[A/N: Sorry about the random break. I'm taking Japanese in school now—getting all A's in it requires a lot of studying so I took a break to make sure I got the basics down. But I'm back! Don't forget to review!]

Chapter Fifteen: Forgetting You but Not the Times

Karakura Town was a disaster area, though it was mostly deserted now. I couldn't sense anything much in the way of Spirit Energy, but that wasn't surprising. Garlic Junior and his boys had obviously rolled back through after we'd left. There probably wasn't much of anyone left to sense.

"This place has seen better days. And that's saying something for this city," Yusuke said.

"So how are we supposed to do this?" Kuwabara asked.

"Whatever you do, be careful. I'll be back soon," Dad said.

"Yes sir," I said.

Dad teleported away and left us standing there.

"We should split up into groups and search the city," Renji said. "Any large gathering of Blanks will be a definitive sign that we're on the right track. If you see any give everyone else the heads up."

"We'll break it off into quarters. Between the rivers, south-east of the river by the train tracks, mid-town and the northern outskirts," Rukia said.

"Well I'll stick with you. I don't know squat about this city and you sound like a walking map," Yusuke said.

"Yeah me, too," Kuwabara said.

"Kairi's obviously going to want to go witch Ichigo," Trunks said.

"You should go with them, Hiei," Yusuke said.

"Why?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, why should he do that, oh, wise and knowledgeable?" I asked.

"Not to throw a wedge into your relationship or anything, but from what I have been told you two have got to be the slowest moving targets ever. If you get attacked Hiei's going to be the one you want saving your ass," Yusuke said. I frowned at him. "Remember the oil tanker, Kairi?"

Ichigo looked over at me. "Oil tanker?"

"It's not important. . . It's. . . Yusuke makes a fair point," I said with a sigh. "And I'm sure Hiei will be nice, won't you Hiei?"

"No," Hiei said

I looked over to Ichigo and smiled weakly.

"Fine," Ichigo said reluctantly. "We can look by the rivers. I live over there."

"I'll go north," Renji said. "Anyone coming with me?"

"I'm up for it," Goten said.

"I'll go with you too," Chad said.

"And that leaves you boys with me in midtown," Rangiku said, throwing a wink to Trunks and Uryu.

"We'll meet back at Kisuke's in two hours if we haven't found anything," Rukia said.

We all dispersed, Ichigo, Hiei and I heading toward the river.

"What exactly are we supposed to be looking for?" Hiei asked.

"I'm not sure. It's like I said, I don't even remember what it was before," Ichigo said.

"So we're supposed to just happen upon this and know what it is?" Hiei asked.

"Could you be any more negative?" Ichigo asked.

"Didn't your girlfriend tell you, I'm the team cynic," Hiei said.

"I figured that out on my own actually. What she did tell me was that despite being an asshole you're supposed to be helpful," Ichigo said.

"Well that's very generous of her. Usually her opinion of me isn't so high," Hiei said.

"Well she says she has a good reason for that, not that I really care what it is," Ichigo said.

"Oh, don't you?" Hiei asked.

"Whatever happened between you and Kairi is in the past, right? So why should I care?" Ichigo asked. "I trust her, even if I don't trust you."

"You don't trust me?" Hiei asked.

"Why should I? You used to make out with my girlfriend. Should I shake your hand and be your best friend?" Ichigo asked.

"Please don't," Hiei said.

"Most of the time I just want to hit you in the face," Ichigo said.

"The feeling is mutual," Hiei said.

"You know why I don't like you, but why don't you like me?" Ichigo asked.

"I don't like anyone and I don't have to have a reason, Soul Reaper," Hiei said.

Ichigo rolled his eyes, but then abruptly stopped walking.

"What is it?" I asked. He pointed across the bridge towards the horizon where the sun was setting. But it wasn't the sun that had caught his attention. There, just sitting there in the sky was a whole other world. It just stretched on like a giant mountain filled desert.

"That's the Valley of Screams," Ichigo said.

"I think it's time you guys stopped bickering and we actually started looking," I said.

"Again, this poses a problem since we don't what we're looking for," Hiei said.

"I'm sure that, just like porn, we'll know it when we see it," I said.

"What?" Ichigo asked.

"You know what they say about porn 'I know it when I see it.' Just applying the same principle here to the Shinenju," I said.

"Okay, number one I didn't know what the Shinenju was when I first saw it and, two, how is porn the first thing your brain went to?" Ichigo asked. "Do you have a lot of experience with looking for porn?"

