Title.  Downwards
Part.  one / –
Part Title.  Joining the Club
Authour.  ~sushisama~ (sbolce@esper.com)
Warnings.  Check the first part.  I’m too lazy to write it again.
Disclaimer.  “ “
Notes.  Now for chapter one.  Yaya!  Not any good as of yet.  Sorry.  I’ve more ideas for later on than the beginning, so... yeah.  You fellow writers know what I’m talking about, right?  ^_^;;  Read and review, please!

/ thoughts /    [ dreams ]       ( flashbacks )  

::*~~*::

            “I still want to know where mom got the money for this,” Tasuki muttered.  He stood at the threshold of his new dorm room.
            The room in front of him was spacious.  It had two beds on opposite sides of the room and a closet and desk for each side.  The bed on the left was made up nicely, while the other one was bare and had boxes, bags, and long, thick black case on it.
            Tasuki clipped his new key onto the key chain of his belt loop and made his way across the room, closing the door behind him.
            He had the entire weekend to unpack and meet all the other students, seeing as he had arrived on a Friday.  He sat down the guitar case and bag on his shoulders and sat on the bed, taking out a sheet of paper from his shirt pocket.  It was the schedule he would be following for the first semester.  It was had normal things for someone his age; literature, Trig, history...  Nothing too hard, even for a slacker like himself.
            After his chat with Nuriko, Tasuki had easily found the attendance office(which it was near the entrance, as he had guessed: how could he be so blind?) and gotten signed in and given his schedule.  The secretary then gave him the key to his dorm and told him that his roommate’s name was Kouji. 
            He inspected the boxes on his bed: they were sent from his home to here so he didn’t have to worry about dragging them off a bus to the school.  They were just full of clothes and the like, except the black case, which was his bass guitar.
            Tasuki let out a yawn as he flopped backwards on the soft mattress.  He was feeling a little tired from the long bus ride, so he curled up on his side, being mindful of the boxes crowding the head of the bed.  He let his eyes close and drifted off into a light slumber.

