Previously Kurin had always thought their least favourite question, the worst question anyone could ask them, was: Are you a boy or a girl? Not only did it instantly scream close mindedness in thinking those were the only two options, there was the fear of the person asking being transphobic too and if they were simply clueless there was always the annoyance of having to explain what non-binary is to people. No matter how many times Kurin had to do it, there was nothing quite so annoying as going through all the usual explanation spiel and educating people on the definition of their identity. As if it had to be justified!

However now that question was getting a pretty good rival in the form of "When are you gonna date someone?" or "You must have a crush, right?" Because no, they don't have a crush and they have no plans to date anyone. The expectation that they should want to be in a relationship was something Kurin couldn't help but hate, just because they're not aromantic doesn't mean they have to be either in a relationship or pining for someone else. If there's no one they're interested in then that should be fine. That should be that. The conversation should end there.

And just because most of their friends were in relationships, didn't mean they had to be too. Shun and Lia were made for each other, Dan, Magnus and Ajit couldn't have found better partners than each other, Wynton and Jenny understood each other perfectly and annoyed the shit out of everyone else. Kurin didn't have that and they didn't need that either.

Sometimes they envied others for being aromantic. It seemed like that would be the only thing they could say that would get people to stop asking about their relationship status. Unfortunately, Kurin was openly pan and had been for years so yay for them, they couldn't lie to get away from the questioning.

Honestly, they didn't quite understand how anyone at this godforsaken academy even had time for a relationship. They were tired enough from just attending classes, completing their homework and putting up with their friends' bullshit all the time. How others found time for a romantic relationship on top of all that was beyond them.

They sighed quietly, readjusting their silver music note hair clip that had once again begun to slip out of his dark bangs. They knew dwelling on the topic was entirely pointless but it was so frustrating that they couldn't help but get lost in thought about it again. If only-

"Kurin! Guess what!" Callie Dahl exclaimed, slamming her tray of food down onto the table at the same time as Noah Schmidt slammed his own tray down.

A small smile spread across Kurin's face, they could never resist their friend and roommate's antics. Something about the two of them reminded the non-binary of Aay (their friend who was really like an older brother to them) and his friends, all of which Kurin missed greatly while they were away at the academy.

"What's up?" They asked, interested to hear the gossip their friends seemed so desperate to tell them, if the way Callie was bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet was at all telling.

Callie grinned, clearly overjoyed to be able to share this news, her green pigtails bobbing up and down in time with her bouncing around. "So... I know you wouldn't have seen it but I was just talking in the class group chat and... I may have gotten Athena to agree to meet up with me!" She cheered.

Noah slid down into a seat beside where Callie was standing opposite Kurin, "So basically she's got a kind-of date with her crush." He added, smirking as he teased his friend. It was a well known fact in their group that Callie had a huge crush on Athena Monde, the school's top student, she was always talking about the other girl.

"Just a study date but hey! Good enough of a start for me." The girl shrugged, taking a seat beside Noah.

The non-binary smiled at their female friend, "Hey, that's great!" They encouraged, "First a study date, next that date to a cafe you're always saying you'd want to go on with her." Kurin really was happy for her, sure news about romance wasn't the most interesting thing to them but so long as no one was asking them about their relationship status they could put up with it. Besides, it really was nice seeing Callie so happy about this, they knew she'd been wanting to get the chance to spend time with Athena, just the two of them, for a while now.

Noah began to tease Callie about her date again, Kurin took a bite out of their sandwich as Chet Chipman, a friend of Callie's, joined them at the end of their table. Kurin offered him a small wave as he sat down, to which Chet nodded in reply. They weren't really friends and honestly Kurin didn't know the first thing about Chet but due to them both having Callie as a mutual friend the two were on decent terms and would occasionally talk at their regular lunch table about class related things.

No sooner than the boy had sat down, before Callie had gotten the chance to turn to him and tell him her news, Chet's phone had buzzed loudly. The purple haired male checked the caller ID then sighed, "Excuse me, I'll be back." He told them, leaving his lunch at the table with the other three and leaving the room to answer his call.

The silver haired boy raised an eyebrow at the other two, "Weird." He commented quietly.

Callie shrugged, "Not really, it's probably his parents. You know how private he is about his family once he's stopped bragging about their status." She reminded them both, taking a bite out of her apple.

She wasn't wrong and out of all of them she definitely knew Chet the best so the other two nodded slowly in response, quiet falling over the group momentarily as they all thought about how their own families can be.

Around ten minutes later Kurin left the table, saying their goodbyes to Callie and Noah, having finished their lunch and wanting to go back to his room to read for a bit. They left the cafeteria and heading up the stairs to the dorms they heard a voice talking.

"Yes, I understand."

They turned the corner of the staircase and saw Chet standing on the first floor talking quietly into his phone.
"Of course, Father."

Kurin proceeded up the stairs and the two made eye contact for a moment as Kurin passed, offering their classmate a small smile before they continued through the doors into the dorm corridor. Whatever was going on with Chet was none of their business and they intended to respect that and not stick around longer than needed.

Finally, they entered their room and sat down on their bed, opening up their book from where they'd last left off. More than ready to get lost in the plot of Five Survive and to forget the real world around them.