"Please come in."

The door of Detective Kisuke Urahara's office opened slowly, revealing a rather tall, muscular man adorned with tattoos all over. His once long crimson locks had grown out even more since the last time Kisuke had saw him, but it didn't make that much of a difference of what was about to happen. If anything, the detective could say that the man in front of him had changed. There was something different in his eyes now. That naiveté he once had had vanished.

"Detective," The man nodded as he closed the door.

"Please, call me Kisuke. And take a seat," The blonde gent smiled grandly, lifting the glass bowl from the corner of his desk to the redhead. "Would you like some candy?"

"No..thank you."

"Suit yourself," He shrugged as he freely chomped on the licorice while spinning in his chair. "So, what's up?"

"You're awfully informal for a detective bringing me in for questioning. What are you suspecting me of?"

"Ho! Let's take it easy, buddy! I just started eating. But, you're a busy man, so if you want me to cut the chase, that's perfectly fine too."

"What is this about?"

"You were fairly close friends with both Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki, right? And if I recall, you were childhood friends with Kuchiki."

"That's correct."

"So, where's she now?"

"She's dead."

Ah, so you're the one who's been spreading that rumor.

"How unfortunate," The blonde played along. "When did she die?"

"I just heard of it recently. Suicide, they say."

"They who?"

"The…newspaper."

"You have a copy of it?"

"Not with me."

"I see. So, if I go look this up, something'll come up?"

"I'm not sure. It was fairly recent."

"Newspaper people often post stuff up like that within a day or so. I'm sure by tomorrow it'll be there for sure, no?" Kisuke flashed a Cheshire-cat smile, wondering how far this spectacle would continue. It's not like he was complaining however. In the game of acting, the one who breaks his cover first loses. And Kisuke was sure to let the show go on.

"You seem rather curious of Rukia Kuchiki's death, Detective. Are you implying something by questioning me about it?"

"Oh, no, not at all. I was just curious, because I had a fairly close friend of both mine and hers tell me that she had just gone up and left New York. I haven't heard a tale about her being dead until I met you. Just when did you hear she was dead again?"

"You're persistent."

"It's my job to be persistent.

"You're a little too persistent," Renji muttered under his breath.

"Oh I'm sorry, is it making you uncomfortable? Poor thing, I didn't know you were so sensitive."

"The fuck is your problem?"

"Why don't you tell me what yours is and we can talk it out."

"Simple. It's you, poking your nose into my business."

"I don't know if you noticed but," Kisuke gestured to the solid plaque at the front of his desk, reading, Kisuke Urahara, Detective. "It's my job."

"You know what?"

I win.

"I'm not going to tell you anything about Rukia. Or even if I heard from her or not."

"So you're denying the fact that she's dead?"

"It's your choice to make."

"And it's my choice to have you arrested as a suspect for her murder. Unless you want to spend time behind the bars and try to not drop the soap, how about you tell me what really happened that night that Ichigo Kurosaki got ambushed?"

"I wasn't there," The tattooed man muttered, looking at the ground. "I was somewhere else at the time. I was visiting a friend."

"Who is this friend?"

"He died."

"Saying that people are dead every time you refuse to tell me about them won't get you anywh-"

"Rangiku was really close with him."

"Rangiku…Mastumoto?"

"Is there any other?"

"I see. What was your friend's name?"

"She can tell you more about him than I can."

Alright, so he refuses to talk. Fair enough. Doesn't mean I can't poke around.

"Were you close with him?"

"Eh, somewhat," Renji shrugged. "I mean, I knew the guy for a long time, but occasionally, we'd have a little feud. Some bottles breaking, a little bit of blood here and there…but he was a good man."

"Is this related to either Ichigo Kurosaki incident or the Rukia Kuchiki disappearance?"

"No," The man said, his voice unwavering.

"Alright then," Kisuke nodded as he quickly jotted down on his note pad. "To change the subject, do you have any idea on how could've possibly attacked Ichigo that night?"

