A/N: This is a nice light hearted one, I thought I should do one of these for a change. It has three mini parts which can be set pretty much anywhere in the storyline. Also, for my convenience, and because the youngest real one is 17 -you'll know what I mean- Ichigo will be 17 in this.
-1-
"You're… not in high school?"
Ichigo turns around and finds the petite raven-haired Shinigami looking up at him with such a confused expression reflected in her violet eyes that Ichigo is almost concerned that she may faint with how pale she is -then again, she was pale yesterday too, maybe that's just her natural skin tone.
"I'm not." He confirms before lifting his mug and taking a long chug of his coffee.
Last night had been insane and long. But then again, Ichigo is kind of used to long nights where he pushes through with nothing but caffeine and sheer stubbornness.
"But," the girl -Rukia- continues. "You look the right age to be in high school." She smooths out her expression before she takes a bit of a step back and gives him a vaguely judgmental look as she moves her eyes from his bright orange hair to his scowling face. "Did you… get held up? Are you still in middle school?"
This makes Ichigo choke on his coffee and he hacks as he attempts to clear his airways while simultaneously placing the mug down on the front desk of the Clinic to make sure he doesn't spill some of the hot liquid on himself.
"What?!" he yells, truly and utterly baffled at these turns of events. He has never, never been called stupid in his life. Rukia might not have outright said so, but that's what she seemed to be implying. "No I didn't get held up! I graduated high school ages ago!"
This has the raven head tilting her head and giving him a once over before meeting his eyes again. "So you're… in University? I could have sworn you were seventeen."
Ichigo rolls his eyes at her but this is something he's a bit more used to. He gets questions like this at times, though pretty much everyone in town knows now in days.
"I graduated University already. And yes, I am seventeen." He explains briskly.
"I thought ages fifteen to eighteen were the norm for High School." She pauses, and then proceeds to peer up at him suspiciously. "Is our information outdated? I could have sworn it was just recently updated."
The orange head heaves a sigh but waves a hand languidly in the air to stop her rambling. "No that's about right. I'm kind of a special case with graduating so early at… everything."
Rukia nods as if to herself before humming in thought. "But… why?"
"Uh… why what?" Ichigo asks in bafflement.
The raven head gives him the stink eye before elaborating. "Why did you get to graduate early?"
Ichigo doesn't quite get why she's so confused about this, but he takes another fortifying sip of his coffee before answering. "Look, if you show enough talent the teachers can recommend you for accelerated learning, and if you pass the tests you need, you can graduate early. I got fast tracked into elementary school. I graduated that at age seven, then middle school at age nine and high school at age eleven. After that, I got into University and got my medical license. Do you understand now?"
Rukia nods slightly while her eyes turn down and somewhat distant as if she's thinking about something really hard before she moves her gaze back. "In the… Shinigami Academy some have graduated in less then six years, so I can see where you're coming from but… having a medical license means you're a doctor correct? Doesn't that seem a bit excessive for a seventeen-year-old?"
Ichigo finds himself giving another world-weary sigh and takes a smaller sip of his coffee; it's starting to run out, and he feels he really needs the caffein for this conversation alone.
"Yes, I'm a Doctor, though I'm not practicing yet -besides here- since I haven't decided on which job offer I'm taking. Technically speaking, I'm a very special case, but then again, that's kind of what happens when you're lauded as a genius from a very young age."
Rukia jerks up and her eyes have widened to an almost worrying degree. Ichigo wonders if that hurts. "Wait a second. You're not an idiot?!"
Ichigo suddenly stands up, his hand slamming on the desk with force and making the raven head jump in shock. "That's what you take from this conversation?!"
-2-
"Will you guys stop invading this town… for five minutes!"
Renji is shocked when Ichigo comes barreling in out of no where to drop kick the nearest small fry Arrancar in the face with such ferocity and an almost mad gleam to his eyes that he takes a step back instinctively. Besides him, Rukia winces at the entrance and turns to look around as if searching for the next craziness.
"I told him we could handle it." She rolls her eyes. "He specifically told me yesterday that he could not miss today's meeting and I said we would be fine. Why is he even here?"
