A Forest Of Knowledge, A Desert For A Dunce

[z0pu]

Ren #8

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Young Ren's focus was interrupted by the presence of a some foreign Reiatsu in his proximity. These were not the three friends he cam with so who...?

Ren opened on eye and looked in the direction the commotion came from. Two people had approached his friends. Takutora and Fujita, not pleasant people at all.

Hmph! Ugly vermin ruins the mood.

Oh. It seemed Ren's Zanpakutou retreated back into his spirit world, offended by the the two bullies. How inconvenient.

Normally Ren would have been content ignoring such people, someone like Saeki should be able to keep the hositlities to a minimum, she was smart after all. Ren was sure she'd keep things in check while he tried to regain his concentrat.... oh no.

In the end Saeki was the one to become openly aggresive firing a fairly dangerous Hado at the bullies.

"OY OY! What's the big idea Saeki! Even if you're a captain's daughter that's-" Takutora began to speak. Bringing up Captain Saeki was a bad idea, more likely to rile up the daughter even more. Time in intervene before things got out of hand.

With use of Shunpo, Ren placed himself between his friends and two newcomers, facing the bullies back to the other three. Ren spoke up so has to cut off Takutora before he could finish his sentence.

"Perhaps it would be best for everyone to part way here no?" Ren said with his usual gentle voice and aloof look and smile. Yet to those two, these eyes would look cold.

The two bullies seemed startled at Ren's appearance, with him in meditation it was likely they did not even notice his presence at all when they approached the others.

"Oh... Fukumoto-kun. My didn't notice you there! Haha" Fujita tried to measure some form of amused surprised tone as she began to pull on Taktora's sleeve to pull him back.

Really it was all quite pathetic, Saeki, Ryuuko and Tagachi were each much more skilled Shinigami than these two and more worthy of praise in general, but their social and family standings were not great, even Saeki with a Captain as a mother did not rank that high due to Captain Saeki's... eccentricities.

Yet to someone like Ren who was not so much of stand out in skills, they began to cower, though the young Shinigami was well aware that it was not really him they feared.

"We... were all just joking right?"
"Right!"
"No need to take this any further!"

The two began to step back and away, al;though not before turning once more to Ren.

"Ah! Please give mine and mine father's regards to your own father and Lord Uncle, Fukumoto-Kun!" Takutora finally added before making his hurried escape from the situation.

A few moments passed and Ren turned around to look at his friends, all tension gone from his body and expression.

"Well that wasn't very nice of them, though hopefully we won't see them again any time soon.!"

Ren did wonder if things were about to become awkward. His family status was not a secret but being only a branch family most people rarely put two and two together. Ren's own father, Fukumoto Kazuma, was decently skilled as a Shinigami holding the 5th seat in the First Division but that was not what scarred away the bullies. That was Ren's uncle by marriage, his own mother's older brother, head of one of the Four Great Noble Clans and Captain of the 6th Division, Kurogami Kyosuke.

---

Fukumoto Ren #27d3d3

[Mr. Moon]

Akira #8

Just a single step was between him and that little insect. His zanpakuto moving surely towards it´s target with it´s spirit encouraging him with nearly ecstatic voice, only for the blade to be blocked by another, that was held by Shiro.

As the voice in his head growled with anger and frustration, Ryuuko´s reiatsu spiked, putting additional pressure behind his blade, before he realised that this young man isn´t his enemy.

“Yeah, you are probably right. Sorry…”

Relaxing his grip, Akira lowered his sword, the apology directed towards his fellow Kido student, not Kenichi, who was quickly backed up by another classmate of theirs who was at least just as annoying as him.

The older student tried his best to ignore not only Fuyuko´s provocation´s but also the frenzying voice in his head that was pushing him into the bloodshed.

“Will you finally shut up!”

Akira whispered angrily to his Zanpakuto spirit, however still oud enough for Shiro to hear him, only to be taken by surprise, when Lenalee conjured two spears of ice, shooting them just a few centimetres in front of Fuyuko´s feet.

“Uuuh, remind me that I should never get on her bad side.”

This time his whisper was directed to Tagachi.

Anyway, the situation would probably quickly escalate into all out brawl if not for Ren who quickly stepped in, using his influence to chase these two bullies away.

“Now, this is spell I want to learn.”

Akira laughed, sheathing his Zanpakuto.