"Who have you questioned so far?"

"I'm the detective, mind you. You don't get to ask the questions."

"I need to know what people have told you, because often, lies seem to mask that man for what he really is…er…was."

You're cleverer than I thought, Renji. I suppose Ichigo taught you a thing or two, The blonde smiled (in his head).

"No, it's is. He's alive. But to answer your question, I have yet to question anybody else. You're the first."

"No shit? I can't have you fuckin' with my head because I need to know who did this to Ichigo," The tanned male paused, swallowing his bit of tension and anger. "And what made Rukia disappear like air."

"My word is as solid as gold. I have yet to interview anyone other than you."

"In that case," Renji rested his arms on his knees, locking eyes with the blonde. "Tell me how much you know about a man named Kaien Shiba?"

Datalog: Day 87

Things were looking up. At least, that was what I thought first thing in the morning. Come midnight, I'm pissed. Hell, I'm pissed right now. Not so much of a pissed to actually kick someone's ass, but the kind of pissed to inflict pain on yourself.

This is the journal of a mad man. After 87 days, I think you'd get used to it.

But like I said, my day wasn't so horrible in the beginning. That woman was back, and for me, it's like things weren't as shitty as they were before, because more or less, she's going through the same thing. And we kinda have a thing going on, so I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

That day, I visited Byakuya Kuchiki's funeral. That's not the important part. The important part was that she was there. After two or three months, you get a sense of hesitation from just popping up out of the blue and act as if nothing was wrong. I surely couldn't do that at a funeral. I didn't want to be pummeled by fruit cakes and pecan pies by the Geezer Gang sobbing their wrinkly, sagging eyes out. And count on fate to make an entrance. If I wasn't going to piss off people, then somebody was. And that somebody was, yup, you guessed it.

Amusing, to say in the very least, her "speech", but she was probably one of the sane ones over there, yelling her lungs out and telling everybody to shut the fuck up. If it were me up there, I couldn't hold back. But that's whatever.

A mental and emotional breakdown later, she got escorted out of the frenzy by someone and was left to get a hold of herself inside a car, while it is pouring outside. There are always ups and downs to every situation, no?

So, when I made my entrance, it was bumpy as first, but things got rolling and things got better. And I cheered up the lass and got to spend some time alone with her. So, technically two ups?

"Hey," I yawned as I cracked open my eyes, but I heard nothing except rain. I look at my chest and see the girl snugged up all close and tight up against me, and I think I saw the tiniest hint of a smile on her face. I had a feeling she was a softie. But I didn't mind. We were so close I could smell the scent from her hair and even see the small, almost unnoticeable freckles on her porcelain skin.

"Oi, wake up," I muttered, but she only whined as she snuggled closer (if that was even possible). I then get this strange feeling in my body, like some kind of warmth that was numbing my legs, and I look down, seeing that the girl's knees were shuffling right at my crotch. And it wasn't arousing in the slightest bit, if that's what your sick mind is thinking.

"Someone's a little tense," I hear a soft voice tease. Looking down, I see Rukia still with her eyes closed, but with a mile-wide grin slapped on my face.

"You really are the pervert," I scoff.

"Oh, shut up. Curiosity got the best of me, and you had just brought up the topic of sex recently, so…"

"So…"

"I'm cloudy as to how you act in the bedroom," She looks up at me, with big bambi eyes, even though you know that there's a little bit of mischief in there.

"Well, now you know that I won't orgasm from just…that."

"I'd feel sorry for you if you did."

"But at least I'm not clinging all onto the guy like you."

"You won't find one girl that doesn't like to snuggle. And if you didn't like it, you could've pushed me away," She sparred, giving me that look she did every now and then. It suited her well.

"You're right. So, you know one sex fact about me. Your turn."

"This is not 20 questions. My sex life is for you to keep guessing, not for me to just flat-out tell you. That's so boring."

"So, you're telling me I have to figure out the puzzle piece-by-piece?"

