Chapter 5 (Miki)
Today was likely to be the first time in the entire week of school that she was actually in her shared dorm room for activities that did not involve her bed and dream land, Miki realized belatedly. The brown-haired teen tapped her pencil against her table as she hummed in thought.
Granted, Miki was not particularly close to her part-Austrian roommate yet, but she was pissed when she spotted several girls from her class being bullies. She did not know if today's incident was the first of it but had a feeling it wasn't. Confronting the bullies confirmed her thoughts. Miki had to scoff at how easy they were to find – one did the deed and the rest gathered like bees to a flower. All she had to do was find the… assailant.
It probably helped that she saw the orange, long-haired member of Starish had stopped to assist the pushed teen. It soothed her conscience as she left her roommate in search of the group of idiots.
"Why do you care?" The one who pushed Ichijo Aria on the stairs growled, sneering even as she and her group of minions (as Miki was calling them in her head) backed into a corner. Miki had to resist the urge to roll her eyes – yes, she lookedweak, but looks could be deceiving, aye?
"Because, you blubbering idiots," Miki had snapped sarcastically in response, ignoring the way the (definitely) older teens startled at her tone, "attacking a school mate for whatever reason makes you oh-so scary." She raised an eyebrow. "I'm extremely tempted to report you to Tsukimiya-sensei."
Obviously gathering up false bravado, the one who pushed her roommate sneered at her, though it was weak. "It's not like she stolethe person you love," she snapped, and Miki raised her eyebrow again.
"Oh really?" she said overly-sweetly. As much as the two in question wanted to keep their engagement a secret… well, the school's grapevine was pretty darn awesome. "Well then, tell me," Miki started, crossing her arms, "does Hijirikawa Masato even knowof your existence?"
Ooh, they flinched. Miki grinned. "Case in point," she declared. "I'm giving you three options, " she told them without missing a beat. "One," she held up a finger, "you apologize to Ichijo-sanand stop being idiots. Two," she held another one up, "confess to the teacher and let them take action against you. Three," she held up a final finger, "You do nothing and I report you anyway."
She smiled, looking perfectly innocent – which, apparently, was even scarier compared to her 'angry smile' (according to Saeki, anyway). "Well then, what'll it be?"
The door opening jolted her out of her thoughts, and Ichijo Aria raised an eyebrow at her rather elegantly (how is thatpossible, Miki wondered, then wrote it off as part of her roommate's upbringing). "The elusive Oikawa Miki," she said teasingly, though a bit of surprise colored her voice. "How nice of you to finally grace me with your presence."
Miki tried. She really could not help it – she had been holding herself back from doing it for an entire week. "Ooooo~" she cooed in a ridiculously high-pitched voice. "Is a pretty girl!"
Said pretty girl stared at her for a moment. She shook her head in bemusement as she placed her bag on her study table. "You're… interesting," Aria said hesitantly. Miki grinned.
"You can outright tell me I'm insane, Ichijo-san," she reported. "Or weird. Or demented. Or crazy. Or—"
"All of the above," Aria cut in with a smile and Miki giggled. "And call me Aria. Ichijo-sanmakes me feel like I'm my dad."
"Only if you call me Miki," the younger chimed. "By the way, your hand okay?" she asked, gesturing to the bandage on her finger. Aria blinked at her before smiling mildly. She said nothing about the matter though, instead choosing to question her.
"What made you decide to come into the room today?" Aria asked, pulling out her chair and sitting down in one fluid movement. Miki smiled sheepishly.
"Well, about that…" she scratched the back of her head. "I... have been hiding out in one of the empty classrooms."
Aria blinked at her. "And why is that?"
Miki giggled a little sheepishly. "Well… my brother and I were on Skype chat while playing a zombie apocalypse game on multiplayer," she answered. "We have a tendency of screaming. Loudly. I figured you'd hate the noise, so…"
The elder quirked an eyebrow at her. "If you say so," she said a little skeptically, turning her chair around to face her table – presumably to start on her homework. Figuring their conversation was over, Miki turned back to her own homework without another word.
Aria would learn about her confrontation with her bullies later, then.
As she stared at her homework assignment, though, her mind proceeded to drift off yet again. Frowning, Miki tossed her pencil down and stretched in her seat.
Since it was already running away from the matter at hand (damn you, brain!), she figured it would not hurt to replay her encounter with Syo a few days prior.
Miki had been hiding out in one of the empty classrooms after classes ended and had just started the Skype call with her brother when the door opened. Surprised, she stood up and was about to apologize when she realized who exactly had entered the classroom she occupied.
"Ooooo~" went her high-pitched cooing while her brother's chuckles came over the speakers, "Is a chibi!"
"Miki!" The aforementioned chibi exclaimed in shock even as she darted forward. "Hah, you're shorter than m—Oy!"
