After the speeches were finished, Tamura Itsuji found himself once more carried along by the tide of students to the classroom he would be learning for the duration of the next year. The journey was one that only further emphasised the sheer difference in scale between Odaiba High and his old school; the number of students, the more modern buildings and facilities, and the size of the grounds … the sight of it all simply gripped his mind in how [i]different[/i] it all was. It even distracted him from the state of his yet-to-be-fixed tie, which continued to hang limply upon his neck. Nobody had seemed to notice its unfortunate appearance yet, which he was truly thankful for, but he really wanted to fix it as soon as possible.

So caught up he was in his necktie that the rural boy nearly walked past the door to his classroom. Itsuji glanced down at the slightly-scrunched map in his hands once more, the one that had been annotated with a circle around his desired destination (and labeled with “3-B” in red marker). He looked back up at the sign above the door. There, written in white against a black background, were the words “3-B”. 

Upon pushing open the door, Tamura Itsuji found himself presented with a class many times bigger than the one he had previously been a proud member of. On the one hand, the prospect of learning so many new names was a little daunting for the young boy, but on the other hand it did offer yet another surprising and beneficial experience. Of course, there was little time for the rural boy to take in the sight, as he soon realized that he was in fact clogging up the doorway. Never one content to be in the way of others, Itsuji quietly made his way over to one of the few window side seats. At least in this small manner, he could still view the countryside he once called home.

Unfortunately, only a few trees could even be glimpsed amongst the multitude of metal giants. 

The ringing of the bell interrupted his musings on the environment of his new school, and the sound of someone clapping immediately drew his eyes to the front of the room. His teacher, a brunette woman wearing a windbreaker, had her palms together, and was surveying the room with steely eyes. The chatter and mumbling of his fellow students immediately lessened in intensity as they all turned their attentions upon her, before dropping entirely the moment she cleared her throat.

“Alright everyone, it’s time to settle down,” she said, clapping her hands together once more. “I know it’s the first day and you’re all excited, but we still have work to do. Now, I’ll start by taking roll. Adachihara?”

“Yes.”

Unfamiliar names left his teacher’s mouth one after the other, followed by unfamiliar voices answering in the affirmative. Itsuji was barely able to keep up with all the names being thrown at him; trying to remember them all was, as he had expected, a particularly daunting experience. He did notice an absence, but any thoughts about who it was and why they weren’t present on the first day of school were shelved when a few seconds later, his own name was called. There was a slight pause as it registered in his mind, but before the boy could reply, the teacher spoke once again, this time saying his name in full.

“Yes,” he immediately responded this time, albeit with a little more effort than necessary.

There was a small smile from the teacher in his direction, one so slight that he thought he’d imagined it, before she immediately continued on with the roll. She seemed like a nice enough person to him, which boded well for his future in the class. Yet as more names were called out, he found his attentions drifting back to the window once more.

“Oh, Takeya-san.”

The sudden divergence from the usual calling of names merited a glance back to the front of the classroom. His teacher was looking over towards the door, and as his eyes followed her gaze, Itsuji caught sight of a familiar black-haired girl at the door. His mind supplied the reason a second later - she had been one of the two important-seeming students sitting on stage during the assembly. It looked as if she was going to be in his class too.

After nodding back at the teacher, the girl (ostensibly named “Takeya”), immediately glanced in his direction. For a second, he thought she was looking at him, but her eyes drifted past him to the empty seat in front of him. Itsuji watched as she walked across the room and sat down in the chair, placing her bag down next to the table leg. Now that she was closer, it was more apparent that her hair wasn’t actually black, but merely a rather dark brown. However, as soon as she had settled down into the seat, he found himself the target of his teacher’s gaze … and the gazes of everyone else in the class.

Suddenly the main actor, instead of merely another face in the crowd, Itsuji found his body jumping straight out of habit. “[color=Sienna]Good mornin’,[/color]” even with such common words, Itsuji’s northern, rural accent bled through. “[color=sienna]My name’s Tamura Itsuji,[/color]” it was at this point in the introduction that the rural boy found himself stumbling. He wasn’t quite sure what else one was supposed to say in an introduction. After all, the last time he’d introduced himself to a class, he had still been in elementary. 

After the brief pause, the boy simple finished with “[color=sienna]I’ll be in your care,[/color]” a bow, and a return to his seat. A moment later, Tamura Itsuji once more faded into the crowd as the teacher continued on with the day’s lessons. His name only came up briefly once more, as the teacher instructed the brown haired girl from earlier to be his guide after class. It appeared, that this Takeya-san was quite a capable student, if the teacher’s placed so much trust in her. That explained why she had been on stage during the assembly.

The teacher, who he now knew as one Inoue Kasumi, then carried on with the day, starting with a rather impromptu review of the previous year. For his part, Itsuji found himself staying rather quiet, after all he wasn’t quite sure what the others had covered in the previous year. For instance, his history class had focused on covering the start of the Tokugawa Shogunate all the way up to the Meiji Restoration, yet from what he was able to garner from the other student’s answers, they had spent the year covering the 20th Century and end of the Showa period. 

Thankfully, with the first day being only half as long, the rural boy didn’t have to sit in silence for too long. As the final bell rang, and the other students hurried out the door, the rural boy found himself face to face with the brown haired girl who was now giving an introduction of her own. 

“[color=sienna]Nice to meet you too, Takeya-san. I hope this tour isn’t too much of a bother for you.[/color]” Came the boy’s reply, as he gave a bow of his own. “[color=sienna]Where to first?[/color]”
[hr]
[@Dusksong]