Oshiriku stared at her golden-eyed cousin holding a large pair of scissors in front of her. The girl clutched her long braid as she stared wide-eyed at her cousin after looking at the floor. They were silent as Urahara sat on the ground a few feet away with his legs crossed at the ankle. They had been practicing for nearly two months. Well, Yoruichi and Urahara visited Oshiriku whenever they had a break at school. In total, they had met and practiced in Urahara and Yoruichi's old playground fifteen times. Yoruichi was trying to coax the girl into cutting her hair so she wouldn't have to worry about it being cut while she was fighting her opponent during the entrance exam. Oshiriku's eyes grew wider. NOTE: Urahara had been sitting on the ground debating if whether or not that was possible.
"Kisuke, tell her." Yoruichi voice seemed to be pleading with her blond haired friend.
"Aye, I've worn my hair short all my life. I don't know, but a lot of women with long hair return from the zanjutsu exam with shorter hair. I guess then it was probably a sick joke of whatever captain they got to fight. I wonder who the masked guy was." Urahara stared into space thoughtfully.
"I will wear it pinned. Please, don't do this, Yoru-san!" Oshiriku begged.
"Your pins will fall during battle. They always do. Urahara is just nice enough not to cut such beautiful locks because he fancies them. Fine. When your hair is cut down, you can come and I will give you a proper finish up then."
"I will not let my hair get cut. I will keep it up in a ribbon."
"Ahhh, Yoruichi, you didn't think of that! Remember how I nearly wept when your beautiful hair was cut. I would have killed that stupid person. Well, if I could have I would have tried it. Good thinking, kid."
"Damn! I wanted to cut it so I could show it to Kuake. She's so jealous of it. That's why she can't stand being near you. 'Such strong strings of ebony should belong to someone that will do great things. This cousin of yours, I think she will go far.' All because of your hair!"
Oshiriku sat beside Urahara quietly, but her eyes had gone back to their original size. She played with a loose thread from her white practice suit Yoruichi had bought her from one of the tailors. The exams were in three days and here she was feeling as if there was no hope of her actually getting into the school in a position worth mentioning to her parents during her first break. Yoruichi stopped talking when she noticed no one was listening to her babble on about Kuake's obsession with Oshiriku's hair. Urahara was asleep, and her cousin was nervous about something. Yoruichi sent Oshiriku to get dressed behind a rock some feet away. As soon as the girl was gone, she kicked Urahara in the side. They began to argue.
"Do you really think I will do well?" Her voice sounded small.
Urahara nodded. "Just do like we do at practice. We'll see you in three days at the entrance. Yoruichi was sneaky enough to get us on the stupid welcoming committee."
Yoruichi grabbed Urahara by the collar and drug him away while shouting inane insults at him. Oshiriku walked home in silence. She stopped to kick a dirty ball around with a group of people her age for a few hours before she continued on her way home. She took her sword to their backyard and sat under the tree. What would she do when it finally came down to her fighting the man or woman behind the mask? She only had three days to mope about it.
After dinner, her father came up to her in the sitting room with the notion Yoru-san had when they'd been practicing earlier. She explained to him the same thing she'd said to Yoruichi. He slapped his head and said, "It's so simple! I would have hair down to the floors if only I had thought of something like that. No worry, Oshi-san, if you can think clear like that, you will have no problems in the exams. Best of all, kido is not really important. It is only ten percent of the exam."
"Ten percent?!"
"Basic magic, dear. It would have been easy to just pay for you to enter, but we Shihouin covet our pride. You will succeed into the school just as your cousin, your uncle, me, your aunt, and all other Shihouins before you have!" He flashed a big smile after he patted her on the head, messing up her already tangled hair.
Three days. She could not sleep for the first two days. She tossed and turned at night only to be left staring at the ceiling with fear and anxiety pounding in her chest. Her stomach could hardly take food. So, she mostly drank water and ate crackers or pieces of bread to avoid being sick.
Her father called her outside on the night before she would leave to go to the school. They sat in silence underneath the tree Oshiriku loved so much. She'd cut her name into the tree with her zanpakuto. Her father's rough hands clutched her smooth one; he began to pray to ancestors. Oshiriku sat wide eyes in surprise as her father continued his chants.
"If when you finish school you choose to not do what is expected of you, I understand. I did not marry the woman my father chose. Did your mother tell you your sister and brother would be home in a week?" Her father smiled widely. Her younger brother and sister were babies. They had to stay with a cousin who was a spiritual healer of some sort; the babies seemed to be prone to catching colds and other infections.
"Yaazo and Ikanna will be the first people on my to visit list once I get into school and get my first visit day! I am scared." She whispered the last sentence, but her father had heard her.
"Fear is only as large as you make it. If you cannot get over fear, if you cannot replace your fear with something, you will fail and return home. If you return home, you know it is your destiny to do as your mother spoke to you. For surely, you shall marry in the fall if you return." His voice was distant. His golden eyes stared at the white flowers tilting in the wind. "I want you to sit here and meditate until it is time for you to leave in the morning. You can eat in the morning if you want, but I will tell you it's best if you don't. The person I fought in combat could fly like a leaf on the wind." He kissed her on the forehead before he disappeared.
Oshiriku stared at the tree until her eyes were too heavy to keep open. She wanted to get up and go to her room where she would sleep in peace, but her body just wouldn't follow her orders. She curled up against the tree and closed her eyes. Sleep covered her like a thick blanket of fog.
Nanuri frowned as she closed the door leading to her daughter's room. It was almost dawn and the girl was scheduled to be at school soon. She checked each room in the house until deciding to look for her outside. Maybe she'd awaken early and wanted to get in some last minute practice. Oshiriku lay underneath her favorite tree snoring louder than usual. Nanuri touched the girl's face, rousing her from her sleep. Oshiriku's eyes widened in shock, and she disappeared. When Nanuri made it up the stairs to the girl room she found her daughter hastily pulling on her "lucky" plum colored kimono. She grabbed her already packed bag and tied her hair up in a tight bun with the use of a black ribbon that was the same color of her hair. If the material weren't shiny, one wouldn't be able to tell it was there. She kissed her mother on the cheek as she ran down the stairs. Her father stood outside the door with a cup in one hand and a blank expression. She nodded to him before breaking into a run. Ishinto closed the door without looking back. He smiled at his wife before motioning her into the dining area so they could begin breakfast.