A/N: Notes will always be at the bottom.

Disclaimer: Brah, it ain't mine.

As It Should Be

-Chapter 1: Settled-

Soul Evans was not the best student. He didn't often study, he didn't like the library, and he wasn't particularly fond of the majority of his classes. It didn't help that most of his classmates were unbearable at the best of times.

One good thing that had happened to him was his roommate: Frederick Blackstar had been his best friend since junior high, when they arrived at basketball try-outs together and ended up on the team. The blue-haired egomaniac hated his first name, though, and almost everyone knew him simply as Blackstar, much to Soul's amusement. The only person that got away with calling him anything but was Soul, but it only happened when Blackstar pissed him off.

Which, oddly enough, wasn't as common an occurrence as it used to be.

Their dorm room reflected their personality. Personality—not personalities—because despite Blackstar being a people person and Soul hating people, they found love in the same bands, television shows, and movies, as well as celebrities, scantily-clad women, and the secret geeking-out over superheroes. Memorabilia from midnight premieres, late-night concerts, and under-age parties adorned their walls and corkboards. Trophies sat on their bookshelf (devoid of books and filled instead with movies, videogames, and gaming consoles between the trophies), medals were hung over their beds, and the television was set on one of the dressers, the other pushed against it and housing a microwave and junk food. They set their beds to the highest level, enabling them to keep their mini-fridges underneath, along with other things they had brought from home that they may or may not need throughout their first two semesters of college, including three basketballs, four soccer balls, and Soul's guitar, secure in its hard, black case.

The two were lucky and managed to snag a room in the honors dorm, because Blackstar was a hell of a lot smarter than he let on and the housing office wanted to honor roommate requests as much as they could. (It probably helped that they still had free space in the honors dorm and no space in any other dorm that Soul was meant to live in.) This meant, of course, that they lived in a twenty-four hour quiet hall, and, despite being a "dorm," they got to have their own bathroom.

When they discovered this fact, they collected all of the Batman bathroom supplies they could find, successfully creating a themed bathroom that friends back home would laugh at them for.

(Though Soul wanted a Captain America bathroom. That would have been way better than Batman.)

Once the room was properly (dis)organized, the two went to the computer lab, printed their schedules, and began walking around the campus of Spartoi University. Since classes were due to start in two days, Soul had suggested they try to figure out where exactly their classrooms were. "One of the orientation leaders told me they unlock all the doors during normal class hours a week before school starts so we can find 'em," he had told Blackstar as he hung a Twenty One Pilots poster on the ceiling above his bed.

Fortunately, the information proved to be true for the halls in which their classes took place. Unfortunately, the information proved to be false for the places that food would usually be served.

They stood outside the Student Union on their phones, schedules folded and tucked in pockets. Blackstar groaned, loud and disappointed. "The fucking place won't open until the first day of classes. What're we supposed to eat?"

Soul scrolled through his phone. "Downtown's less than a ten-minute walk, and it's not like it's gonna rain on us. Let's go find something."

Blackstar shrugged. "All right. Worse comes to worst, there's a gas station that way." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "They've got, like, hot dogs and slushies."

"Gas station hot dogs?"

"They can be good!"

Soul shook his head. "Whatever."

The walk turned out to be closer to twenty minutes, partly because they got lost, partly because they couldn't figure out if they had left campus or not ten minutes into it. Downtown was well worth it, though, in Soul's opinion. It had a rustic feel to it, and jazz music could be heard drifting out the doors of a nearby coffee shop. He was tempted to go straight there, but Blackstar wasn't fond of coffee, and Blackstar was going to be a pain in his ass if he didn't get real food first.

The more shops they passed, the less inclined Soul was to get food. He was more interested in the record store and skate shop, the art gallery and theatre. More than once, Blackstar had to tug on his shirt sleeve to get him moving again. He knew there was a reason he purposefully went to a state university instead of a private, music-oriented one like his brother. He'd rather be here, in an old town that feels like life than in a new, pristine city with bustling crowds.

Somehow, they made it to a local pizza place between a bar and another coffee shop. The inside reflected the street outside, and the smell of freshly-baked cheese pizza filled his nose. His stomach growled, and Blackstar shot him a smirk. Unsurprisingly, most of the seats were empty since it was almost three o'clock, and Soul hoped that meant they could be in and out fairly quickly. He wanted to check out a few of the shops before they went back to campus.

From behind the bar, a pretty dark-haired girl approached, picking up two menus on her way. "Welcome to Monty's! I can sit you guys over here." She brought them to the left, around a corner, and set the menus on a table by the wall. Soul noticed there were no booths and made a mental, albeit sad, note to remember that for maybe next time. The girl put her hands on her hips and smiled, and Soul noticed Blackstar smiling in the goofy way he did when he spotted a particularly beautiful girl. "I'm Tsubaki, and I'll be taking care of you today. Wanna start with something to drink?"

"Coke's fine for me," Soul said, inwardly laughing at his best friend's awestruck expression.

"Yeah, me too," Blackstar said in a daze.

Tsubaki's smile widened, and she gave a little giggle. "I'll have them right out. Let me know if you have any questions about the menu, okay?"

Blackstar nodded.

Soul smirked, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms. Blackstar pretended not to notice, looking everywhere but at him.

They ordered a large pizza to split, knowing that anything they didn't eat they could heat up later tonight or tomorrow. Blackstar actually struck up a conversation with their waitress, going so far as to suggest she give him her number.

She smiled, thanked him, and politely refused. When they were well away from the restaurant, Soul laughed. "That was great."

Blackstar huffed. "She wouldn't give me her number."

"That's what's so great about it."

"Bet she woulda given it to you."

"Probably."

"Y'know, you can disagree for once. Save your bestie some confidence and shit."

Soul snorted. "Right, 'cause you're so lacking in the confidence department. You'll probably be asking her again next time."

Blackstar grinned. "Damn straight."

A/N: A very short first chapter. I plan on this being a full-length story, but I wanted to see how it goes with just this little introduction. I have my last week of classes this coming week, then a week of finals, then I'm done for the summer and can spend all my time writing. That is legitimately all I plan on doing. I am determined to finish three full-length stories before classes start again in August, so we'll see how far I get.

Leave me a review, let me know what you think and if you actually want to see where this is going. It's much appreciated (: