The girls ushered into the auditorium. The underclassmen intermingled with each other, trying to find who was in their group. There were girls from all different nationalities. It was one of the biggest new groups the school had seen.
Akko noticed a small girl, frail, with hair pinker than Sucy's. However, much like Sucy, it covered one eye. Her bangs swooped to each side, and it was about shoulder length, and a bit curly. Her eye was a bright green, although not as piercing as Amanda's. The girl stood awkwardly off to the side, looking nervous. Her belt was purple.
Akko walked up to the girl. "Hello!" She greeted. "My name is Atsuko Kagari, but you can just call me Akko. What's your name?"
The girl lifted her head to meet Akko's gaze. Her lip quivered, and she furrowed her eyebrows, looking anxious. Her small frame shook.
"I-I'm Natalie Morneau," she stuttered quietly in a French accent. She looked around. "U-um... Where am I supposed to go?"
Akko pointed to Natalie's belt. "You're purple, so we need to find two other girls with purple." Akko responded. "Why don't you walk with me and my friends?"
Natalie cast her look past Akko's shoulder at her friend group. They smiled at her and waved their hands in greeting. Natalie nodded, and Akko turned and headed back into the crowd.
They squeezed past all the new girls who were standing with their groups. Akko looked around for two girls in purple. Natalie followed closely behind, playing with her hair.
"Want some candy?" Jasminka picked a piece of candy from her bag and showed it to Natalie. "It's happy flavor."
"Um, thanks," she murmured, taking the candy and popping it in her mouth. She chewed it slowly and the corner of her mouth raised in a small smile. She didn't look as nervous.
Suddenly, they reached the end of the room. Two girls stood talking to each other. A black cat was perched on one of their shoulders. They chatted happily, looking as if they were already friends. Their belts were purple.
"Hey! You girls are wearing purple!" Akko yelled. The two girls looked over, smiles on their faces.
"Hello," the girl with the cat said. Her cat let out a meow.
"This is Natalie Morneau!" Akko informed, pulling Natalie forward. The girls waved their hands.
"I'm Pratibha Dwivedi," Pratibha smiled. She had a thick Indian accent. She had a bindi on her forehead and she had a thick black braid. She had large earrings and a dangling nose piercing. Her eyelids were heavy with eyeliner, and she was tall and thin. "And this is Koohara," Pratibha pointed to her cat. Koohara was jet black with bright blue eyes.
"And I'm Nkiruka Rousseau," the other girl said. She also had a French accent, and her hair was up in a green, yellow and orange head wrap, and she had large hoop earrings. Her body was rounder, like Jasminka's. "I'm from Lome, Togo."
"Togo?..." Amanda tilted her head to the side, and Nkiruka chuckled.
"It's in Africa," she told her. "Don't worry, everyone I've talked to who isn't from Togo has absolutely no idea Togo exists!" Her demeanor was cheerful and personable, and she didn't seem to take offense Amanda's ignorance. Amanda smiled and nodded, her cheeks blushing a bit red, embarrassed.
"I'm from India," Pratibha added. Koohara rubbed her head against Pratibha's, and she reached up and scratched her head.
"I'm from France..." Natalie told them. She avoided their gazes.
"I'm from Japan!" Akko grinned, standing tall. "And I'm Atsuko Kagari, or Akko for short!"
"I'm Amanda, and I'm from America," Amanda told them. "Jasminka here is from Russia, and Constanze and her robot Erich are from Germany."
"I'm from Sweden and my name is Lotte," Lotte smiled sweetly.
"I'm Sucy, from the Philippines," Sucy said, her voice monotonous.
"So, we're from all over the world, aren't we?" Pratibha noted. "Very interesting. Would you girls mind showing us around the school?"
"Not at all," Lotte smiled, turning and heading out of the auditorium. Jasminka walked up to Pratibha and Nkiruka, handing them some candy.
"Thank you Jas," Nkiruka thanked. "Hey, can I call you that?" Jasminka nodded, stuffing more of the candy in her mouth and following Lotte.
Koohara jumped off of Pratibha's shoulder and ran up to Constanze. "Hm? What is it, Koo?" Pratibha asked her.
Koohara mewed, and Erich jumped off of Constanze and approached Koohara curiously. Koohara sniffed Erich, then rubbed against him, purring. Erich let out a squeak but leaned into Koohara happily.
"Looks like she likes your robot, Constanze," Pratibha noted. Constanze gave her a brisk nod, not being the one to talk much.
Natalie dropped back behind Pratibha. "I-I'm surprised they let you bring a cat," she said silently, avoiding her gaze. Pratibha let out a boisterous laugh.
