Episode 1

Kaoru nervously trodded up the stairs carrying all his bags, which were bursting because of the large amount of “necessities” he decided to take from home. He also brought his beloved guitar despite the inconvenience of carrying the thing from home, to the train station, to the taxi, and up the ceaseless staircase.
He was so nervous he almost tripped.  He had never lived away from home. Sure, he is naturally independent, but he really did not know what to expect at college.  Everyone always told him college is the time when people change, or “grow up.” He understood the words they were saying, but did not fully comprehend the true meaning behind them.
Kaoru dropped his bags as he finally reached his dorm room. He stood in front of the door. Room 304. This was going to be his new home from now until he achieves his undergraduate degree.
Kaoru took a deep breath then knocked on the door.
No answer.
He knocked again.
No answer.
Kaoru touched the doorknob and discovered it unlocked. It would be rude to burst in uninvited… but the purple head shook his head from the thought. Hell, it’s his home now too! He picked up his bags with both hands and opened the door with his elbows.
Kaoru stopped in his tracks. His mouth gaped open at the sight before him. In the middle of the small room with piles of paper, hoards of make-up, and stacks of clothing sat a beautiful girl reading a magazine and listening to headphones. Apparently, she didn’t notice the purple head.
Kaoru quickly ran out then slammed the door shut.
What the hell?! He panicked and took out a piece of paper with his dorm address scribbled all over it.
304 Diety Hall.
He looked at the numbers on the door.
Room 304….. You have got to be kidding! Kaoru thought, This has to be a mistake! My roommate’s supposed to be a guy!
Kaoru shook his head. Whatever the mix up was, he had nowhere else to go and nobody in the college he knew. He might as well befriend the roommate. Kaoru sighed and entered the room again.
The girl, still unaware, was tapping her black painted fingernails on the Diskman. She was a sight to see. She had blue-black hair clipped in a bun, exposing a pale and slender neck. Her eyelashes were perfect, and those lips were pouty, but temptingly kissable.
“H-hello?” Kaoru said uncertainly.
The girl continued tapping and began to sing along.
“Hello? Hello?” Kaoru tried to no avail. The girl suddenly stood up, with her eyes closed, and danced around to the beat of her blaring headphones.
Kaoru, losing his patience, dropped his bags and stalked over to the girl. He grabbed the earphones away.
The girl yelped and practically jumped 10 feet from astonishment.
“HELLOOOO!! I’ve been trying to get your attention for 10 minutes now!” Kaoru said.
“OH! Gomen! Gomen!” the girl bowed, a slight flush on her cheeks.
She looked up, then slowly moved her eyes up and down the purple head’s body. Kaoru shifted nervously. No one has looked at him like that before…..it was as if she was undressing him with her eyes.
The girl giggled. “Hmmm…you must be my new roommate.”
“W-well,” Kaoru stammered, “there seems to be a mistake. My dorm is supposed to be at Diety Hall, Room 304.”
The girl raised an eyebrow. “This IS Room 304.”
“^^; I understand that, but, well….my roommate is supposed to be, um, a guy…”
The girl looked at him, eyebrows twitching. Then her shoulders began to shake, and next thing the purple head knew, she was rolling around the floor --- laughing.
“BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!”
Kaoru’s cheeks flushed. “HEY! This is NOT FUNNY!”
After a while, the girl settled down and sat up with tears of laughter on the corners of her eyes. “Don’t you get it?”
Kaoru had utter confusion painted all over his face.
The girl stood up. “Don’t you find anything fishy about the way I talk?”
“No…”
She rolled her eyes. “Wow. You’re pretty dense, aren’t you?”
Kaoru opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off by her saying, “Let me show you what I mean…”
The girl began to unbutton her shirt with slow ease.
Kaoru paled. “L-look. You shouldn’t be doing that here! There’s a bathroom out---“
Before Kaoru could finish his sentence, the girl already slipped her shirt off those slender shoulders. Kaoru’s eyes widened at the paleness and smootheness of her skin. It seemed like priceless porcelain.
Then his eyes gradually wandered down the collarbone….
“@_@ HOLY SHIT YOU’RE A GUY!!!!!!! @_@”
“Do I really look that much like a girl?” the roommate pouted, but smiled slyly while sitting on her---er, HIS bed cross-legged.
“………….”
Sensing no answer from the purple head, he rolled his eyes and went on, “Since you’re going to be my roommate for a while, we might as well get acquainted. My name’s Toshiya. What’s yours?”
“Huh? Oh. Um, Kaoru. My name’s Kaoru.”
Suddenly, the two men heard whistling from their still-open door.
“WHOO_HOO! Nice bod, Toshiya!” a whistling red-head leaning on the door frame said.
Toshiya stuck his tongue out. “Die, you’re such a peeping tom!”
“Slut.” Die snickered.
Toshiya threw a pillow at him.
“I see you got a roommate.” Die observed, dodging the pillow with ease.
“Oh yeah.” Toshiya got up excitedly. “Die, this is my roommate Kaoru. Kaoru, meet my friend Die.”
“Nice to meet you.” Die greeted. “Say, you guys wanna come to my party tonight? It’s gonna be upstairs in my room.”
Upstairs?! Kaoru thought. He didn’t think anyone could climb anymore stairs than what he just did.
“You’d better watch out for Die.” Toshiya warned. “He’s the Frat King. His goal is to get everyone drunk during his daily parties, and I do mean DAILY parties…”
Die pretended to be hurt. “Toshiya! You know I would never do that!” Die looked at his watch. “oops. Gotta go. I’ll see you both later!” He waved good bye then disappeared as quickly as he had come.
“Ano…I don’t think I can go to that party…”
Toshiya turned to face Kaoru. “C’mon! It’s only your first day. You have to meet some people.”
“I---“
“Unpack later.”
“But---.”
“We won’t be late.”
“Well---.”
“It’s only upstairs.” The bishounen winked. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I need to go potty. ^_~” He swiftly sauntered off to the dorm bathroom before Kaoru could get another word in.
Kaoru looked around the tiny dorm. Clothes were strewn everywhere and nailpolish bottles and make-up covered more surface area than the room’s actual floor. Kaoru let out an exasperated sigh with his head hung low.
Getting used to this was going to take a long time.
 A VERY long time….

