Ren had begun to observe everyone who had arrived before her when she noticed the boy standing in the doorway she had just entered. She didn’t recall seeing him on the way, and certainly didn’t remember seeing any movement in that direction. It was as if he had just…appeared. 

“Now that everyone has arrived, we can finally depart.”

Ren was taken aback when he paused for a moment to shoot her a very nasty look. She felt her face heat up before looking away quickly. A mix of embarrassment and annoyance shot through her. She wasn’t exactly sure, but Ren was pretty positive that this boy was not pleased with her arriving a minute late. She waited to be reprimanded, but breathed a sigh of relief when he changed the subject. 

As she listened to him speak, her eyes found their way back up to the door. After he introduced himself as Kentarou Hanade, a fourth year student, she noted the obvious difference in his uniform compared to the other boys in the room. Kentarou was wearing black as opposed to the light tan. Dread washed over her when he also informed them that they were all one week late due to “cyber terrorists.” This also made her very nervous. Why were there people targeting the school she was about to attend? And how in the world was she going to catch up after missing a whole week of school?

"...your student card can be found within the envelope. Your rank is listed at the front of the card. If you believe you have been ranked inaccurately, you are free to rise up on your accord through the shuffle matches. Either that or you can wait patiently for the reclassing in three months."

Just like Kentarou’s mysterious entry, an envelope that had not been there before appeared on the table. Ren blinked a few times to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating and then gave the boy at the doorway a curious look. She tried not to let her wariness get the best of her and once he left, she retrieved her own student card like everyone else.

Ren raised her eyebrows when she found that her ranking was B-class. She was pleasantly surprised although she had secretly taken a peak at some of the other cards. A few other people were in the same rank as her, and she was pretty sure the only A-class was the strange looking girl who held a stuffed rabbit. Ren glanced at her for a moment and noted the very blank expression on her face. It unsettled her a bit, as everyone else had begun to converse with one another, but Ren shook the feeling off. Everyone in the room seemed nice enough with the exception of the blonde boy sitting in a dark corner by himself. He just looked like he wanted to be left alone.

She was content to just sit and ponder what to think of the allowance given to her. It was yet another sweet surprise as Ren had never had that much money on her. Just as she was pondering what she could even spend it on, a voice to her right pulled her out of her thoughts.

“Um… Hello. My name is Kanzen Tadashi. That was quite the opening speech, hm?”

She looked at him. Ren noticed earlier that she was sitting next to a boy with a gun attached to his thigh and she still didn't know what to make of it. He had a very friendly face even though his long hair covered most of it. She could still see one green eye peaking out at her. 

She smiled awkwardly.

"Hi. Uhhh...I'm Ren," she laughed a little. "But I guess you already knew that, right? Are you as a lost as I am right now?"