A/N: Hey everybody! This is Shiro no Kishidan here with my first update of Re: Winter Wars. This story is what happens fifty years (subject to change) later after the winter wars arc and a lot has happened (which means that pairing has for the most part already happened). If you don't understand what's going on that ok because I'll explain it as I go…MWHAHAHA…sorry about that anyways this will feature the children of the main characters but many of the main characters will be involved. I will try my best to stick to canon (although no guarantee with the fullbringer arc.) So without further ado may the story begin. Oh btw lines usually indicate a switch of POV or time leap.
Disclaimer: I don't own bleach. Period. Stop bothering me.
Chapter 1: Small Beginnings
"Never trust a man wearing an eye patch"
Kaien Kurosaki
Some years later while instructing squad members
Kaien Kurosaki was a fairly tall boy. According to Rukia he was a splitting image of Kaien Shiba, his namesake. His hair was exactly the same color as his mother's hair color but it was as unkempt as his father's. He wore fairly faded black jeans and a gray t-shirt complete with a long coat that had fur covering the hood, and sleeve openings and a pair of leather shoes. He was also completely lost. "I knew I shouldn't have taken advice for directions from the crazy looking guy with the eye patch." He mumbled as he walked aimlessly around the campus. His morning had not gotten off to a good start. After getting up late he rushed around the house, saying hurried goodbyes and eating breakfast at a breakneck pace. Aunt Kukaku, deciding that Kaien was going to be late, fired him in the general direction of the academy with her cannon. After a rather rough landing he asked the first person he came across for direction. The man was giant, muscular, and scarred. He had an eye patch on and on his shoulder was a short girl with pink hair. After asking for directions he had wondered his way to academy after going around in circles for ½ an hour. Finally he staggered through the gate. He had finally arrived. Kaien let out a sigh of relief and started to walk onto campus only to hear two very loud voices coming from in front of the listing board. He immediately went over and found his cousin, Yukiko Kukichi, and one of his friends, Rin Kira glaring daggers. Kukichi's aura emanated a cold anger while Rin looked mad enough to punch a hole in the class listing board. He sighed already knowing how this would end if he didn't get involved.
"You're a stuck up prick, you worthless ice block!"
"You dare insult my pride, you crazy tomboy!"
"Shut up! You couldn't be less noble if you tried!"
"Watch your mouth when you're addressing the heir to the Kukichi family, apple head!"
"Ice cube!"
"Apple head!"
"Ice cube!"
"Apple head!"
Kaien interrupted both of them, "You two mind explain what's going on?"
Rin immediately perked up, looking for a chance to vent, "While I just asked Ms. Ice queen over here if she could help me find my name on the class listing charts since I could and she started making fun of me."
Yukiko interrupted, "I did no such thing. I just told her that she should reconsider entering the academy if she can't read."
Cold as ever cousin He thought. After a few seconds scanning the board he spoke up, "Um Yukiko I think Rin-chan has a point. None of our names are up here."
"Kaien-san, how many times do I have to tell me to address me properl-… Wait…our names aren't up there. You're kidding right… I studied an unbelievable amount of time, aced my exams, got the letter of acceptance and my name doesn't show up here! This academy has slighted Kukichi-ke for the last time!"
With that Yukiko snapped. A few things happened in the next second. First Yukiko plowed through Kaien and attempted to destroy the school starting with the student listing board. Second Rin jumped clear of Yukiko. Third Yukiko's wild attempts at property based genocide were stopped by the sudden appearance of Jin Ukitake and a boy with sandy-red hair. Trailing close behind them were three others Kaien recognized as Ayame Hitsugaya, Hikari Kyoraku, and Setsuna Hisagi. Jin's trademark grin was out in full force as he quickly explained something to Yukiko whose face light up who in turn grabbed Kaien by his jacket hood and dragged him across the floor. Jin led them through almost the entire academy explaining things to the sandy haired kid that Kaien didn't know until he reached what looked like a giant conference room.
Jin smiled, "Welcome to your classroom."
