Jeez this school was big.

They had given Yuki a map at orientation; however she was more content to explore at the moment instead of squinting a map trying to figure out where she was and advertise the fact that she was new here. At least the size of this place would keep her entertained while she attended school, exploring every nook and cranny of this campus would take her all year if not longer. For now she was content to wander, hoping she would simply stumble on her classroom later. Not that Yuki was ever in any rush to get to class. She would probably just fall asleep there anyway, still very tired and sore from her exhaustive sport’s tryout.

Eventually she wandered into one of the many gardens in between buildings. In all honesty Yuki would be content simply exploring today, but it probably wasn’t a good idea even for her to skip class on the first day. Besides, what if they take that sort of stuff into account when deciding who got into the specialty programs. Yuki had no idea if they did, but it was probably best not to risk it. She had decided to come here purely for sports so if she didn’t even manage to get into that…well for starters she would never here the end of the “I told you so”s from her second oldest brother.

Glancing around, it didn’t appear as many people were around, suggesting that Yuki was probably not walking in the right direction. Pulling out her map, wasn’t proving to be very helpful either…there were so many freaking buildings around here.

”Class B they told me… but what building was it again? Maybe it’s that one,” Yuki muttered to herself as she looked over the map.

Sophia runs from the tryouts to Class B. Well, where she believes Class B to be. She had only really glanced at the map once, which is hardly a good idea in a school this large. It isn’t until she begins to run out of breath that she takes some note of the surroundings… None of those numbers match the one that she is looking for.

“Whoops,” she says out loud. She shrugs off her backpack, and sits it down on the floor. In a few seconds, she finds the map which had managed to dive down to the bottom of her pack. Finding her location, she wonders how she ended up in this building at all.

She spends a few minutes running in and out of adjacent buildings, asking upper classmen for directions. A few don’t answer her. A few give her vague directions. Now, she is beginning to get frustrated. She spots another person in the hall: a slightly taller girl with short brown hair. Despite the previous let-downs, she is still optimistic that someone can help her.

With a big welcoming smile, Sophia asks, “Hello! Do you know where Class B is?” She is pretty sure that she may hug this girl if she gives good directions.

Eventually Yuki managed to find her way into what she hoped was the correct building. After taking off her outdoor shoes and slipping on the indoor ones, she proceeded to try and find her classroom….or really any classroom at this point. She had already ditched the map seeing as that thing only made her feel more lost.

As she wandered down another hall, Yuki heard a voice that seemed to be directed at her. When she turned she found an adorable looking girl smiling up at her. When she asked where Class B was, a big smile formed on Yuki’s face as she clasped the girl’s hands in her own.

”No idea!” She said, her strangely happy look contradicting her words. As if realizing this, Yuki grinned as she let go of the other girl’s hands.

”Oh sorry, I’m in class B too….Saiyuki Takamora, but you can just call me Yuki.”

It seemed the excitement on having met one of her classmates, made Yuki forget about the fact that both of them were lost.

Sophia smiles widely and shakes her hand with a pretty firm grip. She would have preferred to go in for the hug, but this was suitable enough. "Sophia Torres. People call me Sophie a lot. Good to meet someone else in the same class."

Sophia pulls out the map, "Well, I think between the two of us we can probably figure this out. I feel like they didn't give us nearly enough time between tryouts and the start of class unfortunately..." She points to a spot in the map, "I think ... well, I thought we were here, which means it should be nearby, but I don't see the surrounding landmarks, so I think I was wrong. Actually, I am not quite sure we are in the right building." She mumbles something about going back to the first building, and makes a face. "Any thoughts?"

Yuki nodded as Sophie introduced herself; glad she didn’t seem put off by Yuki’s initial forwardness. When the other pulled out hey map, Yuki peered over Sopie's shoulder to study it as well.

”Ah, I actually remember passing this landmark when I was walking around outside,” she spoke, pointing to the spot on the map. ”I think that means maybe we are…here?” She pointed again to a building that appeared to be located adjacent to the one they needed to be in.

”I seems like the building we want connects with this one….er I think that’s one we want anyway.” Yuki looked around but there didn’t seem to be anyone else around they could ask, which also probably meant that they were not currently in the right place.

”Let’s try it,” Yuki smiled, grabbing Sophie’s hand and pulling her off in what could very well be an arbitrary direction.

