Somewhere, out in the middle of nowhere during a clear and sunny day, there was a very peaceful and unassuming grassy field. It was a mostly flat area of grass, other than the small couple of hills out in the distance and a thicket of trees out to the side. It was fairly far away from any human civilization, but not so far that you couldn't get to a part of society after an hour or so of walking. It was in this unassuming field that a huge event was about to take place

AKIKO

Walking along the grassy field was a young, red haired girl wearing a hoodie, who had a spring in her step and an excited look in her eye. Her name was Akiko, and this was the first day of her enrollment at the Institute for Young Channellers. Most people would be suspicious of the situation she was in, being taken to an unknown place in the middle of nowhere by some people she'd never met was not exactly the most normal of situations after all. However, Akiko was simply too excited by the thought of the Institute that she didn't even care. As she made her way through the grassy field, she noticed another person who was already there. She assumed it was one of the other students, and so she decided to head towards them

HANA

The person that Akiko saw was a girl named Hana, a girl with long violet hair wearing a faded pink hoodie and carrying a bookbag. Being the prepared and cautious people her parents were, Hana had already been taken there an hour beforehand. When she first arrived she was uncomfortable with the fact that the location was flat with nowhere to hide, cause she was scared of the idea of someone walking up to her and trying to talk. She had decided to put on some headphones, put the hood of her jacket up, and take out one of the many books she carried in her bag and started reading it, hoping that would repel anyone who wanted to talk to her when they did arrive. A hour later, when she saw another girl excitedly walking up to her, she felt her stomach turn out of nervousness and immediately held her book closer up to her face

---

---

A man walked across the great field. It was the first day of the semester at the Institute, and while he had experienced it once before, it always seemed to be something new, grand, and interesting. His footsteps left deep indents in the grass as he walked, and despite having aimed to be there early, he found that he wasn't alone. Two others were there already.

In his left pocket, he fiddled with a paper roll of coins. It felt good, like security, even though it only amounted to $1 in total. He was hoping to not have to use it, but putting a large number of Channellers in one place always seemed to start a fight. It was insurance. In his right hand, he carried his brown, square briefcase. It was tightly crammed with papers and tools, and there were at least a few pocket textbooks in it, which brought its weight up to an almost unnoticeable ten pounds.

A breeze almost took his cap off and he threw his right hand up to secure it, resulting in him clocking himself upside the head with the briefcase and sending the hat flying. When he came to his senses, the hat was long gone. Shit, he thought to himself. He decided against running after it, though - he had plenty of them.

With a slight headache from the collision with his briefcase, he trudged over towards Akiko and Hana. He didn't recognize either of them, and he figured that it was a good chance to meet someone before the event started.

Mako stopped walking. They had both made it to the correct field, and she could already see a few other students here early. She looked behind her to see if Clarabelle had kept up. From her understanding, the frail girl wasn't very used to exercise, so Mako had been trekking slow and leisurely, which suited her just fine.

From the moment she first met the girl earlier that day, to pick her up and escort her to this meeting place, she was intrigued and interested by her. She'd seen a lot of unusual channellers n her few years teaching, and lots of recluses, but there was something particularly interesting about this doll-like, almost ghostly child, something she couldn't quite put her finger on, but she was going to have a lot of fun finding out.

Mako gave Clarabelle another of her closed-eye cheery smiles. "You can rest easy, Clarabelle. We've made it. No more walking, you'll be glad to know. Are you okay? Out of breath? Nervous?" She asked in her saccharine-sweet high pitched voice.

---

On the horizon, a horrific sight emerged: A shambling, bloated corpse trudged into view, shuffling along the grassy plain, emitting low groans beneath unparsed lips. It moved forward with a sense of lifelessness one can only find in the dead. With a sharp inhale, the creature opened its maw, letting loose a ghastly.....yawn. For this "corpse" was Hondo Shigeki, having once again neglected getting a full night's sleep.

