Onyx, Amber and Scarlet

A Strawberry Panic! Story

By: Mister Spark


It was a typical December morning on Astraea Hill, with the below freezing temperatures, bitingly cold wind, and the small tufts of snowfall lazily gliding down from the gray quilt of clouds in the sky. The atmosphere was peaceful, quite fitting the atmosphere in the three distinct schools upon the hill, St. Miator Girls' Academy, St. Spica Girls' Institute and St. Lulim Girls' School. Classes were almost over for winter break, with little less than a week left, and all of the teachers, at the behest of the student council, agreed to have all end of term projects be due last week, to give the students time to prepare for any who would enjoy winter break outside of the serene hill, and also to allow everyone (namely the council and Etoile) time to prepare for the upcoming Winter Ball as well.

As the sun broke through the horizon, the first of the girls within the Strawberry Dorms began to stir and awaken, one of these being a certain Hikari Konohana, known for being very punctual and early to rise. Opening her eyes, the first thing entering her blurry vision is the flowing curtain of Onyx draped around the still-sleeping face of her roommate, currently hiding her friendly Amber eyes from the growing light in the room, Yaya Nanto, with her Scarlet, butterfly nightshirt disheveled and wrinkled from a few nights' worth of sleep.

Silently yawning, the blonde schoolgirl rose and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Getting out of her cozy bed, she snuck over to their small bathroom for an early morning shower before class, opting to awaken her roommate after, knowing she liked to sleep a little later than most. Entering the bathroom and shedding her white nightshirt, she turned on the shower, meanwhile reminiscing about her first days in St. Spica, less than a year ago.


Transferring to a new school in the second year was terrifying, to say the least. She wouldn't know a single soul at her new boarding school, and everyone else will have already made friends. It would be trying to enter into a closed circle; everyone else would already have enough friends after first year, whereon one really knew anyone else anyway. So as a newcomer in the circle, she wouldn't make any friends at all.

Upon arriving at Astraea Hill, Hikari had felt horribly out of place, and many people stared at her on her first day, whispering about her behind her back about things she couldn't hear. The trek to the main office had been akin to strolling through the nine levels of hell for poor Hikari, who walked with her head bowed low and with small, timid steps.

When she received her dorm room number, the petite blonde was reasonably terrified, she had known that she would have a roommate beforehand, but she hadn't thought about what they might be like until now. She didn't know a thing about whoever it would be; she only knew that her name would be Yaya Nanto. Upon arriving at the specified dorm number, Hikari trembled, too afraid to knock and too ashamed to run away, so she stood there, lost in her frightening thoughts about what her roommate might be like, what if they weren't nice?

This terrified the blonde child more than anything else, for what would happen if her roommate didn't like her? What if her roommate was a jerk who would make fun of her and play mean-spirited pranks on her daily? What if her roommate turned out to be a part of a secret club in this school who kept tabs on all the new transfer students and their shortcomings and worked to make them leave the school for good? What if her roommate turned out to be involved in a delinquent gang and physically hurt other people for no discernable reason?

Unconsciously, Hikari had a panic attack and began hyperventilating and sweating profusely. What if her roommate kept human skulls in a box under her bed and talked to them regularly? What if her roommate was a psycho who would throw all of her stuff out of the window, screaming incoherent ramblings before chucking her, paralyzed with fear, out too? What if her roommate turned out to be a serial murderer who would hurt her in her sleep?!

At this point, her ragged breaths could be heard from about five meters away, and having stood there for nearly five minutes, her legs were beginning to get tired. Thankfully, however, there did not seem to be anyone else in the nearby vicinity.

Hikari was too busy contemplating whether to pretend to casually walk away as to not draw more suspicion, or to bolt for the exit, screaming at the top of her lungs, to notice the door handle of the door she was in front of clicking and turning. As her head was now bowed, she didn't notice how the door very slowly creaked open, and a tall, black-haired girl in a white uniform peeked her head out.

