Bleached

Chapter 8: Meeting (and Ichigo's plan backfires)

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AN: -.-'...I just noticed my title is exactly like another author's...well, too late! Sorry, Bjorn...but anyway! 10 000 hits, eyh! Enjoy!

Zanpakouto speech

§ Kuchiki Mansion §

"Isn't he the most beautiful man, Kiko?"

"Oh, yes. But he is quite young, isn't he? He probably won't marry for a couple of centuries."

"But that doesn't mean he isn't a good catch. Heir Lord of one of the Great Noble Houses, and the most talented to enter the Academy..."

"I hear he'll probably be a seated officer by the time he's out of the Academy. Maybe even a lieutenant."

"He is quite popular at the Academy, though he doesn't have that many freinds, I hear."

"Oh my! But I heard that he and the Kuchiki Heir Lord are close."

"It sure looks so! Aren't you seeing those two walking alongside each other? They look like they were taken out of an artpiece!"

"Do you think...?"

As all the ladies who were talking got a violent nose-bleed, Ichigo and Byakuya rushed out of the ballroom. They were going to meet the interim Kuchiki Lord, Kuchiki Ginrei at his request, or rather, Ichigo was going to meet him. Unfortunately that meant that they had to pass through the ballroom where all the guests were enjoying themselves. Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief when they finally reached their destination, and then blinked in surprise. So this was where Kaien, Kokouto, and Isshin hid out. Without him. Luckily (for the elder Shibas), Ichigo noticed someone else in the room before he could re-unite his foot with Kaien's face. Byakuya cleared his throat.

"Grandfather, this is my friend, Heir Lord Shiba Ichigo, who is also training me. Ichigo, my grandfather, Kuchiki Ginrei, interim Kuchiki Lord." Ichigo bowed slightly.

"It is nice to meet yo-" the orange haired man was cut off in typical Shiba fashion by Kaien and Isshin.

"You're training him?! Why?!" the two yelled simultaniously. Ichigo was rather taken aback, but was saved the trouble of explaining when Byaluya cut in.

"I asked him for help, Kaien-sama. You see, the two of us have unfortunately accumilated a *shudder* fan-following, so when Ichigo used a shunpo almost on par with the hellca- I mean, Shihouin-san to save us from the creatures, I knew that I had the prefect oppurtunity to become stronger." Kaien and Isshin seemed to be surprised, and Kaien looked to shout out another question. Once again, Kaien was saved.

"Oh really now? Tell me, how is my grandson faring, Heir Lord Shiba?" Kuchiki Ginrei asked curiously. The old man had been quiet until now, observing Ichigo. With his long orange hair up in a ponytail, and a beautiful kimono in a light brown colour which brought out his magnificent eyes, the Shiba heir truly was a sight. And that reiatsu! Ginrei had truly been surprised to note that this Shiba actually wasn't on a constant hype, like the rest of the clan, a fact he welcomed. The Kuchiki Clan Head refocused, noting that Ichigo was answering his query.

"Of course he is talented, as proven by him spending only three years at the Academy. But he was stuck when it came to contacting his zanpakotou. I just gave him a shove in the right direction." Hearing his answer, Byakuya smirked, something Ginrei noticed.

"Is it somthing you would like to add, Byakuya?" Ginrei asked, knowing that this could lead to knowing the Shiba heir, who was clearly trying to downplay himself, better. Byakuya coughed, hiding a snort, knowing that Ichigo would be embarrassed if he told everyone present just how good he was. And best friends lived to embarrass each other.

"Oh, just that he helped me achieve my Shikai in 12 days after he started teaching me. And we've been trainig for the past three months. Everyday. Ichigo reckons I am about the same level as a third seat. Just to illustrate my point I will admit to being weaker than a 20th seat when we began training." The pin drop silence that followed caused Byakuya to smile in satisfaction Ah, the sweet sound of silence caused by shock. Meanwhile Ichigo was debating ways he could ki-train Byakuya when they got back to school. A shunpo race around the girls' dorms sounded really nice. And the fact that most of them were fangirls had just slipped his mind. Apparently. He was suddenly being suffocated by a real emotional Kaien, who was rambling on about how proud he was, and how, yeah you get the picture. Noting that Ichigo was turning an unhealthy shade of blue, Ginrei quickly intervened.

"Shikai? That is truly good news, Byakuya. If we could have a demonstration of it sometime tomorrow, that would be great, and cement your position as a Heir Lord. What is your opinion, Ichigo-san?" Ichigo, who had been released sent Ginrei a grateful look before he smirked.

"I am sorry, Ginrei-sama, but you have to wait until the graduation ceremony. Wouldn't want to spoil a surprise, would I?" Ginrei blinked at the answer, before he sighed.

"You really like surprising people, don't you?" the Kuchiki Head half-asked, half-stated to Ichigo, who smirked once again.

"What can I say? People look so funny when they are surprised. It's my only source of entertainment anyways. Have you not noticed how funny Kaien looks when he's shocked? " As Kaien burst into indignant protests, Ginrei smiled secretively. It looked like his grandson was in the right hands.

§ Shin'ou Academy, after holidays, Zanjutsu class §

Ichigo was annoyed. Really, really, annoyed. The constant admiring glances from the female pupils, and some of the guys, was getting to him. He didn't remember them being so obvious before the holidays. Of course they'd sent him glances, but they did it discreetly. Now the they were almost staring at openly. He'd thought that the teacher would do something, but it appeared as if he'd joined the rest of them in "Ichigo-watching".

