First Day:

Rikuto woke up the next day before the sun rose. To say he was excited was an understatement as he literally sprang from bed. He slid easily into his fuzzy slippers and made a beeline for the bathroom, unintentionally waking his roommate.

“Oi, Maeda! Shut the fuck up!” Yashiro Yakumo, younger brother of Toshiro groggily groaned. “The sun isn’t even up yet, you lunatic.”

Rikuto’s cheeks turned red and he chuckled nervously. “Sorry, Yakumo-san. I’m just so excited to start everything!” He beamed brightly at the grumpy boy.

Yashiro rolled over and stared at the boy in disgust. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever, just let me sleep!” He angrily commanded.

“Is that any way to talk to your upperclassman, Yakumo-kun?” Rikuto teased lightly. He felt Yashiro’s aura spike menacingly and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Too far?”

“Just shut up!” Yashiro said before violently slamming his blankets over his head and trying desperately to sleep.

Rikuto heeded the boy’s warning and swiftly went into the bathroom. He jumped out nearly ten minutes later, with a wide smile and clad in uniform. He found the nearest mirror and admired the article of clothing. It was in two pieces with the entire outfit resembling a traditional chinese martial arts gi. It was black and form-fitting with bright red stitching and accents. On its back, a large embroidery of the MWI logo in bright red and it’s top was long-sleeved as Rikuto requested. There was the option to wear a red sash along with the outfit but he declined.

Riku eagerly ran down the hall and towards the room he knew to be Lucas’. He maneuvered easily through the empty halls, only slowing down when he felt an ominous power and malicious intent around the bend. He slid to a stop and cursed his luck that this of all things would be blocking his path. He squeaked as he peeked around the corner.

Toshiro stood tall with his arms crossed and a massive vein on his neck. To say he was seemed angry was an understatement as he seemed to growl his next words. He glared daggers at Kasai, who was leaning lightly against the wall, face impassive but Rikuto could see a small vein forming on his forehead. Both their uniforms were impressively neat and while Toshiro’s was long-sleeved he also chose to go sans sash. Kasai on the other hand had chosen to wear the sash, which he neatly tied around his waist and his sleeves were short, ending on his tricep. Rikuto covered his mouth to muffle a gasp as he looked at Kasai’s arms. He saw at least three scars on his left arm alone with one starting from his inner elbow and ending near his tricep, and the other two forming an ‘x’ in the middle of his forearm and ending near his wrist. From what Rikuto could see, he also wore thin black bracelets with cravings on them far too small for him to make out.

Whatever conversation they were having, Rikuto couldn’t hear, but it had to be unpleasant due to how aggressive Toshiro’s body moved and how his aura was filled to the brim with killing intent and rage. Kasai, to his credit, looked completely unfazed by the offending power and just rolled his eyes at whatever Toshiro was saying. Unfortunately, Kasai chose now to remove himself from the conversation and began walking at a steady pace in Rikuto’s direction.

‘Does he ever control that power of his!? Can he!?’ Rikuto questioned frantically as he had no other choice but to face his head on. “M-morning, Kasai-san.” He shakily bowed as the boy faced him.

Instead of words, he gave a head nod of acknowledgement that Riku missed entirely and kept on his way.

Rikuto let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding and proceeded forward, completely forgetting that Toshiro Yakumo was on the other end of the hall. He nearly froze when he fell into his sights. “M-morning, Y-.” Rikuto began but Toshiro ignored his presence completely. He seemed to be so focused on whatever he and Kasai had spoke about that he didn’t even realize Rikuto was there and hence, walked by without a second glance. Rikuto heaved a hefty sigh of relief.

He darted down the hall, and hoped that he wouldn’t run into anything that tense ever again.

Lucas wandered casually through the complex. He wore a short sleeved uniform and chose to wear his sash, which roughly tied together. His mind drifting to nowhere in particular until Rikuto came into view. He looked somewhat pale which in itself wasn’t uncommon, but his breathing was laboured and he looked as if he had just escaped death itself.

“Whoa man, what happened? You look like hell.” Lucas commented.

Riku gave him a deadpan stare. “Gee, thanks Lucas. What would I do without your keen observation?” Either Lucas didn’t pick up on his sarcasm or blatantly ignored it.

“Live a life of despair?” The taller boy offered only to get a look that basically asked him ‘seriously?’.

“I saw Kasai and Yakumo arguing in the hall this morning. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but it looked like things were getting intense.” Rikuto recounted but he chose to leave out how personally anxious he felt.

“Oh, I felt that,” Lucas said casually. “Damn near impossible not to feel Kasai at any point.” He grumbled, annoyed.

“Any idea what it could’ve been about?”

