~Kimura Toshio: Dreamtime Dorms~

Having a bad heart was never good in situations. One such situation would be now. As Toshio’s heart beat faster, he could feel the blood rushing to his head. He suddenly started to feel light headed, ready to faint and collapse onto the ground in no time. “No…” Toshio willed himself. He struggled to remain still and feign his condition, something he had perfected over the past years. “Calm down, deep breath…” He let out one huge exhale, slowing his heart beat down. A shiver ran up his body as he did so, his body adjusting.

Toshio had the right to just leave, to just walk out mysteriously as if he had never even entered yet… “I can’t believe I’m being so superficial right now…” Toshio thought as he realized why he didn’t want to leave just yet. He didn’t want them to think of him as a loser, especially when he already had so much going against him already. “Might as well play nice…”

Heart beat normal, Toshio took a few steps closer, “I guess I’ve been looking pretty dumb, right? Yeah, sorry, I didn’t expect anyone to be here already. Took me by surprise.” He leaned on the kitchen counter, not because he was afraid to sit next to Kazumi but mostly not to appear rude. “As I said before, I’m Kimura Toshio.” He said, dropping his fake accent and speaking naturally, “I’m a transfer student and from the shoddy display from before, I bet you can already guess I’m not from Japan originally.” He shrugged as if the information was of minor consequence. They could think what they wanted to think. Rumors did spread fast after all and it wasn’t like being a foreigner was that bad to reveal. Besides, it wasn’t like that was the secret most desperately needed to be hidden.

“I’m from the United States. Specifically California. My parents sent me over here because of some…issues. I was supposed to live in this dorm. I was invited.” He fished out his invitation from his back pocket and presented it to show he wasn’t lying, “But the people taking care of me now, my grandparents, didn’t like the idea so much so yeah, it was a no-go. Nice to know that my dorm mates wouldn’t have been a bunch of weirdos though.”

He smiled as he completely eased up, “So far, I got Makoto, Kazumi, Kirsa and Kotone…” He pointed to each of them in turn as he said their name, “Is it okay if I call you guys that? I don’t really have the hang of honorifics yet so if I’m being rude you can just tell me I’m being a jerk.” He turned to the two people cooking, “I haven’t got your names though. You guys can tell me. I promise I’m not that much of a loser.” He said, chuckling.

~ Armada Shun, Dreamtime Dorm (Kitchens) ~
Noticing the two new entrants coming through the front door, Armada began to throw some more of his curry onto the plates that Erihana had prepared. He found it difficult to remember the names of everyone who was coming in, as well as listening to their monologues as they entered. One voice, however, startled him as he recognized the name that it had shouted out.

"Keikoku has entered the building!" came said voice in a rush. Armada looked up quickly, spilling a bit of curry onto his sweatshirt. He stared in amazement at the girl who had just entered, her blue-green pigtails almost floating over the aura of energy. "Ooh, quite the crowd we have here. Renka Kirsa's the name," she continued, while Armada stood staring, his mouth open in a surprised gape.

"K-keikoku?!" he finally managed to exclaim, "Aren't you the singer for that one band? What was it called? My friends back home were obsessed with your music (and I think you)...Your band was Fire something? I think it was Fire Strike Chaos?" He shook his head, evidently unable to recall the correct Japanese words for the name of the band.

"But, I wonder what they all will think when they find out I'll be living in the same dorm as you? Man, I bet I could make thousands if I made them pay to visit me while you were here!" His eyes glistened with the thought of so much potential investments, then realized that a public announcement of greed probably was not the best idea. Armada humbled himself and resumed putting curry back on the plates of rice.

"Think we have enough curry?" he heard Erihana ask. Looking back, he saw her standing by the refrigerator, preparing to get some more ingredients.

"I don't think so," he called back, "We should probably make some more. Heh, I don't think I've ever made so much food at once before." He grabbed some of the leftover ingredients he had and started making more curry, intending to wait for Erihana to get some of the traditional ingredients ready before "borrowing" some from her.

