---

"Actually, we're cousins!"

Ichika shook her head when she answered Miyuki's question about the girl who was with her just now, though it seemed like she was a bit embarrassed. As for the blue haired girl, she nodded earnestly in response. Miyuki took a quick glance at Ichika's cousin, where she was interacting with Juno, but it looked like it ended rather distastefully. From the looks of it, Ichika and her cousin are basically two different persons that contrasted each other, not to mention the cousin looks like a delinquent of sorts. With that in her thoughts...

"I hope you don't mind, but I'd love it if we could be friends! I just moved to the area, so I don't really know anyone."

The blonde really looked like that she needs help in either getting herself used to the idyllic town of Kurosuoba, and maybe help her to get closer with her cousin. Considering that Yuuki once helped her getting settled in Kurosuoba when she was in junior high, it is time to take up the mantle.

"Sure thing!" Miyuki agreed enthusiastically. "I can show you around Kurosuoba and its famous hotspots!"

Then, the school gates are opened, indicating that Fujioka High is now open for entry. A female teacher called the waiting students and motioned them to go in.

"Oh, the school's open. Let us enter, shall we?"

Miyuki informed Ichika about the gates. She also noticed that her cousin and Juno already went in as well. The bespectacled girl once again scanned the vicinity for any possible acquaintances before entering the school. Then her brown eyes caught the sight of a plus-sized girl with dark red hair. It is without any mistake that the girl is Egusa Midori, one of her friends that she met back in junior high.

"Hey!" The blue haired girl waved at Midori while calling out for her. "Egusa-san, the gate is open! Let's get in!"

With that being done, Miyuki then turned and began her way into Fujioka High...

Interactions -
@Hero - Shimizu Ichika
@AdmrlStalfos19 - Egusa Midori

---

"Hey! Egusa-san, the gate is open! Let's get in!"

Midori could recognize that long blue hair from anywhere; that was definitely the voice of Ishihara Miyuki, one of the few friends that Midori had in her life, and the only one to have really stuck around. While it wasn't surprising that Miyuki would show up to the school, all things considered, it was good to see her nonetheless, as that was often enough to bring a smile to her face.

"Come on now, Miyuki-chan; I keep telling you that you don't need to be so formal with me," Midori told her best friend, before noticing the other girl that had kept her company, "So, uh... who's this?"

As she turned towards Miyuki's newfound companion, Midori's face shifted to show a more neutral expression. The girl looked like she'd be a nice person on the surface, but the fact that she'd seen people use that as a front before had made Midori all the more skeptical, and she'd be lying if she'd refuse to admit it. Still, the two of them looked to be the same age and were wearing the same uniform and, while that meant nothing in the typical Japanese high school in all practicality, the fact that Fujioka was in but such a small town, it was highly probable that all three girls could be in the same class. Miyuki included. As such, gauging how well they'd get along was worth a shot.

"Hi there; I'm Egusa Midori. Nice to meet you," Midori extended her hand upon introducing herself, as she always did.

---

---

"Have a good day at school, sweetheart!" Seto gave a wave back to his mother as she called out to him from down the street. As he turned around the corner, he began to pull out a small book from his bag. As he read, he would occasionally look around to make sure he wouldn't run into traffic on accident. It was something he had done many times before in the past due to his insistence on reading most of the time. Now, it was almost like second nature.

Noticing the opened gate ahead, he placed his book back inside his back, and entered the school grounds. He watched the other students move around, silently observing everyone. There were certainly some new faces, but there were others that he had recognized many times before.

Making his way inside, Seto made his way to his designated locker, and looked at the code he had. Unlocking it, he slipped off his shoes, and placed them inside before taking his uwabaki out and slipping them on. It felt strange to suddenly be in high school, getting ready to make his way into the world. As he had nowhere else to be, he decided to begin roaming the halls to find his way around, mainly to find the gym. Hoisting his bag over his shoulder as he walked, he looked around the building and at the other students that he passed. "I wonder if Sora is here." He mumbled to himself as he turned a corner.

@Conscripts@Raging Fenrir@Jay Kalton



Ren groaned as he sat up, before grabbing the girls hand with a surprisingly carefree grin considering what had just happened.

"Nah, don' worry 'bout it!" He said with a chuckle, although it quickly turned into an audibly painful cough. For a second, his head whipped around to look at the ground he'd coughed onto, before nodding. "No blood this time. 's a good sign."

