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Tenten isn’t usually one to be late. She’s a pretty punctual student, all things considered. Maybe not as cutthroat as Neji, or even Lee, but she tries her best to attend all classes. Every once in a while she’ll be a few minutes late, or her alarm won’t go off and she’ll sleep right on through a morning class. Happens to everyone; it’s just life’s casual mistakes.
(Well, it happens to everyone except Neji. But he has like...an internal alarm clock in his head. It’s disturbingly accurate.)
When she wakes that morning, it’s thankfully on time. Her alarm blares by her ears, a shrill sound that brings out a pavlov’d emotional response — dread. She turns it off and very groggily sits up. Her roommate is already gone, being one of those health nuts like Lee who wakes just before the crack of dawn to go running. Tenten could never. Sure, she keeps a pretty regular schedule, but if the sun isn’t up neither is she.
Tenten gets ready for class slowly, her mind still booting up. She always sets her alarm for at least an hour before she needs to leave, just to give her time to beat away the fog of sleep. Getting dressed takes all of five minutes, and freshening up in the bathroom takes about ten. She has plenty of time to run to the dining hall and grab a muffin and a coffee. Caffeine is essential for life.
It’s funny — she used to hate the taste of coffee, but in the past two years it’s become her lord and savior.
Tenten puts her tablet and textbook into her bag before throwing it over her shoulder. Today’s first class is calculus, and she’s sincerely regretting ever choosing it. Math is okay, but not her favorite subject. And it being so early means that she’s about fifty percent more tired, meaning she usually feels like she’s on the verge of falling asleep every single time. The professor doesn’t help, he’s an older man with a soft, droning voice that’s almost made to put people to sleep. Honestly, it’s a miracle she retains anything at all. If she isn’t half asleep, she’s playing games on her tablet out of view just to entertain herself.
Luckily Neji isn’t taking that class with her, otherwise she’d suffer his side-eye and later lecture about her behavior in class. She loves the guy, really, but he’s such a stickler for rules. Getting straight A’s across the board is not as easy as he makes it seem.
Tenten exits the building, tying her crimson hoodie around her waist. She’d dressed casually today; in black athletic pants, a pink crop top, and bright yellow vans. No make-up as usual, because in reality no one actually cares about how they look when they go to class. People who dress to impress and put on full faces of make-up everyday are actually in the minority. It’s mostly sweats and sweaters all year round.
And eyebags.
Can’t forget that essential college student accessory!
Despite having a pretty okay schedule, she always ends up feeling exhausted. Eight hours no longer feels like enough sleep. She’s only twenty and yet age is already rapidly weakening her body. How had she survived on three hours of sleep everyday for four years?
Ridiculous.
She makes it to the dining hall.
It’s not exceptionally busy at the moment, so she’s able to nab a blueberry muffin and a cup of coffee. It doesn’t taste great, but it’s basically free with the way meal plans work, so she’ll take free, crappy tasting caffeine over spending $7 at Starbucks every morning and burning a hole in her wallet.
After swallowing down the noxious concoction and practically inhaling her muffin, Tenten still has around twenty minutes to spare. She leaves the dining hall as more people have started to sleepily pile in.
The campus isn’t super large, so walking to the building where her first class is won’t take longer than five minutes. She decides to take the scenic route, going all around the athletic fields. The extra exercise will help her wake up while the caffeine begins to circulate through her veins and replace her blood.
She’s luckily awake enough already to pause before stepping on something that’s moving across the grass. Instinctively, she recoils. Her first thought is that it’s a snake, and the last thing she wants to do is step on one and have it attack her ankles. Plus, snakes creep her out a bit despite most of them being docile in the right company.
It’s not a snake.
It’s a turtle. Or a tortoise? She’s not really sure, her major doesn’t have anything to do with animals. Either way, it’s got a shell that’s an odd shade of dark teal with hints of gray spots. She almost thinks it’s been spray painted, if not for how natural the patterning looks. The turtle’s head is a craggy looking thing, like no turtle head she’s ever really seen before — not that she’s seen a lot of turtles in person.
“Hey,” It says. “Watch where you’re stepping.”
Okay. Maybe she’s still asleep.
“Uhhh….” She gapes, her grip tight on the strap of her bag. “Oh my god, I’m dreaming. I’m still dreaming—”
She pinches herself.
“Oh my god, I’m not dreaming!”
“Why would you be dreaming?” The turtle asks.
“Because you’re talking! Turtles don’t talk!”
“Says who?”
Tenten opens and closes her mouth, at a loss for words. “W-Well, I don’t know. People! Nature!”
“Well I’m obviously talking.”
“Yes, obviously.” Tenten laughs, a tinge of hysteria to the sound. “I’m just — You know what? I’m going to pretend this isn’t happening. I look like a crazy person, standing here talking to a turtle.”
“The name is Isobu, not turtle. Would you like for me to simply address you as human?” Isobu huffs. It’s an odd sound coming from the throat of an animal.
Tenten laughs again. Oh geez, she’s going to be late for class, isn’t she?