Click
Click
Click
These are the only sounds echoing in the black, three seconds intervals between the clicks.
A golden pendulum is suspended in the air, slowly swinging back and forth, to and fro.
In order to understand the future, it is evident that we most know the past.
In order to understand relationships, we must know the very beginning of them.
In order to further understand people, we must know their history.
The golden pendulum slows to a halt, stopping time for a mere instant.
The pendulum begins to swing in reverse, going further into the past then we'd ever ventured before.
Otoribashi Kaori groaned softly to herself, trying to ignore the feeling of someone jumping on her bed. She pulled her pillow over her head, laying facedown in the mattress. She growled softly when the person had yet to cease jumping on her bed, keeping her eyes tightly shut. She wasn't just ready to wake up, she wondered who was dumb enough to be jumping on her bed so early in the morning and why were they jumping on her bed to begin with? She wanted to know if they actually had a good reason or if they were just plain stupid.
"Kaori-chan, wake up wake up." an enthusiastic voice demanded, Kaori groaned again when she immediately recognized the childish voice.
She moved the pillow off her head after a few seconds, turning over on her stomach to be met with the petite figure of Mashiro bouncing on her bed. Mashiro ceased bouncing when she saw that the other greenette had finally woken up, smiling brightly at her.
"Yay, you're awake!" she cheered, Kaori nodded tiredly.
"How could I sleep with you jumping on my bed?" she questioned, sounding sarcastic. Mashiro giggled quietly and shrugged at the question, jumping down into the floor.
"Gomen." she apologized, giggling again.
"Why'd you hafta wake me up?" the green eyed girl complained.
"I told her to wake you up." Kaori looked over in the direction of the voice, her eyes narrowing when she saw Lisa standing there.
"Nande?" Kaori asked slowly, sounding dangerous.
"It's our first day at the Academy, we can't be late Kaori." she reminded her, Kaori made an 'oh' face.
Now that she was actually paying attention, both girls were wearing the red Academy uniform for the females. The only difference she could see in their uniforms was that Mashiro had a bright blue scarf around her neck and Lisa had a bright red bow tied around her waist.
"I totally forgot about that." Kaori said quietly, forcing herself to sit up in the bed.
She looked around their shared room at the Academy, watching Hiyori pull her hair up into her high ponytails. She looked over he shoulder at Kaori, grinning widely, the greenette almost rolled her eyes at the amused look on her friend's face.
"Ooi Kaori." she greeted, sounding teasing.
"Ohayou Hiyori." the other girl mumbled, forcing herself out of the bed.
"Yay! Kaori-chan's up." Mashiro exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air to express her enthusiasm.
Kaori rolled her olive green eyes at all the girl's energy and trudged across the room to their bathroom, splashing her face with cold water from the sink to wake herself up a little more.
"Do we have our schedules yet?" Kaori questioned, walking out of the bathroom after she'd dried her face. Lisa nodded in agreement, grabbing four letters off her nightstand.
"Yeah, some messenger guy delivered them this morning." she replied, passing a letter to Mashiro.
She handed one to Hiyori, then another to Kaori. The greenette opened the letter, looking through it curiously. Hmm, this sure was interesting…and then she was bored. She looked over at her friends, watching their reactions to the letters. Hiyori had scoffed, crumpling her letter and shoving it in one of the pockets of her hakama pants. Mashiro was looking at her letter from all angles, whether it be turning the letter in all sorts of different directions or moving her head at different angles. Lisa was staring over hers intently, looking as though she was trying to commit it to memory. Kaori sighed, stretching her arms above her head and said
"I'm gonna get dressed."
"Kay Kaori-chan." Mashiro said, attempting to turn her head upside down.
Kaori rolled her eyes at her friend and trudged across the room, grabbing her Academy uniform. She pursed her lips as she looked it over for a moment before pulling it on slowly, making sure it looked perfect. She sighed softly and grabbed her hairbrush, turning her attention to the mirror next to her bed. She licked her lips in thought, running the brush through her halfway down her back length hair. She wrinkled her nose as she brushed her hair and pushed her side-bangs off to the side, wondering if she should pull her hair up into a high ponytail. She looked over her shoulder at her three friends, saying
"Guys." The girls looked back at Kaori, watching her play with a strand of her hair. "What should I do with my hair?"
"Leave it down Kaori-chan, it looks so pretty." Mashiro pleaded, Lisa nodded in agreement.
"I agree, it looks very nice today." she added, Hiyori wrinkled her nose.
