Next chapter! YIPEE!
Am I the only one who thinks so..? ;;
Hehe, just kidding. I hope you enjoy the next chapter as well!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach
Chapter 1:
Unfairness
"Sometimes, the most unfair moments in our life are when everything is taken away. Not by force, not by blackmail, and not unwillingly, but because we concede, and know ourselves that we can do nothing, and let it happen, that it is unfair. Knowledge hurts."
The girl awoke to the familiar chirping of birds outside of her window, at just the right volume to feel comfortable, but to her, they just felt like another alarm to wake her up. The girl was not a morning person, especially on the first day of school to somewhere she had never been before.
Just the memory of how she had gotten into this situation in the first place made her cringe, not just in anger at the principal, but also at herself for letting it happen so easily. But unfortunately, what was done was done.
There was no getting out of the fact that the girl would be leaving everything behind. No, she would not be leaving her family, she reasoned, getting out of bed and stumbling towards the dressers.
No, she would not have to live in a different place, and she would still stay here, she reasoned, buttoning up the new white blazer she had to wear and pulling on a white skirt with a line of black outlining the ends of the fabric.
And no, she would not leave the country or anything that majorly serious, she reasoned again, tying the silver ribbon underneath the black collar of her blazer and pulling on black socks.
But she wouldn't be able to see her friends when she went to school anymore, she thought this time, pulling her hair into a ponytail half-heartedly and securing another hair tie on her wrist just in case.
She wouldn't be able to talk to her favorite teachers or help out with the stage crew that she knew and loved, she thought again resignedly, fastening a yin-yang locket around her neck.
And she wouldn't be able to play volleyball, or play her flute with the orchestra she knew and loved, and a whole lot of other things that she was trying to think of to make the situation more miserable.
She sighed, and gripped her locket in one hand, opening the curtains with a flourish. The daylight streamed in, and the warm, mellow, light was a welcome sight indeed, the sunrise in the corner of the window, a beautiful red and orange that played with the yellows of the sun.
The sky was astoundingly clear, and the woods in the girl's backyard looked mysterious but perfect, a perfect morning for the hopefully perfect day. God. She just hoped that breakfast would go just as well as Mother Nature's smiling face outside.
Look at the bright side, she scolded herself sternly. You've always wanted a chance to make new friends and meet new people, to see a new environment and take on the challenges that went with it.
It turns out that when you get what you wished for, you're never prepared for what will really happen.
By the time the girl had gotten down the stairs into the kitchen, she found that astoundingly enough, her grandpa was actually awake.
"Grandpa, what kind of miracle got you out of bed today?" She asked teasingly, and her grandfather huffed, putting down the newspaper in his hands and facing her with a mixed expression on his face, as if he really didn't know whether that could be taken as a compliment or an insult.
Keisuke Kagayami was a old, wizened man, who had seen many a battlefield and many generations come and go. He had white, fine hair that was cropped short and always in a eternally messy mop, and skin that was aged and wrinkled, very tall and still muscular, but with a lot of sore muscles to go with it.
No one really knew quite how old he was, but everyone did know he was a soldier, since his war stories were all he would talk about.
"The sun just felt nice today, streaming down on my young face, kind of like that one morning in Korea when-" The girl tuned out the rest of her grandpa's story, and quietly cut some french bread in the corner and poured some orange juice for herself and started to eat.
"You know it's bad manners to eat on the counter instead of at the table. Sit down, please." She turned around to see her mother, Ariana Kagayami, stern and straight faced as usual, halfway down the stairs.
Mrs. Kagayami was a beautiful woman, but also stressed, making her look beyond her mere 35 years of age. Her bright, scarlet red hair was faded and stringy and tied into a messy bun that barely stayed in place. She looked thin, her skin almost an unhealthy white color. Her normally blazing orange-amber eyes just looked like they were barely sparking.
It wasn't like she was overworked or anything. She just usually looked that way, as if something was weighing on her, as if she always felt like she had to do something more. That was just Ariana Kagayami's nature. Some of that had traded over the to girl, but the girl was a mostly original work, with a paintbrush or two of enigma.
"Yes, mom. I don't see the difference, but.." The girl half-heartedly sat at the table, and since she was person who didn't like formalities or proper things, she had to add that last snide comment under her breath.
Her mother heard nothing, however, and moved to the kitchen to put on her apron and briskly started cooking, a wonderful smell filling the air in mere seconds.
The girl quickly finished off her bread and downed her orange juice, before getting up and asking her father, who had come down the stairs while she wasn't looking, "Can you get me to school soon, Daddy? I don't want to be late on the first day, at least."
A fast and simple explanation of why the girl still calls her father 'daddy'.
First of all, she just never grew out of it. From when children are young, usually they call their parents 'mommy' or 'daddy'. It wore off on her mother, but the girl's father had always been such a warm, childish and wise person that the girl just never stopped calling him daddy and never got embarrassed when people did it differently.
And so was the girl's father, Akihito Kagayami, warm, childish, and wise. He always knew the right answer to everything, and always knew how to crack a joke to break a tense atmosphere.
He had the same dark brown hair as his daughter's, but lighter and cropped short, and his eyes were a steely grey-blue. He was a well-rounded man, and you could call him Santa Claus without the big belly.
"No worries, I just got an email from the principal. He told me to purposefully come in late to show you around the school when the hallways were less crowded."
The girl feels a little bit of relief and sits back down, asking her mother for some bacon after she was done cooking while she was at it.
The morning continued rather calmly, since the girl's sister had already gone to school, and the girl's brother was at some sort of overnight camp that had started two days ago for school.
That was another good thing about this school. It wasn't religious, which meant she didn't have to deal with people praying or Religion class. The girl was a Christian, but that didn't mean she wanted her church life and her school life to mix.
The girl sighed once again, and started to read an older book called the Joker. It was good to crush time, and a wonderful book, and she easily read 5 chapters before the bacon was done and her father was ready to go.
"Alright, come on. We'll really be late if we don't go now."
"It's not my fault that you like to take your time, Daddy." The girl replied, pouting, and Akihito laughed heartily, rubbing her head like she was still a little girl. They both said goodbye to Mrs. Kagayami, and coming out the door, was greeted with a small breeze.
The weather was still mild for autumn, and the girl loved this time of year the most. Though she was incredibly nervous for her first day of school, the perfect weather and the apparent good mood her father was in set the tone very well.
Now, she thought as she quickly got into the car, the girl just had to get through the first day of school without attracting a ton of attention. Not impossible, since she didn't stand out a whole ton.
YEAH! I got that update out!
From the next chapter, we'll start to introduce the characters and go into school. The first day might end up being 3 chapters. I don't know yet.
Hope you're still hanging on!
Allora