"To be honest," She sat up, shaking her mane. "I feel weirded out talking about my sex life so casually with you. Nothing against you personally, I just don't know you that well."

"That's fine."

"I really don't mean to be a bummer or anything, that's just not me. I was just playing around earlier, you know that, right?"

"I guess," I yawned, cracking my neck.

"And now you're disappointed," She muttered coldly.

"You're doing it again," I nag.

"What?"

"Talking out loud. It's messin' up your judgment and you're going back-and-forth with your opinions."

"Well sue me for doing so because I'm casually talking about sex with a guy I don't know."

"Point taken. So, let me talk," I flash a grin, getting an unimpressed glance from the woman. "You and I clearly aren't a match made in heaven, right?"

"But we aren't casual acquaintances either."

"So, then…"

"What are we?" She finally asks.

I chew on my lip. "I don't know. But I do want to keep talking to you, but only if you're in the same boat."

"Then I'm a passenger on that boat."

"Okay, we're getting somewhere, good. However, you don't feel comfortable with sex?"

"Not a chance," She laughed, but her smile quickly faded away. "I have an idea."

"Judging by the look on your face, it doesn't look good."

"What if we start over?" She piqued innocently.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, think about it. Our meeting, if that was even was a meeting-"

Memories of our encounter played again in my mind, and I could not help but laugh at how stupid I had acted then. Or even the things I did that day.

"I was shit-faced," I shook my head, ashamed.

"You were drunk?"

"Yup."

"Why? And in the middle of the day?"

"That was…quite a day I had," I sighed, recalling the huge explosion with Orihime. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Fair enough, seeing as how you didn't pry into my business with Byakuya earlier. But it definitely seems that we're in need of a new "beginning"."

"That'd be nice," I chuckled, glad that the woman wasn't flipping out about that day.

"But if you screw this one up, I'm never seeing you again."

Or something along those lines.

"I promise I will be sober," I lifted up a hand.

"So, how are we gonna do this?" Rukia asked cluelessly.

"We could say that we met at the funeral."

"Such a pleasant beginning."

"It's better than you kissing a drunkard on the street."

"…This," She gestured to the car we were in. "Didn't happen, okay?"

"Fine by me. So then, if we started over and hit it off at the funeral, then it's perfectly acceptable for us to see each other again?"

"I don't see why not."

"Then a coffee with yours truly is an invitation that can't be turned down?"

"Oh, it won't," She gleamed.

"Then I will see you tomorrow, say, around four-ish?"

"I think I have something planned then. Tell you what, just stop by and I'll just buy the coffee just in time so that you think I made it when in fact I just ran to the coffee shop around the corner," Rukia said as she got out of the car and into the pouring rain.

"Wait," I groaned as I stepped outside too, not understanding why she went out. "We really going through with this? This whole starting over deal?"

Whistling for a cab that quickly drove up to her feet, she turned back and said, "Are you not okay with it?"

"No," I muttered. "It's just kinda weird, that's all."

"It's also kinda weird for us to be moving at the pace we were. Think of this like the right way to start something, you know? I don't have a game plan or anything, so we'll just play it by ear from the coffee, okay?"

"I guess," I shrugged, then getting an exasperated glance from her. She quickly walked up and gave me a brusque peck on the cheek before leaving.

"Don't worry so much. It doesn't suit you," She smiled before leaving. "And stay sober!"

"Yeah," I wave as her cab drove off. "I'll try."

I wasn't thrilled with the idea of starting over, but in a way, Rukia was right. I didn't want to fuck up things like last time. Just take it slow, I thought. Things will get on a roll in soon time. Or at least, that's what I had hoped for. It's bad enough being what I am; I don't need to add relationship problems to that mess.

My phone went off and I quickly pull it out to see tat it was a restricted number. TR, of course.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Yo," A gruff, serious tone greeted. "Everybody's down here, like you requested."

"And Yoruichi?"

"She's there too."

