Hey this is my first fic, i'm mainly writing this for fun and hopefully to improve my writing ability a bit as well. Hope you enjoy!
He looked down at the page in front of him. A mess of ink sprawled across the page. 'Last question', He thought to himself. This was it, he carefully read the question over, a slight smirk appeared across his face. 'Easy' He thought. After carefully inscribing the answer on the page he looked up at the clock on the wall. 11:30, he had finished half an hour early. With a smug look on his face he stood from his desk and walked to the front of the large gathering hall. Around him sat his fellow grade 12 students, most of them looking stressed as the time to finish their exams was slowly declining. He recognised a few of them as acquaintances from his classes and he saw Chad and Orihime in the far corner of the room struggling to finish up their exams.
As he reached the front of the room the examiner looked up at him. he threw his exam into the small pile beside her. Other than his it appeared that only three others had finished and put theirs in the pile. A sigh of relief washed over him as he thought to himself, 'Well, that's it. I am officially done with high school.' He reached the exit and pushed the door open. A wave of pre-summer heat washed over his body as he stepped outside and took a breath of warm air.
"Took you long enough, Kurosaki!" He turned to his right and saw a smug looking Quincy boy seated on a bench with a massive novel in his hand. Ichigo scowled.
"Shut up, Ishida." Ishida's gave him an amused smile and returned his focus to his book. Ichigo began to walk home.
As he walked, he thought about what he was going to do now. He always figured he would take over the family clinic after he graduated, but the recent revival of his shinigami powers had changed a lot of things in his life. He was back to being a substitute shinigami. It had been three months since he had defeated Ginjo and Tsukishima with the help of the Gotei 13 but he hadn't heard anything from soul society since that day.
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the familiar power of a hollow nearby. While soul society did have a shinigami stationed in Karukura town he had proven to be rather unreliable, so often times even though he didn't need to, Ichigo took it upon himself to help out with hollows.
'It sure would be nice if Af-san was a little more useful and actually helped kill the hollows around here!' Ichigo though as he pulled his substitute badge out of his bag. He left his human body in a nearby alleyway as he raced to the hollow's location in his shinigami form. He arrived at the hollows location and hoisted Zangetsu onto his shoulder. The hollow turned to see Ichigo standing on a rooftop beside him.
"HAH! HAVE YOU COME TO DIE, SHINIGAMI?" the hollow bellowed!
"You wish." Ichigo said as he flash-stepped right in front of the beast and brought Zangetsu down upon his mask. The hollow didn't even have time to look surprised as he disintegrated into the air.
"Either the hollows around here are getting weaker, or I'm getting better at this." Ichigo said to himself as he walked back to the alley where he left his body. As he returned his soul to his body and dusted his clothes off he felt a presence nearing him from the other side of the alleyway. He looked to see who it was and immediately recognised Tatsuki and Orihime walking down the street beside the alleyway.
"Hey! Orihime, Tatsuki!" The girls turned to look down the dark alleyway.
"Ichigo?" Tatsuki questioned. She was sure she spotted some distinctively orange hair in the alleyway. Ichigo stepped out into the light and and responded,
"Yeah." Tatsuki frowned and looked over to Orihime who seemed to be thinking to the same thing as she was.
"Ichigo, what the hell are you doing in a dusty old alleyway?"
"Oh, umm... I was just uh, stuff." This time Orihime spoke up
"Hollow?" Ichigo scratched the back of his head and grinned
"How did you know?" He asked
"... Intuition" She replied and smiled back briefly. Tatsuki just rolled her eyes and looked at him with a slightly bemused gaze.
"Mind if i walk home with you guys?" The girls both nodded and the three began walking down the street towards their homes
"So what are your plans now that you graduated, Ichigo?" Tatsuki asked.
"Uhm... I'm not too sure." He muttered, slightly embarrassed.
"Idiot!" Tatsuki yelled as she punched him in the stomach, "How can you graduate high school and still not have any plans! You've had your whole life to thing about it!"
