Welcome to Syne Academy! Your new Dorm Partner Will Be.... (Aikomi)

Salzem was new here at Syne and he had just received his dorm assignment. He would be sharing it with a girl by the name of Aikomi and that alone was reason enough for him to be nervous... He pulled his black hood tighter over his head while his shadow hovered behind him, manifested into the avatar that carried his luggage. Yes, he was not afraid to show off what his semblance had to offer, especially when it was a distinct convenience. the Shadow-man held several suitcases to it's muscle-bound chest with apparent ease, it's skeletal features blank of emotion but attentive, its glowing yellow eyes seemed to be scanning the hallways for potential threats. It was early in the morning, the halls filled with the boldness of darkness. The sun had yet to reach through the windows and touch the space inside Syne academy and that was just fine for Sal... He enjoyed the quiet that the dark brought and savored every moment because, in a few hours the day would come alive...

He'd slip through the halls of Syne quietly, the only noise being the *tap* of his shoes across the tile floor and the shuffling of the luggage in his shadow's arms a few feet behind. Thanks to map he was given, he was able to find his way to his assigned dorm without getting too lost, his entire body shaking (With anticipation...? Fear...?) under his heavy cloak. He had no idea what to expect from the person inside, especially after he woke her up.

Will she be mad...? He wondered, glancing back at his shadow, his own red eyes locking onto the Shadow's. Does she even know I'm coming...? The avatar nodded silently in assurance to Sal's own question and he smiled, if shakily. He always liked treating his summon like a person, making it move and respond to him in a way almost like one would a puppet. It helped to reassure him... keep him grounded... A model of a strong protector standing by his side....

With his hand shaking enough to make holding his key difficult, Salzem slipped it into the lock and turned, hearing the click of the obliging lock opening, allowing him to enter... and enter he did... quietly. Salzem pushed open the door only a bit, peeking inside before opening up a little more, just enough to slip inside... He then pulled the door open further for his shadow to slip in, the massive skull-faced creature ducking under the frame slightly and lightly setting down the luggage by the door, leaving them to face this dark room... He wondered whether or not he should turn on the lights or if he should leave them off, either option probably shouting "ALARM" to Aikomi if she saw him so early in the day... In the end, he decided the lights were better on because at least this way, he wouldn't be seen as someone breaking-and-entering....... he was hoping so much right now. The shadow shrunk back into Salzem's from which it was spawned, leaving the human alone as he shakily flipped the light-switch near the door. Brightness flooded into the room from the various sources, revealing the insides and shadows of the room. It was a nice, big room and he already saw one of the beds empty and off to one side of the dorm, big enough for one person to sleep in or two if they squished together. He supposed that one was supposed to be his...? He looked around for the other bed, unsure if it was behind one of the doors or what... He shut the door behind him with care, intent on making as little noise as possible, checking each of the various doors: Bathroom, check. Closet, check. That left one more door.

Aikomi lay face down on her bed, one arm hanging off of the side, and a small pool of spittle on her pillow by her open mouth. She was expecting her new dorm-mate to swing by and drop off their stuff soon. Semblance? Nope. Major? Nope. Gender? Nope. She wasn't even aware of a name.
She didn't really care, of course, for she didn't really care about new people. If you couldn't tell, after last night she was in her depressed, anti-social mood. After last night she was lucky to be capable of sleep, if not for her passing out then she might have been so paranoid as to activate Andromeda and mow down the person who had just opened the dorm room door in fear of it being another monster spawned from her schizophrenic delusions.

The synthetic cat-girl slowly got onto her hands and knees, her blanket sliding off of the bed and leaving her uncovered as she heard doors opening and closing quietly... Not much to stop a kill-bot from hearing it, honestly.
Rolling off of the bed, Aiko landed on the blanket on all fours in true cat fashion before standing up and walking over to the door. Everything had gone silent, so she assumed they had either left or were laying down or something along those lines, so she simply opened the door and, in the process, nearly smacked her dorm-mate across the face with said door.

