February 13, 2009
3:25 PM - Religion Class
Ichigo's mind wandered to the outskirts of Karakura. He sat absentmindedly in his religion class, paying little attention to his teacher's lesson on extremists from all religions. He watched a group of students gather around the cross country route, assuming they were out for gym class. Each student lined up on different sections. The fastest runner would be ahead and the slowest would be the one behind. And then BANG! The sound of the gunshot echoed through his ears, signalling for the runners to take off in the same speed the bullet took. He would be lying if he said he didn't jump in his seat. But who cares? He didn't focus on the students in class. He focused on the students outside. The students dressed in baggy clothes, sweating from head to toe, whose breathing was hard and shallow, limbs moving at a fast paced motion. These students interested him more than the lazy students in his class who wore the generic uniform, who passed time by tapping their fingers against their desks, who didn't have the energy and excitement of the one's outside.
In summation; Religion class blows.
He found it to be pointless. It was just another way for his teacher to force their opinions down the throats of the students. But as pointless as class goes; there was appeal. And what appealed to him was the constant essay projects the teacher forced them to write.
He found himself whining about the whole affair but eventually sucked up his 'pain' and wrote the most intriguing essays in little effort. He was envied by other students because of this. While students crammed and studied multiple books on religion or other subjects, he was able to conjure up a masterpiece in any time.
He sighed to himself, wanting to be one of the students who ran on the tracks barely breathing and limbs going numb. He wanted to be one of the students who sacrificed their limbs in finishing first place and he wanted the adrenaline pumping through his blood, his mind going berserk as he would outrun each opponent on the field. Ichigo was always a competitive one. He would turn anything into a competition and to put it nicely, his competitiveness pissed the fuck off everyone involved with it. Last year, on his mother's anniversary, he heard his father say 'I love you,' to her grave and he made it a competition and vowed to say 'I love you' more than his father did (he won, only because his father couldn't risk Yuzu and Karin getting colds just because he wanted to pour his heart out for a competition).
Ichigo twirled his No. 2 pencil on his slender fingers, still watching the students running for their lives. He found it amusing how the barbaric side of humans can easily be triggered with the right competition.
While he watched them run run run for their lives, his ears were still attentively listening to the teacher. "...Now, I know this is religion class but I'd like to discuss disgusting norms our society have acquired. Would anyone like to list any?" The sly tongue of his teacher moved in his mouth like a dance immortalized by memory.
He turned his head for a split second, the teacher staring him down like a hunter looking down on his prey. Ichigo knew this look. His teacher wanted him to answer the question because as his classmates envied his knowledge, his teacher took pleasure from it. He gulped, feeling his teacher's raging blue eyes burn through him entirely. He was scared and he couldn't move. And that is his fear; what if Yuzu and Karin and Isshin were in danger and he couldn't do anything about it? What if Sado, or Inoue, and Ishida, or Keigo, or Tatsuki, or Mizuiro were in danger? That is the real fear resonating inside of him. The fear of watching his loved ones die one by one while all he could do was watch and be paralyzed.
So he raised his hand, thinking if he gave in to this everlasting pain that it would eventually disappear. But it did not. His heartbeat was still rapidly beating, sweat balls dropped from his forehead, and his legs shaking. If he was standing, he sure would have fallen over. His ears rung when his teacher spoke, engulfing him in his presence like a snake swallowing it's prey alive. "Yes, Ichigo?"
His arm dropped down. His teacher waited patiently for him to answer, while the uniformed students waited impatiently. He noticed some of them prepared to take notes as if he were God descending upon the Earth, telling his servants to record everything he said. He cleared his throat, trying to steady his heartbeat so his words wouldn't come out half-assed and thoughtless. "Well, there are a lot things wrong with today's society. One which particularly makes me shake my head at night," He paused, hearing the students scribble frantically into their notebooks and hearing his teacher chuckle. "Is the mindset that ALL Muslims are extremists. But anyone who thinks this is just a bigot. We almost always associate extremists or terrorists as Muslims but they are all not extremists or terrorists. Some don't even practice the religion. But I think we believe this because of what happened in America in 2001. We blame their whole religion and anyone practicing their religion for it but what we don't understand is there are other extremists from other religions as well and they express it differently. Like, the Westboro Baptist Church for example. They believe this notion that God hates homosexuals. So, they rampage about the country, ranting and ranting about something that is not true. If God did hate homosexuals then why did he create them? He is an almighty being we perceive to be perfect and he wouldn't have made homosexuals the way they were if he didn't like them the way they were. He created Earth in balance and peace so why would he create something that others believe would destroy the Earth?" He paused again, now slowly panting.
