Chapter 2

Kiku zipped up the suitcase that was sitting on his floor. He let out a deep breath of relief when he realised that he was finally done his packing. And just in time too. His flight was scheduled to leave in two hours. He had packed his things yesterday night, but he earlier this morning he decided to do some last minute packing. He walked up to the open window in his room and peered outside, taking in a deep breath of the summer air. It was the last day of August, meaning the last week of summer vacation…and the day he will be leaving his home behind for a different country that is across the ocean.

Kiku wasn't sure how he felt about leaving his home for the international academy. He knows that there was no way he would be able to back out, and he sort of dreaded the idea at first, but, just recently, he started to have this feeling of…anticipation inside him. Like, he was leaving on some sort of…adventure, maybe? Well, it might be sort of like an adventure. He's going to be on foreign land for 10 months and he's going to have to adjust all these new customs that they did there…will that be considered as an adventure? Either it is or isn't, Kiku still felt like something was going to happen when he arrives there…but he can't tell if it was going to be a good thing or a bad thing.

"Honda-san," A voice said behind him, interrupting his silence. "Have you finished packing your things?"

Kiku quickly turned around to the direction of his voice, over to the entrance of his room. There, one of the main maid, Sakurako, stood.

"Hai, Sakurako-san," Kiku said politely, nodding slightly towards the three other big luggages that lay on the floor before him.

"Is that all you'll be bringing on your voyage?" Sakurako asked as she entered the room. "Have you packed all your clothing, including your winter jacket? You are aware that you will be staying at the Academy for 10 months, correct, Honda-san? Make sure to pack the appropriate clothing for the weather you will be experiencing there."

"Y-yes, of course," Kiku said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "Sakurako-san, haven't I already asked you not to call me 'Honda-san'? I would prefer you still called me by my first name instead-"

"Well, you are no longer a child anymore for me to call you that," Sakurako replied. "You are now 14, Kiku. I have to start calling you with your proper title." She glanced around the almost vacant room. The sheets on the bed has been folded neatly and placed inside a cupboard, so the bed was empty. The desk Kiku would study at was cleared of all his books, and so was his closet that used to be filled with clothing. Most of the books from the bookshelf were also taken from their place, leaving empty spots here and there.

"The house is going to be empty without you around," Sakurako sighed, as she picked up one of the luggage from the ground.

"N-no, Sakurako-san! You can leave it be. I'll carry it instead-"

"Well, it will take you a long time, and we can't wait much right now. The limousine is waiting outside for you to take you to the airport-"

"Sakurako!" A young man appeared in front of Kiku's door. "Honda-san was wondering how long it would take for you two to come downstairs…"

"Yes, yes, we're coming right now," She said, handing him one of the bags. "Take this downstairs, please."

The man nodded and he left the room with the luggage. Sakurako took another bag, and started to make her way out of Kiku's room. "Let's go, then, Honda-san."

"Hai," Kiku replied, following behind Sakurako as he dragged the other two baggage. Just before he left his room, however, he noticed something from the corner of his eyes.

There sat a small bear on his bookshelf, staring out into the vacant air in front of her. Kiku had already decided long ago that he was going to let it go and leave it behind…but was he really willing to do that? He walked up to the shelf, staring at the bear. Now he felt the sudden urge to take Mio along with him. But, he'll be ridiculed if he did…will he? What if he hid her?

"Honda-san! Please, come quickly!" He heard Sakurako called for him suddenly, and Kiku hesitantly looked at the door, before looking at the teddy bear. Without putting any thought into it, Kiku quickly took the bear, open the luggage and stuffed it inside. He then zipped up his bag and, without a second though, he walked out of the door, and made his way through the hallway towards the front entrance of the mansion.

There at the entrance of the house were the line of the household workers there to bid him farewell, and the limousine was also at the round-about. Also there stood Suisen, much to Kiku's surprise. Kiku honestly thought that Suisen would have left for work already.

"Are you ready to go, Kiku?" Suisen asked, and Kiku quickly nodded, glancing away. The chauffeur took the bags out of Kiku's hands and packed it inside the limousine. After saying goodbye to everyone, Kiku was about to enter the limousine, before he saw his father entering before him.