Again, Armada was distracted when he heard mention of the United States, his motherland. Looking up and spilling some ingredients again, he noticed that the guy who had apparently accidentally entered the dorms was talking again. Armada grinned, glad to meet someone else who had come from the States even if he wouldn't be able to join them in the dorms as he was saying.

"Hey there!" he said in his natural English, forgetting that just moments before he had been trying to hide the fact that he was a foreigner to Japan, "I'm from the United States as well. Nevada, in fact! That's practically right next to California, so we were, like, neighbors! My mom actually brought me here after...well never mind that. Oh, right, I'm Shun Armada, though if you prefer you could just call me Sean, since many of the folks back home pronounced it wrong." He grinned brightly, trying to make the other feel more comfortable.

"It's a pity that you won't be able to stay at the dorms; it wouldn't have been all that bad, I think. I mean, everyone here just met, but I don't think we have any strange ones yet. Hey! If we were to go talk to your grandparents, think they might decide on letting you come into the dorms?" Armada continued rambling on in English, oblivious to the fact that some of the dorm mates would have very little clue as to what he was saying.

((incidentally, I have no idea if this'll come up at all, but there's a fire extinguisher in the kitchen, and in the hall closets on each of the other three floors, and one in the elevator. Just FYI.))

[Shiraume Makoto, Renka Kirsa & Atsuko Kazumi - Dreamtime Dorms]

"K-keikoku?!" one of her dormmates exclaimed, "Aren't you the singer for that one band? What was it called? My friends back home were obsessed with your music (and I think you)...Your band was Fire something? I think it was Fire Strike Chaos?"

Kirsa laughed. "Flame Bang Riot..."

"But, I wonder what they all will think when they find out I'll be living in the same dorm as you? Man, I bet I could make thousands if I made them pay to visit me while you were here!"

Kirsa laughed a bit more awkwardly, unsure how to respond.

"Think we have enough curry?" one of the girls asked. She seemed pretty excited herself, and Kirsa was already pretty sure the two of them would get along just fine.

"I don't think so," the boy from earlier called back, "We should probably make some more. Heh, I don't think I've ever made so much food at once before."

She turned back to the others and listened as Toshio introduced himself and explained his situation a little. The one cooking the curry came out and started talking to Toshio in English - Kirsa couldn't understand much of it, but she did pick up that his name was Armada Shun. The other girl got into the conversation as well, and Kirsa picked up her name as well.

Makoto put his hand on Kirsa's shoulder as he went to leave the conversation. "Kirichan, I'm heading back to my room to unpack the rest of my stuff. Give a knock on my door when everyone's ready to eat."

Kirsa nodded, and Makoto went into his room and shut the door. Kazumi watched the exchange with a modicum of curiosity, but quickly remembered the curry she'd left in the kitchen and how hungry she was. Despite knowing it'd be hypocritical to worry about acting strict and proper and to start eating before everyone else has their food, she'd worked up a big appetite with her morning exercise and opted to just slink into the background and eat in secret while everyone else talked: It's not as though I have anything to contribute to the discussion, she reasoned.

- Nace Haruka -
Dreamtime Dorms (Kitchen)

The sweet scent of curry filled her nostrils the moment she set foot through the west entrance. She could hear the voice of others who had already occupied the kitchen. They were discussing a topic that was fairly interesting to hear. Haruka thought about the band that was recently mentioned and thought about, how it would be great if she could teach her a thing or two about music. That aside, her thoughts were beginning to stray elsewhere.

Her mind would become fixated on one thing and that was curry. "Excuse me?" She asked, hoping to fill her stomach by the end of the day. "Do you mind if I join you guys?" It was difficult asking them up front, she hadn't the slightest idea as to what their answer might be so, she decided to make a suggestion. "I could pay?" And then the others who came with her would also make the same offer."

~ Ikeda Chiyoko (the Judge), Kasaku Station ~
"Now arriving at Kasaku Station. Kasaku Station."

