Where Our Lives Changed

Summary: At 180 years old, Kyouraku Shunsui was still considered a young man in Soul Society with a long way to go. But unlike other young men, he had no big ambitions. All he wanted was a simple life filled with naps and women. At 180 years old, Ukitake Jyuushirou was also a young man, though it was difficult to say that he had as long a way to go as Shunsui. Unlike other young men, he dared not have big ambitions. All he wanted was a fulfilling life with less uncertainties and more opportunities to help out as many people as he could within the indefinite span of his life. When Shunsui and Jyuushirou were 180 years old, they entered the Shinigami Academy- a place that changed their lives forever.

A/N: 'Bleach' and the characters as well as the storyline featured in the manga and anime do not belong to me but Kubo Tite.

Chapter One- From There We Began

Knock, knock

There was no reply.

Knock, knock, knock

Again, there was no reply.

The old lady outside the room heaved a sigh. Oh well, she thought, he has always been like this after all. What can I expect?

Never had he once in the past 180 years of his life answered the door. Never. She supposed she was simply used to knocking the doors of her masters. After all, she had served the high-class noble House of Kyouraku for as long as she could remember. How long exactly had it been already? 8000 years? Or was it 6000 years? No, she was unable to remember anymore. She had already lost track of it a long time ago. Time in Soul Society was such a trivial and easily forgettable thing. The old lady could hardly even remember how she looked like when she was young. How black was her hair back then? How smooth was her skin? Was she attractive? She could still vaguely remember people telling her in the far past that she was pretty. Was it a real memory? Or perhaps it was just her imagination. Perhaps her brain was trying to console her old heart that she once possessed something called 'youth'. Surely any outsider would agree that she needed some consoling, for she looked so ancient and fragile, one must wonder how she could move an inch without collapsing into a pile of bones and skin. Aging is such a sad thing, the old lady always mused, especially in a place like Soul Society.

As usual, she slid open the door and stepped inside. Rule number three of the 'Kyouraku Household's Servants' Code of Behaviour' stated that a servant must always wait for a master's answer before he or she could enter. But there was no use complying with this rule when the master was him, for if you were to abide by the rule, you would not be able to enter his room for eternity.

The windows were closed, so the room was rather dark. Slow and gentle snores filled the room. She hurried over to the windows and opened them, letting sunlight pour into the room. The sleeping man grunted in disgruntlement and covered his head with his blanket. The old lady then moved towards the sleeping figure and yelled, "WAKE UP!" at the top of her lungs, as loudly as her hoarse voice could go. The man under the blanket merely murmured something unintelligible and shifted slightly. The old lady was already extremely used to this situation, but her face still betrayed a hint of exasperation. She then pulled the blanket away from the man, and gripped the shoulders of the still sleeping man. For a person so old, she had a great deal of physical strength. She pulled the man into a sit-up position and shook him roughly. "WAKE UP NOW!" She yelled again.

The man tried to ignore her and continued to press his eyes shut. However, her vigorous shaking was way too difficult for him to ignore. Finally, he decided to give up and opened his eyes. "Alright, alright you old bat. I'm already awake!" He mumbled.

"Finally." She replied, and let go of him

The man with short wavy brown hair fixed his brown eyes at the old lady and grinned. "So, Mutsuki-baachan," he started, " are you here to confess your undying love for me? I have to say, I normally prefer young girls. However, since you seemed so eager to love me, I shall be kind and not break your heart. Well, not immediately, I suppose." He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, as though to calm himself down. Opening his eyes again, he looked at Mutsuki and said in a serious tone, "I'm ready. I'm listening. Profess your love for me now!"

Mutsuki glared at him irritably and snapped, "Shut up! I'm here to tell you that the old master- your father- wants to see you now, Master Shunsui."

Shunsui's mouth dropped into a disappointed, "Oh."

Rule number two of the "Servant's Code" stated that a servant must treat his or her master with absolute respect. However, when it came to dealing with him, that rule would have to be broken too.

"So what does my old man want with me? Don't tell me he wants to confess his love for me…. No…. Even the thought of it is too unbearable for my fragile heart. Mutsuki-baachan, tell him that I do not want to see him."

"No," Mutsuki rejected flatly. Rule one states that all servants must obey all direct orders of their masters. Well, that would have to go too when it comes to him. "The old master wants to talk to you about something important. He is in the hall waiting for you now."

"Important?" He raised his right eyebrow. What his fellow family members considered important had nothing in common with him. To them, they were shinigami duties and family honour. To him, they were women and naps. Nevertheless, he forced himself up and proceeded to the hall of the manor.

"Father," he greeted as he entered the hall and saw the older man seating on a chair. He looked like a much older version of Shunsui himself.

"You are finally here," his father replied in an irritable tone, " took you long enough. Take a seat." He pointed to a chair opposite to him.

