A/N: Wow, so many reviews! I can't say how much I appreciate each one! Now for a few quick answers:
Bakageta: Unfortunately Ichigo's hollow isn't that easy to get rid of. The way I see it, when a soul is turned into a hollow a shell forms outside the soul that is only based on instincts and the need to feed on others. This shell is easily destroyed with a slice to the mask, and then exposes the unharmed soul underneath. When a shinigami becomes a vaizard a hollow instead forms safe inside their soul, otherwise the hollow would be killed with a simple slice of the mask.
CO Raven: Ichigo really doesn't need to keep a low profile about his skill in zanjutsu, etc, since his skills aren't as unusual as they seems to be (Ichimaru finished the Academy in one year, Hitsugaya is the youngest captain in history). The only thing he has to be wary of is showing to much knowledge of his zanpaktou (shikai and bankai) and people he used to know. Also, as noticed by Orihime, Ichigo's energy only turns hollow-like when his hollow is trying to take over, or when he's using his vaizard abilities.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, only the things I make them do. The first paragraph from this chapter is taken directly out of the anime and doesn't belong to me either.
Chapter 6: A Strange Reunion
"Welcome, new students. Our Central Spiritual Technique Institute is an academic institution with a long tradition of creating future Secret Mobile Corps and Thirteen Court Guardian Squad members. I want you all to apply yourselves everyday so that you are not embarrassed by that tradition."
Ichigo was standing in the main building of the Shinigami Academy along with all the new students, listening to the Principal of the Institution make his annual speech. Looking around, which was much harder since he was so short, he was happy to see that he wasn't the only one with an odd hair color. He could see a few blonds, balds, a bright green, and a dark purple. Best of all, there was no hair dye in Soul Society, so everyone's hair was natural. Wow, you've finally gotten into the Shinigami Academy and all you can think about is people's hair color, Ichigo thought to himself.
He was also happy to see he wasn't the only "young" one enrolled before remembering once again that size didn't matter here. Rukia, Hitsugaya, and Aizen's Vice-Captain all looked very young. I wonder if the growth rate is different here? He wasn't very happy at the idea of being this small for who knows how long, and was still disgruntled when the large group shuffled out of the building.
"All new students this way! Dormitory assignments are on on your schedules! Curfew is at 10:00 p.m., classes start at 8:00 a.m. sharp! All new students this way!" Ichigo pushed his way through the crowd towards the voice and found a familiar face. His examiner (was it Funaki?) was handing out schedules to each student as they walked by. He grabbed his then scanned the large crowd and was happy to see the girl that he had waited with a few days ago. He jogged to catch up to her as he tried to remember her name.
"Kurosaki-kun! What class did they put you in? I made First! Can you believe it? I've been training for 20 years but I never thought I'd make First!" She had a big smile on her face and was talking extremely fast while bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"Huh? Class?" He decided to ignore the fact that the girl (Minobe?) had gone insane.
"What! You didn't check your card?" She grabbed it out of his hand and peered intently before breaking into an even larger smile. "You're with me! Wow, First Class, Kurosaki-kun. And you only took the exam once! This was my second time, after a lot of training when I failed the first."
"So...what do we do now?"
"Eh? You don't know?" Ichigo just stared at her. "We have to go to the office building over there to pick out our extra classes."
"Extra classes?"
Minobe gave an exasperated sigh. "Do you know anything, Kurosaki-kun?" Ichigo scowled and turned away, but it didn't have as much of an effect as when he was taller. "Fine. Along with the core classes you can also take other subjects, ranging from extra kidou lessons to science and math courses. Of course, only people who want to be in the Twelfth Division would take those classes."
Ichigo looked at her strangely. "How do you know so much about this place? Did I miss a handout or something?"
"I had a friend who enlisted. He's in the Kidou Corps now..." She looked upset so Ichigo dropped the subject. They walked in silence again until they reached the smaller building with a long list of extra classes to take. Ichigo eventually chose a spiritual energy control class, zanpaktou meditation seminar, a physical fitness program, and extra zanjutsu and hakuda courses. Minobe also chose an extra zanjutsu and the fitness program, along with a short Soul Society History course.
"Wow, Kurosaki-kun, you're schedule is packed! Why are you taking so many classes? You'll barely ever get a day off!", Minobe said as they were given their updated schedules. The two made their way out of the building and onto the grounds.
