Tada! Next part. Enjoy, and have a good night or day! (For some reason I'm in a good mood today. *shrug*)
Sayo stood outside of her dorm, waiting anxiously for the teacher that was supposed to bring her to the new dorm and introduce her to the other students. It was 8:45, and she was told to be outside by 9:00, but she couldn't help anxiously turning through her thoughts and memories looking for anything she'd forgotten.
Her room was as spotless as it was when she'd moved in, all of her things packed into suitcases and boxes that were supposedly already in her new room. Her backpack was packed with anything she could possibly need. Her phone was in her pocket, her worry necklace and headphones were hung around her neck. She was wearing the most basic casual outfit she owned, a plain blue t-shirt, black stretch pants, a black hoodie tied around her waist, and her plain grey tennis shoes on her feet. She had left her plain brown hair down, after anxiously brushing and messing with it for the last hour.
Suddenly somebody sighed to her left. "You shouldn't do that, y'know."
Sayo barely held back a yelp of surprise, turning to face the man that was Aizawa Shota, Eraserhead, or Aizawa Sensei. "I'm - I'm sorry, what did you say?"
The man gestured towards her neck, and Sayo suddenly became aware of the fact that she'd been fidgeting with her necklace, rubbing the rough edge along her neck. She immediately dropped her hand and ducked her head in an attempt to hide the embarrassed flush that flooded her face. "S-sorry, Aizawa Sensei. Are you here to bring me to-to uh..."
She felt anxiety flood her body as the hero yawned loudly, and her sentence stuttered to a halt. But the man nodded tiredly. "Yeah. Koiso Sayo, right? I'm bringing you and the other problem child from the 1C dorm to 1A. We'll be going this way."
Her brain turned over his words, wondering what he meant about the 'other problem child from 1C', but in the end, she decided that she'd probably find out soon enough. She followed behind her new teacher, glancing back at her old dorm. She said a quick mental goodbye before following the man in black down the line of dorms to 1C.
The silence between them was a mixture of comfortable silence and an awkward one, as the hero beside her seemed content to just walk in silence, but after a bit, Sayo remembered a random song from her playlist. She pushed away at her anxiety, pulled at her memory, and then managed to pull up the lyrics from the song. She slipped into the place of mind she called her headspace, mentally playing the song since she didn't want to use her headphones next to her teacher.
It was some old cheesy American song from the early 2000s, but it was good and upbeat.
And I'm on my way
I still remember these old country lanes
When we did not know the answers
And I miss the way you make me feel, and it's real
When we watched the sunset over the castle on the hill
Over the castle on the hill
(Castle on the Hill, Ed Sheeran, 2017)
Sayo came out of her headspace as she noticed, almost too late, that Aizawa Sensei had come to a stop in front of the 1C dorm. There was no one waiting outside the dorm, but she spotted some movement behind the curtains, and soon enough a tall purple-haired kid with deep eyebags stepped out. She made what hopefully looked like an easy-going but slightly nervous smile. He nodded back in probably the coldest but accepting response she'd ever gotten, and she felt herself fight to keep the smile on her face. He glanced towards Aizawa Sensei and blinked. "Are you taking me to the 1A dorm?"
Aizawa Sensei yawned again. "Mhm. You and this problem child are moving in, and then I'm expelling one of mine."
You feel your expression pinch in anxiety. "You're expelling someone so we can move in? You don't have to, I can just go back to my dorm if it's too much trouble, I'm sure whoever you're expelling deserves it more anyways -"
Aizawa Sensei and the purple-haired kid raise an eyebrow in sync, and you feel yourself stutter to a halt. You duck your head again, flushing in embarrassment, thoughts flooding with anxiety and fear.
Oh jeezum, they are going to send you back now. There goes your dream, look, Sayo, now you've done it. Awe, they're looking at you weird -
Aizawa Sensei shakes his head. "Whatever you just said, problem child, doesn't matter. I can assure you that the student I'm expelling doesn't deserve his spot in this school, and your old teacher spoke rather highly of you. I can tell you that you wouldn't be moving to this class if you didn't deserve it."
Soya feels herself bow hurriedly, an anxious, blushing mess. "S-sorry, Aizawa Sensei, Thank you."
The man shakes his head again. "Stop messing with your necklace, and follow me to your new dorms. I usually don't leave your new classmates unsupervised, so I'd appreciate it if we can get back before they burn the place down."
Sayo starts after him, once again dropping the necklace from her hands and attempting to clear all the thoughts from her head and expression. She turns to the purple-haired kid as she walks. "I don't know if you caught my name, but I am Koiso Sayo, She/her. Please call me Sayo!" She gave him a grin, attempting to pretend that what just happened didn't.
They blink at her, apparently deciding to talk to her. "Shinso Hitoshi."
Sayo fights to keep the smile on her face, determined to seem unfazed by their cold response. "Okay, this might sound rude, but what are your preferred pronouns? I like to ask, even if it makes people upset, because I don't want to assume."
They blink again, but something about them seems to relax. "Um, I'm fine with He/Him."
"Okay, sorry for bothering you!" Sayo intentionally kept her tone upbeat and welcoming. She may have botched the first impression, but that doesn't mean she couldn't try to remake it.
She walks between Shinso and Aizawa, intentionally avoiding eye contact with either and keeping up her upbeat persona. But she slipped into her thoughts.
Alright, maybe not the best impression, but not the worst. Nobody hates or is mad at you yet, and you've only stuttered... once! Only stuttered once since meeting Shinso. Nice. Okay, now we just gotta keep calm and upbeat and hope they don't judge you for the intense personality switch. Hang on, what was that song?
I'm uncontrollable, emotional, chaotically proportional
I'm visceral, reloadable
I'm crazy, I'm crazy, I'm crazy, I'm crazy
Everybody in the world knows I'm a little twisted, twisted
(Twisted, Missio, 2017)
Sayo felt herself grimace at the darker turn in lyrics, and forced the song from her head.
Happier. we need a happier song. No, not the song happier, we need a song with a more upbeat message. Aha.
And I think I'm gonna be fine
I'm gonna be good now
I'm gonna be everything I always wished I could now
I'm gonna be awesome
I'm gonna be sure
I'm gonna be everything you asked me for and more
(Fine!, Mal Blum, 2010)
Sayo noticed that Shinso was looking at her weirdly, and she realized suddenly that she was humming. "Eep! I'm sorry, I didn't notice I was humming. I'll stop!"
He nodded his head in a slightly awkward attempt at acknowledging her, and she spent the rest of the walk focusing on not humming, keeping the smile on her face, and not making eye contact with anyone.
Hello! Thanks for reading!