Greater Centenary Festival - Heavenly Cross/I

[Tashi]

>Look for landmarks.

> You do so.
> Nothing... can be seen. Not a mountain, not an edification nor people. Nothing.
> "..." The man frowns a bit, as if something caught his attention.
> _

[Neovereign]

>"Nothing..."

[Tashi]

>"Nothing..."

> "... Hm." The man nods. "Nothing."
> ...

The pleasure is mine, fellow students.

> She bows.
> She bows o so elegantly that could make anyone jelly due to how graceful she is.
> There's no mistake.
> She, Sumadera Akiko, is the new student.
> Whispering resonates in the classroom...
> "B-Be quiet, please!" Ikeda orders, and so the classroom falls silent once again.
> And there's no surprise there. Who wouldn't start talking when this new person and Aoi look really alike?
> _

[Neovereign]

>Glance over to Aoi.

[Tashi]

>Glance over to Aoi.

> You look at Aoi.
> She's looking down, hiding her face from the others.
> _

[Neovereign]

>Best to leave that be for now...
>Wait for the new person to do something.

[Tashi]

>Best to leave that be for now...
>Wait for the new person to do something.

> You decide to not question for now...
> "Alright, Sumadera-san, please take seat next to Hearn-san."
> Ikeda points to Maribel's left, which is next to the window. Which, also, means that there's only one seat of separation between you and Akiko's seat.
> The new student nods and walks to where her seat is.
> And like that, you can see her more properly.
> Her hair is a deep blue, just like Aoi. She has has it running loose, which... to your eyes looks... quite nice-
> S-She also seems to be like a twin to Aoi. She has the same uniform as all of you.
> And she sits down on her seat...
> The classroom is silent...
> _

[Neovereign]

>Wait for Ikeda to continue introductions or go into the topic...

[Tashi]

>Wait for Ikeda to continue introductions or go into the topic...

> "Before anything, Sumadera-san, I would like to say that I hope you enjoy your time here... and that you had a great timing."
> "Likewise, sensei." Akiko responds. "But... what do you mean with 'great timing'?"
> "Oh, because today we are going to start something."
> "Sensei?" Saburota questions.
> "As far as you alls know, christmas and new year is near."
> "There's still a month..." Renko says.
> "Why yes, but there's something we have to do before that."
> And then, Ikeda shows a recipient, seemingly empty from this distance.
> _

[Neovereign]

>Wait for her to explain.

[Tashi]

>Wait for her to explain.

> Ikeda takes the recipient...
> Everyone is silent...
> And then, with her broadest grin: "CATCH ONE!"
> ... Ikeda, with an exaggerated gesture, throws what's inside the recipient to all of you.
> It's a lot of scrapped papers!
> _

[Neovereign]

>Wait for one to float near enough that we can get it without going out of our way.

[Tashi]

>Wait for one to float near enough that we can get it without going out of our way.

> You wait, staying as sharp as always.
> However, there's a dilemma.
> You are able to get THREE scraps of paper floating down near you. However, since Ikeda said one, then one will be.
> There's the FIRST ONE, which is floating down diagonally to your seat.
> There's the SECOND ONE, which is floating down a bit to your right.
> And there's the THIRD ONE, which is floating down a bit to your left, to the window.
> _

[R. P. Genocraft]

>Let's go for the third one, so that it won't fall out the window.

[Neovereign]

>The new student's nearer to the window than we are. It's probably better to go for another.
>Let's try and grab the first one. It's practically falling to us.

[Tashi]

>Let's go for the third one, so that it won't fall out the window.

>The new student's nearer to the window than we are. It's probably better to go for another.
>Let's try and grab the first one. It's practically falling to us.

> You quickly decide yourself and take the first one.
> It seems it's somewhat folded.
> You don't pay attention to what happens to the other two.
> There's some exaltation in the classroom as students try to take one scrap of paper as ordered.
> After this, there's silence in the room.
> Ikeda is still grinning.
> "... Sensei... What is this all about?" Renko asks, a bit annoyed at Ikeda's unpredictableness... as always.
> "Open it up!" She says.
> _

[Neovereign]

>Cautiously unfold the paper and see what's in it.