Ichigo recoiled at the pain of Tatsuki's fist slamming into his stomach, 'Damn, she hits hard!' He thought to himself. He could see his family's clinic in the distance, he turned to the girls, still clenching his stomach
"Aha yeah." he said sarcastically, "Anyways that's my house, see you guys later." He ran off towards his house as quickly as he could to get away from the clearly infuriated Tatsuki. Tatsuki just sat and watched with an angry look on her face as Ichigo ran off!
"That idiot." She muttered.
Ichigo slowed down as he reached the Kurosaki family clinic. He paused to catch his breath before walking up to the door and placing his hand on the handle to open it.
"WELCOME HOME MY SON!" Was all he heard as he opened the door into his home. His father came flying out of nowhere with his feet in the air as he attempted to kick Ichigo square in the face. Ichigo's shinigami reflexes kicked in as he hastily sidestepped and his father went flying past him and into the rose bush in front of the house.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU CRAZY OLD MAN!" Ichigo shouted at the rose bush his father had disappeared into. His father came flying back out of the bush and gave Ichigo a huge grin
"I see that now you have graduated your reflexes have become even faste-" He was cut off as Ichigo kicked him in the face.
"How could my son be so cruel to his old man" was all Isshin Kurosaki managed to say as his body sunk back into the rose bush. Ichigo sighed as he entered his house. He walked into the kitchen to get some lunch and saw his sisters were seated at the table already eating.
"Hey Yuzu, Karin."
"Icchy-nii!" Yuzu looked up and smiled at him
"Hey, how did your exam go?" Karin asked
"Ehh, It was pretty easy actually, I'm just glad that I'm finally finished with school" He said.
Karin smiled and said "Lucky."
"Would you like some lunch, Icchy? I made sandwiches and left one for you in the fridge."
"Ah, Thanks Yuzu." He said as he walked over to the fridge and grabbed his cold plastic wrapped sandwich from the fridge. He unwrapped it and discarded the wrapper into the garbage as he took a bite. Yuzu really was quite the impressive little chef, all the food she made was rather delicious. He finished his sandwich and went to his room.
Ichigo's eyes shot open. Had he fallen asleep? He looked up at his clock on his wall. 4:30. 'guess so.' He really had been exhausted after his past week of exams and he felt very refreshed after his nap. He was in a good mood after his nap. That was, until he felt a familiar reiatsu approaching. His mood went from a good one to a confused one. He went to see what the big idea was. He heard a knock on his front door as he was leaving his room and he heard one of his sisters walking to get the door.
Yuzu got a strange feeling as she approached the door to answer it. She couldn't quite decide what it was but she found it familiar to the feeling her brother and father gave her when they got serious. As she turned the handle of the door and slid it open she gazed up at a towering blonde man with a strange green hat and some slightly flamboyant clogs on his feet. He had a unsettling feeling about him.
"Can i help you?" Yuzu asked the man timidly. He looked down at her and paused for a moment, he opened his mouth to speak but before any words came out he was cut off.
"What do you want? Urahara."
Yuzu turned around to see her orange haired older brother standing a few feet behind her. Ichigo had a stern look on his face, she began to feel nervous in the presence of the two men.
"My, my, Kurosaki-san your manners could use some work." Said the blonde man.
"What do you want?" Ichigo repeated.
The blonde man sighed, " I'm here to discuss some... business." he grinned slightly and briefly looked at Yuzu, then back to Ichigo.
"I'm going for a walk, Yuzu." Ichigo told her as he brushed past her and out the door pulling the blonde man with him and closing the door behind them. Yuzu stared blankly at the door and wondered what all that was about. She turned around and saw her father sitting at the kitchen table doing the same thing.
"What was that all about Dad?"
Isshin looked at his youngest daughter and put on a fake smile. "Don't worry about it, Yuzu. I'm sure Ichigo will deal with it."
"So, what's the big deal showing up at my house and all? Urahara." Ichigo asked as he walked down the street with the tacky blonde man.
"Well Kurosaki-san, Have you been to soul society since you regained your shinihgami powers?"
"No, I haven't even heard anything from them since that night."
"Ah well, I received a message today."
"What did it say?" Ichigo asked with a very confused look on his face.
"Your presence has been requested by the Captain-Commander, they wish to..." He paused. "... Speak with you."
Ichigo didn't say anything for a moment.
