo, or mugshot, to be more accurate.

"So," she started, "we're supposed to find this man and get him to help us with Aizen's research."

"Them's the orders," he said easily. It was a copout of an answer if she'd ever heard one.

"Okay," she said carefully. "How do we do that? Do you know where he might be?"

Urahara scratched his unshaven chin. "He's… not in the Soul Society." Tatsuki resisted the urge to groan. "I keep pretty good track of who comes and goes, so…"

"Can you please be more specific, sir?" She was starting to get impatient, here.

"I'm pretty sure he's in the World of the Living."

"'Pretty sure?'" she asked flatly.

"I…" he trailed off, leaning back against his desk. "I should probably tell you this much, huh, why the Captain Commander thinks he might be able to help."

Tatsuki paused. What on earth did that have to do with anything?

"You could say he and Aizen shared an area of study," he said with a smile. "They just focused on different 'subjects.' Aizen liked Shinigami and Hollows. Kurotsuchi on the other hand…"

Oh, no.

"Humans," she filled in. So, that was the kind of bastard they were looking for? "Still, the World of the Living is a big place. We're going to need more to go off of."

"I think I can get us that," he said with a smirk.

She looked at him waiting for further explanation. She shouldn't have been surprised when she got none. Letting out a sigh she conceded.

"When do we leave?"

"Noon. I'm not sure how long this will take, so be prepared. We're traveling in Gigai the whole time, keep that in mind."

She bowed once more wasting no time in seeing herself out.

Back in her room she rifled through her things trying to remember what kind of packing they suggested for missions like these. She'd only ever been to the World of the Living a handful of times and never for very long.

She supposed if there was a bright side to any of this it was that she'd be closer to her friends than she'd first thought, just not close enough. She tried not to think on how much she'd rather be with the people she'd trusted with her life than this guy whose lies of omission almost got them all killed.

Even now he was hiding things from her, she was sure.

She closed up her bag with a bit more aggression than needed. If this mission went right it could mean a raise, a promotion, best case scenario it could mean Aizen gets taken down. She just had to remember that.

Just before slinging her bag over her shoulder she glanced at the chest shoved in the corner of the room and with some hesitation she shuffled over to it. The thing was filled to the brim with kimono and yukata (that she barely wore. It seemed like all she had use for nowadays was her uniform.)

Should she bring one? Were they even still in fashion back in the World of the Living? She really wished she'd asked Ichigo about this when she'd had the chance.

She opened it, trying to see if there was something worth taking, only to be stopped by the one at the very top of the pile. It was pure black, made of fine silk, and it had actually managed to catch her off guard.

Absently she remembered why it was at the very top. She was expecting to have to wear it again, recently. The last time she'd worn it was… Masaki's funeral.

She remembered that day well, almost as well as she remembered the day of her death.

The skies were grey. Everyone was quiet. The atmosphere was so off it was almost surreal. She was dressed in this kimono then, the funeral having been barely an ago.

The only noise in the whole house came from the twins. They were crying shrilly as some poor maid tried in vain to get them to settle down. The second the maid laid eyes on Tatsuki the girl was sent on a mission to find Isshin in hopes that he'd get them to stop. She doubted he'd be able to do much.

She checked the halls, the kitchen, asked the few staff members that looked like they had time to spare, but found nothing. After some great hesitation she decided to check Isshin and Masaki's shared room.

Or what was their shared room, anyway.

Before that thought managed to take hold, before she started choking on tears all over again, she slid the door open, startling to a stop once she got a glimpse inside.

Isshin was there, but Tatsuki found herself unable to say anything. He was kneeling on the ground clutching one of Masaki's kimono and crying in a way that she'd never seen before, in a way that genuinely unsettled her. He was bawling openly and messily like some little kid, sobs only muffled by the arms wrapped around him.

Holding him was Urahara, a solemn expression on his face as Isshin soaked his shoulder in tears. Urahara's head turned, his eyes met Tatsuki's and she closed the door, running away as fast as she could. She told the maid she didn't find Isshin.

She closed the chest, deciding that she probably didn't need anything from it.

She also considered, just for a moment, that Urahara might be worth giving a chance.

They arrive through the archway of a temple in a place that Urahara calls "Shibuya." Supposedly they aren't far from Karakura Town, but it's doubtful they'll be headed that way any time soon.

