Gorou wanted to slam his head against a wall.
Part of it was his fault, being a double major student didn't leave much room for sleep or relaxation. He was running on a solid 4 hours of sleep and straight caffeine, working on an essay he should've started ages ago that he completely forgot about. Groaning and rubbing his eyes, he looked at his due assignments again. A Socratic seminar to prepare for, 3 quizzes, and a research project he's supposed to do with Kokomi, Ayaka, and Thoma. He decided he'll deal with the finals coming up later, knowing Yae and Kokomi wouldn't mind helping him study.
What isn't his fault, however, was his neighbor blaring music next door. The bass blared through his walls with an aggravating amount of strength, causing Gorou to lose his thoughts with each resounding thump. He had tried being nice about it with a knock (read: banging his fist) against the wall and a polite "Turn it down, please!", and to his neighbor's credit, they did.
It only lasted about 20 minutes, but they did.
Exhaling deeply and closing his laptop, he made his way to his neighbor's door. Because really, who the hell was blaring Collard Greens on repeat at 11:30 on a Tuesday night? Didn't they have basic manners? People are trying to sleep!
Apparently not, seeing as they never answered my welcome messages. Why would they care about other people?
Banging on the door, waiting with arms crossed and foot tapping comedically, he wondered who would open it. Despite it being midway through the semester, he hadn't had a chance to meet his neighbor. He made attempts by bringing treats and a note on the door (who doesn't love welcome cookies?) but never got a response. It didn't matter much, their schedules never lined up and he himself was hardly in his dorm, coming in late and rising early.
The door swung open, music still blaring, albeit a bit quieter. "Oh hey! What's the problem, man?"
Gorou had words ready. His slow-to-anger temper gave him plenty of time to think about what he was going to say. He was going to give him a piece of his mind about "how you really should be more considerate, didn't your mom ever teach you manners, do you even know the time-"
But the charcoal quickly fizzled out as he took in the absolute unit of a man in front of him. Azure eyes raked over the tall figure, his well-toned, red-inked arms that stretched across the doorframe taking most of his attention, not noticing the scarlet eyes looking down on him, brow furrowed in concern.
"You alright, little guy? You look like you're about to have a stroke."
He blinked. "Music." he managed to get out, voice cracking. "Loud." Clearing his throat and desperately wiping his face, hoping to wipe the growing blush away, he tried again. "Your music's too loud, I can't focus on my essay and I'm sure people can't sleep either. Dorm walls are pretty thin, and it's nearly midnight."
The man grabbed his phone, trying to pause the music now. "Oh shit, you're right. I'm sorry about that man, it's been stuck in my head for like a week now and then I wanted to film a tik tok and this part never came out right and-"
"It's cool, don't sweat it. Just try and keep it down, please? For me?"
It was the man's turn to stumble over his words, Gorou purposely using his puppy dog eyes that granted him anything he wanted with his older siblings. He tilted his head slightly at the man's growing flush. "Are you okay? You seem unwell-"
Coughing cut him off, and Gorou extended his hand slightly, unsure if he was on good enough terms with this man to touch him. "Yep, got it, keep it down. No problem." He stepped back slightly, as to indicate he was closing the door. "Anything else for you, Mr…."
"Gorou. Just Gorou."
"Well then 'Just Gorou', Arataki Itto is very sorry about tonight. I hope you get some sleep, if you can't finish that essay."
A soft smile spread across his face. "Thanks. Have a good night as well." Itto nodded his head again, a dopey grin across his face, half hidden by the door. It shut softly, and Gorou couldn't help but stare at it for a moment.
Slowly making his way back to the dorm, he decided it wasn't a horrible experience. Sure, his dormmate was a bit loud, but he seemed to mean well. Maybe now that contact was made, he could finally get why he never said hello at the beginning of the year.
Once again comfy in bed, looking over his essay, he decided it wasn't half bad. He had until 11:59 pm tomorrow to turn it in anyways, and that was as good as that draft was going to get. He quickly planned out the rest of his day, realizing that it was now past midnight and he had an early morning tutor session.
Flicking off the lights and plugging in his phone, he could feel sleep dragging him down. His last coherent thought before passing out for the night was Damn, Miko's never going to let me hear the end of this.