Hi there, and welcome to Academy! I have a couple of things to note before you start reading. Firstly, I've rated this fic M for language, innuendo and sexual situations (probably- we'll see where this goes); however there will be nothing explicit. If that's what you're looking for, you won't find it here. Second, I will be using Japanese honorifics as I feel they are called for. While I am not Japanese, I am studying the language and culture on my own time, and feel that I have a reasonable grasp of how honorifics are used; if I make a mistake, please let me know! I will also be using taicho/captain and fukutaicho/lieutenant interchangeably (although the Soutaicho will always be the Soutaicho). Third and last, name and place spellings have been pulled from the North American Bleach wiki.

That's all for now, I hope you enjoy, and please do leave a review on your way out!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach.

"Really, Ichigo, of all the things that could possibly have happened, you just had to go like this," Rukia sighed. "Moron! You could have at least hopped out of your body first!"

"Like I really had time to think that far ahead," Ichigo scoffed, then grabbed the back of his head with both hands, cussing as he dealt with the pain from another punch from the midget. "Look, can't you just use the memory modifier?"

"NO, you IDIOT! LOOK! The police, the fire department, and ambulance, bystanders, all these PEOPLE! It's too late this time, strawberry, you're dead for good."

"Well, shit," he grumbled. "I've been dead for a while I guess, but I didn't think I'd have to leave so soon. I wonder if Urahara can come up with something…" he mused idly.

"Anyways, let's go," she said, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Where?"

Ichigo ducked the punch, but didn't move fast enough to evade the kick to his shins. "To let everyone know, then to Soul Society, moron," came the answer as he hopped around on one foot.

A few hours later, Ichigo stood in the First Division's meeting hall, waiting while the captains assembled. The pre-meeting chatter was noisy, especially since the lieutenants were in attendance as well. Finally, after several embarrassing minutes of Ichigo explaining his death by bus to chuckling friends, Kyoraku called the meeting to order.

"You all know why we're here," he stated, launching straight into the topic without preamble. "Ichigo has met his human end, and now we need to decide what to do with him. Now that he's died, first I'd like to confirm that there is no reason to put him through konso. Urahara-san?"

Urahara stepped forward from his position in the line of captains. The green kimono from his days in the Living World had been replaced with a shinigami's black shihakusho and a captain's haori, but he retained the green and white striped hat and the clogs. Benihime rode at his hip, no longer disguised, and he opened his fan, bringing it in front of his face as he began to speak.

"Regarding konso: some of you have postulated that, upon his human death, Kurosaki-san's hollow would take the opportunity to assume control." Out of the corner of his eye, Urahara saw Ichigo muffle a snort. "I regret to inform you that this has already happened!" he exclaimed cheerfully, hiding his grin behind the fan.

The eyes of several captains and lieutenants widened, then turned to Ichigo, who glared back. Hands drifted towards zanpakuto; everyone who had experience with Ichigo's hollow was tense. Everyone, that is, save the Visored, Rukia and Yoruichi, who were visibly trying to keep straight faces. "Explain," snapped Byakuya, his hand resting on Senbonzakura's hilt.

"I've been dead for eight years," Ichigo stated sarcastically, emphasizing his point with an eye roll.

"Come again?" said Ukitake, looking shocked.

Ichigo sighed. "After Byakuya destroyed my Saketsu and Hakusui, I had no power, and I needed it to come after Rukia. Geta-boshi helped me get that power by awakening my shinigami heritage; to do it, he cut my Chain of Fate. After all, shinigami are dead, right?" he said with a smirk.

At this point, incredulous faces turned back to Urahara, who stared back at them with mirth in his eyes. "What," he said lightly, "you thought that he was a human who could pop in and out of his body at will, without being connected to it? No such thing exists!"

"At that point, Ichigo's hollow did start trying to take over," Shinji said, picking up the narrative. "It took a couple of months for him to come to us, but when he did, we taught him to suppress it. Although, it seems their relationship is somewhat different now; he's got access to a lot more of his hollow powers than we do," he finished thoughtfully.

"That happened when I learned the Final Getsuga Tensho," Ichigo said quietly, bringing all eyes back to him. The Visored had never gotten an answer out of him regarding his changed relationship with his hollow; neither had Urahara, nor Rukia. It seemed like this time, he was ready to answer. He lowered his gaze, staring down at the floor, and thought for a moment; he was going to be a permanent resident in Soul Society now, maybe it was time that they knew. What do you think, guys, he asked his partners. Should we tell them?

I have always believed that you were foolish to hide it from them, Zangetsu answered. I am glad that you have finally realized you gain nothing by concealing the truth.

I wanna watch! the hollow exclaimed. This should be hilarious! He was cackling already.

Ichigo sighed, and nodded, ignoring Shirosaki's obvious glee. He allowed the hollow to come to the front of his consciousness, then raised his eyes to the group. His gold-on-black eyes.