"Take a hairbow with ya since we hafta do some physical shit taday." she suggested, Kaori nodded in agreement.
"Okay, will do." she said, putting a bright pink hairbow around her right wrist. She smiled slightly to herself when she saw her reflection, looking at herself from all angles before she decided she was ready to get out of the room. "Alright, I guess we should get going."
"Yeah, the sensei's won't be pleased if we're late." Lisa commented, scratching her head.
"Tch, we don't hafta be there fer another two hours." Hiyori grumbled, Kaori wrinkled her nose.
"I'm hungry though and I want food." she complained, Mashiro nodded eagerly in agreement.
"Me too." she whined, Hiyori groaned at the older girl's continuing whining.
"Fine." she mumbled. "Just shaddup Mashiro."
The greenette pouted at the rude order but nodded a little, following behind her friends as they exited their dormitory. They walked the halls together, Kaori pursed her lips in thought.
"I wonder if the whole gang's awake yet." she pondered, Lisa shrugged.
"Maybe, you never know with them." she commented, Kaori nodded a little.
"Yeah, they're dumbasses." she laughed, Mashiro giggled quietly to herself.
"Especially Kensei-baka." she added, they all started laughing about that one.
"I'm pretty sure Kensei would be awake right about now." Lisa said thoughtfully, Kaori nodded in agreement.
"Yeah and Oni-chan's all about punctuality and shit so he's prolly awake too." she said with a bored tone, playing with a few strands of her spring green hair. "Any clue where they'd be?"
"Eating breakfast more than likely." Lisa replied, yawning loudly. "It's so early."
"Tch, this isn't gonna be much fun." Hiyori grumbled, folding her arms across her chest. "All these dumb nobles and upper-class shits all over the place."
"Huh…they're all looking at us." Mashiro observed, Kaori looked around.
She narrowed her eyes slightly when she saw that Mashiro was in fact right, all the upper class students were giving them the most disgusted looks. The looks that told her that they were being looked at as though they were trash, like they weren't worth being at the Shinigami Academy. She wrinkled her nose and moved her head back towards her friends, trying to ignore the looks they were receiving.
"Tch, konohages." Hiyori mumbled, Kaori nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, they're all a bunch of jerks." she added, following Lisa into the dining area. "They think they're so much better since they never had to struggle for anything."
"Not nice at all." Mashiro sang, bolting towards the food.
The three girls gave her a blank stare and finally started laughing, following her over to the food. The four grabbed their food after a few comments about how dumb the upper class could be and took some seats at a vacant table. Kaori bobbed her head to the side as she ate her food, marveling at how amazing it tasted. She pursed her lips when a pair of hands went over her eyes, groaning quietly.
"God Shinji, do you always hafta do that?" she complained, she giggled when she heard his obnoxious laugh.
"Ooi Kaori." he greeted, taking a seat next to her. She giggled when she felt a kiss being placed on the top of her head, reaching behind her and poking her twin's stomach.
"Ohayou Oni-chan." she sang, he chuckled.
"Ohayou Imouto." he replied, moving around the table to take a seat across from her. The other two boys took their seats at the table, she rolled her eyes when she saw Love pass a book across the table to Lisa. The black haired girl grinned to herself and said
"Arigato Love."
She opened up the book to the first page and began reading it as she ate her breakfast. Kaori giggled to herself and shoved the blonde sitting next to her, he rolled his eyes and casually put his arms around her shoulders. She felt the blood rush to her cheeks at the contact but made no movement to pull away from him. Weirdly enough, she felt comfortable feeling his touch. What was going on with her?
"Waaha, Kensei you meany." Mashiro complained loudly, Kaori snapped her head to the green haired girl.
"Shut the hell up Mashiro." he shouted, sounding annoyed with her.
"I'm so hungry." Mashiro continued, ignoring Kensei's comment. "Why won't you share your food with me?"
"Go get your own damn it." he yelled, Lisa rolled her eyes behind her book.
"Oh joy." she murmured to herself, turning a page.
"Kensei, you might want to calm down." Rose advised, looking around the room. "People are staring."
"Let'm stare, this girl pisses me off." Kensei raged, Mashiro whined and groaned louder.
"Baka!" she accused, Kensei's eye twitched in annoyance.
"Damn it Mashiro, I'm gonna-" he started, Love quickly pulled him away from the greenette and took the seat next to her so Kensei was sitting next to Rose.
