The Potential for Mystery[Icicle and RareSecret]

[Icicle]

-Dupre Hall-

Despite the knife-like golden sun beams shooting through the window from between the blinds, the white-haired figure of the white-walled dorm room didn't stir a single inch. It had been hours since the sunlight first started to reach out towards the dark-eyed figure, but it just barely could not reach the young man's eyes. With time, it slowly drew across the grey, matted floor and worked its way up the slim swivel chair in which the sleeping boy was located and, at long last, up to his neck.

The light did not receive any immediate reaction, but it persevered and fought its way all the way his pale face until, at long last, the boy reacted – a swift turn of the head, as if his subconsciousness had taken hold and attempted to delay the inevitable. But, alas, the simple turn was too great, for almost instantaneously after his head was turned, the boy came to his senses and shot to his feet. You're kidding me... he thought, his mind in a blur, come on, how did this happen?

The boy scanned the room around him hastily, searching every nook and cranny with his eyes until - Oh no...

Piled onto the desk before him was the last part of the homework assignment which was due that day. An array of wonderfully arduous physics problems, the likes of which no sane person would enjoy. The boy quickly scanned through the pages, as if hoping to find that which he knew with a very large degree of certainty was not there. The second page...I never made it to the second page... He was truly in the most abominable of circumstances. No matter what, the second he walked into class, he would not only get the attention of the teacher for being "The Shy Kid", but he'd also have to explain the rate of increase of the force of gravity applied to his eyelids as a factor of time the previous night.

With a sigh of absolute disdain, he organized the papers on his desk and shot a look over to the alarm clock on his desk. It was practically a black plastic brick with a single button on it, but it displayed the time well enough and beeped fairly loud at the appointed time, so he felt no need to replace it. Unfortunately, it didn't appear that it did much good to have an alarm clock on the given date, because the clock read...

"11:50?! Are you kidding me?"

Surely, if there was a fate worse than death, it was being late to Mr. Pavchenzki's class. The white-haired boy may have determined that it would be more worth it to deal with the computer lab on his floor and just watch the lecture there than to try to make it to class on time...but, as if being carried along by the adrenaline of a panicked rabbit who spotted a wolf, the boy swerved around his room in a fantastic display of agility and finesse, lifting his backpack with his right foot while organizing the papers on his desk with his right hand, and reaching into a drawer of his desk with his left hand in search of a pencil.

Even if I didn't complete all of it, at least I can sign my name...

He desperately scrawled out the four letter word which represented his identity in the top right corner of the front of his assignment: Niko. Then, as if to prove to the world that he was the master of high-speed backpack packing, he threw his physics textbook into the air above him, shoved the remaining pages of his homework along the back spine of the bag, and grabbed the textbook out of the air just in time to shove it into the last remaining space along the front of the inner pocket. After slinging it onto his back, opting to zip it closed on his way out, he leapt over to the door and deftly slipped into his shoes.

From top to bottom, Niko wore an expensive set of wireless, battery powered, lightweight headphones, a plain, gray T-shirt which, as unfortunate as it was, was stained with pencil led and eraser shavings which never decided to accept their fate and fall to the ground obediently, a digital, black, waterproof wristwatch, brown cargo pants held up by a brown canvas belt, some white, athletic tube socks, and a special pair of padded green hiking boots. He didn't smell particularly clean, possibly due to either his constant exercise and limited showering or the limited number of clothing options he had available and his general lack of funding for laundry.

With a quick grunt of defiance, Niko swept across the locks of his door, disengaging each of them with expert precision, and, after hastily swiping a thin plastic card off of his desk, he sprinted out the door and down the hallway, a readily apparent desperation pasted across his restless face.

"Woah there! Don't crash there, Tiger!" yelled an exceptionally feminine lady from across the hallway, affixing her vexing eyes upon the relatively colorless boy. He barely acknowledged her presence with a quick wave as his arms shot back and forth along his sides, his unparalleled dorm-sprinting speed carrying him through the dangerous realm of missed time as he attempted the impossible feat of reaching the class room before the tone of death rang out throughout the campus.

...

-Olin-Rice Science Center-

At long last, Niko confidently bashed his I.D. card against the sensor for the door and reached for the door before he even heard a click. He had been on the campus for a full three and a half months by now, and was more than capable of timing the unlocking mechanism for the door to an utmost degree of precision. The slight tick of the center of the door was too slow an indicator for Niko - his instincts guided his arm as he flung the door open - the woosh of air from the door threatened to prevent him from his goal, but he stubbornly rejected the concept of air resistance as he barreled his way into the building.

As if allowing time to pause for him, Niko's eyes violently shot around as he analyzed his new surroundings, inspecting the movement patterns of the groups of students around him in order to find the best possible path. Oddly enough, he determined that leaping the guide rail was the most efficient way to save time, and thus that is precisely what he did.

Niko sprinted straight towards the railing in front of him and with the grace of a pole-vaultist, he leapt up to the railing and launched himself into the air, continuing to look around as he calculated his trajectory. It would appear that I am not going to make it as far as I intended... he determined, cursing himself for an imperfect launch. Around him, he could sense the gaze of numerous students before the sound waves of their gasps even managed to reach his ears. If anything, he felt a slight stage fright, a little voice telling him not to screw up.

Fortunately, Niko's calculation allowed him to re-adjust just in time. With his hands outstretched, he loosely grabbed onto the railing which he leapt towards and, in one exceptionally dynamic and smooth motion, launched himself forwards and back onto his feet - a perfect front-flip. He paused momentarily to get his bearings once again as some of the students around him began a nervous, almost uncertain round of applause. He didn't realize at the time, but his adrenaline allowed him to utterly ignore the presence of the people around him. Once more bowing his weight forwards, Niko began sprinting for the stairs, trying his best to work his way through a small group of people without injuring any of them. Luckily, Niko just so happened to be a master at sprinting through crowds, only managing to bump into two coffees and one textbook on his way through.

Upon reaching the stairs and ignoring the shouts of protest behind him, Niko quickly checked his watch. 11:58! I can still make it! Niko mentally shouted to himself, as if his words would edge him on even more. He bounded up the stairs five at a time, as if defying the force of gravity which he had so desperately studied earlier that very semester. Upon reaching the top of the stairwell, he bounded as fast as he could over to the door, brushing past a few near-equally hasty people as he went, but alas, his efforts were in vain.

As he reached the door, the piercing sound of failure shot out from the loudspeakers installed into the building around him. He subconsciously decided to go through the Kubler Ross model as a response to this dreaded sound, denying that he was late by desperately pressing his I.D. card against the sensor for the door to room 403 - Physics with Mr. Pavchenzki. The red flash of light and the depressingly low-pitched beep signified that, no matter what he did to that door, the sensor was not going to allow him to pass.

Next, he quickly looked down at his watch. 12:01 He frowned mercilessly at the sensor and tried five more times, trying again and again and again with the sensor, but to no avail. He tried to look around for a maintenance worker, but all he could see were other students and the bench next to the door. He bent down on one knee and, theatrically opening his arms to the sky, briefly asked no one in particular to open the door for him, remaining in the same position as he awaited a response.

Unfortunately, all he got was a question from a passerby - "Uhhm, dude, are you okay? Do you need me to call a nurse?" The figure which spoke appeared to have a more heavy musculature and an athletic stature. Nonetheless, Niko did not respond, fearing that there was no excuse for him to make.

