Hisao stared dumbfounded at Maru's back for a moment. Have to admire that sort of confidence, he reflected. Okay, get a grip. This is a big step, I know that... but there isn't any point to worrying so much about it, at least not this soon. He followed after Maru and looked around, in an effort to avoid curious gazes.

Maru met gazes, and returned them with a smile and a nod as he made his way to stand beside Mutou. As he came to a stop, he gave the class an informal salute, and then crossed his arms and smirked. Huh, interesting set. Pretty normal class really, when you get down to it. Except for that hair. He narrowly avoided raising an eyebrow at a girl with pink hair, done up in classy drills. Now that's a hairstyle and a half.

Hisao faced the class only as he came to stand beside Maru. They all look normal, like students in any other school. But then, why would they be here? He noticed that one of the girls seemed to be missing the thumb of her right hand, and blinked.

Mutou started to introduce the two to the classroom, but neither Hisao nor Maru paid too much attention to him, albeit for different reasons.

Ah man, the waiting's killing me, Maru thought as his heart began to beat faster in anticipation.

Hisao noticed a flash of dark hair, and looked toward the source. A girl with eye-catchingly long, straight hair was looking at him. As he met her gaze, she covered her face with her hands. He looked to the side, and noticed that one boy had a cane, which leaned against the lockers at the rear of the class. It's weird seeing someone so young with a cane, he reflected.

Movement caught both Maru's and Hisao's attention, as another girl made motions with her hands.

Hisao frowned. Sign language?

Maru blinked. He recognized, vaguely, the motions of sign language. He didn't know any variation of it though, and was forced to shrug and mouth, "Sorry."

The girl peered over the rims of her glasses at the two, then went back to her previous task.

Well, that went well, thought Maru. Man. I hope we don't have to all know sign language. I'm bad with languages, and I think you need two hands for it besides. Maybe. ...Eh, I'll just have to roll with it one way or another.

She's kind of cute, Hisao thought. So is the cheery-looking girl with the pink hair sitting next to her. He blinked. She's really hard to miss; I don't know how I didn't notice her the moment I walked in...

"...please welcome our newest classmates," said Mutou. He clapped his hands, and so too did everyone else with the exception of a girl in the first row who had only one hand.

Hisao cringed a little, but hid it by bowing in thanks for the applause he did not feel he deserved.

Maru noticed Hisao's bow out of the corner of his eye, and gave one of his own. It was a theatric bow, with his right arm stretched out and his left held inward, as opposed to the traditional bow.

The classroom was silent with anticipation.

Well, here goes nothing, Maru thought as his heart raced faster still, adrenaline beginning to take hold. "...I... am MARU!" He grinned somewhat maniacally. "AND I AM A LAAAARGE HAAAAAAM! MILK THE GIANT COOOOOOW," he roared, as he held his arms to the sky.

Reactions were mixed. Most of the class stared at Maru as though he were insane. Mutou gave Maru a subtle glare. Some people laughed, including the one handed girl in the first row. The pink haired girl's laughter was easily the loudest, even as she shakily said something in sign language. "...WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Hisao took a step back from Maru. "...Uh." Why am I surprised by this?

"Thank you, thank you very much," Maru said in his best Elvis voice as he took another theatrical bow, his heart rate beginning to slow slightly. Woo! That was fun!

"...So... I'm Hisao Nakai," Hisao began, "and I have no idea how to follow that."

"Wahahahaha!"

"Um, my hobbies are reading and soccer," he continued. "I hope to get along with everyone even though I'm a new student."

"Oh!" Maru blinked. "Hobbies. Right. Um... well, I like woodworking. And reading. And making a fool of myself for an audience." He grinned, and then turned to Hisao. "Thanks for reminding me, didn't think of that at all."

"...Don't mention it," Hisao replied. I feel like I should be trying to upstage him, somehow. I'm being so boring. This is exactly like every self-introduction ever. A competitive spark struck within. Maybe... I should do something similar? The spark grew, and he acted. "...I CAN ALSO HAM," he roared.

"WAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Maru broke out into another grin. "Ohohohohahahaha...!" He gave Hisao the thumbs up. "That was good! Needs practice, but good start!"

