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~~ ETHAN ~~

"My name is Mr. Russello and Headmaster Byakko has sent me to show you around the school. I know I don't look like it, but I'm a history teach here at AOA, and I teach both juniors and seniors, so I'll be teaching you this semester" His teacher basically repeated his introduction from earlier, and Ethan wondered if Mr. Russello was going to give more history lessons throughout their tour. "History is important-" Ah, there it is, Ethan thought, The unprompted history fun facts. "-after all, the past is full of both knowledge and mystery. Why, even the ground we stand on can be an untold stories. People could be standing on a graveyard or battefield and not even know it! This very school could be built upon the deaths of people, their blood nourishing the plants that grow here. After all, there is an old legends that cherry blossoms used to have white petals, until blood from slain corpses seeped into the ground and turned them pink. Anyways, if you're ready, let's begin the tour."
As they left the dorm, Mr. Russello thankfully stayed on subject and just spoke about the school. "The building right next to your dorm is the girl dorm. Spending the night is not allowed, but there is no harm in simply spending time with your friends, although there is a recreational room where students may spend time together. Its right over there." Ethan turned towards the building he was pointing to, and it turned out to be right across their dorm building.

He walked beside Rodrigo as the history teacher guided them into the building. "This is also the cafeteria. Byakko made sure the food is excellent quality, so hopefully they will suit your tastes." Ethan wondered if they had to pay for food, because if Angel had explained how they would get meals or even money in general, he forgot. "Hey, Rodrigo, do you think it costs money to get something to eat?"he asked discreetly, not wanting to interrupt the teacher as they walked up a staircase.

Ethan felt surprised at the sight; there was a pool table, a huge screen tv on the wall and various game appliances, bean bag chairs, couches, and other stuff. "This is a recreational room that is open to students after school and weekends. Students tend to come here to relax, relieve their boredom, or procrostinate on school work. Sometimes, parties get held here but I assure you that it is just fun dancing because alcohol is forbidden." Mr. Russello started to laugh, and it sounded like one of those soft dark laughs a villain would have. "There have been a few times students have tried to smuggle in alcohol, both here and in dorms, but they were punished accordingly. Also, sometimes, students have karaoke competitions and even non music course students like to participate. Why, there is a dance student who joined an idol group after discovering what a nice voice he had." He definitely caught Ethan's interest at the mention of an idol and he quickly asked, "Sir, who was he? And any student can be an idol and participate in the UwaPri contest even if they aren't in a music course?"

He saw the man smile at the both of them. "Oh, of course, all students should be allowed to follow their dreams. Being in the music course is not the only road to becoming an idol and many of the other courses are related to becoming a successful idol. While the main focus seems to be vocals, it takes a lot more than going on stage and singing. There is dancing during performances, wearing an outfit that will both describe who you are as well as appeal to the audience, knowing how to speak eloquently and act appropriately in front of an audience, posing and modelling for cameras, and having artistic creativity when having props on stage or a music video. Although I would not be considered an 'idol', I was the lead singer of a band before I decided to teach here, and I needed all of those attributes to succeed. If you're interested in becoming an idol, I would be glad to give you two advice, as well as many other teachers here. Your music teachers, Mr. Shirahane and Mr. Shi- Madore, sorry, are both former idols who won the UwaPri contest."

"Wow...er yeah, help would be nice. I would be grateful actually, we're both extremely interested in becoming idols and entering the contest with a group", Ethan forced himself to say "The only group we know about is the previous winner, LEGENDS, but not much about the others". He felt bewildered by all of the information he just received and felt like their chances of getting the trophy were even slimmer now. Angel knew what he was talking about when he said singing was not enough and something else about dancing and selling themselves as idols. He made a mental note to thank him a thousand times for the vial that would perfect their singing, but then decided not to, since he remembered that it was Angel's fault that he had to become a pop idol in the first place. 

"Let's go see another building now, I'll tell you more about what I know about the idol groups since you want to enter."

"The student you asked about earlier is another junior like yourselves; Jecht Rutella. He's a part of Captivating Captains along with some of your other classmates, Kieran and Fenrir. They're a nice group of boys, I'm sure they would love to have one or both of you join. "

Ethan remembered what Angel showed them about LEGENDS and their fabulous attire would not leave his mind. Mr. Russello said that this second group was named Captivating Captains and the name of their group gave him the impression that they probably wore outfits just as fabulous as LEGENDS, if not more. He hoped that not all the groups had to be potentially embarrassing.

They reached the building next to the cafeteria and Ethan wasn't particularly interested in it; he would rather hear more about the idol groups some more. The first floor was boring administration things and the nurses office, the second floor was the library and computer lab, and the third floor was the faculty offices, headmaster's office, and teacher's lounge.

"So, this is where you may reach a teacher if you ever need one for whatever reason. Well, that is all for this building, I'll tell you about some more groups on our way to the gym."

"There is an all girl group named sis★tar but I haven't had the pleasure of teaching any of them yet because they were formed only last year. They're the underdogs because they have the least experience of all the groups, but from what I heard last year they're incredibly talented. Glamour is another idol group you could probably join, although the only members I can remember right now are Trixxtal and Cepheus. They're both excellent singers in the music course so you'll might meet them soon."

