It's the second chapter! I would like to thank all the people who added this story to their favorite stories list or to their story alert. I hope you enjoy chapter two. Its here that the story starts to develop. If you like my fic and you haven't reviewed it then REVIEW IT! I've got almost two hundred hits on my story's traffic and only ONE review! By the way, thank you derderxp and Colton B.

The week had been a drag for Ichigo. Hour after hour of sitting in the same spot with nothing else to do, but schoolwork. Some students would try to get away with talking or passing notes, but Ichigo was in no mood to get scolded by the monitor. Ichigo was thankfully undisturbed by Michiyaki who only gave Ichigo a few ugly looks. Ichigo grudgingly did his work; it was all studying and not the practice that all of it required, so half of his work would have to be done outside of the IBS classroom. To the relief of everybody in the classroom there was only a few minutes left until class was dismissed and that meant that they could choose their squads.

Ichigo's heart was racing in his chest. 'Could there be a spot open in the thirteenth division? Can I make it in there? Can I see Rukia?' Ichigo scolded himself for worrying too much.

The bell rang and nobody hesitated to get out of the room. Ichigo gathered his books, rose from his desk and walked out of the IBS room at a quick pace; he made sure that he was ahead of the rest of the students to better his chances in the thirteenth squad. The squad picks were being held in the sparring room at the center of the school. When Ichigo walked into the wide open sparring room he could see that the school staff had left only one person to handle the late sign ups. He was thankful that he had tried to be the first one into the sparring room since the lone squad pick assistant meant that Ichigo had the first pick out of the students in the IBS room.

While Ichigo was stepping up to the registration table the assistant asked for Ichigo's name and what squad he wanted.

"Ichigo Kurosaki and my choice is squad thirteen."

Time seemed to run twice as slow as Ichigo anxiously waited while the assistant rummaged through papers.

"Ah! Ichigo Kurosaki" The assistant looked over Ichigo's record and checked the squad's remaining openings. "You did very well in all classes... well you certainly qualify for this skilled division, but squad thirteen has no seats available. What is your second choice?"

Ichigo squeezed his eyes shut, stroked his hand over his face and through his hair as his last bit of hope was shot down. His heart ached as he remembered the words of Instructor Seiba that suggested where Ichigo should go. 'I can not be with Rukia... I didn't come all this way just for someone else. I wanted to to be with her, but I also wanted to show what I can do. If squad two has a place for me and it is such a talented squad, then that is where I will make my mark.'

"Squad two." Ichigo said dejectedly.

"Now that's more like it! There is a squad that takes some talent! The assistant marked Ichigo up for squad two and inserted Ichigo's record into a folder marked for the squad two captain. The folder made Ichigo think about what he had known of the squad two captain. 'Soi Fon... I've heard that she is a cold, insensitive captain that keeps the people under her constantly training, but that along with her strong powers are supposed to make her among the best of the squad two captains. Even if she has the personality of a hag, she is better than that crazed Kenpachi. I'm not getting my ass killed just because I fight all the time.' Ichigo thanked the assistant and walked away from the sign up table to exit the training grounds.

The few minutes of passing through the corridors to his dorm seemed to stretch out to be much longer because of Ichigo's sadness and his feelings were made no better when he remembered that he had all the practicing to do for his classes. Final exams were coming up in a week. The grades made by the students on their final exams would only be important for the students who were mediocre in their class, but that wouldn't stop Ichigo from showing what he could do.

"Omaeda! Your jogging sessions would go by alot easier if you would cut the junk food out of your diet!"

"But captain! A dozen donuts being on sale for half price is too much of a deal to pass up! Why, I caught you taking some of my donuts! Don't lecture me!" Omaeda panted as he passed his captain on the running track.

Soi Fon flushed a slight tint of pink as Omaeda remembered catching Soi Fon in the act of donut theft. She quickly regrouped and came back with, "I took those so there would be less for your bouncy butt to get fatter with!" as Omaeda laboriously hustled away. Soi Fon watched Omaeda struggle through his jogging and in her thoughts deprecated him. 'Jeez, its almost as if he puts effort into being lazy. He is lucky his family's nobility landed him his position because as far as being vice-captain goes he does not cut it. I don't want to be so hard on him, but if he won't be disciplined he will lose his rank.'