"Why?" was all he could think to ask.
A sizeable smirk appeared on Urahara's face "How would I know Kurosaki-san? It's not like I'm withholding any information from you." He said in his sarcastic sing-song voice.
Ichigo sighed. "I'll be at your shop tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock." was all he said before turning and walking back to his home, leaving Urahara alone in the middle of the deserted street.
8 o'clock in the morning. A particularly tired looking boy with bright orange hair and auburn eyes stood outside of a small local candy store.
"I hate this store." He said aloud to himself as he stepped up to the entrance.
"Hey, hat and clogs! You in there?" There was short moment of silence, then sure enough the door slid open to reveal none other than the flamboyant shop owner himself.
"Oh, Kurosaki-san! I was beginning to think you weren't coming!"
"What would make you think that?"
"Urahara just smiled and said "No reason in particular. Now, come downstairs I have prepared a senkaimon for us."
"Us? You're coming with me?" Ichigo asked, slightly annoyed.
"Of course Kurosaki, You aren't the only one with business in soul society!" Ichigo sighed and followed Urahara into his massive underground basement. Sure enough, at the bottom of the long vertical ladder, an opened senkaimon gate was there. The two shinigami gazed at it for a few moments before Ichigo spoke up.
"Boy, this sure feels nostalgic" It had after all, been over two years since he had been in soul society. He hoped he would get a chance to see Rukia and Renji soon.
"After you, Kurosaki-san." was all Urahara replied with.
They stepped into the senkaimon gate and it began to close behind them.
The journey through the precipice world was quick, neither of the shinigami spoke a word to each other. Each of them pondering their own thoughts.
Before they knew it, they had exited the senkaimon and were finally in soul society. They were greeted by a familiar looking white-haired captain.
Ichigo spoke "Hey, Ukitake."
Ukitake, who was not at all bothered by the boy's lack of formality when speaking to a captain, said, "Welcome back Kurosaki-san, Urahara-san. We have been expecting you. I have been instructed to escort you to the Captains meeting upon your arrival." He spoke in his usual kind, friendly tone. "Please follow me."
'Captains meeting? Whats going on?' Ichigo thought to himself as they were led throughout the seireitei, towards the 1st squad headquarters. The walk was quick as any souls or shinigami that were in the streets made sure to clear the way when they saw the 13th squad captain walking hastily through the streets followed by the former 12th squad captain and Ichigo Kurosaki, the savior of soul society, or so he had been named by the residents of Rukongai.
Ichigo could hear the whispers of the shinigami they passed,
"Is that really him?"
"The savior?"
"No way!"
"Why is he here?"
He did his best to ignore some of the gaping mouths and stares. Just before he had hit his limit and was about to say something. Ukitake spoke up,
"Here we are, now if you would please follow me inside. Oh, and Kurosaki?"
"Yeah?" Ichigo replied.
"Try to show some respect once we're inside." Ukitake teased with a smile.
"Hmph." Was all he could say as his face turned a slight shade of pink and he heard Urahara chuckle softly from behind him.
"Shut up, Hat and clogs! You're no better!" He turned and yelled at Urahara. The blonde candy store owner just smiled even more at Ichigo. Ichigo then turned around and noticed that Ukitake had already opened the massive doors leading to the captains meeting chamber and he now had 10 captain class shinigami staring at him. He thought he saw Byakuya roll his eyes for a moment.
The captains were assembled in two lines on either side of the Captain-Commander. All of the captains in order of their division number, starting with Soi-Fon's second squad all the way to Ukitake, who had moved to take his place as captain of the thirteenth squad. There were however, empty spaces where the captains of the 3rd, 5th and 9th squad would stand.
Ichigo looked at each and every one of them, finally setting his eyes on Captain-Commander Yamamoto
"Uhm... Hey." was all that came out of his mouth. "I- Umm...-"
"Ichigo Kurosaki!" Yamamoto's powerful voice booming throughout the hall. "I have brought you, along with Kisuke Urahara here today to discuss the future of the Gotei 13."
Now Urahara spoke up, "With respect sir, what does that have to do with Kurosaki or myself?" Ichigo looked at Urahara with a shocked look on his face, 'so he doesn't actually know why we're here?' He thought.
