Understanding II: School Daze (Bleach Fanfic)

Lunch Time

When Ichigo arrived at school, the first thing he did was go and speak with the teacher in charge of the math, who also happened to be his classes Homeroom teacher. He walked up to the woman, scratching his head. "Can I speak to you Ochi Sensei?"

At that, the woman looked up, her smile quite enthusiastic. "Good morning Kurosaki. You aren't going to tell me that you forgot your homework, or forgot to even do it are you?"

"Ehh..." The orange haired teen blinked a couple of times.

The woman then spoke up, going back to her grading. "Because the thing is, you have been missing a lot of school, cutting out of class."

"Well... I know this is going to likely disappoint you, Sensei, but I honestly don't have my homework done. I actually wasn't able to do my homework yesterday, and I wanted to talk to you about that." The substitute shinigami glanced at the door way.

"Kurosaki, you know I don't let people make up the work. It has to be very big circumstances, like a family member being in the hospital. I know that isn't the case though, because you're here right now." The woman picked up the papers she would need for her class that day and stood up.

"Actually, I wasn't wanting to find out if I could make up the work. There is something that I need to talk to you about, that is a family situation, so to speak. I was wondering if I might speak to you about it during lunch time?" Ichigo asked, knowing that she would give a firm answer. Thus, he was in the teachers lounge to speak with her.

"So, what is it that you want to talk to me about?" The woman leaned back in her chair slightly and Ichigo handed her a folder. At that, she flipped through the pages. "Kurossai... this is all of the math work sheets I gave you. All of them are completed... including the one that was due today. If you completed them then why is it you didn't turn it in?"

"Actually, I'm not the person who completed any of those work sheets. Over the summer break, we had a kid around my two sisters age come and stay with us because of his home situation. My dad enrolled him at the elementary school, so he could be in Karin and Yuzu's classroom. He didn't start school until today, so he was home yesterday, and he got bored."

Misato glanced through the papers, a frown on her face. "Kurosaki, what grade level are your two sisters?"

"They're in the fifth grade, and next year they'll be in the sixth." The teenager pulled one of the chairs out and sat watching her.

"The thing is, this is all of the math worksheets for a tenth grader. Your little friend, if I can call him that... he did all the math completely and correctly. That means he's at least at an eleventh grade level for learning math, if not higher." The woman stated, and then blinked a couple of times. "Kurosaki, are you needing new worksheets because of this?"

"Yeah, I am." Ichigo scratched his head, a weak smile splayed on his face, trying to make light of the situation, when he really couldn't.

The teacher tapped the papers on the desk. "Normally, I don't allow makeup work, but the situation isn't normal, so I'll give you time to make up the homework that is due today and tomorrow by the beginning of next week. However, I don't think that this is what you wanted to talk to me about."

"I honestly don't think Toshiro should be in elementary school, intelligence wise. The other day, he was reading one of Shakesphere's plays that I had in my room and he hated reading the assigned reading that the elementary school had for him." The teenager placed his hands on his knees, watching the woman carefully.

Continuing, he spoke up some more. "However, one of the reasons he is staying with us is because he has some social issues that need to be dealt with. He honestly doesn't know how to interact with other kids his age. He keeps trying to be an adult, when he really just needs a chance to be a kid."

"So... you honestly think that he needs high school level material, but on the other side he needs the interaction with his classmates." The woman stated. "You wouldn't happen to know what the name of their teacher is?"

"Not really..." Ichigo paused at this, wondering exactly where this was going.

"If you can get me her information, I can possibly talk to her and see what she thinks about the situation." The woman smiled at him.

"But Toshiro isn't one of your students?" The teenager shook his head at her.

The woman smiled. "He may eventually be, plus... a teacher is a teacher. We do it because we like students learning. Plus, a bored kid in elementary school because of curriculum issues is not good for the teachers and other students typically. It also seems like a challenge, something I don't get very often."

M

The white haired child felt his mind go numb as he heard over and over again, things he already knew. The teacher would ask for students to raise their hands to answer her questions, and he watched as the other students hands would raise up to give her an answer, though some of the kids shied away from answering.

Every so often, the teacher would call upon a student who didn't wish to raise their hands and Toshiro kept his mind going enough, so that he could begrudgingly answer a question. However, she never asked him anything, almost as if she was giving him a chance to get used to the class room.

Eventually, the shinigami captain felt that her calling on him to answer something would levitate some of the strain on his mind. He also felt it would make some of the felling about the eyes staring at him also disappear. Hitsugaya also tried coming up with a reason for him being here, as he wasn't learning anything new, and there was no form of competition, nothing to look forward to.

Even doodling small pictures in one of his notebooks, along with the few notes he felt he needed to take did nothing to eliminate the pain he felt, or that is what the mental strain felt. like. Slowly, his notes came to consist of more and more pictures, rather then words. However, a relief came when the bell rang.

Glancing up though at the clock, he realized he still had more time to be stuck in the classroom. However, he reached down to his back pack and pulled out his bento, setting it on his desk while he watched the other students move their desks together and make their own preparations.

A few of the males were muttering under their breath about his hair color, and how they felt there were some problems with him. The word psychopath cropped up, but he couldn't see who it was that said it, likely a friend of the kid he got into a fight with yesterday. The honest truth was, he wasn't sure what to do.

Karin had pulled her desk together with Yuzu and another girl, and she was glancing up at Toshiro when he found himself approached by one of the females in the class. At first, his head remained hung down, but he found his body tensing up, and his mouth opening slightly as his eyes widened for a few minutes in surprise.

When his eyes returned to their normal state, he suddenly felt a few guys glaring into his back. "I was wondering, would you like to eat with us? Your new, so you haven't made any friends yet, right?"

At that, Toshiro's mouth opened up, but then snapped shut. He then opened up his mouth to say something. "I..."

At that, Yuzu spoke up from where Karin and the other girl had pulled the three desks together, leaving a space for another desk. Their friend glanced at Hitsugaya nervously. This didn't stop the lighter haired twin from speaking up. "Toshiro-kun, you can sit with Karin-chan and me and Midori-chan."

At that, two teal eyes blinked a couple of times, not at all sure what to do in this situation. Without glancing around, he could feel a few of the male eyes glaring into his back. However, the other girl blinked a couple of times, backing up slowly. "Well, if Kurosaki Yuzu insists, you should go ahead and eat with her."

At that, the boy glanced down, but then moved his desk over to next to Karin's desk and then sat down. He spoke quietly, not very loud to her. "Exactly what was going on there?"

At that, the dark haired twin simply stared at him. "Toshiro, you don't understand why she asked you to eat with her?"

"No..." The boy opened up the bento that Yuzu had prepared for him. "I can't see why anyone would ask me to eat with them as I am a complete stranger and rumors are already going on."

AT that, the female let out a deep sigh. "For some reason, I don't think you want to know the reason."