Mutou's glare now focused on Hisao.

The girl with the glasses looked as though she was trying to frown and smile at the same time.

Is that approval or derision? Still, that could have gone worse, Hisao thought as he saw this. He also noticed that a few girls were whispering to each other and throwing both he and Maru glances. They seem satisfied.

Maru continued to grin. I'd like to sit down now, he thought. That's fun and all, but the adrenaline crash sure takes it out of you.

"I hope you two can get along with everyone," Mutou said.

The class clapped their hands again, which Hisao felt was a weird thing to do. The first row girl clapped on this round, with her one hand against the other wrist that ended in a bandaged stump. It made him feel a little bad.

Maru didn't notice anything other than the clapping as he looked to Mutou. He did, however, nod to the class in acknowledgement.

"We're going to be doing some group work today," Mutou said, "so that will give you two a chance to talk with everyone. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure, suit's me," Maru said.

"Yeah, it's fine with me," said Hisao.

"That's good," Mutou said with a hint of a smile. "Hisao, you can work with Hakamichi. She is the class representative. She can explain anything you might want to know. And who else would be able to do that better, right? Maru..." He regarded him with a small frown. "...You can work with Miura. She will do just as well, I think."

"Cool," Maru replied. "Uh..." He looked around the classroom for a moment as Mutou picked up a stack of papers and began to hand them out.

"We will be working in groups of three," Mutou said.

Maru shrugged. "So, who's Miura?"

The girl in the front row waved her single hand.

"Ah, right." Maru moved to take the empty seat behind her.

"Uh, and Hakamichi?" Hisao looked around helplessly.

As he called out her name, the cute, bubbly looking girl with bright pink hair and gold eyes waved her hand at Hisao. He took the seat next to her, by the window.

"Hey, I guess you're Hakamichi, right? It's nice to meet you," Hisao said.

"Hahaha~!"

Hisao blinked, caught off guard. 'What?'

"It's nice to meet you too! But~! I'm not Hakamichi, I'm Misha!" The pink-haired girl pointed at the girl with glasses with a giggle. "This is Hakamichi. Shicchan~!"

'Shicchan' nodded once nonchalantly at Hisao, in acknowledgement of his presence.

"It's nice to meet you," Hisao ventured.

Shicchan immediately looked to Misha, who smiled and made a few quick gestures with her hands. Shicchan nodded and made a few gestures of her own.

Was the teacher messing with me? Hisao wondered. "You'll be able to talk to people" and "Who better to explain things to you."

"I can see you're a little confused, right? Right? But," Misha continued, "I understand why you would think I was Shicchan! Shicchan is deaf, so I'm the person who translates things back and forth for her." She grinned. "I'm like an interpreter~! She says it's nice to meet you, too, and that she respects your effort to outdo the competition, although she disproves of making a fool of yourself as a first impression~!"

"I honestly don't know why I did that," Hisao admitted. "I couldn't just let it go."

Shicchan shrugged and made a few gestures.

"You're the other new student," Misha said, "aren't you? Well, Shicchan, of course he is! If he wasn't, he would have been standing up there for no reason, right? Right~! He seems like a very interesting person, doesn't he~! We knew there were going to be new students, but we didn't know you would be here today. So soon! Hicchan, right?"

"Hicchan...?" Hisao looked at her, confused.

"Yup~!" Misha grinned again. "It fits, doesn't it?"

Did I say it out loud? Hisao mused. It's a bit of a surprise. I never liked that nickname. "I don't really see how."

"It fits~!" Misha gave another face splitting grin. "You look just like I imagined!"

Shicchan gestured, and Misha laughed.

"Hahahaha~! Yeah, you look just like a Hicchan!"

"I wonder why everyone seems to think so...," Hisao wondered aloud. As he thought about that, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He glanced over, and saw what looked like a trail of dark hair from the doorway, but it was gone so quickly he couldn't be sure. He glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed, and saw Maru saying something to the one-handed girl in front of him, eyebrow raised. The seat behind him was empty.

Somehow, it didn't surprise him that Maru was behind it.

