Game 2 - Chapter 2

Hikari picked at her salad, looking more glum than hungry. The whole simultion kept playing over and over again in her head, with everyone fighting and moving around, even her quiet and easily forgotten sister was fighting and Hikari had no idea Kage-chan could move like that. She knew she was good in training, but she cut through that hollow like it was nothing.

She looked up and saw An-chan coming into the cafeteria. Hikari wasn't sure if she wanted to talk to An-chan, but he was there and she always felt better after seeing him.

Hikari started to say something, then realized she didn't know what to say. She was sure An-chan would come sit with her and start the conversation. She watched him go up to get food and waited.

Izzy walked inside the cafeteria to see several boys sitting there eating lunch. There was a few empty chairs beside them. Izzy thought about it for a moment. Izzy was not exactly an expert at making friends. One thing he did remember is that before he somehow died people called him anti social. Ever since people called him that he had been working on being better at it.

Izzy grabbed a lunch tray and put some food on it. He then grabbed a beverage. He took his food and went to sit at the table with the boys. Izzy had saw these guys in the hall before, but the encounters were always brief. Izzy got nervous as he walked towards the table but tried not to show it. He walked over to the red headed boy. “Would you mind if I took a seat in the chair beside you?”

Igarashi had just put the last piece of food on his mouth when he heard someone besides Chicken talking to him.

Quote :

“Would you mind if I took a seat in the chair beside you?”

Igarashi turned his head to look at the person that had talked to him. A sandy haired boy with a rather long hair that covered most of one eye... which looked unnaturally closed. At first, Igarashi wondered why would he be in anyway be interested to talk to him, or anyone else in his table for that matter. Most students or a lower grade tended to avoid him, since he had made sure that it would be that way, so he assumed this boy was not an under classmate... Perhaps he was from group 3-B. Odd, now that he thought about it, he barely knew anyone from that class, then again, he didn't knew much about his own classmates, what were the hopes of him paying attention to the other groups?

"Yeah, why not?" Igarashi nodded at the new arrival. In a lesser extent, but this was also helping him to relax a bit, and the boy that just arrived made him a bit curious... did he want to talk to him about something? or was this the only unoccupied table around? nah, that was not the case. At any rate, Igarashi decided against leaving right now even though he had finished all his food, and decided to wait a bit, see what the Sandy haired boy wanted.

"Yeah why not?"

This made Izzy feel a little bit more social. Least they let me sit with them, Hopefully they don't notice my eye. A lot of people reject me for my eye" Izzy thought.

Izzy sat down with his tray of food and began playing with his food. He was hungry, but his stomach was too upset to eat. "Do you know if girls are suppose to run away after kissing a guy?" Izzy then listened to what he said and knew it sounded stupid. "I mean I'm not great with girls and to be honest, today was my first kiss I can remember and she ran away. She actually used another student as a shield." Izzy felt really stupid talking to a complete stranger about girl problems. "I'm sorry but I really do not know what to do, it's weird having a girl kiss you out of the blue." Izzy thought it might be hard for this boy to understand. Izzy then realized he did not evan know this boys name. I'm sorry, how rude of me. I am Izarou Bukowski from class 3B. May I ask your name?"

Quote :

"Do you know if girls are suppose to run away after kissing a guy?"

Igarashi was glad that he had finished his food and was not drinking anything at that moment, or else he would have spitted it all out. Of all the things the blond boy could have asked, this was the last one he expected, as a result, there was not much Igarashi could have replied at the moment, he just did his best not to make an awkward face or blush... the mention of a kiss like that brought to his mind very embarrassing memories.

Quote :

"I mean I'm not great with girls and to be honest, today was my first kiss I can remember and she ran away. She actually used another student as a shield."

Igarashi could not help but to agree mentally at the first statement, the second was something he was fortunate not to experience yet, still, he had no idea how to respond, his first kiss he had in the entire school had disastrous results, to say the least.

Quote :

"I'm sorry but I really do not know what to do, it's weird having a girl kiss you out of the blue."

If he didn't know what to do, Igarashi knew even less. At this point, Igarashi was blushing slightly without even realizing. Seriously, he should be the last person who should be asked about these things, as he felt he needed help about them as well, but there was no way he would bring that up on the table, much less with two classmates there, he didn't want to give them more reasons to mock him.

Quote :

I'm sorry, how rude of me. I am Izarou Bukowski from class 3B. May I ask your name?"

