"Are you going to stay with us Daddy?" I rolled my eyes and glanced over at my twin sister, who was staring up at my father, with her wide blue eyes. Her blonde curls danced around her face as she skipped along, holding tightly to his hand. My father looked down, a soft smile on his face.
"No Hitomi, I'm afraid I can't." Hitomi looked down, her lower lip sticking out in a childlike pout. I rolled my eyes again and shook my head, crossing my arm in front of me.
"Come on Hitomi, we're going to school. You should know that Dad wouldn't go with us. We're big kids now." I smirked and held my head higher. I was excited to start school and I was going to make my father proud and be the strongest and best fighter there was. Just like him. No one was going to stand in my way. My father chuckled and put a hand lightly on my head and I looked up at him and smiled.
"But, what if the kids don't like us! What if they're mean!" Hitomi's voice shook and when I glanced back over at her, I could see them filling up with water. She was about to cry. Dad sighed and stopped walking, turned towards Hitomi and picked her up, allowing her to sit on his shoulders. Her eyes instantly dried up and a smile so wide spread across her face.
"You'll be fine, Hitomi. Your sister will be there with you and she'll take care of you. Won't you Amaya?" My father's beady eye fell on me and I nodded my head, smiling brightly. He smiled again and held out one of his hands for mine. I quickly grabbed it and we continued on our way to school. Dad and Hitomi started to talk about something, but I ignored them and thought about all the cool things I was going to learn and how strong and powerful I was going to be able to come. Then maybe, one day, I would be as strong as my father and as fast as my mother. I could make them proud and happy and maybe then, Mommy wouldn't disappear as much.
We finally reached the school and my eyes widened at the site of how big it was. Kids were running around, all eager to start the new year. They were all dressed the same as me and Hitomi, white shirt with the Academy's symbol, and baggy red pants for girls and the boys had blue pants. As I continued to look around, I noticed that there were no other parents around, the kids came by themselves. They were going to think that we were weak because our Dad walked us! Without even thinking I quickly dropped Dad's hand and took a few steps away, trying to distance myself from him.
He looked over at me, raising a brow. "Everything alright, Amaya?"
"You can go now! Quick, before any of the other kids see that you walked us here!" My eyes darted around, waiting for some kids to start pointing and laughing.
"But I don't want Daddy to go!" Hitomi whined, from up on his shoulders and I sent a glare her way. She just stuck out her tongue, causing my glare to harden.
"I have to talk to Captain Yamamoto first about what classes your girls are taking." Dad grunted and lifted Hitomi off of his shoulders and placed her on the ground next to me. She crossed her arms and pouted again, her wide blue eyes following our father as he walked up the stairs that lead to the Academy. I snickered as some kids stopped walking to stair up at him in wonder. They were probably scared of him.
"Come on, let's go explore!" I grabbed Hitomi's wrist, but she stayed rooted to the spot. I looked back and raised a brow, wondering why she didn't move. She was usually always excited to meet knew people. Well, then again, that was always when Dad was around.
"I don't want to." She muttered, her cheeks growing pink. I let go of her wrist and sighed, crossing my arms. She looked up at me and smiled weakly, but I looked at her skeptically. She sighed and tucked a curl behind her ear. "What if they don't like us Amaya, I mean, we're not from the nicest division and we didn't grow up in the best place either." She looked behind me at the kids that were running around all talking and laughing with each other and I shrugged my shoulders.
"So what? Hitomi, we don't need them to like us. All we need to worry about is learning what we have to and then graduate. Then, we'll be able to work for Dad. Wouldn't that be cool?" I smiled and linked my arm with hers and started to pull her along next to me. She followed reluctantly, but after a while she started to get a bit more confidence. The other kids looked at us and some whispered and pointed, but we ignored them and continued on.
We had just made it to the steps when the door opened and Dad walked out, followed by an older man with a really long beard, who was smiling widely. "They'll do great I'm sure Kenpachi, you have nothing to worry about." The older man, patted Dad on the back and he nodded his head, causing the bells on the end of his hair to jingle softly.
"I have faith in them, I just want them to have what I wasn't able to." He muttered softly to the old man, who nodded his head and patted Dad's back once more. The two looked down at us and the smile on the old man's face widened. Dad lifted a hand and motioned us forward and we quickly listened, stopping right in front of the two.
"Girls, this is head captain Yamamoto, he'll help you around today." Dad explained to us, dropping a hand on each of our shoulders. Hitomi smiled widely at the man called Yamamoto and I did also, but I didn't really like the idea of being shown around. I doubt any of the other kids had to have that. Yamamoto opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but then a loud bell rang and the screeching kids came tearing towards the door. They didn't bother to wait for us to move out of the way, but shoved their way past us, disappearing into the halls.