Then he looked back up to the girl, deciding he'd better just stand up on his own before his weight just caused him to accidentally pull her over as well.

"Anyway, yeah, like I said, 's mostly my fault. Wasn' watchin' where I was goin', shoulda looked both ways."

It wasn't long before he was back on his feet, albeit a little shakily. Once he was confident he'd made it up, however, he gave his friends, new girl included, another grin. This one was even accompanied by a thumbs up! That had to make her feel less bad about the whole thing, right?

"See? I'm fine!" He said loudly, even as he swayed from side to side a little. "'s not even the first time it's happened. I've been so used to the country that comin' 'ere to the big city has messed with my head a little. Bein' honest, you're actually the fifth cyclist to hit me in the last four days, so yeah, probably not'cha fault!"

---

---

Mari was caught off guard from the big guy's casual response, wide grin and all. The way he carried himself was enough to reassure the girl that she wouldn't be getting into a huge scene anytime soon, and she sighed with relief; that was not what she needed on her first school day, she had promised herself that. With her strong grip, Mari pulled the boy up with relative ease, taking a deep breath as she returned a more genuine smile in contrast to earlier.

Mari wasn't exactly intimidated seeing the heavyset boy standing at his full height, and his easygoing demeanour was something she found herself immediately gravitated towards. His energy was unlike anything she'd seen so far after moving to the area; overflowing with hearty confidence and positivity, those were the types of people she liked to surround herself with. Mari grinned back at the boy as he gave her a thumbs up.

"Let's just agree we both screwed up, then?" she chucked, moving away to quickly inspect her bike. No severe damage, other than the now cracked front bike light. Mari herself hadn't got out of the incident scrape free though, as she felt what was likely blood discreetly seeping through her black sock. She didn't have the time nor patience to tend to it at the moment.

"Heh, you think Kurosuoba is bad? I'm kinda new here too, but this place is nothing compared to where I'm from," Mari continued, hopping back onto her seat. "Guess I'm getting too carried away, I'd never get away safe pulling shit like that back home!"

The fifth cyclist he had been hit by in the last few days? Mari winced at the thought, despite knowing the boy's body could likely take a few good hits on bad days. Luck just didn't seem to be on his side this week, and neither was Mari's rational thinking, it seemed.

"We should probably get going now, we're all headed the same way, right? I am not being late for some dumb entrance ceremony, no way," she said, gesturing to their similar uniforms. "I'm Tsukimi Mari by the way, you can call me whatever, I don't really care. Oh, and who're those guys back there? They with you too?"

---

---

The morning dew lit the pastures on subtle rays of shimmering day light. There's a symphony of bird welcoming the start of the with songs amd chirps lifting up the spirits to undertake the day. That being said, perhaps these tune herald better muse in the ears of another, but Nagaharo Junji was one that woke at the blare of a loud and uncomfortable alarm. The heaviness of his body urged him to stay at the comfort of his bed, an ache that form a groan as he banged the able once to halt the faulty alarm clock to halt. The damned thing was already broken beyond repair, the vibrations of the hit was enough to silence it indefinitely. Or so he thought before the alarm gave out yet another scream, seemingly much louder than before. "Fine! I'm up, I'm up!" Naga had no other option but to remove the sheets of himself and unplug it from the wall before it continued to become a nuisance any longer. A long, exaggerated stretch ushered his muscle to loosen up. His mother and father had already left and there in the kitchen was the eggs and toast with a note that said "Morning! Don't forget to close everything after going to school. xoxo mom." Naga paid no never-mind to what it said since the structure to this is always the same. A greeting, command, and the infamous x's and o's. Morning routine went like always, meaning that today was a day much like any other. But something was... terribly off. Nagaharo didn't say anything about joining dad today, and neither did mom say anything about--

"Today's the first day!" Suddenly the rush of morning felt a lot more pressurizing. Soon he had to finish breakfast and get dressed appropriately after carefully ironing his clothes and picking them out a month ago before the semester started. It was already getting a bit small, seems he had grown a couple of inches during the break. A flick of his tongue depicted his frustration, but more over than anything he wanted to ride his bike to the start of the year. He wasn't particularly excited, but it was something different from the everyday life and monotony of this place. At least he could hurry up and hang out with people his age! He hoped... Picking up his bike and striding towards the school, he needed to be at least considerably early. Teacher already say he looks like a delinquent, he shouldn't start acting like one too.

