CHARACTER HISTORIES (A-M)
PROFILES (A-M)
Hinamori, MOMO
Junior
An orphan for most of her young life, the first real break of luck for her was when she was adopted by an aging woman who wished for companionship in her last few years of life. These were her happiest years; warm clothes, her own bed, someone to talk to and smile at who didn’t mock her for being small and clumsy. It didn’t take long for the kind of old lady that Momo nicknamed ‘Granny’ to enroll her in diving lessons in order to help her train herself out of her clumsy ness. It was a surprise to both of them when Momo not only fell in love with diving, but excelled.
When Momo was thirteen her beloved Granny died of heart failure, at least that was the official report that she was given by the trustee of her Grannies estate, a trustee who was less than pleased that her Granny left her all of her money and property, to be given to her on her eighteenth birthday. Momo was pretty sure that it was a story that he gave her just to keep her quiet. After that he shipped her off to the nearest boarding school, clothed, fed, and out of his hair for the majority of the year. The first boarding school was hell, a place were parents sent their troubled children for a last chance at polite society. It didn’t take Momo very long to decide that she needed a way out of if she was going to amount to anything in life.
It took her a year and a half to find a school that had a diving team and then it took her another half a year to get a big enough scholarship to cover the cost of her schooling: one for diving and one for her academic abilities.
Hitsugaya, TOUSHIROU
Freshman
He was normal, except for being a child genius. And wealthy, but that was another story entirely. (Something about a rich dead relative and his mother and questions about suspicious deaths; Toushirou had decided he really didn’t want to know, especially since it meant his parents didn’t look at him like he was their golden ticket anymore.) After discovering their only son was a prodigy, his parents pushed him into one activity after another. Piano lessons were a spectacular failure when young Toushirou decided his teacher was an idiot who not only could not count but couldn’t tell a flat from a sharp. Extra tutoring became a problem when most of his tutors were driven from the house in tears or anger after Toushirou set them straight. (They were all idiots; none of them could teach him a thing.) Even school became a problem; Toushirou alienated most of his fellow classmates (and his teachers) with a few blunt comments about the general low intelligence of the people he was around.
Boarding school became a very much sought after option: Toushirou could get an education and his parents wouldn’t have to deal with him. (The music scholarship his father shoved in his face was promptly scowled at and shredded; Toushirou refused - flatly refused - to be a musical prodigy. Too damn clichéd, among other things.) The scholarship to Seireitei Prep was acceptable, if only because it was far enough away his parents couldn’t pretend to care and visit him. One letter a month was more than enough for him.
Ishida, URYUU
Sophomore
Uryuu was raised by his grandfather for most of his life, his mother having passed away soon after giving birth. His father, owner of the largest and most prestigious hospital in the area, was often too involved in his work to take a personal interest in his son's life, more than satisfied to delegate the responsibility to someone more suited. Away from the privileged life Ryuuken's position provided him, Uryuu was fully content during the years he spent living a "normal" life in his grandfather's care. However, it was not long before the old man passed away, leaving behind only large books and wise words to keep his grandson company.
Though grieved by his grandfather's death, Uryuu did not allow this to stop him from making a name for himself, rising to the top of his grade school classes due to his overwhelming academic achievements and skill. Back under his father's roof and the numerous spoils it afforded him, it surprised no one to find the younger Ishida had difficulty adjusting. An emotional rift had now developed not only between father and son, but most people Uryuu's age, due to lack of interaction. The young boy had grown into a young man brimming with potential, but a socially awkward one.
With this in mind, private tutors were discarded in favor of Prep School, the reasoning being that an enclosed environment would expose the hospital's heir to the right kind of people, while teaching social graces and delivering the best education money had to offer. Less than thrilled with this idea, Uryuu had no choice, knowing that even if his pride ever allowed him to stand up to his father, there was only so far an underaged student could go without the proper credentials. All he would have to do for now was cooperate until the two years leading to his graduation came to a close. If that was all it took to keep his father off his back, so be it.
