So this chapter ended up longer than I thought it would, so I am sorry it took so long. This story is coming along though, and I hope the chapters start to come quicker.

Anyway, be sure to vote on the NEXT pairing for whenever I write a new story for Bleach. I can confirm who I plan for this stories pairing is on there, and if she wins, I will move on to the next person. I made it blind so only I know who is winning, since I want it to be a surprise, but I will straight up tell you at the beginning of the story what the pairing is, I won't pussy foot around like I did in this one.

This chapter will finally answer which squad Ichigo is going to join, so if you called it, feel free to do a little dance or something, if he didn't join the squad you wanted, I am sorry, but I hope you will enjoy the story regardless.

One last thing. I want to know how you readers would like me to write out the titles. In this chapter I used Captain and Lieutenant, but if you want Taicho and Fukutaicho, I can do that instead. This is up to you all, if you don't care either way, then I don't feel the need to change it, but if you want me to, now is the time to tell me so.

Now onto the chapter. Be sure to follow, favorite if you like the story and want to know when it updates, and review if you want something to change, or if you want to tell me what you liked. I have read every review so far, and I enjoy them immensely.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach

Ch. 13

Ichigo yawned as he stretched his legs out from his chair in the assembly room where everyone had gathered to hear who had graduated this year. As his mouth snapped shut, he focused around the room to look at the others, not surprised all of them were looking tired.

It wasn't that he couldn't fall asleep yesterday, as soon as he hit the bed he was out like a light. However, he had woken up in the middle of the night to answer the call of nature, and then his nerves hit him. He spent the rest of the night and part of the morning awake, thinking about how he had preformed, wondering if he passed, and then thinking about what he would do if he didn't.

Then the doubts came, insidious thoughts of failure, whether pounding the oaf in less than ten seconds was a good idea. Or maybe he misread a question on the written part, and that would fail him. Perhaps because he didn't actually win the spar against Hisagi showed he wasn't ready to graduate.

Still, his exhaustion eventually won out over his fears and he fell asleep once more. His rest was cut short when an exuberant Momo knocked on his door to congratulate him early, along with a fairly tired Kira.

Listening to Momo gush about how well he did helped calm Ichigo's fears, though they wouldn't fully go away until after the ceremony.

Cracking his neck, Ichigo brought himself back to the room as the teachers started to trickle in, slowly taking their seats.

Knowing there were about five minutes left until the ceremony actually began, he turned back to face the stands full of the rest of the school, and any parents of students that had managed to come.

Looking for his friends, Ichigo managed to spot Momo and Kira, and to his surprise, Renji sitting next to each other. Renji didn't look like he wanted to be there since Ichigo could see the scowl on his face from where he was. Though from the animated way Momo was talking to him, Ichigo wondered if it was because she was talking about how well he did that was causing it.

Regardless, Ichigo took comfort in the fact that all his friends were there, even if one had to be dragged there.

Once again, his musings were interrupted when Gengorō walked up to the stage and cleared his throat.

"Today, we are here to celebrate the graduation of many of our students form this academy," Gengorō's voiced boomed out as the room quieted down.

"Yesterday we witnessed the skills of all of our potential graduates on display, and we were all impressed by what we have seen. I wanted to let all of you know now that each and everyone of the teachers here were proud of you. The written test this year had some of the highest score we have ever seen, the Kido test this year had the most students performing all of the spells, the Hakuda spars were fantastic, and as you all here know, the Zanjutsu spars were a pleasure to see."

"So I say again, we are all proud of you. And know that those of you who have passed have out complete faith that you will excel in whatever squad you end up going to. To those of you that did not, take heart in knowing what you need to practice on for the next exam, and use the experience of this one to prepare yourself for next year."

With his small speech finished, Gengorō stepped back as a teacher approached him will the asauchi that were going to be given to the graduates as proof they made it through the academy.

Clearing his throat again, Gengorō began to call out the names of those who graduated alphabetically, and one by one, the students went up to receive their swords.

Though he was in the middle of the group it still took a while to get to the 'K' names, and Ichigo waited impatiently for his name to be called.

