▃▃▃▃▃ "w-what DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

"calm down haru-chan! no need to yell", kuroo hushed as everyone's attention was back on takeda-sensei.

"I-I said that because it's a new school, there's only ten dorms, so everyone needs to be paired up", the male explained once more.

etsuko felt her own soul fly out.

stumbling to the front and tugging on takeda's sleeve, the girl whispered a question into the instructor's ear.

"u-umm...sensei...is it possible for me to...get my own room?", etsuko politely asked.

"I'm sorry haru-san, but like I said, everyone has to share a room", takeda meekly replied, to which etsuko sagged into a puddle of water.

     "t-then, can I just live at home and transport to school everyday?!", etsuko followed up.

     "oi! what's with you finding excuses to not dorm with us? I promise we're not all bastards like daishō over there", kuroo snorted as he wrung his arm around etsuko's shoulders, making the girl flinch.

     "i-it's not that kuroo-san...I just...I just—"

     "may I ask how we will be assigned to our rooms?", someone questioned, to which etsuko had recognized him as sawamura daichi after asking kuroo.

     "great question sawamura-san! you will now all participate in a drawing. there's 20 bamboo sticks with numbers on them.

there are ten pairs and whichever number you draw that matches the other person, they will be your new roommate!"

takeda excitedly grabbed the small cylindrical container from off his desk as he held it out for whoever was to go first.

     of course kuroo and daishō had walked up at the same time, shoving each other meanwhile the others had already taken their pick.

     etsuko uncovered her number as she saw a six written on the bottom of the bamboo stick.

     with takeda leading the boys and girl to the dorms area, etsuko just hoped that whoever it was that resided with her was nice, as she found out that kuroo and daishō had pulled the same number, five.

     as everyone entered their shared dorms to meet their new roommate and unpack their belongings—which etsuko honestly didn't have much of—the girl was amazed by how intricate and spacious the room was.

     it was indeed bigger than her entire house back in the outskirts of tokyo.

     not only was there already two futons laid on top of a rectangular block, with pillows and blankets, but there was a small tea table in the center of the room.

     along with two additional tables for the students to do their homework at, the view outside the flimsy wooden windows was a perfect sight of the white brick wall that stopped the students from leaving.

"it's nice to meet you. I'm kita shinsuke from the inarizaki academy", a male with an average height and an athletic build introduced.

     etsuko noticed the peculiar color of hair, as the boy's locks were light gray but had black tips at the end, parting with a fringe in the middle of his forehead.

"oh hello!! I'm haru etsuko", the girl smiled as she shook the boy's hand, to which she could tell that he was quite the strict one by how firm he held her hand.

"I hope we get along fine", the boy said as he hastily resumed to unpacking his books and stacking them on top of his desk.

     "same", etsuko softly replied as the doors to their room suddenly aggressively slid open.

"HEY HEY HEY! YOU'RE HARU RIGHT?! KUROO TOLD ME TO COME GET YOU!", the boy, who's hair reminded etsuko of an owl, shouted.

"I—"

"come on! akaashi and them are already waiting!", the boy said as he hastily dragged the girl out the room, leaving kita slightly confused, but not surprised.

as etsuko had arrived at the courtyard, right outside the dorms, students were already gathered into groups, most likely with people that had came from the same school.

     "oi bokuto and haru-chan!!"

     immediately the two turned to see kuroo and two others, to which the dark haired boy could be assumed as akaashi keiji, meanwhile the boy with dark roots and dyed blonde hair is kenma kozume.

     "it's a pleasure to meet you, akaashi-san and kozume-san", etsuko bowed as she gave a friendly smile, to which the two just gave one back.

     "anyways haru-chan, since you're the only one from your own school...or whatever, I'll be the kind soul like I am and offer you a spot into our little group", kuroo grinned, opening his arms out like he was god.

     etsuko stifled in a laugh as she turned around, her shoulders shivering as she tried to contain it.

     "oh kuroo, you're making him cry with your bad jokes!", bokuto said, patting etsuko's back as she tried even harder to hold in her laugh.

     "h-huh?! no way!! haru-chan, lemme see!!", kuroo huffed as he tried to peek at etsuko's face, to which the girl's arms acted like a barrier as she shielded her face from the bed head.

     "haru-chan~"

     as etsuko was hiding from kuroo, the girl unconsciously stumbled a few steps forward, hitting someone's chest by accident.

     coming out of her little barrier, etsuko rubbed the top of her forehead as she saw akaashi catching the girl, making sure she didn't fall backwards.

     "are you okay?", akaashi softly asked, to which etsuko's face reddened as she quickly nodded, immediately stepping back as she cleared her throat.

     "y-yeah! s-s-sorry...", etsuko muttered as kuroo suddenly hummed in amusement.

     "you know...haru-chan..."

     "w-WHAT?!"

     "relax!! I was just going to say how feminine you and kenma look. isn't that right, bokuto?", kuroo laughed, making the girl glance over at the shy boy, who had avoided her gaze.

     "eh?? now that you mention it, kenma and haru does look very pretty", bokuto smiled, to which etsuko didn't need to know the boy anymore to know that he was an absolute sweetheart, unlike kuroo.

     "ahaha...but I think kozume-san's actually pretty. I really like his golden eyes...", the girl muttered.

     "HUH? what was that?!"

     "I-I-I SAID THAT I REALLY LIKE HIS GOLDEN RICE!", etsuko shouted in a flustered manner as she suddenly covered her mouth, squatting down as her entire aura deflated.

     kuroo started laughing like a hyena meanwhile bokuto joined in, with akaashi's occasional chuckles.

     kozume raised a brow as he walked over to the girl that was bending down, in the middle of a breakdown, wondering why she said what she said.

     the pudding-head boy kneeled beside etsuko as he just gently tapped the girl's shoulder.

"it's okay haru-kun. kuroo's just a bully sometimes", kozume quietly reassured as etsuko's face was still red from the previous comment.

"t-thank you kozume-kun", etsuko squeaked out, to which the shy boy's eyes widened a bit before just nodding.

"anyways, stand up already", kuroo ushered as he grabbed the two by their arms, pulling them upwards.

"by the way, did you send your measurements to the school's administration?", kuroo asked, to which the girl's head had immediately snapped at the boy, her eyes wide.

"w-what do you mean measurements? when were we supposed to send them in? what for?!"

"huh, didn't you know haru? they need your measurements for our school uniform", bokuto answered.

"school uniforms...do I have to pay?", etsuko whispered.

akaashi just nodded. "since they already took away the school boarding fees—which includes supplies—school uniforms along with breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be charged".

etsuko's entire face became hallow like a ghost.

'all I hear is money being washed down the river...can I get a part time job? but in order to get a job I need to get a diploma first...b-but to get my diploma, I need a job to make money...'

the girl clenched onto her head as she nearly pulled out all her hair.

"what's this unjust system....", etsuko whined.

'no wait, you can't give up now! there's always a loophole!!'

suddenly etsuko's face lit up, making her newly made friends confused.

"umm...you okay there haru?", bokuto questioned.

etsuko then started manically laughing.

"I've got a plan".

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セレンディピティ
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