Bleach 1. The beginning

A/N: Hi everyone! It's finally Wednesday and here is the first revised chapter. I've made changes as I've said before, so please read it. Also, thank you to EmpressMinea, hunterofcomedy, Ben10 Madness, and Fenris Jin, who reviewed.

Here we go!

Disclaimer**: **I don't own Bleach or anything for that matter, just my ideas.

Warning: Please prepare for some OOCness here and there.

* * *

Chapter 1

A boy ran down the hallways, frantically trying to find a place where he could hide. He stopped to gasp for air. All the doors he saw until now were only the classrooms'.

"ICHIGO!"

The orange haired boy's head snapped towards the origin of the voice. He could already faintly hear the sound of several footsteps running down the hallway he just got out of.

"Damn it!", Ichigo hissed before starting to run again.

He could hear his own heart thumping in his ears when something on the edge of his vision caught his attention. For the second time since the start of his escape he stopped.

_Broom closet_, the boy read.

_"Perfect."_, he thought and reached for the door, opening it with a simple turn of the hand.

"Yes!", he whispered, smiling at his find while sliding into the closet and closing it behind him.

Shortly after the discovery of the small room, Ichigo could hear his pursuers' footsteps. They stopped in front of the very room he was hiding in. Ichigo's body tensed. Brushing away his spikey hair, he pressed his ear to the door.

_"Please go away"_, Ichigo prayed and held his breath.

"Did you see him?", a man's voice could be heard through the door.

"Where could he have gone to?", this time it was a woman's voice, "How are we supposed to –"

"It doesn't matter", a different man's voice cut her off, "We will use the broadcasting room to tell the students to find him and give out a reward as thanks."

_"Did I just hear right? They're bringing in the students into this madness?! Are they being serious?!"_, Ichigo thought, annoyed at their stubbornness, "_It's like they're setting up a bounty on my head!"_

Ichigo heard laughter and then footsteps. He waited until the sound faded away. Finally Ichigo let go of his breath and then sighed, turned around and slumped against the door. He stretched his legs on the floor, relaxing his muscles. Leaning his head against the door, he closed his eyes.

"Ugh", he grunted, exasperation evident in his voice, "How the hell did this happen anyway?"

Ichigo paused then whispered:

"It must have been that day after all."

_– One week ago –_

"…up Ichi… Wake u…chigo"

"No… wait… I c-can't… breathe…"

"Wake… brot… _Ichigo!_"

"ICHIGO!"

Ichigo felt something slam against him.

"AAHHHHHH!", Ichigo screamed as he fell off his bed and landed on the floor with a loud thud, followed by an equally loud crash.

"Ugh… What the hell?", Ichigo's sight was still blurry but he could recognize his recently bought clock on the floor.

In pieces.

As he slowly looked up, the concerned face of a girl with light brown hair came into his view. For a short second he wondered who it was but as his sight cleared, he recognized his younger sister's face.

"Yuzu, what just happened?", Ichigo asked with a slightly irritated voice.

"Sorry brother. You wouldn't wake up so I called Dad and he just–"

"Dad?", Ichigo growled, effectively causing Yuzu to shut up and worry more since she knew what was coming.

Ichigo looked around just to find the person he was looking for. A man was in the corner, with the stance of someone ready to pounce. With a loud yell Isshin jumped and stretched out his foot to kick his son into the face. Ichigo saw that coming and dodged while he punched his father's stomach. Isshin only managed to grunt "Uff!" before collapsing on the floor.

"Big brother! Now we need to carry him downstairs again!", Yuzu whined.

"It's not my fault that our idiot of a Dad tries to kill me every time I wake up later than him!", Ichigo said through gritted teeth but sighed afterwards, "Now let's get this over with."

Together they dragged their father down the stairs into the living room and threw him on the couch. Immediately afterwards Isshin woke up and tried to tackle Ichigo who simply stepped aside so that his father crashed into the wall behind him.

"MISAKI, MY SON DOESN'T LOVE ME ANYMORE!", Isshin wailed and clung to the giant poster hanging in the living room.

"Why is my Dad such an idiot…", Ichigo muttered under his breath and rolled his eyes before asking, "Why did you wake me up Yuzu?"

His sister shouted from the kitchen: "Oh, I almost forgot! Because it was already 7:30!"

"What do you mean 7:30?", Ichigo mumbled before realization dawned on him, "Oh fuck! I'm late!"

Without wasting another second, Ichigo dashed upstairs and 15 minutes later he was back downstairs, ready to go.

"Brother! Don't forget to take your lunch and breakfast with you!", Yuzu reminded him from the kitchen, "Oh! And don't forget to come for Sis' soccer game later!"

"Yeah, I got it! Karin's game is at six, right?", Ichigo replied while packing lunch into his bag and grabbing the toast his sister had made for him.

"Yep! Have a safe trip to school!"

###

Ichigo collapsed onto the school ground, breathing heavily. Even though he had run like the devil was after him, he didn't manage to be on time, so as a punishment he had to run 5 laps around the school.

"That damn teacher!", Ichigo huffed under his breath, "He obviously knew how freaking big this school is and made me run five laps! _Five laps!_ That crazy bastard!"

###

It was already well into the first period when Ichigo entered the classroom. With aching muscles and a tiredness that left him drained of energy, Ichigo gave his teacher the note that said that he had been punished already. His teacher only raised an eyebrow before telling him that he could take his seat. Normally Ichigo' classmates would have snickered and Ichigo would have to glare at them to shut them up, but because of his tiredness he failed to notice that difference today. It wasn't long into the lesson, when the school speakers suddenly sounded.

"Good morning Karakura Academy!", boomed a voice through the speakers, "All the teachers and students are to gather in the assembly hall within the next fifteen minutes. Oh, before I forget! My dear students! Don't forget to buy some candy at my shop later today and don't forget to advertise my shop's name to your parents and friends and don't forget to –" Whack! "Ahh! That hurt Yoruichi!" Whack! "That is all", a woman's voice said before the speakers turned off.

Silence filled the classroom before someone spoke up, breaking the muteness:

"Was that principal Urahara just now?"

###

A brown envelope lay open on the table. Shoulder-long black hair fell over her face as the girl stared at the paper in her hand. She gritted her teeth in annoyance.

"Stupid old men. Suddenly giving me another job with barely any time to prepare. Who do they think I am? Superwoman? And I've just finished the other job. Give me a break!", the girl grumbled but then thought, _"Wait. Do those geezers even know the word 'break'? Well they should, since they are the ones lazing around the whole time. But wouldn't that mean that since they're on break the whole time, they've never experienced break? Ok... Now I'm just confusing myself. I've got to pack everything today, so that I can leave on time tomorrow."_

The girl took the envelope and recklessly stuffed the papers back inside. Afterwards she stood up and went over to her bed, took out the cardboard boxes and suitcases underneath and began filling them with necessary things: Such as Chappy the rabbit cups, clothes, Chappy the rabbit pencils, shoes, Chappy the rabbit pillows, books, and anything else related to Chappy the rabbit. While packing, the girl thought about her introduction to her new class and her cover story while she stayed. Most of her background was already given in the envelope. She just needed to refine a few details, just in case.

###

The assembly hall was brimming with students. Ichigo thought it was unusual. Normally there would only be enough students to fill up two thirds of the hall. Then he noticed the division amongst the chairs which split the students into two groups. He didn't get a chance to continue his thoughts, because his teacher gave out instructions, guiding the class to their seats.

Ichigo went over to the free seat between two guys.

"Hey Chad, Uryuu!", Ichigo greeted them.

"Hello Ichigo", replied the dark-skinned giant.

"There you are Ichigo! You missed the teacher's announcement during homeroom", a boy with glasses said.

"Couldn't help it Uryuu. Mr. Kagine caught me and forced me to run five laps around the school!", Ichigo grumbled, "So… What did I miss?"

Uryuu was about to answer when he was distracted by the start of the assembly. A man with a white-green-striped hat and a cane came up to the podium and the students started to whisper. Only rumors were heard about him: The shady high school principal. You could recognize him by his dark green shirt and pants, his black coat and the most obvious, his white-green-striped hat. He rarely showed himself and if he did the upper half of his face would always be in shadowed because of his hat. His aloof and carefree personality always made him become the victim of Yoruichi Shihouin, his secretary.

"Good morning everyone!", Kisuke Urahara spoke into the microphone and the hall became still, "Most of you should know by now from your teachers' announcements that our school will be merging with another school today. For those who were late this morning, this will come as a surprise."

At this point Ichigo thought that the high school principal specifically looked him in the eye as he said the last part.

_"No, it can't be. I must be imagining things"_, he convinced himself and continued to listen to the principal.

"Therefore please welcome the principal of the other school, principal Yamamoto of Soul Society Academy."

Everyone started clapping due to habit until the information sank in and loud gasps were heard. Immediately the whispering started again.

"Soul Society? Isn't that the elite school near us that trains its students to become full-fledged Shinigamis?"

"Why are we merging with S.S.A?"

"I hear they only focus on training their students to fight Hollows."

"Eh? Doesn't our school focus on academics?"

Ichigo didn't need to hear more in order for him to put the situation together, but before he could formulate his thoughts into spoken words, the scene at the front caught his attention. While everyone was still whispering, an old man stepped up to the podium.

"Good morning students and staff", his deep and powerful voice resounded through the hall, forcing everyone to immediately shut up. His sharp eyes held the look of a man with years of wisdom, power and authority.

"Starting from today, our two schools have become one school. The new name of our school is Seireitei Academy. The teachers have been already informed of the anything necessary during the week-end meeting. You will now return to class and await your teacher's instructions. I look forward to working with you all. You are dismissed."

Once principal Yamamoto stepped down, principal Urahara quickly went up to the microphone and reminded with a cheery voice:

"My dear students! Please do not forget to get along with your new classmates!"

Ichigo could have sworn he saw a mischievous glint in his principal's eyes, looking in his direction _again_. He shuddered at the thought but dismissed it anyway:

_"It can't be. He's too far away to even properly see me anyway."_

* * *

A/N: Well, how was it? A lot of it is still the same, but since I've added and deleted a few things, I hope that it's better now.


	2. Reality or a dream?

A/N: Here is the second revised chapter! I hope that you'll like the changes I've made.

Anyway, here it goes!

Chapter 2

A boy stood in the deserted hallways of the unfamiliar building. His right hand was clutching the straps of his bag on his right shoulder while his brown eyes took in the contents of the paper in his left hand.

"_Map of Soul Society Academy_", Ichigo read.

Ever since his former teacher explained that everyone would have time until lunch to go and explore the buildings and its premises, Ichigo decided that he would familiarize himself with the routes to the classrooms of his new timetable.

_"The next subject is Maths"_, Ichigo thought, while scanning the map for the location of his subject's classroom.

Once he found his target, he started walking again, occasionally passing some students. After taking a couple of turns, he stood at a dead end behind the stairs.

_"Must have taken a wrong turn"_, Ichigo thought while checking the map, trying to find out where he made a mistake, _"Ah! I took a turn to early."_

He turned around to go back the way he came again, when he saw a door in the back of the stairs. Curious as to where it might lead, Ichigo examined his map for further information.

_"Strange…"_

The map did not have any information regarding the entrance. In fact, it wasn't even marked on the map at all. Ichigo's curiosity was peaked. Slowly he moved towards the door. One step. Two steps. Three steps. His reached out for the handle and grabbed it. He turned it slowly, testing whether the door was open or not. A soft click was heard. The door opened.

It was dark.

Ichigo found a light switch but the single bulb hanging in the small corridor barley gave out enough light to see. There were several doors at the sides, but what caught Ichigo's interest was the door at the end. It looked identical to all the other doors, except for one difference. The symbol of a black diamond encasing a white octagon was on the door.

Ichigo opened the door hesitantly, not quite sure what to expect. He stepped inside, trying to feel his way around the dark room and moved his arms around to catch any obstacles before hitting them. What he didn't expect was to bump against a table. He heard the clink of a glass but didn't see that the oil inside it spilled onto the floor. Deciding that he had enough of the darkness, he took out his cell phone and used its light to navigate.

After venturing a bit more into the room, the light of his cell phone shone upon the edge of a picture. He turned his cell phone to get a better view of the floor. It appeared to be a circle. A circle with a frame looking like the elaborately decorated picture frames of antique paintings. However, the circle reminded Ichigo of magic circles, at least the borders of the circle did, because inside the circle was another circle with a tree inhabited by what appeared to be strange creatures. The tree's branches filled up the whole circle and each quarter of the trees seemed to represent a different season of the year. There was a human as well, but he was chained to the trunk of the tree.

_"Is this supposed to depict nature, life and the bond between them?"_, Ichigo wondered and continued to explore the room.

Suddenly Ichigo's sight travelled upwards. He heard a dull cracking sound and felt pain shoot through him.

_"Ugh, I hope I didn't break my head…"_, was Ichigo's last thought as he lost consciousness.

The circle underneath him started to emit a soft glow. At the same time a spot on the left side of his chest glowed softly. The picture of a flower with four petals could be seen through his white shirt as it slowly disappeared again.

_Ichigo woke up and immediately touched his head to search for any signs of blood. After confirming that nothing was wrong, he looked around and found himself surrounded by lots of tall sky scrapers._

_"Where am I?", Ichigo wondered while scratching his head, "I could have sworn I was in a dark room until a moment ago. Am I dreaming?"_

_He looked around and could only see his reflections staring back at him from the glass windows. Finally he looked downwards only to discover that he was very, _very_ far away from the ground. Ichigo's body froze._

_"Aaaaaah!", he screamed and waved his arms and legs around trying to grab something, while panicking at the thought of falling down._

_Seeing that the ground wasn't getting closer to him, he abruptly ceased his screaming._

_"…I'm hovering in the air…"_

_A tint of red crept up his face._

_"Good thing that nobody is around", Ichigo muttered, glad that he could keep his little pathetic episode to himself._

_"Ichigo...", the deep voice of a male called out to him._

_The surprised boy turned around to find a middle-aged man floating in the air._

_"Oh damn it! I should have kept my mouth shut!", Ichigo cursed._

_"Who are you?", Ichigo demanded, trying to cover up his embarrassment._

_Ichigo saw the man's lips move but heard nothing. Ichigo scrunched his face:_

_"Old man, I can't hear what you're saying!"_

_Suddenly Ichigo fell, plunging straight towards the streets below. Ichigo started screaming again:_

_"Aaaaah! I'm sorry! I won't call you 'old man' anymore, so don't just suddenly activate gravity!"_

_The last thing he saw were black gloves reaching out for him as darkness overcame him._

Ichigo woke up with a start and stood up immediately. His right hand shot up to his head instantly as he felt dizziness from the sudden movement.

