Sorry about how long it took to get this one out, this chapter was a pian to write...so much stuff is happeneing in here.
"I'm so bored..."-Inner Hollow
"Oh shut it." -Zangetsu
"Will you both Shut Up!"- normal Speaking
'Go will those two never stop talking?'- Thinking
Yesterday was actually kind of mellow compared to most of Ichigo's recent life, or at least that's what he would say on the matter. After leaving the school Ichigo and Blair (who woke up soon after Ichigo finished climbing back down the stairs) explored a bit of the city, with Blair telling him about a couple of interesting spots to visit. After a couple of a hours of being a pack mule for Blair (who returned to her human form in much more casual attire) the duo returned to Ichigo's apartment.
"That was so Fun Ichi! I've never had so much fun shopping before!" Blair gleefully skips into the apartment with two shopping bags in her hands.
"Ya…so much fun." Ichigo grumpily replied, struggling to fit the mountain of bags in his hands through the doorway.
Laying the dozens of bags on the kitchen table, Ichigo collapsed onto his coach in exhaustion. You'd think that after all the times he had to carry loads of shopping bags whenever he went along with Rukia, Rangiku, and Orihime on those shopping trips he'd be used to it by now. Well would be wrong. Sure the Substitute shinigami could fight for hours with Zangetsu in his hands and the only things that would hurt would be his wounds. But when it comes to a pile of bags filled with clothes, shoes, and other womanly things and his arms nearly turned to mush.
And before long Ichigo felt a pair of arms rap around his own. Turning slightly, Ichigo blushed heavily at the sight of Blair. She had her head resting calmly on his shoulder while she sat joyfully by his side.
"That was great Ichi! I've never had that much fun while shopping before, you made it so much better!"
Then without warning, Blair pecked Ichigo on the cheek, "Thank you."
With his blush still in full affect, Ichigo barley made a response, "S-sure…"
"Great!" Blair then suddenly jumped off the coach, "I think I'll go take a bath now, is that ok Ichigo?"
With his mind nearly fried from the last few seconds Ichigo nodded in response.
"Thanks Ichi." And with that Blair grabbed one of the dozens of bags she bought today and headed off towards the bathroom, leaving a silent and blushing Ichigo behind.
After hearing the sound of the door closing and the fan being turned on Ichigo just lend back in his seat and mumbled to himself, "When did I agree to have a neko as a roommate?"
But the silence of his own thoughts was shattered when the sound of a person's giggling erupted from the kitchen. Bursting to his feet Ichigo grabbed his Zanpakuto and rushed into said kitchen with full intent of beating the unholy crap out of whoever invaded his new home. But seeing how the kitchen and living room was basically the same place it was easily to notice that no one was there.
Searching his head in confusion, Ichigo mentally wondered where that voice had came from. While all the while he didn't notice the random gleam coming off the mirror hanging above the stove.
Meanwhile at the DWMA:
"Spirit! What have I told you about spying on people with my viewing mirror?"
Spirit instantly paled, "Shinigami-sama...I was just…um…"
"Shinigami Chop!"
Back at Ichigo's Apartment:
Sighing to himself, Ichigo just past it off as wind and headed back to his room. Once there he gently laid Zangetsu against the wall, kicked off his shoes, and flopped onto his bed. This time alone had given him time to think about certain things, things like what his friends had been up to while he has been gone.
Sure he had to have some idea of what they were doing, like how Ishida most likely had the hollow situation under control even without despite that weird ass fashion state of his. He was sure that Tastuki was still hanging out with Orihime, boy did he pity her if she had to try any of Orihime's disgusting recipes.
And when it came to Chad…well Chad is Chad, almost impossible to tell what's going on in this mind.
But when it came to the others, well he couldn't but wonder what was up with them. Where did the Vizards go after all the mess from the war blew over? Where was Rukia staying if not at his house? Was Renji still mooching off Urahara? Wait scratch that, its Renji of course he is.
These thoughts and theories of what could be happening in his home town continued to spin inside of his mind, so much so that he didn't hear the sound of the shower turn off. When he finally returned to his senses Ichigo heard someone open his door. Turning his head slightly, Ichigo's eyes widened at the sight.
In the doorway was Blair. Her hair was down, her cat features were showing, and she was even wearing a pair of purple pajamas that she had bought earlier that very day, but these weren't the reason Ichigo was so surprised. Part of it had to do with the fact that the upper half of her shirt was almost completely unbuttoned, revealing a good portion of her well endowed bust. But what was really got Ichigo's attention was the playful look in her eyes; the very same look another certain cat he knew always gave him.
Blair on the other hand was nearly giggling at the reaction she was getting out of Ichigo, who would think teasing this boy would be so much fun? But after a few more seconds of Ichigo's awestruck silence, Blair decided to kick it up a notch.
"It is pretty late Ichi, about time for bed…" Blair purred before slowly making her way over to Ichigo's bed.
Ichigo didn't reply, his face getting redder with ever step closer Blair made herself.
Then like the cat she was, Blair leaped into the air and somehow landed right onto Ichigo's chest. The orange haired human nearly had a heart attack at this action, his blush growing even deeper despite being already so intense. Blair of course used this to her advantage and leaned in closer to her favorite strawberry.
"Why are so surprised Ichi? I'm just trying to get more comfy." Blair purred, her tail caressing Ichigo's cheek.
Ichigo was sweating bullets now. The sensation he was feeling, the closeness, all of this was too much for the young shinigami. Sure he's been through situations like this before, like when Yourichi was stripping naked while he was resting during his bankai training. But the sheer closeness of this situation was too much for the young boy to take. With the sight of Blair's nose being near centimeters Ichigo slammed his eyes shut, unable to take it anymore. But if he had waited for a few more seconds, he would have seen a smirk developing on a certain neko's face.
