Finally a new chapter. I apologize for the late update. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it. As always,

Read, Review, and Enjoy :)

Chapter 13

"Kurosaki-san, please focus. If you continue exploding targets than I will request that you sit out for the remainder of the class." After blushing slightly at Arina-sensei's kindly stated demand, Ichigo tried to concentrate of whatever spell it was that they were working on; hado number twenty-seven, thirty-two? Something like that. However he soon blew up another target and with a cursory glance at the instructor, sat down against the wall. Throwing his hands on his knees, Ichigo's mind wandered back to what could possibly happen this afternoon. Once again he had his government class which meant a "brief" discussion about the ryoka invasion.

As their instructor walked into the room, Ichigo never took his eyes off of her. It was time for him to face the music – Government. He growled slightly and lowered his head until it was almost on the table, his bright hair falling over his eyes. She began the lecture thankfully without the invasion but after an agonizing ten minutes it came.

"The Ryoka Invasion happened as the result of an artifact being brought into the Seireitei. It had immense power beyond what many are capable of understanding and had it fallen into the wrong hands, could have had devastating consequences." Ichigo scowled; there was more than one thing tweaked about her story but he wasn't about to point it out. The longer he went without being exposed the better.

"This artifact had been imbedded into a shinigami who acted as a sacrificial vessel, to be executed in order to gain possession of it. The ryoka are believed to have known about this artifact, but not of its power, and had come to Soul Society in an attempt to retrieve it." Where in the world did they come up with this story? As true as some of the parts were, others seemed to be played up for dramatic effect and they certainly hadn't had a damn clue about the Hyogyoku when they went to save Rukia. His scowled only deepened when the questions started coming; too many of them dreamed up in some fanciful adventure for Ichigo's liking.

"Didn't the ryoka invade to save their friend?" The commonly told story throughout many of the districts had been, originally, fairly close to the truth, leaving a few students doubtful of both.

"Yes, it was an objective of the ryoka to rescue the shinigami, one happened because of the other. However in the end they were unable to retrieve the artifact." At least I tried. Ichigo glared from the back, remembering how none of the shinigami there had lifted a finger to try and stop Aizen from leaving.

"But they still managed to come back and get it in the end," one of the students stated.

"Yes," the instructor nodded. "And because of the invasion and the ryoka's later involvement in the Winter War, many laws have been reevaluated." As she moved on with the lecture Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief; the discussion had been less painful than he thought it would be. Unfortunately, in his momentary relief the fact that he would have to face the music again in his history class the next day was pushed to the back of his mind.

"Can you believe her?" Meg stomped around the tree the other three had taken to lying beneath once they'd finished their workout and dinner. Before any of them could get a word in she continued. "I mean, we finally get to hear about the invasion and all we get is a 'they came because of an artifact, rescuing the girl being a direct result of that, before they ultimately failed in retrieving the magical bauble of unimaginable power'. Ao and Kida laughed at the rather accurate impersonation of their government instructor; Meg's lecture being somewhat summarized, but "accurate" nonetheless. The four later parted as the sun began to set, leaving Ichigo the unwanted task of studying kido – much to the insistence of Arina-sensei. Overall the woman seemed to like him, but even he and his not-quite-as-frequent-as-expected kido explosions irritated her at times.

Ichigo woke up the next morning with a killer headache and for the life of him couldn't figure out why. It wasn't like he had done anything too strenuous the day before. Then again, maybe it was all those crazy confusing kido incantations that were messing with his head. Shaking his orange head, he got up and got ready for the day, heading down for breakfast shortly after.

"Finally today we get to actually learn something about it." Easily picking out his blue-haired friend, Ichigo grabbed some food and found the other three, taking a spot next to Ao.

"Learn about what," he asked, disinterestedly.

"The Winter War, what else?" Ichigo froze, eyes wide. That explained his headache. He had completely forgotten their history class today would be coving the events of the war. Suddenly he didn't have much of an appetite. The rest of breakfast went by with him responding with noncommittal grunts and the occasional 'uh-huh', but he really had no idea what they were talking about; too busy trying to figure out what he was going to do. A task that was twice as difficult with a pounding headache.

The morning flew by way too quickly. The only reminder that he had been sparing was the growing purple bruise on his ribs from a strike courtesy of Teru in his zanjutsu practical. Lunch and hoho flew by in a similar matter. As he walked towards his dreaded history classroom Ichigo stared at the ground, still trying to think of something to do. Maybe he could feign sickness, but then the others would come question him about, not to mention tell him everything they had learned. Run away; injure the instructor; destroy the classroom; his ideas became more and more idiotic the closer he got until he was standing right outside the door. He gave a deep sigh before walking in to face the music, again; his mind offering one that sounded eerily like a funeral procession. Ichigo quickly and quietly took a seat and sat tensed as the instructor walked in. He gulped and the music got louder.

