"Welcome!" I greeted the small group of students as they entered the restaurant. "May I show you to a table?" I winked at them flirtingly, getting grins. Over the span of two weeks I have learned that customers who liked you tipped bigger, so I was making an effort to do so. Plus it gave us repeat business, which was always good. Already the restaurant was a popular place to eat during the day and a great place to have fun at night. Lettuce wasn't really much help, but it was still enough to keep me from going crazy. All-in-all I was having a blast here.

TMM: College Years VII

By: Satashi

Time seemed to just fly by. One moment I was scared about finding my classes and the next I was already in the swing of things, starting my third week of college. Ryou has already found our third member, a girl by the name of Pudding, and was going to meet up with her later in the week. Lettuce was used to her job now, as was I. It seemed to be a steady schedule almost. Wake up, go to class, nap after lunch, and then work. My days off were random and few in-between since we didn't have many employees just yet.

My classes were going well, but I had three tests all on the same day this Friday. Not letting this get me down, I still found time to go out on dates with Masaya when I could. He has already gotten into the habit of visiting me during my study time so he could do so as well. Mark had blown his headphones so in order to practice for his music classes; he had to plug his guitar into an amp. Although he kept it as low as he could with his door closed, it still drove Masaya bats when he had to study. Not that I minded after all, I liked having company over. Also I was starting to love cooking as well and already invited the guys over at least twice a week for dinner.

Come to think of it, I had never even seen their apartment yet. Mine was a two bedroom and was almost a little too big for me. Since I never got a room mate I turned the spare bedroom into a study with the help of Ryou during one of his visits. With Masaya's apartment being for four people, I was sure it was huge. I recalled hearing them mention once that they paid for all four bedrooms between the three of them so they would have a music room. I decided that I would have to pay them a visit tomorrow since we all had a day off from classes and I didn't have to work.

"Smirnoff Ice, Cutie."

The words snapped me out of my thoughts and I smiled at the person asking and grabbed a bottle from under the counter, twirled it over my hand, and placed it in front of him, flipping the top off and sending it into the trashcan with one complicated maneuver. "Here you go. Enjoy." I waved at his amused face and went over to wait on someone else who had just sat down at the bar.

Lettuce was our waitress now it seemed. She was constantly going from table to table and to the kitchen, leaving me and Ryou to tend the bar. Although I wasn't nearly as good as he was, Ryou was slowly teaching me things. I learned how to spin glass bottles over the top of my hand, and also how to catch them being throw to me without looking. Although to learn this, we had broken at least a hundred empty bottles. He taught me after work with all the bottles we had in the glass garbage can.

After the last person left for the night, I took out a rag from under the bar and began to clean it. It wasn't very fun, but I got used to it after a while. Besides, it was fun to watch people get drunk and try to keep drinking, only to pour it all over themselves. Yawning, I shivered a little. Taking off my hair band, I rubbed my ears out of habit. Ryou had just locked the door and flipped the sign to 'Closed' so I knew it would be safe now. Also freeing my tail from its belt loop prison, I let it swing behind me as I hummed. Ryou started making me a daiquiri, a sort of tradition we established after a hard night's work.

When the cleaning was done, I hopped up onto the bar and took the offered drink, licking the whip cream off the top. Ryou stopped what he was doing to watch me. Noticing this, I met his eyes with mine and playfully licked the little fluff of cream off of my straw, making him visibly wince and mutter something about getting a smoke. Laughing, I watched him retreat while I enjoyed my drink.

"Good work today, Ichigo-san," Lettuce told me, bowing lightly as she walked by. "You have tomorrow off, right?"

"Right." I nodded. "You did great today, Lettuce. I can tell you're getting better."

"Really?"

"Of course!" I laughed, making her smile. "I'll see you later then."

"Okay." She waved again before walking out the door. Luckily whatever method Ryou used to put the DNA into her system, she didn't have any side effects like I did. But then again, I was a little worried about what her effects could be. She was fused with a type of dolphin/whale type animal. Although I know that she could walk on top of water somehow. I wasn't really sure how that worked, but I was there when it happened so I knew it was true.

