Memories of the 15th
Universe: Bleach
Rating: T
Warning/s: AU-ness, language
Summary: In the afterlife, the Gotei 13 of the Seireitei are known far, wide and beyond. But what many have forgotten is that there aren't 13 divisions; there are 15.
Disclaimer: Do not own, will never own, definably own original charries
A/N: This is Lunaflowergirl's and mine. WE came up with the concept. If there are other stories like it, then c'est la vie. Read or die.
A/N2: This is a story three years in the making, ever since we got bored in spanish class and Luna pulled out her marble notebook of doom.

The sky was still overcast, thick grey clouds hanging ominously over the playground. The swings and jungle gym were empty for fear of the rain the sky was promising, save for one; a child sitting under the colorful penguin arch between the sand box and the parking lot. The little orange-haired boy sat with his knees against his chest, baggy shorts grimy from the muddy dirt he was crouched in, face buried in his arms.

The ghosts were back again.

Ichigo hated them. They never, ever, ever left him alone, no matter where he hid or ran. Daddy couldn't see them and Yuzu-chan and Karin-chan didn't see enough of them to understand why they scared him so badly.

Maybe if Mommy was one of the ones who came to him… But she wasn't so it didn't matter.

The other kids at school already thought he was weird, and laughed at him for crying. What would they say if he tried to tell them about the bloody man with no arms, or the lady with the broken jaw? They wouldn't see anyone, and call him crazy.

And now the dumb ghost was hovering next to the basketball pole, between him and home at the Kurosaki Clinic.

Ichigo whimpered into his arms and whispered. 'Go away, go away, go away-'

"Go away!"

"Eh?" Ichigo snapped his head up and looked outside the short tunnel he was huddled in. Standing in the grubby sand was a tall lady (everyone was tall to Ichigo, but she looked like she might be taller than Teacher) in a black tube top and baggy mechanic cargos. He leaned out and looked up; she had blue hair. Who had blue hair, all cropped and spiky like that? It was even shorter than Tatsuki's!

He blinked at her as she looked down at him. "Sorry, didn't know this was a private party." She spoke weird, he just wasn't sure how.

"Who're you?"

She grinned at him, and crouched down, rocking back on her heels. "Me? Nah, I'm nobody, ya know. Question is who're you?" She winked at him and he flushed.

"None a' your business!" She was so weird. The lady laughed and chewed on her thumbnail, grinning at him like he was actually a zebra who'd decided to talk and she was the only one in on the secret. She sat like a hoodlum, knees wide apart with her arms resting on them. She probably was one too. He could see scars on her bare arms and on her calves. He frowned at her; Daddy was an idiot but he was Daddy and Daddy said not to talk to strangers.

"I'm not supposed to talk to you," he said.

"How come?"

Ichigo stuck his chin up with all the righteous indignation a grade schooler could manage. "'Cause I don't know you."

She nodded and clapped her hands together between her knees. "That is a pickle. But there's an easy way to fix that. We introduce ourselves. Then, we ain't strangers no more."

He blinked thoughtfully. That made sense. "Okay."

She stuck out her hand. "I'm Kyuusogoubyou." He started at her blankly.

"… Do you really fight like a devil?"

"Only when trapped in a corner," she answered cheerfully. Ichigo's mouth twitched at the pun. He crawled out of the tunnel enough to reach her hand, shaking it carefully. "I'm Kurosaki."

She blinked and cocked her head, thoughtful. "Ne, now there's a name I haven't heard in a while."

"What do you mean?" She waved offhandedly.

"I knew a guy named Kurosaki. Big idiot. Haven't seen him in forever."

She was weird but he liked her. She didn't act like the adults he knew and didn't treat him like a dumb kid. It was kinda nice. He liked her enough to volunteer about himself. "My dad is a moron."

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure he's a lovely guy."

"He's stupid. He rants about his lovely children and head butts the people at the clinic."

She blinked and idly traced a pattern in the sand. If he'd looked at it, he would have seen a flower inside a star. "Sounds like my guy. 'Cept he didn't have a clinic. Uno-chan would kill 'im and the Old Man would get irritated." Ichigo had absolutely no idea what she was talking about but he was willing to overlook her apparent insanity. She stood up and stretched; now that she was closer, he could see that she really was taller than Teacher. She looked down at him.

