If And When We Rise
Chapter 02: Back In The Game Again
Bakageta
"Stay up man don't drown
It's time to go to town
Today is just another yesterday
You're back in the game again
You're going to win it in the end
Disconnect the dots and be on your way."
--'Disconnect the Dots', Smashmouth
Reviewer Response is at the end of the chapter.
"Hey, Kurosaki-san, wake up… If you don't we'll be late, and I don't wanna be late to our first class…"
Ichigo glared at his new roommate without really looking at him as he pulled himself out of bed. He'd met his roommate late last night and hadn't had time to learn more about him other than his name, Creek Crosser, before he'd fallen asleep. He glanced out the window and noticed that the sun had long since risen. This gave him a new sense of urgency as he dashed hurriedly past Crosser, who was already awake, dressed, and devoting his time to following Ichigo who was gathering up his things. After a few thumps and muffled swears Ichigo pulled out the haori and hakama that made up the Academy's uniform and threw them on after checking briefly and finding the correct third year insignia.
"We won't have time for breakfast." Crosser remarked forlornly as Ichigo jammed his feet into his stiff new waraji sandals.
"Doesn't matter." Ichigo said as he stood and raced past Crosser through the door. He was halfway down the hallway before Crosser could catch up.
"What's… what's your next class?" Crosser asked, slightly out of breath and trailing behind Ichigo.
"Zanpakuto…" Ichigo said, "s' the only one I've got today."
"It's the same as mine. Think it'll be anything like Zanjutsu?"
"Probably not." Ichigo responded, skidding around a corner and into a large dojo-like classroom.
There weren't any chairs so he crossed his legs and sat down on the tatami, seconds later Crosser sat down next to him, somewhat winded.
There were still a few minutes before class started; Ichigo took the time to survey his classmates. There were roughly twenty of them and they all seemed to be staring at him. Ichigo nearly stood to yell at them before he realized that, for once, he wasn't the object of everyone's attention. Nearly all of them were staring at Crosser.
And with good reason Ichigo realized, giving his roommate a second glance. As he looked Crosser over, Ichigo wondered how he hadn't noticed how… different his roommate looked compared to everyone else. Maybe it was because he'd been tired and distracted, but now that he saw Crosser in the classroom's light it was impossible not to notice. The thing that jumped out was the contrast between his skin and hair. His hair was feathery and bright white; because of this his tanned skin seemed even darker.
Briefly, Ichigo was relieved that the blatant, open stares weren't fixed on him, but then he saw the look of absolute horror on Crosser's face. He was afraid, Ichigo realized, he was completely, utterly terrified. The rest of the class kept staring either not seeing their classmate's fear or ignoring it; a few, probably former classmates, were whispering amongst themselves.
Ichigo was forcibly reminded of his own days in both middle and high school, and, though he had no idea of what to say, nearly stood up in Crosser's defense. But before he could stand he was beaten to it by the girl sitting opposite them.
"God! What is wrong with all of you?!" She said loudly. "If ya'll're this freaked out by some guy's hair yer not gunna last! I've seen a real hollow and a Shinigami's Shikai, it's gunna get a hell of a lot freakier than white hair."
She got up and walked across the room to where Ichigo and Crosser were and sat down as if she was proving a point. Ichigo glanced over at her as she glared at the rest of the class. He could understand why she'd gotten so mad; she could easily be mistaken for a boy with her painfully short blonde hair and nearly flat chest. Ichigo looked back at Crosser who was alternating nervous looks between the class and his tomboy savior.
"T-thanks…" Crosser choked out.
"No problem. It pisses me off when people do shit like that." She said, and then held her hand out. "I'm Osamu Akiko."
Crosser stared for a second before taking her hand in his and replying, "Creek Crosser. And this is my roommate." He gestured to Ichigo who'd been watching the other students before Crosser had brought Akiko's attention to him.
"Kurosaki Ichigo." He said simply, looking over at Akiko.
"Pff!" She snorted. "What guy in his right mind names himself Strawberry?! And what kind of surname is Creek?! Ya'll're weirder than ya look!"
Ichigo and Crosser both began protesting Akiko at the same time but Ichigo was louder.
"Bitch! My name doesn't mean strawberry! My mother named me 'Ichi' 'Go', 'One who protects'!"
"And Creek is my given name!" Crosser added.
