[A⁄N: Huzzah for another Tuesday update! For those curious about when this takes place in contrast to what's happening in Bleach, don't hemorrhage you brain trying to figure it out. The Bleach story line is going to be completely AU and pretty much won't cross with any of their story arcs at all.]

After school, Ichigo and began our long walk to Yusuke's house, at first in silence. I found it unbearable.

"So your dad runs a clinic?" I asked him.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "My sisters and I help out there from time to time."

"That's cool," I said. "What about your mom?"

"She, uh, died when I was a kid," he said.

"Oh. . . I'm sorry," I said.

"It was a hollow called Grand Fisher that killed her," Ichigo said. "I fought him one unsuccessfully, right after Rukia gave me her powers, but I know he's still out there."

"Well, I'm sure he'll get what's coming to him one way or another," I said.

"What about your parents?" he asked.

"My parents don't do much of anything. My mom is rich and basically is content to be a housewife and mother for the rest of eternity," I said. "My dad is a martial artist who also accumulated a fair bit of wealth in his youth from winning competitions."

"Wait. . . You said you were named after your dad, right? Goku? You don't mean the guy who defeated Piccolo do you?" Ichigo asked.

I laughed. "The same."

"He's in our history book," Ichigo said.

"Don't remind me. That's why I don't tell people my name. It's so weird," I said. "I mean, it's awesome too, but also weird."

"Just a little bit," he said. "Gee, your dad was World Champion in the World Martial Arts Competition right up until the Cell Games wasn't he?"

"Yeah. He had pressing matters to deal with instead of that competition," I chuckled.

"Like what? Was he busy saving the world like you do?" Ichigo asked.

"You say that as a joke, but you don't know how right you are," I laughed.

So, I told Ichigo everything about my dad, just as I had my friends in Maze Castle—from being born on Planet Vegeta all the way up through his death in the Cell Games.

"So your whole family is trouble?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes," I said.

"So your dad wanted to stay dead after the Cell Games? Why did he get brought back?" he asked.

"Well, the short version is that Earth was in danger again and no one else was going to be capable of saving us except him so he had to come back. I was eight. It was the first time I met him," I said.

"What's the long version?" Ichigo asked.

"I don't tell the long version," I said. "It was traumatic. I'm still not over it, although it did land me my gig as Spirit Detective. But maybe one day if I decide I like you enough I'll tell you. I haven't even told Yusuke about it yet."

"Well whatever happened, it must've worked out all right in the end," Ichigo said.

"Barely," I said. "Up until now, pretty much everything else that's come my way has been a cake walk. I mean, Toguro was tough, but nothing like this."

"Toguro was the guy you fought in the tournament right?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes. I had to temporarily fake my own death to beat him, but I was successful, and I wouldn't have been able to do it without Yusuke," I said.

"Good ol' teamwork," Ichigo said.

"And a little bit of emotional scarring," I said.

"A little bit of childhood trauma builds character," Ichigo said.

"That's what I always say," I said. "Although I only say it to justify how weird I am."

"I don't think you're weird," he said. "I just think you have character, given all of the childhood trauma obviously."

I laughed. "You know, I was in a pretty rotten mood considering the world is supposed to be ending in a week, but you are just not letting me be down."

Ichigo shrugged. "I don't like seeing people upset. . . So I just don't let them be."

"Well, thanks," I said.

888

By nightfall, Yusuke was practically weeping into his couch cushions when Kurama and Kuwabara hadn't turned back up.

"Do you need a hug?" Goten offered.

"No! I need the rest of my team!" Yusuke said sitting up. "It's not that I don't like you, Goten, and I know that you are more than perfectly suited to assisting us should anything decide to come through this tunnel, but you know what—you are not Kurama! Where is Kurama?"

Yusuke fell face first back into the couch.

I looked over to Genkai.

"Dimwit," she scoffed.

"And Kuwabara, that flake!" Yusuke said, sitting up once again. "Wants to go to a stupid pop concert instead of helping us."