Ryou returned a moment later and hopped onto the countertop next to me before taking out a cigarette and lighting it. After inhaling, he grinned at me. "You did well today. Really getting the hang of it."

"Yeah, I only screwed up two orders today." I stuck my tongue out at him playfully before drinking some more of my daiquiri. "But I like it here. My mom freaked when I told her I was a bartender."

"I bet." Laughing, he shook his head. "I'm surprised your dad hasn't come in here looking for me or something."

"Sounds like something he would do." My tail was swinging behind me as the drink started to make me a little giggly. Normally it would just calm me down but after accepting a free drink from a customer, I was already feeling happy with myself. Fortunately Ryou taught me how to take a shot and chase it down with a beer earlier on in the week. The trick was to have an empty dark bottle and simply spit the drink out into it while pretending to drink it after the shot. It was clever, and no matter if the liquid was wasted or not, we still got paid for it.

That and I came to find out that I had a real low tolerance for alcohol. Two shots and I was drunk, four or five and I'd pass out. Even a simple spiked drink would make me laugh at nothing for an hour or so. Ryou liked to pick on me about it, but I sort of found it funny myself, seeing as how I worked at a bar and all.

Finishing my drink, I sat it down and hopped off the bar, fanning the smoke away from my face. "I thought Keiichiro told you not to smoke inside the building?"

"I won that argument." He grinned at me. "Why? Want one?" He offered the small box from his pocket and I almost took one.

"You suck." I thumped the box. "I'm heading home. Call me if you need me, all right?"

"Hey, I'll walk you." He got off the counter as well and grabbed his jacket. I slid mine on as well, zipping it half way. The good thing about my jacket was that since it used to be his, it was bigger than it normally would be and hid my tail easily when I had it around my waist. Also the hood on it allowed for quick, easy coverage of my ears that didn't include pressing them against my head for hours on end.

I was already accustomed to him walking me home, and I actually enjoyed it a little bit now. He seemed to be a different person during this walk; kind even. Not at all a wise-butt like he normally was. The nights were starting to get a little colder now and I realized that Halloween was coming up already. It wasn't any wonder that I say my breath in front of me as we walked. I shivered a little bit and then felt an arm being placed over my shoulders. I gasped lightly and looked up at Ryou, who was still looking ahead.

"You know, I've been thinking," He started, as if he wasn't making my heart pound for some reason that I couldn't place. "About a Halloween party at the bar. I don't know, have a band play or something. Have to be wearing a costume to come in. Dollar night or something?"

I started to feel a little easier about his arm being around me and even welcomed the new warmth it offered by being against his side. "That sounds nice. I'll see if I can't get us somebody to play. I know two music majors."

"That's good. We can go to the frat party this Friday and hand out flyers. It'll be packed with party people so they'll tell their friends. If it goes well we'll make a lot of money."

Suddenly it dawned on me. "Ryou, you said you own the restaurant, right? Bought it and had it fixed up and stocked and everything right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Aren't you just a college student? What are you, a junior? Senior?"

He laughed. "I got my degree when I was twelve."

I stopped walking. "What, really!?"

"Mmhmm."

"Oh wow. And how did you afford it all?"

"I'm super rich." He told me bluntly, grinning. So much for not being a smart ass.

I started walking again and he joined me when I reached his side. "If you're so rich why don't you pay my rent for me?"

"Because I sign your paycheck. You need a raise?"

"Wouldn't hurt."

"Fine, you got one." He laughed.

I shook my head and smiled. He was a weird one.

The wind suddenly picked up and I shivered, zipping my jacket up the rest of the way. After a moment, I looked over at Ryou and they back to the ground, stepping a little closer to him so our sides touched. He took the hint and put his arm back around me to warm me up a little.

When we reached the stairs to my apartment, I turned and smiled up at him. "Want to come up for a bit?"