"I'll be coming with you till we reach the airport," Suisen explained, and without another words, Kiku entered the limousine also.

"Have a good time, Honda-san! Please, be careful!" Sakurako said to Kiku, giving him a smile and waving.

Kiku mustered up a smile, and waved back to her, before shutting the door and taking a seat. During majority trip towards the airport where Kiku will be taking the family's airplane to go to his destination, there was an awkward tension between Kiku and Suisen. Neither of them uttered a word, and once Kiku accidently made eye-contact with Suisen, which made the situation he was in even more uncomfortable.

Kiku never really talked to Suisen in recent years. Even if he was his father, they were never that close. Kiku could never just come up to him and start having a normal conversation with Suisen. The only time that they would talk is if Suisen prompted a question, but Kiku might respond back in an one word or phrase response and their conversation was done for the rest of the day.

Kiku was gazing out the window during that time, before he heard his father clear his voice to say something.

"Yao called me earlier to tell me he had already arrived there," Suisen started, as if trying to think of a way to start a conversation. "He says that he's going to meet you at the airport once you have arrived, and accompany you to the school."

"Oh," Kiku simply replied back. Kiku then asked, "What about Yong Soo? Or, Mei? Have they already arrived there?"

"I think that they'll be arriving after you," Suisen replied. "I'm not really sure."

"Oh." There was a slight, uneasy pause that settled. Kiku started to fidget with his finger a bit, biting the bottom of his lip.

"Are you…alright, Kiku?" Suisen asked.

"Hm?"

"Are you nervous? I mean, you'll be away from home for a long time," Well, this was quite an interesting question to ask. Usually, Suisen never asked these sorts of questions.

"Not really," Kiku replied.

"…" Suisen didn't reply back, and once again, Kiku managed to quickly shut down this entire conversation.

Once they arrived to the airport, they were led to their jet. Before Kiku entered the plane, he decided to at least say farewell to his father.

"I'll be going then," Kiku started. "Bye, Otou-san."

"Bye Kiku," Suisen replied, and his mouth curved into a small smile. "I may call you there from time to time to see how you're doing. Have a good time there. And do be careful."

"Of course," Kiku said, smiling back. And with that, he went up the stairs into the plane. No hugs. No kisses. No, 'I love you.' Just a bye and a few phrases of well-being. That was a basic summary of their relationship. It was distant and quite mutual. Neither of them could ever tell what the other was thinking, neither of them could find anything in common, neither of them…are comfortable around each other anymore.

Kiku took a seat in one of the chairs and buckled in. He couldn't help but feel a sort of emptiness in him after that sort farewell to Suisen. But in this emptiness, there was a small hint of excitement. Kiku can't wait until he arrives to this academy.

Many hours has passed since the flight had left off. Kiku was still in the air, and he had already did many things to keep him busy – he watched a movies, he read a book, he even took a nap, which lasted for 2 hours. He had already eaten lunch, and returned back to watching movies. This time, however, he decided to watch a cartoon movie, and he chose to watch Spirited Away.

By the time the movie ended, so did the flight, and soon, Kiku found himself landing into an airport right away. When he had excited the jet, he was immediately met with a familiar voice.

"Kiku!" He heard a voice call his name with a tone of excitement. "It's good to see you again, aru!"

"It's good to see you too, Yao-Niisan," Kiku replied, smiling when he saw the familiar face and figure walk in front of him. A boy, who appeared to be Kiku's age, but was actually older than him, showed him a smile and pulled Kiku into a hug, much to Kiku's displeasure of having close contact with others.

"How have you been, aru?" Yao asked, a Mandarin-accent in his voice, his amber eyes looking kindly at Kiku. His long dark-brown hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and a few strands swept behind his ears. Usually Kiku would find Yao wearing a red mandarin jacket with over-sized sleeves; however, he was just wearing a simple white T-shirt along with jeans.

"I have been well," Kiku replied, before being dragged alongside Yao towards a car that was awaiting them.

