[IC] The True Self - Persona

[SwordfishKnight]

Noboru
Noboru sat in his seat, staring off into the distance wondering about what club he should join. There were a few, but he wanted to get to boxing. After last year's incident, they probably got rid of several of the spots available. That meant he would definitely have to hurry and get one, but he shouldn't worry too much. Who wanted to sign up for a club where you got punched in the face? He was about to walk off to lunch, when Sachiko approached him and asked him about lunch.

"Sure." He said, with Misaki, standing behind her. "But if you don't mind, I want to check with the boxing club and see if I can get in. there's less spots this year so I want to get in early." He got up and gathered his stuff, ready to go check the list out.

When they reached the sign up, Noboru's demeanor changed from happy to sad. He turned to Sachiko and Misaki with a dejected sigh. Oh well. looks like they're all full. Seems as if my luck ran out eh? Why don't we go get some food, i'm really starving to eat.

The Twins
Aiko took the lead as usual, with Akari following shortly behind. They had a busy day, what with "recruiting" people to the Boxing club and what not. They were looking for a certain someone, and as their luck would have it, they found her. "Hello there miss, Leiko, was it? If I can recall from this morning, you seemed to have wanted to recruit our brother. Fear not, for we have taken upon ourselves to help you. It would sadden us to see such beautiful talent," Aiko nearly hurled at thinking of Noboru as talented, "Go to waste. What do you say if we convince him to join your club and, in return, go a little harder on him to sharpen his amazing talent? And don't worry about him joining other clubs. there was only one such club he wanted, and as it would happen, it was full. Quite a coincidence eh?" Aiko stuck his hand out, as if to have a handshake in agreement.

[Kissu]

Leiko Hamada

Leiko had busied herself with her Drama recruitment campaign by stapling one of her prized flyers to the bulletin board on the third floor, hoping to draw some more attention from her upperclassmen. She had a decent amount of second years already, and some first years had signed up thanks to the publicity stunt with Noboru, but she needed some older students as well for a more mature and sophisticated flair.

However, the last people she expected to approach her were the Yamamoto twins, much less with the request they had given her. "Hmm?" Slightly irked at their addressal of her (how clear did she have to make it to people not to call her Leiko?), the young drama enthusiast's expression only grew more incredulous at their proposal. "With all due respect, Senpai..." Her voice was chillingly cold, despite the respect she inferred in her tone. "Are you telling me how to run my club?" She sniffed indignantly, folding her arms across her chest. "Convince him if you want, but I'll treat him how I want to treat him. No one tells me what to do." Her voice was smooth and refined, befitting of one that so many called the Warakuma Queen. "On the other hand..." She passed them a flyer each with a disconcerting smile. "I would be more than happy to welcome two talented and well known individuals as yourselves into my club. And I can promise to go 'a little harder to sharpen your amazing talents' if you deem it necessary", she quoted brightly. "Please, think it over some."

[Sen]

Sato Hashimoto // Warakuma High – Room #118, Archery Club

A club meeting was lively for once, the room filled with laughter and border-line shouting. The first years awkwardly huddled together in the corners near the door, watching in near horror as the senior members of the Archery Club argued about whatever; who should join, why some random Western music was playing, how we should spend their funds, when they should start advertising the club around campus, and what now. Sato, being the vice president, observed Rokoru-san (the club president who basically appointed himself the leader back when he was a first year) as he quickly rejected and agreed with any ideas his underclassmen suggested. It was almost admirable how decisive and informed he was about the club’s needs, but it also struck Sato that it wasn’t a very democratic way of decided things. Rokoru-san seemed to be extremely wise about what he does, so the fact that it was an entirely one-sided discussion didn’t bother him that much.