"I'd like to but I have a meeting with some people tomorrow morning about an upcoming party they want me to host at their new hotel. Got to wake up early."

"I see. You shouldn't have walked me then, you need rest."

"I felt like it." He looked down at me a moment before leaning in and kissing my cheek. "See you Wednesday." With that, he waved and started to walk away.

Slowly I brought my hand up to my cheek and rubbed the spot where I was kissed with my fingertips. I then blushed as it registered in my mind on what just happened. But by now it was too late to say anything, as Ryou was already past speaking distance, and I didn't want to scream so late at night. Sighing, I told myself that I was too tired to worry with him or my feelings right now

Upon reaching my apartment door, I saw a small note attacked to the small clip on my frame. Unclasping it, I blinked and wondered who it was from as I unfolded it.

Momomiya,

Hey, Stopped by earlier to study but you wasn't home and your cell was off so just making sure you was okay. Mark's driving me nuts so I had to get out for a bit. Call me when you get home?

-Masaya

I sighed and let my head fall against the door. I had completely forgotten about promising to let him study over at my place tonight. No wonder he was worried. Inserting my key with one hand, I scrolled down my phone to try and find his number. I pressed the call button as I managed to get into my own apartment.

Masaya answered on the third ring. "Hello?" He was tired, I probably woke him up.

"Aoyama-kun. Sorry I wasn't here. I got your letter, I didn't wake you did I?"

"No," he lied. "I was up."

"I'm sorry."

"I told you to call. Just wanted to be sure you were okay."

"I forgot I had to work late. I'm going to stop by your place tomorrow okay? I'll make you lunch as an apology."

He yawned. "That would be great."

"Okay then. See you later."

"G'night Momomiya-san"

"Nighty-night."

I clicked off my phone and tossed it on my dresser. Stretching out, I yawned. Walking to my bathroom, I stripped down and cut on the hot water. Several minutes later I emerged back into my bedroom now clean. I dried my hair and body before sitting on my bed. For a moment I paused, looking at my bell that Masaya had given me. Smiling, I picked it up and tied it on my wrist in a make-shift bracelet. Now with this on, I got up to cut off my lights and stumbled over to my bed, which I slid into happily, pleased at the feel of my cool sheets against my hot skin from the shower. With a yawn and s stretch, I felt my tail settle down and my eyes closed, drifting off to sleep.

For some reason I slept in the next day. I had originally planned on going over to Masaya's apartment to cook breakfast for them, but now I guessed it would have to be lunch. I didn't figure they would mind me randomly stopping by since they did it over here all the time. I threw on a cute pair of khaki pants and a white shirt with Hello Kitty on the front of it. It was a tight fit, and showed off my stomach, which I would cover with a jacket so my tail would stay hidden. Topping this outfit off with a white hair band to keep my ears down, I grabbed my purse and headed out the door.

The walk over to their apartment was a little damp, as it was almost raining outside. The sky was dark and it was almost as if a light mist just hung in the air and made me wet just walking through it. Fortunately, the walk wasn't too terribly long, and I found myself at their building a few moments later. They too lived on the third floor as I recalled. They were in room 327, which was on the opposite side as mine. I knocked on the door and literally heard the guys yelp out in surprised. A moment later Mark opened the door and looked at me through the crack between the frames. "Um, hi Ichigo!" He shouted out, a little louder than necessary.

"Crap ,it's a girl," I heard Darren say from inside and then a small scuffle.

"Um, is everything okay in there?" I asked, a little worried.

"Oh we're just fine," Mark looked behind him. After nodding, he opened the door up. "Please, come in." He motioned with his hand.

"Yeah, we were just watching .....The TV......yeah. Nothing bad or anything."

I sighed. They were probably watching porn or something. That's when it hit me. "Good sweet merciful lord, what is that smell!?"

"Smell? What smell?" Darren looked around and sniffed.

"Don't tell me you've become so used to it you don't even smell it anymore? It smells like nine kinds of butt in here."

