megumi said
"Noodles are okay, I guess," Reiko lied, "I was just...deciding what to have for lunch today, that's all." Junko nodded her head saying something like “Oh okay”, but then the conversation lingered, it looked like Reiko seemed bothered by something. "More important...I would prefer not to addressed as such. We're roommates, Kuriyama-san, we're not close friends."  Junko raised an eyebrow at Reiko's rejection to her nickname. Maybe that was too forward for her tastes, Junko thought. “Ah, I see. Well...Ishida-san it is then, if that's what you want.” Her response sounded a little more half-hearted and hiding a little bit of irritation. People were so complicated to understand, and one way or another she always clashed with them. She was also so used to being open with people's names and knowing everyone on a friendly level, but Junko could to survive without it. She cleared her throat and tried to move the conversation somewhere else.“I love me some good noodles, but I'm terrible at cooking.” Junko laughed, “If you ever need a test taster I'm always hungry.”

Reiko gave a simple 'hmmm' response as Kuriyama offered to be a taste tester. Neither agreeing or disagreeing, simply acknowledging that the phrase and the request were uttered. She couldn't think of anything more to say, she could ask about hobbies but that would probably give Kuriyama the idea that Reiko was actually curious. It might be a quiet year for the two of them, but at least there shouldn't be any problems. And it wasn't as if Reiko was opposed to talking, but making idle chitchat for the sake of it under the false pretense of 'getting to know you' was not her idea of talking. Most people forget that stuff the following day anyway.

Any potential response to Kuriyama was interrupted by the sound, muffled slightly due to being indoors, of the same soothing voice from the earlier announcement.

"Reminder, all students are expected to be in class in ten minutes time. Students who do not attend class will run the risk of disciplinary action."

The announcement repeated itself before going silent. Reiko looked towards Kuriyama. Reiko was already wearing her uniform, with the added accessory of puffy highsocks that went to her calf, and she gave a polite nod to her roommate. "You're a second year too, yeah? Maybe we'll be in the same class, but if not I'll see you later." Reiko spoke quickly and coldly, offering Kuriyama a tiny wave before she headed for the door and left the room, bag in hand.

Other students were shuffling along, rushing not to be late, and Reiko's pace quickened to a quick walk. Out on the grounds proper, Reiko followed the crowd making their way to the school building, the familiar sounds of laughter and communication overtaking the sound of birds and nature in the air. Her bag was held on her right side, bouncing off of her waist with each step she took towards the main building, which was where the current population of students was heading towards. Reiko made her way inside, looking for the large bulletin board containing class rosters, specifically for the second year students.

"Ishida...Ishida Mariko....Ishida....Reiko, found it." Scanning for her name went easily enough. "Class 2C. Homeroom teacher is...Tsukuba-sensei." The name was familiar. Tsukuba-sensei was popular among students for her rather relaxed attitude when it came to teaching her subject, which was literature. And she was the 2C homeroom teacher. As far as lucky breaks went, this was up there. Reiko also heard that some students were fans of Tsukuba-sensei because she wore glasses but that was probably nothing but an unfounded rumor. How the students loved their gossip here. Like any other school.

Reiko climbed to the second floor, arriving at the room with 2C hanging over it. She slid the door open and stepped inside class 2C for the first time. There weren't many students here yet, and so Reiko took a deep breath and traveled down the desk rows, searching for her seating arrangement, waiting to see who she'd be sharing the room with for the term.

A smile found its way across the girl's mouth when she saw how excited her new roommate had become at the mention of hanging out. Just Mira's joy alone seemed to be enough to brighten Tohru's day and ease her tormented spirits. It was funny to her how they were so different, yet despite coming from such diverse backgrounds, they were getting along so well together. Tohru honestly had to wonder if it was something else. She did feel at moments something that just captivated her about Mira. Whatever that was....it was still a mystery to her. For now, she didn't want to sit here and dwell on her thoughts. A little fresh air would do her some good, not to mention a bit more time to get to know her.... When she saw Mira already at the door and awaiting her, Tohru laughed rather warmly. How long has it been since she smiled like this? It was a long time, that's for sure.

