Ryo awoke with a startle, his phone buzzing in his pocket bringing him out of his sleep. With a groan he rolled onto his back, his vision hazy from just awakening…
"Fuckin' hell…" He'd say as he put his hand in his pocket, bringing out his phone with a glare at the unstoppable buzzing.
37 notifications from Instagram, Jesus… He'd try and force his eyes more open to see better as he pressed on the notification, his phone unlocking with Face ID. It appeared he had been added to some sort of group chat named "Squaddddd"... pressing it to open, he saw the barrage of messages on his screen.
HotHaruto: did I miss anyone?
NotHana: nah seems good?
OfficialRen: Bro… Nari?
HotHaruto: nah, Nari don't use Insta for texting so no point
OfficialRen: true.
NotHana: @Bakaryo you aliveee helllooooo
HotHaruto: hes probably unpacking
NotHana: so…? He could still reply to us, ya know
Ryo allowed himself to skip over most of the conversation after that; it did not appear very important. It simply seemed like Haruto was adding him to a group chat with his friends, probably trying to get 'em all introduced. He'd glance at the top right of the phone, looking at the time sadly… Already past 7, huh… he hadn't even started unpacking yet… He'd type a short text in response, turning his phone off after and closing his eyes again.
BakaRyo: sorry was sleepin
The phone buzzed a few more times after he sent it, but he couldn't bother to open the chat again, letting out a yawn as he stared at the ceiling. He really should get up and start unpacking… he still hasn't set up his PC… semester starts next week too… He'd tilt his head to the side, his eyesight still a little blurry… both from sleep and likely because it was too dark to see clearly without his glasses…
"Fuck…" He'd say as he forced himself to sit up on his mattress, slapping his cheeks lightly a few times to try and drive the sleep away as he let out another yawn. Standing up, he walked lazily over to the shared restroom, pulling the door open and stepping in. He ignored all the items which likely belonged to Haruto, and simply turned on the sink, gathering cold water in his palms and splashing it onto his face.
It did the trick, kinda. He glanced up, looking at himself in the mirror… The bedhead clearly struck again, not like he was one to try and style it, but it was clearly sticking everywhere more than usual now. Running his still-wet hand through it, he turned around and headed back to his room to begin unpacking, putting it off any longer and he simply would not get around to it.
Getting to his room, he glanced at the five boxes stacked against the wall. In one of those somewhere were his glasses, and he did sadly need those. With a sigh he walked over, and ripped off the tape of the first one, opening it and glancing inside. PC parts… why had he not labeled them.
Pushing the box aside, he reached out, taking the next one, ripping off the tape and opening it.
"Bingo." Reaching in, he'd take out "The Silmarillion" giving it a look over and putting it down on the ground, reaching in again, and pulling out a glasses holder shoved into a corner. Opening it, he'd take out the transparent glasses he often wore whilst reading placing them onto his face and blinking a few times as his vision cleared up.
It wasn't like he really needed glasses all the time; however, they were definitely a positive and not a negative. His vision wasn't awful to require them daily, but sometimes it simply felt nice to simply be able to see a little more clearly. Having now achieved his minor want, he went back to the boxes, unpacking the books first, which he simply placed on the floor in a pile for now, of course, Lord of the Rings on top in chronological order.
Then, he went on to the other boxes, taking out clothes, study supplies, his Switch, and a wide variety of other items he had brought along. And, last but not least, he pulled out his gaming laptop, placing it onto his desk and inserting all the required pieces into it, to make it functional once again.
Unpacking didn't feel like a long process; he hadn't exactly brought over a lot of stuff, only things he didn't feel he could simply repurchase at any store cheaply. Stepping back and glancing around, it felt as if nothing had really changed. He had put a cover on the bed, as well as a sky blue pillow. His laptop now sat on his desk, humming quietly as a Windows update was being installed.
Other than that, all that was left was to hang up his clothes which he currently had piled neatly on his office chair which came with the room. It was strangely barren considering he brought basically all of his major possessions, but, nothing a few posters here and there couldn't fix, maybe a fan.
He'd start making his way to the clothes, only to be interrupted by the sound of the door to the dormitory opening, a loud voice calling out as it did.
"Ryo! I'm back, man! Got us some not-made-for-travel ramen!" Haruto's voice blasted across the dorm, making Ryo freeze in his step, and turn around, exiting the door which separated his room from the living area.
