Game 2 - Chapter 1

Yachiru smiled as she held her hands out over the boy. A shock of reiatsu flowed through the room, and the little girl's eyes began to glow pink.

"Way of Binding #46! Renew!" she shouted. The gym filled with a warm, pink glow, and suddenly, all of the boy's wounds were gone.

Anshou has healed all WOUNDS!

Zaraki knelt down next to the boy. "Hey, kid. You hear me?" His eyes fluttered as he floated back into consciousness. "You made me bleed, so like I promised, I'll train you." He stood up, lifted Yachiru up with one arm, and placed her on his back. "Meet me back here every night at lights out," he said, walking for the door. "If you miss one lesson," he turned back and grinned at Anshou. "...I'll kill you."

And just like that, he was gone.

Lying there, Anshou felt half dead, even after recieving the little girl's healing kidou. But he was awake enough to hear Zaraki agree to train him. Yes! Anshou said to himself. Surely with the strongest Captian in Soul Society training me, soon I'll be able to...

Anshou wondered offhand if the Captian's threat to kill him was a joke or not. Probably not. But that didn't matter. There was no way Anshou was going to miss out on this.

He tried to get up, but his energy was spent. He spent a good portion of the night lying there on the floor of the gym, exhausted.

Naomi heard stood at the door. He could not hear anything in the students room. The whispering had stopped. The whole building was silent. Naomi needed to do something to keep her mind off her dreams. She walked out side and heard fighting. Naomi entered the gym just in time to watch the fight. Anshou lost but he put up a descent fight. It took Naomis mind off her Grandmother. Naomi walked up to the captain of the 11th devision and asked "Would I be able to do a little training?

Edit by Smythe: Sorry, no copycatting other players' ideas. If you want to go in and chat with Anshou, though, that's fine.

"Well... this is certainly... interesting."
Looking around, everything just didn't make sense. Chiken was seeing his classmates, but everything was shifting out of control. He'd look at Satoko sitting in front of Chiken in SLAP class then everything would blur and become Satoko sitting at dinner. Chiken would turn to Kanue at dinner, then it was suddenly him looking at Kanue when Chiken first entered homeroom the first day. Chiken would turn and then see Rikiki standing in front of himself only for a second before it shifted to Rikiki on the ground, bound by the Kidou spell. It was mildly nauseating.

Chiken tried closing his eyes as the scenes came faster with less time to process them, but found that he couldn't. A chalkboard with writing, blur, a mound of food, blur, a red flash, blur, a broken door, then there was finally black nothingness. Chiken had managed to close his eyes to the whir of the scenes and he let out a sigh.

He kept his eyes closed for a minute before he opened them again. Thankfully, the scenes had stopped and he was on the edge of a lake in the middle of an endless plain. He looked down at the surface of the lake to see the water showing one scene, a long hallway in the academy.

"Ugh, you have no idea how confusing that was to go through, and just to get it to stop there."
Chiken looked up to see the orange butterfly that was his Zanpakutou, Myounahanashi. She floated over and landed on his head to rest.
"So, Myounahanashi, what was that? All of my classmates were there, but everything was shifting around."
"Think it through, little one. Why were they your classmates and everything you've seen before? You know the answer."

Chiken closed his eyes and thought, but it wasn't long until the answer came to him,
"That was everything that happened since I came to the Academy, right?"
"Exactly. I've secluded those memories here in this lake, your lake of memories. However, they're all scrambled because that's simply how your brain works. We're going to have to unscramble it as a starting point."
"What do you mean? I'm lost and confused, Myouna."
"I know you are, little one. With you being on your own in the wild for so long, things have gotten very scrambled. We'll work through it, step by step, and straighten things out." Myounahanashi said soothingly, as if talking to a child.
"Alright. I'll do it if you'll stay with me, Myouna."
"I'll be with you for it, don't worry."

After a deep breath, Chiken jumped into the lake.

