"Woah... this place feels bigger than I remember it being on orientation..." You breathed out as you looked around. The food court almost looked like a mall, except all the stores served different kinds of foods! There was also one small store that was basically like a convenience store which you'd bought some chips from on orientation because why not?

To both your left and right were several different restaurants, some of which were busier than others. There were some cafeteria style tables in the center of the very large hallway between the two sides of the building as well as a few booths and a lot of normal tables, all of which were of varying sizes to fit different amounts of people. Several of the tables were already occupied but there were still plenty left, and this was only the first floor! There was a second floor to the food court, and although it was smaller you could still peer up and see several people that were hanging around the balcony looking down onto the first floor.

"There's so many people here," Shuichi commented as he also looked around, clearly nervous at the surplus amount of people. You could tell he was scanning the large crowd of people, but you didn't blame him. How many people were in this college?!

"Geez... I guess Hope's Peak wasn't kidding around when they said they'd be finding as many Ultimates as they could to attend. Guess that makes sense why they were so desperate for me to attend... but doesn't that make being an Ultimate less special to have so many of them?" You sighed, realizing that every single person in this college had an Ultimate talent. Every single one. That was a lot of talents!

"Just because they scout more people does make finding an Ultimate more common, but it doesn't mean it's less special. They scouted everyone because they had a true talent in something, even if it was just a raw talent that hadn't been sharpened yet," Shuichi turned his head to face you for a brief moment, "...And... don't say that about yourself. Judge yourself based on your actual skills, not your opportunities to get a job..."

"What, did you suddenly turn into the wise guy who has the best life advice ever?" You flatly commented. He had given you good advice but you didn't want to admit it- you wanted to just keep attacking yourself and your talent and keep complaining, "Anyways, let's go get some food. That's why we came here in the first place!"

You lead the way without waiting for Shuichi's response, browsing the different restaurants that were available. It would've been nice if they were things like Dairy Queen and McDonald's all put into one area, but they were all restaurants made up by Hope's Peak so they had boring names and it was harder to tell what was most likely on the menu until you actually saw it or saw what people were getting when they picked up their food. It was kind of annoying to have to guess what each place served, but eventually after a while of browsing the two of you found a restaraunt that seemed to have quite a diversity of foods, so the two of you decided to peek inside and see if you found anything you were interested in.

"Hmm... I think a cheeseburger sounds good," You thought aloud as your eyes scanned the menu, Shuichi doing the same.

"Really? I think having some pasta sounds beter," Shuichi slightly chuckled, making you giggle a bit.

"Okay weirdo, have your pasta. I'm geting the actually good food," You teased him, getting in line to order your food with Shuichi right beside you. While the two of you waited in line, you realized that the lady at the cash register looked vaguely familiar but also like a stranger for some reason, but you couldn't place your finger on where you might've seen her. You read her name tag to see that it read 'Astrid Rostock' but since the name didn't ring any bells you dismissed it as deja vu or maybe seeing her in passing. However, something that was definitely interesting to note was how long her hair was! It was currently tied back in a long ponytail, but it went all the way down her back!

"Hello, may I take your order?" 'Astrid' asked you when you got to the front of the line, her fingers ready to document your order so the food could be prepared. You told her that you wanted a cheeseburger with {toppings} and {drink}, and then Shuichi ordered a bowl of pasta. There were a few different types he could choose from, but he ended up choosing the one called 'four cheese corkscrew pasta' and chose to have vegetables with his food as well as a medium sized water. 'Astrid' pushed a few buttons on the register and the total amount showed up on the screen visible to you, "That will be $15.82."

You reached your hand into your pocket to grab your wallet, but Shuichi stopped you, "Ah... i-if I may... can I pay for your food...?"

You were a little surprised at his seemingly random request, but you weren't gonna pass up the opportunity to not have to pay. The less money you spent, the better for you. Although you did feel bad to push the burden onto Shuichi, he DID offer, so, "Um... if you want to."

