Update: 6/24/13: Beta read by DawnieWrites :) Thank you!

Discontent is the first necessity of progress.

~Thomas A. Edison

Chapter Two

Progression without Progress

Ichigo woke up to the morning light slipping through his windows. He opened his eyes for a brief second before groaning, throwing the covers over his head. He was just on the verge of falling asleep again when he heard his door was quietly slip open. In his tired state, it sounded like someone had just thrown a chair across the room.

"Ichigo," he heard his brother's voice and pulled his covers tighter around himself. "Get up."

"Five more minutes…"

"All right. I apologize, Miss. Kuchiki. It seems my brother is not willing to get up and greet you."

Rukia's soft voice lofted in from the living room, "That's okay, Captain Aizen. I'm sorry, I thought he would be up by now."

"Ichigo, it's rude not to greet someone from the noble families, get up," Sosuke whispered before leaving to entertain their guest. "He usually is up by day-break. Would you like some tea?"

Ichigo kicked his blankets off, glaring sideways at the closed door. He rubbed his eyes, standing up and pulling a shirt over his head. Looking at his reflection in the mirror, he splashed water onto his face and ran a hand through his untidy hair. It was never to going to be decent even if he combed it. Plus he rather liked the "messy bed look."

He left his bedroom, waving to Rukia before stretching his arms high above his head. He went to the kitchen poured himself some tea, and grabbed a few rolled omelets from the counter. He sat down, taking a huge bite of his food. Sosuke looked rather offended that Ichigo had not bothered to put on something more decent than his pajamas. Rukia, the oh-so-high-noble girl, didn't seem phased in the slightest.

"Ichigo, good morning," she said.

"How are ya?" Ichigo took another mouthful. His brother gave him a rather obvious pointed look.

"I'm fine, I had some extra time on my hands, and I thought you might be home still. Why did you sleep in? You're always up super early."

"I went to sleep late," he confessed.

"You went to bed after I came home, it wasn't that late," Sosuke said.

"I couldn't fall asleep. So, therefore, I went to sleep late," Ichigo glared at his brother.

Sosuke raised his eyebrows, "Ah, I see. Well, I have a lot of work to do today. I'm heading out. Ichigo, stay here until the vice-captain comes to pick you up. It should be around noon."

"Gotcha, ya, bye."

"Thank you for the tea, Captain Aizen," Rukia said.

"You are quite welcome. I hope next time you come, I will be allowed to speak with you. It seems right now my little brother wants to be alone with you," Ichigo looked mortified as Sosuke ruffled his hair and bowed his head to Rukia before he left, locking the front door.

"Either he's the most annoying person in the world or I'm just crazy," Ichigo grumbled.

She smiled, "I couldn't tell you Ichigo."

"You want something? I'm going to get more."

"No," she replied, gripping her tea but not picking it up. She seemed more nervous now that Sosuke had left, her eyes lingering on the clock above the door. "My brother told me about your fight with that Jun boy. "

"He did?"

"Yes, he thinks you have appalling behavior and he does not see why I am friends with you," she refocused her attention back on Ichigo as he sat back down.

Ichigo rolled his eyes, "Glad to know he likes me so much."

Rukia return to staring at the clock. "Big date?"

"Huh?"

"You keep looking at the clock. You okay?"

Rukia watched Ichigo eat his food."Captain Ukitake wants to speak to me."

He gave her a genuine smile, something that was very rare for him. "You don't need to be nervous. He's probably just going to tell you that you've improved."

Her face relaxed. "Maybe. I was hoping I would receive a new assignment."

"Good luck, whatever it is."

"Thanks, Ichigo."

They sat there in silence, occupied by their own thoughts. Ichigo had met Rukia about a year and half ago when he had transferred to the thirteenth squad. She was petite, with black hair at that flipped out at the ends. She looked very delicate, with dark blue eyes, a sloped nose, and rounded face. The reality was, she was a spit-fire, and probably was one of the only people in the entire soul society who could get Ichigo to calm down and give him a good beating at the same time.

