Hello people! I'm sorry it took me some time to update, but I had a minor fight with my muse so I had to beat it into submission. Fortunately my awesome beta, DeviantHollow23, helped me with that :D
Anyway, to make up for the wait, this chapter is extra long!
/ / /
Flashbacks.
/ / /
§I§
Change of point of view.
§I§
CHAPTER 6
*** TWO MONTHS LATER ***
Ichigo was running like crazy through the maze of Seireitei's streets, the huge bag thrown over his shoulder hitting rhythmically into his back,.
He was scowling at the map Urahara had drawn for him, desperately trying to make some sense of it.
Shit! Shit! Shit! The recruitment exams are starting in ten minutes and I still haven't found the freaking Academy!
Just locate it, you dumbass,Hichigo scoffed rolling his eyes, look for a place with a large group of people with unrefined reiatsu, or something like that.
"I'd already thought about that", Ichigo hissed icily. Well, he hadn't, but that wasn't the point.
He halted for a moment, and focused. It had taken him countless (frustrating) hours, but he was finally able to suppress completely his own spiritual pressure, which in turn enabled him to perceive and analyze that of others without the help of any spells or devices.
/ / /
"Kurosaki-kun, I think it's high time you learn to completely control and contain that huge reiatsu of yours, what do you say?" Urahara asked with a pleasant smile.
Ichigo nodded seriously. He knew this was his biggest handicap. He couldn't rely forever on various Bakudos or nifty devices to do it for him. "What do you suggest?"
"I think we should do it a bit at a time." The shop- keeper took out two huge reiatsu sealing wristbands and handed them to Ichigo. "I remember these worked fine the last time, didn't they?" he grinned.
The boy recognized them immediately, as they were the first pair he'd used when training to seal his shikai. They were incredibly heavy and sealed 95% of his reiatsu.
"We're playing hide and seek. You have 30 seconds to hide and suppress your remaining spiritual pressure." Urahara informed him. "Oh, and, whenever I find you, you get a beating" he added with a smirk.
Ichigo returned the smirk as his eyes flashed in challenge. "I won't be that easy to find". He put on the wristbands and shunpo-ed away.
/ / /
He'd finally found the right direction, but he didn't dare attract attention by jumping on the rooftops so…"I'd love to kill the idiot that designed this damned labyrinth!" he muttered angrily.
He turned another corner at full speed…
…and crashed hard against somebody.
"Oh shit, this hurts!" he grabbed his aching nose and squeezed his eyes in pain.
"Ouch, man! Look where you're going!" the other complained, but to Ichigo's surprise the guy didn't start throwing insults at him.
When he finally checked, Ichigo found a lanky boy, a couple inches shorter than him, clutching his head where it had met Ichigo's nose.
The guy looked about his age, maybe younger, but his serious green eyes suggested that he'd probably been in Soul Society for many years, and, judging by his clothes, he hadn't been living in the nicer parts of Rukongai.
"I'm really sorry, man" Ichigo apologized "but I'm really in a hurry. Do you know by any chance where's the Shino Academy entrance?"
The boy smirked and pointed to the left.
At a hundred feet distance Ichigo saw a big gateway that gave access to an open courtyard which was milling with people.
Finally! Ichigo relaxed, then turned again to the boy. "Thanks. Hey, are you here for the exams too? 'cause I think they're about to start".
"Yeah" he nodded "but I'm waiting out here for someone".
Just then, out of nowhere, a little kid that looked about eight jumped on the guy's back squealing "Nii-chan!"
The big brother smiled. "You almost didn't make it." he said teasingly.
"Not true!" the child pouted "I told you I'd come to cheer you on!"
"So," Ichigo spoke up turning towards the gateway "I'm going in. What about you?"
"We're coming." the older brother said as the two caught up to Ichigo.
"By the way, I'm Kasshoku Kaito" the name rolled smoothly out of Ichigo's mouth.
"Because of the hair?" the other asked raising a brow. (1)
"Yeah" Ichigo smirked.
"Well, I'm Mori Hideki, and the little pest here is Fusamo." Hideki said pointing at his little brother.
"Ah, so you're into gardening." Ichigo punned. (1)
"Actually our grandpa is." Hideki shrugged nonchalantly.