Seconds went by….nothing. The only thing Ichigo did feel was a sudden shift in weight on his torso.
Cracking his eyes open, Ichigo was greeted by the sight of a small black cat in a witch's hat playfully staring at him. "What's a matter Ichi? Disappointed? "
The twitch in Ichigo's eyes was answer enough. Why is it that every time a women teased him it would always end up like this? In Truth it always pissed Ichigo off, not that he would ever admit it though.
"King! You always do this! You should let me out, I could easily get you some-"
His hollow on the other hand was not so quite on the matter.
Soon after he had killed Aizen, Ichigo's Zanpakuto had once again separated into its two previous personalities, his Hollow and old man Zangetsu.
At least one thing good came out of that entire experience, the trio had finally started to get along with each other, and by that it means Ichigo and his Hollow didn't try to kill each other every time they saw each other.
But unfortunately (that's what Ichigo keeps saying) that also meant that the two of his inner world residents were also much more social. While it's true that Zangetsu was still the bold silent type, his hollow on the other hand felt it necessary to comment on nearly everything that happened to Ichigo.
'Oh shut up, this is none of your business.'
The hollow scoffed at this. "Business my ass! When it comes to things like this I think I'm entitled to have a say in the matter. You let the last sexy cat girl get away from you and I don't want to miss out on this one!"
'Shut UP! I'm tired and going to bed. Either shut up and leave me alone or I'm going to come in there and kick your ass!' He really didn't want to deal with this right now.
"Like you could take me…"The hollow briefly muttered before disappearing into the dark reaches of Ichigo's inner world.
With that distraction finally out of his mind Ichigo returned his attention to his feline friend, who had a concerned look on her face. During the inner scrabble Ichigo was having with his hollow, Blair couldn't help but notice the raging emotions going through the boys head. To her it looked like he was having a silent conversation with someone and whoever it was had surely pissed him off.
"Are you ok Ichi?" Ichigo just sighed and patted the furry kitty on her head.
"I'm fine, let's just go to sleep." The kitty grinned back at the young vizard and snuggled back into his chest.
With that final remark, Ichigo reached over and shut off the lights. But before he could drift off into a dreamless sleep, Ichigo nudged the small black cat once more. "Blair?"
Yawning slightly, Blair cracked one of her eyes open and glanced at the orange haired boy, "Yes Ichigo?"
"When I wake up I better find you still like this tomorrow, got it?" If the lights weren't already off Ichigo would have seem one of the cutest pouts that have ever existed.
"Aw you're no fun Ichi…"
"She's right you know" His hollow commented before being forcibly dragged off to an unknown location by a certain annoyed sword.
Finally with both distractions out of his mind and his furry roommate soundly asleep next to him, Ichigo was able to drift into a dreamless sleep.
The Next Morning, 6:25 am.
There was darkness. All he could see was a endless abyss of pure darkness, no buildings, no people, no nothing, there was only pure nothingness amongst all the darkness. But then out of nowhere two lights, two beacons somehow appeared out of nowhere.
"Ichigo..."
He saw his sister, Yuzu. She was just as cheerful as ever, he gleaming smile ever so bright.
"…Ichigo…"
Then he saw his other little sister, Karin. Despite her normal clam personality, she had a small yet endearing smile on her face as well.
"…Ichigo!..."
They were running towards him, arms extended in preparation for the biggest hug. It was one of the greatest things he could imagine, his family, his most precious people in his arms, safe. But it didn't last. As they got in between five feet away from him he noticed a large dominating figure hovering behind them. Then out of the shadows four white masks exposed themselves, their teeth gleaming in bloodlust. He could only pale at the sight of a black blade slowly lifting itself in the air, its dark hilt attached to the figures arm. He tried to call out to his sister but all that came out was silence as he was forced to watch the blade come down and….
"ICHIGO!"
Ichigo shot upright at the sound of the sudden voice that fortunately broke him from his sudden nightmare. While looking around the room franticly he noticed a few things. Blair had surprisingly honored his request; she was still in her cat form and was somehow still sound asleep on a nearby pillow. But the more important thing he noticed was the mirror on his dresser. Instead of seeing his own reflection in the mirror he saw a familiar cartoony shinigami waving at him.
"What…the fu…" He nearly cursed outright before the shinigami greeted him.
"Ah Good Morning Kurosaki-kun! Have a good night Sleep?"
Ichigo's eyes twitched and did the thing he was most known for; he burst out of bed (waking Blair up in the process) and rushed over to his mirror. He scowled at the image of the Shinigami and poked the reflection in a attempt of make contact with his superior, "What the Hell are you doing in MY MIRROR?"
Shinigami-sama chuckled at that question, "Oh this?" he made a gesture to the mirror, "This is how I contact my students whenever they are outside of school grounds."
Seemingly satisfied with that answer (despite it being really creepy), Ichigo settled down and took a seat on the edge of his bed. After a few moments of thinking (which during that time Blair had taken a comfortable pouch on his shoulder) he final turned to glare at the mirror, "So what do you want?"
"Oh I just here to make sure you get up in time for school today." The twitch in Ichigo's eyes returned tenfold at this point.
"Oh that makes perfect sens-What the Hell are you talking about?"
Scratching the back of his head, the Shinigami looked away from his orange haired soon to be student, "I'm sure I told you about your enrollment in school today…"
"No you didn't." Ichigo's glare could have burnt though about a foot of concrete if he wanted it too.
"Really? I was sure that…"
"No you didn't." The Shinigami groaned as he turned his head to see Spirit, cup of coffee in his hands, calmly walking behind him. Oh he was going to get it after this, especially since he didn't miss the smug smile on his face. Resisting the urge to beat the unholy hell out of the weapon right here and now, the Shinigami turned his attention back to Ichigo and Blair.
