Chapter 2
The first day of classes at the DWMA had passed surprisingly quickly. Sid, the teacher with the blue skin and dreadlocks, had explained most of the procedures to them and the other newcomers, but there was a proper "introduction" of sorts planned for the next day. Another one of their teachers – Professor Stein, the one with the screw in his head and the scars all over his skin – had demonstrated that he had not the faintest idea what to teach them… or maybe it was just that he didn't feel like doing anything but dissecting animals. Or both.
Even Robin, who usually had no problem with blood, wasn't exactly keen on that idea.
That gave her and Jay something they agreed on – although they both soon realized that they had similar opinions on several topics.
Robin had ended up sitting with her in all their classes – not because she had instantly taken a liking to her or anything, it was just that it was the easiest option for her. It had become clear to her pretty quickly that Jay was no idiot, and she wasn't at all modest about it – she liked sharing her knowledge, and prided herself in knowing the answer to any question the people around her might have.
For Robin, this made finding classrooms and doing assignments just so much easier, even though she had to put up with being corrected on a number of times and listening to Jay going on about whatever subject popped into her head. She found her new friend mildly annoying, but surprisingly easy to be with, because she didn't ask questions. She wasn't as nosy as Robin had experienced other people could get, especially when they approached topics she didn't like talking about. And if having someone around who didn't pry meant listening to the cascade of information – both useless and helpful – coming from Jay's mouth pretty much all the time, then she decided she could stand it.
Jay seemed glad to have someone who would just listen – even though she was evidently aware of the fact that most people found her annoying, or at least hard to stand for longer than half an hour, she didn't seem at all phased by it. She was generally cheerful and didn't constantly bother Robin with or about personal information, which the other much appreciated. And so, bizarrely, they both got along quite well.
Robin, who had expected to be alone most of the time since she didn't approach people who seemed boring or superficial to her – that was most people she met – was surprisingly glad she wasn't lonely but mildly entertained by her new friend.
By the end of the day, she found herself walking beside the smaller girl, following one of their upperclassmen, a girl with plaited hair and glasses, and a group of very obnoxious, very chipper girls she vaguely remembered from their classes – other freshmen, though they looked younger – to the DWMA's girl's dormitories.
Jay let out a sigh as one of the others – a dark haired, slim girl with pigtails – abruptly stopped in her tracks because she had seen something that piqued her interest, causing Jay to have to make a sudden change to her pace to avoid a collision.
Robin found herself chuckling, and Jay shot her a look. "Shut up."
"Sure you don't wanna go and hang with your kid friends over there?" she asked sarcastically, raising her eyebrows.
Jay made a dismissive puffing noise. "Just because I'm short, doesn't mean I need to act like an idiot. Besides, they're definitely younger than me."
"What, they're twelve and you're thirteen?" Robin teased.
"Nope – seventeen, actually."
At this, the red head looked surprised. "What, you're older than me?"
Jay saw her expression and had a hard time suppressing laughter. "Most people are surprised. How old're you, then, sixteen?"
"Yeah."
Before Jay could say anything else, their small group came to a halt in front of a set of large brass gates.
"This is the DWMA's girl's dorm. You will be allowed to stay here as long as you attend the school", the plaited girl explained, pushing the gates open.
As they walked across the front yard towards the large house they would be staying in, she continued: "You will all be given weekly allowance from the school, which you should use on food or other expenses you deem necessary. If you run out, you will have to wait until next week's payment or find a part-time job."
The other girls started chatting excitedly about finding work. Robin caught her new friend's eye, but Jay just shrugged. "Seems fair", was all she said.
The older girl made a dramatic pause before opening the door and said: "There is… one more thing. While you live here… watch out for the dorm witch."
Her face darkened, and the other girls gasped. Jay just raised her eyebrows while Robin suppressed a chuckle.
"Sure thing."
The older girl kept the darkness in her expression for a second longer, then snapped right back out of it and lead them inside. The three younger girls made impressed sounds at the sight of the interior of the building – it was grander than any of them had imagined.
"I feel like I'm in a bad horror movie", Jay whispered to Robin. "I mean – the old-ish manor house, the story of 'beware the witch' and all that…"
"Gotta give them credit for setting the atmosphere, yeah. 'Death City', you know?"
Jay nodded. "When I first heard that that was where my new school was, I thought it was a joke."
Robin scoffed. "Yeah. A lot of this still seems hard to take seriously."
Ignoring the oohs and aahs of the younger girls, they followed the group upstairs to take a look at the rooms they would be staying in.