"Alright, cherry blossoms it is!" She proclaimed with a grin of her own. Standing up from her bed, Tohru fastened some of the loose buckles on her black leather demonia boots and fixed her socks. They were long and came up to her knee with black and gray stripes. Then, she walked out the door with Mira trailing behind her. Some of the other girls were still cavorting about the hallway, and naturally, they all stared at Tohru like she was some oddity to this school, but who-else dressed like her? They must've found it doubly shocking that a classy and elegant girl like Mira was hanging around this headbanging ne'er do well, which did bother Tohru a bit. She didn't want her style, or for that matter her sordid past to harm Mira's reputation or anything like that. In earshot of her and Mira, she heard a few girls whispering amongst themselves, a few sly fingers pointing to the goth chick and a few rancid giggles exchanged. It burned the girl to be frank, and if Mira wasn't with her, Tohru might've lost her cool and decked one of the gossiping girls right in her smug face. Nevermind though, since they were almost out of the dormitory hall.

Once the two were outside, the soft spring air cascaded upon Tohru's ivory face, still a hint of winter's long forgotten chill in the breeze, yet it felt so pleasant, especially with a warm April sun shining down upon her. Upon that breeze, Tohru could smell it, the sweet smell flowing gently into her nostrils. The scent of sakura petals hung lightly in the air. It was a scent so pleasant to Tohru, for it reminded her of life outside the walls of a cell or away from the trashy, crime ridden streets she thought of as home. Cherry blossom petals fluttered about like petite pink feathers in the gentle wind, amidst the backdrop of a blue sky dotted with puffy white clouds and the towering, historical buildings of the academy. It was a sight all to surreal for the girl. She had to admit, as much as she hated school, she would much rather be here than anywhere else. "Damn...I forgot how pretty it was here." Tohru mused, casting a light smile to Mira.
"It's kind of like a rich oil painting or...a picture you see on a brochure. You just feel happy when you see it. No matter what mood you're in...you always smile..."

Their brief sightseeing tour though was cut short by the announcement and the rush of students hurrying off to their classes. "Dammit!" Tohru grumbled. So much for relaxing a bit more. "Well this sucks. Wonder if we'll have the same class together?" She had hoped so, and judging this was her second year, the first class was literature, perfect start for Tohru. Hopefully they were going over American literature as promised. Tohru would love to read some Edgar Allan Poe or H.P. Lovecraft, even more mainstream authors like R.L. Stine and Stephen King.

Haruka was listening to her new room mate when suddenly an overhead voice announced ten minutes until lessons. She sighed to herself and gave an apologetic smile. "We will have to get to know eachother later on this evening Suminoe-chan, I hope your classes go well." She got up quickly, pulling a canvas shoulder bag over her head and grabbing her military tags as well, hanging them around her neck before jogging out of the Dorm building. She didnt like the idea of going places without them. She got to class on perfect time, nodding respectfully to the Maths Teacher, Hanashiki-sensei, a curvy middle-aged woman with luscious red hair, before finding her seat. Hanashiki-Sensei was very driven, wanting all her students to do well and making extra time for both the students who were struggling and those who wanted a greater challenge. She and Haruka had gotten on well last year since Haruka had a passion for mathematics, she hoped it would the be the same this year. She found her name on a seat in the middle row but near to the window that looked out upon the grounds where the cherry blossoms created a rain of pink petals onto the pathways. She smiled and waited to see her classmates arrive, hoping she would be studying with those she knew from last year.

Her face turned red when she overheard the girls chatting away about Tohru. She almost wanted to speak up for her room mate, but she decided against it since Tohru was being cool about it, and it wouldn't do any good on her part. She held herself to a higher standard when it came to fights and arguing, that was just how she was raised. Sighing almost inaudibly, she pondered whether this was a normal occurrence for Tohru back home, being judged by her peers. She tried not to pity her since her room mate appeared to be fine through it all, and obviously her surroundings had no effect on how she turned out... Well, maybe just a little. She thought back on earlier when the cop came to their room, wondering what that had been about and if she had really gone to jail. Whether or not that was true, it wouldn't change how she saw her, unless it was for something dangerous like... Murder.

