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TheseElegantCrimes Captain
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 Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 9:57 pm
Ryo Shihōin As Ryo approached the large, sprawling multiple story building that was the Spiritual Arts Academy, he felt a little apprehensive. The open court yard was jam packed with kids. Ryo, being a Shihōin, one of the Five Noble Families, had always had a very sheltered life. Every aspect was planned and supervised. He rarely was allowed to leave the Shihōin mansion grounds, and when he did, he always had at least two guards with him. As the school grew larger as he drew near, it symbolized both freedom and fear.
Ryo's stomach turned with a mixture of excitement and dread. What if he didn't fit in? What if the other kids excluded him because of his noble heritage? What if he wasn't good enough to pass the curriculum? He knew the last one was highly unlikely because his score on the entrance exam was in the top three and, as such, he was placed in the Advanced Placement, or AP class, but the question loomed over him nevertheless. These feelings all fled from him, though, as he entered the court yard. The sight of his best friend Kaien Shiba had eased the worry that infected him. Fortunately, Kaien was also in the AP class. His score on the exam was the highest.
As the two approached each other, the smiled spread across both of their faces. Ryo ran his fingers through his hair and his finger tips brushed against the kenseikan that was on the left side of his head and was clipped to his hair. The kenseikan was an ornate headpiece to be worn only by nobles of the highest degree. Ryo wore his sideways so it held his hair in the same direction that it naturally grew, rather than draping it over his forehead.
"Ryo! Are you ready to start your Shinigami training?"
"Uh, yeah. I guess I am." said Ryo just before the bell rang. "Well, I guess we better get to class."
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Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 10:27 pm
Suzume Tachibana wasn't worried about going to the Academy like most students were. In fact, she felt quite the opposite. Finally stepping foot inside the perimeter signaled a new stepping stone in Suzume's life. A stone that, with patience, hard work, and maybe some luck for good measure, would pay off immensely. That being said, as she found her way to her advanced classroom, she wore a triumphant smile proudly on her face.
Unfortunately, as she found her seat in a middle row, her analytical-if you could call it that- nature started to shine. She wasn't terribly fond of the red uniform the girls wore. She would much rather have worn the blue version, the one that guys wore. Maybe if she gave a good enough argument, the schooling system would be lenient and let her change. Also, some of the rules were extremely far fetched. Apart from these small things, she had learned not to be too picky.
Being a tom-boy, however, posed the opportunity for people to turn against her. She never was that great in social situations, but she was not to blame for that. Her best friends growing up had all been male and, in a place like her neighborhood, it was band together and work as a group or live solo and face your inevitable death.
Her gloomy thoughts were chased away, though, as the bell rang. Her eyes were directed towards the doorway, where some people were walking in. Fortunately, the sensei was still preparing, so students still had a bit more time to talk. Suzume raised a hand to wave in the direction of the newcomers. "Oi, Shiba!" She called, grinning. "Over here!"
Kaien Shiba headed in her direction, leading another boy with him. Suzume couldn't help but be curious as to who he was."I saved you a seat. Who's the kid?" She asked, as if the stranger was much younger than herself when, in actuality, they were probably the same age.
Kaien nodded to his friend. "This is Ryo. Ryo Shihoin."
The stress on his last name brought Suzume to her senses. "Ah, a nobleman. I apologize for being so rude," She rolled her eyes a little, waving the whole thing off like it was nothing.
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Sly_As_A_Kitsune Vice Captain
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TheseElegantCrimes Captain
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Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 10:54 pm
Ryo Shihōin The courtyard began to empty as students said goodbye to one another and headed off to find their classrooms in groups of twos and threes. Kaien and Ryo tried to find the AP classroom through all the people, Kaien leading the way with Ryo a step or two behind him. Several people greeted Kaien or waved as they weaved their way between the student towards their destination. No one, however said anything to Ryo because they were too busy sneering at his kenseikan.
Ryo, disliking the negative attention it got, reached his hand up and started to take off his head piece. However, Kaien gently grabbed his hand before he could take it off and said, "Let them sneer. Leave it on. You should be proud of your family's status."
That's easy for him to say, thought Ryo lowering his hand. Everyone loves Kaien. No one would sneer at him no matter what he wore. Letting the thought drift out of his mind, they arrived at their classroom. The second bell that signaled the start of class rang just after they walked in, but the teacher was still writing somethings down on his lesson plans, so they had a few minutes to find seats. They were called over to a row that had a few empty desks by a girl with should length black hair and a very tom-boyish air about her.
Her and Kaien exchanged a few words and Kaien introduced Ryo. After she apologized, Ryo started to get a little nervous. Was this how it was always going to be? People always feigning respect? "Oh... Uh... It's fine. I don't mind. Like Kaien said, my name is Ryo. What's yours?" Ryo took in everything he could about her. She had green eyes like him and was short, again, like him. She seemed rowdy and proud. Ryo could tell it was going to be hard getting along with her.
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Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 11:10 pm
Suzume stared. Ryo seemed like he was a really uncertain and hesitant type of kid, exactly the opposite of her. She didn't see them getting along very well, but if he was a friend of Kaien's, maybe it would work out. "Ah, Suzume. Suzume Tachibana. I don't expect you to remember it, though, so don't worry about it."
