Chapter Twelve
She was blacking out over and over again. She lost recognition of her surroundings. Was she strapped to the operating table again? Or was she tied to something? The constant probing of tools, the bleeding, the cutting… But she stopped feeling pain a long time ago. It seemed that even the people experimenting on her were tired of her lack of her response. She stopped screaming ages ago because she was too dumbed.
She was too far gone.
"Enough!" She had heard the man with face paint say before muttering some abrasives and spitting her way then marching out of the room.
Your will is strong.
It has to be. Karin hissed at the voice.
How long will you withstand it? They laughed. We'll be waiting for you.
We?
The voice laughed in response before floating away as she felt a needle pierce into the skin of her upper arm before the liquid coaxed her into a deep sleep.
Hitsugaya was baffled by what the guards told him as they lead him to Aizen's cell. From what he gathered, it was as if he just walked out. No one noticed him leave, no one opened his cell and no one was hurt or injured. "Eh?" Hitsugaya muttered. "But… Who was on duty that night?"
"We rotate every hour." The guard told him. "There are always 20 shinigami from Rokubantai present since our protection is under Kuchiki-taichō."
"I see." Hitsugaya said. He could always ask Renji for the roster… That wasn't too hard. "This is very strange."
"Indeed. That's why we have failed to efficiently disseminate information to the gōseijusantai." He said and Tōshirō felt his stress levels rising. "Here is his cell." He was shown the reiatsu suppressing cell and Tōshirō paused in shock.
You noticed something…
The reiatsu lingering here… Tōshirō thought.
"Hitsugaya-taichō…" He looked to the guard. "Are you okay?"
"Hai…" Tōshirō composed himself before stepping forward. The presence of the reiatsu was right on the cell and he could tell something was off. He performed hadō 48 without incantation.
"Wh… what are you—" The guard stopped in shock, his eyes widening at the scene before him as the ice covered the cell doors, revealing a gaping hole in the cell bars where they thought it was just a regular closed door. "Wh… What—"
"It wasn't a quiet escape." Hitsugaya deduced.
The reiatsu is familiar.
Ah… Tōshirō responded sadly.
What's your assumption now?
Hitsugaya had to admit it rather forcefully to himself. Karin may have been involved.
"Any luck?" Yuzu asked over the phone to Tatsuki as she walked home.
"No," She heard Tatsuki huff as if she was doing some heavy lifting. "... my supervisors are pretty strict so I can't sneak in a random sample and put in the system."
"Thanks for trying…" Yuzu sighed.
"Why… Did you find something?"
"... 2000 people were reported missing around Japan the same time when Karin disappeared." Yuzu said.
"Well… I… That stat sounds like nothing out of the ordinary." Yuzu was shocked by Tatsuki's words.
"What do you mean?" Yuzu asked.
"An average of eighty thousand people go missing yearly. Distribute it by month, give or take, 7000 people."
"But in the span of a few days?" Yuzu asked, feeling slightly heated.
"... Disappearances may happen in clusters and the date the disappearance is noted is the date it is filed into the system, especially considering how big the population is. It is a regular number for the country almost… a little inflated for Tokyo but if we are to talk about the whole country then it's roughly approximate. Considering how a vast majority of people live in Tokyo, the number is still plausible. With a large population of people living alone and how populous it is, people can easily go missing for weeks and not be noticed until some point so reporting can even be greater at some points than others. "
" But…"
"Did you only check around the time when Karin went missing or the whole month?"
"I…" Yuzu felt incredibly insolent and she heard Tatsuki sigh.
"If it helps, I'll try to get someone I know to check in to the computer database of the police and get some data myself. Plus, we also have the blood samples. All we need is to prove that there are a lot of people there, right? We can ID them later... that is if the families submitted DNA."
"Mm…" Yuzu hummed on agreement before bidding her farewell and hanging up her phone as she walked into the house.
