Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or it's charactes.

Warnings: AU – High School/Slice of life. Fluff, sex, underage drinking/smoking, use of soft drugs, some mild violence like fighting. Many other pairings included: MM/MF, some OOCness

Author's Notes: This is the first AU story I created, it's going to be multi-chapter. It is unlike anything I ever wrote, but that's the beauty of writing, right? We can create anything we want. This story will be a fluffy mess with a tiny bit of drama, but nothing too serious. It's a soft story carrying the feelings I currently have. The image of Kira that I have for these first chapters at least, is Academy days-Kira.

The school year in this story follow the Japanese one – It starts in April. I hope you enjoy :)

Chapter 1 – The first day

There are two types of people in the world. The ones who know pain, and the ones who don't.

Izuru's mother used to say, don't judge a book by its cover. You don't know what others have been through. It's not our place to judge when we don't know howthey feel. This was probably true, mothers are always right, but sometimes Izuru couldn't help but think that these were just nice words to make her look good.

People don't know pain, until something terrible happens. They know heartbreak, physical ache, but pain that freezes your guts, mutilates your lungs to the point you can't breathe, that dulls your mind, and can't make you think anymore… pain of someone dear dying… Very few knew, and it upset him, how everyone assumed that they knew what he was feeling.

His parents funeral took place four months ago, but everyone still looked at him and faked their pity and empathy.

Momo was the only person who didn't do this; she was the closest to understand what he was feeling. Her parents left her with her grandmother when she was 3 and never returned. She never spoke about it, but Izuru knew she was conformed with the situation. She loved living with Granny and her cousin, and that was enough.

It was now the end of Summer vacation, and they both sat in her house's porch doing nothing but staring at the trees, clouds and birds. This was the last time they were doing it. In the following day, Izuru was going to move in with his uncle to another city, leaving Rukongai for good. He didn't have any other family members, and he couldn't continue to impose Granny. She already did too much by taking him in these past months.

Momo sighed next to him. Izuru looked at her, she was small, cute and intelligent. She always said that she wasn't the type that guys liked, but Izuru begged to differ. She wasn't the type that guys wanted to hit on, she was the type guys wanted to have as a girlfriend.

They knew each other since elementary school, and many people wondered if they dated as they were always together. It occurred to Izuru in the past to try something, just for the sake of at least know what it was like to kiss, but he never had the courage to do it. Izuru was the type of person, girls liked to have as a best friend, not kiss. Plus, Izuru didn't want to ruin his friendship. They were best friends, and that was more important than anything else.

Izuru hugged his knees tightly, hiding his head. This was a sad goodbye, but he had to get away from this town and from these frivolous people. They lived in the rich part of Rukongai, where everyone had nice houses, big cars, wore high-end clothes and had important jobs. Everybody was the CEO of some company, or a bank. Everybody was the same, looked the same, thought the same. Izuru himself was part of "everybody" 4 months ago, he looked the same as every other guy at school, heard the same music, watched the same shows, had the same phone, spoke about the same subjects. His parents were co-founders of a successful book editor that had launched the career of many famous authors. He was a clone like any other.

But now… he guessed, he woke up. That's what pain does, it awakens us.

Momo was never part of everybody though, she genuinely liked the lifestyle, but knew how to be humble. Her origins taught that. She was able to be part of everybody and at the same time be herself. This is what Izuru liked the most about her.

"Well," she spoke, "at least you won't be alone. Abarai-kun is in that school."

True. He had a childhood friend there, but he doubted that Abarai even remembered him properly. They stopped talking in middle school, and then was just the yearly Happy Birthday through social media.

"And it will do you good. I mean, it's a public school, but it's better right? You'll have more freedom, probably you can wear any clothes you like."

"They also use uniforms," Izuru mentioned. They were different though. In the private school, the uniform consisted of a dark blue blazer, pants, vest, shirt and a red bow, with shiny black shoes, while the new one, was just a beige cardigan, white shirt with tie, and plaid brown pants. The shoes were plain black ones.

