| Want me ~ Baby Queen |

That... Well, anything that even mildly implies that my size should not allow ballet... It bothers me. I smile a little, only as much as possible for me at the moment. "Ah, yes!" I say, bringing my cup of milk to my lips.

It's something I do for self-soothing, as pointed out several times by my Mom.

"I have been doing ballet since I was twelve." I don't know why I had to clarify that.

"Wow, that's impressive." The dark-haired boy says. Why does it feel like a roast?

"Ye- yeah!" I stutter.

The pink-haired boy beams at me. "I'm looking forward to it, Niji-chan."

Doesn't Maki-san have anything to say?

Maki-san walks me back to the hostel building, her jacket hanging from her shoulder and her hands in the pockets of her sweatpants. She has this cool air about her, this naturally confident gait - something I would kill to have. Meanwhile, I walk with my gaze fixed on the tips of my converse shoes.

Quite a few people call out to her as we walk into the area separated from the rest of the campus for the ladies' dorm buildings. "Maki-san,", "Maki-san, where have you been?", " Maki-san, need an extra hand in the organizing team?", "Call me, Maki-san."

"Wow, you're really popular," I blurt out, unintentionally. She scoffs.

Another girl walks past us and I look up to see Maki-san waving coyly at her. The little smirk on her lips catches my eye too. Girlfriend?

Without thinking - something I swear I never do - I ask, "your girlfriend?"

Maki-san stops in her tracks. I take two more steps before I realize she's not walking with me and stop too, to turn towards her. "What made you say that?" she asks, sticking only her thumbs out of her pockets. She looks like she's challenging me. No matter what I choose to answer, the rest of the conversation may not go well.

"Oh, nothing really." I looked away towards an ice cream parlor we have within the dorm premises. "I just... saw you waving at her and it looked like there's some history there."

She chuckles. "She's probably one of the girls I've slept with in the last year. I can't even remember her name. So no, not a girlfriend."

I sigh, taking in the insight into her personality. Why am I bothered by that?

"Are you bothered by that?" she asks. It's like she can peek into my mind.

"By what?"

"That I forget the name of the girls I sleep with." She takes the two steps to close the gap between us and my heart skips a beat or two. "Tell me, Niji, do you have a room for yourself or do you share it with others?"

"Why?" I scoff. "So you can forget my name tomorrow?"

I'm not looking at her anymore. I can't. She's too close for me to think properly. This is not a standard response to someone I've just met. I understand that Maki-san is too pretty and too intimidating. But still...

Right when I feel my breath hitch, Maki-san takes a step back.

My confidence comes back and I look up at her. Her pretty face - the scars do nothing but accentuate her beauty - is lit up by a playful smirk. Her lips part and the words that come out flood my bones with electricity. "I can make an exception."

"Maki! You rotten piece of stinky shit. What are you doing inside the dorm premises?"

I hear a very loud and annoyed voice screaming somewhere on my left and watch as Maki-san rolls her eyes. The voice is very familiar. In fact, I've heard this every night on the speakers on my floor since I started living here. It's the President of the Hostel Disciplinary Committee, Mai Zenin.

Wait! What?

Kaichou appears in my view and my confusion dissipates. They look exactly alike. Well... except for Maki-san's scars.

"What is it, Mai? Couldn't find anybody else at the hostel to get mad at?" Maki-san shifts her weight from one leg to another but refuses to look at Mai senpai, who I assume is her twin sister.

"I want to see you out of here before I can count to five," Mai senpai says and raises a hand. "One... Two... Three... Why aren't you moving? Four."

I stand flabbergasted, witnessing the banter between the two. The banter, however, is more glaring and attempting to intimidate each other instead of words. But it is pretty fun to watch. And not just to me. A few people, most of whom I've seen around the halls, have stopped on their way to their classes or the canteen or wherever they were going.

I spot my dorm neighbor in the sparse crowd that has gathered around us and wave at her. She smiles broadly through the curly mess that surrounds her face and walks over to me.

"This is almost an everyday thing, mate. You'll get used to it alright." Lulu-san is a sophomore in my department. She is from the UK and moved to Japan two years ago to live with her father and stepmother. She told me all about it the night I moved into the room next to her when she asked me if I'd be comfortable oiling her hair.

I wasn't. But I still did it.

"They're twins, aren't they?" I ask. Lulu-san loves to talk. She would tell me everything.

