Rin's POV

I jolted upright as I felt a hand smack the back of my head. I quickly smeared the drool off the corner of my mouth before taking a look out the window. We had finally arrived back at the academy after the long bus ride.

"Hey, Okumura, we're here," Shima notified.

I stretched out my arms as I let out a big yawn. Fighting that giant squid took a lot out of Kuro and I. "It's about time," I mumbled sleepily. One thing's for sure, I'm definitely taking a hella long nap as soon as I get back to my room.

"And next time, bring a pillow or something. You were all over me the whole ride back," Shima complained, rubbing what appeared to be a sore shoulder. "Your cat wasn't much better either." He pointed to Kuro passed out on top of his head with his face buried into his pink hair. Whoops. "Eheheh, sorry about that," I laughed sheepishly. "He's made a habit of that with me, but I usually don't mind-"

"Hurry up, why don't you? The driver is waiting for you morons!" Izumo snapped. She was standing by the door with her bag strapped around her shoulder all ready to go. I held back a retort directed towards her. I was too exhausted to deal with her. "What's polka-brow's problem?" I asked. Shima only shrugged as he poked a sleepy Kuro still on his head. "I dunno, she's been acting funny since we left the beach. Izumo's probably just tired like us."

Kuro finally opened an eye before hopping onto my shoulder to stretch his limbs. Rin, are we home now? His voice spoke into my mind. I nodded and gathered my things. "Yeah, we're back," I replied, trailing Shima down the aisle towards the exit.

When I arrived at the old boy's dorm, where my brother Yukio and I currently stay, I made my way inside. The sun was getting low in the sky and it was dead silent, so Yukio was either doing homework in our room or he was out running late errands. As soon as I entered our room, my bag slipped from my fingers and I practically dove into my bed.

"How did it go?"

"A waste of time," I mumbled, not bothering to lift my head to face my brother, who was working at his desk. My eyelids were already growing heavy. "Whatcha doing?"

"Putting a portfolio together. We're going to have a new student in our class," he answered. "Since it's already a few months into the school year, she'll need to catch up."

I suddenly sat upright, which made me accidentally slam my forehead into the base of the top bunk above me. "Ow!" I snapped, wincing as I began to rub the sore spot. "Hold up! We have a new girl in our class? This late? How did she even get in?" Yukio kept his eyes fixed on his desk while he continued to organize papers. "She was at the top of her class at her other school, and her report cards show that she should have no problem catching up, so I'm not worried. She may even be able to tutor you in the future."

"Wha-?! Yeah, right, I don't need a tutor! I'm doing way better than I was when I started," I grumbled while crossing my arms. Like hell I was going to get one. Whenever Yukio tried tutoring me in middle school, it always proved to be pointless and he had ways of making me feel like an idiot.

"You still have room for lots of improvement."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm going to bed now."

Next Day

I wiped my forehead for about the millionth time today as I walked down the sidewalk. I don't even know how I managed to sleep through the heat wave that came last night, because it was as hot as hell. The sun rays beat down on the back of my neck as I made my way across the campus to the convenience store for some ice pops. This time I made a mental note not to forget Yukio's mineral water again or he'd completely go off on me.

As I was passing the girl's dormitory building, I noticed a small moving van parked on the curb in front. I didn't realize I stopped walking and started to watch. A brunette suddenly slammed shut the passenger door with a large box in her hands. I gulped, clearly not prepared for what I saw. Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail with bangs that ran straight across her brow line. She was wearing a strapless, purple, crop top paired with high waisted, jean short-shorts for the muggy weather. Her body was tall and thin, but on the paler side.

Am I hallucinating?

She didn't even seem to bother wearing shoes, so I couldn't figure out how the hell she was managing to walk on gravel barefoot with a super heavy box. Despite that, this chick was clearly starting to struggle with the weight in the immense heat.

"Um, can I help you?"

I shook my head as I snapped out of it. Shit, she caught me staring! I quickly looked the other way before ruffling my damp hair. "Uh, no, heheh sorry about that-um-" I began, flustered she saw me standing there like an idiot. Her face started to contort into a slight frown mixed with mild pain. "Hey, uh, actually do you need some help with that?" I asked while pointing the box in her arms.

She immediately sighed with relief and nodded with a worn out expression. I walked over and took the box with ease, but raised my eyebrows at the weight. Sure, it was no problem for me, but I didn't see how in the world this girl was able to lift it in the first place. She was definitely stronger than she looked.

"Thanks," she exhaled, smearing some sweat off her face. "I just need it somewhere in my dorm. Anywhere is fine. It's on the second floor, first door on the right when you get up the stairs." I gave her a small nod, then turned toward the dormitory. The new girl followed behind me with a lamp in hand.

"Hey, I didn't catch your name," I said while carefully climbing the stairs in the building.

"Oh, my name is Alia Tanaki. I just got to the academy late last night. I'll be attending the cram school here this ye-"

Huh?! I gaped when the box suddenly slipped from my sweaty palms and smashed my toe before beginning to topple all the way down the steps. I shouted a curse as I grabbed my foot on instinct, then my eyes widened at the sight below me. Alia gasped when I lunged down to catch the heavy box while the contents noisily crunched and shattered inside, but I tripped over my own damn feet and stumbled down the stairs. Alia instantly dropped her lamp to open her arms in order to break my fall, but I accidentally head butted her in the collar bone.

She let out a sharp howl as we pulled each other down. I kept swearing the entire time we flipped and rolled downed the stairway. As we continued to topple over each other, I got smashed in the bridge of my nose by what I was pretty sure was her bony elbow. I broke her things, shoved her down the stairs, and probably gave her a pretty good sized bruise to the chest. Way to make a first impression. We soon were both sprawled on our faces on the first floor surrounded by broken lightbulbs, picture frames, a busted keyboard...oh my god. What the hell should I say to her?! I'm sorry? Are you okay? I'll pay for the damage? Ugh, dammit!!