There were worse locations he felt he could have been in- The bottom of a ravine, the middle of a war zone, France- but on his long, long list of places he would rather not be, "On the walk to another year of school" was in the top twenty. He rubbed the excess sleep out of his eyes and blinked, noticing people up ahead of him, gathering together. Ah, his schoolyard peers, fellow pupils of the noble Institute. A few girls he couldn't make out from the distance he was at, and ah- there was Jonathan! Good old Jonathan........Hondo knew which direction HE wasn't going in.

He trudged along forward, parallel to the group, making certain he kept a respectable distance from them, while grumbling under his breath about his sore feet.

Clarabelle's progress had been rather slow, behind the instructor. Walking like this was tiring. She wanted to bring out her dolls and not have to bother with anything like this. Meeting the new students... they couldn't be her friends. Not like her dolls. So did it really matter? It didn't. So the walk was just tiring. The sunlight, too, beating down on her... though the wide-brimmed sun hat she had selected at least served to keep it out of her eyes. She just wanted to get somewhere cool, indoors, where all her friends could come out and play... not surrounded by people who she simply wished would go away.

The mentor decided to speak to Clarabelle. For a few moments, the small, pale girl remained silent and unmoving. Was she fine? No. Not until she could just be alone with her dolls, out of this heat, this light, away from all these people.

"... I want to go inside," was the simple, softly-spoken, monotone response. It was the truth, naturally. She wouldn't be comfortable until she was out of this sunlight. She wanted to be somewhere cool and dark, somewhere with her dolls. Somewhere where she could be with the only things that could ever be her friends. Being here was simply a waste of time. Her blue eyes happened to raise and glance about, taking in the sight of those around her. There were so many people... so many people around her.

"..."

Clarabelle wished they could all just be dolls. It would make everything so much easier.

Life would be easier if everyone were dolls.

@Silver Carrot

---

"Haaaaah, this is going to be great!"

In contrast to the pale girl, there was a strong source of exuberance striding through the field. This source of overwhelming positivity and cheerful smiling was none other then Natsumi Sumiko. And right now, she was in a wonderful mood. She was going to meet a bunch of new people, all kinds of new people with all kinds of new abilities and powers and all sorts of interesting things! The kind of people she could definitely make friends with. But, of course, Sumiko was determined to make friends with everyone. That was one of her many life goals, others including 'be a hero' and 'help everyone I can'. These were the core tenants of Natsuki Sumiko's beliefs. In fact, you could likely call them something along the lines of 'The Code of Natsuki Sumiko'.

She happily marched her way up to the others, giving everyone a proud, happy smile and putting her hands on her hips.

"Hi, everybody!" she declared, raising one hand and giving everyone a firm thumbs up, "I'm Natsuki Sumiko, age fifteen! I've never dated anybody, I can hit things really hard, and my favorite food is tamagoyaki, but I'll eat just about anything that tastes good! I hope we can all be good friends!"

AKIKO

Just as Akiko was about to walk up to the girl in the pink hoodie, she started noticing a bunch of other kids walk into the same space. Some big tough looking guy, a small, angry looking fat guy, a happy schoolgirl, and a sullen girl who looked like one of those porcelain dolls. These must be the other students, Akiko thought. A couple seconds later, once they all started gathering together, the schoolgirl started introducing herself to the rest of the group

Akiko wanted to get in on this, since she wanted to make a good first impression, after all. 'Well if we're all introducing ourselves, then I'll go next. The name's Akiko Futeki. I like to eat...well I like to eat lot of food I guess, and...uhhhh..." Akiko started to say, but then awkwardly trailed off at the end once she realized she couldn't really think of a fun fact about herself. After thinking about it for a second however, her eyes suddenly lit back up and she quickly took a wide-leg stance and pointed dramatically in the air. "...And a fun fact about me is...I'm gonna be the most famous and powerful fighter in the Institute! Don't you forget it!!" Roxy shouted at the top of her lungs with great enthusiasm, making sure everyone could hear her

