“Haru-chan!” Came the sweet voice. Haruka rolled over and ignored it. “Haru-CHAN! Now you wake up right this instant, missy!”

“Bite me.” Haruka muttered. The voice was silent for a moment, as if contemplating. Then she heard the body standing by her bed shuffle closer and lean down. Haruka jolted into a sitting position.

“Okay, okay! I’m awake! Happy now Mai?” Haruka yelled frantically.

“Mmm…almost.” The woman said suggestively, as a small smile played at her lips. Haruka groaned, lay back down, and thrust her pillow over her head.

“Now, Haru-chan, if you go back to sleep you’ll be late for our first day of real classes. As it is you’ll have to skip a shower.” Mai said the last part disdainfully, as if Haruka was already emitting a horrible stench from one day’s lack of shower.

Haruka was about to make another sarcastic retort, but upon realizing that Mai would probably take it literally, she got out of bed and hastily put on her uniform.

“Hair,” Mai said with a giggle.

‘Oh, right. Gotta put my hair up…’ Haruka hastily tied her hair back into two loose pigtails. Upon finishing, she noticed Junko’s sleeping figure. She was snoring softly, and drooling heavily onto her pillow. “Hey, Mai? You gonna wake her, too?” Haruka asked.

“Her? No. She can be late.” Mai scoffed. Haruka chuckled nervously before following the other woman out of the room.


~~~~*~~~~

Last week, Haruka had enrolled in the Shinigami Academy with her good friend, Satine. They had gone through a week’s basic training, and while the latter had dropped out due to insecurity in her ability, the former had continued on to begin real classes. She was currently on her way to breakfast in the Academy cafeteria before starting her real first day.

It was hard to believe that it had only been a week since she had first set foot in the Academy. She remembered the initial overwhelming confusion that took you on your first day, and knew that new students were going through that same sensation today. She smiled. Yes, there would definitely be lots of fresh meat to toy with today…

But more importantly, she wondered what had become of all those that she had met up with last week. She knew Mai and Shino had made it- Haruka even had a few classes with them- and that Junko had as well, but beyond that she knew nothing. Maybe she’d run in to a few people at breakfast that morning.
Haruka arrived at the cafeteria doors and entered into the white themed room. The aroma of the food that was being dished out to the students was tantalizing. Haruka and Mai inserted themselves onto the end of the already long line.

The line moved quickly. You didn’t have time to stand there indecisively about what you wanted to eat. If you didn’t have your mind made up, you were still ushered along and forced to have whatever the food servers felt like giving you.

Soon it was Haruka and Mai’s turn to get their food. Haruka went with a simple meal of eggs and bacon, while Mai grabbed three waffles, some sausage, and a “side,” as she put it, of eggs. The two girls then began to search for a table. The only relatively empty one already held one person. But, it was better than sitting at a crowded table, so Haruka and Mai walked over to it.

It didn’t take Haruka long to realize that she knew the man sitting at the table. His brown and black hair and his red eyes were a little hard to forget. Kagashi’s friend. She never quite had gotten his name. But Kagashi wasn’t there with him. ‘ That might be a good thing…I’ll be able to get through a morning without blushing…’

“Yo,” the man said, and waved. Haruka nodded in answer, and she and Mai sat down across from him.

“So,” Haruka began, “I never did catch your name.”

Mai looked at Haruka curiously, but said nothing.

“Ah yes,” he started. “Kagashi got embarrassed and ran off before I had a chance to properly introduce myself.” He paused before answering in a polite tone, “Ore wa,* Kuragari Tamashi.”

“I see. And, uhm, embarrassed?” Haruka felt a hint of a blush begin to creep across her cheeks. ‘No! No! Think calm. Think cool. Think collected…no blushing!’

“Well, yes. The boy has always been so naive. He doesn’t quite understand how to properly act in such a situation. In other words, he’s sensitive about his feelings.”

“Ah.” She couldn't help but notice that Tamashi called Kagashi a “boy,” and had to quickly suppress an inappropriately placed giggle.

Another curious glance came from Mai. But again, she said nothing. Haruka looked at her worriedly and decided a subject change was in order.

“So, Tamashi, are you excited for class today?” Haruka asked with feigned sweetness.

"Ah, class. The pride and bane of my existence." He replied with a meaningful sigh.

“Uhm…okay…and uhm, that means what exactly?” Haruka wasn’t quite sure she followed this man’s way of speaking too well.

"Nothing too complex. It's just a way of saying there are some that I find challenging and pique my interests, while others are painfully easy and bore me." He said it with an air of boredom, as if having to explain such things was foolish.

“Oh, ok. And Mai, how about you?” Haruka inquired, and this time her smile was genuine.

Mai beamed for being included in the conversation, and then replied, "I'm sure classes will go well with me, though I still have some areas I need to work on. I'm sure my sister will help me at some point, but I'd feel more confident with an instructor."

“Well, that's good. And I can help you out with shunpo and swordplay if you ever need it,” Haruka replied kindly.