XXX
As he waited, Ichigo observed all those shinigami wannabes. There were hundreds of people, some looked quite young, some as if they were in their thirties, but no more than that. He remembered that Rukia once had told him that only those with a significant amount of reiatsu looked young even if they'd died at an old age.
After he focused on their spiritual pressure, he could tell some of these people really had some, even Hideki, who was currently trying to do some meditation – and how he did it with all that noise was a mystery to Ichigo –, had potential.
Suddenly the door of one of the buildings opened and the crowd fell silent. Six figures came out and one of them started a boring welcoming speech.
Ichigo glanced at them with interest. Three of them he didn't know, while two others were seated officers of the 5th and 11th division, but the real surprise was Omaeda Marechiyo's presence.
He's one of the examiners? If so, this has just gotten a lot more interesting, he smirked.
XXX
Three hours later Ichigo was bored sick.
He was still in the Academy courtyard, sitting on the ground next to his bag and waiting for his turn.
He'd spent some of the time talking with Hideki – so now he knew the two brothers were from the 45th District – but at the moment the boy was inside taking the exam, so Ichigo was sort of stuck baby-sitting Fusamo, who just didn't seem to know when to shut up.
The kid was currently going on and on about some great battle and Ichigo pretended to listen, while he was actually reviewing his strategy for the exam and discussing the finer points with Zangetsu.
"Hey guys, I'm back." Hideki's voice sounded behind his back.
Ichigo turned and raised a brow in question. "So?"
A wide grin split his face. "I'm in!"
"Hooray!" Fusamo squealed in excitement "You're great Nii-chan! I bet you'll become even stronger than Kurosaki-sama!"
Hideki chuckled. "I'll try".
Ichigo froze "Kurosaki who?"
Funamo turned to him almost affronted "Kurosaki Ichigo-sama, the great War Hero, of course!" the kid yelled, as if Ichigo had insulted his favorite comics character. "I've been talking about how he saved us for the past half hour!"
Ichigo blinked. Really? Then he furrowed his brows, and what's with the '-sama'?
Hideki smiled and patted his little brother's head. "Sometimes Fusamo tends to get carried away, but Kurosaki-sama really did save our life!
Actually that's why I decided to become a shinigami. I want to be able to protect all the people I care about", he added with determination.
Huh? I inspired him to be a shinigami? – that felt kind of strange.
On the other hand Ichigo was now getting curious. Where did I meet him? Hmm… "
"When exactly was this?" he asked.
"It was a year and a half ago," Hideki replied "a group of Hollows had attacked Rukongai and five of those monsters were about to eat me and Funamo when Kurosaki-sama jumped in front of us and slashed them to bits with his huge Zanpakuto in, like, 5 seconds!" he recounted, hero-worship shining in his eyes.
"Then as another group appeared, he took us to safety, while at the same time blasting them to smithereens!" he said waving his hand as if he was firing a Cero.
Ichigo winced. This was just… weird. But at least now he remembered when he'd met the guy. It had been during the Hollows surprise attack to Rukongai, orchestrated by Aizen just to create a diversion. He'd casually found himself in the middle of that battle, and he remembered it had been quite a mess, too many Hollows and too many defenseless people.
Meanwhile Hideki's story had attracted the attention of several people around.
"Oh wow, you really got to meet Kurosaki-sama? How is he in person?" a short guy asked eagerly from Ichigo's left.
"And you got to see him fight! You're so lucky!" another one popped up from Ichigo's right, pushing him aside.
"Hey, watch it!"Ichigo scowled at the back of the guy's head, but he was ignored. This was getting too damn surreal!
"What color are his eyes?" a girl asked dreamily, while closing in on the story-teller with two other adoring fan girls, while one of them whipped out some kind of picture and started waving it in front of Hideki's eyes.
As Ichigo caught a flash of orange, his eyes widened in horror. What the hell! Where did that chick get my photograph?
He was suddenly very grateful for Tessai's disguise.
Better get far far away from these creeps! He started slowly edging away from the crowd that had formed, leaving Hideki – who was trying to answer all the questions – to his fate.
"Uhm, I think it's my turn" he muttered – not that anybody cared or heard–, then he grabbed his bag, turned on his heel and swiftly walked away.
XXX
Omaeda Marechiyo yawned for, like, the 50th time that day, as he waited for the next loser in today's endless line of people to enter and show his 'skills'.
I still can't understand why Soifon-taicho had to get so pissy about me not going after those Hollows, he whined inwardly, I so deserve a vacation after that fucking war!
