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-four**

*ping-ping*

"Room 210, Hasukawa-kun… you've got mail!" Oookay. It sounds like the dorm lady's trying to be cute. Someone should tell her she doesn't sound a thing like that guy on AOL Japan, and she shouldn't feel bad about it in any case. The fellow's just damn annoying, if you ask me.

And apparently ineffectual, too, as Suka-chan isn't stirring from his bed. Well, it's Sunday, after all; normally, he'd be entitled to his sleep. But this is important — I wanna know what he got in the mail. I step onto the edge of my bed, so that I can stick my head through the curtains surrounding Suka-chan's bunk, and let my hair down so that it tickles his face.

It takes a minute or so of wiggling my head, but it eventually gets the job done; Suka-chan rises up sputtering and sneezing. "Shun! What the hell?!" He almost pushes me away from him, and wouldn't that be nasty if I fell?

As it is, he just grabs the curtain and pulls it back around him, while I jump back onto the floor.

"Aw, c'mon, Suka-chan! It's a beautiful day, the sun's shining… and you've got mail downstairs at the desk."

His reply is somewhat muffled; I guess he's rolled over so he's facing the wall, or maybe his pillow. "And you wanna know what it is, don't you? Well, you'll just have to wait."

Have I gotten so predictable?

"Fine, but you know it's only a matter of time before…"

At which point, the door bursts open. "Hasukawa! You've got mail from the doctor's wife!" Mitsuru-sempai sings out. Literally.

"…the sempai intercept it," I finish. Well, I did try to warn him.

This gets Suka-chan's attention. The curtain is yanked open, and he practically falls out of bed trying to get at them. "What's the matter with you two? Can't you respect a guy's privacy?"

"This is a dorm," Shinobu-sempai shrugs. "What's privacy?" He's already got the letter open, practically. Several small green tickets spill out before he can get at any actual letter.

Mitsuru-sempai grins as Shinobu-sempai fumbles slightly with this unexpected development. "Well, who knew? It was boobytrapped."

"You'd think I'd be used to this by now…"

"Oh, come on. Doc's wife isn't your sister; how could you possibly be expecting anything like this, hmm?"

"True… can you pick those up for me, anyway?" As Mitsuru-sempai bends down to retrieve the tickets, there's this really odd expression on Shinobu-sempai's face. "Mm… nice view."

Mitsuru-sempai stands up pretty quickly at that. "Cut that out, will you? At least not in front of Hasukawa." I turn to look, and sure enough, Suka-chan's got this terrible deer-in-the-headlights look on his face.

"You were the one doing it during summer break… can't I have a little fun here?" Hmm… Looks like the sempai have been teasing Suka-chan about their being gay, or some such. Evidently, it touches a nerve with Suka-chan.

I should probably intervene…

"Aw, isn't this sweet… a lovers' quarrel."

That probably wasn't the best thing I could have done.

"SHUN!" This I get from all three of them. Well, at least I get the satisfaction of popping the sempai's bubble.

"Just for that," Mitsuru-sempai says, handing me one of the green tickets, "this is for you. And one for you, and me, and… you, Hasukawa-kun," he concludes with a flourish, handing Suka-chan a ticket and the letter. "Go ahead, read it."

The room goes quiet for a moment as Suka-chan stares at the letter, eyes roving across it.

"Aloud," Mitsuru-sempai clarifies.

Suka-chan protests. "What? How come? You idiots already know what it says."

"Watch your tongue, Hasukawa. And humor us: we wanna know what these tickets are for."

Suka-chan sighs heavily before taking a deep breath and reading the note aloud as ordered:

"Yakkun —

"'I was so sad to hear you wouldn't be
coming home for summer break, and
even more upset when you couldn't
stay and talk with me when I visited.
I hope your diarrhea has cleared up—' you idiots told her I had diarrhea?!"

Shinobu-sempai shrugs. "It was either that, or tell her the truth: that you have the hots for her."

"Really," chimes in Mitsuru-sempai, "if she couldn't figure it out from the nosebleed you got when she hugged you, she doesn't deserve to be told that."

Better rescue Suka-chan… "What does the rest of the letter say, anyway?"

"Oh, yeah… 'has cleared up, because
a new pool just opened up in the area.
Maybe we could meet you there sometime?' We?"

"Doc and Wifey, I presume…" Shinobu-sempai drawls.

"Forget it!" Suka-chan crumples the note into a ball and heaves it over his shoulder. "I do not want to see him."

"Hey, who's to say they'll be there?" Mitsuru-sempai retrieves the wadded-up note. "They can't hang out there 24/7, after all. Just show up at the pool; you'll never see them. Heck, who needs that excuse, anyway?

"Was there more to this? Oh, here we go:
'I'm sure Yakkun looks absolutely darling
in bathing trunks. I hope to see you there!
Love, Sumire' Oh, man! She even signs it with a few kiss marks!" Suka-chan's holding his nose, and his eyes are squeezed tightly shut. "Man, this chick has no clue what she's doing to her brother-in-law, does she?"

Suka-chan leaps to her defense. "Sumire-chan is not stupid!"

"Oh?" Mitsuru-sempai pulls an odd face. "Well, if she's not clueless, she's heartless. Look at you, Hasukawa. She's made you the wreck you are today. You wanna believe she means to do that?"

Suka-chan deflates completely at this. Shinobu-sempai sets a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Hasukawa-kun. What you need is to do something to get your mind off of things. And I know just the thing."

"Really?" Suka-chan's eyes are full of hope. Doesn't he know what's coming? "What's that?"

Guess not.

"We're going to the pool this afternoon!"

Oh, boy.

And now there's a hand on my shoulder. "You're coming too, aren't you, Shun-chan? If 'Yakkun' is gonna look 'darling' in trunks, I can only imagine what you'll look like in a bikini…"

…help!

To be continued.

Webmaster: Larry F
Last revision: May 21, 2007