Hiryu's Sanctuary

The smell of fresh paint suddenly rushed into my nose. These rooms must have been renovated annually to maintain students' quality of life. It wouldn't be great to reuse someone's stuff because it is unsanitary.

Anyway, I was surprised by how big the room was when Saki turned the lights on. The space was quite empty since the school only prepared essential things for now, so I might decorate it a little.

As Ichinose said, I was a minimalist, and I didn't want to spend on things that weren't important. Decorating my room or purchasing better products wasn't really my thing. I lived with what I got, and that had been my whole life.

This, however, was different. When you move to a new city, start knowing what school is like, and make new friends, you will want to change. I wanted to paint my life more colorful in this new environment and take this opportunity to turn over a new leaf.

"A kitchen! Thank god we have one in the dorm, or else I would die for real."

Right, I forgot to tell you. Saki insisted we would look at the interior only after gathering at my place. We quickly dropped the stuff behind the door and left it in each person's room.

Because of that, the anticipation increased immensely. Now Saki was overexcited to have a kitchen, which was understandable, but before she could dash in and cuddle with her kitchen equipment, I grabbed her hand in time to remind her, "Hey. The shoes. If you take one step further, I'll ban you from my room."

"AH! Hehe, my bad. I'll take my shoes off right away. Don't be mad, okay?" Saki nervously giggled.

"Good. Keep your word from earlier."

"Hmm?"

She looked confused, as if she had forgotten what she had said earlier. Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if she couldn't recall those words, so there was no point in bringing it up.

"Nevermind. Make sure not to forget another time."

Saki nodded hastily before making her way into the room. Seriously, barging into my room for routine gatherings was terrible enough, and now Saki wanted to step into the room with shoes on. This was a crime at this point.

I would reprimand her, but everyone here knew I had a soft spot for her. They knew I wouldn't do a thing to hurt her poor soul. The only times that I hurt her were myself being oblivious to the situation.

"The interior placement is actually well-designed. I'm liking it so far," Azuma's echoes could be heard in the bathroom.

"The mattress feels nice, but I like it firmer than usual. I'd probably need to save some money to buy a new one," Ichinose said.

"You don't like it soft?" I asked her before jumping into the bed. "Oh, I see what you mean. I could sink in this mattress."

"Some people would definitely love it, but this is too soft for me. I had constant nightmares about drowning as a kid when sleeping on a soft mattress. My mom switched it to a firmer one, and the nightmares magically disappeared. Strange, huh?"

"Too much comfort can make one uncomfortable. I'd hate the sensation of being stuck in a mattress too. Laziness takes over quickly."

"Mhm."

Ichinose and I discussed a trivial topic on the bed while the others explored the place. This mattress was taking over my unenergized body. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get up to explore with others. I would fall asleep right away if it weren't for Ichinose talking to me.

"Cooking utensils and other equipment are decked out," Saki's eyes danced in excitement.

The school provided the students with most of the essentials, so we no longer had to buy stuff on our own. I didn't have to move the furniture also because the arrangement was perfect to my liking.

I could already imagine what additions I could make to the room. I had plenty of ideas, from traditional to futuristic, and they all worked out in my mind.

I needed something that could display shoes since I loved collecting them. A glass dome, maybe? No. That would make my room turn into a museum.

Shelves were the way to go. They were necessary if I wanted to display many items. Since the small passageway at the door leading up to the main room was mostly empty, I would need to put some effort into making that spot look good. First impressions are always important, after all.

Anyway, Ichinose and I were still chilling on the bed. I was just staring at the ceiling, still thinking about how I would go about my room decor.

"I've never lived in dorms before, but I've never heard of a high school implementing co-ed dormitories. Isn't it weird?" Ichinose raised a question.

"I don't know. I didn't question it until you brought it up."

"Haha. You're right. We took that information quite nonchalantly. Still, I hope nothing bad happens to anyone, especially the girls."

Her concern was understandable. I mentioned on the bus before that teenagers tend to be wilder because we are evermore curious about adulthood. Living co-ed would fuel that desire to "find out" more, which could lead to upsetting consequences.

"Well, we are the class cabinet, so we must encourage everyone to be on their best behavior."

"I agree. I'll make sure of that as my duty of being the president."

The school being lenient and loosened like this made me worry about students going astray, but it was also a perfect test of maturity. Spending and saving money, having control of our desires, and living independently. I realized that we had stepped into a semi-adult world, and the future was in our hands entirely from now on.

A sanctuary in the middle of hell, huh? I smiled to myself, thinking about which future could unwrap before me.