“Don’t move, not a single one of you! Hey! You! Get back in line!” one of the one-stars shouted in response to the announcement over the loudspeakers, shoving a petrified looking no-star back into line. There was no doubt in Jäger’s mind now that the group she was with was indeed being singled out from the rest of the other students, with the majority of no-stars heading unmolested to their designated classrooms. This was bad. Really bad. The fact that she saw no sign of the others only made her even more concerned as to the purpose of this little gathering. Had they been separated in a similar manner or was it just her?
The guy who was doing the shouting turned to one of his fellows and nodded. Jäger recognised this guy as the one-star with the clipboard, the guy with the intense eyes but friendly expression. He flipped through his clipboard and shook his head in response.
“No, we’re still missing one, let’s see,” he said more to himself then to his subordinate. He sighed and rubbed the side of his head in mild annoyance.
“Well that sucks, if we can’t find him soon we’ll just have too…”He was interrupted, along with Jäger’s concentration by the arrival of Kageta from one of the ground floor entrance ways as he stumbled straight into the unsuspecting Jäger, sending them both tumbling to the ground in an undignified heap.
“K-Kageta!? What are you…Ah!” Jäger started to say before realizing that the boy was still on top of her, his hands somewhere they really shouldn’t have been. Her face flushed red and she fell silent. Luckily for Kageta he seemed obvious to the fact and pushed himself upright almost at once. He offered her his hand but she was too embarrassed to respond. She bit her bottom lip, contemplating serious physical assault. Luckily for all concerned her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of laughing.
The guy with the clip board was bent over in laughter, his subordinates standing by patiently with a look that said they were used to this kind of thing. This only turned Jäger an even deeper shade of red as she silently took Kageta’s hand and stood back in line. She looked toward the floor and nowhere else. Once he managed to regain his composure the one-star stood up straight and checked his clipboard. He smiled and checked something off with a flick of a pen. He smiled in satisfaction.
“And that makes everybody. So glad that you could join us!” he said with dangerous cheer as he looked directly at Kageta. He clicked his fingers, causing a rush of hands that would forcefully place Kageta into the lines of assembled no-stars. The one-star threw the clipboard over his shoulder. Behind him another one-star performed a heroic leap to catch it before it hit the ground. His face hit the ground instead.
“Let’s begin!” he said cheerfully, flashing the assembled no-stars a warm, cheerful smile. His fellow one-stars lined up behind him with militaristic precision.
“Welcome, one and all, to our humble little institution. Congratulations! Now I bet your all wondering what it is that you did to be singled out like this? Yes? No? Don’t you fret kittens! You’re not in trouble, not yet anyway. In fact, that’s the reason you’re all here! Ah, where are my manners, an introduction is in order!” As if on cue music started to emanate from an unknown source.
“My name is Kisuke Nagato, hall monitor and soldier of love! The pleasure is all mine~” he said with an overly dramatic flourish, his subordinates clapping in unison in response. He brushed a hand through his hair. His face seemed to sparkle all on its own.
“And you have all been randomly selected to take part in a little exercise that we like to call…wait for it…compatibility testing!” he said theatrically, throwing his arms into the air. Either side of him one-star’s pulled party poppers sending a stream of colourful confetti into the air.
“Any questions, kittens?” he said, inviting a response from the speechless audience of no-star pupils.
