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It was the dark of night—dusk settled over the dormitories of La Pucelle; as a certain Tsuruko Sejren merely looked up at the wooden ceiling, sighing. "So...that's plus one friend. I'm kinda disappointed; really...It seems that pretty much everyone hates me."
Even so, the darkness that shrouded the area began to lift the moment that an incessant beeping rang out; Tsuruko herself, half asleep, turned over...
....And she fell straight onto the floor; her head smacking against her suitcase.
"Owww...." Tsuruko hissed; obviously displeased. It was only her second day here and she'd already gotten off to a bad start. Nevertheless, she noticed the beeping expand—in front of her, a flat screen manifested, displaying on it, the information:
"IMPORTANT NOTICE: YOU, TSURUKO SEJREN, ARE ASSIGNED TO ROOM 101—THERE, YOUR TEAM-MATES WILL GREET YOU, AS WILL YOUR HANDLER. THE ARRIVAL IS IN FIFTEEN MINUTES."
"...Great—hey, ow, ow, ow!" So far, so bad. So very, very, very bad. The feeling of waking up was the worst.
After all, when you wake up to find somebody passionately dancing to a samba rhythm while stepping all over your stomach or chest or head, other than a special group of people, anyone would be unhappy.
While rubbing her bleary eyes, Tsuruko declared in a lowered voice:
"Rosa, the heck are you doing here?!"
"Ohhhhh!?"
Only then did she finally notice that Tsuruko was awake. The blonde-haired girl with a foot still on Tsuruko's stomach—Rosa Dimaggio, turned her head while adjusting her uniform—yes, there was a uniform. Rosa wore a black blouse with dark blue shoulders that echoed the design of the sailor-style collar. Attached to the collar were two gold-trimmed "wings" that hanged over her chest; a maroon tie was also worn with a metal clasp. The ensemble was completed with a straight skirt cutting off just above the knees; finished with black thigh-high socks and white sneakers.
Her blonde hair swayed, as she gazed at Tsuruko through her round acorn-like eyes.
Incidentally, even though she was caught stepping on someone early in the morning, she didn't seem to be secretly cursing, "Damn it!" or "I'm caught!". If anything, it seemed that she was honestly happy that Tsuruko had woken up.
Oh, and from Tsuruko's position, there was a stunning view of her underpants. It wasn't as if it was just showing a glimpse. Even shamelessness has its limits.
"It's about time you woke up!" Tsuruko answered, without even a sign of moving her foot.
"...Well, get offa me. You're heavy." Tsuruko sighed, as Rosa gave an exaggerated nod and leapt from the bed. Tsuruko's stomach was left with an impact like a body blow.
Tsuruko pulled the blanket over her head. "I don't wanna get up!"
"Ahh! Hey~! Why are you sleeping again!" Rosa raised her voice, slowly shaking Tsuruko.
"Just another ten minutes..."
"No way~! Wake up already!"
After sitting up and grimacing at the dizziness resulting from shaking her still dazed head, Tsuruko opened her mouth with a groan. "Fine, fine...It's not my fault that I'm about to get mocked by that rich girl."
"So you're really going to...?" Rosa queried, as surprised as somebody who'd found a hidden message from aliens.
"No." Tsuruko exhaled and covered herself with the blanket again. Looking at the time, it was still before six. "What a time to wake someone at..."
Several minutes later, Tsuruko quickly got out of bed—holding down her bed hair and suppressing a yawn, Tsuruko plodded out of the room. At that moment, the small mirror hanging on the wall caught her eyes. A girl whose forelocks were about to invade her vision, probably because she hadn't had a haircut for a while, was casting a lame look at Tsuruko Sejren.
Together with her declining eyesight, her looks had also been slightly degrading. Sighing while suiting up, she descended the stairs and began to walk down the corridors to the room where she had to meet her new team.
"Oh, Tsuruko!" Rosa quickly caught up—as the atmosphere became incredibly charged. To think such a thing could come out of a docile-looking creature like this. When Tsuruko turned around, Rosa had grasped Tsuruko's wrist tightly, as if trying to tell her that she wouldn’t be allowed to run away.
"...Eh, Rosa?"
"Tsuruko, why are you running away?"
"Oi, I'm not running away! I'm late, you know!" Tsuruko persisted.
"You're lying… lying lying lying lying lying… don't lie to me… you were running away, weren’t you? … You were running away, right? Running away? … Why are you lying to me?" … Huh? W-what was up with this strange forcefulness all of a sudden…? Still gripping Tsuruko's wrist tightly, Rosa continued to accuse Tsuruko of lying to her and trying to run away.
