Whoever Said College is Easy?

Chapter 3: Sleeping...errr...Living with the Monkey

THUD!

THUD THUD THUD THUD!

A figure was curled up on his bed, unmoving.

Eyes snapped open and pale fingers gripped the dark blue sheets.

Someone is going to die.

Nobody disturbs Rukawa Kaede's sleep. Nobody.

Especially during *vacation* at *five o' clock* in the morning.

He glanced at the digital clock beside his bed, red numbers glaring at him. Of course, he glared back.

Turned to his side, the black-haired boy took in his surroundings, his rudely-awakened brain registering everything around him. Blue and white wallpaper, dark blue carpets and sheets...ah yes, the dorms. And as if the realization suddenly hit him, he groaned as he looked to the other side.

There he was, Kiyota Nobunaga, jogging in place and seemingly oblivious to the noise he's making and to the promise of death in his roommate's eyes. The noisy, arrogant *monkey* he has to *live* with for... Kami knows how long.

This is going to be a long day.

He could consider himself somewhat "lucky" the day before, the incident with the landlady and getting rejected for a change in rooms aside. When he got back from the woman's...emotional outburst, he found himself facing a leaving Kiyota, saying something about hanging out with his Maki-sempai. Well, who was he to complain?

Feeling the exhaustion take over him, the glum young man had kicked off his rubber shoes and flopped down his bed. Of course, he assumed that it was his, since the other one was practically covered with dirty laundry and haplessly rejected shirts. He had wondered how anyone could sleep on...*that*.

He moved to get up, almost tripping over his bags. He did not bother to unpack the day before, nor even change out of his clothes. Rukawa scowled darkly as he unzipped his luggage, muttering incoherent obscenities at the mess, his luck and his annoying roommate.

"Well, well. The great Rukawa is finally awake." The sarcasm could not be missed from the tone.

Their infamous little feud had started ever since their freshman days, as they both competed for the title "Super Rookie". No big fistfights, really. Just a few spats here and there. Then again, it was probably because they just saw each other during games. Most of the time, though, Rukawa completely ignored him, or just muttered his trademark "do'aho", which would send the other into rage. Very much like Sakuragi, actually.

As if I haven't had enough of that self-proclaimed tensai...

Anyway, he was definitely not in the mood for these petty arguments right now. He shot Kiyota a murderous look seemed to get the message across, but of course the former Kainan player would not cower in fear. He had his pride after all, and hell, he had had those looks from the black-haired boy many times before.

"What's the matter son, tired? Tsk, tsk! You need some workout, boy." Hands on his waist, he was the epitome of a naughty kid with the mocking smirk on his face.

"Is that what you're trying to do?", accompanied by a raised eyebrow.

"Why you---"

Rukawa fought hard to keep his calm. Between Kiyota's racket and his sarcasm, he was finding it quite difficult NOT to kick his ass, not to mention that he hadn't still forgiven the guy for slamming his face with a basketball. He winced at the reminder, unconsciously patting his unfortunate nose.

But he would not let the other win. Rukawa knew his purpose. He could almost swear that this "monkey" just lived to annoy the people around him...and maybe play a little bit of basketball as a sideline.

And what's the best thing to do in situations such as these? Nothing. Brush him off and get on with the task at hand. Spare yourself from wasting time.

So Rukawa stepped away from the sputtering roommate, bended to take his bags. He scanned the room for a closet, a dresser or anything of the sort. Okay.

Kiyota's bed on the left, was almost unrecognizable due to the heaps of clothing and equipment on top of it. Heck, he could not even see what color the sheets were.

Blue, too. I presume, almost just like anything else in this room.

It was not that he didn't like it, but well, it's true. It's either that or wood, which was dark, polished brown. All in all, it had...style...in its own way.

So, back on the search for a closet. Ah...there. Two cabinets with simple brass handles, almost beside each other, but a full length mirror was set between them. Logical.

He sauntered towards the other side of the room, glancing at the other occupant who continued his workout, frustration etched on his features. Almost as if purposely ignoring his new roomie.

The pale boy smirked inwardly to himself.

Hmm...which one?

Rukawa briefly mused, staring at the two wooden "doors" of the cabinets in front of him. Surely, Kiyota had already unpacked way before him. He didn't want to intrude on his private space, besides, who knows what is hidden behind those doors?

But what choice did he have? He certainly didn't want to *ask* him, after what happened. Kaede shrugged, berating himself for worrying too much over nothing.

To hell with private space, and as for the evils lurking behind...w-ell, he just had to be cautious. How bad could it be?

That decided, he marched towards the left. Hands on the handle, slowly, opening it to a crack. Nothing, too dark. A bit more...

