Chapter Text
Mahiru looked down at the exam that he had just received from his biology lecture. It had a fat 50% on the front that was seriously starting to bug him. It was his fault that he had gotten such a bad grade, but it wasn't anything that he would have been able to fix. He had been tutoring his friend, Sakuya in math for nearly the entire night before his exam, and before that Licht had needed him to go to a recital and tell him if his stalker was in the theater. In other words, he'd been needed.
Of course, he could have told them that he had to do something else and was too busy to help, but that was not Mahiru's philosophy. He wouldn't just push responsibilities off on someone else. It was simpler to just to it himself. That was Mahiru. He liked to keep things simple.
He sighed as he looked up at his professor. Dr. Yoshimura was telling them something about the different building blocks of life that the majority of the class had missed on the examination. Even though he was almost certain that he'd been in that percentage as well considering his score, Mahiru had a hard time concentrating on his work. Indignation was running through him at the grade that he had gotten. He knew that he deserved the grade because he hadn't put in any effort toward his biology class in a couple of weeks, but it still stung.
He made a silent promise to himself that he wouldn't allow this to happen again. He would study even if it meant pulling more than one all-nighter in a row.
He sighed as he finally pushed through the large double-doors that led into the apartment complex that he stayed in on his college campus. He walked down the hallway and made it to his door in almost no time, thanking the staff for putting him and his roommates on the bottom floor.
There was a note taped to front door with his name scrawled on the front of it. Sighing, he snatched the thing off the wood and unfolded it to read what was inside.
Mr. Shirota,
Due to personal reasons, the attendant of B102C has moved out. Another student, Sleepy Ash, is coming in to take his place. Please come by at 1:00 PM today to meet him and show him around the campus.
Housing.
"Sleepy Ash," Mahiru muttered to himself with a small frown. "What kind of name is that?"
He looked down at his watch and sighed. It was already twelve thirty. He pulled his keys out and unlocked the door. He stepped inside and looked around his apartment, wondering if one of the other guys was home. The small living room looked untouched and there was nothing out on the grey countertops of the kitchen. He just shrugged to himself as he slung his bag on to the back of one of the chairs. He would simply put it away when he got back from giving the new guy a tour.
He rushed out of the room and back down the hallway. It was a bit of a walk from his apartment to the housing office, but it wasn’t too bad. He shivered a little at the wind, noting with dismay that the jacket that he had on was not warm enough for the steadily dropping temperature. He grimaced at the thought; he had no money to buy another coat. He was working as much as he could on campus just to make ends meet, but it wasn’t enough to splurge on anything, like a nice new coat.
“Thank god,” Mahiru muttered to himself as he walked through the glass doors of the housing office. Heat enveloped him in a tight embrace, and immediately set him at ease. He rubbed his hands against his arms, trying to speed up the process of thawing out his skin.
“Ah, Mahiru!”
He looked up and saw Sakuya, his tall, green haired friend beaming at him from behind the large countertop. His grin was a crooked one as he pointed to one of the many seats that were scattered around the large area. It was occupied by a man in a wool blue jacket that nearly matched the color of his hair. His facial expression was so blank that Mahiru couldn’t tell if he looked bored or tired.
“That’s our new roomie,” Sakuya said. “Sleep Ash.”
“Just call me Kuro,” the man sighed, looking at Sakuya in annoyance. “I already told you that.”
“Kuro?” Mahiru said curiously. “Why Kuro? That just means black.”
Kuro waved off the question. “Just go with it. It’s a long and exhausting story.”
“That’s fine with me,” Mahiru shrugged. “So, are you ready to look around the campus?”
“Sure,” Kuro sighed as he pushed himself off the couch. “Where do we start?”
“Well,” Mahiru said. “If you want, we can go to our apartment and get your things put away.”
“Already taken care of,” Kuro shrugged. “I put everything up when you were in class.”
“Then why did you come all the way over here again?” Mahiru questioned.
“I had to take care of some things,” Kuro replied. “It doesn’t matter. Just show me around so I can go and take a nap.”
“Okay,” Mahiru said, already getting the vibe that he wasn’t going to enjoy having to live next to the obviously lazy person. “You could try and show a little enthusiasm. It’s not that bad here. Trust me when I say that it could be a lot worse.”
“Whatever,” Kuro muttered. “Let’s just go.”
As Kuro shuffled out of the room, Mahiru turned around to look at Sakuya who was smirking at him, as though telling him good luck. You’re going to need it.
Mahiru smiled weakly at him as he turned around to follow the mopey bluenette out of the office. It would be fine. He would just show Kuro around to all of the buildings on campus and then they would go their separate ways. Kuro would be on his own after that. Mahiru had to go to work soon anyway.