Game 2 - Chapter 1

Igarashi decides to be quick about it, and charge at his opponent while he is in the ground, and proceeds to dive at him with a downward kick.

Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Attack :

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Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Defense :

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Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Sense :

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Anshou opens his eyes and sees Igarashi's foot heading for his face. He lifts his hands up, trying to catch Igarashi's foot and send him into a throw.

Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Attack :

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Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Defense :

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Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Sense :

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Igarashi changes it up at the last minute and goes into an elbow drop, catching the unprepared Anshou strong in the chest. Anshou gasps from the power of the blow, but manages to recover with a series of quick feints and punches to Igarashi's face and upper body. Igarashi dodges most of them, but one connects to the side of his head.

Igarashi receives 1 wound
Anshou receives 6 wounds

The people watching outside notice that both combatants appear exhausted and ready to drop.

Anshou wiped the blood from his mouth and grinned. There was about one more shot of energy left in his body, and he was going to take it. His opponent looks pretty beat up to so Anshou tried to finish him off with a round house kick to the face.

Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Attack :

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Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Defense :

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Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Sense :

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Igarashi grunts a little, Mizukin was far stronger than what he looked, trying to shrug of the dizziness he felt from that last blow, Igarashi manages to see Mizukin delivering a fierce round house quick, Igarashi put his arms up, Defending from the blow.

Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Attack :

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Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Defense :

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Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Sense :

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Igarashi blocks the roundhouse kick and dodges the series of fast punches that follow.

No wounds dealt

Igarashi then decides to take the offensive now, sure that his enemy is on his last legs, he goes fasts and lunges at him with a powerful series of punches.

Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Attack :

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Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Defense :

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Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Sense :

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"No more games," Anshou muttered, watching Igarashi closely and preparing to strike.

Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Attack :

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Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Defense :

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Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Sense :

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Although exhausted, Igarashi and Anshou managed to read each other's moves perfectly and block and dodge accordingly.

No wounds dealt.

Dodging and weaving, determined to break through Igarashi's defenses, Anshou lifted his knee at his midsection and then spun around to kick one more time.

Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Attack :

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Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Defense :

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Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Sense :

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Igarashi, exhausted as he was, managed to bare a grin at Mizukin, this was it, this was exactly the kind of fights he enjoyed, he was worried at first that the pretty boy might have been to easy of a match, but he was glad to see there was more to him than what met the eye. He watches another kick going at him, and decides he might still be able to defend from it.

Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Attack :

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Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Defense :

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Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Sense :

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Igarashi puts up his seemingly impenetrable defense again, frustrating Anshou as he can't seem to land a single blow.

No wounds dealt.

Igarashi grins, sure that his opponent is on the brink of exhaustion, decides to counter attack, this time risking himself more by delivering a powerful knee strike to end it all.

Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Attack :

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Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Defense :

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Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Sense :

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Anshou, taking a bit of caution against his opponent, decides to focus on blocking for one round and take a cue from his opponent and defend.

Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Attack :

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Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Defense :

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Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Sense :

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Anshou manages to block Igarashi's mighty knee with one hand, showing that there's more strength in his skinny, pale arms than meets the eye.

No wounds dealt.

Anshou takes a deep breath, trying not to get agitated. He put his hands up in front of him in a ready position, moved his feet into a stance and lauched at his opponent again.

Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Attack :

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Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Defense :

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Anshou Mizukin carried out 3 launched of one Sense :

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Igarashi grunts, the fight was taking a toll on him, and his opponent was charging at him again, he could defend, but decides it's time to finish it, even if he ends up going down, being more exiting that way, and launches himself foward too.

Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Attack :

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Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Defense :

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Igarashi Sakimoto carried out 3 launched of one Sense :

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CRASH!

With a crack that echoes loudly through the gym, both boys connect with their attacks. Anshou catches Igarashi in the face with a punch while Igarashi's powerful kick sends Anshou reeling into the far wall of the gym. Anshou rolls away from the wall, nearly unconscious, dazed and bleeding. Igarashi manages to weakly make a Victory sign with his fingers before also collapsing to the ground, breathing heavily and nearly unconscious.

Igarashi received 3 wounds
Igarashi has achieved a CRITICAL HIT!
Anshou received 12 wounds

Double knockout!

This was a total blast and an awesome fight.

