I'm going to assume that all of you know that I do not own Bleach, and that all of you know what the format of Ichigo's thoughts, Shiro's speech, and Zangetsu's speech is. As such, I will not bore you anymore with currently useless disclaimers and format examples.

Ichi's current situation: Ichigo's at the Academy. Aizen's currently touring, and Ichigo's first class with Aizen just ended. Aizen's viewing advanced 7th year kido next, while Ichigo has reiatsu control. He's having trouble keeping his emotions in check because of the cyclone of negative emotion threatening to consume his inner world.

Chapter 24 – Inner Change

Ichigo was incredibly jumpy and irritable during his reiatsu control class. Zangetsu had been unable to push the hurricane back to its former size, so until the end of class Ichigo was stuck with an acerbic temper and a gradually worsening tingling throughout his body. During the practical portions of the class, Ichigo's hands wouldn't stop twitching. Luckily, at the end of the period, Kimoto-sensei was obsevant enough to notice Ichigo's discomfort and pale, clammy skin; she excused him for the rest of the day to get some rest. After sending messages via hell butterflies to Matsumura-sensei (excusing Ichigo from his class) and to the infirmary (to inform them of Ichigo's condition), Kimoto ordered Ichigo to go to the infirmary and to rest for the remainder of the day. Ichigo thanked her and tried to smile, but it came out as a sour grimace instead. And instead of heading for the infirmary, Ichigo unsteadily shunpoed straight to the clearing in the woods. Shiro materialized the instant Ichigo was within the Sekki-Sekki boundary, looking shaky.

"Get that hurricane out of your inner world!" he spat, shaking little bits of debris from himself and the wrapping of the white Zangetsu. Ichigo was sure that the debris had come from the demolished buildings in his inner world.

"What happened?"

"I got too close to that behemoth, that's what," Shiro grumbled.

/Can you two please get on with it?/ Zangetsu sounded strained.

Ichigo took a deep breath. "Right," he said aloud. He materialized the foreign mask and held it upside-down in his hands. He fingered it gingerly, as if it would shatter if he gripped it too hard.

So how do we do this? Ichigo asked Zangetsu.

/Just get rid of your negative emotions and fright – accept that your power's changed. Then spar to get rid of the excess tension, I guess./ Zangetsu grunted.

Ichigo flipped the mask over. The unfamiliar black stripes stared up at him, as before. Ichigo closed his eyes to help concentrate. He really hated soul-searching, but he didn't have a choice.

Why did the mask impact Ichigo so negatively?

Shiro didn't know how much his power had changed. That uncertainty was quite alarming, but through experiance and pushing the limits of his abilities, that problem could be taken care of. Getting used to the mask's extra weight would take some time, but it wasn't that big of an issue at all. So if Ichigo wasn't all that bothered by the mask's changes, why was he reacting so violently?

A small tendril of anxiety reached Ichigo through the mental link with his inner spirits. Ichigo traced it back to its source and could have sworn that hell had frozen over. Since when did his inner hollow feel anything remotely like fear?!

Apparently, Zangetsu felt the emotion, too. /Shiro, cut it out! You're making this thing bigger!/

Ichigo felt Shiro twitch beside him. That wasn't me!! he objected.

/Perhaps Shiro's feelings are cycling through Ichigo and enlarging this cyclone./ Zangetsu mused, ignoring Shiro's vehement denials and Ichigo's heated protests that hollows didn't feel fear. Zangetsu suddenly gasped and all three parts of Ichigo's soul winced as the hurricane pushed forward, completely engulfing the buildings that controlled Ichigo's pain receptors and creeping in on Ichigo's long-term memories.

Shiro, we don't have time for this! Ichigo shouted mentally. There was an annoying buzzing in his head and he felt disconnected from his body, save for a pins-and-needles sensation in his left foot. Ichigo's knees crumpled and he abruptly found himself on all fours. Shiro!

