A/N:

Thanks everyone for your kind reviews :)

I've gotten another chapter done so quickly because I'm going to be busy for the next few weeks and might not be able to keep up with the weekly chapter updates.

It was only when night fell and Ichigo was lounging on his futon in the shelter that he realised Kosuke never mentioned how they would get in contact if Ichigo made it into the Academy.

Too late to do anything about it now.

Ichigo shrugged and moved to lay down.

What are you planning to do, Ichigo?

Ichigo inwardly cringed at Zangetsu's question.

Now that he had no more pressing matters to attend to, he had time to seriously consider his actions from now on. Things would be easy if he simply went to meet his friends and family in Seireitei, but there was a something preventing him from doing that. Part of it had to do with the fact that he didn't know how to face them again after being away for years, but a larger part of it had to do with Ichigo's innate nature. He was a natural fighter and protector. He'd been doing it since young with his sisters, then standing up for himself and his friends against bullies, then with the Shinigami in their war. Now that there was no purpose for him to be fighting anymore, Ichigo wasn't sure he wouldn't spend his days simply wallowing in restlessness. He wouldn't be able to just stay put and take orders from the Gotei 13.

Then again, it wasn't like he wanted to fight. War is a terrible thing in any day and age.

Ichigo simply wanted to be free.

Oi King, we can feel you brooding. It's starting to rain, you shit.

Ichigo gave Shiro his best mental eye roll hoping his begrudging housemate could feel that too.

I guess I'll have to find my friends. They'll all recognise me as soon as they see me walking around anyway.

I'll let things take their course.

You could always stay in Rukongai.

Coming from Zangetsu, it wasn't a suggestion but rather an option for Ichigo to consider.

He really could just stay, but somehow it didn't feel right. Ichigo only left Soul Society after the war because there weren't any threats left against his friends and family that the Captains couldn't handle. Now that he was here, however, Ichigo felt a thread of responsibility which compelled him to be among the fighting force whether or not they were facing enemies.

Ichigo laughed mockingly to an empty room. He was so full of contradictions.

I'm going to Seireitei.

Ichigo made up his mind.

He had to enter the Academy first, but there was no doubt in his mind that he had passed that laughable Academy enrolment test.

In the morning, Ichigo woke up to Kosuke standing at the door of the large hall he had slept in, waiting to bring him to the Academy.

Ichigo should have been worried about how easily Kosuke had found him, but seeing as there hadn't been a whole squad descending upon him, he didn't bother enough to ask.

On the way to the Academy, Ichigo passed the same huge gate that had given him so much trouble back when he was saving Rukia, but he didn't get to reminisce the delicious battles that took place since he was so distracted in his own head. He felt a little guilty for even entirely missing Kosuke's introduction of various landmarks in the area (not that he needed it, but it sounded like the Shinigami had put in effort).

Ichigo was thankful for the fact that the route they took was far away from the area that housed the division barracks. This meant that the two hardly came across other Shinigami besides the few who were on courier missions or assigned on patrol.

Shin'o Academy looked different from how Ichigo had imagined it to be.

He only had short glimpses of it during the war when he happened to travel past it. Compared to a normal colleges he was used to, the Academy was almost three times larger. It consisted of buildings dedicated entirely to lecture halls and classrooms, and fields upon fields of training grounds that were split into different sections for the different combat forms.

Once Kosuke had left him at the entrance with a cheery 'good luck', Ichigo entered the main office to submit the referral form that he received from Eito.

Somewhat used to administrative procedures after going through many airports and shifting around in the human world, Ichigo did not expect a sheet of paper to be thrust into his hands as the only acknowledgement that they knew he was there. There was no one questioning his origin or motives, or even taking down his personal details.

The grumpy spectacled assistant then ushered him toward where Ichigo assumed was the dorms, still scowling and maintaining silence.

Maybe I came at a bad time.

As Ichigo trailed after his guide along a corridor, Ichigo spotted a tall woman with neatly braided hair, sporting a Captain's hoari flowing in the wind behind her.

Shit.

Unohana-taichou was walking from one of the lecture halls with Isana trailing behind her.

Of course, with the way Ichigo's luck was, the Fourth Division Captain immediately spotted him and his guide as well.

