manga
Hobbies
Kiri

"I can't find my manga!"

The room, despite having the fewest belongings of any room in Greenwood, also housed the most manga, all stashed under the bed.

Well… normally stashed under the bed.

Kazuya stood in the doorway of 211, looking more than slightly miffed. "Shun, this place is a mess!"

Shun looked at him pitifully, eyes round and cute. "Suka-chan, did you borrow my manga?"

The red head looked puzzled. "No… I've been doing homework all week. Maybe you took it somewhere else to read and left it there."

His face brightened. "Suka-chan, you're brilliant!" In a sudden burst of speed, Shun was in his neighbors room, proclaiming his misfortune. "Sempai, I've lost my manga!!"

Mitsuru glanced up at him from Shinobu's bed at the same time Shinobu looked up from his desk. The distraught boy stood with his hands clasped together in front of him.

Mitsuru set aside the book he had been trying to read. "Well… where did you last have it?"

"In your room, I think." He didn't seem sure.

Shinobu studied him a moment, silent. "I think you are correct." He stood in one fluid motion, then moved over to his bed, kneeling down and reaching a hand beneath it. When he removed it, he had the lost manga in his hand. "Is this it?"

Mitsuru blinked. He had quite expected Shinobu to make him do that. He shrugged.

Shun seized the manga gleefully, eyes sparkling. "Thanks, sempai!!" He was clutching it rather protectively as he dashed out the door again.

Mitsuru glanced at his roommate. "Did you seem him drop it or something?"

"No."

Ah, it was that tone. Mitsuru shut up and went back to reading. Shinobu returned to his desk, an open book in hand.

Shun was glowing as he seated himself on his bed. He flipped open his manga and settled down for another night of ignoring his homework.

~

And the next day, it happened again.

"Shun, you lost another one?" Kazuya said, sounding more than a little exasperated at the semi-walkable status his room now represented.

Shun gave him a teary expression. "It's not my fault! It was brand new!"

Grimacing, Kazuya sighed. "Maybe Mitsuru-sempai has seen it."

Shun sniffled and stood, proceeding to his neighbors' room.

Mitsuru was not in. Shinobu gave him a wordless glance, then handed him a small book.

Shun brightened. "My manga! Where was it?"

Shinobu smiled slightly. "Obviously not in your room."

Not perturbed by this roundabout answer, Shun decided to settle down right where he was, leaning against Shinobu's bed, content.

His elder companion turned back to his book and continued reading.

~

And again.

"Shun, this is getting ridiculous," Kazuya said, stepping over the mountains of manga Shun had left in his wake.

"I know!" Shun wailed, despondent. "But it's gone!"

"Another new one?"

Shun nodded miserably.

Kazuya sighed. "Maybe next door again?"

The feminine boy pondered a moment. "I haven't been over there today. And I'm sure I left it on my desk…" He frowned, an unusual expression to cross his features.

His roommate shook his head. "Try next door."

Shun stopped digging under his bed a moment and stood, taking the few steps that separated the rooms and pushing open the other door without knocking.

Mitsuru was in there alone this time. He glanced up. "Hey, Shun."

"Sempai…?" His voice was a bit overwrought.

"Yeah?" He seemed to be quite comfortably sprawled across Shinobu's bed as his eyes returned to the book in his hands.

"Is that my manga you're reading?"

Mitsuru blinked and looked up. "Is it?" He shut it and glanced at the cover. "I found it outside in the hall."

Shun glowered. He was sure he had left it in his room before classes. "Yes… it is mine."

The blond leaned forward and handed it to him, grinning a bit. "Shun, that's the third time in a row. You ought to be more careful."

Shun was silent, fuming, as he exited the room.

~

Fortunately, it didn't happen again. Shun took to writing his name in neat lettering on the inside of his manga, rather protectively.

Shinobu was at his desk, reading as usual, when Mitsuru returned from band practice. He kicked the trombone case into his desk and sauntered over to him. "What're you reading?"

Shinobu glanced up at him smoothly. "Homework, Mitsuru."