Rin Kira was a tomboy in every sense of the word. She was every bit as rambunctious as her mother Rangiku, had a short hair cut and the same hair color as her mother, often threw people she didn't like into trash cans, and was very adventurous. Izuru had often wondered if Rin was at all related to him but never bothered to ask. In truth her head looked like an apple. This morning after getting up five minutes before school she quickly ran out of the house after changing without a second thought about breakfast or anything else for that matter. She wore a loose fitting t-shirt, knee-length pants, and a pair of running shoes. As soon as she arrived at school she plastered herself to the student listing board. This board contained the name of all the first year students in the academy and which class they would be in. After fruitlessly searching for minute or so she looked around to see if anyone else could find her name and saw much to her surprise, Yukiko Kukichi, the esteemed heir of the Kukichi-ke and rival. Sucking up her pride, she turned and asked, "Um…excuse me Kukichi-san, do you see my name on any of the lists because I can't seem to find it myself."
"If such simple skills as reading are beneath you maybe you should reconsider coming here." Was Kukichi's response, dismissing her immediately.
"Geez you don't have to be so mean about it."
"I'm not being mean. I'm stating the obvious."
"You're a stuck up prick, you worthless ice block!"
"You dare insult my pride, you crazy tomboy!"
"Shut up! You couldn't be less noble if you tried!"
"Watch your mouth when you're addressing the heir to the Kukichi family, apple head!"
"Ice cube!"
"Apple head!"
"Ice cube!"
"Apple head!"
A cool voice cut through the heated argument, "You two mind explain what's going on?" Kaien stood over both of them with an exasperated expression.
Rin's motor mouth activated, "While I just asked Ms. Ice queen over here if she could help me find my name on the class listing charts since I could and she started making fun of me."
"I did no such thing. I just told her that she should reconsider entering the academy if she can't read." Was Yukiko's response.
Kaien just shook his head at both of them and read over the board, scanning for their names. A few seconds later Kaien just shook his head, "Um Yukiko I think Rin-chan has a point. None of our names are up here."
"Kaien-san, how many times do I have to tell me to address me properl-"She stopped, "…? Wait…our names aren't up there! You're kidding right. I studied an unbelievable amount of time, aced my exams, got the letter of acceptance and my name doesn't show up here! This academy has slighted Kukichi-ke for the last time!"
Rin almost burst out laughing at Yukiko until she tried to demolish the student listing board sending Kaien flying. Out of nowhere Jin and a red-sandy haired young man restrained Yukiko. Jin whispered something to Yukiko who immediately pulled herself together. Rin looked over at Kaien who was being dragged by Yukiko and immediately decided followed Jin in his roundabout tour through the school. They arrived at a rather large looking conference room.
Jin smirked, "Welcome to your classroom."
Jin Ukitake was a strange child. His eyes were opened in slits and he always had a knowing grin on his face. Many, much to his great pleasure, compared his facial expression to Gin Ichimaru, his idol. Jin's hair was silver blond and although he displayed the gentleman expressions of his father and the quick wit and motor mouth of his mother, Kiyone, neither of his parents knew where his manipulative side came from. He wore a white reaper's uniform but padded shoes that made no noise whatsoever when he walked. Gin's morning was a good one. He arrived thirty minutes early and had wandering around campus listening in on conversations, picking up the latest gossip, and writing it his ever present notebook he carried with him. Suddenly a person of interest crossed his path. Kukichi-ke's esteemed heir had arrived and Jin in a not too obvious fashion made his way toward her. Due to her position as Kukichi-ke heir she had a knack for picking up juicy nobility rumors a good week or so before anyone else had an inkling of what was going on. Although Jin never understood why Yukiko always handed over information with little protest, she always had a good ear for information. Jin stopped her up before she entered the main hall where the listing boards were located and asked, "So Yuki-hime any interesting news?"
Kukichi-san despite herself answered, "Must you always ask me that question Ukitake-san?"
"Yep."
She folded her arms for a few seconds then answered, "Well word is that we have a new transfer student."
Jin immediately focused all of his attention on her. The term, transfer student, was only used when someone had recently died and was immediately enrolled into the academy. Usually people were discovered when soul reapers patrolled the rukongai or students enrolled from the rukongai. Most transfer students reiatsu affected many people around them and had to be removed for the rukongai or risk killing people with their reiatsu. A primary example would be Toshiro Hitsugaya.
"Who?"
"I'm not really sure but he's apparently pretty powerful. Right now he's located in the office with Genryusai-sensei."
Jin's trademark smirk widened, "Thanks. I'll be seeing you then."
