Live a lie (Roki Saarunga's Backstory)

[Delute]

Nobody ever knew how Roki Saarunga truly looked like.

Not now in the present and never will in the future, but sometime ago in the distant past someone might have caught the face of the real Roki Saarunga, only to forget all about it in a mere instant. Back then in her fledgling academy days, Roki was not like she was in the present. She was not an energetic adorable child, nor was she a firm and gentle woman or a hot buxom babe; she perhaps could be said to be the very embodiment of the word "average". Dirty blond hair, freckled cheeks, spindly limbs all combined with a pair of over-sized glasses and a dislike for crowds to make her an introverted student that was neither outstanding nor eye-catching.

"Average." This was the term even she used to describe herself. Zanjutsu, hakuda, hohou, kido, while she might stay afloat rather easily in the middle percentile for all the fields of subjects, it had been made painfully obvious that she would never be stellar in any of them. Kido prodigies, blade-masters, flash-gods and talented duelists of all sorts came and go within the academy, staying even as short as only a year, but like a passing drizzle they left nothing of their thoughts behind and only a Roki Saarunga gazing enviously in their wake. An ordinary person such as her could only be content with going through the full course of the academy and hope that a seated officer or two would pity their yearning souls and lift them up into the embracing glory of the Gotei.

That is not even touching on the subject of her zanpakuto.

Like many others, it had remained woefully silent whilst the gifted ones were blessed by their spirits as early as even before the meditating sessions had even begun. Unfair... so not fair... why do they get to achieve so much where many others have slogged and failed? Talent is not equal, a nagging voice drawled lazily in her mind, a reminiscent from a book she had read in the school's library during her tenure as its librarian. Seriously, that is probably the best and only club for an average person with no observable strengths... like her.

And how true that quote was.

The underwhelming feeling that she felt when people had the obvious need to flaunt their zanpakutos' prowess in public brawls and whatever in order to establish themselves as certified "badasses" of the academy gnawed at her; the smug looks on those people's faces when they emerged from examination grounds all grinning from ear to ear frustrate her to no end. She could do nothing about it, for Roki Saarunga is average and never could hope to compete with the elites such as them.

Until one day, when her sanctuary gave her its most powerful gift:

A book.

On the powers of the Mind.

To be more precise, it was a title-less black book about the power of manipulation, of tricksters and deceivers and (pre-)cognitive reasoning. Many had once read it and dismissed it as a load of tosh and for years it had sat forgotten upon that bookshelf until Roki chanced upon it again. After all, who needs to learn paltry mind tricks and its corresponding foundations in psychology when one commands powerful abilities at a zanpakuto's call? Yet, what was one man's trash is a young shinigami's treasure. After a brief scan-through she was firmly hooked and it did not take long for Roki Saarunga to make the book her bible. Like a fanatic she poured over its contents again and again with utmost zeal, making sure she drilled all that knowledge and concepts into her head. Soon after ensuring that, she then began to experiment with its teachings. Experiments, as its term suggest, often fails. More often than not she was caught in the process and the consequences were not pretty but the few tries that succeeded had left her with a feeling of exceptional jubilation.

And thus, what was both affectionately and scathingly termed as the "Great Pranking Era" began in the Shinigami Academy.

*****************

The Trickster sat with her legs folded in, Asauchi on her laps and eyes closed. After having replace the entire sake stock of the resident Kido Prodigy with water before watching the poor fool break down in spectacular fashion, she is currently tired both from the laughter and the strain needed to exchange all those liters of liquid. Meditation is also strongly advocated by what she had coined The Tome, needed to achieve the clarity of one's own mind and thus Roki is killing two birds with one stone here. As usual, the Library is mostly quiet and the scattering of students that littered the area were content to read quietly and not disrupt the peace. Those who dare to would have their names taken down to be added to the already-long Pranking List to await their turn for some hilarious retribution.

Indeed, this is how Roki Saarunga rebel against the social order. Not competing toe-to-toe with the strongest of her generation, but with her Bag of Tricks and her wits about her. Take that, Inequality! Take all those blessed with your ridiculousness and bugger off.

As she ranted and railed and plotted and schemed, Roki failed to notice she was falling asleep.

"^$& had came."
"She? Who.. @!^ Finally, #$%@ to get this @$$ off our sk&&."
"Can *(& free us?"