"No, thanks," replied Shunsui, "I'd much prefer to be standing. If I hear anything that I do not like, I can just turn and walk off immediately. Saves me the trouble from having to stand up again, you know."

Shunsui's father frowned. He then beckoned to a nearby servant. "Close the doors and guard them."

"Hey!" cried Shunsui. "That's mean of you!" He pouted at his father. The older Kyouraku merely shrugged at his son.

"Severe circumstances require severe measures."

Shunsui glowered at his father for a few more seconds before changing his expression into a wary look. "So, since you closed the doors, I can safely assume that what I'm going to hear would not be something that I'm going to enjoy, I suppose?"

Shunsui's father looked at him with an exasperated look. "Shunsui…. Of all my sons, you are the one with the most potential, yet you are also the one who is the laziest. Have you really no thoughts about your future?"

"No point pondering about it you know, the future is the future after all. Unknown. Unpredictable. That's the whole fun of it, isn't it?"

"Look Shunsui, if you work hard, you can go far!"

"Go far? But I like my current place! Why bother to go further than this? It's too troublesome."

"Shunsui… You are my second son! The one who is eventually going to inherit most of my fortune and become the leader of the House of Kyouraku will be your elder brother, my first son! Do you think he will be willing to support a lazy bum who does nothing all day except to sleep and chase after women? What I'm saying is for your own good! You need to get yourself a decent job! Why don't you become a shinigami like the rest of us? Help us uphold the family honour!"

"Nope. Too troublesome," replied Shunsui in a nonchalant voice.

Old Kyouraku stared at his son. What a stubborn guy. He thought inwardly. He's probably the laziest person to ever exist.

After a few minutes of silence, old Kyouraku started again. "Have you heard of Yamamoto-Genryuusai Shigekuni-taicho?"

"Huh?" started a rather puzzled Shunsui, surprised at his father's sudden change of topic. "Yeah… Of course… People are always talking about him, aren't they? He's the old shinigami captain who's tipped to be the next general-captain, isn't he? Heard he's a pretty formidable man. What about him anyway?"

"Well, he had obtained permission to set up a shinigami academy to give people an official education in shinigami skills and to teach them the specific development skills. People no longer have to learn and develop the skills by themselves. There were rumours that Genryuusai-taicho himself is going to be teaching."

"So?" asked Shunsui, who had in fact already guessed what his father was driving at, and dreaded what comes next.

"Well, one has to take an entrance exam to get into the school. Firstly, it is to ensure that the student has spiritual power and secondly, it is to find out the current standard of the student. I've signed you up for the exam. You won't have much problems with passing it."

"You WHAT?" cried Shunsui. Although he had already guessed it, the news still annoyed him no less. "No deal! How can you decide such things by yourself?"

"I'm your father!" Snapped his father back at him. "If, at the end of the six years course, you decide that you are still not interested in becoming a shinigami, then I won't force you anymore! How's that? Besides, what's so bad about attending the academy anyway? I heard that there are many girls who were interested and had already signed up for it. You will have to stay in a dormitory if you attend the academy. Think about it! Girls will surround you 24 hours a day! That is not something that you would be able to experience if you coop yourself up in your room all day in this manor!"

Shunsui froze. He had not thought about that. Girls! 24 hours a day! Yes, yes…. That sounded to him like a marvelous idea.

He grinned at his father, "Are you sure that there will be many girls?"

At the same time that the Kyouraku father-and-son exchange was taking place, another exchange was taking place in the poorer part of Seireitei. Soul Society consisted of people who were born in Soul Society by people with spiritual powers, and people who died in the real world and passed on to Soul Society. People who were born in Soul Society were considered to be the native people of Soul Society, and so have higher statuses than the people who died and passed on. These native people are called the nobles and lived in Seireitei itself, which was also the place where the shinigamis lived. The people who died in the real world passed on and settled in the districts of Rukongai, and are the peasants of Soul Society. Some of those peasants who are lucky to have spiritual powers that are high enough eventually become shinigamis, but the others with extremely low spiritual powers die and move on to another stage of the life-and-death cycle: reincarnation. 'Nobles' itself in Soul Society terms was a word that was much more fanciful than it really was. One could easily be a noble if he or she was born in Soul Society or if he or she becomes a shinigami. Therefore, the nobles are further split into high-class, middle-class and low-class. The most famous of the high-class noble houses are the four major noble houses such as Kuchiki and Shihouin. However, the low-class noblemen lived a life rather similar to the peasants in Rukongai, albeit slightly better and definitely much safer.

The members of the low-class House of Ukitake were having their lunch when the eldest child, Ukitake Jyuushirou, made such a startling announcement that his mother, who was eating her rice nearly choked in surprise while his father accidentally overturned and spilled his cup of tea in shock. Despite the slightly dramatic response of his parents, Jyuushirou continued with his task of eating his third bowl of rice. He had expected those reactions after all. "You WHAT?" cried his parents in unison, wanting to confirm that they are not imagining what they thought they heard him said.

