Disclaimer: If I owned Bleach, why in the world would I be writing fanfiction?
I just realized I put a flashback in this chapter. Damn. I don't like flashbacks anymore.
Chapter 3: Kotarou Asks Awkward Questions
April 7th, 2082. Shinigami Academy.
The sound of beeping broke through Ichigo's deep sleep.
Ichigo groaned, then reluctantly turned it off. Rubbing his eyes, he jumped up from the bed and started changing.
Kotarou had already woken up a few minutes ago. He was waiting for Ichigo to finish changing.
"Okay, let's go," Ichigo muttered, walking up to the door.
"Hey, Kurogi-san... What's with the bracelet?" Kotarou asked.
Ichigo looked- no, glared- at the chunky bracelet around his wrist.
" Er, this is-"
When Urahara had pushed him through the Senkaimon to get to Soul Society, he gave him the bracelet.
It helped to repress his monstrous reiatsu. However, it was placed on his wrist against his own will.
Sure, it was useful, but he would have liked to have a choice in the matter!
Not to mention the fact that Ichigo was incapable of taking off the bracelet himself.
Urahara was the only one who could do that.
"... something I really don't like." Ichigo muttered.
"Then why are you wear-" Kotarou looked at Ichigo's fiercely scowling face and backed away. "Uh, anyways, let's go to our first class. What's your first class?"
"Don't we have breakfast firs-" Ichigo glanced at the clock. "Oh, damn. We need to get to our first class!"
Ichigo raced out of the door, Kotarou following a heartbeat later.
Katsura and Ichigo were sitting next to each other in the classroom, when a familiar black-haired boy came into the classroom.
"Hey, Ichirou!" he cried.
"Do you know him?" Kotarou asked.
"Uh- oh, yeah! We met at the Shinigami Academy Entrance Exam! He was, er, Suu!"
"Suu, huh? Weird name." Kotarou muttered.
Shuu sat next to Ichigo and Katsura. "Hey! So you got in too! Who's your friend?"
"My name is Kasumi-Ouji Kotarou." Kotarou said politely
"Nice to meet you!" Shuu said cheerfully. "My name's Shuu!"
More shinigami-to-bes came into the classroom. One with orange hair sat in front of Ichigo.
"Did you dye your hair?" Ichigo asked.
"Of course!" The boy turned around and grinned at Ichigo. "Only the awesome Kurosaki Ichigo has hair like this!"
"Do you idolize Kurosaki Ichigo or something?" Kotarou demanded.
"I'm Mouri Kyuubei. Kurosaki Ichigo's number one fan!" Mouri exclaimed.
"Why? It's not like Kurosaki Ichigo did much. The captains did just as much-and more!" IChigo pointed out.
"Yes, but, Kurosaki Ichigo was just an ordinary human!" Mouri insisted.
"Yeah, but-" Ichigo was cut off by the teacher.
"Oi! All you shinigami-to-bes! Look up here!" cried the teacher.
"I'm Shimura Ran, but that's Shimura-sensei to you lot! This is Basic Bakudou! Everyone will be going at more or less their own pace, and if you're really good at Kidou, you might get advanced to Advanced Bakudou. I don't care if you're Kurosaki Ichigo himself-" here, she stared at Ichigo.
Ichigo twitched.
"You'll all be treated the same. You'll be learning bakudou, the way of binding, here- hadou, the way of destruction, is over in Basic Hadou. Got it? Now grab these textbooks." She pointed towards a pile of textbooks on her desk.
After everyone grabbed a textbook, Shimura spoke up again.
"Today, we are going to practice visualizing our chakra," Shimura explained. "This is a necessary step to perform any kidou. Now, everyone, close your eyes..."
Ichigo groaned, rubbing his forehead. He stared at his timetable in irritation.
"What do you have next, Ichirou?" Shuu asked.
"More kidou. Basic Hadou," Ichigo complained. "After that it's lunch."
"You have quite the bad luck," Kotarou said sympathetically. "Two Kidou classes in a row. I have Basic Hohou, then lunch."
"I have Basic Zanjutsu, Basic Hadou, then lunch," Shuu said. "I don't have lunch with you guys. Damn."
He sighed.
"Well, good luck in your Hadou!" Shuu said cheerfully, heading towards his Zanjutsu classroom.
"See you at lunch," Kotarou said to Ichigo.
Ichigo sighed and mentally prepared himself for his Hadou class.
Ichigo flopped down on the table and groaned.
Kotarou laughed. "I suppose I do not have to ask you how your hadou class went."
"Please, don't." Ichigo muttered.
Kotarou and Ichigo were sitting at a table in a large room. They were eating their lunch, which was comprised of some sort of Japanese noodle.
"So, what do you have next?" Kotarou asked.
Ichigo glanced at his timetable for a moment.
"Exper- uh, Basic Zanjutsu." Ichigo stumbled over the words. It would be bad if Kotarou noticed his Expert Zanjutsu class.
Kotarou frowned at the slip, but didn't inquire further.
"Well, I have Basic Hakuda," Kotarou said.
The two of them returned to eating their lunch.
Ichigo slowly opened the door to the Expert Zanjutsu classroom. Walking through the doorway, he looked around the room.
The classroom was in the style of a Japanese dojo, though it was smaller than the typical one. Many shinai, wooden weapons used for practice, were hung up on the wooden wall.
Curious glances were shot towards Ichigo.
Ichigo ignored them all. He simply leaned against a wall and closed his eyes.
A brunet sixth-year walked up to Ichigo.
"I haven't seen you around before," the sixth year said. "Are you a fifth-year?"
Ichigo considered lying, but the lie would be revealed easily if he saw him in a first-year class.
"I'm a first-year," Ichigo admitted.
The sixth-year's eyes widened and he fiercely scowled.
"What is a first year doing here?" he demanded.
Before Ichigo could answer, the teacher came in.
"Hello, everyone," he said. "I am Kudou Masaomi. Everyone, grab a shinai, then get into pairs. We'll start with some simple sparring. No kidou and no shunpo, understood?"
After everyone grabbed their respective shinai, the brunet walked up to Ichigo.
"Ayasaki Shinichi. Nice to meet you," Ayasaki greeted, his hand clenching around his shinai. "Let's see how you do, first year."
"Ku-kurogi Ichirou," Ichigo said simply, getting ready to fight.
Ayasaki and Ichigo fought for a couple minutes before Ichigo's shinai found its way to Ayasaki's throat.
"It's over," Ichigo said with a smirk.
Ayasaki scowled, pushing Ichigo and the shinai away from him.
"I suppose you're not completely useless, first year." Ayasaki glared at Ichigo and stomped away.
Wow... he's quite childish. Ichigo thought to himself, looking for a different opponent.
Classes had long since ended, and Ichigo and Kotarou were in their room.
"So, Kurogi-san, how was your Expert Zanjutsu class?" Kotarou asked innocently.
"Meh, it was okay," Ichigo said without thinking. Then the words registered in his mind. "I mean, uh..."
"Why were you in Expert Zanjutsu?" Kotarou demanded.
"... Good night," he said, flopping down onto the bed.
"Kurogi-san!" Katsura exclaimed.
Ichigo pointedly ignored him.
Katsura frowned.
I swear, I'm going to solve the mystery called Kurogi Ichirou.
How in the world did he get out of a Expert Zanjutsu class without a single bruise or cut?
I may have forgotten to mention this, but to anyone who's read the original, the name change from 'Katsura' to 'Kotarou' is because 'Katsura' is a last name.
