AN: Hello, Chapter 3 :)

Nothing to say here, but...

Enjoy~

*Not beta read, Mistakes likely to be present.

"Phew, looks like that's about it," Kyouya wiped the sweat of his face with the back of his hand as he finished putting away the final few items. The room, once empty and devoid of character, now felt like his own. One cool thing about the room was that there was a button on the wall that allowed you to change the colours of the walls at will. Kyouya understood little how exactly it worked, but he took advantage of this extremely advanced technology to change the walls to a stone shade of blue. These same walls, previously bare, were now adorned with posters of his favorite artistes, bands and composers, along with some anime and video games he enjoyed. A small bookshelf held his collection of various books, including music theory books and manga, organized neatly alongside a few personal mementos. His bed was covered with a checkered comforter in various shades of blue, matching the soft, plush rug that lay before it. Kyouya had even placed a few small potted plants on the windowsill, their green leaves adding a touch of life to the room. Finally, his most prized possession— his guitar, polished and gleaming, rested on a stand in the corner, looking as new as the day he got it. Kyouya smiled at the final result of his work in decorating his room. As he took a step back to admire everything, a sense of satisfaction filled him. Now, the room felt like a true sanctuary— a place for him to find rest, relaxation and inspiration.

The chime of the doorbell suddenly rang through the room, and Kyouya went over to see who was on the other side. The door slide open and, to his surprise, behind it was Yuuki.

"Hey, Kyouya-kun! Guess what, guess what? I'm in Dorm 117, so that means I'm your dorm neighbour! Isn't that so super cool?!" The boy jumped up and down, so fast Kyouya had started to wonder if he was simply vibrating rapidly.

"Ah, Takahashi-kun," Kyouya greeted. "Hey, that's cool! Pretty nice I will be right next door to someone I've already met."

Yuuki's head bobbed up and down in agreement, "Yup, yup, yup! So, so, so! Wanna have a look-see in my room, or ooh! Can I look through your room first? Please, please, pleaseeeee!"

Kyouya chuckled at the boy's eagerness, and held his hands up, "Alright, alright, sure."

Yuuki's eyes immediately shone with joy and he hopped past the brown-haired boy and into his room. "Yay, I get to see Kyouya-kun's room!" He jumped all about the room, observing the different little things he had around his room— Yuuki examined the posters on his wall, skimmed through several books on his shelf, admired the cute little plants on the windowsill, and finally made his way over to the guitar that sat in the corner. "Wooow... so this is Kyouya-kun's guitar, huh? It's incredible..."

"Isn't it?" Kyouya walked up to the boy with a smile on his face as he joined in appreciating the guitar that he owned. It was a Stratocaster with a striking blue colour, a pickguard of silvery chrome and an overall glossy finish. "This guitar," he went over and picked it up from his stand, holding it in a position that made it seem like he was ready to play, "has been with me through a lot." He gently ran his fingers over the strings. "It's got this amazing sound— warm, full and just... perfect. It's like it understands what I want to express."

Yuuki was in awe, then noticed something on the body of the guitar. "Hey, Kyouya-kun, is that writing on there?"

Kyouya looked down to where the boy pointed, "Oh, yeah. It's an autograph. I got the chance to meet one of my favourite artistes in person after one of her concerts, and she signed my guitar for me." He traced a finger around the signatured writing, which read 'Lily'. He smiled as he thought of the warm hug the celebrity had given him, the embrace holding the same level of warmth that someone gave to their friend of many years after ages spent apart, her blue eyes shimmering as he told her how much he admired her, the shining smile when she'd given him her autograph, a smile that held the top position for something the vivacious blonde beauty was well-known for, aside from her music. "That was one of the best days of my life, I don't think I'll ever forget it."

...

...

"Hm? Takahashi-kun?"

A few seconds of silence passed, and Kyouya looked to where Yuuki stood— or rather, where he once stood, as he was now seated on his bed, bouncing on the springy mattress.

"Kyouya-kun, your bed is so super springy-bouncy!" He then ceased his bouncing, and scurried over to the door. "Anyway, now that I've seen your room, come see mine!"

Kyouya simply stood staring at the hyper boy, a bit slack-jawed. 'This guy is really hyper... His attention span is like a little kid's.'

"Huh? What are you just standing there looking at me for? You don't wanna see my room?"

"Oh, s-sorry. Hold on, I'm coming." Kyouya placed his prized guitar back onto its stand and followed Yuuki to his room.

. . . . . .

