"Mmm... huh...?" Your eyes shot open as fear and adrenaline immediately pumped through your system when you didn't recognize the place you'd woke up in right away. However, a couple seconds later you reminded yourself that you were just in your dorm and it was the day after moving day, causing relief to flood through your system at the fact it was a false alarm, "Hah... I shouldn't scare myself like that..."

Looking over to the side, you saw that Shuichi's bed was empty and he was nowhere to be found, so you figured that he'd already woken up and gone off on his own, "Well, I need to go find all of my classes again anyways. Geez... I can't believe I forgot like... everything from orientation already."

As you sat up, your stomach growled, causing you to chuckle. You decided you'd first get some breakfast at the food court before going on your journey. Making a mental note to eventually go visit a grocery store so you would have at least a little food inside your dorm, you started getting ready for the day. You brushed your hair, used the bathroom, brushed your teeth, and finally got dressed. You grabbed your phone and stuffed it in your pocket as you were leaving, making your way to the food court.

Since it was still somewhat early in the morning {around 9:30 AM}, the food court wasn't super busy quite yet. Most of the tables were still empty and some of the restaurants weren't even open yet, but the majority of them had already opened. The ones that were open didn't have long lines like they had the previous day and instead only had a few students. You browsed through the open restaurants before choosing one that seemed to have quite a few breakfast foods, though it was also a busier one. You decided to eat {choose either bacon and eggs, waffles, or pancakes}, and once you'd paid for and received your food you looked for a seat to eat at. You noticed that 'John,' the person in charge of Eagle Hall, was sitting alone and talking to someone on the phone, immediately making you suspicious. You sat nearby so you could discreetly eavesdrop.

"...expensive. Are you sure?" 'John' asked to the person on the other end, and you assumed the pause was whoever he was talking to giving a response. A few seconds later he started to talk again, "It'll be done by seventeen hundred hours sharp tomorrow."

There was silence after that, so you assumed he'd hung up the phone. Although you'd only caught the very end of that call, it did sound kind of suspicious. It could've just been work related, but something about it didn't sit right with you. What was expensive? And why did he have to speak in military time like that? Was it just his habit or was he trying to sound more tough or something?

A loud crash snapped your attention to reality, and you whipped your head in the direction of the distant but loud clatter to see that someone had just dropped a ceramic bowl full of what looked like some kind of soup {it was hard to tell from the distance}. Their back was turned to you so you couldn't see their facial expression, but even from all the way across the room you could feel the dark aura they were giving off from their accident. Most people had already gone back to their business once they saw it was just some stranger dropping their food that made the loud noise, but you continued to watch as they started to tremble and look around the large area as if to see who was watching him. After noticing that some people were still watching him, he bolted out of the area, leaving his mess behind.

"That was weird..." You mumbled to yourself as an employee at one of the restaurants came with a bucket full of cleaning supplies and began cleaning up the mess. You felt bad for the employee since it wasn't even their mess or their fault, but you also felt bad for whoever had spilled their food because they seemed pretty embarrassed over it. It was definitely a really strong reaction to just run away like that, though.

You shrugged off the little incident, going back to enjoying your food. You weren't gonna let some stranger's misfortune ruin your breakfast, after all! As you started to resume your meal, you heard someone clear their throat, and they started to speak to you.

"Ah, hello miss... uh... ah... remind me your name again?" 'John' laughed a bit, and while he was speaking you turned to look at him. He was dressed in a suit with a dark red tie, though he made no effort to conceal his belt of weapons. You could clearly see that he had a large pistol in its holster, a police baton, pepper spray, a stun gun, and even a large knife just on the belt! Talk about scary!

"(Y/N). And... what's with all the weapons on your belt?" You asked suspiciously, giving him a look that showed you were currently very wary of him. He gave a carefree laugh as if he either didn't notice or care about your slight hostility.

"I'm a security guard for the local hospital; I just come here sometimes to manage Eagle Hall 'cause the pay's nice and I'm already in the area. Anyways, I'll try to remember your name, (Y/N). If you didn't already read my name when you came in yesterday, my name's John. Lemme know if you need anything, 'kay?" John chuckled, sticking his hand out for a handshake. Even though it sounded like professional courtesy... why did you feel like something about him was just... off? Shrugging it off, you forced yourself to return the smile and shake his hand.

"Thanks, John... I guess I'll try to remember your name too," You chose your words carefully, not wanting to get too involved with him since he seemed so shady despite acting so nice and casual.

