Good Things Ahead Aizen stared at the opposite wall as he stood in front of the receptionist's desk, Momo preferring to sit down a few feet behind him. The light-red shade of the Principal's office was barely visible beneath decorations the stoic-looking girl typing at the desk had set up for her boss: a variety of motivational posters, the occasional landscape that looked like it belonged in a Monet catalogue, a few potted ferns hanging from chains in the corner. He was fully aware of the worried sounds his young lover was making, but he barely suceeded in restraining the desire to go to her as it would only make their situation worse. After a few minutes the phone on the desk rang and its owner dutifully responded; she nodded into the phone along with a whispered reply, then hung up and gestured to the door. "...The principal will see you both now," the girl said as she almost immediately went back to banging at the keys on her computer. "Thank you, Nemu," Sosuke nodded casually as if this were only a routine occurence. He felt Hinamori's hand on his sleeve for a moment before he pushed it away, giving her a look that told her to refrain from such actions until things got quiet again. The girl nodded in disheartened understanding as the bespectacled man pushed the door open. "Ahh...Sosuke...And Miss Hinamori, I believe?" A withered old man sat behind the wide Principal's desk, inscribed with the name "Yamamoto" after the stating of his occupation. He appeared not to have gone bald so much as that his hair had simply decided to migrate from the top of his head to the bottom of his chin; his beard was a brilliant gray and seemed to go well below the surface of the polished mahogany, and the tone of his voice was as clear and commanding as if he was 50 years younger. The girl gave a frightened nod as she stood next to her lover, being careful not to get too close to him. "Now, then..." Yamamoto began as he leaned forward in his leather armchair, "...I'm sure the both of you know why you are here..." When neither student nor teacher spoke the old man broke the silence. "...Well, as I'm sure you've heard, there have been rumors over the last week...concerning the both of you. Now I'm fully aware that gossip is something that teenagers do, and as such they're bound to...exagerrate certain things. But since rumors also contain a measure of truth, I've called you here to see just how reliable these whisperings are." "Well...seems reasonable," Aizen said evenly, although inside he was relieved. Maybe he wouldn't be fired after all... "...Is it true that you and Miss Hinamori have been engaged in relations during school hours?" The two blinked almost in unison at the absurdity of the accusation, no doubt an embellishment made by the 'imaginative' student body. "O-of course not!" Momo practically yelled at the principal, her eyes burning with shame at the very idea. Aizen chanced a look in her direction as if to restrain her from accidentially letting something slip, but the petite girl halted of her own accord. "I see..." Yamamoto answered with the nod, gracefully ignoring the student's rather disrespectful outburst. "...And have you done so outside of the school or on school property?" "No," Aizen answered calmly, a little surprised at how easily he was finding it to decieve the man who he owe his job to. "And the two of you have not been 'involved' with each other in ANY way?" At this Sosuke hesitated and Hinamori glanced at him. He hadn't been lying when he'd told Momo that he'd cared about her... Could he really just push away everything they had with a single utterance? "...I'm waiting," the Principal said calmly, snapping Aizen back to reality. He looked away from Hinamori as he answered. "No. I'm afraid everything you've been hearing has been a lie. There's nothing going on between Miss Hinamori and myself." He caught the slightest hint of the crushed look on Momo's face as he met Yamamoto's piercing gaze full-on. After a little while the principal relaxed back into his chair, giving the teacher a nod that seemed to express his contentment. "Very well-- if that is the truth then there is little reason to doubt you, Sosuke. But even so, I'd like to keep the two of you seperated and am going to have Miss Hinamori moved into a different homeroom. I imagine you'd rather have that then run the risk of having your career put in jepoardy over something as silly as this, correct?" Yamamoto added once he saw Aizen open his mouth to retort. The young man pushed his thick-rimmed glasses further up the bridge of his nose, and at another nod from Yamamoto he took his leave. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Yoruichi had just entered the main office when Aizen bumped past her. She was about to at least urge him to apologize when he suddenly glared at her. It didn't intimidate her as Sosuke had been hoping but it certainly let her know that none of this was over. The dark-toned girl had to admit that she had been feeling rather guilty over the whole thing, over the way that kids would go out of their way to pick on Hinamori about 'just how close she was with Aizen-sensei.' She'd tried to help once but Momo had just ignored her, and for the last week she'd stood apart while the poor girl suffered silently. She was about to continue on her way to the guidance counselor's office, but then she noticed the object of her musing walking towards the exit. "H-hey, Momo!" Hinamori stopped at the sound of her name, but didn't turn to look at Yoruichi. "...Listen...I-I'm really sorry about...you know...what I said in cl--" "...Don't you think you've said enough?" This time Yoruichi recoiled as Momo turned her angry, tear-brimmed eyes in her direction, the gaze expressing more of her heartbreak and humiliation than the girl would have cared to admit. After a moment Hinamori stormed out of the office, ignoring the receptionist's entreaty that she be quiet as she shut it with a bang. Yoruichi stared at the doorway for a good two minutes before she gave a sigh of defeat and continued on her way. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hey, Shihouin-san-- I was wondering where you were hiding at." Yoruichi shook off her musings physically before offering a friendly smile to her counselor. "Oh, come on Hisagi-san...I'm only a few minutes late." Shuuhei Hisagi, on first glance, was not the sort of person one would think could be in the business of helping students to find themselves and to pick classes, and that was exactly what Yoruichi had thought three years ago. He looked more like he belonged in a street gang than anything else; his hair had been dyed purple, and in addition to the rather questionably tasteful '69' tattoo on his left cheek his ears were covered with piercings and he had a leather choke collar around his neck. He had known that getting a job at a school like this one had been more a decision based on quotas then on merit (they needed to prove that they were an 'equal opportunity employer,' after all), but in the short time he'd been here many of the students, especially the girls, had taken to his carefree and unhurried additude. He treated his students like they were intelligent human beings, and as such they responded positively toward him more so than others. Even Yoruichi had to admit that in earlier years she would've jumped him the second she could get a 'private session,' but with her age had come a certain degree of maturity. "Yeah, better late than never with YOU, I guess..." Shuuhei answered with a smirk as Yoruichi sat herself down. "So...why'd you call me here?" Yoruichi asked cautiously, wondering if Aizen had said anything about her being at the heart of the rumor. "Well, I've got some pretty good news..." the young man said as he pulled out a manilla folder and flipped through the pages, a sly grin finding its way to his features. Yoruichi knew he was baiting her, but she decided that it was better to play along then to put up a fight if she wanted a quick answer. "...What kinda good news?" "Oh, just the REALLY good kind," Shuuhei answered, slumping in his chair a little bit while he twirled the folder back and forth in his fingers. "In fact, it's such good news th--" "Seriously, just tell me, okay!...Uh...Hisagi-san." Shuuhei flinched at the sudden irritation in his student's voice, but straightened up in his seat nonetheless. "Well, since you're so insistent...Do you remember that application I suggested you fill out before summer break?" Yoruichi's eyes narrowed as she tried to recall what he was referring to, but soon enough her eyes widened in surprised understanding. "Y-You mean th--" Shuuhei gave a smug nod of affirmation as Yoruichi leaned forward in her chair, her silent awe soon being replaced with ecstatic energy. She began to pace the room rapidly, a disbelieveing smile lighting her features and driving all other concerns from her mind. It took all her self control to force her feet to stop, and to turn to her counselor and shake his extended hand. "Congratulations, Yoruichi. I hope you enjoy it." Yoruichi nodded enthusiastically as she left waiting until she'd left the Principal's office to let out a whoop that knocked one of the pictures off the counselor's wall. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "...Are you serious?" Kisuke said wide-eyed as Yoruichi related what she had been told in the couselor's office. "That's great! Wow, so when do you start?" "Next year--just after graduation," Yoruichi said with a content grin as she bit into the sandwich she'd bought from the school's cafeteria, her mood too high to be brought down by the rather low quality of the meal. "...I gotta admit, it'll be kinda weird to think that I'm leaving..." "Well, this is a great opportunity! How often does this sort of thing come along, AND for free?" "Yeah, but..." Yoruichi said lazily as she finished the meal in a few bites, tossing the remnants into the garbage and leaving the cafeteria with her best friend, "...I'm failing Math now... I thought they looked for straight-A students for this sort of thing..." "Are you kidding?" Kisuke asked with an arch of the eyebrow, taking the cap off his soda bottle as he did so. "It's a merit-based thing too, so it's no wonder they let you in..." Yoruichi gave an admissive nod as they continued down the hall, the blonde teen blinking when his friend went past their hallway. "Hey, where you goin'?" "Oh, I'm just gonna look for Soi," Yoruichi answered casually as she headed for the freshman's locker. "...I haven't seen her at lunch over the last few days, so I just thought I'd check up on her." Urahara nearly made a snide comment about what exactly she meant by 'checking up' but decided against it, as he didn't want to feel the wrath of Yoruichi that she'd spared him of so far today. It wasn't far to Soi's locker, but when they got within view Soi was already there, and to Yoruichi's slight annoyance she was talking to Isane. "What the hell's SHE doing here?" Yoruichi grumbled as she glanced at the two girls from across the hall. "...You mean besides going to sch--" A swift smack on the head ended Urahara's smart-alec remark, and the boy rubbed his crown where the blow had landed. He would've asked what she had done that for were it not for the cold fire burning in her golden eyes. "...Well, I'm gonna go to class," Kisuke said evasively as he headed back down the hall, hoping that if anything else happened that Yoruichi didn't like, she at least wouldn't be able to use him for a punching bag. After a few minutes Isane smiled at Soi as she waved goodbye, then the freshman turned to her locker and began turning the dial. "So... into older women, are you?" Soi immedately froze up at the tone in Yoruichi's voice as it came out of nowhere behind her, both knowing and slightly teasing at the same time. Did she find out about...how she felt? Oh God...what if she says she doesn't want to be friends anymore? What if she says she doesn't feel comfortable with me like that? "H-h-huh?" Soi turned around so fast that she nearly dropped the heavy books she was arranging to get at a smaller one on the bottom, but Yoruichi tilted her head in the direction Isane had gone. "You know--Kotetsu-chan," Yoruichi said with plenty of disdainful emphasis on the supposedly respectful title. "...Did she finally get that date out of you or what?" "...Oh..." Soi muttered in comprehension after a moment. "No, it's nothing like that-- see, I met her in the nurse's office last week, and we just kinda started hanging out. She told me she really had someone else she was interested in, anyway." Yoruichi said nothing more about the white-haired Junior, but her demeanor towards Soi seemed to lighten almost immediately. "Well, how have you been, Soi? I don't see you at lunch anymore..." "I...I'm sorry, Yoruichi-san. I was just meeting some of Isane's friends. They're pretty nice too, just a little weird... Oh, and I have something to tell you!" Soi began to smile brightly at whatever news she had, which only made Yoruichi more curious. "Well, so do I-- but you go ahead, okay?" "...Isane invited me to the dance!" "WHAT?" Yoruichi blinked as all the chatter in the hallway stopped for just a moment and every eye turned to her in flabbergasted silence. Had she really just...YELLED that? After a moment everyone turned away again, as though they had been waiting for Yoruichi to do something more entertaining to keep their attention. "...I thought you just said that she wasn't 'into' you!" Yoruichi growled at Soi in a dangerous whisper, the smaller girl recoiling slightly at her friend's sudden change in behavior. "W-why are you so upset about this, Yoruichi-san? She DOESN'T like me-- she just invited me because she had an extra seat in the limo... she's going with a bunch of other friends and she thought I might want to come. I wasn't really thinking about it, s-so I just said yes!" Yoruichi stared hard at her for an instant, almost in the manner a prosecutor would when trying to pry the truth out of a witness. She was still feeling a little uncertain about it when Soi spoke up. "Anyway...what did YOU want to telll me about, Yoruichi-san?" At recalling her surprise from earlier in the day, Yoruichi's additude brightened considerably, which only made Soi more curious. "Okay...you're not gonna believe this even if I tell you..." "Try me," Soi answered with a sly grin to rival Yoruichi's own, which only made the upperclassman's smile widen. "...What happened?" "I'm going to America!"
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