Disclaimer: Again…?

Shiro: Hi

Ichigo's thoughts: Hi

Zangetsu: /Hi/

I swear the teachers are trying to kill me. I've had next to no free time, so I apologize if this chapter is really late. I'm trying, people! Hopefully the extra length will make up for the time y'all waited…

Chapter 21 – Disastrous Circumstances

Renji stomped up the stairs to Ichigo's dorm room, barely registering Izuru trailing uncertainly behind him. Renji stopped outside of Ichigo's dorm (and it really wasn't fair that Ichigo had a room on the second floor while Renji was stuck with one on the fifth floor) and pounded on the door. Only silence answered. Annoyed, Renji yelled, "I don't know what got into you, running from the captain like that, but it doesn't matter anymore. I know you're in there and I will break down the door to get inside. You are coming to hakuda – and I'm assuming it's your next class – whether you like it or not!!" With that, Renji began to kick powerfully at the thin wooden door in an attempt to break it down. The door shuddered and creaked alarmingly, but held. Barely.

"Renji-san, I don't think that's a good idea – you don't even know if Ichigo-san is in there!" Izuru protested, grabbing Renji's arm. Unfortunately, Izuru's call for restraint came a little too late, since the door gave a mighty shriek and then buckled, splintering inward in an explosion of wood. Izuru looked appalled, but joined Renji as he stepped over the shattered wood fragments into Ichigo's dorm room. There was nothing personal to identify it as Ichigo's, save for a curious half-shiny, half-dull rock displayed prominently on the dresser. Renji's disdainful snort pulled Izuru's attention from the stone and to Ichigo, who was sprawled out on his bed, seemingly fast asleep. He seemed to be having a nightmare though, since he kept twitching and a scowl was present on his face.

"I wonder how he was able to sleep through the racket you made," Izuru marveled.

"Well, he's not gonna stay like that for long," Renji muttered. "Oi, Ichigo! Wake up!" When there was no response, Renji began to kick his friend in the same manner he had kicked the door down.

"ICHIGO!"

"So, what are we going to do about Aizen?" Shiro inquired as his King entered his inner world.

"Nothing," Ichigo replied. "We stay in my dorm until Aizen's gone."

"Are you serious?" Shiro asked incredulously. "Aizen and Ichimaru are here and unprepared for an attack of any kind, much less from a Vizard that's masquerading as a student!"

"As much as I really, really hate to admit it, I can't beat Aizen at my current level, much less Aizen and Ichimaru together," Ichigo sighed. "That's mostly why we came here – to prepare for the Winter War so I have a fighting chance against Aizen, if we make it back in time."

"Tousen is still out there too, and even if we did manage to kill Aizen and Ichimaru, we'd probably get captured before we could get away and executed for murdering the 'two high-level officers'."

"But it's not a given that they'll catch us," Shiro protested, though he saw the logic in Zangetsu's statement.

"Forget it. Besides, I don't even want to think about the consequences of Aizen learning about my appearance, reiatsu, and abilities thirty years early if we weren't able to kill him," Ichigo shuddered.

"Fine, fine, forget I said anything."

The three parts of Ichigo's soul sat (or in Zangetsu's case, stood) in silence for a while before Shiro cocked his head to the side and wondered, "Is something breaking outside?"

Ichigo shook his head. "Probably not, since we're in my dorm, and I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to try and break down the door."

After a few more moments of relative peace, Zangetsu said, "Ichigo, look."

Ichigo's gaze traveled in the direction Zangetsu was pointing and gasped. The whirlwind of emotion at the edge of his inner world had turned into a veritable cyclone and was advancing ever so slowly inward.

"Aizen's appearance probably pushed you over the edge," Zangetsu commented gently. "If you don't deal with it soon, it will consume your inner world."

Ichigo closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Can I confront it Sunday? I have a feeling I'll need to access Shiro's abilities, since his power change is what created that in the first place."

Zangetsu frowned, but could not deny Ichigo's logic. "Very well. If that is what you wish to do, then I will do all I can to slow its progress. Shiro will have to repress your reiatsu for now." With that said, Zangetsu shunpoed toward the cyclone. Ichigo noticed with great relief that the cyclone's progress slowed considerably when Zangetsu reached its edges.

Shiro sighed. "Ah, well, it was going to happen sooner or later." After a few seconds of awkward silence, Shiro continued, "Wanna spar to pass the time?"

