[center][color=9966CC]Main Story — Oakridge Campus — Rui’s Room[/color][/center]
For Rui Liú, the graduation party was something akin to a living funeral —and not in a philosophical way either. This was not some symbolic event, which marked the end of irresponsible youth and innocence; the last time one could party as a minor and the first time one would party as a full-fledged member of society. No. For Rui, zhe had no doubt in zher mind that the graduation party was going to be the last big social gathering zhe would ever be a part of. So zhe sure as hell made sure zhe had as much fun as possible —although what constitutes as “fun” for Rui is questionable. 

For the first half of the party, when Rui was not partaking in typical party activities with zher peers, zhe was stealthily causing some kind of trouble as if zhe was the director of a live reality show or prank show; trouble that usually involved more than one person and caused unnecessary drama, to which Rui would simply watch from afar while simultaneously pretending to be innocent of any involvement. It was a terrible thing to enjoy and Rui knew zhe’d go straight to whatever hell equivalent Libra had to offer to abominations (the void, perhaps?), but it was totally worth it. Or, at least, it was to Rui.

While Rui did find some enjoyment in mingling with zher peers who actually knew little to nothing about zhim, it was only when the second half of the party started when Rui really started to have some fun: Olivia tracked down and kidnapped all of her childhood friends and dragged them to various nightclubs in Lasana for the rest of the evening and the early part of the morning. At each club the group talked about trivial things; played stupid games; danced until their legs ached; drank a little too much to be considered healthy; and just enjoyed each other’s company. Rui did, however, refrain from drinking and was probably the only person who remained truly sober the entire time. Zhe did this largely for five reasons: 1.) zhe didn’t really like the taste of alcohol in the first place; 2.) someone had to be the designated driver; 3.) zhe wanted to be sober if and when Scout, Eric, and/or Aaron did something stupid so that zhe could tease them about it when they did eventually become sober again; 4.) zhe never wanted to be the vulnerable one; and most importantly 5.) to protect the clueless drunkards from the dangers that were ever present in every other bar they went to, especially Alabaster. 

Powerful superhumans they may be, Guardians are not immune to the effects of… suspicious looking drugs. Rui immediately recognized the looks some of the clubs’ patrons gave to the good-looking men and women in the group —which Rui would proudly proclaim that it was every damn person in said group— and was automatically on high alert. Every time someone added something that was not supposed to be in a drink for any of zher friends or zhimself, Rui made sure it failed to reach anyone’s lips by “accidentally” spilling the contents of the drink on: the floor; the person who offered the drink; Scout’s hair; or Eric’s expensive looking suit. But mostly on Eric’s clothes. The only exception was when a spiked drink was given to Alabaster. Like the spiked drinks before, Rui felt Malice get unusually excited by the drink and noticed other spirits of particular emotions respond strongly to the drink to it as well; “prints” of the perpetrator and their intentions oozed from the innocuous looking drink… and it disgusted Rui. Before Alabaster’s fingers could touch the drink, Rui quickly snatched the glass away and managed to subtly return the drink to the perpetrator when zhe offered to buy them a drink. Then zhe waited. Waited until zhe was sure they drank their own poison, before excusing zhimself from the group. Rui disappeared with the now-victim ex-perpetrator into the back of the club and didn’t return for 30 minutes. When zhe finally returned, zhe was alone. If anyone asked where zhe had gone off to, Rui claimed that zhe went to the bathroom. Those who went to the bathroom and happened to check on the other one to see if Rui might have been in there knew that zhe was lying; or at least not telling the entire truth. When told about this, Rui just smiled, “I’m not lying. I had to clean the mess off myself in the bathroom.”

[hr]
The second the door shut behind zher, and zhe was left standing alone in zher dark dormitory room, Rui suddenly felt an almost overwhelming sense of loneliness. Perhaps it was because zhe had spent a full day hanging out with people or perhaps the sudden realization that zhe had graduated —that “this life” was over— hit Rui as hard as a bird hit by a bullet train, or perhaps both. Zhe surveyed zher room, the only home zhe had ever had, as if it was the last time zhe’d ever see it again. Zhe wondered what would happen to zher stuff. If “they” were going to throw the stuff away, maybe zhe should just completely destroy zher own room as one last “f**k you” to the world. The thought only lasted for a split second, however, since it was quickly replaced by Alabaster’s face, then Elvira’s, and then the rest of the gang, until Samuel’s face emerged. Rui sighed, almost in defeat, before zhe began to organize zher personal belongings into specific boxes and cleaned zher own room. 

