It was her first step through the gate that sparked the beginning to her story, no their story. She was Himeragi Azusa, the first half of the duo that scored unbelievably high on Teikō's entrance exam. Her high ponytail swayed with the wind as other students looked her way. But needless to say, there were many others. A blonde being bombarded by all kinds of girls for his visuals. A super tall giant who looked like he would be useful to any sport that needed a defender, was surrounded by scouts from various clubs. A dark-skinned boy with a beautiful girl next to him stood out from all other pairs; a green-haired boy with glasses pushed through the crowd with a beckoning cat in his hand. A teal-haired boy was being swept by the crowd after reading a letter from his childhood friend. And finally there was the other half of the amazing duo, a maroon haired student going the same way as our main character with a mellow smile on his face. They all stood out, well except for the student being pulled into the crowd, and although they didn't know one another yet, their adventures together would soon begin.

We all know that there will be a happy ending. But the many hardships they will go through and all the fun memories they will make—let's embark on this journey with them, shall we?

"Himeragi Azusa was it? Did you prepare your speech?" This came as news to her since she was not the top scorer (albeit she was off by a point). Since she was speaking with the principal, she concealed her reaction and shook her head.
"I apologize, I didn't prepare one because I thought only the highest scorer had to create one."
"We have a special case this year. You, Himeragi Azusa and Akashi Seijūrō were just one point off. So we will allow both of you to speak. But now that you didn't make one…" Himeragi was curious as to who the top scorer was. When she heard "Aka," she thought back to the boy with the distinctive shade of red-maroon hair. How could anyone be so poised with so many students swarmed at the entrance of the school?
"It's a shame that I didn't know earlier but since there is already one person speaking—"
"Excuse me. This is Akashi Seijūrō." The person she was thinking about appeared in front of her, making Himeragi blink in surprise. When did someone's hair color match their surname? It was too… perfect.
"Good thing you're here. This is Himeragi Azusa-san." His reaction was as expected, a silent nod. She returned it with a slight bow, feeling a bit strange in his presence. The fact that he was so calm was unnerving.

"Principal, I think it's alright if only Akashi-kun speaks. Surely it doesn't make much of a difference, ending the opening ceremony a few minutes early?" She immediately rebuked herself for saying something so flippant to the head of the school. As she looked away and covered her mouth, mumbling "this darn mouth…" the corner of Akashi's mouth curved upward.
"Principal, if Himeragi is capable of scoring high on the exam, I do believe she is capable of creating an impromptu speech. There are many people that can think of spontaneous speeches and recite them properly." As Himeragi did a double take because he addressed her with no honorifics, the principal also looked shocked.
"But—"
"With that being said, I also have something to disclose." Himeragi was already quite surprised by his character. He was clearly not as uninteresting as she expected him to be. "I also did not make a speech beforehand." When Himeragi didn't look particularly distressed by this, Akashi couldn't help but smile. It was interesting that she could be so calm, given the current situation. She on the other hand, thought it was interesting that he found amusement in the current situation. But that wasn't a bad thing so she silently agreed to ride the same bandwagon.
"If that's the case, we will both create impromptu speeches that we promise, will not embarrass you, Principal. If you'll excuse us," They both walked out. Instead of walking to the auditorium the two students knew they had something to say to each other.
"Quit a rash thing to say, Himeragi-san."
"At least give me time to say thank you for covering for me, Akashi-san." It was once again humorous to him that she could match his pace so well, starting by using the same honorific he used.

"You seem sure that I was lying."
"Someone of your caliber would not forget to make a speech. Then again, someone of your caliber wouldn't think to cover for someone you beat."
"Is that wrong?"
"In fact, it's interesting. Shall we go?" They shared the same expression when they walked to the stage. Although they didn't know each other well, they nodded at each other, before Himeragi walked to the podium.
"Good morning to all the new students of Teikō Middle School. I am your fellow classmate, Himeragi Azusa. As a fellow first year with three years in this school ahead of her, I invite you to make an oath with me: no matter what your goals are for these three years here, don't become fickle and vacillate about giving them up or not. We're only beginning middle school; nothing is definite. We're just beginning to create goals and dreams we'd like to strive for, for the rest of our lives. Join the clubs you want, make the friends you want and have as much fun as you want. Even if Teikō can be strict, there can be no regulations so binding that you cannot be the person you'd like to be. Please don't hesitate to reach out or say hello and congratulations on making it to this wonderful school!" Akashi replayed her words in his mind. Her policies of life almost clashed with his but at the same time, he envied them.
"And now, we would like some words from the highest scorer on the entrance exam, Akashi Seijūrō." He walked on stage during the claps, exchanging a look with Himeragi who smiled at him.

"Hello to the students of Teikō Middle School. I am Akashi Seijūrō. As middle school students, we have stepped into another chapter of our lives. Your first choice was choosing this school. Now you are in a position to choose what becomes important to you. Think of enrolling in activities that make you whole and engage you in the joys of life. My wish is that your passions continue being limitless. Overcome the boundaries that stop you from stepping out of your comfort zone because in doing so, you will achieve great things. Don't forget that the end result when you're standing here at graduation in three years is to be accomplished, to be able to say that you found something you love. Even if you say that you're average or even less than that, there must be something special in each one of you. Search for what it is that you're good at by joining clubs. I hope to see everyone in this auditorium again in three years." The faculty then proceeded to close up the opening ceremony as Himeragi and Akashi stayed backstage.
"I don't mean to judge but, you didn't strike me as someone that cares about passion." His speech was polarizing in the sense that he talked about both passion and contributions, two things that optimists would put together but Akashi did not seem like an optimist.
"I wouldn't use the terms hope or dreams but I don't disagree that it's important to be the person you'd like to be." Himeragi couldn't help but chuckle; his response was long-winded as a challenge to her to understand what he meant.
"I also think you don't disagree that to be special, you have to yield results, those results being pursuing something you love and sticking to it." For a mere opening ceremony, Akashi was surprised to meet someone that thought it was fun to analyze his words. He could only describe the feeling as fascinating. "So all in all, I think you're quite the ambiguous person that grounds optimism in reality. " He couldn't disagree and returned her smirk.
"I look forward to the next three years, Himeragi." Akashi caught her off guard with the drop in honorifics again but that made their interaction all the more interesting.
"Likewise, Akashi-kun."

I finally figured out a way to give y'all some representation of what I envisioned my OC to look like: Go to zerochan (net instead of com) and put this number in after the forward slash: 2584644. Think of blue eyes and a ponytail version LOL