There had been the sound of someone almost sobbing from out in the hallway, and it was bothering the brunette. Noting the trembling, (or rather, shaking vigorously) blonde-haired girl in the sailor fuku standing in front of her dorm room, looking at the floor, almost in tears, the girl known as Yaya Nanto put two and two together. Unfortunately, the girl's head was bowed, so Yaya could not get a glimpse of her face. However, having been told earlier in the week that she was getting a new transfer student as a roommate, she remembered the name she was told after a few seconds and called out, rather bluntly, "… Excuse me, but do you happen to be Konohana Hikari?"

At the mention of her name, and without any honorifics, she later noted, the shy, trembling blonde jumped back two feet, into the wall behind her. Gasping, she stared in a frenzy at the girl before her and took in her appearance. Said girl was wearing one of the three uniforms Hikari had seen on her way here, the pure white one with the bowtie and jacket. Too flustered to respond literately (also rooted to the ground in fear,) Hikari, after several false starts, asked, in an almost nonexistent whisper, "Yes… Are you… Nanto Yaya-san?" The other girl widened her eyes, as if to look over the metaphorically shrinking transfer student once more, opening her mouth slightly in shock at finally seeing the delicate angel's features.

After a few moments of silence, lasting an eternity for poor Hikari, the taller second year replied with a genuine, yet mischievous smile, "Yes, yes I am, and I guess that makes me your new roommate, huh?" Staring for a second longer, she moved out of the way into the hallway to hold her hand out over-exaggeratedly for her brand new roommate to take, with the other hand held in a grand fashion toward the door to their room. "Where are my manners, allow me to escort you to our new room, Konohana-sama."

Merely surprise wouldn't be a proper word for what Hikari was feeling right now. Aside from the light-hearted teasing, her new roommate seemed very nice at least, and very pretty too, however, the small blonde child thought that the blue and white of the spring uniform wasn't a good match for her looks, but she couldn't quite place what would be. Not to say that the girl looked bad, of course not, but white just didn't seem to suit her, Hikari couldn't quite place why...

Besides that, a mix of relief, surprise, and apprehension overtook the blue eyed schoolgirl, after all, what if she still had the skulls under her bed? Hikari made a mental note to ask later, and took the friendly girl's hand into their new shared room, with mixed feelings for the future. One thing was for sure though, her roommate did not attack her on sight, and that was a relief incomparable to everything else she was feeling.


When she had her first real conversation with black haired Spican, Hikari's first impression was that the other girl was quite… eccentric. She was loud and outspoken, yet very kind and caring as well, constantly making sure that her roommate was okay and comfortable in her new surroundings. But Hikari would never say her dark-haired roommate was annoying or irksome, far from it. In fact, Yaya was one of the nicest people she's ever met.

Of course, once she got to know Yaya better over time, the blonde realized that she was very outspoken and was not afraid to let her opinion be known, a stark contrast to how little Hikari acted. It was an endearing sort of outspokenness. But Yaya always did tend to say the wrong thing at the wrong time, but it never got anyone into trouble… Not any serious trouble, anyway, and she'd gotten her fair share of scoldings from the Sister too.

However, Yaya was a great friend and the two spent a lot of time together, in fact, they joined the Saintly Chorus together a few months back, and it has been a lot of fun. Hikari had always loved to sing, and doing it with her new best friend made it all the more enjoyable. Ultimately, she was glad that she had met Yaya Nanto, and she was very happy that they were roommates and even more happy that they were best friends.

Snapping back to reality, Hikari realized that she was still in the shower. Wanting to conserve the hot water for her friendly roommate, the carefree blonde turned off the shower, wrapped a towel around herself and stepped out of the shower, all in one graceful move. Wiping off the fog from the mirror, she smiled; finally ready to get started with the last week of classes before break.

Drying herself off, the shy schoolgirl continued her previous train of thought. Indeed, now that she has known the other girl for more than six months, she can say that Yaya would never hurt anyone else without proper reason. In fact, she's learned quite a bit about her best friend, something not betrayed by the relatively short time in which they've shared a room. She knows what the brunette likes to do, and what she doesn't like to do. For instance, the taller girl loves to sleep in and hates schoolwork with a passion. She is sometimes lazy, however...

