But at that moment, the teacher finally reached us. Panting, she interjected, “Miss Amanotsuka!”
I was suddenly on edge. If I didn’t get past this, I wouldn’t even be allowed to stand at the starting line.
Also, did the teacher say “Amanotsuka”? Isn’t that the same name as the school?
As if to answer my unspoken question, the girl whispered in my ear, “My name is Himeko Amanotsuka. Call me by my given name. Apart from that, just follow my lead. Got it?”
Himeko Amanotsuka... Is it really okay to call her by her given name?
“Yes. Got it, Himeko.”
“Excellent,” she replied. Then she turned around and put on a beaming smile. “Good morning, Ms. Minegishi,” she said, greeting the teacher with a calm and composed voice. The way she bowed her head slightly and lifted up her skirt just a touch was very graceful.
“Yes, good morning,” said the teacher. She looked at Himeko, giving me only a cursory glance. “Miss Amanotsuka, it seems that someone climbed over the fence near here. I don’t suppose you know anything about it?” After that, her eyes slid toward me again.
Breaking out in a cold sweat, I put every effort into not looking suspicious.
Himeko put a hand on my back and tugged me in gently. “Yes, my apologies. That was all because of Misaki here. Misaki Hotaru—she’s starting today.”
I lowered my head a little, leaving myself in Himeko’s hands as she drew my body close to hers.
“Miss Hotaru, you say?” asked the teacher, staring at me without reservation now that we had been introduced. “You’re a new student, aren’t you? The new students are supposed to all be in the auditorium by now. Wait... That badge! Does it mean what I think it means?”
When the teacher noticed the badge fixed to my uniform, her eyes widened. So it really is something special, I guess.
“Yes, this girl is my Seraph,” Himeko replied. “We arranged to meet on the day of the entrance ceremony and enter into the contract, but then we noticed that a little kitten had climbed up onto the fence and couldn’t get down, so Misaki went up to save it. In the process, she tripped the sensor.”
“Oh, I see.” To me it sounded like a highly implausible story, but it sounded like she had taken it at face value.
“I’m so sorry to have caused all this trouble at such a busy time,” said Himeko, bowing her head deeply. I lowered mine to match.
“That’s fine, as long as nothing is amiss.”
“Thank you so much.”
“Incidentally, this must be the reason you didn’t have a Seraph with you. You were simply waiting for Miss Hotaru. Am I right, Miss Amanotsuka?”
“Yes, exactly. I probably should have told everyone, but it didn’t seem right to talk about it when we hadn’t even made the contract yet.”
“That’s a good point. The other girls seemed to be fretting about it quite a lot, but I think it was a very prudent decision on your part.”
“Thank you for saying so.” Himeko bowed her head again. This time, she gently grasped my hand as well, as if to say, See? Everything’s fine! One way or another, I could rest easy for now.
“Now, you two should get to the auditorium right away. The entrance ceremony is about to start.”
“Yes, we’ll be right there. Oh, that reminds me! It turns out that Misaki forgot to register. I guess she was just in such a hurry to meet me.”
Oh, now that she mentions it, that is a whole other problem. It sounds way too suspicious, but maybe the power of this Seraph business, whatever it means, is enough to overcome this as well.
“No helping that now, I suppose,” Ms. Minegishi replied. “I’ll tell the teacher in charge of registration, so you just get a move on.”
And that was that. We had gotten off scot-free.
What on earth is a Seraph? Why is it so important? And who exactly is Himeko?
“Much appreciated. Anyway, Misaki, let’s go.” She took my hand and started walking.
“Um, thank you,” I said once we were safely away. “You saved me.”
“That’s fine. You are my Seraph, after all.” She seemed to be in an oddly cheerful mood as she dragged me along.
“What is a Seraph, anyway?” It was still bothering me.
“That’s a secret for now. But I can’t wait to see your reaction later on when you find out!”
“You’re so mean.”
“Goodness, what a thing to say after I just came to your rescue!”
I sighed. In the end, I couldn’t exactly deny that. Still, I was starting to worry about what I might have gotten myself into.
