Disclaimer: Koko wa Greenwood is the creation of Yukie Nasu, and all characters and situations therein are the property of her and Hakusensha Inc., Victor Entertainment, and the Pierrot Project. No infringement is intended.

**prologue**

Those of you who've been to Ryokuto Academy have probably heard all about it. In all humility, it's probably gone down as another shining example of the legendary weirdness that goes on over at "Greenwood" Hall.

For those of you who might not be familiar with what happened, let me give you a replay:

Keep in mind that at this point my roommate, Kazuya Hasukawa, is under the impression that I'm a girl. So when he walks in on me in the benjo, standing at the urinal, I can almost feel him do a doubletake as he looks at me. For my part, I try to act as nonchalant as possible.

"I hear you're going to be studying with Mitsuru-sempai these evenings."

He nods audibly, and I continue as I wash my hands. "I need help with my studies, too… so I'll see you there, ne?" And I walk out.

It's hard to stay calm when you know your cover's been blown. You just have to take one step at a time, and try to stay relaxed about it. He may not have noticed, but then again…

BAM! "Why, you little…!"

"Oops!" He noticed. And he's pissed. Time to run!

I don't even know where I'm trying to go. I'm certainly not going to be safe in our room. Maybe Mitsuru-sempai and Shinobu-sempai can save me; after all, this was their idea.

"OWW!" Too late; Suka-chan's got a hold on my hair. Damn, but that kid can run.

He slams me up against the wall, and grabs my sweatshirt by the collar. "What was that? Let's see that again!"

What would a real girl do under the circumstances, anyway? I scream. "Eek! You pervert!" It has the effect of drawing a crowd, but Suka-chan's not letting me go.

"Oh, shut UP!"

"I'm sorry! Mitsuru-sempai and Shinobu-sempai told me to do this. I swear it!" It's true, right down to the fact that they'd instructed me to take a dive today. At 18-to-1 odds, they were going to use the money for what they called 'a proper welcome party' for Suka-chan.

That gets him to let go. "Mitsuru-sempai?"

And now the hall is abuzz with voices, while Suka-chan walks, red-faced, to Mitsuru-sempai's dorm room to confront him over this practical joke.

"So, he finally knows. What is this?"

"Third day, afternoon. Who bet on it?"

"Damn, I lost."

"Me too. If he coulda just held out another day…"

One guy confronts me. "Stupid Shun. That was a dumb mistake!"

(VVVRRRRKKKTT!!)

(Shun looks at the readers, a phonograph needle in his hand and a canary-eating grin on his face) "Oops. Now I've put a big scratch in this record. It may well skip over this scene from now on…"

(He sets the needle down again, and the scene picks up from before Hasukawa arrives at Ryokuto) "The kid was right, it was a dumb mistake. I could have done better than three days. I just did that to let my sempai win the bet — hey, we've got to finance the parties we throw somehow.

"But suppose, just suppose, I was betting too… Something like, if I can fool Suka-chan for longer than anyone else has bets on it, I win the pot…

"Granted, it's a lot more work for me… but it might be worth it, ne?"

To be continued.

Webmaster: Larry F
Last revision: May 21, 2007