"Goooooood MORNING NAZEKA! " Ukitake sang, pushing away the sliding door to my room.
"Whaaah!" I screamed, immediately waking up to his intrusion, "U-Ukitake, there's no need to be so loud in the morning… What time is it any way?"I asked, lying back down and covering my head with a pillow. He grabbed it and smiled, "Time for you to go to school!"
I groaned, "Whaaat? I don't wanna go…"
"I don't think you want me to get Vice-Captain Shiba out here do you?"
I bolted out of bed, saluting and saying, "No sir! I'm up!"
He laughed, walking out the door saying, "Alright, you have twenty minutes to be out the door. See you then!" He shut the door and walked off, leaving me alone. I dressed quickly into my red and white shihakushou and grabbed my bag. Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. Yesterday I got my shihakushou fitted and everything else. It was a total pain in the ass I tell you. Having a Lieutenant go with me didn't make things any fun either. Vice-Captain Shiba is a bit loud and obnoxious at times.
In less than twenty minutes, I was ready. My bed and everything else were packed away leaving the tatami mat free of items. I pulled on my sandals after sitting down on the wrap-around porch and waved good-bye to Captain Ukitake, telling him I would be back that afternoon. Before I left the gate, Lieutenant Shiba approached me. He handed me a box that was wrapped up in a small cloth.
"Here, you're going to need a lunch today."
"Oh, thank you, Lieutenant."
"For crying out loud, if the Captain wants you to call him by his first or last name, then by all means call me by those too."
"Okay. Thank you again, Shiba."
He frowned, scratching the back of his head with his left hand, "Hey, that sounds weird. Just call me Kaien, okay?"
"Kaien. Okay, thank you. I really ought to be going now though."
"Alright. Don't get beat up!" He called after me as I walked through the gate.
Once again, I headed through the maze of buildings, but I eventually found another student who introduced herself as Rukia; she had raven-black hair with a single strand of bangs falling in the middle of her face, deep purple eyes, and was about my height. She was in the same year as me, but she was in the lower class. I had been placed in the upper class at the request of Head-Captain Yamamoto. He also stated that I hadn't needed to take an entrance exam, so I just joined immediately.
"I find it strange that you are joining us in the middle of the year…" Rukia said, "And even stranger that you're in the upper class when you didn't even have to take the exam…"
"Blame Head Captain Yamamoto. He's the one that got me into this mess," I told her grudgingly, "I can't believe this… and here I thought that when I died, I would finally be rid of school… man was I wrong."
"So tell me, Nazeka, you were once a soul in the World of the Living… how did you die? You seem to have some special purpose for actually being forced into the Seireitei and into the duties of a Shinigami. Do you know what it is?"
"Actually, I have no idea why I'm being forced into this except that it's because I have a high reiatsu; but if other people also have high reiatsu, then why would I be selected to fill in the position of a captain if there are others much more willing to do that job than me? But anyway, I died from a Hollow."
"A Hollow killed you!? But then, were you devoured? Did you become one?"
"Become one? Why would I become a Hollow?"
"Oh, I see, you still don't understand everything about a Hollow. Well, you'll learn about them in class. Anyway, continue. What happened?"
"Well, I lived alone in an apartment, since I was old enough to hold a job and all… and one day I came home…" I could remember it so vividly. The horror of seeing something so huge and disgusting standing in the middle of my apartment… just ready to devour me…
"I had just come home from my part-time job that I did after school, and I was unlocking the door. When I turned on the lights, the huge creature had been waiting for me. It was disgusting. The smell was awful, like something rotting. The entire room shimmered like heat waves and the only thing I could really focus my eyes on was the huge hole in its chest. It was taller than the ceiling, so it was bent over, holding its scythe-like hands close to its chest while it stared me down. Its head was waving a bunch of tentacles, almost resembling Medusa's head of snakes.
"Next thing I knew, a scream had erupted from my mouth and I was pinned by the neck to the wall behind it. Several of its tentacles that were sprouting from its head had grown to points and pierced my stomach, shoulders, thighs and one of my feet. Everything went black… and then white after that—three more of his tentacles pierced my forehead, chest, and throat, killing me instantly. But you know… I remember hearing a man screaming at the Hollow before he killed me… almost scolding it. I can't remember what he said, and I don't recall ever seeing him, but I know there was definitely a man there…
"Anyway, I wasn't devoured… my soul had made it out of my body and into the Dangai before it was able to. I don't know how I managed to avoid being devoured, but here I am, completely unscathed by the incident."
"Wow, how horrifying!"