The message over the speakers repeated itself a number of times. The girl looked up, surprised that they had already reached the station, though she did not show it. She took out her cell phone, checking the time. Her estimation had only been a few minutes off. Nodding, she got up, grabbing her suitcase and pulling it with her as she got off the train. She walked through the station, then down the stairs onto the sidewalk. From her pocket, she again removed the piece of paper with the invitation. Checking the address written on it quickly, she glanced briefly at the numbers of the building next to her. Spotting the right direction, she made her way forward.

Quickly, she found herself at the Dreamtime Dorms. Perceiving that the door was slightly open, she made her way up the steps. Before pushing the door open, she dusted off some dirt on her black jacket, and made sure her precise hair bun was in order. She opened the door, hearing talking, and noticed a couple of people - other dorm members, most likely - standing by the door. One was a somewhat nervous looking young man in a hooded T-shirt who was on the tail end of explaining something to others that were standing further in the building. The other was a young woman, dressed much like someone else she had read of in her diary...But her hair was straight, and a different shade of brown.

She pushed past them, mostly ignoring their presence. She saw a number of other people of both genders, some with plates of curry in their hands, talking amongst themselves. She bowed and began to speak.

"Good morning. I apologize for arriving so late. My name is Ikeda Chiyoko, and I, much as everybody else here, have come to participate in the Dreamtime experiments. If I could ask someone to escort me up to my room, it would be much appreciated."

One of the guys in the living room/kitchen, who was holding a bowl of what appeared to be curry in the making, smiled brightly and waved. His gray sweatshirt had splatters of curry on it.

"Hey, Chiyoko-san! Welcome to the Dorms. I'm Shun Armada and - " he began to say. Ikeda turned her eyes toward him and interrupted his speech.

"Ikeda-san," she said bluntly. The one who had introduced himself stared at her, confused.

"Ikeda-san," she repeated, her tone an exact copy of the one she used moments before. Greeted by the other's continued confusion, she shook her head, then asked, "You are not very intelligent, are you? How long have you been in Japan?"

Armada, somewhat put off by the first question, was about to respond angrily, but the second threw him off.

"Th-three, why?" he said before he thought more on the question. Ikeda looked at him oddly.

"Three years in Japan and you do not understand our nomenclature system?" she asked.

"Your what now?" Armada asked, confused by one of the words.

"System of naming," came the response, and she continued, "In Japan, along with China and both Koreas, the family is held in higher esteem than the individual. Therefore, it is proper to introduce oneself by last name then first. You understand honorifics, I would presume, as you had used it properly, but I am thinking that by your way of introduction, you are most likely not from Japan." Armada stared at her, mouth slightly open in shock. She waited.

"So, what you're saying is that, for three years, I've been introducing myself wrong? And that I've been learning people's names incorrectly?" Armada asked after a moment. Ikeda nodded, slightly confused that he had been unable to understand how the names worked for so long.

Suddenly, Armada laughed. It was a nervous laugh, one that comes when someone realizes that they have been an idiot for a time. He grinned at Ikeda.

"Heh, here I was thinking that school didn't start for another two days. Looks like I still have a lot to learn even before going." Mentally, he sighed. He was not sure how well he would interact with this Ikeda and Kazumi - or rather, Atsuko - since their cold demeanor contrasted with his usual acquaintances.

Without responding, Ikeda made her way toward the elevators, glancing at the rest of the dorm members.

"If someone would be so kind," she said, her voice as emotionless as always, "I would appreciate being shown my room so that I may begin unpacking." She bowed again and waited.

My Heart is Going Doki Doki - Are You The One?

"Gah!" Makoto sat upright in his bed, taking a moment to catch his breath before looking over at his clock. What a bizarre dream...and I wonder what that last line was all about - it sounded like something straight out of one of those ren'ai games Toriyama's got hidden under his bed...

