Fred was the first to leave, very conveniently skipping out before he could be asked to help with clean up. Gogo was next, after Cass insisted she take home several Tupperware containers of leftovers, which she grudgingly accepted. Honey Lemon and Wasabi stayed the longest, but after about the hundredth yawn, Wasabi insisted they go, because Honey was just about to fall asleep on her feet. And before she knew it, Aria found herself alone with the Hamada's, and of course Baymax.

"You sure you don't want to just spend the night?" Cass said, as the two of them stood at the kitchen sink, the older woman washing the dishes, as the younger dried them. "You know we'd love to have you."

"Well, I'm actually supposed to check in at my dorm at 5pm," Aria said, and she twisted her wrist to look at her watch. "Which is in about an hour. I would, but, I don't want admissions to get on my back about being late."

"Well, you're always welcome here, Sweetie, you know that." The two smiled at each other, and Aria was grateful that Cass wasn't as stubborn as Hiro was about this particular issue. The last time they'd video chatted, he'd seemed okay with the idea of her living at the SFIT dorms, but…there really was no telling with that boy.

Speaking of that boy, he should have been helping with the clean u and dishes, but he was instead flopped on the couch, texting on his phone.

"Hiro Hiyashi Hamada, you get over here and help with dishes!" Cass said sternly, and Aria nearly cracked up.

"His middle name is Hiyashi?" she asked, and Hiro could be heard whining in protest from the other room.

"Cass!" He sat up and looked over at them. "C'mon, really? Don't use my middle name…"

"Why do all your names start with H?" Aria chuckled, drying off her hands and walking over. Hiro's eyes rolled.

"Ask my parents, if it were up to me, none of my names would start with H." Bending slightly and kissing his forehead, Aria smiled.

"Well, Hiro Hiyashi Hamada, It's getting late. I think I should probably-" Before she could finish Hiro had already jumped to his feet.

"Ah, right! We should probably bring your stuff in; I totally forgot you'd brought all your stuff with you!" Aria quirked an eyebrow at him, momentarily confused, and watched him head down the stairs. It was only when she looked over at Cass, who was wearing a shocked expression, did she understand what Hiro was saying.

"Hey, wait!" she called, following him down the stairs. She caught up to him at the café door, and halted as he held his hand out to her. This confused her as well, and so, not really knowing what he expected from her, she placed her hand awkwardly in his. He just laughed at that, though, and reached with his other hand for her car keys, which dangled from the lanyard around her neck. "Hey!" Taking her keys, he strolled out across the sidewalk, and unlocked her car. "Hiro, what do you think you're doing?" she finally asked, exasperated.

"I…uh…what?" Hiro was halfway to the door with one of the large plastic bins Aria had packed into the back of her beat-up little car, when she'd questioned him as to what he was doing. "I'm taking your stuff in, what does it look like?"

"I told you, Hiro, I'm staying at the SFIT dorms…" Aria had told him this several times before, and he always seemed slightly miffed, but in the end complacent with her wishes. But now it was like he'd never even heard of the notion.

"Well, yeah, you SAID that, but I mean…c'mon," he set the bin down on the sidewalk in front of the café, and gave Aria a helpless look. "Don't you wanna live with me?"

"I...that's not…" She was flustered by this remark, and crossed her arms, her cheeks starting to glow pink. "Hiro, I told you, I'm not gonna impose on you and Aunt Cass like that, and besides-"

"Aunt Cass totally loves you," he interrupted, jerking his thumb over his shoulder, in the vague direction his Aunt would be working inside. "So don't use that excuse on me."

"Hiro, don't make me say it in public…" She scratched the back of her neck awkwardly, but Hiro's confused stare did not waiver, and she huffed in frustration. "I'm not sure I really want to stay in Tadashi's side of the room, okay?" She'd given this particular issue a lot of thought. The one time she'd slept in Tadashi's bed, it'd felt so weird, she'd fled it to sleep in Hiro's bed. She didn't want to encroach on Hiro's late brother's space like that.

"Is that all?" Hiro said, smiling. "Well of course you wouldn't be. You'd just toss all your stuff in with mine and live on my side."

"Oh, yeah, toss my stuff into the pit of no return you call a room?" He stuck his tongue out at her teasing, but she continued. "Hiro, it's sweet and everything, but I need my own space, you know? Plus, that'd mean we would share a bed…" She trailed off, thinking that Hiro would catch the hint and look away awkwardly, but his stare held, like he didn't even understand what that implied. "…which is bad," she continued, and he still didn't reply or look shocked. "…because we're just kids, and not an old married couple."

"You know that doesn't even really mean anything." Picking the bin back up, he continued towards the door, talking to Aria as she chased after him over his shoulder. "I told you, I'm not into rushing things, and we'd just be sleeping-"

"Hiro!" Fed up with this game of his, Aria shouted to stop him, and he paused, surprised at the sudden change of volume.

"Er-"

"I'm not gonna live with you, or any guy, unless/until we are serious, okay?" This seemed to pierce Hiro's thick skull, and he slowly turned, his expression troubled.

