[h2]Tomoe Miki[/h2]

Somehow, Miki felt her heart start to beat marginally less quickly. No one was jumping at her and asking weird questions or anything, so... maybe this was going to be totally fine! Yeah... maybe for once, she had no reason to be so nervous... that was possible, wasn't it? It... well, it wasn't likely... not at all... but that didn't necessarily make it impossible...

This train of thought derailed, fell thousands of feet, and erupted into a fireball that killed every single thought on board horribly, when one of the students, one of the girls who did not yet have a pairing in spite of not being a first-year, asked her about her hair. The actual haircut she asked about didn't have much of a consideration. Instead, Miki felt her cheeks heat up going incredibly red. Someone had looked at her hair... enough to make a comment about it. Someone was thinking about her hair oh no. Her cheeks were almost glowing red as she stood there and trembled. Why would anyone ask that? What was it about? Why would anyone want to look at her hair? It was so messy... wait, that was it. Her hair was terrible so obviously no-one wanted to see it so she would have to cut it down... but even if she had been able to get herself somewhere have her hair cut, sharp objects near her head terrified her beyond belief. It was, in fact, one of many things that terrified her beyond belief.

"... I-I... I... u-um... hair... cut... I..." the researcher averted her eyes and stared squarely at the ground for several moments... until a ray of light burst through the dark clouds of having to talk about any aspect of herself. It was about how they paired Tuners!

"... A-ah! Ah!" Miki looked back up, taking a deep breath, "The Akiyama-Kreuz Academy utilizes personality-based pairing measures. While the theory posited about the usage of genetics in order to engineer a pairing is not without merit due to the Heinsberg principal, relating to the creation of Receivers, it is believed to be marginal when compared to the effects of a relationship between both Tuner and Receiver. This is of course founded on the desire of the Receiver to help the Tuner, but that's hardly a full summation of the responsibility both partners bare in order to reach success. In fact, close genetic relationships can sometimes stifle development of abilities. A protective Receiver keeping a related Tuner from practicing, for example."

Ah, it was so... soothing talking about her work, instead of herself. It almost made her forget that there was a see of teenagers in front of her and one of them had asked about her hair. Almost.

It was only a few moments later that Miki would receive something else to give her a boost in confidence.

This year, there was no deviation from her projected ideal pairings.

[hr]

[h2]Maki Rika[/h2]

Responsibility. Of course, Rika did have a responsibility, to be the best Tuner possible. This was also the job of her Receiver, to ensure she could be so. Wasn't that enough? Of course it was. The tiny girl folded her arms firmly, practically giving a glare to the flustered woman. Well, trying to, though all the crowds of people she had to attempt to look through. Why did she always get stuck behind these stupid idiots who were just too tall? he had to try and look for gaps between people to see.

"Hmph, fine, it's not like I had to see or anything," she commented, "... Idiots..."

She didn't want to mingle or whatever. She wasn't here for that!

"... And p-pairings received! Everyone, look towards the front of the room, please."

Rika looked up quickly, in time to see a large, holographic projection appear above the crowds. The woman's voice seemed... less nervous at this point, as well, though Rika didn't particularly care why.

On it, there were a list of names. Each name was in a set of two with a picture by each as well.

She found her own quickly.

'Maki Rika and Masayuki Michi.'

Whoever that was, Rika hoped they weren't stupid.

There were many other names, of course. Among them...

'Jaylen le Ganga and Sean McAster.'

'Kensaki Kazuko and Anjou Ryuuto

'Olivier de Plancy and Sora Jo.'

'Masayuki Naoki and Suniyama Sakie.'

'James Zhen and Akiya Nobuhiko.'

'Rozmonda Arensdorf and Alexis Thorburn.'

'Akeya Kagura and Tatebayashi Eri.'

'Kurihashi Keiichi and Kougami Mari.'

'Celest Romilda with Lucis Gonjake.'

Miki looked up at the screen, and then back to the students.

"S-so... p-please meet with your partner and proceed to y-your dorm room to settle in."

Rika unfolded her arms and looked around. So it was time to find this person...

She better not be an idiot.

[hr]

[h2]Kudou Chie[/h2]

"Maybe that doesn't make her get here any faster?" Chie asked, with a light shrug. "We don't know what she does before every opening assembly... Though I guess it's likely she's sleeping or playing video games or something, knowing Tomoe-sensei."

Chie sighed. Miki was really an intelligent researcher from what she knew, but having interacted with the woman for several years, well... Well she didn't really seem to be the most collected person. At all. Still, she apparently did her job very well, judging by how high up in terms of the pairing-based research staff she was. She didn't lead that department, but she was the one who arranged pairings to be tested and then applied. Chie didn't know what that meant, exactly, but it seemed important.

"They always are, aren't they?" Chie replied with a smile. Really, six sisters seemed kind of hard to deal with... "My family went to the mountains to meet my aunt. It was pretty fun, I don't see her often."