The flaxen-haired boy paused, not wishing to get caught up in that. "Oh." Satisfied, he plopped himself down on Shinobu's bed and pulled out a magazine. "Your bed is comfortable."

He turned slightly so that he could see him, amusement in his eyes. "Oh?"

"I like it." He settled himself and flipped open his magazine.

Shaking his head, Shinobu turned back to his reading material.

~

The dorm lady was fretting the next day. It wasn't apparent in that she was pacing or anything so obvious, but she was rather snappish toward the boys. No one was pleased with this.

The next few days continued the same way, her irritability mounting.

As dorm head, it was Kazuya's duty to find out what was happening.

The news was almost shocking, but not quite unexpected.

"She what?" Mitsuru asked, looking surprised.

"She said her manga is missing," Kazuya explained again, agitated.

Shun was triumphant. "See?? I wasn't being careless!"

Mitsuru grinned slightly at the boy and turned back to Kazuya. "She hasn't found any of them yet?"

He shook his head. "It's not just her new ones either. New ones, old ones, doujinshi… and very carefully done so she wouldn't notice." Sighing, he folded his arms over his chest. "She expects me to find out who did it too."

Shinobu had been silent up until this point. "She hasn't found any of them?" His tone was rather amused.

"None."

He shrugged. "Well… I'm sure they'll turn up." With his piece said, he continued looking busy at his desk.

Mitsuru nodded. "Good luck, Hasukawa."

Kazuya frowned. "I'll need it."

~

A few days passed and Kazuya still had no luck. Fortunately for him, the dorm lady started to discover some of the ones she had thought lost in rather out of the way places around her work area. Perhaps it really was just a streak of forgetful behavior among the dorm's manga readers.

But, alas, it was not.

Kazuya sat in room 210 on the floor, head in his hands. "Her newest one was stolen now, she says," he fretted.

Shun gave him a quick glance over the top of the manga he was happily perusing. "Just as long as my manga is still here."

Mitsuru paused a moment in his studies. "It's odd though. Who would really want to read all her manga?"

"It's all that Be x Boy stuff," agreed Kazuya heartily, picking his head up and looking disgusted. "Give me a Shounen Sunday any day."

Shun glared at him and held his manga close to him. "Maybe when I'm done reading it."

A little exasperated, the red head sighed.

Shinobu turned to face the small gathering in his room. "Hasukawa, I'm sure you'll find them all."

Kazuya sighed again and dropped his head back into his hands.

~

Shun and Kazuya had headed off to the baths, the smaller boy still apprehensive over the missing manga, his roommate trying to console him. Mitsuru and Shinobu were left alone in their room.

The blond stood, silent for once, and decided to try to sneak up on his roommate. Shinobu must have been quite engrossed in his reading because he actually made it all the way to just behind him, but then stopped, blinking.

"Shinobu… what's that?"

He could have sworn that the other boy had an almost guilty look on his face, but he did not reply.

Mitsuru peered closer. "Be x Boy… Gold?" He paused a moment, his mind working through this. "Shinobu?"

Shinobu gave him a dark look. "I finished all of Shun's already. What else do I have to do?"

Of course. Shinobu never really needed to study and always finished his homework quickly. He needed an occupation that would not be loud and disturb his friends' studies. It made sense.

Other thoughts were also registering in Mitsuru's mind. Shinobu was reading Be x Boy. And not only that. Be x Boy Gold. A little smile found its way to his lips.

"Can people actually bend like that?" he asked curiously, studying the picture on the page. "It looks… hard."

Shinobu allowed a mirroring smile to fall across his face. "There's always a way to find out."

Mitsuru's smile increased slightly.

~

"All the manga is back!" Kazuya exclaimed brightly, pushing open the door to 210 where he knew his sempai and Shun were already studying.

Well, sort of.

Shun did not bother to even look up from his manga as usual. "That's good, Suka-chan."

Mitsuru gave Shinobu an evil look. "Maybe the thief got a new hobby."

Shinobu shook his head slightly in reply. "Perhaps. You're lucky then, Hasukawa."

Suspicious, the red head frowned at them, but did not reply. He had given up ever knowing what his sempai were thinking about.

Of course, he would not have really wanted to know in this case anyway.