To say Kyouya was surprised at the look at Yuuki's room would be a lie, as it honestly looked about how he'd expected it to— the walls were a soft, warm shade of pink, with pops of bright orange in the form of decorative accents like throw pillows and even streamers thrown about the room. His bedcovers were also a mix of pink/orange, with a handmade crochet blanket with patterns of blue and white draped over the bed. The bed itself was flanked by a nightstand cluttered with small crafting tools, like knitting needles, crochet hooks and yarn spools, all placed in baskets. Across the room, a small crafting corner was set up with a desk covered in balls of yarns and stacked fabric squares. Above that desk were shelves of jars of buttons and beads and other knick-knacks, all seemingly organized by colour. Across was a sewing machine, surrounded by colourful threads. The floor was covered with a plush rug featuring more pinks and oranges, and a few handmade plush toys were scattered about the room. The whole vibe of the room certainly matched Yuuki's vibrant and dynamic personality. The only thing that really surprised Kyouya was, well...

"It's a lot neater than I thought it'd be, honestly," he said aloud. It wasn't even all that neat, generally speaking, but considering it was Yuuki's room, it was better than he'd anticipated. Yuuki pouted.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Just because I'm all over the place doesn't mean the stuff in my room will be too!"

'Huh?' was Kyouya's confused thought. 'That's kind of an odd thing to hear you admit, Takahashi-kun.'

"Anyway, is that all you have to say about my room, Kyouya-kun?" Yuuki was clearly expecting a more expressive response, which Kyouya unfortunately hadn't given him.

"Well, it's very you," the brunette spoke, looking around the room once more with a smile. "It's full of life— just like you. I can tell you put a lot of effort into it."

Yuuki's pout quickly turned into a grin as he spun in place, clearly pleased with the compliment. "Yay, I'm happy you think so! A room should be a place to relax and play around in, dontcha think? Making things is really fun for me, so I have everything I could want or need to do that right here!"

"I can see that, you've got a whole setup going on here," Kyouya gestured towards the crafting corner. He walked over to one of the plush toys and picked one up. It was a ginger cat plush, with rosy cheeks, glittering eyes and a little pink bowtie for an accessory. "This is pretty cool, Takahashi-kun. You've got a real talent here. Hey, have you ever sold any of the stuff you've made?"

Yuuki shook his head fervently, "Nuh-uh. I feel waaaayyy too attached to the stuff I make to ever exchange them for a few hundred yen to some randos, especially my precious plushies!" He hopped over to Kyouya and gently took the cat plush from his hands into his own. "I've named them all, y'know? This one right here is Keihi-san, he's one of my favourite ginger cat with a bowtie plushies that I've made!"

'Not your favourite plushie, not your favourite cat plushie, and not even your favourite ginger cat plushie either,' Kyouya thought with a sweatdrop, 'Just how many ginger-cat-with-bowtie plushies do you have, anyway?'

"Sometimes I make too much, though, and my mom says I can't keep them all, so I give them to my cousins, friends and stuff. Oh!" Just then, Yuuki's eyes lit up and he jumped up and down, "Kyouya-kun, I'll make a plush specially for you! One for you, one for Miku-chan, and Piko-kun, and Yukari-chan, and all the other friends I'll make here!"

Yuuki's sudden burst of energy startled Kyouya just a bit, but he quickly recovered, saying, "Thanks, Takahashi-kun, I appreciate the thought. I bet Hatsune-san and Utatane-kun (yes, he remembered Yuuki's mother mentioning his surname) will appreciate it, and uh," that last name he said... "Yukari-san... Hey, did this 'Yukari' happen to have lavender hair, styled in pigtails?"

"Hm?" Yuuki seemed to think for a moment, then jumped up. "Yeah, that's her! She was there earlier when we were waiting to register! So you saw her, huh?"

"Yeah, I did. We never really got to talk, though."

"Well, she seemed really nice and stuff, and she likes rabbits! I know 'cause I asked her if she did when I saw her wearing that hoodie with the rabbit ears. Oh, I know! For Yukari-chan, I'll make a super-cute rabbit plushie!" Yuuki spoke, but Kyouya began to slowly tune him out once he mentioned how nice she was.

'Yeah, she did seem pretty nice, her dad on the other hand...' He couldn't get over the way the man glowered him down in the main building earlier, it was so strange. Had it just been because he'd bumped into Yukari and made her drop her phone. It was an accident, though... Was it because he was being wary of a boy he'd witnessed his daughter talking to a boy that was her age? He knew some dads could be overprotective, but he barely even said anything to the girl, and certainly nothing to warrant such a reaction. Heck, he spoke pretty easily with Miku, and her dad wasn't totally pissed about it. Maybe he was just tired and wanted to get out of the building as soon as possible, he did say he didn't want to dawdle...

