Hi! This time it took my just 2 weeks to update, and I'm aiming to be even quicker with the next one!
Much love to my beta, DeviantHollow23, who was a great help with this chapter!
To Naginator: I hope you'll be happy with the length of this chapter, it's almost 3900 word without the Author's Note at the end!
CHAPTER 8
Ichigo was walking down one of the countless hallways of the Academy's dormitory. The place was really crowded with freshmen running around excitedly but, thanks to his perma-frown, most of them were careful to give him a wide berth – just like in high-school, really.
He'd left Hideki a few rooms back, agreeing they would meet up again in a few minutes, and was now looking for his own new room.
He finally stopped in front of one door identical to all the others and used the key he'd been given to enter, noticing immediately that his new room-mate hadn't been by yet.
After he'd closed the door, he dropped his long bag on one of the two beds and immediately went to open it.
His right hand closed automatically around Zangetsu's red hilt that peeked among the clothes, seeking the familiar sensation that he'd been missing for the past three days.
When in spirit form, he'd always carried Zangetsu on his person, so he'd never noticed how uncomfortable it felt doing otherwise. He supposed it made sense, seeing as how a Zanpaktou was an extension of one's soul, but if he was to follow his and Urahara's plan he wouldn't be able to afford doing so for some more time.
He looked at his katana thoughtfully, then his eyes swept the room, a frown appearing and deepening the more he studied the Spartan style furnishing: two beds, two desks with chairs, two small cupboards, one window.
Where the hell am I going to hide it?
Keeping it in the bag was out of the question – the world was too full of nosy people – the cupboard was too obvious so, maybe the floor?
He got on his knees and started tapping on the panels of the wooden floor around and under both beds, but he couldn't hear the presence of any empty cavity.
He stood back up, his eyes darting around the room worriedly. Not good, not good at all. Any advice Old Man?
Not in this case Ichigo, I'm sorry, the Zanpaktou spirit answered.
Why don't you shove it up your ass? Hichigo sneered.
Ichigo reddened and his nostrils flared. I'll shove it down your throat if you don't stop spouting bullshit! - seriously, were all inner hollows this crude or was it just his luck to have one like that?
He took a deep breath and tried to ignore the bastard that was now cackling like a madman in the background. He seriously didn't have time to waste.
His eyes landed back on the bed. He stared at it for a few seconds, the wheels in his head turning. There's always the mattress…
He crouched down to check the seams, then smirked. As he'd thought, it was of the traditional kind, resembling a sack filled with wool, whose seams could be opened quite easily…
… but the moment he stood up to get his sword, the door burst open.
Damn.
His head whipped towards the intruder, finding a panting Hideki on the doorstep.
"What's taking you so long Kaito? They're already passing out the academy uniforms! Come on!" he said gesturing wildly for his friend to follow.
Ichigo raised an eyebrow. When he gets excited he's as bad as his little brother. "Go on, I'll catch up with you in a few minutes".
"But you can't be late for this! There won't be any uniforms of your size left!" and with that Hideki grabbed Ichigo's sleeve pulling him towards the door.
"Hey!" Ichigo protested, but the boy's strength caught him so off guard that he found himself in the hallway before he had any more time to object. He barely shot a last worried glance to his half-opened bag before Hideki shut the door.
"Hurry!" Hideki yelled again and they were off.
Let's hope my room-mate is also busy getting his uniform, Ichigo thought with a sigh.
XXX
Among the many people milling in the hallways, there was one boy that was getting more attention than the others. To be exact, it was unwanted attention in the form of snickers and stupid jokes whispered to the nearest person, but whenever somebody dared to say something directly to the boy's face, he or she got a cutting remark or a threatening glare in return.
"People get more stupid every year" he muttered as he raked his hand through his wavy, light purple hair, which was the very reason for his lifelong teasing.
Many in his family had purple hair, it was just his luck he'd been born with such a girly shade of said color, made even more eye-catching by his tanned complexion.
He finally stopped in front of his new room and got inside, taking in the place where he would be staying for the next ten months. Not exactly my style, he grimaced, thinking of the posh interiors of his own house.
His eyes landed on the half-opened bag sitting on one of the two beds. Looks like my room-mate has already been here.
He dropped his stuff on the other bed, then turned again to look at Ichigo's bag.