After what felt like their entire lunch break, the group of seniors broke apart, revealing Rokoru to be at the front of the rooms, arms folded in a confident way. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, someone leaned over and clicked a button on the stereo, halting the music instantly. A brief moment later and Rokoru returned his view to face the entire room in general. Ryouta, who was sitting next to Sato, kicked him in the shin and discretely motioned towards Rokoru, an envelope and some kind of card sticking out of the older-looking student’s pocket. It didn’t take long for Sato to realize that it was the prize for the person who recruited the most new members. From what he’d learned, no one had really gotten many people to join, so the whole competition was basically “Who Could Get More Than One Person To Join.” It was clear that the whole recruitment scheme they had thought of worked, as there was at least double the amount of people there usually was in the room the school lent them to hold meetings in. They had an actual archery range to practice in and hang out, but there was simply no room to store and deal with documents and such.

Rokoru clapped his hands together to get everyone’s attention, and after which he returned to folding his arms across his chest. “So,” he panned across the room, stopping on the newbies. “As hopefully all of the current members know, there was a competition to see who could recruit the most new people into our Archery club would receive a monetary prize.” Half the people in the room leaned forward as soon as they saw the man in front of them pull out the envelope from his back pocket. Sato wondered how he had managed to slip the gift card into it so discretely and quickly, but his attention almost immediately snapped back to the important matter on hand. “And we’re here to both announce the winner and address those new here who were enlisted by our members.”

“And so, the winner is…” For dramatic effect, Rokoru opened the envelope slowly, despite already knowing the winner. “Mika-chan.” Sato glanced over to a girl he recognized from his class that morning, Moriyama-san. Based on the fact that Rokoru had used both her first name and called her -chan, Sato inferred they had some kind of close relationship, but that wasn’t the point. Yeah, he had only recruited one person (Nagata-san), but it still made him salty to have lost. Irregardless of his feelings, Sato joined in on the applause as the prez congratulated and gave Kagawa her reward.

Sato quickly announced that all members were required to meet up at the archery range after classes ended, or they would face punishment via laps around the running track for an entire meeting, before breaking up the crowd of people so they could all finally go get something to eat. Ryouta left quickly to go catch up with his classmates, and Rokoru remained behind to deal some paperwork the school gave him with some random food item he obtained from a vending machine on hand. Sato stretched his arms out above his head before walking away from Room #118. Rokoru had brought Sato something from the vending machine in exchange for 1.5x the cost, and he had decided to go to one of the school's currently "vacant" rooms where several of the sports clubs went to store equipment to go eat it.

[Cuco]

Sachiko agreed to go along with Noboru to check on the boxing club first. In fact, mention of the boxing club gave her an idea. If it was possible she was going to get into more situations in that nutty world, it couldn't hurt to get a little tougher. Her dancing alone was hardly enough to make her a physical specimen. It was a weird thought, but she wondered if she shouldn't join the boxing club herself to see if it would help her get better.

Too bad the club was full up. She didn't really show it on her face, but she was almost as disappointed as Noboru. But on the other hand, there were probably easier ways to get fit, and they would all be less controversial than her signing up for a boxing club. "Yeah, let's eat." She said, and the trio went ahead on their way.

Eventually, they found somewhere to sit down and eat. Sachiko's meal was nothing special, just the stuff that her mum had placed in her pack before she had left. Misaki had her usual assortment of sweets and other junk food. Her eating habits were almost a little childlike. "So," Sachiko began, striking up a conversation with Noboru. "I hope this doesn't sound too weird or anything, but, how did you get into such great shape?"

"Oooh, I'd love to know more about his great body too~" That was Misaki, speaking with a rather lascivious tone.

"Misaki....is that drool on the side of your mouth?"

".....it's because of my food." Misaki blushed as she spoke, and turned her attention back to her meal.

"Anyway, I'm asking a serious question, Noboru, and I'd like a serious answer." She mentioned that mostly to distance her inquiry from Misaki's stupid statement. She wanted to find out for the sake of her own fitness.

[SwordfishKnight]

Noboru
Noboru pulled out his lunch, mostly assorted proteins and such, as well as some napkins. "Here you go." He said, handing Misaki some napkins for the drool from her food. He wondered what kind of food she was talking about.