Tatsuki hung up the call with a heavy heart before putting her phone down and going back to work on the samples she had at work. She discussed it with Ichigo beforehand about how bizarre it would be for a shinigami to be taking humans and he agreed. Ichigo told her that it could also be hollow blood or even shinigami blood since the idiots in Soul Society could never keep track of their own in his own words. It would be a risk to waste resources at work and get in trouble for something futile, especially since she didn't have samples to cross reference with.
So she put that pursuit aside for a while.
"You look busy." Kakeru lingered over her desk and Tatsuki looked up at him.
"I'm pretty sure hanging in the forensic labs with interns isn't part of the agenda for the day, detective," She joked and Kakeru laughed.
"I'm waiting for a warrant and an APB." He said
"Fun." Tatsuki turned back to her computer.
"So, what is the intern working on?"
"Data entry like every intern that exists." She said
"Where's the interesting stuff? Like analysing blood splatter and bullet trajectory." He bantered
Tatsuki laughed. "You watch too much Iryu Sosa."
"It is my favourite show." He said
"Never saw it." Tatsuki went back to typing
"... how about I explain to you how good it is over lunch?" He offered.
Tatsuki laughed. "I don't do cop shows, I'm busy and you're waiting for that warrant."
"You know how long judges take." He said
"I wouldn't know... I'm just a lab tech, keiji-san." She said.
"Then I will wait here until you give in." He sat on a chair opposite to her desk and Tatsuki rolled her eyes but laughed at the looniness of the detective. "Hungry yet?"
Tatsuki laughed. "Let me finish these entries then we can see."
Yuzu felt hopeless after that phone call. She noticed that the mailbox was full and opened it. They rarely ever received mail. Yuzu found a giant yellow package and read the sender address. It was for Karin.
"Fuck!" She screamed in anguish. She had totally forgotten that there were guests in the house — who she still had no understanding as to why they were here — who had noticed her outcry.
"What's the matter, Yuzu-tan?" Yuzu ignored the man before stomping up to her room and getting out of her body. She jumped out the window and flash stepped into the roof. Karin had always resorted to working out to take off her frustrations… she could as well. And right now, she was virtually useless to everyone… She would much rather be stronger.
Shiba Kūkaku had no idea what was going on but she knew it was most likely none of her business. While she did in fact decide to host the weird cat and the green headed maniac on their visit here, she did not bother to ask questions nor did she allow them to disclose anything when they tried. She would much rather have to be in forced proximity with old friends than to involve herself back into Soul Society affairs. All she knew is that there was a lockdown and that was all she was willing to know.
But she should have known somehow that it involved her family.
"Aren't you captain of the tenth?" Kūkaku asked the young captain who was at her doorstep.
"Yes." He nodded.
"Well… If you want the cat, I'm willing to hand her over free of charge. I'll pay you to take the green head off my hands." She joked but her shit eating grin dropped when she noted that he was not amused at all. Stupid captains and their seriousness. "So it's safe to assume that you aren't looking for them?"
"Didn't even know they were here." He shrugged.
"What do you want then?" He asked the white haired young can.
"I have questions regarding a zanpakutō in your family line." He said.
Kūkaku raised an eyebrow at him and laughed. "I'm sorry but if you need information like that, my family lives three days away in the mountains, you should find them easily." She tried to close the door but he stopped her from closing it, surprising her with his strength. "Listen kid…"
"The zanpakutō is Angetsu and it belongs to Kurosaki Karin… Your niece." Kūkaku paused, surprised by the revelation.
"Angetsu? In Isshin's kid?"
"Ahh." He affirmed.
"I thought only Ichigo had a zanpakutō."
"They all do." He corrected and Kūkaku looked annoyed.
"You have an hour." She opened the door and Tōshirō nodded in appreciation before entering, where Mashiro and Yoruichi in her cat form were.
"So… She possesses Angetsu?" Tōshirō nodded as Kūkaku began to blow on her pipe. Tōshirō knew of the splendour that the noble house had. While they had extricated themselves from Soul Society affairs directly affiliated with the shinigami and the court, they were still highly regarded and were responsible for district governance in Rukongai. He heard rumours that Kūkaku was supposed to be the next clan mother but due to pressure, she stepped down and removed herself from her own family.