Closer, and closer the time came for him to be called up, and then the moment was upon him, but he was skipped.

He failed.

From that moment on, everything else became white noise.

He couldn't believe it. He thought he had done so well. Why wasn't he called? He had worked so hard.

For the rest of the ceremony, thoughts like these took hold in his mind, and he was just waiting for the chance to leave.

He did take some comfort knowing the Shūhei Hisagi managed to make it this time, and that fat oaf from the Hakuda spars didn't.

"Now, I would like to take a moment to make a special announcement. Kurosaki, come up," Gengorō's voice managed to cut through his sadness.

Ichigo stood up stiffly, but he was curious as to what he was called up for. They had already made it clear he didn't pass.

"Some of you may have noticed Kurosaki was not called, so normally that would mean that he failed," Gengorō continued as Ichigo stepped up onto the stage. "However, this is anything but normal."

That statement got his hopes up, and his pale face regained some of its color.

"As most of you know, Kurosaki here is a first year student, and the fact that he was allowed to take this exam is proof of his abilities and his dedication to the Shinigami arts."

Then with a smirk, he faced Ichigo, continuing, "and it is my honor to say that he has passed, becoming the second first year to graduate in the past century."

Ichigo couldn't believe it, that old man did that on purpose.

Seeing Ichigo's face slowly shift to anger, Gengorō turned away from him, though Ichigo could still see the infuriating smirk on his face.

"But that wouldn't explain why he is up here now. Some of you all who have been here before may know what is going on, since something else has also not been called up here."

A confused murmur spread throughout the crowd, and Gengorō turned back to Ichigo, this time with an Asauchi in his hand.

"Congratulations Kurosaki Ichigo on passing your final exam. Not only did you finish the written test completely, but also managed to get the highest score of the year. Not only that, you got a perfect score on the Kido exam, broke the record time in the Hakuda spar, and managed to last five minutes against Hisagi, which he can tell you hasn't happened in the past two years."

"Therefore, it is my privilege to tell you that you have passed with the highest honors, and your name will be forever remembered at this academy for your accomplishments."

The student body erupted into a surprisingly loud cheer, and looking out at the crowd, he saw everyone standing from their chairs, even the man he beat in Hakuda. Off in the distance he could see Momo hugging Kira as she jumped up and down in happiness, and the blush the boy had was like a beacon to Ichigo.

Taking the sword from a smiling Gengorō, Ichigo bowed to him in thanks before walking off the stage and back to his seat.

"And with that, this graduation ceremony has come to an end. Those of you that graduated, you will be escorted around the Seireitei, those of you that didn't, and you will be meeting with the instructors so we can plan for next year."

With one last look around the room, Gengorō nodded his head.

"Thank you all for coming, and we hope that next year will be just as exciting. Graduates, it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to you, and we are proud to have called you students. Dismissed!"

With that the room started to empty, the graduates congratulating each other, as the current students clapped as they passed by.

As Ichigo made it outside, Momo quickly hugged him as she ran after him out of the building.

"I told you that you were fine. You even managed to get the highest scores," Momo said into his shoulder. "Even Renji was surprised. Can you believe Gengorō messing with you? I almost cried when I didn't hear your name, but then Gengorō called you u, and I knew you would be passing."

The words continued to stream from her mouth as Ichigo hugged her back, and while he stopped listening to her, he could tell she was just being herself, so let her get it all out.

Then a still blushing Kira walked around the corner, and to Ichigo's surprise Renji did too.

"Congratulations Ichigo," Kira mumbled, his eyes were slightly glazed over and a dopey grin on his face.

"Right, congrats you bastard," Renji stated, surprising him even more.

Not to ignore the small olive branch just handed to him, Ichigo nodded in thanks.

"Though now I know you were the best this year, I know I don't need to worry about my exams, I will be just fine."

That was the Renji he remembered.

As he let Momo go, Ichigo turned to face Renji, a smug smile on his face.

"Yes, I am sure your exam will go great, a new record for most self detonations on the kido field. I cannot wait to hear about it."

"You're just jealous I am better than you at fighting. Maybe you are better than me at kido-"

Maybe?" Momo interrupted.