Ichigo shrugged. "Sure."

Neither Shinigami nor hollow were able to do more than grab the hilts of their respective weapons before a shout reverberated through Ichigo's inner world.

"ICHIGO!!"

"What the – how did Renji get into my dorm?!" Ichigo yelped in surprise. "Shiro, I'll have to spar with you later. I need to take care of this."

"Go ahead. You may wanna hurry; Renji's kicking you."

Ichigo stirred and blinked open his eyes with a grunt. Renji grinned. "Finally-" A fist slammed into his face and sent him tumbling head-over-heels through the door-less doorway and crashing into the hallway wall.

"Dammit, Renji! Why the hell did you break into my room?! And – …WHAT POSSESSED YOU TO BREAK DOWN THE DOOR?!?!"

"Nice to see you too, Ichigo," Renji groaned from his place in the wall.

Ichigo whirled on Izuru. "You too?!"

"I tried to stop him!" Izuru defended.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes dangerously, but was distracted as Renji gave a loud grunt and popped out of the wall and onto the floor, leaving a human-sized indent. "Where the hell did you learn to punch so hard?" Renji complained as he wiped blood from his face.

"Why the hell did you break down my door?"

"Because you weren't answering," Renji glared.

"I'll ask it again. Why. Did. You. Break. Down. My. Door?"

"I think Ichigo-san means to ask why you wanted to see him, Renji-san," Izuru placated, trying to diffuse the situation. Unfortunately, it didn't work, since Renji remembered why he'd paid the impromptu visit to Ichigo's dorm, and he grabbed Ichigo's arm to drag him to hakuda. He didn't tell Ichigo what he was doing, so Ichigo grabbed the front of Renji's uniform with his free arm and slung Renji into the wall again, creating a second human-sized indent. Izuru nervously backed away from Ichigo when Ichigo turned his scorching gaze on Izuru.

Ichigo sighed as he visibly reigned in his temper. "Can you please tell me why you two wanted to see me?"

"Renji-san wanted to take you to hakuda. He thought you'd be here, since this is where he's always found you when you've skipped class."

Ichigo cursed. It would be utterly disastrous if he met with Aizen now. Ichigo struggled to put this into words without utterly confusing/astonishing the two future lieutenants, so he settled with, "I skive off of classes sometimes because of circumstances outside of my control. I'm skipping class today because I don't want to meet Aizen."

"Captain Aizen!" Izuru exclaimed, scandalized.

The wall creaked hideously and Renji fell from the wall a second time just as a voice called out, "What's going on here?"

A lanky man with messy black hair and cobalt blue eyes stomped up to the three freshmen. He looked furious as he beheld the destruction wrought in the dorm.

"What happened here?" he asked, dangerously quiet. "You! Blondie!"

Izuru jumped as the man's intense gaze focused on him. "R-Renji-san and I wanted to visit Ichigo-san in his dorm. Ichigo-san was practicing some hakuda moves, and he accidentally punched Renji-san through the door and into the wall," Izuru stuttered. Ichigo was mildly impressed that the future lieutenant could come up with a halfway believable excuse on the spot.

The man raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Twice?..." Izuru nodded enthusiastically, though he was still a bit pale. The man twitched and looked extremely annoyed. "…Fine. Since it was apparently an accident-," the man said sarcastically, "-there will be no punishment. All three of you will go to class, now. I'll report this mess and hopefully 'Ichigo' will have a door for his dorm by tonight. Now get going, and don't let this happen again."

Renji staggered to his feet as Izuru said, "Yes, sir!" grabbed Ichigo and Renji, and hauled them to the first floor.

"Do you know how lucky we are?" Izuru hissed at his companions. "That was Raiden Tsukino, 7th year advanced hakuda and zanjutsu teacher. He's the strictest teacher here – we are incredibly lucky to be getting away from that unpunished! Now let's get to class and not cause any more trouble!!" Izuru looked at Renji (who had recovered from being tossed into the wall twice by then) and an unspoken agreement passed between the two. Both grabbed one of Ichigo's arms and dragged him, protesting and struggling, all the way to hakuda.

Ichigo struggled futilely against the iron grips Renji and Izuru had, but to no avail. Besides, Ichigo didn't really want to seriously wound his friends just to get away from them, and by extension, Aizen. Unfortunately, Ichigo couldn't struggle much more than he was then, otherwise he'd rip his friends' arms from their sockets.

