"Whatttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!! You have got to be kidding me, hell no!" coming from the mouth of one Ichigo Kurosaki could be heard echoing through all of soul society.

"Really Kurosaki there is no need to yell," Kenpachi stated with a smirk. He was more than pleased at the turn of events, only because it had Ichigo in fighting spirit.

"The Hell there ain't! I was a soul reaper for 3 years, why should I have to go to the academy?!" Ichigo stood in the middle of the captains' meeting room.

All the Captains with a few stoic exceptions looked on in amazement at Ichigo's brazen display in the presence of the Head Captain. Yamamoto was in a surprisingly understanding mood and proceeded to explain the reasons for Ichigo's current distress.

"Kurosaki, your experience was taken into account, however, you need the proper education to join the ranks of the Gotei 13. There is no alternative, if you do not attend the academy then you will have to stay in the Rukongai District with all the other souls." Yamamoto said with aged authority that clearly halted all further argument.

Ichigo sighed and nodded in agreement.

After leaving the meeting room Ichigo was shown to the academy dorms by Rukia who talked excitedly about being able to see Ichigo more often.

Ichigo, however, was lost in his own thoughts, remembering the event that had brought him to this point.. 4 hours earlierIchigo had been walking home from school like any other day, while passing the park Ichigo had seen a couple of kids playing ball. He noticed the kid that sat by himself and could tell from his forlorn expression that he was being purposely excluded from the game. The ball bounced towards the street and the lonely kid yelled out that he would get it.

Ichigo could see where the ball was headed and that the kid would follow the ball right out into the busy end of the day traffic. He yelled for the kid to stop and took of to try and stop him. He arrived in time to push the kid out of the way but was too late to remove himself from the path of the was just enough time to see what was coming, and as any true soul reaper, Ichigo was not afraid.

The screech of the breaks was ominous in the ears of the passers-by. They could see the blood pooled on the street and the orange hair, but not the shocked ghost who stood watching as the paramedics attempted and failed to save his life.

Present"It's going to be great Ichigo, you'll finally learn kido and reiatsu control." Rukia smiled affectionately, she was extremely happy that she would get to see Ichigo on a weekly basis.

"Yeah," was the unenthusiastic reply Ichigo gave. For one he didn't really want to attend more school when he died at the end of his senior year and was almost finished with school, for two Ichigo missed his family and was terribly worried about them. He knew they'd probably get along fine with out him, but Yuzu would be out of her mind with grief, and their dad, well Ichigo could only hope the crazy old man didn't put a poster of him next to his mom to complain to.

"Rukia, would I be able to visit my family?" Ichigo asked tentatively. He knew the answer would probably be no but he at least had to find out.

"Um… Maybe, Renji's a captain now and I'm a lieutenant, so I'm sure we could pull some strings, and I know if you promise Kenpachi a fight he'll vote on your side."

"I hope they're okay," was the sad reply Ichigo gave.

"Tell you what, I'll go visit and make sure that everything is fine. I'll even make sure to have one of my best soul reapers assigned to Karakura, kay?" Rukia smiled, she knew how much Ichigo loved his family and she considered them to be family too.

"Thanks Rukia, that means a lot to me." Ichigo smiled and the duo picked up their pace.-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-Ichigo's P.O.V.(Conversations with Ichigo's hollow will be in Italics)

Well this is kinda nice I guess, I get a room to myself. I looked around at the simple dorm room I was assigned. It had a the standard bed roll on the floor, tatami mats, a closet, a desk that had to be knelt in front of, and a dresser. The place was kinda cozy. Rukia said she'd hook me up with a western style bed so I'd be more comfortable, but I liked the place; it was nice and simple. Even though I'd have to share a bathroom with the entire building. According to Rukia they set up the dorms for the academy to be exactly like the ones the squads have. Only Captains had private bathrooms.

Morning (first class) Ichigo was given standard classes.

Dammit!!!! I am so late it's been thirty minutes since kido class started, I thought while running to class. I knocked and entered to find Momo, in the midst of a lecture.

"Well there you are Ichigo, I was wondering when you'd get here." Momo smiled and pointed me to the only empty seat in the far side of the room. I could feel everyone watching me and whispering about my escapades in Hueco Mundo and the time I broke into soul society. Judging by the glares some gave I wasn't forgiven.

I sat down my books and notebooks, It was almost like regular school; everyone was taking notes and had similar textbooks with titles like Kido 101, Reiatsu Control, Novice Edition, and Your Zanpakuto and You.

After an hour of listening to Hinamori-sensei (as she instructed me to call her), a bell rang and everyone filed out. I looked at my next class, Reiatsu Control, and headed towards it. The day passed in a blur. After Reiatsu Control I had Rukongai History, lunch, Gotei 13 History, Zanpakuto Basics, and Standard Combat.

I had finished all my other classes, entered my last class (Standard Combat) expecting the same snooze-fest I'd had all day. I was one of the last ones in so I took the only available seat, one at the front.

Now, as shocked as I had been to see Momo (a lieutenant) teaching, it was nothing in comparison to what I felt when I saw none other than Renji Abarai walk in.