Author’s Note: This story is my fan-fiction to a story written by a friend of mine, ‘Jaded Enigma’. Her story is about a Japanese rock band coming together and getting famous. My fan-fiction is about one of the characters, Kamui, and his college life and how he got to become the quiet, slightly cold one. I give all the credit to her for creating such a wonderful story! I would give you her name, but she deleted the story... I hear she’s re-writing it now though, so that’s a plus. I’ll be sure to put a link/directions somewhere in one of these author’s notes to let you read the wonders of ‘Jaded Enigma’, but until then, I’ll be sure to keep updated on her progress. *pulls out whip and chuckles* WRITE WRITE!! *giggles and cracks whip* Enjoy!

BTW: This is a shounen-ai, meaning male-male relationships (eventually...) If you are offended... don’t read it...

Chapter 1: Meetings and Introductions

The moment I walked into the spacious dorm room was a moment I refuse to forget, because that’s when it all truly started. Nowadays I replay that scene over and over in my mind, always bringing up the soft familiarities I came to know and love. Everything in that moment was crisp, clear, and definite. I’m actually surprised that I remember it so clearly, after coming to the dorm right after a long lecture from my father. Those sermons of right and wrong always left me in a state of emotionless exhaustion. But that instant was different.

I held a piece of luggage in one hand, the black glove covering my pale fingers, hiding the fact that my knuckles had started to turn white from the pressure I put on them. My arm was tired from dragging the large suitcase up many flights of stairs, and my legs seemed to tingle with a warning that the next morning they’d be throbbing with pain. My black leather coat and high heeled boots were damp from the snow outside that had fallen so neatly on the streets of Tokyo.

My cheeks were red against the rest of my pale face thanks to the bitter cold winds of winter. My breath had formally been heavy from weariness, but I now held it, afraid that if I dared to breathe, I’d disrupt some serenity that blessed the large room. My long black hair clung to my face and jacket and I failed to think to brush it back. My lips were parted in a slight amazement, my blue eyes wide, taking in everything about the room that they could.

This was my new home. I had been staying with my father during my first year of college and now that the second semester of second year came around, I, being one who failed to agree with my father’s traditional ways, decided it was best to fend for myself. It was the first time I had lived outside of my household, and I was terrified.

But something about the room calmed me. It was dark, the blinds drawn shut, to block out the glare of the sun against the white snow. Candles were lit and placed on tables and corners, filling the room with a pleasant scent of pine that had been mixed in the wax. Some boxes lay strewn about on the floor, some half opened, some stacked upon others. I caught glimpses of holiday cheer within them, and almost smiled at the thought of a ‘Merry Christmas’ (which in truth I had never known before).

Clothes were thrown around, draped over chairs and couches, piled upon tables and even hanging from the corners of the picture frames. A leftover meal still sat on the stove in the small kitchen that I now stood in. It appeared to be some type of American food, what I’m still to this day not sure of. A bowl of half eaten popcorn sat on the kitchen table while an empty bag of potato chips rested crunched up on the living room table.

I leaned my slender body to the side, resting the luggage on the pale tile floor. My eyes danced across the cherry oak cabinets that decorated the kitchen, as well as the marble countertops. Slowly and diffidently, I stepped forward, leaving the kitchen and entering the living room, my shoes sinking into the soft lavender carpet. Off to the right of the cluttered room, was a hallway with four doors, all of which shut. They more than likely led to the rooms. One of those rooms was now mine.

Such a thought filled me with a sense of quiet tranquility and serenity. A warm feeling entered my heart and all apprehension dissipated. This is my home, I thought, barely able to suppress the smile that threatened to change my serious expression.

“Excuse me miss, can I help you?”

My body tensed up once again upon hearing the masculine voice, at first for the mere reason that there was now a presence behind me. But as his words sunk into my mind, the tension changed to that of pure annoyance. My mind flittered back to the conversation I had held with my father an hour prior.

“You go running around like a little girl! You’re no son of mine!”