Surrounding them are tall trees and a simple shrine, but just beyond the main entrance Tatsuki can see what looks like a bustling human city. It's surprisingly intimidating. So many of its buildings reach to the sky. What must be dozens of "cars" are zooming about. That's not even mentioning the sheer amount of people.

"Exciting, isn't it?" Urahara asked from the side. With a grin on his face he adjusted his bucket hat and began stepping forward. After another moment of being frozen she followed

"It's… different," she admitted, taking a few passing glances at some pedestrians. No, it didn't seem like kimono were in fashion anymore. This simple pair of shorts and her rather colorful top worked much better.

Gods, she felt so uncomfortable.

"Something wrong?" he asked looking back at her.

She frowned. "Sir… I know next to nothing about the World of the Living. I know even less about the target. Was I really the best choice for this mission?"

Urahara grinned back at her. "You're one of the best trackers in the Soul Society, Miss Arisawa. Don't worry about it."

She froze again, watching him start across the street. By the time it struck her to follow him her face had gone beet red.

He lead her through the city taking a leisurely pace and humming a nameless tune, not saying much else. He seemed laid back, almost suspiciously so. She kinda wanted to say something about it but was pretty sure it wasn't her place to do so.

It took some time but eventually they stopped at what looked like a human library. Her brief relief at seeing something familiar disappeared when she realized that the inside looked literally nothing like the Soul Society's library.

There were children inside, for one. The librarian wasn't some put upon grunt from a nearby Division and was instead a young lady with glasses flipping through a magazine at the front desk. The shelves didn't reach the ceiling, and there were absolutely no dusty scrolls to be found.

She'd never felt so lost.

"Come here," Urahara said in a hushed tone and a jerk of his head. Quietly he lead her to the back of the library towards a trio of what looked like like one of his Division's computers, though they were much smaller.

"We're starting here?" she asked incredulously.

"Yep," he answered. "You can find just about anything on the internet nowadays." Internet, huh? She was sure she'd heard Ichigo talk about it in passing once.

The man sat down at one of the devices opening up a browser and quickly typing in the name of their target.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi

This is ridiculous, she thought. How could a human computer give them information on a runaway Shinigami?

30 Results Found

Her mouth closed audibly as she squinted at the screen. Huh…

"'From Prize Winner to Wanted Man,'" Urahara read aloud. "That sounds familiar. Dated... 1972."

Clicking on the result, the man brought up the article. At the very top of it was a blurry image of a group of scientists, the man framed in the middle strikingly familiar. He may have been missing the black and white makeup and even the headdress, but this man was Kurotsuchi, no ifs ands or buts.

"So… this is what you were up to," Urahara muttered.

He scrolled down the page, Tatsuki skimming along.

"…Mayuri Kurotsuchi… amazing discoveries in the fields of biology and medicine… questionable credentials… human remains found in his home… in addition, possible kidnapping charges… signs of a child found…"

"Damn, I think the bastard beat me," Urahara whispered. Tatsuki looked at him strangely. "Kurotsuchi used to talk about making a perfect artificial Soul," he explained. "He wanted to try and revive the Mod Soul project, I think. I actually made Jinta and Ururu about twenty years ago just to spite him, but… it looks like he beat me to it."

She continued looking at him strangely, breaking eye contact only to see if a location was mentioned anywhere in the article. Right at the bottom was a picture of the "crime scene," the aforementioned house. Right below was a caption with the name of the town it was in.

"We need to find this," she stated, tapping on the screen.

"I don't think that's too far from here," he said with a smirk. He typed in a few more things, getting them what they needed.

A few minutes later and the two were leaving with a printout of both the picture and a local map of the place. It didn't even take them long to find the house.

Tatsuki looked down at her grainy image of a one-story house with a shiny name plate, a well kept lawn, and a near brand new looking fence.

She looked up from the photo and saw stripped away paint and plaster revealing worn bricks, a missing nameplate, a badly broken fence, taped off windows, and a sign warning against trespassers.

Next to her Urahara whistled appreciatively. "I'm almost surprised it's still here." Then, nudging her he added with a grin, "Hey, if we don't find anything than we can probably just wrap this whole thing up."

Tatsuki stiffened automatically sending a glare at the man. Did he want to be here or not?

She was starting to bet no, which didn't bode well for her.