Shuichi seemed satisfied with your answer and gave 'Astrid' the money, and she smiled and handed him a small card with the number '409' on it, "Your order is number 409 and your food will be ready shortly."

"That girl at the register looks familiar for some reason..." You mumbled to Shuichi as the two of you got out of the way and stood nearby to listen for your order to be called. Shuichi looked over to 'Astrid' for a second, making a note of how unique her appearance was {mostly because of her abnormally long hair}.

"Hm... maybe you just saw her in passing somewhere," Shuichi suggested, and you sighed.

"Maybe... but something just doesn't fit. She seems so familiar but it's more like... by association? Like... I dunno how to explain it..." You grumbled in frustration, not having the words to convey your feelings. You just couldn't describe it!

"That's weird," Shuichi put a hand to his chin in thought and got quiet, but he didn't seem to come up with any possible answers to how you could think she was familiar other than seeing her in passing.

"Oh well... maybe moving day is just totally screwing with my brain," You laughed it off, choosing not to worry so much about something so small and insignificant. Shuichi quietly joined you in your laughter with a few small chuckles, though he didn't break out into a full laughing fit. You'd have to change that some day, he seemed like a really nervous person who needed a good laugh more often to distract him from the world just a little bit.

"Order 409!" one of the workers called out, grabbing both yours and Shuichi's attention.

"That's us! And that was pretty fast," You giggled a bit, the two of you going to the counter that the employee had your tray of food. He took the card with your order number on it and handed you the tray of food with both yours and Shuichi's food on it, which you carried with care since you really didn't want to spill food, "Where are we gonna sit?"

"Wherever you want to sit, I guess," Shuichi scratched the back of his head a bit awkwardly, clearly not really having much of a preference for where he wanted to sit {maybe he hadn't even thought about it}. You snickered softly.

"Okay then, follow mee! I'm gonna pick a random seat," You grinned, carefully leading the way as you left the area and started looking around for a place for you and Shuichi to sit. After a few seconds you decided to sit at a booth since the seats would be more comfortable, and you made your way to a booth that was relatively out in the open. When you reached the table you set the tray on top of it, taking a seat. Shuichi sat across from you as you started grabbing your food and drink from the tray. Shuichi did the same, carefully taking the still steaming bowl of pasta.

"Wow, this is still super hot!" You laughed as you unwrapped your burger and saw the steam still rising from the patty, as well as the hot burger making your hand warm. You made sure the burger could sufficiently air out before leaving it to cool off for a few minutes, taking a sip of your drink.

"Heh... I think we both need to wait for our food to cool off," Shuichi commented, looking down at his bowl of pasta. You didn't even need to touch the side of the bowl to be able to see that it was clearly still very hot and attempting to eat it would probably result in needing to exhale the flames like a dragon and a burnt tongue if you didn't at least blow on your food first.

"Oh! This is like super super random, but while we wait for our food to cool off I might as well ask, what kinda breakfast food do you like?" You asked a completely random question. The question had only surfaced because the two of you were eating, but now that you'd started to wonder it suddenly became a very interesting and important subject.

"Ah... I guess eggs and bacon would be my first choice, but I don't eat breakfast very often," Shuichi admitted, a guilty smile on his face. He also looked... kind of sad? You couldn't quite describe the look on his face because 'sad' didn't do it justice. There was more there, but you simply didn't have the words for it.

"Eh?! What do you mean you don't eat breakfast; it's the most important meal of the day!!" You exclaimed, shocked that Shuichi would skip on such a vital meal of the day. You understood that people had different lifestyles, but breakfast was just such an important thing. Skipping lunch or dinner would've at least been less harmful, although skipping meals wasn't good regardless of the meal you skipped. Realizing you were starting to sound like the characters from a certain dating sim, you weren't sure whether to mentally laugh or to mentally slap yourself.

Shuichi shifted around uncomfortably for a few seconds, opening his mouth to speak for brief moments before closing it again, clearly searching for the right words. After a bit of a clear mental struggle he finally used the poor excuse, "I just don't really have time in the mornings."