Shicchan tapped her fingers on the desk to get Misha's attention, which also distracted Hisao from the matter. They gesture back and forth to each other excitedly, their hands a blur. Misha seemed a little overwhelmed.

"Ahaha~! Er, sorry about that!" Misha recovered rapidly. "Shicchan wants you to know that she's the class rep, so if there is anything you need to know, you can feel free to ask her."

Shicchan made some more gestures.

"Do you like the school so far? We can show you around a little if you haven't had the time to walk around and... familiarize?" Misha stumbled with the hard word a bit, "yourself with it! And the same goes for Macchan!"

"Thanks, that would be pretty helpful," Hisao said. "Yeah, I just kind of came straight to class today." He paused. "Macchan?"

"The other new student~!" Misha grinned. "He seems like a Macchan!"

"Oh." Hisao nodded. "I'll pass that on, if we talk again."

Shicchan frowned and gestured.

"Hahaha~! That's no good! You should always try to learn as much as you can about where you're going before you go there," Misha said. "Not just with school, either~!" She grinned. "Always! Even if it's a trip to the convenience store! Really, Shicchan? Hahaha~!" She blinked. "Oh, you don't know Macchan? I thought you did!"

"We just met each other outside the gate," Hisao admitted. Learn about where you're going? I guess I didn't bother to do that, or just didn't care enough to do so. He frowned. I didn't look forward to this, even if I committed myself to go along with it half-assedly, but anyway.

Misha signed something that ended with a shrug.

What was that? Hisao wondered. It seems like it was about me. He felt like slumping over in his seat. The shrug hit him unexpectedly deeply, in spite of their smiles.

"You look down," Misha observed, "are you okay?"

Shicchan gestured.

"Don't take it the wrong way, please~! I hate it when people are afraid to ask questions! That's how people learn things, by asking~! Asking for help is perfectly normal," Misha stated exuberantly, "as much as needing help! Stop looking like you just failed a test! Wahahaha~!"

"All right," Hisao replied.

Shicchan made more gestures.

"Ah, and another thing," Misha said, "you don't have to call Shicchan something so formal like 'Hakamichi' or 'class rep' all the time! Just call her Shicchan~!"

Shicchan's eyes widened some at that.

"Ahaha~! Okay," Misha admitted, "maybe that's too casual. Maybe 'Shizune' would be more appropriate?"

Shizune gestured.

"Yup, yup~!" Misha grinned. "'Shizune' is fine!"

"Heh. Okay," Hisao said, "that would be a lot easier for me." I feel a lot more at ease, with both of them seeming so friendly. I feel like an idiot for being so apprehensive earlier. Especially about Shizune, who I assumed would be all business. He thought about that for a moment. Well, she still seems like that. Just less so, I guess.

Shizune gestured emphatically.

"Huh?" Misha blinked. "Oh, right, we haven't even touched the assignment! We should start work now, or Shicchan will get mad."

He looked at the assignment. "...The assignment is also kind of long, so we should start now if we want to finish it before the end of class."

Misha grinned wide. "Wahaha~! That too!"

Shizune glared at Hisao and Misha impatiently.

"Okay, okay," he said, "I get the message."

"After class," Misha said, "We can take a walk around the grounds together. It's a nice day today! Okay~?"

The three of them began to work on the assignment. Even with their late start, they finished a few minutes earlier than anyone else in the class.

Shizune and Misha are really capable, Hisao had to admit. They're quite different, though. The class rep is as calm and professional as she looks, while Misha is a lot more playful and girlish. Not to mention a little more easily distracted. They did most of the work, too. I feel guilty about that.

His introspection was interrupted by the clock tower bell ringing, signaling that it was time for lunch. Without knowing what else to do, he followed Misha, who beckoned him into the hallway and down the stairs.

Okay, so wow... When I posted this story, I figured I'd get one or two hits, maybe eventually a review when I hit 5 chapters or so... Already have 30+ hits and 2 reviews. I'm fuddled, flabbergasted, and flummoxed. Truly, I am floored. Mister Vault 101 and WarbirdHD, both of you, thank you. You two made my day. =) I am truly flattered.

By the way, this chapter has been brought to you by the letter F.