A young man's arrival

I wonder what this school will be like, Saizo thought to hiself as the bus rattled and rolled down the busy highway towards the academy his parents sent him to. Saizo had a troubled look on his face, which coaxed the driver into talking to him.
"Hey," The driver, who sounded like a middle aged man, said, "Why so glum? You're on your way to one of the best acadcemies of all time." The worcds that the driver spoke seemed to bounce off Saizo and fly off into space.

Saizo looked up at the driver, and groaned, "I have never been to a boarding school, and to be honest, I miss my friends." Saizo's voice was sincere and sorrowful.

After an hour, the bus finally pulled up to the curb of an extensive parking lot, spanning quite a distance. The bus driver got out of his seat and walked towards Saizo. He looked like he was just a thirty year old man with a bad tan and eyes shaded by his hat. "Listen, bub. You are at one of the best academies there is. Your parents must really love you to be sending you to Whisper Hallow Academy. I don't want to hear you groan just because you miss your little pals."

Saizo looked up at the man, his face not as distraught as before. The words the bus driver spoke somehow made him feel a tad bit better than earlier. Saizo gathered his bags and stepped off the bus saying, "Have a nice day, Sir." The bus pulled out and left Saizo there, alone. He grabbed his belongings and dragged them across the campus parking lot. "There must be a map somewhere around here," Saizo mumbled as he made his way to a large building across from the place he was dropped off, which he hoped was a dorm.

"Okay, I guess so... Merry Christmas... Bye... Love you too..."

Maria sighed as she closed her cell-phone. Her aunt was going away for the winter, meaning Maria would have to be stuck at school over Winter break. She didn't want to sound like she was complaining. Infact, the girl had only just arrived at the school less than a week ago. It was just that she'd never spent time on Christmas without her family before, and was feeling slightly nervous about it.

Man, I should stop being such a wuss. Atleast I have family... she thought, as she marched her way through the snow, back to the main building. Sure, she could've made the call in her dorm, but why let all the scenery go to waste? Where she was from, it barely ever snowed, so this seemed like the perfect oppurtunity, freezing or not.

Wait a minute. she stopped solid in the snow, hearing something. It was a sort of crunching sound, like someone or something imprinting footsteps into the snow. She turned around, to see a boy in the distance, not too far away from where she stood, just leaving the parking lot.

He seemed to be carrying a lot of bags, and well, Maria being Maria, she walked over to help. She wasn't an insociable person- it just seemed that way when she was put under pressure, for example in her last class.

"Need a hand?"

Saizo turned his head towards the sound of a female that was asking if he needed help, and replied, "Yeah, thanks a bunch." Saizo put down about a third of his bag on a small patch of ground not covered in snow. "Hey, do you know where the male dormitroy is? I'm kid of lost her-," is all he could muster out before the cold started getting to him. "Damn, should have brought my j-jacket," Saizo mumbled as he shivered madly, awaiting the help of the girl.

Maria finally reached the boy, and picked up the mass waiting for her on the ground. It's heavier than I thought... she noted to herself, remembering her luggage not to be half as heavy. Well, atleast he was kind enough to thank her, anyway.

He began asking her where the male dormitories were. "Well, uh, not that I go there my self too much," she smiled, "but I guess I could show you."

"Damn, should have brought my j-jacket," he began to shiver. From Maria's perspective, she didn't really seem to notice the temperature drop too much, wrapped up warm in both blazer and winter coat.

"Oh! Here..." she stammered, setting down the luggage once more, to undo her grey coat. Passing the coat to him, she straightened out her maroon blazer, and picked up the luggage once more.

"I know it's a girl coat, but, yeah..."

Saizo set down his luggage and put on the jacket hastily, feeling a little bit warmer thanks to the coat. "Thanks again," Saizo said, half smiling. He knealt down for his luggage, and hoisting them up with no difficulty. He looked over to the girl who had his luggage and said, "Are my bags too heavy? If so, I'll take a couple more."

You can't go back on your original offer- that's just wrong! Maria told herself when the boy offered to carry some more of his luggage. Sure it was a bit heavy, but it seemed rude to offer to carry something, then throw the offer back. Besides, it was nothing she couldn't cope with- she needed the training.

"I'm fine. Really."

Taking the lead, she started making her way back towards school, not too far infront of the boy.

"So, what year you in?"

"If you say so," Saizo replied as he followed the girl, his eyes darting everywhere as to get a good look at the campus where he will be living. When he heard the girl's question, he replied, "I'm a freshman. And you?"

"Wow. Same actually." Maria was flabbergasted that she'd actually met someone in the same year group. The majority of students here seemed to be seniors, rather than freshmans, so this came as quite the surprise.

"Know what classes you're taking yet?"

"Huh, I thought you were a junior," Saizo replied to the girl as he brushed a few stray hairs which got in his eye, "My mistake." When she brought up the class schedule, Saizo set down his bags and reached into his back pocket for his schedule. He then said, "First Chemistry, then ICT, Algebra 1, Poetry, Theatre Arts, and lastly Creative Writing."

Saizo felt wierd that he hadnt introduced himself as he knelt down to pick up his bags, the paper still in his hand. "What's your name," he said out of the blue.

He thought she was a... junior? Yeah, she'd got mistaken for being older before... but that was intentional, like faking her age at the cinema, or whatever. Hearing the boy stop to set his bags down, Maria followed suit.

She blinked, trying to remember her own schedule, from memory. "Guess we're Chemistry and Algebra buddies, then... well, if the teachers show up anyway..."