Mira looked at Tohru, who seemed to be perfectly happy being outside under the Cherry blossom trees. No, she wouldn't do such a thing. A smile tugged at her lips, it genuinely made her happy that Tohru was enjoying herself. She was actually surprised she came to care about Tohru so fast, but maybe because there were so many missing pieces in her heart where friendships were supposed to be. "It is, beautiful... Probably the best place on the whole campus to come if you ever want to relax. " She smiled back to her friend, inhaling the sweet scent of cherry blossoms. The petals were raining down now with each pull of the wind, so the air around them was painted pink. She saw what Tohru was talking about.

Mira took a deep breath through her nose one more time before the announcements sounded through out the campus. Bummer. She was hoping to get to know Tohru more. Oh well, she would have plenty of time to do that since they would be rooming together.

"If you have Tsukuba-sensei, then we have the same class together... Hopefully." She grinned as she said the last word, and started walking to the school. She was pretty confident about where her class was, because she was right across the hall from Tsukuba last year for freshmen Lit.
In about 8 minutes she would arrive in her class, slower than normal since she was taking her time getting there. She wasn't one to rush.

At the door, she gave her sensei a bow and went to sit in her seat. She didn't get a chance to get a look at her fellow classmates, and probably wouldn't get the chance with Tsukuba having placed her in the first seat by the door. Probably due to her last name ending in A. She just realized she didn't bring anything to class and frowned, so she looked at the person behind her, and asked if she could borrow a pencil. "Thank you." She said after they passed it to her. Hopefully she wouldn't need anything else for the first day.

The silence between the two roommates droned on for awhile, making Junko a little irritated. Reiko looked like she was going to say something, but the announcement over the speakers soon kept them from speaking again.

"Reminder, all students are expected to be in class in ten minutes time. Students who do not attend class will run the risk of disciplinary action."

“Damn, I must have dozed off for a long time.” Junko thought, then looked up and Reiko was seemed to be planning on making her leave.
 "You're a second year too, yeah? Maybe we'll be in the same class, but if not I'll see you later."

Junko gave a delayed nod, and Reiko was soon on her way out of the dorm. Junko sighed. Was it her, or that girl seemed as cold as ice? Reiko was so reserved that it made Junko feel slightly uncomfortable, and that was hard to do. She didn't look like she'd be any trouble, though, so Junko felt thankful.

“Alright, I gotta stop being a lazy ass. I've gotta get my uniform on and get outta here...” She nervously looked around her things on the floor that were scattered and managed to throw on her outfit, leaving behind her casual clothes on the bed. She couldn't be bothered to fold anything neatly because she didn't have the time.

By the time she reached the class roster she was already short on time. “Okay, I got this, uh...Kuriyama...class 2C.” With a swift movement, Junko ran down hallways, turned corners and felt her pulse quickening by the time she noticed the 2C sign up ahead.

“Goooood morning everyone...!” She let out with a huffed but energetic breath, then hesitated as she realized she wasn't back at her old school anymore. She used to greet her homeroom so frequently that it became a habit. Some students let out a skeptical reply back, which Junko felt satisfied that she wasn't ignored, then found her way to her seat. She sat down and glanced around at the semi-empty class, then recognized her roommate sitting up ahead. “I know I don't know anyone here...but I'd feel too clingy if I tried to talk to her, though.” She thought, then looked towards the direction of the window. She stood up and hung over it, watching the scenery below.

Kotone looked at her roommate for a second, as the announcement went off... and then poked her with a toe. "For future reference, corpses do not breathe."

The buns were deposited on her desk, and Kotone grabbed her bag before heading off... to her least favourite class of all. Literature. Who the hell cared what meaning an author might have hidden in a book? It was an utter waste of time. Better to just read it for the sake of reading it... she still had to show up, though. Then do the work, get a good grade, and act like the perfect student.

Her size, coupled with fuming about the bad first lesson, did a commendable job of clearing a path through the gathering crowds of students, and she successfully made it to 2-C on time, trying to get inside and to her seat without being noticed. This utterly failed... mainly because someone else was already in the way, with Kotone placed in the back corner, by the window. Someone that she didn't actually recognise.

