Chapter Text
Zanka Nijiku sat at the desk in his dorm room, taking notes and studying carefully for his classes. Until a phone call interrupted his focus entirely. Zanka stared at the phone, irritation written all over his face. After a few seconds he snatched the phone and answered, placing it on speaker as he returned to his notes.
“Hey nerd, I know you're probably studying but…” Riyo’s voice buzzed out of his phone. “You need to get dressed for our school’s basketball game.” She said not even bothering if he was busy as she knew he was definitely going to make an excuse.
“Sorry redhead, I am not going to a sweat filled gym filled with idiots screaming over a ball.” He said blankly, already sick of the conversation.
“Pleaseee Zanka…this is our first year here and going to a game is the best way to make friends.” She said on the other side of the phone as she was already picking out the perfect outfit to wear. “Just this once…I’ll even buy you that book I saw you eyeing at the mall the other day.” She knew that would get him. He loved anything involving being a nerd afterall.
A deep sigh fled through the line before Zanka spoke, “Alright Riyo…just don’t piss me off more than I already know I'm going to be.”
Riyo rolled her eyes as she silently celebrated her debating victory. “ I promise nerd god. I won’t even think to piss you off.” She was holding back laughter as she spoke. Sometimes she really couldn’t believe she and Zanka got along so well, they were just so different. “Anyway I’m coming to your place in a minute. Don’t start getting dressed until I arrive, I have the perfect shirt for you.” She beamed before the line went dead.
Zanka sighed again as he got up from his desk. His focus had long disappeared so it was no point giving himself a bigger headache.
He decided to head to the bathroom to freshen up before Riyo got there. The boy left his room as passed by his roommate's room, whose door was wide open. They gave each other a smile and wave as they continued doing their own things.
Zanka made it to the bathroom and turned the shower on. He wanted to be quick so he wouldn’t have to endure Riyo’s complaining about how he ‘was a lady when it came to getting ready’, whatever the fuck that meant.
While he was in the shower he took a minute to reflect on his first year of college so far. It wasn’t particularly fun as he never bothered to go to any parties or games to make friends. He only went to class and studied. Only occasionally hanging with his friends Riyo, Rudo, Tamsy, and Follo. That needed to change though. Because aside from education, Zanka came to school to show his rich judgemental family that people would care about him. He wasn’t some screw up that they could look down upon any longer.
Eventually Zanka finished his hygiene routine and left the bathroom. He was wearing grey sweats and a deep blue top to match his earrings. He decided not to go in his room as he was waiting for Riyo’s arrival and just sat on the couch in his living room instead. As he was laying on the couch scrolling on his phone he couldn’t help but overhear his roommate, Fu, on the phone. “Yea I heard there's a basketball game today” He paused as the unknown person spoke then continued, “You already know why everyone is going…to see Jabber.”
Zanka stopped scrolling on his phone to think for a moment. Who the fuck is Jabber? He had never seen or heard of him before and he wondered why Fu cared so much about the guy. Before he could dwell on it, there was a knock on the door.
Zanka got up, already knowing it was Riyo and let her inside. “Alright Dork, Let’s get you dressed.” Riyo looked beautiful. Her bright long red hair was flowing down her back, with the top half in a bun in the middle of her head as well as a strand of hair flowing on each side of her face . She was wearing a black crop top that stopped right under her chest and matching black, baggy sweats. She also had a crispy white zip up coat hung down, stopping just at her waist.
She held the shirt behind her back as if it was a surprise as they walked toward his room. Riyo exchanged a few words with Fu who was still on the phone before closing Zanka’s room door. Once Zanka was seated on his bed staring at her with a blank bored expression she finally took her hands from behind her back, revealing a dark blue sweater that hung loose around the neck like and had a white colored shirt sewed inside it. The sweater had a knitted pattern and it matched his eyes. She tossed the shirt at him and went over to rummage through his closet for the perfect pants. “Try it on.” She said eagerly, her back facing him as she looked through pants. “I saw it at the mall earlier…but I didn't feel like calling and asking if you’d like it or not so I just bought it.”
Zanka let her talk about the shirt's back story as he tried it on and walked over to the mirror, gawking at how good it actually looked. She was right, it did actually fit him well. He turned around and walked towards her slightly posing, “How do I look?” He faked an accent as he began doing more poses.
Riyo giggled a little as she began posing with him, “You look absolutely stunning ma’ lady.” She replied with a British accent, which made them both laugh aloud. “Oh and I found these, put them on so my vision can come to life.” She handed him a pair of dark grey baggy jeans with blue swirls, the same color as the sweater, on the bottom sides of each leg and turned back around so the boy could get dressed.
After Zanka got dressed she turned back around with a finger tapping her chin as she inspected the look. “Jewelery…it could definitely use silver jewelry. Oh and white sneakers.” She said slowly while nodding her head.
“Isn’t this a bit much for a basketball game..” Zanka was skeptical about all the dressing up. Riyo looked up at him with a dumbfounded expression, “It’s so we can attract the hotties stupid. Plus you always dress like this.” She said it as if Zanka was asking her what two plus two was. “Now pick out your silver jewelry and I’ll get your shoes.” She clapped her hands and went to his shoe collection, picking up some beautifully white snickers that had, of course, hints of blue on them.