I wonder what kind of guy he is… but they say you can learn a lot about a person just by looking at their possessions, he smirked and approached the object of his ponderings – so yes, 'curiosity' was another outstanding characteristic of his family, so you could argue his snoopiness wasn't really his fault.
The moment he peeked inside the aforementioned bag, his eyes widened in shock. Is that what I think it is?
His hand drew near the hilt, skimming the air above, but he was very careful not to touch it – he'd been told enough times that Zanpakuto spirits didn't like random people touching their physical form.
The little amount of reiatsu that prickled his palm like electricity told him he was right, but what shinigami in his right mind leaves his Zanpakuto lying around just like that? And isn't my room-mate supposed to be a freshman, like me? He'd never heard of somebody entering the Academy already possessing a Zanpakuto.
What's more, he'd been around enough Zanpakutos to suspect, from the quality of its reiatsu, that the owner of this one could already release its shikai!
He kept staring at the katana in complete puzzlement, his thoughts chasing each other trying to find an explanation for his discovery. One thing though was certain: his room-mate already seemed like quite the interesting person.
He was so engrossed in his ponderings, that he almost missed the door-handle opening.
With a speed and agility verging on shunpo, he stepped away and towards his own bed, so when the door finally opened, he looked to be going calmly through his own clothes.
"Hey! You my new room-mate?" the new-comer asked.
"Yep!" the purple-haired boy looked up. So that's him, huh? Looks pretty normal… but then he caught the other's apprehensive glance at the bag. So that Zanpakuto is his!
"I'm Kasshoku Kaito, nice to meet you." Ichigo bowed slightly.
"Shihouin Takeshi, nice to meet you too".
"Shihouin?" Ichigo blurted out, forgetting he wasn't supposed to know that surname.
"Famous family, I know," Takeshi shrugged, "but don't mind that, just call me Takeshi".
That got an appreciative smirk from Ichigo. Good to know that not all nobles are conceited asses. "Alright, you can just call me Kaito then."
"So, I've heard some of your family were in the Gotei 13?" Ichigo continued, trying to understand how this guy was related to Yoruichi, because this was really too much of a coincidence.
"Why yes, some are seated officers, and one of my aunts was the Captain of the 2nd Division," he replied with no small deal of pride, "but I didn't know my family was so well known even in Rukongai, 'cause you're from there right?"
So Yoruichi is his aunt? Hmm… "From the 78th, Inuzuri." Ichigo replied, carefully avoiding to answer Takeshi's other question. Meanwhile he walked up to his bed, dropping his new uniforms.
"Ouch, tough place." the young Shihouin winced.
"Yeah, but also a good training ground with all those thugs." Ichigo smirked then, with his back half-turned, he casually knotted the strings of his bag and pushed it under the bed.
As soon as I'm alone, I have to at least put that anti-snoopers Kido on the strings.
None of Ichigo's actions escaped his room-mate as he replied, "I bet, two of the current Fuku-taichos are from there, and I've heard one is gonna be teaching a class this year."
"Seriously?" Ichigo feigned surprise. "By the way, what classes are you in?"
"In all the advanced ones, of course." the young Shihouin replied in a cocky tone.
Ok, so he's not that modest, but still not anywhere near Byakuya's level. "Then we'll have all classes together".
"So that training on thugs actually worked?" Takeshi punned.
Ichigo's reply was a sly smile. A moment later he glanced at the watch on the wall. "Hey, isn't the first class starting in fifteen minutes?"
XXX
The 1st year Advanced Hakuda students gathered in a one of the many courtyards of the Academy. A giddy buzz could be heard as they waited for their teacher to show up.
Ichigo stood a little off from the crowd leaning against one of the pillars and not really feeling the excitement. He rather amused himself observing the other freshmen and catching the tid-bits of information Takeshi provided him about some of the students.
The young Shihouin seemed to know everybody and their uncle – as long as they came from the Seireitei noble houses or the first districts of Rukongai.
"… oh, and that girl with pigtails over there is, Hata Unoka." Takeshi waved at said girl who replied with a shy smile. "Her older brother would be attending the last year, if only he hadn't disappeared six months ago."
Ichigo's attention immediately sharpened. "Disappeared?"
"Yeah, it was during a training mission in the outskirts of Rukongai. The Hollows were stronger than expected, so several shinigami students were injured. Nobody actually saw what happened to Kotohito, her brother, but he's supposed to have been eaten by a Hollow," then with a sad tone he added, "it's a pity, really, 'cause he was one of the Academy's best students."