"Koohara isn't just any old cat, she's my best friend!" Pratibha watched as Koohara walked ahead with Erich. "I've had her since she was a kitten, and I had a special connection with her. My magic allows that." She explained. Natalie nodded slowly, looking interested but still timid.
"So, here are some of the classrooms," Akko pointed at the rooms as they walked by. One of the rooms had tubes in it, and Akko snickered. "Hey Sucy, remember in that classroom we tried to sneak a love potion into Professor Harlow's tea?"
Sucy grinned, revealing sharp teeth. "Yes, too bad she caught us," she replied.
In one of the rooms, Professor Ursula was talking to another professor. Her face was panicked and her hushed voice was frantic, although they were unable to make out any words. The nine girls stopped outside and gazed at them quizzically.
"Yo, Professor Ursula, is something wrong?" Amanda queried. Professor Ursula looked at her worriedly but shook her head.
"Oh, no, no girls, everything is fine!" Professor Ursula responded, although it was obvious she was lying. Sweat trickled down her face, and the other Professor had a grimace on her face. "Why don't you all go to your dorms?"
"Okay then," Amanda shrugged and they girls kept walking. Akko put one hand on her hip, another on her chin and narrowed her eyes, deep in thought.
"Professor Ursula looked really frightened," Akko observed. "But what could be the matter?"
"She's usually full of anxiety like that as usual, if you haven't noticed," Amanda told her, cocking an eyebrow and grinning.
"But that wasn't anxiety, that was fear," Lotte disagreed. She looked worried and unsure herself.
"Are you saying something bad is happening?" Nkiruka asked, crossing her arms. Amanda answered her with a shrug.
"Hm, maybe Diana knows?" Lotte replied.
"Diana was the girl at the auditorium, right?" Pratibha asked. Akko nodded, looking irritated at the mention of her. Lotte giggled.
"Diana and Akko have a bit of a grudge match they're trying to settle, their personalities really grind against each other." Lotte laughed. Akko rolled her eyes and sighed.
"She's just so annoying and pretentious and-" Akko ranted, but just as she started insulting her behind her back, they turned the corner and Diana was right there, along with Hannah and Barbara.
"You were saying?" Diana hissed. Akko shrank back behind Sucy. Diana furrowed her eyebrows. "My, you're pathetic," she growled. "Who taught you to talk bad about someone when they're not around?" She looked closer at Pratibha, Nkiruka and Natalie, who stood behind. "Oh, don't tell me you're hanging out with some new girls. You'll corrupt them."
"You're hanging out with the troublemakers of the school!" Hannah chimed in.
"They're misfits, outcasts!" Barbara added, her face smug. Diana looked down at them.
"I wouldn't follow their paths," Diana told them. Akko's face turned red and she leapt forward to get Diana, but Lotte grabbed her shirt and yanked her back.
"Akko!" She whined. Akko gritted her teeth and balled her fists. Diana and her gang watched her, their expressions arrogant.
"Diana," Amanda started. Diana directed her attention to Amanda. "Professor Ursula was talking to Professor Crewe and she seemed kind of… panicked, to say the least. Do you know what's going on?"
Diana pointed her nose up to make her look superior to them. "No, I do not," she responded, "and if I'm not concerned, then you shouldn't be either." She then stepped back and curtsied. "Have a nice day," she smiled, then walking past them. Hannah and Barbara laughed, mocking them. Akko grew even more furious.
"Let me at her!" Akko shouted, but Lotte pulled her back some more.
"Akko, please," she begged. Akko didn't listen, but instead started to pull so hard her clothes started to tear a bit.
"Akko!" Amanda yelled. Akko stopped and relaxed, looking at her friend. Lotte let go and Akko blushed, holding her arm and looking away ashamed.
"Sorry Amanda," she apologized. Amanda grinned and tittered.
"So, you're troublemakers?" Pratibha asked. Akko's anger quickly returned, her eyes a smoldering fire.
"I have saved this school from a magic-eating dragon before, and I saved the town from a giant!" Akko protested. Sucy glared at her.
"With our help," she snarled. Akko crossed her arms and jutted her bottom lip out in a pout.
"Well, I guess we should take you to your dorm now, like Professor Ursula said," Lotte quickly changed the subject. The girls nodded and continued down the hallway toward the dorms.
Although Diana had told them not to worry, she was not convinced. Ursula looked scared! That wasn't just her everyday worry, she was frightened about something. Lotte felt herself grow queasy at the thought of it. Her mind started to race, and she couldn't help but worry that something terrible was going to happen.