AN: Last chapter of 2007. Go on. Read it.
Update 8-28-12: The chapter has been rewritten! I've noticed that I manage to make the chapters a bit longer than they were before, which is good because that means I'm adding something more to the story than just fixing spelling errors or grammar.
Home Is Where The Rozens Are
Ch 4 First Argument
Jun felt himself fall from his bed and onto the floor. He scrambled to get out of the tangle of sheets. After a few moments of struggling, he pulled himself from the tangled mess to sit back on his bed. He looked at the clock to find it was 4 AM. With a sigh he laid down and attempted to sleep, however, visions of his nightmare would not let him be. For a while now, he kept having nightmares about the crash. It was something that always haunted him in his sleep; however, he noticed that it was happening less often. Before, he would have the nightmare every day but now it occurred only once or twice a week. He didn't know why or how, but he was glad. At least now it wasn't as obvious he was losing sleep. He'd found that it was hard to hide things from the Rozen sisters. They really bugged him a lot when they noticed how tired he always was. Now a days, however, they had taken to bugging him about a completely different matter. Right after his first day of school, Shinku had asked him whether or not he had plans to transfer to their school. Jun told her that he had yet to make up his mind and was thinking about it, which was true. She had seemed satisfied with his answer and let him be.
Days turned to weeks and weeks soon turned into months. Their winter vacation was approaching and he still remained at his school. For whatever reason, this didn't sit well with the sisters. Thus they had taken to asking him about switching schools every chance they had. He still wasn't sure why this had turned into a big deal, but some of them were very persistent about it like Suiseiseki and Suigintou. Although Suigintou tended to be more subtle while Suiseiseki liked to just blurt out the obvious. Jun shook his head. He needed to sleep. He had a test to worry about. This was not the time to be thinking about the Rozens sister's new obsession.
xxx
Jun frowned as he walked to the train station. Breakfast had not gone at all how he thought it would. It should've been just a normal morning like every other day. Much to his chagrin, Suigintou brought up the subject of school...again. He tried to divert the subject to something else; much like he'd done in the past, but Suigintou was in one of her moods today. She wasn't going to let him weasel out it this time. It only got worse when the other sisters got involved as well. The typical questions were asked and he gave his usual responses. Finally Shinku asked him the one question he had yet to answer until now that is.
"Why don't you give it a try?"
Why? He'd thought the answer was obvious. It was obvious to him at least. He did not belong there. It was a private school for rich kids. He was just a normal boy with no special talents. They were the rich daughters of a famous designer. They lived in a MANSION for crying out loud! They lived in different worlds as far as he was concerned. He may have been allowed into their home, but he was just a guest; nothing more and nothing less. The kids at the school would not understand that. They wouldn't understand the things he'd been through; the reasons that lead him to be in the Rozen's home to begin with. In their eyes he would just be some guy bumming off the Rozens money and name. That's not what he wanted.
"I don't want to be the guy everyone thinks is just taking advantage of you! I'm not! That's not who am I but they'll never understand that! Why can't you see or are you just too blind?"
He'd stormed out of the house after that and caught a bus to the train station.
Now that he'd had some time to cool off and think about what he did he felt he might have been too harsh with his response. Sure it was always irritating to have them bug him about something like that, but they didn't deserve to be yelled at. Jun ran a hand though his hair. Great, now he felt like a jerk.
"No, I am a jerk."
They hadn't deserved to be yelled at like that. As annoying as it may have been to have them constantly harass him about changing schools, it didn't warrant any unkind words towards them. I their own way, they'd been trying to be help him. Would they talk to him after all this? Could he even face them? He groaned. This was not what he needed right now. His mind was already preoccupied with a variety of other things, but there was no doubt in his mind what was important at the moment and it certainly wasn't school exams. In the short time he'd been there, he'd come to see the Rozens as important people in his life and maybe one day, they'd be something more than that. For now though, he needed to mend their friendships.
"Jun!"
