Memories of a Shinigami (BLEACH Club Members only)

[Xeim]

The rickety school bus bounced over the unpaved road leading up to Mt. Fuji. It’d been a long trip, and all the children riding inside were anxious to get out and stretch their aching legs. A young girl with black and red hair had had it with all their complaining.

“How much longer!”

“I’m hungry!”

It was endless! She just wanted to shake them all to death.

Haruka looked around her. She was sitting next to Satine, on the right side of the bus, three seats from the back, next to the window. As she peered out of it, she saw countless trees and shrubs slowly march their way past the bus. She wished it would stop. Haruka didn’t even know why she came on the trip. She much would’ve much rather stayed back and ditched school, maybe watch some TV, maybe annoy the neighbors with some loud music. But here she was, sitting on an old rickety school bus on its way to Mt. Fuji.

Haruka pulled her head away from the window and strained her black eyes around the bus. She found all of the people that she knew the names of: Otonashi, Hasaki, Mugen, Hawokuishibaru, Yuki and Stephen. These names she remembered as the ones who stared her down that day at the beginning of the year when she transferred schools.

<><><><><>

“Haruka, why don’t you come and introduce yourself to the class?” the teacher had asked.

“Nah, I’ll pass,” I had replied.

“Haruka, you will introduce yourself!”

“Really, it’s-”

“Do you want to go to the principal’s office young lady?!’

“Fine, whatever, I’ll do it...”

“Good.”

I got had gotten up in front of the class, and started in on a traditional introduction:

“Hey, I’m Haruka, I live here in Karakura Town-” I kept on like this for several minutes saying everything about myself that meant nothing. The kids just stared me down and gave me looks that said, “Would you shut up now?!” All the kids, that is, except Satine. That’s how we had become friends. Satine had listened faithfully, drinking in every little detail. The rest of the kids just fidgeted.
<><><><><>

A huge bump in the road brought Haruka back to the present.

“Ugh, I can’t take all this much longer...I need to get away from these whiners!” she mumbled under her breath. Satine didn’t seem to hear.
Haruka decided it best to just relax the rest of the way, and not think too much.

But of course, that was impossible. Thinking was the only thing one could do on a bus with a bunch of people who hated you and you hated right back. What will it be? She asked herself. Should I predict what happens next in my favorite show? Should I wonder what the name of my favorite band’s next album is going to be? Should I come up for an idea on that essay due next week? Nah, why would I do that essay anyway? It’s just a nuisance.

“Hey, Hyourin!” yelled a boy sitting two seats behind her. She turned her slender, pale head around to face him. He had brown hair, grey eyes, and rather large front teeth. The tan color of his skin was almost hidden by the huge mass of freckles that had apparently taken over his face.

“Excuse me?” she said rather politely, her deep black eyes boring a hole in that annoying freckled face.

“I said, ‘Hey Hyourin! What’s up with you today? You look like there’s nothing to say!” The boys around him started laughing hysterically at this, despite the fact that the sentence made not a strand of sense.

“Hmm...,” she said calmly, “you might do well to remember that my name is Haruka, and if you see fit to fail to remember that one more time, then I’ll overlook the fact that we’re on a moving school bus, and break your sorry, scrawny, annoying little excuse of a neck so fast that you won’t know what happened.” With that, she righted herself in her seat again and continued to stare calmly out the bus window.

Hyourin...

Haruka-Hyourin Tokoyami

Hyourin...

Asahi...

Chikai-Asahi Tokoyami

Asahi....

Brother...

...why?
<><><><><>

“Hyourin! Dinner’s ready!”

“Coming, *aniki!”

Haruka’s thoughts had led her back to the night her brother had been killed. The night the only one she had ever allowed to call her Hyourin was taken from her forever.

I ran into the dining room and sat down at our small table. I remembered every detail of my brother’s face. He had long black hair, like me, that he pulled into a neat ponytail that ran down his back straight to his waist. His dress was always conservative: a tan t-shirt and jeans. He had smiling green eyes that seemed to make everything alright, as long as you stared into them. His skin was pale, just like the skin of the rest of my family members, dead or living. And, his nose and mouth were delicate, almost feminine, but still masculine enough to make him devilishly handsome.

We ate in silence that night, though now, I wish we had talked more. After everything had been put away, he announced he was going to get us ice cream for dessert. He never came home.
<><><><><>
Haruka looked down at her thin, pale hands. Her black cargo pants made them seem even whiter. She then stared at her reflection in the bus window. Pale, thin face, pale, thin arms, all the more accented by her complete black attire. But, Haruka was proud of her complexion. It made her a true Tokoyami.

Satine then nudged her to let her know they were getting close to their destination.
















*aniki means “elder” or “older brother”

[Evangel]

Mugen sat all the way in the back seat on the right side. He sat alone, he liked being alone except with his sister, Aoi. She couldn't make it today because she was sick and had to stay home. He stared glumly out the window down the mountain side. He was deep in thought, only some of the other children's laughs and tanuts at Haruka crept into his mind. Mugen was thinking about the last thing Aoi said before he left for the trip.

She said: "Mugen," her voice was a little raspy from coughing and she was weak. He sat next to her on her bed as he brought some food to her and medicine. "I don't want you to go! I have a bad feeling, brother." Mugen at the time didn't want to admit it but he felt it too. It was the same he felt when the Hollow that called itself Bear Claw, attacked his family and took their mother and younger sister away from them forever. He will always remember that night...

"Mama!" His own voice echoed in his ears as he flashbacked to the night. "Mama! Please wake up! Mama!" His twin sister sat in the corner, sobbing, she had witnessed the whole ordeal. Their younger sister's body was missing, but the police found a torn piece of her shirt and some of her hair... both covered with blood.

He came back to reality when the bus hit a bump and made him fly up into the air. The other kids laughed but he didn't. He found himself all teared up and on the verge of crying. He wiped away his tears and sniffled. Mugen rested his head in his hand and stared outside.

It was all my fault. He thought. I should have been there, but I wasn't and I couldn't even protect my family. He sniffled again and wiped more tears away from his eyes. "I'm sorry..." He said quietly. "I'm sorry...."

[Mr. Sandman]

As the bus continued rambling, Hasaki all of sudden thought of his sister who died about 2 weeks ago and how he regrets not being able to save her from her illness.

Hasaki then looked deep into his own thoughts to clearly picture what happened in that frightful night.
Deep breaths are heard in the shallowness of the room.

"Sister! No, what's happenening to you!? Please.... just... don't die on me... Huh?"

"Hasaki, be strong for me, you did everything you could to help and for that I am thankful, don't be too hard on yourself."

"I don't want you to go, with mother gone, life has been hard enough... with mother's death, father changed. If you go, everything will soon fall apart, I can't take it!!!" Hasaki tries to calm himself down but the moment is just too much for him to handle.

"Hasaki, before I go... I want you to have this pendant of mine with your mother's picture in it. It even has the rose enscribed on the front of it..." She then coughed up some blood.

"Sis, you've always loved the rose, I... can't possibly take this from you... Sis, SIS!?" Nothing was heard as Hasaki's sister's hand drops to the side of the bed.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"
A few minutes later passes as Hasaki finally calms down.

"My whole life.... has fallen apart... my name... I will wipe it off existence," Hasaki quietly says as he grips his pendant from his hand tightly.

The bus hits a rock on the road causing Hasaki to come back to Earth as the other students leap up a little. "Stupid bus driver, he needs to pay attention," Hasaki grumbles to himself. Hasaki then reaches into his collar and pulls out his pendant. He catches another student confronting him.

The guy grins, "Nice pendent you got there Hasaki, mind if I take a look?"

Annoyed by the student's incorrect mannerism of the word "pendant" and calling him "Hasaki" he merely stays silent for a minute... then a few seconds later hooks in the face causing a big bruise to appear on his left cheek.

"Don't ever call me Hasaki, my sister who's now dead is the only want who may refer to me by that name, only other elders or my friends will I allow them to call me Hasaki and one more thing, the one thing I can't stand more than people like you is incorrect grammar." All of the students laughed as he heard other students say, "Way to go Van, that's showing that punk who's boss."

The bus driver looked back at us for a moment and shouted, "Stop with the violence you hear me!?" Everybody nodded except Hasaki. "Hasaki, that goes double for you!"

He just merely nodded and mumbled, "Whatever."

Satine shouted out, "Watch out!!!" The bus driver had driven his attention off the road. He quickly steered as he almost drove off a cliff, making Hasaki nearly lose his balance and hitting his head against Haruka's. The near death-incident reminded Hasaki of his sister's death as he looks at himself with his bangs blocking part of his vision.

The bus hit another ledge on the ground that surprised Hasaki and really started to drive him mad at the bus driver's carelessness. "What the heck man!? What are you trying to do get us killed? Pay attention, stupid bus driver!" Hasaki directed towards him with a pissed off voice. For some reason, the bus driver didn't answer... Hasaki slowly walked up to him to see what was going on. He was just sitting there, motionlessly with his eyes open but it felt as if no life was inside his eyes. It felt as if they were just staring blankly to space.

Hasaki didn't want to have anybody start panicking so he just walked back to his seat and thought of what just happened. "It was scary, scary to think that he was dead? No, no, that can't be it... is it?" Hasaki even wonders why he joined the field trip to go to Mt. Fuji in the first place. What made him go to the trip? It felt as if Hasaki was trapped, frozen in place, with no escape. His heart was pulsing, but he couldn't even lift a finger at that point. The sheer thought of one being dead right in front of your eyes was too much, but this time, it isn't a thought... it was real.

[Lady Rika]

Satine longed to press her hand against the window desired to feel the cold pressure kiss the burning intensity of her sweaty palms. But she couldn't.
The reason, Haruka, her best friend since youth sat there gazing for a while and maybe even the occasional mind wandering. And she of course, would never ask her to move for such a small request.
The girl didn't know why her hands were suddenly grief stricken with sweat but the thought of it being a bad omen did cross her mind at least once or twice. But thinking negatively only brings out the negative, Satine told herself with a small nod of her head.

Smoothing down her black and white Lolita skirt, Satine found slight humor in fingering the soft lace ruffles that decorated her hand made skirt. Though the look of the Gothic Lolita wasn't very popular at her school, neither was she.
'But that’s nothing to get upset about, I mean...we all have opinions.' Satine told herself, as the bus ran over a rough stone that lay trapped in the dirt.
Forcing the bus to have a seizure of rough shakes and trembles.
"Ah..." she gasped lightly as she was lightly thrown into the front part of her dark brown seat. Knocking the small silk top hat that rested so gently on the left side of her head to slide off its pins; and roll under the seat in front of her.

Satine bit her bottom lip with angst and embarrassment, she could hear a couple of the other students giggling at the falling of her tiny hat.
She felt a light blush run across her face, 'I knew I shouldn't of worn that hat.' she scolded herself, 'It would just get in the way...or worse, taken.'

Satine tried to lean down and get it but it was just too close to the other student’s feet. Her stretching pale arms couldn't reach, 'Oh no!'
Looking quickly over to Haruka and back she felt like asking her for help, but imposing on her thoughts would be rude and she didn't like to bother her friend with silly requests. Like retrieving her hat.
Leaning over a little she tried to see if it was someone she knew, Satine hoped it wasn't one of her many bullies. Then she'd never see her little hat again. But a smile came to her face when she noticed that it was someone she had class with, the small flash of brilliant white teeth made her feel like blushing again.

'I really do know how to embarrass myself.' she thought, laughing it off.
The boy sitting in front of her was definitely a classmate of hers, Hasaki Ichijin. Satine reached her hand out to get his attention but recoiled her reach. He had recently had death come visit his home taking the life of at least two family members. Though she wasn't sure who and it really wasn't her business being that she didn't know him well enough to even say his whole name without an honorific on the end.

'Should I ask him for my hat? What if he says no? And he did just hit another guy in his face...should I?' Satine looked down at her hands, her long nails were painted black; a little smiling skull was airbrushed on her pinky fingers.
It was sad really that Haruka was the only one who she ever really felt comfortable talking too. Even looking at another person could make her get tongue tied, or become her usual silent, shy self.
Taking a deep breath she reached her hand out for the second time, watching it tremble as she very gently tapped Hasaki on his shoulder.

"Um excuse me...Ichijin-kun, c-can you hand me my hand, please?"

Satine hated being this way, really she did. She could remember the day she first came to class. She smiled and greeted everyone warmly being as polite as she could to all her new classmates.

Who is she trying to impress? One girl asked almost disgusted.

What the hell is she wearing? Lolita? Ha, don't make me laugh! Another jeered.

Look at her hair! Oh my god, look at that bad dye job. She must be an otaku!

Satine had attempted to let these words leave her mind but in truth it was more difficult that she would of ever guessed. They stung like flames spewing from the mouth of a dragon.
If it wasn't for Haruka then she would never talk. The only friend she had, she was also the only one who understood her.
She understood that she had been adopted and the white hair she had was very natural, just like her ice colored eyes. And that her favorite colors were black and white, that was one reason she was into the Gothic Lolita style.
Her entire life, her world was Haruka's friendship that was all she had. Her adoptive parents had a lot of money but they never really cared much for her when she got older. When she was a baby...then it was much different.

She was soon ripped apart from her memories and brought back to reality when the bus nearly slammed into a road sign. Satine collected herself quickly as she waited for the boy in front of her to respond either in kindness or hate.

[Andromeda]

The day was still early even though it had been a long road. The sun was still in the east horizon pulling up above the land. There were few clouds in the sky making the sun’s glare blinding at times. Then the windows seemed to magnify the heat making the seats unbearable. It did not help much that the entire bus was filled with bodies that did not want to stop moving around. Most of the windows were closed creating the greenhouse effect inside with surprising results.

Steph had kept his gaze at the window for most of the trip. It was easier that way than having to face the unrestrained words of his classmates. The teacher was largely unavailable making it difficult to prevent them from picking on him. Though it seemed to make them angrier at times that he just smiled or shrugged them off. There was little reason to be stressing over small things like this when he knew that he would not be staying with them for very long.

In the thirteen years that he had been alive, his parents had moved him at least fifteen times. A few times was actually within the states, but he was so young at the time that he did not remember them at all. He could not even remember the base that he was born on. There were pictures of course, but they were far more foreign to him than the countries that he visited. Though this time was definitely one of the longest lengths of time that he remained in one place.

