Episode 1: New Year
It was a pleasant morning at the beginning of April, a fresh spring breeze lightly blowing on the campus of Yōkai Academy as all the new students gathered for their first day. After the students arrived on campus and checked their classroom assignments, they were to gather at the assembly hall for the new student welcoming ceremony like many human schools held every year. After the Headmaster, Tsukune Aono, presented a standard greeting speech to the student body, he introduced the student council president with a speech of her own. A girl with long, bright silver hair accented with pink tips walked onto the stage as the Headmaster left the podium and exited on the opposite stage. Upon approaching the podium, the girl adjusted the glasses on her brow and cleared her throat.
“Thank you, Headmaster, and hello new students of Yōkai Academy. I'm Miku Aono, your student council president for your first year here, and I would like to formally welcome you to our school. Because of the special circumstances of our campus, there are a few points I would like to personally inform you all of. For starters, please maintain your human guises at all times and be careful not to speak of your identities to your peers. Should you need any special accommodations please direct them to the student council and we will collaborate with staff to ensure your needs are taken cared of. Additionally, should you ever need anyone to talk to about concerns you may have, my door is always open. I implore you to confide in me if you ever have concerns rather than bottle it up.
“After this assembly, please report to your homeroom classes where you will be introduced to some of the finer rules of the school as well as to your fellow classmates. Additionally,” she said while reaching into her skirt pocket, pulling out a small black box-shaped object and held it up to show the students watching her, “you will each be provided with one of these special handheld smart-phones. These objects are very pivotal to human society these days, and can normally be used for a variety of functions such as making phone calls, sending instant messages, making mathematical calculations, watching videos, playing music, and even playing electronic games.
“Due to the special circumstances of the school, however, privacy is heavily protected. This means that the special smart-phones you will be provided with will have zero access to outside networks that might provide any kind of security compromise. Some of the more popular apps and websites, however, have been made to allow limited access to the student body, so you may still visit IPs such as YouTube and NicoNico. The security measures taken also prevent outgoing calls or messages to any phones aside from those provided by the school. If you ever need to contact family members outside the school there is an older analog phone in the lounge of the student dorms that you may make a reservation to use.
“If you have any questions, feel free to ask your homeroom teacher or come to the student council office; I will be there for the rest of the day preparing for the school year and will be happy to speak with anyone that needs me. I hope you all have a great high school experience here at Yōkai Academy.” With the conclusion of her speech, Miku bowed her head to the assembled students and left the stage. Afterwards, another teacher approached the podium and announced that the assembly was now concluded and the students were all dismissed to their respective homerooms.
After the assembly finished, Junbi stretched his arms above his head before leaving his seat. Damn, we get our own special smart-phones in addition to a free uniform? This deal is getting better and better by the moment. He smiled in content, fully looking forward to the school years to come. Looking around at his peers, he could tell that some of the students knew each other, likely from attending the same schools before, but despite not knowing anyone himself he didn't feel too lonely. Not like it's anything different for me, but I should still make sure to associate with someone so no one thinks I'm a loner. Hopefully there are some good people in my class; definitely want to avoid anyone that seems violent though... As the memory of the group he used to associate with before arriving at Yōkai Academy crossed his mind, a shiver ran up Junbi's spine. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he marched on towards his homeroom.
In his classroom, Junbi sat in a middle row by the windows, waiting for the teacher to show up. Some of his classmates around him seemed to already be socializing, and Junbi didn't really get an opportunity to join. As he looked around the classroom, his eyes fell upon someone skulking at the front door, watching the class, which caused Junbi to cringe for a moment. As soon as the woman at the door noticed Junbi's reaction and their eyes met, she opened the door all the way and walked up to the chalk board at the front of the class. The folder in her hand suggested she was their homeroom teacher, and she began writing her name on the board before addressing the classroom.
She stood in silence for a moment, waiting for the class to go silent before removing the sucker from her mouth and speaking up. “Hey class, my name's Shirayuki and I'll be your homeroom teacher,” she said in a soft, almost lazy-sounding voice. “I also teach Language Arts, so look forward to that. Go ahead and start introducing yourselves. You can start from Seat 1 and move down the list from there.” Since Seat 1 was at the front by the door, this meant Junbi had some time to think of how to introduce himself as his peers began giving their own self-introductions.
Off in another classroom, the homeroom teacher gave a more cheerful yet simultaneously proper greeting to her class; “Good morning class! I'm Ruby Toujou, your homeroom teacher and aide to the Headmaster. I look forward to our year together, and hope you all will do your best while attending Yōkai Academy!” She gave a smile at all the students, who seemed to be paying more attention to her absurdly risqué outfit that the words she said. She then gestured to a student in the front row and said; “Now why don't you all introduce yourselves?”
Yet another classroom of first years was being led by a deceptively youthful-looking woman that energetically greeted her students; “Welcome everyone, to Yōkai Academy! I'll be your homeroom teacher, Ms. Shizuka Nekonome. As I'm sure you all know...” she began, continuing with a bright smile and a raised finger; “Yōkai... is a school for monsters!” Ms. Nekonome then began tapping on the whiteboard with her aluminum pointing stick at a diagram she had drawn as she continued her explanation. “Now! Like it or not, human beings run the world! For us monsters to survive, we must learn to coexist peacefully with them, especially after the incident two and a half decades ago that revealed our presence to humans worldwide! And that's the mission of this academy! Living peacefully in a human world! Which brings up Rule #1! You will retain your human appearance!” Directing her gaze to the class as a whole, she emphasized her point; “Does everyone understand? The first key to survival among humans is to be able to disguise yourself as one of them! To practice the art of disguise, please don't reveal your true nature - even to your fellow students!” Even as she said this, a white-tipped, yellow tail slipped out from under her skirt.
“But don't worry about running into any humans here!” She added with an index finger raised, completely ignoring her own disguise slip. “All the faculty and staff are monsters just like you! And since the academy is located inside the secret ‘Borderlands’... no human has ever seen it. At least - not seen it and lived!! AHAHA HAHAHA!” This final comment was made with a lighthearted fist pump above her head as she laughed at her own word play that she repeated for every new homeroom she taught. “Now, why don't you all start introducing yourselves!”
Up on the second floor, one of the Second Year classrooms was bustling as the returning students chatted among themselves, reconnecting with friends from the previous year. One group in particular had a very boisterous center, but even that group went silent as soon as the door into the classroom opened and they all saw the woman that entered through. All the students quickly filed into their seats as their teacher, easily remembered for her strict, almost spartan teaching style, approached the chalkboard and wrote her name on it. She turned to face the students with her usual smile of confidence, a hand on her waist as she announced; “Welcome back to school, students! I'll be your homeroom teacher for your second year, and of course I'll still be in charge of working your bodies near their limits during Phys. Ed. In case any of you have forgotten, I'm Mrs. Aono; hold your questions about my relationship to the Headmaster and student council president and know your place. Why don't we have you all give some self-introductions to your peers, since I'm sure some of you didn't share classes last year. Let's start with Mizuchi,” she declared, gesturing towards the one student that had already been in his seat when she arrived.
