Leiko? Drama Queen?

Leiko's attention was piqued, her eyes tearing away from the bulletin board to find the source of the impudent voice. Her eyes fell on a short, but well-built male, his expression furrowed as he read through the names on the list carefully. Who on earth is that? She frowned, slightly irked by how quick people were to judge her this morning.

The price of being popular, I suppose.

"Hello there!" Her voice took on a bright, sunny tone as she shouldered past a few people gathering around the board, stopping just short of the muscular male. She quickly suppressed a smirk as she noted that she was at least a head above him in height. "My name is Hamada Leiko. Esteemed Drama Queen of Warakuma High." Her voice was high and extremely exaggerated, causing some of the crowd to stare in disbelief, whilst others caught onto the act and started to laugh. "I see my reputation precedes me. And you are?" She asked politely. "School psychologist? You must be pretty good if you can read people's personalities just by looking at a name. How impressive."

Teiji Ishihara - Ishihara Household

The morning was a quiet one in Teiji's household, so quiet it felt almost void of life or any sounds at all. Thats when Teiji awoke in shocked manner and looked at his alarm clock, to see the alarm had been turned off. Only his little brother ever did something like that, why must that kid torture him? This caused Teiji to panic a bit as he hurried and got himself changed in a record amount of time, and ran downstairs to find a note on the table explaining the lack of life in his house today. Just his luck, he got himself a poptart as he ran out of his house and devoured it on his way to high-school. Not only was h almost late, but if he was Akemi would just lecture him about not taking school serious enough. It was a good thing she never seen what his Math grade could be. he might watch spark fly out of her if she knew what his first year grade was. It was a good thing he took up Soccer, or otherwise he wouldn't have made it to school as fast as he did. Luckily he saw some students trickling in, so he was late enough, that he wouldn't hear the end of it.

Teiji Ishihara - Warakuma High

As he entered the building, first thing to do was to get the class assignments, so he didn't go to the wrong class by mistake. So walking over to the board he examined it and saw that he was in 2-2. He didn't recognize anyone he knew in the class, while the ones he did were in 2-1. Well its not like he would see some of his friends now and then. But a good idea to start thinking of was clubs, he already knew Soccer would be on choice. His father would have his head if he didn't join it, but what else could he possibly join?

Warakuma High

After being asked by Sato if the three should now go and check their class assignments. Noboru jumped happily at the idea. Chiaki also thought it was a good idea, how else would they know where to go when school started? She replied in a sweet tone. "Oh most certainly! I'm rather excited to see who my classmates will be!" As the three walked off into the main room, Noboru barged through the sea of people and began reading his name.

"Oh my... This could be rather... Difficult." Said Chiaki after seeing all the students fighting to find out their class arrangements. This was still a foreign concept if hers, as she had always been privately taught via an instructor that would see her. Nonetheless, a long line of students moved out of the way and made a path for one girl. Mumbling to herself, Chiaki commented on it. ("Either she's rather complacent, and they accept her for it, or she's just a total bitch... Perhaps I should quickly run down this I'll of school children...")

Secretly following the girl down the aisle of departed students and stopped, checked her class assignment, and started talking to Noboru, with a snarky and impolite attitude. ("Noboru is a tough cookie though. He can handle himself without my help... Probably".) She thought. One near the assignment bored she began to talk over dramatically in hopes of distracting the girl.
"Chiaki... Chiaki... Hmm where is my name?!" She slid her finger up and down the board, past all the kanji. "Oh! Here it is! Chiaki Nettu 1-1! Goodness, I don't know any of these other students! What a shame!"

The supposed Leiko seemed to want to take on Noboru. Little did she know he was a natural born actor. He may have been by his family's standards, but that didn't mean he couldn't act. He bowed clumsily in front of her, and took on the voice she used. "Oh i'm sorry most illustrious queen. Forgive me for my most immense transgressions. This lowly jester shall do nothing but whip himself for being so treasonous." The small crowd gave a little laugh at his performance, growing a little bigger with the continuing act. "What shall her highness command this jester to do as punishment? Burned at the stake? Pulled apart by horses? Your word is ny command."