Shiro was faced with a quandary: keep his silence and possibly drive them all insane or inwardly admit that he'd been acting unhollow-like. Sanity vs. pride. Before the time warp, Shiro would have chosen to keep the latter without hesitation. Hell, he wouldn't have even been having this conflict, and he wouldn't have been feeling the offending emotions in the first place! But then King had been thrown into the past, and something within the time stream, or Urahara's device, or both, had changed him on some base level. Shiro suddenly found rational thought a lot more appealing than before, and he abruptly felt that sanity was much more important than pride. So what was holding him back? Shiro was no coward, so why was he acting like one?!

Resolve hardened, Shiro sat on the ground and shut his gold-on-black eyes.

Shiro wondered what he was supposed to do. Why did a hollow need to soul-search? Shiro wouldn't have ever done this before the warp, but the backwards situation King had landed him in wouldn't allow Shiro to act as he normally would.

What did Zangetsu say to do? Accept that his power had changed, or something?

The changes had started with Urahara's device. The locks keeping Shiro in the darkest depths of his King's soul had suddenly been dissolved, catapulting Shiro back into King's sideways world. There were two sensations he remembered of the time: an unbearably painful migraine and a strange reiatsu that permeated through King's inner world. It had apparently been making subtle changes to Shiro's very being, since when he was able to think past the pounding headache, he realized that the destructive instincts that all hollows possess had been restrained to the point where his thoughts were mostly rational and logical. Emotions that Shiro had never experienced before reared their heads over the following days; amusement, sadness, confusion, and fear had thrown Shiro completely out of whack, but he soon adjusted to his new emotions. For example, when Zangetsu had stopped Shiro's fight with Ichigo and ordered him to leave during their first Sunday training session, Shiro, after no small amount of annoyance, had followed Zangetsu's orders, without the normal killing rage that usually accompanied someone's dismissal of him. Shiro had been so caught up controlling his newfound emotions that he'd paid little attention to his own power, and aside from an odd twinge or two when he sparred with Ichigo, there seemed to be nothing amiss with his abilities.

Then, when Ichigo had summoned the mask for Hokkaido, Shiro had been absolutely dumbfounded. Only a substantial change in his power could have altered the mask so drastically. How the hell could Shiro have not noticed that significant of a change?! Was he growing weaker? Shiro really panicked then – weakness always led to death, in some way or another.

/SHIRO!/ Ichigo and Zangetsu screeched together. Shiro was vaguely aware of his King completely collapsing to the ground. Unpleasant emotions twanged through the mental bond that had Shiro flinching. Now was not the time to be panicking!

Shiro scowled in frustration. Even now, these stupid emotions were negatively affecting his King and Zangetsu! What had changed? Shiro mentally sorted through his memories. There were little hints of the answer seemingly everywhere in Shiro's memory, but nothing added up to the correct solution. Shiro knew he was missing something that should have been obvious, but-

The white Zangetsu hummed, its power flowing through Shiro unexpectedly, and the answer hit Shiro like a ton of bricks. How could he have been so blind? The emotions, the rationality, his separation from Zangetsu – which had been confirmed from the white Zangetsu's sudden power surge (perhaps as a defense from the impending insanity of the hurricane) – it all fit!

The knowledge was bittersweet in Shiro's mind. Somehow, without any of the parts of Ichigo's soul noticing, Shiro had managed to become an Arrancar…

Within Ichigo's sideways inner world, the howling storm calmed. After it became clear that the hurricane would no longer encroach on Ichigo's inner world, Zangetsu released the reiatsu he was using to hold the cyclone at bay and took a few moments to regain his strength. Keeping that behemoth at bay had taxed much of Zangetsu's reiryoku, leaving him weak and shaky. The zanpakuto couldn't remember a time when he'd ever felt so exhausted. When the whirlwind dwindled to a size that was hardly worth worrying about, Zangetsu materialized to one of the oddest sights he'd ever seen: his wielder was sprawled on the ground, comfortably resting, while the hollow was sitting in a meditative pose, an odd cross between an excited grin and a pained grimace on his face. Zangetsu really had to wonder about Shiro's sudden change in personality… after all, the hollow had done a 180° flip from sadistic and insane to rational and somewhat restrained (though still sadistic at times).

