Ryujin sits by the window, listening to Kendrick on his headphones. He stares at the ceiling, his thoughts rather empty instead of one: Why didn't I talk to her?
'It's alright,' Mori had explained when they walked to the common room. 'You don't need her anymore.'
"Why did I listen?" He mutters to himself out loud. Suddenly, a call is heard behind him.
"Hey, Ryujin!" Gen calls him over. "Come on, Megumi's about to beat Tsu's high score!" Ryujin puts on a smile, and walks from his corner to the main living area, where Tsubaki had somehow installed her PC. Megumi is currently beating the girl greatly at a round of GTA 5 (6 somehow hadn't released yet), and Tsubaki seems stressed.
"Come on, just die already!" Tsubaki groans. "I made you play so I could humiliate you, not the other way around!" She curses out loud. Ryujin chuckles, a genuine one, and sits on the couch next to Gen. If there's any time to learn more about his new 'Teamate', it's now.
"So..." He begins, facing the older boy. "Gen... you like Megumi, right?"
Gen's face flushes, and he stutters, "Uh, what... what are you talking about? No... well," He sighs. "She is kind of pretty... and she's nice..."
"Nice?" Ryujin almost laughs. "Her? I think you need to up your standards..."
"She's not that bad!" Gen insists. "She's smart, and beautiful, and her eyes... when I look at them, I don't wanna look away...!" He groans as he pulls his beanie over his eyes. "What do I do?"
"To me," Ryujin comforts. "It seems as if she likes you as well. She actually tolerates your existence..."
"Y-you really think so?" Gen looks up slightly.
"Yeah... I really do." Ryujin smiles at him reassuringly. He thinks to himself, It's gonna be good to have friends... more people I can get to trust me.
"ARGH!" Tsubaki groans, throwing her controller. "That was just a fluke! She probably isn't even actually good at this..."
Megumi simply sits there on the floor next to Tsubaki. "Coffee girl... you I am." She sets down the controller and goes to her room, probably to sleep.
Ryujin chuckles again, going over to the door. Gen looks up at him. "Hey... where are you going?" He questions.
"Oh... just to take a look outside at the campus." He smiles reassuringly. "I'll only be gone for a bit." After that, he opens the door to head out. He simply walks for a while, past the many hallways. It takes a while, but he finally finds a door that leads outside. He twists the cold knob, expecting the courtyard. But instead... he sees the dark woods, that's likely the back of the school. They couldn't bother to cut some of it? He thinks, scowling internally.
Reluctantly, he decides to go. He steps in the woods, immediately cutting his arms on the various branches and twigs he walks into. He keeps ducking under some branches, and pushing through others. It's hard, but suddenly he spots a clearing up ahead.
Ecstatic after walking for what felt like forever, he rushes toward the open space. It's not too big, just a circular break in the trees. He gently puts one foot in, then the other. He takes a few steps in, and sits in the middle of it, just to catch his breath. He hits his knee on something hard.
"Ow..." Ryujin winces. "What... what was that?" He does some digging, clearing the leaves until he finds it. He tugs once. Twice. Then, he finally yanks it out of the ground, almost falling backwards.
After laying there to catch his breath once more, he sits up. He takes a look at the item he's unearthed from the ground. It's... a sword. A long white sheathe, with a yellow hilt. There's some markings in a language he can't read, and a symbol that looks similar to the Gemini constellation. He takes a deep breath, still a bit confused, and pulls open the sheathe.