When they got to the gym, Mr. Russello pointed to the door that led to the gym but curiously did not open the door. "The gym teacher is Mr. Vargas...I would rather not disturb his class, but through this door is the basketball court." Ethan thought that he sounded as if he just wanted to avoid this Mr. Vargas person and wondered what kind of man he was. Did he even have to attend gym class? He figured he would find out when they got their schedules and took a quick glance through the little window on the door, seeing some blond boy get hit in the face with a dodge ball.

Mr. Russello then showed them the way to the changing rooms, outdoor field, and the indoor pool. "Mr. Rousseau is the swimming coach, so if you are interested in swimming just speak to him. There are many after school clubs you can join such as the swim team, basketball team, student council...there is a complete list of what you can join I will give you later, when I give you your schedule after the tour." Ethan felt a strange, sudden interest in the basketball team but he had no idea why.

As the three of them exited the gym, Mr. Russello began sharing his information on the idols again. "Sparkling Prince is nicknamed the "generation of princes" and in my opinion are composed of a unique set of students. None of them are enrolled in the music course for singing! For example, Valexander is a famous actor who is a part of theater course. Sparkling Princes won second last year, so they'll be challenging opponents besides LEGENDS. I heard their leader Belisario only invites students with special talents into the group and he can be a bit...cold," Ethan could have sworn he saw the teacher have a look of terror on his face for a second, "So I suggest only joining that group if he comes to you first. If you want to join, of course. Ahaha, anyways, the last group is named Sweet Symphony."

Once again Ethan saw a look flash in Mr. Russello's eyes except instead of horror this time it seemed like he was fond of this group. Maybe they're his favorite? he wondered, as he began to listen.

"They're still a pop group like the others, although their songs tend to have more a rock vibe. The current members are named Seiryuu, Belshazzar, Genbu, and Valis. They're pretty friendly, although I'm sure Seiryuu might need to warm up to you a bit, I think they're another group who would be glad to welcome another member. Genbu is a junior too, so he'll probably be the first one you'll meet."

Ethan's first thought was that the Headmaster was right and there was a lot of students with Bel in their name. In fact all of their classmates seemed to have strange names and their own names, Ethan Smith and Rodrigo Smith, felt out of place because they sounded so...normal. Even the teacher's had strange names! That Kieran person was the only one with a name he recognized as normal and even then it seemed uncommon and the kid probably had a whack last name just to fit in with this alternate dimension's weird naming scheme.

He ran the groups in his mind one more time glancing at Rodrigo. "So, the best ones we have a chance of joining are Captivating Captains and Sweet Symphony?"he half stated half asked.

Ethan entered the next building as he followed after Rodrigo and Mr. Russello, feeling slightly in awe at how big it seemed. There were three floors and each floor had four huge hallways. Mr. Russello explained that the first floor contained music, dance, and theater classes in the first three hallways while the fourth had a dance studio, black box, and practice rooms. The second floor contained the fashion, photography, and art classes in the first three hallways with the fourth having classrooms dedicated to electives such as speech and foreign languages and other classes that sounded boring to Ethan. Finally, the third floor held the academic classes such as math, history, science, and English.

"My classroom is over in this first hallway." He heard him say, trying his best to remember everything but certain that he had already forgotten where most of the classes were. "This is a lot of information to take in all at once, so just try to remember that your music classes will be in the first hallway of the first floor while your core subjects will all be on the third floor. Well, we are almost done with our tour! I have one last place to show you before I take you back to your dorms."

"Alright, here we are! Next to the cafeteria and across the girls dorm is the Grand Stage."

Ethan, pathetically feeling out of breath after having to walk so much and wondering how in the world their tour guide go talk so much without even seeming tired, sluggishly made his way into the last building.

"This is where all of the major performances are held. Throughout the year the theater students may hold a play you can visit, or a dance and music student may have a recital, and fashion students may hold a fashion show. This auditorium may also have assemblies you have to attend, but mostly, you'll be here for entertainment purposes. A lot of the functions are held during the school day, so if you want to treat yourself to a day off from class, attending is a fun way to do so. Lastly, this stage is also where the UwaPri contest is held at the end of the year. Any idol group has permission to use the stage for rehearsal as long as they acquire permission from a teacher, mostly due to scheduling purposes."

Ethan sighed. He felt both dread and nervous just looking at the stage; how in the world was he going to be an idol? He looked towards Rodrigo, wondering if he felt the same way.

Finally, they were done with this tour and could stop walking. Now that they were back in front of the dorm building, Mr. Russello handed them some papers Ethan felt unmotivated to look at but he assumed that they were their schedules and the club list.

"Those are the main buildings, but there are various areas outdoors where students enjoy hanging out, I'm sure you'll see after school once everyone is out of class. Well, if you have no more questions, I'll let you two go back to your dorms and get ready for class. If you decide to head to class early, here are some permission slips to be outside until the current class period ends, which ends in about fifteen minutes. Well it was nice meeting you two and I'll see you later today in history."

Ethan accepted the hall pass and muttered a tired but polite goodbye before he laid his head against Rodrigo's shoulder. "Ugh...I'm tired, Rodrigo be my pillow for the next few minutes."he mumbled. "I already don't feel like going to class. Why did Angel have to send us to high school?"
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