"Man, what was that? Such a weird dream…", Ichigo mumbled as he struggled to get out of the room.

He felt very uncomfortable suddenly and didn't waste another thought about getting out of the place. Back in the hallways he looked at the clock hanging on the wall.

_"Already lunch time", Ichigo was astonished, "How long was I out in that room?"_

Deciding that it would be best to find the room of his first afternoon class, Ichigo set out with the map in his hand again. He didn't want to think about his encounter right now.

###

Ichigo pushed open the door to his new classroom. There were already students inside, occupying a couple of tables. Ichigo scanned the room and found what he was looking for. In the far back of the room was a free desk next to the window. With quick strides he went over to the table while ignoring the stares he was getting and put his bag on it as a sign that it was his place now.

Ichigo sat down and let his eyes wander around the room while glaring at anyone who was still gawking at him. Anyone whose gaze he met flinched and at once normality came back into the room. Ichigo sighed. It was nothing new to him. After all, he had that eye-catchingly bright orange hair and tall height which made him stand out from the rest, not to mention his constantly scowling face that made him seem like a delinquent. He let his eyes wander again before they settled at the whiteboard of his classroom. He was still lost in his thoughts about the weird vision he previously had when a white shirt and grey pants came into view. Ichigo's head turned upwards until he came face to face with the brown eyes of a brown haired boy. Next to him stood a short boy with black hair who was typing furiously on his phone.

"Ichigo!", the taller boy greeted him, "I didn't think that we'd be in the same class!"

"Keigo, I didn't think we'd be in the same class either with your grades", Ichigo replied and greeted the black haired boy, "Hey Mizuiro."

"Hey Ichigo", Mizuiro greeted him back before return to his texting.

"Man, you're so mean!", Keigo's eyebrows pulled together, "Anyway, have you already seen the new seniors, especially the girls. There is this one really hot girl as well!"

"If that girl's boyfriend finds out about how you've been talking about her, he's gonna hunt you for real", Mizuiro interrupted.

"Never mind that! Anyway, did you know that the others are also in this class? Speaking of the devil–"

The classroom door opened to reveal two girls and two boys. Chad and Uryuu came over followed by the two girls.

"Hey Chad, Uryuu, Orihime, Tatsuki", Ichigo greeted the four and they greeted him back.

"Hey Ichigo, where were you until now? We didn't see you at all!", Tatsuki exclaimed and put her hands on her hips.

"Just exploring the school", Ichigo vaguely answered.

"Ichigo, you're not wearing the pin", Uryuu pointed out while pushing his glasses up.

Ichigo looked at his collar then at the collars of the others. They were all wearing a small circular pin with an 'S' inside, standing for 'Sereitei'. He then remembered that his teacher said something about students wearing pins to see that they were from this school and Shinigami students would also have a second pin with its own symbol.

"Right", Ichigo agreed and pulled out the small pin from his breast pocket and noticed a soft glow.

"Do I have anything here?", Ichigo pointed at the left side of his chest and was met his confused faces and six shaking heads, "Never mind."

Ichigo ignored the glow for now and proceeded to pin the small badge on the left side of his collar. At the same time he finished, the bell rang and everyone went to their respective seats. The teacher came in and class started.

###

Ichigo closed his bedroom door behind him. Luckily he got to his sister's game on time and avoided getting assaulted by his father. After having a rather extravagant dinner because Karin's team won, Ichigo felt tired. He took off his shirt and scrutinized himself in the mirror. On the left side of his chest was the picture of a flower with four petals. He tried to rub it away but nothing happened. It continued to glow softly. Ichigo changed his clothes and lay down on his bed.

_"Nobody saw it except for me… So… am I the only one who can see it?... I hope I'm not imagining things… Maybe I shouldn't have gone into that room"_, Ichigo reflected before falling asleep.

###

Yellow eyes drilled into the back of the man sitting in the big chair.

"Are you serious? You actually made them transfer her?", the woman said, her face expressing disbelief.

"Yup. I pulled some strings here and there. She should be arriving in one or two days", the man replied, pulling his hat deeper over his face.

"So you've actually put your plans into action already."

The man took out his fan to hide his grin:

"There's no need to worry. After all, he has already taken the bait and fallen into the little trap that I've set up for him. Any resistance will be futile."

The woman sighed:

"Although I do agree with you on many things, I don't think that I can agree with you on this one. Although it was to be excepted, knowing you."

"It's all for the sake of winning my dear. It's all for the sake of winning."


	3. Mission

A/N: Here is the third chapter! It's really hard to cut down in things, instead I keep writing more! XD

And on with the story!

* * *

Chapter 3

Ichigo glanced at his timetable. Not a lot had changed, except that the odd subject here and there was located in the building of the former S.S.A. He stood in front of class 3-A's door. He reached out for the door when it suddenly slammed open and somebody bumped into him. The two of them fell.

"Watch where you're going!", came an irritated voice.

"Huh?!", Ichigo snapped back, "Shouldn't I be the one to say that?!"

"You were the one who bumped into me, so apologize!", the red haired boy demanded and pulled Ichigo's collar.

Ichigo pulled his aggravator's collar as well. Both had their foreheads pressed against each other. He felt pissed:

"I've got no need to apologize! You need to apologize!"

"Are you an idiot or what?! I said _you_ need to apologize for bumping into me, fruit head!"

"What the fuck? _You_ were the one who bumped into me first and you've got no right to call me a fruit head when you've got a pine apple head yourself!"

"If you don't want to be called fruit head then don't dye your hair, damn grapefruit!"

"This is _natural_, pea brain! _You_ shouldn't dye your hair, monkey face!"

"You bast–"

"Ok, that's enough you two", a black haired girl cut off Renji before the argument escalated into a brawl in front of the classroom.

Both boys were pushed apart and both of them turned towards the voice at the same time.

"Who the hell are you?", Renji growled.

"Tatsuki!", exclaimed Ichigo but then became irritated again, "You didn't need to intervene."

"Of course I did", replied Tatsuki, "Especially when both of you are blocking the entrance and people are staring. Do you want the others to think that you two are childish?"

Realizing that a circle of students were starting to form around them, the boys backed off but immediately replied in unison:

"I'm not childish! Hey! Stop imitating me!"

Two foreheads were clashing again.

"Yeah, I can totally see that you're not childish", Tatsuki murmured while passing the two.

"Hey, I heard that!", came the instant reply but Tatsuki just shrugged her shoulders.

Hiding behind Tatsuki was Orihime, who only managed to squeak out a "Hi Renji. Hi Ichigo."

"Orihime! You were there?", both boys were surprised.

"Wait, you know him Orihime?", Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, he helped me out yesterday. He's a nice guy", Orihime answered.

Ichigo still couldn't like the guy but backed off for now as class would also be starting soon. Renji realized the same thing and also stepped back.

"Why don't you have lunch with us, Renji. You can tell us about your former school and we about ours", Orihime invited.

Only now that his friend mentioned it, did Ichigo see the second badge on the left side of the red haired boy's collar.

"Well, I don't have anything planned, so why not?", Renji accepted.

"Are you being serious, Orihime?", Ichigo was not happy to have to eat lunch with some idiot who could not even differentiate between who was at fault and who not.

"Yes I am, _Mr_. _Kurosaki_", replied the caramel-brown haired girl, "Class is going to start! We need to get back to our seats."

Knowing Orihime, Ichigo gave up and returned to his desk.

###

"Does anyone know Shakespeare?", a white haired man asked the students in front of him.

Most of the hands were raised.

"He's the one who wrote Romeo and Juliet!", one of the students called out.

"That's right. It's good to see that some people know him, because the next play we are going to read is from him", the long haired teacher explained, then asked:

"Does anyone know any other plays from Shakespeare? Ichigo."

"Twelfth Night", came Ichigo's answer.

"Good answer. Coincidently the play we are going to read is also 'Twelfth Night'."

The teacher started to write on the white board when several 'Beep!' sounds were heard from the back. All the heads from the former Karakura Academy turned towards the back. A tall, red-haired boy stood up and walked over to the windows. He opened one of them and then jumped out. The watching students' mouths were agape as their eyes followed the teenager land unharmed.

_"We're on the freaking third floor‼"_

As they continued watching, they saw four other students join the red head and the small group sprinted out of the school.

_"What kind of speed was that?! Are they even human?!"_

During the whole event, not one of the former Soul Society Academy's students had looked up and the teacher had ignored the whole occurrence. After a while of staring, one of the students raised his hand and spoke up:

"Mr Ukitake, sir, why did you let Renji go?"

Mr Ukitake's face showed surprise for a moment but then he smiled:

"Hahaha. I forgot that those from K.A. wouldn't know about the student missions that were a regular occurrence at our school. These students have special permission, so please ignore it and don't get yourselves distracted."

The students just nodded and returned to the lesson for the time being. They knew that they wouldn't get anymore answers from their teacher.

###

The short girl stretched her arms after getting out of the car. The ride had taken several hours, so she felt a little drained.

_"Let's see. According to the address, this should be it. The higher-ups said they had prepared everything already, so my name should be on the bell"_, she reasoned.

She walked over to the gate and looked at the plaque.

_"Rukia Kuchiki"_, she read, _"I can't believe that they are making me use my real name. Well this job is still connected to the other case, so I guess it makes sense…?"_

Rukia felt unenthusiastic but she would have to accept it.

The movers started their jobs and brought in everything from the trucks while Rukia directed them. Suddenly a loud roar startled everyone. Rukia immediately ran outside towards the source. She could hear screams and shrieks already.

"Aaah! A Hollow!"

"Run to the nearest emergency shelter!"

Upon seeing the monster, Rukia's hand immediately reached for her waist only to grab air.

_"Damn it! I left her at the house instead of simply hiding her."_

Unexpectedly a group of teenagers arrived. A boy with red hair cut the Hollow's right leg while a blonde hacked the other. Meanwhile a black haired girl muttered a spell, restraining the monster. Another girl was bringing nearby civilians out of danger. Suddenly a short boy with white hair appeared and slashed the Hollow into two with his blade. The monster dissolved into air. However, it wasn't over yet. Nearby another roar resounded and the group of five took off again.

Finally Rukia relaxed and emerged from her hiding place.

_"They are good. They can successfully complete their assignment"_, Rukia thought and retuned to once again take on the job of guiding the workers.

###

"Over here Renji!", Orihime shouted to get the tattooed boy's attention, while the group of seven made space for their new friend.

"Let me introduce my friends, Renji. This is Tatsuki and Ichigo – you've met them this morning already – and Chad, Uryuu, Keigo, and Mizuiro!", Orihime said while pointing towards each person as she mentioned them, who in return either greeted Renji or simply nodded in acknowledgement.

"Hey", Renji responded and sat down on the free space provided for him, "What are you having for lunch?"

"I've got honey with celery, chicken, strawberry and rice. Would you like some?", Orihime offered and showed him her lunch box of brown, red and green.

_"I don't think that I can eat anymore today…"_, Renji grimaced and clutched his stomach.

The group started chatting about various things, when Keigo asked Renji the question that everyone had on their tongue since the morning incident:

"Hey Renji, what was that this morning? You suddenly jumped out of the window – and we know that it was from the _third_ floor – and landed like a cat would. How the hell did you do that anyways? And who were the others?"

Renji was amused. He had been expecting the question ever since he had to jump out of the window because of the urgency.

"Well", Renji started, "It's like this. We have student missions in which we go hunt hollows most of the time. We do it for a quarter of the year, regardless of whether our grades are falling or not. It's like a contract – one of the reasons why only students who are very skilled and have good academic grades can accept those missions. You form groups of five – basically teams. Those were my teammates. Ah! I see them already. Might as well introduce them to you."

Renji called out to two boys and girls standing not too far from the group's place in the cafeteria. With quick strides they arrived at the table where Renji and the rest were sitting at.

"Renji! Who are your friends?", asked a short girl, who had her black hair tied up in a bun.

"Hey Momo. These are my classmates" Renji explained and introduced them.

"Nice to meet you", Momo greeted them while the rest only gave nods or a short 'Hi'.

"And these are my teammates: Captain Hitsugaya, Momo, Izuru, and Nemu", Renji announced and pointed at the short, white haired boy first; Momo second; then at a blond haired, slightly depressed looking boy; and lastly at the taller one of the two girls with long braided hair.

"Why do you call him Captain Hitsugaya?", Tatsuki wondered.

"That's because Shirou is the captain of our team, who leads and directs us", Momo explained.

"Momo, I told you to call me Captain Hitsugaya and stop using that nickname!", Toshirou scolded her.

"But I want to call you Shirou! You don't like it when I call you Toshirou either, so Shirou it is and Shirou it will be!", Momo pouted as they continued to bicker.

"What's with those two?", Ichigo asked.

"Childhood friends", Kira stated which explained everything for the rest.

"So what were you talking about?", Kira asked, switching topics.

"Just explaining about the student missions", Renji answered.

"I bet he hasn't told you yet that Renji was only taken in for missions because of his skills and not really because he could keep up with academics, plus we needed another member", Momo giggled and the rest started to laugh as well.

"They didn't need to know that!", Renji protested and a slight tinge of red surfaced on his cheeks.

"Ahem! Anyway", Renji continued, ignoring the laughter, "The reason why I was able to jump out of the window from that height was because I have a spirit contract."

"Ah yes, I've heard of that", Uryuu stated, "Apparently those with spirit contracts age slower, gain the ability to sense anything spirit connected, and have their physical abilities heightened."

"Yes, it is all true, except that the extent of all three characteristics always vary", Toshirou clarified.

"That's also the reason why Captain Hitsugaya is so short!", Renji laughed but abruptly stopped as he felt a killing intent directed at him.

