Hikari Suzumaki stood among a few dozen people about her age, all nervously glancing around and trying to peek outside towards the selection chair. Hiraki, for her part, was simply trying to remain on her feet; she was excited about finally starting here at Kobayashi, but she hadn't known she'd have to sit in front of the [i]whole school[/i]. She was so nervous she could barely move, and as the line slowly started moving forward, it sometimes took a small push from Mori-sensei to get her to keep up. The teacher didn't seem to mind, though. In fact, she almost looked like she'd been expecting it. [i]I guess she's used to freshmen being nervous,[/i] Hikari thought to herself. As the process continued, she tried to calm down by thinking back her original excitement and how she first learned of Kobayashi's School for the Gifted.

Hikari had lived most of her younger years in a private academy, though certainly not one built for magic. Her father was the CEO of a major electric company, so her family had always been quite wealthy. Even so, she never really enjoyed the extravagant lifestyle her parents tried to lead, and often found herself retreating out into the nearby woods for some privacy. She enjoyed the simple life she felt out in the woods, and always dreamed of having a small house in a field one day. School life wasn't enjoyable, either. Hikari was always a shy and sensitive person, and was often the butt of many jokes because of it. She was easy to pick on, so she was picked on often. She told her parents about it, but they always simply told her how lucky she was to be able to attend such a prestigious school, what it would do for her in the future, and so on. She grew up very lonely.

At the age of 12, she first encountered her magic abilities. She was being picked on again by a group of mean students, who were surrounding her. They were laughing at her and pulling her hair, and she closed her eyes and wished she could just disappear. Suddenly, she did just that: when she opened her eyes again, she was suddenly back in the woods she always visited. She stayed there until school would have been over, and then went home. The very next day, her letter from Kobayashi was in the mailbox. Her parents told her to throw the letter away, and that she would be forced to continue her education at her old academy, but for the first time in her life, Hikari refused. She was completely enamored by the idea: a school for magic! And they wanted her! She could do magic! It all seemed so exciting to her. But still her parents refused, demanding that she throw away the letter and forget the idea at all. Finally, after their continued demanding and threats of punishment, Hikari did the only thing she could.

She ran.

Clutching her letter as tight as she could, she ran as fast and as far as her legs would carry her. When she finally stopped, her parents were nowhere to be found. It broke her heart to run away from them like this, but for the first time in her life, she had something that made her feel special. She would never give it up, no matter what her parents thought of it. Fortunately, she still had a lot of allowance money saved up, so after spending the night at a friend's house (she did have [i]some[/i] friends, thankfully), she went shopping for all the items her school letter listed for her: her wand (it was smaller than most, but she thought it looked cute), a few school supplies, and a few new outfits. She really enjoyed shopping for clothes: normally, she could only wear what her parents bought for her, so choosing her own outfits was a whole new experience. Finally, the first day of school was upon her, and she was so excited to start!

...Well, she had been, but now she was as nervous as she could be. Still, thinking about the possibilities and the fun she might have helped to calm her nerves, if only somewhat. At long last, it was her turn to make her way up to the selection chair. She saw the snake slithering around it, and it looked at her as she sat down. She wasn't afraid of snakes; she'd met a lot of them during her trips to the woods, and eventually, they had just stopped being scary for her. The snake rested its head on top of hers, and she felt a very strange presence filling her head. The snake sat there for a moment longer, then turned from silver to red and grey, the colors for Dragonhart. The Dragonhart table erupted into applause, and a young man stood up and came to get her.

"I'm Akira Takashita," he said. "Welcome to Dragonhart." Hikari smiled and took her place at the table, receiving several greetings and congratulations. She smiled timidly; even on day one, she felt like this was going to be a good school indeed.