It had been more than a year since he moved to Japan with his parents and he had actually been able to stay at a school for more than a term. Even though he had not started the previous year at the school it felt like he had actually completed a full year at the school. He was able to move on with people he recognized, rather than having to remember new faces and names. The hardest part was trying to learn the language; Japanese was unlike anything that he had to learn before. The closest he had to relate to was Korean, but he was only in Korea for three months. He never had the chance to learn more than a handful of words.

Though after a year he had been able to form simple sentences with confidence. He tried to expand his vocabulary and speech, but it usually came out broken. It provided a reason for the other students to laugh at him, but he understood what they were saying better than he could speak it. He kept that fact to himself most of the time, since they would try to talk behind his back in Japanese thinking he did not understand them. It was only difficult when they talked too fast or used slang words. Steph did not let it get to him though; while it was not always easy to remain smiling he had practice.

The route to their destination on Mt. Fuji was becoming rough as the bus jumped. He had been resting his chin on the narrow ledge of the window until it rammed his jaw. His teeth had nearly taken off the tip of his tongue leaving his teeth sore from impact. Steph pulled himself up from staring at the window to look forward. Due to his height he could not even see over the seat in front of him. So instead he turned to look across for a moment before returning to the window. He pushed back his hair from laying on his shoulders letting out a soft sigh.

He caught a part of the conversation of two students talking to each other across the aisle. Most of it translated to him eventually, as he had to think about a few of the words. It was about him as he quickly realized. Though it had thrown him off when they were speaking in terms of a girl. But after that realized the joke. They made a comment that he should be wearing a girl’s uniform rather than a boy’s. He did not pay it much mind and looked back at the window trying to not to become too warm.

The sun was becoming exhausting for him as the bus never seemed to leave its light for long enough. Steph was starting to sweat and his clothes became stifling for him to be in. He tried to loosen the collar around his neck a little while not unbuttoning it. After that he pulled out a hair band from his pocket and placed it between his teeth. Then he pulled his hair back picking it away from his neck. He carefully managed to tie his hair back away from his neck while the bus continued to bounce around. With his hair tied back now it was a little cooler for him.

Steph looked around again trying to see if he could look over the seat in front. He was hoping to see a part of the mountain that they were driving on. It was always in the distance from where they lived, though he had hoped to have the chance to visit it up close. Though they were a lot closer to it than he was expecting to get. Going on this trip made him feel more like a tourist than a part of the class. Some of them had being to Mt. Fuji before and seemed uninterested in the idea other than getting out of school for a day. His excitement to see something new and different before he was gone made him stand out from rest of the group. They seemed accustomed to seeing it all the time. It was something that he did not understand too well. He had never been around long enough to become used to seeing and expecting something to always be there. Each day he would find something new that he had not seen before.

He was hoping that the bus would come to a stop soon so that he could see the mountain up close and not through a window. However, the trip was already fairly long making him wonder how far up the mountain they were driving. He doubted that this was going very far up. While he knew that it was not possible for them reach the top of the mountain, his mind wondered if they were actually going to get that far considering the trip so far. All he could do was wait though; he knew little of the area. He did not even get a chance to look at any books about mountain to know what to look for or expect when they were outside.

Steph returned himself back to looking out the window and waiting. The other students were keeping themselves entertained in one way or another. He barely knew most of them since they were all older than he was. There were a few from his class nearby, but most of them were in the front. It left him with older students making him feel even smaller than he already was. He watched the scenery go past the window wondering when the end of the road would come for them.

[Mr. Sandman]

Reaching for the hat and handing it back to Satine, Hasaki put his head near a window to try and calm himself down. The fresh air soothed his face and hair as the air felt so light and heavenly. Still worried that the driver, even if lifeless may drive off the road. It was like he was being possessed, but by what? Trying to keep his mind off the more complicated things, Hasaki looked all around him.

He spot two students on the bus probably gossiping again, so he didn't want to pay much attention. All of a sudden, Hasaki found himself thinking on what his father was doing after the death of his daughter and wife. His father became very strict and less sociable even to his own family. It was like talking to a hollow rock. Not even responding to a simple "hello."

The bus again hit a rock causing Hasaki to forget about his father. Being so frightened, nervous, and at the same time angry... Hasaki thought it would be best just for him to take a nap. As he does, he can faintly hear the other students talking making it irritably hard for him to take a nap. Trying to relax, Hasaki thought about his sister and afterwards gently fell asleep.

[abarai renji]

Oto sat in his seat, reading a manga. He had already been to Mt. Fuji on many occasions, because his grandpa lived there. He didn’t know why he even came on the trip today. ‘I suppose I just wanted to get away from school for the day,’ he told himself. Other than that, there really was no point of him coming with the class.

Normally, Oto would be chatting with his friends, but something felt weird today, and he didn’t feel too social. Instead, he just hung his head and continued reading.

A few minutes later, he heard the kids talking about Satine. He just listened to a little of there conversation, but he heard them saying very unkind things about her. He saw them get up and start walking over to Satine.

The first one said, “Hey Satine, try keeping your hat on next time.” His friend started laughing. After getting no reply from her, he spoke even louder, “HEY! Goth chick!”

At this, Oto couldn’t stand them anymore. Oto might not’ve been on friendly terms with Satine, but he couldn’t stand their bullying. While still sitting down, Oto threw his book at the kid, hitting him right in the eye. The kid swore “What the hell? You little retard! I’ll kill you!” He grabbed Oto by his shirt, and raised his hand to punch him. He swung his arm down violently, but Oto dodged his hand, and the kid’s arm hit the wall. Swearing, the he prepared a second punch. Before it went, the teacher grabbed his hand, and flung him away, into the next seat.
“Yusuke, get back to your seat! I’ll be seeing you in detention the next week. You too, Oto.”

[Evangel]

Mugen had unknowingly fallen asleep with his head on the window. He got woken up when the bus hit yet another rock and made him knock his head into the window. He groaned and rubbed the pain away.

He also had a nausiating feeling, like the one earlier but worse. "Mmmm..." he says weakly. "I hate bus rides." At that moment he catches a glimpse of, but could be anything, a Hollow, like the one that took his family. He shrugged it off. " 'Coulda' been anything ". He wasn't sure of what it was and even if it was real.

Mugen moved over to the edge of the seat and put his legs in the isle, still rubbing head. "Oww, that really hurt." He looked up and found that chaos had broken out while he was asleep. "Hmph." Strangely, it all seemed to be centered around Satine. "Bunch'a jerks. Picking on a girl like that. Should be ashamed of yourselves." He said in a normal volume. Probably not loud enough for any to notice, but oh well. He thought.

[Dimi]

Hawokuishibaru kept to himself throughout the trip to Mt. Fuji. Thinking to himself and looking around the bus just glancing outside the window, made him think of his father. Just remembering about how much his father had beaten him the night before, made him shed a tear. Thinking to himself why his father puts him through so much pain and suffering, Hawokuishibaru wanted to really make his dad proud reguardless. A moment later, he started having a flashback of his dad calling him worthless and a useless kid, Hawokuishibaru just got more upset. Saddened and depressed, Hawokuishibaru took a deep breath and just sat back and started to close his eyes. As he was falling asleep, he heard students gossiping in front of him.

He heard Satine's name being mentioned by these group of kids on the bus and soon he saw Oto get out of his seat angrily, threw down his book he was reading, ran across the bus, and punched Yusuke in the face. Yusuke fought back, but it seemed Oto had gotten the best of him. Both of them started fighting and soon the teacher started scolding them and gave them detention.

After the fight, Hawokushibaru looked across as Oto went across the bus to go to his seat, Hawo wondered what was wrong with him. He didn't seem himself that day and the look on his face somewhat gave it away. Hawokushibaru went across the seat and went to talk to him and see if he was okay.

[Lady Rika]

Satine shuddered in angst at all that had happened behind her own back. Why did that boy defend me? She asked herself, what have I ever done for him...to make him act kind towards me?
As she placed the hat back on her head, tightening it rather forcefully she noticed the book lying near her. Looking back and forth, she found no harm in giving the book back to the boy who defended her.
'I don't know him very well?' she thought reaching over for the book, 'But im pretty sure his names Otonashi, I mean I’ve heard him be called Oto before.'

Her slender fingers trembled as they reached farther than she could stretch, being she was a little embarrassed to get up after the little 'incident' she figured she'd get it on pure healthy stretching.
As the bus jolted up, Satine found it hard to keep her balance well considering the position she was in. Gritting her teeth she finally felt her nails dig into the pine of the book and with that minimal grip she was able to pull it closer to her.

"Yes...got it!" she said to herself, a smile spreading across her face. Now came the real challenging part. Giving it back to him; she had got him detention, a hated thing for many teenagers. Though she had never been she had heard from others that it was awful. Nothing torturous but so deadly dull that you would fancy stabbing yourself with a ballpoint pen than lingering in they’re any more than you had too.
'And to think...I caused that to be put on him!' she bit her bottom lip in angst. This was a habit of hers, biting her soft lip to keep from saying, thinking, or even doing the wrong thing. A little reminder for her to be on her best behavior around people who seemed to not be on the best terms with her.

Sitting her small hand purse next to Haruka she readied herself to journey a seat or so back to Otonashi's seat. Smoothing her skirt, then fixing her stockings came next, she wasn't trying to impress him or anything. But she was never one to look like a slob, and being the bus was rather cramped and things could get out of place, especially when you had an insane bus driver who tended to hit every rock in the road.
Moving a silver bang from her view, Satine clutched the book to her breast and got up. Wandering eyes looked her up and down, from the bottom of her gothic heels to the tip of her silken miniature top hat.

"Um...hello Otonashi-sama..." she began, staring into his deep blue eyes. Satine tried not to pay attention to those around her but found it rather hard, especially keeping her balance with the moving bus. Then there was the trouble she could get into by standing, a teacher could get angered by this. Not to mention Otonashi, who might be mad he got detention on her part.
"I-Im sorry you got detention, my sincerest apologies...um...I brought your book back to you." she handed it out to him slowly; Satine felt a blush trying to force itself onto her pale face. 'Oh no...gotta keep myself from blushing!' She opened her mouth slowly biting down on her bottom lip once more, trying to keep it away.

[Oathkeeper13]

Zeno sat in the third row of the bus with his eyes closed in deep thought. He sat there thinking about all kinds of things. Since he was a senior in high school he thought about his future a lot and what he was going to be like. He didn't like to thing about it cause the thought of him leaving all of his friends in school behind scared him. Zeno thought about all the good times with his friends and wondering if he would ever be with them even if they all separate and go on to shape their lives.

"But nothing lasts forever. Man what a drag, this year is depressing."

Zeno said to himself as he always talked to himself. It was always a bad habbit of his as he grew up. Zeno opened his eyes and glanced out the window seeing all the structures go by him at fast speed. Zeno wished he had super powers to run fast like the super heroes he read in the comics. He loaned for chance to get bitten by something that would give him unnatural abilities, but yet he knew such things did not exist in the real world. All humans are fragile creatures that can die from almost anything.

"Awww probably wouldn't have the body for it anyway."

Then he turned around and saw Hawokuishibaru sitting then he saw Oto punch a guy in the face. Zeno immediately turned around in his seat and watched. Zeno watched in aw as he always loved to see a fight unfold in front of him.

"Awesome now hit each other more."

He whispered to himself, knowing he'd get in trouble of the teacher heard him. In matter of moments though the fight was over. Zeno sighed and sat back in front again in disappointment that the fight ended so quickly. He sighed and closed his eyes again. Zeno watied for a few seconds and then looked back to see what Oto was doing. He then had a surprise look on his face Satine start talking to him.

Well well what do we have here. Looks like young love is in the air. Heh lucky dog.

Zeno smiled then looked out the window thinking about his brother when he was with his girl friend. He shook his head and closed his green eyes and then opened them to look at the blue sky with a sad expression."

"I remember me and brother use to have fights like that all the time. Damn...............bro why did you half to die on me. It's no fun being an only child, at least not without you."

[Azuteor]

Kaigaiishi peacefully rests against the window sill in the first seat behind the bus driver. Even though his window is only slightly opened, winds continue to flow through the crevices and blow against Kaigaiishi's black hair. No one other than him sits in front and to him it is the best way to get some rest and some time to think about the things he will do when he gets to Mt. Fuji. He could probably just draw the whole time there or follow everyone to the teacher's specified destination. These are the two ideas he could think of at the moment and as soon as he tried to conjure up a third option he began to slowly drift into a daze. Since it is still early in the morning, the weather should be a bit chilly as the sun slowly wakes up from its slumber. Usually students at his age would be weary by now, but they are all hyped up about skipping class for a day.

No one behind him notices him, except a few people, but they shrug him off as if Kaigaiishi didn't exist. Kaigaiishi put his palm on his left cheek and feels the overbearing numbness that he gained after a few minutes of leaving the window open. To regain some warmth in his cheek, Kaigaiishi rubs it rapidly and wraps his long white scarf around everything past his eyes. He seals his fatigued eyes shut, places his head on the bus seat, and began to reminisce on past memories.

`~*+.

"Son, get back!" Kaigaiishi's father demanded as he and his wife both shielded him from a masked monster. The masked monster drooled as it hungers for the mass reiatsu tucked away in the family's soul and released a loud roar in attempt to scare off the couple. The pressure coming from the roar revealed that this monster also wields great power, but the father and mother stood their ground unimpressed. Kaigaiishi became stunned as he watched his parents stand up to the monster despite the chance of them dying and leaving their son behind. It never occurred to the young boy that he too has special powers and greater reiatsu than his parents. Kaigaiishi pulled on his parents clothing as hard as he could to drag them to safety, but they refused as the devoted parents they are. The father turned around, puts his hand on Kaigaiishi's shoulders, and gripped them with kind, determined eyes. In turn, his mother hugged him tightly, kissed him warmly, and straightened his clothing as if it seemed that it is their last farewell.

"Hahaha! What a touching moment," the masked monster laughed malevolently,"but I am afraid that it shall end with your deaths!" The masked monster dashed to the family like a raging bull while at once their souls detached themselves from their bodies. This time the mother and father took the appearance of a samurai and wielded a weapon similar to a katana. Both shouted words that are completely unknown to him, but this did not matter for he marveled at their flaming aura. The father ran to the mask monster with great speed, jumped to the air, and points the blade downward to the monster's mask. The monster moved its huge arms infront of its face to block the blow, but suddenly the father shifted behind the monster without a minute to waste.