Kuchiki, RUKIA
Junior
Rukia was tossed around between orphanages until the age of fourteen, at which point she was adopted by Kuchiki Byakuya and, effectively or not, taken into that world of awkward finery.
While in the orphanages she met up with a boy named Renji, though to this day she hasn't heard from him since being taken into the Kuchiki household. Renji was her first and best friend in her last orphanage, the one she stayed at the longest: two years. The adoption was seen as a great charity and Rukia has, in her two years following, never been able to figure out her position in the family. She feels unequal, as she knows she is, and Byakuya has been absent as often as he is present in her time there. Though taught proper etiquette, run through a culture shock of do this and not that, as well as shown what to wear and what music is good to listen to, Rukia really hasn't adjusted.
Or rather, she pretends to adjust while retaining much of her younger rambunctious nature that only surfaces of late when she is angry, but still, never around her brother. Then again, she is never angry around her brother, only slightly confused and privately, very uncertain.
Byakuya has recently swapped her for a library and an art wing, which is to say he donated a shit load of money and got both places planted with his surname. Rukia’s less than thrilled.
The day he drops her off the only thing that keeps her from jetting is her definitive feeling of debt to him, regardless of their emotional strangeness. He has provided for her and if this is where he wants his less than affluent and proper sister to go, she’ll go.
That so does not mean she has to like it, however.
Kurosaki, ICHIGO
Sophomore
Ichigo has been called many things in his sixteen years: punk-ass, jerk, tough guy, mama's boy. All of them are true. (Except maybe the last one. He definitely isn't a mama's boy.) He, on the other hand, doesn't really give a shit. Sure, he'll kick your ass for opening your mouth, but as far as he's concered, the labels don't matter at all. Just as long as people leave him alone -- because he's never asked for a fight, in spite of it all, though he won't hesitate in ending one -- and think he's cool, then he couldn't care less.
Ichigo wasn't always this way. His childhood was spent holding hands with his mom, a bright smile on his face that matched his bright orange hair. And despite the fact that childish taunts bounced off him with alarming regularity -- it was easy making fun of the weird-looking kid who never fought back -- he always stayed sunny. Mostly. His parents sent him to a dojo to learn karate when he was four, in the hopes that he would learn to defend himself, and protect others who were worse off than having brilliant orange hair.
He cried every time he lost. Nothing the sensei said could ever stop him. The only thing that could was when his mom showed up to pick him up, and it was if the world was right again, and the tears would disappear faster than it took for his characteristic smile to show up.
Until his mother died. Ichigo remembers the day clearly; it was raining, hard, and it had been raining for nearly a week, so the locals had all learned to stay inside. His mom was walking him home from the dojo, holding up their battered black umbrella, when a man approached them by the river. The water was roaring in Ichigo's ears, but his mom made it clear what he was saying, the barrel of a gun peeping out of his overcoat. Ichigo was shoved away -- by his mom or the man, he wasn't sure -- and that was when his memory ran out.
At least until he woke up under the heavy weight of his mother's body, the rain carrying droplets of blood through the cracks in the pavement. It wasn't until years later that Ichigo really understood what things like rape and murder meant, but by then the damage was done. The smile and sunny disposition were gone, replaced by a permascowl and the attitude to go with it. He never really lost his kind streak, offering help and fighting bullies mostly for the sake of others, but he'd be damned if anyone found out about it.
Not to mention his foray into academia. Ichigo might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but the boy has study habits. Teachers had a tendency to grossly underestimate him, and rather than proving himself to be the punk they thought he was -- though the fights he got into tended to prove that -- he worked hard to keep his grades up, telling his friends that he studied only because he had nothing better to do. Which was, in a way, partly true. And, well, he did care a little about his future.
That was how he ended up at Seireitei Prep, with an academic scholarship that paid the majority of his tuition. His father still hands over a hefty sum for Ichigo to go to the exclusive school, but as far as Isshin is concerned, Seireitei was the best thing that could've happened to his only son.