Renji ignored her as he continued, "but I could win in a spar any day of the week."

Amused, Ichigo just shook his head and said, "sure, and when you make it to the Seireitei, we can find out."

"It's a deal Strawberry," Renji agreed, a confident smile on his face.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go celebrate!" Momo yelled as she ran ahead of the boys in her group, with Ichigo and Renji following behind, and a still dopey Kira behind them.

And celebrate they did, though it was just a lunch they had together, it was enjoyed all the same.

Ichigo filled them in on what the rest of the test looked like, Renji demanded to know what happened in his Hakuda spar, Kira asked him about the written exam, and Momo wanted to know what was going through his head when he was sparring Hisagi.

The day of celebration ended, and Ichigo managed to relax enough to fall asleep so he could face the next day with some energy.

-Break –

The next morning Ichigo managed to avoid being woken up by Momo, though he did see her and Kira waiting for him at the gate the graduates were meeting at for the tour of the Seireitei.

Not surprised that Renji wasn't there, he said his goodbyes to his friends as he prepared to leave.

With a hug and a promise that he would find Rukia from Momo and a handshake from Kira, Ichigo left his friends until they graduated.

Joining the group, Ichigo saw a tall silver haired woman wearing the black Shinigami Shihakushō with a badge one her left arm. She appeared to be giving directions to them, or explaining something, but Ichigo couldn't really hear her. Deciding to just follow the group as it started to move, Ichigo spent most of his time taking in the sights of his new home.

Then he noticed another man show up and talk to the woman leading them, before turning to the group of graduates, and suddenly yelling out, "Kurosaki Ichigo, please come forward!"

As Ichigo walked his way through the group, the man seemed to notice him, and Ichigo gat a better picture of what he looked like. The man was older, had grey hair and a black handlebar mustache, along with a white jinbaori over his standard Shinigami uniform with long white arm guards. He wore a white turtleneck under his uniform and has his lieutenant armband on his left arm.

"Are you Kurosaki Ichigo?" the man asked in a flat tone.

"I am," Ichigo returned.

"You have presence has been requested." And before Ichigo could ask where he was going, the man cut him off saying, "Follow me and keep up," before turning and moving away at a brisk pace.

Doing what he was told, Ichigo followed after the man, and matched his pace, and despite his desire to learn where he was heading, Ichigo remained quiet.

Their journey lead him to a room with what he considered an unnecessarily large door that creaked open as the approached it.

Walking in through the threshold of the room, Ichigo was shocked to see the captains of the Gotei 13 lined up along the edges of the room.

"Stand here," his escort said, pointing to a spot on the floor that placed him at the end of the formation of the Shinigami. His escort then continued on to stand behind the old man opposite of Ichigo.

Taking a moment to observe the powerful people standing in formation in front of him, Ichigo looked down the line to his left first, quickly taking in each of heir appearances.

Furthest away from him stood a petite woman with dark hair that was bound into two long braids wrapped in cloth. She stood with her eyes closed and her arms crossed, making Ichigo think she didn't want to be there.

To her right, there was a woman only slightly taller than her. She too had black hair, but hers was braided to the front. She wore a gentle smile, and had a calm and welcoming aura radiating from her.

Continuing on down the line stood Byakuya Kuchiki, looking just as regal and pompous as he had before.

To his right was one of the captains he saw at his exams, the one with the pink flower kimono and a straw hat. He had a happy smile on his face, but Ichigo could almost feel him watching him, examining his every move, and at times it felt as if he were looking through him.

There was a gap between the kimono wearing man and the next, showing that there was a missing captain from this side.

The final man, though Ichigo wasn't quite sure if he was correct with that description, had a pure white head, black face except his nose, three yellow cones protruding from his face, two were his ears were supposed to be, and one on his chin. The sneer he wore made his displeasure at being here known.

To Ichigo's right, there was a space across from the petite woman, another squad without a captain.

Then there was Aizen, his bespectacled face smiling at Ichigo, one of the few captains actually looking straight at him. The creepy feeling Ichigo felt from him came back as they made eye contact, but Ichigo did not react to the shiver he felt running down his spine.