Damn the Captains' freaky reiatsu sensing abilities.

You're in deep shit now… kekeke.

Thanks, shiro. Ever so helpful.

Just doin' my job, King.

"A new student today, Rai-kun?" Unohana asked as she approached closer to where Ichigo was following this 'Rai-kun'.

Rai's expression immediately morphed from disgruntled disinterest into respectful compliance as he greeted the Captain.

"Yes, he just arrived from the first district of Rukongai."

Ichigo was too busy bracing himself for the moment Unohana would identify him to be surprised that Rai actually knew where he came from.

He would get dragged to a familiar Assembly Hall and get a tongue-lashing – from Karin, from Kisuke, from Kyoraku, maybe even from Byakuya if the noble does it in a way that maintained his stoic dignity. He would get yelled at for leaving all of them so suddenly and worrying them.

Then, they'd probably hug him to death before he was conscripted into their ranks.

Ichigo was inwardly panicking, not quite deciding if he should be relieved that he doesn't have to continue snooping around anymore, or terrified that he would now have to face everyone he had actively avoided.

"Well, have fun in the Academy." Unohana smiled serenely as she addressed Ichigo before walking away.

Ichigo stood rooted to the spot. Only the knowledge that Rai was close to him prevented him from showing any outright shock on his face.

Huh?

What the hell was that?

The Captain had completely dismissed Ichigo as a mere Academy student.

The last he checked, he was still Kurosaki Ichigo – the Vizard who fought alongside every single one of the Gotei 13 Captains at least once. He still had his mop of annoyingly bright orange hair and trademark semi-permanent smile.

Why had she not recognized him?

Are they not looking for me?

Even if they had already given up on finding him, the Captain would have at least acknowledged him since they were mostly on good terms – even though their interactions usually consisted of her trying to tie him down to a bed long enough for her to heal him before he ran off into battle again.

There was no reason for him to be completely ignored.

Move, you dimwit.

At Shiro's probing, Ichigo realised Rai had already walked further ahead.

He pushed all his muddled thoughts to the back of his mind for thinking about later.

"Hey, Rai?" Ichigo called out as he jogged to catch up with the Shinigami. "What happens if you meet someone you knew before you died?" Ichigo asked.

Rai hadn't seemed to notice Ichigo's previous shock.

"What? Nothing, of course." Rai replied derisively without even a falter in his steps. "Most wouldn't even remember."

"And my name is Raido. Do well to address me appropriately." Raido admonished.

Great.

The first person Ichigo met at the Academy just had to have a stick up his ass.

"It would be Kuchiki-san to you." Raido continued.

That explains it.

This Shinigami was probably some cousin of the great Byakuya, epitome of stoicism. Raido's dismissive tone suggested no more conversation would be tolerated.

Once Ichigo had been shown to his room, he was instructed to fill in his name for each class he was registered for indicated in the schedule given to him. He had to wonder what name Eito put down in his referral form. It was likely something along the lines of 'forgot so don't ask'.

This meant Ichigo could be anyone he wanted to be. The though would have been rather unsettling, but with what had happened earlier, it was a little exciting.

Instead of immediately settling in his room (not that he had any belongings in the first place), Ichigo used the map of the Academy he had received to search for the library. There should be some answers to his confusing situation there.

He had to understand what happened earlier with the Captain.

"It's been a week and you still haven't found Ichigo?" Yoruichi huffed from where she was perched on the armrest of Kisuke's chair.

Yoruichi knew that her genius childhood friend was against the idea of dragging Ichigo into Shinigami affairs once again, but this was just too much.

"I assure you, it isn't from the lack of trying." Kisuke replied with frustration lacing his voice.

"I just can't locate him. He might have learned how to hide his reiatsu signature too well." Kisuke explained as he turned to stare pointedly at Yoruichi from under his bucket hat.

The goddess of flash had the decency to look mildly sheepish. She had been the one to teach Ichigo after all.

Right after the Gotei 13 had been notified of Ichigo's death in the human world, they brought in Kisuke to track down the Vizard, giving the ex-Captain his own office and lab to work in.

Kisuke had already been working round the clock for the past week and was beyond frustrated. Not even quantum physics had phased him before when he had been idly reading in the human world.