And he was greeted with, again, a mess. But he kinda expected it, so no biggie. Just the same ol' jeans, sweatshirts, jackets, t-shirts...underwear...and suits?

Hmm...never thought he'd be the type to wear those. Oh well...

He closed them as silently, not wanting the other to see that he was "snooping" around his stuff. It was working so far.

So that means he gets to use the other cabinet then.

WHAM!

Aaack...

He thought it was safe. Really! THIS one was supposed to be empty, but nooooo...the brat had to have *two* closets. And of all the things he had to store *equipment* here, particularly *sports* gear, and more specifically, a *basketball*.

Sure, Rukawa loved the sport. He as good at it, excellent, in fact. But it need not be thrown on his face. Literally.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Laughing at me, eh?

Glares, nose reddening from the impact.

"WAHAHAHAHAHA!" Even more laughter from Kiyota, who was now pointing at the taller brunette who was blushing, half-embarrassed and half-furious.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Kaede proceeded to "clean up" the mess his roommate made.

Basketball. Out you go. Golf clubs. Baseball. Kami, what a sports freak!

"AAAAAHHHH...!!!WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TO MY STUFF?!"

All laughter ceased to be replaced by pure horror. His beloved paraphernalia...his shiny, new golf clubs which he had just polished the day before...the baseball bat...the basketball...they were flying everywhere in the room.

Rukawa continued with his task, as if oblivious.

Tennis rackets...soccer ball...skates. Nope, don't need you here.

Kiyota Nobunaga hurdled through the messy floor and through his things which were headed toward his direction, at times trying to "save" his possessions from going out of the window. A good thing that clothes were strewn almost everywhere, and the floors were carpeted. Otherwise, the noise would have rocked the whole building, not to mention his things would have been badly damaged.

"RUKAWA! STOOOOOPP...!"

Skis. Ski poles. Skateboard. Snow shoes...

+++

"Ne, what do you suppose is happening in there?"

A small crowd of male dormers listened closely to the sounds behind the doors of room 1107.

"RUKAWAAAAA!!!"

Eyes widened, but they continued with their eavesdropping.

A new sound filled their ears, piquing their curiosities. They strained to listen, though it sounded as if it was just coming from right behind the door.

"Eh? What's that?"

"I dunno...sounds like..."

"...heavy breathing."

"Panting," the other corrected.

A collective gasp followed when they heard what suspiciously sounded like a groan.

"A moan," a lanky blonde whispered. The rest nodded in agreement.

"Wanna take a peek?" A short, pimply-faced man with glasses suggested with an evil grin.

"Hentai!"

They mockingly rebuked him, but proceeded to open the door anyway. Just a small crack, enough for all of them to enjoy the show...

+++

A fair-skinned youth slightly staggered through the hallway, rubbing his bruised jaw every once in a while. Kiyota could pack quite a wallop, and his opponent was impressed. Of course, he had been beaten up worse before. Hell, he took a blow in his head once, when one of Mitsui's lackeys whacked him with a *mop*. Now THAT was something.

Rukawa stifled a smug grin. He did not go without a fight, that's for sure. He socked Kiyota right in the eye. Hah! And he would have gone on, too, if only some nosy idiots didn't stop the brawl. They had to pry them apart, which was not very easy since the wild boy was practically clawing his chest. A good thing he was wearing something, at least those nails hadn't come into direct contact with his flesh. He shuddered at what could have happened otherwise.

Anyway, they said that Maki-sempai would "take care of the kid". So that left Kaede alone with a room that looked worse than if it was hit by a hurricane. He frowned, he didn't want to deal with it as of yet. He had barely moved in for pete's sake, and now here he was having cleanup crises.

Speaking of cleaning up, the incoming freshman felt uneasy, still clad in yesterday's attire. And so here he was on the way to the common bath. Actually, Rukawa expected that each room would have their own bathrooms, hoped for it even. It wasn't so bad, though, there were two on one floor, placed on both ends of the corridors. One each floor there are about four rooms, so really, four people shared one bathroom. That was okay, he guessed, except that now, one of them was under repair.

Great, that leaves just one. And it's occupied...

He really didn't feel like going back to the room, with the clutter and all. So he waited impatiently, pacing about.

Twenty minutes! What's this guy doing?!

He glared at the offending rectangular of wood that opened to the bath. He had knocked *thrice*, after every five minutes. All he heard was the splashing of water against skin and a male voice singing some corny pop tune.

That voice sounds kinda familiar...

Thirty minutes. Rukawa considered pounding on the door, kicking it open and strangling whoever was inside. But he decided he had enough violence for today, besides, he was tired from all the punching, pacing and glaring he did earlier, which was quite ironic for the Shohoku ace. It will suffice to say, however, that he is just too lazy and sleepy right now to go anywhere or do anything...

to be continued...

To be continued...