Chapter 17: Graduation!

Grayson had now completed all of his exams and waited for his results in the classroom with everyone else.

He sat in silence and kept his arms crossed over his chest, seeing as how after his little demonstration in his fight, which just so happened to be with the top dog of the academy of all people, had seemed to result in people being a little wary around him.

After all, making light work of him in front of everyone, seemed to leave an impression to not be messed with, by the other students, meaning that now everyone was too afraid to speak to him, thinking that he was some sort of freak.

"Hmm... Maybe I should have held back." Grayson thought, keeping his eyes closed and his arms crossed over his chest as he remained deep in thought.

"But I guess there is nothing that can be done now." He then said, knowing the sooner he could get out of there the better, as he could feel everyone's eyes on him.

"I heard he is from the rukongai district."

"No way... He's not even a noble, how the hell is he that strong?"

Grayson could also see the guy he had defeated in his match glaring daggers at him. Turns out his name was Tsuburo Yasuyosu, and he had been the top student until Grayson had made light work of him.

Suddenly the door to the classroom opened as the instructors walked in, causing everyone to go silent, fixing their eyes upon them as they waited, sitting nervously in their seats.

"Alright, you lot, your results have been finalised and posted on the board in the courtyard. I wish you all the best of luck." He then said, watching as everyone was eager to make a move.

"Very well, you are dismissed." He then said, seeing that they couldn't wait to see how they did. Quickly everyone shot up and he watched everyone in the room bow in respect before they ran for the exit, almost fighting to get out of the door.

"Happens every year." One of the instructors said, laughing with the others.

Grayson was the only one who had waited, knowing there was no point in rushing and had remained seated, for the time being, catching the instructor's eyes.

"Ah, you." One of them said.

"Yes, sensei?" Grayson asked.

"I was told to tell you to report to the head instructor's office." He said, not letting Grayson know more than that.

"Yes sir," Grayson said, standing to his feet and bowing before he took his leave.

The instructors watched him leave before they turned to one another.

"Did you see, he got perfect scores on all tests." One of them said, getting a confused look from another.

"Perfect scores? No way!" He said, not believing it.

"Yeah, rumour has it that he is being offered a seated position already."

Grayson made his way through the hall and into the large courtyard, doing his best to ignore the looks he was getting from the other students he passed by.

"Man, what is it with everyone today?" He asked, seeing the large crowd gathered around the board.

"Oh my god! Grayson!" A voice suddenly said before he felt arms wrap around his neck from behind.

Grayson almost fell to the ground due to the sudden ambush on his back, seeing that it was Kimiko of all people.

"What the hell Kimiko!" He said, catching himself before he jumped off.

"Have you seen your results? The whole school is talking about it!" She said again, quickly grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the exam board.

Grayson and Kimiko pushed their way through the crowd so he could get a better look.

"Look see," Kimiko said as she pointed to the top of the list.

Grayson was surprised that his name was at the top, reading it a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"I did it... I really passed." He said softly, getting a confused expression from Kimiko.

"Passed? Grayson, you came top of the entire school! And you are only a first year!" She yelled, causing the rest of the crowd to look at them.

"Grayson!" Another voice suddenly said, catching both his and Kimiko's attention.

They could see Izumi waving from the other side of the crowd, trying to make her way over towards them.

Grayson and Kimiko slowly made their way out and towards Izumi, taking a step away from the other students so they could have a little more privacy since everyone seemed to be watching his every move from now on.

"You really did it... You're amazing." Izumi said, feeling nervous as she couldn't look him in the eye.

"Well, I don't know about amazing," Grayson said, trying not to get a big head, noticing that Izumi seemed a little down.

"Anyway, enough about me. How are you both doing?" He asked.

"We are both fine! Today is about you, so don't worry about us, right Izumi!" Kimiko said, quickly grabbing her from behind.

"Kimiko!" Izumi shouted, getting embarrassed as she tried to get Kimiko off of her.

Grayson could tell that they were both still a little shaken up by what had happened with the Hollow. After all, Kimiko had lost two friends in that battle, and yet she seemed to be dealing with it well.

"Actually, that reminds me. I was told to head over to the head instructor's office at once, I better get going otherwise I might be in trouble." Grayson suddenly said, rubbing the back of his head as he laughed nervously.