"Oh yes! Mai is the proper one. Never gets in trouble, and is a favorite among the professors and wardens. I bet that's the way to becoming the Discipline Committee's President, am I right?"

I nod, juggling my attention to register both her words and the interaction between the Zenin sisters. "And what about Maki-san?"

"Maki is the rebel. She fled from home when she was merely a teenager. Her mood's always nasty but she manages to shag every lesbian and bisexual girl in sight. Wait! Niji, how do you know Maki?"

"We ju... just met," I stutter, bringing my attention back to Maki-san. She looks like she has had enough of her sister. It's the same look from when we met Yuuji-kun and Megumi-kun. Annoyed, like her time is being wasted.

She looks up and our eyes meet briefly before she sighs. "I'll be out in twenty minutes," she declares, more to her sister, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"She's a fucking fresher, Maki!" Mai senpai sneers at her.

"Thirty minutes?" Maki-san sneers back. "I don't know what you're asking for."

"Hey!" I barge into the conversation. I believe, if it's about me, I should have something to say. "I'll... I'll see you later, Maki-san." Wait... why am I phrasing it like we had plans and now I am disappointed because Mai-san is pussy-blocking me? Am I... disappointed?

Flustered, I turn and head towards the building's entrance. A disgruntled "fuck you, Mai," is all I hear as I find the handrail of the staircase and run up the risers.

My room is on the seventh floor. I'm not going to walk all the way up. I heave as I stop at the third-floor landing and rush to the elevator. Somebody has just come out and the doors are still open. "Wait," I call out even though nobody's inside.

I plant a foot in the middle of the doorway so the doors don't turn me into a human squash and when I'm sure I'm safe, I walk inside. I slouch beside the panel of floor numbers and press seven.

Why would she make it seem like she wants me? Why would she want me?

My thoughts are about the hotter Zenin sister and my questions can remain unanswered for all I care.

"Stop!" I hear a shout outside and I know exactly who it is. I don't have to wait to confirm because a foot appears as the doors are about to close and all I can see is the white top of her dark blue converse shoe. Such a lesbian stereotype! Or is she bisexual? I don't even know.

Maki-san walks in and quickly presses the close button. I let out a long sigh and stand straight. I am very thankful for what she did for me in the morning but this... is getting a little uncomfortable.

"Listen..." I start but she stops me. She takes my wrist but immediately lets it go when I flinch.

"Sorry," she says, retreating to the other side of the elevator. Like my action has hurt her somehow. This is totally different from the overawing, smirking stone butch vibe I was getting from her earlier. Will taking her to my room make her feel better?

"Will going to my room make you feel better?" I say without thinking.

"Wow." She scoffs. "It's like you're reading my mind."

I choose not to reply. We stay silent like that till the seventh floor and when the doors crack open, I'm the first one out. Not due to any phobia of the elevators but because of the stiflingly awkward air inside.

A group of girls is practicing a dance routine on the landing, most likely for the freshers' ceremony. I ignore them and beeline towards my room. Maki-san simply follows me. I don't know what she wants.

Me, maybe. A stupid voice in my head says. The positive one. The one that wants the good things for me and thinks I deserve them.

Don't be ridiculous. Says the negative one that hates me. This one's usually always right.

I stop in front of Room 807 and Maki-san stops beside me. From the corner of my eye, I can see her hands dipping into her pockets. I proceed to put in the passcode but pause again. Turning to her, I ask, "what... What do you want? What are you doing here?"

"What do you want?" She asks me in return.

I sigh and roll my eyes. "That... doesn't answer my question. But... I'll answer yours. I don't want to sleep with you. Not now. I met you in the morning and I don't... prefer sleeping with someone I just met."

I stop speaking, hoping there will be a reply from Maki-san. But she just stands there with her hands in her pockets and looks at me. Her eyes are dark and brooding, very unlike the pretty morning outside, as if they're examining me, trying to read my thoughts.

I start to speak again. "Listen, Maki-san, I really enjoyed hanging out with you and your friends for breakfast. I... don't want to ruin it by rushing into a... a sexual relationship."

"Okay," she finally says, crossing her arms across her chest. "I never said I wanted to have sex with you."

Huh...?

That's kinda true.

"I... I mean," I stammer. "Ye... yes, you didn't."