"Good, good!" Yao said, opening the door and getting inside. Kiku went around the car and did the same. He saw the chauffeur packing his luggage in the truck of the car.

"How's uncle, aru?" Yao asked, waving his hand as a signal the driver to go ahead. "Is he been working hard?"

"A-ah, yes," Kiku said quietly. "He's also going well."

"Aiyaah," Yao sighed. "Your father is such a hard-working man. I think he needs to lighten up and take a vacation."

"Yes," Kiku said with a small laugh. "I've been thinking the same."

"Mhm. So, tell me, did anything happen since I last saw you?"

"Yao-Niisan, you saw me only 6 months ago…"

"So? A lot can happen during that time, aru!" Yao exclaimed. "Anything worth noting, aru?"

"No, nothing at all…"

"How has your school been like?"

"It was okay…"

"You better have not have failed any of your courses, or else you'll be in a lot of trouble from Big Brother, aru!" Yao teased, smiling.

"N-No!" Kiku said. "I would never fail school of all things!"

"I know that, aru! I was just joking," Yao replied, laughing at how flustered Kiku seemed. "Hey, speaking of school, are you ready for high school?"

"U-um," Kiku started, looking down. "W-well…"

"Not really, huh?" Yao replied, reading Kiku's thoughts. "I wasn't really excited either when I was in grade 9, aru…especially since the academy was so far away from home and things were different here! But, trust me Kiku, it's actually a fun school and you'll fit right in! The people are nice, but some aren't aru. Then there are the students who are terrible, but as long as you stay away from that, you'll be fine! So, don't worry about this whole new thing, aru."

"And how do you know if I was worry about all those things?" Kiku asked.

"Because I know you, Kiku, aru!" Yao said with a chuckle. "It's easy to read your mind. I don't know why, but it's like an instinct for me, aru!"

"Well, even if you say all these things, I feel a bit…I don't know…odd and out of place coming here."

"Trust me when I say that, once you start going to classes and meeting people, that's all going to go away," Yao said.

"And what if no one's going to come up to me?" Kiku asked randomly, knowing that Yao knows how he had never socialised with other students and classmates in his life.

"That's going to be impossible for people not to come up to you here," Yao said. "I remember coming here for the first time, and I had so many random people coming up to me and talking to me, even if I didn't know them! Plus, there's no way that not one single person in the dorms is not going to notice you. Which reminds me that, you have to remember to make sure your room is always locked whenever you're out."

"Why are you telling me that?" Kiku asked.

"Well, people are going to try to pull tricks and pranks on you…especially since you're in grade nine," Yao said, with a small smirk. "Then there are people who walk into your room uninvited."

"Uh…" Kiku mumbled unsurely, not liking the sound of his privacy being invaded.

"But, the point being is…you're going to at least make a few friends here, aru. So don't worry about it." Kiku didn't reply.

"…So, what courses did you sign up for?" Yao asked, trying to fill the silence that had crept in. "I know that in Grade 9, it's a must to take English, Math, Science, Geography, Physical Education. Then you have three more space for an international language course, an Art course, and an elective course. Of course you're going to take Japanese for the language course. But what about for the other two?"

"U-um, I'm taking Visual Arts for my Art course and Integrated Technology as my elective," Kiku responded.

"Ahh, so you're taking those two?" Yao said. "I know for a fact you'll be having the same Physical Education I had when I was in your grade, and maybe also for Math, Science and English. I'm not sure about Geography, though, I heard that the usual grade 9 teacher that I had is being replaced this year…"

Yao continued to ramble on and on, switching the subject here and there, trying to fill the silent void between Kiku and him until they reached the dorms. Majority of the time, Kiku just stared blankly out the window, trying to block out the rambling as he watched the scenery change as they went down along multiple roads.

The airport was near the heart of the busy town, but as they started to move away from the crowded road, they soon enter a quieter and suburban side of the town. The car had to stop at a red light near one of the intersection. There was a bus stop in front of strip mall at one side of the road, the direction where Kiku was facing at.