"Meeting?" Renji finds himself asking, not entirely sure about what Rukia is talking about. "What meeting?"
Rukia huffs a bit but crosses her arms and answers anyway. "He said it was a meeting to discuss some moves in the departments. I didn't really pay attention much after he started rambling about the incompetence of some of the other guys."
This doesn't really answer his question, and really, it just generates more.
"What other guys?" he asks instead. "Honestly Rukia, are you being purposely vague?
Rukia turns up to look at him with slightly confused eyes before something like comprehension flashes in them instead and she lights up with utter, malicious glee.
"Oh?" she begins smugly. "Didn't you know? Ichigo's a Doctor."
Renji's brain short circuits and blanks as he's left staring down at Rukia who looks even more self-satisfied with herself.
"He's a what?"
-3-
"You should just stay in bed."
Rukia glances to the side where Ichigo is seated in one of the visitor chairs that had been left at the side of her bed for that express purpose. He's wearing his glasses, something he hardly ever does and looks for all intents and purposes like he's engrossed in whatever book he currently has his hands on.
She finds herself huffing irritably at him but sits up anyways. Ichigo doesn't do anything beyond turn a page from the book, and now that she looks at it closer, it looks like it's one of the Kaido books she's seen in bookshelves all around the fourth.
"I'm surprised you're not in a bed too." She tells him ruefully.
He doesn't bristle as she half-way expects him to, but that may be because he's in learning mode and Rukia has seen what Ichigo can do when he concentrates on something that has caught his attention.
"I only had a dislocated shoulder, a second degree burn and some bruises." He tells her curtly while his eyes continue to swift across the page. "I set my shoulder during battle. Hanataro healed most of the burn on my back and helped me apply some salve for the rest of the process. Being in a bed makes no sense, it would aggravate my back and Unohana-san agreed with my assessment."
Rukia takes this all in but is honestly more entranced by the way he's talking to her and reading at a fast pace. Ichigo already devours information like some sort of leach, but to be able to do both is baffling.
"I think I'm fine now." She says instead because using up her brain power to figure out the puzzle Ichigo seems to be is not worth it. "It's best if I free up this bed for someone who will need it more."
She grabs the corner of her duvet and throws it off her legs, but before she can even shift, Ichigo's eyes move the tiniest bit up to give her a disapproving look.
"No need, just stay in bed midget."
Rukia rolls her eyes at his dramatics but doesn't pay him much mind as she swings a leg down and then-
Sweat rolls down her neck and she glances back to see Ichigo has lowered his book and is giving him a tight-lipped smile with eyes that burn like embers.
"Stay in bed, Rukia."
-And then she swings her legs back up, throws the duvet on herself and shimmies down to lay on the bed again while she stares up at the ceiling like it's some sort of foreign object of great curiosity. She purposely doesn't look at Ichigo again, but she can hear him turning pages again so she's certain he's not giving her that scary look from before, but she doesn't want to risk it.
Rukia makes a note to herself, to never, never act up when Captain Unohana and Ichigo are together. If just one of them is terrifying, she doesn't want to know what having them both at the same time would be.
She thinks Ichigo may be spending too much time with the kind yet frightening Captain.
-extra-
"I can find him where?" Shinji asks in puzzlement as he stares at Kisuke like he has finally gone that extra inch he needed to go from crazy to demented.
Kisuke merely continues fanning himself and Shinji knows he's giving off that knowing smile that speaks of enjoyment at other's suffering.
"You may find Kurosaki-san at Karakura General Hospital right now. If I am not mistaken, his shift began and hour ago." He reiterates.
That baffling, aggravating man, Shinji should have just strangled him ages ago.
Not to be continued…
Remember to vote guys, the voting closes 05/11/2021, to make it more interesting, you can vote once on every chapter 39 onwards, so make sure to leave your support! I may write a sequel/prequel for first and second if we have a clear second place . Here is what it currently looks like:
RcbT – II
PomH – I
W – IIII
EP – IIII
RoC – V III
HoW – IIII
TK – III
MP – IIII
PLV – I
TfTpO – III
TEFL – IIII
Yes, the title is a play on the first and final volume of the Manga