Chapter 7- First Day

Days passed as me and Shuhei sat somewhere in Rukon District 64, remembering the good times we've had here. There were the plots we made for food, the occasional game of hide and seek, some gymnastics, and plenty of other fun things. We waited, and waited. Then finally we were accepted into Soul Reaper Academy.

"Wow! I'm so excited! Aren't you?" I asked Shuhei with a giant grin across my face. I couldn't wait until we got there.

"Yea, this'll be great! I hope we get put in the same class!" he replied. "Maybe we'll make some friends there too!"

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We were here. The Soul Reaper Academy. All the girls wore the same uniform; white tops and red bottoms. The guys wore pretty much the same thing, except instead of red they had blue. We were put in the same classes, this included kidou and bakudou, the magical powers that soul reapers get to use. It was so fun. We did well in that class. Fighting with wooden swords was interesting, but we weren't the best at it.

One day, about two years later, there was this guy I just learned was in our class. Well, there goes my blonde moment for the day. He caught my eye when I saw him, I didn't know if there was anything special about him, but the thing was…he was like the male version of me.

We were out in the hall, Shuhei standing by my side as usual, and I bumped into my gender-bender. My books slipped onto the floor, and when I went down to pick them up…he was helping me.

A little embarrassed, I stuttered, "S-sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you l-like that…" he handed me my books and we made eye contact. "T-thanks for helping me get my things"

"You're welcome. I'm Kaoru Suzuki. I'm a third year, you're in my class," he replied. "Izume Shiba, right?"

"Uh, yeah. That's me!" I laughed shyly. "You're the guy with the best grades in the class, am I wrong?" I broke eye contact and stood over by Shuhei because I felt safer next to him.

"Nope. I'm top dog!" he laughed. "So you two, you and Shuhei, are you guys dating?"

"NO!" I shouted really loud that everyone in the hallway looked at me. I took a gulp and hid behind Shuhei. "I mean, no we're not. We're best friends…"

"Oh, sorry about that. It's just that you two are always, and I mean ALWAYS together. You never leave each other alone I mean. You guys are like perfect for each other!"

Me and Shuhei laughed. "Hahaha, you're kidding right?" We chuckled and looked at each other, and then noticed he wasn't laughing. "Oh, you're serious?"

"Yeah I mean it! I've watched how you guys act when you're together; to me it seems like you guys really like each other." He said confidently. "How long have you known each other?"

"Umm, about nine years to my knowledge." I responded, "And there were a couple bumps along the way that probably support you…"

"Like what? You guys kiss or something?" Kaoru questioned. "The answer is yes, am I wrong?"

I was starting to get annoyed by his assumptions, even though the last one was right. And I was starting to think he was correct. Maybe me and Shuhei were perfect for each other, we just didn't realize it or were too afraid to admit it. I don't know which one was right, but I guess we'll find out eventually.

"We better get to class or we're gonna be late," Shuhei lied. I knew he was annoyed by all of Kaoru's questions too. "C'mon Izume we should get going." He interlaced his fingers with mine and pulled me down the hall to the point where he can't see or hear us.

"I have a question for you," Shuhei told me, "What do you think of Kaoru?"

"Well, for one he's asking too many questions, and making too many assumptions…" I explained. "And he's kinda scary because he looks like me" I looked down the hall to be sure he wasn't following us.

"I agree with you. What are you gonna say if he wants to be your friend?" he wondered.

"Well, I can't just be mean and reject him…so I'll just be nice and act like I'm his friend…" I answered. "That's not a bad idea."

We continued through the day, trying to be as nice as we could to Kaoru. After a couple of days he started to treat me like we were family. It kind of made me uncomfortable, but I dealt with it like I normally did. Shuhei seemed a little more protective over me than usual at the time. I guess it has to do with what he whispered to me before we came to the academy. I remember those exact words, I promise I won't let anything happen to you. Or at least that's what I'm thinking.

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I was outside, sitting in the grass getting ready for another kidou lesson when Kaoru comes and sits down next to me. I pretended not to notice and ran the chants from earlier lesson through my head. He was about to ask me something when the teacher told me to demonstrate yesterday's kidou spell.

"Hadou 33! Shak-kahou!" I yelled as a red energy orb shot from my hand and hit the target. I put all my strength into that one shot, thinking of how Izuru wasa doing, made a slight mistake, and it pushed me down onto my back because it was so strong. Then a hand was thrown in front of my face. I looked up and made an instant oh-no face.

"Need help up?" Kaoru offered, curling and uncurling his fingers. "You should try to control your spiritual pressure more."

That last remark ticked me off. "Thanks, but I can get up myself. I appreciate you trying to help me though." I got up and dusted off my uniform. "And by the way I was controlling my spiritual pressure. I just made it higher on purpose. At least I hit the target." I lied. I hated lying, but I'm just really good at it. Then I took a deep breath and tried again. This time I held up two fingers, and muttered the chant.

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The rest of the day went by well…except for the constant appearances of Kaoru the Great. I was starting to think he "liked" me, except much creepier because of his obnoxious personality. A couple other students saw us...I mean him, talking to me and they asked me: "Are you twins?" and if they knew we weren't at all related they'd tell us "You guys would be a good couple!" Well here's what I have to say about both of those. Eww! That's weird, and the idea just makes me want to vomit. And I barely know the guy, and I don't really like him, so why would I go out with him anyways?

This day barely meant a thing to me. There's too many things to worry about, or there's always something there to stress me out. I can't take it anymore. Hopefully I pass the exam and get the heck out of here to be in my very own squad. The exam is tomorrow so I have to study super hard tonight.