"There's a lot more to being a Shinigami than just cutting down Hollows", Chad remarked.

The Shinigami students nodded and the lunch bell rang.

"You haven't spoken a single word the whole time Nemu", Uryuu voiced out his thoughts.

Nemu simply nodded while continuing to eat.

Momo laughed:

"But Nemu is the only one who really got to eat lunch too!"

###

Ichigo took off his shirt to change into his sport wear when he was surprised to see only three petals left on his chest.

_"This morning it still had four petals. Maybe I should look it up in the library today"_, Ichigo considered.

###

Ichigo lay on his bed while contemplating about today's events. He had seen something quite incredible and learnt a lot of things but none of them answered the questions he had since yesterday and somehow they kept piling up. The library proved to be useless as well as the internet. Ichigo sighed. His brown eyes stared into the ceiling and his frown deepened. He needed to rest now and firstly digest everything and a good nights sleep would definitely help him more right now than simply asking questions. With that Ichigo turned over and made himself comfortable, falling asleep soon after.


	4. Please die

A/N: Here the fourth revised chapter! I hope you like it!

Thank you to hunterofcomedy for your review!

Here we go!

* * *

Chapter 4

"Come in and introduce yourself!", the teacher said and the door opened to reveal a petit girl with short, black hair cropped into a bob, which hung about her face.

Ichigo thought that she looked too young to be in high school or perhaps it was just the small height deceiving him. She opened her eyes, unveiling her dark violet orbs, which swept over the whole class before she broke into a kind smile. Small gasps could be heard.

"My name is Rukia Kuchiki, pleased to meet you all", Rukia introduced herself with a small bow, "I am a Shinigami student who transferred from the Shinigami school in the north. I want to quit Shinigami studies for a while and enter the academic programs here because they didn't have them in the north. I look forward to working with you, so please treat me well!"

"I want you all to get along with her. Rukia, you can go sit at the free place beside Ichigo, the boy with the orange hair. You're free for the rest of homeroom-time!", the teacher explained and left the classroom while Rukia sat down.

Immediately some students jumped up to surround Rukia and bombarded her with questions and comments.

"How old are you?"

"You look so pretty. Just like a doll."

"Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Why did you quit Shinigami studies?"

"Please be my friend!"

Rukia smiled pleasantly. She didn't seem to mind the chaos and elegantly answered every question. No, she didn't have a boyfriend but she had someone she liked. This crushed most of the boys' anticipation, still they couldn't help but be pulled in by her smile. She was the same age as everyone else and she just wanted to make sure that her future career was kept open. She thanked everyone for their compliments and laughed with them. Her sweet voice resounded through the laughter of the others'.

Ichigo watched her from the corner of his eyes. He hadn't felt the need to associate himself with the new student but was curious nevertheless. He could understand why the girls envied but admired her and the boys adored her but could not touch her. She seemed almost perfect with her natural beauty and her enchanting personality. She kept her background vague never giving out more than necessary which also made her mysterious. Ichigo couldn't quite put his finger on it but he couldn't get himself to immediately like the girl like everyone else. The bell rang and Ichigo was pulled out of his thoughts.

###

Ichigo was inside the toilet. He had run there immediately once the bell rang for lunch to confirm his thoughts.

_"There are only two petals left"_, Ichigo checked his chest and his frown deepened, _"Like I thought: The petal disappears around the time I woke up from that weird dream. I really need to find out what it means before the petals disappear, in case something dangerous happens when it does."_

Ichigo sighed. He had found nothing for the past days and was starting to doubt that he would find anything today. He left the toilet to go get his lunch and join his friends.

###

The blinds were pulled down and darkness descended upon the room. The man behind the desk put down a folder with the picture of a boy with spiky orange hair and addressed the man on the other side of the desk:

"I seriously doubt it. The boy has led a normal life and he won't be willing to let go of it so easily."

"There's no way it won't work. Just wait and see, after all, you and I made a bet. If I know his father as well as I think I do, then he will have prepared his son for it, even though he cut off all ties", the other man replied while a grin formed on his face, though it was hidden behind his fan.

###

The girl gave chase to the boy running away. The boy jumped and turned around, revealing his catlike pupils.

"Let's see if you can take on my spirit's power!", the boy shouted with a cocky smile.

"I won't even need to release my sword to take you out.", the girl responded.

"Fuck you, you damn bitch!", the boy roared and materialized his sword.

"How uncivilized", the girl said before taking out her own sword.

The two swords clashed in the air. The boy started to hack at the girl but she evaded every attack, following up with her own punches and cuts.

"This isn't even worth my time", the girl said before disappearing from the boy's sight.

Surprised the teenager looked around and tried to find his pursuer's location. He felt a force against his back and slammed against the earth. The girl pulled the groaning student by his collar and walked towards the nearest corner.

"You are going to answer each and every one of my questions", the girl demanded.

###

School was over and so was soccer practise for Ichigo. He had found out that the new captain of the team would be Toshirou and he had called him by his first name, even though he was specifically told to call him Captain Hitsugaya. As punishment he was forced to run five laps extra at the end of training and was the only one left to go home. He was walking at the back of the school building when he saw a small figure drag another person behind a corner. Curious, Ichigo slowly crept up to the corner and took a peek behind it. What he saw left him stunned and speechless. Not far from him was a girl with black hair beating up another student.

"Tell me. _How_ did you make the contract? _Who_ organized the ritual? Speak!", interrogated the girl the boy with her rather deep voice.

When the boy refused to answer, the girl struck a place on the boy's neck. The student's eyes closed and his head dropped onto his chest.

"I need to contact HQ…", the girl muttered.

Ichigo had watched the whole scene unfold and finally managed to snap out of his daze. He took a step forward and growled:

"What the hell are you doing?"

The girl immediately swirled around and Ichigo was left stunned again.

"The new girl…", he whispered.

The girl looked annoyed.

"And I was hoping that there would be no one here at the back."

She took out a pen with a bunny on top and put on a pair of sun glasses. She then pushed a button on the pen and a bright light flashed out. Ichigo tried to blink away the bright dots that were still clouding his vision.

"What the hell did you do that for?", Ichigo asked, irritated by aftereffects of the flash.

"It didn't work?", Rukia was surprised and clicked on the button again.

A bright light flashed again.

"What the hell?!", Ichigo cursed.

Rukia pushed the button again and again, but nothing changed except that Ichigo's swear words were getting more colourful. Rukia stared at the blinking boy.

Ichigo was totally dumbfounded. He didn't expect the transfer student to be the culprit of the violence he saw just a moment ago. He had thought that she was slightly fake, but not to this extent. Her demeanour was totally different from this morning. Especially her voice. It was the voice of an alto, not the voice of a soprano he heard this morning.

The girl in front of him narrowed her eyes. Suddenly she sprang forward and swung around a sword at him. Ichigo ducked, barely escaping the blade.

_"What the–! Where the hell did the blade come from suddenly?!"_, Ichigo was about to voice his thoughts when the girl in front of him suddenly swung again.

Ichigo only narrowly dodged the blade.

"Are you his accomplice?", the girl demanded.

Ichigo deadpanned:

"Accomplice? What the hell are you tal–"

The boy didn't even manage to finish his sentence as Rukia cut him off with another swing.

"Answer my question!", she commanded, "And don't you dare lie, I can sense a spirit with you!"

Now Ichigo was really stumped. He had no idea what the girl in front of him was talking about.

"What the fuck are you saying?! I got no spirit! I'm just a normal student! See!", Ichigo pointed at his left collar, while containing his anger at being accused unfairly, "I only have one badge!"

"And so did the other student who had a spirit with him. Don't you think you can deceive my senses!", Rukia retorted and rushed forward to cut him again.

Ichigo ran only to be stopped by Rukia, who was suddenly in front of him and slashed. Ichigo jumped backwards to avoid it, but she still managed to cut his shirt. The girl suddenly stopped moving but the orange haired boy's patience had already snapped.

"Are you fucking crazy woman?! You fucking show up and pretend to be the _nice girl_ and all and then _beat up_ some student black and blue and then try to _kill_ me with a fucking _sword _that appeared out of _nowhere_! Have you gone _nuts_ or what?! You're going to pay for my uniform, you hear me!", Ichigo screamed at the girl.

Stunned by the sudden outburst, Rukia reacted too slowly when Ichigo brought up his left leg and kicked her sword away. Ichigo jumped to pin down the girl but fell over when she dodged and rushed over to her sword. Ichigo immediately stood up and gave chase but it was too late. He was stopped by the tip of the girl's sword.

"You are going to tell me now what that seal on your chest is", she growled.

"My chest?", Ichigo asked but then was astonished by his realization, "No way. You can see it?"

"Of course I can", she snorted.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"No kidding?"

"Yes! No kidding!", Rukia shouted out exasperatedly, "Now answer my damn question!"

"Well, do you think I would be so surprised about you seeing it if I knew what the hell it was?!", Ichigo yelled back.

Ichigo almost thought he heard a vein pop from the girl's head. He saw her breathe in and out deeply to calm herself.

"You seem to know nothing about this whole thing and I can't wipe your memory so… _First restraint! Obstruction!_", Rukia called out and immediately Ichigo found himself on the ground, unable to move at all.

"Ouch! Wh- what d- did you… do?", Ichigo forced out while pain shot through his arms, which were bound at the back by an invisible force.

"Just a simple spell", Rukia said dismissively but then her tone became serious, "I want you to tell me all about your story on how you got that seal, understand? Or I won't let you go."

Ichigo sighed and began telling how he ended up in the weird room, had that weird dream and only woke up to later realize that he suddenly had that weird symbol on his chest –no one else could see it but him. Rukia had been silent during his whole narrative and had only nodded at certain places to show that she was listening. After a short silence Rukia opened her mouth:

"I see that you have no idea about anything. You were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. I'm afraid that since I can't erase your memories, I can't let you go."

"Wait a sec!", Ichigo called out, objecting, "Didn't you just say that you would let me go if I told you the story?!"

However, Rukia ignored Ichigo and was silent again. Then she sighed. Her face became blank and Ichigo couldn't figure out what the girl sitting on his back was thinking.

"I can't let anyone find out about me. This mission is too important…", Rukia muttered and then declared, "I have orders to kill anyone if necessary. I pity you Ichigo. Now die for me please."

Ichigo's eyes widened and he began to struggle. He didn't expect this. He _definitely_ didn't expect this.

"No! Wait!", he called out desperately, "You can't do this! There must be another way!"

"I'm sorry Ichigo, but this is the only way. Goodbye", Rukia contradicted him and swung down her sword.

"NO!", Ichigo screamed and closed his eyes, thinking that this was the end for him, but the blade stopped before it hit him.

Ichigo peeked at the girl above him and saw hesitation in her eyes. Taking this moment as his chance, he violently thrashed around so that Rukia lost her balance. She fell and let go of her sword in the process. Rukia sighed and gripped her sword to strike again. Ichigo thrashed around as much as the binding allowed him to. Rukia's sword hit the empty spot where Ichigo was a moment ago. The boy had rolled to the side in order to avoid the sharp blade. Rukia sighed again and let her gaze rest upon the orange haired boy. Seeing the boy in front of her struggle so pitifully, Rukia couldn't help but wonder why he was trying so hard.

"Why don't you just give up? There's no way out for you anyway", Rukia asked.

"Well, do you think life is worthless? 'Cause there's no way I think so", Ichigo hissed and tugged at his arms, "And if people killed simply because of a secret, then the world would be a massive grave right now. What made you think that I can't keep a secret?"

Rukia sighed again. She was frowning. After a while she opened her mouth with hesitation in her eyes.

"To tell you the truth, I-I am no fan of killing people… Perhaps… there might be a way to spare your life…", she prompted slowly and that made Ichigo immediately stop struggling.

His head turned towards her, urging her to go on.

"Well… I _could_ try and tell my superiors about it and they would make the final decision…_However_, I can't promise you that their decision will be any different from mine. Also, I'm very curious about the seal on your chest", Rukia continued.

The contemplating girl was silent again. Suddenly her eyes held a resolution that wasn't there a moment ago. She stood up and took out her phone, dialled a number and pressed the call button.

"Sir, this is Rukia Kuchiki. I have something to report, sir", Rukia began and explained the situation she was currently in.

She was silent, waiting for her superiors' decision, then she finally got an answer and replied:

"I see. As you wish."

The phone dropped on the other side. Rukia closed her phone and turned towards Ichigo and smirked at him. Her eyes twinkled mischievously. Ichigo didn't like the new expression on Rukia's face in the least.

"It's decided then: My superiors will need some time to discuss your situation, so for the time being, you are to obey any orders from me and help me out with my duties!", she declared.

Ichigo's chin dropped:

"Eh?!"

###

"Stop rubbing your wrists and listen Ichigo. There are several types of spirits, the main ones are: Zanpakuto, Fullbring and Quincy", Rukia explained, "I don't know what yours is yet. Also, I believe that the symbol on your chest is something that is sealing your powers or at least suppressing it enough, so that I myself could barely feel it at first."

"Ok. I thnink I get it mostly. What you do is called 'hunting'. You're a 'Hunter' who goes undercover and searches for any students who have 'illegal contracts' which means that they have contracts with spirits not registered in the organisation. Most of the time those contracts are unstable and it often leads them to go berserk and harm others. They seem to be able to hide their spirit's presence as well and you are one of the few who can pick up that weak presence. And we don't know yet if what I have is an illegal contract due to the seal", Ichigo reiterated the information he got and rubbed his brows, "I get that part, but tell me. Why the hell do you need to _draw_ as well?! It only made the whole thing more confusing! What are those rabbits supposed to be? Humans? Shinigamis? Or Hollows?"

"Idiot! Can't your stupid carrot head not even digest this simple information?", Rukia said and punched his head, "Can't you see the difference? The ones here are humans. The ones there are Shinigami. And the ones over here are Hollows of course!"

"How the heck was I supposed to know that with your amateur drawing?", Ichigo scowled.

"It just shows how much you lack in intelligence", Rukia retorted.

"Damn midget!", Ichigo muttered.

"I heard that, beanstalk!", Rukia shouted and kicked his shin.

