Rin yawned and stretched as Kuro jumped onto his shoulders. Where we going, Rin? the cat sith asked, rubbing his cheek against Rin's own.

"Oh, some town called Karakura," Rin mumbled, still a little sleepy. "Yukio said they've got a demon problem and us Exwires are gonna be there to take out the small fry with mentors to guide us."

Can I help? Kuro asked hopefully, pawing at Rin's shoulder bag strap. He carefully climbed down so he was resting on top of the bag. I wanna have fun too!

"It's not supposed to be fun, Kuro," Rin said, scratching his familiar's head. Kuro gave a cat sigh and put his head on his paws, closing his eyes. But I wanna have fun…

"Hey, Okumura!" a familiar voice called. Rin turned to see Ryuji and his group coming down the stairs after him, their own bags with them. "Wait up!"

"Hey guys!" Rin said, waving. The Kurikara accidentally bumped his head and he rubbed the spot, more from embarrassment than actual pain.

"You ready for our mission?" Renzo asked once they caught up.

"You bet!" Rin said, smiling. "Kuro can't wait to get out and stretch his claws, either."

"Your familiar's coming too?" Konekomaru asked, reaching out and petting Kuro. Kuro cracked open an eye and immediately jumped into Konekomaru's arms when he saw who it was.

Play! Kuro begged, pawing Koneko's chest. Let's play!

"He wants you to play with him," Rin translated.

Konekomaru laughed and pulled out his cat toy, waving it. Kuro pounced for it, missing. Konekomaru moved it in zigzags and circles, letting Kuro follow it before shaking it once Kuro got his mouth on it.

Ryuji shook his head. "You've created a monster," he grumbled. Then he straightened. "Come on, we have to be at the station by ten. Let's get going."

"Kuro, go with Konekomaru," Rin said. He looked at his timid friend. "If that's ok, that is."

"Sure!" Konekomaru said, picking Kuro up, who still had the cat toy in his mouth, and following them. "I don't mind at all!"

They made it to the station with fifteen minutes to spare.

"Rin!" Shiemi called, waving so the boys could see the little group that consisted of her, Yukio, Izumo, Takara, Shura, and a handful of other Exorcists.

"Hey, Shiemi!" Rin said, smiling at the girl. He waved back and they maneuvered over to the group. "How long have you been here?"

"Not too long," she said. "I can't wait to go to Karakura Town!"

"Me either, Shiemi," Renzo said, slinging his arm around her. "Do you think we might get a little break to go swimming? I sure hope Karakura Town has a beach or a rec center with a pool. I'm dying to see you and Izumo in swimsuits again!" Shiemi blushed madly and tried to stammer out a response while Izumo just glared.

"Shima!" Ryuji barked. "You're supposed to be a monk! Leave the girls alone!"

"Oh, I see how it is, Bon," Renzo said, letting the girl go and giving his childhood friend a sly smile. "You want Shiemi to yourself, is that it?"

Ryuji's cheeks reddened and the others laughed. "That's not it at all!"

"Excuse me," Yukio said, breaking in. "If I could have your attention, please?" The entire class turned and looked at him, as well as Shura and the Exorcists. "Thank you. Now, as you all know, we will be boarding this train in a few minutes to head to Karakura Town. We've gotten some reports there of demons multiplying and attacking humans. Apparently this town has become a sort of breeding ground, especially for lesser demons. Your mission is to pair up with your Exorcist mentors. They will be teaching you how to handle situations that come up as you battle multiple lesser demons at once."

"Why all the lesser demons?" Rin asked, raising his hand. "I mean, we've handled ghouls, Peg Lanterns, and even the Impure King. Don't you think you could possibly whip up something a bit more…I don't know, challenging?" A few of his classmates, namely Ryuji and Izumo, nodded.

"It's because you've faced higher demons that we're giving you this mission," Yukio said. When he saw all the confused looks, he elaborated further: "So far you've proven to us that you can work together when there is a big power against you. But what we don't know is how you'll handle going against a smaller power on your own. If not handled and dealt with correctly, a lesser demon, such as a coal tar or hobgoblin, can cause a big problem. Especially if they start breeding. You know how to take care of something the size of the Impure King. Now we want to test how you get rid of smaller demons."

