I was starting to wonder if this entire mission was just one long prank by the Soul Reapers to relieve their frustrations of how badly we showed them up trying to get at Rukia.

It started off simple enough. Oh, you don’t have the personnel to investigate this issue? Sure I can help. Of course they don’t mention the place they need help in is a medieval town in the middle of nowhere.

Oh, I need to blend in despite being several inches taller than most people in Soul Society? I guess I can wear something else. I chose a slightly modified student uniform? Well you can just be an assistant and handle going through the paperwork first! Not that I minded that much. For all my complaining, I was used to the role from dealing with Urahara.

Oh, we need you to investigate a forest where people mysteriously vanish. Cool, done. But you have to do it with someone even more direct and perverted than Kon. And considering the first thing the mod-soul did with practically every female he met was throw himself at their chest, I was reluctantly impressed Kimura never made a move physically and still annoyed me as much as he did.

And then finally, just when I think I’m done with being harassed after more than a week with a stuck up Soul Reaper who thinks almost exclusively with his small head… Natsumi tells me we are heading into the red light district to get a closer look at something she found.

It's just...it's just not fair.

“So let me get this straight. You managed to investigate your lead, create a complete picture of the area’s criminal landscape, get blackmail material on all the local leaders, and then find another lead in the time it took me to find a Hollow nest and clear it out?!”

“No of course not. The data analysts back in the Seireitei handled the local politics, I simply sent them the files I found.”

Files that you managed to steal from safehouses and government buildings completely undetected. Safehouses that you also managed to find in under a week. Freaking stupidly talented samurai-ghost-ninja.

“Of course, silly me.” I dragged a hand down my face in frustration before shifting it to knead at my temple. The beginnings of a headache were starting to get to me.

“And you want me traipsing around the red light district, why?”

Natsumi pulled out several pages of paper and handed them over. Looking through I started seeing references to case numbers, locations, dates, and witnesses statements. It was a lot.

“Okay, so what's different about these than the other files we looked through?” I asked. If these were just the summaries then Natsumi had clearly found a pattern somewhere for there to be so many different cases called out.

“After my initial lead proved unhelpful, I took the time to map out where missing persons reports were laid out in the area. I discovered that most of these incidents revolved around the pleasure district.” Not terribly surprising, those kinds of areas usually had ties with the criminal element at some level.

“The issue was that the amount of incidents was an order of magnitude more than the rest of the town, and many of the missing persons matched the names of people who had submitted their own reports earlier on.” Natsumi continued.

“Wait, so people were disappearing and when even more people reported it they disappeared too? How did no one notice this before now?”

Natsumi looked grim, “It was waived off by the local Shinigami as unimportant. What's worse is that this has been going on for years now. And that not only are the people reporting these disappearances missing, many of the people that might report the issue elsewhere seem to be vanishing as well.”

I was starting to get a bad feeling.

“So how many?”

Natsumi stared directly at me. “Twelve thousand a year. Probably more since we don’t have a way to track the ones no one reported. And the trend became noticeable as far back as fifty years ago.”

I did some mental math and froze.

“Over half a million souls?!” I breathed.

That was insane. Even if people were going missing after reporting things, that many people vanishing should have been noticed by someone! There should have been rumors, theories where people went, something!

So why was this considered such a small thing that the number two of the local Soul Reaper garrison looked at the situation and basically shrugged and said it wasn’t a big deal.

“How could this never come up? No one else passed this along?”

There was a dark look in Natsumi’s eyes. “I believe the severity of the situation is being suppressed by someone. Missing cases are common but not enough that this many can be hidden like this. The incident maps supplied by the second-in-charge Yuuto Kiba proves that they have the numbers, but no one is tasked to look into anything. And because no one is looking, then there is no reason for a report to be sent to the Seireitei.”

Unbelievable.

“Okay, so what do you need me to do.” Personal feelings could take a backseat for now. With how big an issue this became, getting to the bottom of where these people are being taken is the most important thing.

“From the few people I managed to get to talk, there is a certain building that people have a tendency to enter and then they never leave. We are going to inspect as best we can to discover the cause. I will be giving instructions back to Squad Two for support, but this is what you need to know...”

For the next few hours the two of us discussed exactly how we would investigate the issue.