Episode 2: Rat Face

Dear Journal,
 I have spent a week at college, and so far, I am surviving, amazingly enough. Classes are not that difficult, but are a lot of busy work. I don’t mind though, it will only prepare me for medical school.

My dorm is way too small, but decent. My roommate is alright, just, well, sometimes annoying. Everytime I try to do my homework, he drags me to one of his insane parties or asks me if he looks alright in one of his new outfits. Every night, he stays up till 3 in the morning talking on the phone yakking about useless things to 50 different people on hold!  I would not mind so much, but anything that came out of his mouth wasn’t very exciting. Not only that, but he looks like a goddamn girl. What’s worse is that he looks like a goddamn supermodel, only it’s a he-she. Or is it a she-he? Whatever. I guess Toshiya’s alright; without him, I wouldn’t have met so many people in a matter of days.

 I discovered he wasn’t the only weirdo in this dorm. There are a whole lot of other people that dress like girls, but aren’t really girls. Then there’s the dorm cult lead by Professor Toshi; I don’t know how the faculty doesn’t know, but the cult has midnight meetings every other day. It’s strange-----
 

 “NE!!! What are you writing?”

 “ACK!” Kaoru quickly shut his journal and put it away. “Don’t you know the meaning of the word ‘privacy’?”

 Toshiya pouted. “Look here, Mr. I-Am-In-Pre-Med, just because I’m majoring in Fashion Design doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”

 “I just asked you if you knew the meaning of the word; I didn’t say you were stupid.” Kaoru explained. “…Well, maybe you look like it, but----“

 “MOU~!” Toshiya hit the grinning purple head with a pillow. “Fine! I’m going to go see someone who appreciates me.”

 “Good.” Kaoru opened his Chemistry book. “I can study without interruptions for once.”

 Toshiya pouted. Suddenly, his lips turned to a smile.

 Uh-oh. Kaoru thought. He’s either gonna drag me to another party, or---.

 “Ne, Die’s having a party tonight.”

 T_T Shimatta!!! “So, what’s new?”

 “Pleeeze come with me.” The blue-head clung to his roommate’s arm.

 Let go! “I’m busy.”

 “But-but I don’t want to go alone, and I don’t want to be lonely, and---.“

 “Totchi! You know EVERYONE in Die’s parties---.”

 “Pleeeze, Kao-kao?” The blue head’s eyes were as large and watery as Riiya’s (from akazukin chacha ^___^), and his lips plastered the most adorable pout.

 God give me strength. >_< Kaoru gripped the table for will power. He looked at the blue head one more time.

 “Fine.” Kaoru sighed.

 “YATTA!!” The blue head jumped around the dorm as Kaoru hung his head low. Why does this always happen?

 “But Totchi, we have to be back by nine, alright?”

 Apparently, his roommate wasn’t listening. “Gyah! I can’t wait for you to meet Hakuei and Akira and Yuki-chan and blah blah blah…”

 Kaoru sighed, tuning out Toshiya’s voice. He had to think positive. Two good things can be derived from his situation. One would be that Toshiya will definitely be too drunk after the party to converse on the phone. Kaoru will be able to study in peace. Second, Die is going to be at the party, so at least he has someone to talk to. Die seems to be a party animal, but is also one of those guys that everyone gets along with, and he and Kaoru have become close friends in the past week.
 I guess it won’t be too bad….

*****

The music blared with intense remixes from the dorm’s favorite DJ, Yukihiro.  The room wasn’t that big, so there wasn’t really any dancing, but a lot of drinking and socializing going on.

 Die walked around with a big grin on his face. He made a couple of high five’s, waves, and greetings. Everyone in the dorm knew him and everyone got along with him.  Die playfully threw off Kyo, who took up his usual space on the futon.

 “What the hell?!”

 Die grinned. “You took my spot.”

 “grumble grumble.” The shorter man scooted over and settled himself on the floor by the couch. “You shouldn’t be rude to guests.”

 “Kyo, what are you doing here?”

 Kyo rolled his eyes. “Well, you see, I’m your friend. You know, those people that you get along with and talk to---.”

 “You idiot! I don’t mean that.” He chugged his beer can. “I thought you had a cult meeting today.”

 Kyo grinned. “Nah! Professor Toshi and the cult musicians Art Marju Duchain said they couldn’t make the inauguration ceremony. Professor Toshi said he was ‘tied up’.”

 “That’s a first. I thought Prof. Toshi was never late to cult meetings.”

 The shorter man smirked. “I bet you he got tied up with Prof. Yoshiki.”

 “Prof. Yoshiki??!!” Die exclaimed. “Whoa! Where did you hear that from?”

 Kyo held up his hands. “Ayumi said they’ve been screwing around a lot.”

 “Jesus Christ, Kyo! Don’t ever listen to Hamasaki Ayumi! She’s just a gossiping sorority bitch.”

 “True, but Utada said the same thing.”

 “And Utada’s in the same sorority as Ayumi.”

 “Oh.”

 “Kyo, you need to be updated on current events.”

 Kyo grumbled. When it came to social events, Die knew everything, but when he is asked what one plus one is, he would scratch his head, confused. Maybe that’s why Die went to College of Athletics. All brawn and no brains. The shorter man thought.

 “Well,” Kyo retorted. “It so happens that I passed by Prof. Toshi’s office yesterday…”

 “And?”

 “And the window was fogged up and there was someone yelling: ‘Oh baby! Ride me hard!’”