Kaigaiishi's father smirked and slashed across the monster's back, then in turn the mother unleashed a raging blue fire towards the monster as it howled in pain."D-damn you all!" The monster shivered as blood trickled out from its wounds, a burn mark smeared across the mask, and a part of the skin. Kaigaiishi's parents placed their katanas infront of them to prepare for the next attack or guard if the monster ever tried to get to their son. The monster looked around as its vision started to blur and when it gave a long look at Kaigaiishi, its longing for the taste of a human increased dramatically. It looks like victory was on the family's side, but this was to change when the masked monster let out a crimson red blast of energy.

The parent's eyes widened in shock and all at once, both of them clashed their katanas together to block the blood colored energy blast from hitting Kaigaiishi. The young boy's mom and dad knew that they would not be able wear off the attack, but this is their choice to protect their son due to their unconditional love. Kaigaiishi gazed in horror, before his very eyes a blinding flash of reiatsu clashed against the blast of energy. The boy covered his eyes with his arms to block the light and shouted, "Mom! Dad!"

.+*~`

Kaigaiishi opened his azure eyes and jumped up immediately when the bus hit a huge bump in the road. A few inches in the air, Kaigaiishi fell to the bus floor, his head colliding on it and his scarf all over his face. Embarrassed and heart pounding from the unexpected turn of events, Kaigaiishi scurried back to his seat pretending as if nothing happened. He exhaled, straightened himself up, and looked behind him to see if anyone noticed. The first person he saw was a girl who recently joined his class, "What was her name," he asked himself,"Oh! I remember now, her name is Haruka!" A few students hid behind their seats giggling at Kaigaiishi and one of the boys said,"What a dork! Hey look everyone take a gander at what he's wearing!!" Kaigaiishi blushed as he remembered the girl's name, slid down his seat, and hid himself behind his scarf.

"Stupid Idiot..." Kaigaiishi said to himself and grinned at the boy's immaturity. The same kid smirked at his friends and began to jump from seat to seat to Kaigaiishi. The scarfed boy could hear few voices in the back as the annoying kid moved closer and closer to him. One of the voices came from Haruka who was screaming at a buck-teethed boy, Satine returning missing items, and a guy named Otonashi who recently got detention. Kaigaiishi clenched his fists, sensing the boy behind him. The boy giggled a bit as his hand drew close to snatching Kaigaiishi's white scarf, but failed when Kaigaiishi quicky elbowed him under the chin, knocking him back against the bus seat. The teacher looked at Kaigaiishi with a concerned expression and turned away. The pest grew upset under his own ego and slapped Kaigaiishi in the back scowling,"Teacher's pet!"

Kaigaiishi blew air out of his mouth to release the anger he held, took his scarf out of his face, grabbed his writing pad, and began to draw...

[jenova33]

Fukumi sat in the way back of the bus, her arms crossed, her head down, and her shoes on the chair in front of her. Her flaxen locks dangled gently in front of her face, the air from the window causing them to dance around once in a while. Her emerald eyes shifted from one person to another, examining each of them, and as usual, judging them by their appearance. Why shouldn’t she? After all, people had always judged her by appearance.
She was silent the whole time, even when the two popular brats in front of her decided to turn around and speak to her in a very playful, yet idiotic tone.
“Hey Fukumi,” one with bleach blonde hair said. “Why aren’t you sitting with the other freaks on this bus? I mean, you’d fit in perfectly.”
The two girls chuckled, the one with brunette hair now making a rash comment, “Yeah, right. She’s even more of a freak than anyone else on this bus. She might as well stay a loner. The other freaks just might reject her.”
As the two girls giggled at their foolish jokes, Fukumi’s head turned upward. It was almost as if she was finally going to say something, but to the two girls’ surprise, all their eyes found was a middle finger poking up at them. As uncouth as the two girls were, they turned around, now offended. Fukumi just chuckled under her breath as they sat forward, now obviously whispering about her and how corrupt she was. She could only laugh at that. For those two girls to talk about anyone being immoral was just a joke in itself.
She felt her body recoil against the bus seat as it hit a large rock once again. The bus driver seemed to be driving quite recklessly today, and Fukumi found it odd. However, she found a way to ignore it as she hung her head down once again and closed her eyes, bringing thoughts of the past upon her mind.

“Who is that girl?” one of the children asked.
“Honey, we don’t play with other kids like her. They’re bad influences on you,” the mother responded to the child.
Five-year-old Fukumi sat in the corner, after getting in trouble for hitting another classmate. As the last children left, the teacher came over to Fukumi and placed her hand gently on her shoulder, just to find the little girl slapping it away.
“Fukumi, that’s the seventh time this month,” the teacher said. “Is there something wrong, sweetie?”
“It’s not my fault he had to be a crybaby and come tell you,” Fukumi responded harshly. For a five-year-old to say such a thing seemed appalling.
“Fukumi, you can’t go around beating up kids just because they’re not as strong as you,” the teacher said with a tender tone in her voice.
“Yes I can,” Fukumi said as she stood up from her corner and turned toward the teacher. “And just because I beat them up doesn’t mean I’m stronger than them. It just means that they didn’t fight back.”
“Fukumi, that’s committing a crime. You don’t want to get put into jail do you?” the teacher also stood up, placing her delicate hands upon her hips. She was convinced this would scare her out of doing mean things to other kids. Boy, was she wrong.
Fukumi just shrugged as she walked out the door, “I don’t care.”
As Fukumi left, the teacher was just fed up. She couldn’t be putting other students in harm, so she issued Fukumi to a private school for troubled kids. There was only one kid to a classroom at these schools and this was like being in a horror movie for Fukumi. She hated that school so she quit picking on others and beating them up, and started to be good. She just kept her mouth shut all the time and kept her anger under control. By the time she learned how to do this, she was twelve, and was finally able to get out of that school and move into a different school.

She still got into fights there, but it wasn’t as bad as before so she was able to stay for now.

Fukumi lifted her head, shaking it from the memories that were crowding her mind. She just looked out the window and watched the dusty road as the bus continued to drive.

[Evangel]

Mugen fell asleep again. He had a dream of the night his family was attacked. He can remember the empty feeling he had when he met that creature. His dream changed to a pure white room that didn't appear to have a ceiling, floor or walls. Just a pure white room. There was another across from him. Himself, but at the same time not himself. The person looked like him but was all white. "Who are you?" He said. He couldn't exactly see the other person's face. The other him had his head lowered. "I am..." The other him began. At the same time, he lifted his head. Mugen blinked and was face to face with the other him. He finally saw the other him's face. It was a white skull-like mask. Mugen gasped when the other him spoke. "I AM YOU!"

He awoke from his dream to find everything still chaotic on the bus. Now, though, a few girls were bullying the girl siting next to him in the other seat. He regained his composure and said. "Hey, don't let those twits' words get to you. Their both have the lowest grades in our class anyways." He chuckled.

[jenova33]

Fukumi heard the words from the boy that sat across the asle(sp?) from her. She already knew that, but at least he was being generous enough to offer his oh, so kind words to her.
"Yeah," she responded silently and sounding a bit blunt, her eyes purposely looking away from him. She wasn't much of a talker, and this just made it obvious. He was only trying to be kind, after all, and it would be mean to make a rude coment to him. Therefore, she just kept her mouth shut for the rest of the time.
Her beat up sneakers kicked the back of the girls' seat in front of her, making them scoff and send evil glares back at her. Fukumi ignored them, as she usually did and placed her earphones in her ear to listen to her mp3 player.
The loud crashing of the drums could be heard from the outside as well as the screaming from the vocalist and strumming of the distortion from the guitar. She slightly nodded her head to the music while closing her eyes once again.

[Xeim]

Fog. It rolled in like an unwelcome visitor, attempting to suffocate the bus and everything in it. In school, your teacher tells you about personification, how sometimes in writing people give inanimate objects person-like attributes, right? Well, this fog was literally determined to penetrate the student’s very beings-- no personification added. It was thick, uninviting, and, worst of all, wet. It was the kind of fog that rolled in, in the middle of a gory graveyard in scene in a horror movie, except that it was real.

Haruka sighed. It didn’t matter to her what happened, all she could think about was the dark day full of blaring music that she had left behind.

Well, first I realize that I have a long drive with a bunch of unreasonable fools, and then I realize that I’m going to have to make my way through cold, wet mist through the whole day. Joy to the world. Maybe someone will fall off the mountain. It’d be kind of funny.

So she was a little cruel. But then again, if people attempted to pick on YOU every day of your life, would you care what happened to them? They were really just flies to her.

She looked up near the front of the bus and saw a boy with black hair looking back at her. She remembered him from somewhere. He wasn’t in her class, no, he was a year or so older than her, but...

It was right after homeroom. I was walking briskly down the hall to attempt to get to my next class, when the ultimate cliché befell me. Someone stuck out their foot, and my boot caught on it, tripping me, and sending my books flying. I was pretty un-phased, and proceeded to pick up my books.

However, I found that a black haired young man had already gathered them up for me. He held them out to me and smiled. His smile was beautiful. For a moment, just a fleeting unimportant moment, I was captivated by his deep, friendly blue eyes. They were the most magnificent pools of sight that I had ever seen.

But, I soon brushed off the feeling and muttered, “I don’t need your charity.” I then proceeded to stalk away. Foolishly? Perhaps, but it was my style, and I wasn’t going to let some 15-year-old guy with pretty eyes change it.

Haruka wondered why he was looking at her as she searched for his name. Slowly though, his blue eyes left her black ones, and she looked down in embarrassment.

What the heck is wrong with me lately? She wondered.

She was still wondering over his name when the bus slowed to a stop. Once again, she looked out the window to see the uninviting fog beckon toward the eager children.

The bus driver came over the loud speaker. His speech was noticeably slurred, and he “hic”ed every now and then as he spoke. “Wella, we reched er destinition, hic, and urrr...file urf in a rea-son-able manner, and....yeah, hic.”

Oh my god he’s drunk! I thought drivers had to get their alcohol level checked before they could even THINK about driving us! What an idiot...

The kids around Haruka were laughing unreasonably. The teachers were, reasonably, appalled. They quickly ushered the children off the bus, and into the foggy late morning. Haruka would’ve rather stayed on the bus with the drunk driver then go outside in the evil fog. But, here she was, out in the midst of it, as teachers yelled for students to come gather around them.

They were now saying something about groups, and how the students would be herded off into groups of twelve or so. Haruka was nervous. What are these weird emotions I keep getting? She shuddered, and thought nervously to herself. Who do I want in the group so badly? Her emotions were, at this point unknown to herself. It made her retreat further down the path to isolation.

Haruka suddenly heard her name, followed by about thirteen others. She caught Otonashi, Satine, Mugen Tsukiakari, Hawokuishibaru, Steph Whitestone, Yuki Kanazuchi, Kasuma Zenoah, Hasaki Ichijin, Fukumi Garu and Kaigaiishi Mitsu. The last one made her body go cold. Even colder than the fog had.

That’s him. That’s the guy with the “pretty eyes!” Ugh, Haruka, why are you thinking like this!?

Haruka walked over to join her group. A couple of the people in the group she hadn’t caught the names of, and didn’t quite care to. One was a boy, and the other a girl, and they appeared to be quite snobbish by the way they held their “delicate" little “snouts” in the air.

She went over to stand by Satine, who was still nervously thanking Hasaki for retrieving her hat. Haruka was definitely in the mood to ignore the world and follow Satine around the whole time without speaking as much as possible. But, Kaigaiishi wouldn’t let her have her way. Before she knew it, he had walked up to her, his blue eyes searching her figure.

Oh no, oh no, oh no! What am I going to do? Why can life never be simple? This is SO NOT LIKE ME!!

He was now standing right in front of her. Up this close, a large blush was apparent on his cheeks. “H-hey...Haruka is your name, is it not?” He then started to shyly rub the back of his head as a goofy, nervous grin spread across his already pink face.

“Um, yeah,” Haruka responded lamely.

“Hey, uhh....you want to hang out with....” he paused and gulped, “me today?” He then began to frantically wave his hands, and his eyes grew wide. “If you don’t want to, I understand! It’s really no biggie!”

Ok. We both sound like freaks. I’m so going to say no to this. Why would I hang out with him?!!?

But to her own surprise, when she opened her mouth, it was a “sure, I’d like that.” That came out.

Sure? I’d like that? Where did my sanity go?!

“Alright students! Now it’s time to start our journey up the mountain! Stay with your group, and don’t leave the path!”

Kaigaiishi looked down at Haruka and grinned.

This whole thing is pretty hilarious if you take the time to think about it. Trying to fit an entire school of students on one mountain path on a foggy morning I mean. It it’s all about the “single file” and the “don’t trip!” I swear, we sound like a herd sheep, and the teachers our herders.

<><><>

The trip was, as predicted, very boring. Our group was at the end of the long line of students making their way up Fuji. Basically all that happened was that we were “educated” about the mountain here or there. Every once in a while the line of kids would stop, and the teacher heading our group would talk about a certain flower we could see from that point, or about the area we were standing on. Kaigaiishi and I talked a little more, but not too much.

It was an hour after the trip started that it happened. We were half-way up the mountain. Kaiigaishi turned to me, and with a rosy blush covering the entirety of his face and said, “H-Haruka? W-would you like to, uh, hang out sometime? You know, like come over to my house, and play video games, maybe have dinner?” he paused and lamely moved his mouth, “it’s just a question,” he sighed out.

But, Haruka never had the time to answer, because something else happened on that one-hour mark. The mountain path behind them began to shake, and they heard sort of a--roaring noise. Then, the unthinkable happened. Still dizzy from the unsteady ground Haruka began to see things that she would never forget.

Satne was launched into the air, but she didn’t fall right away. She seemed to have been picked up and shaken. Then, she was “tossed” over the edge of the cliff as she screamed for help.

“SATINE!” Haruka screamed back to her with all her might. She was afraid. She had just watched her only friend get chucked off the side of the mountain by something neither of them could see.

What befell Steph was almost worse. Or, at least for the viewers. He was also picked up and waved around a little, but then his head disappeared. Most likely this, thing (whatever it was), had stuck Steph’s head in its mouth. But it hadn’t chomped down, yet.