Naomi left the gym. She was still trying to find a way to escape the pain that haunted her..She knew that she needed to talk to someone or drink her pain away. Then an amazing idea hit her. She would do both. She walked to a bar. Lucky for her it was open. It was not far off campus, a not far distance. She went in the bar and sat down on the bench slamming her had on the table on the way down. The bar tender asked her if she had a rough day she then replied. You don’t evan know. She then got a beer. She drank it quick chugging every guzzle. She finished it quick. She then got started on drinking shots. She had a lot of sour puss for it was her favorite. She then continued to drink coolers followed by rum then Gin and lemonade. She asked for more when the bartender cut her off. Naomi then talked to the bartender. Why cant I have more? The bartender replied your really drunk and you just gave me an IOU. Naomi giggled. The bartender said money or nothing. Naomi looked him in the eye. What if I showed you these? She unbuttoned her shirt revealing her body. The bartender gave her several more drinks.

A hour later the bar closed and Naomi had to leave she tried to stand up but fall backwards on her stool. She Then laughed. She finally staggered to her feet and left the building. She returned to the campus to look for somewhere to sleep. She took off her shirt so she would be comfortable. Where do they have comfy places? Ohh yeah right here Naomi said falling to the ground face down in the dirt.

Several hours had now passed since Igarashi had fallen asleep at the end of the SLAP class. But he had no idea about this, in fact, he was not aware of absolutely anything ever since he began his sleep, not even the fact that he got dragged, and his robes searched by Zetsumei. He was not even aware that he was now sleeping on his dormitory, everything in Igarashi's mind was blank, finally taking a deep rest from anything that had happened in the last two days, and all the bruises his body had received by then.

But, as deep as that sleep was, it only took one small sound... one disturbingly familiar sound to wake him up...

The crying of a baby...

Igarashi suddenly leaped from his bed, his eyes wide open, scanning around his surroundings, it took him only a split second to recognize his room, even if it was in almost complete darkness. He didn't stop to think why he was there though, he had to know where that sound had come from, still fresh in his head, he could pinpoint it to the outside of his dorm. Quickly getting up, he opened the door, and glanced across the corridor, only to catch a glance of a brown haired boy entering a dorm and closing his door behind him... the screech it made was eerily similar to the one he had confused for a baby.

Igarashi sighed in relief, but quickly his expression turned dark. That sound had awakened old memories. Things not welcomed in his mind anymore... Things he wanted to leave behind.... Things he had though he HAD left behind, specially ever since he had arrived to the Academy. He was now certain that his mind had played him a trick with that sound... And this bothered him, he had spent the last two years in the Academy without trouble, he didn't want to deal with that now, now that he was just a year away of leaving everything finally behind.

Igarashi shook his head, he had to forget about it, then, as he turned around to close his door, he noticed a small note in the floor. Wondering why would anybody would want to leave him a note, he picked it up, and glanced at it:

Quote :

Satoko,

I was looking for you last night, but apparently you had already gone to bed. I want to start working on what we talked about yesterday. Lunch would probably be a good time. Let me know.

R.K.

R.K.? Kanue? so that was who I just glanced before... why is he so interested about talking to Satoko anyway? does he even know he hasn't come here since classes started? Thinking about it, he glanced inside his room, indeed, once again, Satoko was nowhere to be seen in the room. Igarashi then wondered if Satoko had a problem with him... He really needed to talk to him about it. At any rate, this note was not his problem. Closing his door, Igarashi then left the note above Satoko's bed, and returned to his own, taking his clothes off this time, and for once, entered bed as he used to. He was unable to catch sleep immediately though. The sound of the baby still echoed in his mind... and he also was troubled about Satoko, and also began to wonder about how he woke up on his bed in the first place...

Midori feels a wave of darkness flow over her and before she knows it, she is standing on Onorinowai's roiling scales with the snake's head glaring down at her, red eyes glowing brightly.

"Onorinowai!" Midori calls up to the snake. "I want to know... who they are. The scarred man, the old man... and the baby."

"Asss... you wissshhh...." the snake hisses. There is a flash of red light, and then

Sever the jugular

Failure!

There've been some complications

There's someone I'd like you to meet

This time, the last memory is accompanied by the image of the scarred man, though this time what stands out the most is his flaming red hair.

You're of no use to me anymore

She was born in a caul

If they aren't looking, this is the easiest way to kill someone

The memories are still too fast and too strong. And too cluttered. Fighting, Midori manages to focus all her mind on the scarred man. There's a patch over his scarred eye, and he's wearing very formal attire. A voice says, "Kuo-Chiu, this is the third son of the Suzaku family," but that's all she can make out before her focus is exhausted and the memories assault her again.

