Risiru sighed at her meat. It didn't sigh back. That was a shame, but there wasn't anything she could do about it at the moment. Perhaps someday she'd be able to change everything on a whim, but for the moment she was stuck in her own body, with flesh serving as walls which kept any and all potential limited to what the body could perform. She sighed again and checked the time. The ceremony was just about to begin. "Might as well get going, I guess." She pushed a few strands of blue hair out of her eyes and looked around one last time at the various faces surrounding her. She knew them by name, and apparently they knew her. Each was watching her out of their corners of their eyes. Not in a hostile way, just wary. Her tendency of selecting fun had gotten the best of her in the past, and now, like a farmer who had used up the soil, this field wouldn't be giving very much fruit any time soon. "Okay. Okay." She made a dismissive gesture with her right hand. "Everyone can calm down. I'll be going now. No need to get your underwear in a knot." Slowly sliding the rest of her plate across the counter so it could fall into a trash can on the other side, she smiled. If this field was barren that was fine because many more would soon open up to her. "Well then." She straightened up quickly and everyone nearly jumped out of their seats. "I'll be off to the graduation ceremony then." She paid her tab and headed outside, and flash stepped towards the Shino academy. **** "Now then." Captain Mayuri muttered, deactivating the screen, showing the images of his latest achievements' success, and putting the device back into his coat pocket. "That's enough of that." His attention turned away from the captain commander back to the screen, where his eyes seemed to all but phase into the work at hand. "I've plenty of work to do before heading off to the ceremony." "What is it exactly, you're working on Mayuri?" Shunsui asked, crossing his arms over his chest and moving to get a better view of the screen. Mayuri laughed. "A new breed of monsters, maybe, or possibly a new form of gigai. Whose to say? There's still quiet a bit more research I'll have to do on the phenomenon before I can say for sure. You'll just have to sit there and wait for my research paper to come out" The man's uncertainty in the matter didn't do anything to damper his spirits. In fact they excited him like no other companion ever could. For some, limit's were an insult to personal ability, but to the captain they were nothing but resistance to increase the mind's muscles, and he relished in the stress. *** Risiru wasn't amongst the earliest of the arrivals to witness the event, but she was far from being the last. Even after landing, Soon to be Shinigamis kept appearing near the entrance. Most of them were well combed and looked like they were about to take part in some sort of job interview instead of being given a piece of paper they already knew they earned. It would've been cute if it wasn't so sad. Sighing, she turned her attention towards the door and would've headed in, along with the rest of the crowd, but something caught her eye. It was another shinigami hopeful, Bakuto, she believed. She had him for a few classes through the last two years. He was busy, scrounging around through some empty bottles until he found one he liked, and drank some. Risiru smiled. Hands behind her back she quickly moved closer towards the young(as far as Shinigami's were concerned) man for a better look. He had potential. His eyes were slightly bloodshot and there was a certain, how was it said, 'pain behind the eyes'. She assumed he had been drinking the night before. Unless memory failed her, and she doubted that was the case, he was something of a lush. She'd bet dollars to doughnuts he took a swig to help with the hangover. "You know." She said, patting the man on the back. "I've always found that a bit of the hair of the dog that bit you doesn't really work. You need at least half a body to really drawn those demons, you know?" Smiling, she patted the man on the back and pointed at the procession of students moving into the academy. "Trust, me, even if you didn't spend the night drinking, I say treat yourself. These ceremonies are always a bore." She patted him a third time, a bit harder, before hurrying to get in line behind another one of her classmates, whose name she was sure started with a T'. She had a good feeling about him and made sure to accidentally 'bumped' her elbow into. "Sorry about that!" Ursiru replied happily. "Not used to so much excitement." As she moved she kept her head on the man with the bottle, hoping he'd do something that would keep things interesting. **** "Master Mayuri" The childish young woman with the purple hair said, as far away from a whine as she could manage, which wasn't much distance. "We're going to miss the ceremony." "Ahh." The captain sighed. "Yes. Yes. I suppose we are. Deary me, how did you end up so easily excited?" The man shook his head before his creation could respond and pushed a button which put the table he was looking at into stand by mode. "WEll then." He said without bothering to look at his current companions. "Shall we go?" "Let's" Shunsui said with a half bow and smile. "Yes!" Nemu said with a single soft clap. **** After the tunnel, Resiru and the others found themselves stepping into a large, auditorian with an opening for the sun light to come pouring in. There was a large platform at the center where the actual ceremony would take place. Before it were dozens of rows of seats for the soon to be shinigami to be seated. Around it were large bleachers that were almost as quickly being filled up with the graduation ceremony's audience.