"Since I forgot to tell you this last night…" he stopped momentarily when he had the feeling that Spirit sticking his tongue out at him. Glaring at the weapon mocking him, the shinigami quickly turned around, grabbed Spirit by his head, and flung him across the room into a pile of tombstones. With that annoyance out of the way he turned his attention back to his viewing mirror.
"I'd like you to attend my School!"
There was a silence that would have made even a cricket cringe. Ichigo was just surprised at the sudden request. Blair on the other hand was more doubtful then surprised, she of course didn't want Ichigo to go to the school if it meant she didn't get to go there with and there was no way in hell she would go to a school full of weapons and meister's. And the Shinigami was just waiting for an answer.
Scratching his head in annoyance, Ichigo just half glared at him, "What happens if I don't?"
If the shinigami had a mouth he would have smirked, "Well…without being a official meister I cannot officially allow you go on any missions…which means no fighting evil humans so…"
The realization dawned on Ichigo like a pile of bricks. He wanted to help the old man with the Kishin problem…but school? Really? Did he really have to go to another school? While the upside was that his duties wouldn't cause him to miss days like at his previous place of education, the downside was still constant. Did he really want to go through school again? But before Ichigo could make a clear decision, a loud voice made itself known in the deep pits of his inner world.
"KING! I swear to all that is holy, if you refuse this offer I will fill you mind with endless dreams of one of your worst nightmares!" His hollow really take no for an answer.
Ichigo on the other hand wasn't too scared, if anything he was pissed off, 'I swear to god if you're the one who's been making me see that every time I go to sleep I'll rip you a…."
The hollow wisely interrupted him before he finished, "No…that's not me, that's just your own twisted mind. I'm talking about sending you constant images of that stupid squeaky toy…I think its name was Kon…"
While the idea of seeing Kon every time he went to sleep did make Ichigo slightly cringe, but to him it wasn't that bad. But that's until he heard the other being that resided in his inner world put in his own two cents into the equation.
"For once, he's is right Ichigo…accept the offer."
Ichigo was quite surprised at his normally quite Zanpakuto, 'Zangetsu?...'
The sword spirit stopped him there, "Think about this Ichigo. Accepting this offer will give you a chance to fight a new evil. These creatures, human or Kishin are as dangerous as Hollows themselves and you'll be protecting many innocent people by destroying them."
With this piece of knowledge Ichigo cut the link with his inner world, leaving the two halves of his soul to each other's company. While their king was gone the hollow looked toward the sword spirit with a amused look on his white features, "You told him that just because of your hatred for that bloody stuffed animal didn't you?"
The Zanpakuto didn't openly reply to the hollow and just walked back towards his familiar resting spot. But before he was out of earshot the Hollow did hear him mumble something that sounded like 'shut up...'. It made his already insanely huge smile even bigger when he heard that. (1)
Right after Ichigo cut off the connection with his inner world he noticed the stares directed at him. Blair was looking at him with the same expression she had the previous night, she was still concerned with what was happening with her friend. The Shinigami on the other hand was fully aware of what had happened in the young boy's mind, it was obvious that the boy was having a conversation with his Zanpakuto spirit and his inner world's other 'resident'.
Finally getting bored of all the waiting, Shinigami-sama finally spoke up, "Sooo, what do you say?"
Sighing to himself, Ichigo just let himself fall backwards onto the bed while letting Blair come to rest on his chest, all the while muttering an annoyed, "Yes, whatever…they'll kill me if I don't anyway."
Despite Blair being utterly confused with just what had exactly happened, the shinigami was utterly joyful at the success of his invitation to his school. At first he thought the boy would outright refuse his offer and he would have to take more drastic measures…like blackmailing him with the embarrassing pictures he got from Kisuke.
"Wonderful!" Ichigo really wanted to hit him right now but he didn't want to have to buy a new mirror as well. "Well, seeing how school is going to start in a half an hour I'll leave you to get ready."
That little piece of information made Ichigo burst upright while accidently sending Blair flying into the air. After catching the air flung kitty, Ichigo turned his shocked gaze towards the image of the shinigami, "What? Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"
The Shinigami actually chuckled at the young boy's reaction, "Don't be so grouchy Kurosaki-kun, today's just a day for you to get acquainted with the school. So it's not that big of a deal that you're late."
Understand his point, Ichigo sighed in relief and dropped back down onto his bed again, Blair still pressed against his chest for protection. "That's good…"
"Well now that that's taken care of I'll see you later Ichigo! Bye Bye!" And with that, the Shinigami's image vanished from the mirror, leaving nothing but Ichigo's and Blair's reflections staring back at them.
With a sigh, Ichigo got into a sitting position and starched his head in annoyance, "Urg, and here I thought I was done with school…" Looking down at his current roommate he noticed the sad look on Blair's normally cute kitty features. But that didn't really help her mood at all.
"Ichi…do your really have to go to that school?" her voice sounded like a mix of both depression and knowingness, like she knew what his answer was going to be. It reminded him of his sister on that day. The day he lied to them…the day they died.
"Ya…but I'll only be gone a few hours! I swear!" He really didn't want her to feel sad, especially if it was because of him in the first place.
"Promise?" Now she was sounding more hopeful than depressed.
A small smile was now appearing on the orange boy's face, "Promise."
With that Blair returned to her previous cheerful attitude and licked her friend's cheek before jumping off his lap. Lightly chuckling to himself, Ichigo got up from the bed and headed out of his room for a shower, leaving Blair to go back to sleep on one of the nearby pillows. But as he left the room, he didn't notice Blair transform back into her human form and go into a thinking pose.
"Oh, what to do…what to do…oh I forgot about Brush-san!" (2)
And with that, Blair jumped out of the bedroom window and made her way back to her home, where a certain brush has been deeply missing her.