The memory sent a shiver up my spine. My eyes deepened into a dark glare. “Miss,” I repeated, allowing my body to swerve itself upon the heels of my boots. My glare faded upon looking at the one who had spoken to me and I could have sworn my heart skipped a beat.

He stood tall, his slim body barely through the doorframe. His black hair gave a red shine under the dim lighting, spiked slightly in several odd directions. His eyes, the color of caramel, the faintest of brown, gave a few blinks of honest curiosity, his wide lips pursed tightly to mimic the same expression his eyes held. I watched as some color faded from his creme colored features. He stood there for a few moments, looking me over with a sense of disbelief.

“...”

“...”

I’m not entirely sure how long that silence lasted between us, but it seemed to stretch for days. The man raised a single finger towards me, his mouth dropping a little, his eyes widening as he attempted to grasp just what he saw. In a voice that sounded surprised and cracked, he muttered, “You’re a guy.”

The annoyance returned to my heart and my glare came back to it’s original place. In a voice deeply rooted with sarcasm, I replied, “I hadn’t noticed.”

The man threw himself into a fury of apologies. He bowed himself quickly, his spiked hair bouncing as he did so, and bouncing more as he came back up, only to dive back into another bow. “SUMIMASEN! SUMIMASEN! SUMIMASEN!” He peered up long enough to catch a glance of my face. “It’s just that I thought you were a-”

“A girl,” I finished for him.

He bowed again. “Hai! Sumimasen!” I watched as his eyes wandered from the floor in front of him to an area off in space next to him. “It’s just that I’ve never seen a guy with such long hair that’s so well taken care of,” he murmured, barely loud enough for me to hear. I rolled my eyes, deciding to brush it off as a compliment. His eyes darted back to me. “I mean-SUMIMASEN! I mean you have nice hair! And I’m just... in a whole load of shit.”

“The epitome of understatements,” I said, a sneer gracing my face. A deep growl had crept into my throat, a growl which I had, unfortunately, inherited from my father. “Now besides being in a ‘whole load of shit’ as you put it, who are you? And what are you doing here?”

Sensing the darkened tone of my voice and seeing it as a threat, the man stood upright, a defiance suddenly sparking in his eyes. He placed one hand upon his hip to further show that defiance. “Watashi Tsuzuki. Tsuzuki Ayden. And I live here. What about you?”

I gave a long exasperated sigh, my eyes turning upwards to gaze at the white ceiling. I cursed Kami-sama for putting me in such a position. Out of my father’s ever constant gaze and into this asshole’s grip, I thought dismally. You just like seeing me suffer through all this verbal abuse. You just like watching my self-esteem drop to abnormally low rates. You just want me to commit suicide, don’t you?

“Well?”

My gaze fell upon Ayden, an even deeper frown crossing my face. “Watashi no namae wa Itzubaki Kamui desu. I’m your new room mate.”

The defiance in Ayden’s eyes left. His hand dropped from his waist, hanging loosely at his side as his caramel eyes widened in another state of disbelief. “Shit.”

“Yeah. Shit.”

To say that my first meeting with Tsuzuki Ayden wasn’t a shocking one, would be a lie. In all truth I was at first amazed by him. He was a attractive creature as far as men went (however his attitude reverted all beauty to nothing, leaving only my pure annoyance towards the brute), but it wasn’t his external appearance that shocked me. It was the fact that he used his external appearance to further prove the rebelliousness inside him which he treasured dearly.

He had worn tight red pants that stretched against his thin legs and dove underneath the black army-like boots that had been left untied, as was his preference. He wore two shirts. The first was sleeveless, and wound itself tightly around his well defined chest. The second hung loosely over the first, black one, the neckline wide enough that it fell off both of his shoulders. The sleeves stretched down in a baggy fashion around his arms, covering part of his strong, yet delicate hands. The red over shirt, however, ended at a ridiculous height, not even reaching the end of his ribcage, leaving the rest of the tight black shirt to be exposed.

