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It's a beautiful day outside; the sun is shining, even though there's a foot of fluffy, white snow on the ground. Warm sunlight streams in through the large windows of the Seacrest Tech campus, warming my back but not calming my pounding heart. I'm so nervous. Nervous that I'm going to make a fool of myself, or just generally screw up, today, on the first day of the semester. I shiver, even with the sunlight on my back, and put my black-furred hand on the doorknob, opening the door.

Stepping into the classroom, I feel a few eyes on me. I'm not ashamed of my looks, I never have been. In fact, I'm quite proud to be a Red Panda. From my long, fluffy tail, to the 'cute' stripes on my cheeks, down to my white toes – the one thing that isn't 'Red Panda like' about me – I've always liked my looks, however feminine they may make me seem. However, looking around the room, I feel nothing but nervous. I sit down at a spare table, and pull out my laptop. There are still a few minutes before the class is scheduled to start, so I switch it on and load up the site I'd been looking at earlier. I'm looking for a flat, or even a room, to rent closer to the campus. I can't afford to drive or take the Metro all the way across the city each day. I'm scrolling through the search results, when a voice in my ear gives me a start.

“You are looking for a place to stay?"

I nearly jump out of my fur, and whirl around to see the person talking to me. It's a Hyena Anthro, her purple eyes watching me curiously, her white ears focused in my direction.

“Y-yeah. I'm looking for a room because I don't want to drive across the city every day." I stutter, and then explain.

She brightens and smiles. “Hey, I've got a spare room! And it's walking distance from here, too."

I can't believe my luck. “Really?"

“Yeah! I'll show you after this class, if you want?"

“Sure, that sounds great!" I reply, suddenly excited.

At that moment, the professor comes into the room, and everyone quiets down. The older Lioness Anthro steps up to the front of the workshop, and turns to address us.

“Welcome to Seacrest Tech. This is the First Level Computer Technicians Course. If this is not the right place for you, could you please leave now?"

A few students - a wolf, two foxes, and a human - get up and slowly leave the room. Once they've left and the door has closed out the noise from the corridor, the professor continues.

“My name is Professor Lionel, but you can call me Alicia. Now, I assume you all have your course outlines?"

The class nods, as do I, thinking of the booklet in my satchel, and the teacher grins, before launching into the first class…

“Hey, Mako."

I look up from my notebook upon hearing my name. The Hyena girl from class, Vega, is standing by the vending machines to my left.

“Oh, hey." I say, stepping over.

“So, uh, want me to show you the spare room at my place? It's just a little ways from here?" She asks, and I remember her earlier offer of a room to rent.

I nod. “Sure. Let's go."

Vega wasn't kidding, her building is just a few city blocks from the Tech campus, and we're soon heading up in an elevator…

“Wow, this place is amazing!" I gasp, just seeing the living area.

The space is completely open-plan, with only a few steel columns amidst a small sea of boxes and a couple of couches wrapped in plastic. The kitchen is over in the corner, with a brushed metal countertop against the exposed red brick walls. More boxes adorn the area next to the island counter, and some of the space along the main counter. The living area looks out onto a wall of glass, overlooking a 'rooftop garden' a few floors below us, with curtains lying on the floor on each side.

Seeing the state of the place, I turn to Vega and ask “You just moved in?"

She nods and replies “Yeah. But I kind of need more money coming in so I can afford to pay rent and utilities. It's not much, but just a little more than I can actually afford."

“So, where's the room?" I ask, starting to feel confident that this is a good place.

“This way." Vega says, and leads me across the living room to a short hallway. There are four doors, one on the left, one on the right, and two at diagonals at the end.

“The two at the end are the bathroom and toilet-come-laundry." Vega explains, before opening the door on the left.

Just like the living area, this room looks out onto the garden, although the windows come up to mid-thigh instead of being full-height. It's spacious, though, with a large skylight adding to the feeling with extra light. I spot a built-in wardrobe and open it. Shelves on one side, and a rail for hangers.

“Plenty of space. And you can easily get blinds for the window. Oh, and mine's the same, so don't think you're getting the short end of the stick." Vega says, standing at the door and looking out the window.

“It looks really nice. How's the bathroom?" I ask.

Vega steps back, inviting me to go have a look. As I expected, the bathroom has only a shower and a single basin, but does have space for an air-dryer – a device for drying off one's fur – and even a toilet. The separate toilet also has a basin, but has a washing machine and a dryer instead of the shower and air dryer.

“So, how much do you want for the room?" I ask, turning to Vega, who is standing at the door again.

