"Ayano, let's go." I hold onto her sleeves, bringing her with me as I hurriedly rush onto the main building.

I look around to see some students who are standing on the side, leading freshmen into the school. They have armbands worn on their sleeves, making them stand out a bit.

"Hmm..." I think aloud. "Maybe they're seniors."

"Huh? What's that, Yumi-chan?"

"Oh, it's nothing." I reply to Ayano. "I was just wondering who they are, see?" I slightly point to the place where the few students are. "They're telling the confused newcomers where to head to. They might be seniors, and they have armbands as well."

"Ahh, yeah, they might be!"

And so, Ayano and I make it to the entryway of the school. Catching my breath, I then enter the building with Ayano behind me.

"Welcome to Yasutake!" A high voice slightly startles me, and I look to my left.

It was a senior who was welcoming Ayano and I. She greets me with a bright smile on her face.

"Please drop by the lockers before you go to your homeroom! You should change into your uwabaki and put your outdoor shoes inside your assigned locker."

"Umm... assigned locker?" I ask her in a questioning tone. 

"Oh, yes, that's right! Please tell me your name so that I can tell you which locker is yours."

"Ah... I'm Sakuragi Mayumi." I then point to Ayano. "And she's Ueyama Ayano."

"Sakuragi, Ueyama... please give me a minute." The senior flips through the pages of the list she has with her. "Mhm, Sakuragi-san, your assigned locker's code is 1031, and Ueyama-san's is 2103. Since you two are first years, search through the first row of lockers. The first row is for freshmen." She explains to us. 

Woah... she was able to find my name through that list in just a minute? And Ayano's, too! Does she have superpowers or something? If it were me, I'd take a whole decade, or even a century.

"Oh, and if you would mind, please write your locker codes on your notebooks or even in your phone's notes so that you wouldn't forget. It'd be a pain if you do!"

"Oh yes, I'll keep that in mind. Thank you so much!" I smile, and I bow to the senior who's talking to me.

"...Eh?" I hear Ayano mumble in a confused manner.

While bowing down, I put my hand at the back of her head, and I forcefully make her bow with me.

"Oh, it's no problem at all!" The senior tells us in a slight panic as she looks at a startled and confused Ayano. "Now, you should hurry to the lockers and go to your homeroom. The lockers are straight ahead."

"Okay! Thank you, really!" I thank her again, and I hastily bring Ayano with me.

"Now, let's go to the lockers." I quickly walk straight ahead.

"Yumi-chan, what's with the rush?"

"It's because we need to hurry on to the homeroom!"

Reaching the lockers, I let go of Ayano, and I fumble for my uwabaki through the inside of my bag.

"Alright, I got them." I breathe out a short exhale as I search through the first row of lockers. "One, zero, three, one. One, zero, three, one... where the heck... oh!" I find my assigned locker, and I unlock it by clicking the button on its handle. I then remove my outdoor shoes in a jiffy, and I slip my feet into my uwabaki. In sequence to that, I put my outdoor shoes inside my locker, and I close it again.

"Okay... Ayano, have you found yours?" I turn back to her, seeing her reach for the locker which was right above mine. 

"Yep, it's this one!" She says, putting her outdoor shoes inside her assigned locker, and closing it soon after.

"Lockers are done, so..." I briskly stand up, tidying my skirt in a quick way. "Let's go to our homeroom, shall we?"

"Yes, we shall!" Ayano smiles. 

"Then, let's go."

And so, we proceed to go up the stairs to find out our homerooms.

....................

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.....

...

Well, there sure is a lot of people in here...

Ayano and I stand in front of a crowd, with our fellow freshmen bustling about, trying to look for their names and sections in the huge board hung in the wall, which contains a list of all our names and our assorted homerooms.

"So... exactly how will we be able to find our names in this crowd?" Ayano nervously remarks, scratching the back of her head.

"I guess we'll have to wait for a few to go away..." I sigh.

"Eh? No way!" Ayano shrugs. "You know what? Let me handle this."

She then steps into the crowd. "Excuse me, excuse me! Please let me pass through!", she politely says to the other students with her loud voice, making a bit of way for her.