A/N: A special thank you to CO Raven who was my only reviewer last chapter and whose comments are very helpful to catch things I've missed. Things are heating up in this chapter!

Chapter 4: The Deciding Battle

"Hey, Kurosaki-kun. Kurosaki-kun!"

"Inoue? Huh?" Ichigo woke up with a start, looking around for his friend before he remembered her sad fate. She had been fatally wounded by Aizen and was in a coma that Unohana had said she could never wake up from. Their war efforts had never recovered once innocent Orihime was gone. Shaking his head, he quickly brushed aside the old, painful memories and addressed the present. "Oh, sorry, it's you...um..."

"Minobe Kaeda. I just wanted to tell you that they started calling names again. Who's Inoue?" She sat down next to him on the ledge and started absent-mindedly plucking at the grass.

"She's a friend I used to have. When I was alive, I mean." He said, looking down sadly. She would still be living happily with her brother right now...

Minobe looked up at him in surprise. "You remember when you were alive? That's amazing! You must have had a ton of spiritual energy!" Ichigo stared at her like she was crazy. Minobe sighed, "You know that every person has spiritual energy, no matter how little, right?" He nodded. "Well, it's that energy that helps you remember your past when you come here. Those with the lowest amount can only remember their names, but you must have had a lot to remember one of your friends. Can you recall anything else?" She stopped plucking the grass, suddenly curious about his past.

"Uh...no, sorry." Knowing anything more would probably suspicious. I've already made myself out to be abnormal...

"Oh. Okay." She turned back and they watched as another person came back from the exam room. His shoulders were slumped as he picked up his satchel and slowly walked out of the area. Didn't make it. From the looks of it this probably isn't his first time taking the test.

The two sat in silence until the quiet was abruptly disturbed, at least for Ichigo. "Che. I'm bored." Ichigo's eyes widened. "Hey, Your Majesty, ya here me? Hello-o?" Apparently not being in contact with Zangetsu didn't affect his inner hollow.

Shut up and go away. I can't deal with you right now. He had been hoping to gain a little peace from his hollow since he wasn't a proper shinigami in this world, but it seemed nothing was going according to plan.

Minobe looked at him."Hey, are you okay? You look a little anxious." He kept his gaze straight ahead, trying not to betray any more emotions.

"Like I'll disappear that easily. How come you're not fighting anymore? The old man's been awful quiet lately."

"The tests aren't that bad, really. Sure, this is my second time taking it, but that's because the only subject I knew anything about was zanjutsu." She smirked. "And my knowledge of zanjutsu just scratched the surface!" Ichigo smiled a little to placate her and started to get anxious about the examination. How should he act, strong or maybe normal for once?

"You're pathetic."

--

Rukia quickly walked back to her room in Kuchiki Manor, well aware of her brothers eyes on her back, making sure she didn't leave the mansion. The moment she got in the room she locked the door, threw herself on her bed, and closed her eyes. It's been a long few days, but I've got to figure this out...

She rubbed her temples and began to think. Urahara had said they would merge with their past souls, which would explain why she had to build up her strength and stamina again. She also could feel a slight increase in her spiritual energy because of the merge, but not enough to put her in the Vice-Captain range yet. Not to mention the Hougyoku is stuck in my soul again. But what did it all mean for Ichigo? Would he come to Soul Society as a shinigami or a regular spirit? Or a combination? Would he retain his appearance or become younger? And what about his inner hollow, did it vanish when they merged or become stronger? Also, Ichigo was technically still alive, since his real body had been kept safe during the war. Would the merge with his other self affect that? It's all so confusing! I don't see why Urahara didn't explain everything beforehand, since he must have known about this some...how...

"And don't worry about paradoxes! I have that all figured out."

Rukia gave an exasperated growl and punched her bed. That bastard! It's impossible to travel back in time without causing a paradox. The only way he could have removed the threat was to not be planning to send us back in time at all! But why? She frowned. "I'll have to ask him myself."

--

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

Minobe gasped and jumped off the ledge, beaming up at him. "Good luck Kurosaki-kun!"

Ichigo waved as he walked away. "Thanks Minobe-san. Watch my bag, will you?"

As the doors closed behind him he quickly took in his surroundings out of habit. There were two men and a woman having a quiet conversation at the back of a well lit room. Along the wall behind them were a series of wooden weapons of all shape and sizes.

"Kurosaki Ichigo?" The woman said as she left her comrades and walked up to meet him. She reminded him of the Vaizard Lisa in her looks, albeit a little gray hair, but carried herself in a way that reminded him of that stupid jerk Ishida. Her shinigami uniform seemed to be specially tailored for fighting and had the academy symbol on the front. "My name is Funaki Yuuka. The man on my left is Joshuyo Naoto," he was in full shinigami garb and had a clipboard in his hands, "and the man on my right is Tanaka Yuudai." He too was in full uniform but had wire-rimmed glasses and a small book which he kept flipping through.

