Chapter One:

Ichigo grunted as he felt the newest Hollow appear in the town; it was nothing special, being a normal un-evolved hollow. He itched to go and take care of it himself, but stayed his hand and relaxed when he felt Uryu take care of it fairly quickly. He was currently sitting in class, so his boredom and tedious work was also putting him on edge.

"Uryu is getting stronger Ichigo. He is doing well." Yhwach said from his inner world.

Ichigo nodded with a proud smile at his friend's strength. "Yeah, I think at the moment that he would have a good chance against Grimmjow even without using Letzt Stil. With it he could probably fight handily against Nnoitra."

Yhwach nodded within Ichigo, pleased with his assessment of Uryu's strength. "Well, it is to be expected of someone able to survive my counterpart's Auswahlen." He confirmed. "But for someone to not only survive the Auswahlen, but also absorb the majority of the power used to create it is unbelievable." He smirked.

Ichigo smirked a little cockily. "Thanks, but I'm still not even at Uryu's level yet. It hasn't even been a week since we started, after all." He said, then he frowned when he remembered what was going to happen later on down the line. "Also, the ability of that counterpart of yours that you told me about is troubling. The Almighty is going to be a problem. I can't even begin to think of a way to counter that." Ichigo lamented.

Yhwach nodded in agreement, also frustrated by the lack of ideas. "Indeed. If we don't find a solution soon then his authority over the ability will make it so that he could steal your Quincy power from you. The only way I can think of to counter it would be making you more powerful than him."

Ichigo nodded. "That's going to be tough. We don't know when he's going to attack now that you told me that me absorbing most of his Auswahlen would delay his revival."

"I think the most we can do at the moment is just continue training as hard as is possible." Yhwach proposed. Ichigo silently agreed. They both stayed silent for a while, Ichigo just sitting and listening to his teacher, and Yhwach with his eyes closed in Ichigo's inner world. Suddenly, Yhwach's eyes snapped open. "Ichigo." He prompted.

"Yeah, I feel it. Someone with a decent level of power is watching me." He affirmed. It was fairly close by, and it was not much of a threat to him, but nonetheless it was possible it was hiding its power or was just a spy for someone else. Sitting up in his chair, he discreetly looked around the classroom and out the window, but realized that it wasn't in the room. Using a quincy technique, he sent a miniscule burst of reiatsu into the air around him and let it spread for around 500 hundred meters before absorbing it back.

Using his senses, he could determine where the person was by sensing an unfamiliar addition of reiatsu to the burst that he reabsorbed.

Ichigo frowned when he sensed the unfamiliar reiatsu. "That's weird." He muttered.

The power itself was on the level of a fairly mid seated Shinigami, maybe a fourth seat; so power wise it wasn't a threat that he could tell. However it wasn't the strength that perplexed him; the power itself was unlike anything he had felt before.

At the moment it was at the auditorium around his teachers, so he left it alone. He knew that because it was the last day of the school year that the students would be taken to the auditorium for a speach from the headmaster. He could investigate better then.

[Timeskip - Auditorium]

After the last class of the day had finished, the students had been lead to the auditorium and were now seated according to each class seating plan. He was not sat right at the front, but he was close enough that he could now clearly sense the presence from earlier waiting just offstage.

"Quiet please!" The assisstant headteacher exclaimed, getting the noise from the students to die down. The now assistant headteacher was his previous teacher, Misato Ochi. "Thank you. The headmaster will now make his address." She said, walking off to the side.

An average looking old guy walked forward then, standing at the podium. He was fairly short, standing at 5'4" with a combover and square glasses. He smiled at the students. "Hello students! I'm very proud to see you all successfully make it through another year. I hope you enjoy your holiday, and are ready to return to school fresh and ready for another year in two months!" He exclaimed, causing the students to clap politely but unenthusiastically.

The headmaster sweatdropped at the lack of enthusiasm, then coughed into his hand to regain composure. "If you would remain seated a while longer, a representative from a sponsor of ours, Kuoh Academy, will now make a speach." He announced, causing some whispering among the students.

"Kuoh Academy? The all girls school?"

"Yeah, though I heard they changed to co-ed a year or two ago."

*Gasp* "That means it'll still mostly be girls! Aw yeah! I'm totally going to ask my parents to transfer!" One guy exclaimed excitedly.

"Baka! It's an extremely high-class Academy for the Elite! Only rich and intelligent people go there." A girl told him.

