Fade to Black, 4-6

Be clear, Urahara. What are you saying happened to us?

From what I've been able to determine so far, a portion of our memories has been erased. I'm sure you're skeptical, so I'll explain from the start.

Shortly after I established the Department of Research and Development, I was conducting a study of a certain Hollow.

It was a very unusual creature in that it lived parasitically on the souls of others. Eventually, it took over the consciousness of its host.

When its host then became debilitated, it moved on to another host.

However, what was particularly unusual was its ability to use its sickle-shaped tentacle during its parasitic stage to shear off its host's memory.

Perhaps this parasite came into contact with Rukia Kuchiki, sheared off all memories of her life as a Soul Reaper, and made us forget about her.

Outrageous! That is not possible!

Our memories are connected to each other...

...but those bonds can be broken if you shear away someone's memory completely.

Every past event related to that person will disappear from the collective memories of the people around him, or her in this case.

This time, there was a single exception to that dynamic.

You're talking about Ichigo Kurosaki?

I was. You see, Ichigo's Soul Reaper powers originally belonged to our victim, Rukia Kuchiki.

That explains why we had all forgotten about Ichigo as well.

You mean there was a transfer of Soul Reaper powers? That is a class-one capital offense!

Yes, yes, you're correct. However, we owe Ichigo such a debt of gratitude, it's only right that we find a way to overlook that crime.

It's funny. Of all the people we shouldn't forget, we forgot about him.

How do you explain Mayuri Kurotsuchi? If he was attacked, why do we still have memories of him?

As you're aware, Mayuri has always been a very odd fellow.

I wondered if perhaps he did something to protect himself against this possibility. With that in mind, I did some checking and found out I was right.

Just as I had suspected, he regularly made backups of his memories and kept them on file.

Because he did that, all of you who ever knew him ended up being able to remember him.

It's a simple truth.

All memories are universally connected.