Time for another chapter!
*sami217 - yes, yes and partially yes
*Grimjaww - thank you, I thought about possible nicknames and the tiger just seemes right.
*Mas2009 - don't worry, a drama like that won't be in the story every chapter, for example this one is quite without it.
*Barranca - thank you, yes, he does sound like Ulquiorra, right?
*Nobody - I'm curious too.
The rest of you, thank you.
Chapter 4 : Academy of Villains (Enter Seiretei)
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach.
"Normal speech"
'Inner speech/thoughts'
'Inner hollow/Zanpaktou speech'
xxx
Gradually opening his eyes, Ichigo took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and shifted his legs. The meditating pose he had been in for the past two hours made his lower body slightly numb. Cracking his neck joints, he winced at the pain coming from his muscles.
'So the damage shows itself on the outside too…' He thought and rubbed his shoulder.
The pose he had been in was called Jinzen. Rukia had taught him to it the evening Kazumi had died. As the raven-haired woman had informed him, it was the best method to enter one's mindscape and communicate with his Zanpakuto.
It had been three days since Kazumi had died and whenever he had the chance, Ichigo was spending his free time in his mindscape, sparing with his Zanpakuto spirit. He was still wary of the manifestation. The fact that it was a part of his soul didn't comfort him. His Zanpakuto was a slightly irrational, bizarre, maybe even a deranged person. However, he was also a master in handling its own blade. That was the reason Ichigo had managed to swallow the hard pill of the insane person being a part of his soul and had been repeatedly entering his mindscape to meet him.
Although, this was not the only reason Ichigo had been spending his free time away from the outside reality. He wasn't conscious of it but the empty space where Kazumi had been, his side, was now filled with Rukia and Yoruichi and he was not comfortable with it. Kazumi had been somebody, who could understand him and support him without words. She was somebody, Ichigo could lie next to without feeling anxious. Most importantly, she was a woman that could touch his skin without him feeling sick.
Ichigo sighed and with a start, he realized the night was already here, surrounding him with its darkness. He could identify two silhouettes lying a bit further away from him, bound together and knocked unconscious. They were those two shinigami Rukia had spared and was taking to the Seiretei as witnesses for the horrors many had committed. Just looking at their faint outlines made Ichigo's blood boil. They belonged to the group of shinigami, responsible for Kazumi's death; the group he had begun to call 'trash'. Recalling Kazumi's dying face, he slowly stood up and walked towards the duo.
With narrowed eyes, he stared at their motionless bodies. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists; it would be so easy to kill them. All he needed to do was to take out his sword and make two quick and simple thrusts. The blade would slide through their skin and muscles, penetrating their hearts, like a knife jabbing into the butter. Carefully, trying not to alarm Rukia or Yoruichi, he reached for the hilt of his zanpakuto and slid it out of the sheath. The moonlight reflected itself on the blade, creating an illusion of the zanpakuto cutting the moon. The sight fascinated the teen and he gazed at it for a full minute, not aware of the stare coming from Rukia.
She had been awake ever since she felt Ichigo's reiatsu fluctuating. He couldn't control it so he didn't know his spiritual energy mirrored the state of his emotions, the stronger his energy, the stronger the echo. She had been watching his actions with a sad face, waiting for a moment when she would need to act.
Ichigo lowered and raised his zanpakuto, studying the reflection with curious eyes. For a moment, he forgot about the world, about the reality. But as the reflected light from his blade hit the two shinigami, the curious glint in his eyes was extinguished and replaced with anger. He crouched and pressed the tip of the sword against the shinigami's torso. He did it only lightly, the blade barely cut through the thin clothing. He wanted to put his weight behind the zanpakuto, to make it slide through the body and let the blood gush from the wound, but he couldn't.
For a moment, maybe because of the moonlight, he could see a pair of transparent hands holding the hilt of his zanpakuto with him and preventing him from doing what he wanted to do so much. The hands looked smooth and after a moment, they let go of the sword, convinced that the teen wouldn't do it. They caressed his own hands and he could feel the sensation on his skin. He remembered that feeling.
It was the same as Kazumi holding him whenever she was trying to teach him something new.
He pushed the sword down.
However, there was no blood spraying from the wound. His blade only pierced the ground next to the shinigami and Ichigo gripped the hilt and quietly cursed.
The moonlight illusion may had been just that, an illusion, but it made an impact on the teen. It hit him hard. He felt as if Kazumi's spirit itself was watching over him and telling him to endure, telling him not to kill unnecessarily. He mentally argued, trying to tell himself that killing them would satisfy him but in the end, he just couldn't do it. With a sigh, he got up, walked to his original place and lied down with his sword still in his hands.
A full hour passed till Rukia was sure she could hear Ichigo's calm breath, indicating that he was finally asleep. She returned her own zanpakuto back to its sheath and tried to calm herself down. There had been no need for her to keep a watch.
…
In the morning, Ichigo awoke as the first one and decided to make himself a small breakfast until the rest of the group would wake up. He didn't wait for long. Rukia opened her eyes just as he was finishing the apple.
"Morning." She yawned and started to stretch.
Ichigo answered with a grunt, keeping his eyes glued to the two shinigami on his right. They were still out cold. It had been decided that Rukia would keep them like that every time they stopped to rest. During the day, Ichigo and the group were using their Shunpo to directly cross the distance between their current location and the Seiretei, stopping only in the evening. The two shinigami were conscious during that time and forced to keep up, which meant that Ichigo and company were only slowly getting closer to the Seiretei. However, after three days, they had managed to cover half of the distance and were currently in the 40th Southern District of the Rukongai.
"Hey kid."
Ichigo ignored Yoruichi's voice and continued to watch over the shinigami, until the cat walked up closer to him and sat in a small distance away from him.
"I'm calling you kid because I honestly don't know how I should call you. I don't think you'd prefer me using your name." She stated. Ichigo closed his eyes for a moment and sighed.
