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Post by Etsuya Tanimoto on Jul 27, 2016 21:01:03 GMT -6
"Moving Forward":Etsuya sat on a table that rested against the wall near a window. With his back against the wall, and his head turned toward the window, Etsuya sighed at the chatter consuming the halls of the Shino Academy. The Captain Commander and Captain Ukitake were dead. Killed. Raising a hand, Etsuya rubbed the back of his neck with a heavy sigh. "Such a waste." he muttered. He turned his head, looking to the hall at a group of passing students. As they passed, Etsuya slid to the edge of the table. He hopped off the table and walked over to the doors. Etsuya slid the doors shut and turned toward the wall behind him. Walking back over to the table, he shoved his hands deep into his pockets. After a few more moments of looking out the window, Etsuya pulled his book from his jacket. With a sigh, he tossed it out of the window. "Well..." Etsuya knelt in front of the window and hung his head. "Captain Commander Kyoraku. Captain Ukitake. Your deaths won't be in vain. We will become better. Stronger." He raised his head. "There's a new generation rising, Captains. We will make you proud." Etsuya rose to his feet and adjusted his clothing. He turned toward the door before stopping suddenly. "Why'd I throw my book away?"
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Post by Sojiro Ichimaru on Sept 21, 2016 21:39:30 GMT -6
"Sorting the Truth Out":Sojiro walked into the meditation hall with Riku still passed out on his shoulder. He hadn't as much as budged since Tanahashi had knocked him out with the stranglehold. Sojiro wouldn't be underestimating him again. Then again, that wasn't the only thing he had learned during class. Looking around the hall, he walked over to a room that just emptied and closed the door. Setting Riku down, he pulled out a vial from his uniform and waved it over his friend's nose.
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Post by Riku Asuhara on Sept 21, 2016 21:47:09 GMT -6
Riku's face twisted up in disgust and he coughed and gagged, rolling over onto all fours. He shook his head and rubbed his throat, groaning. He looked around, seeing the meditation dojo's walls. He wondered how he got there. Looking over, he saw a worried looking Sojiro. Suddenly everything came back to him and he pounded the floor.
"Damn that Ryusuke! Pulling a cheap shot like that!" He leaned back on his haunches, clenching his fists on the floor. "I'll get him back for this. I swear it!"
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Post by Sojiro Ichimaru on Sept 22, 2016 9:41:40 GMT -6
Sojiro slipped the vial back into his pocket and sat on the floor next to his best friend. “Maybe he did use a cheap trick, but I think, in the end, it may have been a good thing.” When Riku glanced at him, still incensed, Sojiro almost hesitated. But then, he forged on. “If it had been Aizen or another of his minions – which include mind readers – it would have been a lot worse. You’d be dead or half mad.”
He paused, letting Riku take that in. “Everyone now knows you have deep feelings for me and that – contrary to what you told me before – it’s eating you alive. Riku, that’s dangerous, even without a certain enemy on the horizon. You’re my best friend, but if you’re suffering, something has to change – whether we want it to or not."
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Post by Riku Asuhara on Sept 22, 2016 12:10:14 GMT -6
Riku sat cross legged with his head hung low. "I know, and I'm trying not to let it bother me. I guess I just need a distraction. Something to get my mind off of it. And I'm happy for you. I really am. I want you to be happy. I just wish I could find someone who makes me happy. Someone who doesn't judge, like you never judged me. Someone who gives people a chance before dismissing them."
"Maybe if you weren't fixated on me, you'd find that," Sojiro replied. When Riku's head inched lower still, he reached up to ruffle his head the way Kenji used to do to him. "I don't want to attack your pride any further, Riku, but I'd rather say it now than before you were rejected from the Stealth Force or when Aizen used your feelings to break you."
"I know. I'm not mad at you, Soji-kun. I'm mad at myself. I have to work harder, otherwise my dream will just be that. A dream. A fantasy. And I can't let that happen, but I won't let it cost us our friendship either." He leaned back on the tatami mats and looked up at the ceiling. Sojiro sighed and laid down next to him, a foot or two of space between them. A memory pieced itself together in his mind. "Do you remember the day we met, Soji-kun?"
