-09- Entrance Ceremony
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Hello everyone!  I'm back with another fluffy chapter.  But before I let you get to it... I would like to make what I believe to be a rather fun Yuri recommendation!  It's The Y-Files by Yati.  It takes place in a school in Belgium and is full of humor, fluffiness, local trivia, and of course Yuri!  A few select chapters even have cute art as well custom made for it, which only makes it better in my opinion!  Okay, enough rambling, please enjoy chapter nine!


I was dressed up in my lovely new school uniform with the red ribbon, and carefully applied the right amount of makeup which I had finally learned how to do properly from Saiyuri.

She recommended I not go overboard, and even suggested a lighter pink tone of lipstick rather than an ostentatious red that I had actually preferred.

“A lady is modest.”  She said with almost a sarcastic tone, though when I asked, she said it was pretty much just a guideline as set by the school and much in need of revising for the modern age.  Saiyuri was not a fan of the dress code which had been established by the school many years ago by a conservative faction at the time. “Cute girls should be allowed to look as cute as they want, right?”

I was glad she was a progressive person, because I definitely wanted to look my best (and cutest!).  I figured that I would play it safe at the start, and then if I saw an opportunity, I would transition my makeup application to be where I really wanted it, or see what kind of leeway I was able to take with my uniform.

Makeup is amazing, you know?

I never thought I would look as pretty as I do now when I’m all made up!

Breakfast was light.  I whipped up some eggs, sausage links, and toast for both of us, and was just finishing cleaning the dishes when Saiyuri was suddenly saying we needed to hurry to the car.  Saiyuri was dressed to teach, and after grabbing my bag at the last minute from my room, I was ready to learn!

Well, maybe not to learn, exactly.  I was actually ready to make some new friends!  My goal is five new friends and to hopefully get their contact info.  

We hopped in Saiyuri’s red coupe and we made excellent time arriving at school.  Along the way she said that I was free to catch a ride with her every morning, but if I wanted to be independent and walk by myself she didn’t mind that either. I was surprised, because who wouldn’t want to just take an easy morning drive to school when the car’s parked right outside?  I'm not living in the sticks anymore!

Maybe I was missing some crucial bit of information there?

When I hopped out of the car after we arrived at school, Saiyuri called me over and did a spot check on me, making sure the frills on my collar were nice and flat, and my bow was neatly aligned.

“You look gorgeous!” She said happily and gave me a hug. “I wonder if this is how Kaede felt when she sent you off to school for the first time?”

“Nope.  Mom just gave me a bagged lunch and I walked to school with Yumi-chan.  I tripped though along the way and got dirt on my face and everyone laughed at first when I went in because I didn’t know.”

“Yumi-chan didn’t say anything to you?”

“Well, we were kids and didn’t think about it.  We were always covered in dirt!” I replied cheekily.

“Well, you’re covered in makeup now and not dirt, so go knock ‘em dead!  You can follow the students with red ribbons to the auditorium where the entrance ceremony will begin.  Just line up where you are told, and try to stay quiet unless you are somehow called on while the faculty drones on.  Once it’s over, follow your class to your homeroom, and when class is over you can find me in the faculty room afterwards, or maybe hang out with your friends.  Class is over at three in the afternoon, but I can’t leave at the earliest until five.  School closes at six, so keep that in mind if you join a club later on.”

I nodded at everything she said.

“Alright, Hanapi…” She paused for a minute before giving me a light peck on the cheek, “...have a good day at school, okay?”

Was she trying to behave like she thought my mom would have today?  I may have been a bit reserved since a couple of nights ago when she called out the name Joanna, but I kind of wished that the kiss she gave me just now wasn’t obligatory.

Besides, Mom ruffled my hair before sending me off.  Mom was a hugger, not a kisser… though I imagine dad may have a differing opinion on that.  Her kisses for me were generally reserved for when the really bad things happened and she needed to protect or comfort me.

Mom’s kisses were special.

Though, to me, for just a fleeting moment, Saiyuri’s kiss right now was as well.

I parted ways with her then and saw a tide of students pouring in through the front gate.  When I looked at where the majority of students with red ribbons were heading, I followed along.  It was all well and good until I saw a familiar face by a large Sakura tree.

“Firecracker!  Izzat you?”

A girl who violated just about every dress code article in the book was waving at me from nearby, under the Sakura tree, and next to three other girls all in violation of the dress code as well.

“Mai?”  I called back.

She beckoned me over and I went.

“Didn’t think I’d get to see you so soon.  Ever finish reading the book?”

“Un, I did.  But the cliffhanger ending has me upset that the next volume isn’t out yet!”