When Shiro opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Zangetsu watching him expectantly while nudging a prone Ichigo with his toe. Ichigo stirred, then abruptly shot into a sitting position, blinking rapidly. After experimentally moving his various appendages and finding them to be just fine after the cyclone's departure he turned to Shiro and exclaimed, "So it was you!" He stood and continued, "Let's get back to the Academy before we're missed."

Zangetsu was scrutinizing Shiro oddly, as if he expected Shiro to violently refute Ichigo's first statement. Shiro supposed his behavior was downright peculiar, but he felt completely drained. He couldn't summon up sufficient energy to start an argument with his King.

Ichigo also picked up on Shiro's relatively peaceful demeanor. "Is something wrong? You're acting weird…"

"I'm sure both of you have both noticed… certain changes… about me," Shiro began. Ichigo's eyebrow twitched in irritation. What did this have to do with his original question? His annoyance was ignored, and Shiro spoke again. "Especially you, Zangetsu." The zanpakuto nodded in confirmation. "I'm acting more rationally, I'm separate from Zangetsu, and this white zanpakuto isn't a version of Zangetsu…" Zangetsu's eyes widened in realization.

"Just spit it out already!" Ichigo scowled.

"Isn't it obvious, Ichigo?" Zangetsu interrupted. Ichigo's glare negatively answered the zanpakuto spirit's prodding. "He's somehow turned himself into an Arrancar, Ichigo."

One…

Two…

"WHAT?!?!"

After Ichigo stopped spluttering incoherently and making stupid comments, Zangetsu brought up several important issues that needed addressing. "If you are indeed an Arrancar, why is Ichigo's mask still whole, and what is the name of that zanpakuto?"

"I don't know! Not knowing my own strength and abilities is incredibly frustrating..."

"Then how the hell are we supposed to get stronger to use those powers? We don't have the time to experiment with your abilities!" Ichigo exclaimed exasperatedly.

"I. Don't. Know!!" Shiro snapped.

"That's enough, you two. Be quiet," Zangetsu ordered in a low tone, a grave expression on his face.

"What is it?" Ichigo asked worriedly. Zangetsu was the best reiatsu sensor of the three, and the zanpakuto had to have sensed something serious to put him in such a somber mood.

"I don't sense anything extraordinarily different, but I have an ominous feeling of dread. We need to go. Now." Zangetsu latched onto Shiro's arm and pulled them both back into Ichigo's inner world. Ichigo, sensing Zangetsu's urgency, shunpoed as fast as he could back to the Academy. Hopefully this new development had nothing to do with the visiting captain...

The 7th year advanced kido class was impressive, considering that Aizen was viewing students and not full Shinigami. There were a couple of promising kido users, but even the best of the bunch could only do up to the lower level forty spells without the incantation.

After the kido class ended and Aizen paid the proper courtesies to the teacher and students, he strolled leisurely to the last class he was viewing: the combined 1st-3rd year Practical Combat. There, he would be able to get a better grasp of Kira's, Hinamori's, and Abarai's current skill levels and possible growth rates as well as study Kurosaki's behavior a bit more. But when Aizen arrived, only three of the four freshmen were present. Upon an inquiry to Matsumura, he discovered that the freshman in question had been feeling unwell and had been excused from classes for the day by Chikako Kimoto, the reiatsu control instructor. Aizen made a mental note to visit the infirmary after class.

To Aizen, Practical Combat classes were always extremely interesting to watch. Tatsuya Matsumura was ingenious in combining the four fighting arts in unique combinations; even Aizen had to be impressed. The man could have easily been made a captain if he had more reiryoku and a bankai.

Kira, Hinamori, and Abarai kept up surprisingly well, even as well as some of the third years, but they all had troubles using kido with zanjutsu, especially Abarai.