-Kaminari : Warakuma High-
Kami pondered as quickly as he could since the minutes were waning as they stood there, inching on closer to class time. It wasn't long before an idea struck him like a flash of lightning, and he hoped that Sachiko would agree with it. He thought back to last night, when he spoke to her and how she let loose on those shadows. Maybe she would go along with it instead of bursting out into anger at the next person who provoked the poor girl.

"Hey Sachiko, I think i've got a plan on how to deal with the stress you have pent up all inside of you... If you want to go with it anyways. You remember how you just smiled, and just moved on? How no one seemingly wanted to listen to your pain? I'll listen to any problems you have if you allow me to. I'm sure she should of owned up to what she did, but she didn't. If you want to release more of your anger on her, don't."

What reason did he he have to say that to her? Asking her not to unleash any of her anger onto a person who infuriated her? Did he out of all people not understand that she probably needed to release her anecdote than talking about it?

"Instead, save that anger for thoses shadow things in the other world, ok? Also, if anyone else begins pestering you for some illogical reason, come talk to me and I'll help you settle whatever happened with the person, is that ok? I know that you've been holding yourself back now for all these years, but please humor me and don't go over the edge... Anyways, I hope you have a good school day today Sachiko."

As soon as he spoke he gave a warm smile to the girl as he turned around and began walking away. He waved to the girl as he began walking away, before rotating his head with that smile plastered on his face. Was this just some sort of mild facade, was it genuine?

"I'll talk to you later Sachiko, if anything happens, come talk to me about it ok? I'll help you with anything bothering you, and I won't leave your side in any of your endeavours... I promise."

---

As Kami made his way through the school, he came upon his desired location - the shoe lockers. He quickly changed out of his shoes and changed into his indoor shoes, and quickly shut the locker. He took a look around, noticing a large gathering of students by a bulletin board by the office. Kami made his way over to the board, making his way through the sea of students, and began searching for which classes he would be in.

"(Just my luck, I'm in a class with Kato and Akemi, that's nice to know...)"

He did his best to ignore the crowd, but in time he turns his head to see what was happening. He noticed that it was a Stan off between two familiar faces - Leiko, and Noboru. He watched in disbelief as the two played each other off, instigating the crowd, and most likely each other. Kami felt that something bad could break out today, and he hoped that the petty tongue lashing would stop soon. If it started escalating, he feel that he would need to interject. But for now, he just waited and watched the scene unfold.

Kami's plan wasn't bad, but.....it didn't sound half as vindicating as Sachiko would want it to be. Where was the fun in taking one's anger out on tongue monsters when you could take the person that insulted you and spit down their neck? But, the logical person in her appreciated what he was trying to say. Exploding in anger was bound to bite her in the arse some day. She wasn't about to go back to being smiles and hugs all day, but now that she was calmer she knew she couldn't just run her mouth whenever she felt like it.

Yeah, okay. I'll try. No promises though." Anger was hardly something anyone had control over. Chances are she could end up exploding again, but she would do her best. For Kami's sake, if nothing else. He did seem to be doing his best to help her. She returned his smile as he left. Her's was definitely a genuine one. Now, it was time to finally find out her class assignments.

---

When Sachiko arrived on the scene, she could already see the crowd that had formed. Initially, unable to get a good look, she asked a friend of hers that was at the scene. "Misaki, what's going on here?

"Hey Sachiko! Looks like the Drama Queen and Noboru are having a verbal duel!"

Having gotten closer, Sachiko was now able to see what was going on. Her jaw dropped. It really was Leiko and Noboru. At least she wasn't the only one that had to put with this bitch today.

"Man, this is going to be so fun!" Misaki was still talking. "We get to share a class with them! The whole year is going to be full of this stuff!"

