𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐑𝐘

FOUR.

"You're my new roommate?" You looked incredulously at the pretty boy in front of you—his name was Jun, was it—"that fast? They changed it literally in less than an hour."

Jun was all smiles, but you doubted it was sincere. You had seen that same look on your aunt's face when she had learned that you had gotten into this particular school; she had been spiteful her son has failed getting in. But it wasn't like Yoru—that was his name—had much hope. He frittered his money away in the arcade, spent most of it on soft drinks and branded merchandise. You would have been surprised if he had gotten in.

"Your previous roommate is in the hospital. Might I remind you, you had him for five minutes before he was taken in for an alleged venomous bite. Even the rumors are going too far."

You paused. Then you took in his expression. Knitted eyebrows, a forced smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, coupled with pursed lips.

"You sound and look personally offended."

"Such rumors concerning the new student—ones that detail snakes which are all clearly exaggerated—is something to take note of."

"Exaggerated?" You interrupted, tilting your head in confusion. "What do you mean? Tanaka may have been suspicious, never mind that, but I don't exactly get what you mean by exaggerated. It was all facts, no?"

Now it was Jun's turn to look confused. It was a pity; that he would have been extremely beautiful if not for the fact it seemed he was utterly joyless and calculating. His eyes were sharp, observant, almost malicious; and his mouth was set into a grim line. Jun seemed like the kind of person that was straight laced, curt, and a rule abider.

"...Facts?" Jun repeated incredulously, "I'm sorry, I don't exactly follow."

"The snake," You emphasized, "Terry the snake."

You dug in your pocket. You were regretful to wake up your little snake from its slumber, and you could feel it stirring awake. It gave you a little nip on your palm, without its fangs, and peeked out, it's pretty eyes blinking lazily at Jun.

"No biting," You told Terry gently, "well, we can't exactly scare off two roommates, right? Er, Jun, this is—are you okay?"

"You have a snake." Jun repeated. He was frozen, and looked comical.

"Yeah, that's what I told you." You furrowed your eyebrows. "Wait, you thought it was a rumor? A snake is a perfectly normal pet!

Come on. What was with everyone here being all shocked? What about the two lions your mother raised once? Sure, they had been donated to some wildlife reserve after your pesky neighbour had called the cops (c'mon, she had been the one with the whole pig, except now it was in his stomach) so you didn't quite understand the sheer confusion on people's faces.

Jun still seemed like he was processing all the information, taking it in slowly. Unlike what you did with Tanaka, you didn't allow Terry to crawl out for fear he would lash at Jun—Terry seemed hostile to everyone; he had been hostile to you at first—while Jun stood there, with crossed arms.

"Ah," Jun muttered, "that explains a lot. That..." His eyes drifted to where Terry was curled up snugly again, and you saw how his face was faintly pale. It was impressive how he had accepted it so quickly; though you wondered if he was truly even seeing it. He seemed like the person who would immediately chuck all information he didn't process into the back burner of his mind.

"Whatever it is," Jun sighed, "while pets are allowed in the school grounds, they are not allowed to disturb other students. Those are part of the rules of the academy." His eyes were narrowed as he said this, sharp and glinting. A warning, you realized. He was warning you...