"Fine, geeze! I'm sorry I said anything!" Akiko said, placatingly holding up the palms of her hands. "Wait… you both remember you're names from when you were alive?"
"Yeah…" Crosser said hesitantly.
"Why wouldn't I?" Ichigo asked indignantly.
"Well," Akiko began, "usually Konso removes some memories of a soul's past life. Most often people'll forget their name and sometimes, maybe even their family. I forgot both, so I made up my own."
"I didn't remember my name either," Crosser said, "but my father and I died at the same time and we remembered each other's name."
"I wasn't Konsoed." Ichigo said simply.
"What?!" Akiko and Crosser blurted out simultaneously.
"How'd that happen?!" Akiko continued, "I thought you couldn't get to Sou—"
"Quiet please." A Shinigami said interrupting Akiko.
"Welcome to Zanpakuto class. To graduate from Academy a student must know the name of their Zanpakuto. Finding out can take anywhere from months to years. Once you know its name this class will be dropped from your schedule. You may then either have a free day or take additional classes.
"My name is Yamoda Sakana; I will help you find your Zanpakuto."
The entire class had been quiet while the thin woman had spoken, and, solely because of her presence, they remained they remained silent as she gathered up some Asauchi and gave one to each student. After all the nameless swords had been passed out she stood at the head of the classroom.
"I have given each of you an Asauchi, a nameless Zanpakuto. You have used them many times in your Zanjutsu and basic Kendo classes. However, these are unlocked Asauchi.
"Once you channel enough of you reiatsu into them, they will become yours."
Akiko interrupted, raising her hand. "Yamoda-sensei, I thought Shinigami manifested their own Zanpakuto?"
"They do rarely. During the time I've spent here only one student ever managed to manifest his Zanpakuto without the help of a base Asauchi. That student is now the Captain of the Tenth Division.
"Now, if you will all please channel your reiatsu into your Asauchi."
Ichigo picked his Asauchi up and laid it horizontally across his knees. Placing one hand on the sword's hilt and the other on the end of the sheath, Ichigo slowly drew his reiatsu down one arm and into the other using the Asauchi as a conduit. He closed his eyes, lulled by the slow flow of energy and the concentration needed to maintain it. Ichigo had found, early in his second year, that he simply had too much reiatsu to be able to control it easily; the only thing that he could do with any ease was release it in large amounts. Doing anything else required so much concentration and attention that he would shut out the classroom and the teacher.
Ichigo opened his eyes to see if anything about the Asauchi had changed, but, when he looked down, the nameless Zanpakuto was gone.
The classroom had disappeared, Ichigo saw as he stood and took in his new surroundings. It was a cityscape with skyscrapers going on endlessly in any direction he looked. The weather was cool and it looked as if the sun was setting, although where the sun was Ichigo couldn't have said as his shadow was cast directly downwards. There were a few clouds in the sky, but they didn't seem like rain clouds.
Ichigo would have almost thought he was back in the living world if not for two things. There was seemingly no one other than himself in the city, and he was standing on the side of a building as if someone had taken gravity and given it a ninety degree flip.
Carefully, Ichigo walked to the building's edge and looked down at the endless series of skyscrapers below him.
"This," He said, "is messed up."
Rukia sighed dramatically as she tucked another file into its place in the Thirteenth Division's record room. She'd been talked into the job by Sentaro or maybe Kiyone, Rukia couldn't remember which. But it was worth it; she thought with a grimace, if they trusted her with paperwork then they trusted her with the less important Real World missions. That was why Rukia put up with the tedious filing, it allowed her to receive missions that, due to her low rank, she wouldn't normally get.
So for the past two and a half hours she'd been filing away the results of the Shinigami Academy's recent promotion test. Rukia made another over dramatic sigh as she picked up another file from the seemingly endless stack. She glanced down at it and her eyes widened when she saw the small photo clipped to the folder.
It was the soul she had rescued nearly two years ago.
Rukia couldn't resist, she hadn't been able to find out anything more after she'd given her report to Ukitake-taichou. She flipped the file open and let her eyes roam over it.
"Kurosaki Ichigo." Rukia read quietly to herself. "Currently in the third year. Completed the first two years of study in one and a half. Highly skilled in Hakuda and Hohou, above average in Zanjutsu. Below average in Kidou and general reiatsu manipulation due to his inability to control large amounts of reiatsu. Recommended for placement in the advanced class."