Zanka grabbed a few silver chains and put on his silver watch like it was second nature.
Finally, they were both ready to head to the game. They grabbed their phones and any other necessities and headed out the door. The two walked toward Zanka’s sleek black car. Everything on the outside was black. The paint, the rims, and the windows were all black. It was truly the love of his life. “You know the rules Riyo…don’t do anything that could hurt my baby.” He said sternly, to which she just rolled her eyes. “It’s a fucking car Zanka.” She said blankly as she opened the passenger side door and hopped inside.
The interior of his car was of fucking coure, blue. The seating, steering wheel, and any other decorations in his car was a deep solid blue. As they waited for the car to warm up, Riyo connected her phone to the radio and began shuffling through songs. She didn’t even try to rely on Zanka to play the music because she always just assumed his taste was just as boring and innocent as him.
The drive to the college gym was filled with songs and laughter from Riyo, but focus and silence from Zanka. He took driving very seriously. He would never admit it but the amount of car crashes that happened really scared him.
When they arrived, there were a ton of people and cars all around. It wasn’t Zanka’s kind of space and he already wasn't going to enjoy that lay ahead.
He parked and they both stepped out with two completely different emojis plastered on their faces. They met at the back of the car and began walking side by side toward the huge gym in front of them. “Im sooo excited” Riyo cheered. “Theres so many people…we have to at least talk to someone” She voiced turning toward Zanka with the brightest smile on her face. After all this was habitat. She had always been a people's person.
“Whatever…” Zanka said quietly as they reached the gym building's doors. He reached for the door but a dark-skinned hand, decorated with a ring on each finger beat him to it. Zanka looked up and made eye contact with someone he had never seen before. The boy was beautiful, he had long locks that were messily shoved in a half ponytail. “Sorry man…I’m kinda in a rush so could you move?” A deep voice shook Zanka out his thoughts and his face burned bright red as he took a huge step back, almost knocking Riyo over. The dark-skinned man didn’t spare the two another glance as he walked into the gym, very clearly rushing.
“Oh he was fine..” Riyo gawked as soon as the man was far enough away. “He was kind of rude, thats what the fuck he is.” Zanka said as he regained his mindset and realized what the fuck just happened the contined, “Who the fuck is that guy anyway?” He questioned. It was something about that guy's magenta eyes that really captivated Zanka in a way he couldn’t explain. Riyo shrugged her shoulders, “I wish I knew,” she replied, “Good thing that's why we're here…to meet new people.” They walked further into the gym and found their way to the bleachers finding a seat at the very top. The basketball team hadn’t come out yet so they decided that snacks would be a way to pass the time.
“You stay here and make sure no one steals our seats.” Zanka voiced as he stood up and headed to the concession stand. He exited the gym and walked further into the lobby, making his way to his desidered destination. As Zanka stood in line his eyes wandered to his surroundings. He had never been in the gym building since he had no reason to be. It was surprisingly nicely designed. There was a huge glass case to his left that was filled with trophies, medals, pictures, and jerseys. Along with plaques describing each thing displayed in the case.
Soon it was Zanka's turn. He hurriedly bought a couple of snacks and drinks for him and his friend. It took a short moment but when his order arrived he grabbed the bag with a polite ‘thank you’ and made his way to the glass case. He wanted a closer look and all the things his school accomplished over the years.
He saw black and white pictures of people from way long ago and even recent ones. Zanka’s eyes lingered and the picture from last year's basketball championship, then he froze. There he was. That rude guy from before. The dreadhead was in the picture with a basketball uniform on and smiling from ear to ear. His sharp canines were visible. Zanka stared at the man, even in pictures he was just so mesmerizing.
“Do I really look that good?” A familiar voice from behind Zanka made him pause. He slowly turned around and there he was. The man from the picture. He was different from their first encounter, this time he was smiling slightly and looking down at Zanka.
Zanka immediately popped back up and stammered over his words, “I..I wasn’t staring at you…I was just looking at the team in general.” He looked at the boy, he was very embarrassed at being caught but the other didn’t need to know that. “I never seen you here before” The dreadhead tilted his head a little, examining Zanka. “What’s your name?” He asked boldly. Zanka was taken a back at the way the boy didn’t hold back anything when he spoke.
“My name is Zanka…It’s my first year here” He said, expecting the boy to introduce himself. However, the boy just nodded as if he expected such an answer. “Yeah..I definitely don’t know you.” The guy said, “Anyways my name is Jabber. Jabber Wonger.” He smiled even brighter and extended his hand. “Nice to meet an admirer.” Jabber laughed a little at his words.
Who the fuck did this guy that he was. “Im not your fucking admirer..” Zanka snarled, looking Jabber up and down. “I already told you I was just looking at the team.” He didn’t accept Jabber’s nonverbal offer on the handshake and started to walk away from the man. “You are so full of yourself…it's weird.” He said as he left Jabber standing by himself, his hand slowly returning to his side. Whoever this Zanka character was, he hated him already.