Most of the group flinched visibly, and a few of them took a step backwards. More hands landed on zanpakuto hilts. The room was completely silent, and the tension built. Finally, Rukia took a hesitant step forwards, her hand clutching Sode no Shirayuki's hilt. "Ichigo?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Ichigo smiled, his posture completely relaxed. "Yes, midget?"

This produced the expected reaction: a fist crashing down on his head. "Explain, idiot!" she snapped.

"The hollow is a part of me," he said quietly, looking her in the eye.

"Yeah, we get that, dickhead," Hiyori started, but Ichigo cut her off sharply.

"No, you don't. You treat your hollow as a separate being that you have to battle, keep away, and block out. It's not. Shirosaki is a part of my power, just like Zangetsu. He is a part of me, an equal, not inferior. I accept him as he is, just like I accept Zangetsu, and he accepts me. Even if he is annoying."

Stunned silence followed Ichigo's explanation. No one knew how to react; after all, hollows were evil, right? They were to be exterminated, not accepted. How were they supposed to behave around someone who said that his hollow was a part of him?

Ichigo watched them struggle with his revelation, inwardly joining Shirosaki in laughing at their bewildered expressions. The Visored in particular were supremely entertaining; all of them looked as though they had been hit over the head with a two-by-four. His shoulders started to shake; his chest trembled; finally, he couldn't hold it in any more. Ichigo dissolved into laughter, clutching his sides and gasping for air.

If his statements about his relationship with his hollow had stunned the group, this confused them even more. It was rare for Ichigo to so much as smile openly, and now he was laughing helplessly? Again, it was Rukia who broke the silence. "What?" she demanded.

"You… ahahaha… should see(heeheeheehee) your faces!" Ichigo said between giggles. Startled, the captains and lieutenants looked around at each other, then quickly looked away (many of them at the floor), feeling sheepish. Finally, Zaraki burst out laughing.

"This is great!" he exclaimed. "Now you've got that much more power! You have to fight me!"

"I've had the power since mine were reawakened, idiot, it's nothing new," Ichigo retorted quickly, feeling somewhat alarmed. He really didn't feel like fighting Kenpachi right now. Yeah, but later… Shirosaki said, grinning.

Maybe, Ichigo replied to his hollow.

"I suppose we should talk about this," Shinji grumbled, looking around at the other Visored.

"Later," Kyoraku said, knowing the meeting was getting off-track. He turned to Ichigo. "I'm confused about one thing. If you've been dead for eight years, why did you go back to being human after Aizen?"

"Allow me to answer that, Soutaicho," Urahara said. "You see, after I severed Kurosaki-san's Chain of Fate, his human body essentially became a gigai. Returning him to his body after he lost his powers to the Final Getsuga Tensho was the same as putting a wounded shinigami in a gigai to recover. It's worth noting that he would have recovered without assistance; it simply would have taken much longer."

"How do you know that?" asked Toshiro.

"Kurosaki-san's father, of course," Urahara replied. "I'm surprised you don't remember, Hitsugaya-san; you did work with him, after all."

"Kisuke, stop teasing him," Ichigo scolded his teacher. He turned to Toshiro, who was giving him a puzzled look. "I'm surprised that you haven't run into him yet, to be honest. My dad is your predecessor, Toshiro, Shiba Isshin, although he goes by Kurosaki now. Zangetsu is apparently pretty similar to his Engetsu, and he has a Final Getsuga Tensho as well; he used it about thirty years ago, and has been in a gigai since. He's been able to take on his soul form since the war, although he says he's still not back to full strength."

Toshiro's eyes widened a bit as he absorbed the fact that his annoying captain was the annoying Kurosaki Ichigo's father. Then he snorted. "That actually explains a lot," he muttered.

"Indeed," agreed Komamura, the only other captain who had not made the connection. "I believe that answers the question of konso thoroughly. Kurosaki has shinigami blood, and is already in control of his hollow. Therefore, what do we do with him now?"

"Make him a captain," said Shinji, sporting his Cheshire cat grin. "What!?" he exclaimed as eyes turned to him. "He's more powerful than most of us, and a good leader. Hell, most of us were ready to follow him during the war, and we still have two divisions without captains."

"True," replied Suì-Fēng, "but he is young and lacks real leadership experience."

"I'm sorry, explain that to me. He's lead successful invasion and rescue forces in two worlds, managed the defense of Karakura town for six years, kept the human team in Karakura organized, and managed to graduate from high school and university at the same time," Urahara retorted, earning himself a glare from the diminutive captain of the Second Division.

"Both points have merit," Byakuya stated. "Kurosaki does have power and leadership experience in the field. However, he knows little of our history and customs, and his knowledge of kido is… less than adequate." Renji snorted at this last statement, while Ichigo shifted uncomfortably.

"So we teach him," Ukitake said quietly.

"How?" asked Kensei. "Private tutoring? I don't know about the rest of you, but I've got enough to do with my division as is."