Rukia flipped to the next page and found a list of classes, another flip led to indecipherable graphs, and all of the remaining pages turned out to be similar.
She closed the file with as much force as she could without spilling its contents. It hadn't answered any of her questions, and now that she'd been reminded she couldn't sink her ideas and theories about the soul, Ichigo she reminded herself, into the far reaches of her mind. Ideas and plans flew through Rukia's thoughts as she continued her filing. She discarded them all until one struck her.
To be able to graduate, a student needed to be able to satisfactorily perform at least one kidou. If Ichigo was as bad at kidou as his file said then he would need a tutor. Rukia knew she wasn't a Kidou Master, but she was very, very skilled. Surely she would be able to tutor him, and if she found out some other things about him, well, maybe she could finally put her memories of Kaien to rest.
"It's been awhile, Yoruichi." Kuukaku Shiba said as she watched the slim, black cat wind her way across the room.
"It has." Yoruichi agreed standing in front of Kuukaku. "But unfortunately I can't stay to talk. I have a request of you from Isshin."
So he's okay…"Kuukaku said breathing out smoke from her pipe.
"As fine as he can be, given the situation."
"Hmmn… and what's he want?"
"There's an Academy student called Kurosaki Ichigo, there's going to be some trouble concerning him. I need to know if you can watch over him for a few hours."
"I don't see why not. When'll he be here?"
"That all depends on Kurosaki. It could be in a month, it could be in three months. Kisuke couldn't tell me anything more specific, so either he really doesn't know…"
"Or he can't tell you." Kuukaku finished, putting out her pipe.
Yoruichi nodded and stood. "Sometimes I wonder if he's worth the trouble."
Notes and Answers
Hakuda- hand to hand combat
Hohou- footwork (Shunpo and how not to trip over yourself in a fight)
Zanjutsu- sword techniques
Kendo- sword fighting
Thanks to miggrator for both the amazingly speedy beta and the character designs! Thanks to the REAL Creek for letting me use his character.
This chapter just kept growing! Luckily for you guys what I couldn't fit here will be in the next chapter which I've already got ideas for. Also, for Creek the actual person, if I've butchered your character in any way fashion or form tell me and I'll see what I can do. The OCs in this fic WILL NOT PLAY MAJOR ROLES, in fact I'm probably going to kill off one of them.
THANKS FOR REVIEWING: seasnake.756, UNTensaZangetsu, nice (anon), Mizu1411, Unsane Chibi, Creek (anon), LoveIchigo, Naerrchen, Xstarlight-dragonX, ladyaffirmed, Icewind Alchemist, Kaiserin Tammy, DJay, Arwen, shloki, Dark Inu Fan, Wild Dragon's breath, and chica blanca
Wild Dragon's breath: They never say if Chad actually purifies the hollows or just blows them to bits, but I guess what happened with Ichigo was similar. I can't go into the details as I think it would spoil some of this fic, but Ichigo did a lot more than blow the hollow to bits but less than what killing it with a Zanpakuto would have done
I've already answered whether Ichigo will meet up with Rukia, but as far as pairing go... there will probably be places where you can read between the lines. However, there are 'officially' no pairings, so no relationship development beyond friends and most definitely no fluff.
Kaiserin Tammy: o-o; I didn't think anyone would be pissed at Isshin! But are reasons, hopefully They'll be explained next chapter. And of course Ichigo is freaked out, I think anyone would be! XD It's good to know I can write Hitsugaya, that was the first time I ever tried to. I feel sorry for him, he always seems to get the crap jobs.
LoveIchigo: Is this soon enough? I don't think I could fit all the characters in this if I tried, but there are groups that will show up and be important, or at least make cameos. Urahara and his gang, Byakuya and Renji, and Aizen will show up and it's also possible that some Vaizards and Arrancar might show up.
UNTensaZangetsu: AHH! Such a long review and so many questions! You'll have to wait to see how strong he gets, thats part of the fun of a story. To me it seems like Ichigo will always excel at things, so he will grow quickly. The hollow question will be answered next chapter! And Aizen will show up, he's still after the Hyougoku but I don't want to say anymore on that. Done! I think I got them all!
THANK YOU FOR READING!
