[h3]Celeste Romilda[/h3]

The beginning of the semester. Cel had visualized this day at least a dozen times in the last week. Despite this not being her first year at the academy, she still anticipated the event and the days to come. Each new year was a promise of undreamt possibilities for Cel, a chance for her to begin anew and better herself.

She had sat down in one of the front rows with her fingers interlocked and her hands resting in her lap. Cel was listening to the Principal's each and every word. She knew her attentiveness wasn't something she could boast about but Cel wasn't really good at tuning out people. [i]Atleast the principal was trying to be genial,[/i] she thought. Compared to some of the more tedious lectures she had to attend over the years, the principal's speech was much more bearable. She continued listening to him, going as far as noticing his intonation and the changes in his speech rate. When the speech ended, Celeste joined in on the applause. The speech really didn't deserve any applause - it was mediocre, the sentences weren't timed well and the principal's choice of words seemed forever old and unchanging. She clapped, regardless, as expected of the students. 

Cel looked around, waiting for Miki to appear. When the teacher did appear, Cel didn't know whether to feel pity or disdain. As a teacher, the least Miki could do was to be there on time. Still, she couldn't help but feel a tad bit empathetic for her-Miki was obviously embarrassed. With the teacher's announcement, Cel noticed the increase in the bustling chatter around her. The new students were clearly excited about getting paired up. Cel got up to leave as well and proceeded in no particular hurry. 

[hr]

[h3]Adrian Floris[/h3]

Adrian had slept in once again. Not like this bothered him anyway. He got ready at his own pace and was outside the school entrance as the principal addressed everyone else in the gym. He walked towards the building leisurely, noticing how beautifully the cherry trees were blossoming. Adrian's thoughts went adrift to his afterschool plans. Perhaps he could go for a [i]Hanami[/i] on the weekend. A pleasant breeze interrupted his train of thoughts and he looked up to see the lighter tree branches waving at him, their petals scattered to the wind. 

Adrian didn't really feel like attending the principal's speech in the first place. It was the same thing every year: pompous claims about the academy's prestige and what not, some pointless prattle about rules and discipline and a big forced welcome to round it up. As Adrian walked towards the gym, its  doors opened and out poured a stream of students. The first of them were newbies about to be paired, their telltale anxiousness taking over their speech. Adrian walked over to a group of them and greeted them with a smile.