Omaeda had been ordered to attend to the examination as sort of a 'punishment' by his captain, because he'd sent three shinigami on a mission in his place. Soifon had told him that since he so carelessly risked the lives of the people in their squad, he may as well start looking for the next replacements.
So here he was.
-Yawn-
The kid that had just entered was now saying his name – Kasshoku something – and all the other required personal info, but Omaeda was only half-paying attention.
Then, with a tilt of his head he signaled to his assistant – the 14th seat of his Division– to start with the first test, he opened a new bag of chips under his desk, and prepared himself for another boring half hour.
§I§
Ichigo felt slightly nervous as he studied Terada-san, that is his first opponent-slash-examiner in Hoho and Hakuda.
Urahara had instructed him to pull his punches and not to use shunpo – they'd had actual 'acting' lessons on how to pretend you can't fight well! – but what had him worried was that his reiatsu still had a tendency to flare during a fight if he didn't stay focused on that aspect.
What's more, he was very aware of the presence of the Academy's headmaster, a certain scheming Yamamoto Ideyoshi he needed to impress. He looked like an elderly man with grey hair and steely blue eyes, whose only presence commanded respect as much as his older brother's.
A blonde female shinigami called the beginning of the test.
Free your mind from all these unnecessary thoughts, he heard Zangetsu's deep voice, so he did just that.
§I§
Terada-san started out slowly, but as he saw that the kid had no problems dodging his attacks, he started to increase his tempo, but without using shunpo as the candidates obviously were not able to keep up with such a speed.
On the other hand…
This Kasshoku is really fast, he observed almost immediately …and strong, he added to himself as one of Ichigo's punches hit his abdomen.
After 10 minutes of intense sparring, the 14th seat expected the candidate to start getting tired, but the kid was still fresh as a rose.
Is it possible he has that much reiatsu? he wondered just before a roundhouse kick got him in the head, making him fly for 20 feet.
§I§
"Very good Kasshoku-san" one of the examiners complimented Ichigo, who thanked and bowed.
"Who taught you to fight?" another shinigami from the committee asked.
"Um," Ichigo scratched the back of his head "Nobody really, but I have this feeling I was a Martial Artist when I was alive" he said with a shrug, but knowing very well what this admission implied in all the shinigami's heads: 'keeps memories from life = high reiatsu'.
"Very well!" the shinigami nodded and smiled, as did half of the others.
Ichigo smirked inwardly and out of the corner of his eyes he glanced at the headmaster trying to gauge his reaction, but the old man wore the same stoic expression. Looks like I need to do something more 'flashy'.
Ichigo glanced at Omaeda, noticing that the arrogant prick seemed to have finally woken from his stupor.
Let's see if I manage to get him off his lazy ass, Ichigo stared Omaeda directly in the eyes and, without averting them, he spoke to the committee. "With your permission, I'd like to show you some more of my skills in Martial Arts".
"We'd love to see them" the same female shinigami answered, "but unfortunately the time is– "
"Well, I'm eager to see them!" Omaeda cut in with an overconfident grin as he stood up from his seat.
"But Omaeda-san –" the blonde shinigami protested feebly. She was ignored as her colleagues started to get curious.
"Thank you" Ichigo bowed once more, but inwardly he too was grinning.
Perfect.
§I§
This kid isn't half-bad, Marechiyo had to admit, as he watched Kasshoku kick his 14th seat's ass.
And it looks like he may possess some reiatsu, he mused as he heard him answer the questions. Maybe I could mention him to Soifon-taicho, since that's what's she's looking for.
Suddenly Kasshoku's eyes met his as the kid spoke of showing more of his skills.
What? Is he seriously challenging me? he thought truly affronted.
Very well, he grinned, that punk has no idea what he's getting into!
"Well, I'm eager to see them!" Omaeda cut off the whiny blonde shinigami and stood up.
He strutted towards the candidate and stopped in front of him, but that brown-haired boy didn't seem to be intimidated by him. Time to rectify that.
"I'm Omaeda Marechiyo, 2nd Division fukutaicho and Corps Commander of the Patrol Corps in the Onmitsukidō" he boasted puffing his chest "but don't worry kid, I'll go easy on you!"
The kid nodded nonchalantly and took a defensive stance.