"Things have finally begun to return to normal now, as you may be aware." Yamamoto stated. "After the defeat of Aizen soul society was in an unstable state of distress. We have now stabilized the soul society and things are now peaceful as they once were." He paused for a moment, then raised his voice again. "I owe to Kurosaki and yourself a dept greater than I could ever repay for saving Soul Society. However, the problem remains that there is still a lack of squad captains in the Gotei 13. There is also a lack of individuals skilled enough to fill the captains spots."
There was a long silence before Yamamoto began once again. "That is why I would like to offer the spot of 5th squad captain to Kisuke Urahara and the spot of 3rd squad captain to Ichigo Kurosaki."
Nobody said anything for at least ten seconds. Most of the captains stood and looked back and forth between Yamamoto, Ichigo and Urahara. Ichigo just stared at the wall behind Yamamoto with his mouth practically hitting the floor as he processed the Head Captains words.
Byakuya was the first to break the silence. "Captain, are you sure about this decision? It is not to be taken lightly! Kurosaki has only been a shinigami for a few years and Urahara if i need to remind you is the creator of the Hogokyou!"
"I am well aware of these things Captain Kuchiki. However, Kisuke Urahara was an essential piece of defeating Aizen and if i remember correctly Kurosaki had defeated you when your swords last crossed! Kurosaki's strength in battle and Urahara's experience and insightful mind are not to be taken lightly, and are both easily passable for captains level!
That seemed to shut Byakuya up as he hid his embarrassment behind a mask of indifference. The next to speak up was Toshiro Hitsugaya.
"Sir, if i am not mistaken wasn't Kisuke Urahara exiled from soul society?"
"Yes Captain, this is true. But, Urahara has proven to be invaluable. thus i have decided to give him another chance."
Another long silence plagued the chamber. All the focus was on the two guests from the world of the living.
"I will accept your offer, Captain-Commander." Kisuke said.
"I am pleased to hear that." Yamamoto replied. "Kurosaki, your decision?"
All the eyes in the room now passed to Ichigo. Everyone sat in a tense silence for at least another minute. 'Okay Ichigo, relax.' he told himself. 'My decision? Shit, i don't know! How can they just dump this on me with no warning! A few more moments passed as he sorted out his thoughts and finally sighed.
"All right, I'll accept as well." The tension in the room descended greatly as the Captain-Commander breathed a sigh of relief. With Kurosaki's acceptance he now only had to fill one more captains spot. Some of the captains in the room began quietly discussing with each other but they were all silenced as the head captain stood from his seat and bashed his cane on the ground, causing a booming thud to echo throughout the chamber.
"approach me." was all he said. The two men approached the captain-commander and Yamamoto handed them each a piece of paper "These are the contracts that must be signed affirming that you are a Gotei 13 captain, they must be signed here," he pointed to a small square at the bottom of the page, "in blood." Another quick moment of silence passed as the two soon to be captains skimmed over the contracts, neither of them really paying any attention to what they were reading, Urahara had already done this when he became captain of the 12th squad previously, so he was not particularly interested. Ichigo made an effort to intake what he was reading, but he was a little busy asking himself what the hell he was doing! Ichigo looked down at the little box where his blood needed to be placed. He brought his thumb up to his mouth, and took a small bite out of the skin. He then placed his thumb inside the small box on the page and when he lifted it off the page, a small smudge of his blood lay inscribed in the page. He looked up and noticed Urahara had done the same.
Yamamoto took the contracts from them and said, "I now officially pronounce Ichigo Kurosaki and Kisuke Urahara captains of squads three and five respectively." He then put his hands out in front of him and out of thin air two captains haori materialised in his hands.
"I present to you your captains haori gentlemen. Wear them with pride." Ichigo and Urahara reached out and grabbed the two haori and put them on over top of their shinigami robes. 'perfect fit.' Ichigo thought.
"Captains, you are dismissed."
I'd appreciate it if you dropped a review so i can know what you think. I'm open to suggestions of what kind of direction the story should take as I'm still not sure yet. Thanks for reading anyways, next chapter will be up within the week i hope!