Holly Boarding House is open to students and those just trying to get off their feet! That being said, what are you doing here? This is my room… HoriKashi chapter story.

Roommates

Chapter Three . Script

Monday soon arrived without any trouble. Masayuki had stumbled out of bed a few minutes before his alarm clock rang, while Yuu slept through it. So, to wake her up, he yanked the soft white sheets and she awoke with a thud.

"What? A boarding house?" Chiyo inquired after school. She was helping the drama club with their sets again. The tall female next to her grinned.

"Yup! It's my aunt's place. It's really nice there. You should come over!" Yuu suggested energetically.

"Would it be alright if I did? Don't they have a rule on volume there or something?"

The blue-haired girl waved Sakura's worries away. "Nah, they're pretty lax. Anyway, Hori-senpai's there too!"

"He is? Why?"

"He's living there! Actually, he boards with me. In my room."

Chiyo dropped her paintbrush almost instantly.

"He's what?"

"Ah, sorry, should I say 'our room'? He just recently moved in and it's the only room left." Yuu patted the smaller teen on the back before continuing, "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be fine with having you over anyway."

"Is that so?" Chiyo laughed nervously. "Well… How is it? Living him?"

"It's great! President always ends up going to bed before I do, and he's always waking up before me too. This morning , he made sure I got ready in time."

"That's good! So you're relationship with him is improving?"

"Oh, totally! You know, Saturday, he went out and bought me rice balls for a snack. I saw the bag when I returned home and wondered what it was. Turns out he was in the bath and he walked in while I was changing-"

"What?"

"-It was an accident- and he froze for like a whole minute. It was hilarious!" Kashima laughed. Chiyo could only raise an eyebrow at this. "He even dropped his towel too- ah, by the way, he totally wears briefs- and when I asked him what he was doing his face turned red and he almost slammed the door behind him!"

"Kashima, what did you do to him, oh my god," Chiyo asked in shock. In reply, the female's grin grew even larger.

"Nothing much, I just teased him a little. I can't believe how bold he is- he got angry at me and walked out of the room without his shirt! Can you believe-"

"KASHIMA, SHUT UP!" Masayuki shouted from across the room, his face flushed a deep red as several underclassmen held him down. Sakura jumped in surprise and covered Yuu's mouth to prevent her from blabbing and angering the short brunette anymore than she already had.

However, even with the orange-haired girl's hand over her mouth, everyone knew of the cheeky grin under there.

After another hour or so of painting sets and such, it was time to lock up.

"Senpai, are you ready to go?" Yuu called to the brown-eyed boy who was finishing up with cleaning.

"Ah, sorry Kashima. I can't walk home with you, I need to drop by Nozaki's place for a bit."

"Ehhhh, why?" the taller girl pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I need to help him with something. Sakura is coming with me."

Masayuki couldn't ignore the look of disappointment flashing over his underclassmen face.

"You know, tomorrow I'll need you to show me how to get home…" he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. Instantly, Kashima cheered up. Masayuki could swear he saw her emit a few rays of sunshine.

"Ah! Really?"

"Well, yeah. I was only able to get to school today because of you. I'm still not used to the path, you know."

"Then, you'll walk with me tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Now hurry up, your fangirls are starting to gather by the door again."

"Senpai, let's get a parfait tomorrow!"

"No. Don't push it," Hori scolded, lightly flicking her on the forehead. "Now hurry up and go, idiot. I'll see you at the boarding house."

With an obedient nod, Yuu gave him a mock salute and sauntered off. The shorter male let out a lengthy sigh.

"God, she's a lot of work," he complained on the walk to Umetarou's place. Chiyo tilted her head in confusion.

"Who? Kashima-kun?"

"Yeah. Her," Masayuki replied, rubbing his temples. "It's only been like four days and I'm already so stressed."

"Does she really bother you that much? She seemed really happy that you two were rooming together," Sakura mused with a small grin. Masayuki bit the inside of his cheek.

"Well… I guess she doesn't bother me too much. But she really is a pain. I'm already always taking care of her."

By this time, the two had already made the 10 minute walk to Umetarou's house and they started to climb the stairs.