After deciding that he looked not only like an idiot, but also like a child, Niko gripped his face with his hand, as if to hide behind it, and sat down on the bench next to the door, contemplating the full capacity of his failure as the passerby shrugged and continued on his way. Now that jerk is going to make me write an essay about it too... The entire world around him seemed to fade away as the dark depth of depression and shame enclosed around him, consuming his soul, mind, and strength.

But, alas, he looked up and, as if beckoning from the darkness, he saw what he was looking for. The light to raise him from his utterly futile and pointless emotional distress. Oh, right, I can do the rest of my homework now. He calmly pulled out the second page of his homework, along with his textbook and a rather sharp pencil, and immediately started scribbling away where he left off with his right hand as he reached up and adjusted his headset with his left hand, once again retreating from the world around him in order to fully take advantage of his own consciousness. After all, the few spattered students wandering around the halls certainly weren't going to pose any benefit to his attempt at completing homework.

 

[RareSecret]

-Library-

Avery shuffled herself to the nearest bookshelf looking for another research journal to look at. She was on the third floor of the library and had spent her time there since ten o'clock that morning. It was the first place she decided to go on Fridays after she woke up and did her usual morning routine of brushing her teeth, getting dressed, cleaning her glasses, and other things that fit in the category.

Ah, a journal by De Guryter. Avery noticed as she pulled the book from the shelf and took it back to her seat. Her space that was reserved for herself was a mess. Books needed to be put back were stacked on the desk and snack wrappers from the vending machine were scattered among the mess. The books were stacking up because she constantly was getting new books to make connections between findings.

Once seated, she opened the book and managed to read a few lines before being interrupted by a disturbing noise. The noise was the default notification tone of her Samsung cellphone. She forgot to silence it before entering the library. Avery scrambled through the mess to find it. Turned out it was hidden behind one of the stacks of books.

Avery slid her finger across the screen to unlock it and swiped down to easily view the notification. It was a message from a classmate. 'Where are you? Class is beginning in eight minutes and you are usually 15 minutes early.' The message said causing her to look at the time. 11:52!? Where is the librarian who usually notifies me at 11:30?

Avery grabbed her personal items hurriedly and stuffed them into her shoulder bag. Afterwards, she put the shoulder bag on and ran to the elevator. Avery pressed the buttons multiple times as if it would make the elevator come faster. Come on. Come on. Mr.Pavchenzki is going to kill me. Her logical thinking soon took over her and she decided to take the stairs down. She could've rented a bike to get there faster, but her current goal was to get to the class. So she just ran out the doors.

-Olin-Rice Science Center-

Avery ran to the door almost out of breath, regretting that she didn't do cardio exercises regularly earlier in life. She rummaged through her bag to grab her keycard to the door while still trying to catch her breath. She waited for the click before opening the door.

Once in she looked at the signs available for the stairs. She always used the elevator, but right now was a crisis. She found the sign to the stairs among the other signs that were currently irrelevant. Avery did her quickest run up the stairs only to be extremely tired at the top.

Avery slowly walked to the door, only to see another kid locked out. I know he said he would lock people out on the syllabus, but I didn't think it was real. Avery didn't care if she was locked out or not; she was going to learn. What Avery ended up doing was taking a seat next to the door, making sure it wasen't on the side the door swung, and took out her materials where she would attempt to learn by listening through the door. The only issue was that it was hard to follow the muffled sounds' lessons when she left her textbook in the library.

 

[Icicle]

-Olin-Rice Science Center, 12:03pm-

Niko furiously scrawled out the notation for an applied formula as he worked his way through yet another problem with his right hand as his left hand continued to carefully scroll a tiny wheel on the back of his headset. The issue with writing with only one hand, as Niko knew quite well, is that the paper does not stay in place unless pressure is applied through the pinky-side of the hand, and if pressure is applied in this manner, writing must be discontinued and restarted as the hand is lifted up and placed down once again in quick succession. Niko, however, was capable of applying pressure to the corner of the page with his crossed leg as he sat on the bench, which, provided that no horizontal or lateral force is applied to the paper in order to overcome the coefficient of static friction, will ensure that the paper remains stable for writing. Needless to say, this very concept was more intriguing than whatever other boring work Niko was writing down on the page at the time. He merely had to take this course as a pre-requisite for the next course in the major, because he hadn't been able to test out of the course as a result of his lack of experience with formulas.

With a genuine sigh of relief, Niko finished the first of many problems. The first is always easiest, but I have the format down now. He continued scribbling away when one of the many seemingly aimless wanderers of the hall decided to sit down immediately next to the doorway, on the opposite side from the bench. Niko found himself staring aimlessly at the paper for the entire duration of the human's entirely graceless attempt at taking a seat, his peripheral vision providing him with all of the information which he needed to silently judge her.

He attempted to mentally picture his hand slapping his face in order to return his focus, but, right as the girl started taking out her materials, his headset let out a rather loud click, then quieted down significantly as the professor's voice started to come into focus through the earpieces. Niko managed to write down the given information about the next problem as he finished tuning the sound on his headset, so he placed the pencil down on the textbook which he held in his lap, and lifted the headset from his neck. As he started to put the headset on over his ears, he momentarily peeked over at the girl in time to notice her ear against, or at least, close to, the door.

Upon further analysis, the girl appeared to be one of the more frequent hand-raisers who "got the most out of the class" according to the advisers. In her hands, she held enough paper to take a mountain of notes and a rather suitable writing implement, and upon her face was a somewhat geometric pair of glasses. Niko could only look over at her for precisely one second before feeling that he was intruding on her privacy, thus he immediately looked back down to his page of homework without much thought.

As he put his headset over his ears however, he managed a thought. If I need to use this headset in order to hear the teacher, how could she possibly hear him? The thought left a bad taste in his mouth as the headset rested over his ears. His hands hovered over the ear pieces, as if waiting for him to make the correct decision, however he struggled to figure out precisely what the "correct" decision was. But what if she's annoyed? Then I'll look like a jerk.... It only took him a few moments to then realize, ....wait a second, I don't care what she thinks. With an ample degree of caution, Niko took off his headset, switched a lever and rolled back a different knob on the other side of the headset, and the teacher's voice slowly grew louder as it emanated from the headset. Once it was loud enough to hear clearly from ten feet away, he scooted further away from the door and placed the headset on the side of the bench closest to the door.

Of course, without a single word, he continued working away on his homework as the teacher's deceptively calm, Russian voice shot through the air around them. Ironically, he was discussing the late policy of the class. "It does not matter whether it is the first day of class or a scheduled review for the final exams. If you are late for any event scheduled by me, you will be given an attendance project..." he continued talking about it for a rather long time before starting the second-last lesson of the year, but Niko was too busy using both hands to scribble down the [hopefully] correct answers on his homework page to care. Even his eyes betrayed his focus on the work over the teacher's words, as the subtle sound of laughter, as if from the background of a microphone, left the headset. He didn't dare look over to see if the girl was annoyed or not. Besides, 16 problems to go...

 

[RareSecret]

-Olin-Rice Science Center-
Avery took out her paper and writing utensils from her shoulder bag. She had enough paper to takes notes with and pencils to write with. She also had a blue pen to write with to correct any mistakes she might've made. To be a good student, you must be prepared, and Avery was prepared despite not having her textbook.

While trying to listen to the lecture, Avery was subconsciously scooting even closer to the door. She couldn't hear so she was scooting closer and closer. Soon enough, her ear was up against the wall in hopes of getting a better listen. It wasn't the most comfortable or safest position, but she somewhat able to take notes.

Avery continued to take notes in that position until there was a noise coming from the other side. It sounded like the teacher. She continued to ignore the noise and not care until curiosity forced her to look towards the source. A headset was blasting the lecture. Avery saw this as her opportunity to get an easier listen to class and she scooted towards the headset.

