“Figures” Mikron would say with an eye roll, despite the fact he was the one to originally bring up the topic of food. “And whoever told you about leaving class spots open gave you good advice. Wasted time my first year here because no one told me I could just test into higher classes.” He would grumble as he led the way out of the gym and into the halls.

Said hallways were closer in size to subway tunnels than school hallways. Double wide and a bit taller, though it seemed necessary to some degree as at least one student Jinny could see needed to watch his head regardless due to his height. The width did a lot to combat crowding, not that it was very full at the moment. Still, overall it was rather normal, so long as you didn’t think too much about the honey colored steel that seemed to line the walls, the advanced motion or P.A.N. sealed doors, or the fact that most of the students that weren’t in the school uniform seemed to have some type of weapon on their person.

Mikron would continue leading them towards the Cafeteria. “Mechanics, Robotics, Advanced energy systems, Piloting, Quantum mechanics, Coding, Weapons, And Electronic warfare” He would answer the question about classes absently obviously thinking about her first question.

Bee, on the other hand, did seem to know who Jinny was talking about. “You ran into The Jinx?” She would ask, sounding a bit impressed. “And you saw a hex spark but nothing happened? She must have been on her best behavior” Bee would muse aloud.

“No one really knows much about her” Bee would go on to say “She’s a Dark Way Prep transfer. Which means she’s been with the school in some capacity since she was like four.”

“Oh! I know who you are talking about now.” Mikron would chime in. “She’s banned from just about any of the workshops due to her power. Though I did hear that she passed some competency test from the teachers so that might not be the case this year.”

“That’s frightening, her power was already dangerous and now she’s gotten a better hold on it?” Bee would shudder a bit at that. “Her sparks have destroyed cars before. Something about causing cascading failures. I’m guessing she can manipulate luck in some capacity, due to the name, but only she would know for sure and not many people are willing to befriend a living bad luck charm.”

“I think it has more to do with her body count” Mikron would add looking rather intently at his watch. “Seems she’s killed more than just a few students due to ‘Accidental Power Mishaps’ but she did also take out that asshole from introductory physics so she can’t be all bad.” A glance at his watch would reveal that it was not currently telling time, rather that he seemed to have hacked into Jinx’s personal file that the school had.

“Huh” Bee was looking more than a little off put by that revelation, but she would eventually shrug it off. “Jinx has good instincts from what I hear, so whatever it was she was after must have been good.” Bee obviously didn’t know of the encounter that had happened earlier. Assuming that Jinayah just saw something that had caught her interest.

“I’m in a Weapons course, as well as Leadership, Aerial Tactics, Close Quarters Combat, Stealth, and Gymnastics. I’m holding on to my other slots though I might just make them a study hour.” Be would answer as they reached the Cafetiera.

The Cafeteria was like many school cafeterias. Large wide open room with a lot of long tables running parallel to each other. There were four primary food lines, each line had a menu above the start of the line letting people know what was available in that line. Each line seemed to be focused around either a style of food such as meat dishes or vegetarian. Or a region of origin such as Spain or Mexico.

Jinny was informed that the lines slowly rotated what was in. New menus taking over the rightmost line daily, while all the previous lines shifted over.

“Food is all you can eat during the lunch hour.” Bee would mention “But you can’t take more than one meal from a line at a time.”

“You’re not supposed to take more than one” Mikron would correct, gesturing towards a student who seemed to have a feast in front of him. The fact that he was nearly seven feet tall and built like a brick wall might have had a lot to do with how he got away with it.

“How’d you come to learn about HIVE?” Bee would ask once everyone had gotten food and sat down. “You a legacy kid or do something that impressed someone?”

Jinny absorbed the information about the pink haired girl, now a little bit more curious. The fact that Mikron said she’d accidentally killed other students didn’t go unnoticed. That meant she definitely didn’t want to be in the same room as this girl. “That’s… actually kind of freaky. Killing someone without meaning to, just with ‘bad luck’.” Her mind was already on the train of thought however, about how one would even go about quantifying ‘luck’. This Jinx probably had some probability-changing ability. The pink sparks were lucky to be there as proof of power – imagine if she could cause one of those cascading failures without any sign at all! She’d be the perfect assassin.

Most of that thought process ceased as they hit the cafeteria. The scents of various foods hit her nose, and her stomach growled in anticipation. After she got in line, she sent a quick text to her uncle. He probably wasn’t worried, but best to let him know. Hi! I think I made friends. I am eating lunch with them. See you later!