HANA

Hana let out a quiet sigh of relief when she saw the other girl pay attention to something else, but then her heart sank even lower when she noticed a bunch of other kids starting to group up in the area as well. At least that other girl wasn't talking to her, but now there was an entire group of people. Hana instinctively pulled her book even closer to her face than she already was and started to quietly step backwards from the group as slowly and subtly as she could

Leo approached the group that had began growing and growing as he approached. He was already studying, analyzing inidividuals as he approached. It amazed him how people could not tell how many desired to be left alone and didn't want to interact. The happy, preppy people attempting to talk to the solitary people. As he got closer, he had an idea. Focusing, a crease forming in between his eyebrows, he drew out his ability to the slightest degree. His eyes were the only give away, growing slightly more animalistic. It was a simple change, simply enhancing his senses to be able to gather more information.

The low grumbles of a larger individual caught his attention. He's growling at us! Growl back! Show your better then him! A glower formed on his face, before he spoke under his breath," Shut up. I don't want to be hearing from you and your wonderful opinions on everything today." He stopped, rubbing briefly at his forehead. He hated that voice. One of the major downsides of this new found power, and he didn't even know why that stupid voice existed. He took a deep breath, continuing his trek forward, listening closer to what were more then just grumbles. This male was complaining about his feet hurting. He rolled his eyes, his glower turning into a slight glare as he looked over, before looking over at the group.

Right in time for a high pitched squeal to reach his ears. His eyes snapped to the source of the seemingly loud noise, another eye roll coming in to react to the overly excited female. He stood back, beginning to watch the interactions, quickly trying to discover the variety of personalities and the type of people that were presented before him.

A small smirk formed on his face as he noticed the girl with the book creep further and further back from the area, her general body movements suggesting she wanted to hide, less of she was focused on her book.

---

---

Daler sipped his cup of tea peacefully in his classroom. It was his least favorite time of year - the beginning of a semester - and he was expected to get up and go to the introductory field. A tear leaked from his eye as he thought about breaking up his daily routine just for something as small as an opening ceremony - the stress was small, but in his age, he had become a rather weepy sort. He set his cup of tea down on his low table and glanced at the clock on the wall. He should have been on his way already according to the schedule, but he didn't care. An old man could get away with being slightly late from time to time.

With a groan and no end of creaking and popping joints, Daler lifted himself up from his cushion on the floor with his walking stick and slowly ambled out the door. A short walk through the Institute later, he came across the golf cart he'd been using to get to and fro outside and climbed into the driver's seat with a further series of pops indicating the settling of his tired bones.

Some time passed and he made his way out to the field, where students and instructors were already gathering. He drove up next to Mako, one of the other counselors, and parked his golf cart. He didn't bother getting out -- the seat was comfortable enough. "Pretty big turnout this year...", he said, aimed at nobody in particular, though he was sure that Mako could hear him.

---

---

There were still bruises on his wrists from the handcuffs he'd been subjected to only the day before. Damned pigs needed to learn to tighten those things properly. At least he was free, though, and free to do as he wished. On the trip to the Institute, he'd learned enough about it to know that this was his best shot at being Number One. Others there were more experienced, sure, but he was certain he'd outpace all of them in time.

Brock adjusted his Douchebag™ aviator sunglasses to get the sunlight out of his eyes and jogged forwards across the field where he had been instructed to show up. He wasn't happy about being told what to do, but the administrators had told him that everyone would be there, which sweetened the pot a bit. Time to assert dominance.

A tiny pipsqueak of a girl stood next to what appeared to be two teachers. She'd have been easy pickings, but it wasn't worth it, especially with the Detention Counselor standing right next to her. He'd already encountered Daler once, and it was not fun. His eyes were scanning the area for someone he'd be able to pick up as a peon ally when an extremely cheerful girl caught his attention. She was just begging to be taken advantage of, and it didn't help that she was, in his eyes, 'hot as hell'. He briskly trotted over to Natsuki Sumiko to introduce himself in front of the rest of the crowd.