"Ow! I get it! I get it!", Ichigo yielded, "So… what do you want to do now?"

"Nothing", came the answer, "My job is done for today. You may go home."

With that Rukia turned and left, leaving the baffled Ichigo behind. Ichigo stared at his classmate until she disappeared from his sight. Grabbing his bags, Ichigo sighed and got up to return home as well.

###

Ichigo closed the entrance door. He started to turn around when he suddenly felt toes touching his face and the next thing he knew was that his face was that he was lying on the ground.

"You're late!", Ichigo's father roared, "What time do you think it is?!"

"Is that how you greet your son who just barely escaped death?!", Ichigo yelled back and head butted his father.

"Be quiet! No matter what reason, to he who disrupts this household's iron harmony, only a punishment of blood can be rendered!", Isshin lectured.

At once both males started punching and kicking each other, while throwing insults and yelling swear words into each other's faces.

"Come on you two! The food's gonna get cold!", Yuzu called out worriedly but Karin interrupted, "Never mind them Yuzu, just give me another bowl."

* * *

A/N: Finally all the chapters have been revised! I hope you liked the changes!


	5. Sudden appearance

A/N: Here is the revised chapter 5! I inserted some stuff, so make sure to read it!

So, on with the story!

* * *

Chapter 5

_"I think I might get a headache soon"_, Rukia couldn't help but sigh, _"First I suddenly get a new job, plus a school transfer and now this mess. That boy doesn't even listen when I talk to him. I should have killed him. Why did I hesitate? I thought I was over it already... Or is it that he looks… similar?... Ah damn it! Wait. Huh? Now what the hell is Ichigo doing?!"_

"Hey Rukia! I've hit all the balls with the baseball bat", Ichigo called out and let go of the metal container full of drawn on baseballs.

"You were supposed to only hit the balls with the Hollow's face! You idiot!", Rukia fumed and punched his head.

"Hey! What was that for?! And what do you mean Hollow's face? How the hell would you be able to differentiate between these drawings?! They look like rabbits for goodness sake, damn shrimp!", Ichigo yelled back.

"What the fu- I am _not_ a shrimp! You are simply a giant! Strawberry!"

"Don't call me that, midget!"

"Then don't call me anything related to being short! _Strawberry!_"

"I told you not to call me that!"

"Hey, it's not my fault that your parents gave you a girly name which also means _strawberry_. So I'm simply calling you by your name."

Rukia was enjoying the view of Ichigo slowly turning red with no comeback for her logic. Finally the boy turned around with a 'humph'.

"Whatever, so why are we doing this again?", Ichigo asked with a carefree tone.

"So that you can control your powers once they are released, if that _is_ what I think will happen once the petals all disappear."

"Aha."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Ok. I don't want to do this anymore. It's annoying."

"The orders were that you have to obey what I say. So unless you want to die now, then I advise you to shut up and do what I say."

"…"

"I'll take that as an ok. Now go and get me something to drink."

"…Fine."

Rukia watched the boy walk over to the vending machines.

_"Now where was I…? Ah, right. Now that I think about it… Although I thought I saw _him_ for a moment when I was going to strike, there are lots of differences. The hair and eye colors are different. Not to mention the facial expression. Though the face _does_ resemble _him_ quite a bit"_, Rukia continued to ponder but Ichigo came back.

"You didn't tell me what you wanted so I just took something. Catch!", Ichigo threw the can to Rukia.

"… What is this… drink? Is this even edible?", Rukia examined the can.

"Yes it is, so just try it", Ichigo replied and gulped down his own drink.

He watched Rukia open the metal can cautiously and hesitantly take a sip.

"This is good, so what is it?", Rukia said and started to properly drink the liquid.

A small grin spread on Ichigo's face:

"Liver and red bean paste."

Rukia spit everything out of her mouth onto Ichigo's shirt.

"The fuck did you do that? It was just a joke! Damn it! A freaking joke! Do you think anyone would be able to drink that – well maybe there is _one_ person – but anyway, are you crazy?!", Ichigo cried out.

"_Well_, only an idiot would make a joke like that so it's your own fault!", Rukia grinded through her teeth and took out a napkin to wipe her mouth.

"Man, I've got to clean this up now!", Ichigo groaned.

"And afterwards, you will be running around the school three times – new and old school included", Rukia told him and she could have sworn that Ichigo's eyes bulged.

"Th-th-_three_ _times_?! Are you crazy woman?! Do you know how fucking big the old school was? Now it's even _bigger_!", Ichigo's pitch rose.

"You want to die already?"

"…Fine", Ichigo gave in and trudged off.

Rukia watched the back of the teenager for the second time that day. She observed him. She watched the male student take off his shirt to wash them at the basins. She took note of Ichigo's tanned muscles and sturdy body. He had muscles but not like those guys who were bulging with them. They were enough to give you the sense of manliness. His personality wasn't hard to get along with either. Though, Rukia did have to admit that the boy looked thoroughly like a delinquent with his orange hair – even if he insisted that they were natural. Nevertheless, even she had to acknowledge that Ichigo looked attractive, but he wasn't her type. It was a big 'No' for her.

_"I wouldn't be surprised if he actually had a fan club"_, Rukia imagined.

She saw Ichigo hang up his shirt to dry and start running the three laps, she had set for him.

"Well, like they say: Revenge is sweet", Rukia whispered and laughed quietly, "I think I'll leave it at that today."

###

Homeroom. Math. English. History.

Ichigo glanced at the schoolyard as he had a window seat, he could always take a peek at the outside. The courtyard was deserted, as everyone still had classes. Ichigo could see the school's metal gates and the brick wall surrounding the school. He was jotting down all the notes from the board when light suddenly flashed, and a lightning hit the center of the school's courtyard with a louder thunder. Rubble and pieces of dust were flying around. A huge body emerged from the smoke. A loud roar echoed. Everyone's heads whipped around and froze at the sight of the gigantic figure.

"Menos Grande…", Ichigo heard Mr. Ukitake whisper, "Why is one here?"

The massive monster tuned its head to stare at the students inside the classrooms. It opened its mouth and roared.

"Oh fuck", Ichigo said and all hell broke loose.

Girls began to scream and boys began to shout. Students jumped up from their seats and rushed for the closed doors. Pressing, ducking, and shrieking. Panic was spreading. Even most of the Shinigami students were freaking out. Only those who did Student missions managed to remain half-way calm, but even they had never seen a Menos Grande up close. Only very few of them have seen them before, but from afar.

The monster was colossal and not to mention ugly. A white mask covered its face and a big hole was there instead of its stomach. The enormous, black figure waved its arm and punched a hole into the wall near the gate. The wall collapsed and the sound only served to frighten the students more.

_"I hope the government is going to pay for the broken stuff"_, Mr. Ukitake thought while trying to guide the students to the emergency shelters.

Mr. Ukitake tried to calm his class down but the Hollow screeched and blocked out his voice. All the windows shattered. Pieces of glass flew around. Terror took over. Students pushed, trampled and fell over each other. Only a boy remained at his seat. Ichigo stood up and touched the window. He couldn't help but feel something pulling at his chest, something telling him to go. Ichigo opened the window.

"Ichigo! What are you doing?!", Mr. Ukitake shouted, when he finally noticed Ichigo's actions, "Get back here!"

Ichigo didn't hear him. He was engrossed in his own world. Dazed. He gazed at the Hollow and a smile tugged at his lips.

The bell for lunch rang.

Ding, dong.

Ichigo felt his chest explode. A wave of energy travelled through the school. All the Shinigamis froze. Ichigo rocketed out of the window towards the black giant. He didn't know why but it just felt right, as if he knew what to do. He could feel the adrenaline rushing through him. Ichigo laughed. Back at the classroom, Mr. Ukitake could only gawk at Ichigo's actions. Rukia who stood beside him muttered with a slip of the tongue:

"What the fuck is the idiot _doing_?"

She was fortunate that no one heard her.

Up in the air, Ichigo's lips formed into a wide grin. He reached for his back with his arm. The next thing he knew was that he was holding a huge blade in his hand. A power was flowing from the blade into. He felt confused but at the same time very certain.

The monster's left arm lunged for Ichigo but he instinctively knew what to do. He could feel something guiding him. He dodged the attack and landed on its arm instead. Screaming in anger, the Hollow tried to slap away Ichigo with its other arm, but before the Menos could touch him, Ichigo jumped onto the incoming hand. He let his sword cut sink into the Hollow and pulled it along while he ran on the arm towards the head. The monster waved its left arm again but Ichigo simply ducked and continued running. He then used the shoulder as a ramp and soared into the sky. The guiding presence urged him to cut down the Hollow. He could hear it whisper into his ear:

"_My name… Say my name…_"

Ichigo knew it. It was on the tip of his tongue. Following that command, Ichigo raised the sword with both hands. He opened his mouth and called out:

"Zangetsu!"

The blade glowed. With all the strength he could muster, Ichigo sliced the Menos Grande into halves. A ripping sound could be heard as the sword cut the Hollow from the head to its toe. His uniform tore in various places during the downward journey. A shockwave spread as Ichigo reached the ground. The Menos let out a last cry and dissolved into the air.

Deathly silence ensued.

Then a roar of victory erupted from the crowd. Yells of congratulations and appreciations could be heard from all the classroom's windows.

"You rock man!"

"Oh my god! He just cut a fucking Menos Grande in two like it was nothing!"

"Isn't that Ichigo?!"

"Thank you for saving us!"

Ichigo smirked. He felt good. He felt satisfaction. He didn't know why but he felt that what he did was right; still something kept tugging at the back of his mind.

###

"See, I told you everything would go smoothly", a man smiled and received a smack on his head in return, "Ouch! Damn it Yoruichi! It hurts you know!"

"Well, it's your fault for being so reckless Kisuke", a woman with a ponytail replied, but a grin was appearing already.

The man grinned back:

"Time to go to the next stage of the plan."

Kisuke pressed the button beside the microphone:

"My dear students! Since it is Friday, classes will be over soon. Therefore I have decided to let you all return home early for today. Recover from the shock over the weekend while we are fixing the damages here. To all the teachers: Please guide the students and then come to the meeting room as soon as possible for an emergency meeting."

Kisuke let the button go and he could hear the bustling and rumbling of students packing and leaving and the occasional shout from a teacher.

"I don't think the emergency part was necessary", Yoruichi reprimanded her childhood friend, "Though it will be fun seeing them trying to figure things out and – of course – their reactions once they learn of this."

"As always, you know me best", Kisuke grinned.

###

The loudspeakers shut off and Ichigo stood still in the middle of the courtyard, slightly dazed. Taking in everything that just happened, he could feel the control over his body returning to him. When his head cleared, he finally realized:

_"Oh shit. Rukia told me to lay low but – what have I done? Better escape now while she isn't here. Thank God it's Friday."_

With that Ichigo hurried out of the school grounds while everyone else was still busy and distracted in reorganizing themselves.

###

"Are you sure we can do that?", a woman asked.

"Of course. Why else would I call for this meeting?", the man with the striped at replied.

"And Captain Yamamoto gave his permission?", this time a man spoke.

"Yes, I have his full participation and acknowledgement in this."

"Well then, this is the first time that I can't wait for a Monday to come. After all, It's school that we are talking about", a huge figure rose from his seat, and pushed his long spikey hair back.

The man's laughter echoed through the school's hallways as he left. Soon the others followed and only two people were left behind.

"Do you think it was a good idea to let Zaraki participate in this Kisuke?", Yoruichi whispered to the man beside her.

"Yup. Our boy can handle him and in addition, we've got _her_", Kisuke murmured back and the corner of his lips pulled back into a mischievous grin, "Well then, operation Triple C enters its final stages! Oh and I might as well invite _him_ over for Monday. We'll be getting results soon enough."

"By the way why did you call it that?"

"'Cause it fits the situation."

* * *

A/N: I hope you liked the revised chapter!


	6. Ready, set, go!

A/N: I have revised this chapter, so please take a look at it!

Now, on with the story!

* * *

Chapter 6

The morning had been going fine. Ichigo woke up early, got himself ready for school, ate breakfast and left. No bruise from falling off the bed. No need to buy a new clock. No crazy dad punching or kicking him as a morning greeting. Plus, his sisters were still on their weekend school trip. Everything was going _perfect_. Perhaps _too_ _perfect_.

Ichigo felt weird. He felt a sense of dread as he walked to school. He didn't like how the day had started nor how it was going. It was too ordinary. The way to the school was more empty than usual. He hadn't seen a single student until now. Ichigo glanced at his watch:

_"Am I late or am I too early? The watch says that I'm on time and even early for once but not too early for it to be _this_ deserted."_

Ichigo couldn't shake that weird feeling away. Something was felt off – no, something was off. Nothing exciting had happened over the weekend. None of his friends had called. Neither did anyone ambush him and interrogate him about Friday's event. The fact that Rukia didn't contact him either troubled Ichigo the most. Ichigo had been having those weird dreams about the old man too. He would also occasionally nod off and wake up in that world full of sky scrapers again. He would always only hear snippets of what the man cladded in black was saying but it was getting better every time he was in that world again. However, Ichigo instinctively knew that the man was the one who guided him on Friday.

"_Zangetsu_", Ichigo muttered.

The name of the sword. The name of the man.

One important thing that did change was that the petal symbol on Ichigo's chest had disappeared, together with the power coursing through him on Friday. He felt his usual self again. Normal like always. He just hoped that the student and teachers wouldn't bother him when he arrived at school. Perhaps Rukia would use that weird memory device on the whole school for him?

_"Nah, she wouldn't"_, Ichigo doubted it, _"Though it always feels like she's teasing me, I could swear that the killing intent behind her words is real."_

Ichigo arrived at the front gates. The wall had been fixed. No traces of the previous battle were left. The school appeared as if nothing had every happened.

_"They were quite thorough with their reconstruction"_, Ichigo remarked.

He pushed open the black metal gates and stepped inside. Immediately a loud beeping sound could be heard from the speakers.