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Post by Sojiro Ichimaru on Sept 22, 2016 20:16:02 GMT -6
Sojiro chuckled. “Yeah, I do.” He paused, letting the feelings of that time float up inside him. “It was at the end of the second quarter for me. I hadn’t really been trying. I had gone to the academy because Tsuki, Take-jii, Kyoraku, and Kisuke said it was the next step in my education, but I didn’t want to leave Mom alone…. worrying sick about the whereabouts of my father… or Seto. That was the day I had decided to pay more attention and trust my mother would alright. That I couldn’t do anything for her… until I could defend myself from her greatest threat.”
Aizen.
“And then you greeted me… and though there was definitely something in your eyes, it wasn't the disgust or hatred. Actually, come to think of it, I think it was mirror image of that expression you get when you see some sort of treasure....
"Your hair, is it real? It's real, isn't it?"
Sojiro blinked. “Um… yeah,” he murmured, raising a hand to it. For the moment, he was tempted to let the boy continue with the guessing game. He hadn't figured him out yet. Though his smile seemed harmless enough - unlike so many others he had met.
Riku's smile grew wider and brighter. He raised his hands in front of him and clenched his fists. "That's so cool! It's really pretty! It looks like real silver, only whiter!" Out of reflex, Riku raised his hand in an urge to touch the boy's hair. However he snapped back to reality and instead covered it up as him extending his hand to shake. "I'm Riku. Riku Asuhara. What's your name?"
Soji’s lips twitched but he didn’t smile as he lifted his own hand. He paused, waiting for Daichi to say something, but the ferret was quiet in his shihakusho pocket. He finally took the hand and took a breath. He raised his head further, a glint appearing in his eyes. “Soji. Sojiro Ichimaru,” he declared.
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Post by Riku Asuhara on Sept 22, 2016 20:23:56 GMT -6
Riku felt that if his smile got any wider his face would crack. He was relieved that Sojiro actually shook his hand. Maybe he wasn't as antisocial as he looked. And he swore the twitch of his lips was a smile, fighting to break free. "Nice to meet you!" Riku leaned against the wall next to Sojiro, folding his arms behind him. "So, what rank are you? Not that it matters, really."
Soji stared at him. “Do you not care?” he asked, heart clenching.
Riku blinked at Sojiro. "Care about what?"
“My name,” Soji stated.
Riku smiled lightly. "You mean your name in general, or your last name?" Contrary to popular opinion, Riku was not dumb or even airheaded or slow. No, definitely not. He knew what Sojiro meant. He's smiled wider, yet his eyes held a somber and serious light. "You have a nice name. And I don't believe in that 'the sins of the father are the sins of the son' bull crap."
He then frowned and moved his hands in front of him, lacing his fingers together and twirling his thumbs. "... Besides... People judge me for my last name too... I'm not well liked either..."
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Post by Sojiro Ichimaru on Sept 22, 2016 20:40:35 GMT -6
Sojiro fell silent for a moments, tying to recall when he had read about various families in Kisuke’s logs. If there was something famous or infamous about them, the old shopkeeper would know. Somewhere in the chicken scratch he dared call handwriting was the answer.
“Do you mind telling me your name again?” he asked.
Riku shrugged. “Riku Asuhara.”
It clicked the second time he heard it. “The thieves?” he asked.
“That would be me,” Riku murmured.
Soji frowned as more of the notes became clear in his mind. “But you’re kind of like robin hood. Your family robbed from the rich only. You’re not going to be stealing from them. Not to mention…” Soji looked to the board as someone moved aside far enough for him to see it. “Is there really anyone that is rich anymore this soon after the war?”
Riku laughed humorlessly. "You'd be surprised. The rich always find ways to stay rich and get richer." He looked around at the hoard of students. "A lot of these students are from families I've either robbed or have been targets at one point before the take over. My family was out of business for a long time after we were chased out to the Rukon District. No on is rich out there. In fact, we gave away more than we stole and kept in that time."
Riku stood up and stretched. "I'm here to become a Soul Reaper in hopes of getting my family back on their feet. And, honestly, when I get them all back in here, I can't promise that they and me won't go back to our family trade and business. That's all we know."
Soji remained quiet for a little longer this time, evaluating the words and considering a reply, something that didn’t seem naive or unrealistic. “You’re talking to me, giving me a chance,” he finally murmured. “I don’t think that means you’re a bad thief. You don’t hurt others. You just take things that can be replaced from people who can afford it. It may be wrong to some people, but there are much worse things in this world. At most, your family is an annoyance. You’re not evil. So I don’t think you should be ignored as I am for my father who did hurt people and - at one time - didn’t care.”
