The night before the start of the new school year, a group of people who had either just recently enrolled or are coming back to Tsukiyama Academy after some well deserved vacations, fell into a deep sleep. Whether they were tired or not, they were nervous or expectant or whatever else, even if they didn't feel like sleeping that day, they just couldn't shake off their sleepiness, regardless of their situations, just before midnight hit. However, after closing their eyes and seemingly falling asleep, they were greeted by something else. Their vision was filled with a deep blue and they found themselves in a foreign and odd room. A room that they did not recognize, but felt strangely reassuring and calming. Everything was way too vivid to be only a dream. In it, a man with his eyes casted down sits right in front of them, with a little blue desk in front of him, and beside him, a woman, who cannot be described with any other word than beautiful. Upon closer inspection, they may notice the sound of crashing waves and the light movement inside the room. They are clearly on board a boat. Before long, the man that had been looking down lifts his head and reveals his ridiculously long nose and bulging, bloodshot eyes. As he speaks, he sports a smile that looks as crazy as his eyes. [B]"Welcome, to The Velvet Room. Do not be alarmed, you are sound asleep in the real world right now."[/B] The bizarre man explains, as if to soothe his guests. [B]"My name is Igor, and this here is my assistant, Priscilla. We are delighted to make your acquaintance."[/B] Igor makes a gesture towards his assistant, telling her to introduce herself. Regardless of it, however, he continues. [B]"We have called you all here tonight for a reason. I am certain that you have noticed that something seems off recently in your city, maybe you have even experienced the cause of this, but you are still unable to believe your eyes."[/B] He lets out a slight chuckle before continuing. Something sounded off on that last sentence, though. Everyone there thought they were alone in this so-called 'Velvet Room', but now that they are aware of it, they feel as if there were way more people than just the three of them, however, it is really odd, after all, they can only see Igor and Priscilla, but something definitely feels odd about it. Not as if this whole thing was bizarre enough, anyway. [B]"But, it is our role to help you through this..."[/B] Igor puts his hands above the blue desk in front of him, and a deck of cards appears. [B]"Do you believe in fortune telling?"[/B] He swipes with his hand into the air, and 6 cards from the deck follow suit, spreading themselves throughout the desk in an orderly manner. [B]"Even though every reading is done with the same cards, the result is always different... Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?"[/B] Before continuing, he accommodates himself in his seat and lets out another chuckle. [B]"What I find most intriguing of this is that every guest tonight shares the same fate. Perhaps destiny has bigger plans than even I cannot predict."[/B] Igor himself confirms it, there is more than one person right now in The Velvet Room. [B]"Now, shall we?"[/B] With a swift motion of his fingers, a card flips itself. [B]"Ah.... The Tower, in the upright position. It seems that a catstrophe is imminent. However..."[/B] With another motion, yet another card reveals itself. [B]"The Lovers, in the downright position. Hmm, it seems that this catastrophe will not be something you have to face alone, as the Lovers represent relationships, but due to its position, this will not be something certain for all of you."[/B] Though it should have ended there, when two cards are revealed from each side of the spread cards, Igor reveals yet another one. [B]"Let's see, due to the amount of people, yet another card needs to be revealed. The Wheel of Fortune, in the upright position. Changes are imminent in your future, however, whether you are willing to accept them or not, is entirely up to you."[/B] Igor, with another swipe of his hand, makes the cards return to the deck. [B]"You have an intriguing future, indeed. For now, we shall say our farewells, but be certain... We'll meet again, and then, we'll attend to the details we may be 'neglecting' as of now. Though that task will be mainly Priscilla's, as my role right now is that of a mere fortune teller. Until then, farewell."[/B] The Velvet Room fades to black.... --- Touko woke up on her bed, breathing heavily and holding her brother's pendant tight in her hand. [B]"What was on with that dream...? Huh, I can't really remember what it was about..."[/B] As hard as she tried, right now she couldn't recall what her dream was about, as neither of the others who also experienced it could. [B]"Touko-chan! If you don't hurry up you'll be late to your first day![/B] The voice of a middle aged man can be heard from outside Touko's room, more especifically, the first floor of her house. [B]"Coming, dad!"[/B] She says and is about to rush out of her room with her pink, baggy pajamas still on. Realizing that she should get ready before having breakfast, otherwise, her foster dad would get angry at her. She quickly dresses up with a pink dress with black details, she also puts on a pair of black stockings and on come her high-laced boots, by the way, the laces are pink. Though she almost forgets, Touko takes the white blazer the school gives out to students. Tsukiyama Academy is very flexible regarding uniforms, usually just making the first year students wear a blazer, black for males and white for females, and even with first years, as long as they have it in their bag they see no problem about it. Though being this flexible about uniforms also makes them a bit more strict with other things, such as committees or student council. After having breakfast with her dad in the dinning table, she leaves her plates with the maids that are around her house. Such irony, passing from the streets to a mansion with maids. [B]"I'll be off, dad!"[/B] She says and runs out of her house. [B]"Have fun, Touko-chan."[/B] --- Upon arrival to the school, the students are to check their classrooms on the announcement board and then head to them. Touko gets her classroom number pretty quickly and heads off to her class. In every year and classroom, the homeroom teacher asks the students to present themselves. When Touko's turn arrives, she stands up and goes to the front of the class. She takes a deep breath before giving her introduction. [B]"Hello, my name is Suzuhara Touko! What I looove the most are magic tricks and thinks like that! I hoope we get along this year, everyone!"[/B] She says in an energetic and cute tone, though people like her dad or the maids in the house would see right through her fake emotions. However, everyone in this class, who were complete strangers, totally fell for it. Many of her classmates now think Touko is an energetic girl who wouldn't hurt a fly. Poor fools.