While scooting, she saw a young man on the other side of the bench. There were many things about him that were odd. Take the weird way he was writing or the fact that he was wearing a gray tee shirt and shorts at the same time. What really stood out was the white hair. Avery assumed it was modified with chemicals, just like she did with the tips of her own hair, but a part of her wondered if he was born with white hair or if it was possible.

While staring at the guy on the other side of the bench, something clicked in her head. Maybe those are his headphones. I should really thank him later. It was the only thing that made sense. The man on the other side of the bench seemed to also be locked out and was the only one waiting out in the hall besides herself.

"It does not matter whether it is the first day of class or a scheduled review for the final exams. If you are late for any event scheduled by me, you will be given an attendance project..." came from the headset to snap her out of her daze of studying the man across from her. Attendance project? Maybe I can convince him after class to let me off the hook since I was studying physics. Avery tried to justify in her head. It was a logical reason to her, not to give her an attendance project. On top of that, she already did her homework, did some extra research, and still decided to learn despite being late. The thoughts in her head on how to convince him to not give her the assignment started to accumulate in her head as she started to write harder. It was making a louder sound than necessary, but it was her way of concentrating and dealing with stress.

 

[Icicle]

Note: [Desc Int - 4th p - 3rd s] Replace "Hoodie" with "Gray T-Shirt". That is all.
[spoili]Translation: Description Interruption at fourth paragraph, third sentence. Explanation: Incorrect description of character. Solution: Replace error with correct information and assume all following information.[/spoili]

-Olin-Rice Science Center-

Mere moments after assessing the remaining quantity of problems to complete, Niko remembered, Oh, right, I have two hands now. He began writing in a slightly more normal fashion, holding his pencil with three fingers and writing with his palm down towards the page. He pulled a scientific calculator out from his back and, finding an empty spot on the page, used it as a paperweight so that he could more efficiently complete his problems. In the process of pulling his calculator out, however, he momentarily looked over his shoulder to see that the girl had moved over to the end of the park bench opposite of him, and was still seated on the ground. If she doesn't want a seat, I suppose that's her own problem....but, that floor is filthy...surely a person in this class, of all classes, should realize how filthy the floor is...How can she possibly sit on the floor like that! He barely managed to place the calculator by the time his curiosity had finally gotten the best of him.

With a quick, almost instantaneous movement, Niko flicked his eyes over to the girl, just to double-check his peripheral vision. Sure enough, she was seated on the ground, bent over her paper, furiously scrawling notes. He didn't bother looking over for more than a single moment, as he had acquired enough information for the time being, despite the steady increase in volume of the pit of curiosity in his chest. At the very least, Judging by how she is closer than she was before, I'd say she isn't annoyed.

Instead of allowing his curiosity to further disable him, Niko turned his utmost attention to the homework he was writing. Even if I still have to do his silly assignment, I'll be damned if I don't get full credit for this....

And so Niko continued to work his way through the remaining 16 problems, the steadily oscillating sounds of the professor continuously spiking in the background. It certainly isn't as musical as listening to him in person, especially not with the speaker out of its sensitivity range, but at least it is easy to ignore. The first 10 of the problems passed by rather quickly, in less than thirty minutes, but the next three and the final three took significantly longer to varying degrees, with the last question taking a full 10 minutes. It was not even a case of the complicatedness of the problem - it was merely an issue of remembering and writing down all of the formulas required to convert and condense the problem into a usable form. The same rinse and repeat structure with more and more steps.

Niko let out a sigh of relief upon completing the final question. Unfortunately, it didn't appear that Mr. Pavchenzki was anywhere close to the end of his lecture by the time Niko had completed his homework. He quickly looked down at his watch to see how long he would have to wait, but frowned as a result of the answer it gave him. 1320. Forty minutes to go. Niko reluctantly put aside his homework, pulling out a few extra sheets of paper from the paper pocket of his backpack, then lazily titled the most convenient page, "Notes" in big, sloppy letters. For the first time since he continued his homework, as he stared down at the page, he began to listen to his surroundings.

Headset - Pavchenzki is still lecturing, he got through 7/10 of the lecture, based on his current topic in connection to the book, voice indicates mild excitement, maybe he likes the way he just phrased that mnemonic. Environment - Brown-haired girl, high pressure writing, penstrokes indicate slight fatigue and/or lack of focus; Student on floor below, walking at slightly elevated pace, elevated breathing, possible nervousness about class; Door to class - .1 second latency between headset and ceiling-mounted camera mic; Nothing interesting to do.

After a few seconds of deep thought, he gave up his search for further curiosities and conceded to the effort of note-taking. However, he wrote his notes in a considerably more neat manner than the title. His handwriting was anything but perfect, but it was efficient, a fine cursive which emanated finesse. The perfect balance between speed and legibility. Even the handwriting is more interesting...I hope he tells the class a story or something...

Unfortunately for Niko, the class had no such luck. From the point at which Niko began to take notes until the point at which Mr. Pavchenzki dismissed the class, the teacher rarely deviated from the lecture, only doing so as a direct result of a question by another one of the more intellectual classmates. Niko quickly shut down his headset after the teacher dismissed the class, then hastily went about shoving everything around him into his backpack, aside from his homework and his headset. As soon as he zipped up the backpack and swung the headset back around his neck, Niko stood up. He swiped his homework from the bench and, proudly walking over to the door, pulled out his I.D. card with his free hand.

He briefly looked over to the girl who was previously seated on the floor, but in response to her thanks, he merely nodded his head and waited for her to get out of the way before scanning his card. Fortunately, the teacher had disengaged the lock-out after dismissing the class, and the door was, once again, accessible. Niko unlocked the door and opened it carefully, ensuring not to do so fast enough to hit anyone, then slid his way into class, barely avoiding contact with a few other students who were hastily making their way towards the door. Clearly, the teacher noticed him enter the room, and fixed his eyes directly onto the boy.

Here it comes... "Ah! It's the shy boy. I'm glad you could show up. Just in time for your next assignment, too." "And, if I'm not mistaken, you are Miss Avery. It truly grieves me to have to give you both this assignment,..." Could you possibly lie any more blatantly? "...but alas, I am a man of my word, and I said that no one is to be late if they sign up for my class." I bet he has fifty assignments waiting under his desk right now, two of which have our names on it.

Niko dejectedly stopped immediately in front of the professor's desk, but carefully placed his homework onto the table. "I completed the homework assignment. If the door hadn't locked so early, I would have been able to turn it in before the lecture started." A few students turned his way upon hearing these words, and Mr. Pavchenzki merely chuckled in response as he reached into the much-anticipated drawer of his desk. "I'm sure you would have, but I lock the doors based on my clock, not yours. If you're late again, I won't accept your work." We have two classes left. All I need to do is stay alive until Monday...

"Now, I'm sure you're both absolutely thrilled to discover what assignment I have in store for you both. Here you go." The teacher lifted a single packet of paper out of the drawer with his middle-aged hand and dropped it on the desk next to Niko's assignment. He said not a single word more in response, lifting up Niko's papers and walking over to the door, which was now significantly more clear of students. Niko looked back up at him and asked, "Why only one packet?" but his words were eaten by the abyss of the still air, and Mr. Pavchenzki was gone like the wind. Remaining quite silent, seeing as there were still at least three other students in the room, two of which apparently determined that taking notes after class was an effective use of time, and one who was standing immediately next to him, Niko lifted the paper from the desk and scanned the first page as quickly as he could.