"Hey, that's mean." Masaya protested. "But now that you mention it, it is a little stuffy in here...Mark, you ever clean up that pancake batter you spilt on the carpet?"

"Dude that was a week ago. It's your dirty cloths that are doing it."

"Speak for yourself, Mark," Darren added in, leaning back on their couch, which had junk all over it. "You haven't done the dishes all week."

"I thought I had garbage duty?"

"That's me."

"Well you haven't done it yet!"

"It's only Tuesday man!"

"And it's over flowing!"

"Hey, Masaya, there's a half full pizza box under these cloths..."

"Did that just move!?"

"Move? Hell by now I bet it can communicate!"

"Okay, that's it." I stomped my foot. "This is just pathetic! How long has it been since you guys cleaned!?" When the guys just kind of went quiet and looked at each other, I almost had a fit. "Okay, out." I pointed to the door. "Get out and don't come back until tonight. I mean it, go!"

They all quickly scurried around, grabbing their keys and wallets before running out the door. When the last one had left, I sighed and looked around. I had really hoped to rest on my day off from work, but now it seemed like I had a full job in front of me. First thing I did was check their laundry room, which consisted of a washer, dryer and lots and lots of lint. I was surprised the place hadn't caught fire just yet from all of it.

When I picked up their laundry detergent, I growled. Of course they would buy the cheapest thing they could get a hold to. A large box of powder soap and no softener, let alone dryer sheets. I always wondered why someone like Masaya always had wrinkled cloths that were a little tough. At least now I knew why.

After rooting around for a little bit, I managed to find Masaya's room and raid his backpack for a notebook and pen. The list I made was fairly long, and I knew it would cost a good chunk of my paycheck, but it would be worth it. Masaya and his roommates have given me so much over the short span of time I've known them. Mark, in all his goofy style cheered me up when I was homesick. Darren was even teaching me a little guitar for fun. Masaya was... well, I already knew full well I was crushing on him pretty hard now. From what I could tell he was starting to fall for me a bit too.

And then there was Ryou, who also confused me greatly. But now wasn't the time to be thinking about him. I pocketed my list and drove to the store to pick up the things I needed.

Masaya laughed as he pulled up Mark's car to the drive through menu. "Okay, shh, shh!" He grinned and looked at the small speaker bow, getting a welcome and an offer to take his order. "Um, yeah, I'd like a –shhh- with a l-shhh-oke and –shhh-ies." He had to swat at Darren ,who was cracking up in the back seat. "-shhh- acon cheeshhhhhh and –shhh-eal please." Mark was biting the sleeve of his jacket, trying not to break out laughing at Masaya's fake static order.

"So that's a number three, a number seven with no ketchup, three orders of fries, and a double bacon cheeseburger meal with two cokes and a sprite? Would you like anything else?"

The car went silent a moment before Masaya spoke up again, dazed and confused. "Um...no man, that's all... Thanks..."

Walking back into the apartment, the first thing I did was open all the windows to get some clean air inside. It wasn't hard figuring out which room belonged to whom. Even though the apartment was probably literally twice the size of mine, if not more, I could still easily clean it in a day. Masaya's room was first on my list, simply because I liked him best. That and I was really a little afraid to start out anywhere else.

His room wasn't really bad off compared to the rest of the house. His main problem was cloths strewn all over the floor and what seemed to be like a habit of not putting his books back in place after reading them. His desk was cluttered with several pictures of animals and recycling pamphlets and things of the sort for college.

Rounding up his cloths, I went ahead and started a load of laundry before tackling the actual cleaning and dusting that I don't think he's even done once since he moved in.

"Go go go go!" Darren shouted out as Mark rode the bicycle down the isle of the local Toys R' Us. When he reached the small ramp that Masaya had set up, he jumped it and got at least three inches of air off of it. "Score!"

"Security to Isle five. It's them again."