"I hate to tell you this but there is zanpakutō corruption in the Shiba bloodline… Just not with Angetsu." She clarified.
"I'm well aware of that, which is why I want to know what exactly Angetsu does." He said and Kūkaku raised an eyebrow at him. He turned to Mashiro. "Kuna-san—"
"Ahhhh! Shirōmaki-kun! No need to call me that… Mashiro is juuuussssst fine!" She declared happily while the captain sat there in utter confusion.
"Shirō… never mind. Mashiro, is it possible that zanpakutōs spirits can influence each other?" Tōshirō asked
"It's rare but it's possible. It's more likely to happen to weaker shinigami or shinigami who have just unlocked shikai." She said
"How?" He asked
"No clue..." She said. "This is the first I see of it."
"Is Angetsu a dangerous zanpakutō?" Tōshirō turned back to Kūkaku. "I've seen it a bit in action and I would like to know what to expect."
"The Shiba clan is well known for its powerful and destructive zanpakutōs." Kūkaku claimed.
"If they're like Ichigo's then that's bad." Hitsugaya sighed.
Kūkaku raised her brow. "Zangetsu is the weakest in the whole clan." The captain's eyes looked like they were about to bulged out of his skull as he let out a sound of complete confusion. "Still strong by Soul Society standards but not much within our clan. The general consensus is that most shinigami have as well as everyone in Soul Society is that a zanpakutō spirit is strong when in actuality, it is a wielder who knows how to handle their sword. Yes, I'm well aware of the amount of anarchy Ichigo had caused in such a short period of time but that had to do with his skill. Zangetsu is just a run of the mill melee based weapon. It doesn't even have a sealed form because it doesn't have any energy to conserve; no gimmicks, no unseen powers… what you see is what you get."
"So… Who has the strongest one?" Tōshirō asked.
"My niece, Megumi… But she is the weakest of us all combat wise so that isn't saying much." Kūkaku admitted. "Karin's is still pretty high up… and Angetsu doesn't even particularly need someone with great physical capabilities… It just needs someone who is deadly smart. It's an illusion based Zanpakutō so it only makes sense."
Hitsugaya sighed in annoyance. "Sadly, she is both. And to make matters worse, she doesn't even know when she uses it. She didn't even know its name and release command until a few days ago yet she had lost control twice before that."
"Which is why Aizen is the main culprit." Yoruichi said. "Both are illusion based wielders, Aizen is obviously stronger than Karin and he's missing right now…"
"I was wrong about that theory… Karin was the one who broke him out or at least I think I'm missing something..." Hitsugaya said and all the women were shell-shocked. "I went to Central 46 to investigate and I recognised the reiatsu. I used Hyōrinmaru on the cell since it worked once to reveal her illusion and the cell was broken into but masked by her reiatsu from Angetsu, creating the illusion."
"So… Are you trying to say that Karin is behind all of this?" Yoruichi asked in disbelief.
"That's impossible." Mashiro said. "We already know that Aizen was with Karin. She had never met him before otherwise. And that would mean that she came and broke him out and went back to the world of the living."
"... I doubt her powers work for that long or from a different world." Yoruichi saw what she was getting at. "So she must've done it while she was at the fourth when no one was monitoring her."
"But was it Aizen?" Tōshirō asked
"For all of this to make sense... Aizen was either broken out and swapped with someone else or he was never the one in there this whole time." Yoruichi said. "It wouldn't be a surprise if he slipped by us again,"
The young captain saw where they were coming from. "Aizen breaking out is a distraction. Because now we're less on what's happening in the world of the living and more on Aizen being somewhere in Soul Society."
"Yuppie! Sounds like Aizen alrighty!" Mashiro nodded in agreement and Hitsugaya felt like his head was going to explode. "I wouldn't stress if I were you, Hiroki-kun! They're not going to listen to you anyways if you mention this."
She was annoying... but she was correct. "There's a third party involved." Hitsugaya sighed. "There has to be. Aizen couldn't have done all this alone. Maybe corrupting Kurosaki but..."