He lifted the covers and slid out from under them, disturbing them as little as possible so as to avoid needing to make his bed. It was only a few minutes before his alarm would've woken him up anyway, but waking up a few minutes before he actually had to was something of a strange habit of his anyway. He wearily trudged over to the first-floor bathroom to take a quick shower. As he towel-dried his hair, he looked up at the clock. Still just a few minuets ahead of schedule, which given that it was really his usual pace, made him right on schedule. But this day promised to be a nice break in the usual monotony of his everyday life.

Valentine's Day...I wonder if I'll get any honmei-choco this year? He couldn't help but be aware of the uncharacteristic hopefulness in the thought - he'd gotten confessions from girls in the past, but it was always the result of a girl misinterpreting his helpful nature as a sign of affection, and the results...well, it made him uncomfortable to help someone with one problem only to turn around and become another problem for them. There was someone he truly wouldn't mind receiving chocolates from, though, let alone a confession.

He stumbled his way out of the shower and headed back for his room.

"Morning, Makoto."

He yawned. "Morning, Kirichan." Sure enough, the monotony was already broken - any other day and Kirsa wouldn't be caught dead being awake at that hour. "Making chocolates?"

"Well, one batch - the rest are all store-bought; those'll go to all my friends and adoring fans."

"Hah, I pity the poor soul who gets the batch you're making."

Kirsa puffed out her cheeks. "I'd like to think I can at least handle baking chocolates..."

"I'm sure you can," he replied, arching an eyebrow doubtfully. "I'm going to get dressed now, though, so we'll talk in a bit."

"Yeah, yeah - you're distracting me, anyway." The smile in her voice told him she was just joking around. "By the way," she called as he reached for his doorknob, "the oven was already warm when I came down here - did you see anyone in here when you went to take a shower?"

"No, but then again, I wouldn't have noticed anyone in the kitchen unless they had the lights on."

"Hmm..."

Makoto shrugged and headed into his room to get dressed in his uniform. Valentine's Day or not, it was still a school day.

Kirsa looked up at the sound of footsteps approaching down the stairs. At that speed, at that hour, it could only be one person. "Good morning, Atsuko-sempai."

The footsteps stopped momentarily, then resumed more slowly as Kazumi rounded the final corner and headed down the last bit of stairs leading to the living room. "Renka-san. I'm surprised to see you awake at this hour." She regarded Kirsa cooly, though a hint of annoyance was evident in her voice.

"Well, it is a special day, after all. Oh! If you wanted to bake some chocolates too, mine should be done in a little bit."

"Such a childish practice," Kazumi replied, rolling her eyes. "As though any relationship worth having could possibly begin with a bribery of sweets."

"That's hardly the point of giving chocolates," Kirsa shot back, almost angrily, but realizing a futile effort when she saw one, quickly added "but if that's how you feel..."

Kazumi nodded lightly as she entered the kitchen and began preparing herself some breakfast and, when she was certain Kirsa was no longer paying attention, discreetly slipped a pair of oven mitts from her pockets back into the drawer she'd taken them from. Once she'd made breakfast, she retreated wordlessly back to her room to check on the plate of chocolates she'd left cooling on her windowsill.

Dorms (All or Nothing)


Valentines Day had made it around the corner just as Haruka had expected. Today is that one special day where she would take care to approach any and all curiosity. Those people were the very few who lingered about asking others about their love interest and talks of destiny. Red strings that bind the two as soul mates. She spent the entire time thinking about it, after slipping out of bed she made haste to refreshen and clean the mess that was left behind. "I wonder how well things will go?" She pondered, her fair risky task of making homemade chocolates and delivering them to that special someone by the end of the day was about to commence.

On the way down she passed a couple of familiars acting as she would normally, she greeted them "good morning, and continued on her way to school. Her previous plan had long been expired with the idea of meeting one of her fellow classmates and walking with them on her way to school.

"Everyone seems to be on a busy schedule. If I had come out and asked politely, then maybe I would have gotten better results."