"I'd actually prefer that. I hate using family's names and I sure as hell don't want you to keep calling me 'kid'… so? What is it that you want?" He replied after a moment.
The cat tilted its head and licked her paws before answering.
"I have noticed you're releasing more and more reiatsu with every day. Are you sure you're okay?"
Ichigo raised one eyebrow and finally turned to Yoruichi.
"I honestly haven't even noticed. I'm fine."
Rukia heard their conversation and came closer stopping in a certain distance away from the teen. After Kazumi died, he had made a rule that nobody would approach him closer than a few meters. Rukia had asked for the reason and he had told her it was because he still didn't trust them enough. In reality, it was because he wasn't sure he could be calm with a female being that close to him.
"You mean you're not even tired?" Rukia joined the conversation with a surprised expression. Ichigo just shook his head.
"No more than I should be after travelling all day. I don't feel my reserves getting smaller. I guess the energy is being replenished at the rate I'm emitting it?" He asked with a shrug, causing the duo to think deeply. After a moment, Rukia spoke again.
"Well, it's not like it's a bad thing right now but sooner or later, you'll need to learn how to control your reiatsu. If you want, I could start teaching you the basics." She offered casually, trying not to pressure him into anything, as she had learned from Kazumi. Ichigo scowled at her. The thought of somebody else than Kazumi teaching him was making him uncomfortable.
"In the Academy, knowing the basics of Kido is one of the conditions for graduating. It's quite obvious you don't want to spend in the Academy more time than you need to so this could give you some pointers. Kido and reiatsu, reiryoku control go hand in hand." Yoruichi added causing the scowl on Ichigo's face to deepen. However, after thinking about the whole thing he sighed and nodded.
"Fine."
His positive response seemed to create a small smile on Rukia's face and with Ichigo's permission, she came and sat closer to him.
"We should begin with basics. As you know, every spiritual being has a certain amount of reiryoku. It is hard to determine ones reserves aside from measuring his reiatsu. Reiatsu is basically emission of the reiryoku. The more reiryoku a shinigami possesses, the more reiatsu he unconsciously releases, unless he's consciously controlling the output, but that takes a certain amount of skill and training. Amplifying the emission of the reiatsu can be used for attacking defending, etc. The reiryoku is basically your life force, so if you run out of your reiryoku reserves, in most cases it results in death. You can use this reiryoku for various reasons as you have already learned during your time here. Controlling your reiryoku means refining its use, the better your control, the less reiryoku you waste for your actions. I think we should start with learning how to control the amount of reiryoku you emit in form of reiatsu and after that, you should learn how to sense the reiatsu of others." She explained, causing the teen to frown in the attempt to remember everything. He rubbed his head, messing up his hair in the process and closed his eyes.
"I think I get it. So? How do I control my reiatsu?" He asked, the frown on his face still present. Rukia hummed to herself for a moment, before opening her mouth.
"From what I've seen, you're able to raise your reiatsu when you want to, am I right? You did it when we f-… in your last fight." She stopped herself so that she wouldn't mention Kazumi but Ichigo completely ignored it.
"When I'm angry or I feel a particularly strong emotion it just seems to come along naturally. I wouldn't say I'm controlling it very much, though." He replied.
"It's something. Before we actually begin I'll ask you one question. Have you noticed from where you emit the reiatsu?" Rukia asked, causing him to frown more and shake his head. He stopped and raised an eyebrow when Rukia raised her left arm and showed him her wrist.
"All shinigami have vents at their wrists, which release their reiatsu. That is very important to know. You can direct the flow of the reiryoku within you to any part of your body however, if you want to use the reiryoku externally, you can do it only be emitting it through those vents. That is why all Kidō spells are used with hands. So, if you want to release your reiatsu, the reiryoku flows out of these vents but we want the exact opposite. But you can't just seal these vents as you would get incinerated by your own reiatsu from within. Simply said, there is no way for a shinigami to completely stop emitting reiatsu. You can lower the amount and the true experts can control their energy so well, they are emitting only a miniscule volume but you can't completely shut it off." She lectured like a teacher.
"Okay, go on."
"So, you know where the energy is flowing out from. Now you need to learn how to reduce the amount of that energy. There are many possible ways how to do it. I'll show you mine. Close your eyes and concentrate. In your mind, picture the energy flowing within you. It doesn't really matter how you represent it. It can be a flowing water, breezing wind, anything is fine."
Frowning a bit, Ichigo grunted.
"Okay."
"Do you see it?" Rukia asked.
"Yeah."
"Good. Now add the piece of energy that is flowing out of you into that picture. When you're done, try to prevent said energy from leaving your system. You can reroute it, build a dam in its way… make anything you want to."
"How will it help? All I'm doing is imaging stuff." Ichigo protested skeptically.
"Your energy responds to your will. Don't worry about the details." Rukia calmly answered.
Reluctantly, Ichigo went silent and tried to do as instructed. He built a shutter around the energy flowing out and slowly tried to close it. His frown deepened. It was hard, almost as if his unconsciousness was attempting to prevent him from succeeding. Ten minutes passed. Beads of sweat were forming on his forehead.
Rukia and Yoruichi exchanged glances. It was working. Little by little, Ichigo's reiatsu was lowering. However, after two more minutes, it suddenly exploded and returned to its original level. They looked at the teen to see him breath rapidly.
"What happened? You were doing really well." Rukia inquired.
Ichigo huffed and glanced at Rukia with a small grimace.
"I was slowly… decreasing the amount but the picture… the picture in my mind started to change on its own. The energy was starting to pile up and in the end, the pressure of it broke any restrain I have built." He explained, causing Rukia to frown.
"Maybe it's not for me," he continued, "I mean, maybe my mind is trying to tell me that my reserves are being replenished too fast and my body just can't contain it all, if I try to prevent it from leaking. Maybe the reiatsu I'm emitting all the time is the minimal amount of energy that needs to leave my body."
