Disclaimer: Don't own anything, don't sue.
A/N: Wow, today was so amazing it's surreal, so because of it, I'm taking more time to write you all an extra long chapter! You all can thank Sam! Oh, and I got an amazing suggestion for the next few chapters so I'm gonna try it out and see how it goes! Thanks for reading, R&R, and enjoy!
It wasn't long before the council of the Soul Reaper Academy became aware of Ichigo and Renji's abnormal spirit pressure, sending recruits to request their acceptance into the School.
It was a particularly hot afternoon when Renji and Ichigo where lounging about in The Hut, playing marbles with a couple of the younger kids. They where so used to having so little that they grew content with their lives, grew happy with the little things in life, but once they heard that grave knock on their old rickety door, they knew that was all over.
Renji gave Ichigo a knowing smile and stood up, walking to the door and opening it for two imperial-looking Soul Reapers, one, a man with long white flowing hair, the other, a teenage boy with short black hair and a smug grin splayed on his perfect face. "Hello," said the man with white hair, "I am Jyuushiro Ukitake and this," he gestured to the younger boy, "is Shuuhei Hisagi." He smiled graciously and let himself in, Shuuhei following in over-confident strides. They both looked around the small shack taking in the small children, dirty floors, and overall poverty-stricken appearance. Ichigo stood up, standing beside Renji and smiled eagerly at the two men, one of the two; Hisagi, to be exact, seemed to take a particular interest in Ichigo.
Ukitake bowed to them both, pulling out a long scroll, "assuming you two are Ichigo Kurosaki and Renji Abarai, I'll just begin." He unraveled the scroll and began to read from it, "the administrators from the Soul Reaper Academy of the Seireitei have recognized your talent and potential and request your immediate admittance into the school."
He closed the scroll and stepped back, letting Hisagi step forward. "So pretty much, we have everything you'd need and if you have anything you'd like to bring you're welcome to, all you have to do is change and we can head to the school." He pulled a parsel from behind his back that neither of them had noticed he'd had before. He handed them the package and gave Ichigo a confident wink, "so what do you say?"
Ichigo and Renji looked down warily at the package and finally nodded, turning around the went outside behind the shack and began to undress, they marveled at the beautiful silk hakama and kimono top and laughed together as they struggled to tie their obi. "Ichi, are you ready to go through with this?" Renji asked, smiling encouragingly. Ichigo gave him a firm nod as he stepped back into the hut, leaving everyone and everything behind, "We're gonna be somebody Renji."
After taking the long carriage ride to the Academy they where taken aback by it's beauty and majestic appearance. All they'd ever known was the Rukongai and now seeing the imperial people and the sweeping campus took their breath away and intimidated them at the same time.
Hisagi stepped forward and slung an arm over Ichigo's shoulder who fidgeted slightly, "welcome to The Soul Reaper Academy! I'll just give you guys your schedules and show you to your dorms, I'm sure you can take things from there." He walked at a brisk, imperious pace and Renji and Ichigo struggled at being able to keep up and completely take in their surroundings. Hundreds of students hurried about, their hakama swishing about, some even carrying zanpakuto and katanas. They all talked animatedly and teased each other about their superiority in shunpo or hand-to-hand combat all the while completely ignoring Ichigo and Renji. They followed Hisagi through a pair of large mahogany doors and continued down a long hall lined with doors adorned with brass numbers, "ah, let's see." Hisagi muttered running a hand over every brass number, "Roku-ju-kyu, here it is!" He said enthusiastically as he pushed open the door his fingers where grazing.
Ichigo and Renji walked in, followed by Hisagi and where surprised to see that their dorm looked nothing like the rest of the campus but was quite plain, all that was in their room where two futons a small wooden table and two large wardrobes. "As you accumulate more wares you can decorate your room however you want." He smiled a devilish smirk and strolled up, placing a hand casually on Ichigo's hip, "how d'you like the school so far Ichigo?" Renji looked at Hisagi getting so close to Ichi and felt his blood boil as Hisagi leaned down to whisper in Ichigo's ear, he was however satisfied to see Ichigo fidgeting uncomfortably.
"Shuuhie-san" Renji hissed, quickly getting Hisagi's attention, "thanks for all yer help but I think we got it from here, thanks." Hisagi registered the sarcasm in Renji's voice but thought nothing of it as he gave Ichigo a final wink and strode out of their dorm. Once the door was closed, Renji collapsed on his futon, stretching as he grumbled, "what a creep, I'm sure he's got the hots for ya Strawberry, but he better steer clear if he knows what's good for him."