"Yeah... Sachiko was still pondering the situation before her eyes. Then she registered what Misaki told her. "Wait, what?"

"Oh! We're in the same class again, Sachiko! You, me, Leiko and Noboru!"

Sachiko couldn't believe it. What rotten luck. Saddled with the very person that she had made an enemy of this morning. This really was going to be a year full of drama. Sachiko had already told Leiko what she thought of her, and didn't intend to waste time pursuing her, but she had her doubts that the bitch would keep to herself. Something was bound to happen, especially if she was going to pick fights with everybody in the class.

"But hey, do you have any idea who "Rui Shinichi" is? I thought I knew everyone in our year level, but I don't recognise the name."

"Rui...? Yeah, kinda. He's new this year."

"Wow! You're so connected, Sachiko! I wish I could meet and greet everyone like you do...."

Misaki kept talking while Sachiko continued to think. There was nothing wrong with Rui specifically, but whenever he showed up, it was usually an omen of bad things to come. He was there when she met Ayano, he poked his nose in when she and Kami were talking about personal matters, he was part of the group that got mixed up with that business she had yet to fully comprehend, and he was even right there when Leiko smacked into her. Talk about a bad penny....

Sachiko resolved to keep an eye on what was going on here. Noboru seemed like he was handling himself just fine, but if Sachiko saw the need, she wouldn't hesitate to get in there and help him out.

Leiko hadn't expected the boy to play along. She watched in a mixed sense of horror and fascination at his over-the-top acting in front of the gathering crowd. He was pretty bad, but his confidence for performing in front of an audience was certainly commendable.

She liked that.

"Oho! I think there's no need for a punishment here!" Her voice reached to the same dramatic heights, a bright and (slightly) wicked smile on her face at her next plan. "That, ladies and gentlemen was only a taster of our newest member of Drama Club!" She announced proudly, causing some people to mutter in realization. They would take this as an advertisement and nothing more. "Please, pass these around! Orderly now!" She chirped, passing around the flyers to some of the interested looking people in the crowd. "As for you, jester," she said in a more hushed tone, her voice sounding amused more than anything. "Your acting's not exactly stellar, but there's something about you. Joining my club after that little show is a must."

She wasn't entirely sure she convinced him. But hey, he'd helped with free publicity so it worked in her favour either way.

Sato Hashimoto // Warakuma High - Front Lobby

After they had all agreed to go check the class assignments, Sato made haste into the school and slipped his footwear into his shoe locker. It wasn’t until he turned to go look at the board with the classes on it did he notice the abnormally large crowd around the billboard. Typically people would quickly check it, rejoice with their friends, and then be on their merry way, yet this crowd was larger than it was ever and it wasn’t even moving. Hardly anyone was actually checking the words on the board, and instead they hovered around to watch some kind of commotion. Out of pure curiousity, Sato attempted to lean in to figure out who was doing what with who, but the crowd was too thick to even see through well. Instead, he zoned in on his auditory senses and phased out the murmurs surrounding him. It sounded like some girl he didn’t know and a vaguely familiar male voice; likely a classmate.

It wasn’t long before he stopped caring about whatever all his fellow students were abuzz about, and he returned his focus to a more important task: to find out which class he was in this year. Sato slipped his way through the cracks in the crowd to get to the board, and once there he studied all the papers cautiously stapled to the billboard.

3 – 3
Hashimoto Sato
In the corner of his eye he noticed a few foreign names in the same class, which most likely meant transfer students. The thought intrigued him in a way. Most people have met foreigners, himself included, but it wasn’t something you saw every day, especially not in a Highschool as rural as Warakuma’s. Of course, Sato had only ever went to city schools prior to Warakuma, so he considered his thoughts on the matter to be rather biased.

