Disclaimer: I Don't Own BLEACH

Rukia threw herself down on her bed; her cheeks went red at the thought of the afternoon's events. Though she had not arrived in time to actually see what had happened, Renji had… loudly informed them of what had occurred.

She let out a sigh. Renji had always been very protective of her, but she still didn't get why was so angry. I mean really! He of all people should know that she wouldn't go around kissing people. In fact, she found romance to be a waste of time. Rukia had grown up in Rukongai where in the middle of fending for your life there wasn't time for that kind of thing. Plus, she didn't get why Renji had been giving Ichigo this death glare the entire time. Renji could just be a little over the top sometimes.

Suddenly, the door slammed open and Rukia sat up to see Tatsuki and Momo fall into the room, followed by a very quiet Orihime. The two on the floor, quickly relieved jumped up and ran across the room toward Rukia until they were right in her face.

"Is it true that you and Ichigo kissed!" the two of them shouted. Rukia leaned back, trying to get away from the hyper girls trying to regain her hearing.

"W-w-what?!?" sputtered Rukia.

"Is it true that the two of you were found kissing in the training room this afternoon?" said Tatsuki as Momo jumped up and down next to her.

"No it is not true!" Rukia tried pushing the girls away from her. After that night out in Rukongai, Rukia had discovered that Orihime's and Tatsuki's room was not too far from her own and had quickly introduced them to Momo. The girls had hit it off well and it was not uncommon to find the four together talking or doing homework.

"It's not?" Momo looked pretty disappointed. "But, Izuru said that he saw it happen!"

Rukia made a mental note to go hunt down Izuru later. "Then he failed to mention that it really was our substitute konpaku in our gigais."

"Really?" came Orihime's voice from the door. Her voice was brighter and she was once again wearing her usual smile. "That's a relief."

Tatsuki turned toward her friend with a mischievous smile on her face. "Why? Do you have a crush on him, Orihime?" Orihime's face went bright red.

"Don't worry Orihime," Rukia comforted. "There isn't anything going one between us."

"Aww! Come on! That's no fun!" said Momo with a huff.

Tatsuki looked toward Momo and laughed. "It's going to a long time before our Rukia falls for some guy."

Momo let out a sigh. "I guess you're right."

Rukia walked up to the door and knocked. It was soon opened by a very disgruntled Ichigo.

"What's your problem?" Rukia finally asked.

Ichigo turned to her, his frown still firmly set in place. "It's all of those stupid rumors that are flying around about us."

"Yeah? So? It's not like that's anything new."

"That's my point. It's been two weeks already and I still keep hearing things about the 'nature' of our relationship."

"Don't worry about it. It will go away eventually." Rukia shrugged. She didn't let the rumors bother her.

"Well then 'eventually' had better come soon," Ichigo muttered as they came to stop.

Rukia was about to respond when the door opened to reveal Ochi-sensei at the door.

"Oh good! You're here" she said. "Come on in."

The two shinigami-in-training followed their teacher into the office.

"There are two reasons why I wanted you to come into my office," Ochi-sensei started. "Firstly, as you probably already know, the two of you are scheduled for your practical." They nodded. "I would just like to remind you to make sure that you have everything you need and to watch out for any hollows. You will be spending a few hours in the world of the living in which time you will perform konso on as many souls as you can." Ochi-san reached over her desk and handed them a piece of paper. "Here are your coordinates. And good luck."

Then the woman sat down and stared working on some papers. Ichigo and Rukia exchanged a look.

"Umm…Ochi-sensei?" Ichigo tried to get her attention. "Wasn't there a second thing that you wanted to tell us?"

Ochi-san suddenly popped up. "Oh yes! Of course!" She looked up to address them. "The other thing that I wanted to talk to the two of you about was your grades." They both gave her confused looks. Their grades were both very good, so they didn't see why she needed to talk to them.

The sensei continued. "Both of you have exceptional grades and I wanted to talk to you about moving up to the upper class." They looked at her, shocked. "You would both still be paired together and I think it would be a good decision for the both of you. Many times I feel as if being in my class is holding you back." She paused as if thinking back on something. "Actually I don't really understand how you ended up in my class anyway. From my knowledge you two are better than some of the students from the upper class."

