Author's Notes: Thank you for all my reviewers on my Part 1. I hope you enjoy Part 2.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Bleach related characters, situations, terminology, etc.


"I've never let my school interfere with my education." -- Mark Twain

Part II: Chapter I

It had been almost a week since her admittance to the Shinigami Academy. During the orientation, they almost threw her out, because her name was not on the roster, due to the fact that she never completed the entrance exam and was not given special liberties since she was also not of noble birth. It caused a lengthy pause in the proceedings until the receptionist who admitted her could be reached in order to explain the situation. During that time, Sakina was met with disapproving eyes, not-so-subtle insults and general dislike.

At first she assumed it was because she was from Rukongai. But then she found out, though accidentally, that only ten to twenty percent of her classmates were from well-to-do families and the rest were from even worse places in Rukongai than herself. Then she decided that they hated her because she was accepted into the Academy without completing the exam, which she found, again accidentally, that was only half the reason. The other half was that no one could detect any sort of reiatsu from her. That meant that, even if she did manage to graduate, she would not get a good posting in any Squad. Those of her classmates who were striving to be the best thought that made her unworthy of their time.

After the matter was finally cleared, and her instructor appeared before the class once more, the first words he spoke made Sakina doubt she would graduate at all. "I don't care if you're from Rukongai, or if you're the highest of nobility. If you don't achieve at the very least a sixty percent on all tests, nor show any improvement, however small, in your Kidou lessons or sparring lessons, I will fail you without a blink."

Sakina gulped loudly, which made the two people on either side of her snicker. She knew it wasn't going to be easy to be a shinigami, but she never really knew the extent. Her instructor, a fat, balding man with very thick spectacles, was a much harsher tutor than her grandmother, who forgave her if she were slow to learn something. She was also uncomfortable in the class as a whole; she lived in a small, country home for three centuries and never had contact with anyone except her grandmother in that time. Now she was in a class with more than three dozen people, half of whom were whispering about her and the other half ignoring her. She felt like there was not enough air to go around for all of them, in that small classroom.

The instructor continued, "To become shinigami, one must master all sides of one's soul. Master the art of Kidou, hand-to-hand fighting, footwork and of course swordsmanship. This is the art of Zankensouki. You can never become a shinigami unless all sides of Zankensouki are reached!"

Unless certain exceptions are made, Sakina thought to herself. Like her shinigami friend. She lowered her head and blushed. Thinking about him brought back all the memories of the few days they spent together. She started fiddling with some of her notes as she recalled some of the feelings she had to deal with when he was around. His warmth, his odd sense of morality, the way his thick, rough skin felt touching hers…

"Forgive me, Miss Hiroki," the instructor said, loudly and dramatically. Sakina lifted her head and blushed embarrassingly at the absolute quiet in the classroom. "I was unaware that someone of your obviously great talents would be at all interested in what I have to say. Of course, you getting into the Academy without doing the entrance exam entitles you to the liberty of daydreaming in my classroom. Forgive my interruption."

Her face burned as the class laughed at her. The instructor did not silence it until the message bore itself into her mind: pay attention in class, or don't bother coming. She lowered her head again to stare at her notes as the instructor continued his lecture about the art of Zankensouki. Her two classmates on either side of her were not finished laughing, and every now and then would either snicker at her, or repeat what the instructor had said, quietly of course, then laughing at her reaction to it.

She later discovered that these two classmates were named Iba Leiko, the boy on her right, and Yumi Amarante, the girl on her left. Yumi, like Sakina, grew up in Rukongai, but she grew up in serious poverty. She lived in Sector 12, and was nearly forgotten by everyone in the area, until she displayed her surprisingly steady talent with reiatsu. She was using Kidou magic before she even knew what it was. She was also two years younger than Sakina, but her knowledge about Seireitei and Soul Society in general outmatched Sakina in every way. She also passed her entrance exam on the first try.