With that Jin rushed off towards the office. A few minutes later Jin stood nearby Genryusai's office for any information that could be gleaned. Genryusai's voice came out in any even tone, "Because of that you and seven others will be in a special class. Now then I need to find you a guide for this place. I built this academy but I still get lost occasionally." He heard some chuckling from the office. "Well now I could ask…" Jin felt a reiatsu spike from the office. "Ahh Jin Ukitake… stop eavesdropping and get in here before I light you up like a torch."
Jin walked in with an expression like that of a little kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Genryusai smiled and said, "You'd be the perfect guide now help him find six other students. Now after finding the other students on this list go to conference room 2. Here's the list."
Jin looked over it. It read, "Ayame Hitsugaya, Rin Kira, Setsuna Hisagi, Kaien Kurosaki, Yukiko Kukichi, Hikari Kyoraku, Jin Ukitake, and Sousuke Agami."
"Kyoraku-san is in the library, Hisagi-san is in the zanjutsu training room, Hitsugaya-san is in the music room, and Kukichi-san is by the student listing board." Genryusai said, "I'll meet up in conference room two. Oh and Ukitake-san remember I wasn't Sou-taichou for 2,000 years for nothing." With that he was on the way out of the room.
Jin turned to the sandy-red haired boy standing nearby him and started up some conversation as he ushered Sousuke out of the office and towards the music room. "So you're Sousuke Agami right."
"Yes but you can call me Sousuke. It's a pleasure to meet you Ukitake-san."
Jin let his autopilot take over while concentrated on Sousuke. Jin couldn't find anything unusual about the boy. He had sandy-hair hair and glasses that had a black frame. He wore jeans and had a black t-shirt with a pair of headphones around his neck. He had a smile on his face and Jin could tell Sousuke was happy to be here. By the time Jin along with everyone else he was supposed to find stopped his autopilot he was outside the conference room he had been directed to.
Jin let out a knowing smirk, "Welcome to your classroom."
Sousuke Agami had perhaps the most interesting morning of all. He had only arrived in the Rukongai before he had been picked up by a patrol of Reapers then pulled into an office a few days ago. Many thoughts rang throughout his head as he reviewed what he had been told.
The old man, Genryusai, had explained, "There are two worlds, our world or Soul Society, and Earth or the real world. When you die your soul is separated from your body and is sent to Soul Society. It exists as spirit particles or reishi until your soul passes away here. Then it is reborn on earth. However if your soul has regrets and extremely strong ties to earth then instead of going to soul society they turn into Hollows. Hollows indiscriminately attack humans and souls and may end up going to the world of the hollows, Hueco Mundo. Reapers can purify them by killing them or cutting their mask."
Sousuke had interrupted. "What about those who have committed great evil on earth?"
Genryusai continued, "Killing a hollow means that you purify the sins the hollow has committed in hollow form. However it does not purify their sins as human. Hell's gate will open and consume those who are evil. We as Reapers have to jobs: One send souls to Soul Society and Two purify hollows to save humans who are living their lives on earth. So Sousuke are you interested in joining the ranks of the Gotei 13?"
Sousuke just nodded.
Sousuke snapped back to reality to see Genryusai staring at him again.
"Sousuke, Do you remember what I told about the two jobs of a Reaper?"
"Yes…"
"Well we're adding a new job to the list. Because of that you and seven others will be in a special class. Now then I need to find you a guide for this place. I built this academy but I still get lost occasionally. Well now I could ask… Ahh Jin Ukitake… Stop eavesdropping and get in here before I light you up like a torch."
Jin slunk into the office.
"You'd be the perfect guide now help him find six other students. Now after finding the other students on this list go to conference room 2. Here's the list."
Jin read over the list quickly. He looked at Genryusai with questioning look on his face.
"Kyoraku-san is in the library, Hisagi-san is in the zanjutsu training room, Hitsugaya-san is in the music room, and Kukichi-san is by the student listing board." Genryusai said categorically, "I'll meet up in conference room two. Oh and Ukitake-san remember I wasn't Sou-taichou for 2,000 years for nothing." Genryusai left the room.
Jin smiled at him and directed him out of the room.
"So you're Sousuke Agami right."
"Yes but you can call me Sousuke. It's a pleasure to meet you Ukitake-san."
Jin motioned for Sousuke to follow him.