"Hey what're you talking about? You're taking a stupid history class! All these classes actually sound interesting, so I want to take as many as I can. I can always change later if it's too much." He put on a fake smile, knowing the real reason why he wanted so much behind his belt.
--
Rukia quickly cleared the gate to Rukongai and ran as fast as she could to the large building in the distance, recalling the conversation she had a few days ago.
She ran to Ukitake as soon as she had heard of Ichigo's acceptance to the Academy, leaving Renji, Ikkaku, and Yumichika behind. Hopping over the walls of her division her slammed open the door to Ukitake's office.
"Captain!" Ukitake looked up from his desk, and regarded an extremely frazzled and windblown Rukia.
"Kuchiki? What's the problem?"
"Could you please allow me to go to the Shinigami Academy!?" Her eyes were so desperate and pleading that Ukitake couldn't turn her down.
"Of course Kuchiki. But I have to ask you to wait a few days before taking a day off, since the new students haven't even gotten their room assignments yet. May I ask what's so urgent?" He gave a caring smile and urged Rukia to sit on one of the chair in the office.
"I just heard that an old friend was accepted, Kurosaki Ichigo."
"Really? You know the new prodigy?" He chuckled and gazed off into the distance. "Sometimes it seems like such a small world."
She barely took in the sight of the familiar campus before rushing past stunned students and checking the roster posted outside the main building for Ichigo's dormitory number. Rukia realized she was so early that Ichigo was probably only on his way to his dorm room. She took off towards his dormitory, knowing the way since it used to be Renji's building, before she saw familiar bright orange hair.
"Ichigo!" Ichigo had just left the office building and was listening to Minobe ramble on how interesting history can be when he turned around to see a short blurred figure that looked to be in shinigami robes quickly closing in. Minobe also stopped talking and turned to see who would be calling her new friend.
"Augh!" Ichigo yelled as the figure crashed into him at an amazing speed and the two tumbled for a few feet, before landing with Rukia on top of Ichigo. "Rukia!", he said in surprise.
"You idiot! I'm going to-" She pulled back to punch him before she stopped, regarding him with an odd expression.
Ichigo didn't like the looks of that and scrambled to his feet while she was distracted. "What?", he said a bit apprehensively.
"I'm...you..." She struggled to get the words out before she screamed, "You're so cute! You're...you're cuter than Chappy!" She laughed at him and tried to grab him, but Ichigo scrambled away.
"You're crazy, you bitch! Stay away from me!" He started to sprint towards the building but Rukia quickly caught up with him using shunpo.
"I can't believe it! You're a midget! Wow, wait 'til I show Renj-" Her eyes widened and her grin faded as she realized what she said. The two looked away, suddenly remembering why they were in their current situation. Rukia sighed and looked at the setting sun. "Ichigo, we've got a lot to discuss."
He nodded, then looked towards Minobe, who was staying away to give them privacy but clearly getting impatient. "I can't talk right now, plus curfew is coming up. Meet me at Yoruichi's hideout on my next day off." He glanced at his schedule. "Five days from today, at noon." She nodded, obeying his orders out of habit, and smiled at him one last time before quick-stepping off again.
--
Ichigo arrived at his new room with no difficulty, and was currently unpacking the little he had. The room was tiny, with a small bed, a desk and chair, a dresser, and one window. The dorm bathroom was unfortunately all the way down the hall and his room three stories up, but Ichigo didn't mind the exercise. I'm just grateful we don't have to share rooms like in the real world, Ichigo thought as he placed Clodoveo's pink rock in a desk drawer. He would be free to train and talk with his zanpaktou without anyone asking questions. Ichigo regarded the purple walls and tarnished floors in distaste and made a note to ask if they could alter their room's design.
"Let's fix up the trim and re-upholster the furniture while we're at it, King of Strawberries." Ichigo rolled his eyes at his hollow and opened the dresser, happy to see extra outfits and workout clothes. They were all extra-smalls, he noted with disdain. Ichigo stretched and yawned, then collapsed on the bed. It's been a stressful few days, but now it'll be smooth sailing. Ichigo grabbed his schedule and looked at it once more.
