Robin is not a morning person. At all. Not once in his life had he liked waking up early. There was no demand for him to, either; school didn't start until 8:30, he didn't have a job, and he didn't work out because he was too lazy to. So when he was awoken at five in the morning by the sound of some weird alarm, he was barely functioning as a human being. He looked around for his glasses and put them on, sitting up a little. He saw Zelda scurrying around the room, fully dressed in her uniform.

"Zelda?" He said, his voice deep and raspy. She froze, turning to him with the best smile she could muster.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" She asked.

"It's okay. Why are you up so early?" Robin asked.

"Well," she hesitated. "I'll be back in about two hours, okay? I've got a doctor's appointment, so I, uh..."

"At this hour? I didn't know any offices were open this early," Robin said, rubbing his eye. He could tell she didn't want to tell him, and he wasn't about to pry either. So he settled for a little casual conversation, hoping it'd make her feel a little better.

"Oh! Yeah, haha, my doctor's a little weird. She's quite a cranky woman," Zelda smiled. "Anyway, I'll be back soon, okay? You keep on sleeping." As soon as she finished talking, she hurried and left the dorm. He was a little worried, to be honest, and awfully curious. But it wasn't his business, and he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. So to get his mind off it, he went back to sleep.

Back to sleep.

Sleep.

He couldn't sleep.

He groaned quietly and kicked the sheets off him, jumping carefully out of the bed. He intertwined his fingers over his head and stretched his back, his shirt moving up enough to reveal his belly button. He let out a low moan as he relaxed, slapping his mouth shut as soon as he realized what that sound was. His cheeks flared up as he scurried his way to the bathroom.

After taking a quick shower and brushing his teeth, he got dressed in his uniform and stared at himself in the mirror. His skin was in good condition, for once. Had he gotten paler? Usually his skin was a little darker than this, and while it was still a nice caramel color, he looked more... dead than usual. Maybe it was because he was a little nervous for today, being that it was the first day of school. Well whatever, not like anyone was gonna notice anyway. Hopefully.

He slipped on his comfort sweater and then came the debate of the century: glasses vs contacts. He bought a pair a couple weeks ago but had been too scared to wear them until now. Who knows, maybe it was time for something new. He put on his glasses and walked out.

School didn't start for another hour and a half, and Zelda wasn't back yet. He considered texting her, but he figured she was probably in the middle of the appointment, so he settled for reading a book. Something about Witchers. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, so he took it out and opened the messenger app. He figured it might've been spam, but his eyes went wide as he realized just who it was.

Lucina

L: morning! How you doing? oh sry did I wake you up?

R: I'm okay, and no, I've been up for a while

L: lol you the type to wake up early eh?

R: no actually, I usually wake up half an hour before school starts

L: mood

L: you excited for today?

R: kinda, I guess

L: wym? Is smth wrong?

R: I dont do well around a lot of people, to say the least

L: don't worry too much, the people around here are rly nice

L: actually, you got lucky you came in this year. There were some annoying ass bitches last year that loved to mess with people

L: they graduated tho

L: so no need to worry about them

R: I dont know if that made me feel better

L: sorry sorry, just stick with the people you feel comfortable with

L: I'm right here if you need me

R: thank you

L: ofc! See you at school :D

R: see you there

His face turned a light shade of red as a sweet smile spread across his face. He didn't really know why he was so happy, but he was. He let out a small chuckle as he laid back on the office chair he sat on, that smile still on his face no matter how hard he tried to stop.

Alas, a knock at the door spooked the smile off him. He stood up and walked to the door, already having a good idea as to who it was. He just wondered why she didn't text him that she was on her way back. He could've gotten her breakfast, or something.

"Hey! Ready to go?" Zelda grinned as he opened the door.

"Yup," Robin sighed as he grabbed his backpack off the floor.

"How about we go to the cafe near the academy for breakfast?" Zelda suggested as they made their way down the hallway.