Just when everyone thought he would get eaten, there was a small growl from somewhere next to Haruka. It was coming from the female of the two whose names she hadn’t caught. However, Haruka had no time to contemplate this, as Steph’s head reappeared, and he suffered the same fate as Satine. No one yelled for him.

That was when Haruka realized she was going to die. Just peachy. I knew being at the back of the group would be annoying, but who knew how much!

The thing now before us didn’t bother to pick up the rest of us. It just took its happy little tail (Or at least I thought it would be a tail) and swept us off the side of the mountain. I didn’t really even scream that much. I mean, why should I? We were going to die not matter what I did. I saw Kaiigaishi’s face before I blacked out though, and god I wish I hadn’t. He was deathly (ironic, haha) pale and was sweating profusely. “Hollow...” he whispered. And, whoopee! That was the last thing I heard as a human. No famous dying words for me.

[Andromeda]

The long bus ride and the sun beating down on him had made him exhausted. It was difficult for him to maintain a simple conversation at times that he chose not to bother to try. The children spoke too quickly for him to understand them before the topic had shifted to something else. That left him to look out the window and yawn to himself remembering that he had woken up early for this trip. Steph had barely managed to get to sleep the night before and the warmth was getting to him now. A few minutes later he was sleeping soundly against the window, which would become regrettable.

Two girls that took pleasure in tormenting him had been watching him cautious, waiting for a moment. They were casually talking with a small group over the seats when they noticed that Steph had fallen asleep. The two of them giggled to themselves as they whispered. They walked across the aisle and sat down poking his cheek to make sure that he was asleep. The others that they were talking to were laughing between each other watching them. It was a simple trick, prank, and they repeated it quite often. Yet it always seemed to assume them. Once complete they returned back to their seats laughing profusely between each other before finding something else to talk about.

When the bus came to a stop at its destination Steph was still napping against the window. The other students were leaving the bus, but one of the girls nudged him awake. “Hey, Nyuu-chan!” The girl poked him again seeing that his eyes were opening and fled with her friends out of the bus. As Steph slowly woke up he heard the faint sound of laughter leaving him puzzled. Since it was nothing out of the ordinary for him he shrugged it off and stretched his arms out waking up fully. He rubbed his eyes to pass the time until there was a chance for him to walk off of the bus. It was not until the entire bus of students had left that he had his chance.

His eyes caught a familiar face of an upper classmen, Haruka. She was one of the last ones off the bus carrying a disinterested expression as she passed by him. He stood up waiting for the last couple of students to walk out and followed in behind them as he walked off the bus. It was then that he began to notice the thickness in the air that made his mouth dry even though it was dense with water. The fog hung around the mountainside like a scarf, yet it weaved through everyone trying to reach out.

Steph held himself in the back from the crowd of students as the teachers began directing everyone into group. The further away from the authority the more noisy the students became. It made him turn away preferring to view the landscape from the edge of the cliff. The sight was peaceful with birds flying around below. In the distance he could see a small speck of a town and the ocean beyond. Unfortunately, his peace was broken by his name being called.

“Stephanie! Hey, Stephanie!” a boy called out from his class. Steph turned around realizing that he should not have after the fact. There were two boys that were standing a few feet away from him with a grin across their face. When he saw their expressions it made him worry what was running through their minds to have such devilish grins. “Hey, Stephanie! I like what you did with your hair, suits you.”

“Huh?” Steph said looking around trying to find his hair only to be slapped in the face by one of his braids. “Ah, raccommodez-le* …” His shoulders slumped for a moment as he sighed. Then he exhaled and smiled to them, which left them a little uneasy. Steph walked up to the group of students has he fought through the hair bands that tied his hair. The girls had made his braids very tight and used more than was required for hair bands, just so that it was more trouble. His name was suddenly called by the teacher making him lose his concentration.

“Steph Whitestone!”

“Je suis ici!** ” he said flustered not thinking straight. His face became red for a moment as a few of the students looked at him a little strangely. Steph worked through it and walked over to the group of students. He knew a few of them, but realized that more of them were upper classmen that he did not know. They all gathered together standing around waiting for the other groups to head up first.

Steph continued to fight with the hair bands trying to get them undone. He managed to get through a couple, but when he pulled at the final band his fingers slipped breaking his balance. As he stumbled around he fell into an upper classmen of their group. He stopped the moment that Steph fell on him grabbing him quickly before he collapsed to the ground. “Oh, non! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” Steph bowed to him politely as he had seen others do before.

“Its okay.”

Steph stood up on his own feet looking up at the upper classmen realizing he was forgetting his manners. “Ich bin*** sorry. My name is Steph Whitestone.” His nervousness came out as he began to mix up his languages. He wanted to knock himself in the head, but feigned a weak smile trying to get through it.”

“I’m Kaiigaiishi Mitsu.”

“Upper classmen Mitsu, I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you.”

“No, its okay, but it seems you’re having a little trouble.”

Steph took a moment to translate what he had said trying to focus himself so that he did not make another mistake. Kaiigaiishi was pointing at his braids, which made Steph blush in embarrassment. “Yeah, its okay,” he said cheerfully. Thinking about it again, his hands went back to trying to reach at the hair bands. Steph’s face twisted as he strained at his hair painfully pulling at it.

“Let me try,” Kaiigaiishi said. Steph looked a little confused, but gladly accepted the help. He nodded to him once. Kaiigaiishi put his hand over the end of the hair and quickly in one motion removed all of the hair bands painlessly. Steph had his hand on the other braid still and in surprise pulled at his hand removing it as well. He looked up at him bowing politely to thank him. Kaiigaiishi then walked over towards Haruka.

Steph pulled through his hair straightening it back out as their group finally was allowed to walk up the mountain path. The narrow path led them up the mountain slowly revealing the beauty of the scenery. Some of the other students were talking between each other, but Steph found it interesting to listen to the teacher. He did not understand everything the teacher said, but he figured out enough of it to know what they were saying. The rest was left to him to simply view the area.

He looked upwards seeing the long line of students and wondered how far up they were going. They could not reach the top of the mountain he knew, but it seemed like the path went on forever. There was a small stream flowing along their left side with rough jagged rocks on their right. A few of the students were walking through the water without regard only to be yelled at by the teachers.

Steph stopped for a moment to look at the flowers the teacher pointed out. The rest of the students were continuing on, but he had a short period before he needed to catch up. It was a comfortable spot to rest at with the reds and blues of flowers blooming by the stream. He brushed his hand against a few of the flowers smelling the aroma coming off of them. But he looked up to see that he had to catch up to them now and stood up. A wind blew over the side of the earth catching his hair as well as something else.

There was a noise faintly in the distance that he heard, but it faded away immediately. He did not pay it much mind, except his palms were suddenly sweating. There was a cold emptiness through his body that seemed to be drained down into his feet. His head felt light then, but then everything passed away. It was as though the sun was shining again blowing away the darkness. Steph shrugged it off thinking it was simply the altitude getting to him. He ran to catch up with the rest of the group.

“Don’t want to get left behind, Nyuu-chan,” one of the girls in the group said.

Steph smiled to her and nodded as he caught up. The teacher was ahead speaking about a rock formation along the path that was significant. Unfortunately, he had not caught most of the speech that the rest was left out of context, too difficult to understand. Steph trudged along with the students retaining his cheerful expression. The others did not seem to be enjoying it as much as he was though ignoring the teacher.

After an hour off walking the ground began to shake frightening everyone. There were whispers and screams thinking that it was an earthquake. Steph looked around seeing some small rocks rolling down the side of the mountain. It worried him what was making the entire mountain shake. His heart began to race beating in his throat as the screams of students ran as water through his ears. The earth leapt again making a boulder near to them explode suddenly. All he could see was tiny pieces of rock unmoving where there was once a rock as large as him.

The feeling returned to his body as though his blood was ice. He felt needles scratching through his insides bringing him to his knees in pain. His head became light again making it difficult for him to focus. A wind blew through trying to warm his body, but nothing could surround him. Steph’s breath could barely force its way down his throat when he felt an eerie presence around him. The presence did not last long as he was grabbed by an invisible hand flung through the air.

It was not long before he felt the sting of a fowl odor nearby. He could not see what was creating it, but it made his stomach churn wanting to throw up. His mind could not process everything that was happening to him fast enough leaving him with blanket fear and tears. The odor became stronger though as he felt his surroundings grow damp. If he had a guess it was like he was inside a mouth, but he could not even see what was holding him. His body refused to move for him, everything in his body drained to nothing.

The odor continued to increase making him want to faint. His face became wet and slimy as what he could only describe as a tongue ran across him. He closed his eyes hoping to avoid it, but that only allowed his mind to create images instilling further fear. Steph prayed that it would be over soon; that he would live past this moment. He was suddenly released from the horrific smell of the mouth pulled out as a disgusted voice spoke.

“Its all gone. I thought I felt something more from you. You’re too weak to eat.”

Steph was then released from the grip that had immobilized him only to be falling now. He barely could open his eyes against the wind blowing around him. The sight made him close his eyes immediately seeing his death coming soon. The rocks below him would kill him almost immediately. In the moments before his death he could see something in his mind, an image. It was a figure of something shadowed in the poor light. He thought he was seeing his parents, as it was a warm familiar feeling that he sensed from the figure. However, when the figure spoke it was not a voice that he recognized.

“It’s been a long time…we’ll be together again soon,” a soft voice said. It was a woman’s voice older than he was, but very young still. He was left confused by it, but could not think about it as the sharp rocks pierced his body bringing him instant death and destroying his chain of fate.


------



* raccommodez-le – French meaning “Darn it.”
** Je suis ici. – French meaning “I am over here.”
*** Ich bin – Germen meaning “I am”

[jenova33]

Fukumi stepped out from the bus, glancing at the drunken bus driver. She just chuckled at him as she stepped down, hearing the teacher call names and organizing the groups. Looking around, the fog challenged her vision and made her skin damp. She let it creep slowly around her eerily, giving her a strange feeling.

"...Fukumi Garu..." her head jerked upward slightly as she heard her name being called by the teacher, then gathered with her group. She watched Kaigaiishi speaking shyly to Haruka and couldn't help but to immediately roll her eyes. Turning her vision to the mist-infested mountain, she sighed, troubled by the boredom & leg cramps she new she was going to suffer later on.

A yawn slipped from her lips as she followed directly behind the teacher and up the mountain. Hearing the teacher's voice was definately not her idea of a good time, but she had to deal with it. That was, until the mountain shook violently, followed by a screeching roar. As she turned around, she watched Satine being raised into the air & being thrown off the cliff shortly after.

This is exactly what she was expecting. Though she didn't know what the thing was that stood before her, she definately saw it and was aware that it was out to hunt and kill. This only made a smirk appear upon her delicate face.

Fukumi watched Steph get thrown off shortly after Satine, and then swinging it's tail violently. She saw this coming. It almost seemed as if it was in slow motion before the tail struck her and the rest of her group, dragging them off of the cliff.

What a pathetic way to die... she thought to herself as she was hurled off the cliff, now closing her eyes.

Falling... Falling... Falling... it seemed like it took forever...

until she finally hit the ground.

[Azuteor]

Mist silently creeped throughout the surroundings of the environment as the bus gradually found its way into a nonsuspecting trap. The laughter and the craziness that once filled the bus suddenly died away when the students and teachers looked out their windows. One of the teachers got out of their seats and told the bus driver to slow down a bit so that the chance of falling off a cliff would lessen. The driver took one big gulp from his drink, belched, and obeyed the order of the teacher. Finally, the bus came to a halt, a short-lived, agonizing screech filled the ears of the students by the friction caused by the tires, and a soft "pahh" exhaled as the bus came to a stop.

Kaigaiishi held on to his scarf and shivered as he sensed an earie feeling in the air. Even though everyone in the bus is safe, Kaigaiishi felt that he needed to check on Haruka to see if she is alright. He pretended to look at the window at the other side of the bus and looked at the girl at the corner of his eyes.

Cool.. she is safe...

Kaigaiishi sighed, put both of his hands against his face, and remembered something that occured while in school....

~>

"Kaga-kun nice job in passing your test!"

"Thank you, sensei," Kaigaiishi bowed slightly in respect for the teacher and said thank you once more to show his gratification. His teacher smiled and patted his cheeks with the back of her hand. She took him by the shoulders and walked him outside the classroom saying,"If there's anything you need, just tell me, alright?" The young scarfed boy nodded and gave a slight grin. The teacher took care of him as if a mother would and loved him unconditionally. Even though they are not blood related, of course. Both of them said their goodbyes and parted for now. Kaigaiishi then walked down the hallway happily as he is grateful for having such an easy day. If only he had these kind of days everday...

While in thought, Kaigaiishi suddenly heard books flying and crashing unto the hallway floor. As soon as this happened, he ran as quickly his body could take and rushed to pick all the books up for whoever dropped them. When he got there he saw a girl on the floor and to his surprise, she was the new student who joined recently. He gathered them all, held them out, and smiled. "Here you go," he said nervously. Before his very eyes, he began to see sparkles of light flashing around her and flowers spiralling in the background like some anime scene cliche. Kaigaiishi thought he was going insane, but all he could think about was the girl's eyes softly staring into his own. The moment then quickly broke and instantaneously, the girl changed her expression and rudely said, "I don't need your charity." She took her books and just walked away without a thank you. Kaigaiishi felt insulted, but let it go as the feeling he had when meeting the girl began to grow.

<~

By the time Kaigaiishi finished, he noticed that half the people on the bus are already outside, even Haruka. Students gathered together in different groups, each with a different teacher and assignment that they will have to cover for the field trip. Kaigaiishi got out of the bus and when he took the final step he heard his name being called along with familiar ones such as Satine, Mugen Tsukiakari, Otonashi, Hawokuishibaru, Yuki Kanazuchi, Steph Whitestone, Hasaki Ichijin, Kasuma Zenoah, and Fukumi Garu. Kaigaiishi immediately walked towards his group, but suddenly, he was interuppted by a student younger and in a lower grade than he was. The student fell and grabbed him before he hit the ground.

“Oh, non! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to,” he apologized politely. Kaigaiishi laughed and replied, "It's okay." The boy then stood himself up and looked at the scarfed teenager straight in the eyes as if displaying a sign of respect. He revealed to Kaigaiishi that his name is Steph Whitestone and in turn, Kaigaiishi introduced himself as he marveled at his great manners.