 ~Hack! Hack!~ Die choked on his beer.

 “Daisuke! Daijoubou?” a familiar voice asked.

 Die recovered and turned around. “Toshiya! Finally! I thought you weren’t showing up!”

 “Don’t blame me, blame Kao-kao.” He pointed to the man behind him.

 “What?!” Kaoru snapped. “I wasn’t the one who took an hour to fix mascara!”

 “Tisk. Tisk. It hurts to be beautiful!”

 Kaoru ~sweatdrop ^_^;;;~

 “You get used to him.” Kyo whispered to Kaoru.

 Toshiya scanned the crowded room and hallway, searching intently for a particular someone.

 “Toshiya, who are you looking for?” inquired Die.

 “Hmmm… where’s Hakuei-chan?”

 “ ’Hakuei-chan’ ?!” Kyo cackled as Toshiya glared down at him. “OooOOOo! Looks like Toshiya has a crush!!”

 “Um, Kyo…” Die informed. “We’ve known that for weeks.”

 Kyo stopped laughing. “>_<! MOU!! Why doesn’t anyone tell me anything!!”

 “Maybe because you’re always asleep.” Toshiya said.

 ~Grumble. Grumble!~ “Fine! I’d rather hang out with my cult anyway!” He stalked off to another cult member named Ryutaro as Toshiya and Die laughed.

After an hour, Kaoru wandered off and found himself playing cards at a table by the fridge.

 “Four aces! I win!” Koji grinned as he grabbed all the money from the rest of the almost-broke players.

 “C’mon, Koji! Go play video games with Levin and let us rookies play!” whined Shuse.

 “Let’s play another round then kick Koji out.” Kaoru said.

 “Fine by me.” Koji smiled. “This game’s getting boring without a challenge.”

 “Shut up!” Shuse snapped.

 “I think this time we should have someone else shuffle.” Taka suggested, grabbing the deck from the taller man. “Hiro, wanna shuffle?”

 Shuse sputtered. “NO!!! He’ll put some cult spell on those cards then we’ll never win!”

 Hiro ~^_^;; sweatdrops~ “Shuse, calm down! It’s only a game.”

 “So you DO know cult spells!!  ~gasp~”

 Everyone ~BIG sweatdrop~

 “Um, yeah.” Hiro replied. “And if you don’t shut up, I’ll cast one on you.”

 Shuse quickly shut up.

 Taka sighed. “Well, Kaoru? Guess you’ll shuffle.”

 Kaoru shuffled quickly then started another game. Goddammit! He wanted to win so badly. He dealt the cards then picked up his cards then widened his eyes in amazement. Four kings! DAMN! He looked at the pile of bills lying in the middle of the table. $_$. It was enough to pay for his books.  Soon, signs of dollar bills were dancing around Kaoru’s head. His cards would give him a definite win.

 “OK. Everyone ready?” Taka asked.

 Everyone nodded then laid their cards down one by one.

 “Two aces. Two sixes.”

 “Three threes. One ace.”

 “one five. One four. One two. One one.”

 “Four Queens!” Koji exclaimed.

 Kaoru got up excitedly, unaware that he bumped into someone behind him. “I got four---“

 “Hey!!! What’s your problem??!!”

 Kaoru turned around and saw a tall blond haired guy behind him. And the guy looked pissed.

 “Look, I’m sorry.” Kaoru apologized.

 “SORRY!?!?!?!” the guy snapped. He pointed to his now wet shirt. “Look what you did!! You made me spill beer all over my new shirt!”

 “I said I’m sorry!”

 “Now how am I supposed to catch babes!?”

 Kaoru looked the man up and down; then involuntarily smirked.

 The man glared. “You’re not much of a looker either, Rat Face!”

 Kaoru winced.

Rat……..face….…!!!!!!

The purple head glared.

The blondie glared.

The poker table stared.

They could practically see battle aura’s surround the two men.

“I put money down on Kaoru.” Koji said.

The table rolled their eyes.  It’s not surprising to have Koji, aka Mr. Finance, derive money matters out of any situation.

Kaoru glowered. “Are---you---threatening---me??!!”

The man put a hand on his hip. “It’s not my fault I’m sexier than you!”

Kaoru was losing his patience. This guy had a bigger ego than Toshiya. Before he could lash out another insult, an over-mellifluous voice called out.

“Oh, Kao-kao!!” Of couse. Toshiya.

“What now, Totchi?”

The blue head walked over, swaying his hips more so than usual.  Then he put on one of his most irrisistable smiles.

“Oh,” Toshiya said, voice lowering to seduction level, “I see you’ve found my honey for me.”

EH?

The blondie’s scowl slowly morphed into a sly seductive one. “Hey babe.” The man slid his arm around the blue head’s slim shoulders, careful to hide the wet spot on his shirt.

Kaoru rolled his eyes.

“Hmmm…where have you been, Hakuei-chan?” Toshiya purred.

Hakuei??! Kaoru stared at blondie.That’s the guy Totchi’s been after?! ~shock~

Kaoru made a face. With Toshiya’s looks, the blue head could do better. He took a look at Toshiya, grinning happily like a love-sick school girl; then looked at Hakuei, smiling like a hungry dog in heat.  Kaoru didn’t like it one bit.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Shut up.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Go Away.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

ARGHHHH!

Kaoru swung his arm around and hit the alarm clock, knocking it off the table. Slowly, he got up and stretched his arms. Surprisingly, it was a nice, warm fall day. The autumn leaves were beginning to show on the tree by his dorm window despite the warmth of the wind.  The sun shone brightly and lighted the small room. Was it really morning already? He glanced over to the bed beside him. The bed was neatly made and empty.  Toshiya didn’t come back the night before.

Kaoru scowled. He’s probably screwing that blonde bastard Hakuei right now!!!