"I'm Rin Okumura. I guess we'll be classmates?" I nervously laughed while scratching my head. I internally smacked myself. Really? That's all I could come up with?? She's going to hate me! I placed my hand over my throbbing nose, then faced her to see her blankly staring up at the ceiling. My blood went cold at the sight of her body laying there limp.

Did I KILL her?!?!

I immediately sat up and gaped. She wasn't moving.

What do I do?? CPR? Hide her body? Mouth to mouth?

I quickly shook my head at my last thought as I leaned over her to see if she was breathing. She slowly blinked. "What are you doing...?" She asked, looking up at me like I was some kind of moron. I gulped. It was then I just noticed I was invading her personal space. I scrambled back so she could sit up. "Uh-hh, n-nothing! I thought-" I thought you were dead? "You weren't moving for a minute so I got worried," I admitted.

A drip of something sticky ran down on my upper lip. I felt around the spot and smeared the excess of it off before I took a good look. I almost choked on my own saliva at the sight of blood on my fingers. Crap! This is so embarrassing, I even got a nosebleed in front of her! She's totally gonna get the wrong idea!! Alia's eyes widened at my face. Before she could begin to freak out or whatever she was about to do, I instantly waved my hands around frantically explaining.

"It-it's not what you think!!" I yelled as my face completely reddened, my palm covering my nose to block the blood. Kill me. Her eyes traveled up to my forehead area and she sighed with relief. "Oh, so that's what hit my knee. Sorry about that. You have a red spot here," she informed while gesturing to the area between her eyebrows. I exhaled, totally relieved she didn't misunderstand the whole picture.

Alia sighed again as she got to her knees and studied the mess around her. I bit my lip hard, knowing it was all my fault. I feel like crap for all this... She seemed to have a look like this happened all the time. I awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeah, I'm really sorry about all that, I really am...are you hurt?"

She tilted her head down and felt around above her chest. "I'll be fine, but you are really hard headed, that's for sure," Alia noted, now fixing her ponytail.

"So I'm told," I laughed half heartedly in hopes of lightening the mood. It must've of worked a little bit, because I got a smirk from her. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

"No, it's fine. I can easily replace everything. Don't worry about it," she casually brushed off. I furrowed my eyebrows. Is she being passive aggressive? I can't tell... "No, really, I mean it," she assured, as if reading my thoughts. "I can be careless sometimes so this isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened." Alia stood to her feet and dusted herself off, then offered me a hand. I accepted it as she helped me up. Wait a minute, what am I doing?! I'm supposed to be helping her up, not the other way around! "Are you okay? You look pretty agitated all of the sudden," she chuckled.

"Huh? Oh, I just feel really bad about this whole mess...I'll help you with everything else you need," I decided. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and hesitantly took another glance at all the broken junk scattered about. "Mmmm, nope. That's okay, I think I got the rest."

"Aw, come one! I gotta make it up to you somehow!" I complained. I'd feel awful the rest of the day if I didn't make things right. Alia put a finger to her chin in thought. "Well, if you really feel that way, you can clean this mess up." And just like that, she turned on her heel for the door to collect her other belongings from the van.

For the next twenty minutes as I was salvaging items that weren't ruined or sweeping up broken shards of glass, Alia was passing by every now and then with other packages or suitcases. On her first trip back, she offered me a tissue box for my nosebleed. Later, while I was holding the third tissue I used balled up under my nostrils, I found a cracked frame, but I couldn't stop myself from pulling out the picture from it. It looked like Alia, but a few years younger with a friend, perhaps? They were were in pink tutus dressed as ballerinas on a lit stage. I guess it made sense. I mean, she looks like a dancer.

"I'll take that."

My head snapped up to see her standing behind me as she peered directly over my shoulder. My eyes widened in surprise. Crap. Did she think I was snooping? "Sorry," I quickly replied, avoiding her eyes as I immediately held out the photo to her.

"It's fine." She took it from me, then walked back up the staircase.

I couldn't help but wonder if she was really mad at me.

When I finally finished cleaning up, I knocked on the wooden doorpost at her dorm room to let her know I was there. Alia looked up from her open suitcase, which was messily stuffed with random garments. Looks like how I'd probably pack something. "I finished. Just one question: what do I do with this?" I questioned, holding up her keyboard I busted earlier. Some of the piano keys had even fallen out.

"Just throw it away, it's ruined now. I can easily get a new one," she calmly responded as she resumed organizing part of her room.

"Oh...okay."

"Rin, what in the world are you doing in my room?!"

I nearly had a heart attack at the voice that shrieked in my ear. I wildly spun around and saw Izumo standing there with her arms crossed. She glowered at me like I just committed a felony. "You pervert, get out!" She hissed. "You're as bad as Shima!" Wait, Shima snuck into her room before? What a creep. Izumo's eyes grew big when she suddenly leaned in to get a good look at my face.

"Is that a nosebleed? You sicko!!"

I glared at her as I held up my hands defensively. "Hey, it's not what it looks like!" I shot back. Izumo only rolled her eyes. "Oh, really? Then explai—who's that??" She suddenly asked, rudely shoving me out of her way to get a good look at Alia.

"Who are you?"

"...I'm Alia Tanaki. I'm guessing you're my new roommate?"

So yeah, this was kinda rushed and it's five in the morning where I am so sorry for the crappy chapter. Feel free to vote or comment and stay tuned for more cuz I'll try to update soon peeps! Hope you liked! :D

~ Sapphire out