He turned towards the person calling him. It was Tomoe. He smiled at her as she approached him. Tomoe was really a good friend. She'd always listen to his problems and offered advice. Something he felt he really needed at the moment. He may live with a bunch of girls, but he sure as hell didn't know how to handle them.
xxx
Shinku and her sisters were having lunch outside together today. Normally they would have it with their respective friends, but today, they felt the need to be together. Ever since Jun had stormed out that morning, they had all been feeling down. Suigintou had been more cold and snappy to people today and Suiseiseki was louder than usual. Everyone else opted for being quieter. Shinku sighed. Perhaps it hadn't been such a good idea to pressure Jun into attending their school. At the time they had come up with this plan, it seemed like it was good. Now, however, it seemed like they should have thought it through better. She really did want to attend the same school as him for reasons other than keeping him away from Tomoe...although that did play a factor in their reasoning for pressuring him to change schools.. She really couldn't understand it herself, but she felt comfortable around him. When she was with him she didn't need to pretend to be this perfect lady. She could be herself. She could borrow his manga without him making fun of her or questioning her as to why she wanted to read them. In fact the first time she gained the courage to ask, all he did was tell her to take care of them. It was nice to have someone who didn't judge you based on your name...
SNAP
She was brought out of her thoughts when Suigintou broke the chopsticks in her hand.
"How dare he yell at us like that! When I get my hands on him..." Suigintou then proceeded to do an imitation of her strangling someone.
She had finally reached her boiling point. In all honesty, they hadn't thought she would have held it in this long.
"You don't really want to hurt Jun-nii, do you Gin-nee?" Kirakishou asked.
Suigintou's rage calmed at her sisters innocent question. She really did have a soft spot for the youngest one. They all did.
"No..." she answered reluctantly. "I'm just going to give him a piece of my mind."
"For once, I agree with you ~desu." Suiseiseki added as she stabbed her rice.
Suigintou took out another chopstick from her bag and continued with also stabbing her food. It seemed like stabbing their meals was their only to express their anger without actually hurting someone. Their meals were eaten in silence for the rest of lunch. Once the bell rang to signal their return to class, they went their separate ways. Suigintou crossed the lawn towards her class with a stern face. Everyone around her could tell she was in a worse mood than usual and did their best to give the girl the space she wanted. The few students still sitting on the grass would scramble out of her way as fast as possible. No one dared get in her way, almost no one.
"So, what's got you in such a bad mood?"
Suigintou stopped walking and turned towards the speaker. A girl with long black hair and a pale complexion smiled at her.
"Megu, what do you want?"
Megu Kakizaki was in the same class as Suigintou and had been since she first enrolled in grade school. Megu, though, had been gone a lot of the time during their elementary and middle school years due to her heart disease. It hadn't been until recently that she'd finally gotten better thanks to a heart transplant. When Megu had first attempted to talk to Suigintou, it hadn't been a very successful attempt. Suigintou had brushed her off telling her to leave her alone. This though, did not discourage Megu. She kept trying whenever she did happen to be in school. Then, one day, Megu collapsed during their gym class. Next thing she knew, Megu woke up in the hospital. After she came back to school, she found out from the rest of her classmates that Suigintou had been the one to make sure she got the proper medical attention she needed. She'd been predictably shocked. No one would've guessed that Suigintou could care about anyone else other than her sisters.
From then on, she'd follow the silent girl everywhere. If this bothered Suigintou, she never said anything about it. As the years passed, they'd formed a friendship that seemed to make no sense to everyone around them. Even the other Rozen girls were surprised that Suigintou tolerated anyone else in her presence. So far, Megu had been the only one to break through Suigintou's cold exterior thus earning her the title of best friend.
The girl continued to smile. "It's nice to see you too Gin-chan."
Suigintou narrowed her eyes dangerously. "I told you stop calling me that."
Megu didn't seem to listen (or just ignored her) and approached the silver haired girl. She linked their arms together and proceeded to lead Suigintou to their class. Suigintou frowned but did nothing to stop her.
"So what's got you all upset?"
"Nothing."
"Oh come on now Gin-chan. Do you really think I'll fall for that? Hmm, let's see if I can guess."
"I told you it was nothing."
"Is it your sisters?"
"I said nothing."
"School work?"
"Are you even listening?!"
"...a boy?"
Suigintou paused a moment. "Nothing. Is. Wrong." She made sure to emphasis each word so that Megu would get the hint. Much to her chagrin though, Megu hadn't missed her pause to answer and dove in for the kill.
Megu's smile widened. "It is a boy isn't it?"
Suigintou did everything in her power to keep herself from strangling her only friend.
"You know, if you're so upset over a boy then I'm guessing he means something to you. I never thought I'd see the day."
Suigintou's hand twitched in anxiousness. If there was one thing that irritated her more than her so called fan club, it was Megu's ability to find out what was bothering her. It was a really irritating talent.
