20THREE:
My Five New Roommates
My eyes still felt heavy as hell when I came to, and it took awhile before I could open them completely. Even then, my vision was still a bit blurry. My ears though, were pretty much back to normal, as a myriad (in my opinion) of voices buzzed around me.
"She's a girl! She's a girl! She's a girl!"
"Watanabe-sensei, what is the meaning of this?"
God, I thought. This is giving me a headache...
"She's a girl! She's a girl! She's a girl!"
I wanna sleep...
"Heehee, this is great! I get to room with a WO-MAN!"
"She's a girl! She's a girl! She's a girl!"
Perverts...
"I knew there was something scary about him, er..her..."
"She's a girl! She's a girl! She's a girl!"
Yeah well, you're scary too, whoever you are.
"Now hold your horses boys, it wouldn't be fair to explain everything while she is still unconscious. Please be patient."
"She's a girl! She's a girl! She's a girl!"
Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. All that blabbering and buzzing...and who in the world is that squealing kid?! I sat up quickly, clutched the ends of my blanket with my fists, and shouted, "Will all of you please SHUT UP!"
The blabbering and the buzzing stopped immediately, and all heads turned towards me. It was just then that I realized that instead of the myriad of people I initially expected, there were only six other people in the room-Watanabe-sensei, Little Kid, Smirk Boy, Silver Hair, Scaredy-Cat, and that Soulless Bastard.
What really sucked was that it even took longer for me to realize (after seeing that they were all staring at my upper body rather than my face) that I was still in my chemise. "Perverts!" I felt my face turn red as a tomato as I quickly slid under the blanket once more.
I could hear Watanabe-sensei chuckling as he made his way towards me. "I'm sorry about that, Sakura-san. You'll have to excuse them. They're all boys after all. It's not everyday they get to see a girl in her underwear."
From under the blanket, I pursed my lips tightly. That is SO reassuring, Sensei, I thought sarcastically.
"Geez, Sensei," Said another voice, which I thought belonged to Smirk Boy, "Don't act all so self-righteous. You're a man too!"
"That I am. But don't forget that I am a doctor too. I've already seen more than just the chemise."
"Oh wow, really?! I want to become a doctor too!"
I stiffened in my place, the heat coming to my cheeks intensifying tenfold. Is this really how males think all the time?!
"Stop that, all of you! You're going to scare her!" Somehow, hearing that soft tenor voice impugned my previous thought. I could hear a shift of footsteps, and it seemed as if the owner of the voice was walking closer to where I was.
Slowly and carefully, I let down the blanket I held, and soon found myself staring into kind cobalt blue eyes. It was Silver Hair, and he was holding my blazer and dress shirt out to me. "Here you go, Miss." He said, smiling at me gently. He then stood up and faced the other males in the room. "Alright guys, time to face the wall! Let her get dressed!"
Smirk Boy glanced at the others around him. "You heard Aiya, guys. Turn around." Despite saying that, he didn't make a move to do so.
"Same goes for you, Satoshi. ESPECIALLY you."
"You're cruel." The other boy said, lifting up his arms behind his head. The weird thing was, he didn't look too disappointed nor did the smirk fade away from his face.
"But why, Aiya-chan?" Little Kid chirped in, his wide and curious sapphire eyes glancing towards me every now and then. "We see each other get dressed all the time!"
"This time, it's different Dai." Silver Hair said. I marveled at how he managed to be so patient when I, on the other hand, would have probably beaten the kid to a pulp already. "She's a girl."
"But-" The curious kid was suddenly interrupted when somebody beside him shifted. All of us (yes, including me) focused our attention upon the Soulless Bastard, who suprisingly had already turned himself around.
"Yuki-chan?"
"Let's just get this thing over with," Was the redhead's only answer. His simple statement had practically shut all the males (yes, including Watanabe-sensei) up. I was grateful at the Soulless Bastard, just a tiny bit of course. I still hadn't forgiven him for being so rude.
As the boys turned around (FINALLY!), I quickly put on the white dress shirt and the dark blue blazer. A lot of women might have loved to switch places with me right now, sitting up on a bed almost half naked in front of six gorgeous males. If you thought that I would do the same thing, you're wrong. I WOULD switch places with them. I was never fond of the idea of having males around in my unclothed moments. Even Sakuya was not allowed in the room while I was dressing. I pulled the blanket off me, and sighed in relief that I was still wearing my black dress trousers. If at that time I found myself not wearing anything in my lower body, who knows what kind of chaotic things I might have caused. No doubt it would be a murder spree, I thought. Starting with these six here.
As you may have probably noticed already, I am not your average girl-next-door. And I'm not only talking about the Kala I accidentally got from my twin brother. Though many people would think of me as a nice girl, I am actually very cynical inside-I get easily annoyed and mad at even the smallest of things. I hate this side of me, and thus I choose to be quiet and just smile and grin so that people will not notice this trait of mine. I don't want them to be hurt just because of my bad personality, that's all.
In addition, I don't particularly care about anything girls my age are crazy about. Anything that is, except for my academics. For as long as I could remember, I've always focused on my academics, as I know that is something I can invest on without having to worry about it taken away from me in the future. Not like boys, friends, and love. Those can be taken away at the time when you least expect it. They can be taken away at the time when you have already invested so much and have been made vulnerable. I learned that hard lesson when I lost Sakuya, and I don't intend to be taught that lesson again.
Ah, I think I'm ready now. I looked up at the six males whose back were still facing me. "I'm done."
All six of them turned, and after they did so I noticed the shocked expressions that immediately came over their faces.
I stared back at them in confusion. "What?"
"Whoa," Smirk Boy whistled. "I never knew a dress shirt and a blazer could change appearances so well!"