There were two young boys who were standing near the bus stop. They seemed to be around Kiku's age – or, at least, they were teenagers. Kiku wasn't able to see their face at first, but as a public bus started to make its way up the road, he was able to catch a glimpse of both of them. What intrigued him the most about them was not only their blondish hair, but how their many similarities between them, especially their face. Most likely they were twins, but they struck Kiku as an odd pair.

One seemed more relaxed than then other, and has wavy hair that went a few centimeters below his ear, while the other one was talking while waving his hands around in different motions, and has shorter hair and this very noticeable cowlick. Both were around the same height, and most likely the same build, and both were wearing glasses. The one with the wavy strawberry-blonde hair seemed to be talking to the other one (with hair colour that is more sandy-blonde) in a very serious manner, but the other is just laughing and seemingly teasing the other. Kiku would never heed this much attention on people – especially on strangers. But there was something about these two that fascinated him…specifically the one with the cowlick. He has this…positive glow around him.

Just then the lights changed to green, and the driver proceeded to drive on, but just at that moment, the boy with the cowlick turned his head and stared directly at the car. Or, directly at Kiku. Kiku felt a small spark of electricity when the boy's eyes (unintentionally and accidentally) made eye contact with his. Kiku wasn't exactly too far away to not make out the details of the boy. But the one thing that Kiku noticed right away was how the colour of the boy's irises are a clear-blue colour…just like that of the sky on a cloudless summer day.

This sudden contact lasted only for a split second, and Kiku quickly glanced down, feeling embarrassed, as the car started to move once again. They finally were able to make it to the dorm, which was located in a small, quiet neighbourhood nearby the academy. Yao still hadn't finished his talking as they neared a huge brick building with a small gated entrance in front of it and as they exited the car. After talking to the chauffeur, he helped Kiku out with his luggage and showed him inside.

"Alright, aru! This is where we'll both be staying at," Yao exclaimed as the duo entered through the door, at the entrance area of the building.

Nearby was a small desk there at the entrance, and behind it is where the phones are. Just a bit beyond the entrance, there one would find the living room, which was taken up an enormous amount of space. There was a T.V that was set up there and a few couches and these big bean bags lying around. There were also desks and chairs there also.

"The males stay in this dorm, while the females stay at another dorm building further down the street," Yao continued, showing Kiku to the front was a young woman sitting at the desk, and she was speaking with another student. She had a bit of a tanned colour to her, and she had dark brown hair that was swept into a messy bun.

"Mhm," she muttered to herself, looking through the list. "Grade nine…Letter G…Galante…Ravis…Ah! There you are! You'll be staying in room 109."

"T-Thank you, Miss," a small boy with dark blonde said in a shaky voice. Kiku wouldn't have noticed the young boy until he spoke up like that. The boy was quite short for a high school student, and he seemed more like he was in grade 6. He seemed kind of lanky, and his shoulders were a bit hunched over, like he was trying to make himself smaller. He started to pick up his bags (which were bigger and heavier than himself) and scurried away, but he accidently bumped into Kiku.

"A-ah!" He exclaimed, looking up at Kiku with worried deep-blue eyes. "I'm so sorry!" Before Kiku could even utter a reply, the boy dashed away without turning back.

"Hello Ms. Karpusi!" Yao said happily when the young woman was done speaking with the boy, pulling Kiku's attention towards the two. "I haven't seen you when I came here yesterday! How are you doing?"

"Oh, hello Yao!" the woman replied with a smile, looking at them with her teal-coloured irises, which intrigued Kiku. He had only come recently, and he had already seen such interesting features that these foreigners have. He also noted her accent, however, could not identify it.

"Yes, I wasn't here yesterday because I couldn't make it, so I'm here today to help out with the next load of students! And I'm doing well, thank you for asking."

"How was your summer vacation?"

"It went quite well. How was yours? I know you went back to China, but didn't you tell me you might be visiting your relatives in Taiwan?"

"Yes, I did have to go to Taiwan! I just wanted to visit one of my younger cousins. I haven't been there in a long time."

She noticed Kiku standing beside Yao, and said, "Who is this new face we have here, Yao?"