"Hey hey, how's it hangin'? I'm new here too. Name's Brock, and I love chimichangas, burning things, and the color red, in that order. I'm going to be the best fighter at the Institute."

He gave a sharp glance to Akiko, who he had immediately taken a strong dislike to. Something told him that she was strong and would prove to be a hell of an obstacle.

---

---

A small lump had sprung up where Jonathan had briefcased himself in the head, hidden beneath his hair. It was a bit bothersome and distracting, but there were more important things to worry about than his earlier accident. Specifically, an introduction. The girl he'd approached before had just finished giving her introduction, followed by some guy in a red hoodie, whose eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses. Jonathan was slightly creeped out by the guy - he was almost certainly now staring somewhere extremely rude. A bit less worryingly, Hondo was already there. Jonathan gave Hondo a short wave and a sunny smile from across the field.

He sighed. He'd missed his chance to make a good impression on the smaller girl before everyone else arrived as he usually preferred. A smile crept back onto Jonathan's face as he moved to introduce himself as well - whatever disappointed feelings he had had fallen away just as quickly as they had come.

"I'm Jonathan Walker. I've been here for a bit over a year, and I'm looking forward to working with everyone here." Polite, short, simple, effective. He wasn't much one for bragging.

---

Dr. Maxwell was having a bad day. In fact, this day had been a bad day every time for the past five years. A new class was being introduced to the Institute. He would have to sit through the children's introduction to the school. Hopefully they wouldn't be making him participate this year, though that was a faint hope. Also, the two students he had been mentoring had both graduated last year, so he would be expected to take on more from this group.

It would be nice to meet and interview them individually, and get a description of their Channeling, but the Institute had refused his request to make that mandatory. Apparently, they believed people should be able to keep aspects of their abilities private. They couldn't see how that policy was impeding Maxwell's research, and the field of Channeling in general. If they knew the results he might achieve if-

"Uh, Doctor, I think we're here."

Maxwell glanced over to the student he'd been escorting. The boy was looking over at a developing group of students. From what Maxwell had gotten out of him about his power, it seemed uninspiring.

"Well, go mingle with the other children, then," Maxwell replied, waving towards the group. The boy nodded and walked towards them.

Maxwell looked around at the rest of the clearing. Was that Mako? She was with what Maxwell guessed was one of the new students, a ghostly-looking girl. Maxwell approached them.

"Ah, Mako. Do any of the new students seem promising to you?"
(@Silver Carrot)

---

Shinichi walked away from the teacher who had escorted him. The Doctor had peppered Shinichi with questions about his abilities, but when Shinichi was unable to answer, the man lost interest and stopped talking. Walking in silence didn't bother Shinichi anyway.

There was already a couple groups forming in the clearing, so Shinichi went towards the bigger one. They were already a motley group. There was a short girl with light red hair who looked normal enough, beside the fact that she was carrying a baseball bat. Were they supposed to bring sports equipment to the orientation? Next to her a girl was sitting on the ground. She had a hood up and a book in front of her face, so Shinichi couldn't get a good look at her. Smiling at her was another boy who had walked up just ahead of Shinichi. Was it just Shinichi, or were the guy's pupils... slit? He was also a lot taller than Shinichi.

Not as tall as the other boy in the group, who dwarfed everybody else. His old-fashioned clothes and briefcase contrasted with his formidable muscles. Shinichi made a mental note to never fight this guy. Just because his powers ensured he would be fine in the long run did not mean he wanted to be punched by a guy like that.

The last person in the group was another girl who had just introduced herself as Natsuki Sumiko. She actually looked normal, and wasn't carrying anything crazy.