25 minutes later, the entrance to the DWMA:
After taking a quick shower, getting dressed in a pair of jeans, a red tee-shirt, and his brown jacket, Ichigo locked his apartment's door and made his way towards the school. But of course before he left he did check up on Blair; imagine his surprise when he saw her gone and his bedroom window open to the entire world. Actually he wasn't that surprised to see her gone. Seeing how Yourichi had a thing for appearing and disappearing it wasn't too surprising to see Blair do something similar. Eh, maybe it was a cat thing.
Knowing that she could easily take care of herself, Ichigo just pushed any worrying thoughts aside and focused on what on earth could happen at this school today. There were multiple things that could happen, both good and bad. There was most likely going to be at least some kind of jerks at this place, making fun of his hair color or asking him annoying questions like why on earth he had a giant meat cleaver on his back. That was a given.
There was also a chance of meeting some nice and interesting people; hell two people currently residing in his mind knew he needed some friends.
But those thoughts aside, Ichigo returned to the world around him when he noticed a pair of familiar face waiting for him at the top of the school's steps. The first of the two was that knife wielding maniac Sid, who spent a good portion of the previous day trying to smash the young shinigami's face in with his weapon. The other person was Nygus, someone he only met briefly yesterday. Somehow (much to Ichigo's disbelief) she is the very weapon Sid had been trying to smash his face in with.
"Hey Ichigo!" Sid greeted him with cheeriness that nearly made Ichigo gage, "You're early…heh by five minutes."
Ichigo didn't bother to reply to that, instead he just glared at the knife meister and turned his attention to his partner. Seeing how the two of them didn't get a proper introduction (her nearly cutting his head off was not a proper way to meet someone) Ichigo tried to be as formal as possible, too bad he wasn't that good at it.
He extended his hand to greet her, "Hey, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki."
Nygus just nodded and shook his hand, "I know, Shinigami-sama informed me of you before our sparing match yesterday. I'm Mira Nygus, Sid's current Weapon partner."
The orange haired shinigami didn't say anything in response; he just put on a small smile and nodded in return. But before they could get into anymore pleasant conversation Sid made it this his time to interrupt them. "Now that you two are properly introduced," he turned his attention to Ichigo, "Nygus here is going to show you too the nurse's office while I head back to my class."
Ichigo could help but look wide eyed at the meister, "He was serious about you being a teacher? Really?"
A glare was instantly shot towards the orange haired boy, "Yes I teach, is that so hard to believe?"
Ichigo couldn't help but glance at Nygus, who really didn't show any emotion. It was kinda hard to believe that the guy who had nearly tried to kill him the day before was currently teaching a class full of children. But seeing how Ichigo knew a store keeper who was in secret a mad scientist and a insanely powerful shinigami, it wasn't that hard to believe.
Sid just shrugged the glances off and turned back to the school, "Whatever, I need to make sure my class hasn't destroyed each other yet, see you two later." And with that Sid went ahead of them and made his way back into the school.
Ichigo sent a worrying glance toward the nearby weapon, he didn't mean to piss off the guy that much. But she just shrugged her shoulders before gesturing the boy to follow her, "He's not been in the best mood of late, a certain student of his has been causing a bit of trouble."
Ichigo understood what she was getting at; he still remembered how annoyed his high school teacher got with excuses he had to give when a hollow showed up.
"Anyway lets be off, I'd rather not keep the Nurse waiting."
And with that the two of them headed off into the school, all the while hearing some loud lid screaming something about surpassing god or what not, Ichigo really tried not to pay attention.
About three minutes later: Nurse's office.
Soon enough the two of them arrived at their destination. It was a fairly normal looking nurse's office. It held a desk, two cabinets, a couple of curtains that concealed two empty white beds and finally sink and mirror.
"Medusa ma'm, hope we're not too late for your liking." Nygus apologized politely to the figure sitting at the nearby table.
The figure, now identified as Medusa, looked over at the duo with a smile. She was a fairly tall woman wearing a black dress and a white doctor's coat as well as a pair of white shoes. Her hair was a blondish color and was fairly short, except for two fairly large strands that were braided down the front. With her yellow colored eyes looking at them, Ichigo couldn't help but feel off when he saw her smile.
"That's quite alright Nygus." Medusa replied, waving off the apology as if it was nothing. "Anyway I'm sure you have plenty of things to do, I can take care of things from here."
"Hai." And with that Nygus vanished into the school's hall, leaving a sweat dropping Ichigo and an amused Medusa.
"Oh it's always so amusing to see her disappear like that..." She then turned her attention back towards her orange haired guest, "…anyway, it's nice to meet you Ichigo. I'm Medusa Gorgon, the School nurse."
Nodding in return, Ichigo put on a harmless smile, "The feelings mutual miss, now what exactly do you need me for?"
Medusa just nodded to herself and sat back into her chair. Grabbing a nearby file, she put a amused expression on before looking at the young boy, "Well like all students here, I'll need a physical from you. So if you'd be so kind to undress yourself we can begin."
That was something Ichigo wasn't expecting and Medusa could tell as such sense she could see his face becoming red at the end of her sentence. Meanwhile on Ichigo's end of the situation he was currently dealing with a familiar voice talking to him at one of the most inappropriate time he could think of. He was currently rambling on about how lucky Ichigo is, how stupid he was for not taking advantage of the current moment, and how he should be in charge. But after a few seconds of constant talking, Ichigo had enough of it.
'Zangetsu, if you will.' Ichigo calmly asked, despite his current rage at the hollow.