Finally, something Igarashi could adequately respond to. "Y-yeah, name's Igarashi Sakimoto, class 3-A" Igarashi introduced back, trying to hide the embarrassment from his voice, none of them would even know why he was getting embarrassed all of a sudden. "And about your... Issue... I don't know, did you even knew this girl before?" Igarashi just asked that without even knowing if that was supposed to help or not, he seriously had no idea what to say aside that, he then eyed Chiken and Kanue, hoping anyone else could continue this conversation or provide more help than what he could ever hope to achieve. One good thing had come out of this though, Igarashi's mind was no longer worried about past thoughts right now.



(Thanks to Maka for the drawing!)

Izzy looked at the boy and realized Igarashis face was turning a crimson red.
"Did you Evan know this girl before?"

"Well, I feel like I knew her before I came to the class but I do not know why. Other then that I don't know her. I was making conversation and she kissed me" Izzy did not want to speak of the your gorgeous part. "Normally if that had happened I would have responded differently but theres something about her." Izzy then dropped his spoon and began twiddling his thumbs. "I have no clue what so ever of what to do". "Any help from any of you?"

Takeshi sighed, alright then, he would talk to Ximenez later about the events in the simulation, but for now he did have something to ask the man he was speaking to. "If..." Takeshi hesitated slightly, he wasn't quite sure how to word this, "If you plan on looking for the Hollow, for Sigil, tell me please. I want to find it, I want to know more about it myself, and I want to kill it." Takeshi blinked, that made him sound a little bloodthristy, but he was, wasn't he? He was a few things, but he didn't need to be thinking about that now. "I mean, if you intend on sending out any expeditions to find Sigil and document it, or if anyone does, then pelase tell me and try to get me out there. I have to find that thing."

Takeshi waited a moment before speaking again. "Anyway, that's not what I wanted Kurotsuchi for, that was about 'Mr.' Ximenez", Takeshi thought about what he was going to tell the man, about that inferno of burning reiatsu Ximenez had caused, that hellish power and the transformation only Takeshi had been able to witness. It had been such a terrible display of power, yet it was great at the same time. The amounts of reiatsu were dazzling, the power astounding, and now Takeshi couldn't help himself from wondering if he could tap into the same type of power. "Ximenez... He killed six replicas of Sigil in a single attack, an attack that had blown away not only the Sigil, but everyone else in the class. It was... amazing", Takeshi couldn't keep a hint of admiration out of his voice, a hint he didn't want there, "And then... Well he killed me. But before it all... He said something about breaking Kurotsuchi's seal, and that's all I wanted to tell Kurotsuchi.".

"Anyway, you should probably tell Kurotsuchi about that."


{UGH. TOO SHORT(By my standards for myself)}

After having finished the food mountain, Chiken finally leaned back and sighed, contented. Gone was any foul mood lingering from the odd events of the day, and there was a feeling of full in its place. He turned and only then noticed the sandy haired guy for the first time. Surprised to see someone had joined them, Chiken straightened back up right in his seat. The new person at the table was in the middle of talking about something but Chiken had tuned him out without realizing it. He then only caught the tail end of him speaking.
"I have no clue what so ever of what to do". "Any help from any of you?"

Chiken realized at the end that he was talking to all of them, but he had no clue why since he inadvertently tuned him out. He quickly tried to think back and place himself in his memory so he could listen to the new guy this time. Surprisingly, it worked unlike the odd inaccessibility of the simulation's end. Chiken had the entire scene play out in front of him again and he listened this time to what the guy was saying. After a few seconds of having gotten what he needed, Chiken snapped his focus back to the present.

"Hello, I'm Chiken Kazenosei. It's nice to meet you." Chiken smiled as he greeted the new fellow, Izarou. His smile soon became an expression of puzzlement as he asked a question, "As for your question, I have no idea what you're talking about. What's this... kissing thing?"

Satoko Takeshi wrote:

"If..." Takeshi hesitated slightly, he wasn't quite sure how to word this, "If you plan on looking for the Hollow, for Sigil, tell me please. I want to find it, I want to know more about it myself, and I want to kill it." Takeshi blinked, that made him sound a little bloodthristy, but he was, wasn't he? He was a few things, but he didn't need to be thinking about that now. "I mean, if you intend on sending out any expeditions to find Sigil and document it, or if anyone does, then pelase tell me and try to get me out there. I have to find that thing."

"Er..." Shingi was a little taken aback by the fierceness of the boy's determination. "I... can't say whether or not anything's going to happen, Mr. Takeshi. There likely won't be any expeditions the way you're imagining, but I can say that we'll be issuing a report to all Divisions to keep an eye out for it. I'll tell you what, I'll make sure to keep you in the loop regarding this Hollow of yours, alright?"