Sato quickly realized that he had been loitering in one of the prime spots to check the board, and as he turned to leave, he noticed a familiar face. Noboru, who had left to check the board minutes ago, had managed to engage himself with some second year girl. The idea of aiding him crossed his mind, but Sato ultimately decided it would be best to leave him be…

---

His watch read 10:20. It took him a long moment to figure out that the time on his wristwatch was tragically incorrect, but he just assumed it was around vaguely two hours ahead. The class room was already starting to fill up with a mixture of eager and despairing students, and the silence he once had when he found himself alone in his section’s home room quickly disappeared. Sato wondered if anything vaguely interesting was going to happen on first day of full classes, such as any clubs were going to start recruitment as soon as they could, or some kind of sudden assembly. Just as he turned his head to stare out the window, something strange struck him. When he had skimmed the class list earlier, he hadn’t noticed Akiko’s name on any of the lists. Yet, she had been in class just the other day? Had she been pulled, or was she not registered and everyone was just used to her being there so no one cared? Sato took a deep breath before releasing it as a sigh. There was no point on dwelling on her of all people. To get his mind off it, he relished the fact that he had gotten his favorite seat: second from the left, third from the front.

Noboru-Warakuma high
Noboru replied in the same hushed tone she used to talk to him. "Listen miss, that's as good as my acting is gonna get. Whatever that something is, don't believe it. It's complete and utter bullshit. If you want someone talented to join your club, ask my brother and sister. they're in classroom 3-1 alright? I might've helped you with a little promotion, but again, i'm not joining." Noboru pulled back and gave a bow to the students. He noticed Chiaki and Sachiko observing the little spectacle. Sachiko was looking like she was jumping to join in whatever was going to happen. Last but not least he saw what he wanted to see the least. It came as a high pitched laughter.

Aiko and Akari-Warakuma high
Aiko spotted the little spectacle and his laughter came high and loud. "Hahahaha. Look at the little jester. Good little act bro. didn't know you had it in you. But say, if you're a jester, doesn't that mean you should dance around and make jokes? why don't we see more of that at home? Too scared to do it? Maybe we should encourage it a little more eh?" Aiko said, grabbing his brother in a head lock and roughly rubbing his head. "Ahhhh, we're in class 3-1. Interesting. this should be fun eh Akari?" Akari nodded in response to his question, and they walked off to get to their classroom.

Leiko was...disappointed in the male's outright refusal to join her club, to say the least. Not only was she unaccustomed to people saying 'no' to her of all things, but she had genuinely felt there was some kind of...spark there. Not to excel, but to at least improve.

Her expression quickly became nonplussed as a pair of opposite sex twins interrupted the conversation and engaged in some kind of playful sibling teasing with Noboru right in front of her. The brother and sister the boy had mentioned, no doubt. She wasn't entirely sure, but she detected some sort of...malice to their banter?

She quickly shook her head quickly to dispel of any more judgemental thoughts. She was an only child, so she didn't really understand what it was like to have siblings.

"Very well. I can't say I'm happy with this turn of events," Leiko sighed as the sound of the twin's laughter died off into the distance. "But I want you to have this anyway." She handed him a flyer from the top of her pile. "Drama isn't all about acting you know. It's confidence building too. And if I'm honest, you appear to need some help with that." She started to make her way back out of the quickly dispersing crowds, but not before turning back one last time. "You know, I happen to be somewhat of a 'school psychologist' as well'," she smirked, harking back to their original exchange before leaving for Class 2-1 with her group of friends in tow

The little scene seemed to end without exploding into anything too serious. It was almost a little disappointing. Leiko claimed that Noboru was a new recruit to her club, but Sachiko highly doubted that. Acting was not something that she imagined that Noboru would want much of a part of. Due to reasons that became abundantly apparent when high pitched laughter filled the area. Sachiko could sense the hairs on the back of her neck standing on edge as she listened. As the twins came in to view, and started their routine harassment of Noboru, Sachiko was all too tempted to leap in there and do something about it. But, then she remembered that she had told Kami she would at least try not to explode at anyone. It made her feel awful not to do a thing, especially considering this would be in someone's defense, but she wouldn't be able to control herself if she got into an open confrontation, especially with that obnoxious duo. The moment passed, and so did the twins and even Leiko. Sachiko took the opportunity to approach Noboru now that all that was over.