"I get it," Ryuji said. "This is about damage control."

"Partly," Yukio agreed. "It's also about making snap decisions that can affect both the big and smaller pictures. You can make multiple decisions in a battle, but more often than not none of them are right and you have to choose the one that will lead to the least amount of damage, both in the present and future. Let's say you've come up against a nest of hobgoblins in a school or someone's home. You've got two choices: take out the King or the smaller hobgoblins. Which do you choose?"

"The King, obviously," Rin said. "The King Hobgoblin's the bigger one with the bigger power, right? So that's the one you take out first."

"Good reasoning, but wrong," Shura said, stepping in. Yukio gave her a slightly annoyed look. "You take out the smaller goblins first. They're the ones that breed. The King or Queen Hobgoblin is the one that leads the smaller ones to different areas to make their homes and raise the young ones. They're practically nothing without their minions. The smaller ones cause more collateral damage, both to the place where their nest is and to the people around it, if they're in danger. They mindlessly protect their King because it's the one with the brains. A King Hobgoblin is simple to take down once the others are gone. It depends on the others to distract you before attacking, so your back is turned when it strikes."

"Oh," Rin said, disappointed his idea had been shot down.

"Don't feel bad," Shura said. "That's what this mission is about. We're here for you to consult when you're not sure if you're doing what's right. We've been around the block a few times and will guide and correct you when you're doing something wrong. Just remember though, you're the one who is in the lead. We're just followers to parley." The class nodded.

"Now, about your mentors," Yukio said, pushing his glasses up and looking the list in his hand. "Rin, you're with Shura."

Rin rolled his eyes and muttered, "Obviously, four-eyes."

Yukio ignored the comment and continued, "Suguro, you're with Kenta Oshiro." A dark, burly man with a shaved head stepped forward. He was a good head taller than all the others. He eyed Ryuji. Ryuji eyed him. The man glared. Ryuji gave his most withering glare back. Then the big man smirked. "I think we're gonna get along just fine, kid." Ryuji gave a small half-grin and nodded.

"Miwa, Shima," Yukio said. "Your partners are the Tsukinos, Aoi and Akira, respectively." A lightly built man with light brown hair and light gray eyes stepped forward with a platinum blond woman with blue eyes and massive breasts, which were the first thing that Renzo saw, of course.

Renzo was practically drooling when he said, "Heya, Ms. Tsukino. I bet we're gonna have a lot of fun together, right?" The woman promptly sniffed while the man smacked Renzo on the back of his head and snarled, "That's my wife, idiot. And I'm your partner. Name's Akira."

"NO!" Renzo wailed. "That's no fair! How come Konekomaru gets to hang with a massive beauty like her?"

"H-Hello there, Mrs. Tsukino," Konekomaru said shyly.

"Oh, aren't you the cutest thing!" Aoi Tsukino cried, wrapping the boy in a hug. "Your name means 'kitten', and look, you've got a cat sith with you! Is it your familiar? I thought you were an Aria!"

"I-I am an Aria," Konekomaru said, blushing furiously as he pushed himself away from the woman's chest. "This is my friend Rin's familiar, Kuro."

Hi, pretty lady! Kuro said, giving his best cat-smile.

While Renzo complained and Konekomaru politely pushed the crooning woman off of him, Yukio cleared his throat and said, "Kamiki, your mentor is Raiden Miyamoto. Shiemi, yours is Ayako Kawaguchi."

Izumo eyed the thin man that was to be her mentor. He had long, greasy black hair and bright blue eyes that were accented by the darkness of his hair. He sported a thin mustache and sideburns. Izumo hated him on the spot. Until he summoned a pair of demon foxes, like hers. "I hear you're a talented Tamer," he said, placing a hand on each of the foxes' heads. "Well, so am I. And I don't tolerate any slacking on missions, you hear? I want your very best and then even better when we're working. Understand?" Izumo nodded, eyes wide. She could respect this man.

Shiemi nervously looked at her mentor, who smiled widely at her. Ayako Kawaguchi had short, reddish-brown hair and brown eyes. Her skin was as pale as Shiemi's, but somehow she made it look good. "Hi," she said cheerily to her student. "I'm Ayako Kawaguchi, but you can just call me Ayako. I prefer to be friends first and then mentor and student, so would you like to be my friend?" She stuck her hand out.