The captain of squad two would often be present with her squad while they exercised. It was a good way to keep her squad from slacking off and with her presence so motivating for the squad it was always a good idea to exercise with them. Her daily work out was over today, but she still had work to get done. Paperwork from Central was always a bother that Soi Fon had to deal with, but this time the paperwork was limited to only one assignment, so Soi Fon was not going to complain.

She sat down in the field that was in the center of the oval that the track formed to examine the folder from Central. When it was opened the folder revealed a background profile of a new shinigami that was transferring from the academy and orders involving how he should be handled. The orders read: "There is a gifted new shinigami arriving in your division tomorrow. It is believed that with his prodigious powers that he could one day become a powerful captain. Train him personally and thoroughly so that he gains specific attention from the best in his division and has the best chance of maximizing his skills. He will be given an officer scouting before the standard time for an officer scouting and it is desired that he passes it.. Your student, Ichigo Kurosaki, will fill out five daily exercise data sheets every week to ensure that he is making progress. Your data sheets are to highlight his strengths and weaknesses over the time he is trained so that it can be easily gauged when to scout him. Again it is stressed that you are as thorough as possible with his training."

Soi Fon held her orders in contempt. Not only has Central dumped her with an unqualified vice-captain, but now they are holding her responsible with the excelling of a beginner soul reaper's abilities(something that was normally thought of as a soul reaper's own duty). Now she would have to babysit two shinigami.

'I don't care how great this kid was in school, there is no reason for a captain to be pulled away from her own assignments to coach a rookie. Thats what the academy is for. Still, it is interesting to see a shinigami get this kind of attention from Central. I'm looking forward to meeting this guy.'

~*~*~*~ The feelings of accomplishment that Ichigo had on his graduation day were enough to make him forget about any anxiety or regret that he had on not getting into the squad that he wanted. He had aced his final and all his friends were so happy and cheerful that Ichigo couldn't help but be uplifted. The head staff of the academy also made some top-notch choices for the graduation party entertainment. In the outdoor courtyard there were ice sculptures of vicious hollows, great captains and academy teachers of the past. The sculptures had been dyed vivid colors so that the colors saturated the eye and gave the sculptures an appearance of stained glass like in a cathedral. There was an entire feast of juicy meats, perfectly ripe fruits, and the sweetest desserts. Captain Yamamoto himself appeared and gave a speech on why he founded the school and gave a motivational speech on the lives the graduates would have in Seireitei. To finish the speech Yamamoto used a fire kidou spell to light a fuse trail that broke off into two separate trails that ended up being a giant wooden soul reaper and a giant wooden hollow battling. They were moved by wires and their blazing bodies would explode a burst of fireworks anytime a blow was landed by the two. The graduation party was just what Ichigo needed to forget his stress.

Graduation was yesterday though and now Ichigo had to move on from his memories and focus on what lay ahead of him today. He was finding his way to the second division headquarters in the labyrinth that was Seireitei. He scanned the directional map he was given of Seireitei at graduation and saw that he would have to walk past the thirteenth division's quarters... which was located right next the second division's quarters. At first this had Ichigo apprehensive, but he summoned his will and would not allow himself to be intimidated by a woman.

'So what if I run into Rukia? I'll just introduce myself to her, thank her for what she did, and continue on with my day. We could talk to each other whenever we run into each other and who knows? Maybe from there she can be my girlfriend.'

With his confidence established he proceeded with walking to his squad's headquarters and made up his mind to catch a glimpse of the thirteenth division's quarters. Ichigo saw why he was given a map of Seireitei. The many paths in the place made finding your way to your destination intricately complex for a stranger to the area. Normally if it took Ichigo fifteen minutes to get to a class in the academy it was because he was on the farthest end of the school and the place he needed to go was all the way across to the opposite end and the halls were crowded, but in Seireitei he had been walking for fifteen minutes in a mostly empty path and he still had more walking to do.