Clearly, she was not the same person she was a few minutes ago. "Multiple personality disorder?! Is she a symbiote too?!" If one just took her words out of context, they could feel that she was a bit angry… but it was way more than that.
What a ferocious intensity. The rain that had started falling mixed in with Rosa's long blonde hair… a terrifying atmosphere drifted about in front of the dorms. It was almost like a scene out of a horror movie.
"Oh, no Tsuruko...you're not going anywhere without me..."
"Rosa, listen to me. I've got five minutes until I'm late. Can you let go, please? I'm not running away. I told you that we're friends; and there's a fat chance I'd lie to you. So please, let me go." Tsuruko said sincerely; sighing.
"I'm sorry for shouting so suddenly… but, I'm… just worried about you, Tsuruko." Changing her tone, Rosa went with something more gentle and apologetic this time. It was a tone of voice that made Tsuruko feel like feathers were tickling her in her ears.
Opening the door, Tsuruko was left in complete shock as she noticed...
Light azure hair, and a rather annoyed expression....
Rosa and Tsuruko both exclaimed, while this girl did at the same time, "NOT YOU AGAIN!" It was very, very clear that the mortal enemies had met once more, and now there was about to be a cat fight of epic proportions.
"You three, quiet down. Any fightin' and I'll be the one ripping you a new one." A slightly drunken voice stopped Tsuruko and Kaguya from attacking each other.
Gazing over, Tsuruko caught the look of Giselle Mercury who was dressed...rather casually for once. It wasn't that it was horrendous to look at, but rather that it was so surprising. "Giselle, what the heck are you doing here!?"
"...Can't you tell by looking? I've become your teacher; just like I said. In particular I will be teaching philosophy, as well as handling your missions." While displaying the nametag on her chest, Giselle replied. Incidentally, the stuffed bear covered in scars peeked out of her breast pocket directly above it.
"No, there's no way I could know that!" A yell—at that point, Tsuruko noticed that oddly the surrounding gazes had gathered on them.
"If you'd mind, could you hush down a smidge? I'm reading." A small, orange haired girl whispered; even though her tone was near silent, it was enough to draw their attention.
Giselle held her palm to her head in exasperation. "Come on, Aeris, at least be courteous to your future team-mates."
Tsuruko backed up, sighing, "Ugh...it seems that everyone hates me already..."
Giselle rested her hand on Tsuruko's shoulder. "Hey, it's not so bad. I'm here for you; so is that blonde chick."
"...Still, I wanted to make a new friend each day...I said I'd become friends with everyone in this school, and now I can't even get two people to pay attention to me..." Tsuruko's head sunk. It was a far cry from the invincible girl seen in battle—she was great at everything...except getting difficult people to listen to her.
Suddenly, a silver-haired young man barged in; there he was, standing alone in the middle of the classroom; the rest of Team Daybreak all looked at him strangely. He was a bit red in his eyes from the tears and was shaking badly. He tried to camouflage his nervousness by squinting his eyes and suppressing his voice. He coolly said; "I'm from Suzaku! My name is Gary Straights!"
Tsuruko's attention immediately focused upon Gary; her eyes shifting over to him. "...Huh? This is just like, back then..."
That friend she had, so long ago.
Why did Gary remind her of him...?
Tsuruko's train of thought was suddenly derailed, as Giselle exclaimed,
"From now on...Aeris Lugonis, from Byakkō. Kaguya Kobayashi, from Genbu. Rosa Dimaggio, from Seiryū. Gary Straights, from Suzaku. And the leader..."
Giselle pointed at Tsuruko, who was absolutely confused by now. "Tsuruko Sejren, from Ōryū."
Giselle had dropped a bombshell. Kaguya felt rage boiling inside of her, screeching in fury, "What a load of bull—"
"...Shit, we're running out of time. Anyway, you guys are now known as Team Daybreak. Let's all work together and become best of friends, shall we?" There was obvious sarcasm in Giselle's tone, as the entire group merely watched Kaguya and Tsuruko glaring at each other.
They felt the moment that they laid eyes on each other.
Tsuruko's pulse was rushing.
Kaguya's head was reeling.
Their faces were bright red.
What was this feeling?
They didn't know what the name for it was....
"...That's it. It's loathing. Pure, unadulterated loathing."
Those words left the lips of the Ringed Magician and the Heiress of Doma Enterprises, as the day drew to a close.