A welcome surprise

Sorum High. One of the most prestigious schools in the country. That was the school that Sarah was now looking at from its entrance. The school itself was gigantic, worthy of its title of second-best school in the country. She felt a peculiar mix of emotions, ranging from excitement  to fear. Excitement, because this was her first day. For that same reason, she also felt fear. In her head, there were a million ways today could go wrong. However, today she chose to ignore those thoughts.

"The first day won't begin if you don't go inside," Sarah muttered as she sighed nervously, 

"Just one step at a time."

Sarah looked at the school's gate and contemplated running back home, though, the situation there wasn't any better, so the thought left her mind.

"Okay, let's do this," she said to herself, steeling her nerves as she entered the school's compound. ]As she entered through the blue double doors, she was met with your typical school corridor, with lockers lining both ends. There were teachers leading the new students to the auditorium for orientation. 

"Follow me, everyone. Your first day will begin after this orientation," said a teacher in a blue suit. He didn't bother giving a name. Sarah followed him alongside many other new students. They went through a few corridors and passed a few teachers on their way there. But something felt off to her.

 "Why do I feel like I'm being watched?" Sarah inwardly questioned whilst looking around.

 Her thoughts were distracted when the leading teacher opened the doors to the auditorium. 

It was quite large, with bleachers surrounding the centre, only broken by where the doors were.  The auditorium itself was sparkling clean, and it was a cacophony of noise. Many people were talking to each other, and some were playing games on their phones. A few brave people were trying to flirt, although they were failing horribly. She even saw someone get slapped.

"Alright everyone, take a seat anywhere you want, orientation will begin soon," a teacher remarked before leaving the room. Sarah found a particularly secluded spot and sat down, plugging in her headset to pass the time. Music is one of the few things she found great pleasure in, and her playlist was an assortment of songs from all genres. She clicked shuffle and closed her eyes to relax.

This relaxation, however, did not last long due to outside interference.

"Hey, hey, are you sleeping?" said a feminine voice as Sarah felt something prod her shoulder.

Taking off her headphones, she turned to look at the girl who seemed to be attempting to start a conversation. Her appearance was unique, to say the least. What stood out the most about the girl were her eyes and hair. They were purple, and her eyes, in particular, were a dark swirling purple that looked like a void, or a deep abyss, waiting to devour anything in its path. It blended well with her shoulder-length hair, which, whilst still being purple, blended into a brilliant shade of blue near the ends, making it look more like a starless galaxy than hair. She wore a plain dark blue sweater and a white skirt, which contrasted greatly with her over-the-top personality and good looks. 

"Oh, you weren't sleeping? Well, that's a relief, I don't think it's safe to fall asleep in an auditorium filled with strangers. Hiya, my name's Zoe. What's yours?" 

 Zoe's rapid-fire way of speaking reminded Sarah of a machine gun. She spoke so fast it was somewhat hard to keep up with her.

"My name's Sarah," she replied after a small pause.

" Ooooo~," Zoe marvelled, "Sarah is a nice name. My aunt's name is Sarah. I like it." Zoe remarked, seeming satisfied. 

"Thanks...I guess." Sarah said uncomfortably.

She didn't know how to continue a conversation with someone. Luckily Zoe seemed to be able to do that just fine.

"Sorum High… Eeeee~! I didn't think I'd even get in!  It's such a high standing school. What about you?"

"I guess the test was hard.." Sarah said bluntly in response, not knowing how to reply.

Truthfully, she didn't remember much of the test required to get accepted. All she remembered was that she needed to pass and that she did, and now she's here.

"That's a lie, I bet you don't even remember the test. I know I sure don't. God, I'm gonna have to study so hard to keep up with the classes. Hey, you look smart. If we're in the same class would you help me study? Only if I need help, of course, which knowing me, I probably will. "

Sarah didn't need to answer as a voice from the centre of the auditorium stole everyone's attention.

"Attention please, I require all of you to be silent. Please sit down and be silent for orientation to begin." 

"Welp, that's my cue to leave. See ya. And don't fall asleep, that'd be bad, alright?" Zoe remarked, and she left before Sarah could reply. For someone with such outstanding hair colour, she was easily disappeared in the crowd. After a brief search for her, she turned her attention to the man on the stage. He was a tall thin man in a grey suit. He had glasses and looked like the type of guy who is too shy to even get a job as a principal, though his powerful, stern voice said otherwise.

After about five minutes, the auditorium calmed down and fell silent.

"Thank you. Now, as some of you may know, my name is Aika Warrenton. I am the current principal of this school, and I would like to welcome you to this fine establishment. We sincerely believe that from this day forward, the rest of your school days shall be filled with success..."

After giving his closing statement, the principal left the stage whilst other teachers came to escort the new students to their new classes.  Sarah was stuck with the same teacher who led her to the auditorium. The class they entered was a fair distance from the entrance. It took them roughly 5 minutes to get there without any distractions.

"Damn, that's pretty far..." Sarah thought quietly to herself, "I don't wanna have to walk that every morning." 

Entering the classroom, they discovered that it wasn't much different from a regular classroom. The teacher went to the desk in the corner and sat down saying," You all can choose your seats, just do so within 5 minutes."

 It was as if the teacher's personality had flipped from how he was in the hallway. Sarah ended up choosing a seat in the corner. It was slightly dark, but that was fine.

Noticing the class had chosen their seats, the teacher got up and wrote on the blackboard with a piece of chalk.

"Takahashi Orum."

"That's my name, and I'm your homeroom teacher. I only have two rules. If I'm sleeping don't wake me up. The second rule is to wake me up if you see the principal coming. I will pass out the events we have planned for the week. The principal insisted on printing it out."  

"Is this for real?!"

 The first person who read the sheet, someone Sarah didn't know yet, exclaimed out loud a sound that had joy and shock in it. Snapping her head towards the source of the noise, she found a boy who can only be described as small. Not too long after his initial exclamation, the whole class started freaking out for reasons Sarah didn't know yet. The reason they were all collectively freaking out, was because of what was listed on the handout.

Sigil Discovery/Control:

One Week