Chapter 8: First day at the soul reaper academy!

It was finally time for my first day as a student at the soul reaper academy!

Honestly, it still felt a little surreal, but stranger things have happened... right?

Anyway, I started the morning with the rest of the students who were living in the dorms. The bathrooms were shared so you didn't really have a choice unless you wanted to smell.

Everyone was dressed in the new robes that had been issued to them by the academy and were looking fresh, with the men in white and blue and the girls in white and red.

Grayson stood facing his mirror, getting one last look at himself before making his way out of the dorm and towards the classroom, providing he could find it alright.

Grayson had decided it would be best if he left his Asauchi in his room for the time being. After all, no one else was carrying one around and the last thing he needed was to draw unwanted attention to himself by carrying a real sword on the first day.

Grayson made his way outside and could see other students walking around the grounds of the academy, all of them smiling and joking with each other, while others walked alone trying to find their bearings around the new school, Grayson included.

"The map said this way right?..." Grayson thought as he took another look at it.

"Umm excuse me?" A soft voice said from behind him.

Grayson turned around to see who it was, being met by the face of a pretty girl.

"Y-yes?" He said answering her as he took in her appearance.

She was a beauty, with long purple hair that ran down to her lower back. She had dark eyes and soft yet sharp features that stood out.

"I was wondering if you could help me find classroom 1-A." She said smiling at him.

Grayson gulped after a second, trying to play it cool before he realised she was headed to the same place as him.

"Actually im going there myself," Grayson said with a smile.

"Would you like to go together?" He then asked.

The girl smiled at his offer.

"Would you mind?"

"Not at all. My name is Grayson, by the way." He then said introducing himself.

She smiled and brushed her hair out of her face.

"My name is Izumi." She then said introducing herself.

"It's nice to meet you, Grayson."

Grayson smiled before giving her a nod.

"Shall we?" He then said as he extended his hand for her to follow him.

Izumi nodded and followed, walking next to him as the two of them made their way to the classroom in silence.

They soon arrived thanks to Grayson being able to read the map right, something he wasn't sure he had done.

"Here we are," Grayson said as he opened the door for her, being a gentleman.

"Thank you," Izumi said with a smile as she walked into the room.

The classroom was almost full and everyone in there stared at Grayson and Izumi as they walked together.

Grayson could feel all the eyes of the other men in there on him like daggers pointing at him. He smiled and found an empty seat before sitting in it to mind his own business while Izumi did the same.

Not long past and the teacher entered the room, walking over to the desk at the front as he picked up a piece of chalk to write on the blackboard.

"Good morning everyone." He said as he wrote four things on the board.

"You will address me as sensei and only sensei until you have earned the right to address me by my name, is that clear?" He said.

Everyone nodded slowly.

"I said is that clear?" He said again.

"Yes sensei!" The whole class suddenly responded.

"Better." He said as he crossed his arms behind his back.

He was a tall thin man with neat brown hair that was brushed to the side.

"First off, welcome to class 1-A. This is the advanced class for those of you who scored the highest on your entrance exam. Meaning you are the best of the crop." He said as he marched from one side of the room to the other as he looked all of them up and down.

Grayson had counted about 25 of them including himself in the classroom.

"Now, can anyone tell me what these four things on the board represent?" He said slapping his hand on the board.

Grayson could see he had written the words.

Zanjutsu,

Hakuda, Hohō and Kidō.

Grayson knew what they all meant apart from Hohō, not being familiar with the word.

Izumi slowly raised her hand into the air before the instructor and everyone else looked at her.

"Yes, you." He said pointing.

She stood from her seat looking confident before she spoke.

"Zanjutsu is the art of the sword, one that all shinigami should hope to master. Hakuda is the art of hand to hand combat. Something every soul reaper should strive to learn should they be disarmed. Hohō is used for defence and footwork a very basic yet effective style of fighting. Lastly, Kidō is a form of advanced spells created from our reiatsu. It is also broken down into two segments. Hadō and Bakudō." She said explaining all of them with ease.

The instructor nodded his head, impressed with her knowledge of the subjects listed.

"Excellent! She is correct. These are the four basic styles you will be studying here while at the academy. Each will be split into its own more diverse class, along with the study of the history of the Seireitei."

Everyone listened as the instructor explained things in more detail, while Izumi sat back down.

"She's not only pretty but smart too." Grayson thought as he smiled at her.

"Alright, that's my lector over with. Next, we will be proceeding to the Zanjutsu training hall to start your introduction to Zanjutsu." The instructor said getting an excited murmur from the class.

"Alright follow me." He then said before the whole class followed him out of the classroom and to one of the Zanjutsu training halls.

Once their the whole class took their seats by kneeling on the floor, Japanese style. Grayson wasn't quite used to sitting like that and he had to say it hurt his legs a little.

"Alright, listen up." The instructor said as he took a wooden training sword in his hand.

