Somewhere in Soul Society

'"That idiotic detective's arrival is not going to be a good thing for our plan." The first man said.

"I think we might first need to eliminate him." The second man added.

"How do we do that?" the first man began to pace around the room. "He's under the protection of the General Captain. Plus he's always follwoed by that stupid substitute shinigami, Ichigo Kurosaki. We've challenged him. We've both lost to him."

"Then we'll have to eliminate the substitute shinigami first."

"Easier said than done…" the first man muttered.

"Wait a second…" the second man smirked. I have a better idea. A much better idea."

"What is it? Are we going to eliminate someone again?"

"No. We're going to force that Kudo kid to forgo this case."

"How?"

"We'll need some of the people that are most dear to him." He smiled evilly. He waved his hand and an orb appeared. "Let's start with those people looking for him."

The first man looked into the orb and grinned.

Soul Society

"You're an idiot, Kudo." Rukia said.

"Thanks a heap. I was willing to stand up to him and you call me an idiot."

"THAT WAS THE GENERAL CAPTAIN FOR GOD'S SAKES!" Rukia burst out. You DON'T stand up to the General Captain under any circumstances!"

"I think it was high time someone stood up to him." Ichigo put in helpfully. The next minute, he was sprawled on the ground.

"You did that once and you almost got yourself killed."

"They were going to execute you, you ungrateful woman!"

"Where exactly are we going now?" Shinichi asked suddenly.

"We're going to the scene of the crime." Rukia explained. "Even the best detectives need to see the crime scene before they can make conclusions."

"Right. So has anyone been inside the crime scene?"

"No one except for our own forensics team." Rukia told him. Then seeing the look on his face, "We do have a forensics team, y'know. It's led by the 12th Division's captain, Mayuri Kurotsuchi."

"Um, which one was that?"

"Take a guess, detective." Rukia grinned.

"Hmmm…" Shinichi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Is he the one who looks a bit like a clown?"

"A clown?" Rukia asked. Ichigo burst out laughing.

"That's one of the best jokes I've heard so far. But you better not let him hear that. He'll melt you and use your leftovers for his experiments."

"Oh shut up, you two. We've reached already."

Rukia led them into one of the many back alleys of Soul Society. The whole area was cordoned off, with many black-robed shinigamis walking around. When they saw Shinichi approach, they started whispering among themselves. But they still moved aside to allow Shinichi to enter the area.

"Get to work, Great Detective." Rukia commented sarcastically.

Shinichi surveyed the area. There was blood all over the walls and on the ground as well. The faint smell of blood still lingered on the air. Shinichi was no stranger to bloody crime scenes but this one made his stomach flip.

"How can a person lose so much blood and still be alive?" he asked Rukia.

"You can ask Ichigo. He's one of the people who has lost so much blood that he can start his own blood bank." Rukia pointed at Ichigo, who frowned.

"So this person, this captain, he's still alive?"

"Yes. He's resting in the infirmary now."

"That's impossible…" Shinichi muttered to himself. "Totally impossible…"

"What's possible here in this world, may not be possible in your own world, Kudo." Ichigo said seriously.

"Wow." Rukia said sarcastically, "An actual wise saying from Ichigo. You better keep that one in your head. These wise sayings are rare enough."

"Why you…" Ichigo glared at Rukia angrily. "You're just lucky I don't hit girls."

"Do you two always do this?" Shinichi asked.

"Do what?!" Both of them turned to him and asked.

"Never mind." He turned back to the crime scene. "There's nothing much here except for…." He stopped. Taking out his handkerchief, he bent down and picked something up from the ground.

"What is that?" Ichigo asked.

"A clue." Shinichi replied simply. "It looks as though it's some kind of…leather piece. More directly, leather from the tip of a shoe."

"Leather piece?" Ichigo frowned. "Soul Society doesn't have leather shoes. We wear these straw sandals. All shinigamis wear the same thing."

"Leather shoes?" Rukia muttered to herself.

"I think we'll just keep this clue." Shinichi replied. "I think that's everything to see here. I'd like to see this captain."

Tokyo

"Where could Conan be?" Ran asked. Heiji shrugged his shoulders.

"Beats me. That kid could be anywhere."

"Don't worry Ran, I'm sure we'll find him somewhere."

'I hope Kudo is not in trouble. I just hope it's nothing to do with the Black Syndicate.' Heiji thought.

"Ran-nee-chan?" a voice cried out from behind them. All three of them turned.

"Genta-kun, Mitsuhiko-kun, Ayumi-chan, Ai-chan." Ran said, surprised. "What are you all doing here?"

"We're looking for Conan-kun too." Ayumi replied brightly.

"We can find him because we're the Detective Boys." Mitsuhiko declared.

"And we need Conan to be in our football team or else our team will lose." Genta finished.

"Woi, woi…" Heiji said. "Kids can't just be running around like that. Your own parents might be worried sick about you."

"Heiji, don't be such a spoilt sport." Kazuha scolded. "You should follow their example. They help a friend in need."

"Whatever…" Heiji replied. "I'm sure the professor has something to do with this." He looked around and saw Dr. Agasa waving at the group sheepishly.

"Thank you everyone." Ran said. "We're going to need all the help that we can get to find Conan-kun."

"Then perhaps I can help you with that." A lady stepped out from the shadows. She had dark skin and hair pulled back. Her eyes were a startling green.

"Who are you?" Heiji demanded.

"You can call me Miss Yoru." She smiled, a little bit like a cat.

Somewhere in Soul Society

"What the hell?!" the first man cursed. "Yoruichi got to them before we did."

"Then we have to get them back." The second man replied calmly "Yoruichi can't challenge us both while protecting them."

"I hope you know what you're doing." The first man said. "Kudo is pretty close on our scent."

"You idiot. He knows it's not going to be us." The second man smiled. "I have a little plan for Kudo. It'll be like a farewell gift for him."

"What is it?"

"What do you think of hollows in Soul Society?"
"It's going to be one hell of a party."