Sophia follows Yuki without any argument. “It is good that you are better at deciphering this maze than I am. And thanks for helping me.” She takes note of the way, refusing to get lost again. Memorizing the details, she could probably find her way back to the classroom without much issue. Unless, of course, she went across the campus, then she might get lost again.

“So did you tryout for any specialty program? Excited for any classes?” She is genuinely curious about her classmate. At the very least, she would have someone to talk to immediately. Classes could be very boring the first day with students being relatively quiet and reserved.

She looks at the some of the places that they pass. “Yep, this is definitely the right direction…”

”Well I don’t know if I’m any better at it….I was lost too after all,” Yuki spoke as they walked. Even if she wasn’t sure where she was going, she was simply the type of person who wasn’t afraid to make mistakes in order to solve a problem and therefore never second guessed her decisions and just went with her gut.

When Sophie asked her about tryouts for the specialty program, Yuki beamed.

”Sure did, you’re looking at the future ace player of the school’s soccer team. What about you?” Yuki remembered Sophie had mentioned tryouts earlier but she didn’t really seem like the athlete type. Yuki seemed to vaguely recall hearing about an art specialty program as well during the orientation.

As the two girls walked, slowly more and more students seem to populate the halls, indicating that they were heading in the right direction. Inwardly, Yuki thanked her luck. She would have felt bad if she had caused both of them to be late.

Sophia is happy to see the sight of the classroom. She wasn’t interested in being the late the first time, especially since all these other students didn’t seem to have issue navigating the campus.“You managed to get us here. I was pretty much prepared to lead us back outside,” Sophia admits.

“Congrats on your soccer tryout. I am still waiting to her back for my tryouts into the arts program,” she says. “At least, they didn’t ask me to stop in the middle of it. That’s a good sign. I think I did pretty well though. I went for acting, dancing, and singing since I sort of enjoy musicals. However, I do love acting this most.” She gives a more confident smile, “Maybe you’ll see me lead in some school production in the future. ”

She looks into the classroom, which is filling with people. “Yes… window seats haven’t fully been taken… Time to meet the class, I suppose. Any preference for a seat?” Sophia is already starting to take off her backpack and move into the room.

Yuki raised up her hands, realizing that Sophie had misunderstood her.

”Well actually I technically haven’t gotten in yet…” she said, giving a somewhat sheepish smile. Perhaps she had sounded maybe a bit too overconfident. It wasn’t necessarily that she was cocky or arrogant; it was more that when it came to sports and soccer, Yuki didn’t leave room for failure and always dreamed big. ”But they would be fools not to accept me I think.”

Yuki seemed impressed when Sophie told her that she sang, danced, and acted. ”Wow that’s pretty cool. I could never do any of that sort of stuff.” She smiled at the mention of seeing Sophie in a school production. ”I’m sure you will. I bet you’ve got great stage presence.”

When they reached the classroom, Yuki scanned the room for the best remaining seats. When Sophie asked her about preference, Yuki answered, ”Far back corner where I can sleep…” though of course that prime seat had already been claimed. Luckily though there were still a few seats near the window open.

”Let’s sit over there,” Yuki spoke as she walked over to the window seats and placed her bag down by one of the desks. A group of girls in the classroom could be overheard gossiping.

”Did you hear? They say Valdis is attending our school…”[/i]

”Valdis…I wonder who’s that…” Yuki wondered out loud to Sophie. The name sounded familiar somehow, but then again Yuki was not exactly one to stay up on current idols and what not.

Sophia happily goes and sits by the window. Now, she could look outside, and if it ever warmed up, enjoy the breeze. It couldn’t always be perpetually winter, could it? She starts putting away her things when Yuki mentions Valdis.

“You haven’t heard of Valdis Mortimer?” Sophia is a little surprised, assuming most had heard of the recent idol. “She sings for the band The Sirens. They reached number #1 on the music charts with their new single about two weeks ago and have yet to some off.” It takes Sophia awhile to process what this means for her.

“Wait… I could be performing alongside a celebrity?!” She starts getting giddy. “Wow. I didn’t think that sort of thing would ever happen. I wonder what class she will be in. What if she is in this class?”

Eventually, her mind goes towards some of the things the tabloids had to stay about her. Some of her former managers and agents mentioned she was somewhat unstable. However, certainly it couldn’t be that bad. “Well, supposedly, she is a bit… eccentric. But I am sure that we would get along. At least, I would assume that got automatically entered into the arts program. She would deserve it for sure.”