To his left was an extremely tall and wide man. The helmet he wore only added to the physically imposing picture he created.

To his left was a dark skinned man with purple hair long enough to reach his shoulders in a ponytail. He also had a orange scarf and a pair of goggles that covered his eyes.

And the next man to Ichigo's right was perhaps the most imposing person Ichigo had every seen. His spiky black hair, the eye patch covering one eye while the other had a long thin scar vertically across it all helped him look like a dangerous man. But it was the feral grin and the predatory glint in his eye as Ichigo looked at him that really completed the image of a dangerous killer

The last man on Ichigo's right was the other man that he saw at the exams. With his long white hair and the kind smile, he was very disarming.

The crazed looking man opened his mouth to say something, but the old man at the front of the entire formation slammed his cane down, making a deafening crack, silencing any potential chatter.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, you are here because of your success in the Academy. Not only were you a first year, you managed to get the highest scores of the year, and the highest on record," the old man, who Ichigo figured was the Head Captain, but he couldn't place his name, said aloud, and as a fact, with no warmth behind his words.

"You have earned the right to join any squad of your choosing, unlike the rest of the graduates. However, beyond this, you will receive no special reward, and no preferential treatment." The old man spoke.

There was a slight pause, and Ichigo did not know if he was supposed to say something.

But then the Head Captain started again, "Before you leave, there is one more thing you will do. Take off those suppressant bands, no one in the Seireitei will be affected."

Nodding, Ichigo took off the bands that had been slapped on his wrist all those months ago. As soon as they were off, it was as if all of the color that had been lost to the world had returned with a loud roar.

Eventually, the roar lessened, and then fully disappeared, but Ichigo could feel the eyes of every captain on him, even those that looked unhappy to be there before.

He didn't have to look to know that they were surprised at his full reiatsu, because he was too. It was like a large weight had been removed from his entire body, and now that it was gone, he felt as if he could do anything.

"We are finished here. Chōjirō, escort Kurosaki back to his temporary quarters."

"With all due respect Sensei, I will be happy to take him," the white haired man to Ichigo's right cut in.

"Very well, you may do so Captain Ukitake. You are all dismissed."

The doors behind him creaked open, and the captains moved through them, with Ichigo following behind his new escort. At least until his path was blocked by the spiky haired man.

"Hey kid, let's fight," the man grunted as several of the captains passed by, continuing on through the door. There was also a soft chime of bells when the man stopped moving.

"What?" Ichigo asked, not sure if what he heard was correct as his eyes flicked up to see bells tied onto the tips of his hair spikes.

"You heard me," the man said, smiling even larger when Ichigo looked back to him. "Let's fight."

"Why?" Ichigo asked, the worlds flying out of his mouth.

That caused the man to frown, as if Ichigo had insulted his reason for living. Which he did. But then the man smiled even larger.

"Who cares about why? People like us live to fight. Don't try to deny it, I can feel it in you too," The Captain claimed, his smile reaching the point of crazed mad man.

"Now, now Zaraki, you don't need to scare the new recruits," the happy voice of the kimono wearing captain said as he stood between Ichigo and the now named captain.

Relieved that someone saved him, Ichigo released the breath he didn't know he was holding.

That was until the man continued, "Think of how much stronger he will be after he joins a squad."

"What! I don't want to fight him! Ever!" Ichigo defended, backing away from the two clearly insane men.

Zaraki ignored his protests though as he thought about what the other captain said.

"You know, you are right Kyōraku. I think I'll let him grow a little bit more. Then it will be really fun."

With that, Zaraki turned and walked out, his feral grin never leaving his face.

With him gone, only Ichigo, Captain Ukitake, and Captain Kyōraku were left in the room.

"Well, that went well, don't you think?" Kyōraku asked out loud, to no in particular. Then he turned back at Ichigo, and added, "I hope you consider joining my squad, we would enjoy having you." Then he made eye contact with Ichigo and to Ichigo, it looked like the man knew something about him that he didn't know himself.

"Shunsui, you know we aren't supposed to influence his decision like that," the white haired captain chastised, though he didn't seem to mean it.

And just like that the look was gone, and the man looked just as care free as ever.

