Softly Snowing II
Academy Years
~Year One (Part One)~
The first day of classes approached quickly and Hana's excitement grew. Both Mitsuyo and Ren congratulated Hana upon her entry into the academy and even came over to the Kamoku household to see her uniform for school. Terunori however looked glum and sulked at his desk, the other boys muttering something about how that was a sign of something, which caused his mood to darken.
On the day of class, she changed into her uniform, her mother straightening it out so that she could head to the academy while her brothers watched. Hita had a glazed look on his face, almost as if he felt like he was losing something, while the eldest glared at her and Shirezu simply acted like this was not a big deal.
She then hurried out of the house, her sandals kicking up dust as she went, the cool spring air blowing in her face. She walked first towards the place that she happened to take her test and then she walked towards where someone pointed out the main gate to her. As she walked along, she didn't think about her surroundings.
She then startled, jumping out of her skin nearly as a voice came from above her. "Have a good day at the academy." At that, her brown eyes glanced up and saw a rather huge Shinigami looking down at her, a red cap upon her head. Her eyes went wide taking him in and he scratched his head rather sheepishly. "Sorry... I am Ikkanzaka Jidanbo, guardian of this gate. I also like to greet the academy students."
At that, the small girl timidly bowed to the man. "Hana Kam... Kamoku Hana."
At her response, the man suddenly frowned. "What is a small, timid thing like you doing entering the academy? You jump out of your skin way to easily."
"I... there is someone I want to follow..." Hana's words poored out. She then blinked. "But my parents think it has to do with something else... being better suited for marriage... something like that."
"I don't see why anyone should be forced into marriage if they don't want to. They should marry because they are in love. That is so special." The huge man smiled down at her, only to have her blink in confusion. He scratched his head again. "I guess those in the Rukongai are behind the times when it comes to newer traditions and such. It isn't just about... you know, I really can't explain it."
"Then why say it. You only serve to confuse me." The small girl pouted, but didn't cross her arms.
"Well... oh. The someone you are following must be someone special if you are wanting to join for that person." Jindanbo smiled at the female. "What's this young man's name?"
"How did you know it is a guy?" Hana asked, curiosity spreading on her face.
"Well..." Ikkanzaka smiled, scratching his head again. "I guess it goes back to what I said before, though truth is I don't really understand it myself."
"Oh..." The Kamoku girl pushed her hands behind her back. "Don't tell anyone, but it is Toshiro-kun that I am following."
"As in Hitsugaya Toshiro?" The man blinked a couple of times, then smiled big. "I know him. That kid is special. Very special, so I understand why anyone would want to follow him. He and I are good friends. I pride myself as being one of the few he considered a friend back when he was still living in the Rukongai."
"Lucky..." Hana pouted rocking on her heals.
"Yeah! Very lucky!" The giant then paused. "You weren't a friend then."
"I wanted to be, but I never got to talk to him about that like I wanted to. That's why I've got to go through the academy, so I can talk to him again and tell him I want to be friends." Her statement caused the giant to smile.
"I am glad. Very glad of that!" A big finger then pushed her from beind. "You'd best be running along so you aren't late."
ƸΨƷ
If Hana thought the village right outside of the gate was dense with people, inside had a greater amount of people traveling back and forth. She saw a good deal of shinigami moving about, but also nobles whose clothing made her feel dirty, despite the fact she wore a clean academy uniform instead of her kimono that was starting to wear thin do to age. Sure, hers was pretty, but not as pretty as some of the ones she now saw.
Nervously she worked her way through the crowd, asking every so often for directions. She preferred asking the Shinigami, despite the fact that she found them intimidating to speak too. This was likely due to the fact that the nobles seemed to hold themselves above her and seemed inapproachable. She also was told not to talk to strangers by her family, and despite the shinigami being strangers, they were there to uphold the piece.
Upon getting to the academy, she blinked a couple of times, finding that the place was vast, an imminence object was in the center squirting out water into the air. Everything inside the Seireitei caused her small home to pale in comparison. She stepped along, looking for her class, only to have an older student push her suddenly from behind.
"Your class, first year, is this way." The male stated, pushing her towards a particular doorway, shoving her into the room. Hana stood there, only to find her hand grabbed by another females and dragged over to the table.
"You look cute, so you'll make a good friend. I was hoping that there would be a female close to my age in the advanced class." The girl also had brown hair, but her eyes were a vivid blue. "My name is Hamano Ayumu."
"Kamoku Hana..." The small female pulled away slightly, but Ayumu insisted on pulling the female towards a seating area, an avast partial bowl pit... the best way Hana thought to describe it. "But I'm not..."
