A sigh escaped Miatas lips as she looked up at the shinigami academy. she had been sent here after much talk and though she had not wanted to become a shinigami it had been part of the deal to help her sick friend so she really had not choice in the matter. she would look down at her new clothes, a red trainee's uniform. They had taken her old clothes telling her that she would get them back after she graduated which she hoped was soon. Her master had given her that cloak after all and she felt exposed without it. She would take a deep breath as she walked into the building following many other trainees.
As she entered the assembly hall she noticed that most of the people there were cheerful and happy to be attending the academy. Was it really such a great thing to be a Shingami? Perhaps she had misjudged the entire situation and this would not be nearly as bad as she thought it would be. She noticed that a large amount of the students began to gather in a neat formation as a man began to talk at the podium. she would follow in suit standing near the back as she listened. The man began to talk, welcoming them to the academy and generally giving what could be considered a basic welcoming speech. She listened though every word sinking in as she did so. when he was finally done speaking he would wish them luck and dismiss them to their dorms for the day.
She would then be lead off to the girl's dorm within the Aacdemy. Being assigned a room she would walk in and see that it was made for four people to stay in the same room. So she would have roommates..great that was fine she was used to sharing rooms with people anyways. Sure enough three other girls walked in talking to one another and laughing. It seemed they were already friends....great she was going to be isolated, no big deal. How wrong she was though because the first thing they did upon seeing her was walk over to her and with genuine kindness and friendship began to talk to her. She was a bit taken aback by all of this but she found it was easy to talk back to them and even smile a bit. She found out that they were sisters and were part of one of the noble families and as such had managed to get in without any trouble. When queried about her origins she told them that she was from Rukon and expected them to shun her. However they surprised her yet again asking many questions about the Rukon district and what it was like outside of the Seireitei. they talked for quite a bit and though she had not know it at the time Miata had made her first friends here.
The first few weeks were spent on training the basics of what it meant to be a Shinigami. She found herself studying more than she had every imagined possible. There was so much information that she had to learn but she found that she learned quickly and the information was actually kinda interesting. She read more and more spending much of her first few weeks int he library not only learning about the job that a Sinigami was supposed to do but also the history and how souls worked. It was all very fascinating to her and she wanted to learn as much as she could.
After a few months of learning this a test was announced to complete this part fo the training. Her roommates were a bit worried about it and in an odd twist of her personality Miata offered to help them study. They accepted grateful for the offer and the four of them poured over books for the next week trying to crack down on what they needed to know. When the day of the test came she did her best finding that she knew most fo the answer though even with all of her studying some of it still eluded her. Still when all was said and done she passed that section with a rather high mark. Her roommates also passed, granted not as high a grade but nothing disappointing. After the test her friends invited her to celebrate and she acepted. What happened then made Miata never want to go near alcohol ever again..the headache induced from it's consumption was just not worth it.
After that training was done Miata and the rest of the students were given a week off to go back home and rest. She turned down the invitation from her noble friends to come visit them at their home with the promise she would go next time. Instead she went back to Rukon for the week expecting people to hate her for becoming a Shinigami. People never ceased to amaze her though as they greeted her with love and happiness. they were glad that she was making a better life for herself. She spent the week telling everyone what the academy was like and about th people she met. she also handed out a few souvenirs that she had managed to get courtesy of her new friends. The week went by fast, too fast for her taste and she had to leave. She told them that she had promised to spend the next break with her new friends but that she was try to come visit when she could. Whens he left she did so with smiles at her back.
The next leg of training was something called kido or demon way. It was as the instructor said a way to use spiritual energy in the form of spell attacks. At first Miata thought she was going to be able to learn this without too much trouble. It seemed simple enough on paper and controlling spiritual energy after some practice came to her naturally. It seemed that her training with Master Zen had given her some level of skill. However as the training moved beyond basic spells and into more complex attacks she found that though she was not completely incapable of using them, she could not help to find them a waste of breath and time. Why use a spell when a well placed fist could end the fight just as well? She brought this up with the instructor who let out a good natured laugh. Slapping her on the back he told her such feelings were normal and the Kido was only one of four combat styles. He went on to say that it was not for everybody but it was still good to learn the basics. Seeing as she had the instructor moved her on to the next course. Her roommates though found that they had a high level of aptitude in Kido and stayed to master it more. Though she was saddened that they were no longer studying together they assured her they would still hang out in the down time.
