Twisted Wonderland cross with Fem Ichigo. It does not end well for the Soul Society.
Ichigo looked at the letter with open confusion.
"Dad...what's this about me being 'accepted' into a college I've never heard of, much less applied to?"
Isshin didn't bother to hide his relieved smile. He had asked Urahara for help in getting Ichigo far, far away from Karakura and the Soul Society's influence on her. She needed a clean break, especially since Isshin was quite well aware of the toll the war had taken on his eldest.
Urahara's solution was unusual, but might be the thing Ichigo needed to heal.
Night Raven Academy wasn't a normal college, and it was in an area the Soul Society couldn't access due to certain...reasons.
Which was why Isshin had sent in the application, since Ichigo met the cut-off age. Ichigo's powers were still in shock, but Urahara was certain she would bounce back soon enough. Besides, from what he knew of the place freshmen mostly dealt with theory anyway.
There was one tiny hitch to the entire plan... Night Raven was a boy's school, and Ichigo was female. However considering the circumstances and the fact that the school did previously have female students before the dorm was shut down due to reasons Urahara couldn't get out of Crowley.
Ichigo could attend classes, but she would have to follow certain rules that were perfectly reasonable considering she was the lone female attending at the moment.
Urahara was also making sure that Ichigo could still contact her friends and family without any difficulty.
Ichigo...was not amused her dad set this up without mentioning it. That being said, even she could admit she was looking forward to going to a new school. Sure, it meant she couldn't meet her friends for a while, but it sounded like an interesting opportunity.
Once the explained the situation to her friends, they were more than happy for her. Ichigo was armed with a new laptop (specially designed by Urahara), new phone (the signal needed tweaking to make it through the barriers between worlds), and a card to access an account Ichigo hadn't know was in existence.
Apparently Isshin had pressured Urahara about whether or not Ichigo was paid for all the near death experiences she had experienced because of his 'plan'. Urahara, not being an idiot and knowing this would bite him in the ass sooner rather than later, had used his limited connections to the Soul Society to get the money Ichigo should have gotten for compensation alone along with the risk modifier that came from fighting so many high level opponents with little to no thanks from the soul reapers.
After several loud arguments, discussions, and some grudging admittance they did owe the girl for saving their asses (and because they didn't want to piss her off before she could legitimately become part of their organization), Ichigo's shiny new account got several hefty deposits considering she had been fighting opponents most of the soul reapers and captains couldn't.
Ichigo...had mixed feelings about the whole matter considering she hadn't even thought about how to go about being compensated.
Ichigo had a headache. Due to her circumstances, she was not sorted into any of the current houses, as she would be living in the previously forgotten Ramshackle dorm. It might have had a name originally, but after being abandoned for so many years it had been forgotten.
Her headache had less to do about her being sorted into a house, and more to do with the furry nuisance that had interrupted the ceremony.
"Nyahaha... the great Grim won't be dissuaded by something as minor as being thrown out!"
Ichigo sighed, as the cat was a bit of a brat and she hadn't exactly had a chance to determine whether it was worth keeping him. She had always wanted a pet, but having one in a clinic was a rather bad idea, no matter how trained.
Entering the dorm, she couldn't help the twitch that developed upon learning the place was infested with ghosts.
Ghosts who were less than happy that the living were going to be moving in.
Ichigo didn't even think twice...her first punch threw the one near her through a wall, causing his expression to go from condescending to shock. When he came back, he had a rather...odd...look on his face.
"What's a shinigami doing here?"
That got the attention of all the ghosts present, and they looked at Ichigo with a bit more fear now.
"Not a full shinigami, and this was the dorm the Headmage told me to use," she said flatly. "I have no issue with you staying since it's clear you're not going to turn into Hollows anytime soon, but if you piss me off I will kick your ass."
None of them had the chain of fate and it was clear they had been around for a considerable amount of time. More than enough to have turned into hollows or be eaten. As long as they didn't suddenly cause her grief, she could learn to ignore their presence.
Grim looked between Ichigo and the ghosts.
"What's a shinigami?"
"Loosely translated it means 'death god'," said Ichigo absently. "In reality it's the blanket term for the group that deals with the dead and keeping the souls that don't pass on peacefully from causing problems."
"That's roughly correct, though I think there was some issue within the last couple of years regarding one idiot trying to overthrow one of the Great Seven," said one of the ghosts helpfully.
"Great Seven?" asked Ichigo.
"Hades," clarified the ghost.
"...Hades, as in the Greek god of the underworld? As in one of the big three in Greek mythology, brother of Zeus and Poseidon?" said Ichigo incredulous. "That Hades?"
The ghosts all nodded.
"Hades is Ignihyde's founder," said one ghost cheerfully. "They would have more answers for you."
Ichigo made a note to find out who in Ignihyde would explain the rules that shinigami had to follow in this world, as it was almost certainly to curtail several future headaches.
After some quick talking with the ghosts and the headmage, the ghosts agreed to stay away from certain rooms and be allowed free roam as Ichigo honestly didn't have an issue with them being around. Grim was formally registered as her new familiar, and Ichigo was now financially responsible for him as well. If he wanted to attend classes, that was fine, but he had to behave from now on.
