This is totally what it looks like [open, pre-despair]

It was an unfortunate consequence that in order to get the unlimited and unrestricted funding that Hope's Peak offered to the young Noble Prize winner, he had to attend class. Of course, he wouldn't admit it, but he learned interesting things, not in science of course, but in the finer classes, the ones he really wished he could have some sort of talent in, the art classes, the English classes… the theater classes. Alas, his talent was science. And not anything that his father could be proud of. Ha. Go him.

However, he taking a slightly different path today to his class, seeing if the traffic in the hall would provide a faster and more effective route as opposed to the shorter in length route he usually took. Of course, this route would pass into a hall he used to frequent the year earlier where most of the classes were for last year's classes (and maybe he could give a grumpy sort of nod to his favorite teachers as he passed by, because god forbid he actually like any of the teachers). Of course the hall was littered with club rooms of all sorts, but he never really went to those. He preferred his own private research and rather work alone than with anyone.

So here he was, walking down the hall, a notebook in hand, and a pencil in the other, just in case something happened which he needed to write a note down for when he stopped mid-step and stared down the hall not too far in front of him. His notebook hit the ground and his pencil clattered, and his mouth fell slightly open. His foot lowered to the ground and he stared a little dumbstruck at the sight.

Oh god. Maybe he wasn't such an asshole, the God that his dad so dearly loved. In front of him, standing at one of the doors was Mariko. Of course, if this were a normal day, he'd walk on, and actually say hello as he passed, but… Oh god. She was wearing… why was she wearing… Root swallowed hard and he lowered himself to the ground to pick up his notebook and pencil without taking his eyes off of Mariko. He groped around for a moment before his hand found his pencil and he flipped his notebook to a random page towards the back and wrote in big letters across the page. MARIKO MAID.

Calm down. Collect yourself. BUT HOW COULD HE? Calm down. Don't let anything… show. Root took a deep breath and slowly walked up to where Mariko was standing. "Hi… Mariko." He tried to avoid looking down at the outfit while he was next to her. Well, he knew what his next art project would be modeled after… well… if he could ever actually draw, even though he sucked at it. "Er, uh, wh-what are you doing here?" No, no it was supposed to be 'how you doing' but smooth, smooth Root. He always knew how to charm the girls.

He needed to collect his thoughts and calm down. He needed to at least on the outside seem like the fact he was seeing a very beautiful young woman in a… an outfit like that wasn't affecting him. Especially when the young woman happened to be one of the very few people he liked, and he liked her… well a lot more than he liked nearly anyone else around him. If someone told him that if he went down this hall today he would see… this, he wouldn't believe them. He wasn't even expecting to see Mariko at all. And at this rate, he'd probably be late for his next class, but really, he was fine with skipping his next class if that meant sticking around Mariko for a little bit longer.

"This isn't....I mean I, I, I-I-I uh... Aw jeez."

Root couldn't help but grin at that, not even because of the outfit, but just how cute she was as she hid behind the clipboard. However, he knew that she was embarrassed and it wasn't make her feel… good or happy. Root thought for just a moment while his brilliant mind worked on a solution, how he could make this whole situation better for her, even though he quite enjoyed the view (if the dropping his notebook and his pencil were any clue at all).

"Oh, you're recruiting new members for this club?" He stole the chance to look her down, soaking in the look on the dear, sweet Mariko Nakazawa before looking back up at her. "I'm sorry but I can't join, I have research to do in my free time. But maybe I could visit sometime." Don't look down again, don't look down again, don't look suspicious. You already got a good look, and oh god he wanted to look down at her clothes again. He had to stop himself from looking like a pervert. Especially around her. Root swallowed again forcing himself to turn away to curb the temptation. Now he had to think of something to say. Something good to say that wouldn't embarrass her farther, or offend her in anyway. If only social sciences were real science to Root, maybe he would know how to react. "Not a bad idea, dressing up to attract new members. I-I'm sure you've got a lot of sign-ups." He spotted some dude walking down the hall looking at Mariko funny and Root grimaced, though luckily he was turned away so she wouldn't see. "It's rude of the rest of the club to leave you out here alone. It's decided. I'll stay with you, so you're not alone out here." Root turned back around and took a position next to her, notebook at his side and looking forward, trying to sneak glances over at the maid Mariko without her noticing.

"I'm not...technically in the club. It's a long story. I'm just unlucky and very, very stupid."

Luck was one of those things Root didn't really believe in the same way everyone else did. To him, luck was probability and was calculable. However, the way she had phrased this… well it made him believe that someone had taken advantage of her, made a bet and she lost. They were probably getting a kick out of this. And he was going to first kill them for forcing her to do this, then thank them that he got to see her like this at some point. After all, it was his last year at Hope's Peak, and after he left… he was looking forward to graduating but he wasn't looking forward to probably never seeing Mariko ever again. Just the thought of that brought pain to his chest, an inexplicable pain just at the thought of never seeing her again.

"Ah, so you lost a bet. Next time, call me up if you take a bet, I can usually swing things in favor of winning." Root smiled at her with a confident sort of look. He wasn't sure how she had lost a bet, but even if whoever she lost it to rigged it, Root was sure he could best them. After all, gambling was just calculations. It was why card counters and the similar were usually kicked out of casinos. Maybe he should go to a casino and see if he could win big for some funding for after he graduated from here. Self-sustaining lab due to betting? That sounded like fun.

"Mister Root, are you okay? You keep looking at me and looking away quickly like something's troubling you. Does it really look as bad as I think it does? I tried to warn them, I really don't think a thing like this was something that'll look good on me."

That… that was the complete opposite of the reason he was acting the way he was right now, but how could he tell her that he found her completely and totally sexy without revealing that he had feelings for her? Without making things awkward? She didn't even know that he was going to skip class just so he could stand here with her, so he could soak in this sight for as long as possible before she left and took off the outfit. Not that he didn't like her normally, but it was refreshing to see her out of the hoodie in something so...

That was it. That was what he could say, only he would have to rephrase that thought slightly. "Oh, no, that's not what I was thinking. I think you look wonderful, you always do. I don't normally get to see you out of your hoodie, so it's cool to see you wearing something different every once and a while. Though, I'm sure your more comfortable in your hoodie, and you still look wonderful then and…" Oh great, he needed to just drop the shovel and stop digging himself into this hole. "What I'm trying to say is that… you look good." Good. What a wonderful word to use despite his massive vocabulary which seemed to fly out the window when he was talking to Mariko.