As Romu exited the classroom the first thing that hit him was the smell. It was fresh wood varnish, the chemical having that unmistakable odor which seem permeate the sinuses with even with a small sniff. It clearly came from the flooring which shone, even reflecting the chemist's face slightly. Someone had taken great care it seems, that or it got so bad it was time for a change.
Romu scuffed the bottom of his faux leather shoe across the floor, chuckling as it squeaked slightly but then turned his head as the classroom door next to him opened up, a young about his age stepping out.
He was about average height, around six feet Romu guessed, well built and tan with short brown hair hidden under a baseball cap of sorts. He was dressed in a black tee with a white phoenix decal splayed across the font under a gray jacket that had some strange black markings, finally a pair of sneakers and some blue jeans which looked like they had been through the was to many times completed his look. If Romu had to be honest he was rather good looking, at least from an unbiased perspective despite his jock like appearance.
The young man looked up and down the hall, noticing Romu during his second look and walked over. "Um hey there man, ya from around here?" The jock asked, clearly having an american accent but spoke perfect japanese.
The chemist was a bit hesitant to answer being that this was the first person he actually met here but he knew if he didn't reply it would just seem more suspicious. "Actually no, I woke up in the room behind me and just came out. I assume it's the same case for you." Romu said with a sigh, doing his best to put on a friendly smile.
Nodding the young man fished in his jacket pocket and pulled out a small remote identical to the one Romu had with him. "Yeah, I woke up in there and played the video. Here I was hoping you could explain some things, looking like a doctor and all." The jock said with a hearty chuckle, Romu biting his lip on the comment concerning his outfit.
"First off I'm a chemist, not a doctor. Second, how do you think I would be able to help even if I was one?" Romu asked, a bit of anger in his question before quickly correcting myself. "I'm sorry about that, it's just I take my job very seriously and it irks me slightly when people get it wrong."
The jock let out a laugh, bringing one of his hands down on the chemist's shoulders which caused him to wince slightly. "Hey I get where you're coming from, I'd hate it if people messed up what I did for a living. Oh I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Ichiro Aiko, the ultimate American Football Player." The young man said, puffing out his chest with pride.
Romu was a bit surprised by the sudden statement. He thought he knew everyone from his class but never once did he hear of this Ichiro character. "Ok, that's a bit strange. Are you from a different class or something? I'm Romu Kamchi, the ultimate chemist from class fifty six."
"Nah no way man, I'm from fifty six and I never once met or even heard of you." Ichiro said, a puzzled look on his face telling Romu that he at least believed what he was saying to some extent.
Both men stood there in silence for a bit, both still a bit on edge about the strange coincidence but Romu shook his head, letting out a heavy sigh. "Look, I say we put a pin in this conversation for now and look for others. The video said that there was fifteen contestants so counting us, there has to be at least fourteen others unless that was a lie, maybe one of them can give us some answers."
"Yeah I think you might be right about that but I also think we should stick together. It might take a bit longer but it will also be a lot safer, I hope." Ichiro said, grimacing slightly at that last part, both of them hoping he was right.
Nodding in agreement Romu and the jock headed down the hall past where the chemist woke up since they could see what looked like two large red doors at the end of the hall. When they go there they were a bit confused because it seemed like the twin doors were covered in yellow police tape which would have been easy enough to tear off if it weren't for the fact that they seemed to be sliding doors, the tape jamming them up.
"What the hell is this." Ichiro grumbled, giving the doors a few tugs in vain. Even with all his strength the doors would only budge slightly and not even enough to have someone slip through the crack.
With an exasperated sigh the football player finally gave up and turned around. "I'm just gonna say that we shouldn't go that way for now." Romu rolled his eyes but shrugged, heading back down the hall.
They passed a few other classrooms on their way back but nothing out of the ordinary which was a strange thought for the situation they were in. It was a silent, the squeaking of their shoes the only sound as they made their way down the halls back to the rooms they had woken up in until Romu finally said something.
"Why did you think I could help you?" The chemist said, Ichiro giving a puzzled look. "When we met you said I could help explain things, what did you mean by that?" Romu said with a sigh.
"Oh that, I just thought that this was like a testing thing and as a doctor you might know about it." Ichiro said with a shrug as they kept walking, this time past the rooms and further exploring the bizarre area they were in.
Romu rolled his eyes, even letting out a slight chuckle. "That makes even less since. If I was doing a test I probably wouldn't even give you answers." The two joked as they walked, only passing a few doors till they came across an odd scene.
It was two boys, one pinning the other to a wall, and a girl who was fiddling with one of her long pig tails while she picked up what looked liie gauze from the floor.