"Hey, we were gonna go see Megallica too. They were just sold out by the time we went to buy tickets," Trunks said. "They're pretty awesome."

"Yeah, well I don't like you, so shut up," Yusuke said.

"All right. So when Yusuke was gone, Hiei turned into a moron. Now that Hiei is gone, Yusuke has tuned into the unnecessarily hostile one," I said. "I wonder who on Team Spirit Detective turns into the good looking one with inappropriate timing when I'm gone."

"No, Kurama's the good looking one who's also got brains. You're the one who makes vague references and has inappropriate timing," Keiko said.

I thought for a moment. "Yeah, I can see that. In which case to replace me you'd need both Hiei and Kuwabara."

"Hiei for the vague references and Kuwabara for the inappropriate timing," Goten said.

"Yes," I said.

"Hiei. . . At least we can always count on Hiei to reappear when he's needed," Yusuke said suddenly falling back into his temper tantrum. "All we have to do is push Kairi in front of a bus or something and he'll magically appear."

"Yusuke! What a terrible thing to say," Botan scolded him.

"Yeah, especially since all the bus have probably stopped running by now," Yusuke said. "I'm not good with ideas. Kurama is our idea guy."

"Perhaps you should contact Koenma. Maybe he's seen him," Kaito said.

"Shut up. I don't need advice from you," Yusuke said getting to his feet. "Stupid freckles."

"Maybe you should calm down," Keiko suggested.

"Yeah, I don't need this," Yusuke said. He walked over to the door.

"And where the hell do you think you're going?" Genkai asked.

"To the arcade," Yusuke grumbled before walking out the door.

". . . Should someone go after him?" Goten asked.

"If Yusuke has any sense he's gone to bring back Kuwabara," Genkai said.

"Yeah, he's about as useless as I am right now, except more so because he can't sense anything," I said.

"So you think he's bringing back Kuwabara?" Keiko asked.

"If he's got any kind of common sense he is," Genkai said.

"Because that's what Yusuke Urameshi is known for—his surplus of common sense," Trunks said.

I chuckled as I walked into Yusuke's kitchen. I opened his refrigerator and pulled out a jug of juice. I opened the lid and sniffed it.

"Worried about it being expired?" he asked.

"No. Once I came over to Yusuke's house and accidentally chugged a glass of what I came to learn was a screwdriver," I said. "I don't remember what happened, but Yusuke used to have pictures of me wearing clown make up and a feather boa dancing around his living room, so now I always check."

Trunks chuckled. "Don't blame you."

"I'm surprised you're even over here after last night. I thought for sure your parents would've murdered you," I said as I poured a glass of what I was 90 percent sure was apple juice. I sniffed it once more, sipped it for good measure, and then, finding it safe to drink, downed it in a few gulps.

"Oh, you should've been at my house after school. I don't think I've ever seen my mom that angry before," Trunks said. "And then she gave me the talk so that was fun. How'd things go with you?"

"My mom hasn't called me and I haven't seen my dad yet, but I know he'll pop up eventually," I said. "I think the waiting is worse."

"So, I wanted to ask you something," Trunks said.

"Ask away," I said.

"What do you want from us?" he asked. "Seriously this time. Because I like you, but honestly, I'm really fed up with your games."

I was caught off guard by this line of questioning.

"Is now really the time for this?" I asked.

"Do you have something better to do?" he asked.

That was an undeniable no. I was useless at the moment and even if I weren't it's wasn't as if I had any leads to pursue.

"You tell me you're not sure one day, and then the next day we're making out in your room and truthfully, I'm really over the mixed signals," he said.

"Is it so wrong that I just like things the way they are now?" I asked. "I mean, I make time to spend with you and I like spending time with you and I don't like the idea of you spending time with anyone else-."

"And what about me?" he asked. "If you can have the expectation of me not being with anyone else, can't I expect that from you too?"

"What are you even talking about?" I asked.

"You know what I'm talking about. Who I'm talking about," Trunks said.

