Graduation Ceremony (Tao)

It was graduation day. All the students who had completed their training were now lined up, accepting their squad uniforms as their names were called. Yuriko watched as people walked by, not a one she knew by name, though a few she recognized by face. Not because she had conversations with them before, not because she'd ever ate lunch with them, not because she studied with them in class... If she recognized them, it was because they picked on her, made fun of her hair or stole her belongings. Each year a few more left, never to be seen again... and yet more of them seemed to crop up from out of no where.

Yuriko was now entering her third year at the academy. This ceremony was not for her, but for her elders... She found no joy in attending the event... She felt out of place, alone in the midst of hundreds of other people. She made her way out of the crowd, heading towards the picnic area behind the gardens where the ceremony was being held. Yuriko sought refuge here often when she was feeling alone or afraid, but today it seemed that her usual spot was already being used by another. A young girl, a bit older than herself sat on the ground nearby looking oddly out of place. The reason for this being that she was dressed in sixth year robes... why wasn't she attending the ceremony?

"Ex- cuse me miss. I'm sorry to bother you but are you alright?" Wow that sounded strange coming from her. Normally it'd be some instructor or maybe another student that found Yuriko crying in this place that would speak these words, but now it was her that was worried about this other girl. She just hoped the girl wasn't angry with some one. She didn't like angry people...

The girl's back was pushed against a stone bench, her knees directly in front of her, her elbows resting on her kneecaps, her fingers pressed against her temple, her eyes closed in thought. Was it really already time to graduate? To leave the school where she had trained, where she had attended class, where she had her meals, where she had slept for the past four years of her existence? The teachers were wrong; she wasn't ready for that final step, to actually becomme a member of the Gotei 13. Yes. She had all the qualifications, she had passed all of her tests, but the thought that she wasn't ready was something that had kept her up all night. 'I pushed for this day. I worked so hard to be here. I should be proud of myself.' Those thoughts kept running through her mind, but she couldn't bring herself to believe them.

In her mind, she was as good as a balloon, floating in the air, but having nowhere to go. Her argument with Tsukimiya had taken an obvious toll on her, though she was more than reluctant to admit such a thing. He thought she was going to die on the first mission she was given; thought she would fail cause of her blind actions. With how she performed around him; she had to admit that he had every right to believe such a thing. Every right to believe that she would only get herself and others killed. 'I can't let myself believe that I'm just going to bring death to others. That isn't why I made the decision to come here.' Her thoughts kept winding in circles as she sat her, the sound of someone's voice bringing her out; her body flinching ever so slightly.

Opening her eyes, Ailin turned her head to look up at the person trying to get her attention; her maroon eyes flickering up and down as she took in the image of the small girl. "Of course. Is there something about me that would make you think otherwise?" Her voice could only be considered noncchalant; her entire demeanor that of someone who just wanted to be left alone. She had heard the girl stutter as she approached and could only guess by the look of her that she wasn't much of a fighter. 'Then again, that's what people think about me as well.' The thought ran through her head as she pushed herself from the ground. Dusting the dirt off og her robes, she turned her gaze back to the other girl; waiting for an answer.

"I-I'm sorry!" She bowed her head very low. "I j-just noticed you weren't at the c-ceremony with the other graduates, s-so I assumed you were unhappy about something. Please, I-I did not mean to invade your privacy." Yuriko kept her head low, not willing to meet the gaze of the girl she believed to of just angered. Regret filled her mind as she waited for the girl to yell or make fun of her. This was typically the response that Yuriko received whenever she tried to talk to anyone else...