Shun's Revenge

A Here is Greenwood Christmas Story

by Karma

Notes and disclaimers: Greenwood belongs to Yuki Nasu and her publishing company.

It was a bright and cheery morning. The residents of Ryokurin Hall were all merrily planning a Christmas party. Interestingly enough, the party was over two weeks early, because Shinobu had decided that it would be amusing to have a party before everyone left for winter vacation, tax the attendees, and then throw an even larger New Year's Party after the new year began. What Shinobu wanted, Greenwood wanted, and so the dorm planned the holiday festivity.

As usual, the last people to know about the party were the hosts of the room; for the festival, as usual, would take place in Room 210. Despite all of Shun and Hasukawa's protests, the party was made into a large event. Almost half of the normal residents of Greenwood (100+), crammed into a two-person room, were expected to attend.

"It's not fair," moaned Hasukawa to his roommate, Shun. His orange eyes glowed brightly with anger, matching his short, red, hair. "Shinobu-sempai and Mitsuru-sempai ALWAYS do this to us. They don't even have the decency to tell us the day before; they have to tell us the MORNING before." He buried his face in his hands in despair. "We're gonna choke here, Shun! All our stuff'll be trashed and we'll be forced to clean up afterwards. They can't even give us enough time to clean up."

"Maa, maa," said Shun comfortingly. He smiled cheerfully, and flung some of his long, brown hair over his shoulder. "Suka-chan, I think it'll be fun." Merrily, he tossed more of his possessions into his desk, in a feeble attempt to free up space in his room.

"100 or more people? In our tiny room? It'll be amazing if anyone can move in our room at all!"

"Well..." Shun smiled innocently. "Sempai-tachi said that we can do whatever we need to do to get our room ready by noon, right?"

"Yeah."

He grinned viciously, and it occurred to Hasukawa that Shun was even angrier about it than he was. But Shun was Shun, he always made the best of situations. "Well, let's move all of our stuff into their room. How would they like that?"

Excited at the chance to get back at their older classmen, the redhead readily agreed.

"There should be more people attending," Mitsuru said, frowning. He cast his magenta eyes and looked around the room, puzzled. There was only about forty or so people in attendance of the party, a mere two-fifths of the expected number. "I wonder where everyone is."

"It's because you're taxing the party," complained Hasukawa. "What did you expect?"

Mitsuru glared at him, and said nothing.

"It's all right," said Shinobu. He counted how much money was gathered and was pleased, because a profit was still made.

"Let's play a game," suggested Shun. He was in a good mood, having complained that since it was his and Hasukawa's room, that they shouldn't have to pay and getting Shinobu to agree. "There's about forty of us, so we can play a large group game."

"Suggestion?"

"Maa, well, I don't know. Sempai-tachi planned this party, you tell us."

Mitsuru was about to retort when Shinobu indicated that he wanted to speak to him. The two residents of Room 211 huddled in one corner of the room, discussing possibilities. Shun, meanwhile, looked at Hasukawa with concern. The redhead sat miserably on one of the chairs, sucking on a flat beer.

"Suka-chan, daijoubu?" He looked at his friend in concern. Certainly, Kazuya was hardly the type with a constant sunny disposition. But still...he looked uncommonly down. "Something wrong? Were you poisoned? Does your belly hurt? Did you get another ulcer?"

His roommate shook his head. In response, the longhaired boy moved across the room and sat behind his friend. "What is it?"

"Shun...don't you ever get sick of this? They always do this to us, regardless of our feelings or thoughts. Just once...just once I'd like to see them lose."

"What do you mean?" But Shun knew what he meant. It was how Shinobu and Mitsuru always won. They always had the last laugh, were the last ones to comment, and the ones who always profited at the expense of others. Granted, they were Shun and Hasukawa's closest friends, but the dynamic duo did not share their victories often with their younger classmates.

"I don't know. If they make a bet, or offer a prize... Just once I want to see them NOT win it. I don't care who does, I just wished that they weren't so superior in everything else. You know what I mean? Just once, just once..." He sighed. "That will never happen, will it?"

"You never know..." Watching as his friend went back to sucking his flat beer, Shun decided that his best friend was right. It would be so entertaining to see them lose, just once. But the chances of that were close to nothing.

