Chapter 23: A New Leaf
Leaves crunched beneath her steps as the fresh scent of autumn mystified the cold morning air. She tucked a lone strand of brownish gray hair behind her ear. Ah, autumn and a few more days it would be winter. She tightly grasp on the handle of her brown school bag as she hurried her pace. The leaves fell from the boughs of brown branches. Their shades of yellow, red and brown adorned the gray cement as they landed with ease. The wind toyed with them ever so often. The young teen ceased her running and looked behind herself, "Hurry up slowpoke!" She cried to a slow paced orange-haired teen that seemed to smile at her movements. Gone were the spring and the summer. Gone were the bounto as well. They had ceased the attack of the bounto at Soul Society with the aid of their friends. It was rather sad seeing humans die, humans just like them. The young female stopped in her tracks and she looked up at the fluffy clouds that moved in their slow pace. "What are you thinking now?" the orange teen stopped beside her, noticing her deep in her thoughts. "Nande mo nai (Nothing). Let's hurry up." And she sprinted leaving the orange-haired teen to wonder what she had in her mind.
"We are all just mere tools."
"No we aren't! We have feelings, we are rational. We have the right mind to make our own decisions."
"…"
"Why can't you see it?"
Sakura sighed; lately this dialogue had plagued her mind. She flipped her g-tech pen between her fingers as her eyes skimmed the surroundings behind of her window. Rain pattered upon the see-through glass, creating a noisy rhythm in the classroom. She looked in front, Mr. Einosuke was defining their new lesson, Velocity and Gravitation. She sighed quietly and stretched her arms in front of her desk, accidentally hitting Tatsuki. "Gomen, Tatsuki-chan." Tatsuki gave a curt nod in acceptance. The brown-haired teen folded her arms upon her yellow desk and layed her head upon her arms. The cold was comforting, inviting her to sleep. Her eyelids seemed to droop and her senses dulled as it took a sip of drowsiness. No sooner was she in the embrace of sleep.
She stood there as her eyes, wide in shock at the figure in front of her. "Kariya…Jin…" her voice was a whisper as a wind swept the dirt upon their feet. The silver-haired man looked at her. Somehow, his eyes softened. She gripped her zanpakuto's hilt in caution. You can never be too careful. "Fret not girl, I'm not gonna fight you." Sakura calmed down,"Naze? (Why?)" The man's lips were graced with a smile, "Would you rather have me take your life?" She shook her head, "I would just like to ask, why do you want soul society to perish?" He looked at the sky then at the female shinigami. "This is all soul society's fault. They created us and we suffered because of them. This is for revenge."He spoke and Sakura's eyes softened, 'He must have gone through a lot in the past.' "You, I may ask why did you become a shinigami?" His question caught her off-guard. "I-I became a shinigami because I want to protect my loved ones." And so suddenly a picture of him appeared within her mind and she could feel her cheeks flush a faint pink. Jin laughed at her flushed feature, she was indeed unique and interesting. She was beautiful, that he had to admit. She straightened herself up and she casually looked at him. "You might think of me as someone who is full of herself but I just want to say, you have the ability to make decisions. Neither to fight nor to accept. It's all just within you, which one you choose." Just before she could even hear his reply, Yoshi, the female Chinese bounto attacker her without hesitation.
"Oi, Shirayuki. Shirayuki. Wake up, Shirayuki!" an aggravated man's voice jolted her awake. Sakura looked at the annoyed face of her teacher. "This is the first time you slept in my class. I guess it shall be tolerated but if you ever sleep again, I'll quickly issue a detention for you." The stern man spoke. "H-hai, sensei." Sakura replied and sat down straight upon her chair. She sighed and looked outside of the window. 'A new day, what could be in store for me?'
The rain had vanished leaving puddles upon the rooftop floor. Asano and Mizuiru accompanied by Orihime, Chad, Ichigo, Ishida and Tatsuki. Quite a lot they were, eating their lunch atop the building. Soon, they'll be in high school, like normal sixteen year olds except Sakura, Ichigo, Chad, Orihime and Ishida. Sakura took a piece of onigiri and munch upon it. She looked up at the clear blue noon sky, the clouds dispersed making the sun's presence known. Suddenly, there was…