"Ahem. Ahem. Attention please! To everyone participating in Triple C, the prey has entered the school grounds. Please note though I've said it previously already: You may use any tactics you wish, but they shouldn't disturb nor interrupt any classes or student activities. No one may be injured except for the participants. And I do mean only injuries. No deaths please and no demolition of school property. It would be too troublesome to clean up the mess afterwards. Any violation of the rules will result in a disqualification– And before I forget! To everyone who doesn't know what I am talking about, please ignore the announcement and overlook any other suspicious or distracting activities for some time. Now without further ado, you may start!"

Ichigo was fuming inwardly. He had listened to his principal's bubbly broadcast but Ichigo just knew that his premonition came true:

_"Oh fucking damn it! Urahara is planning something incredibly stupid again. I swear if this is one of his idiotic games again, I'll personally wring his neck this time for sure. I don't plan on being covered in glue and chicken feathers like the last time I got involved"_, Ichigo cursed his principal in his mind over and over again.

He immediately knew that the 'prey' was him. With a deserted courtyard, it was so obvious that it was like asking to be called the idiot of the century if you couldn't get it right.

A huge man landed in front of Ichigo with a loud boom.

_"Now where the heck did he come from?"_, Ichigo felt vexed, _"Is it just me or does stuff keep suddenly appearing out of air around me recently?"_

Ichigo slapped his hand against his face and asked:

"Who are you and what do you want?"

"My name is Kenpachi Zaraki and I'm a teacher here. I want nothing much, except for a good fight with you. I need to see if you're as good as they say", the man said and brandished his battered sword in front of Ichigo.

"I see… You're a teacher and you want a good fight with me…", Ichigo replied with a chuckle which changed into scowl in an instant, "You call that _nothing much_?! What kind of a teacher goes around saying 'I want a good fight with you'?! For goodness sake, you don't even look like a teacher! You look like a freaking Yakuza boss with that eye patch and scar, not to mention the sword looks dangerous!", Ichigo whispered the last sentence.

"My, my Kenny. You forgot to say that should Icchi win, he would need to sign the paper", a small girl suddenly appeared behind Kenpachi's shoulder.

Kenpachi laughed loudly:

"I forgot Yachiru. You heard her Ichigo. Now, take out your sword, boy. I want to fight!"

"Wait a sec. What's this paper you are talking about? And don't give me a nickname like that!"

"It's the paper about you joining our team and becoming a Shinigami student, dummy!", Yachiru replied with a giggle, "I need to go Kenny, Icchi. I've got a tea party to attend!"

_"Ok, ok, ok… Calm down and think… Paper, fight, win, sign… That's like telling me to get purposely defeated if I don't want to sign that suspicious paper! I didn't hear anything about this at all!"_, Ichigo couldn't believe what he just heard.

"I think you've got it wrong", Ichigo reasoned, "There's no wa–"

"Save the talk for later, Ichigo! Get ready to fight!", Kenpachi interrupted and grinned, his sword only millimeters away from Ichigo's throath.

Ichigo was inwardly freaking out. He tried to think of a solution to get out of the situation. However, on the outside he remained calm. He was only silent for a second before he responded:

"Just give me a minute to fix my shoes, ok?"

"Go ahead", came the answer.

Ichigo knelt down and reached for his left shoe. When Kenpachi had landed, a lot of sand and pieces of earth formed on the surface. Without the huge man noticing, Ichigo grabbed a handful of the dirt. He stood up and with a swift motion the boy threw the contents towards the man's face. In the seconds while Kenpachi was distracted, Ichigo dashed towards the school building like he never did before:

_"I'm having too many near death encounters these days!"_

If there were people watching, they might have sworn that a trail of dust followed Ichigo as he ran. When Kenpachi had cleaned his eyes and looked around, he found his target gone. He clicked his tongue and left:

"Totally missed my chance and I've got a damn class coming up too. Grrr."

###

"See, I told you that he could handle it", Kisuke turned away from the windows.

"I'm not blind Kisuke", Yoruichi answered, "So, do you have any thoughts on the other candidates right now? We're missing three other members to complete the team."

Her yellow eyes swept over the papers scattered on the table.

"You should know me enough so that you won't have to ask that", Kisuke replied while waving his fan around.

"True" the female grinned, "So who are the candidates?"

"We are very lucky that they are closely associated with the targets this time. Here are their files", the man pulled out three folders from the papers.

"Two boys and one girl. Hm… So it's like a well-rounded team. They have support, long range, short range, an ace and large area of effect."

"You know, that sounded like gaming terms! Hahaha!"

"Yeah it did! Hahaha!"

###

Ichigo finally stopped after zigzagging through the hallways. He looked behind to make sure he was not followed.

"It ain't my style to run away but when faced with Kenpachi Zaraki like that, who wouldn't run?", Ichigo muttered and took in gulps of air to calm his racing heart.

He didn't have a chance to rest long, when another man appeared around the corner.

_"Why the heck is he wearing a pink suit? Is he gay or what?"_, Ichigo couldn't help but think when he saw the man approaching him with a wine bottle in his hand.

"Hello there, young man! Are you free right now? Why don't you come and have a drink with me?"

_"Is he drunk?"_, Ichigo thought and deadpanned, "Sorry but you _do_ know that I'm still underage, right?"

"Who cares about a year or two before turning eighteen? You'll get to meet all the pretty ladies too!", the man said and put his arm around Ichigo's shoulder, "All you need to do is sign this little paper!"

The adult waved a document in front of Ichigo's face.

_"Ugh. Another crazy man! Give me a break, damn it! There's no way I'm gonna sign some paper without knowing anything!"_, Ichigo replied in his head.

"Sorry but I've got something to do, so please excuse me!", Ichigo said while squirming out of the man's rather strong grip.

"Oh come on, no need to be so shy in front of your teacher. You're still a healthy teenage boy, are you not?"

Ichigo's face turned slightly red at the teasing and he struggled harder. Using both of his hands, he shook off the man's arm and ran off with a quick "I don't need it!".

"So he's the type not to be tempted, huh?", the man said while watching the teenager escape, "Oh, well. Time to drink!"

###

"Mr. Kurosaki, how nice of you to show up", Mr. Ukitake said once Ichigo entered the classroom, "Please sign this paper as you were late."

Ichigo felt tired and didn't think much when he walked over to the teacher's desk to sign, but once he saw the words on the paper, Ichigo immediately jumped back.

"Mr. Ukitake", Ichigo started, "I think that you've got the papers wrong. This must be a _habit_ from your old school, _right_?"

His teacher understood immediately at what his student was implying and put on a surprised face:

"Ah, _right_. _Thank_ _you_ Ichigo for _reminding_ me! You may go sit down."

Ichigo inwardly sigh in relief. At least his History teacher seemed reasonable. Plus, he got to read the paper he nearly signed and had a better idea at what was happening. There wasn't much extra information except that he now knew that he wouldn't be bothered during class time inside the classroom. The downside was that Ichigo dreaded lunch time already. He could hear the students around him whisper.

"That's right. It was Ichigo who cut down the Hollow. The monster attacked Ichigo twice but he just dodged and evaded finally struck it down."

"No! I heard that he was under a barrage of attacks by the monster and dodged every single one of them before attacking!"

"Nah, it wasn't like that. Ichigo didn't even need to evade. He cut the Menos into two with just a flick of his wrist."

"Eh? I heard that it was an Adjuchas that Ichigo defeated!"

"No way! With that size, it was a Vasto Lorde!"

_"Is it just me, or do the rumors keep getting more absurd?"_, Ichigo shook his head in wonder.

Suddenly he remembered Rukia. He looked around but couldn't see her. Her seat was empty.

_"Strange. Where could she be? Don't tell me, did she get in trouble for Friday?! Please not, or I'll have to listen to her nagging again. Still, it couldn't get any worse than this, right?"_, Ichigo hoped for the best outcome.

Unfortunately Ichigo forgot that _that_ sentence was a taboo line never to be spoken or thought, because once done, it would definitely become worse.

* * *

A/N: I am looking for a beta reader right now! I haven't found someone yet, so if anyone is willing to beta read this story, feel free to contact me!


	7. Back at the start

A/N: Thank you to hunterofcomedy and IchiRukiLover for reviewing!

I'm back from my trip! The weather was so great! So, here is chapter seven.

I still haven't found a beta reader, so if anyone is willing to, please contact me!

So, on with the story!

* * *

Chapter 7

The lunch bell rang.

Ichigo was expecting a barrage of strange people to burst in but nothing happened. Surprised but feeling relieved, Ichigo let his contracted shoulders relax. After a period with a full class, the class was so stuffy that one of the students opened the window near the teacher's desk to let in fresh air. The class was starting to empty and Ichigo's hand reached for his lunch box.

Suddenly the door burst open with a bang. Students whipped their heads around in surprise. Two men entered. At the same time, a woman sailed in through the open window, landing behind the teacher's desk with a flip.

"Who gets to have a go first, I wonder?", said the man with brown hair.

"The one who saw him first, in which case I would be first", the woman answered.

"It is the one with higher status", the second man with long black hair interjected, "So it is I."

"You do know that both our families are just as powerful", the woman retorted.

While the two continued to bicker on who would go first, the brown haired man silently slipped by and approached Ichigo, who was more or less frozen to the spot. Pulling out a paper out of his pocket, he addressed the student:

"Sorry for the delay. Hello, my name is Sousuke Aizen. I am the English teacher here. I don't know whether you know what is going on right now but I will explain anyway."

Ichigo could feel the kind-vibe coming from the man in front of him; the same vibe as his History teacher. Ichigo had more or less guessed and put together what was going on already but felt the need to pretend to still be confused.

"Due to your amazing feat on Friday, we adults of the Shinigami school are trying to recruit you as a new member to the teams we supervise", Sousuke explained patiently, "As you have a spirit contract now, you will have to join the Shinigami classes regardless of what the higher-ups decide. Most likely, you will be one of the top students. Thus I would like to have you on my team. I would very much appreciate it if you would join me."

Ichigo was about to refuse kindly, when the other two adults joined the conversation.

"Hey Aizen! Wipe your I-am-a- kind-person-act off your face and don't you go hogging the candidate while I was distracted", the woman grabbed Sousuke's shoulder and pulled him back, "I don't want you and your team winning again. It's such a hassle afterwards."

"I must say that I agree", the back haired man nodded.

"Now, now, Soi fon and Byakuya. I don't want the young man to get a false impression of me", Sousuke replied while smiling.

Meanwhile Ichigo had been watching the whole exchange with great attention, trying to find the right time to slip away. Suddenly one of the girls started to scream; the result of a greatly delayed reaction to the scenes enfolding inside the classroom. The girl fainted from shock and the present students rushed to get her to the infirmary. Duty bound, the teachers had to help out. The situation finally cleared.

"So Ichigo", Sousuke started talking again and turned his head, "what do you thin–"

The teacher abruptly stopped. In the place of the boy was a sticky note with a message. It said:

"Sorry, not interested."

_"Damn it"_, the three people cursed mentally.

###

Ichigo made a quick scan of the room. Around half of the students were still in the room. Some who were sitting had jumped up in surprise and knocked over chairs and tables in the process. Many of them had already started to eat when the three adults arrived. Ichigo was only partly listening to the man in front of him while his brain was working out an escape route:

_"The window near the teacher's desk is open. I could jump out of it… but we are currently on the third floor and I might just die from the fall, so no thanks… Hmmm… The front door is open, so I could use that exit but it's on the other side of those adults! How will I sneak past them? Arg‼ So this one is out of question too! There must be something…" _

Ichigo was furiously searching for an answer.

_"What to do? What to do?! Come on think‼...That's it! The backdoor! But how do I get there unnoticed?"_, Ichigo thought when a scream interrupted him and he inwardly grinned, _"I just got really lucky."_

The girl who screamed fainted and everyone started going crisscross through the classroom and stirred up so much confusion and panic. The bickering adults' attention was on the students now. As a teacher, students were their first priority in this situation or they would be disqualified.

After leaving a small note on his desk, Ichigo quietly left his seat and ducked behind the nearest table. He crawled on his knees and elbows to the next object that would hide him, ducking and dodging all the way, until Ichigo finally slipped through the door.

Once outside, Ichigo made a run for it; switching corridors, slipping through doors and maneuvering through the crowd. His heart was going crazy but he couldn't stop. He couldn't stop until he felt that the others wouldn't be able to catch up with him. Several times Ichigo glanced behind him to see if there were any pursuers. The answer stayed the same: None.

Ichigo finally halted. He was panting. He gasped as his lungs longed for air. Sweat ran down his forehead. His breath was irregular but he felt safe. At least for now he felt safe. He looked around:

_"Where am I? Am I inside an unfamiliar part of the former S.S.A. building?"_

Brown hallways. Wooden hallways. Old Japanese style hallways.

_"Uh-Huh. This is definitely still an S.S.A. building. So, where to now?"_

As this question floated through Ichigo's mind, he heard footsteps. Not walking ones but running ones.

"What the hell?!", Ichigo hissed, "Don't tell me that they've found me already. This is too fast!"

He could hear their voices already:

"Ichigo!"

"I'm pretty sure he went this way!"

"I'll definitely get him first!"

"Dream on!"

The teenager hissed:

"Damn it!"

Ichigo's feet started moving again. His mind was racing:

_"I need to get out of this place! Fast!"_

Brown eyes were constantly searching for a way out or a place to hide in. His sight skimmed over the hallway corners and windows, while zooming in on open doors and all the doorplates:

_"Class 2-D… Biology Room 1… Chemistry Room 3… Infirmary… Broom Closet… Physics Room 1… Wait!"_

Ichigo skid to a halt and retraced his footsteps.

_"Broom Closet"_, he read and grinned, _"Perfect."_

The door was open and a small "Yes!" escaped the boy's lips. He slid into the small room and closed the door behind him.

_"Puh… I barely made it– Footsteps! No way, they are stopping here?! I haven't even taken a break yet!"_

Ichigo tensed and held his breath as he pressed his ear to the door.

_"Please go away"_, he silently prayed.

"Did you see him?", Ichigo heard a man's voice through the door.

_"What was that man's name again? Izen? Aztec?"_, Ichigo was pretty sure that he was called something along those lines.

"Where could he have gone to?", this time it was a woman's voice.

_"I think she was called Sophie? Oh damn it! Me and my bad memory when it comes to names and faces!"_, Ichigo inwardly blamed himself.