The next thing she was trained in was Zanjustu or combat with a Zanpakuto. She had only seen a Zanpakuto once and that was the pitted old sword that her master had used in his final fight. It was explained that the Zanpakuto was a Shinigami's partner, a weapon that was an extension of the Shinigami itself. She was told that it would be some time before they got their own Zanpakuto but int he mean time they would use wooden swords. When they were handed out they were offered one of two, Miata took two though she found that many of the students only took one. On her first day she was paired off with a boy three times her size. The boy did not seem comfortable fighting her after all she was rather small. But she smiled telling him not to worry. In turned out he was the one who should have worried. Years of practicing basic hand to hand combat with her master made her a natural in battle even with the swords. She took him out without too much trouble to the surprise of the instructor. Seeing she had some potential he pushed her hard.
In the coming weeks she received many bruises from the blow she took tot he worry of her roommates. Miata was learning though and as she did the bruises became few and fewer until finally she managed to stop them all together..well all but the occasional welt from a well placed strike. While she was considered proficient in Zanjsutsu the instructor saw that she was skilled already at Hakuda. As such after he finished training her he recommended her to a special Hakuda training class. She was happy that she was doing well, it had been a surprise as she had not expected to get this far with so many good things said about her.
The Hakuda training however was far harder than she had been expecting. She had thought that thanks to her master's training that she had already learned all she could but it turned out she had barely scraped the surface. Despite her skill and reflexes from raining she found that many of the students there had no trouble taking her down. Still she was not scolded for being weak just it was explained that because of her small size it was going to be hard for her to fight most foes hand to hand. She worked hard through using her size to her advantage until finalyl she was albe to fight well enough against most of the students though there were many who were just stronger than she was and no amount of training would allow her to close that gap with just basic Hakuda training.
After that training ended she was informed that the final exam was coming up, the exam that would determine if she was to become a Shinigami or not. She was surprised to find herself looking forward to it after alls he had never expected that becoming a Shinigami was going to be a good thing but from all she had learned she was happy that that captain had made her come here. She now had control over her power, control that she had never thought possible and as a result she could now protect more people. That made her happy. On top of that she had made new friends, not only the nobles that were her roommates but many of the other students treated her as such and she in turn considered them friends.
Before the final exam they were given another break. Good to her word she went with her roommates back to their house. the house was HUGE, bigger than even the barracks had been. As she entered she was greeted by a small army of servants but beyond that she was also greeted by the parents of her friends. They were friendly enough to her being very polite and it seemed they were trying to be kind. They did not seem like bad people to be sure but it was clear they were not used to having Rukon Residents as their guests. Still her friends made sure her stay was pleasant. While she did enjoy her visit for the most part it was clear that this lifestyle was really not for her, proper meals and such were really not something she was attracted to. The week ended on a good note with her friend's parents wishing her luck and thanking her for being friends with their daughters.
The day of the final exam arrived and with it the day that she would finish here at the academy. the test was fairly simple, slay a pseudo hollow using whatever means they had at their disposal. Not hard at all with their training. they were spit into groups of three each as they were given their Asauchi. As Miata had shown that she had skill with two swords she was given two blades to test that skill. she took the swords not wanting to let them down. She looked at her teammates not recognizing either of them instantly though after some thought realized that one of them had gotten top marks int eh Kido class ans the other had gotten the lowest marks int he school. the three of them looked at each other, no words had to be spoken they were going to complete this test and pass together.
As they were sent off it did not take them long to find their target. It was a great deal bigger that they had been expecting though, standing over even the tallest of them, the boy with the low marks who was 6'7. It roared as it rushed forward at them. Instantly Miata stepped forward her blades flying from their sheathes as she block the beast's charge by crossing the blades the back of her left blade pressing against the back of her right. She slid back though her size not enough to hold i back. The kido boy opened fire with surprising speed, firing a bolt of white lighting one after another causing the hollow to stumble. Taking this opening Miata would swing up her blades catching the beast off guard causing it to stumble back. Then the other boy surprised them both. with a yell he charged forward stabbing hit sword into the Hollow's mask. The hollow let out a terrible yell as it fell back before disintegrating into particles of light. the three of them look at each other laughing. they had done it they had passed the final test.
A few days later she stood before the same man that had greeted them before when they had arrived. He gave another speech about how they were now full fledged Shinigami and that they would soon be assigned to their squads. This was sad because Miata knew where she was going and also knew that her friends were all going to different squads. Still they had all promised that they would keep in touch with each other and that even if they were in diffident squads they would still be friends. The man finished his speech smiling at them and welcoming them to the Gotei Thirteen. Miata the girl whom had hated Shinigami now found herself as one, such a strange thing fate was.