"Ah, this is one of my younger cousins. His name is Kiku, aru! He's in grade 9." Yao said proudly, pulling Kiku closer to him.

"U-um, hello," Kiku said timidly, not knowing what to say.

"Ah, so you're Kiku! Yao has told me a lot about you, Kiku. How you were quite an artist. It's nice to meet you, Kiku," she said, smiling kindly at him. "I'm Miss Karpusi. I was Yao's Arts teacher when he first came to this school. Tell me, what are you taking as your Art course for grade 9?"

"Uh-"

"Most likely you'll be teaching him, aru! He chose Visual Arts," Yao said before Kiku could reply.

"Oh, really?" She said happily, clasping her hands together. "That's great! I would love to see your artistic skills Kiku."

"Oh no, I'm not really good…" Kiku mumbled, before Yao interjected.

"What do you mean not really good? Kiku's really artistic, and he's always drawing."

"That's interesting. What kind of drawings?" She asked.

"Well, um…just random drawings," Kiku said, a bit embarrassed, glaring a bit at Yao for what he had said.

"What style of drawing though?"

"Uh-"

"He like drawing mostly in a manga style, aru."

"Oh! The Japanese style of cartooning," She said. "I don't always have cartoonists in my classes. Hopefully I get to have you in my class."

"Yeah…" Kiku said, not knowing how else to respond to her, and felt a bit awkward in this situation. He did not want to admit that small fact.

"Hey, Ms. Karpusi, don't you have a son that's in Grade 9? Isn't he going to be attending this school also?"

"Yes," Ms. Karpusi said. "He will be attending this year."

"I remember you telling me his name, but I can't remember it. What was his name again?"

"Heracles," she replied.

"Hey Kiku, maybe you might have him in one of your classes." Yao said, before noticing how out of place Kiku seemed in the conversation.

"Maybe he will," Ms. Karpusi said. "Maybe you'll see him in the hallways. Although, he doesn't really stand out much in a crowd."

"Mhm," Yao said, before switching the topic and asked, "So, Miss, can you please tell us which room Kiku will be staying at?"

"Oh! Of course. Sorry, I started to ramble on," Ms. Karpusi replied, with a small chuckle. She reached down to one of the four clipboards that lay in front of her. "All right, so Grade 9…Okay Kiku, what is your last name?"

"Honda," Kiku replied, before spelling out for her, "H-o-n-d-a."

"Uh-huh…H…Honda…Ah, there you are!" She said after flipping through the pages. She took a pen, and she started to cross his name out, after replying, "You'll be staying in room 215. Just take the stairs to the second floor. You'll find the keys to your room inside."

"Yes," Kiku replied, nodding. "Thank you, Miss."

"You're welcome," Ms. Karpusi replied, flashing her smile. "I'll see you two later, maybe."

"Yeah, see you later Ms. Karpusi, aru!" Yao replied back, and he started to make his way to the staircase nearby while helping Kiku carry some of his luggage. Kiku followed quickly behind him.

"She's a really good teacher, aru," Yao said as they walked up the stairs. "You'd be lucky to have a teacher like her. She's really kind, and she takes the time to help you out if you're in trouble."

After they finally made it up the stairs, they went down the hallways, searching for Kiku's room. They finally found the room after endlessly looking at the door numbers. Kiku noticed that the door room that was just across from Kiku's was wide open, and there was music that was playing loudly. It was in a foreign language that Kiku was not able to identify as. There were also plenty of yelling that was going on in the room to the right of Kiku's.

"Seems like you're stuck surrounded with a rowdy bunch, aru," Yao noted, and Kiku had to nod in agreement. It was quite unfortunate for Kiku to be stuck in a room surrounded by plenty of noise. This gave him a sure sign that he was no longer in the quiet comfort of Japan. Kiku was sure he was not going to get any peace during his stay here, and the years to come.

"Okay," Yao muttered to himself as he opened the door to Kiku's room, and entered with his luggage. "Here's where you'll be staying."

Kiku surveyed the room before him. It was a big spacious room, with a big window across from where Kiku was standing, and a single bed mattress set up horizontally against that wall. A white nightstand stood beside it. There was also a plain white desk that was set up on one side of the room, and a closet with drawers on the other. Kiku walked up to the middle of the room, and saw that there was a door that led to the private bathroom that was in all the rooms.