“Upper classmen Mitsu, I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you.”

“No, its okay, but it seems you’re having a little trouble,” he replied back and when he took his eyes off from Steph, he noticed the braids that are woven on his hair. Steph blushed and Kaigaiishi kindly insisted that he would help him with his little predicament. He moved his hand to the end of the hair and gently removed the braid in one fluid motion. As soon as he finished, Steph bowed and thanked him. Kaigaiishi nodded and walked to Haruka.

Shivering in excitement and anxiety, the black-haired boy nervously asked, "H-hey...Haruka is your name, is it not?"

"Um, yeah," Haruka answered.

“Hey, uhh....you want to hang out with....” Kaigaiishi gulped and continued what he was going to say, “me today?" He waved his hands rapidly, laughed out of place, and said, "If you don’t want to, I understand! It’s really no biggie!” Kaigaiishi scratched the back of his head and looked at the ground ready to take rejection. To him... this very moment felt like a turning point in his relationship with Haruka when "sure, I'd like that," came from the very depths of her mouth. Kaigaiishi gave a big grin and relaxed his shoulders as the worst possible outcome has dispersed.

Hours has passed and the whole group has already reached half of the mountain. Kaigaiishi walked infront of Haruka not saying much after both agreed to hang out with each other. In attempt to break the ice he asked, “H-Haruka? W-would you like to, uh, hang out sometime? You know, like come over to my house, and play video games, maybe have dinner?” there was an awkward pause between them and finally he let out, “it’s just a question." He waited for an answer, but nothing came out as Haruka turned her attention at once to a howl that roared throughout Mt. Fuji.

Kaigaiishi turned his back and turned pale when his eyes caught the figure of the masked monster that killed his parents. He began to perspire and breathe heavily as he sees Satine, Fukumi, and Steph being lashed into the air by the tail of the monster. Kaigaiishi couldn't move, he couldn't shout for Steph nor could he save Haruka. His body became paralyzed in eternal fear as he watched Haruka die and looking at him before she gave her last breath.

"Hollow..." The white scarfed teenager whispered this word when it finally escaped from his lips. This certain word provoked all his anger and malice because of what this monster did to all his loved ones. Kaigaiishi looked at the ground, gripped his hands, and forced his body to dash towards the hollow. His white scarf flowed in the air as he ran, he brought his fist up in instinct, and before he could ever land a hit, the hollow jabbed him right in the stomache with horrifying force. "Damn," he cried and blood gushed out of his mouth as he was pummelled a great distance between him and the hollow.

The hollow laughed at Kaigaiishi's pitiful attempt and continued to attack the remaining students...

I couldn't do anything... Haruka... Steph... Please forgive me...

[Oathkeeper13]

"Enough already, gawd don't these guys ever shut up. Im starting to get a headache."

Zeno covered his ears cause the volume in the bus was getting louder. Well at least to him it was.

"Gaw maybe if I eat i'll feel a little better. I think the teacher told us earlier that we'd eat after we tour the mountain, but screw her im eating anyway."

He has he opened his bag up to see some money and a not attached to it. He brought the not up close to his vision.

"Lets see her. Dear honey, Im sorry but your going to half to buy your food today. Love you................."

Zeno looked at the note with a shocked look on his face. He could not beleive his mom left him nothing but money. Usually getting money was a good thing from him, but when it came to having food now, well that was diffrent story.

"Son of a .........grrrrrrrrrrrrr. But this is an emergency, plus I don't think theres any food to buy up to where I'm, goin.................damn."

He put the note back in his bag and leaned back against his seat. Looked like it was going to be another sunny normal day. Thats what he thought until he saw the fog looming in front of the bus. As the bus got closer the fog slowly wrapped around the bus. It was as if they were traveling to anoter realm. Normally Zeno liked foggy and cloudy days but something about this fog seemed diffrent. His green eyes wandered around, but he couldn't see anything the fog was too thick for his vision.

"Fog this thick out of no where. Hmmmmmmm I don't like this. Oh well im sure the bus driver has had plenty of experience with this."

His eyes wandered over to gaze at the bus driver noticing instantly that he was 100% drunk. Zeno felt like anvil landed on his heart. His eyes and mouth flew opened wide in shock not able to say a word from his discovery.

"Why is he drunk? Why is he laughing they do know that will probably die. DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE."

These word was said over and over again in his mind. Has he debated with himself over this. The teacher ushered the kids off the bus. Zeno snapped out of it and then followed outside into this errie fog that surrounded everyone. Zeno could not think straight cause of his fear of loss was a big issue with him. He took a few deep breaths and he felt better.

"Aaaaah relax Kasuma Zenoah, you need break buddy. Everything is fine were okaye. Nothing bad is going to happen."

Zeno wispered to himself hoping nobody heard him. Then he heard the names of the group forming together. Otonashi, Satine, Mugen Tsukiakari, Hawokuishibaru, Steph Whitestone, Yuki Kanazuchi, Kasuma Zenoah,

"Ah yes here!!!"

Hasaki Ichijin, Fukumi Garu and Kaigaiishi Mitsu. After the names were all said everyone formed together in a single file line. He was in the middle of the line as they all made there way up the mountain. Zeno talked to himself in his mind as he always did.

"Why hell was that bus driver drunk. I hate drunks, you wanna piss me off show me a drunk guy or girl. Damn beer, damn wine, you know what damn everything right now. I am not in the mood. Aw sorry brother, im just not in a good mood, youd be with me right now complaining with me. I guess I should enjoy the time I have right now this is a pretty mountain after all. Might as well make the best of it."

With that finished thought he smiled and tryed put his spirits up, but it was swiftly shattered as the ground started to move violently. Zeno held his balance well till he tripped on a good sized rock that was in the path. He desperatly tryed to grab a hold of something or someone to save him but nothing was close enough to grab. He then started to fall back down the mountain. As he fell he felt like he was falling in slow motion the only thought that passed through his mid was.

"This goanna hurt."

He fell down the mountain tumbling hitting rocks, sticks, bushes, and falling off of mini cliffics. He tryed to stop himself from rolling but it was impossilbe at the speed he was going. Then he finally hit a tree big enough to stop him. He stayed station sitting up right against a large tree trunk. He opened his green eyes. His vision was blurry. Not knowing how long he fell, but at this point it really didn't matter. The damage to him was already done. Everything hurt he couldn't move his arms or legs, but then the pain quckily dissolved from his body. The feeling he then got was like nothing he ever felt before. It was a funny yet settling feeling. It was happy nor sad, but his eyes began to water up and tears fell down his cheek. He looked up at the foggy sky but then saw a little glimpse of blue sky. So this is how it finally ends for him. He thought nothing but his family and friends.

"Zeno it's time let go."

A cheerful voice echoed in his head, but he couldn't figure out who it was. Whoever's voice it was it was settling for him. Before he passed on he wispered his last phrase.

"Everything will be okaye."

[Xeim]

I had never known the world to be so dark. Even in my worst moments, I always had a source of light. Always. But right now, right now I was...dead. It was a funny feeling, being dead. You no longer had to worry about your body holding you down. But you know what? This is my part of the story. Let me tell you what I saw.

It was after I had blacked out. Well, I can’t really say that I blacked out, as the world became rather white. It was the last light I saw. I felt wind, and then...there was nothing. I was floating in a world of white light...with no boundaries, no...limits. It was, absolutely beautiful.

But it didn’t last. It was like something said “This isn’t where you’re supposed to go. Now leave.”

Then, I was lying next to...myself. I had no idea where I was, or where I had been, but I knew I was looking at MYSELF. As in ME. Haruka-Hyourin Tokoyami. And, I was pale, and...bloody. It was terrible.

As I stood up, things got worse. I don’t really want to describe it; it was so...what do they say? X-rated, right? I mean, there was blood everywhere, and bodies of children who...well didn’t have complete limb sets.

And, when I looked up to the cliff, those two snotty little punks were laughing down at the scene. All around me, my peers were standing up and shivering. Some of them, for whatever reason, didn’t understand what was going on. They didn’t know why we were looking at ourselves.

That was why it was dark, darker then ever before, with no light left. I think all the light got drained out of me when I went to that little white world. Maybe it was a trick from those little punks on that cliff.

I took a deep breath and started towards Satine who was busy staring down at her body in fear and horror. With each step, a strange chain around my neck jingled annoyingly. I wanted to rip it off...but it probably wouldn’t be that good of an idea. I had just opened my mouth to comfort Satine when I heard a smooth female voice.

“We’ve got genocide over here Ichigo! Come and perform the konso! There’s a lot of them, a whole school to be exact!”

“I TOLD you, I don’t want to help people I don’t know!”

A loud bang followed that comment.

“Ow! What was that for?!”

“You want to have to fight 100 hollows later because you failed to do the soul burial?”

“There’s no guarantee...”

“ICHIGO!!!”

“Fine, fine, whatever.”

That’s when the black haired woman arrived with the orange haired man. It was over rather quickly. The orange haired man just boredly started banging my classmates on the head with his katana, and made them disappear. They looked so peaceful after his hilt touched them. All the fear and pain was gone from their eyes as they faded away. I knew I was next, and I didn’t fight it. I wanted to have that peaceful feeling wash over me. I wanted it more then I had ever wanted anything else.

And when it finally hit me...I really was peaceful. I wanted to hang onto this feeling. Life was all about pain. Every day, you wake up and you struggle to overcome all the pain in your life, causing you even more. You fight and fight, and even those who give up fighting still fight subconsciously...until they feel this. Once this feeling reaches you, you’re safe. You’re what’s described as...truly alive, even though your life is gone.

Memories of a Shinigami

10 years later...


It was a normal day in Soul Society. The sun loomed overhead, bored in its usual noon position. Haruka was standing at the foot of three flights of stairs. Satine had already climbed them and walked through the mahogany gates at the top, but Haruka was hesitant. Walking through these doors would mean two things: one, that she would have to deal with a bunch of people she’d never seen before, and two, that her life would change drastically. The Junrinan District wasn’t such a bad place. Sure it wasn’t the life of a princess, but it wasn’t the life of a street rat at least. It was one of those places in the middle, and Haruka liked that. She didn’t need things to be complicated, as long she was reasonably comfortable and isolated.

It had been a summer whim that brought her here. Haruka and Satine had been sitting on their sunny wooden porch eating cherries and chatting about the sort of things friends chatted about. Suddenly, Satine exclaimed that she wanted to become a shinigami. At that moment, it had sounded like the greatest idea in the world. Now, Haruka wasn’t so sure.

Don’t make a life changing decision on a summer whim...

She sighed. Satine was already inside, and if Haruka didn’t follow she would get her head chewed off if they ever met up again.

If we ever met up again...

If she left now she’d lose her closest friend, and that thought alone made her put her foot on the first step.

One Step. The world of street vendors disappeared.

Two, and the thieves faded away.

Three, and the people shopping on the streets were gone.

Four, and all the moonlit nights were but a memory.

Five, and freshly picked cherries from their garden dissolved.

Six, and the old lady next door retreated back into her house for the final time.

Seven, and Haruka’s house crept into shadow.

Eight, and the other houses on the streets left.

Nine, and everything else from these past ten years were thrown away on a whim.

...Ten, and all hope of seeing her brother again disappeared.

It had been only a week ago when she saw him, or who she thought to be him. It had looked so much like Asahi that it had hurt her. Haruka had run after him blindly without stopping to think. Satine and her had been shopping for fresh watermelon on Junrinan’s main street when a young man in ratty brown cloths stole a watermelon from the vendor they were about to buy from.

There went hope of getting a watermelon that day. Satine was really upset, and turned for home. Haruka glanced at her apologetically and then sprinted off after the watermelon thief. It was hard for her to keep up with him. He was a quick runner, and he seemed to know the streets by heart. But, though she was always a few feet behind, Haruka didn’t lose him.

“Asahi!” she called, but he didn’t respond. It was getting dark by the time Haruka realized how far she had followed him. She was now in the 10th district, and she lived in the first! She didn’t want to give up the chase, but she had no choice and turned for home.

Twenty-eight, Twenty-nine, Thirty. Thirty stairs and Rukongai slithered away into nothingness.

Haruka-Hyourin was a shinigami in-training now.

[Andromeda]

Steph sat on the cold stone floors wondering the reason that he had come. There did not seem to be a great reason for him, though there was plenty of curiosity that had given him a push. Though truth be told he was brought here rather than coming here on his own. It was not as though he could not have said no and continued to live out his life in the Rukongai. But there was a reason, something inside that did not refuse when he was dragged here. He did not understand it, yet there was even less that he understood about himself. However, that seemed to be the case for many people that came across him.

He could still remember when he appeared in the Rukongai. It had been so different from where he had been that he thought that he was in another country. For Steph, he thought he had been in a coma for several months and just woke up in a place that lacked any technology. Everyone looked at him strangely when he did not understand that he was dead. They tried to explain to him that he was dead now and that everyone around him was the same as he was now. But he remembered being alive just the moment before.

His moment of death was hazy in his mind and it took him days to remember falling. But even then he could not remember anything further than falling and knowing that he was dead. Everyone that he spoke to said that once they died they remembered seeing a shinigami sending them on. But he could not remember that as much as he tried. There was no gap in time for when he was a lost soul in the living world. After a while he began to wonder if that had even happened, everything else around that time had become clear to him except that point. Eventually, it became a moot point and he stopped dwelling on the matter.

The first month he wandered through the twenty-seventh district of Rukongai trying to find a way to get used to life being dead. It was a hard concept to understand knowing that he would never get hungry, even though food still had appeal and desires. Even injuries seemed to be real. Steph had a trouble grasping the physics of the afterlife as it defied his ideas. But after that month he realized that it was more like the real world and he had to stop thinking of it like a dead end to rest.

Steph ended up meeting some children that had gathered together to form themselves a small community. He did not feel as though he wanted to trust the adults. All of the things that he had seen them do on the streets made him cautious around them. However, he had difficulty with the children as well, keeping to himself. Eventually he left them, feeling like moving on. It seemed like he had stayed too long and he wanted to see more. So he was gone one day without word and found himself going deeper into the Rukongai.