His analysis surprising both Rukia and Yoruichi, the latter tilted her head.
"Maybe. Well, it's not like you have to learn how to lower your reiatsu. Still, when you're trying to be sneaky, it's a good skill to know. Otherwise, others could sense you too quickly." Yoruichi shrugged. Rukia quickly caught onto those words.
"Speaking of sensing the others, that is the second thing I wanted to show you." She said, ignoring Ichigo's sigh.
"The basic concept of sensing others by their reiatsu is not particularly hard but the more reiatsu you emit, the harder it is for you to sense the others. It's because you're surrounded by your own energy and you need to go through that. Moreover, it gets even harder and harder the more information you're trying to learn from the reiatsu of the other person. Sensing a presence is easy but sensing the emotions within that reiatsu is quite difficult."
Ichigo nodded after he managed to sort and save the info in his brain and motioned Rukia to continue.
"I'll release my reiatsu and you'll try to feel it. After you do it, give me a signal and I'll start decreasing my reiatsu, while you'll be trying to feel it for as long as you can. It's quite similar to a sense of smell. When there is something smelly next to you, your nose picks on it. But as the smell becomes faint, so does your ability to smell it. Ready? Go." She said and released her reiatsu.
Twenty minutes later, when the two shinigami witnesses began to slowly stir awake, Ichigo was wiping the sweat from his brow and occasionally glancing at Rukia.
"You know, for an unranked officer, you have a good reiatsu. It's a lot more powerful than the one that 19th seat had." He remarked.
"Thank you." Rukia quietly thanked him.
"It really makes me wonder what does the reiatsu of a Captain feels like. They must be creating chaos with it every time they go to the World of the Living." Ichigo stated, the expression on his face fading a little.
"Oh, no no, Captains and Vice-Captains have most of their powers sealed when they do go to the World of the Living." Rukia retorted and noticed his saddened face.
"What is it?"
The teen shook his head.
"It's nothing…I just… I was wondering how my Dad was doing…"
Rukia sighed and carefully chose her next words.
"Ichigo… just so you know… once you've passed on to the Soul Society you can't go back. The first rule of shinigami is that we can't interfere with the lives of humans."
He waved his hand.
"Yeah… I figured." He muttered.
Rukia watched him stare at the ground, feeling the melancholy within his reiatsu but she didn't dare to do anything. She was aware of the fact that he wouldn't allow her to get close to him. Not yet. The moment of silence was interrupted by moaning coming from the two shinigami witnesses. It also woke Ichigo from his thoughts and he got up.
"Yeah, we should move."
From that point onwards, until they stopped in the evening, Ichigo hadn't ushered a single word. His eyes had been concentrating on his surroundings, occasionally he had glanced at the two shinigami, controlling their movements. However, even after they had stopped, he only talked with Rukia for a short while. He asked her more questions about the Soul Society, Seiretei and the Gotei 13. He wanted to know details, any details that could help him in the future. After he received the answers, he went silent and immersed himself in the training. He tried the two things Rukia had shown him. When he had enough of it, or he simply got irritated by the lack of results, he shifted his consciousness and entered his mindscape, where he sparred with his Zanpakuto.
This same routine had repeated itself two more times, before the group finally reached the 1st Southern District. Even from their position, Ichigo could see the edge of the Rukongai, where it met the beginning of the Seiretei.
'That's quite the difference…' He thought when he saw the contrast between the design of the buildings in the Seiretei and the ones he was currently passing by. As they were getting closer to the Seiretei, Yoruichi jumped from Rukia's shoulder and landed in front of the group. Ichigo raised an eyebrow but remained quiet.
"Rukia, Ichigo, this is where we part our ways. I need to return to Kisuke but don't worry, this is not the last time we meet. I'll be back someday." Yoruichi stated.
"Who is this Kisuke you speak of?" The teen suddenly asked suspiciously.
"He's the person that helped me recover from my injuries after I sent you to the Soul Society." It was Rukia who promptly answered him.
"I understand your suspicions and despite the fact that we have apparently started on a wrong foot, trust me when I say, Urahara Kisuke is a good guy." Yoruichi added and after nodding to Rukia, she flashed away.
Her words however, didn't make Ichigo's suspicions go away. On the contrary, he was frowning even more deeply and only after a moment, when they moved again, he followed Rukia. When they crossed the border and entered the Seiretei, the teen couldn't help himself and scoffed, causing Rukia to look at him with a confused expression.
"So the shinigami live in luxury while the others have to live in small huts that are barely standing, huh?" He muttered. Rukia promptly shook her head.
"It's not like that. The shinigami receive a salary for their job and because of that, they can afford to live here. Moreover, when you're a part of a Division, it's only logical to live close by. But, there are also exceptions, who live in the nearby Rukongai districts." She patiently explained. Ichigo sighed and looked around. Ignoring the stares from the shinigami passing them by, he turned back to Rukia.
"So, where to now?"
"We'll go to the Kuchiki manor to talk with my Nii-sama." Rukia replied with a small smile.
As they were walking through the Seiretei, Ichigo was slowly getting more and more irritated and after a while, he finally snapped.
"Why the hell do they keep staring at me like that?" He growled and glared at a small group of shinigami on his right, causing them to raise their eyebrows and move0 on. Rukia was struggling with an answer.
"It's… probably because of your clothes. They aren't used to see a Rukongai citizen here in Seiretei." She said, averting his gaze.
"Tch… how far till your house?"
Instead of answering, Rukia raised her arm and pointed to the right, where Ichigo could see a humongous manor, noticeable from afar. He widened his eyes and stared at the petite shinigami.
"That's your home?" He asked in bewilderment.
"I told you. The Kuchiki are one of the Great Noble Clans." She stated with a bit of pride in her voice.
"Yeah, it's just… too much." The teen said in disbelief. He remembered Rukia telling him about how she got adopted by the Kuchiki Clan in the past but until now, he didn't understand properly the magnitude of that.
