Windswept lily

[Unicorn]

Anyone would think that being the 2nd youngest daughter of a mid-level Noble family was the perfect carefree and privileged life. Once upon a time, Sayuri had thought so too. All of her elder siblings had either achieved respectable ranks within the Seireitei Guardian Squads, or married into good families.

All Sayuri was expected to do was to excel at her studies. That was easy to do. There was a whole variety of books, weaponry, leisure arts and domestic arts to be learnt, and she enjoyed every minute of her studies.

In addition to these studies, she was expected to attend an unending social calendar of parties, held by Nobles for Nobles to meet, socialize, eat and talk about boring things. Sayuri didn’t like having to spend all day preparing and dressing up for the parties, only to spend an equally tiresome amount of time carefully storing her fine dresses and jewelry into their proper boxes.

It was the same series of parties every year. As Sayuri got gradually older, she often began to notice appraising looks focused on her. The same looks someone would give a piece of food before selecting it for purchase. Sayuri became increasingly uncomfortable with attending these parties, but her family insisted. So she obeyed.

One day, just before yet another party hosted by her own family, Sayuri was called into the Main Hall, shown a stranger’s picture and told she was betrothed to the heir of one of the top families in Seireitei. The engagement was to be formally announced that very evening, and she would get to meet her groom-to-be.

Sayuri resented being treated like a pedigree dog being sold to the highest bidder. She tried to protest, but was silenced under stern lectures on duty, obedience and the maintenance of familial honour.

Dazed, terrified and resentful, she didn’t remember much of that evening. But she did remember looking at her groom-to-be for the first time; and noticing that his eyes were cruel.

[Unicorn]

:eek: zomg there's a mod doing double-posts!! someone shoot it!
...


Sayuri stood at the gates of the Seireitei Academy and stared at the masses of people. The crowd was mostly made up of Rukongai citizens – thin, loud, and with tattered edges to their clothes. They noticed her, yet pushed past rudely to get into the Academy trials.

Surprised and a little annoyed Where was the respect? Sayuri decided to brave the masses and make her own way to the Academy trials. She soon discovered everyone ignored girls who stood there and asked politely to be let through. So Sayuri tried pushing past the tall thin man in front of her… and succeeded. Due to her small frame, she quickly became very good at shoving past people.

Sayuri hadn’t reached the halfway mark when she began to be a little afraid at how noisy and rough these people were. Her parents had taught her that only true nobles kept their expressions and posture elegant at all times, whereas uncultured lowbred servants ever showed their emotions. Completely outnumbered and overwhelmed by the noise, Sayuri simply covered her ears and pushed on.

She finally reached the registration desk and announced her intention to try the Academy aptitude test. The shinigami behind the counter made her fill out a short form, then gave her a number token and directed her down a corridor and into a courtyard. There was already a small group of nervous-looking people standing there clutching the tokens, and all of them were watching one candidate go through the aptitude test. Sayuri wandered up to the small group and bowed politely to them.

“Why was the Academy considering so many Rukongai citizens?” Sayuri thought, glancing around at her fellow candidates. “Didn’t Uncle say that too many untalented Rukongai scum were being accepted into the Academy, and that he would petition to restrict the number of students?”

She watched as more candidates went through the aptitude tests, which included a very short sparring session and a simple kidou spell. It seemed that her Uncle was quite wrong… some of the Rukongai citizens were talented, maybe even more talented than her.

Sayuri’s number was called out, and she stepped forward and bowed to the testing shinigami. After going through the tests, she was asked to wait inside a large hall for the result.

A short time later, her number was called again. The shinigami at the desk smiled and handed her a signed document.

“Congratulations, Himura. You’re accepted into the Academy.”

[Unicorn]

She had not dared to hope, nor even think she could get this far. The whole aptitude test had gone past in a daze – she simply followed instructions from the examiner and tried her best to achieve the necessary results. As she clutched the precious piece of paper, Sayuri finally allowed herself to feel happy. She scurried down the corridors to register for uniforms, classes and lodgings.

Only to be blocked by a familiar face. Sayuri skidded to a halt, and hurriedly executed a bow. Her fingers went cold around the document.

“Aniki-sama.” She greeted her elder brother. He straightened from where he was leaning against the pillar and moved towards her, black shinigami robes rustling and the vice-captaincy badge proudly displayed on his upper arm.