"Hey, Kyouya-kun, let's check out the rest of the dorms! I bet there's more cool stuff to see, and I wanna see them!"

Once again, Kyouya had to be broken out of thought. He turned to Yuuki, who had discarded the plush onto his bed and was already standing by his doorway, waving to the boy to follow along with him.

'Eh, why not? I haven't got much else to do.'

With that, the two boys left Yuuki's room. Admittedly, Kyouya actually felt a bit more at ease after seeing how perfectly the space reflected Yuuki's personality and he couldn't help but think about how unique the other boys' rooms would probably be. The two had moved to the other door that was right beside Kyouya's, Dorm 115. Yuuki knocked on the door, the rhythm similar to a song that Kyouya recognized as one that was super popular on the radio a few years back, and the two waited for a response. After about 5 seconds, the door slid open, revealing a tall boy with short, dark-greyish hair and a steely-grey gaze. His expression told Kyouya clearly that he was not at all pleased by the sudden appearance of him and Yuuki at his door, but Yuuki didn't seem to take note of it as he gleefully spoke.

"Hi, hi~! I'm Takahashi Yuuki, and this is Kyouya-kun!"

"Miyazaki Kyouya," the boy carefully added, as he watched the boy's features grow slightly more and more annoyed with each passing second.

"Kyouya-kun here is my dorm neighbour, and he's also your dorm neighbour, so I guess that makes you and me the dorm neighbours of each other's dorm neighbour— Duo-Dorm Neighbours!" He threw his hands in the air, fingers splayed as if letting out bundles of confetti from his palms.

...

A moment of silence passed after Yuuki made that exclamation, and the three boys simply stood there, two in the hallway, and the other in his doorway. Kyouya was growing increasingly more and more discomfited by the way the boy's eyes just stared hard at the two, as if attempting to look straight through them, or pierce through their beings with just his gaze. Kyouya glanced down at Yuuki, whose hands were still raised high and face was still made in a way that made it seem like the current situation was not incredibly awkward. He decided he should clear the weirdness among the three, and cleared his throat. "Um—"

"You two don't seem like any sort of school official or admin personnel." Oh, never mind. Seems the boy took it upon himself to start the 'conversation' once more. "You don't have any of those ID badges those people are supposed to have, and neither of you look particularly competent enough to be able to qualify for such a role either way, so why are you here?"

Now that was not something he was expecting the boy to say. Kyouya's brows furrowed in offence, "Whoa, hey. Don't look 'competent' enough? What's that supposed to mean?"

The boy shrugged, and closed his eyes. "Just calling it how I see it. You two honestly seem more like a couple of layabouts who stumbled in from the streets than anyone who'd actually have any business being here." Then something seemed to occur to him, "Wait, don't tell me you two are starting school here, too?"

"Yes, we are actually, if it wasn't already obvious," Kyouya replied, rather vexed by the way the boy spoke to him and Yuuki. "What's it to you?"

Kyouya wasn't sure if it was him confirming that they are new students, or the admittedly curt way of asking why it mattered to him, but either way, the boy grew even more annoyed after he spoke up.

"Tch. Seriously? I thought that Yamaha was supposed to only accept the best of the best, or at the very least, people who actually have some sort of real skillset and don't just coast by on luck or whatever connections they might have." The boy's eyes narrowed, sizing up Kyouya and Yuuki with a disdainful glare. "But looking at you two, I'm starting to wonder if they've lowered their standards or something."

Kyouya felt his irritation rising, the boy's condescending attitude grating on his nerves. "And what exactly makes you think we don't belong here?" he shot back, trying to keep his voice steady despite his growing frustration.

The boy crossed his arms, leaning back with a sneer. "Because you don't look like you've got what it takes. You've got no presence, no confidence. Just a couple of nobodies who are probably gonna get chewed up and spit out by this place."

Yuuki, who had been quiet up until now, finally spoke up, his usual cheerful demeanor replaced with a rare serious tone. "Hey, you know, you really shouldn't judge people before you even get to know them. Just because we don't look like what you might have expected doesn't mean we don't have what it takes."

The boy scoffed, unimpressed. "We'll see about that. Don't expect any handouts just because you managed to get in. If you can't keep up, you'll be out of here before you know it."

As the boy was about to retreat back into his dorm, Kyouya, against his better judgment, called out again. "So what exactly are you here for?"

The boy paused, turning back with a raised eyebrow. "Hm?"

Kyouya crossed his arms, his voice even but laced with curiosity. "You seem pretty confident about who belongs here and who doesn't. So, what's your big skill? Why do you deserve to be here?"