"Excuse me, you are standing in the way of my seat."

Thankfully, Mira was also enrolled in Tsukuba-sensei's class, which gave Tohru a nice glimmer of hope. She smiled in return to her roomie walking away, "Awesome! See you there! I uh...I have to grab a few things." And off she was back to the dormitory. Let's hope it's still there. It didn't take her long to climb the stairs to the third floor and to walk down the hall to 312, surprisingly in combat boots, and open the door. Her bag and guitar case were still on the bed where she left them, untouched by any other hand. She was hoping she at least packed it in her case or if the police chief was considerate enough to stuff it in her bag. C'mon where the hell is it? I'm gonna be late dammit!

She ruffled through her stuff hastily, tossing clothes all across the room. It wasn't in her bag. Shit! Maybe her guitar case? Flipping open the silver locks on the black case, Tohru flung it open, yet naturally, she was careful in pulling out her dark red Gibson and laying it aside. Finally, there it was at the bottom of her case. Ha! Found you! It was her paperback copy of "The Tell-Tale Heart" Not just her favorite story, but it was also how she learned a little bit of english, not to mention from bootleg Iron Maiden CDs and a few American films. Reading was something that, aside from music, kept her company at times, and not to mention kept her from losing her mind in jail. Now reunited with her book, Tohru rushed back down the stairs and out of the dormitory, sprinting headlong towards the classroom building. Only minutes to go! I can make it!

She was no track star, but damn was she booking it past the entire campus, not stopping once to rest. The door was in sight. She was almost there when- "Whoa!!" The floors must've been mopped earlier or something, because by some odd force, Tohru's foot skidded out from under her and down she went before everyone in the classroom, including Tsukuba-sensei of all people. "Ouch..." Her face was reddened not just by the impact of her face to the polished hard tiles, but also the sheer embarrassment. "So uh....am I early, sensei?" She asked Tsukuba-sensei, giving the teacher a half-hearted grin of dumbfoundedness. Well this was shaping up to be a great first day of class...

"Reminder, all students are expected to be in class in ten minutes time. Students who do not attend class will run the risk of disciplinary action."

"Seems I am," Cho answered to her roomie's question of getting changed for class. She had kind of hoped to get a free day since it was the first day coming back here, but also understood how that wouldn't happen. First step was first; take the hat off. You couldn't very well head into class with a hat on your head, after all! As Cho continued getting ready for class, she asked Nadeshiko "You know where you're headed, right? I got lost en route to class my first day here, and it took months before people forgot." Cho had to hurry up, though. Toss her own clothes off, slap her uniform on, tie her hair back, remove her jewelry, do it all fast. The moment she was done here, she'd have to run like the things in her pairings were chasing her if she planned to make it to class on time.

Rika giggled at Himawari's reaction, relief clearly washing over her now that some of the previous anger and embarrassment had been cleared from the air. She didn't know what she would have done had this plan not worked. Probably start bawling her eyes out. Luckily for both of them that would not be the case. She didn't want to press her luck right now so she quickly complied with the demand to unhand the plushy, setting it back daintily where she had found it. Maybe she could do some experimenting later on with how far she could go before provoking the wrath of the tsundere. She certainly didn't want to go too far to jeopardize a friendship, but it might also be fun to tease her a bit every now and then. After all, as long as it wasn't serious, a little pouting could be awfully adorable.

"Sorry, Himawari-san. I'll ask permission before touching them next time," she said with a bow. Yes. First order of business before playtime would be to establish the friendship, so being too polite would work better then too carefree in this case, she expected. She began to unpack her own belongings when the announcement about classes came on. Oh well. She'd just have to get that taken care of later. She wanted to give herself plenty of time to get to class just in case she got lost along the way.

"I'm going to literature with...Tsukuba-sensei," she explained, glancing over her schedule. "If you have the same class we can walk together?" She suggested as she began to slowly head for the door, seeing if Himawari would follow her lead. In fact that might be a good idea to not get lost if the both of them went together. After all, between the two of them there was no way they couldn't find it in time. She hoped.