Meanwhile the woman continued speaking:

"How are we supposed to –"

"It doesn't matter", a different man's voice cut her off.

_ "Wait. His name sounded vaguely like a fruit. Was it Marakuya?"_, Ichigo pondered.

"We will use the broadcasting room to tell the students to find him and give out a reward as thanks", the man suggested.

_"Are they being serious?!"_, the boy behind the door tore his eyes wide open, "_It's like they're setting up a bounty for me!"_

Finally he heard the footsteps fade away. Ichigo turned around and collapsed against the door. He wiped his forehead and relaxed. Pain was coursing through his legs and his chest hurt. He tried to calm himself down. He closed his eyes. His heart settled down.

"Ugh", he grunted, frustration evident in his voice, "How the hell did this happen anyway?"

Ichigo paused then whispered:

"It must have been that day after all."

He took in a deep breath.

"ACHOO!", Ichigo sneezed and complained, "Man, this room sure is dusty."

###

"All I have to do is convince them to complete it?", the short girl asked, suspicion and doubt in her voice.

"Yup, that's right", the man responded and waved his fan towards the window, "As you can see, the teachers are being as chaotic as ever but you would definitely understand, wouldn't you? That is, unless you prefer to be in your brother's team?"

"No thank you. I do not wish to be in his team – though it would be an honour for me – I need to prove that I am capable myself", was the girl's instant response.

Her violet eyes shone in the dimly lit room with a resolved determination.

"So you still haven't told him about your other job?", a woman spoke.

"No I haven't. It's against the rules", the girl responded.

"I did make you an exception."

"I do not want to be treated specially. Nor do I want to use my family's name to rise. I can do it through my own efforts."

"Well then. Do you accept?", the man interrupted.

After a short pause the girl answered firmly:

"Yes sir."

###

"You know, I just noticed. It's _that_ time of the year again", Renji said while munching on his sandwich.

"That time of the year?", Tatsuki asked.

"Uh-huh. _That_ time of the year", Momo emphasized.

"It's no surprise then that these things are happening", Toushiro nodded.

"Would you please explain what you mean by '_that_ time of the year'?", Uryuu inquired.

"It's a really famous event at S.S.A. You see, it's an event where the teachers more or less compete against each other for rewards. The rewards change every year but they can be things like a raise in salary or a one-week trip to that really expensive and famous hot spring for two people – sometimes a group – and many other things!", Renji explained.

"It really motivates them, you know. Each teacher has students who they supervise and from these students, teams are formed who compete in that competition against each other for their supervisors.

"It's a really fun event to watch and only the best from the best are selected to participate", Momo became very excited.

"When is that?", Orihime asked.

"In a month", Toushiro answered.

"Eh? That's still pretty far away", Keigo commented.

"It may seem far but the details of the events are always release three weeks prior and then everyone has to prepare. Those events may be fun to watch but they can be very dangerous as well. You could die in the process", Toushiro countered.

"You sound like you've participated before", Uryuu stated.

"Yes. I have and I barely escaped with my life from it."

Everyone fell silent.

"Oh come on! Don't be so gloomy! We've got medics stationed and the teachers to intervene should things get too dangerous", Momo tried to lift the atmosphere.

"That's right!", Renji laughed out, "Even I did those things too and I'm still here! Safe and sound!"

"That's because they had to take you out since you fainted like a girl", Kira interjected.

Renji went red like a tomato:

"I did _not_!"

"Renji fainted?!", Keigo said and burst out in laughter, "Like a _girl_!"

Infected by Keigo, everyone began laughing at Renji's expense but the heavy atmosphere was gone.

* * *

A/N: We're back at the start again! I'm pretty sure most of you have figured out what is going on. If you want to, you can put the pieces together in the reviews, I don't mind.


	8. Tricked

A/N: Since no one reviewed, I'm assuming that most of you didn't read the rest of chapter 7 which I completed once I got back from my trip.

To IchiRukiLover: I'm sorry; I totally forgot to put in my answer to your question last time! I've read Pandora Hearts (and still do) and although I did not intend to, perhaps I've been influenced by it unconsciously^^

Now on with the story!

* * *

Chapter 8

"Has anyone seen Ichigo?", the teacher asked once she got to Ichigo's name on the attendance list.

Many shook their heads.

"I saw him being chased by two men and a woman during lunch, Ms Ochi, but after that…", a girl in the corner spoke.

"Oh well, he'll eventually return", Ms. Ochi said and shrugged her shoulders, "Let's start class!"

The students in her class sweat dropped at her attitude and thought:

_"Is that what a teacher should be saying?"_

###

"Achoo!", Ichigo woke up from the dust while coughing.

His eyes took in the small room with a bewildered look.

_"Huh? Where am I…? Why was I – Oh wait! I'm in the broom closet right now. Right. It's because of those weird teachers who were chasing me around!"_, Ichigo thought angrily as he remembered.

"Time to get out of this place and check whether it's safe", he mumbled while he stood up and turned the doorknob.

A click sound could be heard but the door didn't budge. Ichigo turned the knob again with a little more force. Nothing happened. This time the orange haired boy turned and pulled the door hard but with no success. Ichigo's patience snapped and he began shaking the door until it made rattling sounds. The result: Ichigo felt exhausted.

"Why the fuck is the fucking door locked when it should be fucking open?! The fucking school has not even fucking ended!", the teenager cried out in frustration.

The boy took in a deep breath to calm down:

"Ok, ok. Maybe somebody outside can hear me. Hello?! Anybody there?! Can you hear me?! Hey!"

Ichigo hammered on the door but there was no response.

"Damn it! Why is nobody there when you need them?!", he shouted.

###

"_Poor_ _boy_, getting locked in by the care taker while sleeping. Very unlucky and to top it off it's in a _broom closet_. Oh well, can't do anything about it", the man shrugged his shoulders; his tone was ironic.

"Well, if you know about it, why don't you go help him? You have all the keys of the school", the woman beside him prompted while trying to keep a straight face.

"Nope, I can't do that. It's against the rules to interfere and you know that too."

"Haha, you're right. I did participate in creating those rules. Anyway, back to the topic: There was only one boy whose memories she had to suppress?"

"Only one boy, a childhood friend. Plus, he did it willingly after she explained the situation. It only works best if the participant is willing to forget for a while. He's the only she told about her other job."

"Must have made things easier. That girl can be so stubborn at times."

Yellow eyes glinted in the dim room, the sound of a fan swishing could be heard and two smiles could be seen.

###

"You got me. I'm going to try that aptitude test", Uryuu finally announced.

"Me too, I think", Chad said after a while.

"Well, we can still back out anyway", Orihime smiled.

"You have my gratitude", Rukia smiled back.

Suddenly they were disrupted by an angry yell from the doorway. A disheveled looking boy stood there covered in dust.

Orihime gasped:

"Oh my God, Ichigo! What happened to you?"

"You look like you came out of a barely used broom closet and are those spider webs clinging to your shirt?", Uryuu said and wrinkled his nose.

"I _was_ in a broom closet", growled Ichigo, "Locked in that damn closet for three hours until finally the care taker passed by and let me out again. All that dust and all those spider webs!"

Then he finally saw Rukia. He walked over to the group and grabbed Rukia's shoulders:

"Rukia! Where the hell _were_ you?! You didn't contact me at all! You didn't get into trouble for _that_, did you?", Ichigo whispered the last part.

"_I am fine_", Rukia answered and pried the boy's hands off her shoulders, "Please clean yourself before touching other people."

"Wait, you need to answe–"

"I _said_: 'Please clean yourself before touching other people', _Ichigo._"

Ichigo immediately backed off:

"I get it. I get it. I'll be back in a minute, so don't move from that spot, ok?"

When Ichigo came back clean and tidy, he asked:

"Could I talk to Rukia alone?"

Uryuu, Orihime and even Chad gave him the look. Ichigo went red:

"I–It's no–not like _that_!"

"_Yeah sure_", his friends answered and left.

Ichigo rolled his eyes at them.

"Ok, they are gone now–"

"Perfect", Rukia cut Ichigo off, "I needed to speak with you too."

"Wait, I need to say something fir–"

"There has been a decision by the higher ups."

"I don't care about that right now. I–"

"Although I don't agree too much with their decision, I will comply."

"Listen to m–"

"I need you to take the aptitude test for your spirit contract."

"Just list– Huh? Me?", Ichigo raised his brow, "I don't think so."

"_Of_ _course_ you need to", Rukia replied in her sweet voice while staring into Ichigo's eyes so intensely that it made Ichigo shiver.

Her look said: If you don't do what I say, you can say your life good-bye. Ichigo felt a chill run down his back. He felt that his three friends were lucky that they couldn't see Rukia right now and did not know of her other side.

"Yes, I'll take the test", said Ichigo obediently.

"You are doing the right thing", assured Rukia but glared at him with a punishment-time-for-disobeying-me-will-come-later- look.

Ichigo could only sigh inwardly:

_"Great. I'll probably have to do five laps around the school or do a hundred push-ups or something along those lines."_

"So when is this test?", he asked and scratched his head.

"Tomorrow", came the short answer.

"What?!"

###

"I think we just got bullshitted", a boy with glasses said while pushing up his glasses.

"…Yeah", a very tall, dark skinned boy agreed.

"B–but Uryuu, Chad! We never agreed to this!", the girl beside them said.

"Apparently we did when we signed that contract, Orihime. That's why I said that we got bullshitted", Uryuu replied.

"Oh…", Orihime's voice became soft.

"I never imagine the test to be this way", Uryuu continued, "We did a written exam, an oral exam, a practical, sports, an interview and suddenly we were plunged into this emergency simulation situation that could have been the end of us all."

"They were trying to bring out the inside", commented Chad.

"The evaluation was really quick too!", said Orihime.

"And once the results were out, we immediately had to make our contracts", Uryuu nodded in agreement, "I didn't think that it would be this easy."

"So Chad has the Fullbringer type, the same as me", Orihime mused.

"That's right", Uryuu answered.

"Orihime's power is mainly defensive with healing, while mine seems to be concentrated in offense", Chad contributed.

"But Uryuu has a Quincy type, doesn't he", Orihime stated.

"It's suits me quite well since it involves arrows. I _am_ _Captain_ of the archery club", Uryuu reminded.

"So this is where you three were!", a male voice called out from behind them.

The three of them turned around.

"Ichigo…", Chad started to say.

"Why were you at the exam? You already seem to have a contract", Uryuu continued.

"I dunno", Ichigo responded, "Anyway Uryuu, you, Chad and Orihime have been summoned by the vice-principal."

"The vice-principal? You mean Mr. Urahara?", Orihime questioned.

"Yes, that annoyingly, cunning, laid-back, fan-waving, striped, over-the-top man. Always pulls me into his troublesome antics!", Ichigo grinded through his teeth.

Ichigo's friends simultaneously gave a sigh and a good-bye and then went their way.

"What's up with them?", Ichigo murmured as he watched his friends leave, "Now that that's finished, I need to find Rukia. _Again_."

###

"Where are you taking me Rukia?"

Brown eyes were fixed on the girl as the boy asked his question. Rukia gave no reply. Suddenly she took a turn, opened a door, pulled the boy inside and slammed it shut behind them. She turned around with a sharpness and yelled so loud that it scared the wits out of the teenager.

"That felt much better."

"What's up with you?", asked Ichigo.

"Nothing much, just letting some steam out. So, have you decided already? You met with the principal didn't you?", Rukia stared at the boy in front of her.

Ichigo avoided her eyes and spoke:

"Yes I did. And I agreed."

"I see", said Rukia and sighed.

"What's wrong?", Ichigo asked and it was his turn to stare and Rukia's turn to avoid the eyes.

"You _do_ know that you will have to participate in the upcoming games, right?", Rukia spoke.

"Yes, I do."

"You _do_ know that they're dangerous?"

"Yes, I do."

"You _do_ know that we're in the same team?"

"Yes, I do."

"And you _do_ know that your friends are taking part too?"

"Yes, I do."

"Just asking you questions doesn't work. Tell me what happened."

Ichigo retold the story.

###

_A boy kicked the office door open with bang._

_"URAHARA!"_

_"Now, now Ichigo. Don't be like that. Take a seat first", came the voice from behind the desk._

_Ichigo was to retort but changed his mind. Although it seemed like an invitation, Ichigo knew that it was an order. He walked over to the seat in front of the desk. In the corner's shadow on the right, he could see the outline of a woman. Yellow eyes glinted from within. He could feel a third presence but couldn't see it. Once Ichigo sat down, Kisuke Urahara opened his mouth again:_

_"So, what have you come for?"_

_"You know why I came! Don't try to pull that I-am-innocent face on me!", Ichigo burst out in anger, "Do you know what I had to go through the last two days?! Not to mention today! I got chased all over the place by some weird teachers, even the students tried to chase me after they announced some reward! In addition, I got locked inside a broom closet in the process. Had to get home late and go to bed with an empty stomach! Then there was this stupid test! Why was mine so different from them?! Were you trying to fricken kill me with those traps? There were spikes, **spikes**! Inside the ground! I would have become the world's first cheese-man if I had fallen in one of those holes! And what about those flying **darts** and swinging **axes**? What kind of sports test is **that**?! Do you real–"_

_"Calm down, Ichigo."_

_"How can I calm do–"_

_"I said **calm down**."_

_Ichigo immediately shut up._

_"Now that you've finished taking out your frustration on me, we can talk."_

_Kisuke took out his fan, started waving it and leaned back into the chair:_

_"Do you understand why you were being chased?"_

_ "Yes."_

_ "So you have figured out everything, I presume?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Then I will get to the point: Will you join my team?"_

_"No way."_

_"Even if your **friends** are?"_

_"That's ri– What?!", Ichigo's eyes widened in surprised but they quickly changed into anger._

_He banged his fist on the table:_

_"Why did you bring my friends into this?"_

_"To pressure you of course."_

_"Not holding back, are you?"_

_Ichigo's laugh was a sarcastic one but Kisuke was smiling behind his fan._

_"I guess I'm not. Here is the contract."_

_The man pulled out a folder from the drawer. Ichigo grabbed it and took the papers out. His eyes skimmed over the surface. After a while he looked up._

_"Fine. I accept."_

_"Are you sure? You didn't even properly read through the agreement contract."_

_ "Do I look like I've got any other choice after you've roped my friends into this? Either way, I will have to clear the conditions and wait a year to terminate the contract. So in the meanwhile I will be a Shinigami student anyway."_

_"So you have thought it through already?"_

_"**Yes**. Now, let's get this over with."_

###

"Why didn't you object to it?", said the man and waved his fan around.