"Of course Ichigo." Then a loud smack echoed throughout Ichigo's inner world, and then seconds later everything went quite. Meanwhile Medusa was quite intrigued by the sight. Seconds ago this boy was nearly crimson at the idea of taking his clothes in front of a well trained nurse, but now he was expressionless and had a faraway look in his eyes. Then, for a brief moment, she saw his eyes change. It only lasted for a brief second, but his eyes changed from his normal brown to a sickly yellow.
And in that quick moment of change she saw something, was it madness? No. It was something more than just madness. She saw something that transcended madness and insanity itself; she saw pure darkness, evil. But as quick as it appeared it vanished when Ichigo came back to the real world.
Sighing at the missed opportunity, Medusa walked over to the curtains and opened them partly, "Just step in here and undress yourself, I'll be there in a minute. "
Seeing no chance to argue, Ichigo reluctantly stepped through the curtains and took a seat on one of the empty beds. Soon enough Ichigo reluctantly removed Zangetsu from his back along with most of his clothes expect his boxers; there was no force in the Soul Society or even hell itself that would cause him to remove his boxers.
"Oh my…" Ichigo noticed Medusa was standing there, "No one has ever taken that seriously…I only really needed you to remove your shirt."
"Wha…" That was his only response as he stared at the nurse, his eye twitching constantly at the idea of the joke.
But before he could even start his raging rant Medusa started the physical. It was all a pretty simple procedure. Ichigo had to fill a small form about his past physical condition, previous illnesses, injuries, and even some private information. Meanwhile Medusa was conducting the other required parts of the physical like testing the boy's reflexes, breathing, and other such things. Humorously after both sides where finished with their parts of the examination Ichigo nearly had a heart attack when the nurse asked him to remove his boxers for the more important part of the examination.
Luckily for him, Medusa quickly reassured him that Shinigami-sama had informed her that it would not be necessary and told him the classroom number he was assigned to. After a nervous thank you and goodbye, Ichigo left the nurse's office with a relieved sigh. But if he had been a little more aware of his surroundings he would have noticed Medusa's previous cheerful expression change into a sinister and evil one.
'Such a powerful Soul Wavelength…maybe I make some use of this boy…'
As her grin widened, a small shadowy snake slithered out of her mouth at a single thought. Her mind flashed at that single moment when she saw something in Ichigo's eyes.
'But that moment, those eyes…so sinister…so evil…I wonder…'
With Ichigo, Class Crescent Moon.
After a few minutes of walking throughout the schools halls, Ichigo finally found the room Medusa had informed him about. As he stepped inside he was greeted by the sight of the very same classroom he had first met Sid in, although it was full of students this time. He also noticed Sid standing at the head of the classroom seeming teaching a lesion, or at least he was until he heard the door open. Expecting someone else, Sid slammed the book shut and looked toward the door.
"About time you got here Black…oh it's you..." Seeing Ichigo there instead, he quickly gathered the student's attention, "Everyone! Listen up!"
Everyone in the room turned their attention to Sid (and anyone who was asleep woke up from the sound of the book slamming shut). "We have a new student today who would like to introduce himself to you all," he nudged Ichigo, "Go ahead."
With a sigh Ichigo turned towards the mass of students in front of him, "My name is Ichigo Kurosaki; it's nice to meet you all." He said with as much sincerity he could muster, and to his credit it was more than he normally could.
Most of the class responded with a unanimous "HELLO ICHIGO" while a few others just grunted in his direction.
"Ok then, you can go take your seat Ichigo." Sid said before turning back to the class," Now then, where was I…" Sid just returned to where he last left off during his lecture while Ichigo walked over to one of the staircases.
While Ichigo walked through the room and up the steps he did hear a bunch of comments directed towards him. Many of these comments were focused on Zangetsu or the lack of a weapon partner, but much to Ichigo's surprise none of them were pointed towards his orange neon hair. Soon enough he found an open seat next to a small girl in pigtails who had her head in a book.
Soon after Ichigo made his way to his seat and made himself comfortable the girl looked up from her book and smiled at him, "HI, I'm Maka." She then extended her hand out to Ichigo in a friendly manor, which he gladly took.
"Ichigo." He replied, shaking her hand. 'So this is Spirit's daughter…she doesn't seem anything like that fruitcake..'
"Nice to meet you." She said. Then she made a gesture toward the boy leaning back in the chair next to her, "This is Soul, my weapon partner,"
The boy didn't anything after Maka's introduction so she tried to get his attention, "Soul! Say something…" But before she was able to finish she noticed something alarming about him, he was asleep.
Her eye twitching and tick mark pulsating on her head, Ichigo could only watch as the girl shook with incredible rage before surprisingly calming down to a point where you'd never guess she was angry. Then without warning she lifted the book she was previously reading and spoke briefly before…
"Maka…CHOP!"
…Slamming the book directly on the boy's head, which for some reason reminded Ichigo of that chop Shinigami-sama used on that death scythe of his. The painful strike to his cranium made Soul painfully fall backwards out of his hair and onto the floor. He grumbled to himself before sending a slight glare towards his meister, "Ah…what the hell Maka? What the hell was that for?"
"Soul, this is Ichigo. He's new." Maka said, completely ignoring the glare Soul was sending at her.
Soul just grumbled to himself while settling back in his chair before turning towards Ichigo. While doing so Ichigo was able to get a good look at the kid. He had spiky white hair that was swept to the side and red eyes. He also had a sweatband around his head with a sticker with his name and the word E-A-T on it along with a yellow and black jacket and a pair of maroon pants.
After settling back in his chair Soul just shrugged in Ichigo's direction and let a uninterested "Hey." Escape from his mouth before closing his eyes once again.
Maka just sighed to herself and looked back to her new acquaintance with an apologetic look in her eyes, "Sorry about him, he's always like that."
Ichigo just waved it off, "Its fine."