Once they were all settled at the table, Bee’s question took her off guard. “Ah. Um. My mom was an assassin.” It wasn’t the truth of the matter, but it wasn’t a lie either. She quickly stuffed her mouth with a big bite of taco, having sampled the Mexican line for lunch. Jinny just didn’t want these two to react like the pink-haired Jinx, and just want to be near her for what her uncle could provide. She just wanted to have people around her because they actually liked her. Whatever that would mean at this school.

“What about you guys?”

“Nice, I’m a legacy kid as well” Bee would nod appreciatively. Completely misunderstanding Jinny’s reply, it was starting to be apparent that Bee was a surprisingly honest type of person considering the nature of the school. “My parents helped design some of the tech they use around here. I got in on scholarship because of that.” The older girl would go one to explain.

“I broke in.” Was Gizmo’s answer. “I stumbled across their firewall and got curious. Took me a week to crack the outer layer which is why I knew what I found was complete bull. So, I broke in to figure out what it was they were hiding and got caught.” The pint-sized genius seemed annoyed at the fact he had been caught more than anything. “Not really sure what the Headmistress was thinking when she offered me tuition. But the tech lab more than makes up for it.”

“Pretty sure she was thinking about interest you’d have to pay back if you skipped out on joining” Bee would reply, gesturing with her fork. She had gotten a chicken salad with what seemed to be a honey dressing of some description.

“Figures” Gizmo had gotten a plate of chimichanga’s “Not surprising that she’s that mercenary”

From there conversation devolved into generalities, favorite foods, hobbies, and other such conversations. Before Jinny was done eating however, she would get a reply from her uncle.

Glad to hear you are enjoying yourself. Paper work is done on my end, and I’m just finalizing a few things. On that, would you prefer to room with me or get a dorm room with another student?’

Jinny was quite enjoying her lunch. At her old school, she had taken her lunches alone. It only bothered her sometimes. But this was brand new. Would they become true friends as the year progressed? She hoped so. Bee seemed super chill for an older girl. Gizmo was… honestly a little bit of an asshole? But the way his mind worked, it was hard not to like him either. By the time her phone buzzed, they were deep in conversation about movies and how they were super inaccurate. She took a moment to read. A roommate, huh? Maybe it’d be an opportunity for another new friend. Hopefully, they didn’t just suck.

Another student. But I promise to come visit, Otou-san.

She sent it quickly, paused, reread it, and had a flash of panic. She hadn’t meant to type that last bit. It had just come out of her fingers without routing to her brain.

She’d been thinking of him as a father for some time. Ever since they had gotten honest with each other about who they really were. Calling him “Dad” didn’t feel exactly right, because she needed a separation between him and her actual birth father. Otou-san fit, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t embarrassed about it. She wasn’t really his kid, after all. Maybe he’d overlook it, or ignore it? Hopefully he wouldn’t be mad. After staring at her blank phone screen for answers, she returned to the conversation. Something about Die Hard being bullshit, but at least exciting bullshit.

“So what’re the dorms like? Do you guys have roommates?”

Across the campus, up in the main office for the surface school. One of the most feared men in the world was sitting silently stunned. It would have been entirely possible for Slade to stay sitting staring at his phone until the office closed, but his phone did what phones did and after only a short time shut off the screen to preserve power. Leaving Slade to be faced with own reflection.

‘Otou’

A simple title. One that the man wasn’t fully sure was Jinayah’s intention when she replied. But it rendered him awe struck all the same. Softly he would set down his phone and allow himself one full minute to simply breath.

After that minute passed Slade returned to finishing the last thing to do with the paperwork. Signing Jinny, his daughter, for a dorm room. No one in the area, in fact no one in the world, realized that Slade Wilson just became even more dangerous than ever before.

He had something to lose once again, after all. He was a father, again. And he did not have the words to articulate what that meant to him. All he knew was that Heaven help any who harm his family, and Hell have mercy.

For they would find none from him.

None of that mattered at the moment however, for now he finished the last of the work and went to turn it in and get the badges and keys they would need for their stay here. For their new life here.

He itched to reply in kind as well. But that could wait, when he was sure that his space was clear when he was sure that they would be safe. He would let her know he felt the same. That she was his musumé.

But not yet, not when there was a chance that it could be used against her. He lost one family to carelessness. He would not lose another to the same.

’I’ll hold you to that Jin’

---

“They are alright” Gizmo would answer. “I think they went for economical rather than ergonomic for the most part. No shared bathrooms however.” He’d add before nodding and gesturing once again to the giant student still working his way through a personal buffet table. “And yeah I room with him. He goes by Mammoth. He’s not the smartest, but I’ve seen him pick up an engine block with his bare hands.”

“Huh” Bee would look over her shoulder at the newly named Mammoth, “I’m rooming with my parents personally.”

“Why?” Gizmo would interrupt before Bee could say anything else.