Kaoru got off the bed and prepared to go to class. He had to go to English 110, a class that all students were required to take as a GEC, that morning.

After brushing his teeth and hurriedly ate a granola bar {so unhealthy ><!! ~Yk2~} for breakfast, he grabbed his bookbag and opened the door.

The purple head sighed and again looked at his roommate’s bed.

The window is right above it and allowed a beautiful ray of sunlight to baptize it. It looked so empty.

Though he was bitter about Hakuei calling him Rat Face and not being able to study the night before, he couldn’t help but feel a trace of worry.

Totchi….

*****

“Ohayou, Kaoru!”

“Ohayou!” Kaoru grumbled. Pulling up a chair and sitting down hastily.

A moment of silence passed as his friend observed him calculatingly.

“My, my, something must be troubling you.”

Kaoru turned to his friend Takeo, who is also a potential pre-med student in the same English class with him.

“It’s nothing. Just tired.”

“So I see.” Takeo raised an eyebrow. “You should know better than to lie to me, chum.”

Kaoru sighed. Takeo was too smart and calculative to be bullshitted with.

 “What makes you think that?”

“Well, your silence is a factor.”

“Eh?”

“Silence. --noun-- (1)avoidance or absence of sound---“

“OK OK! I understand.”

“Ahem!” Takeo chuckled. “As I was saying. On a normal English 110 morning basis, you always come in with either a smile or a frown.  A smile indicates your roommate did not pester you the night before and actually had a good night’s rest.  A scowl would tell me that you were dragged to another frat party or your roommate was talking on the phone all night.  Either way, during the process of smiling or scowling, you were always talking about why you were in such a mood. And today, you bore nothing but a scowl with silence, implying you went to a frat party with some complicated circumstances.”

For a second, Kaoru could imagine his friend with a British accent smoking a Sherlock pipe.  He wondered why Takeo didn’t go work at some detective agency or something. Then again, Takeo would be successful in any field he decides to go into anyway, especially with that GPA of his. What’s worse is that Takeo always had that calm, sophisticated demeanor about his air no matter what the situation is. He just seemed so….grown up? Makes a person wonder if he really is human.

Takeo continued. “Then there’s the missing coffee mug on your hand.”

Kaoru looked at his hand. “That’s nothing peculiar.”

Takeo gave Kaoru one of his really goofy looking smiles. “Elementary, my dear Kaoru, the missing coffee mug tells me the reason why you are silent today.”

The purple head smirked. “OK, Sherlock-Takeo. Try me.”

“You always have a coffee mug from Oxley’s with you every morning. It’s understandable because you don’t have time to eat breakfast before class.  As what you’ve told me, you have difficulty waking up mornings, am I correct?”

“Yes….”

“And your roommate, despite sleeping 3 hours a day, has inhuman energy and gets coffee for both of you every morning at Oxley’s Caf?.”

“Wait. How did you--?”

“I’m there every morning too.” He picked up his mug and showed Kaoru. “And it’s not very hard to notice such a looker as your roommate.”

“I’m sure he’d like to hear that.”

“So I conclude from my observations that you are troubled today because your roommate did not go back to the dorm.  Am I correct?”

 Kaoru shook his head. “Takeo, you’re right on the money, like always.”

 “True. True. Am I ever wrong?” Takeo smiled. “So, do you want to talk about it?”

 The purple head took a deep breath. “It’s really not much to talk about---“

 “What’s not much to talk about?” asked a voice behind him.

 Both men turned around to see Kirito, Aiji, and Jun behind them.

 “Hello.” Takeo greeted. “I’m surprised you did not come in late.” The phrase was more directed to Jun than Kirito or Aiji, who were having too much fun on their own to talk.

 Jun giggled. “We actually got Kohta out of his bed on time for once.”

 Jun was in Nursing. Not many guys ever went into that field of major, but with Jun’s sweet and nurturing personale, he fit right in.  The only reason why Kohta would survive living in a dorm was because he roomed with Jun. (He threatened to jump off the window when asked to room with his brother).

 Takeo flashed a sweet smile. “I assume since he does not want to be associated as Kirito’s younger brother, he’s seated in the far back of the room.”

 Jun nodded shyly. “Yup. He even went in the back door.”

 “Is Die here yet?” asked Kaoru.

 “I’m not sure,” said Jun, looking around the crowded lecture hall. “I haven’t seen him since the party last night.”

 “More than likely, his alcohol consumption from the night before will emaciate him from attending class this morning.” Takeo explained.

 Then, Prof. Pata (Professor of English ^_^;;) came out with his usual dreary aura, expressionless face, and monotone voice that sounded more like Buddhist chants than lecturing.

 Kaoru looked around him. Almost everyone, even hard-core coffee holders, were knocked out from Prof. Pata’s boredom-battle aura within the first five minutes of lecture.   Kirito and Aiji were asleep on top of each other.  Takeo, who was taking notes, remained calm and unphased, while Jun fell asleep with his head on Takeo’s shoulder.

Kaoru began to feel the effects of Prof. Pata’s curse. His eyes began drooping. Nooo!! Must not give in……to boring …….. professor…..

Where was Die when he needed him? Die never paid attention in class anyway, but at least he talked to him.  Kaoru stole Takeo’s cup and had a struggling sip of coffee.

Have…to…pass…class….zzzzzzzzzz…..

***

Die ran as fast as he could through campus holding his ten page term paper in hand. He dodged passers-by who gave him looks of malice.

Fuck you, people. I’m late for class!

He was waaaay too late for English class. He never usually showed up for English because of hangovers, but there was a term paper due that day and he could not afford to fail.

He glared at an old lady who gave him the finger.  Because of his preoccupation with retorting the old lady, the red head ran into someone and fell, causing all his papers to fly everywhere.  Die’s eyes widened then grabbed his papers hurriedly. Then he whipped his head back, ready to punch the lights out of whomever he ran into. Die stopped and stared instead.  There was a person on his knees, gathering up his own papers in the process.

