I HAVE RETURNED! This will be a human/college!au. I was inspired by Kuroneko Hikage's 'Untitled Preface', so you'll probably notice some similarities in the setting.

WARNINGS: Rated M, for language, under-age drinking, sexual references and a sex scene(s) in later chapters. Also chapter 12 will contain a scene with dubious consent. You have been warned.

PLEASE NOTE: Okay, so I've discovered that the Northern Hemisphere has some odd academic years. Apparently Japan starts their academic year in April and ends the following March… I've decided to follow the Japanese year for this fic, but since I don't know much about Japanese universities, this story will be based on what I know about Australian universities, and what I've seen in American movies about theirs. Sorrynotsorry.

The College Experience

Chapter 1: Room 406

406.

Ichigo Kurosaki looked at the paper in his hands and then back up to the sign on the door. 406 – His new dorm room number. This was it; the doorway to the next phase of his life – college.

Nineteen years old and fresh out of high school, Ichigo was beyond excited to begin studying subjects he was actually interested in and fully experiencing 'the college life' as he'd seen in movies and heard about from his older friends.

Karakura Town University (KTU) had the best science department in Japan and was one of the top schools world-wide, so Ichigo knew he was incredibly lucky to be accepted into such a prestigious school. KTU was also one of the richest schools out there and as a result, it only had the most recent, state of the art equipment and resources, and could afford to hire the best professors in their respective fields. It was by far the finest university that Ichigo could ever hope to put on his résumé.

Despite living on the other side of town, he chose to board at the school. Ichigo wanted the whole college experience; he wanted to live out of home, have a roommate, go to college parties, make new friends, get a part-time job and throw a football with his new best friend in the dorm hallways… okay, so maybe he'd seen too many movies but these were the best years of his life – according to his father – and he wanted to make the most of it. After university, his life would mainly be work, work, work.

Fumbling with the keys, Ichigo wondered what his new roommate would be like; would he be fun-loving and down to party? Would he be the smart type, like Uryu from school? Would he be loud and confident, or quiet and reserved? Ichigo pushed the keys into the lock, and took a deep breath.

Ichigo paused as another thought briefly passed over his mind; would he find his new roomie attractive? He had discovered in his last two years of high school that he spent more time thinking about boys than girls. It took him quite some time to discover what this meant and even longer to accept it. He had though, and so had his friends and family. He was very lucky to have made such good friends early in life; friends who would accept him no matter what his sexual preferences were.

Turning the key, Ichigo felt the lock slide back and with one more deep breath he pushed open the door. Taking his first steps inside, Ichigo took in his surroundings. It was a small room. There was an awful coloured (pale murky green) two-seater couch on his left which had a wooden coffee table in front of it and pointed to a small wall-mounted TV. To his right, a basic kitchenette supplied with a kettle, toaster, microwave and a half-sized refrigerator. In the only space left was a round kitchen table with four chairs around it. Three doors stood along the room walls; two along the back wall and one on the side near the kitchen. Overall the room was basic, but he loved it all the same; he could practically smell the independence.

"Can I help you?"

A deep, cool voice, tinged with mild annoyance and boredom, brought Ichigo's attention to the kitchen table, where a young boy sat in front of a pile of books and papers. The boy's age struck Ichigo first; he was perhaps sixteen, maybe seventeen if he pushed it, but definitely too young to be in college.

The next thing Ichigo noticed was just how ridiculously gorgeous the boy was; stark white hair and large teal eyes. It was an unusual combination indeed, but certainly breathtaking. He was also wearing reading glasses with wide, thick black rims, which, to Ichigo, made him look all the cuter. The boy looked small too, from his seated position; narrow shoulders, toned slender arms and dainty hands.

"Oh, um, hi," Ichigo forced himself to respond, "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki; I've been assigned to this dorm."

The boy narrowed his eyes as he regarded Ichigo, his pen tapping lightly against his lips. Ichigo shuffled awkwardly under the boy's scrutinizing gaze; silence filled the tiny room.

"Um, are you…" Ichigo cleared his throat, "Are y-you Toshiro Hitsugaya?"

Toshiro Hitsugaya was the other name on his dorm room information paper, and his supposed new roommate…but this was a young teenage boy in front of him, he couldn't possibly be…although, from Ichigo's viewpoint, it did look like he was studying something a little more serious than middle school maths.

