After Byakuya left, the children were told to go to bed. Now they were in the common room on opposite sides of the room. Masa stared at Ichigo. It was the kind of stare that had a voice. It said "Tell me." Ichigo shook his head and chuckled.
"You seem like you want something." Ichigo said, shattering the silence they worked so hard for into a million pieces.
Masa's eyes turned wild, and her face filled with rage. She stood up from her spot on the couch and and then sat back down, again with pure anger.
"Ugh... I can't understand you. Tell me how you know my cousin, why you talk so calmly to him, how he knows you, and oh yah, EVERYTHING ELSE!"
Ichigo thought for a second, and decided on the truth.
"Everything?" That's alot of ground to cover." He said calmly.
He started on his past, his adventures, and went on to his friends, and everything he left behind in his cloud of dust.
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"So that's about it." Ichigo said when he was done explaining. Masa stayed quite the whole time, staring off into the distance.
She thought for a few seconds, then she closed her eyes. Her bangs covered her face and a small smile hinted at the crease of her mouth.
"I see. I can't say I was expecting that."
She said. She tried to deny it, but everything came together like a puzzle piece. Ichigo leaned back and took in a breath. He scratched the back of his head then closed his eyes.
"Now can you stop bugging me?" He reluctantly got up and started for the boys dorm. When she tried to call to him, he waved her off.
"Go to bed." He replied simply. She rolled her eyes and whipped herself around to the girls dorm.
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#####Ichigo's Point of view#########
(Sorry but I'm switching POV'S for a while :)
I hadn't thought about it until now, but I realized something rediculous: why the hell do souls have to sleep.
Regardless of the reason, I lie awake all night reciting Kido, and any other soul-king-forsaken knowledge.
All I can think is: If I want to protect, I have to do this.
So here I am now. And it's morning.
I get up from bed and notice only Dai rustling through his things. Hes pulling something out, then...
"Morning, Dai. What are you doing up so early on a saturday?"
Dai jumps about 4 feet in the air and flings himself into a perfect bow. He freezes, takes a deep breath, then slacks his body.
"Oh...Um sorry about that. My family is really strict." He laughes, scratches his head, and I notice that he's hiding something behind his back. He flings it back into his bag and continues his bag shuffling.
I sigh and get out of bed. Today is the day I go to the Seireitei and take the captain's test. I passed the graduation exam a few days ago, but it's also the day Masa takes her own graduation exam. I don't feel nervous, but I know I should. I shake my head and get ready for the most stressful day of my life (okay, probably not, Aizen was pretty stressful.)
Masa is in the common room, knee deep in text books. A few of her friends are surrounding her, giggling and cheering her on. She has sweat on her fair skinned forehead, and her long hair is in two loose pigtails.
She puts down her books and scowls at me.
"Was the graduation exam as easy as you say? Someone like you shouldn't have passed." She says teasingly. I start to fill with anger, then remember that I was playing the level headed one at this school.
"No... It's the most boring thing I was ever put up to." I say. Her friends giggle and turn around to whisper to her. It's obvious she is the center of the group, and that they all worship her because of her status.
"Let's go. I'll show you to the exam room." I say forcivly.
She laughes nervously and gets up. She says words of goodbye to the girls surrounding her and walks with me to the exam room- one that I spent practicly a whilr day testing in.
"You know, after all his time training together with mystery-woman, I thought you would stop critisizing me. I thought that you would realize that im not some crazy liar by now." I say as we walk down the hallway.
She is purposely swinging her head back and forth, and her hair is bumping my face. I take a step away and wait for her answer.
She thinks for a few paces, then replies "my friends wouldn't approve of that. I have to at least act rude when you and them are both around." She says amatterafactly. She frowns and looks at her shoes.
"I'm sorry. Kuchiki's have high hopes for them. I mean it. I'm sorry."
The word sorry coming out of her mouth didn't fit right. Ichigo chuckled and said "Dont worry about it. Its not like I care." I started to walk faster. She reaches out to me but I wave her off.
she huffs and silently chalenges me to a race to the headmasters office.
"Ms. Kucheki, please sit and wait for the evaluators to give you your exam." The headmaster says. Masa is breathing heavy, having just raced me through the school. I have much more stamina than her, so I am just smirking and staring at the headmaster. "Mr. Kurosaki, you will be escorted to the heart of the Seireitei by thrid seat Ikkaku Maderame." He continued. I scan the room see him, just as he flashed stepped in. He lands in front of Masa and me, and smirks.
Masa sinks her nails into my arm. She murmers into my ear "Dont talk to that...Evil... Being. He is crazy, legitamently a mani-"
"Got youreself killed Ichigo? AND found youreself a royal girlfriend, dont expect me to be jelous." Masa pushes me away and narrows her eyes. She looks from me to Ikkaku, then lets out a groan in frustration.
"What, you know eachother? Ichigo, I get the whole 'I cant tell you everything' answer, but you need to tell SOMEBODY about your phycotic bald friends with lust for bloo-" She stops midsentence as I inturupt her. I know she hates that, but I cant bring myself to feel sorry for her.
"Were not like that, just accantences. And besides, why would I expect you to be jelous over getting myself killed?" We talk back and forth a few more times as Masa gapes in confussion. She tries to speak, but is utterly inturupted each time. I mentally chuckle, knowing I was currently getting payback for all the times she had me in a choke hold. She gave up and threw her hands in frustration.
"Mr. Kurosaki, this is not a social call. I believe you have business to take care of. Goodbye." He says with strain on his voice.
He is glaring at the three of us, his long hair bobbing by his shoulders. Masa stomps over and sits in the office chair.
"Goodbye, carrot-top." She growled. She sounded furocious, but somehow I know it's sincere. I smirk and look to my bald comrade.
"See ya." I say as I start to walk out. Ikkaku laughes and follows.
"So," Ikkaku says quietly as we're flashstepping to the seireitei. The landscape is flat. Fields of grass is all that lays ahead, but I know what my destination is. Ikkaku continues to talk, and his voice is oddly even for having to run st high speed.
"How'd it happen? How'd you die?" His words are abrupt and forced, and his grin is malicious. I sigh and think back to that day, the day that I died.
Suddenly he heard just a tiny, miniscule noise coming from the rooftop. He ignored it, dismissing it as a mistake.
He continued on, and sure enough, the same sound reached his ears minutes later. This time, it sent a chill down his spine.
Again, he continued. But within seconds, the sound became a beat, the beat into footsteps. He turned around, but when he did, cold metal touched his chest. It pierced his skin, then traveled through his very heart to his back.
He didn't know if he was screaming or staring, but his vision blured and blackened. The pain was red hot in his chest, and in a final blow, he collapsed to the ground.
"I don't know." I say thrutfully, after giving it much thought.
"I just....... Died. Just like that. I was stabbed from behind and woke up beside my dead body."
Both Ikkaku and me physically wince at my harsh sentence. He says nothing and the rural landscape turns to the familiar building and houses of the Seireitei. Ichigo smiles, happy to be somewhere he remembers. He was going to become a captain.
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A/N sorry for the filler chapter, I hope you still enjoyed! Just thought I'd throw Ikkaku in the mix for a little comedic jaz. Thanks for reading and keep calm and fan on!"