"Damn. So only people like Inoue-san, Uryu Ishida and Ichigo Kurosaki can go there." Another guy cursed.

"Mhmm, Ishida-kun and Kurosaki-kun deserve to go there. Unlike you." The girl nodded, making the guy slump, depressed.

Ichigo felt a little embarrassed at the praise he overheard from the girl, it had been happening a lot more recently since he started taking his studies more seriously and tried to stop wasting his own time fighting thugs.

He snapped out of his slight embarrassment when he felt the odd power move on the stage. Looking up, he noticed an early thirties looking man with startlingly red hair on the stage. He was tall, being a bit taller than Ichigo at around 6'3". He was smiling, and judging by the reactions of the girls, he was an attractive guy. Still, now that he was closer Ichigo could tell that he was actually quite a bit more powerful than he first thought. He seemed to actually be around the level of an average captain, something that startled Ichigo due to the difference between this and lower power he sensed from him earlier.

The man stood up to the podium. "Greetings, congratulations on completing your junior highschool years. My name is Sebastian Gremory, I am the dean of Kuoh Academy." He introduced, bowing in greeting. This caused most of the girls to blush and squee quietly, and most of the guys except Ichigo to fume silently. Standing up straight, he smiled faintly at the reaction he recieved. "Due to a program organized by our two educational institutions, a test has been organized should you wish to take it that will allow you to qualify for admittance to our academy next year." He announced.

This caused quite a few students to cheer, making the man smile. "Thank you. I must warn you though, this test will not be easy. Only the truly worthy will be able to make it. Anyone can take it though, and should you fail the test you will still be able to attend Karakura High." He said, reassuring some of the nervous students.

"Now, thank you for listening. The test will take place exactly one week from now at Kuoh Academy itself, this will allow you to experience the campus before you attend next year." He said, making to step back. "Oh-" He said, stepping back to the podium. "Could Ichigo Kurosaki stay behind please." He said.

This caused Ichigo's eyes to snap back to the man as he was filing out with the other students. He was looking directly at Ichigo and smiling, something that put Ichigo on edge even though he didn't sense any hostile intentions.

Quite a few other students whispered and looked between him and Sebastian, wondering why he was being kept behind.

Once all the students had left, it was just him, the headmaster and Sebastian. "Now, mister Kurosaki." He said, placing his hand in front of the Headmaster's face, causing him to lose consciousness and begin to fall over until Sebastian caught him and placed him in a chair.

Ichigo immediately stepped into a defensive stance. "Who are you?!" He demanded.

Sebastian blinked and held his hands up in surrender. "Woah, wait! I just didn't think the topic I wanted to discuss was for human ears!" He exclaimed in defense.

Ichigo stayed in the defensive stance. "Well sorry if I'm a bit skeptical. You just showed up and specifically requested to see me alone when I've never met or heard of you before. Also, you just knocked out the headmaster with some kind of Kido." He snapped.

Sebastian looked confused for a second. "Kido..?" He muttered. After a moment he made a face of realization and started chuckling. "Oh! You probably think I'm a rogue Shinigami or something."

Ichigo scrunched his eyebrows. "You aren't?" He asked. He still couldn't sense malevolent intentions, so he slowly relaxed.

Sebastian shook his head in the negative. "No, I'm not. I'm not a Shinigami." He raised a hand when Ichigo made to talk. "I'm not a Hollow either. Nor am I a mod soul, Quincy or Bount."

Ichigo frowned, trying to determine the nature of the man before him. "A sinner then?" He asked warily. Last time he had encountered a sinner he had betrayed him and caused him to almost destroy the chains of hell; so he wasn't exactly excited about meeting another one.

Sebastian smirked. "You're getting closer, but no." He denied. "Look, suffice it to say I'm not your enemy. Right Isshin?"

"Right." Another voice stated. Widening his eyes, Ichigo turned to see his father standing there, smirking at the man still standing on the stage. "Stop standing on the stage trying to be all grandiose, Sebastian. You're making my kid uneasy."

Sebastian stepped down from the stage. "Sorry, force of habit. My sin is pride, you know." He stated good naturedly. Looking at Ichigo, he smiled kindly. "Sorry about the strange introduction. I haven't seen you since you were little so I wanted to make a grand entrance." He explained.

Ichigo blinked. "We've met?"