"I am," The boy – Toshiro – finally answered after what seemed like a lifetime of silence, "One comment on my age and/or height and you'll be sleeping outside for the rest of the semester."

Ichigo gulped and nodded sharply; it was as though the kid knew what he was thinking. There was something about the boy in front of him, something that made him seem older and wiser than he physically was. There was also a dark glint in his eyes – a peculiarity that told Ichigo to be weary. He wouldn't want to be on bad terms with his new roommate anyway.

"Good," Toshiro smirked, "Your room is that one there behind the couch, mine is the one behind me and the bathroom is on your right."

Toshiro pointed around the room as he spoke, and then returned to his studying like Ichigo had never come into the dorm in the first place; his eyes darting between the text book and his written notes, his pen flying across the page at an incredible speed. Ichigo lent over the table to see what he was working on; it appeared to be some sort of science.

"Is there something else you need, Kurosaki?" Toshiro snapped, looking up to glare at Ichigo.

Wow, touchy.

"No, um, sorry?" Ichigo gave an awkward smile and stepped back from the table.

Toshiro continued to eye him off for an excruciatingly slow minute before returning silently to his work. Ichigo released the breath he didn't know he'd been holding and wasted no time in picking up his bags and shuffling over to the bedroom door that was apparently his.

Entering quickly, Ichigo turned to face his new bedroom. Plain and simple, it was; just a double bed pushed up against the corner of the room with a bedside table on the other side, a small built-in closet on the opposite wall and a desk next to that. It was perfect. Well, it would be, once he gave it a little life.

A couple hours later and Ichigo was done. He took a step back to observe his work. He grinned; this room was definitely his now. He'd put photographs of his friends and family up on the wall beside his bed and a giant poster of his favourite rock band above wear he'd lay his head every night. He'd put deep purple sheets on his bed and set up his bedside table with all his essentials; his phone charger, alarm clock, car keys and the book he was currently reading. He'd put his clothes in the closet and even gone so far as to lay his textbooks, notebooks and laptop out on the desk, all ready for class tomorrow.

Feeling his stomach churn, Ichigo glanced at his alarm clock. It was just after 6pm. Fuck yeah, dinner time! Ichigo thought excitedly. He'd planned to meet Chad – his only friend from high school to board at the university – at the dining hall around 6:30. Throwing on a jacket, Ichigo sent a text to Chad to let him know he was on his way down.

Despite knowing nothing about his new roommate, Ichigo was somehow unsurprised to find that the young boy had not moved from his position at the kitchen table and was just as furiously scribbling down notes as he was when Ichigo first arrived.

"I'm going to get some dinner," Ichigo stated, "Are you coming down?"

"No," Toshiro answered curtly, not looking up from his work, "I'm too busy tonight."

Ichigo didn't even know how he could be so busy considering classes hadn't even started yet, but he decided not to push the subject.

"Okay, um, see you later then," Ichigo responded awkwardly and headed towards the door.

Toshiro did not reply.

Ichigo saw Chad over the crowd of students coming to get dinner. It was hard to miss the large Mexican who towered over everyone. Waving him over, Chad spotted Ichigo right away; Ichigo himself was also rather easily noticed in crowd due to his shockingly orange hair.

Behind the Latino came a tall – but still way shorter than Chad – guy with long red hair tied back into a spiky ponytail. He wore a white bandana on his forehead and simple white tee with dark blue jeans.

"Ichigo," Chad greeted softly, sitting at the table opposite him, "This is Renji – he's my roommate."

As Ichigo shook hands with Renji, he just knew that they'd become good friends, especially when Renji pointed to Ichigo's shirt and screamed "I love that band!"

As the three of them ate, they got to know more about Renji Abarai. He was a second year student studying electrical engineering and hoping to one day get a job at Kuchki Industries – Japan's number one power provider. He had just turned 20, and was a bit of rough nut; he played for the university's basketball team and also joined the karate club.

"Oh god, and there was this one time, I swear- Oh fuck!" Renji cut off his story mid-sentence as he spotted something over Ichigo's shoulder.

Glancing over his shoulder, Ichigo could not see what was disturbing his new friend. Renji's face had turned a furious shade of red and the man was looking down at his food, head ducked low as if he was hiding from something.