After that the time just started to fly by for everyone. Soul had went back to sleep, much to Maka's annoyance. Maka of course paid attention to Sid's lecture, whatever it was. And Ichigo, having no idea what was going on just stared off into space. But then out of nowhere something smashed its way though one of the glass windows and landed in the center of the room…and for some reason Sid was glaring daggers at it.
The figure turned out to be a short looking kid with spiky blue hair and green eyes. His attire seem to consist of a sleeveless black shirt with a funnel-like collar, with white trousers that are black from the knee down and just a little short of being full length jeans. He also had gray fingerless gloves with heavy wrist weights and has a band going across the back of each hand, adorned with a star on his hands. Also for some reason Ichigo also noticed a star-like tattoo on one of the kid's shoulders.
The kid's stance just screamed arrogance, hell even his soul wavelength was full of itself. It was almost like looking at a tiny version of Byakuya…almost. Sure Byakuya was arrogant in his abilities and status but at least he was more stuck up about. But this kid? He just shoved his arrogance in everyone's faces.
Sure that's not what Ichigo thought at first…until he heard the kid speck.
"The Amazing BlackStar has Arrived!"
The amount of sweat drops in the room could have filled an entire pool if they could.
"You're late, BlackStar." The awkwardness seemed to shatter the moment Sid spoke up, causing everyone in the room, including the newly arrived Black Star, to look at him.
"Late? Heh, a being that shall surpass God such as me cannot be Late!" BlackStar shouted in response.
Sid didn't even bother to reply to that, all he did sigh to himself, open his book again and point Black Star to his seat. But before Black Star even made a move toward the stairs he noticed Ichigo sitting in the open seat that was almost directly above his own.
"Uh who's the guy with the freaky neon orange hair?"
That was not the best thing to say to the new student, especially since it was a visard with a attitude problem. The fact is that single statement created a lot of interesting thoughts throughout out the room and even some nor too surprising ones.
'He's calling my hair freaky? He's the one whose hair looks like it came out of a kids crayon box!' That was Ichigo, fuming over that hair comment.
'That Idiot! If Ichigo tries to kill him I am NOT helping him.' Sid said that one while glancing at the book in his hands, trying to ignore the situation.
'Black Star…Can't he go five minutes without insulting someone?' That came from Maka, slightly annoyed with her classmate's behavior and also wondering where his weapon partner was.
'Zzzz…zzz…zzz…' That was Soul, still asleep despite Black Star loud voice.
'I'm so awesome! I can't begin to describe how Awesome I am!' It's obvious who this was.
"Hey Kid…" The sound of Ichigo's voice brought Black Star out of his inner monologue.
Ichigo was now stand up from his seat and glare daggers at the blue haired boy, "What did you say about me?"
Black Star didn't say anything for a few moments but then in old fashion Black Star antics, he jumped into the air and landed on the desk right in front of Ichigo. With a grin bursting with his arrogance, Black Star's inched closer to Ichigo's while completely unaware how close he was to getting his face punched in.
"I said your hair color is freaky! You should be honored that a man as Big as myself is gracing you with his presence!" Scratch what was said earlier, Ichigo was going to ripe his mouth off in a few seconds. But while Ichigo was thinking of very nasty ways to kill this guy (his hollow of drawing some plans) he didn't notice Black Star spot Zangetsu.
"Hey!" With a smack to the head Ichigo glared at the very loud boy, "What's with the huge sword! You trying to upstage me!" Black Star's shouting finally ended when he grabbed Ichigo by the shirt and tried to lift him into the air…and failed miserably. The moment Black Star's hand touched Ichigo's shirt he was pushed over the edge. Ichigo grabbed a large chunk of Black Star's blue hair and tossed his far across the room, forcing him to slam painfully into the chalkboard behind Sid's desk.
Resting Zangetsu on his shoulder, Ichigo glared daggers at the loud ninja, "You're really pissing me off kid."
"Oh yea?" Black surprising launched himself back towards Ichigo, his hand pulsating with soul wavelength, "Let's see if you can take on a Big guy like me!"
Everyone was n edge at the sight of this scene. BlackStar was launching himself at the new kid with the intent to beat him senseless with his own Soul Wavelength while Ichigo was just standing there with a massive cleaver resting on his back, a look of complete relaxation on his face. To two of them were about to collide…at least they were until a loud booming voice interrupted Black Star concentration.
"SILENCE!" Sid's interruption caused BlackStar to freeze in midair and fall comically to the ground below. Ichigo on the other hand didn't have much of a reaction, if anything his eyes just started twitching even more.
"If the two of you are going to go at it then take it outside!" Sid shouted at the two of them.
BlackStar instantly launched himself up from the ground, a determined grin on his face. "That's fine with me! It lets me show the entire world how Big a man I am!" then without warning, BlackStar used the rows of student desks as stairs and launched himself though a window…the one right next to the same one he entered though. Ichigo on the other hand just stood there with a slack jaw expression, much like the rest of the class.
With a sigh, Ichigo set Zangetsu back on his back and made his way to the room's exit. Meanwhile everyone else in the Class just turned their attention back to Sid, who was gathering his teaching supplies. "What are you all waiting for? It's going to be an interesting show."
With the permission from their teacher, every student in the classroom grabbed whatever they needed (and Maka woke Soul up again via another chop from her book) and followed Ichigo and Sid outside to the school's entrance, were BlackStar headed after jumping out of the window.
But a few minutes after everyone had left the classroom, a young lady opened up the door with an embarrassed look on her face. She was rather tall girl with long black hair tied up in a ponytail and large indigo eyes. Her clothing was made up of a pale yellow, sleeveless outfit with a skirt end that has a slit down the side with a bright yellow star emblazoned on the right side of the chest. She also was wearing a dark brown scarf and a tight dark brown stocking on her right leg starting just above the knee and white boots.
