[Season 1] Ep. 6 - Moving into dorms
After a well-deserved rest, I decided to go down from my room to the common room, hoping to meet one of my comrades, to get to know the others a little. Turning my gaze towards the bay window on the first floor, I realized that time had passed so quickly that it was already dark. Arriving in the large common living room, I saw everyone gathered in the sofas, like a great council waiting for my arrival.
- "Ah! Here comes the groundhog at last!" Moe exclaimed all smiles.
- "Were you waiting for me for something?" I said a little shy and embarrassed by all the looks on my face.
- "Yeah, boy, it's time for a little buddy-buddy competition!" Shōji bellowed in my ear as he comes over to gave me a friendly pat on the shoulder.
- "Huh? What are you talking about?" I replied, interrogative.
- "We're gonna have a room decorating competition! It's Moe's idea to get to know each other better, I think it's nice," says Masako, all smiles.
- "Ah, uh... Okay. And everyone's already agreed?" I asked.
- "Let's just say Moe's enthusiasm - and that creepy look in her eyes - didn't leave us much choice..." Naoto whispered in a dark voice.
- "Well, since the groundhog's okay, what are we waiting for? Go start with the boys' wing," cried Moe, followed by an almost general "Yeah," as the class was motivated by her overwhelming enthusiasm.
The group then rushed up the stairs to the second floor and the first room to visit: Shōji's room. Shōji stood in front of his door a little embarrassed and declared:
- "Well, uh... I'd like to say I didn't know I was going to have visitors, so the tidying up's not great, so bear with me. Well... here's my room..." he said as he opened the door.
Even though we had only moved in a few hours ago, his room was already a happy mess. A few cans of soda were strewn on the floor between his unmade bed and his massive wooden desk full of manga. In a corner was also a large pouf in front of a small television set on a small piece of furniture where consoles and video games were located. On his bedside table, some pictures of his cat in modest frames.
- "Here you go. This is where I live..." said Shōji softly, hands in his pockets, looking away, a little embarrassed.
- "Well, that's... original. At least it means something to you." Moe dropped out, not knowing what to say.
- "Pff dirty and lousy like him yeah." Haruto spat from the bottom of the stairs, being heard only by Takashi next to him, both of them visibly very "motivated" by this competition.
Then came the turn of my humble room. Full of stage fright and with a ball in my stomach, I stood in front of the door, my hand on the handle, ready - or almost - to open the doors to my intimacy.
- "Well, uh... As I was resting not 5 minutes ago, the bed is not made and the curtains are closed but otherwise, it's almost tidy. I hope you'll like it," I said before turning the handle and opening the door and turning on the light.
Then, little by little and in turn, my comrades came in, scrutinizing my posters, figurines, and comics, judging every single aspect of my room.
- "That's cute. The typical room of the comic book geek," Masako said, smiling at me and making me blush.
- "Thank you." I answered shyly.
Haruto, for his part, barely took the time to enter his head to judge it and giggled sarcastically. Then came the tour of Yūji's room. Proud as a rooster and stepping confidently to his door, he said:
- "Ladies and also Gentlemen, prepare to be dazzled!" and theatrically opened his bedroom door, punctuated with a big "Tadaaa!".
We then discovered a very bright room, with white lacquered furniture, clean white sheets folded neatly, photos of his native countryside framed on the walls, and photos of his mother and dog framed on his bedside table. We all went into his room, amazed by the beauty and purity of the place, he who seemed to be just a big flirt a little crazy. Nevertheless, as I went through his room, one thing caught my eye. A large cardboard box hidden under his bed, which my curiosity made me pull.
- "What's this Yūji?" I said as I unveiled the box whose contents I was about to discover.
- "Argh! No! Don't l..." Yūji shouted, too late.
The box contained a whole bunch of old silver photographs of Yūji presumably in a party with friends, a list of girl's names like a hunting board, and... a building site plot? What a weird idea.
- "I know someone who got caught red-handed." Naoto let go, amused.
- "Okay... I confess. I went upstairs while the groundhog was still asleep to tidy up quickly to make a good impression..." Yūji confessed, regretful.
- "I admit it's... uncommon. But it's you, why hide it? Besides, apart from the hunting board, there's nothing serious." Masako calmed him down in an angelic tone.
- "Speaking of that board..." Moe grabbed it and activated her quirk and, with a great stroke of fiery mane, reduced the board to ashes, under Yūji's stunned gaze. "Voilà! None of that here!"
Gutted, all pale, and speechless, Yūji watched the ashes of his precious hunting board fall slowly to the ground, unable to do or say anything for fear of Moe's wrath.
- "Come on, next room!" she shouted as she came out of Yūji's room.
It was Naoto's turn. He stood quietly in front of his door with his hands in his pockets.