"Dude, what's wrong?" Ichigo asked, swapping confused looks with Chad.

"Oh he just saw yet another beautiful woman who scares him shitless."

Ichigo's head whipped in the direction of the newcomer's voice. Two men approached; a blonde whose hair flopped over his left eye and a tall brunette with the number 69 tattooed on his left cheek. They rounded the table, the blond taking a seat next to Ichigo and the brunette coming to sit next to the now spluttering Renji.

"I'm Shuuhei Hisagi," The dark-haired man who had spoken before greeted with a sly smile, "And this is Izuru Kira."

"We're the pineapple's friends," The blonde – Izuru – added while gesturing casually to Renji.

Ichigo laughed as Renji – or the 'Red Pineapple' as he soon became known as – began growling out obscenities.

"I told you not to fucking call me that!"

Ignoring Renji completely, Ichigo introduced himself and Chad to Izuru and Shuuhei. Izuru was a nice guy, kind too. He seemed a little shy, except when it came to making fun of Renji. As it turned out, Izuru was doing the same course as Renji and was also in second year. Shuuhei, on the other hand, was studying Journalism and was in his third year. He was confident and apparently a bit of a ladies man, but Ichigo could tell that the guy had a good heart.

"So what are you guys studying?" Izuru asked, taking a sip of his soda.

"I'm studying medical science," Ichigo responded, "But I'm hoping to transfer into post-graduate medicine after the course is done. I want to be doctor."

Ichigo had always wanted to be a doctor, since as early as he can remember. His father was a doctor and ran a small practice at their home. He spent more time fighting his dad now, but when they worked together with patients or had serious medical discussions, Ichigo felt closer to his dad and he wanted to make him proud. More than that, he wanted to help people and save lives. His name meant 'protector' and that's exactly what he wanted to do.

"I'm studying social welfare," Chad provided when it was his turn.

He didn't expand much on that point and nobody asked him too. Ichigo knew Chad was hoping to one day work with disadvantaged children and make sure all kids had good homes to go to. It came from losing his grandfather – and legal guardian – at a young age and then slipping through the cracks of state care. He didn't talk often of his time before he met Ichigo, but the strawberry didn't think it was pretty, considering they met during a gang fight.

It seemed as though Renji was going to say something before he clamped up again and began choking on his food. Spraying his mouthful onto his plate, Renji downed his cup of water like his life depended on it and once again ducked low as if he wanted to avoid being seen. Shuuhei erupted into outrageous laughter at his friend's misfortune.

"Okay, who is the girl that's making him stupid?" Ichigo asked Izuru, while Renji glared daggers at Shuuhei.

"Ahh that would be Rangiku Matsumoto…" Izuru grinned, looking around the room, "Oh, there she is!"

Ichigo and Chad looked over in the direction Izuru was pointing. They had no problem spotting this 'Rangiku'. She had long, toned legs, curvy hips with a tiny waist and what was surely the world's largest bust for a woman her size. She had long strawberry blonde hair and was wearing a tiny pink dress. She was the woman of every man's dreams…well, every straight man's dreams, Ichigo supposed, since he was more drawn to the frowning boy by her side.

"Hey, it's Toshiro!" Ichigo exclaimed, excited to see his stunning young roommate outside their dorm room.

"You know him?" Renji raised an eyebrow at Ichigo while the other three looked on in interest.

"He's my roommate," Ichigo answered, waving enthusiastically in Toshiro's direction although the boy didn't seem to notice him.

Renji's look of confusion broke into an all-out grin as he shared what seemed to be a knowing look with his two friends.

"What?" Ichigo asked, eyes darting between Renji, Shuuhei and Izuru before looking at Chad for answers. The Mexican could only shrug.

"I wouldn't have picked you as gay…" Renji smirked.

Ichigo could practically feel the colour draining from his face. How could they tell? They'd know each other for an hour!

"Oh relax, Ichigo!" Izuru laughed and patted him on the back, "We don't care. We're just good at reading the signs; Mine and Renji's friend, Ikkaku, started dating Shuuhei's friend, Yumichika, and that's how we ended up becoming such good friends."

