Chapter 1

It was the first day for freshman at Ryoko University. The year was 1997. For many freshman, this was completely new experience, to live away from the homes they spent their childhoods in and to live on their own. As freshman students seemed to congregate in the courtyard just outside the main dormitory's entrance, friends seemed to gather amongst themselves, expressing their feelings of nervousness to each other.

For one in particular, a blond haired freshman by the name of Nanako Kuroi, it was an experience she had wanted for quite some time. Living with her parents all throughout her childhood and high school years was finally beginning its process of wearing on her nerves. She never hated her parents per say, but in the same way you hate a song that loopes for hours on end, such was her feelings toward her parents. But now, it was no longer a problem, for she was now going to live on campus.

Lugging her many duffle bags over her shoulders, Nanako pulled from the pocket of her jeans the piece of paper she had already looked at thirty six times this morning. It was a basic map of her dormitory. It showed her room, 414, was located on the fourth floor (big surprise) and, much to her own surprise, it was a corner room. Corner rooms were coveted in the dorms of Ryoko U as the architects designed them with nearly double the floor space of the standard dorm. Originally intended for the use of faculty, the corner rooms were passed onto the student body after yearly attendance began a steady rise.

With a deep breath, Nanako plunged herself through the crowd of fellow freshman and entered the dormitory through the front door. Following the signs, she climbed her way up three flights of stairs and reached the fourth floor. Looking to her left, she could already see the door to her room, situated at the very end of a long hallway. As she approached, she could not help but hear the sound of aggressive heavy metal blaring from within one of the rooms. The more she continued forward, the louder it grew. When the music reached its loudest as Nanako stood before her door, the door with "414" printed on it, there was no denying that the music came from whoever was inside.

"Great," she said aloud to herself, "I can already tell me and my roommate arn't gonna get along."

She reached for the doorknob and turned, only to find it locked. She then knocked on the door three times. No answer. Nanako banged on the door three times, still getting nothing in responce. Banging on the door with her fist three more times, Nanako accompanied it with a "Bitch, open the door!" She knew whoever was on the other side was a woman (given that Ryoko U was an all girls university.)

With that last thrice banging, the door suddenly unlocked and flew open into the other side, sending the music screaming into the hallway. On the other side stood a woman with long, auburn hair, sporting a black leather jacket, faded blue jeans that seemed to have more cuts in it than a murder victim, heavy military boots, and a scowl. But given her frightening appearance, beneath all that, she was rather beautiful. She looked about a year older than Kuroi.

"The fuck do you want?" she blurted right into the blonde's face.

Nanako was left frozen in total shock, unable to accept that she was going to be her new roommate. Just to make sure (for the thirty seventh time today,) she retrieved the map of the dormitory and looked at the fourth floor. Sure enough, room 414 was circled in permanent marker, indicating that this was indeed Nanako's room and she was her roommate. Looking back up, she said to the other "… I think we're roommates."

The leather jacketed one raised an eyebrow. "You're- damn it, what it again? - Nanako Kuroi?"

She nodded in response.

Giving a quick look-over of Nanako, the jacketed woman heaved her shoulders in a tiring manner. "Whatever, get in," she deadpanned to Nanako.

With that she stepped out of the doorway and Nanako entered. Indeed, this dorm room was huge (in comparison to the others.) The front door opened to a sort of lounge. In the center of the room was a couch that faced the wall to the left, where a television sat on a long table against said wall. Also in the center of the room was a round table with four chairs, a simple lamp hanging from the ceiling above it. Against the back wall was a row of counter space, a medium sized refrigerator, a small electric counter-top stove, and a row of cabinets built above the counters. It seemed that Nanako's roommate had already set up her own coffee brewer as well, as one of the first smells Nanako smelled upon entering (apart from cigarettes) was brewing coffee.

To the left of the table that housed the television was a door that led to the bathroom. To the right was a small closet. Against the right wall were another two doors as well. Once satisfied with her visual inspection of the room, Nanako turned her gaze back to her frightening roommate.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Nanako Kuroi," she greeted.

"WHAT?" she blurted back. The music was still blasting at near full volume.

"I said nice to meet you! I'm-"

"Shit, hold on!" she interrupted and, grabbing a lighter from off the table, she winged it at the expensive looking stereo (which was no doubt hers,) and hit the power button dead on, turning it off completely. Now the only thing Nanako could hear was a ringing in her ears.

"Alright," said that jacketed one, "what the hell did you say?"

"I said that it was nice to meet you," she replied while giving a bow. "I'm Nanako Kouri. It looks like we're going to be roommates." She put a friendly smile to her face.

