The tawny sun began to descend across the horizon, stretching molten colors to breach through the scape and shroud every grasp of the earth below in a beautiful mixture of orange and red, every shadow becoming tinted by the colorful array. The Council meeting had curtly come to an official close, each member on their own mingling before heading off home, or otherwise.

"I'll see you all tomorrow. We can go over the budget for next month's Sports Festival," Manabe surmised, glasses flicking upwards against with a push of his dexterous fingers. You glanced over at him as you were unfamiliar with what he meant, what he was talking about; Sports Festival? Noticing your stare, he cocked his head towards you, subtle smile coiling onto his lips, and added, "You wouldn't know, would you? I'm running late, so I suppose someone else can fill you in on the details."

Once those words spewed from his high-class mouth, he collected his items speedily and hastened himself out of the room. Manabe gave a quick, hurried wave to Minaho and the rest of you before he finally left with a trail of dust flying behind him at his speed. "Geez, why was he in such a hurry?" you mumbled to yourself, eyebrows furrowing together curiously.

"His parents are here today to pick him up," Minaho answered your inquiry, suddenly finding himself directly beside you. Shock jarred your being for a moment, a breathless gasp coming from your mouth as well. (How did he get beside you so quick? He was on the other side of the room...) Settling down, you nodded your head in understanding; the pressure of having someone waiting for you while you're busy doing something is quite a bother on your shoulders.

"Now, what's this Sports Festival?" you piped up again, catching the full attention of everyone else still present in the room. Matatagi was gathering a few stray materialistic items from within the confines of his desk, and Ibuki was busy slinging his bag over his shoulder, expertly holding it there without much strength used.

He waved his hand nonchalantly into the air, "It's just a couple of days where everyone participates in a bunch of sports; we divide the school up into two groups, and they compete against each other," he explained with a hint of pride, a smile ghosting over his features as he wistfully thinks about the event. Ibuki attended last year's, and it was an absolute blast to him. Although, he hated having to pair up with someone during certain events...

Your mouth curved into an 'o' shape while you listened attentively to his explanation, it sounded just like the one you had back at your old school! Except, this one surely had a few changes; you'd hear about them soon, considering it sounded like there was still a lot to go over, and it was a month away. You'd get entirely filled in eventually.

Ibuki and Minaho then left promptly, leaving only you and Matatagi to linger within the room. You would've thought he'd be gone and out of there by now, but it seemed both of you had an extra thing or two to do before you could leave the vicinity. Why were you stuck alone with him?! Curse you, you should've just pretended you knew what you were doing and fled the Council Room as soon as possible.

"Things are always hard when you first start out. You'll be fine, I chose you after all," Matatagi broke the silence with thoughtful words. It made you look up from your stack of papers, locking your gaze with his own. Was he...reassuring you or simply complimenting himself?

With a slight scoff, you broke the heated staring contest you swore you were having, and let a chuckle go under your breath. "Right. Because your judgement is ~always right~," you mocked, tone pitching higher an octave.

He scowled in response, slamming out of his seat with a huff and making you jump a beat in surprise. "You still don't believe me? Hmph, you'll see!" he demanded, feeling a course of indignation that you didn't entirely get his praise...don't doubt yourself already, idiot. Matatagi gave one last huff as he angrily stomped out of the room, desperately wanting to continue arguing with you just for the sake of it all, but opted against it as he closed the door behind him.

"What a guy! I hate him already..."

"I can hear you!"

You trekked through the hallways, hauling along yourself and your bag as you finally had finished up in the Council Room. You might've taken a little longer than expected, or originally wanted, because you wanted your desk to be absolutely neat and customized to your liking if you were going to be there everyday.

"Oi, new student!"

CUE HIGH-PITCHED SHRIEK FROM YOU.

You spun around on your spot, espying a platinum-haired male come scampering around the corner like a menacing dragon, his ponytail dangling elegantly behind him. How could he have of possibly known you were a new student? Wasn't this elite academy brimful with students, how could he even recognize you as someone new? (Not saying you weren't one but...)

"You're not suppose to be here this late," he chided harshly, tone sharp and acerbic as he said so. The male gave a scrutinize of your appearance, taking in every detail from your shoes to the way your orbs went wide in confusion.

Coughing awkwardly into your hand, you weakly protested, "But you're here so—" Before you could finish your sentence, the male whose name wasn't in your memory log grabbed your shoulders and pushed you against the hallway walls, causing you to drop your bag to the ground and practically allow him to cage you between him.

