Zero sighed, looking up at the dorms that would, with the exception of holidays, be his home for the next three years.
He'd confess to a small amount of nerves, hell he'd have to be made of stone not to feel something, even if it was this irrational fear of his new room-mate.
He recalled the section of his handbook that had caused these nerves;
New students at our academy are apprenticed under third year students. Their 'Sempai' works on their behalf to insure their 'Kohai' achieves well. The Kohai's grade will affect the grade of the Sempai, so they have a vested interest in helping the first years achieve their potential.
In return the first years are expected to obey their designated Sempai in all matters.
Along with helping first years adjust to their life of study via Sempai support, this system is designed to teach our students the value of discipline and respect in their first year, independence in their second, and the responsibilities of leadership in their third.
Aside from punishments dealt by teachers for education related misdeeds, the Sempai has the right to assign punishment to their Kohai in response to failure to complete a task or general misdeed. These punishments are subject to the sole discretion of the Sempai.
Zero sighed again. From speaking to people in the current second year he'd found that this mostly boiled down to having a Sempai to help you with your homework, and in return doing menial tasks like making breakfast, but he'd heard a few horror stories of first years being forced to do... Inappropriate things. But mostly in the form of 'I have a friend who knew someone that...' and such, so at the time he'd disregarded them.
Now, however, looking up at the secluded dorm building things that had seemed impossible at the open evening became a frightening reality.
... Zero shook himself. No. Even if it did happen, what were the chances of it actually happening to him? Was he really going to stand outside the dorm forever wondering about what-ifs? Letting them frighten him? Of course not.
Chances were that he'd be just like everyone else he'd spoken to. Nothing more serious than having to do a bit of housework in the dorm room. So what? He did it for Ichiru all the time at home. He'd already made the decision to come here and his parents had struggled to pull together the money to send him to such a prestigious academy. They weren't poor by any means, but this had been hard. There was no way he was going to waste it. He'd pull through whatever faced him. He wouldn't let all their efforts be for nothing.
If he'd had any idea what the future held he'd have run away screaming, regardless. But he didn't, so he squared his shoulders and walked through the double doors into his new home.
Well, that was the prologue. Short I know, actual chapters will be longer.
Any good? I won't bribe you for reviews, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. ^_^
Much love
~ESH