"The day now begins, come on girls, I'll take you to our first class." Yamamoto started towards the door and didn't bother to wait for us. I quickly took a step forward, eager to start, but Dad's hand on my shoulder held me back.
"Now hold on Amaya, not so fast. I want to say something to you two before you go." I sighed loudly, but turned around and looked at him expectantly. Hitomi stood staring up at him patiently, probably enjoying the time that he was wasting before we had to go in. Dad lowered himself so that he was on our level and looked at us for a long moment, his one visible beady eye passing back and forth between the two of us and then he finally spoke three little words, that I'd never forget.
"Make me proud." Hitomi and I nodded our heads and I smiled happily. I would if it was the last thing I did. I was a Zaraki after all and we knew nothing better than to be the best and only the best. Our father rose back to his feet and patted us softly on the head and turned on his heal and left quietly.
Then our first day of school began and I can't say that it went well.
Yamamoto looked down at me with a cross expression, his hands folded neatly in front of him on his desk. I sat in the large chair in front of him, my hands in my lap, knuckles throbbing along with my face. A bald boy sat next to me, his face probably throbbing just as bad. He looked over at me and fiercely glared and I returned it. He finally looked away and his eyes fell back on Yamamoto, who was still staring at us both.
"Do you two really think this was the best way to start off a new year?" The old man mumbled and shook his head, his eyes darting back and forth between us. I glanced over at the bald kid again and he was looking down at his feet. We both stayed quiet and Yamamoto sighed, shaking his head. "So who wants to tell me what happened?" The bald kid took no motive to say anything, so I decided to go ahead and tell him what happened.
"He made Hitomi cry, so I tried to make him cry." I looked him straight in the face and Yamamoto raised an eyebrow and looked over at the bald kid again.
"Is that true Ikkaku?" The boy looked up at the sound of his name and crossed his arms, but nodded his head slowly. Yamamoto stared at Ikkaku for a long moment and the boy started to squirm uncomfortably in his chair. He brought a hand up and rubbed his eyebrow, which had been bleeding before, but the nurse had finally got it to stop. It probably happened when I pushed him to the ground and he hit his head on the side of the doorframe. Oops.
"I was just joking around; I didn't think the blonde one would take it so seriously. I can't help it she's a big baby." He growled and glanced back over at me, glaring bitterly. I rolled my eyes again and looked back at Yamamoto, wishing he would get this punishment over with. I wanted to go check on Hitomi, she was still crying when Ikkaku and I were pulled apart from each other. I wanted to go make sure she was still okay; I promised Dad I'd keep an eye on her.
"Well, since this is the first time for you Amaya, I think a warning will be fine. As for you Ikkaku, I want you to go apologize to Miss. Hitomi." Old man Yamamoto's dark brown eyes stared at the boy Ikkaku for a long moment and finally Ikkaku nodded, heaving a sigh. "Alright then, you may go back to class. Not that much of the day is left." He waved a hand in front of him and we both quickly jumped out of the chair, glaring at the one another bitterly. We didn't say a word till we left the office, but once we were far enough away that we thought Yamamoto wouldn't be able to hear us, the fight began again.
"This is stupid! I shouldn't have to apologize to your stupid sister because she's weak!" Baldy glared at me from the corner of his eye and I had to take a deep breath and ball my fists at my side to keep from punching him in the face. I didn't say anything back to him, but did my best to keep my anger in check, but Ikkaku didn't get the idea, because he continued to run his mouth.
"Oh look, the sister is no different. She gets in trouble one time and she's done for the day. Weak." He scoffed, raising his chin, he thought he was better and stronger then me. My nails were starting to dig into my skin. "What, still nothing to say? I don't know why I even bothered fighting you. You weren't even worth it!"
I clenched my jaw and kept my eyes forward, glaring at the end of the hallway. What was wrong with this kid? Why wouldn't he just leave me alone? He then stopped walking and that surprised me, so I stopped too, facing him and fixing him with a fierce glare. "Why don't you just leave me and my sister alone? I'm just going to ignore you now, because honestly, you were nothing when we fought and my father always tells me, not to waste my time with weak, useless opponents."
Baldy's eyes widened and then quickly narrowed, his fists clenched in his side and his jaw locked. I guess that got his attention. He started to twitch as if he was using everything he had not to pound me on the spot. I smiled sweetly and turned on my heel and walked away, leaving him rooted to the spot.
