This was the first time Kairi had had even seen the inside of the Seireitei. And it was all she imagined. If she could she would have gone to all the shops, all the restaurants, and even the shogi house she heard was there. But unfortunately she and Yoh only had a day pass, just enough time to apply for the entrance exam and go back home. Surprised at how deserted the streets were Kairi took her time as they walked along soaking up all she could. This part of the Seireitei seemed to focus mainly on shops and the occasional restaurant. Kairi took a particular liking towards the Shogi club that she happened to spy.
"Hey! You two!" Yoh and Kairi turned around to see a man dressed in a blue and white uniform marching towards them, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, we are here to apply for the Shinigami Academy entrance exams," Yoh took the day pass out of his kimono and showed it to the man who sneered.
"Newbies huh? Well then follow me. You're lucky you know. You just happened to enter the area of the academy dorms, which is why it's so deserted right now. Myself and three others were sent to show the people who are arriving to apply to the headmaster," he smiled, "By the way, my name is Aoga." As they walked down the streets more people began to join them, most were young men. Kairi and four other girls were the only female souls present.
"It doesn't seem like there will be a lot of girls in our year, does it Yoh?"
He shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not. We'll just have to wait until we join up with the other three groups." Yoh's prediction seemed a little off, only thirteen girls had joined the other three groups. Kairi gave him a smirk, "What? I can't be right all the time can I?"
"All applying souls will line up one behind the other, girls on the right boys on the left. You will sign a form telling us your name, which district you are coming from and what, if any, nobility status you have. Lie about any of this and you will be immediately exempt from taking the exam." Kairi walked away from Yoh and stood behind a girl with short black brown hair who was staring up to the front of the line. Everyone seemed nervous, especially Yoh. Kairi had no idea as to why so she focused her attention on looking around to see who was signing up.
"Hey, is it your first time taking the exam?" The girl in front of Kairi had turned around to talk to her.
"Yes it is. What about you?" The girl shook her head,
"No, this will be my second time applying," Kairi gave a questioning look, "Oh , um... I mean last time when I took it my reiatsu wasn't strong enough, but I've been practicing!" The girl turned, embarrassed, and walked forward to sign up.
"Step forward," So Kairi did and she was greeted with a form, ink and a brush to write with, "name and the district you come from." When she was finished the representative grabbed the form out of her hands and told her to wait at the side. The boys line still had many more to sign up so when the girls were finished they boys were herded into that line as well. And then finally,
"You have now all finished signing up. Those of you who only had a pass in order to sign up will now leave! Anyone who has a day pass is welcome to stay and have a look around. A letter will be delivered to you at the end of the day so you will know if you are allowed to take the exam." And with that the representative walked away leaving less then half the people behind.
"Yoh what are we going to do now?"
"I would like to have a look around by myself for now. Just go wander around until it's time to go!" And with that he turned on his heel headed towards the school area. Kairi shrugged and headed towards the shogi club she had seen earlier. With no money she would have to settle with just watching which was just fine with her. The club was fairly busy as it was near lunch time and the Shinigami had the time off. The owner of the club greeted her warmly as she entered. One table was particularly crowded around, from the parts of conversation she caught the match about to be played looked to be a big one.
"Yeah that' right... fuku-taicho..."
"This will be his final match..."
"Such a shame... he's really good." Kairi made her way over to the table and managed to work her way to the front. One man was already sitting there with his eyes closed as if in meditation, the other seat was empty.
"Umm excuse me," Kairi asked the man next to her, "what's going on?"
"Oh, the fuku-taicho of Squad 5 will be playing the champion of this shogi club. Apparently it's because the champion had a disagreement with the fuku-taicho and because they don't want any blood shed the taicho suggested a game shogi. This will be very interesting as the fuku-taicho has never played before and he is already 10 minutes late." Kairi couldn't see how a match of shogi would settle things, but obviously if the taicho says so you don't argue. She turned her head to look out the door and saw someone walk in.
"Who's that?"
"Huh? Oh, he's here!" Kairi swallowed, the man that entered the club had the most evil grin she had ever seen. His eyes were shut, although he seemed to know where he was going, and had light purple-silver hair.
"You're late Ichimaru fuku-taicho," the man already sitting sounded impatient, "let's begin."
"Sorry sorry, but I had some important business to take care of." He sat down and they began the match. The fuku-taicho showed no enthusiasim one way or another, infact he looked bored out of his mind to be bothered with the whole idea. And almost as quickly as the game had started it was finished. The fuku-taicho had lost but it didn't seem to bother him in the least. "My my, that was a good match but I guess you were better then me. Oh well." And with that he got up and walked away.
"Hey you won!" Everyone went to congratulate the champion but he was furious,
"That bastard didn't even try! There were several times he could have beaten me, but he didn't!"
"Hey calm down, you won. Besides if you make such a fuss over winning you'll hear from Aizen taicho." This calmed him down, some what. Kairi had found the fuku-taicho very strange, she could tell that he had no interest in what his own subordinates thought or did. Not that it was any of her business. Losing interset in all the other matches that took place at the club the rest of her day became very uneventful, it was spent wandering around the streets looking through the stores and the food stands. She thought she caught sight of Yoh once but it was brief.
"Excuse me," a Shinigami ran up to her and handed her a letter, "you have been excepted to take the entrance exams to the Academy, it will start tomorrow at noon. If you are late you will have to wait until a later date to take the exam." He bowed, turned on his heel and ran in the opposite direction leaving Kairi rather stunned. A voice reached her ear,
"Hey Kairi, come on! Other wise you'll get kicked out!" It was Yoh who had appeared to materialize out of nowhere, he was waving at her to hurry up.
"Coming!" She began to run towards to him as quickley as she could so as not to get left behind, and as he turned away the fuku-taicho of Squad 5 stepped out from one of the side streets. As she ran passed him a chill crawled down her spine, this man made her feel uneasy. If she passed the exams into the Academy she hoped never to step within ten feet of him ever again.
