Motivation Issues

While those crimson drenched irises surveyed the room, landing upon the still glowing screen of the coffee machine, the empty packet torn at the lip, and finally on to me, the one sipping contentedly as the long expanse of groaning morning cityscape sprawled against my shoulders, I stood resolute, multitudes of thoughts bursting against my skull.
I didn't want his first impression of me to be one easily surprised.
Who knows how the next handful of minutes are going to pan out.
It's always good to have an upper hand somehow.
With this guy's flowing almond curls, his piercing but languid eyes, his purposefully loose suit, and the clean-shaven look that accentuated his lucky features, it seems like he already has a whole bunch of upper hands.
"Uhh... I hate to intrude, but, you were expecting us, weren't you?" he broached tentatively, like a lackey who's accidentally walked in on his boss having an important conversation after being summoned. As he stepped further in, finally taking that leap over the threshold, there were two clacks. One, of the door locking behind him, since he had pushed it far enough open that the automatic lock had realigned itself, and two, of the sleek onyx camera that dangled against his chest.
"Phew, it's kind of hot out, you know? It's only spring, but, the weather's beginning to heat up quite a bit."
"Mhm, well, climate change really is awful these days, isn't it?"
...that was the best I could come up with, so please, bear with me.
He seemed to flow on easily from it though, but it could just be the elegant, cool act of kindness that comes easily to these fortuitously born people.
"Well, that's more true than most people know. In fact... Well, I'm sure it'll get brought up anyway. Do you mind?" He answered vaguely, before pointing to the still flashing blue led screen of the coffee machine.
"Ah? Oh, no, let me."
As I got up, the man across from me smiled gratefully in my direction, but stopped me nonetheless.
"That's very kind of you, but please. You're the one that has to sit down for this, anyway."
"Okay...."
What could this mysterious guy be talking about?
In fact, his politeness and... attractiveness... had lulled me into a sense of security but, hadn't this guy basically barged into my room?
How did he even manage to unlock the door?
"Oh, here, I forgot to return it"
Like he was also blessed with clairvoyance or at least mind-reading abilities, he placed a standard hotel key on the table at my feet, before wandering back over to the machine, thinking better of gazing down at it like he was trying to speed up the process with those powers of his, and strolled out to the window I had stood gazing out at before he had arrived.
It looked like he wanted to say something, probably comment coolly on the scenery, maybe even spurt out some interesting history about the town, or about his relationship with it, but a sound at the doorway stopped his lips and my ears in their tracks. 
A set of three women, each with one length shorter hair than the other, and only one without a swallowing, deep black colour, instead having her long tails dipped in jade gradient, waltzed in from the open hallway, and the centre girl, eyes piercing but sharp, unlike the man's soft ovals, made a beeline for the sofa, before sending one of the smaller girls, short haired and athletic, to fetch her some coffee.
What's with all the coffee today... 
Once the door had been shut, finally, by the jade-haired girl, their leader spoke up with a clear, smooth voice that sounded like her larynx was made from smooth gemstones, and it reminded me of the kind of perfect, trained voice you hear from radio personalities or voice actors. 
"Hello, I'm Schene, and I will be the one conducting this interview. Usually, we have a dedicated interviewer, but considering their circumstances, and the nature of this case, we decided it would be better for me to lead, while the others listen."
Hm? Hm? What? Just because this woman's features are as smooth and attractive as her voice, that doesn't mean I'll just nod away like some enchanted slave of hers.
Interview?
Had they gotten the wrong room?
Maybe intuition is something that attractive people have a knack for, because immediately her gaze pulled in a little, and she seemed more concerned than her previous, business-like frown.
"Do you... Are you aware of who we are?"
Talking about upper hands, and here I am with the lowest hand in the deck...
But I'm not prideful enough to latch on to any semblance of power I can get.
I know how to admit when I'm in the dark.
"No" I replied cleanly, hoping that my honesty would assuage any doubts they had.
But it seemed that it only disturbed them even more.
However, it didn't seem like it was me they were considering so unfortunate, but something that lay behind my words, something that I was unable to pull out, like a magician whose multicoloured ribbon was stuck in his throat.
After glancing at each other for a couple of seconds, the man at the window left out of their little unspoken agreement, the woman turned to me and spoke with a careful measure of her tone and a worried look in her eye. She was too tall to fit comfortably on the couch, so she leaned over her crossed legs as she spoke, which of course, intimidated me a little, and probably made me a little more nervous than I should have been.
I mean, sure, it was a group of mysterious people, pretending like they know me, which could very easily be a scam or some underground recruitment kind of thing, but these people seemed far too different to be any of those things.
That's to say, there's a whole lot more things I have to be nervous about, but such a tall woman, with such a big nose and prominent features...
I'm still basically around puberty age, okay?!
No, even as far past it as I am, libido doesn't recede automatically once you've reached a certain age!
Now I'm making it sound much worse than it is.
Well, I'll sum it up with, when confronted with a woman that's my type, I have no choice but to be nervous.
"Do you remember a man with glasses? A group of people? A cafe with a scarlet-eyed woman? Have you ever been in a castle with marble-white clouds perpetually coating the windows? Do you know of the politician Osamu Dazai?"
Politician?! 
No, it's really true, isn't it? I've been transported into another world, where I'm the only unattractive person in a world of Greek sculptures!
"Yes... but no... I remember it all, especially know that you've pulled the cord on my memories, but, Osamu Dazai... He's an author, isn't he? So why do I remember... Something else?"
While not completely assuaged, that worried look in her eyes had begun to recede, and was becoming enveloped in something else, something like... satisfaction.
"Mhm, that's enough. Well then, I'm sure you understand that we can't just immediately recruit you, but there's something else at play here that links us all together. I'm sure you're going to remember clearer now, Aa-chan, but you've been through some tough experiences. I'm glad you're back with us."
Oh.
Now I know.
Why I was so nervous, why I had some kind of intrinsic dislike for the man now gazing at me with a kindness that was lost on me.
"Welcome, to the World's End Photography Club."