Page I – Spring

. . .

Today was marked as the first day of spring. From the female student dorm, sakura petals can be clearly seen falling from their trees.

"Pretty scenery, right?" Levy asked Lucy without looking up from her book. Lucy, who happened to be standing near the window, only gave a hum in approval.

"They bloom beautifully. It reminds me of our times together; at spring, summer, fall, winter, and then spring begins again…"

"Time sure flies upon joy."

"We lived in this room since our first grade at school. I still remember how our first meeting went." The blonde says with a smile. "It's a shame this year will be our last time staying together. Next year we'll be studying in different colleges."

Levy smiled softly. "Don't you want to graduate properly, Lu?"

"Well, that's not what I mean. Still… I want us four being together like this forever. Like a family."

A pregnant silence came. Neither Lucy nor Levy wanted to talk any further. They knew better not to rub on sensitive topic like this.

The silence lasted for ten seconds before Juvia came out from the bathroom. "Juvia has finished. Who want to use the bath?" She mumbled while drying her hair.

"Lucy?" Levy offered, much to Lucy's surprise. "Why don't you go first?"

"Oh, are you sure?"

Levy nodded and turned back to her book. She was getting into the good part of the novel, bath should come later.

"Juvia, do you have more soap?"

"Sorry Lucy, Juvia have just used her last one. There is Levy's own inside, though."

"Levy…?"

"Yes, yes, go on and use it."

As Lucy decided to strip off her shirt, the door to their room suddenly opened. Thinking it's probably just Erza, she paid no mind. But then a rough voice nowhere near the female redhead's echoed loudly.

"You! I got here first! Go shower after me!"

"Shut up! I touch the door first! You go after me!"

Lucy froze.

Another male's voice approached closer. "We haven't even get to the room, dudes. Put on your pants first."

Both males on the door stop their batshit upon caught note of Lucy and Juvia who stared blankly at them. They stared back in return.

"Guys?" Gajeel, the other male, was a bit shocked and curious due to the silence his pals Natsu and Gray put on out of a sudden. "Why? You see something nice?" He asked out loud before peeking in as well.

"…"

. . .

Juvia shrieked out first.

"Kyaaaaaa—!"

"Gwaaaaaa—!"

Chaos ensued instantly.

Lucy grabbed a nearby thing beside her, which happened to be a bottle of shampoo, and threw it toward the unfortunate intruders.

Juvia immediately ducked down to cover herself and blindly flung her hairdryer. She heard a loud crash between her and Lucy's scream, but far too scared to take note of.

"Go away!"

"Hentai—!"

Apparently the boys were not expecting to get bombarded at all. A shampoo bottle smacked Natsu square in the face, dropping it to the floor. His foot accidentally stepped on it, making the shampoo inside pouring out.

Gray managed to dodge a hairdryer like a hawk, only to step on Lucy's shampoo and slipped. His hand reflexively yanked Natsu's scarf as he fell down, choking the poor lad who got dragged down in the heap as well.

Gajeel screamed out despite the fact that he didn't know what exactly is happening.

The shenanigan died out when those teens felt a murderous aura coming from the same door.

Lucy and Juvia immediately stopped their screams. Their eyes caught sight of a looming black shadow behind Natsu and Gray.

It's a pissed off Erza.

The boys slowly turned their gaze to their back. Natsu feels his heart leapt out from his throat and Gray swore he could feel they're going to meet with death.

"You two…" A rough female voice reverberated in the air, and both Natsu and Gray shrunk down in terror as they heard the sounds of fingers cracking.

"…Die."

Jellal pulled along his luggage and checked his new room number for the umpteenth times that day. He hoped the number on the note would change, but no matter how much he glared it off, it didn't change.

Seriously, what kind of headmaster would send his male students to stay in the girl dorm?

With a frown, Jellal quietly walked in through the hallway. He hung his gaze down as he walked in order to avoid the stares he received. Some girls walked past him, occasionally giggling and mumbling. Were they talking about him? Do they think he is a weirdo? What if they're going to bully him tomorrow? …Maybe tonight?

