Mashiro was flipping through a book at the forth and heard a knock on her door. "Come in!" She announced in a sing song voice and Hitsugaya walked in. "Ah! Shirogane-kun! Are you doing well?"
"Drop the act." Hitsugaya said and Mashiro cocked her head to the side in confusion. "I spoke to Muguruma-taichō. You didn't tell me everything."
Mashiro frowned. "Oi! Oi! Oi! Are you going to trust him over me~? That's cruel, Toshio-kun!" She whined childishly.
"Kuna!" Hitsugaya reprimanded and the green haired woman sighed.
"What did he tell you?"
"That it's abnormal for a corrupted individual to have a zanpakutō take over their body without them using their shikai." Hitsugaya said
"We long knew this case was abnormal." She shrugged
"He said he was given access to all the resources because of you." He said
"That's a personal problem."
"I don't care about that! What I care about is that you lied about not knowing much about Karin's case." He said. "If Muguruma-taichō knew enough to point out a discrepancy then you know more than you're letting on."
"Because our focus wasn't on how she got corrupt but how to get her under control." Mashiro pointed out
"But the people who used her are on the run."
"That involves Soul Society. I don't care." She said
"So your personal vendetta is more important than the well-being an innocent human?" He asked. "Innocent people to be more specific?"
"Of course not." Mashiro shook her head.
"Well it sure doesn't seem like it!" He hissed at her. "Imagine her not knowing or understanding anything that happened to her! Or not knowing where to begin when searching for the missing people."
"... I doubt she would want to know." Mashiro said. "We already know that someone was impersonating you to get closer to her for months. It will break her." Hitsugaya glared at her and she sighed. "What did Muguruma tell you?"
"That from what he observed, she would be taken over after waking from a comatose state." Hitsugaya said. "You knew this whole time because at the captain's meeting, you said 'make sure you keep her awake'. If this case is really rare and abnormal, then how were you able to pin point the moment she would shift?"
"... it is rare and abnormal... but it has been seen before." She admitted. "A trigger is a point of reference, that's what my mother would always tell me."
"And what does that mean?" Hitsugaya asked
"If a spirit takes control during release, it means corruption took place during release." She said.
"And if it takes control during sleep... Karin was corrupted while she slept?" He theorised
"Close... unconscious." She said. "When someone sleeps, the body is still fully aware. Spirit to spirit corruption is slow and to do it in six months like we think, while she slept would be difficult. Her defences would have to be down completely to access her spirit."
"... shit!" Hitsugaya swore, scratching at his head.
"Did you figure it out?" Mashiro asked but Hitsugaya ignored her and stomped out of the room. He summoned a hell butterfly.
"Matsumoto, come in!"
You figured it out? Hyōrinmaru repeated the question to him once more
I need to know something first.
"Taichō." Matsumoto answered.
"Put me in contact with Renji. I want to speak to Kurosaki Yuzu."
"What do you want to know?"
"Her sister's condition with epilepsy." Hitsugaya clarified.
Tatsuki looked at the file in her hands to confirm if this was the right club. "Club Passion..." She announced as she looked at the door. It was a rather large and narrow building in the middle of town, around five storeys tall. "The address is different from the one the victim's parents gave."
"They probably moved locations." Ichigo said. She looked at the sign then at Ichigo before letting out a calming breath and knocking on the doors. A slot of the door opened.
"Password?"
"Police." Tatsuki showed them her badge and the eyes of the bouncer blinked before closing the slot and Tatsuki knocked again, but this time a little more forcefully. The door opened.
"Ah! Detectives?"
"A girl went missing from your club several months ago... Yokohama Chihiro?"
The bouncer winced. "Ah! I don't know what goes on with the ins and outs of the club—"
"Then take us to someone who does." Tatsuki said. "Unless you would like to be arrested for obstruction of justice."
"Follow me." The bouncer led the two inside and Tatsuki sensed something odd in the air. She sniffed the air a couple of times.
"What are you doing?" Ichigo whispered.
"It smells... off." Tatsuki said
"... it's a strip club." He mentioned in a deadpan tone
"But it smells... familiar?" Tatsuki said. "Like you?" She teased. "Been going to strip clubs lately pal?"