“Harder for people to get at me, and I get to poke about their labs” She would reply with a raised eyebrow. Her wings buzzing ever so slightly as well, made it seem like there was more to it than that.

But Gizmo simply rolled his eyes, either not noticing or not caring about the tell “Figures” He would say, a tad sarcastically. “Well dorms are simple, as I said. Two bedrooms, each with a connected bathroom, a decent communal space and then a small kitchen.” He’d explain, a small projector peeking out of his harness under his coat to display a rough outline of the floor plan on the table.

As he said they were rather simply set out. The dorms were rectangular, with the bedrooms seated next to each other on one side, the kitchen on the other with the living room area in the center. The living room also connected the dorm to the hall, or at least that was what made the most sense as there was a door there on the floor plan. Gizmo didn’t bother explaining what it was for at any rate.

The bedrooms didn’t technically share a wall, the bathrooms did. With the closets on the other side of the bedroom compared to the bathrooms. And the kitchen seemed to have a fridge and a stove according to image, as well as a bit of counter space, but there wasn’t a dishwasher listed and neither was there a washer or dryer listed anywhere.

“Some of the Dorms will have an office space that has to be shared, but normally it’s for higher grades or particularly gifted students. Though they will take it away if you keep blowing things up.” Gizmo would add, sounding annoyed by that “Security on everything is decent, but the teachers don’t mind if you add your own stuff on top.”

“Wonder where you’ll end up” He would go on musing after letting both Jinny and Bee, but mainly just Jinny, have their fill of the projection. “Most dorms are situated up above, but there are a few down here.”

Jinny, completely unaware that she had shut down her newly minted father’s brain for about 12 seconds, continued to talk with her lunch buddies.

She too, peered over at the very large student. “Mammoth. Interesting. I hope he doesn’t, like… accidentally sit on you or something.” Honestly, he looked like he could pick her up and throw her like a football if he had the inclination. Which was just the slightest bit scary to her, actually. Human sized foes? No problem. This guy? Maybe a problem.

Jinny peered at the dorm layout, then snagged one of the paper napkins and a pen from her bag. She sketched a very rough copy of the floor plan, marking where she figured things were going to go. “Kitchens, huh? I can’t cook much. I mean, I can start, but it’s the end product that’s always a problem.” How many times had she left a pot on the stove to go to something else ‘for 5 minutes’ and come back in 50 to a smoking mess? Slade had quickly banned her from the stove without direct supervision, lest she burn down the house.

“Maybe this place will have a secret midnight fridge full of snacks that I can eat whenever I want.” While she was full now, she still wanted to snag something for later. If she was going to be moving in, she might need some fuel.

“I don’t care where they put me, really. I’m more wondering who I’ll end up with. Hopefully someone who won’t go through my stuff or is super messy.” Jin was actually oddly organized, considering how her brain worked. Her own spaces, especially where she built her projects, were neat and clean at all times. Blueprints and instructions were in labeled binders. It helped to keep her mind from running off the rails.

Lunch was over sooner than Jinny wanted to. She would have gladly stayed and talked for hours. “Guess I’ve gotta move into my room now. But I’ll see you guys in class!” Heading off with a broad grin, she could have skipped back to the office. But she wouldn’t. Even if she really wanted to.

She entered the office and looked around,her mid-text still floating in the back of her mind. He had not acknowledged anything significant in her reply, and she was somewhat worried about it. Maybe he’d ignore the whole thing.

“Is the paperwork all done?”

Gizmo and Bee would wave their goodbyes as well before they both went their own way as well.

It was easy to blend into the crowds of students as she made her way back to the office. No one was really looking for her for one, and there were plenty of others who also holding onto their exuberance as they went about their business for two.

Really, anyone who didn’t know the truth about the academy wouldn’t be able to see anything out of the ordinary about it.

Jinny would come bounding into the Office just as Slade turned away from the front desk holding a small stack of ID cards. A small, honest, smile would slip onto the older man’s face at the sight of Jinny. “Just got all the cards” Slade would confirm as he held the stack of six cards up for emphasis.

Normally the cards were only given out one at a time. Slade had been able to persuade them to hand out a few extra. Presumably as backups. But also, so Slade could poke around at how they were set up. Plus, the blank extras that only had the room access on them.

“Arrived just in time it seems.” He would say handing over the three cards that were Jinny’s “I was just about to go and have a look at where they are housing me.” Slade would add as he began to lead the way to the elevators. “You mentioned friends. I’d assume that the boy we met was one, who else?”

The teachers living spaces on campus were located in the underground section of the school. They had an entire floor layer to themselves in fact. Not that the general hallways looked much different than any of the other halls that Jinny had seen. Still Slade’s first look at the halls had him shaking his head. “Never expected her to go all in on the bee theme.” He would remark as they walked.