"Nice to meet you, Natsuki," Shinichi replied to her. Turning to the group in general, he said, "My name's Shinichi Saito. I hope we can all get along."

Unfortunately, Shinichi said this at the same time a boy named Brock introduced himself, and was drowned out. He frowned and went to stand at the edge of the group. He then nodded at Jonathan's introduction.

@VitaVitaAR

Mako had lowered her intimidation as much as she possibly could, but she knew that even that wouldn't help Clarabelle open up a little. Mako sat down on the grass besides Clarabelle, and turned and smiled at her, her eyes actually opening. They were brown and dull, yet kind and sincere.

"Honestly, so do I. There's nothing I like more than teaching. It's good to get some fresh air and exercise once in a while, though. I noticed that your room was full of dolls. Do you like dolls, Clarabelle?" she asked with the unintrusive tones of a teacher.

She took a little moment to look around. There was the odd familiar face amonst students, but also a few new kids, and they all seemed like they were going to be a loud and boisterous mixture. Mako was looking forward to making good students out of this lot. She relished a challenge, and the journey of achieving said challenge what what she lived for. Whenever she sees a child misbehave but before she does anything about it, that feeling is even better than the feeling of seeing the fruits of her labour pay off. The latter just wouldn't feel as gratifying without the former. She was currently trying to work out who would be a good student and who a bad one, but she knows it's not always as easy as loud=good, quiet=bad. It all depended on the individual.

@Western Robot

She spotted one of her fellow teachers approaching her; Dr. Shin Maxwell. She had high opinions of him from an academic perspective, but as she taught a core subject and he taught an elective, they didn't speak very much apart from in her first year on the job where he helped her learn the ropes and get to know the institute. Still, as you had to pass her class to be able to take his, that made him her superior in a strange way. Well, that and him being older, more qualified and working there longer. She grinned, and pondered her question. Both Shin and Clarabelle might notice that they way she spoke to them both was very different. She was a kind teacher to Clarabelle, but an informal, chummy colleague to Shin.

"It's far too early to tell who's promising in an academic sense, but some of the louder ones look like they're gonna create a lot of fun moments. What about you, Shin? What's your conclusion?"

@Azereiah

And then there was Daler. Also a staff member. She didn't dislike him but...they'd never talked. Maybe they'd have a lot in common. He was the detention counsellor, and a fair few students in her class had voluntarily put themselves in detention rather than get her angry. That was their entire relationship until now.

"I know!" She replied. "That can only mean good things for the future of the institute, and they're a lively bunch, too!"

---

---

Daler had fallen half asleep. In his golf cart, completely upright. Just how many years had he been practicing that, anyway? Despite his apparent sleep, he had one eye slightly cracked and was lazily scanning the crowd for any trouble. The voices in their heads were loud, jumbled, and he heard a few more private thoughts than he cared to admit. Brock, the boy in red, was definitely going to be in his classroom for sexual harassment at some point. And normal harassment. And possibly assault, battery, and theft. Another student -- Leo -- seemed to have a second voice speaking to him, which was also a little worrying, but beyond that, there wasn't much out of the ordinary.

Mako's conversation with the good Doctor interested him, but as a matter of policy, he didn't speak about the private thoughts of his students no matter how worrisome they were. A good cross-section of the student body was developing in his mind and he was curious as to how the year would play out.

"Fun's one word for it. Trouble more like," Daler said. Or, rather, Mako and Doctor Shin heard him speak. Typical of Daler - abusing his telepathy to conserve energy. "We've got a bunch of royal firecrackers in there. It's great for the Institute, but I think we might have a hard year ahead."

@Silver Carrot@Western Robot

A strapping young lad in a blue coat strutted rather clumsily towards the field, damn these sea legs, too far to hear the others, but close enough for him to be in eyesight. He held a piece of parchment in one hand, a crudely drawn map, as well as a compass in his other hand. The expression he had on his face was one of perplexed emotion. It's as if he was expecting something, but it isn't here... He stopped, and began to think.