She found herself staring at a man's chest. Right, she was only five feet tall... So she lazily looked up to stare him in the eyes, her eyes drowsy and uncaring. She was, in fact, only in her underwear along with black stockings that rested just below her knees (because for some reason she sleeps with stockings on), but human decency was the least of her worries, and not just because she wasn't human. Very obviously sleep deprived, the synthetic spoke in a mildly slurred voice.
"Oh. I guessh.... You're my new... Dorm-mate then?"

Salzem almost instantly recoiled as the last door opened on it's own, nearly slamming right into his face. Speaking of slamming, the person that came out also nearly walked right into him, stopping just short of actually running into the boy, luckily for them both. A wild blush splashed across Sal's cheeks and nose as his sanguine eyes fell upon the barely clothed faunus girl, luckily obscured by hood and shadow for the most part. All this girl had on was underwear and stockings that rose just below her knee. She was a beautiful girl to be sure despite her completely bed-ridden symptoms, with short white hair, yellow eyes and modest size only contributing to her cuteness not to mention her little cat-ears... Salzem immediately found himself silencing thoughts bursting to life at the sight of this girl, choking back gasps or flattening expressions in a distinct effort to appear as if he'd seen this all before. For what purpose: He didn't want to seem like the coward he was.

"Uh.... Yeah...?" He responded in an almost whisper, silently cursing himself for his lack of annunciation. For a few seconds, all he did was stand there, frozen to a spot by the chill of awkwardness, either unable to do or know what to do until it finally occurred to him he didn't introduce himself.

"Oh... uh... My name is Salzem..." He offered, holding out a hand for her to take politely, the majority of his face and body still covered by his cloak. "Uhm... I'm new here..."

Her tail flopped down, swaying slowly side to side. It was surely a dead giveaway she was not a faunus, having two traits being impossible (or so they said...). Either way it should have been clear to him her race now. Reaching up on her tippy-toes, she nonchalantly brushed the hood from his face to get a good look, almost looking like she was scanning his expression- because she was. Her pupils contracted and her irises expanded, her eyes widening to the max as she looked him up and down with a burning intensity, tracing every detail, every curve, every bump, every everything.

Reverting her eyes back to normal, she decided conversing like a normal human being was a wise choice.
"Salzem..? Odd name. I li...Hii...Hiike it..." Yawning mid sentence, she wave a hand in front of her mouth to excuse herself for what she considered a rude gesture.
"My name is Aikomi, otherwise known as... M-model... Uhm... M-m-model...
T-two... A..." She lowered her head and put it in her hands, shuddering violently for a brief moment before biting her lip and looking back up.
"Model 2A, also known as Aikomi. I am a combat major. It is a pleasure to be your dorm-mate, Salzem!"

It was truly difficult now, her eyes were watering, her lip even started bleeding, her hands were balled up into tiny fists, and she was obviously out of her fatigued daze. She wasted no time to spin around and hide her face, stomping her foot in the process.
"I-I'm sorry, Salzem, I'm not usually like this... I just... Had a rough night last night."

Salzem either couldn't or wouldn't stop the cat girl as she flicked back his hood, though he stared in shock at how her eyes seemed to function... They seemed to act almost like a telescope that didn't protrude from her head, changing lenses and sizes to get a better look... Salzem only glanced away, slightly off-put by the way she looked at him, smiling slightly as she remarked that even though his name was weird, she liked it anyway. However, his eyes snapped back to the girl as she introduced herself as Aiko, Model 2 A.... SHE WAS AN ANDROID!? Before he could ask her anything about what her life was like, the kitty-girl put her face in her hands and shivered almost violently, like a dead-leaf hanging onto a tree branch.

"H-hey, are you okay, Aiko...?" Salzem asked looking down at the cat-girl in shock. Was she in pain...? Did he do something...? Could androids even get sick? He had no idea what was going on... The girl quickly repeated her name again then stating her major before quickly turning around, stomping her foot as if to express frustration. Salzem was silent and he didn't know what to say... She explained that she wasn't normally this way, that she had a rough night, but that didn't explain why she held her head in her hands like she was in utter pain or why she suddenly turned her back to him.

"I-It's okay... I think.." Salzem assured her, reaching out a hand to pat her shoulder. "Pleased to meet you... I majored in combat too, you know." He appeared concerned for this little android and it was only now did he look down to notice her tail... a signal that she wasn't truly a faunus. "Hey... is there anything I can get for you? Some water, a snack or something?" He asked, only being polite.