"I don't know if I like the insinuation you're making, Ichigo," I said.

"She reads her porn apparently," Hiei said.

"Dammit, Hiei. You're as bad as Yukina. When we are together as a team, we do not repeat back things that are said within in the group. There are rules," I said.

"You read-."

"No. Stop. I am so done with this line of questioning," I said. "What do you remember about the Shinenju, Ichigo?"

"I remember." He turned away from the railing, thinking to himself. "I was with Rukia when I saw the Blanks the first time."

"Where did you see them?" Hiei asked.

"The old train station," Ichigo said. ". . . The Shinenju was there, but. . ."

"But what?" I asked.

Ichigo shook his head. "It's like whatever I saw there has just been erased from my brain."

"Maybe a look at this train station will jump start your memory again," Hiei said.

"They said I shouldn't be able to remember, but it's not gonna hurt to look. We might get lucky twice," Ichigo said. "It's not far from here."

We crossed the river and it wasn't a long walk to the train station. We got there and it was completely deserted as most of the city had been. It was clear that since we'd gone Frieza and the rest of his gang had been through town. Everything was a mess and it was so shockingly quiet that it was obvious that a lot of people were dead.

There was no sign of any Blanks or anything we could peg as the Shinenju.

"This whole station was crawling with Blanks the first time I saw them," Ichigo said. "And then something weird happened."

"What?" I asked.

"I don't remember," he replied. "But I remember it was weird enough to make Rukia head to the Soul Society—I mean, the Blanks were enough to make her do that, but there was something else."

"You said you didn't know what the Shinenju after you saw it?" I asked.

"I didn't even know what was going on until after it got explained to me," Ichigo said. "I was in the shopping district afterward and it was there too."

"Well, that's still in our section of the city. It won't hurt to look," I said.

It was much more of a trek this time, and that section of the city was in shambles when we arrived.

"Something weird happened here," Ichigo said. "The Shinenju was here too and then. . ."

"What?" I asked.

"I bought a ribbon," he said. "It was red."

"Like a hair ribbon?" I asked.

"Yeah. I don't know why I bought it," he said.

"I don't know why this is important," Hiei said.

"It is, but I don't know why," he said. "Why would I just buy a hair ribbon? It's not like my sisters wear them, I didn't even know you so it's not like I bought it for you."

"You don't really buy me anything, Ichigo," I said.

"That's because the last time I bought you something," he said putting his fingers to my necklace, "you asked why I didn't buy you chicken wings."

"That was a joke. I really like my necklace and I definitely wouldn't rather have chicken wings," I said grabbing his hands and wrapping them around my fingers.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. He took my hand and kissed the back of it.

"We are trying to avoid the imminent destruction of the universe, but I'm certain that can wait until you two are done being cute," Hiei said.

"Sorry," Ichigo said, still holding my hand.

"Any idea what to do next?" Hiei asked.

"We could always just wander around until we see something. We could go up to the top of the hill," I said.

"What's up there?" Hiei asked.

"Just a few shops. Usually they use that space for festivals and junk. There's a cemetery too," I said.

". . . If I were a collection of memories belonging to the deceased, do you know where I would go?" Hiei asked.

". . . A cemetery," Ichigo concurred.

We walked up the hill, past all the tiny shops until we reached the cemetery. It was small, but Ichigo definitely seemed to be remembering something.

He walked inside and slowly made a beeline to a tombstone.

"The Shinenju was a person," Ichigo said. "She was at the train station, she was a Soul Reaper. Rukia went to the Soul Society but they had no record of a soul Reaper by her name and the Zanpakto she was using had been lost in the Valley of Screams forever ago. She didn't know anything about herself except that her name was Senna. I saw her again at the shops and she stole that hair ribbon, so I went back and paid for it. We came up this hill and there was a festival here and there was a plus, a little boy, asking us to help find his dad. And when we did he disappeared. Everything disappeared. Senna kept remembering things, but none of it ever made sense."

"Because they were all someone else's memories," I said.

"And that all made sense once we figured out that she was the Shinenju," Ichigo said. "And after all the memories returned to the Blanks, before she disappeared, I brought her here. Everyone said that Senna never existed, that she was just a vessel for the memories, but she was convinced that she was a real person. . . And she was."

He pointed to the tombstone. The name Senna was indeed on it.

"So if she was real, why do you think you forgot?" I asked.