His teacher nodded in awe at his response. It was no lie that Ichigo was his best student and he like to flaunt it. "But what about Lucifer? He convinced Adam and Eve to eat from the forbidden tree and in doing so, damned our world in sin and evil?"
Ichigo snorted. He expected much better questions from his teacher who he believed mastered all knowledge on religion. "Lucifer was an angel and a loved one at that. I can not speak on his behalf because I do not know him personally and his motives might be completely different. The Bible showcased him as an evildoer but who knows, maybe the Bible was just a lie. There is no one alive in the Earth right now that has been present at the time of writing and yes, while there may be some structures supporting the finer points of the book, Christians and/or Catholics could've just called dibs on it and structured the Bible based on them." Ichigo stopped talking, noticing the wide goofy smile his teacher had acquired in his time of talking.
His teacher clapped slowly, his pale palm hitting the other. "My, my. I'm surprised you chose to go to Karakura High while I'm sure other schools offered you scholarships." He shrugged, hiding his happiness. While he was scared of his teacher, some of his fear would diminish after being complimented. "Anything else to add?"
Ichigo nodded, thinking back to a certain phrase in the Bible that peaked his interests. "Relating back to the topic on homosexuals, I recall this certain quote I found in the Bible. I think it relates so much to what I just spoke about. In Ecclesiastes 7:13, it says, 'Consider the work of God, For who is able to straighten what he has bent.' To modernize it a bit; We should accept the way God does things. If we entrust him with our lives then we should trust the things he has made crooked."
He felt bad about the students taking jot notes on his rambling. He admired their desire to get smarter, but he didn't want them to get smarter from him. He wanted them to get smarter on their own so they know their strengths. And also it pissed him off when someone copied him.
"Well done, Ichigo. Now, this discussion was preparation for your next essay. Ichigo has provided with a perfect example. You will list a societal norm you find disgusting, excluding the one we talked about today, and you will create a DETAILED essay on it. Your written essay will be worth half and you will be doing a presentation that will be worth the other half. I expect you to practice more than once and to work on this other than the day before the deadline. And as I entrust you with my expectations, I have given you two months to complete this assignment." He heard the cheers and relieved sighs of the students. "Pick up a copy of the guidelines on your way out."
The school beng rang loudly and the students shuffled out of their seats towards his desk. On it was a big stack of papers and each one grabbed a guideline. He watched them exit the class with their assignments and as the herd shortened, he went up and got himself one. As he grabbed the stapled papers, he felt a cold arm grab his. He gulped, knowing full well whose it was. "Ichigo, I noticed you were out of focus in class today. You seemed to be only present in class only when I asked you about the social norms of today. While I was disappointed in you, I was still in awe at your speech." He paused, smiling up at Ichigo, the ends of his mouths stretching to his ears. "You are smart and I'd hate for you to fall back. When you have graduated and understand the different beliefs and principles of each religion and culture we discuss about, take your understanding to the world outside. In the meantime, I expect you to pay attention each and every day. I know you think religion is pointless, much like some other students but know that the things I'm teaching you now will help shape your morality. If you don't follow my instructions, then I'll be calling home to your parents, uh excuse me, parent. Now goodbye, Ichigo!" The slyness of his voice almost made Ichigo crumble to the ground.
He nodded, feeling relieved when his teacher let go. "Yes, Mr. Ichimaru." And with the final words said, he left the classroom with a feeling of unease.
I am actually so very proud of this first chapter. And as a note, if you are a writer, please do have confidence in your writing. Having a good attitude about it can make your stories go a long way. But if you do ever feel as though one of your pieces are 'bad,' then just tell yourself that this is just a bump in the road and one 'bad' story will not affect your other amazing ideas and stories.
Just a couple of notes:
1)This is not in the same universe as the original Bleach (which I do not own). This is a different universe and I'm still tweaking some plot details so maybe this will soon be in the Bleach universe but I'll have to change a few things, first thing being how Gin ended up being Ichigo's religion teacher.
2) This chapter was controversial and my betas felt uncomfortable reading and editing it so if you have any concerns, please discuss it with me but I do want to talk about these matters because it is currently happening and I want to get the message across. If you could not handle this chapter, I recommend you stop reading because it is very likely there will be more controversial topics being discussed.
3) There will be a lot of IchiHime and RukiKaien in the beginning and I'll see how it goes from there.
4) Reviews are much appreciated.