"Well, it's kind of a personal thing. I don't like to talk about it. Besides, it isn't that interesting. All that really can be said is that i've been doing this sort of thing since I was around eight years old, so it's just another thing for me at this point. If I stopped now i'd probably just die." He laughed a little at the grim joke. He hoped they thought it was a joke, and not some serious medical problem. "But hey, if you guys wanna ever get fit and such, you know who to come to eh?"

The Twins
"No thanks Leiko," He said, with a bit of pride in his voice, "We already all there is to acting and whatever it is you do. It just wouldn't be fair for us to always take the parts. Sorry." They both took off, finding a nice spot to eat, perhaps somewhere where they were the main view.

[Pudding]

Warakuma High School

Chiaki was having a rather productive lunch time. She tirelessly contscted the school staff about her club idea. They then told her to meet with the student council inorder to have it approved, which she did. Upon finding the classroom where their meetings were held, she remembered the first time she entered. She met two girls known as Midori and Akemi, before sliding open the door, she wondered if they would again be inside. To her dismay, they were not. There were others though, including the male vice-president whom after a little convincing, approved her idea. She talked to him about how the members would where nreezy costumes and the occasional maid costume. She even intended to propose a beach performance in swimware.

Chiaki was given one of the spare first year classroomd that wasn't bring used due to lack of students. Sitting in the empty classroom she thought to herself. ("I'm really doing this... I can't back down now..."). Chiaki grabbed some spare paper and a marker from the teachers desk. She intended to make a sign and some basic flyers that she could hand out. Before heading out to give out her flyers, she pasted the makeshift sign on the classroom door. "School Idol Club Room!" On it were drawn stars, hearts and music notes. Chiaki thought it would be fine for now until she had some real supplies to help her make a better one. She roamed the hallways chanting her club name and handed out flyers to boys and girls alike.

[Kissu]

Leiko Hamada

"I'm sure." Leiko deadpanned as she watched the twins saunter off, feeling a prickle of relief that they didn't fall for her bluff. She wasn't particularly looking forward to the idea of cramping two more inflated egos into her club, and despite what many people said, Leiko took pride in her work in the Drama Club and how it changed people for the better.

People like the twins only stunted creativity.

Still...it was a shame that she couldn't get that Noboru boy to join. He was a diamond in the rough that she was desperate to polish herself until he shone. It would have been a worthy project this year, but the musclehead was more stubborn than she gave him credit for.

Sighing, she continued pinning the flyers to the wall, hoping to garner some more interest so she could complete those last few slots.

[Cuco]

Sachiko didn't realise his fitness was that big of a deal. She figured when she asked, he was just going to ramble about his routine, but he seemed to think she was asking about something deeper than that. Like, why he actually tried to be so fit. It really made her wonder about what was going on with him that his fitness was almost like a personal problem. At least he was getting too serious about things, given his little joke. "Well, actually, that's precisely what I was getting at." She was glad he offered to help, since it would've been awkward steering the conversation of that strangely heavy moment. "I could probably do to get fit, circumstances as they are, and if you could help me, that would be great."

"Eww, no!" Misaki suddenly exclaimed. "Sachiko, you can't get buff! Girls don't look pretty with bodies like Noboru! Tight glutes only work on men!"

"Misaki, I think I can exercise without becoming a muscle girl."

"I still think you should be careful. You might ruin your figure!"

"Whatever. Anyway..." She turned back to Noboru. "You will help me, right? It's...well, it would probably be a huge help." She hoped he wouldn't try and pry too much into why. She could hardly tell him "I might have to fight tongue monsters in the future and being fit is sure to help out". She wondered if she could get Kami, Kato, and Rui in on it too. They could all use an upper hand, but then again, making a huge thing of it might creep Noboru out.

