Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach

Thank you to everyone that reviewed. It makes me so happy to read them . I get all excited when I get a message from FF that it's a review :3 And yep I did mean Ichirou Shiba not Ichirou Kaien…Oops lol ^ I'll go back and change that soon. ENJOY!

First Day

The moment that Ichigo got home his sister was waiting for him with a cup of sake in one hand and a stern look on her face. Ichigo played it up for all it was worth. He walked in with a down cast expression and watched as Kukaku's eye twitched. Ichigo kept the smile to himself as his amusement increased.

"What the verdict?" She asked eagerly.

Ichigo looked at his feet and when he looked back up again a huge smile was spread across his face. "I got in!" He exclaimed.

Kukaku jumped up from her seat and hugged Ichigo. "I'm so proud of you." She held him out. "But what was that sad face for. You tryin' to trick me you little rascal." She wacked him on the back of the head. Ichigo laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Come on." Kukaku motioned for him to follow her. She opened the sliding doors that led into another large room.

" SURPRISE!" Ganju and his gang shouted as streamer went off. Ichigo jumped back slightly and looked at the sign about the door.

' Congratulations Ichirou!'

Ichigo smiled and walked in. He couldn't believe that his family had this much faith in his ability to pass.

The months went by faster than Ichigo would have liked and before long it was time to start the academy.

Ichigo sat at the breakfast table in his uniform drinking tea with Kukaku, Ganju couldn't make it and that upset Ichigo more than he's like to say. This would be his last meal with them for a while as he would be staying in dorm rooms.

Ichigo finished his tea and stood. "I better get going. I don't want to be late on the first day." He said.

Kukaku waved and stood herself. "It's just the introduction, you can be a little late." She smiled. "It's going to be quite without you around. I've got something for you." She said and brought out a box that she had shoved under the table. She handed it to Ichigo.

It was a little smaller than a shoe box. Ichigo opened it and laughed. Inside were little dolls that looked just like them, even Ganju's boar. "What is this?"

"What does it look like idiot?" Kukaku said. "You'll miss us right? Well, now we can be with you all the time." She reached into the box and took away the one that was supposed to be him. "We'll keep a hold of this one."

"Thanks, sis. It's a really cheesy gift but I appreciated it greatly." He smiled and covered the box back up. He put the box into the bag that he was taking with him, the rest of his luggage had already been taken to the dorms. "I'll see you at half term."

"You better!" She shouted. "When you're not in lessons you better visit too." She gave Ichigo a one armed hug and turned him away towards the door. "Go on then."

"Bye sis! Give Ganju my regards too." Ichigo waved back at Kukaku and walked away from the place that he had called home for the last few years.

He hurried through the Rukongai towards Seireitei. The other souls that he passed on the way stared at him, some with envy, something with awe and other with indifference. One child shouted 'good luck' to him as he passed, he recognised him as the child he saved on the first day he had entered soul society. Ichigo heard a bell strike in the distance, he started to make haste towards the school as the first bell was a warning to get to lesson.

Ichigo could hear a strange racket behind him as he jogged slightly, he frowned and turned around slightly only to wish he hadn't. Ichigo groaned in embarrassment as he was saddened grabbed from behind and swung over the back of Bonnie.

"Wooo! Now this is a send off, Ichirou!" Ganju exclaimed as Bonnie charged through the town. People moved to the side as they passed with other riders. To Ichigo's horror, two of Ganju's gang were holding a banner between them.

'Farewell Ichirou!' It read. The gates were open in front of them. The group came to a halt, Bonnie's hooves dug into the dirt as she skidded to a stop. Ichigo jumped down from Bonnie's back and hiked his bag on his shoulder. A light blush settling on his cheeks as other students stared at him.

"Thanks Ganju, you moron. A normal goodbye would have sufficed." Ichigo berated. Ganju shrugged.

"We're not exactly a normal family. Have fun, Ichirou." Ichigo laughed and waved as he walked off towards the room on his schedule. "Don't take all six years to pass!" Ganju bellowed.

Ichigo made it to his class just in time. He sat down in the middle of the lecture room and looked down as a large bold man with classes took the stage.

"Good morning. I am Gengorō Ōnabara, head of first class. You are all in this class for getting exemplary results on your entrance exam, for which I congratulate you." He took a breath. "Because of this we'll have certain expectations of you to uphold your performance and the school name."

Ōnabara continued for another ten minutes, talking about rules and things that Ichigo didn't really care to pay attention to. They were given the rest of the morning off to straighten their dorm rooms and meet their roommate. This made Ichigo feel uneasy. He hoped he didn't have to room with some Idiot.

He walked up to room 502 and opened the door hesitantly. The left bed was full of books and clothes, whilst the one on the right had Ichigo's suitcases on. His roommate was nowhere to be seen. Ichigo walked in and dumbed his bag on, what he assumed to be, his bed.