"Tell her to break up the group."

"Like how?"

"She'll know," I looked at my watch. "I'll be there shortly."

"He's here," I heard a female say, and was welcomed by the solemn looks of the crowd there. I opened the door and Yoruichi was the first to greet me with a short nod. "Let's get this over with, kid," She tied up her hair in a ponytail before sitting down in front of a bunch of papers and photos, with a greasy-haired brunette next to her of whom I was rather shady of.

"Ginjou," I glared slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"You were short one. After all, you do need at least three Magisters to conduct such a thing, with punishments and sentences and whatnot."

"I'm aware of what the rules are. I just didn't expect to see you here."

"Expect your worst, daemon. Now, let's get on with this," He yawned as he grabbed some papers and read them aloud. "The ruling party consists of, Judge Shihoin, Judge Kurosaki, and Magister Kuugo. Party on trial consists of, shifter Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez, were-panther, and seraph Nelliel Tu Oderschvank. Any objections? No? Then onto the next part," He said, pulling out some papers from a folder. "According to the report, Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez shifted in front of humans and attacked Renji Abarai," The brunette looked to Grimm before continuing. "Is that correct?"

"Before he threatened to hurt Nelliel," The azure-haired man stood his ground.

Not taking any shit, as usual, I noted. "But you knew she could've defended herself against a mere human. You had no reason to shift," I stated coldly.

"I had to shift, because you know very damn well that she couldn't defend herself in her human form."

"Nonetheless," Ginjou butted. "The consequence of your shifting won't go unpunished. Ya gotta pay the piper."

"The piper can kiss my ass," Grimm growled, only to get shushed at quietly by Nel.

"Ichigo," The bastard looked at me. "It's up to you, being as you're their Boss and all."

The second they all looked at me, my mind went "Oh, fuck". Being Boss wasn't in the least bit glamorous—especially when you have to decide the punishments for your friends. I didn't know what to say, since my head literally went blank. I knew that this was a serious offense, but I couldn't screw him over like that.

"However," Yoruichi spoke up, saving me. "I did manage to cover it up with some lies."

"Not every human is completely stupid," Ginjou added. "What about the ones that didn't buy it?"

"You'd be surprised at how Yoruichi has a way with her words. And besides, no one got hurt," Nel tried to add in, but was quickly snapped at by Ginjou.

"The party on trial can't speak," He sneered, getting a death glare from the woman.

"Why'd you do it?" I ask, my eyes on Grimmjow, but he just stared back with an unwavering look.

"Are you deaf? Answer me," I demanded.

"I don't know," He shrugged, his face emotionless. "My hell-hex took over my self-control. That's all there is to it."

"Grimmjow," Nel gaped, and there was just as much shock on Yoruichi's and Ginjou's faces. But I knew from the moment I saw him that he had given up this argument.

"In that case," I started, but then paused, hesitant to carry out the ruling I had in mind. But what could I do? Better one person suffers than risk all of us getting exposed. "Grimmjow Jeagerjaquez, you are sentenced to exile in the Soul Society, and to be de-clawed, from ever shifting back into your were-panther form."

"That's ridiculous!" Nel hissed. "He, we are your friends! How could you do this to us?"

"Would you rather we risk the danger of humans getting killed because someone couldn't restrain themselves?"

"You know better that he's in far better control of his powers than you are of yours!" The woman glared. "Some hypocrite you are."

"That is too harsh of a punishment," Yoruichi whispered to me. "He didn't kill anyone. He doesn't deserve a sentence like that. This is unfair to him. And you are a hypocrite, Ichigo. Don't act like you didn't shift in front of humans either."

"But at least I didn't shift on purpose and in plain sight," I muttered quietly.

"I'm with Yoruichi," Ginjou butted in as the three of us were talking amongst ourselves. "Lighten up, prick."

Ignoring him, I continued my conversation with the black woman. "First, he shifts and then there's a bomb threat? I can't trust either one of them when it comes to TR, despite them being my friends."