Aikomi, her breaths racked with sobs and breaks, shuddered even more as she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. The feeling, it shook her body, it confused her. Her brain swirled with emotions but one prevailed- a burning hatred for that touch. Rather violently she ripped away, stumbling forward and spinning around, stretching her arms out downwards and tensing her body up as she glared at him intensely, her face red with embarassment and anger.
"Don't touch me!"
She huffed, disappointed with herself, before averting her now softening eyes and loosening her stance. Her tail hung between her legs, and her ears were flattened against her head, splayed out to the sides.
"I-I'm sorry... Again... I.. I really had a rough night last night, I just need... A bit of alone time.. Or you could come in with me and sit down in a chair or something so we could talk more... I just feel.. I need to lie down a bit.. C'mon- if you want.."

With this, she turned around and walked over to her bed, flopping face first down onto it with that same helpless body language. Flipping herself over into a more dignified on-her-back position, she reached down to throw the blankets onto herself,, once again laying back with a sigh.
"I really.. I truly am sorry, Salzem. You've just caught me at a very, very bad time... I do hope we can be friends, even with this all... I hope you believe me when I say I'm not normally like this, I just.. Had.. Had a rough night." She repeated herself, but not to clarify her point. It was to convince herself that "a rough night" is all that it was, not whatever hell she had endured.

Salzem's eyes widened and shock and quickly recoiled as Aiko turned on him spontaneously, her body tensing, her eyes practically glowing with anger and embarrassment. He stared at her, confused as to what he did wrong then grew more confused as her anger faded as quickly as it came, Salzem slowly relaxed as Aiko averted her eyes and apologized, reminding him of how bad a night she actually had. Salzem cocked his head to the side in thought as she mentioned that she could either use some time alone or talking with him if he wanted.

Not wanting to get off anymore on the wrong foot, Salzem followed her into her room, taking a small wooden chair from a nearby table with him. Aiko flopped herself out on her bed, pulling her covers over her while the meek student set his chair down and himself right in it, smiling shakily to calm himself.

"H-hey... It's okay, Aiko. I don't mind." He assured her as she apologized once more for her behavior, faithfully reminding him it was because of her "rough night." He had to wonder how bad it really was for her to keep saying it like that... What kind of dreams did she have. He smiled fuller, more genuinely as Aiko expressed a wish to be his friend and he couldn't help but agree.

"Me too, Aiko... Me too... A-and I believe you when you say you're not like this... Some good sleep will do wonders."

Grabbing the brim of her blanket, she pulled it up to her neck, before rolling over and getting onto her hands and knees and burying her face in her palms in the pillow.
"God.. Yeah, maybe I should get some sleep, huh? I think.. That sounds like a good idea, Salzem. Oh- uhm, do you want any advice about this place? I mean, I'm not much better, I've only been here three or four days myself, but I'm sure I can help a bit before I inevitably pass out from sleep deprivation." She giggled softly at the last part, like it was some kind of joke, before collapsing onto her side with an exhausted, sick look on her face.

"I-It was just a bad night, yeah... Yeah that's all, Eheh, eheheh, ehehehehahahahaaahaah...."
She spasmed briefly, curling up tightly before throwing her head back and opening her mouth, twitching as if she were laughing but only have a quiet whisper come out. She looked like she was in serious pain, her eyes widening with a manic look as she brought her palms up to her face and hid it from Sal, watching her or not. Quickly, she ducked her head under the blankets to bury herself until she could safely peek out again, no twitching left to be done.
'Not yet... He can't.. See me like this yet.. I don't wanna be alone in here anymore, I need somebody else to be in this dorm or else I'll go insane...'
'Hah... Like it hasn't already happened...'

A small smirk crawled onto her face, and this time when she giggled, it was for real.
"So, Sal, anything I can help you with? Hmmhmmhmm~!"