"Also, if you're this upset, then I'm guessing you did something to make him upset. If you want to make things better, I suggest you apologize for what you did. I guarantee it will fix things."
Megu released Suigintou and entered their classroom. Suigintou stood in front of the door way to her class, absorbing the information Megu had just given her.
Apologize? She was saying that she, Suigintou Rozen, should apologize? As if! She was Suigintou. The Ice Queen. The uncaring. The unapproachable. The Queen Bitch of the Universe! She apologized to no one, especially not to Sakurada Jun! Even if the boy treated her nicely, didn't judge her, or was one of the only people who saw past her name and money and saw her for her.
She shook her head and stomped into her classroom. She was supposed to be mad at him, not praising his good qualities!
When it was finally time for them to go home, they were never so relieved. They'd had all day to stew and think about what had happened that morning. They really couldn't take it anymore and hoped to talk with Jun to clear everything up. Their plans thought, were thwarted when Shirosaki informed them that they would not be picking up Jun. The reason for this change did not please them. Not one bit. According to Shirosaki, Jun was going over to Tomoe's house for dinner and would be home later that evening. The rest of the ride home was filled with silence. A hostile aurora radiated from the area around Suigintou, Shinku, Souseiseki and Suiseiseki. Kanaria sighed at her sister's behavior. It was so easy to tell they were jealous of Tomoe. She had suspected for a while that her sisters had started to develop a crush on Jun. Not that they would admit it... or notice. She was fairly certain they had no idea what a crush felt like.
"You know guys, if you just apologize..." her words died as her sisters turned their hostile eyes towards her. Kanaria swallowed hard. She better choose her words carefully, lest she be killed on the spot. "I-if you apologize, I'm sure it'll make things better. I mean it's not like he hates you."
"Sure, that's why he feels the need to be with Tomoe instead of us." Suigintou spat out.
"Y-You guys are taking this way too personally ~kashira."
"Then how do you want us to take it ~desu" Suiseiseki practically growled.
"Uh..."
"Jun-nii isn't mad." Kirakishou spoke up.
The girls looked at her.
"Jun-nii is very kind. He isn't mad anymore."
The girls looked at each other skeptically. They really had no comeback to something like that. Once home, the girls went about their business waiting for Jun to return home. Waiting so they could apologize...some of them anyway. When dinner rolled around they suddenly felt even more aware that there was something missing. More like someone. Nothing was said allowing them to have a peaceful dinner. Suigintou finished first and asked to be excused to her room. Rozen nodded and she went on her way. One by one the sisters finished their dinner and headed to the comfort of their rooms all except Kirakishou who wanted to be with her father.
xxx
It was rather late when Jun finally arrived. As he untied his shoes, he wondered if anyone was asleep yet. It wasn't terribly late, but the girls should be getting ready to go to bed. He hoped they hadn't decided to call it an early night. He didn't think he could wait an entire night to do what he needed. He'd finished removing his shoes when a small body latched itself onto him.
"Jun-nii! Welcome home!"
Jun turned towards Kirakishou and smiled.
"I'm home. How was your day?"
Kirakishou told him excitedly about all the things she did at school. Rozen approached him as Kirakishou finished her tale.
"Welcome back Jun-kun. How was your stay at your friends?"
"It went well. I hadn't seen her parents in quite a while. It was a nice visit."
"Sounds like you enjoyed yourself."
"I did."
"Glad to hear. Now if you'll excuse me, it is getting late and Kirakishou needs to be put to bed."
"Aww, but father..."
"No buts, I allowed you to stay up only to wait for Jun-kun. Remember?"
"Okay..." Kirakishou turned to Jun. "Good night Jun-nii."
"Night. Oh wait a sec." Jun opened his school bag and rummaged through it for a bit.
"Ah, here it is." Jun pulled out a white rose with light pink on the tips of the pedals. He handed it to Kirakishou. "It's not real, but I wanted to get you something as an apology." he looked at Rozen then back to Kirakishou. "I didn't mean to yell like I did this morning. I was out of place. I'm sorry."
Jun bowed towards both of them. Rozen smiled at Jun.
"Apology accepted, although, I believe I should apologize as well. I understand that my daughters put some unneeded pressure on you and I feel partly responsible for bringing up the subject of transferring schools."
Jun shook his head. "No, I don't blame you. I appreciate the fact that I was given the option to attend such a prestigious school. For that I thank you."
"No thanks needed Jun-kun."
Kirakishou gave Jun a hug and a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you Jun-nii, I told my sisters you were very kind."