Luckily, Niko was a hardened athlete, otherwise his heart may have stopped. "No, you're kidding me..." he commented, his voice laced with frustration.

Physics 201: Attendance Assignment 34
Mr. Pavchenzki

Assigned to: Niko Shinji and Avery Vera
Task: Work together to research and detail the physics concepts behind digital and analogue watches. Compare them both to atomic clocks and describe the degree of error associated with each type.
Due Date: 15 December 2014

Not only did Niko not approve of the task, the very first two words of the task were enough to send him straight to the grave. There is only one explanation for this...demon possession. Despite this thought, Niko was glad that it wasn't significantly more complicated. So long as we split the first and second halves evenly, it will theoretically be more efficient to work together... However, the more Niko thought, staring at the paper, the more nervous he felt about the assignment. Was it really possible? Him? Working with another living being?

His entire thought process took mere moments, for only five seconds after initially lifting the paper, it was limply hanging from his hand by his side. He nervously looked over at the girl next to him, but, before even opening his mouth, he knew that explaining the assignment to her would be hopeless. "Here, take a look..." he commented, accepting the reality of the assignment with a slight degree of depression. He offered the packet to her with a half grin, but the smile on his face may as well have had a manufacturer's label attached for all the genuineness of the expression it offered. Once the paper left his hand, he sighed and, looking as far away from the "Avery Vera" as he could, he awaited her inevitable response.

 

[RareSecret]

-Olin-Rice Science Center-

Avery continued to write notes that she received from the headset. It was easier than being close to the door hoping that sound waves were able to go through the crack then land into her ear. The boy on the other side of the bench was a nice guy to her if he really did leave the headset. Although, she didn't quite understand why he did it. Was it the way he was raised? Did he want something from her? Did pity compel him to leave the headset? Any reason, still led to two things. Avery saying thanks and her taking advantage of the situation.

Time went by while she was listening through the headset and taking notes. She did practice problems through the lecture as well, but in the end nothing challenging came up or even was hinted. Is the universe letting me off? I don't believe in the universe controlling human life like a god, but it all seems too easy.

Soon enough, class was over and it was time to reason until it was clear she had to face the consequences. Avery reached into her shoulder bag again to find her keycard. "Thanks." Avery spoke to the man while moving out of the away for him to swipe his keycard that every student was given. It was when she said thanks she realized she didn't know his name, nor did she know he was in her class. When he nodded back to her, it just stimulated her curiosity of the invisible person in her class that helped her out.

After the boy entered the classroom, the door was still closing and Avery took it as an opportunity to sneak it without using her keycard despite it already being in her hand. She walked in somewhat knowing what the professor was going to say. As soon as her feet stopped right next to the boy, the teacher began talking. "Ah! It's the shy boy. I'm glad you could show up. Just in time for your next assignment, too." "And, if I'm not mistaken, you are Miss Avery. It truly grieves me to have to give you both this assignment, but alas, I am a man of my word, and I said that no one is to be late if they sign up for my class." Any chance of negotiation gone as well as any sign of humanity. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating.

The boy placed his homework on the table which reminded her of her own. "Me too." Avery spoke as she placed her own homework on the table. After the professor said his last words, he handed over a packet and fled. Avery didn't think to question him before he left, but if she did it would settle the curiosity she had within her.

After looking over it himself, the boy handed her the only packet received. Her eyes immediately went for the task. Clocks? The universe really wasn't letting me off. After reading the tasks, her eyes did an actual read through. What caught her eye was the name. Turns out the boy was Niko Shinji. Knowing that didn't put out the flame of her curiosity. She had never heard of him or seen him before. Even so, it was now her goal to figure out and learn exactly who this boy is.

Avery took a breath in and turned 90 degrees to look at Niko. She left her breath out after finishing her turn and started to address her partner. "Okay, Niko Shinji. Looks like we are working together. Do you have a cellphone or anything? I want to know when we can meet up and how I can communicate with you to get this done."

 

[Icicle]

-Olin-Rice Science Center-

As he predicted, Avery soon finished her brief read-through and inhaled sharply. All Niko could infer from her sharp breath was a particularly unnerving satisfaction. As the girl shifted around on the balls of her feet, Niko felt her inescapable eyes on the back of his neck. He was still facing the desk, but turned his head away from her so as to keep himself as calm as possible for as long as he could. The steady tapping of pencils and squeaking of inadequate erasers in the background kept him sane as the eternity of her breath drew to a close. Despite the high ceiling, everything around Niko started to feel as if it was forcing its way towards him - the entire room was shrinking to accommodate the inescapable situation he was in, the sunlight dimmed as if to announce his doom, and Niko progressively felt more and more eyes shift over to him. The feeling was unbearable, as if he was in a stadium, freezing up a line in the middle of the stage. He had to do something or the situation would never improve - that is, until she spoke.

"Okay, Niko Shinji. Looks like we are working together." It was a fairly generic statement, one which Niko was well aware of already, however the emphasis on his name was slightly shocking to Niko, as if she thought there was a hidden meaning behind it. Good, I'm glad you noticed that too... Niko thought, his mind now constantly spiraling downwards to the pit of despair as he firstly wondered what her emphasis meant, and secondly turned to face her just in time to begin analyzing her facial features. For one, he couldn't tell whether she was smiling or just excited, neither of which he was prepared to deal with, and additionally, the reflection of light from the window shielded her pupils, restricting Niko's ability to intuit the genuineness of her expression. "Do you have a cellphone or anything?" Niko quickly took a step away from her, trying his best to maintain his composure despite his shock. A, Cellphone? Wait, why is she... "I want to know when we can meet up and how I can communicate with you to get this done." Her explanation was slightly comforting, but his misconceptions of that question from highschool continued to pollute his mind with uncertainty, initially for the true meaning behind her questions, and finally for whether or not her explanation was honest.

He briefly looked over his shoulder at the rest of the classmates in the room, a few of which were just now starting to pack up, then re-composed himself as he looked over to Avery. He gave his best attempt at a fake smile and, after a moment, he cautiously answered, "No, I do not own a cellphone. But communication is unneccessary for such a simple project." As he said these words, he adopted a more serious expression and reached for the packet. "This project has four criteria for completion, excluding the 'work together' guideline - demonstrate physics concepts and degree of error for analogue clocks, then digital clocks, then atomic clocks, and compare the first two to the third." As he explained this, he pointed out the words, ensuring that he looked at the paper instead of the human he was explaining it to. Once his explanation was finished, he momentarily paused to take a breath, too quickly to allow her to respond, then continued, "To most efficiently work together, one of us, namely me, should work on the first two criteria, then provide the work to the second person who will work on the second two, namely you." With this said, he swiftly shoved the paper into his backpack as he commented, "I shall complete the first two criteria and will leave the completed work under the desk of the third work area on the forth floor of the Dewitt-Wallace Library by 2100 hours tonight."

As the last few words left his mouth, he offered a quick bow to the girl and sprinted towards the door, trying his best to avoid any further interaction with anyone in the room. He succeeded in reaching the door without bumping into any of the other students, and thus he scanned his card and rushed out of the room. The girl's face was firmly engraved into his brain, and he was certain that the same was true for her, but he hoped that he would not acquire too much attention despite this. After all, I already get more than enough attention as is... It didn't take long for Niko to reach the stairs, which he promptly leapt down with reckless abandon. His feet pounded against the stairs as would a hammer as gravity worked in his favor. He nearly landed on a few people on his way down, those of whom were busily trying to fight gravity in an effort to reach their destination, wherever it was. All Niko cared for was the wonderful iron doorway which awaited him at the desired first floor, which he reached soon enough, and without any significant leg trauma.