Ichigo gave a non-committal grunt and kept observing the crowd, but in truth the wheels in his head were turning. Could this be one of the vanished students Geta-Boshi mentioned?
He turned to his room-mate to ask if he knew of anymore students with a similar fate, but oddly found him staring down somebody in the crowd. He followed the direction of Takeshi's gaze and found a girl that was sending his companion an equally evil glare.
He blinked once, twice, is that Rangiku's twin, or something? but on a closer inspection, Ichigo noticed it were just her –ahem– 'assets' and the blond flowing hair that gave that impression. The arrogant smirk on her face was nothing like Matsumoto.
"Who's that?"
Takeshi's lip curled in distaste "That's Oda Nanami from the Oda Noble House, better known as, 'The Bitch'".
Ichigo's eyebrow raised quizzically, which prompted Takeshi to continue.
"She thinks of herself as Kami's gift to shinigami, but then she has that little posse of fawning idiots who follow her everywhere, thus supporting her beliefs – how pathetic." he snorted.
Indeed, there were several females and mostly males hanging around this Nanami character and she seemed to have them all wrapped around her little finger, sending charming smiles left and right.
"Unfortunately for her," now Takeshi was on a roll "I've known her since we were little kids and can see through her fake sweet demeanor."
Ichigo gave another non-committal grunt, but this time because he really didn't care about some 'evil cheerleader from Hell', as his friend made her out to be.
"What's more–" but thankfully Takeshi's rant was cut off by the arrival of the teacher.
The crowd fell silent as a tall balding man with a drooping black moustache entered the courtyard.
"Good morning, freshmen!" the man's voice boomed, "My name is Kanin Yasuji, and I'll be teaching this year's advanced Hakuda class…"
As the teacher went on with his welcoming speech, Takeshi helpfully provided some info even on this guy, mainly that he had been the 2nd division's 3rd seat under Yoruichi.
After that Ichigo tuned out both Kanin-sensei and his chatty friend, concentrating instead on analyzing the reiatsu of his fellow students, as he needed to know which ones would be the most likely to be offered entrance to the Four Sakura Leaves.
There were at least seventy freshmen present, and about ten of them already had the spiritual pressure of a seated officer. Ichigo focused on those long and hard, hoping to memorize their reiatsu for future use.
"…Kasshoku Kaito?" the voice of the sensei and a nudge from Takeshi shook him out of his thoughts.
"Since you obtained the highest score in the entrance exam, I'd like you to show us what you can do." the sensei spoke, crossing his arms.
The crowd parted to let Ichigo walk up to the teacher.
As Ichigo and Kanin-sensei saluted each other and took a fighting stance, all the other students, even those most eager to see the spar, retreated to the back of the courtyard.
Ichigo's eyes narrowed as he studied his adversary. He was really itching for a good fight.
Remember not to overdo it, Ichigo, he heard Zangetsu's sage voice.
Yeah, yeah, no need to worry, he grumbled. This guy would be more fun than any student, anyway.
"So what are you waiting for, Kasshoku-san? Do I intimidate you?" The teacher teased.
Instead of replying, Ichigo launched his first attack which consisted of a combination of direct high and low punches. Kanin seemed to be parrying most of them without much problems – only two or three got through – but actually he was caught a little off guard by their speed and accuracy, so much so that it took him a few seconds to counterattack.
Kanin decided to kick things up a notch with a quick series of high kicks that were to upset's Ichigo's balance and compel him to step back, but to the older shinigami's dismay, the freshman, instead of retreating, deflected all his kicks with nonchalance.
His reflexes are incredibly sharp. Let's see if he manages as well if I speed things up.
After another brief exchange, Kanin's left hand struck like a snake and grabbed Ichigo's retreating right wrist. He planned to use the freshman's momentum to increase the force of the following knee-kick to his abdomen, but suddenly the adversary's body wasn't were it should be.
Reading the sensei's intentions Ichigo had moved his center on his right leg, and using Kanin's own hold on his wrist not to lose his balance, he leaned his torso forward as his left leg lashed up and backwards in a vicious kick to the older shinigami's head.
Kanin released his hold on Ichigo's wrist and hit the ground painfully, while among the students awed murmurs could be heard.