"Sid-san, I'm sorry I'm late. I couldn't find BlackStar any…." The girl stopped when she noticed the classroom was completely empty.
"Huh? Where did everyone go?..."
A few Minutes later, front entrance.
Soon enough BlackStar's weapon, Tsubaki (who had been searching for him) finally arrived on the scene. After having the situation described to her by Maka, Tsubaki attempted to talk BlackStar out of his quarrel with the orange haired boy but met with limited success.
The two opponents stood across from each other. On the right was Ichigo, Zangetsu resting on his shoulders and his combat badge in his other hand. On the left were BlackStar and the reluctant Tsubaki, the boy grinning like a fool and the girl sighing with displeasure.
Ichigo couldn't help but glance at Tsubaki with sympathy, "I've got against you miss, this is between me and the loud mouth next to you."
"I'm sorry, but despite how much trouble he is BlackStar is my Meister, and I will stand by my Meister to the end." Tsubaki replied, her words unknowingly getting a nod of understanding from the local Sword spirit residing inside Ichigo's soul.
"Let's do this Tsubaki! Let's show this guy why I'm going to surpass God!" BlackStar exclaimed, completely ignoring everything that was said in the last few minutes.
The rage in Ichigo's gut exploded forth at the very mention of those words, "That's it." Unbuckling his Combat badge from his belt, Ichigo slammed it into his chest, much to the confusion of everyone else. In a flash his normal clothes disappeared and in place of them were a Shihakusho, red sash, and a strange shoulder pad on his left arm. Everyone was surprised by the change in clothes, although Tsubaki was even more so because of her familiarity with such style of clothing. But of everyone Maka was the most shocked, not because of any outer changes, but because of his Soul Wavelength.
"I was going go easy on you…" He then stuffed his badge into one of his pockets, "…but now you've pissed me off."
BlackStar actually laughed at Ichigo's words while Tsubaki looked on with displeasure, "Hah, enough talk! Let's do this!" he then turned to his weapon, "Tsubaki! Chain Scythe form!"
"Right!" She responded before disappearing in a bright light, transforming into the form of a long metal chain with each end of the chain tipped with a yellow handle that has a small double-edged and double-pointed scythe blade attached. BlackStar instantly caught the weapon and began twirling it in confidence. Ichigo didn't reply to this at all, he just continued to rap his forearm with the endless cloth that was present on Zangetsu's hilt.
"Let's show the guy how its…SMASH"
Before he was even able to finish his sentence BlackStar dove out of the way of an insanely fast attack. When the smoke cleared everyone was shocked to see Ichigo's massive cleaver, Zangetsu, sticking out of the ground where BlackStar previously stood. Then without warning, the blade dislodged itself from the ground and flew back to its owner, who caught it with ease. It was at this point that everyone (well expect BlackStar) had figured out what Ichigo had done to his weapon.
Using the seemingly endless clothe around Zangetsu's hilt, Ichigo turned his blade into a rip like weapon (3). But where he got the idea was anyone's guess…well everyone's expect a certain hollow's that its.
BlackStar, annoyed by the fact that Ichigo had stolen the spotlight rushed the orange haired shinigami with a vengeance "Speed Star!"
With his enhanced speed BlackStar was able to quickly close the distance between the two of them fairly quickly. But the moment he was in striking distance of the boy he disappeared in a burst of shunpo, causing BlackStar to completely miss. Ad before he could even regain his balance BlackStar was nearly beheaded by a flying Zangetsu.
'How can he be so fast?...' Tsubaki couldn't help but worry, he meister had nearly been sliced in have twice now by this boy and he had yet even to lay a finger on him. Where was this boy's power coming from?
For the next few moments all BlackStar could do was dodging. There wasn't that much he could do with a giant meat cleaver somehow flying towards him with impossible speeds was not something he had trained to avoid. Ichigo himself was even flying all over the place, switching between trying to slice BlackStar in half up close and personal to just tossing his blade in a deadly fashion. But while dodging, an actual good popped into that normally empty head of his.
During a brief moment of rest, which was Ichigo just spinning Zangetsu in the air by its cloth, wondering when to throw, BlackStar took his chance. The moment before Ichigo tossed Zangetsu BlackStar somehow made the chains suddenly formed coils around him before extending outward, forming the shape of a five-point star. The next time Zangetsu nearly collided with BlackStar he sprung his trap.
"Trap Star!"
The moment the massive cleaver smashed into the ground the chains started moving, the quickly surrounded and ensnared the sword. The kid was about to laugh at his personal victory against his orange haired opponent but was interrupted by Tsubaki. "BlackStar I can't hold it for long! Hurry up and…"
She didn't manage to finish, in the corner of her I she saw something that nearly scared the wits out of her, "BlackStar! Watch Out!"
The confident ninja quickly turned his head to see a shocking sight. Since he could not get Zangetsu to come back to him, Ichigo simply went to Zangetsu. Because his sword was now stuck in the ground, with enough of a head start, Ichigo was able to fling himself at his blue haired opponent. With incredible speeds Ichigo was in BlackStar's face in no time at all and with one strong kick to the head, sent the meister flying.
"BlackStar!" Tsubaki called, fearful for her friend's safety. But she was unable to rush over to her meister seeing how Ichigo was now standing right next to her. Her eyes widened as his hands took hold of his Zanpakuto's hilt, but those fears somehow vanished as the orange haired boy gently unwrapped her weapon form's chains from his sword and laid them gently on the ground. But before she could even question this, BlackStar called out to her.
"Tsubaki! Ninja Sword!" Of course she responded, instantly flying into the air and transforming into the desired weapon.
The caused Ichigo to sigh in disappointment, he was hoping he could get the girl out of this fight so he could deal with this kid. He had nothing against her; she was just a loyal friend who wanted to help her partner. That was something he could respect.