"With what time and energy?" Ichigo scoffed at her before elbowing her side to stop her from losing focus. They were led into a dark club room filled with neon lights and psychedelic music. The stage was illuminated and only one woman was there dancing while being verbally abused by a man seated on the couch.
"You call that sexy?" He yelled. "My grandma moves better than that! That will bring no one into this club!"
"Who is the uncouth dumbass?" Ichigo asked the bouncer.
"That's the boss," the bouncer announced. "Okamura Jun."
"... classy." Tatsuki scoffed as they walked over to the man. "Okamura-san!"
The man turned around. "Huh? A woman? Not a common patron around these parts..." He wore a dirty grin. "Unless you'd like to audition."
"We're with the Manseibashi Police Precinct."Tatsuki said.
"We?" He noticed Ichigo. "Looking into a career change? We only accept female exotic dancers —"
"We have questions for you regarding a missing person." Tatsuki said.
"Oh! I see. Give me a second to finish." He turned back to the girl. "Why the fuck did you stop? Keep moving!" Ichigo was getting annoyed and pressed stop on his boom box playing music. "Hey! I said I'd be with you in a second!"
"And we're not here to play games with you!" Ichigo said before looking at the girl who looked frightened. "Take a break." She looked at Jun then at Ichigo before nodding and rushing off the stage to the stairwell on the side of the room.
"Do you cops enjoy barging in on honest establishments and treating people like shit?"
"Yokohama Chihiro, when did you last see her?"Tatsuki moved straight to the point
"Who?" Tatsuki thrusted a picture into his face.
"Oh! Debbie-chan!" He mused
"Debbie?" Ichigo echoed
"We work by stage names here." Jun said. "Japanese names are bad for business. Doesn't sound nice on the tongue to chant."
"Classy indeed." Ichigo raised his eyes to the heavens
"You are well aware that prostitution is illegal, correct?"
"No shit, I'm just an honest man." He smiled innocently. "People come in, feast their eyes and go. If the girls take a liking to them decide to see them on their own accords then that's up to them."
"So do they charge these special patrons?"
"How should I know?" Jun asked. "If a man is getting laid then good for him! My work stops at this stage."
"Okamura-san, one of your workers is missing."
"Debbie hasn't come to work in days, months even. If the girls decide to disappear then it is none of my business. They come in and they go home and God knows if they ever decide to come back. Most like the money so they do."
"They go home?" Ichigo asked
"Where else would they go besides probably fucking a man to sleep?"
"... This whole building is registered to one person." He said
"I rent out the space."
"Then what's upstairs?" He asked
"Ask the owner of the building." Jun said. "Probably office spaces or some shit."
"But your worker just went upstairs." Tatsuki pointed out
"Fine! It's a love motel. Is that illegal now? There are hundreds of love motels along this street." He said. "Why aren't you harassing them?"
"They don't have exotic dancers and escorts that go missing. At least not today." Tatsuki said.
"This is fucking Kabuki-cho! People disappear from this little corner of Tokyo every day." He said. "It's full of runaways and hoodlums. Are we shocked all of a sudden? Because I'm not."
"So, considering that your worker just went upstairs, you have access to the upstairs spaces as well?" Ichigo asked
"That's none of my business, most of my girls rent a room here because it's cheaper." He said. "She probably went up to hers."
"But you just implied they leave the establishment." Tatsuki said. "How do you miss a working employee if they live in the building?"
"Oh for fuck's sake, is this a fucking interrogation?" Okamura scoffed. "Look... I don't even know your fucking names to report you to your superiors."
"Kuchiki Rukia and Abarai Renji." Tatsuki claimed. They had asked to use the shinigami's names to make it harder to track them down since this wasn't an official case and Tatsuki was abusing her connection to the police force. Ichigo started to walk around, getting annoyed with him.
"It's bad for business if you are here. I've done nothing wrong. Do you want to see my license to run this place?"
"No, we would just like to know more about Debbie-chan." Tatsuki said. "Did she live here?"
"I can't remember." He claimed and Tatsuki raised an eyebrow at him. "Look, she probably did but I don't know! She just up and left. No one really noticed her."