“Thanks for having my back guys. I…shouldn´t have blow out like that, but that buy was getting really on my nerves lately.”

This was probably the most words anyone in the academy ever heard from him in the one go. And as if he himself realised that fact, Akira quickly withdrew back into his broody silence right after they left his mouth.

[Gaz]

Shiro #9

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Seeing Akira in his little rage only strengthened Shiro’s resolve to save the man from doing something he would regret, spiking his own spiritual pressure and reiatsu to bolster his blade. Then when Akira withdrew Shiro did too, sheathing his blade and witnessing Lenlaee fire two perfect spears of ice on each side of his head. They missed him by inches but impacted the floor exactly where she was aiming, in all the years of the academy he had never known miss Saeki to miss.

“She can be scary, huh?” He asked with a cheeky smile, he knew he was playing with fire whenever they got into an argument in class or outside of it. “Agreed!” Shiro spoke as he spun around to look at the melting spears that had shattered on impact. Hearing the bullies whimper and grovel to Ren though. that was rich!

Sure, Ren’s dad was a member of the first division but was it really that impressive an achievement? Either way it was good that he stepped in and those bullies backed off faster than any member of squad eleven being asked to do any sort of Kido.

“No problem, people like that get eaten alive where I come from.” Shiro explained before looking to Ren, letting his gaze scan him up and down before nodding a confirmation to himself. There was more to this one than he imagined, bright with excellent Kido skills and okay sword play. He was a model star student.

“Wait! Why are they all bowing and scraping to you? Lenalee is Captain Saeki’s daughter… ” He spoke aloud trying to piece the puzzle together… he being an orphan plucked out of the Rukongai district by said captain barely knew any of the politics of the Seiraitei and the noble families that resided within it.

“I’m lost…” He announced, hoping he would get an explanation from one of the three that were with him… hopefully not Lenalee as she would likely do it in a condescending manner.

---

Shiro: 7319e6

[Bobbie]

Lenalee #9

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Ren’s assumption was perfectly on point, as the mere mention of Lenalee’s mother sent the girl flying into a rage. Had Ren not intervened when he did, her anger would have easily sent her spiraling down a more aggressive approach as the mentioned second attempt was about to be materialise. Instead, thanks to Ren, her retaliation was limited to the angry words she spat.

“My mother being a captain has nothing to do with this, you miserable vermin!” she snapped, her face red with anger. Of course, this was a comment that she expected to hear from these rotten worms as she already had in the past from other students. It was a rather sensitive spot that she didn’t care to talk about with most of her peers, but the assumption that being a captain’s daughter earned her extra privileges was far from the truth. In fact she felt it was the very opposite, and she fought tooth and nail to be where she currently was, yet still without any form of encouragement or approval from her mother. It was a prize she was yet to be rewarded with, and all of her efforts often went ignored or dismissed.

Once Ren stepped in, Lenalee didn’t bother to say more than that as she watched them cower before him, a deep frown on her face that made it very clear - she wished death upon each and every one of those offenders, the rats that intruded on their private hang-out.

As much as she enjoyed her friends’ company - all of them, despite not always showing it - she had a certain soft spot for Ren… perhaps it was his sense of humour. Either way, at this point, as she stared into Ren’s back, she couldn’t help but feel something different. This was envy. Somebody like Ren gets a certain level of respect, even if it was simply out of fear of his uncle, from these arrogant insects. People didn’t dare mess with Ren because of his family. What her family's status got her, on the other hand, was an impossible standard for her the meet and an endless flow of ridicule and teasing.

While her plan to strike fear in her opponents was not always successful with her actual enemies, she did hear the little exchange between Akira and Shiro. Unfortunately, when it came to Shiro especially, the situation was less of a planned strategy and more of a complete loss of her temper as she often acted on impulse, to a flaw… either way, it was a little nice to hear that at least somebody knew that she could be a threat not to be pushed aside so lightly.

As Shiro asked the question, Lenalee glanced at him, her eyes oddly more reflective than usual as she was caught off guard, and was still a little stung by it. She held back tears. Coming from a family that had a high seat in a noble clan, and merely being the child of a quirky captain were very different, Lenalee knew this, but it was only another reminder of her being… sub-optimal in the eyes of many.

With a shrug, she didn’t answer Shiro’s question, her mood plummeting for the moment, and she turned around to continue target practice. “I have more important things to concentrate on.”