"Oh..." She crossed her arms and looked at him. "Still, you will meet new people, normal people."

"I don't want to meet people."

"Hey," Momo put her arm around him. "I know you don't want to be with anybody, but promise me you won't be alone. Promise me you won't isolate yourself."

Izuru looked back at her, Momo was dead serious glaring.

"I promise." She wouldn't let him go if he didn't.

"And if you need, you can always videochat me." She smiled, her perfect white teeth showed, and he smiled back. "You need to visit us, do you think your uncle will allow?"

"I think he will."

"Isn't he the musician?"

"Yes, he's a music teacher, he plays in a band I think." His parents rarely spoke about Rose, almost as if he was the black sheep of the house. He didn't want to follow the family business so he followed his own path.

In the next day, his uncle came to take him to his new house by car. Momo, Granny and even the little Toushirou wished him farewell. No one else came as no else knew he was leaving. No one needed to know. Although, Izuru still felt a small tight in his chest for not telling anything to his senpai who took care of him at school.

It was a four hour drive, that seemed like eight. Rose attempted to make conversation, but Izuru didn't want to talk. He was rarely in the mood in the past days.

Rose was a nice guy, with long blond hair, always wearing a suite casually. He wore many rings in his fingers and patted the steering wheel while listening to classic rock songs.

They stopped at a service station for a quick break. Izuru checked his phone, he had a text message and for a second he let out a small grin.

"Bye Bye Izuru :)"

He wasn't expecting it. Gulping, he replied back, "Goodbye, Ichimaru-senpai", Momo found Ichimaru creepy and didn't like him much, but he was a good person. And he noticed he was gone… This was heart-warming.

They arrived during the afternoon. Rose's flat was on the third floor of a small apartment complex. It was located in a quiet area, between many other buildings in a suburban area.

The house itself was not too small. It had a living room, a separate kitchen, bathroom and two bed rooms. Izuru's room was simple with just furniture: bed, nightstand, desk and a small walk in closet.

"Decorate it as you like, it's your space now."

He unpacked his belongings, clothes, books, laptop, gaming console, and others objects he brought. He had no TV in the room, so his console was useless. He still enjoyed having it displayed, plus his video games. His mother offered him for Christmas 2 years ago and it was a sweet memory. His father playing with him fighting games, his mother yelling for them to go to bed, threatening to hide the console if they didn't obey. Still, she would offer him the newest game, every time he asked…

Izuru sat on the single bed. The bed was leaning against the window. He looked outside. The street was calm, a car passing by once in a while. The air smelled different.

He look into his phone and went through the gallery, he watched his mother's photo, he got teary but didn't cry. The tears dried a long time ago.

The phone rang in his hand, and he stared at group chat that he was just added.

Reunion

You joined Reunion chat.

Peaches: Here he is!

Red Monkey: Kira!

Peaches: Did you arrive at Seireitei?

Kira, not killer: Hello, yes I'm here.

Red Monkey: Cool, how are u man? :D

Izuru smiled. Abarai still remembered him.

Kira, not killer: I'm fine, and you?

Red Monkey: I'm great! I miss u! When are u startin school?

Kira, not killer: Monday

Red Monkey: Ok, I will wait for u at the entrance. Anything, text me, ok?

Kira, not killer: Ok. Thanks.

Peaches: Abarai-kun take care of him!

Red Monkey: Yes, mom.

Red Monkey: :P

Red Monkey: Of course, I will!

Izuru received another text message, but just from Momo.

Peaches: Now you have his number. Make friends!

Kira, not killer: Yes, mom…

He knew she was trying her best for him to move one, but Izuru just needed some time for himself.

He stayed home the whole weekend, preparing his room.

Monday came fast, and he tried the new uniform. The brown plaid pants were not very fashionable, the shirt was plain, and the tie was the same plaid pattern as the pants. He felt different just by using it. Unlike, his previous school, the uniform didn't include the bag, so he wore his dark blue Eastpak.

