Mariko dropped her table at right angles to everyone else's It slid a little against the floor, but not enough to cause noise or anything. Yamauchi seemed to be introducing herself to Coral, which struck Mariko as slightly odd. She knew both their names. They'd attended Yamaku last year, hadn't they? Had they both suffered a damaging case of retrograde amnesia, causing them both to completely forget the events of last year? Unlikely. Because she, Mariko, had been there too. Unless she'd lost her earpiece that same day, which became why she couldn't find it now. Was that even possible? Surely not.

She mumbled out a quick greeting, little more then "Hi, guys. How was the break?", A question she was quite literally expecting no answer to. Nothing too formal. Formality would set a precedent, and make idle chitchat even more awkward then it already was. People here had more issues then the newspapers, Yamaku attracted wierd people like flies to vinegar, which was sorta obvious in retrospect. But that didn't mean you had to tiptoe around everyone's feelings, either, so casual language was usually okay. Mariko had a pen in hand, and the paper over the relevant page in the science book (large print, not that she would dare admit it.) Yamauchi seemed to be showing her something. On closer, squintier, inspection, it turned out to be the [i] exact same page[/i] she had in front of her. 

"Well, yes, that is what we're looking at today, Yamauchi. Gold friggin' star. It's quite literally listed on the printout which page it is."