Across the room, those spoken of were conferring among themselves. "You know that we cannot let Shun and Hasukawa get away with dumping their stuff in our room," said Shinobu simply to Mitsuru.

"Well, what can we do about it now? It's kinda late, Shinobu." Mitsuru leaned closer, and saw THE look in Shinobu's calm gray eyes. It was the look he had whenever he was planning something, and he knew better than to question his best friend. "Why, what do you have in mind?"

"I say we take the money, place it as a prize, and play for it. Winner gets the money, each loser has to fork over the cost of admission again. That way, we make a double profit to counterbalance the fact that so few people showed up."

"I see." He thought about it, and then agreed. "What game should we play?"

"Truth or dare. It'll be easier to oust out losers that way."

"Ok."

Shun was uncertain of whether or not he should play. We're gonna lose anyway. When the two older classmates had announced that they were going to play truth or dare, he realized an interesting feeling in the pit of his stomach that he recognized as dread. But then, he recalled the look of excitement in his roommate's eyes. Poor Hasukawa actually believed that he had a shot at winning; even mouthing to Shun, "Now's our chance." The chances of winning were slim, but Hasukawa didn't want to win, he just didn't want THEM to win. Which was just as bad. Shun had never known Shinobu or Mitsuru to back out of any dare or refuse to answer any questions. He realized that playing was a very, stupid idea.

And yet...he couldn't abandon Suka, after all they've been through. No, he couldn't, not after seeing him so sad. It served Mitsuru and Shinobu right if they didn't win, just once. "Okay, I'm in," he announced to the crowd, being the last one to make a decision.

Shinobu began first. He carefully asked the worst questions, gave the worst dares, and picked people other than his friends next door.

Hasukawa, being a favorite of everyone, was called on constantly from people who survived Shinobu. He refused to back down, displaying his usual stubbornness. He gave up his dignity, answered unhappily, and when he made it, he always went back to picking on Mitsuru. He gave it his best, asking the worst things he could think of, but little did it deter his upper classman, who gave frustratingly obvious answers to questions, did all dares, and always questioned Shinobu, throwing the ball back to the master's court. Shinobu, in turn would return to eliminating as many people as possible. The entire cycle was replayed, and at the end of half an hour, the original four stars of Greenwood were the only ones left.

"Hasukawa, truth or dare?" Shinobu finally called on him.

Hasukawa agonized over the answer. Shinobu was deadly at asking extremely embarrassing questions, but his dares were no better. Wrestling silently for a moment, he gathered his courage and answered. "Dare."

"I dare you to cut Shun's hair to as short as yours."

"WHAT?" The redhead looked at his roommate, and then looked down. All that hard work, everything, for no reason! Shinobu knows I wouldn't do anything like this, so I'm gonna lose. Despairingly, he looked once more at his friend and then sighed.

I'm gonna help Hasukawa if it's the last thing I do, Shun silently vowed. "Go ahead, Suka-chan. It was due for a trimming anyway."

"No." Hasukawa bowed his head in defeat. "I won't do that to you, Shun." He couldn't sacrifice his friend's pride and joy just for the stupid satisfaction of watching Shinobu and Mitsuru NOT win. Only he knew that Shun brushed his hair fifty strokes every night. Only he knew how much Shun liked it, how he always took extra care to wash it, how he liked to tie it up on hot days. No...he couldn't do this to his friend.

"Iyo, iyo. Just do it. I have a plan," Shun bluffed. My hair, my beautiful hair! He had no plan whatsoever, but he couldn't let Hasukawa get kicked out, not after everything the redhead's done to try to stay in the game. "Trust me on this," he lied, smiling. Inside, he felt like crying, but he it did not appear on his face, because he couldn't show that to his best friend. It's just hair. It'll grow back.

"No."

"Suka-chan! Do it!" Hurry, before I lose my courage!

"No."

Shinobu nodded at Mitsuru. Hasukawa was out, leaving just Shun...

It's just hair. It's no big deal. Suka-chan's worth it. An inner peace filled him, and he looked at his friend, resolved. "It's ok," he said sincerely. "I don't mind. It'll grow back and it'll be fun to see the shock on my parent's faces. Reina would love it if I had a cut like him, anyway. Suka-chan..." he met the orange eyes with his own brown and nodded. "Do it."

Hasukawa nodded. "Give me the scissors," he told Mitsuru.