"Haha, okay. Well, I gotta get back over to the hospital now so I'll see ya," John waved goodbye to you before leaving you alone in the food court to wonder about what the hell had just happened. What the hell was up with this guy and why did he just not sit right with you? Were you just being paranoid or was he really hiding something? If he was hiding something, did it have something to do with you? Since he was in charge of Eagle Hall he could technically mess with your dorm or something... but what would he gain out of specifically targeting you and what would he even do to your dorm? Pretty much the worst thing that could've happened had already happened to you when you learned you were stuck rooming with a boy, but it wasn't even that bad. Well, unless John planned to steal from your dorm or something.

"Ugh... I should just go see about finding my classes..." You grumbled, looking down at your now finished plate of food. You put your dirty plate where dirty plates were supposed to go before taking your phone out of your pocket and looking at your schedule. You had different classes on each day of the week so it would take a while, but you were going to find every single one of your classes and write out directions to them so you could get there no matter where you were on campus.

"Okay, let's start with my classes for Monday. On Mondays I have AP chem... law study... homeroom... and GenEd history. What the hell kinda name is 'law study' though? ...Anyways... Guess I'll start by finding my chemistry class," You commented out loud to nobody in particular, keeping your voice quiet so only you could hear it. You saw that your chemistry class was in the science department in room 1707, so you headed for the science department. You knew that the school at least organized rooms so the first digit indicated what floor the room was on, so you knew it was somewhere on the first floor. You were going to figure out exactly where on the first floor, though.

When you finally reached the science hall, you stepped inside to see that the building was mostly empty. A few other people who'd had the same idea as you were looking for their classes while other people sat in a waiting room to talk to someone in an office kind of stuffed in the corner. The science department was its own building {as was every department} with a relatively large lobby, though not as warm and inviting as your dorm's.

In the middle of the lobby there was an art piece on display on the floor of different stereotypical things related to science, including beakers full of oddly colored liquids, elements on the periodic table, commonly used formulas, and more. It was cliche, but you didn't mind. It looked nice, at least. In one of the corners there was the waiting room you'd observer earlier, and in the corner opposite to that was a study area. There was a bookshelf with several different textbooks, and on the bookshelf was a note in a big, bold font that the books were not to leave the study area and were for community use. Anyone found stealing a book could be charged up to a 500$ fine, but if the book was returned it would be cut in half.

The far end of the lobby turned into a two way hallway, though along the walls of the hallway there were several science related posters or ads about tutoring for various topics in science. One ad even offered to help you with an entire project for just two dollars! Whoever made that ad was either desperate for money or they couldn't ask for much because they sucked at their job. As the hallway got further and further from the lobby, the posters thinned out and the walls were left mostly bare except for the signs by each door to display the room number. The atmosphere without the posters was honestly pretty intimidating, but you forced yourself to keep moving so you could find your classroom.

After searching for a while, you managed to find your classroom, and you retraced your steps back to the main lobby of the department and then back to your classroom before marking in the directions, following them to the letter just to make sure they worked. You then added a reminder about the general location of the science department in case you got lost on your way there, and then you started looking for the location of your next class.

By the time you'd finished finding every single one of your classes and marking the directions into your phone, it was nearly 2:30 PM and your legs were really sore. You groaned a little as you plopped down on a random bench, trying to ease your aching muscles at least a little. You really should've broken this up into smaller chunks so this didn't happen...

"Are you okay? Your face looks like you're in pain," Shuichi asked, showing up out of seemingly nowhere.

"Ah!!" You jumped a bit before settling down after realizing it was just Shuichi who'd suddenly appeared, "Geez, you scared me! Where the hell did you come from, anyways?"

"S-sorry! I didn't mean to scare you," Shuichi apologized quickly, looking like he actually felt guilty for startling you. It was kind of cute but also kind of not cute.

"It's okay... but what are you doing here?" You raised a brow just a little. You were genuinely curious, but your mind told you that he was probably just exploring the campus.

"I was just walking around the campus to get some fresh air... I was working on a case all morning and I was starting to lose my focus," Shuichi explained, nervously playing with the sleeve of his coat a little.

"Working on a case... Ohh, does that mean you're hired as a detective somewhere?" You giggled, feeling a smile spread to your lips. If Shuichi already had a job that meant he was probably from around here, right? That wouldn't be too surprising- even though the city wasn't the biggest, it was still of a decent size. When you'd Googled it, the population was around 70,000 in the entire city.