"Relax, okay? I don't know what you have against Captain Aizen, but there are a million other classes the captain would visit instead of ours. I really don't understand why you don't want to see the captain; if you make a good impression on him, you'll get into a squad easier," Izuru sighed.

"I don't even want to run the risk of even running into that bastard on campus, even if he isn't reviewing our class!" Ichigo spat. Izuru and Renji looked at Ichigo as if he had a death wish – he had, after all, called a captain a bastard.

"Look, we're almost at class anyway. Might as well go," Renji reasoned as the hakuda building came into view, wisely choosing to ignore his friend's previous comment.

"And don't say anything else to get us in trouble with the teachers or captain!" Izuru hissed.

Ichigo, however, wasn't listening to his friends. A cold feeling of dread had settled in his stomach and a freezing drop of sweat trickled down his neck. The reiatsu carelessly emitting from the hakuda building was an ominous foreshadowing of the people that were currently inside. Ichigo resolutely dug his heels into the ground and refused to budge another inch.

"Now what?" Renji cried in exasperation.

"What's wrong with him?" Momo inserted, curiously wandering closer but maintaining a safe distance between herself and Ichigo.

"He's been trying to skip class, and we're trying to prevent him from doing so," Izuru informed her. "He also seems to have something against Captain Aizen, which is why he's refusing to budge."

"Against Captain Aizen?" Momo gasped. "But he's the nicest looking captain! And I've heard rumors that his squad's supposed to be the best squad – and he's one of the strongest captains! What's not to like?" The glare Ichigo sent in Momo's direction caused her to shrink back in fear.

Ichigo blocked out Izuru's heated reproach of his behavior in favor of contacting his inner spirits. Shiro? You there? No answer. Good. Zangetsu? I know you're holding back the hurricane, but is there anything you can do to warp my reiatsu, other than having Shiro suppress it?

After a few moments, Zangetsu answered, /I could, but you wouldn't like it./

What? Ichigo asked suspiciously.

/I could release part of the hurricane and let it cloak your reiatsu emitters. That way, your reiatsu signature will be totally changed, and it won't put pressure on you like if it was completely suppressed./

"Ichigo?" Ichigo blinked as Renji's voice interrupted his conversation with Zangetsu.

"Are you alright? You kinda zoned out…" Izuru added.

"We'll be late to hakuda if we don't go right now!" Momo fretted.

I don't have time to argue! Just do it! Ichigo yelled into his inner world before he was forced to concentrate completely on the outside world.

"C'mon then! Let's get to class!" Izuru exclaimed, tightening his grip on Ichigo's arm and pulling him toward the hakuda building.

Ichigo would have put up a terrific resistance, but he was distracted as his entire body began to tingle and his arms that his friends were gripping felt as if they were encased in mud. Ichigo began to feel slightly dizzy as his vision faded in and out of focus. Zangetsu? What's happening?

/Sorry./ Ichigo's vision sharpened and the tingling lessened. /I underestimated the cyclone's power, and it engulfed the buildings that control your pain receptors before I could get it under control. You might feel lightheaded and irritable during class, though…/

It's okay, I'm just glad you gave me a warning in time…

Momo rushed into the hakuda building before the other three freshmen, but froze in the doorway, uttering a small squeak of surprise.

"What is it, Momo?" Izuru sped up, entering the hakuda building and easily being able to look over Momo. Izuru, too, stopped in shock and dropped Ichigo's arm, who had halted right outside the doorway. Renji, curious to discover what had caused such an extreme reaction from his fellow freshmen, pushed Ichigo, Izuru, and Momo farther into the hakuda building. His jaw dropped (and remained that way until Renji realized he was making a fool of himself) as he saw the captain sitting on a chair that was provided for him and chatting pleasantly with Akamizu. Ichigo stubbornly refused to look in Aizen's direction.

"Well, I think those are the last of the students in this class, captain," Akamizu said, eyes sparkling in amusement at his students' reactions to Captain Aizen. "Why don't you four get into your places?" Renji, Izuru, and Momo hurriedly got into line, with Izuru and especially Momo staring unabashed at Aizen. Ichigo followed at a more sedate pace, but still managed to not look in the future traitor's direction once.