Himawari placed her hands on her hips, eyeing the plushie as it was carefully set back down. Good. Tako-chan was back in her proper place. It was the best spot for her, after all! This Rika girl... had taken a turn for the better, at least... but that wasn't proof of anything! The pink-haired girl could still be a big perverted idiot, no way did this mean she trusted her! "Well... good! You better make sure Tako-chan stays in the right spot!"

She was silent for a few moments as Rika asked her question. Well, she was already in her uniform... so... well, it's not like she had anything else to do, she supposed, so she might as well head to class with the other girl. But only because there was nothing else to do. Himawari didn't care about having a decent relationship with her roommate or anything, she was still pretty sure she was an idiot!

"... Fine. But don't do anything weird!"

With that, she headed after Rika.

Makoto had no idea what to do about her current situation. This Regan girl was unusually friendly for someone from Light and Order. The normal process tended to be blank stares of confusion and a ton of effort devoted to avoiding her forever hostility and battles. Lots and lots of battles. Yeah, that.
But so far, her roommate had pretty much accepted everything. And was apparently on good enough terms that she held the smaller girl to her, as if they'd always known each other. It was... strange and unexpected. Well, maybe she shouldn't bother questioning it. All that mattered to Makoto was that she now had a general! And a loyal one at that!

She was curious about that thin container Regan had, too. Was it a weapon? Was it useful? Was it brimming with the power of Order or Chaos?! ...Was it cool? Maybe she should ask about it...?

Mira's eyes widened in surprise when she saw Tohru skidding into the classroom and across the floor like a hockey puck. The pink haired girl might actually have worried if Tohru didn't seem to be amused by her falling too. "Ru-Chan..." She got up from her seat and walked over to her, kneeling down beside her, "If I would have known you to be clumsy I would have walked to class with you." She covered her mouth and laughed silently to herself. It took everything in her not to continue laughing at her room mate, the look on her face was just too priceless. Mira extended a hand to Tohru so that she could help her get to her feet. Hopefully, she would accept it and not be upset at her for laughing.
After that, she would go back to her seat and try not to replay what had just happened.

There wasn't much of anything of interest outside, just a couple of students walking every so often. Junko watched some of the petals fall and felt oddly transfixed.

Suddenly, a voice took her out of her trance, leaving Junko feeling a little bit surprised and irritated. “Oh...my bad...” Junko grumbled half heatedly and inching around carefully. She glanced back to notice a rather tall girl with long black hair standing in front of her. Junko froze and raised an eyebrow. Woah, this girl was tall, like, really tall. Once she had cleared a path for the student to get back to her desk, Junko thought for a moment and smiled enthusiastically. “You on the basketball team? You'd make a great center.”

It might have sounded like she was poking fun, but Junko was envious. She couldn't be that tall even if she tried. The girl didn't seem like a sports kind of person, but she could be wrong with her judgment.

From her stupor, Tohru looked up and saw Mira's hand extending out for her, ignoring most of the laughter from the other students. "Yeah...thanks Mira." She replied, her face still a little red. "Maybe next time I'll watch where I'm going, right?" Shaking it off mentally, the girl merely wore the same idiotic grin as she looked for her seat. She sat down propping both her feet on the desk and leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed, her book sitting next to her chair on the floor. Even just mere moments after the incident, girls were still looking at her, the same giggles belting out of their mouths, not that Tohru cared really. She wasn't one to be mad over something like that, especially if her friend was laughing at her too. Stupid things happen, and sometimes unexpectedly. Shooting Mira a small wink and a smile, Tohru turned her attention back to the board.

After they stepped outside, Regan took her arm from around Yamada. Not because she didn't want to be seen so close, but... well, it didn't seem necessary to hold her so close the whole way. She looked up to the trees, admiring the cherry blossoms as they danced through the air, slowly falling to the ground. They were really quite beautiful. She turned to look at her roommate, "ne, Yamada-chan. You're a first year, right? Oh..." She follows the girl's gaze, noticing it's on her sword bag. "You want to know what's inside?" She smiles softly and takes the bag from her shoulder, looking around briefly. "I'll show you, but only briefly, ok? I shouldn't take the bag away."