“Don’t ask me,” Lucas responded without missing a beat. “I’ve maybe met Toshiro like twice ever so I know nothing besides he’s strong. But it is interesting that he’s trying to pick a fight with that guy of all people.” Lucas placed a hand on his chin as they continued. “So early in the year too.”

“Gotta be honest here, but a fight between those two would be crazy.” Rikuto commented, attempting to change the subject as they neared their building.

“Yeah, it would be. But I’d still beat them both.” Lucas proclaimed proudly as his fist started to glow. If Rikuto had any doubts, he kept them to himself.

Upon the duo entering the giant classroom, they quickly found that it was clearly much bigger than the faculty anticipated. He and Lucas were the fourth and fifth people to get in respectively and the people before them all acknowledged their presence. The first person Rikuto spotted was Yume. She sat near the middle of the class with her hands folded under her ample chest and it was clear by her tapping foot that she was nervous. Slightly behind her and to the left sat Kasai.

‘Well no wonder.’ Rikuto thought. Kasai himself had one hand in his lap and the next on the desk using his palm to support his head as he gazed out of the open window and into the morning sky. His eyes once again appeared to glowing and he seemed fascinated by whatever it was outside.

On the opposite end of the class, Toshiro sat. He continued to glare daggers at the back of Kasai’s head until Lucas and Riku walked in. He shifted his harsh gaze to them and locked eyes with Lucas. “Morning, everyone,” Lucas said casually. “Geez, Yakumo. You even wake up angry?” He goaded.

Toshiro clearly took offense to that and growled menacingly. “Shut the fuck up, Cloud.” He commanded. “Before you give me a reason to pick up where we left off.” Despite Toshiro’s very clear willingness to fight anyone and everyone, he knew better than to do anything that could compromise his position.

Lucas laughed but didn’t respond. He knew an all out fight against Yakumo right now would not only be difficult, but also the collateral damage would be far too much. He waved off his old rival’s glare and took his seat far away from Rikuto’s.

Rikuto thanked his lucky stars that his seat wasn’t near either Kasai or Toshiro and was even more thankful that Yume was the closest to him. “Good morning, Kagami-san.” Rikuto beamed. Yume jumped in her seat.

“Ah, sorry. Good morning,” She said when she composed herself. “Sorry, was a bit lost in thought there.” Riku could understand her plight.

He looked at her uniform to see that her’s was nearly exactly like his, save for the sash she chose to wear and the stitching and accents on her uniform were blue instead of red. Her hair wasn’t as neatly done as it was yesterday and her glasses were slightly crooked. Poor thing looked tired and stressed.

They fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes before a few others walked in. The first was an attractive girl of average height and full-figure. She had long black hair, small, thick eyebrows and with bright pink eyes. She wore a sleeveless top and her sash, instead of being tied around her waist, was used as a scarf.

The girl she happily conversed with was taller than she was but no less attractive. She had wild, long flowing blonde hair with matching yellow eyes. She had very distinct whisker outlines on her cheeks and when she spoke, long, sharp canine teeth were visible. Her shirt’s sleeves were short and she chose to not have a sash at all, and Riku took note of how lean her arms were.

They acknowledged everyone before taking their seats; the lioness sat to his right and the girl with the black hair sat in front of Kasai. It was interesting, Rikuto noted. She looked really uncomfortable but said good morning anyway, to which Kasai grunted a response. He turned his attention to her for the briefest of moments and they locked eyes. She seemed flustered by his intense gaze but gave her best smile, despite her nerves.

The last person to walk in was unsurprisingly the short girl who seperated the stage. She wore the exact uniform as Yume save for her pants looking nearly too big for her. It was clear that she wasn’t a morning person.

“Good morning, Sumire-san.” the lioness greeted joyfully. Sumire glared at her as dangerously as she could, but given her small stature and lack of energy, it looked more like a squint.

“Hello again, Rivera.” She said dryly.

“I told you it’s okay to call me Leona.” Leona responded with a huff. Sumire let out a long suffering sigh.

“Hello, Leona.” the short girl painfully grit out, cold murder in her eyes. Leona ignored the look completely.

“Morning, Sumire-san!” She said again.

Rikuto inwardly laughed at how bubbly Leona seemed and made a note to speak to her later. Sumire walked past his desk. “Good morn-.” Riku began but was cut off by the fiercest glare Sumire could muster. If he hadn’t seen her one-shot that puppet no more than fifteen hours ago, he would’ve dared to call the look cute. Instead, he swallowed his words and let her walk with a nod. Moments later, another woman stumbled in.

“Morning, class!” She said. She was a beautiful strawberry blond woman, with a shape that most women would kill for. Her eyes were the color of emeralds and her skin was pale and criminally smooth. She wore a uniform similar to a student’s save for her gi being white instead of black and an instructor badge being about her left chest. “Sorry I’m late. There was an incident in the teacher’s building.” She said frantically. “But now that I’m here, class is now in session!”