[TWEWY] » Cohabitation; Chapter 1 [PG]
Title: Cohabitation [Chapter 1]
Pairing: Joshua/Neku
Rating: PG, but up to NC-17 in later chapters.
Notes: Gosh, I've had this idea floating around in my brain for about a month, and I've been swearing I would write it. As time went on, though, I kept having ideas and strange dreams that I knew would fit in so well with this fic, so maybe it's a good thing I held off a little. xD;; Oh, and I did do a tiny bit of internet searching for some examples of regular apartment rent and student apartment rent in the Tokyo area, so I kinda did some homework~ I jacked the price of the non-campus apartments up just a bit, though, since this is taking place in a fictional large college city in Japan. xD
A pair of keys flew up into the air, twirling and clinking together before descending, hitting an outstretched hand with a metallic clatter.
"Well, here we are, apartment 716!" A cheerful female voice chirped from behind Neku. He turned to see Shiki, placing a box full of CDs on the ground by the wall. She brushed her hands on her skirt and stood up, adjusting her glasses. They always seemed to fall down, even if she did nothing more than sneeze.
"Really, I'm very impressed that you managed to get an apartment up this high. I mean, I know your family isn't that well off, but--" The brunette girl stopped herself, suddenly looking very panicked. "O-oh, Neku, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to look down on your family or anything! Mine isn't that well off, either, so...!"
Neku just smiled and shook his head. Leave it to Shiki to get so flustered over something so trivial. There were hardly any families these days that were more than well off. But her words got him thinking, about how lucky he had been to get such a good deal.
-----
"Please, tell me there's something you can do," Neku practically begged through gritted teeth. It had been a long day of apartment hunting for the boy, and he was getting notably frustrated. The apartments in the city had been ridiculously priced, many ranging into the ¥120,000 per month area.
He had kicked himself for not checking with the head of student housing first. With the student apartment building being attatched to the main campus building, there might be some sort of student discount. However, after having met with the head of student housing, he hadn't been so sure he would be right.
Said head of student housing leaned back into his black leather office chair, folding his hands behind his head. He chuckled low in his throat, and peered over the top of his sunglasses. "Sorry kid, student apartments run from ¥35,000 at the lowest to ¥85,000 at the highest. I might be able to get you as low as ¥30,000 for one of the small first-floor places, but that's as low as I could go."
Neku wanted to kick the desk in front of him so, so badly, but he continued to grit his teeth and dug his short nails into his chair instead. "You don't understand, Mr. Hanekoma. I've already been accepted here. I can't afford any of those, and the non-school apartments are insane! If I can't get a place here, I'm going to have a 45-minute train commute every day. Please."
The man regarded Neku with a reserved expression. The room was basked in silence for a few moments as Hanekoma appeared to think, and after what seemed like an eternity, he opened his mouth. "Tell you what, kid. I've got a place I can't keep a tenant in. Top floor, real ritzy kind of place. Some kid killed himself in that apartment about 15 years ago. I was a kid myself then, a few years younger than you, but I remember like it was yesterday. Quiet kid, kinda girly looking, but real smart. Don't ever remember hearing why he killed himself, though." He paused, then laughed suddenly, realizing he was rambling on about something that Neku probably didn't even care about. Was he really getting so old?
"Ah, sorry about that, didn't mean to talk your ear off. Anyway, after that, my dad couldn't keep it rented out for more than a week. I've had trouble with it ever since I inherited the apartments. Kids say it's haunted." Hanekoma stared up at the ceiling, as if looking through six floors worth of building materials and into the apartment in question. "...I'll give you a week in there, rent-free. If you can stay that long, and if you start calling me Mr. H, I'll let you have it for ¥15,000. What do you say?"
Neku had mostly tuned out through the impromptu history lesson, but his attention was caught again by Hanekoma's laugh. Information had filtered through, nonetheless. So some kid had killed himself there, big deal. Neku didn't believe in ghosts. However, his eyes lit up at the last two sentences. "M-Mr. Hane--Mr. H, that's..." Standing quickly, and nearly knocking over his chair in the process, Neku placed his hands on the desk, grinning. "Thanks a lot. I really mean it. I'll take it."
-----
"Wow, issat true?" During the short telling of Neku's tale, his friend Beat had showed up with some of his things, his younger sister, Rhyme, in tow, transporting some of the smaller boxes. The eldest of the siblings was currently leaning against the wall, hand in a partially-eaten packet of chips, and standing between Shiki and Rhyme, who were sitting on the floor. "So this place of yours here's really got ghosts innit?"
Neku shook his head. "Nah. I don't believe in that crap anyway. And if I don't believe in it, it can't hurt me." He turned around and stuck one of the two keys into the lock, turning it and hearing the bolt slide with a satisfying clunk. "Besides, if ghosts do exist, it's just some girly-looking smart kid. What bad could happen?"
