Elsa felt like a tiny fish in a giant ocean. Despite Professor Callaghan's rather in depth tour, San Fransokyo Institute of Technology was still huge, far larger than her father's business premises, or any other building she'd stepped foot in for that matter. Holding tight to the strap of her bag, Elsa took a deep breath and followed the throng of teens and twenty-somethings up the short staircase to the main entrance.

If she thought it was busy outside, it was chaos inside. The main atrium was immense, almost covering the entirety of the ground floor, with corridors, staircases and elevators leading off to various areas of the Institute. It reminded her of the airports and bus garages she had needed to pass through in order to reach San Fransokyo, lots of fingers pointing up at signs, people calling out to one other across the hall, the occasional teacher steering people in the right direction with the help of other students, who were decked out from head to toe in SFIT branded clothing. Elsa tightened her grip on her bag strap, her knuckles almost white, the muscles in her shoulders and jaw tense.

Hundreds of students were milling about the spacious corridors, some on their way to their lecture halls or classrooms, keen to try and make a good impression in their first class by arriving a few minutes early. Others, mainly the older students, were stood around talking, sitting down on staircases, sharing images on phones. Occasionally a group of students would be joined by a friend they hadn't seen over the summer break, and would burst into excited chatter. Every few metres she would catch sight of a lone student, stood much like she was, looking rather lost.

Elsa shook herself from her reverie and headed over to a large map in the middle of the hall, which was already surrounded by plenty of new students. She tried to see over the shoulders of the others to work out the route to her class, but the cloud of people was just too large and she had to step back. She would wait.

"Elsa?" A hand tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped, spinning around and coming face to face with, "Tadashi!"

The boy grinned, tipping his cap ever so slightly. "Hi. Want some clearer directions? We're in the same class."

Elsa gave him a small smile, releasing the death grip on her bag ever so slightly, "That… would be great." Tadashi held his arm out to indicate the direction in which they were to travel, and they moved away from the mass of students at the map.

"Déjà vu, huh?"

"Pardon?"

"Déjà vu. Although, this time I'm not drawing you a map on a tiny scrap of paper…"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

"No worries, first day of school is always a bit crazy, even when you're our age. Everyone's just a bit taller." Tadashi grinned, pointing out a couple of landmarks to Elsa on the way to class. There were noticeboards all over the place, club sign up sheets and party posters plastered all over them. Small statues of important figures, some of whom were alumni or past teachers were dotted about, but most students were far more interested in the vending machines than finding out about the history of the Institute.

"Oh, whatever you do, don't use the water fountains." Elsa raised an eyebrow in question.

"A couple of years ago, the chemistry graduates decided they would prank the school on the last day – really hot summer day, mind you – by tainting the water tanks with Methylene Blue. They sabotaged all the drinks machines overnight, which meant everyone was drinking water by the gallon from the taps."

"Oh boy…"

"Everyone was peeing blue for the rest of the week. The chemistry lot have a habit of doing things to the water or the taps at the beginning of the year to catch out any newbies that haven't been warned, and at the end of the year, just because."

Elsa let out a small chuckle. "Thanks for the warning."

"There are a few things that are missing from Callaghan's tour." He grinned, leading her through a large cloud of students rummaging through their lockers, all the while peering behind him to make sure she was still there.

After a few more twists and turns, they reached the lecture hall with a few minutes to spare. They wandered in, Tadashi walking slowly up the stairs, obviously scanning the room for someone. Elsa stood at the bottom of the stairs, trying to spot an empty seat.

"Elsa," She looked up at him. "Come on, there are a couple of seats going spare next to Wasabi."

She cast another look over the crowd – any spare seats were smack bang in the middle of the row, which meant clambering over several students or right at the front. As much as she was looking forward to delving into the Professor's subject, she didn't think putting herself in Callaghan's firing line on the first day would've been a great idea.

"Elsa? Y'coming?"

She hesitated, look back up at him. Better the devil you know, Elsa. She walked up the stairs after him, following him almost right to the top. She sat on the end, Tadashi taking the seat next to Wasabi. She looked down the row; Wasabi was arranging his stationary on the tiny table in front of him. Hiro – Tadashi's brother? Callaghan had briefly mentioned him, and the similarity between the two was striking – was next to him, moving Wasabi's pens when his gaze was directed elsewhere. Next was Honey, rifling through her handbag for something. Next to her sat GoGo, her feet up on the chair in front of her, chewing away. Right at the end was Fred, who wasn't wearing some sort of mascot suit.

Mascot by day, except when dinosaur-sized chairs aren't available.

Fred caught her gaze and gave her a wave, which created a ripple effect down the row, Elsa waving shyly back at them.

Tadashi didn't wave, just grinned, but then he looked to the front of the class and to Callaghan, who had just entered the room. There was a great deal of shuffling as the students settled down, before the professor addressed the class and began the lesson.

An hour later, Elsa was following her classmates a short distance away as they left the hall, the other five chattering away at what the rest of the year would hold. Tadashi hung back and waited for the blonde to catch up.

"Hey. Y'alright? You look like that class gave you an ice cream headache."

"What? Oh, no… I'm just… Professor Callaghan definitely knows his subject. And to have all that enthusiasm crammed into an hour is just…" She trailed off with a chuckle and a small shrug.

Tadashi smiled, "I know. His first class is always a bit overwhelming; just think, he's spent the whole summer working out what he's going to say to a bunch of students who probably still want to be in bed, and he's got half the time to say it than normal. His next classes will make a bit more sense. Two hours, so he explains everything a bit slower and in more detail. You'll enjoy it."

"I'm sure I will." They fell into awkward silence; Elsa held onto the strap of her bag like it would blow away if she let go, Tadashi tugged his cap off his head and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Say, uhm… they guys and I… we were all going to go back to the café this afternoon and grab something to eat. Aunt Cass wants to know all about Hiro's first day before he's even finished it… would you like to come along?"

"Oh, I uhm… I wouldn't want to intrude-"

"No, no, you wouldn't be intruding. You're our classmate, labmate… besides, it's your first day too. You could celebrate surviving your first lecture with a chocolate doughnut?"

"Well…" She grinned sheepishly, fiddling with the end of her braid, "That was the best chocolate doughnut I've ever had…"

"Great! We'll be going at 12, why don't you meet us at the front steps a little bit before?" He turned his cap around in his hands nervously, waiting for her to respond.

"… just before 12, front steps. I'll uhm… I'll try not to get lost on the way there."

Tadashi grinned, slinging his cap back on his head and walking backwards to the rest of the group, "If you're not there by ten past, we'll send out a search party!" She smiled, returned their waves, and head to the library.

It's just lunch. You've been there before. And it's chocolate. Nothing to worry about.