Rukia maneuvered him and the two witnesses around the 6th Division barracks and led them directly to the Kuchiki compound situated behind it. When they got to a huge gate, two guards stopped them.
"Who go-, oh, Rukia-sama! Welcome back." The guard on the right greeted Rukia with a happy smile.
"How many times did I tell you to just call me Rukia, Gedō-san?" She replied with a similar smile.
While the two of them exchanged few words, Ichigo glanced at the other guard, who was quite obviously looking at the petite Kuchiki in disdain but the difference in the social status was preventing him from saying something. The teen noted this little fact and turned back to Rukia.
"You're still the same, Gedō-san… I'm heading to Nii-sama but could you go with us? I need somebody watching over these two bastards." She pointed at the two witnesses, who were standing behind her.
The guard, Gedō, hastily nodded and let them pass through. When he was walking past him, Ichigo stopped for a second in front of him and bowed a little, surprising the man. He gratefully returned the bow and after the two witnesses passed him, he followed the group.
The length of their walk to Rukia's older brother's office made Ichigo realize that the size of the compound was even bigger than he previously thought. Even for somebody, who had his memories of his life in the World of the Living back, the sheer size of the estate was mind-boggling. They passed a lot of servants, each of them taking a bow in front of Rukia with the petite shinigami always returning it, despite the employees' protests. Just for that, Rukia earned a small plus in Ichigo's book. Minutes later, they stood before large doors and Rukia softly knocked. From the inside, a male's voice was heard.
"Enter."
Rukia gently opened the doors and entered first, motioning Ichigo and Gedō to follow her.
"It's me Nii-sama."
Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the interior of the office. It almost screamed nobility, aristocracy at him. The walls covered in expensive materials, photos in exquisite frames, bookshelves with rare-looking books; all of it was just like from a movie that took place in an 18th century. However, Ichigo looked at it only briefly, instead, he focused all of his concentration on the man sitting behind the desk.
What surprised him most, was that the Captain of the 6th Division looked young. Very young. In the teen's opinion, he looked barely a few years older than Ichigo himself. He had long black hair, kept up in a white and expensive-looking headpiece, one on top of his head and another two on the right side. He was wearing standard shinigami attire with a white haori on top of it and with a white scarf around his neck. His eyes were slightly closed, making it difficult to see their color. Ichigo couldn't help himself but to think that the man was not looking very pleasant to him. He felt a cold aura around the Captain and coupled with his not fully opened eyes, it seemed as if he was looking at them condescendingly. Oddly enough, Ichigo wasn't feeling any particularly strong reiatsu coming from him so far.
"Rukia, I see you have returned." The Captain stated in a detached tone. He shifted his stare from the petite shinigami, who had been squirming under his gaze, to the ones behind her. When he noticed Ichigo, his eyes momentarily widened, before he managed to hide it, making Ichigo curious.
"This is the one you were so intent on saving… I see." Kuchiki Byakuya said. He turned his head back to Rukia, when the said woman coughed a little.
"Nii-sama… there is… there is something you should hear." She said and glanced at Ichigo, motioning him to come closer. The teen quickly took the few steps and appeared next to her. The Head of the Kuchiki Clan studied Rukia's face.
"I suppose it's important?" He asked. Rukia quickly nodded. Narrowing his eyes, Byakuya glanced behind them to see Gedō guarding the two shinigami, who were starting to shake from fear.
"Sit." He offered Ichigo and Rukia chairs. After they sat down, Rukia whispered Ichigo to tell the Captain his story.
As everything that had happened since he came to the Soul Society was still deeply engraved in his memory, after Ichigo started to talk, he continued to do so for almost an hour without any interruptions. He explained in details how he got kidnapped, where he had been taken after that, how he met Kazumi and how he managed to escape. He skipped the part of him and the Boss, but it was obvious that the Captain and the terrified Rukia realized what had happened to him. He described how the rage he felt caused him to go on a quest to eliminate every person and destroy every building that belonged to this monstrosity. He managed to usurp the first reaction from the calm Captain when he mentioned how he had come across a shinigami from the 8th Division. Byakuya narrowed his eyes at that. The second time was when Ichigo told him about the assassin from the 2nd Division. This time, Byakuya raised an eyebrow. However, when the teen got to the part with the 19th seat from the 6th Division, the Captain's eyebrows shot so high, they practically disappeared in his forehead. Yet, he remained calm and listened till the end of Ichigo's story. After he finished, Byakuya appeared to be deep in thoughts and almost automatically called a servant to bring Ichigo a glass of water. The teen gladly drank it and soothed his throat, dry from his monologue. It took the Captain few more minutes before he spoke.
"That… was an interesting story with a lot of serious accusations. Do you have any proof?" He asked and watched as Ichigo gripped the glass and almost broke it. The teen growled but before he could say anything, Rukia took something out of her pocket and put it on the desk, causing Byakuya's eyes to widen.
"This is…" He trailed off.
"I found this in the burned down brothel, while I was trying to find Ichigo. I think it corresponds with what he said and it shows he was telling the truth. This is the zanpakuto of that man and as the emblem says, he was from the 2nd Division." Rukia said and Ichigo leaned over to see burnt remnants of a sword. He remembered the shape. Looking up, he stared at the Captain.
"If it's not enough, I can describe that 19th seat for you. Since he claimed to be from your division, you'd surely recognize him from my words."
Byakuya shook his head.
"No need, I have noticed that my 19th seat is missing but nobody could tell me where he disappeared to. Now I know." He nodded in the direction of the two shinigami guarded by Gedō, who had his hands on his ears, trying not to listen to the conversation and asked.
"What about those two?"
"They are witnesses. I found and spared them at the last brothel." Rukia informed him with a grimace.
"I see."
Ichigo was slowly getting agitated by the lack of emotions on the Captain's face and he stood up and put his hands on the table, staring the Captain in the eyes.
"That's nice of you to see it. What are you going to do about it? It almost seems that you are not surprised by these information I have just provided you with!" Ichigo loudly stated.