            Tasuki awoke a little while later, still a little groggy.  He rubbed his eyes, trying to get them focused.  When he opened them again, he was met with a pair of amber, startling him, and he sat up quickly, backing away from whoever it was.
            “Oops, sorry!” the guy defended, rubbing the back of his neck.  “Didn’t mean to wake you.”
            Tasuki stared at him.  He wore a bandana around his blue hair, though some of his bangs came over it and fell across his eyes.  He had a large smile on his face that scared Tasuki a little. 
            There was a brief silence, each staring at each other, neither of them saying anything.  Tasuki was starting to feel uncomfortable under the other’s all-too-happy gaze.  “Er, Kouji, right?”
            “Oh, so they already told you my name?”  Tasuki nodded.  “Cool.  They didn’t tell me I was getting a new roommate.  My other one moved at the end of last year, and I’ve been all alone since.”  He frowned for a brief second, before smiling again.  “But not anymore, right?”
            “Yeah... right,” Tasuki said in an unsure tone.  “My name’s Tasuki.  Hey, what time is it?”
            “Twelve thirty,” Kouji replied.
            “Twelve?  Dear god, how long have I been napping?”  He shook his head.  “They serve lunch about now?”
            “Yup, they do.  That’s where I just came from, too.  Want me to show you where it is?”
            “Yeah, that’d be nice.”
            Kouji nodded.  “All right.  Quick question, though.”
            “Yeah?”
            “What’s in the case?  Electric?”
            Tasuki blinked and looked at the black case that was lying on the bed.  “That?”  He reached over and unsnapped the latches and opened it, showing the contents to Kouji.  “It’s my bass.”
            “Wow,” Kouji said in an interested tone.  He stared at it with wide eyes.  “That’s awesome.  Do you play in a band, or something?”
            Tasuki closed the case, latching it once more.  “Yeah, used to.”
            “Is the other one a guitar?”
            “Acoustic.”
            “You really like guitars, don’t you?” Kouji said with a smirk.
            “I like anything with strings on it,” Tasuki retorted, grinning.  “Now, where’s the cafeteria?  I’m pretty hungry.”
            Kouji nodded.  “Right!  I’ll show you where it is.”  He went over to the door and opened it, turning back and smiling, waiting for Tasuki.  The red-head got up and approached him and they went out into the halls, towards the cafeteria.
            When they got to the large mass hall, it was already full of students.  There were barely any seats left, and the line coming from the registers was longer than probably the time left for lunch.
            “Don’t worry about the line, the guys will probably give us some food,” Kouji spoke up, heading over towards the back part of the hall.
            “The guys?” Tasuki asked, cocking an eyebrow. 
            “Yeah, the guys!” Kouji answered with a grin.  “You can’t be my roommate without meeting my friends, right?  ‘Sides, you need someone to get you into the student life.  Show you around, you know?”
            Tasuki shrugged.  “Works for me.”  He put his hands in his pockets while scanning the room.  Different tables seemed to be separated for different groups: the jocks sat at one table, the ‘nerds’ at another, and so on.  He even saw a table that seemed full of cheerleaders and spotted Nuriko.  She looked over at him around the same time, and smiled weakly and waved.  Tasuki hesitantly waved back.
            / She seems to be doing a bit better, at least, / he thought to himself, remembering the morning’s discussion with the purple-haired girl.
            “You know ‘er?” Kouji asked. 
            “Met her this morning when I first got in.”
            “Ah.”  He shrugged.  “Nuriko can be a bit bossy and whiny, but other than that, she’s a decent enough person.  Poor thing, though.”
            “Huh?  About the guy she liked?”
            Kouji cocked an eyebrow.  “She told you about that?”
            “Yeah,” he answered simply.
            Kouji shrugged it off as they came to a table full of rough looking teens.  “Hey, guys, I’m back!” he chirped with a wave.
            A chubby one of them looked up, grinning.  “Thought you were studying, eh, Kouji?  Got bored already?”
            “Who’s that guy?” another guy asked.
            Kouji sat down near the chubby guy, gesturing for Tasuki to take a seat next to him.  When he did, he answered, “This is Tasuki.  He just got here a little while ago.”
            “New student, eh?”
            “Yeah, I am,” Tasuki spoke up.  “Don’t got ‘ny initiations or shit like that, now do you?” he asked with a grin.
            The fat guy let out a hardy laugh.  “Do you think you could take ‘em if we gave ‘em to you?”
            “Of course,” the red-head said in total confidence.
            “I like this one, he’s feisty(a/n, oh that sounds so wrong).”  He extended his hand.  “My name’s Eiken.  This here’s the Mountain Pack.”  He waved his hand in a gesture towards the others at the table.
            “Mountain Pack?”
            “Yup!” Kouji chimed in.  “We’re the trouble-makers, basically.  You like pulling pranks, Tasuki?”
            “Do I ever,” he answered with a large grin.  “You guys done anything infamous yet?”
            “Not us,” someone else at the table answered.  “But the guys before us have.  The Mountain Pack is almost as old as the school itself.”
            “But we don’t just let anyone in,” Eiken said in a serious voice.  “You have to prove yourself, first.”
            Tasuki was more than willing to meet a challenge.  “Give me something to do, I’ll do it.”
            Eiken smirked.  “Give me a day or so, I’ll have something for you to do.”
            “I’ll be waiting,” Tasuki replied.  “But, for now, can I just have something to eat?  Line’s too long and all...”
            “Moocher,” one of the guys said, throwing the starving teen some fries, which Tasuki gladly took and started to eat.
            “I’ll pay you back,” Tasuki offered between bites.
            The guy shrugged.  “Don’t worry about it.  I’ve gotten used to Kouji doing it, doesn’t matter to me anymore anyway.”
            “Yeah, I think he’s already lost ten bucks to me,” Kouji said with a sense of pride.  The table snickered at his comment.
            Tasuki smiled to himself.  It seemed like he fit right in with this group, which made him felt good enough.  He had troubles fitting in pretty much wherever he went.  He was starting to see the good side to coming to this school.