“Actually, I am surprised not to see tons of people with cameras running around, trying to get her picture. This must have been kept completely quiet somehow. Though it might be hard to recognize her when she is uniform and not some over the top outfit.”

As Sophie talked about Valdis, Yuki pulled out her phone, typing in the name. When the image of the idol appeared, she did in fact recognize her, having seen her face on TV and billboards.

”Oh so that’s her. Wonder what she’s doing at our school…” Yuki couldn’t help but grin at Sophia’s excitement. The girl appeared to be a big fan of this celebrity. ”Well if she’s actually here, I’m sure word will spread fast enough and cameras are sure to follow.”

In all honesty Yuki wasn’t quite sure how she felt about some big name celebrity going to her school. It could certainly cause things to become more interesting around here…though admittedly Yuki somewhat preferred when she was the center of attention. Well if she wanted that she would have to start by making a name for herself, something she couldn’t really do until she got out onto the field.

Just then the bell for the start of class rang and the homeroom teacher walked in. ”Well anyway, we should hang out some more later Sophie, I know a great place to eat after school,” Yuki spoke as the class began to settle down. She quickly put away her phone before it could get confiscated and took her seat.

Sophia nods, “Meet you for lunch.” She leans back at her desk, staring off into the window as class is about to begin. Valdis being at her school seemed surreal to her. Especially her school. Her eyes keep looking into the hallway to see if she passes by or whether she would be in the same classroom. However, no luck.

She still had a whole school year to confirm the rumor and meet her. It shouldn’t be that hard to find a celebrity. One would just need to follow the crowd, probably.

After a few minutes, she begins to actually pay attention to the homeroom teacher. However, she hardly has any interest in the school curriculum at the moment.

A tall man with neat long blonde hair tied into a low pony tail walked into the room. He had a slightly tan complexion and ice blue eyes behind black rimmed glasses. He was carrying a bunch of books along with a couple of files, all which he put on his desk in front of the classroom. He checked his watch and waited a few more minutes before going to the classroom door and closing it. Any students arriving after this would be declared late. He walked towards the desk again and flipped open the top most file….it was his class roster. Time to see who was here and who wasn't….He looked back up at the class.

”Hello students, I trust you didn't have much difficulties finding the classroom….I’ll be your home room teacher, I’ll be teaching you subjects such as math, English, science, language arts, ect. But instead of jumping right in today we’ll be doing introductions. First off my name is Hagiri Kaname, I am 26 and my hobbies are teaching, correcting papers, and running around this school like a chicken with my head cut off….Now that I've said something about myself I expect each one of you to come to the front of the class to introduce yourselves in a similar manner.”

Yuki turned her gaze towards the window, her mind wandering back to her sports tryout. She hoped they released the results sooner as opposed to later. Her attention was brought back when she heard an excited murmur from the girls in the class start up. Looking up to the front she saw their homeroom teacher and realized why.

She sighed when they were instructed to stand up in the front of the class to give their introductions. It would have been easier just to stand up by the desk. However when it was her turn, Yuki quickly got up and headed to the front, and made sure to speak in an upbeat, friendly voice. This was everyone’s first impression of her after all.

”The name’s Saiyuki Takamora, age 16 and soon to be ace player of the school’s soccer team. My hobbies include playing soccer, but when I’m not doing that I also like to eat snacks and sleep through English class.” This managed to elicit a slight giggle from the classroom. Truthfully though, Yuki probably liked to sleep through all her classes. ”Anyway it’s nice to meet you all,” she concluded in a shallow bow before walking back to her seat looking pleased with herself.

Sophia listens to everyone give their introductions. She doesn’t feel like introductions at the front of the class are the easiest way to remember people’s name. After a long string of people, you can hardly remember everyone’s introduction.

She stands up in the front of the class when it is time for her to do so. “Hello everyone. I am Sophia Torres. I am 16 years old. I enjoy acting and bike riding, and I make my own earrings on occasion,” pushing back her hair to show off beaded earrings as she says the last part. “I know about 4 different languages, and am learning two others. I may be joining the arts program, so hopefully, I will see some of you there and the rest of you will go support the school productions. I am glad to meet you all.”

She walks back to her seat and listens to the last of the introduction. She hoped that their teacher would be somewhat interesting this year.