With that Rozen whisked her off to bed. Jun smiled and made his way towards the sister's rooms. His first stop was Kanaria. She was given a yellow rose and Jun apologized to her as well. She waved it off and told him she didn't blame him. Her sisters drove her crazy sometimes too. She did warn him about Suigintou being in a particularly murderous mood and wished him luck. Jun gulped and thanked her. Hinaichigo was next. He handed her a pink rose and again apologized.
Hinaichigo forgave him easily enough. She admitted she had no idea why her other sisters were so insisting about him transferring school, but had the feeling it was because they wanted to go to the same school as him. When Jun asked her why she shrugged and suggested he ask them. Jun bid her goodnight and prepared for what was next. He felt more nervous as he walked towards one of the twin's room. He wasn't sure which room belonged to which twin since this was his first time going to their rooms. He chose one and prayed.
To his luck, Souseiseki opened the door. She was already in her PJs and looked slightly upset.
"Yes?"
"Uh, um..." Jun pulled out a blue rose from his bag. Souseiseki looked surprised and blushed as she took it.
"S-sorry about this morning. I shouldn't have yelled at you guys. So, uh, I hope you'll forgive me."
Souseiseki abruptly turned from Jun in an effort to keep him from seeing her face heat up even more. The sudden movement startled Jun and for a second he thought he might have made things worse, but then Souseiseki spoke up.
"I-I forgive you. And uh, I'm also sorry for pushing the subject on you."
"It's okay. I know you guys meant well. So, um, I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah, night."
Souseiseki closed her door and walked in a trance like state to her bed. She curled up on the covers with the flower cuddled tenderly in her hands.
'Kirakishou was right. He is very kind.' she thought as she closed her eyes.
Jun's next stop, he was sure, was Suiseiseki's room. He vaguely wondered whether she was reasonable in her current mood. If she wasn't then he prayed that she would only hit him once. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. It was flung open and an irate Suiseiseki stood in the door way. She glared at him.
"Well look who finally decided to come home ~desu." she sounded like a wife who had been waiting on her good for nothing husband to return home after a night of drinking with his friends.
Jun took one look at her before facing away from her. Unlike Souseiseki who's PJs were conservative, Suiseiseki wore something more...revealing was the only word he could come up with. The green tank top she wore showed way more cleavage than he was ready to handle. Suiseiseki looked oddly at him before looking down at herself. She blushed slightly as she crossed her arms over her breasts.
'Pervert.' was her first thought, but realized that he actually turned away instead of staring at her. 'Okay, maybe not a complete pervert.'
He quickly pulled out a green rose from his bag and closed his eyes as he faced her and held it out.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you this morning! I didn't mean to be such a jerk. Please forgive me!"
Suiseiseki reached out for the flower and blushed as her fingers made contact with Jun's hand. She looked at the flower and smiled happily. She felt her heart flutter as she caressed it.
"Idiot." she said, but not in a hateful or even remotely mean manner. If Jun didn't know any better, he could swear she said it with affection.
"You're forgiven."
With that she turned and went back into her room. Jun opened his eyes once he heard the door click. He sighed in relief. That had been intense, but he got the feeling that Suigintou was going to be even worse. He sighed and proceeded on to the next room. Shinku was another more reasonable girl and he found it to be a relief to visit her next. He took a deep breath before knocking. The door was opened shortly. Jun again found himself facing away from her. Why did girls wear such revealing tops?
"Jun?" Shinku questioned. She was surprised to see him. She had expected him to ignore them for the rest of the day. It was pleasant to know her assumption had been wrong.
She also realized that he was not facing her. She quickly deduced it was because of her current state of dress and quickly went to find a shirt to wear over her top.
"You can turn around now."
Jun trusted her and did so. He was relieved to see her wear something normal. It took him a moment to realize that she was wearing a regular t-shirt. This was the first time he'd seen her in something other than dresses or her school uniform. He had to admit, even in a shirt, she was still rather cute. He shook the thoughts from his mind and proceeded to do what he came for. He handed her a red rose.
"I'm sorry about this morning. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. Forgive me?"
Shinku smiled happily at him. "Yes, and I'm sorry as well. I shouldn't have pressured you like that."
Jun waved it off. "You don't have to apologize. You meant well, right?"
Shinku approached and hugged him. Jun tensed a few seconds before relaxing.
"Thank you...Jun."
