Hibiki looked over the schedule drawn on the large whiteboard beside him with a slight sigh, and stuck another sticky note besides an important deadline date. By now the roster had been filled with such notes, detailing what he needed to read by when, and what exercises he needed to get done. Despite the brightly colour coded array, he felt more and more glum by the second.
Now the introductory week was behind him he was expected to keep up – if he didn't he would rapidly fall behind to the point where he couldn't catch up again. Not about to let that happen, he grabbed the first required reading from his shelf and opened it up. With a quick search he had found the pages he needed, and used a marker on the edges so he could find the pages again later if he needed to.
Although his memory was one of his strengths, he knew he wouldn't get away with brute forcing the texts into his head: he took careful summaries, marking points and arguments that were important, or caught his interest. With them he wrote his own thoughts and ideas, occasionally letting his mind wander into a discussion with himself which let him draw his own conclusions about the material, and whether he agreed with it or not.
His studies went on for a long time, focussed in on the text so much that everything else in his environment drowned out. Part of him found it peaceful; to be left in dialogue with only the author's words and his own thoughts.

「Yukimura-sama?」He heard Kazuo's voice from behind him, 「Did you hear me?」
Hibiki blinked once, vaguely recalling the sound of a voice that he had dismissed while taking notes, but he had no idea what he said.
「It’s time to get ready for dinner with your parents.」Kazuo said once more, pointing out the time to him. As he realised it was indeed nearing 6 o'clock, he quickly turned around in his desk chair and signed to Kazuo.

'I'll be right there.’

Kazuo nodded, but in the midst of turning around added a quick sentence.
「Wear something formal.」It was more of a warning than anything, causing Hibiki to groan and shoo him away. Kazuo did as he was told, walking back to sit on the couch where he picked a volume of manga back up.
Meanwhile Hibiki started to prepare for dinner with his parents, the last one before they would return to Japan. He wouldn't see them again until Christmas. Yet after having been made to wear that suit the day before, and perhaps also to spite them for grounding him, he decided to dance a little around the line of formality without Kazuo having to send him back.
After a quick shower he put on a thin, grey turtleneck sweater that was just tight enough to give a hint of his physical shape, black jeans, a black, open faced jacket and short black boots. As for his hair, he simply pulled it back into a small ponytail, then plucked a few strands loose in front. Quite content with how it was just enough subtle rebelliousness to not be blatantly offensive or conflict-seeking he went downstairs again to meet Kazuo for the drive to the restaurant.

===

「Did you manage to get your readings done?」Kazuo asked from behind the wheel, as the sparsely travelled highway and it's repetitive orange glow whizzed past, occasionally broken by tail and headlights.
Hibiki blew a soft, rather disheartened raspberry and tilted his hand a few times to signal it was so-so.
「More difficult than high school isn't it?」
Hibiki gave a slight shrug and shook his head, before leaning back onto his elbow again and staring out of the window.
「Is there anything not easy for you?」Kazuo sighed with a slight headshake, but Hibiki could hear the smirk in his voice.

'It's a lot of work, but not more difficult. And I am terrible at dancing?’

He signed quickly, smiling a little.
「I have seen you try, it was not pretty.」

'When did you see?’

Hibiki signed in surprise, sitting upright again while a blush spread over his face.
「When you thought I wasn't looking.」
Kazuo's entertained smirk got him a long glare from Hibiki through the rear view mirror. With a loud huff he crossed his arms and went back to staring out of the window.
「The air guitar was very cute though.」
Another, even more disgruntled huff left Hibiki as he flipped Kazuo the bird.
The rest of the drive went by fairly uneventful, any emotions there may have been calmed down by the slow, jazzy tunes from Kazuo's favourite music.

The restaurant was as fancy as Hibiki had hoped, with his father and mother already having arrived. The host led him to the table, quiet, in the corner of the rustically decorated hall. It seemed he had caught them in a tender moment, since he saw them quickly untangle their hands when he walked up. A slight, disapproving frown of his father at the sight of his outfit confirmed that it was a good one, and he revelled a little in it for no reason other than that he loved the thrill of breaking rules. Normalcy and fitting in just wasn't his style.
He smiled and sat down at the third chair, with the host asking for his drink order.
“Water for him, please.” His father quickly said, his gaze warning Hibiki that that would be all he got to drink that evening. Hibiki shrugged and went along with it, figuring the next best thing to rebellion was apathy.
“A waiter will be right with you.” The host said with a nod, before quickly taking his leave.
「How was your run this morning?」His mother asked with a smile, looking up from the elegant, leather bound menu.
Hibiki made a circle with his index and thumb, to signal it went well, before signing the long answer.

‘It was cold, but the nature was very nice. I think Kazuo died a little.’

His mother chuckled softly, excusing herself by putting a hand in front of her mouth.
「Well, you have kept him very busy the last ten years.」

‘He should not smoke so much.’

As he signed it, his father frowned a little.
「We all have our vices.」He said with a sagely nod, undoubtedly referring to Hibiki's many bad habits – such as underage drinking. The latter just nodded, doing his best not to grin knowing that it would sour his father's mood significantly. He loved to annoy him, but he also loved him; so he didn't needlessly draw out a conflict. Especially not on such a rare evening as this. Instead he picked up the menu.
「Do you see anything you like?」His mother asked, before he even had the time to properly look the whole menu over. There were several different sets of courses to pick from. Most of it appeared to be seasonal, having game meats and root vegetables.
The venison caught his eye, so he pointed it out to his mother. She held up her own menu, and pointed out a word to him, whispering her question.
「What does quail mean?」
He put down his menu again, to sign to her:

‘It is a tiny bird, like a dove, but even smaller.’