"Hello class," a rather enthusiastic response was given before he continued. "Now why don't we begin with our study of the Ryoka Invasion and the Winter War." Excited murmurs filled the room, some louder than others, but all drowning out Ichigo's groan. Fuck.

"As you all have been told, the ryoka came to the Seireitei in order to save a shinigami and keep a powerful device known as the Hogyoku out of enemy hands. That being said," the instructor said upon seeing multiple mouths open, "it was discovered after the execution had been stopped that they were in fact never our enemies to begin with." The lecture continued as the woman explained in surprisingly semi-accurate detail – more so than in law and government – what had gone on during the Ryoka Invasion. Ichigo found himself mentally correcting her on a few points but overall it was generally accurate. Of course she didn't identify the names of the captains or Rukia but he figured that was at least partially to save face; wouldn't want anyone to know that a human teenager had defeated two captains, a lieutenant, and multiple seated officers. It was bad enough knowing that three captains had turned traitor. As the lesson progressed, Ichigo couldn't help but be acutely aware of the 'wow's and 'that is so cool's that surrounded him.

"Hey sensei," the woman turned to face a small teen a couple rows back. "That guy, the one that stropped the execution, what was he like?" One amazed student asked. The question got many nods and comments from around him before everyone turned to stare at the front of the room. She smiled.

"Well, actually, I am very pleased to announce that you will all now have a chance to meet him." Oh shit. "Because he is how attending this school. Everyone, I'm honored to introduce you to the hero of the Winter War. Shinkai Hiro." God dam – what? Ichigo froze as a man maybe four or five years older than him walked in the door. Everyone else paused as the man walked to the front of the class before going absolutely nuts. It took ten minutes for the instructor to get the class in order and even then they were all still whispering amongst themselves.

What the hell? Ichigo just stared on dumbstruck. This man…the war hero? Was this some kind of ploy by the Gotei Thirteen to make sure he didn't give himself away? Like that was going to happen, Ichigo already got enough attention simply from being in the vicinity of Meg. Screw the rules, he wanted answers. Midget, you've got a lot of explaining to do.

The second their instructor dismissed them Ichigo was out the door and halfway to his room, quickly avoiding everyone and everything. He opened the door, threw his stuff in, and was out before it could close. He ran through the academy and flew across the border of the Seireitei and towards what he believed to be the 13th Squad barracks. Forty-five minutes later he finally found it and unceremoniously burst into the lieutenant's office.

"Dammit midget, what the hell is going on?" Ichigo's anger and annoyance had been building all the while he was running through the labyrinth that was the Seireitei and finally finding an outlet, burst like a dam.

"Baka! Don't just come barging in here! Did you not understand that we weren't supposed to have any contact with you?" Rukia was just as riled up as Ichigo. She'd been having a stressful day and suddenly seeing her angry and annoyed strawberry friend who was yelling at her for God knows what didn't help.

"Then tell me why the hell you guys sent someone to pretend to be the war hero?" Ichigo glared at her and Rukia froze. Send someone to be the…she hadn't heard of anything like that. She stared at him for a minute before backlashing him for being ridiculous. The fighting got louder and louder until the sickly captain wandered in to try and quiet them down. Upon seeing her captain Rukia's demeanor completely changed.

"Ukitake-taichou," she said with a bow, "I'm sorry if we disturbed you. The strawberry here," glancing at Ichigo who scowled back, "seems to believe that – "

"Why did you guys send someone to pretend to be me?" Ichigo asked in irritation. You'd think that after all he'd done for them they'd trust him not to go and give himself away; then again he'd never been subtle.

"I'm sorry?"

"Some guy showed up at the academy today and the instructor said he was the war hero. So what's going on?" Ichigo glowered at the white-haired man but worked to keep his temper in check; Ukitake had always been one of his favorite captains.

"We never ordered anyone to the academy, Ichigo-kun. Not even the faculty was told of your part in the war. The only person who knows about you is the headmaster." Ukitake said with slight confusion. He knew that Ichigo was impulsive and a terrible liar which meant that there must be someone at the academy claiming himself the war hero. The captain sighed. Dealings with the academy lied out of their jurisdiction, for the most part, unless it directly influenced the Gotei Thirteen or vice versa. While he could look into it, there was very little he could do about it unless it became a problem. The captain sighed.

"I will see what I can find out, Ichigo-kun. But," he said and looked up at the teen. "This may be something you have to work out on your own." Great, just great. As if he didn't have enough to worry about already, now he has to figure out what he is going to do about someone pretending to be him – or the war hero at least.

Ichigo ran a hand through his hair before turning and stalking out of the division, all the while grumbling under his breath. Thank god tomorrow was Friday. He was definitely ready for the weekend.