It took a while to refocus but when her vision came trickling back, Roki was greeted by a wide-arcing plain. Right at her front a tall regal tree stood with its lush canopy and enormous crown. However, what was more eye-catching than this gigantic tree is the boulder that had been erected near it as she instinctively neared the site. Bound to the stone with thick tangling vines, three feminine figures writhed and trembled as a vicious serpent towered over them on the boulder's tip. Poison continuously dripped from the snake's fangs towards the trio below and where the acidic substance made contact, an ugly burn wound boiled into existence before being healed as quickly as it had appeared. It must have been a lot of pain, but the most they did were to winced.

Her first question would had been to ask where the heck she current was if not for the serpent and its torture. Even right there then, it is staring right at her with its beady red eyes. With a gulp and a grimace, Roki found her voice to speak as she futilely tried to shake off the snake's creepy glare. "How... how can I help?"

"Cut the #*$!15#@ vi&* and $^@ us!" The prepubescent kid (What is a child doing here?) demanded, just as the busty female with started yelling into the shinigami's face. "Nonon#!4( kill th% fuc@$!*5 $nake first!"

"What?" Flat. What.

"&*##$ems th%@ $^e &*$not hear u$." Her voice is full of static... and disappointment. The figure clad in beige and green then shivered and spoke no more, poison disfiguring her beautiful face beyond recognition and speech. Subsequently, the snake turned to the other two bound females, its obsession with the intruder gone.

Roki on the other hand, is utterly confused. Is this a prank of some sorts? Why are there these people being tortured here? Where in the Soul King's name is this place and what is she doing here? It was nowhere near the academy that is for sure. And this place seems like something out of a ridiculous dream.

Maybe it is...

And then, Roki Saarunga was rudely woken up from her state of rest.

[Diaveras]

"Roookiiiiiii!" a rather high voice came from a fellow student of the academy. this was a fairly young girl who had been accepted, though at a surprisingly young age for a student to be admitted. This girl's hair was a bright pink, complimented by her eyes that were of a slightly darker shade of pink. It wasn't them most mis-matched color set with her student uniform that she wore, the customly small uniform bearing red as was standard for female uniforms of the academy..

"Wake uuuuuuuup! class starts sooooooon!" her voice was sort of high and highly agitating to most people, they always feared her screaming as they did the sound of sharp metal against most any other kind of smooth surface. "you don't want to miss first class do you?" the girl lightly hit the desk a few times to wake Roki up. "wake up wake up!" now she was getting gradually more annoying as well.

"Come on come on come ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon!" she was starting to flair her arms a bit, for whatever reason she felt the need to do so. She was displaying the text book overly bratty child she was. "We have to go noooooooooowwwwwwww!" the girl wasn't paying attention to the fact that roki had awoken and was making a scene in the middle of the library. "Wake uuu- Oh! Good morning! Why did you sleep in the library?! Why didn't anyone wake you?! You must not snore like at all and are like suuuuuuuper easy to miss! Why so tired?!

[Delute]

"Huh? What?" The Trickster opened her eyes, only for a heavy screaming thing to deposit its weight upon her back, expelling her breath and almost breaking her spine all at once. With an instinctual retaliatory heave, Roki pushed back to throw the annoying interrupter off her poor back before swerving around to give the girl a piece of her mind.

"Damnit." She broke into an irritated yell. One of the good things about being librarians is that they could shout where others could not, namely here. "Stop screeching into my ear or I boot you out!"

"This Library needs no banshee around." Roki firmly declared with a threatening glint in her eyes as she stared directly into the girl's own as if daring her to do just that. Who is she again? Soki? Suki? Saki? Oh... Seki. Seki the Windwailer as most of the student body in the academy had taken to calling her (which she thankfully is unaware of). High grating voice that irks one to no end with its endless repeating nonsense, the girl had somehow made it her life-mission to annoy the -beep- out of Roki. If only she could just excommunicate her peace would return to her life, but Roki feared that doing exactly that would make her one of the arrogant elites that she had so despised. Besides, zip that mouth shut and Seki is a perfectly nice and ordinary girl to hang up with actually.