"Your uniform should be already set up in there," Yao continued to say, setting the bags in the middle of the room, tilting his head towards the closet. He then walked up to Kiku's desk and he opened one of the drawers, and pulled out a tiny yellow envelop. "Just add in your clothing, aru. And your keys are in this envelop, so remember to take them out and keeping them somewhere safe. You can start setting up the room to your liking if you want. "

He took out his cellphone out of his pocket and checked the screen. "It's about 11 o'clock right now…are you hungry? Or, do you want to take a small nap? You must be tired after that plane trip, aru."

"I would like to have something to eat…That is, after I'm done unpacking," Kiku replied, and placed a luggage on the bed. He started to unzip the zipper, and he continued, "Are you going to stay here, or…"

"Oh no, I'll leave you here alone to unpack, aru. I need to go check up on Yong Soo and Siu Chun," Yao said, and then exclaimed when he saw Kiku's questioning face, "Oh! I forgot to tell you on the way here! Yong Soo, Siu Chun and Mei-Mei already arrived a few hours before you!"

"Oh?" Kiku replied, taking out a pair of jeans out of the bag, before asking, "Where are Yong Soo and Siu Chun staying?"

"Hyeong? Why're you in here, daze~? Did you bring Kiku?" They heard a familiar Korean-accent voice call from the door entrance. Both boys looked towards the door, and they saw a tall figure peeking in. It was a boy who was around Kiku's age. He has short brown hair and brown irises, and was wearing a grey T-shirt, and jeans, along with a cap even though he was indoors. His eyes brightened up when he saw the two.

"Hyeong! You're here!" Yong Soo exclaimed towards Kiku, and was about to leap towards him, before he was pulled back by another boy.

"Yong Soo, please calm down," the boy said, holding him by the back of his shirt. The boy has short, choppy brown hair and brown irises similar to Yong Soo's, but a lighter shade. He also had these thick brown eyebrows, which might have been the most noticeable feature on him, other than the bright burgundy coloured duangua he had on.

"Siu Chun, stop pulling my shirt! It's going to stretch!" Yong Soo cried, waving him arms in a motion that was trying to shoo Siu Chun's hand away from his shirt.

"I'm called older brother to you," Siu Chun shot back, letting go of his shirt.

"But I don't need to call you that, daze~! You're just one month older than me!"

"Kiku's the same age as us and is only a few more months older than either of us! Why do you call him Hyeong?"

"Because I am used to calling him that. It's not like I want to or look up to him like Yao," Yong Soo mumbled in a childish tone, to which Siu Chun just sighed.

"Okay you two, aru," Yao said, starting to walk towards the entrance, and lightly shooing them out the door. "We have to leave Kiku alone so he can unpack his things."

"But, Hyeong! I'm hungry!" Yong Soo whined.

"We'll all go out for lunch after Kiku's done," Yao replied. "We'll also bring Mei-Mei with us, aru."

As Yong Soo and Siu Chun left, Yao turned towards Kiku and said, "When you're done, just come up to my room, aru. It's 309. It's just upstairs."

"Okay," Kiku replied.

"I'll see you later, then."

"Later, aru," Yao said, before closing the door behind him.

Although the door was closed, the music that was coming from the room across Kiku's was still audible. Kiku let out a tired sigh as he sat down on his bed. He suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion fall over him. Maybe it was the time difference from the plane ride. After staring blankly at the floor in front of him for a few minutes, not exactly thinking of anything in particular in mind, he proceeded to unpack his items.

He opened the closet, where he saw a set of the school uniform. There was one uniform with a dark red blazer, one with a vest, and one with just a plain white shirt. All three at an 'R' insignia on the right side of the chest area. Then there were the black uniform pants and the neck-ties. The school had you pre-order the uniform and send in measurements so that they can prepare it for you when you came to the school. It was just so things could be easier for the students, and they don't have to worry about something going wrong with the shipping or losing an item if they were to send it to the students.