- "Okay. I'm warning you, there's nothing really great about it, so you don't spend a thousand years there," he said, turning the handle.
We then discovered a room radically different from Yūji's. Dark, with opaque black curtains, Dark Fantasy and metal band posters on the walls, an ebony desk, and a large library filled with numerous fantasy novels, manga, and anatomy books decorated his room. At the bottom of it, in a corner even darker than the rest, was... a skeleton?! Faced with the general horror of the class, Naoto said calmly:
- "Zen! Calm down, it's a fake. He won't hurt you." He then turned to the skeleton, presenting him as a real person. "That's Oscar. My skeleton. Well, I can assure you if I have it, it's not for some creepy, satanic nut job, it's just to study the bones of the human body. Compared to my quirk, all that stuff."
- "O...kay... It's a little weird, though, I admit. But it's original." I said, looking at the famous Oscar.
- "So coooooooooool!" said Atsuyo, hidden by her tousled tuft of hair.
- "Okay, well, can we move on to the others, please? I'm a little embarrassed right now..." he said, nervously rubbing the back of his long dark hair.
Not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable any longer, we went to the next floor to look at Bokurō's next room. Bokurō walked timidly towards the door, joining his forefingers and staring at the floor like a frightened child.
- "H-here's my room... Please be indulgent, I don't like to do the decoration..." he said in a trembling voice before opening the door.
Then opened to us a somewhat messy room, full of big teddy bears, manga (shonen and shojo), and posters of famous idols. There was also a small desk with a computer on it and a column full of all kinds of video games. He had also set up a mini-fridge under his desk and also had a small cupboard at the back of his room. This room was the weeb's cliché room, but the class girls didn't pay much attention to it, too obsessed with his teddy bear collection.
- "Seriously, girls? You go straight for the cute stuff without noticing how much this room is sweating weeb?! I'll never understand gals..." said Shōji, disappointed at their childish behavior.
- "Mr. is jealous?" Moe and Masako threw in their hearts, sticking out their tongues at him.
Shōji breathed, turning his head away and blushing before declaring:
- "Okay, shall we move on to the next one now? We've been here a thousand years."
- "He's right, let's move on to the next one, our presence bothers Bokurō," I said, discreetly pointing at the big man hidden in a corner, all red and too uncomfortable to talk.
- "Come on! Go do Sanki's!" Moe said loudly as she came out of the room, cheerful.
Sanki, who had been rather discreet until then, walked towards his door, gently spreading us apart with his black wings. He suddenly stood up straight and cleared his throat, as if to give himself courage:
- "Well, my room's not that great, but I'm a bit of a maniac so if you could just leave it alone, that would be really sweet of you," he says, bowing respectfully. "With that, welcome to my place," he opened the door wide in one fell swoop to let us in.
We rushed into it, our eyes full of stars as we discovered this room with a very Viking theme. Indeed, the heavy wooden bed was shaped like a drakkar, swords and Viking shields were gracefully displayed on the walls, and its desk, as massive as its bed, was beautifully engraved with typical Viking symbols.
- "Dude! It's just, uh... Wow." said Naoto, admiring his collection.
- "I confess... too stylish your room!" Shōji bids loudly.
- "Stop! You're going to make me blush!" Sanki said shyly, nervously tracing circles on the ground with his tail.
- "Well, I think we can all agree that we feel sorry for whoever comes next, aha! But hey, that's the way it is. Come on! Next room!" cried Moe, always more enthusiastic about our comrades' rooms.
Then it was Yūto's turn. This tall brown man with piercing green eyes shyly walked towards his door, a little embarrassed and avoiding our gaze.
- "Well, my room's not as exceptional as Sanki's, but I hope you'll like it anyway," he says in a slightly shaky voice.
When we entered his room, we were impressed by the precision with which absolutely everything was arranged. From his large library of books on engineering and new technologies, all arranged by theme and number, to his square bed like a soldier's bed, to his workbench, where every tool and material had its place, everything was perfectly organized.
- "Oh, yeah, still. This is the opposite of my room here, aha!" Shōji said.
- "Everything is so strict and tidy. It's a bit cheeky, isn't it?" Yūji wondered, looking at the library and Yūto's workbench.
- "I like tidiness," replied the two household maniacs, Sanki and Masako, who looked at each other and laughed.
- "It's so that I don't lose the many things I keep for making my gadgets to combine with my quirk," Yūto replied in a tone as neutral as his bedroom.
- "You make your own gadgets?! Without the help of the support department?! So cool! Can I see them?" I asked, too excited by so many gadgets all more interesting than each other.
- "Chop-chop-chop, calm yourself down, my geek friend. You'll figure it out later, meanwhile, we've got other rooms to see." Moe stopped me before leaving the room in the direction of Aiba's room.