“Haha, you got that right!  What did you think about the Comatose Countess side stories?”

“Side stories?”

“Didn’t you follow the link on the last page?  It had a QR code that went to a separate site for the people who purchased the book as a bonus.”

I had no idea what she was talking about, so I could only shake my head.  In response she flicked me in the forehead.

“You really are empty upstairs aren’t you?  Guess I’ll have to look out for you after all, Firecracker!”

She laughed for a moment then did some introducing.

“Alright babes, this here is Hanabi, though I’m the one calling her Firecracker, so don’t any of you punks copy that, ‘kay?”

“Hanabi?”  Asked a rough looking girl with her sleeves rolled up and sporting long crimson-colored dyed hair. "For real?"

“Ah.  Sora Hanabi.  That’s me!”  I introduced myself.

“Anyway, that’s her thing.  She’s also into some of the same stuff I am, so don’t be too rude, alright?”

“Hai~” Same a lazy response from another girl with blonde hair and large hoop earrings.

“Firecracker, let me introduce you to my harem.  The redhead is Non-chan, the short blondie is Kayacchi, and the muscle doll who isn’t participating is Suzuha.  If you have any trouble at all, come and find one of us, and we’ll help you out.”

“E~h? Why do I gotta help her out?” The crimson-haired girl, Non-chan, complained.

“Cuz if you don’t, I won’t feed you anymore, you lazy cow!”

I had noticed during the exchange that each of the girls present except for me were all wearing the colored ribbons belonging to second year students.

“Mai, we should probably get going too…” The girl with short blonde hair, Kayacchi said.

“I guess…” Mai said with a bit of reluctance.  “Oi, Firecracker, when I call on you later, don’t decline.”

“Uh… okay?”

“Great.  Let’s go, ladies.”

I ended up accompanying those four towards the auditorium.  It was actually the school gymnasium, but it served a number of different uses according to Kayacchi.

By the way, I also learned each of their proper names.  Usui Nono, Kitano Sayaka, and Sato Suzuha.  In order of height from smallest to tallest it went Sayaka, Nono, Mai, Myself, and Suzuha.  Though I was only taller than Mai by a centimeter or two.  Suzuha was tall enough to give Matsuri Chiya a run for her money, though I think Chiya-chan was still just a bit taller.

When we got to the auditorium, Mai had given each of the girls in her group a kiss on the cheek and a slap on the butt before they each went their separate ways.

“Eh?”

“Something bothering you?” She said coarsely.

“Don’t you need to join them?”

“I do.  But first, I need to give you something.”

She wasn’t going to give me a kiss on the cheek and slap my butt too, was she?  There are so many people around!

Well, she didn’t.  She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pink handkerchief.  “Let me confirm it real quick.  You haven’t been petitioned by a Soeur Ainée yet, have you?”

I shook my head.  I had no idea what she was talking about.  Soeur Ainée?  It didn’t even sound like English.

She placed the pink handkerchief in my hands and told me to put it in my skirt pocket and keep it safe for now.  I wasn’t going to argue, so I did exactly that.  She turned and left afterwards.  The one thing I belatedly noticed was that she didn’t have a particular scent to her today.  Not red roses or bubblegum.

Over by where the students with the red ribbons were, I found a teacher with a clipboard who asked me a single question.

“Name?”

“Sora Hanabi.”

She checked the sheet of paper, needing to flip a page before finding my name.

“Third line, line up by height.  Your teacher is Hayakawa-sensei.”

“Ah, thanks!”

The incumbent class lined up on the left, with the second years in the middle, and the seniors on the right.  When finding the line, I came across a familiar face at the back of the line.

“Chiya-chan?”

“...Sora-san?”

It was Chiya-chan!

“Are you in Hayakawa-sensei’s class too?”

“...yes.  You are as well?”

“Yeah!  Wanna sit next to each other in class?”

“...I don’t particularly mind…”

“Great!  I’ll see you in class!”

I walked up exactly two spaces, because I was taller than the other twenty students in front of me, and smaller than the three behind me.

Was I really that tall, or was everyone else just small in the big city?  Maybe these girls haven’t hit their growth spurts yet…? I turned around and smiled sheepishly at Chiya who only nodded. 

I felt like I had made her my friend for the second time now.  We hadn’t seen each other since we got our uniforms, and we’ve only chat on Line with each other since then, though she was very talkative there at least.  She’s very into anime and manga, as I discovered.

A few minutes later a woman in her late forties or early fifties with short hair and dressed in business attire wearing bifocal glasses approached the podium and got our attention by clearing her throat.

