Chapter 1: It’s like High-School (Without Musical)! (1)
Prism University, the place where ‘dreams come true’.
The peak of education in terms of quality in service and in offering some hefty pedigree for its successful students, those that had managed to win over the various obstacles along the way of true success.
An establishment that gave to many the chance of achieving even the most-complicated and nigh-impossible job opportunities with proper preparation and study.
Important and influential people in modern society had studied there in the past, obtaining impressive points to their respective curriculum that saw their career skyrocket to reach the highest class of elite, beyond the expectations of many born in riches.
Of course all of them had praised highly the impressive curricula, having more than once donated part of their non-negligible patrimonies.
Still, it wasn’t an easy feat to conclude the various years of study there.
The various courses had different spans of years to see their finalization.
Sometimes even dragging for a little less than a decade of studies but the requirements and efforts were all well-rewarded with quite the ultimate diploma that paved the way to many high-level works early on in the former students’ careers.
Many thousands of young men and women would flock eagerly to try their best to secure an enrollment to Prism Uni from all over the world, from poor upbringings to the richest ones.
But the real issue was the earliest obstacle, the selection of those that were to be enlisted and those that ended up being denied.
There wasn’t much of a clear explanation over the mysterious system used to select the proper documents from those trying to get in the Uni, but it was effective enough to keep a large majority out, and to not overpopulate the magnificent campuses there for the students to use during their stays at the facilities.
Such an important place where anyone could achieve the top with proper dedication and hardwork.
Yet I found myself embroiled into what could be considered a… rare circumstance.
What many should already know about this important establishment is that it is located in Prism, the capital of the Newer Continent and where the Prime’s government resided.
It shouldn’t be too difficult to see how odd it would be for a young human to not only try his luck at getting enrolled, but also being accepted without an apparent reason.
To be fair, I hadn’t been the one that compiled and sent the subscription form to the Prism High. I knew about the impossible means to be accepted into the school.
In fact, my main targets early on had been Stanford and Berkley. They were both fairly important on their own, and were also close to where I lived, New Pasadena.
The true culprit behind it all was… my own mother.
She had always been the kind of individual to take strange initiatives in her life, and this behavior had been there since she was a young girl.
None of the crazy escalations that would then ensue from those weird trail of thoughts ever deterred her from pursuing the next wacky adventure. Not even dad would try and reason with her over the crazy attempts she would aspire for.
So, when she decided to give a thorough look for any good colleges to send me to study via her ‘trusty’ laptop, her attention had been drawn towards one of the many advertisements for Prism Uni, and she was compelled to learn more about the establishment.
Ignoring the blatant signs that it was a Primes-only school, the lovely woman with seemingly zero common sense decided that it would have been a great idea to instantly send a properly-compiled form right away, without telling anything about it to anyone until much later, when dinner was starting.
Stumped’ failed to sufficiently understand the immense bewilderment that this sudden development caused, but my thoughts were dismissed. Such effort shouldn’t have garnered the attention of anyone relevant in particular within the administrative branch assigned to deal with this stuff.
A month passed, and I now find myself trying to understand the newest letter sent back to me.
Announcing my acceptance at Prism Uni and the proper date when I had to present myself to start my years of study there, this letter was a testament of how fate had decided to reward mom a rare victory for her... unique approach.
She was over-joyed that her ‘little boy’ had been accepted by one of the most-renowned schools in the world, blatantly missing the true shocking element that was rendering this whole mess even more surreal than a simple acceptance news.
Ignoring the fact related to the slim hopes I would have gotten in trying to get in a school that was meant to accept only Primes, I was subsequently floored over the veracity of the message despite my efforts to prove it a false/prank response.
The first thing I did before succumbing to the undeniable shock of this development was to check if the signs displayed there were the correct ones and, much to my growing dread, it was a true document of acceptance.
I tried to see if it was some complex prank, if it was just a joke, by also checking if the stamps and other elements in the letter matched with the proper acceptance file, all the efforts culminating in a single thought.
I was accepted at Prism University.
With this news sinking in my brain and the various ramifications slowly riddling my thoughts for the next few days, I finally conceded that reality had surrendered itself to an absurd circumstance, which saw me being sent in the heart of Primekind.
I had no issues with Primes as there were some friendly folks that lived here in the little city where I lived, New Pasadena, and I had some friends here which I shared some early elementary years with that were Primes.
The issue here was that I was going to be one of the few humans to go into the capital of the Kingdom of Prism.
Was I nervous? Immensely so.
But refusing to take an opportunity just because of a few obstacles in front of me? It would have been foolish of me to do so.
Prism Uni was still a top-notch college and, despite the odd situation that got me accepted by the school, I still had to give a try to what seemed to be my best shot at life.
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that I was incredibly unsure what I was supposed to do in a place like the one I was meant to go since I have never traveled that far from home, but my mind was now set to make an attempt and so were the documents for my trip right into the next chapter of my life.
Thus, I took one of the flights available from San Francisco. After a few hours of uneventful sleep, I finally reached the grand capital of the Newer Continent.
I’ve seen New York once when I was just a child during a family trip, but the sight which I was bestowed when I disembarked from the plane and made my way out of the airport was truly immense.
I had no issues with Primes, as there were some of the friendly folks living here in the little city of New Pasadena. Some friends here that I shared early elementary classes with were Primes.
There were multiple skyscrapers visible from just outside the airplane, and I saw some of the many trees located in the various parks spread over the humongous city.
A sublime harmony of technology and nature that none of the human cities had been able to rebuilt since the birth of Neo-Earth.
I was mesmerized by the scenario I was presented with, almost drowned by it, but I still managed to get through my early awe and get moving out to reach where my temporary flat was supposed to be.
A very small place, just somewhere to crash and rest until tomorrow.
The big day, the starting point for my years here at Prism.
Leaving the three bags I had filled with the most indispensable stuff for my long stay here by the little bedroom I had in that pseudo-flat, I decided to spent the whole day indoors to get through the little case of Jetlag I was experiencing in those moments.
'Incredibly drained by the flight, the bed looked like a nice place to hang out for my first day here at Prism.
Regardless, my attention was mostly focused toward the laptop I had brought with me for this occasion. I used it to confirm some of the topics here that I was still doubtful about.
I went to sleep earlier than usual that day, hoping to get to wake up early the next morning.
Oh right, how rude of me. Before I forget, I think I should introduce myself.
My name is Frankie Parker and, right now I’m undoubtedly going to be-
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LATE!!
I admit I should have set up an alarm instead of believing the whole ‘sleep early, wake up early’ crap, especially since I had tried this stuff in the past for some important exams.
I could still remember the panic I had back in those occasions and now I was feeling much worse about it all as I skimmed through the various streets in front of me, minding just barely about the cars that were coming around while I rushed across the roads.
With the three bags safely hanging by my arms and neck, I proceeded to pull what many experts would consider to be a ‘super-human feat’ by bolting around the city with every ounce of strength I had in my legs.
I was supposed to reach a place that was about half an hour away from where I currently was in less than ten minutes.
It was alright, it wasn’t that much of a pro-
I needed to do a miracle.
I could already see where it was, but it was so distant and so… close!
I wasn’t going to bite the dust without putting everything I had in my body.
To the surprise and amusement of those witnessing my dash through the districts, I had been running pretty fast for a human with three bags in tow. Sadly, it wasn't enough to make it in time for the grand ceremony planned for the beginning of the school year.
I took a brief pause by one of the intersections, a barrier of cars stopping me from continuing in my heated march and…
I’m so going to turn up late.
Groaning quietly at the realization that I was literally losing too much time there, I felt like things were just set against me in that precise circumstance.
I had dealt with bad luck more than once in the last few years, but this was the first time I had to deal with quite the horrible escalations of things.
Just as I let the realization that there was no way for me to get there in time I-
Beep Beep
I almost jumped at the sudden honking noise coming from the street nearby, my wide eyes snapping my attention right to look at my right side and-
“Hey pal, you seem to be in quite a rush,” A Cat Prime pointed out with a certain eased tone from within a yellow-colored car.
He had shoulder-length silver-hair and a pair of light-amber eyes.
He was wearing an unbuttoned light-brown jacket that make way for a pale-yellow shirt; I could see some dark-blue jeans, but his shoes were hidden from my current perspective.
“Where are you going with so much stuff around anyway?”
I blinked, losing just a second to recollect myself back to reality and- the panic resumed its turbulent presence within my brain.
“I-I was-” I paused a moment in my response, glancing at the still ongoing traffic in front of me. “I need to get to Prism Uni.”
He frowned. “With so many bags, 'it's either a chick you're helping, or some good buddy of yours.”
I shook my head. “This is all my stuff as… I got accepted at Uni.”
…
“You kidding, right?” The guy asked with a confused look. “I mean, I know that there are some people that fakes their acceptance but-”
I proceeded to show him the little plasticized card I had been given together with the letter, with the photo that had been sent together with all the general details about myself.
The Prime blinked, eyes fixed on the unquestionable bit of proof I had on myself and… he blinked again, looking up back to my face. “You mean that you got accepted-”
“Yep.”
“Even though you are a human?” He asked with more surprise than else to which I gave a nod in response.
“Yep.”
He leaned back for a moment in his seat and looked at the traffic already starting to unfold.
“And you are trying to get in there by foot?”
“I forgot to set up an alarm and woke up late,” I explained quickly as my attention was taken by the fact the cars were finally making way for some space to rush through.
My legs were preparing for another mad sprint to try to continue with my run, but just as I prepared to conclude this refreshing conversation in a friendly way, the Cat Prime nodded and spoke up again.
“Ya know, I can give you a ride there?”
The proposal was swift to enter my adrenaline-dominated mind, causing me to freeze at the words before I turned my sight back to the young man and… to the plasticized card with his own details.
“I’m a firsty myself,” The Cat continued with a smile now on his face, giving a shake of the card. “Hop in, buddy.”
I stood there in utter surprise at the curious development, unsure if I should pick up his offer or not.
The card was legit at a proper study and he seemed to be genuinely friendly with his mannerism…
I decided to accept the offer, well-aware that any further delays would have costed me the chance of arriving on time to the ceremony.
My next task was to put my bags in the car’s trunk, carefully not pressing over the ones that were already there, and I rushed to the seat beside the driver’s one.
With the little door closed, the vehicle started to move through the main street that concluded right where Prism Uni was with a moderate pace.
My nervousness was slowly subsiding with the certainty that we were going to turn up punctual for the initiation event and avoid any reprimands or outright expulsion.
“I think it’s odd that you, a human, got accepted in there-” The young man resumed the conversation. “No offense of course-”
“None taken,” I interjected with a calm tone. “I understand myself that it’s quite the unexpected situation- I mean, it was mom that sent the form and-”
“You still got accepted, I bet it had to be quite a shocker,” He interrupted with an amused tone, drawing my little uneasiness down even more.