"I'll figure it out." Salzem smiled as Aiko offered to help him, despite her limited experience herself and... well... her lack of sleep. "Get some rest, okay? We'll talk in the morning." Suddenly, Aiko's head fell to her pillow, her expression contorting to one of pain and sick. Salzem flinched and jerked back in surprise as a spasm ran through the cat-girl's body, her mouth curling up and opening into what seemed to be a laughing smile though not a sound that he could hear was coming out... He slowly backed away from the bed, horror gripping him, nearly falling over from the chair he was sitting in a moment ago. She seemed to be in intense pain and a part of him wanted to rush to her side and help... but the majority demanded he put distance between himself and her... He flinched as Aiko's eyes took on a manic, wild gaze feeling his heart rise in his chest as she swiftly dove herself under her blankets, leaving him alone in a dark, quiet room with a girl twitching and convulsing in the most creepy and disturbing of ways... He already felt his nerves sear with the impulses to GET OUT. Still... he managed to root himself near the door, refusing to totally leave her... That small piece of him that noticed and acknowledged her pain... It wouldn't let him leave her like this...

"A....A-Aiko...?"

Sal's semblance began to manifest behind him, it's massive arms spread off to each side ominously as if to deter one getting close. What the girl said next sent shivers down the hunter's spine, not least due to the sudden tone-change and what happened only a moment or so before.

"Uh... N-no...? A-Are you okay, Aiko...?" He asked, using all his willpower to keep from inching towards the door.

(Aura =175 due to summoning of semblance X3)

"It's just a bad dream, none of it is real, they aren't real, it was only a bad dream."
She held her head, sitting up with her back straight and emitting a short, sob like sound.
"No, no, it's okay it's okay he's not gonna hurt you everything's fine,
he's not gonna hurt you, it's okay, you're alright, everything is okay."
Tiny incoherent mumbles were emitted from the girl, ramblings of a madman.
"Nothing is wrong, everything is normal just like it always i-i...i..is..."
"S-Sal?"

She saw that he had... Moved... And that he now had a large, intimidating shadow behind him- or was it in front of him? Her eyes were too blurry to get a good look but she assumed it was there ayways. It looked just like one of the creatures from her delusions, but bigger... The tiny things that danced in the corners of her eyes.
Letting out a single cough like laugh that sent spittle through her gritted teeth, dark thoughts racing through her mind and her artificial semblance generator beginning to whirr up.
'He's just like the others, they're all scared of me! They... They all... Don't... Trust me... I can't blame them, but it's... It's just not fair!'
From that she froze, shook slightly, and slowly, slowly fell again, landing with her body curled up sideways and her head somehow on the pillow. Again she was asleep, eyes closed and a happy look on her face.

Almost as if it was waiting for Salzem to make a movement towards Aikomi, presumably to check if she was okay, a strong, deep female voice resonated out from Aiko's body.
"Aikomi is now asleep, please refrain fom disturbing her in any way, shape, or form. She has had a rough night. Please go unpack your things and make ourself at home, she will wake up when she is ready. Have a nice day."

"A...Aiko...?" he responded as she called his name, his gaze somewhat hopeful. Had this fit passed? Has she finally come back to a state of stability? Her eyes peeked out from under her covers and the gaze they portrayed were ones of shock... and then outrage... She looked like she couldn't believe what she was seeing, her anger continuing to build as Sal flinched away... Just as it seemed this might end in something ugly, the girl stiffened, then fell back into her pillow, her lids closing over her eyes and her body relaxing. A small smile curved up onto Aiko's lips and the boy stared at her in shock, further caught off guard by her spontaneous transition.

"Is she asleep...?" He whispered, his shadow disappearing as quickly as it came as the boy snuck closer, hesitantly reaching a hand out to stroke her cheek and make sure...

As if an alarm went off, a new voice shot through the room from Aiko's form though it did not belong to her. Her lips did not move with the words spoken, her eyes did not lift, her breathing remained regular as this newer, older voice commanded him not to disturb the cat girl in any way, that he should just go unpack his things and make himself at home... She would wake up when she was ready.

Flinching away at these harsh, direct and unexpected instructions, Salzem did as he was told, slipping out of her bedroom, but leaving it open just a crack as well... He began unpacking his things as he was told, thoughts about what had just happened flowing through his mind. What was all that about...? Was it because of him...? These questions and more were what Salzem mused about right up until he passed out, exhausted on his bed...