[h2]Akiya Nobuhiko[/h2]
Nobuhiko considered himself a decently smart guy. He got pretty average grades and didn't make any particularly bad life choices or anything like that. He knew there was nothing to worry about in the sense of imminent danger, but still, as the entrance ceremony proceeded Nobuhiko couldn't help but have this feeling of apprehension growing in the pit of his stomach. He worriedly played with the hem of his sweatshirt, his ears only barely taking in the sound of the Principal's speech as he made an attempt to get to the bottom of his growing anxiety. He continued his fidgeting until the topic of the speech became that of life at the academy. 

It finally clicked. His problem was all about [i]that[/i], then. Well, he couldn't say he was too surprised. There was nothing as bad as uncertainty after all. His grip on his sweater tightened, holding fast for a few scant moments, before relaxing and finally letting go. He had to remind himself that there wasn't a reason to worry, that he'd get a lifepartner well-suited for himself. That [i]was[/i] the system, wasn't it? At the very least, he shouldn't end up abhorring his as-of-now unknown partner. He smiled to himself. That's right. As long as he could smile, he'd be fine.

And then Nobuhiko jumped in his seat. Ah... All that spent time zoning out meant the speech had ended right under his nose. Truly a wonderful omen of things to come. T'was good he didn't believe in that sort of thing then. Quickly, the young hero-aspirant added his own fervent clapping to the dying fanfare of applause. Looking around to make sure he hadn't made a big fool of himself too quickly. Nobuhiko sheepishly grinned, slowing the pace of his claps. Considering that the overall state of the student body following that speech was definitely more on the 'apathetic' side of the scale rather than the 'inspired' side, his eager applause probably did that just fine for him, huh?

Bah! It was fine; nobody knew who he was anyway. And if they did, he'd just have to trump that with something more audacious later, wouldn't he? He grinned, standing from his seat in preparation for... something or other. He wasn't too sure at this point. The speech kind of ended without any sort of closure. 

Well, he couldn't see. He could hear though! And what he heard was... Hmm... If he was going to put it charitably, it would be 'like something out of one of my Japanese animes!'. If he was a mean person, he might think... Well he wasn't a mean person, so to Nobuhiko, the vocal pattern was like something out of an anime. Not much like a teacher-type character though. Maybe something like a hikikomori or a bookworm. The Principal said she was the head partnership researcher, so he figured that last one fit nicely.

Anyway, to Room 4B it was! Time to [s]seal his fate[/s] [i]see what kind of fun fellow these researchers had in store for him[/i]! 

...Err...But first, to figure out where Room 4B was. Hopefully these people knew where they were going, because Nobuhiko was already too deep in their shuffling mass of bodies.
[hr][h2]Olivier de Plancy[/h2]
[i]'That was...certainly...[/i] something[i],'[/i] Olivier thought, leaning back in his seat and politely-but-unenthusiastically applauding the Principal's entrance ceremony speech. Though he had only watched the speech with feigned interest and false attentiveness, he had heard and absorbed every single rehearsed, poorly delivered line in that old man's dialogue. It was almost like a soundtrack to the repetitive-but-entertaining mobile game he had been playing throughout that farcical excuse for a ceremony. Speaking of which, Olivier looked down at his lap, quickly traced a path along the bottom half of his phone's screen, and triggered a five row combo to defeat the boss of the dungeon. With a pleased "Hn", he put his phone on standby with a press of the top button, and placed it securely in his pocket. Now that that speech was complete and the Principal said they partnering would soon begin, there was no need for a distraction.

...

Any time now. He was sure of it.

...

[i]'Perhaps I spoke too soon. They're certainly taking their sweet time...'[/i]

...

Did they... Did they think this was some kind of joke?

...


[i]'Screw it.'[/i] Olivier took his phone out and began matching orbs.

...

[i]'Lovely.'[/i] With a sigh, the Frenchman returned his phone to his pocket. He was out of in-game energy. 

[quote=The Head Researcher or something]"... U-um. N-new, um... n-n-new students! P-please, um... I'm, um, the researcher for... pairings, er, um... P-p-please go to the, um, room 4B downstairs and um ah-hah yeah!"[/quote]

Ring-a-ding-ding! We have a winner! 

...A not particularly athletic, well-groomed, or punctual winner, but a winner nonetheless. None of that stuff was what they were paying a researcher for anyway, so he'd give her the benefit of the doubt. Fortunately, she got straight to business with her directions and didn't hold them up with talk about bonds and friendship and life and such. For that, Olivier was thankful. 

With the desire to just get on with it, the tall Tuner followed the crowd downstairs to Room 4B, dwelling on the what kind of person his glorified battery was going to be. He had a decent idea of what he wanted, after all. As long as they didn't insult him, didn't act like an idiot, weren't dead weight, didn't look down on him, weren't annoying, didn't abhor exercise, didn't lie to him, didn't care if he disregarded the rules, didn't enjoy EDM, liked seafood, hated the color hot-pink... Hmm... On second thought, perhaps his requirements were a bit too specific for a semi-randomized pairing. [i]'Yes,'[/i] Olivier thought, [i]'I will accept my partner's faults because it is the right thing to do.'[/i] The sage nod was not done physically, but if anyone could read his mind, they would know. [i]'...And because I'm stuck with them for the rest of my life.'[/i] It was not good to have illusions about the true nature of things, after all. It was callous, but he was just 'keeping it real', as the Americans say.