"Why 're you hiding in there, anyway?" she asked. Ichigo immediately scowled at her and huddled back into the tunnel. No way was he gonna tell some lady he just met he was hiding from a psycho ghost bent on eating his soul. She flopped backwards into the sand, legs tossed in front of her like ragdolls. She had a look on her face that said 'yes, I'm not all that bright, but I'm stubborn as hell so fest up.' Ichigo, according to various sources, was very similar in that respect. The result of this was an impromptu stare down.

Five minutes later, the kid's eyes were twitching and the lady looked for all the world like she'd fallen asleep with her eyes open. Considering the fact that she wasn't moving, that coulda been the case. 'Cept she was grinning when Ichigo finally slapped her hands over his eyes and groaned.

"I never lose," she crowed.

"You suck, lady," he retorted.

"Thank you. Now why are you under a large penguin when you could be at home with a chocolate milk and a remote control?" He sighed and dropped his face into his knees. Stupid lady with no eyelids.

"The guy with the rope around his neck freaks me out, okay." Without looking up, he pointed in the vague direction of the basketball courts.

"The dude in the pinstripes? I can see how, those suits went out last decade for a reason."

Ichigo snapped his head up. She was! She was looking right at the man! It wasn't even a joke, the ghost had on a suit and everything!

"You- you can see him? How can you see him?" Ichigo almost fell on his face scrambling out of the small space.

"A' course. Would be useless if I couldn't." The comment flew right over the little boy's head as he lunged at her.

"Do you know how to make him go away?!" If he were several years older, the fact that he was gripping a nicely endowed woman by an extremely skimpy tube top might have held his attention more than her face. Alas, puberty was a ways away. Good thing too. If he'd looked down she would have punched him very hard, adorable little redhead or not.

She patted him on the noggin, deftly removing his hands from her top. "Ne, Kuro-chan, don't be grabbin'. Ain't polite." She stood up, easily taking Ichigo with her in her arms. She shifted him onto her hip and turned them to face the ghost. The man saw them looking at him and floated forward a few feet. Ichigo squeaked in the back of throat.

"So. How come you want him to go away?"

He gapped at her before pointing at the dead man. "He's dead. They never leave me alone. One day they're gonna all jump me and eat my soul!" Ichigo did not appreciate the sudden burst of laughter that made the lady jerk forward to clutch her stomach.

"Eat you?" she repeated. "Why on earth would they wanna eat you?"

Ichigo scowled, crossing his arms petulantly. It didn't help that he was flushing again. "They're dead. Aren't they supposed to do that?"

"Of course not. They're just ghosts." She smiled at him and tapped his forehead. "Dummy, don't you think they might have a reason for buggin' you? Besides soul devouring?"

Ichigo did not dignify this with an answer, preferring to sink low in her arms instead.

"Kuro-chan, they want you to help them move on."

He blinked at her. "Move on?"

"Duh," she responded. "You can see them when no one else can. They're still here when they should be in heaven. They want help."

Ichigo looked at the dead man, this time thoughtfully instead of warily. "Oh." They wanted his help? But he didn't know how to send them to heaven, how did they expect him to do it? And who said he wanted to help them? He was in grade school, he had better stuff to do! The thought immediately made him wince. 'I take it back, I take it back.'

The lady looked at him amused. "Still scare ya?" He puffed out him cheeks, nodding.

"Well, just tell them to bug off, then." She said it so matter of fact that he stared at her.

"Bug… off?

She grinned, nodding. "Yep! Just go up the guy and say 'Dude, you're seriously cramping my style. Be gone, ye spirit 'til I figure out what the hell to do with you.' And then tell him to come back later so you can exorcise 'em."

Ichigo just stared at her, mouth open. "That's it?"

"That's it."

"…no foolin'?"

She laughed. "Nada, baby." She strolled forward the last twenty feet between them and the dead man. Leaning over, she gently placed him on the ground in front of her, lightly nudging him forward. "Go on. Get your punk on."

