A gentle spring breeze that still has a bit of winter chill rustles across the ground of a small village in the rukongai. Just outside the rest of the village there is a tiny hut made in the traditional Japanese style. The floor is made from tatami mats and the walls of thin wood and a thatch roof. A small stream runs by it and the smolders of a fire being lit underneath an empty pot have long since gone out. 

Inside the hut a young girl with white hair and yellow eyes is folding her bedding for the last time. Glancing around she sees that the place is spotless. The pot has been washed and the ashes cleared away. Her old clothes and her bedding lay in the corer folded neatly and she now wears her new shuhakusho shinigami uniform. At her side is her zanpakuto. In its sealed state it looks like a black shirasaya katana. She wears it just behind her hip so it rests comfortably behind her on her left side. 

Stepping out of the home she puts on her sandals and gently closes the door one last time. Placing both hands she bows slightly and for a moment she offers a small prayer. Memories of the last few decades fly through her mind. The graduation ceremony is today and that means she will no longer live out here in the rukongai. A bittersweet sensation wells in her chest but none of it makes it to her face as comes out of her bow. She takes a final look over at the village. She does not have pleasant memories of this place but it was her home none the less for most of her life. One of the village elders who was up early sees her and their eyes meet for just a moment. She wished they hadn't and the elder quickly looked away before hobbling back inside his home. 

[color=fff200][b]"Things...don't change here."[/b][/color] She says quietly to herself. Turning to look at the giant walls surrounding the seireitei she shunpo's away without looking back. She has a ways to go and she doesn't want to be late.