"Oh crap, let's book it guys!" The three of them all began to run down the isles

After a quick lunch I tackled the living room. It was completely covered in random things I don't think any of them new was there. Amazingly I got it clean only after the third load of laundry I did. Taking some pride in this, I started on the kitchen. Their dishes were piled up in the sink and after moving a few of them around I discovered just what exactly the smell plaguing their apartment was. Apparently they didn't know what a garbage disposal was and just left all their food on the plates after eating.

The dishwasher was now loaded with new cleaning detergent and a spot-free addition I bought for them as well. While they were going I started on the counter top, spraying it down with some bleach cleaner.

Masaya leaned out of the car window as Mark sped down the city. "These things are water soluble, right?"

"Duh. They'll fade away when it rains. No harm to the environment at all! Come on, Masaya, they wash out of cloths with only water, what do you think?"

"Just making sure." Masaya took the paintball gun handed to him from Darren and took aim. "Sign!" He let loose and plastered it several times as the passed.

"My turn!" Darren grabbed it back and leaned out, aiming. "Oh man, I know that person!" He aimed and shot a few times, scaring the guy walking along the road out of his mind.

Suddenly a siren was heard and blue and red lights came up behind them. "Oh crap...Hold on, I'll lose them!"

Masaya sighed heavily as he entered his apartment. "I can't believe we got away with that. I mean...Hey, guys; I think we went into the wrong house."

"My key fit it, you idiot, did you forget where we lived or...Hey, I think you're right." Darren looked over his shoulder. "Mark, what apartment is this?"

"It's ours all right." He pushed the other two boys in and stopped himself. "Holy hell, what happened to this place?"

"Hey, did you know out carpet was blue? I thought it was brown?"

"Probably because we never vacuumed."

"Hey check it out!" Masaya pointed to the clean kitchen. "She cleaned everything, even did the dishes and wiped down the counters!"

"And it smells really nice in here too," Mark sniffed around and went to his room. "Aw snap man, she did our laundry and our rooms as well!"

"You're kidding?" Darren ran over to his room and whistled. "Even made my bed and.....dang man, she washed my sheets too."

"She go home?"

"Nope, she's in here." The three guys all walked into Masaya's room where I was crashed out on his bed, dozing lightly. "Hey Momomiya-san, wake up." He shook me lightly, getting me to sit up.

"Wha...?" I yawned and arched my back in a stretch. "Aoyama-kun..." Rubbing my eyes I looked around. "You're all back. I thought I told you to stay out until night?"

"It is night time." He told me with a grin. "I can't believe you cleaned our entire place."

"I can't believe you let it get so dirty. Honestly, you could have done it in three hours if you all worked together. Am I going to have to do everything for you?"

"Would you?"

Mark elbowed Masaya's ribs. "Man you need to marry this girl. She even used fabric softener. Feel your sheets?"

"All right, all right, the girl's sleepy. Let's let her rest."

"Speaking of rest, I need to hit the sack. Exciting day and I have a test tomorrow." Darren waved to us and patted me on the head. "Thanks for cleaning up. I owe you one.....well hell, I owe you two." He laughed and walked out of the room. I adjusted my hair band to make sure it was still on properly and was pleased to find it still in place.

"On that note, I'm crashing. I think I lost a year off my life tonight. Dang that was scary..." He too walked out of the room, waving over his shoulder. "Thanks a lot Ichigo. I'll buy you lunch sometime!"

Now alone with Masaya, I smiled at him shyly. "I like cleaning," I told him before he could say anything. "I just put your stuff where it looked like it went, so sorry if you can't find something."

"I'll live. Definitely." He looked down and picked up my hand. "You're wearing it." He tapped my bell, making me smile.

"Of course."

A moment went by where our fingers played with each other's. Blushing, I smiled up at him, getting a grin. For some reason my body told me it was time to yawn, making me take my hand from his to cover my mouth. "Ah...I'm sleepy."

"Better get some sleep. Come on, I'll walk you."

"No, it's okay." I stood up. "You must have had an exciting day, go ahead and get some rest like everyone else."

He smiled down at me and helped me off of his bed. "Then allow me to accompany you to the door then."

"That would be nice."