With his free hand, Neku pushed the door open. As it swung, it gave them a great view of the interior; an already fully-furnished living room area with some expensive-looking decor, and a large, flat-screen television sitting inside a black metal entertainment center. A large picture window sat in the wall that they were currently facing, giving an unimpaired view of the city around them. Just inside, a doorway led off to the left into the kitchen area, a bar separating the kitchen from the rest of the hallway, and another bar defining the other wall on the living room side. Beyond the bar separating the kitchen and living room, there was a hallway leading to a small laundry room and what looked to be an office of some sort. Across the living room was another hallway, leading to the bathroom and bedroom. Behind Neku, Beat whistled.
Shiki rushed inside through the open space between Neku and the doorframe with a squeal. "Wow, Neku, this is incredible! You don't even need any furniture or anything! You didn't say it was fully-furnished!"
Neku sighed and carried a large box full of clothes through the door, taking care to keep away from the walls so he wouldn't knock over anything he couldn't see. "Yeah, fully-furnished, all the bells and whistles. At least, that's what Mr. H said." From what he had come to understand, the different floors of the student apartment building meant different prices per month. The apartments on the bottom floor were barely bigger than a bedroom, and were more akin to small hotel rooms; a bathroom and a bedroom/living room combo, nothing more. It would only make sense that, even if he was getting a discount rate, his apartment on the top floor would be better than the rest of the floors.
As his friends continued to explore as they carried in boxes, Neku carried his box of clothes to the bedroom that he had managed to locate. It was a decent-sized bedroom, a little bit bigger than his bedroom back home. The bed looked like it was a queen-size, which suited Neku perfectly. He had brought his bedsheets from home, and they would be able to fit, so he wouldn't have to spend money trying to find new sheets. The room had an expensive-looking cherry dresser and chest of drawers, as well as a nice-sized closet, about three or four feet deep. He deposited the box on the unblanketed bed and turned to go get more boxes, but as he did so, he felt a cold chill run up his spine.
Turning to look back into the room, he stared for a moment, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. After a moment, he shook it off, dismissing it as the air conditioner acting up. After all, it was summer, so it couldn't be a draft. It definitely wasn't the stories getting to him.
Neku shook his head rapidly a couple of times, then retreated to the hallway outside of his apartment for more boxes.
In the empty room he left behind, a soft giggle bounced off the walls, but was unheard by the rest of the teenagers in the apartment.
Pairing: Joshua/Neku
Rating: PG, but up to NC-17 in later chapters.
Notes: Gosh, I've had this idea floating around in my brain for about a month, and I've been swearing I would write it. As time went on, though, I kept having ideas and strange dreams that I knew would fit in so well with this fic, so maybe it's a good thing I held off a little. xD;; Oh, and I did do a tiny bit of internet searching for some examples of regular apartment rent and student apartment rent in the Tokyo area, so I kinda did some homework~ I jacked the price of the non-campus apartments up just a bit, though, since this is taking place in a fictional large college city in Japan. xD
A pair of keys flew up into the air, twirling and clinking together before descending, hitting an outstretched hand with a metallic clatter.
"Well, here we are, apartment 716!" A cheerful female voice chirped from behind Neku. He turned to see Shiki, placing a box full of CDs on the ground by the wall. She brushed her hands on her skirt and stood up, adjusting her glasses. They always seemed to fall down, even if she did nothing more than sneeze.
"Really, I'm very impressed that you managed to get an apartment up this high. I mean, I know your family isn't that well off, but--" The brunette girl stopped herself, suddenly looking very panicked. "O-oh, Neku, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to look down on your family or anything! Mine isn't that well off, either, so...!"
Neku just smiled and shook his head. Leave it to Shiki to get so flustered over something so trivial. There were hardly any families these days that were more than well off. But her words got him thinking, about how lucky he had been to get such a good deal.
-----
"Please, tell me there's something you can do," Neku practically begged through gritted teeth. It had been a long day of apartment hunting for the boy, and he was getting notably frustrated. The apartments in the city had been ridiculously priced, many ranging into the ¥120,000 per month area.
He had kicked himself for not checking with the head of student housing first. With the student apartment building being attatched to the main campus building, there might be some sort of student discount. However, after having met with the head of student housing, he hadn't been so sure he would be right.
Said head of student housing leaned back into his black leather office chair, folding his hands behind his head. He chuckled low in his throat, and peered over the top of his sunglasses. "Sorry kid, student apartments run from ¥35,000 at the lowest to ¥85,000 at the highest. I might be able to get you as low as ¥30,000 for one of the small first-floor places, but that's as low as I could go."
