(Told from Osomatsu's perspective)
I swing the dorm room doors closed, winded from the long walk and cab drive back. I look around, my roommate wasn't back yet, him being the frat party type. Well, we both where the frat party type, but I was exhausted from my new job.
A smile sprawls across my face as I linger on the thought. 'My new job.' What a joke. I turn the heat up and throw off my baggy hoodie, slumping down on the bed. I sigh with pleasure as I stretch out my sore legs, thinking about my night with Choromatsu. He had obviously ended both of our shifts early, a thought that made me want to laugh out loud. I don't blame him, though. I would get tired of myself, too.
Sensing my roommate wouldn't be home any time soon, I click off the lights in my room and take his laptop like I always did. I look up the student directory, trying to type quietly out of habit.
Without thinking, I type Choromatsu's name into the search bar at the top. I scoff. Apparently he was an honors student, what a prune. He took an extra half-year of writing classes to get a scholarship. I don't know why I was so interested in him, he was so different from me and all of my friends. Hard working, respectable. Know it all, perfect, stuck-up...
Then there's me, who's technically not even in this college. I was staying in my friend's dorm secretly, and attending a class that he actually signed up for. I figured language and writing skills must be useful for comics.
After a couple minutes of mindlessly scrolling through the about section for Choromatsu's school profile, (Which was already dumb and geeky enough that he even made one), I click the laptop shut it, and return it to it's rightful place on the desk. Tomorrow was Saturday, which meant no classes, but it also meant an entire day at the newspaper.
The entire day with Choromatsu. I didn't mind too much, in fact, most people just ignored me. I fall asleep as I wonder why he doesn't just ignore me, why he's so obsessed with putting me down. I scowl before turning over, and drifting off.
My roommate doesn't come home in the morning, a normal pattern for him. I actually got up early for once, not that I would care if I wasn't on time, just gives me more hours in the day to be a nuisance to Choromatsu.
I pull myself out of bed, departing from the cozy warmth of my bedsheets. I look in the mirror and grin as I pull my sweatshirt over myself. I slip on some looser jeans before heading out into the bright hallway. The dorm building was for the art kids, so it was very modern. The inside walls were painted with a calming pastel green and lavender. Outside, the stairs and small bridges stretched over a cafe below, which was made out of a material that looked like stainless steel. It was a fancier Sutabaa, where my roommate, Totty worked. He went to school for dancing, even though I always made fun of him, it did get him in with a lot of girls.
I walk past a cafe, then the art supplies store before I was soon on the main campus. Students were already out and busy, some sitting in the grass, relaxing, some of them running to classes with coffee spilled on their shirts, and papers falling from their arms. That specific type of student was Choromatsu, who was scurrying down a flight of stairs. He had his rectangular black glasses on, his hair was fluffy and light as always. He wore a gray cardigan which matched the scarf around his neck. He had a container of coffee, which splashed out of the cup with every step.
Students find this funny, and I don't blame them, until one of them sticks their foot out in front of him. His eyes grew so wide I could see them from here before he tumbled down the concrete stairs, crushing the coffee that stained his jumbled pieces of printed paper. More laughter arose as I saw him sit up, wiping blood from his lip. Though it was funny at first, he did have a few bruises from the fall, one especially on his cheek. I saw him tear up as he picked up the once neat coffee stained papers off the ground.
I take a deep breath and walk over to him, grinning as I rub my index finger under my nose. "Clumsy?" I ask, though it's more of a statement. I offer my hand to my classmate, still with a smile.
Choromatsu groans, but he takes my hand as I pull him up. "Thanks," he said dryly, looking down at his soiled white shirt.
"Jeez, you must've busted your lip, you idiot," I add, to make sure he doesn't realize I'm actually trying to be nice. Sure, I was pretty rude, but I felt like this was a little extreme, (though I left a note in my mind to overfill Choromatsu's coffee cups). "Come on. I'll take you back to your room."
"I'm fine," He rips his hand back, I realized I had still been holding it. "I can do it on my own."
"You obviously can't walk to work on your own," I comment with a wink as I scoop the coffee soaked papers from the slightly bloody pavement. "So c'mon."
Without saying more, I walk to the entrance, mockingly keeping an attentive eye on Choro so he wouldn't have another accident and fall. He told me his room number as I dumped the papers and empty cup into the trash.
After an elevator ride up 3 flights of stairs, Choromatsu shoved a key into a radish colored door and leaned in on it, revealing a tidy room. In these fancy buildings, you didn't need roommates, but the downside is the smaller size of the dorms. I look around and see things Choromatsu probably never wanted me to, because he tensed up as he started to take off his cardigan.
On the walls were posters of anime, even wall scrolls, and glow sticks on the table. Countless merch of the cat idol Nyaa was littered around the small room, but yet somehow it still looked professional due to the expensive laptop on the black table and the neatly made bed in the corner.
I had been studying the room so much that I didn't realize Choromatsu was peeling his soaked, white shirt off himself, and replacing it with a loose black one. He was lanky, skinny and pale, which wasn't surprising, but I guess I shouldn't be talking considering my short, chubby body shape. It suited Choromatsu, though; It made him look like more of a person instead of a stressed out, sleep deprived looking robot.
"Why are you being so quiet?" Choromatsu breaks the silence suddenly, peering at me from over his shoulder. I gulp, I hadn't said a word since we entered. Why hadn't I made fun of his nerdy room? That I didn't know as I invited myself to sit down on his bed. I shrug, and look up at him. Black was definitely his color. "It's creeping me out." Choromatsu adds as he walks to the mirror, straightening his hair.
All I give is another shrug as I put on my original grin, standing back up and heading for the door. "Just admiring your room. Does an 11-year-old live here, too?" it was a weak shot, but of course still make Choromatsu's eye twitch in annoyance.
"Let's just get to work," he mutters blandly, my grin faltering as he lead me back outside. I argued that we should call a cab, but Choro seemed intent on walking, and told me if I wanted to go in a cab, I could go alone. I didn't want to. I don't know why I chose to walk beside my co-worker, but I found it calming to look at his concentrated face, he always had a look of wonder in his eyes, like he was always thinking. And the way his smile curved into a upside down V-shaped frown just made him look innocent.
I shrug the odd thoughts of this off of my shoulders as we approach the building, but I have to do a double take when we stop in front of it. Cameras were flashing, police were standing around everywhere. Inside, students were frantically typing on their laptops, but most of them were gathered around the police. When I followed Choromatsu inside, there was no doubt about what had happened. Our boss was crumbled on the floor, dead, in a pool of blood.
