Karakura Town
Rukia
5:30 A.M

Rukia dashed along the skies of Karakura Town still searching for the Arrancar that appeared. The sun had just started to rise and she paused for a moment to observe the sunrise.

She, Renji, Rangiku and Captain Hitsugaya had all split up shortly after Rangiku had spotted Ichigo walking to God knows where. And after six and a half hours of searching for any traces of the Arrancar that had shown up, and no spottings or evidence that it had actually been here, she was returning to the spot that Captain Hitsugaya had designated as their reunion spot.

She spotted Renji dashing through the skies near her and was at his side almost instantly.

"Any luck?" He asked her.

"None at all," she replied, "it's almost like the Hollow appeared and then left for no reason at all. Either that or it was just messing with us."

"Damn bastard," Renji cursed.

They proceeded in silence after that until Renji said, "I did spot Ichigo again though... He had some girl with him though. Can't say that I know her."

Rukia didn't think much about it.

"Probably just a date or something," Renji continued. "Do you think he's forgotten about us?"

Rukia looked at him like he was retarded. "Are you stupid or something?" She asked.

"Hey now," Renji said, "No need to get mean. I mean its almost been a year since he's seen us... Do you think he's moved on?"

"I don't know." Was all she said. Part of her was wishing he hadn't moved on, while another part was wishing that he did and that he decided that it was just best to live his life while he could.

"Mmmm." Was all Renji responded with. She could tell that he was deep in thought.

Up ahead they could see that Captain Hitsugaya and Rangiku had already met up and were waiting for them.

A few seconds later both Rukia and Renji both reached them and came to a halt in the middle of the air.

"What now, Captain?" Rangiku asked playfully while messing with his hair. He looked slightly irritated.

"Did either of you find any traces of the Hollow?" He asked Renji and Rukia.

"No, Captain Hitsugaya." They both answered simultaneously.

"Very well." He said as he closed his eyes. "For now we will return to the Seireitei and wait for our next orders."

A Senkaimon opened and a Jigokucho fluttered out and made its way around the group before re-entering the Senkaimon. All four Shinigami followed it into the gate and it closed behind Rukia and disappeared.

Ichigo's House
Ichigo & Nel
Fifteen Minutes Later...

Nel was sound asleep next to Ichigo who was likewise, when an annoying beeping started up. Nel was out of the bed and into a fighting stance before 3 seconds had past. She realized that Ichigo's clock was making the noise and approached the device with a curious look in her hazel eyes.

Ichigo's fist slammed down on the clock, hard, surprising Nel and, silencing the clock. He sat up and rubbed his head. He moved to the edge of his bed while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and yawned.

Ichigo stood up and went to his dresser and grabbed his extra school uniform out of it. He turned around to Nel and told her that he was going to shower and get ready for school. She reached into her bag and grabbed one of the school uniforms that Kisuke had provided for her.

Ichigo stopped in his tracks as he saw the uniform in her hands. She was also pulling out out some papers that Kisuke had given her. They were 'transfer' papers to Ichigo's school so that she could attend.

Ichigo just smiled to himself. 'Kisuke you clever bastard.' He thought.

"Well since you are going to school with me you can have the first shower," he offered to her.

She thanked him for his generosity and walked out into the hallway. Ichigo pointed to the door at the very end of the hall and she walked into the bathroom.

30 Minutes Later...

Nel and Ichigo walked out the front door of Ichigo's house and began making their way to school. It was about a thirty minute walk there and Nel was incredibly excited. Ichigo found it humorous how excited she was getting and actually laughed once or twice from her antics.

That was until Nel jumped onto Ichigo's back and asked him to carry her. Ichigo sighed and complied with her wishes, something that made Nel happier. She giggled as she messed with his hair.

"I like your hair the way it is, Itsygo." She stated in a playful tone as she curled a strand of orange hair around her finger. "I think it makes you look very handsome."

She giggled as Ichigo was at a loss for words and just ended up blushing a little.

As they approached the school, Nel hoped off of Ichigo's back and walked by his side. As they entered the classroom they found that they were the first there, besides the teacher. Which was almost something that never happened.

Misato Ochi sat at her desk writing down notes for the upcoming day. She looked up and saw Ichigo and a new girl that she had never seen before.

She smiled when she saw that Ichigo was the first student to arrive today. "Good morning, Ichigo."

"Good morning, Mrs. Misato." Was all he said as he chose the desk in the back corner of the classroom.

Misato turned her attention to the teal-haired girl standing in front of her who had extended her hand, which held the 'transfer' papers that Kisuke had given her the night before.

Misato took the papers from the girl and read through them. When she was satisfied, she put them down and greeted Nel. "Good morning, Hitomi Hirako. I hope you find my class enjoyable."

Nel, or should I say 'Hitomi', bowed slightly to Mrs. Misato and greeted her a good morning. She then took the seat next to Ichigo and they proceeded to chat about random things. Eventually, Misato left the room to go and greet the students in the hallway. Other students began arriving to the classroom, many of them giving Ichigo and Nel looks of curiosity. Many of them had never seen Ichigo here so early and many of them were wondering who Nel was.

Nel watched her new classmates with excitement. Wondering how many new friends she'd make here.

