Chapter 10: Virtual insanity!

~Third Person POV~ The very next day, June and the rest of her homeroom class followed their homeroom teacher down several hallways and corridors.

"Um, if you don't mind me by asking, where are you taking us, Mr. Xander?" Chihiro Fujisaki asked their homeroom teacher.

"Well, that's a very good question, Chihiro! And it will be answered shortly!" Mr. Xander said as he led his students up to a large room. He then stuck his key inside the door's keyhole and let himself in.

His class followed him.

"This, my students, is known as the Virtual Simulation Room!" Their teacher said.

They stood inside a completely white room with nothing inside it. The room was very large and empty.

"Um... What's it for?" Leon Kuwata, another student who's also a prodigy (the Ultimate Baseball Star), asked.

"A great question, Mr. Kuwata! The Virtual Simulation Room (or VSR, for short) is a room made especially for something called virtual illusion." Mr. Xander said.

"Oh," Leon said. "And what's that mean?"

Mr. Xander was about to answer when Chihiro beat him to it. "It's a fascinating room that runs completely on virtual image and creates the illusion that what it's showing you is real when, actually, it's just merely an interactive hologram."

Everyone's eyes widened after Chihiro finished explaining.

"Chihiro is absolutely correct! This room is completely run by just virtual images." Mr. Xander said.

The whole class nodded, taking it in.

"Wow... I never knew we had a Virtual Simulation Room!" Makoto said.

"I didn't either!" Sayaka said.

"You didn't know about it because it's open to twelfth graders ONLY," Mr. Xander explained. "And now that you're in the twelfth grade, you're ready to use it."

"What exactly are we using it for?" Junko asked, not really caring at all.

"Another great question! And with that great question, I have a great answer; starting tomarrow, we will be starting a project that will be using the VSR!" Mr. Xander explained. "I will be using the VSR to set up multiple environments that you would normally see in the world! Environments such as swamps, deserts, forests, jungles, and much more! Your task, along with your assigned partner's (you will be paired with a partner), is to be able to survive forty-eight hours in one of these environments using your wits, skills, and your brains to help your chance at survival!"

"Wait, hold it, are you saying that you're just going to stick us in a random environment in hopes that we'll survive ALONE? With no food, no water, no anything???" June said.

Their teacher nodded. "Precisely!"

June turned pale.

"Jeez... Most schools don't even have a pool, and here we are with a freaking Virtual Simulation Room..." Hina mumbled. "And, who says we're even going to be able to survive at ALL in there?! Is this even legal?!" She added.

"Relax, guys! It's just some virtual room thingy! How real could it possibly be...?" Erin said.

"Gaaah! Don't jinx it...!" Leon said.

"Honestly, would you all stop being so frightened by just a simple room? I won't be surprised when you all end up failing this assignment." Byakuya said. June rolled her eyes.

"Now, Mr. Togami, I will be determining who passes or fails this project," Mr. Xander said. "Now, let's all get back to the classroom so I can partner you all up for tomarrow!"

They all chatted about the "project" as their teacher led them back to their classroom.

Once they were back in the classroom, everyone took a seat.

"Now, class, it's time to pair you up!" Mr. Xander said.

Sayaka raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Maizono?" Mr. Xander asked.

"Can we choose our own partners?" Sayaka asked. Mr. Xander chuckled.

"Now, where's the fun in that? Your partner will be selected at random," Mr. Xander said. Then, he grabbed a small wooden box off his desk. "Everyone will write their first and last name on a piece of paper and drop it in this box. Everyone will draw a name out of the box, and the name you draw will be your partner! And, if you draw your own name, you must draw again!"

Then, Mr. Xander looked up at the clock. "Hm, the homeroom period is almost over! That means we have just enough time to draw names and get our partners!" He said.

The class groaned.

"Excellent!" Mr. Xander said. "Now, I'm going to hand out the pieces of paper now, write your first and last name, fold the paper in half, and stick it in the box! Then, we will draw names."

Once everyone got a piece of paper, they wrote their first and last name on it before they folded it in half and stuck it in the wooden box.

When everyone was done, Mr. Xander shook the box to mix up the names. Then, he walked around the room.

First, he approached Erin's desk. He motioned for her to draw a name. Erin stuck her hand inside the box and pulled out the first piece of paper her hand touched.

"Please be my name, please be my name, PLEASE BE MY NAME...!" June thought to herself.

Erin then opened up the piece of paper and read the name.

"Ishimaru Kiyotaka," Erin read. "I got Ishimaru."

June looked across the room where Ishimaru sat. He smiled.

Erin smiled back at him.

June sighed. "Darn! I didn't get Erin...!" She thought.

Mr. Xander smiled. "Then, Mr. Kiyotaka, Miss Erin Takahashi, you two are partners!" Then, he moved on to the next desk.

After awhile, Makoto and Hina were partnered up, Leon and Sayaka were partnered up, along with some of June's other classmates.

Then, Mr. Xander approahed June's desk. Before sticking her hand inside the box, June said a silent prayer to herself.

"Please... PLEASE, let me pick ANY NAME but his...! ANY NAME BUT HIS...! Please...!" June prayed silently.

June closed her eyes and stuck her hand in the box and felt all the pieces of paper that were left.

Eventually, she pulled one piece of paper out of the box. Once she did, she slowly opened it.

When it was opened, June slowly opened her eyes and looked down at the name that she picked...

June's eyes widened in horror.

Across the room, Byakuya studied the look on June's face.

Byakuya immediately knew what had happened.

"Um...," June said. "Can I draw again...?"

Mr. Xander frowned. "No, June, the name you get is the name you get! Now, whose name did you draw?"

June sighed in frustration before she meekly let out, "Byakuya Togami..."

Byakuya silently groaned before he held his head in his hands.

The class snickered.

Erin just shot June an "I'm sorry...!" look. June put her head down on her desk.

After that, Mr. Xander finished partnering up the class just as the bell rang.

June immediately got out of there as fast as she could. Erin, Makoto, and Hina followed.

"Ugh...! I can't believe I drew Byakuya's name...! I mean, out of all the other names in that classroom, I drew BYAKUYA'S...! Unbelievable!!!" June said in frustration.

"Bad luck, huh?" Makoto said. June groaned.

"Sorry, June..." Hina mumbled. She didn't really know what else to say on the matter.

"I mean, it's not fair! Erin got who she wanted...! Why couldn't I???" June whined. Erin's eyes widened.

"W-What makes you think I wanted Ishimaru??? I didn't want Ishimaru...!" Erin said.

"So? At least you got someone you like!" June said.

Erin turned pink. "I do NOT like Ishimaru...! We barely even KNOW EACH OTHER...!" She said.

June just gave her a look. "Fine, at least you got someone you don't COMPLETELY HATE!" June said.

Erin nodded. "That's better." She stated. June rolled her eyes at her twin.

"Ugh... Why does the universe hate me???" June said.

"Wow June," Erin said sarcastically. "You got into one of the most prestigious private schools in the world...! You're an award-winning gymnast who's captain of the Regional Gymnastics team that's representing Japan! Yeah, sure, the universe must really HATE YOU...!"

June glared at Erin who just simply raised her eyebrows.

"I better get to my next class," June mumbled. "See you guys."

After they all said goodbye, they all split up to head to their next classes.

June was in a sour mood the rest of the day.

"Wow, I'm partners with Byakuya," June complained to herself. "The universe must really love me...!" She added sarcastically.