Kensei glared slightly in the girl's direction but turned his attention to his food, trying to ignore Mashiro's bellyaching. Kaori rolled her eyes at Kensei's anger management issues and grinned at Shinji, shoving a spoon full of food into his mouth when he opened his mouth to say something. He glared slightly at her, chewing at the food and she giggled to herself.
"So when do you all have kido practice?" Kaori questioned, tilting her head to the side.
"Ano, third class of the day." Love told her, she nodded a little.
"Awesome, we have class together then." she cheered, punching the air above her head.
Hiyori scoffed, not looking like she enjoyed the idea of being in the same class as Shinji and sipped at her drink, resisting the urge to hit the blonde in the face. She'd have to get him back later for calling her short…again. Kaori danced around in her seat a bit, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger.
"I hope the classes aren't too hard." she mumbled, Lisa shrugged.
"Can't do anything about it if they are." she commented, the greenette nodded in agreement.
"So true." she sighed, Shinji rubbed her shoulder. She felt herself shiver at the contact but forced herself to ignore it, listening to Rose when he said
"We have swordsmanship practice sixth class."
"Yay!" Mashiro cheered, throwing her hands in the air. "We'll be using wooden katanas…right?"
"Yeah, more than likely." Love mumbled, scratching his ear. "We're all first years after all."
"True." Rose agreed. "They'll make us wait a little longer before letting us use real katanas."
"Yay!" Mashiro cheered again, sounding enthusiastic. Kaori saw Kensei's eye twitch, he was slowly growing aggravated with her again. She rolled her eyes to herself and bounced to her feet, saying
"I'm gonna go get my books and shit, see ya later guys."
"Later Kaori." Love said, she nodded and head out of the dining area.
She walked down the hallway boredly, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger as she walked. She looked around the hallway, groaning when she saw the clock. She had about forty-five minutes before class started, she'd need to hurry up and grab her stuff. She entered her shared room with the girls, rummaging through her stuff until she found her books and such before stowing all of it in her school bag, heading out of the room seconds later. She licked her lips as she went down the hallway, going down some stairs until she made it into the classroom area of the building. She stared at the doors as she walked, trying to find her first class of the day and played with her hair again to occupy her boredom. She pursed her lips in thought, going around a corner and almost bumped into a boy around her age.
"Kuso, gomenasai." she apologized, smiling a little at the black haired boy.
He smiled a little and nodded, he didn't look like he cared too much. Kaori looked over his appearance, her smile widening at how cute he was. His hair fell almost to the top of his shoulders, cut with some layers to give his hair a more messy look and he had green eyes. He had an athletic look to him as well, she was extremely attracted to strong guys. She smiled again, not really paying attention to the fact that he was with a few other males, they weren't half as cute as he was in her opinion.
"No problem." the boy told her, shrugging his shoulders.
"Ah ha ha, I still feel pretty lame. I'm so klutzy at times." she admitted, twirling a strand of her hair around a finger.
"Nah it's cool." he laughed. "So, I haven't seen you around here before, you a new student?"
"Yeah, it's my first year." she replied sweetly, still smiling. "Otoribashi Kaori."
"Mamoru Ichiro." he said, introducing himself. "You seem sorta lost." She laughed nervously, shrugging her shoulders.
"A little." she giggled, pulling out her sweet face. "Mind helping me?"
"Sure, come on." he instructed, she smiled sweetly at how willing he was to help her. She handed her schedule to him when he asked for it, watching him look over it. His friends were walking some distance behind the pair, conversing amongst themselves.
"So, what year are you?" Kaori questioned, he smiled a little at her.
"Third." he replied, she made an 'oh' face.
"Nice." she commented, he shrugged a little.
"It's been pretty sweet I guess." She smiled a little, following beside him around a corner. "Let's see, it's that door right there." he told her, handing the schedule back.
"Arigato." she said sweetly. "I woulda wound up getting myself lost." He laughed and said
"Yeah, plenty of people do that their first day."
"Hehe, well it was a good thing I ran into someone nice enough to help me." she said with a flirtatious tone. She watched a smirk come to his lips, hoping that she would wind up getting what she wanted, a date.
"Want me to show you how to get to your other classes?" he inquired, the smirk still on his lips.
"That'd be great." the greenette said with another sweet smile. She watched him look back over his shoulder at his friends and shout
"Guys, I'll see ya later. I'm gonna show her the rest of her classes."