Little Kid walked over to me, rubbing his eyes with his two hands. He then peered at me again. He blinked, rubbed his eyes, then peered at me again. It seemed as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. To be honest, he looked really cute, looking incredulous and all that. Finally, he lifted a finger and pointed at me. "She...! He...! Er...she turned into a boy! And...and without even using a Sera or a Kala!"
"I know," Watanabe-sensei grinned proudly, placing a hand onto his hip. "Isn't it amazing?"
I resisted the urge to punch the doctor silly for saying that.
"Hrmph," Soulless Bastard snorted, crossing his arms. "Still a twerp."
I raised a fist and glared at him. "Not like you are any less, you bastard!"
The other males seemed taken aback at my sudden outburst. I don't blame them, because I was taken aback as well. My hands automatically flew towards my mouth, though that didn't help much as it was too late to take the words back.
Watanabe-sensei's grin widened. "My, my, Sakura-san. I didn't know you were fiery as well."
I backed up a bit towards the bed, though I knew I was pretty much trapped under the intense stares of the six who stood before me. "Um...I...er..." So much for keeping quiet.
"Oh, but that's good Sakura-san. A fiery personality is just what one needs to survive in this school. Especially one with your condition."
Silver Hair turned towards the doctor. "I believe it's time for you to explain, Sensei."
"I would, Aiya-kun. But I think it's only fair that you should all introduce yourself to the little lady first."
"Oh, that's right! How very rude of us!" Silver Hair turned towards me. Once again, I felt myself blushing madly and melting into butter upon seeing the beautiful smile upon his lips. "Hello Miss. My name is Aiya Youhei." He then started to gesture towards the other males in the room, starting with the Little Kid. "This is Dai Suzuki. As you can see, he's the youngest one in the group."
Dai, as I will now call him, grinned and waved at me enthusiastically. "Hello!"
I smiled slightly back at him. "Hello."
"This," Aiya continued, now referring to the Scaredy-Cat, "Is Iori Takashi. He's a bit shy, but he's really nice."
The tangerine haired boy alternately glanced between me and the floor, keeping his head a bit bowed down lower than the rest. "Hi...P-pl-pleased t-to meet you..."
I stared back at the boy with a slightly raised eyebrow. What's up with this guy? It's not like I'm going to bite him or anything...
Aiya then gestured towards Smirk Boy. "Satoshi Wada. Better watch out for him, he's got quite a reputation for being...a pervert, so to speak."
"Ouch," Satoshi winced, obviously faking a sad expression. "You just had to introduce her to my bad qualities first, Aiya."
"Of course, it's for her own safety," The silver haired boy said good naturedly. He then turned back to me, and tilted his head towards the Soulless Bastard. "Over there is Naoyuki Tomomi. At first glance, he's seen to be the most silent one and kind of the sulkiest one in the group, but of course first impressions don't last, ne?" He smiled.
I looked over to the boy who was leaning quietly against the wall. His eyes were closed, and his arms were crossed against his chest. For a moment, I thought he was sleeping, rather peacefully even. But I knew for a fact that he was wide awake, and that thought brought me back to that time I bumped into him.
"Twerp." "Don't know, don't care."
First impressions don't last, huh? Oh please. Not with this guy.
"And," Aiya continued, gesturing finally towards the doctor. "I'm sure you already know Watanabe-sensei."
"Yes," I said, nodding. He was, of course, the resident physician of Serakala Academy. He was also one who was responsible from bringing me here into this mess. But then again, I can't blame everything on him. I did agree to do this, after all.
"Well, I think that's all of us," The silver haired boy said. "And you, Miss?"
I blinked. Oh, that's right. I hadn't even introduced myself yet. "It's Sakura," I started. "Sakura Hakufu. Though in this school, I will be known as Sakuya Hakufu."
There was a brief moment of silence as the boys stared at each other for a moment. Honestly, I had no idea what was going through in their minds, but relief soon came over me as they all (except for Naoyuki, of course) grinned at me.
"SA-KU-YA-CHAN!" I was quite taken by surprise as Dai skipped over to me and hugged me around the waist.
"Y-you're o-our new roommate now, S-sakura-I mean, Sakuya." Iori said quietly.
"And as roommates," Satoshi added, placing his arms behind his head. "Our first rule is to never call each other with our surnames."
I stiffened slightly with that statement. Now that's something that's going to take getting used to. I don't really call anyone without honorifics, except for Sakuya. But hey, I'm the newbie here, right? I've got no choice but to follow their rules. No honorifics, huh? So that means...
I looked over at the five boys from left to right. "Dai. Aiya. Iori. Satoshi. Naoyuki."
Aiya smiled, then looked over at his companions. "Well, one more time?"
Satoshi and Iori pulled out another two sets of party poppers, and Dai pushed the rolling table with a cake in front of me.
POP! POP!
"WELCOME TO SERAKALA ACADEMY, NEWBIE!"
For some reason, I felt something swell inside of me. I had no idea what it was exactly, but I do know was that it felt good. I straightened up, placed my arms to my sides, and bowed. "Thank you, everyone. It is a pleasure to meet all of you."
And yes, I did not faint this time.
Author's Notes:
Heya everyone! Here's the 3rd installment of the series! Although I do know the story is progressing quite slowly, I still hope you would all enjoy reading it. In any case, I promise the plot will pick up in the next chapters. Also, I'd like to remind you that I changed Yuki's appearance slightly, as I realized that his initial description didn't exactly fit with what I had in mind. Now his hair is wavy, and his eyes are emerald green in color instead of apricot.
And of course, I can't forget to thank my reviewers:
1. WickedIceMaiden - I'm glad you thought of this story as cute.
2. NekoYoukai09 - Well, I'm sure there's gonna be a lot of tough challenges ahead for our crossdresser. Hehehe.
Well, that's all for today.
Till next time!