A different kind of opening ceremony
[On the way to Karakura High School…]
Two young men were walking in silence, though there was some tension in the air.
After a few moments, Ichigo couldn't bear it anymore and stopped, turning back towards Ren and asking with a frown, "Ashikawa, since when can you see spirits?"
Ren remained silent, meeting the orange-headed teenager's gaze, but soon he smiled wryly, raising his hands lightly and explaining, "Well, that would be… since I came to this world."
'It is technically true.' He commented on his mind.
"You too?" Ichigo's eyebrows raised in surprise, 'To this day, I never met anyone else capable of doing that, apart from me and Karin. So he's also able to see them from birth…'
From Ichigo's expression, Ren could see that he had probably misunderstood his words, but there was no need to bother correcting it, so he just smiled calmly.
Sensing the opportunity, he asked something as well, "Hey, that spirit, since when she's appeared?"
Ichigo was silent for a moment before explaining, "She died in an accident a few days ago, on that crossroads. I started bringing flowers yesterday because she likes them."
Ren's lips stretched into a smile as he commented, "That's pretty nice of you. Your rep didn't really introduce you as a kind person."
"Tch. I won't back down from a fight, but I'm not the one asking for them." Ichigo rebutted.
"Why would you get into them, then?" Ren asked, though he was already aware of the answer.
"Usually because of my hair color, which is natural, by the way." Ichigo answered.
"I see… Hm? Ah, there's the school." Ren said, seeing the sign on the walls further ahead.
"Yeah." Ichigo commented, a little absent minded.
After they went through the gates, Ren turned to him and thanked, "Thanks for showing me the way, Kurosaki. I owe you one."
Ichigo waved his hand dismissively while walking away, "No problem. Also, it's okay to call me Ichigo. Since we're neighbors, it'll get confusing otherwise."
'Heh, such a tsundere, trying to act cool.' Ren smirked, but still answered, "Sure. Feel free to call me Ren as well."
After they parted ways, he took out a small hand book from his bag, and spent a minute looking for the board containing the list of students in each class.
'This kind of guide is pretty useful. I wish there was something like this back in uni…' Ren felt that asian schools were slightly more organized than the ones he attended in his previous life.
He soon found a green board with many sheets of paper pinned to it, "There it is."
'Now, let's look for my name. It's not class 1-1… Not 1-2… Ah, found it.' Ren read each of the names in the classes list, searching for his.
"So it's class 1-3, huh? Why am I not surprised…" The corners of his mouth stretched into a wry smile.
On the same list were the names of characters he knew from the anime, including Arisawa Tatsuki, Inoue Orihime, Ishida Uryuu, Asano Keigo, Kojima Mizuiro, and to top it off, Kurosaki Ichigo and Sado Yasutora.
'What to do… Well, the best course of action is to remain lowkey until the plot starts. I can decide if I want to involve myself then and there, since I would still have my knowledge as an advantage.' Ren mused.
'Another thing is that there's no way to know where Aizen's eyes and ears are over here.' He thought to his point and clicked his tongue, "Tch."
If there was something Ren didn't like, it would be the feeling of losing the control he had over his own life. Knowing there was this kind of very dangerous element lurking in the shadows gave him goosebumps.
At that moment, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a man bawling his eyes out near him, "Ugh, my youthful life full of pink! Why? Why did this happen to me~"
'Hm? Who's that? The voice sounds familiar…' Ren turned to his left, but before he could process, the board near him seemed to bend near the middle.
He stepped back quickly, and right after the board snapped, with dust, splinters and shards of glass flying everywhere as a few figures burst away.
Ren, Keigo and Mizuiro watched dumbfoundedly as Chad and Ichigo flew through the air, in slow motion. One of them was punching some student squarely in the face, while the other was delivering a flying kick, similarly into his opponent's face.
As they landed past them, Keigo was the first to become pale, "C-Chad and Kurosaki?!"
The two of them, one with a head full of spiky orange hair and the other towering over with his slightly curvy bangs over his eyes, were stepping on their now unconscious targets, back to back, looking at the encirclement forming around them.
Many young men wearing the school's uniform started surrounding them. Some of them didn't bother wearing it properly, while others even held wooden swords and bats in their hands.
"W-w-what is this? This can't be true! There's no way we're getting involved in this kind of absurd development like it's some sort of joke!" Keigo looked around in a comically distraught expression, "Is this a nightmare? Am I still sleeping?"
"You're so noisy." Mizuiro struggled to react to his friend's antics.