Sebastien slumped in depression. "So you really don't remember me." He sobbed. "I was there at your mother's funeral with my daughter. I suppose it was a difficult time, so you probably blocked it out."

Isshin nodded. "Yeah, Ichigo doesn't seem to remember a few things from back then."

"What did you mean when you said I was close with guessing you were a Sinner?" Ichigo asked. "And why are we having this conversation in the gym?" He asked.

"Yes, it is a bit of a strange setting for three people who are just talking. Here, let's walk to your house Isshin. We'll talk on the way." He said, starting to walk with the other two following him. "As for your question, Ichigo. I'm what's known as a Devil." He said.

"A Devil?" Ichigo blinked. "As in those red skinned, horned demons with wings and a tail?" He asked.

Sebastian chuckled at the description. "Not quite, no. This is actually how I look. While Devils are accustomed to transformation magic, it is generally to keep themselves appearing young. I myself am over a thousand years old."

Ichigo stumbled at that information. "A thousand years old? That makes you almost as old as Yama-Jii!" He said. "How have you not been noticed by soul society until now?" He asked.

Sebastian looked at Ichigo strangely. "What? Of course I've been noticed. It's hard not to notice the father of the leader of a faction that is larger than your own." He said.

It was Ichigo's turn to look at Sebastian strangely. "Larger than the Soul Society?" He muttered. Thinking back, when he visited hell it did look somewhat bigger than the Soul Society. "I suppose hell did look bigger than the soul society, but I never saw any Devils there." He said.

Sebastian outright laughed at that, making Ichigo scowl. "Sorry, it's just you comparing the Underworld to Hell made me chuckle a bit. What you soul reapers see when you kill evil souls or 'hollows' is the gates to hell. Hell is where the sinners reside to be punished. It is a pocket dimension attatched to the underworld much like the soul society is attached to earth." He explained, making Ichigo nod.

"What does the Underworld look like then?" Ichigo asked.

"Earth, just without any seas. Also it has a purple sky." He said.

Ichigo widened his eyes. "There are that many Devils?" He breathed out.

Sebastian shook his head. "No, despite the size of our home our population is still many times less than 1% of the human population. It's why each Devil family can own land the size of a country. suppose to you that is still quite large. The Devils are the largest faction next to heaven and the fallen angels after all. We also share the Underworld with the fallen angels."

"How come I have never seen any Devils or anything in Karakura? Every time we've fought something with powers it's either been a hollow, quincy, bount or Shinigami." He asked.

Isshin cleared his throat. "I can answer that. You have heard the term Jureichi before, right Ichigo?" He asked, making Ichigo nod.

"Yeah, I've heard Yama-jii and Toshirou use it. It's some kind of spiritually dense area, right?" He asked.

Isshin nodded. "Exactly. To be specific, it is the human world's anchor to the Soul Society. It isn't technically a physical thing, it is just an extremely large area of land infused with an immense amount of spiritual pressure. Since the Soul Society is the largest faction of spiritual beings, it is given juristiction over Karakura town. That's why people not of either Shinigami, Hollow or Quincy background are either never or very rarely seen here."

Ichigo looked at Sebastian then. "So why are you allowed here then?" He asked.

Sebastian chuckled. "Very good. I'm here for you. I would like to offer you a scholarship to Kuoh Academy." He said. They had just reached the Kurosaki household, so they entered and sat in the living room. School had finished somewhat early so Yuzu and Karin were still not back yet.

Ichigo blinked. "A scholarship? Look, thanks for the offer but..."

"Ichigo, I know that you recently awakened your quincy powers." Isshin cut him off. Ichigo snapped his mouth shut, not knowing what to say. Isshin sighed. "I'm sure by now you've realized that they must have come from your mother." Ichigo nodded. "You need to go to Kuoh Academy Ichigo, otherwise the soul society will discover your new powers." He insisted.

Ichigo scowled. "Why do I need to? Ishida is a Quincy and the Soul Society hasn't done anything to him."

"Yes, but they haven't exactly been friendly either. They've mostly just tolerated him. What do you think they'll do if they discover you to have Quincy powers? Surely you don't think that they'd appreciate a copy of the father of Quincies existing within you?" Isshin said calmly. Sebastian, listening a few feet away, widened his eyes and unconsciously stepped back.

'Who knew Ichigo would have the son of a God within him.' Sebastian thought.

"How'd you know about that?!" Ichigo exclaimed, startled.