A few students looked over his way as he exited the door, possibly afraid that a terrible monster was rampaging through the staircase on a course to devour them all. Fortunately, when the relatively short, white-haired boy exited the stairway, their curiosity was assuaged enough for them to continue with their socializing and general enjoyment of life. Niko felt simultaneous pangs of jealousy and happiness as they decided to focus on other tasks, however, the energy which he acquired as a result fueled his desire to continue running out of the building, which he promptly continued to do by weaving around the glass-paneled metal-wire railing which he so deftly leapt over earlier that very day.

After swiping his student I.D. and rushing out the door, he was greeted by the sunlight which was steadily returning after its pronouncement of his doom. I suppose I did avoid a possibly hazardous situation there... he thought, rubbing the back of his head as if to reward himself for his quick thinking, but I still have to keep my promise. And thus, knowing that five hours is nothing when it comes to research, Niko hastily made his way across the lawn and over to Niell Hall. There was not a minute of time to waist, for Niko had many things to do besides homework that day. As Niko reached the entryway to the building, he promptly flashed his card by the sensor and made his way into the building.

-Niell Hall-

As he often did, upon entering Niell Hall, Niko promptly ran down the main hallway and turned over to the computer lab, ignoring the multitudes of foreign languages and strange advertisements around him. After entering the room, Niko looked around, analyzing the interior for signs of life. Unfortunately, none of the stations had single chairs for people like Niko, who enjoyed being alone for long periods of time. However, there were a few empty stations, thus Niko went to one of the octogonal tables near the corner of the room and situated himself at one of the computers. He did not understand the naming conventions of the stations, but he was glad that a computer was available and that he wouldn't have to talk to anyone to access it. After removing his backpack and taking the assignment back out, he began his research effort without delay.

.......

By 5:30, Niko had completed all of the work associated with Digital and Analogue watches, therefore obtaining valuable insights as to how to avoid being late for class next time. It was unlikely that he would actually apply any of these insights, but he was now significantly more untrustworthy of the thing on his wrist which he had previously been so reliant upon. I wonder if they sell atomic models for this kind of watch... he thought, chuckling to himself as he collected the printed copy of his work. Once he returned to his seat and organized his backpack once again, he hastily exited the computer lab and rushed out of Niell Hall.

Unfortunately, he recognized one of the people who were entering the building as he made his way towards the door. Immediately upon recognizing the threat, he assessed the best course of action based on his situation to avoid being detected. Looking around, the hallway was narrow, the halogen bulb lighting above was hazed by a translucent screen, nonetheless remaining quite bright and leaving no shadowy corners. The hallway was not particularly full of people, however a small group of foreigners was headed towards him at the time, and it did not appear that the person in the doorway had noticed him yet.

In a desperate attempt to hide, Niko quickly circled around, ending up behind the group of students, the likes of whom were too busy talking to one another to notice him. Unfortunately, the very person whom he was attempting to avoid walked straight towards the group of students with a deceptively calm expression. "Hey, 'yall! You wouldn't happen to have seen a little white tiger around here recently, have ya'? I swear I saw him just a moment ago..." Chills ran down his spine as he heard her voice, but Niko didn't allow fear to paralyze him. Without a second for thought, he saw his opportunity and sprinted for the door. "Is that him, miss?" one of the foreigners asked, pointing him out as he rushed out from behind them. "GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!" she screamed out at the white haired boy, an expression of pure bloodlust enveloping her face. She offered the figure a curt, "thanks," before herself starting to sprint for Niko.

In his panic, Niko fumbled to get the I.D. card out of his pocket, costing him a good second or two as he stood at the door. Luckily, it didn't cost him enough time to escape from the lady. Immediately upon exiting the door, he pulled it all the way closed behind him, using his momentum to work against the girl. With a sound click, his job was done, giving him a precious few seconds to escape from the wraith of doom which was currently pursuing him.

-Outside-

Niko put every last bit of muscle into his stride as he sprinted away from Niell Hall, working his way further into campus. He progressively calmed himself more and more as he ran, running ideas and possible escape routes through his mind. She'll never catch me at this rate, but I need to find a place where I'll be safe from her once she catches up. This line of thinking provided him with three possibilities: 1 - His dorm room. Only he had the key to his dorm room, and he was exceptionally skilled at climbing out of the window and either up to the roof or down to the ground level. The flaw with this location was that it would attract more attention, and would result in permanent inconvenience should he ever attempt to enter his room from the door in the future. 2 - He could climb up to a location which she would be incapable of scaling or continue running around campus until she was too tired to continue, then take advantage of her weakness to more safely communicate with her. The flaw with this is that she could easily out-predict him and corner him, or fake being tired and then surprise him. 3 - He could go to the fourth floor of the Dewitt-Wallace Library and deliver his assignment early - that way she would not even be able to talk or fight at risk of the wrath of other students. The flaw with this was that, if not enough people were present there, he would be cornered and defenseless.

After a few moments of deliberation, he determined that the best course of action would be to begin with the second possibility. If she was still chasing him as of 6:40, he would deliver his assignment and take course of action 3. If he was then cornered, he would attempt to escape from the situation and run with course of action 1 as a last resort.

And thus, the chase began.

......

As of 6:40, Niko wiped some of the heavy sweat off of his forehead as he stood at the edge of Shaw field near the athletic center. From what he remembered, his assailant had broken chase in order to go inside for water approximately ten minutes ago. He looked around in an attempt to discover her present location, but ended up unsuccessful, and thusly started to jog towards the Dewitt-Wallace Library, ensuring to steer clear of any bushes or trees which he could not visually check for assailants. He continued this jog for approximately one minute before being tipped off as to a guerrilla strike. Three entities rushed out of the athletics center and drastically increased their pace in his direction. Without even sparing the time to look behind him, Niko started sprinting forwards once again, making his way towards the library with all the speed he could muster.

"TIGER! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY!!!!" shouted the familiar voice from earlier. She appeared to be well rested now, and was sprinting with all the energy which she could muster, constantly approaching closer and closer to Niko, who was fairly worn out by this point in time. Her two allies were also running fairly quickly, but were lagging behind slightly. Niko, who feared for his life, put his legs into high gear and barely managed to start outpacing his assailants once again. This discouraged them, and, with a roar of anger, the lady behind him started to slow down, having reached her peak. Niko, on the other hand, sustained his sprint for a bit longer before starting to slow down, attempting to get as much of a lead as he could before reaching the library.

-Dewitt-Wallace Library-

As he approached the library, he hastily pulled his I.D. card out from his pocket and, upon reaching the door, slammed it against the sensor. He then rushed in, but was unable to close the door due to the foot of one of his assailants. "Where do you think you're going?" She growled, reaching in through the door to grab his arm as he desperately attempted to pull the door shut. "I have business to attend to! Leave me alone!" Niko whined, abandoning the door as he rushed over to the stairwell. "And I had a coffee this morning, until your business caused it to disappear!" She retorted, throwing the door open as she sprinted in after him, "You better prepare yourself!"

Niko once again used his I.D. card to open the door, but this time, he managed to enter before the other girls reached it. He didn't bother to try keeping the door closed, instead he bounded up the stairs with what remained of his leg muscles. He wasn't quite as fast as he was earlier that morning, but he had enough energy left to easily outpace the others. Below him, he heard the girl order one of the others to stand guard by the front door and to make sure to catch Niko if he tried to escape, then the sound of quick footsteps started to advance upwards. Fortunately, Niko reached the fourth floor before her, and carefully opened and closed the door without causing too much noise.