You wanted to confront Shuichi about the fact you could easily tell he was covering something up, but you figured that he was covering it up because he didn't want to talk about it, and you didn't want to intrude on his personal business. Instead, you decided to follow the social code and play along, "Wake up earlier in the mornings, then. Since you're in college now you can totally start a new routine and get into better habits now!"

Shuichi seemed to be more impacted by your words than you'd anticipated, another look you couldn't quite describe falling on his face. It was obvious that he was thinking about something, but you couldn't tell what it was. Shuichi really was a mystery.

"I guess I should get back into my old routine..." Shuichi mumbled to himself, and you weren't sure if you were supposed to hear that so you didn't comment on it. Soon an uncomfortable silence filled the air, and you started to immediately brainstorm new topics of conversation because you didn't want to be left in a painfully silent state like this. Either fortunately or unfortunately, it seemed someone else had an idea for you.

"Oh? Why hello there cuties~ Are you two dating?" a random boy asked, approaching the two of you and giving both you and Shuichi a wink. A playful smirk adorned his face, his slightly messy black hair falling in front of his face just a little. It was ever so slightly curly, making his hair look straight from an anime. He had blue eyes that sparkled with lust, making you wonder how that was even possible. He also wore an unbuttoned lab coat with a plain light red shirt underneath, and he wore a pair of black pants as well as black shoes. For some reason, he looked vaguely familiar just as the lady at the cash register had. Why did they look so familiar?! Were you just imagining things?

"No, we literally just met today," You sighed, internally face palming. No matter how oddly familiar this guy looked, that didn't change the fact that he was acting in a very... sexual manner. His words were innocent enough, but the way he said them combined with his body language and facial expressions immediately gave away that he was thinking of something sexual. It was really uncomfortable.

"Ohhh, are you guys a Tinder match or something? If you're up for a threesome-"

"Dude, I dunno who are you, but we're not gonna do anything weird, and especially not with you. Go away," You hissed, glaring at the unknown male. You honestly weren't expecting that to actually work {or at least without getting insulted by him}, but to your surprise he seemed more than willing to comply.

"Aww... okay. Bye, hotties~" the boy gave you and Shuichi one last smirk and licked his lips before finally turning away and leaving the two of you alone to wonder what the hell had just happened. Did some weird pervert seriously try hitting on both of you simultaneously in an attempt to be part of a threesome? Talk about desperate.

"...I hope I never see him again," Shuichi sighed once the boy was long gone, a look of disgust on his face as he slowly took the first bite of his now cooled down pasta. You also finally took the first bite of your burger, immediately shocked at how cold it had become. It was still rather warm and enjoyable to eat, but the food had definitely cooled pretty quickly. You worried that by the time you finished, the food would be completely cold.

"Yeah, agreed," You nodded in agreement as you took another bite out of your burger, still feeling rather uncomfortable by that encounter.

The rest of your dinner was simply random awkward and broken small talk because both you and Shuichi were introverted and weren't sure what to talk about, and by the time you'd finished eating it was nearly 6 PM!

"Woah- it's already evening. I was gonna go take another look around the campus since I don't remember like anything from orientation but I'll just do it tomorrow, considering the fact it's getting so late... anyways, I'm going back to the dorm. You coming with or nah?" You looked over to Shuichi who was seemingly staring off into space.

"No... I'll come back later," Shuichi decided, breaking his weird trance to look at you as he spoke.

"A'ight dude, just don't die," You joked a little, smiling from your own dumb joke before turning and leaving the food court so you could head back to your dorm. The walk back was only about ten minutes, and it was a rather peaceful walk. It was almost like walking through a park because the grass was nicely cut and there were some trees as well as a few occasional benches to give the place a very refreshing feeling to it. You'd often have to stop and wait to cross the streets because of the traffic flow on campus, but you didn't really mind. The sun had also begun to set but was still rather high up, only showing a few orangish-yellow hues in the sky as an indication that it was starting to set and it would be dark in a couple of hours.