Jyuushirou took his time to chew and swallow his rice and then replied calmly, "I said, I am going to take the entrance exam for the shinigami academy. I want to be a shinigami." His parents gaped at him in disbelief. There were no doubts about his abilities. They could not deny that he was a talented child. As a matter of fact, he was extremely talented. He learnt many of the kidou spells that they taught him extremely easily. He would most certainly be able to pass the entrance exam. However, the problem was his weak health. There was absolutely no way that a person with such a weak body could become a shinigami. No way at all! The husband and wife looked at each other, each prompting the other to talk some sense into their son.

After a few minutes of prolonged glaring at her husband, Jyuushirou's mother turned to face her eldest son, who, unlike her other children, has a head of distinctive short hair that had turned white three days after his lung problems first surfaced when he was young. She started, "Jyuu-chan…. I know why you want to become a shinigami. It's because of us right? You want to earn more money to support the family. Jyuu-chan…. Think about your health. The job of a shinigami is too strenuous for your body. We can find other ways to earn money. Nothing matters to us more than your health."

Jyuushirou said nothing and continued chewing his rice slowly while he turned his head over to look at the family's rice field through the window. The harvest had been getting worse every single year. They barely had enough to feed the family now, let alone sell. Not only was there a huge family to feed, the fact that he himself had a huge appetite made him feel even worse. His parents used to be shinigamis before he was born. Unfortunately, Jyuushirou was born with a weak body and was almost constantly sick. His mother resigned in order to take care of him. However, for some reason that he could not quite understand, his parents continued to give birth to more children. His father had to eventually give up his job as a shinigami as well to help his wife take care of the children. A shinigami had to spend too much time away from his family after all. They decided to earn a living by planting rice instead. However, since the harvest had been getting worse, Jyuushirou could not help but acknowledge the fact that his family would be reduced to absolute poverty in a few years time if nothing were done.

Jyuushirou already had six siblings - four brothers and two sisters. Another one was on its way. Not that he minded of course, nothing more joyful could fill the house than life itself. Especially with a sickly person like me around, he thought bitterly. He quickly cheered himself up with the thought of having a new sibling soon and amused himself by wondering whether the baby would be a boy or girl this time round.

He had already been sickly since he was born, so he had long been accustomed to his weakness. Nevertheless, it still did not stop him from feeling a sense of helplessness. As the eldest son, he felt that it should be his responsibility to share the burden of his family with his parents. However, since he was almost always sick, he was unable to do much for them. In fact, he felt that he was a burden to them instead. Occasionally, during his rare better days, he was able to help his parents tend the field, cook the meals and look after the kids. However, those were only the rare better days. I want to do something more, he thought in frustration.

Today was thankfully, one of his better days. When he went out to help his mother buy some groceries (which is nothing more than some milk and onion), he overheard some people talking loudly about the shinigami academy.

"Have you heard? Old Kyouraku signed his second son up for the entrance exam of the academy!"

"Academy? What academy?"

"Haven't you heard? Yamamoto-Genryuusai Shigekuni-taicho is setting up an academy to give people proper education in shinigami skills!"

"Yamamoto? THAT Yamamoto?"

"Yep! There are rumours that he may be teaching in the academy himself!"

"Really? Lucky students! Anyway, I thought Kyouraku's second son is a lazy womanizer with no ambitions and interests? Will he be willing to go to the entrance exam?"

"Who knows? I heard lots of girls are interested though. He may take the exams for the sake of the girls…."

"My, my, that guy…."

Later on, he was even given a leaflet about it on his way home. The academy was practically the greatest talking topic in the whole of Soul Society right now. However, to Jyuushirou, it was not who the founder of the academy was that excited him; neither did he even had the faintest idea who the second son of Kyouraku was. To him, the academy offered him a chance to settle his family's problems. He would be able to support his family after he graduate; his parents would not have to work so hard anymore. He would also be staying in the academy for most of the next six years. His mother would not need to take care of him much. His meals would also be settled in the academy. This would place less strain on his family and his siblings would be able to eat more. He would no longer be a burden to his family! Yes, what could be better than that?

Turning from the window back to his mother, Jyuushirou finally spoke, "Mother… I'll manage it somehow…. Please... Just…. Let me try…."

…to help, he finished in his mind. He had no idea how to be a shinigami when he could not even manage to be a good enough eldest son, but he really wanted to try. His future might seem dim, but it was still worth a try.

Looking at the determined look in his eyes, his parents knew that they had no choice but to believe in him - their capable but unfortunate child.

Author's Notes: How is the first chapter? Did you like it? This chapter is greatly influenced by the biographies of Ukitake and Shunsui in volume 18 of the manga. I have no idea how old they were when they joined the Academy. 180 years old is merely a rough guess. This is my first time writing a fan fiction. Help to guide me by reviewing okay?