Arrival

Rennie gets sorted.

"Where's Dayton High?" I asked the guy in the suit.

"It's in a secret location. You can't know." All of a sudden, it felt like the limo was floating, and then it sped up. I felt myself nearly thrown to the back of the limo. "Put on your seat belt," the guy in the suit advised.

I wanted to wind down a window, but it couldn't move. I realised if we were flying it was best I didn't open the window.

"We're going to pick up a couple more new students, and then we'll be on our way." The car began to go lower, until I felt it touch the ground. The driver's door opened, and it looked like we were in the desert. A girl rushed to the limo, and she accidentally ran into it. The guy in the suit opened the door for her, and she came in. A guy followed her, and he tumbled in clumsily. They both looked at me, and I felt a bit nervous.

"Hello." I smiled at them as best as I could.

"Hi! I'm Hoshiko Kimura! Nice to meet you!" Hoshiko gave me a quick hug, and gestured to her companion. "This is Yoshi!"

"Hello, I'm Yoshi Sato. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He smiled, and sat down.

"Soooo... are you a Fire, Earth, Water, Air or Weather?" Hoshiko asked me. I gave her a confused look, and she babbled on. "I'm an Earth! It's because I'm really good at science! Yoshi is a Weather, because he's so thoughtful! He's a debater, and he's a realist!"

"Um... Hoshiko? I think she's a first year." Yoshi gave me a look as if to say he was embarrassed for me.

"Oh my glob! Seriously?! You're going to love it at Dayton!" Hoshiko giggled, which totally seemed in character for her. "There are five houses. You're chosen to go into one of them, and you will fit into one because you were accepted into the school! The fire students are reliable, controlled, and mature. The water students are easy going and are usually problem solvers. The air students are sweet, gentle, and temperamental. The weather students are realists, philosophical, and logical thinkers. The earth students - like me - are kind, thoughtful, and are natural scientists!"

"That sounds amazing," I whispered.

"I think you'd be either a water, earth, or air." Yoshi smiled. "I think you'd definitely be an air actually."

"Oh. Cool!" I smiled, knowing that's why Jason wasn't accepted.

"The reason why you need those characteristics is because you get to control the element which your house is named after. If you did fire, you'd be able to control, create, and extinguish fire. With air, you'd control the air and be able to fly. Since Hoshiko is earth, she can control the earth, can make it fertile, and she can talk to plants. I'm weather, so I can control the weather to a point, and I'm resistant to the heat and the cold." Yoshi grinned.

"To a point?" I queried.

"Well, I can't make windstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes, or cyclones without an air counterpart helping me. I can't make lightning, fire rain, or forest fires without a fire counterpart. I can't make earthquakes or drought without an earth counterpart, and I can't make floods without a water counterpart," Yoshi explained to me.

"Cool." I felt the limo touch the ground again, and I saw a guy walk up to the limo. He had his fingers laced together and he was looking worried. He had these interesting facial tattoos, but then again, so did everyone else here. Except for me. Was this like a rite of passage into the school?

"Hey there Kichirou Nakamura!" Hoshiki laughed.

"Hello." Kichirou was deep in thought.

At this point, I'll tell you what we all looked like.

I had my brown hair done up in a bun, and I was wearing my glasses. I was wearing my normal attire of hoodie and jeans, and I was blushing slightly. I have eyes that are different colours. One is amber and the other is a light brown. They were both hiding behind my glasses.

Hoshiko had her hair in a plait down her back, and she was wearing a pink shirt which said "I LOVE SENPAI" on it in big letters. She had purple eyes, and her facial tattoos were pink.

Yoshi had very light brown hair, and his facial tattoos were dark green. He had a very cute face, which made him look younger. He had this hair which went up in the middle and down towards the other sides. He had a blue polo shirt, and dark jeans.

Kichirou had flame red hair, which stood out to me a lot. His facial tattoos were red as well, and he had a dark brown shirt on. His black messenger bag was on the floor, along with his dark overcoat. His eyes looked a little more menacing than friendly.

All of us sat down and waited to arrive. I asked Yoshi tons of questions about the school which Hoshiko occasionally answered. Kichirou was very quiet, and occasionally supplied answers for my questions about classes. The guy in the suit passed a piece of paper to me and asked me to fill it in. I did, with some help from Yoshi. I decided on my classes, and I chose my uniform colour. You had to wear a uniform to class, and mufti for the rest of the day. After filling it in and passing it to the guy in the suit, I saw Yoshi pull out a book.

"Why are you all Japanese?" I asked, trying to be polite.

"Well, pretty much the whole school are Japanese. I'm not sure why, but you're probably going to be the only white first year." Yoshi answered.

So that explains a lot. We landed, and as I walked out of the limo, I'm certain I gasped. The whole area was surrounded by a forest, and the school was in the middle! It was humongous. I saw a huge football field, an area with picnic tables, and buildings. There was a guy holding a sign saying "All First Years This Way!"

"I suppose this is where I say goodbye." I smiled at my new friends.

"No way! Tonight, we're all meeting in the woods. Ask where the Internet Cafe is, and go south. We'll all be there. Right, guys?" Yoshi asked the small group.

"Okay." Kichiro agreed.

"Sure!" Hoshiko wholeheartedly agreed.

"I'll see you all there! Bye!" I said as I got swept into the current of students.

After the tour, I knew where all my classes were. We were given a test- find the football field, then go to D5, then go to the Internet Cafe, and then go to the Turner Theatre. I ran off, and found everything. I was one of the first students at the Theatre, where they asked me to line up in the wings of the stage. I was at the front, because I guessed what the big scary machine was (a tattoo machine!) and I wasn't afraid of it. They'd first call out my house, and then I'd put my face in the machine. The older students would cheer, and I'd go and sit with my house.

After more than half the first years arrived, I was instructed to go to the centre of the stage. I got there, and I saw a swarm of faces in front of me. The guy in the suit was on the stage, and he asked me to say my name.

"I'm Rennie," I answered.

He then asked me what my favourite music was.

"I love The Beatles." It wasn't too hard for me that question, and some of the Air students cheered.

He then announced my house into my ear. I had to yell it out. He said if I messed it up or didn't say the right house, I'd be left to fend for myself in the woods.

"I'm in... AIR!" I shouted triumphantly. The students in the hall cheered as I was directed to the machine.

"What colour tattoo do you want?" The artist asked.

"Red." I put my face in after taking off my glasses. I felt a pain go through my face, as I felt the air around me speed up.

"Take your face out, and put your glasses on," the artist instructed me. I took my face out, put my glasses on, and WHOAWHOAWHOAWHOA.

I was floating.

More students cheered.

"Well done. You're very talented." The guy in the suit complimented me as he guided me off the stage. I sat with some girls who were making the air around us get our hair tangled. We all giggled and watched all the other new students. After everyone was done, the guy in the suit stepped up to the microphone.

"Now, all you students know that we must never tell anyone outside of this school that we are elementals."

I realised what I'd gotten into, and nearly stopped breathing.

"You're no longer human."

I was an elemental. I was an air elemental.

How things had changed...