Satoko Takeshi wrote:

Takeshi waited a moment before speaking again. "Anyway, that's not what I wanted Kurotsuchi for, that was about 'Mr.' Ximenez", Takeshi thought about what he was going to tell the man, about that inferno of burning reiatsu Ximenez had caused, that hellish power and the transformation only Takeshi had been able to witness. It had been such a terrible display of power, yet it was great at the same time. The amounts of reiatsu were dazzling, the power astounding, and now Takeshi couldn't help himself from wondering if he could tap into the same type of power. "Ximenez... He killed six replicas of Sigil in a single attack, an attack that had blown away not only the Sigil, but everyone else in the class. It was... amazing", Takeshi couldn't keep a hint of admiration out of his voice, a hint he didn't want there, "And then... Well he killed me. But before it all... He said something about breaking Kurotsuchi's seal, and that's all I wanted to tell Kurotsuchi.".

"Anyway, you should probably tell Kurotsuchi about that."

"Ah, well...," Shingi scratched his head. "I wouldn't put too much stock in something you saw in a dream-simulation. That machine can get a bit, well... unpredictable when the subconscious mind gets involved. And I don't know anything about a 'seal.' I'll mention it to Captain Kurotsuchi," Shingi placed an emphasis on the honorific title that Satoko had consistently left out, "But I'd say you don't have anything to be worried about."

"Attention students: Would all third-year students please report to their respective homerooms for announcements," Lieutenant Kotetsu's voice echoed through the cafeteria and the school halls, transmitted from a series of hell butterflies.

"I repeat: All third year students please report to their respective homerooms for announcements. Thank you."

Sachi Oyashio wrote:

"Just one and I'll never bother you again."

"Heh, I have no idea what you're talking about. Besides, we're about to meet our teacher, you might want to get in your seat." Matsuura responded coolly, glancing up at her briefly before yawning and stretching back in his seat, resting his arms behind his head.

The sound of Kotetsu-sensei's voice shook Daisuke out of his slumber. He sat up. Apart from Takeshi-san speaking with the teacher, the room seemed to be deserted. "Why... did it take me that long to come back to reality?" Daisuke wondered without an answer. His stomach growled. "I think I missed dinner," he said to himself.

He thought back to the simulation. As he had suspected all along, Ximenez was someone (or something) that plain and simply could not be trusted. Daisuke pulled his tremendous bulk out of the simulation pod and straightened his robe.

"I will speak to Mizukin-san about it tonight after lights out," he said to himself as he walked briskly out of the room toward Kotetsu-sensei's classroom. Daisuke most certainly did not want to be late.

"Hello, I'm Chiken Kazenosei. It's nice to meet you." Izarou smiled. At least they don't all get grossed out by my eye. he thought.

"As for your question, I have no idea what you're talking about. What's this... kissing thing?"

Izarou looked at Chikin. "Well it's when... you see you....."Izarou looked puzzled like chicken had. "It's when lips meet, I think. Wow I don't quite remember myself. I just know it seemed familiar with her. Too familiar."
Izarou looked down to the student with red eyes and hair that stretched down a little past his shoulders. "Do you know anything?"

"Can all students return to their home room, repeat can all students return to their room. Thank you!"

Izarou let out a sigh. "I wonder if we can talk about this later? I have to get to homeroom and face the girl. Wish me luck." Izarou then left the cafeteria and walked down the hall to his assigned room. He walked in the door and took a deep breathe. He then went and sat beside Sachi once again. He looked at her breifly and turned his head back hoping she had not noticed.

Anshou set his tray down and smiled down at Hikari-chan. He ran a hand through her hair, not sure what to say. It had been a very long time since he'd seen her this down. He sat down and put one arm around her.

"You... alright, sweetie?"

"Attention students: Would all third-year students please report to their respective homerooms for announcements."

That would be our cue.

Ryouichi sighed, rising reluctantly from the table. "Well," he said, a little disappointment seeping into his voice, "We should probably get going now. I'll see you two in homeroom."

Several minutes later...

After leaving the cafeteria, Ryouichi walked briskly to the 3-A classroom. To his slight surprise, nobody else but Maka was there yet. That's funny. I thought at least Ximenez would be here, but Kasahara?. Shrugging, he took his place at his usual seat and waited for the rest of the students to arrive.

I wonder if that Orihime girl is joining the class today. The Headmaster did say it would be a couple of weeks, and that's right about now.

Igarashi stared surprised at Chiken when he asked about kissing. Igarashi knew he was kinda clueless... but not knowing what kissing was? Igarashi would have chuckled about it if he wasn't so embarrassed himself. It didn't help when Izarou patted Iga in the back, asking him about it. Was it possible he knew anything about what happened with him and Naomi? Igarashi couldn't help but become a little suspicious about that man.