"This is a bokken. It's a heavy training sword you will be using to learn the basics. Once you have proven you can handle yourself with a bokken, you will be assessed and given an Asauchi."

Everyone nodded as they understood what the instructor was saying.

"Come and collect your bokken one at a time and line up!" He then said, getting the ball rolling.

Everyone got a training sword and found some space so they wouldn't hit anyone else.

Once ready the instructor started to explain some of the basic principles of the sword, such as attacks and blocking. He also went over some basic footwork and stances that could be used during combat.

Grayson already felt more than confident with all of this, as he already knew it thanks to his system Zanjutsu level.

The class was made to practice these basics for two hours, giving them a good workout from swinging the heavy objects over and over again.

Soon enough the instructor was happy with their progress and allowed them to rest for ten minutes.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to bump my level up a little." Grayson thought as he sat down, opening his stats screen so he could take a look.

Name: Grayson.

Level 9. (100/2600).

Class: Student of the Shinōreijutsuin.

Health: 150/150

Stamina: 140/150

Reiatsu: 150/150

Skills-

Strength: 60/100 (0/10)

Speed: 40/100 (0/10)

Intelligence: 50/100 (0/10)

Enhanced skills -

Zanjutsu: 3/10 (0/10)

Hakuda: 2/10 (0/10)

Kidō: 0/10 (0/10)

Skill points available: 4.

"Let's bump it up to five," Grayson said as he placed two skill points into his Zanjutsu slot.

A wealth of knowledge about sword-fighting suddenly flowed into his mind, allowing him to learn things he hadn't known about yet.

"Amazing..." He thought as the information sank in.

The break ended quickly as the instructor entered the room and snapped everyone back to their feet.

"Alright, now that you have a gist of the basics, it's time to put them to the test against a live opponent."

The instructor made all of the students form a large circle, picking two at random to enter the middle and fight until one of them gave up.

"Begin!" The instructor shouted as both of the males in the middle clashed swords.

The exchange didn't last long and the man with the blond hair landed a blow to the other head, knocking him to the ground in defeat.

"Winner!" The instructor said raising his hand.

"Alright, next!" The instructor said pointing to Izumi.

She nodded and stood to her feet as she entered the ring.

"There is no difference if your opponent is a female. Remember to give it your all!" The instructor said, reminding them both not to hold back.

Izumi took a basic stance, holding her bokken in both hands as she watched her opponent carefully.

"Here I come!" The man said with a cocky smile on his face, attacking with a quick thrust.

Izumi was able to bat his attack to the side and stepped back giving her enough time to block a downwards strike to her head.

The sound of the wooden swords clashing echoed through the hall as they crashed and popped.

Izumi was hard on the defensive as the man pushed her back, attacking with a sudden flurry of wild attacks.

Izumi ducked under one of them and thrust her sword at his stomach, going for the only chance she had.

"You fell for it!" He said as he suddenly pulled his sword over his head with the blade pointing down, blocking her attack before he used the force of the block to attack her.

"Argh!" Izumi yelled as the wooden sword smacked her across the face, sending her to the ground.

"Winner." The instructor said raising his hand.

The man walked over to her and placed his wooden sword over his shoulder.

"Looks like being smart isn't enough when it comes to the real thing." He said, standing over her with a smile.

"Alright, who's next?" The instructor said, looking around to see if anyone would step up to face him.

"New quest. Win the duel and defend Izumi's honour. Reward 1000 exp." The system said in Grayson's head.

"Well, I guess that settles it." Grayson thought before he raised his hand.

"I am," Grayson said getting to his feet.

The instructor looked at him before referring to his sheet, cocking an eyebrow.

"Very well. To the middle." The instructor said.

Grayson took to his position, keeping an eye on Izumi who had sat back down, looking humiliated.

"Time to play the hero," Grayson said as he took the same stance Izumi had.

"Begin!" The instructor said, watching carefully.

Both of them stood still as they waited for the other to make the first move and soon enough the man started to grow impatient.

"If you won't attack, then I will!" He said, suddenly stepped forwards as he lifted his sword over his head ready to launch a powerful attack.

Grayson smiled as the man played right into his hand, quickly stepping forwards and thrusting the tip of his blade at the man's throat, stopping it just before he hit.

Everyone was stunned at how fast Grayson had defeated him, watching in amazement.

The man was also shocked and quickly let his anger take over.

"Why you!" He shouted as he hit Grayson's sword away, throwing a barrage of wild attacks at him.

Grayson stepped back and blocked all of the attacks while holding his bokken with just one hand. The last attack was a wild horizontal slash coming from above. Grayson stepped to the side and stood on the back of the man's sword once it hit the wooden floor, snapping it in half.

Quickly he flicked his own wrist, letting his blade slap the man in the side of the head before he brought it over his head and back down, hitting the back of his legs and knocking him to the ground.

"That's enough!" The instructor shouted as he signalled the end of the match.

Everyone cheers and started to whisper about what had just happened, not believing their eyes.

"Quest complete! You have been awarded 1000 exp!" The system said.

