A/N: Sorry guys, I know I'm a little late. My school sucks, I was forced to complete a 5 page research paper by going through a process of developing a topic, then a thesis statement, then an outline, then researching using credible sources, then writing the damn thing... NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO COLLEGE! Anyway, lets keep school out of this. I'm done with school for the year, sophomore year is gone and junior year approaches. Now for chapter 4 of Ominous Spirits.

Chapter 4: Initial Findings

Toshiro opened the doors of his office to see Matsumoto already asleep on the couch, her work still incomplete. He walked past her and into his chair, L followed with the initial investigation files in hand, and slammed them on the table, awaking Matsumoto up with a startle. She peered over the couch and to Hitsugaya.

"Your late Captain. Not like you, not like you at all." She said teasingly.

"Your on time." He responded impatiently. Matsumoto smiled than turned around to begin her work for that day... More sleeping. Meanwhile, Toshiro and L opened the files to examine the autopsy report, as well as the blood work from the scene, and other miscellaneous evidence gathered.

"The three main points of interest are the blood, the hairs found in the nail, although brought up to question, the torn cloth found near the scene, as well as the shoeprint, which matches the patterns of a shinigami's sandal." L started.

"The lab ran the blood work through their database, it doesn't match any shinigami that is currently enlisted." Toshiro responded.

"Meaning it's someone outside of Seireitei."

"But how is that possible? The sandal matched that of a shinigami and only a shinigami?" Toshiro asked.

"I would like to know that as well." L said. "You said the lab is currently comparing the shoe size and the calculated weight of the perpetrator through their database of previously convicted criminals, correct?"

"Yea, they said they'd have something in a few hours. In the meantime I wanna tackle the problems we are encountering. Why was the victim killed? Who could have had the spiritual power to kill another shinigami?"

"Another shinigami?" L asked. Toshiro stopped, and questioned.

"No, no other shinigami is on record to have been in that area of Rukongai at that time aside from him." Toshiro assured L.

"Was anyone near him?" Toshiro picked up a clipboard of shinigami who were patrolling the nearby area at the time of the crime.

"Two people. Squad 11 Reiru Kisagi and Squad 7 Oharu Mikami." Toshiro looked at L.

"Lets go question them. Where are they now?" L asked.

"As of now, they're both off duty. They are in Seireitei now, in their barracks."

"Let's go now, see if they saw anything." L suggested. Toshiro nodded.

"We'll have to split up. I'll question Oharu, you take Matsumoto and talk to Reiru." Toshiro got up and walked to the couch. "Get up Rangiku! Time to go." She groaned.

"Eh? Go where?" Matsumoto said, still half asleep. Toshiro walked out the door without the slightest hint that he heard what she had said. L got up, and walked to the door.

"Well?" He asked. She got up, still confused, and followed him out of the door. "Oh, yea, I'm gonna need your help. I don't know where the 11th Squad barracks are..."

…...

L and Matsumoto came close to the 11th Squad barracks. If Matsumoto wasn't there, L might not have made it. He knew this, not because he didn't know where he was going, but because L knew he wouldn't have stood a chance against any of the members of Squad 11. Or any Squad, for that matter. They came close to the barracks themselves before the duo was greeted by a deep voice, and a heavy spiritual pressure that could have only come from one Kempachi Zaraki.

"Hey, what are you two doing here?" The overly large captain said impatiently. Matsumoto turned to him.

"We're here on orders of the Squad 10 captain."

"Eh? Captain Hitsugaya? What's he want with us?" He continued.

"Squad 10 is currently investigating the murder of a shinigami by the name of Akane Hotaka. We have reason to believe a witness to the murder is here." L replied.

"Who is this?" Kempachi said, irritated.

"I apologize. My name is L, I am an advisor to the 10th Squad captain."

"Alright, fine. Who is it your looking for?" Kempachi asked.

"Do you know a Reiru Kisagi?" Matsumoto asked.

"Yea, Reiru is right inside. Although to ease your minds I don't think he had anything to do with your murder. He doesn't seem entirely 11th Squad material."

"What do you mean?" L asked.

"I mean he's too much of a pussy." Kempachi replied bluntly. "He's too much of a snob. Belongs in Squad 6 in my opinion." He said as he looked away. L thought for a second before responding.

"Well, just for follow up purposes, would you mind if we questioned him anyway?"

"Sure, go ahead, I don't care. So long as your not wasting our time."