The next morning...
Ichigo was woken up to an unholy racket...and it took her exactly five seconds to figure out what was going on.
"Kon, can you please shut up?" she groaned.
In the spirit of keeping Kon far, far away from her developing sisters (and to have a friendly face so far away from home).
"Ichigo! How dare you replace me with this...this...brat?!" said Kon.
"Brat?!" said Grim incensed.
Ichigo promptly hit Grim on the head and tossed Kon at the wall, which he bounced off.
"Shut up, both of you. It's too damn early for this nonsense. Kon, Grim is going to be staying with us from now on. Grim, Kon was here first," said Ichigo firmly.
The two familiars glared at one another. Ichigo growled at them both.
Kon and Grim reluctantly backed down under her glare.
Kon didn't want to attend classes, mostly because he wasn't interested.
Ichigo was so used to having Kon in her bag, that the addition of Grim barely bothered her at all.
She had to sigh with exasperation when Grim's hotheaded nature got him into major trouble, and her by default because he was registered as a familiar.
The two boys who had gotten caught up in the entire mess were terrified of being expelled.
She finally had enough and slapped both of them on the heads.
Something in her eyes quelled their arguing and they simmered down.
"So what's this signature spell nonsense anyway?" asked Ichigo. That had been bothering her.
"Seriously?" said Ace.
"Signature spells are magic that is unique to each mage. It can be shared between family members, but that's fairly rare and only happens in the really old families," said Deuce.
The more he talked about it, the more Ichigo compared it to a zanpakuto ability.
"So what's your signature spell?" asked Ace.
"...The last time I tried to cast spells, it just blew up in my face. Apparently I keep overpowering them," said Ichigo embarrassed.
That got everyone to stop and stare at her.
"You keep overpowering your spells?" said Ace incredulous. "How did you even get into this school then?"
"I didn't say I couldn't use magic, I just said that I overpowered my spells," said Ichigo. "There's a reason I went back to the dorm before we headed to the mine."
At this point she could briefly power the wooden sword Urahara had given her. It was similar enough to the ones most students in the Shinigami Academy had before they awakened their zanpakuto properly that Ichigo could fight with it and hopefully use to manifest Zangetsu outside of her soul reaper form.
She had learned to control her powers in her shinigami form...this was as good a time as any for her to learn how to do it as a human.
The ghosts in the mine took one look at Ichigo, and after some quiet discussion, avoided the group entirely.
Ace and Deuce looked at Ichigo oddly. Grim just wondered what a shinigami was that even the violent ghosts were avoiding her like the plague.
"Why are the ghosts so freaked out?"
"Shinigami have powers over the dead," said Ichigo. "If I were so inclined, I could force them to move on to the next life and it terrifies them. Especially those who did the really bad things in life and are destined to hell. If I force them to move on, they'll never escape. Hell is pretty damn terrifying in general."
"Why do you talk as if you've been there before?" asked Grim.
Ichigo was silent, but it clear there was a story there.
Some time later...
"That thing's gaining on us! RUN!" shouted Ace. The others were hot on his heels, with Ichigo holding up the rear.
Ichigo was still swearing her head off, she couldn't help it. At least her school life wasn't going to be boring, if this was how things went at the school.
The thing took a swipe at Deuce, and Ichigo snapped. She slowed down just a tad and drew her sword. Her powers still weren't at the level they were before, but it was enough to do some damage at least.
Without a second thought, Ichigo pushed her spiritual energy into the sword.
"Getsuga...TENSHO!"
She swung her sword down, aiming it at the monster chasing them. Ace, Deuce and Grim looked at her incredulous, only for their expressions to fill with shock as a wave of pure magic flew from the sword and slammed into the monster.
It let out a screech of agony and pain, and it had clearly taken a hit. Ichigo was breathing heavily, but knew she could fire off one or two more hits if necessary.
The thing was badly wounded, and they continued running.
"Dammit... the mana stone was right there!" said Ace, once they were out.
"Was that your signature spell?" asked Deuce.
"I guess you could call it that," said Ichigo. She was breathing heavily, and it was clear she was winded.
"We're so close...is there any way you could use that spell again?" asked Ace.
"I have one, possibly two more shots of that in me," said Ichigo.
"We need a plan."
"We need to work together," said Ichigo. "Deuce, how many of those cauldrons can you summon?"
Deuce did some quick mental calculations.
"About seven, I think."
"Ace, how many attack spells do you know?" asked Ichigo.
Grim was surprised at how Ichigo formed a loose attack plan with only the minimum amount of information on what everyone could do.
With her acting as the leader, they managed to beat the monster and get the stone. Ichigo also noticed a smaller one nearby and scooped it up. Mostly out of curiosity, but also because she wanted to see what Urahara could do with it.
At least they weren't expelled for it, though she could have done without Ace waking her ass up at two in the morning after she had only just gotten to sleep because he ate something he shouldn't have.