Neku wanted to kick the desk in front of him so, so badly, but he continued to grit his teeth and dug his short nails into his chair instead. "You don't understand, Mr. Hanekoma. I've already been accepted here. I can't afford any of those, and the non-school apartments are insane! If I can't get a place here, I'm going to have a 45-minute train commute every day. Please."
The man regarded Neku with a reserved expression. The room was basked in silence for a few moments as Hanekoma appeared to think, and after what seemed like an eternity, he opened his mouth. "Tell you what, kid. I've got a place I can't keep a tenant in. Top floor, real ritzy kind of place. Some kid killed himself in that apartment about 15 years ago. I was a kid myself then, a few years younger than you, but I remember like it was yesterday. Quiet kid, kinda girly looking, but real smart. Don't ever remember hearing why he killed himself, though." He paused, then laughed suddenly, realizing he was rambling on about something that Neku probably didn't even care about. Was he really getting so old?
"Ah, sorry about that, didn't mean to talk your ear off. Anyway, after that, my dad couldn't keep it rented out for more than a week. I've had trouble with it ever since I inherited the apartments. Kids say it's haunted." Hanekoma stared up at the ceiling, as if looking through six floors worth of building materials and into the apartment in question. "...I'll give you a week in there, rent-free. If you can stay that long, and if you start calling me Mr. H, I'll let you have it for ¥15,000. What do you say?"
Neku had mostly tuned out through the impromptu history lesson, but his attention was caught again by Hanekoma's laugh. Information had filtered through, nonetheless. So some kid had killed himself there, big deal. Neku didn't believe in ghosts. However, his eyes lit up at the last two sentences. "M-Mr. Hane--Mr. H, that's..." Standing quickly, and nearly knocking over his chair in the process, Neku placed his hands on the desk, grinning. "Thanks a lot. I really mean it. I'll take it."
-----
"Wow, issat true?" During the short telling of Neku's tale, his friend Beat had showed up with some of his things, his younger sister, Rhyme, in tow, transporting some of the smaller boxes. The eldest of the siblings was currently leaning against the wall, hand in a partially-eaten packet of chips, and standing between Shiki and Rhyme, who were sitting on the floor. "So this place of yours here's really got ghosts innit?"
Neku shook his head. "Nah. I don't believe in that crap anyway. And if I don't believe in it, it can't hurt me." He turned around and stuck one of the two keys into the lock, turning it and hearing the bolt slide with a satisfying clunk. "Besides, if ghosts do exist, it's just some girly-looking smart kid. What bad could happen?"
With his free hand, Neku pushed the door open. As it swung, it gave them a great view of the interior; an already fully-furnished living room area with some expensive-looking decor, and a large, flat-screen television sitting inside a black metal entertainment center. A large picture window sat in the wall that they were currently facing, giving an unimpaired view of the city around them. Just inside, a doorway led off to the left into the kitchen area, a bar separating the kitchen from the rest of the hallway, and another bar defining the other wall on the living room side. Beyond the bar separating the kitchen and living room, there was a hallway leading to a small laundry room and what looked to be an office of some sort. Across the living room was another hallway, leading to the bathroom and bedroom. Behind Neku, Beat whistled.
Shiki rushed inside through the open space between Neku and the doorframe with a squeal. "Wow, Neku, this is incredible! You don't even need any furniture or anything! You didn't say it was fully-furnished!"
Neku sighed and carried a large box full of clothes through the door, taking care to keep away from the walls so he wouldn't knock over anything he couldn't see. "Yeah, fully-furnished, all the bells and whistles. At least, that's what Mr. H said." From what he had come to understand, the different floors of the student apartment building meant different prices per month. The apartments on the bottom floor were barely bigger than a bedroom, and were more akin to small hotel rooms; a bathroom and a bedroom/living room combo, nothing more. It would only make sense that, even if he was getting a discount rate, his apartment on the top floor would be better than the rest of the floors.
As his friends continued to explore as they carried in boxes, Neku carried his box of clothes to the bedroom that he had managed to locate. It was a decent-sized bedroom, a little bit bigger than his bedroom back home. The bed looked like it was a queen-size, which suited Neku perfectly. He had brought his bedsheets from home, and they would be able to fit, so he wouldn't have to spend money trying to find new sheets. The room had an expensive-looking cherry dresser and chest of drawers, as well as a nice-sized closet, about three or four feet deep. He deposited the box on the unblanketed bed and turned to go get more boxes, but as he did so, he felt a cold chill run up his spine.
Turning to look back into the room, he stared for a moment, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. After a moment, he shook it off, dismissing it as the air conditioner acting up. After all, it was summer, so it couldn't be a draft. It definitely wasn't the stories getting to him.
Neku shook his head rapidly a couple of times, then retreated to the hallway outside of his apartment for more boxes.
In the empty room he left behind, a soft giggle bounced off the walls, but was unheard by the rest of the teenagers in the apartment.