Chapter 5: Showing a glimpse of my true feelings to someone sucks, no kidding.
[ •The next Day, Sakura Hall• ]
When I agreed to my teacher's offer, the offer of staying at Sakurasou for a month in exchange of getting a free one week pass to sleep in the school's art room, I knew that I'd be going to have a busy month. I wasn't fond of the situation, but I still held onto that little hope that it wouldn't be as bad as I thought it'd be.
That hope all but crumpled into a million pieces when I was woken up from my slumber by a knock at my door.
Upon checking the time, I found it to be only 5:45 in the morning. School doesn't start till eight, so why in the world and who in the world, is there knocking at my door at this time? Don't you have something better to do? Like, I don't know, blowing up and not disturbing someone when they are trying to sleep? Go away, you're annoying.
The knock at my door didn't go away like I hoped it would if I kept my mouth shut, instead, those slight knocks on my door turned into full blown banging which even the blanket I covered myself with couldn't keep at bay.
Oh, for fuck's sake-
"Matsumura-kun! I'd like to inform you that you can take a bath if you want to!" A voice that I recently became familiar with, came from the other side of the door making me groan in annoyance.
What the heck Kanda?! Are you trying to be polite? Sorry to inform you, but you're failing miserably in that task!
"Tch. Leave. I'll take a bath when I want to." I grumbled to myself as I covered my head even deeper into my blanket. Let me sleep, damnit! Five more minutes.
I really wanted to be polite, I really did. The guy was trying to be a nice dorm-mate, no matter how similar to a devil he looked in my eyes after such action, he didn't mean anything wrong. Still, I was sleepy so I couldn't stop those words from leaving my mouth. I just hope he doesn't get offended.
"You can take your 'yasashiness' and shove it up your ass!" Okay, he is definitely going to get offended!
Fortunately, lady luck was on my side, and the blanket covering my face made those words come out as nothing but incomprehensible groaning. Sorata continued banging on my door without a hint of hearing my 'words of gratification' at his actions.
"I-uh, I know that you must not be used to waking up this early in the morning. It took me a while to get used to this schedule too, but please understand that we've to share the bathroom with others. If you don't take a bath now when it's free, you might not get the chance to do so later. Misaki-senpai takes a lot of time in the bath, so you'd be late for school if you go after her."
I cursed under the blanket before letting out a torpid sigh. I reluctantly took my blanket off my body, got up from the bed and rubbed my eyes. Just as my eyes got adjusted to my surroundings, the sight of my new room filled my vision.
As per Chihiro-sensei's instructions, Kanda-kun showed me my room yesterday which was directly facing his own. The front of my door held a worn out board with '104' written on it. The interior of my room was quite simple. A bed, a window and a clock on the wall, with a computer table with a computer on top of it. The floor was covered with a grey carpet, and I couldn't help but feel glad it's not pink.
On our way to my room, Kanda-kun and I talked about a few things, which mostly consisted of him telling me the things I needed to know about Sakurasou.
There was a huge Sakura tree in the courtyard, that Kanda-kun told me about since he was explaining to me the origin of the name 'Sakurasou'. I also got to learn about the rules here. Boys were not allowed to go to the second floor, as it was the girls' dorm, whereas girls were free to come to the boys' dorm whenever they pleased. I thought it wasn't fair to the boys, but I didn't dwell on it too much. It's not like someone is going to shamelessly barge into my room, right?
Anyways, he also told me about there being only one bathroom and a kitchen that needed to be shared. I told him that I didn't feel comfortable with sharing a bath with a girl who isn't my family, to which he replied he didn't mean sharing baths in that sense with a red face. I was just joking with him, but the guy thought I was serious. Interesting guy.
Oh, there was that talk about one other resident living in room 102. Apparently, the dude was a shut-in and didn't like coming out of his room. I wasn't really that shook off from the revelation, but when Kanda-kun revealed that even he didn't see the guy and he has been living here for the past six months, now that really took me off guard.
Is that guy even alive in there?!
When we finally reached my room, I told him to just have dinner without me as I've already eaten. He tried to insist me into joining them at the dining room but I politely declined, so he decided to just let me be. When he finally left, I came to one conclusion about Kanda-kun from our conversation.
Kanda Sorata didn't consider himself a resident of Sakurasou.
When we were talking, he never used the words 'we' or 'us', he always used 'they' or 'them'. It made me wonder if the guy thought he didn't belong with those weirdos, but who knows? I might've been just overthinking it.
