Just like any other day the school bell rang on time at 8 o'clock. And just like any other day the to-late-comer kept running in hope not to get punished by their teachers. Sad for some of them: running didn't help them anymore.

Biology turned out to be rather boring today for class 11b. At least it would explain the permanent low mumbling one could hear from the far corners of the room. Bio-Chemi was uninteresting anyways – why would you need to know how body fat turned into energy? So the teacher mostly talked to himself whereas the pupil drew random pictures, read their hidden comic magazines or just stuck their heads together. Someone would take notes in any case. And someone did. Orihime Inoue practically hung on every word of professor Sandt. It was her whom the others approached, when they needed school stuff. Especially English and biology were her favourites. Sadly the class ended with the ring of the school bell. Immediately all her classmates started packing, while their teacher still explained the structure of ATM. The mumbling developed into normal conversations and soon after died down as the pupils stormed to the door and out into the hallway. Left alone, Mr. Sandt now started also packing.

In class 11a whereas, the young adults were still sitting quietly on their chairs, head bowed in concentration over their sheets of paper. Their teacher in front of them looked on his watch.

"Only 5 more minutes!", he informed his protégées and harvested peeved groaning.

Almost immediately the scribbling of the pencils got faster. Everyone tried to finish their last tasks in time, which turned out to be rather difficult. The test demanded much specialised knowledge from the pupils. They had a hard time answering the questions. Even Ichigo Kurosaki, one of the best students had his difficulties. He sat currently on his window seat and chewed in concentration on the end of his pencil. But that was all he did. The last question was left unanswered.

"Time is up!" the teacher arose from his chair. A loud groaning sounded, but he ignored it anyway. "Please, turn your papers and I'm going through to collect them. I wish you a good day." Instantly the pupils began packing. None of them could wait anymore, till they could get out of the room.

In the hallway a still sleepy and grummy Ichigo seemed to take his bag for a walk. His nerves had calmed down greatly since the test. It was right – he hadn't learned a bit for it - just couldn't. The town stayed terrorized by Hollows so he had to go out almost every day. There seemed to be no end to the constant attacks. The soul reaper was just tired, really tired.

"Ichigo!" a low, familiar voice called behind him. He turned and was greeted by Chads tall figure.

"Hi, how was the day?" Ichigo said out of monotony rather than interest.

"Not bad" Chad took a few strides towards his friend. "At least I didn't write a test during …"

"Oh, … come on …" The redhead cut in. "I don't want to be remembered of the possibly worst test I ever wrote!" He seemed tired.

"Was it that bad?" his tall friend asked in his calming low voice as they began walking along the hall together. Ichigo sighted.

"Yeah, … I think so …"

"… hm … You give your best, but you have to watch out, that you don't give too much" his tall friend commented after a moment, - and Chad was right, the soulreaper had worn himself out. It was best, if he stayed out of battles for a few days to regenerate. He had to concentrate more on school. But that was easier said than done. How could he – a substitute soulreaper – throw away such a great responsibility?

No, no, he had to fight!

But, …

… on the other side would he be only a burden to the others in his weakening state.

He was riven.

Ichigo was so in fight with himself, he didn't notice the calls of Orihime from afar. Chad whoever did. He raised an arm, waving it in greetings.

"Hey guys!" she approached cheerfully her smile always present. Now also Ichigo noticed her and put on a smiling face. After all he didn't want to make a fuss about his problems.

Joyful and a little childish she began the conversation:

"Ohh…! I'm so excited! You want to know what happened?" she said exhilarated, jumping a little up and down, while waiting electrified for a response. But the spark was not really flying between her and Ichigo. Chad aware of the red heads absence was the one who took the next step.

"What happened?" he asked calmly.

"A few classmates and I were chosen for a project in Physic! It's for a contest this winter and the winner gets 1000 Euro and free tickets for any museum in Karakura! Isn't that great?" A short pause in which Ichigo had to comprehend said words first.

"Oh, … yeah …" came it hesitantly from him afterwards, as he kept smiling stupidly.

"Chizuru told me just now – I haven't even heard. But she said she had it from …" And there Ichigo spaced out. He hadn't the energy for this, nor for a test – he was totally worn out. So he just nodded when he thought it would fit and repeated here and there the last few words of a sentence.

….

After the pause they had class again. For Ichigo meant that math, for Orihime and Chad was it German. Sadly they were placed in three different classes at the beginning of the year. No one of them had the same timetable than the other. Also Uryu was not anymore going to their school. He got a scholarship for an elite school in Tokyo and took the opportunity immediately. Everyone was happy at that moment, but with the decision he made came also the bitter moment of saying good bye. Here and there some tears were running, gifts were handed over and of course everyone wished him the very best start into his new life. The last they saw from him was his fading image of him in front of their eyes.

Since then more than a month had passed. And slowly they adapted to this new situation – the human was, after all, just a creature of habit. Everyone tied new bonds and networked, finding their position in class rather quickly. Chad was at first an exception - because of his intimidating features nobody in his class wanted to get near him. But soon after most of his old mates were integrated in certain groups he too got friends.

Days passed rather fast and the hollow attacks didn't stop. The annoying low levelled creatures kept breaking into the real world without pause. Fight after fight was held, not only during the night, but also during school. Alone this made Ichigo lag behind his friends in class. Pupils couldn't afford to just miss only one single day. And to make things worse, the subject matter in school got more difficult. The nightmares he had and the lack of sleep did the rest. This ate up enormous energy which his body couldn't summon anymore. So it didn't take more than a small confrontation with a bully that made the substitute Shinigami break down completely.

On this said day the ambulance took his burned out self to the Karakura Hospital, where he would need weeks to recover – and not only from his physical condition, but also from his mental state.

No Grimmjow in this.