"I…kinda thought we were serious," he said slowly, and look he shot Ariaa look that just about broke her heart.

"Hiro…" she didn't really know how to reply to that. How do you reply to that!? "I'm only 19, and you only just turned 20, and we haven't been face to face like this in a year. How can that be serious?"

"Because I love you." Again, his declaration flustered Aria, who was acutely aware of the eyes of passersby, eavesdropping in on this very indiscreet conversation.

"Hiro, can we not do this on the sidewalk-"

"I watched you die, Aria," he continued, without letting her finish. "That was serious, and don't act like it wasn't! So what if we had to be long distance for a while? It only made me want to be with you more!"

"Hiro-"

"If this isn't serious, then what the hell is? Tell me, because I'd love to know!"

"Getting married, that's what would be serious!" Aria was shocked at herself for yelling this, but Hiro's voice had been getting louder and louder as he spoke, and she'd felt so flustered and unhappy and self-conscious, she couldn't really help it. It did shut him up, though.

Aria didn't want to get married, not for a very long time. She wasn't ready for that! But she also wasn't ready to commit to living with someone! That was such a big step, and sure she'd crashed at the Hamada's household when she'd run away, but that was different! Everything had changed now, she and Hiro were a couple, and she just didn't feel comfortable with moving in with him. And she was a shy girl, but this was one thing she would not let herself be walked all over for.

Hiro just stared at her. He looked away briefly, seeming to suddenly realize people around them had stopped to stare, and only then did his face get red.

"…Oh," was all he had to say. They both stood motionless for a few more moments, before Aria let out a sigh.

"Can I put that back in my car? I'm going to be late for check in." Looking down at the bin in his hands, Hiro quietly handed it over. Shoving it back into the back-seat of the four-door, she looked back at him. "…Hiro, look, I don't wanna get married. Not now, not for a long time. And I also don't want to move in on a moment's notice like this. Can't you just give me some time?"

"…Yeah." Turning, he started making his way slowly back to the café door, and Aria felt like stopping him, and apologizing further, but she was so frusterated with him, that all she could do was sigh and watch him go. Then, quietly climbing into the driver's seat, she turned the key in the ignition, and pulled onto the road.

Was that a fight? Had that been their first fight as a couple? Their first real fight, anyway. Aria's face burned. Why did it have to be in public!? Why was Hiro so stubborn!? Ugg, the first day back in San Fransokyo, they'd barely been together three hours, and now they were at a Mexican Standoff, giving each other the cold shoulder over a stupid argument that shouldn't have even happened! Aria wanted to kick herself!

"Right now, I just have to focus on moving all my stuff in," she told herself, taking a deep breath. "I'll call Hiro tomorrow morning and we'll sort all of this out. For right now, it's fine to leave things like they are." But deep down, it didn't feel fine. Not really.

"Hiro? It's me again. We really need to talk about yesterday. I…I just want to apologize in person, okay? Listen, Orientation starts in like, an hour, so my phone's gonna be turned off until later this afternoon. Call me back then, or, I dunno, just come meet me here on campus. Okay? Okay. I'll talk to you later. Love you."

Aria tapped the 'end call' button on her phone, and watched as the number pad disappeared, replaced with Hiro's contact page. His contact picture was one of them together. It had been taken just before she'd left San Fransokyo over a year ago. It was only a year, but someone, they both looked so much younger. A lot of things could change in that time frame, it seemed.

"Your boyfriend still not picking up?" Looking up suddenly in surprise, Aria let her shoulders relax after a moment of panic; she was really going to have to get used to sharing a room with someone else. She nodded, and her roommate clucked her tongue. "That's trouble, girl."

"He's probably just sleeping in, you know? It is still summer break for him." She tried to convince herself that Hiro wasn't holding a grudge. It wasn't like him, to hold a grudge over something so minor. But, she supposed, this wasn't minor to him. She sighed, and stood up. Might as well get ready, she figured. If she got her mind off of him for the day, she'd probably come back to the dorm later to find texts or missed calls from him. At least that's what she told herself.

Her and Rachel, her roommate, made their way down to the quad at a quarter till, and were met by a sizable crowd of transfer students, already milling about in the grass. Rachel seemed to be the naturally gregarious type, and was waving people over to talk immediately, but Aria hung back. She wasn't exactly outgoing, even if she wasn't as twitchy or jumpy as she used to be.

"More people here than I thought there'd be." She nearly jumped out of her socks as a voice spoke directly behind her, and she had to force her heartrate to decelerate as the owner of the voice walked up to stand beside her. "I thought the program would have been a bit more competitive."

"Y-yeah," she said, running her hand through her hair as she looked up at the newcomer. Boy, was he tall! At least a few inches taller than Hiro. Blonde, tan, and the kind of aggressive good looks that made Aria think he couldn't have been a nerd, and that SFIT must have had a modeling program she'd never heard of before. "Er, I guess there's just a lot of talented people in Japanifornia."

