Akira stood at the corner of the alley and sighed.<span style="font-style: italic">Another new school. More people I doesnt know. This day was just getting better and better.</span>He absently swung his key chain around on his finger, looking around the area.<br/><br/>Seems like everyone was all into this festival. So much so that he wasn't even noticed. He kind of liked the peace though. No one depending on him or asking him for anything. He put his keys into his pocket and pulled out his cigarettes, placing one in his mouth. He looked around and, seeing that no one was watching, focused on the tip of the cigarette for just a second as it ignited.<br/><br/>Taking a long drag he pulled out his phone to watch the announcement:<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Cortexwave. The cutting edge technology to connect your mind with the virtual world. Were the words which appeared first. "Welcome to the special announcement for the Sports Festival. This year, a new competition has been added to the list. It is known as Arena ESP. It will be supported by ArcTech's Cortexwave technology and will take place in a virtual arena." The slide changed to show a short clip of the intended arena, a hexagon separated into two halves, orange and blue. "It has already been tested over the past year and has been deemed safe for public use. Teams are to be in groups of five and will compete against each other in the standard elimination format." There was a slight pause, "The preliminaries will be round robin, where the top sixteen schools will be selected. Teams are strongly advised to visit the Arena ESP facility located in district six for practice and calibration prior to the actual competition. The facility is open to the public from tomorrow onwards."</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Huh. A tournament. This might be fun to watch.</span>Akira thought, putting his phone back up. He looked around one more time, this time spotting the Horiuchi stand. He noticed a lone person tending it. Well, what better time then now to meet someone new? Although she was younger then him she was pretty cute. Shrugging he walked towards the stand.<br/><br/>"Hey. I'm Akira. I'm new here." he said offering her a smile.