Rose drove him to the school, and parked at the beginning of the street. Many parents were parked driving their children, and it was chaotic.

"Are you ready?" Rose asked. Izuru wanted to say No, but he couldn't. Izuru smiled lightly, "Yes, thank you for the ride."

"No problem, good luck!"

Izuru got out of the car and started walking. The school was big, it would take a few minutes until he reached the main gate. On the side, some students were chatting, a couple was even making out, and for some reason that made him feel uncomfortable. There were many bikes and motorbikes parked.

A guy wearing a black leather jacket, had just parked a green Kawasaki. Izuru realized it was also a student, since he was wearing the same plaid pants. The student removed his helmet and placed straight away a cigarette in his lips, lightening it with one hand.

Izuru mentally cringed. He didn't like the idea of students smoking, in his old school, if someone smoked they would be expelled right away. It was strange that this guy just did it casually next to the school… sure, they weren't at the entrance, but still… Izuru was quite sure now, that he wasn't going to like this place.

The guy made eye contact with him, and it startled him. He started walking faster. The guy had a freaking tattoo in his face! What the heck?! It's like he just moved to the delinquent town! His heart beat faster by the second, he walked faster until he reached the gate. Many students were entering and he followed them.

He looked around to look for Abarai, but there were so many people. He considered texting him but he didn't want to be a bother. He walked towards the main building, when he heard his name being called.

"Kira!" Abarai was on the side of the building waiting for him. He wasn't alone.

Izuru met him and Abarai hugged him catching by surprise. Abarai was tall, very tall. He had broad shoulders and still had the long red hair. He wore the same uniform as a Kira, but with the shirt and the tie lose. His hair was tied in a ponytail, and he had a red bandana partially covering his head. What surprised Izuru the most though was the fact Abarai had tattooed his neck. He looked so different from elementary school. The skinny tall redheaded kid turned into a buff, still tall, axe-smelling dude.

Izuru could barely react with the bear hug. Abarai turned him around to his friends and still with his arm around him, he spoke.

"Guys, this is Kira Izuru my friend I told you about!" then he started pointing. "That's Madarame, Iba, the hot one is Matsumoto," she smiled and wave him back, she looked like a Hollywood star, with wavy hair and perfect makeup. "that's Yumichika," Izuru felt his glare, Yumichika reminded him of the guys from his old school. "And I think you remember Rukia, right?" the smaller girl waved him, "'Sup Kira?"

"Hello," he replied.

All looked very casual. They wore the uniforms the way the preferred. Ikkaku didn't even wear the tie. Iba, didn't had the shirt tuck in his pants, and wore sunglasses, while Matsumoto could barely close the shirt. Yumichika wore his uniform properly on the exception that his shirt was also not tucked in. What this the general rule? He looked around and saw that other students also wore the shirt tucked in so he didn't think much about it. The only one who seemed to wear the uniform correctly was Rukia.

Izuru remembered Rukia, she was at his elementary school as well, but he never became too close to her.

Matsumoto started to talk with him, "So, you came from Rukongai High?"

Izuru denied, "N-no, I came from Rukongai County"

"The private school?" Yumichika asked raising an eyebrow.

It didn't look like it was a good thing to share.

"Yes."

"Oh, so you're probably rich? Why did you change and move here to the common folk school?"

"Yumi!"

"What? I just find it odd."

Matsumoto just glared him and then turned to Izuru. "Don't mind Yumi, he takes time to warm up. I know someone from Rukongai County-"

She was stopped by Abarai's words. "This is Hisagi," Izuru turned around and looked at the new comer. Leather jacket, tattoo in his face. It was the guy from before. He was now wearing sunglasses though. "And this is Kira, my friend I told you was coming."

Hisagi put down his shoulder bag, while looking up and muttered a low "Hey" before sitting down next to Ikkaku.

"Rough night?" Iba asked.