"Well, don't let us keep you, better get going." Kimiko said, getting serious again as she let go of Izumi.

"Thanks, see you both soon though, alright?" He said, getting a nod from Izumi.

"Of course, don't think you can just leave us behind in the dust," Kimiko said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don't doubt it." Grayson said laughing before he ran off, waving goodbye to them.

Both Izumi and Kimiko watched him run off, feeling slightly sad and a little jealous at his ability, knowing that they would still have to complete another five years before they could leave the academy.

"Come on Izumi, we had better get to class," Kimiko said, snapping her out of it, knowing that she felt a little sad.

"Y-Yeah, coming," Izumi said as she watched Grayson run off into the distance.

Grayson made his way to the office, having a strange feeling that for whatever reason he might be in trouble this time.

Nevertheless, he reached the office door, taking a deep breath before knocking.

"Yes come in." A voice said, permitting Grayson to enter.

"Yes sir, I was told to report to your office," Grayson said as he entered the room, seeing that the head instructor was not alone.

"Ah, just the person I wanted to see." The instructor said.

Grayson could see that two other of the academy's teachers were with him, both seated at the table in the middle of his office.

"Grayson, come in." The head teacher said, waving him over.

Grayson did as he asked and stood before them wondering what was going on.

"After review of your test scores, you are being allowed to graduate, with honours, I might add." The teacher said, interlocking his fingers and leaning on his elbows against his desk.

"Squad five are more than happy to take you, therefore I am happy to see you transferred into squad five as of today. You will find everything you need is already in your room and a member of squad five will be arriving at the academy soon to collect you." He then said.

Grayson nodded, understanding the situation.

"Very well, sir, thank you." He said, lowering his head as a sign of respect.

The teachers did the same and watched as he walked out of the office.

"We are expecting big things from you, kid." The teacher then said, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked over the exam results on his desk.

Grayson headed back to his room, walking through the hallways of the academy, once again doing his best to avoid the stairs of the other students.

Finally, he got to his room, quickly shutting the door behind him and taking a breather.

Grayson looked over at his bed, seeing a new set of black clothing that had been laid out for him with a file containing some paperwork.

"A soul reaper kimono." He said, picking it up to take a look.

Grayson placed the robe back down and picked up the paperwork, seeing the joining instruction for squad five.

"Well, I guess I had better get changed." He then said, taking his school robes off and putting his soul reaper uniform on.

The black kimono fit him well, not hanging to lose on his arms or legs he thought before tying his sash around his waist.

"I guess this means I really am a soul reaper." He said, taking a look in his mirror.

"Sure beats the first robes I got back in the rukongai district." He thought.

"Quest complete, gain soul reaper clothing!" The system suddenly said.

"You have been awarded 1000 exp and 1 skill point." It then said.

Grayson smiled and opened his stats menu to take a look.

Name: Grayson.

Level 23. (5600/8000).

Class: Soul reaper of squad five.

Health: 225/225

Stamina: 225/225

Reiatsu: 235/235

Skills- Hadō 31 Shakkahō level 3/10.

Hadō 1 Shō level 2/10.

Flash step 1/10

Strength: 25/100 (1/10)

Speed: 15/100 (1/10)

Intelligence: 15/100 (1/10)

Enhanced skills -

Zanjutsu: 1/10 (1/10)

Zanpakuto name: Jūryoku no Megami.

Hakuda: 5/10 (0/10)

Kidō: 3/10 (0/10)

Skill points available: 3.

Grayson took a good look at his stats seeing he had gained two more skill points and 2000 exp since completing the exam.

"Not looking too bad." He said as he stroked his chin, looking at the numbers.

"Wait a second..." He then said, taking a look at his Kidō ability Shō.

"I could have sworn I only placed one skill point into that skill." He said to himself.

"Answer..." The system suddenly said.

"The more you use a skill, the more it will improve and even level up. Some skills take much longer to learn and level up than others and using a skill point will be much faster. However, any and all skills can either be learned through classic methods such as study or practice. Or with the use of skill points." The system explained.

"Is that so..." Grayson said, taking the information on board.

"So, what would I have to do to level up my Hadō level one Shō again?" He asked.