"There is no classes today, Seki." Roki finally sighed. Being a patient accommodating person is such a chore. "It is stated there in the schedule okay? There is a parade going on today with the Gotei and hence I am taking my time off here. Since it is still morning there is not much people around so I decided to catch some shut-eye." She explained, slowly and clearly as though talking with a retarded child. Although that might had been something to do with her shenanigans. A faint memory revealed that she had replaced Seki's timetable with a fake, which makes this encounter all the more damning. This is karma is it not? Coming back to bite her in the ass because of something she had done. Urgh, and cutting off that weird dream with her...

Her what exactly? Meeting anthropomorphic personification of her dream whom she could not hear properly sounded so much like one of the meetings with a zanpakuto spirit as the "elites" had so kindly described (bragged about) during their zanpakuto lessons. If that is truly the case, then Seki had just wrecked her chance to converse with her zanpakuto, something she had been clamoring for.

Roki groaned. Bite her ass indeed.

[Delute]

It was only after a long while of insistent persuading and desperate coercing before Roki Saarunga managed to shake off Seki, all the time sustaining pitying looks from the current Library dwellers that had started to file out after witnessing the dawn of the Wind-wailer upon the once peaceful place. Nobody wants to stay around any longer than they could, and it is up to the poor Librarian (whoever she is) to grab the attention of the hyperactive screecher while they make their hasty escape. By the time there was all but them left within the Library did Seki seemed to have finally realise her mistake, only for her genki, annoying self to change topic into one about Roki cooping herself up with books and should go enjoy the outside world more.

Thus, Roki is currently sitting beneath the shade of a tree in a hideaway corner far from prying (and Seki's) eyes, having made a poor excuse about being needed somewhere before shunpo-ing off. She sighed. Having wasted off the morning of a rare break-day entertaining the idiosyncrasies of one Wind-wailer, whatever mood she had to doing something 'constructive' had been destroyed. Right now, she is just content lying around and slacking the day out.

Until of course, her sanctuary is rudely invaded (again) this time by no one else other than one of the local 'prodigies' around.

Kiaphas Karrende is what the academy teachers all cooed The Blade Genius, with capitals. Besides being his namesake and pounding each and every student of his batch and beyond in his area of expertise, he had also been rumored to have defeated an instructor in an epic duel involving a broken blade, a cleanly cleaved stage and a straw sandal. What makes him the target of much envy and fan-girl-ism is the fact that he had obtain shikai and is said to have already earned his place as a seated officer in the Gotei Thirteen. Of course that cues in much blatant boot-licking from almost everyone in the school, even the teachers.

To say that he is currently alone without his annoying ever-present troupe is surprising to say the least.

"Oh.. uh... I am sorry. I didn't know the place is occupied." the handsome browned haired boy said sheepishly, breaking the silent monotony of the hideaway. One good look at him is all Roki needed to know why Kiaphas is the subject of much feminine worship. Perhaps it was because she had never associated herself closely with such celebrities, but this day is the first time Roki noticed how his wavy hair flowed in the gentle breeze, and his features... They were beautiful to the point of artificiality. For a moment there, she was held entranced by the sheepish smile the boy had shown, no, dazzled her and her heart almost...

No! What in the Soul King's name is she thinking? She despised this type of people the most! These people who never worked for anything but yet gets everything, they deserve to get their comeuppance at the hands of...

"Uh... you there?" Kiaphas was waving his hands to catch her attention, which she presumed was because she had dazed out in front of him. Urgh... now he would think she is another of his crazy fans when she is anything but."I will leave now if I am bothering you."

God, that sickening polite tone.

"No. It's okay." She found herself saying. "There is enough space for two."

Roki smiled in return to Kiaphas' relieved face as he sat himself down on the other side of the tree. Of course, why would she not? This is the perfect chance for her to serve some well-deserved retribution and The Blade Genius is going to regret ever seeing her in this place, ever.

"You know, I thought this place was going to be my secret when I first chanced upon it a few weeks back. It is such a nice place just to chill out and relax from all the chaos of our daily lives."

Why would he even want to seek a reprieve from his high-flying life was beyond the Trickster.

"I am sorry for intruding into what is yours. If you ever want me gone, just tell me."

