A/N: Thank you for the reviews and subscriptions! ^_^ This chapter is for jury28!
Sorry! Took a long time to update this story. Had a major writer's block in this chapter for a long time, I have rewritten it for three times in the past but can't get the feel I want to put into it so decided to delete all of it this morning and start again from scratch.
'thoughts', "dialogs", past
Thousandth Paper Crane
Rated: T
Summary: They met when they were kids then got separated by a tragedy. Reunited by fate. Only to be separated again, now by eternity. Playing against life and death, can they win? Now everything lies on the one thousandth paper crane and Fuji's last wish.
Chapter 02
"You're finally here," said a relieved voice as soon as Atobe and Echizen entered the dormitories.
"Kurosaki," Atobe acknowledged his presence. "Sorry we're late."
"It's alright. You made it before curfew," Kurosaki smiled. His eyes then moved to the boy beside Atobe. "You must be the new student, Echizen Ryoma-kun?"
Echizen bowed a little. "Yes. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Kurosaki Ryuu, the dorm leader, nice to meet you too," said the other. Kurosaki had long dark blue hair that was tied at the back of his head, his eyes were the unusual gray, and his height…around 177 cm. "You must be tired, right? Let's head to your room. Your things already arrived this morning."
"Can't Ryoma stay with Ore-sama?" Atobe asked as he followed the way Kurosaki was leading.
"Can't."
"Why?"
"Well, Tezuka-chan is already staying with you."
"Stop adding –chan to his name. Gross!"
Kurosaki laughed. "A room is only good for two. Can you actually ask Tezuka to transfer room just for your selfishness?"
Atobe frowned. "It's not for my selfishness. Ore-sama just thought that it would be easier for Echizen to adjust if he would stay with someone he knows."
"Hm. I think Echizen-kun will do fine even just by himself. Also, I found a great roommate for him." Kurosaki stopped in front of Room 427. "Here we are."
"Eh? Isn't this…" Atobe's voice trailed off.
KNOCK. KNOCK. The door opened, revealing a messed up person. Messed up? Well, that meant his hair was not combed, there were dark large bulges under both his eyes and obviously, he didn't have enough strength to even stand up properly.
"Eck? You alright, Akaya-kun?" Kurosaki was surprised to see the boy without any energy at all.
"Kurosaki-senpai…help!"
Kurosaki sighed. "What is it this time?"
"Impossible! There's no way I can finish the paper! Tomorrow's the submission!" Kirihara's voice was near to crying.
"Why don't you ask Yukimura? You both have the same course, right? He's one of the top students in your department." Atobe asked and this earned him a glare from Kirihara.
Kurosaki laughed. "I also told him that but he glared at me too. When I asked him why, he just said that he doesn't like Yukimura," he murmured to Atobe.
"Doesn't like Yukimura, huh," the diva muttered to himself. "To think that someone would actually dislike Yukimura. What exactly did he do?"
"Anyway, I brought your new roommate," Kurosaki introduced Echizen Ryoma though the seaweed hair didn't pay much attention. He was not interested and his mind was still caught in the whirl of the paper he needed to finish.
"Excuse him for now, Echizen. He must be worrying about his paper. He is a second year in ToDai, taking Literature," Kurosaki said. "There are not much of dorm rules. Just that nine pm is curfew. If you have any question. You can ask him or just approach me. You can also ask Atobe."
Echizen nodded.
"We'll be leaving now then."
"See you tomorrow, Ryoma," said Atobe.
"Uhn. Thanks."
It was already dark inside the dormitories. All lights were off except the light in Room 427. Akaya was still busy with his papers while Ryoma just finished unpacking his things.
"I'm going out," said Ryoma after he had showered. He wanted to have a little walk and needed some fresh air.
"You can't wander around the dorm at night," Akaya told him, his eyes still focused on the laptop. "The guards patrolling might catch you."
'Oh? At least he's still aware that he has a roommate.' "It's already morning though, one in the morning."
"That's not what I mean."
"It's alright. Just do what you need to do. You don't have enough time to mind other business."
Akaya turned to confront Echizen but the door was already closed. "How rude." He sighed. "But still, even if I won't sleep now, I won't make it in time." He yawned. "And I'm already sleepy."
"Quite dark," Echizen muttered to himself as he hopped down from the large window frame he was sitting in not so long ago. He decided to walk back to his room but halted walking when he felt a pair of eyes watching him from the shadows. "Stop hiding. I can feel your stare."
"What are you doing here?" the boy asked, stepping into Echizen's sight. But all Ryoma saw was the other guy's silhouette because of the moonlight reflecting in the window behind the guy. He was skinny and a bit taller than him. His hair was almost reaching his shoulders. "Dorm residents are not allowed to wander around during this time."
"Then how about yo—"
He was unable to finish his sentence when the boy suddenly grabbed and pulled him into the shadows.
"Wha—?" Lips immediately covered his. 'What the hell?'
Slowly, the boy opened his eyes, revealing the sharp cerulean ones and meeting Ryoma's golden eyes.
'Sharp blue, just like his.' Reminding Echizen of someone he loved from the past, he totally forgot about the situation he was currently in. The next thing he knew, he was already responding to the kiss. And he knew that the kiss was getting more passionate and hungrier when the guy licked his lower lip, asking for entrance which he complied without any second thought. They both battled for dominance but he lost and instead moaned into the pleasure which pulled his consciousness back to sanity. He heard several footsteps going away from their hiding place.