A few seconds later the teacher was up with a challenging smirk on his face and a trickle of blood running out of his mouth. This kid has a real talent, but let's make the fight a little bit faster.
Kanin started to insert flash steps during his attacks, which put Ichigo in a difficult position, as he didn't know whether he should do the same, thus exposing himself to questions, or throw the fight. From his point of view, up until now the match couldn't be considered more than a mild warm-up – he wasn't even slightly winded yet – so he certainly didn't want to end things there.
His brief musings cost him a reiatsu-charged punch to the nose that made him fly backwards at least ten feet, and that really pissed him off – he absolutely hated getting hit there! – so the choice was suddenly very easy.
Ignoring both Zangetsu's grumbling and Hichigo's cheering, he got back on his feet and shunpoed behind Kanin, catching him totally by surprise. He punched the older shinigami to the kidneys, and the moment his adversary turned, he kneed him in the solar plexus so fast that the teacher barely saw his leg moving – of course adding a liberal amount of reiatsu to this hit in return for the punch to his nose.
But Kanin Yasuji was a tough guy who didn't let a 'little pain' or a 'passing lack of breath' get in the way of exploiting Ichigo's momentary open stance.
Ignoring the acute throbbing in his stomach, he immediately flexed his knees to regain his balance, and at the same time he got a firm hold of the freshman's retreating leg encircling it below the knee with his left arm. With the right he grabbed the front of Ichigo's kimono, he raised him a little off the ground then slammed him back down to earth using the full weight of both their bodies, thus leaving his adversary breathless for a few seconds.
"Well, I think that's enough for now," the teacher grinned under his thick moustache as he got up, "and I really can see why you got the highest score in the examination!
And you even used two flash steps!" he added with an appreciative tone, as Ichigo too rose back up to his feet and dusted his uniform off.
"Um…" Ichigo scratched the back of his head, wracking his brain to find an explanation for the implied question. "I didn't know it was shunpo… I – um – just felt I needed to be faster and it came naturally." he finished lamely.
"A natural talent! Very good, Kasshoku-san, very good indeed!" Kanin patted Ichigo's shoulder. "Now let's move on with our lesson." He turned to the rest of the students "Form pairs with one of your fellow students and start sparring. I want to see what you are capable of!"
The students that had looked as if in a trance up until a moment prior, finally started moving following the sensei's instructions, but most of them still kept throwing glances, some full of respect and awe, some envious, at the freshman who had stood up to their teacher.
Any other person would have felt self-conscious, but Ichigo being Ichigo barely noticed them.
"Hey Kaito," Takeshi appeared by Ichigo's side "let's spar together."
"Sure." Ichigo replied with a shrug – not that many other students felt like challenging him at the moment, but the young Shihouin had had the second highest score in both Hakuda and Hoho at the exam, so he wanted to see for himself how much he needed to catch up.
The rest of the class ran smoothly, though from Ichigo's point of view it was quite boring.
Takeshi was good, probably the best among the freshmen, and Ichigo could see how one day he could become a master in Hoho and Hakuda like his aunt, but now his reiatsu wasn't developed yet, so he barely felt his room-mate's punches and the whole spar was painfully slow.
The two-hour class ended with Kanin-sensei explaining how from the next lesson they would be focusing on the singular aspects of the various fighting techniques, which made Ichigo groan inwardly. I'm gonna die from boredom!
But you will have the possibility to observe the fighting styles of your class-mates Zangetsu suggested, it may turn out useful in the future.
I suppose, Ichigo sulked.
And don't forget you have a mission, you need to get invited in that club, and today's class was a perfect start in that direction, his sword spirit pointed out.
Right, he pressed his lips together, I have a mission.
XXX
The following class was the one Ichigo dreaded the most: Kido – one hour theory, one hour practice.
If you think it was because he was worried about the explosive quality of his spells, that wasn't a real problem anymore. No, it was because of her, the midget that had no business teaching at the Academy.
Ichigo would have paid to know what possessed her to do so, but unfortunately that would have to wait.
Of course, there was always the possibility of revealing himself to her and explaining everything, but he didn't want to chance the 12th Division keeping an eye on her, which would make her a target – something he absolutely wanted to avoid.
So now her presence was just a total, nerve-wracking nuisance, since if anybody were to recognize him, he knew that, without a doubt, it'd be her – but it should be noted that there wasn't anything new to her being a royal pain in his ass.