I had not been used to such unruly apparel. I had spent the majority of my life around people who wore tuxedos and pinstripe suits. Everyone around me had always dressed in their most elegant apparel. Even my younger sister (whom in my father’s eyes was as disobedient as I was) had been shocked by anything less than the given expensive cloth others wore. That is, until she began wearing some of it herself. But nowadays I rarely see this new side of her, so it matters little.

Within a week, I was fully settled in my new room, the second door on the right of the hall. Ayden’s dorm was the door directly across from mine. The remaining doors were our adjoined bathrooms, which we had all to ourselves. This separation was good for us. It was too late in the year for me to try and get a new dorm, so it was either this, or back to my father. Anything was better than my father.

So I was to be subjected to the almost refined tortures of Tsuzuki Ayden for the remainder of the year. He made it quite the trial, however, especially that first week. I do believe he got the impression that I was some stuck up, spoiled little rich kid that had to be gotten rid of immediately. He was half right, but I’d never admit that out loud to him.

But somehow I managed to break through his inflicted agony, and he, realizing he could do nothing to be rid of me, came to an unspoken decision to dismiss my ‘arrogance’ as he called it. So by the end of week two, we were actually getting along... somewhat.

“Itzu-baka-kun!”

He insisted on using my new nickname to keep degrading me. I gave a sigh, lowering my hands from the keyboard of my laptop, turning in my desk chair to glare at him as he peeked his head through the doorway. “Nani...?” I asked with a deep irritation.

“What are you doing?” he looked at me with an odd, yet almost repulsed curiosity. He stared at my computer skeptically, probably wondering why I was doing homework.

“English,” was my simple reply.

He raised his eyebrow, saying, “You speak English...?” I gave a nod. “You speak it well?” I nodded again. “Then say something intelligent!”

I proceeded to call him a ‘fucked up jackass’ using my well defined English accent. He seemed to understand what I said and his eyes grew darker. “I’m going out to lunch with some friends of mine,” he said, a sneer crossing his face at my ghastly agitation. “Just incase you need to get a hold of me.”

“Now,” I muttered, fully turning my chair around to look at him. “Ask me if I care.”

The sneer deepened. “Grouch.” He shook his head and closed my door silently as he left. I turned back to my laptop, fingers hovering over the keys. I listened intently to his footsteps as they disappeared into the living room, echoing as they hit the tile of the kitchen. I kept waiting until I was sure I heard the door of the dorm open and close.

At once I closed and saved all programs I had opened and flung myself from the seat. With Ayden-san gone, I could accomplish what I had wanted to do for quite some time. The harshness of my words were necessary to keep him out for a long time. I wanted to make peace with him and this was the best way I knew how.

Truth be told, I hadn’t had luck making any friends at the college all year. My reclusive nature had forbid me from doing so. Tsuzuki Ayden was the closest person to a friend I had. With Christmas a week away, I had little time to reconcile for any offence I had given to him. Perhaps he would do the same, perhaps not. Time would tell. Either way, I wouldn’t be able to stand the rest of the year being called ‘Itsu-baka-kun’.

I exited my room and entered the living room. Boxes were still strewn about, little to no decorations had been put up. His messy habits hadn’t changed and his things were everywhere. I gave a sigh and stretched my arms forward, not satisfied with the stretch till I heard my fingers crack against one another.

I quickly set to work. I gathered all the garbage and stuffed it into garbage bags, leaving them by the front door to take down later. I picked up all his clothing (not really surprised to find oddly patterned boxers amongst the pile) and set them aside to wash. I then turned to the Christmas decorations.

I, upon close inspection earlier, had noticed he had no tree, so I, behind his back, purchased a small, four foot plastic one, figuring that would suffice for my needs. I pulled a large plastic storage bin from the closet and draped a red sheet over it before setting up the fake pine tree on top of it, nearly having the thing fall on top of me at least seven times.

I discovered many little tid-bits in the pile of boxes to decorate the tree, wrapping silver tinsel around it and adding golden bows to accent it in quiet simplicity. With the remainder of the tinsel, I went to the windows and taped it in decorative drapery across the top, adding an adornment in the center.