At that moment, the afro blondie Oshima Reiichi approached from between the crowd with a smirk. The men opened a path for him and one of them followed behind while making an exaggeratedly mean expression.
"You thought you got away, Kurosaki, Chad…" He acted as if he had complete control of the situation.
"It's Oshima Reiichi from Togata School!" Keigo somehow instantly recognized the new appearance.
Mizuiro had a deadpan expression, "...Hey, Keigo. Do you have some sort of delinquent encyclopedia in your brain? Oh, and by the way, these guys are also in our class."
His outburst had apparently disturbed the atmosphere Reiichi was going for, as he looked their way while asking with an annoyed expression, "Who are you idiots? Kurosaki's friends?"
Keigo's face went as pale as a sheet of paper, as he waved his arms desperately, "G-God forbid! This is definitely, completely, 100% our first time meeting them!"
Much to his dismay, however, Mizuiro had at some point vanished from his side, and was currently extending his hand towards Ichigo and Chad, as the latter two looked at him in confusion.
"I'm Kojima Mizuiro from Hiiragi School. I'm in class 1-3. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said with an innocent smile, ignoring the current atmosphere.
Reiichi popped his knuckles with a grin, saying to Keigo, "Congrats! Kojima Mizuiro has just entered the party!"
"Hiih, h-he didn't, really!!" Keigo tried to delay the inevitable while simultaneously crying to his friend, "Mizuiro! M-Mizuiro! What are you doing? Come back here! I didn't raise you to be like this! Are you hearing me?!"
His cries went unheard, however, as Ichigo calmly responded, "Class 1-3? I'm also in that one."
"Mizuiro-chan! Mizuiro-sensei! Hey- Ah don't step there…" It seemed something was happening there, but it fell on deaf ears.
Ichigo continued while pointing to his side, "I'm Kurosaki Ichigo, and the big guy is Sado Yasutora. Nice to meet you too."
Chad nodded towards Kojima, and a voice was heard approaching the trio, "Hey, does the party need a bard? I want in."
"Ren, it's you." Ichigo recognized the guy he met on the way to school, as the latter approached while patting the dust away from his blazer, nodding to him before looking at Chad and Mizuiro bemusedly.
'Heh, they already have the tank, healer and dps, no AoE though' Ren's thoughts betrayed the current situation as he introduced himself, "Hi, I'm also in class 1-3. The name is Ashikawa Ren. Call me however you prefer."
"That said, you guys surely know how to make an entrance, heh." Looking at the broken windows, the split message board and the crowd of ill-intentioned students waiting to pounce on them, there was only a wry smile on his face, before he added, "Oh, and that guy's getting stepped on…"
"Can someone save me?" Keigo called again as they turned his way, finally, having finished their introductions.
Ichigo asked as they watched the scene, "Who's that?"
"He is Asano Keigo. Not that great at studying, but a smart and honest guy. He warms up to people quickly and can't lie." Mizuiro explained, before adding, "He is a hundred times better than me."
With a surprised look, Ichigo said, "You're amazing."
"Huh?" Mizuiro looked at Ichigo in confusion.
The latter adjusted his clothes and continued while turning around, "Nothing. It's just that I thought it's pretty rare for someone to cite so many good points when asked about a friend."
"Hey, Kojima, are you good at making excuses?" He asked.
Mizuiro paused for a moment, and answered "I'm so good it hurts."
Ichigo smiled and continued while doing some stretches, "Ok. I'll give you five minutes to make the best one you got. One so good that even if we save Asano, we won't get kicked out of school."
As Mizuiro was dumbfounded, Ren came to Ichigo's side with Chad and added "God, you're so cheesy."
A vein popped on Ichigo's forehead as a slight blush painted his cheeks, "S-Shut up! Wanna fight, huh?!"
"Heh, I think you're looking at the wrong target." Ren laughed.
"Tch." Despite having his flow broken, Ichigo decided to bother about their current objective instead.
'To think I would be able to see this kind of scene straight out of the anime… This is pretty exciting…' He felt a little bubbly inside.
He watched as the two dashed towards the bunch of delinquents ahead, who were unaware of their future suffering.
—
Extra titles: ("Afro blondie's untimely demise.", "Mizuiro's betrayal", "Anime protagonists are inherently cheesy.", "This DnD campaign is kinda weird.", "Guide books are actually useful", "Plans to remain lowkey, remains lowkey", "I feel bad for the message board. It was innocent").