At this point, his chosen course of action was the following:
1. Avoid proximity
2. Avoid eye-contact
3. Avoid dialogue.
In other words: Avoid her – period.
…which is why the moment he entered the class-room with the other students he hurried to the last row of seats farthest from the teacher's desk.
Takeshi gave him a weird look but followed at a slower pace and sat beside him.
Then, from the moment Toyotomi-sensei and Rukia entered, he kept his nose buried in his text-book, however he couldn't help sneaking a glance at the midget from time to time.
He had to admit he was mildly surprised by her. At first he noticed she was a little nervous, though she covered it skillfully with her Kuchiki façade, but as she went on with her explanation he saw her self-confidence increasing.
Who'd have thought? She's actually good at this teaching gig, he thought as his lips stretched in a tiny but genuine smile, and she even refrained from using any Chappy-themed teaching aides…but we're still at the beginning. Knowing her, I wouldn't give it long before she starts itching to whip out her sketch pad and start showing some!He snickered silently imagining the other students' reaction, which got him a raised eyebrow from his room-mate.
Then the time came for the real challenge: practice.
Ichigo was very aware of what had happened the last time the midget had popped up while he was casting a spell and wanted to avoid a repeat. He just needed to follow the aforementioned Three Golden Rules.
But nope. It wasn't to be that easy.
First, when the students got divided in two groups, Rukia was assigned to his.
Second, as they got in a line to practice their Kido on a target, she kept walking up and down behind them, giving suggestions to the students, and thus wrecking his concentration, since he was more focused on her than on what he was doing – that's how his practice dummy ended up slamming against the farthest wall in the courtyard from a simple 'Hado N.1: Sho' – insert freaked glances from his companions.
But that wouldn't have been so bad, if a girl on his right wasn't having so many troubles, to cause Rukia to be there, like, every five freaking seconds, and every time the midget came to stand beside him, Ichigo felt the hair on his nape stand up and the reiatsu in his hand waver.
And in the end, of course, she noticed.
Shit.
She turned to him. "Kasshoku-san, right?"
XXX TBC XXX
OMG, is this a cliff-hanger?
Yes, it is! **hides from screaming readers**
NEXT CHAPTER: IchiRuki goodness and some more Academy life… and maybe something more ^_^
.
Now, the longest Author's Note in history…
I'd like to thank again all my reviewers, and also let you know how important your imput is!
You see, I have a general plot in mind for this story, but I make up the singular scenes as I go, and your reviews have a really important role in this: for example, in the previous chapter originally I hadn't planned for Rukia to show up during Ichi's Kido exam, but then I got some reviews suggesting just that! So I got to thinking, and in the end I found the perfect solution! – at least I like to think so :-P.
All this to let you know, feel free to make suggestions or to tell me what you'd like to read! It feeds my Muse! ^_^
Questions:
- so, what do you think of my original characters? I know that Takeshi hogged the scene a bit, but I think you noticed that in the end it is mostly about Ichigo, anyway ^_- . I'm planning to use my OCs to give a 3rd person POV on Ichigo/Rukia/the plot, but if you don't like some of them, let me know! As I told you, I still can decide to minimize their presence.
- what about the fight with Kanin-sensei? It wasn't very flashy, since it was mostly pure Hakuda (hand-to-hand combat), but I think I got a little carried away with that! On the other hand, this is probably gonna be the only fight of that kind in this story.
If you care about the actual techniques used, it was a mix of Karate (the direct high and low punches), Muay Thai (the knee to the gut), Kung-fu (Ichigo's backward high kick – it's a really cool move I saw in several movies that requires a great deal of agility) and Ju-jutsu (Kanin's final slam-down – I made an adaptation of an actual quite nasty Ju-jutsu technique - and I would know since I'm a brown belt in said Martial Art ^_-). Some moves, of course, are common to several Martial Arts.
Moving on.
I don't know how the Academy's dorms look, I suppose they would have Japanese sliding doors everywhere and rooms for more than two people, but since in the manga/anime they weren't shown (at least I hope so), I had plot-related reasons to make them more western style.
A last curiosity: when choosing the surnames of my characters, I use those of more or less famous people in Japanese history. For example, has anybody ever heard of Oda Nobunaga? I think he's even a character in some videogame!^_-