After that, I slept peacefully in my room until I was interrupted by those annoying knocks at my door. And that brings us back to our current situation.
"I heard the sound of shuffling. Are you awake Matsumura-kun?!"
"Hai, Hai! Now stop beating my door, you're going to make a hole on it!"
Just as those words left my mouth, a creaking sound reached my ears. I turned my head in the direction of my door to see no hole on it as I initially feared. However, I could now see Kanda-kun clearly. Huh? Shouldn't the door be locke-
I looked down, with Kanda-kun doing the same to find the poor door knob rolling helplessly on the ground till it hit my foot. Kanda-kun squeezed the other one on his palm as a pale expression graced his face.
I raised my head and gave Kanda my passive stare. Feeling nervous with the look he was getting, the Knob destroyer rubbed the back of his head with a frightened expression on his face.
"I-,uh.. it was already broken?" I kept on staring.
"I didn't mean to! It just came off on its own, I mean it!" My stare didn't falter. Now Kanda started sweating bullets.
"Please don't tell Chihiro-sensei!" He kneeled on the ground and joined both of his hands. Desperation was clear in his voice, "That Amazon is going to kill me!" I raised my hand to plecate him from speaking anymore. He had a fearful look on his face which soon turned relaxed when he saw my smile. That expression was wiped off his face the next instant when I opened my mouth.
"After school. Nearby restaurant. Your treat."
Better make use of this situation to fill my stomach.
*
[ •7:25, Dining room• ]
"I heard the sound of begging. Did you turn Kanda into one of your victims?" Chihiro sensei, now wearing acceptable clothing, asked me while sitting on the chair in front of me.
We both were seated at the dining chairs in the dining room, which was currently occupied with only the two of us. Mitaka-senpai already left for school with Kanda-kun following suit. Kamiigusa-senpai was taking a bath in the bathroom, which she had been occupying for the past hour.
She really does take a lot of time in the bath just as Kanda-kun said. I can hear the wailing of a dying pig from there, which means she is singing. C'mon, stop it! My ears are starting to bleed!
"... I don't know what you're talking about." I responded to Chihiro-sensei's words with a shrug of my shoulders. I took the last bite from my bread and gulped it down, followed by chugging a glass of milk down my throat. "Wait, what do you mean by one of my victims? What kind of image do you have of me?!"
Instead of answering my questions, Chihiro-sensei simply shook her head with a smirk on her face. She put her hand on her cheek before responding, "How about you keep your secrets and I keep mine? Or you can just tell me what material you got to blackmail Kanda. So, whaddya say?"
"Forget it."
"Hmph. You're no fun~" Chihiro-sensei pouted like a child before going back to eating her breakfast. I was finished with mine, so I decided to take my leave.
"I should get going now." Just as I stood up from the chair, I felt my hand being grabbed in an iron-like grip, stopping me on my tracks. I turned around to see Chihiro-sensei grabbing a hold of my hand. Her eyes were sharp, and she was giving me a serious look.
"Wait." There was a tinge of authority in her voice. At this moment, she was not my lazy and irresponsible art teacher, rather, she was acting the part of the Advisor of Sakurasou.
"What is it Sensei? Do you need me for something?" I got my hand free from her grasp before giving her a confused stare, "Did you choke on your food or something?"
"Why?"
"Hm?"
"Why didn't you come to have dinner with us yesterday?" She crossed her arms and her glare hardened. I returned Sensei's glare with a plain look and rubbed the back of my head.
"Oh, well, I already told Kanda-kun that I had already eaten. I wasn't hungry and felt really tired after yesterday's events. So I decided to just sleep my tiredness off."
As I expected, my words didn't make her back down. On the contrary, she gave me a 'Do you really think I'd believe that' look. I didn't know what she was getting at, so I kept my mouth shut and decided to let her speak.
"Don't bullshit me! I know why you did what you did. I've been watching how you work for the past year, you're one hell of a liar." What are you? My stalker?! FBI, open up!
"... I'm not sure what you mean by that sensei. Do you find some kind of ulterior motive behind my action? Pft, c'mon, it's not an anime." I laughed lightly while averting my eyes. Shit, I needed to maintain eye contact with her. Now sensei wouldn't believe anything I say.
Just as I expected, Sensei smirked victoriously and gave me a triumphant look.