“Sayuri-chan. What is this I heard about you joining the Academy? So close to your wedding too. Do our parents know?” His voice was soft, but stern. Sayuri just shook her head dumbly. The cold had spread from her fingers to her chest, and she could not trust herself to speak. Her last chance to escape the wedding, and it had been foiled. Sayuri fought the urge to scream, cry or just run away like a coward.

“Look, I know you don’t like the marriage, but our parents are happy with your husband-to-be. If you continue with this, you will get into trouble. Come on, give me the acceptance letter, I’ll destroy it and bring you home. I’ll say that you met me for lunch and our parents will never know of this foolishness.”

“No.” Sayuri managed to say, clutching the letter in a death grip. Her brother looked shocked for a moment, not expecting her defiance. Impatience shadowed his expression; he was used to being blindly obeyed.

“Sayuri-chan, stop this foolishness immediately. You will give me the letter and come home with me now.” Her brother snapped, and he reached forward to take the letter. Sayuri had frozen on the spot, and could only watch numbly at her last hope being taken away.

“Ah good afternoon, Himura fukutaichou. What brings you here?” A cheerful voice drifted down the corridor. Sayuri barely glanced sideways, her attention still fixed on the document gripped in her white-knuckled hand, and her brother’s hand hovering inches above hers.

They talked above her. She knew they talked, she heard them over the roar of the rest of her life shattering. Finally her brother’s hand clenched, then moved away from the document. Sayuri blinked, confused. She had expected to be dragged home.

“Sayuri-chan, our parents will hear of this.” Her brother announced, eyes dark with thwarted anger, then whirled and strode off down the corridor. Another shinigami-clad man walked in front of her and crouched down. He was neither a vice-captain nor a captain, and he was smiling. Sayuri stared. Her brother backed down from him?

“Good afternoon, Himura Sayuri. I am Hayashi Jun, Senior Teacher at the Academy. Let’s get you registered as a new student, hmm? Before your family decides to interfere again?”

[Unicorn]

Sayuri sat in a graceful seiza in front of the luxurious wooden desk in a large empty office, waiting a little nervously.

Several things had happened after the Senior Teacher had found her. Hayashi-Sensei had cheerfully explained that the Academy was different to the Shinigami Protection Squads, and that Vice-Captains could not help new students to formally register for enrolment.

Sayuri had forced herself not to react – so her esteemed fukutaichou brother had lied to the teacher. She felt a spark of hope… maybe the Academy would be her safe haven for the next six years. He had brought her to the proper registration booths and handed over to some other staff who had efficiently and briskly recorded her formal enrollment into the Academy.

She had been in the midst of being measured for her Academy uniforms when another teacher politedly interrupted them. After a whispered conversation, she had been informed that the Head Teacher wished to formally congratulate her enrollment. It was apparently a routine greeting to welcome every new student, so Sayuri didn’t think much of it as she followed along and was ushered into the Head Teacher’s office. Only to find no-one there.

So here she was, waiting and wishing she had stayed in the Uniforms Office. “At least, at least I’m formally enrolled. The Academy does not answer to the nobles or the captains.” Sayuri repeated mentally, in an effort to calm down and reassure herself that nothing was going to take her away from the Academy.

Footsteps and low murmurs approached the door. With a sinking heart, Sayuri recognized her parents’ voices. Suddenly, she wasn’t certain that she’d be allowed to stay enrolled in the Academy, not if the Head Teacher was already involved with this.

The door slid open and three people entered the room. Sayuri bowed low over her knees, murmuring a polite greeting. When straightening, she risked a glance up at their faces. Although both parents wore neutrally aloof expressions, her father had furrowed eyebrows and her mother had thinned lips. They were furious.

The third person was the only one who acknowledged her presence. “Ah, as you can see, Himura-chan is safe and well. I retrieved her once your messenger left my office. Please, take a seat and be comfortable.”

Sayuri hated the sound of his voice from the first word. The man was obviously trying to please. For the next few minutes, there was a rustling of cloth as everyone settled down. Sayuri kept her gaze on the luxurious desk and fought to leave her hands relaxed upon her lap.

Someone – probably the Head Teacher – clapped and a servant scurried in to serve tea and refreshments. He scurried out just as abruptly. There was another few minutes of polite silence when everyone sipped the tea and exchanged routine pleasantries. Sayuri just watched the steam rise from the cup and faintly what would happen after she was successfully dragged home.