Holding his hand, I walked with him to the door, where we paused a moment after opening it. "Thanks again for cleaning up."

"I wanted to. You boys needed it. Remind me to teach you how to do laundry later."

He laughed, shaking his head. "If we do our own laundry, we'll never go home to our parents again."

I shared a laugh with him, then paused again as a small awkward moment came. After a few moments, he leaned down to kiss my cheek. At first I was going to let him, but a sudden flash of Ryou doing the same thing made me change my mind. I turned lightly and found his lips pressed against mine. He seemed surprised, and I was too. I was planning on pecking his cheek instead.

Not that I minded this.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and purred lightly as his went around my waist. We stayed like this for a long while before I suddenly remembered that I needed to breathe in every now and then to stay alive. I pulled back from him slowly and licked my lips. He had this cute lopsided grin on his face that was just adorable. I couldn't help but giggle to myself seeing it.

"What, no tongue?" We both instantly split apart, looking over at Darren, who had a glass of milk in one hand and a few Oreos in the other. "Some kiss."

"I never get any privacy..."

"Hey, you jerk!" Mark suddenly called from the kitchen. "You got the last of the Oreos!"

I shook my head. My first kiss with Masaya wasn't really as romantic as I imagined it would be. I guess I could live with that, though. "Call me." I pecked his cheek and ran out of the house, happy. I heard him call out a goodnight, which I returned. I had a nice day today at least. I got a lot done, finally repaid their kindness, and even got a kiss for all my troubles.

Closing my door, I sighed happily and stripped as I made my way to the bathroom for a shower and then crawled into bed after drying myself off. I made sure to set my alarm to wake me up in time for my classes and curled up against my pillow. After a moment, I giggled to myself and snuggled it closer to me.

I chewed on the end of my pencil as I waited for my class to start. Today was the last day before my first test in college, so I was a little nervous.

A sudden light breeze in my ear made me shiver lightly and turn to see Kish sitting down with a grin on his face. "Hey sexy."

"Hey Kish." He had taken a liking to me, and I could tell easily. I didn't mind it, though; I kind of liked him as well. Although at the current moment, my love life was a little full. I was crushing on Masaya, but I also liked Ryou in a weird sort of annoying way. Not to mention Kish, who was open about his feelings. I felt a little weird with all three of them, but as long as I didn't make a commitment on one of them, I didn't see the trouble of having three close male friends. It wasn't like I was cheating on any of them.

"Good morning class!" The professor greeted, walking in. "Sorry I'm late, I got lost on the way to my coffee machine from my bed and woke up ten minutes later only to realize I never moved in the first place." The class laughed at his joke. I liked this teacher, he always made learning interesting. "As you know, your first test will be tomorrow. It will cover everything we learned thus far. Yes, that's all three weeks worth. Now, to help you out, I will review with you today and answer any questions you may have. But first I have an assignment I want to go ahead and give out."

"I'm sure some of you are wondering why this class is so small with desk for two people, huh? Well, actually, this room is for Japanese majors who have a beta reading partner, so they work in pairs. Since I got stuck with this room, I figure I might as well make use of it. The person you are sitting with and you are going to do a report together. I have topics all printed out on the last page of your syllabus I gave at the start of the semester. If you're an idiot and lost this, I have extra copies up here for you. Anyway, it will be twenty pages long, single spaced, font size ten."

I gasped audibly. That would take hours a day to complete, even with a partner.

"It will be due in thee weeks, first of November. Anyway, more on that after the test. I just wanted to let you know in advance what I had planned."

Kish looked over at me and I smiled. At least my partner was a history major. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. "Want to get together at my place or yours?"

I thought about it. I think Kish lived in a dorm. "My place. I have a study room."

"Sounds Tasty."

It looked like I would be seeing a lot more of him lately.

A/N: A boring chapter I think. I planned introducing Pudding, but I think next chapter will work better with that because I can add in Pudding, the party, and another battle all in one action packed chapter. Anyway, please review; I love hearing from you.