= Sarah POV =
Eight years ago | Ichiban College of the Arts
I dragged my suitcase up the pavement towards the dorm rooms. It was a hot summer afternoon and I was late. College orientation was long since over and I couldn't see anyone on campus who could direct me to where I needed to go, so I was hoping if I could get to the student's admission office, I would be able to check in safely and register for my classes.
"Hey, aren't you going the wrong way?" A voice called out, and I turned to find a bespeckled girl bounding over the grass towards me.
"Ah, sorry, what do you mean?" I asked, perplexed.
"Those are the boy's dorms unless, sorry, I didn't mean to misgender-" The girl said, pausing and putting up her hands as if to ward off any problematic things she might have said.
"Oh! Yes, sorry I just arrived from Hokkaido, I missed the orientation and , I was just looking for the student admissions to ask for directions" I said " And yes I'm a girl, sorry for the inconvenience" I said, bowing slightly in apology.
"Ah! I see; well, I'm a student advisor. I was literally doing my rounds looking for any latecomer students, and here you are! Let me take you over to the female dorms. Do you have your admission letter? I can help you figure out which room is yours from the letter," She beamed, crossing the distance between us in a few more bounds.
"I'm Mizuki, by the way," she said, grabbing hold of my suitcase.
"Thanks! It's lovely to meet you Mizuki, I'm Yoshida" I smiled and followed her as she dragged the suitcase across the field while telling me about the dorm.
A few moments later found me filling in a registration form at the woman's dorm's student admission centre, while Mizuki helped me talk to the admissions officer about my placement.
Mizuki came out frowning a bit and sat down next to me, sighing.
"So the thing is, all the rooms are booked. They say you might need to be placed in an off-campus dorm, but for tonight, they don't mind putting you up in the staff quarters since it's too late to arrange a space for you right away," Mizuki said.
"Seriously, so I'm like, homeless?" I gasped, leaning back and biting my lip.
As we spoke, another girl came in.
"Ah, Fairfield, coming back from your practical?" Mizuki piped up, looking at the girl who just walked in.
I turned, and I felt as if time had slowed down for a few moments. Tall and slender, dressed in a chef's coat, this girl, Fairfield, walked in while pulling off the hairnet that had her hair up in a bun. She then unravelled the hair tie that had kept her hair in place, allowing for long black strands of hair to cascade down her shoulders. Her piercing blue eyes gazed at Mizuki, and a soft smile spread across her sharp, angular features. Her long fingers pushed the hair net and hair tie into her pants pocket, and she combed her hair back as she walked over, muscles in full display in her forearm as she did so.
I covered my face with the clipboard that the registration form was on instinctively, and looked away, hoping that this gorgeous human wouldn't notice me.
"Ah, May, how are you? Did you just finish your rounds around the campus, or are you slacking off instead?" Fairfield grinned, plopping down on a chair next to Mizuki with ease.
"Stop that, when you are in Japan, you call people by their last name, not their first. So I'm Mizuki, and this is Yoshida, the late student I helped bring to the student admissions office after I found her while doing my rounds, " Mizuki said proudly.
Fairfield leaned forward, noticing me for the first time.
"Yo, Yoshida," Fairfield said and laughed, " You get it?" She asked but Mizuki and I just looked at each other confused.
"Oh wait, it's that American greeting right? And cause she is called Yoshida! Oh ok" Mizuki said, figuring it out "No it's not funny" Mizuki said and smacked Fairfield on the shoulder.
"Hey! Don't bully the foreigner!" Fairfield whined, rubbing her arm.
"I-It was a little funny," I said, finally understanding what it was about.
"Don't just agree with everything because of Fairfield's pretty face!" Mizuki said, smacking me now on the shoulder.
"Hey! Don't bully the late-comer!" I pouted, rubbing my shoulder as well.