§I§
What a buffoon, he never changes, Ichigo seriously felt the need to roll his eyes, I'm so looking forward to wipe the floor with that arrogant ass!
He sprang towards Omaeda and surprised him with a combination of punches that the lieutenant barely blocked. He followed it up with two jabs to the ribcage that flawlessly hit their target, and a low kick to the knee the moment Omaeda moved to regain his balance.
Careful Ichigo, Zangetsu warned, remember where you are and why you're doing this.
You're right Old Man, Ichigo instantly sobered and slowed down his movements.
§I§
Omaeda grimaced in pain as he grabbed the side where he'd been hit. Owowoww! This punk really packs a punch and how can he be so fast? His speed verges on shunpo! he thought in a panic.
No, that surely was just a lucky–… SHIT! The kid almost tripped me!
To evade the next kick Omaeda had to use a flash-step – which everybody in the committee noticed – and retaliated with his own punch-kick combination that – surprisingly – hit their targets …huh?
Anyway Marechiyo didn't have much time to question why his opponent's speed had suddenly decreased, he concluded the boy was just getting tired.
In the following exchange the kid blocked and dodged most of Omaeda's attacks but didn't try to retaliate. Hah! He's finally getting who he's up against!
§I§
Ichigo casually – from his point of view – blocked Marechiyo's attacks and surreptiously glanced at the Headmaster.
The elderly man seemed to be following their movements with interest.
Looks like I've finally gotten his attention. Good, time to end this farce. He knew he couldn't afford beating a lieutenant just yet, so this had to be enough.
During the following exchange, Ichigo lowered his guard just enough to make it look as a mistake and got knocked hard to the ground.
"Don't feel bad, kid" Marechiyo said with a mocking grin "You were very brave to go up against somebody like me, and I'm sure that, if you train a lot, in some years you'll be able to join the 2nd Division!"
"Thank you, Omaeda-fukutaicho" Ichigo bowed formally, hiding his smirk. The buffoon had served his purpose, and Ichigo had made sure that the ass would be going home with a nice purple side.
"You were very good indeed, Kasshoku-san", the shinigami Ichigo knew from the 11th said, while the others nodded. "Now it's time for the next test. My name is Takegawa Hiro, and I'll be testing you in Zanjutsu."
He stood up and walked in front of him. "Please, choose one of the swords we have on display".
Ichigo nodded. He made a choice keeping in mind Urahara's advice to show his skills in this form of combat as little as possible. The sword he picked was wide and short, and was far too light compared to Zangetsu. As he glanced at it, he knew this test was going to require all his acting abilities.
He held it like a tennis racket and took the same stance as if he was fighting bare-handed. "I'm ready".
Takegawa-san cocked an eyebrow and chuckled. "Have you got any previous experience in Zanjutsu?"
"Um no, not really" Ichigo lied smoothly.
"Oh well, let's see what you can do", and with that the shinigami unsheated his sword and lunged.
For the following five minutes Ichigo made a wonderful job of avoiding and dodging Takegawa's slashes, using his own sword only as a protection as if it was a short staff or swinging it like a baseball-bat whenever he tried to attack.
When Takegawa-san stopped, he gave a friendly smile to Ichigo. "You're very quick on your feet, and I'm sure that with the right instruction you'll improve greatly!"
Ichigo thanked and waited for the last test to begin: Kido.
Oh damn…
XXXTBCXXX
NEXT CHAPTER: some Kido, some Rukia… ^_- …and much more!
A/N
– I hope you didn't get disapponted that I couldn't have Ichigo show off too much, but I think you understand it would blow his cover! On the other hand, how do you like Ichigo's fan club? - and this is just the beginning, believe me! *insert evil chuckle*
– An additional note on Ichigo's nose: when I was deciding what it would look like, I was imagining the kind of shape that many people in South-East Asia have, it's somehow wider and quite flat, and since Ichigo's nose is quite narrow, I felt the need to describe the new one as 'large', but keep in mind it's nothing like an African nose!
(1)Possible meanings of the names (as you already know with Ichigo's name, in Japanese a word that has the same sound can mean several things, and you know the difference only when you see it written in Kanji/Hiragana ):
Kasshoku (brown) Kaito (the sea+ the Big Dipper/Ursa Major)
Mori (forest) Hideki (excellent tree)
Mori (forest) Fusamo (whorl-leaf water milfoil – a kind of tree)