I sighed as Hiei made his way back into the conversation. This was going to be fun.

"You don't find it weird that on the very same day that you decide to ignore everyone and run off on your own and get into trouble, Hiei happens to pop up and save the day?" Trunks asked.

"Look, we've already determined that Hiei was following me," I said.

"Why?" Trunks asked.

"It looks like you've already deduced an answer for yourself," I said.

"And what if I said that I didn't like you hanging around with him?" Trunks asked.

"I'd ask you where you see Hiei right now," I said. "He's not here. He left because that's what he does. He leaves."

Trunks nodded. "But at the first sign of you getting into trouble he'll come back, won't he? Like Yusuke said, if we push you in front of a bus he's going to be right there to save you isn't he."

"I don't know," I said.

"No, Kairi. You do know. In fact you're all counting on it," he said. "So what happens when he comes back?"

I rolled my eyes. "What are you expecting me to say? Nothing?"

"I just want you to tell me the truth," he said.

"Fine. The truth is that I'm not going to say that him coming back doesn't matter to me, because it does," I admitted.

I could see the anger boiling up inside of him.

". . . So this whole time," he started, "you've liked-."

"Hiei? Yeah, but you knew that already. You knew that before I did," I said. "But I like you Trunks, I always have."

"That's bullshit and you know it," he said. "If you had no intention of making this work you should've just said so."

"How many times did I tell you that I didn't want this because of exactly what's happening right here?" I asked him. "I said from the get go that things were just going to get screwed up. And now they are."

"So maybe you're right, but after the fact, if you knew you liked Hiei and you knew that was the reason you didn't want to be with me why didn't you just say so?" he asked.

Because I am an emotional terrorist.

". . . I don't know. Maybe I kept stringing you along because I know Hiei's a piece of shit and you're a better person," I said.

"And that makes it okay? Your logic is infallible," he said.

"Look, I told you from the start how things were. If you didn't want to listen then it's your own fault," I said. "You asked for the truth didn't you? So there it is."

"That's the truth?" he asked. I nodded. ". . . You really are just. . . You're just."

"Go on, say it," I said.

"You're a bitch," he said.

"Okay. . . Ouch," I said.

"No, but you are. You are a bitch. And you and Hiei deserve each other," Trunks said. "You know, if he can ever pull his head out of his ass long enough to actually man up and say that he likes you, which he probably won't, in which case, welcome to my life, Kairi Son."

I knew I wasn't in an actual official relationship with Trunks, but I knew what had just happened. I'd just been dumped in cold blood and I completely deserved it. I was an emotional terrorist and a horrible human being who had just blamed him for our relationship going to shit when all I'd had to do was tell him the truth about Hiei months ago before things got this far, before I'd ever let him get his hopes up. I was in denial and he'd gotten hurt for it. And now the friendship we'd been building up our whole lives was shattered into a million pieces and I wasn't sure we'd ever be able to fix it.

And what really sucked about all this was that I actually did like Trunks and in a universe where Hiei didn't exist I'd have been making out with him in Yusuke's kitchen while we waited for Armageddon instead of fighting like we were. And that thought absolutely broke my heart.

"I'm sorry, Trunks," I said quietly, ignoring the knot of guilt that was forming in my chest.

He shook his head. "Whatever, Kairi."

I instantly felt all of the room in the air become hostile and uncomfortable. I did the only thing I could think to do, and that was remove myself from the situation.

I walked into the living room and to the front door.

"And where the hell are you going?" Genkai asked.

"For a walk," I said.

"But, Kairi, it's not safe," Botan protested.

"I won't leave the block," I said. "I just need some air."

I walked out of the room and headed immediately toward the stairs. I ran down them to the street and let out a deep breath.

"Yo!"

I looked back to see that my little brother had joined me.

"Stalker," I said.

"Hey, it was either me or Genkai," Goten said. "I think I'm the lesser of two evils. She would probably hit you for running off like that. This is just a bad day for Team Spirit Detective. It's like you guys don't want to be around each other."