Seeing that his two opponents were ready he leap at them with a burst of shunpo. But the moment he got within striking distance of the boy he noticed something was amiss. The boy didn't seem right, he wasn't being loud, he wasn't attack, and it didn't seem like him. It turns out it wasn't. BlackStar suddenly turned a dirty broken color and blew away in the wind, leaving the image of Tsubaki in his place.
"Dummy Star." She said simply, and then he struck.
"Certain Kill! BlackStar Big Wave!"
The impact was instantaneous. The feeling of two fists smashing into his back was painful enough, but then there was the release of his soul wavelength. The destructive release of BlackStar's wavelength almost filled the entire area for a few moments before dying down, leaving everyone in awe. Everyone thought it was over, BlackStar had hit the new kid with his most devastating move and it was over. Right? Turns out it wasn't.
Before BlackStar could even make a move, Ichigo swung his Zanpakuto to the side and slammed its flat side into the kids shoulder, sending him flying for about three feet. Everyone was surprised by this, how in the hell did this kid stay standing after being hit directly with BlackStar signature move? That just doesn't happen; no one besides the teacher could do that.
But what happened next was what truly shocked everyone. Maka could even see Sid's eyes widen when they all saw Ichigo lift his sword into the air. Then with two simple words, he brought everyone's worlds crashing down.
"Getsuga Tenshou."
A thunderous, bright arc of energy exploded forth. Numerous students screamed as the intensity burned their eyes. Many quickly covered their faces while others were too shocked to even move. Tsubaki screamed for BlackStar, but no words were heard. From the energy, came a massive explosion, one that drowned the grounds with a thunderous crack.
All the while, Ichigo looked on. His eyes sharp and face emotionless.
Soon enough, silence echoed forth through the area. The intense light, the deafening explosion, all died down after a few seconds. The ground was broken and cracked, scars littered about hte ground from the battle. Smoke trickled into the air, and the sizzling from the explosion could still be heard. Various students finally opened their eyes and blinked at what they saw.
"Wha..."
At the center of the destruction, stood BlackStar.
The Hyperactive Ninja stood at the center of the explosion. His body was covered in scratches, marks and bruises, but nothing else. The Ninja's expression was one of shock, his mouth hung open and his eyes were wide and dull. For such a boy filled with raw pride and the habit of being full of himself, BlackStar's face held only one emotion.
He was scared shitless.
Through the ninja's eyes, he had seen the very source of the hellish attack. Inwardly, he grinned at the attack and prepared to attack again. This was not the first time he had seen death and faced it down. But as the attack soared at him, a sharp pain erupted through the boy. His feet tensed up, his fists clinched, and sweat dripped down his face.
BlackStar froze up in an instance and watched the attack race forward-
-and miss. The attack brushed by the boy's cheek and exploded all around him. Its force nearly knocked the boy off his feet, but aside from that? It exploded against the ground NEXT to the Ninja.
The class stood by, their mouths agape, "What the-"
'How could he miss like an attack like that?...'
Maka blinked in disbelief, 'There's no way he could miss with something like that…which means…'
'...he...he missed...on purpose?' Tsubaki thought, 'He...he wasn't going to hurt BlackStar?'
"Ugh."
'Well, at least not too badly...'
But while everyone was lost in their own thoughts, they didn't notice Ichigo slowly make his way over to where BlackStar was. Everyone froze at what occured next. Ichigo stood less than a foot away from the blue haired ninja with his sword in hand. Of every student present, many feared for the Ninja's life.
That is until Ichigo bonked BlackStar on the head with the blunt side of his sword, knocking the hyper knucklehead out.
Soon enough Ichigo dragged the unconscious Ninja back to his partner and dropped him to the ground with a thud. She looked him with a thankful smile before turning her attention back to her meister, who had yet to wake up from the bash to his head. Seeing how her meister was not going to wake up anytime soon, Tsubaki looked back to her previous opponent as he walked back towards the crowd of students.
That day at the DWMA, two things were noticed to all who were present. The first being a orange haired youth, the newest student of the strange academy.
And the second? BlackStar was going to have a massive headache once he woke up.
Though he normally WAS a headache to everyone he was around, so that wasn't much of a surprise.
There we go, Chapter 4 is finished!
(1)-Since 99% of the time Ichigo hates Kon and seeing how Zangetsu is a part of Ichigo's soul (and the Hollow is like the dark half) I'd like to think Zangetsu has a deep hatred for Kon as well...and of course the Hollow likes to make fun of that as well.
(2)- She is talking about that living magical brush that can be seen...pretty much every time Blair takes a bath. Apparently it's her familiar or something and will do whatever she says.
(3)- If you have not seen Hollow Ichigo fight Muramasa (the Sword Spirit from a filler Ark in the Anime) then you may not understand what Ichigo is doing here. There are moments in their battle when the Hollow uses Zangetsu like a whip like weapon, sending it flying at him and then if he misses, he pulls on the cloth and it comes back to him, like a whip. I could also compare it to Hisagi's fighting style with his shikai but I'd saw the hollow fight Muramasa first so I'm going with that.
As you guys can see, in the beginning of both the manga and anime I hated BlackStar's character. Now that he has mellowed out alot since then I can see him as an enjoyable character. But back then I really didn't like his show off attitude at all. So I had Ichigo beat the unholy hell out of him. Seeing how Ichigo has had trouble in the past with God surpassing characters I can see him getting really annoyed with BlackStar, especially seeing how they just meet.
So far it looks like Yourichi is going to be the first to visit Ichigo, the visits for other BLeach charaters won't start for atleast another chapter or two so theres still a chance for that to change though. Oh well, we shall see.
Next Time: The Series begins! See what happens when Ichigo learns of a mission that concerns his new kitty friend! See you then.