Ichigo laughed plopping down beside Renji on the futon, kissing his cheek softly, "no big deal, you're the only one I want Pineapple, you know that, so stop being such a bighead and lemme see your schedule. I wanna see if we have any classes together."
Renji handed Ichigo his schedule from the small table and Ichigo held them both up, comparing, "oh no, this is bad, I'm in advanced everything; Shunpo, Kidou, hand-to-hand, katana, everything, we don't have a single class together!"
Renji panicked, he peered at the schedules; it was true, not a single class together. Ichigo jumped up, fear and nervousness appeared on his face, "what if we get separated, what if we start hanging with different crowds, I don't want to be advanced Pineapple! I want to be with you!" Renji ran up to Ichigo and hugged him hard, cradling him until he stopped shaking, he cooed to him and petted his tangerine hair until the day fell into night. They knew that tomorrow was going to bring hardships and new experiences but for right now they just stayed content in each other's arms. Praying that the few hours they had together now would stretch an eternity.
They both woke up extra early, in separate beds mind you! They dressed in silence, Renji pulling his long crimson tendrils into a tight ponytail and Ichigo trying his best to pat down his unruly tangerine spikes. They gathered their textbooks and stood before each other, smiling at the figure before them. They where both thinking the same thing; what happens now?But neither of them said anything as they stood there, they remained unmoving until a confident knock echoed from the door. Renji opened it only to want to shut it back again, standing in the doorway looking smug was none other than Shuuhei Hisagi, "morning newbies, hope you slept well." He turned to Ichigo and handed him a small box, "just brought you some rice balls with tangerine sauce for breakfast. I decided to show you around to your classes seeing as I have the day off today."
"A-arigatou gozai--" Before Ichigo could finish his uncomfortable thanks, Hisagi had already gripped his arm and led him down the door-lined hall, leaving Renji feeling more alone than ever. He sighed before taking one more fleeting look in the mirror and began to walk down the hall to his first class, glancing down at his schedule to see where to head to, "room yon-ju in the west building," he muttered as he walked outside into the bright sunlight. "Man, this place is beautiful!" He grinned as he took in his surroundings, sweeping lotus trees lined every pathway and expanse of green grass.
Fairly confident that he could find his own way he walked down a path heading toward the west, completely oblivious the blatant stares and hissing whispers that followed his every move. He did however have a distinct feeling he was being followed, so when he had actually made it to his classroom he was very antsy. As he begin to slide the door open he felt a sharp pain in his side, he fell over and looked up, his eyes met with a cold glare. The glare was being delivered by a tall, regal looking boy with long raven-colored locks and three metal tubes threaded through his hair. Standing beside him was a tall, fit-looking dark-skinned girl. She flipped her long violet hair and pushed past the black haired boy, outstretching her hand to Renji, "sorry about that, he has a very distorted image of his superiority."
After Renji had gotten back up, she threaded an arm through the dark-haired boy's so that their arms locked, "c'mon Bya-bo, let's go before you hurt anyone else," she chirped airily.
The tall boy turned a head back to Renji, his pale nose upturned, "Yoruichi, I can only do so if Rukon-scum like him stays out of my path."
The girls sighed and gave Renji an apologetic smile before being led into the classroom by the tall boy. Renji stared in awe at Yoruichi, she was obviously very beautiful and even though she was on the boy's arm she didn't look any less superior than the man at her side, she just showed it in a more humble, understated way. As for the boy, Renji was completely convinced he hated his guts, and as for 'Rukon-scum', well that was just harsh. Renji felt less and less capable and confident by the second, he had no idea where Ichigo was or how he was doing but one thing was for sure; their eternity was over.
baka eimai
A/N: Okay so I lied, there was no lemon and it wasn't that much longer but having lemon during this hectic time in the story would just complicate and confuse things but I promise, either next chapter or the one after! Seriously! I'm in an odd mood so I decided to make this chapter a little sad and ironic, in fact as a little assignment, when you review just try saying a little something about how you found this chapter ironic. Also check out the song: 'Good enough' by Evanescence, its AMAZING! R&R please and I'm so so so so so sorry there's no lemony-goodness, but I promise it's on the way! So… ya… R&R!! XDD