"It's not like you gave Nel such a light load to carry, Ichigo. She was under a lot of stress, especially with the Kuchiki disappearance. And you think the bomb threat didn't affect her either? She nearly died from blood loss that night."

"I heard," I shrug. "But that doesn't give her an excuse to just drop everything and go lie in a hospital bed."

"Who are you really mad at, Kurosaki?" The brunette stared at me. "Well? If anything, seems like you want to put that woman on trial rather than the shifter."

"You don't get to put your two cents in," I muttered agitatedly. "I'm just being careful. I can't screw up with a bomb threat at our necks. That's all there is to it."

"Ginjou," Yoruichi looked to him. "You mind if me and Ichigo talk in private?"

"Whatever," He shrugged as he got up and walked off.

"Ichigo," She said, locking eyes with me. "Don't you dare act like you have the world on your shoulders, because if you do, I won't hesitate to put you in your place. You have power, don't abuse it. Especially against the same people who stand by you. That's fucked up."

"I can't just drop this, you know that."

"I never said you had to drop it."

"Tell you what, I'll make you an offer: since Grimmjow probably won't be talking for the next couple of months, I'll need your help in tracking down the person who made that threat. In exchange, I'll do what you want about the current situation," I raised my eyebrows, placing the offer on the table.

"Lessen the sentence and we have a deal, kid."

My eyes stared at the heart of the fire from the burning candle in the middle of table we were at, debating with myself if this really was the right choice.

"Grimm, Nel," I called as I stared at the fire, waiting for them to come over. "I and the other Magisters have talked it over, and we will reduce Grimmjow's sentence."

"To what?" Nel asked coldly.

"It'll be reduced to having a hex on him so that he can't shift for three months."

"Hell of a reduction," He stated.

"What about the humans in the other room?" Ginjou piped. "It's not like you can do the ruling for that too."

I look to Yoruichi, who shrugs her shoulders. "I'll take care of it as soon as I put the hex on Grimmjow. Ginjou, kitty cat," She motioned for them to follow her. "Let's get this over with."

I groaned as I put my feet up on the table and rubbed my temples in an attempt to get rid some of my stress, but no matter how hard I tried, there was still something bugging me. Someone was still in the room. Cracking open an eye, I saw the teal-haired woman who eyed me with disappointment in those hazel eyes of her, which only meant that she had a bone to pick with me.

"You done playing Godnow?" She asked with her hips cocked to the side.

"It's not like I enjoy this," I muttered as I closed my eyes again, trying to ignore the negative aura that she was radiating.

"You are unbelievable, Ichigo. I thought you could at least cut us some slack, but you went and treated us as if we were your enemies! What's your deal?"

"My "deal" is that you couldn't handle TR that night and that Grimmjow didn't have enough control to hold back."

"Don't act like you're superior to us. If anything, we're superior."

"Oh really?" I laugh. "In what way?"

"Take this, for example," She smiled as she snapped her fingers, and I was pulled to the ground by some force, down on my knees as the side of my face slammed against the cold floor.

"What the hell did you do?" I hiss, having to turn my head sideways to look at her.

"You think you have control over yourself? That's real funny, considering you were begging me to restrain your other self. You're on your own now. Have fun bonding with your daemon," She said before leaving me on my knees.

"Merry Christmas to me," That voice sang the tune. It was the same one who had managed to stay quiet for a week now spoke up, sending a tremor of hate down my spine, and I knew that my life of hell had begun once again.

Before I knew it, I was possessed yet again by the pain, anguish, and torture that had come back to haunt me. With the occasional demon cackling in the back of my head. Once my spree of chaos was over (I lose my consciousness during this time, since the pain is too much for me to handle), there's broken glass everywhere, occasional splat of blood, and claw marks all over me. Courtesy of yours truly.

