My Ultimate Supreme Roommate (Oumasai)

Chapter 4

It had been quite an exhausting day, one I was looking forward to get over with. Some of the most difficult exams I could have the chance to take posed a challenge for me and many others in my course, but I was fairly confident I'd done well. After all, the studying over those past few months have been for these exams alone. Not giving my absolute best for a career I clearly wish to build feels nonsensical to me.

Now it was time for a long awaited break, but after working so hard for quite a while, I found myself stuck. What will I do in that time? My priority was definitely not making friends due to my lack of social skills, and all I had was... Ouma Kokichi. Thinking about it, maybe I should have borrowed some books from the library. I was going to need them.

Speaking of which, he was most likely waiting for me with an elaborate prank sprawled across the apartment. As I was aware of these important exams, so was he and the instant I finished was the moment he'd go all out with all his unfulfilled plans. I wasn't sure if he knew that I noticed his lack of mischievous activity in the past few weeks, but I respect him for that nonetheless. If he weren't so tiring maybe I'd have considered hanging out with him during break.

The walk home was so relaxing, as with all the stress piling up before I had almost forgotten what it felt like to be free. The people I glanced at were as hurried as always, their work not giving them a single moment to breathe. Completely parallel with my way of life, they lived theirs; I felt bad for them, yet at the same time I couldn't help but see myself in their place.

"I'm home." I loudly announced my entry, awaiting my imminent doom that comes in a package with an impishly troublesome child. I waited a few seconds at the door, but nothing happened. My expectations ruined, I attempted to find an excuse for his absence; failing, I instead decided to go straight to our shared bedroom and scavenge for any books I haven't read yet.

As expected, his side of the room was a mess. Clothes were thrown everywhere and I highly suspected they were dirty since I hadn't done the laundry yet. Aside from that, I could easily stare at his most prized possessions, which consisted of a few expensive looking clown masks, if they could even be considered that, with some horns and other pranking equipment. Studying his bed closely, I was more than sure that purple liquid must have been intended to be used on me, but I wondered why he didn't get to it.

Reminding myself of my original goal, I retreated back to my more organized side. I also had a desk which was used for studying, the memory of the exams still fresh in my mind. Many times I wondered in this spot about Ouma's origins and occupation, but to no avail. He left no hints whatsoever, and despite having spent this many months together he still had his guard up, not bothering to hide that fact.

I didn't have many things in full view, since I kept most of them in my drawers. Even so, I believe that didn't stop Ouma from rummaging in them. If I weren't so careful, he'd have gotten away with it long ago, being this good at covering his traces. Sometimes I thought about asking him directly if he was a criminal, but it was too foolish a move to go through. It is not my way of investigating as well.

...I had almost forgotten this was here. I didn't remember putting it in this drawer, but I blamed Ouma for that. Not that it would make the situation better, since it took me an unspeakable amount of time to get over the initial shock. How long it was, I have no clue, but after calming down I let out a huge sigh. I had gotten this riled up over nothing of importance, as if every single event I've gone through after all that suddenly vanished.

The answer to why I still had that hat was simple, but it was still not a very pleasant experience to even gaze at it. It brought back bad memories. I was thankful and still am for stuffing it that deep in the drawer, since I'm not sure how I would have reacted if someone else were to dangle it in front of my face. Not wanting to think about it, I managed to get it out of my sight as soon as possible and hurried to the kitchen to find something to eat.

I wasn't exactly hungry, but the lunch hours were closing in on me. I figured I might as well have a meal and get done with it, but I couldn't shake off my worry about Ouma. He was a grown adult, but I knew he should have been there to greet me as he always was. In the end, I managed to shrug the feeling off by blaming it on selfishness and lack of attention. I couldn't accept that I started caring for such a sketchy individual, so I tried to go on with my day. Unfortunately, having seen the hat once again let fear take over myself as I desperately tried to contact Ouma's phone over and over, but he just wouldn't answer. I couldn't just ignore that, since red signals of all kinds rose up in my head.

Suddenly, I remembered his frail figure. His self defense skills must surely be below average, and then those scenes replayed in my mind as if to mock me for my obliviousness. Whenever he was outside, he'd always look everywhere but my face, scanning the surroundings for extended periods of time. And oh, the bus episode... how could I possibly forget his deathly grip on those bars, or his reluctance to even raise his head to glance at me?

I really should have realized sooner.

Now it may be too late.