Ayumu proceeded to tell Hana all about herself, how she came from the Northern area of the Rukongai, from the forth district. She grew up in a family comprised of various other souls who came from the living world, having lost their regular families. Hana noticed when she had come in that a good deal of students had come in and wondered if she could get out so she wouldn't be late to her own class.
However, a man stepped into the room and barked out a command. "I am Onabara Gengoro, teacher of the entering class, Class 1. Since you are in this class, that means that you happened to achieve the best grades on the test we happened to give you. As always, we expect a lot of class number one. We expect you to learn faster then the other students and will not be surprised if you reach seated material."
He then called out their names and Hana shrunk back in her seat wanting to escape. However, Ayumu noticed that her name wasn't called. "Sir... I think you forgot someone."
"And that would be?" the man raised his head, scanning the list. "I don't believe I forgot someone as it seems my list says everyone is here."
"You forgot Kamoku Hana. She's sitting right here." The other female spoke up.
"I don't have such a name on my list." The man pushed on his glasses. "Wish to explain yourself?"
At that, Hana stood up straight, completely nervous. "I was pushed into the class by an older person saying it was my class and I got lost."
At that, the teacher stared at her, his jaw dropping, one eye twitching while quite a few of the other students burst out laughing. Ayumu blinked a couple of times. "You know Hana, you could have told me..."
At that the teacher motioned for Hana to follow after him, an exasperated look on his face. "Why is it that something seems to happen every year I get the first years. Only once did something interesting happen in a year when I wasn't teaching first years." She heard Onabara sensei mutter. Glancing back and Ayumu, Hana felt a deep pain as the other girl's face twisted up in what she figured to be a hurt expression.
The man continued on his way, leading her to her correct classroom and rapped on the door, so that another person commented about coming in. The other teacher blinked a couple of times and then Onabara sensei spoke up. "One of your students became lost."
"You seem exasperated." The other teacher shook their head. She nodded her head to the seats, where some of the other students giggled at the fact that Hana came in late.
"It's my fault. Another students pushed me into his classroom and I got lost." The small female spoke up, getting more laughs from the students.
"You wonder why I am exasperated? Something happens every six years when I get a new class to headroom." The man stated, turning to leave.
The woman chuckled at Hana. "Don't mind him. He thrives on having special students who are different and wouldn't have it any other way. I think he's more miffed due to the fact that this year he didn't get a student that stood out even among the advanced students as being different. Thirty to forty years ago, he got a whole bunch."
At that, Hana meekly went and sat down, despite being told that things were all right by this female teacher. She sat down next to another female, to shy to say hello or even look the girl in the face. "I wonder though, if a special student interrupts the class, if that means the gifted class is really smart."
"I didn't do well on my test though." Hana spoke up, in a whisper so as to not draw the teachers attention to herself.
"We're supposed to be introducing ourselves silly, so there is no need to speak quietly. Honestly... you are as timid as a mouse." The girl smiled at her, flicking her hair back over her shoulder. "I am Akimoto Kumiko. I'm of a noble family, which makes me surprised that they overlooked my skill like they did."
"You have skill?" Hana blinked a couple of times.
"I bet you do too." Kumiko smiled at the small female. "Where did you come from? You don't act like someone of the noble families."
"First district of the Rukongai... I'm actually following my sempai." The small female glanced at the ground, fidgeting as she did so.
"So, who is your sempai?" The other female asked. "Though I doubt you know anyone special."
"I know..." Hana paused. "I can't mention Hitsugaya Toshiro. I don't know why, but I just can't..." The small female's cheeks flushed up. "Hinamori Momo."
"You mean Hinamori Momo, the fukutaicho of the fifth division!" The Akimoto noble became excited at this. "What was she like before she entered the academy?"
At that, Hana brightened up. "Hinamori Momo is really nice. She attended the school where I went to learn how to read and write and she used to read to the younger girls when she still attended. Everyone in our village liked her."
"That is simply amazing." The other female watched as Hana began to become nervous again. "I joined because I am interested in the tenth division captain."
"Why?" Hana became confused for a bit.
"If you don't know, you don't know," the other girl smirked. "Do you think the two of us can be friends?" At that, Hana nodded her head, forgetting about the comment about the tenth division captain.
Author's note – Those who've read the first know that I began this series to prove that a childhood friend of sorts could be written for Hitsugaya Toshiro without the character turning into a Mary Sue simply by having Toshiro go OoC to be a friend. Recently, I read a fanfic though where an OC had only been in soul society, less then ten years and knew Ichigo personally, yet Toshiro claimed her to be a childhood friend. That plot simply isn't possible.
Anyways, I am going to have Hita join Hana sometime during this fanfic, but what year is the question. I plan on having him graduate the same year as her. See my profile for the poll involving this please.