Slade’s room wasn’t very deep into the floor, but was positioned at the end of a hallway. A card swipe and a six-digit code were needed before the door opened up. The living space itself was rather plain, and not all that dissimilar from the layout of the student dorms either from what it looked like. The walls were a steel color, the furniture and counters a simple black. There was a panel next to fridge on the wall that Slade knew held the controls for altering the colors of everything. As well as a system to order less basic furniture.

“Well first things first.” He would say as she started to sweep the room for bugs and other hidden things. It wasn’t as if he was expecting to find anything. But that was no reason not to check. He did however limit his search to the living room/kitchen for the moment. And seeing as he didn’t find any secreted away monitoring equipment, felt comfortable enough that even if the other rooms did have any, they wouldn’t be strong enough to pick up anything going on in this room.
With a nod to himself he would step away from the last corner he had checked and return his attention to his daughter. The same soft smile from earlier returning. “So, musumé, I think we are in need of a talk” He would say casually as he moved to sit on the couch.

Jinny tucked her key cards away as Slade handed them over. She was wondering about that smile, feeling rather confused. It wasn’t that he didn’t smile. It was just rare. While they walked the halls, yellow hexagons and all, she told him about her new friends.

“Yeah! The boy calls himself Gizmo and he’s pretty much the smartest person here. I’m probably second, but that just gives me someone to beat in the future! And there’s a girl named Bee. She’s older, and real pretty, and she can fly like me. Except she’s got actual wings.” She paused, taking a brief look around. “She could totally be this place’s mascot. I didn’t ask her about that, though. I think it might have made her mad.”

She also mentioned the large aerial training area where she knew she was going to spend a lot of time. The whole jetpack incident went completely unannounced. No reason for him to worry, she hadn’t been actually hurt, just scared. And she was going to get her vengeance one way or another. He could hear the story after that.

As they entered the room, she tried to guess his code. Once they were in, she floated up to the ceiling to start checking corners and vents for bugs. He had taught her the importance of having real privacy before speaking, when you were in a new area, and trained her on searching by bugging her entire bedroom. It had taken her a lot longer than she’d liked to find all the hiding spots, and she’d tried practicing ever since.

“Looks ok to me. Weird, I thought they would be all over the place.” She plopped down on the couch as well. Whatever topic she had been about to land on flew her brain.

Did he just call her daughter?

“…”

For several seconds, she couldn’t say anything at all. Then, to her surprise, she felt tears springing to her eyes. She wasn’t even sure why. “You mean… You’re not mad?”

Somewhere deep within Slade’s mind, a part that never stopped calculating, a part that never truly slept, acknowledged that it would seem odd on the surface that the room wasn’t bugged. But the headmistress knew him, thus she likely knew that searching his room for bugs would be the very first thing he did. And upon finding those bugs, how long until he had a backdoor into the school’s systems?

No, there wouldn’t be any bugs in his room, not to start. But he would have to check regularly. Because one day the risk rewards of them being there would swing out of his favor. And as much as he was given shelter here, he was far from willing to consider this place home.

But none of that was the focus of his thoughts, just the ‘Terminator’ that always lingered within.

His focus was on Jinny, resolutely on his daughter. “For such an honor” He would reply softly. “Never.” He wasn’t crying, his self-control was far to total for that to happen, but his eyes were unmistakably misty. As he slowly, carefully, reached out to bring Jinny in for a hug. Slowly because he knew the type of reflexes she had, he had taught them to her after all. Carefully, because she was precious to him in a way that was difficult to put into words.

“I know that I will never replace your father” Slade would say after a few moments of the embrace, His voice still soft and almost reverent. He was also speaking from experience, the loss of his son’s. Of having them torn away from him as they had been. Such an event brands them into one’s being, never to truly be displaced. “But I am honored to be seated alongside him within your thoughts.”

It was effortless to treat her as his family. They both had lost a fundamental part of themselves to the darkness of the criminal underworld after all. But he never wanted to presume that she would look at him and see family just as easily. Quietly, silently, hoped? Yes, but never would he put that pressure on her. Not before when he was first getting used to this second chance, and not when things had settled.

Because she had saved him from himself.

Slade would have liked to stay within the moment for longer. But he was far too practical of a man to allow that sadly. So he would speak sooner rather than later “How do you want to handle this?” He would ask. Legally speaking they were already family, but few people in the know knew that. He himself had always been frightfully proud of his family, and even the dangers that brought couldn’t dull that aspect of who he was.

But it was Jinny who would be most affected by that here at the Academy. So he would let her set the course. And plan his countermeasures accordingly. He just hoped that he wouldn’t need more bullets than he had brought.