"Hey, King, I have an idea.." Shiro said, interrupting his plans of escape. Ichigo sighed, maybe his hollow-sword had a good solution to this problem.

'Go on, Shiro.' Ichigo said back in his mind. He didn't want to give the class a reason to stare, more that is.

"I thought maybe you could scare them into submission. Just ask the teacher to spar with you, and then cream him. That way that pervert will stop fucking staring at your...hair." Ichigo shuddered at Shiro's implication, but considered his suggestion. Ichigo felt a shiver run down his spine, and turned around. Did the fucking just drool?! While staring at Ichigo's...hair?!

'That's it, that fucker is going so down he'll end up in Hell! Shiro, if this backfires, you're responsible!' Shiro sputtered in response, demanding some logic. Ichigo walked to the teacher.

"Oki-sensei, could you spar with me?" Ichigo asked the pervert, barely keeping from making a face of disgust. Though if the amused expression of Byakuya was anything to go by, he wasn't very successful.

"O-o-of course! Of course Ichigo san! It will be a pleasure to be hit by yo- I mean, It is my responsibility as a teacher to make sure that my students are learning. Lead the w-way!"As Oki stammered out a confirmation, Ichigo made his way to one of the training rings. Unfortunately, Byakuya muttered something when he passed him.

"Good luck, Ichigo. I was wondering when you were going to break, and by the way, he's still staring at your derriere, like the rest of the class" Ichigo shot Byakuya a glare, which the noble responded to with a smirk.

'Note to self; make Byakuya run ten laps around the whole of Seireitei, at full speed, which is to be followed by a good old spar.' Ichigo thought to himself.

"Noted." Yhwach muttered, feeling a little sorry for the poor noble. Ichigo finally took a stance, which may have looked a little loose to newbies, but for an experienced fighter, it was easy to see that Ichigo was decievingly open. Fortunately for Oki, he was experienced enough to notice the decieptiveness of the stance. Unfortunately for Oki, Ichigo was a war veteran. And was proved to be stronger than the Soul King when he defeated the united form of the Reiou and Juuhabach. Shiro grinned gleefully in Ichigo's inner world. Pervert-sensei was going down, alright.

The tension was obvious in Oki's shoulders, and when after a minute of neither parties attacking, the pervo attacked. Ichigo was slightly surprised at noticing the killing intent the sensei excluded, but quickly dodged the flurry of stabs and slashes that Oki generated, making it clear that he wasn't even bothered by enough to use shunpo. Or draw Zangetsu. Oki paused after a while, accepting the fact he couldn't match Ichigo, breathing heavily while taking a defensive stance. Ichigo just raised an eyebrow.

"It seems like the rumours aren't without truth. You are indeed a fukutaicho level shinigami if you were able to avoid my attacks without even using shunpo. And I am a former member of the Onmitsukido." Oki's statement caused gasps of surprise from the audience. The class was now sending Ichigo weird looks, especially the fangirls. Ichigo steeled himself as to not shift uncomfortably, or scream. Oki then said something that caught Ichigo's attention. And the rest of the class' as well.

"Well, it seems I have to release my shikai. Shine, Akiko!" A bright light erupted, blinding Ichigo and the rest of the students. This seemed to be Oki's objective as he grabbed Ichigo's partial blindness as a chance to attack. Ichigo surprised Oki as he blocked the attack and the flurry that followed without even looking. Without Zangetsu. It was now clear to see Oki's frustration, partially because the class regained their sight, and partially because he was cursing like a saillor. And everyone of Oki's students knew that the man hated nothing more than cursing. Nothing. Byakuya smirked. Ichigo smiled coldly, a habit he'd picked from Aizen.

"Thank you for the spar, Oki-sensei. I will enjoy crushing you. Oh, and never. Stare. At. My. Butt. Ever. Thank you." With that Ichigo disappeared in a flicker of shunpo. What happened next was blur for the class. But when the dust cleared from the hole in the wall, they noticed that Oki was lying in the rubble, unconcious. Ichigo wiped some invisible dust off hs uniform.

"Well, that's that. Come, Byakuya, I have a great training plan for you today. Tell me, how does.." as Byakuya paled, the class exchanged wide-eyed glances.

"Oh wow! He's more awesome than I thought!"

"He was so dreamy!"

"He's probably the Reiou in disguise!"

"Don't be ridi- well, now that I think about it, it might be a possibility..."

"Possibility! I believe fully that Ichigo-sama is the Reiou. And even if he wasn't, it doesn't matter. He's surely stronger than the Reiou!"

"We must honour him! What if we all go down on one knee and bow to him when he is in the vicinity?"

"Oh yes! That will make him feel comfortable with us!"

Oh, how wrong they were...

§Omake (i just had to do one)§

One Gengoro Onobara stared. Blinked, stared. He then closed and opened his mouth repeatedly like a goldfish.

"Care to repeat that?" the Head Academy instructor uttered to his informant.

"I said that Kurosaki Ichigo hospitaliz-"

"No, no, who cares about that perv? I was talking about the part where the Advanced Sixth Year class decided that Ichigo was a version of the Reiou? Is it really true?" Onobara interrupted, making the informant sweatdrop.

"Uh, well, yes."

Silence.

Then a snort.

A cough, hiding a chuckle.

Full blown laughter.

The informant was now sweating buckets, believing that he'd broken the man. Onobara finally calmed down, though he was still giggling, which he would deny to his second death.

'Looks like Ichigo had landed himself in a Royal Mess.' the Head thought, as he once again erupted in thigh slapping laughter.

§End omake§

Next: Graduation