"Kinda," Hisagi replied. His voice was low and husky and Izuru started to feel uncomfortable again. These people were not the type he was used to.

"We should come inside. What's your class?" Abarai asked, as they walked into the main building.

"2-A"

"Cool, that's my class too!"

Izuru was seriously impressed. 2-A was the Advanced class, and he didn't expect to have his friend there. He felt guilty for misjudging Abarai.

"Come sit next to me." They sat down in the middle of the classroom. All of Abarai's friends were scattered in different classes, except for Hisagi who followed them, and sat behind him. He removed his jacket, but kept the glasses on. He laid down his head, using his arms as pillows.

"So, where are you living?" Abarai asked.

"About 20 minutes by car. It's nearby a coffee shop with a crown logo." That was the only landmark Izuru found.

"Oh I think it is nearby my place! I can show you around town after school if you want to."

Abarai was so excited, he couldn't say no.

"Sure."

"How is Hinamori doing?" the redheaded asked. "We've been texting but it's been a while since I saw you two."

"She's fine. You know Momo, she always fine."

"Ahahah, that's is true. I still remember when we were played tag, and she was faster than us."

"She's still fast. She is in the tracking team."

"I'm not surprised. What about you? Are you part of any clubs?"

Izuru wondered for a moment what he should say. His previous school, had clubs for anything. He realized it would be stupid to lie.

"Reading club."

"Oh, too bad we don't have that here. Well, actually there's barely no clubs, and none of us are part of it. We are more, let's hang out after school club."

Even if there were any clubs, Izuru wouldn't join this time. His goal was to be alone as much as possible.

The first class was history with Kyoraku-sensei, who was probably the most chilled teacher he ever met. He introduced Izuru to the class, and then told all students to continue an essay they started the week before. Izuru joined Abarai with his essay to understand what they were doing. To be honest they were way behind compared to Rukongai County.

Hisagi still sat behind them, sleeping. Izuru wondered how the teacher never mentioned anything, it was odd how relaxed they were.

The class went by fast. During break, Abarai presented him to more people, and showed him the key places of the school. Lockers, the cool bathrooms, hangout spots, cafeteria, and the rooftop. The rooftop was clearly off-limits to the students, but all Abarai's friends were there mostly sucking those cancer sticks.

During lunch hour, the canteen was filled with students. And he could tell apart the different groups. It was like watching a teen movie. There were the preps, the jocks, the popular girls flirting with the jocks, the more alternative kids, and then Abarai's table… Izuru realized they were definitely the delinquents. They were loud, Matsumoto was sitting on the tab laughing loudly with Yumichika. Madarame, punching the table."That fucker!"

Abarai sat and Izuru followed. "What happened?"

"He was kicked out of class by Soi Fon, for texting," Yumichika stated as he took a bite of his lunch.

"I was fucking texting you!"

"It's your fault for being so careless."

"Why are you so upset? You're kicked out of classes all the time," Abarai asked.

"Kenpachi told him that he couldn't practice anymore at the dojo if he didn't improve at school," Iba responded.

Izuru just listened, not understanding most of the conversations. A tray was put on the table and Hisagi sat across him. His sunglasses were gone, and so was the jacket. He almost looked like a normal student. Izuru didn't want to stare, but he noticed the brunet in front of him wore spiked bracelets in his wrists and had his nails painted black.

He looked up, and then for the first time he actually saw Hisagi's face properly. The tattoo was actually a 69 tattoo, which was a thousand times more insane, but what petrified him the most was the three big scars in the right side of his face.

Izuru gulped and looked down to his food. He was intrigued, what could've happened to make him look like that.

He looked up and their eyes met. Izuru broke the stare straight away. He was so nervous he couldn't even eat anymore.

During the afternoon, classes were not that different from the morning. He already covered all the subjects before summer at Rukongai County, so this was like a massive review.

