AN: I'm back for this fifth chapter wooooo. I apologize for not updating for OVER TWO YEARS, geez man, when will I actually get back to writing more consistently? I can't really give you any excuses for my lack of writing. Please RnR!
It was early morning at the academy, the air cool from yesterday's rain. A breeze drifted through the open window of room 5DS and tickled Sherry's neck, waking her up. She pressed her eyelids together tightly before opening them slowly to adjust them to the light. Aki was fast asleep, cuddled up against her and murmuring something. Sherry stiffened at the realization she was sleeping in the same bed as her friend before relaxing a bit and closing her eyes. The day was still young after all.
Just seconds after her decision to sleep in, there were five sharp knocks on the door. Groaning, she got up from the bed and stretched her arms before sleepily approaching the door and opening it. There in front of her stood a significantly shorter dark haired girl with the strangest glasses she'd ever seen and a set of conservative blue pajamas.
"Do you... do you have any pads?" the girl asked in a hurried and hushed voice. "My roommate forgot to pack some on her trip here and her period just started and she's freaking out and she's in the bathroom crying and oh my lord you have to help me!" Sherry nodded firmly and dashed into the room, rummaging through her belongings before handing the toiletries to the girl outside. "God bless!" She scampered off down the hallway and into room "5DE." The blonde closed the door and glanced at Aki who had slept through the recent events.
"Guess I'll shower," Sherry muttered to no one in particular, grabbing a change of clothes from her stuffed drawers along with a towel. She went into the bathroom and looked around. The pure white porcelain sink had a small wooden cabinet attached to its bottom, most likely filled with cleaning materials and toilet paper rolls. A small window let in enough sunlight that she didn't need to turn on the lights. The shower curtain was an opaque sheet of light purple plastic. Shoving it aside, there was a strange square shaped bathtub that was flush on three of its sides to the white tiled walls. Everything looked extremely clean.
She was confused by the single knob attached to the wall and the silver faucet beneath it. Sherry turned it to the right and water began to flow out of the faucet. Upon testing it, it was ice cold. She turned it further to the right and nearly burned her hand. "Ugh, why does this knob not have an arrow to indicate where it is on the cold to hot scale...?" she wondered, turning the knob back to a happy middle ground. "Now how do I start the shower...?" Sherry didn't see a small plug to pull on the faucet that would redirect water to the shower head above. She pulled the knob on the wall towards her and warm water from the shower head soaked her face. French expletives filled the small room.
Aki sleepily blinked her eyes, sitting up on the bed and yawning. She looked to her side and noticed that Sherry was gone. The redhead flopped back onto the bed, groaning at the loss of heat. She sat back up grumpily and gathered a change of clothes from her bed-drawer thing that she didn't understand but saw as efficient. Then she stormed into the bathroom, still rubbing her eyes. When Aki removed her hand from her face, she noticed Sherry standing in the room with a towel wrapped around herself. Their eyes met for a second.
There was a dark blush on the blonde's face as she shoved the Japanese girl out of the room and slammed the door closed. Still disoriented from having only woken up a few minutes ago, Aki looked at the bathroom door with a confused expression before suddenly realizing she forgot to knock before entering. And that Sherry was only wearing a towel. Three minutes later, the young Frenchwoman came out of the bathroom fully dressed and with a very embarrassed look on her face.
"Sherry, I'm so sorry. I thought no one was inside," Aki apologized, giving the blonde a look that reminded her of a kicked puppy.
"It's alright. I didn't use the lights because the window was letting in enough sunlight," Sherry replied, dumping the clothes she'd worn yesterday into the hamper at the end of her bed. She hadn't noticed it during her initial look at the room for some reason. "Once you're done showering, we could make plans for the day." There had been a mix up in the schedules for the students so classes were held back until the fifteenth of September, which was an entire week away.
As soon as Aki had entered the bathroom, there was a loud knocking on the door. Rolling her eyes in frustration, Sherry opened the door for the second time that morning. There stood Crow, the man she'd seen yelling at Jack yesterday. He was wearing a brown vest with a sleeveless yellow undershirt and dirt covered jeans and boots. Squinting a bit, Sherry noticed that there were patches of dirt on Crow's hands and arms as well.
"You're Sherry LeBlanc, right?" he asked, clearing his throat. She nodded and he squinted back at her, clicking his tongue in an impatient manner as he tapped a red pen against a clipboard in his hand. "Report to the cafeteria on the third floor in half an hour for a scheduled announcement. Oh and bring Ms. Izayoi as well." Crow suddenly looked around cautiously and asked in a low voice, "Did I do that professionally enough?"