-o-

Contrary to my expectations, the red light district was not some den of debauchery where prost- *ahem* escorts tried their best to entice people off the streets.

There certainly were a few trying such a thing, but for the most part the shops and buildings actually seemed better constructed than the rest of the town. Several tasteful wooden buildings lined the streets with signs promoting the shows within or services offered.

I would be more comfortable if every other male escort didn’t keep promoting their services to me, but it wasn’t like I could tell them to not do their job.

“I don’t know why I couldn’t wear a disguise also.” I hissed to Natsumi.

The Soul Reaper had removed her easily recognizable uniform and through a mix of new clothes and makeup, had transformed herself into someone completely different. I, on the other hand, had been made to stay in the same uniform for some reason.

Natsumi rolled her eyes. “The same reasons you left to investigate the forest while I remained here. You stand out too much, and I can play the role of a guide far easier than trying to find a way to pass you off as someone else.”

“And why would I need a guide?” I huffed, “You could have just come with me normally.”

“How would you explain going directly to the building we are interested in?” she questioned. “I doubt you spend much time in such places but someone so obviously uncomfortable with her surroundings going further into the district will only attract more attention. But with myself serving as a guide it will simply be reasoned off that I have an agreement with the facility in question to bring potential customers to them.”

“You just didn’t want the attention from walking through here.” I accused.

She shrugged. “Believe that if you wish.”

I could feel my eye twitch at the negligent answer. She wasn’t the one being eyed like a piece of meat by a dozen starving wolves. At least this was the worst it would get.

“Well look who it is! Sweetheart if you wanted some action in town you just had to ask!”

By everything holy, please no.

A hand landed on my shoulder and I turned to face the source of my headaches for days, Aoyama Kimura.

The black haired pretty boy of a Soul Reaper was standing there with the biggest grin on his face and it immediately gave me urges to punch him in the face, but being mindful of my surroundings I pushed it aside.

“Kimura.” I acknowledged him with a nod before stepping out of his reach. “Not exactly looking for the type of action you could provide.”

He looked lost for a bit before looking at Natsumi. I had no idea what was going through his mind but I’m sure it was only vaguely attached to reality.

“Oh I see! A ladies girl then? No wonder you kept turning me down. Not sure where she’s taking you, but if you tell me I can let you know if it’s worth your time. I’ve been all over this part of town and know all the best places around. Or if you want to try the other team again I’m sure I can change your mind.”

Natsumi was giggling off to the side while I just blankly stared at the idiot in front of me. Why did I agree to help the Soul Reapers again? Ever since I got here my dignity has been taking a beating.

So you know what? Screw it.

I threw an arm around Natsumi and pulled her into a tight hug with her head pressed into my chest. Ignoring the startled squeak, I looked back at Kimura.

“Well, not exactly the reason I turned you down. But this cutie here offered to show me a good place to relax. I heard that some of these shops have shows that you absolutely need to see if you are in the area.”

“So where you headed?”

“A place called the Moonlit Garden, apparently it comes recommended to people from out of the area.”

Natsumi covertly jabbed me with an elbow, her eyes screaming ‘what are you doing?’

Mine, sparkling with sadistic enjoyment at her predicament, simply responded with ‘revenge!’

“Ah, I know the place!” Kimura said excitedly, evidently not noticing the looks we were giving each other. “Not a bad place to unwind, but not really much for the ‘personal touch’ if you catch my meaning.” He gave me a lecherous wink. “Not much more I can say about it though. I tend to hang out where the girls are a little friendlier. But hey, I’ll tag along! I figure you deserve a drink on me for taking out a real Hollow nest. Not even out of the Academy and racking up a score!”

He gave both Natsumi and me a very… thorough… look over. I was suddenly very aware of how her head pressed against my shirt, making my assets more noticable.

“Plus if the two of you put on a show I’m sure I can grease some wheels when you get into the actual squads. Heck, if it’s good enough I might give you a better deal than if you got with me!”

“Not on your life.” I wasted no time refusing him.

He shrugged, more than used to my rejections. “And what about you ‘cutie’? I’m sure I can help such a lovely girl like you with something in town?”

Natsumi tensed up and for a second looked like she was going to be ill, before she put on a pleasant mask and replied, “I’m sure that we will be able to find something to satisfy your desires, sir.” She wiggled out of my grip and took my hand, and began walking down the street. “If you would follow me? We are almost there.”