"Y-Yes!" Shiemi said, taking the woman's hand. "I'd like that very much, too!"

"Great!" Ayako said, taking her hand back. "Look, it doesn't matter to me how you do in the field, just try your best, ok?" Shiemi nodded, completely won over by the woman.

"Well, that covers it," Yukio said, folding his list and putting it in his pocket. "You will all receive your weapons when we reach Karakura Town. Once we are outside the train station there, your mission will begin. You will split up and take out as many demons as you can. Your mentors will record how many and what kind of demons you take down. Each demon is worth a certain amount of points. The winner will be the one with the most points. But keep in mind, your mentors will be grading you on how you handle the demons, too. These evaluations will be worth even more points than the demons themselves. Now here are your tickets. Good luck!" They all took their tickets and boarded the train.

"So even you don't know what these things are, Urahara?" Ichigo asked as the perverted shopkeeper in question studied one of the little buttmunchers. During the night Ichigo had found more of them at a children's playground and with Renji and Rukia's help captured one and shoved it in a cage. The figured that if anyone knew what they were, Kisuke Urahara would. Strangely enough, there hadn't been any Hollows lurking about that night.

"Hmm…" the blond man said, twisting and turning the cage the thing was in. It snarled at him when he poked it with a finger. He looked up and smiled. "Nope, not a clue," he said cheerily. Renji facepalmed while Rukia shook her head and Ichigo sweatdropped. "But I can tell you this: it isn't a Hollow."

"It's not?" Renji asked, confused.

"Nope," Urahara said. He twisted the cage around so they could see the thing's face. "As you can see, there is no mask or hole whatsoever, and as we all know, those are the distinguishing marks of a Hollow, whether they be Gillian or Espada." The group nodded as one. "Second, I feel no spiritual pressure coming from this thing, whatever it is. And all Hollows have spiritual pressure; again, you know this." Again with the nod. "I don't recognize this thing in any of my extensive research either, so I'm at a loss for what it is. For now, I suggest we call these goblins."

"Well, that makes the most sense," Renji said. "Those things are nasty little buggers. Goblins sounds about right for them."

"Yeah," Ichigo said, looking at the bite marks on his arm. "We're gonna have to go see Orihime so she can heal these."

Urahara turned to Renji. "Say, Renji, if you don't mind, could you wait on healing your marks? I want to analyze them, see if I can get any information."

"Hell no—" Renji started.

"Need I remind you that you are a freeloader here? The least you could do is let me look at your wounds," Urahara said, snapping his fan out in front of his face and peering over it at the crimson-haired shinigami. "Is that so much to ask? I can have Tessai heal them afterwards for you."

Renji looked like he was going to be sick for a minute before he muttered, "Fine."

"Excellent!" Urahara said happily, clicking his fan closed and placing it in his sleeve. "Look, these tests may take a while, so why don't you two head on back home, Ichigo?" Urahara nodded to him and Rukia. "I'll let you know if I have any information tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Ichigo said, standing up. "Well, thanks anyway, Urahara. We'll come back tomorrow after school. See ya around, Renji. Don't die, all right? Come on, Rukia, let's get going."

"Wait, whaddya mean, 'don't die?'" Renji stammered, looking up to see Tessai standing above him with a creepy look on his face. "Wait a minute, I changed my mind!"

"Hey, why don't we stop by and get some slushies from Hanataro?" Ichigo said as he and Rukia left the store, ignoring Renji's pleas.

"Sounds good to me," Rukia said. "While we're there we can warn him and Ganju about what's going on."

"Yeah, good idea." The two friends turned and made their way to the convenience store, completely disregarding the howls coming from Urahara's shop.

1. Imagine Renji drawing out that "mind" part. It makes it funnier.

2. Ok, so you guys know, this was like, an early chapter. I usually don't update this quickly. I could take a month (or more) to write and get the next chapter up. What can I say? I'm lazy. :p And writer's block doesn't help. Nor does my job. Damn it, now I'm makin excuses! But I will try to have the next chapter up ASAP, all right? Don't hate me! *Ducks*