Chapter Text
A loud and jarring alarm sets off and Mike shot out of bed out of fear from the sudden noise, groaning miserably. He looked at his phone and checked the time, 6am. "Great..." He closes his eyes and flops back onto the bed, feeling the leftover warmth from his body on his sheets and blankets, not wanting to move from his spot.
Before Mike could fall asleep again, he heard heavy footsteps and then two soft knocks on his room door from who he already assumed was Murro. He walked up to the door and opened it, the light in the hallway peeking into the dark room.
Murro greeted Mike, his mustache curling along with his smile. “Good morning Mike, how’d you sleep?” he asked the poor blonde who looked like he slept through an earthquake, his hair sticking in many directions.
“I slept okay…” Mike yawned, rubbing his eyes, getting a better look at whatever utensil was in Murro’s hand and the silly sea lion apron he was wearing, covered in batter and flour. "Were you making breakfast?” Mike giggled and took a deep breath. The smell of cinnamon, blueberries and pancakes wafting throughout the house, entering his room.
Murro nodded, “I thought it would be nice since it's your first day back at school! Since I have the day off, I thought I should drive you there too.” His kindness always amazed Mike, Murro always seemed to be putting others over himself.
“Are you sure?” Mike questioned, “There’s gonna be a lot of people and we both know how you get when it comes to these sorts of things.” Mike had known Murro’s aversion to interacting with people and loud noises, and school traffic tends to have both of these things, so Mike usually takes the bus to school or walks instead. Although it meant he had to leave earlier or skip breakfast when he did, busses wait for no one after all.
“I’ll be alright Mike, I have Susie to help if anything happens.” Susie, one of Murro’s many boars, was recently registered and trained as an emotional support animal. Murro bringing her along was reassuring for both of them.
…Even though Mike was sure he’d get strange looks when he exits the car and there’s just a boar in the front seat instead of himself. “Anyways, you should get ready! Shoo! Shoo!” Murro nudged Mike back into his room and gently closed the door behind him, his footsteps fading out of Mike’s hearing range.
Mike shuffles through his drawers and closet carefully picking out his clothing for the day, a pink sweater vest, white button up, grey jeans and a white beanie with a pink star clip to match the sweater vest. Not too casual but not too dressed up, it was perfect for his first day back. He slips into his clothing and picks up his red glasses, placing them on his freckled face.
“Not too shabby.” He whispered to himself, grabbing his shark crossbody bag and class schedule before walking out his room. Mike quietly closed the door to not startle the many sleeping animals in the house, Murro sure loved fostering animals.
As he entered the dining room, Susie came up to greet him by spinning around and sitting at his feet. “Well good morning to you too Susie!” Mike patted her head before washing his hands and sitting at the table.
Murro soon after brought two plates, Mike’s plate had blueberry and cinnamon pancakes topped with maple syrup and a knob of homemade butter. Murro’s plate on the other hand had the same pancakes but in place of syrup it had raspberries and strawberries. “These look so good Murro! You’ve seriously outdone yourself!” Mike said excitedly as he dug into his pancakes.
Murro smiled and started on his own pancakes, taking a few of the berries on his plate and feeding them to Susie, who was under the table patiently waiting for the two to finish breakfast.
After breakfast, Mike and Murro did a check to make sure the former had everything he needed for the day. Being forgetful can be such a pain sometimes, but Mike is thankful his older brother is understanding and patient with him. They grab a few supplies, shoving them into Mike’s bag before heading outside and into Murro’s truck. “You all buckled up, Mike?” Murro asked before starting the truck's engine and checking the mirrors.
Mike fidgeted with the seatbelt until he heard a click, “All buckled up!” Grinning at Murro through the mirror, Susie grunting as she was buckled in her seat by the latter.
The drive to school wasn't too interesting, other than Mike watching people walk their dogs and pointing out funny license plates, it was relatively silent with the speakers quietly playing soft melodies.
After about twenty minutes, they've finally made it, the painfully long line of cars right in front of Oletus Highschool, slow and unmoving. A towering building made of brick and a subpar paint job, that kind of looked like if you gave a flock of birds a paint bucket.
There were many familiar faces, many of them being people Mike had known since he was in preschool or elementary school. Suddenly Mike spots familiar long brunette hair with a striking white streak, Demi, his best friend since first grade.
Mike nearly jumped out the car to greet her, it had been a month since they had last seen each other before Demi went on a trip to Europe with her older brother. They've been texting each other non-stop since she'd gotten home 3 days ago.
Five minutes later, they had finally made it to the school's parking lot. Of course as Mike predicted, he got many strange looks because of Susie, but he didn't care enough for it to matter to him. Mike waved off Murro as the older man drove away.
Sprinting to the school's front yard, Mike caught Demi right as she was heading inside the building. “Demi!” The blonde exclaimed as he latched on to the taller girl, shaking her around, surprising her.
“Mike!” She smiled wide and giggled, shaking the boy back as they walked through the door. “I didn't expect to see you here this early, you're usually late! Did Murro drop you off?” She asked the boy.
Letting go of Demi, Mike nodded his head ecstatically. “He even brought Susie with us! I saw you leaving Sam's car but we were still sitting in traffic, so I couldn't say hi.” The two walked to the cafeteria which was flooded with students, some new faces and some old.
“Over here guys!” Mike turned his head and spotted Williams waving them over. Ganji, William's boyfriend, sitting next to him in the booth they were saving. Demi sat down, scooting over so Mike could sit down beside her.
Ganji silently waved to both of them and started to speak, “Hey Demi, it's been a while. How was Europe? did you bring anything back with you...” He looked away a little embarrassed.
Demi started to shuffle around in her oversized purse, the sound of her keychains clacking over and over could be heard before she pulled out a large bag and placed it on the table. “I got souvenirs for everyone! Though I can't give them out yet until Patty and Bryn get here!” She said while shaking her finger.
“Woah! That's a lot, are they all for us?” Mike asked as he was overly excited to see what Demi brought, it was as if he was a child in an ice cream shop. The brunette nodded in response to the former.
A light and melodic voice started “What's got all of you excited?” Everyone at the booth looked up to see Patricia in her usual gothic attire, Brynhildr following behind her. Mike assumed they car pooled together since they're neighbors.
Demi smiled wide, “I got gifts for everyone! I think I went a little overboard with Bryn's though...” She finally poured out the bag of souvenirs. Trinkets, stuffed animals and snacks were spread across the entire table.
“These are for you, Ganji!” Demi handed the boy a sheep keychain, alongside a Europe exclusive Calico Critter and two small boxes of Gulab Jamuns. His face lit up as he thanked her, opening the box and popping one into his mouth.
Demi continued to pass out gifts, and to say that she showered Brynhildr with gifts was most definitely an understatement. By the time she got done handing gifts to everyone, the bell had rung out for class to start.
William and Bryn walked off to the gym, Ganji headed to the social studies building, Patricia went to her art class and Demi followed since it was in the direction of her music class. That left Mike who headed into the science building.
Mike walked up the stairs to the second floor, it was crowded but he didn't mind it too much as long as people didn't bump into him too much. He approached the door to the classroom, next to it had a placard reading “204 Chemistry”. He opened the door and looked around, the usual suspects, Helena, Luchino and Luca were here.
Unfortunately for him the desks next to them had been filled so he ended up choosing some random seats in the second to last row behind this guy with long and wavy white hair who seemed a bit familiar. Mike shrugged it off as class began, maybe he'll get the chance to ask once introductions are over.