He looked forwards again. “What classes did you take? I’ll tell you your ranking.”
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Post by Riku Asuhara on Sept 22, 2016 21:06:10 GMT -6
“You can see from here?”
“Most of it,” Soji replied.
Riku blinked in surprise (for more than one reason) and laughed. "Wow. The things I could do with eyesight like that." He looked forward, squinting at the board. "I did the four core classes and a ton of Stealth Force classes."
“Four core classes for which year?” Soji asked, still squinting at the board.
"First year AP."
Soji nodded, was silent a couple more moments conferring with Daichi who could see what he could not, and then slowly relayed the information to Riku.
Riku grinned. “Thanks, but you didn’t tell me everything.”
Soji blinked.
“What’s your scores?”
Soji chuckled and his eyes twinkled kind of ominously. “They don’t really count yet. I haven’t really been focusing.” He looked at the sky. “But I had a talk with someone and I am going to do better this quarter.” He looked down. “I have to…”
Riku smiled brightly at Sojiro. "That's good. I know you'll do great. You'll make an amazing Soul Reaper. I don't care what anyone says about you. You're a great person. A last name is just that. A name. You could have any other last name and you'd be the same person. People look at a rose, and no matter how pretty it is, they always see the thorns first. They don't realize the thorns are there to protect the rose, but at the same time they're also a curse. You just have to find someone who knows how to get around the thorns without getting hurt. That's all."
Sojiro chuckled and covered his mouth. “Funny choice of analogy,” he murmured.
Riku, still grinning, tilted his head. “Why’s that?”
Soji calmed down. “Someone I call family is often compared to a rose. I just thought it was ironic because of that.” He ran a hand through his bangs. “Since there are some things or details that follow you through life. That kind of thing.”
Riku laughed lightly then looked up at the clock on the wall. "It's about lunch time. I'm starving." He turned back to Sojiro. "Want to go out to eat somewhere? I'll pay."
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Post by Sojiro Ichimaru on Sept 22, 2016 21:53:12 GMT -6
“You sure?” Sojiro asked, fixing the top of his uniform as Daichi wriggled in his concealed pocket. “I don’t use as much of my allowance as most do. Since I know many of the captains.”
He inwardly winced at the last sentence. That was another way to turn people away from him. His name was bad enough. But when people saw him with Ukitake or Tsuki, his actions - and existence - were blatantly unforgivable. That someone as tainted as he was could be something in their eyes….
Riku grinned and placed his arms behind his head. "You're talking to a master thief, remember? I've got more money than most see in their entire life. Not even the shops in the first district of Seireitei near the Captain-Commander's office are too rich for my blood. In fact, I could probably buy a few of those shops." He took Sojiro's wrist and pulled him towards the exit. "Come on. Let's go eat!"
Sojiro jolted, but before he could really react to the sudden grasp, he was being pulled away and not really resisting. He let his feet follow Riku’s, a small warmth forming in his heart, like the reassurance he would receive from Kenji or Izuru.
He smiled. “Thanks, Asuhara, and so you know, I’m not picky.”
"Neither am I!" Riku turned to look back at Sojiro. "And by the way, Soji-kun, call me Riku, okay?"
Sojiro smirked, eyes gleaming. “We’ll see about that~”
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Post by Riku Asuhara on Sept 22, 2016 22:16:54 GMT -6
Riku smiled as he remembered that day. That was the day he knew Sojiro was special. Not because of his name or his powers or anything else, but because of who he was. He was Riku's first genuine friend. He never judged him. He never shunned or ridiculed him. And most of all, he trusted and accepted him. And Riku did the same for him. From the very start they both had each other when no one else wanted anything to do with them. And that would never change.
"Soji-kun... I know what I'm going to say may sound contradictory to my actions sometimes, but... I don't love you like two soulmates love each other. It's not deep and profound like that. I love you because of all the things you've done for me. All of the trust and acceptance you've given me. And I guess I got ahead of myself and hoped that if you accepted me on a friendship level... well... I guess I don't need to finish that. But, my point is that now I realize that you can't solve all of my problems and fill all of the holes in my heart. That would be a very unfair burden to place on you. But you have filled a lot of them, simply by being my friend when no one else wanted to. And for that I'm eternally grateful. I'll spend my entire life making that up to you. Maybe not because I have to, but because I want to. Because I owe you that much. My life is yours. Not because of feelings like love, but because you're my best friend."