Byakuya narrowed his eyes and for a moment, he glanced at Rukia, who was staring at Ichigo in horror.
"I see that he doesn't just look like him, he even acts like him." He said, confusing Ichigo. The teen missed Rukia's face that just went ghostly pale.
The Captain returned his gaze to Ichigo.
"It is true that in the past, I didn't really care what my men and the rest of the shinigami do in their free time." He stated and Ichigo suddenly felt the air getting heavy.
"However, I will not tolerate something like this… my own men doing such filthy and disgusting deeds? Inexcusable. One of the laws of shinigami from the Gotei 13 says: 'It is against the law to commit a murder.' Rape and human trafficking are not a murder but… these actions kill a part of the person. Kurosaki Ichigo… trust me when I say, I will not let this go." Byakuya stated in a hard and cold tone and for a split second, he unleashed his reiatsu in the room, showing just how much he was angered.
The two shinigami in the back passed out.
…
Ichigo was lying in a bed, his eyes opened and aimed at the ceiling of the room. After the meeting with the Captain of the 6th Division had ended, Rukia had taken him to a dining room, where the two of them had a small dinner. Afterwards, she insisted on him staying the night in the Kuchiki mansion so the next day, she could take him to the Academy.
So there he was, contemplating about the Captain he had met and the impression he had left on him. On one hand, Kuchiki Byakuya was just like Rukia said, a man with a sense of honor and Ichigo was sure he had seen an honest anger in his eyes. On the other hand, Ichigo still couldn't bring himself to like the man. He was too cold, too aristocratic and emotionless. At least that was what Ichigo had seen. Maybe the man was hiding his true emotions and the teen just didn't pick up on them. Moreover, the Captain had admitted that until now, he didn't care for the actions of his men during their free time and that bugged Ichigo.
Although, after some thinking, he couldn't really blame him. Having about three hundred men under his command, it must have been really difficult to keep track of every single one of them.
Ichigo lightly bit his tongue. He wasn't ready to trust Byakuya but he seemed like the kind of person, who would see this to the end. Then there was his reiatsu.
Ichigo grimaced. It was just like Yoruichi had said when they first met. The reiatsu of a Captain was on a whole other level compared to the shinigami Ichigo had encountered so far. While the teen withstood the pressure of Byakuya's reiatsu without ending up on his knees, it still caused him to sweat heavily and feel a shiver running on his spine. The difference between their energy was currently like a night and day. Just recalling the situation made him shudder.
However, it also ignited the burning resolve to train even harder within him. He was eager to learn new things.
As Ichigo was still only a fifteen-year old boy, it was not that surprising.
His thoughts got distracted when somebody knocked on the door.
"I'm coming." He said and got up. Opening the door, he came face to face with Rukia.
"What is it?"
Rukia reached behind her to hand him a neatly folded piece of clothes.
"This is a standard shinigami shihakusho. I know you don't have any clothes so…" She trailed off and tried to put the garb in his hands. Ichigo clicked his tongue. He really wanted to decline but the clothes he was currently wearing were getting worn down and he would need something new soon. But he didn't want to get things out of pity. He frowned and watched the tiny shinigami attempting to leave the attire in his arms and quickly disappear.
With a sigh, he took it and quietly thanked her. Rukia offered him a small smile before walking away. After he closed the door and moved back to the bed, he put the shihakusho on the nearby chair and sat on the bed.
He had said it before and he was still convinced of it, that besides Kazumi, he didn't trust anybody and he hated shinigami but he also couldn't bring himself to hate Rukia too. The petite woman hadn't been able to save his sisters from the hollow but ever since that night, she had been only trying to help him. He couldn't even blame her for his sisters' deaths as it wasn't really her fault. It would take a long time before the two of them could become true friends but it seemed that she was really trying to do it. With that thought in his mind, he took his clothes off, took a shower and hopped to bed.
Next morning, he woke up with a start, to hear some movements in the room. Snapping his eyes open, he jumped from the bed, prepared to fight…
…only to scare a middle-aged servant and force her to scream and flee the room with her face red. It was few seconds later he realized he was completely nude. Glancing down on his bits that were freely swinging from side to side, he sighed and hurriedly closed the doors, in case another servant would attempt to enter. Walking back to bed, he briefly looked at his old clothes before he dumped them into trash.
Few minutes later he appeared in the dining room, where Rukia was waiting on him, in the new shihakusho he had received the day earlier. For a minute, Rukia studied him with a critical eye, causing him to frown.
"What?"
"Nothing, it looks good on you." She said off-handedly before nodding to herself in satisfaction. She missed the perplexed expression on Ichigo's face and motioned him to follow her.
"So, we're finally going to the Academy?" The teen asked but received a negative response.
"No. I'm sorry but I have to report to my Captain before that. It'll take only a few minutes." Rukia said apologetically. Ichigo just waved his hand.
"It's on the other side of the Seiretei so we should use Shunpo. Try to keep up." The raven-haired woman stated with a small grin and flashed away, reappearing a good distance away. Ichigo snorted and a grin appeared on his face too.
"Let's see who will have to keep up." He muttered and flashed away too.
Barely half an hour later, the two of them were standing in front of the 13th Division barracks, Ichigo wiping a small bead of sweat from his forehead, lightly warmed up, while Rukia was huffing and holding her side.
"Damn you and your stamina…" She said between her breaths, causing Ichigo to laugh mockingly until she tried to lightly kick him in the shin. She led him through the buildings to a pond, where a small hut was situated. It was connected with the land via small bridge. Walking through it, Rukia stopped Ichigo when they reached the entrance.
"Wait here." She said and entered the office.
Inside, she came to the table with a man behind it and crouched down.
"Kuchiki Rukia reporting in, Captain Ukitake."
The man raised his head and smiled widely.
"Rukia. It's good to see you after those weeks. Did you find him? Is he okay?" Ukitake asked.