The other asked bluntly "You want coffee?" without giving Nanako her name.

"Uh, sure," Kuroi replied.

With that, the jacketed woman retrieved a mug from one the cabinets, poured coffee into it, and slammed it onto the table in front of Kuroi. "Here."

She paused. "Uh, do you have any cream or sugar?" she asked.

"No."

Then, the jacketed woman reached into two pockets of her jacket, retrieving a cigarette with one hand and a lighter in the other. After lighting it and taking a long drag from it, she pointed the burning cigarette at the two doors on the wall opposite the television. "The one on the left is mine. I guess you can have the other. Never go in mine, got it?"

Giving a single jerk of her head as a nod, she grabbed her bags, and entered the room. Against the right wall was the head of her, against the back wall was a dresser, a small wardrobe, and a small nightstand. Next to the bed was a skinny lamp with a light pink shade. Dropping her bags onto the floor, she began the lengthy process of unpacking he clothes and putting them away into both the dresser and wardrobe. As she did, the booming music resumed from the other room, much to Kuroi's dismay.

Once finished unpacking, she continued with setting up everything else, such as replacing her sheets and bedding and setting up a few sentimental trinkets and such atop the dresser. Once fully satisfied, Kuroi returned to the main room to find her roommate sprawled on the couch watching television. Nanako would have joined her but her roommate literally covered the entire length of the furnishing. Instead, she returned to her cup of black coffee and took a sit. It took nearly all her strength to stomach as she was use to having her coffee very sweet.

Suddenly, her roommate rose from the couch, cigarette placed between her lips. "Hey," she called from across the room. "I'm hungry. You hungry?" Kuroi nodded. "Let's get some chow."

-o0o-

The two walked off campus and decided on a burger joint now a few blocks away (in truth, the jacketed one chose for the both of them.) She ordered burger combo meal (large) and Nanako ordered a salad. The two sat at a booth near the back and, without a shred of hesitation, the jacketed woman wasted no time in lighting another cigarette. Even though there was clearly a "No Smoking" sign on the front window, the people behind the counter looked too afraid to approach her and tell her to put it out.

"So," began the jacketed one to Kuroi, "what's you beef?"

"… My beef?" she asked in confusion. "I ordered a salad."

"No, stupid, I mean what are you here for? What are you studying?"

"Oh. Well, I think I'm gonna major in some sort of history. I kind of want to teach it later on… What about you?"

"Music," she simply replied, blowing more smoke from her lips.

"Oh… You like music? Do you play?"

"I'm in a band, 'Death Devil.'" Her tone was a mix between uninteresting and dismissive.

"Really?" asked Nanako with interest (not so much with the name). "Are you any good?"

Nanako could literally hear the other's temper snap. "The hell is that suppose to mean?" she growled back.

"Oh, no no," she quickly defended, "I didn't mean to say that you were bad! I meant to ask if you ever performed anywhere!"

"Yeah, a few underground competitions," she answered. "We kick the shit out of them every time."

"What do you play?" Kuroi asked.

"Lead guitar. I also sing." Her tone was slightly more involved in their conversation, something Kuroi was happy to have.

"Could I perhaps hear something later? I mean, if you want to."

"… I guess," the jacketed one said. "Tell you what: pay for lunch, and I'll give you a demo."

"Deal," Kuroi said with a smile.

-o0o-

Returning to their dorm room, the jacketed one told Nanako to wait in the kitchen while she got her instrument. Entering her room and emerging a few minutes later, the roommate held a vintage electric guitar (a 1960 Gibson SG) in her right hand and a small portable amp in her left. After plugging the amp into the wall and the guitar, she took a few minutes to adjust volume and tune the strings. Once satisfied, she turned to Nanako, who stood in front to her with great anticipation.

The roommate grinned. "Ladies and gentleman!" she announced to the single person in her audience. "I'm Sawako Yamanaka! Now stand back and prepare to have your fucking brain ripped!"

Slamming her guitar pick down and touching it to the strings, the amp belted out what could only be described as the creation of a God. With incredible speed, she laid out a blisteringly fast guitar solo. Never before had Kuroi heard someone play so flawlessly before.

After a full minute, the solo came to an explosive finish with one final cord struck, raising her pick high above her head. Throughout the entire solo, the jacket woman had her eyes down onto the strings of her guitar. Finally lifting her gaze back to her audience, she saw Kuroi standing as straight and still as a tree, her mouth hung open in sheer awe and her eyes glimmering with wonder.