Yujiro's walk to school remained relatively unremarkable... and incredibly delayed as he not only chose to take the scenic route, but also found himself busting out the camera to take scenic shots of the city and its environment. His mood wasn't particularly jolly for the first day of school. One of the only things that ever brought him out of these moods was watching the world through his viewfinder and capturing the fleeting moments. If only this worked today.

He nervously adjusted the bag on his shoulder as he looked down the road and towards his school. There were already others milling about and investigating the campus. Yujiro lifted the camera, adjusted the zoom and focus, and snapped a quick picture before packing it away and slowly making his way forward. His head was pointed to the ground, with his hands shoved in his pockets. His posture was hunched, and his steps were rather large strides.

When Yujiro's eyes rose to examine the other students, he was met with a few scared expressions. Without much surprise, his sharp and intense look seemed to already be working its charm. This was going to be a difficult school year. The teenager lowered his eyes to the ground again as he made his way towards the class listings, scanning over them to track down his name. He made a mental note of what class he was part of, and then made his way to the nearest wall to lean against it and pull out his phone. He began tapping away at another mind-numbing game to pass the time. Yet his expression remained fierce as his eyes focused intently on the phone, never snapping away to admire the surroundings. He couldn't exactly stand to see how people were reacting to him. So for now, it was time to tap the time away and get things over with.

@Jay Kalton

"Oh right, those're my pals, Amatsun and Oryun!" Ren answered with a grin when she asked about his friends. "I just met 'em today, pretty much the same way I met you, actually. And they're... gone. They're gone."

He continued to look around for a moment, trying to figure out where they went, before giving up with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Huh." He said. "Guess they musta missed our crash somehow. Ah well, I'll see 'em later, I'm sure."

He blinked as she told him her name, before another wide grin appeared on his face.

"Hey, my Sis's called Mari too! 's pretty cool!"

And then he noticed that there was a slightly darker patch on her leg and frowned in concern.

"Ah, ah geez... Your leg, you're hurt."

He looked back up, his frown growing bigger.

"That was me, right? I didn't even ask if you were ok, did I? I jus' asked about th' bike. We... We should getcha to the school so you can see the nurse or somethin'."

And then he chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Aaaalso 'cause it feels like it's taken way longer than it should've to get there. 's only been a little while but it feels like 's been months... Let's get goin'!"

---

---

"Oh please, this is nothing, don't worry about it!" Mari chuckled, casually reassuring the boy about her unremarkable injury. She wasn't even sure if it was that serious to even refer to it as such. "A bit of water and tissue should do the trick, I don't wanna go bothering the nurse on the first morning of school because of some tiny cut like this."

Such heartfelt concern, and from a stranger nonetheless. The girl couldn't help but smile! Mari found the boy's genuine expressions of worry so heartwarming, how could she have been so lucky to run into such a considerate guy like him in a situation like this? Similar encounters she had back home involving her not looking where she was going, or other people not looking where they were going, often ended in one, the other or both people flipping each other off in a vulgar flurry of insults. Perhaps the problem was just the types of people she happened to bump into. If that was the case, she had gotten very lucky this time. Although Kurosuoba seemed more quaint and quiet in nature, Mari wasn't as naïve to think there wouldn't be people here who could give her a nostalgic taste of her home city.

Mari kept off her bike, wanting to match the walking pace of her new acquaintance. Pulling her phone out of her blazer pocket, she frowned as she realised the time.

"Ugh, you're right, we really should pick up the pace, huh," she groaned, running her hand through her hair. "I remember the route well enough though, it shouldn't take longer than twenty minutes to get to school."

After about five seconds of walking down the street Mari suddenly came to a halt, facepalming.

"Oh wow, I'm being such an ass today, aren't I?" she exclaimed, sighing through her hand. "First I crash my bike into you and then I have the audacity to forget to ask your name. Sorry man, I swear I'm not usually this rude!"

Mari hoped the boy would respond as positively as he did previously; but just what had gotten into her this morning? Her journey towards fulfilling her resolutions of becoming a somewhat decent person was not looking too bright at the moment. She paused for a moment to hear the boy's reply, before starting up another conversation.

"So, uh… you said you're from the countryside, right? You've really never been to the city or anything?"