"I'm lost, ain't I?" The lad asked himself, scratching his head. "No, that can't be right..."

It couldn't be right. If there's anything he's more confident about than his skills at sailing, it's definitely his skills at navigating. He's sure he didn't make a mistake as bad as reading his map upside down. Hell, now that he looks at it, he can't even tell which way is North on this bloody map. While his father, the great Bradley 'Brad' Drake Sr., was accomplished in many things, drawing a map wasn't one of them. The lad had wished he had a map drawn by his mother, who actually knew how to draw very well, even in the most terrible of storms.

If only she were still here...

Bradley Drake Jr., the strapping young lad in the blue coat, the son of two accomplished channelers and sailors, the boy who was born at sea, was lost in a strange, new land...

Bradley crumpled the parchment in his hand as a strained expression washed over his face. His wobbly legs crumpled down, bringing him to his knees as he threw the crumpled map to the ground. He took a deep breath, before he raised his voice so loud, the others were able to hear clearly...

Everyone was introducing themselves, it all looked pretty great! ... That one girl with the purple hair and the hood, though... she looked like she was kind of shy and adorable... That made one solid fact rise in Sumiko's mind. She'd have to have a talk with her! The best way to help someone shy was to try and get them out of their shell and introduce them to people, but she'd have to be careful and try and work out what kind of stuff she liked! That way she knew what type of people she might open up to more! But if it turned out she didn't need help, that was fine too, it didn't mean that Sumiko didn't want to be friends to her! ... But first off she wanted to meet everybody. Some people were already introducing themselves, and they all sounded like a lot of fun!

"It's nice to meet you all!" declared the brunette girl brightly, as she glanced across the faces of what would be her schoolmates, her gaze ending on the boy who'd introduced himself directly to her.

"You want to be the strongest just like Futeki-san, huh?" she said, cocking her head to one side slightly, "Well, I guess, in addition to wanting to make lots of friends, I'd like to help everybody and be a hero one day!"

Sumiko gave an exuberant nod to cap off her enthusiastic declaration of her goals for her school life.

---

"..."

The teacher, Mako, was talking to her. Clarabelle couldn't particularly understand why, given almost no-one ever did. She'd simply have to reject her. She wasn't her friend, after all. Only her dolls were her friends. So, the small pale girl remained quiet for several moments, unmoving and without speaking.

"... They're my friends," she said, finally. Her voice betrayed no emotion at all, her expression not even twitching. Mako wasn't a doll, so the teacher couldn't be her friend. As other teachers approached, Clarabelle simply looked down at her feet, tugging her hat down. It was taking too long. She just wanted to get inside with her dolls. That was all she cared about right now. The more time she spent out here, the more unpleasant it became. Why did she have to wait?

It was pointless.

@Azereiah@Silver Carrot

A very odd boy watched all of these proceedings from the top of the tallest tree he could find in the little grove off to the side of the field. His parents had dropped him off ages ago, and a staff member had lead him here, but it was his idea to climb a tree and hide until a good sized crowd showed up. After all, he was a ninja: observing silently from the shadows, planning every move with razor-keen insight before his enemies knew he was there!

Or he would, if only he could actually hear anything from way up here. He thought after a minute that he might be able to use his power to lip-read, but then he realized that even with the ability to zoom in and see people talking in slow-motion, he didn't actually know how to read lips properly.

Once he actually figured that out, Musashi tripped getting down out of the tree he was in when he tried to jump out dramatically, tumbling in midair when he meant to do a controlled leap.

To everyone else, there would be a shower of leaves from his launching off, followed by a masked boy in an odd mix of panda outfit and ninja costume crashing down in a tangled heap, headfirst.

" 'm Muzashizagai...N-nin nin!~" The ten-year-old stuck out a shaky thumbs-down from his upside-down perspective.