Teeth clenched Tatsuki looked around the area. The streets seemed clear. With that she jumped the fence. One spell later and the lock was blown off the door taking the handle with it. She slipped in ignoring Urahara's encouraging thumbs up. If she thought about it too hard she'd probably respond with something that would get her reported.

Stepping inside, the first thing Tatsuki noticed was the "smell."

It wasn't a literal smell, it wasn't even something that most humans (even some Shinigami) could sense, but to her it was obvious and distinct. The place was saturated with the stench of death, something that she knew from experience could linger in a place for decades, if not centuries.

Tatsuki did what she could to ignore it, squinting through the darkness of the house, looking for something that Urahara might be able to get some use out of. There wasn't much to look at, honestly.

Little was left in the house. There were some bare nails stuck in the walls, some garbage left by squatters, and one broken plastic chair shoved in the corner. It was all painfully disappointing.

Then, an open door caught her eye. Curiosity piquing she opened it, cringing at the sound it made. It looked like a regular old closet save for the open trap door in the middle.

She grinned, descending. The grin dropped when the smell hit her, so much stronger than before.

Her feet hit the ground of what looked like an abandoned lab. Foundations and silhouettes of heavy equipment lined the walls, frayed wires sticking out in various places. Unidentifiable stains littered the ground. Still, there was nothing she could take that hadn't already been taken, no clues to be found. They were probably a good thirty years too late for that.

She turned back, hurrying up the ladder just to get away from the smell, and in the darkness, just through the steps, she saw a torn up doll, hair tangled, face paint faded, and one arm gone.

She lingered for a moment longer before going back to the main floor.

Heading towards the door, Tatsuki begun to realize that Urahara was getting his wish, here, that he would be happy. Then she heard a quiet creak.

Startled, she stepped back, eyes at her feet. She stared down at the worn floorboards, stepped forward, and heard that creak yet again. Tapping her foot down harder she realized what she'd just found.

Tatsuki crouched down, fingernails digging into the wood, pulling as hard as she could.

Barely even a wiggle.

Frowning, she stood up, took a step back, and muttered a single spell. the floorboard blew open sending splinters and shrapnel flying all around her.

It was probably overkill, but hey, it got the job done. She'd gotten her hands on the one thing that the human police couldn't have. The wards she just blew through were subtle, but they were there, that was certain.

She knelt down brushing aside splinters and pulling out the one item in the shallow hole, a spiral bound notebook. It was dusty, the pages were warped, and hopefully it would save this mission. She tucked it under her arm and left the house quickly.

She took some satisfaction in seeing Urahara's face fall half a degree when he realized what she had. She shoved it in his direction. He took it, flipping through with a curious expression.

"I expected no less from you, Miss Arisawa," he said, distractedly. Barely even looking he wandered off to the nearest bench, plopping down as he skimmed through the book.

Tatsuki hovered for a moment watching as Urahara's brow furrowed. Pulling a pen from his pocket he began scrawling notes in the margins. She realized this may take a while.

She decided to be the good Lieutenant, standing by his side as he did his work. About ten minutes in she decided that was bullshit and started circling around the block, waiting for him to finish.

At rotation number five he beckoned her over with a wave, a self-satisfied look on his face. For a moment she wondered if this meant they'd hit a dead end.

"It seems like Kurotsuchi was prepared for this," Urahara lead with, "and the old guy was kind enough to leave us some coordinates." With his pen he pointed to a paragraph of nonsense prose. Underneath in his own script were two long sets of numbers.

They had it. They finally had a trail.

A few pilfered maps and two more internet searches gave them their locations. The first was somewhere in Sapporo, Hokkaido, which apparently was quite far. The second was right on the edge of Saitama.

"One train, a drive, and a hike should take us there," he said, marked up map in hand. Those directions were courtesy of the middle aged librarian that Urahara said something to. Tatsuki didn't know (didn't want to know). The librarian blushed and giggled an awful lot, though. (Gross.)

She frowned as he led her to the station, admittedly curious of just what a train might be like.

Five minutes later and Tatsuki was no longer feeling curious.

The train station was packed with people, more people than Tatsuki had ever seen in one place. Combine that with how unbearably loud the trains below her feet were and, well, excuse her for being a little overwhelmed, maybe you should just fuck o–!

With a knowing smile Urahara placed a hand on her shoulder, silently steering her were they needed to go. At one point he pressed what must have been a train pass in her hand. At another he dragged her to a set of empty seats.