“Quite so and...” I blinked, staring as we were getting close to the school. “Do you think I will get some attention once we get there? I thought about the fact others might-”
“You might get everyone’s attention, dude,” The Cat continued with quite the sureness in his tone. “But I can’t help but feel envious that you might get some ladies’ attention too, if you catch my drift.”
I caught that very easily, in fact the little blush at that comment was more than a good answer to his words and soon he let out a chuckle at my embarrassment.
“C’mon, you mean to tell me you haven’t thought about the chances of getting some girls here?” He pressed on with a certain interest. “You don’t like Prime girls or what?”
“N-None of that!- It’s just that I...” I stopped for a moment, my mind having some trouble to elaborate the very simple issue about that stuff. “I never had a relationship before.”
I expected him to gloat, maybe because he seemed fairly versed over women so much that he had to have experienced some romantic and non- relationships.
Yet I was surprised by a shrug from my part. “Same, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try out now of all times,” The guy replied with a hum. “I mean, you know how many hot chicks study there?”
It was no secret for anyone that Primes were generally attractive and… I did have some crushes in some pretty girls back home that were mostly Primes at that.
I sighed. “I guess so...” I concluded with a blink, but then I realized that I had forgotten to do something about this. “By the way, I’m Frankie Parker.”
“Miles Lionheart,” He returned my introduction with his own. “And I can tell that we are going to be good pals, dude.”
And I couldn’t help but nod eagerly at that statement, feeling like that this was really going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
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~Change of POV~
The big day has finally come and… she couldn’t believe it.
With her pink scooter coming to a halt by one of the free slots in the private parking lot assigned to students, a certain dark-haired prime disembarked by her vespa and took a sigh of relief as she removed her sunglasses, revealing to the world her bright green eyes.
Hope Ravenburst had finally arrived at Prism University, mere minutes from the start of the initiation event planned to occur this very day. Obviously, she was quite excited, and yet, she was nervous over the final chapter dedicated to her studies.
Not a sad one for sure, as she had planned every single contingency she thought was needed for spending the next few years at one of the greatest colleges ever for primes.
She didn’t expect to make many friends early on, especially after the little slow start she had to experience back in high school, but she wasn’t deterred from the fact that surely she would end up befriending someone new in her first year.
Of course, part of the glee she had for these next few years would be the many, many opportunities to her to be this close to... him.
Shin Aryoko, one of her first friends and her crush.
It would be a massive understatement to say that she was 'just' a little elated to receive the news that he was also going to have his first year at Prism. She literally rush back to her room moments after finding this out from her mom, so as to hide her squeals of delight from her little sister.
Joy was still young but terribly quick to tease her around when the ‘Shin’ topic was brought up to her attention, which was quite ironic considering how clueless she was about love herself.
An unexpected surprise, but a welcomed one to say the least.
But now it wasn’t time to lose herself in memory lane as she had many things to do even now.
So when Hope concluded the parking procedure and got hold of her bags, the girl proceeded to make her way towards the entrance of the main building, her genuine anxiety rising just a little from within her chest the more steps she would take towards the beginning of this next step in her life.
The one that should cement her start in adulthood and introduce her to the improvement of her natural affinity, her melodious singing voice that Lady Ambar herself had said was quite beautiful to listen to as she sung some of her own songs.
Of course it wasn’t going to be an easy path to success since becoming a singer was quite difficult nowadays and… her main objective made things even more important for her.
Singing was… meant to lit the hearts of people, to bring them peace and joy, to give them hopes and dreams against the dreadful obstacles that life offered to those that dared to achieve the most ambitious futures in this big and varied world.
A hum started to build up in her throat, her nervousness urging her to at least whisper some of her songs as to soothe her excitement and yet she held herself from doing so.
The reason why the young Prime decided against it was standing right by the building’s entrance and was now waving at her with that gorgeous smile of his.
A White Tiger Prime with blond-hair and light-green eyes, wearing a half-sleeved blue t-shirt a pair of black jeans.
Shin was already there, with his own bags lying by the floor nearby and looking to be quite excited himself of making his first steps at Prism.
It wouldn’t be a lie to say that the son of the Crest of Light was one of the smartest young men in his generations… if not for several of those before him.
A lovely bookworm that would also show no hesitation in learning some bits of social life, balancing himself between books and experience while managing to get through numerous adversities without breaking a sweat.
A testament to this impressive intelligence of his was how he had managed to skip enough grades to reach her same school level, his interest in studying for long here at Prism Uni having been a subject of various conversations in the last few years but…
This was incredibly surprising and oddly lucky for her.
She had the chance to conquer his heart, and maybe get a stronger relationship going.
Her first romantic relationship to that and… she had to give her best!
The only issue about this matter was the age gap.
While she was 19 and legally an adult before the laws of the Kingdom, Shin wasn’t.
Having celebrated his sixteenth birthday just four months ago, he was still considered a minor and thus… not someone she could approach with a complete relationship.
Which was bad because she really wanted to get together with him ever since their first few encounters thanks to their families meetups.
With her mom being a good friend with Kate Aryoko, it was quite common for them to have some time to spend around together ever since they had met each other.
But she was still forced to deal with the fact that she needed to wait at least two more years to see and try some serious attempts.
An annoying circumstance that faded when she was around the lovely person that was Shin.
The younger Prime was smiling as she got close enough.
“Good morning, hope,” He greeted eagerly and she couldn’t help but smile herself at his giddiness.
“Hello, Shin,” Hope replied mirthfully. “I see that you can’t stop shaking at the chance of diving into some new books.”
He snorted. “I-It’s more than just ‘new books’, Hope,” The young man replied with faux irritation. “It’s about getting to know some of the most renowned professors and scientists of various subjects all reunited in a single place.”
The girl nodded, knowing well-enough how this was the kind of topics that would get him this much interested in the world. Studying and… studying.
There was nothing wrong in being an intellectual and it wasn’t bad enough to become a nag for her, so she merely grew accustomed to his own hobbies just like he did start to appreciate hers.
They were still close friends and as such they both learned to respect their respective merits and flaws after so much time spent together.
It felt just so natural, yet it didn’t felt as accomplishing as the great idea of trying to break through and… form a romantic bond with this dense Prime before her eyes.
A pity that he failed to catch her subtle hints.
But there was also another instance of discomfort about this static sensation over their bond.
“Is there something worrying you?”
This. This was another issue.
Hope blinked, her eyes widening a moment as she realized how she had been zoning out from the conversation until now.
Her cheeks flared red and she gave a quick shake of her head. “N-Not truly- Just thinking about the fact we are… the last one waiting there.”
A smile replaced his worried line and he blinked away to stare away from her.
“Well, I thought this too but-” He pointed at where he was looking at and the girl shifted her sight in that general direction, noticing two approaching figures. “It seems like this isn’t the case.”
Surprise filled her as she had indeed thought that they were the last ones for the ceremonial event and her shock grew a little more when said individuals got close enough to properly see the details of their appearance.
One was a Cat Prime that was giddily being the lead of the duo, dragging his own bags in his hands with ease while following closely behind was a human, also a male, quite winded by the paced speed they were both going at.
The human had short, curly dark-hair and a pair of light-blue eyes that just looked a little… mesmerizing.
He was wearing an open half-sleeved red jacket with a white shirt and a pair of dark-brown baggy pants.
“Seems like we got there just in time!” The Cat pointed out with a happy smirk. “And I didn’t have to park close just like you wanted-”
“I would have appreciated not having to go through another march after the little marathon of mere minutes ago,” The human interrupted with an annoyed voice.
“Then you should have set up an alarm like you told me a while ago!” He shot back with a long sigh, gaining a huff from the human as he turned his attention back at the two other Primes. “Still, it’s good to see a fine lady and… her little brother?”
Hope felt her lips twitching at that familiar comment, having heard of people mistake Shin as a younger sibling or cousin and the young man was quick to reply to this.
“Actually no, I’m one of the first-year students,” The fellow feline answered with a polite smile. “And I’m actually surprised you need to bring so many bags at once, did you ask your friend here to-”
“Nah, he is a student too.”
There was a moment of silence, and Hope was quick to pick up the issue on her own.
Both Shin’s and her eyes widened in surprise as they turned their attention back at the human, a little red hue on his cheeks at the embarrassing focus he was receiving.
“I- Surely there had to have been a mistake-”
“I-I had to triple-check to make sure it was right, so no mistakes,” The dark-haired man replied with a hesitant shrug. “Mom decided to sent the form with picture and all other details, ending up to get the acceptance letter.”
To add further legitimacy to his words, he slowly went to pick up the plasticized Student ID from his pocket and… it was a real one.
“That’s quite the unusual circumstance,” Shin admitted with some awe. “But I don’t think there is truly a Prime-only restriction over students trying out to access to Prism.”
But it shouldn’t be as unique as it was if it was the case.
She had never heard of a human managing to sneak in as a student to Prism Uni and she was fairly sure that her mother had mentioned that there was actually a ‘Prime-only’ restriction to the enrollment.
Maybe it was best to give her a call once the ceremony was over.
“By the way, we almost forgot,” The human intervened with a softened tone of voice, devoid of any of the annoyance she had listened in it. “This here is Miles Lionheart,” The Cat Prime gave a flashy smile but the friend was already pointing at his chest. “And I’m Frankie Parker.”
“My name is Shin Aryoko and it’s nice to meet you.”
The White Tiger Prime gave a little polite bow before turning his attention to her and… she sighed.
“I’m… I’m Hope Ravenhurst,” She introduced herself with an uneasy tone, causing Frankie to frown.
“Did we say anything wrong?” The young man asked with a concerned voice, her green eyes widened when the other guys looked at her with different degree of worry, making her blush a little more.
“N-No, it’s just that I- I didn’t expect to make some friends today and… I’m still nervous about the ceremony.”
Shin nodded kindly while Miles gave a silent shrug-
“There is something else,” He guessed with an intrigued tone of voice. “Something got you by the edge.”
The girl tensed up, panic surging at the possibility that her little annoyance over her little time with Shin having been ruined by their presence to come up so suddenly and without warning.
But instead of pressing for that moment of weakness, Frankie leaned back with a sheepish expression.
“I suppose I might have sounded a little bit unpleasant a while back with Miles but… we are good friend-”
“Frankie here is my first buddy!” The Cat Prime said while lightly nudging at the human’s shoulder. “And while he sound a little exasperated, it’s because the moron decided to wake up early without an alarm.”
“I thought going back to sleep earlier than usual would have done the trick.”
With this curious diversion, Hope’s mind momentarily forgot about the close-call and she found herself fascinated by the explanation provided by the human.
“But that doesn’t work as a method,” She said with a calm tone.
“I know,” Frankie replied with a little whine. “But I was tired for the Jetlag and I was being dumb and prideful about it all.”
“B-But,” The young woman paused as she had her free hand reach for her lips, trying to contain a burst of giggle from leaving. “That sounds incredibly awful.”