"But it seems like she was a favourite." Ichigo said, pointing at the board by the bar called a memory board. One picture had multiple girls on it, Yokohama Chihiro included, then the rest had girls with different clients and Chihiro managed to pop up a noticeable amount of times. "Nice set up you got here... must make the experience more sentimental. Didn't know politicians took pictures as little memorabilia. Makes the adultery seem a lot more intimate."
"Really?" Tatsuki asked and Jun started to look uncomfortable. Tatsuki walked over. "Look at that... the finance minister? No one noticed her but she was getting cozy with politicians?"
"He liked all the girls." Jun claimed.
"But only took pictures with Chihiro-san?" Tatsuki asked. "Chihiro was an escort, correct?"
"Well... yeah."
"Don't people book their escorts in advance? They're not like the dancers on stage." Ichigo asked.
"We don't keep fucking records, for Christ sake!" Jun claimed in exasperation. "I don't run things like that. If someone liked a girl, they would catch a name and come in the next time asking for that name."
"They would ask you?" Ichigo asked.
"It didn't have to be me —"
"But as the manager, you would also know the best ones who pull in the most money." Tatsuki said. "The finance minister sounds like good money if you ask me. Sounds like a lot of people noticed her... which would be odd to me that she just up and left and you did nothing about it."
Jun glared at them before his phone started to ring. "You better be out of here by the time I'm back! This is fucking harassment!" He turned and stomped out of the bar area and into one of the back offices.
"I'm going upstairs." Ichigo said as he took Kon's mod soul pill to swallow.
"Tempted to see exotic dancers?" Tatsuki teased and Ichigo scoffed.
"Not really my scene." He said before his as spirit came out of his body, leaving Kon in control.
"I'm going to go eavesdrop." Tatsuki said and Ichigo nodded before he disappeared. "Kon, stay here."
"No beautiful girls with majestic valleys for me?"
"Not a single one." Tatsuki said before slipping into the hallways. Kon watched her leave, annoyed.
"Stupid woman! She's just jealous that she doesn't have a glorious chest like... wait—the reiatsu in this building..."
Ichigo lingered slowly through the halls of the first floor and saw it, a door written 'staff only' instead of an open hallway. He quickly switched up to the next floor to see if it was the same and it was an open hallway leading to multiple rooms. "So he lied... very obviously..." Ichigo scoffed. This simply meant that if his workers lived here, then there is no chance for him to not notice them leave or at least the bouncer. There was no reception except the one past the bottom door meaning that people who used this area of the building in general had to go through the club first.
Ichigo switched back to the floor below and checked to see if the door was open. This was one of the aspects of being a shinigami that he failed to understand. Why did he behave as a ghost but couldn't do things that ghosts could do like walk through walls and surfaces? The door was locked obviously but after giving up, the door opened and the girl from earlier walked out. Ichigo didn't bother stepping away from the door, confident that she wouldn't see him but the girl stopped,
"Eh? Cosplayer? You're not allowed to be on this floor, otaku-san." She affirmed and Ichigo was taken aback. "Do you have a reservation? If so, you can wait downstairs and someone will come —"
"I'm looking for Yokohama Chihiro," Ichigo stated bluntly and the girl blinked at him in confusion.
"... who?"
"Debbie-chan." Ichigo frowned.
"... oh! She doesn't work here anymore! I just started a couple of months ago so I never met her. In fact, I was her replacement." The girl said. "If you have meetings booked with her then I'll take her —"
"No, I don't. She went missing and her family is concerned about her." Ichigo pointed out.
"Then maybe talk to her new employer? She must be somewhere in this city." She shrugged. Ichigo looked at the girl closely and the girl was weirded out. "What? You're acting strange and you're not even supposed to be he—"
"Did your boss teach you how to be a bad liar as well?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her and the girl looked confused. "You never met Chihiro yet I recognise your face from the group picture with Chihiro in it?"
At least she didn't waste his time and just decided to aim for the jugular. Ichigo dodged as she felt her reiatsu flare. She isn't human. Ichigo finally noticed before taking her arm and twisting it behind her back. "Just cooperate and no one will—ow!" She threw her head back to head butt him and Ichigo stumbled backwards. She stood up and hissed.
"Fucking shinigami!" She hissed and Ichigo was taken aback by that and the hollow mask that grew over her chin and lower lip.