The boy, for the first time in their entire interaction, smirked, and leaned against the doorframe. "I'm here because I'm one of the best at what I can do. Unlike you, I didn't stumble in. I earned my place here. But, if you're looking for specifics..." He glanced over Kyouya and Yuuki again, as if deciding whether they were worth any more of his precious time. "Let's just say I've got more talent in one finger than most people have in their entire bodies. You'll see soon enough."

With that, he turned and walked into his room— or, he was about to, then Yuuki called to him.

"Hey, wait!"

He turned around to face the two, the desire to be rid of them clear in his expression, "What?"

"At least tell us your name, please? I mean, we didn't exactly come to your room just for you to insult us, y'know? C'mon, at least make our visit somewhat worthwhile!"

He glared at Yuuki's pouting face, and rolled his eyes. "Cayton. William Cayton. Happy?"

'William Cayton,' Kyouya thought about the name. It definitely didn't sound Japanese, nor like a name that sounded like it belonged to any of the countries surrounding Japan. 'So he's one of the foreign kids that applied here... He must've come from a long way away to attend school here...'

Yuuki beamed, "Yup! Hey, hey, Wil-kun!"

William's eye twitched at the nickname, but he didn't immediately snap at Yuuki. Instead, he sighed, clearly irritated but also a bit resigned. "It's Cayton to you," he corrected, his tone sharp.

"Ehhh, you don't like the nickname? But Wil-kun sounds so cool, doncha think? Hey Wil-kun, just you wait— Kyouya-kun and I are gonna show you that we belong here just as much as you do! We'll be the best of the best too, and then maybe you won't be so grumpy all the time!"

His cheerful tone and optimistic declaration left William momentarily speechless, clearly not used to such bubbly determination. He rolled his eyes, but there was a faint smirk on his lips as he turned away. "We'll see about that," he muttered, finally retreating into his room as the electronic door closed behind him.

Yuuki turned back to Kyouya with a triumphant grin. "Hmph! We'll definitely prove it to him!"

Kyouya chuckled, shaking his head. "You really know how to get under people's skin, don't you, Takahashi-kun?"

"Eh? Is that what I did?" Yuuki asked with his head cocked and a finger on his chin. "I wasn't trying to do that, though. Oh well! Anyway, this whole conversation got me pumped! I'm gonna go to my room and make lots and lots of stuff, so I can become the best crafter ever! I've got a lot to do if I'm gonna show Wil-kun what I'm made of!"

Yuuki hopped over to his room, and Kyouya reached out to him, "Wait, Takahashi-kun! So, do you not want to look around the place a little more?"

Yuuki stopped, and seemed to think for a bit. "Hmmm... maybe later. Right now, I'm itching to get some crocheting in! See you later, Kyouya-kun!" He went back to his room, leaving Kyouya alone in the hallway.

"Well, guess I'm on my own for now, then. Guess I'll just hang out in my room for a while, then."

Going back to his dorm room, Kyouya flopped onto the bed, thinking about the interaction he and Yuuki had with William.

"Man, that guy sure has an attitude," Kyouya muttered to himself, staring up at the ceiling. He couldn't help but replay the exchange in his mind, feeling both ire and determination swirling around deep within him. He clenched his fist. "But Takahashi-kun's right. We'll show him that we belong here."

He glanced over at his guitar in the corner, the familiar sight giving him a sense of comfort. "I might as well get some practice in while I'm here too, huh?" he thought aloud, pushing himself up from the bed. Grabbing his guitar, he settled back down, his fingers instinctively finding the strings as he began to play a few chords.

As the music filled the room, Kyouya found his frustration slowly melting away, replaced by a renewed sense of purpose. "This year's going to be something," he mused. "No matter what Cayton or anyone else thinks, I'm going to make the most of it."

He owed it to the people who'd supported him all the way here, after all.

With that resolve, he continued to play, letting the music carry him forward as he began to think about the days ahead.

And that's the introduction of the 3rd ZOLA member, Wil! Though, he certainly isn't the nicest person Kyouya's met so far, oof :( these three definitely aren't the tight-knit boy band group that they are in canon lol! Maybe that will change though, who knows, who knows! If you were wondering Wil's outfit for this chapter...

...

Outfits in this Chapter:
(Main Outfit; Socks/Shoes; Accessories)

William (Wil) - A fitted, short-sleeve black shirt with black pants and a red belt; black dress shoes; black wristbands, bracelets, rings and a black/yellow scarf. (Official art by Ayakura)

...

That's all, so I'll leave off here for now.

'Till next time (whenever that may be)~!

~*:･ﾟ✧