Hope's Desire: A kindred soul

Chapter I : A Not-So-Warm Welcome

More and more students walked into the room, there were 10.. then 12.. then 15. A dark-skinned girl in athletic wear and a gravity defying ponytail stated that was all, that 15 students should be enough. These claims were held until a short boy walked in, he looked like a normal student. Just by his outfit I can't figure out his talent. He seemed boring.

"That makes 16!" A tall wavy haired brunette said, he smelled strongly of incense, he seems like some sort of hippie. "Is that it then?" The dark-skinned girl from before asked.

"Well great! Now we get to find out why we're here and who we even are." I turned my head to see who said that, finding the voice quite irritating. A pink haired girl in heels who seemed to think of herself as some soft of diva. The girl I always secretly wished to be. Too bad I was forced into my family's detective ways. Some part inside me was happy that I didn't end up that way. I can barely tolerate her already, perhaps it's just my envy.

Everyone began introducing themselves to each other, I noticed nobody dared to walk up to me as I sat down on one of the chairs next to a tall blonde boy. He hadn't said a word. He seemed to just observe everyone from a far like how I was doing. Watching everyone socialize and not being part of it, two weirdos, the both of us.

"H-Hey!"

I looked away from the blonde, focusing my attention on the brunette that arrived last. Why would he want to talk to me? What did he want from me? "I'm Makoto Naegi! What's your name?" I froze, not knowing how to answer. I never figured out how to make friends, what if I mess it up.

"Kyoko Kirigiri."

That's it? That's all I can come up with? Very interesting Kyoko. "Uhm..?" The boy struggled, I suddenly knew I made this interaction awkward. I glared at him, my stare blank like a piece of paper. "Right. Thank you! B-Bye!" Makoto quickly walked away, I might've scared him off, that's too bad. Maybe I smell bad? I took a sniff of my coat, confused by why he escaped from our interaction so quickly.

"Right then, let's get to business." The blonde next to me stood up and crossed his arms. "Does anyone know why we're here? Orientation was supposed to start 10 minutes ago." He stated, he wasn't wrong.

"Well I blacked out when I walked through the gates and suddenly I was in here." Makoto said, seeming nervous. A few of the others agreed and explained that they went through the same process.

"Maybe this is all part of the orientation, you know? To make things fun!" The tall wavy haired man said, he didn't even seem all that bothered by this.

A ginger boy nodded his head, "Hey, maybe Yasuhiro's right. We should just wait things out until an administrator shows up." I took note of Yasuhiro's name, trying to remember information without interacting with many of them.

We all froze to the sound of the TVs creating a bell noise, it was a report telling us to go to the auditorium for the orientation now that everyone was here. Fear struck on everyone's faces to hear the voice, it sounded that of a clown. It was too similar to a cartoon for my liking, I was truly hoping that wasn't my father's voice.

The tall blonde shrugged and walked towards the exit of the gymnasium, his fancy shoes making claps against the polished wood floors. "Are you all just going to stand there or are you coming to the auditorium?" He scuffed, walking out along with a few others.

I was one of the last, Makoto following right behind me. I simply followed the group, keeping my chin up and my eyes down. This place seemed like a fever dream and I couldn't quite put my finger on why it felt that way. Isn't this supposed to be a school? Maybe it's just because it's a special school, a prestigious one at most. I guess I'll find out in a second.