Ichigo gave her a long look before tentatively stepping toward the ghost. The man eagerly floated nearer, raising his arms. The boy gulped, but firmly held up a hand. The ghost stopped.

"Um. Hi. I'm Ichigo. You're dead."

'Yes, I'm aware of that.'

Ichigo paused sheepishly. "Um, yeah. Uh, listen. Go away." He glanced back at the lady, snickering behind him. "I mean, be gone ye spirit! I don't know how to help you so come back later!"

The ghost frowned and floated agitatedly. 'I want to go NOW!' Ichigo flinched. Then he got pissed. He stomped up until he was right in the ghost's face. Actually, he was three feet beneath the ghost's face but it was an impressive display of self-confidence so the distance was ignored.

"Listen, you freaky, pinstripe moron. I am sick of you, and I can't help you right now, so you wait until I am good and ready, so go BUG OFF!" Ichigo shouted, scowling fiercely. The ghost looked taken aback. He backed off and disappeared with a parting 'fine, already.'

The lady clapped wildly, hopping, and scooped the redhead up into her arms to hug him.

"Bravo, Kuro-chan! You sure told him!" Ichigo was smiling, hugging her around the neck.

"That was easy! Why did no one tell me that would be easy?" he asked cheerfully. The lady swung him in a circle, fitting him easily into her side. "Well, you never asked the wonderful me, baby-"

"Chi!" A shout from up the hill stopped the lady in her tracks. Ichigo peeked around her shoulder as she turned to looked at the owner of the voice. A tall woman (another one!) with long black hair was standing with her hands on her hips, glaring down at them. He furrowed his brow as she waltzed down the incline. She was wearing weird clothing too. A formal kimono and high-heeled sandals. As she came closer, he was startled to see a long scar slicing through her right eye. It was kinda scary; she looked really stern with her eyebrow pulled down like that.

The lady, the one holding him, waved awkwardly. "Heya," she called. "Whassup?"

The new lady stomped up to them and promptly slapped Kyuusogoubyou (really, really long name) upside the head. "What do you think you're doing?"

Kyuusogoubyou (Ichigo was having trouble remembering such a ridiculous name, it was ridiculous!) winced, hugging him closer to her side and slightly in front. Oh jeez, she was putting him between them. "Hey. That's rude. I'm just hangin' with my buddy-buddy, Kuro-chan. Say hi, baby."

He decided that if the new lady was unhappy with the first lady, he should maybe not say anything, so he waved instead. The new lady seemed unpleasantly surprised. She gave the first lady a dry look and drawled, "There is a fleshy in your arms. He's looking at us."

"Nifty, huh."

The new lady raised an eyebrow and scrutinized him. She reached over and held his chin in her fingers. Ichigo wasn't sure if he liked her touching him but at least she wasn't angry anymore. She smirked and ran her thumb over his cheek.

"Well, then," she said. "It seems we will be seeing you in a few years."

The first lady raised a brow. "You're so sure?" The new lady smiled and Ichigo flushed again. She was kinda pretty when she wasn't hitting people. "I am very sure. Now put him down and move your ass. We have a lead in-" she paused. "We have a lead. Let's go."

The first lady saluted and skipped over to the main part of the playground. She stood him on the top step of the slide, ruffling his hair. "See ya, baby." Ichigo opened his mouth to ask where she was going, but she turned around and stepped away, disappearing.

He jumped and whipped his head to the new lady; she was gone too. But, she was just there! She only took a step! He leaped off the stairs and ran around the slide, around the penguin, up the incline. They were gone.

Ichigo sat heavily in the grass and looked up at the sky; the clouds were finally opening up and the rain was starting to drizzle. He crossed his arms and legs and glared at the sandbox down the hill until Daddy was running up to him and slapped him on the head for staying out so late.

Dumb lady, he thought, leaning sleepily over Daddy's shoulder as he carried him back to the Clinic. Weird how there weren't any footprints bigger than a kid's, too.

Next chapter: Return of a Memory

Kyuusogoubyou: one who when trapped in a corner will fight like a demon