It was a dangerous as the others had said he quickly realized. But he had managed to fall in with another group staying in the forty-ninth district for a year before moving on again. It had not left him unscathed though, he never fought back trying to talk his way out of trouble. After the person grew bored they left him bleeding in the alley. That was the way it was for him the ten years he spent in Rukongai. He had traveled between the fifth and sixty-ninth districts in the ten years seeing the wide span of poverty, crime and comfort.

Until an hour ago he had been living by himself in the ninth district spending his time wandering the streets. There were always new sights for him to see making him not want to rest. Every couple of nights he would simply collapse somewhere he was visiting. It was the river this time. He had been listening to the water hearing how different it was from the fourteenth district he had been to recently. It was still water flowing, but the ambience and melody that the water played over the stones had a different tone. It had been quick and fleeting in the fourteenth while it was soft and calm in the ninth. Here it seemed to relish in each drop of water passing over the stone, hugging the earth and sharing its wisdom before moving on. The melody had soothed him bringing him to sleep quickly only to be woken up suddenly.

That was when things changed for him, though change was not bad for him. He rather enjoyed change and become accustom to not staying in one place for long. However, he had made a mistake when he was talking to someone random on the street. Steph had purchased some candy from a vendor who was decidedly chatty, too much for him. However, he did not want to be rude and run off. It had been several months since he actually spoken anyway, so it was refreshing for him. He had made the slip that he had been in the Rukongai for ten years, but had died when he was thirteen. The vendor had been confused, but Steph insisted that he was telling the truth.

He had left it at that, but it seemed as those someone believed him. Someone had tracked him down wanting to speak to him. Steph had been very sleepy at the moment leaving himself unguarded. He spoke freely about everything to the man through his sleepy eyes. The man was in all black from what Steph could see with unfocused sight making him think it might have been a shinigami. However, his mind was moving slowly as he yawned at the man.

“Yeah, I’ve been here for ten years,” he said to the man.

“So you were a baby when you died, right?”

“No, I was thirteen. I was on a school trip in the mountains.”

“Thirteen? But you look like you are thirteen, that is not possible.”

“I assure you…” he said yawning loudly. “I am thirteen.”

“You shouldn’t lie to get attention.”

“Mmm?” Steph said blinking slowing. He scratched his head and began pulling his hair out of his face. “I am thirteen. When I was living I lived in the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Japan, umm, Panama, ah…there’s others but I can’t think of them at the moment. I can speak a little French, German, Italian, and Japanese, and obviously English. How much more you need?” Steph casually rolled it all off his tongue while he had been tying his hair back.

“You’re serious?”

Steph reached into his pocket pulling out a round piece of candy and dropping it into his mouth. The sweet taste filled his mouth waking his eyes up and rousing his mind. He turned around and ran this hands through the river picking up some water. He raised his hands up dropping the water over his face completing his process of waking up. Steph stood up coming even with the man that had been kneeling down to speak to him. “Oh, you are a Shinigami. Yeah, I’m serious. How come you came to see me?”

“I was visiting someone and I heard about you. You’ve become a popular topic for the local gossip.”

“Gossip? Ah, I should have known. That man had a loose pair of lips guess its no surprise. Oh well, not much I can do about it now.”

“That’s a rather carefree attitude for letting your secret out.”

“I can’t control what others do, I shouldn’t get upset over it. And its not like not aging is that special. I hear you Shinigami barely age.”

“Yes, that is true, but that is not the case for everyone else. You do seem to have a maturity about you that doesn’t make you seem like just another child looking for attention. You might just have something special about you, maybe even quality to be a Shinigami yourself.”

“Shinigami? I don’t know. Being trapped inside that place doesn’t sound very appealing.”

“There are plenty of things to see inside.”

“Hmm…”

That was how he found himself sitting in the Shinigami Academy walls, dragged in by someone drawn by gossip. The floor was getting cold and he was beginning to lose interest with the hall. There was only so much to see and feel from the stone. The wind was missing, replaced with footsteps and chatter. He could hear people everywhere walking around filling the halls with a different sort of life. It reminded him of school, but it made him feel like disappearing. They all felt different from him with a strange presence around them as though they were special, unique from everyone else he had seen.

Steph stood up thinking to himself rather than speaking out loud. ‘How much longer is he going to be? He said to wait here, that he wanted someone to meet me.’ He sighed softly feeling like walking to explore when the door opened. There was quick paced talking that was muffled by the door, but he recognized the shinigami’s voice. But he seemed to be having a trouble with someone. They came closer, finally exiting the room.

“But, Captain…” the Shinigam said. He was speaking to a tall man, though from Steph height everyone was tall, with a white face and a strange pointy hat. There was a strange curiosity about the man that had Steph tilting his hand in wonderment. However, he felt an ill sensation in his stomach that made him concerned.

“I only came to examine some subjects. Don’t bother me.”

“But, sir I think you’ll be interested in this one.”

“Out of my way, boy,” the captain said to Steph roughly pushing him aside.

“Captain, this is the boy I was telling you about!”

The white-faced man turned staring down at Steph, his expression difficult to read. “And what’s so special about him again?”

“He has not aged since death.”

“Hmm…have you run tests?”

“Not yet, but with your permission…”

“Very well. Send the results to the Vice-Captain.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The Captain disappeared into the shadowy halls with a woman following up close behind him leaving Steph confused. He looked back at the shinigami wandering why he was so interesting to them. It did not seem very strange for someone not to age once dead, even though that was against the norm. He did not like the feeling that he was getting from the Captain though.

“Well then, that should help you get registered. I’ll sponsor you and you’ll be able to attend immediately,” the shinigami said as he walked Steph back towards the front of the academy, where he had entered.

Steph did not mind trying this out, but he felt as though he was being manipulated. The man seemed sincere, but he was having difficulty shaking the strange feeling he had. However, that changed suddenly when the doors opened revealing two familiar figures to him. His eyes widened in surprise to see someone that he knew from when he was alive. It was Haruka walking through along with someone else he vaguely remembered.

“Haruka…”

[abarai renji]

Part I- death
After his fight, Otonashi sat back on his seat. He was angered by the stupidity that yusuke displayed. Otonashi never liked people that teased others. In his mind, there was no reason to do something that horrible, to make others suffer for one’s amusement. Otonashi despised fools like Yusuke and others who bullied people. In his past, he had gotten into many fights defending others, and it seemed he was almost always spending his weekends in detention at times.

Oto had only been sitting down for a few minutes when he saw Hawokuishibaru walk towards him. Tentatively, he asked, “do you mind if I sit down with you?”

Otonashi looked up from his seat into Hawokuishibaru’s deep blue eyes. Oto didn’t see any problem with it; actually, it might help me get these thoughts out of my head. “Sure, sit down.”

Oto scooted to the side of the seat by the window, allowing Hawokuishibaru to sit to his side. They sat there for a moment in silence. Hawo was the first to speak. “Is everything alright, Otonashi? You really don’t seem yourself today.”

“I’m fine, I guess. I just have this feeling, like something bad is gonna happen. I can’t really describe the feeling, but its just there.”

Hawokuishibaru opened his mouth, about to say something but then Satine walked up to them. “Umm… hello Otonashi-sama.” She paused momentarily. “I-Im sorry you got detention, my sincerest apologies...um...I brought your book back to you.”

Otonashi saw Satine’s face start to glow a slight reddish color. Oto didn’t know what to say, he was always kind of shy around people he didn’t know. “um… thanks.” Once Oto had control of his emotions he spoke again, more confidently. “Don’t worry about the detention. I’m almost always in there.” As he reached out for the book, the bus started to fill up with a fog. Odd, it usually doesn’t do that here, he though to himself.

Shortly after, the bus driver stopped. He announced that they were there. He could clearly tell that the bus driver was absolutely drunk. Great. He was drunk the entire time. Morons like that could get people killed.

“Umm… I’ll see you later, okay Otonashi-sama?” Satine quickly walked out of the bus. He followed out, not entirely rushing after her, but not just slowly walking. Kind of a happy medium between the two paces. As he got outside, He heard the a teacher call out his name. He grumbled and walked over to the teacher.

“What?” He asked the teacher, in kind of an impatient tone. The teacher looked at him, obviously angered by his disrespect towards him. “You’ll be in my group for the trip.”

“Whatever.” Otonashi started to feel a lot worse. He could almost sense that something was there. He was suddenly aware of a powerful evil aura somewhere, but he couldn’t tell exactly what it was or where it came from.

As the time past, more students came to join the group. He was never good with faces, and most of the people he didn’t recognize. But there were a few. He recognized Hasaki, Satine, and Hawokuishibaru were the only ones he recognized. Some of the people talked among each other, but he just stood there to himself.

The teacher led the students up the mountain. They were forced into single file lines. He walked with the group for a little bit, but he got bored fast. “I already know basically everything about this mountain,” he said to himself. “Whatever. Maybe if I get a bite to eat I’ll feel better.” When the teacher stopped talking and turned her back to lead the students, Oto slipped away. He headed over to a restraunt that he went to all the time with his family when they visited.

The building was in site when the earth started to shake violently. Suddenly, the dark aura he had sensed was overpowering. Oto was forced down onto his knees by the immense pressure of whatever it was that was causing the earth to tremble. He heard cries in the background. He stayed where he was. Fear had completely paralyzed his body. He watched people run past him. The earth continued to quake, as from behind, he was picked up. The monster stared at him. Oto stared in front, terror in his eyes, his body shaking almost as the ground was. What looked back at him was a masked beast. There are no words to describe how horrid the monster was.

“So you are able to sense my aura, are you?” The monster laughed maniacally. “But still you are nothing but a worthless piece of shit.” The hollow pulled up his other hand, showing huge black claws. They stabbed into his stomach. The pain that the hollow inflicted to him was so incredible, that Otonashi blacked out.

Part II- rebirth
Slowly, Otonashi began to regain consciousness. He felt different, somehow. Kind of lighter, less held back. He looked around at his surroundings. There was total chaos everywhere. There were people screaming, nobody seemed to know what was going on. He started to wander off, but then he heard something like a chain that followed him. He saw a chain protruding from his body, just above his chest. He saw the trail lead backwards, and followed it. Then he saw probably the second scariest thing he’d ever seen in his life so far. Him.

What he saw lying on the ground looked almost like him, but it was impossible to tell. He was not entirely there. There was a giant hole in his chest, and he was missing one of his legs, but its face was clearly his. Otonashi was confused. He thought back to what happened. He remembered the giant monster, and it bringing down its claws. It must’ve killed me. He thought. And not just me… everybody. The thought that the monster killed everyone was unbearable. He decided that he should find his friends. Maybe they know more about what’s going on.

Otonashi walked back to where the bus was. On his way there, he encountered a boy, about his age. He was dressed in what he thought were the weirdest clothes he’d ever seen. He had a black robe-like clothes on, and his hair was orange. Next to him was a black-haired girl. The boy walked up to him and wacked him in the head with a giant sword. “Hey, what the hell are you doing!” Otonashi at first was confused, but then as he started to be surrounded in a white light, he understood. The boy was helping him pass on.

The next thing that Oto remembered was waking up in a very run-down town. He got up and looked around. The surrounding houses were wooden, and the roads were dirt. It looked like a town for lower-class citizens. A man approached him. He had green eyes, blonde hair, and a playful smirk. The man stood about five seven. “You knew here?” he asked.

“Yeah” Oto responded. The man was friendly enough. Then, the sound of a high pitched whistle rang through the streets. The people in the streets moved out of the way, and two policemen came running down the streets.

The man put his hand on Oto’s shoulder. “Come with me.”

Oto and the man ran away from the police guards. Once they lost them, Oto was lead into a small hut. “Okay, what the hell is going on?” Oto sat on the floor, panting from the run.

“The name’s Isamu, just in case you were wondering.” Isamu went on to explain everything about soul society. “In all of the eighty districts, you my friend ended up in the rock bottom 80th. So see, in a town like this, you can live 3 ways. One, is that you open a shop and try to sell stuff without it getting stolen, which is almost impossible. Two, you become a thief yourself, which is almost possible. Or three, you sit around all day and die of hunger. So whaddaya say, wanna be a thief.”

So the next seven years, Otonashi and Isamu went around the lower districts stealing from others so that they themselves could live.

Part III- Shinigami High

Otonashi walked up the steps to his new school, where he would become a shinigami. As he walked up, all he could think about was Isamu. He would get enough money to heal his friend. As he walked entered the high school, he made a vow that he would try his best, no matter what. However much thieving made him hate authority, he must put up with it until he gets Isamu better.


(OOC: alright I got my post in. If there's any serious errors, its because its like 1 am right now, so if theres any problems please pme me.)

[Evangel]

Mugen's death was quick. But, he had been dying inside from when his mother and kid sister were murdered by that Hollow. When he got off the bus with the others, he took note of the unusual fog that surrounded them. He thought it might just have been the mountain but he felt a presence in the fog, like he and the others were being watched.

It wasn't until people began disappearing that he realized what was happening. Kids next to him seemed to be thrown off the cliff face. Their screams fading in the fog. Then came his turn, he was picked up a shaken. Whatever it was held him in the air for a moment then threw him. Thankfully, he died from the shock before he hit the ground.

10 years later...

Mugen awoke in his bed around noon. His roommate kicked him in the gut. "Hey Mugen! Wake up you lazy bum." Yelled Rei, his roommate. She had been his friend ever since he arrived in the Soul Society. When he arrived, he was alone and wandered the Rukon District for some time until he heard a flute playing. It was Rei's music that brought him back from the dark place his mind had wandered. Everyday he would come by just to hear her play. They became close friends very quickly. Now, when they are older, he wonders if she has some affectionate feelings for him as he does for her.

Mugen moans as they sun beats down on his face through the window. "Five more minutes." He covers his face with his blanket.

"Come on! I've been waiting all morning for you to wake up to play my flute!" Mugen grunts and sits up. He runs his fingers through his crimson hair.

"OK. OK." He says tiredly.

Mugen gets dressed as Rei plays her flute. He has some breakfast and sits next to Rei listeneing to her play her flute. She suddenly stops. "Mugen?" She began.

"Yeah, Rei?" He responds.

"You never told me how you died."