"How nice..." Ichigo deadpanned before reaching for Zangetsu.
Meanwhile, Tatsuki heard his loud voice over the telephone and managed to find the office he was in. He was yelling in what sounded like exasperation and fear. Tatsuki wondered who it was on the phone until she heard the phrase: "There should be enough, Aizen! What more do you from me?" Tatsuki took the moment the call ended to kick the door open and hold him at gunpoint.
"What the — breaking property no —"
"So... what are you giving Aizen Sōsuke?" The colour drained from Okamura's face as he stared at the woman. "People?"
"Look... I don't know who that is or who you're —"
"Can it!" Tatsuki told him. "How many people do you provide to him?"
"I... I... he forced me!"
"Talk!" Tatsuki ordered. She was taken aback by the stomping from the above floor and Okamura tried to take this opportunity to take her down but Tatsuki was faster, blocking his hands and turning it to an uncomfortable angle before pushing him against the wall and handcuffing his wrists together.
"Please, listen to me! I'm the victim here!"
"You refused to cooperate in one of the largest mass kidnapping cases of the century, you are aiding and abetting the person in charge and you are an accessory to a crime. Do you have any idea how much prison time that is?"
"Prison?" He chuckled. "You think you can take on this guy? He's immortal! Man can do whatever he wants. Now be a good girl and uncuff me and leave. No one gets hurt."
"I'll take my chances." Tatsuki said
"Boss?" Tatsuki turned at the voice and her eyes widened at the face of Yokohama Chihiro.
"See? She never left," Okamura chuckled and Tatsuki gritted her teeth before pushing him to the ground and looking over at Chihiro.
"Yokohama-san? Your family from Kobe reported you missing months ago." The girl said nothing. "Yokohama—" Tatsuki stopped as a hollow mask grew over her right eye. "Hollow?" and she charged for Tatsuki.
Tatsuki dodged and pushed her into a wall. She pulled out her gun to aim for her leg. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. She's still human." Okamura said and Tatsuki froze. Chihiro charged for her again and Tatsuki shot at the lights before rushing out of the room. She shot the lights in the hallway while running out to confuse the girl. She managed to make it out of the hallway and closed the door before she could catch up.
"What's going on? I heard gunshots!" Tatsuki kept her back against the door as Chihiro pushed against the door
"Kon! Pass me a lamp!" Tatsuki ordered and the mod soul in Ichigo's body nodded before passing her the nearest light and she jammed it through the handle, blocking the door. "Go tell Ichigo not to harm whoever he is fighting. They're still human."
"But what about?" He gestured to the pounding against the door.
"Go! I'll think of something." Tatsuki looked at the long cable and thought of something. Kon tried to rush for the stairwell but was hit by the bouncer. "Kon!" The bouncer turned back to Tatsuki and tried to charge but Kon kicked him back into the hallway he came from. "I'll take care of him. Focus on the wild muskrat on the other side."
Tatsuki moved to the bar, pulling out two knives and taking a towel cloth as well. She moved back to the long cable and pulling it out from the wall and cutting off the plug. She pulled the cable, trying her best to get her idea to work.
Ichigo hissed as he was pushed away by the hollow towards the end of the corridor. Fighting indoors was hard enough, going outside would attract the attention of everyone and Tokyo was much bigger than Karakura. He had heard the gunshots below and his immediate thought was to rush down to check in her but he couldn't.
"Damnit!" Ichigo grunted before charging forward. She was using a chain to block his attacks in succession. How did this man get his hands on a fucking Arrancar? He finally broke through her defences and she grunted, being thrown off her feet and hitting the wall on the other side of the hallway. Ichigo was about to make a strike but was cut off by his own voice by the stairwell.
"Let me go, you ruffian!" The voice said
"Kon!" Ichigo called out
"Ichigo! Don't kill her! She's still human!" Ichigo paused.
"Wait... what?" The arrancar — or so he had assumed — stood up, smiling menacingly at him before whipping her chain at him which Ichigo narrowly dodged.
Tatsuki was close to finished with her contraption and when she put the final piece in place, the door burst open and Chihiro held out her hand, a red cero laser growing and shooting at Tatsuki. The criminalist rolled out of the way before throwing a bar stool at her feet. Chihiro was momentarily distracted and didn't see the knife attached to the end of a came headed toward her which she narrowly dodged before it retracted back to the sender.