40 Exp to Igarashi and Anshou.

Igarashi lied in the ground, his face burning from Mizukin's fists. His body was totally exhausted, and yet, a wide grin could be distinguished on his face, he didn't care if this would get him in trouble later, it had been worth every second of it, he had not been in such a fight for a long time, the adrenaline and excitement he archived from it surpassed any pain he was currently experiencing, and the fact that he was sure his opponent was in no better condition than him also made him feel good, regardless of anything, he never liked to lose, even if it was a "practice" fight.

Looking up briefly, Igarashi glanced something near the entrance of the gym... observers... good, they can clean up this mess for me then... Still smiling, Igarashi then closed his eyes, satisfied from it all, he could now give in to the exhaustion and faint.

Fuiro dropped his cigarette to his feet and stamped it out.

"So," he said, turning to the gathered mass of students at his back. "What did you learn?"

Fuiro Hyakushi wrote:

Fuiro dropped his cigarette to his feet and stamped it out.

"So," he said, turning to the gathered mass of students at his back. "What did you learn?"

Knowing that the answers Fuiro might be looking for could be phrased any number of ways, Ryouichi put his response in terms of his own favorite subject: strategy. "I guess one of the most basic things would be 'don't underestimate your opponent', but in terms of tactics...," he paused for a moment, composing his explanation, "Well, winning a battle isn't always about how strong your attacks are; It doesn't matter how hard your attacks hit as long as you can outlast the enemy's. That's why, unless you know for sure that your attack will knock them out before they can land theirs, you should always focus on defending against the opponent when their attacks trump your normal defense.

Not doing so lead to situations like this," Ryouichi continued, gesturing to his beaten-up classmates with a hand, "where both of you are incapacitated. It's a draw, but if you were going up against a real enemy, one of his buddies would probably come along and pick you off. And...," he trailed off, rubbing his chin in thought, and then suddenly quirked a smile, "Don't go all out in a spar late at night when you're unlikely to get medical help. I think that's about it." Ryouichi gave the Zanpakutou I teacher an inquiring look. "Was that everything, Fuiro-sensei? It's all I could come up with off the top of my head."

"That's good," said Fuiro, pulling his trusty pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. "But I meant specifically these two." He pointed at the two boys beaten and bruised on the ground of the gym. "What can you tell me about these two, just from watching them fight?"

"I sssssee you have returned," Onorinowai says. "You have quessssstions about your passssst, I can ssssssensssse thisssss... Be aware... there are thingssssss... that you may not want to know... Think carefully before you asssssssk me anything...."

Midori stiffens at this admonishment, but stubbornly pushes forward. "Want to or not, I don't think I'll rest easy for long until I know something."

She takes a deep breath before making her request. "I guess the best way would be to start from the end and move backwards...." She then looks up into Onorinowai's eyes. "I want to know how I died. We'll start there." She then braces herself as best she can for the understandably disturbing revelations that is likely to come.

"Asssss you wisssshh..." The snakes eyes glow bright red, and then--

Midori's mind is assaulted by a series of images, out of context and disjointed, flying so quickly through her head that she can't make sense of any of them.

The knife in your hand

Until death do us part

There's someone I'd like you to meet

Are these memories? Hallucinations? I can't tell. Can't think. There's no time for me to think.

The crying of an infant

My left arm, burning, agonizing

"I do."

The image of a man, a very, very old man with a long beard, standing over me, towering over me, leaning on a knobby wooden cane. This image lingers a bit longer, long enough for me to wonder how such an old man got to be so tall--

It's a girl

I expect you to fulfill your obligations

Am I seeing these things? Hearing them? Or experiencing them?

The rain, falling on your face

We have a new face here

Oh god, the burning

Another face, of a younger man, turns to me and smiles. A thick, ugly scar holds his left eye shut, and another scar extends away from his mouth, but still he looks warm and kindhearted... and very familiar... Though I can't remember anything about him. Suddenly his smile melts away, torn away into a howl of terror as he falls away from me, I reach for him and notice that he only has four fingers on his right hand--

"Failure!"

I will always love you, no matter what

So much blood

Oh god, not my baby

You know what I am and I know what you are

The pain of childbirth

And the clear sensation of a gun barrel in the back of my head. Shaking, I look up. It's the old man. That's why he's so much taller than me. I'm on my knees. He lifts his cane into the air. I look down through tear-blurred eyes at the baby in my arms. He drives the end of his cane into the ground.

Bang.

