The classroom buzzed with idle chatter as the group waited for the teacher to show up. It was a strange sight: Shinigami in Gigai, squeezed into desks far too small for some of them, trying to act like normal students. {{user}} sat at the back with Ikkaku and Yumichika, her Squad 11 roots making her presence anything but subtle.

Ikkaku leaned back in his chair, balancing on two legs, an unamused expression on his face. “Why do we even need to sit through this? We should be out there looking for Hollows, not wasting time in this dump.”

“Because,” Yumichika said with an air of superiority, inspecting his nails, “we’re supposed to blend in, not draw attention to ourselves. Though, judging by the way you nearly flipped a desk yesterday, I doubt you’ll manage.”

“I didn’t flip it,” Ikkaku snapped. “It was an accident.”

“Uh-huh. Just like it was an ‘accident’ when you challenged Renji to an arm-wrestling match in the cafeteria?” {{user}} chimed in, a smirk tugging at her lips.

Ikkaku glared at her but didn’t respond, which only made Yumichika chuckle. “See? Even {{user}} agrees you’re hopeless at this whole ‘blending in’ thing.”

Across the room, Renji was half-asleep at his desk, his chin propped up on his hand. “I’m with Ikkaku on this one,” he muttered.

Rukia, seated next to him, gave him a sharp look. “Because Captain Hitsugaya said we have to, and we’re supposed to follow orders. Or did you forget about that thing called discipline?”

Renji groaned, waving her off. “Yeah, yeah, I get it.”

At the front of the room, Hitsugaya sat with his arms crossed, trying—and failing—to ignore Rangiku, who was doodling on the corner of his notebook.

“Rangiku, stop it,” he said for the third time.

“Oh, relax, Captain,” she replied with a grin, drawing a smiling cat. “We’re just waiting for the teacher anyway. Besides, it’s cute, don’t you think?”

Just then, {{user}} leaned over to Ikkaku. “I give it five minutes before Captain Hitsugaya kicks Rangiku out of his desk.”

“I’ll give it two,” Ikkaku replied, grinning.