The older classman handed over the pair in disbelief.

"Wait," said Shinobu calmly. "You have to measure it to make sure that it's as short as yours, Hasukawa." He handed Shinobu the ruler.

Hasukawa shook in anger. He looked at Shun, saw him nod, and was filled with a sense of calmness as well. Shun...arigatou. Calmly, he took the ruler and measured his friend's hair.

Snip, snip.

Long, brown, pretty hair fell to the ground.

Shinobu and Mitsuru stared in shock.

"How do I look?"

Wordlessly, Hasukawa handed him a mirror.

Shun examined himself in the glass. Suka-chan didn't do too bad of a job. Hasukawa, afraid of messing up his friend's hair, had cut it as carefully as he could. The result was a short, boyish cut that made him look slightly more masculine. His face, usually framed by long strands was left alone, and he now looked like the rest of his friends. Smiling at himself, he took the scissors and cut his bangs a little as well. He then trimmed the edge of his hair again, smiled at the result, and placed the scissors down. "Suka-chan," he called. "Ask me a question." It was payback time.

"Shun, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Are you mad at me for what I've done?"

"No, never." Shun looked at his upperclassmen with a glint in his eye that made Mitsuru take a step back.

"Mitsuru-sempai, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to kiss Shinobu-sempai. On the lips. For at least one minute."

Uncertainly, Mitsuru looked at Shinobu. The latter gave him a look that was so cold that it could freeze hell. Shit. He took one step towards his friend, who continued giving him an absolute EVIL glare. It was the Misako incident all over again. Mitsuru sighed. "I refuse." He leaned close and whispered to Shinobu, "You better win, cuz I'm not paying the admission price again." He then nodded politely at his friends from next door and then left the room.

Shinobu cast his evil look at Shun, who was smiling innocently.

"My turn again," Shun smiled. "What now, Shinobu-sempai? Dare? Or are you afraid to...a truth perhaps?"

Shinobu, as everyone knows, always looked cool and chose the cool choice. "Dare."

"I dare you to call your sister Nagisa, recite a haiku, and then tell her you love her." He smiled, startling Hasukawa. Shun can be pretty vicious, too.

Shun continued. "And sound SINCERE."

Calmly, Shinobu picked up the phone and dialed the most recent address that Nagisa was residing at. He had just run into A, the other day, and got the number as a result. He punched in the numbers on the business card.

"Mushi mushi."

"Konban wa, Oneesan."

"Shinobu?" Nagisa sounded greatly alarmed. "What do you want?"

"Nagisa...

"Your cold beauty fair,
Hides the ugliness within.
A vicious monster."

"WHAT!" She shrieked loudly on the other end. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"I...you..." Why can't I tell her I love her? Because I don't. But I can lie, can't I? "I...you..."

"C'mon, say it!" urged Hasukawa. He and Shun leaned close, caught up in the moment.

"I hate you."

"GOOD! I HATE YOU TOO!" She slammed the phone in his ear, effectively cutting the connections between the two.

Shinobu stared at the phone, stunned. Shit. Mitsuru's gonna be pissed. But being Shinobu, such concerns never appeared upon his calm, collected face. He looked at Shun and Hasukawa. "Well, be sure and let me know who wins." Cooly, he strode out of the room, leaving the last two players.

"YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT!" Hasukawa jumped around excitedly, doing a small jig. He grabbed Shun, hugged him hard, released him, and danced around the room again. "YOU DID IT, SHUN!"

Shun laughed. "Truth or dare, Suka-chan?"

Hasukawa stopped. "What are you doing? You won. I forfeit. You lost your hair to win, I'm not going to try to wrestle this moment from you."

"Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"We'll be friends forever, right?"

"Right."

Shun grinned. "Merry Christmas, Suka-chan."

owari

A/N:

"maa maa" and "iyo iyo" are both colloquial expressions. The first, from what I've learned from anime, is used in situations for comfort. Sorta like "it's ok, no big deal, who cares" kinda thing. The second is used to say "it's ok." "daijoubu" is the verb used when asking if someone is ok or not (health-wise, mentally, etc).
"konban wa" "good evening". "oneesan" "elder sister" "mushi mushi" is the "hello" greeting used on the phone

it's been a while since i've taken Japanese 101, so apologies to anyone picky about romanized spellings.