"Ok so first were heading to the music room. Hitsugaya-san is actually a music artist with a bit of a following with the younger decade of us reapers. Word on the street is that she's looking for band members. She's really popular but she doesn't let it get to her head. She's also the reason why the modern clothes and whatnot have been imported and why the uniform was abolished. Good kid…" Jin trailed off.
"Wait so on top of being a pop idol she also is a clever businesswoman and political debater." Sousuke mused.
"Yep, she's even responsible for the semi-westernization of this realm."
"Semi-westernization?"
"Fer thousands o' years this place ran like something out an old Japanese samurai movie. Although twenty years ago nobody knew what a movie was with a few exceptions. Try imaging no cheeseburgers for over four thousand years."
Effective image thought Sousuke as he shivered.
"Although the changes are subtle it's there. The main layout of the Seireitei or our official reaper uniforms may never change we will have some amenities."
As they approached the music room Sousuke could hear an electric guitar slowly fading out. Sousuke and Jin opened up the door. He could see what made Ayame so popular. She had a dazzling smile on her face and a certain joy was radiating out of her. Her long hair was the tint of icy blue that mixed with a platinum blonde. She wore a simple stripped blue shirt with a jacket the same color as the blue in her hair along with gray cargo pants and a pair of flats.
"Oi, Ayame-chan!" Jin called out, obviously clapping in a sarcastic manner.
"Hm… Oh Jin-kun good to see you. Who's the new guy?"
"I'm Sousuke Agami. You can call me Sousuke."
"I'm Ayame Hitsugaya. It's a pleasure to meet you."
She shook his hand and Sousuke found himself trying to hide a blush.
Ayame smiled cluelessly and turned to Jin, "So what's up?"
"Well I was told to find all the students on this list." He waved the list limply, "And now we have three…Five more to go!"
Sousuke interrupted as the exited the music room, "So who's next?"
"We're going to find Hikaru Kyoraku." Jin replied, "Kyoraku-san is still in the library, Sousuke."
"So…what's she like?" Sousuke continued
"Well…for lack of better words she's a biblioprincess."
"What?"
Ayame interrupted, "Jin-kun, don't be confusing. She just spends a lot of time reading and she expects to be treated like a princess. She comes off as rude sometimes but she's a good person. She's really smart. Oh… she also has a major sweets addiction."
As they reached the library, Jin stopped them in front of the door.
"Follow my lead. For now I'll do all the talking. She's has some interestin' mannerisms."
With that he quickly led them to the back of the library. In the back, Sousuke saw an amazing sight. Giant piles of books made macabre towers and sitting the center was a girl in a black Victorian dress. The dress had a white lace frills that matched a pair of white laced gloves. Her black hair fell in long, curly locks and her eyes shone a feral green. Seven books were laid out in front of her and she flipped through all of them at an astounding rate. Jin walked over to her.
"Hello Kyoraku-san. I'm here to pick you up for class."
"Will it be interesting?"
"I can't guarantee that."
"Then leave."
Jin reached into his sleeves and pulled out melon bread. Hikari's eyes lit up like the light she was named after. She immediately popped up and almost drooled on the floor. Jin put the bread back in his sleeve and turned to Sousuke and Ayame.
"Kyoraku-san this is Sousuke Agami."
Sousuke extended his hand forward and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
Hikari completely ignored his hand and sniffed him a couple times. Her face lit up like fireworks at new years and she shook his hand.
"It's a pleasure, Agami-kun. You smell interesting."
Sousuke looked confused so Jin explained, "Well she only says that about people she considers worthy of her time or friends. Congratulations! Welcome to club."
Sousuke looked more even more confused than before so Ayame cut in, "Hikari-chan ignores people who aren't interesting. You fall in the interesting category therefore she's nice to you. We have a few other friends who fall into that category so you're the seventh addition."
Great…Sousuke thought quietly to himself as they walked out of the library. Sousuke was about to ask about the next person on the list when Jin spoke up, "Next person is Setsuna Hisagi. Setsu-kun is extremely powerful, a trait passed down by his parents, Nanao Ise and Shuhei Hisagi. Word is he's on the cusp of activating shikai which hasn't happen since Hitsugaya-soutaicho went through the academy. Still though he's a nice person."
Soutaicho, shikai, what….thought Sousuke but decided to ask later. They continued walking as the silence lay on them like a thick blanket. Sousuke in order to break the awkwardness spoke up, "So tell me about yourself, Jin."
He just grinned evilly.
