Hey everyone, Lady Epic here!
I am adopting
Instinct from fellow author, God's Sense of Humor! If you loved the first chapter as much as I did (the original) then go check out the rest of their work! Remember: the original plotline is theirs, and therefore all thanks and credit must go to them! So…go add them to your favorite author's category!

Also, I promise to try my best to exceed your expectations, and please review or PM me if you have a suggestion, and/or inquiry, and/or complaint. Despite my profile info, I love to talk to new people so don't hesitate to PM me—I don't bite :p.

2: I in no way consider myself 'Epic'. My name was changed awhile go, because my old one was very Emo, and I just didn't like it – plus I'm not Emo.

3: constructive criticism is VERY MUCH appreciated! I want to try my best to make this fanfic good! It is not my first, but the first I've published - thanks to God's Sense Of Humor !

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach (unfortunately D: .) If I did, I would have made IchiRuki cannon by now . Also, the original plotline is God's Sense Of Humor's, as well as the first chapter.

kay….I'll stop my annoying blabbing and let you read! Enjoy!

I ran a hand through my bright orange hair absently, not caring that it was probably sticking up everywhere. I was too busy staring up at this huge, imposing building in front of me. The entrance alone was grand and just screamed high-class. Wide, polished marble steps led up to frosted glass double doors. A series of pearly white columns held up an outcropping of the roof, providing a nice big area of shade in front of the door. A large gold plaque announced that the building was "YOKOHAMA ACADEMY FOR THE GIFTED."

Welcome to school, Ichigo.

With a sigh, I dragged myself up the big stairs and in the front doors. They led to a spacious entry room, various tables and displays showing off all the rewards and medals the school had received. A big-ass portrait of who I assumed was the principle covered the opposite wall, staircases leading away from him on the left and right. And damn, he was ugly. Half bald and covered in warts and blemishes, I don't know why the fuck he would a humongous picture of himself to emphasize all of that. If people walk in and the first thing they see is this troll staring at them, they'd turn and walk right back out that door. Which I'd like to do, but unfortunately, I didn't have that liberty.

"You there! Aren't you supposed to be in class?" A grating, ear-piercing voice screeched from someone to my left. I spun to face the sound, finding myself nearly nose-to-nose with the freakin' scariest old lady I have ever seen in my life.

She had these fox eyes that would have made babies cry, constantly twitching around and searching for misfits. A sharp hawk-beak nose curved towards the floor, making it look like she was always staring down on you. So many lumps and moles riddled her face, I swore, she could be the principle's sister.

"No, ma'am. I'm new here. I'm supposed to be in homeroom 310." I took a step back, away from her putrid breath and wrinkled features. You didn't want to get backed into a corner by her. You could die by suffocation with breath like that.

She retreated slightly, keeping her small eyes trained on me. "I would say you're just a delinquent who's trying to get out of class."

Let's not jump to conclusions, shall we? "No, no, it's not like that! I really am new! I don't even―"

The old witch shook her finger threateningly, and I think a menacing smirk crossed her thin white lips. "No excuses. To the principal's office with you!"

I opened my mouth to defend myself when a pleasant, smooth male voice stopped mine.

"Don't be hasty, LeBouche-sama. Ichigo here is actually a new student. Nice to meet you, Kurosaki-kun." A hand reached out for a handshake. The hand belonged to a tall man with chocolate brown hair and simple rectangular glasses. A sincere smile turned up the edges of his mouth, and tiny crow's feet marked the corners of his eyes from years of laughter. "My name is Aizen Sosuke. I'm the vice principal here."

I took his extended hand and we shook once with a firm grasp. "I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, as you seem to know."

Aizen chuckled one time, releasing his grip. My arm dropped back to my side, and I shoved it in the pocket of my uniform slacks. "It's my business to know who goes in and out of this school. Besides, your father made quite a bit of noise when you moved in. A renowned doctor like your father arriving in a town like Yokohama is bound to be the subject of discussion and gossip."