"Really?" asked Rukia, not believing what she was hearing. Ichigo seemed to be thinking the same thing.

Ochi-sensei gave the girl a small smile. "Yup! You don't have to give me your decision just yet. Why don't you talk it over together and give me your answer when you get back?"

Ichigo and Rukia nodded their heads before turning and heading out the door.

Ichigo and Rukia had only been there for about an hour and they had already performed konso on a few lost souls. Now they were casually walking down the streets waiting for an order to come from the cell phone. Rukia was eagerly looking around at everything, from the hundreds of shops to the people who walked by. Ichigo on the other hand just watched her- who was jumping around excitedly she took everything in- and answering the millions of questions she threw at him about the world of the living.

Ichigo cringed when he heard a scream come from the petite girl walking besides him.

"CHAPPY!!!" screamed Rukia as she ran to the window of one of the stores. Ichigo grudgingly followed her, trying to ignore the stares they were receiving. When he came up to see what had gotten Rukia so hyped up, he looked in the window to see a bunch of bunnies hopping around in their pen. Ichigo glanced at Rukia to see her with a huge smile on her face, her eyes shining.

"Look! Look Ichigo!" she cried.

"Yeah, yeah I can see them," said a bored Ichigo.

"Aren't they adorable!?!"

"You know you can go in and hold them if you want," said Ichigo not really giving it much thought.

"Really?!?" Rukia looked up at him her eyes were wide with hope. Ichigo nodded his head in response. "Than what are you waiting for? Come on!" Then Rukia grabbed the surprised Ichigo by the hand and pulled him toward the door.

"W-what? Wait Rukia!" Ichigo tried to stop her. "What about our job?" Really this was Rukia they were talking about; usually she was strict about her job. Guess the bunnies were worth it.

Rukia didn't stop, she just turned back to face him. "What about it? The pager will go off when there is a hollow, so there is no need to worry about that right now."

Ichigo couldn't really argue with that one. After all they hadn't really been doing anything before anyway. And besides she looked really cute when she was smiling like that- Wait. Scratch that last thought.

When they entered the store Rukia dragged him over to the lady at the counter. "Could we see the bunnies please?" The lady nodded and walked her over to the pen where she opened the door and motioned for them to go in. Rukia dragged Ichigo in before letting go and sitting down in the middle of the room.

Ichigo watched as the bunnies slowly, but surly, approached the raven haired girl. Gently, Rukia held out her hand as one of the bunnies came over and sniffed it. Ichigo was unaware that they frown on his face was slowly disappearing as Rukia picked up one of the small, white bunnies and cuddled it a up against her chest, running her fingers along the small creature's back.

After awhile Ichigo broke the silence. "What do you think about what Ochi-sensei was telling us?"

Rukia looked up to face him. "I was thinking that we do it. What about you?"

"Yeah, I was going to do it. I was just wondering what you thought about it."

Rukia laughed. "I didn't know that you cared about my opinion. You know, even if I didn't want to I'm sure they would still move you up."

"Yeah, I guess. But, I've kind have gotten use to having you as my partner." Rukia stared at him. Ichigo noticed the look she was giving him. "I mean, we've been working together for most of the year, might as well keep the arrangement."

Rukia was about to respond when a loud beeping noise interrupted her causing both Ichigo and Rukia to jump. The bunny that had been sitting on her lap, immediately jumped off and hopped over to join its friends.

Rukia pulled put the phone as she stood up. "There's a soul not too far from here."

"Well then, let's go," said Ichigo before he turned toward the door with Rukia right behind him.

"Are you sure this is the place?"

"Positive," said Rukia as she checked from the phone to the area around them.

"Well, this just doesn't seem like the place where a soul would hang out," said Ichigo. "I mean look at all the people! There has got to be some kind gathering going on." The whole area was crowded with people, all of them excitedly talking to one another. You could almost feel the anticipation in the air.

"Yeah, maybe," replied Rukia. "But, it's an old abandoned hospital. Isn't it an odd place to hold a gathering?"

Suddenly, someone walking by bumped into Rukia causing her to fall over. Luckily Ichigo was close enough to step forward and catch her.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" yelled Ichigo as he helped Rukia get back on her feet.