"Hadō 1, Shō is currently at level 2/10 with 45/100 exp achieved towards the next level. You gain more exp in a skill depending on how you use it." The system explained.

Grayson thought about it and knew it made sense, however, he still felt like he should test it, turning to find something in his room he could use it on, turning his attention to one of his sandals that were on the floor.

"Hmmm... That will do." He said as he pointed his finger.

"Hadō 1, Shō." He said, casting the spell, sending the sandal crashing into the wall with a hard thud.

Grayson quickly opened his stats to see if that had done anything, and could see that his Shō skill had raised from 45/100 exp to 50/100 exp.

"So even just doing that the skill gained five exp towards the next level." He said, finding the information very useful.

Grayson noticed the time and realised he had better stop messing around, quickly grabbing his sword and placing it in his sash before he put his sandals on and exited the room, heading towards the large courtyard.

Grayson could see the looks he was getting from the other students now that he wore the black soul reaper robes, having made it into the ranks of a squad after only a year at the academy was something that almost never happened after all.

Thankfully as he got towards the courtyard, Grayson could see that he was not the only one dressed in soul reaper robes, seeing that the others who had also graduated had their robes on too.

"Looks like we are all headed towards the same place." He said, finding that everyone was going towards the large courtyards that connected to the main entrance of the seireitei itself.

Everyone was already lined up and Grayson fell in line with the others, standing at ease and looking at the 11 members who each bore different squad emblems standing before them, each holding a piece of paper in their hands.

Grayson recognized that every squad was there except for squad one and squad two.

Not long passed before the head instructor had deemed that everyone had arrived, taking the centre of their ranks.

"Alright everyone, listen to the instructions. Before you are members of each squad. If they read your name from their list, then you are to follow them." He said, crossing his arms behind his back.

"Before you go to your new squad, I wish you all the best of luck and my congratulations for passing out of the soul reaper academy!" He said, getting a large cheer of excitement from everyone.

Once everyone settled down the first member who announced himself to be from squad three started calling out a few names.

Next was squad four, who did the same, calling out more names than squad three, getting a not-so-exciting expression from some that had been called to join them.

"Alright, I am the 3rd seat of squad 5! The name is Gojuro Sezaki! Listen up for your name." The man shouted.

Grayson took a good look at the man, seeing that he had short neat black hair and a small goatee on his chin, seeming to hold himself with good posture and pristine robes.

The man started calling names out names including both Grayson's and Tsuburo Yasuyosu before he was finished, giving squad 6 and the other squads their turn to do the same.

"Great, that guy is joining the same squad as me..." Grayson thought, knowing that this would be a pain.

Soon enough everyone had been called to their new squad and were dismissed by the head instructor, being free to head over to their new squad rep.

Grayson and the others that had been called over to squad five made their way over to the 3rd seat, bowing their heads to him in respect.

"Alright you lot, if you are all ready, let's get a move on." He said, not wanting to waste any time.

Grayson turned back towards the academy, taking one last look at it before he noticed both Kimiko and Izumi standing in the crowd of students watching.

"Izumi... Kimiko..." He said, watching as both of them waved at him from the distance.

Grayson smiled, knowing that this would be better than sad goodbyes and raised his arm into the arm so he could wave goodbye to them.

"Alright then, follow me." The 3rd seat said as he started walking off into the seireitei itself, leading the way for the others.

"Looks like this is goodbye..." Izumi said. Watching as Grayson headed off after he had waved at them.

"What did you expect, hugs and kisses?" Kimiko suddenly said, trying to hide the fact that she felt the same.

"N-No!" Izumi said, going a little red in the face as she thought about it.

"I-I just."

"I know." Kimiko suddenly said, turning to look at Izumi.

"But he is gone now, and there is nothing we can do other than become strong enough to catch up to him now!" She then said, feeling a sudden burst of motivation.

Izumi was shocked that Kimiko had become so fired up all of a sudden and turned back to look at Grayson one last time, looking at his back once again, seeing that he had always been infront of her.

"I will catch up to you one day... One day I will stand beside you." She then said before looking back to Kimiko.

"Let's become stronger together!"

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"Alright going to end this one here! I hope you enjoyed it!