Then again, when had things ever been easy when it came to Ichigo?

Things would be so much easier if only they knew the exact location of the sudden reiatsu source. Despite not having any concrete proof, Kisuke was convinced that the sudden spike in reiatsu at that area was due to Ichigo's arrival. He had never believed in coincidences, especially one so convenient as this.

The problem was, the reiatsu source had been so massive and widespread that the science division couldn't pinpoint it to any one district. The best lead they had was that it had originated somewhere in the East.

"How can not a single person notice a bright orange-head around Soul Society? He's hot enough to attract some attention at least." Yoruichi wondered aloud.

Apart from the initial four squads, all divisions also had their Shinigami patrolling the accessible areas of Soul Society whenever they had additional manpower. It was hard to believe that they would have absolutely no further leads.

Kisuke sighed.

"The thing is, we might not recognize him even if we did see him." Kisuke said. "This case is unprecedented because Ichigo is the only human-turned-Shinigami while he was still human. His capacity of reiatsu is at an obscene level, so passing into death wouldn't have affected him in the least.

"If my theory is right, this world would have given him some sort of protective anonymity so that no one would tie his soul to the person that he was before he died. That's the way Soul Society works, with new beginnings and what not. This means that the people who knew Ichigo from before wouldn't recognise him as 'Kurosaki Ichigo'. He could be right in front of them with the same face and hair, but unless he himself explains who he is, no one would ever know." Kisuke explained.

The implications of that were clear. Ichigo would have to come to them since they had no way of going to him.

No one knew what the unpredictable Vizard will do.

"I'll update you on anything I hear." Yoruichi informed her friend before getting up to leave.

She could see that Kisuke was close to the point of giving up, but he was their best bet and she wanted him to maintain hope. For all his genius, Kisuke was unexpected fragile when it came to things or people he was personally invested in.

"Kai! You trounced everyone in the practice hall again!" Hoshi exclaimed excitedly as he ran up to a certain orange-head and clapped him on his back.

Maybe I went overboard just now…

Heck no! It was still too mild for my taste, dammit.

Ichigo gave his best mental eye-roll. Everythingwas always too mild for Shiro.

After doing his research and experimenting with his convenient anonymity here in Soul Society, Ichigo decided to go by the name of 'Kai' – short for Kaien – as a sort of tribute to the late ancestor whom he had heard many stories about from Kukaku, and had slowly grown to respect.

It was unexpected that nobody would recognise him, but now, he had the opportunity to do anything he wanted in Seireitei without the burden of his name and without the need to confront his friends and family.

He would take the chance.

It has only been a week since class started and Ichigo was already pummelling everyone in the practice halls.

Ichigo had entered mid-semester and had a lot of catching up to do with his written schoolwork. The practical lessons that were based on the four Shinigami combat forms, however, were a breeze for him.

Yoruichi had taught Ichigo how to suppress his massive reiatsu a year into the war when more covert operations were required. It had been a pain back then, but Ichigo was so grateful for it now that he had to permanently suppress a large portion of his reiatsu just to get through lessons without traumatising one.

As it was, the amount of reiatsu he was using was still overkill, seeing as he managed to top all his classes within the short time he had been at the Academy. Even Ichigo's sad excuse of Kido was leaps and bounds better than the other students (but to be fair, he was a war veteran).

Only week into classes, and Ichigo found that most of the students in the Academy avoided him. It was nothing unusual. His scowl and punk-coloured hair usually kept people away or earned him unwanted attention. He could chalk it up to people not knowing him as well as his high school friends had, who were comfortable being around him with his rough demeanour.

Ichigo could also see clear factions of students in the Academy. As dense as he was with social conventions, no one could miss the obvious air of nobility and arrogance around certain groups of students who would condescend to the other group of 'Rukongai trash'.

At least the nobles were smart enough to leave the 'Rukongai born' Ichigo alone after seeing his display of skill.

Ichigo was allocated to a single room, which he greatly appreciated since he didn't have to talk to anyone outside of classes. It was a good thing too, because he hardly slept more than a few hours each night out of habit, and would spend the time working out or reading in his room. That would've disturbed whoever might have been unlucky enough to have him as a roommate.