Niko quickly made his way into the library, controlling his breathing as much as he could in order to make the least amount of sound possible. As he walked, he took off his backpack and numbly moved his hands around in order to open the zipper and search within. Once he reached his destination, the third workstation, he pulled out the package of paper with the USB and placed it under the closest desk of the third work area, then ducked down and started to move as stealthily as he could back towards the door. He froze as he heard the door open once again to the stairwell, and heard the familiar voice whisper for the girl to stand guard near the door. As I thought, I'm now trapped... He crawled under a nearby desk and hid there, hoping that she wouldn't find him, but, just like the beast she was, Niko was soon tracked down.

Niko looked up at the figure with the most innocent expression he could muster, but it was pointless. She pulled out his final defense, the chair, and bent down to his level with a smirk. She easily grabbed Niko's back pack strap and wrenched him out from under the desk, practically lifting him onto his feet. She continued to hold onto his backpack as he debated abandoning it in favor of his life, and she gently pushed the chair back under the desk, where it belonged. She offered Niko a fake smile, as if to say, "clever, but not clever enough," and started dragging him towards the door. Niko decided to comply for the time being, starting to set up a plan for his escape, when someone stepped in the way of the girl. He, too, wore glasses, but the expression behind his glasses was unmistakable.

As the girl moved to one side, the guy mirrored her movement, remaining in her way. She side-stepped a few times, then the guy leapt towards her and grabbed onto the other strap of Niko's backpack. Niko looked down at his chest, eyeing the hands of the two people as they gripped his backpack, then looked up at the girl who was standing by the door and cleared his throat, as if to get her attention. When he looked back up at the faces of the two people on either side of him, they were locked in what could only be described as a frowning contest, as if they were competing for a prize that was within reach. He steadily moved his hands towards the straps as the girl started to approach the three, who were now standing in the middle of the library on the fourth floor, at 2050 hours, staring at one another.

As soon as the girl was within reach, Niko set his plan into action. In one swift action, he lunged both hands forwards and exploded into a sprint. The two people on either side of him were both momentarily stunned by the suddenness of his action, and Niko easily batted aside the hand of the third contender as she reached over to grab him. Niko made it halfway to the door before footsteps started to follow him, but by that point, he had more than enough of a lead to escape. He slammed his I.D. card against the sensor and leapt down the stairwell, going down one flight at a time, each step resulting in a bashing noise against the concrete. Once Niko reached the second floor, he heard the sound of footsteps retreating down the stairwell as well as the sounds of feminine curses and male chuckling.

It didn't take long before Niko reached the door on the ground floor, at which point he quickly opened the door. After exiting the other side of the door, however, he noticed the girl standing by the door. As he jogged towards it, she jogged towards him. He frowned and set a stern expression towards her, as if initiating a combat and commented, "You're in the way, miss." She chuckled and quickly responded, "I guess you're unfortunate." before charging towards him. The door to the stairwell opened right as she reached Niko, offering enough of a distraction for Niko to dodge out of her way. He made a B-line straight for the door right after her unfortunate miss, and attempted to open the door as the beast started to charge towards him. Luckily, a person on the other side of the door had already scanned their I.D., so the door was unlocked as Niko reached it. He flung the door open, apologizing as he did so, and rushed past the person at the door as he made his grand escape.

-Outside-

Niko didn't expect the others to stop following him at that, but it was no longer a problem, because, while he was outside, Niko was able to run as much as he wanted without running into walls. "Get him already!" he heard the beast shout from behind, but it was pointless. Now that they were outside once again, Niko was practically invincible. The girls continued to run after him for a few more minutes before retiring for the day and heading off to a restaurant off campus for some food. Niko looked over his shoulder to see if the girls were still following him one last time before finally slowing down. Of course, as he did, he finally started to notice the words of a few people around him, namely the, "Woah, dude, you're fast!" and other such acknowledgements from other athletic-looking people.

-Dupre Hall-

Niko didn't stop looking around until he reached Dupre Hall. Once he did reach this building, he speed-walked through the most efficient route to his room, ignoring everyone he came close to as he walked. Once he finally reached his door, he pulled out his I.D. and his key and, after placing the card over the sensor, turned his key in the lock to open the door. He hastily made his way inside and locked the door behind him once he was certain that the room was safe. At long last, Niko didn't have to fear for his life...or his wallet. I'll deal with her tomorrow...for now...I'm going to have to figure out how to get food...

Niko spent the next few minutes completing some calculus homework as he rested, occasionally taking a break between problems to stretch out his very sore muscles. After awhile, he got up, walked over to the mini-fridge in the corner of his room, and pulled out a few snacks. It was nowhere near enough food to satisfy him, but I'm just going to go out for some food later, so there's no point in binging right now.

.....

After completing the last of his homework for the week, Niko quickly changed clothes and left his room. As he walked down the hall, he heard a familiar voice from around the corner and hesitated. After a second, he let out a sigh of relief and walked out from around the corner. "My savior..." he sarcastically commented, walking over to the figure who impeded the progress of the beast in the library earlier that very day. The man was slender and black-haired, with round, purple eyes and glasses shaped by natural lines and curves. He chuckled at the comment from Niko and tossed the backpack straight at the white-haired fellow, retorting, "It's not every day that you get to save the equivalent of a black belt, huh?" Niko caught the backpack, chuckling slightly, but retorted with a serious tone, "Yeah, sorry. See you tomorrow."

The boy with black hair adjusted his glasses as if to acknowledge the apology by Niko, then continued to talk to the friends around him as he sat in the common room, relaxing. Niko was relieved to have his backpack once again, but continued marching along until he reached the exit of the building...

-Outside-

Niko sighed once again when he exited the building. It was now around 2115 hours, according to his watch, and he couldn't decide on where to go get dinner. After a few minutes of pacing around, Niko decided to go to the Thai restaurant on West campus so that he woudln't have to go to far. Unlike his pacing for the rest of the day, Niko was now walking calmly along the sidewalk as he contemplated his work for the day. Once he arrived at the Thai restaurant, he took a seat, looked at the menu, and asked for two to-go meals, one being the spiciest meal on the menu, and the other being the one which he calculated to have the largest average quantity of solid meat. While he waited, Niko quietly hummed a tune to himself, looking around at the other people in the quaint restaurant. Despite the red chairs and the paintings on the walls, it was the smell which was most significant to him - the amount of spice lacing the air of the restaurant was almost gag-inducing.

The second his food arrived, Niko asked for the check and offered his student I.D., which the waiter kindly accepted. Once the meal was paid for and Niko retrieved his I.D., he took the bag of packaged food and calmly walked back over to the dorm buildings...

 

[RareSecret]

Spoiler

Interruption at the library, last paragraph

-Olin-Rice Science Center-

Avery listened to Niko's response to her question. His response was similar to one women would give to turn down a date while trying to seems like they have a logical reason for doing so. Avery felt this vibe because she has done this before. He ran away like I wanted to date him. That's not the case, but I am not letting the school's ghost go. After the last thought, Avery made another turn, but this time it was heading straight out the door.

Avery left the classroom and swiped her keycard on the elevator and waited for it to come up to bring her back down. While waiting, she crossed her arms to think about her next course of action. Although, it was obvious so there was no reason to think for too long. It was the library. She left her book there, research materials were available, as well as computers with a printer ready to go for the final copy. Anyone who was in her situation would be a fool not to go there first.

The elevator finally came to pick Avery up to drop her off to the first level. At her stop, she got off and made her way to the exit, not bothering to stop by the vending machine for more snacks like always.