The first boy, the one being pinned, had ruffled black hair while his skin was slightly tan. He was dressed in a beat up black shirt, a long green scarf covering it slightly as he tried to kick free. He also had on a pair of blue jeans and what looked like army boots that almost seemed to be spray painted black. Trying to kick free from the other's pinning seem to have little effect since he couldn't kick very hard.
The second one used his free hand to block any incoming kick, his short dark brown hair not even seeming to be phased from the trashing of the first boy. His skin was almost pale, like a cream colored pearl that glinted softly in the hall light. He was dressed in a white dress shirt with a blue blazer overtop of it with a small white handkerchief sticking out of his breast pocket, a red tie with small white dots complementing it nicely. He also had on a thing of black slacks and dress shoes. To be honest he looked the complete opposite of the boy he was holding back.
The girl, who was now getting off the floor and dusting herself off, was dressed rather strangely with a large skirt dress in stunning red with the lower half being covered by a wide pink apron that had little paw prints running up it. She checked her long brown pigtails, her fingers running through them to make sure everything was fine then checked her black stockings and buckled shoes, growing as it seemed one of the clasps had come loose when she fell.
It was odd because Romu thought he knew them or at least the second boy and girl but before he could ponder it anymore Ichiro quickly rushed forward and pushed the dapper boy off the other, almost like a guard dog of sorts.
"Who the hell are you people and why on earth are you picking on Akihiro?" The football player asked, still clearly on guard as the shoved boy dusted himself and looked at Ichiro then over to the chemist, a pleasant smile coming across his face.
"Ah Mr. Kamchi, good to see another familiar face here but would you mind explaining to this oof that I was simply protecting Ms. Omori from his friend there?" The young man said with another soft smile.
It suddenly hit Romu to who these two were. "Wait, your Shunsuke Nishimura." Romu said then turned to the girl who looked bright eyed at him. "And your Yui Omori. Both of you are from my class."
"Wait what? What's going on here doc, ya know these two people?" The jock asked clearly confused with the situation.
The girl, Yui, shyly raised her hand as if asking to speak. "W-well you see I woke in this strange place and met him." The girl said, pointing to the other boy who had recovered by now. "I tried to ask him what was going on but then he got really angry with me and I guess Shunsuke heard and came to my rescue."
"Yes that would be correct. I came as quickly as I could when I heard Ms. Omori but to my surprise I found her on the ground with that young man over there towering over her." Shunsuke said with bit of spite.
"Now hold on, all I did was get a bit angry and I guess I turned around to quickly and girly there tripped and fell backwards. Then the pompous jerk went and pinned me to the wall, I'm being honest here." The other boy grumbled, pushing his way past Ichiro with a huff.
"Wait, I'm still confused. Who are you people anyways?" Ichiro asked, looking at both Yui and Shunsuke.
The brown haired boy smiled. "I'm sorry, I forgot my manners in the heat of the moment. My name is Shunsuke Nishimura and I am the ultimate Food Taster." He said with a small bow.
"A-and I'm Yui Omori, the ultimate Veterinarian." The young girl said, still clearly a bit shy as she fiddled with one of her ponytails, wrapping it around a finger to let it unwind back.
Ichiro still looked slightly confused but also seemed relaxed, nodding with a soft smile. He introduced himself as well to the pair then nudged the other boy called Akihiro, getting a slightly groan in response along with an eye roll.
"The name's Akihiro Ichida and I got labeled as the ultimate Punk." Akihiro mumbled, scuffing his boot slightly. "And I'm sorry that I got angry." He added in a slight mumble, Yui smiling and shaking both boys' hands.
"It's ok and I'm sorry for Shun being so rough with you." The young girl said with a pleasant smile then moved over to Romu, hands on her hips and pouting some. "And you mister. You've been skipping class again, all to hang out in your must old lab I suspect. The entire class has been worried sick about you." Yui huffed, getting a groan in response from the chemist.
"Wait, you saying you two are from class fifty six as well." Ichiro asked a bit concerned, Akihiro raising an eyebrow as well at that.
"That is correct. Both Ms. Omori and myself, along with Mr. Kamchi are from that class. Is there a problem with that simple fact?" The food taster asked, cocking his head slightly.
The punk grumbled and crossed his arms. "Damn right there's a problem. We're from that class and I'm positive that I've never heard of any of you being in it." He barked.
"What the hell is going on." Romu muttered, a heavy silence fall across the small group as the question lingered. An uneasiness started to started to well up inside Romu, as if this was just the start of all their trouble and it was only going to get worse from here on.
A/N: Hello dear readers and fans. I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get out, recovering from some very minor surgery but alls well. I hope you enjoyed meeting the first group of characters, more to come soon and I look forward to reading your comments/reviews. If you feel like your OC was portrayed different than what you had intended please P.M with your thoughts.