"Yeah, I guess," I muttered, casting my gaze downward. Being my dad's kid is almost as bad as being born to a celebrity or famous politician. Everyone just labels you the snobby rich kid who considers everyone else beneath his notice. Stereotypes like that really bug me, but there's nothing I can do about it. I try not to be prejudiced or biased. Hypocrites are pansies.

Aizen smiled warmly at me again, guessing my thoughts. "Don't stress over it, Ichigo. I'm sure you'll fit in just fine here. Now, why don't we―"

He was interrupted by shouts echoing up the stairwell. A boy with bright red hair pulled up in a ponytail and shorter guy with chin-length Egyptian style hair and feathers in his eyebrow pounded up the steps, huffing in breaths. Their pristine uniforms were splattered with what seemed to be ketchup and caviar. The redhead spoke up, gesturing back down the stairs. "Ikkaku started another food fight, Aizen-sensei. Hitsugaya and Ishida are trying to calm things down, but everyone just keeps chucking their lunches."

The boy with the weird eyebrow nodded seriously, murmuring, "It's not very beautiful at all."

The bespectacled principal sighed tiredly, suddenly sounding years older than he looked. "Yumichica, come back down to the cafeteria with me. Renji, this is Ichigo Kurosaki. He's a new student. Ichigo, Renji Abarai. He's on the student council board. Renji, please show Ichigo to his homeroom. I believe he's in the same one as you." The vice rushed off with the black-haired boy, looking harassed already. The LeBouche woman, whom I had completely forgotten about, hobbled away, muttering under her breath about delinquents and detentions.

The spiky-headed kid turned back to me, a small smirk on his face. "Strawberry, huh? It suits you, Ichigo."

I rolled my eyes at him. Stupid name. Why couldn't it mean 'warrior' or 'fierce' or something? Anything's better than a fruit. "Shut the hell up. Anyway, you're not much better, pineapple."

"Hey, you're the new kid here, not me! I'm the one who gets to call you names," Renji growled, getting in my face. I slowly took a step back, shaking my head condescendingly at him.

"Temper, temper. You get in trouble with an attitude like that, spiky head."

"Smartass. Anyway, c'mon carrot top. I'm starving."

With that, Renji pulled me unceremoniously towards the staircase by my shirt collar, ignoring the curse words thrown at him.

"Hey, aren't we supposed to be going to homeroom?" I protested, trying not to trip over my own feet, which is a little hard when you're being dragged headfirst down a stairwell.

"Yeah, we're supposed to be. But I'm hungry, and it's funny watching Mr. Aizen yell at Ikkaku," Renji said, smiling mischievously at the prospect.

As we descended ― in my case, fell ― down the stairs, the sounds of yelling and splattering food echoed through the halls, bouncing off walls and reaching our ears. They seemed to be coming from a pair of industrial doors halfway down the deserted corridor. My suspicions were confirmed as what looked like lemon meringue pie was rocketed through the doorway and slammed into a locker on the other side of the hallway. Renji chuckled at my startled expression.

"Brace yourself, newbie. It's going to get rough," Renji, said sarcastically, probably only half-joking as he carefully poked his head into the lunchroom. He pulled back instantly, an apple shooting through the air in the very spot his head had been a second ago. It smashed into the opposite wall and split into pieces.

"Who the hell is throwing these things? Going to kill someone at this rate," I commented warily, eyeing the crushed apple and the remains of the pie, which were dripping slowly, down the sickly green lockers.

Renji laughed lightly. "Well, that's kind of the point."

He dove headfirst, army style into the cafeteria before I could respond.

So, people try to kill other people with fruit here? Great school. Nice pick, Dad.

Heaving a sigh, I crouched down and ducked into the room carefully. Never know what might come flying next. Lunches, cans, small children...

Inside was total and complete chaos. Food and drinks were being projected from everywhere, the floor, walls, even ceiling coated with various lunches. In the middle of the mess was some bald kid who was hurling anything within reach at anyone within range. He was laughing maniacally as he threw sandwiches and soda cans. I spotted Renji standing away from the center of the mayhem, chortling at the principal's failed attempts to quite the pandemonium. Some student council member.

