Soul Society

"Shinichi, you can't turn back to Conan." Rukia whispered hoarsely. "No one will believe a small kid point out the real murderer."

"Shinichi, if you turn back now, the attacker will be able to defend himself." Ichigo added. "You better…"

"Don't worry. I'll give you name of the person I suspect." Shinichi coughed hard. "He's…"

Somewhere in Soul Society

"He's on to me."

"It's because of your stupidity." The second man said coldly. "Sadly, I don't have much need for someone who's already found out."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm getting rid of the excess baggage. Namely, you."

"After all I did for you, you're just throwing me out like a bag of rubbish?"

"You're brilliant. You're smart. But you're also the one who killed. The murder weapon is still on you. You can't run."

"You…you beware. One day, you're secret will be out."

"My plan for total domination of Soul Society is almost complete. Soon, I'll be able to summon the sōkyoku and rule Soul Society."

"You told me I'd have a part in it."

"Silence, Mayuri. I promised you nothing." The second man stroked his chin. "But I know that your excecution will successfully bring forth the sōkyoku. I'm sorry, Mayuri."

"You traitor." Mayuri drew his zanpakutō and lounged at thesecond man.

"Mayuri, Mayuri." The man sighed and raised his hand. Mayuri stopped in his tracks, frozen in place. "When will you ever learn? You'll never defeat me."

Mayuri stood frozen in place, bound by a kido spell.

"And the next time I see you, my plans will be complete. Soul Society will be mine." The man laughed loudly. "All mine."

Uruhara's shop

"Welcome to Uruhara's Shop!" Uruhara exclaimed delightedly. "I know you're so glad to be…" A wooden clog was thrown at his direction and it hit him straight on the head.

"Shut up, Uruhara." Yoruichi said. "We don't have time for you to introduce your shop."

"Very well then. Let's get straight to the point." Uruhara winced as he felt the bruise forming on his head. "Conan is no longer here in the human realm."

Ran's hand flew to her mouth. Heiji and the rest of the Detective Boys stared at him.

"What do you mean no longer in the human realm?!"

"Well, y'see. Conan was brought to Soul Society, which roughly is something like a place you go after you die."

"That means Conan-kun is…dead?" Ayumi asked in a small voice.

"Not exactly." Uruhara groaned. "I don't really know how to explain it."

"Move aside greenhorn." Yoruichi said, shoving Uruhara aside. "Conan is required by the people in Soul Society to solve a case for them."

"Dead people asked Conan to solve a case?" Genta's eyes widened.

"In a way, yes." Yoruichi smiled her feline smile. "But Conan is safe. It would be too dangerous for you to go there."

"But I want to go find Conan-kun." Ran said. "I don't know what's this Soul Society and everything but I think Conan-kun will not be able to handle it by himself. He's just a kid."

"A kid you say?" Uruhara's eyes flashed. "I don't think Conan-kun is as kiddy as he looks."

"Old man, can I have a word with you?" Heiji asked quickly.

"Sure thing, young punk." Uruhara replied with a smile. They went aside and started to talk in low whispers.

"You know that Conan is not actually Conan?!" Heiji hissed.

"Whatever do you mean, young punk? Of course Conan is Conan."

"I mean, Conan is actually Shinichi Kudo. And I know it's weird but…"

"I know all about it already." Uruhara grinned. "And now, I think Soul Society is in trouble." He paused. "And so are we in a few seconds."

"What do you mean?" Heiji asked.

"In 3, 2, 1…" the door burst open, revealing 3 arrancar, hollows which wield the zanpakutō. Unlikenormal hollows, arrancar look more like normal humans than monsters.

"Tessai, bring them down to the basement." Uruhara cried, as he unsheathed his zanpakutō from his walking stick. "Yoruichi! Let's go."

The last thing Heiji saw was a huge man bundling them into his huge arms. Then he had a feeling that they were going very fast.

Soul Society

"Ichigo…Uruhara's shop is being attacked by 3 arrancar." Rukia reported.

"Does he need us to help?" Ichigo asked. As though we don't have our own problems here in Soul Society. How're you feeling Shinichi?"

"I'm feeling better now." Shinichi was lying on the bed. "The pain's gone."

"It might only be temporary, Shinichi. You have to solve the case before you turn back into a kid."

"I know I have to. So let's continue the search for the second man."

"But why don't we just report the first man? Then we have one less worry." Rukia suggested.

"And we'll give a warning shot to the second attacker." Shinichi countered. "It won't work."

"Perhaps I need to return to the human realm and help Uruhara." Ichigo decided. "He won't be able to take on 3 arrancar no matter how good he is."

"Then I'll take care of Shinichi here. I'll have Renji to help as well."

"Take care, Shinichi." Ichigo said as he leapt upwards and disappeared.

"You too, Ichigo."

"Let's try to pin point the second man." Rukia said. "I'll go call Renji."

"Okay. I'll wait here. We'll discuss it once you come back." Rukia left the room.

Shinichi lay back into his pillow and closed his eyes. He began to think more about the case on hand. It was weird that the assailant would be so dumb to leave the biggest clue right there. Criminals were not as stupid as they seemed. But here was a criminal who left clues, deliberate as they seemed, right out in the open. It was as though he wanted to be caught.

"The murder weapon in a short blade." He mused to himself. "And the assailant is that clown captain. Then who is the other captain?" He thought further. "His zanpakutō was defended by the captain's blade. That means…" A thought dawned on him. "It's really him."

The door flung open.

"Rukia, I found out who's the second captain." Shinichi cried happily. He turned.

"Shinichi Kudo. How very observant of you." A voice said menacingly. "But too bad I'm not Rukia. " Shinichi managed to steal a glance at his assailant's silver hair before his world blacked out.