---

Lenalee: #54d5e3

[z0pu]

Ren #9

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Ren looked a bit surprised at Tagachi's question, the Fukumoto family's standing was no secret and its direct relation to the Kurogami clan even less so. However Ren tended to forget that that the circumstances of Tagachi's upbringing were unlikely to teach him about seireitei politics and genealogy. It was likely Ren's friend had no idea what so ever about the background of most of the affluent families.

Ren laughed a little while scratching the back of his head.

"Haha... It's nothing really. Tagachi, you know how there are four great clans in Seireitei right? My mother is from one of those, her brother, my uncle, is the head of the clan. So people like these two get scared because they think I would somehow be able to make someone important mad at them. Haha, it's all very silly."

Really this was all true, Ren was not lying but he was omitting whhat probably was the most major details about his uncle. For some reason Ren enjoyed the fact that Tagachi seemed to like spending time with him even without knowing of his family, and it was not something Ren wanted to change. Most people were either distant with him or just acted fake. Really Ren just liked his friends here who did not treat him different.

---

Fukumoto Ren #27d3d3

[Mr. Moon]

Akira #9

The wannabe Shinigami was just as confused as Shiro by the sudden turn of events. Lenalee being a daughter of one of the Gotei 13 captains was no secret for him as the whole Academy was talking about it so much, that even an outliner like him couldn´t miss it. But he had no idea where Ren´s influence was coming from, well at least until he heard his last name and the short explanation behind it.

He opened his mouth to say something about it but nothing clever came to mind and so he just shut it again, trying his best to ignore the nagging voice in his head that was calling him names. For someone who was supposed to be part of his soul she really has a terrible vocabulary and even worse temper.

“Alright guys, I would invite you for food or something, but…”

He shrugged.

“That would turn me into homeless, so my sincere thank you will have to do it, sorry.”

Although he was trying his best to be friendly, Ryuuko´s voice slowly but surely began to fall back into the cold and detached tone, that was so typical for him, almost as if he was too lost in his own thoughts to really pay attention to things that were happening around him. He raised a hand, waving the three remaining students goodbye before heading for the hole in the fence, walking slowly with little to no energy in his stride.

“One day…”

The voice in his head purred suddenly.

“One day you will have to say my name and then you will be mine forever.”

The not-so-young student sighed.

“Really? Why can not I have one of these difficult swords that don´t want to talk with their master?”

He asked irritated by her constant presence as he was squeezing through the fence.

[Gaz]

Shiro #10

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“Miserable vermin!”

Shiro winced with the response from Lenalee. That was rich coming from her! She was the size of a rat. He didn’t have time to respond though as Ren swooped in with a proper explanation of everything. That was genuinely impressive though, being related to one of the great clans. Well impressive as he is technically linked to a famous person but that was all. To Shiro Ren was Ren and that was all that was needed. Status had no effect on the no body orphan.

“Yeah, it is… Treating people differently because they are related to other people is dumb. You are Fukumoto Ren and I consider you a good friend who is really… and I mean no offence with this. REALLY bad at jokes.” Shiro teased, leaning closer to give the young man a light jab with his elbow and a great big smile. Putting the point across he was teasing. Ren had a wooden taste in humour but some of his jokes worked really well… if his delivery was just awful.

He looked to Akira, then to Lenalee. “Both of you too. Even you Lenalee. You calling me a rat on the daily keeps me on my toes you pea!” He would prefer it if the young woman wasn’t so openly hostile but hey, small dog syndrome was a real pain.

“If you want dinner Akira, I can cover you. My sponsor gave me some extra money as a congratulations.” Shiro spoke, his sponsor strangely was a captain, one that Lenalee was all to familiar with. She was the same woman that picked him up in the Rukongai, years after initially finding him in the orphanage. “And no, this isn’t a trick, or a loan you have to pay back. All you have to do is relax and eat with us.” The student knew what it was like having no money, how people prayed on your in your desperation… he had seen his adoptive mother deal with it.

He ducked under the fence to make sure Akira heard but caught him talking about his sword. “Are you okay?”

---

Shiro: 7319e6

[Bobbie]

Lenalee #10

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Although she appeared to be concentrating on her practice, Lenalee was listening to Ren’s explanation of the situation. She then looked over when she was addressed. It was meant to be a compliment, though it didn’t feel like one. In any case, she smiled sarcastically and replied in a playful tone, “You’re welcome, rat.”