Jin always had an in-between feeling. In between being innocent, and not. In between being harmless, and lethal. In between being a child, and someone that was simply young, but a child no longer. It was like walking a tightrope at all times, being in a constant state of precarious balance.

Yet, right now in this very moment, she was just an ordinary child. Small, a little bit scared, and emotionally overwhelmed. So as soon Slade reached out for a hug, she simply burrowed her face into his side and started to cry, wrapping her arms as far around him as they would go. Frankly, she wasn’t even sure why she wept. She was actually overjoyed in this moment. If he’d rejected her, she wasn’t sure what she would have done.

She stayed like that for several moments, quietly listening. Then she pulled back, a bright and beaming smile on her face. One that spoke volumes. Despite being a killer in training, there was a heart underneath. One that she had to hide, but it was there.

“You’re going to be Otou-san forever. I hope you’re prepared for that.” She wiped her face on her sleeves, and took a few deep breaths. This was a big decision, but one she’d had spinning around her head for weeks now. Once her mind was clear, she spoke again.

“I think it needs to be a secret. For now. Because our enemies will use that against us, right? Or mostly against you. I don’t have any enemies besides the Kiretsu. That’s probably gonna change, but right now I just want to go to school.” She swung her feet a little bit, thinking.

“I just have to figure out what to call you. I mean, even if I say ‘Uncle’ that might be too much, right?” She looked back at him with concern. In her mind, she had to keep him safe. Nevermind the fact that he could absolutely and without question keep himself safe. Jinny wanted to protect him too, just the way he protected her.

“So. I guess you get two new names today. I was thinking sensei? It's accurate, anyway. What do you think?”

The sight of his child still having her heart, battered and bruised as it must have been, was a complicated thing for Slade. It was a good thing, it meant she was strong, that even with all the darkness that her life had faced she hadn’t broken, hadn’t lost that indelible spark that made one human. But it was also a painful thing. Because he knew that she would one day leave. Either due to her own exhaustion at killing, or because the otherside better fit her own sense of morals.

It hurt, and he mourned her leaving already. Because Slade knew that he was a bit too far gone to ever really leave behind the life of a mercenary. He cared too little about too much, and enjoyed the thrill more than was safe, to be able to anything else. She was family however, so he accepted it, as he had made the mistake of trying to force his son to be someone he wasn’t. And Slade wasn’t a man who didn’t learn from his mistakes.

But he shuffled all of that to the back of his mind and instead focused on the problem of here and now.

“Sensei works.” Slade would say with a nod, his mind gearing up to formulate ideas. “It wasn’t a deep secret that your mother and I were on good terms with each other. Her setting up a contract with me to take care of you in case something happened wouldn’t be too abnormal.” He would offer up as a cover they could use. It also had the benefit of only two people knowing the truth of the matter being the two of them.

“We wouldn’t even have to change much about our history for it to fit. Covers ‘Uncle’ as well in case you slip up. Habits from other schools where we kept things more hidden” Because it would eventually get out. Better to prepare for it than hope otherwise.

As he was working out if they would need to cover any other immediate topics. A thought occurred to him. Holding that thought in mind he would stand up and check in his new bedroom for a moment, and it seemed luck was on his side.

Earlier, when he was still working on getting everything squared away with the school, he had passed off a couple of his own bags to the staff to drop off in his room. For the most part there wasn’t anything of significant worth in the bags. Clothes mainly. His gear was still stashed in the car, he didn’t trust anyone that much.

But there was something hidden in these bags that had just become relevant. Tucked away in a disguised pocket Slade retrieved a small jewelry case. Before returning to Jinny with it.

“There has been something I’ve been holding onto for a while. Something that I always intended to give to you, but now can also serve to help protect our secrets as well.” He would say as he handed the box to Jinny. Upon opening the box Jinny would find the very same necklace that Slade had taken from her mother so long ago.

“People are going to assume you have secrets. Because you do, this can be one.” Because Slade was never one to shy away from an advantage. “It was your mothers. I don’t know where she got it, or if it held great importance to her, but she did often wear it.” He’d explain. “So when people go digging, hide it. When they get near it, protect it. And if they earn the right to know more, tell them about it. About those that came for her.”

“People rarely go looking for more secrets once they’ve found one that seems important.” And perhaps the necklace would truly be important to Jinny. It was a link to her mother after all, but for all of Slade’s care for his family, he was still a shrewd man as well.

Jinny listened quietly as the story was set into place. It wasn’t such a massive lie that she’d have to remember lots of specific details. She would have to start acting a little colder, which might be the only difficult part.

When he returned with a small box, she was curious. She turned it over once in her hand, examining. It wasn’t particularly heavy, and was way too small for anything but the smallest of knives. Or maybe a blow dart gun. When she finally opened it, she was surprised to find not a new tool, but something very familiar to her.