Chuckling quietly to herself, the soaked Spican remembered that one time in home economics class, when Yaya had accidentally spilled the balsamic vinegar everywhere. Needless to say, it was really stinky.

Tip-toeing out of the bathroom as to not wake her slumbering roommate, the tiny chorus member reached for her dresser to secure an ironed Spica uniform. All this reminiscing was taking too much time, and she still had to get dressed and do her hair. 'It's too cold for a skirt this time of year,' the petite girl remarked to herself (still trying to get her mind off of the past) as she buttoned up her pristine white uniform skirt, 'Only for a few more days, at least.'

She frowned upon this realization however, as the semester was almost over, and her parents would be unable to take her home for the vacation, she would have to stay at Astraea for winter break. She wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not for her family, usually her parents could take her home for vacation every year, but at least she can stay with her friends here, right? "But if Yaya-chan doesn't stay here for break, I'll be all alone…" Hikari mumbled, suddenly depressed, grasping her brush to fix her light-blonde hair, completely oblivious to the creeping shadow behind her.

"What was that? What is little Hikari-chan worrying about now?" whispered a sultry sing-song voice dangerously close to Hikari's ear. Startled by both her roommate's awakened status and the invasion of her personal space, the smaller child yelped cutely and dropped her hairbrush, tripping and falling clumsily to the ground in the process.

"Aw, did I scare poor Hikari-chan? You're so easy to scare, it's so cute, but it fits you," the grinning attacker continued, holding her hand out for her roommate sprawled on the floor to grab. Noticing the blush on her smaller friend's features, the triumphant girl grinned and cheekily remarked, "My, my, flustered so easily, does Hikari-chan like to be scared?"

That was another quirk of Yaya's; she was an immense flirt and a huge tease. Even after more than six months of rooming together, Hikari just couldn't get used to the teasing. The tall brunette teased everyone when she had a chance to, but she teased her defenseless roommate more than anyone else, and Hikari couldn't understand why. 'Maybe she really doesn't like me at all…' Dismissing that thought as impossible, considering how happy Yaya usually is, she chalked it up to being the lucky one to spend the most time with the tall chorus member.

Grabbing her roommate's hand to help herself get up, she defended herself after stuttering for a second, "O-Of course not! Yaya-chan is just so good at it!" Righting herself, while fighting the embarrassment of being put on the spot and failing to remove the blush, she continued, "… I just didn't see Yaya-chan sneak up on me like that…"

Catching the worried undertone of the still-blushing girl, Yaya could easily tell that something else was bothering her childlike roommate. Staring at her a second longer, she inquired in a level tone, picking up the fallen hairbrush and dusting it off, "I'm sorry, Hikari, but it's just fun to see your reactions," sneaking a glance at the other girl, she continued, "And besides that, something else is bothering you, I can tell, is it anything I can help with?" Ending the question, the nightshirt-clad girl looked searchingly in those large pools of sapphire for an answer, hopefully a yes, perhaps too eager to help her best friend.

Oblivious to the odd curiosity and worry, Hikari took the chance to look over her roommate once more. The tawny-eyed girl was still clad in her crimson nightshirt, it seems that the first thing she did upon awakening was to scare and tease her roommate, in typical Yaya fashion.

Aside from that, Hikari once again realized just how pretty the other girl really was, she was tall, but not overly so, and her long ebony hair cascaded down to the small of her back, a contrast to her own bright blonde locks that grew slightly past her frail shoulders. In this beautiful young woman's presence, the small Spican couldn't help but feel inadequate and self-conscious in front of her overwhelmingly pretty roommate. She even had a bigger bust size than little Hikari, much to the timid girl's jealousy. Indeed, Yaya Nanto was the epitome of womanly beauty, Hikari summarized.

"Hikari?"

Bringing her nervous blue gaze back up to her roommate's own worrying amber one, Hikari hesitated. She didn't want Yaya to worry, and more than that, she didn't want to make her feel guilty for leaving Hikari alone if the other girl was indeed leaving Astraea for break.

