One Day [ Shizuko ]

[Magic]

Shawn had his whole afterlife planned before him: he would become the greatest Shinigami ever to live, perhaps miraculously become a captain, and manage to do every little thing right in his life. There would be no failing grades, stupid non-talking zanpakutos, or long winded spell thingys to block his way. He would be so terribly amazing that legions of Shinigami would bow before him and kiss the ground in his wake. He would be just that cool.

One day, at least.

Today however he was staring failure in the face. Already he could feel the pressure of the Shinigami Academy pressing on the fragile confines of his mind. Already the failures were piling up in his closet, certain to hold him back another year. His instructors were already giving him the weary nod, the one that simply said, "Crap. We're stuck with you again." He was going to be held back for his eighth time.

Would he ever get past his first year?

It never helps that the general student body knew of his treacherous reputation. It was only a setback that his instructors were pleading to the heavens-where they conveniently lived-that Shawn be moved on so that they could rid themselves of his ignorance. Perhaps the glares or snickers he was given on a daily basis were rightly deserved. It seemed that Soul Society had deemed him completely hopeless. He truly couldn't do anything right.

You would think this would perturb the blond. You would think that after being held back seven times in your freshman year would make you rethink the course you were stumbling all over. No, for Shawn Caden Holt his destiny was clear: become a Shinigami. It wasn't a fitting destiny for someone like him. He was an awful coward, a terrible swordsman, his mind could not comprehend those numbered spells, and his zanpakuto refused to speak to him. There was no appeal for Shawn in being a Shinigami really, he just wanted to prove everyone wrong.

Currently, he was doing the very opposite.

After the students were released for blessed freedom Shawn wove his way to the courtyard-various flying objects beamed at his head whilst students leered several taunts to him-determination clearly written along his face. He always carried a curious brown bag and his stupid little "sword" (honestly, it hardly constituted as such for it was a mere foot long). The students of the Academy could probably tell you where the failing student wondered off to. Sometimes they infiltrated his peace to tease some more. Most days, though, he was left alone to try and train.

Today Shawn was going to try and learn his zanpakuto's name. He heard that swords had names for some unfathomable reason, but Shawn considered his a dud. Why? Because it had yet to say a thing. It was a pretty crappy sword, so Shawn wasn't that surprised. Yet, the cheery blond was adamant on trying anyway. He believed that if he could release his zanpakuto that it would prove everyone wrong-he would be suddenly amazing!

He had tried various tactics by this point. He had abandoned it for a time (something his instructors weren't very fond of), he decided he would throw it against things in what we call Zanpakuto Abuse, he even tried giving the thing a muffin. NOTHING worked. Not even the muffin! What kind of zanpakuto denys that?!

Anyway, Shawn moved over to a clear green patch of grass located beside a towering cherry blossom tree. The blooms were peeking open, but just barely. Not that Shawn cared much. He was determined today! He whipped out his "sword", though it was hardly long enough with it's golden curved blade, and stared at it.

The blue-eyed lad decided he would stare it into submission.

It was going to be a long afternoon.

[Shizuko]

A gentle breeze wafted through an open window of an office. There was little of note in the room as far as furniture or decoration is concerned, though a small vase with fresh flowers sat upon a large desk. The wildflowers wouldn’t necessarily be described beautiful or professional looking, as it seemed that they’d simply been selected from a grove of weeds at random and stuffed into the container without much thought or care. Behind the desk with the poorly assembled blossoms sat a large and empty leather chair. Upon its arm rested a white jacket, bearing the symbolic eleven across its back. The edges of the fabric gently shuffled to and fro in the draft, the entire scene making one wonder where its owner had run off to without it.

A small girl dressed in traditional shinigami attire appeared within one of the many halls of the Shinigami Academy without a sound. She took a quick look around before disappearing once more, only to materialize a fair distance down the hall. There weren’t many people around at this time of day, so blending into a crowd wasn’t necessarily going to be an option here. As the girl leaned against the frame of an archway, her large brown eyes scanned the area around her, including the exit of the hallway which led to the Academy’s courtyard area.

Matano Nekomi wasn’t scared, she was simply being stubborn. She was on the lookout for a large, muscular and heavily tattooed man known as Tarukane Sokou. She wasn’t sure what he’d wanted of her (perhaps it was related to paperwork, a necessary meeting, or even a bath), but she didn’t like the look in his eye. It was that look. He wanted her to do something unpleasant, that’s for sure. Thus, the smallest captain among the Gotei 13 found herself wandering the once familiar halls of the Shinigami Academy, hoping to buy herself some time as well as annoy her vice captain in the process. She’d left her haori and her office and escaped to enjoy a beautiful day.

Her mischievous gaze landed upon a boy who sat alone, giving the blade in his hands a rather disturbing and intense glare. She wondered if he expected it to melt under his concentrated stare. It was an odd scene, but being the curious creature that she was, she simply had to take a closer look. The miniature captain’s reiatsu was already heavily restrained to a level more on par with an average academy student, so she had little hesitation about approaching. She had time to kill, after all. Who knew how long it would be before Sokou managed to track her down?

So intensely was the boy’s gaze locked upon the small weapon that Nekomi determined that she would rather easily be able to sneak in without his notice. She did just that, using her shunpo to appear just behind the large tree. She poked her head out from around its trunk and spoke aloud to the boy as a playful grin spread across the girl’s lips.

“I think that works better if you swing it around and slice stuff with it. I doubt it does any cool tricks when you stare at it,” Nekomi said to the boy with a mischievous giggle.

[GoldenKitten]

Moved to Dead RP's.