'Bad thoughts… no, no, no, no, what am I thinking? As long as I keep a good distance away, they'll leave me alone…' the male inwardly cringed and continued to walk…

Until a pair of female shoes stands in his way did he raise his gaze up.

"Um…" Jellal nervously began, purposely avoiding direct contact in the eyes with the female in front of him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get in your way."

Was that too soft? Too harsh? Too—

"Hm, I remember you." A firm female's voice nowhere like a sweet girl came. Her kind of voice reminded Jellal of a military commander in a beast war.

"Yes?"

A pause.

"Nevermind me. Can I help you?"

A chance! "Could you… um, tell me the way to reach this room?" Jellal weakly asked and handed out his paper. He had no idea on how a guy should talk to a girl properly.

"Of course. Come follow me. I'll escort you there." Surprisingly, the firmness in her voice changed more soft than earlier. The hard tone leftover still frightened him, however.

"Are you one of those new students the Headmaster asked to stay in this dorm?" The girl asked.

"Y-Yes. There were my other friends too, though. …I believe they've come here first?"

A snort. "Yes. I know who they are."

She already knew? He didn't reply and just focused on following her steps ahead. A few girls who passed by giggled at him, further increasing his timidity. At times like this, Elfman would smack him in back and then scolded him to be manlier. Yeah, be a man…!

But how? Wasn't he already manly enough?

In the end, Jellal only to follow the girl by taking notes of her scarlet-colored hair in silence.

A few moments later, they arrived in their destination, much to Jellal's happiness. He smiled at his savior. "Thank you very much."

"Hmm, it's nothing. …Anyway, my name is Erza. Call me if there's something else I could help." Erza pushed her glass up, seemingly satisfied.

"I see. My name is Jellal. I apologize for bothering you." The taller male mumbled meekly, still unable to look her in the eyes, and Erza noticed his discomfort. Her lips almost curled up to an amused smile. Too bad Jellal didn't know about that.

"Just let me know if you need anything. Good night."

"Well, then… I… I should get going. Thank you again, Erza." Jellal hurriedly said, struggling to open the door handle by himself due to his nervousness.

Erza quickly turned away as she couldn't handle watching Jellal anymore.

Jellal strolled inside his new room slowly. His frowned upon noticing how there were only two beds—two big beds. He cringed. Oh, God… he forgot that girls love to huddle along with their fellow girls anywhere they are.

He heard familiar voices as he went deeper inside. Putting his luggage near a table, he walked to the bathroom where a groan of pain echoed.

"Hello?" Jellal called out, and he wasn't expecting a terrible scene. "Whoa! What happened to you—?"

There's indeed Natsu and Gray, sitting on the bathtub together in peace for once. Their face looked like they've just had a fight with a WWE Smack-down champion.

"Oh, about time you finally come." Jellal turned to see Gajeel walked into the bathroom with a first-aid kit. Despite his face still intact unlike Natsu and Gray's, an obvious red-colored hand mark glued in his left cheek. "I thought you lost your way."

"Err, fortunately, no. More importantly, what happened? Did you take a fight along the way with some thugs?"

"Well… about that…"

Jellal went to pick the first-aid kit from Gajeel, proceeding to tend to the three guys at one. "I should've known better than to leave you alone for a minute of my life."

"Nuh uh." Natsu mumbled incoherently, and Gray nodded.

"Id's mukh wourse, bruh."

"What are you talking about?" Jellal raised an eyebrow in confusion as he washed their wounds with a clean cloth.

Gajeel faked a cough. "Trust me, bro. You don't wanna know. Seriously, girls are scary. I don't wanna deal with anyone outside this room ever again."

"…"

In the evening, when Erza walked in to her own room, she saw Lucy and Juvia sighed in relief upon seeing her. "Hm? What is it?"

"I thought you were those weirdoes again." Lucy huffed. Juvia nodded in agreement with her.

"I suppose trauma does happen, heehee…" Levy giggled, putting her books and essays to her bag. "You should have seen their face. It was hilarious."

