Had to admit, this guy being a cop was kinda the only thing that made him stand out. His sunken frame was slumped against a wall, his dark-skinned hand trying to swat away strands of thickly curled black hair from his eyes.
"Ah, hello there" I mumbled, seeing if I could start a conversation with at least someone here.
"Oh, hey, 'sup? Ah, take it the badge and gun got ya a bit on edge? Don't worry, it's all okay
mademoiselle- er, young lady, just doing a regular inspection here," He smiled at first, but then leaned a bit closer and whispered to me "Listen, the teachers here don't want me telling anyone this, but as I'm law here I think you've gotta right to know. Been receiving reports there's a gang of Phantom Thieves operatin' on campus, that they've gone beyond just thievin' and into drug-pushing".
"Pfft, chatting with a cop? Ha, didn't know our last arrival would be such a narc!" I could hear that silver-haired girl laughing at me, I tried to give her no heed... nor had enough Guts to stand up to her.
Her remarks however just prompted a sigh from the buzzed skateboarder girl "Hey, lay off her 'Licia, have some respect for the new kid, ya know?". The goth girl declined to comment, while the backwards-hat boy looked to barely care.
The cop gulped before he spoke to me again, saying "Miss White-hair? That's Felicia Lucas, she would've just gotten back from juvie for arson, prob'ly here 'cause she got expelled from her old school, I imagine anyway. Best you just try to keep clear of her, sheesh, she even gives me the creeps. But ah, don't tell anyone else on the force I said that.
The skater's Amelia Crawford, known round these parts by her graffiti tag 'Babel'. We've run into her a couple times, she's never done anything worse than fine-worthy though... far as I know".
Despite less than reassuring news of my fellow arrivals, I chuckled at him and said "Think they're Phantom Thieves?".
Instead of a laugh back, he just fell silent for a bit, nothing leaving his mouth but a few umms and aahs. He at last sighed and said "Tell ya the truth, if they were I'd have no way ta know. Whatever tech these Thieves use is stumping us right now, plus the other cops seem ta barely give a shit about a crime wave like this, still claim it's a passing craze".
Our little talk was broken up when a teacher finally came our way, someone tall, wrinkled and grey-haired yet still with enough of a spring in his step. "So, everyone here? Good, you may call me Mr Chandler, I will be your Homeroom Teacher for the year and-" he quickly glared at the others "-Disciplinarian, if it comes down to that. Now if you'll please follow me in single file".
"Oh hey Chandler, where's Monica?" Felicia snorted out, only for his head to turn at her like an owl's.
"
Follow me in
single file" he intoned.
"Well, guess this is where we part" the cop mumbled, but before he went he was courteous enough to extend his hand "Jea-er, Gene Frank Harry, proud to serve".
"Sarah Kanizuki, likewise" I managed to smile back.
* * *
Mr Chandler's introducing our school was as bare-bones as you'd expect, Homeroom, English, Math and History classes here, Library, Gym and Sports Fields over there, Science Lab and Administration way over there. Mostly our regular classes were at the front of the school, the Admin block was in the back, everything else sandwiched in-between around a large, dusty courtyard.
The tour ended when we approached by a female teacher in glasses, with long and puffy scarlet hair, and a young woman, brownish-blonde with blue-green streaks, dressed in what looked like a modified male sports outfit.
"Oh, this is Mrs Bailey, she will be your Science Teacher" Mr Chandler tried to say simply, though I caught him gritting his teeth "And Ruth Anderson, one of our much-touted Sports Captains".
"Valerie Bailey, my dears, oh I do hope Horace here hasn't cast too dark a cloud upon you already~," she giggled. Feebly attempting a more serious tone, she then said "I can see the five of you look none too enthused, but rest assured we can guarantee a bright and productive year at St Leonard's!".
None of the other students seemed amused, if they were even paying attention. The most was a quick nod and a strained grin from the goth girl.
"Ah, oh my. Miste-oh dear I'm so sorry, Miss Ruth, maybe I'd better hand this off to you" Valerie Bailey swiftly steeped out of the way, with the athlete coming forth. Naturally, her first instinct was to try and greet me with a smile and a handshake.
"It's okay, Mrs Bailey, I ah, get that all the time.
So Sarah is it? Hey, welcome to St. Leonard's, hope to be seeing you around!" she then made an effort to curtsy, despite wearing a uniform clearly not designed for it "Hey, are you into sports much? It's just that some of our teams, Football, Baseball, Tennis, Boxing, heh even the Chess Club, are a few members short".
I told her I'd think about it, at which Ruth smiled in return.
"Oh hey, you got a Skateboarding team here, Parkour possibly?" Amelia piped up.
"Well, not officially I admit" Ruth hesitated a little.
"Heh, I'll probably take whatever helps vent my anger the most" Felicia somehow smiled and snarled at the same time.
"Pretty sure that ain't how psychology works" the boy with the backwards cap and patchy clothes (who I was since told went by Bertrand Stevens) mumbled quickly. Wow, I was surprised he had the courage to joke back at Felicia. That, or he simply didn't care, the latter was more likely.
"Well, I'm not really much of a sports person..." the goth girl mumbled, who I'd learned was named Tiffany Ellen.
"Same, way too much moving around. Hmm, might join that Chess Club for the sitting still" came Bertrand's response.
"And so ends our tour" Mr Chandler cut in "I trust you to have been familiarised enough by now".
"Oh really, but we were just getting to all know each other!" Mrs Bailey whined.
"Eh, that's life for ya Teach. Well, I'm off, places to be ya know" Amelia smiled and headed off.
"Hah, amen to that. Time to blow this joint" Felicia flashed a grin.
"No skateboarding in the halls" Mr Chandler intoned again, even though Amelia hadn't even set down her skateboard.
"Well, I do have practice to get back to, busy schedule for one of St. Leonard's brightest, hehe" Ruth gave a more pleasant smile.
As for me...
I supposed there was some time before I'd been scheduled to meet with my grandparents, guessed my parents and I might have gotten the time zones mixed up a bit, coming all the way to LA from-
[ ] New York.
[ ] Chicago.
[ ] Honolulu.
[ ] Seattle.
[ ] Atlanta.
[ ] Write-in.
So lucky for me I still had a whole afternoon free, all the more precious since school would be starting only the next day for me. Hmm, so what to do around town?
[ ] Just stroll around and take in the sights.
[ ] Find somewhere to eat.
[ ] See what fashions they have here in LA.
[ ] Maybe take a hike in the wilderness?
[ ] Just stay around the school or its surroundings for a minute more, see if I can spot anything about those drug-dealers.
[ ] See what one of the others wants to do.
[ ] Eh, just head straight to my grandparents.
[ ] Write-in.
[ ] Invite Amelia to come with me.
[ ] Invite Bertrand.
[ ] Invite Felicia Hahaha no [You do not have enough Guts].
[ ] Invite Ruth No way, she's off practicing, and I'm no pro athlete [You do not have enough Proficiency].
[ ] Invite Tiffany.
[ ] Go on my own.
[ ] Write-in.