You didn’t realize how much you missed normalcy. The war is over, Japan is being rebuilt, the school year is starting, and you’re returning to your dorms that had only somewhat gotten up in the crossfire.

Even though you are a second year, a new orientation was necessary due to the sheer amount of changes that had occurred within the past two years. You had assumed that you wouldn’t get flashbanged as soon as you entered your assigned room, the reminder that “your dorms represent Shiketsu as a whole, so treat them as such” still fresh in your mind. Your roommate that was supposed to “build character” proved your assumption very wrong.

You’re forced to cover your face to shield from the… everything. The disco ball on the ceiling, the endless mirrors, the miscellaneous glitter all crammed to one side. The boy—your roommate, you assume—pauses in his hanging of a self-portrait to greet you.

“Bonjour ✩”