 Die’s eyes wandered over the overly-thin arms down the slim, delicate body, then rested his gaze to the person’s face.  The person’s auburn hair looked beautiful swaying with the unusually warm autumn wind, and his features had a natural look of innocence, despite his the disapproving expression on his face from having to gather his papers.

Damn….what a looker….

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew over, causing one of the person’s pages to fly off in the distance. Die snapped out of his state then chased after the paper, grabbing it. He looked at the person’s name, which written on the top, before handing it back to the owner.

“Gomen.” Die said. “Here.”

The person glared at Die, then snatched his paper from the red head.  Die didn’t notice the piercing glare given to him, but only noticed how the emerald-green eyes made the person’s face so angelic, even though they were only contact lenses.  Suddenly, the beauty began to walk away from Die. Die quickly jumped to his feet and jogged over.

“Hey, are you new here?” Die asked, attempting to instigate a conversation.

No response.

“Hmmm?” Die grinned. “You don’t talk much do you?”

No response.

“Where are you headed?”

“I’ve got class.”

“^o^! Wooo! He speaks!”

~Glare~

“What class do you have?”

“None of your business.”

“C’mon. At least tell me what your major is.”

“Music.”

“Music major? Damn! That means you have to go through Prof.Yoshiki! He’s tough!”

The younger man decided to tune out the red head’s voice and walked faster.

“Are you going to music now?”

“No.”

“Then where are you going?”

“My dorm.”

“Where’s you’re dorm?”

“………”

Die chuckled. “Well, I can tell you’re new this quarter.”

“…..How so?”

“Because all the dorms are over there.” Die pointed at the other direction.

The younger man looked at where Die pointed then blushed hard.

Die looked at him. He was so beautiful, especially with slightly pinked cheeks.  Suddenly, Die remembered about his term paper.  He hit his head with his hand.

“Fuck!” He cursed. Of all the days to have a term paper due, it had to be the day he ran into a hot babe.

The younger man blinked.

“Ano…I have to go now. “ Die quickly whipped out a piece of paper, scribbled some stuff down. “Here’s my dorm phone number and cell number.” He swiftly put the paper in the other man’s pocket. “Call me, alright?” The red head winked then jogged away before the younger man had the chance to protest.

The auburn head took a deep breath, taking out and glancing at the scribbled piece of paper.  He was so angry being knocked down and embarrassed like that. And what was that teasing grin he just gave him? He wanted to throw the paper away, but decided to put it back in his pocket. It wouldn’t do any harm to keep the number now, would it?

Die reached Prof. Pata’s class in a haze. He wasn’t really paying attention to what was going on.  He sat down right next to Kaoru, thinking about the auburn-haired beauty.  Kaoru woke up and looked over to his friend.  Die was being Die, but something was amiss.

“Ano…Die! Daijoubou?”

 “……...”

 Kaoru stared in shock. Die was never absentminded. True, he wasn’t very intelligent {Kaoru…^^; ~Yk2} , but ditziness was not relevant to Die’s nature.  Kaoru sighed and slumped on his seat.
Die continued to stare in limbo.  He gave a long, heart-felt sigh.  All he could see were those beautiful green eyes and the name on the boy’s paper.

Shinya…. what a beautiful name…..
 

*****

 SLAM!

Kyo craned his neck from the bed he was sleeping in and growled. “Would you mind being at least considerate to the sleeping?”

 “Gomen.”

 Kyo sat up from his dilapidated bed and stared at his new roommate who just came in through the door.  He raised an eyebrow.  “You look sick today. Did something happen?”

 “No.”

 Silence.

 Kyo frowned. His new roommate is too quiet. Dude, I don’t think I can stand the silence…. Kyo thought. Then again….I can get more sleep….

 “Ne, Shinya. Maybe you should get some rest.  Today’s only your first day as a foreign exchange student here. Maybe being in a new place is too much for you your turning red.”

 Shinya felt his cheeks, then reddened even more.  It was obvious he just came back from music class.

“I-I’m fine.” He quickly looked down, attempting to hide his face with his hair, then ran to the restroom. The younger man bent over the sink and washed his face.  He reached for a towel and dried himself.  He was greatful Diety Hall’s fourth floor had private bathrooms.  The only problem is that there are four people living in one dormitory instead of two, causing the small space to be even more cramped.  They only had space for two bunkbeds (both having top and bottom), a table, a television, and a bathroom connected to it.

 Shinya stared at himself through the mirror.  He had bags in his eyes.  He worked a little too hard on his first music composition assignment the night before.  Not that he minded. If the composition was for Prof. Yoshiki, he’d do anything to make the music perfect.

 He wondered why everyone else called Prof. Yoshiki ‘Akuma-sensei’.  Prof. Yoshiki wasn’t that bad. Besides, the man was so hard-working, talented, and….and…..sexy?

 Shinya felt his face heat up and covered his cheeks with his hands.  He really hopes his idol would praise his music.  He vowed, since the day he set eyes on Prof. Yoshiki, he would impress the man of his dreams by achieving A+ in music class, which nobody in Yoshiki’s class has ever.  He could not wait to get his papers back on Monday.

 Curses!!!! Shinya thought, balling up his left hand into a fist and raising it in the air. His music sheets would have been perfect if it had not been knocked down to the ground and covered with soot.
 Which reminds him…….

 He reached into his pockets and took out the paper with Die’s phone number written on it. Shinya closed his hand, crumpling the paper, and threw it away in the wastebasket before going back to his bed.

*****

Dear Jounal,
 Classes are same as always; and so is Diety Hall.  Normally, I would be cheerful right now for the rare moment of peace, but Diety Hall’s been too quiet for the past five days---it’s disturbing.