[SwordfishKnight]

"Sure. Noboru said, ready to start training another person. "I already have one person who's exercising with me, what's training another person or two going to hurt? Yeah, i'll train you. Any thoughts on what you want to work on first? Upper body is always fun, but it requires a lot of work. Training endurance is hard, but it builds up quickly." Noboru listened to Misaki talking to about glutes and such, and decided to have a little harmless fun.

"But you'll have to give me a day or so. I have to pick up some new exercise shorts, as my last pair are just a little bit tight. They were showing details and things that I didn't want showing. But starting tomorrow, after school if you want, the training school for fitness starts."

Buzz Buzz Buzz Noboru's phone went off. He took it out and looked at the message. It was Akari. Maybe this message was actually nice. It read Hey, since you need help in schhol, I decided to be a littl bit nicer. If you join the drama club i'll help you out on homework and studying and such. He closed the phone and sighed. Seeing as there were no other clubsto join, he might as well.

[Cuco]

Sachiko had to ponder his question a bit. She hadn't really done any regimented exercise before. She could only assume "upper body" had something to do with strength training or some such. While being able to punch people real hard was an appealing idea, Sachiko had a feeling that she was better off being able to run fast and keep it up for a good while. So she guessed that "endurance" training was what she was looking for. "I think I'll go with endurance." She told him.

Misaki whined when she heard his quip about his shorts. "You're doing the school a disservice, Noboru!" She told him. Sachiko had a feeling she was only being half serious, but there was definitely a kernel of honesty in her statement. Mostly ignoring her, she paid more attention when Noboru's phone went off. She was curious, but she didn't try anything weird like looking over his shoulder. She intended to respect his privacy. "Something up?" She asked, when he seemed to be done reading. He didn't look entirely happy with the contents of that message. If he was okay with telling her, she was more than happy to listen, but if he didn't want to, she planned to leave it at that.

[SwordfishKnight]

"Nothing is really up at all. I think i'm just gonna join the drama club. But anyways, endurance? that's always fun a good way to build confidence as well when you finally beat your own time and get faster. One last question. When are you available to train? I know you want to get stronger, but it's never good to move other stuff out of the way. I only train every day because I have nothing else to do." Noboru took a deep breath. "Ahhh. I'm talking too much. But hey, you two really haven't said anything about what clubs you want to be in. Is there anything special or are is there not gonna be any joining for you two?"

[Savo]

-Kaminari : Warakuma High-

As the class period ended, Kami whistled to himself as he began to pack his items up. He looked around the room for a short amount of time, watching as the other students took flight from the classroom. The boy quickly pushed himself out of the seat, and soon followed suit. He walked down the hallways, watching as different people passed on by, chatting about rumors and what clubs they should joined. Kami himself was thinking of the same thing, if he should join any other clubs outside of Drama Club. As he pondered, he recalled an offer a friend tried to 'give' to him by pestering him about for a prolonged amount of time.

"(I should of been more open minded... Maybe I'll join Kendo Club this year... No I will join Kendo Club this year.)"

As he confidently said this in his mind, he caught sigh of the disastrous duo speaking with Leiko. They were within Kami range to hear their devious plan to forcing their own blood to join drama club, whether he liked it ornot. He wondered what vendetta they had against Noboru, and pondered what fours of action he should take. As he thought to himself, he decided to 'wait' until they finished talking with Leiko before either confronting them about it, talking to Noboru about it, or some other fours of action. Ultimately he decided to talk to Noboru about the transpiring events taking place. As the prideful duo finished up talking to Leiko, the two scrambled off somewhere else to eat some lunch. As they left, Kami decided to make his move and approached the Drama Clubs recruiter - Leiko. He walked towards the girl, giving her genuine smile along with a friendly greeting.

"Hello there Hamada-san, I hope your having a splendid day... Uhm, anyways... Do you have any more openings for the Drama Club? I'm kinda interested in joining in your troupe ringmaster Hamada-san."

He grinned with a playful attempt at acting, showing no signs of maliciousness to the girl.

