Kei's eyebrows jumped. "Mitsuo, please," he corrected instinctively. "That's...an odd way to begin a friendship, don't you think? It's almost like you're proposing to me." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Which is flattering and interesting and all, but you sound like a five year old." She was shaking her head, he didn't quite understand why.<br/><br/>He was beginning to revise his earlier opinion that she was much older than a first year. There was something strangely desperate about her, like a kid on her very first day of school.<br/><br/>In the distance, a mournful bell was ringing. He squinted up, catching sight of the large metal structure swinging back and forth in the tallest tower. The entire student body fell silent, listening. In front of them, the large wooden gate began to lower over the moat until it finally came to rest on the grass at their feet.