For one thing, Die is acting really really strange lately. He’s still going to class…somewhat….and attending football practices  {I’m making Die the captain of university football team ^_~ Kakkoi ne? ~Yk2}  but he’s been very absent-minded.  Maybe he’s given up on alcohol and starting on marijuana.  Everyone else is getting worried too.  No parties at Die’s place for five days means there has to be something wrong.

Totchi still hasn’t come back. And it’s making me really nervous.  I was about to file a missing person’s report, but everyone else seemed unphased by his disappearance.  Other students informed me it’s a normal occurrence. I guess there are times Toshiya doesn’t come back for two weeks, especially if he’s head-over-heels on a guy.  Kyo just said Toshiya’s too busy fucking Hakuei…… gross…..

Kaoru set his pen down and took a deep breath.  It was Saturday already and no party and no Toshiya.  The cult members are too busy preparing for some ceremony the called “The Sacrifice.”  Kaoru just knew it’s a normal occurrence for cult members to steal chickens from the agricultural department and perform living sacrifices while Art Marju Duchain chanted their songs.  It was pretty obvious what they were doing because the dorm pipes lead down to the basement (where the meetings are held) and everyone can hear Prof.Toshi’s squealing sermons.  The purple head didn’t want to know any more details.  But since it’s an important cult meeting, Kyo, Hiro, and Ryutaro aren’t going to be in their dorms.  He had no money to gamble, so going over Koji’s was not an option.  Everyone else had things to do.  He had no homework either.

Why is it so quiet whenever I have nothing to study for??

Then Kaoru felt a breeze from his opened window.  He walked over and leaned his elbow on the windowsill, smelling the warm autumn air.  The night was quiet and peaceful.

I guess it wouldn’t hurt to take a walk.

Kaoru grabbed a light jacket then headed out the dormitory.

Once outside, Kaoru decided he was going to sit underneath the tree closest to Diety Hall.  Unfortunately, he found someone else sitting by the tree. He didn’t particularly appreciate someone stealing his peaceful spot, but resolved to be polite anyway.

The purple head gave a courteous nod then asked, “Is it OK if I sit here?”
The person nodded.

Kaoru settled down comfortably before asking his companion, “Sumimasen, you look familiar. Have I see you before?”

The person blinked innocently, then gave a cute smile. “I think I have music class with you.”
Kaoru smiled back. “Now I remember,” he stated, “you’re the new foreign exchange student.  Your name is Shinya, right?”

“Yes.”

“From what I heard you’re excellent at composition.”

“Really?” Shinya blushed in embarrassment. No one ever said that to him before.

“Yes.” Kaoru nodded, watching the younger man curiously. Shinya was really cute when he is blushing.

Shinya looked up, his pretty green eyes shining.  Kaoru’s breath got caught in his throat.

“Your name’s Kaoru, right?” the bishounen quietly asked.

“Ah…yeah…” Why am I so nervous?

 “Hmm…I thought you were a pre-med student.”

 “Oh! Um, I take music class for a GEC credit.” Kaoru nervously explained. “A-and I occasionally play guitar to calm myself down.  I just really like music.” Kaoru fidgeted and straightened his sitting position, hitting his head on the tree trunk.

 “Ittai!” Kaoru rubbed his sore spot.

The boy giggled.

 Kaoru looked at Shinya then smiled at the cute way the bishounen tried to hide his laughter. Pretty soon he was laughing along.

  After the laughter died down, Kaoru asked Shinya, “Which building do you live at?”

 “Diety Hall.” Shinya pointed at the building right in front of them.

 “Really? I live there too; Room 304. What’s your room number?”

 “Room 411.”

 Kaoru widened his eyes. “Wow. You live with three other people, don’t you?”

 “Yes.”

 “Isn’t it a bit cramped?”

 “Hmmm… sort of. But we have private bathrooms to compensate for that.”

 “Have you gotten used to Kyo?”

 Shinya gave a soft laugh. “Kyo is Kyo.  Even on the first day, it’s easy to silence him. I give him a pillow, then he sleeps.”

 “I guess living with Kyo, Levin, and Hyde is like living with children.”

 “True.” Shinya said. “Keep them preoccupied then they won’t bother you.”

 Shinya suddenly got up. “Well, I best be going now. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”

 “Wait!” Kaoru jumped up. “I’ll walk you there.”

 Shinya gave a slight nod.

 As the two students walked to Diety Hall, they talked of classes and music composition.  Kaoru definitely missed this. He missed talking to someone about music.  He could talk to Prof. Yoshiki, but he didn’t want his head cut off by criticism.  Then there are Diety Hall’s Music Majors, Gackt and Mana.  He COULD talk to them, but, well, they were Gackt and Mana ^_^; In his hometown, he used to talk with his former guitar instructor. It’s been years since that incident. He missed those good old days…

*{Flashback…}*

“WAHHHH!!! I want my mommy!!” An eight year old Kaoru wailed ceaselessly, his whiny voice ringing through the walls of the run-down apartment.

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”

“WAHHHH~! Hide-sensei yelled at me!!!”

The little boy began to hit fist and feet on the floor, causing the downstairs neighbors to yell: “What the hell’s goin’ on up there?!”

“None of your damn business!” Hide stomped his feet and yelled at the downstairs neighbors. Then he turned to look at Kaoru, still throwing a reckless fit.

“I don’ wanna! I don’ wanna!!!” the little boy cried.

Hide was loosing his cool. He crushed the empty beer can he was holding, then stood up. “SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!!!!!!!! >_<!!!”

Kaoru suddenly stopped, surprised at his instructor’s sudden outroar.  He watched a very pissed off Hide walk toward him. The little boy grew scared then started wimpering.

“Oh no you don’t” Hide growled. “You start up again I’ll stick this beer can up your ass!!”

Kaoru stared down at his feet, drying his eyes with is long sleeved shirt.