It wasn't hard to find Hitomi, she was sitting outside, surprisingly surrounded by other kids and I quickly ran over, afraid they were picking on her. But when I was close enough to see, she was smiling and laughing, her eyes water free. She was sitting next to a boy with long black hair, who was laughing along with her, his hand was sitting really close to hers and I wouldn't be surprised if he'd try to grab it any minute. I couldn't help but smile at the sight, Dad was right. Everything would work out fine for her. That didn't surprise me; everyone always loved sweet and innocent Hitomi. She was just like Mom.
Hitomi looked over and saw me, a smile stretched across her face and she jumped up, much to the boy's disappointment and ran over, engulfing me in a hug. "AMAYA! Are you okay? You know you didn't have to fight that boy, because no look at you! You're hurt. Have you been to the nurse? Did she put ice on your lip?" Her hands fretted wildly in the air in front of her and at one point she actually smacked herself in the face, but didn't let that stop her.
"Hitomi, I'm fine. And I know I didn't have to. I wanted to. That kid was a prick and you should be expecting an apology soon." I sighed and glanced at the kids that stood a few feet away from us, gawking openly. I guess they saw the fight. There was one boy, with spiky red hair, who was staring at me closely, like I was under a microscope. I remember seeing him when the fight started and he was the one who pulled Ikkaku away from me. I guess he was shocked that I could actually hold me own against a boy who was twice my height. Hitomi saw me looking behind her and glanced at the circle of kids.
"Oh! Let me introduce you to everyone, they're all really sweet and felt bad because of what Ikkaku said. But they told me not to let that effect what I thought of him and that he really is a sweet kid, just likes fighting a lot. Kind of like Dad, you know?" Hitomi grabbed my hand and continued to ramble as she pulled me toward the circle and they all stared at her expectantly.
"Everyone, this is my sister Amaya. Amaya, this is Renji." She pointed to the boy with the spiky red hair and he nodded his head in hello, still watching me closely. I returned the nod and looked towards the girl that was standing next to him. "That's Rukia, but I think you remember her. She lives with Captain Byakuya." Rukia smiled sweetly and waved. She then pointed to the boy with long black hair who was sitting, inching his hand towards her. Then I instantly recognized him, he was the one that was walking with Ikkaku when it all happened. "That's Yumichicka, he's already apologized on Ikkaku's behalf and said that he's a hot headed idiot." I nodded towards the kid and he smirked, nodding back.
"Nice to meet you all." I said and they all murmured little replies and then we stood there in an awkward silence, but Hitomi smiled next to me, happy as can be in a circle of what she probably thought were her best friends and then Yumichicka spoke up and said something that completely shocked me.
"It was nice to see someone take Ikkaku down for a change. He's usually the one that gives a beat down and walks away unscathed, but I see that was not the case this time." I smiled and shrugged my shoulders, not really knowing what to say to that. Yumichicka's eyes narrowed and he cocked his head to the side and stared at me for a long moment and then his eyes fell on Hitomi, who was still grinning widely, but saying something to Rukia.
"If you don't mind me asking, where is it that you stay? I don't think I've seen you around the soul society before."
"Division 11, our father is the captain." The murmur of chatter stopped and everyone's eyes fell on the two of us and I could feel Hitomi shrinking into my side at the sight of everyone's wide eyes on us.
"So you're the famous Zaraki twins." Renji crosses his arms over his chest, flexing the muscles in his arm. Everyone continued to stare at us for a good long moment and Hitomi, at the mention of our father, perked up, a smile lighting her face. It was amazing how much she loved our father and how happy just the thought of him could make her.
"Yep! That is us! Kenpachi Zaraki is our father and Mizuki Zaraki is our mother!" She clasped her hands behind her back and started to sway back and forth, smiling at everyone. I glanced at her and shook my head, wondering what went on in that head of hers.
"You don't seem very mean." Rukia said, looking towards Hitomi and I couldn't really hide the smile that was fighting its way on my face. She wasn't the first person to say that about Hitomi, who did nothing but giggle and blush a bit on her cheeks. Then she quickly explain on how that Zaraki's weren't mean and we continued to talk until finally the sun started to set on the long day and we all went our separate ways.
On the walk back Hitomi turned to me, a small smile on her pretty face. "I like making friends Amaya. It's fun. We should make more tomorrow." I nodded my head and smiled also, lacing my arm through hers and walked back to house. Where our father sat eagerly on the steps, waiting.
But I knew it wasn't for us, because he held a flower from the garden my mother and I tended to.
He was waiting for Mom.
Again.