The man who had bumped into her, turned around to face them a shocked expression on his face. "I am so sorry!" the man shouted.

"That's okay I'm-"Rukia started, but she was cut off when the man suddenly lunged at her and wrapped her in a huge bear hug.

"I am so sorry for knocking into you! I hope I didn't hurt you!" Rukia cringed. Did he have to be so loud? She struggled trying to get out of his grasp.

"Let go of her!" Ichigo shouted, trying to pull the apologetic man off of her. Finally, mostly from Ichigo's efforts, the man let go and gave the pair a goofy grin.

"Haha! I hope I didn't hurt you!" Rukia was about to reply when a girl's voice came from the crowd.

"Dad! Where did you go?" At the voice the man turned around where two girls emerged from the crowd.

"Yuzu!" he shouted. "Don't worry Daddy's here!" The two young girls walked over to their group.

"I glad we found you!" said Yuzu. Ichigo froze when he got a closer look at the girls. Then he looked back between them and the man who had crashed into Rukia.

The man ran towards the girl and wrapped her in a huge. "Don't worry! Daddy's okay!"

"I'm more worried about these people," said the girl standing next to Yuzu. She walked over to Ichigo and Rukia. "Sorry about goat chin over here. I hope here wasn't bothering you too much."

"Not at all!" said Rukia, putting on her fake cheery smile. "It was just an accident." The dark haired girl shrugged.

"Karin!" yelled Yuzu. "Come on let's go find a spot!"

"Yes! Let's go!" yelled the father. "We need to get a spot in the front row!" With that he and Yuzu started squeezing their way through the crowd.

Karin let out a deep sigh of annoyance and was about to grudgingly follow when Rukia spoke up.

"I'm sorry, but could you tell us what is going on here?"

Karin gave her a funny look. "You've never heard of the TV show 'Spontaneous Trips' with Don Kanonji?" Rukia shook her head. "Well it's some show about this guy who goes around cleansing evil spirits. Personally, I think it's ridiculous, but as you can see my dad and sister are really into it. I just got dragged here."

"Oh," said Rukia. "Well, thank you. And I'm sorry, but we really need to go." Karin nodded as Rukia turned to leave. When she realized that Ichigo wasn't moving (he still seemed to be studying the girl in front of him), she turned and pulled him by the arm. "Come on Ichigo!"

When he felt Rukia pull him, he immediately snapped back into reality and yelled as she pulled him. "Hey Rukia! Stop! You don't have to drag me!"

Karin stared at them, eyes wide as she watched them disappear into the crowd.

Ichigo. She had called him Ichigo.

Her brain was spinning as unpleasant memories swirled through her head. Images that she hadn't thought about in years were now coming back. She started feeling sick. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop the painful images that were popping into her head.

She opened her eyes and looked in the direction that the two had gone. That boy. His name was Ichigo. And not only that, but he had bright orange hair too, which wasn't a very common combination. But, her brother had died years go. And even though she had been very young at the time, she unfortunately remembered everything very clearly.

She let out a sigh as she started walking in the general direction of her family, her mind racing. It was true, (even though she didn't like to admit it) that she could see ghosts, but she knew as much about the afterlife as anyone else. And the thing that bothered her was that even though the person she had just seen was defiantly older, he shared an uncanny resemblance to her dead brother.

She let out another sigh.

Ichigo…

Rukia pushed her way through the crowd pulling Ichigo behind her.

"Rukia, can you slow down!"

"No! We need to find that soul!"

"Yeah, but breaking my arm won't help!" At this point Rukia had pushed her way to the front, where she finally let go of him.

As Ichigo walked up next to Rukia he looked at the scene before him. The first thing he saw was the old hospital standing in front of them. Then around the entrance there were a bunch of guys setting up things like cameras and lights.

Ichigo turned to the girl next to him. "Hey, Rukia…Where did you say we were?"

Rukia pulled the sheet of paper from her pocket and examined it. "Well…the coordinates say-"

"No, not the coordinates! What is the name of the town?"

She looked at the paper again. "Oh! Um…let's see… it's some town called Karakura." Ichigo's eyes opened wide at her information.