She assumed, "but you know what they say, nothing good comes of contradiction. Nace, get your act together. Try to stay focus and don't forget your one true objective, or all your efforts will be for nothing. Never forget it! Ever." Up to this moment she headed down the path pass the park, where she further ensued in making herself ever brighter with confidence. "Yes we can! My chocolates are second to none. After tasting these chocolates, there's absolutely zero possibility of failure."

[Makoto Shiraume & Renka Kirsa - Dreamtime Dorms (Living Room/Kitchen)]

Makoto came back out of his room, looking more awake and alert than before. As he tugged at his tie to straighten it out, he noticed that more people had joined them downstairs. He watched with a smile as Hideki and Avalon went through their now-daily ritual, and though the sight was common at this point, decided to have some fun with it given the day.

He sat down next to Hideki and, placing a hand on his shoulder, leaned in close and whispered from the corner of his mouth "You should check that bento for honmei-chocolate." That had been the plan anyway, but at the last minute, he decided it would be much funnier to shout the line rather than whisper it, drawing the attention of everyone around them (and probably waking a few late-sleepers up, too).

Catching sight of the expression on Hideki's face from the kitchen, Kirsa burst into a fit of laugter, which wasn't even broken when the chime sounded that her chocolates were done. After pulling out the tray and setting them to cool on the countertop, she considered switching the oven off but decided to wait. "Anyone else who wants to use the oven," she announced, regarding Haruka and Avalon, "I'm done with it now."

She then left the kitchen and plopped down on the couch next to Makoto. "So what're we watching?" she asked without even bothering to look at the television to see for herself.

Righty-ho. Time to get up. You shall have to forgive me if Shinobu's characterisation is a little off or cliched, since I haven't had much time to get to grips with him.

Fujiwara Noboru: Dreamtime Dorms

Noboru opened his eyes, but remained where he was. The presence of the dream-reading equipment on his head was a familiar one, but he still resented having to have his thoughts read a little. He also had a nasty feeling that he should be hiding some of the things which came out in his dreams, but there wasn't much he could do about that at this stage. Taking the equipment off, the young man pushed back the covers and sat up, putting his feet on the floor. His black hair, untied, fell around his face in wavy strands.

As he put the equipment on his bedside table, he noted the day on the clock. Annoyance and a hint of sadness touched his heart.

February 14th.

Valentine's Day.

Noboru sighed and put hands to his forehead, resting his elbows on his knees and remaining there for a moment. Nothing ever came of Valentine's Day but misery and rejection for Noboru.

A voice rang briefly in his head. Don't mope, Noboru. Hold your head high.

At the sound of the voice, Noboru lifted his head slightly. He took a deep breath and stood up. Swallowing a yawn by breathing in once it came out, he pulled out his uniform and began to put it on, his resolution and mood improved slightly.

Ōta Shinobu: Dreamtime Dorms

Shinobu stumbled down the stairs, feeling sleepy. His uniform was pristine as ever, which wasn't to say that the person wearing it was. His hair stuck up at odd angles, and his face was either screwed up in a yawn or sinking with tiredness. Pens stuck out of his pocket, and his bag was slung over his shoulder.

Looking up as he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw that most of his dorm-mates were discussing things amongst themselves. The smell of cooking wafted out of the kitchen, where Kirsa and Kazumi bickered briefly. Avalon had handed Hideki his bento and was now standing thoughtfully over the counter. Hideki had sat down in the living room and was now watching the weather.

Not wanting to disturb them, he shuffled into the kitchen and pulled a bento that he had made for himself out of the fridge, putting it into his bag. Then, Shinobu glanced around for Noboru, but couldn't find him. Noboru must be late getting dressed... It IS Valentine's Day, I suppose. He leant against a cupboard and watched everyone else talk and wander around, and waited for Noboru.