Well, the other students would definitely be surprised by his entrance.

---

Another year, another bunch of new students, Freyja thought. Just like last year, the students were gathered first in the grassy field near the institute. Then, they would reveal that the institute was there from the start, right in front of their faces. Awing them with such a display should make them more excited to learn about channeling.

And just like last year, she was there also along with her colleagues. As usual, Daler couldn't be bothered to stay awake like a proper teacher. He just slept there sitting on his golf cart. She knew about his ability however, so he should be gauging the new students in his own way right now.

Her gaze turned to her other co-worker, the doctor, Shin Maxwell. He was escorting one of the new students, it seemed. Coincidentally, she didn't get to do that this year so she merely had to show up to this field after walking from the institute. After shooing the new student away, he approached Mako who was talking with her own set of students. Just like last year, Mako took great interest in the new students as she mingled with them intentionally. She was also escorting her own student, a pale, frail girl who looked like she had been staying inside for too long. Well, she trusted Mako to take care of her well. Even though she could be quite threatening with that ability of hers, she was a kind person inside.

Her eyes then fell to a familiar face. Ryuuto Koriyama. She had been mentoring him for the past two years, making it the third year he was in the institute. Even though he can be quite high-strung at times, he was definitely a good and intelligent kid. She was quite proud of him.

"Ah, Ryuuto, welcome back. How was your holiday?"

@Yuuta

"Ah, here we are!" Alexei loudly declared as the gathering place came into view. "This is where you'll take your first step into our institute! You'll make friends, learn cool new powers, and have a great time! This I promise you!"

"Yeah, no." Yasu replied flatly. "I didn't come here to make nice or to enjoy your dumbass institute. I'm here for the powers and nothing else." Of course she was technically here because her parents twisted her arm, but she wasn't about to tell anyone that. Her story was that she was here for the trippy electric powers and that was that.

"B-but..." Alexei stammered. He'd already been exposed to this girl's attitude when he collected her earlier, but it always hit him hard when she was so blunt. "Come now, it's a school! What's school without a little socialising? If you just give it a try I'm sure-"

"Nope."

"Just for me?"

"Nope."

"But-"

"Nope."

His repertoire of arguments already exhausted, Alexei was just about ready to just let it go for now. That was when a loud voice rang out. It seemed one of the students was lost, in spite of actually having made it to the vicinity of the right area. This would normally be where Alexei stood in to help, but he saw an opportunity for something better.

"Say, why don't you help that nice young man over there and make your first new friend? I gotta meet the other teachers, so bye!" Alexei made tracks as quickly as he finished that sentence, leaving Yasu behind.

"Wait a minute, I-" She called out after him. But she could tell he wasn't stopping. "What a load of crap." She muttered. Rolling her eyes, she decided to actually help the guy. Not that she gave a toss about helping him, but probably weren't going to move on without all the students, and she wanted to get to the interesting part already.

"Hey, sailor boy." She called out to him. "The party's over there. Use your eyes next time." After pointing him in the right direction, she started walking off towards the group. The faster this was all over with, the better.

@Cu Chulainn

------------

Alexei Pavlov

Alexei approached the growing collection of teachers. "Ah, greetings, my comrades!" He called them all comrades whether they were terribly familiar with each other or not. As far as he saw it, the staff were all one big happy family, just like they wanted to mold the students into, whether it matched reality or not. "How is everyone? Anything or note happening yet?" A cursory glance suggested the students were already socialising among themselves. It was a promising sight to see, but it was still too early to say what the years prospects were.

@Azereiah @Silver Carrot @Western Robot

---

---

Daler perked up and opened his eyes again when he heard Freyja's thoughts towards him. That woman always managed to snap him out of a nap, to his great annoyance, but at least she meant well by it. It was a stroke of luck that Freyja's tone of thinking pulled him out of his nap, as the typically empty-headed Alexei showed up shortly after with his usual booming voice. Daler would have fallen out of his golf cart if he hadn't already woken back up. It felt like the man only thought when he spoke more often than not, though Daler was sure that was just because he wasn't listening hard enough.