Unlike the morning, Hisagi was awake, but doodling or drawing in his notebook. He was sitting right behind Izuru, so he could ear the sound of the pencil grasping against paper. Abarai was interested in class most of the times, but from time to time he would text from his phone.

When the classes ended, Abarai took him around town like he promised. Rukia and Matsumoto went with them. It took him a whole day to realize that Abarai and Rukia were dating. They weren't the typical couple that was always holding hands or kissing. One could easily miss they were together.

Matsumoto was kind of nice to Izuru. She made small talk here and there, slowly making him feel comfortable. Although, she did looked shallow, she was kind. They even exchanged numbers.

"My boyfriend is from Rukongai County," she revealed and she sipped from the straw of her frappuccino. "You may know him."

Izuru looked down at his latte, everybody knew everybody at his previous school.

"Probably," he murmured. Her blue eyes analyzed him as if she could see what he was feeling. Maybe she could, by the way she spoke, "He says that the people there are kind of assholes."

"They are", he agreed, and she laughed.

They took the girls to their bus stops, and waited until they got their bus home. Abarai and he would walk home, since apparently wasn't very far away.

"So what do you think of school? Not as posh and fancy as you're used to, but..."

Abarai lit a cigarette and slowly smoked it. Apparently, Rukia didn't like he smoked so he had to do it behind her back.

"It's nice."

Abarai continued smoking, and he felt bad for not saying anything else, he added, "It's nice to meet new people."

The redheaded grinned. "I know the guys are kind of messed up, but they are the best of friends you can have." he put his big arm around Izuru, "you can count on us, we have your back."

"Thanks." It was such a nice thing to say. He could be a bit too touchy now, but Abarai was the same as when they were children.

"Hey, I didn't had the chance to say before… I'm sorry about your parents". His voice was low and sincere.

A tinge of pain blurt from Izuru's chest.

"It's ok, I'm copping", he gulped, "I think."

"Can I ask what happened?" Abarai let him go and continued to smoke. Izuru was pretty sure Abarai already knew what happened. Momo must have told him, but he replied anyway.

"It was a car accident. A truck hit the car that was driving in front of theirs and they were in the highway, so... it was… difficult to..." his voice trailed of. Yeah, right copping… He really needed to see a therapist again.

"Sorry," Abarai said again looking down. The redheaded was an orphan along his baby brother; they were both adopted when he was at elementary school, that's why he left. He had passed through a similar situation.

Abarai lived 10 minutes away from him, which was reassuring, considering he felt lost in this place.

Izuru was confused, he wanted to be alone, but at the same time he was relieved he wasn't.

At home, Rose was cooking dinner. He seemed happy that Izuru arrived late. He wanted nothing more than a soothing welcome. He could tell that Rose was trying really hard to make him feel comfortable. So he gave him a lot of space and freedom.

Izuru went to his room and took off his uniform. Before getting ready for dinner, he went to his laptop. He checked his emails and the notifications in his Soulspace page. He had messages from Momo, and 3 friend requests: Matsumoto, Rukia and the last one made his lungs feel constricted.

Hisagi Shuuhei.

He couldn't understand why this Hisagi guy was making him feel so weird. Every one in that group was strange to say the least. Heck, Iba and Madarame looked like they were part of a gang.

He wondered if he should accept the request; they didn't even speak besides the Hey from that morning. The small profile picture showed Hisagi's face partially hidden behind a professional photo camera, as if he was taking a picture of himself. He tried to check the profile, but was set to Friend's Only. The only thing he could see was that tiny picture.

His hand moved faster than his brain and he ended up accepting all requests.

He was thinking too much of this. He was not in a good emotional state, and there were a lot of things going on.

He closed the laptop abruptly and left for dinner.

Things would get better. They had to.

To be continued...

Note: Due to all the issues happening with a certain social media website, and the violation of data privacy with its' users, I decided to no longer use it in this story. So now, all our characters are using Soulspace, a social media website where they can share pics, and post their thoughts. I edited the name is all chapters.

Thank you.