Dirin and Keith both walked with the crowd, blindly following them. Keith was looking around at the buildings and noting down possible places he would visit once he got time to. Dirin was wondering if anyone in the crowd knew where they were going.
Pulling out his phone, Dirin looked up the directions for the Academy and got multiple results for different buildings, like the main campus and dorms. "Keith, do you know where we go to finish our registry? It would be at the main building, right?" Dirin turned his head to Keith, only to see that he wasn't there. Dirin looked around briefly while keeping up with the crowd.
He will probably text me if something happens. Dirin clicked the main building and started to follow the directions rather than the group. Surely you finish the registration at the main building. I wonder if the email said anything about it. Dirin quickly decided to make sure and check the email and found that he would finish his registration in front of the main building.
I'll register for Keith as well if I haven't found him. Maybe I should check up on him real quick. He sent a message to Keith asking about where he was. It only took two minutes before Keith responded with, "Found a donut shop that seems cheap and good. I'm ordering six. Have any specific requests?"
Yeah, I figured it would be for something like that. Dirin quickly typed back, "Cream filled." Dirin put his phone away after seeing the gates to the campus. He was surprised that he didn't have to stray away from the group since the train.
The main campus looked breathtaking to Dirin. There were ponds with boats on the water where people were fishing, many dirt paths that went to areas that seemed simple, while others made him question their purpose. There was a clean marble fountain in the center, with the bottom of the fountain filled with many coins. The buildings were tall and wide, and through the windows, dark figures could be made out. The main building, though, seemed to be made of a metal that Dirin couldn't name.
In front of the main building were a couple of stands with staff members who held sheets of paper in front of the stands, which had a piece of paper that had a couple of letters on and said, "Last name initials".
Dirin looked for 'A' and 'D'. Thankfully for him, they were at the same stand while 'B' and 'C' were at different ones. He got in line and started to wonder if he was even allowed to register for Keith. By the time it was Dirin's turn, the line was almost gone completely with only five people behind him. The person who was sitting at the stand was an older guy with black hair and bags under his eyes as he stared up at Dirin.
"Name?" The man said in a low, tired voice.
"Dirin Arbor," Dirin said as he pulled out his ID and showed the man.
The man calmly took the ID and started to go through it and check off things on the list. As he slowly checked off the last box, he handed the ID back to Dirin. "Go inside to claim your student dorm. Make sure to bring anyone you wish to dorm with, unless you want to be assigned a random group of people. Dorms can only fit up to four people. Sadly, yes, the dorms are coed, but you will not be paired with members of the opposite sex unless you both register for the same dorm together."
"Is it possible for me to register my friend for him? I know all of his information if that changes anything." Dirin asked, hoping that the answer was yes.
"I am not allowed to let others register others without any form of consent. If you can get a message from the friend and a picture of his ID for me, it would be possible, yes."
"Okay, thank you, let me just text him real quick."
"Please step aside so I can get the people behind you while you do that." The man requested, and Dirin immediately did it.
Dirin opened his messages with Keith and sent, "Give me consent."
Keith didn't waste a moment and sent back, "You have my consent."
Dirin looked at the message on his phone. He was supposed to question that at least a little bit. Maybe I'll register for a dorm by myself. After informing him what it was form Keith sent him an ID and also sent, "Can you register a guy called Markus Dane? He's with me currently and was getting robbed. I, of course, helped him!"
***
Keith split off from the group because he saw a Donut shop next to a Pizza place. It was a combination that made him already picturing the late nights where pizza and donuts were the only things that would keep him going. He didn't bother telling Dirin because he figured it would be fine and almost chuckled at the thought of Dirin searching for him. He isn't even going to know what to do with himself without me! Keith silenced a chuckle. Surely his friend could walk around a city without encountering anything dangerous.
Inside the Pizza place, the smells of multiple spices hit him instantly, and he immediately knew that this place would be where he would go first for every meal he needed. Who needed money when you could have pizza? Dirin would probably stop me, but he doesn't know how much of a necessity Pizza is! I just won't tell him.
Keith stepped forward and grabbed a menu to look over before immediately closing it and walking away. The prices were too high for him, that even affording a side would cause him to look for a part-time job. They probably charge for water as well! With those prices, I wouldn't be surprised! Keith went over to the donut place before his phone buzzed. Already missing me?
"Where are you?" Keith read the message and imagined Dirin sweating with worry over him. Giving out a small chuckle at the thought.
Waiting to answer for a bit, Keith entered the donut shop and immediately had to fan himself from the prices he saw. It was the complete opposite of what he saw at the pizza place. The prices were low and affordable, with the only thing he would question buying was the two-dozen box. Keith responded to Dirin with his message before approaching the cashier and getting three cream-filled donuts and three chocolate-covered donuts. He stared at the brownies inside the glass and vowed to come back for them soon.
After paying for it and leaving with the box, he pulled up Dirin's location and started to follow it until he looked over and saw four people. Three of them were wearing dark clothing that would've helped them blend in at night, but it only made them stand out right now. Next to them seemed to be a person who was the same age as him. He had black, messy hair and a very fearful expression on him. His face was quite round with olive skin. He had the blazer on with the white star on his lower pocket.
Who is stupid enough to mess with a kid from the academy? Don't they know more times than not, they could probably fight back with some odd power? Unless he's a newbie like me and Dirin. Keith was about to call the police, but when he saw a knife get pulled out, he walked in and put on his most confident voice and said, "Why are you messing with my underclassmen? Do you have some sort of death wish?"
One of the thugs looked over and almost smiled before he saw the blazer and star. He whispered something to the others before they put the knife away and ran deeper into the alley and turned a corner. I hope they trip or stub their toe. Before he could leave, the other student ran towards him.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The student repeated with a deep voice that startled Keith while looking at him like he was some sort of hero. "They offered to show me where the academy was after I asked for directions, but they pulled me into that alley and grabbed a knife!"
Keith had to turn his head up a bit to see the guy's chin, let alone his eyes. I'm not even going to bother making eye contact. He's too tall. "They probably figured you were a normal person since you gave away you didn't know where the academy is." Keith reasoned.
"Yeah, I'm never doing that again! I'm Markus, by the way! Markus Dane!"
Keith was about to respond, but his phone buzzed, and he was met with a message from Dirin saying, "Give me consent."
He probably needs it to register me. "You have my consent." He closed his phone and looked back up at Markus, only to see a disgusted look on his face. "He might need yours as well."