Quote :

"Attention students: Would all third-year students please report to their respective homerooms for announcements."

Igarashi felt a bit of relief to hear that announcement, this whole thing had been incredibly awkward for him. Nodding distractedly at Izarou and Kanue's words, Igarashi left the cafeteria on his own. For a moment, the whole thing with Izarou had distracted him, but now, with nothing else distracting him anymore, his troubling thoughts returned to him yet again, even though he tried to go around them. Frustrated, Igarashi slammed one of his fists into the wall of one of the Corridors. Why did he had to remember all this things again? he had blocked them out for a reason...

"How long do you plan to run away like that, boy?"

Igarashi opened his eyes wide when he listened that voice in his head. Wa- you??? He then glared down at his Zanpakutou scabbard. This had never happened before, in fact, before he came in contact with him during Lieutenant Kira's class, he hadn't spoke with his Zanpakutou's inner soul again. And he never expected it to talk back to him like this; What do you want??? I never asked to talk with you!

"That much has been evident, I'm afraid. Despite the fact that you have become stronger physically, Mentally you are getting weaker, and no one can fix that but yourself, son. So I ask you again, when are you going to stop running from your own memories and face them?"

L-leave me alone! that is nothing of your business! and I shall deal with them however I want!


"*Sighs* the thing is.... this is my business, I'm afraid you won't be able to wield me in this state. But suit yourself, when you feel finally ready to face yourself, and move on, you know where to find me. So long, boy."

Igarashi gasped. Yet another thing he wasn't expecting, just what was what he wanted? and why did he care? Igarashi barely spoke with his Zanpakutou... Looking around, he saw that the corridor was fortunately empty, still, he had to get to his homeroom soon, or else he would skip whatever announcement they might make. Running towards the classroom, Igarashi slided the door opened, afraid that everyone else would have been already there. Instead, he found that only Kanue and Maka had arrived so far. Panting a bit and yet relieved, Igarashi, then sat down in a corner, and hung his head back.... maybe the old man was right...

"Well it's when... you see you..... It's when lips meet, I think. Wow I don't quite remember myself. I just know it seemed familiar with her. Too familiar."

'When... two lips meet?' Chiken's hand instinctively went up to his lips and tugged on them a little. 'So... whenever my lips are touching... I'm kissing?' Chiken's face showed he was even more bewildered. 'But... what does someone else have to do with any of this? Maybe...'

Quote :

"Attention students: Would all third-year students please report to their respective homerooms for announcements."

The announcement cut through Chiken's thoughts and quickly shoved them aside. The rest of his lunch table then quickly dispersed. "Good luck?" Chiken called after Izarou, still a little puzzled with the conversation that just transpired. As the others walked to the homeroom, Chiken rushed to turn in his lunch tray and follow a classmate before he had to resort to walking around blindly. Unfortunately, Kanue and Igara had already left and Chiken had to do just that.

After a surprisingly quick span of time, Chiken found himself back in front of classroom 3-A. Quietly entering, he discovered he wasn't close to being the last to arrive. He sat down in a random desk and took off his watch. He opened the back and dumped all the entire network of gears onto his desk. Oddly, there was a small blue sphere mixed in the mess. Even odder, Chiken had known it was there. He looked at it for a second, before throwing it out a window. Afterwards, he started putting his watch back together again while waiting for Isane-Sensei.

Midori sighed and shook her head at the announcement. She couldn't afford to be late again, she'd already gotten a stiff enough lecture for being tardy for the simulation. She slipped around the remaining crowd in the room and out the door, then noticed Daisuke not too far ahead and kicked up her pace just a bit to catch up to him. For a big guy he'd constantly proven himself to be surprisingly quick... although that was probably a necessity in sumo, she kept reminding herself, and Daisuke had almost been a champion.

"Good morning," she said brightly as she finally moved into step next to him. "I missed out on something pretty interesting yet again, didn't I?" She grinned, albeit only as a way of not verbally cursing her own poor luck and attention.

"Attention students: Would all third-year students please report to their respective homerooms for announcements."

Junshirou looked up glumly. He'd arrived so late that he'd barely had a chance to get any food, let alone have any conversations with anyone. He wolfed down his meal as fast as he could, and walked back to the homeroom, taking his normal seat. He wondered how long it would take for the teacher to arrive and begin whatever these announcements were.

Naomi realized what she said noone had heard. She then left the room and went towards her room.
Would all students go to there room. Thank you.

