Opposition Over the Orchid [OUMASAI]

Chapter One: Two Likes One

He took a sip of his hot, black coffee as his elbow sat upon the wooden table, propping his chin atop the palm. He plopped the creamy white cup down, a quiet clacking sound emitting. Along with him was a friend, Kaede Akamatsu. Both had decided to get out of their dormitories and visit the coffee shop that had been located on campus. The blonde sitting across him was staring down at her small cake she had been chowing away at, her elbows setting on the table. With a small, silver fork she sliced at the treat, watching in delight at how clean the cut was. The purple eyed girl plopped the piece into her mouth, her face flushing at the feeling of heaven melting in her cavern.

Shuichi Saihara looked out the window with tears in his eyes, feeling his tongue throb as he was just burned from the hot coffee.

"Shuichi? Are you okay," Kaede asked once she swallowed, her head perking up and cocking to the side in curiosity and concern.

"Ah, yeah, I'm alright," Shuichi began," I just burned my tongue is all," he reassured.

"Man, that must have hurt," Kaede chuckled.

"Yeah," the navy-haired boy responded.

The two held a light conversation, both finishing up their food and drink. The waitress they had ordered from before (who was a student around their age, maybe older) came up and smiled at them, taking their used cups and plates. Shuichi and Kaede soon paid and walked out of the coffee shop, thanking each other for a good time. They hadn't really been able to catch up much. Shuichi sort of expected college to be fun (which it was) but it was so time consuming and caused so much stress for him; well, at times it did.

Shuichi and Kaede exchanged goodbyes, heading over to their dorm rooms to pass the time working until their next (or first) class.

The tall boy stuck his key in the hole and twisted the metal, unlocking it and stepped inside. He flipped the light switch on and saw his semi-messy apartment light up with a yellowish glow. The room was a simple white. The walls had been obviously made from giant and thick blocks, the paint covering them being splotchy and cracked, though only a bit. There was a small desk near the left corner of the room, a chair with wheels parked near it. A small lamp lay at the corner of the desk, a laptop sitting at the center of it, many discarded and (already dry) pens scattered around it.

There was a large cork board above the furniture, many papers and pictures held by pins and paper clips peppered around to the point where no cork could be spotted. Shuichi's bed lay on the right side, the foot of it facing the doorway. It had freshly washed, snowy white sheets and a french grey duvet settling atop the white, all neatly folded and made up as if a maid had prepared a bed for their master or guest. Dirty clothes were littered across his carpeted floor (though Shuichi didn't mind, he thought the flooring was ugly), a discarded hamper lay near the other side of the room. Beside his bed was a door that led to a small bathroom, it having the essentials: a shower, toilet, a sink, and a closet full of clean towels.

Shuichi didn't have a nightstand, so he simply set his alarm clock on the ground.

Overall, his room was very plain. Nothing special about it. But, it was only the first month of attending university, so he had time to spice it up a bit as time went on. That reminded him: he needed to get a job to get this stuff. He mentally sighed and sat down at his desk, opening his laptop with a frown. He stared into the camera and furrowed his eyebrows, what If the government watches me, he thought. He shuddered and placed a neon orange sticky note in front of the camera, satisfied by his victory.

Over the next couple hours, he began to work on his essay, which needed to be around thirty pages long. Majoring in creative writing was fun, but all the while there would be the painful stuff, unfortunately for him.