She ponders it a bit, and then decides “We'll split the costs evenly. Rent, utilities, food. That shouldn't be a problem for you?"

I shake my head no. “That'll be fine."

“Awesome."

I'm still really excited, even a few hours later, after another class at Tech, then the hour drive back to my mom's house in Cornerstone. I start packing my things, which there are not many of. I'd put some money aside, quite a while ago, with the intention of spending it on new furniture when I finally move out of home. Now that I'm finally doing that, I get to go shopping for a bunch of new bedroom furniture. I can finally get a bigger bed! I mean, the single bed I've had since my childhood is nice, but the whole 'name carved into the headboard' thing is getting a bit too childish for me. I put away the last loose cable, a USB charger for the PS4, and look around my room. Or, rather, my old room. I'd taken my posters down and rolled them up, my only surviving plant, an Aloe Vera plant, was sitting, almost patiently, on the desk, waiting for its nightly watering; and aside from the TV hanging on the wall and the PS4 on the sideboard underneath, the room was bare of any evidence of my living here.

“I can't believe it."

I prick my ears and turn around. My elder sister, Elrissa, is standing in the doorway, her orange bangs covering one amber eye in a very non-military fashion. “I can't believe my little bro is all grown up. Moving out into the big, bad world."

I scoff, and say “I would've thought mom would be the one to be saying that sort of thing."

Elrissa rolls her eyes. “Of course, but I'm probably old enough to be your mother." She says, walking in and sitting on my bed.

I sigh and reply “Yeah, probably."

“Dinner's ready, you two!" Mom shouts from downstairs.

“Well, we should get going." Elrissa says, getting back up.

I follow her downstairs, and we find mom in the kitchen, serving up the ingredients for burritos across the island counter. You probably would have thought that we, a family of Red Pandas, would be eating, like, Asian food. But we don't. My favourite is burritos, so this is either a 'congratulations' or a 'please don't go' meal. Either way, I get burritos. We make our burritos – mine has chicken and the 'spicier' sauce – and sit down at the dining table to eat.

Partway through her second burrito, mom finally speaks. “I'm going to miss you, honey."

I smile and tell her “Don't worry. I'm only moving across the city. Not out of the State."

“It still seems like such a long way…"

“Mom, seriously, you can just take the Metro and come see me. It's really not that far." She's blowing this out of proportion a little, I think.

“Oh, it's just that I'm worried about you, Mako. I mean, I know what it was like being at college. Parties, hangovers, all those things. I'm just worried that you'll make a wrong choice and ruin your life."

“Mom, I'm not going to do drugs. You know me."

“Yes. I'm sorry, honey. I just worry. It's my job as a mother."

“I'll put you to a job in the kitchen; you keep making food like this." Elrissa adds, getting up to go get her fourth burrito.

“Be quiet, you." Mom chides, going back to her food and dropping the topic for now.

After dinner, I head back up to my room, and keep packing. Into their original boxes go my TV and PS4, leaving even less evidence of my existence here. Opening the wardrobe, I reach up to grab the duffel bag from the top shelf.

“Damn it." I mutter. It's only just out of reach, my fingers just skimming the seam.

With a grunt of frustration, I jump and grab the handle, pulling the bag from the shelf. With the duffel in hand, I start packing away my many items of clothing. After filling the duffel bag, I find myself with a couple more drawers full of clothes. I decide to go have a look in the basement for any extra boxes, and soon find a couple. I pack away the last of my clothes, and then sat on the bed to view my work. A small pile of boxes and the duffel bag sit in the corner, with the PS4 and TV boxes to one side. I only have the clothes on my back, a change for tomorrow, and a shirt to wear to bed left unpacked. Deciding against a shower tonight, I change into my bedclothes and slip into bed, ready for tomorrow.

The next day is a blur of activity, as Elrissa wakes me early and 'helps' me pack my things into my car. I remember to grab the few boxes of stuff under my bed, and soon I'm saying goodbye to my family, and driving into the city…

Luckily, Vega offers to help me bring my things up. We make multiple trips, backwards and forwards and up and down the elevator, before we're coming to the last boxes. Vega grabs the two smaller ones, and I grab the larger box, filled with clothes, before we head for the elevator again. The trip up is familiar by now, and we step out on our floor. I lead the way in, but as Vega goes to close the door behind her, she accidentally drops one of the boxes. It splits the packing tape, and sends the few items inside across the floor. Vega's face is full of confusion as she picks up one of the items – a vibrating sex toy.

“Uh, Mako, what kind of guy has one of these?"