The Foolish Prince

Ryuichi raps his fingers along his desk, waiting impatiently for the final bell. Luckily he does not have to wait long, the distinct ring cuts through the boring drawl of their sensei, and without wasting a moment, he bows the class out (he is the class representative after all), and promptly leaves the classroom. Before he gets even one foot out the door, he's hounded, by the female populace who gingerly scream his name out, as they ask him all manners of trivial questions.

Inwardly he sighed, and did as he always did, politely addressing them and their concerns, while steadily making his way towards the exit of the building. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of mindless gossip, the occassional confession, and dealing with the concerns of the student body, he managed to find his way out of the building.

It was quite ironic that he loathed dealing with people, yet he was both president of the student council as well as class represenative. Unfortunately his pride demanded that he take up these positions, since the only other option was to allow some idiot to take his place, and would not tolerate that.

When he left the school grounds, he could not help but overhear several of the girls talk about this strange store friends of their's had been visiting down the road from the local Yakiniku restaurant and the mysterious fortune teller who ran it. What peaked his interest, wasnt the nature of the store, but the fact that he had never heard of either before now. He made it a point to know about every establishment in Karakura Town, including the names of the store owners (an impressive feat, but one well within his capabilities). He would have pondered longer, were it not for the distinct presence of Hollows brushing up against his spiritual awareness.

"More Hollows? One would think that they'd learn their lesson by now after the amount I've slain." he thought. He spared a cursory glance at the girls, "I'll deal with the store later, I've got more pressing matters at the moment." Without another thought he disappeared.

---

It was lunchtime, though for Ryuichi he was surrounded by another group of girls who were presently trying to get him to eat their prepared bento. It just happened to be his luck that hunting down those Hollows would take up most of his evening, leaving him no time to make his own lunch. This was why.

"Ryuichi-kun! I hope...you like it." she said shyly. He turned his attention to one Nakamura Kikyo. She like so many others were....what was term? Ah yes, "infatuated" with him. He wouldnt dare acknowledge ther proclomations as "love", that was just ridiculous. Fortunately, she was also one of the more prominent members of the student council, and quite popular in both genders. She was an accomplished scholar, scoring in the top five of the nation in mathmatics, beautiful, as well as an athelete. Her parents were also quite wealthy, and highly influential individuals, and given the booming success of Karakura Hosptial, they would obviously be pushing his father for an arranged marriage. This meant that taking her lunch wouldnt lead to any gross rumors, so with a forced smile he took the lunch.

Surprisingly it was good, not quite as good as his own cooking, but still it was nice to try someone else's cooking for a change. That was, until he found a prickling at the back of his skull. Something...was amiss. It was when he downed the accompanying drink, that he realized his folly too late.

Magic.

Or whatever the hell it was, coursing through his body. Immediately he channeled his energy into stopping it, but to his horror found that at best it would delay it. He looked up at Kikyo, to find her staring back at him expectantly, like she was waiting for something. It didnt take a genius to figure out what he just consumed. Thankfully he could delay the effect, but not for long. Outwardly he just smiled and thanked her, and said that he needed to go relieve himself. He entered the halls and quickly sped towards the exit, casting a subtle Ginto to mask his presence. He nearly barreled out of Karakura High, as his mind raced to find the location of the store. He probably had only a few minutes, at best before his mind was seized.

He thought back to their earlier conversation, about the store, where it was...yes! The Yakiniku restaurant! It was nearby, allegedly. He used Hirenkyaku to close the distance, and it didnt take long to find the store. It was strange, he'd passed by this area numerous times before and never noticed it before. Maybe one can only see it if they want to go there.

He had perhaps a minute at best, when he came to the front door. Taking a deep breath. He pushed the door aside and walked inside.