"Because she wasn't real. She was just one soul who was used to become the physical manifestation of the memories. She was just a memory," Hiei said. "The real question is why you remember now."

"Maybe it's because the Valley of Souls and a new Shinenju have appeared. I bet you'll forget again once we find the Shinenju," I said

"You're probably right," Ichigo said taking hold of my hand again. I looked up at him as he looked down at the tombstone. I wasn't completely sure, but whatever Ichigo was remembering, I could tell it was making him sad.

"Let's go," I said. "We should probably let the others know we're looking for a person."

Ichigo nodded.

The three of us walked out of the cemetery and paused so I could text Trunks, Goten, and Yusuke to alert the others to this new information.

"I told them to keep a look out for any suspicious people, especially Soul Reapers they don't know," I said putting my phone back into my pocket.

"Good, now all we need to do is find someone fitting that description," Ichigo said. "It could be anybody."

"And with all the souls getting sucked up, I find it unlikely that we'll be coming across any Blanks," Hiei said.

And then I sensed something—five things to be exact.

"Hollows," Ichigo said.

"Hybrids," Hiei said.

Ichigo brandished his zanpakto and Hiei tossed his cloak aside, both of them prepared to throw down with whatever was coming.

There was no possible way I could've been prepared for what happened next. When I saw them every muscle in my body went rigid, not out of fear, but out sadness, wondering, of all the people in Other World, how did these five manage to find me. Who had I pissed off in a previous life to deserve this punishment?

The five landed, without even a word or acknowledging us they broke out into an intricate dance routine, ending it with them each posing individually.

"Guldo!"

"Burter!"

"Jeice!"

"Recoome!"

"Ginyu! And we are-."

"The Ginyu Force!"

There was silence as the Ginyu Force stood, perfectly posed in front of us, like cheerleaders at a competition waiting for applause and a score.

Hiei was the first to react. He picked his cloak up from the ground and put it back on.

"I can't do this," he said, turning and walking away.

"Actually, I'm also really uncomfortable right now," Ichigo said sheathing his sword. They had both clearly run out of fucks to give.

"Don't you turn your back on the Ginyu Force!" Jeice said. They all looked exactly as my dad and Vegeta had described them to me. Jeice was red with white hair, Guldo was short, fat, and green with four eyes, Recoome was stocky, with ginger hair, Burter was spotted and blue with pink eyes, and Ginyu was purple with horns. The only difference was that they all had a mask covering half their faces and in the center of their chest was a hole. They were all hyrbrids.

"We're under orders to kill you and anyone else that gets in our way and the Ginyu Force never fails," Burter said.

"Yes, except that time on Namek," I said.

"So you've heard of us," Ginyu said.

"Yes. And last I checked you got turned into a frog and the rest of you were slaughtered like cattle and the world was rid of your Sailor Moon type moves," I said. "I'm Kairi Son—Goku, the one who kicked most of your asses, is my father and I am exceptionally more powerful now than he was when he was on Namek, and so are these two. Do not fuck with us because we will kill you. . . Again."

The Ginyu Force exchanged glances before breaking out into a hearty laughter.

"Boys," I said turning to Ichigo and Hiei, "we can definitely overpower them."

"I feel like there's a 'but' there," Hiei said.

I nodded. "Captain Ginyu has a body switch technique so if he injures himself he's up to no good. Burter, the blue guy, claims he's the 'fastest in the universe.'" Hiei scoffed. "Exactly. Still, probably pretty fast, and when he's working with Jeice he can definitely do some damage."

"What about big and ugly?" Ichigo asked motioning to Recoome.

"I think his greatest asset is his Stick-To-Ittiveness. You can beat the utter piss out of him but he keeps getting back up," I said. "And the tiny, short, fat unassuming thing, Guldo, he's got to be the first to go. He-."

"Where the hell did you pants go?!" Ichigo shouted at me, suddenly going red in the face. I glanced down, and lo, my shorts were gone and I was standing there in naught but my neon pink boy-shorts.

I let out a scream and instantly went to cover myself.

I instantly looked over to Guldo where he held my shorts, chuckling with buddies.

"You little nasty little perverted creep!" I shouted. "No wonder Vegeta ends every story he ever tells about you with 'and then I threw a dog biscuit at him.'"

I barely even blinked and the orange top to my gi was in his hand. Now I was left with my blue t-shirt.

"Take another piece of my girlfriend's clothes and there's gonna be hell to pay," Ichigo said.

