"So will you agree to take the test?" asked Hanataro. Ichigo looked up at him then smiled.
"No I won't" he answered, he didn't want to be any part of this organisation. He knew they did dangerous work and he wasn't ready to be reincarnated just yet.
"Why not?"
"Because I'm not going to put my life into the hands of some complete stranger" he said, already resolved on his choice. Though maybe a little wary about the fact that he knew he would be missing out on finding out about his powers.
"Are you sure?" asked the Shinigami, who also seemed to be deciding upon something important.
"I'm sure" he replied, not noticing that Hanataro was yet again rummaging around for something within his robes.
"I didn't want to do this Ichigo but Matsomoto made me promise to take you back, no matter what…" he said as he finally pulled out a little package from the folds of his robes blowing the white powder inside of it into Ichigo's face.
"Hey what do you mean by tha-"Ichigo began to say, before he was suddenly attacked by a sudden feeling of drowsiness, Hanataro caught Ichigo before he fell to the floor.
"She said it was because you are too dangerous…" he explained, even though he already knew Ichigo was now fast asleep thanks to the sleeping powder he had given him. Pulling Ichigo up, with surprising strength for one with such a frail looking body, he put one of Ichigo's arms around his shoulders, already getting ready to jump up onto the roof tops but stopped when he felt a large hand on his free shoulder.
"Where are you taking him?" Chad asked, having suddenly felt the need to step in.
"To a better place where he will be looked after and given proper housing"
"Will he be safe?"
"If he's as strong as Matosomoto says he is, he should be" Chad nodded then took his hand off Hanataro's shoulder, taking a step back. Then with a huge leap Hanataro took into the air, landing easily on a building which had been several feet above him.
A few hours later Ichigo woke up to the unfamiliar feeling of soft sheets against his skin, a soft mattress supporting his body. Quickly sensing something was wrong with this, he jumped off of the bed, another thing he had been on in years, and looked around to see his surroundings. It was dark, so he guessed it was now night and he found that the room was surprisingly bare with nothing but the bed inside of it, it wasn't what he was used to, having been brought up in a room always crammed full of people…
He walked slowly towards the only window, marvelling at the strange creaking sounds his feet made when they touched the floor, opening the shutters he gasped in surprise as he stared at the huge wall towering above the city, reaching so high that it seemed to touch the sky. He had never seen the wall before but when he looked at it he felt a sudden feeling of nostalgia as though he had stood in front of it, on the other side, in Rukongai (he assumed he was in the seiretei because of the luxurious bed), though had a feeling that if he had it would have been with other people…
It was then that the full impact of where he was hit him; he was IN the seiretei… but why? Going up to the door he attempted to open it but it was locked, with rising panic he tried to concentrate hard enough to make an explosion but found that for some reason he couldn't access any energy. Frustrated he went back to the bed and sat down, he guessed that all he could do was wait…
Once on the bed he found himself feeling drowsy, his eyes feeling heavy; it seemed as though whatever Hanataro had given him still hadn't worn off and though he did try to fight against it. It wasn't longs until he was fast asleep again…
Not long after Ichigo had fallen asleep again there was the sound of footsteps and then creaking as the door was opened followed by two women walking into the room.
"Is he the boy you want me to take care of miss?" asked the shorter of the two.
"Yes, he seems like he won't easily go into normal training, so I thought it would be best to have someone with experience in Rukongai to deal with him, the only thing I want from you is to convince the child and to teach him a few tricks to intrigue him.
"After that we'll send him in to train with the others"
"I understand Lieutenant, I will do my best" said the smaller one as she bowed. The other women then swiftly left the room, the sound of the door closing making the boy stir in his sleep.
The girl stared at him thoughtfully, his red hair reminding her briefly of a little boy she had seen a few years ago.
It seemed that the boy she had temporarily been assigned to would be difficult to handle, since he was in his adolescence and was likely to be disagreeable. It was a pain to be given such a mediocre job as baby sitting but she knew she had to put up with it, since it was her lack of skill that meant she had to do all these jobs. She had been stuck in the same place for a decade, while all those around her had been steadily moving up… It was at the very least very depressing for there was no way she could improve her standing by looking after a child.
Just then the door opened again, having been pushed aside rather roughly, it banged against the wall. Seeing the person who had appeared the girl could only sigh, it seemed that the boy wouldn't be sleeping much longer. A rather irritating person had arrived.
"Hey Rukia, what are you doing here!" asked the girl with short brown hair who had just appeared "Cain's been looking for you!" Rukia looked up at the other girl in surprise, allowing herself for a moment to feel satisfaction from the knowledge that Cain had been looking for her.. Then she began speaking but in a hushed voice so as not to wake the child sleeping.
"Another division assigned me to work here; I was told that they would inform you of this but I suppose that there must have been some sort of delay, I apologize for any trouble I may have caused the lieutenant and the 3rd seat" she said dipping her head to the women in front of her, it was important she realised, to keep up the right degree of formality when around her superiors.
"Please don't be so formal I have already told you many times to just call me Kiyone!" she said smiling, not seeming to notice Rukia's discomfort at such informality. "And why did you come here anyway? You know you don't have to do what another division say's just like that…Who ordered you to o this job anyway? Just tell me and I'll get them to release you from this stupid job and be quick I need to get back to the Captain so that Sentarō doesn't have a chance to move in on him while I'm gone..."
"The lieutenant of the 10th division asked me to do this, it was not a situation I felt fit to refuse in" she said solemnly.
"Just another kid for Matsomoto to show off about right?" asked Kiyone only sparing the boy a glance "Well I guess it can't be helped, see ya around Rukia" she said heading through the door.
"Goodbye Mrs Kotetsu" replied Rukia softly as she watched Kiyone exit through the door.
Rukia the put her hand on the boys head and began speaking " I would advise you not to speak or move before you have listened to what I have to say, first of all we are not your enemies but your saviors who have taken you out of a life of misery and poverty of Rukongai so be grateful.
"The next thing I will say is that you will not be leaving this place until we are sure of your complete and utter devotion to the seiretei and us, the Shinigami.
"And lastly you will obey every order you are given by me or any other person of this establishment, making sure that you respect all your teachers while you are learning here, any questions?" She asked, trying hard not to smile at the taken aback look on the boys face.
Ichigo then sat up, with a fierce look on his face.
"What the hell am I doing here?!" he asked angrily, his face softening for an instant when he saw her face then hardening again, making it almost impossible to notice.
"I've already told you, you're here because we decided to save you"
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I guess I could have written more (much more) but I'm too lazy…And yeah I know the ending of this chapter was a bit iffy but at the moment I don't really have the time to bother checking and editing my work, if you have any issues with spelling or grammar point them out in a review or offer to be my Beta (yep I am looking for one of those :P goes off to update pretense