Hello everyone! I want to thank everyone who gave me reviews, whether they were good or bad, and I want to clear up some things that came up. I took into consideration what you guys told me about the transition of first person to third being a bit confusing and cleaned it up. I thought about it and realized that this story is better off in third, being that some future chapters I had written transition between first and third a lot. So to avoid confusion I decided to write this story all in third person from now on. Also, I know one of you dislike the fact that the prologue was very vague in describing Toki and Mieko's history, but I am sorry to say that this story is a mystery and I will not change that. When I first wrote it, yes, I did intend for it to be very mysterious and leave the reader's guessing; being that I myself love a juicy mystery. So I am sorry, but if you don't like a mystery, then I suggest you not read this story. On a last note, no, this is not my first time writing a story, nor is this the first story I wrote. In me saying that this is my first story, I meant it as in its my first story on Fanfiction. In my profile I explained how I wrote stories on Quizilla and decided to bring them over here little by little. Anyway, that's all. ^^''
Out of the night that coves me,
Black as the Pit form pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winched nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeoning of chance
My head is blood but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Loom but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.
-William Ernest Henley-
~(::)~(::)~(::)~
Olive yellow eyes stare at the white ceiling, as the sun shines through the window. A dazed look sets upon the creamy complexion of a young teenage girl, before a heavy sigh escapes her lips. The girl lazily gets out of her bed and turns to her digital clock; 7:00 AM it read. The girl takes the handles from her closet and opens the doors; blacks, blues, greens, reds, purples and whites decorate her closet, but the girl hesitantly pulls out a white, collared buttoned up shirt, and a grey skirt. The girl's nose scrunches up in disgust at the clothes, as she lays them out in the teal colored quilt on her bed.
She then proceeds to take off her pajamas and gets dressed in the uniform she was obligated to wear. Once done, the girl looks at her reflection and sighs, but then got a too innocent smile on her lips. The girl then skips to her drawer and pulls it open, grabbing a red tie and prying off the dreaded bow, placing the red tie in its place. She then undoes two of the buttons from her shirt, her collarbone now visible, and the red tie hanging loosely from her neck. She then gets black, low heeled boots from her closet and puts them over her grey colored socks, making them go just under her knee.
The girl, now satisfied, looks at her reflection from the bathroom mirror and puts on a small, black butterfly barrette on the left side of her silver hair. The girl does all of the bathroom necessities and walks to the kitchen, where she grabs an apple and leaves her small apartment. The girl takes a deep breath, as she gets out of the complex and starts to walk toward the school, listening to her iPod on the way.
She then stops in front of the school doors, where the tardy bell barely rung. The girl slings her book bag over her shoulder and walks through the empty hallway, making her way toward the main office. As she gets there, she gets her schedule from the secretary and makes her way toward her first period class.
Just as the girl was outside of the doors, she sighs heavily again. She then takes hold of the door and slides it open, making dozens of eyes stare at her rigid figure. She bows her head and quickly walks toward the teacher, giving her the note from the main office. The teacher nods her head and turns toward the class.
"Class it seems we have a new student with us," the teacher starts as she then turns toward the girl, "Please tell us your name dear and a little about yourself."
The girl inconspicuously glares at the teacher, not liking the idea of speaking in front of the class; she never did like being the center of attention. The girl lets out a mushroom sigh and looks at the awaiting and whispering students.
"My name is Toki and I am sort of new to Karakura town," replies Toki as she rubs her neck in embarrassment and smiles shyly.
The teacher then motions for her to take a seat toward the back, the ones close to the windows. Toki timidly walks toward her seat, the class following her every move and not making it any easier for her. Once Toki sits down, she breathes a sigh of relief, seeing as the class began to look at the teacher again.
The periods seemed to fly by and before Toki knew it, it was already time for lunch. She begins to pack her things in her locker and heads outside, only carrying a book and her apple in hand. Toki looks at the school yard and finally finds a place where she could be alone; a nice oak tree. Toki walks toward the tree and sits on the ground, her back against the base of the tree. She bites into her apple and begins to read her thick book Kissed By An Angel.
~(::)~(::)~(::)~
The first month of school so far seemed so boring and uninteresting to Toki, the same routine following the next. She would always spend her time alone and no one bothered talking to her. Not that she had a problem with that. She is generally an independent person, although it would be nice for her if she had a few friends. But today seems a bit different from the rest, it's Friday. Just as Toki gets to her first period, like always sitting in her seat close by the window, she notices something.
Just as she sat down on her seat, Toki sees a splash of orange come into her view. On the row next to her on the left side, a seat ahead of where she is, sits a tall orange-haired boy. It surprised Toki how for a whole month she never noticed this guy, it utterly shocked her. Usually she noticed things fairly quick, but this just seemed to slap her right in the face for some reason.
The guy is right diagonal from her seat, how could she not notice something like that? What also surprised her of how distant she was to the world was that his group of friends weren't really...quiet. Something that should have gotten her attention the first day of school. She watches as a brown haired boy comes up to the orange head excited, but only ends up in him getting his head stuck under the carrot-tops foot.