“This… belonged to Okaa-san.” Her voice dropped to a low mumble as she was awash with memories. It took a moment to shake them and clear her head, to listen carefully to what was being said. The necklace was a simple thing. It was shaped like a Japanese sakura flower. Sterling silver, with a small pink topaz in the middle. It wasn’t particularly pricey and could have been found in any boutique. But Jin handled it like it was a precious treasure, because to her, it certainly was.

“Hide it. Protect it. Keep it a secret until I can trust someone. I can do that.” She paused as she carefully put it around her own neck. It was far too large. But she smiled anyway, at the presence of it. She could almost smell her mother’s perfume. “Thank you for keeping this. It makes me really happy.”

“I may have messed up.” She admitted after a few moments. “Bee asked me how I got in, and I couldn’t think of a lie fast enough. So I just told them my mother was an assassin. That’s all, though. I hope that doesn’t ruin things too much. I’m sorry, Unc- Otou- Sensei.”

She shook her head, a little irritated at herself, then said the word sensei five times over in her head, to make sure it stuck. Then she straightened up, somewhat embarrassed.

“I guess I’m going to have to practice.”

Stepping off the bed, she pulled one of the key cards from her pocket. Then she grabbed a school map and looked over it, until she pointed out a particular area. “It looks like the student dorms are underground. I want to see my room.” She tucked the key card back away, checked the small knife she had strapped to her ankle, then headed for the door. Once the room was safely locked up, she was the one to lead the way through the school.

About ten minutes and two elevators later, they were approaching her room.

“156A. This is me.” It seemed the students just had keycards, and did not have the additional passwords. The ever growing calculating part of Jin’s mind noted that fact and tucked it away for later. No secrets in this room.

She opened the door and silently hoped her roommate wouldn’t suck.

Slade watched with a keen eye as Jinny treasured the necklace. It pleased him to know that he’d made a good choice all that time ago. “Not a mess up. Or at least not a critical one. You told only the truth when she asked, even if it wasn’t the truth to her question.” He would say after a moment of his own. “They know your mother was trained, but not the truth of what happened to her yet. Plenty of room for you to use it as a distraction.” He’d explain.

Slade would quietly follow along after Jinny on the way to her dorm. It was a quieter trip than earlier, in the fact that less people were gawking. Wither it was the novelty had worn off or that people were simply more professional down here was anyone’s guess.

Never the less Slade was memorizing the route as they walked, Jinny was in a rare circumstance of knowing more than he did in this instance as he had yet to see below ground. He was suitably impressed by most everything. The coloring scheme was likely always going to be a point of contention however.

Jinny would enter her dorm room and the first thing that she would be able to note is that it looked like her roommate had already made themselves at home. There were little nick-nacks scattered about the living room already. A bright purple throw pillow on the couch, that wasn't a standard issue. A massive intricate dream catcher was hung up on the wall. And an Incense burner sitting on the table, an incense already burning in it as well giving the place an earthy aroma.

As they looked around, the sound of a shower in one of the rooms could be faintly heard. Informing the both of them that the other tenant was already in as well.

Slade would let out a contemplative hum, before turning to Jinny. “I’ll go your luggage and have it sent down.” Slade would say aloud eyes and ears cast to the occupied bedroom. “We can workout when your training will take place once we’ve gotten our schedules. Which should be finalized by the morning.” He would explain just in time for them to hear the shower shut off.

With one last nod, and a gentle pat on the shoulder, Slade quietly slipped away. A teacher might care to know where one’s student lived, but not one of Slade’s reputations. That would be something that needed to be worked on, finding time for them to have outside of training.

That left Jinny alone in her new dorm. Not entirely alone, but still.

Poking around she would find more personal things tucked away in the cabinets, plates with kittens on them, a large box of protein bars, and an exquisite set of cooking knives that were both well used and well maintained.

Over in the living room area there was a handful of movies, mostly slasher vids, with a few cheesy action movies as well. There was a beat to all hell game station, an older model that seemed held together with duct tape and spite. With a small collection of games, JRPGs mainly.

It was while Jinny was looking at the games, she would hear a voice from behind her, one she recognized.

“Fuck”

Turning around Jinny would once again be treated to a young lithe girl. One with gray skin and bright pink hair. She was wearing much less formal clothes now, a tank top and a long pair of shorts, both a faded purple.

She currently had her face in her hand, obviously having already recognized Jinny. “I can’t tell if this is a good thing or a bad thing.” Jinx muttered to herself. Before lifting her head out of her hand to meet Jinny’s eyes.

“Guess this means we are roommates then?”

