(Author's note: Speech written in italics is actually spoken or written in another language by the indicated character. It has been translated and noted this way for the reader's benefit.)

Chapter 7

"Do you have any idea on five?" Elizabeth asks from the other side of our room, struggling with the mid-term review for Kidô. She's not as good at memorizing phrases as she is at memorizing attack patterns. I shrug vaguely, flipping my journal closed to look at the review, then frown. This one is way too easy for her to not get.

"Bakudo Number One, Sai. To restrain." I respond, tapping my finger against the paper. The question asks which simple ability one would use to prevent an opponent from attacking.

"Oh, right!" She responds, and I hear her pen scratch across the paper.

Shaking my head to myself, I flip my journal back open, filling it out in Spanish because I don't know anyone who speaks that. Not that I'm writing anything that needs to be hidden. I just like the pretended secrecy.

"Oh, yeah, nothing to hide." Akahana comments to me sarcastically. I frown at her. "You're technically like twenty-one now, right? Isn't that a little old for a diary, Emiko?" She taunts snidely. I roll my eyes at her.

"What would you know?" I mumble back. "You're technically a toddler." Now she's offended. I smirk at her, for once, and close my journal.

"I'm going out for a bit." I tell Elizabeth as I step into my shoes. "Do you want anything?" I check under the pile beside my bed for my money while I speak.

"I shouldn't. Can't bother myself with treats when I have to get this studying done." She responds, and I nod, thankful that I don't need to waste my meager savings on her interests.

"Okay. I'll be back by dinner."

"I'm coming, right?" Akahana interrupts me before I can leave. I glance at her blade, sitting in the corner beside my bed.

"No." I whisper. She frowns in my head.

"You're going to leave me with this dumb log?!"

"Yes." I sigh at her. "You know the rules. Students aren't allowed to carry Zanpaku-Tô unless otherwise instructed." Elizabeth glances over at my frustrated mumbling, still not used to my conversations with Akahana, since it seems one-sided to anyone else. I can't blame her.

"Fine!" Akahana responds grumpily. "But don't expect us to be friends when you come back!" She tries that every time. I head out of the room and downstairs. There's a nice shop for frozen yogurt a couple of blocks from the academy, and I feel like that would be a good treat to substitute for my next few meals. I haven't really been hungry enough to eat regularly, like the others do. But then, I suppose that's because almost all of the studies I was assigned for this year are based on knowledge, with one final year combat class, and I have to see a tutor in between for some lessons I wasn't able to test out of upon admission to the academy.

Partway through the courtyard, a voice calls my name. I sigh, prepared for something else annoying, and turn around.

"Hey! Where are you headed?" I recognize the owner of the voice as Aidrian upon sight. That's better than a lot of people it could have been. I smile a little tightly, though, since I had planned to go out by myself.

"Oh, I was just headed out for a snack... I was thinking frozen yogurt, probably." I shrug, slowly turning back in the direction I was heading. Aidrian follows, falling into step beside me as I start off again.

"Y'know, that actually sounds pretty good right now." He responds, suggesting that he'll accompany me. I make a bit of a face and nod. Noticing this, he quickly adds "I mean, if you don't mind me coming along?" He looks concerned about upsetting me.

"No, that's fine. Good to have a friend who isn't busy or annoying." I smile at him, making up a reason to not be upset. He seems to take it, and we continue walking.

"So," Aidrian speaks up after a little while, "how's that hybrid schedule working for you?" Fine, but it's a nuisance. Everyone give me sideways looks for it.

"It's going well. It can be a little backwards at times, going from an advanced class to a first year class. But the first half of the year is nearly over, so it's not going too terribly." I explain, shrugging a little casually. He nods this time.

"Well, I mean, it has to be better than starting from the beginning like a loser, huh?" He chuckles, intending it as a joke, but I flinch. I kind of expected something different from him.