"I knew it. You decided not to join us because you found getting acquainted with everyone on the dorm as nothing but a waste of effort." Her eyebrows furrowed, "You thought it'd be more productive to put your efforts elsewhere. Like, I don't know, lazing around?" Oof. She is right on the mark on that one. Or not.
I could've denied all her claims. It wasn't really that hard, it's not like Chihiro-sensei has any proof on what I was thinking. But knowing her, she is not going to back down till I give her a response she wants to hear. So I decided to play along with her for now and tell her the truth.
"Okay, fine. You win. I lied about the real reason behind my actions." She smirked to which I simply sighed, "Even so, you're only half correct. I didn't eat dinner with you guys as I didn't find any merit in that."
"Hah? What kind of merit do you need for just eating di-"
"I'm going to be leaving Sakurasou in a month!" I cut Sensei off as my voice rose a little. Sensei got surprised with the change in my tone before she got her bearings back and looked at me curiously, "I don't think getting acquainted with people who I'm not going to have anything to do with after this month is over, is going to have any effect in my life. In the end, it's going to make things more complicated."
Chihiro sensei for the first time in a while, gave me a gentle look and used a soft tone of voice while addressing a command.
"Yoshihiro, I'm not understanding what you're getting at. Explain."
It's fine, isn't it? It's not a problem if you don't understand.
Homo Sapiens are social beings. They're always trying to make connections. No matter how feeble those connections become in the future, they still try to leave an impact on someone's life.
Trying to solve an issue the other person has, helping them out from some situation, exchanging contact information, or many other things. They're always trying to become a part of someone's life. It'd be wrong for us to expect that they want nothing in return, as we all believe that the kindness we showed to some person is going to be returned to us in some way.
I refuse to believe kindness is a lie, but I know that kindness isn't what we think it is. In the end, even while showing kindness, we're expecting something in return.
If I were to get acquainted with these people, I might end up expecting something from them. If that doesn't happen, then what guarantee do I have that they won't be expecting me to act in a certain way? I've heard someone saying that it takes 21 days to form a habit, I don't know if it's true, but if it is then who is to say we won't get used to each other's presence? It happens everytime.
I refuse to put my expectations on someone. And I also refuse to have someone else put their expectations on me. It's not because I'm worried about my feelings, rather, I'm scared.
And I refuse to believe it.
"Yoshihiro, are you even listening-"
Before anymore words could be shared, I simply grabbed my bag from the floor and put it over my shoulder. I bowed my head in Sensei's direction, trying hard to not make eye contact, and then left for the door. I fastened my pace and reached for the door knob, opened the door before closing it behind me.
Before I could take one more step, the sight of a huge Sakura Tree in the courtyard, that I somehow failed to notice yesterday, filled my vision. I quickly shook off my surprise and left for my high school building.
...
...
...
Sigh~
This sucks, doesn't it?
**
[ •Sakura Hall, Dining room• ]
Chihiro was really annoyed with Yoshihiro leaving so abruptly like that.
The kid was always like this. He would say something to you, which makes you feel worried about him but if you try to offer a helping hand, he would push you away. That's exactly why he was a pain in Shizuka's butt. His homeroom teacher was trying her hardest to help the kid with everything she has, but without knowing the problem, she can't really do much.
The kid kept to himself. He didn't open up to anyone in the school as far as Chihiro knows. She has also noticed him using various methods to push people away without hurting their feelings. The kid was creative in his methods, she would give him that, but he still was really annoying her with his antics.
Chihiro decided to have a talk with the kid during dinner. She promised Shizuka she would help him, she can't really back out now. Especially when she knows how effective Shizuka's puppy dog eyes are!
But before that....
"So, when are you planning on coming out of your hiding spot?" Sengoku Chihiro said while rubbing her forehead with an annoyed expression on her face.
"Hehe, How did you know I was here Sensei? Do you have some kind of superpower? Is that it!?" Kamiigusa Misaki came out of her hiding spot with her hair still wet from the shower she took. She was wearing the highschool uniform of Sobu High. She was hoping to seduce Jin by just coming out in a towel, but knowing him, he must have already left. So she decided to drop that plan.
Hopefully, Jin would wait for her tomorrow so that she could enact this plan and make him her's.
"There's no superpower at play here." Chihiro finished her breakfast, and put her as well as Yoshihiro's plate on the sink. The kid forgot to do that in the process of making his escape. She was going to make him pay for this...