- "Don't worry, I'll show them to you later. I promise," Yūto reassured me with a big smile, to which I replied with a nod.
Aiba, his arms dangling like those of a sloth, approached the door slowly and nonchalantly.
- "All right, enough of unnecessary chatter. This is my room. Have fun." he said, jaded, opening the door.
His room was a veritable paradise of sleep and laziness. Bed with memory foam mattress, hammock, and comfortable pouf were the only pieces of furniture in this room. As decoration, relaxing beach pictures, a music player, and anti-noise foam on the ceiling as well as opaque curtains to isolate him from everything.
- "Oh yeah, this is really the temple of laziness." Masako says. "At least you have to be super good to rest here."
- "Sleep is a bit my second passion," he replied with a smile on his face. "Is that all right? Can we do the next ones? I'm getting tired."
- "Ok ok. Let's go to the fourth floor then!" cried Moe, guiding us upstairs to the next door.
Takashi stepped forward proudly, straightening his collar before standing in front of us, his back straight and looking high, like a nobleman.
- "What I'm about to show you is not just a room. It's elegance itself," he says proudly, eyes half-closed and hand on the doorknob.
When he turned it to open the door and let us in, it was as if we were transported to the heart of Paris. From the Eiffel Tower paintings, a collection of hats and canes, a bedspread matching the sailor's curtains, to the desk with pictures of him and his family in front of the Eiffel Tower, everything reminded us of the French capital.
- "Wow! Too stylish! It's like being in France! It's beautiful!" exclaimed the shy Ino who seemed to share this passion for Paris with Takashi.
- "Indeed, your room is exquisite, and your collection of canes and French hats is impressive," Etsumi says as she inspects one of his canes.
- "Glad you like it, ladies," he replied while making a discreet but elegant bow to Ino and Etsumi.
- "Come on, the Parisian stroll is over. Make way for the next room!" shouted the enthusiastic Moe.
Then came the turn of the small and energetic Shinsuke who jumped out of the crowd to the front of his door frame.
- "Well, folks, it looks like it's my turn, so... Enjoy!" he said energetically as he opened his door with a big bang.
We then entered a very rocky and colorful room, with a dartboard on a wall, an old-fashioned arcade terminal in a corner, and figurines assembled and hand-painted by him, scattered on his desks and bedside table.
- "Too good! I love your action figures. I have the same ones at my parents' house. Did you paint them?" Ise asked him, inspecting them from every angle.
- "Yeah. I learned from my dad. Well, I'm not much of a painter, but I thought they were too sad in raw gray. So I started painting them," he said proudly.
- "Frankly, bravo, it's very well done," she said, impressed.
- "Say Shinsuke, can we have a game of darts with Shigemi ? We think it's too cool!" asked Miyu, a dart already in his hand.
Before he could even answer, he was cut off by Moe who took the darts out of the girls' hands.
- "No, no, girls. We still have plenty of room to judge, I remind you!" she said, resting them in their place before leaving the room, leaving Miyu and Shigemi sulking.
As we approached Haruto's room, Haruto stood in the way, seeming not to want to let us pass.
- "Look, I'm not so all het up to show my room anymore, so I'm sorry, but I'm not going to take part in your little competition," he said without looking at us as if he was trying to hide some embarrassment.
- "I thought I'd convinced you. There's nothing wrong with showing your room, especially when it's for a competition you were sure you'd win," Takashi replied, a little disappointed.
- "Yeah, well, I'm sorry, but I've changed my mind, that's all. Now please move on," Haruto replied, crossing his arms in opposition.
- "Well... I guess it's Mitoshi's turn now. To the..." Moe was suddenly cut off by Mitoshi.
- "Sorry, but no. I don't want to show my room either, and I'm going to bed. No offense, it's starting to bore me a little..." interrupted Mitoshi, leaving Moe baffled by 2 refusals in a row.
- "Ah... No worries then... Well then, off to the girls' wing then." she says, emptied of all enthusiasm.
While most of us followed her, Haruto and Mitoshi returned to their respective rooms, not wanting to continue with us. The first room we stood in front of was Shigemi's room on the third floor. She walked slowly towards her door, a little shy.
- "Well, this is my room... I hope you'll like it," she said shyly before opening the door.
In her yellow and black room, there was a large vivarium full of insects, many books on insects of all kinds, and above her bed, a collection of photos of Shigemi with her friends from college. Terrorized by the vivarium full of insects, Masako, Ino, and Bokurō stayed in the door frame, eager to leave.
- "Say! Can we move to the other room quickly, please? I'm really too insect-phobic to stay." said Ino, in a trembling, scared voice.
- "Roh, come on, don't be such a pussy. They won't do anything to you. Seriously, they're too stylish," Shōji replied, taking a closer look at the vivarium, his reflection making its owner smile.