“Thank you for meeting with us at such short notice.” Her father spoke up. “The girl should not have enrolled in the Academy, we deem her not ready yet. Maybe in a few years’ time, when she shows more potential, of course we will be honored to have her attend the Academy just like many of the Himura household.”

Sayuri listened, shocked, as she was referred to as ‘the girl’. The lies that came after that were so polite, so believable; she almost, almost believed them herself.

“Himura-chan has potential now.” The Head Teacher said, smiling. “She was tested and found suitable for the Academy, so we…”

“Nevertheless.” Her father interrupted. “Our House deems the girl not ready. She still needs a few years to achieve her proper potential before we will consider her suitable to attend the Academy. I would appreciate if you could do everything in your power to help us. Needless to say, you will be compensated for all the time and effort taken.”

“I… will see what I can do. I need some time to work out the best outcome for all of us.” The Head Teacher’s voice changed. Sayuri mentally sneered. It was always about money. “Please understand that once a student is enrolled, we cannot reject them from the Academy without good reason. The Himura House is renowned for providing good, talented students to the Academy. I have known some talented students who have graduated in much less than six years.”

“We await your favourable response.” Her father spoke up then. Sayuri gritted her teeth as her life was again being planned without her, but kept silent. The three people again exchanged empty pleasantries and then they left.

The conversation just confirmed that the Academy operated independently from the Protection Squads and noble influence. However, it was still not entirely proof against monetary influence.

Sayuri continued sitting in the empty office, waiting resentfully for yet another person to tell her what to do.

[Unicorn]

“That’s the girl… Mother said she ran away…”
“Maybe he wasn’t good enough for her, and she went to look for someone else.”
“How unruly.”

Sayuri had looked at the little groups of young nobles standing nearby and they all returned the look. They continued twittering disapprovingly. She knew full well that they wanted to be overheard, but saying it to her face was classified as undignified behaviour for a noble.

…

Classes had just started. Sayuri had been shown a seat in the ‘Nobles’ section of the classroom. She had nodded politely to the surrounding students, then spent the rest of the day listening intently to teachers.

A few days passed in this fashion. She kept to herself, and was either at classes, or in her tiny private dorm room, or getting meals.

Meals were annoyingly bland, simple and standard - the same dishes were always being served. Most of the students seemed happy enough at getting something to eat. The noble students either didn’t turn up for meals or made a great show of enjoying their servant-delivered bento boxes.

Having neither the luxury of having food delivered from home, nor the money to purchase her own food, Sayuri forced herself to sit far away from the noble students and make do with the standard student meals. She didn’t want to draw attention to the fact that a noble was sitting in the Rukongai student section, so she kept quiet and ate fast in order to leave the dining hall as soon as she could.

After the third day, Sayuri finally had enough of the small pile of used clothing in the corner of her room. Having had servants all her life, she was annoyed that no-one had taken away the clothes for cleaning. So Sayuri went to ask a teacher who was in charge of ensuring that everyone had clean uniforms.

The teacher had explained that all students were in charge of their own clothing, and directed her towards a large room. Still trying to come to grips with the fact that there were no servants for such basic things as cleaning her clothes, Sayuri walked into the room to find Rukongai students of all ages mingling and chattering cheerfully.

The back of the room was lined with several large box-like machines. Some students had armfuls of clothing that were fed into a machine. Thoroughly puzzled, Sayuri used her demure frame to push through the crowd and take a closer look at what they were doing.

She spent a few hours simply observing everyone’s actions. Eventually, a couple of older students noticed her watching the various machines and explained how to use them. Apparently the machines magically washed and dried the clothes. Sayuri thanked them and scurried off to fetch her own clothing.

Sayuri eventually began to relax into the student lifestyle, despite the annoying student meals and small bedroom. No-one jumped out and tried to control her life. There were no demanding messages from her family; in fact no-one bothered her at all. Until she noticed the surrounding whispers.

…

Sayuri didn’t really care about their misinformed opinions or their herd-mentality, as long as they stayed out of interfering with her life. Furthermore, she had experienced first-hand how nobles could twist the situation to suit their purposes, and refused to give them any opportunity to do so.

A week went past, then another. No-one ever spoke directly to her, but there was apparently plenty to say about her. At least she knew that she was safe from physical attacks. The Nobles did not approve of laying hands on their own – she was still betrothed to one of the top families and it would earn the ire of at least two influential families.