In the split second needed for Syo to compare their heights, Miki had grabbed hold of his beloved fedora and darted back to the table where she had set up her laptop. "Look, nii-san, Syo-kun's fedora!" she exclaimed happily to her laptop's built-in microphone. Saeki laughed.
"Yes, yes, Miki, it's Syo's fedora," he agreed amicably. "Now move out of the webcam's way so I can see—Ooooo~ Is a chibi!"
"Stop picking at my height!" Syo shouted, frowning. "And Miki's shorter than me now!"
"Not if I wear my platforms, bitch!" Miki yelled at him, giggling. Saeki's constrained chuckles burst into full-blown laughter and Syo sighed.
"Whatever did I do to deserve you two as friends, seriously," he muttered, bemoaning his fate before he looked like he remembered something and turned to the female with a grin. "So, how wasthat chocolate-and Tabasco muffin?"
Miki stopped laughing at that, though Saeki laughed even harder – and from the looks of the webcam feed and the sounds coming through the speakers, he fell off his seat.
"Ramen and a coffee pot," Miki deadpanned, and Syo's grin was effectively wiped off his face.
"Damn it, Miki," Syo grumbled, looking like he was trying not to pout. "You promised to never mention it again."
"I had to," she grumbled back in kind. "You try eating chocolate-and-Tabasco muffins!" Judging by the sounds in the background, Saeki was having trouble getting back onto his seat – he was laughing thathard.
"Syo-chaaaaaaaaan~" a new voice entered the scene, and Miki looked around, curious. Syo, on the other hand, groaned.
"Miki," he said with a resigned sigh, "meet your otherbrother."
That got Saeki to shut up and get back onto his chair properly, for his face quickly reappeared on the webcam. "Whatother brother?" the Oikawa siblings said in unison. Their answer came in the form of the only bespectacled member of Starish, who bounded into the classroom happily.
"Ooooo~" went the Oikawa siblings after a moment's pause. "Is not a chibi!"
"Stop picking on my height!" Syo yelled with a loud groan. The glasses wearing teen blinked, a confused smile on his face.
"Uh… thank you?" he said carefully, and Syo sighed again.
"Natsuki, meet Oikawa Miki." Miki waved at him cheerily while playing with Syo's fedora. "On the laptop screen is her older brother, Saeki." He did the same, though via webcam and without the fedora playing. "Miki, Saeki, meet Shinomiya Natsuki, fellow Starish member. Do not eat his cooking and do not take his glasses off."
Miki blinked, tilted her head to one side, and blinked again. "Glasses?" she echoed, looking up at Natsuki curiously. When she made to reach out and take it off, Syo quickly intercepted her by pulling her back with his hand around her waist.
"Seriously Miki. No," Syo said with a sigh. Miki tilted her head at him with a pout, and Natsuki chuckled. From the laptop in the back, there was a laugh from Saeki.
"Syo, unhand my sister before I smack you with my walking stick."
"Yes, yes," Syo agreed immediately. "And on that note…" he quickly snagged his fedora back from the younger teen as he released her, "fedora mine. No touchy."
Miki pouted at him. "Okay, chibi," she answered, and Syo growled. Natsuki chuckled again and walked over to him.
"It's okay, Syo-chan! Look! You're at the perfect height for me to do this!" The glasses-wearing teen reached out and started patting Syo on the head, which caused Miki and Saeki to start laughing. He did it with a perfectly innocent smile, too, which served to make the Oikawa siblings laugh harder.
Syo's growl that did nothing to deter the taller teen's action might have had something to do with it, too.
"Miki," Saeki called despite being a little out of breath due to laughing, "we should get started. You were the one who said you wanted to clear that map today."
"Yes I wanna clear that map!" Miki exclaimed, suddenly the epitome of seriousness as she went back to sit in front of the laptop. She loaded the game before blinking and turning back to a bemused Syo and a confused Natsuki. "Syo-kun, Shinomiya-san, do you two want to watch?" she asked, looking completely innocent once again.
The two Starish members exchanged glances before they shrugged, Natsuki sitting down beside her and Syo on her other side. "This better be good," Syo grumbled good-naturedly. Saeki laughed.
About ten minutes into the game, Syo took notice of a particular item in the game and groaned. "Natsuki, plug your ears," he warned the taller teen, doing exactly that.
"What?" went the other blonde, confused.
"Nii-san, there's nothing here. Let's move on already."
"Okay, hang on, lemme check—"
"BARRELS!" the siblings yelled in unison, and Natsuki jumped. Syo took a look at his roommate's face… and laughed.
Dragging herself out of her thoughts, Miki grinned. 'Fun times,' she thought to herself.
The fact that it made her homework thatmuch easier to do helped. All the ideas…
Briefly, Miki regretted not going into the composing course, but shook her head to rid herself of that thought. 'It's for nii-san,' she told herself firmly. 'I'll make sure his dream comes true. For both of us.'
Author's Note: Miki seems to be turning into a comic relief character, don't you think?