“Yet you are smiling,” He pointed out with a fake pout. “And I see you’re not nervous right now.”
Surprise reappeared on her face, but she quickly blinked it away at this realization.
“And I think we should also get going,” Miles said while looking at the watch he had on his right wrist, “Just two minutes to begin the ceremony and all of that so we better get going.”
They all shared a nod and entered inside the main building, while Hope’s mind continued to ponder over this situation.
Not only did she was happy because Shin was here too, but also now she got two new friends so suddenly.
Miles looked a little over-confident, but overall a nice guy and… Frankie was nice.
The sole human did seem to sport some real concern when she tried to deflect the attention she was getting over her little annoyance but it was nice to see him back away without pressuring her too much.
What an odd beginning for her first day here at Prism University and…
The day wasn’t over just yet!
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Chapter 2: It’s like High-School (Without Musical)! (2)
The large amphitheater was truly a fascinating sight to look at.
It took me a moment after entering the building to realize that I had been stuck mesmerized for two solid seconds, everyone having already moved to pick their respective seats by the remaining chairs in front of the center-spot.
The presentation room had a circular inner section that was currently containing twelve tall statues showing the twelve Crests that had fought bravely against the Emperor back centuries ago.
Heroes of their time that had battled for ages before the final conflict, and that were still living among us after defeating one of the greatest threat directed at the galaxy as a whole.
It would be incredibly lucky for any Prime or human to find one of them in a normal circumstance as only the Crest of Fire and the Crest of Wisdom were known to the public, while the rest had mostly disappeared from known sight to enjoy their private life away from annoyances.
The former of the two being a major businesswoman about anything related to fitness products, while the latter was the High Prime herself, the current leader of the Kingdom, Lady Ambar.
Just as I took my own seat beside Miles, I glanced around at the lines of young men and women sitting in front of us and waiting for the ceremony to truly begin.
But in that very glance, I also noticed that the room the new students were the only one occupying the massive room.
The seats placed all around the outer ‘ring’ of the room were mostly occupied by other Primes, students from the other years that had been invited to personally watch the unfolding of this ceremonial event.
I felt a spike in my nervousness at this development as I hadn’t expected this circumstance, but I managed to steel myself from showing any signs of my inner distress before I glanced at the Cat Prime sitting on my left.
Miles looked pretty chill about this detail, incredibly so as he was grinning eye to eye while trying to catch glimpses of the various older girls that he could eventually hit on after today was over.
My attention then moved to see Shin, the blond merely give a thorough look over the room with some awed expression at the presence of so many people at once but seemingly unfazed by the elevated number of people staring back at us.
I couldn’t see Hope’s reaction from where I was sitting.
With both Miles’ and Shin’s (mostly Miles’) bodies hiding her from my sight, but I could only guess she was faring alright as well.
Focusing my eyes at the currently vacant podium as I tried my best to keep my mind away from thinking about the fact we were being watched by so many people at once.
Seriously, I thought that this was supposed to be a private ceremony, not one meant to be visioned by hundreds of students!
I took another sigh, this one trying to get my breathing under control to not spiral into some unneeded panic and… I felt someone pull at my shirt.
I turned to glance at Miles as he gave me a supportive smile.
“C’mon pal, we are here to win now,” He half-whispered while softly patting at my shoulder, causing me to relax a little more.
We were here to win now.
With the acceptance to come here confirmed and validated, with the fact we reached Prism Uni in time… yes, we were here to begin our school year!
Excitement slowly started to replace my nervousness and I noticed that an old woman, a Puma Prime, had taken her place in front of the podium.
She had her dark-hair combed in a small bun and her gray eyes were hidden behind a pair of black spectacles; she was also wearing a formal gray business dress with a skirt that reached low below her knees.
“Young students of Prism University, today we are here to introduce the newest batch of young men and women that will join the literate life of this illustrious academy to our honorable establishment-”
There was a pause and I could hear a little noise coming from afar right by the direction where the woman was giving her speech, just a little bit more further from her.
Was that a… giggle?
The Puma Prime glanced around back and settled her eyes in a particular spot not-so far away from the podium as two other individuals were approaching from behind with a modest pace.
Both were Bear Primes with red hairs and, looking closely at the scene, I could say that they looked to be related to one another.
The oldest of the two had a light-brown fur with a lighter spot around her left eye and, speaking of her eyes, both were mostly closed, enough to keep their colors hidden to any looker; She was wearing a blue Chinese dress with golden details.
My attention moved to the second of the youngest.
My focus was initially taken by the strange yellow four-pointed star-like spot she had by her forehead before switching to her semi-formal set of clothes made by a dark shirt and a pair of light-blue shirts that reached down to her formal shoes.
As I tried to return my attention back to what was going on by the podium, I couldn’t help but find myself fixed on her face once more.
It wasn’t any elements that truly got me freezing, but the fact that she was currently staring back at me with her blank-looking light-blue eyes.
I blinked and she blinked back, but didn’t do anything else from moving away her stare and thus I did continue with the situation as I was… confused as to what to do about this circumstance.
I could recognize the older Bear Prime, having seen pictures of Lady Ambar before, but this was the first time I saw the young woman beside her.
They were related, or maybe they weren’t? Did Lady Ambar have a family?
I wonder what’s her name.
She looked bored… but also not. There was something odd about her dull-looking expression as her eyes seemed to show more emotions compared to her own face.
It was an odd situation for sure, but one I didn’t felt that much weirded out about.
Maybe it was because I was already nervous and I couldn’t perceive much of it, but the mere staring had quite the soothing effect on my mind and… I almost lost myself in that predicament.
“L-Lady Ambar, I thought I was allowed to have some peace during the speech,” The Puma Prime pointed out with some hesitation, drawing another giggle from the Crest of Wisdom.
I felt pulling once again, this time Miles looked slightly confused.
“You alright?” The Cat Prime asked with some interest. “You’ve been staring at that strange chick for some time now.”
I blinked, a little red hue on my cheeks. “I was just looking at her and… she was looking back, I don’t know,” I shook my head in ignorance at what had just happened and the guy patted my back.
“Worry not, maybe she is just surprised at finding someone like you here.”
Yeah, someone ‘like me’.
I glanced up at him and gave a quick nod. “I guess that’s the case...”
“And I think I’m not saying anything that should disrupt your ‘peace’, Madam Jacqueline,” Ambar replied with a certain confidence in her tone. “But please, continue with the speech. We wouldn’t want to delay the presentation any further.”
The dark-haired woman nodded and returned her attention to the podium.
“A-As I was saying, today is the beginning of your new life here at Prism University and I, Madam Jacqueline, the Deputy Headmistress, can assure you all that the staff will actively help you through the obstacles presented by your days here at this outstanding college,” She resumed with a small smile. “But mostly important, today will also be remembered as the day where this university accepted the first human student in the first year.”
I tensed up a little as her attention was now onto me.
“I would normally ask for Mr. Parker to come here and give a minor speech, considering the monumental weight behind such predicament,” The Deputy Headmistress continued with a nod towards me, causing me to pale a little more. “I’ve decided to accept Lady Ambar’s fair point that giving too much pressure to a first-year student might be too much and thus we will avoid creating any discomfort to Mr. Parker.”
Still, I got my name publicized to the entire school.
What a funny development.
“To wrap up and conclude this important event, I wish for you young men and women to know that Prism University will be the staircase that will lead you to true maturity and a good way to access to your future as young adults,” The Puma Prime concluded, drawing a lengthy clapping from the various people within the room, even the students merely looking at all of this unraveling. “And now, I would direct you to follow Mr. Hawthorne’s lead as he will take you all to the vacant sections of the campus where you will be able to pick the room with one or two fellow students that will be your roommates for your stay in the dormitories.”
She gave one last nod. “Once more, Welcome to Prism University.”
We were already standing from our chairs and moving as a single group while following this ‘Mr. Hawthorne’, the Collie Prime with white hair and chocolate-brown eyes seemed fairly happy of the task given to him.
Randal was one of the oldest students here at the college, in his last year to obtain a degree in Agricultural Advanced Management so that he can help back home.
How was I aware of this much information about this genuinely friendly man? While he was taking us all to the dormitories, the Collie had taken his time to talk about himself, how the campus is structured and how lessons were usually scheduled.
It wasn’t boring to listen to the easygoing nature of his words while he gave us a proper tour of the entire university.
Actually I found myself fascinated in the exhaustive way he was describing the life here at Uni, but I think I could understand the interest from everyone to actually rush to their new rooms and settle down their things.
“By the way, Frankie.”
I almost tripped at the sudden call and I glanced behind to see Shin trailing close with Hope, the girl looked a little exhausted from dragging around her own bags and she didn’t seem to have that much experience in pulling this much weight for so long.
“Yes, Shin?”
“Can I ask you… why were you staring at Nae- Lady Ambar’s daughter?”
I blinked at the query, confused at the fact that I hadn’t stared at- Wait, that means that the girl with that blank-looking expression was-
“You mean to tell me that I just stared at… Lady Ambar’s daughter?!” I let out the last bit with a panicked outburst.
The White Tiger Prime gave a slow nod and then showed a surprised look.
“Wait, you didn’t know who she was?” He asked again and I shook my head. “But you were looking at each other for a while, at least until Miles pointed that out.”
“S-She was the first one staring, I was just looking at them like everyone else and before I could look back at the Deputy Headmistress, I noticed her eyes on me,” I tried to explain with some bits of nervousness, still unsure about the whole ‘I just shared something of a staring contest with the daughter of Lady Ambar’.
Like, was I going to receive some dangerous message anytime soon or was this situation going to be forgotten by the young woman?
“Still, that is quite odd,” The White Tiger Prime pressed on with a certain hint of curiosity. “I wonder what could have gotten Naerie’s interest on yourself.”
...Her name is Naerie?
“I’m still surprised that Madam Jacqueline had initially planned to have you give a speech on our first day here,” Hope piped in with a little shiver. “That would have been quite embarrassing and nerve-wracking.”
I nodded, the prospect of being put before this much attention so soon causing me quite some uneasiness to spread into my expression.
“I saw you pale when she mentioned that,” The girl continued with a concerned voice. “Are you sure that you are alright now?”
I almost tripped at the genuinely-worried inquiry and I felt my lips twitch about it all.
“I-I’m alright,” I tried to dismiss this unexpected effort, trying to not sound impolite with my tone.
I glanced at her green eyes and gave a quick nod, a small smile appearing on her face.
“Good, I guess we are even now about what happened a while ago,” She said while giving a brief bout of giggles before turning her attention back to Shin, leaving me to contemplate about what she just did there.
But before I could waste enough time to ponder over this surprising behavior, I felt someone wrap their arm around my neck and bring their lips close to my ears.
“You know,” Miles whispered in a teasing manner. “If you don’t want her to notice that you are crushing on her, you might need to turn down a little the blushing.”
I was blushing, but it wasn’t because of Hope’s words. It couldn’t be… couldn’t it?