After managing to finally have the strength again, my demon comes back and eats it up as if it were a bite-size meal. 7 days, one full week it took me to recover without the help of my supernatural powers, and he just fucks it up in less than two minutes and takes over my corpse to wreak havoc. Losing my dignity and control like that to a monster, it made me feel like I didn't stand a chance.

"Ya haven't had a bite to eat in 6 months. You can't keep this up for long," That voice chimed in the midst of my destruction. He was right, but I didn't want to admit it.

I barely managed to speak because of the pain that was hurting everywhere. From my palms, to my abs, to the meat on my legs. It was as if claws were digging in there and throwing salt on the wounds. "I can stop feeding whenever I want to. And have control over myself when needed."

"Say whatever makes you happy. But the only reason why yer body is acting up like that is 'cause it's low on blood. You keep bleeding, yer gonna die, and you sure as hell ain't gonna drag me with you. It's so pathetically easy how I could possess you now, but then, I would feel the pain too. And well, I prefer to be the one on top."

"Shut the fuck up," I groaned.

"You had a fucking opportunity to get some. In the car? That piece of meat smelled fucking delicious. If that spell wasn't on you, I'd have-"

"I know what you're gonna say and I don't want to hear it."

"All I'm saying is, you avoid a chance like that again, I'm jumping ship and there ain't shit you can do about it."

"Not happening."

"Hah, how do you even have the balls to say that like that? You know and I know that you barely managed to stop yourself from eating that piece of meat alive. And she was literally RIGHT NEXT TO YOU. If I can't resist Rukia's scent, then you sure as hell can't."

"…You just called her by her first name," I said blankly. "Are you growing attached to her? Come to think of it, you've downgraded from calling her a "bitch" to a "piece of meat"."

"Shut the hell up," He hissed. "Like I said, you skip out from another meal, and I'll take care of things personally."

I felt my back pocket tingle and was relieved to hear my phone's ringtone save me from having to talk with that demon.

I cleared my throat as I tried to swallow my pain and answer the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello? Hello? That's how you answer your little sister after two years of constant worry? I should knock you into a coma right about now!"

Believe me, you'd be doing more good than you'd think.

"I know, Karin, I haven't called you in a long time," I mumbled as I turned on the fireplace. "Things have been popping up, and I've been ridiculously stacked with work."

"You'll need a better excuse this time, Ichigo Kurosaki!" I could hear her growl in a hushed tone. "I'm already worried sick about Yuzu and her condition. I don't need you disappearing outta the blue again."

"How is she?" I ask as I threw my bloody shirt into the fireplace, along with anything else that was stained with my blood. "Have there been any "incidents"?"

"There was one time, on your birthday this year."

I could tell by how quiet she'd gotten that either Yuzu was in the same room or it was really disastrous. Or both. "What happened?"

"She had a nightmare. The things she said that night…for the first time in my life, I was actually scared of our sister, Ichigo. It's like she was possessed."

"What kind of things did she say?"

"Well-oh, hold on just a sec," She set the phone down, and I relaxed on the couch, seeing the crusty, inky flakes cracking apart on the palms of my hands. The once half-inch gashes that were in there were almost completely healed. Gotta love regeneration.

I looked at how the rest of my wounds were doing, and most of them were gone, with the exception of the one on my chest. For some reason, that place always healed slower than the others, and I didn't know why.

'Tis then that I realized the once antagonizing pain I was suffering minutes ago had vanished. Come to think of it, right when Karin called. Weird.

"You there, Ichi-nii?"

"You haven't called me that in forever," I shook off the crust of blood on my legs.

"And I haven't seen you even longer than that."

"Tell you what, the next time I get some time off, I'll visit you and Yuzu and I can see for myself how she's doing."

"Then I guess you'll be staying for New Year's too?"

"Huh?" I blinked.

"You are aware that Christmas is in five days, right? How could've you forgotten? You live under a rock?"

Something like that.

"N-No, I've just been so busy with work, I completely forgot about Christmas."

"But you're still coming to visit, right?"