[Cuco]

When Noboru mentioned the drama club, Sachiko's brow furrowed. The drama club was Leiko Hamada's domain. Didn't Noboru get into some kind of pseudo-fight with her just a little earlier? Why on earth would he want to join that club after that exchange? She would've questioned his choice immediately if he hadn't launched into a spiel about fitness and everything. She wanted nothing more than to stop him and question him, but she didn't want to interrupt him just for that. When he finally decided to stop and let them speak, she took the opportunity. "Wait, first, why are yo-"

"I'll join drama if you are, Nobo-" Almost as quickly as Misaki opened her mouth, Sachiko raced to cover it. "Wait your turn." She told her. Turning back to Noboru, she continued talking. "I think I've known you long enough to know you're not one for acting. Why on earth would you willingly join that club? And with that snob Leiko running it? Are you insane? Was that incident before just a bit of polite banter!?" She was really quite incredulous at the prospect of Noboru suddenly joining the drama club. It seemed completely out of place, and she couldn't fathom what would be going through the head of ANYONE that was willingly considering suffering Leiko's attitude.

[Kissu]

There. Leiko stood back and admired her handiwork, brushing her palms together in satisfaction at the large flyer that dwarfed the rest of the third year announcements. It was bright, eye-catching...

"Hello there, Hamada-san."

Well, that was quick.

Leiko turned her head at the familiar voice, her visage lightening considerably as she recognised the older male. The young man with manners. "Oh, hello again...Kami-san, was it?" His name was uncomfortable on her tongue. Leiko really didn't care for first name basis when her seniors were involved, but he had requested her to call him Kami and she respected that. "Yes, my day has been fine. Thank you again for your help this morning," she said pleasantly. "I was in quite a state after what that girl had done to me..." Her voice trailed off with a note of disgust. She'd put on one of her bubblier roles when speaking to her back in class, but when there was no one to interfere...Leiko would really give her a piece of her mind. "Anyway." She quickly dispelled the dark thoughts swarming her head with a charming smile. "You were saying, sorry?""

At Kami's next words, Leiko's expression became animated and enthusiastic. "Oh, of course there is," she beamed, quickly fishing for a spare flyer in her bag before handing it to Kami triumphantly. "Meetings are Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Saturdays when we're rehearsing for a show. Auditions start after school tomorrow. Oh, and when I say 'audition', it's just a formality, I assure you", she interjected quickly before he could say anything. Experience told her that words like 'audition' only scared people off before they even started. "Just make sure to pick a few lines to help express your acting style and we're set. Any questions, Kami-senpai?"

[I-Am-X]

Akane Hanezawa // Class 2-2

As the teacher finally finished his lesson, the bell rang and let everyone go. "Finally...." Letting out a sigh of relief, she packed up her things and headed out of the classroom. Things weren't looking too good earlier when she realized that she forgot to make herself a lunch, but as luck would have it, a first year she managed to 'save' from some meat head, who couldn't understand the word 'no' without a couple punches to the face, made her a lunch as a form of thanks. She didn't give her name but that was ok. With a creepy smile, Ahhhh, sooo many cute first years this year.

Wiping off drool from her mouth, she snaps back to reality, she heads towards her temporary club room. Why temporary you may say? Why that's simple, unless a few more people join, the student council will remove her from the room. Might as well enjoy it while it lasts As she rounded the corner, she overheard a few students talking about club activities. With a sigh, "That's right, my club has been pretty much disbanded, huh? (With me being the only member and all)" I guess I should probably put some thought into what club I should join, huh... "There's always the Kendo Club or the Archery Club....hmm....I think I'll decide after lunch. Can't wait to see what that cute little first year made for me." Boy did she have potential!

Akane Hanezawa // Anime/Manga Club Room
Opening the door to the roof, she looked around. Knew it'd be empty but coming in here for the first time since they graduated...it's kind of depressing... Slapping her hands on her cheeks, "Time to eat, Itadakimasu" Eating a few pieces of fried chicken, she took out a pen and some paper and began writing.