Naomi then walked into her room and sat down beside Tenkawa

Anshou Mizukin wrote:

Anshou set his tray down and smiled down at Hikari-chan. He ran a hand through her hair, not sure what to say. It had been a very long time since he'd seen her this down. He sat down and put one arm around her.

"You... alright, sweetie?"

Hikari said nothing, she just threw her arms around An-chan and buried her face in his chest and held him close.

General Yamamoto wrote:

"Attention students: Would all third-year students please report to their respective homerooms for announcements," Lieutenant Kotetsu's voice echoed through the cafeteria and the school halls, transmitted from a series of hell butterflies.

Dammit, Hikari said to herself. Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit.

Quote :

"I repeat: All third year students please report to their respective homerooms for announcements. Thank you."

Hikari squeezed Anshou tighter. She knew she should get up and go to class but... just a few more minutes. If she could just hold Anshou like this for a few more minutes, it would all be ok.

"We should probably go," An-chan said to her, and she nodded. Hikari stood up and went with An-chan to class, gently holding his hand most of the way.

"Alright class, have a seat." Lieutenant Kotetsu said as she walked into the classroom, carrying a bright green sheet of paper that most of the class hadn't seen in ages. "Just a few quick announcements. First of all, it's time to elect a class representative. I'm sure you all know what a class rep does... assists teachers during class, assigns cleaning duties, acts as a squad leader during training missions. So far, we've got nominations for...," she looked down at the green sheet of paper. "Ryouichi Kanue. No surprise there. Na...," she turned her head sideways, surprised to find that name written there. "Naomi... Oxen?" she shrugged. "And... Satoko Takeshi. If we've got any other nominations, speak now or forever hold your peace."

"Second, I'd like to remind you all that next week is our annual homecoming ceremony. This will involve three things. One, a lot of boring speeches by Captains and nobles. Two, the annual homecoming tournament, in two parts. First will be the preliminary bout against class 3-B, and then you'll all be assigned into brackets for a single elimination fight. Winner of the tournament gets absolutely nothing for a prize except pride, bragging rights, and a little trophy. Though winning the tournament will look very good on your record when it comes time to select a Division or apply to a higher school."

"And finally," Isane continued. "Comes my personal favorite part, the homecoming semi-formal dance."

Murmurs arose from the class.

"As members of the Advanced Class, you all will be required to attend the homecoming dance as a couple and you will be required to participate in the annual First Dance with your partners. There are no exceptions or excuses, unless you are dead. If you are absent...," Isane's voice took on a low chill. "...something very bad will happen to you."

"And, as usual," Isane continued, "there are more males than there are females in this class. So, boys, I'd advise you to go get to know the ladies of Class 3-B a little better fairly quickly. Unless you plan on dancing with each other in front of your families and future Captains, and I'm sure that's something you don't want to happen no matter how cute a couple Sakimoto-san and Takeshi-san would make."

When the laughter and embarassment died down, Isane went on. "So, if there aren't any questions, I'm closing nominations for class rep in five, four, three..."

Duggo somehow became dimly aware of the announcement over the intercom; the rain and humidity faded as he transited from wherever in the hell he was to where he needed to be. Questions were left unanswered. Frustrations were raw and bare.

"Lucille" still unsheathed and in his hand, Duggo swung wildly out of sheer irritation. A small linden sapling fell to the ground at his feet. It dawned on him that he should keep tabs on his temper.

Duggo shook his head for a moment before heading back to the classroom. It occurred to him that there were far more questions in life than there were answers.

Duggo sauntered toward the classroom. Hell, he figured, if he was already late, what's the hurry?

He dropped into a seat, frumpy, exhausted, and starving, just as the Word-From-On-High came down that he had to find a date for the goddamn dance. Holy crap. Even in death, life is suffering -- the Buddha was right.

Duggo remembered well the pleasures of women, but was somehow weary enough to not feel the urgency he had before his Earthly death.

"...The fuck?", he thought. "So I'm an impotent ghost?"

He thought a moment about the implications of this new development before settling on a solution: "Fuck 'em. What're they gonna do -- kill me?"

A moment later a vaguely familiar female figure passed by in the hall and Duggo's monkey brain went SPROINNG!!

"Aw, who am I kidding?" he thought to himself. "I have totally gotta scope these 3-B chicks".


EDIT BY SMYTHE: Just to keep things less confusing, let's try and keep the 3-A talk in this thread and the 3-B talk in the other thread, at least for now. Kinda like they're two separate classrooms omg see wat i did thar.