"Why? Because they both wield illusion based zanpakutō? I never understood that theory…" Everyone looked to Mashiro as she started musing to herself. "I mean… I think anyone can agree the reason why it takes so long for a zanpakutō and a wielder to get anywhere is because they are similar hence their personalities clash… How would that work for actual spirits?"
"So what you are saying is…"
"Let's think of this…" Mashiro grabbed a rock lying around the tent then started drawing a seal on the floor. "This is the zanpakutō seal. It is found in the homes of high ranked nobles. My ancestors created this model to explain how the zanpakutō spirits split and how they link to one another. Each zanpakutō type forms cycles between one another. At the centre, we have the extinct energy zanpakutō because energy is the basis of everything. But let's take this cycle since you'd be most familiar with it: ice, water and fire. As an ice user, what's interesting about this cycle?"
"Water makes my zanpakutō stronger and fire is my weakness." Tōshirō said.
"Good. But notice how it's also connected to this cycle..." She pointed at the ice linking to plant and earth "... and this cycle." She moved to the cycle linking ice to wind and defence zanpakutōs. "Can you see the link?"
"... ice produces cold conditions that makes wind stronger." Tōshirō said. "And defence zanpakutōs are normally shields so they block wind and make it obsolete."
"And the other cycle?"
"I'm guessing... ice freezes over plants and stops it from growing. I don't know about the plants and earth though. Possibly growing." Hitsugaya said.
"You're right. But in the end, everything is linked to each other creating this cycle." She said. "From this cycle, you can tell that you are dependent on water for the existence of your powers. Your body has even adapted to it... correct?"
"Ah." He nodded
"Do you think Hyōrinmaru would be easily swayed by one?" She asked and Hitsugaya looked at her in disbelief. "Zanpakutō spirits are like us souls and humans, they are at the mercy of those stronger and weaker than them. If Hyōrinmaru was barred from using his powers in the spirit realm then he'd be desperate. And desperation is what causes a lot of the zanpakutō corruptions in legend,"
"Your mother taught you well." Yoruichi said, impressed.
Kūkaku looked confused by what she had just said. "If she was able to train you so well then why do you still have problems with your zanpakutō?"
Mashiro gave her a smile that almost looked sad. "... Because I let it go too far. I can control my zanpakutō… I just can't control my illness." She continued her illustration. "Going by this logic… Karin was influenced by a darkness based zanpakutō."
Yuzu huffed tiredly, exhausted as she lied down on the roof. She hadn't noticed that she had been there for hours but came to the realisation after she felt extremely dehydrated. But even then, all she wondered was whether they were feeding her sister or keeping her alive.
She felt like crying but knew that she couldn't. She had to be strong for her.
"Does every Kurosaki possess some form of a death wish?" She looked up, trying to squint her eyes past the sunlight only to see Kuchiki-taicho standing above her.
"If helping my sister will render me dead then so be it." Yuzu sighed as she tried her best to sit up, only to have a water bottle dropped on her lap.
"Would you rather be dead before you can help her?" He asked. "You have zero control of your reiatsu and you're more likely to drain yourself before you can help anyone." Yuzu kept quiet, knowing he was right but said thank you before drinking the water greedily. "Focus more on building a relationship with your zanpakutō and the rest will follow."
"And… how do I do that?" Yuzu asked. "I tried jizen but it is difficult."
Kuchiki-taicho paused. "As a practitioner, what are your strengths and your weaknesses?"
"I do better in kidō but I struggle with Hakuda… I'm not much better with a zanpakutō either, especially compared to Karin."
"Do you always compare yourself to your sister?" Yuzu kept silent. "Your biggest weakness is not always physical… it can also be mental. You constantly compare yourself to your sister and fail to recognise your own strengths." Yuzu still remained silent. "Stop training for the day and focus on something that you are well aware that you are strong in."