Suddenly, something small and pink flew across the room, colliding with the head of the kid who was causing the havoc. It latched onto his shiny, hairless skull, giggling delightedly. The bald kid clawed frantically at it, tripping over lunch boxes and other students, screaming and shouting. Raucous laughter erupted as the kid fell backwards onto the lap of an extremely surprised, now blushing boy with straight, jet black hair and square glasses. The projectile turned out to be a little girl with short pink hair. She skipped away happily, dodging around puddles and pools of food.

"SILENCE!"

The bellow cut off all traces of chuckling. Everyone instantly melted away from the bald kid, hiding himself or herself from the wrathful glare of Mr. Aizen. After talking to the guy, I'd drawn the conclusion that he was pretty levelheaded. He must have been pretty mad if he was yelling. But, after he was sure the cafeteria had quieted and an uncomfortable spotlight was on the bald kid, he spoke softly and calmly.

"Ikkaku, I am very disappointed in you. This is the third time this week you've started a food fight. After you clean up, I would like to see you in my office."

Mr. Aizen took one more glance at the rest of us and swept out the door.

For a moment, there was a complete and utter hush, then a cacophony of jeers and laughter broke out again.

"Nice going, Ikkaku!"

"Can't you just stay outta trouble?"

"You're gonna get kicked out at this rate."

"Shut the hell up!" Ikkaku shouted, a vein in his temple twitching. All the people previously taunting him slunk away and hid their faces behind the remains of their lunches.

The kid with the Egyptian hair put a hand on Ikkaku's shoulder, struggling to keep a smile off his face. "Hey, calm down. Anger is an ugly emotion."

The bald boy snorted and shrugged the hand off, striding over to a table towards the back that had a few other kids at it. Yumichica shook his head, trailing after him.

"Oi, strawberry, come on. Lunch is this way."

Renji appeared at my side; indicating the table Ikkaku and Yumichica had just gone to. I shrugged and followed him to the corner of the cafeteria. As we sat down, several of the kids greeted Renji, casting curious glances at me.

"Hey guys. This is Kurosaki Ichigo. He's new here." Renji named off everyone at the table, waving in their general directions.

"That's Hitsugaya Toshiro and Matsumoto Rangiku..."

He pointed to a short boy with wild white hair and serious eyes sitting next to a cheerful red-haired girl with a rather… endowed, chest. The solemn boy nodded at me, and the girl waved happily.

"Sado Yasutora and Ishida Uryu..."

Renji motioned to a really big, muscled guy with curly brown hair that fell in his eyes and the glasses kid from before.

"Kenpachi Zaraki and Kusajishi Yachiru..."

A man with black hair pointing everywhere sat in the corner, not even glancing at me. He looked to be at least a couple years older than the rest of us. The pink missile was perched on his shoulder. She grinned at me.

"And Madarame Ikkaku and Ayasegawa Yumichica."

Baldy and the guy with the funny eyebrows cast fleeting looks in my direction, nodding and returning to their argument.

I waved to each of them in turn, watching as they resumed their lunches, as if the chaos that had just unfolded hadn't. I guess they were used to this kind of thing. Hadn't Aizen-sama said that this was the third food fight this week?

A sudden volley of obnoxious catcalls and wolf whistles interrupted my thoughts. They were aimed at a group of girls striding across the lunchroom, their uniforms clean despite the incident and their heads haughtily held high. I noticed that Renji and some other kid with brown hair were making most of the noise.

After the hooting died down, I turned to the red pineapple, jerking my chin in the direction of the girls. "Hey, who're they?" I couldn't resist making a jab at him. "Seems like you've got a thing for them."

Renji shot me a glare before going back to staring wistfully at the girls. "Lemme explain something to you, newbie. Those girls, we call them the Yokohama Elites. Yes, corny name, but it wasn't my idea. Anyway, all of us here are rich or have famous parents or something. But those girls…they're the top of the top. They're the ones with movie star daddies and cosmetic company mommies. They're dirty rich. And therefore totally unapproachable by commoners like us. Of course, they have some favorites who they let hang out with them. Kuchiki Byakuya, Starrk Coyote, and that bastard, Ichimaru Gin." He pronounced the last name vehemently, glaring at a kid with a big, creepy smile and white-blue hair.