"Oh Hey! I took the left bed. I hope you don't mind." A peppy voice said from behind him. Ichigo twisted and saw a blonde standing at their open door. "ICHIROU!" The boy shouted happily and threw himself across the room. Ichigo dodged to the side and Yukimura landed on his bed with his ass in the air. Ichigo had a vague memory of someone else he had to dodge on a regular basic. This teen reminded him of Keigo. "That was mean" he complained.

"Then don't throw yourself at me, Yukimura."

"You remembered my name!" he stated happily as he righted himself on Ichigo's bed. "We're going to have so much fun as roomies."

Ichigo shuddered. "Yeah…" Great, and i wished I didn't have to room with an idiot. But he guessed this would make keeping his identity a secret easier.

"can I see your timetable?" He asked happily.

"Huh, oh sure." Ichigo said as he searched through his bag and handed it to Yukimura. The blonde got his own out to compare with a huge smile on his face.

"Woah! We're in the same classes except for…wait…that's not right…" He frowned and cocked his head to the side.

"What?" Ichigo asked getting worried. He tried to take his schedule back only for Yukimura to lean back and dive away.

"It says you have Zanpakuto reflection. You shouldn't have that till at least fourth year!" The boy continued to stare at the paper before he gasped and shoved it in Ichigo's face. "You see that there. That's practical reaping. You're a first year and they're sending you out to preform soul burials. That's so unfair. I want to do that."

Ichigo took the paper away and looked down at it. So this was unusual? He hadn't even thought about it.

"You'll probably pass in a few years just like your older brother! Then I'll be left all alone." He said as he rolled on the bed.

Ichigo bent down and picked him up by his shirt throwing him onto his own bed. "Do that on your own stuff. You'll mess mine up."

"Lets go get something to eat!" Yukimura exclaimed before he hoped off his bed, apparently out of his depression. "I'll show you where the food hall is. I went there this morning."

Ichigo sighed and followed his bouncing roommate out of the dorm. He shut the door behind him and when he looked back Yukimura was already half way down the corridor. He looked back at Ichigo and hurried back to his side. "Come on, come on. Before the lunch rush!"

Ichigo followed after him, almost at a jog as his excited friend gushed about how good the food was.

The food hall was large enough to fit 200 people comfortably a few students were sat in groups eating, some were even studying. The bubbling blonde went up to the counter and looked over the menu.

"Hmmm, I don't know what to choose. It all looks so good." He bit his lip.

"-really, he's missing? I can't believe it." One student was saying to another. Ichigo looked over the menu too.

"Yeah, apparently he went missing a few years ago and they've only just realised." The other said.

"Wow, how did they find out?" He asked.

"Well, they went to check up on him and he was nowhere to be found. No spiritual pressure, no body, Nothing. It's like he just vanished into thin air."

Yukimura frowned and turned around to listen to the conversation too but before he could ask who they were talking about a girl with dark hair ran into the Food Hall.

"Ichigo Kurosaki is dead! They found his blood on a trainline in Ikebukuro!" She exclaimed. Ichigo froze. The whole room erupted into chatter. Yukimura grabbed hold of Ichigo's shirt, his eyes were wide.

"Does that mean he's somewhere in soul society?" He jumped up and down in excitement. The dark haired girl replied to him.

"No, they think he was eaten by a hollow. There's absolutely no trace of him. It's as if he never existed."

Yukimura made a whining sound and Ichigo realised that the boy was tearing up. His eyebrow twitched.

"He lost all his powers in the last fight, right?" Ichigo asked as if he was clueless. "Maybe he decided it would be too shameful to show his face without them." Ichigo rationalised.

"That's possible. Plus, they all just left him as if he hadn't just saved three worlds from an evil genius." Yukimura huffed.

"Yeah, if I was him I'd never talk to them again. They aren't the type of friends I'd want." She crossed her arms and flipped her perfect raven hair out of her face. "Oh well, I have more people to inform. Bye bye, newbies." With that she flash stepped away. Ichigo heard a teacher calling to her about flash stepping in the halls.

Ichigo almost groaned. Keeping his identity a secret would be even harder. He must remember to thank Zangetsu for changing his spiritual pressure. He just hoped that it would be enough. He wanted to keep his clean slate.

They ate quickly and returned to their dorm to pick up books before hurrying to their first lecture. Which was just called 'Key skills' so Ichigo had no idea what that entailed.

Yukimura was just as confused as Ichigo but he happily sat down and awaited the teacher, in the front row. Ichigo sighed and sat next to him, getting a note pad and a pencil out. It was a few minute before the door opened. All that Ichigo could see was boxes. They were piled high, so high that you couldn't actually see the person behind them. They looked to be struggling to hold the boxes and keep the doors open. Any second and they would drop them and the papers inside would scatter everywhere. Ichigo saw the boxes start to slip and saw no other option, he got to his feet and flash stepped over to the person, steadying the boxes.

A murmur erupted in the classroom at Ichigo's lightning moves. "Here, let me take those." Ichigo offered as he started to take a few boxes off the top.