"Yeah, well, hey, at least you guys never had to exorcise me as a Hollow." I smiled, glad for at least that much. By now, we had reached the huge school. Students were walking in and out with their friends or alone. Rukia seemed to recognize some of them and called out to one in particular… I recognized him from the other day. He had been the red haired student I had asked for directions from.
"Renji! Renji!" She cried, waving for him. He joined us with a grim look on his face that I immediately read as a 'what the hell do you want?' look.
"What?" He replied gruffly, seemingly acting like he was superior.
"Hey, you could at least act a little nicer! Jeez, you act like you barely know me even though we grew up together!"
"Your point?" Renji asked, but Rukia gave him one of the scariest death glares I have ever seen… not including my own. He grimaced and tried again, "What is it, Rukia?"
"That's better. Renji, this is Nazeka. She's the new student joining your class. Since I won't be around you guys often, I thought it would be best to tag her up with you since you'll be with her more often."
"Why me? Why not team her up with Kira or Momo? She shouldn't have to be my problem…" He asked, rolling his bronze colored eyes.
"Why shouldn't she? And she's not a problem, either! Just show her around," Rukia turned to me, smiling, "I'll see you later, okay?"
"Alright, see ya, Rukia!" I called after her as she ran off to her classroom. She stopped halfway and yelled, "And be nice about it, Renji!"
"Yeah, yeah," Renji groaned, turning to me, "So, she said your name was…?"
"Oh, I'm Nazeka Mamori. Pleased to meet you, Renji…?"
"Abarai. Renji Abarai."
"Alright, Renji Abarai, where to?" I asked, motioning toward the school. He shrugged and walked ahead of me, leading me to who-knows-where. Eventually, we were on the second floor in front of a classroom. He gestured by nodding his head toward the door, allowing me to enter first. There was a pretty big group of students in the classroom, all wearing the uniform except for a tall bald man with glasses. He was wearing the same hakama as the male students, but he wore a plain kosode and a black haori on top. I assumed that this man was the teacher.
The classroom was suddenly hushed as I entered; everyone was staring at me. Then, in a flurry of movement, whispers floated around the room, no doubt about me. The teacher approached me and shouted, "Stop that!" to the other students.
I bowed in respect as Renji walked over to two other students: a boy with blonde hair and an elongated face, and Toushirou's friend, Momo.
"My name is Gengoro Onabara-sensei. You will call me Onabara-sensei, is that clear? Now, you must be Nazeka Mamori, the new student that peaked Head-Captain Yamamoto's interest. You will get no special treatment just because of that. It will be even harsher for you here since you failed to take the exam and you have started in the middle of the year and on a Thursday too... Here is your class schedule. You are to report to the administration office during lunch today." He handed me a piece of paper and walked back to the front of the room.
A bell rang and immediately everyone went to their seats. I found an empty desk behind the blonde-haired kid. Class began with a fiery force. We took notes, were given questions to answer, homework, and then on to the next class. The next one for me was called a Kido class. It was in the Kido training grounds behind the building. Turned out, I had class with Renji and the two others, so I just followed them.
Renji ignored me the entire time, and I never got a chance to introduce myself to anyone since I was having such a hard time finding my way around the huge campus, even though I was following them.
Kido class was a class that taught you how to use what was known as the Demon Arts. We practiced a spell called Sokatsui, which was classified as Hado Number 33. The blonde-haired kid was first up. His name was Kira Izuru, and from what I could tell, it seemed as though he was pretty good at kido.
"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws. Hado 33, Sokatsui!"
A blast a blue fire shot from his palm and hit the target just a little off. The instructor praised him, but told him he could've done better. After him were some others of the class, and eventually it was my turn.
"Nazeka Mamori, please come here."
I obeyed, standing several meters away from the desired target. The instructor explained, "Just recite after me, and then aim for the target. Ready?"
"Ah, yes ma'am. I'm ready."
"Alright." She recited the spell Kira had said while I mimicked her.
"Hado 33, Sokatsui!" I yelled, and a small little flame of blue burst from my palm, going about two meters and then fading before it even reached the target. The entire class burst out laughing at my failure, but truthfully, I hadn't been expecting any better. The instructor was laughing too, "Okay, so you didn't get it your first try. Tomorrow I will be expecting better. That will be part of your homework for tonight."
"Yes ma'am," I replied before I returned to my seat. The rest of the class passed by, with the others performing it either poorly or close to perfect. Momo was really good too, while Renji failed miserably. After the Kido class, I had some more classes in the classroom, and then it was lunch time. I found it strange that even as souls, we had lunch.
Lunches were all held at the same time, and since we changed classes anyway, we were allowed to mix with the rest of the students. I met up with Rukia, who grabbed Renji and his friends. All five of us ate lunch together, and I got to know Momo and Kira a little better too.