"Because I was expecting it. He needs to make his own decisions", came the reply, "I feel that I can't teach him anything more. If he is to master those powers, he needs to learn in an environment that fits him."

"That's just like you."

"Well, this is just like you too, Kisuke. But tell me, why did you include those teachers and the school when you could have just gotten him?"

Kisuke laughed:

"Don't try to play ignorant, Isshin. You know that if I just did that, I would immediately be suspected and it's no fun that way. I still prefer to stay on the side-lines."

"That is true."

* * *

**Bluesoap's Story Talk:**

Originally I wanted to include a scene where Rukia persuades Uryuu, Chad and Orihime in a very elegant and cunning manner, but since I couldn't get any ideas of how she would do it, I had to take it out and change some things (sigh, I even spent a whole week thinking hard about it which is why I was late posting this). If, by the way, you are wondering whether I have forgotten about Rukia's real job of hunting, then please be at ease, because I have not.^^ That case is still going on in the background.


	9. Don't underestimate me

A/N: Hey, I'm back with a new chapter! Thank you to The Blood Moon Rises, hunterofcomedy, Ben10 Madness, IchiRukiLover and roseduchess7 who reviewed.

To roseduchess7: When you wrote that chapter 8 ended with a cliffhanger, I thought: "Omg. How could I do that?!" I didn't intend to let chapter 8 end with a cliffhanger (I could have slapped myself for that), since it was going to take a while until I could post my next chapter. (I personally know how a cliffhanger can drive you crazy.)

As for an ulquihime pairing: I'm actually still debating on pairings, but if more than 3 people request for the same pairing then I wouldn't mind doing that.

So here is chapter 9:

Let's go on with the story!

* * *

Chapter 9

It was a two-story building, Japanese style. A small shed was attached to the building on the right. On the front was a sign that said Urahara Shoten. Five people stood at the front.

"What are we doing here at this shabby place?", demanded Ichigo whose face showed a deep scowl and severe irritation, "Not to mention that your shop looks as shady and suspicious as your attire Urahara!"

"So that's the reason why this place is infested with rumors!", Orihime beamed as if she just solved something really difficult.

The others sweat dropped but Kisuke appeared unaffected by it. Instead his mouth was curved into a grin though half of his face was hidden by his fan, so the outcome was the same either way. Plus, his voice didn't change in the slightest from his usual laid-back tone:

"Follow me and you will see."

The owner of the shop in front of the group slid the front door open and entered.

"Short answer but no explanation", Ichigo muttered sarcastically.

"Stop looking so pissed off and just follow", snapped an annoyed Uryuu at Ichigo.

"We finally have a school day off and suddenly you get woken up at _6 o'clock_ in the morning by a phone which was only to remind that you are meeting up at _12 o'clock_ today at this shop. Did you think that I would _not_ be pissed off?"

"Yes I did."

"It was a rhetorical question."

"It was a sarcastic answer."

Both boys slipped into an awkward silence. Not able to bear the situation any longer, Chad and Orihime followed their vice-principal through the entrance. Uryuu also entered, followed lastly by Ichigo.

They stopped at the basement. There Urahara tipped a code into the lock and the heavy, metal doors opened with a hiss. As Ichigo entered the room last, he saw his friends inside, eyes wide open and mouths agape.

"What are you guys doing, gawking like idiots. A fly will enter your mouth…", Ichigo's words fell into a whisper.

He was now staring at the room too with his mouth wide open.

"Mr. Urahara. Why do you have a desert place under your shop?", Ichigo said while taking in the contents of the vast room.

"Is that the sky that I'm seeing Mr. Urahara?", questioned Orihime when she saw the ceiling.

"How is this even possible?", Chad was amazed.

Kisuke only chuckled.

"Welcome to my secret training ground!", he announced.

"Secret training ground?", Uryuu repeated.

"Yes, secret training ground", Kisuke confirmed, but before he could continue, a girl crashed into the ground in front of the group.

"Rukia!", Orihime gasped.

Rukia groaned while standing up. Suddenly another figure appeared in front of her and swung a kick. Rukia barely dodged by jumping several meters up, but the other figure caught up faster than she anticipated. Rukia saw a fist aimed at her and used her arm to block it. Suddenly there was almost only blurring of hands, arms and legs in the air while they were falling. The teenagers who were watching, could barely make out the strikes and punches that were delivered. The next thing they knew, Rukia was brought down with a kick from the top to the ground. She landed with sickening crunch.

The group of friends was about to run over to help Rukia but were stopped by Urahara. Within the dust cloud Uryuu thought he recognized the person fighting Rukia.

"Is that Ms. Shihouin fighting there?", he asked.

"Yup. What they are doing is unarmed combat training. I want you all to be as good as Rukia after four weeks", Kisuke answered.

"What?!", five heads turned towards the vice-principal.

"There is no way that they could do that sir!", Rukia shouted as she walked over to the group.

"You're ok Rukia?", Ichigo was surprised.

He was sure that Rukia had broken several bones with that fall.

"Of course I am _ok_", Rukia scoffed, "Contractors have a much higher regeneration rate than normal humans. I told you that already last time."

Behind her, three people sweat dropped.

"Is that really Rukia?", Orihime asked.

"She does look like her", Chad responded.

"But her attitude is different", Uryuu commented.

Rukia cringed inwardly. Her tongue slipped!

"Ahahahaha", she laughed awkwardly and quickly changed topics, "What did you think about the room when you entered?"

"It's really amazing!", Orihime gushed, "I've never seen anything like it before!"

"This room is modeled after a cave where we used to play and train when we were younger", a female voice explained from behind.

Orihime turned around: "Ms. Shihouin!"

"You went easy on me earlier", Rukia accused her sparring partner.

"If I was serious, then you would have lost before you could even blink", Ms. Shihouin replied with a smile.

"I understand", said Rukia and remembered the original topic, "As I said before: There is no way that they could reach my level within four weeks when it took me years!"

Kisuke raised his eyebrow: "You are underestimating your classmates too much."

_"And you are underestimating **me**"_, Kisuke continued in his head.

"Why don't you try sparring with Ichigo? Unarmed combat, of course", he suggested.

At that, an evil glint appeared inside Ichigo's eyes and he grinned:

"_Yeah_, let's do that. I haven't fought for quite some time, so this is _perfect_. Don't think that just because you're a girl that I will go easy on you, Rukia."

Rukia became irritated but her outside only showed a smile:

"Ichigo, I doubt that your street fighting will be enough to ensure your victory against me."

"We'll see about that shorty."

Rukia's eyebrow twitched:

"_Is that so?_"

"_Yeah, that is so._"

"Mr. Urahara, what are the rules?"

Kisuke who watched his students argue, silently chuckled behind his fan:

"The first one to make the opponent unable to move, wins or you just give up and lose."

_"Like hell I will give up"_, both teenagers thought.

_"This is going to be revenge for all the so called training you made me go through! Ahahahaha!"_, Ichigo's metal laugh was full of glee.

_"Did you think I would not notice your plan, Ichigo? I will utterly crush you in this game! Ahahahaha!",_ thought Rukia delightfully.

Kisuke interrupted their fantasies of beating their opponent up.

"Do you see the place there, circled by rocks and trees?", Kisuke continued, "Should you make your opponent fall out of the ring then you win too. Now warm yourselves up and tell me when you are ready."

"I'm ready", both replied at once.

"Are you sure?", Kisuke raised his eyebrow, "No need to prepare and so on?"

"Yes."

"Then Yoruichi will be the judge."

"Wait, _me_?", Yoruichi turned towards Kisuke, "Why me when you suggested the duel?"

"Pretty please?"

"Haah. Fine. You just do whatever you want, don't you?"

Yoruichi sighed and motioned for Ichigo and Rukia to follow her. Uryuu, Chad and Orihime were about to follow, but Kisuke stopped them.

"Follow me", he said with a low tone and walked away.

Hesitant but curious, the three decided to follow him. He led them up a nearby hill. On the top Kisuke stood there silently and watched the ongoing scene below. They could see Rukia, Ichigo and Yoruichi talking to each other, then separating. Ichigo walked over to the left and Rukia to the right. Yoruichi stood at the edge in between them. Then Kisuke turned around to face the three friends. Suddenly his passive face lit up and he smiled a bright smile.

"Isn't this a great place to watch the upcoming action?", he laughed out loud.

Mentally the three teenagers were smacking themselves and their principal for being all serious before. But reality was different. Instead they just awkwardly laughed along with the man, who stood in front of them, laughing crazily and hysterically. Suddenly out of nowhere, a shoe hit their vice-principal's head and knocked him to the ground.

"My head hurts", a moaning Kisuke got up from the ground and turned towards his childhood friend, "Yoruichi! How could you do that to me?!"

"Your laugh was so disturbing that I thought my students would faint!", came the answer.

"You can't do that to me!", Kisuke protested.

"Yes I can and I just did! Your laugh was also interfering with the duel! So shut up unless you want to leave!", Yoruichi threatened.

"Fine! Fine! I get it!", Kisuke gave up and tapped the ground with his cane.

A square of the ground slid open and four chairs came. Orihime, Uryuu and Chad could not help but sweat drop at the scene while still being amazed at the technology of the place.

"How _rich_ is our vice-principal?", Orihime whispered to Uryuu.

"Rich enough to build this crazy place. I wonder if it comes from the taxes? Or from the school's pay?", Uryuu wondered.

"Maybe we are over paying him", Chad could not help but say.

"Grab a chair kids and get ready for the show!", Kisuke instructed.

They put up their chairs to get a good view of the ring below. Underneath, Yoruichi was already giving the get-ready sign. Rukia was still in her previous clothes, dark blue shorts and a dark purple t-shirt. However, Ichigo had changed. He had taken off his orange shirt, leaving him with the black t-shirt he was wearing underneath.

_"Good thing I wore my old jeans today"_, thought Ichigo and stretched his arms and legs.

"Are you ready?", Yoruichi asked.

"Yes", Rukia and Ichigo answered.

Yoruichi raised her arm:

"You know the rules and conditions. Anything goes as long as it doesn't involve life threatening injuries or death blows! Now then. Ready. Set. Go!"

Yoruichi brought her arm down and the fight started.

Ichigo leapt at Rukia and threw a punch with his right hand. On the other hand, Rukia was surprised. She didn't think that Ichigo would make the first move. Instinctively her body ducked and she slid her right leg across the floor, tripping Ichigo. With a yelp the boy fell backwards and hit the floor. In the meanwhile, Rukia proceeded to jump, aiming for a hard kick into Ichigo's stomach.

Ichigo saw the move coming. He rolled to the left and immediately got up, letting Rukia's feet create a cavity in the ground. Seeing a chance, Ichigo threw his right fist at the girl, but Rukia anticipated it and blocked with her arms. Both were locked in a contest of force for a while before splitting up.

"You're quite the stubborn type, aren't you?", Ichigo grinned.

"You're quite the impulsive, aren't you?", Rukia replied.

Rukia swung her leg from the right side but Ichigo brought his arm up and let it absorb the impact. Seeing Rukia's left side open, Ichigo countered with a kick of his own, which was evaded.

Rukia took a step forward, getting closer to Ichigo and executed an upper-cut. Her fist connected with Ichigo's chin, making him fly backwards but Ichigo landed with a flip.

"Why aren't you bleeding?", Rukia demanded when she didn't see any serious damage to Ichigo.

"Because my backflip took away most of the force, midget idiot", Ichigo taunted while rolling his eyes.

Rukia's eyes narrowed. She lunged at Ichigo with a suddenness and speed that totally caught him off guard. Her right hand was open, her arm was stretched and her fingers were extended as if her hand was a blade.

Ichigo bent backwards, trying to avoid the strike but wasn't so lucky. Her hand jabbed his left shoulder even though he smoothed his move into a backflip while kicking into Rukia's stomach with his feet.

Rukia was sent back. She lay on the ground while holding her stomach, her eyes tearing from the pain. He eyes took a quick glance at Ichigo. The teenage boy was holding his shoulder and slowly standing up. He took a step into Rukia's direction.

Not wanting to risk being defenseless, Rukia forced herself to stand. She knew that the pain would fade away in a while, as well as any wounds plaguing her right now, but she also knew that it would be the same for the boy in front of her, even if he hadn't realized it yet. Rukia took a deep breath and stabilized herself. After all, a Kuchiki needed to remain dignified and elegant at all times.

"You're quite stubborn, aren't you?", Rukia grimaced.

"I could say the same about you. Why don't you just let me beat you up, then we can end this", Ichigo mocked.

"You wish stupid strawberry."

"Did anyone ever tell you that you look like an elementary school kid?"

"Did anyone ever tell _you_ that you have a girly name?"

"Hey! Are you gonna talk or fight?!", called out a voice from above, interrupting them.

"Shut up Urahara!", yelled Ichigo and Rukia simultaneously.

Using Ichigo's distraction to her advantage, Rukia ran at Ichigo and performed a high kick. When Ichigo caught it with his hands and pushed it away, she immediately followed up with a roundhouse kick.

Ichigo was bashed against a nearby boulder. Cracks appeared in the rock where Ichigo collision took place. The impact left Ichigo breathing ragged, but Rukia didn't give him a chance to recover. She relentlessly struck out at Ichigo in various ways while Ichigo barely managed to block the attacks.

Ichigo didn't know what to do, so he did the first thing that came to his mind. He head butted her. He then threw a punch with his left but Rukia slid her arm along Ichigo's, pushing the attack away from her, while targeting Ichigo's stomach.

Ichigo spun to the right to dodge the incoming fist and got behind Rukia, aiming for her back with his left knee. However, Rukia followed his turn and blocked with both arms, causing her to slide back.