Jin was surprised that the room looked somewhat lived in already. Maybe this wasn’t a new student, but someone who had been here before. She picked up a game at random and peered at it. There was a yellow haired guy with an impossibly large, unwieldy looking sword on the front cover. “Last Fable 7?” She didn’t have a video game system of her own. Training took up a lot of time, for one, and she preferred to focus her mind on other hobbies in her downtime, like building things. Besides, some video games had a lot of reading, leaving her somewhat bored when there wasn’t action on the screen.

A swear came from behind her, and Jinny tensed, turning to find the source. Her stomach dropped.

“...oh, for fuck’s sake. You?” Jinny set the game down and folded her arms, immediately on the defensive. Her eyes narrowed, a little scowl twisting her face. “I thought I was having a good day.” She huffed a little sigh, looking back at the door that Slade had left from. Was it too late to switch rooms?

No, no. If she couldn’t handle this on her own, how was she going to manage the rest of the school yea? She would consider this her first challenge. Her first battle against a real opponent.

“Listen. Just – don’t touch any of my shit, you jinx.” She let that sink in for a split second before continuing. “Yeah, I’ve heard of you, and what you do. I should probably be impressed, but you’re way too annoying for that. So leave me alone, and I’ll leave you alone. If you don’t, you’re gonna find out what someone with real power can do.”

Nevermind that this Jinx girl had actually killed people. Even if it was an accident, that was still impressive. No, Jin had to make her stand here and now. Otherwise she’d just be a coward, and she wasn’t having that. “Got it?”

Rather than being offended at being called a jinx the girl just gave a wide toothy grin. “That’s me” She gave an overly dramatic bow, obvious sparks of pink energy trailing after her hand, though they would fizzle out before anything happened. She seemed to feed off the irritation Jinny was giving off but there was also a bit of respect glimmering in her eyes at Jinny being so willing to throw down despite having apparently heard of her.

“I’ll keep to that agreement so long as you do” Jinx would agree, for a moment it felt as if she was going to say something, before she thought better of it. “That’s my room” She would point towards the door further away from the entry. “Stay out of it and I stay out of yours. Also keep the salt in the tub and you bring any mirrors into here the consequences are on your head.” She would go on to add. Her tone was joking, but there was a dark seriousness in the way she delivered those additional rules.

“I’ll be nice and leave my system out here.” Jinx would nod at the games Jinny was looking at. “It survived me; I doubt you’d be able to break it on accident.” She would start sauntering over to the fridge, even as she kept an eye on Jinny. “How do you want to handle the fridge stuff?” She would ask.

Apparently, she wanted to get all the ground rules out of the way right at the start.

Jinny regarded the girl with a cool stare. The rules so far made sense. Stick to their own space. The use of the gaming console was a surprise, though. Maybe she figured it would be easier that way. “Fine. I don’t break stuff by accident, though. Nothing I can’t fix again.” In the very back of her mind, she wondered if that worn out console could be saved. Maybe after some heavy research. But no – that wasn’t her business. Best to drop it.

“I guess I’ll take the lower shelves.” Sometimes she hated being small. “I don’t think I’ll have too much, though. I don’t cook a lot. Mostly I use the microwave.” Her mind rewound a little bit, and she frowned in confusion.

“Wait, what is the salt for? I get the mirror thing, and I won’t adopt any black cats. But salt?” There was so much she had to learn. She’d encountered a few other metahuman children, and fewer adults. Then again, the adults probably knew how to hide their power if they wanted to. This was all new territory, and she was excited to learn. Even excited enough to be civil to the dangerous Jinx. Since the other girl didn’t seem to be afraid, that put them on equal footing. She wasn’t going to test that unless it was necessary. “What else should I know?”

“If an accident could take out that console I wouldn’t have it anymore.” Jinxy would reply with a shrug. “As I said, it survived me” she gave a flourish with one of her hands, pink sparks dancing across her fingers to emphasize her point.

The reason Jinx went into the kitchen was made apparent rather quickly, as she easily navigated about the small kitchen area pulling out various ingredients for a simple stir fry. “Spilling salt on accident is bad luck” She would explain with a dangerous smile. “So is any Friday the Thirteenth, sweeping the wrong way, or hanging a horseshoe upside down.” She would explain.

“Luck is absolutely real.” She would say more of her focus going towards her food as she spoke. It was apparent that Jinx was skilled at cooking, not a master chef, but not an amatur either. “She is also an absolute bitch.” Jinx’s gin turned decisively feral at that declaration.“So don’t go pissing her off and we’ll have no problems.”

She stayed focused on her meal prep for a bit after that. But Jinny could see Jinx tossing glances her way every now and then still. “I’ll trade you a question for a question” She would speak up again. “How good of a teacher is the Terminator?”