"Stop teasing them, Levy." Erza said, albeit with an amused smile.

"I'm sorry… but I just… can't help it…" Levy giggled again. "That was so funny, though. I think they're cute."

Juvia stared at her like Levy had another head grew on her. "…Cute? They're jerks! Juvia hates those kinds of people."

"I need to buy a new shampoo…" Lucy weakly lamented her shampoo. The dumbfounded look Natsu had glued to her mind, much to her irritation.

Erza recalled those boys' terrified face earlier. She wondered on how Jellal would look should he was in the same situation, and forced herself not to laugh.

Unfortunately, Levy heard her. "I see Erza already has someone in mind~"

Caught off guard, Erza choked off.

"What? Of course not. What are you talking about?"

Levy laughed dryly when she saw Erza struggling with her glasses to put it off after being teased. Her weird act in this kind of tease is amusing, almost as if she has a crush.

…a crush?

"Hmmmm….. Nevermind." Levy smiled mischievously. A wicked plan presented itself in her mind.

Everything went back to normal after that. The girls continued on with their daily tasks. Tomorrow the school started again, marking their first day of senior year.

"Oh, almost forgot to tell you something important." Erza exclaimed out. "Those guys are the ones Headmaster told me about. Due to… overload of room and other issues in the boy dorm, they're going to stay in this dorm until graduation."

"Huh—?" Lucy and Juvia shouted in chorus as if there's a sudden harsh lightning boomed behind the window. Levy herself was left stupefied.

"Here? Until graduation?"

"Seriously? Y-You didn't tell about it yesterday."

"Wait, wait, wait… then where is their room?" Lucy carefully asks.

Silence.

Erza shrugged. "Just the room across of ours."

Natsu sneezed pitifully.

"Oy, stop being gross in the dining table, will you?" Gray complained.

"I can't help it. The floor's too cold." The male answers with a huff. "This kotatsu's broke. Jellal, is the food ready, yet? I'm hungry."

"Yeah, almost there. Give me a minute."

Natsu slouched himself further on the table after hearing the reply.

Meanwhile, Gajeel was checking out their new home outside the window. He glanced around the dark evening sky. "This dorm feels different from ours."

"Yeah well, what can you expect?" Gray muttered. "There's no basketball field, nobody plays soccer around, and no food-stall at all."

"Yeah, and I don't even see Laxus outside."

"What does he have to do with anything?"

"He… rides motorcycles?"

"Why don't they have those like our dorm?" Natsu chided in, only to slump again when his stomach growled loudly. "…Hmmphh."

"I can't find our old dorm anywhere."

"I'm not surprised that you can't." Jellal stated plainly, walked in with tray of foods in hand. Natsu and Gray beamed out in delight at once.

"What do you mean?" Gajeel gave him a confused look, ignoring Natsu and Gray.

"The school is located between the two dorms. The building obstructed our dorm to be seen from here."

"Ah, I see. What a shame."

"Well, if you want to check it that badly, you can go there tomorrow." Gray suggested him.

Gajeel hums. "Is that so… By the way, I wonder how our front neighbors look like. You know, the one living in the room across of ours."

"Dunno. Greet them after meal."

They ate in silence for once. Even Jellal was a bit surprised with the sudden change of atmosphere. Perhaps due to the new environment.

Half an hour later, they finished their dinner. As always, Jellal did the washes. Fortunately, this time Gray helped out.

Natsu walked back and forth restlessly. Gajeel went to peek outside their door, hoping to find Elfman and Lyon strolled around in the hallway, or Gildarts laughing with his beer on hand. Heck, he even wished Loki would appear with a bunch of girls clinging to him, no matter how noisy it is.

"Aah! I can't stand this!" Natsu finally yelled out in frustration. "This is boring! I wanna play cards with the others."

Gray hummed. "I know how that feels, bro."

"Can't we install a TV or something here?"

"Whose TV?"

"Radio?"

"Too noisy."

"Stop complaining." Gajeel rolled his eyes.