She may have pouted the whole way there out of embarrassment, but he would never tell. (She would burn him alive if he did, after all.)

It took about an hour and a half to get to the start of their hike.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drop you off a little way ahead? There's a lodge barely even a mile up," the driver said through his window.

"No, no, this is fine," Urahara insisted.

The man looked at the two, visibly concerned. Behind them was dense forest, no path in sight. Still, it didn't take too much more nudging to get him to drive off, leaving the two to their walk.

They faced the mountain, and just out of the corner of her eye Tatsuki saw Urahara stiffen, saw his eyes widen ever so slightly as they began up the path. He walked ahead just a little bit faster.

She blinked at his back wondering what the hell that was about.

Tatsuki tried to put it out of her mind, instead focusing on keeping her senses sharp. This was the last place they'd be able to check today, evening fast approaching. They needed to make it count.

At the very least, it seemed they were headed to somewhere worth checking. The stench of death lingered in the mountain air, tainting it. It had her feeling uneasy all the way up.

Eventually they made it, and with a grimace Tatsuki fought past her own shivering as the stench hit her in full force.

They had reached a cabin, just as abandoned as the house earlier, but luckily in much better condition. There was a defunct generator protected by a wooden awning right against the house. Through the windows she could see the edges of filing cabinets. With her bare hands she pried open the door. In an instant she clapped a hand over her own mouth and nose.

The smell got worse, much worse.

Captain Urahara shouldered past her, eyes scanning over the broken computer, the turned over filing cabinets whole stacks of papers strewn over the floor. Whoever was here, they left in a hurry.

"It looks like he left a lot behind," Tatsuki muttered. "We should be able to…"

She trailed off only now noticing how silent Urahara was. She watched as he bent down and picked up a stray piece of paper. His eyes scanned over it for a moment before in the next it was crumpled in his hand.

"Pick up whatever you can," he ordered. "I'll see if the computer's hard drive is still salvageable."

Gulping she nodded immediately picking up stack after stack of whatever she could as the man worked away on the machine.

Half an hour later and the two were standing outside of the cabin, a decent bundle of paper in Tatsuki's arms and one copied hard drive tucked away in Urahara's pocket.

"Burn the place," he sighed out.

"What?" Tatsuki yelped.

"You can do it, can't you?" he asked. "You've got Bankai, so I assume you have enough control to do it without harming the forest."

"I-I mean, yeah, but…"

"Then do it," he ordered.

Tatsuki looked at the man, unsure, before simply closing her eyes and reaching for her Soul Candy. Her orders were unambiguous, here. With a few words she activated her Shikai and with one controlled attack she set the cabin ablaze.

Urahara didn't move even after she finished. He just stayed there, watching as the place was overcome. She stayed by his side.

It wasn't until the sky had gone dark and the house was nothing but burning cinders that he spoke.

"There used to be a Quincy settlement here. It was damaged after the war, but it was recovering. It's not here anymore."

With a controlled hand Tatsuki smothered the last of the flames.

They headed down the mountain, Tatsuki silently steering them towards the lodge. Only then, in the darkness did she get a good look at the mountainside.

It was beautiful, that was certain, but it was also empty. The air was thick, the atmosphere ominous. She wanted to leave.

(She tried to reconcile this empty place with the Quincy boy she had fought alongside back on Sōgyoku Hill, the skinny one with the glasses.)

(She felt sick.)

It was the middle of the night and Urahara was still up. (Tatsuki was up, too, but that was beside the point.)

He was hunched over the notes gathered that day, scrawling away. He hadn't so much as stood up from that spot since they got the room.

Letting out a quiet huff the girl threw off the covers, sitting up in her bed. She grabbed a pair of slippers from the side and headed into the hall. She thought she saw some drinks somewhere down here.

(Tatsuki couldn't think straight, for some reason. Her mind just kept going back to that place. For the first time she understood why Urahara didn't want to be here.)

She stared at the vending machine, trying to parse what the hell she was looking at. It took a minute or so of trial and error but eventually she walked away with two bottles of green tea, one of the few beverages she recognized in this thing. She headed back to the room.

The first thing she did was make a beeline right for the desk. She set down one of the teas loudly on the table and sat back on Urahara's bed.

"What happened?" she asked curtly. "What really happened? You owe me that much."