“Good morning, everyone.  Thank you for attending the entrance ceremony today.  I am the director of Seishogawa, Ibaraki Yukie…”

She began to talk about what to expect here at the school, and how we should approach ourselves in our studies and our conduct towards each other in our daily lives.  It wasn’t as moving as I’d expected, certainly not like it was on some television dramas.

“Now then, before we move on with the next segment.  I’ll ask our Second and Third year classes to begin with our school song, as a show of sincerity and unity of our new class joining us for the coming year.  First years will be expected to learn this song.”

From the far right, a choir of voices began to sing a song, they were quickly joined after the first verse by the juniors.

The song talked about how springtime would come and the sakura would eventually bloom, and while some memories and friendships would be kept forever, other memories and friendships would scatter like petals in the wind, we should make our time here at Seishogawa a precious and unforgettable memory no matter if we stay fastly held to the sakura tree or become a petal in the wind.

The song was actually touching.

When it was done, there was a short applause by the teaching staff, and then by us, the first years.

Afterwards, there was a small speech by the Head Principal, and then the vice principal welcoming us back.  Then by the head of the sports faculty, and then the head teacher talking about sports and clubs.

After that, there was something called the Soeur Ceremony.

The director returned to the podium at that time.

“A tradition of importance here at Seishogawa is the Soeur Ceremony.  Soeur Ainée who wish to establish themselves, please come up to the podium now.”

There were a few whispers from around me.

-“What’s the Soeur Ceremony?”

-”I know a little French.  Soeur means Sister.  So Soeur Ainée means something like Onee-chan.”

-”Eh, you’re knowledgeable.”

-”My parents and I go on vacation to Paris all the time!”

I felt like I was listening to a rich girl brag.  Still, it was valuable information to me, who wasn’t exactly fantastic at a language that wasn’t Japanese.  However… an Onee-chan ceremony?  I still had no idea what it was about.

That quickly ended when the first senior approached the podium and the director called out a name.

“Yumori-san from 2-A.”

A girl from among the second years squeaked suddenly and hurried up to the podium.  Once there, the Junior had presented a white handkerchief to the Senior, and it was accepted.

“Shinozaki Erisa accepts the pledge of Yumori Ashia, and promises to be her Soeur Ainée.”

There was some applause, and those two moved to the right and the next name was called.

This repeated for a while.

I had actually stopped paying attention because it was the same thing, and none of the first years had been called up.

“Sora-san from 1-C.”

I looked around for a moment.  Did someone call my name?

“Oi, Firecracker!”  I heard a familiar voice shout.

Mai?

Up at the podium was Narita Mai, almost looking pissed off.  I quickly stepped out of line and hurried up to the podium, getting a flood of gazes as I did, mostly from the first years.

There was a surprising cough coming from the director there.

I stared at her stupidly for a moment.  She mouthed the word 『Handkerchief』 to me, and I had completely failed to grasp the situation until she did that.  I reached into my pocket and pulled out the pink handkerchief she gave me before the entrance ceremony started and carefully offered it to her with two hands as I had seen the first pair called up do.

She smiled and took it.

“Narita Maiko accepts the pledge of Sora Hanabi to be her Soeur Ainée.”

There was minimal applause for us.

We were also the last ones, so after that we only had to stand for a moment with the others while the director explained what the Soeur Ceremony was in full.

Essentially I was now called a Soeur Cadette.

In other words, where school was concerned, I was Mai’s Imouto now, and she was my Onee-chan.

As the director kept explaining, it was the responsibility of the Soeur Ainée to guide the Soeur Cadette to have them behave in a proper manner befitting herself and society as a whole while she passed from being a young girl and into her adulthood.  

Basically, the job of the Soeur Ainée was to be something of a confidante and help to support the Soeur Cadette who she has pledged to look after.

And I have a delinquent gyaru as my Soeur Ainée now.

Should I be worried about this?

Mai was standing behind me and her hand was resting on my shoulder.  I, who was a beautiful budding flower, prim and proper.  And Mai, who was well… 

A self-satisfying smile crept onto my face just then.

If I count Chiya, Mai, and her three friends as all being people I’ve met today and technically befriended, doesn’t that mean I’ve managed to make five friends before the entrance ceremony even ended?

I had to restrain myself from doing a guts pose just then and embarrassing myself any further than I already have.

I’m awesome at making friends!

“Come to the same spot at lunch, okay?” I heard Mai whisper to me.

Did she mean the Sakura tree?

The Director finished talking, though I had stopped paying attention to the last couple minutes, as my thoughts were otherwise occupied.  All the Soeurs and their Cadettes were dismissed and asked to return to their class lines.