[Crimmy]

Shu Isamu
Warakuma High - Sports Field

The feeling of holding the fibreglass stick in his hands was natural to him. It had really only been a few weeks since he had last played the sport, but gripping onto the tool was much like greeting an old friend. He had missed this. Hockey was Isamu's sport of choice, even after all the trouble he had gone through in middle school. It just made his heart rush in a way that other things couldn't. There was a thrill to the game. A thrill that he was currently channelling into his stick, moving it up to build up for the hit.

Thwack.

A gaggle of girls sitting on the grass near the goals shrieked as a hockey ball slammed into the back of the net with frightening speed. Isamu waved an apology to the already-retreating students. He hadn't noticed them until his stick had connected, and by then it was already too late to warn them of the possible surprise. Still, it didn't really matter anymore. They were gone now, and that meant he was alone on the pitch again. Everyone else was looking for clubs or meeting up with friends. Except him. He shrugged to himself. Nobody was going to interrupt him then. That was good.

Pulling a second ball from his pocket, the half-Chinese boy dropped it to the ground, before hitting against it with his stick.

Thwack

The ball thudded into the goals.

[Sho Minazuki]

Rui Shinichi | Class 2 - 1, Warakuma High | Monday Apr. 6 2015

After classes and then finally freeing himself from students asking him questions about his previous school, he began to go about his own lunch, which he had bought from the convenience store on the way here. It was only lunch time, but it seems Hamada was doing well with the Drama club. Rui was surprised that Kami was interested in acting... He'll probably go ask to join sometime later... Generally not much happened for him during lunch. Instead he took that time to wander the school to get to know the layout better. He came across a number of places... A room that seemed to be for the Drama club, the Anime and Manga club (someone was eating in there it seems, just one of the members), he found the hall as well, there was a schedule detailing martial arts club, kendo, and ball games like basketball and volleyball.

In way of clubs, there really wasn't much else. There was an empty patch of land too just beside the soccer field, where the soccer club would practice, not to mention a baseball club. There were a few old noticeboard signs that said there used to be an agricultural club at this school, Rui only assumed it fell out of popularity. Generally this seemed to be an okay school with some rather standard clubs. Nothing fancy like he had once found. There wasn't a fine arts club either, just normal art club that kind of did a bit of everything.

"I think I'll just wander around a bit more until lunch ends...", he said, taking a drink from the vending machine down in the cafeteria. Based on what he saw, cafeteria was rather new, part of the modernization or something of this town...

[SwordfishKnight]

"No it wasn't really just polite banter, and we aren't exactly friends. But circumstances that I prefer not to talk about have come up, and it seems like this is the only thing I can do." Noboru felt slightly betrayed. Not only was he backed into a corner by his siblings, but Sachiko was pressuring him as well. He knew she meant well, but it didn't help any and made him a little edgy. "If you guys want to try and change my mind, go ahead, but I think this is the only thing that I can do right now. Besides, Like I said before school, If I ever had any major problems I would tell you guys. Is that alright?" Noboru's phone went off again, this time his parents sending him something. THe only time they would actually talk to him, it would be important, so he checked the message. We got a date for the earliest possible time. They're saying sometime in between August and September. And could you pls tell your siblings? They don't reply ever. Noboru replied to the message, his heart lifting just the slightest.

[Cuco]

Whatever the problem was with Noboru, he seemed intent on avoiding speaking of it. Especially when he made contrary statements about the fact he would tell them about major problems and yet wouldn't speak of whatever was going on here. It seemed he did not truly trust Sachiko with this. "Fine, if it's some big secret for you, keep it to yourself." She told him, and then got up and left. There was no point trying to "change his mind" when she didn't even understand why he was doing this. Misaki had even less of an understanding of what was going on, and sat there for a moment, trying to figure out what just happened. "Um.....see ya, Noboru." She said hurriedly, before getting up to chase after Sachiko.