"I think you're being too uptight," Chiyo commented, nodding to herself. She knocked on Umetarou's door before excusing herself and simply walking in. Hori followed suit.

"Ah! Welcome!" The tall male greeted the two. "Thank you for coming even though it's so late. We're a bit behind, but I think we'll be able to finish this chapter's serialization by Friday," Nozaki explained, leading them straight into the room they always worked in. Soon, they were all set up and they began working.

"Anyway, Hori-senpai, don't you think this is a good chance?" Sakura asked after a minute or so of utter focus.

"A good chance?" he repeated.

Nozaki butted in, "Ah you mean him living with Kashima?" Chiyo nodded. "I think it's interesting," the tall male commented.

"A good chance for what?" Masayuki repeated, resting his cheek against his palm.

Chiyo smiled, "To get closer to Kashima, of course!"

"Yeah, yeah! Living in the same house and the same room has got to lead to some heartwarming development," Nozaki encouraged, picking up his notebook from the middle of nowhere. Hori felt the need to hold back a grimace.

"Get closer to her? Why would I need to do that?"

"I don't know," Chiyo confessed, shrugging her shoulders, "I just know she seems really excited about it. Why don't you use this as a chance to make sure she focuses on drama club the way you would like her too?"

"Is it necessary? She does a good enough job already," the brunnette doubted.

"Well, you're always complaining about her anyway. Living with her has to provide something good," Umetarou noted, to which Masayuki shook his head.

"You only like this situation because you can use it for your manga," he sighed.

"You know, Senpai, if you really don't like rooming with her, you could always switch rooms with someone else," Sakura suggested. At that, Hori almost scowled.

"I never said I didn't like it. But it's not like I love it either," he sighed yet again. "We've already considered that too, anyway. If it was like that then…" he impatiently started tapping his fingers on the table, "then she'd be rooming with someone else… I don't want that."

Nozaki nodded intently and made sure to take note. Chiyo glanced over at him before smiling to herself.

"Yeah... I understand," she told him. Masayuki raised an eyebrow. She was probably misunderstanding something. He brushed it off.

"Getting closer to her wouldn't be a bad thing," he switched back to the previous topic. "She isn't a bad person. But it'll get really annoying really quickly if it's exactly like how it is at school."

"Maybe you can encourage her a bit," Nozaki suggested. Chiyo nodded in agreement.

"You could help her practice lines and stuff! Kashima really loves your acting, she would really appreciate it," she added.

"She's perfect enough already, she doesn't need much practice with her lines," Masayuki scowled, a bit frustrated.

"But it would motivate her! You're a very hard worker senpai, and maybe a little bit of you would rub off on her," the small girl insisted.

"Wouldn't it be bad if Kashima rubbed off on him, though?" Nozaki butted in. Chiyo turned around, shocked.

"N-Nozaki-kun, don't say that!"

When Masayuki finally returned to the Holly House, it was almost five. There was a lot of noise, several of the boarders were idling around in the living room or had started eating dinner.

"I'm… I'm home," he said, quite meekly. About three people total heard him and returned the greeting. He quickly made his way to his room.

With a sigh, he closed the oak door, and was surprised to see the room empty. Yuu's bag and uniform was thrown messily on her bed, and the script for the new play was open on her desk, highlighted and annotated at different sections. After removing his tie, Hori walked up to it and quietly flipped through it.

Then, the door started to open, and he quickly threw it down and pretended he was still changing.

"Oh, welcome back, Hori-senpai," Kashima greeted upon her entrance. "When did you get back?"

Masayuki tried not to look like he was caught red-handed. He glanced over at the playwright on her desk and hoped she didn't notice it was open to a different page. "Ah- you know- just a few minutes ago."

"Did you eat dinner yet? They have the dishes laid out and everything. Today's dinner is hamburger steak!" she exclaimed. She made her way to her dresser, stopping briefly at her desk. Masayuki could feel his heartbeat echoing within his chest.

She continued on, as if not noticing.

"I just finished eating. It was really good, you know? Anyway, I'm planning on taking a bath soon. Some of the girls invited me," she laughed. At Hori's lack of response, she asked, "Senpai? Are you okay?"