If Suzume had been raised differently, perhaps she could have gotten along with Ryo. All she could think of, though, was how different their lives must have been. While he lived a pampered childhood, most likely getting everything he dreamed of, she was stealing food and trying not to get sick on the streets. It was just something she couldn't get out of her head. Of course, Kaien was a noble, but they had been friends for ages.
The look on Kaien's face, however, told her she should be at least a little respectful. She gave a wry smile and sighed, turning her gaze over to Roy. "So, Bon, what's with the hair thingies? That a noble thing?" She asked. It might have come across rude, but she didn't mind.
As for the added 'Bon', it was a nickname she that she figured wouldn't be going away for a while. It was something Suzume and her friends used to call all the rich people when they pretended to have sympathy on their district in the Rukongai. It roughly translated to 'richy'. Ryo would just have to deal with it.
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Sly_As_A_Kitsune Vice Captain
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TheseElegantCrimes Captain
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Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2012 11:45 pm
Ryo Shihōin She didn't expect Ryo to remember her name? Did she think that because he was a noble meant that he was stupid? Or did she think that nobles were too selfish to give commoners enough time to even learn their names? Either way, that remark made Ryo feel even more uncomfortable and out of place than before. The 'Bon' didn't help much. Ryo stayed calm though. This girl was obviously a friend of Kaien, and Ryo didn't want to upset him at all. He tried to stay as friendly as possible. " Um, This is a kenseikan. It's a head piece worn by nobles to show their social status."
Before Suzume could reply, though, the teacher finally stood up and addressed the class. Ryo and Kaien took their seats, Kaien next to Suzume and Ryo next to Kaien, as the instructor began to speak. "My name is Gengoro Onabara. I am the instructor of the Advanced Placement class. If you're in this room, that means means you either demonstrated exeptional potential and skill on the entrance exam, or you're lost." A few people let out small laughs at this statement, and thankfully, no one stood up to announce that they were in the wrong class. The teacher continued. "Today will be mostly used to cover what you will be learning this year as well as what is expected of all of you. We won't be covering anything too interesting today, but I expect you all to listen closely all the same. The exciting stuff starts tomorrow. We will be going over the various aspects of Zanpakuto including Konso and the stages of a Zanpakuto's release at that time."
Ryo could tell people were already starting to drift of into other places in their minds, but Ryo tried to pay attention as well as he could.
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Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 12:06 am
Suzume nodded. Kenseikan, of course. She'd heard of something like that before, but didn't give it much thought. So, according to the head piece, he must be a pretty important member of the Shihoin family. Suzume went to ask him about it, but the teacher decided it was time to start the class, abruptly cutting off any student conversations.
She had expected the first day of class to be boring. It wasn't as if they could do many interesting things on the their very first day. Too many people would get rowdy and excited over nothing. Suzume was prepared to zone out sooner or later, but decided to pay attention as long as she possibly could. She never was a big fan of missing anything.
Onabara-sensei hadn't lied. The class was all kinds of uninteresting, and going over the curriculum took up most of the time. The last few minutes was used for introductions, but they didn't even make it to Suzume, Kaien, and Ryo's row.
The bell rang and Suzume picked up her notebook before stretching her arms above her head and yawning. Her stomach growled, leading her to frown and place a hand on her stomach. "You guys hungry? I could go for some food."
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Sly_As_A_Kitsune Vice Captain
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TheseElegantCrimes Captain
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Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2012 12:38 am
Ryo Shihōin Ryo managed to hang in there until the last 10 minutes of class. After that his mind began to drift off. His thoughts shifted several times from his instructor to Kaien, to that Suzume girl, then to observing the other students, then back to Kaien before finally settling on his empty stomach just before the bell rang.
"Yeah, I'm in. What about you Ryo? Want to tag along?" said Kaien after Suzume's proposal. Ryo wanted to spend some time with Kaien, but he still felt uncomfortable around Suzume. However, after his stomach produced a mighty growl, he agreed to go and eat with them. Come to think of it, Ryo had never eaten any food except that which was prepared in the Shihōin family kitchen by highly skilled chefs using the finest quality ingredients. Other than that, he had only eaten at the Shiba mansion when he visited Kaien and the food there was of equal merit. This would be another new experience for him.
"So... Um... do you know any good places to go around here, Suzume?" he implored hesitantly. The other students began to file out of the classroom and the teacher was arranging things on his desk and wiping words off the chalkboard in front of the class. Ryo stood and collected his belongings as he waited for Suzume to answer.
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Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 11:01 am
Suzume thought about their choices. There were plenty of nice places to go in the Seireitei, and Kaien had never let her pay for a meal before, so they could go practically anywhere. However, she realized what Ryo must have been thinking. The poor kid had probably never eaten real street food before, something that wasn't exactly the healthiest for you. She glanced over at Kaien. "How about we go that one place?"
"That one place?" Kaien asked, frowning. It didn't take him very long to figure it out, and soon his frown was replaced with a grin. "Oh! That shop near the east wall that sells really great Dango? Yeah, Ryo, you'll love it."
Suzume grinned and started walking out of the classroom. It would be somewhat of a long walk there, but at least their appetites would grow. "Come on, Bon, time for you to eat some real food."
[Yay for cliche anime food! At least I didn't say ramen!]
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Sly_As_A_Kitsune Vice Captain
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