With that, she turned to Akira who seemed to be excusing himself for his inhospitality that was really not necessary. Then he was gone, and Shiro was quick to follow. It seemed it was only her and Ren left in the field, so she approached the funny one of the group.

“So do you want dinner too? Apparently, Shiro’s sponsor has gifted him a pocket full of money to do as he pleases with it,” she muttered with a hint of jealousy in her tone, as she heard Shiro blurt it out loud enough for them to hear even on this side of the fence. Of course, she knew who his sponsor was. It was none other than her mother, Captain Azai Saeki, who was recently far more invested in his progress than her own daughter’s.

“Come on, he’s not lying when he says money’s not an issue!” Nudging Ren lightly, she hurried to the fence to slip through the hole with ease, sliding right through as if it was made for her. “Wait up! I want dinner too!” she called out as her little legs had to work twice as hard to catch up. Anyone who had ever witnessed Lenalee’s eating habits might find her claim to want dinner quite unusual, considering she has never left the academy cafeteria with an empty plate on the table - something was always left to go to waste because any portion, no matter how small, was always somehow too much for her.

Perhaps this was the only way she could spite her mother, by indirectly getting the woman to buy her meals too, regardless of whether she eats it all or not, thanks to Shiro’s kindness.

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Lenalee: #54d5e3

[z0pu]

Ren #10

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Ren simply smiled at the whole situation, it was nice to have friends, Tagachi even actually called him his friend! Although Ren was not certain how he was suppose to take the comment about his humour. His jokes were great in his opinion!

Oh well, not much use dwelling on such matters, at Saeki's prompting, Ren hurried after his friends in turn.

"If needed I know of a great place to eat not far." Fukumoto said to his friends, assuming they were all in agreement the young scion of the Fukumoto family would lead them down a few streets out of the academy and deeper into Seireitei, to well respected local restaurant, all in traditional style, one of the nice thing about that one was that every table had a private room with nice cushions on the tatami floor for everyone to seat around.

The shabu-shabu here was to die for and only cost around 30,000 Kan per person!

---

Fukumoto Ren #27d3d3

[Mr. Moon]

Akira #10

The wannabe Shinigami followed his new friend through the fence, while Shiro was offering him a free meal, no strings attached. he wanted to decline of course, because eating for someone´s else money was against his principles, but then he realized, that these three were probably the only friends he had right now, and rejecting this offer could offend at least one of them.

“Thanks, I´ll return you the favor right after my first decent paycheck.”

He muttered, before realizing, that Shiro also noticed his silent conversation with his sword.

“Oh, that…it´s nothing, just my Zanpakuto is a total psycho who is dying to tell me her name…”

He grumbled, obviously annoyed by his sword´s behaviour.

From there he followed Ren through the Seireitei to the restaurant of his choosing with a growing suspicion in his mind. The neighbourhood they were entering was incredibly fancy and high class, hinting that the restaurant, this scion of Great Noble House, was leading them to will be just as fancy and expensive.

His suspicion was quickly confirmed, when they finally arrived to the place itself and the not-so-young student glanced over the menu just before entering.

“Shabu-Shabu – 30 000 Ken…”

He paused; eyes wide open as his mind was trying to wrap itself around that incredible sum. A meal for four there would be a ¼ of his monthly installment.

“Oh wait, wait wait…”

He chuckled with a clear sign of distress in his voice.

“I mean, guys no offense, but this place is way too expensive for me, even if you were paying. It´s very generous of you, but…it´s too much.”

He tried to back out of the deal as quickly as possible, while his Zanpakuto was laughing somewhere in the dark corner of his soul, calling him names where coward was one of the nicer ones.

[Gaz]

Shiro #11

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Shiro followed Ren through the streets with the others trailing him, he had stopped paying attention to the surroundings and was ignoring the little Leanlee poking fun at the fact he had to have a sponsor. When Akira made mention that his Zanpakuto was a psychopath and aiming to tell him its name made him think and consider. “You do know that if you get a Shikai you are more likely to get promoted to an officers’ seat… right?”

It was at this point Shiro started to notice the restaurant that Ren had led them too and caused him to gawk. This was insane! Thirty Thousand for just one meal!? He could send this back to the Orphanage and get those that needed it enough rice for a few months! “Ren!” He spoke with a shock in his tone.

