The Troublemaker And The Masterpiece | COTE X OC

Just 'Our' Things

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka POV

This school really went through great lengths for the sake of the students.

I was surprised that they implemented coed dorms though. For a school that prohibits relationships between students, the coed dorms felt out of character. In other words, sex was a no-no.

Well, obviously.

It's hard to believe that such a pampered and easy life can train students to be admirable adults, but given the current situation, the students should probably use all they were given.

The room is about 8 tatami mats big. This is my house starting from today. It's also my first time living alone. Until graduation, I would have to live without contacting anyone outside of school.

Unintentionally, I let out a smile.

Although I'm a minimalistic type of guy, Sumire was right. If I'm going to be living here for three years, I wouldn't mind my room being a little cozy and you know, a little more homely.

As I was thinking that, I remembered that Sumire said that she'll be here in a few minutes. So I got up to see if I could make something to eat, for her.

But then I saw that there were no utensils to make anything. I guess we'll just have to make do with some chips and other snacks.

Sumire was right, some shopping is in order.

As I was getting the snacks out of the bag, I thought some more about the school.

The school had a high employment rate, and boasted the best facilities and opportunites out of all the high schools in Japan.

For me, though, these weren't as important to me. I had one big reason for choosing this school. In middle school, I was forbidden from associating with friends, relatives, and other students.

That's why I chose this school.

I'm free. Freedom. In English, that's "freedom". In French, it's "liberté".

Isn't freedom the best? I can eat, sleep, and play when I want to, and I've got a friend, no, not one, but two friends.

Without having anyone order me around, I can graduate with peace now.

Frankly speaking, before I passed the exam, the result didn't matter to me.

There was only a slight difference between passing and not passing.

However, when the results came out, I was really happy that I got in.

No one can judge me or order me around now. I can redo... no, start anew. A new start, a new life.

Anyway, I plan to have a fun student life from now on.

Okay. I got everything out of the bag. I am glad that I also bought some juice cans.

Now, I just have to wait for Sumire. Knowing her, she will also probably bring her shopping bags over as well.

Not caring about my uniform, I jumped onto the bed. Feeling far from tired, I tried to calm myself down, looking forward to my future school life.

I was also excited about that fact that I was having a friend over.

But now, it's been almost 15 minutes, but Sumire still hasn't come yet.

Did she forget? Maybe she was tired and fell asleep unknowingly? Or did something happen?

Okay, I will wait for 15 more minutes, and then I will go to her room to check if everything's alright.

I checked my phone. It wasn't that late yet.

8:10 pm

I closed my phone and put it down. Then I put an arm over my eyes and stayed like that.

I opened my eyes and checked the time again.

8:25 pm

15 more minutes passed.

Okay. That's it. I am going over to her room.

I went towards the door and opened it. Just as I was about to head out, someone collided with me. As she was about to lose her balance, I caught her arms.

"Why are you so late, Sumire? I was about to head over to your room."

"Oh, Kiyo-chan~ Were you worried for me? So sweet~ Well, I am late simply because I forgot some things that needed to be bought."

"Oh?"

"Yup."

As she walked into the room, I saw that she was carrying quite a heavy bag.

My prediction was right. She most definitely brought every edible thing over, along with some other things.

"Waah~ The rooms are almost indentical to each other."

She sat down at the floor and started taking out the things that she brought over.

First of all, she took out all the snacks that we had bought in the department store.

Then, she took out a few games and a gaming console.

Wow.

Then... she took out a... kettle?

"What... did you buy this for?"

"Well... when I got to my room, I saw that there were no utensils in our room and we had bought cup noodles, sooo I thought I could buy a kettle to boil the water. Oh, c'mon Kiyo-chan, we had to buy this eventually. I just bought it a little earlier."

"Fine."

She smiled and continued to take even more things out of her bag.

This time she took out a notebook and a pen.

At least this time it's a little more normal and school-like.

"And why did you bring this over for?"

"For writing our shopping list Kiyo-chan. The fact that I had to emergency-buy a kettle just shows that we are in dire need of a few shopping trips."

Well, she's not wrong.

But a little thing I noticed, whenever she mentions something, she never refers to it individually. Not my things or your things, but our things. Our shopping list, our kettle, we are in need of shopping trips.

She says it like it is a fact. Like it is inevitable that it is, of course, our thing.

It brings me that warm feeling again. And this time, I am sure that I really really like this feeling.

I looked at her bag again and saw that it was empty.

"Okay! Now, let's boil some water Kiyo-chan. And then we shall commence writing our shopping list while waiting and eating!!"

She seems really excited and I find myself almost matching her energy.

She goes to the kitchen and puts the water to boil in the brand new kettle.

She's doing things in my room like she owns it and for some inexplicable reason, I love it.

Well, maybe because, it's not my room, but ours.