Suddenly Rukia dashed at Ichigo and gave a roundhouse kick. Ichigo, not able to evade in time, smashed against a nearby boulder inside the ring. Before he could recover, Rukia appeared and rammed her fist into his stomach. Ichigo doubled over, falling to the ground.

Rukia was about to stomp on Ichigo when he grabbed her ankles and pulled hard. Rukia lost her balance and fell backwards. Ichigo stood up and threw Rukia against a nearby tree. The dead tree snapped and swerved towards Rukia, who evaded the falling trunk.

She grabbed Ichigo at the collar and was about to knee him when he pulled her into a hug.

"Got ya", he whispered into her ear, smirking teasingly.

Rukia's breath hitched. She went red. With a malicious grin, Ichigo threw Rukia into the air. He then jumped and struck Rukia down. Rukia blocked but hurdled downwards, hitting the ground. Rukia groaned as she stood up. Suddenly Ichigo appeared behind her and locked her neck with his right arm.

"Damn it!", she hissed.

"The match is over! The winner is Ichigo!", Yoruichi announced.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?", asked Rukia.

"I got attacked by my old man every day since I was a kid. Plus, I did Karate when I was younger", answered Ichigo with a grin, "You just shouldn't have underestimated me."

* * *

**Bluesoap's Story Talk:**

I don't know whether Japanese people consider the name Ichigo to be girly or boyish or gender neutral, but for me it always seemed rather girlish. (Which is why Rukia says that too) But that's only my personal opinion.

This chapter might seem as if it didn't progress the story much, but it continues into the next chapter.

How is the new fighting scene? (Thanks for your advice hunterofcomedy.)


	10. Unexpected

A/N: I'm so sorry for the late update! My laptop got confiscated by my parents and I had to wait a while.

Thank you to hunterofcomedy, roseduchess7, and Ebi 69 who reviewed.

To hunterofcomedy: Thanks for your advice. I'll keep improving my writing!

Btw, check my profile if you want to know when I might update and etc.

For now, on with the story!

* * *

Chapter 10

"Ichigo, you can let go of me now, you know", Rukia demanded.

"Why? So you can beat me up?", Ichigo, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

He wasn't going to take any chances when it came to Rukia. He remembered back to the last time he let his guard down. Rukia kicked his shin so hard. He had a bruise left for three days even though it should have disappeared immediately due to his fast regeneration.

"Your _hands_ are in an _inappropriate_ place", Rukia gritted through her teeth, her previous composure was thrown out the window and replaced by unmistakable irritation.

Ichigo's eyes travelled from the petit girl's head down to where his right hand was. It was clutching Rukia's shoulder, an inevitable position when he uses his arm to constrain someone at the neck. His eyes travelled downwards, tracing his left arm down to his fingers. Ichigo's face immediately turned into a deep shade of red. He hurriedly let go of the girl and stumbled backwards.

"Uwa! I–I didn't mean for that to happen!", Ichigo stuttered and stumbled across his words, waving his arms around for emphasis, "It's just–I mean–It was– An accident! It was an accid–"

_SMACK!_

###

"Now, let's test your physical abilities", Kisuke announced.

The three teenagers in front of him were surprised.

"Didn't we do that during the test already?", Uryuu asked.

Kisuke shook his head and replied:

"This is more of a battle simulation."

"I see", was all Uryuu said while pushing his glasses up further on his face.

Suddenly Kisuke's smile brightened up.

"Ah! Ichigo, Rukia, Yoruichi! You're back! That was quite a battle", Kisuke appraised.

Orihime on the other hand had a perplexed expression:

"Ichigo, what happened to the left side of your face? It's red."

Ichigo waved his friend's question off:

"It's nothing of importance."

Orihime was about to confront him but changed her mind, as Kisuke began speaking again.

"As I've said before, we will do a battle simulation for the three of you", Kisuke continued while his eyes drifted around the group's faces under the shade of his hat, "It's unarmed combat, so no weapons involved. Just like Ichigo and Rukia did."

Kisuke paused when he saw a group of three approaching them. Two children and a very tall man. As they approached the group, Kisuke explained:

"Everyone, these are my employees. You may or may not have seen them when we passed through the shop."

Everybody turned around to see the people he mentioned.

"Is everyone ready?", the very tall man asked Kisuke when he got near.

"Almost", Kisuke answered and then turned towards the group again, "Let me introduce my shop employees. This is Tessai."

Kisuke indicated towards the very big man then towards the small boy and girl.

"And this is Jinta and Ururu."

"They look rather young to be your employees", Ichigo frowned, but Kisuke just smiled.

"Ichigo, you shouldn't underestimate my employees. It might just come back to bite you sooner... or later", Kisuke chided, then turned his female partner, "Yoruichi, please take care of Orihime. I will work with Chad and Uryuu."

Yoruichi was about to refuse but one look at Orihime told her what Kisuke aimed for. Orihime looked rather uncertain and scared, but since Yoruichi was a female, Orihime would probably feel more at ease with her.

"Good. Now to you three", Kisuke mentioned for Chad, Uryuu and Rukia to get together, "Rukia, I want you to try fighting with Uryuu and Chad, one after the other and then tell me your opinion of them, ok? I'll send Tessai and Jinta over later."

Rukia simply nodded, although inside she wasn't all too enthusiastic about it. Together the three teenagers left for a more spacious area of the training ground.

"Ok that should be it–"

"What about _me_?", Ichigo interjected.

Kisuke slowly turned towards Ichigo and flashed a creepy smile, which rivaled the fox-smile of a notorious senior Ichigo met.

_"If Keigo hadn't pulled me with him to see his 'beautiful senior', then I wouldn't have met her boyfriend GIn"_, Ichigo thought and shivered at remembering Gin's bizarrely piercing smile.

"_You_ will be training with Tessai, Jinta and Ururu."

_"I think Mr. Hat-and-Clogs has got some screws loose"_, Ichigo thought and raised an eyebrow, "You want _me_ to train with these _kids_ and an _old man_?"

Kisuke just shook his heads and nodded to Tessai:

"Tessai, please."

The tall man with glasses went over to Ichigo, put his hand on Ichigo's chest and muttered something before Ichigo could protest. Almost immediately Ichigo could feel his energy being drained.

"W–What the hell?!", Ichigo cursed.

He saw something flash from the corner of his eyes and immediately jumped back to avoid it. There was a loud crashing sound and dust swirled around. A crater replaced the spot where Ichigo stood just moments ago. From the dust emerged the "little" girl from before: Ururu.

"I've said it before: 'Ichigo, you shouldn't underestimate my employees'", Kisuke answered, "Now let the fun begin!"

"You crazy bastard!", was all Ichigo could yell before evading the next punch aimed at him.

"Oh, before I forget to mention", Kisuke grinned, "What Tessai did to you opened your spiritual energy reserve. You need to learn how to fight with using your powers soon, so this should do the trick."

Kisuke cackled then turned around to retreat. Tessai and Jinta trailed after him.

"Now, what do I still need to do?", Kisuke muttered to himself.

###

_"What the hell is up with all of them?! Are they fighting machines or what?!"_, Rukia thought as she dodged the next incoming blow from Uryuu, _"Even glasses boy knows how to fight barehanded."_

"That's enough for now", Rukia announced after being in a deadlock with Uryuu for a while.

Both parties stepped away from each other.

"Where did you learn to fight?", Rukia asked as she was quite curious, though she kept her face steady, her Kuchiki-mask, as she preferred to call it.

_"My Kuchiki-mask is perfect."_, Rukia smirked inwardly,_ "Though all the credit for its creation goes to brother but I wouldn't expect any less from him."_

"I learnt it from my grandfather", Uryuu answered.

"Me too", said Chad, who came back from a spar with Jinta, "That boy is sure strong."

"Both from Grandfathers only?", Rukia didn't quite believe it.

"If you put in all the years of street fighting we three did, then it's only natural", Chad replied.

_"Is that so? That would explain quite a bit. No surprise that all three boys rank quite high in the academics list. I don't know about Orihime's fighting, but her academic score is certainly high"_, Rukia pondered but only crossed her arms and nodded on the surface.

While everything seemed to go pretty well with Rukia's group, in the meanwhile, Yoruichi was having serious problems with hers.

Orihime had offered some food she had brought with her. Yoruichi had heard the rumors but couldn't believe them. And thus, Yoruichi had stomach problems for a good half an hour. She had to go to Tessai to get herself fixed up enough to continue.

_"Good thing I only tasted the stuff"_, the purple haired female thought but immediately regretted her thought as she felt her stomach squirm when she dodged Orihime's fist.

Yoruichi made a mental note to herself: _Never_ eat Orihime's cooking again.

_"Ugh do I feel sick but this girl really doesn't know how to fight"_, Yoruichi concluded as she easily dodged all the attempted punches and kicks at her.

Yoruichi tried to grab Orihime when she was suddenly flung around and landed with a loud thud on her back.

_"And there I thought she didn't know how to fight"_, Yoruichi mentally groaned, _"I think I'm regretting a lot of my thoughts today."_

"I'm so sorry Ms. Shihouin!", Orihime panicked when she saw the secretary of the school on the ground some meters away from her, "I just instinctively reacted. You see, I've had to learn self-defense when I was young but I haven't used it except when my body reacts to it subconsciously."

Yoruichi got up, turned to her student, and grinned:

"Then we will use that as the base to build your fighting skills."

Sometime later Yoruichi's grin had faded and she felt rather exasperated inside. Orihime was a difficult student for her:

_"I think these will be some __**long**__ four weeks."_

###

Ichigo was profusely sweating.

_"Fighting while your power is getting drained is sure exhausting"_, Ichigo thought while anticipating Ururu's next move.

He didn't have to wait long. Out of the dust cloud came a fist aiming for his face. Ichigo sidestepped the girl, using as little movement as possible in order to preserve his energy. He was waiting, waiting for a chance to beat the opponent with all of his last energy. He jumped when Ururu tried to trip him and saw his chance as she got up. He dashed towards Ururu and raised his right fist, reaching back as far as he could. He lashed out.

"**STOP!**", Kisuke called out and Ichigo stopped, millimeters away from Ururu's face.

"What the hell Urahara?! I was about to win!", Ichigo yelled.

"Precisely because of that", Kisuke replied, "I can't have you incapacitating one of my employees."

Kisuke turned around, leaving Ichigo to fall to the ground with a baffled face. He then took a megaphone out of his sleeve.

_"Wait. Did he just take a megaphone out of his sleeve?!"_, Ichigo thought alarmed and rubbed his eyes, _"I must be seeing things already. Maybe the fight took more out of me than I thought."_

Kisuke raised the megaphone to his lips:

"**Attention please! That is enough for now! Time to eat!**"

Everyone broke off their activities and headed for the exit but Uryuu paused for a moment, _"'That is enough for now'?, what have you got up your sleeve __**this**__ time?"_

He pushed that thought into the back of his mind since no one else seemed to notice it.

###

"Uwa! I haven't felt this sore in a long time!", Ichigo stretched his arms out as he left for home.

His eyes glanced at Rukia who was silently walking beside him. She didn't appear to be tired at all. She was walking the same as ever. A rather graceful walk, but Ichigo wouldn't admit it that to himself. He was rather adamant of saying anything positive about the violet eyed girl. Though he had to admit: In the moonlit night she looked like an angel. Her petit form and flawless skin gave out a tranquil aura. That is, if she was being quiet and not irritating him.

"So, why are you following me?", Ichigo asked after a while.

"Why should I be following _you_?", Rukia raised an eyebrow at the boy beside her, "My house is in the same direction."

"Is that so…", Ichigo wasn't too convinced by her answer but knew better than to confront her; he was still under that so called order after all.

The silence returned.

"You will be accompanying me tonight", Rukia suddenly said out of the blue.

"And why's that?", Ichigo drawled, though still feeling suspicious.

"We're going hunting tonight", Rukia replied.

Thought her voice was calm, Ichigo knew that it was meant as an order, but still, Ichigo didn't simply obey her, that would be admitting defeat.

"What?", he complained, "We just went the other day!"

"Tonight is a full moon. And whether the person likes it or not, those, who have not passed the first stage yet, will undoubtedly go out of control tonight", Rukia explained, her eyes were staring into Ichigo's now.

Ichigo didn't like the look in Rukia's eyes. There was a determination and darkness about them that he couldn't explain, but she masked it with seriousness that he knew too well. This wasn't the time for being selfish. It was time to act before another victim appeared.

A corpse. A body drained of all energy. It looks as if the liquid had been sucked dry, an ugly sight to see. Ichigo remembered the time they arrived too late and saw the body of a child, a sickly brown skin tone and grey-white hair. The child had become an old man. Ichigo had felt bad. It had been his fault that they were late, but Rukia didn't blame him. Instead she blamed herself. He had seen it in her eyes and he definitely didn't like it. He preferred the smile that he saw when they recued the young boy on the playground. It was one full of happiness and hope, not the one he saw at school. Though it only lasted for a moment, it gave Ichigo the determination to fight to see it again.

"What time do we meet?", Ichigo finally spoke and stopped with Rukia.

"An hour before midnight", she responded before going in through the gate.

Ichigo looked around. He saw his house on the right.

_"I live beside Rukia"_, he thought and opened his gate.

Then suddenly it sank in:

"My house is beside Rukia's!"

His head snapped towards Rukia's front door but she was already gone. He subconsciously opened his front door and entered.

"What the hell?! She was my neighbor the whole time and I didn't know!", Ichigo mumbled to himself not paying attention to his surroundings.

"YOU'RE LATE!", screamed a voice from the side and before Ichigo knew it, he lay on the ground, clutching his head.

"You damned father! You're son just arrived and you greet him with a kick?! You're not qualified to be the head of this house!", Ichigo screamed and delivered a punch of his own, the previous thoughts of Rukia totally forgotten.

* * *

**Bluesoap's Story Talk:**

I might have written the last part about the hunting case too darkly. I guess I must have felt rather dark too XD.

Ichigo, Chad and Uryuu's childhood were filled with fights as to give them their current strength. I also incorporated the fact about Ichigo saying in the manga that he kept his grades up because of his fights and delinquent appearance.

There is also something about Rukia's past, that made her do the job she is doing right now.


End file.

Bleach, Humor