-Dewitt-Wallace Library-

Avery made her way into the library after using her keycard to let her in. The keycard was an annoying system seeing how she has to dig through her bag to get it and is in major trouble if she loses it, but in the end it kept her safe. The security guard she always waved to when she walked into the library always kept it safe too. He was good at his job. Even though the system was annoying, she still made her way upstairs to the third floor where she was earlier in the day.

Once Avery made it up to the third floor, who wasn't there that morning was,the librarian. Avery walked over to the check-out desk for the third floor and folded her arms onto it after giving a little wave. "Why didn't you remind me to leave today?" Avery interrogated. As one could say, she was pissed, but she always made sure to keep it under control. The person runs the emotions after all, not the other way around.

"I took a break. Being a librarian is hard work. You have to check books out, check books in, place books on shelves, read books, understand books, know books. Get what I am saying here?" The librarian whined making sure to over-exaggerate his hand movements as he spoke. It was in order to emphasize pity and get his point across. Also because his personality is known as 'drama queen'.

"Unfortunately, I do. Next time you go on your break, make sure to warn me." Avery spoke, only putting enough anger in that sentence to put her point across. Her next words weren't going to ask him why he was working as a librarian in the first place, as it would lead to more whining, but instead to the next point of business, her textbook. "Did you happen to see my textbook here? I left it after I realized I was late to class and started to rush."

"You mean the physics book buried underneath all the other books I HAD to put away and the trash I HAD to throw away. Yeah, I found it at your table when I checked to see if you left anything after you smashed in the elevator buttons. I'll hold off on giving it to you." The prissy librarian said. To many people, it was hard to believe that a librarian could be so bratty and catty, especially a male one. Avery never believed in stereotypes so that made her getting along with him easier than average.

"So you are giving it to me, but later? How about we be reasonable here and just give it to me now." Avery replied. She could negotiate her way through this. She might have failed with her physics teacher, but he is not human.

"I AM being reasonable. All you have to do is some 'volunteer' work at the library to feel my pain."

"Fine." Avery reluctantly agreed. She knew not only would this give her book back, but she could use this against him and keep his whining to a minimum for a while. She could do her project after she finished this. There were too many possible benefits from the offer he just gave.

Avery spent the next few hours: checking books out, checking books in, placing books on shelves, reading books, understanding books, and knowing books. She was productive, but she can't help but think about how she manage to become friends with someone so emotional. All she could come up with was opposites attract.

"I think I've done my 'volunteer work'. Do you think you can give me my book back and leave me to research atomic clocks?" Avery asked after realizing the time. It was the time suburban families would usually eat, 6:45.

"Done? Did you know I have to stay here for the full day when I don't have classes at this school? I have to work until 8 today and I said until you feel my pain. You are lucky that I ju-"

The librarian whined only to be cut off by the sound of a telephone. It was the phone that was connected to this building used to communicate throughout the different floors. It was only used in emergencies and in times when they needed to exchange books between the floors. Other than that it was useless since it wasn't able to call regular phones. The librarian went to pick up the phone while Avery stood at the desk searching with her eyes for the textbook. After a bunch of 'um-hum's the librarian came back to the desk to speak with Avery. "You know what, I'll give it back to you if you help out with the people putting the library and the rest of the campus in a frenzy. All you have to do is go to the first floor and help out."

At that moment, Avery could say good bye to the one hundred dollars she spent or she could help out. 'Drama Queen' would certainly burn the book if she didn't help out as she learned from the person last month whose book was burned after not cleaning up. She made the logical decision to choose the latter. She left her bag on the desk and left through the door. Avery rushed down the stairs to the ground floor. Seeing the sercurity guard at the door, Avery started to approach him."Avery, good to see ya. Pity-pants sent you down here, didn't ya? I want you to hang around here to catch these guys when they try to make their escape. We already got a girl on the front door and others ready to capture around the lobby. Every hand helps. Right now, they are on the fourth floor according to the radio. Get ready." The guard ordered her.

Avery hung around in the lobby like the guard said. She wanted to get her textbook back so there was no choice. For the few minutes she was waiting, it seemed like nothing was going to happen, but it did. "IT'S GO TIME" The guard yelled as the door that lead to the stairwell violently opened. The guard only stood in place to be used as a wall so the disturbance can't get out of one of the double doors. Somewhat useful, but still left weakness.

Avery started to use every ounce of cardio she had done to sprint towards the door as the disturbance was at a halt by a female who was guarding the door. It was an opportunity. All of her focus were on her running to grab the person who was the cause of the scene in a library. That and to not pass out mid-run. When the door to the stairwell violently opened again with many more people ready to kill, Avery didn't bat an eye because she grabbed the idiot who decided to be loud in a library.

Unfortunately for her, they had already started to make their escape, so she was clenching onto the top while being dragged along. She only survived a few feet and had to let go. It was one of those moments where being a nerd wasn't advantageous. That wasn't a smart move. Hopefully, the other person was captured unless they are as fast as this one.

 

[Icicle]

[/Int->] It didn't take long before Niko reached the door on the ground floor, at which point he quickly opened the door. Niko immediately heard the voice of a feminine security guard yell, "IT'S GO TIME" right after the door opened as well as the irregular and poorly placed footsteps of a rather nonathletic person. Immediately after recognizing the security guard, he realized that he could finally relax. [Int at Quote - 2nd last p - "...the disturbance was at a halt"] Unfortunately, the nonathletic person, whom he could now visually register, appeared to be more interested in looking aggressive than in actually trying to stop him. Niko stopped moving just outside the doorway, leaving the door to close behind him, and stood relaxed, one foot slightly forwards, the other pointing slightly forwards and off to the outside, his hips at a 45 degree angle from the front.

As the girl sprinted closer and closer, Niko focused on her face to try and determine her intent. She wore the same glasses as the girl from physics class whom he was assigned a project with, and also had the same brown hair, although he couldn't tell what style she was wearing it in due to her forward motion. He also couldn't tell the color of her eyes or where she was looking due to the reflection of ceiling lights on her glasses. Still, this wasn't the time to think - Niko had to divert her force somehow or she would either slam into him, or worse, the wall. She was already out of breath, and her footstep pattern became more and more irregular as she continued moving the 50 feet between the door and the stairway door. Niko subconsciously decided that a specific technique from his aikido class would be most adequate in the given situation, so he began the kata without hesitation.

Niko took two half-steps forwards to meet the girl at a standard 3-foot engagement, extending out both of his hands as if to karate chop the girl when she got close. However, instead of karate-chopping her, as she reached out to grab him with her right hand, Niko extended out his own right hand towards her shoulder. Simultaneously, his left hand migrated towards her wrist and his right leg span outwards, towards her forwards movement. Then, once the stance was set, in one fell motion, Niko swept out the girl's forward leg with his left leg and, grabbing her left shoulder with his right hand, flung her down to the floor. Of course, being the gentleman that he was, he stood up slightly during the technique so as to not slam her into the floor as forcefully. Immediately after hearing the dull "thump" of her body hitting the floor, Niko immediately released her and leapt backwards, away from the security guard at the door.

Niko then brushed off his clothes quickly, regaining his composure, and he smiled towards the guard as convincingly as possible. "Good evening, miss. Pleasant day for a run." He made this comment as he started to walk around the girl on the ground, who most likely wasn't going to remain there for long. Once he had gotten around her, he started walking towards the security lady, who dully responded, "I'm going to have to bring you in to the office, young man." Niko nodded, then commented, "As long as you protect me from those other three, I'd be happy to." as he nervously looked back over to the door to the staircase. It had been 10, maybe 15 seconds at most since Niko left the doorway, but sure enough, the door slammed open again and the two girls from upstairs leapt out from the door.