She gave me a look that promised pain, but I took the whole thing as a minor win. If I was going to be saddled with the asshole again, Natsumi was going to deal with him too.

-o-

Annoyingly enough Kimura was much better behaved with other people around.

Make no mistake, he still tried to convince both Natsumi and me to sleep with him, or together, or have a threesome. Basically just trying any combination he could think of to get us out of our clothes. But he was much less blunt about it than when I was alone with him.

Still watching Natsumi twitch every now and then from all the comments was enough to make up for that.

Too bad that once we actually arrived at the place Natsumi had a pretty easy time ditching the both of us. With her role as a guide complete, she would change her disguise and poke around for a bit before meeting up with me when she found something. Until then I had planned to just keep a low profile and wait, but Kimura decided to make good on his offer for a drink so I was once again left in his company.

Fortunately, there were several girls here that were paid to deal with people like him so besides answering the odd question I had no reason to interact with him.

So I was enjoying the short ravenette lounging in my arms as she occasionally topped off my drink (I was making sure to inspect that nothing fishy was going into it with a handy Analysis spell since I wasn’t going to risk anything being slipped in) and just waiting for Natsumi. I’d never been to a place like this before, but I could see the appeal of finding someone soft to cuddle with like this.

It was nice.

“Another bottle miss?”

A waitress stood nearby with a tray holding several bottles of alcohol. I was about to refuse when Kimura spoke up from the other side of the room.

“Leave three of them on me. Newblood there helped take out a Hollow nest before she even graduated! She’ll go far if she ever takes the stick out her ass, but whatever. You girls know a way to get her to unwind?”

Jackass, I was plenty relaxed. Just because I didn’t have three girls crawling over me didn’t mean I needed help.

“Uhm, we have an incense service that some customers use to help relax but it can be a bit debilitating. It tends to numb some of the senses if you breathe too much of it.”

“That sounds perfect! Might actually convince her to stop just petting the girl she has there and get to business! What do you say ladies, want to get a little loose with me?” he said looking at the girls beside him.

“Ah, if you are looking to get more intimate with our staff you will need to go to a different room. This one is not equipped for that kind of service.” the waitress said.

“It’s alright. I’m not planning going any further than this. You don’t need to do anything for me.” I interjected trying to stop her before I ended up somewhere else in the building. Last thing I wanted was to miss a signal because I wasn’t where Natsumi thought I was.

Kimura scoffed and waved at me. “See what I mean? Stick up her ass.” He got up and started walking towards the door with a girl in each arm. “Well I’m gonna get to know these lovely ladies a little better. Feel free to enjoy the cuddle session and the incense, it's on me.” He stopped right at the door frame, “Oh and if you want to replace the stick with something a little more fun, you just have to ask. I’d be happy to help.” He said with a wink before disappearing down the hall.

The waitress gave me an awkward smile before removing a panel on the wall revealing an incense container hidden within. I did manage to convince her to change to just a nice smelling one rather than whatever drug laced thing Kimura requested, but I still wasn’t convinced nothing was up. So using more wind spells I created an air channel between my face and the window, making sure I was getting the freshest air I could and trying my best not to breathe in the scent filling the room.

The next half hour was spent drinking and listening to a story narrated by the girl I was holding. Even with the precautions I had taken with the dinking and incense, I was beginning to get drowsy. The warm room and soothing conversation was starting to break down my guard and I needed to do something about that.

Gently pushing the girl away I made the excuse I needed to visit the restroom, only to be startled when the warm smile on her face morphed into an emotionless mask.

“Method one: unsuccessful. Activate method two.” She droned tonelessly.

Before I could even attempt to decipher that, the lounge chair exploded into needles that struck the both of us.

I ripped them out as quickly as possible, but I could feel the drugs start taking effect already. My thoughts slowed down, my eyesight became blurry, and moving felt like I had weights strapped to my body.

Some kind of sedative, at least.

Fighting the effects as best I could, I lurched to the door. If I made it to the open Natsumi might spot me.

“Well you are a tough one.” A voice said somewhere behind me.

I turned to face it, but all I could see was a blurry form of a person dressed in black.

“Let’s not make a scene.” the figure said before something hit me in the stomach and I knew no more.