Captain of the 13th Division, Jūshirō Ukitake was a tall man with long white hair, reaching almost all the way to his waist. He had green eyes and a kind looking face, bit skinny and sickly looking, but pleasant to look at. His smile faded when he saw Rukia grimacing.
"He's unharmed but…" Rukia swallowed and explained the Captain what happened since she asked for a vacation and disappeared to the Rukongai in a search for somebody called Kurosaki Ichigo. With every minute, the look on Ukitake's face was grimmer and grimmer until he too, was grimacing. With a disgusted expression, he shook his head.
"That's… I think even 'disturbing' is a too weak word for this. I'll contact Captain Kyoraku and prepare him for the news before Captain Kuchiki meets him. Of course, your brother has my full support." He stated resolutely. Hearing somebody clearing his throat outside of his office, he turned to Rukia.
"You came here with that Kurosaki Ichigo? Why don't you let him in? I would like to see the person that you are so interested in." He smiled a little at Rukia, who gulped and tried to protest.
"Ah… I, I don't think he would want to…" She mumbled but Ukitake ignored her and called out for Ichigo.
"Kurosaki-san, come in and join us!"
They heard somebody tripping and loudly cursing. The door opened and a shadow entered the room first.
"You almost gave me a heart attack." Ichigo muttered and walked inside. When the light hit him and he showed himself to the Captain of the 13th Division, said man's expression froze in shock.
"K-Kaien?" He whispered in disbelief, causing Ichigo to raise an eyebrow.
"Eh?"
Rukia gulped and quickly motioned Ichigo two sit down. Meanwhile, Ukitake managed to get over his shock but his eyes were still wide open.
"Uhm, I'm… I'm sorry, Kurosaki-san. Your appearance just caught me off-guard. You look just like my former Lieutenant… by the way, I'm Jūshirō Ukitake, Rukia's Captain." He stated in a daze. Ichigo furrowed his brow and glanced at Rukia, who was pale and refusing to look at him.
"Yeah, Rukia told me about you…" Ichigo replied and took turns to look at Rukia and Ukitake before he crossed his arms.
"Okay, there is something is this room. I don't know what but it's a bit uncomfortable."
Small amount of pain flashed across Ukitake's face and the man peeked at Rukia, who was intently staring at the ground, her hands clutching the edge of her clothes. He apologetically shook his head.
"I'm sorry Kurosaki-san, this… is something Rukia will tell you when she's ready."
Hearing that, Ichigo stared at the man, not saying anything. By the time he nodded, he had already made up his mind, as it took him only one glance at Rukia to understand the situation. From that point onwards, he never mentioned this matter again.
…
Ichigo was flashing through the Seiretei, above the many roofs, closely following Rukia. Since she finished reporting to her Captain, she was now leading him to the Academy. As if on purpose, it was located on the other side of the Seiretei. So after flashing across the whole area once to get to the 13th Division, he now had to do it again. It occurred to him to tell Rukia they should have just gone to the Academy first as it was obviously located near the 6th Division but one glance at the petite shinigami later, he decided not to. Instead, he sighed.
Rukia had been silent ever since they left the office of her Captain. He didn't know the reason but she was currently looking quite pitifully and he felt some sort of notion within him to somehow lighten the mood.
"Hey, you okay?" He asked, trying to sound kind. Rukia momentarily peeked at him and nodded.
"Yeah, I just remembered some bad stuff."
'No shit…' The teen thought but congratulated himself for at least forcing her to say something.
He managed to pry some words from her and short time later, they landed in front of a gate with a sign for the 10th Division. Expecting to go in, Ichigo headed to open them but Rukia ignored the gate and went around it. Surprised a little, Ichigo followed her through a long road, which ended somewhere behind the 10th Division compound. There was another gate, smaller this time, with two columns on its side, holding a banner with a single, title:
Shin'ō Academy of Spiritual Arts
Together, they entered the area and Rukia led him to a main desk with a bored looking clerk. The woman was doing something with papers and didn't even raise her head when they approached her. Paying no attention to the clerk's lack of enthusiasm, Rukia spoke to her.
"Kurosaki Ichigo would like to apply for the Shin'ō Academy of Spiritual Arts." She announced firmly.
"We're sorry but the semester has already begun. Try again next year." The clerk replied in a bored voice, causing a vein to pop on Ichigo's forehead. However, Rukia motioned him to calm down and cleared her throat.
"I think you could squeeze him in. He's incredibly gifted."
The clerk frowned in an annoyance and raised her head to reply more fiercely but then she widened her eyes, which showed recognition."
"K-Kuchiki-sama? I-I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you."
Ichigo rolled his eyes exaggeratedly and just barely stopped himself from snorting.
"No harm done. However, I would like to insist and repeat that the boy behind me wants to apply for this Academy. Like I said, he's too gifted to be just left waiting a year. As my name is Kuchiki Rukia, I implore you to reconsider." To Ichigo's amusement, the clerk paled and hurriedly bowed. She walked to an office nearby and after visible arguing with somebody, she returned with a scared smile.
"O-Of course Kuchiki-sama." She motioned Ichigo to come closer and so he did.
"Kurosaki Ichigo was it?" She asked and Ichigo nodded.
"Take this application and go to the left, to a room 000. An assistant will shortly join you." The clerk informed him and disappeared into the office again. Ichigo grabbed the paper with his name and turned to Rukia.
"Neat, Kuchiki-sama." He chuckled but when he saw that Rukia was not smiling, he stopped.
"What?"
"I don't enjoy using my name like this… I'm not even a real Kuchiki…" She muttered. Ichigo sighed and headed towards the room. As he was passing her by, he spoke to her.
"Maybe, but you were able to use it for something good for the first time since you got adopted. You should be happy." Without looking back, he disappeared into the room, leaving a stunned Rukia, who just stared at the place where he had been standing. After a minute, a small grateful smile crept on her face.