"Ah... yeah. I worked as an apprentice for a few years, but when I graduated Hope's Peak Academy I was given the full credentials of a detective..." Shuichi mostly mumbled his response, clearly flustered to talk about himself so much. Though... you could see a hint of something sad in his expression. Did something happen when he was in high school? Well, if something did happen, it wasn't your place to ask him after only knowing him for a couple of days.

"Woah, that's super cool!" You praised Shuichi instead, wanting to keep the mood light. You didn't want the conversation to get awkward, after all, "Do you like being a detective?"

Shuichi put a hand to his chin, "I guess..."

You frowned a little at the lack of a response from him, but it wasn't like he was forced to answer your questions. He could've just completely ignored your existence, so you told yourself to be a little less picky about the responses Shuichi gave you, "Well, since it's your job and your talent, I'd hope you like it! Being good at something you totally hate is the worst feeling ever..."

"Yeah... I guess it would be pretty tough," Shuichi once again gave a pretty lacking response, his mind seeming to only be somewhat on the conversation. It was like what you'd just said had somehow struck a chord with him, but you weren't sure if it was in a good or a bad way. You hoped it was a good way, but from his now solemn expression you figured that was probably just wishful thinking. Damn, talk about awkward...

"Hey... uh... are you okay?" You carefully asked, not wanting to overstep your boundaries. Shuichi was still pretty much a stranger to you, after all. For all you knew he could secretly be a serial killer rapist, though you highly doubted that. It was still technically a possibility, though.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I just got lost in thought. It's a bad habit of mine," Shuichi was quick to apologize and dismiss the topic, so you took it as a sign to finally put him out of his misery and change the subject. Why hadn't you just done that sooner, actually?

"Ah, it's okay. Well uh... hey, are you excited for classes coming up in six days now?" You decided on a {hopefully} good change of topic, hoping that Shuichi would gladly follow along. If you tried to change the subject and Shuichi didn't follow, that would just make the situation even more awkward than it already was.

"I'm pretty nervous, to be honest... but I'll be okay. What about you?" Shuichi followed along your change of topic, and although neither of you said it, you could tell that both of you were glad to have changed the topic. You'd have to get Shuichi's social cues to change the topic faster next time something really awkward came up.

"To be honest, I dunno... I'm kinda nervous but I'm also kinda excited, like something big's gonna happen. But maybe I'm just a little too hyped for classes, haha. Pretty sure in a month all the rage is gonna die down and I'm gonna be begging for a day off," You laughed, knowing that was pretty much always how you felt towards school. Shuichi joined you in laughing with a few chuckles of his own, clearly pretty amused at your comment.

"Don't skip your classes though, you won't want to fall behind," Shuichi warned, making you cross your arms and pout at him.

"I'm not gonna skip classes, weirdo!" You huffed, and your stomach suddenly growled to remind you that you had yet to eat lunch, "Oh shoot! I still haven't had lunch and it's currently... eh?! It's nearly 2:50 already?! I swear I sat down here like five minutes ago though..."

"You should get something to eat, (Y/N)," Shuichi giggled a little, causing you to pout again.

"Yeah, yeah, the hell d'you think I'm standing up for? Hmph... anyways, you wanna come with?" You offered, not actually sure if you wanted Shuichi to join you for lunch. You just didn't want to be impolite and not offer.

"Ah... I already ate, but thanks for offering," Shuichi shook his head politely, and relief immediately flooded your system. Maybe he was just following social code too and he actually hadn't eaten, but either way you were glad he hadn't actually joined you. It wasn't that you didn't want to hang out with your roommate, you just felt awkward about the idea of eating with someone you just met two days in a row. Since the two of you were also opposite genders, rumors might start and it'd be like high school.

You chuckled to yourself as you made your way to the food court, thinking back mostly on the conversation you and Shuichi had just had. Something about his random appearance still felt just a little too... perfect? It was a very large campus and the chances that both of you were walking at the same time, let alone in the same area and to notice the other was extremely low. You shook your head at how stupid the idea sounded that he somehow knew where you were or was purposefully looking for you, even laughing a little bit. Shuichi had no reason to track your location or look for you just so he could make idle conversation. You were definitely looking into it way too much.

"Screw those thoughts... it's time for food~" You giggled to yourself, stepping into the busy food court.

~~~
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