“Hehe, I’d like that very much. But what about you, Haru-chan? Are you excited for classes?” Mai asked.

“Yeah, I suppose. It’s a lot of work, but it’s pretty fun at the same time. I only wish Satine hadn’t dropped out…”

Mai frowned. “You two were close, right?”

“Yeah. She was my only friend when I was alive,” Haruka said sadly.

Tamashi, who had been quiet throughout the whole exchange, decided that it was time to make another comment. “But that didn’t stop her from leaving.” Haruka opened her mouth to reply, but Tamashi cut her off. “No, no, don’t say anything. I realize that may have come across as harsh…”

But he offered no forgiveness. Haruka frowned at the red-eyed man, but was unable to think of anything else to say. The bell decided to offer a bit of help, and announced that it was time for their first class of the day- hand to hand. She didn’t have this class with Mai. Mai was in class C, while Haruka was in class B. In fact, Haruka didn’t know if she would even know anyone in the class. She thought of asking Tamashi where he ranked, but decided she’d rather not know.

Tamashi excused himself from the table, and Haruka and Mai followed him out of the cafeteria. The two walked to class in silence, but it wasn’t the sort of uncomfortable silence that comes from not being able to think of anything to talk about. It was the kind of silence that people who trusted each other were able to share. They went their separate ways at the doors of their respective classes.

In Classroom B, students were gathered around each other in groups. Class obviously hadn’t started yet. After a quick scan, Haruka realized that she definitely didn’t know anyone in the class. She sighed and walked over to a wall to sit up against until class started.

She had just closed her eyes when she felt someone approach her. “Haruka-san?” the person asked. She looked up into the face of a man with silver eyes and red hair. Mugen.

“Hm? Yes.” She said curtly. “Yes, that’s me. You in this class, too?” It was quite obvious that he was, but she asked anyway.

“Mhm.” He sat down next to her. “Sorry to bother you, I just didn’t recognize anyone else.”

“Nah, it’s cool.” The two talked for a few more minutes about nothing in particular. Then, the instructor called for order and Haruka’s first hand to hand combat class began.

Haruka and Mugen decided to stick together for the rest of the class. They agreed to be partners if the teacher asked them to pair up, since it was definitely better than being paired up with someone they didn’t know.

“Welcome, first years,” began the instructor, “to hand to hand combat training. As class B students, you are expected to be relatively proficient with your hand-to-hand skills by the end of this year. We expect much more of you than class C students; however, please do keep in mind that we also do not expect you to become legends. That is the job of Class A students.” The instructor was a young woman with a sharp nose and hawk-like, green eyes. She had long blue hair that was tied up into a high ponytail. Her voice was crisp, clear, and high. Haruka decided from the contents of her opening speech that the woman was probably a strict disciplinarian who had little faith in life- or well, her afterlife. Needless to say, Haruka didn’t like her.

The instructor continued her speech. “My name is Hikyou Kurenai. You will call me Hikyou-sensei. Now, let us commence our first lesson. No doubt they taught you basic punches in your basic training? Perform them for me. Twenty…no fifty sets should do. Against no partner. Hurry, now! We don’t have all day!” Haruka, Mugen, and the other students quickly began their punches. The instructor came around curtly correcting stances, and lecturing on how one must conserve energy in such exercises. “Don’t put all of your energy into one punch!” Haruka heard her exclaim over and over again.

Soon, it was Haruka’s turn to have her every move and twitch criticized by “Hikyou-sensei.” The blue haired woman stared intently at Haruka for a moment, watching with her hawk eyes as Haruka began to break into a sweat. But she said nothing. ‘Thirty-nine…forty…forty-one…’

“Conserve more energy. Keep your head held high. Do not show any signs of weakness. Your fluidity needs much work, but we will get to that another day,” the instructor growled curtly before moving onto Mugen. It was funny. She was able to look into Haruka’s eyes so intensely before she spoke, but as soon as words began to leave her mouth, Hikyou Kurenai’s eyes moved to a point beyond Haruka’s head. However, the tone of her voice made up for her lack of eye contact. This woman wasn’t a force to be reckoned with.

“Tch.” Haruka sighed, and finished up her punches.

The rest of the class passed in much the same fashion. Hikyou-sensei asked the class B students to demonstrate the basics of what they had learned in their week of training. Haruka wondered if the whole week would go like this, and if it would be the same for all classes. ‘ Eh. No use wondering about it. I can always ask Shino and Mai later.

The bell rang for the next class. Haruka sighed in relief and turned to leave.

“M-matte kudasai!**” Mugen shouted after her. Haruka, who was already by the door and would be in the way of the students quickly filing out of the room if she did in fact wait, decided the best course of action would be to wait outside the classroom’s door. She leaned up against the wall near the said door and waited for Mugen to come out of the room.



*I am/My name is/etc
**please wait