The man sat back in his chair, one hand twirling his pen as the other picked up his drink. For a moment Tatsuki thought he wasn't going to answer her.

"…When I first met Kurotsuchi, he was in prison."

She leaned forward, drink clutched in her hand.

"The guy had maybe been out of the Academy for a month when he was slapped with 'assault of a fellow officer.' He called it experimentation. The judges called it torture and stuck him in Maggots Nest, practically threw away the key.

"Enter: young naive me. I see his next scores, some of his confiscated research materials, and I realize he's a genius. I figure that he just needs someone to keep a close eye on him. So, I petition to get him pardoned in exchange for help developing the Shinigami Research and Development Institute.

"The funny thing is, for a while it worked. He was a genius. In less than a year the Institute was everything I'd dreamed of, and in between me and Hiyori, we had him handled. He didn't even try anything. I had actually started to think he'd changed his ways, or something."

He let out a deep sad sigh.

"Then the Visored incident happened, and Hiyori got dragged down with it. Suddenly I had my hands full. I was running two whole Divisions by myself, not to mention working overtime to try and prove that Aizen was somehow behind everything. I needed the help, so I made Kurotsuchi my Lieutenant the first chance I got and gave him whatever authority came with it.

"A few years pass, everything seems to be going better, and one day, by sheer fucking chance I find some… interesting paperwork. It was the type of stuff I'd usually let him handle, stuff I wouldn't even bother to look at, but just for curiosity's sake I decided to today."

He opened his mouth again, nothing coming out this time. He closed it, shook his head, and tried again.

"It was a list of test subjects," he finally bit out. "I marched that paper right to Central Forty-Six, and wouldn't you know it, they didn't care."

This part caught Tatsuki off guard, her gasp just barely audible.

"Yeah, the famous Exiled Lieutenant wasn't officially exiled," he lamented, "and that wasn't for lack of trying, either. They said there wasn't any law against it, that the practices from back in the day weren't technically abolished. They barely went short of praising the bastard.

"So, I did what I could. I fired his ass. Of course, no other Division wanted him, not after all he's done, so he ended up out of the Gotei Thirteen entirely. Then… I guess he wandered around here and just continued his dirty work like nothing even happened."

Tatsuki stayed silent, watching the still full bottle in her hands.

"I should have found another way," he said. "I practically handed him all of these people on a silver platter just because I didn't want to deal with him myself."

She didn't even know what to say here. She wasn't sure if there was anything she could say. Urahara said nothing for a long while, eventually putting his pen back to paper.

"I found more coordinates," he finally said. "We'll search them tomorrow. Get some rest."

She wasn't sure if she could.

The next few days went by quickly. So did the next week. It all went by so quickly Tatsuki became genuinely concerned about whether or not they'd meet their deadline. Three more days and the Captain Commander was expecting them to be back with either one murderous scientist or a damn good excuse.

That being said, they at least have something to show for all of this work. They'd collected two extra-wide binders worth of research notes during their search. Granted, very little, if any of it, had anything to to with Aizen, but some of it was quite enlightening.

"Nemu," Urahara said suddenly one day, over breakfast of all things. He had one hand on a fork digging into an extra fluffy stack of pancakes and the other in one of the binders.

"What?"

"I think it's what he named the Artificial Soul. I'm surprised. It's almost a real name. I'm also pretty sure it's just short for Nanagō Nemuri or 'Sleeping Number Seven,' though."

"Interesting," she said in a bored tone. She took a deep sip of her coffee. Urahara looked at her with sympathy.

Okay, maybe it was more than just the deadline that had her concerned. Stamina-wise she was reaching her limit. The nearly two weeks of searching was starting to wear on her. She just hoped it would be over soon. The recent places they'd visited seemed newer; the abandoned toys less frequent. It looked like they were finally catching up to Kurotsuchi.

Today found them smack dab in the middle of Chiba near some farm land. The place was small, which was good for a tracker like her. It meant everyone knew at least a little about everyone here, something she was planning on taking advantage of.

She gulped down the rest of her cup as Urahara polished off his plate, closing his heavy binder. With a stuffed smile he caught the eye of the waitress. She hurried over.

"Chieko," he said with a wink, "thank you so much for taking care of us, but we really must be going, now."

"I'll go ahead and get your bill," she said with a sweet smile.

