“Ahoy!” Van burst into the room, now dressed in the same uniform as Alexander, his backpack slung lazily over one shoulder.

Alexander immediately bristled, “What are you doing here!?” he hissed, hunching in his seat.

Van, grinning, strolled into the room as though he owned the place, gesturing widely, “Why, I’m here to escort the Princess to his new chambers,” he mused.

Alexander only bristled further. “Stop. Calling. Me. That!” he said through clenched teeth.

Ariel ran her hand over her face and sighed, “I see you two have met… why am I not surprised?” She sighed again, “Guillory, where is Nana?”

As if a switch flicked in Van, he immediately calmed, planting one hand on his hip and gesturing uselessly, “She and the girls got locked out of the change-rooms after gym,” he explained. “She sent me in her stead.” Then he smiled and winked, “And that’s ‘King Van,’ Headmaster.”

Still hunched in his seat and eyeing Van warily, Alexander had scooped up his bags into his lap and was holding them close to himself. “Does this guy have a screw loose?” he muttered to Ariel, not caring if Van heard him.

Ariel leaned back in her seat pressing her fingertips together and took in a deep breath, holding it before slowly letting it out. “Evans, this is Van Guillory, one of the special student liaisons, and president of the student council. I ask that you please, at least, try to get along?”

Alexander scrutinized Van from behind his backpack, “Can you tell him to stop calling me Princess?”

“Fat chance, Princess,” Van strode over, grabbing Alexander by his upper arm just above his bandages and hauling him to his feet. “You should be happy, not everyone gets a nickname from me, especially on their first day,” he added, his face really close to Alexander’s. When Alexander tried to pull away, Van’s grip tightened. “No need to be afraid, Princess,” he cooed.

“Guillory,” Ariel’s voice carried warning. “Be. Nice.”

Van leaned away from Alexander and looked to Ariel, once again feigning offense, “My my, Boss Lady,” he pouted, “When am I ever not nice?”

“Guillory,” she warned again, her expression darkening.

Van sighed, shaking his head, his grip loosening on Alexander’s arm, but not enough for the other to pull away. “I know, not everyone’s used to my antics,” he quipped as though he were quoting something often said to him. “I promised Nana I would be nice to Princess.”

This seemed to satisfy Ariel enough, and she waved him off. “Evans, there’s only so much I can do about this one. Please just put up with it. He might get bored,” she sighed as Van pulled Alexander through her office door.

“Might!?” Alexander squawked. “Whaddyoumeanmight!?” he cried, but the door to her office closed in his face as he spoke. He was alone in the hall now, with Van. He recoiled from the other, turning his gaze up to the taller boy and trying to pull away unsuccessfully. “Let. Go.”

Van smirked at him, “Princess is feisty, I like it.”

“Why are you calling me that!?”

Van shrugged and released Alexander’s arm, “Because it suits you,” he said simply, turning away down the hall. He shoved his hands into his pockets, more to keep himself from touching Alexander than anything else. “If you come with me, I’ll show you to the dormitories and get you settled in,” he chimed over his shoulder, looking back to where Alexander still stood outside Ariel’s door.

Grumbling, Alexander followed after Van, neither one of them saying much to the other as they traversed the campus. They eventually made their way to the main entrance where the building opened up to a large roundabout with a garden in the middle. Off to their left stood another building some ways off, six storeys tall with its own access to the main street and also the road within campus.

“That’s the dormitory,” Van said, waving up the the building as he turned that way, continuing his walk. “There, we house all of the international students from the high school section of Cranberry Institute. The university has another campus higher up on the ridge on the other side of the city,” he explained.

“I’m surprised a high school needs that much space just for internationals,” Alexander muttered, falling into step just slightly behind Van, hoping to stay out of his grabbing range.

“Well,” Van began, “We also have a couple of locals that stay there too—you know,” he said, showing his first sign of discomfort and he rubbed the back of his neck, “The kids who don’t have anyone, or come from other parts of Iropa.”

“You mean the orphans,” Alexander stated flatly.

“Well, you’ll find that there’s a lot of kids here without parents,” Van responded. “It’s really not that uncommon for kids our age now… Heck, some kids in our class live with their grandparents, or fosters, or just straight up have been adopted.”

Alexander’s mouth set into a line. “Evan never fully adopted me. She’s just my guardian, but she at least gave me her last name,” he said.

At that, Van stopped, just before pulling open the door. “Why didn’t she adopt you?”

“I don’t know,” Alexander shrugged, not making eye contact. “Knowing her, she was probably just keeping my options open or something—hoping that I might come across my real parents,” he smiled, though it had a bitter quality to it.

“Do you want her to adopt you?” Van asked.

Alexander hugged his bags closer to himself, hiding his face behind his bangs. “I shouldn’t ask for unreasonable things…” he muttered.

“U-unreasonable?” Van arched an eyebrow, “How is that unreasonable, Princess?”

Alexander huffed, “Please stop calling me that.”

“Not a chance,” Van smirked again, pulling open the front door. “Ladies first,” he gestured.