Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Steven Universe they both belong to their respective owners.
OoO=short cuts
XxXxxx=long cuts
Chapter 1: The first day
A top shinigami
thats what I'll be
...someday.
"—Steven! Steven, come on wake up!"
Steven's eyes slowly opened to a blurred image of his dad; Greg Universe. "D-dad?" He muttered, wiping the seeping drool off his chin, it took a moment for him to register the situation. "DAD, WHAT TIME IS IT?! AM I LATE?!"
Greg smiled. "Relax, kiddo. There's just enough time for you to grab some grub."
"Good, so that means I can still sleep for five minutes."
"No, it means, you only have five minutes."
*BEEP
*BEEP
"Great timing," Greg said, chuckling. "You better hurry up to the academy, you wouldn't want those 76 applications to go to waste, would you?" He drew in another compensating smile for his son and headed back downstairs.
Steven smacked his cookie cat alarm then rolled off the bed, he took a look at his calendar as he trudged towards the closet. 'My first day as an unofficial shinigami, I've been waiting my whole life for this!' In less than five minutes, he slipped on the classic blue academy uniform, vaccumed the food Greg prepared, said a sloppy goodbye to him and was already out treading across District 3's paved grounds.
And in even less time, Steven made his way to Shin'ō academy just as the last students were walking in. 'Whoa, this place is humongous, it's a good thing I have my schedule to help me.' He patted down on his clothes. '...that I forgot to bring...' His knees sunk. "Noooo! If only my cookie cat alarm clock worked then I would have my schedule! I can't believe I've been done in by my own favorite snack!"
"Excuse me,"
Steven swiveled his head around, a tall man with bleach white hair and a warming smile stared right back down at him. He continued to talk to Steven, his voice smoother than silk. "Steven Quartz Universe, correct?"
"Uh...yeah."
"Follow me, I am the teacher of your class after all."
"Shouldn't teachers be in their class by now?"
"Uh, well, I sort of had some trouble coming here," He sheepishly remarked. "But shouldn't students be in class as well."
It was his turn to act sheepish. "I had the same problem as you..."
"Hm, what a coincidence, I think you and I will get along quite well in class. Speaking of, we should get going by now."
As massive as it was on the outside, the inside only proved the fact even further. The main entrance hall, bathed in a golden hue, was lined with hundreds of doors leading to various classes, his teacher stopped at a door labeled '2106B'. "Here it is. Oh and by the way, my name is Ukitake Jūshirō."
"You mean...you're the captain of the 10th division? Can you please show me your sword, I wanna see it do all the ice and snow stuff!"
"No, no, you're talking about someone completely different,"
"Oh, that's right, you don't have any powers, you just have raw strength right, that's how you became captain!"
"Not even close."
"Your sword makes illusions?"
"The day will end before you guess my shikai," He pushed open the door to the classroom and Steven followed him in.
'So this is where I'll be learning how to be a shinigami, this is so cool!' Steven seated himself in the front row, the only row available anyways as all the rest were taken by the impatient students.
"Ahem! Hello class, my name is Ukitake Jūshirō and welcome everyone to the Shinōreijutsuin academy! In these next following years you will learn the four major shinigami combat forms; Hakuda, Hohō, Kidō and Zanjutsu, as well as an abundance of other techniques you will utilize throughout your shinigami career!"
One kid in the far back flailed his arm. "Hey, hey, we'll get to learn bankai and shikai, right?"
"Sorry, but no, this academy is here only to teach you the basics so you'll become a capable fighter. Learning shikai and bankai aren't required, but if you do end up learning shikai or bankai, especially bankai, you'll probably end up as a captain."
'A captain, huh? And all I gotta do is learn bankai, if that's all it takes then I'll be a captain in no time.'
"As far as your six year course goes, your first year will be comprised of learning all the basics, including recieving your very own zanpakutō. The following years will be more so focused on a specific form, and your last year you'll be taken on hollow practice missions. Depending on your own prefrence and skill, after you complete the six year curriculum, you can apply for either the Gotei 13, Kidō corps, or Onmitsukidō. Not too complicated, so, any questions?"
While the students gunned Jūshirō down with questions, Steven sunk back into his seat, fantasizing about his shinigami future. 'I think I wanna be a part of the Gotei 13, that's what my dad was apart of, but I wonder what division he was in?'
"So that's out of the way, we can begin our lesson. Today you'll learn the proper techniques and forms for using a zanapkutō by practicing with wooden sword." After Jūshirō's reveal came a long session of moans and groans. "I know it's not the most exciting thing, but it's an important step for all shinigami, so follow me to the training dojo and we can begin."
OoO
Jūshirō grabbed two wooden swords off the rack. "May I have a volunteer?" He saw the short blonde hair kid's hand shot up first before anyone else's. "Nasubi Hikari, you're up!"
Hikari shifted his cheaply made goggles, then bounced to his feet. "I'm gonna beat your ass Shirō-sensei!"
"Oh, so you already know a thing or two about Zanjutsu?"
"'Course I do!"