"Oh, well, I guess I never thought of telling you. Well..." He hesitated. "Well, it was 10 years ago. In the human world, my school was on a field trip to Mt. Fuji in Japan. We were at the top when a creature showed up. It was... a Hollow." Rei covered her mouth as she gasped at this information. "This Hollow began to kill everyone, one by one. Then, it was my turn. I saw his face. I couldn't forget something like him. He was the Hollow that murdered my mother! And my little sister." Rei could see the pain of the past in Mugen's face. "He stared at me, and I at him. "Bastard!" I said. He just laughed. "Laugh all you want! I'm going to find a way to kill you, you bastard!" He stopped laughing abruptly then smiled. He threw me. and that was it."

"So now what are you going to do, Mugen?"

"Well, I'm going to become a shinigami. That's all I can do for now."

"No! You can't!" Rei pleaded. "If you're going to become one, then I will too."

"Are you sure?" He asks her. She nods. "Then it's settled. We'll become shinigami toghether."

Two days after signing up, they were accepted by the Shingami Academy. Mugen and Rei went toghether to the academy.

[Kuradic]

Kuragari pressed his foot down on the boy’s stomach as he grasped the watermelon from underneath his limp, beaten arm. Kuragari felt no pity for people who stole from him. He had worked hard in the past 10 years from his death. From his appearance he hadn’t grown much, if he had grown at all. He had built himself a very small and cramped house, only supplying less then minimum benefits. Stealing anything would almost give him enough reason to kill them. He opened his cloth made sack and placed the watermelon carefully between the four laid out corners. Kuragari carefully surrounded the watermelon with the cloth and hoisted it with a long pole onto his left shoulder. Kuragari reached down to the man lying on the floor with his right hand. He clenched his fingers around the man’s clothing and hoisted up against the wall, feeling the shock through the man’s body. He leaned his head close to the man's ear and whispered in a calm, but sinister voice “Steal from me again, and I might just finish you.” Kuragari relaxed his hand and let the man’s limp body fall to the ground, deprived of its pride.

Kuragari waded across the gentle flowing stream of the 20th district of Rukongai. He had to pull up his pants as to avoid having them drag him down. The water brushed across his legs like a chilling breeze, already starting to calm his aggressive intentions. After several hours he had reached the calmness and serenity of his cramped little home, in a far off abandoned building. He lowered his shoulder and let the pole drop down to his open left palm, and placing the cloth-wrapped watermelon down onto the floor. Kuragari stretched out his arms and stared around at his surroundings; at the moldy branches, the bug infested ground, and the small object made of wood and cloth that made for his home. It may not have been heaven, but to him it was a much more satisfying place then beer bottle covered rugs in his parents home.

Kuragari untied the small string attaching the four corners of the sack, and let the cloth lay itself out like a blanket. Kuragari shifted his head to the right as he lifted up a broken katana and used it to penetrate the watermelons skin. The bright red juice gushed out as the ragged blade pierced the watermelon, wetting the side of Kuragari’s face. Kuragari was about to remove the ragged katana from its position when he heard his name called out. His head wandered about looking for the source of this call. “Hey!” he heard again. This time the sound was more clear, and easier to spot. He leaned back to see two guys standing on top of a building to his left. “You’re the guy who stole from our friend right?” Kuragari merely stared back with his blood colored eyes, sweeping the dirt off his pants. “Answer me you brat.” Kuragari continued to stare back. “Fine, then I’ll just have to force the answer out of your pathetic body.” The first man sprang off the building, clenching tight behind his back, his large, rather bulky bat. Kuragari on his knees, simply rolled to his side dodging the clumsy fools attack. “You’re pretty fast. Must be from all that running you do when you steal!” The man lunged his left arm forward first, catching Kuragari off guard. Kuragari was forced to block with his arms in crossed across his chest. “Bad move!” the man cried out as his bat came crashing down towards Kuragari’s head. Kuragari reacted quickly and ducked below the attack only to see his opponent force a small sneer between his rather big lips. The second man leaped off the building this time, yelling, grasping his sheathed katana by his side.

Kuragari stretched out his left arm and leg towards the half cut watermelon. His left hand found the hilt of the blade, and his foot hooked around the base of the watermelon. Kuragari’s leg shot up, splattering the watermelon on the first man’s face. It actually makes his face look cleaner Kuragari thought to himself. The second man’s now unsheathed blade was met by Kuragari’s own. Though ragged and snapped in half, the broken katana served its purpose well. Kuragari’s right foot found itself to the second man’s stomach. The second man moaned aloud as line of spit drooled out the corner of his mouth.

“You little brat!” the men called out in unison. They both charged in as clumsily as they had before, but this time they were stopped not by Kuragari’s blade but by a shinigami’s.

“Stop this nonsense,” the shinigami ordered to the two men. However, the shinigami’s apparently weren’t needed, for the two men were down to their knees by his reiatsu. “Leave, now before I have to arrest you.” The men grasped at the ground with their uncut fingernails hoisting themselves away from the shinigami’s reiatsu. The shinigami turned around to see Kuragari wasn’t affected at all, instead he was already in a fighting stance. “I am not here to cause trouble,” the shinigami said, trying to calm him. A long pause followed the man’s meaningless words. His next string of words however caught Kuragari’s attention. “Would you like to move out of here?”

“Move out?” Kuragari said, relaxing his muscles allowing his arm and blade to descend and return to his sides.

“Yes. You fight well, and are not affected by my reiatsu. You would make a fine new addition to our academy.” The shinigami stated, also returning his own blade to its sheath.

A small shimmer of hope grew bright within Kuragari’s mind at that moment. He could leave this place, a home already better then his parents, and yet leave to one better. It was more then he could have hoped for. The shinigami stretched forth his arm, widening out his fingers. Kuragari did the same and the two clenched their hands.

[jenova33]

Fukumi settled herself restfully against a wall, letting her mind wander and her eyes glance around. She couldn’t help but to turn her emerald oculars toward Kaigaishii, who seemed to be making his way quickly towards somewhere besides here. She noticed there was something about this guy. It must have been way that every time she saw him around he was so quiet or the fact that he always seeming to be pondering deeply upon things made her abnormally curious. It was odd. She felt almost as if she was staring at someone else with her own personality; this only raised her suspicions a bit more, but she could have been misjudging him. However, she knew that no one with those sorts of traits could have been fine and dandy.

She had lived with the coldness and quietness for most of her life and still felt it being dead. Was it odd that she now somewhat pitied this guy she’d never even talked to before? She hoped not, but a chunk of reality was smashed upon her head before she realized that if she was really so curious about this guy, that she’d have to eventually talk to him. Why the hell should she care? That same question rose in her own mind as well. This stranger was of no importance to her. However, her curiosity seemed to get the best of her. Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it never seemed to have an effect on her. Therefore, there was nothing to stop her.

It was official. She was going to talk to this stranger whom she had never met or talked to before. It was quite peculiar how he almost seemed familiar. Like it was a face she had seen, just before she died.

No… that just seemed much too far-fetched… However, thoughts stirred in her mind about the day she had died and then it hit her. That was it. It triggered inside of her mind that he was that one guy with the piercing blue eyes and silky ebony hair. The guy that didn’t exist to many, but the few that noticed him always seemed entranced by his sharp stare. He was the one who’s smile could probably bring a smile to anyone’s heart, no matter who they were or what their personality, She didn’t know him during her lifetime personally, but she knew who he was. He was the only person who’s smile could bring warmth to her heart.

How pathetic.

Fukumi never had feelings for anyone, especially not Kaigaishii. She was just a fine observer, and was well aware that he had his sights set on someone else. It just seemed that every person he talked to couldn’t help but to smile back. What a way to churn her stomach. Fukumi couldn’t stand people and their affection, or pretending that everything was always warm and fuzzy. It just simply made her sick. But wait… what happened? If Kaigaishii used to be so kind and shy, then why did he seem so cold-hearted now?

Before she could take her thoughts any further, she pushed herself from the wall and ran after him. In what seemed like a short amount of time, he had gotten quite far from where she had been resting. God, why was she running like this? Just to find out about some guy’s life?

She had finally caught up with him, yelling out to him, hopefully loud enough that he’d be able to hear, “Hey you!” She knew his name, but she didn’t want to freak him out.

It seemed to be enough, seeing as he had turned around and waited for Fukumi to catch up, “What is it? Do I know you?”

“Not… exactly. My name is Fukumi Garu and I…” God, this was going to sound stupid. “I really need to ask you something.”

“Ask me something? Well then please ask. I don’t have much time.”

What was his rush? Fukumi wanted to scoff, but she held back, “Why do you seem different from before?”

“What are you talking about? I don’t know who you are and you said so yourself. Either you’re the one that’s confused or I am. And I’m pretty sure it’s not me,” with that, he turned around and began to walk away.

“No, wait! Just listen to me for a sec! Kaigaishii!”

He turned around, his cerulean eyes now widened a bit, “How do you know me?”

“Well… I don’t exactly but… think back on the day of your death. You died with a bunch of other students.”

“Yes, but what does my death have to do with anything?”

“I was there.”

Kaigaishii was silent now, and his face seemed blunt. It was hard to read him at this point, but Fukumi was pretty sure that he didn’t believe her.

Kaigaishii sighed, turning around again, “You’re mad.”

“Why are you so different now? You used to be so kind. Why do you seem so cold now?”

“Why are you concerned?”

This made Fukumi pause for a moment. Was she really… “concerned?” No… that couldn’t have been it.

“I’m curious,” she responded.

“Then what does it matter?” he said, his voice almost seeming hopeless. He began to walk away now, leaving Fukumi in the dust trail that he left behind.
This wasn’t going to do for Fukumi. It made her angry when people didn’t give her a straight answer and it was worse when they didn’t give her an answer at all. Right now, Fukumi not receiving an answer to satisfy her curiosity was like depriving a human of oxygen. She wasn’t going to let him get far.

She ran after him, grabbing the chest of his clothing and violently slamming his back up against a wall. This wasn’t desperate measures. To Fukumi, this was just everyday life, or in her case, death.

“If you’re not going to tell people what the hell is wrong with you then quit moping around and being cynical! Do you really think your life was just as hard as everyone elses? Take a look around! No one here has had it easy! The rest of us deal with it in our own ways, so you need to to! And another thing! How can you let people treat you like crap? Quit being a frickin coward!” Fukumi ended her speech there, pushing him forcefully against the wall one last time, then releasing the grasp of his clothing. She stepped backward, now taking in a deep breath.

Kaigaishii’s eyes were facing toward the ground now, “Revenge…”

Fukumi heard this word slip from Kaigaishii’s lips. This drew her eyes toward him. She understood now. This explained everything. Just that one simple word shared the meaning of a novel. She didn’t know what he wanted revenge for, but this was enough to satisfy her curiosity.

Revenge… Everyone wanted revenge at sometime or another, but this guy’s reasons must have been harsh enough to change his personality.

“I see…” Fukumi said with a sigh. She looked toward the sky now. “So where are you rushing to?”

Kaigaishii’s eyes widened, “Oh, crap! I forgot about that!” He started to run, not answering Fukumi’s question.

Damn it, Fukumi thought. He did it again…

With that, she ran after him, turning each and every corner, Fukumi almost falling at times. Soon, Kaigaishii stopped, forcing Fukumi to stop as well. She looked up, reading the sign.

“Shinigami Academy Sign Ups…” so this is what Fukumi had been hearing people talk about all week. It must have been something prestigious, so what the heck? Fukumi thought she’d give it a shot.

“What are you doing?” Kaigaishii asked as she began to write down her name and other information.

“What does it look like?” Fukumi said as she finished up and looked at him with a smirk, then walked away.

2 days later…

Fukumi opened up the folded paper and read it. She then smirked, tossing it in the trash and sitting down to eat her breakfast. She had been accepted to this what-cha-ma-call-it academy. It didn’t really strike her as important, she just wanted to prove herself to others, and now… it seemed she had the chance.

[Xeim]

Haruka entered the Academy Doors and found herself standing in a nice, stone foyer. It was plain, but well lit from skylights embedded in the ceiling. Directly in front of her was a polished mahogany desk shaped like an oval. On the stone wall behind it hung a lifelike picture of an old man with a long white beard, resting on a twisted cane. Haruka began to approach the oval desk, slightly in awe of the picture’s brilliance. That was when she heard the voice.

“Haruka...” It was the voice of a young boy, no older than she was when she had died. He had platinum blonde hair and shallow blue eyes, the eyes of someone who had long since given up on worrying about the more stressful aspects of life. Haruka knew this boy from somewhere. Her memory strained to remember details from her past that had long since been forgotten. Various images flashed through her head: thieves on the streets of Rukongai, young ones trying to sell trinkets for money to buy food, and finally...a young boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, being thrown off of a cliff. The same young boy sitting here before her now, Steph Whitestone.

“What is it Haru?” Satine asked coming up from behind. She was about to say something else, but stopped when she saw Steph.

“Heh, Steph? What happened to you?” Haruka asked, trying to retain her imposing demeanor, but failing miserably.

“Oh, you know, stuff. Rukongai’s a tough place to be after all.”

“But...uh...you’re like...still thirteen.”

“Oh that? Who knows? I guess it doesn’t really matter if I’m going to end up a shinigami anyway.” He stood up and began to follow an older man in shinigami attire out of the room. “See you later Haruka!” he called back.

Well, that was...weird...

“Hey, Haru, I put your name in as well. They’ll process the results and let us know if we get in or not within the hour.” Satine stated.

“Um, all right.”

Get yourself together Haruka!

It seemed like an eternity that they sat on the floor of that large foyer. The sun was beginning to set by the time Haruka heard their names called.

“Haruka and Satine?” one of the receptionists asked.

“Uh yeah?” Haruka asked rudely.

“You’ve been approved for the academy. If you’d follow me I’ll take you to a dorm. I assume you’ll want to share a room?”

“Whatever,” Haruka responded, and the three left the foyer.

<><><>

The girl’s dormitory was, like the rest of the building, fairly plain. It was a boring hallway with white walls and tons of sliding doors.

“There’s always four to a room,” the receptionist said briskly. “We have an empty room at the end of the hall, but you two won’t get it to yourself for long as we have some new recruits coming in soon.”

“Whatever,” Haruka said again.

The receptionist rolled her eyes and opened the door they had come to. It was the last door on the left of the hallway. “Enjoy,” she said sweetly, and walked off.