Rikiki was curled up in a ball against the wall of her room. What was this? This awkward, foriegn feeling was baffling her. All she knew was that it seemed to link to him. She didn't dare think the name for fear of bringing the feeling up again.

None of this was helped by her grumbling stomache. She had meant to go to the cafeteria, but seeing a flash of red hair at one of the tables, had promptly fled to her room, which led her to the situation she was in now.

"Pathetic." Uzumaki spat, laying on her bed.

Rikiki didn't even try to deny it. She was. None of this would be happening if she had been strong enough to defend herself against a single hollow. So. So, that was it. The solution. Get stronger. Get strong, and not pathetic. That was it.

Quote :

"Attention students: Would all third-year students please report to their respective homerooms for announcements," Lieutenant Kotetsu's voice echoed through the cafeteria and the school halls, transmitted from a series of hell butterflies. I repeat: All third year students please report to their respective homerooms for announcements. Thank you."

As the message wafted in through the dorr, Rikiki rose, more confident now. Just this resolve to be stronger made her feel better. There was still the issue of him, but that she could figure out later. For now, she was fine.

She settled into class just in time for Isane to wrap up her explanation. She caught the gist of it, at least. She contemplated the dance. It sounded fun, but she couldn't dance at all... and who would she go with. Her mind flickered instantly to him, but she caught herself, and quickly switched to what Isane was talking about now. Class rep, huh? She already knew who that would be without a question.

( I'm assuming that all students are in here. )

Kasahara sat there quietly, keeping her head down as her other classmates filed into the class after the announcement. It wasn't until Isane-sensei walked in that she bothered lifting her head. She knew very well that the teacher hated when her students fell asleep or didn't look as if they were paying attention. She sat back in her seat and slouched a little as she listened to Isane-sensei talk about choosing a class representative. After she announced the three candidates, Kasahara grinned broadly at the idea of Takeshi being the class representative. After all, she was the one who signed him up for it without his consent. The mischievous girl glanced over at Takeshi, wondering how he would react to Isane-sensei calling his name.

She didn't get to gloat for very long; Isane-sensei continued to announce the homecoming ceremony coming up and it piqued her interest. A tournament was something she is to be excited and frightened about. She knew that there would be some good challenges for her but also made a note that she would be fighting some of her friends as well. The tomboy was sure that Sakimoto would have no problem battling against her but she would be reluctant to fight Naomi... or Takeshi. Even if it was for prestige and fun, Kasahara couldn't imagine herself harming either of them on purpose. The tall brunette leaned forward in her desk and buried her face in her hands and was apparently in distress over the upcoming tournament...

After hearing the final announcement about the homecoming dance, she was glad she hid her face in her hands. "D-dance?" She muffled out through her hands. Her face felt hot as her face turned slightly pink at the idea of dancing with a fellow classmate. Who would ask her to accompany them? Kasahara didn't know why she was making a big deal out of this. More likely than not, it would just be a coupling between friends. They're all friends in here, right? No one liked her in that way...

Trying to distract herself from her current thoughts, she tuned in to what Isane-sensei was speaking about. Nominations? Kasahara thrusted her hand into the air, revealing her flustered expression that she was hiding, and blurted out a name. "Tenkawa!"

Her hand lingered there for a moment as what had happened slowly dawned on her. She just nominated another classmate over Takeshi and Naomi, her friends. The brunette wasn't as close to Tenkawa was most of the other classmates, but she reasoned that he would make a good rival for Kanue atleast. She confirmed her nomination by repeating herself firmly for Isane-sensei. "I nominate Tenkawa."

Igarashi had listened with very little interest the first part of the announcement about a class representative. He didn't care about any of it, and couldn't care less who had the position, more trouble for them anyway.

However, he straightened up and paid attention to the announcement of the homecoming tournament. That was much more of his cup of tea, he didn't knew how strong the people from class 3-B, but a fight was a fight anyway. And the single fights against each other sounded even more fun, he then hoped that he would get the chance to fight against Anshou again... that fight in the Gym a few weeks ago had left him wanting for more.... and he now wanted to win decisively, and there was also Satoko, he was itching to spar with him, but a real match? that would be even more fun. Igarashi could help but lift a big grin during all that time of the announcement.

...Then the announcement for the dance came...