Throughout the class, Aizen gave pointers to each of the students to help improve their performance. He knew that almost every student would leave the class with loyalty to him. After all, they'd been paid special attention to the 5th squad captain, hadn't they? Loyal squad members were likely to deny anything malicious about Aizen's mannerisms.

After the class, Aizen again exchanged pleasantries with the teacher and then headed off to the infirmary. It wouldn't be out of character at all for a "caring" captain like himself to visit the infirmary to lift the bedridden students' spirits (and possibly give some hints to help avoid the nurses' lair in the future). Hopefully, once there, Aizen would be able to finally have a one-on-one chat with Kurosaki.

Ichigo arrived at the Academy only a few minutes before the last class ended.

/Go check in at the infirmary so that you don't get in trouble, then let's retire to the dorm./ Zangetsu suggested. /Aizen can't go there if he wants to keep his façade up./

Ichigo dashed to the infirmary and, upon interrogation from the nurses (since they, too, had received a hell butterfly from Kimoto), Ichigo informed them that he'd been resting in his dorm and currently felt perfectly fine. The nurses didn't let him go until they'd run a diagnostics spell on him, during which Ichigo became increasingly fidgety. They finally cleared him to go after ordering him to head straight to his dorm for more rest, and Ichigo dashed back to the relative safety of his dorm. Hopefully the janitors had replaced his door by then...

Aizen sauntered into the infirmary and warmly greeted the nurses on-duty and the currently bedridden students. Both groups immediately became star-struck in his presence. After exchanging the pleasantries and advice that his fatherly façade required, Aizen was finally able to query about the whereabouts of a certain orange-haired freshman.

One of the younger nurses answered, "Kurosaki-san was feeling unwell at the end of his fifth-period class, so he rested in his dorm throughout all of the sixth period and recently came here to claim that he was just fine; all he needed was rest. The diagnostics spell we ran on him showed that Kurosaki had a severe case of mental exhaustion, matching what he had told us. He left for his dorm just before you came, sir."

Aizen smiled and thanked her before exiting the infirmary. Kurosaki's mental exhaustion confirmed that Kurosaki had been consciously warping his reiatsu, and it had worn out the freshman, but it didn't seem to do any lasting mental damage. Unfortunately, Aizen couldn't pursue the freshman into the dorms; students liked their privacy, and carelessly touring the dorms would seem out of character for the "understanding" captain. Sometimes, Aizen reflected, his façade was a pain to maintain. But it was a necessary deception if Aizen wanted to carry out his plans unhindered.

After reviewing the timetable Aizen had received at the front desk, Aizen determined that he and Gin would dine at the Academy and then leave. "We'll be staying for dinner, Gin, and then we can return to the barracks." After a few moments, Aizen added, "You've been awfully quiet."

"Ah, but if I wasn't, I'd scare away all the little kids," Gin sing-songed. "Wouldn't want that, now would we?"

Sentaro Kotsubaki groaned loudly as yet another stack of paperwork was slammed down in front of him by the third squad's lieutenant. Similarly, his partner, Kiyone Kotetsu, growled as the ninth squad's lieutenant did the same.

"Darn it! Why do we have to do all this paperwork? It's not fair!" she complained as the two lieutenants trotted away smugly.

"Because you showed up here drunk, again," Kaien Shiba stressed, annoyed, as he rounded the corner to keep an eye on his two troublesome fourth seats.

"But lieutenant," Kiyone whined. "Why'd you have to give us paperwork?"

Kaien glared. "Punishment is punishment. You can't come crying to me because you two keep failing to do your duties! Now get on with it!"

"Well, it looks like someone's in a bad mood," Kiyone huffed.

"One would think that you two would have learned your lesson, especially after I sent you two to the Academy to help the janitors with their cleaning," Kaien commented dryly.

"Menial?! I get stuck with kitchen duty, and Sentaro over there gets to test the newbies! His job was anything but menial!" Kiyone protested.

"It's not my fault that my abilities are in higher demand than yours," Sentaro said slyly.