"Simple," Kyoraku said, looking up and down the rows of his subordinates and finally settling on Ichigo. "We put a limiter on him and send him to the Academy."

There was a beat of silence following the Soutaicho's statement, followed by loud coughing as laughter was hastily covered. Ichigo scowled at his friends (Renji, Rukia and Shinji earning themselves particularly fierce looks) and then sighed again. "I don't object to the idea," he said, "but how is this going to work with a captaincy?" Incredulous eyes turned to him again, many of the captains and lieutenants believing that he would fight tooth and nail against spending time in a school where he had more power in his pinky than any of the teachers, much less his peers. "Believe it or not, I like learning, and I'm good at it. I'd like to get to know more about Soul Society, both inside the Seireitei and in Rukongai. The Academy seems like the right place to do that, since it has connections to both and teaches about our history as a whole," he shrugged. "Still, it's going to pose two problems. First, I'm way too recognizable, I'd never learn anything about the average Shinigami because they would all be treating me differently." He scowled again at this thought. "Second," he continued, "if you really want me as a captain, can you afford to wait six years for me to graduate?"

"Both valid questions," Ukitake commented.

"If I may," Kisuke offered, waiting briefly for a nod from Kyoraku, "I believe I can offer an solution for both.

"As we all know, Kurosaki-san has previously demonstrated a high capacity for balancing school life with shinigami duties. Therefore, why not have him take over a division and attend the Academy at the same time? It is not as though the majority of the material will be new to him, which will significantly reduce the number of hours he will need to study, and we can offer our support with the division paperwork. After all, we all know that that's what takes up most of our time," he said wryly.

"Actually, I've been meaning to ask about that," Ichigo jumped in. He glanced back and forth between Urahara and Kyoraku as he delivered his next question. "Why is it that Soul Society isn't running on computers? I mean, you could probably drop the amount of time spent on paperwork to a quarter of what it is right now just by giving each captain and lieutenant a tablet." By the time he finished him comment, most of the meeting's attendees were staring at him. Feeling awkward, he scratched the back of his head. "What?" he asked sheepishly. "I know you've got computers in the Twelfth, Urahara, surely it can't be that much of a stretch to get a network up and running."

"Indeed," Urahara muttered, snapping his mouth shut and mentally kicking himself for not thinking of it sooner. He sighed as Benihime snickered about his age beginning to show. "We'll discuss it later?" he asked the Soutaicho.

"As soon as we're done with the question of Ichigo's placement. Now, how do you propose to have him at the Academy and as a taicho? He's right about the fame issue."

Urahara settled his face into a devious, knowing grin, and fluttered his fan, making Ichigo go instantly to red alert; he had seen that look far too many times, and it usually meant something either painful, embarrassing, or both was coming in the near future. He wasn't the only one to think so; the four captains standing immediately around him carefully shuffled back. "Simple," Urahara said gleefully. "While at his division, Kurosaki-san will be himself, the hero we all know. However," the grin widened and the index finger came up, "at the Academy, he will wear a limiter and appear to be what no one would expect… a girl!"

Stunned silence followed this statement. Ichigo's eyes widened, then he blinked. Urahara counted… three…two…one….

"OH HELL NO! NO WAY, YOU CRAZY PERVERT!"

"Hmm…" Kyoraku hummed with an amused glint in his eye. "That could work!" Ichigo spluttered.

"You must admit, it could, Kurosaki-kun," Ukitake added gently, trying to calm the man. Of course, this was proving to be difficult as his rage was fueled by the peals of laughter issuing from certain captains and lieutenants.

"Awww, come on, Ichi-chan!" Rangiku sing-songed, drawing Ichigo's attention away from beating Urahara (who was internally relieved; seriously, it was hard fending off the Visored and laughing at the same time!). "You'd be such a cute girl! Just think, we could use our feminine power together!" she cried as she crossed her arms under her breasts, pushing them up to clearly show what she meant. It accomplished exactly what she wanted as Ichigo went bright red with a yell and stumbled backwards, away from the twin terrors; Rangiku, Renji, Ikkaku and Hirako all promptly lost it and doubled over laughing.

"Seriously though, Ichigo," Kyoraku said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes, "you have no objections to attending the academy and becoming a captain, provided we can disguise you?"

"No," Ichigo replied, still glaring at Urahara, who grinned back.

"Good," the soutaicho stated, sounding satisfied. Ichigo started to turn towards him to see what the tone was about; however, the movement finished as a startled squeak as he was pounced on by no fewer than eight of the assembled captains and lieutenants.

"GAH! What….! Oi, hold it!" Protesting was useless, though, and he shortly found himself pinned down, watching as Urahara approached with that smile on his face and a black collar in his hands.

"Now, don't worry, Ichi-chan!" the crazy taicho sang. "This won't hurt a bit… though you may have a teensy headache when you wake up!"

And with that, everything went black.