Ichigo was starting to become bored with the stroll that he had to take, but then he saw the sign for the thirteenth squad's quarters. The space that the thirteenth squad inhabited was a tranquil pasture full of green foliage, an artist's palette of colorful wildflowers, and grass that gleamed gold when reflecting the sun as it was tossed around by the wind. Ichigo hoped that his quarters would match the quality of what he saw in front of him, but his line of sight was taken from the pasture by someone that looked familiar.

"Shut up, Renji! It's not funny!"

"I'm sorry Rukia, but when little Lieutenant Yachiru bumps into you and yells, "Out of my way midget first year!", I've got to laugh!"

"Oh, whatever! It's ridiculous how much hardship I endure because of my height." Rukia faked a tragic pose and a pained face. As Renji was walking her back to the thirteenth squad's gateway, Rukia happened to look over in Ichigo's direction. Ichigo had an unmistakable stare on Rukia, so when Rukia looked at him, Ichigo quickly faced the direction he was walking in and tried to act casual.

"I'll see you later Renji." Rukia had a funny feeling when she made eye contact with that guy. She had the kind of feeling you get when you remember something and you're not sure if it actually happened or if it was from a dream. 'Why does that guy with orange hair look familiar? If I met a person with hair like that I don't think I could forget him. How strange.'

Any assurance that Ichigo had on talking to Rukia was shot down. Seeing her for the first time in five years was an intoxicating experience, but with those feelings of beauty that Ichigo had, there were feelings of anxiety to accompany them. Though he did not try to talk to Rukia, Ichigo knew from how he felt from just seeing her that talking to her would feel like a much harder ordeal than it should be. What he had thought was a good way to start conversation was stupid now under the analysis that he put on talking to Rukia and now every way he thought of talking to Rukia seemed dumb. Ichigo felt like kicking himself in the head.

The contemplation he did on Rukia lasted him until he came to squad two's quarters. It seemed that the outdoorsy setup that squad thirteen had might be standard for every squad because squad two had a similar setup.

Ichigo walked through the wooden gate into the squad grounds that would be his. He could see a couple of the members of the special forces sparring with each other in a clearing while several others were exercising in a small gym. For seeing the captain though, she seemed nowhere in Ichigo's sight. Ichigo walked toward the people in the gym to question about the captain.

The gym reeked of sweat and body odor, Ichigo could smell it even as he was approaching it from a distance. The largest of all the squad members noticed Ichigo and headed to Ichigo way to meet with him.

"You must be Ichigo Kurosaki."

"I am."

"Welcome to squad two. I'm vice-captain Marechiyo Omaeda."

"Thank you, sir. Could you tell me where the captain would be at right now?"

Ichigo was poked in his should and a woman's criticizing voice said, "I'm right behind you"

Ichigo jumped from being startled by Soi Fon's sudden introduction.

She sighed in disappointment. "I was behind you the entire time you were looking for me, first year. Your awareness is something that we will have to work on."

Ichigo was surprised by Soi Fon's appearance. Assuming from what he had heard about her personality, he depicted her as a plain, rather masculine middle aged woman. In reality she was a dainty, cute girl. Even with her toned body she didn't look like she could be much of a threat to anyone, but from training in the academy Ichigo knew better than to judge fighters by their looks.

"Come along to my office, Ichigo. We will have to fill out your paperwork and discuss the stealth forces way of life."

Soi Fon gestured to a building that was larger than all the other buildings. It was a two story pavilion that held the bedrooms for both the lieutenant and the captain. Ichigo followed Soi Fon to this pavilion and couldn't resist thinking that maybe someday by having great talent so early in his development he would be able to have the best housing in Seireitei to call his own. Soi Fon led him into the building and the inside was not what Ichigo expected.

"That's odd. Since this place is bigger than all the other houses I thought that it would be much more luxurious than this." When entering the pavilion all that could be seen was a moderate sized entryway and a hallway that led to a staircase. None of what could be seen so far had any decoration. It all looked so dull and bland.

"That's because this part of the officer's pavilion isn't lived in by anyone." Responded Soi Fon. "You'll see more style if you get into actual rooms."

Soi Fon's office was up the stairs and in the first door of the second story. It was orderly with no mess and nothing out of place.

"Now, Ichigo, tell me why you chose squad two to be your squad." Soi Fon insisted.