"Ichigo, tell them not to be alarmed. I am coming out." Yhwach said.

"Becau-" Isshin started.

"Wait, he says he wants to come out." Ichigo interrupted him.

Isshin's jaw went slack at Ichigo's words. "He... he's awake in there? He's conscious!?" He shouted. Ichigo just leant back, surprised at his father's anger.

"Isshin." Sebastian said sternly. Looking at him, Isshin seemed to restrain himself.

"Bring him out then." Isshin gritted out.

"I am here." A deep voice said. Turning, they all found Yhwach there, standing in front of the television. Isshin clenched his fist, his face an obvious picture of anger. Instead of his previous look when posing as Zangetsu, he no longer wore sunglasses. Now, he appeared as his true identity of Yhwach. However instead of his normal white military double-breasted trench coat outfit and black cloak, it was a black military double-breasted trench coat and white cloak. He was a tall man, appearing to be at least 6'6" with shoulder length black hair and a small amount of stubble.

Isshin gazed upon the legendary enemy of the Soul Society with barely restrained hatred, his fist clenched and his reiatsu spiking. Yhwach seemed to sense this, and closed his eyes. "There is no need for anger, Isshin Kurosaki." He said calmly.

"And why's that." Isshin growled, making Ichigo wonder why he hated this man so much. He assumed it was because he was an enemy of soul society.

"Because I am not actually Yhwach. I am merely a representation of Ichigo's quincy powers that contains the memories of Yhwach so that Ichigo may learn Quincy techniques, much like a Zanpakuto helps a Shinigami learn their techniques. The reason I appear this way is because no other appearance has previously been needed. However, this is not to say I do not understand your anger towards this form." He explained.

Isshin seemed to calm down at this, though he remained wary of the being. "Can you change your appearance?" He asked.

Yhwach/Quincy Ichigo seemed to think. "I suppose. I do not exist to be creative, however I do have a form in mind. I think Ichigo will recognise this." For a second nothing happened, then Yhwach seemed to shrink, going from an enormous 6'6" to a tall but not unusual 6'2". His age decreased to what seemed to be lower twenties, his eyes changing from brown to deep red. His outfit changed to what Ichigo recognised to be Mugetsu, however covering the chest bandages was a sleeved cloak of the same material as the hakama.

"Mugetsu." Ichigo said.

"Indeed. Also, if the name Yhwach makes you uncomfortable, just call me Mugetsu for now. I won't exist forever anyway." He revealed.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked.

"I will only exist until I have transferred my knowledge to you. Once that is done it will be up to you to continue training your abilities. I estimate that this will happen in around three months."

Ichigo sighed. "I understand."

"Good. However Ichigo, I do agree with Isshin. I advise you to attend Kuoh Academy." He said.

Ichigo frowned. "You too? But why? You said yourself that you will dissapear in three months."

"Yes, but that is not the point. The Soul Society will not hate you Ichigo, but their law dictates that they cannot allow Quincies to exist in the Jureichi because of their ability to completely erase the existence of souls. It is why your friend Ishida has decided to attend Medical school in Tokyo. If you do not leave, they will be forced to confront you and use force if necessary." The man explained.

Ichigo scowled but agreed. "Fine. Now what?"

Sebastian coughed, drawing attention to himself. "Isshin, Soul Society hasn't found out about Ichigo's powers just yet, am I right?" He asked. Isshin nodded. "Good. In that case, take Ichigo to Urahara and ask him to let Ichigo use the training ground. He probably already knows about his quincy powers anyway."

"After that Ichigo, just train there until someone comes from the Soul Society to tell you to leave. I suspect that they will give you a warning at least. They owe you that much. If they do it before the end of the two months before you start at Kuoh then I will allow you to stay on a property I own just outside of Kuoh. It's in the mountains and is very secluded. You'll be able to train there." He said.

Ichigo nodded. "That sounds fair I guess. Thanks for your help Gremory-san." He said, offering his hand.

Sebastian took his hand and shook it with a smile. "No problem. And call me Sebastian. You're going to meet my daughter at your school so you don't want us to get confused as to who you're addressing."

Ichigo agreed, and after further goodbyes Sebastian disappeared using a magic portal, something that surprised Ichigo.

Isshin looked to his son. "Right, let's get training then shall we?" He grinned.

Ichigo groaned at Isshin's expression, but nonetheless followed him to Urahara's shop.

END CHAPTER