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Midori's eyes flew open as an expression of confusion, terror, and panic flushed over her face in rapid waves. She recoiled awkwardly, smacking the back of her head soundly against the dorm room wall and sending Onorinowai clattering to the ground to skid halfway under Naomi's bed. The room was empty and unlit, and the moon had risen some, indicating a passing of some time... not quite an hour, but hard to judge. Midori didn't react at all at first, but rather remained shivering and staring into the darkness for a few moments before fighting back and regaining her composure. She struggled to put herself back upright and managed to make it to a sitting position on the edge of the bed, where she gazed down at the glint of metal in the pale moonlight that reflected from Onorinowai's edge.

What WAS that...? So much... all too fast.... She rubbed at the back of her head, finally acknowledging the pain from the initial crash into the wall - she'd probably woken anyone who happened to still be in their room next door, at this rate, but such minor inconveniences were far from her mind at the moment. The burning sensation was probably when I got my tattoo, at least I can make that.... The baby, was that my baby?

"Argh, none of this makes sense!" she suddenly exclaimed aloud, leaping to her feet, then glanced around nervously as if she hadn't expected or intended to do that. After a few moments further of silence, she bent down to retrieve the weapon, then returned it respectfully to its scabbard then back to its resting place at her bedside. At least one thing was clear - she knew how she'd died, and that was what she'd asked Onorinowai to show her. She'd been shot in the back of her head while kneeling in front of the strange old man with the long beard, and judging from the way he slammed his staff into the ground right before the gunshot went off her death was probably at his command. The sound of the shot was still echoing around in her mind, even now minutes after the trance had been broken. So she knew the how, now she needed to know the why.

But that could wait for another night. Getting to sleep with the knowledge she had gained just this far was going to be difficult enough. Sparing one more glance at her sheathed zanpakuto, Midori sighed and got back in bed, and slipped into a shallow, restless sleep.

Satoko paced back and forth, all his senses back in effect now, he could truely take in his surroundings. He had reclamied his Zanpakutou, and now held it out infront of him as he paced in the shallow grass. The air was cool, relaxing, unlike the warmth of the morning, this disturbed him. Actually, everything was disturbing him, from the feel of the air, to the very way he paced. Satoko sighed, he needed to calm himself else he may go mad from the very workings of mind. They ikept conjuring noises, he could swear he heard mobement, and now what, voices? Wait, yes, those ARE voices. I can't tell if they're conjured by my troubled mind or truely there... Only one way to tell. Grateful for something to check out, whether or not it was his imagination or people were really speaking outdoors at night, for a reason unknown to Takeshi.

Not after very long, Takeshi was already viewing everyone from a safe distance, the only one who had a light chance of noticing him was the grown man with them. Casually he began to identify them, doing it more out of a need to distract his mind then anything else. Blue hair, who has blue hair? I've seen her before... Screw it, I can't remeber. That one's Kanue, the older man is obviously a teacher, that brunette is Rikiki, the loud-mouthed one. And the other one is... Kasahara? Satoko stopped thinking at all for moment, and spent a moment simply feeling bad. The way he felt bad this time felt strange though, for he was not wallowing in he self pity, not telling himself he was simply unsuccesful and would never suceed. For the first time in his known memory Takeshi felt honestly sorry for something he had done, and he did not know it. He merely brushed it off after it's moment of dominance over his other emotions, and reverted back to felling, well, honestly he wasn't feeling anything.

Satoko was slumped against the Academy wall, he wanted to go inside and rest in a real bed for once, just to give it a try, but he honestly couldn't. He couldn't distinguish the strange little symbols that apparently told him where to sleep, they all looked so strange to him. No matter how hard he had tried he'd never been able to decipher them, the annoyance of it was getting to him, but that was not even close to the topic on his mind. He was beginning to feel strange, he had spent the majority of the prior day in Kasahara's company, along with the occasional company of others. He had spent today essentially alone, just like every other day previous to it. Although a familiar thing to do, it felt strange to do for some reason, he believed he may be missing the company of others. Although today had only been a singular set of 24 hours, just like every other day he had lived, it felt lonlier. He wondered why.