I mean she did look quite cute and friendly, maybe it was because of how lovely she was about interactions…
Yep, my brain is failing right now.
Instead of trying to escalate things even more by either denying or ignore that tease, I decided to go for a distraction.
“S-So, if there is a bunk bed, will you pick top or bottom?”
Please take the bait, please take the bait, please take the-
The Cat Prime hummed, his face moving away from mine as he thought about this ‘incredibly complicated’ dilemma.
“We could have Shin stay on top and you stay on the floor,” He pointed out amusingly, ending up drawing a confused frown out of me.
“Why the floor?”
“Because the weather is warm nowadays and I remind you that we have fur," He explained with a comical sigh. “Do you know how horrible it is to be sweating with fur while sleeping on the floor?”
I blinked. “Pretty awful considering you are literally leaving me the floor.”
“I’m not leaving you to the floor, pal,” He chuckled a little, giving me a shake while I was still in his hold. “I would offer the couch first if there is one.”
“Jerk,” I snorted before sharing a chuckle with Miles over the situation.
Then I turned my attention right at Shin as the younger Prime was lost in a conversation with Hope.
“How old do you think Shin is?” I mumbled out of curiosity, this time not as a distraction and more of a genuine curiosity since just now I was noticing that the White Tiger Prime looked far shorter than the other students around him.
Golden eyes showed the same curiosity I had about this topic and Miles hummed about it.
“I suppose we could ask the runt,” He said before turning to the young man. “Hey Shin, how old are you?”
The blond looked surprised at hearing the loud question, but he gave a sheepish smile and nodded.
“Oh right, I guess I do look younger than others,” He admitted with a certain degree of nervousness. “I’m 16, by the way.”
I was ready to ask something help, but froze in surprise as the answer ultimately sunk within my brain, causing my eyes to widen at the White Tiger.
“W-Wait how did you-”
“Skipping grades,” Hope interrupted with a small smile, glancing briefly at the slightly-nervous friend of hers. “Shin is incredibly smart.”
“He literally skipped High School,” The Cat Prime commented with a fair amount of shock. “I think that is just a little more than ‘incredibly smart’.”
The boy blushed while the girl giggled at the genuine praise directed at the fellow Prime.
“I-I’m not that smart.”
“Shin, skipping four years of education is being ‘that’ smart,” I countered his attempt to dismiss the flattering words. “But I can assure you that it ain’t anything to be shy about, especially with us.”
“Really?” He asked with some surprise.
“Yeah, I mean. We have all met smart people in the past few years at school and you don’t seem overly nerdy about stuff so I will say that you are super-smart also because you were friendly and quite supportive back there,” I replied at him calmly. “But you have to promise me that you will not allow Miles to copy from you during tests.”
The Cat Prime sported a betrayed look on his face. “What? But… what about the Bro Code?”
“After you ‘offered’ me the couch?” I shot back with a smug smirk on my face. “I think you dropped your copy of the Bro Code down the trash can, you prick.”
A round of chuckles followed from both Shin and I, while Hope giggled at the sudden conclusion of it all as Miles huffed at the unexpected sentence, trying to fight back a smile from forming on his face.
This sure was going to be a fun several years to spend with these guys.
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~Change of POV~
It wouldn’t be a lie to say that she was now interested in how things were going to develop from now on with a human here at Prism Uni.
Sighing while moving out of her chair, the young woman started to make her way towards the exit.
She felt someone giggling beside her but she didn’t need to look at the person in question to know who it was and she hummed quietly.
“Did you see how cute he looked there, Vixy?” The slightly-taller Tiger Prime mirthfully commented while giving her a full stare with her green eyes. “I mean, he looked so adorbs when he thought he was going to give a speech in front of everyone.”
Try with ‘utterly terrified’, and rightfully so considering that a first-year should never be subjected to that kind of attention.
Not many were prepared to face the burden of going through that kind of duties so early on.
Vixy merely nodded, her attention mostly directed at a little ruffled spot of her cheerleader uniform that prompted her to fix it properly.
The Fox Prime then reached to adjust one of the rebellious golden locks that had tried to stray from the way she had combed her red-and-yellow hair.
Traci Biggs, better-known to the cheerleaders’ club and other with her affectionate nickname as ‘Tiggs’, gave a huff at her friend’s lack of verbal response over her words.
Moving away some of her purple locks from her sight, the Tiger Prime decided to speak once again.
“So you don’t think much of this new development or-”
“Of course I find it interesting, Tiggs,” Vixy ultimately interceded with a minor scowl. “But I was thinking more about the troubling ramification his presence here will bring with the ‘balance of power’.”
Tiggs blinked in surprise, but gave a positive nod as the two moved through the campus alone and without any distractions. “You think Davin will try to approach him?”
“That moron wouldn’t find him an interesting individual,” The most popular girl of Prism Uni answered with a certain sureness. “Albeit he would be curious about the human, I think his main priority will be Ms. Ravenhurst.”
The taller woman nodded at her well-pondered thought… before frowning and giving her a quizzical look.
“Who?”
The Fox Prime sighed at this, but conceded to the fact her interlocutor was unaware of whom she was talking about.
In fact, this very information was came from two different sources, one more biased than the other.
Her mother had been incredibly vocal in their last call just a few days ago, mentioning how she needed to keep away from approaching Hope Ravenhurst, once again pointing out how disappointing the Ravenhurst family was with their ‘stupid Love Clan tactics’.
Her father had been a little more restrained, but while he had voiced some caution as usual with children with Crests’ parents, he had also been keen to point out that both Hope and the little runt walking beside her, Shin, were both people that she could trust in case of need.
Especially Shin as he was the son of the Crest of Light and someone that her dad had met a few years ago while visiting the Aryoko household in Japan.
“The ‘Gazelle Prime’ that was sitting beside that White Tiger Prime, the same last line where the human was,” Vixy explained, drawing a minor snort as her friend nodded in recognition.
“She looked quite pretty,” Tiggs commented with a small smile. “Green eyes and dark hair, but… she didn’t seem to be that much to get his attention.”
“It’s not her appearance that would be his priority,” The young woman continued to explain. “Hope is a natural singer. She is not ambitious enough to try and establish herself as a pretender to my title, but still her ability is nothing to scoff at.”
“Oh?” The Tiger Prime looked surprised by this detail, but not enough to press for more about it as her attention was slightly taken by the fact that they had finally reached the entrance that led to the locker room of this part of the campus.
A training session for the club was supposed to start very soon as it had been delayed from earlier that morning for the ceremony that had just finished.
The other girls were surely inside, ready and waiting for them to arrive too, but Tiggs decided to resume the conversation by changing the topic by just a little.
“Should we try to recruit Hope in our group then?” The proposal was sudden and the Fox Prime paused with wide eyes at the offer. “I mean, I don’t know if she would be good as a cheerleader but-”
“You would want me to use this as a pretext to take a shot at Davin’s popularity?” Vixy inquired with a certain confusion. “Even though the excuse is too weak as, like you said, we don’t know if Ravenhurst is good enough as a cheerleader?”
“Uh- I mean, wouldn’t it still be an effort against him-”
“He would ignore it, Tiggs,” The girl interrupted with a sigh. “While a good slight would get him pissed, one that is half-botched would actually be seen as his own victory against us.”
The taller Prime nodded as she started to carefully fix her clothes and pick her pom-poms from her locker.
“Then… what if we try to...” She stumbled a little, unsure what she should propose to her leader, but then she got an idea. “What if you use your contact in the Singing Club?”
Vixy sighed, ready to shot down this new proposal as she knew that the club in question was suffering from a major lack of funds to sustain itself… but then the girl remember about some of the last words she heard from the leader of the club.
The Wolf Prime with dark-gray fur and black eyes had been so desperate in trying to find some new singers that could boost their current ranks as a good show happening in their weekly attempts to draw more donations would probably lift them from the ground.
If Hope was sent to join them and help them up, not only would it be seen as a favor scored in Vixy’s favor as she would be the one presenting the younger girl to the group, but she would also remove her from dealing with Davin’s attempts at get the Ravenhurst in his little clique.
“It could… work,” The Fox Prime ultimately conceded with a fascinated tone, glancing at the giddy look on Tiggs’ face. “But it would require some meticulous effort to get the plan to perfectly work.”
Nonetheless, the fellow cheerleader nodded while letting out a little giggle, turning towards the main room where the session was meant to happen.
“Okay, I will be checking on the girls then,” The Tiger Prime commented with some eagerness. “Wouldn’t want to see them slacking off now that we are here.”
Vixy nodded back and stood behind as she was finally left alone in the locker room while her mind decided to delve back in the issue created by the presence of a human here at Prism.
Maybe the origin of her personal worry about the matter was related to the fact that neither her mother, nor her father had told her about this new situation and she was quite sure that at least one of them would have commented about the subject itself.
Her mother would have spoken about it for sure, especially with how her perception of humanity was a mixed one.
To her, humans were simply weaker than Primes but their adaptable nature make them apprentices as good as normal Primes in her fitness projects.
It was a novelty for sure, but one that the leader of the cheerleaders was unsure how to pick properly.
Humans were inherently unpredictable wherever they were and the individual that was Frankie Parker looked to be fairly reserved about his own manners.
He seemed to be shy and yet it was also possible that this attitude was one born from the important event he was present by and Vixy was certain that any indirect attempt wouldn’t get anything out of him.
Not only was he forming bonds with both Shin Aryoko and Hope Ravenhurst, but he did seem genuine in his efforts to keep away from the spotlight from the way he paled at the possibility of having to give a speech on his first day here at the university.
But which reasoning could be used so that she could approach him in a friendly manner and get a proper reading of what he was like?
A blunt approach now would be seen more as a power move.
Something that she was well-aware to not force now that there were so many interested people from the more relevant groups that are staring at this oddity from afar now and pondering her same dilemma.
Sending Tiggs in her stead would also be seen as a blatant attempt from her part to maybe ‘recruit’ him in her clique, which wouldn’t be a smart idea since she was still uncertain over his worth here at the school.
And while there was a considerable thinking behind the fact that he, as a human, was picked to join the school years here at Prism, there was quite the major mystery behind the methods used to decide which of the possible students would get to be picked to join the school.
It would be silly to gauge his ‘weight’ from this circumstance alone and, after spending some time in the social circles of Prism Uni, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that she was well-accustomed with the riskiness behind any moves of this caliber.
A wrong step could easily shatter one’s reputation and for the sake of her current peaceful standing, it was best to not shake the boat so suddenly and so brutally.
There was just a chance that would give her the means to personally approach Frankie without getting the attention of anyone even so remotely dangerous to her leadership.
And that was by finding him at the end of one of the classes he had picked for his specialization.
It would take some day to get the schedule properly compiled, but while the process would be painstakingly slow, it was the only way to get a safe mean to approach the young man without triggering some unwanted alarm.