“Now then, for the appointment of the princes… We have Ayatsuji Hisui-san.”

A beautiful girl with long hair wearing the colored ribbon indicating she was a second year approached the podium.

Princes?

Two students came to the front, and rather than say they were beautiful women, they were handsome.

“For the second and third years, there will be no change currently.  Ryona Masaki will remain the prince of the Senior class, and Minamoto Kaoru will remain the prince of the Junior class going into the new semester.”

There was a pause.

A few girls screamed out their names attached with sama or oujisama and fangirled like crazy.

It seemed to be an expected thing.

“Voting will begin on the first school day in the month of May, so if you are unhappy with your current prince, that will be when you can elect a new one.  It will also be when the Freshman class can also select their prince as well.  Forms are available in the student council for interested parties who wish to register their candidacy.  Please have it validated by your homeroom teacher.  Remember that being a prince is a privilege and they are expected to remain within the top one-hundred of their class academically, so as to set an example for excellence.  That is all.”

The Principal then came to the podium.

“Thank you, Student Council President, Ayatsuji-san.”

She bowed and exited, then the Principal called for us to close out the entrance ceremony with us all singing the national anthem.

When it was all done, a woman about my height and about Saiyuri’s age called for our attention from behind.

“Greetings, students.  I am your homeroom teacher, Hayakawa-sensei.  Please follow me in an orderly line to our classroom.”

Since she was in the back, Chiya-chan was essentially the one leading us, since she was much taller than the teacher.  It was only a few minutes walk from the auditorium to the school building, and we all filed orderly into class 1-C. Chiya-chan walked right to the back of the class taking a seat, and I made it a point of sitting right next to her.

“Right.  Now that you all are seated, I’ll begin with taking attendance.  At that time, please take a moment to come to the front and give a self-introduction.”

I paid attention to the first three but it was all the same thing.  A bow, their name, one thing they liked and then they returned to their seat.

Well, it’s not like school in Tono where we all knew everything about everyone long before their first day of attendance.  Our community was tight knit because there was a low population.  In a way, everyone was a precious human resource, especially the children.

“Sora Hanabi.”

I got up and went to the front, bowing politely and then introducing myself.

“Good morning.  I’m Sora Hanabi.  I love romance novels and I want to make tons of friends!  Please take care of me!”

I bowed again and then returned to my seat.

“...how can you do that so easily?”  Chiya-chan asked me.

“What’s hard about it?  It’s just like three sentences.  Don’t worry about it too much.”

Chiya-chan just grumbled nervously.

A few more students went and introduced themselves, then it came to be a certain giant’s turn.

“Matsuri Chiya.”

Hayakawa-sensei called on Chiya-chan.

“You’ll be fine, just be quick.  Don’t be nervous, and if you are, just look at me, okay?  I’m your friend, right?” I encouraged my tall but timid friend.

She’s quite talkative on the Line app, but in person she’s shy as a mouse.

A few whispers of “How tall!” and “Huge!” were whispered as she went up to the front.  She bowed part way and then did her best to speak up.

“H-hello.  I’m Matsuri Chiya… and I like…”

She froze.

I waved to her, showing my support.

“...Sora-san.”

A number of faces turned to look at me suddenly while I still had my hand up waving at Chiya-chan.

“...t-that’s all.”  She said, and bowed again while hurrying back to her seat next to me.

I could appreciate Hayakawa-sensei for not making an issue of it, by moving on immediately to the remaining students.

“...sorry Sora-san.  I didn’t mean to…  I got nervous.”

Chiya-chan hung her head low.

“Nothing to be sorry about.  All you did was say to the class that we’re friends, right?”

“Umm… is… that right?”

I smiled at her, because she just looked like she was afraid I’d say we weren’t friends over something as silly as that.  Of course I know the real reason she froze.

She likes anime and manga.

It’s social suicide to say that in high school, unless you want to be labeled as an otaku for the next three years.  I’ve read plenty of novels that always had bullying of a side character for doing just that accidentally.  It’s one thing in middle school, where girls and boys can even talk about mecha anime currently appearing in Jump.  It’s another thing entirely in high school.  I even worried about that kind of thing when I thought I was certainly going to go to high school out in Tono City.

“Nee~ Sora-san.”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for being my friend.”

Knowing full well she wasn’t wearing her pink cat-eared hoodie, I could have sworn that she grew a pair of cat ears on her head just then and they were twitching happily while she was swishing an imaginary tail.

One thing I've learned over the years is the value of a good friend.

Even if she’s tall, and looks somewhat plain,

Chiya-chan is cute...

And cute is Justice!

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