Ayame, seeing this, smiled at Jin and said in a surprisingly good impression of Jin's sarcastic and playful candor, "Jin Ukitake is an information gathering fox. He admires Gin Ichimaru, a Soul Society legend and information gatherer, and even has the same hair color and trademark grin. He's also quite popular with his peers and always has a cool head around him. Word on the street is that he has many things hidden in his clothes including but not limited to a wakizashi, sweets, and his ever present journal."
She sent Jin a dazzling grin but Jin was totally spaced out. Hikari was on the brink of laughing but maintained her composure. By the time Ayame's speech had finished they reached the training ground. It was a giant outdoor pavilion. Awnings surrounded the pavilion in traditional Japanese style and on one side weapons were lined up on a rack. In the middle of the field was a young man holding an extremely long katana. He was swinging his sword in a series of arcs that looked like nothing more than a series of shining flashes. His hair was dark and long, tied up on a ponytail. He wore a black and white student's hamaka with the sleeves rolled up revealing well toned muscle. His facial features reminded some of a younger Byakuya Kukichi except for the fact that his eyes were covered with a thick black blindfold. After one final stroke he sheathed the sword in a long sheath that covered the length of his back.
"Oi… Setsuna. We've got class."
"Hn."
"It's in conference room 2 instead of the normal place. So you can come with us."
"Ok…who's the new guy? Oh, I'm Setsuna Hisagi."
"I'm Sousuke Agami. It's a pleasure to meet you Setsuna-kun. Just call me Sousuke."
As they were about to shake hands everyone heard a loud commotion coming from nearby that faintly sounded like a girl's irate scream. Jin sighed, "That's Yuki-hime. No doubt about it. We should probably run or Yuki-hime will probably destroy something."
They all sprinted and Sousuke pleasantly noted to himself that he was easily keeping up with Setsuna and Jin. Ayame and Hikari were somewhat slower but they kept pace and they all reached the ranking board. Jin quickly followed by Sousuke both grabbed and restrained Yukiko before she could do any damage.
"Oi, oi Yuki-hime, take it easy. We're supposed to meet in conference room two. We have class there." He said trying to placate the irate princess.
"Hmph…fine."
With that taken care of Jin walked off towards the conference room all the seven in tow. The group broke into twos or threes and Jin grabbed Sousuke so he could continue with introductions, "That's Yukiko Kukichi." He loosely pointed a finger in her general direction, "She's the heir to the Kukichi title. A noble who acts ice cold but can get very fiery and mad when her pride is affronted. Next one is Rin Kira. She's a firebrand with a short fuse. It doesn't help that her physical stature makes people think she's a twelve year old when she's actually 43."
What the heck… Age is going to make things more awkward around here but I guess I'm already dead and it can't get any more awkward than that. Sousuke thought with a confused facial expression so pitiful that Jin actually noticed it.
"Hung up on the age Sousuke?" Jin asked with no intention of getting an answer, "Well everyone here ages slowly just like you will now. Man you picked a good time to die. Right in your teenage prime. You'll age like us now. Very slowly. Genryusai-sensei is over two thousand years old just for your info. Also if you fancy any of the ladies, age really isn't a factor. One example would be Ichigo and Rukia Kukichi-Shiba. When they got married Ichigo was twenty years and Rukia was about 201. A more extreme example would be Unohana and Komamura Taicho who have a distance in age of about 600 years. People like you especially don't have to worry. Here years pass like days when you get use to them."
Sousuke's confused expression made Jin's smirk a little bit wider but to his credit he continued the explanation without laughing, "The last one with the confused look on his face is Kaien Kurosaki-Shiba. He's the current heir to Shiba-ke but carries himself with a completely different air then Yuki-hime. He's much more relaxed then her and just goes with the flow. He can get totally overprotective though."
And is if on cue he stopped right in front of a large set of doors that above read conference room two.
"Welcome to your classroom." Jin said with that ever-widening smirk of his.
A/N: And wrap. Well I hope you enjoyed it. Read and review, please and thank you. If you enjoyed it thanks, if you didn't while that's your problem. If you're annoyed by the POV change for the same even four times I'm never doing that again. It was ridiculously hard to keep it interesting two times even so this is never happening again. I will be doing point of view changes though…often. It keeps the story interesting.
Next Week: We meet the teachers, learn a shocking history lesson, find out what's so special about the eight, and Sousuke proves he's good for something.