Gazing at the floorboards, Hikari decided to just ask and assure her that she would be alright on her own, "I-It's just that… I have to stay here in Astraea over winter break… and I was just wondering if Yaya-chan was going to leave for break…" Looking up to see Yaya's surprised face, she continued, "But it's okay if Yaya-chan is leaving, I'll be fine on my own!" concluding with the most confident smile she could muster, but ultimately failing as her smile was affected by the fact that she might be living here alone for a few weeks, and how lonely it would be without Yaya to keep her company.

"Hikari was worried… if I wouldn't be here over break to… keep her company?" came the uncharacteristically shaky reply of the taller Spican.

Hikari looked up to see a blush growing on her friend's soft features. Noting the irregularity of a blush on Yaya's face, she worriedly asked, "Is everything okay, Yaya-chan? I didn't want to worry you or make you feel guilty about leaving for break, so I didn't want to say it," once again noting that the bright glow upon her friend's face was growing even more, she added, "Are you hot? You're blushing… Does Yaya-chan have a cold?"

Pulling away before Hikari could reach her forehead, the brunette quickly recovered, "Ah! No, I'm fine, I'm not sick or anything," pushing the spotlight on Hikari, to steady her own recovery, she teased, "Was Hikari-chan that worried about being alone? Well don't worry! My parents wouldn't let me go home if I begged! So of course I'll stay here with you, Hikari-chan!"

As if to prove her point, she flashed the other girl her biggest grin, grabbing the light-haired child in a big bear hug. Yaya laughed heartily, once again covering up her true feelings with a best-friend façade. 'Oh well,' the larger girl inwardly sighed, 'At least she cares about me enough to want me to stay with her for vacation…'

Smiling despite herself, the nightshirt clad girl released her roommate, removing any chance of rebuttal by offering to brush her roommate's hair for her.

"But we'll be late for class if we do that, and you still have to take a shower, Yaya-chan…" protested the blonde girl, worried not for her own grades, but for her friend's, knowing that she struggled in a couple of subjects, and wanting to help out her best friend.

"Don't worry, Hikari, we have time before class, now sit down before I force you down… Or would Hikari-chan want me to force her down?" Teased the friendly brunette, still covering her own nervousness with more teasing and attempting to find solace in what little bodily contact there would be in brushing her unrequited love's hair.

The little girl caved in and allowed her friend to brush her hair, knowing how much of a fuss it could be at times. Relaxing into her best friend and roommate's comforting grasp, Hikari sighed contentedly with the knowledge that Yaya would be staying with her over break. Behind her, the dark-haired Spican inwardly sighed once again, content for the moment, yet desperate for more.

"Thank you… Yaya-chan… For being such a good friend to me."

Flustered once again, Yaya replied in a forced tone, "Oh… Well, that's what best friends are for… Right?"

'But is that all you see me as?' Yaya finished the thought in her head, afraid that the consequences of saying that aloud would ruin the precious friendship that she treasured so much.

Losing track of the time, she brushed her best friend's hair slowly until it was perfect, and then some more just to spend as much time with her as possible.

They were late to class that day, but they were both more or less in good spirits.


A/N: Well, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I thought that I would struggle with the story at first conception, but the ideas surprisingly came out smoothly, with only a few problems that I have since dealt with, for the most part. Since this would be my first ever fanfic, I've spent quite a bit of time writing out ideas, a storyline and a time line of events for the story. In reality, the thing I am most afraid of in writing this is being unable to finish it. Which is why I've written a sort of "chapter flow" for myself to stay faithful to my original ideas and to provide motivation in terms of planning ahead (something I rarely do.) Of course, it is subject to change as I see fit, and any good ideas received will be taken into consideration.

Aside from that, not much action in this chapter, eh? Oh well, it's not always good to rush into things anyway.

In any case, thanks for reading, and feedback (especially concerning characterization, something I am desperately afraid of messing up) would be appreciated.