"It's whatever," I said. "I'm guessing everyone-."

"Heard your whole argument? Yeah," Goten said.

"Excellent," I said.

"You know I love you, but you're kind of a terrible person," he said.

"Gee, thanks, Goten," I said, rolling my eyes.

"I mean, understand what you're feeling and not wanting to be with him and that's cool. You shouldn't be with him if you don't want to be with him, even if it means that all hopes of him ever being my brother have been dashed," Goten said.

"You could always marry Bulla," I said.

"You're gross," Goten said. "But seriously, stringing him around like that. . . Then blaming him. . . That makes you a terrible person."

I nodded. "I know. I'm sorry I'm not a better role model."

Goten shrugged. "You're a good sister. You're a good Spirit Detective and friend. I just won't look to you for relationship advice anytime soon."

I chuckled. "Do you think Trunks is going to hate me now?"

"I think he'll probably hate that he still likes you even though you were a complete bitch to him," Goten said. "But I think he'll get over you and eventually you'll be able to be friends again. You started off hating each other after all. It wasn't until Majin Buu came around that you got close."

I nodded. "Maybe it'll just take another Armageddon scenario for us to patch things up."

"Well, I really hope it doesn't come down to that, but I see your line of reasoning," Goten said.

I turned and rested my head against the cement wall of the apartment building.

"What is wrong with me? I haven't always been a terrible person have I?" I asked.

"I don't think so. I mean, you aren't exactly nice to everyone all of the time, you've got these crazy anger issues you need to work out, and you find beating people up to be therapeutic," Goten said. "Maybe you've got issues, but you're not bad."

I sighed. "Thanks for the reassurance."

"Now, I get that you probably want to be alone so can I trust you not to wander off anywhere?" Goten said.

"You have my word," I said.

Goten patted me on the head and walked up stairs.

I stood, leaning against the side of the building taking in the night and considering the events of the past 24 hours. Getting caught with Trunks in my room, the tunnel's actually size, Demon's Door Cave, the possibility that the digger of the tunnel was a demon, and now destroying my friendship with Trunks in what appeared to an irreparable manner.

At that moment it started to rain. Things were shaping up to be pretty awesome.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and grimaced when I saw that it was Uryu.

"Hello, Uryu," I answered.

"Sorry to disturb your evening, but you wanted me to let you know if I sensed anything out of the ordinary," he said.

"So you have?" I asked.

"Yes. In West City as a matter of fact," he said.

"Where?" I asked.

"Near the stadium where's there's some rock concert going on," Uryu said. "I didn't manage to sort out who it was, but I know for a fact that one of your psychics is there."

My heart seized up in my chest. If this psychic was at the arena where Kuwbara probably was at this very moment an if he was one of the crazies that was trying to destroy the world they probably knew Kuwabara and that meant he could be in danger.

"Thanks, Uryu. I've gotta go," I said. I hung up the phone and started running. I had to find Kuwabara.

I managed to get to the stadium which was practically empty by now, but I still searched around for him. He and his posse were nowhere to be found. I couldn't sense any unusual energy there and I hadn't expected to. The psychic wasn't going to be using his territory freely like this and if they were hunting Kuwabara then that meant that he wasn't going to be here anymore.

My phone buzzed in my pocket as I started off towards Kuwabara's house, hoping that maybe he'd headed there.

I answered it quickly.

"Yusuke! Please tell me Kuwabara is with you," I said.

"No. Dammit. I was hoping he was with you," Yusuke said.

"No. Uryu called me and said that he sensed a psychic around the stadium somewhere," I said. "I'm here but Kuwabara's not and neither is the psychic that I can tell."

"Dammit, dammit, dammit. I told him not to go to that stupid concert," Yusuke said. "Botan and I are-."

But the conversation stopped right there because we both knew where Kuwabara was at that very moment. A powerful burst of energy erupted from a few blocks away. It was incredibly and unlike anything I had ever felt in my life before. . .

And it was unmistakably Kuwabara's.