Hakuda progressed the same way zanjutsu had, with one v. one matches that the rest of the class watched. Izuru and Momo were paired together and Izuru won, though Ichigo suspected that Izuru dragged the match on longer because of his reluctance to hurt Momo. Renji was paired with a burly, scarred man who obviously knew what he was doing – Renji lost incredibly quickly.

Ichigo was called up for the eighth match and was paired with a small blonde girl. Ichigo was too much on edge and distracted by Aizen's presence to try to downplay his strength. Though his opponent was fast and agile due to her size and her defense was exceptional (for a freshman), her attacks lacked power and her footwork was uncoordinated. One roundhouse kick was all that was needed to disable her.

"Match: Kurosaki!"

Ichigo began to stride back to his place, avoiding looking in the corner where Aizen and Ichimaru were located. Suddenly, a flicker of movement flashed in Ichigo's peripheral vision from the corner in question, and Ichigo whirled around, reflexively tensing in preparation for an attack. Ichimaru had leaned toward Aizen, perhaps to make an observation, but Aizen had caught Ichigo's eyes in brief time the undercover Vizard's gaze had flickered to the traitorous captain. Aizen looked kindhearted but increasingly bewildered, while Ichigo couldn't contain the unbridled hate and fury that he was certain was showing on his face. His gaze flicked to Ichimaru and back to Aizen, and Ichigo tried to decide which was the bigger threat: the traitorous captain, or his foxy, smirking henchman. Zangetsu had been dead right when he said that Ichigo's emotions would be difficult to control. Ichigo wanted nothing more than to hack the captain and lieutenant to pieces.

"Kurosaki! Return to the line!" Akamizu ordered in annoyance. Ichigo ground his jaw and clenched his fists, but managed to reign in his emotions enough to return seemingly docilely to his place. A drop of something trickled down Ichigo's hand and he noted with disinterest that he'd carved bloody furrows in his hands with his fists.

"What did you think you were doing out there? I know you have something against Captain Aizen, but why did you have to show your feelings in the middle of class?!" Izuru hissed. "And don't forget, he has the authority to throw us out of the Academy – show some respect for his rank! And-"

"What happened to your hands?" Renji interrupted. "It didn't look like you'd injured them in the match…"

Ichigo grunted and took to staring at the opposite wall, ignoring his classmates in favor of slowly reining his rampant emotions in. His initial response to Aizen's gaze had been fiery rage and a nearly irresistible desire to tear the traitor's throat out. Zangetsu's warning was greatly appreciated – if Ichigo hadn't known that his self-control would be lacking, then Ichigo probably would have tried to kill the traitor right then and there. Ichigo could only hope that Aizen didn't deem him a threat and try to eliminate him – after all, what freshman at the Academy would, in their right minds, show such hatred toward one of the Soul Society's most respected authority figures?

Aizen was feeling an emotion he rarely experienced: confusion. Kira and Hinamori had lived up to his expectations, and Aizen was excited that he'd finally found the perfect Shinigami-in-training to further his plans (not that he'd show it outwardly, of course). Abarai would be extremely useful as well, if Aizen could manipulate his mannerisms so that Abarai acted more like Kira and Hinamori and less like a person fresh from the higher districts. But Kurosaki…

When Gin had leaned toward him to make an observation about Kurosaki's performance, Kurosaki had reacted as if were about to be attacked. Aizen had caught the freshman's gaze for the first time during the hakuda class (and it really had been strange that the freshman hadn't looked in Aizen's direction once), and had been taken aback by the sheer amount of pure fury that shone in Kurosaki's eyes. Aizen could have also sworn that he felt the pressure at his throat of murderous intent, but sensation had been so fleeting that Aizen couldn't tell if it had been there in the first place or not. After Akamizu had called Kurosaki's name, the freshman showed extreme restrain of emotion and walked back to his place as stiffly and stoically as any Kuchiki. The amount of restraint shown was impressive, too. Aizen could tell that the freshman was holding a vast amount of emotion in check – he hadn't even noticed when his fingernails had bitten into his palms and drawn blood. Back in the line, Kurosaki ignored repeated attempts to get his attention from Kira and Abarai and was currently staring into the distance, obviously to keep himself in check.

