I lied. The story has yet to start proper.
It was a dark place.
"Mommy?"
So dark.
"Daddy?"
Too dark.
"Where are you?"
Sounds.
"Daddy?"
A needle.
"Mommy?"
He felt it.
Through his skin.
He screamed.
"No more…"
More came.
"Please."
Help me.
Morning rolled around for the teen. Rubbing away the sleep in his eyes, he immediately noticed certain things. For one, he was on the floor. Two, the Hero Midnight, or Nerumi, was cuddling up to him, her head in between the crook of his neck. For any normal male, they would have killed to be in this situation, but Ryuki just smiled, stoking her hair while gazing calmly at her.
He checked the time. 8.30. He was in no rush, and Momo seemed to be asleep as well, so he just sat there peacefully, waiting for the time to pass.
It was 9 when Momo finally stirred. When she got up from her bed, Ryuki immediately signalled for her to be quiet, and she acknowledged it with a nod. Soon after, Nerumi came to as well, only to dig deeper into Ryuki's body and nod off again. She didn't even notice Momo, who sat beside Ryuki looking at the teacher curiously.
"So, she's your sister?" Momo whispered.
"Not related by blood, but at this point in time, she's the closest family I have."
"Parents?" She asked tentatively.
"Killed. Villain attack." He lied. "She took me in as her brother and my guardian."
"Oh… Sorry." Momo bowed her head.
"It's fine, you'll probably find out some day anyways."
A sudden knock on the door signalled the awakening of the probably the only other person in the entire building.
"Momo! Are you awake?"
A look from Ryuki told her to immediately go shut her up. God forbid the two girls facing the wrath of a rudely awakened Midnight so early in the year.
She opened the door and quietly brought Kyoka in to the room, who squealed at the sight of Ryuki and Nemuri cuddling, albeit on the floor.
"Kayama-sensei looks more like a cat that you, Momo!" Kyoka whispered. "Are those two in a relationship?"
"They're siblings, Kyoka." Momo stated.
"Ah, no wonder they are so close… Wait, Midnight has a sibling?"
"Not by blood."
"I see."
They sat there for the next half hour or so, until Ryuki decided to rouse her from her sleep.
"Hey, Nemuri, time to wake up." He shook her gently.
"Hnmm, five more minutes Ryu…"
"I'll make breakfast for you."
"Really? Alright, I'll be up…"
Ryuki chuckled. The sure-fire way of waking a sleeping lion is to wake with food. It seems to work really well with this lioness.
She got up onto a sitting position, finally freeing the previously trapped Ryuki. Rubbing her eyes, she sat there and let out a small yawn, getting a quiet 'Kawaii~' from the two girls. Patting her head, Ryuki got up and announced, "I'll be making breakfast Nemuri. Get washed up and changed by then."
"Hai~" She looked up at the two girls, who were currently gazing at her with fascination.
"What are you two looking at?"
"Nothing…" They said in unison, promptly getting up and making way for the weary female. "I'll be back by the time Ryuki finishes cooking." She made her way to the door.
"Wait, Kayama-sensei, where do you live?" Momo asked.
"Room 306, right below you two. If you need any help, feel free to find me there. Well, see you later." She headed out the door. Soon after, the fragrant smell of pancakes drifted into the noses of two very hungry girls.
"Are those pancakes?" Kyoka asked excitedly.
"Yeah. I got some pancake mix yesterday, along with a bottle of syrup. Nemuri would only eat these for breakfast." He sighed. "If not for her hero work, she would have been obese by now."
"Did you say something, Ryuki?" The voice of Midnight came from outside the door.
"Ahaha! What did I say?" Ryuki laughed nervously, obviously not expecting her to be so fast. "Momo, help her with the door."
"Alright." She answered, heading towards the door with a bemused look.
The pair really was interesting.
"I'm back, Ryuki! You better get me six of those pancakes or I'll punish you!" Nemuri shouted into the kitchen.
"Hai hai, will do."
"Oh? Kyoka? You're listening to music? What kind?..."
Ryuki tuned out their conversation, choosing to focus on flipping pancakes. In all honesty, he appreciated the girls' presence. It gave Nemuri enough distractions to not go and hug him while he's cooking. That woman is real clingy. In her own way, she really is a cat.
Quickly finishing the pancakes, he loaded them onto plates to bring to the table.
Everyone had a modest two each, with Nemuri having her own platter of the requested six.
"So," Kyoka asked in between mouthfuls of food. "I heard you play instruments." She stated, looking at Ryuki.
"Hm? Yeah."
Her eyes lit up immediately. "What instruments?"
"Ehhhh, who told you?"
She gave an accusing finger to Nemuri, who was still shoving her food down her mouth.
"Figures," he sighed. "Well, let's see, piano, violin, guitar, flute, a bit of Chinese instruments here and there, and as for drums… I'd say I'm a beginner."
Kyoka's eyes burnt with a greater intensity than before. She leaned forward. "How good?"
"How good? Ehh, I'd say I'm best at piano, followed by the violin, then the guitar and flute."
"Show me."
"Eh?! Ok… Which one?"
"Your best."
"Sure, I guess… Pretty sure there is a grand piano somewhere in the common room downstairs…"
"Oh, while you're at it," Nemuri said in between mouthfuls of pancake, "Play me Flower Dance. I can grab my violin if you want."
"Ah, sure." Ryuki agreed, finishing the last of his food. "I'll go wash up first, when Nemuri is done, grab her plate for me." He got up, taking the other two empty plates with him.
Minutes later, Momo arrived with the last plate, and they set off for the common area.
"Hey look, some room lights are on," Momo pointed out as they reached the third floor to grab Nemuri's violin.
"Huh, others have already arrived I guess." Ryuki said in surprise. "It's still pretty early to come here. Wonder why."
After quickly grabbing her instrument, they headed down to the first floor. It was honestly the first time noticing this, but man is this place luxurious. The common area had couches and everything, along with that piano, a pool table, a foosball table and a whole bunch of gaming consoles. The laundry room was right beside the common room as well, making that place a rather convenient spot to hang around in.
Walking to the big Steinway & Sons, he lifted up the cover to reveal a row of shiny white and black keys. Testing the tone, he decided it was fit for use, and nodded to Nemuri, who had her violin at the ready. Here we go.
Calming music soon filled the room. While Ryuki and Nemuri played, the other two in the room just sat there and watched, enjoying the live performance. It wasn't long, but it was amazing.
"Wow! You two really are a pair!" Kyoka exclaimed the moment the song ended.
"Ha ha! Cheers!" Nemuri gave them a thumbs-up.
"Ryuki, you don't look like the kind of guy who would play the piano, and so well at that." Momo commented in surprise.
"I'll… take that as a compliment. Well now that that's done, I still have some errands to run. See you later." Ryuki got up from his seat.
"Ah, take me with you. I have some things to buy for my job as well." Nemuri packed her violin up. "Wait up for me, Ryuki. I'll go keep this first."
"Alright, hurry up."
They are siblings alright, Momo thought to herself. "I'll go back to my room and study a bit. I would expect the hero course to be quite hard." She announced.
"Ah, I'll follow. I have yet to look through my Literature text." Kyoka sighed. Nodding in agreement, Momo followed Kyoka back up to her room for a study session.
A/N: Chapter lengths can be inconsistent, depending on what I want to put in it. Kinda gay. Comments are always appreciated. (^w^)