Toki watches them with curiosity and amusement in her olive yellow eyes; they seem like a fun bunch. But out of all of them, she just can't stop her eyes from glancing at the scowling teen. She seems very interested in him, she just can't help wonder why he scowled. Surely there must be a reason for it, perhaps a bad day?
There is a deep lingering feeling in her body, the ambiance of wanting to befriend the boy and find out more about him. It's a sensation Toki herself cannot describe, something completely new to her. Suddenly, the brown headed boy that is currently whining to the scowling teen looks over to Toki and grins. Just as the boy is about to walk toward her, the bell rang; making the boy grudgingly walk back to his seat.
During the whole period, Toki couldn't stop herself from stealing glances at the boy in front of her. How he absentmindedly looked out the window, while scribbling some notes the teacher wrote on the board. She saw how he would fiddle around with his pencil or look toward the clock every now and then. It stunned her how perceptive she was of the male, how she would observe the diminutive actions he would do. But what bemused her most was the sudden feeling of familiarity she had toward the boy.
~(::)~(::)~(::)~
Toki puts her books into her locker and grabs her things, closing the locker when she's done. But just as she closes her locker, the same lurid orange comes into her view, making her stop at mid-step. It was that guy again, the one she had barely noticed that she has all of her classes with; yeah, all of them. She felt like such an idiot only just noticing someone as handsome as him.
After class had ended with his chipper friend trying to come toward her, but Toki got so embarrassed that she practically crawled out of the classroom. She was never an expert when it came to guys PERIOD. She can still remember tripping on absolutely nothing when a very cute guy talked to her last week. How humiliating, no? Well back to the present. Toki can almost instantly feel her face heat up as he turns and looks at her. Before she can stop it, her hold on her bag slackens, making the bag drop and scatter her belongings all over the floor.
She only gasps as her already red face turns a very bright crimson. Toki quickly kneels down and begins to pick up her things, muttering a line of curses under her breath. She suddenly sees another pair of shoes come into her view and a light colored hand beginning to pick up her stuff. Just as all of her belongings were back into her bag, Toki stands up and bows her head while softly saying a "thank you."
"No problem," replies the boy.
The way he spoke...it sounded familiar to her somehow; the laid back tone ringing through her ear drums. Toki debated to look up at him or not, she'd probably look like a cherry if he saw her face. The two stood like that for a minute, neither one of them leaving. Toki's excuse being that her feet felt like they were glued to the floor. Mustering the courage she had, she finally looks up to see his face, but only sees his chest. She never thought that he would be this tall, it made her already small figure of 5'1'' seem like she's just a 12 year old.
"Whoa...you're really tall. Or maybe I'm just short," she suddenly blurts out her thoughts.
Realizing what she had just said, her face turns even redder; if that's even possible. Her only thought being: RUN YOU IDIOT!
"Uh...I," the boy starts.
Toki didn't even let the guy finish as she tries to bolt toward the school door, though, notice the word tries. She ends up tripping over her own cursed feet, making her land face first on the hard marble floor. That's going to leave a mark. She groans softly in pain and sits up, both of her legs were on her right side while her left hand supported her, and her right hand held onto her face. Toki hears footsteps pound onto the floor, then hears that laid back voice with a bit of panic laced into it.
"Hey, are you okay? That was a pretty bad fall," he comments as he holds onto her arm to help her up.
At this moment Toki felt so mortified that she couldn't even look at the guy, her face probably already out-reddened a cherry. She only nods her head, not trusting her voice at the moment. Why do these things always happen to her she wondered.
"I-I'm fine, r-really," she gently reassures him in a stutter as she stands up with his help. "I-I should probably get h-home now."
Before the boy had a chance to talk, Toki had already gotten up and began running toward the exit. Even after she got off the school grounds, she kept running and stumbles a few times on the way. When she finally reaches her apartment, she practically rips the door off its hinges. She quickly slams the door shut and breathes a few times, before walking to the kitchen and serving herself a glass of water. How many times can a girl make a downright fool out of herself every time she talks to a cute guy? Maybe it was just her; she doubted this happened to many girls at her school.
She sighs again and trudges back to her room, falling back on the bed. Toki stays like that for a few minutes, and then groans when she imagined how much of fool she made herself look like. She rolls onto her stomach and suddenly remembers the feeling she had when she saw him today. It was…strange. She felt like she had seen him before, but what confused her most was the feeling of nostalgia. Had she really met that guy before? No, because then he would recall her name wouldn't he? It was a possibility that she had met him before, right?
Seeing as Toki only remembers a year of her life.
~(::)~(::)~(::)~
The following morning, Toki dresses in her same (altered) uniform and begins to walk to the school, yawning a few times. She had spent almost all night looking out the window and thinking about that feeling. It kept nagging at her brain, every time she would try to think of something else it would come out of nowhere and pester her to no end. She didn't get any sleep at all, meaning that it was best she didn't drift off.
Though all too soon, Toki suddenly feels someone jerk her arm back, making her lose balance and land on her rear. Her eyes were still half lidded, but she didn't miss the car that was speeding down the road honking its horn at her. Another yawn escapes her mouth, while she covers her lips with her hand. She almost felt like she would just knock out on the sidewalk, but she feels someone put their hand on her shoulder and steady her already falling figure.