The taller girl unzips the top of the bag and pulls it down just a little bit, enough to show Yamada the hilt and hand guard of her sword. "This was given to me by my mother." After just a moment, she closes the bag again. "It's supposed to be an extension of myself, so I have to keep it with me at all times. Don't tell anyone, though, ok? I wouldn't want to cause them distress, knowing a weapon is so close." She places a hand on Yamada's head before noticing the time. "Aah! Sorry, Yamada-chan, but we're going to be late at this rate. Let's hurry!" She slings the sword bag over her shoulder again and nods to her roommate before running ahead to the main building.

~~~

2C, this was the one. The taller, busty girl stood outside the classroom for just a moment to catch her breath before entering the room. She wasn't late, at least. She tracks down her seat, somewhere near the middle of the room, next to the window.

"Wait a minute... The window? Impossible." Ah, she interpreted it wrong. Was it wishful thinking? And how didn't she notice? Wishful thinking was a powerful thing... frightening. She pulls out a piece of paper she'd scribbled her place down on and examined it again. It was... "This one." In the back, so that was good, at least. She sits and gets her supplies out, leaning her sword against the wall.

It was just her luck that Reiko's seat was front and center, the closest seat to the teacher's podium, the absolute hardest seat from which to cheat or fall asleep in class. Not like she had intended on doing either, but it was nice to at least have the option to do that. By the time her bag was hanging from the side of the desk, more of her classmates were filing in. Junko was one of them and only the barest glance towards her direction was given. Reiko also noticed a pink haired girl; she scoffed, overhearing said girl ask for a pencil. How can you be unprepared on the first day? her internal thoughts were aflutter with negative remarks.

Reiko made brief eye contact, well, more along the lines of chest contact, with a girl that looked like she had western genes in her. Hopefully she sat in the back, Reiko felt sorry for anyone who had to sit behind that giant. When another girl ran in, literally at that, and quickly made friends with the floor, Reiko couldn't hold in her laughter. It was brief, but it was loud enough to be heard, more of a sudden burst of shocked laughter than a full on laughing fit. It's not every day you witness embarrassment on such a scale, and it was funny. Kind of sad, but funny.

"Alright, alright," Tsukuba-sensei, who had been absorbed in a book with the letter Q in place of a number in the title, suddenly snapped the book shut and let out a yawn, "You're not late, but if you've scuffed up my floor with your head, you're cleaning it." Tsukuba-sensei spoke in a firm, matter-of-fact, no nonsense tone, her eyes staring towards Tohru from behind her glasses. The only thing missing was a scowl. "I'm just kidding. Find a seat." And then came the laughter from the teacher, her tone of voice far friendlier and soft than initially expected.

"If anyone is bound to be late, it'd be me. But June-chan, that's Serizawa, made all of us teachers promise to be on time on the first day." Tsukuba-sensei stood from her seat in the top left corner of the room and approached the podium, turning to the blackboard and writing her name. "Welcome to 2C, I'm Ryoko Tsukuba, and I'm in charge of homeroom activities and your literature teacher for you second year students."

After writing her name on the board, Tsukuba turned to face the class, waiting for stragglers to find their seats.

"While the bell hasn't officially rung yet, I hate all the introductory stuff so let's get it out of the way now, yeah? That way when the bell rings and class starts, we can get to what matters. Reading passages from books you're all too inexperienced to actually understand. Sound good? Good. First thing on the agenda, I'm supposed to remind students that sports and culture clubs begin their recruiting next week, but you're second years so of course you know this. Hopefully you've all already been apart of clubs, but if not, well, now you know. And before you ask, I won't sponsor your club, I already sponsor the literature club."

"Second, any students wishing to apply for student council are to ask for information with Serizawa-sensei on their own time. She oversees that group as well as the school itself. Now, lastly, here comes the fun part."

Tsukuba-sensei turned back to the blackboard and wrote, in exaggerated characters, a phrase that caused several students to groan.

"I know, I know, everyone hates this part, no one ever nominates anyone," Tsukuba-sensei returned to in front of the podium, placing her hands on either side, "But it needs to be done. One of you girls needs to fill this role and I'm not going to pick it for you. So here's what we're going to do. Either someone nominates someone and we get this done nice and quick, or we sit in awkward silence until class officially starts and I close my eyes and point at random. While you're all deciding, I'm going to start memorizing your names."