If Ichigo doesn't get himself kicked out first.
Hinamori, MOMO
Junior
An orphan for most of her young life, the first real break of luck for her was when she was adopted by an aging woman who wished for companionship in her last few years of life. These were her happiest years; warm clothes, her own bed, someone to talk to and smile at who didn’t mock her for being small and clumsy. It didn’t take long for the kind of old lady that Momo nicknamed ‘Granny’ to enroll her in diving lessons in order to help her train herself out of her clumsy ness. It was a surprise to both of them when Momo not only fell in love with diving, but excelled.
When Momo was thirteen her beloved Granny died of heart failure, at least that was the official report that she was given by the trustee of her Grannies estate, a trustee who was less than pleased that her Granny left her all of her money and property, to be given to her on her eighteenth birthday. Momo was pretty sure that it was a story that he gave her just to keep her quiet. After that he shipped her off to the nearest boarding school, clothed, fed, and out of his hair for the majority of the year. The first boarding school was hell, a place were parents sent their troubled children for a last chance at polite society. It didn’t take Momo very long to decide that she needed a way out of if she was going to amount to anything in life.
It took her a year and a half to find a school that had a diving team and then it took her another half a year to get a big enough scholarship to cover the cost of her schooling: one for diving and one for her academic abilities.
Hitsugaya, TOUSHIROU
Freshman
He was normal, except for being a child genius. And wealthy, but that was another story entirely. (Something about a rich dead relative and his mother and questions about suspicious deaths; Toushirou had decided he really didn’t want to know, especially since it meant his parents didn’t look at him like he was their golden ticket anymore.) After discovering their only son was a prodigy, his parents pushed him into one activity after another. Piano lessons were a spectacular failure when young Toushirou decided his teacher was an idiot who not only could not count but couldn’t tell a flat from a sharp. Extra tutoring became a problem when most of his tutors were driven from the house in tears or anger after Toushirou set them straight. (They were all idiots; none of them could teach him a thing.) Even school became a problem; Toushirou alienated most of his fellow classmates (and his teachers) with a few blunt comments about the general low intelligence of the people he was around.
Boarding school became a very much sought after option: Toushirou could get an education and his parents wouldn’t have to deal with him. (The music scholarship his father shoved in his face was promptly scowled at and shredded; Toushirou refused - flatly refused - to be a musical prodigy. Too damn clichéd, among other things.) The scholarship to Seireitei Prep was acceptable, if only because it was far enough away his parents couldn’t pretend to care and visit him. One letter a month was more than enough for him.
Ishida, URYUU
Sophomore
Uryuu was raised by his grandfather for most of his life, his mother having passed away soon after giving birth. His father, owner of the largest and most prestigious hospital in the area, was often too involved in his work to take a personal interest in his son's life, more than satisfied to delegate the responsibility to someone more suited. Away from the privileged life Ryuuken's position provided him, Uryuu was fully content during the years he spent living a "normal" life in his grandfather's care. However, it was not long before the old man passed away, leaving behind only large books and wise words to keep his grandson company.
Though grieved by his grandfather's death, Uryuu did not allow this to stop him from making a name for himself, rising to the top of his grade school classes due to his overwhelming academic achievements and skill. Back under his father's roof and the numerous spoils it afforded him, it surprised no one to find the younger Ishida had difficulty adjusting. An emotional rift had now developed not only between father and son, but most people Uryuu's age, due to lack of interaction. The young boy had grown into a young man brimming with potential, but a socially awkward one.
With this in mind, private tutors were discarded in favor of Prep School, the reasoning being that an enclosed environment would expose the hospital's heir to the right kind of people, while teaching social graces and delivering the best education money had to offer. Less than thrilled with this idea, Uryuu had no choice, knowing that even if his pride ever allowed him to stand up to his father, there was only so far an underaged student could go without the proper credentials. All he would have to do for now was cooperate until the two years leading to his graduation came to a close. If that was all it took to keep his father off his back, so be it.