"You alright, Noboru?" She asked him.

"Noboru! You were so cool there!" Sachiko had almost forgotten Misaki was still there. She was well meaning, but she wasn't terribly aware of social boundaries. Hence, she started talking in spite of Sachiko asking Noboru a question first. "You were all like "I'm a jester!" and she was totally impressed! Omigosh, I wish I could brush people off like that! I would've totally gotten flustered if someone like Hamada had come up to me like that! But I guess that part at the end with the Aikari was kinda-"

"I asked him a question, Misaki." Sachiko stated plainly. The look on her face was enough to shut Misaki up. "Anyway, Noboru, shall we get to class? It looks like the three of us will be classmates for the year to come."

Warakuma High - Front Lobby

Chiaki walked over to the trio consisting of Noboru and two other female students she had not yet been acquainted with. It seemed as if Noboru knew them, they seemed friendly enough. Chiaki decided to join the conversation after hearing one of them compliment Noboru for standing up to the pretentious student from before. "Oh most certainly! It was an absolutely marvellous performance, ahaha."
Placing her hands on her skirt she tilted her head, whilst she would normally introduce herself, it would seem they were out of time. The school bell rang signaling them to leave for their classrooms as it was time for homeroom.

"My goodness, everything is happening so fast!" Chiaki turned to the other two students. "Perhaps we can talk a little later and become properly introduced, I'll hopefully see you all later."
She pulled out her phone from her left pocket, walked over to the board and took a photo. Chiaki intended to send it to her cousin Ayano, as she was running late and was nowhere to be seen... She then headed to class after sending the photo.

Today was not Noboru's day. Neither had yesterday, or the day before. Noboru felt like something weird, it it may have just been him being paranoid. Sachiko approached him and asked if he was okay.

"Well Sachiko, I may not be the best at math here but let's look at the situation. At my home there are a total of 5 drama queens. I only had to deal with three here. That sounds like the odds are in my favor, no? Besides, if I wasn't alright I would tell you guys first. Okie dokie?"

Before he could say anything else, the bell rung. Chiaki had a point. Everything was going by fast. It was time to head to class.

"Don't be so rough on Misaki here, Sachiko," Noboru said walking backwards while they strolled to class,"Well miss Misaki, I might've been a good jester, but would there have been any other preference? A lowly peasant villager? A stalwart knight? perhaps a royal advisor to the high queen of drama herself? Any sort of role would've done, don't you think?" As soon as they reached their class, Noboru sat down in the farthest row to the left, and near the middle.

Shu Isamu
Warakuma High - Classroom

He had gotten the window seat again. It was remarkable how in all his years of middle school he had been assigned to exact same spot in the leftmost row of the classroom, and even now that he was in highschool, his placing was still the same. He was fourth from the front, and although there were thirty desks instead of the twenty-four from his younger days, his position was essentially the same. How peculiar. Isamu didn't know what was up with the surprising coincidence, but if he ever got to meet whichever deity was responsible for the going-ons of his day-to-day life, he would remember to ask. But for now, he shelved the matter to the back of his mind, relaxing back against his chair as he took in the sun's rays. It was probably going to be a good day.

Isamu's sunning was interrupted by the ringing of the school bell. Time to get to work, he supposed. The half-Chinese teenager moved to place his cluttered box of stationery on the desk, inspecting his eclectic collection of pens, compasses, rulers and that one calligraphy brush that he forgot he had. It wouldn't be of much use anyway; school was not where he perfected his handwriting. That aside, he really needed to find a pen that worked before the teacher started handing out work. They were all dry. Or snapped into pieces due to an intense exam he did the year before. Why he hadn't cleared everything out he didn't know.