The room was silent for a while, which was rather unnerving considering Misaki's presence in that room, but the silence in the room was soon broken by a soft voice reaching Chihiro's ears.
"Sensei, what does Yoshimon mean by that? Why is he going to leave the dorm after a month?"
Misaki's voice held a soft tone instead of her usual chirpy one.
"It's nothing important. The kid is just being himself." Chihiro quickly cleaned her plate, and reluctantly did Yoshihiro's dishes as well. Oh, he was going to pay, she is going to make him pay! "Why do you ask?"
There was another long silence in the room. Chihiro got confused by Misaki acting this way. She was not being her usual self. What was up with her?
Deeming Misaki's actions as strange for not behaving in her usual, alien-like self, Chihiro turned around and saw Misaki in a state she has only seen her in when she becomes upset with Jin not noticing her.
Misaki's eyes were covered with her hair. Her shoulders were slouched which was contradicting her usual, cheerful demeanor.
Chihiro quickly wiped her wet hands with a towel, and approached Misaki with a concerned look on her face.
"What's bothering you Misaki-chan? Are you not feeling well? You should take a rest if that is the case-"
"It's because of me, isn't it?"
"Huh?"
"Yoshimon... wants to leave because of me doesn't he?"
There was a slight tremble in Misaki's voice as she said that. This troubled Chihiro, did the kid say something to the girl?
"What're you talking about? Did the kid say something rude to you? Don't take his words to heart, he doesn't really mean them, probably."
Chihiro smiled nervously. She couldn't be sure if the kid really means what he says. Yoshihiro could be really rude sometimes, even to her. But she knows deep down under his hardened exterior, the kid is a softie.
"I... I felt like Yoshimon didn't like me for some reason. He was neutral to both Kouhai-kun and Jin, but he felt especially upset with me. Is that... because I act weird? Did I make him hate Sakurasou?"
Now Misaki was almost on the verge of tears. Despite her acting so cheerful, Misaki was a sensitive girl who was very aware of her surroundings. She could easily tell if people disliked her, after all, she was a genius. She has seen her fair share of people who got weirded out by her actions. So, seeing Yoshimon acting wary of her made her believe that he also disliked her because of her quirky personality. She didn't want to be the reason for him to leave Sakurasou.
She was about to say something else when she felt two arms wrapping around her, engulfing her in a warm embrace. Misaki accepted the hug from her sensei and buried her head in her blossom.
Chihiro was really surprised by the things Misaki said. The girl must be thinking about this a lot. Chihiro knows the reason behind Yoshihiro's hostility towards Misaki was clearly not what the girl was thinking.
The kid didn't discriminate like that. He hated everyone equally.
"Now now, don't let his actions fool you. The kid is not wary of you because of your personality per se. He is just... scared of you to put it lightly. After all, you almost crushed his 'thing' with a hammer."
Chihiro tried hard not to laugh after remembering that incident. When it occurred, she was feeling a little guilty for not informing her fellow residents about his arrival. But now that the event has passed, she couldn't help but feel amused by it.
"Really? Is that why he was angry with me?!" Misaki's eyes sparkled at the prospect of being wrong about her assumptions on Yoshimon. She wanted to get along with him after all, "Is that why he was looking at me as if he wanted to hurt me?"
"...Well, yeah, more or less. I don't think the last part of your sentence is true, but you can never be sure with him." Chihiro smiled a light smile, "Besides, Yoshihiro is many things, but a person who would hate you just because you're a little different? That's something he is not."
"Mhm~"
The room was silent for a while, not the previous unnerving kind, rather, a comfortable kind. They both stayed in that position for a few seconds before Misaki started tapping Chihiro's arm rapidly.
"S-sensei... your b-boobs are huge! I-I'm s-suffocating! I give, I give!"
Never change Misaki. Never change~
~~~~~~~~~
And, cut!
How did you guys find the chapter? Was it bad, average, good, great? It was great wasn't it? Please say it was great!
Anyways, The first trouble of Sakura hall is going to come in the form of Yoshihiro's deal with his Sensei. But before that, we're left one more member of Sakurasou, don't you think?
Yes, I'm talking about Mashiro. For those of you who are waiting for her arrival, fret not. She will be appearing soon in the story. Very soon I might add.
Love Interest is Of course Mashiro. She is the one who is a complete Guarantee. I'm not sure about making this a harem, but Mashiro is still going to have the greatest role in Yoshihiro's life.
That's it.
Peace.
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