Despite not yet knowing if she liked this girl or not, Jinny was intrigued. She had a sudden urge to play games of chance with Jinx, to experiment, to see exactly how her ‘bad luck’ worked and what it could really do. But that would have to come later.

“Okay, I’ll remember all that.” She was going to have to check the calendar for the next Friday the 13th. Maybe she’d have to stay with Otou-san if there was one soon. As Jinx asked her question, not about her, but about her father, she felt a little annoyed. Of course she’d only care about him. Just like everyone else.

But they’d know her name soon enough.

Letting out a little irritated huff, she decided to be honest. Maybe it would discourage Jinx from her dumb idea of intruding on their lessons. “Sensei is a great teacher, but he’s not nice. Like, I know he’s going it somewhat easy on me, because otherwise he’d literally kill me. But he’s not afraid to hit me when we’re sparring. I’ve never won, because he doesn’t mess around.” Something about ‘a hundred lessons in defeat’ or something. “Hiding the bruises and going to regular school was a trick.” But at least she’d learned the best places to hit someone and not make it show.

“Besides that…” She shrugged. “He does his thing and I do mine.” That wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t quite true either. Slade did leave her to her own devices more often than not. But he was also there when she had trouble. When one of her experiments had gone wrong and she had to work it out. When she threw her English homework across the room in frustration. When she had the usual nightmare and didn’t want to go back to bed. He was an excellent choice as far as fathers went. But she wouldn’t trust that knowledge with anyone. She just wanted to make him sound scary and cold. So she continued.

“When I said you can’t keep up, I meant that. I’ve been doing this since I was a little brat. You’d probably get hurt pretty bad. So you should drop it.” Realizing this was a bit more bitchy than she’d intended, she sighed.

“Look. I think I'm about done. I spent most of the day getting fucking stared at like a weirdo and I’m over it. So I’m going to give the bed a test run.” Jinny retreated to her own room, closing the door and leaning against it. So far, the day had been… interesting. But not all bad. Tomorrow was going to be the real test.

She got dressed for bed, crawling in not soon after and dropping into an exhausted sleep.

-

The next morning, Jinny realized that her suitcase had been dropped off at some point. Which was good, because she needed a fresh uniform. Half an hour later saw her showered and dressed, with her hair braided back as usual. The necklace was still around her neck, and she hid it under her shirt. She peeked out of her room into the shared space, and saw that Jinx had get to get up. Good.

She gathered her things into a brand new purple backpack, made sure she had her keycard, and slipped out the door toward the cafeteria. The first class for today was open, reserved for testing purposes, and she wanted to get into a higher math.

This early the cafeteria was lightly populated. Most of the people she saw were early risers much like herself, though there were also a few students that seemed less like they had woken up early and that they simply had yet to go to sleep if the bags under their eyes was any indication.

No one in this particular crowed gave Jinny a second glance, either they didn’t know or they didn’t care about her connection to the new teacher.

The food on offer in the morning was staple morning foods, and was also a self-serve bar instead of the queues from lunch yesterday. Cereal’s, oatmeal’s, scrambled eggs, toast or muffins, that sort of thing. It was fresh, but it was still less of a focus compared to later on meals.

The quiet nature of the morning was rather relaxing however, at least compared to yesterday. Which made it nearly impossible to miss when one of the other early birds did double take upon seeing Jinny. Granted his stature would have made that hard either way. Mammoth, as it turned out, was one of the early morning crowd. He didn’t approach Jinny however, simply gave her a wave in greeting, before continuing on his way towards the food. Which he then promptly took half of the service bar back to his chosen seat.

The math classes were predominantly held above in the surface school areas. There were a few different times set about for tests, each block set aside by a different teacher. For the moment Jinny did have a bit of time before she had to head to the first testing time.

Jinny actually enjoyed being up early in the morning. It was quiet, there was less people usually. Less noise. Less everything. It was nice. So she was happy to be left alone. It was a bit of a surprise that breakfast was so sparse, considering the huge set up for lunch from yesterday. She grabbed scrambled eggs, toast, and a bowl of fruit from the bar. She was going to sit down. But then the huge guy that Gizmo had mentioned yesterday, Mammoth, startled somewhat upon seeing her. He waved, which was at least better than the staring. She found herself waving back.

After a bit of eggs and some thought, she decided to see what his deal was. She had one little knife in her shoe, just like she had yesterday. It'd probably be like a toothpick against this guy, though. Oh well, she could always run.

Mammoth and his super-sized table were absolutely impossible to miss, so she dragged a normal sized chair over to his table, brought the rest of her food, and plopped down.

"...what's up, big guy?" She said nonchalantly, taking a bite of her apple.