“I… can’t afford this…” He spoke softly to try and not cause a fuss that would embarrass the group. “This place is bigger than the house I grew up in…” He muttered, as he peered into the building which was taller higher than the roof of his orphanage. It was deeper and wider too; it was insane and that did not include all of the private rooms, kitchens and other areas.

Joining Akira, Shiro was backing out of the building and into the street. “It’s honestly fine if you two want to eat here though. I can take Akira somewhere else. I know a decent noodle place that’s all you can eat for cheap.” He spoke with an awkward smile and hand on the back of his head, the fingers intertwined with his messy mop of brown hair.

---

Shiro: 7319e6

[Bobbie]

Lenalee #11

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Lenalee followed her friends into the restaurant and even she was in awe of her surroundings. She knew Ren and his family were extremely wealthy, but she somehow didn’t expect him to invite them all to a place like this so readily. Perhaps not as severely as Akira and Shiro, but she also felt like she had no business being here, and the prices of the meals were ridiculous!

“Wow… I don’t even think my mum could afford this with her captain’s salary either…” she muttered, her gaze settling on Shiro, who was backing out of the restaurant. Then she looked at Ren, unsure of whether he would fit in in the place that Shiro was referring to. It didn't sound like it would be of class to match thing young man's manner.

“Sorry, Ren… it’s a nice place, just… a little too pricey. Maybe we can find some place in between this one and the one Shiro's talking about.” She offered the thought with a little shrug as she didn’t particularly want to offend anyone - Ren’s tastes were too expensive, Shiro’s might actually be too cheap… while she herself didn’t usually go out for dinner very much since her mother was a decent cook so she was at a loss for what to contribute as well. She considered inviting them all to her home, which she hadn’t had the chance to visit all that much since moving into the barracks at the academy, but she knew her mother would have all sorts of strange food from the land of the living there. She was quite certain that her mother would be busy and most likely out of the way on business, currently, but it would still be risky.

Instead, she turned to Akira. “Where would you usually go on a lazy day?”

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Lenalee: #54d5e3

[z0pu]

Ren #11

[/font][/div]

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Admittedly, Ren did not realize how expensive such a restaurant may seem to most people, money was just not something the scion of the Fukumoto family ever actually to think or worry about. His family owned many businesses and had their own fortune saved up as well as being part of of one of the great clans of the Seireitei. Hmmm... mayhapse it would be something that he would need to work on in the future. It would be bad to put people in embarrassing positions because of his own misconceptions.

"Ah. I am sorry. I did not realize this place was inappropriate for everyone. But if it is simply the cost that is issue please do no worry. My family owns this establishment, the managers would not request payments of us; I usually just insist otherwise. Unless of course you would actually rather eat somewhere else."

Regardless of where everyone else decides to go, in the end Ren was happy to have become closer with his classmates, and dare he thinks to himself, his friends.

---

Fukumoto Ren #27d3d3

[Mr. Moon]

Akira #11

Shiro had a very good point. Learning his Zanpakuto´s name was necessary to unlock his Shikai, which would probably speed up his attempts to become an officer with a big enough paycheck to cover all his debts. The thing was, that his own sword was freaking him out with her psychotic behavior to the point he didn´t really know what kind of power could be born from his soul. Besides he was sure there were other ways of gaining the necessary position, like excelling in Zanjutsu or Kido so all he had to do was study a bit more!

Returning to the present moment, both Shiro and Lenalee surprisingly jumped on his side when it came to the cost of the restaurant refusing to eat there either. And while Ren tried to convince them again, saying that the place was owned by his family, so no payment would be needed from them, Akira still had to refuse. It wasn´t a matter of simple pride or something childish as that just…he would feel incredibly inappropriate eating at a place where a single meal could probably cover his monthly instalment.

“Hmmmm, guys, don´t take this badly, but I think I´ll be heading home.”

He said out of a sudden, trying his best to keep a friendly tone in his voice.

“I am pretty sure my wife prepared something for lunch besides, the final exam is near, so I need some rest and practice things you showed me today. So, thanks a lot and see you at the exam. Maybe we can eat together after that to celebrate.”

He waved them goodbye and headed back towards his family house. The nearly empty, oversized manor, that was beyond the capacity of his small family to take care of properly. He hoped that he didn´t come across as being rude, but he had to make sure he won´t end up in the 11th.