"Why do you want to know?" she asked, curious about his behavior.

"Well-"

But, Ichigo was suddenly interrupted by a blood curdling scream that only he and Rukia seemed to be able to hear. They looked up to the ghost of a man chained to the building.

"THIS HOSPITAL IS MINE!" he screamed. "I WON'T LET ANYONE TAKE IT FROM ME!"

As he continued to rant, Ichigo and Rukia turned toward each other. "Well it looks like we found the ghost. So what should we do about him?"

"Hmm…well, we don't really need to rush," answered Rukia. "The chain of fate is still for the most part intact and it would probably be easier to just wait until no one else is around." Ichigo nodded in agreement. As long as no one irritated the hole in its chest, everything would be fine.

Then coming from the camera crew they heard the countdown to the show. When they finally reached zero, everyone was wildly looking around until one person yelled, "Look up there, in the sky!"

Everyone immediately looked up to see a weirdly dressed man in a parachute, fall down. "SPIRITS ARE ALWAYS WITH YOU!" the man shouted, everyone joining in with him at the end as he made his touch down. Then the cry of "BOHAHAHA!" rang through the night.

Ichigo and Rukia looked around them, bewildered.

"Hmm..," said Rukia as she watched the action around her. "So that's the star of tonight's festivities! What a spectacular entrance!" The excitement seemed to be catching on to her. Ichigo looked at her like she had lost her mind.

He turned back to watch as the man, Don Kanonji, walked surprisingly toward the ghost. Maybe he really could see ghosts.

He turned to the crowd. "This one defiantly smells mean spirit!" Then the man took out his cane and stepped toward the ghost stabbing it in the already forming hole in its chest.

Ichigo and Rukia watched in horror as the gap in the ghost's chest widened until it was completely ripped open.

"Rukia!" yelled Ichigo as the soul screamed, hurting the ears of anyone who had the ability to hear.

"I know! I know!" she shouted back, just as panicked. If this didn't stop then they would be dealing with a full out hollow.

Both of them reached into their pockets for the substitute, popped them into their mouths and felt their souls being pushed out of the gigais. As soon as they were in their soul forms they quickly rushed forward toward the scene.

Then just as they came up to the screaming soul and Don Kanonji, the soul suddenly exploded. Time seemed to stand still as the soul shattered to pieces and disappeared.

Don Kanonji was the first to react. "MISSON ACOMPLISHED!" he shouted. A cheer rang threw the crowd. Ichigo and Rukia looked around nervously trying to spot a hollow.

"What are you two spirits doing here?" Surprised, Ichigo and Rukia turned to see Don Kanonji addressing them.

"What are we doing here!?! What are you doing!?!" yelled Ichigo as Rukia took out her cell phone.

"Don't you know who I am?" he asked. "I am the century's premier spiritualist, Don Kanonji! I cleanse souls!"

Ichigo was not in the mood for this guy. "Do you know what you've done!?! You didn't cleanse it, you-"

"Ichigo! On the roof!" shouted Rukia franticly. Both Ichigo and Don Kanonji looked toward the roof to see the hollow materialize.

"Shit! Now we have to deal with a hollow!" Ichigo drew his zanpaku-to as Rukia did the same.

The hollow jumped down from the roof shouting, "FEED ME!!"

Rukia held out her left hand. "Hado 4, Byakurai!" Lightning shot from her finger tips aimed directly at the hollow.

When the kido hit it, it let out a cream, it kept charging forward, this time towards them. Ichigo brought up his sword defensively in front of himself and was about to run toward the hollow when Kanonji grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

"W-what?" As he fell back he saw Don Kanonji set forward and hold his cane in front of him.

What the hell?!? Does he intend to fight that thing?

Just as the hollow was coming down on the spiritualist Rukia jumped in the way, her zanpaku-to holding the creature back. Then with all the strength she could muster she pushed her blade forward, forcing the hollow to slide back.

Rukia looked over her shoulder at Ichigo. "Hurry up you lazy fool! We need to get this thing before it hurts someone!" Then she looked toward Kanonji. "You! Get out of the way!"

Don Kanonji looked at her, completely taken aback. "But-but, my dear. That's impossible!"