"What'd he ever do to you?" I asked, letting some humor leaking into my voice, just to irritate him.

"Nothing," he growled. "He's just an asshole."

I chuckled at Renji's quick judgment. "So, you got any favorites?" I motioned again at the table of girls.

"Hell yeah," Renji muttered, surprising me.

"Oh? And which would that be?"

He grudgingly pointed out a shorter girl with black hair and shocking purple eyes. "Kuchiki Rukia."

I recognized the last name from one the other boy Renji had been talking about. "Any relation to Kuchiki Byakuya?"

"Yeah, he's her brother. He's a year older than us, so he's in senior year."

"So that's why she's unapproachable. She's got her big brother watching out for any creepers," I laughed.

Renji flushed, looking back to shoot me a dirty look. "I'm not a creeper, baka. Besides, Byakuya graduates this year, so next year I can have free rein."

"You know who I think is hot?" The boy who had been wooing the girls along with Renji leaned in, wiggling his eyebrows.

Renji groaned and rolled his eyes. "Yes, Keigo, we all know who you like. Inoue Orihime, she's all you even talk about. You don't stand a chance, man. That she-demon, Arisawa Tatsuki and Rukia are always there to kick the Asses of any guys who get to close to her."

"Still, she's got the nicest rack I've ever seen…" Keigo trailed off, staring dreamily at a redheaded girl with a kind smile. I felt a blush tint my cheeks, trying ignoring my new friend's snickering.

I took another look around the Yokohama Elite's table. They didn't seem like the stuck-up kind. But if I were to go off of what Kiego and Renji had been saying, it seems like some of them were.

A sudden movement caught my eye. The girl with violet irises, Rukia, had gotten up to through her garbage out. Something about the way she walked, the way she held herself reminded me of nobility or royalty. Her back stayed straight, competing with the lazy curves of the rest of the student body. She purposely rejected any eye contact, keeping those indigo orbs locked straight ahead. She must have felt my gaze, because as she sat back down, she twisted in her seat, searching the cafeteria for the eyes watching her. I quickly glanced away, but not fast enough. I felt her eyes on the back of my neck. I rubbed the spot self-consciously, trying to smooth down the hairs that were standing up.

An annoying, clanging bell rang throughout the school, making everyone jerk their heads up. Renji grabbed my arm and started pulling me towards the door, following the stream of kids exiting the room.

"Lunch is over. We have Physics now with Ms. Ise. Her subject is boring, and she's strict as hell. Prepare yourself," Renji called, taking the stairs two at a time and leaving me to trail behind.

As I followed Renji, I felt a shoulder bump into mine.

"Sorry," I muttered instinctively. At the same time, the owner of the shoulder snapped, "Watch it!"

Well, what the hell. No need to be pissy. "Hey, you bumped into me, idiot!" Too late, I realized the person that had knocked into me was Kuchiki Rukia.

She stopped, in the middle of staircase, and glared at me. "What did you just call me, fool?"

Oh, I'm the fool? I scowled at her, returning the evil eye. "You're obviously deaf. I said you bumped into me, idiot."

Kuchiki's hands balled into fists as she seethed, her eyes flashing with anger. "I don't think you understand the immense gap between our social levels, baka. You do not screw with my friends or me. How about you apologize nicely, and we'll leave you be. Consider this a warning."

I hadn't noticed the growing group of onlookers clustered around us, twittering excitedly among them. They created a semi-circle around us, egging the argument on.

I felt my temper flare. So we have an audience. The more the merrier. They can watch me prove these 'Yokohama Elites' aren't as great as they think they are. Their high-and-mighty, holier-than-thou attitude is just air. All 'popular' kids are. They think their fame and status gives them the automatic right to do anything. I was about to shoot back an insult when a hand clamped down on my shoulder.

"What's going on here?"