Hide let out a deep breath. He was feeling much better after crushing the beer can and yelling on top of his lungs. “Look, kid. You need to toughen up.”

Kaoru snapped his head up. He blinked confusedly at his instructor.

Hide continued. “I know your parents are making you take these lessons. I know you’d rather play with those neighborhood brats outside. Hell, I know I’d rather be out chugging booze in a bar.”

  Kaoru sniffled. “H-hai. Oka-san wants me to know music, but I don’t want to.”

 “So? I’m not cut out for teaching and I don’t wanna do it, but I have to get money.” Hide shrugged. “But there’s no difference between that and yo momma, now, is there?”

 “But---“

 “Kaoru,” Hide started. “You’ve probably heard this so many times already, but your mother wants the best for you. Your mother just wants you to have a hobby, or something to take your mind off of probs.”

 “Music IS my problem and YOU are my problem! “ Kaoru snapped angrily. {Wooo! ^o^! Chibi-Kaoru got attitude! ~Yk2}

 “Yeah, and I love you too, punk ass!” Hide sneered. “I don’t think music is your problem. Your just pissed yo momma is not giving you a choice.” Hide sighed. “ANYWAYZ! I know your mom. She’s not going to let you off the hook on this one, even if you bitch and yell about stopping lessons.” {Hide thinks: And if you stop lessons, I won’t have a source of income >_<;;;}

Suddenly, Hide gave a smile and patted the boy on the head. Kaoru looked up, puzzled.

“You can’t change people, kid. “ Hide said. “Neither can you change your situation.  If something is meant to happen, it will happen, no matter how long you wait or no matter what you do.” The pink head sighed then looked at a picture, which was on the top of the TV stand, of him and his former koboito. “The best thing you can do right now is to think positive and make the best out of it.”

Kaoru stared at his instructor.  Hide bore a smile on his face, but his eyes expressed a slight tint of sadness.

“A-ano…Hide-sensei?”

Hide shook his head vigorously, then turned to his student with a bright grin on his face. “It’s nothing.” He handed Kaoru a songbook. “Here.”

Kaoru’s eyes widened with excitement. “WoW!! Thundercat’s songbook!!!!!”

“Cool, ain’t it?” Hide said. “Now, are you promising to practice everyday?”

“Promise!” Kaoru exclaimed, jumping up and down. “Hide-sensei kakkoi!!”

“Oh, I know.” Hide picked up a pack of cigars. “Now go practice while I smoke in the back.”

“Hai!”

“And when your mom comes knocking at the door, just pretend you know what your doing, OK?”

“Hai, Hide-sensei.”

Hide grinned then sauntered over to the back door, hearing the young boy strum a few clumsy guitar chords.

*{End flashback}*

Kaoru smiled to himself.  Over the years, Hide became like an older brother, mentor, and idol to him.  Eventually, he himself grew to love music.  He wished Hide was still here….

 “Kaoru, daijoubou?”

 Kaoru blinked. He saw Shinya peer at his face worriedly. He didn’t even notice they have reached their destination. “Hai, hai. I’m OK.”

 The younger man smiled sweetly, then turned the knob to his room. “Well, I guess I shall see you tomorrow?”

 “Alright.”

 “Goodnight.”

 The purple head walked off, feeling satisfied finding a friend with the same hobby as he.  Kaoru reached the top of the staircase when he heard Shinya call out.

 “Kaoru!”

 He turned around. “Nani?”

 “Thank you.” The younger man gave a tiny bow.

 Kaoru asked, “Whatever for?”

 “Well, I-I was having a stressful day today,” The younger man explained. “And after I talked to you I felt much better. I just wanted you to know I appreciate you talking to me.”

 “Oh, no problem, Shinya.” Kaoru couldn’t help but feel his blood rushing up to his face and his heartbeat quicken a pace.

 “Oyasumi.”

 “Oyasumi.”

 Kaoru stared as Shinya closed his dorm door. Having a person like Shinya in a housing building like this was totally ironic.  He couldn’t imagine Shinya sipping tea while everyone else was chugging beer.  Shinya is so different. So prim. So proper. So….sexy?

 Kaoru suddenly had a thought of what it would be like to get such an innocent beauty in bed.

 ~Ack! Stop thinking like that!!~ Kaoru slapped himself on the head. ~Living in this dorm is corrupting me!!~

 “Hey Kaoru, what are you doing here?”

 Die looked up at Kaoru from the bottom of the steps.

 “Konbanwa, Die! I was just talking to a friend. How was practice?”

 Die stuck his tongue out. “You really think we could do any better than what we always do?”

 “Come on, Die. With you on the football team, you can compensate for some of the sucky players.” Kaoru smiled seeing that his friend was slightly out of his air-headedness.
 

 Die gave Kaoru a look. “Thanks, Kaoru. But unfortunately, this is a football TEAM. I do need team support you know.”

  Kaoru smirked. “Even if you had team support, you wouldn’t get much done anyway.”

 {Just imagine a college full of Jrockers playing football…@_@….Um, no. ~Yk2}

 Die playfully hit Kaoru on the head. “Baka. Like you could do any better.” He headed up the stairs, waving to his friend. “See ya, man.”

 “G’night.”

 Die entered his dorm.  He took off his shoes while pressing a button on the answering machine.

 “You have no messages.” It said.

 Die felt a twinge of disappointment. He was hoping that bishounen Shinya would call.

 ~Fuck, Die,~ he thought to himself, ~You’re such a desperate idiot. You know so many people, why do you stick with that stranger! Forget about him.~

 Die threw himself on the bed, careful not to make enough noise to wake up his other roommates.  It took him a while to finally sleep.  He felt a little depressed over a certain someone.  Little did he know  that ‘certain someone’ is only one dorm room away.

