Meeting his new roommate's friends

[All characters are 18+]

Shuichi was still a bit shocked from that revelation, but after a few minutes, Mikan thought he'd be ready to walk as she escorted him out of the room. She didn't want to leave him alone. "As a nurse and your property, I just want to make sure you're well." He trusts her at her word - it would feel wrong to at this point. He was going to try of thinking of her as his roommate - it was more comfortable that way.

As they walked the halls, Mikan looked over and spotted a couple of people. "Hmm? who are they?" Shuichi says as he noticed Mikan had stopped.

"O-oh, they're my friends from high school." Mikan says, looking at the two of them. There was a blonde girl in an orange kimono and a redhead a green apron and camera around her neck.

"Ahh... I guess I should introduce myself to them." Shuichi starts moving towards them, Mikan following after. After getting close to them. "Hello there. I'm Shuichi Saihara." He bows to them. "I'm Mikan's-"

"Oh we heard, Bendy spine. You're Mikan pig's owner!" The one who looked like she was going to a festival said, giving him a side-eye.

Shuichi blanched at that. What the hell was that about!?

"Hiyoko, you should really stop doing that! You're not in high school and that's going to be a problem going forward." The red haired girl said before looking at Shuichi. "I'm sorry you got exposed to that, Hiyoko can be... abrasive... to those she's new to meeting. I'm Mahiru Koizumi. I'm the Ultimate photographer." She says, bowing to Shuichi.

"And I'm Hiyoko, The Ultimate Traditional dancer." The rude girl in the kimono said, grinning. "We're friends of Mikan!"

"Wh-why did you call her Mikan Pig just now then!?" Shuichi said in utter disbelief.

"What? It's a nickname." She huffs looking at Mikan, who, to her credit, don't flinch but just nod. "A-and besides..." she says a bit defensively. "I've matured a bit, I used to say much worse things."

"Sadly, this is true." Mahiru said, sighing as Mikan nods to confirm this. "It's been slow going though." Hiyoko looked to her best friend and grimaced at this truth, not wanting to admit it. "But I had something I wanted to confirm." Mahiru said, the relatively plain girl looking at Shuichi, causing him to tense up.

"Yeah?" He asked, bracing himself.

"You haven't been bullying her, have you? You've been treating her well?" She pointed her finger at him.

"Uh, yes! I mean, recently She's been looking after me..." He pointed to his bandages, sheepishly.

"Ugh."

What? What did I do now? Shuichi thought.

"For crying out loud. If you're her owner, you should be looking after her more, not the other way around. Take some responsibility and look after her like a Man!" She said, pointing at him again. Shuichi was not prepared to get lectured.

"Since classes start tomorrow, I guess we'll see you in photography class, Mikan." Mahiru says to her friend. "And let me know if he's treating you badly, all right?" The nurse nods, as the photographer and dancer walk off.

Shuichi was left silent for a minute after that, before looking at Mikan. "Those were your friends?" he said disbelievingly.

"Y-yes. I know it looks confusing from the outside, but Hiyoko can be sweet, she doesn't like showing it. A-and Mahiru tends to have high standards for those around her." She says, still holding Shuichi's arm.

Shuichi sighs. It looks like a lot of eccentrics were attending Hopes Peak university. This is going to take some getting used to.

[Big thanks to Gatsha for helping me with this.]