"Of course not." L said.

"Alright then, later." Kempachi said as he walked away. L turned to the large doors of the Squad 11 barracks, and stopped before proceeding in, thinking of a way to question Kisagi without him suspecting that he was under investigation. He looked up, then entered the barracks as the doors opened. Matsumoto entered first, to aquire the location of Kisagi from the bunk masters. After a few words, the two followed a shinigami until they came to a man they presumed to be Kisagi. At first sight, L and Matsumoto could tell why Kempachi said what he did about Kisagi. Kisagi appeared to be a middle aged man, with square rimmed glasses, and well trimmed hair. He looked almost like Ayasegawa in terms of facial features. Clear complexion, and a nice smile, as could be seen when the two greeted him.

"Hello" L started.

"Hi, how can I help you Mr..."

"L. This is Rangiku Matsumoto, we are here on behalf of the Squad 10 captain to ask you whether you saw anything suspicious while on your post 3 nights ago."

"Hmm... I don't remember seeing anything out of the ordinary. I did hear someone in the forest about 150 or so meters west of my location." Kisagi thought.

"Did you investigate the cause of the sound?" L asked.

"Yes, I didn't find anyone there. I figured it was an animal. Why? Did something happen that I should know about?" Kisagi asked.

"Well, the shinigami patrolling directly west of you was killed that night. We were wondering if there were any potential witnesses. You were the first on our list, since you were nearest." L said as he inspected Kisagi's facial expressions. Kisagi's eyes widened as his calm expression turned to fear.

"Oh... Wow... I can't believe that happened so close to me... Honestly I didn't see anything. If I did, of course, I would tell you. I just... I can't believe this happened..." Kisagi put his hand over his mouth and stared at the floor, still wide eyed.

"Don't worry about it. You said you didn't see anything, that's all we needed to know. Thank you for your time." L said. He turned around and started to walk away. Matsumoto looked back at L, relatively surprised, then turned back to Kisagi. He smiled, then bowed to her, she bowed back, then returned to L's side quickly.

"Umm, sir, why did you..."

"We'll talk about it later Rangiku." L said with his thumb nail in his mouth.

…...

Toshiro walked around Seireitei for a good half an hour while L questioned Kisagi. The Squad 7 barracks were pretty far away from the Squad 10 captain's room.

"I wonder if L's done by now..." Toshiro thought out loud. He saw the enlarged insignia of Squad 7, indicating he was near the barracks. "Finally..." he thought. He continued walking until he was in front of the large doors. Seeing as how they were already open, he continued inside. He took out a sheet of paper with Mikami's picture on it and looked around. He eyed someone that looked relatively similar to the shinigami on the page, so he walked over to him.

"Oharu Mikami?" He asked. Mikami turned to face the boy.

"Oh! Captain Hitsugaya! Sir! H-h-how can I help you?" He said with tension in his voice.

"Calm down, your not in any trouble. I'm here to ask you about your shift 3 nights ago. Did you see anything unusual while you were there?" Toshiro asked.

"No sir, nothing comes to mind... Well, there was that kid."

"What kid?" Toshiro asked.

"A local. He looked to be about 19 or so. Brown hair, 5'5", maybe... 130 pounds?" Toshiro's eyes widened.

"You'll have to come with me to the squad room for us to get a sketch of that kid." Toshiro said.

"Of course. My shift doesn't start for another 3 hours."

…...

When Toshiro entered the room, Matsumoto was asleep, and L was at the table looking at more files.

"Shinsuhei Ayonama." Toshiro said with a smirk. L looked to him.

"Who?"

"Oharu Mikami said he saw a teenager running around near the crime scene on the night of his shift. He provided us with a sketch, the guy matches our description. His name is Shinsuhei Ayonama, he lives in District 2 of the West Rukongai." Toshiro continued. L got up and walked over to Toshiro. Toshiro handed L the file of Ayonama, and after inspecting it for a little while, looked back at Toshiro.

"Lets get him." L said.

A/N: Next chapter, interrogation of Ayonama. No, I did not realize it was the last name of Motoko from Love Hina when I was thinking of ideas, I just realized it when I was looking over my notes last night. Review if you liked, constructive criticism appreciated if you didn't. I have a lot of time on my hands so I should be able to write a new chapter soon, I already know what I'm going to write about so it shouldn't be too long from now. Hope you guys had a good school year, and happy summer!