I took a spool of red ribbon and decorated the kitchen lights with more drapery effects. I took the little Christmas statues of angels and Santa Clauses and laid them gently on tables, counter corners, and atop the refrigerator. I took the remainder of the ribbon and bows and tied them to door knobs in a neat fashion.

After the decorating had been done and the boxes stored away, I brought out the vacuum cleaner to pick up the excess pieces of tinsel and ribbon that had fallen to the floor.

Once finished, I took a step back, admiring my work. The artistic part of my family line had more gone to my sister, but I still retained some sense to decorate. I smiled to myself, proud of my accomplishment and walked back down the hall to Ayden’s room.

I slowly opened the door, expecting to find a complete disaster area with millions of posters of naked girls adorning his wall. I nearly fell over at how different my expectations were to the truth. I hadn’t yet been in his room yet, and now I was left stunned. Not a single piece of clothing lay on the floor, not a single item out of place. The floor was clean, almost cleaner than my room and the bed was neatly made. Things on his desk were organized in such a neat fashion that it almost surpassed my own perfectionist ways. His walls, which I was almost certain would be covered, were completely bare.

I gave a shake of my head and entered the clean room, dismissing my astonishment to return to the task at hand.

I needed to figure out what the guy would want for a present.

Quietly and carefully, I peeked and prodded through his room, making sure not to stubble onto anything too private that he might yell at me later for. It was in his desk drawer that I found what I was looking for. Stacked up to the rim was his collection of manga. I had never figured the guy to like this kind of thing, but it held no matter.

My finger patted against the side of the manga, trying to identify some sort of pattern to what he liked. I frowned slightly, tilting my head one way in a curios fashion. Not being one to read comics, I could find no correlation between them.

I gave a small murmur of thought and closed the drawer, picking up the phone next to Ayden’s computer and dialed a well known number.

“Moshi moshi!” a jovial female’s voice echoed through the phone.

“Aya-kun?”

“Hai. Kamui-onni-san?”

“Hai. Onne-chan. I have a favor to ask of you.”

That load of laundry was perhaps the heaviest thing I had carried in a good few years. Now snuggly wrapped in my warm, black leathery coat with the wool lining, I waited at the laundry mat for the finishing of the final load of dirty clothes as well as the arrival of Itzubaki Aya, my only sibling and only true family left.

I lifted my head from the floor as she entered, her black coat much like mine in style. Underneath it I could see the black pants and tall black boots that disappeared beneath them. Her hair, lighter than mine leaving it a dark brown, swayed about her almost rounded face as she turned to me. She sauntered over with her normal little walk she had gained about three years prior, curling her red painted lips into a smile.

I pushed myself out of my leaning position against the rotating machines and embraced my younger sister with a return of a gracious smile. “I haven’t seen you in a while,” I said, pulling away from her arms, letting my own drop to my sides.

Aya gave a small laugh. “A whole week! Did you miss me that much?” she asked.

I raised a hand and messed her curly, thick hair. “Of course I did.”

The seventeen year old pulled out from my hand’s grasp and gave an impish smile. “So why did you want me to meet you at the laundry mat?” she inquired, gazing around curiously, as if I was hiding something or someone. I leaned back against the washing machine.

“Because I’m doing laundry.”

“Oh. For your boyfriend?”

My face contorted deeply at that remark. “He’s not my boyfriend,” I said sternly, smile fading within the same second. Aya’s faded blue eyes drifted up to meet my darker ones. She frowned curiously at my offended look. “I do believe you’re the only one of the family who dates the same gender.”

Aya shook her head, rolling her eyes. “Do you have something against that?”

“No, I just refuse to go down that particular path.” I turned around quickly as the washing machine gave a small buzz to let me know it had finished. I opened the glass and pulled the wet clothing from there and shoved them into an open dryer. I threw the necessary yen into the machine before turning back to my sister.

She gave a long sigh, forcing a smile, knowing it best to avoid any arguments that might erupt into a fight. We had never been on the best of terms, too alike, yet too unalike to truly get along well. She reached her hand into the jacket and produced a newly purchased manga, handing it to me.