"Yeah, yeah," he said flippantly, waving his hand as he turned around and walked out the door. "Remember what I said Ichigo."

"Some how I knew he would ignore that order," Ukitake said with a smile. "Regardless, his squad is highly regarded, so it wouldn't hurt to think about it. Or my squad, you can think of that one too," he finished with a shrug.

As they walked out of the room, the captain seemed to remember something.

"Oh, I almost forgot why I wanted to escort you. Your friend Rukia has been talking about you trying to finish the Academy in one year, and I thought you would like to see her again."

Perking up at the mention of his friend, Ichigo nodded, too excited at the prospect of seeing his friend again to say anything.

"I am glad, I think see will be happy to see you. Follow me, and feel free to ask me any questions along the way."

The first few minutes were walked in silence, but Ichigo had a few questions he felt he should ask, and the man did offer.

"So," Ichigo began, getting the attention of the captain. "How is Rukia doing?"

Ukitake smiled at the question.

"She is doing fine, she has really started to grow now that Kaien, my lieutenant, started o work with her. They seem to get along, and I think I finally understand why. I believe you will get to met him too, he should be training Rukia at the moment."

Then he paused, thinking about something.

"However, she has changed, her noble lessons have started to change her, though she still has outbursts of emotion every once in a while. Perhaps you will be able to help with that."

Though the last part was mumbled, Ichigo was concerned at that. He had a hard time picturing her as any type of noble.

"Rukia, a noble?" he asked incredulously.

Ukitake just laughed, before turning back towards the road they were walking on. After a few more minutes Ichigo asked about the other squads, what each of them did, how they operated, and what would be expected of him in each squad.

He quickly ruled out squad twelve, he had no interest in science, and the dismissive attitude of the squad's Captain did not help to change his mind. Then he ruled out squad eleven, because he had no interest in dealing with Captain Zaraki ever again. Squad one was for more experienced Shinigami, and while he was technically able to join, Ichigo felt it was best not to, he didn't want to annoy someone there.

Then he ruled out squads two and four, with his reiatsu now unrestricted, he wouldn't be able to sneak around or heal someone as he was, but he hoped in time that would change.

Then squad three went out the window, as they didn't have anyone in charge, at least not a captain or lieutenant, and he heard Gin might get that squad, and frankly that guy was too creepy.

Squad five was out because of Aizen. He wasn't interested in writing, so he wasn't going to squad nine.

Lastly, he ruled out squad six, he knew he wouldn't get along with Byakuya the moment he met the man, and he didn't think joining his squad was a good idea.

That left him four squad to think about, squad seven, eight, ten, and thirteen.

He had to put those thoughts on pause when he started to hear some yelling. To him it sounding like someone was being trained, so he figured Rukia was here.

"It seems they are still going. We should see them behind that building," Ukitake confirmed his thoughts.

Sure enough, when they walked around the building, Rukia stood facing a man with his back to them. He seemed to be working her hard.

"Come on Rukia, I've seen you move better than that. Don't tell me your noble lessons have slowed you down," The man goaded.

To Ichigo's surprise, Rukia did not start going for the shins, and instead calmly stared at the man before springing into action, attempting to slash through the man,

"Now that's what I am talking about," The guy said with a laugh.

Ukitake waited for them to finish before calling out to them.

"Everything seems to be getting better Rukia, but you look like you could use a break. Fortunately, I have brought you a visitor."

Rukia turned to face them, and she couldn't stop the smile from spreading on her face when she spotted her orange haired friend.

"Ichigo!" she yelled as she ran towards him, surprising everyone else there.

"I can't believe you actually managed to pass in a year."

"Hey, I take offense to that. I did say I would do it, and I keep my promises," Ichigo responded with a huff.

"Don't get bent out of shape Strawberry, I am happy to see you again. You'll have to tell me how everyone else was doing."

"So this is the Ichigo I have been hearing so much about," the dark haired man said as he walked up to the group.

When he was face to face with Ichigo, he couldn't help but think they looked similar.

The man was tall, had raven black hair and green eyes. He also had a tattoo of a family crest that Ichigo couldn't quite place.