Grayson looked down at him with a hard expression before smiling and offering him a hand up.

The man was a little hesitant at first but took his offer and pulled himself back to his feet.

"Good match," Grayson said.

"Y-Yeah." The man said, a little embarrassed.

"That's all for this lesson, you may leave for lunch." The instructor then said getting everyone's attention.

Everyone walked out of the hall, but not before putting their bokkens back into the box they had got them from.

Izumi headed over to Grayson and smiled at him.

"Thank you for that." She said.

Grayson smiled as he scratched his chin.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said with a small chuckle before they both exited the hall.

The instructor watched everyone go, however, he paid close attention to Grayson as he left, flicking over his paperwork again until he got to a report that was written on him.

"Grayson, rukongai north district 77... Already owns an Asauchi that he used to wound and drive back a hollow... Impressive."

Grayson and Izumi headed over to the mess hall for lunch. Everyone was still talking about his match and Izumi smiled as she overheard some of the other girls.

"Looks like your the new class favourite," Izumi said looking down a little.

Grayson rubbed the back of his head as he looked around, seeing the girls waving at him.

"I guess so." He said.

"Tell me, how did you get so good with a sword?" Izumi asked looking into his eyes.

Grayson's smiled faded and his face grew serious for a moment.

"Well, truth is. I already own an Asauchi and used it to fight a hollow. I guess I learned from that." He said.

Izumi was shocked and her mouth opened wide for a moment.

"You have already battled against a hollow!" She asked not believing it.

"Yeah... It was a tough son of a bitch, killed my friends too." Grayson said getting a little sad as he thought about it.

"I'm sorry," Izumi said as she calmed down.

"Hey it's not your fault, don't worry about it," Grayson said.

"Is that why you wanted to become a soul reaper?" She asked, holding her hands a little nervously in front of her as the two of them walked.

Grayson noticed her body language and gave her a playful nudge on her arm.

"Come on, let's get something to eat Izumi, then we can talk all you want!"

Izumi was very surprised by his action, but she soon smiled and nodded.

"Alright, let's go." She said as the two of them headed inside to eat.

Once inside the mess hall, Grayson could see lots and lots of people. However, he could not see anyone that he would recognise from the show itself, meaning he had no real idea of which part of the Bleach timeline he was in at the moment.

"Hey, over here!" The man with the blond hair shouted waving over to Grayson and Izumi.

The two of them looked at each other before laughing and heading over to sit with him and a few others.

"Hey, you two! Come on, join us." He said offering them both a seat.

"I'm sorry about before, I just got a little caught up in the moment." He said once Izumi and Grayson sat down, apologising.

"It's ok, I understand," Izumi said, forgiving him.

"My name is Jaku, by the way, it's good to meet you." He then said as he introduced himself.

"This here is Rocko, he then said introducing a larger man with a military-style buzz cut and hard features.

Rocko grunted as he stopped eating for a moment, doing his best to say hello.

"And this is Kimiko." He then said, introducing the girl to his other side.

"Nice to meet you," Kimiko said smiling at both of them.

Kimiko had long red hair that was tied up in a bun with two bangs hanging over her face.

"Nice to meet you both." Grayson then said.

"My name is Grayson."

"And I'm Izumi." They each said, telling the others their names.

All of them nodded at each other as the introductions had been made.

"So you're pretty darn good with that sword Grayson! You beat Jaku with ease!" Kimiko said smiling at him.

"Hey, no fair Kimiko!" Jaku shouted as he dropped his fork.

Grayson laughed a little as he took a mouth full of food, eating it as he listened.

"The three of us are from west district 50, pretty rough place you know," Jaku said as he crossed his arms, seeming proud.

Izumi was surprised indeed.

"District 50? That must have been tough." She said between eating.

"What about you guys, you seem to know each other well?" Jaku then said smiling.

Izumi blushed a little as she placed her fork down a little too quick.

"N-No, we just met this morning." She quickly said.

"Is that right?" Kimiko said smiling at Grayson.

"So where are you from then?" Jaku said interrupting her.

Izumi smiled.

"I'm from District 10." She said.

"Arnet you a lucky one," Jaku said as he leaned over to look at Grayson.

"What about you big shot, you sound like you're from a nice place too?" He asked looking smug.

Grayson put down his empty rice bowl and looked at Jaku and the others.

"I'm from north district 77."

The others almost spit out their food as he said it.

"What the hell man..." Jaku said sounding impressed.

"No wonder you're so strong." Kimiko then said as she eyed him up again.

Izumi was also surprised as she looked at Grayson before looking back to the table.

"Well, we had better get ready for the next class. It's Kidō after all, we will need to focus hard."

The others actually agreed with her and stood up from their seats.

"Alright, let's get going," Jaku said while holding his tray.

"And this time, I'm not going to lose to you, Grayson!"

Alright, thank you for reading, that's the end of this chapter! I do hope you are enjoying the story so far!

Thank you!