She's fine now

Failure! You worthless failure of a girl!

These characters? In Japanese, they're read 'Midori.'

A brief image holds steady for a moment. A hand holding a pen. Midori's hand. It's some sort of document with the characters in Midori's given name written in ink. Did she just write them herself?

Midori... that's the same color as your hair

She didn't have time to think before the image shifted again, suddenly, it was a knife in Midori's hand, not a pen. With a thrust, she plunged the blade into something... or someone, she can't tell. Blood begins gushing from the wound

What's wrong with my hair?

I expect you to fulfill your obligations

Nothing... I think your hair is very pretty

Breathing heavily, oh god, so much blood

Another brief image of Midori standing over a dead body as the rain pours down around her, washing away all the blood. She looks up, letting the rain fall on her face

You're green and I'm red, so...

Let's run away together

Though she did turn a rather nice shade of blue

"...it's only fitting that our daughter should be blue."

The images stabilize again. This time, Midori is holding a baby in her arms, a tiny newborn baby girl, sleeping peacefully, wrapped in a sterile, white hospital blanket.

"I know," she hears a man's voice say. "Why don't we name her Aoko."

Your father will never allow it

This marriage is all you're worth to the family now

You know what I am and I know what you are

We don't need to do this anymore

"This half-breed will never become the heir to the Suzaku family!"

One more scene blocks out all the other memories in streaming through Midori's mind. She doesn't know why this one is so much clearer that the others, perhaps because it's the last memory she had before she--

Midori is crying. Shakily, she looks to her side at

her husband

It's the scarred man with the red hair, kneeling next to her. She looks up at the old man.

"O... oto-sama...," Midori says to the old man as he slowly lifts his cane into the air.

"Oh god, not my baby..."

Then the memories come again, faster than ever.

I'm the third son
Not just for you
Just because it was
Though the color "Midori"
The family doesn't need me
Not just for me
Set up by my father
We could be free
Uses a completely different character
But for Aoko too
Doesn't mean I don't love him

And one last image. The old man, clad in formal Japanese robes, a stern forboding look in his black eyes, his arms folded behind his back as he stood behind a large mahogany desk. The nameplate on the desk is the last thing Midori sees before waking up, and she can only make out the last two characters:

大典

With a start, Midori snaps out of her trance, breathing heavily, with a faint metallic taste on her lips. Putting a trembling hand to her face, she discovers that her nose has started bleeding rather profusely.

But even still, she can't shake that last image from her mind. Those two characters... that name. Surely it must be a coincidence.

大典...

...Daisuke...

Junshirou Tenkawa wrote:

"Last night? No, that wasn't any trouble at all...", Junshirou said, while thinking back to how he'd fallen asleep in class. Still, he was a creature of the night, after all.

Did he want to ask about the dream? It was probably the sensible thing to do - Zetsumei seemed to want to talk about it. Or was it something else he wanted to talk about - after all, why else would he say "You were asleep when I got back"?

Junshirou thought it was best to ask that last question himself; although in less analytical tones.

"So... did you want to talk to me about the dream, or about something else?"

It would be good to hear what other people were dreaming, anyway. He'd had enough of his own dreams to last a good long time.

(Ugh been out of town and without internet. Sorry guys.)

"Well, I'll tell you about the dream if you want. You just have to ask me if you want to know something. You seem like a good person to be up front with. There's something else though. I know we've got to get some sleep tonight, but I was wondering if you would be willing to be friends with me? I'm not very good at this sort of thing but I would like to get to know you a little more. I know we are roomates by circumstances only, but I would like to make friends here too. Just think about it and you can tell me in the morning since I know we both need sleep now."

"...huh, okay... I'll ask in the morning. Some sleep would be good right now..."

Junshirou adopted a cheerful voice, although in the darkness his expression was unchanged.

"Oh, and you don't have to wait until morning for your answer. I'd be happy to be friends with you. Anyway, goodnight..."

He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

...

...

"Look."

Junshirou's face fell. He was having a dream again.

"Haven't I already had enough important dreams in the past week? This is beginning to infuriate me."

He looked around. The voice he heard had been Hachimoku's, but he was nowhere to be seen. He was standing in what seemed to be the middle of the countryside... there were stone ruins around, and he could see what remained of a stone wall some way off in the distance. He heard excited talking, and spun around quickly to find the source of it.