"You assumed it," she stated with a straight face. "That's fair since I heavily implied it." She takes a hand out of her pocket and pulls her glasses off. She runs her fingers through her hair and I'm taken back by how prettier she is with her hair pushed back.

I look down her arms where her scars spread into constellations. I wonder how it spreads over her body under her clothes. Maybe I am the one who wants to have sex with her.

"Do you want a cookie?" I ask her, turning to put the passcode on my door.

"Sure," she replies and I can hear her smirk.

I push the door open and the warm smell of my tangerine scented candle welcomes us. I quickly move to the other side of the room as Maki-san enters and stands by the door. Her eyes dart from one object to another.

My room is an eclectic mess of things. On the desk that came with the room, I've tried to fit all my stationery items - I need organizers - and the shelves over the desk have all the textbooks and story books I've brought from home. I wanted to fit the small potted cactus and my scented jar candles on the desk, but I had to banish them to the window sill for now.

The best thing I've done to the room is put up the curtains on the window and I somehow managed to put a fitted sheet on the narrow bed that also came with the room. My clothes fit in the wardrobe but I had to restrict my tutus to the suitcase and my pointe shoes rest in boxes next to my casual, party, and sports shoes on the rack under the dressing table.

"I know it's a mess," I think out loud as I get panicky about what impression this makes on Maki-san. "But you... you have to keep in mind that I just moved in."

"I'm just here for the cookie." She simply shrugs.

I feel the cringe on the inside before I put it on my face. "Is that... an innuendo?"

Her lips purse as she stifles a smirk and shakes her head. "Can I sit here?" She asks, pointing to the edge of the bed.

"Yes, please." I turn away to find the boxes of cookies on the shelves. "Sweet, or salted?" I ask.

"Sweet, please."

I extract the box of chocolate chip cookies and hand it to Maki-san. I watch as she takes one out and munches on it. Gulping, she stands up and says, "thanks. I'll... I'll be on my way then."

Huh?

"Yes, yes, of course," I blurt out, heartbroken. What was I expecting? "You have work... for the ceremony, right?"

I barely register as I start walking toward her. Am I going to open the door for her? Am I going to throw myself at her? I'm not sure. I'm only looking at her eyes, milder now, and friendlier.

"Niji," she calls out and it's a moment later that I see the devilish grin on her face. She walks forward and meets me in the middle of the room.

I don't recall the hows, whens, and whys, but I'm in her arms - her strong, muscular arms - and her face is only inches from mine. I really want to touch her hair but I can barely wiggle my hands out of her hold. Her lips are so close and she's smirking and she's gorgeous. I wanna kiss her.

I've never wanted to kiss a girl so badly.

"You know you look like you wanna kiss me, right?" She asks and I only see her lips moving. Words don't matter to me anymore.

"I do?"

I can't tell. Her eyes are no mirrors; they're dark pools of lust, hunger, and everything spicy. I am lost in them. I want to giggle because... what the hell, Niji? And I want to smack myself hard across the face because... what the hell, Niji?

Her face moves closer to mine or maybe it's my face that moves. The next moment I'm gasping for air and she's breathing life into my mouth. Her lips are soft yet demanding, controlling. But she never forgets me. I know I am the one being kissed. She wants me to know that.

I can finally get my arms free when her hands slide down my body. Her fingers knead into the sides of my hips and proceed toward my buttcheeks. And I freeze.

I stop kissing her back and refrain from her embrace almost immediately. She frowns and loosens to let me go. "Are you okay? What happened?"

I have no answer. I mean, I do but it's going to sound ridiculous to her. So I'm not going to say anything. "Yeah," is all I say.

"Okay." Maki-san never seems to lose her calm. She sighs and turns towards the door, and my heart breaks again. Damn it, Niji!

"I'll... I'll see you tonight," I call out as she disappears behind the door.

I sit down on the bed, beside the warm spot left behind by Maki-san's butt and fish my phone out of my pocket. The Notes app shows me my to-do list. I add an entry: "find Maki-san after the performance".

It's going to be a long day.

Niji's a character, huh? She's a roll of fabric. There's so much left to unfurl about her. But the question is, is Maki ready to do the unfurling? Does she really want to get emotionally invested in a girl she just wants to fuck?

A/n: If you liked this chapter, please consider leaving a vote and commenting about what you liked or what you'd like to see in the next chapters.