"There are three portions to this exam, hakuda and hohou, zanjutsu, and finally kidou. If you are prepared we will start the hakuda/hohou portion of testing. I will be your opponent and the two in the back will be judging your performance. Remember that I am a fully trained shinigami, so just try your best. Are you ready?" She said this all very quickly and precisely, probably from saying it thousands of times before, and got into a fighting stance. Ichigo followed suit and readied his strategy. If she goes easy on me, I'll match her. If she goes full out, I'll let her win. Funaki ran at him and cautiously aimed a kick to his head, which he easily blocked with his arm. She's going easy.

"Hah! This'll be fun to watch. We haven't been in a good fight for awhile." Ichigo smirked. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the man with the clipboard writing something down.

It won't be that great. I'm not going full out, Ichigo thought at his hollow as he remained on the defensive with Funaki.

"Why the hell not? The better skill you show the faster we can get out of this place and fight some real battles! Besides, you don't have to hide anything. You're the King, make them respect you!" Funaki was starting to make her hits harder and quicker and Ichigo continued to match her while thinking over his options.

"C'mon kid, I know you can do better than that! Stop holding back!" Ichigo frowned in concentration and started on the offensive. You want a fight? I'll give you a fight. His smaller size gave him more agility, plus he was able to evade her attacks more easily than if he was at his full height, but he certainly wasn't as strong as he was used to. Damn it, I should have trained a bit before I came here, in the state I'm in I'd be surprised if I could lift a sword!

"Wow, did time travel mess up your head? Use your spiritual energy, idiot, or I'll come out and fight this battle for you!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. No need to be so harsh. He took advantage of the pause in their fight to use the little control he had over his spiritual energy and make it empower his arms and legs. I never really was able to get the hang of this. That's partially why I'm here. Funaki turned back to her fellow examiners and confirmed that they were taking their notes on Ichigo's performance. She then rushed back into the battle, eager for a fight that lasted more than the usual two minutes.

After fighting evenly for what seemed like hours Ichigo was getting tired. My stamina isn't what it used to be. Or is going to be. Gah, this is so confusing! Funaki called out "You're pretty good! How long have you been in Soul Society?" He remembered that appearance doesn't mean how old a person was in Soul Society, and Rukia was a prime example.

"I don't know, maybe ten years? I haven't kept track!" He said as he twisted to dodge a blow to the stomach.

She didn't show any reaction, and Ichigo hoped he had said the right thing. "Seems like you have previous training in hand-to-hand combat. Who taught you?" She easily dodged Ichigo's kick.

"I studied karate for some time when I was alive." Then he realized his mistake. Crap! Was I supposed to be able to remember that? His distraction cost him a scratch to the face.

Funaki looked mildly surprised, then shunpoed around him. "We're adding in hohou now. Can you keep up?" Before she could finish the sentence Ichigo appeared her and tried unsuccessfully to sweep her feet out from under her.

"Can you?" They fought for a long time, attacking, blocking, and quick stepping, until Ichigo saw Funaki use a unique move. From what he could tell, she gathered a bit of energy beneath her foot and spun it quickly, using the momentum to swing her other foot around and gaze his stomach. It took some time to recover from the defensive, but few minutes later he had a good enough opening to try the same move back at her. Granted, the energy under his foot wasn't nearly as stable as hers, and he couldn't spin as quickly, but he was able to land his first hit on her. His instructor didn't hide her surprise, and suddenly looked extremely frustrated.

Wondering what could have aggravated Funaki enough to make her drop her cool facade he allowed his tired body to slow down even more, and when the instructor aimed a quick kick to his hip he let it hit. Shit, that hurt, he thought as he went flipping through the air and smashed into the wall near the other two shinigami.

"Are you alright Kurosaki?" She asked as she calmly walked over to him, all frustration gone.

"Yeah, I'm okay." He got up and stretched, making sure everything still worked. Hip's gonna ache tomorrow...

"Good. Please wait a moment." She walked over to her colleagues and started talking quietly, while Ichigo sat in a chair on the other side of the room and tried unsuccessfully to read their lips.

After about five minutes, which Ichigo thought was more to let him rest then to discuss him, Funaki walked over to where he sat. "The next portion is zanjutsu. Look at the weapons along the wall and choose the one most suited to you." Ichigo quickly scanned the wall taking in the shapes and sizes of the wooden swords, and eventually chose a slim six-foot long sword, it's shape similar to his bankai.

He noticed it was extremely heavy and foreign compared to Zangetsu which was simply a part of him, but it was to be expected of the crude wooden weapon. He wondered how long he would be forced to use these in the academy, since- "Stop thinking and fight!"

Shut up or I won't spar with you anymore, he thought back to the grumbling hollow as his and Funaki's wooden swords crashed together. They quickly came to a standstill, each was pushing against the other with equal force until they jumped backwards, acknowledging the other's ability with a nod before adding shunpo to the mix.

A/N: I actually had a lot a trouble writing this chapter, so I hope it turned out ok. Please review, because it helps me make the story better!