Not bad, Kiku thought to himself, before he started to hang his shirts in side, and placed some folded clothing inside the drawers. He then proceeded to try on the uniform- just in case there was anything wrong with it. He tried on the one with the blazer, and he entered the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. The uniform fitted him, and after a few turns, he noted there was nothing wrong with it.

He was about to leave, but he found himself just staring at his reflection in the mirror. He glanced in dismay at his features. Jet-black hair, brown eyes…He found his appearance incredibly dull and boring. Just like how everyone else perceives him. Just like how his personality is.

Kiku doesn't believe it when Yao said that he's going to make friends here. Just because he's attending a new school, doesn't mean that anything's going to change. There's a reason why he didn't talk to anyone or befriended anyone in his school back home. Nobody took interest in him. He was just…there. Like a wallpaper. He's really quiet and shy…and nobody he knows would want to try and approach him. Kiku turned away from the mirror, and closed his eyes for a moment, before taking off his uniform and changing into his other clothes. He kept on unpacking until, finally, he had only one last item in his bag.

Mio. He held the bear in his hand and stared at its old, tired features. Uh-oh. Why did Kiku even bring it in the first place?

"This is so troublesome," he muttered to himself. He glanced around the room. There was no way he was going to leave in on the night stand like he did at home. He glanced towards the closet, before moving his view downwards towards the drawer. He walked up to the closet, and bent down to the bottom drawer. He opened it, and after giving it one final look, he placed it inside the drawer.

He stood up and surveyed the area a bit, before nodding, feeling accomplished. He glanced over to the clock that sat on his nightstand, and was a bit surprised to find that he spent more than an hour just to set everything out. He hoped that he didn't allow his cousins to starve just because they were waiting for him.

Kiku took the key to his room off his desk, and went out the door. He carefully locked the room, keeping what Yao had told him earlier in mind, and started to make his way down the hallways, before the door of the dorm to Kiku's right opened, and someone was pushed outside, with a voice yelling.

"Can't you leave me alone?! Go with that stupid Dane that you're always with!" He heard the voice say from the inside of the room. The person that was pushed out of the door was a boy with short light blond hair, with a cross barrette that pushed his hair up.

"I'm not leaving you until you address me by my rightful title," the boy with light blond hair said calmly towards another youth. This one was a bit shorter than him, and looked a bit younger. This one had short tousled silver hair, with a hint of violet in his irises.

"And what's that?" The boy asked, glaring.

The other boy stared at him for a second, before saying, "You have to call me big brother."

"E-Excuse me! No way am I calling you that!" The silver-haired boy said embarrassingly, reading to close the door, before the other boy stopped him by pushing against the door.

"C'mon Emile," the other boy said, still calmly. "You know you want to."

"Go away, Lukas!" the boy replied, still pushing the door, before he noticed that Kiku was standing there, since the other boy (Lukas) was blocking the way. "You should get out of the way too! You're blocking the hallway." Lukas turned around and also looked directly at Kiku.

"Oh," Lukas replied after staring at Kiku for a moment, before moving to the side. "Sorry."

While Lukas was distracted by Kiku, the other took the opportunity to shut the door and quickly locked it. Lukas turned towards the door. He stared at it for a few moments, before letting out a small sigh and started to walk down the hall. Okay, Kiku thought slowly, as the boy trail away. That was weird.

Well, now he knew who was going to be living to the room next to him now. Although he knows the person's name, Kiku knew it was barely a proper introduction. Kiku might introduce himself later…if that specific person wanted to know who he was, that is. Just when Kiku was going to go on his merry way, the door opened again and the silver-haired boy peeked through the door.

"I-Is…Is he gone?" The boy whispered, looking towards Kiku. Kiku wasn't sure whom he was talking to, and looked both sides. No one else was there. Was he talking to him?

"A-ah," Kiku stuttered. "Yes?"

The boy let out a deep breath, and opened the door fully opened and straightened himself up.

"Oh…good…" he said. "Sorry 'bout that. That guy that was here was my older brother. He was starting to be a pain to me, you know?"