The male forced himself to calm his own breathing. She didn't notice. Even if she did, there was nothing wrong with it, right? It wasn't like it was her diary. It was a script, for god's sake, that he assigned to her after he got Nozaki to write it.

"Ye-yeah. I'm okay. Sorry, I was spacing out," he explained, finishing unbuttoning his shirt and throwing on a new one. "So, hamburger steak, right? Are they always that fancy?"

"Nah, sometimes they just order pizza from down the block. It's actually pretty good."

"I see. Well, I'm going to go eat now."

"Okay! Have fun!"

"Yeah… You too…"

When he finally left the room, Masayuki let out a sigh of relief.

"Safe…"

He spent the next hour or so eating with the other boarders, getting to know them as they discussed a wide range of subjects. It wasn't too bad, but he felt that interacting with so many people in one house was pretty much exhausting.

When he finally returned back to the room, Yuu was lounging around on her bed, with a handheld console in her hand.

"Hey," she greeted distractedly. Masayuki glanced at the clock.

"Kashima, shouldn't you be studying? Did you even do anything productive today?"

"Nah…" she nonchalantly replied, pouting at her video game's screen. "I mean, I went to club today, Senpai, isn't that enough?"

"Club activities have nothing to do with academics you know," he scolded, sitting upon his own bed. Yuu sat up and turned to grin at him.

"Come on, Hori-senpai! I rarely study and I'm still fine!"

The boy rolled his eyes at her. "So you say."

Yuu pouted. "You sound like my mom."

Masayuki leaned over their bed frames and flicked her in the forehead. "Shut up, idiot. I don't know how you're so lucky to get the top score in every exam, but you really should study more. Don't waste your youth!"

"Isn't studying a waste of my youth?" she questioned with a laugh, rubbing the newly inflicted sore spot.

"Not necessarily. If it's taking over your life, then yes, but it's still needed. Some of the things you're taught is beneficial," Masayuki insisted, crossing his arms.

Kashima groaned a laid back down.

"Now you really sound like her!"

The two were quiet for a moment.

"You know… If you ever need help with studying or with your lines or something, you can always ask me," he told her, focusing his gaze upon the wooden floors. He started counting the little marks he saw upon the wood and the quiet ticking of each second the clock made. The continuous silence felt like an eternity.

"Would you really?" Yuu finally asked.

"Yeah. Of course," he answered, leaning back. "I mean, it'd be easier, being in the same room and all. I can do it whenever… I don't mind."

The tall female let out a small laugh. "Thanks, senpai. I appreciate it."

Masayuki finally faced her, and couldn't help but mimic the small smile playing on her lips.

"Ah… So… Friday. You still have to get the groceries, right?" he asked. Yuu nodded.

"Yup. Auntie said she would give me enough money on Thursday so we can go pick up the stuff whenever on Friday."

"Then, I'll make sure to end club a little earlier than usual. Just make sure to get there on time, okay?"

The green-eyed girl smiled even brighter. "Of course, Senpai!"

Maybe getting closer with her wouldn't really be a bad thing.

(A/N) Thank you for reading!

Monthly chapters seem to work well for this :P (especially after I find inspiration)

Anyway, to all of you those who have been following me for awhile and watching my writing develop for this couple, I want to thank you a lot! Your support means a lot ;u; I've never been very active in a fandom, but I always feel really motivated within this community (even though it doesn't seem like it;;; I still feel very shy and withdrawn, but I'm still very happy with how I've developed so far)

My Christmas gift to you all is a fanfic I had been working on since November! It's already up (I know not everyone celebrates Christmas, but it's a prevalent holiday in Japan so I was thinking it was okay but you don't have to read it, I might have something else that would suffice later) so I hope you will get to read it! It's titled Coffee and is just a simple oneshot based on a prompt. I did some editing on it earlier, but I'm sure there's still mistakes, so please tell me if you notice anything.

Again, thank you for your support. I'm extremely grateful, even if I forget to respond to your kind reviews.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Any feedback or criticism is appreciated. ^^