"Ah, Thank you so much." A male voice answered, now free of boxes, but Ichigo could no longer see his face. Ichigo carried the boxes over to the desk at the front and put them down. "I could feel them dropping, I'm really not with it today." A few girls in the background made squealing noises.

"It's not a problem. I'm happy to help." Ichigo answered. He turned round to answer the man and his eyes widened in shock.

The teacher's hair was white and long, braided at the side so that they could see, they were also wearing a captain's robe. This was someone that Ichigo knew well enough to be a little frightened for his identity. Ichigo pasted a smile on his face. The silver haired teacher was also gaping at him, before he shook his head to himself.

"Well thank you again…" he said fishing for a name.

"Oh, Ichirou Shiba and it was my pleasure er ah, Captain Ukitake." Ichigo gave a short bow. His manners had been drilled into him by Kukaku.

Ukitake motioned for Ichigo to take his seat again with a sad smile. Thinking that the boy looked so much like his diseased lieutenant, the family resemblance was uncanny.

Ichigo sat back in his seat. Yukimura leaning over and whispering. "You didn't tell me you could flash step." To which Ichigo shrugged.

"Hello Class. I am Jushiro Ukitake. Captain of the 13th squad. I'll be your teach for this year for Key skills. It's a bit of a vague name but I'll be teaching you the skills you'll need when entering a squad." He sat down in the chair behind the desk. "Please excuse me for not standing." He smiled weakly. A few girls made noises in the back. "Could you all get a sheet of paper, fold it in half and write your name on it." He smiled.

There was a sound of paper being torn and scribbling as everyone did as they were instructed. Ichigo was used to this when he was in school he folded his sheet into a tent and wrote his name on it, Ichirou Shiba.

"Fantastic. Now you've all done that we can start the lesson." He tabbed the boxes. "These boxes have multiple reports in them. As soul reapers you will be required to write reports after assignments. In today's class I shall be going through that process with you and at the end you will all go away with a case study and write your own reports ready for next lecture."

Yukimura and a few others groaned. Ichigo blanked. He had never had to write a report before. Jushiro asked for a volunteer to hand out the papers. The girls in the back were more than happy to help. As they handed them out, Ukitake stepped forwards and smiled at Ichigo.

"Ichiro Shiba. Do you belong to the Shiba clan?" He asked.

Ichigo nodded. "That's right, Captain Ukitake."

Ukitake smiled sadly. "Kaien Shiba was my lieutenant."

Ichigo smiled. "I know, Kukaku and Ganju told me. I hope that I can do as well as my older brother."

"I'm sure you will. I heard about your…incident in the Rukongai." He mentioned. Ichigo smiled bashfully. "If I'm not mistaken it was reported that you had a zanpakuto but you didn't mention that on registration."

"Oh, that is, Kukaku entered me for the enrolment. I haven't exactly mentioned my zanpakuto. I wanted to wait until I learnt his name." Ichigo lied brilliantly.

Ukitake nodded in understanding. "Are you taking, Zanpakuto reflection this year."

"Yeah, I think so."

"I'll look into setting some extra classes. I'm sure you'll whiz through your set ones." He smiled happily and moved away to teach. A girl put a report in front of him and Yukimura.

Ichigo bit his lip. Did this mean more work?

"Yes, Yukimura? You have a question?" Ukitake asked.

Ichigo looked over to his friend who lowered his hand. "Is it true that Ichigo Kurosaki is dead?" he asked tactlessly.

The white haired captained blanched. He lowered his head as the chatter, of students that wanted to ask the same question, arose. "This isn't information that you should know. I don't know how you discovered it but I'll tell you as you've asked." He took a deep breath. "We do not know whether Ichigo Kurosaki is alive or not. At the moment he is missing."

"But they found his blood." Someone from the back replied.

Ukitake took a seat on the edge of his desk and smiled sadly at his class. "I know. I'd just like to keep that light of hope flickering. Until we can prove his death he is missing. Lets get back on track." He sniffed.

Ichigo felt guilty. He didn't like that he had caused Ukitake sadness but another part of him was telling him that he shouldn't care. That the feelings that he was witnessing were just a reaction to any sad news being relayed. If they cared about him so much they wouldn't have waited almost a decade before checking on him. He had been dead for years and he hadn't heard a peep. He could have been killed by a hollow, or lost in the Rukongai without his memory like some souls. No, he shouldn't feel guilty. He had given up the name Ichigo Kurosaki years ago, he was no longer responsible for any of this. Ichirou Shiba, wasn't responsible.

Ichigo got back to his work. Making sure to take everything in. He needed to think about the Shiba reputation afterall.

A week passed and the news of Ichigo Kurosaki's death was swept under by other more important things.

Awwww poor Ichi. He's so conflicted. I hope you all like Yukimura, he reminds me a bit of Keigo (not intentionally done) and I thought Ichigo would need someone happy go lucky. :3