The young Frenchwoman used every bit of her willpower to keep from giggling as she answered him, "Yes. You did alright. You're a caretaker here, right?"
"Yeah I am," the redhead grumbled, glaring down in the direction of his shared room. "Stupid Jack piled up a mountain of dirt from the lawn in front of our room as a temporary 'door', leaving me to have to dig through it all just to get out. Jack-ass more like." Crow suddenly peered into their room curiously. "Hey, where is your roommate anyway?"
"She's in the bathroom. I'll take her downstairs after she's done." And at that, the redhead disappeared down the stairs, most likely to wake up or disturb students. Sherry closed the door and sat down on her bed, glancing at her empty and deflated looking duffle bag sitting on the floor next to her feet. "Forgot to pick it up last night..." It was rolled up and tucked into her suitcase in the corner of the room. Now all she had to do was wait for Aki to get out of the bathroom...
When Sherry arrived at the third floor with Aki, she felt a hand hold onto hers tightly. "Aki, what's the matter?" The redhead looked away nervously. "Are you not feeling well?"
"I... I'm nervous about going inside. I'm not good with dealing with people," Aki admitted shyly. "Will you help me, Sherry?" She was giving the look again. The blonde gulped and nodded without hesitation, ignoring the rising heat in her face. Anything for a friend, right?
The pair entered the cafeteria through the double doors and the first thing they saw was Crow and Jack bickering with a very small crowd of students around them. Crow was standing on top of the table, at last eye-to-eye with his extremely tall co-worker. "I've been telling you over and over again. We are NOT serving cup ramen as breakfast today!" the carrot top screamed, jabbing a finger into Jack's chest.
The blond looked like he was about to explode from how red his face was. Sherry pondered for a moment if steam would begin coming out from his ears. "Well what else are we going to do?! The oven literally broke into a bajillion pieces!" His pale, muscular arm back handed the air to gesture towards the kitchen where a giant pile of metal scrap could be seen just past the doorway. A few of the students audibly laughed at how obvious it was. Jack turned to face the small crowd. "We're buying you all McDonalds. We can't cook anything today because Crow punched the oven too hard."
"McDonalds for breakfast?"Aki echoed, looking confused. "Is that a good idea, Sherry?" Sherry shrugged.
"I've never had anything from McDonalds before. I usually cook for myself at home," the French girl replied. "Il ne peut pas être si mauvais." She suddenly realized she'd spoken in French and cleared her throat. "I've heard good things about it, mostly from my American friends. They strongly suggested any of the hamburgers."
"I don't think McDonalds has hamburgers this early, Sherry..." Aki closed her eyes in thought, leaning against Sherry's arm. She was wondering if America did in fact serve hamburgers for breakfast. The blonde also pondered on this thought.
"Izayoi and LeBlanc!" The two girls opened their eyes, awakened from their brainstorming. Crow stood in front of them with a notepad in hand. "What do you two want to eat?"
"Do they serve hamburgers right now?" Aki asked boldly. Crow shook his head and the Japanese girl almost looked disappointed.
"Nope. Only after 10:30 and it's like... 8 right now. Do you two want pancakes or a random breakfast sandwich?"
Aki looked confused. "What's a pancake?"
About half an hour later, Jack and Crow arrived with armfuls of plastic bags with the classical golden arch logo on them. "Breakfast is ready, kiddos!" Crow yelled as he stomped into the cafeteria area. Loud cheering echoed through the large room as the two men placed the food in a large pile on the biggest table. Students quickly grabbed what they wanted and dashed off to eat with their new friends.
Sherry grabbed two plastic containers with what looked like pancakes and some plastic utensils. She then elbowed her way through the crowd and rejoined Aki at a small table that was very close to the door. "I have a lot of trouble believing you'd never heard of pancakes until today," Sherry said, cutting into hers with a plastic knife. The redhead was still a bit pink from embarrassment.
"It's a bit tough..." she said after her first bite. "It reminds me of a very thin cake that wasn't made with enough egg." Aki paused in thought. "Or like the towel I used this morning..." The redhead began to poke the unfinished pancake with her fork.
"Agreed." They both put down their utensils. "Oh... I'm already homesick for France," Sherry groaned, resting her forehead on the table. "Where is a crêpe when you want one...?"
"Hoshii gohan..." Aki mumbled, sighing. Her expression suddenly brightened as if she'd realized something. "Sherry, come closer!" she urged, beckoning the blonde towards her. "I have to whisper something to you." Hesitantly, Sherry leaned across the table, her long hair falling over her shoulder as she turned her ear to Aki. The redhead breathed in and whispered, "There are snacks in my other suitcase." And at that, the two went back upstairs to their room, their leftover pancakes sitting all alone on the table.