As if on cue, Niko pointed at the door, adopting a very hollow expression of fear, and commented, "ahh! It's them!" as if he was poorly voicing a set of lines from a student film. After this, Niko noticed a few other security guards entering from behind the one at the door, three in total. The beast and her companion looked around the room for a few seconds, trying to process what was going on, but perked up upon noticing the security guards. As if piecing it together, she looked over to see Niko pointing at them and talking to the guards. "I bet you called them here to blame me, too! You wicked Tiger!" she whined, instantly falling to her knees and attempting her best "innocent girl" routine. Her companion looked dumbly at the beast as she fell to her knees, but got the idea momentarily and she too, fell to her knees, repeating, "Waaah! You wicked tiger!" as she covered her face in the crook of her arm.

The female security guard rolled her eyes as she walked over to Niko. She gestured over to the two crying girls, saying, "Take them in too, they match the descriptions." as she looked over at the other two guards, then grabbed Niko by the bicept and said, "Come along, you." Niko dropped the fake expressions at this point and obediently walked alongside the lady, swinging his other arm innocently at his side. He was notably smaller than the security guard, and he decided that it was better to settle his dispute with the beast and her cohorts than to continue teasing them for the rest of the semester.

-Outside-

Niko looked behind him right after leaving the building to see the two girls giving him the stare of death. He didn't bother looking back at them for the rest of the walk over to the security office of the music building.

-Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, Music Building, Security Office-

By the time they had finally reached one of the holding rooms in the Security Office, Niko was already starting to cramp up due to all of the exercise he had done up until that point that day. Niko hastily found a chair once the security lady let go of his arm, which then began to circulate blood once more. Shortly after Niko sat down, he realized that, in the far corner of the room, the girl whom the beast had told to wait by the door was now staring with her face towards the wall. Niko was about to point out that he was now in the room when the two other security guards entered. Immediately upon hearing the footsteps of her master, the companion girl quickly rose from her chair, picked the chair up, walked over to the table at which Niko was seated, and took a seat immediately next to him.

Niko looked over at her for a moment, but received the same stare of death and hastily looked back at the far wall. They're out for blood... He determined, gulping down his heart as he awaited for the inevitable "security court case". Once all of the students were seated, the female security guard commented, "Alright, welcome to the security offices everyone. What was going on back there?" The first to speak was the beast, who demanded the complete attention of everyone in the room, even the two security guards by the door. "This all happened because that white tiger keeps spilling my coffee every single morning! I'm just minding my own business, walking through the hallway and talking with friends when suddenly HE shows up and slams right into my arm! You security guards ought to be paying more attention and stopping this kid's shenanigans once in awhile!" Despite the attention which she demanded, she spoke just like a beast - roaring out what she wanted to say without a care for anyone else. Once she was done speaking, she sat back down.

After she was done talking, the security lady looked over at Niko, her expression betraying not necessarily a trust for the lady, but for her words, and she asked him, "IS this the truth?" Obviously, Niko coudln't accept these words at face value, because they were too lenient on his assailants, so he responded by looking at the security guard, too shy and easily affected to be able to look the others in the eyes, and said, "Well...not entirely. You see, whenever I'm trying to get somewhere in the hallway, there's always a group of people who bunch up and talk right in front of the stairs, so I have to fight my way through to get to where I want because they never listen-..." But, before Niko was able to say anything further, the beast jumped up once again and shouted, "Wrong! Totally wrong! My friends and I are always out of the way when we start talking, and we never hear that tiger before he strikes!" However, Niko sharply responded, "You don't hear me because you never listen. And the security camera by the North entrance of Olin points straight toward the stairway, so it's not hard to check."

At this point, the security guard silenced everyone by saying, "Alright alright, I've heard enough." First, she looked over at the beast, "first off, if you're going to talk with friends before going to class, talk outside the buildings so that you don't disturb people in the classrooms." She then looked over at Niko, "as for you, you're going to need to pay these girls back for any coffees that you spilled." Niko looked over at the girls, who were clearly seeing dollar signs at this point, and sighed. "Alright, I'll agree to pay them for any coffees that they can prove that I spilled."

....

-Outside-

After around thirty minutes or so, Niko managed to escape the security office having only lost a mere $32.83. 5 coffees? They must be the richest girls on campus if they pay that much for just 5 coffees... He shook his head in defeat, but decided that it was best to go back to his dorm, although admittedly, he was still nervous that the other girls were going to try assaulting him again.

-Dupre Hall-

Niko didn't stop looking around until he reached Dupre Hall. Once he did reach this building, he speed-walked through the most efficient route to his room, ignoring everyone he came close to as he walked. Once he finally reached his door, he pulled out his I.D. and his key and, after placing the card over the sensor, turned his key in the lock to open the door. He hastily made his way inside and locked the door behind him once he was certain that the room was safe. At long last, Niko didn't have to fear for his life...or his wallet. Now, I suppose it's time to raid the refrigerator now that I'm broke. I'll have to visit the ATM tomorrow afternoon or I'll die of starvation...

Niko spent the next few minutes completing some calculus homework as he rested, occasionally taking a break between problems to stretch out his very sore muscles. After awhile, he got up, walked over to the mini-fridge in the corner of his room, and pulled out a few snacks. It was nowhere near enough food to satisfy him, but at least he recovered some of the muscle mass he ripped to shreds that day.

.....

After completing the last of his homework for the week, Niko quickly changed clothes and left his room. As he walked down the hall, he heard a familiar voice from around the corner and hesitated. After a second, he let out a sigh of relief and walked out from around the corner. "My savior..." he sarcastically commented, walking over to the figure who impeded the progress of the beast in the library earlier that very day. The man was slender and black-haired, with round, purple eyes and glasses shaped by natural lines and curves. He chuckled at the comment from Niko and tossed the backpack straight at the white-haired fellow, retorting, "It's not every day that you get to save the equivalent of a black belt, huh?" Niko caught the backpack, chuckling slightly, but retorted with a serious tone, "Yeah, sorry. See you tomorrow."

The boy with black hair adjusted his glasses as if to acknowledge the apology by Niko, then continued to talk to the friends around him as he sat in the common room, relaxing. Niko was relieved to have his backpack once again, but continued marching along until he reached the exit of the building...

-Outside-

Niko sighed once again when he exited the building. It was now around 2115 hours, according to his watch, and Niko couldn't decide what to do. I suppose I could go to a practice room for music...I do need to rehearse for tomorrow...then again, I probably need to work more on martial arts with those girls around... No matter what decision Niko came to, they all felt too tiring. Niko looked over to the West and saw the sun setting behind the array of buildings of which the city surrounding campus consisted of. He ultimately decided that walking around campus a bit more would be the best use of his time, so he decided to continue walking about until around 2230.

Once he looked down at his watch and realized, Oh, it's later than I expected, he nonchalantly made his way back to Dupre Hall.

-Dupre Hall-

When Niko got back up to the third floor, he looked around the corner of the stairwell to see that the common room was still filled with his savior and a few less of his friends. The white tiger rolled his eyes and continued over to his room, using the usual procedure to enter his room. He then performed the usual bed-time ritual: take off shoes, take tooth-brushing materials, leave room, walk to common bathroom, brush teeth, walk back to room, say goodnight to the night owls of the common room, lock door and window as securely as possible, climb into bed, and close eyes....