She watched all the boys smirk and nod in agreement, walking off in another direction. Kaori smiled to herself, feeling extremely pleased that she'd get some alone time with the boy. She handed her schedule back to him, walking beside him down the hallway. They walked down the hallways, slowly getting to know more about each other while he pointed out a few different classes to her. The more she talked to him, the more she liked him. He had that cocky attitude that she liked in a guy, someone confident but he didn't flaunt it every minute. Guys like that got on her nerves, but he was the complete opposite of a jerk. Other than the cockiness, he was pretty nice. She was getting that whole sexual attraction vibe, he was just too gorgeous but she also was getting the emotional vibe. They had plenty in common, unlike the last guy she dated, so she was really beginning to like this guy even though she hadn't known him too long.
"You won't wind up getting lost, will you?" he asked at random, she shook her head.
"Nope, once I know where somewhere is, I can find it." she replied, playing with her hair.
He nodded, she could see that he had the same pleased look on his face that she had earlier. Apparently he wanted some alone time with her too, good thing for her then. He was incredibly cute and she wanted to know more about him than she already knew, she was really crushing on him even though she'd just met him.
"So what division do you want to join in Gotei 13 once you graduate?" she inquired, he shrugged a little.
"I'm tied between the second and eleventh." he answered, she tilted her head to the side slightly.
"You must be really good at hand to hand combat then, if you wanna join the second division." she commented, he nodded a little.
"Been top of my class for the past two years." he informed her, she nodded at the answer. So he was strong like she'd first thought, that was definitely another point to add for why she was interested in him. "The senseis have even said I've excelled more than any other student so I'm rather proud of my accomplishment."
"I would be too, top of your class for two years is impressive." she said sweetly, watching another smirk come to his lips.
"Yeah." he agreed, pointing another classroom out to her. "So what about you, which division you wanna join?"
"Ano, I'm pretty drawn to the eighth right now. I might wind up changing my mind knowing me." she laughed, he chuckled quietly to himself. "I've heard Kyoraku-Taichou is pretty awesome."
"Yeah, he seems pretty laidback." Ichiro added, she nodded in agreement.
"I like laidback people, doing too much work bugs me." she said boredly, nodding when he pointed to another classroom.
"Yeah, it can be pretty bothersome." he agreed, glancing over at her. She smiled again and he said "So Kaori, would you like to go to dinner with me sometime?"
"Aw, why would a strong guy like you want a weak little first year like me?" she teased, he chuckled quietly.
"Well, maybe it's because you're the most gorgeous girl I've ever laid eyes on." he joked, she felt the smile on her lips widen.
"Oh really?" she taunted, he nodded with a grin on his face. "Well…I suppose I could. Especially since I have a thing for guys with black hair." He chuckled and handed the schedule back to her, saying
"I'm helping out the sensei with that kido class you have, I'll let you know about dinner later today."
"Oh, so you wanna go tonight?" she giggled, he raised an eyebrow at her.
"If you want." She nodded eagerly, moving her hand to his arm so she could lightly run her fingers over it teasingly.
"I'd like that very much." she told him, grinning when his face leaned down closer to hers.
Yes, her first kiss in ages; nothing could ruin this moment. She felt herself smile when his lips pressed against hers, moving an arm around his neck while he placed his around her waist. She giggled into the kiss when he lightly nibbled on her lower lip and pulled back slightly, waving her finger infront of his face.
"Ah ah ah, don't go so fast." she teased, he chuckled quietly.
"Gomen, I can't help myself around pretty girls like you." he said with a grin, pressing his lips against her cheek.
She smiled sweetly and ran her fingers through his hair, marveling at how soft it was. She giggled quietly when he kissed her cheek again, staring up into his eyes. Wow, his eyes were such a gorgeous shade of green. She felt herself smile again when he pressed his lips back against hers, moving her fingers through his hair.
"Kaori I-WHAT THE FUCK?" She broke the kiss and turned to see Shinji standing there, looking completely pissed off.
"Kuso." she swore, taking a step back from Ichiro. "Ooi Shinji."
He narrowed his eyes, looking from the black haired boy to her, not looking pleased in the least. He growled and strut forward, grabbing onto her arm and began dragging her down the hallway.
"Shinji." she complained. "I didn't even get to say bye."
"Too bad." he grumbled, she looked back over her shoulder at the black haired boy. He looked so completely confused, she yelled
"Gomen, my best friend's a loser. I'll see ya later." He smiled a little and nodded, heading down the opposite end of the hallway.
"A loser am I?" Shinji snapped, sounding pissed off.
"You just can't let me talk to any guys, can ya?" she groaned.