Kurosaki Ichigo: First Class
Monday:
8:00-9:30 Fitness Program
10:00-12:30 Kidou Theory/Training
2:00-4:00 Zanjutsu Training
4:30-8:00 Zanpaktou Meditation
Ichigo flung the schedule across the room and put his head in his hands. What the hell have I gotten myself into? Two and a half hours of kidou! How did Renji do it? He took off his uniform and got in bed, mentally preparing himself for a great deal of humiliation the next day.
--
"Hah!" Rukia's blade danced around the training dummy, putting large gashes in it's side that were automatically healed with who-knows-what the Twelfth Division put in there. Having six more years of fighting experience than she would have, plus more than one year spent fighting a war and this past year in vigorous training, Rukia knew she wouldn't be beat so easily this time around. She had also started to work on achieving bankai since the war started, and if she kept it up she might achieve it in time for this war.
Rukia cleaved the dummy in half when she heard clapping behind her. She quickly turned and pointed her sword at the figure before realizing it was only Renji. He brushed the sword away and said, "Hey, get your little stick away from me, midget."
Rukia fumed and leapt at Renji. "I'll show you what this little stick can do, you bastard!" The redhead brought his own zanpaktou up to meet Rukia's and the two started to battle. Rukia was used to using her height as an advantage and kept Renji's guard up from below while their blades collided with equal force. Renji was surprised at his friend's improvement, even if he was holding back a little, and decided to taunt her a bit to see if she dropped her guard.
"I dunno Rukia, I don't think you'll ever catch up with me. Have you gotten worse?" Rukia's expression didn't change as they pulled back for another strike, but when the swords hit he was suddenly pushed back by the small shinigami. You weren't going full-out either?, Renji thought and Rukia took advantage of his distraction and jumped from under Renji's guard to put a scratch on his face.
She landed ten feet behind him and smirked as Renji brought his hand up to wipe the blood off his face. "I could say the same thing to you, eyebrows."
Renji twitched and slowly turned to face her, clutching Zabimaru. "What's that supposed to mean, midget?"
"You heard me. What's up with those eyebrows, Mr. Fourth Seat?" She smirked even more as she tightened her hold on Sode no Shirayuki.
"You're dead!" Renji rushed at her and attacked her at full force. The sound of blades crashing reverberated across the grounds as each tried to overwhelm the other. Rukia was also fighting full-out, implementing the knowledge she had gained from fighting countless Arrancar. Each one was so unique that in order to survive she learned to quickly recognize movement patterns and weaknesses in her opponents. Rukia noticed that Renji relied heavily on strong attacks and was prone to staying in one place for long periods of time, probably from being used to relying on Zabimaru's long-reached shikai.
Once Rukia found a hole in Renji's defenses she launched herself up on condensed spiritual energy and began to fight him from above, recalling Yoruichi's wise advice from one training session: "Never forget that shinigami can fight in two dimensions, side to side and up and down." She landed on a platform of spiritual energy and began to attack Renji from above. It was this way that Rukia was able to quickly gain the advantage and dealt the final blow by kicking Renji in the head, causing him to fly across the grounds and into a wall.
For the second time that day Rukia heard unexpected clapping coming from behind her, and turned to see Ikkaku and Yumichika smirking at her and Renji. Renji still hadn't gotten up, but it was more from injured pride than an injured body. "Here I was thinking you were actually getting better, but you go and get your ass handed to you by a girl!" Ikkaku laughed and Yumichika shook his head at Renji in disappointment.
Renji slowly got up and walked over to the group, putting Zabimaru back in his sheath. He turned to Rukia and ignored his comrades, saying "Shit, Rukia. When'd you learn to fight so well? Was Captain Kuchiki teaching you?"
"No, nii-sama shouldn't be bothered by my affairs." She looked sad for a moment, then punched Renji in the arm. "When'd you get so horrible? How you ever got into First Class I have no idea." She smiled mischievously before they broke into a verbal battle, Ikkaku and Yumichika standing on the sidelines and rating the insults.
A/N: Finally the ball gets rolling! Ichigo's first day at the Academy is next week, so please leave a review!
One more thing: I'm still trying to figure out what Ichigo's hollow should be called, so tell me what you want to help me out! (Hichigo, Shirosaki, Ogihci, etc.)