"Well," he said to himself cheerily, holding up a working blue pen with a sense of triumph. "I'm off to a great start."

Warakuma High - Class 1-1

Chiaki was sitting at her desk in the middle of the room chatting with some fellow first years that recognised her from her work. "Yeah, its just a mild illness, nothing to be afraid for, I should be better in a few months." Or so she told them. They questioned her about her hiatus as a model because of her 'sickness'. It seemed as if that was the offical reason for her leaving the workd of pop. But of course, that was a lie.

Chiaki could here from the back if the room the groaning of a fellow student whom seemed to be having issues with his pen, judging by the many crease marks on his paper and the proken pieces around his shoes. Perhaps he needed a new one. Chiaki decided to lend him one of her pens, as it was a nice thing to do. By doing this she would be fullfilling her good karma for the day. She paused the conversation with the other students and walked over to the boy. Handing him a black pen with a fancy flower design sprawling over it.
"Here, you can use my pen, I could here you struggling from my seat over there." She pointed over to where she was sitting. "It is purple, but I'm sure it will suffice for now, I better go." She smiled as she tilted her head, returning to her seat, rejoining the conversation with her fellow students.

"Clubs? Hmm, I'm considering starting my own actually..."

Shu Isamu
Warakuma High: Class 1-1

It was a nice pen. Isamu actually quite liked the flower design that spiralled along the surface of the writing utensil. He held it up to the light, slowly rotating it in order to see from any angle. Rolling it around in his fingers felt right somehow. Purple wasn't a colour he usually used in pens, but the design really made up for that. He gently unscrewed the top, looking within. Some would construe such a thing as impolite, but he was curious about the inner mechanisms. Ah, the ink was held in one of the more common cartridges. If he ever found himself in possession of one of these pens, it wouldn't be too difficult to replace the purple ink with black or blue.

He glanced in the direction of the girl. She seemed a bit familiar, but Isamu didn't remember where exactly he had seen her visage before. Maybe he could ask later, but for now, he simply shot her a thankful grin. His current blue ballpoint pen was probably usable, but he wasn't counting on it lasting any longer. Besides, it relied far too much on gravity. If he ever went to space, he'd need something like one of those Fishers pens or something.

-Kaminari : Warakuma High-

Kami kept a close eye on the events that began to transpire, as the girl Leiko introduced this as just some little act by the "newest" member of the Drama Club. His left eyebrow raised up, and he stared in confusion at the scene taking place. He felt that this wasn't some big act to gain more members for a club, and he believed that these events were mainly caused by some other intent. His hypothesis was about right Noboru brushed the girl off, and alluded to his siblings. Before he could go on and leave the sea of students, the air was penetrated by an easy piercing laugh. It irritated him to no end, as it was just plain annoying in general. He searched around, trying to figure out where that obnoxious laughter came from, and found it eminating from two other students who looked to be brother and sister? As they plunged themselves into the center, they pestered Noboru with some seemingly malicious intent before heading off to Class 3 - 1.

"(What a sickenly annoying duo... I wonder why they pestered their brother like that... Then again, I probably shouldn't interfere with his feelings, I mean, I didn't want him sticking his nose into my business with Ayano.)"

As he readied himself, he glimpsed at the group around the center, Leiko spoke one last time before handing Noboru a flyer, and headed off to class... However, something stuck out from what the girl said to Noboru. Drama Club could help with not only acting but could help build confidence... He felt he needed to find some time to talk with the girl so he could join the club, and build himself up. As he was ready to leave, Sachiko and her friend Misaki went up to Noboru, with Sachiko asking if everything was ok while the latter was praising him for the act he put on. Kami eavesdropped on the conversation, his interest piqued a little by what he had to hear.

As the the students left, Kami decided it was his turn to take his leave, and quickly headed for room 3 - 2.