✤
We ultimately reached the auditorium without her telling me a single thing.
“Here we are,” she said.
We had entered the castle-esque structure that I’d thought was the school building, but apparently, it wasn’t actually used for normal classes. Instead, it included this auditorium, a variety of special classrooms, and some other rooms. This meant that I’d been very close to the venue for the entrance ceremony, but the normal classrooms were somewhere else.
However, the building with the normal classrooms also looked like a castle, as if that was totally normal. An academy with two towering castles?
I sighed without meaning to.
Himeko opened the door to the auditorium and peered inside. “Looks like everyone’s there, but the ceremony hasn’t started yet. Oh, that reminds me. Tomorrow after school, I want you to come to the elevator hall on the top floor of this building.”
“There’s an elevator?”
“Yes. If you take it all the way up, there’s a nice little place for drinking tea. We often meet there, so I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
“Um, sure. All right.”
“You don’t seem happy.”
“It’s just one mystery after another, that’s all. But you seem pleased enough, so that’s a relief.”
I’d included a bit of a snide remark, but that didn’t seem to have any impact on her. She just giggled in amusement. “Yes, I’m having a lot of fun. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this kind of excitement.”
“That doesn’t make it any clearer.”
“It’s fine if you don’t understand it yet. The more you get used to this school, the more it’ll all start to make sense. Until then, why not enjoy the sense of adventure?”
“I’ll try, I suppose.”
She giggled again. “What a great day this is. I’m so glad I got to meet a girl like you, Misaki.”
I was feeling utterly exasperated.
Himeko opened the door with so much enthusiasm I thought she might burst into song, then entered without the slightest hesitation. It was if our lateness didn’t bother her at all.
I followed her in—and the moment I stepped inside, I forgot about all my indignation. Instead, I let out a gasp.
I’d expected the auditorium to be something like a large gymnasium, but if I had to compare it to anything, it was more like a church or a concert hall. The rows of chairs were not the cheap folding kind, but rather expensive-looking ones with plush cushions.
At the front was an enormous pipe organ. I was overwhelmed by its sheer magnificence. In front of it were two girls in the same white uniform as Himeko. One was playing the organ while the other played the violin, together giving an exquisite performance of a song I had heard somewhere before. Was it The Four Seasons by Vivaldi? Yes, I was fairly sure it was the “Spring” section. It was a lively song, and I felt my spirits lifting. It made me think, Now’s the time to really give it my all!
“Stop looking so flabbergasted and come over here,” whispered Himeko, leading the way. “First, we need to find out what class you’re in.”
“Oh. Right.”
I followed her and looked around in the middle of the room. This was the entrance ceremony, so of course all the students here were new, like me. However, when I looked at the girls sitting in the rows of chairs ahead of us, something struck me. They were neatly divided into two groups. On one side sat students in black uniforms like mine, while on the other sat students in white uniforms like Himeko’s. The black-clad group appeared to be the larger one.
“Why are there two different uniforms?” I asked.
She stopped and turned back for a moment. “Oh, right. I guess you don’t know about that, either. In short, the Societal Arts students wear white, and the Domestic Arts students wear black.”
“Wow, I didn’t even know there was a program other than Domestic Arts. I didn’t see anything about Societal Arts when I took the exam.”
“Most of the Societal Arts students already came here for middle school. It’s pretty rare for any newcomers to be on that course.”
“So that means you’re a Societal Arts student as well? You must’ve come to the academy for middle school.”
“Yes, precisely.” With that, she turned back around and started walking again. Clearly, she had no desire to explain anything in detail. “Now, who will I need to ask? Wait here a moment.”
“Sure.”
We stopped right behind the group of students in black uniforms, and Himeko went over to a group of teachers to check what class I was in.
It felt awkward to be left on my own. All the other students were already seated, patiently waiting for the ceremony to start. Meanwhile, I could do nothing but stand there. My feet began to squirm restlessly.
Just then, I happened to meet the eyes of another student. She must have noticed that I still wasn’t seated and wondered what was going on. Her gaze said, What are you doing?