"Huh. Or the entrance requirements are getting lax." Aria bristled at this, knowing Hiro probably had something to do with her getting accepted into the program, and wondered if this boy was trying to get a dig in at her. But he just laughed and winked down at her, which made her deflate slightly. "Calm down, I'm only joking!" Sticking his hand out to her, Aria reluctantly took it, and he shook her hand so forcefully, it felt like a shockwave up her arm. "I'm Finn, Finn Arduick, nice to meet you!"

"Uh…Aria Tsukino," she replied, slightly reluctant to be in acquaintance with this guy. She couldn't really tell if she was intimidated by him, or just plain didn't like him. Probably a bit of both.

"So what're you in for, Aria. And d'you mind if I call you Ari?"

"Umm…what I'm in for?" she asked, shifting her messenger bag slightly on her shoulder. "And, I guess you could call me that, though…none of my friends do…"

"Your major," he corrected, shoving his hands in his hoody pockets. "I'm computational analytics. I studied computer science and business technology before transferring here." Aria frowned. Jeez, that sounded like a difficult major. She suddenly wondered if she was really truly cut out to be here…

"Oh, well, I'm going into the biomedical engineering program," she said, shrugging her shoulders slightly, "and I got my AA in biology, so…"

"Ah, so we won't have any classes together. Bummer!" A ripple of murmurs was travelling through the crowd around them, and straining her neck, Aria could see several professors making their way through the crowd, passing folders out. "We might have lab time together, though. I'll be looking forward to that, Ari!" He winked at her again, and for some reason, the skin on the back of her neck began to crawl. Yup, she definitely didn't like this guy.

Thankfully, before he could do or say anything else to make her more uncomfortable, a professor approached them, handing them each a folder with the materials they'd need for orientation.

"Here you are; don't lose any of the pages, and make sure you stick to your assigned group's schedule…huh." The woman stopped, suddenly fixing her gaze on Aria, who shrunk under her unwanted scrutiny. "Do I know you?" the woman asked, and Aria was forced to look up from her shoes, to glance at the woman's face. She didn't seem familiar. "Is your name Arianna, or Arie, or-"

"Aria?" Aria supplied, and the woman snapped her fingers.

"That's it! Aria Tsubeko!"

"Er, Tsukino…"

"Right, right! Hiro Hamada's pledge?" At this, Aria's face went from moscato pink to volcano red in an instant, and all she wanted to do was crawl under a rock. So Hiro HAD pulled some strings to get her in? And everyone on campus knew about it? This was a nightmare… "I didn't meet him personally, but I've heard such great, great things about him," she continued, "so I'm sure anyone he vouched for must be just as extraordinary."

"I, uh…I don't…know about that…" She wished she'd spontaneously combust right about now.

"Oh, and where are my manners! I'm Julia Diedrich, but most everyone just calls me Jules." She smiled a 1000 watt smile at the two of them standing there, and Aria was honestly worried she might go blind for a moment.

"Are you a professor here?" Finn asked, just as startled by this woman's sudden overexhuberance as Aria was.

"No, no, I'm what you might call an adjudicator. I'm just here to observe the school for a few quarters, assess the quality of the education experience, and various other tax-related things. All state-run schools get a visit from me." She giggled at that, slightly unsettling coming from a woman who appeared to be in her late twenties, maybe early thirties. "Well, I look forward to seeing you around, Aria. I expect to see some big things from a friend of Hiro Hamada!" She waved at them as she continued on, handing out packets, and Aria was frantically looking for any direction to bolt in. She had the papers, she could skip Orientation, right?

"So you're a pledge of that Hamada kid?" Finn asked, smirking slightly. "So you got in by knowing people, eh?"

"No! I swear, I-"

"Ari, chill out!" He nudged her in the side with his elbow playfully, chuckling at how red she was. "I'm just joking! If we're going to be friends, you need to learn to take a chill pill."

Aria swallowed hard. This was going to be a very long day.

Flopping down on her bottom bunk, Aria groaned into her pillow. The rest of Orientation had not been any smoother. They'd done those cheesy trust falls first thing, to try and 'build a community of trust and unity among the students you'll be sharing your educational journey with'. Aria had been dropped. Twice.

"I'm not even that heavy!" she gripped to herself, taking her hair out of the braid it'd been in all day. Pressing her palms against her eyes for a minute or two, she tried to decompress, before she finally looked at her phone since earlier that morning. She didn't know how she was gonna handle it if there were no missed calls.

But lo and behold, when she turned it on, a single text message sat in her inbox, and it was from Hiro. Opening it as quickly as her phone would allow, she skimmed through the somewhat lengthy message.

"Aria, I don't like fighting with you. I guess we both handled yesterday badly, because we've never really had a real fight before. Maybe this is actually a good thing, y'know? Anyway, whenever you want, you can always come see me; you know where I am. Love you."

She sat back, and stared at the wall for a moment, before rereading the text, and rereading it again. Was…was that an apology, or…it left her with a bad taste in her mouth, and she honestly couldn't tell if Hiro was still mad at her or what. 'You know where I am?' So, what did that mean?

"Why are you so stubborn!" she yelled at her phone, and then collapsed backwards onto her bedspread. She couldn't figure him out. Not one bit.