Riku smiled brightly at Sojiro, feeling like he was looking at him with a new pair of eyes. For the first time in a long time, he didn't want Sojiro to try and patch up every broken piece of him like he had at first when he realized Sojiro's friendship healed him in a way his thievery and "philanthropy" never did. This time, he'd find someone else who accepted him and trusted him just as much as Sojiro but in a different way. After all, if there was one person who did, there were bound to be others.
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Post by Sojiro Ichimaru on Sept 22, 2016 23:27:06 GMT -6
Sojiro smiled in return, feeling the dark cloud of foreboding that had settled in the pit of his stomach after the fight lift with his friend’s words. If he could keep grinning like that, Sojiro wouldn’t have to worry as deeply for him. Or fear that he would end up going through a long, painful process like Tsukiro. “It doesn’t matter if I was confused,” he stated, standing slowly and offering Riku his hand. He hauled him up. “What matters is that you sorted your feelings out. It will make you stronger. No one person can help one person. Many people were necessary to help my mother escape Las Noches and many people are responsible for protecting me from the darkness so far.”
He leaned against the wall, his mind turning to all the teachers he’d had when he was a barely a toddler. Running out of Kisuke’s lab with Kenji, who’d inspect his hands to make sure he hadn’t grabbed anything dangerous. Kenji throwing himself over Sojiro when Kisuke had been attacked and he had been taken to Las Noches again. Then, Kenji had started to feel the weight of his responsibilities or his heritage. Becoming quiet. He hadn’t withdrawn. But Sojiro felt his ‘brother’ had. Izuru had taken over then, first by badgering him about the pills and standing up against Vale, and then by looking for another step in his training so he wouldn’t succumb to the weakness projected by his mother when she thought he wasn’t looking.
But the academy had been cold. For a while. “You helped me too, Riku-kun.”
His eyes turned serious, a hard grey blue. “Be careful. I don’t want to lose my best friend - to depression or any of the worse enemies out there. I'm trapped in the middle of the war. If you're not ready, I will push you aside. I have to." He grinned and shrugged. "But if you can keep his head on straight, I don’t mind a hug here or there, as long as I don't lose too many ribs~"
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Post by Riku Asuhara on Sept 22, 2016 23:36:43 GMT -6
Suddenly it was painfully clear to Riku just how much more he had to go, and that he couldn't by any means, let his best friend down. He smiled and bowed to Sojiro. "I swear to you I won't drag you down. I'll become strong of mind and body so that I will never be a burden to you. I'll work hard and prove to you that I can take anything my and your enemies throw at me. You won't ever have to worry about me ever again."
Riku stretched out his stiff muscles and groaned. "Except, I'm not really sure where to go from here. There's so much I have left to learn. I don't know what to start with."
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Post by Sojiro Ichimaru on Sept 23, 2016 0:06:41 GMT -6
Sojiro nodded. “With an enemy like Aizen, there is always more to learn.” He paused. “Look, I suggest you talk to Shota-Sensei about some extra lessons. He’s Tsukiro’s Third Seat and has a good grip-”
Riku groaned. “THIRD SEAT!? And I lost in my match against that nerd, Ryusuke.” He turned and set his head against the wall. “He’s going to have a mouthful for me next time.”
“Most likely, but if you approach him, it may be less harsh and more analytical.”
Riku nodded. “What else? Talk to Tsukiro again?”
Sojiro shook his head. “I would wait about asking for more aid from the division you wish to enter until your skills have improved this time. Though you could fight Tanahashi again.”
“No way!”
“He provoked you. He could do it again. This is the only sane place you can learn about those sides of you, where you’re vulnerable, and where you’ll turn a switch." He folded his arms. "You were pretty antagonistic out there before he started talking about your feelings.”
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Post by Riku Asuhara on Sept 23, 2016 0:27:11 GMT -6
Riku growled and crossed his arms as well. "I got cocky. But that's okay. I'll have my revenge. And next time I'll be the one who puts him to sleep. Next time I'll be ready for him."
Sojiro grinned and hummed, slapping Riku on the back. "Sure. Whatever you say. Just don't go and get a big head this time."
Sojiro laughed at him as Riku pouted. The two of them exited the dojo and made their way back to their dorm. |
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