"Karin, I didn't know it'd be-"

"You owe us. You haven't visited us in five years. You haven't called us in two," She paused. "What the hell is going on with you, Ichigo? Why are you avoiding contact with your own sisters?"

"I'm not avoiding you and Yuzu. I've just been traveling on business trips a lot and-"

"It's not Orihime, is it?"

"What? No, we broke it off forever ago. She isn't a part of my life anymore."

"Ah-ha," Karin said, sounding as if she were Holmes.

"There's no ah-ha, that's it. Me and her were done a long time ago. I've moved on, and it's for the bet-"

"Ah, so there's another girl. Well damn, you sure don't waste time getting someone."

"That's not the point," I stated with a nerve twitching near my eye. "Me and Orihime haven't kept contact, so whatever perverted things you're thinking, give up, because I'm not going to get with her."

"She was such a nice girl though. Your dumbass should've married her. Hell, you should've had a family by now! You are 25 years old. Five more years and your time is up, bud."

"Who the hell do you think you are? You're 21! You can't talk to me like that!"

"I sure as hell can when my older brother is being a dick!"

"Don't you go there."

"Too late, you've upset me and now you will suffer. Aside from purposely shunning your family, you managed to throw away the one, THE ONE woman who could actually tolerate your shit. And God help me, if you're 30 and creeping on in the clubs and hitting on 20-year-olds, I'm going to kill you in your sleep."

"She wasn't the one," I muttered. "And I sure as hell wasn't her one."

"Well, it's too late now to do anything. Unless…I dunno…you call her-"

"NOT happening, Karin!"

"Okay, okay! It just seems like from the sounds of it, you're 100% sure-"

"More like 1000."

"1000% sure that you're over her. Good for you. You never were the type to cry over something like that. So, you're coming over single. Ha. It's kinda funny because when we grew up, those sluts would cling on you, and I hit every one of them with a potato gun until they'd they our house was "haunted". You remember that?"

"When was that?" I ask, trying to scrape for the memory in my head.

"Before you left, sometime that year," She laughed. "I feel like these past six years I've accomplished nothing. So many things to get done with, but I barely have the time for it, with looking after Yuzu and all. But I'm not complaining. Family first."

"You haven't changed a bit, Karin," I sigh, part of it in relief. "Thank God."

"So, it'll just be us three then? You will come, right?"

"Actually," I start, but hear a groan cut me off.

"Ichigo, don't you dare bail! I can't see Yuzu go through another Christmas hoping that her brother will come home with Santa and then I'd have to lie about how we missed you five minutes ago. That is torture."

"…Fine," I caved, damning the damned anecdote she'd said. "But I'll have to rearrange my plans, so I might be late."

"Plans? What plans? Oh my God, you were going to spend Christmas with someone, weren't you?"

"I just remembered Christmas was in five days. How does that make sense?"

"It doesn't have to! You were gonna choose some hook-up hoe over us?"

"She's not a hook-up hoe."

"Ah-ha! I knew there was a girl!"

"You fell right into her trap. Even I saw it coming."

Shut the hell up, I thought. "Karin, she isn't like that."

"If she isn't, then bring her over."

"..What?"

"If she's not a whore, hoe, slut or a synonym of those three, then I'd like to meet her. Just for your sake, of course."

"Karin, she's a good girl, you don't have to worry."

"Uh-huh, that's what you said about the last one. Look at you two now."

"That was low."

"I learned from the best." I could sense her smiling with glee right at that moment. "So, it's settled? You two are staying the 24th & 25th?"

"We have no choice in the matter, do we?"

"Nope. See you then!"

"Looks like that "opportunity's" coming real soon," The demon grinned with glee.

"Shut the hell up."

"So, this "Kaien Shiba" is bad news, eh?"

"Damn straight."

"Jesus," The detective shook his head as he unlocked the drawer that the journal was in. He then recalled reading about a man named Kaien earlier on in the pages, but he hadn't thought of the name as a possible suspect.