Still incredibly embarrassed, but greatly relieved to not be rejected by his new friends, Ichigo asked, "But how did you know?"

"Well, if we point out a girl like Rangiku and all you can see is her little friend over there…" Renji laughed, "Then you definitely aren't into girls."

Fair point, Ichigo mused, glancing back over at the two in question. From this distance, it looked as though Rangiku was playfully teasing Toshiro, who seemed to ignore it with a look of resigned acceptance. Well, that was until Rangiku shoved his head into her ample bosom. The boy struggled for freedom but Rangiku's grasp became visibly tighter.

Renji groaned, his face turning an even darker shade of red – if that was at all possible – as he dabbed a napkin against his now bleeding nose, "The things I would do to have her shove my face in there…"

"I've had my face in there," Shuuhei whispered teasingly and poked Renji in the side, "Best day of my life."

Renji looked as if he was about to punch Shuuhei right in his smirking face.

"Are they dating?" Chad asked Izuru as he looked upon with mild interest.

Ichigo returned his focus to Izuru, keen on hearing the answer to that question. It was odd, but he found himself really hoping that they were just friends.

"No," He chuckled, "We thought they were for most of last year, but I'm dating Hitsugaya's cousin, Momo, and she told us they were just friends. Albeit, closer friends than most."

"That, and Rangiku is dating Gin Ichimaru now…" Shuuhei added, once again prodding Renji with a chopstick.

Ichigo swore he heard Renji mutter something like 'lucky bastard' under his breath before stabbing his chopstick harshly into his chicken.

Laughing at his friend's antics, Izuru went on to explain that Gin Ichimaru was a student last year. Izuru seemed to idolise the man who was former captain of the basketball team and graduated top of his course.

"Wait-" Ichigo interrupted, his mind back on his young roomie, "You said that you thought Toshiro and Rangiku were dating last year; surely he's not a second year student?"

"Yep, second year," Izuru confirmed, ignoring Ichigo's dropped jaw, "He's seventeen; a child prodigy and genius, KTU's youngest student ever. Momo told me that he skipped most of grade and middle school."

"You're kidding me!" Ichigo exclaimed, "What's he studying?"

Both second years and the third year student shrugged with an obvious lack of interest.

"Some area of science, I think," Izuru supplied eventually, "He's in mine and Renji's maths class."

Ichigo tried to pull as much information as possible out of his new friends about the apparent child prodigy. They didn't know much more than what they had already told him, but they did know that he was a bit of a closed book. Toshiro didn't have many friends and seemed to prefer it that way. He came across as cold and indifferent. Interestingly enough, Toshiro and Renji both did Karate together. Toshiro was black belt level.

"You like him, don't you?" Renji demanded with a grin, his finger pointing accusingly at Ichigo.

"What?! No!" Ichigo spluttered, "I just met him!"

"Sure, sure," Renji continued obviously unconvinced, while Izuru tried to cover his widening grin with a hand, Shuuhei chuckled into his soda and even Chad cracked a smile.

"Seriously, you pineapple! I just wanted to know what I'm getting myself into now that I live with the kid!"

The use of the hated nickname broke the focus on him as the others erupted into laughter and Renji screamed every swear word he knew. Shuuhei was once again nudging Renji's side and the redhead finally cracked, pulling the budding journalist into a chokehold at the table.

Ichigo used the distraction to sneak another glance at the boy genius. Toshiro was playing with his food idly and listening to Rangiku's expressive chatter with little interest. His face was expressionless, but his stormy eyes conveyed a certain type of emotion that Ichigo couldn't quite place. Sadness, perhaps?

As if sensing that someone was looking at him, Toshiro raised his head and made direct eye contact with Ichigo. Ichigo whipped his head back around to face his friends faster than any of them could blink, but it was too late. He knew Toshiro had seen him staring. He didn't have to turn back around to feel those wide teal eyes boring into the back of his skull from across the hall.

Ichigo counted down from a minute silently before turning back around to face his new roommate. Where Toshiro was previously sitting now remained only an empty seat. Rangiku had moved along a table to chat with some other girls but Toshiro had vanished from sight. Sighing, Ichigo vowed that, one way or another, he would get to the bottom of the mystery that was Toshiro Hitsugaya.

Thanks for reading guys! Please review!

Geishaaa out xoxo