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.

**track twenty**

Gosh, it's getting awfully dark, and it's barely six o'clock. Poor Suka-chan couldn't keep dinner down (honestly, I don't know why he even tried, especially after that bout with the beer), but the sky is beginning to look a lot like how I imagine Suka-chan feels.

Maybe I oughta mention it… "Hey, Suka-chan… doesn't it look like the sky has indigestion?" The clouds rolling in are thick and greenish-black, and there's rumbling in the distance.

Suka-chan rolls a bit in bed so he can see out the window. "Bleargh…"

Was that agreement, or something else?

Uh… maybe I shouldn't've mentioned it. Now I've got to get the custodian. Thank heavens Suka-chan missed the rug. And the table. And especially my homework.

What with everybody moving stuff in from home, a few roommates exchanging presents (oh, that's right… I've got something for Suka-chan that I should give him — as soon as his stomach settles, anyway), and lots of kids scrambling around: "Can I borrow your algebra homework?" and so forth, it's pretty chaotic around here.

The guys moving stuff in, especially. They're in a real hurry to get done before the storm hits… they don't want to get their stuff wet, after all. But it's getting really dark out, now… it's gonna be touch and go whether everyone's gonna make it before

Whoa… that lightning strike was too close. And here comes the rain. Now these poor guys are really moving.

Ooh, there goes another flash…

And… There go the lights.

There's a moment of silence, as no one knows quite how to react. And then everyone reaches a decision:

Panic.

Guys are hollering about not being able to do their homework, others about their computers going down. I can only guess how Aoki's got to be feeling, what with his arcade suddenly on the blink. There's a yelp of pain — guess one of the guys moving stuff into his room rammed another guy with some furniture.

Turns out Suka-chan may be the only one not panicking, as he's out like a light. Good for him… Kami knows he needs the rest, and doesn't need the stress.

And me? Well hey… I haven't got anything better to do, why not have fun with it? I grab a sheet from my bed, and toss it over my head, and out I go into the hall:

"WHOOOOO!" It's gratifying to hear screaming, even if I can't tell who's doing the screaming. There are rumors that Greenwood is actually haunted… it's certainly old enough. Anyway, that's what I was told when I first joined Ryokuto, so now I can pass the spook story on to the new students.

"SHUN!!" …until I get caught, that is. That's one problem with having long hair… I know sempai's only trying to grab the sheet, but…

"Leggo, sempai! Ow!" I snatch the sheet back from him, and as I do, he whaps me in the chest with something flat. "What's this?"

"A clipboard, baka. Since you're so keen on running through the halls, you might as well make yourself useful rather than just scaring the freshmen." Mitsuru-sempai isn't joking around here. "You take first floor, and I'll check the rooms on this floor. We gotta make sure everyone's here and accounted for." He hands me a flashlight. "You'll need this."

"Awright, awright, I'm going already. Here," and I toss him the sheet, "wouldja put this in the room for me?"

It's hard to read in this dark, and awkward, too. Gotta hold the flashlight with one hand, clipboard in the other… now, how am I supposed to knock?

With the clipboard, I guess.

*whap,whap* Room 101… "Oh, hi. Just making sure you're all in and set… Ishii-kun?"

A voice calls out from inside. "I'm Ishii."

"Ah, sorry. So… you must be Uehara." The fellow at the door nods. "Right, then." I tuck the flashlight under my arm as I attempt to mark them off on the clipboard. Damn, this is awkward. "I guess I shouldn't ask how you like it here at Ryokuto so far, ne?"

"Oh," Uehara's reply is rather airy, "if it weren't for the heat, the humidity, the mosquitoes, the power outage… yeah, we'd be having a blast."

What kind of response can you give to that? "Uh, yeah. Glad to hear it." On to the next room, and not a moment too soon.

Uehara's got a point, though. It is not comfortable in here. Dark, hot, humid… man, I wish he hadn't gotten me to thinking about it.

And all the yelling and complaining isn't helping: "Dammit, I wish my fan was working." "You think you've got it bad? My fridge is out! What am I gonna do if all the food goes bad?" "Hey, I'll help ya eat it…" "No thanks, I'm not that desperate." It's really a wonder that the guys in Room 115 are sound asleep. Best course of action, given the circumstances, but a difficult thing to accomplish.

Room 116… Uh…

"Yeah, hi, Shun. We're here," Shigeru-kun and Ogata-sempai smile back at me. Wait… I don't have the flashlight on them, how come I can see who they are? And one more thing…

"Uh… who's the one in the middle is…?"

I get a couple of puzzled looks from them before they turn to face each other… only to find a luminescent figure sitting between them.

"KYAAAAHH!!"

You know, I'm going to have to stop kidding the freshmen with ghost stories and the like, now, aren't I?

To be continued.

Webmaster: Larry F
Last revision: May 21, 2007