Putting on her pom-poms, Vixy closed her locker with a final sigh, her blue eyes turning her attention right at the door as she prepared to face the first training session of the year, ready to give some motivational words to the gals before beginning with the usual routine.
She smiled inwardly as she left the locker room to find Tiggs waiting for her after concluding some discussion with the other girls.
The rest of the cheerleaders were looking eager and ready for another year of impressive actions.
And as the leader of the group, she couldn’t help but be excited herself about it all.
For now her little concerns would have to wait, not only for the sake of giving proper guidance to her group but also to enjoy for herself the peace of mind that these practices would give her every time.
Away from the pressure, away from her mother’s ambitions for her and… away from the fact that she was once again single after what happened last summer.
She hid a scowl at the mere mentioning of that dreadful detail, the circumstance itself still fresh in her mind but the girl managed to perfectly hid it away from the other girls.
This was a good day after all, and she couldn’t certainly allow to spoil it for herself and the others.
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Chapter 3: It’s like High-School (Without Musical)! (3)
The start of these beginning days at Prism Uni proved to be fairly normal, considering the new disposition I had to get accustomed to.
While Miles was still fairly eccentric with his ‘main priority’ when people were around, he surprised me when he turned into someone more manageable to deal with once we were away from public sight.
When I first took notice of this unexpected mood swing, I decided to inquire about while we were setting up the content of our bags in the proper placements within the room.
The answer was surprising, but I could see some logic behind this behavioral stunt.
The Cat Prime was ‘flexing’ this confident posture to gain the attention of the young women that were studying there, maybe even gain some date out of it since ‘chicks dig confident guys’.
This wasn’t a bad idea, as I have heard of former classmates getting into a relationship by appearing to be confident in various instances where their fiances were around.
But perhaps he was taking this piece of advice a tad bit in the wrong direction, as the only thing that his attitude would spell out to others is that he was terribly arrogant and quite vainglorious.
Of course this wasn’t the case, as the guy had been very friendly and not as rude as his giddiness would suggest. However, one view was the truth of what a person truly was, and another was the public image that other people created from these interactions and sights.
We ended up striking a conversation with Shin as well, doing so while immersed in concluding the ‘preparations’ for our temporary home for a year or two.
The White Tiger Prime proved to be very meticulous in pointing out that it was best for the three of us to try and get a flat before the end of our second year here, mostly because of the issue presented by the curfew.
If we were to try and find a part-time job during our stay here at Prism, there was a high chance that it would be mandatory to apply for the late shifts because of the tight schedule pushed by the school week for the daytime.
It was a gloomy realization that I had just barely thought about since my mind had been mostly fixed over the importance of making a good appearance for the first few days.
Yet I wasn’t incredibly bothered by the instance for some good reasons.
I had some general plans to finish a large number of the first-years subjects before the end of the year, enough to free my workload enough to keep up with any job prospect that could happen by my second year at the Uni.
With I moved out of California, I deprived of the opportunity of keeping my previous job as a junior technician at a supermarkets close to home.
It had been a temporary situation anyway, but now I was deprived of increasing my currently-limited amount of money at my disposal.
So while I could manage to handle my savings for a full year, there was a legitimate worry in the form of securing some job because of the fact that this was Prism.
The city was blossoming with new activities and openings in old ones, but those were swarmed by newly-qualified Primes that were patiently waiting to get in some well-paid position that best represented their qualifications.
So yes, it was going to be quite the tough situation to face about in the next year, yet I was confident enough that some work would still pop up for me to take and get some coin out of it in the long-term planning.
Still, my conversation with Miles and Shin allowed me to learn more about them.
The former stated that he had been living in one of the minor cities near Prism ever since he could walk, and that this wasn’t the first time he had been in the capital.
The latter provided some fascinating details about where he came from.
Shin was born in a traditional Japanese household where his father was usually busy going oversea for business trips, leaving him and his younger sister to live under the care of their mother.
He was also particularly careful with his words while he was mentioning both of his parents.
Not only did the White Tiger Prime blatantly ignore some of the questions about what kinds of people they were, he was also swift in shifting the conversation to the fact that he had known Hope for several years now. This was because her parents were friends with his.
The youngest of the trio was also very reserved when describing the ‘uneasy terms’ he had to leave his home with for the sake of having a chance to study there instead of taking in the duties of heir to the family.
But what actually surprised me was the fact that there was actually a family of Primes that lived by the rules of ancient Japan.
Many traditions from the older Earth had gone mostly extinct after the conclusion of the War and it was odd that someone would stick by those life’s laws, especially if the people in question were Primes.
Yet the most curious fact was about why Shin was so nervous about giving out even a little more about his family, almost making it appear that some unpleasant predicament had happened before he had left for Prism.
In the end, I didn’t press him for more info about this as I felt that would have been quite the dumb move from my part to try with someone I had been friends with after just so little time.
After we were done with preparing our room and after everything in our bags had been carefully put in the proper sections of the place, we decided to meet up with Hope to spend lunch with her.
It would be an understatement to say how relieved she looked when she spotted us entering the little restaurant we had agreed to go for lunch & dinner. She almost rushed over just to greet us.
A surprising attitude from what I had seen being a fairly-shy young woman with people she wasn’t that much attached to, but one that was easily motivated once she explained what had happened after we had left for our rooms.
Her little narration shed some light over how she had spent her time the moment she had reached her dorm room, her first objective being fixing her bed and placing her own things in her side of the place.
The other girl that had been picked to share the room, a Shark Prime, had merely left the room without trying to fix anything about her own side, leaving these chores to a later date instead of freeing herself up of this burden early on.
Silence and boredom had weighed a lot on the Gazelle Prime’s head as the awkward development had left her pretty much lonely while she had gone through her tasks, leaving her a little disappointed about whom was going to be her roommate.
Thus, when Shin called her to mention the fact that we were planning to share lunch and dinner together as a group, Hope had been quick to accept the proposal and spend some time with us.
I was also given a partial glimpse of the dark-haired girl’s life during this opportunity as she partially mentioned how her sister would have loved how the meat was served in the restaurant.
She was as reserved as Shin was with her family, if not worse as she kept the topic of her discussions stuck to the present instead of bringing up other details about her own background.
Once both events were concluded, we decided to make our way back to Uni and straight to our respective rooms to catch some early rest for the big day that waited for us.
Sleep came quickly and the next morning I woke up with quite the insufferable development to deal with.
I recall opening my eyes to this partially-familiar ceiling of the dorm room. The recollection of events that occurred slowly entered my mind, but I still recalled fast enough that I wasn’t alone anymore.
Miles and Shin were still sleeping as it was still fairly early in the morning and…
Did I just end up getting up way too early?
Yesterday I had overslept, and now I had woken up four hours before lessons started?
I held back from groaning at the infuriating circumstance, knowing how futile it would have been to waste time getting annoyed by this development.
Picking up the uniform that had been tailored to best fit my sizes, I walked inside the single bathroom and closed the door behind me.
I let a sigh leave my lips before I went through the usual routine I was most accustomed with.
The cleanup process took me about twenty minutes of serious attention, my thoughts diverted away for the period of time as I carefully prepared myself for what was going to be one of the more important days for my stay here at school.
First impressions were still something that mattered a lot for many teachers and, while many would deny this, I wasn’t going to make a poor figure of myself since I was the only human in this University.
Once I was done with the bathroom break, I walked outside with my folded Pjs under my arm and I quickly noticed that Shin was already sitting on his bed, clearly awake.
There was still some sleepiness on his face, yet I could distinctly see that there was also some shock at the sight of me coming out of the bathroom.
“You’re... already awake?” He asked with a hint of confusion.
I shrugged at his surprised query, knowing well myself that it was a true surprise.
“I just woke up early today,” I replied curtly, unwilling to think that I somehow managed to get up before the “Also, I’m already done with the bathroom.”
The boy gave a solid nod at my response, glad that I had vacated the place as he slowly got up from his own bed to get his own uniform, smiling a little before closing the door behind himself once he was inside the bathroom.
I turned my attention to the slowly-awakening Miles, approaching him quietly as he started to blink silently at the ceiling.
“Morning.”
The Cat Prime glanced to give me a look, staring at me for a long time before displaying a hint of panic on his face.
“Please, tell me that I didn’t wake up late-”
“You didn’t,” I interrupted with a quiet hum, surprised by this misunderstanding. “It’s barely 6 and… Shin got inside the bathroom a little while ago.”
He eased his posture a little, relief washing upon his face.
“Oh, if that’s the case-” The Cat Prime tensed up again and his golden eyes were once more staring at me, this time in shock. “Wait, if it’s that early, when you did get up to get yourself ready?”
I frowned. “I… woke up half an hour ago?”
“What? But then how did you deal with the fur and- Oh right.”
Miles was so close to face palm as I grinned at his little mistake he had been so close to go with.
“Funny to consider that I don’t have to deal with that much maintenance,” I smugly mused, enjoying a little the faux-glare coming from him.
“Oh, shut up,” He replied smartly before getting up from his bed. “Ladies love finding a well-cared fur and good hair in their possible future boyfriend.”
“Well, not everyone can be as handsome as you are, I suppose,” I mirthfully ‘agreed’ to him, causing him to scoff in mock-irritation.
“By the way, why do we need to wake up this early?” The Cat Prime inquired with some true irritation over the subject. “While I understand that this is the first day, I don’t see how waking up three hours before lessons can’t help us with-”
“The place is massive,” I interjected with a serious sigh. “And the timetables don’t have much info on how to get in the right classrooms for the lectures.”
He frowned at this.
“Wait, I remember you saying something about reading multiple times the map of the Uni-”
“As I said, the University is massive and we were surely going to deal with some big crowds if we decided to wake up later than now,” I pressed on with some insistence. “Plus, we might not share together all the classes.”
Before Miles could have commented about this, another voice piped in the discussion.
“I know that Hope has to deal with Maths for the first two hours,” Shin intervened as he left the bathroom in that very moment, catching both me and the Cat Prime by surprise at how quick he had been with his routine. “While Frankie and I have ‘Last Age of Old Earth.’”
…
“How did you get clean so quickly?” Miles asked loudly, eyes wide open in unexpected shock. “Y-your fur and everything you- you are clean but-”
The White Tiger Prime sported a sheepish expression before nodding back at us. “I-It’s a secret.”
The fellow Prime seemed ready to pressure more about the subject, clearly interested in the mysterious way the younger student had managed to be this fast with his routine, but I decided to poke at his shoulder.
“You can ask him later,” I muttered to Miles, the young man glancing at me quizzically and a little craze-looking by the odd circumstance itself. “You should probably focus on quickly get done with the bathroom stuff and-”
“Yeah, yeah...” The Cat Prime huffed at the fact he couldn’t get any answer from that. “But you better tell me how the heck you pulled that one, Shin!”
The door slammed closed, leaving a confused Shin to turn his attention back to me.