[Tashi]

>Cautiously unfold the paper and see what's in it.

> You unfold it...
> 'Sumadera Akiko' is written there...
> "... 'Maribel Hearn?" Renko asks.
> "Usami Renko?" Maribel reads her paper.
> "... Mera Arumi." Aoi reads her paper in low voice.
> "Sakata Aoi?" Akiko questions, looking at her paper.
> "..." Arumi is silent...
> The other students start to read their papers aloud, which are, obviously by now, names of their fellow students.
> _

[Neovereign]

>Look towards our teacher.

[Tashi]

>Look towards our teacher.

> You look at Ikeda, just to find out that she is looking at you confused.
> "Claythorne-san? You haven't read the name you have there..." Ikeda then looks at Arumi. "Neither did you, Mera-san."
> "..."
> _

[Neovereign]

>"Sumadera Akiko."

[Tashi]

>"Sumadera Akiko."

> "Hm. Which means..." Ikeda looks at Arumi.
> "... Valentine Claythorne." Arumi responds.
> "Yosh! This is it, then!"
> "What is it?" Maribel questions.
> "Your groups for the final investigation!" Ikeda answers.
> _

[Neovereign]

>Greaat...
>"The details of which are...?"

[Tashi]

>Greaat...
>"The details of which are...?"

> "Right! Well, you see, for each group-"
> "Sensei..." Renko speaks.
> "Nani? Is something wrong?"
> "..." Renko has an unamused face. "Senseeei..."
> "Err... What is it?" Ikeda blinks.
> "Don't you think there's something... off?"
> "Something off...?"
> "... I-It's true..." Maribel, after putting a thinking face, seems to realize.
> "W-What?" Ikeda seems nervous.
> The rest of the classroom seems to notice it too... by which Ikeda seems really confused and nervous, as all of them glare at her.
> "D-Don't look at me like that and tell me!" She pouts.
> "... Sensei... your intention was making groups, right?" Renko begins.
> "W-Why, of course."
> "And I assume this papers have the names of who will be in our group...?"
> "Exactly!"
> "... Then, can you kindly explain us... what are we supposed to do if everyone said everyone's name?" Renko finishes.
> ...
> There's silence in the classroom...
> _

[Neovereign]

>"The grouping could've been better, but we should still see how things are at the moment first. What the 'final investigation' is and how having more, less, larger, and smaller groups would affect it."
>Pause.
>"Then we can worry about if we ended up with one big group or similar..."

[Tashi]

>"The grouping could've been better, but we should still see how things are at the moment first. What the 'final investigation' is and how having more, less, larger, and smaller groups would affect it."
>Pause.
>"Then we can worry about if we ended up with one big group or similar..."

> "Right." Renko nods.
> "..." Ikeda seems a bit down, stll pouting. "A-Awright." She looks up. "By 'final investigation' I mean this will be the last thing you will have to do for the year."
> "HUH?!" All the classroom is legitimately surprised by her answer.
> "I-Isn't that a bit too soon, Sensei?" Aoi asks.
> "Nope. In fact, it's pretty exact. This will be also the last day y'alls will have to attend to class for this year."
> _

[Neovereign]

>"And you, Sensei?"

[Tashi]

>"And you, Sensei?"

> "I, of course, have to."
> "Teachers and stuff..." Renko adds.
> "Yup. We are also planning what we will do next year."
> _

[Neovereign]

>Do we have any plans for the end of the year that we'd like to do instead of stay in class for longer than necessary?

[Tashi]

>Do we have any plans for the end of the year that we'd like to do instead of stay in class for longer than necessary?

> Why, of course you. do.
> YOU REALLY DO.
> But that's not something you should be telling anyone so freely. You will have time for that, and this is just all the more convenient, but again, you will have time for that.
> _