Kumogakure Academy Roster, Year 33 of Shogun Yoshinobu
Fox-Delta Homeroom
Homeroom Sensei:
Gorobei Keiji
Class Representative:
Zaibu Draikon
Unasi Kyoto
Hisakata Akatake
Reikon Dyu
Shinrya Kitsune
Ryuu Kichigai
Hachi Ban
Takaki Masao
Looking at the yellowed page brought back memories, the majority of which were unpleasant. The Academy was still for all practical purposes a death sentence for the majority of children brought in by the Scouts or who had signed up with delusions of patriotism or who had simply been raised by their clans to see no other path in life besides that of the shinobi way. Masao himself had ran away from the village and hidden in the cities for years in an effort to avoid enrolling, although he had learned later that Kumogakure never really allowed a child with the slightest hint of chakra potential to really vanish out of its sight. The things he had learned on the streets of Port Cirrus and Kelmura had toughened him, which was probably why he had survived. What the roster didn’t show were the names of all the students in their homeroom who had perished before reaching senior year.
Of the names on that page out of the Academy roster, the sole living member of the Class of 33, Fox Delta Homeroom, was Kitsune. And in fact, Masao had assumed for most of his career that she had died after graduation – if not on a mission then almost certainly in the Demon Invasion. But she had in fact lived through all of the same things he had lived through, as he had found out when he came back from his first retirement. Something like nostalgia tugged at him as he placed the roster back down on his desk – he had been planning to select new candidates for the Headmaster position now that Fujinami had “left” – and he rose from his chair.
“I’m stepping out to the hospital for a bit,” he told a staffer as he left the Legation where his new offices were. There would be one stop before he got to his destination, however...
It was not too long until he came to the hospital – specifically, the research wing which had been Kitsune’s last listed duty assignment. The air smelled slightly yeasty, with hints of ammonia and benzene adding to the gag-factor – in other words, a typical academic biological sciences lab. So, she was still employed here, he noted as he came to the door marked “Shinrya Lab”. Without wasting time, he knocked courteously on the door before gently pushing it open. From behind his back, he produced a bouquet of scented geranium and offered it to the red-haired woman who resided within.
“Hello, Shinrya-hakase. I brought you something to freshen the air.”