"Well, as you probably know from my record I did really well in school. I was the top student in my grade, so I wanted a squad where I would do more than just the usual things a shinigami does. But don't get me wrong. Hunting hollows is the reason why I became a shinigami. I'm not unhappy with the basic duties of a soul reaper. I had heard that this squad was one where exceptional soul reapers went to. That made it seem like the right choice for me."

"Well this is only true for the stealth forces, Ichigo. The second squad is under my leadership along with the stealth forces, which section you are placed in is dependent on how you perform in your training. Even if you are placed in the second squad you will do more work than the other squads. I make training a weekly part of my soul reaper's lives and in the stealth forces I expect twice as much from them because I cannot afford for them to screw up. Any division under my control is expected to have soul reapers in peak condition."

"Peak physical condition? What about your fat vice-captain? He is the second in command and he is in some of the worse shape that I have seen for a shinigami."

Soi Fon grimaced briefly and muttered, "He is a special case. He has skills that balance his poor health." Which was half a lie. Omaeda did have some attributes, but his physique handicapped him from being as good as the other shinigami in the squad in times of combat. "As I was saying, in order for you to be fit it is a requirement for you to exersise five days a week. Normally how much you work out is up to your own discretion, but you seem to be a special case." Soi Fon remarked with an air of interest.

Ichigo was interested as well. "Special case? What do you mean?"

"For the first time in the history of Soul Society a soul reaper's progress is being monitored by Central Forty Six. They have heard of your skill in the academy and they hope that the best is brought out of you for the sake of Soul Society." Ichigo's eyes went wide as he was stunned by Soi Fon's words. "It seems that you are being groomed to be the next mighty captain of Seiretei. The normal time a soul reaper is given an opportunity to be a captain is a millennium, if not recommended by another captain. You will be given a scouting much sooner than this, but Central did not clarify the time to me."

Ichigo was confused, but excited at the great chance that was being given to him. There had been great students of the past, but they did not achieve captain's rank through the path that Ichigo could in his career. 'Why me?' Was all Ichigo could think. "Did Central tell you why they were doing this, Captain Soi Fon?"

"All that was said to me was that you are skilled and they want those skills to grow as much as possible." The room was silent for a second. "How did you enroll in Seireitei Academy? Are you from a noble family?"

"I enrolled in the academy by Rukia Kuchiki's recommendation. I don't have any noble ancestry."

This was a small relief for Soi Fon. 'He ought to be more skilled than Omaeda if his school record has any accuracy, but still it's good to know that Central isn't catering to the rich.'

"Captain, I know that the stealth forces are involved with assassination. Is there anything else that is special that the stealth forces do?"

"There are many different jobs for the stealth forces. Some relay information, some guard Seireitei, some watch prisoners in the detention center, and others assasinate the enemies of Seireitei and Soul Society. Whichever job you will be performing is dependent on your performance when I train you."

Ichigo had enough of talking about what he was going to do. All of what Soi Fon said about having to show what he could do to find where he would be placed had Ichigo pumped up for action. His experiences in the academy gave him confidence in his abilities that made him want to get training over with so he could go out and get his job done. The orange haired soul reaper believed that he would be placed in the job where there was the most action. "So? When are we going to get this training started?" Ichigo had a cocky grin on his face and his voice carried a hint of invigoration.

Soi Fon smirked in amusement on Ichigo's sudden enthusiastic attitude. "It starts tomorrow, so take today to get acquainted with the squad and learn where everything in the squad quarters is. Your room is in the squad cabin three hundred and twenty six. As for your robes you will not get those until you finish your training. Meet me in front of the officer's pavillion at eight in the morning. If you're late you will have to do more in your training."

"Don't worry about that captain. I will see you here in the morning. Good bye."

Soi Fon nodded her head as a good bye and looked over Ichigo's information. 'I have seen these kind of stats before and they mean the same thing every time. Speed and power makes an assasin. Ichigo Kurosaki is going to be a killer."

Well thats the chapter guys. The next one is going to have some action of course since Ichigo starts his training. Sorry for the long wait. Hopefully the next one won't take so long. I know this fic starts slow, but its going somewhere. Trust me. Just stick with it and read. You will find out.