By the time Rui was finished, the sun rose high into the sky. Zhe hadn’t slept at all, but didn’t feel particularly tired either so zhe decided it was a good of time as any to get ready for the day. Sure, there was nothing special happening today, but Rui would never be caught dead wearing the same outfit two days in a row if zhe could help it. Well, okay, maybe zhe was lying to zhimself: something “special” was supposed to happen today, but if Rui were to wear something that best represented how zhe felt about WARG registration, Rui would have dressed up as a hobo and rolled in a pigsty before heading to the administration office. But alas, “hobo” is not in Rui’s fashion arsenal and is unlikely to be a trend within Rui’s lifetime. The best thing to do was to take zher sweet time getting ready, which zhe does.

When Rui finally left zher room, housekeeping had reached zher end of the dormitory. Zhe smiled at the housekeeper and greeted her politely, “Good day Mrs. Green.” The middle woman greeted Rui with a warm smile, “Hello darling. Starting the day off late, I see?”
“It was an exciting night. I don’t think anyone who went to a party woke up early… well, at least not without feeling incredibly sick.”
“Oh, you don’t need to tell me. I’ve already cleaned most of this place and I have seen the damage. I can never understand why people would drink to the point that they’d throw it all back up the next morning. It’s such a waste… and more work for us.”
“You are a braver soul than I, Mrs. Green. I cannot imagine how you manage to do your job.”
“Sweethearts like you make it much more easier. Now, I know the answer, but I’ll ask anyways: does your room need cleaning?” Mrs. Green glanced at Rui’s door, which was left ajar, then immediately raised her eyebrows. The housekeepers never had a problem with Rui’s room since it was always kept clean, but it had never looked so bleak before. It only took a few seconds for Mrs. Green to realize that almost everything had been placed into moving boxes. She turned to Rui quizzically, “Are you moving out, darling?”

Rui was about to open zher mouth when the announcement rang through the halls, summoning the members of the Helston Team to the administration office. “I’m sorry Mrs. Green, it seems I am wanted.” Rui bowed lightly.
“It’s okay. Have a good day, darling.”
“You too, Mrs. Green.” Rui began to walk down the hall, but then quickly halted when a black garbage bag caught zher eyes. Rui turned back to the housekeeper, “I’m sorry again, Mrs. Green, but is it all right if I can have this?”
Mrs. Green’s eyes followed the direction Rui’s finger was pointing, “Oh, I doubt you’d want what’s inside of there, darling. It’s some of the damage I was just talking about. Mostly… you know, things like vomit and… other human excretions that contaminated objects.”
“I was helping Dr. Edrik with collecting… samples for a study. He didn’t specify where I could get the samples, so I thought we could use this opportunity to use what is… naturally available and plentiful at the moment.”
“Dr. Edrik? Well… if he wants these… samples, I can deliver it to him after I’m done with these rooms.”
“Oh, no Mrs. Green, you are far too busy to be doing that! I have to meet Dr. Edrik later today, anyways, so I can deliver it myself.”
“Are… you sure?”
“I am positive,” Rui took the garbage bag and saluted to Mrs. Green, “I wish you luck on your dangerous, but necessary quest.”
Mrs. Green laughed lightly at the gesture, but returned it before vanishing into the dorm room next door. As soon as she disappeared, Rui swiftly returned to zher own room with the bag and came back out without it a few moments later, locking the door shut.

[center][color=9966CC]Main Story — Oakridge Campus — Administration Offices[/color][/center]
It didn’t actually matter whether or not Rui went to the administration office to register for WARG: as Rui’s “owner” the military already decided everything for zhim. Zhe could have ignored the summoning completely and Rui’s registration would have still been completed… a month ago. So in truth, Rui going to the office was just a formality. The only reason why Rui was even heading to the office was because zhe had nothing better to do and it was highly likely that zhe would see some familiar faces if zhe went. Zhe didn’t expect the first face to be Eric though. On second thought, of course it was Eric. Why wouldn’t he want to be the first one there?

Rui groaned and was ready to accost Eric, when zhe thought zhe heard his stomach rumble. Rui waited a few more seconds, hoping to hear it again for confirmation, but no such thing happened. Was… Eric hungry? Rui stared at the man, then glanced down at the granola bars Rui had snatched from the cafeteria on zher way to the office as a light late-breakfast, then at what the man wore, then at the coffee vending machine that was placed in the waiting room. A wicked smile grew across Rui’s face. 

[hr]
“Hello, Eric!” Rui cheerfully greeted Eric as zhe walked towards him, “How’d you sleep?” With how long they’ve known each other it should have been obvious to Eric that Rui was up to something; most likely to torment him in some way or form. “I’m just soooooo tired, I needed to get a cup of coffee,” Rui said as zhe raised zher extremely shaky hand to show Eric the coffee zhe just purchased from the vending machine. Rui continued to shake the cup —ever threatening to spill it’s contents on to the floor… or more likely, on Eric’s expensive suit, just like the night before—, “sorry, I’m feeling a little shaky for some reason. Maybe I’m hungry,” Rui said as zhe whipped out an already open granola bar and took a nice, slow, bite out of it. “MMMMM! De-licious.”