{I didn't do anything god dammit! I'm getting sick of my character... }

Fuiro looked back among the nonresponsive students, sighed, and popped another cigarette into his mouth. "The redheaded boy," he pointed at Igarashi. "Notice how he couldn't take a lot of hits before he went down? He's fragile... but his defense is not weak. Notice how the other boy could barely lay a hand on him. He's fast too, manages to dodge blows rather than block them. But very cautious. Stays on the defensive, doesn't attack unless he's sure he'll be able to defend as well, but when he does attack, it's one hell of a shot."

"The other boy," indicating Anshou. "He took that elbow to the chest that, frankly, I would probably have gotten at least a little winded from. A lot tougher than he looks. But notice that he's very offensive minded, hardly ever defends. Attacks fast and hard, tries to take the other guy out quick and decisive-like. Only problem with that is that you wear yourself out quick doing that. In a long fight, your enemy'll be able to outlast you."

"It's important to analyze your allies' strengths and weaknesses as well as your foes'," Fuiro addressed the students again. "I hope you pay close attention to each other in your classes, as you'll be able to support each other better... and...," Fuiro trailed off, cocking his head to one side. "Heh... There it is again," he smirked.

Quietly, but steadily, that same sad, soft tune... like a flute of some sort... spread ethereally over the night air of the campus, reaching the ears of all the students and teachers still awake at this late hour.

"I wonder where that's coming from?" Fuiro mused, lighting his cigarette.

Kasahara had been watching the fight between Sakimoto and Mizukin, but her thoughts were on something else. She was confused and had mixed feelings about the situation. She had been shown authority and have been lectured for trying to start a fight with Hikari; now, Kasahara was watching Hyakushi-sensei enjoy the fight between the two boys. Getting punished for fighting. Not getting punished for fighting. She didn't get it and it frustrated her a little. Wasn't she put in detention for what they are doing? Fighting?? Granted, what Hikari and Kasahara had was escalating into a fight, but it would've ended up the same way...

When Hyakushi-sensei asked them of what they thought of their match, she stayed silent. The tomboy didn't know what the teacher wanted to hear from them so she didn't speak. Kanue made an observation about fighting in general, but it wasn't exactly what Hyakushi-sensei wanted to talk about. After a bout of silence among the group, the teacher explained the fight in detail of what they should've paid attention to. His teachings were halted due to a sound in the air. It was light and had a meloncholy touch as it filled the air with it's song.

Kasahara turned to find which direction the tune was coming from, but found something else. Squinting, the tall brunette could see Takeshi's figure slumped against the outside wall of the academy. She wondered what he was doing outside at this hour, but his presence came to no surprise. Afterall, Naomi and Kanue seem to be up and about at this time of night. She was willing to bet that there were more students awake than there should've been. Some part of her wanted to call Takeshi over to join their group instead of sitting alone in the dark but Kasahara reasoned that it was too out of the ordinary for her to do so as just a classmate. Why was she paying special attention to the sandy haired boy? Even though she wasn't going to come up to him and speak with him directly, Kasahara did want to let him know that she acknowledged his presence by giving a low wave. Hopefully, it would draw his attention from the wondering look in his eyes.

And then she remembered something. Even though the tune in the air was something new for others to turn their attention to, she didn't want the teacher to forget about something. Kasahara opened the door to then gym building but didn't step inside; she was holding the door open. "Hyakushi-sensei. Before we start trying to search for the owner of the song, maybe we should help these two out..." Even though the brunette held a small feeling of anger towards the teacher, Sakimoto, and Mizukin for somewhat bending the rules ( in her opinion ), she didn't want to leave the two unconscious boys laying on the floor. "It'd be extremely helpful if you knew any healing kidou, Hyakushi-sensei."

Junshirou crept out of the dormitory, determined to find out where the flute music was coming from. He'd been woken up earlier in the night by Zetsumei screaming and running out of the room (...there would have to be questions asked about that), and hadn't yet managed to get back to sleep. There hadn't really been any noteworthy dreams... there was something involving an accordion and a traditional drinking-house, but he wasn't entirely sure what that was. He would have tried to analyse it, except for the fact that he couldn't remember enough of it to tell.

Eventually, he found himself outside, having tried carefully not to wake anyone else up while he was walking past. The music had stopped playing by now, but he had a vague general direction to head in, so he jogged that way for a few minutes. However, before long he met a dead end, so went to return to the dormitory, cursing his sense of direction. On the way back, he sensed quite a large group of people... he went to investigate, popping up unannounced somewhere in between Kanue and Hyakushi-sensei.

"Aah... Hyakushi-sensei, isn't it?"