“W-Why is he so concerned about-”
“‘Ladies love well-cared fur and hair in their future boyfriends’,” I quoted Miles before sighing. “He isn’t angry or anything, just shocked.”
The blond nodded slowly at my response, his green eyes turning to the door with still some uncertainty.
“Do you think that… I’m too young to stay here?” He asked as he glanced back at me. “I know that I’m short and a little younger but-”
“You are doing fine, Shin,” I interrupted with a kind smile. “I understand you are a little nervous about being belittled, but I promise you that neither Miles nor I think less about you being a little more younger than us.”
A genuine smile appeared on his face and Shin nodded again. “I- I see, thank you.”
“You are welcome.”
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~Change of POV~
A few hours later…
The classroom was almost filled to the brim with old and new students of the various years, everyone having already taken their seats in the various seats by the benches available for them to occupy.
They all looked to be fairly at ease with the situation, if not a little nervous over the fact that this was the first lesson for everyone here at Prism Uni.
Most of them were also unaware that the professor that was supposed to be hosting this first lesson was one of the most dreaded teachers in the entire University.
All except a small group that included a certain Tobias ‘Toby’ Wainwright.
One of the most famous football players in the school, the young man had dark-red hair and vibrant yellow fur; his eyes were a careful green, tempered by years of training, studying and dealing with the shenanigans at school.
The Lion Prime had been facing this topic for two long years now, and it was the only ‘First-Year’ subject that he hadn’t passed yet.
The main obstacle was the fact that the teacher himself was incredibly pretentious from his students.
He always demanded double over the limits everyone had, and these would usually see a lot of his students either failing or dropping the subject entirely.
Toby had yet to surrender to the seemingly unreachable requirements that the man responsible for this class had set for everyone to try and achieve, almost dared by the bored stare on the teacher’s face to keep going until the very end.
Professor Aker was one of the scariest Primes the young man had ever encountered, truly an imposing figure that had the haunting pair of yellow eyes.
With shoulder-length dark hair that mixed well with his beard, the man was rarely approached by any of his students and for good reasons too.
His background was shrouded in utter mystery, no one among the students knew much about this unknown character.
The only thing that was sure about this man was that he was incredibly aggressive in his teaching and no lessons was spared by the fact he would target someone to show his impartial capacity as a professor here at Prism.
So when the chattering all around him came to a halt in a mere instant, Toby knew that he had finally arrived.
With a calm but guarded pace, Professor Aker proceeded to reach for his desk while giving a silent glance all over the classroom before setting his sight right to a specific spot among the benches.
The Lion Prime carefully trailed the stare back to the man’s target, his own attention directed at the lone human that had joined the school just the day before and was currently sitting beside a young-looking White Tiger Prime.
Frankie Parker was quite an anomaly compared to the usual first-year students.
Someone that has already caught the attention of the group of people Toby was usually hanging with by just existing within the circumstances that led him here to study of all places.
Davin had been just barely surprised by this development as he didn’t care much about this kind of situations, yet he had shown some undeniable interest in seeing what the human was capable of doing and what kind of person he truly was.
Many questions were partially answered by a quick search made by Tiare on her own initiative, thanks to her special info-gathering means.
The Feline Prime had been quick to delve over what was publicly-known about the newest addition to Prism Uni with the help provided by her Nano-Zell Spirit, Era.
Then, once she had gotten enough to file a little report, she had been earnest to describe to the rest of the group the various important details that she had found about this curious individual.
A young man that hailed from California, Frankie was best known for having won two Surf competitions at the age of 14 and 16.
There were also some recommendations from old teachers from his former highschool about his ‘impeccable’ knowledge over advanced informatics and logical analysis that were cemented by the digital and physical presence of some official certifications that offered much more details over his prowess he had over both subjects.
Sadly, there was no correlation about Frankie with football and very little about a little effort in getting to play some soccer, which made him quite difficult to see as a possible candidate for their team.
Tiare was also deterred from pursuing a deeper approach over the study about this young man, growing disinterested about the human after finding out that there was nothing about him having any minimal grasp over the topic of Nano-Zell.
Which was a quick turn-off for the passionate Nano-Zell researcher as she valued ‘true potential’ by that specific branch of technology.
The other members of the group showed little curiosity over the young man and so the matter was left forgotten…
Until now.
“Good morning,” Professor Aker said with his usual silky voice, drawing a quiet pause to let his first words sink in everyone’s mind. “And welcome to the first lecture of this year. A warm welcome to the students that have been studying for so long in my class-”
His yellow eyes returned to glance at the human, the young man shivering in response at the attention he was receiving from those haunting orbs.
“And those that are joining us starting today.”
Once again, a pause ensued at that comment and it left many perplexed over the ominous scenario built by the teacher’s presence and simple words of ‘introduction’ to his class.
It was what truly made the mysterious man stand out the most among the other teachers, despite the roster of quirkier staff member that were known to everyone at the school.
“The subject that I will host with various lessons, ‘Last Age of Old Earth’, is the sublimation of the final years of the Galaxy-wide conflict that saw Old Earth becoming the main battleground for the forces of evil facing against the brave group forged by Primes and… Humans,” The professor continued smoothly, glancing once again around. “This isn’t meant to be considered an ‘easy’ subject that anyone can pass without giving their best, as I take major concern in preparing my students to the arduous tasks of preserving the memories of those that are no longer here to tell their tales.”
It was the same as every year, just a handful of words changing from his usual speech and yet, somehow, it seemed to carry the same weight and importance as it did the first time Toby had heard about this.
A strangely mesmerizing explanation that would snare everyone’s attention to this creepy Prime’s words and thoughts.
“But this year we are also blessed with a unique development that will bring up even more opportunities to retain the beauty and the burden of history itself,” The man switched his tone to one of partial intrigue, showing some rare emotion which got many of his older students to frown upon. “Something that I find quite fascinating and worth exploring.”
He stood up from his chair, glancing directly at the human for the third time since he had entered the classroom.
“Mr. Parker, can you please stand up?”
It sounded like a question, but the pressing tone was enough to make it clear that it was a demand.
Frankie gulped nervously, but complied to the request as he slowly proceeded to stand up.
“Please,come closer to my desk.”
Once again, there was no room to refuse the teacher, and the human made his way down the staircase to the side that led right in front of the teacher’s desk.
It was a morbid scene to look at.
There was a lack of any major sounds as only the whispering of some distant students managed to slightly distort the silence reigning over the humongous room, leaving the predicament to unravel with such a… unnerving pace.
Finally, the human was standing in front of the desk, the teacher nodding as he resumed his speech.
“Mr. Parker, your presence here is quite important to define the context of what will be the general theme of these lessons, especially since your role here will give foundation to the essential bond between Primekind and Humanity,” Professor Aker pointed out. “In fact, correct me if I’m wrong, but one of your ancestors fought in one of the major battles back during the final battle for Earth, right?”
So this was just because one of the young man’s ancestors had fought in that old and mostly forgotten war? But… why?
Why would someone like him be interested in something like that?
Still, the human nodded while trying to keep his nervousness down to a manageable level over the sudden proximity with the intimidating Prime.
“Y-Yes, sir.”
There was no quick follow up after that response, the teacher merely taking a seat back to his chair as he glanced thoughtfully at the first-year student.
“Can you please state his name and what made him unique compared to many others?”
Frankie frowned at the two queries in that sentence, but after gulping again he proceeded to answer those.
“He was… Sergeant Edward J. Parker and...” The young man stopped for a moment to ponder well before continuing with his reply. “And I think it was because of his nickname, the ‘Grim Maverick’.”
Toby had to blink twice before accepting the final bit of that answer, surprised by the unexpected nickname given to someone that was somehow… important.
Once again, there was no clue in their interactions that offered some explanation to what was going on.
This looked to be the yearly surprise test that the teacher was known to give to an unsuspecting student, but there was none of the infamous pressure that he would exert against his targets.
In fact, there was just something softer, lenient, about the manners the man was using in that specific scene.
“Mr. Parker, while I will forgive you this slight as this is your first day and I’m subjecting you to quite the non-negligible pressure by having you in front of your peers’ attention, I will tell you the first rule that my students should know about my class,” Professor Aker paused as he glanced to the rest of the classroom. “There is no ‘I think’ or ‘I suppose’. You either know what you are talking about, or you don’t. This is the only warning you will get, and any situation of this kind will be reprimanded with a proper grade.”
…
“But yes, Mr. Parker, you are indeed correct in saying that Edward J. Parker’s nickname had something to do with the importance behind his role during the war, but you are failing to bring up the reason behind such a dreadful nickname,” The man continued with a calmer voice. “Of all humans fighting together with Primes, there were just very few that were bestowed with the glorious honor and draining hardship of supporting the Crests in every battle.”
Everyone was already starting to connect the dots of the clues dispensed so suddenly by the teacher, the Lion Prime having to ponder deeply about what was happening before drawing his own conclusion over the linear explanation.
It seemed like not even Frankie had been aware of the topic itself, the human sporting some surprise at what was slowly unfolding before the class.
“The ‘Grim Maverick’ was one of the soldiers that fought under the command of the Crest of Death, a rare human among the loyal group of warriors pledging their lives to the holder of such a dangerous power,” He finally revealed with quite the fascinated tone before turning his stare back at the rest of the classroom. “And this is why Mr. Parker’s presence brings up the main theme of this subject. The never-ending question about the origins of everything and everyone, and how our presence came to exist like it is right now.”
Professor Aker stood up from his seat and approached the blackboard behind his desk, stopping just a moment from writing into it to glance at the young man.
“Mr. Parker, you may return to your seat and… please take notice that your intervention is considered appreciated for the topic of our first lesson,” The teacher said, stopping from continuing his speech so that Frankie could have returned back to his seat. “Which will be about the first contact and the outbreak of the war upon Earth, the Battle for Lyon.”
From there the true lecture began and everyone started to take notes over the next words coming out of the mysterious professor’s lips, even the human and the White Tiger Prime beside him.
Yet Toby restrained himself from actually giving too much attention at the lesson as the shock born from what had just happened was there to keep him distracted with what the two new students were doing.
Not only did the young man avoid facing the usual brutality that the teacher was known to display before new students, but he also looked far calmer than any other students that had faced the same instance as his.
The Lion Prime was impressed, confused but, most of all, fascinated by what had just happened as this was the first case ever that someone managed to ‘survive’ the pressure of being around the ominous-looking Prime.
It was a noteworthy sight that proved that there was truly something peculiar about Frankie, and that rekindled once more the interest over the kind of individual this curious fellow was.
Maybe it was curiosity, maybe it was fascination or… maybe there was truly something that couldn’t just be explained with such a distant approach.
So instead of silently studying the case as he had done until now, the Lion Prime decided to see by himself what kind of person this Frankie Parker was by planning to interact with him once this lesson was over.
Who knows, maybe this guy had still something that made him much worthier than he had made him to be.