The boy, Iba Leiko, was a totally different story. As he would tell anyone who had ears, he was the first cousin of Seventh Squad's lieutenant, Iba Tetsuzaemon. After his cousin got the promotion, Iba moved in with him, in Seireitei. A bit spoiled, but highly gifted, Iba would train with his cousin whenever the latter had downtime. His skills in swordsmanship were unmatched by any of his classmates, and as such, he was accepted into the Academy, despite his lack of reiatsu. He also failed the entrance exam four times.

It was because of those failures that made him hate Sakina so much. The fact that he was smarter and more gifted than her, yet she got into the Academy without trying, made him jealous, and so he would always pick on her, make fun of her, and belittle her in every way, so that he could feel superior. The whole week leading up to the orientation he spent over-exaggerating his abilities whenever she was around, also gaining his other classmates' trust and getting them to join him against her.

That was one of the big reasons why she still had no friends. When she introduced herself to her roommate at the Academy's dorms, her roommate immediately packed her things and left. Which actually didn't insult Sakina as much as she thought, considering she then had the dorm all to herself; a safe Haven in case things at the Academy go bad. Spending three centuries in solitude made her a bit of a loner, and so she always valued her peace and quiet. Even though, sometimes, she'd listen to the sounds of laughter and companionship coming from outside her dorm with a lonely heart, she was, for the most part, glad that no one was annoying her.

And it was the annoyance factor mostly that made her sometimes detest going to class. She was there to learn, to become a shinigami, but the fact that Iba sat next to her, deliberately, so he could torture her between lectures, and the fact that the classroom was uncomfortably stuffy, and mostly for the fact that she could hardly concentrate with all the accusing eyes on her, it all made her feel like she shouldn't belong in Seireitei at all. But she couldn't help Rukongai unless she became a shinigami, so despite all the new problems she had to face in her classroom, in her dorm, or on the grounds, she never let it completely deter her; in fact, it only made her work harder.

There was one day, however, that tested her resolve to the breaking point. It was several days after the initial orientation. Her class had been given a mountain of homework, so she spent a better part of the day in the library. She was currently lugging so many books with her that while they were teaching her what she needed for class, they were also teaching her the better points of balance. In order to get back to her dorm from the library, she had to cross the large, wide courtyard. It was there that most students migrate to between classes. There was a glorious fountain in the middle, where she, unfortunately, saw Iba and Yumi sitting on the edge of. They were reading from some text book that Sakina no doubt also had, amongst the piles she was lugging in her arms. The only way to avoid them was to go back to the library and walk through the brambles of forestry on the other side, thereby taking almost half an hour longer to get to her dorm. And the books were exceedingly heavy.

So she swallowed the lump of fear in her throat and walked on. She just crossed the area where the fountain was when she heard a nosy, spoiled, male voice speak up, "Oy, Hiroki. Wait up a minute!"

She, of course, had no intention of stopping. When she kept walking in the direction of the dorms, she felt a slender, tougher, feminine hand on her shoulder, gripping until Sakina stopped. "Iba said wait a minute," Yumi's slightly rebellious voice hissed at her.

Sakina's eyes widened a bit, but not so much that the circle of curious spectators would see it. She watched Iba come around to stand in front of her, deliberately blocking her. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"My dorm," she answered, bluntly.

"Why not hang out with us for a while?" He gestured to the crowd, now getting larger around her, blocking all form of escape. The feeling of being a trapped rat entered her mind and made her eyes widen more noticeably in fear.

Yumi, standing next to Iba, remarked, "Oh, I think you're scaring her, Iba."

The two of them grinned sardonically. He said, loudly and dramatically, "It's in my nature to invoke fear in others. After all, I am the cousin of Seventh's Squad's lieutenant, aren't I?"

Sakina scoffed, for a moment forgetting her fear. "Can you go one day without saying that? We get it. You're not going to get special dispensation for it."

Outraged, he grabbed the collar of Sakina's white-and-red school uniform roughly, causing her to drop all her books and papers. He growled to her face, "At least I got into this Academy on my own merit, even if it did take five tries to do it! I didn't get my cousin to do it for me!"