Inside the room 000, Ichigo found multiple rows of tables and an uncomfortable looking assistant that was waiting for him next to a table in the front. When Ichigo came close and sat down, he handed the teen a few papers.
"This is the first part of the entrance exam, a written test. You have 45 minutes to finish it. Begin… now!" The assistant announced and sat on a chair in the corner of the room, from where he had a perfect view on Ichigo.
The teen focused on the words.
'Question 1: What is the name of the main military organization in the Soul Society?
Question 2: What are the branches of this organization?
Question 3: What are the duties of shinigami?
Question 4: What are the four main shinigami combat techniques?'
He grinned, if the rest of the question were similar, he would be finished long before the clock hit 45 minutes. The assistant narrowed his eyes when he noticed the expression on the teen's face but remained silent.
Twenty-five minutes later, Ichigo stood up and walked up to the man. He handed him the test-form filled with his answers and asked with a grin.
"What is the next part?"
The assistant raised an eyebrow and silently grabbed the test and led him through the other door in the room, leading to an outside area. Ichigo saw a few training dummies, attached to some sort of a machine and turned to the man, who explained.
"In this second part of the exam, you'll have to defeat five moving training dummies. You can use whatever technique or tools you want. Begin." He exclaimed and with a push of a button, the training dummies came alive and started to move in a series of intriguing defensive maneuvers. Ichigo slowly took out his zanpakuto and crack his neck joints; finally something interesting.
His zeal however, didn't last long and three minutes later, the training dummies were all lying on the ground, motionless. The teen turned to the assistant, who was staring at him with wide eyes.
"R-right. Follow me to the last part."
He led Ichigo through a corridor, which ended with a platform. On the platform was lying a small, translucent and quite innocently looking orb. The man hurried with an explanation, his behavior towards Ichigo quickly changing.
"This is a spiritual orb, which responds to reiryoku. Your sole task is to hold it and try to release as much reiatsu as you can muster. Just for a split second so that the orb can record and measure it."
Ichigo nodded in acknowledgment and moved closer. He grabbed the orb, being careful not to drop it and closed his eyes for a moment. As he had informed Rukia, he was able to unleash more of his reiatsu the stronger emotion he felt. Concentrating on his memories, he recalled the moment when Kazumi had died and gritted his teeth. Slowly, the anger he felt before entered his veins and he gripped the orb, his reiatsu rapidly increasing until it reached its peak. He held it for a few second before letting go of the rage.
He opened his eyes and with a sigh, he put the orb back on the platform. Turning to the assistant, he stiffened in surprise when he noticed the man staring at him with a shocked expression.
"Uhm, is everything okay?"
The assistant blinked twice before shaking his head.
"Y-yeah. I'm sorry. You can return to the main desk. I'll send the results shortly." He muttered and grabbing the orb, he disappeared behind the doors behind the orb.
Ichigo shrugged and walked back to the desk with the clerk, where Rukia was surprisingly still waiting.
"I thought you'd be gone by now." He stated perplexed.
"I want to see how you did on the exam." Rukia replied casually, but her eyes were curious.
While they waited, the clerk gave him a small map of the Academy compound, his new Academy clothes and a key to his room. With a bit of a regret in her voice, she informed him, that since he came after the semester had started, he would have to live alone. With a grateful expression, Ichigo told her that she shouldn't worry about it, he actually preferred it this way. Few minutes later, the clerk received a piece of paper with Ichigo's results and she quickly took a look at it. Her jaw dropping on the desk, she glanced at the teen and before she could stop herself, she whispered.
"Wow…"
Rukia hurried to the desk with Ichigo right behind her.
"How did he do?"
The clerk turned to Ichigo and stared at him for a moment.
"You've scored 91 points from 100 possible in the written test. In the second test, you have earned the same amount of points as Ichimaru Gin, who later became and still is, the Captain of the 3rd Division. Which is also the current record. However, in the reiatsu measuring, you seem to possess more reiatsu than any student did before. At least as far as our records go." She announced in an admiring tone.
"Oh… so I did well." Ichigo replied casually, causing Rukia and the clerk to sweatdrop.
"Uhm, yes. You have been assigned to the Class 1. After you change your clothes, you can go and join them. Here is your schedule." The clerk stated, handing him more stuff. Ichigo glanced at the schedule first.
'So, we begin the day at 8 AM, every lecture is two hours long, we have one hour for lunch from 12 AM to 1 PM and we end the day at 5 PM. There are six mandatory subjects: Kidō, Hohō, Hakuda, Zanjutsu, Gotei 13 and its history and Practical Shinigami. Monday: Kidō theory, Hohō theory, Zanjutsu theory and Hakuda theory. Tuesday: Practical Shinigami, Gotei 13, Zanjutsu practice, Hakuda practice. Wednesday: double Kidō practice and double Zanjutsu practice. Thursday: double Hohō practice and double Hakuda practice. Friday: Kidō practice, Hohō practice and optional additional Kidō theory. Weekends are free. Well… schedule similar to Karakura's High School.' Ichigo mentally ready the paper and with a shrug, he put it in his pocket.
"Just like I said, your potential is great. Now you have it even on the paper." Rukia smiled warmly and before Ichigo could protest, she spun around and flashed away, leaving the perplexed teen alone with the clerk. The new Academy student sighed and hurried to his room.
Ten minutes later, he mentally thanked the clerk for the map, as he almost got lost and finally opened the door to his room. It was located a bit away from the main dormitory but Ichigo didn't mind. As he said to the clerk, he preferred to be alone. He didn't come here to make friends, he came here to get stronger. Glancing around and studying the room, he nodded appreciatively.
The room consisted with a simple bedroom and a separate bathroom. In the bedroom, he only had a bed, a nightstand, one table with a chair, a shelf for his books and a small wooden cupboard. In his opinion, it was almo1st perfect. He didn't have almost nothing with him, aside from his zanpakuto and the clothes he was wearing so even the little furniture he had would remain half empty. Thankfully, the shelf was already filled with every book he would need for the classes as he realized the clerk didn't say anything about them just as he was unlocking the room. He quickly changed his clothes and glanced at the schedule to see where he should go.