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Chapter 4: It’s like High-School (Without Musical)! (4)
~Hope’s POV~
When she took a seat beside Miles, she had thought that things wouldn’t be too horrible to deal with today.
It was a strange degree of optimism that strayed from the calm exuding from the Cat Prime, Shin, and Frankie about the lack of concerns for today’s activities.
The first lesson, Math, wasn’t one of her best subjects.
In fact, not only did she dread the return of calculus after the difficult topics she faced in high school, but that this wasn’t even the worst way she could have started her first day here.
In comparison to the places she had been at in the past few years, the classroom was massive.
Housing about fifty to sixty other students in various chairs set in five large counters that served as desks for entire lines of people sitting close to those, the place looked top-notch in terms of design and construction.
The walls looked to have been repainted quite recently, the benches and chairs were undamaged and seemingly new, and the class itself seemed to calm down once the teacher had arrived in the room.
Placing down her notebook, pens and some erasers, the young woman had planned to give her utmost attention to the lecture, ready to write down hundreds of words in her notes so that she could already start her experience at Prism Uni in the best of situations.
And maybe Shin would praise her for her hard work.
But of course, this thought was secondary to her inner worry of messing up this early, and… her uneasy state didn’t seem to influence much of what Miles was doing.
Doodling on pages of his notebook while giving the barest attention to what was meant to be just an introductory session to prepare students to the topic they were meant to be starting from this year.
Professor Bellman was a gray-haired dark-furred Mouse Prime with dark-blue eyes.
He had a little bit of belly on his sides, but that barely seemed to break the kindness his expression and overall appearance was displaying to the class.
Rather soft-spoken, he started the lesson by making use of a microphone despite the utter silence domineering in the classroom.
The explanation for this necessity came together with his presentation speech.
The old man started to calmly point out how some medical circumstances got him incapable of raising his voice above a certain pitch, and that he would resign from his post at the end of this school year to retire with a lengthy career.
It sounded fairly sudden for a decision, at least for something that was meant to introduce students to his class, but some of the older students there seemed to not mind it.
In fact, a large majority didn’t seem to actually care for this knowledge, and decided to merely roll with it without any inquiries.
Kind of saddening, but maybe Professor Bellman truly deserved some peace after working for several decades.
The lesson began with a steady but easy pace that managed to get her interested in the topics detailed by the teacher’s words about the basis required to properly begin the study of Uni-level Math.
Some exercises that were meant to be taken as some early homework for the first week were assigned to all first-year students in order to give some preparation about the difficulty the lessons were planning to be once the school session was in full swing.
Nothing too burdening, but still, it was quite surprising for Hope that she had to already sign down some homework… while also urging Miles to do the same.
He seemed highly-receptive of her annoyance when she voiced the importance to at least writing down the homework that had just been left.
Just like Frankie had told her in a brief moment of privacy before parting ways in the two different groups, the Cat Prime’s act was mostly a smoke-screen meant to gain attention and that he was actually polite enough to accept her help if he seemed to need it.
Whispered queries from the young man about some bits of the lesson further cemented the idea that he was somehow still paying attention to the lecture itself.
There were no notes there yet, but Miles was putting genuine effort in keeping up with both his act and what the teacher was talking about.
Briefly sighing while taking a moment to glance back at her notes, Hope nodded at how well things were faring, considering how nervous she had been earlier that morning.
Her green eyes then looked to the side as Miles stifled a silent yawn behind his right hand, lips quick to close up as he returned to stare with a hint of boredom at Professor Bellman’s desk.
It was about an hour in the lesson, another hour left to pass before the first lecture had wrapped up to a closure, but the Gazelle Prime could see why the Cat Prime was having difficulty to keep up after so much time.
Despite the incredibly well-explained topics detailed by the elderly teacher, the strain of enduring two hours each lesson was fairly tiring for anyone that hadn’t been experienced in long waits.
Hope’s saving point was how she had developed something of a strong patience that stemmed from dealing with lengthy singing lessons.
Her voice was harmonious alright, but proper practice had been a must in refining her talent, in what she now felt sure was her main nature.
Singing was relaxing, soothing and… it wouldn’t be a lie that her wish was something she would truly fight for to the very end.
Not only for herself, but to those back home that had shown her support.
Her mother, her father, her sister- everyone that she knew back in New Boothbay.
Another calm sigh left her quiet lips, her stare resuming back to follow the teacher’s figure as the old man continued to explain the formulas that were going to become a must to learn by memory.
Yet, instead of being fully dragged back in that tiring lecture, her attention was spurred by a poke to her elbow.
She glanced back at Miles, and his golden eyes were staring back with a curious look.
“So… wanna talk a little?”
A perplexed expression fell on her face, her eyes narrowing in minor confusion at the unexpected request, but she blinked and… nodded.
“Only a little,” The young woman conceded.
While the two were seated fairly far away from where the teacher was and their distracted selves were covered by some other students, the risk of getting caught not following the lesson wasn’t something she was interested about.
Yet curiosity had started to slowly gnaw at her interest over the subject, her mind now shifting to see what the fellow Prime had planned to talk about.
“You know, I think you aren’t being too subtle about that thing you are trying with Shin.”
...Nevermind, returning back to the lesson at once!-
“I-I don’t know what-”
“Look, Hope,” The Cat Prime interrupted quietly, almost sounding like a half-whispered voice. “I understand that there is some stuff I don’t know about, but even I’ve noticed that you look at him quite intensively. So what’s up with that?”
Her lips parted to reveal surprise, but no words left her mouth.
Actually, nothing was on her mind over what she was supposed to do now that she had been called out so suddenly and without much notice.
“I-It’s… private?”
He stared at her for a little while, silence still reigning over while the lecture was still going and the young woman felt cracking a little at the pressure exerted by those golden eyes.
Part of her was curious beyond the state of fright she was going through, about what the young man was now going to say with her weak defence when-
“Okay,” Miles hummed quietly before staring back at Professor Bellman, his mood moving away from the discussion and leaving a shaken Hope to face the strange lack of other escalations from that point.
“W-What?” She almost squeaked, but her common sense long overruled her little moment of fear and she gave just a curt whisper.
“I mean, I understand that I shouldn’t be prying into private matters and… I think it wouldn’t be right to poke too much over this very topic,” The Cat Prime explained quietly, still glancing at the teacher. “But I just found it odd that you were staring at him so much.”
...He wasn’t suspecting anything from the attention she gave Shin?
No, there had to be at least something in his mind about that possibility, and yet he was trying to sound as if he wasn’t aware of the predicament she had been dealing with in the last few years.
“Why?”
There was no way she was just going to ignore this new development as it was.
With Miles now aware that something was afoot between her and the White Tiger Prime, the chances of having to give an explanation in some inopportune moment might end up becoming a dreadful reality.
He seemed to barely notice her quick question but he sighed.
“Feeling like we can both find an agreement about this circumstance,” The Cat Prime admitted with a small smile. “You see, I’ve seen something that might help you with… whatever you want to do with Shin.”
She took a long sigh and asked. “What do you want?”
His smile faltered a little and he groaned. “It’s nothing about me as… me,” He started to explain. “It’s more about helping someone that might help you. And that isn’t me.”
… “What are you even talking about?”
Nothing of what the fellow Prime was saying was making sense to her, but for some reason her worries seemed to dwindle away as he showed a sheepish look.
“You see, I’ve noticed earlier this morning that Shin is slowly getting warm with Frankie. In fact, I could say he looks up for advice from our mutual humane friend,” Miles finally answered multiple of her inner questions at once. “Given time he could get to know him on a deeper degree that you can since he is a… dude.”
Hope nodded as she knew about what he was mentioning about, but she gestured for him to continue.
“Well, you could ask him to help you with this situation,” The young man pressed with a sigh. “In return, you can help him find a girlfriend himself or something like that.”
Thinking well about his words, the Gazelle Prime took a moment to ponder over the information she had just been given and… there was some logic behind Miles’ plan.
She had long tried to rope someone else to give her some more details about Shin’s private life, but her closest confidant until now had been Shin’s younger sister and… she was just ten.
Very smart, but still too young to understand what kind of thoughts her brother might be having when he was alone and properly give her news about those.
And Frankie did seem like a trustworthy individual.
The little moments spent at lunch and dinner had brought out more of the personality she had just seen only glimpses about, and there was no denying that the only human of Prism Uni was someone that she could count on about this matter.
But while her acceptance of asking for help from Frankie was undisputed, the issue that truly weighed much on her head was why Miles had given her this kind of support.
“And you don’t want anything in return?” The young woman pressed on with a careful tone, getting a snort from the Cat Prime.
“You see, if Frankie manages to get his first relationship going, I can ask him for help in getting a girlfriend myself,” He replied happily. “The issue of me directly helping you is that I have a pretty normal situation with Shin, nothing about trust just yet and… Frankie can help you as much as you can help him.”
“So you want us to cooperate to solve our respective love issues,” The girl started to summarize quietly. “Because you can then ask for advice from Frankie… without having to give him anything back.”
“That’s correct,” Miles said calmly, smiling widely at that correct statement.
…
“How exactly are you and Frankie friends anyway?”
He huffed. “Now, that’s kind of rude, you know?”
“You seem quite irritating when you talk to him, yet he just...” She trailed a little, unsure how to conclude the sentence.
“Doesn’t do anything about it?” Miles guessed with a hum. “You can say that it’s just… something between boys. Nothing that can be exactly explained in public.”
What kind of stuff was he referring to? Only for boys?
She shook her head, unwilling to pester him for more explanations as she was starting to already feel the beginning of a headache the more she continued to think about this convoluted trail of thoughts.
Instead of continuing the discussion, Hope’s attention returned back to the teacher and… the lesson that would be over in less than 30 minutes .
Surprise was painted on her face, but the girl merely accepted the fact that she had missed a quarter of the lecture for this conversation.
Not only now did she have something, or rather someone that she can ask help from, but she was also given an outlet away from the boring sensation grating her mind before engaging in that talk.
With a pleasant tune playing on her silent lips, the young woman resumed writing down some more notes while her mind started to formulate how she was supposed to share a private discussion with the human.
And while the general line of planning was simple, Hope found out pretty quickly that creating a proper diversion to share that discussion would take more than a few moments of quietness.
Thankfully, something will come up to her just in time.
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~Frankie’s POV~
After the History lesson was over, I found myself dealing with quite the share of strange circumstances to ponder about.
Starting from the odd instance I was dragged into when Professor Aker started his lecture with my ancestor being the initial point, I was quite confused as to why the man had thought it correct to actually put me in that spotlight.
I didn’t mind too much, since the only reason why I was forced to stand out was because of my ancestry rather than something about me being a human being here at Prism Uni.
Was I a little shaken by the unexpected development? Just a little bit.
I wasn’t angry, not even irritated, but I was annoyed by how things had unfolded so suddenly and without a warning.
Shin had been keen to inquire how I was before overwhelming me with comments about the ‘Grim Maverick’, something that was as heartwarming as draining on my already-stressed brain.