"Or he'll high five you," Hiei said.

"Shut up!" Ichigo scolded him; his face was impossibly red now. "Kairi, why don't you tell us what's going on."

"He's a very powerful psychic with telekinesis and when he holds his breath he can stop time," I said. "But he's otherwise useless. Very slow. Also bad breath."

"How do we stop a guy that can stop time?" Ichigo asked as Hiei tossed his cloak onto me.

"He's not good for much but running away," I said. "We're going to have to catch him off guard by being faster than he'll be able to notice." I looked over to Hiei. He let out a sigh.

"You just be ready to finish him, Soul Reaper," Hiei said. Ichigo nodded.

"I feel like you've all had enough time to strategize," Captain Ginyu said. "Guldo, hopefully you'll be able to handle this."

"Yes, Captain," he said enthusiastically, jumping forward.

"Just give me back my pants and we will make this as quick and painless as possible," I said.

Guldo laughed. "But I like them. Don't they match my eyes?"

"I do not like this guy," Ichigo said.

"To be fair he didn't steal your pants," I said.

"Well the sooner he's dead, the sooner you can have your pants back," Hiei said.

"Good plan," I said. The three of us charged him and, as expected he vanished from in front of us and we found him running off again in another direction. I could already feel how tedious this was going to become.

We changed direction, this time I fired a ki blast at him, but again, he was gone. Guldo was slow, but every time we got close to getting a hit on him, he'd stop time and evade us.

"Now he's starting to piss me off," Hiei said.

"I'll say," I said. Guldo was currently taking deep breaths, hands on his knees. "I've seen 90-year-old life time smokers who don't get winded this easily and we can't even touch him."

"I think we're gonna need a new strategy," Ichigo said. Hiei and Ichigo then exchanged glances and looked over to me.

"What?" I asked.

"Get under his skin and don't stop attacking him," Ichigo said.

"That last time I said something mean to him he took my pants and I'm one article of clothing away from you having a really uncomfortable conversation with my dad," I said.

"Don't argue, Detective, just do it," Hiei said.

"Fine," I huffed. "You two are so bossy."

I moved to attack Guldo again, but he moved out of the way, as usual.

"Is that really the only thing you can do? Stop time? Everybody else on your team is way more useful than you. You're just a joke with four eyes and bad breath," I said.

I went to attack a now visibly angry Guldo, who moved away again.

"Well at least you're consistent in your uselessness and I know exactly what to expect from you. So do your teammates probably. That's probably why they sent you out first because you're pawn, the expendable one. They just want to see how strong we are based upon how much effort we have to put into killing you," I said. "Which wouldn't be much if you couldn't stop time because you are useless after all."

"I am not useless!" Guldo shouted at me.

"But you are. And you're short and you have bad breath," I said. He growled at me. "Aww, did I make the little doggy mad?"

That was the last straw Guldo had. As I went to attack him, he again moved, but this time he was replaced with a giant yellow school bus flying at my face.

"Crap baskets," I said. The bus slammed into me. I could feel the metal and glass scraping against my skin as it knocked me to the ground. I laid there, feeling pathetic for a moment before I climbed out from the beneath the wreckage, listening to Guldo laughing, sounding so pleased with himself. But his laughing was cut short and I emerged on top of the bus in time to see, Hiei chopping his head off, and Ichigo slicing through him with his Zanpakto for good measure.

Guldo's body vanished, the way Hollows always did and I let out a sigh. Thank goodness that was over.

"I can't believe he actually went for that," Ichigo said.

"Went for what?" I asked.

"We needed a distraction," Hiei said.

"You two used me as bait? He threw a damn school bus at me!" I shouted.

"How were we supposed to know he was going to throw a bus at you? Who throws a bus?" Hiei asked.

"And we knew you'd be fine," Ichigo said.

"That is completely not the point, you assholes!" I said.

"Look, he's dead. You can have your pants back. It's over," Hiei said. "No harm done."

"No harm done? Did you miss him throw a school bus at me?" I asked. "Five minutes ago you two were passive aggressively arguing with each other and now all of a sudden you're in complete agreement and can work together without a second thought if it means throwing Kairi literally and figuratively under the bus."

"But everything worked out," Ichigo said.

"Oh yeah, 'I let an alien throw a school bus at my girlfriend, but she's fine so everything's cool,'" I mocked him.

"Are you done having your temper tantrum now?" Hiei asked.

I frowned at him. "Fuck both you guys. Where are my pants?"