"Remarkable," Ukitake mumbled, looking like he was remembering something or someone,

"My name is Kaien Shiba, the lieutenant of squad thirteen," Kaien began, and opened his mouth to continue, but then looked at his Captain and stopped.

"Ichigo Kurosaki. It's nice to meet you," Ichigo responded, and Kaien seemed to like it.

"See Rukia, that's a proper greeting."

"Whatever Lieutenant," Rukia said back.

"Whatever happened to respecting your superiors?"

"I am afraid I am going to have to cut your training short today Rukia, I need to borrow Kaien for a while. Be sure to show your friend around today, and answer any questions he asks," Ukitake cut in, ending the fight before it began. Then he began to walk off.

"I'm coming Captain," Kaien said, as he began to chase after his Captain. "Be sure to practice what we went over today Rukia, and it was nice to meet you Ichigo."

Now that they were alone, Ichigo couldn't help but smile at his short friend.

"You haven't changed much Ichigo," Rukia said as she smiled.

"Yeah, well, your still short too."

"What was that?"

"I'm sorry, I forgot I had to speak up so you could hear me all the way down there."

As soon as the insult left his mouth, Ichigo's shin was reacquainted with Rukia's foot.

"I missed do that," Rukia smugly said as she looked down on Ichigo massaging his shin.

"I didn't," Ichigo grumbled.

"Well, come on Strawberry, I am supposed to show you around, so let's get to it. Oh, and tell me about your exams, I want to know what I missed. Oh, and about our friends too," Rukia demanded as she walked off.

"I thought I was supposed to ask the questions," Ichigo said dryly, as he followed after her.

"I asked you first."

"You are such a child."

And so the walked together, filling in each other about how the past year had gone. Rukia did not believe Ichigo really got the highest score of the exam, but she did like how he handled his hakuda spar. She laughed about how his meeting with Toshiro went, and mocked him whenever she felt was appropriate, which was all the time.

In turn, Rukia answered whatever her Captain didn't and explained how her own squad worked, and Ichigo smiled when she told him that she mistook Kaien for him when they first met.

She never said anything about her noble life though, and while Ichigo didn't press her about it, he did notice.

Eventually, the sun fell below the horizon, and Ichigo walked her back to Squad thirteen's barracks.

"Are you sure you won't get lost on your way back to your temporary quarters?" Rukia asked for what had to be the tenth time.

"Like I told you before, I will be fine," Ichigo answered with an eye roll.

She stared at him for a moment, and then stepped towards him, giving him a hug.

"It really is good to see you again, Ichigo," she whispered, just barely loud enough to hear.

Smiling, Ichigo returned the hug, and said, "I am happy to see you too, Rukia."

They stayed that way for a minute or two, before Rukia let go.

"You haven't told me which squad you were going to join. I am pretty sure you have decided by now.

It was true, he had ruled out squad seven because he didn't think he would get along with its Captain, and squad ten because Rukia warned him about the lieutenant in charge. According to her, the lieutenant shirked off her work onto the seated officers in the squad, and Ichigo didn't want to have to deal with that.

That left him squad thirteen and squad eight. He was tempted to immediately say squad thirteen so he could be with her, and the Captain and Lieutenant seemed nice enough, but then he remembered the look Captain Kyōraku gave him as he was about to leave, as if taunting him with information.

"I think I will join," he began.

Then there was the look when he first came into the Captain's meeting. How it was like he was being look through, thoroughly examined.

But, he had actually talked to Captain Ukitake, and he was kind enough to answer all his questions.

However, his lieutenant looked so similar to him, it would be weird to work under him, but he could over that right?

Still, no matter what reasons he thought of, Ichigo could only think back to that look.

"I will join squad eight," he declared.

Bam, squad eight. Now you know. I felt like Ichigo would work well with its Captain, and since he will eventually dual wield, I thought it would be best to start their relationship earlier so he could go to him for help. And he is an awesome character.

I had a bit of trouble with the Captain's meeting, and their interactions, but I hope it turned out well, and hopefully easy to read.

Other than that, I did enjoy writing the reunion scene, I may have chuckled when I did.

As always, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you will read the next chapter.

-Jimba