He looked carefully. It was the dream representation of several of his classmates, clambering over some sort of machine. Well, not all of them were... some were trying to climb over it - he recognised Satoko and Igarashi, although there were others. Ashibue was sat quite a long way away, seemingly tinkering with machine parts. Hikari was arguing with someone, and there were other people trying to separate them. Ryouichi was overlooking the scene from a point quite high up, but he hadn't noticed Junshirou yet.

"So what does it mean, do you think?"

He looked to his side. Hachimoku had appeared properly.

"I think it somehow relates to the dynamics of my interactions with various classmates and their interactions with each other."

Hachimoku laughed. "That's just a convoluted way of saying 'I don't know.'"

Junshirou smiled. "I don't know, but I have some sort of idea. Placement denotes how I see them, right? Or how I see them as seeing themselves?"

"You've got the right idea. Like how Ryouichi is watching over everything."

"...I don't suppose you could help with that, incidentally? Things'll probably become quite difficult with him after today."

"I could, but I'm not going to. Not unless you get really stuck."

Junshirou folded his arms in mock annoyance. Hachimoku grinned.

"Hey, I'm not your spirit guide or anything. Why're you asking me?"

"So... this was a waste of time, wasn't it?"

Hachimoku's expression hardened.

"You have to look. This is consolidation, this is. You need to watch your classmates more carefully. Any knowledge you gain could be vital in future battles, and anything you miss could be the difference between your life and your death. And," Hachimoku intoned ever more gravely, "you can't afford to die yet. Right?"

"...how much do you know about me?"

"Far, far more than you do, Junshirou. Far more than you do."

...

...

...

Fuiro was walking along with his hands in his pockets when he noticed something odd.

There was a body lying face down in the dirt behind a building.

Dashing over, it was soon clear that it was a girl's body with long blue hair. "Hey. Hey!" Fuiro said, rolling the girl over. She exhaled loudly, and her red cheeks and sake-stained dragon breath made the cause of her malady quite apparent.

"Dear lord, dead drunk in the middle of the week?" Fuiro sighed. "Hey, wake up," he said, slapping her face gently.

Her eyes fluttered open. "Mmm... Prince Charming?" she mumbled.

"Not quite," said Fuiro, sliding his hands under her back and legs. "Come on, let's get you back to the dorms." He straightened his knees, lifting her up, and began to carry her off.

"You're Naomi Oxen, right? From the Advanced class?" Fuiro said to her.

Naomi through her arms around the teacher's neck. "You're... reeeeeally cute," she smiled up at him.

"Thanks," Fuiro muttered, trying to pry her hands away. "Now come on, let go."

"You don't understand," Naomi's voice dropped to a sultry whisper and she leaned in toward Fuiro's face. "I think you're... really... really cute..."

"And I think that you're drunk and a student," Fuiro sighed. "Now cut that out, people are gonna get the wrong i--"

And she suddenly kissed him on the lips.

"Hey!" Fuiro shouted, wrenching her away from him. Naomi looked up at him sadly, her face melting into a frown.

"D... don't you... don't you think I'm pretty?"

Fuiro sighed again. "You need to get some sleep. And don't worry about what I think." He kept walking, opening the door to the ladies' dorms and climbing up the stairs.

"Why you doing this to yourself?" Fuiro asked the girl. "You're in the Advanced class, so you've obviously got some sort of potential. So how come you're drunk on a school night, passed out face down in the dirt, and trying to seduce a teacher?" There was no answer, and Fuiro looked down. Naomi was fast asleep. "Just as well." Fuiro knocked and opened the door to Naomi's room. Her roommate was already fast asleep, and Fuiro gently set the girl down in her bed and pulled the covers over her.

The movement was enough to wake Naomi up a little. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"No problem," said Fuiro, turning to leave the room.

"Sensei?"

"Mm?" Fuiro knelt back down next to her.

"I.. think...," Naomi smiled.

"Yeah?"

"I... ... think...,"

"Mm?"

Naomi looked into Fuiro's eyes.

"I think... I'm gonna be sick."

Fuiro raised an eyebrow.

Naomi put a hand to her face, her cheeks bulging.

blaaaaaaaaaarrrggg

=========================================

End of Chapter 1.