"Let's give Yuri-San a warm welcome, shall we?"
The classroom broke into a short, awkward applause, just as it always did whenever Ms Kashiwagi asked them to cheer for anything.
The boy was tall and lean, complete with messy dark brown hair and eyes. He was handsome enough, maybe even enough to compete with Souji. It was hard to tell what the boy was thinking. If he was bored, or just indifferent. He kept his face neutral.
Well this should be interesting.
Souji and Yosuke were the only city kids in the class and Souji wondered if this newcomer would soon start hanging out with their group. When Kashiwagi had finally finished fawning over the boy's good looks - very subtly, of course - Yuri walked off to his seat with a carefully polite smile and settled himself down next to Yukiko.
"Man... Why couldn't I be seated next to Amagi-San on MY first day here?" Yosuke muttered in his seat behind Souji. Kashiwagi's lesson dragged on until the lunch bell finally rang. Souji let out a sigh of relief and watched as Yukiko leaned over to Yuri and said in that courteous tone she always used with strangers: "Yuri-kun, would you... Would you like to have lunch with us?"
The boy gave her a small smile before replying, "Sure. Thanks."
Chie broke out into an excited ramble and shot questions at Yuri. What's it like living in the city? What brings you to the country? When did you get here? Do you wanna hang out at Junes some time?
Yuri Hyuga was half-German, half-Japanese and he was living here with his guardians, and yes, the city was great but the country should prove to be interesting. There was definitely a mysterious air about him. Yuri cracked jokes and laughed easily enough but still, there was something about him that bothered Souji. He just couldn't figure out what.
Lessons continued after lunch, and when the dismissal bell rang and Mr Kondo left the classroom, the door slammed open and three first-years entered.
"Yo, Senpai!" Kanji Tatsumi was in high spirits today. Behind him were Rise Kujikawa and Naoto Shirogane.
"Senpaiiiii!" Rise was cheery, as usual. And she ran over to grab onto Souji's arm like she always did. Souji didn't mind, even though they weren't even dating. It wasn't for a lack of trying though. He found her attractive, with her dark red hair and her cute, winning smile. They'd dated before, very briefly, when the team first rescued Rise from the shadow world. But it just didn't seem right between the both of them, and they remained friends ever since.
It was then that Rise noticed Yuri standing quietly next to Chie. "Oh hi! Are you senpai's new classmate? They mentioned a new city kid was coming in today!" Rise gave her signature smile, all sunshine and rainbows, her Risette smile. Yuri broke into a grin and said: "I'm Yuri Hyuga. Never thought I'd ever attend school with a pop star." He picked up his bag, flashed his polite smile at the group, and left the class.
"Well. I think he's mysterious," said Yosuke. "Kinda like how Naoto was when she first came, huh?"
Rise, still holding onto Souji, gazed at the door in intrigue even after Yuri was gone.