Alright, [Name], sometimes you need to lay down on the sass.

"Do you know who I am?" he seethed between clenched teeth, his jaw grounding together. You shook your head, feeling beads of sweat trickle down the side of your face and drenching you in the familiar, uncomfortable sensation of both fear, and anxiousness. "I'm Hakuryuu! Leader of the Disciplinary Committee!" Hakuryuu introduced himself, a certain arrogant side showing itself as a tiny smirk curled onto his lips.

Nice going, you talked back to this guy of all people. He can tear you away from this academy in the snap of a finger! Oh no!

"W-Well, I'm sorry for, uh...?" you stammered out, unsure on what you should directly apologize for. He still has you trapped against the smooth wall, which actually felt extremely intolerable on your back, and he wasn't hesitating at all with this tensing proximity between the two of you. "No wait! I'm allowed out this late, I-I'm in a club!"

He want a bit wide-eyed, surprised to hear you say that, but instantly calmed back down into his sternness. You could be lying to him to get out of this, so he kept up with an interrogation. His rusty orbs narrowed, an enticing glare of ice jabbing into your conscious. "Which one?"

Geez, why are all these leader-type characters characteristically scary?! Swallowing the clammy air from your own tension ridden state, you pried open your mouth and confidently stated, "I recently joined the Council as the new Secretary."

Hakuryuu almost didn't believe you.

"Hey, Hakuryuu! Are you bullying someone again?" a silvery voice laced with a fair degree of intense sweetness nagged from behind him, and he instantly recognized that girly voice; relinquishing his hold on you, and finally giving you a chance to breathe again. He turned around, ignoring you who peeked leisurely over his shoulder to see who the girl was(her voice was awfully familiar), as he continued to stand in front of you simply for the reason you might try and make a break for it and get out of getting in trouble.

"I'm not bullying anyone, Sakurai," Hakuryuu huffed to her; but wasn't given any more chance to say anything as he heard you gasp in excitement behind him.

That wavy, cardinal purple hued hair that reaches her mid-back, that cute fringe which parts to the sides, and those bright pumpkin orange eyes could only belong to one person! "Momohime-chan!" you enthusiastically confirmed, practically pushing aside Hakuryuu to get a better look at your old friend. You almost forgot she had gotten accepted into his academy at the beginning of the year, and had been attending it since.

"[First Name]!" she chimed with an equal amount of jubilee in her friendly tone. Sakurai was nervous for a second there, having not been well around new people, but it was an assurance to see you here for her. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming here?" she added, bringing you into a hug, which you returned awkwardly due to her Bokken still strapped on her back(she still has it - which means she must use it for her Kendo classes).

"You two know each other?" Hakuryuu piped up, feeling himself get lodged away from the conversation; he was still here, y'know! He watched as both of you pulled away from each other, lips curved into smiles before turning back towards him.

"Yeah! We used to go to the same school. We've been friends for a long time," Sakurai explained to Hakuryuu. Her voice had grown faster in pace, telltale that exhilaration had bubbling into her nervous system. "We met in Grade Three when I—"

Oh, she's excited. Here comes the babble of history about how the two of you became friends.

"I'm late! I'm late!" A tiny Sakurai hollered through the hallways, her flowing tresses getting tangled as she kept a breakneck speed in running. Not only was the third grader late for her first class, she has been trying to find it for the past half an hour but her work has been kept utterly fruitless; her sense of direction was never the best, but she puffed out her chest and told herself she could do it.

She lumbered around a corner, cutting it off sharply, but only to find her petite body crashing into another; both bodies colliding against each other and bouncing backwards onto their small tushes. "Ouch!" Sakurai and whoever she bumped into shouted in unison, a soft searing pain burning through them for a moment.

"Are you okay?" The other voice, you, inquired as you rubbed your temple to alleviate the impending headache about to occur. Sakurai looked over at you, same cute little uniform hugging your body, and a name tag directly over the place of your heart. You were in the same grade as her!

She swallowed, nodding her head at you. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine..." she whispered, her nerves around new people getting the better of her. You got off of the floor, elbows pushing yourself up back on your feet, and you shyly went over to Sakurai and extended a hand to her.

"I'm [Full Name]! You shouldn't be running in the halls, though!" you softly scolded her as she gladly accepted your help, both of you now standing on your two feet.

