Waking up with a start, Nida sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. What had awakened him, he wondered? It hadn't been a dream... he never dreamed, at least not that he could recall. If he did dream, his dreams probably weren't important anyway - just the same kinds of things all those his age dreamed about. Showing up in class naked, being late and missing some important test... he didn't dream about girls, though. Actually, he wasn't even sure he was attracted to girls. He didn't seem to have any attraction to anyone at all; he led a rather uneventful existance, and it was mostly a solitary one. He'd never had occasion to be attracted to anyone.

He didn't mind, though, and the thought passed from his mind as if it had never been as he got out of bed and went to the small closet in his sparsely furnished room. Anyone looking at his room might think that no one actually lived there, as it was so plain and bare. Some students at Balamb Garden brought something from home to add a personal touch, a hint of their personality, but not Nida.

Come to think of it, he thought as he took a quick shower, Balamb Garden was the only home he knew. He'd probably had a family once, and a home, but he didn't really remember them. Somehow it didn't seem to matter, though. There were rumors floating around that the usage of Guardian Forces caused such memory gaps, but Nida had never used a GF; the only people he'd ever known to have used a GF were that quiet guy in the black leather, that really loud kid with the hoverboard, the disciplinary committee, and Instructor Trepe.

Oddly enough, those were the only people who ever wore clothes other than the Garden uniforms, too. He considered it as he looked down at the uniform he was about to put on, then dismissed it. Just a coincidence, certainly.

As was his habit every morning, he headed to the cafeteria from the dormitory. And just as happened every morning, he passed a younger kid jogging the hall, two girls walking together and talking, and a guy his own height and weight, who looked remarkably similar to him in almost every way. There were several guys like that at Balamb Garden, and Nida raised a hand to him in silent greeting. This too was a daily occurrance, as was the slight nod that the other boy gave in response, just as they passed each other in front of the third column in the hallway.

Breakfast was toast. It was always toast.

Nida sat at a table close to the center of the room. A short distance off, a Trepie and his friend were playing cards, as they did every morning. At the next table were two girls that looked nearly the same as those he'd passed in the hallway - they were there every morning as well, and he always finished his breakfast before they left.

He passed the same two girls and the same guy when he left the cafeteria. He raised a hand in silent greeting. The guy nodded. They passed.

Now was the time for Nida's daily routine to begin. Perhaps that wasn't the best way to say it, he thought idly, for the same things happened every morning as soon as he got out of bed. At any rate, it was time for class.

He was in Instructor Trepe's class, as were the quiet guy in black leather and the blond guy that headed the disciplinary committee, and perhaps a dozen others. Nida knew that there must be more classrooms elsewhere - an academy like the Garden had to have more instructors, and more classrooms, for there were at least a hundred students enrolled, even if he couldn't tell most of them apart. He never had seen any other classrooms, though, while he was walking the halls.

Instructor Trepe talked. Nida and the other students listened attentively and responded with the correct answers when called upon. Except the blond guy, who didn't seem to be paying much attention, and just scowled a lot. Eventually the bell rang, and Nida went to lunch.

Jogging kid. Two girls. The guy who nodded as they passed by the third column.

As usual, the cafeteria was out of hot dogs.

After the afternoon's classes, Nida headed over to the training center to kill some Grats. He'd decided he was going to become a SeeD someday, and so he knew he had to learn to become a better fighter. No matter how hard he tried, though, he couldn't seem to rise above an "average" level, according to Instructor Trepe.

He'd gotten a couple of potions from Dr. Kadowaki before journeying into the jungle-like training center, and he made good use of them in the handful of hours he spent killing Grats. During his battling, he passed a handful of other students who always seemed to be fighting in the training center at the exact same time he was, one of which had the same build and haircut as he did. He didn't bother waving to them, though, for they were as busy fighting as he was, and he knew there were T-Rexaurs about. He never actually encountered one himself, but he supposed that was just as well.

On his way back to his room in the dormitory, he passed the jogging kid again.

After a shower and change of clothes, Nida went to eat dinner, waving to the nodding guy on his way as always. He was not even the slightest bit surprised that the cafeteria was once again out of hot dogs; considering that they were out of hot dogs every day, he wasn't entirely sure that they'd ever had any to begin with.

The Trepie and his friend were playing cards again, and Nida wondered vaguely if they ever left that table. As they were not in his classes, and they looked remarkably similar to several other students, Nida wasn't sure that he'd ever seen them anywhere else. The two girls were still there too, and a handful of others who seemed to be ever-present in the cafeteria.

It was odd, Nida thought, that in a place so big as Balamb Garden, with so many things to do, people could get so easily stuck in a rut. Of course, that was a hypocritical statement coming from him, he admitted. How long had he been doing the exact same thing, day in and day out, with no variation whatsoever?

And no matter how many times he did these things, it never got him anywhere at all, he realized. How was he ever going to become a SeeD if he didn't progress somehow, if he didn't do something more noteworthy than safely going through the motions? He had no social life, no hobbies, no real reason to exist at all...

Looking around at those seated at the tables around him, he wondered if they felt the same. There was a difference with them, though - they were seated two and three together, talking and laughing... even if they always seemed to be talking about the same things, they were talking and laughing with each other, which was more than Nida had done for as long as he could remember.

Maybe that's what he needed to pull himself out of this rut, he decided, as he remained sitting in the cafeteria, nearly until one of the cafeteria workers came over the loudspeaker to tell everyone that it was closing for the night. Everyone obediently got up to leave, and Nida did likewise; now was the time at which he would have to go back to his room and simply stare at the ceiling until he fell asleep. He really did need a life, he admitted as he watched the other students file out of the cafeteria, vanishing into the corridors. Or at least a friend.

The two girls were walking past again as he headed for his dorm room, and the guy who looked much like himself. This guy was always alone as well, Nida realized; he'd never seen him sitting with anyone or talking to anyone. Perhaps he felt the same way Nida did...

This time, when he raised a hand in greeting, he smiled at the guy. "Hi there."

The guy did a double take, halting in his path for a moment as he stared at Nida in astonishment, but then gave him a nod - just as he always did, but with a much more nervous look upon his face. Nida frowned as the guy hurried on his way. What was so unnerving about what he'd done? All he did was say hello...

Maybe he was just shy, Nida decided, and he decided to give friendliness another shot when he saw the jogging kid headed his direction. "Hey, how's it going?" he asked as the boy drew close.

The boy nearly tripped. Gaping at Nida in alarm, he managed to recover his balance, and then broke into a run. Nida stared after him, feeling somewhat hurt.

He might have better luck with people he'd already seen with other people, Nida thought; it might just be that these two solitary people preferred to remain solitary. That gave him enough courage to approach the two girls who nearly always stood by the map at the front entry of Balamb Garden. "Hello..."

They stopped their talking immediately, and looked at him in shock. The two of them glanced at each other, questioning, then back to Nida warily. "Uh..." he started awkwardly, "I just wanted to..."

Nida's voice trailed off as the slightly shorter girl touched her friend's arm nervously, prompting the other girl to nod as the two of them walked away briskly, watching him over their shoulders in a rather suspicious fashion.

Returning to his dorm room, Nida sighed as he laid back upon the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Perhaps this was how things were meant to be, he mused; maybe it was best to just remain in his rut, nondescript and unnoticed. That was okay. He didn't mind it that much, in all honesty. He wasn't even sure what he would have said to any of the other students if they'd been more receptive, for there was little in his life that was worth talking about.

Nida drifted off to sleep, and as always, did not dream.