Is that sincerity in his voice? Roki inwardly shrugged. She ignored him anyway and he seems to be content being ignored, instead entering a meditative trance of sorts. Just as well, for Roki's straying hand took the chance to wander behind her back, slowly but surely loosening the sash on the boy's uniform. The poor bloke did not notice anything. It would not fall off straight away (frankly she has no need to see his underwear) but it will sooner or later once he is back in his crowd.

And it would be so scandalous indeed, hehehe.

[Delute]

Thus, this was how it came to be: Every day without fail, Roki Saarunga would escape to her Hideaway, only for Kiaphas to pop up sooner or later with his sheepish smile and courteous manners. Sometimes, he would even be there already before her, lying beneath the spot he had so frequently occupied with a content look on his face as he enjoyed his nap under the cooling shade. As usual, nothing other than polite greetings occurred between the two of them, until one day when the boy suddenly brought up a very interesting question.

"Uh... excuse me?" With his form abruptly looming over her, Roki almost wanted to shoo him back to his spot on the other side of the tree on grounds of attempted outrage of modesty when she caught sight of his face. The look on it indicated that he had been wanting to say whatever he is going to say for some time now and she suppose she could entertain the boy genius for once.

"Yes?" Roki curtly asked, turning her head the other way. She might have relented just a tiny bit, but it does not mean she had to be all nice and dandy. Somehow, Kiaphas took the response as a cue for him to sit down beside her, infuriating her to no end. She shifted herself slightly away in silent defiance, and the boy flinched.

That however, did not deter him from his original intentions. "Umm... I know this sounds weird but do you have any idea regarding a knife with the initials R.G.M on it? I kind of lost it and I needed it back..."

Roki only raised an eyebrow in response. So that is what he is looking for. Coincidentally, she suppose she might have something to do with it a while back when she had conveniently relieved the shinigami prodigy of its weight (He had a zanpakuto already, why would he need a knife for? And a butterfly knife too, that thing is dangerous). Right now, it should be sitting in one of her shelves gathering dust by the moonlight. "Nope." She lied to his face. Serve the guy right.

"It had been really ... weird. Funny things keep happening to me, and my stuff kept going missing. Just awhile ago, my uniform mysteriously had a hole in them for no reason and even before that they keep getting themselves undone in front of the others." Boy, the look of distress on his face is absolutely delicious. "I think I am cursed somehow..."

If not for the fact that she was facing the other way, the gig would have been up there and then. There is no way she could explain the smirk on her face if Kiaphas had seen it. And this is getting too fun for it to end now.

"That knife... it was from a friend of mine, and for me to lose it is... unforgivable." There was a change in the tone of the boy's voice, and Roki could not help but notice his knuckles clenching up till they are white. His handsome face was scrunched up into ... bitterness? Anger? Roki had no idea. All she knew was that the atmosphere is turning uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry." Kiaphas softly spoke after a period of uneasy silence. "I had been rambling ain't I? It must have been really awkward for you to listen me like that."

To say that Roki is stunned would be an understatement. By the time she had recovered and turned herself around to properly face Kiaphas for the first time, the boy was already gone from the Hideaway, leaving her alone again to ponder over what had happened.

"It's... just a knife right?" She whispered to the rustling leaves in the cool breeze.

*************

For a few days after the.... Roki had no idea what that even was, Kiaphas was conspicuously absent from the Hideaway but soon enough, he was back with an air of awkwardness about him. It took a few more days after that before the Trickster finally relented and decided to give the knife she pilfered back to the fellow. Surprisingly enough, people she had gone around asking were either oblivious to the fact he had a friend with the initials R.G.M or they had no idea at all. Not even the most hardcore of his fans were aware that Kiaphas had friends.

So when she had laid said knife at his spot before the boy arrived and was roughly shaken awake moments later, she was unprepared for whatever is about to transpire. Roki was so sure that he would had connected the dots about her stealing his prized possession that she was absolutely stunned when the Blade Genius gave a cry of "Oh my god." and hugged her.

"Thanks... for helping me find it miss..."

"Roki, Roki Saarunga." She found herself giving away her name, still in a perpetual daze.

"I'm Kiaphas. Kiaphas Karrende." Roki then felt something wet on her cheeks. Did he... did he just kissed her? "Nice to meet you, Saarunga-san."

"I... uh... Nice to meet you."

And that, was how the two of them formally met each other and became friends.

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