「I think I would like that then… how about you dear?」She asked with a soft smile to his father, who was sternly frowning at the menu as if it would be scared into Japanese if only he looked at it menacingly enough
「The boar seems good.」
Hibiki was not sure if it actually did, or if he was too stubborn to say that he did not quite understood the other ingredients. Then again, nothing here would be anything less than absolutely perfect.

Over the course of dinner, Hibiki enthusiastically signed to his parents the things that transpired the night before, insofar as he could remember them.
「Kazuo said that he took one of those students home?」His father asked, before taking a bite of his stewed meat. Hibiki nodded with a bright smile.

'Yeah, Tristan. He was really nice though, he was the same student that had that panic attack? But he stuck by me and made sure I got home. We talked for a little bit, and he was really smart as well.’

「So you have a new friend?」His mother asked, delighted by that news, and Hibiki shared in it.

‘They were all very nice. I'm really glad I got to meet them.’

「We have seen Tristan right? He was the blond student speaking?」His father recalled from the day before.
「The one with the nice speaking voice?」His mother added, as she remembered as well.

'Yes, that one.’

「He had a panic attack?」She said a little confused by that.「But he looked very confident.」

'I think he was very nervous? He was a little shy when he wasn't on stage.’

「At least you have made a responsible friend, let's hope you learn from him.」
「Were the others responsible as well?」His mother asked, a bit more concerned. Hibiki had been about to nod, when he remembered Killian.

‘Most of them, but we didn't do that much, we just talked and had a few drinks.’

「Kazuo said it looked like more than a few.」

'Well I am small, so a few is a lot for me. And don't you drink all the time after work.’

Hibiki defended himself from his father's accusation, and he felt for the most part it was the truth.
「Please be careful, we wouldn't want you to get arrested, or worse. You know what awful things could happen.」His mother said, her voice soft with worry as she brushed the few strands of loose hair from his face and held his cheek for a moment, hoping that he would understand. In part he did, his expression dropping a little as he gave her a single nod to say he got what she was trying to convey.
For a second he poked in his food, before taking another bite to cheer himself up again with deliciousness. It worked a little.

‘I like my classes here too, they're very interesting.’

「When will your exams be?」His father asked.

'In December. I've prepared my study schedule, and luckily the exams don't overlap.’

「Do you think you can do it? Don't overwork yourself, remember that Dr. Satou said to watch your mental health first.」

'If it becomes a problem, I'll only do one.’

He signed determinedly, not worried at all: if there was one thing he excelled in, it was academics – perhaps in part to distract him from how much difficulty he had socially. That was up until now, or so he hoped.
「We’re very proud of you either way.」She said with a big smile, grabbing his hand for a moment. He squeezed back, smiling as well. He felt a warmth fill his chest, happy to know that for all their flaws and overprotectiveness, his parents really loved him.

–––

With a loud, but satisfied groan Hibiki let himself fall backwards onto his couch, finally home after such a long winded but delicious dinner. Although he knew he perhaps should be a bit more bummed out since his parents had left for Japan, he was used it to the point where this was a return to the usual.
With a soft grunt he rolled over and drug the remote closer with his fingertips, before picking it up from the glass coffee table. With a few presses, he turned on the TV, debating for a little while between a rather serious Japanese detective series, or a more action packed American crime series. In the end he settled for the latter, since he wasn't in the mood for even more gloom.
He was just about to kick off his shoes, when Maki darted up to him, spurred awake from a nap by the TV. Perhaps the dog picked up on something he felt subconsciously, but apparently it was cuddle time. Maki hopped onto the couch, flopping sideways and pressing tightly against his chest. Hibiki just decided to go with it, wrapping an arm around his fluffy companion so he could give some belly rubs.
Unable to ruin such a comfy situation, he took his phone from his pocket to send Kazuo a message – while he was on the other side of the room tidying up his desk.

「 Zuzu, can you get me hot chocolate?」
「 Oh, and maybe some fruit candies?」

「You just ate.」

He heard from the other side of the room, but he just lifted his hand and made the universal sign for blabbering.

「 Less complaining, more fetching」

He texted, hearing the message arrive with a delay when Kazuo had already gone to the kitchen. As he heard a word getting whispered very faintly, he just grinned like it was a victory.
A few minutes later, Kazuo placed a small bowl of colourful candies in front of him, and a cup of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows floating on top that were slowly melting into sugary goodness.
With a wide grin, Hibiki gave Kazuo a one handed gesture of thanks, and then dismissed him again, since it was late.

「 You can go home, if you want.」

From the corner of his eye, he caught Kazuo making a bow, but he was too focussed on his show and the candy, not to speak of petting Maki, to pay him much attention.
「I will be taking my leave then, I will see you tomorrow Yukimura-sama.」
After a half hearted wave from Hibiki, the front door opened and fell shut again.

「 See you tomorrow Zuzu」

Hibiki texted after him, leaving him with a somewhat proper goodbye, at least for his doing.
Without any more distractions, he happily cuddled up to Maki and settled in for a few episodes of mindless binging.