"Good to see you, Alexei, Freyja. I was wondering when you two would show up," the old telepath said voicelessly to the gathering of staff members. "Just the usual introductions. Nothing big has happened, but I'd keep my eye on the crowd if I were you. There's a spark in the air."

A short glance towards Clarabelle, whom he hadn't noticed before, told him all he needed to know about the girl Mako was chaperoning. There was some variant of deep feeling of neglect present, but Daler was certain that Mako could handle it at the moment. Otherwise, he'd simply have to wait for Mako to ask for his help - or for Clarabelle to come to him herself. Nonintervention was his 'thing' for the past few years, and he wasn't about to give that up unless absolutely necessary.

@Mercurial@Hammerman@Silver Carrot@Western Robot

---

---

Brock put on his best smile and nodded to Natsuki. She would definitely be a good peon ally. "In that case, would you like to be my friend? Haven't really met anyone else here yet and you seem really cool."

He was noticeably ignoring the entire rest of the crowd.

@VitaVitaAR

---

---

Hondo and Ryuuto both seemed to be present, and Jonathan made a mental note to say hello to both of them properly after the ceremony. In the meantime, he figured the introductions were quieting down enough to try to get to know the girl with the bat. He didn't quite know why, but she seemed like someone he'd like - especially given her almost excessive enthusiasm and her introductory speech. The year hadn't really started yet, but it'd be a good chance to fill up his study group, so he approached her with a greeting in mind. It wasn't the best thought out one. Counselor Daler, across the lawn, found himself bewitched by the stunning display of stupidity he was hearing. It was like watching a train wreck in progress to the old man.

"Hey, uh... Would you be up for swinging by my dorm later for some hot coffee?"

@tipssyCalibrator

@Azereiah

AKIKO

A couple minutes had passed, and Akiko's excitement started to wane slightly. She spent the next couple minutes just holding both hands behind her head in a casual position, listening in on what everyone else was saying. She didn't really care too much about what everyone was saying, so she didn't really say anything

It was at that moment when she saw that big guy walk up to her from the side and speak to her. Hot coffee...hot coffee...wait a minute, was this pervert trying to hit on her?! Upon realizing this, Akiko face suddenly shifted into an expression that could best be described as a mix of shock, disgust and anger. Okay, it didn't matter how big this guy was, Akiko was taking this pervert down. She immediately balled her hand up into a fist and threw a punch straight at the pervert's face, the inertia of her turn around putting even more force behind the punch

"Eh-heheh, really?" Sumiko gave the boy a wide grin, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. She liked to think she could be cool, but it wasn't too often people complimented her about it. "Well, there's a lot of really cool people here! Everyone looks like they're awesome!"

Of course, Sumiko likely would have said that about anyone. She liked to think the best of anyone around her, no matter what the scenario was, unless proven otherwise. But until proven otherwise, she'd operate on the logic that deep down everybody was at least a decent person, and usually a good one. If she really was proven wrong about someone, well, she'd still try to see how she could help them be better, even if it took beating them down to get through to them first. But if that didn't work... well, she wouldn't think about that. She wouldn't. For the moment, this guy wanted to be friends.

"Yeah! I wanna make friends with everyone, and you seem like a good start, Brock-san!" the brunette declared enthusiastically.

@Azereiah

---

---

Jonathan watched Akiko's expression go from one of relative neutrality to one of sheer rage. Had he said something wr-

A fist cut off his train of thought long before he could even consider reacting and a distinct stinging feeling told him that his nose was broken and he was on the ground. Again. This had happened to him last year, too. Daler, meanwhile, was simply watching disapprovingly. He'd have to step in if they didn't knock it off on their own.