Haruka peered inside the room. It held two metal bunk beds, one on each side of the thin room. Directly across from the door was a sink and a mirror, and to the left of that there was a curtain hiding what Haruka guessed to be the shower and the bathtub. It was a lot to cram into such a tiny space, and Haruka wondered how four girls could survive in such a room.

However, she walked inside and plopped herself down on the bottom bunk of the bed on the right, yawning loudly.

“Time to rest...” she mumbled. And, with that, Haruka drifted off into a steady, claming sleep.

[Kuradic]

Kuragari’s feet met the marble-tiled floor of the academy entrance as he followed the shinigami. “Stay here,” the shinigami said. Kuragari however paid no attention, his eyes spotted two slighting familiar faces sitting down at the base of the stairs. There was something about them that struck a thought deep within Kuragari’s mind. His attention on them was unbroken as a tall rather slender woman led them down the academy hallways. His attention was diverted back to the shinigami as he waved his palm as a direction to follow. Kuragari’s legs carried him slowly across the smooth floor, his legs went one way, but his mind wondered the other. “Hurry it up,” the shinigami called out to his slow follower. Kuragari regained his control gradually, each step closer the to shinigami seeming to lighten the load upon his young delicate mind. “Hold on tight,” the shinigami said stretching out an open hand to Kuragari. Kuragari’s hand grasped the palm of the shinigami.

“Why do I need to hold your hand? I’m not a ba-” the rest of his words were lost in an unexpected blur of images. In less then the blink of an eye the shinigami had diminished the space between the entrance and the boy’s dorm. Kuragari’s eye’s struggled frantically to gain a steady sight. He stretched out his arms out wide trying to find an object to place his weight on. He open left hand felt a smooth surface and the weight of his body was shifted instantly in that direction. The shinigami simply laughed as he saw him struggle like a kid coming off a tire swing. “Okay,” Kuragari said finally finding his footing. “That was amazing…but don’t do it again.” His fingers ran through his dark, tangled hair sweeping off the few beads of sweat produced in the short time it took to get here.

“Don’t worry ‘bout me doing it. But I’m sure you’ll come to enjoy learning it yourself,” the shinigami stated thrusting out his chest in a sign of his own confidence.

“You’re saying I have to learn things here!?” Kuragari exclaimed shoving the base of his clenched fingers to the wall behind him.

“Yes, you are,” the shinigami returned in a much more calm and stern tone. “This is the academy where people like yourself, are turned into full fledged shinigami like myself,” he said once again buffing out his chest in confidence.


Kuragari chapped lips grew wide, revealing his loosely clenched teeth. “If this is what I have to do to get away from that wasteland. Then I’ll do it!”

“Good good,” the shinigami said wrapping his fingers around the doorknob to his left. “This will serve as your living quarters until you have graduated from the academy.” His wrist arched down opening the door to the room. “It’s not so great, but I’m sure you’ll like it plenty more then the rat-house you used to live in. No offense.”

“None taken,” Kuragari retorted as his leg’s brought him into the middle of the room. His eyes wandered around the room, inspecting it carefully. It was an average sized room, with four beds, and a sink. His eyes darted towards a pair of curtains hanging by a small brown pole. Kuragari’s mouth grew wide and he let out a loud laughter from his lungs. The shinigami let his brows fall and rise in a confused motion as he saw Kuragari laughing at what seemed to be nothing. Kuragari’s feet bent down as he crouched down onto the floor of his dorm; his fingers clenched together at the back of his head cushioning it from the wooden cabinet below the sink. “Something so simple…”

The shinigami turned on his heels and started down the silent corridors. A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. A shower…The smile grew into a full-fledged laugh. You’ll be a fine shinigami Kuragari.




Kuragari wrapped the white towel around his wet black hair. He proceeded with his regular measures to dry himself off, and began to re-dress himself in a pair of clothes the shinigami delivered to him a few minutes back. It was a white robe with blue striped coming down the lengths of his arms and legs. Perfect fit. Kuragari threw the towels onto the rack and walked over to the corner of the room. He tossed his body onto the blue blanket covered bed and rolled onto his side. Things are starting to look up…Still why did those girls look so familiar? Did I know them before I- His trail of thoughts were interrupted as the sharp scratch of two metals rang aloud. The doorknob to the room was turning. A slender tan faced man, who’s age looked much like his own, walked slowly into the room. The man’s gentle blue eyes seemed to calm even Kuragari’s red piercing ones. The man’s neck was covered by a silky white cloth, hanging loosely above his chest. Both their eyes grew wide as their mysterious identities were revealed to each other.

“Kura…gari.”
“Kagaiishi.”

[Andromeda]

It was a momentary meeting, but felt strange lasting too long as though time was slowing down. Steph had felt awkward speaking to Hakura. When they were alive he had not spoken to her directly before, sometimes in a crowd through the hallway, but nothing face-to-face. There was little that he knew about her, but that was typical for most of the students. It was enough trouble for him to learn the language and fit into the new school that learning about the students was a secondary matter. He departed company with Hakura quickly unable to find much to say to her.

It was as he figured though, she noticed immediately that he looked the same as the moment he died. The matter was strange for him and he had no answers to provide. However, he stopped looking for answers a long time ago. This shinigami though had him in renewed curiosity about the mystery that surrounded him. The shinigami left him unsettled though, even if he did have an interest again about himself. There was nothing he could knew yet about why he had been brought, but he would have time to find out.

Steph followed the shinigami through the halls of the academy wondering where he was being led. Eventually, they made it to a door that lead to an office, once the door was opened. Inside he found someone behind a desk working through papers looking very busy. Steph did not want to interrupt them from their work as it looked important, but the shinigami was not so polite.

“Excuse me, registration papers for one Steph Whitestone,” the shinigami said.

“Registration is down the hall, take a left at the fountain, a right at the room 31, straight until you come to a fork in the hall taking the right, left at room 56, immediately right afterwards, right again, left at room 10, straight again at the statue where you make a left and then a right where the registration hall lies at,” the man in black robes said in a single breath too fast for Steph to even remember let alone follow. When the man was finished reciting without even looking up at the shinigami he moved the paper he was working on. Steph stood in the doorway looking around the corner seeing a stone carved sign with the words “Registration Hall” written on it. He looked back into the room at a loss for words. “Good day.”

The shinigami was undaunted by the man’s attitude casting his shadow over the man’s desk. “These are his papers, he has already been approved.”

“Then registration should have them,” the man said still not looking up.

Steph tried to make himself small in the room starting to feel as though he should be somewhere else now. He did not want to be causing trouble before he even started classes or whatever they do to train shinigami.

“I’m his sponsor, 5th seat 12th squad under Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi.”

“Registration handles approvals.”

“Listen here!” the shinigami said grabbing the man by his robes lifting up above the table so that their eyes were meeting. “These papers have been approved. You receive these papers from registration for the records and processing. Do your job.”

The shinigami had the man’s attention now, whose body was shaking at this point. The papers he had been going through were strewn across the room in the momentary struggle. “I’m sorry. I didn’t understand the situation. I’ll take care of it immediately.” Once the man had finished speaking he was placed back in his chair by the shinigami and handed the papers. The man immediately looked through the papers and stamped them. “Steph Whitestone…” the man said calling to Steph.

“Y-yes?”

“Step forward.” Steph did not hesitate wishing to hasten the process. “Welcome to the Academy. I have assigned you a room in east wing of the women’s dormitory. Your sponsor will-“

“Sir, excuse me.”

“What?”

“I’m not a girl…”

“Huh…but I…” The man stood up from his desk and walked around towards Steph. Steph began to back up as the man approached him, but the shinigami pressed him forward. He looked back at the shinigami with eyes that were pleading for help. The shinigami turned his head away leaving Steph alone. The man looked him up and down examining him closely causing Steph face to turn red. After a minute of this the man jerked up suddenly placing his head at eye level with Steph causing Steph to stumble backwards. Steph tripped over the shinigami’s shoes trying to get some distance only to find himself on the floor a moment later.

The man was then staring down at Steph on the floor. “Do forgive me, I didn’t realize. You’re so young it’s hard to tell the difference.” He walked around his desk sitting down quickly writing out something on the paper. “Men’s dormitory…very well. Your sponsor will show you to your room and you’ll find your uniform for the time that you are here in your room.”

“Thank you,” Steph said before exiting with the shinigami. The two walked through more of the halls of the academy towards what Steph could only guess as to be his room. Unfortunately, all of the walls were the same and there did not seem to be an organization to the layout making it even more confusing. He had initially tried to find a way for him to memorize the way they were taking so that he knew where he was later, but after the fifth turn he had given up trying. Somehow, the shinigami managed to get him to his room leaving Steph alone.

Steph knocked on the door waiting to see if there was a response, but the moments became minutes and he was staying in the hall still. Now decided, he opened the door finding the room completely empty and unchanged. He looked around seeing that there was four beds spread through the room making him realize that he was definitely not going to be alone. That thought quickly disappeared from his mind as he looked around the room.

The living quarters were large for a single room, but small for fitting four people. The walls were the same as everywhere else, plain and flat. However, it did not matter that much to Steph as he had no possessions on him. The Rukongai was no different for him moving as much as he did. There was a bed set in each corner of the room, the door in the middle of the wall. A small dresser was provided for each bed along with a lamp that sat upon the short dresser. At the center of the adjacent wall was the bathroom with shower, Steph had been accustom to using the river.

Once Steph was finished looking around he returned to one of the corners looking into the dresser for clothes. ‘Said there was uniforms…hope they fit me…’ He looked through the drawer to find the clothes too large for him. Steph searched the remaining dressers finally finding clothes that actually came close to fitting him. The pants were a lot baggier than he was expecting, but they felt very Japanese. He had only worn a few traditional Japanese robes in the past, but the style seemed similar. Once he managed to tighten the waist of the pants around his thin body he looked around himself at them. “Feels good to have clean clothes. How long has it been?”

Steph walked out of the room with the curiosity to explore the academy briefly before getting some rest. He was not sure what tomorrow had in store for him, but if his life was going to change so suddenly he was would need to be prepared for it. However, he wanted to know his way around the academy some. Everywhere looked the same though so he picked up a small stone that was lying in the hall near the wall. His fingers rolled it between each other as he slowly walked the hallway. When he came to an intersection he raised the stone up to the wall scratching a small arrow into it. “There! Now I can follow this back.”

Numerous turns and arrows later he found himself at a courtyard. There was grass growing along with trees and flowers decorating the circle. Two paths ran concentric circles around a central path that intersected and divided into four routes outward touching the circles. In the middle of the two paths were the flowers and along the walls lined trees. There were a few people in the courtyard talking between each other, but it was otherwise peaceful.

Steph entered the courtyard pleased to have found a piece of nature that still existed inside the Seireitei full of its stone and cement. The entire city felt formal and bound by structure unlike the outside. He could be free to move around outside in Rukongai, but he could tell from being inside briefly that he would not have such luxuries. Steph sat down in the grass letting the blades play with his fingers. A cool breeze flowed through spinning through the tight walls of the courtyard playing its rigid melody. The wind was alone Steph could feel it. It was a sorrowful song he heard that laid heavily over a waning smile. There was beauty to be found even under the mask.

He laid back in the grass resting his eyes for a moment and let the wind push through his clothes. ‘What am I going to do now? I’ve wandered for ten years without purpose. Now I find myself here still wandering for a purpose. Is this a purpose that I have found? A life cut short and a confused death.’ Steph sighed to himself while in thought. He pulled up a smile as he caught the scent of flowers tickling the tails of the wind. Steph lifted himself back up looking outward while stretching himself. “Far too serious talk for such a beautiful scene.” After he felt that his limbs were eased he jumped up feeling the simple movements that the clothes allowed. “Well then I’d best be returning.”

Steph placed his hand on the scratched out arrow he made smiling to himself. He followed his breadcrumbs back to his room finding it safely. His hand touched the handle opening it letting himself into the room. “Time to rest!” Steph said excited until he paused in step. He stood in the middle of the doorway finding that there two men in the room that had not been there the last time he was in the room. The two were facing each other, but with him entering the room the one with his back turned looked at him.

“Upper classmen Mitsu!” Steph said in surprise at the familiar face.

[Evangel]

As soon as Mugen and Rei entered the main academy building, a shinigami was already there to greet them. He was short, shorter than Rei who was about 5'2''. Mugen noted that he held onto his zanpakuto tightly. The shinigami bowed and introduced himself.

"Greetings. I am an assistant here at the academy. I will show you to your rooms. If there is anything you need, just ask." He motioned to Rei. "I will show you to your room, first. I'll need you to stay here for a moment." He pointed to Mugen and walked off with Rei.

Mugen sat on a nearby bench. He hung his head low and second thought about what he was doing. He thought: "Is this the only way to exact my revenge?" He sighed. "What's the chance I'll meet the same Hollow again? Hell, by now another Soul Reaper could have gotten him... No, he's way too strong for any normal shinigami. Plus, it is my duty to- Huh?" Mugen felt a strange sensation in his chest. It felt as if he was being crushed by water. He looked up to see a shinigami passing by. "A captain?" He thought. Mugen determined this from the white jacket the shinigami wore that indicated his high rank.

Mugen tried not to stare at the captain but couldn't help it. He wore an eyepatch and had strange spikey hair with bells. What topped the cake was the pink haired little girl that rode on his back. Chatting to him about something like "Beating that rookie up so badly" or something. The feeling in Mugen's chest increased as the captain came closer. Then, it dissipated as the captain left and went further away. Mugen deeply inhaled and exhaled. He recovered from the experienced as soon as the shinigami who met them when he and Rei came in returned.

"Thank you for your patience." The shinigami said politely. "You may come with me now. I'll show you to your room." Mugen stood up and followed him. They went down hallway after hallway. By the time they got to the room where Mugen would be staying they must have went down ten different corridors. Before the shinigami left him, Mugen asked. "Sir, I have a quick question." "Yes?" "Um, what is the name of the captain with the eyepatch." As Mugen said the latter, he covered his left eye. "Eye...patch?" The shinigami pondered. "Oh! You mean Captain Kenpachi Zaraki. Yes, he's the strongest of all the captains. If that's what you wanted to know." Mugen thanked the shinigami and bid him farewell. Mugen entered his room and got comfy. He changed out of his old clothes and found a uniform at the foot of one of the beds and changed. He layed down on the bed and quickly fell sleep.