Yuzu nodded. "Thank you very much, Kuchiki-dono." She bowed and she looked up, she noticed him getting ready to leave. "Excuse me!" She called out and he stopped. "I found that around two thousand people disappeared at the same time at Karin. The warehouse where we found her has signs of multiple people present. I'm not telling you this prematurely because a friend of mine is yet to confirm whether this is true but… Since you and Hirako-taichō are here, I find it best to inform you. "
"I appreciate the information, Kurosaki Yuzu." And with that, he left. Yuzu would probably never understand. The aristocrat status makes him a dick but at least he was reasonable. He did have a point and she knew exactly what to do next.
Tōshirō knew he was young. By Soul Society standards, a little under hundred years was not much. He died a baby and was raised by his obaa-chan. He had only grown out of his childhood phase recently and had been a captain only for thirty years. He knew that he knew next to nothing about soul society and the history in it. He knows everything he learned from Shinō academy but that barely scraped the surface.
Which is why learning so much about zanpakutō spirits, the basis of being a shinigami, felt so surreal. Learning the psudeoscience behind zanpakutōs and their corruption was too surreal. Hearing that darkness zanpakutōs can influence illusion based zanpakutō was by far the most bizarre thing he had heard this week. And it wasn't even because of the logic; the reasons he were as similar to as when Mashirō explained the logic to him. He understood it perfectly… But it still didn't help that it was so uncommon. He doesn't even think he knows anyone with a darkness based zanpakutō. It is such a rare zanpakutō type. The most common zanpakutō types are possibly melee based and defence based. He was lucky to find two more illusion users than he could possibly find a darkness user.
What made it worse was that the only person possibly stopping her is a light user which was incredibly rare… or a strong kidō user.
How many light users does it take change a light bulb? Hyōrinmaru snickered in his head and Hitsugaya hissed at the dragon and its poor attempt at humour. The dragon looked smug.
Now would be a great time to tell me whether you know any so that I can start somewhere. Hitsugaya declared.
Do you know every person is Soul Society?
No.
Then what makes you think I know every spirit in the spirit realm?
Tōshirō sighed. This is hopeless. He rubbed his fingers against the sides of his temple, trying to soothe a headache he felt coming on before pausing. I'm doing nothing here. I'm useless.
Where else could you be?
The human world. Hitsugaya said. Of course here, Aizen surely covered up all his tracks. But the human world is something he can't control. Reiatsu doesn't linger as long… That's why we are weaker there.
Well… The dangai is closed and you can't leave anyways. Hyōrinmaru cautioned his captain. Wait for the judgement of the other captains. I know you don't trust Hirako but surely you trust Kuchiki-taicho.
While he couldn't say that him and the noble were buddy-buddy, they did have a good sense of respect for the other and this showed a few years back when they were tasked to work together on a mission and he managed to unlock his bankai completely. Both of them were only satisfied if a member does their part and does it well. Neither of them were about showing emotions but Hitsugaya believed he was the more softer and approachable of the two.
Yes, I trust him. Hitsugaya affirmed.
Well, there's only one thing we can do… Hitsugaya sighed, knowing he was right and planned to see Ukitake and Kyōraku in the morning.
Contrary to popular belief, Mashirō was not the person who everyone painted her out to be. People thought she was insane and way out of depth but she did that for a reason. While it was very enjoyable to be brainless and wild for the heck of it, she still knew she had an array of responsibilities. She had run away from them and she had every right to at the time, but she still had moral obligation.
Which is why she went to twelfth.
She could feel the air around and she could tell two days from now, it would all go to hell. She pulled her orange glove off her left hand, revealing a seal that glowed in the dark. She knew what she had to do…
But at least let her have some fun in the process.
Omake
Kūkaku closed the door after Tōshirō left. This was all a mess and it was bound to blow up soon. She had seen Soul Society and it's kookiness first hand to know she could see anything and still say she has seen it all.
Except the sight she met after turning around:
Mashiro happily rubbing Yoruichi on the belly. "Why?" Kūkaku looked at the two in disbelief.
"She likes it!" Mashiro grinned like a child and Yoruichi purred.
"She's not even in her cat form!" Kūkaku exclaimed.