"Oh yeah, ya can definitely talk with yer lips glued ta his huh?" he growled, she pursed her lips angrily.
"What your problem, seriously?" she questioned, feeling annoyed.
"What's my problem?" Shinji repeated, releasing her arm and turning to face her. "My problem is ya goin around kissing guys ya don't know a thing about."
"I knew things about him." she argued, crossing her arms over her chest. "We were getting to know each other and we're going on a date tonight."
She watched Shinji's jaw lock angrily when she said 'date.' He didn't look happy about that in the least, she could see his fists clenching and unclenching in anger. She pursed her lips and said
"When did you become my Oni-chan Shinji, seriously?" she inquired, poking him in the chest. "You can't tell me what to do, you're just my friend."
She blinked when she saw something in Shinji's eyes, he looked slightly hurt by her words. Why was he hurt, what had she said? She was just stating the truth, he wasn't her older brother so he couldn't tell her what to do when it came to dating. She blinked dumbly when he cupped her cheek, staring down into her eyes.
"Kaori…I just don't want ya gettin hurt." he told her, she felt all her anger disappear at his words.
"Shinji." she whispered, he sighed and stroked her cheek with his thumb.
"Yer my best friend Kaori, I just don't want anyone takin advantage of ya." he explained, she nodded understandingly.
"I know, I'll be fine though. I don't need another Oni-chan, I just want a best friend that will always be there for me." she admitted, he nodded a little and hugged her tightly.
She smiled softly and buried her face in his chest, happy that he wasn't pissed off with her anymore. She felt horrible when he would be angry with her, she'd feel even worse than when she'd hurt her brother's feelings. She didn't understand why she felt worse over Shinji but she was too busy hugging him to care, she felt so wonderful when he held her. She didn't know why she did but that's how she felt. She sighed quietly and Shinji pulled out of the hug, saying
"Gomen…fer gettin so flustered Kaori." She nodded, letting him know that she forgave him.
"No big deal, maybe I shoulda waited a while before kissing him." she mumbled, trying to see things from his point of view. She wasn't having much luck but she could try, couldn't she?
"Anyway…I got somethin fer ya." Shinji said randomly, grabbing her attention. She tilted her head to the side, looking at him confused.
"Huh?" she asked, feeling dumbfounded. The blonde laughed and reached into his pocket, pulling something out.
"Turn around." he ordered, she pouted.
"Now that's not fair." she complained, he gave her a look that said 'do it now or I'll kick your ass.' She groaned loudly and turned around as ordered, blinking when she felt something being placed around her neck. "Shinji?" she questioned, he ignored her.
"Okay."
She grabbed whatever was around her neck, holding it up to her face. She felt a smile come to her lips, a spider web necklace, with a black spider on it. Woah, this was the most amazing thing ever in her book. Shinji knew she'd had an obsession with spiders since she was a child, she was surprised he'd gotten something so amazing for her. She turned to face her best friend, a smile on her lips.
"Shinji, arigato." she said softly, he grinned and shrugged nonchalantly.
"No biggie." he said with that same grin on his face.
She giggled quietly and hugged him tightly around the waist, burying her nose in the material of his top. She ignored the blush that had set itself on her face, inhaling his scent. Had Shinji always smelt like this, so amazing? She blinked dumbly at the thoughts, smiling to herself when his arms moved around her, hugging her just the same way she was hugging him. She giggled quietly and eeped when he lifted her slightly off the ground, her feet off the floor.
"Damn it Shinji, put me down. You know I don't like when you do that." she complained, the blonde laughed and set her back on solid ground.
"So I'm guessin ya like it?" he guessed, she giggled and nodded in agreement.
"Duh, spiders are amazing." she stated, he rolled his eyes.
"That's yer opinion." he pointed out, she pouted cutely.
"But they're adorable." she whined, that's when he laughed.
"Things with eight legs and huge ass eyes are adorable?" he mused, she nodded eagerly. "Yeah Kaori, whatever ya say."
"Score I win." she cheered, he laughed to himself in amusement.
"Yeah yeah, let's get goin 'fore we're late." he suggested, she nodded again and followed him down the hallway.
That was the day Kaori grew suspicious of Shinji's actions, was he just trying to be the protective older brother or was there something else going through his head?
Author's Note: Well there's another extra scene, I hope you guys liked it. I especially enjoyed writing it because it definitely showed that Shinji has feelings for Kaori, although it was more subtle. Let me know what you guys thought and I hope you all are excited for the upcoming chapters, tootles :)