Ichigo was indifferent to anyone but Nel at the moment, until one of the first friends he ever made walked into the classroom. Tatsuki Arisawa walked into the classroom accompanied by Orihime Inoue.

Tatsuki and Orihime both noticed Ichigo sitting at the back of the room and were both surprised that he was here so early. They were both shocked when they saw a small smile on Ichigo's face while he was chatting with a girl they didn't recognize. Well.. Orihime recognized and easily guessed who Nel was. She had never seen a person with the same hair color that Nel had. She was just surprised that Nel was here.

Tatsuki and Orihime both approached Ichigo and Nel.

"Good morning, Ichigo." Orihime said in a soft voice, expecting to be ignored by Ichigo, again. Ever since he had lost his Shinigami powers, Ichigo had almost completely cut-off ties with everyone he once considered his friends. She couldn't blame him though and she wasn't angry with him either. Not having his Shinigami abilities had driven him into a shell which almost nobody was able to get through. Not even Tatsuki, who Ichigo went to for almost everything when he was upset.

Orihime was shocked even further when Ichigo responded with, "Nice to see ya, Orihime." Tears almost welled up in her eyes. She could sense that something was bringing him out of his cage. She smiled slightly at Ichigo.

"Hey there Ichigo," Tatsuki said, "who's your girlfriend?"

Nel found herself blushing when she was referred to as Ichigo's girlfriend.

Ichigo was about to reply when a voice sounded from across the room saying: "No fair! How come Ichigo gets all the girls?"

Keigo Asano rushed across the room pushing everyone aside. Behind him Mizuiro Kojima followed silently, slightly embarrassed by his close friends antics. As Keigo shoved Orihime aside both Tatsuki and Ichigo punched him. Her punched hit him in the back of the head, while Ichigo's landed in Keigo's gut.

"Owwww, what was that for?" He complained as he doubled over.

"For pushing Orihime, you idiot!" Tatsuki yelled at him as Orihime tried to tell her that she was fine.

"For being plain annoying," was Ichigo's response, "it's the morning, you shouldn't be shouting. It gives people headaches. Especially when its you."

Nel giggled slightly. She caught Keigo's attention and he was on his feet in a second. He slicked back his hair and tried to flirt with her. However, Ichigo's fist came down on his head before he could even start.

"Down, boy," Ichigo said slightly annoyed.

"Owww, Ichigo! You traitor!" He complained again. "I was just going to say 'hi'!"

"Keigo, you try to hit on any new girl that comes into this class." Tatsuki yelled at him. "We all know what you were trying to do!"

Nel giggled again and extended her hand helping him to his feet. "I think he's nice enough," she said, "and I'm sure that we could be friends."

Keigo had his hopes up until Nel said the word 'friends'. After that he just curled up into a ball and began to act depressed. Mizuiro grabbed his collar and began to drag him to his seat.

"I'm sorry for his personality," Mizuiro said politely, "My name is Mizuiro Kojima, nice to meet you."

Nel giggled once more and said, "It's fine, I didn't mind it. My name is Hitomi Hirako, it's nice to meet you all." She smiled brightly after she was done introducing herself.

After Mizuiro and Keigo were at their respective seats. They all noticed Chad and Uryu standing behind Tatsuki and Orihime. They had both noticed Nel sitting next to Ichigo and had realized who it really was.

"Good morning, Ichigo," Chad said softly, for a man his size it was often shocking to hear how soft and calm his voice actually was.

"Good to see you, Chad." Ichigo replied simply. However it was enough to get Chad to smile. They had been best friends since Middle School and they always had fought together. However, lately Ichigo had lost the need to fight or protect anyone around him. Chad understood why he felt this way. His Shinigami powers had become even more of an encouragement for Ichigo to fight for those around him. Without them Ichigo had started to feel like he was useless. And, eventually, stopped caring about everyone around him. Also, it hadn't felt right without Ichigo being around when Orihime, Uryu and himself were fighting Hollows.

He had noticed that Ichigo had started to become more solitary after he had lost his powers a few months back. Seeing the smile on Ichigo's face this morning was a sight he had been hoping for for a long time.

"I take it that you are no longer suffering from your own stupidity, Kurosaki?" Uryu stated calmly. He had just finished repositioning his square-rimmed glasses.

All of his friends that had gathered around Ichigo just looked away or simply braced for Ichigo to get angry.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Ichigo asked calmly to the surprise of all those who had gathered around him.

"It means," Uryu said looking Ichigo dead in the eye, "are you done sulking over something you can't control?"

The atmosphere around the two had gone deadly quite. Even the entire class had gone quite as the two friends starred at each other.

"Yeah," Ichigo replied simply, "I think that I'm over it for the most part."

Uryu gave Ichigo a rare smile and held out his hand. Ichigo grabbed it and smiled back. After they let go of each others hands, Uryu said: "It's good to have you back, Kurosaki." And then turned to go to his seat. Chad followed him as the bell rang soon after. Orihime gave Ichigo a bright smile, and Tatsuki rubbed his hair with her free hand.

Nel observed them all for the most part and was slightly disappointed that none of them had talked to her all that much. Ichigo noticed the disappointed look on her face and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry," he told her quietly, "You'll get plenty of time to talk to others."

This seemed to cheer her up quite a lot. She smiled brightly at him.

At that moment Misato walked into the room and everyone fell silent as she took attendance.