Shinku released him and bade him good night. Jun smiled awkwardly as she closed her door. He had no idea what just happened, but his heart rate seemed to have increased significantly. With that, he walked to his final destination: Suigintou's room. If possible, his heart rate increased even more out of fear. As he approached the door, he felt a shiver run up his spine. That was not a good sign. He stopped in front of the door, frozen. This was definitely different from the other sisters. This room was oozing malice. His hand shook as he went to knock. He hit the door twice and let his arm drop limply to his side. That had taken more effort than he thought possible. It felt like an eternity before the door opened. Suigintou stood before him in, what was possibly, the most provocative sleep wear he had seen in his young life. Her black slip nightgown hugged her body in a very seductive way. He could do nothing except be frozen in her presence. He wanted to turn around, he really did, but her piercing pink-red eyes kept him in place.
"Oh, it's you." Her voice was cold with a hint of irritation.
"Uh, um..."
Seeing the younger boy was completely at a loss for words she couldn't help but smirk. The fact she had this kind of effect on him gave her a strange sense of accomplishment.
"Why don't you come inside?" she suggested.
"I, uh, that is..."
Jun mentally kicked himself. He needed to get his act together. He was here for one purpose and he was going to get it done! At least that's what he'd thought. All coherent thought went out the window when Suigintou abruptly pulled him into her room. What happened next, he wasn't sure, but when he came to, he was laying on top of Suigintou. He quickly scrambled off of her and backed into a wall. He sat there breathing hard from the fear he felt. If she wasn't going to kill him before, well, she sure was now. Suigintou sat up and looked at him. Her expression was blank which, in Jun's opinion, was anything but a good sign.
Jun swallowed as she crawled towards him. Had his safety not been in danger, he would have found this whole situation rather...erotic. She was getting closer. And closer. Jun's mouth opened and closed in an attempt to form some sort of coherent sentence.
"I-I..." No good. He still couldn't find his voice.
As Suigintou descended upon him, he closed his eyes. Waiting for whatever punishment she had in store. To his surprise, nothing came. Instead, he felt a pair of arms encircle his neck and Suigintou laying her head on his shoulder. Jun was thoroughly confused. This was very un-Suigintou.
"S-Suigintou?"
"I'm glad."
"Huh?"
"I'm glad, you don't hate me."
"W-Why would you think that?"
Suigintou's hold on him tightened. "When I was little, I angered one of my classmates over a trivial matter. I thought nothing of it at the time. I thought everything would be fine the next day, but I was wrong. All the kids in school began to ignore me. They said I wasn't good enough to be their friend; that I was too conceited because of my family name. No one would be my friend. No one. I decided ever since then, that I would not let anyone else hurt me like that. I would show them they were the ones unworthy of my friendship."
Jun's eyes widened at the confession. Is that why she was so cold towards everyone? She was just protecting herself? Jun lifted his arms and returned Suigintou's hug.
"Suigintou...it's okay. I don't hate you, so don't be sad..."
"You really don't?"
"No, how could I? You and your sisters have done so much for me. To hate you over something so small is stupid."
Suigintou smiled into his shoulder and stayed like that for a few more seconds before finally breaking the embrace. She stood up and allowed Jun to do the same. He then walked over to his bag and pulled out a pure white rose for her.
"It's not much, but I got this for you as an apology."
She took the rose and smiled slightly. Pure white? That didn't seem like her at all, but she guessed he must've had a good reason for choosing that color for her. Jun was pleasantly surprised to see she did have a rather cute smile. He was brought out of his thoughts when Suigintou gave him a small peck on his cheek. Jun blushed tomato red.
"A thank you for the rose." was Suigintou's response.
"Y-You're welcome."
He made his way to the door and was about to step out when Suigintou's voice stopped him.
"Oh, by the way, what happened here tonight does not leave this room. Understand?" she said in menacing voice.
Now that was the Suigintou Jun knew. Besides, no one would believe him if he told them that Suigintou had a vulnerable side. It would be wise though not to attempt to prove his theory right.
"G-Got it."
Jun quickly exited the room and made a dash for the guest wing. Once in the safety of his room, he quickly collapsed on his bed. It had been a rather exhausting day, but there was one thing he learned from this experience:
'Girls are so confusing.'
AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you all in 2008!
Update 8-28-12: Yes, I changed the color of the rose Suigintou got. After thinking about it, even if black was her color, the meaning behind a black rose wasn't suitable as an apology gift. Thus I changed Kirakishou's as well so that Jun could give Suigintou the pure white rose.