A few moments later she brought it, an extra slip of paper stuck underneath. She flushed when Urahara tucked it away in his shirt pocket, a winning smile on his face.

Ugh, as if Tatsuki needed another reason to want to leave. She thought hermits were supposed to be bad at this kind of thing? She ended up half-dragging the man outside, him laughing all the way as she brought them to their destination.

The house they arrived at looked… nice. It was a two-story home, a bit more traditional in style. The lawn was a little overgrown, but there was no stench of death, here. There was a "For Sale" sign posted up front, a padlock holding the door closed. It was in a pleasant neighborhood, too, which mostly meant there was no way Tatsuki was breaking in without drawing attention to herself.

"Maybe we should come back later," she suggested.

"Maybe," he said, "but I want to look around, first." He walked towards the gate, Tatsuki hurrying behind him in a panic.

"Hey, what if someone sees?" she hissed out.

"There's a 'For Sale' sign, right? If someone asks I'll just say I'm looking to buy. Now, cover me."

Feeling nervous, she did just that when he started snooping through the mailbox. After a moment he grinned.

"Ha!" He pulled out a… coupon pamphlet? She wasn't sure how that could help them here, not until he turned it over revealing a stamped-on name.

Mayuri Yagi

"So, he was here recently," she said.

"I'll bet he only just moved. We could probably try another search with this."

"I'm not so sure," Tatsuki warned. "Even if it was decades ago, he was on a wanted list. I doubt he'd want to be in the public eye after that."

"Well, you've got a point, there," he said, scratching his head.

A determined expression on her face, Tatsuki took the pamphlet from Urahara. She studied the name once more, stuffed it in her back pocket, and walked right up to the front door of a neighboring house. After a long moment of hesitation she knocked on the door, Urahara right behind her.

The person that answered was a middle-aged woman, small and sweet looking.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Tatsuki tried in her most unassuming voice. It must have worked because the woman was relaxing immediately. "Me and my…" she glanced back at Urahara and in a split-second decision said, "brother are here to visit out uncle. Our mom sent us here to check on him, but it looks like he's moved away. Could you help us? His name is Mayuri Yagi."

The woman looked at them strangely, then. "He moved away and you didn't know?"

"You know how family disagreements are," Urahara said quickly. "Mommy dearest wouldn't ask us to hunt him down just for a friendly chat."

"…Well," the woman started, "I'm not really sure how much help I'll be. He was a very private man, you know. A little strange if you ask me."

"Anything would help," Tatsuki insisted. The woman took a moment to consider, then.

"There was that daughter of his," she said finally. "She and I would chat sometimes at the grocery store. She was a shy one, but a nice young woman nonetheless."

"Wow, cousin Nemu talking to someone like that, I'm surprised," Tatsuki said with a laugh. The woman sent her an endearing smile. Urahara gave her a thumbs up behind his back.

"She said they were looking to move somewhere more private," she continued, "but they couldn't have moved far. I still see her every now and again by the store, after all."

"Thank you very much, ma'am," Urahara said with a smile. "That should definitely help us."

"Thank you," Tatsuki said with a bow.

"Oh, you're welcome," the woman said with a smile. "I do hope you find your uncle, for your mother's sake, at least."

They left after that, the two immediately putting their heads together.

"Somewhere quiet…" Tatsuki muttered. "Do you think they moved to a nicer community?"

"And deal with neighborhood watches and security? I doubt it. I'm thinking outskirts of town."

The lingering question was where, of course. With all the farm land near this place that didn't narrow it down much. Then again, they just might have a pretty good lead in. Apparently "Nemu" had a habit of coming back in town. There were plenty of people that might see where she'd go to.

"Follow me," she said. She'd seen a grocery store somewhere near here.

The two Shinigami followed a trail of hearsay and rumor right out of town. The houses became smaller, the lots became bigger, and farmland spread out before them. It was here that Tatsuki extended her senses.

"There," she said. Her finger was pointed to one of the newer looking houses. The fields surrounding it were one of the few that weren't in use. A car was parked right outside.

Kurotsuchi was there. They'd finally tracked him down.

"Okay," Tatsuki breathed, "we can–"

She was cut off by a kick from behind, dodging away just in the nick of time. The next strike, flat handed, aimed right at her stomach, was much easier to anticipate.