“From the type of manga you said were in his room, he should enjoy this one. It’s one that’s rather hard to get a hold of because it’s so new,” she explained. I took the comic from her hand and exchanged it for the money waiting to be given to her. I smiled.

“Arigatou.”

“Doijashimashite.”

There was a pause as both of us gazed at the manga now in my hands. “So why are you giving him that?” she asked curiously. I raised an eyebrow.

“Can’t I be nice to my roommate?”

“I guess...” her eyes lowered to the ground, frowning slightly. “But he’s...” Another pause. I arched an eyebrow.

“He’s what?”

She shook her head, forcing another smile. “Nademonai.” Aya quickly gave me a tight hug, barely giving me enough time to return it. “I’ve got music lessons today,” she explained. “So I’ll see you later! Tell me how he likes the present when he opens it, ne?”

I gave a nod and added a small wave as she left the laundry mat. I smiled, gazing down at the manga. Things were going well.

~*~

Ayden fingered his lip, a deep scowl written all over his face. The coppery taste of blood still lingered on his tongue. He walked quickly through the snow covered streets, evading people as well as he could. He cursed several times under his breath at the blood that refused to clot and the painful sting in his left arm.

Oh Kami-sama, I knew that was going to happen, he thought with another curse, his right hand leaving his mouth to cover the other arm, hoping the pain would subside. So why the hell did I agree to go?!

The black haired man quickly rounded a corner, onto a less crowded area and resumed his walk through the city. His caramel colored eyes lifted from the white before him to the seemingly never ending street. He gave a groan, feeling his stomach give a nauseating churn. The college student came to a stop at a street light and leaned against it, attempting to regain his strength once more.

A tired sigh escaped his lips as he tried to forget the events that had taken place. Slowly, Ayden’s eyes wandered across the row of buildings, in an attempt to figure out where he was. His gaze fell upon the building directly in front of him and refused to move any farther. For there, inside a simple laundry mat, was his roommate.

Ayden’s breath stopped, leaving his frosted breath to flicker in the air. To him, Itzu-baka-kun looked like one of the men from the manga he had hidden away in his room. Kamui was tall (not taller than Ayden, but still tall), slender, and feminine with a beautifully curved face, moonlight colored complexion, and long, silky hair that fell all about him. Not that Ayden was attracted to him. All this feminine exquisiteness was shrouded in a mask of conceited pride. It made the younger college student appear to only think of his own well being, which Ayden completely rejected. Kamui was a mere demon with an angelic face.

But still, the black haired man’s heart sank as his eyes traveled to the girl Kamui was talking to. His full lips curved themselves into a small frown. It must be his girlfriend, he thought with quiet distress. He watched as the girl threw her arms around him before running from the place, a smile plastered on her face. He watched Kamui give a small wave, smiling down at whatever object the brunet had handed him before returning to his laundry.

The girl burst through the doors and slowed her pace, rounding her path to look through the front window at the raven haired man finishing his chores. A long, deep sigh erupted from her, her shoulders heaving a bit. “Baka.”

The voice in Ayden’s throat almost didn’t come to ask his question. “That you boyfriend?” he asked, making a curious, yet pleasant expression on his face. The girl turned to look at him, her face giving a small look of disgust.

“He’s my older brother,” she responded, innocently enough.

“And why’s he a ‘baka’?”

“Because I think he has a crush on someone and hasn’t even noticed it himself.”

Ayden was barely able to swallow the yelp that arose in his throat. “Oh? Who?”

“His new roommate.”

“Oh.” His voice cracked. The girl, however, failed to notice and turned fully towards him, giving a deep bow.

“Sumimasen, demo, I have to get going.”

Ayden gave a nod and watched her depart. Once she had turned the corner and faded from sight, he looked back to Kamui, watching the boy as he pulled clothes from the dryer and set to work on folding them neatly.

He has a crush on me? he thought, frowning with slight curiosity. That might explain his attitude. He may be rejecting his feelings and throwing his confused emotions at me. Ayden shook his head, dismissing his thoughts. No. His sister’s wrong. He can’t be gay.

