King of Hearts

🧍‍♂️

summary: That feel when you apply to university only to realize that all of your econ, bio, and writing classes are actually magic fighting classes.

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When Gon signed his scholarship, he didn't read it all that thoroughly. All that registered to him were a few simple facts: That his entire schooling would be paid for if and only if Gon maintained a certain GPA, attended Yorknew University for four years, and lived in university housing for the first of those four years. All of this was pretty straight forward to him so he signed his name on the dotted line and called it good.

But Yorknew University wasn't just any university. It was Gon's dream university. Positioned north of Boston, Yorknew was a private establishment built in the 1800s with a rich history, historic buildings, and an unchallengeable reputation in division sports. It wasn't a state school, by any means, but Gon was more than grateful to know that his talents were being recognized.

Especially after bombing the Olympic Trials.

After a stressful senior year of high school, Gon had participated in the Olympic Trials at the age of seventeen. He was just barely over the threshold of eighteen as it was, and triathlons were his specialty. Well, running was his specialty, and the rest came naturally to him—along with years of training. He was thrilled to be able to train through university and get paid for it.

"My baby boy's all grown up—!"

Gon laughed, his cheek squished up against his aunt's chest. He squeezed her around the torso as she shook him back and forth before reeling back, hands clasped to his shoulders. She beamed down at him, all fair skin and fiery orange hair.

She pressed a kiss to his forehead as Gon rolled his eyes and said, "I'll see you for Thanksgiving..."

"Oh, I know, but that's so far away!" she said.

They turned back to look at Gon's dorm building. It wasn't monstrous, by any means, but the eclectic architecture gave it a slightly haunted feeling. Gon loved every last chipped brick of it, all the way up to his fourth-story single dorm room. Perks of the scholarship, he thought, thinking about how he had spent all of senior year wondering about his nonexistent roommates. He'd just have to make friends with the neighbors, and that was simple enough for him.

Aunt Mito swung her arm around Gon's shoulders, her other hand resting on her hip. She sighed at the sight of the building and looked down at Gon, saying, "Tell me if you see any ghosts?"

"I won't see any ghosts, but on the off chance that I do... I'll definitely tell you," Gon promised. He smiled as his aunt kissed his hair, clapped him on the shoulder, and called it a day.

He promised to text her first thing every day. She'd hold him to it, he was certain. She waved from the driver's side of the rental car before taking off in the direction of Boston—far from Yorknew, and even farther from the place Gon called home all the way in California.

Other students were just moving in as well, and through the throngs of parents moving boxes, Gon snuck his way back into the building. The dorm doors were tucked away in a wide, stone tunnel that cut through the building and towards the center courtyard that connected the south-half of campus. Gon's dorm faced it, so he ran up the stairs flight-by-flight before swinging around onto the fourth floor. He jogged down the hallway over patterned, deep red carpets. His door was open a crack—he had put a wedge against the floor to stop it from closing. The doors were made of solid wood and were impossible to hold open without a wedge.

He nudged his half-open door all the way open and immediately shrieked. The door hit him in the shoulder, likely leaving a bruise.

The person in his room startled, spun around, and offered an apologetic smile. "Oh, sorry, I was just wondering who moved into the fourth floor," she said, curly hair spun into two massive buns. She waved guiltly as she sidled past Gon and said, "I won't intrude again—but if you don't mind me asking, you're a scholarship kid, right?"