"Ichigo, I have to go," she stood up. "Thank your brother for the tea and try not to have another outburst with mine. He might ban me from speaking to such a 'vile creature'."

"I'll try, but I don't think I'm capable of good behavior."

She smirked, "See you."

Momo was late. She didn't arrive at the apartment until one 'o'clock. Ichigo was reading when he heard her knocking on the door. He shut his book and waited. She knocked again, more fiercely than before, and Ichigo snorted with laughter. He got up and answered the door.

"Wow, Momo, didn't expect you to be late. You're usually so punctual." he teased.

"Why didn't you answer?" she asked, completely out of breath.

"Why are you late?"

"Okay, okay. I was busy, come on. I'll take you over to…where are you going?"

"To the sixth division…"

"Right, okay, come on."

Ichigo, still amused, closed the front door and joined her at the bottom of the stairs. Momo seemed occupied with something, for she didn't nag at Ichigo as she usually did. It was only when they stopped in front the sixth division did she mention to him, "Behave today, please."

"Honestly, one day I make one misstep and you guys act like the world's ending."

She paused, drumming her fingers on her cheek, looking as if she was trying to remember something. "Ah! Captain Aizen wants you to come by the fifth division when you're done. In case you forgot, you have training today."

Ichigo rubbed his neck, "Oh yeah, forgot about that. You going to escort me there or can I walk by myself yet?"

"I wish you would stop saying those kinds of things, Ichigo. Your brother cares about you. He's just trying to make sure you're safe. I have to go. Good luck," she ran off to god knows where.

Ichigo pushed past a pair of double doors and entered into the main part of the division. Just like the courtyards, the sixth division had a certain regal elegance that the other divisions lacked. The main building was grand, two stories high with white posts supporting a gently curved roof. There was also another detached building which housed the squad members. Ichigo had never been inside but he heard they were much nicer than most of the rooms provided by the other divisions. There was also grass, a few trees and flowers, things utterly useless to Ichigo.

He headed into the main building and, once inside, the corridor spilt into three different directions. The paths to the left and right of him were connected, wrapping around the first floor of the building, they provided alternative pathways to the different areas of the division, but no one ever seems to use them. The path directly in front of Ichigo went through the courtyard, which provided a shortcut to the main parts of the building.

He headed towards the courtyard when he stopped when he heard someone say his name. Looking around, he saw the voices were coming from two girls sitting on a bench. They were taking a break from training, wiping sweat from their foreheads and their wooden swords on the ground. Their backs were turned so they couldn't see Ichigo standing there. They must have been tired, because they didn't seem to feel his spiritual pressure either.

"I heard he got into a fight with Jun," said the one with pretty, curly blond hair.

"No idea why he gets such special treatment with such an attitude. That Ichigo is joke," the other said.

"He can't be bad, considering who his brother is."

"Captain Aizen is so nice, hard to believe he's related to such a…a freak."

"He gets to leave early, trained by the captain Aizen, and he acts so ungrateful for all of it. Did you know he got kicked out of three divisions?"

"That's kinda old news, where have you been?"

"It is? Sorry."

The girls laughed, "You're new here, I get it. Yeah, he hasn't done anything worthwhile in a while. I entered the sixth division when he was a little kid. When I met him, he was so well behaved."

"I heard some of the captains adored him when he was a kid. Wonder what happened."

"Maybe that's why he is so spoiled. No wonder he's friends with that girl from the noble family, they—"

Ichigo suddenly realized how angry he was; his hands were clasped so tightly together, that his nails had formed welts in his skin. He unclenched his fists and glared at the pair. What a couple of shallow, stupid girls. He didn't care what they said about him, but to bring Rukia into this was just…

"Are you girls done?" Renji asked, looking annoyed. Ichigo had been so distracted that he hadn't noticed Renji leaving his office.

The girls yelped, "Oh, um…"

"Honestly, do you girls have anything better to do? Quit gossiping and get back to training."