Watching him pick up his bags, he asked her for her name.

"Well, uh, I'm Maria- Maria Challis. But, you can call me Ria for short. And you?"

"Well Ria, I'm Saizo, Saizo Tetsumaru," he replied happily as he slung the luggage in his right hand over his shoulder. He cocked his head for a second, thinking about what Ria said about the teachers not being around. "You serious? The teachers really aren't around," Saizo said in a questioning tone.

Saizo, huh? Ria had never heard of anyone with such a perculiar name. Wish I had a cool name like that... the girl thought to herself.

Upon hearing that the teachers were pretty much always absent, Saizo decided to question deeper into the matter.

"Well, yeah, I suppose. Up until now, I've had one lesson with one teacher. And I haven't heard a peep out of any other teachers, that's for sure. I guess that's why Whisper Hallow's being getting so many new students- after all, it's like paradise. We barely ever get any homework, and do what we want, when we want a lot of the time." she grinned, "Although, in the long run, that's probably why hardly anyone who leaves here gets a degree. Plenty of the kids come and go, dropping out, because their guardians thought it to be useless."

The pair had finally reached the entrance. "Have they sent you your dorm key yet, or do you need to pick it up at the office?" she sighed, turning to face Saizo, knowing that some of the students were sent keys in advance through the mail.

Saizo was bewildered by the fact that teachers barely showed up, and smirked quite a bit when he heard that the student here bare;y recieved any homework, but then he silently gasped as he heard that most students who go here do not get a degree. I dont know, but I think I will need a degree, Saizo thought to himself.

When Ria and himself arrived at the front entrance of the male's dormitory, he sighed and stared at the building, wondering what it would be like. He turned towards Ria as she asked if he had his key card, and instinctively took the card from out of his pocket. "Right here," he said confidently.

Within moments of Ria asking him the question, Saizo had quickly pulled out his key card from his pocket. His reply almost took her aback. Prepared, much?! the girl thought to herself, recalling having to fumble around at the bottom of her suitcase for a good long while outside her dorm, before eventually finding the key card when she arrived.

"Right, uh... you all set? I'm warning you, once you go in, you'll never want to leave..."

"I have seen some crazy things, but i do not think that whatever is beyond this door is going to keep me glued to this place." Saizo smiled and continued,"I'm here for four things and only those four." He stuck the card back into his pocket and set down his luggage. He stuck out his right hand with his four fingers sticking out. "Those are my graduation, acting, writing, and love," he said as he counted down them on his fingers.

Ria smiled, curious about the 'crazy things' Saizo had seen, but decided not to press on with it. It could be a good sentence opener for later, if ever there be an awkward situation...

Watching him set down his luggage once again, and replace the card in his pocket, he held out the palm of his hand to her, four fingers raised, explaining the key reasons he'd come here.

Whoah! He's got all that sorted out already? To be honest, Ria had never really thought about why she was here. It was just a said and done thing- there was no questioning the matter. Her aunt had sent her there (through her parents' consent, of course), in hope of furthering her career chances and better education. Ria just accepted the way things were.

Re-running what Saizo just said to her in her head, Ria couldn't help but burst out, "You write? Is it just a hobby, or... wow. What sort of writing?" she always had been quite the bookworm.

Saizo was thinking for a moment, trying to think of all the kinds of writing he has done. After a minute, he began with, "I've written in a plethora of subjects. I have mostly written school work, which consist of fantasy stories, short stories, there was one love story I had to do at one point, persuasive essays, and many, many research essays. The rest i have written are poems and songs." He began to drag his stuff inside as he finished his statement.
He walked right back outside and said to Maria, "Just give me a moment, I'm just gonna leave my belongings in my room for now." He turned around and went inside the male's dormitory, swiped his keycard, and entered the common room.

A pleth-what? Ria frowned to herself, too shy to ask what on earth a plethora actually was- though, judging from the context, she supposed it probably meant variety, or something alone those lines, anyway.

Hearing about all the pieces Saizo had written almost felt too good to be true- heck, the whole lot seemed interesting to her... even the research essays. It really made her think about the kind of stuff she did on a daily basis. Sure, she love reading, but actually taking the time out to sit down and write the stuff seemed alien to her. Besides, who'd want to read any of her stuff anyway? Just thinking of a topic to write on would make her stumped.

Finally, the pair had arrived outside the male common room- the once place Ria hadn't explored yet, for well, obvious reasons. She never saw the need to go in, so why bother?

Saizo then explained how he'd be a second with his stuff, swiping the key card and entering.

"O-okay." Ria smiled, just happy to be of use to someone, at least. It was then when she looked down only to realize that she was still carrying some of the boy's possessions.

Backing the door open, quickly before it locked itself, Maria quickly followed through to the common room, catching up with Saizo,"Forgetting something?"

Saizo turned his head towards Ria as he was about to enter, and replied, "Oh, actually could you help me get my things to my room. It wont take too long if i have help." Saizo thought for a second and realized he was still wearing Ria's jacket, and set down his bags once again. He unzipped the jacket on him and handed it to Ria, saying, "I think YOU forgot something."

"Sure, I guess... got nothing better to do anyway." the girl grinned. Once more, Saizo set down the bags again, for what seemed like the hundreth time within them meeting.

The boy unzipped Ria's jacket, before holding it out to her replying, "I think YOU forgot something."

She couldn't help but smirk, setting down the bags to collect her coat, "Touché." Slinging it over her shoulder, she bent down to pick up the bags once more.

Topic closed-- Continued here~!