Ode to First Impressions (Laurel)

Ki always had a bit of trouble understanding others. She could predict how others would react to things rather easily through careful observation, but actually understanding the why behind them was the part that always stuck out to her. Even with her friends, there was a good lot of the time she simply couldn’t understand why they would act the way they did. She was a logical thing, she thrived off logic; but emotions on the other hand, were not. And attempting to understand emotions was quite the task for Ki.

Though, if one were to look closely, they might say that Ki took on the problems of those closest to her and made them important to herself as a distraction. Because she would rather deal with the problems of others then her own. Her own problems spun her in circles due to her conflicting schools of thought and left her unsure which course of action to take for them. The problems of others were easier to deal with, she found. Their problems had rather logical answers to resolve them and the distractions were always welcome.

The problems of others consisting of all the menial issues each of her friends were having. Most of them having to do with their love lives as annoying as that was.

Acknowledgement of that made Ki roll her eyes. It always did. In her mind, they were stupid problems.

But she’d still rather deal with them then her own.

However, at the moment she couldn’t find an appropriate distraction from the details she wanted to avoid. Her grandfather had called her a few hours ago; to check up on her and make sure all was well, or so he had claimed. He was okay, as far as direct family went for Ki, but he had brought up a rather annoying question.

He had asked her what her plans were after she was done at the academy. She very well couldn’t stay a student forever after all, but she had no desire to take on any sort of profession that existed. Her overly defiant and rebellious nature put a serious crink in any possible job that might even remotely appeal to her, and then there were desk-jobs that she’d rather destroy then take a part of. Her nature was too destructive. So where would that leave her?

Her grandfather, of course, reminded her that there was always the family business. The family business that she had done so well in, that she had truly been raised to be a part of. She didn’t want any part of it, not after all her father had done, but what else could possibly appeal to a nature such as hers?

As much as she utterly loathed admitting it, her grandfather had a point.

Her computer screen was the only light illuminating her darkened room as she sat in front of it, her chin propped up on one hand which was propped up on her desk while the other hand was drumming away at the very desk; the razor “press-ons” specially made were of course, scratching the desk without any trouble at all as she drummed away, the dark shadows that were thrown across the half empty room hardly worth any acknowledgement.

Said room was a room for two. There were two beds, though the one to Ki’s left had beddings and a pristine white snow leopard napping upon it, by the footboard rested her motorcycle, and then between that and the wall was a closet and vanity. Both also hers. There was the door to the washroom on the other side of the room and in the center of the room sat a nice and large rug, which her computer chair was nestled atop of. The rug was important, it hid the trap door and muffled any tells that Ki had created a hallow under her room for extra space and a better hiding place for her belongings that truly needed to be hid. That was, of course, why she was on the first floor. She couldn’t very well make a space under her room if she were on one of the upper floors after all.

The hallow was a secret though, and what she was sure was a very well kept one. Cris knew about it because she had been her previous roommate and had shared their room when she had made it in the first place, and Raea knew as well because she visited her room all too often, and as for the rest of her friends… well, Ki wasn’t sure who else knew and who else didn’t, but she trusted her friends knew to keep it secret. She was trying to work on trusting, and who better to start with then her own friends?

The first floor of the girls dorm was always rather quiet, and the floor above had a tendency to watch their noise level as well, but that was all thanks to one very good threat Ki had made during her first few weeks at the academy. This had been done partly because she simply didn’t want to have to suffer through annoyances from other rooms, and partly to make it easier for her Kokoro to hear things happening outside of the room. Superior hearing and all.

So, of course, when Kokoro’s ears perked up and she got up, looking directly at the door leading out into the hallway which was located behind Ki, the crimson raised an eyebrow and opened her program on her computer which connected her to the small cameras she had planted in the hallway. There were two coming down the hallway, but unsurprisingly, Ki didn’t recognize either of them. Curiosity had her plug in her headphones and turn the sound of her computer on so she could hear as well, and then things started to make some sense. From what she understood, one of the two was from the office, showing the other to her new room and talking about the roommate the girl would have, and from what was being mentioned about said roommate, Ki could only assume it was her.

What was previously an assumption was proven true when the two stopped outside the room, and of course, Ki couldn’t help the mild glare on her face at this knowledge. If she was going to have to share a room, she would insist it only be with her friends. Her friends wouldn’t tell her secrets to those just dying to know them nor would they rat her out to the academy authorities. Friends, she could trust, but strangers were a completely different story.

She closed down the window that held the camera footage and resumed with staring at her computer screen in the dark as if she hadn’t noticed the flood of light from her dorm room opening and the light being flicked on. And of course, when the authority asked that she calm Kokoro down, who was still curled up on her bed and growling lowly in warning, she acted as if she hadn’t heard at all. Like this she stayed until the sound of the dorm room being shut informed her of the other woman leaving, and only then did Ki remove her headphones from her head and turn her steely glare to her new roommate. She said nothing and only watched through narrowed eyes, Ki was fairly sure this girl had been informed of all the bad seed that Ki was, and as such, Ki thought it best to wait and see what kind person this girl was, for only then could she decide how quickly she needed to drive her out of her room.

Actually, that was something she’d never had to do before, it seemed to bare the possibility of being fun to her.

So with that thought, Ki hissed a short, sharp sound to silence the growling predator and stuck her steel hair sticks into her hair, using no other tools to keep it in the bun she had twirled it into, and then flicked her gaze back to her new roommate. She was waiting for signs and cues of what sort of personality she had. She needed to know her prey before she could begin to properly torment them after all.