Hibiki sat down in the main lecture hall, and took out his phone. He pulled up his chat with Tristan, while he waited for the tutorial to start. Maybe venting would calm him down.

H: Morning babe

I'm going to have my first tutorial

(ー_ー゛)

T: Good morning, I'm sure it won't be so bad.

H: I don't like it

T: I know, but you're brave aren't you?

He frowned. Of course he was brave, braver than anyone else. Especially for Tristan – even if he was dreading the idea of having to communicate.

H: Duh, I'm awesome

T: And nothing would ever get in your way. It wouldn't dare.

With a slight puff of his cheeks he responded, knowing well enough what tactic Tristan was trying. It worked.

H: Nothing can

Because I am the best

And everyone will know (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

T: Yes. There you go.

That's my grumpy.

A wide grin spread on Hibiki's face. Even though he had no illusions that these classes would be easy, he knew that in some ways Tristan was right: he'd make it harder for himself if he was disgruntled before it even started.

H: Maybe I need you to make me less grumpy tonight

T: Of course you do Love.

But first focus on your class, alright?

H: Why would I when I could look at you?

T: 6/10

A little cheesy. Best keep practising.

H: Every day ♡

T: Not during class though. Go pay attention, then you can flirt more tonight.

H: Alright, fine

T: I love you.

See you tonight.

H: Love you too

And I'll definitely see you tonight (◠‿◕)

Although he'd rather flirt all morning, Hibiki shut his phone and laid it aside. A fiery blush coloured his cheeks. He bit down on his lips, as his thoughts were equally fired up.

At least for a moment. Until he cast a quick glance up into the hall and resituated himself.

Throughout the conversation, the benches had slowly filled up with students. In general his classmates were well-kempt: neatly done up hair, side parts, and suits dominated his view.

He was sure that they weren't so bad, as he also saw people chat and laugh freely, but he hated the idea of having to change his clothes and mannerisms to fit in with them. The few times he had worn a suit for one of his father's important occasions, he had felt like he was wearing a lie. A shell meant to hide who he was; not to pretend he was ordinary, but to pretend he was better than others.

Perhaps that was why he enjoyed psychology so much more than law. It had taken him a long time to figure out who he was, and so he took joy out of figuring out who other people were too.

There was a kind of solace to be found in knowing that everyone struggled in some way – had fears and dreams and little things that defined them. That gave him ways to organise his own approach to them, to find ways he could relate. It made him feel normal in his own flawed way.

He didn't like that a lot of his fellow students tried to mask that. It worried that they were hiding, and he didn't want to play social games; he'd always start so far behind.

But he would make the best of it anyway, even with a disability. So when his name was finally called out for the groups, he raised his hand up high and smiled at the other students. He was answered with nods and friendly expressions, and that eased some of his worries. Maybe things would go alright.

"How about we start with introductions? I am Madeline." A girl with warm auburn hair up in a neat ponytail said, as the group of four entered their designated classroom. Five technically, if he counted Kazuo.

He glanced up at the man, who nodded confidently at him that he could go ahead. So when one of his classmates had finished introducing himself, he raised his hand and grinned excitedly.

"Yes?" Madeline said with a smile back, although he did notice her gaze slipped to the well dressed man beside him who clearly wasn't there as a student.

"This is Hibiki," Kazuo said, politely nodding towards everyone in the room whilst placing a hand on his shoulder. "He is unable to vocalise, but I am here as his interpreter. So you can talk to him, and he can respond in sign language."

Although he nodded and smiled, he felt a sting in his chest: the kind that travelled all the way to the back of his mind as a painful thought. From the start he was defined by his inability to speak, and not much else. Which wasn't Kazuo's fault, it wasn't even his own fault, but it still felt sore.

"Well I am sure we can make that work. If you want to respond, just raise your hand." Madeline said with a smile at him. The fact that she sought him out did help, and he smiled back, feeling the bitter sting alleviate in favour of cautious hope that he'd be able to join in.

"In the aforementioned example, which of the given clausules would you use in your argument?" Madeline read the question out loud, which was followed by the other two students giving their examples.

"Hibiki, which ones would you choose?" He looked up and pointed out three of the dozen clausules mentioned in the document on his laptop.

"Five, eight and eleven then?" She confirmed, and he nodded.

"So we all agree on five and eight." The other girl in their group said.

"Yes, so why would you pick eleven, and not ten?" Madeline asked him again, as he had been the only one who chose differently. He thought about it for a second, rereading the clausules and tapping his finger against his lips. The others waited in anticipation, which made him worried they perhaps would speak to fill the silence. To prevent that he lifted his hand and held it up to stop them preemptively.

'Because clause ten only applies to unilateral contracts.'

Kazuo faithfully translated his words, but faltered on 'unilateral'. The man gave him a slightly confused glance, not recognising the complicated gestures he had put together for it. He had done that before for very specific terms, but it didn't always go well.

"... ten only applies to one-sided contracts." Kazuo said, after a moment of pause.

"But they are not truly one-sided, there are still two parties that benefit, otherwise it would be voided. This is more unilateral." One of the other students said while glancing back and forth between Kazuo and him, as if not sure who to address specifically.

In response he shook his head, and looked up at Kazuo while repeating the gestures.

"My apologies, I misspoke, Hibiki meant unilateral."

He nodded and smiled, to say he had, but in return he got a rather dismissive cock of the head. A bit surprised by that response, he frowned.

"I'm sorry, I do think we should move on and be more expedient because otherwise we don't have the time for all the questions." Madeline added with an apologetic smile.

That was true, but it was a truth directed at him. He knew it took longer with Kazuo having to interpret the difficult legalese, but he believed he had been doing okay thus far.

A part of him wanted to get angry, and demand that he should get his say too – a glance from Kazuo revealed he was waiting for permission to come to his defence, but he didn't grant it. Things weren't so bad: at least he was asked for his answers, and they had taken the time to let Kazuo read what he had written out loud. So rather than make trouble, he bit his lip and accepted that it would take too long to get everything done.

It could have gone a lot worse, but that didn't mean he was happy. There was so much he wanted to say, the way he wanted: direct, immediate, without having to substitute through his body language and Kazuo's voice. He wanted to jump in and correct too, he knew he could – he knew more than he could express.

So even when Madeline made sure he had the opportunity to answer and explain, it didn't change the fact that his own nuance was lost. No matter how good Kazuo was at his job.

As the questions went on, he only answered when asked. He didn't feel like responding – it frustrated him even more than being quiet did.

He looked at his notes, and typed a few corrections or remarks here and there whenever the other three made a valid point. At least that way he could pretend he stayed silent as a choice.

If he faded from the discussion, he wouldn't take up their time, and make himself look like an idiot.