When you returned to Eagle Hall, you noticed what seemed like an abnormally large amount of people hanging out in the lobby area. Was there some kind of gathering going on? You could smell something being cooked from the kitchen area and you could see several people watching TV as well as a few quietly working on a puzzle, and everyone there seemed to know each other since they were freely talking amongst themselves. Feeling awkward and like you were intruding on something, you quickly got out of the lobby and prayed that the elevator would come really fast as you pushed the call button. You wanted to spam the button, but you knew that wouldn't help your case so you forced yourself to remain calm.

A few seconds later the doors opened, and you stepped inside as quickly as you could and pressed the button to go to the third floor. Once the doors closed and the elevator started moving up, you felt relief flood your system at successfully escaping whatever was going on in the lobby. You were curious, but at the same time you wondered if you really wanted to know.

"Ah... my new home not quite yet sweet home..." You breathed when you'd got inside your dorm and closed and locked the door behind you, looking around the small space. How were you going to entertain yourself in such a tiny place? After contemplating for a few seconds you decided to simply use your phone again, chatting again with your friends. One of them was already making jokes about you and Shuichi dating, which made you cringe a little but you didn't pay much attention to their immature antics. You doubted you'd end up dating the detective, but you'd only known him for like a day so there was no way to tell.

After spending a few hours killing time just doing whatever on your phone, the door suddenly opened to reveal Shuichi. His jacket was unbuttoned and he panted, wiping sweat off his forehead. You gave him a weird look, "Dude, it's like 10:30, and why are you all sweaty?"

Shuichi opened the mini fridge and grabbed a black glass water bottle that literally had his name on it, taking a long drink before he finally responded, "S-sorry... I was exercising."

"This late at night?" You questioned, not believing him. Who the hell would exercise so late at night?

"...It's a long story," Shuichi sighed, looking regretful. You wanted to ask him what he meant, but by the expression on his face you got the feeling he didn't want to talk about it so you left him alone.

"Well... I'm gonna be going to bed pretty soon. Don't like... play Just Dance on full blast or something," You joked, making Shuichi literally cringe.

"Don't insult me..." Shuichi partially glared at you, making you giggle.

"If you played that game I think I'd have to call 911 on you for raping my eyes and ears. Haha... anyways, I'm gonna go shower," You chuckled, standing up and moving to your wardrobe so you could pick out an outfit. Shuichi took a seat at his desk, trying to relax after whatever exercise he had done. You paid little attention to him and busied yourself with choosing your outfit for the next day instead. Once you'd picked out an outfit, you put your hygiene related things such as shampoo in a little basket to bring with you. Your dorm didn't have its own bathroom- the showers were shared community showers inside the dorm bathrooms.

When you stepped into the bathroom, you saw that it was divided into two areas: showers and toilets. You went to the shower area, noticing that instead of stalls the showers were more like actual rooms. Well, at least that made it less awkward. You found a shower that was unoccupied and stepped inside, locking the shower door behind you. You were now in a rectangular room with the shower head at the far end and a curtain halfway between the room. On the side without the shower head, there were two shelves for you to place your things while you showered so they didn't get wet.

"Thoughtful," You chuckled to yourself, placing your towel and your clothes on the shelves. You undressed, carelessly piling the clothes on the floor and then stepping into the shower area, closing the curtain behind you. You turned on the water, immediately recoiling to the side of the room while shivering because of how cold the water was. You put the water on its hottest setting and waited in the corner for the water to warm up, making a mental note to turn on the water ahead of time so this wouldn't happen again.

After a few minutes the water finally got warmer, and you happily allowed your body to absorb the heat. Once you'd stopped shivering and had warmed up enough, you started washing off your body so you'd be clean tomorrow. Your mind began to wander to the events of the day, thinking over everything that had happened. It was only your first day at Hope's Peak College Program and classes didn't start until next Monday but so much had already happened.

"Heh... I wonder what'll happen tomorrow... and the day after that... and so on."

~~~
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