Just then, Jellal came out from the kitchen.

"Guys, tomorrow we have classes to attend. Have you finished your assignments?"

"Huh? We have?" Natsu asked him back. Gray smacked his own forehead.

"Crap! I didn't bring them along!"

Jellal sighed in defeat. "I knew it. I'll lend mine-…"

*Zzzzrrrtt!*

The lamp went off.

None of the boys moved from their spot.

"Is…" Gray whispered through the silence. "Is the lamp broke?"

Gajeel glanced outside the window. "Nonsense. Those houses' outside are still working. What the crap is wrong with this dorm?"

"Guys, calm down." Jellal felt a headache coming in. "It's probably just the schedule. Girls dorm isn't supposed to be up after 9 p.m., that's what I heard."

"What did you say?" Natsu echoed in disbelief. Gajeel and Gray groaned.

"This is BS, man. We always go to sleep around dawn."

"Yeah, well… we live in their dorm, we comply their rules. I'll lend the assignments in the class tomorrow morning."

Without the lights on, the four of them forced themselves to do things in accordance to the dorm's schedule. However…

"Where are the beds?" Gray asked to whomever near him. In the pitch black room, he crawled onto the cold wall.

"I dunno. I just went for the bathroom after the… incident. Were there even beds here? I mean, enough for each one of us."

"It's probably around here."

"Where is here?"

"Natsu, shut up."

A few moments of grabbing and pulling later…

"Natsu, move your hands off my hair."

"Gajeel? Sorry, I thought it was our old flower vase, haha. …How'd you know it was me?"

"I can recognize your grubby hands everywhere."

"What? Why you—!"

"Guys, keep looking." Jellal tried to maneuver once again. His head hurt from hitting the wall in blind. How come his life could be this painful?

Each one of them tried to crawl their way blindly to the beds. Something clicked on Jellal's mind as he recalled the beds he saw earlier.

"Wait, did you guys remember that I got here as the last one?" He asked out loud, receiving hums and 'yeaah' in reply from his roommate.

"What about it?"

"I saw the beds. Well, there is more than just one."

"That's good. We can invite ourselves to sleep like usual."

"Well, there's a catch."

Gray furrowed his brows. "What is it?"

"Uhm, about that…" Jellal began, punching lightly something fluffy as a sign that he had found one of the beds . "There are only two beds. One is here, the other is… the other side. Can you follow from my voice alone?"

Both Gajeel and Natsu groaned out loud again.

This realization dawned upon Gray a little bit after them. "…So we got to sleep in two for each bed?" He gulped.

"For real? Is this dorm housing the Goddess of Poverty or something? I'm done with no TV, but I can't believe they can't even fill a room with four beds!"

Jellal winced. "Don't worry, Gajeel. It's Queen-size each, unlike our old single-size. It's rather… wide, I guess."

How he wanted to slap himself.

Gray cleared his throat. "Is there any sofa? I don't wanna sleep like that. Or on the floor."

"I didn't see any sofa, though." Gajeel's reply only further decreasing Gray's mood. "There is bathtub, if you would."

"I'm not going to sleep in there."

"Just for a night."

"Seriously, Gajeel. Cut it out."

After an hour of rustling and punching and kicking again, they finally got to their beds. Jellal with Gajeel, while Natsu with Gray.

Jellal curled himself like a kitten and leaned onto the wall, leaving Gajeel to lie on his back a good distance away from him while staring toward anything unseen in the ceiling.

Natsu and Gray took more time to get comfortable. Since Gray liked to sleep naked, Natsu haggled the entire blanket for himself.

Silence.

. . .

More silence.

"I feel like a homo." Natsu blatantly stated out aloud, only to yelp after earning a smack of pillow from his bedmate.

"Don't remind me. Idiot."

Neither Jellal nor Gajeel commented on that.

Nobody dared to make another complain. Although they could hold the remaining stillness in the night, none of them able to close their eyes.

Each one of them had a same thought in mind…

"I can't sleep…"

( Maybe continue…? :D )