- "Come on, since some people are scared we'll move on to the next one," replied Moe, her voice a little more lively than before.
Advancing to the end of the corridor on the third floor where the next room was, Miyu took the front and waited for us in front of her door.
- "Folks, after bug heaven, welcome to... Toy Paradise!" she declared before opening her door with a dramatic blow.
Inside we discovered a cheerful and childlike room in blue and white colors, furnished with many toys, dolls, and plush toys, whether on his bed, on shelves, or his desk. A real miniature doll's house. The girls and Bokurō were completely in awe of it.
- "Oh! So beautiful! I love your room Miyu! It is too beautiful! I love your toys, your plush! Everything!" cried Masako, excited as a child on Christmas Day, jumping around to see everything in every detail.
- "Haha! Glad you like it," said Miyu humbly, nervously scratching the back of his head, a smile on his lips and cheeks red with embarrassment.
- "Come on, people, no time to rave, we've still got more rooms to see! To the fourth floor!" Moe shouted, her usual enthusiasm having probably returned.
We then went upstairs, heading for Masako's room. Masako, a little shy and uncomfortable, walked towards her door as her horns grew due to stress.
- "It's my turn then, here's my room but I warn you, it looks a lot like Miyu's." she told us before opening her door timidly.
Then a room opened in front of us in the image of Masako, all pink and sparkling, full of fluffy plush, cutesy figurines, pictures of her little dog in pretty pink frames, a bookcase full of shojo and a bed covered with blankets, each more comfortable than the other.
- "I love your room too much, Masako! Your room and mine, they look like sisters! It's too good!" exclaimed Miyu, which did not fail to make Masako smile.
- "I think your decoration represents you well," I say shyly as I walk around the room.
- "Thank you, Raiji," she replied with a big smile.
- "Come on, come on! It's a nice room, but now it's my turn to dazzle you, so let's hurry!" Moe shouted as she ran down the corridor to her room.
Arriving in front of it, Moe was waiting for us, all proud and smiling, as usual, impatient to show us her decoration.
- "So friends, prepare to have your eyes burned by the burning beauty of my beautiful room," she exclaimed before opening us with pride.
We went inside and discovered a room in a cheerful bazaar with alters on the floor, a punching bag at the back of the room, a TV with a big bowl of popcorn next to it, motivational posters on the walls, and an unmade bed full of leftover chips.
- "Oh yeah, now I'm dazzled. It looks like my room, as it's so tidy," said Shōji, punctuating his sentence with a fat laugh.
- "Hey! Don't you dare! It's not messy! It's organized my way anyway," replied Moe, annoyed, and embarrassed by his remark.
- "Come on, Moe, let's drop it, and let's go to the last rooms and get it over with, shall we?" I said softly, holding her by the shoulder.
We all made our way to the fifth floor but, as soon as we arrived, we were interrupted by Etsumi, Ino, and Atsuyo, all uncomfortable, who seemed to have something to say to us.
- "We, uh... The three of us have been thinking about it and... We don't want to show our rooms anymore, I'm sorry but we're too stressed out to be judged on our privacy and we... We're not ready for that at all yet!" Etsumi told us, all red and stressed out before rushing to lock herself in her room followed by Ino and Atsuyo who left after dropping a small shy "Sorry".
- "Well... I guess there's only one room left so..." said Moe, stunned by the news.
Ise, not at all bewildered or stressed about going last after the last 3 withdrawals, showed up at her door smiling as if nothing had happened.
- "To conclude this joyful contest between new comrades, I welcome you to my room," she said as she opened her door to us.
We then entered what appeared to be a miniature arcade. There were 2 arcade kiosks in the corners of his room, a dartboard similar to Shinsuke's was on the wall along with posters of different video game franchises, and on his desk was a large graphics tablet and a 3D printer.
- "So cool! I understand better why you liked my room so much." Shinsuke told her, all smiling.
- "I confess, the copycat villain that I am is unmasked ahah."
- "All right, folks, it's time to come down and deliberate," said Moe clapping her hands.
After all the commotion and long minutes of deliberations in the large common room, we had finally agreed and Moe announced the Dorm King and the Dorm Queen.
- "So, after a very close vote by our dear classmates in Class 1-A at U.A., we finally managed to elect our Dorm King and Queen. The chosen ones are..." then hovered a few long seconds of unbearable suspense that seemed to last for hours "Sanki Tatsuoka and Masako Nuriki! Bravo!"
The announcement was punctuated by the general applause of the class as the winners were presented with their King and Queen plaque printed in 3D by Ise, which they can proudly display on their door.
After a long but fun evening of competition, we all headed to our rooms, looking for a good night's sleep before the legendary Ultra Bright. And believe me, we needed it.