The raven haired man pushed off the pole and began moving once again down the street, trying to figure the fastest way back to the dorm. He can’t be. Can he? The thought refused to evade his mind as he quickened his pace, the throb in his left arm increasing.

His feet stopped short as he came to a small realization. His eyes turned back to the laundry mat. “Was he folding my boxers...?”

~*~

The entire trip had taken longer than I had expected, even taking the subway. I lugged the basket of laundry (and the small package on top) to the dorm, shutting and locking the door behind me. I gave a quick look around to see if Ayden had returned yet, and upon seeing no shoes or jackets strewn about, figured he hadn’t.

I readjusted the basket on my hip, leaving the package on the counter, and moved back to his room, neatly laying the washed clothes on his bed. From there I returned to the living room, walking to the left side, opening the hall closet to shove in the basket and layers of coats and sweaters on my back, pulling the manga from the inside pocket and brining it back to my room to wrap later. I went back to the package on the counter and opened it slowly and carefully.

I pulled out the new pine green wreath, pulling away the tissue paper surrounding it. I smiled at it’s simplistic beauty, the green being wrapped around by a simple creme colored ribbon that draped into a bow at the bottom. I walked over to the front door and fixed it upon the hook I had screwed there earlier. I smiled pleasantly.

It was around then that I realized how tired I had grown. It was now late afternoon, and I had been working on the small dorm since early morning. My eyes drifted to the couch in the center of the living room and, upon figuring Ayden wouldn’t be home till dinner, decided to take this time to nap.

Slowly, I pulled myself to the inviting leather couch and dropped myself neatly upon. I lay like that, my eyes watching the ceiling as I imagined what Ayden would say when he returned. We had been so snappish with each other, and that was no way to begin with your roommate. Hopefully this would put us back at the beginning and we could start over.

I gave a smile, and rolled over onto my stomach. Immediately I noticed a problem. My over coat, a favorite article of clothing in my wardrobe which wrapped around the front and tied in the back, hanging loosely to my knees, was getting awfully tangled. I gave a sigh, sitting up as I untied the straps and removed the black cloth from my back, draping it over the back of the couch. I leaned myself back into the leather material, wrapping my arms around the couch’s soft arm rest, my head laying gently on top of it.

Sleep graced me with it’s presence shortly after this movement and my mind faded from the conscious world.

~*~

Ayden gave a long sigh as he pulled the key to the dorm from his pocket. His arm’s throbbing had decreased, but now his head was spinning from all the walking. He had forgotten to bring money for any type of public transportation, and had managed to get himself quiet lost with his wandering.

With a groan, he fumbled his hands lightly, missing the keyhole several times before shoving the jagged object into the slot. He turned it quickly and slid the knob sideways, pushing slowly. He paused, the door barely open an inch as he heard a clank on the other side. Frowning with curiosity, he opened the door far enough to peer his head in and around, gazing at the reverse side of the door.

A wreath...? he asked himself. When the hell did we get a wreath?

The surprise didn’t end there from him. I looked down to see red ribbon tied to the doorknob. He squeezed himself through the doorway and continued to gaze around the dorm room, closing and locking the door behind him.

He didn’t even bother removing his shoes as he walked further inwards. Red, green, silver, gold, and white touched everything he could see. A small Christmas Tree stood proudly in front of the windows, the curtains pulled back, letting in streams of light. Tinsel was hung everywhere possible, with an assortment of ribbons and other small knick-knacks.

And the dorm was clean.

He started to wonder if he was in the right room.

But upon taking another step and noticing the slim figure lying on the couch, he knew exactly where he was. Kamui lay there, looking more like an angel than a rich snob boy, who knew nothing but blissful peace. The long black tresses, shinning blue under the soft light, cascaded about his body, falling off the couch and spilling onto the floor.

The tight turtle neck of white cloth had gotten slightly twisted from shifting, exposing some of the boy’s white skin on his stomach. The black pants he wore seemed to fit well over the curves of his legs.