"… Uh, Nanako?" the roommate asked, waving her hand in front of her face. "You alive?"

"… THAT WAS AWESOME!" Kuroi suddenly belted out, causing the other to jump. "I've never heard someone play like that before! You're incredible, Sawako!"

"Damn right I am!" she boasted, clearly appreciating the praise. "…Though you don't seem like the kind of person who would like this shit."

"Actually, I hate metal… But you're still great!" she added quickly.

"Right…" said Sawako. Propping the guitar against a wall, she went to the fridge and grabbed two cans of beer. "Catch," she said to Kuroi before lobbing one of them over to her over-handed. Luckily, Nanako was able to catch it an inch from her face. Had she reacted a split second later, it would have struck her square in the face.

"… Uh, Sawako?" said Nanako cautiously. "I don't really drink beer."

"Oh, don't be a bitch," said Yamanaka. "Just drink the damn thing."

Kuroi saw that, even after what just happened, there was still a long ways to go before she and Sawako would ever come close to being friends. Popping the top of her beer, she took a sip and tried her best to stomach it. Being somewhat of an alcohol virgin, it only took her a quarter of the can's amount until Nanako began to loosen up a bit.

Sawako laughed at her roommate's obvious inexperience. "You're gonna be so demoralized by the time I'm done with you," she joked.

The blush on Kuroi's face, which began as a show of her light-weighted drunkenness, intensified with embarrassment. "You're gonna demoralize me?" she asked. "I hope you don't mean-"

"No!" Sawako immediately defended. "I don't fuck chicks. Just 'cause this is an all girls school doesn't mean I'm like half the lesbian population here!"

"… Half?" Kuroi deadpanned.

"I'm telling ya, all those stereotypes of all girl schools being filled with raging lesbians with nightly orgies are all true."

"And you know this how?"

"You think I came here alone? I got friends who came for the orgies. Don't tell me you came for the same thing?"

"Oh, no," Kuroi replied. "Actually… I don't think I have any friends in Ryoko right now. All my friends went to different schools…"

"… Well, that sucks for you," Sawako said dismissively. "Well, 'light-weight,' don't get too drunk. You gotta go to that freshman's ceremony, don't ya?"

"Oh yeah, that's right." said Nanako. "That's at 13:30. Hey, do you know what time it is now?"

Sawako retrieved a mobile from a pocket of her jacket and replied "13:21."

"WHAT? Crap, I'm gonna be late!" Sprinting into her room, Nanako scrambled through her bags to grab her registration forms and class fill-out sheets. Then, giving a quick "See ya" to Sawako, she sprinted out the door and down the hallway, muttering to herself the entire way "Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

-o0o-

Kuroi returned to her dorm late, at around 22:00. Not only was the campus rather spread out with nearly every building separated by decorative courtyards, Nanako Kuroi, as all freshman had to do, was, after registering for their classes, go to the individual classes to receive a handwritten signature from the professor themselves to confirm their class choice. Kuroi was forced to walk nearly the entire length of the campus four times.

Needless to say, Nanako was exhausted. Putting all her signed registration forms on to the table, she walked over to the couch and fell backwards onto it. Immediately, she was taken back by just how uncomfortable the couch was.

"Damn," Kuroi said aloud to herself, "this couch sucks."

"Maybe it's because it's already being USED!" the couch screamed back.

Jumping to her feet, Kuroi spun around to find a flattened Sawako sprawled across the length of the couch. "Crap, sorry about that!" said Nanako. "I'm just so tired after running across campus a thousand times. My classes are so spread out, it'll be like walking a marathon every day!"

Sawako groaned herself upright from the couch, clearly not amused by the act of being sat upon. "… You know," she said to Kuroi, "the way you got on top of me, it was like we were spooning… Are you sure you're not a lesbian?" she joked.

"S- Shut up!" Nanako shot back. "I am not!

"Relax, I'm just fucking with you… But yeah, I had to do all that walking around shit when I was a freshman last year. It was a bitch. Now that I'm a sophomore, I don't gotta do that shit anymore." She stood up from the couch and stretched. "I'm hitting the sack. You look like crap. You should so the same."

Giving an exhausted "Yeah," Kuroi dragged herself into her room and, after changing into her night clothes, fell into the bed. It was a long first day for her, made especially so with do to the fact that she was nearly nothing like her roommate.

"Still," thought Kuroi to herself, "she does seem like a nice person. Maybe I can learn to live with her…"

Author's Notes: I thought up the name of the University on the spot, only realizing later what "Ryoko" was an indirect reference to. Completely unintentional, I assure you.