Tsukuba-sensei gently tapped her papers against the podium and began silently mouthing off the names of the students, her eyes glancing towards their desk, connecting names to faces and locations.

Reiko took the opportunity to look around, noticing some empty seats. If she were to nominate anyone, it'd either be the tall girl or the fallen girl. The latter just because of the potential comedy that would come with her tripping again, this time with important stacks of paper. But, like so many others, Reiko sat in silence.

The yakuza princess was somewhat concerned when someone tripped, right into the teacher at that, but stopped looking when it was clear that she was fine. Not that she could have done anything if the trip-er wasn't; first aid wasn't amongst her skills and nobody wanted her assistance. They'd probably think she was working on killing them, or making their injury worse, or otherwise ruining their chances of being in good health. Then, if anything went wrong, she would be blamed.

No, it was good that they were okay. Less chance to be accused of not caring, or of caring in the wrong way.

Junko got a one-word reply: "Aikido." That was all that Kotone said before slumping into her seat, gazing out the window, and tuning out the usual pre-class announcements, thus complely missing that they were picking a class representative. Not that it mattered, she didn't care who it was, anyway.

She had only been in class for a short period, and she was already feeling bored; First days were the worst. There was literally nothing to do, except long introductions and going over the plans for the school year, which might appeal to some of the more lazy students. She tapped her borrowed pencil softly against her desk as she listened to Tsukuba-sensei talk about class president and the like. She couldn't think of who to elect, maybe herself if she were more sociable and didn't have her hands tied with so much already. Softball, orchestra, on top of being President of the Music Club was more than enough for her and there weren't even that many people in her club to worry about(not that they really did anything anyways.)

Hmmm... Maybe I'd make a good class president.

"Tsukuba-Sensei, may I be excused to the restroom?" She looked to her teacher with a hopeful look... as hopeful as you can look when you need to use the restroom. Her homeroom teacher last year hardly ever let anyone go unless you looked about ready to explode, but Mira didn't think it would be an issue with Tsukuba. She was known for being a favorite among the students.

Class representative, such a stupid thing to get picked for Tohru thought. It basically meant more work for her to do aside from the tidal wave of assignments and reports that would come crashing over her head with such ferocity, so of course she was hoping to avoid nomination. For a while, she tuned out Tsukuba-sensei, flipping carelessly through the pages of her book, as if to show she were interested in something else other than leaving the class. I could use a cig right about now.... She sighed to herself. There was the pack with her lighter she kept in her bra. Tohru figured she had maybe five or six left since she smoked some while she was in jail, and then a few others on the trip up here, and it's not like she didn't know the rules already about smoking on campus. She got away with it plenty of times.

Out of the corner of her eye, Tohru noticed Mira raise her hand and ask something about going to the bathroom. There was her ticket out of this class, despite that she liked literature. It was just the boring pre-class announcements that were badgering the hell out of her. She would just have a quick smoke then come back later when the lessons eventually started, and maybe she would catch up with Mira in the hallway, at least she figured that might happen. "Uh...Tsukuba-sensei?" She stood up with a bow in respect to the older woman. "May I be excused as well? I...I think my head's still hurting...."

If this didn't get her out, then what the hell would?

Haruka had been deep into calculations and fractional distributional curves on negative reaction graphs when she had realised the call of nature and been excused from the class easily. She was always a dedicated pupil, quiet and seemingly interested, so the teachers tended to put quite alot of faith and trust in her and her judgement of other students. She quickly excused herself from the class and made her way into the girls bathroom, noting her preening peers who seemed to have taken over occupation of the entire bathroom. When she entered they were giggling and gossiping loudly about the teachers and other students, some of it malicious. Haruka was given quite a venomous glare from them which she calmly and stalwartly ignored until they realised who it was and hurriedly gathered up their effects, the air of menace rising around Haruka's intimidating aura. After a few moments of fumbling and dropping things they had finally fled and Haruka was free to use the restroom before splashing her face with water and then trying to remove the lipstick from the mirrors.