Tatsuki rolled back and out of the way, springing to her feet to finally face a young woman. She was beautiful, straight black hair pulled into a slick braid. On her face was a cold and calculating expression.

"Nemu," Tatsuki growled. The woman froze, but only for a moment.

Nemu went in for a punch, Tatsuki feinting left, and then, too fast for Tatsuki to see the woman lashed out with a kick catching Tatsuki right across the forehead, knocking her down.

Damn she's fast. Tatsuki needed a moment just to blink the stars from her eyes.

"Bakudō Number Four, Hainawa!" Urahara yelled. Lightning crackled across his fingertips and launched out at Nemu. In a moment it had wrapped around her body, binding her arms and legs as it sparked around her. Tatsuki was kind of amazed by how little this seemed to faze the woman, though.

Tatsuki, for example, was much more fazed when she suddenly found a Zanpakuto at her neck, a pale white hand holding it.

"That was an artificial Reiatsu signature, girl. Do you really think I don't know how to deal with your type?"

Urahara stared up at her captor, and Tatsuki didn't have to turn to see who it was. The look of pure hatred on the Captain's face said it all.

"Kisuke," the man behind her growled.

"Kurotsuchi," Urahara said with a toothy grin.

Silence stretched on, the sounds of crackling electricity in the background.

"What do you want?" Kurotsuchi asked. "You wouldn't go through all this trouble to track me down if you didn't want something."

"Aizen defected," Urahara said simply. "He left behind an entire mountain of research materials, and for some reason the Captain Commander thinks you're the man to decode it."

"Oooh," Kurotsuchi chuckled. "I bet that didn't make you very happy, did it?"

Urahara's smile strained. "Aizen's defecting, or…?"

"Take a guess," Kurotsuchi deadpanned. "Still, I'm surprised it took the man this long to do it."

"…You knew?" Urahara asked dangerously.

"How could I not?" he scoffed. "The man came to me a decade ago practically begging me to join his little rebellion. I turned him down, of course. I don't work for anyone, especially not pathetic children who fancy themselves god."

"…Excuse me?" Urahara asked, surprised. He opened his mouth, closing it, eyes widening. "You know what Aizen's after, don't you?"

Tatsuki felt herself pale in shock.

"What?!" she yelled.

"Quiet, girl!" Kurotsuchi barked. The sword came closer, but she didn't care.

"No!" she yelled back. "My friends nearly died because of that guy! You know something, now tell us!"

Kurotsuchi let out a sigh. "Eleventh Divisioners," he grimaced.

"Former!" Tatsuki corrected.

He let out another sigh. "I have to say, this has been an awful recruitment effort, but… not one without merit."

Urahara stared at the man, frowning.

"I'm honestly still hung up on just how much it must pain you to ask me this, Kisuke. I might just say yes for that…"

Urahara's frown deepened.

"But, no I don't think I will."

Urahara's eyes closed. "Then we're done here," he said resolutely.

"Not quite," Kurotsuchi said with a devious grin. "See, I do know what Aizen's after, or at least I have an idea. I'd like to prove him wrong, and I'm going to need those materials to do it. So, yes, I'll help."

Even from here, Tatsuki could see Urahara's jaw clenching. With a shove Kurotsuchi released her, Nemu's electric bonds disappearing at the same time.

It was then that Tatsuki got her first good look at Mayuri Kurotsuchi.

In many ways he was just like his photo, a man with a toothy smile, white and black face paint done in a strange pattern, but now she could also see his navy hair, his yellowed teeth, the golden caps in place of ears. He was almost frightening. Tatsuki, however, wasn't one to be intimidated.

She fell in step behind Urahara, noting that Nemu did the same as the two men discussed their terms. The back and forth involved, as well as their escalating tones, told her that this would probably take a while. She tried not to focus on it. She instead tried to dissect what Kurotsuchi had said.

Aizen was playing at being god, whatever the hell that meant. It seemed Kurotsuchi himself wasn't sure, but he apparently knew enough for him to want to do something about it.

Him, who from what she had learned was a monster comparable to Aizen.

Shaking her head, she decided such things were best left with those two. She helped find Kurotsuchi. Her job was done. Now she could finally join Captain Hitsugaya and the others in their quest to bash Arrancar heads.

She wondered how her friends have been doing.


Yeah… Tatsuki isn't joining the gang any time soon. A lot can happen in a week and a half, you know… (Your reviews give me life.)