 *****

 Kaoru took forever walking down the steps to the third floor.  Not that he minded and not that he cared. All he could think of is that dazzling, innocent smile from the boy upstairs.  So beautiful. And the soft spoken voice that said ‘thank you’ replayed on his head over and over.  Such simple, genuine words, yet, it produced a lasting effect on the purple head.

 Kaoru slipped into bed comfortably.  He bore a smile on his face. He had never felt so relaxed and at ease.  Maybe Shinya’s calm and quiet demeanor was making him feel that way.

 The purple head sighed in satisfaction, then buried his head deep into his pillow, not noticing the sleeping figure on the other bed beside his.

 “Hide-sensei?” Kaoru called out quietly as he opened his instructor’s apartment door.  He had knocked several times already and nobody answered.

The adolescent slowly walked around Hide’s place. Of course, empty beer cans were everywhere and dirty shirts, socks, and underwear paved the carpeted floor.  The TV was left on at Channel 6 and the remote control was hastily set on the floor.  It was a typical guitar lesson morning at Hide-sensei’s place, except, where was Hide?

Kaoru lifted the blanket off the couch.

Nobody.

He glanced at Hide’s kitchen.

No one.

He went into Hide’s tiny bedroom.

Empty.

Kaoru scratched his head. Maybe lessons were cancelled and Hide forgot to call; or maybe Hide got too drunk the night before and had to stay over a friend’s place. Knowing Hide for eight years now, they were two very distinct and probable possibilities.

Kaoru slung his guitar over his shoulder and prepared to leave.  He stood by the front door to slip his soot-covered shoes on.  Suddenly, something caught the corner of his eye.  A letter.  A letter was placed carelessly on the floor by the couch.  Kaoru didn’t know why it captured his attention, but he slipped off his shoes again and walked toward the couch.  He picked up the letter carefully, while looking around the room to make sure Hide didn’t show up.

~Kaoru, you shouldn’t be doing this. It’s none of your business and if Hide-sensei found out, he’d smash your head into jello. ~

Despite Kaoru’s conscience, he read the words written on the envelope.  The envelope was cream colored.  Kaoru ran his finger on the paper material, he could tell whoever sent the letter must be well-to-do.  Then Kaoru turned the letter over, noticing the nice and neat calligraphy from the words on the front.  The person who wrote it must have taken a lot of time to write it.

The envelope said:
“To: Hide // With love, from: Your Koboito.”

There was no return address. Kaoru also noticed the postmark date was today’s date.  Kaoru blinked once. Twice. If the envelope is open and by the couch, that means Hide is in the apartment right now.

Kaoru forgot his curiosity in reading the letter and began searching for his instructor.  He re-visited the rooms he was just in but without success in finding the pink head.

“Hide-sensei!” Kaoru called out in vain. “Hide-sensei!!”

No answer.

Kaoru sighed and shut off the TV. Tense silence filled the apartment. Kaoru looked at the envelope and decided to take out he letter. Maybe the letter had something to do his instructor’s disappearance.  Before Kaoru could read a word from the paper, he jerked his head up.  He could have sworn he heard a noise.

Was it tapping?

No.

It was softer than that. The sound was too blunt.

Where was it coming from?

The bathroom.

That’s right, the bathroom. He forgot to check Hide’s bathroom.

Hide must be in the shower.

Kaoru stood outside the door and knocked. “Hide-sensei? Kaoru desu. Are you in there?”

Only the sound of running water answered him.

“Hide-sensei?”

Nothing.

Kaoru began to feel the tension of the apartment air. The water kept running. The blunt tapping continued. This time, Kaoru could hear his nervous heartbeat. There was nobody in the apartment, but he still felt a person’s presence in the vicinity. Something did not feel right.

 “Hide-sensei!! Answer me!!! This isn’t funny!!” Kaoru knocked repeatedly on the door, yelling and calling out the pink head’s name.  He desperately tried to twist the door open, but it was locked. Kaoru suddenly felt pain in his left foot. “ITTAI!”

He looked down at his throbbing foot and saw a small cut.  How foolish of him.  He had cut himself with….with….

…a razor blade?

What is this doing here? Kaoru picked up the small blade and gawked at the amount of blood the blade had.  It cannot possibly be his own blood; he only had a minor cut on his foot.  The wheels in Kaoru’s head began turning and searching for logical possibilities.  Suddenly, Kaoru’s head snapped back up.

Jesus Christ!! He thought. Don’t tell me…..

Kaoru pounded on the door louder and more frantically. “HIDE-SENSEI!!! OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!!”

The young man cried out and tried his best to open the bathroom entrance.  Under normal conditions, he would have been able to break through the door. Unfortunately, his state of panic emaciated his strength.

Oh god! This isn’t happening….

This can’t be happening….

This is impossible.

Kaoru turned around and looked for something to break the door with.  He grabbed the closest thing he had within reach. His guitar. Kaoru hastily lifted his guitar over his head, then he smashed the doorknob with it again and again, trying his best to knock the knob off the door.

Hide-sensei, please…

I still have so much to learn…

So much to do…
So much time to spend with you…

Don’t do this to me….

Please….

….don’t leave me alone….

Finally, Kaoru broke the doorknob, causing the guitar to splinter and fall apart on the floor. His guitar was his prized possession.  His pride.  But at that point in time, that didn’t matter. His instructor’s life meant more to him than anything.

The guitar student quickly pushed the bathroom door wide open.

Kaoru stopped. And stared.

He felt his heart stop. He felt tears flow freely from the corners of his eyes down his high cheekbones.

…naze?…..

He dropped his dilapidated guitar. The guitar landed with a big thump.

…naze, Hide-sensei??!!….

In his state of shock, Kaoru dropped to his knees, not caring that all the blood on the bathroom tiles was soaking his pants and shoes.

Kaoru watched the scene before him. He knew it was over. All he could was scream hysterically again and again…..

CONT~@ Episode 6: Toshiya’s Long Wait