"I'm not really hungry-"

"To the cafe we go, then!" Zelda confirmed, wrapping her arm around his while she used her other hand to point forward. The action surprised him at first, but he smiled. He really liked spending time with her, she was cheery, but never took things too far. She was also open to try stuff he liked, which was nice. And even now, she was taking care of him. He really liked her company, and he could only hope that his wasn't bothering her.

***

They walked up the steps to the academy after having gotten their breakfast. Nothing big, just a grilled cheese for both of them. Their server, named Cloud, almost dropped them as he walked up to their table, and that was probably the most exciting thing that happened that morning. As soon as they walked into the school, they were surrounded by students, mostly freshmen who didn't know where they were supposed to go. In any other scenario, Robin would be among them, but thankfully, he was saved since he and Zelda shared the same classroom. Still, being around all this people made Robin a little nauseous, but oh well, not like he could do much. Not like he could turn into a dragon and fly away.

They maneuvered their way around the students and made their way up the stairs to the third floor, where all junior classes were. And yet, once again, they were met with a crowd of people they could barely pass through. Why? Robin didn't know. He didn't think there were any freshmen around, in fact most of the people here looked around his age. He did, however, notice that everyone seemed to huddled up around three guys, two with blue hair and one blond. He noticed one of the two with blue hair had a red vest, unlike the other two, which had blue vests. He leaned close to Zelda's ear and whispered, "who are they?"

She sighed, like this was nothing new to her. "Those are what we call 'The Hot Guy Gang.' Taller one with blue hair is Ike, smaller one is Marth, and the blond is Link."

"Oh."

"There's more," Zelda said, clearing her throat, "There's 'The Pretty Boy Crew,' which has Yuri, Ashe, Linhardt, and Noctis. I'd like to note that that one was made yesterday. 'The Majestic Professor Quartet,' Chrom, Sephiroth, Byleth, and Ardyn. 'The Fair Lady Entourage,' made up of Peach, Camilla, and Palutena. There's many, many more, but those are the most famous ones."

"I see," Robin nodded. This school was weird. Though, if Zelda wasn't included in that last one, then that group was invalid. "Um, how come Ike has a red vest?"

"'Cause he's a senior, each grade is divided by color. Seniors are red, juniors are blue, sophomores are green, and freshmen are yellow," Zelda explained.

So that's how she knew I was a junior, he thought. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ike looking over at them. More specifically, at Zelda. He looked nervous, perhaps even a little sad. Weeeiiird. But interesting.

"I have no idea how we're gonna get around this crowd," Zelda said.

"Is the classroom that way?" Robin asked.

"Yep. I could always throw them out of the way-"

"Pardon me." Someone stepped out from behind them, their voice smooth and sweet like honey. Everyone turned their attention to them, lulled by their voice. "I need to get to class, would you mind moving aside, please?" The crowd of people gasped and nodded slowly, moving aside and clearing the hallway.

Zelda and Robin looked at Claude with slight disbelief. He looked back at them, all proud of himself. "What do you know, my scheme worked, as I knew it would, of course."

"Your scheme? Is that what you call that?" Zelda grinned with a raised brow.

"Well did it work or did it work? You, young miss and mister, should be thanking me for clearing your way free of charge," Claude said sarcastically.

"Oh yes, of course, pardon me, Young Lord, thank you for your generosity," Zelda said, bowing dramatically. Robin tensed up a little, but bowed slightly in an attempt to play along.

"Yeah, that's what I thought!" Claude smiled, putting his hands on his hips. "Anyway, what class are you guys in?"

"We're in 3-b, with Professor Chrom," Zelda said.

Claude let out a loud, drawn out groan. "I'm in 3-c! I was hoping we could at least be in the same class together, but oh well, it is what it is," he sighed. His eyes went wide as an idea popped into his head. "Say, how about we meet up for lunch?"

"I'm down, how about you, Robin?" Zelda said, turning to him.

"That sounds, uh, nice," he said quietly.

"Great! Let's meet up here then, okay? See you guys later," Claude smiled and waved as he walked to his own classroom.

Zelda turned to Robin as the two made their way to their own classroom. "Ready?"

Robin sighed as they stepped in. "I guess so." And so, their school life begins.