What??? Igarashi's grin quickly transformed into a frightened grimace. A dance? why the fuck did they needed to do that for? that had absolutely nothing to do with the duty of a Shinigami! Igarashi angrily though, but the fact was that he was more embarrassed than angry about that announcement. He had never danced in his life before... or at least, he didn't remember it. And the thing about a couple was what worried him the most. After glaring at Lt. Isane for her joke about him and Satoko, his mind began to question who could he possibly ask to that without expecting total disaster... Asking any of the girls in 3-B was out of the question, he didn't feel he had the enough guts to ask that to someone he didn't knew at all. As for the ones in the class... Naomi? Hell no! not after what happened the first day...... Kasahara? Not unless you want to receive a kick in the face as a response.... Ashibue? Not unless you want any kind of response. ...Hikari? Igarashi disliked her as it was... Midori? asking her and asking one from 3-B was the same thing....

Igarashi put his palm of his forehead... He was in trouble... he needed to ask someone unless he wanted Isane's joke to become true... Igarashi looked around the classroom, searching for anyone he might have missed... Then he spotted her....How about Rikiki? Igarashi immediately flushed, and countered himself, not realizing he was still staring at Rikiki; Are you retarded? after you focused more on you than her and let her die in a simulation??? Igarashi nodded at himself, he had no right to ask that of her... but that meant he had no options left... Crap... I'm screwed... He then slumped in his desk. ignoring all that was been said about the elections. All the joy he had felt about the tournament was now completely gone... The way he saw it now, no matter what he did, he was going to be screwed for the dance.

Takeshi blinked, he was nominated? Eh? Why was his name mentioned? Was he sure he heard right? No, can't be right, why would he be nominated to run for class representative. This didn't make any sense, he hadn't signed himself up, so- ... Kasahara. His mind went back to their conversation in the grass, they had been talking about his scar or something, and then... She told him to run for this thing, damn, why hadn't he objected more? Oh well, too late now, time to accept and move on, this didn't sound like a bad experience anyway, and if Kasahara believed he could do it, then he probably could. Yeah, alright then, let's run with that optimistic view on life.

A... tournament? Fighting? Glee! That sounded terrific, he'd been dieing to fight some of his teammates, it was about the only thing he thought of when the entered his mind. He hadn't even sparred with Igarashi yet, despite their want to do so since the start of the year. Takeshi started grinning with anticipation for this, which should surely be the highlight of his time. Win or lose, it was still a fight, and that was sure to be enjoyable. 'Boy, you're being really optimistic lately, stop it, you're creeping yourself out', Takeshi joked with himself, feeling lucky that nothing had been able to drag him down yet. Noticing that this was a first for him, the lacking of pessimism and all, he continued on not seeing a terrible drawback in not seeing flaws with everything.

Next thing introduced to Takeshi was the prospect of a dance? He had no idea what one of those were, but continued listening anyway, not intent on letting this thing break his streak of non-pessimistic thinking. So Takeshi only shrugged when she mentioned the had to be coupled, he didn't know what a couple was either, so many unfamiliar terms were being thrown at him. Isane then told a joke about him and Igarashi that Takeshi easily shrugged off, not giving it much thought, as it didn't really matter anyway. Takeshi was feeling pleased, no matter how these events unfolded he felt he would be pleased with the outcome. A fight is a fight, the election wouldn't make a big difference to him anyway, although he hadn't heard everything the representative gets to do. The only thing he wasn't sure about was the dance, whatever that was, but he felt that it shouldn't be a big deal.

"So, if there aren't any questions, I'm closing nominations for class rep in five, four, three..."
"Tenkawa!"

Takeshi's heart skipped a beat, was that Kasahara's voice? No, she had talked to him so confidently about doing this, involuntarily signed him up (he hadn't seen her do it, but felt it was safe to assume she was the one who had done so), and now she was nominating someone else? Takeshi felt himself losing his grip on that optimism.

"I nominate Tenkawa."

To Takeshi it felt like she said it again just to drive the notion deeper into his skull. Grimacing, Takeshi gave Kasahara a brief glare glazed with resentment and a hint of disappointment, however while glancing at her he caught sight of Igarashi, who was staring at Rikiki with a flushed expression on his face. Takeshi didn't notice this at first, instead his mind went back to the idea of fighting Igarashi, and everyone else. Even if he lost in the tournament the experience of fighting Igarashi should be satisfying enough. With this thought in mind he then took in how he had been looking at Rikiki a moment ago, that had been funny. It reminded him of when he used to crawl the streets and how he'd get right embarrassed when he caught himself drooling over bread. His mind then made this simple comparison;
Rikiki = Bread
Igarashi = Hungry
Hungry x Bread = Full
Full = Happy
Igarashi x Rikiki = Happy?

