And here's the tenth chapter! Aizen shows up; I hate him so much it's not even funny. He's about at gay as Orochimaru. And yes, I hate him too, and I don't know if he's showing up yet. Maybe he'll be vice principal! Well, whatever; enjoy!

Chapter X

The man before him was definitely not someone Ichigo would ever forget meeting in his entire life. That sleek brown hair. Those large square glasses. That black suit over a white dress shirt.

Sure, they all screamed normalcy for a principal, but nothing could hide the fact that this man held a ruthless streak to him. Well, that and the fact that beside him stood a man that without a doubt was definitely very creepy.

This man could be none other than the famous vice principal, Orochimaru-san. All the kids talked about him, about the fact that he was a total pervert when it came to disciplining the kids at this school.

His long, slick black hair matched those eerie yellow eyes with their elongated pupils. He wore the same thing as Aizen, the principal. Although Ichigo didn't get as bad a feeling from him as from the principal, he was still a little weirded out by this guy.

Obviously, the world was against him for forcing him to stand in front of these two creeps with Byakuya-sensei at his side.

"Yes, Mr. Kuchiki, why have you brought this student to me?" Aizen asked, a smile on his face.

But something about that warm smile tipped Ichigo off, made him want to shudder. There was something sinister to it, something half-crazy that almost reminded him of Hichigo.

Hey, I resent that.

Hichigo murmured, careful not to appear anymore beside his King.

Byakuya answered the principal after giving Ichigo a sideways glance.

"I caught Mr. Kurosaki here manifesting his youkai in the middle of class today, even though it is against the rules to do such a thing."

Aizen leaned foreword after hearing this, interlinking his fingers under his chin.

"Really? I didn't know that first years could manifest their youkai. It's a higher ability, is it not?"

Byakuya nodded, replying, "Yes, it is. Yet Kurosaki here claims that he does not know what "manifesting his youkai" is. Obviously I thought he was lying."

Ichigo scowled, crossing his arms.

"I don't know what you're talking about! Isn't "youkai" supposed to mean "demon?" I don't have a demon inside of me, so I can't "manifest" it!"

Orochimaru stepped foreword, his unusual eyes gleaming as he spoke in his serpent-like voice.

"You must have a youkai. Everyone in this school has one. Only people with youkai can come here. Didn't your father tell you that?"

Damn. And I was so hoping ya'd figure out the secret on your own, King.

"Shut up!"

Ichigo yelled in his mind, not realizing he'd yelled it out loud as well.

"Kurosaki? If you want to say something, merely say it; there's no need to yell." Aizen said, giving him a disapproving look.

"Look! I don't know what you're talking about! I don't have a youkai, so just leave me alone!"

With those as his parting words, Ichigo rushed out, not noticing that Hichigo had stopped cackling, and was merely watching him from inside his mind.

Byakuya glanced over at his superior, noticing that a frown was forming.

"Sir, if you need so, I will go and bring him back."

Aizen glanced up, before pasting that fake smile on his face once more.

"No, that's quite alright. You just head back to class; I'm sure your students are misbehaving."

Byakuya didn't reply; he merely left with a swish of his hair.

Aizen waited until Byakuya was out of the classroom before turning to his partner, Orochimaru.

"Did you hear that? A first year, able to manifest his youkai without even trying."

"Yes. Could he be the one we've been looking for all this time?"

Aizen turned, leaning down to unlock the hidden drawer on the inner half of his desk. From that drawer he withdrew a blue binder, opening it to a marked page. From that page he read,

"Youkai manifestation requires an unusual amount of energy. Only those with the inborn spirit of the high youkai have the ability to manifest their youkai into physical form. To utilize this energy, a certain machine is required, along with the vessel of the high youkai. That machine, called the FO-20398, draws out a tangible form of the high youkai, turning it what looks like fossilized fire. This fire can be used for many purposes; in the old days it was used as the base for black magic. A warning, though: drawing out the high youkai from the vessel has a 97 chance of killing the vessel."

Aizen stopped here, looking up to see a smirk on Orochimaru's face. He knew he had one on his face as well.

"Yes, I do believe Kurosaki Ichigo is one of the high youkai we've been waiting for. The only question is how do we get him to come to us so we can steal his youkai."

Orochimaru's smirk widened, and a thick tongue licked pale lips. "Leave that to me. I'm sure my subordinate Kabuto would be more than happy to help me, after some persuasive lessons from me."

Aizen nodded, content to sit back and watch his partner do most of the work. His only job was getting the energy, and cleaning up their mess. Right now, all he had to do was wait.

Ichigo ran until he could barely breathe, then continued to run, all through the halls of St. Mark's School For Men. He had no destination. He just wanted to find some place quiet, where he could think on what it was that was pissing him off.

No, not even that. He wanted to find out what it was that was giving him this fearful feeling. He didn't like it.

Try the roof, King.

Hichigo suggested, running lightly beside him. After all, there wasn't anyone around them, so he wasn't afraid to come out.

After giving him a look, Ichigo nodded, before turning back around and heading towards the stairway leading to the roof.

He rushed up the stairs, throwing the door open with a bang. He jumped when a lazy voice broke through the air.

"Ah, how troublesome. Can't a guy get any sleep around here?"

Oh ho ho! Look who decided to show up! But seriously, don't Aizen and Orochimaru totally creep you out? They creep me out! There's something wrong with them! Anyway, I'm going to be posting the first chapters of my new story "Twisted Reality" soon! And they'll be coming fast, because I already have the first 5 chapters written, I think. But anyway, I hope you check it out! And please review and tell me what you think!

hichigomate