Halved and Whole
Edited as of 3/13/15
If you're new to either anime, you'll find that a decent explanation will probably accompany anything specific to the animes. If you're reading from a Bleach char's POV, I'll assume you haven't watched Bleach. If you're reading from Ryou's POV, I'll assume you know nothing about him. If there is still confusion, put your inquiry in a review and I'll explain or tell you that it's not part of canon.
Winter War has not happened yet, but after Rukia's rescue from Soul Society. Time in Bleach uncertain - suggest something, anything. Right now, I'm planning on making up the entire timeline as I go along. The timeline before any of this story happens, is a bit messed up, but mostly untouched. Ryou's mere presence will turn both Soul Society and Hueco Mundo upside-down.
Time in Yu-Gi-Oh - after the series. I'm going to pretend that the Ring reappeared soon after.
Everyone sat in their seats; a rare occurrence, but not in this class. All of the students had come from gym, which had tired them to the point of falling asleep, and had biology prior to this, which was taught by a teacher who loved lectures and always talked in a monotone. Thus, nearly everyone found themselves nodding off.
The only student not suffering from the brutal gym syllabus found himself staring out the window, hoping for a hollow to demolish a building. Now, he didn't look forward to mass funerals and heaps of debt to pay for repairs. Ichigo Kurosaki wanted a fight. Something tiring to spend the lingering effects of adrenaline on.
The bell rang, but the teacher made no move to start teaching, her nose buried in a romance novel. Most students followed her example, by either finding a comfortable position to sleep in or slouching over to read a book.
There was a knock at the door, and the teacher jumped up, startling the few students not yet asleep. Blush still high on her cheeks, she opened the door. Seated in the far corner of the room, Ichigo wasn't able to see who stood on the other side.
"Yes, you must be the new student! Come in, come in."
The newcomer stepped in, and Ichigo couldn't help but think of Toshiro. Same pale complexion, same white hair...okay, he admit that was how he identified the captain, other than as short, but everyone looked short when you were tall-ass Ichigo.
"Sorry for asking, but are you a boy or girl? I spilled coffee on your file earlier." The teacher blushed in her embarrassment, if that was possible at the moment.
A similar blush appeared on the student's face. A reply was spoken in a soft voice, quiet enough that Ichigo had to lean forward and strain his ears, but couldn't catch it.
"Ah, thank you. Again, sorry."
She addressed the rest of the students, "Everyone, this is Ryou Bakura. He's transferring from Domino High."
"It's nice to meet you all." Ryou bowed, the blush gone. He smiled, posture relaxed, not uncomfortable in the least at the experience of changing schools.
As Ryou brought his head back up, Ichigo heard the faint sound of metal clinking against metal. A golden pendant hanged from Ryou's neck, roughly the size of his hand, with five prongs. The prongs swayed and clinked when they met, the source of the sound.
"I didn't realize you'd be coming so soon. If I had known I would have had another desk brought in. For now you can sit at Mizuki's desk. She's absent today," the teacher explained, gesturing to an empty desk by the window. Ryou bowed again, and after taking the textbook needed to follow along, slid into the seat in front of Ichigo's.
Throughout the lesson, Ichigo noted that Ryou had a few...quirks, with lack of anything more appropriate to call them. From the start, the boy tugged at his hair a few times, stopped in the middle of jotting down notes only to continue a few seconds later, massaged his temples, looked around the room, and even turned to stare at Ichigo at one point. Out of habit, Ichigo had glared and scowled, but Ryou seemed unaffected. After that, the new student went back to his textbook.
At some point in the lesson - Ichigo couldn't be bothered to pick out exactly what time it was - Ryou stiffened and the pencil in his hand dropped to his notebook. He whipped his head to the window, aiming an icy glare outside. So maybe he was more like the tiny captain than Ichigo gave him credit for.
Ichigo looked out the window too, but saw nothing other than the usual boring grass and cement walks. He raised an eyebrow at Ryou, who continued glaring out the window. Ichigo sighed, and decided to try to understand where they were in the textbook. That is, until his Soul Badge started beeping.
Caught unaware, Ichigo jumped. He checked if anyone had seen, but thankfully, no one did.
Except for the owner of those wide red eyes. Who happened to be staring at the Soul Badge.
Before he could think anything of it, Ichigo heard a howl. He looked out the window and almost swore aloud. A hollow. Ryou's eyes snapped back to the window and at the black monster, focusing directly on it.
Ichigo grit his teeth. If he made an excuse to leave now, Ryou would no doubt be suspicious when Ichigo, dressed in strange clothes and wielding an oversized butcher's knife, killed the hollow. He could wait and let Rukia take care of the hollow. He relaxed, but tensed again at the reminder that Ryou would see her, and would recognize her in the hallway.
Ryou whispered something Ichigo wasn't able to make out. Assuming Ryou had said a prayer in another language, he held back a snort. Probably scared out of his wits at the appearance of the 'demonic' beast. Ichigo heard another howl, and scanned the area for a second hollow. A glance at the first hollow made him pause in his search.
Why wasn't it moving? Was it...shaking?
Indeed, the giant, masked, centipede-like thing was trembling.
The shadow cast from the building seemed to spread. Ichigo squinted and checked for clouds to make sure it wasn't his eyes or the light playing tricks on him. No tricks. Nothing. His curiosity forced him to watch as the shadow grew enough to cloak the entire hollow.
Ichigo spotted Rukia at the edge of his vision on the ground, staring at the hollow. The shadow gradually retracted, as if by a trick of the light. Ichigo tried to find the hollow in the dark area. His brow furrowed in confusion. The hollow had been there a minute ago, hadn't it?
"-chigo!"
Ichigo's mind snapped back to the classroom, and to the annoyed teacher, who sighed in tired annoyance. Everyone stared at him. Silence. Not even his Soul Badge beeped anymore.
"Ichigo, I asked you a question."
Ichigo scratched his chin, as though just waking up. "Sorry, Teach, I zoned out. What was the question again?"
The teacher frowned. "What constellation do the Great Pyramids mirror?"
Ichigo frowned. They were at Egypt already? He flipped a few pages in his book before Ryou's brown eyes caught his, mouth moving in the right words.
"Orion's Belt," Ichigo parroted. The teacher pursed her lips.
"Correct. At least Ryou was listening."
Ryou blushed, and as his hair covered his eyes when he looked down, his blush deepened.
A dozen questions in his head, Ichigo watched Ryou for the rest of class. The ticks, once frequent and non-stop, disappeared for the rest of the class. When the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, Ryou fled the classroom.
Author's Notes
Good God, I started this in 2011. Ouch. So many problems with this. First and foremost is the characterization, and I got carried away in a few spots, and didn't flesh out enough in other spots. Next biggest issue is how classes work. I now have a slightly better idea of how Japanese high school works, and good grief, that messes up plot points in another story as well. I'm iffy on what I want to do with the Japanese words.
