rakuen | On the platform: Meet the new characters

As you all crowd onto the platform, which is drenched with sunlight though the air is cool you are met by five girls and eight boys. One of the girls is a somewhat humanoid grey-skinned, finned alien and one of the boys seems to be a blue Hedgehog; but the rest all seem human. All twelve are in uniforms that would match if not for the colour differences - skirts and trousers, waistcoats, and light summer shirts that seem totally inappropriate for the chill. Some seem irritable while others look excited. Each has a beret with a crest pinned to the front - six depicting a shield on green, the other seven a sword on red.

At the first lull in the chatter, a frail looking girl with a shield on her cap steps forward.

"Excuse me, may I have your attention please!"

She explains that the eleven of them are the current prefects of Rakuen, representing the two schools on the island. Nanami (she gestures to herself), Lelouch, Yuri, Sonic, Jade and Sora of Fortitude; and Santana, Flynn, Feferi, Kevin, Gino, Suzaku and Golbez of Conquest.

The introductions are over fast and the girl named Santana seems impatient, "So come over when your name is called so we can all get inside." They all move to stand in two groups some distance away from each other; two boys step forward and begin to read names from a clipboard.

Suzaku, the Conquest Prefect reads in a short clipped manner, his posture stiff. But his tone is kind. "For Conquest, Arthur Pendragon, Stellaluna, Nepeta Vantas and Jadesprite."

The Fortitude prefect, Lelouch, on the other hand looks bored. "Jane Crocker and Merlin are for Fortitude."

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Nepeta is one of the last to unboard from the train.

And the moment she doesn't she lets out what sounds like a mix between a strangled cry and hiss and quickly darts back in. God damn, that really was the sun and not some strange artificial light. She rubs at her eyes a bit and just. Sort of stares from the threshold, letting the few others behind her pass on by. What the hell was she suppose to make of this? This had to be some sort of bizarre dream--that was the only explanation considering she had no idea how she had come to be on this train. The sensation of falling, the recollection of an old fairy tale told years past...

Dream. Definitely a dream and the more she tried to make sense of it and what she had been doing before arriving here the foggier her mind seemed to get. She remained where she was, eying the platform with uncertainty and curiosity.

He was still missing one, why had he gotten all the difficult new students. He told the girl who was probably Jadesprite to wait, leaving Stellaluna with her and went off to see if he could find the last student on his list.

He went to the train and finally found a girl... did she have whiskers?

"Are you Nepeta Vantas?" He asked, trying not to sound as annoyed as he felt.

She watched some of the others gathering towards a group of uniformed people until they went out of the range of vision the train door allowed her. She was just trying to muster up the wherewithal to step out without being blinded when someone else came her way. She tugged her cap down again and studied him.

He was healthy looking. Very healthy looking which meant he probably wasn't from the slums. Maybe not even the Middle Plate. His crisp clothing made her feel a little self conscious about her own rags but she refused to let it show. What was she to make of this? He knew her name, she had no clue who he was--she she could neither see nor sense any sort of hostility from him.

After a small pause she nodded "And who are you?"

Well at least she could talk, and wasn't crying. That was a step up on the group he had gotten today. "I am Suzaku Kururugi, I was brought here like you but almost two months ago now, I am here to show you to where you are to live."

Nepeta still wasn't exactly sure if she could trust this guy, but one thing was certain. He knew more of what was going on and where they were than she did. Whether he was an ally or enemy, he was the only well of information she had right now so it was best to be as amenable as possible.

"Where is here? You can see the--" She cut herself off and once again just stared past him, in the open air and daylight. This was going to take a while to get use to.

You could see the... Sky? He followed her gaze out of the train. Where did she come from that she had never seen the sky before? "It's a city," His tone was gentler now, "Called Rakuen, we don't know exactly where it is, but it has brought people from many different worlds here."

She gave him her full attention again. Rakuen? Nepeta had never heard of a city called Rakuen, but then again she wasn't really the best at geography. It wasn't until he mentioned the bit about worlds that she really grasped what he was saying. Her first reaction was of course skepticism. Different worlds? That was ridiculous; but then she remembered what she had learned recently at Cosmo Canyon and realized that it really wasn't that far fetched. It was still hard for her to accept that there existed other worlds out there with life, and that travel between them was possible but...

But there was a history of it, and if Suzaku was lying to her you think he would come up with something a little more plausible. It seemed so far-fetched she couldn't help but feel it had to hold some truth. He also did seem like he genuinely wanted to help. Finally she stepped out, though she was careful not to look up.

"For what purpose?"

He nodded to her as she finally got off the train, "We are not exactly sure of their purpose, but there is a... game here, every week a new group of us are chosen and must fight each other."

He pointed at the bag she had been given, "You also have to go to school, your uniform is inside you bag, as is a rule book that explains the fighting system."

She looked down at the bag that she had taken more on reflex than anything. She opened it up, taking out the rulebook and randomly flipping it open.

"We have to fight?" Her tone was dubious. Fighting in itself was not something she minded, but it had to be the right reason and she didn't think doing it simply because someone told her to qualified. Going to school now was something that vaguely interested her, simply because she had never been properly educated. Everything she she had learned from. From. She frowned a bit. It had to be someone, but just who it was escaped her. She gave a small shake of her head and moved on.

"Is it mandatory? What happens if we don't?" She knew she couldn't possibly have been the only to refuse.

Suzaku nodded, "We do," he frowned, "It is yes, those that don't fight get fined." He explained frowning, "And if you end up going into debt people get hurt." It was a difficult subject, since just this last week such a thing had happened, with members of both schools being struck down in punishment.

Well, trading one oppressive place for another. Considering she had been forcibly brought here, Nepeta wasn't too surprise. "How do they go about enforcing that?"

"They seem to have the power to both give us money and take it away without being physically near us, they also have the power to punish us without touching as." He frowned, "For the time being it is probably best we do as they say."

Hmm. There were a lot of other questions she had, but she got the feeling that it'd likely be best just to read the manual he mentioned and experience everything for herself. Doubtless he was tired of what were probably the same questions over and over again.

"I'll keep that in mind then, thank you. I guess that's all I'll ask for now, but may I come to you in the future if I have more questions?"

Suzaku wouldn't have minded answering questions, at least she wasn't crying... "Of course you may, I am a prefect, it is my duty to help you settle in." He nodded at her again.

On the platform: Meet the new characters

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