~Toshio Kimura: Dreamtime Dorms(Living Room)~

Humming lightly to himself, Toshio descended down the stairs just in time to hear a sudden, uncharacteristic outburst from Makoto. “You should check that bento for honmei-chocolate.” He chided Hideki lightly.

Toshio let out a little smile though he didn’t quite understand why they added something in front of the word “chocolate”. He assumed that it signified different types. “Morning.” He greeted to everyone already downstairs. He tried to avoid looking at Hideki’s face, fearing that he would burst into laughter on first sight. Instead, Toshio ventured toward the cabinet and fished out a tube of his heart medication. While unscrewing the cap, he smelled the air. It was filled with the scent of chocolate, making Toshio wince in response.

“Oh yeah, today’s Valentine’s Day…” he said to no one in particular, beginning to feel stupid for not realizing sooner. They had just been talking about the candy a minute earlier. Toshio popped the pill in his mouth and swallowed it down with a drink of water he had gotten from the fridge. He liked what Valentine’s Day stood first but he hated the presents, mostly because he couldn’t eat much to begin with and especially not sweets.

He began fixing his breakfast of a light meal of cereal and an orange, an American-esque meal he hadn’t quite broken ever since arriving in Japan. Then he began to eye everyone else, waiting for someone to start up conversation about, as usual in the dorms, something completely ridiculous.

-School Gates-

At last she arrived at the front gates using the rest of her spare time alone, while over thinking the operation. Special deliveries require understanding, gentleness and courage." Those three qualities were definitely within Haruka's reach. Recent hours of the day were spent with Leon, mostly when his schedule would allow him some free time to address the things that she lacked and what she already had to better improve on them.

That was her top priority at time. Everyone back at the dorms were probably up and about by now besides the few that were there in the kitchen before she had left. Around this time, other students were showing up with the best of attitudes and juicy gossip spoken in between. Some of them managed to capture her interest as she overheard the best way to approach a guy is to meet him out in public, face to face and present yourself as best you can.

For the most part, she partially felt somewhat anxious in doing it back at the dorm and yet calling him out here would still be no different from doing it there. "All this thinking is far more then I can handle at the moment." She struggled in her mind, constantly wishing that Leon was somewhere around to lend her some helpful advice.

"Why didn't I ask him about this earlier? Sure, it's great that I feel more open and confident about this kind of particular ordeal, if only the feeling of being shot down wasn't this bothersome."

She said, then moving on through the gates with her left hand rubbing against the neatly wrapped box of chocolates buried inside her book bag.

Fujiwara Noboru and Ōta Shinobu: Dreamtime Dorms

Noboru walked out of his room, pulling his bag over his shoulder. He observed the surroundings; Avalon fiddling with a bento box, Kirsa and Makoto on the sofa, Hideki watching the weather, and Shinobu leaning against a cupboard, waiting for him. Shinobu caught sight of him and waved, but didn't smile.

Noboru walked over to his diminutive partner in crime and reached his own hand into the fridge, seeking the bento he'd made himself. "Morning, Noboru," said Shinobu, who watched Makoto put a hand on Hideki's shoulder. "You should check that bento for honmei-chocolate!" he shouted, causing Hideki to frown and Avalon to play along. Noboru, as usual, didn't pay this much attention, but Shinobu thought he saw a small amused smile on his face.

"Morning, Shinobu," he replied, straightening up with his bento box in hand. "Interesting morning?"

"Not till now, I'm afraid," said Shinobu, as they watched Hideki head out, looking annoyed. "Makoto's stirring things up again."

Noboru didn't reply, falling silent. While Shinobu sought something to say, Toshio walked down the stairs and went into the kitchen to take his medicine, and Hideki walked out abruptly, slamming the door behind him. Silence followed.

"Good morning," Erihana said to Shinobu and Toshio.

"Morning, Erihana-san," replied Shinobu. He paused for a second. "You ought to cut down on the taunting a little, you know. I think Hideki's a little annoyed."

"Let them have their fun," interjected Noboru, who was still smiling slightly. "Toriyama-san can handle it."