"Are you alright?"
Toki lazily cranes her neck to look at the person that was kneeling down to her level. Once the person was kneeling in front of her, she looks at them and realizes it's a guy. A rather large guy. He has dark colored skin and is very well built, while his brown shaggy hair falls on his eyes. Toki instantly remembers him from somewhere, but she's too tired to even restart her brain cells. She tries to talk, but a yawn escapes from her lips again. Once she was done, she smiles at him. Although her smile was a bit lopsided.
"Yeah I'm fine. Thank you for saving me."
"You're welcome."
Silence.
"We should get to school."
Toki watches the guy stand up to his rather tall height, while she stayed on the ground, too tired to move. The guy looks down at her and gently picks her up by her upper arms. It surprised her how someone as big and bulky as him could be so gentle, but she was too spent to actually be taken aback. After a few times of Toki almost tripping or falling, the guy always saving her from a face full of concrete, the two arrive at the school. She groans when she hears the bell ring. She was too exhausted to think, much less work.
Even after they walk through the school, both stay side by side, Toki not even noticing a few bystanders whispering and glancing at them. It then occurred to her, her brain actually functioning even if it is just a bit, that she never bothered asking him for his name. Did he even know her name?
"Hey, I never got your name," comments Toki as she lazily cranes her neck over to the male, a very blank expression on her face.
The guy glances down at her and smiles a bit, but then he looks forward again. "My name is Yasutora Sado, but you can call me Chad."
"Alright Chad, nice to meet you," she replies as she looks back forward as well. "By the way, do you know my name or do I have to introduce myself?"
Toki's nose scrunches up in disgust when she remembered how the teacher made her introduce herself on the first day. Something she particularly didn't like or enjoy. She begins to think again, trying to rack her memory of where she had seen this guy before, but came up with nothing.
"I know who you are. We have a few classes together," responds Chad.
Toki blinks, before nodding. "Oh! Now I remember where I've seen you, kind of hard to miss someone as big and tall as you…"
Her sentence trails off as she puts a finger to her chin and thought for a while-how did she not notice him? Apart from not noticing the other guy, this was just ridiculous! Toki was usually very vigilant.
Chad and Toki walk through the classroom door together, but end up separating when he walks toward his friends. Just when she smiles a goodbye she gets a look at his friends and can almost feel her mouth touch the floor in shock.
This could not be happening! His friends were the ones she had barely noticed the day before! He's friends with the orange haired male. Now she really felt like she's losing her touch. She didn't even notice that she was standing like an idiot next to her desk until the guy she recently caught the name of, Keigo, calls her over. Her face instantly heats up, but the bell rang just in time to save her.
Time quickly flies by as the bell rang for next period, but as the students get a few minutes to themselves, Toki couldn't help but listen to Chad's friend's conversation.
"Ichigo is it really true? Did your house really get rammed in by a truck?" comments a petite black haired girl in surprise and slight wariness as she looks to the boy.
So his name is Ichigo, eh? Muses Toki in her mind as she watches them from her seat.
Just as she was enjoying their-hilarious-conversation, Chad beckons her over. Earning the others to look in her direction as well, even Ichigo. Swell. She feels her cheeks warm up, as the boy named Keigo comes over and literally drags Toki to the group.
"I finally get to talk to the lovely Toki!" Keigo begins as he holds onto her hand, despite her weak protests. "I've wanted to get you to eat lunch with us, but you're always in different places! I also wanted to get to know you better. You know that way we can be a little something more-"
Keigo's rambling stop as Ichigo punches him in the face, making Keigo practically slide to the other side of the room. Toki's hand is still in mid-air where Keigo's hands had previously held it; all the while she blinks a couple of times in surprise.
Ichigo just stares over at Keigo with an annoyed look plastered on his face. "Will you just shut up? You're probably scaring the poor girl."
"I was not! She was going to say yes until you rudely interrupted. Right my dear Toki?"
Toki only blinks even more in confusion and shock, staring at Keigo who suddenly was not on the floor anymore, but by her side. Is there something wrong with this guy? Had he not just been unconscious just a few seconds ago by Ichigo's punch?
"Huh?" Toki mumbles out in confusion.
Though before she can react, Keigo grabs her into a bone crushing hug. "So kawaii! You look so cute when your confused Toki!"
"I...c-can't...brea...breathe!" She gasps out as she tries get out of his hug.
All of a sudden, the classroom door opens and Keigo automatically lets Toki go. Oxygen never felt so good! When she finally was able to breathe, Toki looks up to see what the fuss was about, but all she really got to see is a black haired girl.
"You? What are you doing here?" Ichigo cries out as he stands up from his desk, pointing an accusatory finger at the small girl.
"Hello, my name is Rukia. It is very nice to meet you," Rukia replies with an overly sweet smile, while ignoring Ichigo's questions.
Though, all Toki could feel and hear at this moment was not Ichigo screaming or the girl's weird way of speaking. But the name 'Rukia' kept repeating in her mind like a broken record. While her fists shook, but why?
Toki was surprised to find out that the feeling is nothing, but pure hatred.