"Uh, not really. I think I'd prefer to just do it the normal way. I don't really think people like my leg up here." We reach the shop as I finish talking. Aidrian starts to step up to get the door, but I go through before he can. I catch his frown out of the corner or my eye. I apologize in my head while walking back toward the machines. Aidrian starts to speak up again when the front door slams back open behind us. We both whip around to find a Captain in the doorway, ushering in a group of other pedestrians from outside. The long blonde hair gives him away as Shinji Hirako, the captain of Fifth Company.

"Uh, hey, sorry everyone... But we've got a breach in security going on out there, and you'll have to hide out in here until it gets resolved. If everybody would just go... I don't know, sit over by that central wall, with those ice cream machines or whatever it is." He doesn't really seem urgent about it, but everyone piles in quickly, pressing Aidrian and I to the wall.

"So," Captain Hirako says, glancing back and forth between us and the door, "what shall we do here? What say we play a game? Everyone... says their name, and then another word that starts with the same letter as their name, yeah?" He claps his hands, as if that makes it more engaging, and puts on a strange smile. He glances around the group, then sticks a slender finger out at a woman near the front of the group. "You, pretty lady! You can go first!" She stares at him.

"Shouldn't you go first?" She responds, completely not entertained. "Y'know, since you came up with it?"

Captain Hirako pauses, seemingly stricken. "Yes..." He responds slowly, straightening himself. "That was a test, of course." I don't believe him. "Well, I would say Shinji... and... snake, I guess. So, next!" He puts his arm back out enthusiastically, carefully avoiding the woman from before. He points at Aidrian. "You, sir! In the back!" Aidrian looks at me, because he still has no idea what's going on. He doesn't know much Japanese, outside of how to introduce himself. Somewhat luckily, I don't have to instruct him, because the left side of the building is blown apart. Some people shriek, and Captain Hirako turns quickly toward the action, drawing his Zanpaku-Tô. Apparently the breach involves Hollows, because a very large one is attempting to muscle his way into the building.

"Game is paused, everyone." Captain Hirako announces, then leaps toward the Hollow, slashing at its legs and distracting it from the dense group of souls. It screeches violently, huge claws crushing the other nearby buildings as it attempts to catch the darting blonde. Aidrian grabs my arm, pushing himself slightly in front of me. I raise an eyebrow at him. He's less likely to be able to do anything than I am, with his far more limited experience. He doesn't notice my look, though, and watches the action outside intently. It doesn't take long, though. Captain Hirako is a strong fighter, stronger than his build would suggest. Some ten minutes in, he deals the finishing blow, outside of my range of view, and returns, pausing just at the edge of the lost side of the building.

"Alright, it seems that everything is under control, so you can go home. We'll pick the game up another time." He kids on the last part, another odd grin on his face.

As the crowd disperses, Aidrian looks back at me again. He quickly notices his hand still gripping my arm, and he drops it. "Sorry about that..." He comments, turning and leading the way back toward the academy before I can see his face. I smile a bit at that.

"Don't worry about it." I tell him gently, following along more pleasantly than before. After that, though, we walk silently. He drops me off at the front of my building with a quick bye, then disappears to wherever he was before the trip. Pausing for a moment, I head back upstairs to my room.

Elizabeth sits with my review sheets on her desk, and jumps when I reappear.

"Oh! Sorry, I was just trying to check the wording on this one chant..." Her words turn into a mumble toward the end, and she hands the papers back to me. I give her a silent look, then return to my desk, dropping them down on top of my journal, which appears untouched. I start to open it, to continue writing, but decide against it.

"So you went out and had this great adventure, and can't even write it down for me to see?" Akahana grumbles in my head. I roll my eyes at her.

"Not everything is your business." I mumble back to her, stepping out of my shoes and sticking my money back into the pile by my bed.

"I really think that it is, since we're connected. And it's kind of up to me whether you can succeed at fighting... I mean, I think that'd be a great determinant in your entry to Twelfth Company..." She always tries that, too.

"I guess that's not my company, then." I return, then flop down on my bed and roll over, tuning out the rest of her protests.

(Author's Note: How was this chapter? I'd love to read what you thought in a review!)