The crowd cheered wildly. Apparently, they weren't done rubbing that in her face. She blushed embarrassingly, which only made Iba and Yumi laugh at her. Iba threw her down on her books, causing them to scatter around. Yumi said, "I've been practising my Kidou, Iba."

"Oh, really?"

Sakina knew what was coming next, so she worked quickly to gather her books and papers up. If Yumi was going to attempt to use Kidou on her, she was going to run away before she could even get the chant finished. The only problem was, even though Yumi was the class' best Kidou user, in her haste, Sakina forgot that Iba was the class' best swordsman. So when Sakina was finished gathering her books and such, before she could run, Iba drew his sword and pointed it to her neck. "I've been practising my sparring," Iba said, quietly, but dripping with sarcasm.

Sakina, again, dropped her books and papers in fear. She vaguely heard Yumi chant, "Oh, ruler! Mask of flesh and blood…"

"How do you already have a sword?" Sakina asked Iba, fearfully. "We're not assigned any until we start the sparring lessons!"

"… all creations of the universe, fluttering of the wings…"

"I got it from my cousin," Iba explained. "It was his old training sword."

"… ye who bears the name of man!"

She looked over at Yumi, who had her eyes closed, so she could concentrate on her incantation. She may have been gifted in Kidou, but had no training in control. Sakina looked again at Iba and realized that even if he was gifted in swordplay, he also had no training in control. His cousin may have taught him the basics, but she doubted he taught him much of anything else. Therefore, the best way to get out of the situation was to rush at Iba. He wouldn't expect that; he probably thought she'd be a good girl and stand still with a blade pointed at her throat.

"… Scorching heat and disorder…"

She bent down, under his blade, then made her charge. While hunched, she took a step towards Iba's stomach, and while he was still wondering what was going on, she punched him in his chest. She ignored the pain in her fist and instead took advantage of his momentary confusion by using her other hand to knock the sword out of his. Then she spun quickly around on one foot and used the other to kick him in the same spot that she punched. Though it hurt less, the force of her foot on his chest, as he backed up from the momentum, caused Sakina to fall over on her stomach.

"…evolve the transposition of the southern sea barrier!"

"Shit!" Sakina muttered, scrambling back to her feet and running in whatever direction she was facing. The crowd, shocked that she had disarmed the best swordsman in the class, was too confused to try to stop her from rushing towards them, so instead they just moved out of her way.

But it was too late. Yumi quickly opened her eyes, judged the distance and position of her target and chanted the final part of the incantation: "Hadou 31: Shakkahou!" From her hands, pointed at the retreating victim, came a large flame ball that transgressed across the courtyard and smashed painfully into Sakina's back. The young woman practically flew forward, sliding on the ground until her head connected with a tree, stopping her.

The crowd laughed and cheered, but Sakina could not hear it. She lay on the ground, breathing noisily, and unconscious. Iba picked up his fallen sword and swung it over and onto his shoulder. He and Yumi, who was also breathing noisily, walked up to Sakina. The force of the flame ball was such that when she hit the tree, she caused a horrific dent. She would be unconscious for a long time. Iba remarked, "You've got a lot of training to do, Yumi. It didn't even burn her; just scratched up her uniform. You might as well have just kicked her or something."

Yumi panted in exhaustion. Using Kidou requires an inordinate amount of reiatsu; something they still had to develop at the Academy. She replied, "At least I hit her. You got disarmed and attacked twice, Mr. Best Swordsman in the Class."

Iba snorted. "Yeah, we both could use some practise. Let's go to the arena." They walked passed Sakina's unconscious body and headed toward the arena, with most of the crowd following. The rest of the spectators dispersed in other directions, treading on Sakina's forgotten books and papers. No one made a move to help her, nor did anyone call for help. She just lay there, with a dented tree that had a few flecks of blood from her head on it. Except for the crowd, who would never tattle on Iba or Yumi, there were no witnesses to Sakina's painful humiliation.

Save for one…