"The patrol's done. No one's around," a voice said.
"Was it just my imagination when I heard some people talking awhile ago?" said another voice.
"Aren't you hearing too much? Or maybe you really heard something. This building has some legends, you know?"
"Stop it. Anyway, let's go."
"Yeah."
They finally pulled away, silence followed which was only broken by their pants as they caught up with their own breaths.
"Sorry about that. That's the easiest way to shut you up," said the guy afterwards. He was perfectly calm, no hint of any disarray in his emotion. It was as if kissing some stranger was a normal thing.
"Bastard," Ryoma's voice was stern as he wiped his lips with the back of his palm.
The guy laughed lightly. "Don't wander anymore and go back to your room. Till next time."
Ryoma's eyes widened at this. Realizing the familiarity of the sound of his chuckle. "Wait! You—!"
But no one was around anymore. The guy whose face he hadn't even seen was nowhere near to be found.
Ryoma walked back to his room, still thinking about what happened and forcefully pushing it to the back of his mind when he saw someone leaving their room and walking away as quietly as possible. 'Kirihara?' But no, it wasn't him. Ryoma was sure the guy that left was taller than Akaya and he had far gentler curls on his longer hair compared to the seaweed guy.
"I'm back," said Ryoma but received no answer. He found Kirihara still sitting in his desk but was already snoring in front of the laptop. "He fell asleep."
He approached him, thinking of waking him up just in case he was not yet done and was having an unwanted sleep but he stopped half-way when he noticed a not so big comforter wrapped against his body. It was not like Akaya to put it himself. Ryoma checked the laptop and found out that the paper Akaya was working on was already done.
"I see," Ryoma muttered to himself before heading to his bed. He needed to sleep or else he'd be late on his first day.
Fuji did not even bother to turn on the light when he entered his room. He headed to his bed immediately and laid with a bit loud thud. He might be perfectly calm on the outside but he knew something was stirred deep inside him. He couldn't explain the other feelings that were surfacing but he identified one clearly: thrill.
It was the usual night for Fuji. Going out of his room in the middle of the night just to go to the rooftop and took a picture of the city at night. After taking pictures, he would stay there for awhile until past midnight. He was on his way to his room when he heard footsteps going down on the stairs. Out of curiosity, he followed the steps which brought him to the ground floor. There he saw, the perfect piece for his camera lens.
Not so soon later, the guy hopped down and neared the stairs but stopped halfway. "Stop hiding. I can feel your stare."
"What are you doing here?" Fuji asked, keeping the thoughts like 'How did you know I was watching you?' "Dorm residents are not allowed to wander around during this time."
"Then how about yo—"
Fuji did not have enough time to let the other finish his sentence when he heard the approaching voices. He pulled the other guy to where he was, wrapped his right arms to Ryoma's waist while his left hand worked at the back of the younger's neck. He took his lips without any hesitation before the guy started protesting.
He did not plan the kiss to be long. He was not the type to actually kiss some stranger but for some reason, impulse worked first before mind. He just thought that they needed not to be caught, that's all, so why was he actually enjoying the kiss and was a having pleasure in doing it? Addition to the shock he felt because of his own action was the fact that the other was responding to him. His right arm around Ryoma's waist loosened and his left hand moved to the right cheek of Ryoma. He knew he was losing it especially when he heard the moan from the other so he was thankful that the voices of the patrol guards got louder as they approached their place. It stopped him from getting carried away.
"Sorry about that. That's the easiest way to shut you up," Fuji finally found the words he needed to say.
"Bastard," the madness and strain in the other's voice was obvious but Fuji found this rather interesting. To actually hear those words from someone who enjoyed the kiss.
He chuckled. "Don't wander anymore and go back to your room. Till next time." Yes, till next time because Fuji knew that he would meet the boy again. He was confident to the point that he decided that there was no need to get his name.
"Welcome back," said Fuji with a smile when he heard the click of the door.
"I'm back," Yukimura replied. He turned the lights on and found Fuji looking at the screen of his camera. "I did not know you were still up."
"You came to his room, right? How was he doing?"
"Not good if I had not checked him."
"Good thing you're watching over him then. It still makes me wonder though why you are interested in someone who shows hostility openly towards you."
Yukimura smiled. "Don't you think it's more exciting that way? Being liked all the time is boring."
"Indeed, it is." Fuji laughed and finally looked up from what he was doing. Yukimura met his eyes and noticed the unusual excitement reflecting on them.
"Did something happen? You're in a good mood."
Fuji's smile widened. "You could say that. I finally found a good subject for my camera."
'To think that someone actually caught Syuu-chan's eyes.' Yukimura turned the lights off and headed to his bed. "Now, I want to meet that subject of yours."
"Soon, Sei-chan. Good night!" Fuji put the camera on the side table.
"Good night!" Yukimura's eyes caught the picture on the screen of the camera before it turned off. Wind blowing the dark olive green hair and full moon reflecting on golden eyes as the boy sat beside the big window and leaned his back idly at its frame. Yukimura's eyes narrowed when he realized who the subject Fuji was referring to. 'Echizen Ryoma, huh. How would he react?'
to be continued...