"Um, yes sir!" They said in unison.

"Man, kids…." Renji mumbled. He looked up and saw Ichigo standing in front of him. He didn't care, his thoughts still mulling over what they girls had said. Ichigo looked downcast and turned, taking the longer, safer route to the captain's office.

Captain Kuchiki punished Ichigo for his tardiness by assigning him the most pathetic job in the soul society—cleaning the dojo. This was a task usually given to one of lower ranking squad members. In other words, the ones that didn't get to see much action. How nice of the captain to give him such a grand responsibility. If he was able to do anything by himself, he wouldn't have been late. He glared down at his dust pile before sweeping up into the bin.

"This is stupid," he grumbled.

"I would have thought you'd be happy to actually be something rather than just sitting around the grounds all day," Ichigo looked up, surprised to see the vice-captain standing at the entrance. He was holding two drinks in his hand. They didn't look like anything the soul society provided, so Ichigo guessed they were from the world of the living.

"Oh, it's you."

Renji noted the unpleasant tone in his voice. "I didn't think it would be such a big deal too let you fight."

"Not really, I'm used to it," Ichigo shrugged.

"I suspected so. Did your brother give you a hard time?"

"No."

"Oh," Renji eyes wandered around the room, "How are you?"

Ichigo stopped sweeping and raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"I just wanted to know if you were okay...there's nothing else to do today."

"Great. How nice to see people are doing what I do on a daily basis."

He took a swig of his drink, "Your sword skills are top notch. Captain Aizen did a good job training you."

"He sure did."

There was an awkward pause, "Look, Ichigo, I know you heard what those girls said."

"Yeah?"

Renji said, "Well, I kinda saw you. You weren't exactly hiding."

Ichigo grimaced. "I'm aware of that, thanks. Those girls were stupid though, they didn't feel my spiritual pressure."

"I wouldn't say they were the brightest pair."

"Look, thanks for telling them to shut up."

"Oh, right. No problem."

"I wanted to punch them."

"Why didn't you?"

"And add more fuel to the fire? People say stupid shit about me all time. I don't care, but Rukia doesn't need to be dragged into it."

"I agree with you there. Well, I'm going to let you get back to work," he threw the other drink towards Ichigo and instinctively, he caught it with his free hand. "Nice reflexives."

"Ichigo, breath," Sosuke was standing in the fifth division training room with Ichigo. It was spacious, with cream colored walls and a blue trim. The room did not look much different from the one in the sixth. The only real difference was the fifth division emblem plastered on the wall above the front door. Even though it was late, there were usually a few people in here practicing. Tonight, however, no one was there. It was an almost unspoken rule that no one should disturb Ichigo and Sosuke during their training sessions.

"I don't want too," Ichigo looked furious.

Sosuke stepped closer to his brother, "You're angry."

"Because we've been doing the same move over and over again! I am getting sick of it. I know how to do it."

Sosuke sighed, "You need to control your emotions."

"I want to learn something new," he said through grit teeth.

A few tense seconds passed, where all they did was stare at each other. Sosuke blinked and nodded, "All right, we're done for tonight."

Ichigo gaped. "We've only been at it for an hour!"

"I refuse to train you when you won't listen to me," he replied, pulling on his captain's garb.

Ichigo panicked. He knew this was only his brother trying to get him to obey, but his stubbornness was preventing him from giving into his brother's demands. At the same time, he realized that his training sessions were the only times he ever got to use to his powers. Was it worth fighting with his brother?

"Okay! Okay," Ichigo stopped, closed his eyes and breathed. It was forced, but his attempt was at least making his brother stay.

He stood there with his back to Ichigo, listening to him breathing. Ichigo continued, feeling his frustration slowly dwindle. He was still angry but at least now, he could control his temper better.

"Thank you, Ichigo," he turned back around and smiled at his brother. He received a glower in return, "Now repeat."