With wide eyes, he realized he had no idea what day it was. Furiously glancing at all papers, he noticed the date on the report of his entrance exam that said Wednesday. He checked the time on the clock lying on his nightstand. It was half past 1 PM, which meant the Class 1 was currently having Zanjutsu class. Grabbing his zanpakuto, he hastily locked the room and hurried to the area, where the class should be.
As he was nearing the area, he finally heard people's yells and the sound of the crossed blades, which meant he was on the right track. He glanced at the doors.
'Classroom 105: Zanjutsu training area.' He mentally read and resolutely opened the door and entered.
He came face to face with a group of students in the process of wildly swinging bamboo swords and an instructor with glasses yelling instructions at them. When they noticed him, all of the people turned to him with raised eyebrows.
"Hey, boy, are you lost? This is the Class 1 lesson." The instructor exclaimed. Ichigo took out the report of his exam results and waved it at him.
"Then I came to the right room. I just passed an entrance exam and got assigned to this class." He replied and walked up to the man.
His statement caused a bunch of murmurs to break out in the area, which he tried to ignore.
"Is that so?" The instructor asked and with raised eyebrows grabbed the report from Ichigo's hands. He quickly read it and after he finished, he just stared at Ichigo for a moment.
"Interesting results, Kurosaki Ichigo. I don't know how it is that you were allowed to enter this late but from these numbers I think I should be glad. After some time I finally get to teach somebody interesting. My name is Gengorō Ōnabara and I'm the Chief Instructor for the Class 1." The man introduced himself, his words causing even more murmurs to sound from behind him. He pointed to the corner of the room, where a bunch of bamboo swords was stashed.
"You can either sit there and watch the class or if you think you can manage, pick one and join the rest. I see you already have a Zanpakuto but leave it next to the stash. We're still not training with real swords." Gengorō stated and watched as Ichigo silently moved to the stash and without looking picked the first bamboo sword, leaving his zanpakuto on the ground.
"Good. The way you hold the sword suggests you already have some nice experiences with it. Come here and we'll go over the basic stances, so that you can join your classmates as quickly as possible." The man instructed and then turned to the rest.
"I don't think I said you can relax. Continue with what I said!" He exclaimed and the students hastily raised their swords again but their eyes were stealing glances at the new orange-haired student.
Ichigo ignored them and concentrated on the instructor. He was a bit disappointed he was forced to use a bamboo sword but from what he saw the moment he had entered the room, his classmates were mostly amateurs and would accidentally kill each other if they used real swords.
The teen listened to Gengorō's orders and one by one, he perfectly showed his the stances. It was easy, as Kazumi had taught him the same thing weeks ago. After he completed the last stance, Gengorō grinned.
"Well, aren't you a talented little brat. Go… there. Sanadamushi! Take Kurosaki here and spar with him." He called out to a boy with a short black hair and an earring in his left ear. The boy frowned but nodded.
Ichigo quickly walked up to him and entered the stance.
"Remember, we're not fighting here, just show one simple attack while the second person tries to block it." Gengorō reminded the students.
"I'm Takeshi Sanadamushi." The boy in front of Ichigo muttered with a frown.
"Kurosaki Ichigo." The teen replied and moving his sword to the left, he intercepted a strike.
They returned to the neutral stance, now with Ichigo attempting to strike Takeshi. Reminding himself to use only the few basic stances Gengorō made him repeat, Ichigo chose the frontal slash and hit the boy between his neck and the shoulder, on the trapezius. The boy cried in pain and dropped the sword, causing the others to look at them. Gengorō was instantly next to them, staring at Ichigo, who raised an eyebrow.
"I just attacked him with the simple frontal slash, nothing more." He stated defensively, while Takeshi gritted his teeth from the pain.
Gengorō narrowed his eyes and flashing back and forth, he grabbed one bamboo sword and positioned himself opposite of Ichigo.
"Show me." He said. Not wanting to create a bigger scene on his first day, Ichigo listened. He raised his sword and repeated the attack. His attack was blocked but through his sword, Gengorō was staring at the teen with wide eyes.
"Gee, no wonder he's on the ground. You're attacking with a killing intent. The speed and the strength behind your slash is too much for an Academy student." He stated, causing Ichigo to scowl.
"Isn't that the point of this class? When you're fighting, you can't worry about your opponent." The teen muttered.
"Oh? I was right, you really are interesting. However, Kurosaki. We're in a class. I don't know what have you done until now but you need to adapt your power accordingly to the Academy level. I don't want to see my students end up in a hospital wing." Gengorō retorted calmly but with an authoritative tone.
"And didn't anybody tell you to lower your damn reiatsu? Or are you trying to impress me?" He added.
"I can't. This is how I always am." Ichigo replied with a shrug.
"Oh my god, he's 'that' Tora! He matches the description perfectly!" One of the students whispered in excitement, causing the others to widen their eyes. Ichigo grimaced and tried to suppress his annoyance. He narrowed his eyes when he glanced back at Gengorō to see an unsettling grin on his face.
"Oho, so we have a celebrity here. Good for you Kurosaki. Until you adapt to the Academy level, you'll be sparring with me." The instructor stated. This only further increased the amount of murmurs between students and Ichigo groaned.
This was not how he wanted to start his stay in the Academy.
End of Chapter 4.
As I said, this chapter was less about the drama and more about Ichigo's arrival to Seiretei and him meeting the two Captains and entering the Academy. While I will spend some time writing about Ichigo's time in Academy, it would be pointless to write about his every day until he joins the Gotei 13...if he joins it. So, what I'm saying is that next chapter will be quite a lot about the Academy, as Ichigo has to learn the basics of Kido, Hoho and Hakuda but the chapters after that will be less about it and more about the other plot.
Hope you liked it! Until next time.