---

-Kaminari : Warakuma High = Room 3 - 2-

As Kami made his way to room 3 - 2, he noticed a few familiar faces inside, along with a few new people. As he stepped into the classroom, he took a seat smack dab in the middle, and started pondering to himself about something. He thought about the mirror world, the regal boy, and his daily life at school. There were two current thoughts that lingerie on his mind, pertaining to what he heard a few minutes ago.

"(I wonder where I can find Leiko so I can join that club... Hmm... Also, didn't Noboru mention something about multiple drama queens in his family? Wait, does he have five other annoying siblings?.. Nope, not a possibility, there's no way he could put up with all that bullshit.)"

As he sat there, he stared inward, focusing on most of his thoughts, his feelings, his ideals. He was promptly snapped back to reality as the class began.

---

@GM@
Timeskip to lunch! Feel free to interact with other students for now since class time is over for now.

Well the class room was duller than expected but it was about the same as life over in the states except a bit more formal. He didn't know if things would change or not but hey anything was possible. Like an experienced samurai getting beat with a wooden oar. Or really graphically violent weddings apparently. Not many people bothered him and he was glad that just because he was a foreigner he was not crowded by the local kids trying to find out more about stuff from over the seas. However as he sat down at lunch to eat a sandwich he made for himself, a cheese one, he was suddenly surrounded by two boys and a girl. They looked like they were second years. "Hello?" Jace asked the group in as clear Japanese as he could get out of his English speaking throat. "Sup dude? This is Kai, I'm Shin, and that's Katsumi! Mind if we sit here?" The kids asked Jace who shrugged indifferently to the group of kids. The girl had long dark hair and pretty blue eyes, the guy named Shin whom addressed him on the right had a buzz cut style hair that was black and hazel eyes, and the kid named Kai had spiky brown hair with brown eyes. Typical Japanese kids he'd say nothing all together special. "Thanks! By the way what class are you in?" asked Shin once more at which Jace replied he was a third year and his name was Jace Caedus, "Oh so you're our senpai huh? Well that cool to know." Jace said as he ate his food and sipped on some water. He wished his lunch was more tasty but hey it was cheap and cost effective and it wasn't ramen. "I suppose not that it really matters anyway. So do you guys come from around here?" Jace asked trying to be polite...in truth he just wanted to shut up and eat his lunch in peace but having a friend or two would be nice..."Yep! Shin and I grew up together and Kai kinda just fell in with our group." replied Katsumi who smiled at him as she started to eat her ramen. "Why do you have to say it like that?" Kai asked as Shin told him to stop being so gloomy and that she was kidding, "Sorry Jace Senpai-" Shin started as Jace held up his hand, "Dude I don't frankly care if he's got a crappy mood school sucks when you have to deal with waking up from summer vacation. I don't blame the guy." Jace told Shin who was confused for a moment but shrugged it off afterward as Jace being a foreigner. After all Jace wasn't a Japanese name, he didn't look like them, and he didn't have an accent plus that strange last name? It was just a bit weird all around. "So why choose to sit with the new kid?" Jace flat out asked them as Kai answered this time, "No reason really we normally sit here and besides it's hard being the new kid in school. Figured you'd need some company at least on your first day." Kai told Jace who nodded his head, "Yeah thanks for that I'm just used to eating alone. Never was much of a friendly person. Sorry if I'm boring I guess." Jace told them awkwardly at which Katsumi waved her hand and told him that it was alright and that it wasn't a problem at all.

Leiko's eyes flitted to the clock mounted on the wall, relief etched on her face as the bell finally rang for lunch. Finally. It wasn't that Leiko was a bad student or that she struggled with the learning material, but her heart really wasn't into learning about such dry subjects. She much preferred the sheer thrill and mental stimulation that the arts offered instead of the regimented laws of languages or sciences.

"I am soooo glad that is over! Phew!" One of Leiko's friends let out an emphasised yawn. "I miss spring break already!"

Leiko merely shrugged. "I don't. Spring break was boring."