Ichigo repeated the hado, Sho. He produced a very weak wave and the box in front of him moved barely a foot. It wasn't like how Sosuke had showed him how to do it. He could make the box go far. Ichigo lowered his eyelids, shook his hands and tried again. It was the same result.

"My hado sucks."

"It's not horrible, mediocre at best. You excel in everything else I've taught you. You were twelve when you called your sword, that's impressive."

"Yeah, but I can't do bankai yet."

"Ichigo, bankai is something only achieved after years after training. You will eventually learn it."

"I feel like I could learn it…but…well, we've never attempted it."

"That's because your powers are unusually unbalanced. I am afraid that you might get hurt if you attempt it. Some bankais are very...explosive."

"Yes, since when have your heard of a shinigami dying because of achieving bankai.? And it's not like it would matter much for me, considering I am still alive. I would come back here, just dead."

"Well, right now you aren't alive. You're in your shinigami form. Anyway, that's not something I want to happen, Ichigo. You want to try a different hado?"

"Yeah, something that would actually be useful."

"What would be useful?"

"The hado in the 90s, those ones are pretty cool."

"Those are finicky. Not to mention, half of them are banned and may kill you if you even attempt them."

"They're still cool."

"Are they something that you would really like to learn?"

Ichigo laughed, "I don't think you would teach them."

"Maybe," his brother mused. For some reason, Sosuke sounded different. There was no change in his expression, no difference in the tone of his voice. There was just…something odd. They stared into each other eyes before Ichigo, uncomfortable, looked away.

"Brother, I was joking."

Sosuke frowned, "I know you are. I wouldn't teach you those until you were able to handle the simpler ones. Do you know number 39? Enkosen?"

"39? No..."

"Alright, it's a good defense technique. It will be useful."

Ichigo nodded, readying himself.

They slept in the fifth division that night. Years ago, when Ichigo had been little, this had been their main living space. Sosuke, who was so busy babysitting and performing his duties as captain, hardly had time to leave the fifth division. It wasn't until Ichigo was older, that Sosuke had even bothered to request the apartment. It was safe enough—the place was covered in many protective barriers. He still worried about Ichigo but even he knew, the boy needed the tiniest bit of time to himself.

The fifth division provided barracks for the members of the squad members and a place for the captains should they want to use it. Most of them did, as they didn't have a home outside of their division. The captain's room was larger than most. It had enough space for two beds, a table, a kitchenette and Sosuke's favorite thing—books. Lots of them. The room, like their house, was spared of any personal decorations; unless you counted Ichigo's drawings that he made when he was a little boy, plastered on the wall above the desk.

Ichigo got into bed and was asleep within minutes of saying goodnight to his brother. Sosuke stayed up a little longer, his mind calculating, planning, contemplating. He looked over at his brother and all he could see was a tuff of orange hair popping out from the blankets. It really was amazing to him what Ichigo was going to become. Not in the same way that Yamamoto was awed. When you got down to it, his brother was an utterly ordinary boy. He was a gifted a shinigami but he wasn't nearly as talented as someone like Gin or even, Urahara. He was just some kid with a high amount of spiritual pressure, and had he not been trained, would have had no idea how to direct that power.

I still have no idea why you were chosen to be the next king, Ichigo, Sosuke thought. But we'll see where that takes you.

Author's Notes:

WOW. Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter and followed it! I had a hard time with this chapter. I hope it didn't bore you to death…nothing is really happening. Or is did it?! No, don't let my cleverness trick you…nothing. I do have something more exciting planned for the next few chapters..I am slowly getting back into the swing of things. Soon, I'll be able to write a chapter to move the plot forward~ 8D. One thing— just to clarify, no, this will not turn into an Aizen/Ichigo coupling fanfic. I got nothing against those but I want to explore the idea of what would happen if they were family…not lovers…o_o;. ANY GRAMMAR ISSUES OR CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM? I wunna know about it! :)

Cho~ next update will be not this coming Friday, but the next (I haven't started chapter three yet)