Hell Bound | Tokyo Ghoul [Cancelled]

Chapter Two | Sho

"It's about time I introduced you to your latest assignment," Professor Ito announced as she started writing on the board in long, elegant strokes.

Sho, half-dazed from the last twenty minutes of lecturing, propped his chin up on his palm, his attention already waning. He followed the flow of her handwriting more than her words, and it wasn't until she'd written Group Project: Scene Assignment that his thoughts hit a snag. A group project? They hadn't done anything like that in this course as of yet; the professor didn't strike Sho as someone who approved of it, honestly, like she preferred to judge a person's performance by individual standards rather than as a unit.

Sho, though, couldn't have been more ecstatic. He kinda just loved people.

"The paper I'm sending around now lists your groups," Professor Ito added. "Take this as an opportunity to learn more about your classmates and maybe make a study buddy. You never know how useful knowing someone else with notes can be. You can use the rest of your class period to meet up with your partner and start discussing your plans for the project."

When the list was passed to him, Sho quickly scanned over its contents, a beaming smile stretching across his lips the moment he settled on his name. Alongside Mizuno Natsuo.

    Natsuo, as far as Sho knew, was something of a mystery. He didn't interact much with their classmates, and though he and Sho only shared one class he could guess that it was the same across the board for the blue-haired teen. As a result, no one knew anything concrete about him. A few rumors had emerged here and there that Sho paid little attention to, as he didn't think anything as insubstantial as word-of-mouth accusations were worth taking note of.

    Sho slid the paper to his seat partner and scooted out into the aisle, jumping to his feet. Everyone was turning around in their seats, locating their groups in the crowd, and Sho followed suit, taking the steps that led down from the arena-style classroom to reach the front row.

    And there was Natsuo, his face a tight mix of confusion and what Sho almost mistook for indifference.

    "Mizuno-chan!" Sho called, placing his hands - palms down - on the desk in front of Natsuo to catch his attention. He smiled as he always did, hoping it would work its magic this time around as well and distract from the tense atmosphere already springing up between them. "I'm Hayakawa Sho! You can just call me Sho, though, if you want. Whatever's easier for you!"

    Natsuo looked up at him, blinking. Sho's grin widened a fraction, his cheeks dimpling; putting people at ease was his specialty, and Natsuo definitely seemed like he was in need of a calming agent. He looked about ready to bolt from his seat from Sho's perspective.

    "...Natsuo's fine, then," the man offered in response."Please take care of me."

    He glanced down, fiddling with his notebook, before fixing his eyes on Sho again.

    "Do you have any ideas?"

    "Hmm... nothing's coming to mind at the moment," Sho admitted with a careless shrug.

    He hopped up onto Natsuo's desk, head cocked as he recalled the details of their assignment.

    "I usually work with romance in my scenes, but that's not for everyone. Ooh, we could go all horror for this, lots of blood and gore and such! Sensei would probably love that!"

    He blinked, then angled himself back to bump shoulders with Natsuo.

    "Oh, please take care of me, too, Natsuo-chan!"

    Natsuo simply stared at him as if Sho had suddenly sprouted wings.

    "... I wouldn't know how to write romance," he admitted duly.