"W-Well, yeah, that's what I meant!" The girl backtracked quickly on her words, a sheepish yet disingenuous smile on her face. "It was totally lame, right? I was climbing the walls, I was so bored!"

"..." Leiko's eyebrow twitched. Didn't these girls have minds of their own? Were they really so eager to stay in her good graces that they had to surrender free expression altogether? "Sure," she said blandly. "I'm going to patrol the school to help promote the Drama Club. So I won't be joining you for lunch."

"Huh?" Several of the girls surrounding Leiko looked disappointed. "Really? But we haven't hung out in ages."

"Besides, maybe we can help with promoting-"

"No." Leiko's answer was blunt, causing the others to quickly cease their chattering. "It's better if I do it on my own. A group will just intimidate people," she sighed with a roll of her eyes. "And this is too important."

She gathered the remaining flyers from her desk and stood up purposefully. "I'll see you later in class."

"Yeah!"

"Sure thing, Hama-chan!"

She tucked her chair firmly behind the desk before heading for the door. As she passed, she felt her eyes draw almost magnetically to the girl near the middle of the classroom. Sachiko Mogami. An icy aura seemed to radiate from the auburn-haired girl as she watched her enemy silently, her lips pressed into a scowl. Bitter words threatened to tumble out of her mouth, and it took all of Leiko's strength to rein them back in. As much as she would like to cut that arrogant loudmouth down to size, she had to keep up appearances in front of the rest of the class. Her Drama Club's reputation was at stake after all.

So, clearing her throat, she approached the brunette with a carefully placed smile, relishing in the surprise adorned on the girl's face as she handed her a flyer. "We're in the same class? How delightful," she sang sweetly. "Well, after your little performance this morning, I think you'd be a perfect addition for the Drama Club. You certainly seem to have a flair for the melodramatic after all. Mogachi-san, was it?" She pulled a puzzled expression. "No matter. I look forward to spending the school year with you, so let's do our best, okay?"

And with that, Leiko turned on her heel, a smug grin concealed on her lips as she left the classroom. Now...where to start? Perhaps she would start by stapling some flyers on the information boards across the school...

"Misaki, you need to stop passing me notes during class." This is what Sachiko had been waiting to tell her all through the period. It was something they had been doing all of last year, passing notes between each other during class, horsing around in general. Misaki was naturally a little displeased. "B-but, we did that all of last year! Why now?"

"Because you were almost caught twice today and I would rather not be strung up by association when they catch you."

"We almost got caught last year too!"

"Well I guess I just don't see the need to do that silly stuff anymore." Misaki looked almost woefully dejected, but Sachiko knew better than to worry. Chances are, something would happen that would completely take her mind off it and she would never bring it up again. At least not until Sachiko had to tell her not to pass notes in class again,

And then the last thing Sachiko was expecting to come along appeared. Leiko wanted something. And she was acting all sugary too. Sachiko had spent 6 years putting on a fake persona, and she could tell Leiko was doing it right now. She could only barely hold back her disdain while doing it, too. She went so far as to get her name wrong, probably as an insult. It was kind of pathetic. For whatever reason, she had extended an offer to join her club. Sachiko figured she must've been desperate if she was trying to get every person she could, including the very person that called her a cunt. She let her leave without a word, because she was less than interested in either taking up her offer or spending any real time on her at all.

"What was she talking about, Sachiko?" Misaki had caught on to the mention of her "performance". "Did you act like a jester too?"

"No, Misaki. I just called her a cunt." She said this so plainly Misaki just sat their with her jaw hanging down. Misaki had no idea what was going on with Sachiko, and something other than sugar and spice from her was a complete shock. Letting her sit there, Sachiko rose from her seat and went over to talk to Noboru.

"Hey, Noboru, you want to hang out during lunch?" Sachiko could use someone pleasant to talk to. While Misaki wasn't a bad person, she was a little too flighty for a decent conversation. Of course, she was probably going to follow her around anyway, but that wasn't going to stop her from asking Noboru if he wanted to eat with her or something.