Satoko nodded, however crude this thought process came across as, something needed to be done about towards the result. Takeshi had missed dinner, he wanted some bread. Also he supposed Igarashi should be allowed to be full. Er, happy, whatever. In the meantime, Takeshi pulled a dictionary seemingly of outnowhere, and began to flip through the C's, looking for 'couple' and eventually he would work his way to 'dance', and would not be pleased with the results. Especially since he was about to find his seemingly magically appearing dictionary was missing the pages with the definitions for dance and couple on them; although he couldn't ask too much of a seemingly magic dictionary.

"Couple.. couple... where's couple? I'm hungry..."

Ashibue Kijou was probably the last person anyone in the class expected to raise a hand. The teacher called on her, and out of force of habit she stood up, though the words she had planned on saying caught in her throat now that everyone in the class seemed to be staring at her.

Her head jerked back and forth nervously, trying to avoid the all the myriad pairs of eyes that seemed to be coming at her from every direction.

What on earth was I thinking? Ashibue pondered for a moment the possibility of just waving her words away and sitting down, but... no.

"Aah... er... um... I, uh...," her throat made noise, but she was too nervous to come out with anything coherent.

Her eyes remained fixed on the floor.

She murmured something quietly.

"I'm sorry, Kijou-san? I couldn't quite hear you," the teacher replied.

"I... I... I... no... nom... er... ah...," Ashibue became aware that her hands were shaking and, against her will, tears began rolling down her face.

"She, uh..." Hikari stood up next to her sister.

"She says that she nominates Anshou Mizukin," Hikari said, having had a lifetime of understanding and translating Kage-chan's silent mutterings. "And I second the nomination."

Hikari put an arm around Kage-chan, whispering into her ear. "It's ok, it's alright." Ashibue regained her composure quickly, like she usually did, but Hikari silently thanked her for the chance to feel like an older sister again.

After voting, Daisuke crossed his arms and began to think. This "homecoming" ceremony seemed out of place amongst all the training and fighting hollows. Still, it may be a nice change of pace. His ears perked up noticeably at the mention of a tournament. It had been ages since Daisuke had participated in a fighting tournament. His hand dropped to the hilt of his zanpakutou. After that difficult virtual training exercise, Daisuke looked forward to trying his hand in combat against his classmates.

And then the mention of a dance. Now, what on earth purpose did a dance serve at a military academy? Particularly one where interstudent relations were forbidden. That was just drama and trouble waiting to happen. And to force each student to bring a date to boot. Already, Daisuke could here the groaning among the men in the class who thought it 'uncomfortable' to attend in the company of another man. If only they had had to endure some of the humiliations he had had to subject himself while training at the stable. With other men. There was no shame in the company of men. In fact, the brotherhood of men was a very strong tenet of the Samurai values Daisuke had had instilled in him during his life on earth.

Still, he said, glancing over at Midori. There was no doubt that the company of women had a certain pleasantry to it. There was a subtle beauty to be found in a strong, yet still delicate flower that could maintain its beauty through a mighty storm and still sting with its deadly thorns. If I am going to be forced to attend this dance, then surely it would not hurt to attend with a lady on my arm. He would certainly ask her at the first opportunity after class was over.

Chiken haphazardly dumped the gears back into his watch once Isane-Sensei walked in. The news about class representative didn't really stir any emotion in Chiken and it mostly went over his head. The thought of him nominating himself to run crossed his mind, but once Isane-Sensei started talking about the tournament, that thought flew out of his head.

'A tournament? How... interesting.' Chiken mulled this over for a minute, excited about something like that happening. He wondered for a second how he'd do, but then he realized that Isane-Sensei was still talking.

Once she had finished, however, Chiken was totally lost. 'What? Dance? What's that?' Chiken's hands went up to his face and he tugged on his bottom lip, thinking back to the new word he had just learned today: kissing.

He got lost in thought about words he'd never heard of before when he noticed that everyone was voting. At first he was confused until he remembered about Isane-Sensei talking about class representative. He tried to think of who would be the better vote, but something was pricking at the back of his mind and he had to ask.
"Uhh Sensei..." Chiken asked, raising his hand. "What's a 'dance'?"

(((OOC: Please forgive spelling/grammar/continuity for I am at school and did this all with my ninja skills.)))

Naomi sat in class thinking of the nominations. "Well to be honest the best leader would be Satoko. So" Naomi then put a checdk mark beside a name on the box.

Duggo balked at the voting process.

"This sort of thing is why I dropped out of High School", he thought to himself as he dropped a ballot in the box.

This dance business had him worried as well. Duggo had never been one to dress up or endure much in the way of formality. He did have an idea who to ask as a date, but he figured this person felt much the same about this dance as he did, and would likely go along with his plan in order to just get it over with.

He gritted his teeth, resolved to see this training through to the end, no matter how ridiculous some bits may be.