"Huh?" Rukia was now confused. Why wouldn't this idiot get out of the way? "Why?"

"Because…," he said. "I am a hero!" Rukia and Ichigo (who had just come up) stared at the crazy man standing in front of them.

Another shriek came from behind them. They turned to see the hollow charging at them again. This time Ichigo came out in front and came across with his zanpaku-to. His slash created a scratch across his face, but it was not enough to break the mask.

Screaming out in agony at the wound that it had just received, the hollow launched back. Taking the opportunity, Ichigo ran towards the hollow again. But, just as he was bring down his blade, the hollow shot some sticky stuff out from its mouth, which hit Ichigo's hands, causing them to stick to the hilt. Even though his hands were stuck, Ichigo still brought down the sword to slash another cut across its mask, this time forcing the hollow to fly back and crash into the hospital building. Gasps could be heard from the crowd as one of the walls of the hospital was smashed by an invisible force.

Rukia ran up alongside Ichigo. "Can you move your hands at all?" Ichigo shook his head. "Okay, than look I think I might have a plan, but, we're going to have to do this quick and get a deep enough cut into his mask." Ichigo nodded as she explained it to him.

Two hundred feet away, the hollow was standing up again. It let out yet another scream and started running again towards the ones who had damaged his mask.

As the hollow came at them once again, Ichigo prepared himself, trying to gather as much spiritual pressure as he could, focusing it into his zanpaku-to. Then lunging forward, he brought the sword across, aiming for the bottom portion of the mask. Then coming up from behind him, Rukia jumped up over his head, crashing her sword through the upper half of the mask.

The hollow's mask shattered. As it fell to the ground, Ichigo looked down at his hands as the sticky goo, hardened and then cracked and broke into pieces.

"You did it!" shouted Kanonji. Ichigo and Rukia spun around to who was smiling and clapping his hands. When they didn't respond, he stopped and looked at them. "What's wrong? You did it! You defeated the monster! Why aren't you two happy?"

Ichigo was the one who answered. "It's not a monster, it's a hollow." Kanonji watched, shocked as the hollow before him stared fading away showing the face of the soul that he had 'cleansed'. "When a soul's chain of fate breaks and a hole opens their chest, the soul becomes a hollow, that creature, you called a monster."

Kanonji looked Ichigo, his eyes wide as he absorbed all of the information. "I-I thought I was freeing them by breaking those chains." He looked like he was about to cry.

"Hey, this is no time to cry," said Rukia sternly. Then her voice changed to one more amused. "Come on hero" she waved her hand towards the cheering crowd "your public awaits."

Don Kanonji turned toward the crowd and smiled. "Thank you," he whispered to Ichigo and Rukia. Then he turned back to his fans and cried, "BOHAHAHAHA!!"

Ichigo and Rukia watched, shaking their heads in wonder at the odd spiritualist. Then Ichigo started looking around, searching. "Hey...umm…Rukia? Where are Chappy and Kon?"

Rukia's head snapped up and unsuccessfully searched through the crowd for the two troublesome souls.

Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other. "Damn it!"

He approached the door and knocked, a quiet 'Come in' came from the other side before he opened the door to allow him into the office. The man was sitting at his desk doing paper work as usual.

"Umm…excuse me, sir, but I was told that everyone was to receive a copy of this." He held up a stack of papers, placing them down on the desk.

He didn't even look up from his work. "And this is?"

"It's an update on the students who are currently attending the academy, sir."

The man at his desk nodded, not really giving much attention. "Oh? Is there anyone promising?"

"Actually, there are some students who look very promising. In fact, two of them defeated a hollow during their semester practical. I suggest that you take a look at them."

"Very well, I will look at it later."

"Umm…I was also told to inform you that they have bios on each of the students including their grades, record, and a photo ID."

He nodded his head again in response. "Is there anything else that you need to tell me?"

"No sir."

"Alright, you may leave."

He bowed. "Of course, Kuchiki-taicho."

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PLEASE REVIEW!!! I really want to hear your comments.

With this chapter I really shortened the whole Don Kanonji thing because I figure that all of you have already know what's going on so I just changed a few things and shortened it. I wanted to just let you know that because I will probably be doing that with other chapters in the future.

~StrawberryShinigami