They bowed down to each other then Hikari started jabbing wildly at Jūshirō who effortlessly dodged his swings, Hikari's frustration only grew with every blow he missed. "Damn it! Why can't I hit you?!"
"Maybe because you're not holding the sword correctly."
"Huh?"
Jūshirō turned to face the class. "When holding a sword, lower your body and widen your stance, two hands should always be on the handle that way you can utilize the maximum power from your entire body. Your dominant hand will always go on top of your non-dominant and your battle stance should start off with your dominant foot forth and your non-dominant foot in the back, remember, push with your non-dominant foot, slide with your dominant."
Jūshirō raised the wooden sword so the tip was above his head and slashed the air. "Did everyone see my form, especially you Hikari, I don't believe you'll survive for very long if you swing your sword around like a tennis racket."
The few snickers that escaped were quickly subdued by Jūshirō's condescending glare. He returned back to Hikari, who already corrected his lackluster form. "...damn it, one day I'll kill you and become the new captain of the 13th division!" He properly swung his sword and it clashed with his teacher's blade. "What do you think of that?"
"I think you're going to have to try a little harder than that." Jūshirō knocked Hikari's sword from his grasp and it landed on the padded floor.
'So he's captain of the 13th division? That's right, he's the only one I don't have a figure of already...no wonder I don't really know anything about him!' Steven thought to himself as he watched Hikari's face redden from embarrassment. 'Maybe I can pick one up on my way back home.'
Steven was so caught up in his after school plans that he completely missed Jūshirō's next set of instructions and was bewildered when everyone started pairing up and grabbing wooden swords of their own. 'Huh? What's everyone—'
"Hey, uh, you wouldn't mind being my partner would you, U-universe Steven, right?" A girl beside him squeaked. While she did share Steven's height and jet-black hair, her rose-tinted glasses and overall quiet physique set them further apart than she could admit.
"Yeah," He squeaked back. "And...you are?"
"Maheswaran Connie." She supplied. "I've...heard a lot of people say it took you like 70 times just to display some reiatsu...is that..."
"75 times to be exact." They both chuckled.
"...they say it's because I'm part gem and it's impossible for gems to manipulate reiryoku the way shinigami can."
"Part gem?" Connie heard the word 'gem' tossed around in conversation a few times, but that was as far as her knowledge of them went. "Do you mind telling me what they are exactly?"
"Gems, well, I guess they're kind of like superheroes, yeah, but aliens. Along with this, I go to the human world every weekend to learn gem stuff."
"They let you go to the human world?! And...you're not scared of the...hollows?" Although she said 'hollows' sparingly, he seemed indifferent to the terrifying beast based on his happy face.
"Nope! The gems are there to protect me and everyone else, I mean, there might also be a shinigami too, but I never met them."
"Whoa, well, I've always wanted to go to the human world, I bet it's really fun there, are the humans nice?"
"—Ahem, you two still remember what we're supposed to be doing right?" Jūshirō intruded.
"Oh yes of course Ukitake-sensei," Connie quickly replied, getting herself up. She motioned to Steven and he did the same. "We'll get right on it!"
"Mm, that's good to hear."
Steven and Connie bowed to each other, firmly gripping their swords, then began. He tried going in for an easy hit, but ended up stumbling on his own feet. "So...how was it? Left foot forward or.."
"You're right-handed, right?" She giggled.
"Uh huh."
"So then, it's right foot then left foot, push with your left the slide with your right for the strike."
"Right for the strike...got it!"
He planted his left foot on the floor then pivoted on his right. "Here I gooooo!" The force of Steven's strike knocked Connie off her feet as well as made him lose his own balance and fall on the ground.
Despite utterly failing, Steven started laughing like an idiot, his laughter was contagious and Connie soon joined in. He rolled over then smiled at Connie. "Whew...ha...I'm really happy to be here, it took me so long, but finally I'm..here!"
"Yea...U-universe, l-look!
"Huh?!" A bright pink shield projected itself just above Steven's stomach. "...! Ahh ah! It's happening, I'm summoning my weapon!"
Jūshirō blankly stared at Steven. "What's going on?" He said to himself. All the other students followed suit and gave their attention away to Steven.
"Woo hoo!" The surge of movement caused the shield to shoot like a bullet from his stomach and bounce all over the training hall. While the students managed to dodge the flying shield, Jūshirō wasn't so lucky and it drove straight into his stomach before flopping onto the floor then dispersing itself into the atmosphere.
"Ukitake-sensei, are you ok?!" Steven yelled, then added. "I'm really sorry!"
"No, no, I'll be fine, no need to worr—" His students rushed to his aid when he collapsed on the floor.
'...I've never seen anyone quite like Steven before...I wonder, how he'll turn out.'
Xx
"Do not seek beauty in battle. Do not seek virtue in death. Do not make the mistake of considering only your own life. If you wish to protect that which you must protect...slice the enemy you must defeat from behind."
A/N: Thank you for reading this and don't hesitate to ask questions, I'll answer any if you have any. See you next chapter;)