What could Aizen have done to the freshman to merit such hatred? And the freshman hadn't just channeled his fury toward Aizen; Ichimaru had been glared at a couple of times, too. Perhaps Kurosaki had a hate for Shinigami and/or authority?... No, he wouldn't have been at the Academy then. At any rate, Kurosaki's animosity destroyed any chances of his usefulness as a pawn to manipulate. If he turned out to be a threat, then he could always be eliminated. If so, then Aizen had to completely memorize every tiny detail of Kurosaki's reiatsu signature so he could be recognized immediately.

It was not an easy task. Aizen had tried before to memorize Kurosaki's reiatsu signature and failed, which Aizen had just brushed off as emotional turmoil clouding Kurosaki's reiatsu. But now that Aizen needed to memorize the signature, it felt harder than ever to read. Kurosaki's signature was weak and fragmented, and every time Aizen thought he had the correct signature, it would change, and Aizen had to painstakingly analyze the new nuances of the new signature. Once Aizen was firmly able to grasp Kurosaki's signature and analyze it, he came to two conclusions: one, that Kurosaki was mentally unbalanced or two, he was deliberately warping his reiatsu to prevent it from being read. Since the instructors would have already sensed if Kurosaki was insane, Aizen had to accept the second choice as true. Concealing reiatsu was taught to fifth and sixth year students, and warping it beyond recognition for any length of time wasn't taught at the Academy at all, due to the high probability of mental injury that was risked during the instruction and execution of the technique.

Aizen twitched ever so slightly. Kurosaki had to be a prodigy of some sort; otherwise his reiatsu would be leaking carelessly and freely from his body.

It was also rather annoying that the warp was so powerful that Aizen couldn't even get a fleeting feeling of Kurosaki's true signature.

And the unnerving loathing Kurosaki had toward Aizen and Gin…

Aizen spent the remainder of the class period creating several hypotheses that would explain Kurosaki's unusual skills and behavior and their consequences on Aizen's plans. Not that Aizen couldn't easily defeat the freshman without even drawing his zanpakuto if Kurosaki needed to be eliminated, but it was better to nip problems like these in the bud. There were several reasons for Kurosaki's hatred, and none of them boded well for Aizen's plans.

If Kurosaki's hatred was directed only at the fifth squad, then whatever degrading rumors Kurosaki spread would plant doubt in at least one person's heart. It was potentially disastrous.

Gin had come from one of the higher districts of Rukongai and had made many enemies with his manipulative tendencies and underhanded maneuvers. Perhaps Kurosaki was one of those enemies, and his hate would automatically extend to the commanding officer.

Kurosaki could have been mistreated in youth and gained an intense hate of authority, which would include Aizen and Gin. If that was the case, then Kurosaki probably wanted more power to change the Soul Society's ruling system (which Aizen believed was irreversibly corrupt). This wouldn't be a problem, except that whatever plans Kurosaki had could interfere with Aizen's plans.

The final reason was by far the most catastrophic, if most unlikely. If Kurosaki had been in contact with Urahara, and Aizen's plans were exposed, the resulting fallout of such an accusation was grounds for execution if real evidence to support Kurosaki's claims was found– not that Aizen couldn't escape, but the search for the Hougyoku could only be conducted in the Soul Society, as only the Soul Society had any record of its existence, and Aizen knew that a search in the real world for Urahara would come up with no results.

Kurosaki was far too dangerous to be left alive. As Aizen walked through the halls of the Academy to the advanced 7th year kido class, he began planning ways to get rid of Kurosaki. After all, it was a relatively easy matter to stage a "tragic" death during one of the exercises in the world of the living. And if it was executed correctly, it would also gain Kira's, Hinamori's, and Abarai's unwavering trust.

"When you've got that grin on yer face, it means yer planning somethin', right?" Gin inquired softly, his smirk looking a bit more feral than usual.

"I'll tell you later. After all, we wouldn't want the students to hear something they shouldn't, would we?"

This chapter was incredibly hard to get through. It felt like I was writing a filler instead of an important chapter… Blegh.

Ichigo's spent a month at the Academy and learned just how little he really knows about the Shinigami world – and he's also gained a bit of maturity from having to hide EVERYTHING from everyone.

Aizen's learned to be overly cautious and to leave no stone unturned, so he's prepared for any and all eventualities. I hope you didn't think Aizen was OOC… He's so hard to write correctly…

GACK!! I meant to have this chapter posted a few days ago, but fanfiction has been screwing up and I haven't been able to upload any documents!! I've been forced to cut and paste the chapter into a document that already existed and edit it from there!! Please forgive me!!! *bows*

-HM