"Ramen? It's like nearly 9, man, I was thinking you'd get something light." Ryo responded walking over, taking the bags in Haruto's arms and placing them on the counter of the kitchen.
"I mean, ramen is light, no?" Haruto responded whilst kneeling down to take his shoes off, walking over to the counter and ripping open the bags without a care for presentation.
"...Sure, man." Ryo responded, looking at the drawers, wondering which one of them held chopsticks.
"Quit lookin', man, I don't got crap like that." Haruto said almost as if reading his mind, his hand in the bag which held the plastic bowls with lids on them as he pulled out a pair of cheap chopsticks, and two plastic soup spoons. "I typically just use the ones the shops give, ya know?"
Ryo gave a nod, reaching out and taking one of each as he glanced down at the ramen. "Who's is whose?" He'd question, although, he couldn't help but notice that the ramen appeared far more red then when he typically ordered it.
"Don't matter, same thing, ya know?"
Ryo shrugged, picking up one of the bowls. He lifted the lid, and the steam wafted up, carrying the distinct scent of spicy kimchi and something vaguely resembling beef. "This looks… spicier than what I usually get."
"Nah man, trust me it just looks that way, light work I swear." Haruto replied, a bit of redness around his mouth as he continued to slurp noodles without a care for how much of a mess he was making.
"Thanks," Ryo said as he pulled out the chopsticks, and pulled them apart running them across each other a few times to get rid of potential splinters within the wood before finally placing them in the bowl and taking a nice strand of ramen, bending down and slurping it up. "Oh yeah this is goo-".
He froze… it was a slow burner… slowly he could feel more and more as his throat began to burn, his vision blurring as his eyes began to water, he couldn't help but let out a cough, and walk over to the sink in the kitchen, turning on the water and placing his head underneath to drink from it.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! OH MAN!" Haruto appeared to be dying in the background, whilst Ryo finished up drinking the water, his tongue practically hanging out of his mouth as he gasped for air to cool down the burn.
"Wha- Whad da fuck is dis, man!" Ryo screamed bringing his hands up to fan his tongue rapidly, desperate for relief.
"I told ya, ramen, bro! If ya don't eat it spicy, why eat it at all." Haruto replied, still slurping up the ramen as if he could not taste the spice even a bit, his eyes weren't even appearing to be on the edge of wetness.
"Are you insane or something, man!?" Ryo hollered at him, turning back to the faucet and slurping more water to cool himself.
"I'm assuming this means more for me…?" Haruto said, in a very teasing voice, making Ryo slowly catch on that this had definitely been planned from the start…
"You're a dick, man…"
"Nah, this is just a welcome gift, ya know! Welcome to the dorm! We're roomies now!"
Ryo finally pulled his head from the faucet, dripping wet and still panting slightly. He glared at Haruto, who was now expertly twirling his chopsticks, a wide, innocent grin plastered on his face.
"A welcome gift?" Ryo repeated, his voice raspy. "You trying to kill me on my first night?"
Haruto merely shrugged, taking another mouthful. "Just building character, man! You'll thank me later when you can handle anything."
"I doubt that," Ryo muttered, wiping his face with the back of his hand. He walked back to the counter, eyeing his still-full bowl of fiery ramen. The smell alone was making his nose tingle. "Seriously, dude, how do you eat this stuff without even flinching?"
"Practice, buddy, practice," Haruto replied, tapping his temple. "Years of dedicated spice training. Plus, my dad's side of the family is all about the heat. It's in the genes, I guess."
Ryo shook his head, a small smile finally breaking through his discomfort. "Genes or not, you're a weirdo, man. I think I'll stick to the mild stuff." He cautiously poked at the noodles with his chopsticks. "So, what exactly is in this 'light' ramen?"
"Oh, you know, the usual. Kimchi, beef, probably a few different kinds of chili peppers. Nothing too crazy." Haruto waved a dismissive hand.
"Nothing too crazy…" Ryo raised an eyebrow at him, to which Haruto merely responded with a wink as he was already reaching out, pulling Ryo's bowl to himself and helping himself to it.
"We stayin' up all night though, gettin' to know each other and such though, so be ready, ye?" Haruto said, eyeing him as he spoke mid-slurps.
"Sounds good, I took a nap anyway."
"Perf."