"You just shut up! My abilities are far superior to yours, and it's not my fault that sexists run the Academy!" Kiyone fumed.

"Excuses, excuses," Sentaro grinned. "Just admit it: they respect me more than you!"

"Is that so?" Kiyone growled. "You're nothing but a stupid, lazy-"

"WILL YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP AND GET WORKING?!" Kaien roared.

"Hai!" Both troublemakers returned to their respective mountains of paperwork.

"By the way, lieutenant?" Sentaro called at a much more reasonable volume. "Tell the captain that we should visit the Academy sometime! There's someone there he should meet!"

"Really?" Kaien looked interested. "Who is it? Is it that prodigy that's getting assigned a seat before he even graduates? Oh, what's his name?..."

"It's not him. It's one of the freshmen I tested. He sparred equally with me in hakuda, knocked out one of the other testers attempting a low-level bakudo, and beat me in zanjutsu in only five minutes (1)," Sentaro responded calmly.

Kiyone laughed. "Stupid Sentaro, getting beaten by a freshman who hadn't even had a single class yet!"

"Shut up Kiyone!" Sentaro barked. "He'd obviously been trained before, and his reiryoku was level seven, so even you would have probably been overwhelmed!"

"A freshman defeating a fourth seat?" Kaien said in disbelief. "That sounds just like Gin Ichimaru's record, being on a lieutenant's level right after graduating… Who is he?"

"His name was Ichigo Kurosaki," Sentaro spat around Kiyone's hands tugging at various parts of his face. "Ow! Stop that, Kiyone!"

"A strawberry, huh? Interesting name for a guy," Kaien murmured.

"I thought so too!" Sentaro declared after sending Kiyone headfirst through one of the windows. "And he looks just like you, lieutenant! Except he has bright orange hair!"

"Hmm… Perhaps we should talk to the captain about visiting the Academy sometime this year," Kaien grinned. "We wouldn't want the other squads to call dibs on the prodigy, would we?"

"No sir!" Sentaro and a recovered Kiyone shouted simultaneously.

(1) I'm sure you're all wondering why I lengthened the time Ichigo took to beat Sentaro. I redid the chapter where Ichi's tested AGAIN, since I think it's the one that needs the most work. Other than reworking most of the text and removing shundo from Ichi's arsenal of moves, this is the only major change I made to the chapter.

Reiryoku means spirit energy, for those of you who don't know.

In the last chapter, I had someone ask if the things I had put in parentheses (the names Rin and Muguruma) were questions. They're not; they're the characters thoughts – they're asking themselves if that's the name of the person or not. That's the way my whole fic has been operating, and it won't change now. Just to clear thing up with those of you that were wondering…

By the way, when I put adjectives like "kind" and "understanding" in quotations in regards to Aizen, he's quoting what other people have said about him, not sarcastically giving himself those descriptions.

I haven't had any requests for a list of teachers, and I'm mildly surprised. Anyway, I'm posting a list here so that you can keep the teachers I've introduced straight in your head.

Hotaka Hokkaido – 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year hoho
Takeshi Ikoto – 1st year zanjutsu
Suzume Kiyosugi – 1st and 2nd year kido
Koichi Akamizu – 1st and 2nd year hakuda
Chikako Kimoto – all years reiatsu control
Yuka Morishita – all years healing
Eiji Tanikawa – all years zanpakuto meditation
Tatsuya Matsumura – all years Practical Combat
Akihiro Nakajima – 6th year advanced zanjutsu and 7th year regular kido
Raiden Tsukino – 7th year advanced hakuda and 7th year advanced zanjutsu

Alright, I have a new poll on my profile. It's very similar to the old poll, though this one is a bit more specific… Do me a favor and vote on it, please?

Wow, the author's notes were long in this chapter... I really like the second part of the chapter, but I'm still really iffy about the first part... Ugh. Oh, and Ukitake & co won't be showing up at the Academy for a while, just to let y'all know...

-HM