Ayden looked around the room again, taking in again what had shocked him before returning his gaze to the sleeping form. Slowly, he crept over, and sat gently on the edge of the couch watching Kamui with a sense of quiet wonder.

He did all this?

The elder jumped a bit as Kamui shifted his head slightly, the younger’s face twisting into a look of slight discomfort before shifting back to quiet tranquility. Ayden gave a frown as a piece of the Kamui’s hair fell into his face and moved his hand to move it. He froze a moment as the other student’s eyes parted slightly. Only letting a shot pause, he flicked his fingers backward, moving the strand from the boy’s face.

Kamui opened his eyes farther, only to slam the shut again from the immense light suddenly let into them. He shifted to his back, clapping one of his delicate hands over his eyes, rubbing them lightly through the eyelids.

“What time is it?” he asked with a tired voice. Ayden gave a quick glance at his watch, pulling back his coat and twitching at the pain in his left arm.

“Quarter after six.”

The younger gave a small, discomforted groan. “Sumimasen. I wasn’t expecting to sleep so long.” Slowly, he removed his fingertips from his eyes and laid them on his stomach. The dual sapphire orbs opened in the same slow manner to gaze at Ayden.

The sitting man shook his head. “It’s alright,” he muttered quietly. “You seem pretty tired, anyway.”

An uneasy silence fell. Kamui felt the urge to move his legs and sit upright, but found them confined in between Ayden’s lower back and the black of the couch. He settled for propping himself up on his elbows. The older male’s eyes danced across the room, still quite amazed.

“You did all this?” he asked. Kamui nodded. “Why?”

A shrug from the younger man as Ayden stood. “We got off to a bad start,” he replied, swinging his legs once they found their freedom and settling his feet on the fuzzy carpet beneath. “I figured this might be a nice way to make up for it.”

Ayden found himself speechless. Kamui rose to his feet, pulling his arms above his head, stretching his back till he was comfortable. Once complete, his arms swung downward, falling limp at his sides.

“You did all this... just to make peace with me?” Ayden asked, still bewildered, taking a few steps around the living room. He paused to let one of his fingers trace the familiar angel statue his mother had given him when he first left home.

“I’m going to be living with you all year,” Kamui replied calmly and rationally. “I didn’t want us acting like enemies the entire time.” He gave a pause as the elder turned to him, eyes wide. He felt a twang of discomfort, suddenly feeling very sheepish. “Sumimasen. I might have over done it. I’m... not exactly used to having friends.”

This fact might have shocked Ayden more than the drastic change in the living area. “Why not?”

Kamui shrugged. “Just didn’t get along with people. So I didn’t have many friends.”

A smile spread across the other’s face. “That’s hard to believe,” he said, turning his eyes away to look around the room. “I mean look at this place! It’s beautiful!”

The long haired boy’s eyes slowly raised from the floor. “Do you think so?” he asked. Ayden nodded swiftly. “I did your laundry too. It’s on your bed.”

The other froze. “You went in my room...?”

“Quite the contrast from the disaster area this was.” Kamui waved his hand, gesturing across the living room and kitchen. Ayden almost felt a blush creep onto his cheeks. People usually never went in his room. He quickly shrugged it off, trying to keep his composure.

“Whatever. I just don’t have the energy by the end of the day to keep it messy!” he cried playfully, giving a mischievous smile. For the first time, Ayden saw Kamui’s lips curve into a beautiful, genuine smile. The boy held out his hand to him, the delicate fingers parted slightly in offering.

“Shall we start over then?” he asked. Ayden smiled, taking the younger boy’s hand in his and giving it a firm shake.

“Watashi no nemae wa Itzubaki Kamui desu.”

“Watashi Tsuzuki Ayden. Pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”

Author’s Note: It’s funny comparing this to Lordess of the Vampires... it really is... so different... The chapters are longer... Please, if you read this, leave a review for me. I love reviews, even bad ones! Trust me! I bribed one of my friends to leave me a bad review for Lordess of the Vampires ^.^