"So, Nazeka, how come the Head-Captain took an interest in you? Did you do something that he liked?" Kira asked while taking a bite into his sandwich.
I shook my head, un-wrapping my Bento box that Kaien had given me, "No, I just ended up in the Seireitei. I was put on trial in front of the Gotei 13 and they found me innocent. They also noticed that I had some pretty high reiatsu, so they forced me in here."
"You just ended up there?" Kira repeated, not believing it. Momo wondered, "Maybe the Hell Butterfly just got lost?"
"Hell Butterfly?" I asked, not knowing what those are.
"Oh, they're the little black butterflies that Shinigami control. They guide the souls through the Dangai and the Senkaimon, as well as transmit messages amongst the Seireitei," Rukia explained.
"Oh, okay," I stuffed my mouth with some salmon sushi rolls afterward. I chewed for a second and then swallowed, immediately loving it, "Mmm, Kaien—is—such—a good—cook," I said, taking bites of the teriyaki udon noodles that he had prepared as well in between my words.
"Damn, slow down. You'll get a sick stomach," Renji said before taking a sip of his tea.
"Oh, so anyway, Nazeka, you were the girl I saw the other day in the Rukongai, right? Sorry about knocking you down. I was in such a rush to get back to my dorms since the new semester started and everything that I wasn't paying attention. I hope Shirou-chan was nice to you."
"I don't think he would appreciate being called that, and don't worry about it. We're friends now."
"Oh, that's really good! He needs more friends!"
I nodded. The lunch went on with some more questions, some backgrounds, and a lot of eating Kaien's awesome cooking for me. We finished and then all went our ways. I went to my Hoho class, which turned out to be a flash step class, as well as learning how to walk on air (which was so cool!). We were training our bodies to be able to move faster than the eye can follow. The problem is, I was never very fast and I haven't quite learned how to use my reishi, so I looked horrible out there.
After that, I went to my Hakuda class, which is a mix of martial arts. We learned hand to hand combat, which was something I could finally do a little well in. You see, even though I didn't have money to take classes, I had to learn a little on my own since I usually ended up being attacked by Hollows. It was so much fun! It was easy to get the hang of it, but I'm not sure I can fight anybody else right now, or be strong enough to.
The last class of the day was my Zanjustsu class, which was where we learned how to use the swords wielded by Shinigami: Zanpakutou. For today, the students were learning how to finally reach their inner Zanpakutou spirit and materialize the sword, since the sword was made up of your reishi.
"Nazeka Mamori, please come here," The master requested, and I obeyed, joining his side, "You will be doing this exercise as well. These students have been preparing all last semester to find their inner Zanpakutou spirit and communicate with them. You have not done so. Your project for the next month is to prepare and communicate with your Zanpakutou, and then by the time the month is over, I should see you holding your Zanpakutou in your hand."
"Yes sir. I will do my best," I told him. Yes, I know I was sucking up to all the teachers, but the other kids did it at one point to, you know. I returned to where I had been and did as the other students were. They were all sitting cross-legged on the floor, deep in thought, so I did too.
What was I supposed to be doing? How do I communicate with a Zanpakutou? What is a Zanpakutou? Spirit? Does that mean our weapons are living things? What will it look like? I decided I should talk to Ukitake that afternoon and focus on trying to talk to my inner spirit.
Hmmmhmmmhmmm…. La di da di da… hello? Heeeeellllloooo? If you're my Zanpakutou spirit, please answer. …. That's fine, take your time. I have all month….
Those thoughts continued until the class was over. The bell rang, and it was time to go home. I packed up my stuff and found Rukia in the halls.
"Hey, Rukia!" I called, catching up with her. She smiled and returned the greeting, "Hello, Nazeka. How'd your classes go?"
"Well, the hoho class was horrible, the Hakuda class wasn't bad, but I have no idea what we're doing in the Zanjutsu class. This is going to be a long six years… and it'll take me forever to catch up."
"Well, earlier you said you were staying at the barracks of a captain, right? Well then, ask either him or the lieutenant for help."
"I'll have to do that…" I said, and we talked all the way until we were close to the barracks of the 13th squad. We said our goodbyes and then I returned home. I found it strange that I had already begun calling the place home when I had only been there for three days, but hey, home is where you stay, right?
I immediately began searching for the Captain, and sure enough he was in his room. I decided not to bother him, so I searched for Lieutenant Shiba. Apparently he was in a Vice-Captain meeting. I decided to wait until either one of them were good to talk to, so I stood in the open garden outside my room and began my training homework.