Today was supposed to be a good day.
I played out the scenario about a thousand times in my head while I was studying.
I would throw the door open and stand in the doorway, emitting a dark and serious aura. Intimidation would be how I would get them to listen to me, and I would act nonchalant about everything they would ask but I would still try and be a good teacher and answer their question in a calm, collected manner.
This did not happen.
Instead what happened is that I woke up the day that school was supposed to start feeling like my head was going to implode. If I did the math correctly, which was a labor in itself, I'd say I got maybe 3-4 hours of each night with a couple all nighters sprinkled in.
By any means I was not in prime teaching shape, and it didn't help that when I finally woke up it was 8:09AM.
My class started at 9AM.
As soon as I read those numbers I jumped out of my seat and ran to the shower. I took the quickest shower as humanly possible and changed into the same pair of clothes I'd been wearing. It wasn't very hygienic, but hygiene was the least of my concerns at that moment.
As I frantically searched for my shoes and my bag, a capsule filled with pills appeared in my vision. I looked up and found Katalina staring right at me.
"Uh, hello?" I said awkwardly as I tied my shoelaces.
"Take them," she gestured to the capsule. "They're caffeine pills that'll help you wake up."
I stood up and took the capsule from her hands to examine them.
"They're safe right? The other ones you gave me were too weak so I did ask you to increase the dosage."
She placed a finger on her chin, "You know, that's a great question."
A grimace appeared on my face, but with time dwindling I had no choice but to blindly trust her.
"Damnit," I muttered underneath my breath as I popped open the bottle and threw two pills into my mouth, shoving the container in my back pocket. "I'm heading out," I yelled as I opened the door and slammed it behind me.
Remember, don't do anything stup-" Katalina's goodbye was cut off but I had more pressing matters on my hands. An angry goddess was something I could deal with later.
'Activating [Celerity] at 200% capacity. | Two Uses Left |' a voice echoed out as I blasted onto the streets. I quickly sped my way through the rings of New Ragna, bobbing and weaving through the oncoming traffic in an effort to make it on time.
In hindsight this was a huge mistake, as in my desperate rush I failed to realize the simplest thing: when you're moving fast, it is really hard to pivot or move once you've committed. I was reminded of that notion the hard way when I saw a tiny gap in between two passing and decided to blaze past them without hesitation.
I didn't even see it coming. Before I could ever register what was in front of me, I collided what seemed to be a black silhouette.
That's the last thing I could remember before everything went white.
***
The first thing I saw was the bright lights, though to be completely honest I couldn't tell if they were lights or the gates of heaven. However, given my current circumstance I secretly hoped it was the latter.
"Oh are you awake?" I overheard a voice say.
I quickly leaned up, but I could barely stay upright as my head ached with pain.
"I'm sorry, but I have to be somewhere so I need to go-" I tried to stand up and activate my augment to leave, but a hand grabbed onto one of my wrists.
"I'm sorry, but you're not going anywhere right now until you stop acting like a drunkard or I can verify your identity," the silky smooth voice said to me.
I tried to turn to the direction of the person who grabbed my hand, but I couldn't make them out because of the blinding light.
"Oh, can you not see clearly right now? Let me fix that."
In an instant, the room lights dimmed a considerable amount, and with the darkness I could finally make out my surroundings. But most importantly, I could finally see the person's face.
She looked in her mid-30's, was a short-haired brunette with hazel-colored eyes and tanned skin. She was wearing a blue medical scrub so I assumed she was a nurse, but the only hospital nearby was in the 2rd ring. The room was in the more modern end, with tables laden with equipment for extensive care. They had a small transparent fridge in the back of the office filled with water bottles, and a sink in the corner of the room. There was no way they'd transport a nobody like me to the 2nd Ring hospital without clearance, but the fact that the room had this much expensive equipment and was fully furnished meant that it wasn't the general hospital in the 5th ring either.
So, where was I?
"Ehem, do you just enjoy staring or do you need a reminder of professional etiquette?" her annoyed tone brought me back to the present.
"Oh sorry, I was just thinking about something?"
"I'm sure you were, but right now isn't the time to be staring at my breasts."
"H-huh, I-uh, what?" I stammered. "But I wasn't-"
"Grayson, or should I call you Mr. Harris? This is that your name right?" she interrupted.
"Yes? How do you know my name?" I asked.
"Your face, albeit less handsome than I saw in photos, is still very recognizable," she reached into her lab coat and pulled out a lanyard that had a New Ragna I.D in it and tossed it to me. "This is yours."
I caught it and examined the I.D and saw that it was indeed mine, but why did she have it? I thought I had it in my pocket.
"So I can assume the reason you ran into me this morning in such a manner was because you were on your way to campus?"
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion as I placed the lanyard in my pocket, but as I remembered what happened earlier my blood froze.
"Wait, are you telling me that you're that thing I ran into earlier?"
She crossed her arms, "I'm not a thing. I'm literally standing right here telling you that you ran into me."
"But if I ran into you while going that fast," I gestured to her body. "Wouldn't you be..."
"Crippled? Injured beyond help? Dead? If I wasn't for my quick reactions than yes, I would be."
She laughed a bit and slapped me on the arm. "Don't worry about it, it didn't hurt at all if you were wondering. If anything though it may have been an accident to run into me, it could've been worse."
I scoffed. "How could it have been any worse?"
"Well, you could've been late to your class." she turned around and pressed a button on the wall and the door in front of me swung open.
"Go on, it'll be enlightening."
I nodded my head and slowly walked towards the exit. When I exited the room, to my utmost surprise I found myself on the 1st floor of the New Ragna Institute of Augmentation Analysis——the office wing.
"Ugh this is stifling, I can't believe people wear this on a daily basis." I heard someone groan from behind me.
I turned around and saw that the nurse had taken off the medical scrub and tossed it aside. Underneath she wore a pair of blackish jeans, a white blouse, and a small grey coat.
"My name is Dr. Angela Wilson," she said with a smirk embedded on her face. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."