Misaki caught up with her in the corridors some distance from where they were earlier. "Hey! Sachiko! What's going on?"

"Can't you tell? Noboru doesn't want to tell me why he's getting involved in something he's supposed to hate. Clearly it's none of my business to understand why a friend would act so bizarrely." She was a little angry at not being given any explanation. But perhaps more than anything, it just concerned her that there might be a major issue here and he just plain wouldn't tell her.

"Well...I...." Misaki was never good at telling people things to solve problems or cheer them up. She knew this, but she also hated seeing Sachiko upset. "Ah! I know! 'Just smile', right?"

Upon hearing these words, Sachiko stopped dead in her tracks, and simply glared back at Misaki. Then she stormed off into the school, to parts unknown. Misaki just stood there, too intimidated to go after Sachiko. "But.....you always said to just...."

---

Misaki had been wandering around aimlessly for a while. She didn't dare try and find Sachiko. For one thing, she was being really scary today. And for another, she knew there was nothing a ditz like her could do or say to make things better. She would just say something dumb and make her angrier. So she had resigned herself to just spending the rest of the lunch break walking around with no purpose.

Then, a girl in a really unique uniform passed her by and handed her a flyer, while chanting something about a "school idol club". Misaki recognised this girl; she was the one that had been around when Noboru had acted like a jester! Thinking about it, she realised she looked a lot like that magazine idol, Chiaki Nettu. In fact, she looked almost exactly like her, and even had a uniform that was totally Chiaki Nettu style. But Misaki knew better than to think a person like that would be caught dead in a boondock town like Warakuma. This girl must be a huge fan of hers, just like Misaki! She reached out and grabbed the girl by the shoulder, so she could stop her and talk to her. "Hey! Did anyone ever tell you you're a dead ringer for Chiaki Nettu? Are you a huge fan of hers? So am I!" If she wasn't interrupted, Misaki would probably start ranting and raving about Chiaki Nettu. And at least for the time being, she had completely forgotten about Sachiko and Noboru.

[Sen]

Sato Hashimoto // Warakuma High, First Floor

Just as Sato put his hand on the door to the equipment room, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Pivoting around on his heel to see who it was, he found “Maki-chan” to be looking at him with a frustrated expression that he hoped was not for him. She held the gift card she had won in one hand and her cellphone in one hand. She shifted her weight onto one leg and put the hand with the phone on her hip; a sassy pose, Sato noted.

“Do you happen to know where Rokoru is, Hashimoto-kun? I’ve been searching all over for him…!” She spoke in a very energetic way that almost caught Sato off-guard, due to how dull and tiring the first half of the day had been. It seemed almost impossible for someone to be that full of life on the first day of full classes after summer break.

Sato pointed to the way he just came from with his thumb. “Last time I checked, he was still in the meeting room, doing a bunch of paperwork the school gave him. He might be done by now though; it wasn’t much to do.” The girl sighed before looking over Sato’s shoulder like he was conveniently there. He looked in the same direction just to make sure, but to no surprise there was no one but a few second years loitering around.

“I really doubt Rokoru would take that long. Probably doing some homework, I’d bet!” And with that, Maki quickly brushed past Sato and made her way to Rokoru for whatever reason. Sato concluded that she was going to have lunch with him. But the idea that Rokoru would have school work due on the first day seemed a bit ludicrous to him, yet for some reason, he couldn’t really deny that it was a possibility. Sato shook his head to stop himself from thinking and returned his attention to the door he still had his hand on. He slid it open with ease and looked inside. Almost exactly like they had left it, with the exception of a few obvious things that had gone missing. It smelled faintly of B.O., but Sato easily managed to ignore it after months of being in musty archery range that perpetually smelled of dust. The thought reminded him that he should clean out the range some time soon, but he didn’t bother thinking about it more as he would be reminded of it as soon as he walked in for the meeting after school. Sato quickly found a space to sit on the counter next to a window, before turning to stare out the window and at the fields for a while.