"Sakurai Momohime...I'm sorry, it's just...I'm lost," she abashedly curled inwards, shriveling up slightly. And, that's when you kindly offered to take her to her classroom; it wasn't the same as yours, but it was down the same hallway all the same.

.

.

In your second year of Junior High, you had been striding down the hallways, heading to the office but you were promptly stopped by some upperclassman; their signature blue ties displaying their evident one-year age gap with you. You cocked your head to the side, questioning them on what they wanted, and addressing them with the utmost respect.

You should've known it was the wrong group of senpais to get caught up in.

There was gross flirting, and they forced themselves onto you a bit, every step forward closer to you they took, you involuntarily took one back...all while trying to choke out you weren't interested to say the least. It got messed into quite the situation, three older males completely coming at you, and essentially cornering you effectively with their numbers and height. "I don't think it's a good idea to skip class!" you cautioned to them, hands coming up and pressing against one of their chests.

"Come on. We'll even pay for the drinks," one jested with a helpful amount of flirtatious coy you felt as if he was seconds away from ripping you from your spot and hauling you wherever with him. You closed your eyes, mouth opening to say something, but timid old you couldn't process enough coherent words given your frightening situation.

"Hey, fellows. Are you bothering her?" an alarmingly sweet voice chimed from behind them, a hint of malice clearly lurking behind those honeyed words. "If you are, will you kindly buzz off?" Naturally these useless questions caused the boys to tilt their heads to the source, catching a glimpse of an intentionally cruel yet sickening lascivious smile...There were shadows looming underneath the person's eyes, accenting her beautiful features with a dark, rigid edge that sent chills rippling their spines.

"Y-You can't tell us what to do!" they argued, wanting to boast off their status to the female with gorgeous, flowing locks. To make matters worse for the ugly senpais, they spotted a Bokken(that thing is dangerous; could she really use it on them?), and it only sent them further into terror and confusion. They clicked their tongues, giving you one last look and wistfully wishing they could have succeeded in getting you to come along with them, before they stomped off angrily.

"Sakurai-san, right?" you softly inquired, finding the strength to remove yourself from the helpless position of being against the wall, and questioning your rescuer. Still, you didn't have any classes with the female, but you had seen her around and you distinctly remember helping her in third grade.

She nodded her head, scary smile frying down into a cordial one. "That's right! But, you can call me Momohime!"

"Then it's [Name] for me. Thank you for helping me! I don't know what I would've done!"

"Now that I think about it, I'm always saving you from menacing people, aren't I?" Sakurai chortled under her breath, a sly glance being given over to Hakuryuu who only sneered in response.

You nodded your head, sweatdropping at the hint that you miraculously found yourself within those situations a lot to begin with. Maybe you truly were destined to be some sort of heroine...After all, in shoujo manga, the main character is always shoved into these scenes relentlessly. You doubt it. Still an ordinary girl with a knack for swimming.

Pushing those mindless thoughts aside, you nodded your head and watched as Hakuryuu began to speak up again to Sakurai. "Have you done your rounds? Or did you stumble across us because you got lost again?" Ah, yes; her poor sense of direction still hasn't been treated...It was a big school, so it probably made it worse!

"I got lost again, hehe..." she shuffled in her spot for a moment, index finger scratching against her newly pink tinged cheek as she admitted to that. Hakuryuu heaved a sigh, pivoting on his spot and lightly glaring at you.

"Go home, [Name]."

Fine, fine. (This guy lived up his name...except, he certainly was grumpy.) Hakuryuu promptly told Sakurai that the two of you could catch up another time, she still had her duties to attend to and everything, nor would he stand for her to skimp out on them simply because an old friend came into her way. Exchaing one last final hug, she plowed away with Hakuryuu at her side.

It was late. You should listen to Hakuryuu. Yeah, yeah.

a/n; This chapter is sort of...rushed? I'll admit it got a tad worse as I neared the end, but I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless! Fair warning that there's going to be a bit of a timeskip, just a week or two, nothing too big in the next chapter...but I don't want all the drama to zoom in at ounce aka the time span of two/three days.

The OC featured in this chapter was '; Sakurai Momohime [last, first]. She, as you read, knew Reader since Elementary school! But she's not the only person who happens to be childhood friends with the Reader~ OK, no more spoiling.

inazuma eleven © level-5
sakurai momohime ©momo pheles