"The kitchen and washrooms are shared space. We have two rooms for you five to sleep in – one for three and one for two", the older girl was explaining as she led them into the kitchen. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or the housekeeper."
A young woman had suddenly appeared behind her, smiling gently. "I'm Mizari, nice to meet you – I'll be in the superintendent's room on the first floor if you need anything."
The plaited girl seized the housekeeper's arm as she suddenly surged forward towards the girl with the pigtails, yelling "Mary! I've finally found you!"
She pushed her out the nearest door, smiling in an exhausted kind of way. "She's a little strange, but don't let it affect you..."
Robin suppressed a chuckle again while Jay raised her eyebrows. "Ah."
The younger girl – Tsugumi – looked positively terrified.
They reached the floor their rooms would be on, and the three chipper girls immediately started discussing who would sleep in which bed. Robin and Jay entered the other room, pulling their luggage inside from where it had been left in the hall.
"I guess that's all for now – I'll let you get settled in", the plaited girl said.
Jay nodded politely. "Thank you, senpai."
The older girl seemed almost surprised to get a response from her, since she hadn't asked anything the entire time, but then she smiled.
"Yes, thank you, Eternal Feather-senpai!" the other girls chimed in from the room next door.
"Right – that's what her whacky name was…" Robin muttered under her breath as the girl left.
Jay shrugged. "Poor girl."
"Hmh."
The smaller girl turned to look at her roommate. "Which bed d'you want?"
Robin's eyes swept the room – they had two small wardrobes, a table with four chairs and two beds, one lined up against the wall next to the door and the other by the window.
"I don't really care. This one", she shrugged, chucking her bag onto the bed beside the door, simply because it was closest to her.
Jay sat down on her bed and stretched. "Well, then. You hungry yet?"
Robin smirked. "I'm mostly always hungry. What time is it?"
"Half past five", Jay said with a glance at her watch. "I'd say we… unpack first, then head over to the cafeteria? Or d'you wanna cook something today?"
Frowning, Robin said: "The cafeteria offers food all the time, right? Breakfast, lunch and supper?"
"Yeah. But I guess we could also cook for ourselves sometime, if we get tired of what they serve there."
"How 'bout we… try out the cafeteria, then, see what it's like?" she asked, shrugging.
"Sure. But I'd like to get my stuff sorted out first; at least a little bit."
Robin watched her open her suitcase and start moving clothes into one of the two wardrobes. Her roommate had two boxes besides her suitcase, and when Jay opened them she saw one of contained a large amount of books and the other stacks of paper and an assortment of pens, chalks, paintbrushes and colors.
Jay smiled at her astonished look. "I'll be needing more stuff soon. I guess I can't spend all my allowance on food – I use up art supplies pretty quickly, and a book never lasts me more than a few days."
"I almost guessed that… if you read as quickly as you talk…"
Jay laughed. "Yeah, pretty much." She eyed her roommate's luggage. "You travelled light?"
Robin shrugged. "My parents gave me some money for… well, whatever interests me here. I only brought the most important stuff; clothes and stuff. And a few books."
"Well, you're welcome to read some of mine."
"What'cha got?"
Jay shoved the box across the room with her foot. "Take a look."
Robin picked up a book at random and flipped it over in her hand to read the summary. "Science fiction?"
"Among other stuff. I've got a few thrillers, some fantasy, a couple of novels labeled as 'literature' – I read pretty much anything", Jay said as she lifted a bunch of shirts from her suitcase and stowed them in a shelf compartment of her wardrobe. Robin noted with some amusement that she only used the lower area since she couldn't reach the top shelf.
"Sounds familiar. Thanks, anyway – I might take you up on that", the red head said as she replaced the book in the box, turning back to her own luggage.
She found herself smiling to herself as she began unpacking – perhaps it had been a good idea to stick with Jay, she was starting to like her.
Hello, world! :D
It's been a while, hasn't it. And not just for this fiction, for all of my other stories, too. But fear not - I am close to being done with school for good, and then I'll update the other fictions, too, I promise. It's actually one of my New Year's Resolutions to update all my fictions this year - that's a pretty ambitious goal I've set for myself, but I wanna make it happen.
This chapter is, again, a gift to my lovely beta KuroTenshiShiroTenshi, go check out her stories, you won't regret it.
Stay awesome, everyone; and thanks to the people who actually still read my stuff for being so damn patient with me. I won't disappoint you D:
~ZoeTsunami~