Kuchiki, RUKIA
Junior
Rukia was tossed around between orphanages until the age of fourteen, at which point she was adopted by Kuchiki Byakuya and, effectively or not, taken into that world of awkward finery.
While in the orphanages she met up with a boy named Renji, though to this day she hasn't heard from him since being taken into the Kuchiki household. Renji was her first and best friend in her last orphanage, the one she stayed at the longest: two years. The adoption was seen as a great charity and Rukia has, in her two years following, never been able to figure out her position in the family. She feels unequal, as she knows she is, and Byakuya has been absent as often as he is present in her time there. Though taught proper etiquette, run through a culture shock of do this and not that, as well as shown what to wear and what music is good to listen to, Rukia really hasn't adjusted.
Or rather, she pretends to adjust while retaining much of her younger rambunctious nature that only surfaces of late when she is angry, but still, never around her brother. Then again, she is never angry around her brother, only slightly confused and privately, very uncertain.
Byakuya has recently swapped her for a library and an art wing, which is to say he donated a shit load of money and got both places planted with his surname. Rukia’s less than thrilled.
The day he drops her off the only thing that keeps her from jetting is her definitive feeling of debt to him, regardless of their emotional strangeness. He has provided for her and if this is where he wants his less than affluent and proper sister to go, she’ll go.
That so does not mean she has to like it, however.
Kurosaki, ICHIGO
Sophomore
Ichigo has been called many things in his sixteen years: punk-ass, jerk, tough guy, mama's boy. All of them are true. (Except maybe the last one. He definitely isn't a mama's boy.) He, on the other hand, doesn't really give a shit. Sure, he'll kick your ass for opening your mouth, but as far as he's concered, the labels don't matter at all. Just as long as people leave him alone -- because he's never asked for a fight, in spite of it all, though he won't hesitate in ending one -- and think he's cool, then he couldn't care less.
Ichigo wasn't always this way. His childhood was spent holding hands with his mom, a bright smile on his face that matched his bright orange hair. And despite the fact that childish taunts bounced off him with alarming regularity -- it was easy making fun of the weird-looking kid who never fought back -- he always stayed sunny. Mostly. His parents sent him to a dojo to learn karate when he was four, in the hopes that he would learn to defend himself, and protect others who were worse off than having brilliant orange hair.
He cried every time he lost. Nothing the sensei said could ever stop him. The only thing that could was when his mom showed up to pick him up, and it was if the world was right again, and the tears would disappear faster than it took for his characteristic smile to show up.
Until his mother died. Ichigo remembers the day clearly; it was raining, hard, and it had been raining for nearly a week, so the locals had all learned to stay inside. His mom was walking him home from the dojo, holding up their battered black umbrella, when a man approached them by the river. The water was roaring in Ichigo's ears, but his mom made it clear what he was saying, the barrel of a gun peeping out of his overcoat. Ichigo was shoved away -- by his mom or the man, he wasn't sure -- and that was when his memory ran out.
At least until he woke up under the heavy weight of his mother's body, the rain carrying droplets of blood through the cracks in the pavement. It wasn't until years later that Ichigo really understood what things like rape and murder meant, but by then the damage was done. The smile and sunny disposition were gone, replaced by a permascowl and the attitude to go with it. He never really lost his kind streak, offering help and fighting bullies mostly for the sake of others, but he'd be damned if anyone found out about it.
Not to mention his foray into academia. Ichigo might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but the boy has study habits. Teachers had a tendency to grossly underestimate him, and rather than proving himself to be the punk they thought he was -- though the fights he got into tended to prove that -- he worked hard to keep his grades up, telling his friends that he studied only because he had nothing better to do. Which was, in a way, partly true. And, well, he did care a little about his future.
That was how he ended up at Seireitei Prep, with an academic scholarship that paid the majority of his tuition. His father still hands over a hefty sum for Ichigo to go to the exclusive school, but as far as Isshin is concerned, Seireitei was the best thing that could've happened to his only son.
If Ichigo doesn't get himself kicked out first.