There was only one person who constantly sought out Ichigo.

Hoshi had a slight build with messy dark blue hair, matching blue eyes, and always looked a tad awkward in the kosode and hakama that all students wore. As far as Ichigo knew, Hoshi was from one of the minor noble families living under the protection of another larger clan in Seireitei. Like Ichigo, he didn't really fit in anywhere – not noble enough, but also not scrub enough. Hoshi had entered the Academy at the start of the year and was in a few of Ichigo's classes. Ichigo got the feeling that Hoshi might have been bullied prior to Ichigo's arrival, and if sticking to Ichigo would help the other student, Ichigo didn't mind.

The first thing Ichigo learned about Hoshi was that the student was a chatterbox. One would have thought that Ichigo would hate it, but he really didn't mind. Hoshi's chatting wasn't the annoying and incessant sort and Ichigo could learn a lot about Soul Society's culture and on-goings through his new friend.

It took only another week for Ichigo's teachers to take notice of him. It was a given, with the kind of scores he was getting. They began to discuss pushing him into final year classes for the next semester and let him make up for the remaining years that he skipped through doing an apprenticeship coursework.

This means that Ichigo would have to tag along with an attached teaching assistant of the Gotei 13 and do some easy Shinigami work with an actual squad.

They left the choice up to Ichigo since it wouldn't be an easy commitment. The workload would be heavy and working with actual Shinigami was not something to take lightly.

You've already decided?

Of course.

This offer couldn't have come at a better time for Ichigo.

He was already getting bored out of his mind during lessons. There was pretty much nothing the Academy teachers could teach him since he could easily defeat all of them with both eyes closed and both hands tied behind his back.

He usually spent his free time holed up in the library reading about Soul Society history and whatever caught his interest, or in his inner mindscape sparring with Shiro and Zangetsu. Even doing all that, however, wasn't enough to ease his restlessness.

It was another week of the same classroom routine before Ichigo met his attachment officer.

The look on the faces of the nobles were priceless when a teacher had called him out of class to lead him to the staff office.

Ichigo prayed to whatever god could hear him out there that it wouldn't be anyone he was familiar with. No one would recognise him, but it would still be mental torture for him.

Naturally, Ichigo's luck did its work yet again.

"This is Kuchiki Raido." The Zanjutsu Head introduced.

"He has been helping out at the Academy frequently as an ambassador of the Sixth Division, and you'll be attached to him for your advancement course.

"I'll let you two get to it." The Zanjutsu Head dismissed himself and promptly left them after the introduction.

Both Ichigo and Raido simply stared at one another in silence.

"It's you." Raido initiated, indicating that he had actually noticed Ichigo when they first met at the Academy (Ichigo wouldn't put it past him to have forgotten that whole affair entirely).

"It's me." Ichigo confirmed while he was mentally groaning.

It could have been worse.

For once, Ichigo was not thankful for the old man's sensibility, because it sure as hell could have been a lot better too.

"You must have quite the potential for you to be skipping straight to final year. This might be a record if I'm not wrong."

"Go big or go home, right?"

Ignoring Ichigo's comment, Raido collected his papers in preparation to leave the office.

"Working in a squad is not child's play, regardless of your ability or intellect. The Sixth Division, especially, is very strict when it comes to conduct and discipline. If you have any qualms regarding my training, you can bring them to your instructor and request to terminate this arrangement at any time."

Ichigo remained silent. What was he supposed to say to that?

Raido paused in his movements to study Ichigo for a moment.

"Our Division has high expectations." Raido emphasised.

"I know."

Raido raised one sceptical eyebrow at Ichigo, which irked Ichigo to the point of him wanting to prove to the other man just how much he really knew.

"You will be following me at all times from Wednesdays to Saturdays, even in the barrack bunks. We will have a bed ready for you. You will do whatever you're instructed to do by me or any other Sixth Division officer. Mondays and Tuesdays will be for your Academy lessons and you're free to do what you like on Sundays.

"You start tomorrow." Raido left the room with the clear dismissal.

What an uptight ass.

A/N:

Thanks for reading, and please leave a review on your way out!

I'm quite pleased with how my writing has improved since the previous time, and I hope my lovely readers can feel it too .