"I see…" Kiku said. "Um, there's no need to apologise for that."

"Mhm," the other boy muttered, looking like he wanted to say something, but was first holding it back.

"U-um, are you the guy that's going to be living in the room next door?" the boy asked, pointing towards Kiku's dorm room. "I, uh, saw you coming outside there, and I'm not really sure…"

"Oh, yes," Kiku replied, with a small polite smile. "I'll be living in that room."

"Ohh," The boy replied, leaning against the doorway. "Well, I guess since we'll be dorm neighbours for the next 8 months, I might as well introduce myself. My name is Emile."

"My name is…Kiku... Honda," Kiku said, not believing that someone was actually willingly introducing themselves to him.

"Kiku?" Emile repeated to himself. "W-What grade are you in?"

"Grade 9," Kiku replied, and he saw a smile appear on Emile's face, and his body seemed to relax a bit.

"Really? Me too!" Emile said, and his voice sound more calm and not forced like before. "I'm glad that the person that's living beside me is in the same grade as me! I was kind of worried that it was someone older than me. That would've been weird, since already there are many older students living on this floor. I started thinking that I was the only on in grade 9 that'll be stuck on this floor, and there won't be anyone else I'd be able to know and feel comfortable around!"

"I was kind of worried about who I was going to be around too, to be honest," Kiku said, founding him feeling a bit more comfortable with conversing with this boy. He seemed like a friendly fellow. "Since I barely know anyone here expect for my cousins, but they're on different floors. "

"Yeah, I don't know anybody either, expect for my older brother, Lukas," Emile replied. "He's stuck on the fourth floor, but I guess it's a good thing. I get to have more space."

Kiku let out a small chuckle. "I guess it's the for same with me. My cousins can really...invade my space at times."

"I know what you mean," Emile said, rolling his eyes. "Well, that's relatives for you."

"Emile! What are you doing? You have to feed me!" Kiku heard a deeper voice call from inside Emile's room. Kiku looked at him questioningly. The voice didn't resemble a human's voice. It sounded more like...a type of bird?

"Geez, I just fed you 10 minutes ago!" Emile replied to the voice, before looking at Kiku and noticing his look of confusion. "Oh that's...uh...my puffin..."

"Your puffin?" Kiku said intriguingly, when suddenly, he saw a bird flew and landed square on Emile's shoulder, which took both boys by surprise.

"H-hey!" Emile said. "How'd you-"

"You can't keep me in a cage that easily," the bird replied, before glancing at Kiku. Kiku had seen this kind of bird -a puffin- in books, but he didn't know they can be kept as pets.

"You have to feed me, now!" the puffin said, nipping Emile's hair.

"Agh! Okay, okay, I will!" Emile grumbled, swatting his beak away. "Geez...So, uh, I guess I'll be seeing you later...Kiku right?"

"Yes," Kiku replied. "I might see you later too...Emile-san?"

"Yeah," Emile said with a small laugh, before turning away and shutting the door.

Kiku stood there for a moment, before continuing to make his way down the hallway towards the stairs to the floor above. What an interesting young boy that Emile was. Kiku wondered if he would be having him in any of his classes during the year. Hopefully he would. He doesn't seem like that bad of a guy. Kiku guessed he was lucky to have him beside him instead of someone else.

Kiku started to make his way up the stairs, and he couldn't help but smile to himself. Now he really can't wait to see what this year will hold for him.

A/N: Hello there readers! For this chapter, it was a big timeskip, but I just thought that it was neccessary. Also, this chapter is like a sort of introduction of the setting and certain characters that Kiku will be around and interacting with and, you know, to progress the story a bit, so...yeah, that's really this chapter is about XD I'm pretty sure the next one may be a bit more interesting than this one, because, to be honest, I found this one a bit...bland...erg.

Well, I'm not sure how you guys feel about it so...XD I don't know what else to type in this. I may as well thank you readers so much for continuing to read, favourite, follow and also for leaving a review this story! If you want, you can leave a comment/review of the story and point out anything I may have to improve on and such and...that's all I really have to say! I see (?) you guys at the next update! Bye :D