"What's that?" Renji asked suspiciously, eyeing the book.

"There was a lot you didn't know about Ichigo, was there?"

"What are you getting at?"

Kisuke threw the book on the desk. "It explains it all. Why he was hiding, and what exactly he was hiding. And from what you've told me, Kaien wasn't exactly his best bud."

"So, that journal was his?"

"Isn't that what I just said?"

"Does it mention anything about Rukia? Or where she disappeared to?"

"I haven't got to that part yet. 'Tis a pretty lengthy journal and he writes tiny."

"Dammit, aren't you supposed to be a detective? You're supposed to get to this shit done as soon as fucking possible! What's the hold up?" Renji raised his voice, as well as his temper.

"I can only take this supernatural romantic comedy day by day. That, plus I need to confirm if what he wrote is true and notify the others that are on this case."

"And by others, you mean..?"

"My detectives. After all, they deserve to know the truth too, don't they?"

"Who are they?" The redhead gritted his teeth, but it didn't phase the blonde man.

"Rangiku and Shinji. Yoruichi is also a detective that was looking into this case, like myself, but unlike me, she was more involved and actually there at the time this was happening."

"So, nobody that wasn't already in the situation.."

"Knows about it," Kisuke finished the sentence with a nod. "So your pineapple head has nothing to worry about. Except for where your friend went, however."

"Meaning that you'll arrest Kaien?"

Chuckling, the detective opened the little blue book and spread it across his face, already engrossed in the writings. "You're cleared of being a suspect. You may leave. Shut the door on your way out."

Not understanding what the hell had just happened, Renji decided for once to just shut up and do as he was told.

"Oh, and Mr. Abarai?"

"Hm?" The tattooed man asked right as he was about to close the door.

"Send my regards to the troop. It's hard to believe a rookie like you became an alpha within a year."

"The leader…"Renji paused, choosing his words carefully. "Retired, and asked me to fill in for him. It isn't that big of a deal."

"It is in your situation. Zero to hero, eh? Not to mention all of the events that occurred these past couple of years..it's enough to make any man crazy."

"Those events changed me for the better, detective," The man gave a nod goodbye before closing the door.

"Oh, how they changed you indeed. Along with many others, my boy," Kisuke talked aloud as he picked up where he last was in the blue book. However, he couldn't really get into the text because of something that was biting at him.

"…you'll arrest Kaien?" The voice echoed in his head, and for the first time in a long time, he actually had no idea how to go about this; but one thing was for certain:

"He'll need a hell of a lot more than iron bars to hold him back," The man put the book down momentarily to reach his phone machine and call his secretary. "Ururu?"

"Yes, ?"

"Would you be a doll and tell Rangiku to come visit me?"

A/N: Quick update. Anyway, I have some bad news:/ At ch. 20, I will be taking a long break from SP and I don't know when it'll end. During that time, I'll edit and most likely rearrange a couple of chapters (since ch.1 was MASSIVE, I applaud y'all for managing to get through with it), and I'm thinking of breaking that into two chapters, and then just moving everything after it a chapter ahead? I dunno. If anybody can help me edit (I am too embarrassed to read chapter 1. Honestly, I can't read more than a minute of it) it, I'd be so fucking grateful for it, but only if you know what you're doing. And also, another condition: I won't continue from ch.20 until SP has over 50 reviews, 50 watchers, 50 alerts, 50 faves, and at least 5,000 hits (well, we got that last part done:] ) I know it seems ridiculous, but I don't want to write if there's no audience, ya know? And (don't laugh at this next part -_-) I am very insecure with my writing, and I want it to get attention so I know "okay, this isn't working, let me try something else", because like it or not, I care what my readers think. so, please spread the word to your bleach friends about this story and help SP's notoriety? 3 Reviews are always loved, y'all. So, yeah, that's about it. I know I sound needy, but I'm trying not to overdoing, but I think I failed majorly. ENDOFRANTNOW.