Chihiro hissed at her before summoning a sword and charging. Tatsuki's eyes widened as she dodged each and every swing, hiking her makeshift rope dart over her shoulder to avoid it from being cut. Tatsuki was far out of her depth here. She had no gear and no gimmicky powers like her friends. She had fight training but that was never enough to prepare you to deal with a strange, unknown entity.
One of the sword's swings managed to cut a graze into her side and Tatsuki groaned before scouring her eyes quickly around the bar and club area as she continued to avoid direct conflict. And immediately, she knew she had to try at least one thing.
Ichigo was having more luck against his current opponent. She was no match for Ichigo's speed and while Ichigo reserved swinging zangetsu and focused more on trying to wear her out or knock her out cold. He used zangetsu to block the oncoming impact of her throw and pulled her in before striking her head against the wall, she grunted but it was the final blow that made her fall to the ground, unconscious.
Now I can go help Tatsuki. Ichigo thought as he rushed out the hallway and into the stairwell where Kon threw the hallway table at the bouncer who had a hollow mask over the lining of his nose and cheekbones. "What the fuck, Kon!"
"It got the job done." The mod soul in his body pointed at the now unconscious bouncer.
"Come on!" Ichigo pushed him to follow him down the stairs.
Tatsuki had picked up the fallen floor lamp to help defend herself from the sword while she got close enough to her end goal. Chihiro was rabidly throwing stacks at her and Tatsuki picked up that all she had was rage and unnatural strength. Otherwise, passing through her defences should work. Tatsuki rushed around the area, looking silly and like a headless chicken to her opponent while dodging attacks.
Tatsuki finally noted the opening and used the floor lamp to hit her foot and then kicked at her hand to disarm her of her sword. Tatsuki kicked her across the face to buy some time before jumping over the bar area for distance and using her makeshift rope dart to throw at her. So far so good... Tatsuki thought and as expected, she caught the cable.
"Tatsuki!" Ichigo called out for her once he got to the bottom of the stairwell but Tatsuki had to focus because her plan was about to work. Tatsuki slid underneath her, pulling the cable and Chihiro fell, not realising that whole she was running, Tatsuki was making a network on the ground with the cable. The other end was attached to the floor lamp and when she slid underneath her, the force pulled the lamp which wedged itself in a corner behind the bar. The cable wound around her legs and brought her to her knees.
Tatsuki used that moment to carry out her plan to fruition as she leaped forward, pressing her knee to her face and forcing her to the ground in a thud, as if almost kneeling on her. Chihiro squealed, sounding similar to a hollow when it was cut through, before falling unconscious at the impact. Tatsuki panted, thanking the gods that it was over but the blood loss from the graze in her side finally made itself known to her and she fell to the ground, feeling her world fade to black.
Omake
Urahara never really got the shōten to himself and while he would never admit to this, he enjoyed k-pop— too unhealthily for a middle aged shinigami to admit. It had started off with K-pop stan, Ururu blasting off the most annoying and repetitive pop sounds in a language that sounded like Korean to him and Ururu confirmed it was. She also stated some popular groups have Japanese versions of their songs but when asked why she doesn't just listen to that, she said "Because it sounds weird in Japanese".
Now as a closeted fan, Urahara agreed.
And the way he showed this love for this genre was to learn dance videos when no one else was home.
How you like that! The TV sang as the four girls danced across the screen and Urahara followed along. It was so much fun and such bliss. The kids were in school, Yoruichi was still in Soul Society and Tessai spent hours at the grocery store. Nothing could interrupt this rare moment no—
"Uh... Kisuke?" The man jumped three feet in the air before rushing to turn off the TV to stare at the red haired man and his short companion.
"Don't you knock?!" He scoffed
"Knock at a shop?" Rukia asked.
"Was that Korean?" Renji followed up
"What do you want?" He said
"Ichigo called us and we need you to teleport us to Tokyo." Rukia said
"Can't it wait!" Urahara whined
"Why? Want to finish zumba?"
Urahara was enraged. "THAT ISN'T ZUMBA!"