He then got disinterested and followed the direction of everyone's stares, finding Anshou and Igarashi both slumped over.

"...what happened here? Should we get help or something?"

Fuiro shrugged and dropped his cigarette. "Alright, how many of you plan to show up out here tonight? It looks like we're having some sort of club meeting or poker game at this time of night." He went in after Igarashi and Anshou. "I'll get someone from Medical down here for these two. The rest of you, get some sleep. It's a school night, you know."

The mysterious tune had since died away, and the clock on top of the school building proclaimed it to be 1 AM.

Atleast it seemed that Hyakushi-sensei wasn't entirely irresponsible. Getting someone to tend to the two fallen boys would be the best anyone could do for them since it looked like no one knew anything about healing. Kasahara wasn't too confident that applying her knowledge of first aid would be needed anymore now that nearly anyone could get a hold on a staff member of the Academy. After he told the mass of students gathered around, Kasahara stepped up to him, letting the door to the gym building close behind her. "Does that mean Brown and I are dismissed too?" Both brunettes were there for a purpose, unlike the other students around them. She wouldn't mind going back to the dorms though; the taller of the two brunettes just wanted to make sure that the teacher was referring to both of them when he asked everyone to go to sleep.

Maka Kasahara wrote:

"Does that mean Brown and I are dismissed too?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure." He nodded. "Go on, hit the hay. You're third-years, right? Heh..." He put out his hand, and a hell butterfly flitted over and landed on his finger. "That means you've got SLAP with Lt. Kotetsu tomorrow. You'll be in trouble if you don't get some decent sleep tonight." He whispered something to the butterfly, probably a message to the medical squad, and waved his hand, sending it on its way.

The students bid goodnight to Hyakushi-sensei, then scattered back to their rooms before the medics could arrive to take Igarashi and Anshou to the healing room. They stitched the two boys back together nicely, although Anshou was left with a rather nice shiner underneath his right eye. A representative from Assistant Headmaster Ise's office came to speak to them, and they told the truth: A late-night workout and training session that turned into a sparring match that got a little rough. Neither boy was seriously injured, there was no property damage, and after-hours sparring wasn't against the rules, though somewhat frowned upon, so neither Igarashi nor Anshou would be facing any disciplinary action.

The rest of the night drifted by without incident, and the morning bell promptly rang at 6 AM, leaving some students with droopy eyes after a night of less-than-adequate sleep. The cafeteria promptly opened for breakfast, though today there were audible whispers among students and faculty about that mysterious flute song that had echoed through the campus for two nights in a row now...

After homeroom today, Class 3-A will be headed to the 3rd-Year Gym for Advanced Tactics II with Lt. Hisagi.

Midori, despite her exhaustion following her visions, hadn't been able to sleep through the strange music. Thus, she was one of the more exhausted-looking students come morning, despite the fact she'd never left her room after light's out. Furthermore, a look of studious contemplation mixed with the appearance of tiredness, giving her a visage not unlike that of a busy scholar who stayed up too late researching her favorite obsession. Which wasn't completely inaccurate - Midori could hardly think of anything beyond the strange images of her former life Onorinowai had showed her last night.

Thus she was rather silent as she made her way through breakfast and to homeroom, the hidden meaning behind all that insanity heavy on her mind.

Chiken woke up in his usual cheery mood. He went through his morning routine humming the song that was still stuck in his head. After getting ready, he got into the cafeteria and got a very hearty breakfast to make up for last night.

During the breakfast period he heard some talks of some flute or something, but pushed it to the back of his mind while eating. It wasn't until he had cleaned up after himself that he remembered that he wanted to stay up and hear the flute, but instead he had slept through it again. 'Ah well. Tonight then, I shall stay up and not forget about it.' After vowing to himself about staying up again Chiken continued to homeroom, sat down, and started working again on his watch again.

Zetsumie had wandered around campus for a while before returning to his room last night. He was relived to see that Tenkawa was a sleep again when he went back. He didn't go anywhere in particular, just wandered around thinking about his dream. He was grateful the grass had not died at his feet.

In the morning things felt a little better. He said good morning to Tenkawa, knowing he would probably have some questions later for him.

He knew today was Gym and wasn't sure whether to look forward to it or not. He sat down for breakfast in the cafeteria, not really tasting what he was eating. What he really want was to talk to his zampakto about his dream.