It was just the first lecture of the day and I was already forced to endure these tiring circumstances, but I wasn’t giving up so easily, and without putting up a fight before truly collapsing.
Just as we both reached the nearby exit to leave the classroom, we were stopped by someone I had never seen before.
Tobias Wainwright was, in a correlation that many could see as enlightening as confusing, the lighter version of Miles.
Very friendly, but also an extrovert that knew how to strike a conversation with someone he didn’t even know on a normal basis.
His mannerism was on spot, maintaining a degree of politeness and easygoing that made him quite the fascinating fellow to get to know.
The Lion Prime was part of Prism Uni’s Football team, and that was quite the important role considering how impactful the sport was in the continent.
It had been quite surprising when I first heard about this detail, about how well-based football was in this Kingdom- actually Queendom from what Shin had told me before the beginning of the lesson.
I was mindful to not give out my trust to this still-unknown individual as I had my fair share of those that looked to be trustworthy, but turned out to be just some devious pricks waiting to strike at the opportune moment.
Yet my early carefulness mollified the moment Toby decided to keep his interaction limited, merely inquiring how I was feeling after that little close encounter with the fright-inducing teacher, and if I was getting accustomed well with the campus life here at Prism.
The conversation only lasted for a couple of minutes, as the Lion Prime mentioned having some unforgiving schedule that needed to keep up with before bidding us a pleasant day and delving away into the mass of Primes crowding the hall we had been standing by.
Nodding at each other, Shin and I decided to make our way to the little spot we were meant to regroup together with Miles and Hope.
With the schedules having our group split in various two-members combinations, it was easy to meet-up somewhere so that we could best coordinate our presence in the various classrooms with people we knew about.
Of course, this situation was only meant to last until we got to know more people from the various classes, thus making our lives easier to go by without having to make some crazy runs left and right just to not be late for the other classes.
I yawned a little, but Shin decided to hum a little about the situation.
“It is quite overwhelming,” The White Tiger admitted nervously. “I didn’t expect the pace to be this draining, at least not to this level.”
I blinked at that and nodded. “Uni is a big step beyond High School, Shin,” I replied kindly. “And while you might have the requirements to fit well with the various classes, you still will need some time to grow accustomed to the rhythms with your body.”
He returned the nod, but his green eyes strayed back to the direction we were walking by.
“Do you think Hope and Miles are doing well with Math?” He inquired quietly. “I know Hope is good at it but-”
“It’s just the first lesson, and Miles will probably pay it little concern, but at least give it some attention for the sake of not failing the subject so early on,” I answered slowly. “He knows well-enough that screwing around too much will end up with him hauled out of the school.”
The Prime opened his mouth, but then he closed it in quiet contemplation about my comment.
Finally, he spoke up. “But why wouldn’t he pay attention? It might be boring for some but… this is Uni.”
I sighed at Shin’s little confusion over the mind of the Cat Prime but I just shrugged.
“Miles is lazy,” I hummed quietly. “Differently from many, he has yet to learn that duty should come before fun. But he will learn it, trust me on that.”
The blond nodded, giving no continuation to this last topic as we finally ended up right to the meet-up place and… Hope and Miles were already there.
The two other Primes slowly started to approach us and soon some words were shared.
“Frankie, it was horrible!” Miles whined, almost falling into my arms but I pushed him to stand up. “Math is boring!
“Of course it is, but that doesn’t mean you have to behave like a child about it,” I huffed back at him, then I glanced at Hope. “Did he create any issues?”
The girl’s green eyes widened just a fraction, but she swiftly shook her head. “Not truly, no.”
I sighed in relief at that, while Shin merely pressed on with a polite tone.
“Was the lecture difficult?”
“Actually, it was pretty easy to listen to,” The Gazelle Prime admitted with a smile. “Professor Bellman is quite exhaustive with his words and I think it will do alright on my own.”
The blond nodded happily. “That’s good to hear.”
“We will be able to see it by ourselves since Math is the last lesson for today for us, Shin,” I pointed out with a quiet hum. “But now we should focus on… Prime Literature?”
I paused for a moment as I finished reading the title of the subject, my brain losing a couple of instants to try and connect what kind of subject it truly was.
Maybe it had different topics compared to English Literature? Or perhaps it was the same but with a different name?
My confusion was drowned away as I saw Hope walking closer to me and… grasp at my left arm.
“We share the same subject,” She said swiftly, starting to pull at my limb. “And it’s best to get going already.”
I was surprised at her sudden interest in reaching the class so early on, but before I could even try to have her calm down a little, her pulling got stronger and more difficult to hold up with.
Getting dragged around by someone that was shorter than me and fairly small with her figure, I find myself shocked that I was being literally yanked around across Prism Uni by Hope.
I had just the chance of glancing at the two other Primes, with Shin looking incredibly surprised by this development while Miles…
He was smiling, smugly so, while he waved at us leaving and I knew that there was something wrong about it all.
My nervousness increased as I noticed that we were taking some turns that actually strayed away from the correct path.
It was after five minutes of walking that I was finally granted leniency in the form of her letting go of my arm, and taking a few steps away from me.
I took this little pause to recollect myself and my thoughts, my mind quickly picking up the fact that we were in some deserted corridor of the building and… she was looking at me with a blank look.
My panic intensified even more at that stare, and I gulped nervously.
“Uh… is- is there anything wrong?”
Hope blinked twice, but then sighed and nodded. “I want your help for something important.”
...What?
“Something important?” I parroted thoughtlessly, trying to make sense of what was going on.
“Look, Frankie, I don’t want to sound too creepy or anything,” The girl continued with a now-nervous tone. “But I want you to promise me that you are not going to tell anyone about this. It’s really important.”
I frowned and blinked at her words as I felt drawn more and more in this neverending confusion.
“Is it… anything worth of concern? Like anything dangerous or-”
“Nothing dangerous, no,” She assured me with a quick nod. “But it’s important… to me. I’m asking you as a friend and, while we haven't known each other for long, I think I can trust you about this… in exchange for help.”
“Well, if it’s something this important and private to you, I don’t see why I should divulge it to someone else,” I admitted with a kind smile. “I suppose it’s pretty big if you got all this secrecy going.”
The Gazelle Prime sighed and nodded. “Thank you for that and… I guess I can already tell you that-”
Her eyes looked so intensively into mine and I felt a paralyzed by that strong, unexpected stare.
“I love Shin.”
Three words were more than enough to twist something deeply in my chest in that strangely-intense moment, and I blinked.
“You love… Shin?”
She nodded and I blinked again, this time pondering about the situation as a whole.
I was particularly shocked, yet somewhat still confused and also a bit disappointed as I had expected something else, but I thought back to the day before when Hope had felt nervous about something.
And it hadn’t been something about the school as I had expected. Not at all.
“And… you want my help for… set him up for you?” My breath felt a little bit itchy, but Hope seemed to ignore that particularly strange instance I was going through, giving me another nod.
“I know it sounds bad that two friends should conspire about this,” The young woman started to explain. “But I’ve been trying for years to get something accomplished and… I’m still stuck as his best friend.”
Weren’t they like childhood friends? Wasn’t that quite the lengthy friendzone?
Suppressing the surprise, I managed to give her a confused frown.
“And you are asking me for help… why?” I inquired quietly, knowing exactly that she had no reason for picking me as the best candidate for such a predicament-
Oh…
I thought about that smug smile present on a certain Cat Prime’s face, about the way he was waving at us like a moron, and my mind picked up quickly on those little clues now that there was a foundation where to settle these pieces.
“It was Miles,” I replied to myself and she showed some surprise at my tone. “He had this giddy grin on his face, I bet he said something about-”
“Shin trusts you,” Hope interjected calmly. “And I’m not asking you to deceive him or anything, but that you help me with this.”
“I would still have to go behind his back to pass you information,” I pointed out firmly. “And I think Shin is insecure enough as he is right now to be dealing with this kind of stuff.”
“It wouldn’t be that ba- wait, what are you talking about?” She stopped herself in her charge as the last words of my reply reached deep in her mind. “Insecure? Shin?”
“While he might appear polite, he is still facing the reality of keeping up with people older than him,” I said with a strong voice. “He is expecting some bullying already, and he thought that Miles disliked him about a cheeky comment he made early this morning.”
Her jaws dropped a little, but the young woman seemed to take a more serious stance.
“Do you think he needs some space then?” The Prime asked with some worry.
“I think he just needs time to adjust to the pace and the new faces around,” I assured her with a sigh. “Nothing too concerning, but I was thinking of organizing a study group after school hours in our dorm. You are free to join if you want.”
Hope smiled at the proposal and nodded. “I will be there and…” Her lips closed momentarily as she seemed to be thinking about something.
“Do you accept or not giving me help about-”
“Two conditions,” I said, biting down a groan at her pressing. “Without these confirmed, I will outright refuse any help, but I will not tell him anything about your feelings.”
Her eyes narrowed in a mix of surprise and suspicion. “And those are?”
I held my index finger up. “We’re not going to pull the fake couple act… ever,” I muttered with a resolute tone. “It never works, and it tends to create awkward situations to face without a plan.”
With that first point, her face eased a little bit and nodded, sporting a brief sheepish look.
“That is quite the horrible case, yes.”
I nodded back and continued. “If he feels uncomfortable about these advances and I tell you to back off, you do that,” I hummed quietly. “If you ‘love’ him, you will understand that you can’t just burn the path ahead of you for-”
“I-I know what love is, and I will not do anything that sounds too creepy,” She admitted with a light stutter, but then stopped at my amused snort. “And what’s that about?”
“Do you know where you took us?” I replied with a flat tone, gesturing over the deserted corridor and… her green eyes scanned around, widening a little more as she concluded her little analysis.
“I-I wasn’t exactly looking for the creepiest hallway,” Hope admitted with a huff. “Plus, why would I of all people sound like a creepy individual?”
“‘I have something important to tell you’ and ‘You need to promise me that you will never tell this to anyone else’ kind of did the trick there-”
She gave a light-punch to my arm and I recoiled in mock-pain. “Ouch, you know that’s true.”
“A little,” The Gazelle Prime admitted. “And I guess I accept your little conditions.”
I nodded at her with a thankful glance and…
…
Wasn’t I forgetting something important?
…
Oh right, there was the little issue about-
I tensed up in sudden panic, Hope looking surprised at my mood swing as I got hold of her hand and started to walk away from that corridor.
“H-Hey, what are you-”
“We lost too much time talking,” I interjected firmly, my mind shifting all of my attention right on remembering the correct track to follow for the classroom. “We risk being late for the second lecture and-”
“That would be bad,” She jumped in while she kicked up her own pace to match up with my speed. “Really bad.”
I nodded and we both rushed away from that deserted hallway and back to the more crowded areas of the building.
Thank God, neither Hope, nor the rest of the students noticed that we had been holding each other’s hands until we were in front of the classroom’s door.
